Chapter 8 Jaegers

AN: Welcome back everyone. I have a few things to address before the chapter starts. A good friend of mine, who is almost like a brother to me, and I are going over updated/rewrites for some of the older chapters. The idea is to fix most typos and sentence structure issues so that everyone can have a smoother reading experience.

I won't say the name of this friend for now since a few will know him or have already caught on. I'm saving something big for later in the story. Trust me, it will be great.

Umu! Now let's enjoy the next chapter. This time around we finally get to see Naruto meet the one and only Ice Queen herself, Esdeath.

Night Raid – Tatsumi's Room

Gurenge by Lisa

It was morning and things were quiet in the assassin's deen. Five days had come and gone since Bulat's death yet an atmosphere of dread lingered evermore. To the younger killers of the group, a loss like this felt unreal. Bulat's sheer presence was enough to uplift any feeling of hopelessness, but now that tantalizing light had been taken away before any could prepare.

All that was left of that brilliant man was the Incursio he passed on to his student and brother-in-arms Tatsumi. Yet the boy felt he could not hope to live up to those expectations.

After delivering his report the boy locked himself within his bedroom and had only be seen outside during meals. In his eyes, the need for revenge against the bastard who killed was overflowing.

Takeo… if Gilgamesh had not stepped in when she did everyone in that ship would be dead.

One night the Dragon Knight bumped into Tatsumi in the hallways of Night Raid HQ. Seeing his face brought a lot of anger to Tatsumi, so much so he snapped at Naruto as the echoing thunder and torrential winds could be heard outside.

"You just don't get it… you don't know what loss is like."

"I don't understand? I don't fucking understand your pain!? I was fucking sold by my biological parents into slavery. I could have given up and died but you know what? That didn't happen, I didn't give up on hope and that allowed me to break free from those chains… the only form of happiness I found was my adopted family, and I learned from them that I can't save everyone. You should learn that and control your emotions before you go acting all like a bitch. Death is death, you can't change that, but you can have that make you strong and honor Bulat's legacy by fighting the Empire to the very end."

Naruto's words keep on replaying inside Tatsumi's head for the rest of the night. Sayo came in his room, later on, to help him by being a shoulder to lean on and cry. In the meantime, Ieyasu continued to train in order to deal with his mourning.

Though the pain was overwhelming, truth is Tatsumi knew he needed to rise up.

He needed to make Bulat proud.

"No more," Tatsumi spoke to himself as he held the Incursio blade.

Imperial Capital – The Following Day

While everyone had their own way of dealing with the pain, Naruto was different. The knight liked to think things over by his lonesome so he departed to the Capital without telling anyone but his Servants.

A part of the knight couldn't help but blame himself in a way for Bulat's death. If one of his Servants or himself were there, the outcome might've been different.

Naruto sighed as he walked amidst a crowd of citizens.

"It's hard and I hate feeling like I can't save everyone… but I understand that saving one life means losing another."

Flashes of his past came to mind.

The world he came from… he did not remember much of his first home, he was too young back then. However, he did recall that it was a large estate with a beautiful courtyard wherein his brother and sister would train daily to impress their father.

Minato Namikaze… a ruthless leader hellbent on securing the future of his prestigious bloodline.

All Naruto remembered of his father was that man's disgusted face whenever he saw his "worthless" son, a child born without chakra. Someone like that would get to live while a gentle soul like Bulat died so horrifically.

That thought alone made Naruto clench his fists in anger.

Amid that storm of thought, Naruto ran across a large gathering of people around a coliseum-like arena. Around the area, posters and advertisements for a martial arts tournament could be seen plastered across the walls as people poured inside the arena.

The Dragon Knight smiled at this discovery like it was a heaven-sent gift. After all… to him, there was no better stress reliever than punching someone in the punch.

Capital's Coliseum – Tournament Arena

After a series of standard matches, the tournament was entering the final rounds of the first day and the stands were packed to the brim. In contrast, a dissatisfied yawn could be heard from in the Imperial stands where the Ice Queen herself resided.

This tournament was no more than a cover-up for her quest to find a man worthy of her affection. So far not a single combatant had caught her attention.

