Concord was a rather small city which was home to a population of around two thousand people. At its center was the Museum of Freedom. Established in the year 1635 in order to commemorate the battles leading to the American Revolution.

The small populous of Concord were a proud bunch, some would even say peculiar. Miranda remembered visiting the small city once on a high school field trip. Some of the citizens had even taken to wondering the streets in full colonial attire, going as far as to speak in the period diction.

If her estimation was correct, they weren't more than a half hour's walk from reaching Concord. She was eagerly anticipating any possible news of her daughter because she certainly needed it, especially after the nightmares she suffered from the events of the day before.

As subtly as possible, Miranda glanced in Naruto's direction. He had spoken very little since their departure that morning, taking to responding to most of her questions with little more than single syllable grunts. For some reason he returned to being the cold, almost uncaring man she'd met the first day.

Miranda wondered if his change in attitude was somehow a result of something she'd done. Not that he was much of a conversationalist before, but he had been opening up to her, going as far as to reveal a rather startling secret to her.

Maybe, she thought, he was uncomfortable with how she sought his comfort?

She certainly was. Miranda wasn't in the right state of mind when she buried herself in his shoulder, only letting go of him when he laid her to bed where she proceeded to cry well into the night until eventually exhaustion claimed her.

When she returned to her senses the next morning, she didn't have the courage to acknowledge the incident and Naruto didn't mention anything, so she decided to feign ignorance. And for that much she was grateful but the heavy silence was beginning to get to her.

"Miranda stop!"

Miranda jumped from her thoughts as well as physically. It happened so fast and before she could so much as comprehend what was happening, Naruto fired off three shots, one after another. She was forced behind him and Kiba both, that's when she saw what he fired at, a large and hairless creature writhed on the ground, dying.

"What is that thing?" Miranda asked.

"A hairless dog maybe?" Naruto said, keeping his gun at the ready. He snapped his fingers at Kiba and then pointed at Miranda. The canine seemed to understand its given command and remained at her side, teeth bared and ears perked.

He cautiously approached the fallen creature and kicked it off its belly and onto its back to reveal a creature that looked like a large mole rat; an animal present in both worlds.

"Naruto, look out!" Miranda called out after another of the mutations exploded out from the ground with no warning.

He couldn't lift his gun fast enough to fire but managed to swing his knuckles into the creature, sending it soaring before it could bite him with its elongated teeth. Naruto's gun traced the creature through the air, another tri-burst killing it before it even hit the ground, but it wasn't he who fired.

Naruto glared at Miranda, her smoking gun shaking in her hand, eyes wide. "Next time don't fire with me in your line of sights," he chastised.

It took all of a moment to register what he said and she was livid. "Why are you mad? That thing was going to kill you!"

It was something of an exaggeration on her part, and Naruto had no issue calling her out on it.

"That thing wouldn't have been able to hurt me. The bullet could have; I had it under control," he said.

"That's not what it looked like to me," Miranda huffed.

Naruto didn't much feel like repeating recent history. "Look, I appreciate that you tried to help me but next time please be careful not to shoot something near or behind me. Just warn me and I'll take care of it. I'm not trying to gripe at you, I'm just trying to make sure we're both safe."

"Whatever."

Despite her dry remark, Miranda understood his reasoning. Although it was hard to believe in his sincerity when he displayed the emotional range of a rock. Except for annoyance, because that was not beyond his reach and if he had no problem showing it, then neither would she. She would prove to him that just because he was helping her find her daughter, he wasn't allowed to treat her like a child.

Naruto rolled his eyes at her childish behavior and began after the woman in her quickened pace. He whistled at Kiba, who was already eating away at the creature's corpse.

He would not deny that some of his frustration stemmed from her actions, but the main cause for his sour mood stemmed from the immense pain he found himself in. His wounds remained raw and his head ached immensely. With only a two day supply of Rad-X remaining, Naruto found himself rationing the pills by halving them, taking one fourth of the recommended dose for a mild case of radiation exposure.

The effects of his illness were making themselves glaring apparent.

"Look, Naruto, Concord's up ahead!"

Naruto acknowledged Miranda's words with a nod she didn't see. She was occupied marveling at the fact most of the city's buildings remained standing, towering in the horizon.

