Chapter 2: Capacity
A/N: This story will somewhat follow canon, but not completely. Naruto will make an impact. After a certain point in the story, we will most likely start to fall out from canon.
Information on the Story: Naruto does have a Teigu, but no one knows what it is. More properly stated, no one even knows that he has a Teigu. His skills are actually unknown, since he has never been seen before by anyone in the capital, and neither has anyone actually seen him fight.
Information on the Story: By the way, for any of you say that Naruto is OC in this story...well, do yourself a favor and read the summary. Does a LAZY Naruto sound very in-character to you? Some things about him will be the same, but he will also be different. But the important things that make him Naruto, such as the belief that having something to protect will make him powerful beyond his limits.
By the way...those of you that want to not read, don't read. Haters, you don't need to waste your time, it's all good. If you're going to leave something, leave the story and a criticism, not a flame.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2 START
"This is your hideout?" Naruto asked, taking a good look at the seemingly run down cottage as his eyes swept through the unassuming building. Taking in all of the furniture, his surroundings, and the wooden floor beneath him, Naruto suddenly gave a warm smile. "I like it. Feels like a warm place for some reason." Something about the place just gave the young blond a feeling that could be placed as 'coming home', although he was unsure what that really meant himself. All he knew was that he liked the place.
Leone just smiled at the fellow blond's opinion.
"Are you stupid? Of course this isn't the base." And there goes Mine, already berating and chastising the new recruits. Leone just continued to smile, having gotten used to her attitude. She watched the two boys for any sign of anger, but Tatsumi didn't show any emotion, as the insult was not directed towards him, and Naruto just ignored her.
"Hey, are you even listening to me?" The pink-haired girl scowled again. The blond just continued to look around before yawning and making a bee line to the bed he had spotted during his perusal of the somewhat large cottage. Leone's smile widened, finding her interest rising in this situation. The pink-haired girl was not normally ignored so blatantly, if not never.
Mine quickly stomped after him in her irritation. Right before Naruto reached the bed and reached for the blankets, he was forcefully pulled backward and turned around by the shoulder. However, instead of stopping the spin and fall, the blond continued to agree to gravity's laws, his body falling head dropping on her shoulder.
"Hey, what are you doing, baka?!" a flustered Mine shouted.
Naruto began to sag, his body weight leaning on the smaller girl. Mine struggled to stay standing, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth from exertion. For some reason, this guy was hard to carry!
"Can…one of you help me? Why is this idiot leaning on me in the first place?" However, she received no help or respite, since all of the members behind her were laughing, other than Akame and Tatsumi.
"….Ramen…" the blond mumbled into Mine's ear in a wistful tune. Then, she felt some kind of liquid drip onto her shoulder near the base of her neck. Was this guy…drooling? Finding the physical strength, she pushed the blond away from her with a burst of power. Naruto unceremoniously dropped to the ground with a thud.
"…Is he really sleeping?" she asked, staring at the face-down figure of the blond. Her eyebrows began to twitch in annoyance when there was no response. The rest of the group just started full-out laughing, again other than Tatsumi and Akame. The boy was just deadpanning, while the girl was giving off a uninterested vibe.
"Well, it has been a long day," Leone said with a wide grin as she moved further inside the cottage to pick up the blond and place him on the bed carefully. When he was placed on the bed, Naruto suddenly yawned and then smacked his lips, which made the busty girl almost glomp the blond. Almost.
When she was done with taking care of the teenage blond, she turned around and faced Tatsumi; all of the other members weren't really talking to him, so Leone took charge. Well, she was the most outgoing of the group, so her position in these kinds of situations did make sense.
"Take a bed inside one of the other rooms, sleep on the couch if you want, or on the floor if you prefer neither. It's all up to you," she finished with a few pats to his shoulder as she walked passed the boy and through the open door into the darkness. "See you tomorrow," she said with a wave over her shoulder right before she was out of his line of sight.
After that, the rest of the members quickly shuffled out of the room, each member of Night Raid either giving him a look or completely, flat- out ignoring him. When the last member walked out, the door was shut…and locked.
Tatsumi stared at the door, which was their only possible escape out if he wanted to leave; there were no windows in the cottage, from what he could tell so far. All of a sudden, his mind seemed to stop functioning, and his body felt too heavy. So, he decided that he wouldn't think any further on the matter and just go to sleep. Walking into a room by random, he flopped onto the bed and fell asleep without another thought.
Outside, the Night Raid members, who were much more used to staying up at night, were walked along the forest quietly, their feet crunching silently on the leaves on the ground.
"Was that a good idea, Leone?" Bullock asked, breaking the silence of the forest and mountain. Mine decided this was her moment to put in her two cents on her opinion.
"I agree with Lubbock. I think those two are complete useless in our profession!" Mine said haughtily. The girl crossed her arms to get the point across, finishing off her image with a quick look to the side, her chin tilted up. The rest of the members stayed silent as Leone put her hands behind her head and looked up to the night sky above, giving off a relaxed vibe.
"You guys didn't see it, right? That boy with the sword fought Akame and survived; that's enough of a reason to keep him. He has talent, and you can't deny that," she said, cutting off Mine's comment on how there was no way Tatsumi could've fought Akame and lived. Her reason for disbelief is acceptable; how many people the same age as Akame could engage in a sword fight and still live?
"Fine, let's say that kid with the sword is not as bad as we think. Then what about the one? The guy seems like a completely lazy, useless person! He even fell asleep before hitting the bed and didn't wake up when he hit the ground! We definitely don't have any use for him," Mine said, puffing her cheeks out at the end. She decided that she wouldn't get anything for Tatsumi, so she redirected her efforts to Naruto. That Naruto kid didn't even give off any kind of vibe. The Tatsumi kid, at least he was giving off feelings of remorse, sadness, and also anger. The blond had nothing. There was absolutely nothing interesting about him.
"I disagree," Akame said from the back of the group. The rest of the members were surprised; the red-eyed girl generally didn't give her opinion on members that she didn't really know that well. Not that this situation had never happened before, but it was just rare.
"See, even Akame thinks Naruto is pretty good, right?" Leone said from the front of the pack, still looking up to the large moon above. Akame made no change in facial expression to indicate her acceptance or denial.
"He's…dangerous. I don't know if he's good or not, but he has no presence. When I was about to kill our target, he suddenly kicked me out of the way, making me miss by a centimeter." The rest of the members raised their eyebrows; there was nothing impressive about this situation so far. So, they all remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Everyone except for Mine, that is.
"And? That doesn't mean anything!" Mine exclaimed, clearly confused.
"He was standing a few feet from Aria the whole time; I never noticed him there," she replied calmly, spelling it out for the rest of the group.
Now that was something different. To be able to not be noticed by Akame required some serious lack of presence. However, the thing was that he was noticed; his lack of presence made her put the blond into the deep recesses of her mind, assuming that he was nothing. That required either serious skill or…something else that was . Well, the blond did seem exceptionally lazy, so that may have had some part to with his presence. In either case, that lack of presence was something that could be exploited.
