Chapter 5
Naruto crashed into the clearing with such force that he left a crater ten yards wide. His feral face jumped up towards the group of four and he growled, "Going somewhere, Stylish?"
The mad scientist took a single step back while Naruto stood from his knee. Stylish had a few drops of nervous sweat fall from his brow.
Not caring to deal with the fodder, Naruto finally allowed all of his Killing Intent to obliterate their will. All three of Stylish's 'projects' collapsed to the ground, clawing at their throats for air. The three idiots started to cry out in terror in the face of Naruto's full wrath – something no one person had seen before and lived to tell the tale.
"Almost a decade," Naruto's voice spoke with such overwhelming power that it seemed to be echoing over itself. "I warned you about what fate awaited you should you ignore my warning. Did you really believe that didn't matter after I left?"
Stylish failed to completely regain his composure and stuttered out, "I-I never forced her into –"
"Silence!" Naruto roared and the ground quaked beneath their feet with his voice's power. A faint red glow began to cover his body and he continued, "You went to Kurome when she was vulnerable and convinced her to accept your drugs! You knew that she wouldn't be able to turn your offer down! And for that," he finished in a chilling whisper, "you will die today, Stylish – painfully."
Stylish shook his head of its terror and responded, "I see then. I suppose that I'll have to bring out my best in order to beat you and get away, won't I?"
"Go ahead and try," he taunted back. "I want to make you watch as your best gets torn to shreds right in front of you. I will take everything you have and show you just how weak you are and always have been!"
Stylish smirked at him and pulled out a single syringe that contained a sickening solution within it that seemed semi-sentient. "Very well," the scientist agreed. "You wish to experience my most stylish product then here you go!" he shouted and stabbed the syringe into his arm. He depressed the plunger and exclaimed, "Here I come, Naruto! Danger Beast – one dose!"
Naruto simply observed, unfazed as Stylish's body began to spasm and bulge. The multi-color-haired man's clothes were torn by how large his muscles became and a gigantic, muscle-bound torso enveloped his body. The crazed scientist sat atop the five-story-high torso with only his head and upper body now visible.
The assassin quickly assessed everything he had just witnessed and concluded, "So you become a Danger Beast yourself. That's your trump?" he nearly scoffed.
"As I am now I am not a challenge for the likes of you, but," Stylish added, "all I need is some high-quality nutrition to reach the pinnacle of stylishness!"
A mouth then split the giant torso's midsection and its arms scooped up the three unconscious people in the clearing. All of them were then tossed into the ghastly abomination's mouth and were eaten by Stylish and his disgusting creation.
Naruto continued to watch the following transformation and he mumbled, "Just as horrifying as its creator. I may have absorbed another soul as well, but I at least would never do that to someone. Nobody deserves such a fate." He then added almost for himself, "Honest maybe, but no one else does."
The new Danger Beast after digesting Stylish's former comrades now stood over fifty stories tall. It was a full humanoid form now with a head and legs aside from just a simple torso with arms. One of the Beast's arms was covered in a greenish metallic-alloy and its cranium had a large protrusion that seemed to contain a bubbling red liquid.
The blonde man didn't turn to acknowledge the new presence that had just arrived. He simply instructed them, "Don't interfere, Susanoo. This bastard is mine to handle."
Susanoo's stoic voice replied, "I have been instructed by my wielder to assist you in defeating that creature."
Sounds like Najenda's got a new Teigu, he thought with his lips briefly twitching. "Then watch me; only help me if I start to slow down though. This power I'm using has a time limit. If you see me start to wane then get me the hell out of there. Is that fine with you?"
He didn't see Susanoo's nod but heard, "Very well. I can see now that you are currently powerful enough to conquer that…thing there on your own. I will observe and only intervene if, as you stated, your power begins to lower below its."
"I appreciate it," he thanked the Teigu without turning away from his foe. He felt Susanoo's presence leave the area and he yelled, "Are you ready to die now, Stylish!?"
His sharp hearing overheard the mumble, "I'm still not large enough yet. However, if I devour you too, Naruto, then I'll have more strength than anyone else – not even Esdeath could hope to defeat me! You'll be mine!"
The Beast's armored arm flew down from the sky at surprising speeds, intent on crushing Naruto beneath. The blonde leaped into the air and, instead of dodging, kicked the limb with a single front-raising kick. The giant arm was met with so much force in the blow that it was sent flying up and away from its target, making the Beast's body step backwards to keep its balance.
"H-How!?" Stylish screamed in disbelief. "My arms weigh no less than a full ton!"
Naruto landed on the ground and spun himself into a forward-leaning posture. His cold, red eyes shone beneath the dawn's illumination like the beacons of a demon while they were partially hidden by his hair. "Is that all?" he asked in an unimpressed voice.
He then dashed to the side and gripped one of the thirty-foot pines that Stylish's monstrosity had knocked down. Naruto wrapped his hands on either side of its trunk, twisted his body with enough torque to dislodge a normal person's spinal column, and threw the tree directly at Stylish's barely-visible body atop the Beast's head.
