Chapter 8: Remembrance
A/N: It's been…a while. Haha, anyway, what's up, guys! I hope you are all well! You guys can survive the last few days, weeks, or last month of school! I believe in you all!
So I've been busy with lifeguard training, and haven't had much time to myself. In fact, in the last seventy-two hours, I think I had fourteen hours of sleep. Kind of sucks, but hey, you got to do what you got to do.
But I digress…
Information on the Story: Naruto does have the ability to fight extremely well when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, as that is his specialty. However, he is starting to learn how to use kunais, shurikens, and even needles in conjunction with wires and other materials from Lubbock and Chelsea.
Just to give you all an idea of how strong Naruto is at this point in the story, he's still the weakest member of Night Raid in terms of usefulness, but is quickly closing the gap. Depending on how hard he trains, he will improve at an astronomical rate, but he still won't be as strong as the others in Night Raid without a Teigu.
Disclaimer: Same as always
Chapter 8 START
"So, you want me to just roll with this? Because I'm telling you right now, I don't roll. I walk," Naruto told Najenda bluntly before resuming the consumption of his delightful ramen. The white-haired ex-general held in the growing urge to palm her face and shut her eyes out of this specific assassin's idiocracies, but she managed…somehow.
"Naruto, you need to understand that this is necessary," Najenda told him in a forceful tone. She had tried to be as gentle as possible about this, but it wasn't working. She had tried at first when everyone was at the breakfast table, including Air, but the blond hadn't given an inch. In fact, he constantly was questioning things. When she told him that she was going to remove Air from the Capital, he had agreed, but his compliance disappeared the moment she told him that Air was going to be transferred over to the Revolutionary Army.
Air had been at the table the whole time, listening while eating next to Naruto. Everyone had pretended nothing was happening right next to them, but they were all listening carefully and were on full alert. Naruto was acting calm and replying with reasonable responses, but that wasn't what was strange. The weird thing was that there was a bowl of ramen in front of him, steaming with the waft of cooked noodles and well-done meat pervading the air, and he wasn't eating it. This had been the case throughout the whole meal; Naruto would talk with both hands on the table with his fingers interlaced, his eyes trained on Najenda like a hawk. Not once did he break eye contact. Even when everyone had left the table, Air had turned around for a moment and saw that the two were still at it with their staring and arguments.
"I don't understand why this is considered as something necessary. Regardless of what you might think, I think that she is safest under our protection. Night Raid would be the safest place for her by far, as if something were to happen to the Revolutionary Army, it is unlikely they would be able to handle something large despite their numbers, whereas we would be able to come back at the threat with countermeasures with much more ease." Najenda's eyes hardened.
"And what about you, Naruto? Can you handle a threat, such as the rumored Jaegers?"
Naruto's eyes narrowed just a bit. "If the Jaegars came to me, it wouldn't be a question of whether or not I can handle it." He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes hardening until they were chips of ice. Everything about his body language whispered dangerous. A normal person wouldn't recognize the fact that inside his jacket, there were thirty-six kunais and just as many shurikens, just waiting to sink into his enemy.
"The real question would be how I would deal with them after I dealt with the threat."
Najenda leaned back, silent for a moment. Instead of responding, she took her time and pulled out a smoke, deciding it was a good time for another puff. Nothing she was saying was getting through to the idiot. She knew that he was attracted to the pink-haired 'civilian', but those kinds of feelings were dangerous in this line of work, especially when it came to normal people. She had seen a lot in her lifetime, and love in her line of work was something that almost always met a sour end. Saddening as it was, it was true, and would continue to be true until something was done with the Capital first.
"Akame wouldn't be able to take them all on. She would be integral, but she isn't strong enough to deal with every one of the Jaegers at the moment."
"Well, Akame doesn't train as much as the others. In fact, I don' think the others train as much as I do," Naruto countered immediately. The blond trained, but he didn't train as much as Tatsumi, but at least he worked on his set of skills and always tried to improve on certain key points of his fighting style. Basically, he was implying that the girls hardly trained. And if the little smirk on Naruto's grin meant anything, Najenda would be blind to not get the implication.
"There's not much more she can work on, Naruto." The blond stared at her, his smirk completely gone from his lips. Instead, he had a deep-set frown as he looked away from his leader and stared down at the ramen. It was still steaming. He would thank Susanoo later for the meal.
"You know, I think that people only stop improving because they lose drive. There's always something to improve on." He paused, grabbing the pair of chopsticks left on the table for him. "I feel like you're just throwing bad points at me now. Akame doesn't have much to improve on, you said?" Naruto lifted his eyes so that he was looking up to see Najenda from his angle. He split the wooden sticks and began to blow into the bowl of noodles. The blond got a decent amount of noodle into his chopsticks before blowing onto the hot noodles and slurping it in.
Najenda just waited silently, thinking quietly. When Naruto had his fill, he would talk again.
"It's really funny that you said that there's little for her to improve on, and thus you condone the fact that she can train only as much as she does. In our line of work, I heard that many of us die, and not very long into our job, too. You know what I heard Tatsumi say when Bulat died?" Naruto gave a look at Najenda. When she didn't respond, he placed his chopsticks back on the table, his bowl finished already. "If only I was a little stronger… He didn't say anything after that, but I think you get it." Najenda's eye twitched. "And do you know what Mine said? The same. Exact. Thing. And so did I." Naruto closed his eyes, tired of the subject of strength. He was beginning to feel the burning guilt rise up in his chest and spread through his body like embers.
Either way, Najenda had gotten the message.
"So, what do you want to do?"
"I want to sleep, I want silence, and I want peace, but I can't have that, can I? So, what do I do? I train and hope that this corrupt world I live in will change through my actions."
"You think you can change the world, Naruto? Can you even protect Air?" Naruto simply shrugged.
"All I can do is hope. Even if I am a lazy person, at least I admit I am lazy, but I know what needs to be done. There is change needed in this world, and the action to change it needs doing."
"That doesn't answer my original question. Do you think you can change the world?"
Naruto stared at her with a cynical, wry smile on his lips.
"Yes, I can change this world. After all, it's not us or the people that are wrong in this world, but the world itself."
Najenda frowned. "…You've become more cynical, haven't you?" It was posed as a question, but the way she stated it made it more of a declaration of truth.
Naruto's eyes crinkled in humor.
"And as for Air…she'll see the world I create…free as air itself."
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: Three Hours)
"What are you afraid of?"
Naruto turned his head to the voice, but he knew he wouldn't see a person. It was the voice of his conscious, speaking to him, luring him.
"Are you afraid of revealing yourself? To show to people that this is the best that you can do? To tell the ones around you that this is your strength, after everything you can do?"
The blond frowned. "No, I'm not afraid of showing who I am."
"Then are you afraid of pain? Are you scared of what will happen when you are caught, when you are in a dangerous position and are against a stronger opponent? Is it that when that there is nothing left you can do to ensure your life and the lives of those around you, all that is left for you is death?
"…"
Are you afraid of death?"
"No…"
The voice's tone became more demanding. "Are you frightened of living itself, then? Is it so appalling to you to be something more than indifferent and lazy, something beyond a simple soldier? Can you even fathom it?"
