Rune Soldier Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Naruto or Rune Soldier Louie, so don't ask me that question.

Chapter 1

Back to School…

( ): Thoughts/Conversation with the Kyuubi

(( )): Kyuubi's voice

--------

A few months later…

Foltess looked over his list of students for the day and turned to see none other than Naruto Uzumaki sleeping on his desk yet again, and that galled him even more at the moment. The blond was always sleeping in class whenever Foltess was around and the elderly instructor wondered if Naruto was always doing this just to annoy him to no end. However he decided to not focus on it and went on with the lecture. The elderly instructor did his best to focus on the lesson but it seemed that Naruto was snoring even more and it was getting on his nerves, and he knew that he would have to do something soon enough.

As soon as he finished his lecture on the use of higher level elemental shield spells, he turned and spoke to Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki….wake up and tell me if you had been paying attention?"

The Only response he got from Naruto was a snore as the blonde continued to snore and it was not long before a vein popped on Foltess's head and he roared at the blonde ninja who was still snoring.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!!!! WAKE UP!!!!"

The other students would have cringed in fear at the way Foltess looked at the moment, roaring like an ogre in a foul mood. But still Naruto continued to snore, uncaring for the elderly instructor's anger and it was not long before Foltess decided that he had enough and was about to use his wand to whack Naruto on the head. As soon as he hit it however, the blonde grabbed his wand and replied.

"I'm trying to sleep here for Kami's sake, stop making so much racket."

Foltess glared and spoke evenly, trying desperately not to lose his temper.

"You will release my wand right now Naruto Uzumaki, or you are going to be in serious trouble."

"Right….bye!"

Foltess and the other students blinked as the blonde mage in training poofed away in a cloud of smoke and was gone.

(He used that trick again!!! Argh!!!!)

Foltess tried to keep his temper from hitting the roof, every day it was the same thing for the past ten months, the blonde would always fall asleep in his classes and then when he was about to discipline him, he just poofed away and it was maddening to the instructor how disrespectful Naruto was. He was the most senior instructor in the whole Guild and was to be respected and feared by all students, but not Naruto…

No, the blonde didn't seem to care and did what he liked in his time in the class room and the elderly instructor wondered if he was doing all this just for the pleasure of annoying him, There were also times that when he tried to get Naruto do his lessons physically, the blonde would disappear for hours and when he had hoped the blonde student would suffer for his laziness, he was shocked to learn that not only had he passed the written tests with good scores, but he was able to apply magic in ways Foltess and some other instructors had never thought possible.

Many other students have learned to steer clear of Naruto when he was angry, a number of higher seniority students had tried to bully him, as well as taunt him for his lower borne origins and his use of such unknown unarmed combat skills, but they were quick to be silent as Naruto reacted in very unorthodox but highly effective ways. There had been some who had their potions explode and coat them with chemicals, others had their rooms painted with not juts paint….but….refuse, others would find their robes coated with some sort of powder and it would burn their clothes so fast when they put them on that they would be naked. Other times, Naruto would use his unarmed combat skills to pound them silent. The Academy infirmary would have a lot of students there in their care when some of the more head strong students failed to get the message.

Most other students however found Naruto's antics to be somewhat humorous and entertaining, even some instructors and Carwess found it humorous and very entertaining as well, much to Foltess' disgust on the matter and he wished that he was able to finally remove Naruto from the grounds of the Academy, but since he had been invited by Carwess and sponsored by the head of the Guild, there was not much Foltess could do.

(This would never be the case if I was head of the Guild.)

Foltess knew that now was not the time, he decided to left Naruto have his way for now, he would deal with him later.

Unknown to him, the target of his anger was actually elsewhere at the moment. Naruto had sent another Kage Bushin to listen into Foltess' lecture on how to use magic for this day while sending yet another in the library archives to read up on new books, Naruto never was fan of studying but after all he had been through in his own world, he realized that education was good to have, of course, he was not very happy with Foltess…

In Naruto's way of seeing things, Foltess loved to talk a lot, no doubt because he thought he was better than other students and instructors and he liked his own voice, which reminded him of the times he had to deal with Ebisu's long winded lecture. However, Naruto thought differently about the Elite Jonin sensei of his young buddy Konohamaru.

(But at least unlike Foltess, Ebisu's a good guy in real life.)

Ebisu had once been a person who looked down on him due to him being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, but after learning the Water Walking technique from the Jonin he had to admit that despite Ebisu's closet pervert tendencies he was a good teacher, and after hearing how Ebisu was willing to die than let Pain know where he was when Pain attacked Konoha, he and Ebisu had a better relationship, though Ebisu was still as professional as ever.

Foltess on the other hand was too much of a man with too high an opinion of himself and despite being skilled in magic, Naruto knew that he was not perfect, the guy was too strict, had too much an overinflated ego and more….that was probably why the blonde Chuunin enjoyed teasing and annoying Foltess. Besides, without any form of magic, Naruto doubted he'd survive that long on his own.

But he did limit his antics as he did what he could to learn as much as possible from the windbag, after filtering his rhetoric of course. He needed as much information as he could as he had learned that there were PLENTY of dangers in this world which could inhibit his chances of finding the portal that could help him speed his way home.

While he had no doubt that the others back in Konoha would do all right, he was still determined to be there since despite the defeat of Akatsuki and Madara, as well as Sasuke, there was always going to be dangers, plus his dream was yet unfulfilled. He was still a Chuunin and he wanted to take the next step and accomplish his dream to be Hokage and be officially recognized as Jonin.

