Chapter 3

Naruto's bright cerulean eyes panned up towards the noon-day sun and he was able to quickly figure out the time. Three hours until when I told Akame I'd meet the rest of Night Raid – just enough time to take care of this.

He pulled his hooded cowl over his face further and began to carefully navigate the crowded Main Street. The blonde man kept one hand on his relatively fat coin purse and his eyes darted around in search of the right building.

There, he finally spied the target's business. He turned to his left then and snaked his way through the mid-day bustle until he arrived at his destination a few minutes later.

"Nice to meet you," the young red-haired desk clerk greeted him. "Do you have an appointment, Mister…"

"No, I'm afraid I don't, young ma'am," he responded amicably but chose not to reveal his face to her. He forcibly blocked out the smell of sweat and copious amounts of perfume that covered the business' clientele's exploits. Naruto then pulled out a single coin, placed it on the desk, and continued, "You see, I'm an old friend of Dani's who's been traveling the last few years. I'm only back in the Capital for a few days and I wanted to see how my old friend has been."

Wariness and a nervous air surrounded the girl while her eyes shifted back and forth from his hidden face and the gold piece. She attempted to hide a gulp and managed a small, albeit scared, smile as she informed him, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry but the owner isn't in today. The Mistress is meeting a few clients privately." She slowly took the piece of gold, pocketed it, and finished telling him, "If you'd like I could give you the appropriate address."

Naruto suppressed the frown that wanted to appear at discovering this delay and instead nodded gratefully, "That would be fine, and thank you for your help, miss."

The young woman then wrote down the personal address of the owner and Naruto departed while hiding a sinister smirk. If the clients were who he believed they were then he was a truly lucky man.

The assassin melted into the sea of herding people and a rather plain-looking older man with grey streaks in his hair approached him. "We're already confirming, Boss," the man whispered to him without stopping.

"Good," he replied simply and then continued on his way alone. Even if the Jaegers were here today there'd be no way to predict this, the whiskered assassin thought with a wry smile. Dani's not even heard of outside of certain…circles, after all.

Throngs of humans faded behind Naruto as he calmly walked away from Main Street and into the Diamond-Residential Quarter of the Capital. The amount of sheer affluence on open display in every direction disgusted the man greatly but he instead schooled his mind and slipped off into the shadows of an alleyway and melted into darkness.

The man quickly and quietly scaled the alley's brick wall until his fingers eventually gripped the crest of the wall. He waited patiently as the footsteps of a single patrolman lazily traipsed by and he silently vaulted onto the wall. A single dagger appeared in the man's hand and he crept by the guard without being noticed atop the rampart.

Too easy, he smirked to himself as he ducked behind a roof garden and observed the mansion's guard below. Let's see… I spy four spotters on the roof, thirteen ground patrols, and probably six-to-ten personal bodyguards inside. This'll be fun. Challenge One: Don't kill any of the meat shields.

A sudden commotion then clambered over the mansion's walls that sent every guardsman to meet its cause. Clangs of steel meeting steel rang out in the air for numerous minutes while Naruto patiently awaited the right moment, and that moment came when a call for reinforcements rang out and brought eight members of the resident's elite guard to solidify the front line.

Naruto grew a crooked smirk while he clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment, Oh poor Dani. You're still this predictable? You and Honest's little pet have lost the paranoia that made you such an impossible target three years ago.

He then jumped down from the wall and landed in a lush garden that had all kinds of flowers in full bloom for any guests to see. Naruto stopped when his eyes located a crimson flower with a gold center and he walked over to it.

"Mom's favorite," he breathed out in awe. The man reached for it with steady hands and carefully picked the delicate flower from its stem. Naruto grew a soft smile and he murmured nostalgically, "Still as beautiful as she was."

He lost himself to his memories momentarily before reminding himself of his purpose at the moment. The assassin placed the flower over his ear, turned away from the garden, and walked into the mansion proper.

His sharp hearing detected multiple shouts getting closer and he ducked into a shadowed alcove just before another dozen guards stampeded down the hall and out into the garden. I was seen. Sloppy! he scolded himself harshly. Damn me and my nostalgia! Now this just got ten times harder. After a moment of pondering his plan he simply shrugged uncaringly, Oh well. If I know Dani and that fucker then they and her clients have now retreated to her private Panic Room believing they'll be safe. Little do they know that I know this place better than both of them.

