Naruto: The Mega Gamer
Chapter 16: Truths
"…Ugh,"
A groan was heard as Naruto opened his eyes to stare at pink ceiling, his senses began to kick in as he soon realized that he was laying on a pink themed bed and that parts of his body was covered in bandages, he began to sit up and look around before figuring out where he was.
"This is…Compa-chan's room, I must be at her apartment," Naruto muttered to himself.
At that moment, the door leading to the bedroom opened and Compa came through, intending to replace his bandages with new ones when she saw that he was awake and quickly rushed over to check on him.
"Naru, you're awake!" said Compa happily.
"Compa, what happened? Last thing I remember was that we were trying to save Histoire from Arfoire but she had a trap set for us and I was trying to protect you all, then I couldn't remember anything from that point onwards," Naruto muttered lowly.
"Wait while I go and get the others!" Compa left the room before he could question her any further and soon returned with the rest in tow who were more than happy to see the blonde ninja aspirant awake and well.
"I'm glad that you're all okay, but can someone please tell me what happen when I got conked out?" Naruto inquired.
Neptune tilted her head with a finger on her chin "Um well, how can I put it. Ypu totally went beast mode in a literal sense of the words and totally thrashed Arfoire's monster and even Overlord Momus although the latter revived again and then we had to split once Marvy swiped Histy from the old hag,"
Noire groaned at this "Despite how simplistic Neptune summarized everything, she's right about what had happened before,"
"Really, I didn't all that? But I didn't know that I had that of power," said Naruto with a frown.
"We suspected as such, especially as someone holds the answers to our questions but refuses to divulge it to us," said Blanc.
"Who?"
Vert pointed over at the table next to the bed where the G-Pad could be seen placed on it "Your supposed navigator K-9 panicked when you unleashed that power of yours and refused to tell us with the excuse of saying that you deserve to know before any of us,"
Naruto blinked in confusion "What is that supposed to mean?"
K-9 emerged from the G-Pad to face Naruto with a serious expression [Because it has to do with everything, including your origins]
"My origins?"
[There's more to you than you know or rather were allowed to know until a set time. I can't hide the truth now that this has happened and I was hoping to reveal it to you much later, but apparently fate thought otherwise. Which is why I want to tell you the truth…alone]
"Wow, the air is getting rather heavy around here," said Neptune a bit nervously.
"It sounds like the power is somehow linked to Naruto's past which he himself isn't fully knowledgeable of," Blanc muttered thoughtfully.
"Which only makes things even more mysterious, I do love a good mystery," said Vert, Blanc grunted a bit as she didn't want to admit that she felt the same way.
"If he knows my past, then it also means that he knows who my parents are. A chance like this doesn't come often, I can't pass it up!" thought Naruto before finally speaking up "Okay then K-9, we'll talk alone…if you girls wouldn't mind,"
"Awww, but I'm dying to know!" Neptune whined before IF grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her away.
"Even I know when to respect someone's privacy," IF muttered in annoyance.
"We'll be waiting outside when you need us," said Vert assuredly before leaving the room along with the others following after her.
There was an awkward silence between the blonde and the supposed AI for almost three minutes until it was broken by the former.
Music Start: Billie Eilish ft Khalid; Lovely
"So…just what makes me so different from the others, who am I really and who are my parents?" Naruto asked rather anxiously.
[For starters, I need to bring something to your attention. Do you recall what happened on the day of your birth?] K-9 inquired.
"Well, it was the day when the Kyuubi attacked the Hidden Leaf and the Fourth Hokage fought and sacrificed his life to destroy it," Naruto answered thoughtfully.
K-9 rolled his eyes at the obvious answer [Pretty much an answer at face value]
"Face value?"
[In other words; not everyone knows what really happened that night. The real truth that only a select few knew. First of all, the Kyuubi isn't a beast that can be defeated or destroyed. The Fourth Hokage chose the only method which is by sealing it into a newborn baby whose chakra coils have begun to develop…that child is you]
Naruto sat silently for a moment "The Kyuubi was sealed inside of me by the Hokage? But why?"
[Mostly because you're born as an Uzumaki whose physiology constantly evolves and adapts, making them perfect hosts to contain Tailed Beasts such as myself]
"You're the Kyuubi? Just why the hell did you attack the village and for what reason!?" Naruto demanded angrily.
