Chapter 4

Akame's eyes continually shifted around the area she and her sister had reached. Humongous trees with no top in sight surrounded them and the scent of blood coated the air.

"Onee-chan…" Kurome timidly called to her. "It hurts."

The older girl turned and looked at her seven-year-old sibling. Both of them were coated with blood that came from both the forest's own animals and even a few other children whom had tried to kill them first. Crimson dripped off Kurome's fingers while she gripped her left ankle.

"We're almost there, Kurome," Akame repeated once more to reassure the smaller girl; she'd lost count of how many times she'd said that. "Just a little more and we're out of here."

"It hurts," the black-eyed girl sniffed.

Akame turned away from the forest and kneeled down next to her sister. Her unique red eyes met her sibling's dark ones and she asked," Can you walk?"

"It hurts," Kurome whimpered. "I don't think I can."

The elder sibling forced her mind to be quiet of its resentful thoughts directed towards the parents whom had sold them to this fate and turned her back to her sibling. "Get on," she then ordered gently. "I won't leave you, Kurome. I'll carry you the rest of the way. We can't stay here any longer."

"Those bad things will come back, won't they?" Kurome asked while she climbed onto her sister's back.

"Probably," she didn't bother denying it. She wrapped her hands under her sister's legs and stood up. "We have to keep moving," she finished and began to trek through the dangerous area again.

Kurome snuggled her face into her older sister's neck and her arms tightened slightly around her neck. "Onee-chan," she whispered, "please don't ever abandon me too."

Akame's eyes hardened after hearing that, revealing her anger, and she promised, "I won't, Kurome; I swear. Now let's please stop talking unless we need to. Keep watch and let me know if anything comes at us, okay?"

"Okay," Kurome murmured and then raised her head to help watch for any other potential attacker's approach. The pair of sisters then descended into silence while Akame continued to walk across the forest floor.

For a few minutes the only sound was Akame's footfalls crunching sticks and dried leaves. She felt her little sister shiver once they passed a fellow child whose face had been eaten off of their head. The crimson-eyed girl locked her gaze forward and continued to go in the direction she believed they were supposed to go.

She knew her sister needed some kind of reassurance after seeing that, so she then tightened her hold on her sibling's small legs. Kurome responded to this by whimpering quietly and pulling herself closer to her sister's protection.

After another silent eternity had passed, Akame's eyes widened at what she saw. A rush of excitement and relief washed over her and she subconsciously began to speed up her hurting legs' pace. "Kurome," she had to keep herself from shouting and leaping in joy, "look. We're almost out now."

At finally hearing the words they'd both wanted to hear, the girl's eyebrows shot up and hid beneath her bangs. "Is it… Is it finally over?" Kurome asked in a tone that showed her disbelief. "Are we finally done?"

"We're done, Kurome," Akame answered her once she'd finally seen the late-evening sky and the giant trees fled her sight at long last. She never turned her head and kept walking forward and away from the Hell they'd just gleefully abandoned behind them. "You can rest now."

Her sister's head fell against her shoulders then and she mumbled, "Onee-chan… Sleepy."

"Camp's just ahead," she told her. She shifted her sister's body for a slightly better grip and assured the younger girl, "You're safe, Kurome." I hope, she silently added, not wishing to place any additional worries on her sister's already-stressed mind. Akame had come away impressed by how Kurome had handled herself in the woods: overcoming her fear and distress while staving off any potential mental breakdown.

Kurome nuzzled closer to her sister's neck and closed her eyes due to the sheer, complete exhaustion the experience had forced upon her small body. Akame grimaced once since she was also beginning to feel her own pain now that the adrenaline had ceased its constant flow, but she forced her mind to ignore the aches and focused on climbing the last hill in order to find a place of rest – even if it was only perceived and temporary.

Nearly…there, the girl grit her teeth in concentration. The collection of Imperial tents continued to creep closer and she encouraged herself, Just a few more…steps.

Eventually, she finally crossed over the camp's boundary and nearly let out a sigh in relief. Instead, she didn't allow herself to show any weakness to her observers and glared defiantly at every single member of the Imperial staff she saw. The pair of siblings were soon set upon by a few men with cowls covering their faces and were whisked into an unoccupied tent.

Akame continued to stare directly at each Imperial surrounding them until all of the men left and the two sisters were left alone at long last. After a few brief moments of silence she finally let out the sigh in relief she'd been postponing and the culmination of exhaustion crashed over her entire small body.

