~NRK~
Their game of Tag couldn't go on forever.
Not because Naruto felt tired after another fifteen minutes but because he'd, unfortunately, given Jen a time limit.
By the end of their 'game', Naruto grunted with crossed arms, Jen's stolen item in his back pocket.
And the woman only looked slightly exerted, Jen wiping her brow with a grin that looked at him with such wonder and amazement.
"Yes! You'll be so good for our circles!" Jen squealed as Naruto's brow twitched at her before he grunted.
"Alright, well, let's go to your circle, yeah?"
"Perfect!" The woman grinned as she grabbed his shoulder and ushered him forward. "Come, children, it's time for the best part!"
With the others grimacing and following along, Max's eyes narrowed with a deep frown at Jen.
"Freaks," he insulted under his breath as he walked in step with Ered. "Anything?"
"I've got some goods to use but we need the best moment," Meredith said with narrowed eyes on Jen's back, Naruto's own narrow-eyed stare gaining her attention. "... If Naru there is as strong as you guys," she said to Eddy on her other side. "Then can he take that woman down?"
"Before all of this? I would have said 'easily'," Edward grimaced. "But watching her movements just now? I'm not sure," he messed with his sash. "But I know Naruto can pull through if it comes down to it. And with us all? Taking down Jen shouldn't be the worst thing but there's another?"
"The other guy's name is 'Daniel'," Sasha frowned as Snake's eyes widened. "He's some happy-looking fuck-"
"Sasha," he held her shoulder with a pale face, confusing the Flower Scout. "W-What did you say his name was?"
"D-Daniel?"
"Fuck us, that's not good," Snake swallowed as he grew more nervous. "Shit, shit, shit! If I'm right, and from seeing your Counselor," he frowned. "Does Daniel look exactly like David?"
"Yeah?" Erin frowned nervously. "Why?"
"Because he's a kook, he's a damn cultist. Where my mom lives, he was a well-known name of bad shit," he warned. "Whatever you do, do NOT eat what he makes, do not DRINK what he offers, and tell him to 'fuck off' at every opportunity to 'talk'. He's a silver-tongued bastard who can try and turn anyone his way."
The situation had officially gone from 'bad' to 'fuck their lives they were screwed'.
"... I think it's time to stop being nice about this," Nikki figured with a focused stare on Jen's back. "Um, just asking, why the hell are we even going along with this?"
"To figure them out?" Eddy suggested.
"But why?" Nikki tilted her head. "Why not bring her down now and then attack Daniel? It'd be easy."
The group blinked as one, eyes going to Jen's clearly distracted back.
"Huh," Ered uttered with a blink, speeding up to match speed with Jen and Naruto, gaining the blonde's confused expression. "She's got a point," she told him.
Jen's body spazzed out before she hit her knees, Ered putting her taser back in her pocket.
"Sometimes, the frontal approach works," she said with crossed arms and a frown, turning to the others with a focused expression. "Let's drop her-"
The 'daring blonde' blinked a mere breath later, eyes widening at the sight of Jen being up with a grin.
Naruto landed with a huff, lifting his fellow blonde up with a frown. "Not that easy, sadly," he whispered to Ered who paled as Jen shook off the 'shivers'. "Sorry, Jen, it was supposed to be a prank but we set it up too high," he said as Ered's hands held nothing in her pockets.
'Oh shit,' she paled some more, hand clenching Naruto shoulder as Jen held her baton. "Y-Yeah, um, sorry about that, just a joke," Meredith said.
"Oh, it's fine!" The woman said, rolling her shoulders. "I had to deal with stuff like that before, I got used to it!"
She what?
Petrol's form went still as the woman snapped the rod without issue. "But these kinds of jokes are dangerous, young Miller, you'll hurt one of these youngins!" Jen said admonishingly despite her smile remaining.
Getting put down, Ered had one thing to say. "Yeah, um… Yeah."
"Alright, let's continue on!" The woman grinned with a pep in her step, Naruto stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked past her. "Oh, he's eager!"
The others just kept on staring in horror at this phenomenon of a person who'd shrugged off tazing.
"W-What?" Nerris swallowed weakly as Snake grimaced. "S-She's been tazed how many times?"
"This just keeps getting worse a-and worse," Eddy said with a nervous sweat, Erin's eyes snapping down to her phone in concern.
'Guys, please, hurry this up!' She pleaded.