Stylish gaped at the inhuman show of strength, but he managed to recover his wits about him in time to have the armored giant's arm block his head. The tree crashed into the metal with a tremendous thunder that shattered it into thousands of wooden splinters. The tiny pieces of wood rained down upon the world and each stabbed into the ground or other trees.
In the brief moment of invisibility he'd created Naruto sped along the ground to the base of the Beast's feet. He then leapt into the air, focused all of his energy into his feet, and drove both of his heels directly into its left kneecap. The metal surrounding its knee immediately shattered and the giant's leg bent in the opposite way it was meant to.
"I-Impossible!" Stylish shrieked in disbelief while his Beast began to topple. "How-How can one human be this powerful!?" he screamed as he fell to the ground, crushing acres of trees beneath the humongous body.
Naruto phased into existence over the immobile form of his prey. "It's over," he spoke down to his victim with a cold voice. "Your best is still nothing compared to me, Stylish." He then reached down, wrapped his hand tightly around the man's neck, and forcibly ripped him out from the creature's skull.
Stylish's eyes bulged and he tried to scream in agony as his muscles were pulled apart from the bone, but Naruto's grip didn't allow any sound from the condemned man's throat. Naruto heard numerous sickening 'snaps' and Stylish's face finally went slack as the amount of pain wracking his body overwhelmed his senses and mind.
The assassin held the unaware man's limp torso, arms, and head into the air. He then plunged his right hand through Stylish's chest and out the man's back, his heart still gripped in the hand. Naruto crushed his heart in his fist and then pulled his hand out of the now-dead man's torso.
"Pitiful," Naruto scoffed and tossed the carcass down the cliffside.
He turned away from the cliffs and closed his eyes, focusing on reigning in the power coursing through his veins. The blonde grimaced in pain as his entire body began to ache while the power started to recede. It took a few more minutes of concentration for his features to lose their feral appearance and return to normal.
Another minute or two and I'd have been done for, he thought as he exhaled one last time to complete the process. Fifteen minutes is still my limit, it looks like. He felt numerous presences coming and greeted them, "Hey, everyone."
Tatsumi and Lubbock were both gaping at him, Leone and Mine seemed to be impressed if the looks on their faces were anything to go by, Susanoo was still as stoic as he always had been, and Akame looked at him with a relieved, slightly impressed, and calculating look in her eyes.
"That…was…AWESOME!" Lubbock and Tatsumi exclaimed at once.
"So strong!" Tatsumi awed with stars in his eyes.
"The coolest thing ever!" Lubbock agreed.
Mine tried to look haughty and gave him an obviously backhanded compliment, "I suppose you're more than just a pervert after all."
Leone whistled in appreciation, walked over to him, wrapped an arm over his shoulder, and told him, "Not bad there, Root. I suppose I can now live with the ass-kicking I got from ya'," she winked at him. "You're pretty hot shit, ain't 'cha?"
"I like to think I am," he grinned at her while he forced his fatigue to the back of his mind.
Naruto's cerulean eyes then locked with the human-type Teigu's impassive gaze, and Susanoo met his gaze directly for a minute while a soft breeze blew across the early-morning light. Naruto tensed momentarily in preparation for a potential battle and kept his eyes on the large Teigu.
"You…" the living weapon began evenly.
Naruto's eyes sharpened and he thought, So he does remember.
"…need a towel," Susanoo finished, and Naruto nearly face-faulted. "You're entire arm is covered in blood. Here," he added and dashed to his side. He pulled a spray bottle and towel out of his robe and then began to clean off Stylish's entrails.
Naruto stared in shock until he chuckled to himself, "I see now that you haven't changed at all, have you, Susanoo? Then again, if a few hundred years didn't do it then how would a measly decade do it?"
Susanoo finished cleaning his arm and then replied after standing once more, "I'm afraid I have no recollections of you in my memories of whence I was activated previously. Might I ask who you might be since you seem to know myself in some capacity?"
Naruto started to answer but was cut off by Lubbock exclaiming, "Najenda-san! You're back!"
A great wave of wind that made everyone save Naruto and Susanoo cover their eyes descended over the area. The eldest assassin turned and watched as a Flying Manta then descended from the sky and came to land on the other side of the small clearing.
Both of the large Beast's riders jumped off from its back and then started walking towards the group. The person following was an average-sized young woman whom wore a traveler's cloak not unlike the one Naruto had been wearing before he encountered Akame. This girl had auburn hair that fell below her back, red eyes that held a jaded sense of mischief that Naruto noticed immediately, and a lollipop stuck in her mouth that her smile rolled around as she strutted over.
Naruto forced a small, welcoming grin on his face when he finally made himself look at Najenda once again. She had cut the long braid he'd once known and her shining silver hair was cut short. She also now wore a stern business-suit-looking choice of attire with the neckline cut low enough that it showed her modest breasts. The former General's other features made a pang of regret fill his chest: She now had a fully-mechanical right arm and an eye patch covered one of her purple eyes.