The red-eyed sister gently rustled her sibling on her back and called softly, "Kurome, we're here. Wake up."

"Don't wanna'…" the younger girl responded sleepily. The smaller girl's arms tightened over her sister and her head nuzzled even further into Akame's neck.

Realizing that her sister wouldn't willingly separate herself from her, Akame sighed and just walked over to the comfy-looking bed their tent came furnished with. She then sat on the bedside, laid down on the Goose-Down mattress, and waited for Kurome to react.

A few more minutes went by in relative silence until the sound of Kurome rustling the bed's covers appeared. The younger one's grip on her sister loosened, and Akame then turned her body over, facing her sister directly and wrapping her own arms around her bedmate. The black-eyed girl cuddled her head into the crook of Akame's neck, and Akame rested her chin atop Kurome's still-bloody head.

"Onee-chan," Kurome called out softy.

"I'm here," she repeated while running her hands down her sister's shaking back. "I'm still here, Kurome, and I will not ever go anywhere else. I will always be here for you."

Silence then descended over the tent once again with Akame continuing to stroke her sibling's back in order to comfort the distraught and exhausted girl.

Kurome's breathing eventually steadied into a slow, deep rhythm and Akame heard light snoring at last. She must really be tired, she observed silently with a small smile. Her own eyelids started to feel heavy as she thought, So…sleepy.

"We have to be quick," her tired, sharp ears heard a man whisper from just outside the tent's flap, making her eyes shoot open in alarm. "We don't want them relying on each other."

Before Akame could even move, the tent's entrance was thrown open and four shadow-covered figures stormed in. She managed to quickly process what was about to happen and pulled her sibling to her chest protectively as she sat up in the bed and glared as menacingly as she still could at the intruders.

Kurome was startled by her sudden tight hold and her confused voice asked, "…Onee-chan?"

"Leave," Akame growled with as much fury as she could still muster. "We survived your test – we earned our rest!"

One of the figures approached them with his green eyes shining malevolently at the pair of young girls. "Oh, you'll get your rest, little girl," the man informed her with a patronizing tone, "but you'll have to wait a little bit for that. You and your sister there won't be seeing each other for a good, long while."

"You can't do that!" Kurome screamed at them. "You can't take Onee-chan from me!"

Akame cautiously positioned Kurome behind her and sharply stared at the four chuckling men. She knew that the odds were miniscule for her to defeat all four full-grown men normally – not to mention her current state of physical and emotional exhaustion.

"You'll find," a man with horrifying grey eyes told them, "we can do whatever we want."

He then made to move and grab Kurome's arm and Akame reacted instinctively. The crimson-eyed girl pulled her small dagger from her hip and stabbed it down through his hand.

The man wrenched his profusely bleeding hand, dagger still protruding, away from her so fast that he managed to force her off-balance. In the next instant his other fist came around and slammed into the side of her face, sending her sprawling off of the bed and onto the floor.

"Onee-chan!" her sister cried in worry.

"Fucking bitch," the stabbed man snarled as he pulled the dagger from his palm and tossed it aside. He then stomped over and placed his heel over her hand that had stabbed him, forcing her to bite her cheek to prevent an outcry of pain. His still-bleeding hand reached over her face and began to drip his crimson blood onto her face, making the other side of her head red as well, and growled, "Feel proud of yourself, do you?

"Did you really think you could keep us from doing what we want, little girl? Here's your first lesson in our job: The strong win and the weak die or do as they're told. Don't think you're special because you managed to survive that little walk through the woods with your sister – unlike two-hundred-three others." He pushed his heel down on her hand and she continued to glare up defiantly into his seedy eyes. He smirked down at her, "Oh-ho. Your training is going to be fun, girl. I'll be sure to make you nice and docile."

"Onee-chan!"

"Shut your mouth!" one of the others shouted and backhanded her sister across the face, sending her off of the bed and tumbling onto the floor. "You'll both learn your places soon, but I suppose I could handle your…training myself though," he finished with a hungry look in his eyes as they roved the dark-eyed girl's body.

Kurome whimpered in fear and Akame's eyes widened when the implications of the man's words set in. The older sibling's blood-red eyes went even colder than the Northern Winters and she immediately tried to free herself so she could kill the sick pervert before Kurome was hurt.

The man holding her down stomped on her stomach with his booted heel, forcing all the wind to leave her body and leaving her gasping for air in pain. He chuckled before saying, "Hey, Alistair, it seems your…tastes got a little rise out of this one. Too bad you won't get to take her too, eh?"

