Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Danganronpa.
Chapter 26:
Ninja vs. Mercenary
"You look lost."
If he were not used to her random appearances, he might have actually felt surprised to hear her voice behind him.
"Lost? I don't know what you're talking about."
He took a moment to appreciate the night sky above him. He knew he couldn't get a view like this from a more populated place. All the city lights would block out the light from the stars shining above.
It really had been a while since he had a moment of peace, huh.
How boring it was. How anyone could yearn for something like this was beyond him. He had only looked at the stars for a few seconds, and he was already sick of them. Why even worry about the stars when your life was here on Earth anyway? It wasn't like the stars were going to change your life in any meaningful way.
Truly, this was the height of retardation. Peace. Quiet. Tranquility. Pfft. Who needed those things. Surely not him.
"I saw you leave earlier. I thought you might try something dumb, so I came to check on you."
Dumb she said. How comical that was.
"If you haven't noticed, we crossed that horizon a while ago. Actually, you crossed it sooner than any of us. Joining us like this. I think it's the dumbest thing I've come across."
And that wasn't easily won, really. This world was full of dumb decisions. People making choices without realizing how stupid they were.
He was no different. He simply bitched about it more.
"You think so? I've actually had the most fun in my life since I joined you guys. It feels like I actually matter."
More dumb stuff.
"We don't matter. Weren't you a part of the discussion just now?"
"Isn't that why we're disbanding? Because we matter too much?"
That was a funny way of looking at things.
If he was a better debater, then he might have tried to counter her point. But he wasn't one for words. Shooting. Killing. Fighting. That was all him.
Not talking, though.
"What do you want, Mukuro? Or did you come here only to annoy me for one last time?"
The girl known as Ikusaba Mukuro didn't answer him right away. She seemed to follow in his example and take in the sights, night sky and all. She was resting against the wall behind him, arms crossed over the white plain shirt she frequently wore.
There wasn't anything interesting to look at, though. He didn't think so anyway. This town was a dump.
'That's kinda why we're here, though.'
He had no idea what this place was called, or where it was exactly. He hadn't bothered to pay attention. He just knew that it was somewhere in Saudi Arabia, far away from any of the big cities. Ah, maybe it was just a village instead? That would make more sense. Wait, did it even make a difference?
Their group, the Fenrir Mercenary Corps, had rented out this little house that looked ready to collapse at any moment. And even then, it still looked better than most of the other buildings around here. At least this house had a little balcony up on the second floor, where he and Mukuro currently were. A nice little touch, even if there was nothing to admire.
"Are you really leaving?" That was Mukuro's question. The strongest of them, asking something like that.
Should he be flattered? Mukuro rarely spoke to others, preferring to simply follow orders and stay out of their way. It had its charm, in a certain anti-social way.
"We're all leaving," he answered simply.
"It hasn't been decided yet."
"It's only a matter of time. Tensions are high."
And not just among them. The group had acquired quite a reputation over the years, so much so that they were known internationally now. But with that popularity came problems too. They had been around a while, picking up many state secrets along the way. Because of this, many nations were starting to see them as a liability rather than an asset.
Many of the members were starting to get fed up. He could see it. None of them wanted to die over something so pointless. It was the only thing he agreed with them on.
"We all knew this little club wasn't going to last forever," he added after a moment's silence. "Sooner or later, we were gonna move on. If it wasn't from this, then something else."
Every one in the group was self-centered, caring only about themselves. He was no different. The only reason their group was even founded in the first place was because they could make more money this way. Well, he hadn't joined for that reason personally. But most of the others were like that.
He still didn't know why Mukuro had decided to stick around for so long. Although he had a sneaking suspicion that she was like him, not caring about the money but instead just enjoying the thrill of it all. That "fun" comment of hers only reinforced this belief.
Mukuro glanced back into the house. She knew exactly what he was talking about. None of them were friends. Not even close. The best emotion they felt toward one another was respect. They certainly respected her at least. How could they not? A fifteen year old girl being able to survive alongside them under such circumstances. It was more than admirable.
That's why Mukuro liked it here. It definitely felt like she mattered, like she had a purpose. When they were in the midst of a mission, when they battled their advisories, when they fulfilled their duty. Those were the only times she felt alive.
