A/N: Heeeeere we go~!
Bit of a shorter chapter this time, one might consider it a stopgap of sorts; a bridge between one chapter and the next.
As ever, the Embers rule remains.
If folks don't like this story, POOF! Away it goes. Gone forever. With two jobs and rent to pay, my free time is...well, at an all time low. I can't afford to write stories that no one enjoys. So by all means, speak up! Every bit of feedback matters here! Truly, it does! That's no joke!
Alright, now that we've got that way, onto your questions!
Q: UPDATE YOUR GENSHIN IMPACT STORY! A NEW ARCHON MUST BE CONTINUED!
A: Caps-lock much? And hey! Its only been a few days! I said the chapters would be long, didn't ti? Haven't had a chance to really go through them yet with the back to back shifts...
*Takes a look*
Oh. That's quite a lot of reviews.
Q: ...its begun, hasn't it? Naruto's kicked over the first domino.
A: Yes. Yes, he has.
Q: Did...did Naruto just go full Joker on Cardin?
A: Certainly not! After all, the dead don't learn from their mistakes. Winchester will...maybe...hopefully...
Q: How big is the pairing going to be? And when will we move into the plot?
A: I could prattle on, but I'll just say this. Yes, and yes. Am I being coy there? Perhaps. But that's something I don't want to give away just yet.
Aright, I think I've kept you all waiting long enough, haven't I?
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're merely tributes.
And yes, this chapter title relates to THAT scene. I'm rather curious to see who will recognize it.
"How many times do I have to remind you? This is a vacation for us.
And last I checked? The world wasn't on fire.
So just relax. We've earned it."
~Kurama.
Beware the Coffee
It was a decidedly chipper Naruto that greeted the dawn.
And why shouldn't he be?
He'd befriended a bunny, beaten a bully, and bested the finest bulwark Beacon had to offer with none the wiser as to his little...excursion. All was right with the world. Better yet! After a bit of prodding, turns out the Club actually DID serve Ramen in a pinch. Ergo! Ramen for breakfast!
Heh. Life was good.
Say what you would about Hei, but he was a mean cook when it came down to it. He didn't know where he'd run off to when he wasn't looking -something about taking a call?- but the small feast he'd made him was more than equal to the task of distracting him.
"Someone's in a good mood." A familiar weight hit his right hip, jostling him a little as he tucked into another bowl. "I take it you had a good night?"
"Seems like it." That was undoubtedly Melanie tucked into his flank, which meant Miltia had just laid claim to his left. The latter peered over at the vast sea of empty bowls spanning the table. "Yikes. How many of those are you going to have?"
"Just one more." Naruto tipped the last back, polishing off the last of his broth. "There! Ten!"
The twins exchanged a bemused look. "What's with you and that number...?"
"What can I say?" Naruto couldn't help but preen a little as he patted his still-flat stomach. "This body needs a lot of calories. Comes with being a jinchuuriki."
"Jin-what?"
"That's nowhere enough." Kurama huffed. "We haven't eaten in years. I'm still hungry."
"It'll have to do, for now." he quipped. "Don't wanna eat Junior out of house and home.
His retort proved just as quick. "Suuure, don't poke the mob boss...
"Look, we've got a full day ahead of us!"
...how so?"
Naruto opened his mouth to answer...and closed it as an epiphany struck him. Huh. Fair point. He'd nearly forgotten about their vacation. He was so used to doing something, be it fighting or talking or even worrying for his friends. He wasn't to simply leaning back, taking in the scenery like this. Even now. The idea of taking it easy rankled. Just a little. A small restless part of him longed to be out there on the front lines, helping people, but he didn't even know where to start. He wanted to be a man of peace, but in truth his talents were best suited to combat.
There was just one problem. If he ever fought like he meant it, he might well break things...or people. "This might be difficult."
"It doesn't have to be hard." Melanie got ahold of his arm and tugged him toward a nearby couch. "Let us help you."
