Yo. It's issex with another story. I don't know, I just really felt like writing this one for some reason. I'm still continuing the others, I just got hit with a nasty case of writer's block and a lack of time.
Not much to say except join AizenTheGoat's server. It's a fanfiction server but we still talk about other stuff. It's always active, filled wi th helpful people and it's got lots of good writers like Helghy, Kiege, Roughmastiff, Juubi , AlphaCentuari, Axeman18, TheChamp123 and many others.
If you need help with a fic, a beta reader, ideas for a fic, motivation to write a fic, help with real life matters, or just want to hang out with readers, writers and everything in between, feel free to join in. The code's: c9k4V9Y4wa
Let's get to it
Feyxeakao, Dabis System, Sector 1331
An aellan snorted amusedly and raised his glass to a small speech made by one of the other occupants in the private chamber. The rest cheered loudly, ignoring the irritated looks of the other patrons.
Before he could drink, someone punched him in the arm, causing him to spill his drink. He turned to glare at the culprit, a female aellan who grinned unapologetically.
"You've drank nothing but that slime since we got here, Zucc. Get something stronger." She said and turned back to the others. He grunted and poured himself another cup, ignoring her words.
"Someone has to be alert, Jyll." He muttered. "The federation's probably sent their officers on our trail by now."
"And they won't find us easily." Another one spoke from opposite him, eyeing the behind of one of the servers.
"Exactly. Trust me, given how we did that ship, we still have enough time to reach Illikaris and the exchange." Jyll continued and shook his shoulder. "Loosen up and live a little. We're rich now."
"Illikaris is still ninety six lightfolds away and it's been a week already." Zucc sighed. "Anything can happen in between. What if we're already being searched for now?"
"Alright," Jyll gave up and closed the door, blocking the outsiders from seeing them. "If you want to remain on edge, fine. Just don't ruin our mood."
He nodded and leaned back, listening to the music and the chatter outside. Perhaps he was just being paranoid but unlike the rest, he didn't like to rely on the unreliability of the authorities to get away. Anything could happen.
Jyll snorted a stream of alcohol at him from her nose, causing a round of laughter to erupt from the group again. She'd get hers when this was all over. He sighed and closed his eyes again.
He heard the faint sound of someone entering the bar and opened the door slightly to look at the person. Jyll leaned into him to look over his head as well, ignoring his growl and whistled. "Well isn't he a looker, Zucc. Do you think he'll want to spend the night with an aellan for a few thousand credits?"
"He doesn't even look like he's seen twenty falls." Zucc said, getting a grin from her.
"When has that ever stopped me? I want to spend time with him, not have young ones."
"He doesn't look like he'd be able to lay with you even if you paid him to."
"Now you're just trying a bit too hard. Are you jealous of him because I tossed you out when you wiggled your scales at me?" Jyll teased.
Zucc rolled his eyes and pushed her away roughly. He ignored the chuckles from the others in favour of scanning the man who had started a conversation with the bartender. Jyll wasn't wrong.
Yellow hair that almost seemed to shine, eyes like blue supergiants, a well crafted face and even through the large clothes, the outlines of a muscular frame could be seen. He wasn't sure if the faint whisker lines were scars or tattoos but they only added an exotic look to his already unique appearance.
He was handsome, yes, but he could also be a threat. Feyxeakao was a hot and humid planet and the natives wore large, light clothes but the man was clearly not a native. It was very likely he wore them to conceal weapons.
Zucc's eyes narrowed when the man brought out a small pad and showed something on the screen to the bartender. It was a slightly outdated model but the pad was commonly used to store news on criminals of all sorts and as such, it was commonly found in the hands of enforcers and bounty hunters.
He stared at the screen as hard as he could and still couldn't make out much other than the insignia of the federation above a blurry image and what looked like numbers.
He didn't have to see everything to know it was a bounty.
He hissed lightly and quickly shut the door completely.
Jyll looked at him questioningly. "What's wrong?"
"The man out there is a bounty hunter." He responded. Immediately, the good mood faded and everyone became tense. Jyll frowned and drew her blaster and flicked it on.
"Mustn't be a good one if he thinks he can take on all seven of us alone." Another person muttered. Zucc glared at him and motioned for him to be quiet.
"There's no certainty he followed our trail here." Zucc assured. "It's a large planet and he could be searching for someone else so unless he specifically says he's looking for us, stand down."
Jyll sighed and placed her blaster on the table but kept her hand on the trigger. The rest assumed relaxed positions as well but none let go of their weapons. If the guy was here to take them in, they'd shoot him to pieces before he even realised the fight had begun.
As if on cue, the music stopped and Zucc listened to someone clearing his throat. He slightly opened the door to see the bounty hunter still sitting in front of the bartender. The man spun the pad on a finger as he spoke.
"Bethaxeuh unto you all." He greeted casually. "Sorry for cutting your fun short but I have an important announcement to make. My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm searching for a group of criminals on behalf of the Federation."
He stood up and pressed a button on the pad, causing a hologram of an aellan to rise above the screen.
Zucc sighed resignedly at the image. He knew he shouldn't have ignored the itch in his scales.
"The Glishic Federation, with the approval of the Supreme Court High Judge, H'rakk Tholme, has placed a bounty on the agama pirate group led by Zucc Erberg and Jyll Enhaal for the crimes for robbery, piracy, multiple counts of murder, destruction of public property, assassination and kidnapping."
"Their most recent crime is the robbery of the riath vessel conveying fifteen thousand heads of gleth from Liqma to Suqma and the murder of the passengers including the ship pilot, Neto Khaxl, son of Grand Librarian Kravii Khaxl."
Zucc closed his eyes. No wonder they'd been identified so quickly.
"Still think he's not here for us?" Jyll whispered to Zucc who ignored her. She gestured for the others to prepare themselves for a fight. The man wouldn't be so assured about saying all that out loud unless he had backup or full confidence in his ability to fight them all.
"I know you can hear me." Naruto called out. "I'm doing this because I don't want any unnecessary damage done here. We can take this outside if you want."
Unnecessary damage? Take it outside? He had to be joking. What made him think they cared about the lives of anyone here?
"Get ready." Zucc said quietly. "When I count to three, Jyll will open the door and you are going to shoot him."
"There's more of you than there are of me. You really think you can all fight well in an enclosed space like that?"
Zucc ignored his words and plastered himself against the wall while Jyll rested her weight on the door. He raised a hand and the others got into position.