"How utterly uninteresting," Esdeath muttered in a bored tone whilst resting her chin on her fist.

But that attitude was about to change. On the dueling grounds a member of Esdeath's new squad the Jaegers, a boy named Wave, announced the next match.

"Okay, everyone! Time for the final match of the day!" He announced before pointing to his left, "In the east corner! We have Kalbi the Butcher!"

The crowd erupted in cheers as a massive dark-skinned man, at least 7 feet tall, who wore a bull mask walked into the arena.

"And in the west corner! We have Naruto the Warden!" Wave announced as Naruto slowly walked into the scene. People laughed at the enormous size difference between the two, but Naruto didn't seem to care at all.

"Not gonna give up huh? You little shit," Kalbi taunted the Warden.

"You should probably back out now while you have the chance kid! Because I sure the as fucking hell ain't gonna hold myself back from breaking you apart!"

Naruto just stood there silently with a deadpan expression.

"Begin!" Wave announced with a shout as the bell rang. However, the battle at hand would be short-lived.

Like a lightning bolt crossing the skies, Naruto blitzed Kalbi in an instant. Without showing any hint of mercy, he delivered a single, devastating jab to the giant's face with enough force to knock him out cold. The whole crowd was left speechless as they watched the large man collapsed onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Amazing…he has such power and skill if he could take him down with ease," Run said in amazed.

"T-That's it! The winner is Naruto the Warden!" Wave declared whilst everyone roared for the silver-haired warden's victory.

"It was nothing," Naruto smiled from ear to ear. The triumph of victory was exhilarating. Little did the knight know, that single smile would change everything.

Esdeath's heart pounded rapidly in her chest and her cheeks burned a bright rosy. The Empire's most feared general clutched a hand over her thundering heart and slowly rose from her seat as she quietly observed him.

"I found him," she stated.

Immediately Esdeath made her way down the steps. In that time Naruto relished in his small victory, but he quickly turned to the stairs and saw the fierce general coming down to congratulate him — or so he thought.

"Naruto was it? Meaning maelstrom… a fitting name. Your match was flawless," Esdeath commented, standing a little over three steps away from Naruto.

"T-Thanks for the compliment," Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"And for that… here's your reward," Esdeath said, reaching for something in her abundant cleavage.

This made Naruto do a double-take of the situation, but then he noticed that what she had in hand was a collar that she promptly placed around his neck.

"Eh?!"

"From now on… you belong to me… Naruto," Esdeath hushed I'm a seductive tone of voice.

"HUH!?"

"Come now, there are far too many distractions here," Esdeath remarked as she began to drag Naruto out of the arena.

"You're coming back to the palace with me."

"W-wait! Wait a second! This wasn't–

"I can't wait any longer," Esdeath put it bluntly before she delivered a swift chop onto Naruto's neck surprising the young knight and catching him off guard.

"What? My…. body," Naruto thought before falling unconscious in Esdeath arms.

"Don't worry my dear… we'll talk in my room…"

Imperial Palace – Jaegers HQ: Living Room

As soon Naruto came too, he noticed that he was tied up in a chair and still had the collar around his neck like he was some sort of dog. The knight was in a large room and he could guess from the fancy furniture that it was located somewhere in the inner walls of the Capital's Imperial castle. Right now Esdeath was presenting him to the rest of the Jaegers.

"And so, this young man will be our new backup member. His name is Naruto," Esdeath said.

"Um, you just brought a random civilian in here. Just like that? Isn't that, like a possible risk?" Bols asked, rubbing the back of his head in confusion.

Naruto rolled his eyes, still not liking the collar.

"He'll have everything he could ever want here. He'll never want to leave," Esdeath spoke sweetly only to then gently caress Naruto's cheek.

Naruto blushed a little as he felt the warmth of her hand.

"I beg to differ," Naruto thought, keeping his cool.

"And he's not only our backup member… Naruto is going to be my lover," Esdeath stated shocking the young knight.

Naruto's eyes widened, he couldn't believe what he just heard. Did the Ice Queen call him her lover? One of the Empire's most powerful Generals calling him a lover!? It was a shocking thing and reminded him of a certain Golden Ruler.

