Naruto's Helluva Boss
Well, here we are, with another chapter coming in for Helluva Boss. I do hope that you will enjoy it! Now, I do hope that you remember the Harem list for Naruto, if not, then just look in the last chapter, there is only 3 confirmed and there is a possibility that I will add one or two more depending on everyone's wishes. Just remember, no Hazbin Hotel girls.
If you could please check out my profile, that would be greatly appreciated. You will be able to find my newly created rates and rules, along with the status of my commissions. Hopefully they are priced fairly, as I have seen some that are way too expensive for them to even be plausable.
Before we begin, I just want to say that I will be taking a break from writing. It's getting to a time in which everything is starting to become chaotic with celebrations, family traveling from around the state to be with us in this holiday season. I should be back a few days after Christmas, if not, the latest that I will be is a few days after the new year.
Chapter 3 - Loo Loo Land
It had been a few days since Samantha's request had been through, and then everything just seemed to go downhill from there.
The office caught on fire, destroying a few possessions of each person - luckily, for him it was only a notebook that sadly perished in the blaze - but others had lost some more expensive items or even sentimental items.
Millie on the other hand lost a few special photographs that depicted thier first date, some more memorable moments that they shared, along with their honeymoon photographs - luckily, she did have another copy at their home, however, she wouldn't be bringing them in to 'liven' things about around the office space as she didn't want to risk them getting destroyed in a freak accident.
Loona was unfortunate for that case. She did lose a lot of items of monetary value. She lost a few bottles of alcohol - don't ask why she had that at the workplace - and she also lost a laptop that she would use to browse the net or sometimes even complete assigned work for IMP - which was a rarity - and she had lost some other smaller items.
Moxxie, on the other hand, well he was lucky. He didn't lose any possessions that may hold great value or sentimental value, as he was that type of demon that didn't like bringing belongings to work.
However, that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg when it came to just how much things that could go wrong, will go wrong.
Since Naruto opted to stay at IMP's office - once the blaze was put out and it was 'officially' safe to go back in of course - rather than taking the mission that was Samantha's request for vengeance. He was able to see a live video feed of the progress - thanks to Blitzo who was wearing a small video camera on the front of his suit - and he was able to 'experience' what a mission was like, all from the safety of the offices of IMP back in Hell.
What should have been a rather easy mission that simply required to get in, kill the mother of the family that was the target, then head back through the portal and back to Hell, where they would then get paid by the client.
However, that all turned to shit when Moxxie for some ungodly reason knocked Blitzo off-balance, thus making the clear-shot a miss, which in turn made the family retaliate by bringing out even more guns!
He was just glad that the volume was effectively destroyed once a small explosion rattled through the area, destroying the microphone that allowed Naruto to listen in on conversations. He still had video, but he just didn't have any sound, and he had to deal with the annoying static and white-noise that really grated on his sensitive hearing.
It didn't help that he was feeling a little concerned for the trio as they were getting hunted like a bunch of wild animals, however, that stopped when he had asked Loona on what to do in this situation.
FLASHBACK
"Uhm, Loona?" Naruto called out, garnering the attention of the attention of the abrasive Hellhound demon.
"What?" She snapped back, still half-concentrating on her phone in front of her.
He didn't know why she had an addiction to that phone of hers, but apparently it was enough to make her not pay attention on most cases, or flatout ignore Moxxie or Millie on the best ocassions, although it was mostly Moxxie that suffered from that. He didn't know why, but Loona seemed to take some vindictive pleasure when it came to mocking Moxxie.
"Should we be concerned about this?" He asked her, showing her the video feed that he was currently recieving.
Which was that of Blitzo being crushed against a tree thanks to the butt of a double barrel shotgun, and on the other end of the shotgun, a rather deranged looking blonde woman that had a very dangerous gleam in her eye.
After squinting at it for a few moments, Loona finally responded, "Nah." She said dismissively, waving it off with one hand, "They will be fine."