Naruto sighed. "Alright then, have it your way. If the rest of you don't feel like dying today…"
Zucc raised a digit and his group, save for Jyll, raised their weapons. One.
"...you should take this as a sign to make yourselves scarce."
Three.
Jyll pushed the door open wide and crouched as the rest opened fire. She quickly raised her own blaster and fired on the bounty hunter, ignoring the cries of the people who got caught in the shooting in their mad scramble to leave. It was a shame that he had to be after them; she'd have liked to spend a night with him.
She grinned as the unfortunate man's body became a mess of blood and charred skin as superheated bullets seared his body and organs. A pained grunt came from behind her but she ignored it. One of the buffoons had probably touched the muzzle of his blaster.
She fired another shot, this time taking the man's leg off at the knee. As he went down, she gave his body a confused look. She could swear that wasn't what he was wearing when he entered. His skin wasn't scaly either and he didn't look so much like-
Her eyes widened and she quickly twirled around. Where one of her own had been, the same blond was standing in his place and he'd just stabbed another in the ear. He gave her a mocking smile, clearly unbothered about being found.
With an angered cry, she opened fire on him, catching the attention of the others. He deflected the bolts with a small blade, surprising her and ducked under a shot that came from beside him. Jyll's grip on her blaster slackened slightly in her shock. He could dodge blaster fire even from a close range. It'd be admirable if it wasn't being used against them.
Naruto quickly pocketed the blade, swayed to the side and his arm shot out, striking the shooter underneath the chin. As the aellan's head snapped back, he grabbed the blaster, ejected the clip and snatched it away from the pirate's hand. In a show of skill, he hit the shooter's leg with his knee and as the reptile stumbled, he placed the clip back in and shot him in the base of the head.
He took advantage of their surprise to shoot at them haphazardly, missing most but managing to shoot one in the arm and chest. Hearing the signature click that came with an empty firearm, he tossed it at them, nailing Zucc in the eye.
Zucc grunted at the bounty hunter's act. The screaming and hollering coupled with the leftover ringing in his ears from the shooting and the pain his eye was getting to him. He brought out a dagger and jumped over the table towards the man who had already shot someone else. It had been only less than half a minute and they were already down to four people.
Naruto noticed the approaching man and quickly dropped the blaster to bring out his blade again. He saw that the others, save for the female, had taken their leader's example and drawn melee weapons as well. Perhaps it was time to leave. He formed a strange sign with his hand and much to everyone's bewilderment, a chair appeared where he had once been.
It was Jyll who saw Naruto appear in a booth opposite theirs and shot at him again, except rather than deflect it again, his form blurred and another of their own took the shot in the neck. She snarled in anger at the sight. The bastard was switching places with things!
She turned around again and set off her blaster again at the man who'd reappeared behind her right as he was about to finish off the one he'd shot. He ducked his head and pushed his would-be victim towards her. She shoved the dying pirate to the side with an angry grunt and raised her blaster at the bounty hunter who was now trading blows with Zucc.
She grunted in annoyance when she saw she couldn't get a clear shot. The bastard was purposely herding Zucc to stand in front of her so she'd risk shooting him if she was going to fire. She glared at the man and drew her own blade, moving to jump into the fray
Zucc moved back slightly as the gleaming blade grazed his neck, barely cutting through the thin scales. His attacker, unfazed by his miss, moved forward as well and grabbed him by his shirt and withdrew his hand as Zucc swung up, looking to sever the nerve bundle in his wrist. Almost instantly, his hand shot out again and two fingers struck the hollow area in the aellan's wrist, causing his hand to tremble violently and lose grip of the knife.
He swung his second hand at Naruto's face, hoping to claw his eye only for him to block the blow with a raised hand and punch him in his face. He made to move away but Naruto pulled him back, struck him upside the chin with the butt of his blade, forcing his head to jerk back, and swung the sharp edge again, this time cutting his throat open.
Zucc's eyes widened and his hand clutched at his neck in an attempt to staunch the bleeding and get air. The bounty hunter pushed him towards a shocked Jyll who unconsciously pushed him aside as he neared her. He stumbled and fell, feeling cold all over. The last thing he saw was Jyll rushing towards the man.
"I'm going to kill you!" Jyll screamed and threw herself at the bounty hunter. It wasn't supposed to go this way! They'd come so far! The pursuit, the robbery, the grand escape. They had already succeeded, they were all supposed to have become rich, maybe even rich enough to leave the criminal life for good. And it was all for naught because of this bastard!
Naruto saw her approach and tossed his blade at her head, aiming to end the fight fast. He was surprised when she narrowly dodged it but not fast enough to prevent the blade from cutting the skin close to her eye.
Naruto sighed as he blocked the wild swings from the furious pirate. A part of him felt bad for putting her in her current state but it was easily ignored. People who led violent lives met equally violent ends. It was something anyone who wanted to get into that life had to come to terms with and she was a fool if she thought she and the others would avoid that fate.
He deflected a swing headed for his collarbone and caught her second hand, snapping it at the wrist. If she felt pain from it, it didn't show on her face. Or at least he wasn't sure if it did. It was a bit hard to tell with how contorted her face was and all the hissing and cursing and crazed eyes. He saw her cock her other arm back and tilted his head as she buried her blade all the way to the hilt in the wall behind where his head had been.
Before she could let go, he hit below her wrist, causing her hand to go limp and eliciting a pained cry from her. Pressing forward, he grabbed her head and forced it down to meet his knee. As she stumbled back, his leg shot out and struck her in the chest hard enough to send her out of the booth. He pulled out the knife with a grunt and walked towards the downed aellan who was gasping for breath.
Naruto absently scratched his hair as he looked at the bar and the result of the fight. Aside from a few people who hadn't been able to leave in time, the only other damages done to the bar were seared furniture and blood stains. The survivors would have a wild time recounting the tales of their valiant escape.
A small groan alerted him to someone else on the floor. It was the e pirate he'd shot in the chest. Funny, he thought the guy would be dead by now. He crouched and rolled the reptile onto his stomach before stabbing him in the base of the head, causing him to jerk slightly and go limp.
Pulling the blade out, he walked towards the last surviving member of the group who was struggling to get on her feet and had taken a blaster from one of the bodies. She glared at him as he approached her and fired a series of bolts at him that he deflected. When she ran out of ammunition, Naruto threw the blade at her, impaling her wrist.
