Blue-Eyed Blonde

by Nasha Rei-Kun

He was an oddball, young man full of understanding and weirdness that seemed to spread out into the Organization. He was Naruto Uzumaki and they hadn't known how much they'd value how weird he was.

5. Awakenings I

Inspirational Battle Music:

Reverse Sweep Victory - Boruto Soundtrack

Arata na Master Samurai

Naruto vs Delta - Boruto Soundtrack

World on Fire - Tokyo ESP Ost

Weight of the World DUET - Amalee

Reason - Ace Attorney OP 4

~NRK~

The battle hadn't stopped after she said those words.

If anything, it'd turned up.

Naruto ducked under a slicing blade and allowed Rafaela to slip overhead, Roxanne barely blocking her weapon only to stumble as the younger woman's eyes pulsed gold.

Luciela's weapon came around for the older warrior's back and barely bit into cloth before Roxanne vanished, reappearing several meters away.

'They're not bad!' She realized, some sweat falling down her cheek. 'Yoki Manipulation, a sharp intuition, god-like reflexes,' and that last one had come from Naruto, the human.

The one who was nearly just as hard to fight in this chaos as his partners were.

She caught one of the sisters' lines of sight and blocked her, Luciela's blade trembling against her own.

Roxanne's eyes locked with the younger woman who tilted her head to the side to allow a spear to come down towards her eye.

Roxanne skirted around the two with a small burst of yoki before swinging her blade behind her to deflect Rafaela's blade.

"Tsk!" The younger woman grit her teeth before her eyes throbbed again and Roxanne's body froze for a moment, allowing Luciela's swing to slash at her thighs before the Ninth jumped away, crushing the ground beneath her feet where she retreated.

"Hmph, you've all gotten stronger, haven't you?" Roxanne said with a bright smile that was twitched with a smidge of annoyance. "Spending all those restless nights together and your days training, you must have had quite the paradise."

"Don't fuck with us!" Luciela grimaced. "You… you've been a problem for way too long! Leave Naruto alone and you'll leave here without having to fend in these forests with four cut-off limbs."

Roxanne's smile relaxed, almost becoming angelic, before the air thickened with a sickening aura as her eyes burned and her face throbbed with violent veins. "Don't fuck with me," she hissed out as Naruto landed behind the sisters. "Now, who first-?"

She'd not even finished talking before Naruto kicked Rafaela to the side, Roxanne appearing there much to the disbelief of the younger of two sisters.

"What?!" Luciela choked. 'She disappeared from our senses?!' How?!

Naruto grimaced as Roxanne pulled and he was soon face-to-face with a beautiful woman.

"Hi~"

"Not interested!"

Naruto expanded the Sage energy around his leg and slipped out of the surprised Roxanne's grip.

"Hmmm-?" Her blade came up and blocked Rafaela with ease, the Tenth's kick not budging her forearm. "I'm busy."

Her sword arm raised only to be locked down by Luciela as the Eighth's blade came towards her face.

"Annoying-" Her legs buckled, two flaring pains in her shins the reasons, the sisters getting away. "Hm?"

She stopped mid-fall, thighs covered in throbbing veins as her head turned to see Naruto standing there, eyes glowing gold much to her intense fascination.

"I'm going to enjoy your flesh with my own~" Was all she said, the tone lustful and hungry all in the same breath.

Naruto hopped back and dodged a downward slash of a blade before kicking to his side with all his strength, allowing Roxanne's strength to toss him out of harm's way once he hit her blade's handle.

She gave chase only to skid to a stop by a descending blade only for the handle to slam into her noggin, sending her head snapping back.

'Taste Uranus's technique, you monster!' Rafaela thought as she brought her claymore's handle back and swung low. "!"

Roxanne's legs came up and her slash missed before Rafaela was sent flying back by a mule kick, the older woman covering her face as she stood up unnaturally.

"You child," she grinned, removing her hand to show the healing pockmark on her forehead and the angry veins on her face. "My face!"

She lunged around Luciela's blade, zeroed in on Rafaela who looked at her with pained eyes… before she grinned and her hand reached out below her.

Naruto's limbs throbbed as she latched onto the raised elbow of his reared-back spear arm.

Roxanne's eyes widened too late as she met with four golden eyes.

Which was quickly followed by Naruto's arm thrusting forward as Rafaela let go.

A hole tore its way through Roxanne's stomach before she was sent flying back and through several trees of the nearby forest, Luciela landing next to her precious people.

"Good job!" She grinned as they nodded. "Combining the thrown weight with Naru's crazy reach was perfect."

"Y-Yeah, well, I'd enjoy not getting kicked in the face again," Rafaela winced as the bruises on her face slowly went away. "But that's not enough to stop her."

"She's right," Naruto said as he rubbed his ankles. "And I'm pretty sure she's gonna up the ante-"

Yoki thickened the air once more, almost sickeningly so to the point that it felt a bit hard to breathe.

"Dammit."

"She's not gonna last like this, though," Luciela said, eyes closed. "If she Awakens, she's going to attract Elizabeth."

"She'll try to end it before that," Rafaela frowned. "If she even goes that far and doesn't just cut her losses."

"... she won't," Naruto said sadly as the yoki in the air damn near quintupled?! "Oh shit!" He cursed as all their eyes widened at a mound growing in the forest.

A large metallic-looking being that bore a feminine form with no arms but in their place were four long blade-like whips on each side with dagger-like 'fruit' below them. Her head was iron maiden-shaped while her 'body' was more of a long blade that worked as a spine.

"Hmmm," her voice echoed towards them, stature easily standing over the forest, a 'Giant of Blades' that had them all grimacing. "Ahh, yes, let's try things this way, yes?"

~NRK~

Sistina's eyes widened as she jumped off the roof with a curse.

"Dammit, Roxanne!" She landed on the ground outside the Organization before taking off. 'Stay alive, you three!' As she ran, she expanded her senses towards Elizabeth.

"S-Sistina?!" Came the familiar cry of Otie as the older woman already passed the ten-mile mark away from the Organization. "What-?!"

Sistina skidded across the ground in a crouch, not stopping.

"Go tell the Organization Roxanne Awakened!"

She shot off again, leaving a pale Otie in her wake before the 29th took off in horror.

"SHIT!"

~NRK~

"Hmm?" Isley blinked, senses piqued. "... Hahaha, I see, I see," he grinned as Rigaldo ran into his office. "Another single digit Awakened."

"What should we do?" Rigaldo asked. "If this is true, she'd be a powerful asset… then again, there's nothing but men here so that's a bad idea."

"Exactly, sadly, getting even one, this weak, wouldn't be good. It'd cause havoc amongst my men and that's not the type of trouble I ever want to deal with."

"Hmm, should I go and watch her?"

"... yes, it'll be interesting to see if she's worthwhile. Maybe we'll call her an 'abroad' project?"

"What if Riful approaches?"

"Kill the Awakened Being if her fight truly drains her, though, if Riful does go… it'll be hard to get away," Isley made a curious sound. "... Curious, I just got the fiercest hunch that this fight includes… that young man from years back," he smirked. "If he's there and this being has Awakened, it would mean he found a way to get more powerful, no?"

Rigaldo raised his brow at the idea. "That's a big assumption."

"Mere hunches… but if it's true, I'm more and more curious about how someone that smells like a human can progress so far."

~NRK~

She perked up, tan eyes alight with interest as her long dark brown hair fell past her fair-skinned face.

Sitting atop a large boulder in a simply sandy-colored dress, she tilted her head with a smile.

"Curious, I didn't think we'd get an opportunity so soon, what with their last failure," she said to a large man at her side. "Dauf, we'll need to go and approach this one."

"Alright, Riful," the lumbering man said, rather… 'smooth' fair-skinned expression lighting up at her words, blue eyes looking out into the horizon where the flare of yoki had come from. "Will this one work out, Riful? The other one didn't," Dauf said, ruffling his short blond hair, his simple brown tunic and pants shifting in the wind.

Riful hummed. "I'm not a sensory-type but her yoki is so clear and obvious, I think we can promise another chance at her 'affection' if she joins us," she grinned before getting up. "Alright, let's go."

~NRK~

"Shit," Luciela grimaced while Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Sis is coming, she told Otie to go tell the Org so we need to hold out," Naruto said with narrowed eyes. "But I don't like those whips."

Roxanne chuckled as her eyes latched onto the three blondes while her lips widened slightly.

"Hmm… hm, hm, hm, an ultimatum wouldn't be so bad, would it?" She offered the sisters whose faces began to fill with throbbing veins. "Oh? Too bad," her face had said it all.

She lied as she breathed.

"But you should know that Awakening's rather amazing. I now realize why the Organization would want this. This power, these new appendages, my new projectiles."

Naruto's eyes widened as he lunged forward into a jump.

Luciela moved in front of Rafaela, eyes closed with a strained sweat, as the man was sent crashing back down, a large dagger-like projectile barely diverted to the side.

"NARUTO!"

"W-We need to keep dodging!" He shouted as he got up shakily. 'Nature, keep me steady, keep me strong!' Naruto begged the energy around him as he funneled it into his legs, packing it around his feet. "Keep going."