The sick man glanced back towards the other girl on the ground and leered, "Yeah. It's really too bad. Two at once and sisters to boot. One of my dreams…so close."

"We need to get going," one of the other two men chimed in warningly. "We don't have much time here."

"I suppose you're right," the man above her frowned in the tent's darkness. He then reached his bloody hand down, gripped Akame's face tightly, and lifted her off the floor. "You should feel proud though, girl, that the bastard in charge seems to want you for some reason."

"Let's go," Alistair called to him as he picked Kurome up off of the ground and tossed her over his shoulder. "Our window's closing."

"NO!" Kurome shrieked. She vainly flailed about, scratching and kicking at her captor, and reached out to her elder sibling. "Onee-chan!"

"Kurome!"

"Well, well, well," a chilling voice that hadn't been present before cut in with enough power behind it to stop everyone inside the tent cold. "Just what have I found here?"

"Shit," Alistair cursed lowly. He quickly turned and ordered his allies, "Go out there and distract him! I don't need much time – two minutes and I'll be long gone and away! Stylish's payment will make up for any injuries so go!"

"Alistair, Alistair," the same condescending voice echoed within the tent. "Did you really think I wasn't aware of your plans?"

"Fuck you, milord," he snarled out before pinching Kurome's neck and making her go limp on his shoulder. "You don't get to change how things are done just 'cause of who your daddy happened to be." Alistair then looked at the three others and shouted, "What're you doing!? Deal with him!"

The grip around Akame's head loosened just a bit and she was finally able to think coherently through the haze of agony and debilitation. Just before the man completely let go of her she drove her bare left foot directly into the fork of his legs, digging it into his genitals all the while.

The nameless brute let out a small grunt in pain and let go of her with his knees shaking. Akame's feet hit the dirt below her. She immediately rolled away from the man, evading his attempt to capture her again. She stopped next to her discarded dagger and gripped it tightly. The furious elder sibling finally brandished the weapon back towards the man she'd already injured, fully prepared to end the man's existence.

She was brought up short, however, when a spray of warm liquid completely covered her form from behind. The coppery scent and taste coated her entire, small body while she heard two large 'thud's hit the ground behind her. The crimson-soaked girl's head slowly creaked around behind her and she saw a vertically bisected man's two halves directly behind her.

There was one behind me and I didn't even realize until it was too late, she realize in a mix of shock, fear, and awe as her eyes widened. The red-eyed girl suppressed a gulp while she concluded, I should be dead, but…whoever that man is seems to have saved me. Why?

She heard two shocked, pained gasps before she even was able to turn her head back around to where the other men were. Akame simple stared on, amazed and slightly intrigued by the sight, as she witnessed the two other men's heads fall off of their bodies. Their fresh corpses fountained crimson while both of them fell to the floor, staining it with even more blood.

Standing inside the brief rain of blood, yet remaining completely unblemished by the liquid surrounding them all, was a young man Akame had never seen before. He had short, spiky-blonde hair and icy blue eyes that nearly made her shudder in fear when she saw the sheer amount of pure fury behind them. She wasn't amazing at guessing a person's age by appearance yet, but she believed he couldn't have been even twenty yet – a sharp contrast to the men he'd just made such short work of even though they could've even been twice his age.

"It must really be my birthday," the blonde whispered with a smirk with his blade dripping onto the floor into the puddles of blood. "I've wanted to get rid of the rest of Gozuki's cronies but Honest would've never given me the okay. Since I just caught all four of you openly defying my direct order, though, I think the fat shit wouldn't mind too terribly now."

"You wouldn't –" Alistair began but was permanently silenced when a flash of steel pierced his heart. His body went limp and fell to the floor, but before she could fall to the floor with the corpse the mysterious savior plucked Kurome from his shoulder and set her on the bed.

Akame just stared, shocked, at the man who'd just dispatched four trained assassins as if they'd been no more powerful than mere ants were. She sat frozen on the ground, still attempting to process everything she had seen, until she heard her sister groan.

She quickly dashed across the room and to her sister's side while crying, "Kurome! Kurome! Kurome, speak to me! Are you okay!? Did they hurt you?"

"She'll be perfectly fine," the lone still-living male informed her, making her head whirl towards him. "The nerve ol' Al pinched'll keep her out for a few hours but otherwise it doesn't do a thing to a person. Aside from a slight headache when she wakes up she'll be fine."

Kurome then surprised them both with a groan, "Onee-chan?"