~NRK~
"Y-Your cousin is downright incredible!" Neil said, geeking out over the surprisingly advance mechanisms and signals. "W-Wait, come on, focus, nerd out later," he said with a grin as he pulled out a laptop from within the machine. "He doesn't make laptops, does he?"
"Nope but Naru's totes done all kinds of mechanic-y stuff," Tabii said as Neil opened it up and waited for it to start in an amazingly short amount of time. "Erin got this one from her mom for a birthday present since Mrs. Cocture knows Naru's a fixer."
"So, she keeps it in the safe spot, I can respect that. Now… Let's see about bumping up this signal," Neil said as he opened up the 'System' portion. "I figured she set-up with this being the 'motherboard'. So, if I'm doing that…" He grinned as he finished navigating to the 'ON' App in the laptop. "The job is… DONE," he clicked it.
The machine swirled to light, his eyes shining at its numerous glows and amazing designs on the side.
"We spent a whole year learning how to put those moving designs on it, Neil. Now," Tabii grinned knowingly. "Let's get back to the others!"
~NRK~
David tilted his head with a confused smile, noting the surprise spread Daniel had laid out.
"Oh, you're back!" The blonde man grinned. "Ya see, Jen came up with quite the delicious meals! I would have liked to make them, got my own touch," he said with a wagging brow. "But she's so good at it!"
"Huh, yeah," Gwen smiled as she eyed the food. "Wait, actually, where's Quartermaster?"
Daniel's smile became a bit more tame as David raised a brow. "She's got a point, Daniel, usually, he's our cook!" He smiled.
"Yes, well, that old soul decided to go elsewhere, unfortunately," Daniel admitted. "He seems to have quite the unfortunate relationship."
"Yeah, sorry about him, that guy and Naruto aren't exactly… Mmm," Gwen tried to find the words. "Compatible," she found it. "Still, usually, they stay away from each other."
"Ah, shucks."
"We're back~," Jen declared as she released Naruto's shoulder before presenting him. "And I got the star of the show!" She clapped to herself, the blonde boy's eyes going around the three large tables covered in food, drink, or festival items.
'... I don't trust some of this stuff,' especially not with what he'd found in Jen's pocket. "Hey, David, Gwen, what's up?" Naruto greeted as the others made it over to the normal pair.
"Oh, you came over," Gwen said, noting the Wood Scouts lack of aggression. 'Truly, Naruto does bring out the calm in everyone,' thank God.
"Ah, I see you again, youngster," Daniel said with that perpetual grin that he seemed to have. "For you, we've got a whole different meal and outfit!"
"Okay, I'm gonna put an end to that one," Naruto said flatly with a cold stare. "Alright, for one," he turned to Gwen and David. "Guys, seriously, we're not comfortable with these two," the blonde said outright, eyes narrowing as they turned to Jen and Daniel. "They've been pushing buttons, they've cut the internet for everyone else, and they're calling this a circle," he gestured to the ground.
Looking down, Gwen jumped while David cupped his chin at the complex designs.
"Jesus!"
"Hmm, are we sure they're not just coming on strong?"
"David," Gwen said before looking at the sad-looking Jen with a guilty expression. "Guys, come on, let's not make this too harsh, maybe the kids just don't vibe with ya, ya know?" Geez, pull on her heartstrings why don't you?
"Well… The children take precedence," David nodded. "Sorry, friends, it seems that some things didn't work out," he smiled apologetically.
"Ah, shucks, I guess they didn't," Daniel said with a cupped chin. "... Actually, Jen," he pat the sad-looking woman's shoulder. "There's probably more camps to nurture before coming back to see how things have gone!" He grinned.
Erin, meanwhile, grinned at her phone before quickly typing into it while throwing looks Jen & Daniel's ways.
'And done,' she thought before tucking it into her pocket. "So… Bye," she waved fakely at them as David nodded.
"Maybe, you'll be able to show them your best sides in time! Why, we're open every year," David said.
'Not if I don't beat them unconscious every time,' Naruto thought as Muack came out of a bush and jumped onto his shoulders. "Thanks, Muack-chan," he told her, scratching the pleased platypus's chin. "Now, let's not make this last too long-" He'd begun to say, eyes going to an arriving Neil and Tabii.
Just in time for him to lock eyes with an arriving Quartermaster.
Naruto's hackles raised as he saw that bastard. "How many times do I have to teach you this lesson, OLD MAN?" He cracked his knuckles as he stalked the single-eyed 'creature'. 'God, he feels as disgusting as always.'