"He's perfect… everything I could want in a man," Esdeath confessed.

"If he's supposed to be your love then why does he have a collar around his neck?" Wave pointed out the contradiction.

"Because I like him," Esdeath replied nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.

"I didn't want him to run away. So, I slapped it on him without really thinking," She added.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched a little after hearing that.

"Uh, if you want a real lover and not a pet then you might want to take that off," Run voiced his thoughts and chuckled nervously.

"Finally… someone with a brain," Naruto thought.

The Ice Queen placed a hand on her chin as if in deep contemplation. "I guess you're right."

She began to remove the collar and chains very gently off of Naruto.

"Forgive me, dear. I wasn't thinking straight," Esdeath apologized.

"Hmm, why is she so gentle to me? From what the rumors told me, she is the feared general that gives no mercy to anyone and bathes in blood. This just doesn't add up. Could she really be… no, I need to be sure first," Naruto thought as the Ice Queen finished untiring him.

"While we're on the subject of love. Have any of you been in a relationship or married before?" Esdeath asked, turning to the Jaegers.

At her words, only one hand rose in the air and everyone was shocked by this because of who it was.

"BOLS?!"

Esdeath couldn't help but smile in amusement.

"Is this true Bols?" She asked.

"Yes. I've been married to my lovely wife for six years! She's such a wonderful person, I don't deserve her love!" Bols spoke in an embarrassed and emotional tone.

Back with the Knight, Naruto felt a tug on his leg which caused him to look down. There he saw some sort of white dog, standing on two paws. It was looking at the Knight with its blacked-out eyes.

The Dragon Knight could guess from this dog's strange look that it was some sort of Teigu. He had read about something like this beast in a book. It was named the Hekatonkheires.

Suddenly the dog Teigu jumped onto the silver-haired knight's knees and began to crawl up. Naruto blinked a few times and guessed that the dog wanted him to pet him which he did.

"Aaaah!" Naruto heard a happy cry which caused him to look up to another member of the Jaegers, Seryu.

"Coro likes you, it must have felt that you have great justice in you!" The soldier said with a cute smile.

"Ah! Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Seryu Ubiquitous — an officer of justice that destroys evildoers!" Seryu introduced herself, saluting like a soldier.

Naruto could see a demonic essence inside of Seryu that awaited to be unleashed, but amidst that maelstrom, there was a misguided girl. The Dragon Knight would have to investigate that later. For the time being, he had Coco come off of his lap as he got up and meet the other members of the group.

"I guess I shall introduce myself next. Dr. Stylish is the name. My mission…. make things more stylish than ever," The Doctor posed like a madman.

"What's this guy problem?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I'm still confused as well," Wave agreed.

"Ah! Let me introduce myself. I'm Wave, nice to meet you, Naruto," Wave said as he extended his hand which Naruto accepted. There was something familiar about this one.

"I'm Run. Nice to make your acquaintance," the blonde of the group greeted with a bow. Lastly, there was Bolts and Kurome, the latter of the two had many similarities to Akame.

Stuck with the Jaegers, and with a self-appointed lover to deal with. At this point, the future seemed uncertain.

Capital – Jaegers HQ: Esdeath's Room

The sound of the shower running could be heard as Esdeath enjoyed a hot shower. Naruto sat on the bed, taking in deep breaths to calm himself and wonder why the Ice Queen wanted him to share a room with her.

He never thought that the Ice Queen would act as a schoolgirl with a crush around him. He was not much of a believer in love at first sight.

Alas, his train of thought was interrupted when the doors to the bathroom opened. Naruto turned around quickly and his eyes widened when he saw Esdeath come into the room wearing just a white buttoned-up shirt, one that barely reached down below her hips. It had several buttons of the shirt undone, greatly exposing her cleavage.

"Sorry for the wait," Esdeath sensually whispered.

"I-It's no problem," Naruto muttered before turning his head to control his wild feelings.

"Would you like a drink?" she proposed.

"No thanks," Naruto waved off nervously.