Najenda stopped about a dozen yards from him and her eye observed her force's appearances. Her gaze met Naruto's last and lingered for a moment; there was a brief flash that went across her eyes that made Naruto feel even worse than he thought he could, but she covered it back up before anyone else might notice.
The Rebellion's Third broke eye contact, turned away from him, and spoke to her followers, "It's good to see you all are okay." She then instructed her Teigu, "Susanoo, would you please find Stylish's body and return with his Teigu. You also can completely obliterate his remains, as we don't want to leave any possible way for the Capital to find them."
"Of course," the large, sentient Teigu accepted and then jumped off of the edge in search of his new objective.
She then assured all of the weary-looking members of Night Raid, "Stylish's poison should wear off after a little while. If I knew him at all then his intention was to only capture; if he'd wanted to kill you then he'd have used a more deadly poison and we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"That's a relief," Tatsumi sighed as he set both Akame and Mine down. His armor then dissipated and he staggered to a knee. "I'll be okay," he assured Akame with a smile. "I'm just tired is all. I haven't slept that much for the last few days, after all."
Leone let Lubbock support himself by leaning him against the corpse of the giant Danger Beast Naruto had just slain. The green-haired youth then repeated, "My barriers are all lax, Najenda-san. No more hostiles are alive."
Najenda smiled and nodded to the boy, making him grow a content grin. She then looked towards the blonde beauty and Leone told her, "I'll be fine. The scent of blood's makin' me wanna' vomit, but Lionel's makin' sure I'm gonna' be okay. Oh, we're gonna' need another stash of alcohol after our party last night," she grinned toothily.
Akame then started without prompt, "I feel no other presences in the area, Boss, although I'm certain that if there were then Naruto-sensei would have let us know."
"I suppose he would have, wouldn't he?" Najenda replied without emotion and turned towards him at last. She and him looked at each other for a tense moment that passed before anyone else could see it. She finally greeted him without anything showing on her face, "So you've been alive all this time."
"Yeah," Naruto responded with a slight nod. "I have. It's been a little while, hasn't it?" he asked with a forced smile that no one could tell was fake.
"Four years and not one letter," she reminded him with an undertone to it that nearly made him wince. "And here I thought we were friends, Naruto."
Naruto didn't allow himself to look away in shame. "Well… I'm here now, aren't I?" he tried to say.
"While I don't doubt that Naruto-san has an interesting tale to tell, I'm feeling a little left out, Boss," the other girl chimed in with a bell-like voice.
Najenda's eye lingered on him for a brief moment longer before turning and saying, "You're right. I had wanted to hold off on introductions until everyone made it to where we're going, but I suppose now's as good a time as any." She then introduced her company to everyone, "This is Chelsea, everyone; she and Susanoo are the new recruits that H.Q. lent us."
"Hi there!" Chelsea greeted everyone with a bright smile. "Nice to meet everyone at last."
"Good to meet you too," Akame replied with a welcoming nod.
"Nice pajamas," Chelsea commented with a teasing lilt. "Does Night Raid usually fight showing off so much?"
Akame tilted her head in confusion and said, "I apologize if my current attire is distracting; I didn't have enough time to change before the attack began and I was made aware of it. I make certain to never wear anything that might hinder my range of movement at all times and my sleepwear succeed in that."
Naruto palmed his face while Chelsea just stared at her and everyone else had a bead of sweat run down the back of their heads. "Gods, it's even worse than I thought," he mumbled as he ran his hand down his face. "What the hell did they do to her that ruined all of my hard work in people-skills?" And I can only imagine how bad Kurome's gotten now.
"I…see," the auburn-haired young woman responded to her unsteadily.
Leone's laugh preceded her telling the new girl, "Don't sweat it; Akame's just got absolutely no communication skills at all. That's why I'm the one that handles the clients and the infiltrations. Leone's the name by the way."
"Good to meet you, Leone," Chelsea returned with her teasing smile back in place. "You're not worried about losing any coverage, I take it?"
Leone smirked and told her with absolutely no shame, "Nope. 'Sides, it ain't like anyone's getting' close to these babies 'less I want 'em too," she finished while groping both of her boobs.
"I managed a nice feel last night," Naruto commentated with a large grin, making both Tatsumi and Lubbock gape at him in shock.
"I was drunk; that didn't count," the buxom beauty huffed while crossing her arms over her breasts with a faint dust of red on her cheeks.
"It was with this hand," he held out his left hand to Tatsumi and Lubbock as they huddled next to him with reverent looks. "Best feeling ever!"
"You really need to show me how you do these things," Lubbock told him. "I've never been this jealous of someone before!"
"Oi!" Leone shouted at the group of men. "Don't be talkin' 'bout my boobs while I'm here!"
"So it's fine so long as you're not around?" Naruto wryly grinned.
"Of course," Leone harrumphed. "And it'd better have been. There ain't a pair out there better'n mine!"