Mentally going over the layout of the mansion he'd studied for the past few days allowed him to decide on the best course of action. He silently departed from his hiding place and walked in a silent crouch until he came to a small painting of a fruit basket. The blonde quickly made certain there was no one else close before examining the painting closely and pressing the lone grape that wasn't attached to the rest. The painting and the wall behind it then depressed back and slid to the side, revealing a small and narrow crawlspace which led directly to the Panic Room. The assassin pulled his entire body into the passage and then pulled the chain which slid the piece of wall and painting back into place behind him.

Naruto didn't allow his mind to wander as he silently crept through the damp passageway for approximately fifteen minutes until he finally began to hear voices echo along the solid walls. With his devious grin growing ever larger he slowed down and continued to advance while he listened in on the group's conversation.

"Please be calm, my loves," Dani's soothing voice requested of the guests. Naruto shook his head of his unwanted memories at the moment while she spoke, "My men are handling the situation as we speak. They were all men who were once considered for the Imperial Guard so it is only a matter of time."

"The Lady is correct," a deep voice Naruto immediately recognized echoed the sentiment. "My men are fully capable of handling this. We spotted the assassin a few moments ago in the garden and his body will be brought here without delay."

Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that, Naruto grinned devilishly.

"Do we have any idea as to his identity yet?"

"Is it Night Raid?"

"We don't believe so," the Guard Captain assured the two Nobles. "Night Raid's attacks have only ever occurred at night; this isn't them. We believe that it's a group of people who are dissatisfied with both of your policies."

There was a slight pause before one Noble said, "Well, we have made a few enemies in our day."

"That's only natural when we ally ourselves with the Minister."

"Indeed," Naruto's flippant voice cut through the Panic Room's tense atmosphere. "You'd think people woulda' leaned by now that Honest's ship is starting to sink."

The assassin was sitting in the crawlspace's exit with one leg lazily hanging down and his other knee pulled up with his head resting on it. The portrait of the previous Emperor had been pushed aside and his face was completely hidden by his hood's shadow, keeping anyone from recognizing him before he wished them to.

All four people already in the room were dressed with disgustingly extravagant attire. Both Nobles had graying hair and wore a gold-and-blue tunic that illustrated their Noble status and their individual Houses. The Guard Captain was wearing a set of decorative light armor that had numerous awards emblazoned onto his chest with a steel greatsword on his hip and a small beret atop his black-haired scalp.

Naruto's primary target, however, still looked as beautiful as she did nearly twenty years ago in her late-teens. She wore a dazzling orange dress with yellow-and-gold embroidery all along it that had a long slit that showed off her long, slender, and alabaster thigh. Her above-average bust was showed off brazenly by her dress' low neck-line and had a dazzlingly bright diamond necklace that rested between her breasts.

The assassin's face turned into a tight frown at seeing the necklace. So she took that too, he silently noted and added it to his list.

"Who are you and what do you want?" one of the Nobles demanded from behind the Guard Captain while the man drew his blade.

"Me? I'm just a dead man looking for some company," he responded with an uncaring shrug. Before anyone could even react to his statement he suddenly flashed across the room and slit the Guard Captain's throat with his eyes frozen behind his hood.

The man's eyes widened in shock and recognition once he was able to finally see Naruto's face behind the shadows. His hands dropped the blade and tried I vain to stymie his bleeding and preserve his life, but the middle-aged man was forced to fall to on his face once all life left his eyes and he lost too much blood.

The cowering Nobles were each slain immediately following the Captain: Naruto drove a knife through the first's temple and another small blade deep into the other's left eye. Crimson life-blood spouted from each fallen fool's wound and coated the room's bed.

Dani's body was rigid in shock and horror until she managed to shakily reach her hand up to touch her blood-covered face. Her now crimson hand met her brown eyes' sight and her mouth opened to scream, but Naruto stopped her by covering her mouth with his hand and forced her to sit on the blood-soaked mattress. Her panicky eyes found all three corpses in her room and she stared at the killer in her room with nothing but absolute terror reflecting on her face.

"Now, now," Naruto calmly shushed her. "No need to draw so much attention, my Lady. You heard who my targets were supposed to be; why would I kill you?" Her reply was muffled so he asked her, "If I remove my hand will you scream?" She hurriedly shook her head in the negative and he then removed her impromptu gag.

"Who-Who are you?" she asked him, her body shivering.

"I already answered that question, my dear," he told her. "I'm only a dead man looking for some company."