"Come on!" Miranda called after him and she began to jog. That was until he called after her.

"Slow down! We don't know what we'll find there," Naruto warned.

She stopped mid stride with an audible sigh but said nothing, continuing in a quickened pace. Silent through his pain, Naruto struggled but managed to keep up with the excitable woman. At least he did so for a time.

"Miranda, slow down," he repeated. "We need to make a plan before we get there."

With another sigh, she complied and slowed her stride to allow him to walk beside her.

"We're going to have to be careful entering Concord. Codsworth mentioned the people heading for the city weren't exactly the most friendly. Also, there's no telling what we'll find there. We can't risk walking into a trap so we need to avoid any main streets, or even being out in the open if we can help it," Naruto said.

"I hadn't thought of that," Miranda admitted. "What do you think we should do?"

"Before we get there, we'll find a place to hide away while I send a clone ahead of us to scout for any possible danger. We'll plan accordingly once we know what we're up against," Naruto explained.

"You said your clones give you their memories when they die, right?" Miranda asked.

"When they're dispelled, yes. Now come on, I think I see somewhere we can take a break," Naruto said.

He led them to the remains of a military truck parked off the side of the road, into the transport section for the soldiers. Miranda welcomed the reprieve from walking all day beneath the beating sun while Naruto remained outside, eyes closed in concentration. In a plume of smoke, a perfect clone of himself appeared, making itself useful by helping his progenitor to his feet.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Miranda asked having seen him fall to a knee.

"You know what to do," Naruto told his clone after it led him to his seat on the back of the truck. He regarded Miranda next. "I'm fine but making Shadow clones takes quite a bit of my chakra."

Before Miranda could respond, the clone disappeared from sight, kicking up a small whirlwind in his wake, prompting her to gasp behind him.

"What was that? Where'd he, uh, where did you go?" She asked with a mixture of awe and confusion.

"That was called a Shunshin; A technique from my world that allows one to quickly travel great distances in bursts of linear direction," Naruto said. "But that sounds weird in English. I guess you would call it the Body Flicker."

Her awe and the questions that followed were put on hold seeing his current state. He leaning back against the truck, his breath still labored and he was drenched in sweat. He seemed to have exhausted himself to the point of becoming concerning.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Miranda asked, trying not to sound as concerned as she really was.

"I'm fine," Naruto repeated, closing his eyes. "The clones I showed you a few days ago were only illusionary. They aren't real in the sense they can actually do anything beyond being a distraction. The clone I just made, the Shadow Clone, is a physical copy of myself. They have my same strength but they require exactly half of my chakra to create just one," Naruto said.

Naruto simply didn't stop amazing her and she accidentally voiced it.

"Amazing."

"Thanks but the thing is, they're kinda a gamble right now. One solid hit and its gone and I can't exactly make another one right now so we'd better hope nothing takes it out before it reaches Concord," Naruto said.

"He's you, right? Like in every sense of the word, with powers and all?" Miranda asked.

"Yes."

"Then I'm sure he'll be fine," Miranda said with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. Humming to herself, she sat back against the torn tarp covering the transport and seemed to relax, retrieving a water bottle. Kiba hopped up to join her at her side, panting happily as she. Scratched his ears and shared her water.

Naruto, meanwhile, was stumped by her faith in him. It was very foolish of her, yet Naruto couldn't deny the endearment nor the warmth of her contagious optimism.

He glanced over his shoulder to Miranda and found he was stricken by her dimpled smile, small as it may have been. She was humming an unfamiliar tune to herself as she continued to pamper Kiba, her voice soft and warm.

Something about the picture filled Naruto with an unknown discomfort, forcing him to quickly turn away. Looking over to the horizon where his clone had gone, Naruto shook his head, trying not to think about what had just occurred. Though he was sure of one thing.

If Miranda placed so much faith in him, then he couldn't possibly disappoint.

"Hey, Naruto," She called out from behind him after a moment's prolonged silence.

Naruto hummed.

"Why do you think Kiba obeys so well now? Unless you've got a fancy ninja trick for doggy obedience?" Miranda said, giggling slightly at her own joke.

