Chapter 3: First Loss

A/N: I really don't feel like writing anything right now for this Author's Note. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :D

Disclaimer: Everyone knows I don't own Naruto or Akame ga Kiru.

Chapter 3 START

Tatsumi sighed as he continued to cook meals in the kitchen. The cooking techniques that Ieyasu and Sayo had forcefully taught him were being fully placed into the bowls and plates of delectable food onto the table. His partners at the moment, Naruto and Akame, were of no help, since the two were actually eating a few of the ingredients before the finished product was created.

Akame was giving Naruto curious glances every once in a while, taking a bite and giving the blond a look from the corner of her eyes. Something was bothering her. The blond was smiling right now, and every time he took another bite, his smile widened. She frowned in her thoughts.

XShuyaX

(Flashback: One Day Before)

She could see the blond. He was surrounded by three people, each with a kind of bandana on their foreheads. The three raised their blades, and Naruto raised his stick and hand with dirt as he lowered his stance. Akame increased her pace to try and reach him. Her eyes widened when she saw him sprint forwards.

'Don't!' She thought internally. He was a newbie, and she was unsure whether or not he would survive this confrontation. However, her fears were unproven when the blond threw the dirt in his hand, effectively blinding the opponent before him temporarily.

But that's when things went strange. He was suddenly much faster than before, sliding on the ground in a quick semi-circle, appearing behind the opponent in the blink of an eye. That speed was completely separate from the speed at which he was fleeing before. However, that one explosive burst of movement seemed to have exhausted him. Luckily, she was there in time and prevented his death by stopping the other two.

At least, that's what she thought. When he said those three couldn't kill him, she actually thought about it. 'Maybe he's speaking the truth. Or is he just bragging?'

XShuyaX

(Flashback End)

"Damn it, Naruto! Stop taking soup from the stove! That's not just test-checking the flavor!" Tatsumi ordered, clearly irritated. The blond he called out looked up from his bowl and tilted his head.

"Okay. Then how do I taste check it?" he asked. The cook for the night gave the blond an extremely small cup and an even smaller spoon.

"Use these," he told the blond. When he turned around, he was muttering to himself something about dumb blondes. Naruto seemed to pick up on it, since his facial expression changed and he increased the frequency of his 'taste-checking'. Akame just watched silently when Tatsumi began to yell at the blond. She wouldn't say anything about it; she didn't need any attention to herself as she took another bite of the chicken that he cooked.

Silently eat it. Silently.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Next Morning)

"So…is there a reason why we're going up this mountain?" Tatsumi huffed out, clearly out of breath. The large basket on his back was not making things any easier at the moment. He looked over to find Naruto, breathing calmly as he lazily climbed upwards, copying Akame's movement perfectly, constantly yawning as he rose to the top.

"We're going to get food," she told him, not even looking down to face him when she responded. The slope had a lot of rocks and roots on the ground, as well as footfalls, so keeping up with Akame was difficult since she had memorized the layout of the land. Not only that, but the slope was steep, requiring all three of them to continuously hike with their knees high.

"That's not all, right? This is also training for the legs, isn't it?" Naruto pointed out, yawning again with his right hand covering his mouth. "Uwah, I don't know why I'm so tired today."

"You should've slept less. Constantly sleeping just makes you even more tired in general. And yes, this is also an exercise for the muscles around the calves and thighs," Akame explained.

"That's fine and all, but we've been walking for nearly an hour. Is this okay?" Tatsumi asked, taking a look around. The moment he turned around, he was exposed to the scenery below that was now visible, and it was breathtaking. Fall was coming, and with the cooling season came a multitude of colors that blended with the trees. Something about the setting struck a chord inside him.

"Nature sure is nice, isn't it?" Naruto said besides him, giving a quiet look of respect to Mother Nature as he silently stared on. Tatsumi just nodded solemnly, still in awe.

"Yeah," he breathed out, enraptured.

"We're here," Akame said a few meters above them, interrupting their landscape-gazing. The two boys turned around and looked up, and before them was a waterfall and small pond of water. Then, the feeling of cool mist hit their heated faces, and the sound of cascading waters and chirping birds reached their ears.

"Woah, there was a waterfall?" Tatsumi shouted, rushing up the last few meters. Naruto followed at a much more sedate pace, slowly placing his basket carefully on the ground when he had reached their destination. "This is a really nice place…but what exactly are we here for?"

"We are here to eliminate the underwater prey," Akame said as she began to remove her shirt. Tatsumi began to shout in surprise and crossed his arms over his eyes when the hem of the shirt was right underneath her breast-line, but it didn't matter. She had a two-piece underneath. "These clothes allow the most underwater mobility. We're here to catch the large river tuna."

"Doesn't being naked allow the most underwater mobility?" Naruto asked. Akame turned to him and shook her head.

"No. The swim suit reduces the surface area of the body and flattens out all curves," she explained. Naruto nodded in understanding as he began to walk towards the edge of the water. Tatsumi deadpanned at the two.

'And they don't say anything about privacy issues?' He thought to himself, finding the two becoming stranger and stranger in his eyes.

Akame dove in headfirst in a beautiful dive, creating almost no splash. A moment later, scores of fish flew into the air and escaped its natural habitat. A few landed inside the basket Akame left at the side. A moment later, her head popped from under the water, her breasts and cleavage somewhat visible from above water.

"Erase your presence and swim along the riverbed. When the prey comes, you strike at that instant," she said, catching her breath only for a moment before speaking again. "This will require everything you have. Can you handle it?"

It only took a moment for Tatsumi to respond to the challenge. He hurriedly began to remove the articles of clothing and gave a thumbs-up and a wide smile as he shouted "Bring it on!" Akame nodded, and then gave a look to Naruto.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Just give me a second." Unlike Tatsumi, who had excitedly jumped into the water and was now trying his best to catch fish, crying loudly every time he failed, the blond was much more under control and subdued. He placed one foot in the water, gauging the temperature, and then slowly went into the water with the floating basket next to him. Akame just stared at him as he went in the water and just lied on his back and floated across the water, humming to himself as he drifted along the surface. Tatsumi continued to groan and shout as he splashed the water.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Night Time)

The members of Night Raid were at the table, contentedly eating their dinner. The normal sounds of chopsticks clinking and plates clattering were heard in the kitchen.

"So…that's why there was so many fish today," Najenda laughed out once she had gotten an idea of the situation. The rest of the group laughed along, while the three who had gone to get the fish were silent. Tatsumi was embarrassed, taking a slow bite from the fish that Naruto had probably gotten. Tatsumi himself had only captured two, while the blond had gotten twenty-seven! It seems that his lack of presence actually made the blond highly useful in this situation.

"Haha. But Tatsumi, weren't you saying "Bring it on" as you undressed?" she asked. When Tatsumi's expression dropped even further, she slammed the table repeatedly in amusement and in the high of her happiness.

"Stop making me feel bad," the boy moaned out, only for his request to be ignored.

"And Naruto got twenty-seven of them! Seriously, you still haven't told us how you did it!" Leone said, turning her attention from the depressed boy to the neutral one who was eating his fish quietly.

