Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or Naruto!
Thanks for all the support on this so far!
The harem will have the addition of Haruhime, I seem to have over looked her character when I was making the harem, so thanks for bringing that to my attention.
This chapter has some darker themes through out, so if you are not comfortable with that, this is your chance to leave.
Anyway, on with the story.
Early Morning
Naruto woke up very early, even earlier than he had the previous day.
A few seconds after he woke up, his clone dispersed, giving him memories of the night before.
It seemed that nothing really happened, a few merchants had passed by, but no monsters had even come close to the tree that Naruto was in.
"Strange, I would have thought that others monsters would flock to the smell of blood," Naruto grumbled as he rose to his feet.
The blond then began stretching. Once he felt ready he stopped stretching and let out a long yawn.
"Man I hate waking up," Naruto mumbled as he grabbed his bag of provisions. It took a few moments before the blond could get the bag off his back.
Reaching inside of the bag, the blond pulled out some salted meat.
The blond let out a long sigh before he began to eat. The salted meat wasn't bad by any means, it just wasn't very good.
Naruto then put the bag around his over his shoulder and rubbed his eyes.
The blond then began his way down the tree. Each step was quick and planned.
So the walk down the tree was much faster than the walk up, and Naruto managed to reach the ground in a few moments.
Looking at the surrounding area, Naruto began his walk towards the road.
After about a minute of walking, Naruto reached into his satchel and pulled out a map. Looking over it for a few seconds he nodded his head.
"Looks like I still have at least two days left," Naruto mumbled as he reached the main road.
Naruto then slid the map back into his satchel and began to walk slightly faster than before.
Nothing really happened until the sun started to rise, and Naruto came upon something unusual.
A merchant's cart was several yards off the road.
It was made entirely of wood, and looked like it could be pushed by hand fairly easily.
Naruto paused his walked as he looked towards the damaged cart.
'Hey Kurama, should I check that out, it seems kinda like a trap,' Naruto thought.
'I doubt there would be a trap all the way out here, and you can deal with just about anything up here, so I don't see the problem,'
'You're right as always, but if this is a trap, I told you so,' Naruto thought with a sly smile gracing his features.
Stepping off the road, Naruto pushed chakra outwards to sense his surrounding.
Surprisingly Naruto felt something living in the area of the cart.
Naruto's footsteps suddenly stopped making sound, but he kept moving. It was almost as if he wasn't even touching the ground.
A few seconds later Naruto was standing right next to the cart.
Naruto looked around for a few more moments and sighed when he found what he was looking for.
Hidden inside of the damaged cart was a man.
He was several inches shorter than Naruto.
The man had dark brown hair and a goatee. He wore a tan shirt, a dark red cloak, and light grey pants with a ring of keys attached to his hip.
The man was huddled in the fetal position with his entire body shaking.
"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.
"W-what?" The man asked, his head rising to find the source of the voice.
"Are you alright?" Naruto repeated.
"N-no," The man replied.
"What's your name?"
"M-my name is Gregg,"
"I see, what happened, Gregg?"
"A-a silverback attacked us,"
'I thought they were only in the dungeon,' Naruto thought before his blood froze.
"What do you mean 'us',"
"I mean that I was traveling with a friend and then... it took him," The man said, desperation clear in his eyes.
"Do you know where he was taken?" Naruto asked, his voice unnaturally steady.
"I-I'm not sure. When it attacked, me and the cart were thrown from the road, and by the time I was back to my senses it was already gone," The man said, his voice full of worry and desperation.
"Do you have any idea where he might have been taken?"
"I-it might have taken him back to its home, I-I think it went that way," The man said, pointing into the woods a few feet away from him.
"I'll find him," Naruto said his voice steely with resolve.
"Y-you w-will?" The man asked, bewilderment and hope suddenly overtaking his features.
"Yep," Naruto said as he turned his head to look at the cart a little closer.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," The man said, glee written on his face.
Naruto nodded his head as he walked around the side of the cart.