Akame immediately turned her head back to her sibling and grasped one of her sister's shivering hands. "I'm here, Kurome," she answered shakily. "I'm right here."

The girl's eyes managed to open a fraction and she turned her head towards her sibling. "I'm so glad," she told her weakly. "I thought I was never going to see you again."

The red-eyed girl felt her heart ache when she heard that admission. A single tear that contained all of her pent up anger and hopelessness of the past few weeks since they'd been sold trailed down her cheek. She then reiterated for her sister with more conviction than she'd ever used before, "I won't leave you, Kurome. I will always, always, be there for you; I swear it!"

"I'm…so… Onee-chan," Kurome managed to say before her eyes closed and she finally succumbed to the tireless pull of unconsciousness.

The blue-eyed youth looked at the girl lying on the bed with an eyebrow raised, showing how impressed he was by the sight he'd just witnessed. He then observed almost to himself, "She remained conscious through sheer force of will just so she could be certain she was still with her sister. Wow. It's good to know I was right about the two of you," he finished with a bright smile.

Akame wiped the wet stain from her face, turned towards the blonde, and asked him, "What do you mean by that?"

He sprouted a wry grin at that and responded, "That keeping the two of you girls together would not weaken you, but it would instead strengthen the both of you further than ever before. Take her for instance," he gestured to the softly snoring Kurome. "That nerve cluster should have rendered her completely immobile and unaware for an hour at the absolute best, yet she somehow managed to fight against that and managed to hold it off for five full minutes just because she wanted to be sure you were still there. If that's not true strength then I don't know what is."

The elder sibling felt pride now that someone else had recognized her sister's strength for the first time aside from herself. She lowered her head, covering her eyes with her bangs, and she murmured, "Thank you, sir, for helping us when you did. Had you not…" she trailed off, unable to even speak of such revolting possibilities.

The blonde man smiled down at her and tossed a towel on top of her head. "There's a bath set and ready for you, Akame-chan," he told her. "Wash yourself up; you and your sister are going to be sleeping in my tent with me until we move out in two days' time. There's a lot of people here whom still think Gozuki did things right even though I killed the rat bastard two weeks ago. If it weren't for all of them you wouldn't have had to endure that blasted Forest like I had to at your age."

"Wait," Akame called to him as he turned and began to leave. "Before you leave, can you please tell me who are?"

The man stopped at the entrance, turned towards her, and smiled gently, "My name's Naruto, Akame-chan, although you're probably going to be calling me a whole bunch of other, less-polite names for the next few years. I'm going to be yours and Kurome's sensei. Now hurry up and get cleaned, Akame-chan, and then you and your sister come to my tent in the center of camp. Just say 'Naruto told us to come here' and they'll let you through. You also shouldn't need to worry about any other…surprises since I've got my own men surrounding all of the survivors now.

"Make sure you prepare yourself though," he added with a mischievous yet somehow grim grin. "You're going to become strong, the both of you, but you'll have to go through a hell so intense it'll make that forest look like a stroll through the park to get there."

With that being said he then walked out and closed the tent flap behind him, the stench of four dead fools trapped within alongside the two sisters.

"Akame."

Her eyes shot open at hearing the whisper so close to her ear and she instinctually pulled her Teigu out; in the same movement she slashed at the foreign presence in the room but felt no contact with flesh.

"Yeesh. If you don't like being woken up then you didn't need to try and kill me! Good info for the boss though."

The young woman was finally able to notice just who was in her room and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Naruto-sensei. It is just my first instinct whenever someone infiltrates my room."

"Oh, I'm not your sensei," the man informed her. She blinked in confusion at his words while he added, "It's a long, complex story, but needless to say your sensei is even more of a badass than you remember him being."

"Okay…" Akame nodded uncertainly. "Did the alcohol affect you more than you let on, Naruto-sensei?"

The blonde made to correct her again but instead just shook his head and mumbled, "You know what? I'm not going to even try right now. Look," he then started and the seriousness behind his gaze told her that this was important, "the base has been infiltrated and is under attack."

Her crimson eyes widened in surprised briefly at hearing this and then went sharp. She sent her mind into full Battle Mode and she felt the air vibrations for confirmation. "You're right, Naruto-sensei," she agreed with his assessment. "We need to rouse the others before it's too late."