Naruto allowed himself to smirk, confident she couldn't see him. "Well not exactly, but back in my world there was a family of ninja called the Inuzuka. They specialized in training dogs for tracking, but they were also used for battle. Hell, some of their dogs could even talk," he said.

That didn't take into accounts summons, a technique he'd yet to garner enough charka to attempt.

"Now I know you're just messing with me," Miranda huffed. "I mean, talking dogs? Next you'll tell me there were ninja with x-ray vision too," she stated.

"Something like that," Naruto said with well masked melancholy.

"You know, I don't know if I believe you."

Naruto exhaled twice through his nose in what she recognized to be a short chuckle. Miranda was glad he couldn't see the disbelief she was likely displaying.

"You know, there's a reason behind Kiba's name. Kiba, he was a friend of mine, well, he was more of a friendly rival than anything. He was from the family of the dog trainers I mentioned earlier," Naruto said. Kiba, having heard his name mentioned a few times, padded over to where his master was seated and laid down beside him, yawning before resting his head in his lap.

Naruto began to pet him as well.

"And that's why you thought it would be a good idea to name your dog after him?" Miranda did nothing to hide her disbelief. "I don't know if you realize this, Naruto, but that's actually rather insulting."

"Oh, I know."

Miranda wasn't sure what to make of just how casually he admitted to this.

"But back to your question, I honestly don't know. Maybe his previous owner taught him obedience. Though he wasn't too keen on listening to me when we first met. Dumb dog. There's a reason I named him Kiba," Naruto muttered while holding his aching chest.

Another prolonged silence permeated the air.

"Why don't you join me in here? There's shade," Miranda offered.

"I have to keep an eye out for trouble," Naruto rebutted.

His tone held a sense of finality and Miranda couldn't help but feel their moment, if it could be considered a moment, had passed.

The clone felt annoyed by his own carelessness for ignoring the obvious. His creator shared everything with him in creating him, his ailment and dismal chakra included. Old habits were the hardest to kill. The two Body Flickers needed to reach the outskirts of the city left him feeling winded but thankfully still able.

Though a mere clone, he still wasn't used to feeling so ill for so long. If his creator wasn't careful, he may very well cross the dangerous line from low chakra to complete depletion. With his radiation poisoning, it could very well lead to his death.

Keeping his limitations in mind the clone began his stealthy approach to Concord. He was mindful to remain uphill, using what natural means of cover he could to the best of his abilities. Granted the wide-opened terrain offered little in the means of concealment, he used his advanced eyesight to scan the exterior of the decrepit city for any signs of life but found none.

He couldn't have been less than a half a mile away when he heard shots cracking in the distance.

The clone took cover behind a nearby bolder, laying flat on his back, listening closely for an originating point for the gunfire but he found it difficult to determine. What he did realize after a short while was that he was not the target.

Remaining in a prone position, he peeked and confirmed there was no one in sight.

Ever cautiously he continued to approach the city, the firefight continuing to grow louder as he entered the city's limits. Deciding he needed a vantage point to better survey the landscape and asses the situation, he walked up the nearest building where he became prone once more, crawling through gravel and broken glass to reach the building's edge.

Peering over the edge he witnessed a rather large battle over twenty men and women alike, concentrating fire on the city's main attraction. His advanced eyes allowed him to see a man dressed in even more strange getup than his attackers, returning fire. To his side another man joined the fray, sharing the window, the two taking turns darting in and out of fire, taking pop shots in a failing attempt to stave away the enemy forces.

"They're closing in Preston!"

The clone could read the man's lips in the constant pops of gunfire mixed with the odd tearing of the weapon shooting angry streaks of red, one of which struck one of the attackers, burning through his chest with ease.

"We can't back down now or we'll be overrun for sure!" The man who had to be Preston shouted back. "I won't let anyone else die goddamnit!"

The clone was presented with a choice entirely his own.

He could step in and help the people trapped within the building or he could immediately report his findings to his creator, leaving them to their inevitable fate depending on what his progenitor decided to do. There wasn't much incentive beyond information to actually help those trapped within, assuming they were any friendlier than the men and women dressed in armor meant equal parts for intimidation and protection.

"Shit, they've breached! Blow the walkways and barricade the door!" Preston ordered, tossing a grenade before retreating inside.