[I didn't just attack from out of nowhere, I was actually sealed within your mother Kushina Uzumaki who was my second host with the first being Mito Uzumaki who was the first and also the wife of the First Hokage]
"Then what happened that it led to me becoming your host and what happened to my mom?"
[Instead of simply telling you, I can show you what happened that night. I subconsciously absorbed small fragments of certain individuals so I can show their memories to you] K-9 or rather the Kyuubi swiped a tail to project a video which began to play a video for Naruto to watch with abrupt attention.
He watched as a beautiful redhaired woman who was giving birth and the Fourth Hokage was there helping her and was successful. Watching the happy interaction, it dawned on Naruto that the Fourth…Minato Namikaze was actually his father, given the resemblance which he hadn't noticed until now and how he was trying to carry his younger self in his arms but was denied. Then things went to hell as a man wearing an orange one-eyed mask appeared from out of nowhere and attacked everyone before kidnapping him with the Fourth barely saving him but his mother was taken instead.
"Who was that guy?" asked Naruto tensely.
[I don't know but he was the one who forcefully pulled me out of your mother's seal and used that accursed Sharingan to manipulate me to attack the village] said Kyuubi, growling at the image of the masked stranger with hatred.
The video continued to playing, showing Minato fighting the stranger and was able to drive him away whilst freeing the Kyuubi from his control. After a short fight with the Kyuubi, he went on to transport himself along with baby Naruto and his mother who used chains of chakra to restrain the Kyuubi. He listened to their conversation.
"I'm going to draw the Kyuubi…and kill myself. That way, I can put off its resurrection. This is the only way that I can help with my remaining chakra," Kushina spoke with great fatigue.
"Why is she saying that? I'm sure that the doctors would have helped," said Naruto anxiously.
Kyuubi shook his head in response [I'm afraid it wouldn't have changed anything. Should a Bijuu be extracted from the host, they die immediately afterwards. She was only able to last this long due to her Uzumaki physiology]
Minato looked hurt just by seeing the state of his dear wife "Kushina, you…you made me the Fourth Hokage, a man, a father! And yet!"
She smiled warmly "Don't look at me like that, Minato-kun. I know you love and…," she turned to baby Naruto "…it's his birthday today,"
"…," Naruto's lips quivered, trying to keep a particular feeling which was building up down for as long as he could while he watched.
"If there's one thing I regret, it's that I won't be able to see him grow up,"
"Kushina, there's no need for you to die with the Kyuubi," said Minato determinedly "I'll seal your remaining chakra inside Naruto with an Eight Symbol seal, then I'll use the Reaper Death Seal to seal the Kyuubi inside of Naruto!"
Kushina was shocked to hear this and tried to refute "But…,"
"Have faith in this child, he's our son after all!"
At that moment, Kushina's hold on the Kyuubi weakened for a moment and the Tailed Beast attacked baby Naruto with a claw. The present Naruto felt something in him crack as he saw his parents throw themselves in the way and stopped it despite being impaled.
"I told you…this is something only a father can do," Minato barely muttered as he vomited blood.
Kushina snarked back at him weakly with blood dripping from her lips "Then a mother would do even better, right? This is actually the first time that I've lost in an argument to you,"
Minato underwent the process of summoning the Grim Reaper "Kushina, you're not going to last much longer, I'll start with the sealing as I'll be putting some of my chakra inside Naruto too!" he felt himself already reaching his limit "We won't be seeing him for a while, so tell him what you want to say!"
Kushina looked down at Naruto with a warm smile "Naruto…don't a picky eater, just eat a lot so you can grow big and strong,"
"…," Naruto didn't say anything, rather he couldn't. Actually, he was beginning to hear her voice clearly in his head as if a distant memory has started to resurface.
"…make sure that you bathe every day and stay warm, don't stay up too late and get lots of sleep,"
"…k,"
"Don't forget to make friends as well. You don't need a ton of them, okay? Just a few is fine. As long as they're ones that you can really trust…."
"…okay,"
"And…your mom wasn't really good at this but make sure you study hard and learn your ninjutsu. Always remember, everyone is good at some things and not so good at others so even if something doesn't go well, don't get depressed, okay?"