Naruto turned around again, staring into the blank space around him that was originally a bright white turn into blackness. His floor was nothing other than the emptiness of space itself. "No, I'm not afraid of living, because I want to live. I'm just lazy because that's my nature."
"…You're nature…indeed, that's your nature, isn't it? To let others die in your place, because you want to live. You choose to become something you don't want to become, because you can't handle the responsibilities that come in your line of professionalism and your lifestyle. You can't handle the requirements of living." The voice became angrier. "You're too scared to die, but you're also to scared to live. That's not living at all! You're wasting life. You are a dregs of society, the worst of the bunch!"
"…" Naruto's head had slowly tilted lower and lower as his conscious berated him, until his eyes had become shadowed by his bangs.
"You say you can help that girl with pink hair, you say that you can change the world – you're so focused on things other than yourself you don't even know who you are! You don't know what you are capable of because you weren't willing to give everything you had in training, despite what you said to whoever that white-haired woman was. You said that 'Akame' could train to improve all the small details of those abilities, and yet you are a hypocrite!"
"…I know."
An oppressive aura suddenly surrounded the whole area of the darkness. There was so much of this brutal quality permeating the very air that Naruto found himself struggling to breath. The darkness around him shifted into twilight, an unhealthy hue of separation of light and darkness splitting the very realm that Naruto was in. He bent over, his hands on his knees as he struggled to look up from the endless ground that fell into nothingness itself.
The voice deepened. "You know?" A condescending was added into the mixture. "You know nothing! As you are, you are the reason why your little team of assassins will die! Fear is self-created, and you can't destroy something you manifested to shut yourself down! Laziness? That's a lie, and you know it! You don't want to do things because you are afraid of 'what ifs'. What if you make a mistake and everyone blames you for it? What if you can't handle the pressure of living the life of a true assassin?"
"…I've already killed others and have shown that I can fit into the groups I have shut down in the Capital."
"And that makes you an assassin? A murderer of important groups for either political or religious reasons? No, you aren't an assassin. You simply kill for a personal reason, and there is no other incentive. Why is it that, then, you told the ex-general that you want to even create a world when there is no incentive?"
"…I just want a world I can be free in."
"A world where 'you' are free…is that the world where everyone is free?" Suddenly, all around Naruto, his vision of the twilight shifted in a blurry phase and collage of people, random landscapes, and the destruction of these places. "The world will end. You know it, and I, which is yourself, know it."
"Some people just want to see the world burn."
"That's not you!" The voice suddenly roared, echoing in the empty space. The blurry images suddenly sharpened, and Naruto widened his eyes as his consciousness showed him one of his greatest fears.
Naruto wasn't afraid of dying. No, death was something he knew that would come eventually, and he accepted it as a fact. It was all a question of time. But what he was scared of…was seeing the extremely few people he had deemed as 'precious' disappear in the most gruesome ways.
Sheele was dead, having gotten chewed in half by the Imperial Arms.
Mine was on the ground, her eyes glossy but obviously dull from a lack of life, as she lay with blood all over her, naked as she was used.
Tatsumi was taken in by Esdeath and lived, but the image showed him standing before multiple gravestones at an older age, a regretful look on his face.
Lubbock was speared through with a long sword, his killer smirking at him as the green-haired teen dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Chelsea's head was stuck on a pole and was placed in the center of one of the more popular squares in the Capital to set an example for what happens to rebellious individuals.
Leone was tortured with her Teigu active to keep her alive barely until her regeneration just couldn't keep up anymore. However, the short clip Naruto saw didn't show her dead, but rather her lifelessly reacting to each torture, barely giving a grunt from the most horrid and painful inflictions.
Air was sent to the Revolutionary Army, and she was just another body placed six feet under, a small stone above her in remembrance. She would not be remembered.
And…Akame was crucified, her body showcased on the town square of the Capital. This image was slowly taking over the rest, as it consumed the whole of Naruto's eyes. He watched with intensely concentrated pupils as someone walked up to her…a woman, he was certain, but she was completely gray. Behind the woman was a procession of soldiers, and in front of Akame was a whole crowd of the people living in the Capital, all cheering madly.
Then…the woman raised her weapon into the sky, spoke incoherently, and stayed still for a few more moments.
Naruto watched silently, his fists unconsciously clenched. Without thinking, he had released all his physical limits on his Chi, his eyes shining a bright blue, constantly pulsing with life as he increased his output.
When the sword began to swing down, Naruto began to scream a terrible cry. Tapping into whatever power he didn't even know he had, he burst forward, flying through the procession and straight at the woman with the rapier.
But he was too slow.
"Ah…ah…" Naruto reached out, floating in midair as Akame's head was severed from the rest of her body, dismembered and cut away from him.
Suddenly, the whole world around the blond froze as Naruto stared at the ground. Droplets of tears hit the imaginary ground…
"And this is what will happen if you are too weak. The corrupt Capital will continue to rule, and your world will disappear, even if you do live on. It's not the world you want to live in, and you will end up living a lie, living in death."
"Give them back…" he whispered. Slowly, he grew in volume. "Give them back." A pressure built up all around the blond, and suddenly, all the images began to warp. The sound of Naruto gritting his teeth became audible enough for it to echo throughout the vicinity, and then he roared. "GIVE THEM BACK!"
The images continued to warp in tandem with the blond's cascading feelings, but they returned to their original end…to everyone's deaths and bad ends.
"I can't…until you are strong enough."
Naruto dropped his head again, staring at the ground once more. He unclenched his fist and then took a deep, shivering breath, as if his very feelings were being iced.
"Fine," he said in a quiet, deathly tone. "Then I'll become strong enough so that no one dies." He promised.
XShuyaX
(Location: Outside Night Raid's Base)
Akame froze as she felt something wrong about the very air around her. Before, she would just have an instinct, or gut feeling as to where the elusive blond usually ran off to. Akame didn't know exactly why, but she felt a connection with the new, but talented recruit. It was strange…but it was what made her have the ability to save him on a few of his missions as he often got into troublesome and fatal situations. And somehow, she would know and jump in and save his life.
But this time, she felt his presence, and it seemed to be mournful, almost to the point of extreme grief.
'What's going on?'
She began to increase her walking pace, slowly got into a jog, and then suddenly sprinted. If Naruto suddenly had a presence, something was wrong. It was the first time she ever felt him actually releasing a presence at all with pressure and some kind of intent, but the intent was tremendous in volume. She didn't think he had enough will to even create something of this magnitude.
"Naruto, what's wrong?" she called out the moment she saw him on the ground in a small clearing of grass and trees. His whole body was relaxed, but the same level of sadness was being exuded.
She knelt down next to him and bent over him so that her face was over his in a curious gaze, staring at him. Why was he sleeping out here, and what could he possibly be doing in his dream to affect the physical reality of the outside?
"Akame…" he called out quietly. She widened her eyes in surprise, not expecting him to suddenly say her name. Then, her eyes widened even more when she saw tears rim the edges of his eyes and slowly curl down his cheeks.
'A nightmare?' She reached to touch his shoulder and tap him awake, but she stopped herself for a moment. A feeling…her gut was telling her he needed this darkness for some reason. He needed this feeling of dread and loss to wake up and be?
So she remained still.
