Rune Soldier Naruto

by Freedom Guard

Naruto lands in a world of magic and swords due to an experiment by a mage from the other world and must learn magic to get home, what can possibly go wrong? With Naruto around, then ANYTHING can go wrong.

5. Chapter 5

Rune Soldier Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Naruto or Rune Soldier Louie, so don't ask if I do.

Chapter 4

Forest of Demons

( ): Thoughts

((" ")): Kyuubi's voice

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In the tavern…

Naruto looked at the incredulous Priestess and knew that this was the normal reaction, from what he knew of his time in this world, assassins were not exactly the most favored or well respected people in the world.

"Hey, there's a fine line between assassin and murderer Melissa and I haven't crossed that line yet."

Melissa was still in a very shocked state and she spoke out in fury.

"How can you say that?! You just said that ninjas assassinate people for money, that's just immoral, and….and barbaric!!!"

"Excuse me?"

Melissa replied to that with a very serious tone, she had heard all the cruel things assassins did and read them in books and the thought of her champion actually being an assassin who killed people for money was something that totally horrified her.

"The thought of people murdering people for money is just so barbaric! I can't believe your people, these ninjas would be so cruel and inhuman!"

That was enough to get Naruto angry at the way Melissa described ninjas. Naruto had tried his best to change the system of the ninja world where there would be understanding as well as unity, peace, and trust so there would no longer be people like Pain as well as Madara. His father Minato had faith in him as well as Jiraiya, and his late sensei Kakashi told him he would be able to surpass his own father. the praise he got as well as all the times he had been with ninjas not just of his own village but others had taught him much. He knew that changing the current ninja system was not going to be easy, nor was it going to be quick, but he was not going to let his father down or Jiraiya, as well as the people who have been very important to him.

He had his own way of the ninja, he was a ninja who would never give up his emotions, he would never use his abilities for his own desires, he would use his abilities to defend those close to him, and most of all to make sure that there would be peace and understanding in the world… and to have someone who knew next to nothing about his world insult ninjas and call them inhuman, and barbaric was insulting. There were ninjas in his world who were barbaric, cruel, and blood thirsty, but there were ninjas who fought them and gave their lives to beat them, such as Asuma, Jiraiya, Kakashi and many more and to have someone blatantly insult all ninjas was a very strong

"You've got some guts saying ninjas are barbarians Melissa, I'm the only ninja you've met and you're already insulting us in general?!"

"But you're people kill others for money!!!"

"In case it escaped your attention, I said that the only time we resort to assassination is when there is NO other option or if a war breaks out. Here's the difference between an assassin and a murderer for you to get the difference. An assassin kills for a mission as well as a purpose, a murderer just kills for the fun of it."

Melissa spoke back.

"Don't try to justify it!!! Murder is still murder!!!"

"And you think war isn't murder on a grand scale? You think armies moving about in battlefields or knights slaughtering each other in combat aren't committing murder already? I read the history books in the Guild and I don't see why you can just insult others because of our occupation. Besides, your realms have assassins too so what makes ninjas like myself barbarians?"

"It's still wrong to take a human life!!!"

Naruto had to agree to that at some degree, but he had grown up a lot ever since being a Genin back in Konoha, he had faced many people over the years as well as faced many obstacles in his life as a ninja. He however was ready to defend the efforts of all the ninjas who he knew were good people such as Tsunade, Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Lee and all those who had been friends all those years, including Gaara when he defeated the Suna ninja and his fellow Jinchuuriki who was now the current Kazekage of Suna.

"And what about people who are corrupt and in positions of power Melissa? What happens when they can be too powerful and too dangerous to face with an army and they can evade justice? That with their money and their power they can flaunt the law and do what they want? Tell me, how do you propose to deal with people like them?"

Melissa was silent as Genie and Merrill looked on, they had never seen Naruto like this, they thought he was angry before, but now this was unexpected to say the least. Both of them were also surprised at the fact that Naruto was an assassin or trained to be one though they still didn't believe that he could ever be a warrior with his reliance on fighting with his hands or this stuff he called Taijutsu.

Naruto was far from done with his words, his anger at Melissa's words was not going to go away just like that.

"You think all ninjas are barbarians because we assassinate people?! You know nothing about us, you have no idea about ninjas since you were never born into our culture and our traditions and you have the audacity to insult and berate ninjas all because we do assassinate people as a last resort?! I was under the impression that Mylee taught many things to it's Priestesses in order to deal with their roles in the outside world. You know nothing about us and you just judge us right off the bat?! I never knew that a Priestess like you can be so dense as well as thick headed. You disappoint me Melissa, you think the real world is the same as is shown in story books? It's not, there are very harsh truths in the world Melissa and until you learn to open your mind to the reality of certain things as well as learn to understand before you comment on something, then I don't want to see your face at all!"

With that, Naruto turned and stormed off, and as he grabbed the door of the tavern, he closed it with a resounding smash….leaving everyone in the tavern flabbergasted as well as tense as the silence was deafening after the ninja/mage left in a very foul mood.

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In the Temple of Mylee…

"Miss Jenny I must protest to this idea of having Naruto as my champion!"

"Oh, and what is this time Melissa?"

"I just found out that Naruto is an assassin!!! He's a person who kills people for money!!! I can't have him recognized as my hero!!!"

"I see….I guess it was going to come out eventually."

Melissa was surprised at how casually Jenny was taking the news that Naruto was an assassin and she couldn't help but ask the Head Priestess of her order how she could be so relaxed about this.

"Miss Jenny…"

"On the other hand I just had a discussion with Naruto who came here earlier, and I can tell that he was very irate. What exactly did you say to him to make him that angry Melissa?"

"I said that assassinating people is wrong!!! It's cruel, inhuman, and barbaric!!!"

"I see….but let me ask you something Melissa, have you ever met other people like Naruto who are ninjas like him?"

Melissa stopped and reluctantly shook her head and spoke.

"No I haven't…"

"Yet you judged all people like him as barbarians? That is a very harsh description Melissa."

"But he said they assassinate people for money?! How can that not be barbaric?"

"I admit that it is cruel to take another person's life for money, but have you seen Naruto take a person's life before Melissa? Have you ever seen him kill in cold blood before ever since you met him?"

"No…"

"So how can you say that he is and his people are barbarians? Melissa, Naruto told me a great deal about himself when I first met him, and like you, I was appalled by the fact that he was trained to take another person's life for money, but he told me that he has never taken an innocent life in cold blood in his entire life and the people who he had fought with have committed very grievous crimes that merited them being dealt with. He told me of a corrupt businessman who nearly drove a country to it's knees as well as breaking the spirit of the people who resided in it, he and his group were responsible for it's recovery and eventual prosperity. Besides that, you must keep in mind that Naruto is not from around here, and grew up differently from you and I, because of that, we have no right to quickly pass judgment on them. Naruto carries a great deal of burdens being a ninja, however he is different."

Melissa looked at Jenny and waited for her superior in the Church of Mylee to continue.

"Naruto would never let any harm come to those he cares deeply about and would risk his life to save those dear to him. If they are truly in danger of death that is the only time Naruto will be ready and willing to take the life of his foe. That much was what Naruto has told me, and I can tell that he did not lie about that fact. Because he would not take a life without reason, he is different from a murderer as he said to you, a murderer takes life without hesitation or reason, Naruto has reason to take a foe's life if he is forced to it, besides, he has never taken the role of assassin when he left the Guild, and considering his abilities before and his use of magic after leaving the Guild he would make a deadly assassin if he chose to do so. Melissa I want to ask you this question, you would do anything to protect your friends and those under your charge am I right?"

"Of course I would Miss Jenny! I am a Priestess of Mylee and doing anything less is a mistake."

"But if you had no choice but to take a human life to save them, would you do it?"

Melissa was surprised by this question and she looked down, lost in the idea of how to answer her superior's question. Jenny knew that this was a very serious thing and no doubt Melissa would be very hard pressed to answer that question and she knew that Naruto no doubt faced that situation more times than anyone in the Order of Mylee ever did, except her, in her own youth, there had been times that she struggled with the same situation when she too was a Priestess like Melissa. She looked at Melissa who was still struggling with the question that she had placed before her, and waited a bit more for Melissa's response and soon enough she did answer.

"It's not easy for me to answer that question Miss Jenny, I mean, if I have to fight monsters I would fight without any problems, but the idea of taking a human life is…"

"Hard to fathom and grasp, but it is something that happens at times and it will be hard to deal with if we are forced to take that path. Melissa. It is not something that is easy to do, yet we must be ready for that path when it is the only option that we have to deal with, I had the same problems when I was your age as well as being a novice Priestess of Mylee as well, do you remember when I said to you when you found out that Naruto is your champion by the will of Mylee?"

Melissa nodded.

"I have to know my champion more, that is what you said Miss Jenny."

"Correct Melissa, you have to take the time and effort to know just what sort of person Naruto really is in order for you to see just why he is chosen as your champion, As you already know, Mylee chose him to be your champion and Mylee's ways are hard to fathom even by the highest of our order though we serve him. I have already apologized on your behalf to Naruto and he has accepted it for now….but he is still very angry at your words."

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In his room…

"Damn that woman!!!!"

Naruto was pacing back and forth while twirling a kunai in his hand through the loop there on the back of the handle as he tried to cool his temper. He paced back and forth a bit more until he sat down and decided to think over the events that happened. The blonde ninja/mage wished that he didn't have this kind of problem, but now that he was in it, he would have to deal with it.