More dagger-like projectiles flew from one lashing-out whip appendage, the speed barely visible to their eyes as they tried to dodge.

"Ah!" Rafaela cried out as she hit the ground, leg cut off by one of the daggers. "D-Dammit, h-heal!" She told herself before being picked up by a rushing Luciela, the woman's closed eyes trembling as she barely dodged around the yoki-'stained' projectiles.

'I-I'm doing it but only because of Neideen's technique!' She couldn't look for Naruto like this and she had to help Rafaela until she could heal. "Naruto! Keep going!"

"I know!" He called back for her sake, barely dodging another projectile before another screamed by his leg, clenching his mouth shut at the graze that seemed to send flares of pain into his soul. 'I-It's so fast and full of yoki,' it was like it burned him like acid, eating at his flesh like it licked a popsicle! "Tsk!"

He closed his eyes once more.

'Predict! You can see her flow of energy! Each time she's about to throw another one, it spikes with yoki!' So, he needed to use that to dodge before it even came flying.

The next dagger missed him by mere feet as he jumped back before his legs throbbed as he turned on a harsh dime and lunged out the way of another one, more of them coming down around him.

The only saving grace they really had was that outside of the general aiming of her 'arms', Roxanne couldn't control her attacks mentally. They just hit where they were directed, whether it was at him or in his general direction.

Still, as he ran, he noticed several things about the Awakened Being.

'They're really slow-!' He began to realize only to flip back in an instant, dodging another projectile but feeling the breeze on his stomach. "Shit!"

Sis, please, he needed you here!

'I can't keep throwing these,' Roxanne realized as she watched the slowly forming nubs of her next set of dagger flesh on two of her bare arms. 'And I've not still haven't done enough damage yet,' which was fair.

She'd not Awakened before, she didn't know her limits yet, but this was still a bit infuriating.

Rafaela had barely healed but was now back in the running, hurrying towards Naruto who was slightly injured, she was sure, but was still able to move.

Luciela was the only one perfectly capable of dodging her fully, rather annoying that one.

'Sistina is on the way,' give her, what? Five minutes and she'd get here? 'That's a Number One for you, despite her time passing, she's still a force to be reckoned with,' and Roxanne wasn't sure if she could defeat her like this.

Then she felt… five other presences, two from the West, one from the North, and two others behind Sistina.

'Who are they?' She recognized Elizabeth and Otie's signatures but not the other three. 'They're Awakened Beings, no?' And one of them was… worryingly large when it came to yoki capacity. '... Riful of the West?!' Bad, very bad.

Had her Awakening enticed the Lautrec Abyssal One? If so, that meant bad things. Those other two sources of yoki weren't even all that shabby, either. Likely, she could contend with both at once but Roxanne didn't like her chances even then.

Tsk, how annoying. How very annoying.

She'd gotten nothing done, nothing had gone her way, and now she was essentially being forced to leave?

… No, she'd be damned if she didn't taste Naruto's flesh once more!

Her pupils dilated, their wicked yellow irises glowing brighter as her attention focused completely and utterly on Naruto Uzumaki.

And the man choked as he realized that fact. "You have to move, Luci!" Naruto shouted as he skidded to a stop outside of the forest, spear out.

He widened his stance, focused his weight on his back leg, held his spear parallel to his body, and closed his eyes.

The golden film he covered his body with condensed not just around himself, his key points to his defense, but around his spear.

He tightened Sage Energy as much as he could, coiling it around his spear's shaft and around his limbs.

If he didn't parry every blade that'd hit him, he was dead regardless.

Focus on your next move.

Naruto saw Roxanne's grin as her whips, one pair, now that he was looking at them, were arms, raised.

Tuck in your energy and control every movement.

Luciela's eyes shot open. "NO!" She skid into a turn before rushing towards Naruto with a pale expression. "DAMMIT!"

Every secon-No, every millisecond was focused on defense! She couldn't keep throwing those digits of hers!

The air around the blonde picked up.

Rafaela hissed as she moved by Roxanne before closing her eyes and raising her hands.

The Awakened Being's appendages slashed forward, tearing apart the ground, the trees, and air to send powerful almost impossible-to-stop projectiles his way.

Naruto breathed out, lunged forward a mere three feet, and swung out his spear tip at the side of the projectile.

Sparks. His will versus the very yoki that imbued Roxanne's blade, they fought a powerful battle that left his arms quaking as it ended with an explosion at his side.

He hopped back a foot and swung out at his side, an explosion of dirt in front of him and a close encounter with a horrid projectile fighting his spear.

"!" Naruto grit his teeth as the sparks sprung to life once more.

He fought it off again.

The former ninja stomped down, stance ironclad as he 'saw' all of them.

Every one of those powerful yoki signatures that aimed to eat him. He saw them and he parried.

The fourth sent him skidding back.

The fifth nearly knocked him off his feet and he had to use the sixth as a painful stabilizer.

'My limbs feel like they're breaking!' Naruto thought, tightening unconsciously as three more daggers crushed the area around him. 'She's boxed me in!'

'More! Dance more! Make your flesh delectable!' Roxanne's mind cracked, drool spilling past her lips. 'Keep fighting until the very. Last. Drop.'

Yes, how delicious!

She sent another volley, one last set on her 'arms'.

Naruto grit his teeth, regaining his original stance… before blinking as he shifted around with slight twirls of his spear. 'They're not missing?' His eyebrows rose before they caught 'sight' of someone by Roxanne's legs.

He grinned before jumping out of his 'current predicament' and prepared to parry once more only to blink at a back against his own.

"You amazing dumb bastard!" Luciela growled as she copied his energy's 'form'. "I love you way too much!"

Naruto led the charge with a grin. "Sorry!" Spear pointed forward, the moment it made contact with the first dagger of the second volley, he allowed his energy around his spear's tip to expand lopsidedly like before and 'parried' with all his strength.

The next was fended off in a slightly similar manner by a beautiful shadow coming past his back, her muscles more appropriate to his form of 'surviving'.

Luciela couldn't imagine the pain her lover was in, not even close, but she'd bear more of that burden.

They were all in this together!

Roxanne's eyes simply widened to no end. 'What?! How?!' Her eyes narrowed as she grit her teeth, she looked down at her feet to see a familiar pain in her side. "Rafaela!"

A cracking whip came down on the Tenth's location and she barely dodged, breaking her Yoki Manipulation.

The Awakened Being kissed her teeth in annoyance. 'My lost volley and not even my first have regenerated yet,' a horrid thing to realize.

She was losing. Even as an Awakened Being? To two pathetic warriors and a HUMAN?!

Her mouth lost its drooling hunger and relaxed expression. No, Roxanne frowned as her eyes set into a glare she knew she shouldn't have but did.

"You've all lived for long enough," she said with a glower. "Why are you getting in my way?"

She crouched and the trio flinched before she lunged at Naruto and Luciela.

"I will devour you!"

"Tsk!" Naruto grit his teeth. "L-Luci-"

Her sword was on her back and he in her arms in an instant before they were moving, Naruto gritting his teeth as he minded Roxanne.

And then felt the other signatures coming their way. "Oh fuck," he said in horror.

"Please tell me you're just being dramatic," Luciela begged as she jumped over a lashing-out whip that tore apart the ground. "D-Dammit!"

A form came out of the woods before grabbing them and pulling them to safety barely a moment away from disaster.

"Rafa!" The two shouted as Rafaela grinned nervously, landing with the two regaining their composure.

"We need to run!"

They did as she said, the three barely dodging life-ending slicing whips and the enraged Awakened Being behind them.

"Dammit!" Naruto grimaced as they reached the edge of the forest and started tree-hopping. "Keep your signatures down," he whispered to the girls who nodded.

Behind them, Roxanne's eyes narrowed as her senses reached for the three and came back with weak signatures that were already decorating the battlefield.

'I need to learn to separate my senses for my own projectiles?' That made this Awakening more useless than she thought! "You can't hide forever… in fact," she grinned as all four limbs raised. "Let's trim the hedges."

The three hiding in nearby trees choked. "Not good!" Naruto grimaced. "We have to stop her somehow!"

"We'll do it from here, sis," Luciela said as she closed her eyes and raised her hands.

"Alright," Rafaela followed suit.

Roxanne's mind shuddered. 'T-They're able to do it while hiding?' That was bad news, very bad! 'T-They're going to try and alter my strikes, they don't want their comrades caught up in my attack, do they?!'

Roxanne just let her yoki rage about her body and grinned at the lessening effects on her movements.

"Let's have a parade!"

Her arms lashed out in every direction, not a stone 'unturned' and not a tree left 'grounded'.

Attacking anything and everything, her yoki tore down her arms in bursts as she kept attacking the world around her.

Twenty seconds, she kept going for twenty seconds before bringing her arms down and letting out small gasps of exertion as her eyes kept searching for her targets.

"Hm, hmm~ Where are you?~," Roxanne asked in a sing-song tone, waiting for the diced earth, plants, and dust to clear. "Hmm?" Nothing.

No life, no signatures, nothing. Roxanne chuckled at herself before nodding.

'Not a spec of life,' had she gotten Sistina as well? She didn't sense her nor Elizabeth. 'They might have hidden but I don't need to worry about them,' Roxanne turned before jumping.