"They're already up and moving as we speak," he told her, briefly causing her to wonder how he knew that precisely. "Leone's out for the moment but Lionel'll ensure she's back in a bit from that little surprise attack; Tatsumi's certain these are one of the Jaeger's member's personal army but he didn't say which; Mine's taking up residence atop the building to snipe the enemy, and Lubbock's running this way to make sure you and Boss are safe. He'll be here in a few seconds with a few dozen enemies hot on his tail."

Akame's trained mind digested all of this information calmly and she nodded, "Then we need to help him, Naruto-sensei."

The whiskered man then opened her bedroom door and gestured, "Ladies first, Akame." She ran out into the hall and heard him add, "Oh, and Boss will be out in about ten seconds."

She then heard a 'pop' behind her and turned only to find the man no longer present. Akame quickly shook her head of her wonder at how he'd so completely hidden his presence from her and instead brandished Murasame in the direction she heard Lubbock coming from.

A few seconds ticked by in her head before the green-haired male of Night Raid barreled around the corner with at least twenty enemies hot on his trail. "Akame!" Lubbock shouted over the noise. "We're under attack!"

"Get behind me!" she immediately ordered and he complied. She stood between the oncoming force and her teammate with her subconsciously gripping her hands tighter on the eager blade's hilt. "Sensei informed me about everything that's going on, Lubba. I can handle all of them."

The group stopped a dozen yards from the two assassins and glared hatefully at them. Akame quickly realized that they weren't going to charge her and decided to take the fight to them so that she and Lubbock could get away and assist the others as soon as possible.

She stopped after taking one step, however, when she saw a door open between her enemies and out walked a yawning Naruto. Her mind froze at the sight and she thought in a frenzy, That's not possible! Sensei just woke me up and briefed me on the situation so how!?

The whiskered assassin's eyes fluttered open and he noticed her. "Oh; morning, Akame; you too, Lubbock," he greeted them both with a lazy wave, seemingly oblivious to the danger directly behind him. "One hell of a night last night, and I was so close to scoring with Leone too."

Lubbock's jaw had fallen open and was hitting the floor after seeing how blasé Naruto was acting in the face of overwhelming death. The youth managed to shake off his bemusement and quickly brandished his Teigu, Cross Tail, in preparation of the coming battle.

Without preamble Akame dashed across the hall and blocked her former teacher from a sneak attack and kicked the person away. She was prevented from continuing on the offensive, however, when she was suddenly pulled off of her feet and found herself held off of the ground and eye-to-eye with the man.

"Now, Akame," Naruto scolded her tiredly, "I know I taught you better than that. When someone greets you what are you supposed to do in return?"

"Greet the same way," she immediately rattled off without thinking. The teen then tried to tell him, "But right now –"

"Then you need to respond to my greeting," Naruto concluded with a stern glance. "Tell me 'Good Morning' so that we can start the day."

Akame briefly considered whether her teacher had finally gone completely insane since he didn't even seem to register the potential danger at his back, but she eventually sighed in resignation in the face of his expected stubbornness and mumbled, "Good morning to you too, Naruto."

"Good girl," he chirped with a bright nod. Without seeming to notice the enemies behind him, he stepped forward and out of reach from the next blindside assault on his person and finished, "Now did you get good sleep? Have any good dreams?"

Before she could respond to him Lubbock shrieked, "What the fuck, man!? Do you really not care there's twenty-freakin'-eight people directly behind you that want to kill you!?"

The cerulean-eyed man blinked twice and asked him while jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, "You mean all these small-fry? I figured it wouldn't matter since none of 'em could even hope to touch Akame here – let alone me."

"Do you not understand that WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!?"

"Alright; alright," the man groused grumpily. He put Akame back on the ground and instructed her, "Now stay right there, Akame; this won't take long."

His form then disappeared right in front of every pair of eyes and reappeared in the exact same spot not even a full second later. After another heartbeat passed twenty-eight heads fell from their accompanying shoulders, and the new bodies sprayed the walls crimson as they clumped to the floor in masse.

Naruto dusted his hands on his shirt and continued on like nothing had changed, "Now where were we?" Before anything else could be said he sent a dagger flying directly over Lubbock's head, making him duck it into his shirt, and it pierced another masked enemy directly between the eyes.

Lubbock pulled his head out from hiding and harrumphed, "I knew he was there, ya' know." The wheels on his hands whirred and the man's limbs were torn from their sockets to illustrate his claim. "Thanks though…I guess."

One of the man's eyebrows rose and he asked the other male, "You're not surprised or even amazed the slightest at my abilities?"