He didn't really blame Melissa for the reaction to the fact that he was trained as an assassin, he had studied enough books in this world to know that assassins were not exactly the most loved bunch in the world he was in, they were treated with contempt and outright hatred and fear. However he was not like them and neither were the ninjas of his world, there were many ninjas who were loyal to their villages while even those who were missing nin had their own reasons for leaving. Most missing nin were criminals and had done great damage to the world, namely the members of Akatsuki, except Itachi after he found out about the truth surrounding the event known as the Uchiha Clan Massacre as well as the part that three Konoha Elders had in it all in the past.

All in all, there were good ninjas and evil ninjas, and they did the same things, only difference was that those ninjas who assassinated in the name of their village who were good did it because they knew that what they were doing was the only course of action….while evil ninjas like some he had met personally did it for their own reasons as well as desires, he still could never forgive Orochimaru for the extent of his crimes, including kidnapping, torturing, murdering, experimenting and manipulating so many people, the murder of the Third Hokage who was like a grandfather to him, as well as corrupting eventually twisting Sasuke into what he was, forcing him to defeat his former friend and eventually exiling the last of the Uchiha after he had dealt with Madara who further twisted Sasuke to his own ends.

Those were the kinds of people he would willingly kill to prevent them from ever harming the world he lived in, that much Naruto had learned to accept, he however knew that not all rogue ninjas were evil, some like Zabuza who despite treating Haku like a tool came to see the young man as his own son, while Guren who was once brutal and blood thirsty came to care for Yukimaru like a son as well and was no doubt helping him grow up and find a place for himself. There were others like them as well who he knew of and of course they were all different in nature as well as motivation.

As he sat on his bed, he thought over all that happened in his life ever since he became a Genin after his defeat of Madara as well as Sasuke, the village had treated him much better than before and many ninja in the village consider him the best of what Konoha could be, a far cry from when he was still seen as back in the day. He was so deep in through that he was not aware that someone was at his door and had entered his room.

"hey Naruto…..you all right?"

Naruto turned to see Ila who was looking at him with great concern and he relaxed himself as he spoke to his mage friend.

"Yeah….I'm fine…"

"No you're not Naruto, I can tell you are in a foul mood, does it have something to do with your team mates?"

Naruto growled a bit as he placed aside the kunai and managed to calm himself a bit and speak his mind, while he was always smiling, even when things were becoming bad, but this was not one of those times as he looked at Ila.

"It's a long story Ila…"

"Why don't you tell me anyway?"

"Well….I have to be honest with you Ila, The techniques I used when I saved you and in my time here in the Guild, those are techniques taught to me by…"

"By ninjas and you are a ninja right?"

Naruto was quite surprised by this, as far as he knew, he had never told Ila about his being a ninja, so how did she manage to learn about his true occupation as well as what he and many others like him were trained in doing.

"How did you know about my being a ninja?"

Ila smiled a bit and replied.

"Master Carwess told me the day after you left the Guild. He called me over and told me everything about you….though I have to admit that there were some things he didn't tell me about you, I was curious about those two but he insisted that I don't try and find out as those are secrets that are best left unlearned."

(Man…)

Naruto had no idea that Ila had actually known about his status as a ninja and he looked at her as he asked her the question that he knew was of great importance to him.

"It doesn't bother you that I'm trained to be an assassin?"

Ila shook her head and replied.

"It doesn't bother me, but I have my reasons, you certainly are too nice and gentle as a young man to take life without reason and you have always stood up for me when you dealt with Garret and Hayden, and call it women's intuition or just plain trust, but you were no murderer in my eyes, so why should I be bothered about you being ninja?"

Naruto couldn't help but grin a bit at this, and that grin turned into a full blown smile as he reflexively hugged Ila, much to Ila's delight as she reached and hugged him back, she never expected this kind of reaction from her long time friend but it did her heart good that she was able to cheer him up easily, and this was the first time she was able to get this close to him and the fact that she could feel his well formed and chiseled body was an extra bonus that she was very happy for.

Naruto was able to recover however and he realized that he was hugging Ila, while Ila was not Sakura who would sometimes react to his affections with a slight tap on the head with her strength, he knew that he was getting too close and gently began to part away from the buxom and well formed red haired female mage. He didn't want to let his hormones get the better of him, while he could have locked the door and did the deed, he was still very much faithful to Sakura as well as Hinata, plus there was a chance that someone in the Guild would walk in and undo the lock on his door with an unlocking spell and the last thing he wanted was to be caught in a very compromising situation with Ila

"Thanks a great deal for the support Ila."

"Not a problem Naruto, but I want to ask something, are you still intent on going to the Tarsius Forest?"

"Yeah, I don't have a choice at all if I need a wand. And I guess that no matter what, I will have to be accompanied by Melissa and the group."

"I had a feeling that was the case, so tell me what happened. Between you and her that got you so worked up."

Naruto told Ila everything and Ila was not very happy with the way Melissa reacted, sure assassins were not the most popular people in their world, but to quickly say that Naruto's people were barbarians was going a little too far in her mind, as an academic she had been able to understand that some other countries had other ways of seeing things and just judging an entire people like that was considered to be narrow minded.

"I can't believe she said that about your people Naruto! That's just plain cruel…"

"I know, but to be honest with you, there have been ninjas in my home land who were really barbaric, so I can't REALLY fault Melissa's reaction to it, but there are just as many good ninjas who gave their lives to stop ninjas like them and it made me angry since she thought ALL ninjas were barbarians, since it felt like she was insulting even those ninjas who made a very good difference in the land I was born in."

Ila nodded and then decided to venture a very personal question.

"Naruto….I know I never asked this before, but if you're a ninja, then were your parents ninja too?"

Naruto nodded, while he was very proud of the fact that his father was the Fourth Hokage and Konoha's Yellow Flash, as well as learning more of his mother, he was also aware that the reason why he was never told of his parentage was the fact that if the former enemies of his father Minato ever learned that he was Minato's son, they would come after him. In honor of that, and his making peace with his father and learning about his family, he decided to keep his parentage a secret, and he would never take the risk of revealing it….even to Sakura, Hinata and in extension, Ila as well.

"My father and mother were both ninja, but they were heroes for fighting in very bloody wars, but they…died when I was still a baby so I never really knew them."

Ila gave her friend a sad and understanding look and she replied.

"But I think that they would be proud of you."

"Thanks, now I think I need to get some rest Ila, I need to relax a bit more before I meet Melissa and the others again before I head off to the Tarsuis Forest, and thanks for you and your father for getting supplies ready."

Ila grinned and replied.

"Not a problem Naruto, the supplies are already waiting for you in one of the shops in the Market district who's owner is a friend of my father, just drop by there and tell them your name and they'll give you the supplies I saved for the trip."

Naruto grinned and went to sleep. It was then that he decided to do something first, he wanted to see just how things would go between him, Melissa, genie, and Merrill if he did something that could ease the tension between them so working with them would be a bit more bearable.

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Three days later at Genie's home…

Genie was currently training in front of her house and as she managed to get some decent exercise for the day she wondered about the idea of going with Naruto to the Tarsius Forest, while she could say no as she was not a Priestess of Mylee, the fact that Melissa was her friend and they had been in too many adventures together while Merrill was something of a good friend in her own right.

Speaking of whom, the young thief arrived and so did Melissa who was still deep in thought as Genie placed aside her sword, the supplies they still had from the previous adventure or rather the wasteful one they had with Naruto, as they sat down, Genie spoke to Melissa.

"How did it go with Head Priestess Jenny?"

Melissa sighed and replied.

"Not so good, she said that I have to continue working with Naruto and also try to see him for who he really is."

Merrill replied.

"I still think that he's a loud mouth Melissa, but at least he's got the guts to stand up for himself, he's certainly not like any mage I know of and if he is really serious about being this ninja, this could be fun to see, I'd like to see if he can really back up his words."

Melissa nodded but she was still very unhappy with the fact that her champion was trained as an assassin, she had always dreamed of having a gallant, handsome, strong, and brave knight to be her champion, to be the epitome of her ideal champion since she had been a young girl, instead, she got a perverted, antagonizing, and very odd man who was a mage and who was also trained as an assassin. The idea of a Priestess of Mylee having an assassin as a champion was still very much unheard of and it still filled her with a great deal of unease and worry, for her reputation and her own well being. Melissa however decided to at least try and understand Naruto more, she had to admit that Mylee must have some reason for Naruto being chosen as her champion.

Speaking of whom, a certain blonde ninja was walking by and carrying a slightly larger pouch on his back, the bag was a gift given to him by Ila which was a magical pouch that could store vast amounts of items and he used it to carry a large number of his kunai and shuriken as well as several more spare weapon and storage scrolls, plus some spare clothes and bandages, he also carried the remains of his old wand, he had decided that while these would no longer be useful, he might find another use for them in the near future, if there was one thing he learned well, it was never throw away anything that could be useful still, the stuff might not be useful in channeling magical energy anymore but it was not the end for it anyway.

As he arrived he looked at Melissa sternly and crossed his arms and spoke to the Priestess.

"I had a chat with Head Priestess Jenny about your actions last time and she apologized for you Melissa, so just for now, I'm burying my anger towards your words, but don't think for a minute that I have forgotten what you said about my people."

"I just said what I felt and knew was right Naruto."

"That's your perception then, so let's leave it at that, if any of you have anything to do still then get it done soon, we leave soon enough."

Genie then replied.

"You're not in charge of us Naruto."

"No I'm not but since I have to go and Melissa is required by her Order and by Mylee to come with me so at this moment, that somewhat puts me in the lead at this time."

Merrill snorted and replied.

"Don't expect us to trust you when you lead the way Naruto."

