Inspirational Music:
Nier Automata OST - Weight of the World. You'll know where.
Following that would be The Rootless's One Day, the One Piece opening.
~NRK~
Naruto laid down on his bed in his room as Sistina sat at his desk, sighing, while the sisters went to speak with their particular 'mentors' of their little group.
"So, you've met one of them up-close," she said simply as Naruto laid there half-naked, his bandages covering his entire torso. "And that wasn't even the one who did this to you," Sistina stated as he groaned.
"Yeah… dammit, I guess I kinda underestimated what an Abyssal One is like," Naruto sighed. "I didn't think his yoki could feel so… deep. It's a lot, dammit, and he was still injured. Dammit, no wonder they want to find something that can beat them, that's terrifying."
"Feeling different about them?" Sistina wouldn't think worse of him for it.
From what Cassandra had even said, those two… they weren't normal.
She could have handled Rigaldo, though, even uninjured she'd felt that she had a chance… but not Isley. Not for a second when he was injured so definitely not when he was at full strength.
"No," Naruto sat up with determined eyes that she blinked at. "This is more reason to get stronger and help the girls somehow," he clenched his fists. "If we hadn't been there, Sis… he'd have likely eaten so many people," he hissed as Sistina closed her eyes but nodded.
"Yes, he would have," she said. "There's no doubt that the only reason Dabi is as untouched as it was because you two got to him before he got close."
"... Dammit," he flopped back onto his bed. "... There has to be something," Naruto said.
~NRK~
Neideen locked their blades together before tossing Luciela's to the side.
The younger woman rotated low, dodging her follow-up before bringing her blade around and up into her senior Claymore's chest.
She choked as a kick slammed into her shoulder before sending her flying, the eighth sighing at her as Luciela slammed into a tree, snapping it in half and getting hiss out of her.
"You're way too angry, relax," Neideen said, only for Luciela to lean forward back onto her feet before she lunged at her again. "..."
She blocked the girl's downward swinging blade before their eyes locked and gold flashed.
Neideen's eyes widened as her guard lowered without her input before she leaned back and to the side, dodging the thrust for her shoulder.
'She synced with me?!' When could she do that?!
"Dammit!" Luciela tried to jump back only for her eyes to widen as a kick slammed into her ribs. "Kaugh!"
Three trees fell as she slammed through them before she hissed as she slid down the fourth one.
"A-Ack!" She wheezed for air. "A-Ahhh," Luciela hissed at her chest. "D-Dammit, I'm so weak."
Neideen sighed at that, walking over before sticking her weapon in the ground and sitting next to the younger girl.
"Ya did what you could, even now, it's not like Cassandra or Sistina could have done much better," she said simply at the flat look thrown her way. "Hey, sometimes, it's just that simple."
"It's not when my sister and boyfriend almost died."
"... true, sadly, you're lucky, you know that?"
"... how do you really deal with it?" Luciela asked as she leaned on the taller woman's shoulder, eyes vacant. "I-I… if I didn't have Naruto and Rafaela I-I'm not sure I could handle all of this."
"... I used to have a friend," Neideen said and Luciela snorted, getting a smirk out of the older woman. "Classy, yes, even I can have 'friends' outside of our little group. Honestly? She was probably the best thing to ever happen to me in this place before you kids came into the picture."
Luciela blushed a bit before pouting. "We're not kids anymore."
"Yeah… it's crazy how time flies sometimes," Neideen said as Luciela nodded. "For the goddesses' sake, we already have more and MORE kids who used to be your age."
Luciela perked up. "T-That's right, I'd somehow forgotten that we're not exactly the last generation."
The eighth snorted. "Hmph, maybe you guys should do for them what we did for you?"
"... Yeah, I-I think I'd like that. It might not be a lot, we've got training to do."
"That's fine, besides, you've also got extra responsibilities."
"Be honest with me, what do you think of the Soul Link idea?" Luciela asked seriously and Neideen frowned. "Yeah, I figured."
"Hmph, yeah, I don't know what it's like to want to make Awakening a thing… my friend almost did, though," Luciela choked. "Didn't ya think it's weird she wasn't around?"
"I-I just thought she went to a different location."
"I wish though, maybe not. Roxanne's at another one and I wouldn't want them together."
"..." Luciela nodded slowly, pulling up her legs. "She sent a Black Card?"
"Yeah. It wasn't a good day to be me," Neideen shook her head. "That was two years before we met you three, ten years back. It's not wrong to say, it was a damn good thing we met, I could enjoy life a bit more than I used to."
"Making pottery?"
"Making pottery."
~NRK~
Uranus nodded as she and Rafaela walked towards the forest training ground, the sight of the newest trainees being given the Gabe Treatment happening off to the side.
"It was probably something completely different to what you're used to, huh?" The older woman asked and Rafaela nodded.
"I-It was… if Naruto wasn't there, I might have…" She grimaced, eyes looking at the upcoming trees. "I was damn near useless compared to him a-and he's a human which isn't bad but you know what I mean."
"I get it and don't, I'm not the one who lucked out with a boyfriend during my time here."
Rafaela blushed as they found a tree and some stones, the younger woman going to sit down against the arbor while Uranus sat in front of her.
"But I won't tease, right now, you now know what facing an Awakened Being is like, one with more power than any of us," Uranus frowned. "I didn't think you all would get involved with that so early. I think you guys might get relocated, though," she said as Rafaela considered her words.
"Do you think they'll come back?"
"... I'm going to say, on a hunch?" She offered. "They'll be after Naruto, not you two."
Rafaela's eyes widened in horror.
"You told us that they were intrigued, didn't you? That Rigaldo guy might have wanted to just kill him but Isley didn't," she said. "What if that's because he wants him? They didn't know about his whole Sage Mode deal, they don't know if he's human or not. And if he did take a hit that should have killed him and didn't they're now too curious."
"Shit," Rafaela looked incredibly worried. "T-There has to be something! Anything! I WON'T let them become targets," she growled as Uranus nodded before considering something.
"... okay, so, since I know even though I shouldn't," she began as the younger woman looked at her. "Your end goal is to have Luciela become an Awakened Being while you protect her mind, right? But why not try and see if you guys couldn't partially Awaken?" Uranus didn't know.
She knew that you could approach the chance so what if this was doable? She simply couldn't find out due to curiosity… but these three could.
"If Naruto's got the flow down, what if you guys tried to make only one part of you become Awakened? You told us, that guy could change only single parts of his body, yeah?"
Rafaela's eyes widened at the possibilities.
"I'll let the Elders know a-and could you all be on standby?" She asked, looking hopeful as Uranus ruffled her hair.