The side of it seemed to be caved in on both sides.
'Looks like the silverback hit the cart with its own body, and the crash pushed in the other side,'
'Sure looks that way, it must have rolled once or twice, based on the caved in roof,'
'Right, looks like the monster came from the left, hit the cart with its body, and caused the cart to roll,'
'I'd say the same, but why did the silverback go for this cart in particular,'
'I don't know, but something definitely isn't right,'
'That's for sure, but how are we going to find this monster?'
'It comes from the dungeon right?'
'From what I know, yes,'
'Good, then it would probably look for a cave to hide in,'
'That makes sense, and from the side the monster hit, the cave is probably to the left of the road,'
'Yeah, that's the best guess we have of its location,'
'Then we'd better get started,'
'Right, let's hope this guy wasn't lying to us,'
'That's all we can do until we can see it for ourselves,'
'Yep, and I bet there's definitely going to be a fight,'
'I would be surprised if there wasn't one,'
'Alright, we've spent enough time here,'
With that Naruto started to walk around the cart and towards the forest to his right.
"W-where are you going?!" The man asked, his voice laced with fear.
"To find your friend," Was all that Naruto said before he vanished from sight.
The man that was left behind, suddenly smiled. A dark smile. One that wouldn't belong to someone who wanted good things to happen.
Luckily Naruto stopped in a tree a few yards into the forest.
'I knew he was up to something,'
'And it's probably much worse than we initially thought,'
'I'll get some answers out of him later, for now we have a mission to take care of,' Naruto thought as he went in a large circle.
First he went to the left at an angle until he was sure he could loop back around without being noticed.
From there he quietly crossed the road and leapt back into the trees.
Once Naruto was sure that the man couldn't see him, he took off into the trees.
A few minutes later he came across a small pond next to a large hill.
Naruto froze in his place as he looked at the pond. It had clear water, something very unusual for a pond.
It definitely didn't look natural, and the hill also looked strange.
Slowly, Naruto closed his eyes and pushed chakra outwards, trying to feel anything that seemed out of place.
One thing did feel off. Around the other side of the hill was an unnatural creature. Something that was much stronger than the goblins he fought yesterday, and it definitely wasn't a human.
Naruto opened his eyes and shook his head.
"That must be the silverback," Naruto mumbled as he slowly moved forward.
The branches underneath his feet making the slightest of noises as he moved from one branch to the next.
After several minutes Naruto found what he was looking for.
A large monkey-like creature with white fur and a stripe of silver fur was standing in front of the hill.
A mess of blood and gore was near the monster. Speaking of which, it was smelling the hill, for what reason, Naruto had no idea, but it probably wasn't a good sign.
Sighing deeply Naruto sat down on the branch.
"That thing is definitely strong. I could beat it as is, but that would take some time, and I don't have a whole lot of that," Naruto mumbled as his mind started to work overtime.
After a minute or two of thinking, a sudden thought struck Naruto.
'Sage mode,'-
That would certainly make light work of the creature.
With his mind decided, Naruto's body stopped moving completely.
A few minutes later an orange pigmentation appeared around his eyes.
When he started moving again, his eyes opened to reveal that his blue eyes had turned yellow and his pupil had turned horizontal.
Breathing out slowly, Naruto launched himself at the creature.
A Senjutsu amped fist found its way into the side of the creature's head.
The blow caused it to reel back from the sudden impact.
The silverback then whirled around to see what had hit it, only to be met by a knife to the eye.
It howled in pain as it reached for the blade, only for it to be yanked out of its eye.
Thrashing its arms wildly, the creature almost hit Naruto... almost.
Naruto had dodged the arm by a fraction of an inch.
A smile crossed his face as a Rasengan formed in his hand.
In one fluid motion, the Rasengan hit the creatures arm and forced it to crash into the silverback's chest.
The creature stumbled backwards in pain before a knife found itself in the monster's throat.
Just as the creature realized what had happened, Naruto had ripped the knife free.