Naruto shrugged and replied.

"I don't. So let's quit talking and get moving shall we? I already got the supplies I need as well as the supplies that were left over for the trip for you three so the sooner we get going then even entire better for all involved."

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In one of the wild areas ahead of the Tarsuis Forest…

As the group made their way into the village, they encountered a small but well armed band of demon like beasts and those were seen to be Goblins as well as Trolls. Naruto and the others quickly went to work on fighting them, he had no idea what these creatures were doing this far out from where they had to go, but he was not planning to worry about for long. He took out his kunai and closed the gap with the first demon and quickly evaded the attacks and landed a powerful kick to the side of the head and then leaped over the creature as he took out yet another kunai and landed on the ground just as another demonic creature, raised his weapons to block the attack and then fight with his Taijutsu training.. Melissa used her war hammer while Merrill used her daggers and throwing knives while Genie used her sword to even things up with the monsters. The fight was not very long as the group worked well enough on their own while Melissa observed Naruto using his Taijutsu skills as well as he underhanded tactics in combat.

She still didn't like the fact that she had him as her champion, with his attitudes, his way of combat, ungentlemanly tactics, as well as the fact that he was an assassin, however she kept in mind the words that Jenny had told her about trying to find out more about Naruto, but what was there to find in him anyway? He seemed to have no other secrets as well for her to take a keen interest in, however she recalled that Mylee must have had a reason for having him as her champion and since she didn't want to displease Mylee

As the group mopped up the area, Naruto and the others moved on, but only for a bit more when they all stopped at a nearby clearing to rest.

Merrill sighed and spoke.

"Are we coming closer to the Forest?"

Naruto shook his head and replied.

"According to the map, we're still at least three days away from the Forest, plus there is a town at least a day to the other side."

Melissa then spoke.

"We could rest there for a while before moving on."

Naruto took out the maps once more and quickly looked them over and replied.

"Not a bad idea Melissa, but I don't recommend moving at this time, it's already midday and there's no telling what other creatures might be out at night, those demonic trolls and goblins worry me."

Merrill sneered and asked.

"Afraid of them? That's not like you Naruto, I thought ninjas were warriors of the shadows?"

Genie asked the same question as well, though in a different format.

"After how I've seen you fight, it isn't like you to be worried by a pocket of demons, why are you concerned for them anyway? Is it because you can't use those magical attacks on them?"

Naruto shook his head and replied in a very serious fashion.

"The Kage Bushin No Jutsu and the Rasengan do not use any form of magic, and no I am not afraid of the monsters… the reason I'm worried is the fact that those creatures attacked us in broad daylight. Goblins are understandable already since they don't care much for sunlight…but Trolls are not supposed to be out at day time, that usually is sleeping time for them, they normally move out in late afternoon and night time since they hunt better at night, not to mention the fact they attacked us out in the open, Trolls are supposed to be ambush creatures, so for them to leave the forests they live and hunt in means something out of place is going on here, and if there's one thing my ninja sensei Kakashi taught me, it is that something out of the ordinary usually means two things, either something is about to happen, or we're walking into a trap, and neither of them sound the least bit pleasant to me."

The three women had to admit though not openly that Naruto had a point, trolls never travel this far out from their lands so something or someone must be up to something. It was then that the blonde ninja stood up and looked into the forest, intent on something and before the women could react, he then rushed into the forest.

Genie and the others looked on and were surprised at this and Genie shouted.

"Hold it!!"

"Where is he going now?!"

Naruto took out a kunai and quickly moved through the forest as he tracked his target, which turned out to be a wild boar, and a fairly large one at that, the blonde ninja knew this could be a good break but he was careful either way, while he was not above killing animals for food he knew the wild boar he was hunting would not hesitate to gore the holy hell out of him, the thing was massive and if there was one thing he knew for a fact, wild boar would be very hostile towards anything that they could see was a threat to their lands. There was a chance the creature might have attacked them as well so no need to ignore it and let it have it's way.

As he moved through he spotted the creature….or rather it spotted him, he cursed the wild animal's good senses and got ready for a fight as the boar charged at him, he flipped back as the boar tore through the foliage and he quickly fires his kunai right at the beast, wounding it and he evaded it once more and then used the same technique he had used on both Merrill and Genie when they had fought him on the roof of the Temple. The boar gave a loud cry as it smashed head first into a boulder and Naruto quickly threw three shuriken to finally kill the creature as it gave a massive cry and died right there and then.

As the blonde used a pair of his Kage Bushin to haul this boar to the clearing, he looked to see Genie, Merrill, and Melissa looking at him with surprise as well as confusion. However when they spotted the boar with the wounds on it, they were able to guess just what the blonde ninja/mage had gone after.

"How did you get this boar?"

"It just showed up in front of me and raised it's front hooves and said I give up."

The women looked at him in a very confused way and he replied.

"Geez, no sense of humor you three….anyway, this can be great for a good meal, however I'm not going to be lugging this thing all the way through the path for the rest of the trip, plus the tusks, organs, fat, oils, and hide will be very useful once it's sold to the right people who can put the stuff to good use, so this means a good old fashion skinning and craving run."

Naruto looked at Genie, Melissa and Merrill and replied as he got his razor sharp kunai ready to go to work.

"Unless you three are squeamish I suggest you look away, and don't bother me while I do this."

The very second he plunged his kunai into the dead boar's body, the others looked away while Melissa couldn't help but feel somewhat sickened as she heard Naruto begin to cut the wild boar apart. She had never seen it done before in her life as she had gotten used to having meat prepared and cooked before she ate it.

Merrill and Genie however did their best to do what they could to set up camp with the supplies that they had with them; Naruto had opened the supplies which he had stored in the scrolls he had on hand and they decided to get some time off, the two women were still not very trusting of Naruto but they were not in the mood to get into a shouting match with him as he was focused on getting the food ready. The tea set that Melissa had was left in the Church of Mylee under the care of the Priestesses who were close to Melissa as well as the other things she left behind as a compromise to having Naruto along.

Melissa looked back and saw the mess and wished that Naruto had not decided to butcher the thing right in front of her.

As soon as he was done cutting up the meat as well as making sure they were still moist but not dripping blood and the like, Naruto divided the portions and took out another set of scrolls and then placed the meat on the scrolls and placed them away for storage, he then did the same thing with the organs, hide, tusks, fat, and oils as well as he stored the oils in bottles that he had with him. With that out of the way, he reached into another storage scroll and made the release command.

Later at night…

The smell of roasting meat filled the air in the camp as all four of them were currently resting as the large portions of meat were being cooked nicely, the contents of Naruto's scroll were actually some flavoring liquids and herbs that he kept on hand for this kind of cook out, in his travels to look for magical artifacts, he used to make sure that he kept most of his supplies in good order and when food was getting scarce, he had to hunt and forage, he made trial and error runs and some of the results were not very pleasant, but he got used to it and developed some much needed skills in survival, plus the fact the Pervy Sage and him were always on the move and staying only in towns to get the latest news and supplies, he had learned enough to love being out in the wild.

As the roast was coming along very nicely, he turned to the three and spoke.

"All right, this meat's about done so time to dig in!"

As they ate the food, Naruto decided to get as much of the meat as he could as well as eating some of the store of fruit that he had in one of the scrolls, as he ate the food, he noted the Melissa was picking at her plate at the meat and he looked at her with a very curious eye.

"What's the problem Melissa?"

The Priestess looked at him and replied.

"You….You didn't have to do that in front of me you know."

"Do wha….oh, you mean that right? Look, I did say you didn't have to look when you didn't want to, besides, it's going to look plain silly if I haul that boar on my back and placing that animal on a scroll isn't the least bit easy you know. Besides, the rest of the meat, plus the hide, tusks, and fat can be sold for some extra coins in the village."

Melissa had to admit that Naruto had a point, hauling the boar around all day could have looked plain odd not to mention that the meat could go bad if he was not able to store it away. Genie and Merrill were digging and they too had to agree to some of Naruto's words though ever out loud at the moment. Naruto and the others had camped near a ring of high rocks to help preserve the heat of the fire as well as offer some measure of protection from anything out there.

As soon as they were finished eating as much as they could manage, with the women marveling at the potbelly Naruto had on him, Naruto gathered a good portion of the remaining food and quickly dispatched it with a Kage Bushin to the far side of the camp. He also made sure to clean up the place and erase any sign of the food that was cooked there by placing special herbs into the fire to create a smoke that smelled clean and clear and without the smell of cooked meat.

This was to make sure that any predators would steer clear of the camp and with the portions of cooked meat that were taken away, their attention would be elsewhere, plus with the hidden meat in scrolls, the predators would not smell them. It was a very hard thing to do at this moment, but it was better than doing nothing in his mind to keep the others from being eaten.

--------

In the village…

"My….this is high quality boar meat you have my friend, we haven't had meat like this in a while, not to mention the organs are in good order. I'm willing to pay three hundred coins for this meat, is that all right with you?"

Naruto nodded as he handed the meat to the butcher who was quick to count out a large bundle of coins to pay for the meat that he and the others had brought to the village, while he was interested in getting a new wand, he decided to sell the meat that was left over as there were still plenty of supplies left and lugging around meat even if it was in storage scrolls was not something he found to be very appealing to him. Plus the hides, organs, fat, tusks and oils could be sold off. After they had awakened, they eat the food left over from last night and left to the direction of the village and the others waited for him outside of the village.

As the money was given to him, the butcher spoke.

"Say, you guys ran into any Trolls or Goblins?"

Naruto was curious about the question and spoke.

"Why so curious?"