"And-And I'm that…company," she concluded. "Is that why I'm not d-d-dead?"

"Perhaps," he smiled at her. "You see, I've had my eye on you for quite some time, Dani."

"You-You have?" she squeaked.

"Oh my, yes," he nodded to her. "I used to admire you so much, Dani. You were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen," he whispered adoringly while he tucked a loose strand of her black hair behind her ear.

"I-I was?" she stammered out.

"Oh, yes," he reiterated while he held her chin with one hand and the other disappeared beneath the dress' hem. The woman let out a pitiable whimper as his fingers ran over her still-dripping holes. "I see you still prefer multiple men at once," he commented as she attempted to stifle another whimper when his fingers wiped the semen over her womanhood and rear. "Nearly twenty years and you still haven't changed. Do you still take woman as well, my dear?"

Tears welled up in her terrified brown eyes and she shakily begged, "Please. I haven't done anything; I beg of you. The Minister made me his private whore decades ago. I don't pleasure these men willingly!"

"Shh," he placed a finger covered in the dead Nobles' semen in her mouth to silence her. "I'm well-aware of how long Honest has pimped you out to his loyal followers. Now lick my finger clean."

Her fearful eyes went up to his shadowed face, silently begging him to stop. He simply nodded for her to continue and she whimpered piteously once more before licking his finger clean and swallowing the seed.

"Good girl," he patted her cheek with his saliva-soaked hand.

"Please," she hiccupped while tears finally fell from her eyes. "I beg of you – please don't hurt me. I'll do anything you want."

"Oh, dear Dani," Naruto told her softly while gripping her chin and making her look at his hidden face again, "this isn't about what I want this is about what you've earned."

"What…What I've earned?" she repeated with confusion all over her face.

"Oh, yes," he reiterated with a nod. "While you are Honest's private slut you've lived pretty well for the past few decades, haven't you? A mansion here in the Diamond Quarter, a private whorehouse of your very own, and your competitors being put out of business," he finished while one of his hands gripped the dazzling necklace hanging from her neck, "permanently."

Dani gulped nervously and she asked him hesitantly, "Just…Just who are you…really?"

"Oh, my dear Aunt Dani," he scolded her playfully, "have you truly gone and forgotten your favorite little nephew?"

Her face showed confusion once more at hearing his words for a moment until comprehension dawned and all color drained from her face. "N-Naruto?" she stammered fearfully. "You-You're alive?"

He pulled back his shadowed hood, revealing his whiskered and grinning face and informed her, "I'm not so easy to kill, dear Auntie." The man's face then darkened and he added in a dangerously low voice, "You could say I got that from my mother."

Dani winced at hearing the venom in his words and she quickly tried to say, "I-I swear I had no idea he was –"

"Silence," he cut her off darkly while she was suddenly forced to attempt to loosen his tight grip on her delicate neck while he lifted her off the bed and her legs dangled in the air. "You broke the Mother's Creed when you told him about us and you know it. The only reason you have lived this long is because I didn't discover your treachery until I unraveled the entire conspiracy when I was forced to leave the Capital." His eyes burned with an icy fury none could hope to compare to and he pulled her gasping face closer to his and concluded, "Even if you weren't in the room that night your hands are stained with Mom's blood, and today I'm going to give you just what you've earned, Auntie."

He then released his hold on her neck and she crumpled on the floor while desperately inhaling all the air that she could. Naruto stood over her like a demon come to deliver judgment upon a sinful soul while she slowly pushed herself off of the ground and started to regain her breath.

Morose, resigned chuckles came from the woman and she looked at him with tears of sorrow and regret dripping from her chin and onto the floor. "You're right, Naruto," she answered his accusations without attempting to deny them. "I never wanted to hurt you or your mother, but I still did it and have yet to pay for my sins. Before you kill me, will you let me have one last talk with the boy I cared for?"

Naruto was silent for a moment before nodding and allowing her, "Out of respect for the woman you once were."

"Thank you, my dearest boy," Dani sincerely told him. She then stood up from the floor, ignoring the blood and corpses surrounding her with her eyes only on her soon-to-be killer. Her voice was laden with her emotions as she began, "I'm so terribly sorry for everything my selfish actions led to, Naruto. I know you probably don't believe me when I say I loved you and your mother as if you were both my own blood, but I really did.

