Broken Faith
Disclaimer : Don't own anything.
Chapter 5
Kisses and Flutes 1
Everything hurt like mad.
Her legs, her arms, her chest, her head.
Chigusa opened her eyes to see a dark ceiling.
She felt like the whole world was spinning around her when a dark blob appeared in her field of vision, she immediately focused on it. Anything to stop the spinning.
Yo… lu… d..e ….
"Wh…wha?" The blob seemed to be speaking and she tried to reply but her throat didn't seem to be working. but she couldn't hear what was being said properly until the blob seemed to glow blue and the pain receeded.
"You're lucky to be alive Chigusa-san." The blob she had seen solidified into a hand belonging a mercenary she had hired. Fate Averruncus. He was casting a healing spell of some sort.
Chigusa opened her throat to reply and barely managed a weak, "Wha…what happened?"
"We were set upon by some kind of demon when you almost successfully kidnapped the Eishun girl. In fact, if you weren't such a powerful mage you wouldn't be alive right now. Because a mage's barrier is proportionate to the mage's own power, your barrier stopped the sword enough that it just pierced you. Otherwise it would have bisected you in half completely."
The injured mage felt bile and fear rise in her throat at the near miss and Fate's very clinical and monotone voice that described her near death experience.
"You won't be able to move for at least one day, even with my advanced healing skills and affinity to water spells."
Chigusa could only nod, she needed information.
She needed to know what that demon was last night.
She needed to know how to avoid that thing.
Gesturing for something to write with since her throat seemed to be clamped up, whether from fear or pain is arguable, she ordered the rest of her team to put 3-A on surveillance. Especially that teacher and the Eishun girl since the demon seemed to be on good terms with them. Or at least it wasn't actively throwing a 6 foot hunk of metal at them.
Meanwhile she would have to check her archives and any source of information she had on demonology about demons that took humanoid forms.
Demons were notoriously finicky, some required the whole works, pentagram, candle, etc, before it would even deign to listen, some could be summoned through nothing more than a strong will and desire in a certain place. She was sure that something had happened last night to fit the summoning sequence, and she was desperate to avoid it.
*****Broken Faith******
It was early in the morning and a certain blonde felt like crap. Not only was his cover busted last night, using demonic youki when his body couldn't handle it naturally resulted in busted muscles and some old injuries reopening which didn't heal like it did in Konoha. Even worse, before he had gone on this mission, he was working with a theoretical glass wall of 40% of his max reserves since no matter how long he rested, it wouldn't go beyond that.
Now in Kyoto he was working with barely 30%, probably 25%.
Since the stupid tree wasn't around to drain him, the sword seemed to pick up the slack and drained him of almost everything he regained since last night. Right now he felt like he did when he was 12. Weak and useless.
He propped himself up on the wall of his and Negi's room. Negi had already gone downstairs for breakfast or something. Unsealing a first aid kit, he slowly spread a mixture of muscle relaxants and some other herbs on a gauze. Quietly the blonde tried to replace the bandages from last night and wrap the new gauze around his chest and back as well as his right arm, he had torn a few muscles when he threw that sword like a javelin last night.
He was still struggling when he felt a cool hand press itself on his back and pull the gauze from his fingers. Naruto stiffened, he hadn't noticed anyone coming in and berated himself for being careless. "Who is it?"
There was no answer for awhile other then the cool fingers busy wrapping the gauze around him when he inhaled the scent of oranges and chocolate and the tinkle of bells.
"Stop struggling, you're making it harder for me to do this properly."
Asuna.
Naruto snorted.
"Why didn't you tell us you would get hurt this badly because of that power?"
Naruto stiffened as the conversation he had with Asuna, Negi and Setsuna came to mind from last night.
Flashback
"What the fuck?"
"Keep it down rodent, the fire's already attracting attention, we need to get out of here before we talk."
The 3 younger ones looked at each other before nodding simultaneously. Naruto bent to pick up Konoka but was stopped by Negi and Setsuna, both of whom were looking at him warily and picked Konoka up themselves.
Inwardly Naruto sighed, he was expecting it, but it didn't diminish the pain every time it happened. Besides it would make cooperation harder. Outwardly he kept his face blank and he walked in front of the three girls and one boy in a gesture of faith.