Suddenly, Naruto shot his hand out, reaching as far out as he could, straight up to the sky, as if grasping for something just out of reach. Tears now flowed freely through his closed eyes. His mouth was wide open, silently screaming for someone, mouthing words.
'Bring them back…bring them back…'
His hand was still in the air, twisting and grasping air, trying to hold onto something for a lifeline.
Akame grabbed his searching hand with both of her own and brought it down to her lap.
Naruto suddenly stopped moving, his eyes and mouth frozen, as if something had been revealed to him in his dreams. Something warm and comforting. He relaxed all of his taut muscles and then slowly dropped his back to the ground, which had been raised from reaching out. When he was finally against the ground and fully relaxed again, his breathing slowed until it came to a calm in and out nature. He was sleeping.
She stayed with him the whole time by his side as he slept, watching his tear-stained face with a silent curiosity. Eventually, when she started feeling the drowsiness from Naruto's soporific attitude, she laid down on the ground with one hand by her side, her other hand intertwined with Naruto's in between their bodies against the grass.
And then she fell asleep as well.
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: One Hour)
Naruto blearily opened his eyes and yawned widely, but he remained on the ground. He was still tried and wanted to stay on the ground as long as possible and just relax…until he felt a weight on his chest. Looking down with his curious blue eyes, he saw black hair spread all over his red jacket like a cover, and then a beautiful face sleeping peacefully on his chest. His breath hitched in surprise, but also to not disturb the person he realized that was sleeping and looked so…angelic. It was strange…were assassins supposed to look this content and relaxed?
Naruto continued to fix his eyes on Akame with a strangely melancholic gaze. Suddenly, he heard tussling from the bushes a few meters away and a bit of sniggering. Naruto slowly turned his head and stared, but he didn't see the hidden assassins.
"Can you guys just come out?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence. "I really don't want to disturb her by moving." He carefully dropped back to the ground and wrapped one arm around Akame's waist when he felt her shift slightly too far to the side.
Naruto watched Leone, Lubbock, Mine, and Chelsea all reveal themselves from their hidden spots behind the trees and bushes. Leone and Chelsea were sniggering, while Mine and Lubbock were gaping at the blond with dumbstruck faces.
"How do you do it, Naruto?" Lubbock pleaded, his eyes wide as dinner plates as he staggered closer to the blond. His eyes were filled with a mad look. "I don't understand how she hasn't stabbed you yet, even in her sleep."
"You would know, Lubbock," Leone quipped.
"Yes, he would," Mine agreed. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the blond. "But it is strange how she hasn't killed you yet for even touching her in her sleep."
"That makes it sound so wrong," Naruto pointed out, recognizing that phrase from a book. "And after you guys peeped on us at saw our position, you still think I was the one that touched her?"
"You're holding her waist, and she hasn't slashed you in the jugular, so I guess she doesn't mind. Which is also strange because last time Lubbock went within five feet of her when she was sleeping, she jumped out of bed with her eyes still closed and immediately went at it," Mine recalled.
Lubbock made a sour face and his visage slightly blued in remembrance of the situation. "I'm surprised she didn't kill me when I opened her door. Just last year, I remember Leone tried to wake her up around midnight and Akame jumped through the door the exact moment a person could fit through it." He turned to Leone, who had a wide grin. "You're lucky you're still alive, you know that?"
"I know that," she said happily.
Naruto groaned loudly. "Can you guys just leave or something? Maybe stay quiet so that the person in question doesn't wake up? I really do not want to get stabbed."
"You won't." Lubbock told him, his eyes turning back to the lazy blond. "If she hasn't stabbed you yet, it's highly unlikely she'll kill you now."
"And no, we aren't leaving anytime soon." Chelsea told him smugly, a slight pop sound escaping her mouth as she pulled out her lollipop. "It's so interesting to see the cute, murderous girl sleep on the 'laziest' of our group."
"It's so much more than interesting," Leone said, a mad glint in her eyes. "It's adorable!"
Naruto fought down the urge to facepalm, as that would disturb Akame.
"I'm going to ask you to shut up then."
"Not happening." All of them chirped at once in amusement. Naruto just stared at the four for a few moments before leaning his head back in defeat, the back of his head bouncing a few times against the earth.
"We do what we want!" Lubbock yelled.
"Then come closer," Naruto dared the green-haired assassin.
"We do what we want to a certain extent!" Lubbock corrected himself, still shouting, but slightly lower in volume.
"I don't know, Lubbock," Leone started, the mad look still in her eyes. "I kinda want to just hug the two and press them to my bosom."
"Why can't you do that to me?" He asked in a scandalous tone, his eyes pleading with his request. "And if you can't let me touch it, at least show me," he pressed on, lowering the terms of condition in his eyes.
"Would you like to get pressed on the ground with me breaking your elbow?" Leone suggested kindly.
"I knew you were into that kind of stuff!" he accused her with a wide grin, although somewhat excited at the prospect of what would occur later.
Everyone just rolled their eyes.
"Okay, this is dumb. You guys need to shut up or I'll start throwing crap at you guys." Naruto warned them. They all turned to him with raised eyebrows.
"You think you can hit me?" Leone asked, a smirk adorning her face.
"I can just block the weapons you have," Lubbock agreed.
"It's so easy to just transform and easily escape harm's way," Chelsea pointed out.
"I can just shoot your toys out of the air," Mine stated confidently.
Naruto just stared at them.
"You guys are stupid. Who said I was throwing my kunais and shurikens at you? I threw what I needed to a while ago," he said quietly, raising one hand and pulled in the opposite direction of the group. All of a sudden, the four felt tight wires wrap around their body and press their arms and legs together.
"Wires? Are you kidding?" Lubbock exclaimed as he dropped to the ground after losing his balance. It was embarrassing for him to lose in a battle of strings, especially since his Teigu itself was made from the hair of a dragon, creating spools of wires.
"I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff." Leone chuckled as she dropped to the ground. Chelsea dropped at the same time without saying a word, but she gave a knowing smile in Naruto's direction.
"Let me go this instant!" Mine shouted. She soon found a herself with a lollipop in her mouth, thanks be given to Chelsea. The pink-haired girl gave the auburn-haired shift-shaper a confused face, as if stating 'really', but at least it got her to be silent.
"Thank you. Now please, stay silent this way, or else, I swear to whatever deity that exists, I will punch each of you in the stomach once Akame wakes up," he promised in a whisper, his eyes darkening to a navy blue. He looked down at Akame, making sure that she was still fast asleep. Content to note that she was sleeping heavily, he turned back to the four on the ground, although it seemed that Lubbock was making fast work of the wires, he narrowed his eyes.
"And don't even dare test me. I'm not in a good mood right now."
That gave the four a start, although each had their own level of physical reaction to it. It was almost never physically present as to when Naruto was in a good mood, but if he had a bad mood, it was necessary to leave him alone. Necessary. According to Akame, the last time he got in a bad mood, it was during an infiltration mission that he had set upon himself. Akame had followed him and carefully trailed him, making sure that he was safe. However, he had flawlessly performed his job and had destroyed the gang that he had entered.