"If you taught that monster over there," he shrugged with a nod towards Akame, "then not in the slightest. She claimed you could fight Esdeath and even Najenda-san before her injury on even ground, and I know that Akame's never been one to overstate anything. You're definitely ten-times more crazy than she said though," he finished with a rather sly grin.

Naruto shrugged, but they were prevented from continuing their conversation by the sound of another person approaching. From the fact they were suppressing their presence, Akame immediately pieced together, we've got another enemy coming, and this one isn't as weak as the other ones were.

Akame turned and sped towards Lubbock and deflected a blade from his back; she then swung her Teigu and separated one more blank-faced enemy's head from their shoulders. Her crimson eyes were as sharp as her blade as they rose and stared at another opponent – though this one had an entirely different feeling about him.

Lubbock immediately distanced himself from the man and Akame demanded, "Who are you?"

The man bowed politely and introduced himself, "You may call me Toby, Akame." He then asked, "I would like to request a formal duel between myself and you."

Akame was slightly confused by his demeanor but nodded anyway. The man grinned and then, without another word spoken, dashed towards her and slashed an axe-blade down at her head.

Her blade met his and they stayed in a stalemate for a brief instance until he opened his mouth and a gun barrel extended out from his throat. The girl's eyes briefly widened at the sight but kept her cool about her and didn't panic; she immediately spun away from the fired bullet and in the same movement separated the enemy's left arm from the shoulder.

She then started to walk away from her latest kill, believing in Murasame's sure-kill poison, but the serious look on her teacher's face made her stop. Lubbock shouted in warning, "Akame!" She immediately ducked under the blade swung at her neck and rolled away from her somehow still-alive foe.

Akame stood once more, mercilessly squashed the brief confusion in her head, and calmly analyzed her opponent. There's no blood, she noted with an internal frown. Odd, but not quite as odd as the sword now where his arm just was. I see, she realized and held her blade towards Toby once again. Interesting. "Your entire body is a machine, isn't it? That's why Murasame's poison didn't kill you."

Toby smiled at her and nodded, "Indeed. Very astute; as expected of you, Akame. That is why I was chosen to do battle with you over the others: your weapon cannot kill me."

The assassin simply shifted her stance slightly into a more reactionary one and held her blade horizontally below her chin. "There are other means to consign targets," she informed him. Her body then flashed behind him and his other arm fell from his side. "If I can't kill you with the poison then I'll just chop you to pieces!" she finished as she whirled around and slashed at his neck.

Toby sprouted a machine gun from his now-empty shoulder and held Murasame off with his other sword-arm's flat. Akame was winning the contest of strength but was forced to disengage quickly when his large gun was then directed her way. She moved at speeds no normal human would believe possible while she deflected the hail of lead with Murasame away from her body and completely evaded the others.

Akame heard a pair of large crashes behind her but didn't bother to view the potential new threats – if they attempted to interfere with her fight then she was certain that both Lubbock and Naruto would deal with them. Instead, she increased her focus on her duel-mate and began to calculate every possible ability her foe could possess and each likely weakness to them all.

His skill are sharp but not elite – possibly as good as Tatsumi when I first encountered him, she analyzed. In that I am far superior, but the ability to turn any and every body part into a potential arsenal of weaponry means I have to be on-guard at all times. She felt a rush of excitement at meeting such a foe after so long without, but she contained herself to only a single twitch of her cheek. "Come," she eventually stated without emotion.

Toby obliged with two sharp, semi-circular blades sprouting from the bottom of his feet and using them to skate across the stone floor as if he were on ice. When he reached striking distance a lengthy blade protruded from his shin and that leg was sent at her side. She immediately blocked it with Murasame and then rolled away when his bladed heel was spun around and directed towards her chin.

She was back to her feet before either of his touched the floor and she used that one instant of weakness to separate his torso from his legs. He truly is a machine, Akame frowned as his legs landed away from the main body and rolled another few yards away. "You truly do not feel any pain, do you, Toby-san?"

Her foe's torso landed on its front and he rolled himself over onto his back. Toby looked directly at her and used his sword-arm and firearm to push his torso up to where he was now upright and facing her directly.

"No," he admitted with a glance sent at his legs across the hall. Toby chuckled once in resignation to his fate and spoke, "I suppose I never had a chance, did I? I can't reload without my legs and I'm not foolish enough to believe a stationary foe poses any threat to you, Akame."