"…o-okay,"
"When you're at the Academy, respect your teachers and the upperclassmen."
"…I do, at least Iruka-sensei," Naruto whimpered.
"Oh, now this is important. Regarding the three prohibitions of the Shinobi. Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money. Take your pay, put it in a savings account. No alcohol, not until you're of age. Too much Sake is bad for you so practice moderation. And…another prohibition is women. Remember, I am one so I don't know too much about it. Keep in mind that this world is made up of men and women and so at some point you'll notice girls and that's normal, just be careful. Don't fall for the bad ones, just go out there and find someone like me. Speaking of the three prohibitions, you should be wary of Jiraiya-Sensei, ya know? "
"…I-I'll try,"
"Naruto…I'm sorry to say...there will be plenty of hardships and painful times ahead…Just be true to yourself…make sure to have dreams…and the confidence to make those dreams come true…"
"…*Sob* I will, I won't quit, I promise," Naruto could no longer hold back the tears as they flowed freely down his cheeks.
"Oh Naruto…there's so much…oh so much more…there are so many things I wish I had time to pass onto you. So much more I want to tell you. I wish I could stay with you longer…I love you!" Kushina sobbed those words.
"…I love you too!" Naruto had wanted to hear those words for the longest time and now he finally heard them, he felt so happy and yet so sad at the same time.
"Minato…I'm sorry, I used up your time," Kushina apologized though she didn't stop her tears.
Minato felt like breaking down into tears himself, but he ultimately composed himself and kept his cool "No…it's alright…Naruto…my words to you…well…I second everything your mother just said…,"
"Please…don't go…," Naruto whimpered tearfully.
"Eight Signed Seal….,"
"Don't go!" Naruto stretched a hand towards the screen as it went static, signaling the end of the video "Why…why did it happen? They would have been with me, we would have done so much together and yet…," he gritted his teeth with growing rage at who caused all this "Damn him…damn that man! I swear I'll hunt him down and make him pay!" he turned to K-9 "Why did you try to kill me?!"
[I didn't want to be sealed again, humans have been treating me as nothing more than a demon after all these years. You can't expect me to not feel bitter about all this] Kyuubi retorted.
"Then why tell me all this? You could have simply left me hanging just to spite me and make my life hell,"
[I would…but I didn't, you deserved to know the truth in the end]
Naruto looked at the fox in confusion "Seriously I don't get it, why are you so mellow?"
[Honestly, it must have started when you first started playing games. At first I shrugged it off as a waste of time, but then it started to catch my interest. Soon enough, I started looking forward to the games you play. At times being amused at your fails while also impressed at your achievements. Appearing in this world and being granted an active role actually excited me]
"I guess, but why didn't anyone tell me anything?" asked Naruto.
[Frankly, I suspected that old Hokage wasn't planning on telling you until you either graduated or proven that you were mature enough to know and still keep it a secret from those that don't need to know]
"But even so…," Naruto grumbled.
[No offense, but you were a bit of a blabbermouth when you were younger and also can't lie to save your life. But now, I can see that there's some control over it and you actually think before doing, no doubt from having spent time with that lazy Nara friend of yours]
"Tch…," Naruto clicked his tongue, knowing full well that he couldn't deny that he often acts before thinking until he learnt how to get a hold of that habit of his.
[Not to ask the obvious, but what will be your next move from this point onwards now that you know the truth?] asked Kyuubi.
Naruto silently looked down at his hands which he had subconsciously clenched into fists before responding "You know, right now I'm angry at a lot of things, angry at my dad for sealing you in me, angry at the villagers for taking their grudges out on me, at Hokage-jiji for not telling me the truth this whole time, but the one I'm the most angry at is the bastard who caused all this on that night. Many including me lost loved ones all because this guy wanted to destroy the village for reasons I don't know,"
Naruto pulled himself off the bed and sat at the edge "Well, things are gonna be different now, no more fooling around and doing things half-assed, I'm gonna get stronger to the point that I won't lose anyone ever again. The villagers ain't gonna walk over me this time, it won't be me looking for their respect anymore but rather the other way around. I'm still pissed at you trying to kill me but at the same time, you were the one to tell me of my origins. Plus, the two of us share a single target, so what say we partner up together,"
Kyuubi blinked for a moment before letting out a huff [Hmph, and here I was thinking that you would turn emo and start hating everything]
"Please, that's the teme's job. Not mine,"
[True that, I'm already sealed inside of you so it's no doubt that I would be dragged along for the ride. So, I'll cooperate with you as you're the most tolerant out of all humans that I've ever met]
Naruto smiled "Then, it's officially nice to meet you Kyuubi,"
[I have a name brat, and it's Kurama]
"Even better,"
The blonde ninja and fox smiled at each other.