And he was not going to accomplish it being here for the rest of his life. He wanted to make sure that he could cover all the bases before he tried anything to get back home, or even communicate with Konoha with his Toad Summoning Contract Scroll. Gamabunta was still out and being tended to by the other toads back in their home and he recalled the fact that Gamabunta had a nasty temper when summoned for no reason. The other Toads also had to deal with the injuries of the other toads and heal as well. He could summon Gamakichi, but he was not sure if it would be able to work yet.

As he got off the roof and entered the hallways to head out, he felt the knowledge come to him from the two Kage Bushin and decided to go grab something to eat at Ohfun' restaurant and entertainment quarter, he was still missing ramen but at least he could try other foods as well. And then he could go and get some free time training in his Ninjitsu, Taijutsu, and even try his hand at dispelling Genjutsu, something he and the Kyuubi had worked on.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned and was ready for a fight and reached for a kunai from his hip pouch when he recognized the speaker to be Ila…and he smiled in greeting her.

Ila had grown considerably in the past few months and had gone from the knobby kneed skinny adolescent to a full bloomed woman and she was more than looking the part. Ila smiled at her friend and wanted to know just what he was up to this time. Over the months, Ila had found herself getting very attracted to the blonde student. It had made her very happy to hear that he had been able to enter the Guild under Carwess' invitation and she wanted to get his attention.

And truth be told, Naruto was affected by that, after all, he was already 17 and he found women to be very attractive and Ila was no exception to the rule and he was tempted to flirt back when she did, but he was still very much attached to Hinata and Sakura who were important to him, they had become very close for the past year after all that had happened and while the idea of being with them was very nice to his mind, he was not sure that getting into a romance with Ila was a good idea when he would get back to his world. Still Ila was someone he was attracted to, and she was a good friend after all.

"Oh, it's just you Ila! What's up?"

"Are you skipping class again? Master Foltess is going to blow a gasket if you do that again."

Naruto snorted a bit and replied.

"I already got as much as I could from Foltess for the day, I don't think listening to him drone on again is going to do me much good anyway."

"But he'll have you sent to the forest to get fire wood again!"

Naruto shrugged at that. Back in his travels with his fellow ninja they had to learn survival in the wild and after being with the Pervy Sage for a number of years on the move, he was more than skilled in handling himself in the wild.

"Big deal, at least I get to do something productive with my time, plus being outside of the class room is very nice. Plus I have some privacy there too to get the chance to perfect my techniques a good deal more."

Ila sighed at that, and wished she had the adventuring spirit of her friend, nothing would please her more than to go out on an adventure with Naruto. But she was a novice and Naruto had accomplished quite a lot in a few months that normally took her years before she met him. He had mastered a number of high level spells and was very creative in his ways of learning spells and making new ones, something that gained a great deal of admiration from the more relaxed and accepting instructors and students.

There were those who disliked Naruto's successes and they wanted to do what they could to learn Naruto's talents and upstage him to prove they were better. There were two of the worst ones…

"So, you're going to be sent to the forest to start hauling wood again Naruto? Good, you belong in the forest with all the wild animals!"

"Bro, that's harsh, Naruto would insult the animals if he was with them, he deserves to be elsewhere….say the garbage dump hauling trash instead of wood."

"Good point brother."

Both Ila and Naruto turned and there before them were two of Naruto's tormentors, Garret and his younger brother Hayden. Both twins had silver hair and deep green eyes and had been thorns on Naruto and Ila's side for all the times he had been a student here.

Garret was the taller one as well as thinner in body strength while Hayden was the shorter one but a bit pudgy, though not that fat in the least. Both of them sneered at the blonde Chuunin and it grated on Naruto's nerves that he had to deal with these two windbags yet again. The two had been a pain in his ass for a long time now and it was getting to the point Naruto was in the mood to do something drastic and painful to the two of them for them to get the message that he had had enough of their antics for one life time.

Garret started first.

"Going out to train once more with those stupid techniques of yours Naruto? At the rate you're going, you would be an old man before you even graduate."

"He's right, maybe by the time you do graduate, Ila would be free of your influence."

Hayden gave Ila a leering look, much to Ila's disgust and Naruto's own temper. The younger of the twins had an unhealthy obsession with Ila and had been trying to get her affections for some time now, Ila flatly refused to have any sort of relationship and Hayden didn't take too kindly to that and continued to annoy Ila. When he showed up, he started standing up for Ila and that got Hayden to dislike him, Garret was also there to annoy him since before Garret had once been a top student and many respected and feared him, but that all changed.

"I won't go out with you Hayden in a million years."

Naruto then replied.

"If I were to recall, those said techniques were the reason I pounded you and your little brother to the ground last week."

Garret and Hayden growled at that and they recalled the time they had challenged him to a two on one duel with magic and they had made the rule of Naruto having an Arcane Reduction Bracelet on him.

--------

Flashback…

Naruto gave a growl as he held his wand while the two brothers were looking smugly at him, Garret was before Naruto and wielding his wand that had a glowing shield while Hayden had his wand ready to unleash his attacks from relative safety. The brothers then smiled as Naruto unleashed three more fireballs at them which garret blocked and both brothers taunted him.

"Not bad Naruto, you were able to learn the Dragon's Fire Blast, but thankfully we both have learned the Holy Light's Shield from Master Foltess while you slept through his class and used that cloning technique of yours. This shield protects us from all attacks and with that Arcane Reduction Bracelet, your attacks are now at half strength!"