She devoured between her and the horizon.

"Goodbye, Young Naru, you would have been a delectable treat~."

The giant monster left, leaving the area silent, the only sounds being the crumbling of still rolling stones and broken trees.

And moments later, Rigaldo appeared in the 'wasteland', eyes narrowed in his full Awakened form.

'She's gone and her levels aren't low enough for me to attack,' how bad.

He then felt Riful's signature and grimaced before taking his leave, dust kicking up as the feline yoma left within an instant.

More time slipped by for the diced area, the signature of Riful of the West and Dauf going to the side and Rigaldo leaving gave one large stone the go-ahead to flip over.

"A-Ack! T-Thanks, Sis," Naruto coughed out as Sistina nodded, her hands removing themselves from Elizabeth and Otie's shoulders. "Talk about barely living," he groaned on the ground as Luciela and Rafaela dusted off their hands before grimacing.

"She… s-she basically beat us," the twintailed one said with a wince as Rafaela sighed. "T-That was pathetic," Luciela groaned.

"I… I-I barely did anything," Rafaela cringed. "I-I was barely able to make a difference."

"We're all here because you made a difference, Rafa," Naruto said with a moan. "My limbs are killing me, I-I don't think I can stand. L-Like seriously," he said with a look of pain. "O-Ouch."

"Naruto's right, I could feel you all from far off," Sistina said with a frown as she looked off into the distance. "This is very bad," she grimaced as Otie frowned and Elizabeth nodded.

"Roxanne not only Awakened and left alive, she knows… she knows about the Soul Link Project," the Fourth grimaced.

"And Riful's going to find her…"

"Which might mean she'll learn about the project," Luciela slowly dragged her hand down her face. "Fuck! FUCK! This is so fucking grand!"

"Alright, easy, easy," Otie said with a sigh. "I'm sorry but that's all I can really say."

"N-Nah, I'm sorry, this is just… dammit, this is so bad."

"Ignoring that now the forests by Kyss are gone," Rafaela rubbed the back of her head as they all winced at that one. "We've now got another powerful Awakened Being on the loose and Rigaldo was here."

"Isley probably sensed Roxanne," Naruto said as Elizabeth helped him up, one of his arms over her shoulder. "Thanks. For now, let's just head back, this is too important to hold onto."

~NRK~

The news had the Elders frowning ferociously, Lmit holding his head with a growing headache.

"No, we'd forgotten," Rubel said with a shrug and a smile. "I guess Roxanne caught wind, somehow, and left to find Naruto Uzumaki on her own. It's fair to say, this was unfortunately almost impossible to predict."

"You said she had numerous projectiles, it'd be good to examine them," Dae said with a smirk. 'More Awakened material,' good, this worked out in their favor somewhat. "Still, your concerns are valid, it seems that things may need to be… expedited."

"What?" Elizabeth frowned.

"The Soul Link Project's secrets might very well be leaked this very moment, we can't wait another three years, the date will be altered," Lmit said. "The following year, we will be delving into the project."

The sisters and Naruto winced while Sistina sighed but saw the logic.

'This isn't going to do them any favors,' she thought as they were dismissed.

As they left, the guards ensuring their distance from the chambers, Lmit turned to Dae.

"Did you watch them?" He asked the scientist who grinned.

"The young man's abilities are downright incredible," Dae chuckled. "He struggled to do this, of course, he did, but he parried every one of Roxanne's projectiles when they were aimed at him. With but his body and his spear, it was rather inspiring, his mastery over this 'Sage Mode' must be more than we expected because he should be dead right now."

Many of them looked intrigued. "Is this skill teachable?"

"I don't know, from the very beginning, this has looked like a unique skill only he can use. As far as I know, his body's blood is downright brimming with possibilities. I've been testing it with specific levels of yoma flesh and found something curious. In small doses, it's like the yoma flesh simply devours it, rather readily, at that."

"His blood entices yoma?" Rubel asked, eyebrow raised. "I could imagine that'd be rather useful. What if we could lead yoma to a location, yes?"

"Hm, hm, hm, that'd be true, Rubel, if it didn't have other effects," Rubel frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The blood's vitality is more than I expected, it's like it fights the yoma energy after enough consumption," they all looked surprised. "Of course, I don't have enough to handle more experiments but it's been the most notable result so far. If this Natural Energy can boost the spiritual strength of a human, it'll essentially fight back."

"What does this mean?" One of the other Elders asked. "Can we use this?"

"I sadly don't know, I don't know what'd happen to a Claymore if this entered their bloodstream and we don't want the man noticing… so we'll have to do this at the other locations. I'll be giving him a check-up soon, it's best he's in his best shape to do this."

~NRK~

Naruto huffed with a wet towel over his face on the sisters' larger bed with a groan, wearing just some black pants. "Two times in a row? I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Don't wish for that, please," Luciela said as she combed her hair while wearing a new maroon-colored dress with long sleeves, the sound of the shower running reaching their ears. "Honestly, you got hurt, the most, again," she grimaced. "H-How, I'll never know."

"Because I'm nosy."

She snorted but didn't disagree.

As they both relaxed, Rafaela left the cool bathroom with a towel around her body and sigh.

"That helped, at least," she said as they both nodded, immediately throwing her towel over a rack by the bathroom door, Naruto's blind state to her… well, not her 'benefit'.

She'd like f-for him to look but she guessed it just wasn't the time for that.

Luciela nodded. "So… we have a year, now," she said as Naruto nodded and Rafaela sighed, putting on some underwear. "I don't know, I feel like if we had the right time, we'd be good but now that it's been shortened, I…"

"It feels like we lost out on training," her sister said, getting a nod out of her.

"It does. I don't feel as confident as I did before, ugh."

"Well, we'll make ourselves comfortable somehow," Naruto said. "You guys are barely behind Sis, that's crazy good and she's The Eye," he added encouragingly as they hummed. "You're still the Eighth and Tenth, you've learned Uranus and Neideen's styles and Water Walking is almost doable," he chuckled.

"Hmph, I'm getting it," Luciela pouted as Rafaela chuckled, a long white skirt on as she put on a black hooded tunic. "I guess you're right."

"And… Partial Awakening, we didn't use it in the fight," Rafaela said. "That still takes too much concentration and we can only do two limbs at a time."

"On BOTH of you," Naruto made sure to specify. "That's already awesome. You guys can do this. Sadly, only Rafa had weapons that could reach Roxanne and it wasn't safe enough to use it."

"Man, when you say it like that, this is more delicate than I thought," Luciela winced. "Timing it, w-would we just use it out the gate?"

"I think that'd be the best we could do," Rafaela explained as she sat down next to Naruto. "If we're fighting the Abyssal Ones, it'd be a bad idea to not immediately go all-out."

The two nodded.

They knew what Isley felt like up close and now Riful from a bit away, to take them lightly would get them, everyone, killed.

"There's a high chance we'd still need back-up," Luciela said as she finished her hair, getting up and going over towards the bed. "Uph, uph, move."

Naruto snorted rolling over before Rafaela slipped around to his side by the wall while Luciela occupied the one by the edge of the bed.

"Hmm," she laid her head down on his bicep and just let her body drop. "Oooh, I feel like I did fifty marathons in the training area," Luciela whined as Naruto and Rafaela laughed a bit.

"I understand that," the younger sister yawned a bit, head in the crux of Naruto's neck. "Yoki Manipulation on an Awakened Being is… taxing," she whispered as she let out soft snores.

Luciela blinked in disbelief while Naruto winced.

"She was really working," he sighed as she nodded, laying back down and closing her eyes. "We'll keep on working together, like always," the former ninja said as he laid down fully.

They slept for the entire day, they were really tired, it seemed.

~NRK~

The year following that event had been… painfully fast and even a bit anxiety-inducing.

They'd gone up in Numbers, too, now being the Seventh and Eighth for Luciela and Rafaela, respectively.

Literally one week before the event, Naruto had brought the two outside for one last trip to Teo Village.

Sitting in a small park, he opened up a box before handing the two gems.

"N-Naruto?" Rafaela choked as she took the small silver pendant, a crystal-like yellow gem on it. "My goddess…" she handled it with care while Luciela smiled softly, placing her own, a red gem, around her neck.

"Hehe~" She grinned, two important pieces now on her person. "Always a real amazing boyfriend."

"... well, if you want," Naruto began slowly as the two stared at him. "... it can be a bit more than that," he insinuated slowly as the sisters' eyes widened to no end.

He was tackled without remorse.

~NRK~

A week later, the top ten Claymore, minus the sisters but with the addition of the 11th and 12th, were standing at the ready as Luciela and Rafaela stood in the middle of a wasteland in Sutare.

Naruto frowned next to Rubel, Dae a bit further down from them, and Lmit further up with a few of the Elders scattered about with more Men-In-Black and guards.

"This is it? Are you excited?" Rubel asked the blonde man who grimaced.

"No, not in the least," Naruto said with a sigh.

"Despite all your training?"

"You better not mean me and, yes, even with it. Awakening… it's not normal, it changes them, I can feel it. If Luciela becomes different, this might have failed even before now."