"I thought I felt nothing," Mine said, agreeing with Akame, understanding the implications; however, she didn't want to give up on her argument. "But so what if he has no presence; he has no combat ability! No Teigu to make him desirable to us, either."
"If that's the case, why did you pick him up?" the armored-man asked Leone. The said girl didn't stop, but she dropped her arms to her side and her eyes from the sky. Then, she turned her head around so that one mirthful eyes was visible and her smirk easily seen.
"Let's call it a woman's intuition. I felt something special." Then, she faced forwards and hummed to herself as her smirked increased. It should be coming anytime now.
"Hey! Are you saying I'm not a woman?!" Mine screamed, completely ignoring the fact that they were supposed to be silent in the forest. However, no one knew there was no one nearby; Lubbock's traps ensured that. The blonde girl's smile widened. That's what she was waiting for.
"Yup! Akame felt it, Sheele said nothing; you were the only one to argue against him, so you must not be a woman!"
"I'm going to kill you! Hey, get back here!" The pink-haired girl yelled in a high-pitched tone, chasing after the now running Leone. The rest of the members just watched silently, but of them had their own kind of grin or smile.
"If you're going to kill me, why would I want to go back to you?"
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: Next Morning)
Tatsumi fluttered his eyes open and lifted his head from the pillow his head resting on. He shut his eyes again to try and go back to sleep, but remembering last night's development made unconsciousness elude him. In the end, the teen pushed himself tiredly up from bed and walked out of the room. He had nothing else to do; he couldn't go outside, and he couldn't run away, so he might as well try to get the blond to wake up or just guess the time. Maybe he could look for some food?
When he went out of his room and went to the living room area, he saw the blond still sleeping, but in just a much more comfortable position than a few hours prior. Naruto was now sprawled out on the bed, half of his left arm hanging off the side. He was drooling on the pillow he was hugging tightly…and he was sleep talking. Tatsumi walked closer as silently as he could to see if he could hear, tip-toeing carefully with his boots making quiet taps.
"Ugh…I did what you asked master. I have infiltrated the base. I have found the members. May I have my reward now?" Tatsumi widened his eyes; was Naruto a spy? Was his lackadaisical attidue and lazy personality all just for show? He shook his head; no, he would continue to listen for now.
"Of course! You can have all the ramen you want for the next two hours!"
"Hmm…but I thought it was going to be at least three hours…" The blond's face seemed to reflect the saddened tone he spoke in.
"It's okay, Naruto. If you name each of the members, I'll make it three hours." The blond's sleeping face seemed to brighten considerably.
"Okay! It was…Naruko, Naru, Narumi, Narumana, Naruki, and…oh! – Naruto!" Tatsumi face-palmed. What the hell was he doing, expecting something from Naruto.
"Yay! Three hours of free ramen!" The disgruntled teen just walked away from the still sleeping blond and went into the kitchen to see if he could find something to eat.
XShuyaX
(Location: Night Raid's Base)
"Hey, Leone! It's your job to take care of the kids you brought!" Mine shouted from outside said girl's room. Then, the pink-haired girl backed away from the door, as if she were expecting something. Half a second after she backed up, the door burst open, revealing Leone in all of her glory: sleepy, cake-faced, and with a few blonde strands of hair pointing upwards.
"What do you want?" Mine crossed her arms when she heard the extremely slurred and sleepy tone.
"It's your job to take care of that useless pair you brought," she said again, her eyes narrowing from just the thought of the two. Hopefully, the two wouldn't actually join Night Raid. They weren't meant to be assassins!
"Oh…that's right. Give me five minutes to get ready," Leone mumbled as she closed the door slowly. Mine nodded her head and walked away; her job was done. Whatever Leone decided to do from here on out was her choice. As long as the two kids didn't come into the base, then she was fine with it.
Five minutes later, Leone was freshened up and seemed much livelier as she stepped out of her room once more, smiling and humming to herself. Instead of wearing her usual attire, she was dressed in one of the clothes Naruto had bought her when she had scammed him. Well…that seemed too mean for the blond. He seemed willing to give her the money for the clothes, so she would just chalk him up as a very nice person or a very big idiot.
Dressed in a short top that stopped at a few inches below her breasts and shorts that went down to her mid-thigh, the girl walked out of the base. On the way out, she picked up her pair of boots and entered the forest, walking quietly, just enjoying the sight and scent of the early morning nature. Birds chirping as the light started filtering through the trees, the girl's eyes gleamed with happiness. What could she say? She was generally a happy person.
She breathed in deeply, taking in the fresh scent of the forest in the morning. Then, she closed her eyes and listened as her feet crunched against the freshly fallen leaves on the ground. Opening her eyes, she noted every tree's location, something she had done for months. Just remember, she told herself, but don't get attached. Attachment will result in pain when they would have to move, and she knew they would eventually have to move bases.
A few minutes later, she arrived at the cottage. Stepping up the stairs, she stopped at the porch and knocked on the door soundily.
"THANK KAMI!" a voice that she quickly identified as Tatsumi yelled out, clearly audible even through the closed door.
"MORE RAMEN!" The blond sweatdropped. Did they even have ramen in the cottage? She unlocked the door and stepped in to an interesting sight.
Tatsumi was in front of the door, looking at the girl with desperate eyes; the boy seemed to be genuinely on his last straws. Almost as if he were almost about to snap. But from what?
"MORE RAMEN!" Naruto screamed again, slightly louder in volume than the one previous. Leone raised her eyebrows and looked over Tatsumi and now saw what was irritating the boy so much; the blond was sleep talking…sleep screaming. He was making a circular motion with his arm and had his right hand closed in a certain figure, as if he were holding chopsticks.
She gave a look to Tatsumi.
"And you didn't wake him up because…" she asked, giving the boy a pointed look. She may a generally happy person, but this was already getting on her nerves. Naruto screamed again, and both winced from the volume of Naruto's scream for ramen. He looked over his shoulder for a moment, staring at the blond that was now fighting against something in his dream.
"MY RAMEN, NOT YOURS! GET THE HELL AWAY!" the blond screamed, throwing a punch with his right arm while his left arm held something imaginary protectively to his side.
Tatsumi turned around after a few seconds with a blank stare, and Leone just gave him an understanding look; after all, she was currently going through the same thing he had been for Kami knows how long. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder in sympathy before walking past him, much like the night before, and stopping at Naruto's bedside. Then, she stared at the blond for a second before flipping the whole bed over on its side, sender the person sleeping on it flying and crashing on the floor in a heap.
"RISE AND SHINE!" Leone yelled into the other blond's ear. She received no surprised or shocked response; the blond was still on the floor, lightly snoring. She gave a look of disbelief. What was wrong with this kid? "Hey, wake up!" She ordered, shaking him by the shoulder. Slowly, the blond boy seemed to enter the world of reality as his eyes blearily opened. He turned his neck slowly and stared up at Leone, who was grinning down at him.
"Why? Why did you do it?" the blond on the ground asked desperately and in a defeated tone all of a sudden. The girl above raised her eyebrows, her large pupils staring down at him. "I had another two hours, twenty-eight minutes, and thirty-two seconds of free RAMEN! FREE!"