Akame merely tilted her head and told him, "You would be wrong on that." Toby looked at her in shock and she explained like it had been told to her, "'So long as an enemy draws breath they are a potential threat.' My sensei made my sister and I remember that fact, and – even if it is a chance of less than one-percent – so long as the threat-level is not precisely zero then the threat has not been dealt with. No traps or last gasps will ever defeat either of us because we are on full-alert until the kill has been confirmed."

The man stared at her for a moment until he suddenly erupted into hysterical laughter. "I see now!" Toby exclaimed. He then spat out the knife hidden in his mouth and told her, "You truly are the perfect assassin, Akame – an existence beyond normal human's comprehension! No one would consider me a threat as I am now, yet you do. If I might enquire: How was it you defeated me with such relative ease?"

Akame began walking towards the condemned man and replied, "Your attacks were sharp but allowed large holes in your defense for me to counterattack; that's what I believe."

Toby lowered his head in acceptance and mumbled, "I suppose that a lack of pain is just as much a curse as a blessing then."

Murasame flashed bright in the moonlight and Toby's head flew into the air. His body fell to its side and the disembodied head rolled away under the moonlight. Akame didn't look back at her newest kill and simply continued to walk towards her former teacher.

"You did good," Naruto complimented with a nod. "You quickly, accurately deduced his abilities with minimal information and defeated him with minimal effort as well. The only thing you failed to check though: Can his head survive without his body attached or the other way around?"

Akame blinked at the detail she overlooked and strongly scolded herself for not considering such a possibility. He's a machine; of course he could! She then turned and felt her entire being freeze at what she saw: a perfect copy of Naruto was already confirming her kill.

Her head kept going back and forth between the two identical people and continued to reaffirm for her that there were truly two copies of her teacher there. Naruto chuckled at the completely flabbergasted look on her face and told her, "I'll explain it all later, Akame; I just don't wish to have to tell all of you and face all your questions and then have to deal Najenda's no-doubt lengthy list after. Before you ask: yes, that is a clone of me."

Too many questions to count popped up in her head at witnessing and hearing that revelation, but she quickly righted her mind and nodded, "I won't deny I have…a lot of things I want to ask about, but I won't ask now – we've got too many other things to deal with at the moment." She then noticed someone's absence and queried, "Where's Lubbock? He was right here when I started my duel."

Naruto waved her off and answered, "I sent him on out to the front to help Tatsumi, Mine, and Leone start handling the rest of the grunts. I didn't want him interfering here when it really wasn't necessary and he could help the effort better with everyone else." He then suddenly looked out of one of the windows and added almost as an afterthought, "Oh, and it looks like Najenda finally showed up. I am not looking forward to that talk," he finished with a slight grimace.

A sense of relief washed over her and she said, "We should join everyone then, Naruto-sensei. With you and now Boss here we shouldn't have any problems dealing with this attack now."

The blonde man twitched once but nodded, "I suppose so. Let's go then," he told her while he readied his fist. Akame realized what he was about to do but couldn't stop him in time from literally punching the wall, creating a hole large enough for the both of them to jump out of. He just turned back and grinned at her, "Shall we?"

Akame shook her head and then leaped out of Night Raid's base. She landed in a crouch two stories down and then dashed across the grounds to where her friends were all gathered together. Naruto was by her side and observing the large group of enemies surrounding Night Raid just as she arrived.

"Akame," Tatsumi sighed in relief from inside Incursio's armor. "Thank God you're here too."

"Now this'll be a piece of cake," Leone grinned happily while Lubbock nodded at her.

Akame saw Mine and felt her eyes widen at what she now carried on her back. She then whispered, "Welcome home, Scheele."

A wave of wooziness then overtook her senses and she felt her equilibrium give way. Akame, Lubbock, Mine, and Leone all fell to their knees while the blonde woman cursed, "Damn it! Knockout gas! You've gotta' be fuckin' kiddin' me! You just now use this shit, Stylish!"

Akame saw Naruto freeze after hearing that statement, and he didn't even react to the approaching enemies in the slightest anymore. How is sensei seemingly immune though? she couldn't help but briefly wonder. I can understand Tatsumi because of Incursio, but why aren't you affected either, sensei?

"Stylish?" the whiskered man repeated in a whisper. "Are you certain this is Stylish's doing?"

"I don't see how that matters right now, but yes," Tatsumi confirmed for him while he stood over his immobile comrades. "Esdeath told me about his...extracurricular activities, and he's the only Jaeger with a personal army here in the Capital."

