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.

6. Awakenings II

For a more solid idea of what Naruto's appearance is like, I used this as a reference:
Pinterest: pin/688206386813744787/

~NRK~

The first year had been the worst, honestly.

Oh, it'd come with some good news, Luciela's lack of degradation meant that she didn't need to eat humans.

She was basically a 'normal' Awakened Being but the 'oddities' began to show.

It'd been small things, at first. For one, she didn't like hot showers, an odd change but not the worst.

Next, she'd a slight preference for more raw meat, beef, pork, chicken, and so on. The rawer, not too raw though, the better.

Third? Her slight obsession with Naruto, which even she noticed, had become a daily thing and they only had conjecture.

Dae's words had likely been the closest answer.

"As an Awakened Being, sometimes, they're attracted to previous connections. It's not odd to think that, with her change in 'affinities', this is what it looks like now due to Naruto's effects."

They'd actually tried little experiments, slowly hiding out of view and watching how Luciela slowly obsessed over the man on the table. Caressing his cheek, fiddling with his actually growing hair, and/or intertwining her fingers with his often for hours on end without a hint of stopping unless broken out of her 'enchantment'.

In that same year, Rafaela had gotten in as much training as she could before she and Luciela would visit Naruto at least thrice a day.

The changes internally weren't more beyond his yoki being… 'conquered' more in that past year.

So… that had been 'good'... but the fact that Naruto hadn't awoken in that time had made them antsy even though they could literally just slip into his mind and see him.

Life in the Organization hadn't even changed, really, but there was less energy and Rafaela had never felt like the place was more lifeless than at that time.

Though, many people came and went from the med bay.

Sistina the most often, Cassandra, Uranus, Otie, Elizabeth, some of their Numbered friends from their generation, and even Lmit.

His visit had been the oddest, honestly, because he'd simply come, stared for ten minutes, and would leave.

It honestly could have been worse, Rafaela guessed but she feared that things would degrade when they were asked to move Naruto to a cell below for safety reasons. With Luciela, obviously.

~NRK~

Placing him down against the wall, Lmit nodded as Luciela's tails returned to their normal lengths.

"Make no mistake, you all aren't being punished but there are members who don't know, new generations, new trainees, and more. We can't take the chance," the Elder said. 'Especially if he births himself anew and can't be controlled,' oh, he'd been told what was going on but Lmit couldn't take chances.

Naruto had done them a service by making Luciela into a 'tame' Awakened Being, that was the absolute truth, but that didn't mean he wasn't a danger like this.

In a coma for a year, Lmit needed to be cautious. If he awoke, two beings on the Awakened Being level could be on their side and provide insight and power the Organization needed.

As he left, the sisters sat next to the still unconscious blonde before leaning on his shoulders.

---

"Hmm? Oh, hey, girls!" Naruto said as they sat in a space that confused them.

"Huh?" Where were they?"

It was like a large never-ending lake of still blue water, the 'sky' completely black while Naruto and they just sat atop the water, causing the only ripples on its surface.

"I think this is my new headspace if ya catch my drift," he said as Rafaela looked around curiously. "I guess me constantly fighting that thing, getting bits and pieces back, I've been gaining more control over my body entirely."

"S-So, this is good?" Luciela asked, looking hopeful as he nodded.

"Still, I've only broken off half its front right foot."

"Does it regenerate?" Rafaela asked and Naruto hummed.

"I think that its main body got smaller so I think it's like it's using its energy to improve its defense, obviously its attack, and that power is what I'm breaking down," he looked at his hand. "I haven't noticed any changes, nothing like it, but I guess you could say my influence is growing. That thing is slowly gaining a shape."

"Wait, how is that a good thing?" Luciela asked, one of her tails coming around and looping around his shin without a thought. "I mean… I guess it's not bad?" She said unsurely.

Naruto shrugged as Rafaela tilted her head.

'What can we do?' They couldn't help, Naruto didn't look to be struggling, honestly. "... You need a haircut," Rafaela said as Naruto blinked before ruffling his hair and noticing that, yeah, it was longer. "Or should we wait?" She grinned as Luciela perked up.

"W-We should let it get really long," she said as Naruto began to sweat.

"G-Girls, please, me with long hair? Think about it!"

They did, cupping their chins at the image.

"Long hair it is."

"Dammit."

---

The sisters blinked into the waking world before nodding and getting up slowly, allowing Naruto to rest more comfortably before heading out.

As they walked out of the area, they came to a stop as they blinked at… someone.

A young lady, really.

She was of average height for her age and obviously a trainee, what with her wearing that particular uniform they hadn't really seen in a while.

She had a slightly heart-shaped face with the usual silver eyes one would expect from a warrior of their flesh and ilk. Her hair was also the usual platinum blonde with it being wavy and in a ponytail with two bangs falling down the sides of her face.

"Hmm?" Luciela tilted her head, crouching to her level. "Are you lost? I'm pretty sure they usually don't let the trainees come down here."

"... are you guys different?" The girl asked them, confusing the sisters.

"Huh?" Rafaela blinked. "I don't think I understand your question."

"Um… well," the girl rubbed the back of her head with a grin. "Well, you two feel different from all the other Claymores here so I thought you guys were different?"

"... haa, it's a secret, well, I and one other are," Luciela said softly, eyes looking away from the girl as she smiled. "It's not information that should be divulged yet, you can ask… I forget who typically handles the trainees' classes, R-Rafa," she added, looking embarrassed as her sister chuckled and the girl giggled. "T-There's someone, I know, who should tell you. Well, no, they won't, not unless you're really strong."

"Eloquent," Rafaela grinned as her sister pouted. "I'm Rafaela and this is my sister, Luciela, we're on a private personal assignment of the Organization of watching over our boyfriend."

"..."

"..."

"... Um."

"Uh, yeah, it's a bit… weird," Luciela said with some red on her face but a grin that nearly lit up the room. "But we've made it work for over ten years… n-no, wait, not boyfriend, he's our f-fiance!" She squeaked as Rafaela burned like a candle.

The girl looked between them with squinty eyes. "Boys are already weird," she said as they sweatdropped. "I'm Teresa, though!"

"W-Well, Teresa, we're still confused, how did you get allowed down here?" Rafaela asked with a nervous grin. "Like, seriously, there are supposed to be guards outside."

"I snuck in! I felt somebody down here, they seemed nice," Teresa said as the two blinked.

'Naruto?' Could this girl have an amazing sensory ability? "You probably mean Naruto."

"... I don't think I've heard that name before."

"He's our f-fiance," Luciela said. "He's… he's different in a lot of ways, Teresa, he's not… okay, so, Naruto's situation as a 'warrior'," Rafaela could sense the air quotes. "Is different."

"Oh, well… I think I need to leave," Teresa said with a nervous grin. "I, uh, might get in trouble with my trainer."

"... Alright, come with us and we'll tell him that we found you," Luciela smiled brightly, Naruto's kimono over her form emphasized well as she put her hands on her hips.

Teresa blinked. "W-Why?"

"Why not?" Rafaela chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with you just being a bit curious, you shouldn't be punished for that," she said, walking out with her sister and the girl with them. "I'm curious, Teresa, what generation are you from?"

"The 77th," she answered, surprising them.

"Wait, I thought there was a generation every year?" Luciela balked. "Did I forget that?"

"No, it's supposed to be once every year… they doubled it up?" Rafaela blinked, confused. "I mean… I kinda understand, what with everything. We're also not on the frontlines anymore."

Luciela nodded slowly, wincing as she fiddled with her two pendants.

"Yeah, I remember."

~NRK~

Teresa blinked as Luciela ate four whole trays of food that consisted of a lot of potatoes and a third as much meat.

"Um… is that normal?" She asked Rafaela who grinned.

"Nowadays," she said. "Thankfully, the Organization has its own farms and the like. That and Luciela's appetite isn't absurd, just a bit high, and she doesn't even eat every day."

"I mean, why?" Teresa asked.

"Private information," Luciela said as she drank some water and nodded in relief. "Alright, I guess we'll see you around, maybe, Teresa. We do have our responsibilities to deal with."

"Alright," she said, kicking her legs a bit. "Could I visit?" Teresa asked.

"Um, well, we wouldn't mind but it's not us you have to contend with on that front."

"Alright! So, if I sneak there," they chuckled. "I can visit?"

"If you can."

~NRK~

A day later, Luciela wore a nervous grin as Teresa grinned in front of her.

"How?"

"My trainer's not very good at keeping up with me," she grinned.

"Well, come on, it'd be nice of you to meet him, I suppose."

Walking down the lines of empty cells, they came to the one in the middle and Teresa blinked as she saw Naruto for the first time.

And the world pulsed as the man did, confusing both of them before it fell away to reveal a familiar scenery to Luciela but not Teresa.

---

"H-Huh?!" Teresa jumped as she looked down at the surface of the water beneath her feet. "... whoa…" She looked up before locking gaze with a curious man.

"Huh? Who's she?" Naruto asked curiously as Luciela blinked at him.

"D-Did you do something, Naruto?" She asked nervously as he frowned.

"No? Why?"

"W-We weren't trying to 'come in', yet."

Naruto looked alarmed while Teresa blinked at him.

"You're their fiance," she said as Luciela blushed once more as Naruto chuckled.

"I am. I gave them engagement pendants," he smirked as Teresa grinned.

"I guess not everyone likes rings."

"I'm just more of a pendant guy."

Luciela filed that away for further deliberation with Rafaela. "So, what do you think caused it?" She asked him, walking over and sitting next to him as Teresa looked around. "And, Teresa, well… When you're good enough at sensing yoki, you can match wavelengths with others and come to places like this. The mental plane of someone's mind."

Teresa tilted her head as she looked back at her before blinking as she looked down at her hands.

"My unconscious body…" Naruto frowned. "I'm worried that while we're fighting, me and that thing can interact with the outside world through my body."

Luciela frowned. "Worrying, still, it only pulled us into here."

"No it didn't," Teresa said as the two looked at her. "It pulled our yoki and minds here," she stated matter-of-factly.

"... Crap," Naruto said with a frown. "But outside yoki? Why? I can assume that it pulled you guys in by accident."

Luciela closed her eyes before her form flashed in her mind, a 'tank' of sorts filled with yellow yoki 'fuel'.

"... Ten percent," she grimaced. "A tenth of my yoki, i-it took it!"

"It got a third of mine!" Teresa said with a raised hand as Naruto frowned.

"Is it trying to power up more?" Naruto frowned.

"I don't know what you're talking about but does that mean you've been beating it up?"

"Basically, yeah," he cupped his chin. "So, it's gotten desperate? Or is it because you're a powerful source of yoki?" Naruto winced. "I'm worried that it'll bring a copy of you in here to also fight me."