And now, it was being taken from her. Mukuro didn't know what to feel exactly. Was she sad? Angry? Remorseful? It was only normal if she felt like that, right? Since she enjoyed being here so much. She didn't feel those things, though.
She just felt empty.
"You should see this as a blessing if you ask me." He smirked a little. "You're still young. I'm sure you can do a lot more with your life."
Mukuro mulled that over and came to an answer. Well, sort of an answer.
"I do have a twin sister to return to."
That was something, wasn't it?
"There ya go." He chuckled. "Most of us here don't have anyone to call family. You're lucky in that regard."
What was family exactly? To Mukuro, the members of Fenrir was as close of a family as she ever had, even though they didn't act like it.
"I don't know," she tried to choose her words carefully. "I did sort of abandon her." Mukuro looked down at this. "She might even hate me for it."
"Eh, who knows. They say familial bonds are one of the toughest things out there."
Not that he believed that.
Mukuro looked at him. "What about you?"
What about him?
"You're from Europe, aren't you? If I had to be more specific, I would say Eastern Europe."
But beyond that, Mukuro had no idea.
He chuckled again. "What gave me away?"
He had never told anyone where he came from. No one in Fenrir shared personal information like that. Why Mukuro admitted to having a sister was beyond him, but he wasn't going question it. The girl was weird like that. He understood that much.
"Your accent I suppose. Although your Japanese has gotten much better over the years."
He probably had her to thank for that. Other than her, he was probably the most fluent in Japanese in their group. He could speak all sorts of different languages, though. It was just something you picked up over time, especially when you traveled like he did.
"I don't have anyone. I don't even know what country I was born in."
The oldest memory he had was going through dumpsters in the streets of some random city in Romania. Did that make him Romanian?
Who knows.
And he didn't much care.
There was more silence between them. It was Mukuro who broke it.
"You're not going to stop, are you?"
He knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Fighting is all I'm about." He had made a life out of killing. He killed some bad people. He killed some good people. He made no distinction between the two. No one in Fenrir did. The difference between him and the others was that he took pleasure in it all. He had fun with it.
Or so he thought. He only recently found something even more fun than that.
"It's a shame we didn't get to have a rematch before all of this." He finally turned away from the boring view of the town and faced Mukuro. "Before you came along, I was considered the best in the group. I was looking forward to reclaiming that title from you. I guess it'll have to wait."
If they ever saw each other again that is.
Mukuro knew where she was going after this, but he did not. He would still keep the job, so to speak. Carry out any dirty job that was asked of him. Anything.
He was probably done with the Middle East, though. At least for a few years. It was just too damn hot and sandy for this tastes.
Mukuro took this in with a calm look. It was always hard to tell what she was thinking most of the time. Not that he was specially good at reading people mind you.
"I suppose this is goodbye then, Petar."
It was indeed.
He would be the first to officially leave Fenrir, but it wasn't long before the rest followed. It was only natural.
Mukuro would return to Japan, making national news as the once missing girl miraculously returned unharmed. The others would go their own way, hiding in plain sight. Returning to whatever lives they may have had before this. Or even making new ones
Not him, though. He continued to be a mercenary for hire, doing all sorts of jobs just as he had as a member of Fenrir. It was this decision that would lead him to become involved with the Akira family and the tragedy that struck them.
It would also lead him to the most fun he had in a long time.
"You know, this is sort of awkward."
"Is something wrong, Uzumaki-sama? I'm confident someone with your strength shouldn't be bothered by something like this."
"I-It's not really about strength…."
"Then what is it?"
"I-I can't say…."
"I don't think I understand. If you don't voice your discomfort, then there's nothing I can do."
"Just forget it….."
Naruto's voice sounded absolutely defeated. This only got a curious look from Kirumi, but the girl said nothing else.
The awkwardness the blond mentioned earlier continued, though. How could it not? He was carrying two girls, after all. Two girls who had their bodies pressed up against him, one in the front and the other in the back.
How was this possible you may ask? Well, it was simple. For you see, Kyoko had indeed found something on the rooftop where Naruto and that assassin fought. Two things actually.
The gun and the shell casings. Apparently there was only one known gun trafficker in this area that had a history of selling that kind of weapon.