Music End
In the living room, Neptune and the others were waiting anxiously for either Naruto to come out or call them back inside.
"Oh man, just what could they be talking about in there? I'm dying to know!" Neptune whined childishly.
"Now's not the time to be pushy Nep, this must be something important to Naruto for that AI to want to talk to him privately,"
"But don't you wanna know?"
"I can't deny that but we need to respect his privacy until he's ready to tell us,"
"Iffy is right, Naru must have gone through a hard time before he met us. We don't want to hurt him in any way," said Vert.
"All we can do is wait," said Blanc sternly, making Neptune look away with a pout.
Hearing the bedroom door suddenly open, everyone turned to see Naruto enter with a lighter expression on his face but serious nonetheless. The Digimon approached Naruto a bit nervously, concerned about his current emotional state.
"Naruto, are you okay?" asked Herissmon timidly.
Naruto carried Herissmon into his arms with a soft smile "I learned a lot, more than I expected. But I'm okay, really,"
"It appears that you have received answers to questions, hello I am Histoire but you already know me as Histy," the fairy of the tome introduced herself to him.
"It's nice to finally meet you too, Histy-chan," Naruto greeted in response.
"So, can you tell us what was it that caused you to act that way?" Noire inquired.
Naruto hesitated, not sure whether to tell them or not. A part of him feared that they would be afraid of him and he would be abandoned like in the past, he was pulled from his thoughts when someone placed a hand on his shoulders and looked to see that it was Compa smiling at him with reassurance.
"It's okay Naru, no matter what it is. We won't reject you," said Compa.
"Are you sure?" asked Naruto.
"We trust you a lot, right? You can trust us to always have your back," said IF with a nod of support.
Naruto looked at each and every one as they smiled back at him, giving him the courage to tell them of his origins. He and Kurama told them everything except showing the video as it felt rather personal to the former. Once they finished speaking, everyone was stunned into silence, making the blonde feel worried that they were scared of him.
"Do they hate me after all?" thought Naruto fearfully.
The next thing he knew was that he was tackled to the ground, something inside him began to break, thinking that his friends were attacking him but was snapped out of his fears when he heard sniffing and looked down to see Compa and Neptune hugging while bawling their eyes out.
Music Start: Mother Mother; It's Alright
"Waaaaaahhhhh! Poor Naru, it's so saaaaddddd!" said Compa, tears spouting from her eyes.
"I can't believe those guys were so mean to you, you're an awesome guy!" said Neptune tearfully.
"How could they treat you like that? You didn't do anything wrong," said IF, disgusted at the villagers for their bias towards her friend who is innocent in all this.
Noire clenched her fists tightly "How dare they, you're just as much of a victim as they are. You've lost parents on the very night you were born and yet…what I wouldn't give to be able to go there and give them a piece of my mind!"
"Awww, my poor cutie! I won't let them hurt you anymore!" Vert pushed Compa and Neptune away and wrapped her arms around Naruto, pressing his face into her large cleavage.
"Vert-chan…your breasts are…," Naruto could barely speak with his mouth being muffled by said breasts.
And for Blanc, well…
"WHY THOSE GOOD-FOR-NOTHING PIECES OF TRASH! NO, THEY DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO BE DESCRIBED AS THAT! BY THE TIME I'M THROUGH WITH THEM, THEY'D WISH THAT THE FOX HAD WRECKED THEIR VILLAGE INSTEAD!"
The goddess of Lowee was so mad that one would think that her normal calm personality had been completely overwritten by her rage mode.
"Now I can understand why you reacted to my presence that way, this is unbecoming of a ninja village," said MarvelousAQL in understanding as well as disapproval of Naruto's home.
"You went through so much and still hung in there, that takes a lot of guts," said CyberConnect2, looking Naruto with respect.