Naruto walked past her screaming form to the other side of the counter and clicked his tongue at the sight of the bartender's corpse. Poor guy, but that wasn't what he was here for. He wiped his bloody hands on the man's clothes, fished out a bottle, poured himself a drink and went to sit on a chair directly facing the remaining aellan.
"I've got to say, you guys were good." Naruto started conversationally. "If I didn't have the skills that I do, I'd probably be him by now."
He pointed at the pirate he first switched places with. Jyll followed his finger and turned back to glare at him. He shrugged and sipped the drink, savouring the fruity taste.
"It's just unfortunate that you had to pull off the wrong heist and murder the wrong person. Did you know Suqma hit a recession lately? They took a loan in the form of those gleth you stole in order to fuel their mining equipment."
"Liqma gave them a little bonus due to their recently formed alliance. As a show of goodwill, they even let the Grand Librarian's soldier son pilot the ship."
Jyll's glare lessened. Why was he telling her all this? He must have caught onto her line of thought because he grinned at her.
"I'm telling you this because I want you to understand just what kind of shit you landed yourselves in." Naruto confirmed. "The universe has evolved beyond half assed chases and robberies. If you're doing things like that, you're doomed. The smart ones watch the news. They plan ahead, scout routes, study their targets, get informants."
"But then again, none of what I'm saying is going to be of any help to you." He said and gulped down the rest of his drink before pouring himself another round. "Wow, this is some good stuff. Definitely something I'd like to drink before dying. Want to try it? You might feel the same."
She didn't respond, choosing instead to maintain her glare which was steadily weakening with her body.
"Don't look at me like that." Naruto said. "Don't blame me for this, I don't even blame you for bringing this upon yourselves. The money comes first and that's exactly what I'm also working to get, except that I'm on the right side of the law…most of the time."
"If...y-you're going to kill me, d-d-doo it now and stop…tor-tor-torturing me w-with your voice." Jyll spat, causing Naruto to sigh and stand up from the chair.
He knew what his kick had done to her. To breathe alone would be agonising. She was forced to hold herself up because relaxing would mean pressing down on her lungs and suffocating. But she wouldn't be able to do it forever. Eventually, her arms would tire and give out and she'd suffocate and die.
He had initially been intending to wait for that to happen while he had some time out of his own but seeing as how she could still talk, it would take nearly if not over an hour for her to expire and he didn't plan on waiting that long.
"You're right. I've wasted enough time. I could be missing out on an opportunity somewhere else right now." He walked over to her and bent to her level.
He looked her in the eyes. "I usually don't do this but any last words?"
She opened her mouth to speak but he grinned at her. "I'm just joking."
With a graceful motion, he snapped her neck.
A crowd had gathered outside the bar and they were waiting to see what would happen. The sound of fighting had died out and they now felt confident enough to near the doors and windows to peek in. As one tried to look through the door's eyehole, it swung open and hit him in the face, knocking him on his ass.
A man who was dressed like them walked out with bloodstains on his hands and clothes. Mistaking him for a survivor, they made to approach him but recoiled when he raised his head to look at them, making it clear that he wasn't one of them.
He saw all of them and raised the scarf covering his lower face a bit higher. "I'll leave something for the…damages."
He nodded at them awkwardly and walked past them, tugging on a rope attached to seven corpses that had been tied together. They watched the man drag the bodies, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Noptyrk, Janus System, Sector 1331
Naruto sighed through his gas mask and tapped his foot impatiently as he watched an officer examine the features of the corpses. He knew it was only standard procedure to be sure they weren't rewarding someone for bringing the wrong people or fake bodies but it didn't mean he liked being detained until the validity of his cargo was confirmed.
On the bright side, the heavy rain slightly lessened the stench of coagulated blood and rotting bodies that had been plaguing his nose since he arrived at the bounty office. Aellan bodies decomposed very quickly. In spite of not having even been dead for a full day, their scales had yellowed and were spreading apart to reveal stiffened muscles and their orifices were releasing a sickly sweet smell.
He saw one of the officers glance at him when they reached Zucc's body and looked away from them to stare out the window. It was always night on Noptyrk but the brightly lit buildings and constant activity made the world seem more alive than many others. He could do without the extremely thick and dusty air though.
He idly played with his scarf as he turned back to look at the officers examine Jyll's corpse and scan her face. After a minute of careful comparison to the one on the wanted list, one of them nodded and said something to the officer in front of him.
Said officer turned back to him and handed him an encased chip, signalling that he was free to go.
"The Glishic Federation acknowledges your contribution to the upholding of order and rewards you for your efforts…"
Naruto walked out of the bounty office, ignoring the speech he'd heard too many times.
Thankfully, the bounty details said dead or alive. He'd have hated to go through the stress of detaining seven aggressive people just to get no bonus or miss out on a larger offer just because he was lazy.
The local authorities of Feyxeakao had let him leave with the bodies without much hassle but he had to compensate for the damaged property and ended up doing so with most of his money. At least they had let him off on the matter of lost lives.
But that aside, he had gotten his money back with interest. Even the unidentified pirates had a price on their heads and they'd paid him for the retrieval of the pirate ship and its goods. He was a rich man again. Rich. He could never get tired of calling himself that. It was the opposite of his past life. A life he'd left long ago, though not of his own choice.
He ignored the whizzing of vehicles over his head and the feeling of hot rain seeping through his already drenched clothes as he walked towards the pad where he had landed his ship. He really needed to get out of them soon. The blood was starting to smell.
On his way to the station, he got a transmission from an unknown code. From the first digits, it was a temporary one. He set the ship to travel on its own, set the screen to hide his face, turned on the misdirecting device and voice disruptor and accepted the call. A Farfarmniflatch's face appeared on the screen.
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Believe it."
"What?"
"Don't worry about it. Who are you?"
"My name is scarses singing across the broken ligaments through the waves of higlasgasjsteef lupe in praises of gilded tusk mother Mjikurulukuluk: she that rode across the spine of lorkhalupercal and birthed the cloud son. House of kimbb first seed and son of Dkur Sl-"
"Maaaan." Naruto wailed loudly.
The Farfarmniflatch's tusks twitched in confusion before it realised it's error. "My apologies, I did not realise I was not saying it properly. My name is Calhir Aahupe Weyjin KKK nigg-"
Naruto sighed. Farfarmniflatches had unfortunately long names that usually had even longer translations in other languages. Even the ones that spoke basic still ended up giving themselves long names and never tried to shorten them or use a language that shortened their name.
