(A/N: By the time of this chapter's posting, this should be up on Archive of Our Own. And if you're reading from that, welcome. I have been hesitant to join Ao3 but with the recent scare from FFN. A secondary spot is something I feel I should take up. ((For my readers on FFN, chapters 3, 11 and 14 were edited for minor errors.)))
Cue Opening Theme: Senpai Gone Love It - Oregairu vs. Jay Rock feat. Kendrick Lamar
TWG:R
~Endless Possibilities Arc~
Chapter 17: Business Began to Blow
Wednesday night was a hot one all around as Isaribi and Naruto had met up in front of the Maze Bank West building all in suits at Isaribi's convincing. Isaribi returned to wearing the soirée she purchased in the morning. Naruto had bought a new suit from Paulo's Paradise: a cream-colored suit with a dark orange shirt, a black belt with a gold buckle, and orange wingtips.
"Here we are, in front of our base of operations." Isaribi said excitedly.
"To think we're 'CEOs' of a company." Naruto said they walked inside the building.
The elevator had a glowing marquee in front of it that they immediately got into where they whisked up to their office space. The two would come up to see the interior was fancy but rather basic at the moment. Nothing putting some money down later on could not fix.
"Mr. Uzumaki, Ms. Umi, welcome to your office. I'm your executive assistant, Nora." Nora said, getting up from her desk.
The two immediately were eyeing up Nora. She was a Latina of average build, slightly above-average height, with sizable breasts (Isaribi surmised that she and Yara had to be about the same size.). She has slightly tan skin and bright ocean blue eyes with a beauty mark just below her left eye. She wore a black suit jacket under a white collared button down cleavage-exposing blouse, a black pencil skirt, black stockings, and high heels. She had dark brown hair with a small ponytail and her bangs were slicked back into a "bump" sporting a blue bandana wrapped up to resemble a hairband. Her makeup consists of brown eyeshadow, bright red lipstick, and french-tipped nails.
"Wait a minute, have we met before?" Both Naruto and Isaribi said to Nora's surprise.
A bit of talking revealed Naruto and Isaribi were thinking of Nora's cousins. Namely, that Isaribi had briefly met and befriended Kyanna (by extension Mark) on a past job and Naruto knew another of Nora's cousins.
"I hate to tell you, Mr. Uzumaki, but Variel died today. Got her face blown off with a shotgun…found her body with a bunch of the Professionals." Nora said as both Naruto and Isaribi looked shocked. "Oh don't worry, she and her family are a pack of scumbags. She, her mother, her father, and her older sister are dirty cops apart from that G.N.D. unit. Trust me, she had that shit coming."
"Good to know, how's Kyanna? She and Mark still together?" Isaribi asked.
"No. They're still friendly…but he's married now. The famous model…Ashley Rosemary." Nora remarked as Isaribi balked.
"Of Stay Black fame?!" Isaribi said as Naruto looked her up before whistling in appreciation.
"I've seen her before…but how he know her?" Naruto asked.
"Get this, childhood friends." Nora said as Naruto and Isaribi laughed. "Yeah, sometimes clichéd shit works out. Not that I'm complaining…he helped me to get this job. But let me run you through my duties."
Thus, she showed them around the office and used the prepared speech Mark had given her with a few tidbits of her own. The System essentially filled the blanks for the duo before she showed them to their desks.
"And here are your desks. The computers are set up and ready to go. Also I do want to say that I do offer additional services for 'additional' payments." Nora said back to her normal tone.
"Oh do you?" Naruto asked.
"I have priorities to deal with it, so making money is important. Grease my palms and I'll make it worth both your whiles. Call if you need anything." Nora said before leaving.
The moment she left, the System flashed up a prompt for them.
[Your Assistant and You]
[This is your assistant. While her paycheck can not be altered, you can give her 'tips' to unofficially add to it (thus accessing her favor menu). The factors for your assistant are her loyalty and her paycheck. Loyalty can be gained by hanging out, doing special missions for her, and so on. The more money in her paycheck helps to also raise loyalty. You can customize her appearance with outfits and hairdos, but obviously, you're limited to what you can have her wear due to her loyalty and paycheck. You can even have her change how she refers to you/how you refer to her depending on the same factors. Treating your assistant will reap plenty of rewards.]