"So?" she asked. Then, she pulled him up so that he was standing at his full height. "You need to wake up; we have things to do."
"It can't be more important than sleeping and eating ramen in my dream."
He was knocked on the head.
XShuyaX
"Where are we going?" Tatsumi asked Leone. The three were now walking in the forest. The majority of the time, Leone was talking about assassinations and trying to convince the boys to join. Well, Naruto had already agreed.
"So, are you two ready to join Night Raid?" The two boys looked at each other, and the two responded at the same time.
"Sure/No". Tatsumi gave an incredulous look to Naruto.
"What the hell? Why are you joining?" The blond just gave a blank stare back.
"Well…first of all, I have no money. I spent it all three days ago, so there's no point for me to really deny it. And also, at least I'll having something to do. "
"What about getting a job?" Leone asked; she wanted to make sure that Naruto was absolutely certain about his decision. The other blond looked up to face her.
"I have never done anything productive or learned any kind of trade, and I'm not really willing to learn anything now."
"Wait, so how did you get that much money? You bought silk clothes; that's a lot of money!" She asked.
"Easy. I stole it. Hey, why are you giving me those looks?" The two were both deadpanning at him as a sweatdrop went down their foreheads.
"If it was so easy to steal, why would you say money is an issue?" The blond widened his eyes…before they quickly returned to normal.
"Nah, that's too much work. I'm not stealing anymore unless I actually have to."
Well, Leone decided to accept Naruto, anyway. If he was able to steal that much money, than he would be useful, even if he wasn't able to assassinate. But his attitude would have to be fixed.
So, back to Tatsumi's question.
"We're going to the Capital and checking out the district. Just going to walk around and give you two country boys a tour of the real world." Leone said. The two boys didn't reply or deny the fact that they were country boys. Naruto was, after all, in the Capital only a day longer than Tatsumi had stayed.
XShuyaX
(Location: Capital District)
"Why are we even here?" the lazy blond drawled out, his eyes going from one side to the next as he watched the people and buildings pass. A few things had caught his eyes, but otherwise, he seemed to be bored.
"Like I said, I'm just showing you around the area. Can't hurt, can it?" Leone asked, turning her head around to face the two who were behind her. Tatsumi nodded his head seriously, while Naruto was just looking around with a blank face and glazed over eyes.
"Well, it hurt my sleep. You took away two-and-a-half hours of blissful sleep that I need and – oh, is that a ramen stand?" Suddenly, his eyes gleamed with excitement when it caught something that required his full attention. Leone looked over and saw a ramen stand innocently there…all by itself.
"No ramen," she shot him down immediately; she had a gut feeling that if she let the boy eat ramen, something would go wrong. It didn't matter what, but something bad would happen to her. Like…all the money that she didn't have running out so that they were forced to run away from the stand.
"Damn…but I bought you clothes," Naruto tried to bargain, a pout on his face as he stared up at her with sparkling eyes. She smirked.
"That's not working. You're ten years too early to think you can convince me to give you money," she said, a hand on her hip to finish the image of an authority with swagger. Naruto dropped his helpless image and went to his neutral attitude, his hands in his pockets as he looked away from her and commenced to look around again.
"It was worth a shot," he replied honestly. "Oh look, there's another store for antiques. Hmm…looks fake," he assessed from his quick glance by window shopping. Then, the blond slouched over and trudged through the streets, following Leone obediently, but unwillingly.
"Oh yeah, Naruto. Did you know you scream during your sleep?" Tatsumi suddenly brought up, his irritation as clear as day. The blond gave him a confused stare.
"I don't yell when I sleep. I don't even talk," he denied. The other boy shook his head.
"Nope, you're really loud. I thought I was going to go crazy because of you!" he exclaimed, expressing how he truly felt that morning. Naruto continued to raise his eyebrows at the boy who was accusing him of such a scandalous affair.
"I don't believe you. Do I talk in my sleep, Leone?" the girl turned around and began to walk backwards, her hands behind her back as she smiled sincerely with her eyes closed.
"I don't know about talking in your sleep, but you definitely scream!" she agreed with Tatsumi.
"…I see. Well, I don't think I ever screamed in the wild during my sleep…maybe it has something to do with the bed," Naruto responded honestly. Tatsumi thought about it. Then, the sword-user just began to deadpan.
"Actually, that's a possibility. He was also screaming at the Aria mansion." Leone hummed in thought, her index finger lightly tapping her chin as she raised her eyes in a pondering light. Then, she broke out a large smile and slammed her fist into her open palm.
"Okay! We'll give you a futon!" she concluded. To finalize what she said, she turned around and began to hum happily. All arguments made by the blond thereafter were ignored.
The tour of the capital went decently, although one of the boys was definitely happier than the other.
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: Night Time)
"So, you're saying that I can go to the base, but Tatsumi can't?" Naruto asked skeptically, looking between the busty blonde and the sword-wielding teen next to him.
"That's right! Since you agreed to join us, and he hasn't as of yet, there's a difference of privilege!" she stated. A few seconds passed, and then -
"Okay, bye Tatsumi," the blond said without a second of hesitation as he walked out of the cottage. The other boy just stood still, watching Naruto walk out of the cottage, through the door, and then watched silently as the door slammed shut. It opened a few seconds after when Leone went through the door, but not without giving the now lonely boy a wave.
"…I can't believe that he would just leave me like that. Actually…this is Naruto. Of course he would," Tatsumi muttered to himself. He snorted and walked to his room to go to sleep, trying not to get too upset. Then again, he wouldn't have to deal with the blond's screaming in the morning. That thought suddenly put him in a much better mood.
"So, Naruto."
"So, Leone," The blond responded immediately.
"What made you join us? You know that Night Raid does assassinations, right? We leave no one alive." She paused, checking for a reaction, but her audience was looking straight forwards, only moving when she did. She assumed that he was following her guide. Finding no change in emotion visually, she continued. "And there's no kind of glory in our job. We kill, and we're guilty, no matter what anyone says otherwise." Still no reaction. "So, I'm asking what made you join and what makes you think you can kill? You yourself said you have never seen death, correct?"
"Yeah, I've never seen death in front of my own eyes." Leone frowned when Naruto didn't say anything more.
"You know I'm expecting more for your answer, right?"
"My reasons are my own reasons," the blond returned simply and with finality, saying he didn't want to say any more on the issue. He felt inclined to keep to himself, despite the fact that he was taken in by the group of assassins. However, Leone was having none of that. She hastened her pace and turned quickly so that the two were now standing face to face.
"Look, gaki. The reason why you chose to join us was because it was a life or death decision, and I can understand why you decided to join. It was a quite easy choice. However, what I need to know is if you're even willing to fight! You're so laidback and seemingly so uncaring about everything that I'm uncertain whether you'll even be considered a valuable pick-up!" she said seriously, her tone equaling her no-nonsense expression.
"…I'm don't think I'm afraid of killing. The thought isn't something that scares me," Naruto suddenly said, his cold, blue eyes glowing in the moonlight as he stared at the girl in front of him.
"So what are you afraid of, then?" Leone asked, her eyes radiating with power.