"Are... you sure?" He questioned softly, looking back at the phones screen, "Shouldn't we help them?" He added on.
Loona simply looked at Naruto, her fingers not tapping about on the phones screen, "No, they will be fine. They've been in situations like this before, and they came back fine." With that being said, her attention was back onto the phone fully.
"Ok..." He said, before deciding to take a seat down in front of the receptionist desk. It was a little charred from the earlier blaze and smelt smokey, but it was still possible to sit on it in some comfort.
FLASHBACK END
Yet, as it turned out, everything turned out alright. They had taken care of the target thanks to Moxxie shooting her right through the eye - something which looked both disgusting, and brutal - and in turn, Blitzo, Millie and Moxxie had returned back to Hell with a completed mission under their belt.
It may have taken probably an hour, but it still was a completed mission.
However, as per company policy, it was up to Naruto to contact Samantha Mayberry and tell her the good news - Blitzo did kind of dump that responsibility on him, as he knew that they were living together.
That phone call had been... interesting to say the least.
Of course, Samantha was eager to answer the phone call that was given by Naruto, and she seemed to be very antsy when it came to relaying the infomation about the mission. The ear-piercing shriek of happiness that Samantha did when he told her that the mission had been sucessful and the 'Bitch' had been killed, still rung true within his ears.
It took Samantha less than ten minutes to appear at the IMP office area, and the first thing that she had done once she got into the office space was giving him a small smooch on the cheek, a rub on both ears and an apology for her ear-piercing shriek that she did over the phone, because as soon as she hung up, she remembered about his sensitive ears.
It was very kind of her, but it was very embarrassing! He swore that he could see Blitzo doing a rather crude gesture whilst eyeing the both of them. Millie, oh sweet, innocent Millie looked to be ecstatic at the little display of affection that was shown between them, and of course, being a woman, she asked for some juicy details about their relationship in private.
That was how Millie and Samantha had bonded, over gossip and all of that girl talk jazz.
Oddly enough, Loona of all people seemed to be looking at that display with apparent confusion, and there was even a small flash of jealousy in her eyes - something which he didn't even understand why!
Sure, they talked a bit at work - like he did with his other colleagues - but that was basically it! Yet he didn't even know why Loona looked at him like that!
Yet once everything was settled down, and somehow, Blitzo threw a small party in celebration of the mission sucsess - he wasn't sure if that was a normal thing - and it even involved some drinks and a rather large cake that had the icing of 'Killed the Bitch' on it. Something which did make him chuckle a bit.
From what he remembered, that party lasted an hour or two, before everyone decided that it was time to hit the hay.
Of course, that led to Naruto basically being jumped on by Samantha as soon as they closed the door behind them. Apparently she wasn't a very strong drinker, and she was quite drunk, but that didn't stop them from having a few rounds of sex to burn off the rest of their energy.
It was a rather normal day for Naruto and for the rest of the employees at IMP. There hadn't been a mission or task given out by Blitzo, so it was basically free time within the office, allowing anyone to do whatever they wanted.
Naruto wasn't going to complain if he sat around doing nothing and got paid for it! Who in their right mind would do that?
Moxxie and Millie were happily chatting together on the other side of the room - like usual - and Loona was sitting at the receptionist desk, lounging on the swivel chair that was there as she was on standby if the phone rang - it hardly did, but if it did, she had to answer it - and like usual, she was doing something on her phone - he really needed to figure out what she was doing on that - however, every once in a while, Naruto would catch her sneaking a glance over his way, before going back down to her phone.
In the last ten minutes alone, he had spotted her looking in his direction maybe four times. Who knows how many times he had missed it happening.
However, the rather comfortable atmosphere was broken up, when Blitzo's voice came out from his office, and from the sounds of it, he was using a megaphone to make his voice louder.
"M, M and N! Get in here, we're going to Loo Loo Land!"