Nora's number was automatically added to their phones.
"I love this System." Isaribi said, leaning back in her office chair. "Thank you, Kaguya."
"I still think Kaguya's crazy, but fuck it, this is pretty sweet. So what's the plan?" Naruto asked.
"Simple, she has priorities. She's definitely talking about Kyanna and her nephew. Remember during the speech, she mentioned the Vagos. My bet is she likely is still living with them on Vagos turf…and wants out." Isaribi said.
"We get her out of here and we get her loyalty. Help her enough…" Naruto said as Isaribi finished, "We'll have the perfect assistant."
"Well, first off." Isaribi said before using the buzzer to call Nora in. "Nora, I need to speak with you."
Nora came in as Isaribi cleared her throat.
"Please be on the lookout for any potential Steal Cargo operations that we can go on, Ms. Delrio. And when it's just the three of us in the office, you can relax on the formalites, Nora." Isaribi said kindly.
"Of course, Isaribi. I do have something-"
They heard a buzzing.
"Looks like someone's here." Nora said before excusing herself.
Over the buzzer, Nora would let them know some guests had arrived and Naruto told her to let them in as the two got off from their personal office. Despite both Fu and Maribel being casual clothing, Yara wore an onyx Peresus skirt suit with heels.
"You didn't have to get a suit, Yara. But you look nice." Isaribi said as Yara chuckled. "Nora, these are our employees, Fu and Maribel. Lillian, here is our third in command of sorts."
"So basically a middle manager?" Nora asked as Naruto nodded.
"Maribel, you've decided to officially join us?" Naruto said, offering a hand as she took it.
"Yes, work's work. And I do need my own place because I can't keep living with Fu in the long-term." Maribel admitted.
"But about what you were saying, Nora?" Isaribi asked.
"Yes, I was going to say that I have some information about something going down in Vinewood Hills with the Vagos and the Lost MC. The Greek theater that's on Baytree Canyon Road. Goods being exchanged that would be of interest to the company." Nora said as Naruto looked through his menu.
[Steal Cargo - Deal Gone Wrong]
"Nora, request a helicopter to pick us up." Naruto said. "Guys, we're investigating."
Naruto had to pay for that helicopter ride, but he was not complaining about it.
"Don't forget to finish setting up your organization." Nora nodded before she saw Fu stuffing a few snacks in her jacket. "Really?"
"I'm an employee which means I have benefits." Fu said as Nora shook her head.
"Really?" Naruto asked.
"You literally fucked me against the window of your house…I think that inclines me to some snacks." Fu snarked.
"That's fair." Naruto joked as Nora's phone buzzed.
"Choppers on the helipad, Boss." Nora said.
"Alright, team. Let's go." Naruto said as he and Isaribi put on their earpieces.
"Wait, I almost forgot how it's going to work with your employees excluding Miss Levline who according to SecuroServ is marked as a VIP." Nora remarked. "Your employees, on paper, will be marked as associates. Associates' salaries are handled by SecuroServ with a standard rate of $1,000 dollars a week. However, if they are doing jobs with either one of the CEOs, the payment per job will be $5000 per every 15 minutes. $500 is added to it per complete and successful job, which maxes out at $10k. This applies to you too, Lillian."
Fu and Maribel had their jaws on the ground. Fu immediately got on the phone and called someone.
"Hello…Char. I'm not coming back to work. Found something better? Hell yeah. If I can get you in…look I'll call you later. I got a bit of work." Fu said before hanging up. "Guess I'm quitting my old job tomorrow. I think I'll keep the online one."
Yara got a prompt from the System on her role and benefits in the organization, filling in the rest of Nora's 'blanks'.
"Let's get down to business, then"
Nora relaxed on her office chair, relieved she had not messed it up. However, she was inwardly gobsmacked about how much the associates were getting paid. She knew she could not take part in the jobs as she was the executive assistant, but then she thought of her cousin. She decided to call her up.