"Fufufu… you are so cute," Esdeath mused only to then sit next to the knight on edge of the bed.

"How about we let our hearts tell us what to do…" she suggested.

"Sure… I have a few things to say," Naruto remarked in hopes of getting Esdeath's attention before they would go too far.

"First of all… do you really like me?" he asked.

Instead of an answer with words, Esdeath lunged forward and captured the knight's lips in a passionate kiss. When the kiss broke, the silver-haired knight found himself on his back on the bed with the Ice Queen straddling his hips.

"If I didn't love you… I wouldn't have done that," Esdeath gently stroked Naruto's cheek, but they seemed to be in a daze.

In his mind, Naruto didn't see Esdeath on top of him, but instead someone else. He saw a fat and bulky devil of a man smiling eerily. Naruto's eyes closed with tears coming down as a sign of fear alongside his hands shaking. Esdeath noticed this and stopped herself as she saw her love was in pain. She placed her hands on the silver-haired knight's cheeks and started to calm him down.

"Shhh, it's okay. Are you alright? Did I hurt you in some way? If so… I'm sorry," Esdeath whispered to her love.

Naruto's eyes snapped open and away from the nightmare. He shot upwards and held onto the blue-haired woman before him. His arms wrapped around her and his head rested on her chest as tears came down his cheeks. Esdeath hugged Naruto back and gently pushed him away slowly to clean up his tears with her fingers.

"What's wrong?" Esdeath asked concerned.

"It's nothing," Naruto lied, not looking at her ice blue eyes but did as he was pulled to look.

"Tell me… please," she pressed him further.

He sighed. "I was a slave once… I was sold by my family due to not having the talent my siblings had. I endured a lot… but something happened when I was 14. My owner at the time came into my cell and… he sexually attacked me." Naruto stopped as the tears became harder and to hold back.

"But it didn't work… I killed him with a brick to the head and escaped to get my freedom. I later meet some interesting people and they gave me what I had lost and I'm grateful for that. It wasn't your fault, Esdeath. The moment just triggered a bad memory… that's all," Naruto concluded.

"I'm sorry… but I promise that you, my love, no one will ever hurt you like that again. I'll make sure of that."

Naruto was in shock over how kind Esdeath was to him. Underneath that cold exterior was warm and love.

"How about we get some sleep? We have a long day ahead," Esdeath offered, allowing some space between her and her lover.

"Sure, but first allow me to take a shower first," Naruto said, getting up and walking towards the shower.

Esdeath in the meantime decided to relax and lay down on her bed. She peacefully waited for Naruto to join her.

The Next Day

The sunlight shined through the bedroom windows and hit Naruto's face causing him to wake up. He found himself between Esdeath's breasts. He smiled when seeing her peaceful face.

The Dragon Knight wrote a quick note saying that he left to cook something up for breakfast and that he will meet her there. He placed the note on the table before looking at Esdeath one last time. His genuine smile never went away as he kissed on her forehead before leaving.

However the moment he stepped outside, he bumped into someone.

"Oof!"

Luckily, Naruto managed not to fall as he was taller than the person he bumped into, that being Seryu herself.

"Sorry, Naruto… I wasn't watching where I was going," she apologized.

"That's alright," Naruto waved off as he helped the soldier girl back up on her feet with his hand. He noticed that Seryu seemed different this morning, almost like she didn't get enough sleep.

"Seryu, are you okay?" Naruto inquired curiously.

"Huh? S-sure! I-I'm okay! An ally of justice is always okay!" she proclaimed.

"Do you have something in your mind?"

Seryu quickly shook her head. "No! No! No! It's nothing like-

The Dragon Knight could tell that she was lying and needed help.

"An ally of justice doesn't lie. If you want, I could hear you out. I'm good at keeping secrets," Naruto offered which caused the soldier girl stop speaking for a second to consider his offer.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Seryu asked.

Naruto nodded his head and the two promptly walked off towards a safe place, that being an outside balcony. After checking and making sure nobody could see or hear them, they closed the door and started to talk.