"I'm just going to call you Calhir." He interrupted the long introduction. Calhir didn't look too pleased by that but didn't say anything. "How did you get my contact?
"Cruhm gave me your code." Calhir said. "He told me to speak to you personally."
"About what, the meaning of my name?" Naruto asked, slouching on the chair.
"About a job offer."
Naruto sat upright. "I'm a bounty hunter, you know."
"Cruhm said you would say that. It is a matter of your other occupation."
Bounty hunting, while lucrative, was a seasonal occupation. There were times where business boomed and there were times where he had to settle for people with bounties so low the reward for bringing them in even if alive only counted as enough to live on for a while.
So he took up the side hustle of working part-time under a mercenary organisation. It required moral flexibility and the clients could be irritating but it ensured that he wouldn't die of starvation or find himself marooned in space due to a malfunctioning component or depleted fuel.
"Well out with it then." Naruto said.
"I need you to help me escort a ship carrying important personnel."
Naruto hated escort jobs. More than half the time, nothing happened and he had wasted hours of his life by staying on edge constantly for nothing and the clients were often either nauseatingly respectful or annoyingly rude.
There was also the fact that the term escort had a double meaning.
In his first year of being a mercenary, he had been guarding a schlog in a party and the man's friends kept staring at him. At one point, one of them got up and left only to come back a few moments later with guards of his own that tried to take him away by force.
A dismembered schlog and knocked out guards later, Naruto found out that his client had hired Naruto to be both a guard and a whore and it was custom for those kinds to follow who looked at them so the fact that he didn't was a sign of disrespect.
He'd never felt so embarrassed in his life. No wonder the bastard had offered so much money and Cruhm hadn't said too much about the job. He'd beaten Chrum for that as well and while the Dhorian made sure never to send those jobs his way, he also never let him live that episode down.
"You'll have to expand on that, Calhir. Hold on a bit." Naruto noticed that he had reached the fueling station. He memorised the code and powered down his ship. After getting the fueling process sorted out, he brought out his pad and called the code again as his tank was being filled.
The line went through. "What happened?"
"I'm fueling my ship. Now how would I identify the one I'm working with?
"I'll send the identification number to you after we've sorted everything out."
He was making sure Naruto wouldn't just turn down the job and go look for the ship himself to rob or destroy. A surprisingly large number of people made that simple but extremely consequential mistake.
Naruto shrugged. "Alright then. At least tell me what it's carrying and what I'm protecting it from."
"That, I do not know. My employer and his associates have been under constant attack from an unknown party for a while now."
"So I'm guessing your employer or one of his associates is in that ship?" Naruto asked, waving at the person who signalled him that the fueling process was completed.
"Yes.That is why it will lightfold throughout the entire journey"
"Hmm. Where's the ship's final destination?" Naruto asked, setting a course for orbit.
"Bathue station."
" Bathue station? Where's that?"
"In another sector."
Calhir uploaded a star chart and the destination in sector 1440. Naruto whistled.
'I've never been to sector 1440 before.' Naruto thought. He hadn't even been to up to fifty sectors before and he rarely ever had to venture out of the ones he operated in.
He sighed. "So am I also staying in the ship or I'm just following it?"
"You will be following it."
Of course he would. "That consumes an ungodly amount of fuel you know. And my lightfold engine might give out after the journey not to mention the strain on the ship."
"You'll be compensated for whatever happens to your ship due to the journey."
"And if it's damaged in an attack?*
"That's what your payment is for."
"Speaking of payment, how much are you giving me?"
"How much are you taking?"
"What if I said I wanted five million credits ?"
"That would be the end of this discussion." Calhir said. "I'll find people willing to do this for less."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "And I'll find someone willing to pay more. It's not like I'm desperate."
"No, but you will lose a good job. Two million."
Naruto looked at the screen disbelievingly. "You want to pay me only two million to follow a ship to sector 1400."
"Sector 1440."
"Thanks for correcting me. That's just a hop, skip and a cut through sixty two sectors away." Naruto laughed.
"And it's not that you want me to just stay in the ship and watch out for pirates, slavers, collectors and other dangers like creatures in space, you want me to follow it. In my own ship. Across sixty two sectors. I've seen ships torn apart in shorter journeys."
"You've probably thought of that and you called me anyways. Why, did Cruhm tell you tales of my kindness or that I was giving discounts or that I worked for free?"
"Five million. Feel free to end the call if you're confident that you can find someone better for a cheaper price." Naruto ended and slouched as he waited for an answer.
"...It is strange that you think you can demand so much even though you have such little reputation."
Naruto took his time to respond as he plotted a course for his original destination. It was clear that he was just having his time wasted. "If you want someone with a high reputation, go look for Lobo or Bolphunga the Unrelenting. See how well they respond to your offer."
"I came to you first for a reason. If you're this picky with jobs, it's no wonder your name hasn't spread."
Naruto could remember the time where he took every job that came his way regardless of the pay, but that time was long over. "It's not my fault you're too poor or miserly to afford my services."
"What about three million?"
"Five."
"Three and a half?"
Naruto felt his temper rise." Five and if you say anything that doesn't mean you agree with five, you'll have to find someone else before your friend gets killed by the attackers sent by the unknown party. Hell, I might even be the one to search for him and kill him. Maybe that unknown party would give me more for his corpse than what you're offering me."
There was silence for a few moments and Naruto occupied himself by aligning the ship to move in the orbit without plummeting back down. He heard the sounds of argument before Calhir came back.
"What about three but you stay in the ship with him?"
Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He exhaled slowly and looked at the screen again. "Now that I'm in a bad mood, four and I stay."
"This is robbery!"
"Time is money and you've wasted mine. If you try to offer anything less, I'm going to come and kill you."
The sound of arguing began again and he heard Calhir growl. "Very well."
"You're such a good person, Calhir. Going so far for your friend." Naruto smiled. "I wish I had someone like that."
"We're in Proktis."
"And I'm on my way. I'll let you know when I get there. And if you get rid of this line, I'll track it, track you and kill you and your friend if he's with you."
"It's no wonder you took up this life. You're vile."
Ever tried mercenary work? It might suit you
Naruto had Cruhm to thank for his part time career. The Dhorian may have been a pirate, mercenary and a possible sex trafficker, but he knew how to convince a person.
"And you're cheap." He shot back. "And if you make my mood any worse, you'll be dead too. And I'll burn your body with the lighter I'll purchase with the money I made from selling your tusks."