"I did nothing," Naruto replied once he had finished chewing the fish in his mouth. Literally, he had done nothing other than drift along the surface of the clear waters and occasionally take a stroke with this right arm to move somewhat faster. Somehow, all of the flying fish had just ended up in his basket. In the end, he had even beat Akame in how much fish one could gather. Then again, that meant it was more difficult for him to carry his basket down the mountain.

'I'm still too weak! Even Naruto beat me!' Tatsumi thought to himself as he stared at Akame and then at Naruto, both of who were looking at their respective fishes with an inquisitive and composed stare.

"Well, that's enough of that. Leone, tell Tatsumi about the mission." Said boy perked up at the word 'mission'. Naruto, who was not called out, did not seem at all perturbed by the fact he would not be participating in the mission. He already had a feeling he knew what he would be doing for the night and maybe the next few weeks or months, even.

Leone ceased laughing immediately and donned a serious expression, listening to her leader's orders without a question.

"Right. We've received a request from a woman whose fiancé was murdered for something that he was blameless for. And if we accept it, she gave us this," she said, dropping a bag of hefty, precious metals that clinked and jingled with an attention grabbing sound. Every eye went to the bag, and then back to Leone.

"She sold her body," she explained when no one asked the question on everyone's faces. "And she caught a disease." Talk about depressing.

"Did you check her back-story?" Najenda asked, leaning back against the couch as she took a breath from her smoke. The blonde nodded.

"Yeah. It's all true; I made sure to spy for a few minutes," she explained.

'And a few minutes was all I needed to be certain.' Najenda exhaled.

"Alright, Night Raid accepts the request! We'll destroy those heinous monsters. But, the issue will be Ogre. He's quite powerful, and the only way to get at him is on his day off. And Akame would be too dangerous to send out, since she's a highly-wanted criminal." A hand slammed down on the table, and everyone turned to the sound. Tatsumi was standing, his right palm flush against the surface of the table.

"Then let me do it! I can handle it!" He exclaimed with determination. The boss and Leone looked at him with smug smirks on their faces.

"Oh? Are you saying you can kill Ogre yourself?" He widened his eyes.

"Not that I can't handle it, but it almost sounds like you want to handle him yourself," Leone stated after Najenda, her smirk rising.

"The way you are right now, you would die." Akame finished it off for the girls. That got Tatsumi ticked; he wanted the girl to acknowledge him as strong.

"I can't let this kind of thing continue. While we are sitting here, there may be other people getting framed. Losing a loved one…no one should have to go through that."

"Alright, you go kill the demon. The mission begins at the break of dawn." Najenda said, ending the talk on the mission. Tatsumi looked over to Akame and smirked.

"You hear that? I'm going to take on Ogre myself!" The red-eyed girl just swiftly turned her head away.

"I don't know where you get this confidence; you're going to die if you remain that way."

"Alright. Tatsumi, Akame, and Leone, you three should go to sleep. You've got the mission tomorrow." The three nodded and went out of the room. Naruto silently watched them go, his eyes trailing them until they went out of the room and out of sight. Once they were out, he refocused his gaze to the remaining members in front of him.

"Let me guess. Training, right?" he asked, one of his eyes raised curiously. Najenda nodded.

"That's right. According to Akame, you're stronger than you look and let off. I heard that you fought against three of the infiltrators and was able to kill one. Not a very impressive report, but Akame said that there was a moment where you moved much faster than a normal human." Naruto inwardly cursed.

'She was not supposed to se that. Well, all they saw was Chi, so not like it's anything bad. It just tires me out a ot faster.'

"And?" Najenda smiled, and then smirked, and then began to chuckle darkly.

"You said you wanted to live, right?" Naruto slowly raised both eyebrows in consternation, not seeing where this was going.

"Yeah/ More than death, of course I want to live." Najenda's chuckle darkened as her dark visage became black with her intention.

"You three, do what you have to do." Sheele, Bulat, and Mine all nodded their heads as one.

"Acknowledged," the three responded. Suddenly, Bulat was in front of Naruto with his Teigu activated. The blond dropped to the ground, now on all fours as the man's spear went directly where his head was a moment before.

"What the hell?!" he screamed. "Are you trying to kill me?" he yelled at Najenda, his eyes wide with surprise. There was no laziness or neutral look on him now as he stared up at Najenda. Bulat was looking down at the blond, the eyes hidden behind the metallic mask. Mine seemed to smile as she pulled out Pumpkin, and Sheele quietly took out her scissors.

"You said you wanted to live, right? Then live. After all, if you die, then you were never qualified for the assassin life." Naruto didn't have time to respond; he shot up off the ground horizontally and flew high into the air; Sheele's scissors went right underneath his stomach and face as he flipped backwards. "And if you survive this for an hour, we have spars and a dodging routine waiting for you afterwards!"

Naruto began to cry. He wouldn't get sleep that night.

That night, the forest was filled with screams of terror and trees falling from explosions and powerful impacts or cuts. Najenda watched with an attentive eye, and it narrowed when she saw Naruto dodge a bullet that was coming at his blind spot; he had absolutely no vision of the bullet, and the sound shouldn't have reached him in time.

It was simple intuition.

And her speculative eye narrowed once more when the blond seemed to, for a moment, go at an inhuman speed and blur from vision for a half-a-second, only to reappear nearly ten feet away from where he had disappeared from.

Najenda took a puff, clearly intrigued, but confused as well because she couldn't come up with any explanations from her observations.

"Akame was right, huh? But that brings up the question: what the hell was he doing against the three infiltrators, then?" Mine fired another bullet, holding her stance for a few seconds before removing her eye from the scope.

"Who knows? But why can't I hit him?!" she shouted, getting angrier and angrier every time she missed him by a centimeter. "I'm supposed to be able to easily snipe him!"

"It's alright, Mine. We actually want him alive. Besides, if you want to see him hurt, I'm just letting you know right now that I'm sparring with him if he survives for the next forty-five minutes." Najenda and Mine both grinned for different reasons; Najenda would get to beat up the blond, and Mine would get to see Naruto get shit on.

For some reason, Naruto felt a chill run down his spine as he ducked under Bulat's punch, which tore straight through the trunk of a large tree.

"This is going to be a long night," he muttered as he began to run again.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Dawn)

"For Kami's sake, let me sleep!" Naruto groaned out, his eyes drooping and closing at random times as he forced himself to stay standing and in a fighting position. He had survived the night, and morning had come. The sun would come up anytime now, but the members of Night Raid didn't seem like they were going to let him go anytime soon. Well, if that was the case, he would collapse soon anyway. Standing was a battle for him at the moment; the weights on his body were not making things any easier. Neither were the visible bruises all over his beat-up body.

"You're not going to sleep until you match our requirements. If you even think of collapsing on us again, Mine will riddle you with bullets," Najenda stated, taking a puff from her smoke before she bent into her stance. Naruto slowly slid into his, dragging his boots against the dirt ground.

"And I'll enjoy it immensely," Mine commented from the side. Naruto just grunted in response; he was way too damn tired to make a quip or retort. She had already taken a few shots at him every time he had made a quip on how he wanted to be lazy or go to sleep.