"Hey!" Miltia laid claim to the other before he could get away. "Don't go givin' him a massage with out me!"
On a whim, Naruto fished out his Scroll and keyed in a number as he walked.
Really, he should probably check in on Velvet.
She'd be over the moon!
How little he knew.
(.0.0.0.)
"Soooo, did you hear the news?"
"N-News?" Velvet looked up from her Scroll and desperately tried to suppress the hitch in her voice, to no avail. "What news? I don't know any news!"
"Bun," Coco quirked a dark brow behind her shades. "I love you, you know that, but you're one jumpy hare right now."
"So it would appear." Yatsuhashi chortled softly, much to her chagrin.
She needn't look to know Fox was giving her the same.
Gods above, she was jumping at shadows. Right. Okay. Calm down. She could do this. She was calm. There was nothing to worry about. She was safe and secure in her dorm. Hear team suspected nothing; they wouldn't unless she gave them reason to. Her mind was a still pond. Tranquil waters.
"Like I was saying, about Winchester...
Coco's innocent statement hurled a rock through her pond and shattered her concentration.
Velvet buried her head into her pillow with a whine. "Nooo!"
Yatsu sighed. "I think you broke her, Coco."
Their gunner sighed. "Looks like it...
Velvet tried to raise her head and rally. Really, she did. One again she sought to deny that tiny squeak even as it gave her away. Instead her nerves betrayed her like a jilted lover and she stifled a hysterical laugh into her pillow. Hear it, Coco said. She'd seen him Cardin in the cafeteria! The pictures had come later, spreading out across the web like wildfire. Try as she might, she didn't know how to feel about that. One one had Cardin was a cruel, vicious bully. An absolute menace. On the other...did anyone truly deserve a beating like that?
Because it was a beating, make no mistake.
She'd seen Winchester; saw the way he cringed away from her like a dog kicked one too many times. He'd even apologized!
"I'm sorry...please forgive me..."
Aura helped you heal quickly, but there could be no disguising the injuries he'd suffered. He was missing teeth, for crying out loud! Somehow, she just knew who was responsible for his sorry state. A grinning blond. And for once, it wasn't Yang!
"Naruto," she muttered, "What did you do...?"
A hand waved before her face. "Remnant to Velvet! Anyone home?"
"Hmm?" her eyes fluttered in a brief blink. "I'm here? Did you need something?"
"You sure?" Coco's smile was nothing short of sly as she planted a hand on her hip. "Because it looks like you went to lala-land for a bit there." Uh-oh. Velvet knew that look. "Daydreaming about a certain someone, are we?"
"No!" her denial was quick. Too quick.
Yatsu and Fox perked up in their cots, just so."
"Is that so?" Coco's grin grew to shit-eating proportions. "Then who's Naruto...?"
Meep. Had she said that aloud?! No! Certainly not! Had she...no! Deny, deny, deny! She could prove nothing!"
"Coco, really!" she flailed a hand to bat her teammate back. "I'm just tired. That's all. You must be imagining things-
Her scroll chose that moment to vibrate atop her bed.
An awful silence pervaded the room.
.
..
...you gonna get that?"
Velvet yelped and dove on it!
"Well, well, well." Coco's grin was all teeth, the smirk of a predator poised to pounce. "Whatever might cause a reaction like that? Or should I say whom?"
Velvet felt her ears droop. She'd been caught. Yatsu and Fox hadn't budged. Hadn't said a word. They didn't have to; they were watching her like hawks...and why was Yatsuhashi sharpening his sword?! Frantic for a way out, she turned her eyes to her phone, praying for salvation.
She didn't find it there.
Wide eyes regarded the simple message within; a mere two lines of text, little more.
"Its done."
And then after that:
"Also, hi! I learned how to use a Scroll!"
Velvet's thumb slammed down and deleted the first text before Coco could lean over and see. Even then she felt her heart skip a beat. So much for the benefit of the doubt. He'd really done it. Her thumbs danced across the screen again, sending a flurried series of replies in turn.