The Dragon Knight learned about Seryu, everything from her early life to how she lost her father and about how she wanted to get justice for her captain who died at the hands of Night Raid. Naruto later learned that during a raid, Seryu allowed a criminal to live and be with his family. She kept asking if she was a bad person for doing this.

The Silver Knight soon brought the soldier girl into a hug in hopes of calming her down.

"Seryu, I don't think you're a bad person, just misguided one. You say that your father was killed and you want justice by killing anyone that is evil, right? That's not justice, that's vengeance, those are two different things. Justice is where law and order come first. Vengeance is what you want and it's something that could lead you down a bad end if you allow it to consume you," Naruto stated.

"Thank you, Naruto," Seryu replied happily with tears coming streaming down her eyes.

Unbeknownst to Naruto — this small act of kindness would pay off in the long run.

Forest – Near Night Raid

A few days passed before the Dragon Knight finally managed to slip away unnoticed. He was escaped using the nearby forest when Wave, who was keeping an eye on him, lowered his guard. The route he took would take him back to Night Raid's headquarters in a couple of hours time if he kept his current pace.

All the Intel he gathered during this little solo adventure could prove to be invaluable in the long run. He also had a feeling that his girlfriends would like a good answer as to why he was gone for so long, but that would have to wait.

The moment Naruto entered Night Raid's territory the all too recognizable scent of fresh blood hit his nose. He instinctively sniffed the air — trying to identify who or what it belonged to.

Night Raid's headquarters was now being swarmed by an army of hundreds of oddly dressed individuals. The young knight couldn't help but worry for his friends' safety which is why he dropped any pretense of subtlety and dashed into battle at lightning-fast speeds. He knew his friends could handle themselves, but he cared too much to think twice.

Feel Invincible by Skillet

In the time Naruto was out, his Servants told everyone to leave the knight by his lonesome as he was dealing with the pain and slowly healing. Of course, some wanted to find him but their respect for the knight stopped them.

But now Night Raid had to reunite to face the threat Doctor Stylish represented. However before Night Raid could make their stand, all of them were hit by a strong poison that stopped any muscle moment causing a good number of them to collapse onto the ground. Leone was doing alright thanks to her Teigu, but she was fighting through the poison. Tatsumi was hanging on thanks to Incursio armor. The Heroic Spirits meanwhile were not affected by the poison at all due to their nature as Divine Mysteries.

Alas, blue lightning came onto the battlefield dancing around the arena as the Dragon Knight appeared before everyone. The lightning stopped disintegrating foes once the knight drew out one of his swords, Balmung, and got ready for the fight.

"Sorry I'm late," Naruto spoke up as he gripped his sword with both of his hands and waited for the enemies to make the first move.

"That's fine Naruto-kun, but next time tell everyone where you are. We all worry about you…even Mine was worried," Medusa remarked with a smirk getting the snipper to blush.

"No, I wasn't!" Mine shouted the best she could through the poison.

"I'm touched that you care about me, Mine," Naruto teased

"Hey! Don't let me out of the fun, Naruto-kun," Leone added as she got up on one knee.

"Sure, Leone-chan… but for now please allow my Servants and I to handle the rest. Recover using this," Naruto said as he grabbed an elixir from his coat and threw it over for Tatsumi to catch it.

"What's this?" he asked.

"An antidote for the poison. Take small slips as there's barely enough for everyone," Naruto informed.

"While that is going on…you girls ready for some fun?" Naruto asked with a small smirk underneath his mask.

"Damn straight!" Mordred proclaimed as her helmet formed onto her head and her sword materialized through crimson lightning.

"At once," Scathach calmly spoke whilst summoning her red spears.

"Grr!" Fran nodded her head as she grabbed her mace causing green lightning to spark outwards.

"Yep, Big Brother Naruto!" Jack happily said as she grabbed one of her knives.

Musashi, Kanto, and Tomoe likewise drew out their weapons. Medusa summoned her chains. Medea summoned her staff. Atalanta readied her bow by drawing it back with an arrow.

"Medea and I will stay back and give you support, Naruto."

Naruto merely nodded.

