Teresa rolled her silver eyes. Why was this girl so insistent on following her?!
The child had come from Teo, one of the lands she was supposed to safeguard while that region's usual Warrior was away on that "special assignment" of hers...and she could swear she could almost see and hear Irene laughing at getting herself into this mess!
Sure she had found out the girl was kept as the prisoner and toy of one of the creatures it was Teresa's duty to slay for quite some time, and thus, by killing the yoma, had "rescued" the trauma-muted brat...only now she wouldn't stop following her! It was like having a second, very unwanted shadow!
'Dammit, you quick-drawing, pointy-eared bitch! Orders or not, this is all your fault!'
Naruto looked up as his companion suddenly sneezed. Someone must have been talking about her. He shrugged and went back to his lesson as he drew the letters of his own language and the corresponding ones of the land he'd found himself in vertical parallel lines to teach himself how to read here.
It had been nearly a month since he'd started traveling with Irene and, in that time, he had been learning the mannerisms, customs, history, and language of this place's inhabitants from Irene. The initial attempts to learn the language were incredibly troublesome but had become easier when Irene got the idea to compare words and grammar between her and Naruto's languages using simple objects such as rocks and trees as a base point from which to expand their respective vocabularies. Naruto would admit to himself that, even after the time spent with the silver-eyed woman, there were still far too many holes in their language he had yet to fill. Still, he knew enough to make his needs known, and for now that would suffice.
Still, he wasn't good enough at speaking the native tongue yet, so the pair usually used gestures and drawings to communicate for now. Fortunately, Irene had been quick to figure out Naruto was a tactile learner, meaning that he learned better through executing a task rather than theorising or being lectured about it, and that was actually the best thing for the language problem. He learned best by actually doing and things like learning to speak had to be done that way.
Furthermore, while also serving as his teacher, Irene had gotten him a new outfit so he wasn't so conspicuous.
Now the blond boy was dressed in a plain black leather jerkin and black leather breeches with a dark grey, hooded cloak over it all and a black scarf wrapped around his face to hide his features up to his cheekbones, and a pair of sheaths for two seventeen-inch-long dirk, eleven of those inches being the long, straight blades of the weapons, attached to his hip, both weapons he had hidden on his person, and a set of sturdy leather boots.
Getting him a new outfit had been a simple task for the Claymore. And she had to keep him from being recognizable anyway, Luciela HAD seen what he looked like while he'd given her that beating, after all.
Irene wasn't a fool. She understood that there were some forces that were simply too dangerous to be allowed in anyone's hands, no matter who they were. The boy's power easily fell into that category, which was why neither the Abyssal Ones or the Organization could be allowed to claim him. To that end, she had decided to become Naruto's guardian until she figured out what to do with him.
Needless to say, no matter how safe it would seem, taking him to the Holy City of Rabona would be a disaster.
Not only was it too obvious a move and she wasn't allowed there, being half-yoma, but he was still learning things like how to speak the language here, she couldn't just leave him there where he'd be forced to be on his own, besides...she'd heard mutterings from the people about "the Seraph" lately. Seems a certain cat-based Awakened Being had been cursing him and she had trouble keeping her mouth shut...especially since she had two of them. Leaving the boy who had that alias there would have been too much stimulation for him, and undoubtedly the Abyss Trinity...she shuttered, even thinking about the three Abyssal Ones all joining together was frightening...would easily be able to tear the city apart to get their hands on him.
"Irene."
Hearing the only word, her name, that the blond boy spoke fluently, she looked up and nodded to him before she walked over and dragged her foot along the ground in front of Naruto, erased the two alphabets.
It was a test they did, his recollection and comprehension of the letters he'd learned. Have him write the two so that he could com them and learn what each of the letters were and meant. Then she'd erase them and have him rewrite the two alphabets side by side like they had been to see if he retained what he'd been studying. She'd draw a check mark in the ground next to ones he got wrong when he was finished rewriting the two.
It helped her learn his language's writing too.