The child of the recently deceased leader was Naruto's target, along with any others that go in his way, and it quickly resulted in the massacre of the gang. The leader's child, who had a certain fetish for money, however, received the most horrifying treatment to death that Akame had ever seen. The child, who was actually a man around the age of twenty-five, was hung in mid-air in the middle of a room by his wrists. Akame watched from outside a window, carefully watching the nude man as Naruto walked towards him, a small ratchet in his hands. A few moments passed where it seemed as if the two were talking.
And then the most gruesome torture she had ever seen commenced.
But she had never turned away, her eyes trained on the bloody blond as he continued his actions calmly, but it was clear from the way his muscles contracted and the stiffness of the actions he committed that he was murderously raging. He destroyed the man's testicles, cut off the man's nipples, broke the man's wrists and left the man hanging for about half an hour in pure torture before continuing to each of the bones in the fingers, then the hand, the forearm, upper arm, shoulders, collarbone, and then down the spinal cord until he had broken all two-hundred and six bones in the body.
Before he had killed the man by destroyed the vital bones that was instantly result in gang leader's dead, Naruto had shoved as many of the gold bars the man had hoarded up the man's rectum until his stomach exploded from distention.
And then he died.
Later on, Akame found out that the gang was a leading faction in the chain when it came to human trafficking and that one of their targets was Air, something Naruto had found out through his inspections and research. She also found out much later that the girls of Night Raid were also targets…at least those that were known publicly.
When he had returned that day to the base, his clothes perfectly pristine and his hair a pure blond, she had asked him compassionately if he was alright. It was the first time she had ever seen him turn to stare at her with those blank eyes, completely marred, even in the eyes. Then, he slowly turned his boy so that he was completely facing her with all of his attention.
"No…I am not alright. I realize now that it will take time…that the road ahead is long and shrouded in darkness and death…it…it is a road that will not always take me where I wish to go and I doubt I will live to see its end."
'What are you saying, Naruto?' Akame thought, worried all of a sudden.
"- but I will travel down it; nonetheless. For at my side…there walks hope in the face of all that insists I turn back, I carry on and this...this is my compromise."
And then he turned around and walked away.
"This world is much more corrupt, and much more destroyed than it seemed at a first glance. I'm not a savior, and I'm not trying to be, but I will do what is necessary to save those who I deem precious." And then he disappeared around a corner of the base.
After a few moments, when footsteps were the only sound that echoed down the halls of the base, Akame sighed.
"Then make sure in your act to save the world, you don't destroy it."
Although Akame hadn't told everyone exactly had they had said and had only told them that Air was one of the targets, that was all she told them other than the torture he prescribed on the patient. Needless to say, some of them made some very different opinions of the blond. If Naruto noticed, he didn't say anything, although he did indirectly tell Akame he knew that she told everyone, meaning he knew that she was there watching and didn't care and actually wanted to show her how he was if actually forced to become serious.
Relentless and resolute.
Naruto looked down at Akame, who had shifted once again and mumbled a few words. He gave her a small smile that reached his eyes, and then leaned back again on the grass. He heard the sound of footsteps.
'Lubbock got out.' More pairs of footsteps. 'He set the rest free.' But they remained silent, and slowly, he heard each of them leave the area.
When all that was left was himself, Akame, the grass and beautiful scenery of the clearing, and the sounds of the corrupt world, there was thoughts. Rumination and pondering took over his mind as Naruto went through what had occurred just a few hours ago.
Najenda had forced Naruto to fight her one more time when he had promised to change the world if necessary, if that was what was needed to make the world a safer place for his people that he loved.
If that was the case, he would need strength. Power to such a ridiculous degree that not only should be able to front down against Esdeath, but also be powerful enough to fight against the Prime Minister through his political power. When she told him this, he thought carefully how he could even make himself politically powerful, but he threw the thought away and returned to the original thought: power to fight Esdeath.
"Who is that?"
Najenda, after her initial shock, explained that Esdeath was the leader of the Imperial Army and was once of the most powerful Generals with an uncapped potential. Naruto nodded uncaringly and shrugged his shoulders.
"Power? Strength to massacre nearly four-hundred thousand people? One death is a tragedy, but thousands are just a number. Najenda, we are assassins, and we should act like such. Everything is permitted, and we shall fight in the darkness to serve the light. After all…" Naruto grinned maliciously, the right side of his teeth-filled smirk showing deadly sharp canines. "…light and darkness is all about perspective. I realize that we aren't wrong…but neither are we right."
Najenda nodded, somewhat surprised by how much Naruto had matured. Something about him had clicked, despite his inherent laziness. He was…different…growing. And when she fought him again, he didn't hold back a single punch or skill he had. It wasn't showing off…it was just a message. It was telling her that her forty percent was nothing to his strength in hand-to-hand combat anymore.
Every time she tried to punch him, Naruto would quickly dodge and return with two quick, hard strikes to the body. A kick would be returned with a strike to the knee of the offending leg and a quick sweep to the leg holding the body up. When she tried to trick him, he deciphered the attack before it reached him and returned with a five-hit combo, each blow right next to her vitals.
When Najenda had dropped to the ground on her knees, Naruto stood above her in a flawless victory with no triumph or flair.
"And even with this…I'm not strong enough." He turned around and walked away from the downed ex-general.
"Move Air to the Revolutionary Army. I know what you're planning; we're going to fight the Jaegers soon. She's not safe here, and she will never be, no matter how strong we become."
And then he left.
Depressing thoughts indeed.
Naruto looked up, noting the storm clouds treading above him.
Perfect thoughts for a sad day.
But first…
Naruto took off his jacket carefully, trying not to move Akame. Then, wrapping it around her upper body to keep her warm in the cold weather, he picked the small girl up from the back and the below the knees, and then carried her to the base.
She slept the whole way, even when the rain came.
XShuyaX
(Location: Night Raid's Meeting Room)
Everyone was standing at their usual spots, standing against pillars or just standing up, staring up to their leader. Except for Air; she was currently in Naruto's room.
"I want all of you guys to bring a table and a map." Najenda ordered. It was quickly done. When the map was unfurled and laid flush against the rectangular table, Najenda walked up to it and grabbed a marker while waving the others closer. "Here's our plan to fight the Jaegers." She uncapped the marker and circle a fork in one of the roads near the lower left side of the map. "We will force the Jaegers to split and will have forces on their side of the road. On one side will be us, and the other side will be some thugs and mercenaries."
"Cannon fodder," Naruto corrected. Najenda gave him the stink eye.
"Yes…cannon fodder," she agreed distastefully. "Naruto, you will actually be an integral part of this confrontation." The blond raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Najenda looked down back at the map and started marking certain locations near the fork and another location down the road. "Your job is to make sure that they take the bait at the fork and split up. Make sure that you are far enough back to just get a glimpse of their silhouettes, but there should be six to seven members."
"And what do I do if they don't take the bait?"
"Whether they do or do not, your job is to return to us as quickly as possible and to inform us of what will happen. If they decide to not split up, it will be necessary to fight them all, which will be very difficult." She paused. "And in either situation, your job will be to stay back with Lubbock and Chelsea and provide cover whenever necessary to assist your fellow assassins." Slowly, she looked up to face each one of them. "Mine, you already know what to do." Mine nodded. "Tatsumi, you will be with the fighting group. Our main targets are Bors and Kurome, but any of the others Jaegers caught in the mix would be extremely beneficial to our cause. Understand your mission?"