"Your mother was the best out of all of us and everyone was jealous of her beauty, Naruto. I looked up to her and I still see her smiling face in my nightmares; I just know that she has been mocking me and my idiotic selfishness every night. Kushi was the next in line to become Mother when she met your father," she spat out with disgust at the term 'father.' "If I'd known – no, if I'd even had an inkling of what would come of my foolish actions then I would have left my dagger in his neck before he even left my room – consequences be damned.

"But nothing I can ever do would ever make up for all the pain you've had to go through," she confessed to him with a hitch in her voice. She started to finally walk across the room and towards him with nothing but genuine compassion in her eyes as she continued, "You were the son I never could have and had I known I swear I would have ran away with you that night – disappeared from the Empire completely and hide you with the Revolution if I had to.

"My fondest memories were of teaching you how to read and write, staying up reading you to sleep when your mom couldn't because of work, and so many others where you just slept on my lap on into the night." She finally stood directly before his impassive face with a mournful, loving, resigned smile on her face while she reached up with one of her shaking hands and lightly rested it on one of his whiskered cheeks. "I know I've wronged you beyond forgiveness, Naruto, but please, please believe me when I say this that I mean it with all of my heart: I have made love with many men and even women in my life…but no one has ever taken up as much of my heart as you. Even now, I love you more than anyone, my dearest Naruto."

Naruto said nothing in response to her confessions and she wrapped him in a hug while sobbing on his shoulder and they remained fixed in that position for a few minutes. Not even a single flicker of emotion showed on his face, and his body remained still even with the woman shaking on him.

Dani then spoke with a slight break in her voice through her crying, "I know I don't deserve it…but can you please make it quick? I've known this day would come and I'm finally ready to die. There's so many things I need to make up for and your mother's the first person I intend to find on the other side." She pushed herself off of him and her loving brown eyes met his expressionless cerulean ones and she whispered, "Goodbye, Naruto."

Naruto closed his eyes and took in a deep, steadying breath. He then plunged his knife directly into her heart. Her eyes went lifeless and she limply slid off of his body. She fell onto the floor in a disheveled clump and never stirred again.

The man stood rooted to that spot for a moment until he finally felt a single tear streak down the side of his face. Naruto kneeled down next to his target's still-warm corpse and sniffed, "I loved you too, Auntie. I wish…that we could go back to those blissful days…but we can't. All we can do is keep moving forward and try to make the best of it. When I found out it was you…I-I didn't want to believe it.

"All those memories are still some of my most precious too," he tried to stop the overflow of emotions. Tears began to flow and he pushed on, "You always took the time to keep me happy even though you wound up losing clients because of me. I loved how you…how you… I'm so sorry!" he cried out.

The vulnerable assassin sat there crying over his latest kill for what felt like an extended eternity with the only sound being the echo of his sobs in the sealed off Panic Room. Tears continued to fall off of his face and onto the peaceful-looking woman's blissfully smiling face while the emotions he'd tried so hard to suppress washed over him with the force of a natural disaster.

Hundreds of memories from his too-short childhood spent with his last kill swam through his body. His heart hurt more and more as each beautiful smile he remembered flashed in front of his eyes and amplified the guild clawing in his chest. He could still feel how safe he felt in her arms whenever he had shivered into her bosom – whether it be from a thunderstorm in the middle of the night, a nightmare, or even people picking on him because of his whisker-like birthmarks. He still remembered how she would sneak sweets out of the kitchen and share them with him in secret. He still remembered the pranks she showed him and how she introduced him to the meticulous and beautiful art of pranking. He still remembered when he'd insulted her favorite color only to have her give him a lecture that swayed him on the awesomeness of orange.

Dani had been just as important in creating Naruto into whom he was and returned to as even his mother had been. He'd come here knowing that what he'd done needed to happen, but now all he felt was that the hole in his heart had grown even greater than before.

Eventually the tears finally managed to cease their flow down his face and he wiped his eyes with his sleeve while ruefully saying to no one present, "Well, now it's just Honest and a few others left." He looked up and whispered, "Just a few more. I'm almost there, Mom." He then gently pulled the flower off of him and placed it in Dani's gorgeous black locks. "Just a few more and then I'm done for good."

Naruto leaned over the body, kissed Dani's still-warm forehead in reverence to the memories they'd shared, stood up, and left the scene of the murders.

No one ever saw a thing.

The blonde man let out a low whistle in appreciation at the size of the place. "Say what you will about the gal, but Najenda's got pretty good taste. This place is huge! And it's actually pretty hard to find too."