"You really expect me to last a minute against you? I was barely lasting a second when we first started!" Naruto exclaimed, his dull blue eyes boring into the experienced woman in front of him. "And you want me to do it with weights?" He continued in a disbelieving and extremely lethargic tone.

"For the eighty-seventh time, yes. Yes, I expect you to be able to do it!" she shouted back, suddenly darting in towards him. Naruto sleepily ducked under a punch and spun on his feet, quickly and suddenly retaliating with a spinning kick with a burst of energy. Najenda bent backwards so that the kick would go right past her face, but she didn't expect for the kick to suddenly stop and return towards her.

"Oh?" she let out a surprised expression. "You're learning quickly." Naruto lifted both legs and was now on his hands, spinning his body. Najenda had no problem dodging and weaving her way through the randomly angled kicks, but she was impressed, as were the other members. To think that the blond was coming up with all of these moves on the spot was highly admirable; at night, when they had first began sparring, Naruto was constantly on the defensive and was down in just a few seconds. Now, he was able to retaliate somewhat, and this was only after a few hours. Then again, Najenda was going easy on the blond.

"Do you think he'll last a minute this time?" Bulat asked from the sidelines, sitting on a rock beside Sheele. She was reading another book, How to not be an Airhead Ver. 2.

"I doubt it. Last time, he lasted only thirteen seconds. It would probably take him another four days to end up at a minute, and considering his condition, he will collapse before that time is reached," she replied analytically, more interested in the piece of literature in her hands. The spear-wielder sighed; the longer Naruto took, the longer everyone would have to stay awake. Only Mine was actually wide awake; the girl was waiting for her chance to just shoot the blond to tomorrow.

Naruto panted, his tired arms barely rising in time to block a heavy cross from Najenda. He winced from the crushing impact, but the weights were actually helpful in this case; he would use the metal weights to protect himself against bone-breaking attacks. The blond bent his back to dodge a high roundhouse kick. Najenda's dangerous foot whiffed right over the blond's nose. The blond began to move up from his position, but the leg was moving backwards, a move that was copied just moments before.

'Shit!' the blond thought. There would be no escape at this moment. The blond closed his eyes in anticipation of the impact…but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes tiredly and squinted his eyes at the woman in front of him, who had her arms crossed.

"I've been waiting for you to start going at this seriously for an hour, but I'm losing patience." Naruto didn't even raise his eyebrows; that would take too much effort at the moment.

"What…are you talking about?" he slowly breathed out, taking his time to catch his breath and let his muscles to relax. Najenda narrowed her eyes seriously.

"You thought I wouldn't see it? Well, sorry to disappoint, but we all saw it." The blond didn't change his facial expression and continued to inhale and exhale slowly. "There were moments when you moved faster than the normal human, or more properly, faster than a normal human should be able to move."

"Adrenaline," the blond tried to reason.

"No, that was not adrenaline. Adrenaline wouldn't make a person be able to move over ten feet in a random direction in a half second, would it?" she asked rhetorically.

"It's possible," he tried to argue. The longer he kept the conversation going, the longer he would get a rest. Najenda, however, seemed tired to the blond's attitude.

"Enough. Either you get serious now, or I'll have you continue this until you can last a minute against any of the members." The blond seemed to stop breathing from that. "And each member will have a specific time placed on them, and every one of them will be longer than a minute." Now Naruto just seemed to be crying.

"Damn, that's just unfair. With these weights, it's impossible to move around! What is this? Eighty kilograms altogether?" he asked, lifting his right hand and pointing at his body to emphasis the metal bands clamped on his body.

"Only twenty kilograms. You're just getting tired," she quickly replied. Naruto grumbled.

"Then what about them? Did every one of them last over a minute?" the blond asked, pointing specifically at Mine. The girl took offense, but she remained silent when Najenda raised her hand.

"Yes. Every one of them."

"What about Tatsumi?"

"He's different. He's had training and has fought before. You have no training at all." Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"I have no training? I guess that's true." He had run away from his clan at a young age, preventing him from getting any training. Why? He couldn't quite remember, but he felt that it was for an important reason. Strange…something always barred his thoughts from remembering why he ran from his clan.

"Yes. You have no training whatsoever. So-"

"So, isn't what you're asking from me too much? I mean, I have no training, so how am I supposed to last a minute against you, the strongest of Night Raid?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing even further. Najenda frowned.

"I never said I was the strongest."

"You did. You said that I would have to last longer than a minute against the rest of the Night Raid, but only a minute against you. Don't you think you're saying you're saying that the rest of the members?" The woman remained silent, and Naruto waited quietly for his answer. However, instead of receiving a verbal response, the woman suddenly dashed towards him. The blond jumped to the side and rolled, only turning back once he was certain he was safe.

"Break's over," the woman stated simply before charging again.

"And he's screwed," Bulat commented, placing a palm on his forehead when he saw the blond fall to Najenda once again. Seriously, the amount of mistakes the blond was making was ridiculous. It made the wanted criminal cringe from the extremely basic mistakes Naruto was making. Well, at least Mine seemed to be enjoying the show.

Naruto was on the floor, panting from exhaustion and sweating profusely.

"That wasn't even six seconds that time. Get up," the leader ordered. The blond didn't respond. His muscles were aching and his body was at its limit. He had never, ever been pushed so hard in his life.

"I'd really prefer not to," the blond replied, still on the floor. That's what he said, but he was struggling to get up, straining his muscles from exertion. He knew that if he didn't get up soon, Mine would get her turn at shooting at him, and a few bullets in his body was something he could live without, thank you very much.

"Oh, what's going on here?" Leone asked, breaking the silence as she entered the training grounds. She quickly eyed the situation and smirked. "Ah, giving the newbie a bit of a rundown of what it's like, huh? Well, good for you, Naruto. How does it feel getting the laziness getting kicked out of you?" she goaded, a sarcastic smile widening quickly. She was flipped the bird. Leone placed her hands over her chest and pretended to be devastated. "Oh, that's not nice. I feel my heart crumbling to pieces."

"Just…shut…hah…up. You're voice…is so damn loud."

"Not a chance, buddy. I'm going to make fun of you until we leave." The blond remained silent for a moment, then he spoke.

"Leader, can we change the stipulation?" Najenda cocked an eyebrow; things were getting interesting.

"Depends on what the requirement is." Naruto remained on the ground, his body against the surface. He breathed in slowly and then said –

"If I can land one clean hit on you, I win." Silence. And then laughter from everyone else.

"You're better off trying to last a minute, blondie," Leone stated laughingly, slapping her thigh from what she thought was Naruto's humor. Oh, but the tired, lazy blond was quiet serious.

"What do you say, Leader?" And that was when all the laughter died down. They realized that the tired blond, who was still laying with his back on the ground, was serious. His expression was neutral; no one could tell what was going through his mind.

"Fine. If you can land one clean hit on me, you succeed." Naruto slowly got up. First, he got into a sitting position, and then placed his hands on his knees as he struggled to get on his feet and even stand up straight. By the time he was on his feet, he was breathing heavily.

"May I take off the weights?" he asked. Najenda just smirked.

"No matter what you do, you won't be able to win. Give it your worst." And this wasn't stated out of cockiness or over-confidence. It was just a truth. She was much, much stronger than the blond.