Blood was pouring from its throat when it finally tipped backwards.
Its body fell limp, and moments later exploded into dust.
The only thing it dropped was a large crystal, but said crystal was probably double the size of the ones the goblins dropped.
"Phew... that was much easier than I thought it would be," Naruto said as he picked up the crystal and put it in his satchel.
Naruto then released his sage mode. The orange pigmentation leaving his eyes, and the yellow iris reverted back to blue.
That's when he saw it, a small opening in the side of the hill.
As Naruto made his way closer to the opening, he froze.
He was right, the hill certainly wasn't normal, and in fact looked man made.
Naruto silently slipped through the opening and pressed his body against the wall to conceal as much of presence as possible.
The room he was in was positively disgusting.
On every wall there was a picture of a girl.
She had green eyes, and light blue hair, a very beautiful woman... that is if the rest of the picture didn't exist.
The worst part of the pictures were the fact that she was chained to a wall, and blood was flowing from various cut on her body.
Her clothes were in taters, and bruises along with blood covered her body.
'What the fuck have I stumbled upon,' Naruto thought as his blood started to boil.
There was a table a few feet away from Naruto. It had several red stains that blemished the otherwise decent wood, but the most important aspect was the various things laying on top of the table.
Naruto silently stepped away from the wall and towards the table.
The table itself almost made Naruto gag.
Several knifes were sitting atop it, and all of them were coated in layers of blood.
Sitting a few inches away from the knifes was a whip. It had signs of recent use, and blood coated the entire thing, even the handle.
"What the hell happened here," Naruto mumbled before his eyes fell upon a leather bound book.
Naruto's eyes hardened as he reached for the book. Embroidered on the cover of the book was the name Gregg H.
The blond deftly opened the book to a random page and it read like this:
Day 17
I finally got her. Her familia was killed in a hunt a few days ago, and I finally found her.
I'll make her my slave, and break her will. Then I'll finally claim her as my own!
When I'm done with her, she'll do anything I say!
Finally, I'll have Artemis all to myself.
Naruto gagged as he finished reading. He then threw the book against the nearest wall.
"That makes me sick... I hope to all that's holy that, that girl is still alive,"
The blond looked around the room one more time before shaking his head.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu," Naruto said as he created a clone.
"Clean this mess up and burn it," The real Naruto said as he walked out of the door.
The clone nodded its head, and with a solemn look in his eyes, set to work.
Naruto had just left the 'cave' when he saw it.
At the edge of the water was a small bump.
One that would normally be passed off as a natural occurrence, but this one stood out.
The entire area was made perfectly, without a single fault and here was one singular bump.
The area was too meticulously crafted not even the smallest thing was detail was off.
Yet that raised the question, why the hell was there a bump in such a perfectly sculpted area.
'That must be it,' Naruto thought as he strode towards the bump.
Naruto stopped about a foot away from the bump, then he raised his right hand.
A blue orb suddenly appeared in his palm. The blond then thrust his hand downwards.
"Rasengan," Naruto growled as the orb hit the bump. Dirt shattered everywhere as the attack drilled into the mound.
The second the attack finished it revealed a metal handle.
Reaching downwards, Naruto grabbed the handle.
His eyes went blood red for a moment, and in one violent motion, he pulled the trapdoor completely out of the ground.
Looking at it in disgust, Naruto discarded the trapdoor by tossing it to the right and into the woods.
Naruto looked down the opening for a few seconds.
Breathing deeply, Naruto eyes shifted back to normal, then he jumped into the hole.
He fell for several seconds before his feet finally hit the ground and he rolled forward.
The moment that Naruto recovered, he reached into his satchel and pulled out his lighter.
Flicking it open, fire began to illuminate the room.
It was foul smelling and humid. Littered across the floor were bones, shreds of cloth, and... splotches of blood.
Naruto stepped farther into the room when he finally saw her.
A woman with blue hair, green eyes. She had bruises and blood covering most of her body.