Odd really, as this raised many, many questions. Well, to Kyoko it did. Naruto was just happy there was another clue.
Kyoko wasn't convinced it was that simple. For one thing, the assassin had left that gun behind while Naruto told her that he had made sure to retrieve his sniper rifle before retreating. That alone was enough to make her think he had done this on purpose. Of course, one could always assume the assassin had more brawn than brain, but Kyoko was never one to ever underestimate an enemy. No matter who they were, she made sure to keep all options open until proven otherwise.
That's why she asked Naruto to follow her. She hated to admit this to herself, but she certainly felt safer if he was tagging along.
And she really hated admitting that. Like, really really despised herself for feeling this way. Trusting a stranger like this…..it just wasn't like her usual self.
Before they had departed from the island once more, Kirumi had asked to come along. Kyoko had insisted that this wasn't necessary, as she was sure this would lead to another confrontation with the assassin. She didn't want to risk Kirumi's life like that, especially since there was no need to.
Kirumi didn't care about that, though, and she had held her ground. Arguing with the maid would have only resulted in wasting time, something Kyoko wasn't keen on doing. The end result? Kirumi tagged along for the ride.
This led them to their current situation, with Naruto jumping from rooftop to rooftop as he carried both girls with him. He had Kyoko in his arms bridal style while Kirumi clung to his back, her arms wrapped around his neck. He could easily carry both girls, no problem, but as mentioned earlier he wasn't used to this sort of physical contact for this long.
Kyoko didn't mind, as she knew this was the fastest way to travel. She was even the one to suggest this in the first place. Waiting for a car or a taxi would have only been a waste of time.
"For the record, how do you know this guy is going to be there?"
Naruto was talking about the arms dealer of course. Apparently the police had a good profile on him and his usual spots. Why they didn't just arrest him was lost on the Uzumaki, but Kyoko had informed him that the arms dealer was apparently good bait to lure in other criminals. Sort of using a small fish to catch smaller fish and potentially bigger fish.
How this assassin managed to evade the radar of the police was unknown to Kyoko. It was just one of the many questions she had. The other major one being why he would go to such a small time arms dealer in the first place.
'No, that's not exactly true either.'
For one thing, the assassin had been armed with more than just the sub-machine gun. That's what the blond had told her at least. Where he got the sniper rifle was a mystery to her, or even the pistol. That's why she felt like this was a trap, a bait to lure her in. Especially since the clues were just so overt.
If she was just overthinking this then wonderful. If not…..well, they were about to be in serious business.
Now, it was only a matter of luck to see if they could find the arms dealer at any of his usual hangouts. According to the reports the police had shared with Kyoko, the arms dealer hadn't been seen making any moves for the past two days or so. The last time they had seen him was when he had moved to what he believed was his secret hideout in the other part of town.
That's where the trio was heading now. It was the likeliest spot as far as Kyoko was concerned, so they were going to check that first.
The likeliest, and also the sketchiest.
"A warehouse."
Naruto noted this as he touched down on the ground. He set Kyoko down while letting Kirumi climb down from his back. The three were now on solid ground, staring at the building before them.
It was an abandoned warehouse. Apparently it used to belong to a company that was based in the city before it went bankrupt, leaving the warehouse to ruin. Overtime it started to fall apart, leaving it in the state it was in.
This whole neighborhood was kind of rundown honestly, with many houses abandoned and left for sale. If anyone wanted to stay off the radar, this place was it.
"Let's get going."
Kyoko led the way. Naruto followed, with Kirumi coming in last. The trio used one of the side entrances to get in. There were many side passages and rooms, as well as three floors in total. They could search them all in due time, but Kyoko wanted to get a good look at the main room on the first floor before anything else. It was where the actual storing in the warehouse had been carried out when the place was in use. Now, it was empty. All that remained were the many pillars that were starting to rust.
Naruto also saw a catwalk above, connecting the second floor to the room. There was also what appeared to be an office connected directly to the catwalk.
The whole place was pretty dark, and it smelled funny too. Naruto's mask did little to block off the smell unfortunately.
"There's nothing here," Kirumi muttered as the three took their first steps inside the grand storage room.