"I'm afraid of death, so I'll do everything in my power to stay alive. If I have to kill to do so, I'll do it. I'm a coward, but that's what makes me strong. I'm lazy, but that's what makes me smart," the blond finished in a neutral tone. Just as quickly as his serious visage appeared, it relapsed into a neutral, yet somewhat whimsical and light one. "However, what you think of me is honestly none of my business. I'm too lazy to even care." Then, Naruto began to walk again, this time taking the lead. He had spotted something that seemed to be out of place inside the mountain. A few seconds later, his prediction came true; there was a giant base that was completely in view.
"That doesn't explain your laidback attitude," she told him, bringing the subject back to the issue at hand. He turned around, looking up at the taller girl.
"If you take on every situation in life with a serious attitude, sooner or later, you're going to break." Leone whistled appreciatively at the deep response.
"Wow, you're surprisingly well-versed and wise for your age," she complimented, clapping her hands. Naruto smirked and turned around as he began to walk towards the base again.
"I know, aren't I?"
"And very cocky, too," she added.
"I'm not denying it." Leone slung her arm around the blond's neck, leaning on the smaller-framed boy as she faced him, their faces just a few inches apart. The two looked at each other as they continued to walk, both of them grinning.
"I think you and me will get along just fine," Leone said cordially. A thoughtful look crossed Naruto's face as he responded.
"Hmm…getting along is too much of a hassle. You guys are just going to have to deal with me, I suppose." Leone laughed loudly, her giggles resounding in the night.
"So, do you actually go by your lazy attitude because of the reason you told me, or is that just how you are?" she asked; the blond's answer made sense, but she felt that it just didn't match his attitude, as far as she knew him.
"Nah, I'm just too indifferent to really care."
This kid was golden.
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: Next Morning)
"Naruto, wake up," Leone said, shaking the silent boy on the shoulder. Almost immediately, the sleeping blond shot up and opened his eyes at the same time, a stark contrast from the situation in the previous morning. He groaned when the sunlight struck his eyes, but he quickly adjusted to the light.
"Hmm…oh what's up, Leone?" the yawning teen asked, one of his eyes closed as he stretched his body. He removed the futon from his body and looked down at himself. The blond immediately raised his eyebrows.
"Oh yeah, those are Bulat's clothes," she said, knowing what the blond was thinking.
"Oh…well, I was going to ask how I got into them, but I don't think I really care, honestly," he said, beginning to take off his clothes in front of the girl, showing his complete unconcern for his body's privacy. Leone's began to sparkle and her grin widened to lecherous standards when his shirt came off, exposing the surprisingly chiseled stomach and lean arms that were packed with muscles.
"I thought you said you were lazy. How do you have muscles like that?" she asked curiously, not taking her eyes off the free show occurring before her." The other blond didn't even seemed disturbed that he was being eyed so hungrily by the girl next to him. Well, it's not that she was looking at him out of lust, but more for fun. She was trying to see how far he would actually go with this game. Little did she know that Naruto really didn't care for his privacy…at all.
"Just because I'm lazy doesn't mean that I don't do the things I have to do. I told you I had to steal to survive for a while; that required to me be able to run away if I was caught. I'm pretty sure you know the details though, since you guys are probably much better at it than I," he replied and explained quietly, now taking off his pajama shorts, exposing his boxers.
"Hmm…is that so?" she asked, watching with wide eyes when Naruto grabbed the cotton of his boxers and began to pull it down. At that moment, to the chagrin of Leone and for the sake of Naruto's privacy, which he didn't really care about, Mine came at that moment and saw what was occurring at the door. Moving at the speed of sound, she suddenly dashed her from position outside of the room to the inside, placing her arm over Leone's eyes as she began to pull the girl away.
"Hey, what are you doing? He's not actually going to do it!" Leone said, still getting blinded by the arm in front of her eyes.
"He's in his boxers. That's bad enough isn't it? And – OH MY GOD! DON'T ACTUALLY TAKE IT OFF IN FRONT OF GIRLS!" Mine screamed with her shut closed shut when Naruto actually pulled the boxers down and grabbed a freshly cleaned one lying on the bed that he did not sleep on. She continuously let out a stream of words and insults as she carefully trying to back away from the room.
"What, he actually took it off?" Leone asked in a surprised tone, but her smile seemed to be a bit out of place in the situation. A few seconds later, Naruto was in his shorts, which was enough for Mine to open her eyes and release her hold on the girl in her arms.
"Geez, Mine. Why'd you do that?" Leone asked in a joking tone, her eyes full of mirth. The pink-haired girl puffed out her cheeks and pointed at Naruto with a glare.
"Because he actually went stark naked! Who the hell does that?" She screamed at the now fully dressed boy. Naruto put his pinky in his ear and scratched the itch that was bothering him. A few moments later, he took it out and stared at his pinky. Nothing.
'Must be that girl that's just bothering me.' He looked up and saw Mine still arguing with the laughing Leone.
"I don't see what the issue is. I was changing; if Leone wanted to stay, that's her own decision." Mine gave him a death glare.
"Are you saying you don't even care if she saw your…" she stopped, too embarrassed to say the word. Her face was turning a tomato red from the simple thought. Oh, how close she had gotten to seeing something that would have traumatized her for years to come.
Naruto raised his eyebrows.
"My what? I have nothing to hide."
"Your penis," Leone told him bluntly. Naruto just raised his eyebrows.
"My what?" he asked in a confused tone, bewilderment clear in his face. The two of them deadpanned at him.
"You…you're serious, aren't you?" Leone asked, but it sounded like a statement. Mine just nodded with Leone, agreeing with her; Naruto seemed like he had no idea what the girls were talking about.
"I don't get what you two are saying." Naruto stared at the two girls with an indifferent look.
"…"
"…Why don't you deal with this, Mine? I have to watch Tatsumi again until I can convince him to join us," Leone said, suddenly shifting the responsibility of explaining to the other flustered girl. Mine tried to protest, but Leone was already running; by the time Mine turned around, Leone was nowhere to be seen. The girl slowly turned her head back forwards when she heard a certain blond cough in front of her, vying for her attention. He looked at her with an expectant look.
"So, you want to explain?" he asked. Mine just began to scream and ran out the door, leaving a very confused Naruto.
"I'M NOT DOING IT! NO! NO! NO!" was heard throughout the base. Leone nearly fell over laughing, but she managed to stay calm enough to not fall down the stairs.
"Hahaha! Man, this is the greatest!" the blonde Teigu user shouted when she was outside, the recent event lighting up her spirits considerably. This day was going to be great; she could just feel it.
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: Twelve Hours Later)
This day was going absolutely terribly for Mine. That blond, Naruto, was absolutely awful! What Leone saw in him, she had no idea.
First off, Naruto had no common sense. Or maybe he had never seen civilization before. That would explain some of the actions he did that day, but it wouldn't excuse him at all in her mind. Seriously, who goes to the bathroom and then uses the sink as the toilet? Was he doing it for fun or just to mess with her? At least he got a berating from Bulat, but that turned awkward quite quickly when Naruto found out that spear-handler was gay…after the blond was explained as to what a gay or a homo meant.