Her wrists were held to the wall by chains, and her ankles were also held to the wall in a similar fashion.
Her clothes were in tatters, and her right shoulder looked like it was out of place.
Naruto's blood froze as he slowly approached the woman.
As Naruto walked forward, the woman tried to move away from him.
"N-no, stay away from me!" The woman screamed as she pressed against the wall behind her.
"I'm not here to hurt you," Naruto gently said as he stopped walking.
"W-who are you?" She asked, tears building at the corners of her eyes.
"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said, his voice incredibly gentle.
"Why are you here?" She asked, fear clear in her voice.
"I'm here to get you out of this mess," Naruto said as he put his hand forward, the palm facing upwards.
"Why?"
"It's a long story, but the short of it is I can't stand by when I know someone's in trouble," Naruto said, a gentle smile crossing his features.
The woman's eyes suddenly gain a faint light to them as she reached for his hand.
"I promise I'll get you out of here," Naruto said, his hand closing around hers.
She nodded her head in response as her body relaxed.
Naruto slowly released her hand as he stepped closer to the chains. Naruto flicked the lighter closed and set it back in his satchel.
He then reached to his side and drew his knife. The moment the woman heard the knife, she started to shrink away from him.
"It's all going to be alright," Naruto said as he grabbed one of the chains and lifted his knife. In one swift motion, Naruto struck the chain link and shattered it.
The woman whimpered when she heard the chain link break.
Naruto moved on to the next one and repeated the process. He did this until he had freed the woman from the wall. The shackles were still on her arms and legs, but at least she was free from the wall.
The blond then sheathed his blade and offered his hand to the woman.
She slowly inched her hand upwards until she met his hand.
Naruto was going to lift her to her feet, that is until he saw her legs.
Shallow cuts littered her thighs and dark purple bruises marked her feet and calves.
Naruto bent down and looked her in the eye.
"Do you want me to carry you?" Naruto asked quietly, his piercing blue eyes stared into her soft green ones.
The woman slowly nodded her head. Naruto then gently picked her up bridal style.
When he stood up, the woman winced, but a small smile formed on her face.
"Thank you," She whispered as she buried her head into Naruto's cloak.
A sad smile found its way onto Naruto's face as he walked towards the place he had come down from.
Naruto looked upwards and saw the clear blue sky above him.
The blond shook his head and then began to walk his way up the man made hole.
It took nearly a minute before Naruto and the woman reached the surface.
Only then did Naruto realize that the woman was hurt worse than he thought.
"What's your name?" Naruto asked the woman as he turned towards the pond.
"Artemis," The woman replied.
"What a beautiful name," Naruto said as he stopped about a foot away from the pond.
"Thank you," She quietly said.
Naruto slowly sat down on the ground, the woman still held in his arms. Only after he had sat down, did the blond set the woman to his side.
She looked at him in confusion only for him to raise his hand.
"Your shoulder is badly out of place. I'm going to pop it back into place, but its going to hurt," Naruto said.
"Okay... I trust you," Artemis said as she turned her body so her right shoulder was closer to him.
"Why do you trust me?" Naruto asked as he gently placed his hands on her shoulder.
"You haven't tried to lie to me, so I have no reason not to trust you," She said a gentle smile forming on her face.
"How do you know I haven't lied to you?" Naruto asked. In one quick motion he relocated her shoulder, causing a small scream of pain to leave her mouth.
"I can tell when people are lying, because I'm a goddess," She said, her eyes looking into Naruto's.
"I see... that explains why you're so beautiful,"
"Thank you," Artemis mumbled. Naruto looked at the woman for a few seconds.
She was covered in both dry and fresh blood. Her body had bruises over various parts, and her clothes, if you could even call them that, were hardly covering her most important parts.
"Where do you want me to take you?" Naruto asked with a sigh.
"I would like to go back to Orario, but if it's not the way you're going, you don't need to take me there," She said meekly.
"Looks like you're in luck, that's where I'm going," Naruto said, a big smile forming on his face.