Rubel's eyebrow rose. 'So, even you can tell that, huh?' He was honestly rather impressed by the man beside him.

Every time, Rubel had worried he was but a pawn to be used but the more he observed, the more he realized that he might be a 'key'.

A key to 'what' was for him to know.

"The test will commence in a few moments!" Dae announced as Sistina landed behind Naruto with a neutral expression. "Be on the ready for the possible worst!"

Naruto and Sistina winced at that while Rafaela and Luciela swallowed before nodding.

The time was now, this was what they were training for.

Rafaela messed with the three pendants around her neck, holding onto Luciela's two since they knew it'd be broken if she transformed with it on.

Next to them, a Claymore, the 3rd, nodded.

"Do it," she said.

They did, eyes closing in unison as Rafaela's hands raised, trembling a bit.

"It's fine," Luciela told her sister with a smile, standing in nothing but a cloak that covered her underwear-only-clad body. "We know you can do it," she grinned.

Rafaela took a deep breath before nodding. "Go all-out."

The rise to an Awakened Being was done bit by bit under Luciela's own power.

Ten seconds, veins throbbed around her face, the woman breathing out softly.

'It's beckoning me,' she thought as she pushed past the 30% threshold, body wriggling a bit. 'Ignore it.'

The call to Awaken was within their blood and yoki, it was always sitting in the back of their minds and that fact never left a warrior untouched but Luciela knew better.

She knew what it was, she knew that Naruto was right in that it fed on her negative or, more specifically, more primal emotions.

Anger, fear, primal joy, the feeling of power, and… lust.

Like a beast, it made every one of those emotions raise in response to their growing yoki and gained more of a 'foothold'.

'Don't let it get you,' Luciela grit her teeth as her arms bulged. "H-Hmm!" Don't let your focus, your will, lose!

Focus!

Rafaela could feel it and synced their yoki. 'You can do this, Luci, please!' She pulled on her sibling's consciousness and intertwined their minds. 'I'm here.'

'I know,' Luciela said softly, voice deeper, rougher, but still hers. 'I know, I… I'm going to go beyond 70%, Rafa, I-I'm.'

"I-I'm here, I'm scared, too," she responded, holding her sibling's larger shoulders, her eyes still closed. "You can do it, all observations show you can still go back to a normal form after this. W-We just need to break this barrier and control it."

Luciela nodded, clawed arms' wrists forming a sort of blade-like extension, much to the group's surprise.

"It wasn't the full thing, I guess," Naruto said as he closed his eyes with Sistina. "Sis."

"I know," Sistina said.

---

Their combined sensory abilities saw it all from the mental realm and they grimaced.

"Her flesh is fighting her every step of the way," Sistina grimaced as Naruto nodded. "But she's holding strong, Rafaela's mind is settling her own," she said softly.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as they 'watched' before… something was off.

"Huh?" He looked to his side, something… was that Rubel's soul? "What's that?" Naruto pointed out as Sistina looked with a frown.

A small golden energy signature sat near the man's presence and signature… something… odd.

"What is that?"

"I… we felt that thing a long time ago, we thought it was the flesh of a yoma but… now…" Naruto grimaced. "That's not yoma flesh," he realized, feeling a rising horror in his gut as he looked at Luciela who was doing… very well, actually.

"What is he doing?" Sistina asked in concern and Naruto's eyes widened in horror.

"NO!"

---

It was going… well.

The Soul Link Project was going well!

Dae's eyes shined as he grinned wickedly. "Yes! This is it!" He said as Luciela's form had long since grown beyond that of even an above-average human's size.

She was bordering on the size of a medium-sized home and still kept a sort of consciousness as Rafaela coached her through it, holding onto her face as she did.

"Hmph," Lmit smirked a bit. 'If this can be perfected, we can send it all to the mainland,' with both them and the young man in tow.

Having them battle and breed would make more powerful members for their side with the methods to fight off those accursed Asarakam!

Rubel nodded to them, already feeling the impending doom from his side. 'I've lived a long life,' all for his people.

His Dragonkin Kingdom.

Messing with one of Their scales in his pocket, he nodded.

'A chain reaction to use in case anything went too much in the Organization's favor,' he fiddled with it before grasping it tightly. 'Apologies, young one, I'm not blaming you for wanting to help people.'

The scale cracked as Naruto tackled him.

'But I have my side to protect.'

"Why-?!" Naruto growled at the smiling Rubel before the air rumbled, distorting their vision, even startling Rubel. "No!" He turned-

Sistina tackled him and Rubel out of the way of a lashing-out tail.

"Dammit!"

A large, deep, feline roar rumbled the earth as yoki of a ridiculous amount slammed into every individual there.

"NO!" Lmit roared out as Rafaela hit her knees, eyes trembling at the now Roxanne-siz-No.

She was even bigger than Roxanne!

A large light-tan humanoid body mixed with darker russet-red feline traits like her hind legs, claw-hands up to her elbows, and face, two long blade-like portions sprouting from her elbows, three on her thighs, and two more upper back. Her face had seemingly contorted into a perfect mix, having a human-like shape but feline muzzles, two of them set atop one another with a vicious gaping length.

Her head was 'bordered' by a large eleven horn-like bits, six by her mouth acting like 'whiskers', two large ones on her forehead, two more above those which seemed to hold hearing functions, and one last one atop her head. The last two additions, though, were the reason that destruction had just seemed to shoot out around them.

Two long, impossibly long, light-tan transitioning into dark russet-red, tails waved behind from her behind, Luciela's form powerful new assets raised and at the ready as the Awakened Being roared like the monster she'd become.

"Luciela!" She shouted to her sister in horror and pleading. "PLEASE! COME BACK!"

The Awakened Being roared once more and Rafaela hadn't seen the tail coming that lashed across her face mere moments before she was dragged away by a grimacing Elizabeth.

"A-Ah!" She held the left side of her face as she grimaced, blood leaking past her hand and fingers before they stopped by a familiar trio.

"Rafa!" She heard Naruto's voice before seeing him in only half her vision.

"N-Naruto! Naruto, please, we need to stop her!"

"We will but you're hurt!" He said, touching her hand that hid the left side of her face but she only shook her head. "Tsk! Dammit, Rubel!" Naruto turned on the man who smiled shakily under Sistina's glare.

"What did you do?" She hissed through clenched teeth before Luciela's roaring got a grimace out of her. "This isn't over, Rubel," Sistina turned before walking towards the others. "We need to bring her down and make sure she can't move!"

The other single digits gathered around, carrying the Elders.

Lmit grimaced as he left the surprisingly-there Uranus, Cassandra's form landing next to them with Otie in tow.

"What the hell happened?" She asked as Sistina grimaced.

"... For now, we don't know, something went wrong," she said as Rafaela's head dipped. "It's not your fault, her yoki spasmed oddly and that's the reason for this."

"S-So, we need to calm her down?" Otie asked as Uranus grimaced and Elizabeth frowned. "Those tails, though."

They were a danger and, as they spoke, they watched as numerous mouths formed down their lengths, the Awakened Luciela's eyes currently nothing but pure white 'oculars' that saw nothing around them as of value.

"We need to bring her humanity back," Naruto said with a frown before Dae's chuckling was heard. "What, Dae?" The blonde growled at the man who grinned.

'It's like he's a monster in hiding,' sadly not the case. "You may be the key to solving this mess," he explained as the group blinked.

"What?" Uranus kept eye on Luciela as she thrashed about, nearby rock structures shattered in seconds. "You gotta speed this up, she'll destroy everything!"

~NRK~

Riful's widened as Roxanne sat up with an explosive giggle and Dauf choked.

"The Project?" She asked her newest underling who grinned.

"They fucked up," Roxanne said, naked as the day she was born and not a stigma in sight, her now normal yellow-colored hair set in its usual style still. "... well, I think so," she frowned as Riful did. "There was something there, even for a mere second, something that resonated with Luciela and sent her controlled Awakening into a chaotic one."

"... does someone at the Organization know how to cause a resonance?" Riful frowned. "Why?"

"I wouldn't know."

~NRK~

Isley and Rigaldo blinked at the sheer density of the yoki from afar.

"That's… that's that girl, wasn't it? The one with twintails?" Isley considered in surprise. "And she's so STRONG."

"... Did she get pushed up to the Number 1 spot?" Rigaldo frowned. "This isn't good, she's-"

"About as strong as Riful and I? Yes, I can tell."

~NRK~

Naruto grimaced as Dae explained the effects of his blood and energy.

"... Alright," he said with a frown. "We still need to do what Sis said, regardless. Bring her down so I can pull her back," Naruto added with a determined nod.

"Dodge!" One of the others shouted as a tail came around at them.

They couldn't save everyone, unfortunately, Naruto even grabbed Rubel with a growl before they all jumped.

Half the Elders had… died at that moment, as Dae sat under Rafaela's arm, her other hand still covering the side of her face as wriggling was heard.

"Haha! I see! They can extend!" He said as they all landed amongst the carnage and… ichor. "It's unfortunate but taming her is now a priority, we've already lost not only half our men here but half the Elders," not that he cared.

That meant fewer possible disagreements with his efforts and methods. If anything, this was good for him if he survived!