It was almost like they were being pranked, as after Kirumi uttered those words Naruto's ears picked up on a rather distinct beeping. It was coming from inside the walls of the doorway they just walked through.
He had no idea what it was, but he wasn't the only one who heard it. Kyoko did as well, and when he saw her eyes widened in what could only be described as pure dread he realized it wasn't anything good.
It was pure instinct, what happened next. He didn't even think about it. He just grabbed both girls by the arm and threw them into the air like a couple of rag dolls. He probably yanked them a bit too hard, and he was sure that neither Kyoko nor Kirumi had been prepared for it.
But it couldn't be helped. There was no time for him to hold back.
Good thing too, as a split second after he threw them, a massive explosion overtook the doorway they just crossed, spreading to where they had been standing. The section of the catwalk just above the explosion started to collapse, tumbling down with the rest of the debris. It was only thanks to Naruto's speed that the two girls were able to come out of it unharmed.
Well. They were unharmed, but Naruto wasn't so lucky. The flames and the blast from the explosion spread too quickly, and he was engulfed in them before he could jump to safety.
"UZUMAKI-SAMA!"
Kirumi panicked right away when she noticed this. She didn't even care that she was in the air and could very well end up hurting herself when she fell back to the ground. No, her mind was fixated on Naruto alone.
That worry turned into relief, however, when Naruto emerged from the explosion, jumping up through the smoke to catch her and Kyoko before they could come falling to the ground. He wasn't unscathed, though. The whole right sleeve from his trench coat was gone, exposing the somewhat burned skin underneath. The right part of his mask had been shattered as well, with a trickle of blood dripping down from his forehead and right over his eye.
Despite this, Naruto still got them to the catwalk where it was more secure.
Once there, Kirumi was quick to kneel by his side to check him over. She couldn't keep her usual composure, and it honestly surprised Naruto a little if he was being honest. This was the first time he was seeing her this worried. Not even when she had shown concern over Hayama had she panicked this much.
"Uzumaki-sama! You're-!"
"It's nothing I can't handle." Naruto cut her off to try and reassure her. It was probably because she could see one of his eyes now that she was able to calm down, if only just a little. She could tell there was still much spirit left in him.
But still.
"You're injured."
That was putting it mildly. The worst was his right arm. Naruto was sure that was going to take a bit longer to heal than the irritated skin from before.
Kyoko was more focused on another detail. His right blue eye. With part of the fox mask now gone, she could see it clearly. It was all too familiar for her.
"You're-"
Laughter prevented her from saying the rest.
Immediately, the three knew where it was coming from. They looked down to the first floor just as Petar emerged from behind one of the pillars, mask and everything. He did appear to have a new vest on now, as this one lacked the tear from Naruto's kunai.
"Ahahaha that was great! Not even I could have survived something like that. You have amazing reflexes." He then smirked. "But of course, if you hadn't bothered to save those two, you wouldn't have been injured at all."
Yeah, so what?
"I guess that's what makes us different," Naruto retorted as he glared down at the man.
Petar shrugged. "Maybe so." He then did something completely unexpected. He pointed to the office leading from the catwalk. "You there, miss detective. The information you want is in there. About who hired me. That's what you want, isn't it?"
Wait, what?
Kyoko frowned. "What did you say?"
She needed to make sure this wasn't a sick joke of some kind.
"That's why you came here, right? Well, there it is. Go and take it. I'm not going to stop you."
Kyoko didn't understand. "You're betraying your employer?"
Betraying? How funny was that!
"Betrayal implies loyalty, girl." Petar's smirk only widened. "I'm loyal to no one but myself."
Kyoko didn't buy this at all. There had to be more to it. There just had to.
…..right?
While she was confused, Naruto understood perfectly. In his mind, this explained every question and concern Kyoko had. Why the man came to this specific arms dealer. Why he left the gun behind.
That only left one thing to do.
"Kyoko. Kirumi. Go. Leave this guy to me."
Wait, what?
"I must object to this." Kirumi was quick to deny his request. "You've already been injured. Kirigiri-sama can look for the information on her own. I'm sure I can-"
"No." Naruto didn't turn to face her. He was looking straight at Petar who stared back at him. "This is my fight. Go and help Kyoko with her search. The faster you get it, the quicker you're out of here."