"Of course."
~NRK~
The following day, Rafaela explained the idea to the Elders without revealing Uranus's involvement.
Naruto and Luciela looked rather taken with the idea along with the gasping Dae.
"If this is true… that'd be a rather good way to work your ways up to it," he chuckled. "I've no issue with the idea, you all?"
Rubel's face remained impassive as he tilted his fedora. 'If they could accomplish it…' That'd be 'bad' but he couldn't say that. "Hmph, you should focus on not doing this too much, you'll likely be dealing with possible permanent changes if you go too far."
"Rubel is right but, at the same time, this is likely the best method to approaching the end goal of the project. You have our permission but make sure you're supervised," Lmit said with a smile.
"Yes, sir," Rafaela said with a nod as the three teens left. 'If we can do this, we can get even stronger,' she thought.
They just needed to train and keep doing so to figure it out.
As they left the chambers, Lmit signaled the guards to close the doors.
"... what are your opinions on this?" He asked his fellow Council members who hummed.
"It's a good idea, on principle. If it's only one part of them, that's safer than doing their entire bodies," one said.
"This isn't something we've seen a warrior do," another said. "Could they Awaken only parts of themselves while leaving the rest intact?"
"I'll be doing avid observations," Dae said. "If they could, that means this could be applied to our other warriors or even be a natural step for the project's future candidates!" He grinned. "It depends on those three, we'll see if things can slip in our favor."
Rubel vanished from the room, pensive. 'Let's hope they can't.'
~NRK~
Their first attempts were done in the forested area of the training space, their gathered members watching on with interest and concern.
Sistina and Naruto stood in front of the siblings, the two nodding.
"Alright so let's go over everything you know about Awakening and Awakened Beings," Sistina said. "Starting from there, we'll go into the basics of yoki, its properties, its control, your control, Yoki Synchronization, and only then will we see about you trying it on your… left arms," she said as the sisters nodded.
Going through everything they knew about yoki down to the 'T', the older warriors around them nodded.
"Alright… time to see what happens," Cassandra said as she and the others looked on nervously. "Remember, slowly," she didn't wish to harm these three.
They were invigorating and made coming back so much… more homely that Cassandra realized she'd treasured most of these individuals around her in some way.
These were her… family.
Her eyes widened despite her words, holding onto her knees in her stone seat.
'When?' She wondered.
"Alright, how about Luci does it first while Rafa does her best to keep her stable?" Naruto offered and the sisters nodded.
Luciela took a shaky breath before swallowing and nodding.
As Luciela held out her arm, Naruto spoke.
"The flow for Awakened beings seems to be like it's always moving all around the body," he said as Sistina nodded.
"It's similar to us in that it's always there but Awakened Beings power is always moving, it's never still not even when they assumably sleep. I've never given that much thought but it might be the key to their power," she explained. "Constant flow." It was rather ingenious when you think about it but made far too much sense.
They didn't constantly use yoki as they did, their bodies stopped it, like putting a cork on a bottle, and that 'restraint' of a flow led to their Awakening after too much usage increased the movement of it in their bodies.
… Sistina's eyes went to Neideen, the eighth smiling at her but it held less fire, less smug, less… complacency.
No, the younger woman felt a bit resigned but didn't show it, not openly.
It was going to be one of those days soon…
"A-Alright, do it," Rafaela said slowly as her sister's eyebrows furrowed.
In moments, her yoki climbed, veins distorting a bit around her cheeks before her arm's blood vessels shifted a bit, wriggling and growing as she grit her teeth.
"Slowly," Sistina re-focused on the older sister. "Nice and easy. Rafaela, you have to help her direct the flow away from her head, it's getting close to causing the main disfiguring."
Rafaela's eyes closed as she held out her hands around her sister's limb, eyebrows furrowed.
She synchronized with Luciela's energy, a 'second operator' of sorts, and focused it more around her sibling's arm.
Naruto closed his eyes as he and Sistina's sensory abilities 'connected'.
Their 'sight' shared and increased, the two watching the very embodiment of Luciela's energy move about before increasing in amount.
As they did, they nodded as the flow for her arm up her shoulder began to loop in on itself, the bits of energy reaching up to her cheeks slowly being pulled out and redirected towards the arm only.
'They're doing it,' Sistina told him through their connection.
'Yeah, I'm proud, but they need to increase the power in it, sadly,' he thought back with a worried look.
Right then, they watched as the older sibling's arm wriggled, getting a hiss out of her but she clenched her teeth and bore with it.
"K-Keep going," Luciela said to the worried-looking Rafaela. "I-It's fine, I'm your older sis, I've got this," she added with a strained grin as her younger sister frowned. "I've got this, keep going," she said before closing her eyes. 'Focus on them, all of them, my mind's my own!'
The feeling of it flooding her body, even if only her arm, was… w-worryingly like ecstasy to her senses. She blushed as she focused more, ignoring it as best she could.
As they kept going, though, the sounds of ripping fabric reached her ears and she cracked one eye open to see her arm gaining… was that some kind of light fur?
The more they pushed, the more horrifying it got compared to just a little fur!
Mouths? A pair formed down her bicep, leaving the group choking as they saw the clenched jaws.
Rafaela balked at them and lost focus, Luciela growling viciously as she did.
"K-Keep going!" She told her as her sister flinched before hurrying to reapply their connection, the odd animal ear that Luciela had gotten slowly going back to normal. "G-Gaah! A-Ahh."
"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't," Rafaela flinched as her sister sighed.
"I don't blame you, I don't know how I'd have… liked seeing that," she said as Naruto crouched by them in an instant with the others not far behind. "S-Sorry, I might have spooked Rafa," Luciela blushed as her sister looked down with some shame. "Hey, none of that, I don't blame you. It's not like we've met a yoma who can sprout a million mouths, ya know?"
"I-I still should have focused, I almost…" Luciela flinched at the look of misery on Rafaela's face.
"People make mistakes," Naruto said immediately, holding both their shoulders. "No matter what, it takes a strong person to keep going and I know both of you are strong," he added with a grin as Rafaela bit her lip but nodded. "Now… Luci has mouths on her arm," he said obviously with a shaky grin as she looked back at 'them'.
The group looked at the arm that had transformed with looks of disbelief as the sisters kept it going.
"So… her Awakened form would have… mouths?" Neideen asked with concern, looking Luciela in the eye, the younger woman sweatdropping. "Oh, wait, she'd have animal ears, too!" She smirked, relieved, as the younger woman blushed.
"I-I had animal ears? What kind?" She asked and the group blinked.
