Naruto stood outside his apartment staring at the faded number on the door for what must have been twenty minutes. He wasn't ready to leave this, wasn't prepared to be uprooted again. He had fooled himself into thinking he would never have to be forcefully displaced after he turned eighteen. He fought back the shaking in his hands and swallowed, feeling the tightening in his throat.
"Dude! What happened to you last night? We had to call Sora to come back in and pull a double shift cause you didn't show." Kiba jumped up from the table as Naruto walked into the small apartment.
"Sorry! I'm sorry. I had something unexpected happen and I left my phone here so I wasn't able to call you guys." The blonde apologized again hoping they wouldn't ask for too much detail.
"Look man, I know all about that. When a booty call comes you gotta answer, but not when you have work and don't let anyone know you won't be coming in." Kiba sat back down and crossed his arms just before receiving a backhand across his head from their other roommate who approached the kitchen table.
"You wouldn't know anything about that considering the fact that nobody calls you aside from us, you idiot." Tenten rolled her eyes as the man at the table rubbed the back of his head and glared back up at her. She playfully ruffled his hair and took a seat at the table next to him, reaching for the newspaper and pulling out the sports section for Kiba.
Naruto smiled as he watched the interaction between the two, trying hard to commit everything about this moment of them together to memory. Kiba was his best friend since high school. They'd get into all sort of trouble but no matter what they had been there. They were the only ones who hadn't left yet. He remembered how Kiba was always dragging the blonde into doing some stupid prank at school or spending the summer afternoons in front of his old TV in his bedroom playing xbox and cracking open the window so they could smoke a joint Kiba stole off his older sister. It made Naruto's life seem almost normal for a few moments, until the crushing reality of having to go home at some point reared it's ugly head. Or when Kiba's mom would be home on rare days and Kiba insisted on them leaving once the yelling between his sister and drunk mother started, ending up in them wandering around the city instead. Naruto would pick up on Kiba's silent plea for a distraction and go along with it. Not asking questions or showing signs of pity, just being there for him until he felt ready to go back home.
Whenever Naruto ran away after a bad altercation with his foster parents and just needed some space away from his bullshit, he'd always somehow find himself at Kiba's doorstep despite whatever bloody nose, busted lip or black eye he happened to have. Although Kiba's father was gone and his mother was a raging drunk and drug addict always in and out of rehab, Kiba's older sister always let Naruto stay for a night before kicking both boys out in the morning with meaningless threats of calling CPS on their asses if they didn't get to school. Kiba never mentioned much about Naruto's bruises other than tossing him a first aid kit he had on hand ever since the first time Naruto showed up with an ugly gash on his head freshman year. He always healed abnormally fast so Kiba settled for just telling him he was mostly welcome to stay whenever unless his mom was home and he was always there if Naruto ever needed to talk about it. Naruto never talked about it, not fully anyway. They were similar in that aspect, they had hidden parts of their lives they were ashamed to talk about but had shown each other regardless and in that it made them closer as brothers.
And then there was Tenten. Kiba had been chasing her since elementary apparently, always getting rejected or having his ass kicked finally sunk in by the end of middle school. They became friends once he gave up trying to kiss her. After the whirlwind of chaos that ensued once Naruto and Kiba met in high school she stuck close to them always making sure they didn't get into too many fights. And if they did, she'd make sure people would think twice before messing with her friends. The boys eventually stopped initiating fights with guys twice their size when Tenten got suspended for jumping in to save their asses and sending three guys to the hospital their sophomore year. After that they promised to keep their noses clean and Tenten gladly settled for making sure Kiba at least tried with his grades, scolding him for failing tests or forgetting to do the homework assignments. She was always looking out for them and would often bring some extra food once she noticed Naruto would wolf down his lunch on the days the cafeteria food was actually edible. He'd always decline but she'd stick it in his bag anyway when he wasn't looking. She was a saint and Kiba was a dog who didn't deserve her. She was the only reason Kiba got out of bed every morning and the only thing keeping him employed, sober and clean was because he wanted to be everything for her.