He saw Calhir shudder slightly before ending the call and smirked. What a dick.
Naruto couldn't remember much of what happened to him during his battle with Pein but apparently, powering a Chibaku Tensei to keep a rampaging eight tailed beast in place had more adverse effects than just creating a very powerful gravitational force.
His last memories of the fight were getting sucked into the singularity itself, the surprise on the man's face, lots of pain and screaming and waking up naked and skinless in some technologically advanced city. For some reason, he hadn't been able to look into the seal but he could still feel the Kyuubi's chakra except it was…uncontrolled. As if there was nothing to suppress and shape it.
It hadn't taken him long to learn about the place he was in and apparently, unlike the elemental nations, he was in a single continent out of many in a world that was just one amongst many in a system that was one among many in a galaxy that was one among many. The vastness of the cosmos was something he'd always wondered about but to see it with his own eyes was difficult to describe.
He had spent the first few weeks surviving by stealing from both passerbys and people who tried to rob him while trying to learn as much as he could about everything. Looking back at this times, he still didn't know how he got this far, when with the help of shadow clones.
In time, he had established himself enough to try earning a livelihood through legitimate means but his efforts had fallen flat quickly. No company wanted to employ someone who didn't even have an identity and he'd gotten in trouble with the authorities for that. It didn't help that none of the skills he'd learned could be applied in any legitimate job so he turned to the more familiar option: crime.
He'd started off with thievery and information brokering but moved on to offering his services to people. In time, his reputation increased and one day, he got a job that took him offworld. It was also during that job that he found out about the existence of bounty hunters in this world as well.
He had initially taken up bounty hunting as a means of doing the right thing and making profit with it but the occupation turned out to be a lot harsher than he'd thought. In his time as one, he'd seen and done things that forced him to change. To adapt. And he didn't harbour any illusions of that change being a good one.
But he didn't dislike it either. He still missed a few people in his world but he didn't see himself going back by choice anymore.
This larger existence granted him better experiences.
"You two should lighten up. You look like you're headed towards your executions." Naruto said, sitting near a window and munching on a roll of risa stuffed with spiced worms.
Like this.
He hadn't been able to find ramen or any noodle dish in his years but the closest to it that he found were soup with live worms in them. Luckily, his time with the toads and having to eat worms and insects to survive sometimes had led to him developing a taste for the little things.
He sucked back one that tried to wiggle out of his mouth and crushed it between his teeth, relishing the taste of its lifeblood mixing with flavoured chitin. The two other occupants of the ship shuddered at the sight.
Naruto had to admit, an aellan and a farfarmniflatch travelling together sounded like a very bad joke.
"How do you eat that so easily?" The one sitting beside Calhir asked. Naruto smiled at him and shrugged.
"You eat something enough times, you get used to it. And when you do, you might even end up liking it." He explained. "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"
The aellan's "I-Ihsrak."
"Ah, Ishrak. Some person I am. A guy gives me four million and I don't even honour him by remembering his name. Fukasaku would be ashamed."
Calhir and Ishrak glanced at each other questioningly. It was one of the many strange names the yellow haired man had said in the brief time they'd spent with him. It was nothing like they'd thought he'd be.
From Calhir's conversation with him and his threats, Ishrak had expected someone monstrous looking to show up in front of their ship when the mercenary had told them he had arrived. What they hadn't been expecting was someone who looked like a human of only nineteen years with yellow hair and bright blue eyes donned in large clothes that resembled something worn on desert planets.
If it weren't for the blaster he concealed and the bloodstained clothes, Ishrak would have sworn the human couldn't hurt a fly. Even now, aside from the occasional terrifying anecdote, he hadn't done anything else other than crack jokes, make small talk and look outside.
"You know, I killed seven aellans yesterday." Naruto said casually, ignoring Ishrak blanched.
"Well, six but the first one died by my hand indirectly. The agama pirates. Have you heard of them?"
"I…what?" Ishrak stammered, causing Naruto to gave him a strange look. For some reason, he felt like the boy was remembering something rather than staring at him.
"The. Agama. Pirates." Naruto repeated himself. "They were all aellans. Their leaders were Zucc Erberg and Jyll Enhaal."
"I know Zucc." Ishrak said quietly. "He and a few others stole a spaceship and multiple artefacts and left Aella. They would have been executed if they stayed anyway."
"Damn. They died because they stole something as well. Leave because you stole, die because you stole." Naruto snickered at his own joke. "Get it? Leave, live?"
Calhir gave him a mild glare and Ishrak forced a chuckle. Naruto smiled at them.
"You two are looking at me like I killed someone close to you. Come on, I threatened you but that's how we keep customers." Naruto said, waving his arms. "Would you hire a fighter who you don't have any reason to think can fight?."
Ishrak shook his head, getting another approving look from Naruto. "See, he gets it. I like you, Ishrak. I'm going to return ten credits out of my payment for that."
Calhir sighed inwardly. Ten credits wasn't even enough to buy a sachet of oil. He might as well not even bother. "Why are you doing this?"
Naruto grinned at him. "I can answer that…for money. Ten credits to be specific."
Calhir hung his head and Ishrak chuckled lightly.
"I don't get why you're so stingy with money. You have a hundred thousand credits just sitting beside your lips and you choose to still struggle with life." Naruto mused. "I mean, your tusks are only useful for fighting right? Just don't fight."
"They have more importance than weapons." Calhir said annoyedly. "I would tell you them but there is no accurate translation in the basic tongue."
"I think that's for the best." Naruto said. "Given your native labguage, we'd be in Bathue before you even finished saying the first word."
"He's not wrong." Ishrak told Calhir who huffed. "There's a reason I didn't let you teach it to me."
"A man with knowledge and understanding." Naruto commended Ishrak. "May your shoes shine like seashells sold by the seashore."
"Err, thank you." Ishrak said. Naruto nodded and turned back to look at the window and listen to the humming of the lightfold engine working hard. He'd long since grown bored of watching the lines of light streak past but he didn't have much choice.
Ships moving at warp speed were almost impossible to intercept and trackbut there was a particular method of following their slipstreams by lightfolding a few seconds after them.
The problem with it was that it was difficult to tell when exactly a ship would lightfold and the trails only lasted four seconds at most. The only indicator that a ship would lightfold was that it halted for a split second before it began to travel at warp speed.