After a few minutes when Naruto was doing that, he stood up and stepped back while Irene checked his work.
Hmm...getting better. This was the first time he'd gotten them all perfectly. She nodded. The first few times, it had been an utter failure. More than once, she'd beaten him over the head with the flat of her sword for him trying to etch the letters deeper so that after she'd erased them, he could simply trace the answers. Let it be known that Irene was a firm teacher that lacked any degree for tolerance for cheats, fools, and laggards.
Happy with the approval, Naruto held up his daggers, and she understood. Working on it now that his lesson was done and his time was his own, huh? "Trying to get your rippling technique down again?" Irene asked, brow cocked.
Ever since the fight with Luciela and he'd gotten those daggers, she'd been not only teaching him language lessons, but also training him how to fight.
Since he'd started his training, Naruto had been experimenting, trying to make something that would help him fight the yoma.
He'd gotten an idea where he could make a technique that made use of the flexible quality of both his body and his weapons to vibrate and undulate his weapons, making them resemble rippling snakes. This illusion, when perfected, would cause his strikes to be near-impossible to anticipate or block as they could weave around an opponent's defenses. When he was finished, the move would prove to be difficult to counter since it couldn't be predicted either visually or, since it was a non-yoki dependent move, with sensing.
He'd explained it with motions and pictures, so it took a while for Irene to understand, but Once she did, she had to confess the technique was clever and had potential. But he couldn't get it to work properly. His arms shook, but the blades were still...he couldn't get the effect he wanted from them.
Irene had tried to explain to him she didn't think it would work, but she had to give him his due for one thing: no matter what language it was in, the words "impossible", "quit", or any synonyms of the words just didn't exist for him.
His work ethic was impressive.
Throwing a hooded cloak of her own over herself and wrapping her sword in cloth to hide what it actually was, Irene jerked her head to the side and started walking, Naruto trying to get his invented technique to work as they headed for the next town. The young boy tailed after the firm woman that had seemed to take him, as least he THOUGHT she had, based on her actions since he was still learning the language and didn't understand all the words. He felt grateful for her kindness towards him. She didn't have to help him, yet she had taken it upon herself to do so.
He tensed as he seemed to feel eyes upon them when they got to their destination and Irene fought down the urge to chuckle. He wasn't a warrior, but he had sharp intuition as well as some kind of sixth sense that somehow allowed him to detect, not yoki power, but the proverbial darkness in others, something no warrior could ever do, thus rendering it nearly impossible to hide from him, no matter who or what you were; human, yoma, or Awakened Being.
It only reinforced her decision that keeping him from the Organization was the wise thing.
Gesturing for him to stay where he was, Irene walked over the the man in black as he lingered near the entrance to the town and stood in front of him.
"It's me." she voiced.
The man cocked an eyebrow. Covert operation tactics? Why? Furthermore...
"What is that?" The Watcher asked, eyeing where Naruto stood, watching the pair.
"Nothing to do with you. Having a traveling companion and keeping my eye color, sword, and attire from the Organization hidden prevent any undo alarm to herald where I am, makes hunting information on my special assignment easier. Now what do you want?" Irene said, easily explaining herself in a way that would have the man shrug off Naruto's presence as a temporary expendable asset and be nothing to be concerned with at all.
Ah. So that what it was all for. Her mission. Credit where it was due, the Number Two-ranked hybrid was proceeding in the best way to accomplish her objective.
"Ironic that you ask me that after mentioning your current assignment...have you discovered the source of the yoki?" the black-clad man said.
"Not yet, and respectfully, I need to speak directly with Rimuto about my mission immediately, the situation has become...more complicated. So much so I need to inform him directly before anyone else in the Organization." she said.
Her handler fell silent at that, he knew someone as high-ranking as "Quicksword Irene" wouldn't say as such without valid reasoning, and more importantly, if it was so urgent, Rimuto would be furious if he wasn't informed. "...Very well."
Irene nodded. Then turned around and went over to the one she had come here with. They spoke for a bit, the handler frowned as he watched, the one with her must be deaf, since it was mostly hand gestures as Irene tried to impose the idea of "stay here" to them.