Naruto turned away from them and walked to his room. "Where's Lee?"
"Shower" Kiba responded as he got up to pour some coffee for his girlfriend.
The blonde entered his room, ignoring the dried up vomit and blood on the floor. He looked up to the large dent in the wall, hand ghosting over his ribs where now only a bruise was left. He moved one of his WWII propaganda replica posters to cover the hole. He'd let Kiba deal with it later, payback for eating his last microwave ramen the other night. The blonde dumped his books and spiral notebooks from his backpack onto the floor and began pulling clothes from his closet, violently stuffing them into his bag. He wouldn't be able to take everything so just the essentials and stuff he held valuable right? It's not like the half breed really had all that much to begin with. He climbed up to the top shelf of his closet and pulled down a beat up tin x-men lunchbox. He pulled out a large wad of cash before tossing the small box into his bag. The dried up puddle of puke finally annoyed the blonde enough to use a dirty towel and clean the floor as best as possible before tossing it aside and sitting on his bed for what could be the very last time.
"Fuck" Naruto whispered to himself and let his head rest in his hands for a moment. He was not mentally prepared to leave everything behind again.
When had he become so weak? When he moved in with Kiba three years ago after high school and let himself be surrounded by people who cared. He laughed darkly to himself, fully knowing well that nothing lasts forever. And if his college education, that he willingly jumped into student debt for had taught him anything, it was that history always repeated itself at some point. Like life enjoys constantly throwing things back in your face and picking at old scars on purpose because it's a sadistic son of a bitch. He reached over to his bedside table and unplugged his pre-paid phone from where it was charging. Twenty missed calls and over fifty unread text messages varying from an angry ex boyfriend, a concerned roommate, a few pissed off coworkers and a frantic best friend. He scrolled through them just to make the notifications disappear but didn't even bother trying to read them all. The phone wouldn't be good after a month unless he could come back and buy a new prepaid card and even if he did he doubted he'd get reception in hell. He tossed it back onto his bed as he stood back up grabbing a black beanie and orange knitted scarf.
"Lee, I need my toothbrush." Naruto knocked on the door to the bathroom before opening it and stepping into so much steam they could have opened a sauna in their dingy Chinatown apartment and charged uptown prices for it.
"You going on a trip?" the dark haired gym instructor poked his head around the striped shower curtain and eyed the full bag Naruto was shoving his toiletries into.
"I fucking wish." The blonde sighed which earned a quirked brow from Lee. A trip insinuated that Naruto would eventually be back and Naruto knew his chances of returning were pretty slim.
"So you're packing for a mystery trip… got it." Lee returned back to the steady stream of scorching water.
"... Uh... something like that. I gotta take care of some business and I'm not sure when I'll be back, man. So take care…..and for the love of god, leave some hot water for the rest of us peasants on the planet, ok? I think the droughts in California are partly to blame on you." Naruto dodged the half empty bottle of shampoo that was thrown at him as he exited the bathroom.
Shit, this was gonna be harder than originally anticipated. He couldn't even properly say goodbye to Lee. How the fuck was he going to tell Kiba and Tenten? Naruto shook his head and shoved the black hat over his blonde locks. He tossed the scarf around his neck and inhaled deeply as he checked the time, one hour had passed. He still had one more person to see after Kiba, he couldn't waste time. This was it, no chickening out or falling apart. Besides, this was different from before. This time he was the one doing the leaving. He slung his backpack into place and forced his legs to move, one foot in front of the other towards the kitchen.
"Nards, you want pancak-"
Kiba was interrupted by the large wad of cash that was tossed onto the wooden table in front of him. Brown eyes furrowed in confusion as he reached for it.
"Did I win a bet that I forgot about or…" Kiba looked up, slowly registering the full pack and distant expression on his best friends face. He'd seen that look before, he knew where this was headed.