Take too long after and you'd lose it. Do it too soon and you'd go ahead of or collide with it. You couldn't even lie in wait because if you primed a lightfold too long, the engine could die if you were lucky and detonate if you were unlucky.
For a random chaser, it was nigh impossible but for someone who had been following and monitoring the ship, it would be child's play.
Naruto wasn't sure if they'd been followed or not but as it always was, he didn't plan on relaxing until the ship was safely docked in Bathue Station. He had his pad connected to the systems of the ship in order to be able to detect any sudden ship signatures and was looking around himself in case of any malfunctions.
He tensed slightly when he saw a large serpentine creature streak past them. A look back told him the two had seen it as well but were clearly doubting that they'd seen anything. Guess their eyes weren't trained to follow that much speed.
"If you're wondering, yes it was real." He told them. "Don't worry though. Even if it doubles back, we're too far away."
"You know now I remember a time whe-"
They all yelled in surprise when the ship collided against something and bored clean through it. Naruto quickly looked back and saw another one of the serpentine creatures with a large hole in its body. He looked front again and saw that the entire glass shield of the cockpit was covered in blood and bits of gore.
"Have either of you ever gone to sector 1440 from 1311? I feel like we're passing through some route those things take."
"I have." Ishrak said shakily. "And I've never seen anything like that before."
Naruto frowned in thought. He hoped it was just a coincidence. Luckily, its body must have not been so tough since the ship went through it without any consequences aside from the impromptu paint job. If they were being followed, the pursuers would have to deal with that as well.
"Huh. Okay." He muttered and sat down. A few moments later, he looked at Calhir. "So what are you going to do on Bathue anyway?"
"I don't see how that's your concern." Calhir said, fixing him with a stony gaze.
"I'm just curious. You never know, I might even be able to help." Naruto shrugged. Calhir didn't answer and glanced at the screen in the cockpit.
"We're a few minutes away from the mirrlkan ring." Naruto muttered. "We'll exit hyperspace at about forty thousand kilometres away from Bathue's orbit."
The two nodded and the remainder of the journey was completed in silence. Naruto focused on his pad and the window, watching for any unknowns. It was suicide to attempt a hijacking in hyperspace so the real action happened immediately the target ship slowed.
The jerk and absence of streaking lights alerted him to their exit. Calhir and Ishrak sighed in relief, causing Naruto to chuckle.
"Don't relax yet. We're still an hour away from Bathue Station. An hour is more than enough time for lots of fighting and dying to be done." That made them tense up again. Good. He wasn't going to be the only one alert and in a bad mood if nothing happened.
They were twenty minutes away from Bathue when Naruto's pad began to beep; a sign that an unknown ship was near. He hoped it were hostile. He and Calhir looked out to see a small speeder class ship behind their ship with the guns being turned in their direction.
Naruto would celebrate if they weren't so near.
"Activate the guns!" He yelled as he ran to the cockpit.
"We don't have guns!" Ishrak cried, clearly panicking as he watched the turrets power up.
Well shit. No wonder they wanted him to use his ship to follow them. But still, what kind of person knew they were likely to be followed and still chose to go on a ship without guns?
Naruto quickly set the ship out of autopilot and grabbed the steering. "Then you best hold onto something because I can't do anything other than keep us from getting blasted to oblivion."
As he pulled the steering back, the ship sped away right as the turret began to fire. He bit his lip to fight off the nausea as the ship twisted, turned, barrel rolled and flipped away from the constant fire. He rarely ever got into dogfights and loathed it everytime he did.
They mostly relied on luck and constant moving around since the greater part of the fire came from behind and the parts of one's vision obscured by the glass meaning one had to constantly turn around if they didn't want to get shot to bits. While he had the reflexes to survive most, fighting off the effects on his body was something he still couldn't do.
He growled when a blast grazed the glass, searing a line onto it. The lack of guns meant he couldn't do anything other than get close enough to the enemy and hope that they chose to hijack the ship.
"I hope you at least have weapons on you." Naruto yelled at the two. "If I'm the only one who can fight here, I might kill you both after this is over if we survive."
Calhir looked at Ishrak who tried to shrug over the constant flipping. "Ishrak has a blaster but I fight in my true form."
"Then why are you still like this, you idiot? Are you waiting till we get rammed before you revert back?"
"Perhaps if you stopped moving this ship around so much, I would do so." Calhir shot back.
"Of course I can stay still in the face of constant fire. I just won't get shot. Because once you transform, we're all saved?"
Calhir growled. He couldn't even say much back because the man was the reason why they were still alive at all.
"And this is the shit you wanted to pay me three million for. Who are they?" Naruto asked as he inched closer to the ship.
"I do not know!"
"If you don't tell me the truth now, I swear I'll eject myself out and leave you two!"
"But you'll die!"
"So will you and that's what really matters!"
"You're insane! We don't know but they've been going after everyone involved with someone Ishrak spoke with."
"And who would that be, Ishrak?"
"I don't know his name, I just know that he's a Tamaranean."
A Tamaranean? Interesting. Tamaraneans rarely left their planet and did so even less now that they were laid under siege by the Gordanians. There were also the rumours of infighting after someone's disappearance.
"Huh. Chances are the guy's trying to cover his tracks. Corpses don't rat people out. Got you."
Naruto grinned slightly as he finally managed to manuevre beneath the ship and out of the range of the blasters. About time too. A wing had been rendered useless and the exhaust was releasing more energy than it ought to. If the ship tried to move away, it risked getting its bottom pulled open.
He leaned back slightly when he saw the guns being retracted and someone hitting the roof of the ship. The others heard it as well and Calhir became a large creature with skin like dried mud, a single sunken eye, flat but sharp looking teeth and large tusks beside it's face.
"You're even uglier than I thought you'd be." Naruto said, listening to the bumping sounds and watching as a large circular dent was formed in the roof.
The growl that escaped Calhir's mouth would have made many faint but Naruto just chuckled and prepared to switch places with the first person he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ishrak pointing his blaster at the roof.
The tension was palpable as the three watched a red dot slowly dance around the circular indentation, leaving the smell of burnt paint and melted metal in its wake. After a few moments, the cut part of the roof fell and multiple figures dropped in, firing wildly in every direction.
Naruto's eyes widened at the sight and he quickly switched places with a small crate next to Ishrak and deflected the bullets headed the man's way before replacing himself with one right as they landed on the floor, leading to said shooter getting caught in the fire. Not giving the rest time to realise what had happened, he continued his assault by disarming the one next to him and hitting them in the face with the butt of their own rifle.