"Well, I've been getting rumors that a pair of mages was seen going through here, heading off to the Tarsuis Forest if you can believe that! Now I know mages can be all right with their magic and all, but that forest is haunted and all manner of demonic creatures call that place home, not mention the fact that no hunter ever goes that close. But you know….ever since those mages showed up, the Goblins and Trolls have been a lot more active lately, I hate to say it, but I think those mages are up to no good."

This got Naruto's attention right off the bat, if a pair of mages were responsible for the Trolls and Goblins moving about more actively, that meant that they were causing trouble and since these two were in the Tarsuis Forest, that meant that they were no doubt trying to get to the oak trees the same way he was. He nodded and replied.

"We'll be careful."

"You better be son, and good luck on where it is you're going."

Naruto left the butcher shop and sold off the rest of the items, the organs could be used for cooking as well as making other necessities ,the boar's fat could be melted down for fuel or even to make soap as well as for lard, while the oils could be sued for cooking, and the tusks can be used for carvings, plus the hide could be used for leather and the like, as soon as he was paid with a good sum of gold coins with that out of the way, he met with the others and told them what he heard and Melissa spoke.

"Two mages? There in the Tarsuis Forest ahead of us? That doesn't sound very promising, could they be after the oak trees too?"

"That's a big possibility, since mages like myself and them need the wood for our wands, the one thing that worries me is the rise of monster activity because of them, I get the feeling the very second we go in there, we're going to be walking into trouble."

Merrill groaned and replied.

"Man….this mission is turning bad…"

Naruto looked at Merrill and replied.

"You didn't have to come along you know. I made that very clear six days ago back in the tavern."

Merrill looked back and replied.

"And leave Melissa alone with you? No way, you might have done that perverted incident by accident or so you say, but I am not going to let Melissa be alone with you, cause who knows what's floating about in that head of yours."

"Hey!"

Naruto was somewhat offended but he had to admit that his perverted side was getting to him again, being stuck with an all female group had a tendency to do that a guy and despite the fact that he was not very happy working with them, the fact that they were not bad looking to the eyes was a bit of a distraction. Even Genie in her getup was somewhat distracting to the blonde Sannin. The fact that they Kyuubi was also fueling his perverted tendencies when the mood suited it wasn't helping matters either. Naruto shook his head and replied at the comment as soon as he got his thoughts back into the proper working order.

"Never mind that, here's the gold I got selling the meat, tusks, hide, organs, fat and oils."

The money was numbering at least four hundred golden coins and Naruto divided them to a hundred each, Merrill was about to argue but Naruto gave a glare at her and spoke seriously.

"Look, I killed the creature, plus I have to carve it up and cook a good portion of it for dinner as well as breakfast and this is all the money gained by selling with we can't carry so get used to it."

Merrill decided not to argue and they made their way to the Tarsuis Forest with a pair of Naruto's Kage Bushin going ahead for recon work, Naruto, having learned the origin of the Kage Bushin decided to use it to his advantage and it proved to be very effective in the long run as they were able to move into the forest and soon enough the group arrived. Naruto whistled as he saw the threes before him and then he tried to use his Senjutsu training to get a feel of the place.

As soon as he did so, the power flooding him nearly forced him to take some of the original characteristics of frogs, reminding him of his time training in the Senjutsu arts with the Toad Summons back on Mount Myoubokuzan. Thankfully he was able to control his gathering of Nature Chakra and felt the energy in this place….it was immense, and the trees were old….very old indeed, while he was no expert in labeling age, the sheer power he felt in this place was immense and it made sense that the oak trees here would be used for making wands.

As he relaxed a bit and felt his body return to normal, Merrill spoke to him.

"So where is this 500 year old oak tree we're looking for?"

"We don't need to look anywhere; these trees are already bristling with power, so all we need is a branch from one of them…."

"Great, the sooner we can get this over and done with."

As Merrill took out an axe, Naruto was beginning to shift out of Sage Mode when he sensed that there was someone nearby and he quickly shouted to Merrill to hold it. Merrill had no idea why she was being halted by Naruto as he looked in a different direction and spoke.

"Whoever you are, come out of there, I know you're watching us and if you plan on attacking us then come out!"

The three wondered just what was Naruto doing as well as saying since there seemed to be no one there at the moment and they were about to ask him what was going on until Naruto spoke once more.

I can sense your energy and you are hiding in the trees at least a hundred feet to my right, and you are getting ready to cast a Wind spell to spook us so don't bother since I can sense you there."

After a few moments, the group were greeted by a voice.

"Not bad….you've got good senses. All right, I guess I have no choice."

As soon as Naruto spotted the figure coming towards them he quickly recognized the person and grabbed Genie's arm as the swordswoman got ready to attack the new comer. The stranger did the same thing and she spoke.

"It's you!!!"

Naruto gave a grin and waved back.

"Fancy meeting you here, I had a feeling someone was watching us. I should have known it would be an elf or some other creature."

As soon as that happened, Merrill turned to face Naruto and she spoke.

"You know this person?"

"I met her before, but never got her name."

The elf woman nodded and spoke in greeting.

"That's true, but at the time you were not alone, and now that we meet again, I guess introductions are in order, my name is Celecia, and you are?"

Naruto grinned in his usual way and replied.

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki!"

--------

Later…

"You know each other?"

Genie asked as the elf named Celecia stood before them, the elf was currently dressed in a simple tunic with a pair of short trousers with a short skirt, as well as wearing a belt with a sword as well as a dagger on the belt. The Elf also wore a pair of bracers as well as soft boots of leather, fairly simple gear from the looks of it but considering the fact she was armed told the swordswoman that things were not as it seemed.

Celecia replied.

"Not formally, I met Naruto when he was training in the forest in those very special moves that had him making a glowing sphere of some sort as well as making copies of himself….very interesting moves since at the time I saw him doing those things, there seemed to be no sign of any magical artifacts on him."

Naruto grinned as the others looked on, confused and wary, the fact that Celecia was an elf was something that worried them, as this was the first time that they had been in this forest and there was a chance that something might go wrong and there was a chance that Celecia could be luring them into a trap.

Celecia spoke then to Naruto.

"You realize that this place is haunted for a reason right?"

"Not exactly, but the fact that you're trying to scare us means that there's more to this forest than it looks, I sensed the power and chakra coming from this place, damn near blinded my senses when I looked about."

"Chakra? What the heck is that?"

Naruto didn't answer the question of Genie as he spoke to Celecia.

"By the way, I heard that a pair of mages were seen heading into this area, do you know them?"

Celecia nodded.

"They came into the forest at least a week ago, and they headed straight for the village and demanded that we leave so they could take over the forest and harvest all the oak, naturally our people were against it and fought them off. You see the trees in this place are the burial markers of our people, as elves, our ties to nature are very strong so when our people pass on, they are buried in the earth with a tree to mark their burial site, and that is why the trees here are filled with magical energy as the spirit of our deceased melds with the spirit world and makes the trees grow strong be infused by the energies of nature."

Naruto gave a shocked reaction and was very pale n the face, he had a dislike for ghosts and the paranormal, the one time that Gekkou Hayate and the Third appeared in his room as ghosts scared the crap out of him and the thought of being haunted by elvish ghosts was not something he was in the mood for.

"So you mean to tell me that your people live in a…."

"Graveyard? I guess so, but it's more than that, the trees here serve as sources for our powers, so much so that if a tree is destroyed our people lose strength and power. That is why my people fought off the mages, they wanted to take the oldest and most powerful trees that my people tend to, we fought them off, but ever since then my village has been under siege by the evil creatures in the forest. Normally these creatures attack in small bands on our village and we are able to stave them off because of our use of shamanism and nature magic, plus our people being skilled hunters and archers."

Genie nodded and spoke seriously.

"That's true, elves are far my memories go, are crack archers as well as woodmen."

"That is true, but these attacks began to grow more intense and occasionally one of the mages would join the raids and cause as much damage as they could, normally we would be able to hold them out but the fact is that they have cut us off from gathering supplies and food, we usually send out a pair of hunters or a hunting party to gather food, but they would be attacked by the forces under the two and with the constant raids, both small and large, my people are running low on food as well as supplies, No matter how many we take out, they just keep coming back for more and many of the elders in our village are getting drained of their magic. The strain is very strong on my people at the moment and with supplies running low, things look grim."

Naruto didn't like the sound of that, this was beginning to remind him of the time he had been t the Land of Waves when Sasuke, himself, and Sakura were younger with Kakashi to escort Tazuna and finding out that the man they were escorting was being hunted by assassins sent by Gato. It was then that he decided to find out just who the mages were.

"Is there anything that you can tell us about these mages Celecia?"

"They appear to be twins and have a very arrogant bearing on them, they used magic without any hesitation, they also seemed to want to throw their weight about on others and the younger one has a very perverse way at looking towards women."

That was enough for Naruto to recognize the antagonists of the village that Celecia brought in. He groaned and gave a serious and annoyed look.

"Garret and Hayden…I should have known it was those two scumbags."

Melissa looked at Naruto and asked the blonde ninja/mage as she could see that the blonde ninja was not in the best of moods.

"You know the mages?"

"Yep, though I wish I never did, the two of them are brothers with Hayden having a very unhealthy obsession with Ila back when they were in the Academy. The two of them have been pains in the neck for me since the two of them have this axe to grind for me and Ila, something to do with the fact that Ila and I were doing very well in the Academy, they even tried to double team me once and even after I trashed them to the ground with an Arcane Restrictor on the idiots still think I cheated when I used my ninja training on them."

"You used your….ninja training on them?"