"Hai!" They all shouted as one.
"I already set out the traps to make Esdeath come to us…it's only a matter of time before she follows through. I know her, and she knows me. I just know her more, and that's why she'll come and try to attack us, but she'll fail."
"Ah…what should I do?" Yuna piped up from next to Naruto. Najenda stared at her…and stared…
"Actually, I was thinking about that, but I'm not really certain as to what you can do. In this battle, it's all confrontation. I thought that maybe you could listen from the sidelines and try to gather information if they spout anything out, as anything mundane to the Jaegers is probably news to us, but otherwise, you will not be participating in the fight at all."
"Hai…" Yuna acquiesced. Naruto gave her a comforting pat on the back.
Najenda regained her leader manner and slammed the table with her hand. "We move out in six hours! Prepare everything you need for battle and for two days of travel! Dismissed!"
When everyone had left the room, Naruto found himself walking beside Yuna and surprisingly, Akame and Tatsumi. The four walked in silence, each of them echoing their own distinct footsteps. Finally, Naruto decided to break the silence, although his indifferent tone was a bit too bored than strictly necessary.
"Is there anything you want, Tatsumi?" Naruto asked. The other teen, surprised at the tone, backed away a few inches in surprise before responding.
"Not really. I just wanted to ask if you are prepared for the battle against the Jaegers in two days."
"Hmm…honestly, I don't know. But, how do you feel? The fact you're asking me about the battle and how I'm feeling means that you're nervous, right?" Naruto turned his eyes over his shoulder. Taking a look at Tatsumi's expression, Naruto softened a bit. Just a by a nuance. "You'll be fine, Tatsumi." Naruto turned back around and faced forward. "You're strong enough, despite whatever lack of confidence and doubtful thoughts you may have."
"So are you, Naruto. Why aren't you in the front lines with us?" Tatsumi asked, curiosity lacing his tone.
"I don't have a Teigu. I can't battle against the Jaegers yet with my ability." Naruto told him with a frown. Despite what he said to Najenda about how he would destroy any Jaeger or obstacle that came at him, he knew that he wasn't strong enough…yet. He clenched his fist, to the idle surprise of the three behind the blond currently. "But…that doesn't mean that I will remain too weak to fight with you guys. Sooner or later, I will be with you in battle…that, I can promise." He told them without turning his head.
"Heh…alright, I'll see you later then!" Tatsumi patted Naruto's shoulder as he passed him and went to his room.
When Naruto, Yuna, and Akame were in front of Naruto's room, the three stopped. Yuna, because her room was right next to Naruto's, and Akame, because she had a few words to say.
"Are you certain that you wish to fight with us in the midst of battle?" She asked, a hard look in her eyes.
Naruto didn't even hesitate before responding. "Yes."
"Why? Just because you are in a supporting position does not mean that you are weak by any means."
"It's not a matter of what's weak and what's not. I feel that I will be more helpful in the center of everything rather than on the outskirts."
"That's how you feel?"
"Yes. Why, do you disagree?"
Akame gave Naruto a blank look. However, Naruto was easily able to notice the extremely slight frown marring the girl's face.
"I just don't want you to get hurt," she confessed. Naruto nearly widened his eyes in surprise at the declaration of compassion from the normally indifferent assassin. This was…different. A good different.
"And who says I don't want you to get hurt? That's why I need to be next to you in battle…"
Akame waited for the next words, but they never came from the blond.
"…I'll see you later, Akame."
And then he disappeared into his room.
After he shut his down, he looked down at the ground and closed his eyes with a sigh. Then, he glanced upward and noticed Air looking at him with a bemused expression. She was sitting on his orange bed, swinging her legs back and forth. She was wearing one of his jackets and shirts, but the skirt and undergarments were still hers.
After a few moments of silence, and after Naruto heard Yuna's door shut and Akame walk away from the room, he spoke.
"…You heard that all, didn't you?"
"Yea? You care about her, don't you?" Air asked bluntly. Naruto decided to respond just as candidly.
"Yes. She's probably the first person that I deemed precious in this corrupted world." He told her. Air stopped swinging her legs.
"So, you have more precious people?" She asked, a hopeful glint in her pink eyes.
"Yea…" He looked out through the window and noticed a bird pecking at the glass. "I have people that I deem necessary in my life…and people I need to protect." He turned back to the girl on his bed slowly. "I'm sorry, Air."
Air's expression shifted to that of confusion.
"Wait, why are you apologizing all of a sudden, Naruto? You didn't do anything wrong?"
Instead of responding, Naruto just looked down at the ground with his guilt-filled eyes disappearing from her view. Realization quickly filled Air's eyes.
"Oh…"
"…"
"Naruto."
"…What?"
"Sit next to me." She softly ordered. Naruto mechanically walked over at sat on the bed, the sleeping device bouncing up and down as Naruto sank into the cushion. The two sat in silence, barely apart by just a few inches. When Air moved closer so that their sides were touching each other's, she leaned against his and tilted her head so that it was against his left shoulder. Naruto didn't make a move.
"I…I wish…" she began, her voice breaking. "…I just wish we could stay like this forever, without this world's wrong pressing us down like a weight from the sky. I don't want to keep worrying about tomorrow so that I can't live in today, and keep living as if nothing will ever change and live is a scared world; where children are no longer innocent…and most people live as if they are never going to die, living neither in the present and future, because they keep wanting the world to change and never do anything about it. And then we all die…never having truly lived."
Naruto remained silent, just listening to the girl speak her mind, letting her pour out all of her pent up emotions. Even when she began to cry, he remained quiet, silently wrapping his left arm around her small waist.
"You probably think…think that I'm so we-weak for crying, d-don't you?" she stuttered laughing because of the tears, her voice shaking and body quivering. The prospect of going to the Revolutionary Army was finally hitting her, and it was like a freight train.
"No…I don't think you're weak…for crying," Naruto told her, a strange feeling rising in his throat. He just had a conversation outside with Akame like this…didn't he? He looked back out the window; the bird was gone, and all that was left was a beautiful view of the sky and clouds and scenery beyond. "I think that's something wrong with this world…this corrupt confinement we are forced to live in and do nothing about. We try to keep our emotions inside…even I do. We keep our heads down, doing nothing with our feelings, whether we are truly happy to the level of euphoria, truly upset to the point of rage, extremely sad to the point of moroseness, and we do this because we are afraid of being ashamed. And then…" he smiled, still staring out the window as he gripped the girl's waist a bit harder and parted a bit of hair to the side so that her forehead was clear. Then, he kissed her on the forehead, short and quick, and gave her a wide, beautiful smile.
"We don't ever see how beautiful the sky ever is."
She looked at him with wide eyes, tears brimming her eye line with her mouth slightly parted. Then, she broke out into a grin so wide that her eyes closed, forcing the tears down her cheeks.
But Naruto didn't mind…the tears were glittering and made her shine more. It made her cheeks red, but it made her more colorful in this gray world.
He didn't mind when she hugged him with her arms around his neck with enough pressure to crush any weak-willed man. It made him smile even more.
And he didn't call her weak for crying…the tears were tears of happiness. And he didn't mind it when people felt liberated, even for a moment.
Her happiness was his happiness.