Luciela's eyes narrowed. "... If that thing will bring me in here to siphon anything, I'll kick its ass!"

The black space around them fell away, leaving them on that battlefield once more, a familiar Vague Beast in front of them… with a small copy of Luciela's Awakened form or a general outline of it, by its legs.

The copy was maybe twice as tall as the woman herself… Actually, there was another one there.

Teresa blinked as she saw a smaller figure with four wings and a pretty human shape. This one was barely there, more of a hazy image, but there she, it, was.

Naruto appeared in front of her. "Teresa, please go and hide somewhere, alright?" He asked her with a grin, ruffling her hair. "We've got this, I think this is different," the man added as his eyes burned gold.

Luciela's eyebrows furrowed further as her arms Awakened and her tails slithered out.

"You think you can take from me and my fiance and get away with it?!" She shouted at the Beasts, all three crouching in preparation. "Bastard."

"Yeah," Naruto chuckled.

The three creatures lunged and Naruto picked up Teresa before he and Luciela jumped over them.

"Luci!"

"Yeah!"

Her tails shot out, one around him and Teresa while the other shot into the distance and latched onto the ground.

They were pulled out of the way as the winged creature lunged through their previous location.

"Hmph, she's not that impressive, no offense, Teresa," Luciela said as they landed, the flying Being coming back towards them along with a quartet of extending limbs. "!"

Her tails extended themselves before lashing out, batting her copy's limbs away with ease while struggling with the Vague Beast's claws.

Putting Teresa down, Naruto lunged at the flyer before grabbing her by the ankles.

"HERE!" He sent them into a spin before throwing the Teresa copy into the 'face' of his yoki, the creature stumbling back as Luciela lashed out at its limbs.

Broken pieces fell from its limbs before slipping into Naruto as he landed.

"Alright! I guess because this thing brought you here, you can fight with me-Whoa!" Naruto leaned back as Luciela's Awakened clone lunged over him before he kicked out and sent it flying. "Phew!" He jumped back and landed next to Luciela as they watched the untangling trio of Beasts. "Still, this might be really bad if it absorbs more yoki from other people."

As soon as he said this, though, the two Awakened copies' forms trembled, their solid nature breaking down at the tips of their limbs, leaving the trio confused.

"Huh?" Teresa tilted her head. "I guess it's because they're not native to your body… maybe," she said with an unsure grin as Naruto tapped his head.

"... it feels like they're just burning away too fast," he told Teresa and Luciela, the latter of whom blinked. "I guess Teresa might have had the right idea. For now, they're not gonna be here for long and it's been, what, a few seconds?"

The Vague Beast stumbled to its feet as the copies fell away, breaking into particles that vanished into the sky.

Naruto nodded. "Luci, Teresa, head on out. I've got this," he grinned as Luciela nodded, pecking him on the lips and holding onto the blushing Teresa's shoulders.

"I'll be back, maybe even Little Teresa, too," Luciela grinned as he chuckled.

---

Returning to the world of the conscious, the two hummed.

"We learned something new and worrying. I hope that doesn't mean something bad," Luciela said to Teresa who nodded.

"Still, he was nice," she said as the older woman laughed.

~NRK~

Not even two months later, Luciela's jaw dropped along with Rafaela's as Cassandra rubbed the back of her head at the Number Ceremony.

Why? Oh, only because someone else was the Number 1!

The woman who'd taken the top spot smiled in front of Lmit, her long hair set in a partial ponytail and the bangs running down the sides of her face braided.

"With this, Cassandra will now be the No. 2," Lmit explained to the group. "No other changes are to be announced. Go to your handlers and make yourselves aware of your new areas, those whose numbers have changed."

Rafaela rubbed the back of her head as she looked at the woman who'd originally been the 6th. "So, she's not the 1st? That's crazy," she said as Cassandra considered it all before shrugging. "Hm," she grinned as the taller woman smiled.

"It's just a number, I've realized. That doesn't mean I won't keep trying," she said, shooting the sisters a weird look. "You said you had a… new method?"

~NRK~

One large tub of water later and Cassandra, Elizabeth, Uranus, Sistina, and newly arrived Teresa balked at Rafaela's form standing on the water.

Standing on the water! That was ridiculous!

"It took me the entire year to get this down," she explained as Teresa looked into the large wooden tub in disbelief. "Do you all remember when Luciela and I were working on constant flows? This is the idea Naruto had that helped us perfect it."

"Y-You're standing on water!" Teresa's jaw remained dropped as Luciela chuckled, stepping up and onto the water's surface like it was the most normal thing in the world. "!?"

"I would try it with the baths we had," she admitted. "It took longer for me since I was… well, this, but I also got it down. If we can, you guys could as well."

"Constant flow?" Teresa asked.

"Yep, it wasn't easy, it's tough, Lil Teresa, but it's improved our control leaps and bounds," Luciela grinned.

There was a growl that Teresa jumped at before the Awakened woman blushed as the others smirked.

"I-I might be a bit… hungry."

~NRK~

The next four years had passed so… quickly, Luciela wasn't sure where the time went.

And here they were with Elizabeth and Uranus outside in a sort of temporary medical tent, Dae coming over with a tray of four pills.

"I hope this works," Uranus said as she took a calming breath, Rafaela looking a bit uneasy but determined. "Hey, come on, we know how your guy helped. If it could help Luciela, it could help us."

"... You're right," she said with a nod, running a hand through her hair. "I'm hoping for the best."

"Hmm, now, I've been testing and experimenting for a time," Dae said with a grin. "Naruto's blood's effect on normal yoma flesh is rather powerful with enough refining," he explained as they saw one dark brown pill and a dark red one. "But I'm not sure of one thing. If you were to use both the Yoki Suppression Pills and the Energy Control Pills, I wonder what'd happen."

"Let's not test anything today," Sistina said with a look around. 'I haven't seen Rubel in the past two years,' and every other time, she never saw him for more than a second. 'He's hiding from me.'

Someone had something to hide.

"Hm, hm, hm, she does have a point. Best to not push our luck."

The 4th and 18th looked at their offered pills before taking the Energy Control Pills.

"Now, there hasn't been any true trials about this on normal Claymore," Dae said. "So, that's why we're out here as a just-in-case with Luciela on standby."

Luciela nodded from her seated position on a large flat stone, eyes closed as she sat on her knees with her hands in her lap. Back to back with her, Rafaela assumed a similar position, head lifting in interest.

"Their yoki is… shifting?" Rafaela blinked, eyes opening.

"... it's kind of like… when Naruto did it for me," Luciela said, eyes opening slowly as she looked at the two warriors who shivered. "It's… I-I don't really know how to explain it but the feeling of their yoki changed but it feels… temporary," she frowned as Rafaela nodded.

"Even now, their flesh is fighting off the effects but… you're both fine, aren't you?"

Elizabeth looked down at her hands, flexing them as Uranus chuckled.

"I certainly don't feel like I'm about to burst with energy anymore… honestly? It's weird," she said as Dae wrote it all down. "I-It's kinda crazy to say but I feel like I could go 100% and not change."

The group blinked at her in surprise save for Luciela and Dae who hummed and nodded, respectively.

"In a way, maybe it works by increasing their limits," Dae considered. "Or, temporarily, Naruto's cells REWRITE the effects of yoki," the scientist was hyperventilating.

They weren't surprised, it was a ridiculous discovery that likely was so impossible it was hilarious.

"Still, we don't know how long it's active, if it's a one-time effect, or if, when it runs out, we'll immediately Awaken," Elizabeth said as Cassandra crossed her arms.

"It's all new," she noted as Otie nodded and Dae cupped his chin.

"... well, that's good, we'll be experimenting," he grinned as they looked nervous. "Simple observation, if we're to find out the pills' true effects, there's an array of different things we'll need to register and document. That will require Luciela's, Sistina's, or Rafaela's help, though."

"If we can help them, I don't mind handling it," Rafaela said with a nod. "Finding out the way Naruto's pills work will also be a way to help our fellow sister warriors."

Cassandra nodded. "It'd be nice to see if we couldn't get that worry out of our lives," she said with a smile.

This would likely never happen, though, until their 'Miracle Man' was awake, though.

~NRK~

The next three years of observations of non-active warriors had been curious.

For one, their only slight yoki use had become… oddly stable. The two had gone on record to state that they felt weaker but more stable without the odd effects of increasing their yoki output.

And, surprisingly, Dae hadn't reported this to the Elders yet, wanting more and more observations of the Energy Control Pills' effects.

It'd been a rather peaceful trio of years for them before they reached a surprising change in events… very surprising.

Teresa had become 16 and became one of the youngest ever single digits after completing her training.

~NRK~

Teresa grinned as Luciela's eyebrows shot into her hairline, her hands on the young woman's shoulders.

"You're… the Eighth?" Her mouth remained down as the younger woman giggled. "I… How?" Luciela felt nothing but pride, really she did.

But this was actually ridiculous!

"Hmm, it's all pretty easy if you know how to control your yoki, like you taught me!" Teresa grinned as Rafaela rubbed the back of her head.

"Is she a genius?" She asked Cassandra who blinked thrice.

"I… yes?" The tallest of them said unsurely. "This beats out both of your records."

The sisters shrugged. "I mean, it was bound to happen eventually, I'd sure," Luciela said as she pat Teresa's shoulders with a nod. "We just happened to know her," she smirked as Uranus chuckled.

"We happened to know a lot of people," she said as Elizabeth cupped her chin.

"We really do."

From the back of the room, Hysteria's eyes twitched the slightest bit as she settled her eyes on Teresa.

'That's impossible, this has to be a mistake,' she thought with a soft frown before schooling her expression. 'No, I'm sure it is. Let her deal with the responsibility of being a single digit,' Hysteria smirked.

Things corrected themselves in time, didn't they?

~NRK~

In an utterly irritating, LAUGHABLE, way, they had.

Hysteria's eyes narrowed a mere year later when that… t-that upstart was ranked up to Seventh.

In a year, a single-digit had increased their rank once more? A CHILD?!

Her eyes snapped to Luciela, the woman, that 'mythical' one who was an Awakened Being but with tamed powers? Was she coaching her in methods Hysteria didn't know? That had to be it, right?

There was no way this was all talent from a seventeen-year-old child who couldn't have fought that much in her career! The factors needed to even gain such rank shouldn't be possible!

So how?

Her forehead throbbed and Hysteria hissed quietly.

~NRK~

Naruto blinked as the Vague Beast still, its next attack missing him by a mile.

"Huh?" He blinked as something hit their senses. "Someone's… angry?" Naruto's eyes widened as the Beast's energy slipped into the sky in a burst. "No!"