Finally, the person pulled out a set of long daggers, causing the watcher to look on in amusement. So the person was that naive? They actually thought they could challenge the current number two and win? It would be funny if it weren't for that law to never harm humans no matter what.
Judging from the look of annoyance on Irene's face, she felt similarly, shooting her handler a look. The man nodded. He'd keep quiet just this once. He needed a laugh right now anyway, and some dunce that didn't realize they were nothing but temporary expendable asset and was unaware of just how outclassed a normal human was by a hybrid would do just fine for that...assuming she stunk to non-lethal force.
Pulling her sword out, Irene flipped it so that she was using the flat as opposed to the edge. She just hoped she could do this without Naruto drawing on his power. That'd just ruin everything she was trying to do by protecting him.
Naruto circled her, looking for an an opening, knowing that if he just rushed forward like a wild boar, he was finished. Irene was aware of his movements, even as she felt him get behind her.
With a blur of motion Irene jumped at him, aiming a blow at his ribs. Naruto reflexively dodged, knowing his blades couldn't parry her own weapon. Adjusting his grip on his dirk, Naruto landed and rolled away as Irene slammed the flat of her blade where he'd been standing. with his speed and agility Naruto was able to dodge almost anything she threw at him so far, while with her superior strength and reflexes, as well as the superior weight of her sword, Irene was able to counter and block all his strikes.
The two blades met her claymore in a shower of sparks. As Naruto moved to attack and keep the pressure on, Irene batted his dirk aside as if the two long straight-bladed daggers were no more than flies. The woman didn't take advantage of the opening, however, but spun to her right and struck at his other side. Naruto jumped over the massive sword and aimed to land a kick while also tossing one of his blades at her from under the shadow of his leg.
Naruto stabbed at her left shoulder with his other blade. Moving in a surprising show of flexibility, that had Naruto's eyes widening slightly, Irene leaned back so far her head almost touched the ground as the blade Naruto hand tossed cut through the air where she had been a moment before. Leaning back up, she own slash towards her chest while pressing her advantage since she couldn't block because of his missed attack.
Instead of fighting it to try and block his strike, Naruto used the momentum from his flying kick to role out of the way from her attack, causing it to miss. Following through with his role and landing on his feet a few yards away from his opponent, and retrieving the dirk he'd tossed at her from the ground as he did so the blond boy took a moment to try and slow his rapid breathing from the fast-paced fight that had only just begun. Taking a moment to asses her style only to realise she wasn't even out of breath.
Naruto scowled as he stood up, snarling. To In order to exist you need a purpose, to exist for no reason is the same as being dead! He must...he needed to stay with Irene! He didn't know anyone else and had nowhere to go! As he thought of being how he been before she'd found him...nowhere to go, no one to matter to, living in the wild as little more that a glorified beast whose lived for no other reason to other than the instinct of the action to be alive...something in him snapped.
He lunged, his body shaking so badly that even his dirk seemed to change into a kris.
Irene's eyes widened. He'd done it!? How?! normal humans couldn't undulate their arms, much less move at all, that fast and and his blades were too short to allow it!
As he swung at her, she realised that the technique's effect was just as he hoped it would be: his strike was be near-impossible to anticipate or block as it could weave around an opponent's defenses and was difficult to counter since it couldn't be predicted either visually or, since it was a non-yoki dependent move, with sensing! It was like a pair of thrashing snakes!
Shocked, Irene was caught flat-footed as the dagger weaved around her blade and she flooded yoki into her arm out of reflex as the vibrating blade neared her skin.
Naruto was suddenly sent flying by something he couldn't see as it connected with his dagger with a metallic clang and landed three hundred feet away. When he struck the ground, he tumbled ten times and stopped, lying spread eagle on his back. And still, he grinned.
