Honest smiled cruelly as he loudly munched on a thick chicken wing, the grease coating his face and dripping down his beard. Honest was alone in his quarters, a rare occasion. He was in thought, about a certain blonde by the name of Naruto. The Boy, he's powerful. But his loyalty is not secured. He is only loyal to that girl, Kurome. I can smell the hate she has for me. Pathetic. Honest pondered, though his outward appearance did not show the cruel thoughts going through his head. Surely, if she were… removed, his loyalty would almost surely be all for the Empire. And, possibly even better, me. Honest then began to plot, a dark aura leaking out of his mouth as he loudly bit into the chicken wing.
With Naruto.
Naruto calmly walked through the Royal Palace, looking for Kurome. She had gone off somewhere after having grown bored watching Naruto train. Said blonde had offered her a spar, but she waved him off and left. So now, the smiling blonde was looking for her. "Kurome! Kurome! Come on, don't just leave me like that!" Naruto shouted happily, rounding a corner before slamming into someone, stumbling back and rubbing his head. "Ow… I'm dreadfully sorry, I should've been watching where I was going. Oh! Greetings General Esdeath!" Naruto shouted excitedly, bowing deeply.
The Blue-haired woman merely stared at Naruto's bowing form, clearly uninterested in the blonde. "Yes. Your superior should've taught you awareness." Esdeath remarked, thinking that Naruto was merely a foot soldier. "Oh, well Honest doesn't really talk to me aside of giving me assignments…" Naruto trailed off, peaking Esdeath's interest. "Oh? You work for Honest?" Esdeath questioned, now beginning to observe the boy for all he was worth. He carried himself rather aloof, though the way his eyes would routinely check around him spoke to his training. And the sheathe on his back, Esdeath would bet her left arm it was a Teigu.
"Oh, yea! Me and my friend Kurome! I guess you could say we are his personal assassins. Though, if I were honest, hehe pun, I'd say it's rather boring. He sends us out of missions not worth our time. The last one, three Night Raid members showed up, but even they bored me!" Naruto exclaimed, perturbed. Esdeath's eyes visibly widened slightly. So, the boy had fought Night Raid, three members, and lived well enough to call the event boring. Esdeath smirked, surely he must be strong.
"Walk with me…" Esdeath trailed off, turning around and walking back where she had come from, having forgot or just ignored what she was originally going to do. "Oh, sure! The Name's Naruto by the way. I hope we can find Kurome on the walk. She just left me, I even offered to spar her!" Naruto muttered, sliding his hands down his face in an exasperated manner. Esdeath just observed the boy from the corner of her eye, watching his was a woman of strength. Strength was the only thing that mattered to her, and her favorite hobby was crushing those weaker than her. And, her favorite past time was enjoying a good battle against a strong opponent, before crushing them as well, breaking them in every way posisble. Of course, she wouldn't crush anyone of the Empire, but should Naruto prove to be strong, she could very well draft him into her army to fight alongside her. Besides, she liked the look in his eye, she decided.
"Say, Esdeath, what are you doing back in the Capital? Weren't you supposed to go conquer the Northern Tribes some time soon?" Questioned Naruto, looking to his left into the woman's eyes. She looked into his for a time, before closing her eyes and sighing slightly. "Honest recalled the order, instead telling me that I should wait for something. What that is, I don't know. But, I hope he sends me soon. I heard the Northern Tribe's leader was a strong man, and I fully intend to break him." Esdeath stated, smiling sadistically. "Ooo, a strong opponent! Hopefully he will provide a good fight for you Esdeath! Weak Opponents are just so, so BORING!" Shouted Naruto, grabbing his head and dramatically pulling it backward as he shouted to the heavens. Esdeath smiled, decided that she liked the blonde.
Later, In the Capital
Kurome and Naruto were walking through the outer edges of the capital, near the entrances. They were once more cloaked, however Naruto had his hood off and the cloak was open, draping behind him much like a cape. His sheathe was still mysteriously hidden within the cloth. Kurome led like she always did, the cloak fully covering her appearance. Naruto wasn't smiling, in fact, his face was rather stern. They were sent out to stop a mysterious murderer who had begun a killing spree in this section of the capital, and it was starting to scare some of the more wealthy residents of the Capital, prompting Honest to remove the murderer.
Naruto wasn't bothered by the murderer however, he knew whoever it was would prove to be an easy opponent, for either him or Kurome. What was bothering Naruto was his close proximity to the very evils of the corrupt government, the one he was trapped in. Naruto grunted angrily, retrieving a small paper bag from a pouch on his belt, above his tailbone. Naruto dipped his hand in, and retrieved a small cookie, before putting the bag back in the pouch. Naruto growled as he felt his body die a little, quickly drawing in life energy and reversing the effects with a slight movement of his hand on his chest. He hated what the empire had done to him, but then he would look at Kurome, and all the hate and self-loathing would feel justified, and he would feel soothed.