This time the words reached his ears and his decision was made. He would just have to get rid of as many of the enemy combatants as he could. Should he die in the process than his creator would still be informed of the situation.

A grin spread across his face as his decision was cemented. His existence was never meant to last. He had no reason for caution beyond the avoidance of blatant stupidity. He would not rush in blindly but neither would he restrict the use of his chakra.

The clone lifted himself into a crouch and produced a simple kitchen knife in his dominant hand. In his left the pistol was loaded and ready to fire.

He flickered to the nearest inhabited rooftop and quickly dispatched the two rifleman with a precise lance to their brains, ending the life of both before either could notice the death of the other. With the constant explosions of bullets he didn't concern himself with concealing their falls. He only assured they died out of sight before continuing to the next rooftop.

He managed to clear the head of two more buildings before he was spotted. Only he didn't realize it until his eyes instinctively activated their tracing abilities, catching the slightest glimpse of a red bold of energy which crashed close enough to him to feel the heat.

The bullets were now raining down at him. There was little option for him to escape now that they knew where he was and his chakra was nigh depleted. But he did have just enough to perform one final technique.

Risking a peak, he saw a some of the attackers grouped together. He shot his ten rounds and he killed eight of the attackers. There was a surprising amount of men and women, more than he'd initially witnessed and soon their numbers were replenished, scattering from within darkened buildings.

He quickly ran through the hand-seals required for his final technique, using his natural affinity for wind-style techniques to use what little remained of his chakra as efficiently as possible. He leapt off the roof, landing in the middle of the street, startling his attackers into a brief ceasefire as they wondered how he'd survived a five story fall.

His aching lungs filled with air and chakra, expelling it all in the Great Breakthrough technique, essentially splattering those in front of him, also destroying the building behind. His victory short lived as he was destroyed by another volley of bullets.

"Shit."

Naruto cursed as the memories flooded him as well as the phantom pain of being riddled with bullets.

"What's wrong?" Miranda asked.

"There's a large enemy force surrounding some people trapped inside the Museum of Freedom. My clone was just killed," Naruto explained, cursing his clone's careless heroics. Their guided autonomy was at times, pesky, but at the least he cleared the rooftops for the time being.

Another concern of his was the weaponry he witnessed. He was certain he could survive a gunshot wound anywhere but his head. A laser on the other hand, was a complete unknown.

"What are we going to do?" Miranda asked.

"Nothing," Naruto said.

All of two instances passed before his words fully registered.

"What do you mean we're not going to do anything? Those people need our help!" Miranda said as she jumped out from behind the truck.

"It's too much of a risk. There was well over a dozen remaining and well armed attackers, and that's just what my clone saw. And there's no telling if the people in the museum are friendly," Naruto said. Though his clone's memories suggested otherwise but that truth wouldn't help his case.

"You're lying to me."

Naruto looked to the woman, finding her arms were crossed petulantly and she was attempting to glare at him, though she wasn't very good at doing so.

"Why would I lie?" He asked rhetorically.

"I don't know but I just know you are," Miranda was quick to invade his personal space. "Naruto we have to go! They may have my daughter with them inside that museum!"

It was a possibility but a slim one. Naruto, however, was focused more so on what she could have possibly meant by what she said. There was no fathomable way Miranda could see. Through his misdirect, not a lie.

"If that's the case then they aren't going to be friendly," Naruto said.

"We need to know for sure!" She argued.

"It's not safe."

"Then I'll go by myself you coward!" Miranda pushed him in her anger, only managing to budge the solid wall of muscle ever so slightly. Torn muscle as she now recalled as he recoiled in pain, holding his chest. She wanted instantly to apologize but doing so would be an admittance of submission.

Naruto growled in pain of her actions and in anger because of her words.

Miranda took a cautious step back, believing for a very brief moment he may strike back with his sharp words, possibly even physically.

"Fine, but you're staying here," Naruto said.

"Absolutely not!" Miranda argued immediately.

"You'll only get in the way," Naruto denied her.

"Damnit Naruto, we don't have time to argue right now! You're injured and you need my help!"

"Can you honestly say you're ready to take a life?" Naruto asked.