Was he saying to leave him behind? But that was just-!
"Let's go." Kyoko was already walking toward the office, not an ounce of hesitation in her step.
Kirumi couldn't believe it. "We can't just leave like this!"
She said that, but Kyoko didn't stop. She already knew how this made her look, but it couldn't be helped. Even if she didn't say it, she was hoping for the blond to come back safe from this. She just couldn't vocalize it.
She was far too awkward for something like that.
Kirumi was angry, and it showed. She had been taught to remain calm during any situation, but right now her emotions were spiraling out of control. Seeing Naruto get injured was probably the cause of it. It just showed her that he really wasn't infallible, and it worried her.
Greatly so.
But one look at him and Kirumi knew he wasn't going to change his mind.
'You really are stubborn.'
Once his mind was made up, there was little hope dissuading him from his decision.
She was not happy with this. Not at all. But she still followed after Kyoko. However, unlike Kyoko, Kirumi did look back and offered some words to the blond.
"Make sure to stay alive, Uzumaki-sama."
Of course he was. He wasn't going to die that easily.
"You have my word."
When Kyoko stepped into the office, or the remainder of one anyway, she was assaulted with an entirely different smell. But it was one she was all too familiar with.
Death.
Right there, slumped next to the wall by the door was the corpse of a man she recognized almost immediately.
'The arms dealer.'
So he was dead. This explained why the police hadn't been able to track his movements in the last couple of days. The one after her life had already taken his.
Well, that was one mystery solved.
She shifted her attention away from the body and onto the office itself. While the room was falling apart just like everything else around here, the desk inside was pretty brand new. There was a lamp as well, but she wasn't interested in that.
'This must be it.'
As Kyoko moved closer to the desk, Kirumi joined her inside. Kirumi's face was now cool and controlled, just like Kyoko's.
Her emotions were not, though. She was still very angry with Kyoko, but she made sure to mask it well. Her anger didn't stop her from noticing the rotting corpse, though. Still, she didn't question it. Not because she wasn't curious or appalled, but because she was too angry to care at this exact moment.
Kyoko could sense the anger from a mile away, and she didn't blame Kirumi for her reaction. Not one bit.
"You're free to think of me as a cold person," Kyoko said softly as she opened one of the drawers of the desk. "But believe me, I'm just as worried as you are."
It was a new feeling for her, but it was there. Was it because she saw Naruto get injured after saving her life for a third time? Kyoko wasn't certain, but the concern was undeniable.
This admission stunned Kirumi, but she quickly pushed that aside. She moved to help Kyoko search the desk.
"We can discuss that later."
For now, they needed to find what they came here for.
Kyoko couldn't agree more.
The air was practically scorching out in the abandoned storage room, and it wasn't because of the flames of the earlier explosion.
No, it came from the intense aura that both Naruto and Petar were oozing out. Neither knew the other's name, but that didn't stop them from feeling like they knew the other well.
"You made a mistake just now." Unlike his emotions, Naruto's voice was calm. "I couldn't use lethal force before. But now that we have the information we're looking for, we don't really need you."
Some might think it was a bluff, that Petar was lying to stall for time. But Naruto was positive this wasn't the cace. Just looking at the man's eyes confirmed it for him.
"Don't say stupid things. You know what this is about." Petar took a step forward. "I don't really care about this whole situation. I only do as I'm paid to. But this makes it more interesting. If I fail here, the mission won't really matter for me anymore. But if I succeed, then it won't be hard to track those two down and kill them. You understand that, right?"
Naruto didn't answer.
"But if you want even more excitement, then here." Almost like he was dangling a toy in front of a baby, Petar pulled out a small device from one of the pockets in his vest. "I've rigged this whole warehouse to blow up with just a single push of this button. I'm sure that would be enough to kill that girl, right?"
This was all just a game to him, was it?
"Are you trying to provoke me?"
Because threatening Kyoko and Kirumi was a sure way of doing just that.
"Something like that, yeah." Quickly pocketing the detonator, Petar took another step forward. "This won't be like earlier. No one can interfere with us in here. I don't want you holding back on me. That's why you can rest assured. The information I have in there is the real deal. Insurance if you will."