Artemis nodded as she let out a sigh and leaned back slightly.
"Here," Naruto said as he took off his cloak and handed it to her.
"Thank you," She said as she wrapped the cloak around her body.
The cloak was far too big for her, but it was warm and covered her up, so it did its job.
"I think its time we leave," Naruto said as he looked towards the sky. The sun was almost at its peak, and this little adventure had taken far longer than anticipated.
"Okay," Artemis quietly said. Naruto was about to lift her into his arms when he stopped.
"Are you hungry?" He asked.
Before she could even respond, her stomach grumbled.
"I'll take that as a yes. Here, its not the best, but its just about the only kind of food I've got," Naruto said as he reached into his bag and pulled out some salted meat. A small smile was on his face as he offered it to woman.
"Thanks," She said as she took it and started to happily eat.
Naruto nodded his head before he lifted the woman off the ground.
Naruto turned around and jumped into the trees.
The woman in his arms didn't even seem to notice that they were now in the trees. That's when a thought suddenly struck Naruto.
'She must've been starved,' Naruto thought as he leapt from tree to tree.
After a few minutes Naruto jumped down from a tree and landed softly.
He strode forward for a few steps before he stopped.
"Hey Artemis,"
"Yeah?"
"Are you still hungry?"
"N-no," Artemis said as she looked away, her face flushing red.
Naruto smiled as he set her down by a tree.
"Here," Naruto said as he handed her another piece of salted meat.
"I-I don't want to eat all of your foo-"
"Don't worry about it. All that matters is that you get better," Naruto said, cutting her off.
"Thanks again, Naruto," Artemis said as she lowered her head.
"Hey, I'll be back in a few minutes, can you wait until I get back?" Naruto asked, a sincere smile on his face.
"... Promise me... promise you'll come back for me," Artemis said, her voice quivering as she spoke.
"I promise," Naruto said as he turned to the around and started to walk towards a clearing.
"Okay," she whispered as he walked away.
Naruto walked into the open, and saw what he was looking for.
The knocked over merchant's cart and the person standing beside it.
Naruto silently walked towards the man, and paused when he was only a few feet behind him.
"Gregg H.?" Naruto asked, his voice steely.
"W-wha... Yep that's me," The man said, an expression of shock overtaking his face.
Naruto looked the man in the eyes for a few seconds before Gregg looked away.
"I-I wasn't expecting you back so soon," The man said, his eyes looking anywhere but at Naruto.
"I found your little hideout," Naruto said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.
"Y-you d-did?" Gregg asked, his hand moving ever so slightly.
Suddenly Gregg thrust a dagger forward, only for it be stopped seconds before it could make contact.
"Good... I found the right guy," Naruto muttered, and in one quick motion, snapped the man's wrist.
"Aaaahhhh!" The man screamed, the dagger falling from his hand.
Gregg fell to his knees, clutching the recently broken appendage.
"What did you do to that girl?" Naruto asked, anger evident in his voice.
"I-It was just a little fun, that's all," The man cried.
"Wrong answer," Naruto said. A moment later, his boot made contact with the man's face, sending him flying.
The man landed harshly several yards away and rolled for another foot before coming to a stop.
Suddenly Naruto had a grip on Gregg's hair, and his eyes were now staring into Naruto's.
"Y-you're a monster," The man said, his voice shaking tremendously.
"No... I'm looking at the monster," Naruto said before slamming his fist into the man's face.
Blood and teeth flew from his mouth as his head tried to lean backwards, but was stopped by the hand in his hair.
"Normally I would give you a chance to change, but for what you've done... you deserve the worst," Naruto said before he released the man's hair and punched him again.
His head lolled back and his nose gave a sickening crunch.
The man fell backwards, and Naruto turned around. The blond looked to be walking away.
"Your worst isn't very bad," The man said before he froze.
Naruto wasn't walking away, he was walking to get the dagger that Gregg had dropped.
"Trust me... its going to get much, much worse," Naruto growled as he slowly walked forward.