As Irene stared at where he'd landed, she felt no shame in that her jaw was hanging slack and that Naruto ran back up to her and got to within five feet of her before she collected herself. Of course!...Normal humans couldn't use that rippling technique, but while Naruto's humanity was unquestionably undeniable, he was human..he just wasn't normal! If anything, he was similar to a Warrior of the Organization.
Either way, quasi or pseudo, Irene's eyes narrowed she realized that she'd been underestimating her charge.
As he stopped in front of her, Naruto grinned under his hood and scarf that he'd at least made her use her Quicksword technique at least once and when he'd been knocked away by it, he hadn't even loosened his grip on his two dirk, feeling accomplished. Maybe he had proved himself now and he'd be allowed to stay!
Seeing her expression however, he knew he was in trouble. Irene would be taking him seriously now.
The blade in Irene's hand swung downwards in an arc towards Naruto's neck, the flat being used in place of the edge. Naruto blocked it with all his strength. His arms shook and he fell to his knees as the flat of the blade made contact with his daggers. 'She's so strong!' Naruto thought. He tried to push forward but Irene's arm seemed to be made out of stone. Naruto felt something jolt his arms, and tingling feeling run through his arms to his head.
Naruto swung his other blade but Irene simply pushed off the other blade to block the left one. As Naruto blocked it, she shrugged him off and Naruto tumbled backwards. Landing ungracefully on his butt, Naruto used the momentum and rolled backwards, the blond saw he had been kicked backwards. 'Dammit, I didn't even see her move!' Naruto got up slowly. The blow hadn't hurt but it did shake him up.
Not wanting to repeat what happened before, Naruto charged in and jumped up, swinging at Irene's shoulder. The female warrior simply crouched lower and punch Naruto in the gut.
Naruto flew back, coughing. That blow definitely hurt. But as he flew, he tosses one of his blades at Irene, which she caught in mid-flight effortlessly. Naruto stood up once more and charged again. This time instead of just dodging and countering, Irene stood like a mountain. Using the blades she was armed with and the backs of her fists, Irene parried Naruto's blade as well as his blows with his body. At times she would move the blades downwards and proceeded to punch Naruto in the face. At other times, she got Naruto to over extend his strikes and Irene would move to the side and trip him. This lasted for a minute before Naruto was breathing hard and Irene was still standing in the same spot.
Naruto stood up; his muscles were burning with exertion, and his heart hammering. Naruto glared at Irene. He was being toyed with worse. What was Irene thinking? To show why she was leaving him? Naruto charged forward swinging his dirk in a diagonal manner. Irene blocked and stood still. Irene looked into Naruto's furious eyes. Irene smirked ever so slightly, making Naruto growl. Naruto headbutted Irene, but rather than stumbling back clutching her head, brought up her leg. Kicking forward, the heel of the foot crashed into Naruto's gut. Winded, Naruto tumbled back, his vision was now fuzzy and his stomach now felt numb. Then...
Naruto didn't make a peep when hurt, instead taking it all with a defiant look on his face. Even as his hands became useless and his daggers dropped to the ground from having the flat of Irene's massive sword break the bones of his elbows from the force of her blows.
Both arms broken, he stuck his foot under one of his weapons and flipped it into the air and caught it in his mouth and held the blade in his teeth while glared as he panted. He wouldn't lose! If she was going to dismiss him from being with her, he had to do that much to prove to her that he was worth keeping around!
Irene looked at Naruto. Damn...and she thought taking down Awakened Beings was hard. He just never gave up.
Good.
And his combat training was coming along nicely from what she'd seen. It made her feel a degree of pride. Sure he seemed to be doing sloppy, but when one took the time to compare the differences between them such as experience and ability, it was to be expected he'd do poorly to an observer from the outside.
Still, Some people just had a look about them that tells something. And Naruto's look told her that once he'd polished his skills a bit more, all she'd ever see the boy do would be getting the job done.
It was all a matter of "yet".
Leaping upwards and flipping so she landed behind him, she grabbed him by the back of his throat and she sent jolts of yoki into him. Naruto's eyes widened. Morse code? While the academy hadn't taught him much, that scar faced dolphin guy taught him how to read and transmit that much at least.