Quartermaster, no one knew his actual name, was a man of above-average height, wrinkled darker-peach skin, a single open black eye against yellow sclera, and gray hair that covered the back of his head and formed a long 'wobbly' mustache that hid his mouth.
Wearing a brownish-green and white trucker hat, a brown boots, blue jeans with the odd, forever-to-be-left-alone, stains on it, a red plaid dress shirt, and a brown jacket, he had a hook for his left hand and anger in his eye.
"You little destroyer!" He growled as he and Naruto circled. "I rue the day you return here, you rat!"
"Well, sucks to be you, bud," Naruto shot back.
The man tackled him before they ended up in a roll that trashed a table of food, Naruto coming out the victor by tossing Quartermaster through the next.
'Two more!' The blonde grinned aggressively as the old man got up. "Bring it, you old crone."
The next tackle ended up with the boy suplexing the bus driver through a table before flipping up onto his feet.
"Not doing so hot!"
He jumped off as the Quartermaster recovered out of the dirt and gave chase.
They tore apart the area purposefully, on Naruto's part, while the others just kinda watched.
"... Um," Tabii began unsurely as Neil tilted his head.
"Um, usually, we don't take the fight to the Quartermaster," he told her as she blinked.
"Neil, I've seen these two go at it before, I'm just used to him being more subtle about it."
"Oh, in that case, I don't know."
Naruto recovered against a tree trunk before kicking up onto a branch and moving about like a phantom.
The old man roared vocally at the elusive blonde before following him into the forest. "I WILL BE SATIATED!"
Watching the two go left a sort of awkward emptiness in the area, Jen wearing a calculative look before she grinned and nudged Daniel.
Whispering something into his ear, he perked up before nodding rapidly. "Alright, we're sad things went the way they have but we'll show you how great things can be!" The blonde man smiled brightly as David reciprocated.
"See?! Just give yourselves some time to really get into the groove of handling children like ours and you'll be back in no time!" The redhead said.
"NO!" The campers, of all camps, said with exasperated looks while Gwen nodded to Jen.
"Alright, well, we'll see how things go, Jen," she told the, completely ignorant to her, copy with a shrug. "Sorry, painful as it is, David's got a point," Gawn said fakely. 'If Naruto hadn't agreed, I'd probably be telling them to stay,' but the blonde boy, despite the short amount of time she'd spent with him, had always been good at reading folks/situations.
If he said to get the two out of there, Gwen wasn't afraid to listen.
There was the sound of falling oak somewhere in the forest, the rumble beneath the campers'feet confusing Max to no end.
"The hell's he doing in there?" He asked anyone at the moment.
"Knowing Naru," Tabii began with a slow nod. "He probably just put that stinky old man through a tree."
"That sounds about right!" David said with an unsure smile. "Alright, let's walk them-"
The sounds of sirens in the distance confused the two adults while Erin grinned fully.
"Uh-Oh, sounds like it's time to leave," Daniel said as Jen nodded with a smile. "We'll see you, David!" He called before the two of them beat a hasty retreat.
"Bye!" David waved.
Before a familiar bus drove on by, the sounds of sirens getting farther away as the bus did.
"... Did they just-"
"Yep, they took the bus," Gwen said as the kids came over. "Well, guess it's back to us three managing you guys."
"Three?" Max asked with a twitching brow.
Just in time for a familiar hook-handed man to come flying past with a blonde boy chasing after him.
"BITE ME!" Naruto shouted at him as he straightened his headband. "Sup?" He greeted the others, looking around before grinning at a lack of Jen and Daniel's signatures. "Oh, sick, they're gone. Guess it's just us all over again."
"Stop saying that shit, you don't look after us!" Max growled as Naruto shot him the flattest of looks.
"Max… You gotta be on something."
"YOU BITCH!"
As the younger boy bickered, and the older one wore a placating grin, Sasha sighed in relief while Snake frowned with his eyes still on the direction that Jen & Daniel had gone.
Petrol shot him a look and his short friend grimaced.
"I don't like it, Petrol, trust me," Snake growled a bit. "I hate folks like that."
The tall teen nodded.
~NRK~
The following days, Naruto helped not only clear out Jen & Daniel's suspiciously meager possessions but he also pushed through the tear down the crazy woman's 'dark' shed.