Naruto knew that to be true and decided to try an aerial attack but got the same results, and both brothers laughed, while Foltess looked on with a smile. It was about time that Naruto got some form of punishment and what better way to do that than to use this device, it was forbidden to use magical means to punish students in some cases, but he allowed it when Garret and Hayden issued their challenge to Naruto. Now maybe that blonde loudmouth would learn his place!

Unfortunately for them and Foltess, Naruto had NOT been sleeping in Foltess' class, or rather his Kage Bushin had not been sleeping in Foltess' class so he was familiar with the spell itself, and had secretly used it before when he was able to get some free time away from the Academy, he had one Kage Bushin use the wand for the spell and figured out that while the spell was able to block all attacks, it had to be directed as a shield, making it capable of only being able to protect the caster in a certain direction and now he had an idea of how to deal with the two annoyances.

He turned to Ila and spoke to is friend as he tossed her his wand.

"Ila! Hold onto this for me!"

Ila caught the wand and both brothers laughed at Naruto as Garret replied.

"Are you going to use that sphere technique you use a great deal? Try it, my shield will block your attacks easily as we know you have to get close to use it!"

"And when you do, I'm going to pound you with another barrage of attacks and you can't get to us!"

Both brother mages sneered at Naruto but Naruto relaxed, they were unaware of the fact that Naruto was not going to make the mistake of charging in recklessly, he had grown more cunning and a lot more intelligent than that, he knew the shield's weakness and he knew that unlike his former enemy and current friend Neji Hyuuga, their shield couldn't cover them effectively as the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation technique of the Hyuuga family, and he was inspired by that memory very quickly. With that in mind, Naruto summoned his Kage Bushin and then got ready.

Garret and Hayden couldn't resist the urge to taunt Naruto as they saw him make a group of four Kage Bushin and replied.

"You're using them? You use them only escape classes Naruto! They're no good to you at all. Why don't you give up now so we'll show you some mercy?"

Naruto snorted and replied.

"Spare me your antics, you two don't know the word mercy if it came up and crawled into your asses and stayed there."

Both brothers fumed and that was what Naruto needed as he made his Rasengan and then he and his group of Kage Bushin charged at Garret and Hayden, with the Kage Bushin moving ahead. The brothers then attacked with Garret handling defense while Hayden unleashed several more fire balls, three of the Kage Bushin took the hits and poofed away and another moved to the ground as if hit by another fireball, they ignored that one and focused on the one carrying the sphere of light who was running towards them.

The two got ready to counter as Naruto got closer… but to their surprise, Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke t and then they were greeted by the sounds of tearing earth beneath them and before they could react, Naruto appeared and then gave the two of them uppercuts to the chin and sent them flying, Naruto then ran up the nearby wall with ease and he summoned several more Kage Bushin and then he unleashed an aerial version of his Uzumaki Rendan on the two, kicking them higher and higher until he and a handful of Kage Bushin performed the Spinning Heel Drop that slammed hard into both Garret and Hayden and the two of them crashed hard into the ground.

When the dust settled, both twins were bruised and aching in places they never knew they had and the only thing they could see was Naruto glaring at the two of them with a smile as his Kage Bushin did the same before they poofed away as they fell unconscious. Naruto had actually been the one that fell to the ground and used a Kage Bushin to take his place on the ground and had dug his way to both Garret and Hayden from underneath….mirroring the same method he had used to beat Neji in the Chuunin Exams, and the one using the Rasengan was actually a Kage Bushin in his place, showing that he had grown a lot more in tactics since his youth.

Ila cheered and so did the other students who were in good terms with the blonde Chuunin..

From his vantage point, Foltess was fuming mad and he was flabbergasted, even with the Arcane Reduction Bracelet, Naruto still won and that fact raised his temper to the point he lost his cool.

"How can he have won with that Bracelet on?! That Arcane Reduction Bracelet should have rendered him weaker than even a novice! I allowed that to be used by Garret and Hayden to punish that blonde dolt, and he still WON?!"

It was then that Foltess wished he had kept silent for at that moment…

"Foltess….perhaps you would like to explain something to me and Master Carwess about this recent escapade of yours."

Foltess gulped and there was Master Carwess and Head Priestess Jenny, and both of them were not in a very good mood. Jenny was naturally the first to speak.

"You actually allowed the use of an Arcane Reduction Bracelet even if such methods is forbidden by the rules of the Guild? You realize you are skirting the edges of being expelled from this Guild for that?"

Carwess then spoke.

"I made the rule of not using magical means to punish students clear for years now Foltess, explain to me why you have allowed this against my direct orders?"

Foltess gulped while Garret and Hayden were taken away to be treated in the infirmary.

--------

End of Flashback…

Garret spoke first.

"That was nothing more than a fluke, you cheated in that duel!!!"

Ila was naturally outraged and spoke.

"That is enough! How can Naruto even cheat when he had an Arcane Reduction bracelet on? And there were TWO of you to begin with? If anyone here are cheaters it's you two!"

Garret and Hayden growled and they knew that there was no way they could get their edges in, they had tried everything to learn how Naruto was able to get to the level he was now.

Both of them were from a well known family of mages and they had expected to be graduating with top honors and they had been in the magic guild longer than the others and had seniority over both Naruto and Ila, they were respected and feared…until the two of them showed up.

Ila was a very intelligent woman and had a great degree of knowledge, and skills, surprising many Guild instructors and other students with her knowledge of magical artifacts, potions, ancient languages and more.

Naruto was known not just for his unusual skills and combat abilities, but his amazing ability to learn high level spells and make new ones from previously learned spells in a matter of time that was astonishing, making a very skilled magic user despite being younger than them.