Mine used Pumpkin as a crutch and made her way over to Najenda and Chelsea. "Sorry about the group of imbeciles back there," she apologized with a jab over her shoulder. "Welcome to the team though. We've really needed another rational woman around now that the blonde bastard's here."
"Ouch!" Naruto suddenly commented right behind the pink-haired girl, making her and Chelsea jump. "Was that for the whole 'flatty' comment?"
Najenda noticed Chelsea's giggling along with Mine's twitching eyebrow and stepped in before the situation could escalate, "When did you arrive, Naruto?"
He stepped out of Mine's reach and replied, "The Capital or Night Raid?"
"Both."
"About a week ago I started renting a room in the slums," he informed her. "I only ran into Leone a couple of days ago and she brought Akame the next time. I found your little hideaway yesterday."
"I see." Najenda then asked, "So then you've reconsidered your answer? You're willing to join the Revolution at last?"
"Nope," he answered flatly, making everyone look at him oddly. "My answer's still the same, and I'd actually like to add a few more insults I've come up with the next time I meet the bastard."
"But…Night Raid's in the Revolution, Naruto," Tatsumi said to him. "If you're in Night Raid then you're a part of the Revolution – it's just that simple."
"That's why I'm not joining Night Raid, kid," he informed them all.
Najenda gave a morose chuckle and said, "I see. You're going to try and take advantage –"
"Finish that and I'll remove your tongue," the assassin seethed with enough fury in his eyes at the accusation that it made her stop in shock. "I would never do that to you, Najenda; do you truly think so little of me now? I told you then and I remind you now: I respect you far, far too much to ever even consider doing such a thing.
"What I intend on doing is working with you," he finally revealed. "A partnership of sorts. I won't ever work under that fucker, but I'm willing to help Night Raid for now. I'll help you find more targets and clients as well as take care of some of the more impossible jobs myself; we'll split the money on the contracts I'm involved with and determine the percentages between myself and you, Najenda. That being said, I also will act without informing all of you if I feel like a target can't wait for a contract to be taken out on."
"So you're basically an independent contractor then," Chelsea pieced together quickly. "You're willing to work with us, but you also want to have enough autonomy to where you can do what you want and kill whoever you feel deserves it."
"Partially," he admitted with a reluctant nod at his demands being put in such a way that he was painted as the bad guy – even if it was slightly true how she put it. "I'm willing to tell you, Najenda, of when and on who I intend to move on, and you can choose to tell everyone else if you so wish. This way you, at least, will know I'm not going after Average Douche for him insulting my haircut or something along those lines. It also gives you the opportunity to tell me anything I may not know about them."
Najenda picked up on the hidden message and nodded in agreement, "I can agree to that. There are some official targets we can't kill just yet."
Naruto held up a hand to stop her and added, "And to show that I'm not going to just be some freeloader bumming off of your kindness I'm willing to do something I haven't done in years: I'm willing to take these so-called 'assassins' of yours and turn 'em into real assassins."
Najenda saw his smirk and her eye widened in surprise. "You're going to instruct again?" she asked incredulously.
"Yep!" he grinned, and he was then tackled to the ground in a hug from Akame.
His former student sat on his stomach, looked directly into his eyes, and asked him, "Do you really mean it this time? Are you going to become my sensei again?"
Naruto sat up and set a hand atop her head. "Yeah," he told her while petting her scalp. "But not just yours – I'm going to teach everyone here a few of my tricks. You all may be good, but if you lot tried to take on the Royal Guard as you are now you'd get slaughtered – no two ways about it. I'm going to whip everyone here into what I deem strong."
Akame got off of him looking like she wanted to whoop in joy. "A fair assessment," Chelsea murmured under her breath.
Tatsumi was immediately at his side, looking up at him with stars in his eyes once more. The boy asked eagerly, "So does that mean you'll teach me how to move as fast as you and take down something like that?"
Naruto looked over at the gigantic corpse and told him, "I can make you strong enough to take down something on par with that, but you won't be able to do it as quick as I did."
Tatsumi sulked a little at hearing that and mumbled, "Why not?"
"Because I tapped into a…power that only I have, kid," he answered.
"You mean like a Teigu?"
Naruto hesitated to answer that, and Najenda's sharp gaze was immediately upon him again, searching for answers. He eventually offered, "Yes and no. I'll tell you all about it later though," he stopped them before anyone could ask him about his meaning. "Right now all I wanna' do is find a nice comfy bed and go to sleep for a bit 'cause of this damned headache I've got now."
"That sounds like a pretty intriguing tale, Naruto," Najenda observed with a cunning look.
"Oh, it is," he replied off-handedly. He then dusted himself off and changed the subject, "So what about we're all going someplace?"
Najenda was prevented from answering by a large crash kicking up dust directly between her and the whiskered man. The dust cleared and Susanoo's deep voice intoned, "I have succeeded in my mission, Master." He then tossed Stylish's glove-looking Teigu to her and finished, "I apologize for any delay; the body had landed in a river and I was forced to hunt it down over a kilometer away. The corpse is now in the stomachs of seventeen different Danger Beasts."