He then looked behind him and nodded in satisfaction to the thin barrier of strings he'd located and avoided entirely. Whoever designed this place earned a mental shout-out from him for picking such an easily defensible place: There was dense forestry preventing an all-out assault, a few rivers which would allow quick and speedy getaways, a large cliff above that was a perfect vantage point for scouting, and on the way in Naruto had seen that the area was lush with wildlife.

Akame must love this place, he thought with a small smile. Kurome would've liked it too – so much wonderful food to cook and to eat. Whoever's using Cross Tail though is apparently pretty good too; that barrier was no joke. It wasn't perfect but you'd need some killer eyes to even see those strings they used. Najenda's got herself a pretty good collection I guess, he thought with a sly grin while he walked towards the Night Raid base of operations.

As he got closer his acute hearing started picking up a total of five voices: two he'd met personally, one he'd heard once before and was able to guess his name, an additional female that he concluded must've been that 'Mine' character Akame and Leone warned him about, and one last male he had a gut feeling he'd seen before.

Naruto overheard Mine tell someone, "Here; drink this. It should numb the aches until you can hop in the Springs."

"Thanks, Mine," the lone voice he couldn't place communicated his gratitude. "Wave's blow would've probably killed me if I hadn't blocked it."

"We can wait until Tatsumi is recovered before he debriefs us," Akame spoke up like a commander. "For now you should just rest up, Tatsumi."

The kid from the tourney? Naruto quickly realized and his eyes slightly widened in shock. He quickly suppressed the slight jealousy he felt in his chest and reminded himself, It's not his fault. He's a friend of Akame too, so no killing him over her.

"Damn it!" Lubbock shouted in dismay. "Why is it always you, Tatsumi!? Not only have you stolen all of the women here but Esdeath too! What the fuck, man!? What's your secret and why the hell won't you share it!?"

A cry of pain from the previous howler preceded Leone's exasperated voice, "Will you just give it a rest, Lubbock? Tatsumi survived probably the most harrowing night of his life and you haven't shut up since you guys got back."

Naruto then poked his head around the corner and chimed in, "Actually, I'd like to know how the kid got her to take him home too, Leone."

In the next instant Naruto dodged the sudden energy blast from Pumpkin and watched the same kid from the tournament spit his tea on the same girl who'd shot at him. The pink-haired girl then turned her tea-covered head around slowly and menacingly glared at the brown-haired boy while he had the good grace to look sheepish.

"Sensei!" Akame declared happily and then got another flick on the nose. "Sorry, sensei." And again she was flicked.

"Oh, it's just you, Root," Leone drawled while sounding completely unimpressed at his late arrival. "You're a little later than you said you'd be."

"Yeah; sorry about that," the whiskered man apologized. "I ran into a little trouble on the way here. On the plus-side though I can honestly say that Cross Tail barrier's pretty well made out there."

"Wait," the green-haired young man in the room stopped the fuss. "You mean to say that you not only were able to see my barrier but also avoid it?" He then received a nod and clarified, "And you're this 'Naruto' Akame wouldn't shut up about and you're the one who pranked Leone yesterday?"

"What's he talking about, 'Nee-san?" Tatsumi looked towards the blonde woman, but she instead of answering just turned away to hide the embarrassed flush while they heard Mine stifle a few chuckles.

"Yep; that was me," Naruto nodded to the green-eyed youth in confirmation.

A green blur dashed across the room and Lubbock grasped both hands over one of Naruto's and began shaking it so fast it left afterimages in the air. Tears of joy escaped the youth's green eyes and he exclaimed, "I am so happy to finally meet you! You finally made her pay for all the pain she puts me through whenever she catches me while she's bathing!"

Naruto looked at the young man oddly and simply pointed out, "You know that there's a pretty simple way to avoid that pain while still seeing the glory of a woman's nude body, correct?"

"Please teach me, O' Master!"

"Just don't get caught," the man revealed to them all with a simple nod.

Lubbock froze completely after hearing this suggestion. He then suddenly howled out, "Why didn't I ever think of that!? You truly are as great as Akame said you were!"

Everyone watching the scene besides Tatsumi – because he looked completely and utterly dumbfounded by everything going on around him – and a seriously-nodding Akame sweatdropped at seeing this play out.

"And we have another pervert here. Great," Mine commented with a roll of her oddly pink eyes.

"Wait! Wait! Wait just a second here!" Tatsumi screamed and everyone's attention went over to him. "What the hell is going on around here!?"