Mordred and the Dragon Knight were the first to make their move by dashing forward with a trail of lightning following closely. Each strike of their blades cut down dozen of enemies into pieces. As the members of Night Raid finished up with the antidote and waited for the effects to kick in, the Dragon Knight had begun to ask himself where the doctor could be at.

"Stylish is probably hiding somewhere high to overlook the battlefield…"

Naruto looked at the mountainous ranges and smirked when he saw the doctor and three people with him.

"I got you now, Doc."

At the same time, Stylish panicked when he saw Naruto among the heroic spirits who continued to decimate his army.

"Looks like I have no choice," the doctor remarked before injecting something into himself.

This Is Not The End by Spoken

Atop the cliff, a massive Danger Beast emerged wherein a madman once stood. It walked on its four bulky limbs, one of its arms was covered in golden armor while the left had grey skin. On the head of the Danger Beast was a deformed version of Dr. Stylish with white hair and only half of his body attached to the colossus. Everyone was taken back by this, but the Dragon Knight and his Servants were not as they had seen bigger and stronger foes than this creep.

"What a shithead," Mordred said as the girl's helmet came down and she rested her blade rested on her right shoulder.

"Indeed. Does it give you any ideas on what we could do next?" Naruto asked already having an idea in mind.

"Yes… but you know the price, right?" Medea questioned concerned for her lover.

Naruto lowered his head for a second to think carefully on what would happen afterward. His plan was certain victory, but the cost to his mana would be great. It was a risk… especially since Naruto could just feel that a certain someone was stalking the whole battlefield from afar.

"Mordred, you ready?" he asked.

Mordred smiled from ear to ear. "Hell yeah!" she shouted enthusiastically as said with a smirk as red mana flowed across her blade.

To best this monsters… knight of treachery and Dragon Knight would need to work together.

"My sword let thy be filled," Naruto chanted whilst the jewel of his blade started to glow blue and have the excess energy shoot upwards. Mordred let her sword do the same, but her energy was crimson.

Dr. Stylish swung his massive claw hand at the mana covered pair but missed as the two quickly dodged and started flying towards their target…the head of the beast himself.

"Claret…," Mordred chanted with her sword ready.

"Balmung/Blood Arthur!" Naruto and Mordred shouted the name of their blades simultaneously firing a powerful mana blast towards Stylish. The powerful beam of energy burned into the flesh of Dr. Stylish Danger Beast form, leaving no trace of him behind.

Shortly afterward the pair went back to see Night Raid and the other Servants, but hiding in the trees, a familiar face awaited to come out. Naruto narrowed his eyes after seeing this warrior.

"Wow… you were amazing," Tatsumi, still awestruck, voiced his thoughts.

"My thanks Tatsumi. However, the battle is not over yet, right Takeo?" Naruto called out getting everyone on guard as they saw the Warrior Panther jumping out of the trees and landing before them. The Warrior Panther was the same as the last time he met Night Raid, but his armor had cracks on it and now carried a katana by his side which was odd. He had claws on his hands and feet so why rely on a sword now?

Everyone was on guard and ready to attack as they knew how dangerous Takeo was from Tatsumi's report.

"No need for that. I don't want to bother myself with bugs. No… what I want is to fight the Dragon Knight I heard so much about…" Takeo spoke in a bloodlusted tone.

"Very well, Takeo, we will have our fight… but not here. We need more space."

Takeo smirked and then shrugged his shoulders agreeing with the terms.

"You better come back alive, lover boy," Leone remarked.

Naruto soon approached the blonde lioness, cupped her cheeks as his mask disappears in a blue dust of energy.

"I promise that I will come back from this fight, Leone-chan. I promise you all that I will come back alive."

"You better come back," Leone said with a smirk as her lips touched the knight's lips for a second and pair part ways.

"I will," Naruto concluded before parting ways with Leone and sharing one last look with his Servants.

Once they were gone, an air manta soon flew towards the base with Najenda and two new recruits on it. Little did they know that the next battle was going to be bigger than anything they had ever seen.

AN: Next time on Dragon Knight, Naruto finally fights against the Warrior Panther, Takeo, a worthy adversary and the man who killed Bulat. The two warriors will fight and test themselves over their limits. See you all next time.