Stay here and keep out of trouble, she'd be back as soon as she could huh? So she wasn't dismissing him? He felt relieved.
He turned to look at her over his shoulder and gave a nod so minute that if she hadn't been doing her job so long and learned to let nothing escape her notice. With that, Naruto fell forward as if knocked out cold. He was faking and both he and Irene knew it, but no one, even the handler, knew otherwise. She sheathed his daggers and picked him up and carried him into an inn. After a moment, she emerged by herself. Having put her ward in lodging there so she could come back and get the blond later.
She was actually surprised that he'd understood the morse code of yoki pulses she'd used. She didn't know he understood the code system that composed it. She wished she had earlier, it would have made learning to communicate with Naruto easier until the language barrier problem was dealt with.
...Not that it did mean anything in regards to his language lessons. Ho no, not in the slightest least bit! He was NOT going be be allowed to slack off for any reason whatsoever, not on her watch!
"That took longer than expected, you're not slipping are you?" the man in black asked.
Irene scowled at him, insulted. "I was keeping to the law not to kill humans. Made the fight harder than it needed to be. Now let's go."
The man nodded in acknowledgement of that and the two turned and left for Staff and the Organization's headquarters.
"My request is in regards to my assignment: I hereby request that it be postponed."
The gathered Elders erupted into chaos as every one of the masters of the Organization began to shout, wave their hands, and otherwise attempt to dominate the conversation, all of them demanding answers in disorganization. When at last Rimuto succeeded in restoring order, he glared at Irene with all the absolute authority of death itself and uttered a single word, tone cold as ice and it carried throughout the room, although it seemed no louder than a whisper, his tone akin more to the hiss of an enraged, venomous serpent than that of a man.
"Explain!"
Irene felt no shame in the chill that ran up and down her spine at how menacing the leader of Organization sounded, it suited him far too well.
"Isely, Riful, and Luciela are indeed seeking that power, as predicted, however, there is something we never believed they would do. They formed an alliance between themselves, call it the "Abyss Trinity". Furthermore, with their ability to sense yoki auras blocked by the sheer potency of the one I was sent to locate, they're keeping tabs on our Warriors in the hopes that we'll lead them to the source of the yoki that caused such a shift in the balance of power."
The Elders all broke out into concerned whispers and mutters at the news. An alliance? Between all three Creatures of the Abyss?!
"How do you know this?!" One of them cried.
"Luciela was in Lautrec, yet Riful didn't challenge it. She even mentioned the alliance to me." Irene said, slightly embellishing the story, trying to keep them from learning about the boy that had unknowingly caused all this with his arrival.
"I see...so you believe that it would be safer to adopt a watch and wait approach until the Creatures of the Abyss allow lust for power and suspicion of betrayal to turn them back against one another rather than have us take action that may actually benefit the creatures by leading them to the prize both they and us are seeking. Once they are embattled among themselves, we resume our own search. That is what you propose, Number Two?" Rimuto said.
She nodded "Yes sir. I would also advise that should the unlikely event that any warrior should come across whatever is the cause of that yoki before the Creatures of the Abyss are once again feuding with one another, they proceed using covert operation tactics to avoid alerting our enemies. Have them all be as human as possible. Otherwise anyone traveling with our Warriors could be mistakenly targeted due to assumption on the Abyssal One's part."
That caused a sense of acceptance to wash over her as the Elders all nodded in agreement with that course of action.
"A good tactic. You are dismissed, Number Two." Rimuto said, causing her to abruptly spin on her heel and exit the chamber.
As soon as the sun hit her face, Irene let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. That had gone a tiny bit better than she'd hoped. Pile on bad news and people listened better...sad that was the case, but at least it worked.
Now to go back and get Naruto. She didn't like the idea of him being by himself...too much could go wrong.
With that thought, she made her way back to the town she'd left Naruto at with all due speed, yet it was still nearly dark by the time she got there.