Five Minutes Later
Naruto had just finished taking care of the thing in front of him. A ring of keys was in his left hand as he turned around.
The monster was missing several teeth, had a broken nose, was missing one eye, three fingers and five toes. The former living being was also missing one ear and had his very own dagger in his chest, with blood oozing out a cut in its throat.
"That's one less monster in the world," Naruto said as he walked across the road and into the woods.
A few seconds later, he found what he was looking for.
Artemis was sitting against tree, her face filled with worry.
"Hey... I'm back," Naruto said as he approached the woman.
"Good, I was starting to get worried that you had forgotten about me," Artemis said as she absent mindedly messed with the cloak.
"I could never forget about you," Naruto said, a sly grin on his face.
"Good," Artemis replied. Naruto walked over to the woman and unlocked the shackles that were still attached to her arms and legs.
Once the shackles were undone, they fell to the ground, only to reveal purple bruises on her wrists and ankles.
Naruto then bent down and picked the woman up. But instead of him walking towards the road he walked deeper into the woods.
Artemis opened her mouth to question what Naruto was doing, but then she smiled.
It didn't really matter where she was going. She felt safe in his arms... much safer than she had felt for the last several days.
Naruto continued to walk in the opposite direction. Then at one point he turned and continued to walk.
Artemis turned her head so that it was buried into Naruto's chest, and that's how she fell asleep.
Naruto smiled down at her as he continued to make a wide berth around the former being's body.
'I don't want her to see that, even if its the person that did this to her,' Naruto thought as he continued to walk.
About an hour later, he made his way back onto the road. The sleeping form of Artemis clutched in his arms.
Hours Later
For the rest of the day, nothing happened. Artemis woke up a few times, and talked with Naruto in short increments, but she fell asleep soon after every time.
Naruto looked up at the sky one more time. The sun was slightly above the horizon, but it was slowly falling.
The woman in his arms had woken up a few minutes ago, but she was content to just stay in his arms.
"Artemis, its about time to stop for camp, are you okay with that?" Naruto asked the woman in his arms.
"Yep, you've been carrying me all day, so you've definitely earned a break," Artemis said, a warm smile on her face.
Naruto nodded his head as he turned to the left. He then walked into the woods a little bit.
He was mid stride he came to a stop.
"Wha-" Artemis started but was cut off.
"Shh, there's a goblin. Stay here for a minute," Naruto whispered, as he gently set her on the ground.
Artemis nodded her head as she watched Naruto carefully draw his knife.
Naruto silently moved forward until he was within arms reach of the goblin. Then in a quick thrust, the knife went through the monster's back and the tip came through its sternum.
Seeing this, Artemis had to turn her head to side to avoid the gore.
Seconds later the goblin exploded into dust and a crystal fell to the ground.
Naruto picked up the crystal and dropped it into his satchel before he turned back to Artemis.
"Okay, its done," Naruto said as he lifted the girl into his arms.
Artemis nodded in response, but her eyes were glued to Naruto chest.
"Hehe," Naruto chuckled as he continued to walk.
Then he came across a river. Naruto stopped about a foot away from its edge and set Artemis down.
"What are we doing here?"
"We need to clean your wounds before they become infected," Naruto said as he reached into his satchel and pulled out a small wooden box with a plus engraved on the lid.
"A-alright," Artemis said. Naruto opened the box and reached inside.
He grabbed a rag, wrappings of some sort of alcohol.
"Here, drink some of this," Naruto said as he handed her the alcohol.
"W-why?" She asked.
"It'll take a little bit to kick in, but it will help with the pain," Naruto said. He then pulled the bag of provisions off of his back.
"O-okay," She said as she took a small swig of the alcohol.
Setting the bag down on the ground, Naruto opened it and rummaged through it for a few seconds.
Then he found what he was looking for, a small pot. Naruto then set the pot down on the ground and put his fingers in a very familiar seal.
A moment later a second Naruto appeared.