"Kiba.."
"And just where the fuck do you think you're going?" Tenten grabbed her boyfriend's wrist as he violently stood. There was some unspoken statement that had just happened between them.
"I-… I found my dad." Naruto finally spoke
"Wait, what?"
Naruto laughed, it was a sick sound in the back of his throat. Both Kiba and Tenten looked mildly horrified at their friend.
"It's a fucking shitshow, man. I got dragged into a mess and I gotta go take care of some stuff that's kinda related to him." Naruto was trying to gauge if this would end in a fight or not.
"What?" It was the only thing Kiba seemed able to say at the moment. Naruto took the opportunity to speed through whatever he had to say before anything else happened.
The blonde pointed to the stack of cash on the table. "I don't know if I'll be able to come back but that should be enough to cover my share of the rent for at least three months. So don't blow it all on useless shit. My stash is in the top drawer of my nightstand. I know you don't smoke anymore so you can sell it to your sister or she can find someone to buy it. Honestly I haven't touched it in a while so I don't know how much is left. I won't have cell reception where I'm at but I'll try to find a way to keep in touch. You can also sell my stuff if you want, or keep it. It doesn't matter."
"Doesn't matter?! What the fuck dude! You can't just say shit like that. Of course it matters!"
"Kiba, don't yell. You don't know what Naruto's situation is like right now." Now Tenten was standing, pleadingly trying to keep it a relatively calm argument.
"Oh, I'll tell you. He found his good for nothing father and now he's gonna run in and try to save him from whatever hole he crawled into cause Naruto is always trying to be the good guy, the hero."
"Kiba!"
"No, Ten." He looked back at his best friend. "What about your degree? You're just gonna throw that away for some guy who ditched you when you were a kid? What about me, man? You gonna throw our friendship away for some guy who's gonna just let you down again and again? I've been down that road Nards. I know how it plays out. They won't change, not even for their kids." That was the breaking point for Kiba as angry tears came streaming down his face.
Naruto sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, desperately holding back tears of his own. "I wish it were that easy but it's not. You don't think I want to shove him in front of a moving train? Believe me, if I had the chance last night I would have taken it. That doesn't make my dad and all the problems finding him comes with disappear."
"That doesn't mean you have to go rushing in to save the day! Save yourself the heartache and let him figure it out on his own instead of trying to believe you can fix him or that being with him will fix you." Kiba clenched his fists as he tried to regain some composure.
"It's not like that. You don't understand."
"Bullshit! If there's one thing that I understand it's shitty parents that leave and hurt you."
"I am in physical danger Kiba! I'll be putting you guys in danger if I stay. They'll come looking for me..."
Silence.
"Just exactly what kind of shit is your dad in?" Tenten released Kiba's arm that had been holding him back from jumping across the table.
"The unbelievable kind"
"So yeah, they asked me to move the portal to some shady ass location because according to the Order, too many drunk humans were falling through."
"And have they?" Gaara asked already knowing the answer to that question.
"No. I know when beings of high power or mortals pass through my portal. Let me tell you not a single human has fallen through in a few decades. I didn't fight it though, there's no winning with those guys."
"So why move the portal to someplace less accessible?"
Shizune shrugged. "Fuck if I know. At this point I just work here and nobody tells me anything anymore."
They waited on the dirty subway platform for their train to arrive. Gaara watched as Shizune fixed her oversized dark sunglasses she always wore in public. Something about it helping her mute the distraction of wandering spirits she saw since she couldn't just turn it off like demons could, or so she said. The sin knew she also loved looking like a model and turning the heads of people passing by. All dolled up in her long hooded black coat with large oversized sleeves and perfectly painted red lips, the only shock of color against her all black outfit. She looked like something straight out of Vouge, you know, if they ever took a turn towards gothic couture.
"Did it hurt?" A raspy voice came from behind the pair.