"You did?! Where are you?!"
"Eh, usual place." his reply was prompt if nothing else. "No need to worry about me."
Well, that was pointlessly vague! Cheeky blond!
Another text came in hard on the heels of the last.
"Also! Phones are weird."
Velvet considered calling him on the carpet, for all the good it would do her. She had no idea where he lived. Maybe that was for the best. Ignorance was bliss. Plausible deniability an all that. Headmaster Ozin seemed content to keep this an internal matter for now, but if the authorities got involved...the less said the better.
"Don't worry!" yet another message chirped through. "Its going to be alright now. He won't hurt you again. Or anyone else."
She sent back a hurried thank you. "
"Maybe. See you around. Lemme know if anything happens.
A faint hint of warmth suffused her cheeks. No! Bad brain! Blackest of betrayals! She barely knew him!
And yet he'd show up when she was at her wits end. Intervened when no one else could. Like a knight in shining armor. She rubbed her legs together and worried her lower lip between her teeth. Wait, a knight implied some definition of goodness; and however she might benefit from this, the fact remained; most wouldn't look kindly on this; let along view Naruto's deeds as something to be praised.
They'd cal it an act of cruelty, a heinous crime unjustly perpetrated against an innocent student. Even if it was deserved.
Coco said something then, but lost in ehr thoughts, Velvet didn't hear her
Cardin was -had been!- the worst sort of bully. Even if she'd stood up to him, he would've moved onto easier prey. Now he wouldn't dare touch a Faunus again. Or anyone else for that matter. She'd seen the fear in his eyes firsthand. It spoke to a tiny dark part of her, one she'd buried for so long.
Velvet squeezed her scroll a little tighter. "Good riddance...
"Oho?"
She looked up and realized too late that she'd lost herself in her own little world again.
Because when she did, Coco had lowered her glasses. Coco and Fox were looming over her, arms folded before their chests.
In the end, it was Coco who broke the stalemate.
"So," she winked. "Who the heck is Naruto?"
Velvet clammed right up and hid her Scroll behind her back. Coco remained undeterred despite it all.
"Say, Fox," she ribbed their often silent ally, "Any chance you could trace that call?"
Yatsuhashi tilted his head. "We would need her scroll for that."
"Easily remedied! Fork over the phone, bun-bun~!"
Velvet made distressed Velvet noises.
(.0.0.0.)
Hei's scowl was nothing short of thunderous.
"There you are. I take it you're responsible for this?"
Naruto looked up from where he lay sprawled on the couch. "For what?"
"Look at the bloody headline!"
A newspaper flew the short distance between them and smacked him dead in the face. Well, at least one thing hadn't gone wonky in the future. Then reality caught up with him. Hei must really be cross to smack him like that. Which implied less than pleasant things as to the contents of said paper. Had he made a mistake?
"Well?" Kurama quirked a brow. "Don't leave us in suspense. Open it!"
Reluctantly, the last shinobi did as he was bade.
Sure enough the front page stared back at him in silent condemnation -he felt no such thing!- depicting one battered and bruised Cardin Winchester. Apparently news traveled fairly fast in this day and age. It hadn't even been a fully twenty-four hours yet. Say what you would about the media but those buggers moved quick when there was blood in the water. Still, he failed to see why the humbled scion of the Winchester household had anything to do with him. Nope. Not a thing. There was no proof.
...I see no problems here?"
Miltia rolled her eyes and sprawled back atop him.
Melanie sniggered, utterly at her ease. "Nope. Looks fine to me."
"He says it was a training accident." Junior practically spat sparks. "Kid's sticking to the story."
Naruto tipped his given glass back, savoring the sweet tang of orange juice. "Accidents happen all the time."
Hei struck it from his hand, sending it hurtling across the room.
"CUT THE CRAP!"
His opinion of Junior climbed just a little higher with that outburst. Anyone willing to shout at him after what they'd seen was someone with steel in their spine. Naruto found he rather liked this version of Hei better. One willing to stand up for himself, rather than bend backward to his every whim. Much better, indeed.