"Yep, when I got back in the Academy I found out they were kicked out due to trying to practice spells that were supposed to be off limits to mages of their current standing and also stealing from the Guild storehouse and making forbidden potions. Their families tired to free them out of the mess that they were in but the evidence was too much for them to weasel their way out, and they got expelled and had their ranks revoked. Ila was the one who got the evidence to back up everything to make sure that they were never welcomed back in the Guild or anywhere else….now it seems their mercenary mages now."

Celecia knew that the news she got from Naruto was not the least bit pleasing. However she had an idea, if Naruto knew these mages, then he could very well be of help to her people. However she also knew that her people were not very welcoming of humans, she knew a number of humans have died and a good number of the elf elders were not concerned with the loss of humans.

The elf female however knew for a fact that Naruto was no regular mage and recalling his abilities, he could very well be a good aid to fight the mages. The blonde mage had a lot of potential and she had spoken about her findings to the elders, along with some of younger elves and while many of her people considered what she said to be nothing worth thinking about, she still had her interest in learning about the power Naruto described to be chakra.

"You might be able to help us then Naruto….if you can beat these two mages, then it would be a good thing for the village."

Naruto nodded and replied.

"That's true…but I do have the intention of getting a branch from one of the trees here, and if what you said is true, then your people are going to be really angry with me and the others the very second they find out about my need for a branch. And while I'm not antagonizing your people Celecia, I have heard rumors that elves and humans don't exactly get along as it is."

Celecia nodded at that while Melissa and the others had to agree that what they heard was bad enough of two mages causing a considerable ruckus on the elf village would make the elves hostile to humans, but if they took a branch from a tree that was the burial site marker of one of the deceased elves….it would be a disaster waiting to happen.

"I won't lie to you Naruto, you are right, I will however try to plead your case to the elders and convince them to let you help us in the fight with Garret and Hayden, and maybe….no matter how hard it might be to do, I can try to convince them to allow you to take a branch."

Melissa however replied.

"That sounds too good to be true."

Celecia turned and looked at Melissa.

"You doubt that I'm being sincere?"

Genie then spoke.

"It's nothing personal you know, but we can't just accept what you said at face value… you already told us that the trees here are sacred to your people and you are willing to talk to your elders to let Naruto take a branch from one of the trees? Forgive me for finding that hard to believe."

Merrill nodded as well.

"Look, we're not saying that we don't understand why you would ask Naruto's help….though why his help is beyond me, but how can we be so sure that you are not going to lure us into a trap."

Naruto understood their concerns, but he understood more than they let on, after all, Sasame Fuma did the very same thing, to see her cousin, she was willing to bring them to the hidden traps in Orochimaru's lair in Rice Country. He couldn't blame Sasame even if she did lead them into a trap, and besides, he was already aware that they were walking into one and he spoke.

"I understand your desire to save your village Celecia, if I was in your place I would do the same thing….but not in the way you would at this moment."

"What do you mean by that?"

"For one thing Celecia…you can tell your fellow elves to stop hiding, I know they're here in this area closing in and watching us."

Celecia looked at Naruto and saw that he was being serious, her opinion of him grew even more, though she was saddened by the choice before her.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I will do my best to reason with the elders."

It was then that Naruto and the others found themselves surrounded by a large number of elf warriors armed with swords, spears and of course, the regular longbows that elves were known to use. The female adventuring group were naturally shocked, but Naruto expected this, and he didn't resist.

As they were escorted by the elf warriors, the elves were unaware of the fact that there were two other people watching and the two people were dressed in the same fashion that Naruto was wearing, instead of following the group, the Kage Bushin sat down and began to gather Nature chakra.

--------

In the village…

The elf village looked very rustic and utilitarian in build, design and nature; there were lower homesteads as well as tree houses and in one such house, Naruto and the others were being kept in one such house with several windows that allowed a number of armed elves to keep an eye on them. The elves were not very happy with the presence of other humans as night fall began to creep on their village.

However Naruto was very busy looking at the elves, while he was not exactly the smartest ninja in the world, he was very perceptive and observant when something got his interest, and he could tell from the faces and postures of the guards, they were getting sleep deprived as well as getting even hungrier. There was no doubt that the elves were in dire straits at the moment and the sight of several ruined houses told Naruto a great deal of the damage Garret and Hayden caused with their forces on the village.

He felt his anger grow and the Kyuubi spoke to him.

(("Nice to see that you still have not lost your temper kit, I was beginning to wonder when your temper was coming, and I have to admit, those two had finally shown some decent spine….though not enough to be impressive in my book."))

(Shut it Kyuubi, they will no doubt come back.)

((" No doubts there, these elves are exhausted, they lack food and rest, plus from what I can sense, their elders and spell casters are low on power…it won't be long before they fall."))

(Not if I can help it they won't)

((Fair enough kit, but here's hoping that elf babe Celecia can convince the elders to let us go so we can actually do something….though I doubt they will be all that listening to her arguments."))

--------

Sure enough…

"But elders, he came here to help us deal with the two mages who have been attacking our village! We can't just keep him prisoner!"

"How can you be so sure that we can even trust this human Celecia?! For all we know he could very well be a spy for the mages themselves to weaken us from within!!"

"Elder, the new arrivals only came into the Forest a week after the attacks started on our village! How can you say that they are in league with the mages attacking us if they only just arrived?"

"Don't be so sure, maybe the four of them were contracted by those mages to distract us!"

Celecia looked at the assembled elders and wished that there were some of them who were the least bit reasonable about what they were saying about Naruto and his companions.

"I spoke with the mage, the one named Naruto and he told me that the mages attacking out village are known to him…."

"See! He does know them and is no doubt an ally of theirs!"

"No he isn't elder, he said that he despises those two mages and wants to help us deal with them, I can tell that he is very serious about dealing with the two mages and even provided me with their names, Garret and Hayden, apparently the two mages were enemies of his back in his training in the Magic Guild of the human city of Ohfun."

"Are we suggesting that we trust these humans Celecia?"

"Elders, all I am saying is that we have to do this in order to safeguard our village, we can't just turn help down just because the help comes from humans."

"Celecia, we have defended our home from invaders and demons for over eight hundred and fifty years and we have done so without help from humans. Have you forgotten that humans have burned down many lush and healthy groves of trees and hunted excessively to feed their own desires without care for nature?"

Celecia recalled the lessons about humans from when she was still very young, the same age as a normal human child, but she wanted to have Naruto's help to defend her village, there was something about him that told her that she could trust him and if she could trust him so could her people.

"But that was a long time ago Elders, this is…"

"History has a way of repeating itself, the only time we ever allowed any humans to take a branch from this forest was when the tree died. But these two mages come here with the purpose of desecrating our very homes. Our ancestors have convinced humans to stay away from certain parts of land, but do you really believe that humans would leave us well alone? No….we cannot trust humans Celecia, these mages have proven that."

Celecia was not liking the direction this was going at all and she showed her displeasure at this.

"We can't just cast them aside!!! We have to at least show to the humans that we are not demons like the creatures that live here as well….and if we kill these humans, how then can we justify our actions if the humans become angered that we have killed more of their kind?"

"This forest has claimed many humans Celecia, the fear of humans keeps them from interfering here, four more dead will not be a great consequence, and we will defeat the mages well on our own….we do not need their help. Tomorrow…we shall have them executed in the same way as we deal with demons."

Celecia was shocked, she knew full well what her people did with demons when demons harmed the sacred trees, but this was the first time she had heard to such a punishment being done to humans.

"But they are not demons Elders!!!"

"Human, demon, it doesn't matter now, we are to protect the trees of our ancestors no matter what and that is final!"

--------

Later…

Celecia walked to the house and then looked inside to see Naruto standing nearby without his scroll or sword on him as well as his pouch, the blonde ninja looked at Celecia and he spoke.

"Let me guess, it didn't end well?"

Celecia shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I tried my best to reason with the elders but they were not going to budge on the matter."

Merrill then replied.

"You led us into a trap you hussy!"

Celecia was ashamed for a moment and that was further added to as Naruto spoke.

"I guess I am also disappointed as well, we decided to help and now you plan to execute us, I guess the old stories of elves being noble and just are just stories in books then."

Celecia had no idea why but being told this by Naruto hurt her in a way that she couldn't help but feel deeply and she replied.

"I wish it was not the case, but after so many centuries, my people are no longer able to trust humans as well as before. I'm sorry for all this, but I tried, I really tried to reason with them all, including my father, but it was no use….I wish this never happened to you…"

Naruto however replied.

"It's not your fault Celecia…anyway, are they ready for the coming attack?"

Celecia shook her head.

"No….our people are tired, hungry and more….but this has made them desperate, they need something to burn out their anger…and I…am afraid that you and your friends are the ones they want to vent their anger out on."

(Now where have I heard that before?)

Naruto knew full well the way people acted, before he finally changed their views of him, many of the villagers back in Konoha saw him as nothing more than the Kyuubi itself and made his life hard and trying, if it hadn't been for Iruka-sensei and Konohamaru's Grandfather Hiruzen Sarutobi who was the Third Hokage, as well as Teuchi and Ayame, he would have never been able to live a normal life, the people then couldn't avenge the deaths of those who were slain by his demon resident and took out their anger, fear, hatred, and grief on him. But that changed after the defeat of Madara, Akatsuki, Pain, and Sasuke, things were different for him as he was treated far better than before.

But he understood the elves more than they thought and he couldn't find fault in that.

Celecia then spoke to them one more time.