Naruto removed the weights, clumsily removed the straps and clamps and letting the weights drop to the floor.

'I've been watching her fighting style for a while. First, she'll charge in.' Not a moment after, Najenda burst forwards, suddenly much faster than before. However, the blond dodged to the left, moving at a proportionally faster speed. He turned his head over his shoulder to check on his opponent.

'Next, she'll jump into the air or she'll charge again, but she'll definitely come in with a kick. Higher chances make me think it's either a spin kick or a front kick. Roundhouse is definitely out of the question.'

She jumped into the air, one of her legs straight. The blond rolled out of the way, but not before leaving something on the ground where he was just kneeling. Najenda landed and stumbled slightly, losing her balance on her left foot. That was when Naruto charged in.

'And the rest from here is simple intuition and guessing. I've never gone this far. It's all or nothing!' The blond's legs began to burn from strain and overuse as he sped up, closing the ten foot gap in a single, powerful stride. He raised his arm and cocked his right fist back, and then let it explode forwards as he flexed. However, he was stopped with a single palm.

"That it?" Najenda asked in a bored tone as she breathed out smoke. Naruto smirked.

'Not quite.' He was still in the air, so he tried to kick with his right leg at her stomach, but that was stopped by her left shin quite handily. But he didn't give in, and with his remaining strength, Naruto threw his left arm forward to try and hit her head.

'Her right, metal arm shouldn't be able to be fast enough when we're this close. I noticed that her right arm is slightly slower than her left arm is in reacting to attacks, so this should be it!' Right when his left fist closed in on her face…she tilted her head, letting the fist fly through. Naruto widened his eyes and felt his chances drop to the ground.

'Screw it!' However, he wanted his damn sleep! Instinctively, he wrapped his left arm around her neck and flexed his abs as he moved his whole body forward, meeting her forehead with his forehead in a powerful headbutt.

Blood dripped on the ground, splattering on the surface of the standing ground. The rest of the members were in silent shock, watching quietly as the leader's forehead dripped her blood. The blond's forehead seemed fine, however. He slowly loosened his grip. The moment his locked fingers lost their hold, he dropped and collapsed to the ground, eyes closed and unconscious.

Everyone stared at the unconscious blond, who was now quietly breathing, completely relaxed against the ground. Najenda let her forehead continue to drip blood, the red liquid going down her forehead and cheekbones and dribbling off her chin.

"That…you were going easy on him, right?" Leone asked, chuckling without any humor as she constantly shifted her gaze from her leader and the blond on the floor. The white-haired woman nodded slowly.

"But it doesn't matter that I went easy on him. He had no training; throughout the hours, he constantly improved at an absurd rate. That headbutt was really unexpected, though. Who would've thought…well, I guess it counts." Finally, the woman began to move, walking towards the inside of the base. "One of you guys take care of him. I'm going to clean myself up."

When Najenda disappeared, Akame suddenly appeared and grabbed Naruto from the floor.

"I told you. He's dangerous."

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Next Day)

"Oh man…why does my body ache so much?" Receiving no answer, the blond groaned when his muscles tried to make him stop rising from his futon, but that wasn't stopping him. He sat up and looked around and saw something interesting. Sheele was sleeping on his bed. Deciding that this was not her room and that she needed to wake up, he sat and tried to arouse her from her sleep by shaking her shoulder.

"Sheele," he yawned, "wake up." The girl woke up immediately, although very sleepily. She rubbed the undersides of her eyes without touching her glasses, and then she yawned as she sat up.

"Ah, I apologize for sleeping on your bed. I was waiting for you to wake up and accidently fell asleep," she apologized sincerely, her usual visage of neutrality gone and replaced with a lack of composure he had never seen in the girl.

"Um…it's okay. What time is it?" he asked. Sheele looked out the window for a moment, and then she suddenly jumped out of bed an grabbed Naruto's wrist to pull him out of the room. "Hey, what's going on?"

"We were supposed to wake up three hours ago and begin your training!"

"Huh? Training?" Naruto asked, bewildered. There would be no breaks?

'Well, at least she gave me another three hours to sleep. I'll give her my silent thanks for that.'

Once they were outside and at their training grounds, which was apparently a small pond with a waterfall, Sheele sat down on a rock with weights on it. She threw the metal bands at Naruto, who caught one of them and then jumped out of the way to dodge the rest.

"Put those on, and then do one set of three-hundred push-ups, two-hundred sit-ups, one-hundred tuck jumps in the water, five-hundred jumping jacks, and fifty-sprints from one end of the pond and back to here. That will be one set; you're doing ten of those today," she ordered seriously. Naruto blanched at the routine. "And you won't run," she warned, threatening and getting her point across as she pulled out her Teigu.

Naruto began the routine immediately. He had gotten a few cuts from that specific scissor, and it hurt! When he began his set, it was all silence at first; he was struggling with the workout, and Sheele was silently reading her choice of book today. However, she suddenly began to speak. At first, it was on random details, such as the Capital's plight or the misfortune of some families, and she would change the subject every now and then.

Naruto, who was panting with air, didn't even respond. However, he was slowly lulled by her voice and the mix of words entering his ear, and his body didn't feel as tired as before. Struggling he may have been, but the mind makes a big difference.

And that was when Naruto decided that he would train with Sheele.

And the days passed slowly, and yet quickly. Naruto found himself actually willing to talk and not be completely lazy when he was around the girl, and before he knew it, he was actually looking forward to being in company with her. She was…interesting, and he wanted to understand her completely. Opposites attract, in a way.

(Time Skip: Two Weeks Later)

"Akame, find him," Najenda groaned out. This was a daily routine, but it was still grating on her nerves, especially now that it was becoming extremely difficult to find the blond. Ever since the first night and day that they had begun to train him, the blond had been trying to shirk off the training by hiding. Of course, he would get found out quite quickly, and due punishment was given quite quickly, mainly by Mine. However, Leone kept giving him taunting tips whenever she found him.

Day 1: "Geez, you shouldn't hide in such an obvious spot."

Day 4: "Are you kidding? This place is one of the first places I would've checked."

Day 6: "Huh, this was kind of better. Why don't you try going to a place we would usually go into, but a certain corner that we wouldn't think about."

Day 8: "I'm surprised you actually listened to me? Wow. But then again, this time took an hour…kind of pisses me off."

Day 10: "Damn it, Naruto! You made me use my Teigu to smell you out!"

Day 12: "…I can't smell him."

So, Najenda stopped having Leone search for the blond and had Akame look for him. After all, if the Lionelle user didn't give him tips on how to hide, none of this crap called Hide-and-Seek would never have happened.

"Roger, Leader!" the red-eyed girl said before disappearing into the corridors of the base. Najenda sighed. Things have been going pretty well. Tatsumi was showing a lot of promise as he improved tremendously over the two weeks by just fighting opponents and watching his teammates fights. And he was getting stronger, both physically and mentally. He was a genius, in a way, but also extremely hard working.

And then there was Naruto, who was still trying to shirk off training and hide the whole day. But if Tatsumi was a genius, then Naruto had to be something greater. His learning curve was something she had never seen in all of her years in war or in the revolutionary army. And the blond's unpredictability was on a whole different level; he would never use the same move twice, even if he was forced into the same situation multiple times. Instead, he would analyze based on previous maneuvers which action was best to proceed with, and then act. And that was after considering how this action would affect his opponent mentally, keeping the person guessing what the blond would do next.