Secondly, who in their right mind cooks ramen for lunch and dinner when asked to prepare food? When the members of Night Raid ordered him to cook food alongside Akame, they were surprised to find out that ramen would be their dish. They accepted the fact that it was delicious, but it was definitely not something that would be considered a wholesome food. Not that Akame seemed to really care about that. But that was all after Naruto cooked ramen for himself and was told repeatedly he needed to cook for everyone, and that took quiet some convincing…and threatening from Akame.
Finally, the incident that occurred in the morning just gave Mine a glimpse of how much Naruto didn't know about life in general. Just to give one incident that occurred afterwards that day so that everyone can understand, let's go back a few hours.
XShuyaX
(Flashback: Midday)
"Is this the bathroom?" a voice asked from outside, which was answered with a quick confirmation. A moment later, the door handle was shaken, but it didn't move since it was locked. Mine looked at the door from inside, taking a bath to try and ease her mind.
"Who is it?" she asked. However, her voice seemed to increase the pace the door handle was twisted.
"Oh no! The door locked and someone's trapped in there! Don't worry, I'll save you!" the voice shouted, who she now was able to identity as Naruto.
"No, DON'T!" she shouted as she stood up in her surprise, but it was too late. The door was kicked inwards as the lock gave way under a powerful kick, something that she didn't even seem to care about at that moment. Well, the other person that saw the kick was intrigued. Akame gave Naruto a quiet appraisal from behind the boy, but otherwise remained silent.
The naked Mine stared with wide eyes at the neutral expression that Naruto was giving her. Suddenly, she dropped to the water and wrapped her arms around her small figure, hoping her knees were hiding enough of her body. Then, she began to scream. The boy looked over at Akame with a confused look in his eyes.
"Wait, I helped her, didn't I? Why is she screaming?" he asked.
"She was taking a bath," she replied. As if that explained everything.
"Yeah, I can see that she's still taking one. But the door was locked," he said, as if that explained his point of view. Akame actually raised her eyebrows, showing some emotions.
"I don't understand what you're saying. She locked the door so that she could have privacy."
"Can you two not talk as if I'm not here, naked inside the room?!" Mine shouted from her position, hoping that the steam inside the room was covering her up as well as she shakily tried to grab the towel. Naruto looked over in her direction, still with a bewildered look.
"I'm so confused. Can I just use the bathroom?" he asked, slowly entering the room.
"NO!" Mine shouted.
"Why? I need to go, and the next bathroom is like…a thousand steps away. That's way too much of a hassle when there's a bathroom right here. Just share!" the blond told her, trying to get his way.
"NOOO!" Mine roared, suddenly moving. Naruto widened his eyes when he saw a light growing brighter and brighter in a concentrated circle…pointing straight at him. "Strike him, Pumpkin!"
Naruto barely jumped out of the way in time, the laser beam shooting right above his back. However, it still managed to singe his clothing. Akame, who had seen it coming, just tilted her head to the side, letting the beam pass by her by the barest of margins.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto shouted. "Just share the damn bathroom!" Another light pointed in his direction shut him up.
"If you want to live, you'll get out," Mine growled out threateningly, a strangely placed smile on her face. She was standing now, a towel wrapped around her small-figure, hugging her rather small curves, but they were still there. The blond dashed out of the bathroom without another word from his mouth. He wanted to live, but he needed to use the bathroom, damn it! What was so wrong with sharing?
XShuyaX
(Flashback End)
Mine furrowed her eyebrows in complete anger just thinking about it. How embarrassing! And Naruto didn't even seem to care. He never apologized the whole day, not even understanding what he had done wrong.
The girl was sitting in the kitchen, her head resting on the palms of her hands as she stared into space with an angry look. Suddenly, the bane of her existence beginning from that day appeared in front of her.
"What do you want?" she asked with a clearly irritated tone, her eyebrows scrunching together even further in her ire. The blond stared at her for a few seconds before slowly, Naruto lifted his right hand. She watched it warily as it rose, stopping until it was parallel to her head. Then, he quickly moved it forward and poked her forehead. She raised her hands to her forehead in surprise from the action, dropping her angry look, only to don another visage of anger a moment later.
"Hmm…you looked better without the anger. You know that scrunching your eyebrows will ruin your face, right?" the blond told her. She relaxed her eyebrows and stared at the blond in front of her; was that concern she saw in his eyes? However, as quickly as she thought she saw it, the emotion disappeared in his mask of indifference. Naruto seated himself in a chair next to the girl, sighing as he relaxed into the chair.
There was a silence between the two. Mine didn't know what to say, while Naruto had his eyes closed with his head back against the chair's end, looking up to the ceiling with a relaxed posture. The pink-haired girl looked at him and thought that relaxing wasn't that bad of an idea, so she copied his posture. Just when she was getting relaxed and about to sigh in content, the blond had to break the peaceful silence, something she thought was impossible with him.
"I'm sorry…for today. I'm not really sure what I did wrong, but I apologize because it seems like I gave you a lot of trouble today." Mine remained silent with her eyes still closed; she was unsure how to respond to that. She gave him way too much trouble for her to forgive him that easily. "I'm just…confused, in all honestly. So, until I actually understand how things work around here and have an adequate understanding of how people interact, please take care of me."
The girl just stared at him, surprised. From what she got to know of his character, she wasn't really expecting an apology. He seemed lazy and he didn't seem to understand what he did wrong, but at least he had apologized. She closed her eyes and looked away in a higher-than-thou manner, but it wasn't out of actual discrimination or belittlement this time around.
"Hmph. Well…if the newbie apologizes, I guess I have to accept." The blond grinned. Then, he stood from his chair, pushing himself up with his palm against the table. He walked over to the ingredients in the pantry and pulled out a few objects, but Mine wasn't looking at him. She saw what he was doing in her peripheral vision.
"You want some?" the blond asked, assuming that the girl knew he was going to cook ramen. She looked at him.
"You're really going to eat the junk in the middle of the night?" Suddenly, his murderous gaze was upon her, his presence taking over the whole room. Mine hitched, not expecting this kind of reaction from Naruto. However, as soon as it appeared, the murderous aura and his gaze lost its intent, and the blond was back to cooking. He turned on the stove; the fire roared to life.
"Hmm…to each their own. You could've just said you didn't want any," he told her. Mine agreed; she didn't want to see Naruto like that again. She was totally fine with him being normal in his standards: lazy, bored, always with a sardonic or genuine smile on his face. Well, she didn't know him for long, but she assumed that's how he was.
"I'll be going to sleep now. Don't take too long." She was the last person up other than Naruto, so she didn't want Naruto to get lost or have any issues with the members if he accidently screwed something up in the kitchen or any other location of the base. The blond nodded silently, telling her that he had understood her instructions, but his focus was on the ramen now stewing quickly in the stove. The smell of spice and cooked vegetables wafted in the air, almost convincing Mine to take back her refusal of ramen, but she held strong and walked out of the kitchen.
Seems like it was a different story for Akame; the girl was shuffling into the kitchen in her sleepwear with sleepy eyes.