"I…I will try once more, but I fear the worst for you all.. I wish it never came to this…"

As Celecia left, Naruto quickly assessed what he could and as soon as a plan was formed he got ready for action, it would not be long before the main attack came, and he was now ready for action, their belongings were not very far from them and those could be easily reached by the others.

Genie looked at Naruto who remained calm as he looked out of the window, she was not very happy with the situation they were in, it was bad enough that they were prisoners, but after being told that they were going to be executed the next day was really getting on her nerves, the fact that she didn't have her weapons really made things bad for them all.

"Why the heck are you so calm about this?! You realize that tomorrow they could very well kill us?!"

Naruto however replied calmly.

"Relax, I have a plan."

"You have a plan?! Does that include making things worse?!"

Melissa was praying nonstop ever since she had been informed that they were going to be executed soon enough and in a very morbid way as well.

(Please Lord Mylee….help us in our time of need!!!)

Merrill wished she could do something but without her lock picking tools there was no way for them to escape at all, damn this blonde loudmouth for dragging them all here!!!

However, the sounds of horns told them all that things were about to get worse…

In a heartbeat, the village was filled with cries of fear and panic as the male elves got their wives, sons, daughters, and relatives to the safety of their shelters while they moved out to face the incoming attack. That was when Naruto made his move as soon as he moved away from the window, he moved to open a hidden packet in his overcoat…and removed from a water proof pack…several explosive tags.

Naruto wasted no time and placed the tags on the door and quickly ripped the boards of the floor out and formed a barricade.

The women had no idea what he was up to but something in their bodies and minds told them to hide behind the blonde's barricade and not a moment too soon as the tags were consumed by fire and then…

BOOM!!!!

The explosive tags ripped the door clear way in a mess of splinters and shards as the barricade held off the worst of it all. Just as Naruto hoped it would. As soon as the ringing stopped the blonde faced them all.

The three looked up at Naruto who stood up without showing any harm at all and then they noted something different in his face. There was deep red shading in the areas of his eyes like red shadows and his eyes were no longer blue but golden and his eyes resembled a creature that they had no idea about. Melissa spoke then…

"Naruto? What the heck?!"

Naruto shook his head and replied.

"No time to explain! Grab your gear and get ready for the fight! I'll help the elves!"

--------

Outside…

Naruto rushed out of the house that he and the others were imprisoned in and spotted their gear and he decided to grab his scroll as well as his gear and when he left, he spotted that Genie and the others were also getting their gear, he then went ahead to see that the elves were fighting their best but they were seriously in dire straits, the elders rushed out and were doing their best to fight off the possible magical attacks as they were told that the mages were coming in with their forces.

He knew that now was the time for a fight as he summoned three Kage Bushin, he knew that doing any higher would disperse the two Kage Bushin he had left earlier would be unable to summon the Nature chakra he needed. With that in mind he had one Kage Bushin pull back and use the scroll to bring the other two in and at a safe distance just in case. As soon as that was done, the Kage Bushin rejoined him just as en elder spotted him.

"How did you get out of your cell human?!"

Naruto replied in a very serious tone.

"Now is not the time for questions old elf! You have a fight to go to and I intend to help you."

"We don't NEED your help human!!!"

"Really, you're people are tired, deprived of food and rest, you're running low on supplies, and I've got no doubts you elders are already tired in using your magic all the time the Trolls and Goblins attack, you've got two options turn my help down and eventually be wiped out, or let me help save your people, what's it going to be?"

The elder had no time to say his answer as the Goblins and Trolls broke through the gates and many of the elves moved back to get more room, there were just too many of them and both hunger and sleep deprivation was affecting the elves despite them being able to destroy a number of the creatures, added to that were storm of fire balls, showing that the human mages were moving in and also getting involved in the fight, things looked grim for the elves…

Until Naruto got involved as he leaped into the fray, the time for words in his mind was over, action was needed as he got his kunai ready for combat, and the Kage Bushin with him did the very same thing as well. It was then that Garret and Hayden made their appearance.

The blonde Sannin looked at them and saw that they were dressed in black and red robes, with black for their normal outfits with red lining and their capes were also red with black flames and with them were wands, they seemed taller now and somewhat older. But he recognized the two easily enough.

They also recognized him as well.

"Hey brother! Check just who showed up in the least likely place!"

Garret looked and sneered.

"Well now, if it isn't the street rat that Carwess brought into the Guild!"

Naruto growled and replied.

"You two really have gotten to a whole new low, what, did the fact that you guys got kicked out of the Guild for your little activities made you lose what common sense you have?"

"You're the one to talk you street urchin…but now we have all the aces in this battle Naruto!"

Naruto snorted and replied.

"I rather doubt that, you two are still pathetic mages, so why are you hitting this village anyway, since you two have wands why the heck are you attacking them?"

Hayden replied.

"Since you are about to die we might as well tell you….we decided to not just be happy with branches, instead why not have an entire set of staves made from the very heart of all the sacred trees here in the Tarsuis Forest? Plus those extra staves can fetch a very healthy price in the black market."

The elves were horrified by the news as they had a very accurate idea of what the results would be if that was done. One elder spoke out in anger.

"You are willing to do that even if it means desecrating and corrupting our homeland and driving our people to an eventual death?!"

Garret snorted and replied.

"You can't have a set of magical staves if you can't take all the best trees right? Besides, one less elven village isn't going to make any difference in the long run."

Naruto growled and his anger finally came free, this was too much, these guys were willing to butcher an entire village for their own sick desires and that was the last straw, he was going to give them the beating that they so richly deserved, and he replied.

"You are going to have to deal with me first you two, I will not let you have your way here in this village!"

Garret and Hayden laughed and the eldest brother replied.

"Big talk for a soon to be dead street rat! Minions! Kill them all, staring with him!!!"

The Trolls and Goblins charged with all their might, but they were going to be in for the shock of their lives as Naruto attacked them head on with his kunai in hands.

He was able to summon his chakra, as well as that of nature and the Kyuubi's as well. This allowed him to create a hybrid form of his Sage Mode and his basic Jinchuuriki form as the Kyuubi said it was something very new in it's mind. Naruto quickly controlled his rage as he focused his attacks on the Trolls and Goblins. The combination of Hermit Mode as well as his basic Jinchuuriki form allowed him to fight at a level that truly was beyond what normal people could accomplish. The Goblins and Trolls had no idea just how much trouble they were in the very second Naruto began to fight using both modes, it took some level of control but Naruto had not been training hard for nothing.

The elves were fighting their hardest when the Goblins and trolls were hit by a quartet of exact look alike mages, the blows unleashed by the blonde mage seemed to be more powerful than before as several Goblins that attacked en masse were send flying back with intense for ce by the blonde's fists and feet, several more were quickly dealt with by the blonde shinobi/mage as the kid gloves were off, several Goblins tried to attack him with spears, but the blonde flipped over them and they ended up stabbing each other and dying by their own hands. Several Trolls closed in but were kicked aside by the blonde ninja.

Melissa, Merrill and genie got into the fight as well in order to loosen them selves as well as back Naruto up though they would never admit it, Genie was able to get full play with her sword as she cut down Goblin after Goblin. Merrill covered Genie's back with her daggers as well as her throwing knives while Melissa used her war hammer to best effect. The three women were glad to be free and were now able to unleash their strength in the fight. While they were still angry at Celecia they had arrived in time to hear Garret and Hayden's plans for the village and they were sickened by that and decided to help out.

The blonde ninja focused on the rest of the forces before him and was busy knocking the living day lights out of them using all the Taijutsu training that he had been able to gain and with both his Jinchuuriki form and his Hermit Form working in unison at this moment, he was more than a match for the Trolls and Goblins as more of the creatures were sent flying and smashing into the ground, the trees as well as the walls beyond. The attacks were also present in Naruto's Kage Bushin and since all four of them were in powerhouse mode of attack, they proved to be more than a match for even the massive numbers of Goblins and Trolls before them. Several surrounded Naruto at that moment, but he was undaunted as he unleashed a spinning kick that was similar to Lee's Konoha Senpo move and that sent the Goblins flying. Several more Goblins and Trolls fired rocks at Naruto but he was undaunted even more as he charged and unleashed his attacks at them all as the rocks merely bounced off of him as he was unharmed in his Hermit Mode, and coupled with the increase to all his physical abilities in his Jinchuuriki Form as well as the increased healing abilities made him a veritable whirlwind of destruction as he moved in and out of the Trolls and Goblins at high speed.

Garret and Hayden were shocked out of their minds at how easily Naruto was tearing through their forces as if they were nothing at all before him and they tired to fire fireballs and lighting bolts at Naruto but with no success as Naruto closed the gap and attacked even more fiercely….sending more and more Trolls and Goblins out of the way quickly with his Taijustu moves.

Melissa saw that Naruto was still using those underhanded moves as well as those techniques that were so ungentlemanly in her mind, and it still made her wish she had not had someone like him as champion, but now was not the time for such thinking as she fought on.

Genie was shocked at seeing how Naruto was easily throwing aside the trolls and Goblins before him but still thought that it was just magic that was helping him in some fashion, and while in a way she was right, she was far from the truth as the chakra of Naruto was now in unison with the chakra of Nature as well as the Kyuubi's chakra.

Merrill was in the same boat as well as she looked on after defeating her own share of Goblins and Trolls.

Naruto then saw that all the Trolls and Goblins were in position and he made his move as he moved his arms forward without his kunai in the way, the two Kage Bushin made the motions and then in front of everyone Naruto unleashed one of the Sejutsu moves he used in battle with Pain, the Great Ball Rasengan. The two spheres that were the Rasengan appeared at that exact moment….but then they grew to a massive size and were now the size of boulders as Naruto handed them to his Kage Bushin.