"I don't know, were they ears?" Naruto asked as he recalled the memory. "I mean, they could have been but they looked more like some kinda horn-wing," he said with a shaky grin as Luciela's mouth dropped. "Sorry, it's what I think I saw."
"No, I saw the same thing," Sistina chuckled as Luciela's eyebrow twitched.
"I thought it was just a horn," Uranus said.
"It did look like an ear," Cassandra considered as Rafaela sweatdropped. "So, you might have an animalistic Awakening."
"I'm not liking that at all," Luciela whined before looking at her limb. "... but we need this… I-I don't think it's the full thing, though," she winced as Sistina nodded while Naruto tilted his head. "Naru, it's like my arm is 50%."
"Oh!" Naruto blinked, nodding. "I get ya so how do you two feel? Can you hold it?" He asked the sisters who looked at one another before shaking their heads.
"I-It's so different," Rafaela winced. "I don't feel like I'm strong enough…" She admitted before seeing Luciela's smile.
"We just have to get stronger, I need to increase my spirit to handle this," she frowned as she opened and closed her clawed hand. "The feelings when you got shocked, it was w-weird," Luciela blushed as her sister followed suit, looking just as embarrassed. "I-I don't know, it felt good, w-weirdly."
"... ah," Neideen snickered. "I get you, I know, it's just you need to improve your spirit. Now as for how to do that? I guess you'd turn to our meditation expert."
Naruto nodded. "... we need to find a waterfall," he said as the group blinked. "Focusing in constantly rushing cold water is good for improving your focus. You're supposed to keep a solid stance, no twitching, keep your breathing even, and focus on your internal power."
"T-That sounds right," Cassandra blinked. "It sounds cold though."
"Yeah, that's part of the point. You can't be comfortable, you need to power through and focus."
The sisters nodded. "We'll do it," no more mistakes.
They had a path now, they couldn't fail now!
~NRK~
Isley hummed atop a large stone as Rigaldo recounted his fight once more for the tenth time in the past two days.
"Curious but you felt no yoki from him?" He asked, confused.
"None, it was weird… I can't believe he's human, his reaction speed was… he was able to react to ME, even when I Awakened my legs, he reacted. His speed was the level of a low thirties warrior and his attack power wasn't impressive but he took one blow from my claws and lived while also having amazing senses. He can't be human."
"..." The more powerful warrior hummed, eyes closed. 'Did the Organization do something new?' But the man had been one of the handlers and not an actual warrior unless he was gaining experience? "... If I could, I'd like to meet him once more, he seemed able to sense my energy in its entirety and I'm just left too curious."
Rigaldo could see why. That man… were he capable of producing the power to sever his head… Rigaldo's not sure if he'd have escaped the encounter so easily. Then again, he was so weak that Rigaldo couldn't call that a fair assessment.
He wanted to fight him again. One-on-One.
"Hm, I can see it, you want to fight him seriously but it's clear you'd just win," Isley said with an amused look as Rigaldo's look chilled.
"What if they make him a warrior and he's in some form of 'test stage'?" He offered and his leader perked up, looking pensive. "We're assuming he's not when he could very well just be being prepared."
"... I'd need to know but that's unwise right now. The Organization will likely hide him or move him and his warrior to a different region, now is not our chance."
Rigaldo sighed. "Dammit."
~NRK~
The following two weeks for the trio were spent either healing, in Naruto's case, or training, in the sisters' case.
The blonde man had taken to intense meditation as he rested. No matter where, when, or why, he was meditating.
While the girls practiced their skills with a major emphasis on their Yoki Synchronization and Partial-Awakening, he simply focused on his energy, the energy of those around him and in the distance, his body, and his thoughts.
'I'm currently dead weight,' that was the sad truth and he accepted and hated it. 'God, what I wouldn't do to have Kurama with me,' Naruto thought a bit sadly, looking at the bars within his mind.
No giant bijuu to greet him, no Kurama, no chakra, nothing. All he had was a sort of pseudo-Sage Mode that he was still not fully capable of using properly yet.
Oh, it came with a good amount of upsides. Now, he could gather it on the move and 'splice' it into his muscles and stuff afterward, not needing to worry about being turned to stone helped in that regard.
He still had his extended reach which he applied to his wooden spear now, it helped that the spear also was now damn near indestructible but that didn't leave him with too much. The blonde was currently trying to make small bits of wooden armor that'd fit snugly and keep him light as is.
'The aura?' He considered it. 'Am I just not using Sage Mode to its fullest?'
If he could expand his range more, he could maybe expand it in sections for extra protection. He'd tried 'sharpening' it like wind chakra but that hadn't borne any fruit yet and he wasn't sure how much time he had before something went wrong. Or he got found by the Abyssal One in the North.
'I can gather Natural Energy almost as fast as I used to but it's still not perfect,' he needed attacking power not just defense and speed. '...' He tapped his noggin before looking down at the water in his reflection.
It's still surface as he meditated had always greeted him when he and Kurama were friends and he attained Sage Mode… wait.
'Still?' Like… like the Claymores?
Was that it? Should he be moving his Natural Energy and Sage Energy? Was that it?!
"I'm not sure, though," Naruto said as he sat cross-legged on the surface. "... A better Sage Mode," he realized, one that trumped his former one… one like Six-Paths Sage Mode? "But I can't do that, what would it even feel like?" He groaned as he tapped his noggin. "... for now, I should only focus on my actual skills."
He assumed his meditation stance before focusing on the energy in the air around him, Sistina's form appearing behind him ignored.
"..." She watched it all as he focused.
Those odd golden wisps that he said were from 'nature' itself. She looked on as Naruto's form absorbed more and more of it, coating his limbs, stomach, body, and head, forming that slightly golden sheen that signified he'd attained his 'Sage Mode'.
'What ideas could you be considering?' Sistina wondered before blinking as the Natural Energy around Naruto began to… swirl? 'What?' Her eyes widened as the man focused more.
More and more was pulled into a rotating, multi-directional rotating, ball of Natural Energy that formed around the blonde male.
'What idea is this?' Rotation? Had that been Naruto's answer?
She observed for a time before noticing that the golden energy within the blonde's limbs grew brighter before swirling a bit.
'If he does, it'd be more attack power,' that'd be a good idea, Naruto needed more of that but would it matter? 'If he could attain the attack power of, say, a warrior in the middle 30s…' That could be worked with.
That type of power would allow him to fight even weaker Awakened Beings with just a team of five warriors.
Naruto opened his eyes slowly, their burning irises seeing no one in his room.
Looking down at his hands, he breathed in slowly before expanding that 'film' of energy.