Working in Fenrir had taught Petar to always have a backup plan, just in case the customer got any funny ideas. That's why he had made sure to get in touch with the buffoon that passed for an arms dealer around here. It was a trail, which he could use for blackmail if the situation called for it. Only that he ended up using it as bait to lure out a certain someone.
That certain someone was now standing before him, so Petar was pretty pleased with the results.
There was nothing else that needed to be said between them. The time for words was over, and both were more than happy to get rid of the other.
There was no signal. No sound was made. But the two still knew exactly when it all began.
It was Naruto who moved first. He didn't charge at the former mercenary, though. Instead, he kicked off the ground with his feet and jumped into the air. As he did, multiple shuriken appeared in his hands.
Petar saw them and grinned. He was more than ready for this.
Naruto launched the shuriken right at the man, who in turn did a full 360 spin to evade them. The shrunken all buzzed past him, missing him entirely. Naruto didn't let this slow him down at all. He was already preparing his next move.
The blond made use of one of the pillars nearby, using it as a foothold from which to launch himself. It gave him a good enough boost as he practically shot off like a rocket, heading straight for Petar.
It looked as if Naruto was about to go in with a set of punches, but at the last moment he turned his body so that he could throw a couple of kicks instead. In response, Petar raised up his arms over his head to block the two kicks he knew were coming. He did, but a grunt of pain left his lips as Naruto's kicks came in contact with his forearms. It felt like Naruto's legs were made out of steel or something. Not just that, but the kicks were strong enough to push him back a few meters even though he had been more than prepared to stand his ground.
'That hurt.'
Petar realized at that moment that he hadn't actually seen the kind of raw strength that Naruto had in him. Not until now.
He quickly recovered, however. He shifted away from his thoughts as Naruto spun in midair to get at him from behind, literally using Petar's own forearms as a foothold this time.
Petar tried to intercept Naruto while he was still in the air, sending out a powerful spinning kick that would surely knock the fighting spirit out of anyone it touched. But he missed, and Naruto was able to land safely on the ground.
The blond's new position didn't do much, though, as Petar was already turning in his direction. He charged right at him. Naruto did the same, although he zig-zagged along the way. To Petar, it was almost as if Naruto was leaving behind after-images of himself. That's how fast the blond was.
Just before the two clashed again, Naruto jumped again, aiming to do the same as before. Even though Petar saw this, he was too slow to do anything else but react and raised his arms again. He grunted a second time as Naruto's kicks made contact with his forearms, but this time he was able to hold his ground and even managed to push Naruto back a little.
It didn't take Naruto long to land back on the ground before charging back in. This time the blond came in with a set of punches, which Petar was able to block at first. But Naruto was soon changing it up, using his feet to deliver some blows to the man's knees.
Petar wasn't able to block those and nearly collapsed right then and there. Somehow, he made sure not to buckle under the pain. But Naruto didn't let up and came back in with more punches. Petar tried to keep up his defense, but Naruto was able to get one good uppercut in that sent the man reeling back.
There was no time for rest, though, as Naruto was already pouncing on him again. No longer feeling like wanting to be on the defensive, Petar intercepted Naruto with a wheel kick before the Uzumaki could come any closer.
Naruto was able to step back in time to evade it, but Petar launched another kick at him. This time it was an axe kick, but Naruto ducked back again. Petar then threw several punches of his own. Naruto dodged the first couple of ones before catching the last one with the palm of his hand, which he used to push Petar back and knock him off his balance just a bit.
It was the window Naruto needed to counterattack with more punches of his own. With every one Naruto's speed continued to increase, and Petar was unable to respond to them appropriately. But it wasn't just the blond's speed that was increasing.
His punches kept getting stronger and stronger too.
After Naruto's fist made clean contact with Petar's face, the mercenary was sure his nose was close to broken. All the blood pointed to that fact. Naruto felt like he was close to knocking the man out, but then suddenly another explosion rang out. This time the explosion came from one of the pillars. It wasn't as powerful as the last one, but it was just enough to make the pillar come tumbling down between them.
The two jumped away from one another, landing on opposite sides of the falling pillar.
Naruto already knew Petar had done that to separate the two of them, probably to collect his thoughts.