Before he could go for a finish, he was forced to use the rifle to block a stab from another and hissed in pain when one tried to hamstring him from behind, cutting into skin but failing to reach the muscle. He lashed out with a foot and struck the latter in the knee hard enough to fracture the knee.
As the one behind him went down, he took advantage of the momentary opening to switch places with the one he'd disarmed. As his target appeared in his place, they got stabbed twice, surprising the attacker who didn't notice Naruto raise the rifle and shoot them in the head.
He dropped the rifle and turned around only to have to deflect a swing from one, disbalancing them by pushing the outstretched arm, punching them in the armpit and side and tripping them with his foot. As they fell, he took advantage of their momentum to knee them in the gut and moved back a bit to kick them away.
He grunted when the one whose leg he'd broken tried to stab him in the foot and kicked them in the head. Before they could get up again, he moved in closer and stomped on them thrice, crushing their heads against the floor.
Before he could move away, another sent a high kick for his head that he ducked under. Before they could retract their leg, he grabbed them by the foot with both hands and with a grunt of exertion, swung them over his head into the one he'd kicked earlier, downing them both for good.
He used the momentary lull in the fighting to bring out his blaster and shoot both the one that got stabbed and the one who's knee he'd broken and prepare to fight the rest.
A shrill scream rang out as wounded Calhir bit a large chunk out of someone's shoulder and tossed them at the rest, including Naruto who jumped away in time. The Farfarmniflatch lunged at the panicked group, clearly blinded by rage and uncaring of the bullets that pierced his body.
Naruto deflected a few stray shots as he watched in surprise and mild confusion as the beast tore apart everything it could get its hands on, painting the entire deck with blood. Come to think of it, Ishrak wasn't doing anything either. He looked around for the aellan and found him on the floor with multiple holes in his body.
His mood soured further. Some protection detail he was if he couldn't even keep his client from getting killed. As the dying screams ceased, he turned back to Calhir. The Farfarmniflatch looked like he'd join his friend too. If it hadn't been for his payment before service policy, Naruto would have felt sad enough to kill himself too. He walked over to the heavily breathing beast.
"I think you were just in a giving mood when you hired me." Naruto said. "You made me look useless."
Calhir growled at him and stomped over to Ishrak's body as he reverted back to his initial appearance. Naruto watched him bend in front of the corpse and lift it up to place it on a seat. Seeing that the Farfarmniflatch wouldn't do anything else, he turned back to the bodies of their attackers.
Calhir's ears perked at the sound of clothes being torn. He turned back to look at Naruto who had gotten to rummaging through the bodies for anything of value. "You don't have much honour, do you?"
Naruto looked up at him and shrugged. "Mind your business, Calhir. You're lucky I didn't decide to euthanize you. You don't even look like you'll make it to Bathue alive."
"I will." Calhir grunted as he stood up painfully. "I have to."
Naruto nodded and continued with his search.
Naruto patted down the last body and got up. He hadn't been able to recover anything other than magazines and a few energy cells. Nothing he could use to identify them either. "Can you at least move well enough to climb up to the other ship? The operating board of this one got shot."
Calhir nodded and picked up Ishkar's body. Naruto had to give him credit. Had he been in Calhir's place, he wouldn't consider a corpse worth carrying especially when he had multiple gunshot wounds to worry about.
As he climbed up into the other ship, Naruto gathered the guns he could, tossed them up and left as well.
Bathue Station, Sector 1440
Naruto sighed as he helped a half dead Calhir out of the ship and brought him to lean on the supporting beams away from the exhausts. He could already hear some people calling for help so he didn't bother doing so himself.
"You better pay me for what I'm doing for you if you survive." He muttered but Calhir heard him anyways and chuckled weakly. He sighed again and walked back into the ship to carry Ishrak's body. The job was done. They were at Bathue, he was four million credits richer and already had a way back home. Life was good.
Before picking up Ishrak's yellowing body, he gave him a quick pat down and fished out a small communication device. It really wasn't his business but he was curious as to what the man had gotten involved in that would lead to him getting chased across over a hundred sectors. He pocketed the device and lifted Ishrak's body.
He regretted his decision when the aellan's abdominal scales parted to leak blood and something slimy on his shoulder that seeped through his clothes. Shit, this was even worse than yesterday.
He dropped the body unceremoniously beside Calhir and turned to him. "Well, this is it. I wish our little journey would have ended on a better note."
"You've done enough." Calhir slurred. "We're not floating in space because of you."
Unable to think of anything to say, Naruto stayed silent and watched a group of strangely dressed people run towards them followed by what could only be law enforcement officers. Wonderful.
After a short interrogation and a verbal testimony from Calhir that he hadn't been the one to put him in his current state, Naruto was free to go. He watched as Calhir was loaded onto a small bed and Ishrak's body was put in a pod and when they were gone, he went back into the ship. He'd find a fueling station first and stock up on supplies then sleep in the ship and leave the next day.
Besides, he still needed to go through Ishrak's device.
Mzulft, Alftamd system, Sector 1299
Naruto cleared his throat as his ship's hatch dropped and let the natural air into the chamber. He put on his goggles and walked out, ignoring the attempts at getting him to try different kinds of drugs and pleas for money.
As he walked, he glanced at his pad and the message on it.
Let us meet.
Not the most descriptive way of arranging a rendezvous but he knew a test when he saw one.
It hadn't been a surprise to him when Cruhm had called him right as he arrived back in Noptyrk. Being over a hundred sectors away meant he wouldn't be able to tell even if the Dhorian had been trying to reach him but it turned out he hadn't. Rather, it was because someone had called him specifically requesting to talk to 'Uzumaki Naruto'.
Cruhm had initially been cautious of him but a few thousand credits later and he was singing like a bird much to Naruto's annoyance. He wasn't surprised by that but it didn't mean he liked being sold out so easily. The man hadn't said much about anything except that an associate of his had spoken about him. Cruhm didn't get it but Naruto did. Good for Calhir.
Rather than bother with the usual transmission, the man had been content to simply send a message asking for a meeting with him by the central time reading for mid day. He didn't even send a location, just a time. Naruto knew he just wanted to see if he could find him in time.
A bit of tracking had found the man in another sector. Another sector he had never visited. What was it with these people and taking him places he'd never been to? He had initially wanted to simply decline but curiosity and a lack of other jobs saw him travelling to hyperspace where he had been able to triangulate the man's location to Mzulft.