~TWG~
Naruto considered having the pilot drop them off at the site, but instead asked to drop them off at the small warehouse. They would all make the rest of the trip in the van Naruto had left in the warehouse. Once they arrived, they all had a gun out. Naruto, Yara, and Isaribi with their pistols, Fu with her Gusenberg Sweeper, and Maribel with a custom .357 Python with a scope and golden finish.
"Where did you get the fancy gun?" Fu remarked, noticing the Vercetti imprint on the handle.
"It's my ablueta's, a custom Python…she got it from the head of the Vercetti family back in the 80s." Mirabel remarked.
"Holy shit, your grandfather knew the Tommy Vercetti!" Isaribi said. "That guy's an icon. You sure your grandmother isn't going to be beyond mad you stole that."
"She won't. Consider it, insurance." Mirabel said with a devious grin. "It's a part of a pair. She still has the other one."
The place was a mess with bodies and wrecked cars all over the place. Fu was a bit unprepared for the complete carnage she saw, but Yara and Maribel got to looting the bodies for ammunition, cash, and guns. The others would snatch up as well before looking for the goods.
"Nora, this is Boss Whirlpool. We're here. What are we looking for?" Naruto said, activating his earpiece.
"A silver Maibatsu Mule should have the goods according to my intel." Nora said.
"Noted." Isaribi said. "Madame Wildfire out."
"We're looking for a big ol' Mule truck." Naruto said to Yara, Fu, and Maribel who nodded. "And really Isaribi, Wildfire?"
"If we're going to have codenames, I want to pick them. Plus, I was literally on my knees for you…you want to complain about codenames?" Isaribi asked.
Naruto playfully rolled his eyes as Fu took a black leather jacket off one of the Lost members.
"It's still intact." Fu said before putting it on. "And still warm, and I see another one. Here, Mari."
Fu tossed her one to which Maribel caught finding a small roll of bills and a knife inside it.
"Found the truck." Yara said before getting inside to the driver's seat. "I got the location on where to drop this."
"Madame Wildfire, Boss Whirlpool, we got company! Looks like we got some hostiles on the way coming from further up the road." Nora said to both of them.
"Thanks." Naruto said before turning to the crew. "Yara, get the truck moving to the warehouse. Fu, Maribel, ride-along to keep her secure on the way. We'll handle the incoming threat."
Yara started up the truck as Maribel was looking for a vehicle that was not completely busted. She found a working black LCC Zombie chopper and started it up. Fu found one of the Vagos' Declasse Sabre Turbo Customs and the three would drive out and away as the 'active' trio looked at their mini-maps. Their threat was closing in. Naruto and Isaribi raced to the front to see turquoise Vapid Huntley Sports rolled out guns blazing.
Isaribi pulled a grenade and hurled it at the coming hoard with a bullet hitting it making another call explode skidding to the side of the street. Naruto fired off his Rocket Launcher to blow up another car.
"Yeah, I don't think so!" Naruto said as five of the remaining six stopped.
The last one sped past them leaving Naruto and Isaribi against twenty-four mooks of varying shades.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Isaribi asked.
"We are The Los Santos Saints!" A female mook said proudly as Naruto and Isaribi started laughing.
"WHAT?!"
"Is that your gang's name? Los Santos literally means 'The Saints'. I guess no wonder you have no Latino or Latinas in your group. Saints Saints." Isaribi said as some of the mooks looked a bit sheepish.
"The term is Latinx-"
*BLAM!*
Both Naruto and Isaribi shot that mook with their shotguns.
"No! He just got his gender studies degree!" Another mook cried out.
"Well, he died as he lived. Useless. But don't worry, you'll be joining him soon." Isaribi said darkly as a gunfight began.
[Cues: Madvillain - Raid]
The Saints ducked for cover as Naruto fired from his Special Carbine riddling the cars with bullets. Some of them responded with Machine Pistol fire, something both were able to dodge given the mooks' awful aiming.