"Excuse me?" Shizune turned to find a crusty man with a guitar in his hand.
He strummed a few chords before responding. "When you fell from heaven?"
"How sweet of you to mistake me for our dark lord Lucifer, but I'm gonna have to disappoint you and say I clawed my way up straight from hell. So fuck off, you walking ash tray." She turned back around as Gaara rolled his eyes at the interaction before him.
"Fucking bitch." The musician spat and walked away when he didn't get the answer he wanted.
Shizune simply waved her hand and all the strings of his guitar popped earning a string of cursing from the guitarist. She smirked to herself as their train approached, leaving the nuisance of a mortal behind. They got off at a station in Brooklyn and turned down the dark secluded platform, following a familiar hum of power portals emitted. They began to see quite a few lesser demons and half breeds as they continued down, all inclined their heads in respect to Lord Wrath as he passed them along the various twists, turns and platforms they had to climb over.
"This is extremely annoying" Gaara muttered as he hopped down from the platform and turned back to help Shizune.
"And now you know why I am receiving at least a hundred complaints on a daily basis. I know this is New York and commute times are normally shitty but this is ridiculous to get to. It's too far out of everyone's way for the daily commuters." She lightly placed her hands on his shoulders as she allowed him to help lift her down to the old abandoned tracks.
"I imagine that there is a crowding problem in these tunnels during rush hours as well?"
"You have no idea" she deadpanned and continued following the path.
"Lord Wrath?" a small figure tugged on sin's hoodie.
Gaara turned and looked down at a small face he hadn't seen in awhile. "Shinki?"
The halfbreed must have been eleven by now. Had it really been that long since Gaara had last seen them? The boy's voice broke his train of thought.
"I thought you had forgotten about me." He smiled, pleased that the demon had remembered his name.
"Not likely." He offered a rare smile before speaking again. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for my sister. She left a few days ago on a job but hasn't come back. I've been coming here to ask around if anyone has seen her."
"Yodo is missing?" He watched the boy nod in answer to his question.
"Keep looking for her, but be careful. I'll see if I can find anything to help track her down."
"Thank you Lord Wrath." the small boy bowed before running off back down the tunnel.
"Isn't that one of the kids who lost their parents in that ugly hunter fight a few years ago?" Shizune examined her nails, watching Gaara out of the corner of her eye.
"Hmm.." He turned and continued walking back to the portal.
"I think it's sweet of you to give half breed and demon kids a home free of charge in your fancy building. Like you're a scary ruthless demon and all but still, it's sweet. I'm sure they are all grateful for it." The witch mused.
"The only reason they lost their parents was because of a job I assigned them to do. They are my responsibility. I sent their parents to their deaths after all." He let the morbid statement hang between them as they stood before the large portal that took up most of the space in the tunnel.
"Well, I suppose that's true." Shizune finally responded as she let the sin examine the area. She wasn't sure what he was looking for but she knew better than to interrupt his thought process.
"Does it sit on a ley line?" Gaara had jumped back up to the platform and pressed his back against the filthy tile wall and looked around.
"What?"
"A ley line. It this on a ley line? Are we on a ley line right now?" He moved to stand parallel to the portal for a moment studying it before jumping back down and disappearing behind it.
"Ley line? The fuck if I know off the top of my head. I don't have that shit memorized like I used to." She muttered to herself as she reached into her jacket pocket to pull out a crystal quartz pendulum.
She moved to the side of the tracks, out of the way of the little bit of portal traffic so she could douse properly. She stilled the stone and whispered, "Show me the nearest ley line."
It began to spin wildly, there was too much energy for it to discern anything useful. The witch grunted in mild frustration. Gaara reappeared and crouched on the upper level of the platform, looking down as Shizune cursed at her crystal. She was going to have to try another method. The witch tossed the useless pendulum up to Gaara before digging in her coat pockets once more and pulling out a circular mirror and her red lipstick. She pushed her designer sunglasses to rest on her head and drew an intricate symbol on the back of her pocket mirror with her favorite lipstick before turning back to the demon above her.