Naruto blinked a few times at the letters that he said, however, it quickly dawned on him that Blitzo was calling for himself, Moxxie and Millie.
He gazed at the married Imp duo, and he noticed that Moxxie seemed a little confused, yet once he turned his attention to Mille, he noticed that there were stars in her eyes as she jittered in excitement.
"Loo Loo Land?" Moxxie said as he opened the door to peak his head into Blitzo's office.
Mille was the exact opposite, she absolutely flew head first into the glass window that was in the door leading to his office.
SHATTER
"Loo Loo Land~" She cried out, her southern accent becoming very prominent in her voice due to her excitement.
"Loo Loo Land!" Blitzo repeated. Even though Naruto couldn't see him, he didn't doubt that he was doing some crazy motion with his arms.
"SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!"
There was an awkward silence as Loona's shout echoed through the building.
Naruto for his case simply rubbed his ears as they started ringing, 'Note to self, Loona has a very loud voice when annoyed.' He thought to himself, not wanting to forget that little tibdit of infomation. Yet, for some reason, he was tempted to see how she actually reacted to it.
So, unable to hide his curiosity, he turned his gaze towards Loona, and he was rather intrigued by how her voluminous grey hair spiked upwards, making it look much more pointier and sharper, yet her eyes were narrowed into slits and her mouth was near frothing as she snarled in the trio's direction.
"Uh..." Naruto begun, clearing his throat to try and draw some attention to himself and away from Loona, "Is this a bad time to ask, but what is Loo Loo Land?" He questioned, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Millie looked at him like he grew a second head, and she almost looked... horrified that he didn't know what Loo Loo Land was.
Naruto shifted in the middle of the backseat in the van with some relative discomfort. Apparently, from the over excited Millie explanation, Loo Loo Land was a theme park that had many different rides and different stands for food, drink and carnival games.
Although he never went to a theme park when he was still alive - he had some doubts that the Elemental Nations actually had them, sure, they had festivals, but not theme parks - however, thanks to Millie showing some rather... old and worn photographs from when she was a youngster, he had got a general idea on what a theme park looked like.
He would be lying to say that his interest wasn't piqued.
However, right now, they were in the IMP van, which was a rather long, black van that had seven seats in it, which meant that it could hold a lot of people. Yet, the reason why they were in the van was because Blitzo had taken the offer in becoming 'Bodyguards' for the day for Stolas and his daughter for the day out at the theme park.
Although he had never met Stolas nor his daughter, he was certain that Blitzo didn't like him, as he remembered seeing one of the buttons at the receptionist desk being labelled 'Stolas'.
It was also the reason for the ridiculous get-up that they all had to wear. Since the job was for 'Bodyguarding' a very influential or powerful person, Blitzo had forced everyone - even himself - to wear extremely fancy suits that were equipped with a weapon of some sort - He didn't know how to use a gun, so he chose a shortsword. Although, his suit was vastly different than the others.
His suit was vermillion in color - a couple of shades darker than his normal skin tone - whilst the others were wearing simple black suits that looked like they were part of a mob family or from some shady business. They even had sunglasses with them!
The only one spared from wearing such clothing was Loona, as apparently she hated theme parks with a passion. Either that, or she just hated most forms of fun to begin with that didn't involve bloodshed or dismemberment. Or, maybe it was just the possible noise levels that would drive her absolutely bonkers.
"Alright, Naruto. This is your first time meeting Stolas, so do be prepared for any... flirting, swearing or him just being annoying." Blitzo said as he listed off the traits of Stolas, looking briefly in the rear-view mirror as they were quickly approaching a grand looking palace that was decorated with many jewels and gems.
Leaning back into his seat, Naruto had a small frown on his face as he was told the interesting... traits of this Stolas character. He did seem like a bit of a character. However, he would't give a judgment on this person until he knew him personally.