"Good work, Susanoo," his wielder complimented while she put Perfector in the bag she was carrying over her shoulder. She then addressed everyone, "Well then, I think it's time to get going. Everyone hop on the Manta so we can get moving."
"Where're we going, Boss?" Tatsumi asked her as he helped Mine up onto the Beast's back.
Najenda observed the boy and told them all, "As Naruto just stated, we all need some time to refine our abilities; you especially, Tatsumi, since you just got Incursio a week ago." The green-eyed youth looked bashfully down at his lap at her words and she continued, "This attack tonight also means that we'll need to relocate the Base just in case – Stylish could've done any number of things once he located us.
"During the time it will take for the Revolution's resources to relocate us we'll focus on getting stronger both individually and as a group. I'm expecting us to have a full-out battle with the Jaegers soon and I want to make certain that we'll be prepared for war."
Lubbock then queried, "So who's going to handle our contracts while we're gone?"
"I may not like the woman," their leader replied, "but Esdeath always takes whatever mission she's charged with seriously. While the worst of the worst will have to wait for our return, Esdeath and her Jaegers will be more than enough to handle the most obvious trash that are too idiotic or prideful to hide their escapades from the public eye."
Naruto added, "I've also still got a few former contacts of mine that'll gather information while I'm away. All I need to do is meet with them and clarify their new roles while we're out and about."
Najenda regarded him with an arched eyebrow at hearing this news. She asked him skeptically, "You still have contacts that neither myself nor Esdeath knew about?"
"I did keep some secrets," he shrugged uncaringly. "A few of 'em I've found are already in your rather impressive spy network, Najenda, but I also added a few more in the time I've been here. The homeless and the orphaned make for great observers because nobody generally notices them even if they're right next to them."
"Not bad," the Revolutionary smirked at him. "And all you'd lose is a few gold pieces you'll likely have already pilfered from some unaware Noble, am I right?"
"Aw shucks; you're makin' me blush here."
"Well it's about time I manage to."
"Are you still mad about that business? Four years is a long time."
"Not long enough."
"You're still mad."
"Why whatever gave you that impression?"
"The cold shoulder you gave me earlier seemed like a pretty good sign."
"It appears your mastery of reading body language hasn't diminished."
"Yep; still pissed." A sharp whistle in the air preceded a rock colliding with his forehead, making him shout in pain. "Alright, who threw it?" he demanded with his forehead pulsing red.
Leone whistled innocently with her hands under her legs atop the Manta; she also never met eyes with him.
"Why I oughta'…" Naruto growled.
Najenda chuckled in amusement and then stopped the situation from escalating further. "Whoever threw it was right though, Naruto," she told him with noticeable mirth in her eye. "We're the only ones not ready to go yet. Come on." She then turned and began to walk to the large Flying Manta.
"I'm afraid I won't be joining you just yet," he told her, making her stop. "I've still got a few meetings that I have to take care of before I can go off-radar again."
Najenda didn't turn back to him and she replied, "I…see. I'm guessing you'll be showing yourself to her, won't you?"
Can't fool you, he noted to himself with a soft grin. "I'm relatively certain she knows I'm back anyway, Najenda. I've also got to clear up some unfinished business we have together."
The silver-haired woman didn't initially respond to his words. After a breeze ruffled her short hair slightly she called out, "Chelsea, please accompany Naruto."
The auburn-haired young woman rolled her lollipop in her mouth, looking at the two oddly. "Not that I mind," she answered, "but might I ask why me?"
"You know the coordinates of where we're going to be," Najenda clarified and she accepted her orders with a nod. "You're still fresh since you've been off-mission for a week – unlike nearly everyone else. I also don't want Naruto to do something too stupid on his own again."
Like disappear? he nearly asked her but held it in. Instead he playfully pouted, "I can handle myself, but I did kinda' forget to ask where it was I'd rendezvous with you guys."
Chelsea climbed down from the Manta and said to the other Night Raid members, "See you guys in a day or two!" She then started walking towards Naruto and Najenda began moving towards the Flying Manta.
"Najenda," Naruto called out to her one last time. "One last thing before you go, and this one's not negotiable."
She gripped Lubbock's offered hand and replied over her shoulder, "Yes?"
"When we all eventually make our move on Honest," the assassin declared evenly, "Honest. Is. Mine. Got it?
The corner of Najenda's lips twitched and she nodded once to his demand. She then climbed up onto her Beast and all the Night Raid members save Chelsea took off into the sky.
Chelsea's half-smirk was on her face and she stated after everyone else had left, "You and her have a history."
"Who do you think got her promoted to a General's rank at only sixteen?" he asked her rhetorically. "She was good – damn good – but not that amazing back then."
"There's more to that story," she observed, "but I won't pry; it's not really my business so long as it doesn't interfere with the jobs. So, you're this 'Greatest Assassin the Capital Ever Produced' I keep being compared to?" she asked.