A few minutes later they had avoided the gathering crowd and reached an alley nearby their hotel before Asuna, who had been characteristically quiet spoke up, "I think we're far enough, its time you tell us what happened back there? That…." Asuna seemed to have difficulty expressing the words, "That demonic feeling, that was you wasn't it?"
"Yeah."
Negi immediately drew his staff and pointed it at him in readiness while Setsuna tensed but didn't do anything outwardly. Her face as blank as the wall she was leaning against.
Asuna seemed to be undecided and struggling with something.
Naruto propped himself on the wall opposite the tense two while the third seemed to be having some sort of internal struggle. "In short, I'm not exactly a demon, but it gets technical enough that it doesn't matter, so I'm basically a half demon. When I get angry I lose control of myself a bit like you saw back there."
Negi spoke this time, his staff still unwaveringly pointed at Naruto while the ermine remained quiet but the expression on his furry snout showed that he seemed to know something the others didn't.
"What's a half demon doing in Mahora? More specifically in this class? Do you mean my students and I danger?"
Naruto shrugged, "I came from a human village, and I was exiled for being a half demon. I was wandering around lost and starving when the dean found me half dead. My being a bodyguard here is just so I can repay the debt of gratitude."
The blonde flicked a card out of his pocket, "If you don't believe me, this is a pactio card I made with the Dean, his name is the back of this card. Go ahead look for yourselves. The mask and trenchcoat you saw earlier are a part of the pactio."
Negi cautiously took the card from Naruto's fingers before glancing at it back and front with one eye, the other steadily trained on Naruto before passing it to Setsuna.
Once the card had made its rounds, Negi looked around to see if anybody was dissatisfied. Giving it back to Naruto, he lowered the staff, I'm sorry for being so harsh…..but I had some bad experience with demons…." Negi trailed off and Naruto didn't push, he didn't really care.
Setsuna on the other hand was still quiet, but there was a strange respect in her expression, and she seemed more friendly.
Asuna was still struggling with something.
Naruto waved his hand at the hotel behind them, you guys go back to the hotel and clean up, I need to set some seals to secure the perimeter. Negi nodded and smiled trustingly before dragging the girls along, one unconscious Konoka between him and Setsuna.
Naruto watched them until they were out of sight before he collapsed, the wall was his only support. He grimaced and lifted the black jacket he was wearing, thanking the gods that the male uniform was black, otherwise there would've been a truck load of fuss and trouble.
He was bleeding from the side.
Without Akane's consciousness sealed in him to regulate the Youki, using it went from 'painful but not dangerous' to 'potentially life threatening'. It was one reason he trained to hard to take down Madara, after Akane had been taken from him, he had lost the ability to use his Sealed Hatred form or Tailed Beast Shroud effectively, leaving him with nothing but the Rinnegan, the Totsuka no Tsurugi and his own wits.
He sat there for a few quiet minutes, before forming a few clones. With a few orders, the original started limping to the hotel.
End Flashback
"How did you know it was the power and not something else? And how did you even know I was hurt?"
It was Asuna's turn to snort, "You showed up from nowhere leaking that weird aura, curb stomped everyone on the opposite team, gave a speech and then threw a huge ass sword. They didn't even get near enough to scratch you and yet you're hurt like a truck ran over you. It's obvious isn't it? Oh and you were limping a bit yesterday night, so I figured, boys being boys, you were probably hiding the injury due to some stupid pride. Honestly, boys are so stupid."
Naruto glanced behind him to look at Asuna, "You've been practicing with that flute haven't you?"
Asuna gaped at him before blushing, "Wha-what does that have to do with anything?"
"One week ago, when I met you, you were nowhere as observant as you are now, plus it's easier to think nowadays isn't it?"
Even though she was behind him, and couldn't see it, she could almost hear and feel the smirk coming off the blonde in waves, causing her to glower at him uselessly.
"When you met me one week ago, I was half asleep!" Asuna replied with an indignant tone before poking one of his wrapped injuries
"Ow! Uhuh, keep telling yourself that," Asuna started poking his wounds again, a fire red blush on her face, "Ow!, Hey! That's mean! Stop it!"