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: Two Days)
Naruto was silently watching from the edge of a tall rock beside a small lake as he swung his legs over the edge. He had watched quietly when Air had been taken by the Revolutionary Army and had flown away from a Mantra, but he didn't say a word, instead giving her a wave. But there were no smiles in the affair, other than hers.
"I'll see you soon. I promise!"
Those words echoed in his mind once more. Naruto turned a smooth rock over in his hand and threw it at the lake.
"Damn it, Naruto! Don't throw rocks at us!" Lubbock shouted from below. Chelsea, Akame, Leone, Mine, Tatsumi, and Lubbock were all in their swim suits, enjoying their day of break. After all, tomorrow…that would be the confrontation between the two parties.
"And I can't sleep through it either," he mused, throwing another rock. This resulted in more screaming from all of the people in the water other than Akame and Chelsea. Naruto suddenly tilted his head to the side, dodging a well-placed energy shot from Mine.
"For the sake of all that is living, just die already!" He dodged another shot from the easily agitated girl as he threw another rock.
"I kind of wish it was a little quieter so I can just sleep, honestly," he mumbled, dodging a slightly wider shot from the girl. "What the hell? She considers this as a pinch?"
"No." Yuna said from behind him, also in proper swimming attire. "Apparently, Pumpkin is also affected by her emotions as well."
Naruto nodded silently. "Well, that's stupidly unfair. Basically, she won't even lose a battle of firepower," he concluded.
"So just don't get shot," Yuna told him. He dodged another shot, this time almost as wide as his head.
"That's what I'm doing." He threw a stone nearly as large as himself. "Can't you tell?"
Yuna sweatdropped. "No…you're just aggravating her even more."
Naruto turned around and grinned at her. "Because it's so damn fun!" He suddenly stood up and ran at Yuna. "We've got to run!" He told her, still smiling as he ran down the rock. Not a moment after Yuna turned around, the whole rock began to crumble as Mine fired a giant blast at the tall slab of a boulder.
"Did I get him?" Mine asked seriously, her eyes zoning into the crumbling area, now all rubble. The others around her gawked or just stared.
"Did you seriously just try to kill him?" Tatsumi asked.
"Of course not!" Mine denied, suddenly turning on Tatsumi. "We're just playing a game," she explained. No one looked convinced. They all turned from Mine back to the pile of rocks on the ground, nearly twenty feet high now.
"That…doesn't look like a safe game to me," Tatsumi concluded.
"No, it does not." Chelsea agreed happily.
"Wow, you're smart to realize that, Tatsumi! Here, take a hug!" Leone cheered, glomping Tatsumi by pressing his face against her large breasts.
"I hate you, Tatsumi…so much," Lubbock grumbled.
"What are you doing, you big-breasted freak!" Mine shouted at Leone. The blonde just giggled and shook Tatsumi a bit more.
"Just having a bit of fun, you know?"
"Yeah…that looks a lot more like a game than what you were doing, Mine," Naruto stated dryly, suddenly entering the scene from beside the silent Akame. Yuna followed behind just a few moments after, seeming bored.
Mine, who had freaked out from Naruto suddenly popping up besides her, pointed her gun at the blond. Naruto immediately raised both hands and widened his eyes to the size of dinner plates at the unexpected action.
"Hey, get that thing out of my face!" He demanded.
"Not until you stop being stupid! Why are you still an assassin? You're not even strong!" Mine accused. Everyone immediately became silent, and all that remained was the sound of running water. Naruto stared at the girl, who didn't even have the decency to look abashed at what she had said.
"I…see. So you still are upset at me, aren't you?" Mine didn't respond. Naruto just nodded and turned around. "I'll see you guys later." Just a moment later, he shouted in a certain direction. "Hey, Susanoo, can I have an early lunch?"
When Naruto had walked out of earshot, Tatsumi immediately turned on Mine and gave her a glare.
"What the hell was that?" he cried out in outrage. "You had no right to say that!"
Mine scowled. "What do you mean 'no right'? He is weak!"
"Just because he isn't fighting in the direct confrontation group does not mean he is weak," Leone told her disapprovingly. Her eyes, which were normally filled with glee or a kind of prankster cheerfulness, were filled with a withering, icy stare. "The fact that Boss said that he would be able to support us means that he has enough combat ability to be with us, but it's just that his set of abilities do not match what we hope to engage tomorrow."
"I can understand that…" Lubbock murmured. Chelsea gave the green-haired support a quiet pat on the back as well as a smile. Neither of them was really meant for direct confrontations.
"But-" Mine started, but was stopped when a cold hand gripped her right shoulder. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Akame staring right at her… through her and into her very soul. It was more than staring daggers or just making Mine do a slow burn. Something was strange about that stare, as if it were hostile, but at the same time close and disapproving all at the same time.
"He is not weak." She told Mine simply. Then, her attitude took a complete one-eighty when she smelled the food Susanoo was cooking and began skipping over to the biological Teigu. The others at the lake watched her grab her plate happily and plop right down next to Naruto, who was idly stabbing at the meat with a certain familiar disinterest.
"What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?" Naruto asked the girl beside him quietly. Akame happily took another bite out of her food and sighed in content. Naruto waited patiently as she continued eating her food, enthusiastically trying the side dishes offered by Susanoo. "Will we end up fighting against your sister?" Akame suddenly stopped eating and finished her last bite before dropping her slightly content expression.
"…There is a high possibility of that happening, yes," she conceded honestly.
"And if I were to end up being forced to fight her?" Naruto prompted. Akame closed her eyes and remained in silence for a few moments.
"You do what you have to do. Eliminate," she told him calmly. Naruto frowned. Then, he began to eat his meal with a strange amount of gusto. "Is something wrong?"
"No…there's nothing wrong," he lied.
XShuyaX
(Time Skip: One Day)
Naruto stood beside Lubbock on separate tree branches high above as the plan slowly unraveled. Wave had been taken out the fight from the very beginning, leaving the whole team of Night Raid against Kurome, Akame's sister, and Bors, one of the high priority targets.
It would have seemed that Night Raid had the advantage, but it was quickly turned around when Kurome revealed that her blade was able to manipulate even dead subjects like puppets. Which meant that she had the ability to pull out a giant, Ultra-class level Danger Beast. Which she promptly did and turned the tides as she released every other subject in her arsenal as well.
Najenda ended up being forced to use her trump card, which was to sacrifice her life force in order to empower Susanoo. Naruto immediately frowned when he saw this, feeling uneasy for a certain reason. Something about sacrificing life force felt wrong…he didn't like it.
"Is there anything we can do yet?" Naruto asked Lubbock. The other teen shook his head, his green eyes trained on every single battle currently going on with a level of intensity Naruto didn't know existed.
"Not yet. You saw Chelsea go in to help Tatsumi, but that was risky. It's unsafe for us to go in so soon after she just left." Lubbock explained to Naruto. The blond frowned, staring at Akame and Leone struggling against Bors and his guard given from Kurome.
"That's…dumb. Why the hell can't I go in to assist them? And why isn't Mine just shooting Bors?"
Lubbock gave Naruto a surprised look. "Actually, that's a pretty good question. Where is Mine at the moment?"