"May I have some?" she asked in a sleepy tone. The other two assumed the girl had just woken up, and Mine guessed that the smell of ramen had woke her up.
"Sure! Ramen is always better with a partner!"
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: Two Days Later)
"Did Tatsumi decide to join?" Naruto asked from his seat across from Sheele. The two were both reading their own books. Sheele was reading on ways to not be an airhead. Naruto was reading a book on how to not be stupid; he borrowed a book from Sheele. Well, it wasn't like he really minded. The book was interesting and had a few funny points, so he found himself reading it silently across its owner for an hour. He was engaged in his reading when the door suddenly opened, and in came Leone with a reluctant yet interested Tatsumi in tow.
"No, I'm just showing him around the base. Sheele, do me a favor and give him some warm words to encourage him to join us," Leone asked in a light tone. Sheele lowered her book to her lap and then gave her attention to Tatsumi.
"Now that you have seen our base, you have two choices: join or die." Leone laughed. Tatsumi blanched. Naruto just brought his book back up and continued his reading.
"That was…so warm, I feel my heart bursting from the heat of passion. Thank you," Tatsumi mumbled sarcastically. Everyone heard it, but they decided not to speak upon his sarcasm.
"Okay, we'll be going now. See you guys later!" Naruto put his book face down against the table in such a way that he could keep his page.
"Wait. Where are you guys going?" the blond male asked coolly, his eyes slowly turning over to the two leaving the room. Leone turned around halfway, stopping in her leave.
"Huh, you want to come with us? I'm just giving him a tour of the base and introducing the members. We got through Bulat and Sheele, so we still have a few to go," Leone explained. Naruto silently stood up from his position. Then, he slid his book over to the girl across from him with a short smile.
"Thank you for the book. I hope that you'll let me read it later on and that you would allow me to borrow some later on today," he said cordially. When she gave him a curt nod, he smiled again and turned to walk out with the other two. Once the three were outside and walking along the halls of the base, the blond girl gave him a inquisitive look from her eyes.
"So…why did you join us? You already know what the base looks like and you know all of the members, so what's up?" Naruto remained silent. The three pairs of footsteps resounded and echoes down the corridor on which they walked.
"Is it because you want to bother Akame again?" she asked, suddenly looking interested. The other blond remained silent again, although there was a small twitch in his facial expression, which Leone noticed. "I see. Well, just don't let her get the wrong idea now!"
"What idea?" Naruto spoke for the first time since they had left the room. He looked genuinely confused as he furrowed his eyebrows and bit his lower lip in thought. When Leone didn't respond, the blond rolled his eyes and pulled out two dice from his pocket and began to play with them, tossing them in the air or expertly juggling them in his hands. Although this action wouldn't merit that much attention from normal people, Leone was surprised.
"Naruto, how did you learn to do that?" she asked, her eyes shining with excitement. She had given the blond the pair of cubes two days ago because she wanted to teach him how to gamble. But this was far more than she had expected! The way he was using the dice in his hands made him seem as if he were a seasoned expert at the gambling occupation, and his blank face and neutral gaze would be perfect as his poker face!
"Constant practice," he replied in a monotonous tone, not breaking his gaze from the cubes going up in the air.
"Wow. Maybe you aren't as lazy as I thought!" Naruto suddenly stopped talking, placing his complete focus into the dice. "So…how good do you think you are?" Leone asked, unperturbed by his silence. A few moments of silence, and Naruto finally answered.
"Enough to bet my life," he told her seriously, not even cracking his voice in the slightest by the ridiculous answer. Tatsumi choked on his nonexistent chicken that got caught in his throat. Leone just widened her eyes before smiling; oh, he would be the perfect gambler for sure! She would make certain of it.
"Wait, what?! Why would you bet your life?" Tatsumi exclaimed, barely keeping his voice down to a level that didn't make people cringe and grab their ears. The blond sighed, as if too exasperated to even want to explain.
"Maybe because I don't want to fight and if I gamble my life, they should gamble theirs? And if I win, they should just kill themselves." Now, the two deadpanned. Here, they thought that the blond would actually try hard for something, namely, dice. And now, they found out that he only tried hard to learn how to play with dice only to be lazier on another aspect, life, which is subjectively much more important than a lot of other things a person can own.
The rest of the way outside and to the river bank, Leone spoke with Tatsumi while Naruto began to spin the dice through his fingers, much like a person would with pencils and cards.
"Hey, Akame!" Leone greeted with a shout and a wave once they all saw her in the distance. The girl that was called turned from her rock and just gave the three a quick nod. When her eyes spotted Naruto, she narrowed her pupils slightly, but otherwise, there was no outward change in expression.
"Would you like an evil bird?" She asked quietly, her hand holding three sticks of something akin to chicken. Naruto and Leone took them immediately without a moment's hesitation, giving the girl their thanks. Tatsumi, however, decided to not take it, although it was later stated by Akame that she wouldn't have given it to him since he hadn't joined yet.
"Hey, Akame," Leone started in between bites. "Why are you cooking these? There isn't a rare occasion, right?"
"Leader's back." That was explanation enough for Leone. The girl just made a circle with her mouth and nodded her head. And as Akame said, the boss was back…and literally on the back of Leone.
"Yo!" a woman sitting on a rock greeted. She was wearing a professional suit and tie outfit, a strange mechanical-like arm on her right arm, and on the same side of her body, her right eye was patched. Leone smiled and greeted her while the other three just watched on silently at the exchange.
"Putting the souvenirs aside, Leone, I heard that you went over the time of operation on the mission three days ago." Leone just continued to smile as she backed away slowly…and then an all out sprint as she tried to turn tail. However, the mechanical arm burst forward with speed that Leone couldn't match.
"Shouldn't we help her?" he asked when the girl started to cry for mercy.
"Nope/No," were the quick responses. He figured that would be their responses. "She still has my vase."
"Who are these two?" the boss asked once she had finally stopped giving Leone her quick punishment. She was retracting her arm slowly back into place, giving the two boys an appraising look. Leone got back up on her feet and, as if she had not been roughed up any bit, grabbed Tatsumi in a neck hold.
"This one has a lot of talent! I recommend him!" she said, giving Tatsumi a shake to emphasize the boy. The boss just nodded.
"What about the blond?" she pointed out as she watched Naruto eating his cooked evil bird slowly. He was giving the meat a confused look. He gave it another bite, chewed it slowly…and then spit it out.
"Doesn't taste that bad actually. Didn't think that there would be so many bones inside."
"Thos aren't bones. That is also meat," Akame pointed out quietly, looking heatedly at the meat that was now spoiled on the floor. Naruto just nodded his head in understanding, taking another bite and this time chewing it until he swallowed.
"Still feels like a bone."
The boss just stared silently.
"…And the blond?" she asked again. The sword-wielding girl gave Leone a pointed look that said 'you-explain'. So, the blonde girl gave her best, disarming smile as she chuckled half-heartedly to herself and said –
"Well…um…I'm not really sure. He seems to have a lot of talent an-"
"Do you want to be punished again?" the boss interrupted in a no-nonsense tone, her eyes darkening into serious orbs. And it seemed like the punishment this time would be a lot worse than just a simple one.