This time Miranda had no instant response. On some level she knew she would, at one point, potentially have to kill someone and she came to accept that reality. She was beginning to see some things were easier in theory than in practical application. Now faced with the real possibility of combat and the taking of a life, she wasn't too sure in her own resolve.

"If it's for my daughter," she swallowed audibly, "then yes."

Naruto frowned. She would eventually have to experience her first kill and that moment would have been the most opportune, if he was in a better state to protect her. With how stubborn Miranda had proven herself thus far, he knew leaving her behind would only prove counterproductive. She was liable to follow after him in her own pace, quite possibly encountering something or someone she was not ready to deal with.

"Fine, you can come but only if you listen to every command I give you," Naruto relented and stipulated.

"I can do that," Miranda agreed.

"I mean it. If you argue with me, or if I think that it's too dangerous, we'll turn back, no questions," Naruto said.

His grimly commanding tone let Miranda know he was being entirely serious and that there would be no further conceding on his part. She never doubted this, of course, but being ordered around by man younger than herself felt odd.

"I understand," Miranda stated seriously.

"Ok," Naruto turned to regard their canine companion. "Kiba, I'm gonna need you to stay."

The dog whimpered as he recognized his master's command and sat himself on his hindquarters to show his obedience.

Naruto then removed his backpack and sealed it within a paper seal, itself sealed within a more permanent seal tattooed on the back of his hand with disappearing ink, a modification he'd made to himself in the past. He then kneeled down. "Get on my back. We'll never make it to Concord on time to save them if we don't hurry."

Miranda felt her face heat up as she did as she was told, her arms lacing around his neck. She inhaled sharply feeling his strong grip on her thighs.

"Hold on as tightly as possible. We're going to be traveling incredibly quickly and you might experience some sickness. I recommend you close your eyes," Naruto said.

Again, doing as she was instructed, buried her head in the crook of his neck. No sooner did she feel herself lurch back, forcing her to instinctively hold onto Naruto even tighter, as her body continued experiencing rapid bursts of acceleration, each leaving her feeling as though the next would separate her from him.

To compensate for this, she wrapped her legs as tightly as possible around his waist. Miranda felt absolutely ashamed as her body began to react naturally to the jarring motion. The experience could not be over sooner for her.

"You can open your eyes now," Naruto said, winded as he carefully placed her back down on her feet.

Miranda immediately doubled over, dry heaving.

"It'll pass soon," Naruto said in understanding.

"I'm fine," Miranda muttered as she tried her best push past a different sickening sensation in her belly, her mouth watering from the need to wretch. "J-Just give me a minute. I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"My Body Flicker isn't the most precise. Some people from my world could transport others just by putting a hand on their shoulder," Naruto admitted.

"Is there anyway you could learn to do that?" Miranda asked, now on her feet and doing her best to keep from facing him.

"If I get the time, I'll try to better my technique. I have a feeling we're going to have to be doing plenty of fast traveling," Naruto responded in thought. There simply weren't enough trees for his traditional method of travel and he doubted they would find a working vehicle.

"Yes, please do that."

Naruto regarded her oddly. His curiosity only lasted until distant pops reminded him of the ongoing battle. He quickly pulled Miranda with him to the closest building, a run down two story home, blue in color. The backdoor was locked.

"What now?" Miranda whispered.

Naruto let go of her hand and pushed the door off of its hinges with the same hand and little visible effort. Miranda was in awe of his strength.

"Stay close and be ready."

His words reminded Miranda of her own weapon. She quickly drew it, chambered a round, and clicked the safety off. She followed closely after Naruto into the dark room.

It was a ransacked department store, shelves long since pillaged lined the walls and at the back a register remained opened.

Grabbing her hand again, Naruto led Miranda around fallen shelves and a multitude of other debris from years of dilapidation. The storefront was rather small, the two quickly reaching the front of the store, the remaining glass which once displayed wares was now stained black from centuries of grime. In absence of glass were sun shrunken boards nailed into the wall.

"Stand here," Naruto positioned Miranda away from the windows while he found his own cover. He carefully pulled out one of the boards and peered out.

Not much had changed since the demise of his clone. Two more of the enemy combatants had joined their overall. Casualties and it appeared as if they were waiting. Hearing gunshots from within, Naruto understood why.