He appeared in front of its vaguely fox-like head before kicking out, sending its head slamming into the ground, cutting off its power surge.

But it was too late. He'd not acted fast enough.

'I need to tell them!' Naruto grimaced as he looked up at the sky. 'Whoever's getting that energy, it's gonna be bad,' he could sense their power, too.

That wasn't a weak warrior.

'Focus,' if what that thing did was true, they could reach those outside with their power here. 'Focus.'

He locked onto all his friends', and his fiances', signatures before blinking at how clear they all were.

'You guys need to keep an eye out for this signature!' He 'sent' out like a wave of energy, the wavelengths of Natural Energy coiling at his command. 'I don't know who this is but she just got a burst of energy from this thing and I feel like she'll Awaken soon through her anger!'

~NRK~

Outside, after the ceremony, the group had gone to the cafeteria to see what they could do for Teresa before they all stopped.

'What?' Visions, words, and emotions passed along a connection Sistina hadn't known she had. '... NARUTO!?' Her eyes widened.

Then the message hit them and 'that signature' was seemingly applied to their minds and their heads turned involuntarily to Hysteria at the far back of the cafeteria.

The way the Number 1 had frozen, her hands clenched and her body seemed to thrum with energy made them realize that, yes, this was real.

And now they had another problem on the horizon.

They turned around almost immediately, barely fast enough to not gain Hysteria's attention… but she looked at them anyway.

At Teresa's back, her eyes glowing, the left gold, the right a powerful red.

'I see, this power… hm, hm, hm, I can use this how I please,' she thought while looking down at her hand, flexing it and feeling the thrum of energy that'd entered her.

~NRK~

Roxanne grit her teeth as Riful destroyed another set of her 'dagger fruit', as she called them.

"You've gotten faster but you're not fast enough," the small woman said.

Roxanne hissed out a breath but pulled back her Awakened limbs into her back, rolling her shoulders, body as bare as they stood in the shallow waters of a nearby waterfall. "Tsk."

"It's not really fair to you to compare yourself to me, I've got what could be called the better version of your skillset," Riful said with a smile, flipping some of her hair as Roxanne's eyes narrowed a bit. "Besides, you're capable of breaking past Dauf's powerful defense, that's honestly more than most can accomplish."

"That walking lump of muscle isn't fast to incite more effort," she said before hissing at a small rise in yoki, Riful's smile becoming a bit colder. "Tsk, how you could have fallen for him, I'll never know."

"That's none of your business as you know."

'Only for now, you little bitch,' Roxanne would get the power to fend off this woman and when she did, she'd go and find him.

The one who drove her all these years and would truly satiate this body of hers. He'd finally 'pay his fare' for leaving her like this, in every possible way.

Then there was a flash of something against their senses, both women turning their heads in that direction as they had nearly a decade ago.

"That Organization, why is it that they seem to keep failing with their warriors?" Riful considered with a raised brow. "Despite my joy in this, this is honestly getting rather ridiculous."

Roxanne sensed deeper than that. 'There he is again,' that power wasn't normal, it wasn't from one being, was it?

She closed her eyes and searched for that strength, following it down its 'path' from that on-the-edge warrior woman to… her eyes snapped open as Riful shot her a look.

"Hmm?"

"She's a No. 1," Roxanne smirked as Riful clapped her hands together.

"That could be good! Maybe she'll also run here and I can collect another high-value comrade," the West's monster grinned. "Let's hope this plays out in a way that'll end in our favor."

'Or mine,' what had that other power besides Naruto been? Had it increased that warrior's Awakening Potential? 'If I could gather it for myself, I could gain power greater than Riful!'

But she'd need to 'observe' for now. She needed more time and examples.

~NRK~

"Hmph, another one," Isley said with a huff. "Where did he go? It's been nearly a decade."

He shrugged in his medium-sized cabin, in his office.

"Still, another strong Awakening Potential," if they could monopolize this one, it'd be good. "... hmm?" Wait… that felt oddly powerful for just a Number 1.

What… was that?

~NRK~

"So, he can contact us?" Uranus looked surprised while Teresa nodded. "That's the first time it's ever happened."

"Along with whatever it's doing to Hysteria," Sistina said with a frown as they all followed suit sans Teresa. "That Vague Beast as he calls it, it sent energy to her through her anger?" That had been startling.

But the more Sistina considered Naruto's state, the more she realized some things.

Would Naruto's Awakened Being 'Skill', as she'd called them, be energy-related? Or, really, was it the power to transfer and alter yoki he'd have once he awoke?

So, if that was true, the Vague Beast had the same skill set and could do things that he could… bad. Very bad.

"What do you think it did to her?" Otie asked. "If it really sent her a surge of energy and she was, apparently, already on the path to Awakening…"

"Then we'll need to either speak to her or use the Energy Control Pills," Elizabeth said as they remembered that, yes, those were now a thing. "Hmph, it's good to have such an option," she smiled as they all nodded.

"... But what happens if she doesn't want to take them?" Teresa asked the group who paused, looking at her in concern. "And if she's angry, would she really stop before she can deal with that first?" She offered with a tilt of the head.

"... we don't know why she's angry, Lil 'Resa is right," Luciela frowned. "And she's not only a No.1 warrior but also got a Naruto Boost?" She looked very concerned now. "That's very bad."

"... then I'll go and handle it," Cassandra said to them. "If nothing else, and she attacks me, I'll lead her here-"

"Lead who?" Came a voice that had them all grimacing as they turned their heads towards the approaching Hysteria who raised a brow at them. "I think you'd be better off staying out of this, No. 2," she whispered in a way that sent all their senses off. "Hmph, Rockwell Hill," she said to Teresa as she threw something at her.

Catching it, the young warrior's eyes widened at a Black Card. "Hysteria?" Teresa blinked, looking back at-

Nothing? W-When had she…?

All eyes widened save for Sistina's, Rafaela's, and Luciela's, the three grimacing.

"Her speed… i-it was always rather insane b-but this is ridiculous!" The Awakened Being's eyes snapped open and turned to the side. "She's already left the Organization's boundaries."

"What?!" Elizabeth looked that way in horror. "That's not her normal speed, that surpasses anything she's ever done before," what the hell was Teresa about to be up against? "That creature… could it really increase her power this much?"

"... no, just her speed," Sistina said with narrowed eyes. "Her yoki may have increased a bit but it's focused. It applied itself to her legs, for the most part, enhancing her already incredible speed to something beyond even the speed of sound."

"... Alright," Teresa said with determined eyes. "I mean, I'm sure I don't do it, she'll just Awaken and attack people, right?"

"... I believe we should also tell the Organization, both of Hysteria's soon-to-Awaken state," Sistina began. "And of the team we'll be sending to handle her," she said as they all considered her words before nodding.

~NRK~

The Elders choked while Lmit frowned.

Sistina, Luciela, Teresa, Rafaela, Elizabeth, and Cassandra nodded to their made 'team'.

"She Awakened to greater potential than expected?" Dae frowned. "How can you tell?"

"Her speed," Luciela said, confusing them. "She… she left the Organization's grounds in the time it took us to blink. From the training fields midpoint to outside the establishment's boundaries," she grimaced as they paled in disbelief.

"What?!"

"H-Her speed's become unparalleled?!"

"Tsk," Lmit hated the sound of this. 'If only Uzumaki was awake,' they could have gained power that may very well have outstripped the Abyssal Ones. '... should we use the Abyss Eaters?' Was this the right time? And even then, they only had 15 in number now.

That wouldn't be enough if Hysteria's speed was as ridiculous as they made it sound. And considering their Eye was supporting the notion… that meant this was beyond even them.

"Hmm, I'm confused, why would we not send more warriors?" Dae asked them, eyebrows raised.

"There'd be no point," Teresa said with a tilt of the head that had him smirking a bit. "They'd simply die. The team we have here is composed of nothing but individuals who are single digits greater than the Fifth and most of us are good at Yoki Sensing. It'll be vital to have all our senses aligned to keep her from controlling the field."

Luciela blinked. 'She always was well-spoken but this is rather incredible,' how curious but she knew that everything she said was right.

Almost all of them were all above the No.5, Elizabeth being the weakest and yet she was the Fourth.

Luciela was sure that outside of her and Teresa, they all were beyond the level of a Number 1… but if that was enough would be up for debate.

"She speaks the truth and has been learning under Luciela, they might be our best options," Dae chuckled. 'And you all are so interesting!' A team being composed mostly of those who could sense yoki was not something they'd ever had before.

Then again, it was a team composed of curious individuals.

Sistina the Miracle Eye, the strongest sensory warrior they'd had before Rafaela.

Cassandra the Unknown Style, the former No.1 who'd retained her rank through a style unseen by others.

Elizabeth the Beautiful, one who had the ability to go 100%.

Rafaela the All-Seeing, a young woman with similar if not stronger sensory abilities to Sistina.

Luciela the Awakened, it was in the name, their Awakened Warrior who had full control over her form.

And then there was their little helper, Teresa the Youngest Single-Digit.

If this team failed… well, Dae could very well say that life as they knew it would be over in these lands.

Having three Abyssal Ones was already worrisome and now there was a fourth!

"Very well, leave once you're fully prepared," Lmit ordered.

The six nodded.

~NRK~

Naruto balked as they all told him what the hell was going on.

"Dammit, I wish I'd been able to stop it before it did anything!" He groaned as they spoke in his new mindscape. "Still, you guys made the right choice for your members. If she's as fast as I felt, you'll need to stay connected… like this," Naruto said as he placed his hand into the water below them.

Golden energy sprouted like roots, coiling out towards the six warriors before touching their feet.

Six pairs of eyes widened as their right pupils flashed gold with a horizontal pupil.

"There, if that thing can hand out power," he chuckled. "So can I. What I just did was connect you guys and your sensory abilities. The only way to win this fight with Hysteria isn't going to be with pure speed, it's gonna need you all to coordinate on a level greater than even thinking at the same time. You'll need to always be watching each other's back like you were one being. I just hope this is what I needed to give you."

"About that," Sistina said as she blinked and the vertical pupil went away, the others doing the same. "I've come to the possible conclusion that your powers as an Awakened Being might very well be energy-related. You've literally just demonstrated so I'm more certain than ever."

"Hehe, yeah, I figured," Naruto said as something rose from behind him.

Something dark blue in color and decently long.

"... a tail?" Cassandra smirked as Luciela looked at it with interest. "I want to say I'm surprised," she said but looked more amused than ever.

"Hehe, I'm hoping it stops at one. I know that the Vague Beast lost one of them when I gained this bad boy," Naruto explained, uncrossing his arms so they could see his hands.

Claws digits sat on them, just normal hands with clawed ends but claws nonetheless.