"I vouch for him," Akame cut in when Leone didn't respond, who was getting ready to run again, and this time with their Teigu active. Najenda gave the black-haired girl a look for a long pause.
"…Fine. Everyone is to gather in the meeting room. I want to know the details of the mission three days ago…and about those two…especially the blond."
XShuyaX
(Location: Meeting Room)
"Tatsumi…would you like to join Night Raid?" Najenda asked once she was briefed with the details and the current situation. The assassins were all standing in their normal positions about the room, just with two other members. Naruto and Tatsumi were standing directly in center.
"I'm dead if I don't join, right?"
"No," she immediately shut down the possibility of death. "However, you would be a laborer in our workshop, which I think would not suit your capabilities."
"I wanted to go to the capital and join the army and become successful to help my village, which is suffering from poverty-" Naruto yawned right next to the boy, who stopped and slowly turned his head to the blond beside him with a very annoyed look.
"What?" the blond asked once he noticed the glare and looked at the boy, a hand still over his mouth. "I don't need to know your life story and how you wanted to join the army. The question was whether you want to join Night Raid. Answer the damn question so I can sleep or eat ramen." The rest of the members, other than Najenda and Akame, began to chuckle at Naruto's very blunt and candid statement.
"Are you sure you should be saying anything at all, Naruto? From what I see, you have no skill to show as of yet to the whole group," Najenda said, cutting the jovial atmosphere with a quick, slicing statement. Every member was now looking at the bored blond, who dug his pinky into his ear and then flicked the wax off his finger.
"Right now, I could have seventy-six traps inside this room, each of which can kill any of you ten times over. The person with the armored suit would last only twelve of the traps I have planted. I don't think his armor can block him from feeling blunt force or simple pain. And he's not the only one that would be safe; at least five traps would be directed at a person with a certain weapons…except you for, Leader-sama. After all, I only met you today," Naruto stated in a cold tone, his eyes glowing a bright blue as he hair seemed to begin to billow from a certain power rising inside of him. The pressure and atmosphere in the room suddenly increased ten-fold.
"Yeah, I'm a dangerous water boy," the blond joked, a well-placed smirk on his lips. The tension suddenly disappeared once they realized what Naruto was implying; the whole thing was a bluff. But that was something scary as well. None of them felt that he was lying. His words, his stance, the way his eyes were dead ice – everything said that he wasn't lying. They weren't even sure if he was joking about whether he knew about traps or not.
"Am I considered useful now?" he asked. Najenda immediately shook her head.
"No. You may be good with words, but that doesn't mean you are good with assassinations." The bored look returned to Naruto as he slouched his shoulders and kicked his foot on the floor.
"Damn. And I was hoping words were enough to convince you. I really don't like moving a lot."
"And that's a trait we're going to have to fix if you stay." Naruto groaned in despair. "Tatsumi, will you join?" Najenda asked, returning to the topic previously.
"I'm not…sure. I feel like killing just some individuals won't make a difference."
"How about killing the Prime Minister?" the blond next to him asked, stopping Najenda from going on a long explanation.
"Killing the Pr-prime Minister?!" Tatsumi shouted scandalously. Just the thought of killing such an authority gave him goose bumps.
"Yeah. The prime minister," he repeated. "I'm not joking," Naruto said, defending his position when Tatsumi gave him a disbelieving look. "Look around you. None of them are rebuking me or laughing at me."
And Tatsumi realized…that Naruto was speaking the truth.
"If that's the case…okay, even before that. Let's say we do kill the Prime Minister. What happens then? Will the capital be better? Will my village be saved?" he asked, his eyes suddenly seeming desperate for the right answer. And Najenda aced the test.
"It will help the country." Suddenly, a fire lit in the boy's eyes and resolution filled his heart.
"So…we're like…Assassins of Justice, right?" he asked fervently, his fist in front of him. Everyone burst into laughter; even Akame gave a quick chuckle. Well, other than Naruto. He was digging into his other ear, so he didn't hear properly. Something about 'Assassins of Justice'. And then everyone laughing, and Leone saying something about how all they do is murder.
'That's a lie. You still didn't give the vase you stole. You stole it. Didn't murder it. Stoooole it!' Naruto drawled out mentally, now looking up at the ceiling with his hands in his pockets.
"Will I be rewarded?" Tatsumi asked.
"Enough to save your village and maybe even a town," That was the right answer. Tatsumi put his fist against his chest with an audible thump and stated his loyalty.
"Then let me join Night Raid!" Najenda smiled. Another person in the rankings.
"Well then. Welcome to the path of carnage."
Not a moment later, Lubbock looked at the back of his hand and notified the group of eight individuals trying to infiltrate the base.
"This is an emergency. Don't let any of them escape alive!" she ordered. Once again, the mood darkened, and this time, it wasn't a joke.
XShuyaX
(Location: Forest)
"Why are you coming with me?" Akame asked, running swiftly down the forest path, trying to find the supposed infiltrators. Well, they hadn't infiltrated yet, but they were damn close. And close was way too far in.
"Because I felt like it and you were the only one that vouched for me. Not like Leader-sama would let me go with other members, right?" Akame actually gave that statement a thought.
"She would have placed you with me," she admitted. "Why do you call her Leader-sama?"
"I forgot her name," he stated without batting an eyelash. "Actually, I don't even recall hearing her name." It was only with Akame's expertise in the area of neutrality that she prevented herself from sighing or crashing into a tree by laughing at the stupidity of the blond like a certain other blonde would. However, that doesn't mean she wouldn't make a certain physical response. She sped up her run and began to dash by jumping through the trees, leaving the blond in the dust.
"I'm not even going to try to keep up with that. I'll just sit against a tree, I guess," Naruto decided. Going through with his actions, he leaned against a tree and closed his eyes, letting himself fall into tune with the nature all around him. However, the peace was ruined when the sounds of leaves cracking and ruffling violated the silence.
"Hey, there's someone here!" someone shouted. The cracking increased and the sounds of three pairs of footsteps quickly followed. The people were sprinting. A moment later, three people burst into the forest area that resembled a clearing. The three people watched the silent blond warily, who still had his eyes closed and his back against the tree.
"Should we kill him?" one asked.
"Yeah, we should."
"Wait, we should bring him back with us to interrogate him!" the third exclaimed. And the three continued to argue amongst each, now blatantly losing focus on the person that was in front of them.
"How about-" a voice began behind them, making them jump up in fright and turn around warily. The blond was behind them, his arms crossed over his chest as he cocked his eyebrow, his blue eyes curiously staring at the three. "you three just shut up and let me listen to Nature in peace, would you? Or, I could just, you know, kill you all." That riled the three up.
"You think you can kill us? You're just a kid!"
"That's right. And it's three on one!"
"We'll kill you first!" Naruto remained silent, standing a good amount of feet away from them.
"Says the three that didn't even notice me walking behind them," he stated, letting his statement linger in the air. "That's right. I can kill all three of you right here, any time I want. However, I want to do this different." Naruto pulled out two dice from his jacket pocket and threw the two into the air to make the infiltrators place their focus on the cubes.