"What's going on?" Miranda asked.

"Some of them have made it inside," Naruto motioned her to join him. "The others are waiting outside until they exhaust them."

"Oh no," Miranda muttered, seeing at least seven men and two women dressed in cliched apocalyptic armor. Her heart began to race at the very real possibility of death lingering just beyond. She began to question her own resolve in her previous statement, now unsure of she could really take a life.

Subconsciously, she pressed herself into Naruto's back.

Mindless of her actions, Naruto began to formulate a plan of attack. From their position he may be able to eliminate three, potentially five if he was lucky with his eyes and gun alone. He was reluctant to enact this strategy. The moment he opened fire their position would be exposed, leaving them open to return fire, potentially being flanked from behind.

"We're going to have to go around them," Naruto decided.

"What?"

Naruto reached behind himself to take hold of her hand again and pulled her along.

"We're going around behind the museum. If we can find a point of entrance we can join the people within and push the ones outside back. If we can take the museum we'll have a stronghold and the high ground," Naruto said, coming to a stop at the door to face Miranda. "We're probably going to have to kill the one's inside. Both of us so I'll ask again, are you sure you want to do this? Because once we start shooting, there'll be no stopping until they retreat, they die, or we do."

Miranda's legs shook uncontrollably to match her running heart; her face showing her reluctance.

She was a new mother in what was once a relatively peaceful world, at lest domestically, Naruto had to remind himself as she fidgeted to avoid his eyes.

"Miranda, look at me," Naruto began softly.

His contrasting tone did well to grab her attention. Miranda found she couldn't pull away from the intensity of his blue eyes, which she just now noticed how beautiful they truly were.

"I know you're scared and you have every reason to be. Those people out there are dangerous. I won't think any less of you if you don't want to do this anymore, but you can't stay here. If you don't feel comfortable in taking a life, you don't have to. I'll take you far enough away from here and I'll do this alone," Naruto offered.

Miranda bit her bottom lip in angst at her conflicting emotions. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to kill anyone but then she knew there would be no avoiding it eventually. The world was as dangerous as she suspected beyond mutations.

"You'll be right beside me, right?"

Naruto sympathized with her, his thoughts briefly occupied with memories of his first real mission and their encounter with Zabuza. "Yes. I won't let anyone hurt you but I need you to be sure this is what you want," he reassured.

"Okay," Miranda felt her confidence rise with his words. "I don't want to do this, you know, the killing part, but let's do this, partner!" She felt her cheeks immediately grow hot at the flash of amusement Naruto displayed.

She really hadn't mean to say that, Miranda lamented.

She really was too honest for her own good, Naruto mused.

"We'll circle back around the east side of town and skim by until we reach the museum. We'll have to find a point of entry then but for now, I need you to stay next to me and keep quiet unless absolutely necessary," Naruto said.

"Okay."

This time, Miranda did take notice of the large calloused hand which wrapped around her own, as well as the warmth that invaded her traitorous hand.

Thankfully, or perhaps not, she was distracted from the implications by the ensuing gunfire and curses echoing across the surrounding structures. Miranda did as she was instructed and followed closely behind Naruto, stopping when he did as well as running when needed. Finally, they reached the back end of the museum.

Naruto found the most suitable entrance to be a window boarded up like the others. There was no immediate sounds of a struggle from within and it was closest to the adjacent building should they need to retreat.

"I'm going in first. Keep watch and tell me if you see someone. I'll let you know when you can come in."

One by one he slowly pushed in the obstructing boards and entered the empty room. It was a small office, his very footsteps kicked up clouds of dust.

"Come on," Naruto said quietly, helping Miranda through the window. They grouped near the door to listen for any sounds of life. He noticed she was squinting her eyes in the dark. "Tell me when your eyes have adjusted to the dark before we move on."

Just as he finished speaking, muffled gunfire and curses sounded from above. Miranda gasped and Naruto indicated she stay quiet, hearing footsteps right above their head, wisps of dust falling as someone walked on the floor above.

"We should just charge them," a gruff voice sounded out in another brief lull. "Can't be more than four or five of those fuckers in there."