"It's been, what? Almost ten years? God, time flies."

"Hmm," Teresa looked at his new appendages before blinking as she looked up at his hair. "Huh?" She blinked as Luciela shot her a look.

"Notice something?" She asked her and she nodded.

Naruto raised a brow as Teresa reached out into his hair. "What is-"

Rub, Rub.

"The hell?" His mouth dropped as she grinned, lifting a 'tuft' of hair she'd been messing with to reveal ears not just hair. "... Don't tell me I have-"

"Fox ears?" Now Sistina looked ready to start laughing at his new development. "You have fox ears, by the goddesses."

"I-I didn't know!" Naruto gasped as he looked at his reflection in disbelief. "Oh, I'm getting made fun of for this when I get out, I can feel it," he placed his face in his hand and just shook it. "Oy vey."

~NRK~

They left the Organization with Rafaela carrying a small pouch on her leg.

Every bit of insurance counted, right?

As they ran, Luciela led the way with closed eyes, nose twitching, as Teresa ran at her side.

"Hmm? Right, you have a cat-like Awakened form, right?" She asked the older woman who smiled.

"I do, I… I only ever transformed, on purpose, twice in the three years before we met," she said softly. "I… I-I didn't lose control like I thought I would but that body is so big and unwieldy," Luciela frowned. "If I have to use it, it's going to be dangerous for all of you. So, should that come to pass, you all need to vacate the area and provide me support with sensory information. I'll eat her if that's what this will take."

Teresa saw the look of steel in her eyes and nodded as they kept going.

The location they went to, Rockwell Hill, was on the edge of Sutare, a relatively big area composed of fine stone, small rocks, and a large patch of land that sat on a small incline that had a river flowing around it.

There Hysteria sat, blade in the ground atop that raised bit of land in the normal warrior seating pose.

Her eyes opened and their eyes widened at the sight of her right eye's powerful color as the air around vibrated.

A wave of energy spread out, her hair floating in the air for but a moment before it dispersed and her follicles dropped gently.

She began to get up and their run didn't stop, instead every one of the team members' eyes burned gold as they zeroed in on Hysteria.

The No.1 grinned before Teresa's right eye glowed with its horizontal pupil.

The group barely dodged Hysteria's blade, the water beneath their feet carved through and not going back to normal for a second.

Hysteria's eyes widened in confusion as she landed, turning around to look at the group of at-the-ready warriors.

"Hmm? How did you dodge me?" She asked them, eyebrows furrowed as her form crouched low. "..."

Her form was a blur and Luciela's eyes closed as her legs transformed.

An explosion of air sent both one of her tail ends flying off and Hysteria skidding back, the Awakened Woman grimaced as her feline feet dug into the ground.

'Annoying,' Hysteria was sure her new speed eclipsed even this so-called True Awakened Being so how had she stopped her?

Her form faded and a spark lit up the minds of the six before Teresa leaned back, blade coming up into the face of the attacking Hysteria.

"?!"

She vanished even in such a position but Teresa had felt resistance.

When Hysteria reappeared behind them, she grit her teeth, running her hand down the side of her bleeding cheek.

"How?!" She growled at them. "How can you possibly keep up?!"

"Hmph, your power isn't your own, it's borrowed," Elizabeth stated. "And it won't do you any good here."

The No.1 growled before she circled them, form nearly impossible to see as she kicked up dust and powerful winds.

"She's coming!" Rafaela declared, another spark of sensory information passed around.

Sistina's eyes narrowed as she rolled forward, Cassandra's blade coming around to slam into Hysteria's own.

The former No.1 was thrown back by the force but Hysteria had been stopped and Elizabeth's form came down on her, blade flowing around her raised block to slice into her pauldron before the woman disappeared once more, gritting her teeth.

'How?! My speed should outstrip even their mental speed! How?!' Her eyes narrowed, face throbbing with veins. "Tsk!"

Her speed increased once more but the group focused and kept their collective guards up.

'I can see her, with all our sensory abilities put together,' Rafaela thought as she delved into their combined might.

She absorbed the entirety of the information their yoki ability could gather and 'saw'... more.

Her form shifting around, Hysteria's impatience, her thoughts.

Her next move.

She 'grabbed' that next possibility before their minds sparked.

Hysteria landed far away before her legs bulged, mouth cracked and filled with sharp teeth.

"I CAN KILL ALL OF YOU FROM HERE!"

Her form shot off from that 200-meter distance and she reappeared in front of Teresa, their eyes meeting before her vision was blocked-?!

A blow from coiled-together tails nearly knocked her mind out of her body before the limbs grabbed her.

Her rattled brain still sent enough signals to have her look down at the transformed teeth of Luciela, her body twice as big as it was before.

"Got you," she growled before her appendages brought Hysteria up, around, and down, cratering the floor beneath their feet.

She clasped her claws together before raising them and bringing them down.

The first hit cracked the small uplift of earth.

The next split its base.

And the third destroyed it in its entirety, the 'Hysteria Hunting Team' falling with all the stone and dust.

"Luci, get back!" Rafaela shouted as Luciela's eyes widened before she jumped back, tails shooting around in the air and gathering the others as she did.

Just in time, her forearms down to her arms were gone, leaving bleeding stumps in their places.

"How?!"

"She did it," Sistina grimaced as the smoke and dust dispersed, leaving a lone figure within it. "She Awakened."

Hysteria's head tilted-

Luciela caught the flash of information almost too late, losing her right leg in exchange for Teresa being pushed back.

"H-Huh?! Luciela!" The young woman landed in the water in horror as the Awakened Woman grimaced, falling back onto her rear. "Hysteria!" Veins throbbed around Teresa's face as a chuckling monster 'skittered' over to them. "Of course, someone as persistent and annoying as you would be a bug," Teresa hissed.

The Awakened form of Hysteria the Elegant could have been summed up as such.

Still having her bare naked torso with wings along her back, her lower half couldn't be defined as anything other than a steel spider's abdomen, the lower portion's 'legs' consisted of a septet of 'blade' appendages with numerous spindly oddly-angled legs that were reminiscent of the insect.

"Hmm?" Hysteria grinned as she looked down at the young single digit with a chuckle. "A bug you say? Now, now, that's not nice," she whispered, head flopping to the side like a deflating rubber ball before she grinned at her, both eyes burning red. "Especially when it's you who'll be rubbing your pathetic belly along the ground!"

A tail lunged in the space where her head was… where it was.

Hysteria landed behind the half-Awakened Luciela who grimaced.

"Rude," she said with a small smirk, metallic looks shifting in amusement as her body seemed to faze into nothingness, already across the river. "Curious, I understand now, you all have also been blessed by that being below the Organization, that's how you're able to keep up with me."

"Hmph, you're cursed, at best," the feline monster said as, with Rafaela's assistance, her limbs grew back in record time. 'But we're still no closer to beating her like this,' Luciela winced as her eyes and Rafaela's met.

Unified thought flashed before they looked at Hysteria with frowns.

'We need to catch her.'

'I know but her speed is utterly insane, we can't catch up and can only attack when we stop her.'

'That or keep her in the sky.'

'Can we do that?'

Luciela let out a hissing breath before her form grew to its greatest height. "No, but I can," she hissed out as the others jumped out of the way. 'We need to attack when I've got her in my hands!' She told the others whose eyes narrowed.

Her right arm raised before it swung down on Hysteria.

The blow tore apart the ground and threw up dirt and sand as Rafaela rested on her sister's shoulder.

Her eyes flashed to the side where Hysteria was currently floating in the air in annoyance.

From below, Teresa, Sistina, and Elizabeth jumped in to attack, blades held out.

Hysteria's eyes narrowed before she threw down her hands.

She disappeared just as their blades swung, leaving the six confused.

Hysteria's spindly legs crushed the ground beneath her feet, prepared to lunge at the mid-air Claymores only for something to flash past her back.

"WHAT?!" She growled, head snapping to the side to see Cassandra disappearing into what remained of the forest. "You cur!"

Her vision flashed as she tumbled onto her side, feet away from the hissing Cassandra who ran out of sight once more.

'Yoki Manipulation!' Hysteria hissed before pushing back onto her feet and circling the landing Teresa and Elizabeth, reappearing behind them. 'Got you-!'

A blade cleaved across her right lower half, Hysteria's eyes widening in horror as she hissed and disappeared in a burst of wind, reappearing, tumbling on her side, a good distance away.

"You!" She growled as Sistina's eyes narrowed, her form growing hazy in the Abyssal One's sights. "Your trick won't work again!"

She vanished, leaving Sistina hissing as Cassandra peaked out of the treeline.

Up in the air, they balked as she shifted around with a frown, dodging in and out of Luciela's serpentine tails.

'She's occupied!' Luciela thought as Teresa and Elizabeth ran up the length of one of them, speed doubling. 'Don't let her get away!'

They reached the very ends of Luciela's stilling appendages before Teresa jumped off, heading down towards the Awakened Being who looked up with a grin, mouth wide and full of teeth as she shot up-

She balked as one of her wings was cleaved through, Elizabeth's form landing on Luciela's other tail.

Hysteria grit her teeth as she caught Teresa's descending blade with both hands before she was tossed down towards the ground, the young woman landing next to Elizabeth before they jumped off Luciela's limb towards the Abyssal One.

'I can't do anything with my speed?!' That was ridiculous!

How?! When her main ability was conducive to the power she'd received, how was she losing?!

She landed upright in front of Sistina, eyes widening as her body stumbled at the feeling of two forces pressing down on her yoki.

From above Rafaela's eyes narrowed. 'We keep trapping her but she's too fast,' this chipping away nonsense would have worked well, great even, if Rafaela wasn't constantly concerned about Roxanne or an Abyssal One coming onto the scene. 'We need to remove her advantage completely.'

What did she know about Hysteria?

'She's not a defensive type,' Luciela told her as their eyes chased Hysteria. 'Her speed's the greatest of every warrior in the Organization, though. She's too fast to completely deal with and we both know that she'll adjust to her body soon.'

It was true, Luciela had noted it in her first year as an Awakened Being.

They didn't have it all 'set', yet, they weren't at 100% despite breaking the barrier. They were still adjusting and were, as such, weaker despite the great power/mass increase.

So, she was at her 'weakest' right now and that meant… if Hysteria got any bit faster, they'd be screwed.

That needed to be stopped before it advanced.

'Everything I know about Awakened Beings…' Something that'd seal this one down. '... wait,' hadn't Naruto said something when they were still training?

---

"Cut the flow?" Rafaela asked him as Luciela dropped into the waterfall's pool again. "I don't think you mean Yoki Manipulation."

