Huntsman's Mimicry

"Oi! Pay attention Naruto, this is business" a black gloved hand slammed on the table. The teenager glanced to the orange haired man to his right before dropping his gaze to the glass he was loosely touching. "You know it's about time you came into the family business, you're old enough".

"Yeah, yeah Roman" Naruto quickly downed the liquid in the glass. "Hey Junior… need another one over here" he slammed the glass down, turning his body to face Roman. "So… you want me to become a world renown thief like you? Sounds boring… a fighter for hire gives a better rush, believe it".

"Hey it pays well" Roman chugged his own drink. "And all you got to do is steal a little dust".

"I'll think about it" Naruto looked down as Junior slid another drink into his arms. "Tell me how much you make on this job and I'll decide" he picked up the glass, spinning its contents. "Us working together… reminds me when we met for the first time, you a petty thief about to be caught by police gave me, a beggar some cash to show you my hiding spot".

"Then Neo, the daughter of the people I robbed just followed us… not saying a single word, she just smiled" Roman chuckled. "It's just been our group of criminals since that day, our little family".

Naruto snickered "I forgot how old you are, Dad"

"I'm only 27" Roman smacked the blonde's arm. "No way in hell am I old enough to be your dad, Blondie".

"Hey Naruto" the two men paused their conversation. Junior leaned over the bar with a slip of paper and a stack of cash. "I got another problem… backstabbing pigs that need to be dealt with, you want to pay them a visit".

Plucking the slip of paper with two fingers, Naruto skimmed over the contents with a dull look. "Too much for your boys then". He glanced at the almost symmetrical looking thugs guarding the place. Silently Naruto picked up the stack of money, weighing it. "Alright Junior, I'll go and say hi" the blond stood up finishing his drink and pocketed the cash. "Catch you later Roman, bring Neo next time… and pay the bill" Naruto winked as the orange haired man groaned. Waddling up the stairs to the exit, a blonde stood at the top overseeing the club. Both gazed at each other as Naruto walked past her, blowing a kiss but quickly left before she could retort.

…

"Work time" Naruto stretched. Like his adoptive brother, Naruto wore the red collared suit, gloves, scarf, and pants, all except the bowler hat. Unlike Roman, he had swapped the colour scheme of white to black and black to dark grey. "Here we go" he strolled into an inn on the outskirts of town. 'Not many people here, perfect' Naruto sighed walking up to the front desk.

"Hey kid, aren't you a bit young to be here yourself?" a man in his forties wearing a plain dress shirt, stood at the other side of the desk. Seeing no reaction from Naruto the man grunted. "So you want a room or a meal?"

"Nah you're alright…" Naruto reached behind him. "I'm just here to pick up a debt, Charles" with a click, Naruto spun himself to the side as a two sided spear expanded in his hand. "You really should respect your clients, it pays well".

"Hey, easy now" Charles held up his hands. "This is about Junior, right? You know his guys suck and uh… how about I pay you a little something and we can be on our separate ways?" Naruto glanced around as the patrons of the inn looked to be getting ready to fight.

"…You'll pay me?" Naruto smirked while the thugs seemed to calm down as Charles smiled in relief.

"Of course, here" Charles hurled some lien on the desk. "That's all the money I have on me, you'll let me go right?"

Grabbing the money, Naruto nodded to himself. "Very nice… but I like Junior better" pocketing the money, Naruto pointed the spear at Charles. "Business is business" the blade of the spear split slightly. "Goodbye" with a click, a grenade of dust shot from the spear exploding Charles on impact as well as a large chunk of the desk. Spinning on his heels, Naruto twisted the spear smacking an incoming thug across the room. "Do you all wish to dance with me?" grinning, he twisted his spear and the blade on the bottom split as well. "Come" clicking two triggers, Naruto fired the grenade to the right while a rifle shot to the left.

Spinning the spear rapidly, he faced the left and leaped forward. Throwing the spear at one thug, the weapon bounced back to his hand as it made contact. Landing in the middle of the thugs, Naruto spun his body along with the spear and clicked the triggers sending a full circle of dust energy around him. "Are you done already?" Naruto looked around to see all the normal thugs knocked down.

"You should've took the money and left" Charles glared holding a tommy gun. Wasting no time Charles auto fired. Naruto bored at the attempt, twisted the spear to block all the bullets. Shifting slightly Naruto fired the rifle blade, knocking the Charles aim off the blond. Using the time, Naruto jumped forward and shot backwards to propel himself faster. Kicking forward, Naruto knocked the gun from Charles hands while the man stumbled back, falling down.

"And you should've just paid your debt" Naruto stepped on the man's chest, pinning him down. "Less hassle that way" aiming the spear at the man's head, Naruto smirked. "Business is business" the rifle shot echoed for a moment before silence entered the inn. Transforming the spear back to a small knife looking weapon, Naruto hid it under the flap of his coat and left the inn. "Now that's a good amount of cash for one night" stepping out of the inn, he looked up to the broken moon. "As crap as I remember" Naruto sighed as a small object hit him.

"Ah sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you, I was just reading and didn't look and I hit you and… um I'm Ruby" Naruto blinked at the small girl as she waved flustered.

"Right… it's fine, I'm… Naruto" he waved back.

"Huh?" Ruby tilted her head in confusion. Sweat dropping, Naruto pointed to his ears. Realising she was wearing blaring headphones, Ruby shook them off with an awkward giggle.

"I'm Naruto" he groaned for the second time. "So why is a little girl like you doing in this part of town at this hour?" Naruto stepped to the side.

"Um…" Ruby blushed and turned away. "Girl stuff…"

"Gross… well have fun with that" Naruto walked to pass her but noticed the stars in her eyes. "Is something wrong with you?"

"Cool you have a weapon too, what is it? What? What? Come on, tell me" Ruby was almost jumping as she tried to get glances at his weapon. She lifted her cloak showing off a box. "See here's mine… it turns into a badass scythe and I can swing it like, whoosh, wham, bam… hooah" Ruby continued her sounds as she made terrible hand movements of her fighting.

Naruto subtly rolled his eyes as the girl stopped her movements. "It's a spear…" putting his hands in his pockets, Naruto strolled past the girl.

"Hey wait up" Ruby skipped to catch up with the blond. "So are you going to Beacon then?" remaining silent, Ruby's eyes sparkled. "No way are you a huntsman? It's my dream to become a huntress so meeting someone like you would be amazing".

"I'm not a huntsman… nor have I applied to go to Beacon" Naruto sighed.

"Why not? It's like SO awesome" Ruby moved in front and stopped, making Naruto stop. "Are you going to a different school? But why would you be here? Are you too young to apply?"

"You love to talk don't you?" Naruto tilted his head. "Boring, no, doesn't matter, no" he answered her questions and continued walking. "Let me ask you a question, why are you still following me? Afterall we just met".

"Because I just got here and you can be my first friend" Ruby gave a thumbs up with a small laugh.

"Friends with a… 13 year old, that's just perfect" Naruto chuckled as Ruby face vaulted.

"15… I'm 15 years old" Ruby did a mixture of stomping and jumping while Naruto passed her.

Groaning, Naruto put a hand to his face. "I need some ramen… if you still want to follow me, I'll buy you some milk shorty".

"I am average height! I am just little boned" she pouted. "But… can I still have some milk?" Ruby made a peace sign, earning another but not the last sigh of the night.

Chapter end