'Those explosions….they're just like paper bombs.'
That was the one thing he had failed to study up on. Explosives. That's why he had been caught off guard earlier. But now, he was starting to learn for himself.
There was no better teacher than experience.
The sound of bullets broke Naruto from his thoughts. Soon after, he was running across the empty room as Petar emerged from the other side of the fallen pillar with a Beretta ARX160 assault rifle.
"What's wrong, kid!" Petar let out a laugh that made him sound like a deranged maniac, which really wasn't far from the truth. "You didn't think this was just going to be a simple hand-to-hand, did you!?"
Naruto didn't bother answering as the mercenary continued to fire at him. When the bullets stopped, Naruto was quick to throw a round of shuriken right at the man.
But having learned from their previous encounter, Petar had already been getting ready to reload, counting every bullet fired in his head. By the time the shuriken came close, he already had another magazine in. He sprayed the incoming shuriken with more bullets, shooting them down before they could reach him.
'Bastard's good.'
Naruto had to give him credit where credit was due. Not just anyone could hit shoot down shuriken like that.
Not too keen on continuing with their little game of cat and mouse, Petar moved on to his next move.
To bomb the hell out of the blond.
For you see, Naruto hadn't noticed yet, but the assault rifle Petar was using came with a grenade launcher attachment. It was a GLX160 grenade launcher to be exact. A rather popular attachment for this particular weapon.
Naruto only realized this when the first grenade was fired on his position behind one of the pillars.
The explosion was enough to bring the rusting pillar down, but did it hit the blond?
Petar didn't know, but just to be sure he quickly fired off a couple more. Just to be extra safe, ya know.
Quite a bit of dust built up from the explosions, but soon enough it started to clear. When it did, Petar saw Naruto's body collapsed next to the fallen pillar. The trench coat blocked most of the blond's body, but Petar could make out blood on the ground.
"Was that it?"
There was disappointment in his voice as he slowly made his way over to the fallen ninja. His weapon was all loaded and ready to be fired at a moment's notice, but as he got closer Naruto didn't move an inch. The blond wasn't even breathing.
"So you weren't better than her, after all." Mukuro never would have gone down this easily.
Petar stood over the fallen blond, his gun pointed at his head. "For your skill, I guess I won't unmasked you."
He would just blow the whole body up instead.
But before he could carry that out, he heard something hit the ground just below his feet. It took a second for Petar to realize what it was.
'A smoke grenade!'
It was a second too late, though, as the grenade was already going off. It was instinctive, but the mercenary took a few steps back to get away from the now rising smoke. It was only then that it hit him.
'No, the brat is-!'
When he turned to where Naruto's body was supposed to be, Petar found that it was no longer there.
He had been tricked!
With the smoke impairing his vision, Petar knew he was exposed for an attack. And sure enough, less than a second later, he could hear the sound of more shuriken whisking toward him.
Only, the shuriken weren't coming at him. They instead moved around him, almost like they were encircling him. Because of the smoke, it took Petar longer than normal to realize that the shuriken had something attached to them.
It was wire.
'Incredible.'
Petar was mesmerized as he saw the shrunken maneuvering through the pillars with the wire not far behind. It was almost like he was witnessing a grand performance.
He failed to realize what the purpose behind all the wire was until it was too late. By the time he caught on, he was pushed back with incredible force as the wire closed in on him. Due to the sudden force, he dropped his weapon and was pinned to one of the pillars by the wire. He noticed that the wire was reinforced by several kunai embedded to the ceiling.
'He did that in a matter of seconds...!'
Petar was in awe, but he couldn't act like a fanboy all day here.
For a moment, Petar struggled to break free, but without his combat knife he realized he wasn't going to. And with the way his arms were being pressed together, there was no way he was going to reach it.
"Don't even think about it." Petar found Naruto standing on the catwalk with part of the wire sticking out from the sleeve that wasn't burnt up. "I can easily cut you down from this position."
Petar didn't doubt that. With the blond's speed, something like that was feasible. It just made him laugh.
"Ahahahaha! Incredible! Absolutely incredible! None of my attacks fazed you, huh!"
Even with those injuries, the blond had completely outclassed him. Petar couldn't be more delighted.