As he cracked the wall of that disgusting space with a heavy boulder, Naruto's eyes narrowed at the washed away lines on the ground, the muddy floor that hid the blood, and the smells coming out of that cabin.
He pulled out that thing he'd taken from the insane devil worshiper. 'There's no way she's gone for long,' Naruto thought.
Looking down at the parchment paper currently containing some crazy demonic formula with tracking energy.
"She's a monster."
~NRK~
That evening found the blonde nodding to the quintet of Max, Nikki, Neil, Tabii, and Ered.
"Yeah, I was just trying to make it work, ya know?" Naruto told the excited nerd. "So, I felt the energy within the wires and stuff get stronger when I mixed 'em in certain ways," he showed his palms where a series of small burn scars sat. "Hehe, would you believe the amount of small explosions I got? Wasn't a great week for me."
Ered nodded as she turned a wrench on a large bit of machinery. "There, that solves the heating problem," she told him as Naruto sat in front of her and looked the thing up and down.
"Alright, yeah, this could work. Do ya do this stuff often, Ered?"
"With my dads being away at work, a lot," she began as he nodded in sympathy. "I just got up to stuff. Usually? I'd just do the cool stuff. Ride bikes, make cool music, get into illegal concerts," Ered grinned. "Do you understand the kind of power you have with dads who take real good care of what you like to do?"
"I do, my mom's not an agent but she's a wicked tailor & martial artist while dad's usually sending back money, cool stuff he found, or even just ideas," Naruto chuckled. "And, being honest? I know how to play instruments, do machinery stuff, and do a lot of martial arts," he explained as she nodded knowingly.
"You literally tossed around Quartermaster like he was a lightweight."
"Naruto's got a black belt already," Tabii explained, surprising them.
"Really?! Naruto, that's so cool!" Nikki said with big shining eyes. "What kind!?"
"A family art that got recognized twenty years ago," Naruto explained as Neil hummed before typing it in.
"... Oh man, that's crazy," he said, turning it around for the others to see. "Your family's martial arts are at the top of powerful martial skills, Naruto!"
"I told ya, I'm part-Chinese. Mom's fam has a deep history," Naruto chuckled at the 'joke' there. "The Uzu sect has been a big thing for a while. We deal with a fighting style composed of quick blows, high-speed, and then heavy punches & palm strikes. I got into boxing before I left for Japan to get used to throwing powerful punches."
"... He did say something about you and a boxing career," Max said, arms crossed despite how cool it all sounded. "So, what? You've beat up people?"
"Yeah, I'm actually in the Intermediate range if you'd believe it. I've fought guys over twice my age, way more muscle, or are just three years or so older. I've been going at it pretty fast in the past two years. See my belt in the picture?"
Looking at it more closely, they saw a small photo showing the literal blonde in person.
"That's sick," Ered said. "I've had to use the old kung-fu my white dad knew but my other dad taught me all the ins and outs of street brawling."
"It's pretty dangerous," Naruto noted with an interested raised brow, Ered's sheepish grin telling. "You haven't used it in a bit, huh?"
"Nope."
"Maybe you guys can try martial arts," Tabii offered. "It's amazing exercise and you get so many benefits."
"I-I'm not really the active type," Neil said with a nervous grin. "I'm literally a willing geek."
"But being active can make life easier for you nerd-ness, Neil. You know the saying a 'sound soul rests in a sound body'?"
"You just pulled that from Soul Eater."
"Heheh, not just Soul Eater, it's Latin!"
Max snickered at Neil's caught off-guard look before the taller boy grumbled.
"Come on, Neil, you don't need to actually fight anyone," Nikki said with a grin. "You could be the buffest nerd in history! Imagine that!"
"... That image doesn't make sense to me."
~NRK~
"So, this is what we're doing," Naruto chuckled as the entire group, other camp scouts included, stood around a large tree stump ring that blonde had led them to. "Me and Ered were talkin' martial arts and I figured might as well see what you guys got in ya," he said with some weights on his biceps & shins in some shorts, a tank top, and a pair of fingerless martial gloves, they all noted his left shoulder.
"YOU GOT A TATTOO?!" Sasha squawked in shock as Naruto blinked before looking sheepish.
It was a familiar one, for the blonde, of the Konoha Leaf insignia. It'd been one Kakashi had told him he had.
"That's so cool!" Tabii said excitedly in similar wear to her cousin, Waddles and the rest of the 'Obunta Five' with them as the mother warthog slept in the background. "I didn't take ya for someone who liked 'em, cuz."