"Wait, are those Tec-9s? Talk about basic bitches." Naruto said switching his MG.
Using the cover of night, Isaribi activated her ability by creeping around while Naruto kept fighting.
"Aw come on, you punks call yourself gangsters. None of you have even land-"
A bullet winged him on the cheek, interrupting his speech. Blood oozed and Naruto started to laugh as his wound began to heal with steam hissing from the wound.
"Ok, you got one. Let me return the favor!" Naruto said, rolling a grenade on the ground and under their cars.
"Oh fu-" *KA-BLAM!*
At the back, several of the Saints were getting cold feet.
"That guy's completely insane!"
"Wait, wasn't there a gi-GAH!"
Isaribi sprang out of hiding to grab one of the mooks to make into a human shield. She one-headedly had her Carbine Rifle in hand firing away at several surprised mooks.
"Shit! Let me go!" The mook pleaded.
"So you want to deal with that?" Isaribi said pointing to Naruto who managed to disarm one of the mooks by slicing off his arm with a katana. "Because I'll throw you over there."
"Never mind, I like being a shield!"
Further up ahead, Maribel and Fu were fighting with the car full of Saints as they were racing through the streets of Vinewood Hills. However, Yara had an idea and simply hit the brakes.
[Music Abruptly Ends]
"Oh…that had to hurt." Fu said seeing that Huntley Sport had crashed into the back of the truck.
Yara looked in the rearview before beginning to drive again as Maribel pulled up to the wrecked car before pulling out a pipe bomb. She raced ahead before drifting around in a semi-circle to throw the bomb through the wrecked windshield before completing that donut and racing away before the SUV became a massive fireball.
"Holy fuck, Mari. That was awesome!" Fu said as they drove to catch up to Yara.
"Thanks, but I just got lucky with the timing. I'm going to have to replace the tires on these though." Maribel remarked. "I hope our bosses are doing all right."
Back near the theater, the human shield was thrown into the ground before kicked over onto his back.
"All right, you piece of shit. I want info on why you came after us." Naruto asked.
"You weren't the target. We were supposed to get the drug shipment that the Vagos stole from our backer."
"I want names." Isaribi asked.
The mook spat on both her and Naruto's shoes.
"Fuck you."
"Congratulations, you decided to act hard. Let's show you what you won!" Naruto said darkly.
~TWG~
A Short While Later…
Yara, Fu, and Maribel were waiting in front of the warehouse as they heard the rumbling of an iridescent gold, bronze and beige Huntley Sport that pulled up.
"I had to get this repaired and repainted." Isaribi said, annoyed as the warehouse's garage door opened. "Back the truck to the door, and everyone gets to unload it. People are coming to pick the truck up so we have to move it after unloading it."
"How'd it go, big man?" Fu asked Naruto.
"Annoying. I can't believe we had our time wasted by wannabe Saints." Naruto said as Fu sighed before they were unloading crates. "But turquoise? Really?"
"It's bullshit." Isaribi said as they heaved the last crate off. "All right, so there's four crates."
[Steal Cargo - Mission Complete! +4 Crates +RP]
The trio nodded in acknowledgement of that as the five moved to look at their loot. Two of the crates had narcotics, clearly the fancy party drugs along with several cans of a formerly banned drink.
"5Some? And these are clearly the older versions. These things are 'blackout in a can'..." Fu remarked as Naruto took up an order slip.
"And from the looks of things, whoever bought it…got it stolen from them." Naruto said pocketing it before closing the crates.
"Boss Whirlpool, Madam Wildfire, come in."
"Yes, we're ok." Isaribi remarked.
"Yes, the mission was a success. I've sent some people to pick up the van you left behind and to pick up the truck. I know of a scrapyard that doubles as a chop shop that can take them. In total, the company gains $21,000 grand. Also I made sure to get the standard equipment ready for employees, VIP, and staff. I just need to confirm the color for the earpieces." Nora noted.
"Orange." Naruto noted. "Metallic orange."