The elves watched as Naruto and his Kage Bushin charged at the forces ahead of them while the two wielded both massive Rasengan in either hand…the three charged as the elves couldn't help but be shocked by what they were seeing.

Celecia was utterly impressed she had never seen the sphere Naruto wielded being used in two at once….let alone spheres of this massive size!!!

The elders were shocked…

"Impossible!!! That level of power?! No human mage could possibly wield that!"

Melissa, Merrill and Genie were shocked at the sight before them at this moment, they had seen the Rasengan before, but they had never seen Naruto make two of those, let alone two of this size before them! What sort of magic is this?!

The Trolls and Goblins had no time to react as the Kage Bushin charged right into them and the results were more than explosive!

BOOM!!!!

The combined Hermit's Art: Great Ball Rasengan smashed hard into the Trolls and Goblins and the result was massive explosion that sent the entire area of the village shaking like a massive earthquake was tearing the place to pieces, the gathered monsters were blasted aside and sent flying all over the place as the attack not only destroyed the land before it, but tore into the Trolls and Goblins….resulting in massive injuries for them all the clouds of dust and shattered stone was very thick and when the clouds cleared out….the elves witnessed a sight that amazed and scared them witless….there were two MASSIVE trenches in the ground with massive devastation in the field where the combined might of Goblins and Trolls used to be. The monsters in question were strewn all over the place in massive heaps and they were all out of the fight permanently.

Melissa, Genie, and Merrill were shocked out of their minds by the devastation Naruto was able to do, after the elves had stripped him of his weapons and other items, even his pouch, they thought that without his magical charms, he would be helpless as they were without their weapons….but Naruto had just done the impossible and annihilated an entire horde of Goblins and Trolls like they were nothing.

Garret and Hayden were shocked out of their skin at the sight of how much damage the blonde ninja was able to inflict on their forces, they had hoped that their controlled force of Goblins and Trolls could handle anything that the elves could throw at them as well as Naruto himself, but now it seemed that they were proven wrong….and they hated that!! In their fury, they decided to call in their largest creature yet.

From behind the two mages came a massive dog like figure, but not like any animal conceived by human eyes or anywhere else for that matter, the creature was huge nearly the height of a four story building and had deep red eyes and resembled Akamaru though the skin was balc with red lines and there was a massive collar there as well. The beast roared at the people below it as the two mage siblings laughed.

Naruto looked the creature over, recognizing it and he then replied.

"You two ingrates actually managed to tame a Hellhound?"

Garret nodded with glee and replied.

"That's right Naruto! We managed to summon this beast and control it, you have no idea how much resources we had to sacrifice in order to get this Hellhound. We kept him in reserve just in case the Trolls and Goblins we enslaved would not be enough to break through the elves' defenses despite how weakened they are at the moment. But now since that you're here we can kill you for real!"

Hayden nodded and replied.

"As soon as we unleash our pet Hellhound, you and these annoying elves will be nothing but ash piles as well as that of your party!! Now get ready to die you street rat!!! Charoth! Destroy everything but the trees being guarded by the elves! Start with him!!!"

The Kyuubi however replied.

(("I am not impressed, this pup could never compare to me or the other Bijuu….take this bastard down brat!"))

(For once I a gree with you! Time to go full throttle on this one!!!!)

Naruto quickly moved away as the Hellhound leaped at him to try and eat him with it's teeth, he shouted to the elves and his group.

"GET OUT OF HERE!!! THIS GUY IS MINE!!!!"

The others moved away but all of the elves had the same thought with the exception of Celecia.

(That human is insane!!!)

Melissa and the others looked on in fear as they were seeing Naruto and his Kage Bushin facing off with the massive creature alone.

Naruto began to focus his chakra, he had been training with this technique for some time now and since he had dispersed the two Kage Bushin he had secreted away for gathering Nature Chakra, now was the time to use it, the elves of this forest had no idea just how much power dwelled in their own lands in his mind. There was so much Nature Chakra floating about that gathering the amount he had in mind was easy, though harder than most. He then focused his own chakra and that of the Kyuubi form and as soon as he felt the energy swell and focus, he got ready for the move.

He looked at the mammoth Hellhound before him and shouted to it.

"Hey Ugly!!! GET READY FOR THIS!!!!"

He then decided to hide this move as a spell, he had not told Melissa, Merrill, and Genie that the Rasengan had various forms over the times he had used it as well as the formation of combining it with his Win d Element Chakra, he had not told them the basics of chakra and how it worked in principle as well as use. Now he decided to hide this fact for now, not only will he keep his true abilities hidden but also fool the elves and give them something to think about carefully..

The blonde Sannin began to summon his chakra with his Kage Bushin helping along as they formed the Rasengan and as he felt his Wind chakra moving into him, he decided to bring out his surprise, if the three women thought his Rasengan was magic still, why not play along, besides, he had not revealed this to anyone yet and now was the time.

He came up with the lines as his Wind Chakra began to gather and make the blades.

"I call on the power…"

"Of the fury of the world!!!"

Melissa and the others watched what was going on, they had seen the Rasengan before it looked different almost as if it was glowing with a sliver light and there seemed….to be glowing blades on it.

"What the heck is going on?!"

Merrill asked her companions and Melissa spoke.

"I think he's using a spell, but I don't recognize the incantation!"

Naruto paid no mind as he gathered the chakra for this moment, he had never experienced gathering this much power before and he worried if he was going to turn into a frog at this moment due to this, but since he had trained a lot harder to master his Senjutsu mode, he was not worried, he continued his deception as the elves and his team looked on in shock at what they were witnessing.

"Those of you who no longer live in this world!!!"

"Come forth and merge into one!!!"

The elves as well as the elders and Celecia watched in awe as they felt the raw power in this unknown spell. Celecia then wondered just what was going on, She had seen Naruto before in action and she found him fascinating, even more so when he unleashed his full might in combat at that moment with those two spells, but this was totally unexpected, she had seen the move before when he gathered chakra but this level of power was something she had never seen before.

"Incredible!!!"

The elders were flabbergasted by this as well…

"Impossible!!!"

"How can that human have that much power?!"

Naruto moved on and then raised the Rasengan as the blades of chakra grew into the signature shuriken shape for all to see, the screeching bell sound of the wind melding with the Rasenshuriken filled the air as well as a massive storm buffeted the place like a tidal wave.

"Fill this place with your fury!!! Transform into the blades of wrath!!!!"

"In the name of life I command you all to become the sword of the world!!!!"

The Rasenshuriken was now complete and the Kage Bushin quickly moved to help Naruto as he charged right at the Hellhound before him who roared at the attacking ninja as it was freed from it's surprise at what the puny human was doing, it fired a massive fireball at Naruto but Naruto was unfazed as he leaped over the fireball and flew into the air and right before the blood red moon as well, the moon's color melded with the Rasenshuriken, creating a silvery red hue around the Rasenshuriken and added by the presence of the demonic fire burning below added a further illusion that worked to Naruto's advantage as it gave him a powerful illusion of wielding a weapon intense mystical power in one hand with the blades covering in red and silver with the glowing fire of the fire ball below and the sphere o glowing white chakra added to the touch. This was perfect!!!

"FEEL THE WRATH OF THE WORLD!!!! SPIRIT BLADE!!!!!"

The now disguised Rasenshuriken was unleashed and due to the massive amount of Naruto's gathered Nature chakra mixed with the Kyuubi's chakra the Rasenshuriken was even greater in scope and power, more than enough to be able to tear through the demon Hellhound below. The attack struck home and the satanic Hellhound only roared as it was being consumed by the attack.

The gathered elves as well as Melissa, Merrill, and Genie watched as the Spirit Blade tore into the beast and literally ripped it into nothing but tiny bits of flesh in a heartbeat, it happened so fast that in less than a moment, the once massive demon beast under the command of both Garret and Hayden was reduced to nothing as the Rasenshuriken tore through it, in fact, the only thing left of the beast was a massive lake of its blood and it's foot prints as the Rasenshuriken died down. The place was also covered by tiny slivers of the beast's remain as well as splatters of it's blood, making for a very bloody mess.

Naruto relaxed as he felt very exhausted as soon as he landed on the ground and looked at the handiwork, the super charged Rasenshuriken had drained him of his Nature Chakra but he was not out yet as he moved through the mess and then spotted the two rogue sorcerers.

Garret and Hayden were in stark terror as they saw him walking towards them with the fire of their now reduced to nothing Hellhound in the background, they fell down and were moving back, they had not been caught in the full force of the assault, but seeing what the Rasenshuriken could do was something they had never expected from their rival, the younger twin spoke.

"I-It's impossible!!! There's no such spell as the Spirit Blade!!!! How did you do that?!"

Naruto smirked and replied.

"There's a LOT you don't know about me you arrogant asses, and I am certainly not stupid enough to tell you that, let's just say that those are secrets you'll never find out."

Garret then spoke in a very frightened tone, his arrogant demeanor gone after witnessing such power.

"W-W-What are you going to do to us?!"

Naruto merely struck with a pair of fists and sent the two to lala land and he hauled the now unconscious mages on his back and hauled them away and as he arrived before the still stunned elves as well as his party and dropped them down on the ground.

"Here's the bunch that's been trying to take away the trees you people love so much, what you with them is your call."

The elders were looking at Naruto with very shocked eyes while the others were still trying to absorb the fact that they had witnessed Naruto defeat demons with just his hands and his ninja weapons, then seeing the two spells and that one spell that turned a Hellhound into nothing but a bloody smear on the landscape….