"It's more like my dad, mom, and me got it to rep our family," Naruto explained, showing his other shoulder. "See? The first one's for us but this spiral," he showed the Uzumaki emblem. "Is for my mom's family in general."
They 'oohed' and 'aweed' while Max fought down the urge to follow suit.
'D-Dammit, it's so cool!' He wanted to say but his need to hate the blonde's very being caused conflict. "Fucking…" Max grumbled.
"Now, to start, who's up for trying to take a shot at me?"
The question got four 'answers' in Ered, Nikki, Snake, and Tabii.
"Alright, you up for going first, Ered?"
"I'm down," the daring blonde said, wearing a pair of light blue sweatpants and a white muscle shirt already covered in black smudges and stains from a history of 'mischief'. "So, like, go easy on me, Naru, I'm actually kinda rusty at this."
"It's fine, you already let me know so we're gonna help ya get the rust off," Naruto said with a nod. "Though, how good were you at kung-fu?"
"I actually got the blue and black one because I thought it looked cool."
"Ered, that's crazy good," he complimented as she smirked. "Like, how long have ya been practicing before ya stopped?"
"Two years, I think? I just got into school and it fell to the wayside."
"Then let's bring it back in black," Naruto declared before she got into the ring and he moved back. "Alright, first three points, each point being either a clean hit or a back to the ground, wins, cool?"
"Gotcha," Ered said as they circled each other. 'I've seen how fast and strong he is,' the memories of being held up startled her into having red cheeks before she shook it away. 'No, dammit, focus.'
She made the first move.
Her punch was batted aside before another pair were either palmed away or grabbed.
Ered's world spun before she was brought to the ground on the, surprisingly soft, wood.
"O-Ow," she said with a wince as she sat up and rubbed her head with some interest. "Huh… I thought that'd hurt more."
"This bad boy's kinda bloated by water a lot of the time," Naruto said as he held out a hand to her and Ered grabbed it.
Being brought to her feet with ease reminded Ered of how strong Naruto really was, the half-a-foot-shorter blonde chuckling as he stepped back some more.
"Again."
She regained her footing, the feeling of the pliable wood beneath her bare feet actually rather comforting.
She swung in with a grin.
Meanwhile, with those on the sidelines, Sasha's eyes slowly narrowed into glaring dots.
"Excuse me?" She asked no one but Tabii snickered at her side while shooting the embarrassed Erin a look of amusement. "Who is she again?"
"Ered from Camp Camp," Tabii smirked nonchalantly, living in the 'role' of being Sasha's 'hype'. 'Ah, hormones,' she thought.
Both Erin's light attraction to her cousin and Sasha's more deeply-masked one had been something she'd bathed in the interest of for some time.
And now it seemed that this little thing with Meredith had poked a hole into those 'nets' and brought out interesting reactions.
Fascinating.
"Attack! Go for zig-zag patterns!" Nerris suggested. "Naruto's constitution is too high, use your vertical advantage!"
"Her what-Not so fast!"
"Dammit, almost got you!"
"Ooh! Almost there!" Nikki said excitedly. "Bite his throat! That'll subdue him!"
"Excuse you?!" Naruto exclaimed before leaning back from Ered's grab before throwing his body to the side into a roll that ended with him back on his feet. "One, Ered's not an animal," he sweatdropped. "And two, if I'm being honest, that's more of a me move than an Ered move."
Ered's mind caught up before she grunted with a red face. "Easy there, casanova, no one's biting anyone."
"Just saying."
He lunged in low and swept her off her feet, into his arms, and then flat on her back.
"Two," Naruto said cheekily with bright eyes.
Ered's hand ran down her face, hopefully draining the red from it before she got up. "I'm gonna drop you, bet on that!" She ran into the fray.
Sasha's ticking brow but red cheeks had Tabii smiling as Erin stood frozen, red in the face.
"B-B-Biting!?" The blueberry wheezed out. 'N-No!' She bid away the image of a literal foxy Naruto grinning at her and whispering sweet Bond lines into her ears while holding HANDS!
"S-Stupid," Sasha growled. "He's more controlled than that," she muttered even as her cheeks reddened at the idea of that not being the case. "He's getting her hopes up like an idiot."
'Wow, didn't see this coming,' Tabii thought with the most wicked of grins.