Naruto growled as he walked past an alleyway, watching as a young woman struggled against two men. Naruto wanted to help, he really did, but he had a job to do. Honest would cut him off from the drugs if he didn't do the job, effectively killing Naruto. It was the only reason the pair stuck around. Kurome had been trying to find a way to get the two of them out of the Empire's clutches, and Naruto trusted that his close friend would accomplish the task, so he was keen to just wait. However, these thoughts did not lessen the self-loathing Naruto felt as he was forced to walk past the disgusting scene.
Naruto hated the Empire he worked for. It was simply disgusting. Corrupt. Worthless. There was so much Naruto would do to destroy the capital, if only they hadn't gotten their slimy grip on him when he was too weak to leave. A dark aura began to surround Naruto as they walked, the sun just about to disappear past the Horizon. That was when the deed would begin. That was when Naruto planned to relieve stress.
Midnight.
Naruto's eyes glowed as he scanned the surrounding area for any sign of a Teigu user. Their life-forces tended to be much higher than others. And, with the amount of killings, especially on higher-ranked, strong imperial soldiers, Naruto was willing to bet the murderer held a teigu in their equipment for murder. That was when he spotted a glowing white figure, rushing across the rooftops on houses taller than the ones he and Kurome were on. "There." Naruto muttered, gracefully leaping up and softly landing on the rooftop, blurring into a sprint with Kurome right behind him. The two worked in perfect coordination with each other, avoiding the obstacles of the rooftop with ease as they grew closer and closer to the suspect.
Suddenly, Naruto drew a small silver knife, a Karambit model, in his hand. He gripped the knife, lacing his index finger in the ring hole and placing the knife outwards from his pinkie. An exact copy of the knife found it's way to Naruto's other hand, in the same grip. Naruto began to close the distance between him and the suspect, before suddenly the suspect turned around and threw a hail of medium sized knives, causing Naruto and Kurome to suddenly stop and deflect them all, Naruto with his twin Karambits, and Kurome with a Wakizashi that had a horizontal sheath at the base of her spine. The hail of knives failed, causing Naruto to slowly step forward, before blurring into a sprint.
The large man smiled, suddenly raising his knife and blocking a slash from Naruto's karambit, before said boy spun his body and attempted to gut the man with the other knife. The man merely smirked once more, raising his other knife and blocked that strike as well. "It's foolish boy! Spectator allows me to see all!" The man shouted, jumping back and pointing to the crown-like piece of metal on his head. A brilliant green gem laid in the center. "So, it was you… Zank the Beheader. Thief of Spectator Teigu. Executioner gone-insane." Naruto stated out loud, merely standing and staring at the man. Kurome came up slowly behind Naruto, standing next to him, before blurring into a sprint much like Naruto.
Zank began to dash back, avoiding slashes where Kurome became visible for a fraction of a second. "Foolish girl! I can see your every movement! Spectator's power is unrivaled!" Shouted Zank in a high-pitched voice. Kurome's eyes hardened, before she blurred once more. Kurome appeared once more, her sword held in a two-blade grip by Zank, who smiled insanely at her. "You still believe whole-heartedly that you can kill me!? Ha!" Shouted Zank, having read her mind. Kurome locked eyes with the man, before speaking clearly and coldly. "I just need to step it up." Suddenly, Zank's eyes widened as the girl blurred once more, however this time she remained a blur as she slashed at the man, a few shallow tears appearing in his heavy thick coat. Zank managed to just barely block a few strikes, before he began to wildly look around.
"Where'd… Where'd she go!?" shouted Zank, looking at Naruto to read his mind. Suddenly, Zank dashed back, avoiding a crushing aerial blow from Kurome as she came down, the Wakazashi breaking under the strain of her strike. "Peh, terrible materials." Muttered Kurome, looking to Naruto, only to catch another copy of the blade in her hands, courtesy of Naruto. Kurome stood at the ready, across a rooftop from Zank, as the man growled and raised his head. "You just don't get it! Do you!? I am unbeatable! Allow me to show you exactly… why." Zank's voice morphed in Kurome's ears, and his appearance disappeared, causing Kurome to spin around and look for anything around her. Naruto was suddenly gone. Kurome narrowed her eyes, until she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around, to see Naruto calmly walking towards her. "Oh, Kurome-chan! Hehe, I guess Zank got away. Don't worry, we'll get him soon!" Naruto exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head.