"We have our orders," another voiced replied. "And for once I agree with the boss. They should be low on ammo by now. All we have to do is keep 'em engaged and wait them out."

"Yeah but what about the synth who killed the idiots on the roof? If there was one of them there's bound to be more. If we wait too long we could be next," a third joined in, a woman this time.

"Don't tell me you're scared?" The second man laughed.

"Fuck you. You saw the what he did, what it did. That synth managed to kill four of us without shooting a single bullet. David said he even saw it jump clear across two buildings. And then there was whatever it did last. He fucking eviscerated them!" The woman sounded truly shaken.

"Well whatever the case, the boss got him," the second man chimed in again, though there was a certain unease to his voice now. "Littered him with bullets. Ain't no way he survived that."

"Yeah but we didn't find a body," the first man said.

They remained silent after that.

Naruto and Miranda shared an inquisitive look at what they'd just heard. He decided to store that piece of information away for later inquiry. To be compared to something hinted at other beings capable of superhuman abilities the likes he displayed.

"Let's get moving," Naruto whispered.

Miranda lifted her gun slightly below chest level, ready to lift and take aim like he'd shown her and followed. As she followed after Naruto, in the nearly deafening silence, interrupted at random by gunfire, she noticed she could hear her own footsteps, but never his.

Naruto motioned her to stay in place as they neared the end of the corridor, he peered into a larger hallway. She quickly approached him after being signaled to do so. She was confused when he invaded her personal space, his whiskered cheek nearly toucher her own.

"There's two of them in there. I'll take care of them both but I recommend you watch and see how I do it. This isn't something I'd like you to see but you are going to have to get used to it," Naruto whispered said.

Miranda shivered and peeked around the corner after Naruto rounded it, seeing two man standing side by side, silently smoking cigarettes. He pocketed his gun and drew two small kitchen blades.

Naruto wasn't fond of using basic kitchenware as weaponry but they carried out their intended purpose just the same. He impaled both men at the base of their skulls with a sickening crunch, neither knowing what happened before death swept them away.

Miranda felt a sinking sickness pool in her belly seeing how they fell, lifeless. A surprising amount of blood began to pool beneath them very quickly and Naruto didn't seem to even hesitate as he scoured the dead for their supplies. Unaware of his companion's thoughts, he shouldered one of the rifles, a shamble of a weapon poorly held together by wire and tape. He found four spare magazines, opting to keep two, he removed the bullets from the remaining two into his backpack, falling one by one with quick and quiet metallic clatters.

"We'll practice with these later," Naruto said as he motioned her over with a nod of his head.

"W-What now?" She asked as she stepped over the bodies, doing her best to ignore their presence.

"We need to keep the element of surprise as long as possible. If we can avoid a gunfight, we should but we may not always be able to do that. Remember, stay close and listen closely to any command I give you," Naruto reiterated.

"Yeah, okay," Miranda said, her morbid curiosity taking hold of her, forcing her to look behind back to the dead.

"Miranda," Naruto said with some force.

She looked back to him. "Yes?"

"Are you with me?" Naruto asked.

Miranda nodded with a stronger sense of confidence. She did't like the idea of death or killing but the sickening feeling she felt just moments ago was already passing. Naruto was, at the end of the day, on her side.

They continued making their way through the Museum of Freedom. Naruto killed three more of the intruders in a similar manner as before. Though resolute in their objective, Miranda's feelings fluctuated with every person he dispatched, unsure of how to feel about just how effective he was at doing so.

The next room they entered was rather narrow, occupied by, alongside mannequins, were six people in total. Two women and four men. Just like the ones before they were fortuitously facing the opposite direction. Each occupied in either conversation or a vice of their choosing. Some inhaled noxious fumes from cigarettes, while others from an oddly shaped tube, resulting in increased and sporadic movement typically associated with nerve altering narcotics. The two women were sharing between them a worn, silver flask as well as idle chatter.

They were human.

Miranda came to the horrifying realization that, while a majority of the enemies they encountered were bad people, some of them were simply trying to survive. Doing what was necessary to do so. She gathered as much from the semi friendly banter of the women, and even some of the men.

"Naruto, I don't think — "

But he was already gone. Blurring in impossible to follow speeds, he cleared the room with frightening speed and proficiency. He payed no heed to the desperate cries of those who lived long enough to witness the death of those around.