Naruto snorted and told her, "If they're saying that then they've forgotten just exactly who I am. I've heard of you too, Lady Gaia, but you're nowhere near my level yet. Gaia Foundation will get you out of a bunch of jams but it fails miserably against people like me."
"Oh?" the auburn-haired young woman arched an eyebrow at him. "And how might that be?"
"Your scent doesn't change," he informed her matter-of-factly. "Admittedly, I'm special in that my nose is on par with a fox's, but if your target has any loyal dog or similar pet you're boned – hard."
Chelsea chuckled once in amusement and countered, "They would need to have my scent beforehand for that to work though."
"Fair point," he conceded to her. Naruto then turned and began walking into the woods towards the Capital. "Let's get going, Chelsea. We're burning daylight already."
"Right behind you."
"Is that everyone now?" Chelsea asked him as he walked over to her.
"Just one more visit," Naruto answered her and continued walking past her.
She fell into step next to him as they both moved through the slums and exited out onto Main Street. Chelsea gave him an inquisitive look once they turned off the crowded street and into an alley but received no verbal recognition.
They eventually came to a stop at a relatively plain looking ice cream shop and Naruto spoke to his fellow assassin, "Stay here."
"Might I ask why?" the auburn-haired young woman asked with a slightly annoyed look. "You've let me observe all of your meetings so far; what's so different about this one?"
This one's personal, he thought but didn't let it show. Instead he replied, "Who I'm meeting this time is one of Night Raid's targets, and I don't want you to be found out so soon after arriving in the Capital."
Chelsea rolled her lollipop to the other side of her mouth, her face contemplating his words. After a minute she asked, "Does this person have a nose as good as yours?"
"No," he answered her immediately. "It's exceptional for a human, but her nose isn't quite as sharp as mine."
"Good," she nodded, looking pleased. Chelsea then was covered in a cloud of smoke that appeared seemingly out of nowhere and where her cloaked form had just been standing there now was an adorable brown kitten.
Naruto rolled his eyes after he figured out her idea. I suppose it won't matter much since I planned on telling all of this to Najenda anyway, he figured while cat-Chelsea pawed at his leg and meowed in impatience. "Yeah; yeah; I got it," he drawled as he extended a palm and held it out for the feline to jump in. Chelsea climbed into his hand and he thought while she went up the length of his arm and settled down on his shoulder, I suppose her being there will get Najenda off my case about this as well; she'll be able to confirm that nothing happened for me.
Naruto then walked through the entrance and found that the store was empty save for a single guest and the shop's owner. He absently noted to himself that it was still the same owner that he recalled and he took a seat directly behind the lone other patron. The shivering man collected his order and hurriedly fled the area.
"So," the azure-haired beauty behind him started, "you're really alive after all."
"I am," he told her. The owner gave him his order and scampered away. Naruto took one spoonful of the orange sherbet, ate it, and mused aloud, "Still the best in the Capital, isn't it, Esdeath?"
Esdeath smiled behind him and said, "I make a trip here at least once a week when I'm in the Capital. You did know your food, Naruto."
The cat on his shoulder mewled and he let her lick some ice cream off of his finger. The whiskered man stroked Chelsea's fur and he said, "And you are still as cold as your dessert."
"You told me to never change, after all," she smirked.
Naruto snorted, "Like you ever listened to anything I ever said anyway."
"True," Esdeath accepted with a nod. She enjoyed another spoonful of her favorite ice cream and teased slightly, "Then again, nothing but hot air ever seemed to come out of your mouth."
"Ouch," he grinned at the banter he remembered returning. "That one hurt."
"The truth is called harsh for a reason."
Naruto openly laughed so loud at that it startled Chelsea so much she hissed at him. "Sorry; sorry, girl," he apologized and petted her to get her to calm down. "It's just been too long since I heard her sharp wit; I couldn't help myself."
Chelsea arched her back like how a cat really would at his ministrations and Naruto let out a chuckle. His semi-amused state fled though when Esdeath's cool voice told him, "You are aware of my current position, are you not?"
"I am," he responded calmly, and Chelsea tensed up on his shoulder in preparation to make an escape if need be. He let his companion leap off of his shoulder and into his hands while he told his conversation partner, "It's because I know that I knew it would be safe to meet you like this."
"Oh?" Esdeath queried while cat-Chelsea gave him a curious look.
"You're the head of the Jaegers," the blonde man explained. "That means that your duty is to protect the Capital from their enemies within – like Night Raid. You are sadistic beyond measure, Esdeath, and you take great pleasure in destruction. However, you are also a General whom takes her charged missions very seriously and works within the provided parameters meticulously – even though you take liberties in a few loopholes Honest leaves for you."
"Your point?"