"And done!" Naruto said with a chuckle, kneeling to Ered's flat-on-her-back eye level and holding his knife hand to her neck. "Huh, you're not as rusty as you think, Ered," he told her, helping her up. "You just need more chances to work it off, I guess your daring stunts help you think on your feet. Ya need more practice is what I'm sayin'."
"Yeah, usually, I don't have to use it," Ered said, taking that strong hand one more time before being brought up. "You're so strong for, ya know, being shorter than me."
"I don't really build muscle like that, I got a wicked food-to-energy ability so it's never been a thing I'm good at. That said, I train, exercise, play, and all that other good stuff almost every day."
"Hmm… I'll think about it, you know how uncool it can feel to just work out alone sometimes… Or, really, you don't but it is for some other people," she said.
"Hey, I'm ya man if ya need some training or just pure exercise," he said as they walked to the edge of the arena. "Alright! Who's next?!"
"ME!" Came… Sasha?
"What?" Naruto blinked as he watched the salmon-haired Flower Scout enter the ring. "Huh… Well, I'm up for-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sasha said as she shot Ered the stink eye that had the daring blonde's eyes slowly narrowing in challenge.
"Later, Naru," the tall teen said as she hopped out while Sasha growled something fierce.
"NARU, GET IN HERE, IT'S TIME TO LEARN WHAT YOU DID WRONG!" She declared, stomping further into the ring.
"You ever realize we're all really fucked up?" Neil asked Naruto, Max, and Nikki. "Because something about what she's doing doesn't seem all too great," he said to the blonde.
"Well, Sasha can just be a bit… Much," Naruto said as he got up. "Alright, Sasha, hit me with what you got!"
"MY EMOTIONS!"
The rapid sounds of smacking fists was as surprising as it was concerning.
"Yeah, come on, use that emotion!" Naruto grinned, guard ironclad as Sasha kept unleashing punch after punch. "Man! Your brother must be a real motivator-!"
"YOU'RE NOT 'ACCEPTING' ENOUGH!" Sasha declared before comboing the shit out of the blonde's forearms.
"What is she on right now?" Max asked, actually unnerved by the amount of noise Sasha was capable of making with her fists. "Geez, what? Did he do something?!"
"It's a bit more about Sasha and emotions not being perfectly in-sync," Tabii said from beside a surprised but not too startled Neil. "I mean, she's shouting all of it."
"MY FEELINGS ARE FEELING IGNORED!"
"BRING 'EM ALL! I CAN HANDLE THEM WITH EASE!"
"See?! She's totally flopping out there," Tabii said.
"I think your definition might need to be expanded. How is that 'flopping'?" Neil asked. "She looks like she's out to actually hit him."
"It's what happens when you're not in control," Ered said with a laidback smirk as Tabii chuckled knowingly, nudging Neil.
"You wanna know something cool about this situation?"
"I have a feeling you're not talking about Ered."
"She's involved," Tabii said, confusing the nerd.
Max blinked at the two whispering to each other. "W-What the hell?" He said in disbelief as Nikki gawked at them, too.
"M-Max, what's happening here? Neil's… U-Ugh, tolerating Tabii," she said weakly, looking ill.
"I don't know, it's fucking weird, what the hell are they talking about?"
Watching Neil raise a brow at something before commenting with a focused look got under the Indian's skin.
"Ever since Naruto came, it's like everyone's gone crazy. The natural order, Nikki, is being fucked right now."
"I see. It's just really confusing, what does she have over Neil?"
Gwen chose then to enter the small boxing area to Sasha's screams.
"FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU LEAVE AND DON'T CALL?! DO I LOOK LIKE I'M PREGNANT?!"
"Um, I'm not sure what's happening anymore but I'm not ignoring you! It was just family business!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU ALWAYS SAY!"
"Whoa, what did I step in on?" She asked Max and Nikki, crouching to their level with a confused look at the two in the ring. "Guys, I'm confused, what the hell?"
"Sasha's apparently spouting her feelings," Max rolled his eyes. "And Neil's compromised!"
Gwen shot the chatting Neil and Tabii a raised brow before grinning at them. "No, that's just Naruto's mellowing presence being applied to the world at large. He's got a knack for bringing up the mood," she said.
"It's more like Sasha's bringing the mood down," Ered said with a grin as Gwen took one look at her.
'Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?' She didn't know but dammit was she happy to think about it! "Hmm, yes, I see."
The 'fight' in the ring didn't last much longer before Naruto was chuckling, the young man patting a drained-looking Sasha's back as he led her out into the 'stands'.