"Why did they have to be so mean to you?" asked Herissmon tearfully.
"I doubt I can scry for a proper answer to that question," said Gatchmon.
"Nothing ever changes across dimensions; the fear and hatred of things people don't or refuse to understand," said Model Z in disappointment, Model X didn't say anything as he couldn't disagree with Model Z's statement.
Naruto's summons had their own personal opinions in all this;
"Oh Naruto, such misfortunate to have fallen upon you and your family," said Stiria in sympathy.
"I would love nothing more than to burn that cesspool into ashes if not that there are certain few whom he cherishes," Drago growled, blowing smoke from his nostrils.
"We would have to agree with you, their actions and ignorance would have turned him into a self-fulfilling prophecy had his will been any weaker," said Nix.
Histoire shook her head at all this "I find it rather disappointing that the villagers failed to see past their sorrows and their leader should have been more involved in this matter,"
"Maybe so, but we mustn't forget about the instigator who caused all this," MAGES. pointed out the others.
"You're right, that masked guy who started the problem. He's almost as bad as Arfoire," said Noire.
"And he's still out there, no doubt planning something that would cause major problems for everyone in Naruto's world," said IF with a frown.
Naruto managed to free himself from Vert's hug with said goddess pouting for him doing so "Are you guys really okay with me?"
Neptune slung across the blonde's shoulder with a bright smile "Of course, we are. Every heroine requires a hero to work alongside and you totally fit the bill!"
"We like you Naruto, and we'll say it as many times as you want," Compa added in support.
"Unlike those idiotic villagers, we know the clear difference between you and Kurama," said Blanc seriously.
[Good to know you have more common sense than the villagers] said Kurama with a smirk.
"My point exactly,"
Naruto looked at everyone in gratitude, even though he told them, they still wanted to be with him and that was more than what he could ever ask for "Thank you, I'm really glad that you're my friends,"
Music End
Vert stared at Naruto with a coy smile "I can be more than a friend if you would let me," she hugged her breasts to make them more pronounced which made Naruto blush beet red at what she was inclining.
"Alright, that's enough with those giant balloons of yours. You're starting to ruin the moment!" said Blanc.
"Hmph, says the one who lacks the appropriate tools,"
"Alright, that's it! You wanna go, cow tits?!"
"If you so wish,"
Histoire cleared her throat to gain their attention as well as everyone else's "If you wouldn't mind, I'm sure you'd like to learn more about the current situation as well as Arfoire,"
"That's pretty much the reason we went through so much to free you from the seal," said IF, Vert and Blanc glanced at each other, sharing the inaudible message that they would settle things later.
"Now then, where to begin…?" Histoire muttered thoughtfully.
"How about telling us who you are, Histy?" Compa suggested.
"Of course; I am originally a part of the former goddess's power who created me to prevent its misuse. Then she used the remainder of the power to create the four of you goddesses to watch over Gamindustri in her place, I was given the task of recording the land's history," Histoire explained.
"That is quite an interesting piece of information," said Gatchmon with genuine interest.
"I am quite surprised," said Vert.
IF was rather surprised to hear that "Um Lady Vert, I was rather expecting the reaction from Neptune but not you,"
"From when my memory served, I was already in battle with the others,"
Noire hummed thoughtfully "Now that you mention it, I feel like we had a mother who raised us,"
"Oh, you mean Arfoire?" asked Histoire.
…
…
…
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" everyone expected a lot of things, but certainly not this one at all!
"Whoa whoa whoa! What are you saying Histy?" Neptune just couldn't believe what she just heard.
"You're saying that Arfoire is our mother and the former goddess?!" asked Noire in disbelief.
"I can't believe she's our birth parent…," Vert look a bit ill that the potential notion.
"My DNA is denying it!" said Blanc sternly.
"This better not be the 'I am your father' trope, I hate those types!" Naruto complained irritably.
Histoire sweatdropped at their reactions "My, how harsh. But don't worry as Arfoire isn't your mother but rather was your caretaker,"
"Even so, why did Arfoire raise the goddesses, given our…current relationship between us?" asked IF curiously.
"Well, do you know the lore about the Quartet and the former goddess?"