SCREECH
Naruto was ever so thankful that he was wearing a seatbelt at the moment, because of soon as Blitzo decided to give the van a drift - something that it was NOT designed to do - the sheer force that was imposed upon him would've been enough to possibly fling him out of the window and injure himself. While he did stay in the vehicle, it did feel like the seatbelt dug into his skin, which was also very uncomfortable.
"Here we are." Blitzo exclaimed out rather sarcastically, his eyes locked onto the two demons that were waiting at the base of the steps that led up towards the front doors of the magnificent palace.
Naruto could only just barely see out of the extremely dark tinted windows, but he could see the general shape and blurry features of the demons on the other side of the van, waiting to be picked up.
They seemed to be owl demons, or some sort of avian demon.
"Good morning, Blitzy~" The extremely tall anthropormorphic owl demon greeted out with a small wave.
"Dad..." The smaller, adolescent anthropormophic avian demon groaned out. Now, Naruto could instantly tell that this was a girl by her tone and pitch of voice, but he could tell that something wasn't quite right with her.
"Just get in! We don't have all day." Blitzo yelled from the drivers seat of the van, gesturing for the father and daughter duo to enter the van.
There was a few moments of near silence, as the only real sound that was coming through were the slight tapping of the ground thanks to the duo moving about to the car.
"Oh, hello." Stolas said, blinking a few times as he slide the door open on the right side of the van, "Who might you be?" He questioned once again, a slight bit of confusion in his voice due to him never seeing or hearing of this demon in the car, nor that he didn't look like an Imp.
Now that Naruto had a clear view of him, he was able to take in his appearance for the first time, and he had to admit, he seemed bloody tall.
Stolas is an anthropormorphic owl demon. He was extremely tall, with an owlish beak and two pairs of narrow red eyes with no visible irises or pupils. He has blue and dark blue feathers with white and gray accents. He has a tail of blue feathers with darker blue tips that reaches his feet, and a lighter gray-blue puff of fur on his chest. From the neck up, his feathers fade from blue to darker blue, and his face stands out in a white heart shape.
His arms and legs are black, and instead of shoes, his limbs are tipped with owl claws.
He was currently wearing a simple white shirt that had some red patterns around the arms and waist, and it also had a red outline of an apple that was shaped like a skull, oddly enough. To go along with his shirt, he was wearing darker red shorts that were rolled once at the lower end.
"Stolas, this is Naruto, a new member of IMP." Blitzo said, looking at the backseat of the van through the rearview mirror in front of him.
"Charmed~" He purred out, sticking his hand out for Naruto to shake.
"Pleased to meet you, sir." Naruto respectfully replied back, shaking his hand softly before retracting it back onto his lap.
"None of that sir stuff, just call me Stolas, or any other nickname you might have for me~" He purred out once again, the tip of his tongue lightly tracing his beak as he slide onto the backseat of the van.
Naruto shivered in his seat once the tone of voice registered within his mind. Now he understood why Stolas had his very own 'emergency' button back in IMP.
However, a few moments later, the sliding door on Naruto's left slid open, revealing it to be the smaller, adolescent avian demon from before came in without a word spoken.
She was rather lanky and unkempt with a coat of gray feathers adorning her body. Her eyes are also pink with bright pupils, while below the eyes are three tear-like streaks. From what he could tell, she did have some features that she shared with her father with the white mask-like face.
Clothing wise, she was wearing a pink glittery dress, a dark feather shawl around her shoulders, pink arm warmers with stars on them, and a pale tiara along with a black beanie hat. She also accessorizes with a pink choker around her neck.
All in all, she looked and acted like an emo. Not that there was anything wrong with that, mind you.
"Morning, uh...?" Naruto greeted out towards the adolescent, but quickly lost a bit of confidence when he realised that he didn't know her name.
She merely looked out of the corner of her eye, "Octavia." She said, introducing herself, "I... guess its a good morning?" She said, not that interested in the conversation nor was she too interested in continuing to talk at the moment.