"We both know who did this." Hei jabbed a finger into his chest. "What the hell were you thinking? You said it was a prank!"
So they were being honest now, were they?
"And it was." he set his glass down and sat up, still half sprawled among the cushions. "If it wasn't a prank, he'd be worse off."
"You beat that poor boy half to death!"
"Nothing poor about him." his good mood evaporated like so much morning mist. "He had it coming. You didn't feel the emotions wafting off him. He felt no guilt. No remorse. He thought it was his right to do what he did, and in time, he would've done something much worse."
"Probably." Melanie kissed his cheek. "He seems the sort."
All the blood rushed to Hei's face. Naruto wondered if he might explode.
In the end, he didn't. He stalked to the bar, grabbed a bottle, and drank straight from the tap. Only then did he trust himself to speak.
"I told you not to do this." when he finally spoke, he sounded almost defeated. "I begged you not to." the bottle thunked down on the table opposit ehim. His family has connections to the underworld, both here and in Mistral. Word's already reverberated through Beacon. It won't be long until they hear of this. "Couldn't you at least have healed him after the fact?!"
Miltia tilted her head. "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose, though?
Naruto lifted his chin in agreement, feeling churlish. Sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind. He hadn't healed Cardin back then for a reason; just as he wouldn't return and do it now. The very moment he did the big buffoon might be even more of a brute and think he'd dreamed all this up. And then where would they be? Who was he to get off scott-free?
Perhaps that was cold of him -no, it definitely was; but he'd lost his mercy for bullies long ago.
He was still himself of course. He just held less patience for certain things. It was the duty of the strong to protect the weak, not bully them. Cardin was no Madara to be sure, but he had the makings of one. Sellf-assured, arrogant, thinking himself untouchable. No, maybe that was an insult to the old Uchiha. At least Madara had a reason for what he did. Cardin was just a dick.
Ah, but Hei was looking to him and he must attend.
"Do the names Sam and Dean Winchester ring a bell?"
Naruto cocked his head to one side and squinted like a fox. "No...?"
Miltia swore softly into his shoulder. "Ah, piss. Forgot about those two bastards."
"Right, not from this world." Junior muffled a groan behind his palm. "Basically, they're dangerous. Real dangerous. Hunters who hunt just about anything." he opened his hand and clenched it into a claw. "People included. And you just hurt a member of their family. How do you think they'll respond?"
Naruto blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice.
...did I just accidentally a war?"
"Not just any war." Junior waved the paper at him. "A gang war. If word gets out and they decide to come knocking...!"
Here at last, he felt a little chagrined. "Oops?"
"Look here, pal, you may be strong, but me and the girls ain't; to say nothing of the gang.
His brow furrowed. "Then it high time someone changed that.
He felt Melanie tug on his arm. "You can say that all you like, but we're nowhere near huntsman level.
Miltia plonked down in is lap. "Hell, you and blondie swatted us aside like children."
"Oi!" he wriggled his legs. "Off the lap."
"Why?" she ground her rear against his groin. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"
...damnit.
He had been happily ignorant when it came to the fairer sex, much less the pleasures of the flesh. Now that he knew them, he found them rather...enjoyable. In a moment he was keenly aware of what Miltia and Melanie were doing to him. Bloody succubi.
"Oi!" a giant paw batted him upside the head in the seal. "Don't go acting like you're whipped. You're not. I won't stand for that."
"Fair enough."
"You keep talking to yourself." he came back to himself to find Hei frowning at him. "You hit your head or something?"
"Not really." Naruto couldn't quite keep the smile from his face.
Two could play this game!
On a whim, Naruto leaned forward and laid a kiss on the back of Miltia's neck; then he blew air into her ear for good measure. She yelped and crashed to the floor, allowing him to stand. He did so with a small, sly smile. It tugged at his cheeks, eyes squinting a little as he rose to his full towering height.