It had reached a point that the brothers wanted to do everything in their power to have them removed from the Magic Guild, and Hayden wanted to have Ila for himself, at first they had a slightly easier time with Ila, but when Naruto told her to stand up for herself and she followed her friend's advice, they had be cautious, since Ila was using her intellect against them while Naruto used his cunning and his abilities that still mystified them.

Garret had enough and turned away wordlessly while Hayden followed him, that left Naruto and Ila alone and Ila sighed as she held Naruto's arm and came a bit closer to him and spoke to Naruto.

"I wish those two would just leave you and me alone, they have their own studies to consider and not waste time annoying you or me."

"You said it Ila, I don't know what's with them, but I can bet they really have an axe to grind on me, but I've got better things to worry about than those two."

Ila smiled at that and she blushed a bit and that made Naruto curious as to why she was blushing. He was not that dense after all and he spoke to Ila.

"Hey, you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine….say, are you going to be busy later?"

Naruto had a feeling that with what he had in mind for his training, he would be busy and as much as he would like to go out on a date with Ila, now wasn't the time, besides, he still had to meet Ila's parents and the last he wanted was to make a bad impression on the folks.

"I think so, no doubt old windbag Foltess is going to try to run me ragged again, see you Ila."

With that Naruto left to get ready for the inevitable shouting barrage that was going to come for the elderly mage.

--------

In the forest…

After cutting down the amount of fire wood needed and placing them into the cart provided to him by the Guild's stable master.

Naruto had finally settled the targets for his latest training exercise of the day and he was eager to test the newly made kunai he had on hand, this was basic training but he was still eager to see just how much he had improved over the past few months while stuck in this new world, the throwing daggers were nice, but felt more comfortable with kunai in hand and as soon as he was ready, he got a fair distance from the forest and looked at the sun, he planned to get this routine down before night fall, that was when the monsters were usually out.

He found the various types of monsters in the archives to be rather interesting, he was very curious of there were actually dragons wandering about and wondered how tough one was in a fight. As soon as he finished with that train of thought, he went to work and ran through the obstacle course that he had set up.

The obstacle course had all the right number of traps and targets that he had to deal with back home and some were also including target dummies for close range and long range as he moved through the paces, he began to recall all of his training in his time back in his world as he leaped over trees, rocks and ran over water while throwing shuriken and kunai at each target and then even summoning his Kage Bushin to help him create his Rasengan attacks and used them for both close range and mid range attacks.

Naruto finally reached the final target and was ready to unleash his trump card jutsu, having perfected it a bit more since his last usage of it in his battles with Madara. But just as he was about to unleash it, the Kyuubi spoke to him.

((Hold it kit, we're not alone….))

Naruto stopped the move and quickly looked about and then seeing that his observer was not showing up, he wondered if it was Garret and Hayden, but felt that they were not there, they had a unique chakra signature and the one he was sensing was not the two idiots. With that in mind he spoke.

"Whoever you are, I suggest you show yourself, I know you're here."

Naruto was about to reach his kunai when the voice of a female spoke out.

"Stop… I am coming out."

Naruto turned and there before him appeared a blonde woman with long pointed ears and a very slender and somewhat buxom figure, That was when he was now facing one of the races he had been able to read about in the library of the Guild.

"Wow…you're an elf aren't you?"

Celecia nodded as she studied the young man before her, at the age of eighty four, by human standards, she would already be an old woman, but elves were immortal and didn't age the way humans did and such were more attuned with Nature, and the Spirit world than most humans. In elven reckoning however, Celecia was still very much a young adolescent though her figure said otherwise in human eyes, she was armed with a slender elven short sword for defense along with a knife and wore a strong enchanted vest of leather and mail for protection.

She had been out on patrol and to gather herbs for salves and potions when she heard the commotion and felt something different in the air, she stayed out of sight until she saw the young man moving through the obstacle course. And in that moment, she found herself intrigued by the young human. This human possessed considerable power in terms of the arcane and also she sensed a great deal of energy within him that was unlike anything she had seen before…not to mention that fact for a human, he wasn't bad looking, she had seen the glowing blue sphere that he used in close combat and also as a throwing weapon. It was something she had never seen before and was amazed at the energy that she felt from it, However, she was curious as to how he was able to sense her despite her concealing spell.

"I am an elf, that is true, but how were you able to sense me?"

Naruto shrugged as he replied.

"You're chakra stands out a lot."

"Ch…what did you say?"

"You're chakra energy, you have a lot of it and it's not hard to track, that concealing spell works well when hiding from normal eyes, but it doesn't filter chakra out very well."

"What energy are you talking about?"

Naruto sighed and knew that chakra was very much unknown and he decided that explaining it was not going to be enough for the elf before him, but before he could start, he wanted to know just who she was.

"Look, before we go any further on the matter of explaining why don't we introduce ourselves to one another, my name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Celecia."

"All right then…you want to know what chakra is right?"

Naruto then explained it as much as he could to the elf as Celecia listened intently to his words and she was surprised to hear about this chakra, she had been familiar with white, black and shamanistic magic, but never chakra and when Naruto revealed his chakra that was flowing out like blue light, she was further intrigued.

But things were cut short between the two as shouts came for Naruto to hurry up, no doubt Foltess had sent some students to keep an eye on him, when Naruto turned to reply, Celecia took her leave and Naruto was surprised to see her gone, but placed that aside as he packed up and got all his kunai and shuriken and left to get to the cart.

Celecia had to admit that this young man Naruto was interesting indeed, and she had a feeling that what she had seen him do was but a fraction of his abilities.