"Tsk!" Rafaela and the others carrying 'luggage' ran back. "We'll be back!" She told the others as they nodded.

Naruto locked eyes with the ravenous Luciela whose gaze… locked with him.

"Uh-oh," he realized with a nervous grin as she fell down onto all-fours. "She's gonna chase me!"

Sistina nodded, grabbing him and rushing off in another direction away from Rafaela's group, Luciela thankfully doing as he said and turning to look at them.

Then she charged, four limbs allowing her speed to eclipse them in two seconds.

"Go under!"

Sistina stopped and lunged below Luciela, just barely dodging the cat-like Awakened Being.

"She's turning!" She told him before her tails came down like large javelins!

Sistina dodged them with a frown before spinning around the re-emergence of the tips from the ground below, Luciela watching them the entire way before she returned her tails and gave chase.

They played this almost literal cat-and-mouse game for as long as they could before Naruto sensed the others' return.

"They're back! Lead her over!" Naruto said to Sistina whose face throbbed before she ran at faster speeds that actually kept Luciela from catching up too quickly. 'There has to be something else,' was she attracted to him because of their relationship?

Yoma had that component to them, it was part of knowing if one was pretending to be a family member. So, what if she wanted him because of their love?

And maybe his Sage Mode? Emphasizing how human he was probably made her very hungry.

'... that's the last resort,' he told himself with flashing golden eyes.

Sistina saw Elizabeth and Cassandra before passing between them, the two other single digits slipping past them and Luciela.

Flashes of steel carved through the Awakened Being's fingers and toes, sending her into an uncontrolled tumble that she was skidding from, numbs for digits throbbing and growing back very slowly.

"Thank the goddesses, she's an offensive-type," Cassandra said as she and Elizabeth chased the Awakened Luciela with focused golden eyes. "Keep hacking at her limbs!"

Her tails shot out at insane speed, the two skidding to a stop and shooting around them only to play 'Dodge' with the quickly turning appendages.

'They're fast!' Elizabeth frowned as she skidded back before rotating low below one and lifting her weapon up, flat side against the tail's underside.

A hop, quick shift of a blade, and flip brought that portion of the tail down as she landed on it.

"Hmph," she jumped onto the still-attacking 'beheaded' appendage. 'You were so much more graceful with Neideen's technique!' Elizabeth frowned as she jumped off the flapping limb that crushed the earth beneath her feet. "You're stronger than this, Luciela! Is a monster what you'll become?!"

Cassandra's eyes narrowed. "Naruto was right, about a lot," she said as she tossed her body down in and brought it around for a sweep that cleaved through the tail bit. "I do consider Otie my family!" She lunged and stabbed into the flailing piece before cleaving off another chunk. "But you all are! Are you really going to let this destroy everything you love?!"

The Awakened Being roared and lashed out with her tails more, both single digits dodging with more difficulty.

Uranus and Rafaela came around her front before two slashes had the 'whisker' horns on Luciela's face coming off.

"You're Neideen's student, Luciela!" Uranus called out only to barely block a swipe of the Awakened Being's healing hand, sent flying even from just that force. "Ugh!"

Her sword planted itself into the ground, arresting her movement before she sent herself right back at the Awakened Luciela.

"Where's the grace?! The technique!?" She swung for her shoulder blades, literally, only for a mouth to appear on it, locking her blade into place. "What?!"

Luciela reached around with her other hand only for it to miss, Uranus breaking the teeth on her captured blade and disengaging.

'Eyes' turned their gaze to the injured Rafaela who removed her hand from her face, the other raised towards her sibling.

"We're on such a similar wavelength that this is easy," she said softly as Luciela swiped out and missed, carving up the ground behind her. "I know you. We're sisters," Rafaela said with a choke as she grit her teeth. "This is all my fault," she stated, head down in front of the Awakened Being's face. "If I'd been stronger, better, more powerful… maybe we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place."

Hot tears fell.

"Dammit."

Hands came around the Eighth, cupping the space around Rafaela, before the Awakened Being leaned in, flashes of what had to be eyes looking at her.

Rafaela's eyes widened.

---

"I… I-I don't know what's wrong with me?" Luciela said as they stared at one another, the mental world of their shared mind around them. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears falling as Rafaela lunged for her.

They embraced without hesitation, Luciela weeping into her sister's shoulder.

"I-I don't understand, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," Rafaela admitted. "But you need to come back from this. I can reach you, this has to mean we can still get you back to normal."

"... I'm not sure if that's possible anymore."

"W-What?!"

"I'm…" Luciela looked at her body. "Something… I'm not a Claymore anymore, I'm not… I'm just another Awakened Being."

"So?" Luciela looked alarmed as Rafaela grinned. "I thought you meant something else, we don't care. We'd rather you back as an Awakened Being if it means you come back."

They gripped one another once more… before something went wrong?

"W-What?" Rafaela and Luciela looked out into the 'distance' to see… something? "What's that?"

"T-The feeling is returning!" Luciela held her head after she pushed her sister away. "Y-You have to get away from me!" She roared out, form, even in her mind, shifting, changing.

Two tails sprung out from her rear end, covered in mouths, while her hands clawed up, Luciela hyperventilating.

"Y-You need to go! My body is… It's rebelling!" She roared in sadness, eyes trembling. "I'm so sorry."

---

Rafaela flew out of the Awakened Being's arms, the others becoming alarmed as Luciela's tails lashed out, tearing up the ground around her as she bellowed into the air.

"Hmm, I'm rather surprised," Rubel said as he and Dae watched from afar, the Elders already gone. "I'd have assumed she'd be easier to deal with," he offered Dae who chuckled. "Hm?"

"Her yoki's on a level all its own, only matched by her sibling in their normal forms. That said, with her power overtaking even Cassandra's," Rubel's head snapped around.

"What?!" He looked horrified as Dae chuckled.

"You see, Rubel, the truth of the matter is, Luciela has long since been capable of being the Number 1," the Man-In-Black's fists clenched. "But she wished to hold onto the Eighth position for a time and I simply smudged the numbers. Besides, I'd rather have three Number 1s a generation than two."

"This should have been told to us! Hadn't we planned for this to still work since she was weaker than Cassandra?!"

"And what would you have done? We'd still be doing this experiment, it wouldn't have mattered, would it, my spymaster?"

The air was silent as Dae chuckled some more.

"... When?"

"For some time? You see, Rubel," Dae faced him with a smiling glare. "Luciela should have been a success. It's nearly impossible for her to have fallen to her Awakened urges, especially since I already gave her some of Uzumaki's blood," Rubel flinched. "Her ability to focus, her sister's even greater yoki levels," he grinned widely as Rubel grimaced. "And their perfect control, they should have been perfect but something went awry. Hmm… why did Naruto tackle you? I'm curious."

"... then you know that now she's currently a third Abyssal One," Rubel said, adjusting his hat, regaining his confidence but he frowned as Dae chuckled once more.

"Do as you please, spy, I could honestly care less."

"Why?"

"I only wish to see my hands create beings more powerful than any on this planet. Besides," Dae hummed as Rubel frowned. "You seem to be under the impression that this still isn't salvageable."

"You mean her cut-off portions?"

"No, I mean Naruto. He can pull her back even now but it'll require a bigger dosage," Dae grinned. "And I know he'll do everything to save either of the sisters."

Rubel's head turned back to the rampaging Awakened… Abyssal One.

"... she's not at full power yet," he realized in disbelief as Dae nodded.

"Of course, Luciela's mind is powerful and could easily hinder her current self to the point that there is a chance. Had she not, they'd all likely be dead already."

~NRK~

Naruto grimaced at Luciela's explosive yoki, that 'spark' from earlier happening again.

"Rubel, you are DEAD!" He shouted into the distance before recomposing himself, removing his kimono, leaving his torso in nothing but a tunic. 'I have to do this,' Naruto thought solemnly as he filled his arm with Natural Energy.

Luciela rampaged about, the others going in and out of her body's appendages to bring them down but they proved capable of regenerating faster than before, her tails' ability to extend even making chopping it up from anywhere but the base useless.

Sistina looked at him curiously. "What are you doing?" She asked the man who grinned at her with a resigned look. "... Naruto, don't you dare."

"I'm not going to have her eat me, Sis… but if she needs enough of my flesh and Natural Energy to go back, we don't have many options," he said as Sistina grimaced, sword going a bit limp. "I'd not make you do it, Sis… no, I need to do this fully attached."

"Are you insane? She'll eat you, you're asking for a miracle."

"Yep," he grinned as Sistina's eyebrow twitched fiercely. "Hehe, sorry, nee-chan," she looked confused. "It also means 'Sis'. I need your help, you've got the same level of Yoki Synchronization as Rafaela, or close enough. You need to help me get there and keep me alive."

"... I'm killing you if this fails," Sistina groaned as he grinned once more.

"Thanks. Come on," he said as they walked towards Luciela, the warrior sheathing her weapon as they broke into runs. 'I'm coming Luciela,' Naruto thought with determined eyes, absorbing more and more Natural Energy, raising his spiritual strength to the highest he'd ever done before.

They lunged into the distance, approaching Luciela as she kept destroying the surrounding area with her tails and limbs.