"That's right. You haven't met him yet, have you? Maybe I should show you why I'm so calm about this."
Melanie's long lashes fluttered in a quick blink. "Met who? Its just you in here...?"
"Kurama?"
Right on cue his partner came roaring out.
A true transformation was neither necessary nor needed here; worse it would have brought the Club down on their heads. He'd repaired this place more times than he cared to count. In the end both boy and bijuu settled for a happy compromise. Nothing simpler. And really, it was worth it; if only for their reactions.
Melanie yelped. "What in blazes?!"
Priceless.
Only natural, really; a giant golden fox head had just surrounded him, engulfing him in transparent golden light. Anyone with half a braid cell would have panicked at such a sight. That Hei and the Twins hadn't fainted yet did no small credit; most would've run away screaming by now.
"The hell is that?!" Milita thrashed her way upright, nearly spitting nails. "You look like some kind of...golden Grimm or something?!"
Kurama snarled, outrage not entirely feigned. "You dare compare me with such lowly creatures?!"
Hei went pale. "Oh gods, it talks...
Naruto rolled with it.
"May I present Kurama, former the nine-tailed fox, now ten tails, my partner and best friend." Alright, maybe he was laying it on a little too thick here; just as his smile was a touch too smug. But just couldn't help himself at this point. He was proud of him, of how far they'd come together.
"Hrrmph. Didn't have to say it out loud."
Melanie dared to lean forward and poke a finger into the light. Her finger prodded her stomach.
"So he lives in you or something...?"
Naruto hummed. "Pretty much. If you think this is wild, wait till you see mastered Baryon Mode.
"The hell's a Baryon Mode?"
"Well, we were asleep for centuries, and we had a lot of time on our hands..
The doors crashed open, cutting him well short. Kurama fizzled away, retreating back into the seal. Just as well; because all hell broke loose.
Hei groaned. "Now what?!"
"Aha!" An unfamiliar voice crowed behind him. "See?! Piece of cake. Told you we could trace it."
"Eh?" Naruto whirled and beheld a familiar pair of rabbit ears. "Hey, Velvet! I took care of your bully problem-OOMPH!"
Velvet hit him at speed. Her head crashed into his chest and her arms locked tight, hugging him fiercely. She mumbled something but the words were lost against the fabric of his shirt. At first he didn't understand. Then she started to snifle. Naruto felt a strange heat bloom in his face.
"Um...so I guess you're happy to see me again?"
Melanie and Miltia absolutely bridled at that. "Excuse us?!
Coco swiped Hei's bottle from the table and plonked down on the sofa.
"Yeah, I think bun-bun's got a crush on you...
A/N: Aaaand here we go! Once more, the Embers rule remains.
Sorry, I don't have time to write a story folks don't like.
If folks don't enjoy this story, POOF! Away it goes. So by all means, speak up! Every bit of feedback matters here!
Had to cut some parts till next time. Don't worry, they'll be worth it.
Reviews are eternal. Reviews are Immortal. Reviews are precious to me.
Sooooo...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...Review, Would You Kindly?
No previews! I've got bit plans coming!
Alright, just one...
...or two~!
(Preview!)
"Break her heart and I break you."
"Trust me, I won't be doing any breaking. Now get that weapon out of my face."
"And if I don't?"
"Alright, have it your own way. I tried to be nice."
His fist shot up at speed. Clenched knuckles struck them in the chin.
Also, wasn't that a bit excessive?"
A blond brow quirked. He lived, didn't he?"
"Aha! Found ya!"
"Hmm? Oh, hey! Yang! What's up!"
She marched right up to him, grabbed him by the wrist, and hauled him off.
"You owe me a date, mister!"
...I do?"
Roman gulped. "Oh, hey. Its you again. I wasn't aware you'd...ah...taken over."
Naruto felt his right eye begin to twitch. "I really haven't, but everyone certainly seems to think so...
"So you're the one running Hei's operation?"
"Stubborn bastard practically made it my operation now. Isn't that right, girls?"
R&R! =D