Gatchmon responded "I read about it; a group of humans who had defeated an evil goddess to repent who then created the four goddess and had disappeared,"
"Maybe so, the lore had written about only the Quartet when there's another,"
Blanc began to realize where Histoire was going with this "Wait, you mean to say that…,"
"That's right, that was when Arfoire was human. She contributed greatly during that battle with her power of copying to defeat the goddess although the Quartet lost their lives in the end. With that, Arfoire and I were left to raise the four goddesses,"
"Did that really happen?" Naruto asked the Biometals.
"That's correct, Vent was there to help protect Arfoire even though he wasn't part of the Quartet and didn't want to be put in the spotlight," Model Z explained.
"I find it shocking to learn that Arfoire fought alongside the Heroes Quartet," IF muttered lowly.
Histoire continued "But Arfoire changed due to the copied power of the former goddess when she was evil inside of her, becoming corrupted by power she couldn't control,"
"Uncontrollable power…," Naruto muttered lowly to himself.
"Ever since then, Arfoire sought only power and to rule over everything,"
"But I've been wondering; why didn't Arfoire try to kill us directly?" asked Blanc.
"Even though she had the power of the former goddess, Arfoire was still human and didn't have the power to defeat you all," Histoire explained.
"Now that I think of it, she was pretty weak when she didn't transform into any of our copied HDD forms," Neptune pointed out.
"It could explain why she makes it a point to copy their powers every time we bump into her, she needed them to be able to even things up and for other things," Gatchmon muttered thoughtfully.
Histoire nodded in affirmation "Plus it also strengthens her power to copy as well,"
"So, what's her goal after copying all of our powers?" asked Vert.
"Creating an overlord or making lands fight each other doesn't seem very godlike," IF pointed out.
Histoire shook her head sadly "…unfortunately, with the way Arfoire is now, that is something I do not know. however, what I am well aware of is that her actions are with the intention to destroy Gamindustri,"
"Okay, we know enough about Arfoire for now. What we need to know now is how to defeat Momus,"
"It's simple, really. If people believe that 'Momus is not real', it will become weak. Once in that state, you should be able to get rid of it for good," Histoire answered honestly.
"Okay, but how do we make people believe that Momus isn't real?" asked Compa.
"Not to mention that the word of Momus had been spreading for a while now," Blanc added "With Momus now visible, would the people still believe that Momus doesn't exist?"
"I think the saying 'Easier said than done' comes to play here," said Herissmon.
"Let me try using the internet forums, I should be savvy enough to appeal to them," Vert offered her own form of assistance.
"I'll do what I can too," said Blanc.
The conversation was suddenly disrupted by the knocking on the door, Compa went to see who it is and was surprised that it was the staff member from the Planeptune Basilicom and he appears to be panicking.
"Please escape, quickly!" said the staff member.
"What's the matter?" Neptune inquired.
"Lady Purple Heart has returned and for unknown reasons is destroying the Underground Plant!"
"Oh there's no way that can be true, especially since I'm Pur-," Neptune had her mouth clamped shut by IF's hand before she ended up blurting out the truth.
"You keep your mouth shut," IF deadpanned.
"We're trying to stop her but I don't think we'll be able to, so please escape to the nearest shelter!"
"Oh, thank you for coming to tell us," said Compa politely.
"Oh, and this," the staff held out a folder to them "It's the materials you asked for, now I have to get going," then he left soon afterwards.
"Hey hey hey, I'm not on a rampage or anything like that!" Neptune exclaimed, feeling like she was framed for a crime she did not commit.
"Of course we know, this is not doubt Arfoire creating a fake you with your powers," said Noire as a matter-of-factly.
*Ring Ring* *Ring Ring*
"What is it now?"
Vert held out her phone "Oh, it looks like it's for me, from Ran-Ran,"
Oddly enough, Blanc also took out her phone "Oh, me too…,"
"You know, I'm starting to have a feeling of Deja vu about this," said Neptune thoughtfully.
"WHAT?!" Blanc, Noire and Vert yelled at the same time, surprising everyone in the room.
"What's the matter?" asked Naruto worriedly.
"It looks like someone posing as me has appeared in Lastation," Noire explained.
"A fake has appeared in Leanbox as well," Vert added with a frown.
"What a coincidence, I've got one in Lowee too," Blanc finished, obviously displeased.