"You would be in direct violation of your duties if you engaged me here and now," Naruto claimed. "Our battle two years ago wiped an entire small mountain range off the map; that was when both of us were still new to our…abilities. Now? With both of us now having two full years to refine and tune our skills we're both exponentially more powerful, so if we fought now we'd obliterate the entire Capital and then some, Esdeath. And all of that even then still wouldn't guarantee that you would kill me, so I know you can't fight me here and now."
A brief time passed in silence with Chelsea looking up at him in shock, a little melting ice cream dripping off of her whiskers. Esdeath chuckled, "Indeed. Sharp as always, Naruto. I see two years of being 'dead' didn't dull your mind at all."
"Honest taught me how the Game worked," he reminded her.
"A little too well it seems," she smirked. Esdeath set her empty bowl and spoon down and then asked him, "Were you the man at the tournament?"
"Yes," he didn't even bother denying it or attempting to be an ass and make her get extremely specific if he wanted.
"Were you honest then? Was that your sole reason for wishing to compete?"
The blonde man smiled down at his ice cream and responded, "It wasn't my only reason, but it was a big one. You can't deny that it would've been one hell of a way to kick Honest's door down and tell him that I'm back."
Esdeath laughed slightly to herself and observed, "I see your flair for the dramatic is still nearly as large as your ego!"
"I never said I didn't have either."
"They're just not quite as big as your head."
"Are you saying I'm smart now? 'Cause you know you're right."
Esdeath shook her head with a slight smile on her face. "You are truly the same, incomprehensible man as when we first met, Naruto."
You wouldn't say that if you knew me before then, he thought and his face lost its humor. Chelsea looked at him curiously at seeing his look and he then asked Esdeath seriously, "You've guessed my purpose for seeing you, I take it?"
Esdeath scoffed, "Don't insult me. The instant you entered the shop I knew why you came. This is, as Wave would call it, your 'Shot across the bow.' You're merely letting me know your intentions and giving me a warning."
"It is," he confirmed.
Esdeath more stated than asked him, "So I take it you will join forces with Najenda and one of your former students then? You are aware that your other favorite is under my command, correct?"
Naruto nodded once, "Yes to both of those."
"She still despises you."
The assassin grimaced and the kitten tilted her head in his direction. "…I know," he responded with a pained voice. "And I doubt she'd believe me now even if I tried to explain things to her."
"She has never once even mentioned you," Esdeath informed him, making him feel even worse. "If it is any consolation, I believe that Wave is beginning to chip away at her."
"I hear that he's a good kid," Naruto sighed in resignation. "Tatsumi had nothing but praise for him."
Chelsea hissed angrily at him and bore her fangs while Esdeath froze at hearing his words. The cat attempted to scratch him, but Naruto cowed her with a strong grip on the scruff of her neck and a steely gaze that promised pain.
"Tat…su…mi?" Esdeath then whirled around in her seat, gripped Naruto's shoulders so tight he felt her nails dig into him, and twisted him around so that they met eyes at long last. "You know where he is!? Tell me! Where is he!? Where is Tatsumi!? Did he really join the Revolution!?"
"He is out of your reach," the cerulean-eyed assassin told her evenly, not allowing the pain at seeing her panicky eyes show on his face. "The kid is also your enemy so long as you stay with Honest."
"Tatsumi is still young, so he can still be protected even if he did join the rebels," she responded. "So long as he allies with me then Honest won't do a thing to him."
"He won't ever join the Empire, Esdeath," Naruto smirked at her. "His two best friends were captured, tortured, and killed by a set of particularly nasty Nobles that Night Raid killed off a little while ago, and that's not even including the dire straits his home village is in because of Honest's ridiculous taxes."
"They're all weak then," she growled. "He will see it for himself soon enough – the one law of this world: The Strong devour the Weak."
"Still clinging to Daddy's outdated and primitive ideology, I see," he mused aloud. "You're the naïve one, Esdeath; the world is not so simple as your foolish father attempted to make it out to be."
"The Weak are killed by the Strong – this is how it always has been and always shall be," Esdeath informed him with steel behind her eyes. "The wolf eats the deer because it is the mightier; I crush armies under heel because I am simply the stronger. Dress it up however you wish, Naruto – those facts will never change no matter what."
The two people more akin to forces of nature than humans continued their stare-down until the both of them smirked and said to each other simultaneously, "You're still as stubborn as you were."
Esdeath loosened her grip and let him go with a soft smile on her face. "It is a shame that we must remain enemies, Naruto," she said to him. "Why not return to your former post – the current imbecile occupying it is utterly incompetent – so we might fight side-by-side once more and crush this pitiable Revolution with unstoppable force."
"Tempting offer but I'll have to decline," he refused flatly, eliciting a frown from her. "I will be the one that puts a blade through Honest for all that he did to me and my own."
"Then we shall remain enemies then," she concluded.
"We shall."
Esdeath paused for a minute before she used the card Naruto never expected her to bring up on her own, "Do you no longer claim to love me then?"
Naruto's chest ached at hearing her unintentional accusation but he didn't let it show on his face or through his body language. He took in a deep breath and reiterated, "I still love you, Esdeath, from the bottom of my heart, but you still don't understand just what I mean when I say that."