Artemis' face froze for a few seconds before looking at the bottle in her hand.
"What did you make me drink?" She asked as she looked back up at the two Naruto's.
"Hahah, sorry. This is a kind of magic that I use that allows me to make a clone. Unfortunately its got nothing to do with what you drank," Naruto said with a hearty laugh.
"Phew, I was getting a little worried," Artemis said, a small smile on her face as she handed the bottle back to Naruto.
The blond took the bottle and set it on the ground next to him before looking back at his clone.
"Make a fire, then start boiling some water, so I can clean her wounds," Naruto said.
The clone nodded its head before moving away slightly and then it started to make a fire.
Naruto turned to look at Artemis for a few seconds.
"Where do you come from?" Naruto asked as he turned away to look at the flowing river.
"I come from heaven. A few years ago, I decided that I would try to find out why Ouranos was enjoying it so much down here," Artemis said.
"I see. Have you found out why he enjoys it so much down here?" Naruto asked.
"I thought I did... but now... now I have no idea," She said, her voice starting to break, and tears began to form in the corner of her eyes.
"..." Naruto didn't reply, but suddenly he engulfed Artemis in a hug.
Artemis froze for a few seconds before she relaxed.
"Thank you, Naruto," Artemis said as she returned the hug. Her tears then fell onto Naruto shoulders and disappeared.
They stayed that way for a few minutes until Naruto's clone disappeared with a 'poof' sound.
Naruto finally broke away from the hug and stood up. He walked over to the pot of boiling water and grabbed it.
Then he walked back towards Artemis. He was a step away from her when he stopped.
Naruto then set the pot to his left and sat down. Slowly, Naruto pulled off his leather gloves and set them to the side.
"This is going to hurt a little," Naruto said as he grabbed the rag and and dunked it in the hot water.
Naruto ignored the heat as he pulled the rag out of the pot.
"O-okay," Artemis said. Naruto gently pulled the cloak away from her lower thigh and the rest of her leg and began to start whipping away the dried blood, and cleaning the fresh wounds.
Every time Naruto grazed one of her bruises, she flinched slightly, but tried her best not to move away.
After a few minutes Naruto had finished with cleaning most of her left leg. Naruto then set the rag on the side of the pot as he reached for the wrappings.
Another few minutes later and Naruto had finished wrapping her left leg.
Then Naruto repeated the cleaning process on her right leg. He then proceeded to wrap the other leg in the same fashion as he did the first one.
"There, now your legs won't get infected," Naruto said as he leaned back slightly.
"Thank you again, Naruto," Artemis said, her cheeks were bright red in embarrassment.
"Is there anywhere else that hurts?" Naruto asked.
"Y-yeah, my arm hurt a little bit," Artemis replied sheepishly.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do," Naruto said with a smile on his face.
Artemis then pulled the cloak down just enough that she could free her left arm.
Naruto looked at it for a moment before reaching for the rag again.
The blond carefully grabbed her bruised wrist and started to clean her arm.
A few minutes later and her arm was mostly taken care of.
It still had several purple bruises and many cuts, but it looked much better than it had before.
Naruto then set the rag to the side again, before he reached for the wrappings.
'Hey Kurama,'
'Yeah, Naruto?'
'Remind me to get more wrappings... and clothes for Artemis,'
'Alright, is that all?'
'Yep, thanks,'
'You're welcome,'
Naruto then started to wrap her arm.
A few minutes later, and the arm was wrapped.
"Thanks again, Naruto," Artemis said as she grabbed onto Naruto's hand.
"Its nothing, really. I just want to make sure you don't get sick," Naruto said, a kind and gentle smile on his lips.
Naruto then turned his head to look at the pot. The water wasn't very clean anymore, but it could probably be used once more before needing to be replaced.
"Hold still for a second," Naruto said as he grabbed the rag with his left hand, making sure not to pull his other hand away. He then gently started to clean her face.
There were a few cuts along her cheek bones, and a few thin lines of blood coming from fresher cuts above her eyebrows, but other than that, her face was relatively unharmed.