"Not completely, no," Naruto said. "But what if you could, even temporarily, cut the flow? Like, using a sharp spike of yoki to clog it. It's a flow, right?"

"Hmm, well, it sounds good but we do need to actually get this down, ya know?"

"Sure, it's just an idea."

---

Cut the flow of her yoki to her lower half.

"You have an idea?" Luciela asked her sister who nodded with determined eyes. "... Oh, right, those days."

"We need to seal her completely," Rafaela said as she looked at her blade. "... not with this," she realized, putting it back onto her back, raising her hands. "Apply a flow, sharpen it into 'corks', and use Yoki Manipulation at the same moment," she chanted to herself and Luciela.

'I know you can do it.'

"Thanks, like always," Rafaela grinned before jumping down, hand buzzing with yoki. 'Focus on it, you've got perfect control, be creative!'

Thin it to the size of a bone fracture, make it sharp.

She landed.

Yoki Manipulation, 50% yoki but focus it towards your arms and follow Hysteria's flow.

Rafaela needed this to be perfect.

Sistina caught her intent in a flash of… just yoki. Its directive and her intent.

She ran ahead of her, the two's yoki syncing in a line.

Hysteria hissed at them before slipping around Teresa and Elizabeth's dual attacks, huffing at them on two-thirds of the legs she had before.

~NRK~

Riful's head tilted as Hysteria flinched.

Were… they about to kill her?

"What? H-How?!" Roxanne didn't understand… no, wait, of course! "Luciela's perfectly Awakened," she realized as Riful and Dauf's heads snapped to her.

"What?" The older woman grimaced. "Excuse me, what do you mean by that?"

"... The Soul Link Project, didn't feel it, but there was something else that 'happened' when Naruto brought Luciela back. He… He changed some core about her yoki and now she's not at risk for Awakening into a beast."

Dauf flinched. "W-What's that mean?"

"..." Riful grimaced. "It means we need to find more comrades eventually, especially if they're willing to Awaken the rest of this group of Awakened Being Hunters."

Because if they succeeded… that was it.

The Organization had made their counters and would act soon after this event.

~NRK~

"What do we do?" Rigaldo grimaced. "I'm not an idiot who can't tell what this would mean."

Isley folded his hands beneath his chin in thought. "..."

"Isley."

"I'm considering a lot of things… especially one," he said with closed eyes before one cracked open. "... if it comes down to it, Rigaldo, isn't it obvious what we must do?"

The Silver Lion King flinched as his leader nodded.

"No! W-We can't possibly make a truce with Riful!" That would be the worst thing they could do! "What happens if she backstabs us!?"

"Not 'if' but 'when'," Isley corrected. "There's no doubt in my mind that Riful would turn on us in a heartbeat if she saw things about to end in our favor. She's a greedy woman, that one, had she not had a man, I might have actually tried to have her as my queen."

"... There's a lot wrong with that sentence, focus on solutions, Isley."

The man looked amused but nodded. "Sadly, though, my earlier statement stands, we'd likely need to form a truce and attack the Organization in full," Rigaldo blinked in surprise. "Think about it, we keep waiting, we keep reacting, eventually that young man is going to wake up, Rigaldo, I can feel it, and if he does, we might very well lose regardless if he's well trained."

"So, to stop all this madness," Rigaldo crossed his arms with closed eyes.

"We need to remove the source. Well, that and get Riful to agree to a truce."

"... I don't think this plan is going to make it."

"I have my own reservations as well."

~NRK~

Hysteria frowned as she saw the two coming at her. 'What's she planning?' Rafaela was clearly going to do something and Hysteria didn't want any part in it. '...'

That feeling popped up and her core burned in anger and disbelief.

Should she leave? The question had been building for a while since they took away her wings.

She was losing slowly, Hysteria knew a battle of attrition had already fallen into the team's favor and she was sure of one thing.

They'd kill her.

She hissed before jumping back, another one of her seven blade-like appendages shot back and she began to recede. 'Dammit!' Her pride rebelled as she shot back before shooting forward. "I won't let it end like this!"

Her lunge at the two couldn't be diverted while her speed will allow her to hit first, get rid of them before they could recover!

Sistina's eyes widened as Hysteria tore through two of Luciela's tail ends, still going with a grin. "Die!"

Luciela had made a horrid mistake, mind clouded by pride and vengeance, she'd made an oh-so vital mistake.

She'd been right, her speed would allow no sense of interception from the two running warriors… had she not torn through Luciela's tails.

It was a minor, nearly impossible, hindrance… but it was all that mattered.

Especially for Teresa, Cassandra, and Elizabeth who came down from above, blade tips guided by Sistina's Yoki Synchronization.

They tore into the back of the mid-flight Abyssal One, her eyes widening as her chest was tailed to the ground.

"WHAT!?" She choked on blood before a shadow came overhead.

Rafaela's feline-like arms reared back before she brought them down into Hysteria's spider-like abdomen.

And the Abyssal One's eyes shuddered as something 'cracked' in her yoki. A broken connection that had her gasping at the feeling of a loss of feeling in her legs.

She barely got away from Sistina's beheading slash tumbling barely a couple of meters away, gasping for air and scrambling in desperation.

"N-No!" She barely got to her feet before stumbling off, leaping into the distance even as her lower limbs felt like they were on fire. 'I have to leave!' Hysteria thought urgently, high in the sky and already a good distance away-

A large shadow formed over her and she couldn't react in time before it slammed down with her beneath, an explosion of rock, trees, and sand erupting from beneath Luciela's claw.

"Got her," she said as she clenched her hand around the hasty Awakened Being, eyes narrowed as the others gathered around the trapped woman.

Teresa rolled her shoulders. "That's an Awakened Hunt?" She asked the others.

"This was likely a bit different," Cassandra said with a huff. "Our skills and levels complemented, though you're rather good at this despite your number," she smirked as the younger woman grinned.

"I guess, it all feels pretty natural to me," she explained as Elizabeth tilted her head. "The flow of yoki helps me learn a lot."

"... wait, can yoki teach you?" She asked, alarmed along with the others.

"Yeah? I mean, I thought everyone could do that."

"..."

"..."

"... um," Rafaela blinked in confusion. "N-No, at least, I've never heard of that. Sis and I mix sensory abilities often, I've never noticed."

Sistina cupped her chin in thought. "Curious," if that was true, that changed a lot of things, now that she thought about it. "... later, for now, Hysteria needs to be put down."

They made it to the struggling Awakened Being, looking at her with frowns all around.

And Teresa stepped forward, blade in hand. "I don't get it, why? You were apparently mad enough to Awaken," she asked her. "And yet I don't see what the point was."

"You're gifted mouth isn't what I'll hear, you upstart girl," Hysteria said with a huff and grimace.

"Upstart? Wait, did you honestly care that much!? That's so stupid!"

Hysteria looked ready to break her own body in half just to rip out her throat and Teresa sighed.

"Maybe… maybe you should have had friends," she said as Hysteria grew angrier. "I don't know, I think I felt a lot less lonely when I did," Teresa said as Rafaela pat her shoulder.

"Are you really trying to die like this, Hysteria?" She asked the woman who flinched. "Like a monster? That's not the title I remember you having," Rafaela said somberly as the younger woman flinched once more. "I… you wanted to kill us for your own ego, you didn't seem to think for a second about just dropping it and that's why I can't forgive you. Naruto would have, he's different, but we're not."

The Awakened Being's head fell.

Her form reverted, shrinking back to her normal size as Luciela did the same, hand still on her back.

She nodded to Teresa who came forward and raised her blade.

"Any last words?" The young woman asked her, eyes full of some form of pity that Hysteria chuckled tiredly at.

"No."

"..."

Teresa sighed before bringing her blade down and through the older woman's neck, Hysteria's head rolling to the side where it showed her neutral expression.

"... alright, come on," Rafaela said as she walked to the side and used her blade to dig a trough. "I think we can give her this much."

The others looked surprised save for Luciela who nodded, going over and helping her dig.

Teresa quickly followed suit and Sistina shrugged before the rest of them did so as well.

They put both body and head inside the grave before filling it up and stabbing her sword at the head.

"I'm sure it'll get taken back but, for now, this is her headstone," Sistina said as Luciela and Rafaela nodded.

~NRK~

Naruto nodded solemnly. "I wish I could have done some more, maybe stop this whole thing from happening in the first place," he sighed, tail falling limp.

"We know," Sistina said. "Still, she died a warrior, somewhat, at the very end."

"... I guess," he said while crossing his arms. "... though, I think you guys should know," Naruto frowned. "Isley and Riful… I'm sure they've been getting antsier since your fight ended," he added as they all frowned.

"... I get it," Luciela said. "Think about what we really just did."

They did and it hit moments later.

"We killed an Abyssal One?" Elizabeth's eyes widened. "I-I see, that would certainly send them into a fervor," she frowned deeply. "Oh no."

"Exactly, I'm worried," Naruto grimaced. "The more I think about it, I'm worried they'll try something real bold."

"If they were to attack the Organization," Rafaela grimaced as the group flinched. "No matter what, there'd be nothing we could do. We'd get destroyed."

"By the by? Isley has more than Rigaldo under him," Naruto said.

"That's not surprising, honestly, if he had someone as strong as Rigaldo under him and Riful has been seen with Dauf, it means they both might have armies," Cassandra hissed. "All things considered, I never really thought about it but they could come by and destroy the Organization on their own, right? Why not do it?"

"Did they even think we were a threat?" Teresa asked and Naruto shook his head.

"Not even once, when you think about it. They knew they had the upper hand and focused on each other… but now that's not the case," he said. "They know there's a chance you guys could beat them because Hysteria was on a similar level with the Vague Beast's help, anyway. For now, I think you guys really need to be on high alert, probably tell the old guys."

"We will," Uranus said as Otie hummed. "Still, what happens if they want to attack 'em early? I mean, you guys did just beat someone faster than any of you could normally fight."

"Because of Naruto," Teresa said. "Besides, despite knowing their powers, that doesn't mean we have an answer to beating them, right?"

"I mean, Isley's easier to try than Riful," Naruto said. "If she can turn her body into ribbons, how do you kill someone like that?"

"... I might have something," Rafaela explained as Sistina nodded.

"That odd yoki blocking technique," she said as Naruto perked up.

"Huh?"

Explaining her idea inspired by his, Naruto chuckled.

"I couldn't do it perfectly, I'd never done it before, but I think it worked somewhat," Rafaela said as she looked down at her hands. "Cutting off their flow, that was the first time I tried."

"Then you've got something to work towards. Honestly, though, you'd still need to find her core, right?"

"Most likely."

"Well, for now, just focusing on them is the best idea," Sistina said. "Honestly, the past ten years have been far more active for me than I've ever been since I was a trainee."