Naruto lunged at Asuna and started to tickle her to stop her from poking his wounds.
"Bwahahaha, stop it! we're going to be late Naruto! Stop it!" Asuna rolled around on the floor trying to buck Naruto off so that he would stop tickling her.
After a few moments the two rolling on the floor came to a stop, faces flushed from laughing too much, unknowingly Naruto had one arm wrapped around her waist as they lay on the floor. Their faces so close Asuna could see the individual wrinkles and Naruto's piercing sapphire eyes up close. It saddened her to know that despite appearing to be carefree and laidback, the wrinkles told a different story of who Naruto truly was.
Without realizing it, she had lifted one hand to caress the whisker marks softly, causing Naruto's eyes to go half lidded and his arm instinctively brought their bodies closer.
She was so preoccupied with his whiskers that she almost didn't hear the soft question that showed her how vulnerable the blonde truly was, "Why aren't you scared? In all the ways that mattered, I'm a half demon. Even Negi and Setsuna was afraid of me."
Asuna blushed when the question snapped her back to reality and she averted her eyes from the piercing blue stare that pinned her down. Her voice was low and soft, but firm, "You promised to help me, Negi and Setsuna. I somehow knew you wouldn't break that promise. We're the Guardians of 3-A, remember?"
"Ah, that's a promise of a lifetime. If nothing else, then because of the faith of you showed in me last night, believe it."
Asuna giggled, and they relaxed in each other's arms.
Until It hit Asuna that the position their bodies were in was extremely close and extremely easy to cause misunderstandings and didn't she like Takahata-sensei?
Almost jumping out of Naruto's one armed embrace around her waist, she started straightening her clothes, her back to Naruto in order to hide the atomic blush she now had in her face.
What was wrong with her? She was acting like some fool with somebody she only met a handful of times.
She didn't see the disappointment that flashed momentarily across Naruto's face. Clearing her throat once she was done straightening her clothes she spoke to the prone blonde still lying on the floor, "I brought you breakfast, the busses leave to Nara in one hour, Negi is already downstairs getting ready. I'll see you later." she almost dashed to the door in her hurry to leave the embarrassing situation.
Nsruto was left in the dark, one hand lying across his eyes and gave a deep sigh and a strangled chuckle. He was being selfish, for those few precious minutes, she was in his arms, and it felt like Akane was with him again.
Like the time where he tickled and rolled in the meadows with her.
Asuna didn't deserve that.
Pushing himself up with his good hand he pulled the breakfast tray close and started to eat.
*****Broken Faith******
Once he was done he dressed into a pair of black slacks, a white shirt and a black undershirt with some difficulty before walking downstairs where he found Negi being mobbed by girls that wanted him to join their group for today's outing. Leaning against one of the pillars to soothe his stiff body, he stood back to watch the festivities and hyperactive girls jumping around with a slight smile. Until he felt a presence approach him from behind.
He glanced around to see the dark skinned tall girl. Giving her a nod of acknowledgement he continued to watch the girls pile into busses.
"We haven't been introduced, Mana Tatsumiya, seat 18 of class 3-A."
Giving the girl a small smile he replied in kind, "Naruto Namikaze, I think I'm seat 32."
There was an awkward silence although Mana didn't seem phased in the least before she spoke again, "Will you give us the honor of joining group 4 today?"
Jumping slightly at the sudden question, he mentally questioned, 'Honor?' with a quirked eyebrow before nodding. It didn't really matter which group he joined, he would have all the groups followed with a clone and a kunai anyway. "I don't mind, I don't have a schedule or official group to follow anyway."
Mana nodded as if him joining them was a given before answering, "Our bus is this way." Naruto gave another smile and a mock salute, "Hai, Mana-taicho." Before following the dark skinned girl.
He didn't see a red haired twin tailed girl look as if she had swallowed a lemon as he got on the bus with Mana and her group.
When Naruto got on the bus and met with Group 4, he had to silently wonder what Mahora fed its students. All of them apart for Makie and Ako had tall busty figures with pretty going on beautiful faces. Makie seemed to be pouting that it was just Naruto joining them instead of Negi.