"No," she denied softly with a shake of her head. She placed a hand over her heart and claimed, "Ever since I met Tatsumi I believe that I finally understand just what love is, Naruto. It is a desperate longing to be with the one that belongs to you – a yearning to have them with you and at your side at all times. Tatsumi has only been away from me for not even a full day, yet my chest hurts so much that not even my most brutal torture methods have helped to heal it. I think I'm beginning to comprehend what you said you felt for me."
"Esdeath," Naruto informed her, "that's not love."
"But –"
"That's nothing more than mere affection," he told her evenly, making her stop. "Love is something that runs so much deeper that your everything is in crippling agony whenever you are unable to be with the one you love. As you are, Esdeath, you will never be able to have an inkling as to what my feelings for you are.
"Love is the inexplicable joy you feel when you see them. Love is wishing to see the one you care for succeed, and you work tirelessly to watch their dreams come true at long last so you can celebrate with them. Love is wanting, above all else, them to be happy – even if they're happier without you there. Love, Esdeath, completely consumes all there is to you all the way down to your very soul and never lets go.
"You weren't wrong when you called love a disease, Esdeath, because it's one that you can never be rid of unless you cut out your own heart. You can't love Tatsumi as you are, Esdeath, because of one simple fact: You're too selfish. To you, any sacrifice on your part is so ludicrous that it's utterly foolish to even consider." He then finished with a small hitch in his voice, "The proof that you love someone, truly love a person, is being willing to give up everything for them."
Both Esdeath and Chelsea looked at him with wide, stunned eyes after hearing his words. The faux-feline managed to shake off his words and meowed at him; he then reached down and picked her off of the table. Chelsea settled on his shoulder and nuzzled her head on his cheek while her throat rumbled in a deep, comforting purr.
"And you want to know the really funny part?" Naruto asked rhetorically as he stood up from his stool and turned away from Esdeath. "Even as messed up as you are I know you're actually capable of feeling that way; it just terrifies you."
The blue-eyed woman finally managed to shake herself out of her stupor and glared at him heatedly while she vehemently denied the notion, "I am scared of nothing, Naruto."
"No?" he chuckled ruefully. "We both know what happened that night so long ago, Esdeath; don't try and tell me that didn't terrify you – I saw it in your eyes." Esdeath was silent at his words and he continued on, "I did as you wished because I honestly believed all you needed was a little time to come to grips with what happened, but Honest's machinations ruined that for us."
Once Naruto reached the doorway Esdeath asked him calmly, "If you really believe everything you have just said then why are you doing all of this? Why choose to fight the person you claim to care so deeply for when you know they may well be the one that ends you?"
"Because a man can only bear so much heartache," he whispered. "We will remain enemies so long as you stand between me and Honest, Esdeath, and I will remove any obstacles standing between him and I with lethal force if need be."
Esdeath's eyes went icy at hearing his words and she hissed, "Do not presume that you may kill me at any time you choose, Naruto."
"And don't you think that I am incapable of doing the deed, Esdeath," he growled. "We both know which of us was the true victor two years ago, but this time I – won't – miss."
"Neither will I," Esdeath promised in the same cold voice.
Naruto flicked a pair of gold coins on the counter as he passed by and left the building. He traveled out of the Capital slowly, letting himself finally come to grips with the cumulative effects his actions will have.
The cat perched on his shoulder leapt to the forest floor and was covered by a sudden thick smoke. "Well that was certainly…interesting," Chelsea admitted as the smoke parted. "Although you know I'll have to report that you just probably compromised one of our members' identities to the enemy."
"Go ahead," he shrugged uncaringly. "I was going to tell Najenda everything anyway."
"Even the whole 'what is love' bit?" she slightly teased.
"Don't hurt me," he grinned at her. "I was going to leave out the poetic parts, but you can include 'em if you want. It's not like my feelings for her are an unknown anymore."
Chelsea held her hands behind her lower back and she leaned forward slightly and asked him, "So…are you going to fill me in on what your purpose to giving up the fact that you're still alive or not?"
"She and I already encountered each other while I was disguised," he answered while they walked, "but she knows my presence so well that it'd be impossible for her to not know that it was me. All I did today was confirm something that she already knew."
"Except now she'll report it to the Minister," the young woman informed him. "They'll have your poster back up before you can even blink after that."
The blonde chuckled once and scolded her, "I know Esdeath far better than that, and right now she doesn't want to have to try and chase me down; she won't tell Honest but she'll warn the Jaegers about me so that they know to flee if they ever encounter me without her around. Esdeath has always had a soft spot for those under her command, though she'd never admit it."
"Hmm," Chelsea hummed thoughtfully. "I've read every file that's on the General but I suppose personal experience trumps that."
"Good." Naruto then asked her, "So where are we headed now?"
A/N: Here ya' go, everyone. There's the final chapter in the introduction arc.
Not much to really say this time, so I'll just let you all go ahead.
'Night!