Naruto's response was drowned out by a large crash that drew everyone's attention, although Akame's gaze briefly lingered on the shaking Naruto. Before the dust could clear around what had landed she heard Najenda shout down from the Flying Manta, "Susanoo, destroy all down there not a member of Night Raid!" A brief moment passed before she added, "And don't harm the man standing next to Akame either!"

"Understood," a powerful male voice answered the call and then dashed out of the smoke.

"STYLISH!" Naruto suddenly roared with such ferocity that it seemed to shake the very Earth beneath them all. Everyone's eyes turned towards the visibly-enraged man and he screamed, "I'm going to kill you!" He then looked at Akame and she felt her eyes widen at what she saw. Her former teacher then disappeared from the clearing in search of his prey.

"I've…never seen Naruto-sensei so furious before," Akame admitted both to herself and the other members of Night Raid looking towards her for answers. His eyes though…that's what worries me, she added to herself silently. They were like mine. They were red – blood-red.

A/N: (Warning: This Author's Note may get rather long)

New chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Sorry about any potential grammar mishaps. This was posted without either myself or my beta going over it. I'm literally posting this right after I finished typing it.

Yes, this one was exclusively an Akame Point of View chapter, I know. If you want Naruto then just be patient; it's coming soon.

*Professor Farnsworth Voice* Good news, everyone! dripley11 is done with school until January!

I know; I know. This will allow me adequate time to get back to writing since I no longer have to dedicate myself to books, research papers, essays, bullshit statistics, etc..., so I have more time to write! HUZZAH! The plan is to put out at least two chapters a week for the next few, but I don't know how completely I'll be able to fulfill that one.

My plan is this: finish the intro arc in this story with the next chapter, finish the Raizer arc in my DxD Crossover, and then finish Narita in my Code Geass story - in that order. After I do all of that I'll probably go back to either my Sekirei story for a bit or my Percy Jackson (could be either one first, but those two are next), and then maybe, maybe I'll go back to my Naruto story. That manga's ending was just so...bad that it has completely ruined my muse for that story.

You know, I didn't care if Sasuke was killed or not, all I wanted was for him to actually have to face the consequences of his actions just a little and I'd have been perfectly fine with that. What do we get? "Don't do it again." That was practically exactly what Kakashi said to him! "Don't do it again." I just... I really can't get into this right now. If I do then I'd go into an epic rant the lengths of which would send even the most die-hard Sasuke fan(boy/girl) running for cover. I'd have been happy if they just banished his ass! I didn't need blood, but you not punishing him just enables him!

I apologize for that. The ending, no matter how badly it was handled, was done rather well for what it was. I just can't believe Kishimoto was trying to sell his fanbase on how dark the world really was and then pulls that 'happily ever after' shit. COMMIT TO THE DARKNESS IF YOU'RE GOING TO BRING IT ABOUT! That's one of the things I really love about Akame ga Kill because it completely commits to it and has no issues proving that over and over and over and over and over and over again, making you cry all the way (Lubbock, Scheele, Bulat, Bolz, Justice-chan, and one other I won't spoil for my readers that haven't read the manga).

Back on track though, I would also like to take this chance to inform everyone here that I WILL NOT be using any of the recent anime episodes of Akame ga Kill in any way, shape or form in this story unless they actually somewhat reflect the direction of the manga (which I HIGHLY doubt due to certain people still being alive in the anime whom are dead in the manga). To be honest with you all, I haven't watched an episode since 19 because I wanted to be able to breeze through all of the anime-original episodes in one go and not stew over how different they were from how I think the manga will go. I can understand not including Wild Hunt because they actually have to be able to show it on T.V., but to skip so much...

Also, you all will be pleased to know that the expected initial confrontation between Naruto and Esdeath will be the final scene in this intro arc to the story. That means it's in the next chapter, folks! Hopefully I'll be able to finish it and get it out next week, but I make no guarantees due to working retail in the Christmas season along with the expected family gatherings for the Yule-tide time.

Hope you liked it!

P.S. My beta and I were discussing the future of my story and we wound up coming with a bunch of different pairing names that I wanted to run by you guys. *NOTE* none of these are indicative of potential relations within my story; we wanted to know which ones you like best and wished to hear your opinions on the samples.

The ones in bold are the ones I preferred.

Narujenda

Najruto

Esruto

Narudeath

Nakame

Narame

Leruto

Narutone

Miruto

Namine

This is all we have at the moment. You are free to prefer any of them or even create your own if you so desire. I know there are numerous ones I didn't include, such as any potential yaoi, and I leave all those up to you guys.

Let us know which ones you like best and even your own ideas!