He could tell that because she had some earpieces in her ears and he could hear the volume of the music playing from her phone start to rise so it would be enough to drown out any conversation that might be had.
"Nice to meet you." Naruto said, leaving her alone for now as he leaned back in his seat and looked out to the front of the van, where he could see many different vehicles and buildings whizzing by.
"You have to forgive her, we had a... rather rough morning." Stolas said, laying a hand on his shoulder to garner his attention. He flashed a somewhat bittersweet smile past him as he gazed at his daughter.
"That's fine. Everyone has them." Naruto said, waving off the concern that Stolas showed for his daughter. However, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Stolas seemed to be a little more... flat due to this, "This isn't the first time?" Naruto questioned, trying his best to not sound too intruding on a clear personal matter.
"No, no it is not." Stolas finally said with a small sigh, placing his elbow upon the lip of the inside of the car door and looking out the extremely dark tinted windows, a near look of longing on his face, "Me and my wife... are having some bad times and that has caused some discomfort in the home, and for Octavia." He added on.
Naruto nodded his head, whilst he may not be all that great when it concerned family - as he never got to experience what one was like before - he did have a little experience when it came to trying to help situations in his past life - which he didn't get any thanks for either.
"Have you tried talking to her about it? Octavia, I mean." Naruto said, trying his best to help with the situation.
Stolas was quiet for a few moments, before he gave another sigh and his tail feathers once again flared out, "I want to... I just... don't know how to go about things." He admitted, sending a small glance at Naruto through the corner of one of his eyes.
"Well, you can take the opportunity you have today. The right words will come to you, you just need to take your time." Naruto said, flashing Stolas a slight smile, before he turned his attention away from him and back to the front of the van.
Stolas merely nodded his head, before leaning against his hand that was resting on the inside of the door, just simply gazing out of the tinted windows, his mind starting to figure out how he would bring this up and how he would word it.
Pulling up to the theme park of Loo Loo Land, the sliding door on the right side was opened up, curtesy of Moxxie, who was wearing a rather snazzy black suit with some small sunglasses that covered all of his eyes.
Seeing how the door was opened, Stolas was the first one to get out of the vehicle and gaze upon the theme park, a small, wistful smile on his features.
With Naruto being the one in the middle of the backseat, it was his turn to exit the vehicle next, however, with a quick glance to his left, he noticed that Octavia was still listening to her music, seemingly staring at nothing. Gently nudging her side, that was enough to snap her out of her little daze as she glanced over to him, looking at him quizically.
"We're here." Was all that Naruto said, gesturing outside where a few cars could be spotted parked next to them. The loud cheers and possible wails from the children were enough to let her know that they were at the location as well.
"Ugh..." Octavia groaned out in vast disappointment, before she took out both of her earpieces and wrapped them around the phone, before placing said phone down on the floor of the van, she then grabbed a small flyer and placed it over the phone, effectively hiding it from anyone that might look through the dark tinted windows, "Let's go..." She uttered out, still not sounding enthused, in fact, there was a hint of annoyance and anger in her voice.
With that said, Naruto managed to slide his way out of the van and into the parking lot - standing beside Stolas - and he too, started to gaze at the theme park, with a look of awe on his visage. This was the first theme park that he has ever seen, so it was something special to feast his eyes on.
Although, now that he was standing right next to Stolas and not sitting next to him, he finally got to witness his height, and holy shit, he was extremely tall.
He had always thought to himself on being one of the taller lads, however, standing next to Stolas made him feel like he was an ant. He basically stood nearly twice as tall as him! He truly felt sorry for Moxxie and Millie, as they were both way shorter than him and Blitzo, and he couldn't even imagine what it felt like for them to stand right next to Stolas himself.
It would've been like being an ant next to an elephant.