And this was all instinctual.

He had to have at least a few dozen thoughts running through his mind unconsciously on what would happen next in the battle every second, and his body would respond with the best option.

Najenda placed a hand on her cheek and leaned against the palm, and then sighed. If only the blond was not lazy…then he would grow to be an absolute monster. Oh, if some miracle happened and changed him. If only.

But things were looking up for Night Raid. Tatsumi had taken care of Ogre, and Akame paired up with Tatsumi took care of Zank the Beheader. After that, Tatsumi had gone all around the place with the members, becoming something like a regular as he consistently performed his best and survived through the missions. Even pairing up with Mine and winning against an assistant of the master of Martial Arts was an amazing feat for a greenie.

And during all of this, Naruto was either training, sleeping, or eating. Or just hiding, but he was found sleeping every time they eventually found him, so hiding was put under the category of sleeping. Speaking of hiding…Akame was back with a very discontent Naruto dragging against the floor. When she was close enough, she dropped the blond and took a step back.

"Mission accomplished. I have found the slacker." Najenda thanked her, and Akame nodded her head silently.

"Did you really have to find me so quickly? Leader, I want Leone to find me again, not Akame. I don't understand how she finds me so quickly," the blond pouted, sad that he didn't get as much sleep and that he would actually have to train.

"Now I can't tell you that. Only she knows, and either way, it's a secret." Naruto crossed his arms as he sat crossed-legged on the carpet beneath him.

"Fine. But Sheele is training me again today." Najenda accepted this; for some reason, the blond seemed the most willing to work and train under the "airhead". And also, for some strange reason, Naruto found Sheele the most relatable and became the closest to that girl specifically.

"Fine. Go today. At the end, we're having the normal routine." Naruto just grunted before walking away. The 'normal routine' was another spar, and the opponent was chosen at random. So far, he had fought against every member…and had gotten his assed handed to him very properly. On a nice, shining, silver plate with a nice, sizzling burn.

"Leader. Are you still bothered by his attitude?" Akame asked when she saw Najenda drop her shoulders a nuance the moment the blond disappeared from sight.

"Well…" she began, leaning back against her chair and crossing her right leg over the other leg. "he's not as lazy, but he's still remarkably unwilling to even train."

"What do you think it will take to actually make him train? I have already used the ramen trick three times. What next?" Najenda sighed.

"I really don't know."

XShuyaX

(Location: Riverside)

"Oh, is that Naruto and Sheele coming over here?" Bulat said, peering and refocusing his eyes under his cupped han shading his eyes. Tatsumi looked over, shirtless and already sweating in the morning.

"Looks like them. Wonder what they're up to," he said ponderingly, restarting his workout. Bulat laughed loudly, his hands on his hips. This warranted some attention from Tatsumi, bu the boy didn't stop his push-ups.

"It's strange, really. Naruto really dislikes training, and these past two weeks, he's been doing everything he could to get out of it, but he'll somewhat willingly do it if Sheele is his instructor." Tatsumi raised an eyebrow.

"Why? I thought her workouts were just as hard as yours and everyone else's." Bulat nodded his head on that assessment and inquiry.

"They are. But you know, the instructor makes a big difference. You and I have a pretty good relationship, so you don't mind working with me. Naruto has the best relationship with Sheele, so he doesn't mind working as much with her as he would with – let's say, Najenda." Tatsumi stopped his exercises and sat on the ground, now looking at his brother figure, who was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest, with a curious expression.

"That doesn't sound like Naruto. I thought he would be too lazy to even want to train. Why does he even like Sheele in the first place?" Bulat looked over that the two figures; they were now crossing over the river.

"I'm not sure, really. However, I have a feeling it's because they are similar…or Sheele is just someone Naruto instinctively came to like. It's really hard to dislike her, even after meeting her and understanding she's an airhead. That may be another reason, too. The fact she's an airhead at times and the fact Naruto is lazy may just make them compatible!" Bulat said, as if he had a sudden epiphany. Tatsumi just stared…and then shook his head in denial.

'I think he should just stick with spears. I don't see how laziness and lack of common sense go hand in hand. Although, I did enjoy training under her for a while.'

"Naruto," Sheele spoke from the other side of the two boys. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but the more you have trained, the more you have been slowly falling into a style of fighting. There's no real pattern from what I can tell, but you seem to respond in certain ways that can deem it a style." The blond looked over at Sheele.

"No, I didn't notice. I was just trying to survive." The girl nodded neutrally, expecting that kind of answer.

"Well, we'll see what happens when you continue to train." They stayed silent for a time. Only the sounds of the forest and their boots crackling against the chilly earth were heard.

"Hey, I'm just wondering. Why do you deal with Mine? She just seems…" Sheele raised her eyebrows.

"Rude? Mean? A bitch?" Naruto sunk his head into the collar of his jacket. He wasn't going to say 'bitch', but he was thinking it. "Well…it's because she's very different when you actually know her. Naruto, you know me, right?" That received an affirmation. "You know I may make blunders some – all the time, but you like me despite that. Mine is the same, except she makes blunders in social life."

"But my question is why do you always partner up with her whenever there's a mission?" he asked. Because of Sheele partnering with Mine every mission – from what he could tell from his few weeks of stay – he would be forced to go with Mine if he was allowed to tag along. And so far, he didn't like the pink-haired girl. Gave him a weird vibe…maybe some ancestor or in a parallel universe, another Naruto was getting mistreated by a girl with pink hair.

"Because I feel like I need to protect her?" That threw Naruto into a loop.

"You're an assassin," he said.

"I am. But you see, at any time, we assassins can die, and we'll disappear, never to be remembered. And we die early; only few assassins actually live to the end of their days. I want to help protect each of the members to become that small percentage, and I feel that Mine needs the most backup, so I partner up with her." The blond was still confused.

"You do it…to protect her? What if you die protecting her?" he asked, bringing in a hypothetical situation.

"Naruto, I fought to protect my friend and was shunned because of it, but fighting is all I can do properly. If I can fight to protect, and be loved for it, I would willingly give my life. Protecting, Naruto, makes someone very strong, and at times, desperate. And desperation can make someone powerful as well," she finished right when they reached their training location for the day: another pond with a waterfall.

"The usual?" Naruto asked, breaking from the previous conversation and into the training. However, her words were still in his head. He couldn't really fathom why she would willingly give her life. Her ideals and his ideals were just so contradictory that it just didn't make sense to Naruto, although Sheele was willing to try and understand his.

"Yes. Don't forget to put on the weights," she reminded him, throwing five circular weights on the floor. The blond made a low, guttural sound in irritation at the heavy weights, but he didn't make any other complaint as he placed them on his arms, legs, and chest. "But don't go too hard. We have a mission tonight." Naruto perked up at that, but he didn't look up or stop placing the weights on specific parts of his body.

"What are the details?" he asked in a business-like tone. At least this would mean he wouldn't have to do the spar for tonight.