Melissa felt like she was going to faint, Naruto had just killed a giant Hellhound with one attack!!!

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Later…

"So those are the trees you elves are so interested in protecting?"

Naruto asked as he, Melissa, Merrill, and Genie were escorted by the elders as well as Celecia' father who was the leader of the military guard of the village they were in. The trees were indeed very old and radiated power, Celecia then spoke.

"Yes, these are different however, these trees are the burial mounds of some of our greatest elders and warriors, their spirits reside in the earth and since these trees are years older than most of the other trees here in the Forest. So much so that they are able to channel more magic than normal wands ever could. That is why those sorcerers wanted them so badly."

Naruto turned and replied to the elder.

"Look, I don't like desecrating graves and I'm no grave robber, but I do need a branch from one of those trees to complete my wand."

The elders tensed and some of the younger elves were getting ready to draw weapons until Celecia' father spoke to them, telling them to sheath their weapons, after seeing just what Naruto was able to do in combat, he was not going to start a fight with a human who decimated an entire force of demons as well as slaying the demon beast they saw.

The elders were not very happy with this, but they were in the same frame of mind as well, they had no idea that this human had this level of power and they were not in the mood to court his abilities should he decide to fight them. Besides, he risked his life to safe guard their village, and that was also worth considering as no human willingly fought for elves before. One of the elders then spoke.

"Normally we would say no to that as these trees are sacred to us, even more so since they are the burial sites of our long deceased kin, however, you risked your life for us against those two rogues, and you defeated a large number of demons as well as the massive beast summoned by the two rogues. Though it pains us to do this, you have earned the right to take a branch."

And to prove that, the elders moved to the largest and most majestic of the trees and as they surrounded it, they used a spell to gently remove the branch without harming the tree and then they placed it in Naruto's hands as well as some of the twigs that had fallen there as well. The elder who spoke to Naruto earlier then spoke once more.

"I hope this branch is enough, this from the tree of Elder Halcyon, the oldest of our kin ever since the founding of our village nearly four thousand years ago, you will never find another like it anywhere else human."

Naruto was quite surprised and spoke it out.

"You didn't have to give me a branch from that tree…"

"No….but Celecia said there was something about you that was different, I do not know what is, but while I have not changed my own mind about our kind avoiding dealings with humans, you have proven that not all humans are demons as we have believed for centuries. Let's just hope you don't make a habit of coming here all the time and causing this much damage."

Naruto grinned as he recalled the times he had caused a goo deal of damage in a mission, there was the time he had made a volcano rescuing Shion and there was that other time after forcing Sasuke, Amaru, Hinata, and the villagers off the floating city that he tore the place apart, he however was going to keep away from the village as he was not going to do the same thing here and to prove it, he decided to show his respect as he bowed down and spoke to the elder elf.

"I thank you for this gift honored elder."

The elves were somewhat amused by this and it seemed to relax the tension. Much to the relief of the others as well as Melissa and her comrades as they looked on at the scene before them all, in the background Celecia smiled, Naruto had just been given something of a great honor to wield a branch from one of her village's most powerful ancestors and the fact that her village's elders gave the branch willingly was a sign of something good.

As they left the village, the younger elves were a lot more open about their admiration for Naruto's efforts as elf children were waving at him and the male and female elves cheering his name.

"NARUTO!!! NARUTO!!! NARUTO!!!"

As Melissa listened, she couldn't help but feel some hope as the cheering continued

Naruto however cared less for fame, he cared about being recognized for doing the right thing and proving himself, and besides, his victories over Pain, Akatsuki, Sasuke, and Madara as well had validated his abilities as a ninja and also helped the villagers of Konoha see him as a true hero and no longer as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

As soon as they were out of the forest and on their way back to Ohfun, Celecia spoke to Naruto.

"You were an incredible fighter Naruto, not many mages I know had the power to defeat a massive demon with that level of skill, but I had a feeling that there was more there before me and my people earlier….that was no simple spell was it?"

Naruto looked around and sensing that they were the only ones there in the area at the moment, he nodded and gave the elf a nod.

"Yep, that was chakra at work."

"Really? I saw you use that technique before, but I had no idea that it could be used in such a fashion. Maybe I could learn from you how to use that?"

Naruto scratched his head at that, he had taught Konohamaru the Rasengan before heading off to train with the Pervy Sage for a number of years and he heard how Konohamaru had used that move to defeat one of Pain's bodies before he was able to escape with Ebisu in tow. He could tell that Celecia would have great potential in learning how to use chakra but now was not the right time and he had a lot to do at the moment.

"Maybe some other time Celecia, it's not as simple as using magic or the ability to commune with the spirits as you elves can do, but the principles are the same in some regard. I'll see if I can at a much better time."

Celecia saw that Naruto was not yet ready to show her what he was able to do and nodded.

"I'll hold you on that, you've made quite an impression on my village and no matter how some others might see it, you are quite a rarity for a human, I look forward to seeing you again some time."

Naruto nodded as Celecia left and he held the branch and he placed into the pouch that Ila had given him and he looked at the setting sun. he gave a smile and thought about how things must be back in Ohfun, he then looked seriously and wondered just what else was happening back in Konoha, he hoped that everything was all right back there.

(I will make it back home, and I will be Hokage when I get back!!!)

He shook his head and placed such thoughts aside for the moment and spoke.

"I guess it's time we head home. I need to get this branch properly transformed into a wand and…"

Naruto turned and looked at the three of them who were silent.

"What's with the glum faces? The adventure is over and we're heading back, why the heck are you three so silent?"

Genie replied with a very serious look.

"We nearly get fried to a crisp by a Hellhound, get attacked by Goblins AND Trolls, and nearly get executed by elves and you ask why we look like this?!"

Naruto shrugged and replied.

"We're alive aren't we and the elves are grateful, plus we do have some money from selling the boar meat as well as everything from the animal we had before, so why so glum?"

Merrill then spoke.

"Easy for you to say!! You have no idea how many debts we have to collectors and more back in Ohfun!!! We're already in the red as it is and we hoped to get SOMETHING out of this mission and all we have is just four hundred gold coins as it is, the amount isn't t even enough cover half the debts we have!!"

Naruto then thought it over and replied.

"Oh…I see….don't worry, those debt collectors won't be coming for you three anytime soon."

"WHAT?!"

"I asked Ila to do some looking about and found out about the running tabs you guys have with those collectors and since you had some fairly high debts, I went to them and convinced them to lay off for a while so you don't have to worry about them coming to collect any money from you for a while so you're all in the clear to get more money to…."

That surprised the three of them and Melissa quickly spoke out.

"You….You killed them didn't you?! You assassinated those people?! You murdered them?!"

(Lord Mylee….please….this is against my will!!!)

Naruto gave a sour face at Melissa's accusations and replied.

"What makes you think I killed any of them?! I went there to meet them and when I did I personally paid HALF your party's debts with MY own money!!!!"

That got the reaction of great surprise from the three women right off the bat and Naruto gave the Priestess a serious look.

"What the heck could I possibly gain by killing people who are not my enemies for Kami's sake?! You think I went there and killed them, just because I paid them a visit to convince them to lay off your debts to them?! Damn it Melissa, didn't you ever learn not to jump to assumptions until you find out EVERYTHING?! I thought being a noble allowed you to get the best education money could buy, what, you skipped school to look for your hero?! I went there, checked their books and gave them a very hefty sum of my own money so you can be covered for any more adventures that we have to take for the duration…I did something for you and your friends so you can learnt o trust me more, and you accuse me of murder just when I was being nice to you and your friends?! You ungrateful…."

Naruto managed to get his temper in check as he felt the Kyuubi doing it's old tricks again with the chakra and he managed to rein in his temper before it got the better of him. As soon as he managed to get his temper back, he looked at Melissa seriously and spoke.

"You know what? Why don't you three go to the collectors and find out for yourselves once we reach Ohfun, if they are dead or missing then you can say I lied to you, but if they are alive and half your debts are already paid for with MY money, you three owe me a very serious apology! Now hurry up, the sooner we get to Ohfun the sooner I can get my wand made."

As Naruto turned, the three of them were able to hear his words as he walked off in a foul mood.

"Ungrateful, annoying, prissy priestess, arrogant, snide, and ill mane thief, and a very hot tempered woman with a sword….I do something nice for them so they can at least trust me and they smack it right back in my face…..what did I do to deserve being saddled with this bunch?! I'd be better off working with a pack of wolves than these three, at least the wolves show SOME level of appreciation when you feed them."

Melissa and the three moved on, and they wondered if Naruto was right about his words, and if he was….

Melissa couldn't help but wonder just what she was going to say to Jenny when she told her superior just what had happened in this mission as well as her words.

It looks like she was going to learn a lot more about Naruto than she first thought ever since discovering that he was a ninja.

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To be continued…

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Author's notes:

This one was one LONG chapter to make, but I am happy to say this it is finally complete!!!

Well that about wraps it up and I can take a much needed break from writing to rest my hands and fingers, anyway I hope this is good for all you readers as I will be placing aside my focus on this story to my other projects, so I hope you all can wait as Rune Soldier Naruto is now officially on hold until some new updates for my other projects are done for reading.

Melissa really has to learn how not to be jumping to conclusions doesn't she? Anyway, she and the others will learn that their perceptions of Naruto are going to be very wrong in the coming chapters, and who knows, things might change for the better.

Also there is a chance Celecia might decide to pursue Naruto in order to learn how to replicate his feats, how will it go if Naruto decides to teach the young elf woman the arts of Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu?

Find out soon!!!