"Right, so remember Naruto, we are bodyguards for today. You keep watch of Octavia-" He said, gesturing toward the adolescent avian demon that looked rightfully embarrassed right now, "-and I keep watch for Stolas." Blito said, gesturing towards Stolas, who was now wearing a rahter childish hat of what seems to be the theme parks mascot, before grumbling out, "Not that he needs it anyway." Although it was spoken mostly to himself, Naruto was still able to hear it.
"Yes, sir." Naruto said, giving a mock salute to his boss.
"Good." He stated, before eyeing his person suddenly, "Bring your weapon?" He questioned, gesturing to his weapon that he brought, which was a sniper rifle... which was sort of overkill for a situation like this.
"Yes, I do." Naruto answered, tapping the small black sheath that was hidden just underneath his vermillion suit - that was one size too large for him.
"Excellent." Blitzo said, nodding to himself, sounding rather pleased at the 'new recruit', "Remember, no one can be trusted, if they are going for either of them, don't be afraid to cut them down, that is what we are getting paid for." Blitzo said with some seriousness in his voice as he gazed at Naruto over the top of his high end sunglasses, "Anyway, good luck." He said, before Blitzo started to trail behind Stolas, rifle in hand.
Naruto watched as that duo headed towards the entrance, and he turned his attention towards Stolas' daughter, "So... ready to do this?" He questioned her.
Octavia's bright pink eyes peaked from underneath her black beanie hat, "I guess." She said softly.
Naruto nodded to himself, before gesturing for her to follow him, which she did, although she did trail behind for a bit, "So... since we might be stuck with each other for sometime know, how about we get to know each other?" He offered, trying to start a conversation to make things less awkward.
"What do you mean?" She questioned, although, Naruto smiled softly to himself as he prevented a small fist pump happening. He had heard a hint of curiousness in her voice! Much better than the bland monotone she had before!
"You know, likes, dislikes, hobbies and all of that jazz." He said, vaguely remembering a man with silver hair saying the same thing to him at one point in time in his past life, and now, it seemed like it could be put to use!
"Only if you go first." She told him.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders, all too happy to go along with that, "Well, for one, I am Naruto Uzumaki, a nine-tailed demon, as you can tell." He said, before his tails flared out from underneath his vermillion suit. He would keep them under his pants, but that was just too uncomfortable, "I like ramen, plants, I also like keeping fit." He said, pausing briefly in order to allow Octavia to have that fully sink in, "My dislikes, well I hate liars, ghosts, and I also hate my old village." He added on, he would say that he hates rapists and perverts and all of that, but it was Hell, and demons did whatever they wanted, as they were sin incarnate and didn't give a shit about the rules or morals, "My hobbies... well I guess gardening is mine." He said, smiling lightly as he finished his little introduction.
Octavia nodded her head, although, her eyes did stay on Naruto's nine fluffy tails - until he hid them from sight once again - and she nodded her head to everything that Naruto said, although she didn't show it, she was rather curious about him. He seemed... different than all the rest of the demons she had seen or heard about... and she didn't know how to feel about it.
She also would've never expected gardening to be a hobby of his. She had only ever met a small handful of demons that actually liked plants.
"What about you?" Naruto questioned, breaking her out of those little thoughts of hers.
She sighed to herself, "My name is Octavia, as you already know." She started, she would've said her last name, but she didn't really care about that sort of thing, "I like reading books and collecting taxidermy." She said, "I dislike my parents fighting all the time, and I guess I hate the feeling of being alone." She added on, before sighing lightly to herself, "My hobbies... well, I guess reading. I don't really have anything else to say."
She finished off her little introduction as they made their way through the entrance of the theme park.
Naruto nodded his head at that, a proud smile on his face as he learnt more about Octavia, although, he had no idea what taxidermy was, it sounded cool, but not everything might sound like it seems. However, on the other hand, perhaps he would be able to help her as well! Maybe he could try and get Stolas and her in some place private so they could talk about their problems when it concerned home!