Leone blinked dumbly and then realized, "Oh, that's right. We haven't told you yet but this asshole over here is gonna' be working with us from here on," she informed the brown-haired teen with a jab of her thumb at the pouting Naruto.

"How many times must I say it?" Naruto grumbled petulantly. "You attacked me and all I did was entirely out of self-defense! Don't blame me for your pride getting hurt!"

"I can't believe it," Tatsumi mumbled hollowly while Leone shot back at Naruto. "Not even five minutes and it's like he's always been here."

"Weirdos are my specialty, kid," Naruto told him after suddenly appearing at his side and slapping his back, making the boy jump in shock and everyone blink at the sight of his speed. "And if you think these guys are bad then you shoulda' seen the crew I had when I was just starting out. Aside from the pink eyesore over there this group's leaps and bounds better than mine."

"Oi!" Mine shouted indignantly. She then pulled Pumpkin back out and leveled it even with the unfazed man's face. She growled at him, "Who's a 'pink eyesore' again?"

The whiskered assassin merely blinked at the glowing muzzle in front of his face before turning towards Akame and asking while pointing, "Why's flatty over here got Pumpkin instead of Najenda?"

Tatsumi gaped at him in shock, Mine's face turned purple in her fury, and Leone and Lubbock both fell over laughing at his remark. "You're DEAD!" Mine shrieked and started chasing Naruto while blowing gigantic holes in the walls.

Naruto effortlessly ducked under a beam aimed at his head and Akame informed him, "Boss gave Mine Pumpkin because Mine was a much better sniper than her and no other Teigu seemed to like her."

"With that personality," he commentated while leaping over a dumbfounded Tatsumi who had to suddenly duck in order to also evade Mine's shot, "I'm wondering how even Pumpkin likes her."

"Watch it, Mine!" Tatsumi shouted at her angrily with his hair smoking and missing a few strands. "That nearly got me too!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have gotten in the way then!" Mine shot back heatedly and they both got in each other's faces. "Or better yet, why didn't you try and stop him!?"

"Ah, young love," Naruto mused while wiping an imaginary tear from his eye but was unheard by the pair of raising voices. "To be that age again…" He then stopped cold and amended, "Wait. I hated puberty. Like hell I wanna' go through that shit again."

"Ya' know," Lubbock grinned while he threw an arm around Naruto's shoulders in a brotherly show of companionship, "I think we're gonna be great friends, Naruto."

"You think so?" Naruto grinned back with an identical toothy smile, and he also noticed Leone roll her eyes at the pair of them.

"Sensei," Akame called to him, and she was predictably flicked in the nose once more. She didn't even seen to register it this time and she continued with an odd nervousness to her voice, "Can we…Can we please talk outside? There's something I need to tell you and get off my chest."

Everyone stopped what they were doing – even Tatsumi and Mine stopped their squabbling – and stared at the dark-haired girl in a mix of shock and curiosity. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her and he nodded, "Sure. No problem, Akame. I've wanted to tell you something for a few years as well and this seems like a good enough opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings."

"Thanks," she nodded gratefully while shifting nervously, thus making every other present Night Raid member look at her with widened eyes. The red-eyed girl then walked out of the room and was followed by her former instructor while he felt every eye follow them both leave the area.

The pair walked out of the base and she led him around for a few minutes until they reached a relatively secluded and private area. Naruto looked at her and started it off by asking, "Well what is it, Akame? You asked me out here."

The teenage girl awkwardly rubbed her arm and looked away nervously. "I…I don't really know how to say it," she admitted hesitantly.

"You've never been one to worry about that stuff," Naruto pointed out. He then offered her, "Why don't you just not bother thinking about it and act like how I taught you to do when you're not certain about something?"

She looked up at him with a fond expression at his words. "Thanks, sensei," she expressed softly. She then took in a deep breath and started to recite, "I've always looked up to you, sensei. You took me and Kurome in and gave us a home we actually wanted to return to for the first time in our lives and I can't ever repay you for that.

"You always pushed all of us beyond our limits and wanted nothing but our best. To this day I still believe in your words: Nothing is more important than the people you hold precious in your heart. All I am now I owe to you, sen – Naruto," she finally managed to say, prompting a grin from him which she faintly returned. "When…what happened occurred I was shocked.