Irene found Naruto in the inn, waiting for her like a puppy. Upon seeing her, he brightened and hugged her. She felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips almost without her realizing it...he was an affectionate one and wasn't afraid to let her know it. She shook her head, ridding herself of the budding smile. What was wrong with her? Watching him was just another job...something she had to do to because it was her duty. Like she said, she understood that there were some forces that were simply too dangerous to be allowed in anyone's hands, no matter who they were and that Naruto's power easily fell into that category...that was all.
She shouldn't get attached.
It would only end badly if she did. She couldn't let her skills dull by getting soft the way attachment could make her. She needed to be as cold and hard as the steel of her sword. Ruthlessness was a necessity in her line of work.
But looking at Naruto, she felt less like she should and more something else...something she couldn't remember.
What was it about him? Luciela had said his yoki power caused him to turn into nothing but an ignorant beast. Yet if that were the case, wouldn't he have also turned on her after the one known as the Failed Experiment of the South had fled? And the sheer sense of desperation he'd fought with to protect her with...
What was he? He'd been the trigger of such monumental events already. He seemed a smarter boy than one would assume once they got to know him. He seemed at least partly aware of that enough to know there was something going on. Yet for all his power, he was still a lost, lonely, easily-frightened child. An innocent. He needed a pillar and thus had seemed to imprint on her.
She recalled how she'd felt around him: protective enough to hide him and who he was from her superiors, angry whenever he tried cheating in his lessons, proud when he'd done so well when he'd fought her to stay by her side, even if she had been holding back...
Again, she knew she shouldn't get attached. That it would only end badly if she did. She couldn't let her skills dull by getting soft the way attachment could make her. She needed to be as cold and hard as the steel of her sword. Ruthlessness was a necessity in her line of work.
Why did she feel less like that now that she was looking at Naruto?
Just one more question Irene had about the whiskered child.
Where'd he come from and how had he obtained his yoki powers? Why had he been in that cave rather than with his family? A nasty though seemed to make her gut clench at that as a horrible possibility occurred to her, his family...didn't he have one?
Irene shoved these thoughts into the back of her mind as he released her and looked at her as though sensing her confusion.
"Irene," he asked, "anata wa daijōbudesu ka?"
Irene smiled lightly at the familiar question. Asking if she was alright...she understood none of the words except her name, but she had come to understand their meaning.
Irene walked over to the bar and spoke with the keeper there before depositing a bag of coins and a key was put into her hand. She jerked her head and Naruto followed her to the stairs at the back of the common room. The worn treads creaked under their feet as they climbed to a hallway on the second story. A single candle illuminated the dingy, wood-paneled corridor. Unlocking the door, she entered the room,Naruto at her heels before she shut and locked the door again.
As the last rays of the afternoon vanished, the pair decided to rest.
Tossing and turning, Irene scowled as she sat up and threw her uniform's shift on then took her sword and planted it into the floor so it stood up before sitting down with her back propped up against it, using it as a backrest.
"First sign I've been doing this job too long...Can't believe this is more comfortable that a bed..." she muttered to herself.
With that, she allowed her mind to fade into the realm of dreams. When she awoke the following morning, she was surprised to see the blanket of the bed draped around her and Naruto resting his head on her lap. Clearly he'd put it around her to try and make her more comfortable. She shook her head and almost let out a laugh. He was sweet, if nothing else.
Irene looked at him, yet again noticing the marks on each cheek that greatly resembled whiskers. After making sure he was still asleep, she leaned forward to get a better look at them. At first, she thought the whiskers were simply drawn on with face paint. Now that she was close enough to study them in detail, she was able to see the shallow grooves the lines made in his face. Maybe they were some kind of birthmark?
Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she gently pressed her hand against his right cheek and ran her fingers over the grooves of each mark. She found them to actually be very soft and kind of nice to touch underneath her fingers, which were hard with calluses from the uncountable times she wielded her sword. She was taken aback for a moment when the boy in her hand subconsciously nuzzled his cheek against her hand, seeking more comfort from her fingers' gentle touch. A small smile graced her lips as she resumed gently rubbing his cheek. She then took notice of his somewhat long, shaggy blond hair. It was pretty matted and messy, she wondered when the last time it had seen a brush was since she'd found him living in the wild. Slowly running her left hand through it, the texture of his hair was something she had never really felt before. It reminded her of a mixture between hair and fur. It, like everything else about the boy was odd, but not unpleasantly so.
Irene couldn't help but smirk a little bit when she heard the boy started to make a low rumbling noise in his chest that sounded awfully a lot like a purr. An uncharacteristic and mean-spirited idea began to form in her mind that she just had to try out. Stopping her ministrations on his cheek and scalp, she was delighted for some unknown reason when she heard what sounded like a small pitiful whimper from him. Was her touch really having that much of an effect on him?
She reapplied her ministrations of his cheeks and scalp. As she did so, she felt something like a spark of energy go through him and and she felt that something use the physical contact to enter her body and it started going through her memories, learning everything she knew about the land and it's regions, mannerisms, customs, history, and language, yet it spent a particularly strong level of attention to the ones involving Naruto in some way, such as her decision to keep his existence hidden from the Organization.
After it was done, she thought she sensed approval coming from whatever this mental probe was and it yanked her from her body.
...Ok, where was this place?
Irene walked around to see all the structures, homes, stores and many other things around here...wherever "here" was. How and why had she ended up here?
The place was clearly a sizable city. Meandering through the vacant streets leading further into the city, she couldn't help but be awed by the amount of foliage within the city and how well it and the city's architecture seemed to compliment each other; The innumerable trees, grasses, flowers, and bushes of the city's parks and forests seemed to blend in perfectly with the wooden houses, colorfully-painted shops, and tall poles that, for some reason, held rubber-coated ropes high above the streets of packed dirt and pavement, forming a colorful mosaic too beautiful for words to fully describe.
Still, it was kind of creepy...this big a place and yet there's not a single living soul. It should be filled with life but it seems devoid of any at all, not even a single rodent or insect...how empty this place was bothered her.
She stopped and turned to see the large mountain behind the city and saw multiple faces on it and the last one looked like Naruto almost.
She felt something looking at the mountain and ran to the base of it. Something wanted her to go there.
Stopping at it, she saw this city wasn't as completely deserted as she thought. There were two people, a man and woman, standing atop the flat roof of the circularly designed building that towered over most of the other of the other structures.
The male of the pair was a fairly tall, fair-skinned individual that strongly resembled Naruto in terms of physical appearance; both had bright, blue eyes and spiky, blond hair. The man also had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face. In fact, Irene rubbed her eyes, certain she was looking at Naruto's future self, only without the whisker markings. His attire consisted of a blue body suit with two bands each on both of his sleeves, a leaf green flak jacket, blue headband that had a metal plate attached to it that had an odd symbol etched into the metal, and blue sandals like Naruto had worn originally. Over this was a short-sleeved long white coat of some kind over his normal attire, decorated by orange flames-like motifs on the edges, and closed on the front by a thin, orange rope.
As for the woman, she had a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, violet eyes, fiery red hair with strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parts her hair to the left, keeping it out of her eyes. She wore an outfit consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress. The blouse was white while the dress was green. She also wore a slate blue wristband on her left wrist and black sandals.
Irene stared at them as the two smiled at her as if they were all old friends and then when they opened their mouths to speak with her, her eyes widened at what they said before the scene faded to black.
As she awoke with a start, she saw Naruto staring at her with worry. As if not sure if she needed help but or if she was just sleeping in.
Irene stared at him as though she had never seen anything like him before, and then caught herself. She schooled her features and nodded to show she was alright before she stood and donned her sword and armor.
As they left town, Irene kept stealing glances at Naruto as she recalled her vision...she couldn't call it a dream. The whole thing seemed insane, but she couldn't stop thinking about it.
More than anything, she recalled the words the two people had spoken to her.
"We entrust you with our son."