"If you would be so kind." She lifted the mirror up to him like an offering plate.
"Always blood with you witches." Gaara bit his thumb and let a small puddle collect on the reflective surface.
"You are the one who wanted to know about the ley lines..." She smeared it all over the shiny mirror and returned back to the center of the tracks and continued to work.
Gaara was still crouched at the edge of the platform, resting his head in his hand as he waited. He watched the pendulum Shizune tossed at him spin frantically at the close proximity of his own demonic energy as he held it in his free hand. If this was on a ley line then that meant the Order needed it here to move something big, or something with a massive amount of energy that a portal in a normal place wouldn't be able to transport. Since the ley lines are the earth's natural energy streams having a portal rest on one would amplify the amount of energy it's normally able to transport. He was pulled from his thoughts as the item in his hand froze. It pointed directly at Shizune on the tracks as she muttered the last of her incantation. It jolted out of the demons fingers towards the sudden spike in energy and shattered on impact with Shizune's personal protective field. The entire subway station lit up, as old lights flickered to life and the tracks sparked for a moment before dying back down. The few demons who passed by raised their brows quizzically at the slight commotion but returned to their business once the energy spike died down. Shizune tossed the cracked blood stained mirror to the demon after he hopped down from the station platform.
"That's a yes to your question. A strong one at that." She sighed shaking sparks from her fingers.
Gaara handed the mirror back to her after looking at it and nodded. "Let's just keep quiet for now, but observe it closely. Call me the minute anything unusual passes through."
"Why do I put up with you?" Shizune put her sunglasses back into position but picked up on what Gaara meant about unusual portal activity and hummed in response.
"Because you'd have no one else to annoy if it weren't for me. Let's go, I'll buy you a tea." He offered her his arm and she linked hers through it for support. Her body was buzzing with the energy surge and despite her abilities it was somewhat difficult to control. She'd need time to wind down.
They made it back to the busy streets and sat outside a small cafe that sat between the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs. He watched Shizune finish her tea as she had come down from her mild energy checked the time, one more hour until he'd have to meet up with Naruto and head back. This evening could be difficult, hell the whole situation would take some adjusting. He only hoped training Naruto wouldn't prove to be an impossible task.
"Oh baby boy, walk that fine piece of ass this way. Happy birthday to me." Shizune cooed as she observed some mortal eye candy she had found across the street.
Gaara rolled his eyes but turned to look at the poor soul that Shizune had marked as her next intimate endeavor. He choked back a crude remark once he recognized the leather jacket and blonde hair sticking out from under a black knitted beanie.
"Naruto?" He was finally able to let out.
Shizune snapped her head back to look at the demon. "That's the Namikaze boy? You didn't tell me he was so fuckable."
Gaara glared at her comment. "You didn't ask."
"So you do think he's fuckable…" She gave a smug grin as a rare blush crept over the sins face.
"I didn't say that."
"But you didn't deny it. You think he's dreamy." She sang as she turned to looked back at the unknowing half breed.
"Please don't do this." Wrath sighed. When it came to anyone Gaara showed any remote interest in Shizune was like a dog with a bone. She'd never let it go until she was satisfied in meddling with his lack of a love life.
"Oh, we are doing this. C'mon." She stood and made her way to follow as he crossed the street a block ahead.
"It's your birthday. I should be helping you look for someone so you can get laid." Gaara grumbled as he tossed some cash on the table and followed the witch.
"Trust. This is just as good- no better than me getting laid! I haven't seen you blush over someone since Fuu." She picked up her pace as she continued, not letting the blonde out of her sight.
"I am his mentor. I seriously doubt that adding a shitty attempt at any kind of other relationship will help him survive the trials." The demon was thinking logically on this part. The trials were far more serious and impending than a fleeting attraction.