"Got that." Nora stated. "Please inform Lillian and your employees to pass by the office to pick up their earpieces, first check, and kits. Actually, just Fu and Maribel have to pick up their checks. Payment for Lillian has been sent to her account and apparently her supplies were already delivered to her apartment. Don't forget, you and MW, need to come to make some finalizations. N, out."
"Ok, let's open the other two." Isaribi said opening the next one. "We have…weapons!"
Naruto whistled at the variety seeing most of them were gold plated. Isaribi took up a display which was a half dozen platinum-plated AP Pistols with extended clips and a Gilded Gun Metal Finish.
"Bling blang, bam!" Fu said in shock.
"Well I think whoever's buying this crate is going to get a pair of regular pistols instead." Isaribi said before taking a pair and putting her old pistols in its place.
"I agree." Naruto said doing the same. "Yara, what about you? Perks of being a VIP?"
"Oh yeah." Yara said doing the same.
"Let's see, there's a pair of Gold SMG. I have not wielded one of these since 2008…maybe I should give Amir a call someday." Isaribi said to herself before giving one to Fu and Maribel. "Consider this a bonus."
Naruto closed the crate before opening the last one, revealing it was full of animal products to which he closed before they all loaded the crates on the shelf.
"Fu, Maribel, your check is waiting for you at the office. You'll have to pass there to pick it up along with your basic equipment." Isaribi said. "Yara…"
"I know." Yara said getting in Fu's car. "But what are you two going to do?"
"Get some Taco Bomb before coming back to the office." Naruto said.
~TWG~
Back at the carnage near the theater, Tiffany Maye knew she was not gangbanging material. She was a pale blonde at 5'4" and barely 115 soaking wet. She never fired a gun before and had potentially lived in the up and up. But why was she here? The need for money to pay for her final year in college.
She supposed it was partly her fault. She had relied on her mother for financials for so long despite her disdain that she never expected her to cut her off. That had been nearly several months ago…and she had struggled ever since. She tried to reach out to her friends, but to little success. Kyanna, Audrey, and Nikki had basically taken her mother's side. She tried to call Mark hoping he could help, but he had some choice words for her.
"No. I won't help you, I began to distance myself from you when you were two-faced. You're a judgmental asshole hiding under a nice girl exterior. You treat people who you think are lesser like shit. It's funny, I did get to know your mother. She frets over you a lot. Her favorite gifts are stuff that reminds her of the holidays, when you were born. It's ironic because I fucked your mother before I even got to you with no idea you two were related. It was after it was all said and done, I realized it…and that's why I distanced myself. I couldn't stand to be around you knowing this. Jessie went through a bout of depression after you cut her off completely, but what pisses me off is you won't even talk to her…but happy to take the fucking money she toled to make to live off of."
She had argued, but he was not done.
"Your mother worked herself to the bone, and the industry she worked in put her out to pasture. That was when you cut her off completely. She was alone and depressed. If I hadn't met her on my island vacation, I fear what she would have done to herself. But I bet you don't even give a shit."
Tiffany winced remembering that now. She only barely gave a weak defense before he hung up on her. Now here she was. She knew she was already too late to save anyone and everyone was already dead. Thus, she had an idea. A bit of dirt on her face and a few cuts on her clothes would make her look like she fought. Now, she had snatched the money off the corpses of her fellow gangbangers before looking around…and finding a briefcase.
She opened it to see it had a ton of cash. The kind of money that pays for a small condo in Vinewood Hills. It was then her burner phone rang. She looked at it and came to a realization. Why did she have to say anything? As far as the Saints would know, she'd be dead. All she'd have to do is flee. She took up her burner phone and tossed it into the fire along with her Saints' bandana. She got her duffel bag out of her car with her things before putting slinging over her shoulder. With her valuables out of the car, she used the Molotovs in the trunks to light it ablaze. She found keys to a car that was not busted and drove away without a word in a hurry.
~TWG~
[Strawberry]
The Children of the Mountain Fellowship. Home to a cult…but before as headquarters for the LS Saints. Nathan Prescott had many things. Doubts in hiring the Saints in the first place. He was waiting for their leader, the Boss…Palesa Tsya. She came into the office taking a seat in the big chair. Following behind her was Eli, her second in command.