"Yuuna Akashi, hajimemashite." A black haired girl with aside pony tail introduced herself with a bow.
"Akira Ocho, yoroshiku onegaishimasu," Another tall elegant girl with a pony tail and naturally curled brown hair.
"I'm Ako Izumi, I'm the girl that you met in the infirmary, I volunteer there sometimes," the shorter girl with lavender short hair introduced herself, and Naruto had a flashback to when Shizuna-sensei had asked for food from her.
"Makie Sasaki desu! I'm in the gymnastics club!" Naruto had to sweat drop at the sudden change in attitude. The girl was as bubbly and vibrant as her pink hair.
He gave all them a bow trying to ignore the stare coming from the dark skinned girl slightly behind him, "Namikaze Naruto, nice to meet all of you, I hope we get along well." Once all the introductions were done he walked to the back of the bus for some relaxation, quoting that he felt slightly unwell to stem the flow of questions from the bubbly girl, before they reached Nara.
Naturally Kami wasn't willing to let him relax.
The presence of Mana approached him again, and he felt her sit beside him. The continuous stare didn't help either and made him nervous. It felt like he was some bug being observed.
Giving a nervous chuckle he spoke to fill the weird silence, "Ca-can I help you? You're staring is making me nervous."
Mana took a look around to see the rest of the bus too engrossed in messing around to overhear them before turning back to the person sitting beside her, "I was wondering what kind of a person was the guy who dug himself out from under the World Tree like, and whether he meant my class and school any trouble."
"Oh."
Oh…
Naruto relaxed instead of doing otherwise, no point pretending if he didn't have to, "He doesn't mean anyone harm and just wants to live his life like a normal person, although I AM curious why a half demon, no offense, would go to a normal girl's school, wouldn't it make more sense to stay where you can learn things more appropriate to your talents?"
She wasn't the only one that could be blunt.
"Takes one to know one."
"Touche."
"My parents are here, that's all the reason I need, although I heard from the Dean that we might be working together sometime in the future. I look forward to it."
Naruto smiled, in her own way, the blunt girl had just offered him her hand in friendship. "Me too."
********Broken Faith*******
Naruto stretched once he got off the bus and trailed behind the two hyperactive girls named Makie and Yuuna. Mana was beside Naruto at the very back of the group, talking quietly, while Ako and Akira, the two more reserved member of the group followed slightly behind Makie.
"Heh, brings back memories." Naruto said.
Mana quirked her eyebrow in question, "Memories? I was under the impression you were buried under that tree for more than a thousand years, you probably don't even know about Japan, much less Nara."
"Oh I don't, it's just that back then, I had a friend. His clan name was Nara, and guess what they were famous for. Breeding deers." And killing people with their shadows but she doesn't need to know that.
"I see…. One of the things Nara is famous for is the Kasugayama Primeval Forest, the forest has been around for a very long time, I wouldn't be surprised if the influence of your friend's family has gone down in time through that forest."
Naruto stretched his back and took a deep breath of the air and felt a wide smile spread on his face, it felt nostalgic and peaceful for some reason, turning to Mana, "So what are the plans for today?"
The dark skinned girl quirked her lips, this was the first time she had seen the blonde so cheerful. It probably had something to do with the location so she didn't begrudge him his peace of mind. "At the moment, we are near the Kasuga-taisha, a Shinto shrine. Groups 1 through 3 are on the other side of Nara Park at the Buddhist temples. Everyone meets up for lunch at Nara Park before switching locations."
"Well? What are we waiting for, let's go!"
Mana gave another smile at his unusual exuberance.
Group 5 walked around, enjoying the scenery, and all of them enjoyed tea in a traditional atmosphere at the Tea Gardens of Nara Park, especially shy little Ako and tall Akira who seemed like a really formal princess with the formal backgrounds. Naruto silently thought that Chachamaru would have loved the tea served here. Quietly he bought several packages of tea for the gynoid and stored it in a seal. Then they walked through the Manyo Botanical Garden, admiring the huge amounts of colorful flora available. Even Mana seemed more relaxed. Makie and Yuuna went wide eyed and bounced around the garden. While they walked they occasionally bought some Shika-senbei to feed the tame deer that were allowed to roam freely around the grounds. At one point something weird happened.