Hearing and seeing the deathly precision of a Shinobi were two different experiences. Making the best of a bad situation was a natural coping mechanism. In the wake of so much death, Miranda once again reminded herself Naruto was on her side, helping her find her daughter.

Also, they were in the museum at her request.

Any words she had died on the tip of her tongue at the reminder he was committing such atrocities for her sake. Miranda didn't know if she was supposed to feel guilty or grateful, or perhaps even both.

"Damn-it."

She opted to worry about him, seeing him on one knee, breathing hard.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Miranda asked as she rushed to his side, stopping herself short of helping him back to his feet.

"I'm getting very low on chakra again. We're going to have to use our guns from here on," Naruto said, lumbering to his feet.

His statement struck Miranda like a lance of ice to her midsection. There was no avoiding joining the fray now.

Naruto noted this and approached her. "Now may not be the best time to do this but you can still leave if you want. I'll get you to safety before I continue."

"No," she stated almost automatically. "I can do this."

Miranda almost fidgeted beneath his hard stare. It was, at times, difficult to recall he was twelve years younger than her.

"Okay then."

Their advance lead them up some stairs and to a room littered with a bodies. The conflict continued upstairs though with much less return fire from one side.

"What happened to them?" Miranda asked. She realized how redundant her question was the moment she uttered it.

"I'm not sure but they still have some color so it's likely our friends upstairs did this," Naruto said and made to gather what he could from the fallen. Though his efforts resulted in little as they had already been looted by someone. "Gotta keep moving forward carefully. Don't wanna get confused for one of these guys."

"How do you know where we're even going? I've been here before myself and it was a maze even back then," Miranda said.

"The positioning of their bodies," Naruto gestured to the three dead and then to the immediate are of the door frame. "You see the bullet holes on the walls behind us? Even without that, everyone we've encountered have all been positioned facing one way. This means they were chasing after the survivors as they made their way upstairs. This group must have been the first to reach them."

"How are we going to let them know we aren't with them?" She asked nervously. Suddenly Naruto's earlier words were at the forefront of her concerns. It was possible the group they aimed to help weren't exactly friendly.

"The only real option we have is to tell them that and hope they believe us. The vault suits and our general appearance should be enough to differentiate us from them," Naruto said.

Miranda didn't particularly like the idea of leaving things to chance but found no better alternative.

Soon they found themselves out in the open foyer with stairs leading up in two opposite directions. From their position there were two more floors before reaching the top, both of which had broken walkways between them.

"How are we supposed to get up there? I remember the only way to the stairs leading up to the next floor are across the way," Miranda said while pointing at the fallen walkway.

"One of two ways. Either we find another way around, or we jump," Naruto said.

"We jump?" Miranda repeated in disbelief. "How am I supposed to jump all the way across that?"

Naruto studied the gap she was pointing to. It had to have spanned well over ten feet across and if failed, over a twenty foot drop to the bottom. An easy fall for him, certain injury or death for Miranda. Even with his low reserves his physicality was enough to make the jump, a jump she could not.

"Let's hope we find an alternative route. If not we're going to have to jump, the both of us at the same time," Naruto said.

Miranda understood and prayed silently to find another way.

The two stalked up stairs and into a narrow hallway where a single woman stood well within their range. She was watching the forward hallway rather intently

Naruto gently pushed her back down to the base of the stairs and moved close to her again. "This is it. Wait until you hear more gunshots to hide yours," he said.

Miranda knew what he was referring to immediately and she didn't argue despite how much she wanted to. She merely lifted her gun, a numb sense of dread washing over her like ice water.

Naruto's presence behind her was heavy. Without having to see him she knew he was close behind her, watching, waiting to see what she would do. Miranda really didn't want to kill anyone but there was little alternative from what little they'd experienced since waking up in the vault.

There was more fighting above and with great hesitation she took aim and began to pull at the trigger, painstakingly approaching the trigger's wall, ready to commit what she could only hope was a necessary evil.

"Miranda, if you can't — "

His words were drowned out by deafening gunshot which sounded out in the unfortunate and sudden streak of silence which had enveloped them.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to get the next one out sooner.