"I asked you, you idiot," Naruto grumbled. Just a moment later, the sound of rapid-fire gunshots reported through the air. "Never mind; I got my answer." He suddenly narrowed his eyes as he watched Bors get unarmed by Leone and Akame. "Yo, Lubbock. What the hell is that guy doing?"
"Doing what?" Lubbock turned his attention where Naruto was pointing and saw Bors throw the tank on his back into the air and bite into something. His eyes suddenly widened his realization. "Oh shit! That's a bomb! It's going to be big!"
Before Naruto could retort with any kind of surprise, the explosion erupted, destroying everything in its path and radius, creating a giant crater and a radiant light. Naruto and Lubbock raised their hands to shield their eyes, but the moment the light dissipated and the dust settled, they searched for their team members.
"Oh, thank God. They're all fine," Lubbock told Naruto in a relieved tone, although there was an undercurrent of jealously. Naruto looked over to Najenda and saw her being cradled by her Teigu. The blond internally laughed at the envious nature of the owner of Cross Tail and shrugged.
"But…where did the Jaegers go?" Naruto contemplated seriously. Lubbock grinned.
"I don't know, but it seems like we at least won this one. We didn't lose a single member, so we're good here! Let's get back and regroup with Najenda-sama!" Lubbock ordered cheerfully. Naruto nodded calmly and jumped down from his position, Lubbock quickly following.
Then, they began their slow trek to the pre-mediated meeting location: a cabin. It took nearly twenty minutes of them running to reach their goal, meaning twenty minutes of them cracking dry grass and dead leaves, but they made it to the cabin without any hitches in the plan. Seems like the Jaegers hadn't caught up to them yet.
It wasn't long before they met the rest of Night Raid, each member trudging on the ground in their own states of pain or fatigue. Tatsumi had nearly thrown a fit when he saw Leone's unconscious body that had been literally disarmed, but Lubbock and Akame had both consoled him for the time being by explaining that she can re-grow body parts and that she was still alive, respectively. Mine simply walked past everyone and went straight into the cabin, looking for new clothes.
When Susanoo had arrived with Najenda in tow, Lubbock immediately stomped up to the Teigu and had demanded that he hand her over to him so that he can carry her the rest of the way. He was given a kind punch to the top of the head for being troublesome, the credits also kindly given to Najenda.
"Hey guys." Everyone stopped their current activities and looked over to Naruto. "Since we're all here, I'm going to go on watch for a bit."
Najenda nodded. "That's a good idea, Naruto. Take a wide sweep and keep a lookout for us, just in case any of the other Jaegers get in the way."
"Will do." And then Naruto exited, leaving the rest of the members and going on his lonesome.
"Will he be alright on his own?" Tatsumi asked, concerned.
"We don't have a choice but to hope he will be," Najenda sighed. "All of us need some time to recuperate, and we have to have Lubbock nearby since he didn't have the time to set up an elaborate pattern to know if anyone is nearby."
"I see…" Tatsumi returned quietly, his eyes looking down at his palms. "Well, I hope he'll be fine, then."
"Don't we all." Lubbock stated.
XShuyaX
(Location: Outskirts of Battle)
Bors was dead. Chelsea had stabbed the back of his neck and had removed a vital area, resulting in him bleeding to death. She felt sad to the point she left the man a rueful smile before transforming into the pyro Jaeger and went on to catch up to Kurome.
And Kurome should have been dead. She definitely should have died after having been stabbed and also having a vital area removed from the back of the neck, but she was very much alive and was now seeking vengeance with a frenzy kind of madness. Somehow, all Chelsea managed to do was make her 'hurt like hell'.
Chelsea ran as fast as she could, ignoring the cries from her legs telling her to get some sweet respite. Adrenaline was taking over, and she actually increased her sprint's pace. Somehow, she had managed to survive through Kurome's enraged puppets by constantly switching to a random animal or changing size to dodge blows, slices, and bullets. However, she knew that eventually, she would get caught. She was just too slow compared to the puppets, and there was nothing she could do about it.
But it didn't make sense!
'How did she survive through my sure-kill technique? Even though she said that her body was strengthened to the point of insanity, that's still ridiculous!'
She rolled on the ground to dodge a swipe at her upper body, but she didn't expect the gun girl to shoot at her legs, resulting in the bullets actually piercing her back. She immediately dropped to her stomach and hit the ground hard, moaning and crying in pain. Not even a moment later, the guy with the mask was on top of her, his weapon prepared to sever her head from her body.
Chelsea continued to face up at the dark sky, looking straight through at what would be her executioner. She let herself look down to find Kurome's enraged staring right at her, glaring with those acrimonious orbs.
'But I won't close my eyes. Even in the face of death, I won't look away! Tatsumi…I'm sorry.'
Chelsea looked up at the furious eyes of her executioner and saw the blade coming from her peripherals.
'Goodbye…Night Raid.'
"Get the fuck off of Sea-chan!" A voice roared from a good distance away. However, not even a moment later, Chelsea saw the would-be executioner's face get done in and smashed by a kick from a certain blond. Everything was in slow motion as she saw Natala fly away from the excessive force and Naruto take his place in Chelsea's full view. The executioner smashed against a tree on his back, but he stood up as if there were no repercussions from that kind of injury.
Naruto stood protectively in front of the downed Chelsea, who was looking at Naruto's fully enraged expression with awe.
"You…" She coughed, spitting out blood. But the question in her eyes made the blond realize what she was about to ask. Naruto looked down at her and softened his expression.
"Yeah, I remember. Sorry I took so long to get to you." 'If I didn't have another headache, she wouldn't have almost died.' "But I'm here now, and I promised to protect you when I'm strong enough!" Naruto slammed his closed fist against his left side of his chest. "And I'll fulfill my promise now!" He turned back to the three in front of him and growled. "You all are fucking going down." He promised.
Kurome, to Naruto's increasing ire, smiled.
"And what makes you think you can do that?" She asked playfully. "My puppets are more than enough to take of someone like you. After all, how can you dodge a bullet?"
Gunshot reports resounded in the air…but Naruto had disappeared from his position in front of Chelsea.
"And how can you shoot something you can't get a trained eye on?" Naruto whispered mercilessly as he ripped the gunner's head from her body with his bare hands, the blood spurting onto his face, giving his a clearly murderous and frightening visage. He watched the girl drop lifeless to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut. "And that's one down," he said quietly, his indifferent eyes on the dead corpse. He slowly lifted his eyes so that they were on his target and her remaining puppet. He furrowed eyebrows in anger…that Teigu was so disgusting, even using people after they died so they couldn't pass on peacefully.
"And there are two more to go."He said with savage vehemence.
Kurome pouted. "She went down too easily. Natala, slice him to pieces, and then kill that bitch!"
Naruto lowered his stance and bent his knees, preparing for a confrontation. However, he wasn't expecting for Natala to be in his face right after he blinked.
'REACT!'
It was only through muscle memory and the forced training set on him that he was able to duck backwards in an incredible show of flexibility and dodge the swipe. Then, he immediately threw his legs over his body and jumped off his hands to land on his legs again, dodging three swipes. The moment he landed, Naruto went on the offensive.