(For a human, he's interesting…)

--------

A few weeks later…

"You're going on a journey?"

Ila asked with considerable surprise as Naruto packed away his things. The blonde Chuunin had gathered enough information to go out and find out if the information could help him in finding a way home. Naruto turned and knew that Ila was not happy to see him go and he wanted to stay a bit longer, but the leads he found were too promising for him to ignore for long.

"I found some things that I need to check out, plus I need to head back home and say hello to my family back home…"

Ila wished she could go with Naruto and meet his family but with her studies being here in Ohfun, she couldn't leave and it hurt to know that she was not going to get her chance at being close to Naruto and that was not something she liked a lot and she couldn't help but wish he stayed a lot longer.

"But you're almost there, a few more weeks and you can…"

"Ila, I have to do this, this wasn't meant to be a permanent thing after all."

"But…"

Naruto sighed and held Ila's hand and spoke.

"Listen, I learned a lot here in the Guild and you have been a great friend to me, and so have Carwess-sensei and Miss Jenny as well, but I have to go and find my way in this world and if I can, see my own family and friends. But don't worry so much. I plan to visit when I can and I'll write letters every now and then all right?"

Ila sniffled and held back her tears and Naruto decided to give her something to remember him by.

"Here, I have something for you."

Ila looked and Naruto took out a small plate of metal on a short band of soft but durable leather with clasps and on the metal which was silver was the symbol of Konoha on it. Ila gasped at the gift as that was very much pure grade silver and Naruto then placed it on her right arm and placed it there.

"Take this Ila, you know I'll be back as long as you have it on okay?"

Ila ran her hand on the silver bracelet and smiled at Naruto as she wiped her tears and hugged him, happy to be given this gift, it wasn't a wedding present or an engagement ring as her fantasies had hoped, but it was nice enough for her that Naruto made it for her. Naruto hugged her right back afterwards and bid her farewell and she kissed him on the cheek, right on his whisker marks, making Naruto blush a bit more.

"You promise?"

"Of course! I am going to be Hokage someday so I will keep a promise that I make to those I care about."

Ila smiled, she had been told what Hokage meant and it was a term given to the leader in Naruto's home land and if there was one thing that she knew to be true

--------

In the Head Master's Room..

"So you're off to find your answers Naruto?"

Naruto nodded to Master Carwess and the two of them hugged one another as Carwess became like a father figure to Naruto and as soon as they parted Carwess smiled as he looked the young man over, though he had been here only a year, Naruto had become a very skilled mage with exceptional talents, though some parts of his abilities in magic was a bit spotty at best. Nevertheless, the young man's desire to succeed and his will to work hard to reach his goals were more than enough to make him a great mage.

Carwess then moved to his desk and removed a new wand and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto was somewhat surprised at that.

"You're giving me a new wand? Wasn't I supposed to get this after I graduate?"

"Naruto, the way I see it, you are more than ready to wield this wand, and if you need a new one, you'll have to be patient, it's not easy getting wands you know."

Naruto nodded and then bowed to Carwess and Carwess bowed back.

--------

In the Temple of Mylee…

"Hello Miss Jenny!"

Jenny turned to see the blonde ninja fully dressed and ready to go and she smiled at Naruto, Naruto had been teaching her how to use her chakra in a way that was similar to a medic Nin and she had reciprocated with teaching him the art of the sword and it was something she figured he would add with his arsenals, when he was there to train himself, and when he set his Kage Bushin to her for training, Jenny, like Carwess had been told by Naruto about the power of the Kage Bushin Jutsu and admitted that such a technique was truly powerful and it made them respect Naruto for his willingness to use such a method despite the risks.

The two of them hugged one another as she knew that Naruto was going out to find what he could to get the materials, devices and resources to get back him. Naruto was one of her best students in the art of sword play as well as in the art of first aid.

"I am going to miss you Naruto."

"Don't worry Miss Jenny, considering all I have learned from you and Carwess-sensei , I am more than able to handle myself."

Jenny laughed a bit and then took out a gift wrapped bundle.

"Here, I had this personally made for you to use when the time is right."

Naruto opened the bundle and saw that Jenny's gift was a katana, the sword was long, almost like the blade of a samurai but was straight and had a small hand guard that was in a circular design, almost the same as the same sword Sasuke used to have, but there was a fox head on the pommel and there were flame patterns on the flat of the blade, it was made from specially tempered and hardened steel as well as very well sharpened.

He admired the blade and then placed it back into the sheath and placed it on his back alongside his scroll for Toad Summoning through the long strap there and the two of them bowed to one another.

As soon as he got everything done, Naruto moved out of the gates of Ohfun to see the rest of the world he was in, as well as find answers on how to return home.

--------

A few months later…

The setting sun was on the forest and all seemed peaceful, unless one ignored the fact that a person was banging on what appeared to be a heavy stone slab, the sounds that came from it were not the kind associated with solid stone as echoes were heard, the holder of the dagger, a young petite woman wearing a tied on top, short vest, skirt, thigh high covers with leather shoes in them as well as a belt turned to her comrades and spoke.

"Yep, hollow as a casket this one, and five more if' I'm wrong."

"So it's just as we suspected."

The new speaker was a blonde woman with long hair and wore a cap with a short green cape, as well as a flowing white robe/dress and boots as well as some jewelry, the outfit was very much similar to the clothes worn by those of the Priestesses of Mylee and she was one herself not to mention a certain chest size.

The other woman, the smaller one who was no doubt a thief by trade and profession stoke to her comrades.