And here he was.
Naruto slapped away a pickpocket's hand and switched places with someone else right as the pickpocket was about to stab him. Not bothering to look back as a fight started, he increased his pace and changed his footwork.
The man's location was a few metres away, just one left turn and a few paces after.
Right as noon struck, Naruto walked into a small booth and wrinkled his nose at the smell of Jaatra dust. His action didn't escape the notice of the only other occupant who chuckled at him, his red beard bouncing in his mirth.
"You will grow accustomed to the smell in time." He said, causing Naruto to frown at him.
"I'd rather you didn't even light it in my presence." He said, causing the man to shrug
"It is a shame then, that your preferences do not matter here." He said and poured another scoop of the gleaming powder into the fire.
Naruto silently watched the man steadily inhale the narcotic gas, already fearing what he'd be hired to do. It was no secret that Jāātra dust addled the brain and he didn't feel like going on a failed mission all because someone was too out of it to think properly.
After a few moments, the man exhaled heavily and looked at him again. "Do not look at me like that. Are you waiting for an introduction?"
"You already know who I am." Naruto shrugged. "But Tamaranean's a very vague way of describing yourself."
"A shame then. I assumed that when you stole Ishrak's device, you would have gone to work on finding out who this Tamaranean friend was."
Oh he did but other than the fact that he had left Tamarand shortly before the infighting began, Naruto hadn't been able to find anything else on him.
Naruto looked at him closely, studying his appearance. The man resembled a typical tamaranean down to the skin colour and green eyes and looked like someone who had been his fair share of fights. The only unique things on him were the tattoos on the parts of his hands that weren't covered by his gauntles and robes and the amulet he wore.
He hadn't studied Tamaranean culture too much but he remembered that the tattoos were given to those that joined the military specifically and that those who had tattoos reaching their hands from their shoulders were the ones of highest ranking. For the people capable of reading them, it was something about commending the work of their hand.
The amulet looked expensive as well. A gleaming dark purple gem sat in the center of a sphere of tamaranean design. It didn't look like something one could get just by rising up the ranks meaning the man was either just rich enough to afford it or it was a sign of nobility.
"You're royalty." He concluded. "And a deserter."
The man blinked and chuckled humorlessly. "Deserter. I suppose regardless of reason, it is still just that."
He licked his lips and sat up. "My name is Koji'Rar."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Is that your real name?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Because I like having my questions answered and I feel this uncomfortable little ache in my body when they aren't."
"You have my pity then."
Naruto blinked. "What?"
"Because you will spend the rest of your days writhing in agony. Life is full of unanswerable questions."
"What did you call me for?" Naruto brought the conversation back on track.
"Hm. I am sure you are aware of Tamarand's current situation." Koji'rar said. Naruto nodded. "Then this won't take as long as I feared."
"The infighting began after the disappearance of someone important right?" Naruto asked. "I'm guessing you were responsible for that?"
Koji'rar didn't respond but he gave Naruto a look that made him think the man would try blasting his head off. After a moment, he shook his head.
"No, the infighting began because of who claimed the throne. A warrior race we may be, but we still believe in inheritance. Not everything is earned. In this case, the new ruler did not inherit the position."
"They earned it?"
"No. She stole it."
She. A female ruling over a warrior race. It wasn't uncommon, but it didn't happen often enough not to look strange.
"Komand'r stole the throne." Koji'rar scowled. "And she has been silencing everyone who attempts to expose her for the fraud she is."
"You were one of them."
"I was. I still am. However, I work towards a better solution than simply dethroning her and creating a vacuum that the other families will kill to fill."
Hey, that rhymed. Naruto thought, idly glancing around to make sure nobody was listening to them. When he didn't see anything suspicious aside the fighting natives and traders walking around, he turned back to Koji'rar.
"And that would be?" He asked.
"The only way for a person to be dethroned peacefully is for them to be challenged by someone in their own family. Usually a sibling or in the absence of one, any relative."
"Why don't you just do that?"
"We may be split into two sides, but me challenging her will lead to people believing I only fought for myself. And I have no desire to rule. It is easier to fight than make decisions that affect the whole world."
That was true.
"Besides," Koji'rar leaned in and continued. "I would not hire you for something I feel I could do myself."
And now they got into the thick of it. Naruto leaned in as well.
"The person who disappeared is the only one capable of challenging Komand'r without consequences. And she is aware of that as well."
"So she's sending people after you to stop you from bringing back that person?"
"Indeed. Ishrak and Calhir were, albeit unwittingly, a distraction. A way for me to buy time to conduct a proper search."
Cold, very cold. But from the fact that he was here, Naruto knew it had paid off.
"Komand'r's sibling's disappearance was an abduction. A means of brokering peace between Tamarand and the Gordanians. It also helps that she knew she would become queen in the process."
"Gordanians don't take peace offerings, they take tribute." Naruto said disapprovingly.
"Yes. She may not have known that then but she certainly does now but does not care. She is willing to doom us all." Koji'rar took another whiff of the dust to calm himself.
Naruto could understand why he did it now. Someone of his ranking had probably sacrificed everything for his world. A world that was now going to be enslaved all because one girl wanted to be queen.
"Have you found her now?" He asked already knowing the answer. Koji'rar nodded.
"Yes, I have. And that is why you are here."
Naruto suddenly felt sick. He had been avoiding jobs related to the citadel because he knew people who got into their shit list were pretty much fucked forever. He'd heard tales of people who'd survived life as a prisoner to the citadel and it was safe to say he'd rather die than let himself get taken there.
"You're not serious."
'I very much am." Koji'rar said. "You may not be as popular as the Czarnian but you are known for your almost perfect success record, skills, physical feats and ability to fight against overwhelming numbers. An ability very much needed."
He took another whiff of the dust and grinned at him.
"Uzumaki Naruto, I would like to hire you to rescue the rightful owner of the throne, Koriand'r."
And that's it. Writing this drained me in ways I never thought were possible. It took me over a week to write this.
Anyways, join AizenTheGoat's server, lots of fun there, it's filled with helpful people and there's more to talk about than fanfiction as well. It's difficult to see it not active. Unless you're a witch and only show up when you're supposed to be sleeping.
Feel free to review if you've got ideas for future chapters, criricism or just want to say anything. Hell, you can just say what you like or don't like about it.
Well, later.