"There's a man named Chibul…"

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Night time)

"This has to be the best job ever for an assassin. Just sitting on a tree and keeping watch. Only thing I have to do is make sure I don't fall asleep," Naruto said to himself as he lazily turned his head to scout his surroundings once every half minute. Convincing himself that nothing was out of order, he went back to staring at the building that Mine and Sheele were performing their assassination mission.

Sheele. She was interesting…and for some reason, he genuinely liked her as a person. Not like he didn't like the members of Night Raid, the group of misfits that they were, but he found Sheele the most comfortable person to be with. Leone was friendly, but she was too talkative and personal. Akame was too…out of character for him, for lack of a better way to describe her. And Mine…he'd rather not even start on her. And let's not forget that Bulat is gay and that Najenda kicked his ass multiple times on the training grounds.

So maybe his feelings on Sheele were natural, since she was the only one that didn't completely kick his ass when they sparred. Oh, she destroyed him easily, but she didn't rub it in nor did she remain completely stoic or force him to stand up again. She would wait, and sometimes even help him up and patch his bruises until he was ready to spar. One time, she even let him stop sparring and made him train his body instead, which was much better in his opinion. Tried and bruised or just simply tired. Quite the easy option if you asked Naruto…actually, being tired in generally was something that he would say 'Kami forbid', but presented with those two options, his choice was quick.

But Sheele was someone he definitely liked as a person. She was kind, constantly willing to reply and respond in like, and was always there for him when he needed her for the past two weeks. And two weeks was enough for him to get his first impression on her, and that impression was enough to say that he wanted to become friends with her. Maybe he should ask her if she wanted ramen; he hadn't shared with anyone other than Akame personally, but that was because girl kept waking up whenever he cooked his favorite meal at nighttime.

Suddenly, two figures stealthily ran out of the building, running along the shadows until they were safe in the forest.

"The night is dark," he called out to the two figures.

"But darkness is our protector," one of the two figures responded, which he figured was Sheele. He smiled. Looks like it was another mission accomplished with no casualties. Seriously, were assassins like them just invincible? He didn't see any of them dying any time soon.

The three began to make a quick pace out of the foreign area, running along the dim light of the autumn moon. They were safe and out of the radius of any followers.

"So, how was it?" Naruto asked, showing interest in the report they would give later to Najenda.

"There were a lot of defenses and protective guards around the area, but it wasn't too much of a challenge overall," Mine replied haughtily. Naruto just droned her out and waited for Sheele, but she just responded, agreeing with the other girl's assessment of the mission.

"That's it?" he asked. Before he got a response, the two girls seemed to suddenly flinch. As one, the three jumped away; the two girls heard someone jump off a tree towards them, and Naruto jumped away on pure instinct. A moment later, cascades of earth crashed upwards from the ground, showing inhuman strength in whatever hit the ground. Plumes of smoke and debris rose into the field of vision, preventing the three from seeing what caused the crater in the earth. As the night wind cleared out the particles in the air, what was exposed was a girl in imperial guard protocol armor. She had two long pig-tails, was of decent height, and actually quite pretty.

"So…it was the right decision to wait out the night and see if you were coming…Night Raiders." All three of their eyes narrowed at that statement. The girl seemed to reek of unnatural bloodlust, if feeling in the air gave them a clue. "Sheele…and two other Night Raiders that I don't know about…what a catch I've found today!" she screamed, laughing maniacally. "Justice will be served today against you evil-doers!"

"Who said we would die? It's three on one." Mine pointed out. The girl seemed to smirk at that.

"Oh, don't worry about numbers. With God smiling down on me, he'll lead me to victory!" she retorted. An unspoken message went through those words.

'I'll kill you all…here and now!' Mine took that message and decided to refute it by quickly lifting her gun and shooting it. However, her bullets seemed to be stopped by a large…what the hell was that thing? A biological Teigu? While the three were staring at the girl, she suddenly brought out two guns in a flash and began shooting relentlessly and unsparingly with her bullets.

"Out of the way!" Sheele ordered, and the other two complied, jumping in opposite directions.

"Koro. Prey!" the biological Teigu responded, suddenly becoming like a predator as it charged forwards at Sheele. The girl stared at it as if it were just some other insignificant. She took a moment to look behind her and give the blond a message.

"Stay back, Naruto. This is a battle between Teigu. One of us will definitely die today." She then turned around, but not before catching Naruto's completely shocked expression. Someone would die again…he grimaced. He would make damn sure it wasn't Sheele. But something about this situation felt déjà vu to him.

"Stay back, Naruto. Your mother and father will take care of this." Flashes and images of two people he didn't recognize appeared in his mind. Pain sensors on his brain began to pulse and explode, sending transmissions and receptors throughout his mind one message: brutal pain. He fell to the ground on his knees, gripping his hair in locks.

'What's…happening?' More images flashed into his mind, but he didn't remember any of these events. They were memories that his brain had locked away, hopefully never to be remembered again. However, this situation was so similar to something in his forgotten past that he just felt it was the same.

Naruto shot one eye open barely, only to see Sheele cut down the airborne Teigu. Koro fell to the ground…but it wasn't dead.

"Sheele! It's still moving!" he yelled out through grit teeth, barely even able to get that out as he jumped away from Koro, who slammed its fist onto the ground where he was just kneeling a tenth of a second before. However, the power from the slam made an air wave, and Naruto flew backwards, losing his balance in the air, crashing against a tree.

"Naruto!" Sheele shouted, worry showing on her face. She turned her attention from the downed blond to the monster that had forced him against a tree. "Right, you regenerate." Before she could slash it, it was blown away by Mine's Pumpkin.

"Sheele, we have to target its core, although we don't know where it is." Mine told her partner, giving a quick glance to the blond behind her. He was down, but he wasn't unconscious. He seemed to be in pain, but not from slamming against a tree…something in his head was bothering him. Both of the girls grit their teeth; fighting while protecting Naruto would be hard as hell.

"We could also target the wielder," Sheele pointed out. However, it seemed like she wouldn't get a chance to go in on that plan, because Koro, at that moment, charged in with another change to its physical appearance.

"Koro: Arms!" Its arms were much larger and its physical stature spoke of much more physical prowess. Sheele moved forwards and blocked the heavy rain of blows, although the strikes were heavy and were taxing on her arms immensely. A few seconds passed, and a shrill whistle pierced the area. Mine smirked.

"Forced under attack and in danger of getting caught by back-up…this is a pinch!" Mine jumped into the air and shot at the large Biological Teigu. Naruto, who opened his eyes for a moment, screamed internally, since his mouth didn't seem to be working. Chills ran down his spine. He called for his legs to move so that he could stand up, but they wouldn't respond. He wanted to scream, but his vocal chords wouldn't shake. What the hell was going on?

'You should've shot at the girl, you dumbass!' Naruto wanted to scream, but the words just wouldn't come out. Painful. He grimaced as more memories began to unchain itself from its lock. Was that what was preventing him from using any bodily functions? He wasn't sure, but his eyes closed again in a grimace, and he let himself fall into the lost memories and pain.

XShuyaX

(Memories)

"Naruto, time to get up!" Said boy groaned as he blinked his eyes blearily; the sun was sun a bother every morning. Why did it always have to flash into his eyes when he awoke.