"Tsk! You guys have a plan?!" Uranus asked as she skidded back by them, wounds covering her right arm and thigh, the woman shakily getting up. "We're not liking our options, only Cassandra and Elizabeth can keep up and they've been pushing 30% for a while."

"We've got one," Naruto nodded as Uranus joined their run. "I'll fix this."

The three of them approached Luciela's side, Rafaela dodging the feline Awakened Being's claws.

"Dammit! Luci! It's me!" She shouted, trying to regain that spark of consciousness but each attempt left her with a muddled wall of bestial thought. 'W-Why can't I reach her?!' This wasn't normal, was it?

She could always reach her before, why was now different?

Then she felt the three behind her and Luciela's head snapped to Naruto who separated from Sistina and Uranus.

"No!"

The Awakened Being lunged for the human who grit his teeth before he jumped over her swiping claws and landed in front of his older transformed lover.

Her arms reached but went down, seemingly stuck in the ground by nothing and yet everything.

"Wheeewww," Naruto grinned as he walked towards the hissing mouth of the Awakened warrior. "Hey, I can tell, I guess Dae wanted this to go well," he said to her even as she kept chomping her teeth at him. "I can feel it, Luci, bits of my blood are inside of you, no wonder he wanted that last-second check-up."

The monstrous woman's head twitched still.

"Hurry!" Sistina said as she and Rafaela kept the Awakened Being's limbs and head pinned. "Naruto!"

"W-Wait! What's he doing?!" Rafaela asked but got no answer. "Naruto?!"

The man closed his eyes and lifted his arms.

Eyes snapped into being in that instant as Sistina and Rafaela's control slipped when he expected it to.

"NO!"

Her head snapped forward and Naruto simply held up his left side.

Blood spilled as she bit down.

---

Trapped in her own mind, Luciela's eyes shrunk as she hit her knees, hands trembling in that horridly dark field of growing red grass.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" She cried out in horror, in anguish, at what she'd just done. "N-No, no more! I-I lost…" Streaming tears waterfall down her face as she gripped her head, on all-fours. "N-Naruto, I-I."

That feeling of the yoma flesh encroaching on her… she just gave in.

She stopped holding it back-

Luciela blinked through the tears, the pain, and the burning self-hatred to see something small and gold.

Insignificant as it was, even just a single blade of grass, she locked onto it with a focus she didn't understand.

This one golden blade among millions shouldn't have meant much of anything, her lover was gone, her sister was likely terrified of her, and she'd done it all to herself… so why?

What was this warmth? Him? Was she tasting him? But if so, she didn't taste anything.

All she felt was-

"Hey."

Luciela's world burned with colors, bright blue skies, golden grass, and a single person in front of it all.

Silver eyes trembled as she stumbled to her feet before he caught her.

She cried into his arms again and again, shame and relief mixing into one.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried as Naruto held her close, chin on her crown. "I ATE YOU! What the fuck is wrong with me?!"

"Nothing, come on, come on, please," he embraced her tighter as Luciela gripped back.

She didn't want this to go, She didn't want him to go.

This might very well be the last chance she got to see him again. Luciela couldn't…

"I know, you took a pretty decent bite out of me… but I'm still alive."

Her form snapped up, eyes wide with hope and yet more terror.

"H-How can you want to see me at all?"

"Oh, well, I literally wanted you to eat part of my body."

"... WHAT?!" Luciela looked ready to slap him but he held her cheek.

"Listen, I am alive but not for long," Naruto said quickly as she flinched. "The thing is, with your new power, you could go and get me fixed," he grinned as she held his hand. "We believe in you so, please, come back to us."

He glowed softly and Luciela blinked.

---

Her eyes opened in an instant in nude human form in the outside world, Naruto's hand still on her-NARUTO?!

Luciela choked at the sight of his half-eaten torso, oh Goddess!

"H-Heh, got her," Naruto said weakly as Rafaela looked on in disbelief but the blood falling out Naruto's side needed attention.

"I-I-"

"L-Luci," the way that Rafaela's eyes watered snapped Luciela out of her miniature, way too long, funk.

"S-Shit! W-We need to get him to the medical bay!" Luciela breathed in and out rapidly, dark red hair falling past her shoulders.

"You're back to normal?! Thank the godde-What the hell happened?!" Uranus began to say only to choke as she saw the state Naruto was in. "Holy shit! We need to get him to Dae!"

"Tsk," Sistina grimaced. 'He doesn't have the time,' she knew.

If Naruto was to survive, he needed present medical expertise and Sistina wasn't even sure if that'd work.

There weren't any options.

"... can we do anything?" Cassandra grit her teeth as she saw the damage with a hiss while the others grimaced. "... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Luciela swallowed as she considered everything they could do… everything SHE could do.

"... Rafaela," Luciela said with a determined look at her pale sister. "We have to do this quickly," she added as she raised her arm.

Powerful jaws opened up before she ripped it off, much to the horror of the others.

Not from the rapid gore, that contained most of the shock, but it was obvious what Luciela planned to do to save Naruto's life.

Turn him into a hybrid, into one of them.

Naruto groaned softly, his head placed in Rafaela's lap.

"Naruto, I… I want to save you no matter what but we don't have…" Luciela grimaced.

"Do it," he said as she flinched. "H-Hehe, I'm composed of 100% of me, if I could bring you back," Naruto let that statement float there even as he groaned. "B-Besides, I'm not… full of options."

Rafaela swallowed. "You want me to stabilize it into his body as you put it in? H-His side's open, Luciela."

"I know," Luciela said as she raised her still-bleeding stump to his lips. "We can do the yoma insertion at the Organization. All you need to do is help my blood's yoki circulate inside of him and heal," she stated as their eyes locked.

Rafaela's glowed as she nodded, holding onto the sides of Naruto's head. "S-Sorry, Naruto, this isn't… this won't taste good," she winced.

"Y-Yeah."

Luciela held her stump to his lips and Naruto swallowed with a look of distaste but through sheer force of will, he didn't gag, wouldn't, and kept going as Luciela and Rafaela locked eyes.

They focused on their yoki as the man groaned a bit, stopping his drinking as Sistina came by his injured side, his blood on her greaves and knees ignored entirely.

"Focus," she said as she placed her hands on him with Luciela, the three of them focusing. "If we're going to save him, we need to, somehow, force the healing ability of yoki and yoma blood."

~NRK~

"YES! YES! DO IT! CREATE SOMETHING GREAT!" Dae squealed like the mad man he was as Rubel kept gripping his broken scale, the two's binoculars coming down.

Nothing. What? What the hell had Uzumaki Naruto done?!

'He cut off the connection… he destroyed the parasite?!' No… that shouldn't have been possible… unless.

Mixing the flesh of that young man with the parasite destroyed the man-eating aspect? Had that been it?

Had Naruto always been a miracle subject who could make the Organization's true goals come true?!

~NRK~

Riful, Roxanne, and Dauf flinched as imagery reached their minds unbidden.

The sight of the warriors in the Organization, the current method they were using, and the immediate effects alarming beyond reason.

"He's… his sensory skill reaches this far?" Riful's eyes widened in disbelief. 'If his flesh is truly… perfect.'

'They'll use it on the warriors,' Roxanne thought with a frown even as her body begged to be satiated by his power. 'I can even feel it…?' She blinked in confusion. "What… is that?" She asked the air softly.

This energy… between the spiritual strength and yoki.

What was that?

~NRK~

Isley stared at the floor with Rigaldo.

"... how is this imagery reaching us? Or is it reaching every yoma on the continent?" Rigaldo asked in confusion, hand to his head. "His flesh was different?"

"It seems so," Isley noted, closing his eyes. 'But that's not what has me more curious.'

He'd seen the previous moments before the current ones… somehow. Were the young man's abilities that great? Had he shown him the flow of Luciela's energy at all times? Ever since she'd become an Awakened Being?

The young man had done more than brought her back as well… Isley didn't know but his hunch was once more reaffirmed.

"I need to meet him," he said. "Whether it's 1, 5, ten, or even a hundred years from now. I need to meet this Naruto Uzumaki."

~NRK~

Naruto blinked into unconsciousness.

Why did he say that? Because he was definitely not in the waking world. He could sense anything.

No plant life, animals, people, his 'family', nor even the Abyssal Ones.

Nothing… well, that wasn't fully true. There was something.

"So, you're the 'yoma' in me, huh?" Naruto said, arms crossed in his nude 'soul' state, as he looked at something far across from him.

It throbbed, bulged, wriggled, undulated, and more of such squeamish-inducing actions as he looked at It.

His yoma half, he guessed? He didn't know. Was it his yoma 'half' or his 'quarter'?

"I'll just call you my 'yoma side' and leave it at that," the blonde man said as he finally looked around and found… a familiar battlefield. "I guess we would fight it out," he stated.

That fleshy mass stilled before breaking down into nothing but energy.

A massive amount of energy that Naruto had one guess on.

"My yoki?"

It thrummed before forming an animalistic shape.

It was… for lack of a better word? 'Vague'.

Well, it wasn't that vague, the three snake-like tails it had were very familiar compared to Luciela's Awakened form. It was feline in its claws while the back legs glowed a vibrant sickening yellow in the shape of clawed feet.