"Oh pfff- excuses, excuses." Shizune waved her hand, ending that conversation. "Where is blondie going?"
They quickly crossed the street as Naruto rounded a corner up ahead. The both paused as they turned down the street Naruto disappeared to. A large sign stood at the entrance just across the street from them, Cypress Hills Cemetery. Wrath spotted Naruto walking further into the cemetery before disappearing once again behind a large mausoleum.
"Cemetary? Creepy as fuck." Shizune sighed before grabbing Gaara's wrist and entering the iron gates.
Wrath leaned back against the large oak tree they hid behind. He crossed his arms and frowned as Shizune peeked out to observe the half breed kneeling at a small tombstone. He had a pretty good idea what Naruto was doing here.
"Oh, poor baby…" Shizune had lifted her dark glasses to get a better look but turned back with a hand to her mouth.
"He's here to say goodbye to his mom." The demon watched the wind blow through the leaves, avoiding eye contact with the witch beside him.
"Yeah."
Gaara peeked around the tree and willed his demon sight to take over until the blurry figure of a redheaded woman was visible sitting next to her son. The spirit turned and smiled at the two hiding behind the tree.
"Hmm… She says you better take care of him and be patient cause he can be really stubborn. But he's a good kid who-… hmmm. A good kid who deserves to be happy." She paused and tapped her chin in thought. "Something about being each other's happiness, I think? She's a little hard to understand, murder victims usually are."
"Let's give him some space." Gaara began walking back to the entrance with Shizune following close behind.
"Phew, I always get so overwhelmed in cemeteries." the witch leaned against the black iron fence.
"You said she was murdered? Minato never mentioned that." The demon made a mental note to ask the High Lord Wrath about it.
Shizune nodded. "It's not really something most of the victims families enjoy talking about. We really gotta work on your empathy levels."
He pulled out his phone and shot off a few text messages to Temari in regards to the missing half breed girl and to look into Kushina's death without alerting Minato. He decided on whether he should alert Itachi about the portal being on a ley line, but decided against it. He'd wait to see how things played out.
"I'll take you back home." Gaara shoved his phone back into his hoodie pocket.
"Like hell you are. I still want to meet the owner of that delicious tight ass who can catch our ominous Lord of Wrath's eye and make him blush like a school boy."
Gaara grunted but knew arguing with her would be pointless, she did as she pleased. He rested his head back against the fence and closed his eyes as they waited for Naruto.
"Gaara?" the half breed finally exited the gate and quirked his head at the sight of the demon.
"Well hello there handsome. You must be Naruto. I've heard loads about you. I'm Shizune, High Witch of NYC." She extended her hand.
The blonde furrowed his brows in slight confusion before accepting her well manicured hand in his. Shizune let out a small gasp at the contact and ripped the sunglasses from her face, staring hard at the blonde.
"Umm… Nice to meet you." Naruto tugged his hand back out of her vice grip and slightly backed away from her intense stare.
"Oh! Sorry. You're very interesting." was all the witch offered as she snapped back to reality and placed her glasses back on her face.
"Huh?" Naruto awkwardly scratched at the back of his head looking from the woman to the demon for more explanation.
"Gaara was just about to treat us to some lunch before you both went back to hell." She grabbed the demon by the shoulders and shoved him forward, forcing him to start walking in down the street.
"You're working my last nerve." Gaara grumbled as he let the woman push him along back to the subway station.
She lightly smacked his shoulder. "Rude. It's my birthday. Don't be such a limp dick."
Naruto burst out laughing at her last remark.
"See, blondie agrees with me." She let go of the demon and slung her arm around the half breed's shoulders as they waited on the subway platform.
"Never in my life would I imagine someone calling him a limp dick and surviving."
"Normally he'd rip the arms off of whoever said it but we go way back so I have special friend and name calling privileges." She leaned in before continuing in a not so hushed whisper. "And by the way we aren't a thing nor have we ever been, but he does not actually have a limp dick. It's 110% fully functional and able to perform-" She was dragged sideways by an invisible force following her maniacal laughter.