"Breakfast is ready!" Another voice called out; that was feminine. He looked around, and then slowly got up, a large smile on his face.

"Coming, Kaa-san, Tou-san!"

"Today, I'm going to teach you how to fight!" the blond's father said. A somewhat older, but still very young Naruto grinned and yelled in triumph, jumping into the air in joy.

"Yes! I'm totally going to kick ass! I'm going to beat everyone in this clan, yeah!" Minato grinned at his son…but both of their smiles disappeared when Kushina suddenly walked out of their family hut, a knife in her hand.

"Naruto, where did you learn to curse?" Both blonds began to back away from the red-haired beauty.

"Ah…Tou-san, what should I do?" The child gave the father a glance from the corner of his eyes as he nervously chuckled, not exactly what to say to his mother, who was drawing closer and closer.

"I think running would be a good idea at the moment. What do you think, Naruto?"

"I think that sounds great." The two blitzed away…except the five-year old Naruto was caught quite easily.

"Hey, why do we always get the worst of the loot and the food?" Naruto asked when the said items were distributed amongst the clansmen. Kushina bent down and gave Naruto a hug and lifted the boy so that the child was staring straight into her eyes.

"Well, it's because we're on the bottom of the clan, Naruto." This confused the child greatly. The small boy raised his eyebrows...or at least he tried to. All he managed to do was widen his eyes. Oh, her son was just too cute!

"But, I thought you two are really strong."

"Strength doesn't mean everything, my little one." Kushina explained cryptically with a smile, giving the cute blond a poke on the nose. Minato smiled; they may have been in the bottom of the clan, but they were the happiest of the bunch.

"Naruto, run!" The frightened boy stood still, terrified at the sight before him. His whole clan was dead, and his father was out there fighting. "Stay back!" The whole complex of huts were aflame, and men were shouting and some women were screaming in pain.

"Mom, no!" he shouted, not wanting to run. Suddenly, his father appeared next to the two. Naruto gave his father a hopeful grin, but Minato was all business. Kushina gave him just one look, and the underlying message was sent. They wouldn't survive…so they would do their absolute best to at least let their child survive through this day.

"Naruto," Minato began, bending on his knees. He pulled out a beautiful, blue crystal that was tied to a chord. He placed it on his son's neck, and tears slowly began to grow on the edges of his eyes. "Naruto, my child. I hope you become someone great, and I want you to be a man strong enough so that he can protect his people. Someone stronger than us two, do you understand me?"

Naruto didn't understand why his father was speaking in such a way, as if he would die; at least they could all run away together and be a family. So he just smiled and gave a nod.

"Of course! I'll become the strongest!" When he said that, he felt something…ignite in his body. What was that feeling? His smile faltered for a second, but it was back in a flash.

"Sochi-kun. My little one…Naruto, I want you to eat healthy, and not ramen all the time. Find a good woman and-"

"Kushina-chan, he's five years old."

"-and make sure to have lots of kids. Okay? And never fall into revenge, okay?" The young boy nodded and grinned even wider.

"Of course! I'll do it, kaa-san!" Both of his parents thanked him and patted one of his shoulders before they both stood up and turned around. Before they were out of hearing range, Naruto heard the last words he would ever hear from his parents.

"The leader…he's dead, isn't he?" Kushina asked, despite knowing the answer. Minato stayed silent a moment, and then replied slowly.

"I had no compatibility with it, so I can only hope our son can use it to its maximum potential. But that's only if he survives this day and they miss him."

And the two disappeared, and the last thing he saw of his parents were their large backs...that is, alive.

"Tou-san…Kaa-san…why are you two sleeping with red liquid on your body?" The small boy took his short steps to his fallen parents, whose eyes were both closed.

"Hey, wake up. It's not sani…sanitary to sleep on the dirt and you'll catch a cold if you stay in the snow." The boy coughed; the ashes and smoke were messing with his respiratory system. "See, I'm already getting sick. Wake up." He shook both of his parents on the shoulder, his small hands grasping desperately onto their shoulders as he shook them, a hopeful smile on his face. He found his parents, and they could be a family now. "Wake up." His smile slowly dropped as he continued to shake them, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Wake up. Wake up. Please, WAKE UP!" He screamed at them in a broken, high-pitched voice, cracking from the tears and emotions building up from his very core. He looked around for help; everyone around him was on the floor, with red liquid pouring out of their bodies. And Naruto realized…they weren't sleeping. They were gone. Forever, and never to return to the land of the living.

Dead.

So Naruto cried on his knees, wailing from the loss of the two bright lights of his lives. His greatest and only friends, his teachers, and most importantly, his parents. He would never see them again.

"Oh look, one's alive!" a voice said. Naruto quickly turned to find the source of the sound. Maybe the person could help his parents! There was a man with a large…axe? And blood was dripping on the very edges. Naruto gave the man a hopeful look as he slowly stood up.

"Can..." he tried to sniff in his tears and compose himself, "…can you help my parents?" He was a child, and he was under the naïve idea that big people could do everything. The man stopped, and then laughed.

"Oh sure, kid. I can help them have their child wherever they are, and you'll all be a family together again…in the next life." Naruto's hopeful expression dropped. That wasn't what he was expecting.

"What do you mean…the next life?"

"Aldrec, stop playing with the boy and kill him. We must go on to the next camp; and besides, where is that damn Teigu. There were rumors that this clan had it!" Naruto turned his head, but the face was…faceless. Were his memories playing with him again, blocking it out. Long hair that ran below the person's…a woman's waist, and a skirt.

"Of course, general." The man with the axe bowed and lumbered forwards. Naruto took a step back.

"Wait…oh, is he the son of those two over there? My, they were actually quite strong…they could've been at least Captain Class, and maybe Generals if they joined me, but they were so desperate to save someone. I see, so it was their child. Maybe I should take him."

Naruto heard one thing from the faceless woman in his memories…she's the one that killed his parents. She's the one that made them lie on the snow, dead and bleeding. And she's the one that killed the clan. He would've been happy, even staying in the bottom rung of the clan if he had his parents! He wanted them back! HE WANTED THEM!

"-never fall into revenge, okay?" Naruto wished he had never made that promise to his mother as his fists clenched.

"Oh well, they were at least some fun." Those words hit Naruto like a ton of bricks, and the boy suddenly lost all control of himself. Fun? FUN?! It was fun to kill?!

Analyzing life force…extremely high.

Analyzing strength…moderate.

Analyzing speed…extraordinary for a child of five.

Analyzing will…wants revenge. Has nothing to protect.

Analyzing compatibility…twenty percent. First stage is possible. Engage?

Naruto didn't wait a moment when his body began to change and charge with something overloading him…power. And rage took over.

And everything went black.

XShuyaX

(Location: Clearing)

Naruto quickly shot open his eyes. The memories had finally stopped, but the fight was still going on. However, the moment he opened his eyes, another gruesome sight was exposed to his mind.

Sheele's top portion of her body was separated from her lower, and her blood splattered everywhere on the grass, marring the green earth. Naruto cried out and dashed forwards, but it was too late.