"Heh," Uranus chuckled.

~NRK~

Three years later, things had simmered down… well, save for one thing.

Teresa becoming Number 1 had made life very odd.

Of course, there was no bad blood between her and Cassandra, thankfully, and they'd even taken to sparring more often than not.

One year later, Naruto's progress had become more pronounced, too, in the real world.

~NRK~

Dae hummed as he checked the blonde man's vitals, took some blood samples from his body and left arm, and observed his changes.

The new black markings around his eyes had been curious, even the ones lining his fox ears, but his tail had been curious along with the new black coloration going up the entirety of his left side and arm.

"I have to assume this is because it's the odd arm," Dae said. "And you two said it's the one that's currently emanating yoki?"

The sisters nodded. "Yes, it's weird but it's like that arm Awakened," Rafaela said and Dae chuckled.

"Are we surprised? He did receive his transfusion from an Awakened Being. There's a high chance this is his Awakened arm in its true form," Dae explained even as he kept prodding it. "What surprises me is that it's not malformed, odd, or anything. Comparatively, that is, when you consider both his hands have claws now."

"It is weird but Naruto's influence helps contain energy," Luciela said as Dae nodded. "What if he's keeping it aligned to his general form?"

"True but then I have to question what the general state of his body will be?"

"... Huh?"

"I mean, is he already an Awakened Being? Or is it only his arm?" Dae clarified. "When you think about it, it makes sense for our warriors to ascend into Awakened Beings, it's the truth to their evolution, but Naruto is different. He's got Awakened Blood in him and nothing else so one would assume his blood flow is the changed parts but it's his entire body. So, is it his arm that's Awakened? Or his blood? And, if so, can Awakening only one's blood be possible? It's got so many facets that I can't very well guess at."

Especially because his body still allowed the creation of the Energy Control Pills. The fact that Uranus and Elizabeth kept going up to this point was rather absurd and yet mind-blowing.

What would happen if they never approached 100%? Would they be alive until their lifespans fizzled out? Did they even have lifespans anymore? Would they live as long as the Asarakam would? Would it be half? More?

There were too many unknowns but Dae wasn't idle, he'd done more and more experiments with the young man's blood. Most of those making use of bits and pieces of Luciela's arm they still had.

And the results had been curious. Luciela's blood mixed with Naruto's own Awakened yoma flesh and blood… oddly.

What bits of flesh the mix worked on had been transformed, amazingly, but they'd not disfigured, confusingly.

They'd changed in toughness, general vitality, and energy emanation but they hadn't changed in form too much.

'To this day, I'm not sure if this would work in the Abyss Eaters? Would they gain life? Sentience?' Honestly? Dae had been considering an idea.

What if one should mate with Naruto? He considered the experiment many times but each time, he turned away because, well, why ruin something that didn't need to change?

Of course, he also knew that the Abyss Eaters weren't alive, they were basically undead beings who could be controlled via brain simulation to do a task with the full range of their mish-mashed muscles.

'If one did, they have 'wombs' but they're as useful as a padded sock,' it'd not birth anything but they had working stomachs so he questioned if they wouldn't get something out of the man's seed. 'I'd need to get these two away somehow,' that previous event with Hysteria had been an opportunity but Dae hadn't been considering it at that time.

For now, all he could do was work on all the other projects he had.

~NRK~

Two years later, fifteen years after Naruto had fallen into this state… things had gone from 'peace' to horror of the worst magnitudes.

Because… they'd made their moves.

The Abyssal Ones had decided to ATTACK THE ORGANIZATION!

~NRK~

"What?!" Luciela's head snapped up as Rafaela and Teresa froze. "No… No! We need to tell everyone!" She shouted as she lifted Naruto up into her tails-

The surrounding area rumbled and they paled, rushing out of the area in horror, passing the guards outside.

"WHAT?!" One of them shouted.

"THE ABYSSAL ONES ARE ATTACKING!" Luciela shouted at him as his skin drained of color. "WE NEED TO GO!" She told him, ushering him forward and doing the same with his fellow guard. 'SHIT!'

Naruto had said to be on guard and they had been, sure, but this… this went beyond what they could have planned for.

Both Riful and Isley were attacking?! What had happened?!

~NRK~

Riful hummed atop a transformed Dauf's shoulders, the already monster-sized man's form being a large hulking mass that could very well have been made of metal and powerful muscles.

His mouth had filled with sharp teeth and his head had slightly elongated, many metal poles of sorts coming out from the back of it along with both his elbows.

"You know, Riful, we really should have destroyed them earlier in our 'careers'," she said as the man stood a bit away, his entire left side Awakened into a fleshy steely crossbow that allowed him to help the Awakened Roxanne launch projectiles from the very edge of the forest surrounding the Organization.

"There was no point, though, even then, we should have," Isley said as the large structures of the Organization were bombarded from above, the sides, and even where they were, Awakened Beings of all types attacking with a fervor. "It'd be better to not let another of our level be born, right?"

"Hmph, unlike someone, I didn't have an army, did I?"

"Yes, and that lack of an army spoke about your character and intelligence?"

The two smiled despite the air growing tense, Rigaldo keeping Dauf in his line of sight.

"..."

"... Hmph," Riful huffed. "You have to ensure that they're not getting away, there's a high chance that at least a third of the Organization will."

"As long as the ones who need to be dead are, I can care later," Isley said, notching another steel flesh bolt and releasing it, the power within his attacks easily showing more compared to the other Awakened Beings.

~NRK~

Rubel smirked as Sistina grimaced at him, her, and the rest of her inner circle down below in the hidden pathways of the Organization.

"Come along, now's not the time for infighting, we need to leave with the young man," he said as she hissed but grimaced.

Lmit frowned. "Haa, this is a horrid turn of events," he frowned as he faced Luciela. "Once we leave this cavern, you need to break everything, Luciela, they can't find these pathways," he hissed.

If the Awakened Beings did… it'd be over.

There'd be no place safe on the continent… and they might need to leave with who was here.

'That's a worst-case scenario,' but it was looking more and more likely that they might need to just leave. 'But the issue is calling the next shipment. We'd have to last for three more days and I fear that might not be possible,' of course, the Abyssal Ones weren't fools.

They'd likely turn the humans into livestock and continue battling for supremacy before finding out the truth about these lands.

Rafaela frowned as she looked up. "They're waiting on the boundary of the forest," she winced, arms covered by clawed metal gauntlets. "They're trying to box us in, that's for sure. Were there any holes in the forest?"

"Of course but we don't need to use it. For now, we'll be heading towards Pieta. The northern lab is a bit to the northeast so we'll be walking for a while," Dae said with a huff, a couple of guards carrying their most 'useful' objects on a pair of boats. 'I'd love to just let the Abyss Eaters go free but they're not good enough,' a damn shame.

They'd have to just keep them for now until he could set up his next lab.

As they went down a pair of tunnels, Dae's equipment going down another tunnel towards the North, Luciela turned back to the opening of the location.

Her tails lashed out after she handed Naruto to Elizabeth, the two appendages tearing through the area, reaching all over with their never-ending range before crushing the cavern hub.

When all was said and done, her tails slipped out easily and they continued on, leaving the location with frowns aplenty.

"Can we even send out our warriors anymore?" Teresa asked Sistina who blinked at her words.

"... no, chances are high, they'll just attack again, possibly," she said. "The fact remains, only the top ten and our personal group is here, right now. We just lost out on over 2/3s of our warrior base and we have to be careful of the more active Abyssal Ones. Currently? We're on the clock as it were."

"They'll keep looking," Cassandra said as Uranus nodded.

"It's true, it's obvious Luciela and Naruto aren't there, that's probably the biggest two they're looking for," she clarified. "But that also leaves 'em with each to contend with, yea? It's not like they liked each other, what if this whole truce falls through?"

"There's a high chance that's the case," Lmit said as Rubel nodded. "The Abyssal Ones' egos are too large, they dislike each other and might very well collapse into infighting," they could only hope.

"Right now, all that we can do is bide our time and hope they kill one another, or the army, off," Rubel said. "Being realistic? They likely can't stand each other for long but 'long' is relative to them and their tempers. It could be an hour to one year to ten. We don't know."

"For now, all we can hope for is either mutual destruction or for the two to wound one another's sides so much we could just send you all to finish the job," Dae said as the other Elders nodded. "Sadly, we'll never know at least until we can regain a power base and get more staff."

"... Wait, t-there's something I'm realizing," Luciela said as they all stopped, her face pale. "Can't Roxanne sense us?"

The area was silent.

"We can't use the Suppression Pills," Sistina grimaced. "We can't be helpless."

"It was never a case of hoping we could go that unnoticed," Rubel admitted. "Sadly, we have to hope that all the rampant yoki is enough to cover our backs."

"So, we're still screwed afterward?" Otie asked with a grimace. "She could just sense us, couldn't she?"

"Well, yes, but we left one last surprise for them," Dae said with a smirk. "Despite everything we just said, there is a little bit of hope ready to explode once the damage is too much-"

There was a heavy rumble in the tunnels mere moments before he could finish, the scientist grinning at the smell and taste of gunpowder.

"For you see, I've prepared for an occasion like this at least somewhat."

~NRK~

Isley stared at his rampaging army in disbelief as Riful snorted before laughing.

The bastards were all either tearing one another apart, trying to get 'something' out of Roxanne, or enraged beyond reason.

"... snff-cover your noses!" Rigaldo shouted as he hissed, body bulging as the others did the same, Isley jumping back with him held over his shoulder. "I-It's some kind of… chemical," the weakest of the five there hissed out, eyes dilating as he began to Awaken involuntarily.

Isley's eyes narrowed and Rigaldo froze before gritting his teeth, regaining his senses.

"Honestly, this is a good reason to not follow them, for now," Isley said as Riful grimaced. "It's moments like these that humans show their true cowardice and ingenuity."

"We can still chase them once Roxanne is finished with your men," she hissed.

"You're assuming Roxanne will survive."

"Heh," Isley frowned at Riful's grin. "Despite my own issues with my headstrong subordinate, she's stronger in ways those minions of yours wish they could be. She'll survive."

'Worrying,' both Rigaldo and Isley thought in unison. 'How fast could we behead her from here?'

Isley knew that Rigaldo was fast but could he behead Riful before she Awakened?

"Hmph, stand down," he whispered as Rigaldo's face became neutral. 'We'll have our day,' for now, they needed to regroup elsewhere.

As they ran, Isley did still frown.

'Where could they go? Maybe Mucha?' Or would they be bold and do it in Riful's territory? 'Would they even go into my own?' He winced at the thought. 'I really need someone with a sensory ability.'