"I assume that it is Arfoire who is creating the fakes, you have to spread out," said Histoire.
"I don't need your help, I can take care of the fake myself," Noire declared, already preparing to leave.
"Please wait, Noire," Histoire called out.
"What? I'm in a hurry,"
"Which begs the question as to why she is doing so, she has long since proven that she hardly does anything without a solid reason," MAGES. pointed out.
"Isn't that to reduce our shares?"
"I find that odd, Arfoire is far stronger, so there's no need to move Shares," said Vert.
"Then I suspect that she must be after something else," said Naruto with a small frown.
"…but, what?" asked Blanc.
"I'd suggest that we do some research, we should be able to uncover something from the materials that we have on hand," Gatchmon spoke up, pointing a claw as said materials placed on the table.
"Gatchmon has the right idea, let's look at them," IF spoke in support.
"Uuuuuu, I'm not so good at flipping pages and stuff," Neptune whined a bit.
Kurama snorted [Something you seem have in common with the blonde brat here]
"Shut it, furball" said Naruto in annoyance.
"Luckily, there's a flash drive here so you can use the laptop," Compa offered.
"Aw thanks Compa, you're the best,"
Histoire called out to Neptune "By the way Neptune, about the promise we had…,"
Neptune blinked in confusion "Huh, what promise?"
"Oh, Histoire promised to restore your memories!" Herissmon exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention to the subject.
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that in all the excitement!" Neptune rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
[Another shared trait; you tend to forget things, just like the brat here] said Kurama.
"Hey!" Naruto felt offended at the accusation.
"If you'd like, I can restore your memory now," Histoire offered.
"Actually…I'll make a pass on the promise, I don't need them anymore," everyone was surprised to hear this.
"Are you sure about this Nep? It was pretty what started all this, I thought you wanted to remember your past?" IF inquired confusedly.
"At first, but now I feel like I shouldn't,"
"Why?" asked Noire.
"Cause if I got my memories back, then I'll remember why I hated you three. I'm a bit scared that I wouldn't be the same Neptune with my memories returned…," Neptune explained nervously.
"That's true, we're all here because of this Neptune and not the other one," Blanc smiled.
"Indeed, the feat was only possible with the way Neptune is now," Vert added.
"In spite of you being annoying and at times lazy, you're more tolerable than the other you," Noire turned away with her arms crossed, not wanting the others to see the pink tinges on her cheeks.
[The cliché answer of a tsundere] Kurama deadpanned.
"S-Shut up!"
"No matter what, you're still Nep-chan who we all care about," said Naruto in support.
"So there you have it, Histy. I won't bee needing them anymore to be this happy," said Neptune.
Histoire smiled in response "No problem, it is your choice after all,"
"Any luck?" asked Neptune, having been looking through the information with the others for a while now before deciding to break the silence.
IF sighed "Nothing, the information so far is similar to what Histoire already told us,"
"Um Iffy, what's this about a legendary weapon? Histy didn't talk about that," Compa, looking up from a page in a book.
"It's about the weapons used to get to Celestia and defeat the former goddess," IF explained "Come to think of it, this doesn't come up often in the lore,"
"Hold on, that's it!" Gatchmon exclaimed.
"What is it, Gatchmon?" asked Herissmon.
Gatchmon proceeded to explain "The legendary weapons of the Heroes Quartet, they must be what Arfoire is after since they can open the way to Celestia and defeat her since she's now similar to that of the former goddess!"
"That must be why she sent our doppelgangers, so they could destroy the legendary weapons," said Vert.
"And each of the weapons were enshrined in each land," Histoire added.
"Then we need to get to the weapons before the fakes do," said Naruto.
"But the problem is how do we find them?" asked Blanc.
"I'm guessing you guys don't know where they are, and don't look at me for obvious reasons," said Neptune.
"Miss Histoire, would you know where the weapons are?" asked Herissmon politely.
"I could, but it would take me three days to find out," Histoire answered.
"But that's way too long!" Neptune complained.
"The records I have are vast, searching and indexing would take time,"
"…googling would make things faster," MAGES. pointed out.
"You sound hi-tech, but you're pretty low-tech, aren't ya Histy?"