"Well, I heard cops are all over the place. What happened?"
"According to the police reports…it was a deal gone wrong. The team I sent to secure it…they're all dead. As are a bunch of Vagos and Lost MC. But your merch wasn't found." Palesa said bitterly. "Nathan, we…"
"Wait, I have a question. Did you assure me that you or one of your lieutenants was going on that retrieval?" Nathan asked.
"Eli, who was supposed to go with the team?" Palesa asked.
"Kevin." Eli remarked before Palesa called him.
The three could hear Kevin yawning.
"Kevin, where are you?" Palesa asked.
"At the apartment…you woke me up." Kevin said tiredly.
"You were supposed to lead the mission to get Mr. Prescott's stolen goods back!" Eli snapped. "I told you about it an hour ago."
"Wait, I'm going to be honest. When you told me about that, I was really baked." Kevin said as Eli facepalmed.
"I mean, better you sleep that off than go get yourself killed." Palesa said.
"But I did put one of them in charge in my stead. How'd they do?" Kevin said.
Nathan got up and went through the door without a word. He was done playing around. He ignored her…or Eli trying to reach out to him. He simply got in his Dominator GTT and drove away. Palesa was calling him, but he blocked the number. He called someone else.
"Renji. You were right once again. The Saints were a complete wash." Nathan said.
"I told you so. You know that Los Santos means 'The Saints', so their name is…"
"Oh my god, I can't believe I didn't notice that." Nathan groaned. "This idea to expand to LS was your idea, though."
"But I told you not to go with the Saints. You can't cheap out on getting good help, but I have a solution. First off, join SecuroServ because I have. I've talked to a few people there. There's an organization that might be able to help…and could get back at the Saints for their failure." Renji remarked.
"I like the sound of that. I'm heading back to the hotel…thankfully these idiots don't know when I'm staying. Later." Nathan said, hanging up.
Current Stats
Naruto - $230,926 - Current Weapons: Fist, Switchblade, Katana, Dual AP Pistol (Platinum/Extended Clip/Glided), Pistol .50, Pump Shotgun, Sawed-Off Shotgun, Micro SMG, MG, SMG, Special Carbine, Sniper Rifle, Grenades, Rocket Launcher
[PV: Dominator]
(Current Tattoos: None)
Isaribi - $550,955 - Current Weapons: Brass Knuckles, Antique Calvary Dagger, Katana, Dual AP Pistol (Platinum/Extended Clip/Glided), Sweeper Shotgun, Machine Pistol, Combat MG, Carbine Rifle (Extended Clip/Grip/Flashlight), Marksman Rifle , Grenades, Sticky Bombs, Rocket Launcher
[PV: FMJ, PB: Hellfury]
(Current Tattoos: None)
Yara - $111,400 - Current Weapons: Brass Knuckles, Switchblade, Baseball Bat, Dual AP Pistol (Platinum/Extended Clip/Glided), Pump Shotgun, Micro-SMG, SMG, Assault Rifle, Carbine Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Minigun, Molotov Cocktails
[PV: (None), PB: Bati 801RR/Custom]
(Current Tattoos: Custom (Upper Back))
(A/N: And here comes the Saints of the Strange to rear its head. I've been playing a lot of Saints Row 2, and I do like the idea of freedom to bounce between ongoing story strings which has led to this. Let's just say as for the LiS elements, things are quite different. I suppose I should explain this. The events are based off of a fangame made by The_Artichet. The gist being due to Max using her time powers in a fit of panic, she swapped Rachel with a guy from a parallel world who gets powers of his own (I'll be calling him Renji). (The game does have a few notable choices, among them whether you want to romance Kate or Max. I chose Kate.) However, I made tweaks to that (because Kaguya would), and I'll expand on more details in future chapters. While Max's power is basically crippled, she's still a 'Protag' as would Renji as well. But you'll learn more soon enough. As for the Reboot Boss, yes, I'm using her default female appearance: The Mogul.)