"There's a chance this ruin as SOME treasure worth our while, but I prefer we have something more agreeable than good faith to believe in."

"Merrill does have a point, can you find a way to break the door open Genie?"

The woman in question was a tall woman wearing a long cape made of dark brown leather. And wore some light but very serviceable clothes and had a massive broadsword on her back as well as a smaller but no less lethal Longsword strapped to her hip, she wore boots and had the muscles of a strong body builder but leaner and certainly not as large as well and impressive bust to add to the whole picture, along with some sort of tattoo on her left cheek, her hair was deep red and her skin was tanned bronze as well. She shook her head and replied.

"I doubt it Melissa, even I can't lift a slab of stone that size, any way you can do something about it Merrill?"

"Nope, unless I pick at it for a solid straight week, or we could try and find ourselves a magician and be able to go in, get the treasure and be back at Ohfun before the Happy Hour in the bar is over."

Melissa replied at that.

"There is a problem with the idea of us getting a magician, neither of us has that level of power and all my spells are centered on healing cures, defense and countering undead, not destroying solid stone."

It was then that a large number of goblins arrived and Melissa quickly got out her war hammer and Genie drew her sword while Merrill threw her daggers, but the weapons were forced out of the goblins and they knew that now was not the right time be out there. After they agreed to head back to Ohfun and get some food and drink and find a mage, they moved in to fight while Melissa prayed to Mylee to protect them in battle.

The three however decided to go separately in order to avoid getting caught in a bad situation and made their way to Ohfun on their own terms.

Elsewhere in the forest, a certain blonde ninja heard some very loud noises that were certainly the signs of fighting and he wondered just what that was all about. But focused on heading back to Ohfun, he was a day early but decided to relax before seeing Ila the next night, he had some stuff to take care of after all.

--------

In Ohfun' restaurant and entertainment district…

"Man….what a trip, at least I hope Damien's Bar is still open."

Naruto headed towards one of the restaurants he normally frequents in this part of the district and he was in the mood to grab some good food and then head off to get the latest news from the merchants who plied their trades in Ohfun. He had done his business with a small printing shop and had a lot of gold to save and use and was in the mood for a good meal. He had his wand on his back and his other times at the ready as well. However, he was hoping to finally have some good food to eat. He was still dressed in his usual attire of orange and black, and his long coat with red and black, he had his scroll on and his other gear as well as his sword on his back.

However, he heard a shout and then a moment later….a man wearing Knight's apprentice armor and carrying a sword was sent flying out of the window and Naruto gave the guy a quick looking over, definitely an apprentice knight and he looked through the window and saw that the bar before his usual haunt had gotten into a brawl.

As he walked in he spotted the people who apparently were the ones responsible for the situation before him.

One he recognized quickly by the cape, hat, robes, and orange sash as a Priestess of Mylee and not a very bad looking one too, blonde hair, violet eyes and a very attractive face and figure, though Naruto could tell that she was serious in what she does as a Priestess, he made it a note to ask Miss jenny just who she was since as far as she knew, he had not seen her before when he would be passing into the Temple on his training sessions with Jenny.

The other one who appeared to be tall was very well muscled and amazingly enough for a woman with a muscular frame like that she had a rather large bust, her skin was tanned and she had her red hair in a long braid tail at the back and quite the outfit and there was a tattoo on her left cheek as well, regardless, Naruto could tell from her posture that she knew how to use a sword and was physically strong, and judging by the look in her eyes, she was a skilled fighter, probably a former soldier or mercenary type.

The last one was a shorter girl and she was limber and petite, but from the way she held her knife, he could tell that she knew how to use it and while she didn't have the same muscular build as the sword wielder, she was strong and nimble, no doubt a thief from the way she moved. He had an encounter with thieves before and while he had not taken into stealing things back when he was a ninja, he had to admit that meeting thieves was a bit of an annoyance every now and then.

They were currently facing several guys who were dressed in the same fashion as the guy he saw that got tossed out the window, and no doubt the man was booted out by the tanned sword lady with the muscles.

He turned to the bar owner and asked the question.

"Hey Hughes, what's going on here?"

The barkeeper turned and replied.

"Bad news Naruto, the ladies had walked in and were about to grab something to drink and eat when they nudged some of those Knight apprentices, the guys took it personal and tried to pick a fight…and well….you know how it goes."

Naruto nodded at that and decided to get a bit closer, and his eyes narrowed when the knights took out their swords and so did the lady.

(Okay this is getting serious….)

((You want to get involved kit?))

(Only if I have to Kyuubi.)

It was then that the news of the City Watch coming in had broken the atmosphere as some men began to panic at the thought of being arrested, even they were mere spectators and some ran, one of them managed to push Naruto and he tried to right himself.

Unfortunately for Naruto, the man who had knocked him aside had also sent him in the direction of one of the women, namely the blonde haired Mylee Priestess and he hit her, with his face first between her breasts and his hands on her hips. When he looked up, he found himself looking at Melissa who was quite shocked by this sudden turn of events.

Naturally….Melissa's reaction was far from pleasant…

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Naruto backed away and tried to speak. As Melissa covered her breasts and glared at him, he knew that while it was an accident, women could read it the wrong way then he would be in trouble.

"Hey! That was an accident! I got hit by…."

Both Genie and Merrill were quite shocked at how blatantly that new arrival had just manhandled their comrade and in the most indecent way too.

"You disgusting pig…"

"You perverted idiot!"

Naruto looked at the two and replied with a slight glare.

"That was an accident! Someone knocked me over and I was caught off guard and lost my balance!"

Unfortunately the inner resident he had in his body was not making things easy.