The fairy of the tome began waving her hands with a tick mark on her head "Who are you calling low-tech?! I'm the one with the records here!"
Kurama snorted [And yet you have a slow search engine]
"You be silent!"
"Whoa, Histy is having a hissy fit!" Neptune exclaimed.
"If the fakes are looking for them, then we could follow them," IF suggested.
"But there's the risk of the fakes destroying the weapons before we can get to them," MarvelousAQL pointed out an issue.
"Even so, we'll need to break into teams," said Noire.
"You're right, we won't be able to have enough time if we went around as a single party," Vert nodded in agreement.
"And with Neptune no longer able to use HDD, she'll need more members in her team," Noire added.
Blanc hummed "Apparently, the battle with the fakes will be unavoidable,"
"Then I'd suggest that we leave Neptune behind," said Histoire.
"Hey, that's a mean thing to say!" Neptune pouted.
"Let us handle Planeptune," said MAGES.
MarvelousAQL nodded in agreement "Neppy has been helping everyone, and now it's our turn to help Neppy,"
"Thank you, both," Histoire nodded in gratitude.
"We can manage on our own right?" Noire inquired.
"I have no intentions of losing to a fake," said Blanc bluntly.
"What about, Iffy, Naru and me? Who should we join?" asked Compa.
"As much as I would like to have Naru and Iffy come with me, but I'll let you three decide," Vert replied.
Blanc nodded in agreement "You can look after Neptune or join us, your choice,"
"Anyways, we're going to go now. See you," Noire left the room with the others in tow, leaving Naruto, Neptune, IF, the Digimon and Biometals behind.
"So, what will you do now Nep?" asked IF.
Neptune smiled cheerfully "Oh come on, you three know that I'm not the kind of girl that mopes around,"
Naruto grinned "We'd be surprised if you were,"
"That's the way, Nep-Nep!" said Compa happily.
"Um Histy, I'll be going now. So can you keep watch?" asked Neptune.
Histoire shook her head with a smile "I suppose that nothing I say will stop you, just be careful,"
"I even have an idea; we can split up and go to different lands to help the others out. Nep-chan will go with Iffy-chan and Compa-chan to Lowee while I go to Lastation to help Noire-chan out," Naruto suggested.
Neptune whined at this "Aww, why won't you come with us?"
"I get what you mean; this way, we can get the weapons a lot faster and even the odds when fighting the fake goddesses," said IF.
"Plus, my summons can help me get around faster too," Naruto added.
"Not only that, we can also seek out the others to become your summons along the way so they can aid us against Arfoire," said Stiria.
"Okay, but please be careful," said Compa.
Naruto nodded in response "Don't worry, I will. Catch you girls later," he left the room and began making his way towards Virtua Forest so he could summon Drago in order to fly him over to Lastation and meet up with Noire to help her out.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto finally woke up after having lost consciousness during the fight against Arfoire. K-9 reveals to him that he's actually the Nine-Tailed fox and had been sealed inside of him, he goes further to reveal what truly occurred that night with Naruto having to come to terms with several truths such as his parents, the reason why he was hated and so much, this also served as a trigger for the blonde as he will no longer let himself be the gopher but rather stand tall and not be dragged down by the bias of the villagers.
Later on, he told the others as well albeit reluctantly as he feared that they would reject him but was surprised to be proven otherwise with them rather sympathizing with him and unknowingly strengthening their feelings for him.
Afterwards, Histoire revealed several stories relating to the four goddesses along with how Arfoire fitted in everything when the group were alerted fake goddesses rampaging throughout the lands, forcing them to separate and try to recover the legendary weapons of the Heroes Quartet before the fakes destroy them. Now Naruto heads for Lastation to help Noire whilst Neptune, IF and Compa make their way to Lowee in order to help Blanc.
This chapter is mostly conversation, but the next one will no doubt be full of action with some battles outside of canon. To clarify, Naruto won't be the village's scapegoat but rather show them that he's not to be messed with when he gets back to Konoha and start taking things much more seriously, which means that the future Team 7 and few others should watch their step around him cause he won't take any of their bullshit. Not to worry, Drago will definitely come out to play before Naruto's eventual departure. I'm still working on what happens when Naruto returns and I hope it lives up to your expectations.
Be sure to read and review like always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.