The body, though, was where the 'vagueness' hit because… well, it wasn't a 'body' so much as a mass of turbulent fleshy energy that kept moving.

A Vague Beast of sorts.

"This is gonna take a while, isn't it?" Naruto groaned as he looked down at his 'naked' soul. "... I'm gonna need something, soul."

He chuckled as his body was outfitted in a familiar orange and black tracksuit, ninja sandals, and headband.

"I guess if it fits," he said before looking down at his hands. 'It's my head, my power is in front of me but as long as my Will is strong,' Naruto thought before forming his favorite cross-fingered handsign. "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

… nothing, dammit, he was gonna fight it with just Sage Energy, wasn't he?

Still, his eyes burned gold as he slapped his fist into his palm.

"I guess we're about to get to know each other pretty well!"

~NRK~

Luciela blinked at the fully-healed side of Naruto along with the others, blinking again to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"The hell?" She asked them, still nude and confused. "I-I don't, it's not supposed to be that fast, right?" The Awakened woman looked up at the man's hair in more confusion.

A small tuff at his forehead had turned silver… and that's it. No other part of him had changed besides that. If she lifted his eyelids, he did have silver eyes so…

"Is… is he one of us now?" Uranus asked, completely confused. "Maybe one of you can tell me but I think there's yoki in him… right?"

"You'd be correct… for his left arm," Sistina explained as Cassandra blinked in confusion, the other single digits also looking confused. "Perhaps this does make sense. Naruto's will is the majority of his body, while it's made a bit of leeway, the yoki in him is essentially put at bay by the greater majority," she said with a small frown. 'But what is that at the divide?' There was… something there.

It didn't feel like yoki nor spiritual strength. Not even his Sage Energy which was just mixing his spiritual strength with Natural Energy.

What was that odd occurrence at Naruto's shoulder?

"For now, let's go back," Cassandra said, rubbing the back of her head. "Right now, we have no idea what's going on or what to do."

Luciela grumbled before Rafaela returned and covered her with a familiar kimono, the Awakened Being… right?

The Awakened Being pulling it more around her body.

~NRK~

"Hmm… I question if they succeeded or if something new happened," Dae said, confused. "His hair remains mostly blonde and his skin hasn't descended in tone, what exactly is going on with that one's body?"

Rubel wasn't sure, all he knew was that he'd need to be 'laying low' for a long set of years if the other warriors got confrontational.

'Well, this isn't how I wanted things to go but it is a change that will weaken this place,' Rubel thought with a shrug. "They now carry more camaraderie than before, I question how this will interfere with things."

"It's likely not an immediate effect, they already don't trust you but I'd assume they'll be untrusting of even the Elders."

Rubel smirked at Dae's words.

"Excellent."

~NRK~

Returning to the Organization had been… full of more and more questions. Many of which were brought about by their fellow warriors.

"Visions… of the current events?" Elizabeth looked confused. "... I don't remember being hit with such a thing."

"... Naruto's sensory abilities can mesh and enhance when his and others overlap," Sistina realized with a worried frown. "And Luciela didn't even implant yoma flesh… just Awakened Being blood," she bit her lip.

"I don't know what will happen," Luciela said, looking solemn as her sister hugged her from the side, the older sibling lifting Naruto on her two-tail-controlling ability. "Thanks, Rafa, I really need it," she sighed as Uranus pat her back.

"How are you, though? Naruto's plan apparently was to give you enough of his flesh so he could repel the yoma's influence, right?" She asked, looking at the younger woman's tails as Luciela blinked.

"H-He did say something about that, i-in here," she tapped her noggin as the older woman rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, I know that sounds ridiculous but Sistina and Rafaela know what it's like."

"It's true," Rafaela said. "Interacting with Naruto's own mind over the years has helped us, well, see more of our own mentalscapes, he calls it. Mindscapes I think would fit better."

"So, he spoke to Luci in her head but through his sensing skill?"

"Essentially."

"He reached me and helped me leave that prison of my own mind," Luciela explained. "I-I'd thought I ate him and I almost…"

"We understand," Cassandra nodded, looking melancholic. "I didn't like the idea of losing our 'home' either."

Luciela nodded as she looked back at Naruto. "... it feels like he's fighting," she said as Rafaela and Sistina nodded. "Naruto's always had a strong will, I guess this might all be because it's that strong."

"If he stopped the progression of yoki and yoma flesh in his body… what exactly caused those changes?" Elizabeth asked. "Maybe it was the beginning effects that got stopped?"

"But it got directed all towards his arm after we focused, I guess?"

The Fourth shrugged and Luciela sighed.

Their trek back to the Organization left her feeling guilt on a level that didn't reach when she thought she ate Naruto but the loss of lives… people she killed…

It took its toll as Sistina threw her arm around her shoulder.

"I promise, it's not your fault," Sistina sighed as she saw the downward expression on her face. 'Dammit, what does this mean?' Was… was Rubel not a part of the Organization?

But if so, why would he want Luciela to go berserk? What benefit was there? It's not like he'd stopped them before, right? So, why now?

He wasn't connected to their happenings, he wasn't connected to their training, hell hadn't he been one of the few who suggested Naruto's effect on the trainees would be good? Was that a lie? Or was there a deeper motive?

'Dammit, this is all so absurd,' and she was currently walking next to an Awakened Being… maybe? "Luciela, I am confused. Perhaps it's just me but do you feel anything? Awakened Being-inferred?"

"... no, I… I'm hungry but I don't want… guts," she whispered and Sistina was left unsure of what effect Naruto truly had on her body.

"I want to check with Rafaela when we get the chance."

"Alright."

So, submissive and weak sounding, Sistina felt her heart ache.

They all winced at the sight of the Elders, Men-In-Black, and more of their fellow warriors standing at the front of the Organization, not a hint of Rubel and Dae around.

Lmit looked surprised, coming forward to look at the downtrodden Luciela and then the unconscious Naruto.

"What… happened?" He asked, the state of affairs their group came with completely unbelievable as he saw that Naruto was held in Luciela's tails. "... He brought you back?"

"Yeah," Luciela grimaced, fists tight before her shoulders dropped. "A bit too late before I hurt people."

Lmit considered her before looking at the unconscious Naruto. 'What happened? Was Naruto Uzumaki's consciousness used as an exchange?' Wait… now that he was looking at him.

Why was his uniform in disarray and tattered? Was that a hint of silver in his hair?

He blinked in confusion before stamping his cane. "Come, we'll head back to the Council Chambers and discuss what happened."

~NRK~

Lmit, the leftover Elders, and the now-revealed Dae considered all the possible news that had come their way.

"Will the Abyssal Ones know? Did they get such visions? Or was it only those on a similar level as Luciela's blood?" Dae considered. "But even then, she's not as strong as those above her while Naruto… hmm, perhaps, would his actual level with her flesh be above most single digits?" He grinned at his own question while Rafaela frowned, Naruto currently laid out on the floor in front of her kneeling sister.

"The yoki inside of his arm isn't to be underestimated, true," Sistina said. "But it's not remotely powerful enough to contend with the top ten, much less the five after. Though… I will say that with his previous abilities bolstered by the blood he received, he could stand against most of those in the mid-10s," which wasn't as ridiculous as saying he was greater than a single digit.

"You'd know more than we, Sistina. Still, I don't know what keeps him asleep and will need constant observation on him. I'm sure the sisters wouldn't mind handling this task."

"We don't," Luciela and Rafaela answered. "We'll look after him."

"Then we'll have to mind the areas surrounding the Organization," Lmit said. "Numbers 1 through 5 shall be switching areas. You'll all be placed closer to us in the case of an emergency while keeping an eye out for any approaching yoma."

The five chosen nodded.

"The others will be rearranged to apply more pressure to deter any Awakened Beings or yoma who felt these 'visions'. Following that, we'll have to monitor the lands and see if even the Abyssal Ones have changed their projected actions," he stamped his cane. "Dismissed."

~NRK~

Standing in the medical bay, Luciela laid her hands on Naruto's foreheads, standing at the head of his gurney.

She closed her eyes and focused. 'What are you up to?'

Luciela spread out her senses while Rafaela 'watched' from Naruto's side.

---

They were two hazy phantoms in a landscape of cracked stone, high-rising sand, and large cliffs and pillars.

"Where is this?" Luciela wondered as she and Rafaela looked around.

Then the ground rumbled as someone kept bouncing over to them before he recovered.

"NARUTO?!" They shouted and he blinked, looking up at the two with a bloody lip.

"Girls?!" He balked and they rushed him before… slipping through him? "Huh?" Naruto blinked as they all got up, looking at one another.

"W-We can't touch him?" Luciela winced as Rafaela looked around.

"Naruto? What's going on? You haven't woken up," she said to him and he rubbed the back of his head.

"I need to fight my yoki down," he said.

"... What?"

There was a rumble in the ground and all three turned to see the towering 'creature' coming over the horizon.

"The hell is that?!"

"That's my yoki," Naruto said. "I've been fighting it and, so far, I've only made a few small cuts on it," he added, pointing to the arms where tears and small craters sat. "So, you can tell things are going great."