((That might have been an accident, but you got to admit, that blonde Priestess is well stacked. Even that tanned red haired lady is as well…maybe you should try…))

(Are you out of your mind you crazy fox?! We are NOT going to do that!)

((Really now?))

(Yes, now shut it you darn perverted demon.)

((I'M A PERVERT?! Need I remind you of the time you had another one of those wet dreams of your involving your pink haired team-mate, the white eyed Hyuuga girl, and a few others? Now you even have that red haired fiend of yours plus that elf babe…))

(Shut up!)

The men there were shocked and some of the men who were going to fight genie were stunned and then they started speaking.

"Did you see that?"

"Of course I saw it….but wow, that's gutsy."

"Yeah, doing that to a Priestess of Mylee of all things, and in public too."

"That guy looks like a mage from the Guild…what's he doing here?"

Naruto had no idea how to get out of this one as the one with the sword looked at him, he knew that the only time he would fight back with this woman was when she would strike first, until then he would try to reason with them before he would fight. Naruto was not above fighting women, having fought with female ninja before when he was younger, and he was not impressed with the idea that men were better than women, that sort of talk was foolish in his mind. That was because he had grown up in a world where women were quite capable in a fight and he had seen female ninja do things that male ninja couldn't do.

Genie looked at the man before her and was ready to attack when he spoke.

"Look I said what I did was an accident…"

"Stop talking and get out of my sight….unless you actually have the guts to fight without magic."

Naruto glared and replied.

"I take it you don't plan on listening to reason then. Fine, try me, let's see if you can back up your words swordswoman."

Genie readied her sword and attacked….big mistake…

Naruto ducks the sword strike and then knees Genie in the gut and sends his fist to her chin and sends her flying back into the wall with a crash and the wall, he had also disarmed her of her sword and then caught it deftly by the handle and then tossed it to her and the blade landed on the wall blade first into the wall.

Melissa and Merrill gasped while the men were stunned.

"Did you see that? That guy just floored that woman without much effort!"

"I thought mages fought with magic."

Naruto sighed and replied to Genie who was out cold for a moment or two.

"You should let people explain their side first before trying to cut them down lady, you asked for that."

Merrill looked at Naruto and thought at what she had seen.

(Who is this guy? He might be a mage but I've never heard of a mage fighting with fists and feet before, but that guy knocked genie back.)

She got angry and attacked Naruto.

"You jerk!!!"

Naruto knew that the chance to resolve this was out the window and he had to defend himself.

Merrill launched a kick at him but Naruto quickly moves away and drops to the floor and then lashed out with a sweep kick and sends Merrill to the ground with a thump to her butt and she groaned as Naruto stood up once more.

The others then looked at that and replied.

"This guy is really different, there's no way he's an ordinary mage."

It was then that he was facing Melissa who was looking at him in a very angry way, it was to be expected as she had seen him manhandle her comrades.

"How dare you hit a woman?!"

Melissa moved and was about to slap Naruto but he was quick to respond and grabbed her had just as it was about to hit his face and he pulled her closer to her surprise and he replied simply.

"You're friend was about to cut me down before I could try and explain what happened was an accident Priestess, what was I supposed to do, let her cut me down for trying to defend myself? That is plain foolish and stupid, get your friends away from here, this fight is over."

Melissa gasped at that and it was then that the City Watch was coming, Naruto knew that now was not the time to be caught and with that, he released Melissa and quickly moved out of the building, leaving Melissa alone and genie recovering and rubbing her jaw and her stomach, and Merrill rubbing her butt to relieve the pain.

Naruto quickly got to roof of the buildings and headed for his home in Ohfun. He needed to relax and wait for the next day to meet Ila. This had become one of his most interesting nights and he wondered just what the three women were doing there, he could tell that they were an adventuring party and meant that they were looking for s new member and considering the fact they were all female, they wanted a female mage on their side.

He placed those thoughts aside for the moment and focused on other matters.

--------

Elsewhere…

Melissa and her comrades were resting in a hotel and the three women were not in the best of moods, Melissa had been able to clear things up with the City Watch Guards and the men who had attacked them were sent to prison, but the three had to rest and they drank their drinks in their room.

Genie placed down her mug and growled.

"When I see that blonde mage, I am going to lop his head off!"

Merrill nodded as she twirled her daggers.

"I'm going to make his butt look like a pin cushion for what he did to me!"

Melissa merely thought about what to do now, and she replied.

"At least we are in the clear; however, we still have to deal with the fact that we need a mage to help us get into the ruin."

Merrill then replied.

"I heard there's another pub that magicians from the Guild go to, we can got there and hire a mage."

The others agreed and then they went to sleep, and they were going to do their best to forget the incident with the unknown mage unless they were going to beat the tar out of him.

--------

The next day…

Ila drank her drink and enjoyed it for all it was worth as she wondered when her friend Naruto would arrive, he had sent her a letter that he was coming back to see how things were back in Ohfun as well as gather some more gear to go do some work. She hoped that he would stay longer when he did arrive, that way she could…

"Um, excuse me Miss?"

Ila turned and there were three women looking at her, one appeared to be a swordswoman, the other was a Priestess of Mylee, and the other appeared to be a thief of some sort.

"Yes? can I help you?"

Merrill was the one who spoke first.

"We were here to ask if you are a magician."

"I am, why, is there something you need from me?"

Melissa nodded and spoke.

"Yes, we would like to speak to you about some important. Is it all right if we sit down?"

"Sure."

Merrill, Melissa, and Genie sat down and Merrill spoke to Ila.