"I couldn't believe you'd done that, and yet we were shown what seemed to be irrefutable proof at the time. All of us were…greatly saddened by your perceived betrayal," she admitted while her grip on her arm tightened slightly. "I'm sorry for this but I then vowed that I would use your own lessons and that I would surpass and consign you for what we believed you did to us that day.

"When we…met again three years ago I finally couldn't hold it back anymore and I said such hurtful things that day. All those years of frustration just finally bubbled over and I lost all control; I shamed you and your teachings that day when I let my emotions guide my hand. Even then you never raised your blade at me and I…

"But my greatest failure was when I didn't believe in your very first and greatest lesson, Naruto: I never trusted my heart," she admitted and sniffed once. Naruto elected to just let her get all of this off her chest instead of interrupting her so she kept going, "You always told us to follow our heart when our mind disagrees and I didn't believe my heart. In my heart," she continued while a hand rested over her chest, "I knew you'd have never betrayed us the way they told us that you did, and for that I am greatly sorry, Naruto.

"You were my one place of safety and I failed to ever realize it until…she came back carrying your blade like a trophy, and then I was certain that you'd died. For the first time," she revealed with wetness staining the corner of her eyes, "I felt my heart truly ache, Naruto, and you were right about how there's no greater pain than the loss of a loved one.

"I've lost many comrades and cried over each but no pain has ever even come close to that day. It was after that when I met the Boss and she convinced me that you'd been the one betrayed by the Capital and I decided to leave, so I stole your sword and I swore I'd carry it like you would and that I'd make you proud of me even if you couldn't see me.

"What I'm…trying to say," the young woman steered herself back towards her original goal, "is that I'm really sorry for ever doubting you, Naruto-sensei, and now I suppose I can finally get this off of my chest at last." Akame then closed her eyes, took a deep breath to steady herself, and reopened her crimson orbs with a shining determination in them. The former student next unbuckled her Teigu from her side, held it out in front of her like a knight would to their patron while taking a knee, and finished at last, "I wish to return your blade to you."

The four other members of Night Raid each then face-faulted down onto the rocky ground from the trees they'd been hiding in . "Oh come on!" Lubbock shouted in disappointment. "We thought we were finally gonna' see something good and this is what we get!?"

Mine then agreed loudly, "Yeah! Don't you know what's supposed to happen with this atmosphere, Akame!?"

"Well, this is Akame we're talking about here," Leone grumped while dusting her legs off.

"True," Tatsumi nodded in solemn agreement. "She can't read the setting at all."

Akame just blinked confusedly at everyone and she asked dumbly, "Just what did you guys think I was going to do?"

Amused chuckles brought her attention over to her former teacher and he said, "I think I can guess. You guys thought that she was about to confess, didn't you?" A chorus of affirmative nods came from everyone else forced his chuckles to then become full-blown laughter.

The red-eyed girl just looked at him confusedly and asked for clarification, "Confess what, Naruto-sensei? I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Akame," he dismissed the query with a wave of his hand and that was the end of that. He was still stifling his giggles and told her, "It doesn't really matter at the moment anyway. But about what you just offered me…" He looked directly into her eyes with a serious look and asked, "Are you certain that you wish to do that?"

The girl in the sleeveless dress nodded once resolutely and reiterated to him, "I am absolutely certain. I decided that in the slim chance that you weren't actually dead and we ever met again that I would return what is rightfully yours; I was never given or earned Murasame so it is still not mine by Rite of Passage."

"I was afraid that it would go right over your pretty little head," Naruto exhaled in exhaustion, making the girl blink at him in confusion at his words. He then informed her, "Me letting Esdeath carry Murasame back that day was me passing Murasame on to you, Akame."

This revelation led to a stunned intake of breath from the girl wielding his former weapon. Her hands started shaking while they still held the sheathe and she tried to say," Then…Then you…?"

"You proved it was time when we fought that day, Akame," he revealed to her. "Matter-of-fact I had intended on giving Murasame to you that very day but I realized that you'd probably never accept it from me as you were, so I waited and decided to send it back at the first opportunity.

"Yes," he started listing to her, "you let your emotions overrule your ration that day, but even then you were still an adequate match. I could tell from when our blades crossed that you hadn't abandoned my teachings and that you were already a match for just about anyone in the Capital. You did actually manage to cut me, after all," he chuckled nostalgically.

"But that was only because you never went on the offensive that day!" Akame protested.