More and more, he kept going before he grinned widely as the back of his door made a small 'thunk'.
Progress has been made!
~NRK~
Back in the field, the group was now back in Pieta, the only real difference now being an additional pair of a warrior and a handler.
Luciela smiled as Neideen chuckled, the quartet of she, Naruto, and the sisters walking down a road to the right of their 'meeting point'. "I guess this is their only answer, I'll handle Dabi and the towns beside it, I hope the girls who've got my station do well."
"They're good, Daisy and Darnelle are some of the toughest defensive types, they'll do good," Luciela said with a chuckle. "They'll handle it. Your job is to help us do our job."
The older woman chuckled before ruffling Luciela's head of hair, confusing her. "Maybe, I'll do my best while I'm here," Neideen said simply while walking ahead.
"... huh?" Luciela blinked, looking confused. 'What?' Why did that feel… odd?
Remembering her words, Luciela frowned while Naruto stood at the back of their group, eyes somber.
'Dammit…' Neideen wasn't… 'Shit,' when it came to it… Luciela…
He bit his tongue as he'd promised.
"You can feel it, can't you?" Neideen whispered to Naruto as they stood in his room, the man looking shocked. "Heh, sorry about droppin' in on ya."
"N-Neideen, you're-" Naruto's expression dropped as she pat his shoulder.
"Hey, I know, I do. I've been alive for some 45 freaking years, you don't get to my age often in our line of business. It's just… I don't want you to tell them, especially not Luciela."
"... why?"
"You know why. She's gonna drop everything and anything to try and do something. She can't be held back by me Awakening, I couldn't do that to her," Neideen rubbed the back of her head. "I've… you kids… you guys are probably one of the best things to ever come into my life out of this place, especially since I lost a friend ten years back," Naruto's shoulders dropped. "I'm happy, fuck, I didn't think I'd have anything to really live for after Orta died. You guys helped give me something to return to, I can't really say I've done enough to repay that."
"You shouldn't have to, no deserves to not have connections," Naruto whispered as she pat his back with a nod.
"You're always like this, I never got it, not when you were still getting your bearings… but I do now. Shit, I feel like I seriously get every bit of you and that helps more than you know."
Naruto nodded slowly.
"So, please, just let me live this little life of mine for a bit longer, okay?"
He schooled his expression despite the heartbreak. 'No… fuck is there really nothing I can do?' All this time and… 'I knew,' it wasn't forever, dammit, he'd known but he wanted to forget.
To forget that even Sistina might one day need to be… put down. Maybe even Luciela and Rafaela if the Soul Link Project didn't work.
'I can't change it,' his eyes lit up with a resigned light. 'So, I'll help them all the way to the end,' no matter what.
Because that's what friends did.
~NRK~
A week had passed before Luciela blinked as she found Neideen, the older warrior sitting up in a tree, the full moon placing a backdrop to her melancholic expression.
"Neideen?" Luciela blinked, looking at the older Claymore in confusion as Neideen chuckled.
"Come on up, it's nice up here," she said and Luciela blinked, eyes alight with the moon above. 'Yeah, you really…'
The younger woman nodded before jumping up into the strong branches of the tree her senior warrior had found herself in, landing softly with a cushion of yoki that barely disturbed the wood.
"Hmph, you're getting better at this yoki thing," Neideen said as Luciela nodded, sitting next to her. "Hmph, wondering why you're here?"
"It's nice up here," Luciela grinned cheekily as Neideen blinked before she laughed, patting the younger woman on her back. "Ha! Your sense of humor hasn't gotten too dim since ya went all gung-ho on training."
"Hey, I'll have you know, my humor's not bad, like my snark," Luciela smirked.
"Right, and I'm the queen of Mucha."
"That'd be me but you're a nice runner-up."
They chuckled at that, the light above setting the world alight.
"Whoa…" The clouds shifted past the full moon like waving blades of grass, the younger woman's mouth setting in a grin as Neideen hummed.
"... here," she said, pulling something from around her neck that Luciela just noticed, the younger woman accepting a small, gently-passed, ceramic… plate?
Looking at it, she turned it before her eyes widened. Not a plate, a locket.
"That used to be Orta's, my old friend's," Neideen said as Luciela held onto the object gingerly.
"Why?" She asked and Neideen chuckled.
"... I've been holding onto that for years," she whispered. "Maybe… maybe it's me finally learning to let go. It might have been a way for me to pass on her will since I never took up her sword? I don't know, it feels right to do this."
Luciela looked down at the locket before slowly opening it to reveal a name within it.
It was crudely written, definitely not made from the same practiced hands of the maker of today's… but it held a 'heart' to it that she nodded, pulling it around her neck.
Messing with the locket, she grinned.
"How's it look?" She asked, the biggest grin on her face as Neideen's eye slowly widened.
"H-Huh? It's just some crude thing, ya know?" The flustered Claymore admitted as Luciela snickered.
"Well, I-
"I think it's the most amazing locket in the world!"
Older silver eyes glinted as they watered a bit, Luciela's chuckling grin getting one right back.
She pat the younger woman on the back before pulling her in close for a one-armed embrace.
Luciela's eyes softened before they closed.
This moment would last forever… she was sure of it.
From afar, Naruto and Rafaela sat down against the side of a tree, leaning against one another.
A night to remember for eternity.
~NRK~
The months following the exchange had never seen Luciela without the locket, not for a second, and Naruto and Rafaela had praised her and Neideen, underhandedly, for it.
The two had never looked so bright and Naruto saw those bright flames for what they were.
And eventually… one would begin to grow too big.
~NRK~
"..."
The lunch area they'd chosen outside of Pieta was silent as Neideen walked over to them with a serene smile that was contrasted by a series of throbbing vines around her face.
"N-Neideen?" Luciela said, confused even as a mounting horror built in her heart. "H-Hey, did you fight something serious just now? You should have told us-"
A one-armed embrace had the younger woman tucked into the older one's bare uncovered shoulder, the woman wearing a simple black tunic and pants, feet bare.
No claymore was in sight as she held Luciela at arm's length before holding out an item to her.
"Here…" She whispered as the younger woman's eyes shrunk, her breathing picked up, her skin paled even further, and her knees felt weak. "I'm sorry this had to happen," Neideen said softly as Naruto grimaced while Rafaela trembled.
"W-Wait," the younger of two said with a shaky breath. "H-Hold on, alright? I-It's not… t-that has to be a joke… r-right?!" Rafaela couldn't believe it.
No… not one of them… not Neideen.