"We're a band of adventurers raiding ruins."

Ila was impressed and spoke with some measure of awe.

"Wow! Really?"

"I kid you not."

"That's so cool! I really am envious of you guys, I bet you have found lots of treasure and artifacts already!"

The three groaned, unwilling to admit that their adventures had not turned up a lot, and then Melissa spoke to Ila.

"There is something important that we liked to ask you miss about the whole adventure..."

"if you find any more artifacts, i would gladly buy them off you for a fair price."

genie shook her head and spoke.

"Actually we came her to ask you if you would like to join us for our adventures, we recently found a ruin and need to see if there is any treasure there, but we need a mage to help us open it."

Ila was surprised and gave a sad look.

"As much as I would love to go on an adventure with you all, I'm sorry to say that I can't leave my studies and I am only a novice so I won't be of much good for you to take to this ruin you found."

The three groaned once more and were deflated by the fact that they were not going to get Ila's support for their adventures. After their bad experiences, they were hoping for some more good luck.

Ila then had a thought and smiled at Genie, Melissa, and Merrill.

"I do know of someone who could help you, my friend Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto's a very skilled magic user and is Master Carwess' personally sponsored student in the Magic Guild. Master Carwess personally invited Naruto to enter the Guild because of Naruto's potential and talents and Naruto's been quite a student of magic ever since joining the Guild."

Both Genie and Melissa were impressed. For this Naruto to be handpicked by Carwess himself spoke highly of the lady's ability though the name she had was odd.

"Really, this Naruto was handpicked by master Carwess himself,? This Naruto must be a capable magician."

"Oh yes, Naruto loves to go on adventures and has been at it for months now and has even a battle name, the name is Hokage I think."

Merrill was confused at that and asked.

"Hokage….what does that mean?"

Ila thought it over and replied.

"Where Naruto is from I think it means 'Fire Shadow', Naruto is skilled in several high level combat spells and has some of special spells in reserve for special occasions, Naruto's also skilled with a sword and has been adventuring for some time now, Naruto's going to meet me here so you can probably get Naruto to help you unlock this ruin you found."

Melissa and the others smiled at that, from what they had heard from Ila, this Naruto would prove to be a very helpful addition to their all female team.

"Great! This Naruto sounds just like the one we need to complete our team!"

Genie nodded and spoke.

"So when do we meet her?"

Melissa also nodded.

"Yes, this woman friend of your sounds like very much like a blessing from Mylee himself."

Ila was surprised at that, they thought Naruto was a woman, it was then that she heard a familiar exuberant and high energy voice.

"Hey Ila! Great to see you again!"

Ila turned and she replied with a happy smile.

"Naruto!!!"

The three women blanched as they heard that voice, the voice of a certain someone they had no desire to ever meet again. They thought that they heard wrong but when they looked, they spotted a certain blonde Chuunin from Konoha who wore orange and black, had a forehead protector on his head with the symbol of Konoha on it, a red long coat with black flames and a massive scroll on his back along with a set of pouches on his back and left thigh and his katana as well.

The three of them stood up and both Genie and Merrill shouted while Melissa looked at Naruto with shocked eyes.

"YOU!!!!"

Naruto gave a look in their direction and gave a slight look of surprise and mixed with wariness.

"You three again?"

------

To be continued…

------

Author's notes:

NOT exactly the prestigious of meetings wasn't it for Naruto and Melissa's group wasn't it? I actually borrowed the meeting of the three ladies with Naruto from the manga which would add my own spice to the story for a change, that and the fact that Ila is a bit more open about her feelings towards Naruto will be the only references to the manga itself while the rest follows the anime. I hope that this was good enough for the readers to look at.

Now some readers have brought it up that this resembles Rune Soldier Ranma, I would like to point out that while some things might be somewhat similar, I do like to point out some things about this story that will prove that it's no copy.

The first is that the lead character who is taking Louie's place is Naruto, just like in the case that Ranma takes over Louie's place in Hung's work. The difference is that Naruto is not a child like Ranma was in his own story, and is already a teenager and his experiences are quite different from Ranma so he will see the world and people on a different manner.

Not to mention he does have Jiraiya's perverted tendencies and is a bit perverted himself, and that fact will make itself known even more as time progresses. (Sly smile.)

Second is that Naruto is not planning to remain long in the Rune Soldier Louie world, but he plans head home to fulfill his dream of being a Hokage, but while he is there in the Rune Soldier Louie world, you can bet he will leave behind a reputation, unlike Ranma who wants nothing to do with his own world as there were too many things that he dislikes there and decides to remain there in the Rune Soldier Louie world forever.

Third is that Naruto's already present talents are there for him to use, unlike Ranma who has to learn all his techniques from scratch. This gives Naruto the advantage he needs, though he is not above learning new things to help him improve while he is there in the Rune Soldier Louie world.

Fourth is that due to his life, Naruto will be quite a bag of surprises for the gang of Melissa, Merrill, and Genie, and since he is different from Ranma, he will show things differently. Keep in mind also that the experiences Naruto had with women is quite different from Ranma so he might surprise Melissa and company.

That's about it…

--------

I previously had a bad experience with being considered a blatant copier of Hung's work a few years back when I first started out in writing fanfiction, and I don't deny it, I was younger and more foolish back then after all. I wished up since then and branched out on my own, though I do admit I was inspired by Hung's works to take up the pen so to speak.

If things follow too closely to either the anime or Hung's work, feel free to tell me and I'll make the corrections, I did do my best after that incident so I hope to prove that I am my own man and I don't copy things too closely anymore.