"You're the second person to ever defeat me like this. This world can be rather exciting, don't you agree?"
And to think both came from Japan…..how funny was that?
Naruto didn't find the humor in the situation.
"You've caused nothing but destruction and trouble for others, and you're still laughing?"
"It's how we are, boy." Petar grinned. "For people like us, nothing brings us more joy than the chaos of the world. It's why we exist. Without it, we'd only be bored and rot away."
It was their purpose.
"I'm not like you."
"Ha, is that so? From where I'm standing, we're more alike than you realize. I can see it clearly. The way your eyes dance with excitement. You enjoyed this, didn't you? Got your blood pumping. That mask can't hide it all."
If Petar was expecting to get a rise from Naruto, he didn't get it.
"I don't crave conflict like you do. I wish for the opposite."
"What are you, a killer with a heart?" Petar started to chuckle some more. "Wait, don't tell me. You don't actually kill. Is that it? Is that why I'm still breathing right now? This was meant to be a fight to the death, you know."
Naruto's one visible eye softened for just a moment. Like he was trying to convey a whole message to the mercenary.
"Killing isn't the only way to resolve a situation."
"Even though I tried to kill you? And that little friend of yours?" Petar's voice was somewhat mocking. "I've killed thousands of people in my life. I've learned that it doesn't make a difference in the end. But what I can tell you is one thing. Words don't do anything. They can never resolve a conflict. Not really. It's only through action, through death, that people understand. That's how our world works."
Naruto had seen that through the countless books he'd read. Through everything Sonia had taught him.
But was that not any different from how things were back in his dimension? How villages, how ninja, had acted?
"It doesn't change anything for me." Naruto's voice didn't lack any conviction. "I have a dream to fulfill."
And a promise to keep.
Petar wasn't offended by Naruto's words. Even if they invalidated everything he'd done up to this point, he wasn't mad. He was just downright amused.
"I wonder how long you'll be able to keep that conviction true, boy."
He could tell. The blond was young. There was still plenty of time for the world to corrupt him. For him to abandon his ideals. Petar couldn't help but be a little bit curious as to what would become of the boy when that day came.
'The despair of realizing you were wrong…..'
Petar had faced that despair already. He knew Naruto would too.
"Uzumaki-sama."
Kirumi's voice cut through their conversation. The two turned to see Kyoko and Kirumi exiting the office. The two girls were now on the catwalk again.
For a moment, Naruto wondered if they had overheard his words to Petar, but that thought faded when Petar began to laugh again.
"Well, girl? Did you find what you were looking for?"
"I'm afraid so." Kyoko's voice was as calm as usual, not betraying how she truly felt. "Although it wasn't the answer I was expecting to find."
Naruto almost frowned a little. Just what did that mean exactly?
Petar only laughed further. "Ahahaha! I'm glad for you. But unfortunately, I'm not too sure if you're going to be able to do anything with that information."
That put them all on edge. Naruto was sure the mercenary couldn't do anything in his current predicament, though.
Right?
But then, Naruto noticed the detonator in Petar's hand.
'When did he-!?'
"I'm a sore loser, you see." Petar smirked behind his mask. "Hope we meet again, boy."
The last thing Naruto saw was a blinding light as the whole warehouse erupted into a fiery hellhole of explosions.
In the game, we never found out what happened to Fenrir exactly. Or if it was covered somewhere else, then I missed it. So I used the possible reasons they gave us for their disappearance and combined them. I think it's plausible enough.
Anyway, there were going to be more scenes for this chapter, but I decided to cut them out. They felt like filler. They didn't add anything new or interesting. I thought it was better to get to the fight and go from there.
This concludes the actiony part of this little arc. Not that there weren't be more action-like scenes, but things take a more investigative turn. That's the best I can describe it.
I had a bit of a hard time coming up with Petar's skills, not gonna lie. He's not as good as Naruto or Mukuro, but he had enough skill to pose a good enough challenge. I wanted to showcase Naruto's new skill set without bringing in someone like Mukuro or Sakura. And for that, I needed someone who could make him sweat, even if just a little. So hopefully you enjoyed that.
Another shorter-ish chapter, but it came out pretty fast so I think that's a good trade off.
Till next time.