"H-H-snff," Luciela's words choked into a sniffle as Neideen grinned, wiping away one of the woman's tears. "D-Don't do this! W-We could try! M-Maybe even-"
"Hey, we both know that's not going to work, especially since I'm not in a situation where I can just change back. Luci… I don't have a lot of time and I want you to make sure I die a human," Neideen whispered as the younger woman broke down into her chest. "I'm sorry, I really am."
The embrace couldn't have been more heartbreaking as the two hit their knees, Rafaela choking from her spot as Naruto grit his teeth, wooden plate breaking.
"Goddammit," he hissed at the table, form trembling with frustration. 'NOTHING?! I can't even save a-'
"Cut it out, kid," Neideen said as Naruto flinched, head snapping up to the smiling warrio… woman.
To the smiling woman, the human one over there embracing his girlfriend.
"..."
~NRK~
It'd been in a field, one with a simple stone with a familiar sword planted next to it.
A prepared gravesite.
Luciela trembled, looking on the verge of tears again, as Neideen sat down with a chuckle before undoing the eyepatch around her right eye.
A starburst scar was free to 'look' at the world as she sat there, looking somber but more peaceful than they'd ever seen her outside of with Luciela.
"Come on, it's never easy, it's not funny, it's sad as shit and horrible… but it's one of the most amazing things you can do for gals like us," Neideen said as Luciela walked over while Naruto stood back with Rafaela crying into his chest. "Ya know? I've always liked sunny days," she stated as she looked up at the sun, eyes squinting slightly.
A trembling blade raised as tears streamed down from quaking eyes.
"I loved them as a human and I love 'em even more now," she grinned. "Naruto, take care of these girls, they need you more than you'll ever know."
Naruto looked down but nodded, eyes clenched.
"Rafaela, come on, let me see you one more time, yeah?"
The younger sisters trembled as she turned away from Naruto and sniffled, snotty, teary-eyed, and quaking.
What a beautiful set of wives, huh? Neideen chuckled.
"Do it," she whispered to the shaking Luciela.
The blade dropped but not fast enough for a single sentence to ring throughout the air.
"Daughters like you would have been great."
Luciela's knees hit the ground the moment Neideen's head did, the grinning woman's visage doing it.
That was it, she'd broken down again at the insane pain in her chest.
Naruto lifted Rafaela off her feet before carrying her over.
He placed her down and the two sisters cried ugly tears in an embrace that couldn't possibly be broken.
His eyes went to Neideen's smiling head before they closed and looked away, his fists clenched as Neideen's handler, Michaelo, arrived on the scene.
"..." He didn't say anything, no heartfelt words, no nothing… but he stayed silent without a negative expression, a look of apathy on his face. "..."
Naruto looked at him with dim eyes before whispering.
The handler nodded and the man smiled wetly, tears falling down his own face.
He'd already begun digging before Michaelo had left.
Naruto kept digging even as the light above began to dip.
He kept digging even when he was joined by two pairs of shaking hands.
The three teens dug a wonderful grave, one embraced by a circle of stones and her name atop it.
Placing Neideen's sword down as the headstone, they stood in front of it, eyes watery again but lacking the accompanying hiccups or sniffles.
Their hands gripped one another's as they watched Neideen for hours.
~NRK~
The news had… dispersed the moment they'd been seen a week later, no Neideen in sight and the three looking vacant-eyed and slightly miserable.
Uranus had taken one look at them before leading them outside into the training areas, familiar Numbers following after her.
They all watched the three as they sat down by the wall of the Organization, Otie biting her lip as her head fell with Cassandra's, Elizabeth's, and Sistina's.
Uranus sighed softly. 'They're not going to be talking for a while,' she thought as she took off her sword before placing it in the ground.
She sat down and closed her eyes, similar sounds and movements taking place next to her.
In two hours, the story had spilled.
In three, they'd held a small funeral.
In four, the three teens were in Naruto's room once more, dazes apparent but addressed.
"..."
"..."
"... I won't let that happen to you two," Naruto whispered as he looked up at his ceiling, the flinching at his sides reaffirming his resolve. "I… I don't know everything, I can be an idiot a lot of the time even though it'll seem like I know what I'm doing… but I'll be damned if I don't do everything in my power to make sure this never happens to you. That's a promise I will NEVER break until I'm dead."
"... I don't want to lose anyone else," Luciela said as she tucked into his shoulder, fists clenched as her hand reached across Naruto's chest to grip Rafaela's. "I-I just wish there was something we could do."
"..." Rafaela just pushed her face into his shoulder, nodding as well.
"We need to figure this Awakening thing out," Luciela said with a frown. "I-If we can… couldn't we help them? I don't… I-I don't want to do this again," she whispered into his shoulder as Naruto sighed.
"We'll do our best," he said. "Though… how about we not train for a couple of days, alright?"
They nodded.
~NRK~
In an Organization lab in the middle sector of the lands, Roxanne hummed curiously as she heard the news from the Elder manning the location.
"I see… Neideen is dead?" She smiled happily.
"The newest change in rankings will be handled at their usual times," the man said, confusing her and the others. "Number 8's former area is being handled by Number 20 and 19 on request of their handler. If they do well, that zone will be switched with them and the nearby 32's."
'Wait,' her eyes widened in wonder. 'My district is only one away?' Roxanne's mouth set into a grin that could have split glass.
~NRK~
They traveled out of the Organization the following morning, Naruto leading the way.
They ran for over an hour west of the Organization, eyes on a small town that was maybe twenty miles away.
"This is Teo Village," Naruto said as they got there, cloaks on. "Alright, here," he passed them half of some pills. "These should last six hours so we can enjoy the day here," he chuckled as his girlfriends took their offered medicine, the feeling of their yoki disappearing from his senses, leaving behind nothing but a pair of human girls.
"... I wonder," Luciela said as her maroon-colored hair blew in the wind. "With these pills, can't we prevent Awakenings?" She asked her sister and lover.
They looked surprised by the idea. "But then why not use them?" Rafaela frowned as Naruto shook his head.
"I don't really know, I can ask Dae if I see him but I have to guess there's a reason. Maybe they don't work at that point?" He offered and the sisters sighed but nodded. "Come on," Naruto said, taking their hands and walking ahead, the women catching up and keeping pace with him.
"I-It's been kinda long since we've been like this," Luciela said, she and her sister in their casual clothes under their gray cloaks. "I-I don't remember not being able to punch through a wall," she noted slowly as Rafaela opened and closed her hands.
'To live like a human, even for only a few hours,' her eyes grew somber. '... I want to enjoy it, at least, every now and then.'
Then she got an idea, scrunching in a bit and lifting her collar a bit to look down.
The sight of what could have just been a long scar greeted her, eyes wide in shock and awe before she stood up like normal.