However, he quickly realized that he was vastly outmatched. Natala…Natala was a monster of battle. Every time Naruto tried to attack, Natala somehow found a small hole in his aggression and exploited it immediately, capitalizing it to the point it seemed like a huge mistake.
"God damn it!" Naruto cursed as he took another punch. His face was bleeding with the numerous cuts adorning his face, and his clothes were tearing and all cut up. Natala, on the other hand, hadn't taken a single hit other than the kick that had saved Chelsea. Naruto had been using his arm guards as often as possible to redirect the bladed weapon, but he was only able to move the weapon to the point that he only gained small cuts and lacerations. However, the combined attacks of weapon and kicks and punches were too much for the blond's inexperience.
"Naruto, you need to run. You can't beat him!" Chelsea told him, pleading. Naruto only moved his eyes so that he barely had any vision of his childhood older sister. His eyes widened when he saw something he didn't want to see. Chelsea was bleeding out, and in her face was a resigned look.
She was giving in to death.
Naruto grit his teeth and took in a sharp, ragged breath as he turned back to Natala and Kurome. "Shut up and try to relax! I'll beat this son of a bitch! I swear it, 'ttebayo!"
"Please, Naruto…Run," Chelsea begged. Naruto froze at that tone and those words.
'Scheele…no…no no no No NO NO! She won't die like Sheele. I won't run!'
Naruto slowly raised his body so that he was standing tall. Then, he slammed his left fist into his open right palm. His determined eyes were zoned in on Natala, and they almost seemed to suddenly catch aflame with a blue spark of electricity.
Then, he charged in.
Kurome let out a breath of surprise as an amused smirk took over. The blond, Naruto, was strangely able to keep up with Natala now, despite his many injuries and highly fatigued state. She had noticed it before, but it seemed as if he was getting stronger as the battle progressed at an exceedingly high rate, but this was just the icing on the cake. Every motion of the blond, which she was able to see through before, was now completely different…as if the whole time, he was holding back this orthodox fighting style of his. Natala was keeping up easily, but he was now on the defensive as he was unconsciously confused as to what would come next from the blond's random fighting style.
Naruto roared as he moved forward, dodging a punch by barely tilting his head so that it grazed his cheek. Then, he slammed against Natala with his right shoulder and threw his left fight over his head, connecting the punch sharply.
"And get the hell down!" He shouted, pushing as hard as he could with his body. However, Naruto's opponent remained standing, and when Naruto looked up, he widened his eyes.
His punch was blocked right in front of the face.
During that moment that Naruto stalled from the shock, Natala punched Naruto in the gut to raise him off the ground, kicked him on the back to raise him higher, and then front-flipped and axe kicked the blond to the ground.
"Please…" Chelsea begged when she saw Naruto unmoving on the ground. He remained still as the rain pattered on his body.
'What are you afraid of?'
"I'm not afraid of death."
'But what are you afraid of? If it's not your death, then are you afraid of another's death?'
"…Just get out of my head. You're not helping me to concentrate."
'Kid, you're dead. You can't even move your body anymore! Unless by some miracle that you are saved, you and that little older sister over that are screwed.'
"And this is why I think I'm insane. There's a fucking voice in my head and I have no idea who I'm talking to. God, this is troublesome. Well, at least I'll be able to sleep permanently."
Natala raised his blade to bring it down with enough force to cut Naruto's face in half.
"Sorry…Akame, Chelsea, Air…Night Raid…Scheele…"
He grit his teeth again, just as the blade started dropping down.
Analyzing life force…extraordinary.
Analyzing strength…high.
Analyzing speed…extraordinary.
Analyzing will…The will to protect and to continue living.
Analyzing compatibility…seventy-one percent. Second stage is possible. Engage?
'I'm not going to die here. My life…it's just begun! I…want to live! I need to live! And if I die…'
Naruto suddenly tilted his head to the right, dodging the blade as it sunk to the ground right where his head was previously. He swept his legs in a helicopter fashion and he got back on his hands and kicked Natala in the face.
"…I'll take you down with me," Naruto snarled ferociously, showing his large canines. His eyes were filled with a storm.
'Engage?'
"Hmm…actually, I might want to make you a part of my collection. You're really interesting!" Kurome said thoughtfully, a grin still on her face. "You improve at such a fast rate, you'll overcome Natala within a year!"
Naruto remained silent.
'It won't be one year I'll need. I'll beat him now!' He told himself.
'Engage?'
However, right before he charged in, a figure jumped right in front of him, stopping both parties immediately.
"Akame?" Naruto whispered in surprise.
"Big Sis…have you come to become part of my collection so that we could be together forever?" Kurome asked, madness swallowing her whole tone.
"…Naruto, we are to retreat." Akame ordered him, reluctance in her voice. Naruto looked at her eyes as she barely turned her head; she wanted to fight Kurome, but was barely holding herself back and all her held in passion and emotions so they could save Chelsea immediately.
"…Hai!" Naruto immediately jumped back so that he was right beside Chelsea and brought her up in a bridal carry. "I'm going to run first then!"
When Naruto was gone and the sound of his feet crumbling leaves and stepping on slippery, soggy wet grass disappeared, Akame and Kurome stared down at each other as the tension in the air slowly reached a boiling point.
"Why so serious, Big Sis? Something bothering you?" Kurome asked, concerned.
"No…" She lied, looking over to where Naruto had run into the forest. "You made a mistake, however." Akame turned back to her mad younger sister. "If you wanted to make Naruto a part of your disgusting Teigu's collection…you're too late. Next time you see him, you won't be able to fight him."
Kurome raised her eyebrows, but her humorous sadistic nature was still ever present.
"What do you ever mean? He's not that strong."
"He didn't know how to fight four months ago." Akame said simply.
"What?" Kurome exclaimed as a bloodthirsty grin widened on her face. "Oh…now I want him soooo bad. You and him to be in collection…it would be just perfect, right?"
"…Next time we see each other…"
Kurome smiled. "You'll be a part of my collection!"
"…I will kill you if you do not change," Akame promised. Then, she turned and sprinted for the forest, dashing through the trees quickly.
Kurome finally let her façade slip when everyone had left the scene, showing signs of pain and anger.
"The girl that killed Bors is still alive…I lost almost every part of my collection…Big Sis doesn't want to be with me…I HATE THIS!" She screamed to the crying skies. A flash of lightning enveloped the scenery as she dropped to her knees. Natala remained motionless, not even giving the girl a helping hand or a look of compassion. "Right…you're just a puppet." She slowly got back to her feet and recreated her mask slip back on.
"But that guy…Naruto…he seemed interesting, right Natala?"
There was no response.
After all, a puppet was just a puppet. Only a master could make it move with strings, but there was still no life.
"I wonder if he has a Teigu…probably not. Neither of us died."
Chapter End.
A/N: I did have a plan for this chapter, but it will have to be moved to a later chapter, where all the epic parts will take place. Just wait…it's going to be amazing!
And as always, I hope you guys can leave a review to give some helpful tips, tell me what you liked or didn't like, tell me what I could have done better! The idea of writing is to always improve, and constructive criticism is always, always welcome!
If you don't like this story, tell me why! Telling me you simply don't like the story does not help me. I need details. A story without details is not good, and an explanation without any reasoning is not helpful.
Here's some ramen!
KenzoXShuyita
Peacing Out!