"Ha! Caught you, you bitch! Say your last words! Justice can at least allow that much!" Seryuu screamed triumphantly. Naruto slowly turned his head to the person that had caused his whole mess in the first place. She was laughing, a demented grin that was so twisted and malevolent it would give almost anyone a chill. But Naruto's eyes were dull.

"Naruto, don't." Sheele said, knowing what the blond was thinking.

"Never fall into revenge, okay?"

"We both know that I'm going to die, so there's no point trying to save me either. Mine, Naruto, I want you to run. Okay?"

"No! No! I won't do it!" the other girl yelled back, tears starting to stream down her face. The blond just stared at the severed girl. The girl gave a pleading look to Naruto.

"Naruto, you want to live, right? There are reinforcements coming, and you two won't survive if you stay. Please, run." Silence…and then…

"I won't run." The blond surprised himself with his own words. What the hell was he saying?! But something was strange. Here Sheele was…dying, and for what? To protect him and Mine. For what? To save the capital. For WHAT? So that Night Raid would survive another day, and she willingly gave her life for that. Why the hell was she smiling? WHY?

Everything he thought was in his ideals was challenged at this very moment. To live? No, Sheele chose to die protecting her comrades. Run? No, she stayed. And she told him to never fight for revenge, but to protect. The smile on her face was enough to tell him that she was calm and willing to leave the earth, and not cry about her death and wish the death of her killer.

Sheele continued to smile as she raised her hand stroked the blond's cheek; her blood was going down his face. That simple motion should have been painful. Hell, she should be in absolute agony.

"Now isn't the time to play hero, Naruto. I know you. When I'm gone, you'll train by yourself, right? You'll become friends with everyone else, right? Especially Akame, if you'll listen to me. She needs a friend that can understand her." Naruto felt something warm run down his face. Were those…no, they weren't tears. Those were just drops of salt water. They weren't tears. "Don't take revenge, Naruto. Live to protect. Please, promise me."

Analyzing life force…extraordinarily high.

Mine just remained silent, solemnly staring as the words continued to flow out of the girl's mouth. Koro seemed to be growing impatient, so the pink-haired girl raised her gun and pointed at it.

"Don't you fucking dare! If you touch her one more time, I'll…no, I'm going to obliterate you anyway. As soon as Sheele…goes to sleep, I'll make sure to destroy you," Mine roared. To prove her threat wasn't empty, her gun began to light up, the purple energy building up to a much higher level than when she was normally in a pinch.

"Remember what I said about justice?" Naruto shakily nodded his head.

Analyzing strength…high.

"That…there are people who have their own…sense of justice." Every pause he took, he was holding back hiccups and a breakdown. "And…that they may have a less…than admirable sense of what is right. But they may…think we are strange…with our sense." Sheele closed her eyes peacefully.

"That's right. Don't ever forget, and always try to understand. Hatred comes from not knowing and it breeds only further hatred."

Analyzing speed…very high.

"But…"

"Naruto, I don't have much time. Promise me you'll run and survive to another day. Don't try to take revenge today." Naruto frowned.

"I can't do that." Sheele just opened her eyes and stared at him.

Analyzing will…will to save, protect, and to have revenge.

"Naruto." The teen began to genuinely cry. Mine knew what the words implied. She would stay and use the last of her ability to let them escape.

"I…can't…"

"Naruto."

Analyzing compatibility…fifty-seven percent. Second stage is possible. Engage?

"Fine, I promise! I promise! Just…stop!" he begged, now holding the girl protectively in his arms. What had she done to him, making him actually cry? He had only known her for a few weeks, so why was he crying over her.

Engagement denied.

Sheele just smiled, her head resting against his shoulder. She gave Mine a pained smile, and then closed her eyes.

"Mine, be there for Naruto, please? Now…go." The blond slowly released her and placed her on the floor. The imperial guards were coming into the clearing; a few were already charging after the assassins. Sheele frowned.

"Now, I can't have that. Ecstasy." A bright light filled the clearing, blinding everyone but Mine and Naruto. As soon as the light enveloped the vicinity, the blond turned and ran, grabbing Mine on the way, who was screaming at him to let go. Right before the two disappeared, they both turned to look at her, both with grief shown on their faces.

Sheele let herself fall slack and let herself be content with her last thoughts as darkness consumed her being, just as the light disappeared from her Teigu. At least…in the end, she had been useful, right?

A few hundred meters away, the two members were running as fast as they could.

"Naruto, let me go! I can run by myself!" the blond finally complied. The two were out of the area for certain, so no one should be able to track them. Naruto turned around and looked at Mine, unsurprised to find her gun pointed at him.

"…"

"…DAMN IT!" She fired a bullet, taking out a strand of hair on the blond. She couldn't shoot him. Not when the last thing Sheele asked for was to watch over the blond.

"…" Mine kicked a tree, only to curse from the pain Any more shots would indicate their location to the enemy, and they didn't want that. "Let's go back…we have to report the mission as a failure."

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Midnight)

"So…this is all you get, huh? A stone that has your name on it, a few flowers, and that's it for your funeral." Naruto stared down at the stone quietly. He was in all black clothes with two patches on his face, one on each cheek. He had received two punches, both from Mine. The girl had cursed at him and when he had followed her to her room silently, wanting to apologize personally, without anyone around. The door was slammed in his face.

"I'm sorry, Sheele. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to save you, but I promise that I'll do my best to become stronger and protect everyone. I swear it…on my name as Naruto Uzumaki and someone that promised his parents that he would become someone great." He bent own and went on his right knee. He gave a wry smile.

"I never offered you ramen, huh? I know you said you liked other foods, but I really wanted you to try my favorite ramen. I hope you like miso," he said, placing the steaming bowl of noodles quietly in front of the stone. Tears grew on the edges of his eyes. "Does it taste good?" His voice began to crack from grief and sadness. "I'd hope so. I mean, it is my favorite dish, after all."

A few steps sounded behind him, but Naruto didn't turn around. There was only one person he knew that would wake up at this time of night, and he smelled the food on the person. Akame. The two were silent, and the night chill began to work its way into the blond's skin, but he still didn't move, watching the steam rise from the bowl.

"She…was the kindest out of us." Naruto opened his eyes, tears beginning to roll down his face. No, he didn't need this. He didn't need to cry anymore! She was dead! Gone! But Akame didn't stop. "She was the only one that always tried to help everyone, although she was probably the worst one to take the jobs normally." Naruto began to shake.

'Why the hell did my memories and my body have to shut down then?! No…if I was faster, I would've been able to save her. If only I was faster…stronger. I'm a coward!' He slammed a fist into the grass, struggling with his emotions. What was he supposed to believe? What were his ideals? What should he believe in now?

Akame went on her knees and wrapped her arms awkwardly around the blond. Naruto broke down crying in front of the unimpressive grave for Sheele. She would not be remembered throughout history, because she was an assassin…

Chapter End.

A/N: O.o Okay, when I wrote this, this was not what I was expecting to come out, but I guess this is what happens when you just go with the flow. But damn…I must have issues.

So…tell me what you thought about this chapter! Better than the last one? Worse? Not sure? Something I could've done better? All good, constructive criticism all around, yea! No flames, please! I will put them out by throwing water.

KenzoXShuyita, Peacing Out!