'I-It looks more like just a scar!'
Naruto hummed. "Come on, let's go into the village, alright?" He said with a smile as he gestured to it.
The sisters nodded, the three of them walking behind him as he led the way into Teo Village.
"Odd," Luciela said as they reached the front of the town, looking back into the distance. "I thought I'd feel a bit more tired," she hummed as Naruto chuckled.
"You guys do exercise no matter what, it's not like that all goes away," he said as she tilted her head.
"Huh."
Once they reached the guards at the front, the men blinked at the smiling Naruto as he showed their papers.
"Here ya go," he said with a chuckle, his brown-colored versions of his usual clothes not giving anything away. "We're gonna be here only for a bit," Naruto chuckled as one of the men hummed before nodding, handing him back the items.
"Alright, good day, sir, ma'ams," he said as the three passed on through, the sisters shoulder to shoulder with him. "... h-he's not married to them, is he?" He asked his fellow in-disbelief guard who swallowed.
"T-That'd be something I've never seen before."
Walking through the village, the three marveled at how clean most of the streets were, the stone fountain in the middle of it, and the curious amount of clothing stores.
"Teo Village is apparently sometimes called the village of 'fashion'," Naruto chuckled as his girlfriends looked about with more interest. "Come on, it's been a while since I got you both some new clothes."
"H-Huh?" They blushed, looking surprised.
"We didn't just come here to rest for a bit, we came here to relax and I want to make sure you both do."
They looked touched, more so than usual, before he was glomped on both sides as they walked towards a stand.
They spent the next two hours going clothes shopping and Naruto, for the first time in any of his lives, felt happy that his wallet was more empty.
If they were happy, he'd be damned if that didn't make him happy as well.
~NRK~
They sat at a table outside of a small food store, eating some kind of mutton soup.
"Mmm!" Luciela smiled like a million beru, her sister giggling a bit as Naruto chuckled. "I haven't had good food in so long," she moaned.
"Yeah, our place really doesn't do that well," Naruto said with a hum. "Heh," he ate with almost as much gusto, fist clenched in joy.
Rafaela nodded as she looked out into the square, eyes softening as she saw a pair of sisters running after one another with laughs aplenty.
'Despite everything… this is the kind of life we're protecting,' she considered. 'Maybe even the opportunity to have these lives for ourselves,' at times, Rafaela really did want a future beyond all of this.
If they could make their current project a success, maybe even wipe out all the Abyssal Ones and Awakened Beings… could they just stop and live normal lives?
She really hoped so.
~NRK~
They rested in their inn room, Naruto reading some book he'd bought while the sisters handled one another's hair.
"I've always wondered," Rafaela said as Luciela combed her hair down. "D-Does our hair actually grow? Or does it just… 'grow up' with us?"
The two blinked, looking at her curiously.
"... I think it's really REALLY slow," Naruto sweatdropped as Luciela touched her twintails in interest.
"I… don't know," she blinked. "I-I've never really given it much thought, you know? I just knew that I could tell who everyone was with their favorite hairstyles," Luciela's eyebrow twitched a bit. "Oh, please tell me that's not that case! I want to see what you look like with long hair!"
Rafaela laughed while Naruto snorted.
It was only hours later that he smiled softly at the trembling women, asleep and grasping his top for security.
'I hope you get where you're supposed to, Neideen,' Naruto thought before closing his eyes. 'We won't forget you.'
~NRK~
The following day, they returned and spoke more at length with their comrades.
Naruto spoke with Cassandra and Sistina as they trained.
He went back down before going back up shakily.
"100," Sistina said from atop the giant stone, which was easily twice as tall as the six-foot man himself, Naruto was doing one-handed handstand push-ups with. "Hmph, I guess this is how you cope, huh?" She offered him as Cassandra performed similar push-ups next to the man. "And 200, Cassandra."
The tall woman hummed before she and Naruto put their burdens down, the ground beneath their hands rumbling before they sat down, sweat wiped off their brows.
"I don't need to cope, I… I get it," Naruto said, sitting in his black tunic and some new orange pants that the sisters had somehow bought for him.
He was forever lucky to have their affections.
"I do, it's not something I don't get, people die. It's… I just hate that it's because of something I couldn't prevent."
Cassandra nodded, eyes closed as she pulled her knees up to her chin. "I understand that," she said.
"I think you guys will know more than I ever can. It's not fair, it's just… dammit," he flopped onto his back, eyes going into the sky. "I'm sure the girls are thinking the same, there has to be a way, there has to be something we just don't get."
"... you three care too much, sometimes," Sistina said as she sat beside the two. "... but we appreciate it, more than you all know. It's weird… this place isn't 'warm', it's not 'home' but… w-well," she blushed a bit, ruffling her hair as Naruto snickered while Cassandra smirked. "Hush. The fact remains, it's nice to have something here that makes us feel more human than we ever did before, it's odd but it really does feel like feeling more human is one of the most amazing feelings we can have."
"I don't really remember much of my time before the Organization," Cassandra told them, surprising the two. "I think it was from an attack from a yoma, I don't really get it. I only really know the Organization since I was a trainee, I w-wasn't good at… friendships," she blushed. "I didn't have someone I could trust in… until I met Otie. I think I finally understood everything I missed out on ever since we became friends, m-maybe even fa…" She burned as Naruto sat up with a grin.
"Family?" He said cheekily as the older blonde covered her head in embarrassment. "... you guys should tell each other," Naruto said softly. "It's better that way than with a Black Card."
It took the two women a couple of seconds before their eyes widened in disbelief as he grinned.
"Neideen was more motherly than I really knew, I guess."
~NRK~
Their lives following those fateful two weeks had been… more focused, more tempered.
They wouldn't let that happen to them if they could make something of their goals. And for that, they needed to get stronger.
They approached several methods on that front, more strenuous training from Naruto's ideas, more powerful Yoki Synchronization not just with themselves but with their comrades, their classmates, and the blonde man.
They even went as far as to ask Dae if he had any ideas half a year later.
~NRK~
"Hmm…" The scientist cupped his chin. "A way to retain your humanity? Well, I can't say it's never come up but you also seem to have an idea."
"The pills," Naruto said as the sisters nodded. "The ones that suppress their yoki, can't they do something?"C
"Hmm, to a point, yes, but it's not exactly like we know if they'll even work on Awakened Beings, you see," he explained with a grin. "Though your theory is quite curious yet you also need to remember that all that is suppressed is yoki not the flesh of yoma."
"Is there a difference?" Luciela asked, confused. "I mean, it's the yoma flesh that makes yoki… right?"