~NRK~

It was an entire day later that Isley grimaced at Roxanne's return, Riful nodding at the result.

'My entire army?' Of course, the woman looked like she'd die with a single flick of his human form fingers but she beat all of them? 'What is it? How did she do it?'

"Welcome back, finally get those chemicals out of your system?" Riful asked the other woman who hissed.

"Real… helpful," she groaned, limping to a corner and flopping down with a flinch. "Your men were some of the most pathetic sons of bitches I've ever met," Roxanne spat at Isley who sighed while Rigaldo shrugged. "What… Do we do now?"

"Nothing," Isley said as she snarled. "Unless you'd like another dosage of those chemicals?" Roxanne's flinch got a grim grin out of him. "We don't know what else they set up and what if they attack during the frenzy? We'll be sitting ducks, no, we need to find them again and attack once more. If we destroy more facilities, they're bound to attack us and not wait."

"But how long will that take? I don't know where the other areas are," Riful said and Isley nodded.

"I'm of the same situation."

Roxanne's eyes narrowed at the male Number 1, her own answer right on her lips before she grinned wickedly.

"I'm the same," she lied. "I know I've heard of other locations but I don't remember."

"Annoying but they're that way for a reason," Riful said as Dauf scratched his metallic head.

"So, we're waitin'?" He asked and Rigaldo hummed.

"We can't attack them and let them know without having destroyed another one of their locations and getting the next one from there," he said.

"So, we're waitin'."

"... yes, you big idio…" Rigaldo grumbled.

"Oh, wait! There's else!" Roxanne said as the group blinked. "Well… some of those gals who got away openly? Yeah, they Awakened with a little nudging," she grinned slyly as Riful perked up.

"Did you acquiesce any of them?" She asked.

"Only one, a gal by the name of Octavia, she's a similar model of Awakening to Isley," she answered as Isley's neutral expression grew a bit taut. 'Oh? A little pride? Why, for a tactician, you're quite emotional,' that could be used.

~NRK~

Three days of walking, scavenging, and resting found the group at the northern lab of the Organization.

The news of the main location's destruction had easily spread and Naruto's unconscious form was very noticeable, especially with the Elders at that location.

Lmit and Dae frowned at their confusion and displeasure.

"I understand your hesitance but Naruto Uzumaki is useful," he said as Sistina stood in the room, frowning. "His body is worth more than five generations' worth of warriors and you wish to banish him?"

"We don't know anything about him and you've kept this from all the branches?" The main Elder, Dogin, grimaced as Lmit kissed his teeth. "Do remember your power is just as in contempt if the other location agrees with us. The man's a danger. They want him do they not? Trade him for our safety for a time."

Sistina grit her teeth. 'Stop, stop, think logically,' she understood, she did.

Had she not known him, she likely would have thought the same if not with a bit of curiosity. But she wasn't that hypothetical version of herself, she was who she was now because she knew Naruto and the others.

"Naruto Uzumaki is the only reason we were capable of defeating an Awakened Being on the level of the Abyssal Ones," she spoke out of turn, her gaze steely. 'I won't have them belittling him, all of our efforts for their fear.'

"What?" One of the North Elders gaped. "Impossible!"

"No, it's very true," Dae chuckled. "Why, he's quite the marvel in that regard. He gave them the power to fend off the Awakened Hysteria, we sent this missive, where is it?"

"If it's the one I believe it is, that one was killed."

"Ah, of course," the scientist couldn't deny how possible that could be. "Still, the point stands, Naruto, even not awake, is more useful to the idea of beating the Abyssal Ones than almost every other warrior in our ranks."

The North Elders grimaced, debating between themselves as Sistina sighed.

"We'll need to test this if you're being truthful," Dogin said as she frowned seconds later. "If that's the truth?"

"Very well, for what occasion?" Lmit asked. "We also have another way to prove his worth," he smirked as they all frowned.

Explaining the concept of the Energy Control Pill, the three from the Main Organization location were relieved to have them considering their newest creation instead.

"Stop them from Awakening?!"

"If that's true, what situation are we trying to have, Lmit?" Another asked, confused. "I'm sure you understand but this would leave us with a surplus of warriors who might not even be capable of contending against an Abyssal One."

"It's a new technology with interesting effects, we need time," Dae explained. "We're not without individuals who'll eventually Awaken, besides, we're not exactly hurting for more warriors either."

They all winced at that, the sheer amount of lost numbers not small in the slightest.

"... Fine, until he awakes," Dogin said with an annoyed expression. "Are there any clues as to when he'll awaken?"

"Honestly? I'm sure it will be within the next six years," Dae said with a smirk. "His mental signs are growing, his power has increased and that is due to him taming his yoki more and more as the years passed," the Elders nodded.

"I'd assume that has a part to play in the pills?"

"Oh, most definitely, him fighting off energy and taming it, with the ability to interact with the outside world through energy says it all. He'll likely have some form of energy-controlling ability that could change the nature of combat as we know it."

"... when he Awakens, Dae."

"Of course," Dae smirked. 'I do wonder what his first action will be,' if he knew anything about him, Naruto would likely 'enjoy' time with his lovers before training to conquer any new abilities he'd gain after awakening, in both senses of the word. 'Oh, I can't wait.'

And if he could have one of the Abyss Eaters perform the act of copulation with him, seeing the effects would be magnificent as well!

~NRK~

Settling Naruto into a room instead of a cell, Luciela and Rafaela looked behind them to the door where a woman looked in curiously.

She was short and young looking, almost looking like Teresa had around three years ago before the now twenty-one-year-old woman had hit her final growth spurt. With short unruly bangs and long hair set in two long pigtails, she smiled for them, her lithe body coming into view.

"Hmm?" Luciela raised a brow at her. "Who are you?"

"Hmm, Europa, at your service," she bowed with one eye open. "The Number 5 of our Organization."

Rafaela looked surprised. "Oh, pleased to meet you," she said as she shifted one of Naruto's bangs to the side. "I didn't think we'd meet a single digit of the North labs so fast."

"It is surprising," Luciela said as Europa grinned.

"I's nothin'," she said, her accent surprising them a little. "I was from the countryside for a bit."

"Oh, man… the countryside," Luciela sat down on the bed of their new quarters. "Being honest, we always wanted to go there."

"Really?"

"Yep," Rafaela chuckled. "It sounds peaceful and we're strong enough to fend off random yoma. We just wanted something… peaceful and not work-oriented."

'Work-oriented?' That was some kind of positivity from these Main sector warriors. 'Then again, I already heard rumors about this one,' Europa's eyes went to the sleeping man by the sisters. "I'm curious, I know that there was the Soul Link Project but I heard its circumstances were odd."

"Well… it's thanks to him," the younger sister admitted, combing her fingers through Naruto's shorter-than-ever hair, Europa staring at the fox ears and, now that she was looking, that black thing was a tail!

"H-Huh?!" She jumped as she saw the blonde man's odd appendages. H-He's got tails and ears?!"

"Hm?" Luciela blinked, looking at Naruto. "... oh, right, that is weird," she said with a shaky grin as the single-digit looked at her with a dropped jaw. "W-We've lived with him like this for four years, okay? You just get used to it."

Europa raised a brow at it all. "Crazy. Well, welcome to our side of the world for however long you're here. I have to go and tell the girls! I'm sure Rosemary and Sophia will be fans!" She left after that, leaving the sisters with nervous grins.

"I don't think that's going to end well."

"Same."

~NRK~

After ensuring that Naruto was alright, the two left to find something to eat, Luciela's growling stomach more than enough of a nudge to explore the North labs.

"It's certainly colder up here," Rafaela said to her sister who nodded, the older woman wrapping one of her tails around her younger sister's waist. "Thanks, I can never tell if your tails have fur on them or not," she noted jokingly as Luciela smirked. "Good to know they do."

"Luciela, Rafaela!" They heard a familiar call and smiled as Teresa caught up to them, walking in time with the sisters. "Already fending off the cold?" Teresa grinned as Luciela offered a tail.

As they walked, they noted, rather curiously, how some of the Northern warriors looked at them oddly.

Some with confusion & curiosity, others with some awesome, and others with… well, they didn't look happy to see them.

"I guess they're not fans," Rafaela said softly as Luciela nodded. "Don't let them get to you."

"I won't," Luciela said, her two pendants bouncing gently off her rather generous chest. "... do you think Naruto likes big chests?" She asked out of nowhere, getting a blush out of Rafaela while Teresa tilted her head.

"Do boys like them?" She asked, patting her own. "I'm pretty good," the youngest of them said cheekily as Rafaela snorted.

"H-Hmph, well… actually, did yours get bigger now that we're talking about it?" Rafaela asked with a twitching brow as Luciela rubbed the back of her head, kimono shifting with her chuckles.

"I thought the same thing, maybe Awakening increases bust size? I mean, I am taller, too," she said as Rafaela actually noticed that, yes, she did look up more than she used to.

"What the heck? How didn't I notice? And now that I'm saying it, Teresa's taller than me," she whined as the younger woman chuckled.

"Sorry," she said.

Reaching an odd area, they blinked at the sound of clashing metal, grunts, and yelps, the sight of a large bit of land covered in training women greeting them.

"Oh, this is the training area," Teresa noted with a finger tapping her lip. "... will we have to get used to the cold quickly?" She asked the sisters who crossed their arms with hums.

"I think so," Luciela said. "Though, it honestly doesn't bother me as much. I remember Dae said that I have a higher body temperature so I guess that makes sense."

"Circulating yoki also warms you up," Rafaela explained, the two looking at her in surprise. "Yeah, I used to do it a lot when we were in that waterfall pool. Didn't want to swim w-with everything showing," she whispered with red cheeks as Luciela blushed.

"O-Oh," she wheezed. "I-I didn't even notice."

"Thankfully, we were doing it regardless."

Teresa hummed as they walked off, the three ignoring the pair of eyes that landed on them.

Traveling more around the area, they finally found the cafeteria, also finding a table full of their inner circle of comrades there.

Uranus waved them down, nodding to the line of stew and hot meals.

Hurrying over, they got their food before hurrying to the table, taking their seats with nods to everyone.

"You guys dealing with everything so far?" Uranus asked them, confusing the three. "I guess you haven't dealt with any weird looks yet?"

"No, we did," Teresa said with a shrug. "I mean, no offense to Luciela, she is an Awakened Woman, it's kinda weird to look at, at first," she smirked as the older woman rolled her eyes.

"Ignoring this youngster's gumption right here, she's got a point, I'm not normal by even Claymore standards. It was bound to happen," Luciela said.

"True," Sistina said. "Though, you'd be surprised to know that it's not just you three," the three blinked. "All of us are getting weird amounts of attention, I'm pretty sure some of those women called us 'traitors' under their breath at some point."