"Let's a play a game…with our lives on the line, shall we?" Naruto snarled with enticement, his smirk widening, showing his deadly canines. The three prevented themselves from stepping backwards by trying to stay strong, but they felt that the blond in front of them wasn't lying. The way one hand was in his pocket, his relaxed position against a new tree; everything pointed to his absolute confidence in his ability to demolish them.
"What's the game?" the one in the middle asked. Naruto grinned, happy he wouldn't have to fight…or correctly stated, run away.
"Oh, it's really easy. Just roll these two dice and whoever gets the highest number wins. Of course, all three of you can roll; I'll only roll once," he explained. If anything, the advantage he gave to the three seemed to frighten them even more. The blond threw the two dice, which they caught hesitantly.
The first got a nine. Naruto grinned.
The second got a three. His grinned widened.
The last infiltrator got an eleven. He was still smirking. And that was freaking the hell out of the three.
"Ah, an eleven. Nice, good, double-digit number, huh?" the blond stated rhetorically as he bent down to pick it up, not even looking at the three in front of him as he gather his two cubes. "However…" he played with the dice in his hands, his face losing all emotion as he threw the dice. "…it's not good enough. Your lives are forfeit."
The three looked on with fright as the cubes hit the ground and…the blond got a two.
"Huh. That wasn't supposed to happen. Pretty sure I put just the right amount of spin and push based on my height position. Weird," Naruto stated, scratching the back of his head as he picked up the dice. Apparently, his loss was more important than the bet over his life at that moment.
"Hey, that means we can kill you now, right?" The three of them began to walk towards him, their swords now out of their sheaths.
"Um…how about a re-roll?" Naruto asked pleadingly, a fake smile plastered on his face. They responded with a charge and a passionate roar. He ran.
"HELP!" he screamed, sprinting through the forest. At one point, he was certain he heard a bullet – or a laser – report through the forest, but he wasn't really caring all that much about a bullet unless it pierced the three charging after him.
'Where the hell is Akame?' he screamed internally, jumping against a tree branch and jumping onto a higher branch. However, it seemed his agility on the trees were all for naught; the three behind him were still after him, and they were still gaining ground. That is, until Naruto tripped on a branch and fell twenty feet and landed face first.
"That was perfectly planned," he muttered to himself as he picked up himself off the ground and began to sprint again. If Akame wasn't going to find him, he was going to find something that would help him fight. However, his plans of finding a weapon didn't seem like it would bear fruit because the three pursuers had jumped down and surrounded him in a triangle. So, Naruto grabbed the first two things he found: dirt and a stick. He bent into a fighting position.
"You guys really don't want to fight me. Trust me. You guys don't want to see me get serious!" he warned without any real threat now; the gig was up. The three were closing in on him. Every step they took was in time with his heartbeat. The blood in his body began to pump wildly and without control, and the sweat glands began to release chemicals as his pupils shrank and became highly focused. At that moment, everything was clear.
He would have to actually fight. No more running. But all he had was a stick and some dirt. The blond grit his teeth; he would have to take the initiative.
"We're gonna kill you kid."
"Thought you could run away, did ya?"
Naruto roared and sprinted forward as fast as he could with his already burnt-out legs, but it was fast enough. He threw the dirt in his left hand, getting it into the eye of the opponent in front of him. The affected person began to swipe through the air with his sword, but Naruto ducked just in time. The blade swiped cleanly through one of the tips of his hair, but that wouldn't kill him. He would survive through his ordeal, even if it meant he had to kill.
Suddenly, the blond was behind the blinded attacker, and he swung his dense stick as hard as he could at the person's skull with a roar that echoed through the forest. That crack that followed afterwards was almost as loud.
The person Naruto struck down fell to the floor slowly. He was dead, but the face showed shock, as if he couldn't believe he had been struck down. Naruto slowly bent down and grabbed the sword on the ground.
"Unwieldy, but it'll have to do." He looked up at the two remaining infiltrators and narrowed his eyes. Any moment now, his legs would wear down and his speed would be drastically reduced. But he wanted to live, damn it all! Another round of adrenaline electrolyzed his body, making shivers tingle down the length of his skin.
The two charged at him as one, jumping in the air at the same time. Naruto cursed internally. He may have been able to fight one at a time and maybe two of them if he had training, but he would not able to block two swords with heavy momentum. He just wasn't built for that kind of strength!
Blood sprayed in the air, and Naruto dropped to the ground, bum first. Two thumps sounded right after his fall. The crimson liquid splashed against the ground and his frightened face as he slowly looked down, and then behind him. There were the two men; both were face down on the ground with blood oozing out of their necks. Each had a cut on their jugulars. Then, the blond looked up and saw Akame miraculously right in front of him. She had saved him.
"Are you alright?" she asked, actually showing some worry through her eyes. Naruto slowly nodded. The adrenaline was running out, and exhaustion was kicking in. The girl noticed this and immediately sheathed her blade and helped him up by pulling his arm over her shoulder.
"You did well to hold them until I could help. I'm sorry that I ran off, but I noticed that Tatsumi had an issue with his fight," she explained, but she knew that her apology wouldn't solve everything; her actions had almost cost his death.
"It's fine." Akame widened her eyes at the blond's surprisingly flippant tone. "You came right? So it's okay!" the blond said with a smile and a thumbs-up. She showed genuine confusion when she spoke again.
"I don't understand. Because of me, you almost died." Naruto's grin changed to a knowing smile.
"Oh…haha. Don't worry about that! It'll take a lot more than three of their caliber to kill me," he boasted. She was put that information in the back of her mind, but assumed it was mainly just bragging. However, maybe that information would be useful in the future.
"Let's go back to the base. We have to report and I'm going to assume you'll have to be trained." Naruto's expression shifted immediately into a marring frown.
"Well…shit."
XShuyaX
(Location: Other part of the Forest)
"Got saved by Akame, huh?" Bulat asked rhetorically to the silent boy. Tatsumi was deep in thought, recalling the fight in his mind. That man tricked him, and for his foolishness for even believing in the infiltrator, he would've died on his first hour with Night Raid.
"Damn it…" he whispered, clenching his fist. He would need to become stronger…much stronger. And also much more determined.
'Don't waver. You should land the killing blow promptly.' Akame's criticism echoed in his head and repeated over and over again.
"Damn it. I'll become stronger, and you'll have to admit it…" he slowly said.
He would get what he wished for. He would learn how to kill from Night Raid's red-eyed assassin along with Naruto.
Chapter End.
Teigus:
Bulat: Demon Armor - Incursio
Akame: One Cut Killer - Murasame
Mine: Roman Artillery - Pumpkin
Lubbock: Infinite Uses - Cross Tail
Leone: Animal Kingdom - Lionelle
Naruto: ? - ?
Was this chapter okay? I hope so…I know it's still following canon, and it will, but not word by word and all that stuff. Things will change, I assure you. Some will live, and others will…live. Well, unless I find a way to kill some characters off…hehehe.
So, leave a review and tell me what you think! I hope that I mixed the humor and the serious well enough. Hopefully.
KenzoXShuyita, Peacing Out!