"There," Naruto said as he set the rag down again.
"I hope I can get a proper bath soon," Artemis said, her hands still holding onto Naruto's.
"We're still a few days away from Orario, but I can boil some more water and you can at least clean yourself off... that's only if you want me to, I don't want to force you to do anything," Naruto said, a sheepish smile overtaking his face.
"That would be lovely," Artemis said as she finally released his hand.
Naruto nodded his head as he grabbed his gloves.
He then put them on and grabbed the pot. Naruto then rose to his feet and walked a little ways away.
The blond turned to his left and dumped the no longer clean water on the ground before he turned to his right and filled the pot with more river water.
Naruto then walked towards the fire and started to boil the water.
Several minutes later, Naruto returned to Artemis holding a pot of clean water and a clean rag.
"Here," Naruto said as he set the pot down and handed the rag to Artemis.
"Thank you, I'll tell you when I'm done, alright?"
"Alright, if you need anything I'll be over there," Naruto said as he pointed towards the fire.
Artemis nodded her head as Naruto stooped to grab what was left of the wrappings, and anything else he had taken out of the wooden box.
The blond then turned away and walked back to the campfire. The blond then set to work taking off his chest plate.
After several minutes Artemis sighed and set the rag on the rim of the pot.
"Alright, I'm done Naruto," Artemis said as she smiled slightly.
"Good," Naruto said as he started to make his way over to her.
The blond walked up to her side and sat down next to her.
A strange silence filled the air for several minutes until it was finally broken.
"I-I don't know what I would have done, if you hadn't showed up," Artemis choked out, tears silently falling from her eyes.
Suddenly a sob wracked her body and tears kept falling.
Then, in a sudden movement Naruto pulled her into a tight embrace.
She returned the hug full force and cried into his shoulder for what felt like hours.
When she finally started to calm down, Naruto pulled back slightly, before he planted a soft kiss on the top of her head.
"You don't need to worry about that, I'm here now and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," Naruto said softly.
Artemis grabbed onto his shirt a bit tighter.
"Thank you," She mumbled into his chest.
After who knows how long, she finally fell asleep.
Naruto picked her up gently and made his way towards the camp fire. He sat down near it and set the woman to his side.
The blond then made a clone.
"Take care of whatever's left, then keep watch," Naruto said. The clone nodded its head and started to walk towards the pot and rag that were left behind seconds earlier.
After a few minutes Naruto moved away from the sleeping woman to add a little wood to the fire.
A few seconds after he stood up, the woman's face contorted.
"No... don't go..." She muttered as her body started to shake.
Naruto added a little wood to the fire and watched the woman closely.
"N-no... p-please... don't leave," She mumbled. The she suddenly woke up, tears falling from her eyes.
"It's okay, it's okay," Naruto whispered as he embraced the woman.
"P-please don't leave me alone," She whimpered as she buried her face into his chest.
"I won't," Naruto said as he pulled her closer to him.
They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Naruto shifted slightly.
"Let's move somewhere a little more comfortable," Naruto said as he lifted the woman into his arms once more.
He walked over to a tree that was about a dozen feet from the fire and sat down, leaning his back against it.
Artemis, who was still gripping onto Naruto's shirt, was now sitting on his lap.
Naruto's back was pressed against the tree, and his arms were around Artemis.
A few minutes later Artemis was peacefully sleeping and Naruto had a light smile on his face.
"I promise that nothing like this will ever happen to you again," Naruto whispered as he looked towards the moon.
'It's almost midnight,' Naruto thought before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Phew that was a doozy of a chapter. I know it got pretty dark at some points, but thank you for reading.
Now to answer a few questions
1. Naruto will be taking Bell's place completely.
2. I will be changing the story as I see fit.
3. Naruto will not be in lemons for no reason.
And yes, Naruto will be overpowered to some extent.
As always, if you liked this chapter leave a review.
Until Next Time, Peace Out!