They walked in some comfortable silence as they made their way towards Stolas and Blitzo, where the day would hopefully go off without a hitch and everything will be fine.
Although, for some odd reason, despite this place being rather cheerful and... peppy, he somehow knew that he just jinxed something.
Yep. He had managed to jinx it.
Somehow, someway, there was now a massive blaze now brewing within the Loo Loo Land theme park. He had no idea how it started - most probably by Blitzo - all he knew was that the day was going along just fine.
Sure, there were a few... flirty moments between Stolas and Blitzo, but they seemed to be in friendly banter or jest even. It did make Octavia a little upset, but when that happened, Naruto took her attention off of that, simply by offering her a conversation to take her mind off of what had just happened, or even pulling her away from the incoming banter between Stolas and Blitzo.
At first, she hated it, but as the day went on, and the incidents became more frequent, it looked like she was a little relieved to be pulled away, or distracted by conversation by Naruto.
Sure, he had to use a little bit of his pheromones for that to happen, but it was in a very short - maybe a second or two in length - and controlled burst - which, he hoped it was properly controlled - and it became a little easier for Octavia to follow his lead.
"Octavia!" Stolas called out. He looked unsure of what to do, and one could easily tell that he was conflicted.
"Don't worry, I'll find her." Naruto reassured the concerned father, before he went after Octavia, using his heightened sense of smell to locate her.
Which, hopefully shouldn't be too challenging, she did have a very unique scent to her afterall, she did smell of coffee.
Everything had gone down hill, apparently Stolas thought that it would be a great idea to head to the circus that was located within the theme park.
Although the idea of a circus did disturb Naruto, he had went along with them, as Moxxie and Millie had both been allowed free reign into doing whatever they wanted as Blitzo had given them the all clear, and stating that both he and Naruto would 'take the first shift'.
Although, he had to admit, the song was rather good - better than what he was expecting - but it was the animatronic/robots that really didn't sit well with him. The band wasa way too creepy, and there was no way that they should've been allowed within a childrens establishment, as they looked like something out of a horror movie or even a horror game.
The robot - Fizzarolli, he was certain that was the name - was also creepy in his own right. The way that he was designed was fine. It was his movements and his constant sparking that was the real danger to everything. His movements were way too 'human-like' at times, and at the other times he janky and robotic, and if his body moved a bit too quickly, he would give off sparks that could lead to a lot of danger.
Yet now, he could faintly hear the gunshots coming from Blitzo's sniper - which somehow was also an automatic rifle - and he was firing off without a care in the world. He could also hear the unique and distinct sound of Fizzarolli's mechanical voice.
However, he shook his head away from those thoughts, brining his main concern back to the forefront of his mind, and that was finding Octavia.
As he ran through the theme park - the places that weren't on fire or had the fire rapidly approaching anyway - he kept his eyes wide open and his ears strained, trying his best to either pick up a sign of her.
"Octavia!" Naruto called out, finally spotting a sight of her. He had just spotted her walking up the final few steps of a small area that was called the 'Fun House', however, a few moments later, she disappeared into the area that had a very creepy entrance. You quite literally walk up steps that acted like a tongue, and went into the mouth of somebody, and probably, down the throat to get into the ride.
"Leave me alone!" She exclaimed back out in reply.
Naruto had to prevent himself from frowning as he picked up the tone of her voice. It was clear to tell she was upset, but to him, he was able to pick up on the faint tremors in her voice, and looking down upon the ground solidified his thoughts; she was crying.
Sighing to himself, Naruto quickly raced up the steps in order to catch up to Octavia.
It took him a while to navigate this absolute mess and convoluted ride, which almost seemed like it was a place to sit and relax as you were transported around. However, he continued to follow the small sniffing noises that Octavia was making, along with the small tear trails on the ground.
In no time at all, he had managed to find her.