"That's not wrong."
"Well… how does it suppress it?"
"... it's a compound of yoma blood and chemicals. It's not simply applying those chemicals to yoma flesh. It's a rare result of the process that takes at least an entire year to even make fifty of them."
Naruto frowned at that, sighing. "Well… it was worth a shot. Come on, girls, I guess we're doing this like always."
"Hmm, though, you may have some form of component, no?" Dae spoke up as Naruto blinked, turning around with the sisters. "Your strength isn't normal, not human even, yet you're at no danger to yourself. I'd question if we couldn't make a pill using your blood as a base."
Naruto frowned at that. 'Give them my blood?' He considered everything he knew about Dae and the others.
What could go wrong? Well… he wasn't sure, it's not like his blood was all that special, right? Maybe the only difference would be that it might have been a bit different thanks to how often he used Natural Energy but that's it.
"What do you mean?" Rafaela asked. "Well, you know how Naruto's strength works so…"
"Exactly, increasing one's spiritual strength? Their human will is likely a big boost if we could work it into a pill of some sort," Dae said, looking excited. 'If it came with some of the boy's power, what could these new effects be?!' Oh, he hoped he said 'yes'.
"... only for the pills," Naruto said seriously as Dae grinned, going to a drawer in the medical bay where he pulled out a syringe. "U-Uh," now he looked nervous as the half-faced man turned around with glee in his eyes. "... I'm going to regret this."
Getting a syringe full of his blood taken, Dae had immediately gone to a microscope with a few chuckles, examining a bit of blood he'd put into a petri dish.
"... hmm…" He made intrigued sounds as he kept examining the man's blood. 'We were right, his blood isn't normal!' Just from first glance, Dae could find it full of a vitality that wasn't in the warriors' blood, it was oddly healthy beyond reason. "Your blood's health is rather outstanding, downright incredible," Dae said as Naruto rubbed the back of his head.
"Sage Mode," was all he could say.
'Yes, your peculiar technique,' harnessing this so-called skill was mostly a trial in futility, the man had been caught on record as a child saying it took training and the like.
Annoying but if they could boost the warriors' capabilities and he could teach them? They might very well develop an entirely new generation! One that could, possibly, include males once more!
'That's too far away, for now,' it wouldn't help if they didn't have years of research into this. "Hmm, this will take lots of time, though. You lot should just focus on your current project."
"I guess," Luciela said. "... alright, let's go."
As they left, Dae hummed as he observed and observed.
This curious specimen might very well be a great material to make use of.
~NRK~
Three years following that idea, the group balked at the 'Number Ceremony'.
Why? Well, it was only because the newest Number 8 and 10 were…
"Us?!" Luciela choked while Rafaela's cheek twitched. "N-No way…"
"Hehe," Naruto chuckled. "Someone might have wished from above that you got that number," he grinned as Luciela touched her locket with a smile while Rafaela nodded.
"Hmm… Number 23," Uranus said. "I-I went up," she said in surprise while Elizabeth nodded.
"And I've retained my own rank," Elizabeth said with a smile. "The goddesses are blessing us."
"Maybe," Otie said. "I'm the 29th now," she hummed. "Daisy has become the newest 33rd."
"We'll need to go and see her," Rafaela said as she rubbed the back of her head. "This is insane."
"You've trained the most out of anyone, it's only fair," Sistina said with a smile. "Still, four more years until you really try, yes?"
The sisters nodded as Naruto hummed.
"Thankfully, nothing crazy has happened so we can all keep training," Naruto said as Uranus hummed. "For now, we've just gotta keep going."
They nodded to that.
~NRK~
A week later, Naruto stared at the sisters' bodies as they wore their waterfall training 'gear'.
A pair of short shorts and a navel-length top, both gray, adorned their bodies as they looked at him with nervous expressions.
Why? Well, it likely had to do with the 'stigma' of Claymores… a seemingly sewed-up line that went from just above their breasts down into even their shorts.
"This is… the stigma, y-you know," Luciela said nervously, no confidence in sight as she messed with her now-free-of-its-binds hair. 'P-Please don't feel weird,' she didn't think she could handle it if he did feel some negative way about them.
"... do they hurt?" Naruto asked softly as they flinched a bit.
"N-Not really, not anymore, at least," Rafaela said, head down a bit as she blushed. "It's just… there, reminding us a lot of the time, I'm sure you get what I mean," she stated as he nodded.
"Well, as long as you guys aren't, like, in danger of exploding, it's whatever," he grinned with red cheeks as they sighed in relief. "H-Honestly, this is the first time I've seen, uh… y-you guys in less clothes."
Cheeks activated as they realized that, yes, they were basically wearing swimwear and he was just standing there with a cough, looking away embarrassed.
A grin slowly found itself on Luciela's face as her younger sister burned bright red.
"Right."
"Let's just focus on training, please?"
And that had been hilarious.
"I-It's so cold!"
"I-I just got hit by a fish!"
"EEEP!"
Naruto laughed from his place between the two, all three of them on some large stones they'd procured from a bit away for their 'meditation pads'.
And he'd been able to bear witness to the hilarious sounds of his girlfriends and this kind of training.
"Come on, come on, we've tried this! Just re-lax," he smirked as they whined.
"W-We know, Naru," they said in unison while he chuckled some more.
"Come on, we've gotta try and do this every other two weeks and Sis was right, we're four years away. We've gotta power through!"
They nodded even as they shivered at water thumping against their heads.
"This is gonna suck."
They kept the exercise going for, give or take, three hours before stepping out of it, the women looking cold and miserable while Naruto looked prepared to take on the day.
"Actually, there's something else I wanted to try," he said to them as he faced the two.
And only then did Rafaela and Luciela remember that he was basically naked as well.
Wet muscles gleamed in the sunlight and both sisters went bright red as Naruto hummed, stretching a bit and making all that nice muscle dance.
Needless to say, they weren't cold anymore.
"A-And that is?" Luciela blushed but looked on with more scrutiny. 'Wow,' had she really been sleeping next to this the entire time?!
Rafaela simply nodded rapidly as they listened, barely, to their very toned boyfriend.
Needless to say, they had to ask for a repeat.
And then they were staring at the water in disbelief as he urged them on.
Sitting by the small waterfall they'd found in Cassandra's district, the two women blinked at his eyes before slowly putting their legs up and then down onto the water's surface.
"A constant stream," Naruto said from his meditating stone. 'If it's possible, they might be able to do Water Walking,' and that'd be an amazing discovery along with being an amazing training exercise.
As they did as he'd instructed, Naruto watched with interest as the water was disturbed beneath their skin.