Kurome narrowed her eyes, but still decided to see if this was the real Naruto. As Kurome began to approach the blonde, suddenly he dashed forward, slashing at her waist. Kurome blocked the first strike, and the second, before suddenly Naruto closed the distance and gripped the wrist of the hand grabbing her weapon, twisting it painfully. Kurome dropped her Wakizashi, jumping up and kicking for Naruto's face. The blonde avoided it, regaining a grip on Kurome's body, her shoulder, before launching forward and stabbing a knife eerily reminiscent of Zank's knives into Kurome's gut. Kurome spat out blood, falling to the ground and leaving forward, gripping her now heavily-bleeding stomach.
For Naruto, all he had watched was Kurome stop, and Zank began to walk forward. Believing that it was simply a plan by Kurome, Naruto refrained from acting. However, once he saw Kurome do the flip and miss, he began to make his way to help. Naruto's mind shut down when he watched the knife enter her stomach though. His whole world slowed down, and he gained an almost supernatural level of clarity, however only for the scene of the knife entering Kurome's gut. He could see the gleam of the knife, could see Kurome's skin split, could see the individual blood drops shoot out. However, the most horrifying to Naruto's mind, was watching Kurome's face wrench in pain and anguish. Naruto lost it, dashing forward and slashing at Zank with a cold fury. Zank took many hits, his entire body being riddled with slashes and bleeding wounds before he managed to jump backward, his entire body bleeding and crying in pain.
"Gah! Stupid Boy!" Zank growled, looking up to see a furious Naruto slowly approaching him. Zank mentally smirked, allowing the boy to get closer. Suddenly, Naruto's world other than the roof he was on lost color, gaining a reddish hue. Naruto looked around, before turning back to see that Zank had disappeared. Naruto's eyes dashed around the landscape as he searched for the man, before suddenly Naruto's ears picked up on a soft pitter-patter of footsteps. Naruto turned, only for his eyes to widen as he saw… a woman. She was shorter than Naruto only by an inch, and had long, cascading red-hair. She was wearing a standard military uniform, and had a sword sheathed on her back. Her eyes were kind and caring.
"Sochi-kun… I've missed you." The woman called out softly, a smile gracing her face as she approached the boy.
Outside the Illusion.
Akame and Leone landed quietly on the roof where they had followed Zank's trail too, shocked to find the two assassins that had killed/resurrected Sheele. Leone was angry, but most importantly confused when she looked at Naruto, and shocked when she saw the little Akame-clone bleeding on her knees. Plus, to see the blonde simply standing there, bewildered, worried her, at least, it made her wonder if she could handle Zank.
Akame however, was experiencing so many things. She was shocked and worried to see Kurome bleeding, relieved and confused/angry to see Naruto, and was wondering what exactly could stump the boy from her past enough to have him simply stand there as Zank approached him.
The Illusion
Naruto watched as the red-haired woman approached him slowly, with a care-giving look on her face. It was full of warmth, of love. Naruto's face was just… stumped. He looked almost emotionless. Just standing there. "What's wrong, Sochi? Aren't you glad I'm back from the invasion to come see you?" The woman questioned, gaining pace and reaching out to Naruto with a loving smile. Naruto took a step back, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
"Y-you… You sick Bastard." Naruto whispered. The woman stopped slightly, leaning forward. "What, Sochi?" Her voice was soft, and it pained Naruto to hear it. "I said…"Naruto's head snapped up, a cold fury in his eyes. "YOU SICK BASTARD!"
Akame and Leone watched as Naruto suddenly dashed forward with a blurring speed, and watched as he began to dominate the beheader with ease.
Naruto cut and slashed wherever he could, stopping briefly to grip Zank's throat, flipping his Karambit before digging it into the man's gut, slowly, painfully, with a massive smile on Naruto's face. Naruto pulled it out painfully, dragging the weapon up as he did so, before kicking the man down, the larger man falling a few feet away from the blonde. "Wh-What!? But you were supposed to see your most precious person!" Shouted Zank, backing up slowly with a trail of blood following him. Naruto coldly stepped forward, a dark aura surrounding him as his knives dripped crimson blood.
"Hehe… Ha. HA HA. HAAAA. You think I wouldn't know my mother was DEAD!? ME!? I FUCKING KILLED HER YOU SICK FUCK!" Shouted Naruto, pouncing the man and slashing at him viciously, even when the man's head began to resemble ground beef, Naruto continued to slash furiously. It took a full minute for Naruto to stop slashing at the man's now obliterated head, the Teigu adorning it clanging uselessly against the ground as Naruto stood, showered in blood all over his body. Naruto turned around, the knives in his hands disappearing once he placed them behind him in the cloak.