"W-What happens if you lose?" Luciela asked nervously.

"... probably not a good idea to think about that. I'm always full of energy here and I've been sharpening my skills with each fight with that thing," he said, Sage Mode immediately on. "I guess you can say it's like I'm working things out with my body? This is all still me. Each time I break a piece off that thing, I get pieces of it."

Rafaela tilted her head as she considered him.

"H-He's got a bit more yoki than before, I guess he's got a point… but, still, surely you have to rest eventually, right?" She asked.

"Maybe? I've only been here for thirty minutes or so. I'll know in… I guess a couple of hours?"

"We'll be here, you're in the medical bay and we're your supervisors," Luciela said with a hand running through her hair. "This is all one big mess."

"We'll get through it, I promise. We barely did it but we survived the test and I know we can help people with the new power we've gained."

"... I guess I really wanted to hear you say it," Luciela said, shoulders dropping as her sister smiled. "I know, I have things to make up for, I killed people, I can't just let that lie down."

"I know, you're super honorable like that."

"Hm. So, what can it do?" Luciela said before Naruto jumped up from an extending claw from that creature, the sister jumping before all the uplifted sand and earth passed through them. "Oh, right," she realized.

"Well, so far? It can only throw its limbs around," Naruto answered as he landed before shooting at it in a burst of wind.

A glowing fist was brought up and around before he rocked its head to the side with that hit alone, leaving the two gaping at him as he landed only to be batted back towards them once one of its tails came lashing out towards him, the man's glowing cross-armed block nullifying the damage even as his feet dug into the ground the entire distance he was thrown back.

"So, I'm working on it!" Naruto said with a thumbs-up before going after the Vague Beast once more.

The air rumbled, the earth shook, and the sounds filled their eardrums.

"It's his mind, I guess he'd be stronger here," Luciela said as Rafaela nodded. "Haa," then there was a growl from her stomach.

… an actual growl. Luciela's eyebrow twitched as she opened up Naruto's kimono to see a growling mouth on her skin.

"..."

"..." Rafaela choked off to the side with laughter as Luciela's arms crossed.

"What the hell?"

~NRK~

Returning to the world of the living, the two blinked before Luciela nodded.

"I'll go and grab us some food and you some clothes," Rafaela said as she left, leaving her big sister to nod.

"Haa," finding a seat, Luciela brought it up to Naruto'sunmoving form before just… waiting.

Ten minutes passed by in a flash as she messed with her arms and the mouths that could appear on them.

"Ugh, I get more hungry when I do that," she said as Rafaela returned with food, Sistina right behind her with Uranus and Otie carrying their own trays and her clothes. "O-Oh, thanks," she admitted, looking embarrassed.

And then they saw her 'growling stomach' and she facepalmed as Rafaela laughed again.

"Your stomach… actually growls," Sistina's face couldn't have looked more befuddled. "I…" She shook her head. "I don't think Awakened Beings do that but you're the only one I've ever seen with so many mouths."

The 'Awakened Woman' blushed before getting her food.

Then the group watched her eat everything down to the last bit of bread, they'd even offered all of their bread to her and were left staring at her empty tray in only five minutes.

"T-Thanks," Luciela blushed once more. "I-I guess normal hunger works? But… Why do Awakened Beings want to eat guts?"

"... M-Maybe it's Naruto's effects?" Otie offered even as she looked at Luciela's empty tray. 'She ate it without a hint of control,' she sweated nervously.

Did becoming more yoma-like make your manners bad?

"... what if Naruto's energy sort of… replaced the normal nature of your yoki?" Uranus considered as she ate without too much disbelief. "If he did that by using his own energy as, like, a core substitution, maybe that's it?" She twirled her clean spoon before digging back into her potato.

Sistina hummed as she gestured to Luciela's clothes. "You can change when you need to. Though, I do notice that you don't have your stigma anymore," she observed as they all saw the top of Luciela's chest.

Opening up Naruto's kimono more, they blinked as it wasn't a 'stigma' anymore but… a scar?

Running her finger down it, Luciela looked at it with some melancholy. "He's way too helpful sometimes, I know for a fact that Awakened Beings don't have the stigma but they also didn't have scars like this."

"Hmm… then we can assume Naruto's effects had something to do with this," Sistina shrugged. "For now, just rest. We've got a lot of odd… interactions to have in the future," she frowned as they looked confused. 'Should I tell them?' Right now, she really doesn't want to upset anyone, yet.

She didn't want Luciela to be too aggressive right now, what with her still being in her 'tender' state. For now, they just needed to rest and recover.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about how your body is now that you're Awakened… supposedly. That boy really does like making my life too confusing."

They chuckled at that because it was true.

Leave it to Naruto to make life interesting.

The first 24 hours were just filled with observing.

Honestly? Luciela found her mind far too… apt for it. It felt like she could stare at Naruto for years and not be bored.

Leaning on his table, chin down on her crossed arms, she reached out and messed with one of his birthmarks.

Sliding her finger up and down the odd texture, she kept going.

Going… and going… and going…

When she felt a tap on her shoulder, she blinked, looking up to see Rafaela. "What's wrong?"

"... Luciela? You've been rubbing Naruto's cheek for the past four hours," her little sister said as the Awakened woman blinked, looking surprised.

"R-Really?!" She squeaked, looking embarrassed. "H-Huh?" How?

Had she really spent four hours just looking at Naruto?!

"... You know, they say that Awakening changes us on some level," Rafaela said as she sat down, Luciela wincing.

"I hope it's not something bad," she said as her sister nodded. "Still, I don't feel any real negative emotions, you know? I don't."

"Maybe Naruto changed that, too? What if he made your tendencies less?"

"We sadly don't know. We have to wait for him to wake up."

Moments later, a familiar scientist came into the room, looking pleased and excited.

"Hmm? Any changes?" Dae asked the two who shook their heads.

"He's fighting in his mind," Luciela explained as the man blinked. "Fighting his yoki, he said."

"So, you can speak with him? Curious. This will hopefully lead to good things," Dae said as he went to a drawer. "I'll need to get some of his blood again. Do you remember from before the experiment? When we injected you?"

"Y-Yeah."

"I think that helped salvage your situation. Though, for now, I need to check if there have been any changes in his blood and to see if it's different in that arm compared to his body."

The sisters blinked at the idea before looking at Naruto curiously.

What would it show? Would it be the same?

As they watched Dae do it all, Rubel peeked into the room from a fake door in the wall.

Drawing blood with two separate vials, Dae and the three blinked at the difference.

One of them looked like normal blood, surprisingly, but with a sort of… golden sheen to it. Like red liquid gold.

The yoki-filled arm was also odd.

"Hmm? Red?" Dae checked again. "Not a single change in color. "All of your blood is usually a darker shade but his blood is normal in this arm," he chuckled. "Curious."

He pulled both vials over to a microscope and checked them.

'It's as they said, it's like the yoma cells… or would it be Luciela Cells?' He wrote it down mentally. 'The Awakened cells are trying to overtake his own.'

The colors of each blood cell changed between the two colors slowly.

"Anything?" Rafaela asked.

"Well, it's all the same down to the cell, they're fighting," Dae hummed. "... I question… if he wins, will he still take over your blood's normal functions? Would he just become a human Awakened Being?"

Luciela looked at her arm with a sigh. "By the way, I left an arm back in the battlefield," she blushed as Dae perked up.

"Well, when we went to check, we didn't find one," he said and she winced.

"Did it… blow away in the wind? Did something find it?"

"Well, we'll keep searching, wouldn't want that out and about," Dae lied as he breathed. 'With that arm, we've got more powerful material,' he still wasn't sure about what to do with it.

To use it on the Abyss Eaters would be a waste while trying to implant it into trainees without knowing the full effects wouldn't be a good idea.

He'd have to leave it in suspension for now.

"Hmm, well, his cells in his body are seemingly enhanced but still mostly human," he said. "I'll see about making pills with his blood."

"Well… that's probably a good idea," Rafaela said with a hum. "M-Maybe this will help the others if those times come?" She asked hopefully.

"We'll see, I still have one from when he provided his previous blood samples. It's not easy making a pill out of human blood but it's different with a yoma's."

The two just watched Naruto once more.

And that's how they spent the next twenty years.

~NRK~

That's a wrap!

So, you've all seen the differences here. Not only is Roxanne still alive, she's now joined up with Riful, Naruto's MIA for a long time, Luciela's got some manner of full control over being an Awakened Being, and Sistina now holds information that makes Rubel's involvement with anything sketchy.

In my headcanon, this experiment was why she died in canon. It makes sense and lines up as her being The Eye for every couple generations.

So, with this, the status quo has actually changed, a lot.

Luciela is near the 'Abyssal Level' but only in yoki and not in general skills. She's not a beast in mindset so she can't abuse all her abilities like she did in canon and is still weaker than Isley but that's not exactly a low bar.

Naruto is currently in a twenty-year-long 'Taming Battle' not dissimilar to when he fought Kurama but this is different and will be delved into in the next chapter.

So, the only one who hasn't had an obscene change is Rafaela. Well, be not worried, I'll figure out what to do with her.

Ciao. Hope this was interesting and weird enough for you guys.

~NRK Out~