"They did," Cassandra and Elizabeth said, their elf-like ears their claims. "They're really not nice about it."

"Geez," Otie winced. "I mean, yeah, I also got weird looks and I think some of them moved away from me sometimes."

"Same," Uranus nodded. "Mmm," she shrugged as she ate some more. "It's only the first day, might as well see how this works out for the week first."

They all nodded at that.

~NRK~

Okay, as it turned out, a week later nothing had changed.

Even now as she trained in her recently more-controlled art, Rafaela could feel the intent of the yoki of those around her, her gauntlet-covered fingers digging into a tree's bark at high speeds, maybe ten jabs a second with sharp yoki at the end.

Dressed in a new insulated set of garments that simulated her usual warrior outfit, with no armor, Rafaela looked down at her hands and the yellow glow on them.

'Focus on each blow,' she told herself. 'This feels like something I can do,' Rafaela felt useful.

Of course, she hadn't used these techniques on a yoma yet but she was honing 'her craft', a phrase that got a small excited giggle out of her enough times for her to know she liked it.

"Again, increase it to 15 hits per second-"

"..."

Rafaela perked up, eyes going behind her to find a young woman there, someone who had to be around Teresa's age, who shot her gauntlets odd looks of confusion.

Having similar elf ears to Cassandra and platinum hair that seemed almost a slight shade paler than the kind most of them all shared. Her hip-length hair parted around her forehead, allowing her hair to trail down her back and down her front in two long bangs.

"Hmm? Can I help you?" She asked the young woman who looked down at her a bit. "... you know, I have a feeling you're younger than me and in a similar generation to a young woman I know," Rafaela said with a smile as the taller warrior blinked, looking down in thought.

"... you don't use a sword?" She asked, seeming a bit awkward as Rafaela hummed.

"No, well, I used to, four years ago. I was given an idea by my fiance years before that and I brought it to fruition against an Awakened Being," she grinned, shocking the younger woman who blushed a bit, looking away while scratching her cheek a bit.

"F-Fiance?"

"Yeah, I… oh, right, I guess for most of us that's not really a thing. Well… how can I say this? I and my sister were probably some of the luckiest warriors in our Organization when our fiance, yes the both of us," the young woman burned as the shorter-haired one chuckled. "It's worked out so far, continuing. When our fiance, when we were kids, followed us all the way from our old village to the Main Sector Organization. He was pretty strong even as a human kid and got into a lot of trouble," Rafaela grinned. "But things worked out."

She explained the story of her, Naruto, and Luciela, at least up to when they turned fifteen.

The younger female looked enraptured by the tale as Rafaela rubbed the back of her head.

"We kinda popped the question on him around that time, to be girlfriends and stuff… man, time sure flew by," Rafaela chuckled. "It's hard to believe I'm almost forty," she realized nervously.

The one good thing about yoma genes, outside of the superpowers, was that she didn't age much. The last thing she wanted was for Naruto to come back to an old prune of a woman.

"Y-You are? I didn't know there were warriors who got that old," the young woman explained as Rafaela chuckled nervously. "... ah, apologies."

"It's fine, it's not like I didn't just call myself out a second ago. Name's Rafaela, nice to meet you, youngster," she grinned cheekily as the younger warrior blinked before smiling a bit.

"Irene, the Eighth."

"That's an important number," Rafaela said as Irene tilted her head. "It might seem a bit weird but one of our most treasured mentors had that number," she smiled softly as Irene's eyes looked down. "Hey, look, I know, it's rough but we'll always remember her and it's one of the big reasons we did our best, mostly Naruto, in figuring out a way to deal with that problem."

"Huh?" Irene looked alarmed. "Deal with that problem? W-What do you mean? Do you mean the Soul Link Project?"

"Well," Rafaela considered her next words. "Okay, I'm sure that you'll event be 'in the know' about this but Naru's blood, hell, his existence is special. It's always been and Dae, the guy with half a face, made special pills out of it. We're experimenting with them right now but two more of our mentors who were close to using their Black Cards took them and haven't even been bothered in the past… I think it's ten years now."

Irene was floored by that information. "Is that… good?"

"Well, I'd hope so. Sadly, we don't know but we hope that when Naruto wakes up, he'll be able to tell us or even finalize it. We don't want to lose our mentors again, they should get to live until they've died a warrior's death or lived to the end of their lives."

Irene was in a slight bit of emotional turmoil, looking down in thought before noticing Rafaela's gauntlets again.

They were what she knew of knights from the Holy City of Rabona she'd seen in books but sleeker, obviously, to fit her more slender frame and digits. There seemed to be some form of black covering beneath it, likely for the sake of lessening the friction between metal and skin, and they had bits between the knuckles and digits.

"So, you don't use a sword anymore?" Irene asked and Rafaela looked at her weapon currently placed on the ground a bit away.

"It's not that I don't but I want to refine this new technique of mine to the utmost and then mix the two together. The thing is, I'm still trying to make it work in my head," Rafaela explained and Irene nodded, humming.

"... thank you."

"No problem."

Well, maybe not all was bad here, huh?

~NRK~

Eating in the dining hall once more, the group noticed their new addition.

"Everyone, meet Irene, she's the Eighth," Rafaela introduced the younger woman who looked down in some embarrassment. "This is Teresa, she's the, well, she's The Number 1."

Irene choked as her head snapped up to the waving young woman whose hair fell down her back and past her shoulders. "W-What?!" She wheezed in disbelief.

"Yep! Nice to meet ya, Irene!" Teresa greeted her similar-height individual. "I guess you're not like everyone else."

"?"

"She means how everyone else treats us," Cassandra explained as Irene cupped her chin. "We haven't exactly been welcomed with open arms."

"Well… that's because everyone thinks the main branch is partnering with an Awakened Being," she explained as the entire table gaped at her. "I heard more of that as the week went by, nobody understand how Mrs. Uzumaki is an Awakened Being."

"...?!"

"...?!"

Watching the sisters blush like candles had Sistina rolling her eyes while the others snickered.

Well, that was the first time they'd ever heard that title yet.

~NRK~

After the last five years, five slightly rough years that went by with them trying to find their own little places in the lands of Alphonse, he awoke.

Naruto Uzumaki had finally returned to the world of consciousness.

~NRK~

It'd be an odd day, Teresa had been going out for the past two years into the middle sector towards Teo Village, apparently her former home.

Cassandra, Otie, and Uranus had taken to performing patrols with their yoki nearly becoming nonexistent over the years, something that Sistina had told the group not to tell anyone for now. This same state was something Teresa had decidedly achieved in the past three years compared to them.

Honestly, Luciela knew the woman was a prodigy, really she did, but surely it stopped somewhere!

Speaking Sistina, The Eye of the Organization had ended up needing to take the Energy Control Pills this very year, the recent two decades' abrupt spikes in activity for even her making her Awakening arrive earlier than ever even though the woman was 65 so she kinda still made it out with the least problems.

Especially because Naruto's pills worked damn near instantly with those with powerful sensory skills, it seemed. The 'elderly' woman had honestly been put on the 'backburner' as a teacher by Dae's own support.

Next, Elizabeth and Rafaela had taken on pupils. Rafaela's being Irene and Elizabeth's being a younger trainee by the name of 'Noel', a girl who had seemingly an affinity for the older warrior's 'beautiful swordsmanship'.

Lastly, Luciela was here, looking after her fiance, messing with his fox ears as she brushed her fingers over his forehead.

'... I think we'll have to give him a bath again,' her reddened something fierce.

In an odd turn of events, Naruto, thankfully and 'efficiently', didn't make waste. Dae had been the one who'd decided to help on that front but he still needed to be cleaned and… w-well, Luciela and Rafaela had taken turns doing so.

And learned that maybe being warriors prepared them for a bit of 'below the waist trauma'.

She held her face. "I'm such a perv," was she if it was her beloved? Or was it still perverted? "I have no idea," Luciela said as she got up before laying down next to the man, head on his chest, and feline 'horn-ears' Awakened to allow her to hear any change in his situation. "Dae said you'd wake up any day now… I hope it's soon," she whispered, eyes closing slowly.

Their tails intertwined, her two actually holding his one down, her arms folded under her chin as his settled around her waist.

And she giggled a bit as he chuckled…?!

Silver eyes snapped open with the force of a thousand hammers, locking onto a big grin with bright silver and blue eyes.

"Sup-?" Naruto greeted his older fiance, trying to sit up with her in his arms.

Luciela was lucky she'd locked the door, the way she'd attacked Naruto couldn't have been misconstrued in any other way than a 'lonely' woman ensuring her beloved knew just how lonely she was.

She ground their hips together as her lips fought against his, their mouths clean and ready for 'all the action' she was prepared to lay onto his.

Their cheeks reddened as his hands settled around her waist, hers traveling through his hair as she pressed deeper, tongue fending off his own with all the pent-up 'frustration' built over the years.

Five minutes later, they separated with quivering breaths, gasping for air.

Luciela was very close to deciding clothes were an afterthought before she was embraced, deeply, body humming in response as she tucked her head into his chest.

"T-That was quite the 'welcome home'," Naruto said with a bright red face and thunderous heartbeat. 'Oh no, what's going to happen when Rafaela finds me?' What'd happen to him in a few minutes if Luciela was as pent up as he thought? "I'm back."

"We love you."

Well, anything that happened after this was likely all his fault.

~NRK~

And that's the 20-year timeskip and I really wanted to show that things happen even if Naruto's not around. The world's still going on while he's asleep, it's not revolving around him but his effects on it certainly alter history.

Yes, the Abyssal Ones not only destroyed the main Organization location but now they're on the lookout for them. They won't stop until they're sure that all threats to them are allowed but that's failed as not only has Rafaela been developing her new art but Naruto is awake and that's gonna change a lot.

Speaking on a lot of things, things took a serious turn. This is the biggest alteration to the canon of a series I've honestly ever done, at least, I feel that way.

Of course, Clare and Priscilla will come into the mix and you have to really think about it.

What will Priscilla's reaction be when she meets Naruto and Luciela? Because I can tell you it won't be pretty. Very much won't.

More footnotes:

-Rafaela took Irene as a pupil

-Elizabeth is doing the same for Noel

-Teresa is essentially Luciela and Rafaela's shared pupil even if she prefers Luciela more. The older woman has more time to give her attention and affection so you can look at it like she imprinted on her.

-Next, Naruto's body helps make pills that 'prevent' Awakening, the true depths of them haven't been revealed yet but they will, in the next chapter.

-Finally, Europa the Lazy is around so that'll be a good showing of what he can do.

Alright, ciao, this monster of a chapter took a while to get out.

~NRK Out~