"And that's where your special friend privilege ends." Gaara gave a death glare her way.
They exited back in Chinatown and Shizune led them to a small restaurant that she insisted had the best korean bbq on the planet. As usual she was right. Once the check came Naruto instinctively reached into his pocket for some cash, hoping he had enough to at least cover his share of the meal.
"Don't worry about it." Gaara slid his credit card over to the server as she took it and returned to the register.
"I don't want to take advantage of it." Naruto mumbled and fiddled with edge of his napkin.
"Seriously, don't worry about it. After all the shit you've been through a free meal is probably the highlight of your week." The witch crossed her legs and laughed to herself.
The blonde shrugged and frowned down at his empty hands.
"I didn't expect you to get dumped into all of this suddenly and magically have funds to support yourself, especially now that your only focus will be training for the trials. It's not a bother." Gaara crossed his arms as he spoke to Naruto.
"Yeah, I guess.." Naruto looked back up, still frowning.
"Look, Gaara is your mentor now. That means he is one hundred percent responsible for making sure you don't die. That includes by starvation." Shizune offered a smile. "Besides he's loaded and has no one to spend the money on. You are doing him a favor. Trust."
The demon rolled his eyes. "You can't possibly take advantage of me any more than she has."
Shizune gave a small 'hmph' as the server returned with Gaara's card. Naruto excused himself to use the restroom before they left back to hell.
"Gaara" Shizune dropped her playful tone once the half breed was out of earshot.
"Hmm..?" The demon looked over to the witch.
"Keep an eye on him. Like really, keep a close eye on him."
"What did you see?" Wrath furrowed his brow.
"He's… special."
"Descriptive." the demon deadpanned.
"Ugh, I don't know how to explain it." She whined.
"Try."
"Fine, fine. When we shook hands I got a glimpse of something….He's got something dormant inside him. It's powerful and could potentially put him in danger." Shizune spoke in a hushed voice, making sure no one overheard her.
"Are you saying he's possessed? Half breeds are hard for demons to possess in the first place, especially a half breed who's a descendant of a High Lord. And for it to stay dormant, that's not normal demonic possession protocol." Gaara instantly began trying to make sense of what the witch was saying.
"I don't know if it's a demon or an energy source or whatever. All I was able to see is that it's not active right now but it will be extremely powerful if it wakes up. Just look out for him. He's got a lot of weight he's carrying emotionally too. He had to cut his only few ties today. He's officially lost everyone who was ever important to him." The witch pleaded empathy for the half breed.
Naruto returned before Gaara could respond. Shizune stood and led them out to the street once again. She paused in front of her shop and turned to face the two.
"Well boys, it's been a blast." She turned to the redhead as she continued. "Thank you for the gift, and the tea and the meal and the almost being impaled by my own pendulum. That was a first for me."
"Not my fault." Wrath shoved his hands in his pockets and scoffed.
"And it was a pleasure meeting you, really." She grabbed the blonde's hands as she spoke. "I live here so if you ever find yourself in New York for whatever reason and need help please don't hesitate to come see me. Or if you don't need help come see me anyway. We can talk shit about Gaara behind his back and it'll be great." She scrunched her nose in amusement before pulling away and entering her shop.
"Umm.." Naruto held out his hand to Gaara. The half breed turned the iridescent object over to examine the intricate sigils carved into it.
"That witch." The demon sighed and began to walk away.
Naruto scurried after his mentor as they walked back to the library they originally came through. "What is it?"
"It's a type of protection, luck charm. Hang on to it."
They found a secluded spot towards the nonfiction section as Gaara got to work smearing his blood in a sigil, similar to the one Itachi had created yesterday.
"Ready to go back to hell?"
Naruto laughed. "Well, it's not like I have much of a choice."