"Hmm," Luciela's eyes narrowed a bit as she pushed her yoki to the back of her legs and bottom of her heels.
'This idea… a platform of yoki?' Rafaela considered the idea with a hum, trying the idea with no real progress. '... think… a constant stream…' Constant?
She blinked before considering something.
'Instead of constant production, what about just a constant flow?' She thought as her feet slowly began to glow a faint yellow.
Over the years, gaining better control of their yoki down to a science had been key and it wasn't wrong to say, outside of Sistina, the sisters were the best at Yoki Manipulation.
And so she'd put that theory to practice.
The water's surface bubbled beneath her feet as they glowed a soft yellow before she huffed as she pushed down and stood up shakily.
Very shakily but… she'd done it!
"No way!" Luciela's jaw dropped as Rafaela grinned nervously, balancing precariously on the water's surface. "T-This is doable-?!"
Rafaela yelped as she dropped below the waters, getting a sweatdrop out of both Naruto and Luciela.
She resurfaced with a gasp but a look of wonder.
"I-It kinda works!"
~NRK~
That'd been the most hilariously amazing news they had in a while though they hadn't told anyone yet. For now, gaining some form of control over this skill would require more trips.
Still, they had more and more things to work on and it'd been good for their mindsets.
Though, Naruto's revelation of his Nature Manipulation had been just as curious three months later.
~NRK~
She felt his finger poke even from ten feet away.
"Hehe, I've been working on my Sage Mode," Naruto explained to their group in the training yard. "I've been expanding my range, for one," he said. "And trying to up my attack power and defense."
Elizabeth blinked, confused. "You can extend it that far?" She looked a bit inspired. "Still, how fast can you do it?"
"Sadly, not that fast, it takes a second. That said, I can go three feet away from me as fast as I need to," he explained as Uranus raised a brow.
"Hmm… with your spear, that's ridiculous range but you do need attack power so what about on that front?" She asked Naruto who nodded before holding out his arm.
The group blinked as he closed his eyes before the sound of… something, wind, maybe, whirling in front of them.
Around his arm.
"This is my first answer, ya know?" He offered. "When the girls were focusing on constant flows and around one area, I figured I could try the same with Sage Energy. Heh, it works, at least and I can expand it to three feet as well."
"How potent is it?" Otie asked, curious.
Naruto nodded before raising his arm and slamming it down into the ground.
The floor rumbled for a bit as an explosion of dust and rock burst past them but the results were to be applauded.
Naruto grinned at the hole that was half his height, removing his unharmed hand from 'result' with a nod.
"Hmm," Sistina considered the hole for a moment. "... perhaps around the mid-30s," she offered him as Otie tilted her head.
"I think that's right," she agreed with a smile. "You're getting there, you know? It's a little ridiculous how far a human can come but I guess that's just your special brand of 'weird', huh?"
"Yep," Naruto looked proud as they rolled their eyes. "Hmm, I'm trying to condense it more for powerful blows with my weapon. I've got things to work on and I'm looking forward to it!"
~NRK~
With their developments revealed, their training had doubled, their efforts pushing them to greater heights than before.
… and for the best… no, they were DAMN LUCKY they had.
Because they had one last 'fated moment' before the Soul Link and it wasn't one that they could have left if they'd not been as strong as they were.
~NRK~
Naruto rested just outside of the town of Kyss, the sisters currently handling their last jobs of the week before they went on another training trip.
Sitting in a tree, he focused on his senses and relaxed, always keeping his girls' signatures in mind…?!
He shot up in horror as his face paled.
Naruto dropped down from his tree, confusing the guards of the town.
"You going somewhere?" One of them asked and Naruto nodded rapidly.
"I'll be back," he said simply before crouching low. 'Dammit! I didn't know she was nearby!'
He vanished in a blur, startling the men.
Naruto kept running, each step punctuated by an 'additional' made with Sage Energy, his golden eyes narrowing in worry.
As he kept moving, he frowned as Her signature… turned-!?
"Shit!" He cursed loudly skidding to a stop before shooting off in another direction, senses constantly bouncing against Hers. "Tsk!"
A mile of travel was all he could accomplish, finding himself at the border of a pair of districts.
Naruto unclipped his weapon from his back as he felt Her breath on his neck.
"Naruto~."
"Roxanne."
They vanished in a burst of dirt and earth before the sound of the wood and metal rang out, large heavy 'thwacks' that were accompanied by a series of smaller 'thunks'.
Three seconds later, they skidded to a stop, face-to-face.
She hadn't changed at all but the look on her face and the number on her blade made him concerned.
Ninth.
His eyes widened before he turned, dodging a thrust that carved up the earth below and came back around like a serpent.
A metal-braced ninja sandal swung up and slammed into the owner's wrist, knocking it off-target.
"You've gotten better!" Roxanne said with a bright smile from behind him, silver eyes slowly bleeding into gold. "You must FEEL even better~" She purred.
She vanished from sight and his eyes closed veins popping on his arm and exposed shins.
His spear slashed around him in a flourish of arcs that sparked gold for each deflection of a slashing blade.
Three seconds, three long seconds, Naruto grit his teeth before sweeping at the ground behind him, Roxanne's hopping form coming into view.
He leaned back, spear leveled at her shoulder.
She quickly leaned back from the thrust, the wind dragging her hair to the side as she considered him for a mere moment.
She smiled slyly.
Naruto stepped back with a stomp, crushing the ground beneath his foot and allowing his block to hold as Roxanne slammed down on his raised spear.
The area beneath his feet crumbled like brittle clay, the man gritting his teeth as she kept on grinning.
"You've become so spectacular!" She cheered with a wonder-filled expression on her face, a look of admiration and obsession that made Naruto jerk back. "A unity between you and I could shake the world itself, no-"
Roxanne's eyes widened as two blurs descended down on her neck.
She vanished from atop Naruto and the two blades stopped before they so much as touched his weapon.
"H-Heh, thanks, girls," he said as he stood up, wincing at a crick in his back. "I was barely able to hold on."
"That's fine," Luciela said with narrow golden eyes.
"We'll handle her," Rafaela growled, her rage-filled gaze burning gold.
Roxanne smiled widely, eyes nearly closed as she looked at her obstacles.
"Now, now, don't keep him all to yourself~"
"We'll kill you!"
~NRK~
That's a wrap and we've got a fight with Roxanne, the Ninth, on the horizon. But, NRK, they're the eighth and tenth, how could they struggle?
There's a good option in not giving a fuck and just Awakening, isn't there?
Ciao, see ya in the next one where we get two big events.
~NRK Out~