"Because I was testing you, Akame," he reaffirmed sternly, brokering no arguments with his tone. The whiskered blonde then walked across the small area, pushed the sheathed blade down, and told her, "You are the one I chose to succeed me, Akame. You've turned into a very pretty and downright gorgeous girl, albeit you're still even more dense than I ever was at your age, but even then your dance is just as deadly and twice as beautiful as mine has never been. I have my own strengths and swordplay was never my forté – that was always you two sisters, but you were undoubtedly the better. Murasame is forevermore yours until you choose to pass it on, Akame, and nothing will ever change that."

A slight gust of wind blew her dark bangs away from her face and revealed her teary eyes, brimming with happiness and pride at hearing his words. She nodded in gratitude to him after a few minutes and she clutched the crimson-sheathed blade closer to her chest. "Thank you," she murmured once. The girl then had a few tears of absolute joy fall from her eyes and she repeated, "Thank you, Naruto-sensei. Thank you."

Naruto's face softened and a gentle smile appeared on his face. He laid a hand atop her head while she hugged the blade even closer to her chest and continued to thank him for his trust and faith in her. "You earned it," he promised her. "You really did."

"Just what did we just see happen?" Tatsumi asked the other members. "Why's Akame crying over that?"

Lubbock answered him with no humor present, "Because she just received the greatest gift any student can receive from their master."

"Their legacy," Leone finished with her face showing her surprise at what they'd just seen.

Naruto hugged his disciple and whispered a few last words to her too low for anyone to overhear and she went stiff in response. She then looked up and into his eyes and her crimson orbs showed a steely determination in them that she showed with a equally determined nod.

"I will…try," Akame answered his request. "It will not be easy though."

"I know that," the blonde man had a pained smile on his face as he stood back up to his full height. All traces of sadness then left his face and he turned around towards the spectators with a huge grin on his face. "So I hear you guys throw a pretty serious bash around here. How much booze you guys got stocked up? 'Cause I'll drink you all under the table!"

"Oh yeah!" Lubbock and Leone looked riled up at the challenge.

"You're damn straight!" Naruto shouted at them all excitedly. "And you," he pointed at the confused Tatsumi, "you're getting in on it too! I will not have any man under my name not be able to hold his liquor! You're going to show me just why Esdeath chose you!"

Over to the side Mine asked Akame while she was composing herself again, "Why'd he just bring up Esdeath, Akame?"

Akame just looked over at the steadily rising volume of the four people across the way and then looked at Mine. She then answered, "Did you not know? Sensei is in love with her."

"EH!"

"Way to spill the beans, Akame," Naruto grumbled while everyone else just looked at him like he'd truly grown a second and third head and then attempted to Riverdance with each of them. He then glared at the shrinking form of a sweating Tatsumi attempting to hide behind his former student.

Tatsumi gulped and thought out loud, "Why do I get the sudden feeling I need to run very far very fast right now?"

A/N: Chapter done, and it was surprisingly done in a way I could actually accept. I'm back, yes, and I'm also going to try and update everything in the next few weeks. I'm not guaranteeing anything here but I do realize that some of my stories are on the better side of a year from their last updates, so I decided I'm going to get out a few while I still have the time.

Because I'm going to be too engrossed in the new Dragon Age game when it comes out in a month to bother picking up my pencil and paper if it's not for school. I'm just being honest with you all here so please don't try and find and kill me. That game looks AWESOME! And I don't care if you're a fan or not, Bioware rocks.

And I have one last command for all of my readers: You must read the Akame ga Kiru manga! If you are a fan of the show Game of Thrones or even the book series A Song of Ice and Fire then you will fall in love with it something fierce like I did. This series has rocketed up my favorite anime/manga list to number two in just a few short months (Code Geass will forever be Number One and nothing can ever top it; I don't care what anyone says!).

SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T READ THE MANGA!

SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW THE MANGA!

SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WORSHIP THE MANGA!

SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT PART OF THE STORY TO BE SPOILED!

Holy shit, I am in awe! You know, I wasn't ever really a huge fan of Mine (I wasn't ever against her but I didn't prefer her) but I just might have become one after Chapter 53 finally came out. Budo just got completely wrecked! And it wasn't even fair! Mine has, without a doubt, the greatest number of Death Flags for any single character in any series ever and she just keeps on ticking (Mine: Powered by Death Flags!).

And now we shall see the most epic catfight in all of showdown history next month! I'm not really the type to be this anxious for something but I can't fucking wait! The rescue of Tatsumi is going to be amazing; I'm calling it!