She was curled up in the corner of one of the seats that was shaped like a half eaten apple. Seeing her in this state, Naruto gently made his way into the same cart as her, making sure to keep some space between them as he did so.
"Octavia..." He started, gently touching her shoulder to let her know he was there.
Almost instantly, her entire body jerked and brought her head out from her hands, and he bore witness to her bright pink eyes that were shedding tears, "N-Naruto." She muttered out, her voice cracking lightly with her sniffing.
"Listen... I'm sorry if this day didn't seem like the best." He said, "Believe me, I'm a little shocked at how everything went. From all the thugs constantly trying to kill you or your father, and with the way the theme park is now on fire." He added on, trying to add in a few little jests to try and cheer her up.
"It's not just that..." She said, using the sleeve of her clothing to wipe away some of the tears that were building up, "My father has to ruin everything... paying more attention to that red dickhead and flirting with him and ruining our family." She said, sniffing once more as she leaned into Naruto.
A little surprised by her actions, Naruto allowed her to cling onto his body as small tears contined to leak through her eyes. Feeling a little awkward about what to do, Naruto simply used one of his hands and rubbed her back, trying to sooth her that way, "I may not know what exactly is happening, Octavia." Naurto started to say, before taking a pause to try and word his next statement in his mind, "But your father... I can tell that he loves you. A lot, actually. From what he told me in the van earlier today he wants to talk to you about everything... but he just doesn't know how to express it." He added on.
Octavia released her hold on Naruto, craning her neck up lightly to look him in the eyes, "Really?" She questioned, it was easy to hear the confusion, yet also a smidgen of hope in it.
"Yes." He said, nodding his head, "He may be... eccentric-" Naruto said, trying to figure the best way to describe him without sounding rude, but if the slight giggle from Octavia meant anything, it worked, "-however, I can tell that this hurts him as well, and you running off at the circus hurt him as well." He said, before sighing lightly, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking for us right now."
"Naruto, Octavia!"
Hearing Stolas' voice ring out from somewhere within the Fun House, Naruto looked to Octavia, "Everything will be fine." He reassured her, before nodding his head, "In here, Stolas!" Naruto yelled out.
It didn't take that long before Stolas found his way to the section they were in, having to crouch down in order to enter the room. Seeing the two of them within the cart made him sigh in relief. As he took the ridiculous hat off his head and placed in on the ground, and started making his way over to them, Naruto knew that it was time to let them have some privacy.
As Naruto made his way up to Stolas, he used one of his tails to reach up and touch Stolas' shoulder, garnering his attention. Blinking once, he looked down, almost confused as to why Naruto had stopped him, "I'll leave it to you. Try to talk things out, I believe in you." Naruto said, nodding his head up at Stolas and gesturing to Octavia, who looked a little nervous herself now that her father was near.
"I will..." Stolas murmured out, taking a deep breath.
Naruto nodded his head, and retracted his tail, before he made his way over to the exit of this little section of the Fun House, however, he was stopped when Stolas spoke out to him.
"Naruto."
Turning around, he gazed at Stolas, "Yeah?" He questioned.
"Thank you." Was all that Stolas said before he continued on his path to be with his daughter.
Naruto simply nodded his head with a small smile on his face as he exited the section that now had the father and daughter duo. He wouldn't be listening in, as this was strictly personal and he didn't want to seem rude if they caught him doing so.
END CHAPTER
Alright guys, I do hope that you liked this chapter. Like I said before the chapter started, I will be taking a break from writing until a few days after Christmas, or maybe even a few days after the New Year.
Anyways, thanks for the continued support that you have shown me, not only in this story, but in all the others that I have posted. It means a lot to me.
I do wish you all a wonderful, and safe Christmas holiday, and I do hope that everyone stays safe, and spends some much needed time with their family members. Remember, it is not all about the gifts, but spending time with your family, and cherishing whatever you recieve from them. It's not the gifts that matter, but the thought that went into them.