"Alright, alright, glad we worked off whatever was wrong!" Naruto grinned as he helped the grumbling, red-in-the-face-totally-only-because-of-the-heat, Sasha back to Erin. "Alright, who's next?!"
"ME!" Nurf declared, grinning as he slapped his fist into his hand. "Time to hit ya where it matters!"
"Alright, get up here, Nurf, I'm down for taking you down."
As Sasha sat atop of Barry the suddenly-there Capybara, Gwen's tracked everything and grinned excitedly.
"Oh my God, she's got a fucking crush!" She squealed quietly, Max and Nikki shooting her a look of disbelief.
"Excuse me?!" Max's jaw dropped as Nikki looked ill.
"T-This is bad!" The girl freaked out.
"No, Max, Nikki, focus!" Gwen whispered, grabbing both their shoulders. "Alright, you two, it's time to see what true love looks like."
"She's, at best, thirteen. True love?" Max said flatly.
"Oh, Max, you don't understand. Sometimes, you peak earlier than you think."
"The hell I have."
"T-This is serious, Gwen! We can't let that happen!" Nikki said nervously as Neil and Tabii came over with curious looks.
Well, Tabii had a curious expression. Neil, meanwhile, looked at Sasha with a sort of intrigued focus he'd never had when it came to girls.
'So, she likes Naruto,' he thought, eyes going to the blonde-in-question who suplexed Nurf. 'And she's been this way for three years?' And then Tabii had told him Sasha's actual age. "That was actually kind of surprising."
"What's up, guys?" The blonde girl asked, looking amused as Gwen grinned.
"She's saying Sasha knows what the hell 'true love' is," Max told her with an apathetic tone, hands shoved in his hoodie pockets. "It's crazy."
"Oh, definitely," Tabii giggled as he blinked, eyebrow raised.
"You're… Agreeing with me?"
"Duh. I've been next-block-over neighbors with Sasha, Naruto, Erin, and Eddy for, like, ever. I've watched her grow so much and I can't say she doesn't get it but Sasha's copying her mom a bit too much so…"
"IS that what happened?" Neil asked. "Tabii, she was shouting at him like Naruto had stepped out on a date."
"Yeah, that's about right," Gwen observed. "But, seriously, how has the strong-willed Sasha not said anything by now?" She asked excitedly.
Tabii smirked. "It's exactly what you think. You say it's true love, I'll say it's a bit farther off," she explained. "Sasha's had dates before, she's had crushes before, hell, she's had admirers. The thing is, with those guys, she gets their types. She knows the weak-willed door mats, the hotheaded jocks, and the slimy conmen. Naruto is none of those things and he's genuine, that's why she's not able to do it."
"I… I think I get it," Neil said after a moment of thought. "If all you're used to is knowing what's going to happen, the moment something so far out of your range hits, you're left catching up. A-And I guess feelings make it more complicated."
Tabii's raised brow said it all.
"Right, of course, stupid question… Well, what stage is she on at this point?"
"Sadly, in my 'Sasha's Love Stage Gauge', she's still on 2 of 5."
"And that stage is the subconscious denial stage, right?" Gwen chuckled.
"Exaclty, Sasha doesn't really understand how normal relationships are despite her brother, with all his rough looks, having an amazing one," Tabii explained. "He's also where she got boxing from, real protective guy."
"Huh," Nikki crossed her arms in thought. "So, what's she gotta do to level-up?"
"Ehh, in my personal opinion, she's gotta have a romantic moment," Gwen said. "If budding fanfiction prowess of others has taught me anything, it's that the best romances have that 'moment'. The moment where not only is she completely & totally aware but Naruto is as well… Actually, now that I've thought about it, does Naru have a crush?"
"Nope but he's got preferences," Tabii snickered as Neil perked up.
"No way, no offense, but I always saw him as an idiot savant when it came to romance," he said.
"He is, Naruto will literally proclaim himself an idiot but that's because he's aware he doesn't know everything. Ya see, Naruto's told me, in total confidentiality," she began, minding Ered. "That he likes girls with either vibrant hair colors or long hair."
Gwen's eyes sneakily trailed to the smirking Ered. "Is. That. So?"
"Yep. So, if he ever caught the feels, that's gonna be a big indicator."
Their eyes went to the laughing blonde in the ring currently helping a wailing Nurf out of it.
"NEXT?!"
~NRK Out~