Nara Park was filled with beautiful tame deer, completely at ease in the presence of humans, and there were various food stands along the paved walkways. Naruto gravitated towards the food, only to be stopped when he felt soft hands wrap around his arm, and begin to pull him towards the nearest group of deer. It was Makie.
As she hesitantly reached a hand out to stroke a nearby deer, a second and then a third soon surrounded them. Feeling a hard tap on the small of his back, Naruto fell forward slightly, and when he turned around he find one of the largest deer in the area. He lifted his hand to its head and the beast began to happily nuzzle his hand.
When the deer knocked Naruto forward, Makie tightened the grip on his arm and hid behind him, silently blushing at the hard muscles of Naruto's back. When the deer showed itself to be friendly, Naruto felt the death grip she held on his arm relax considerably. Seeing her distress, he told her "It's alright, they're not going to hurt you, they're probably just curious." She proceeded to follow his example, slowly sticking her own hand towards the beast's muzzle.
The deer gave Makie's palm an experimental lick, causing her to let out a small giggle. It seemed to much prefer Naruto though, continuing to try to lick and nuzzle his arm, causing him to laugh as it tickled his palm with its warm tongue.
"Hey, Naruto-san," Akira called, sounding a bit worried. He wondered why, but soon found out. Giving the large deer an affectionate pat on the head, Naruto turned to find himself almost surrounded by the furry animals. Feeling Naruto's arm tense up, Makie turned to investigate as well. When Naruto felt the grip on his arm increase to almost painful levels, he looked at the scared girl that was clinging to his arm. She was tense and obviously afraid of the multitude of deer. When he started to move, slowly and carefully through the herd, he felt Makie bury her face in his arm. Slowly and carefully, he made his way through the herd, which did nothing more than take occasional sniffs as he past.
Once he was free he let out a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding and made his way back to the rest of the group. Turning his attention to the girl who still hadn't opened her eyes, he got her attention with a tap on the head. When she looked up, he told her "Don't worry, its safe now." When looked, she did find them safe, the deer were no longer surrounding them and were just watching the two of them as they left, staring. Even so, Makie continued to cling to him until all the deer were well out of sight and finally allowed herself to relax.
Nonetheless, despite the relaxed and almost sacred atmosphere, Naruto never let his guard down and received mental reports from every one of his clones hourly. After the fiasco last night, he couldn't afford to let his guard down with his currently healing body.
They finally reached a path lined with stone lanterns, leading up to a great building decorated with many bronze lanterns and the entrance framed by many majestic torii gates.
Together the six of them walked up the path, until they reached the main courtyard. Inside the girls excused themselves to go the toilet while Naruto found himself leaning against one of the pillars and relaxing in the soothing and purifying atmosphere of the shrine when he found himself unexplainably attracted to one of the auxiliary shrines off the side of the main courtyard. Standing before the shrine with his hands in his pockets, he wondered what brought him here when somebody tapped his shoulders.
"You feel the great concentration of Natural energies around this particular shrine do you not?" startled by the tap and the words, Naruto spun around to meet an old lady wearing the traditional Shinto priestess costume and her gray hair decorated by wisteria flowers but her aura was as firm as steel and leaked peacefulness and wisdom.
Wary of the old lady, Naruto only nodded. "The relic this shrine is dedicated to is enshrouded in the Natural energies, that's what brought you here, whether you knew it or not. Silently this relic has protected our shrine for generations and I'm not surprised that it drew you here. Sages are rare in this time and age, and a Sage as attuned to the Natural energies of our world as you are is nothing short of a miracle.
This caused Naruto to relax, if she could see that he was a Sage, she would not mean him harm. Turning back to observe the shrine again, he replied, "How did you know I was a Sage. It's been a long time since I met a true Sage, and even longer since my mentor taught me the ways of a Sage."
"I see…. How is your mentor?"
"He…he passed away a long time ago."
"… I mourn for your loss…."
The silence stretched for a while but it was comfortable before the miko spoke again, "Would you like to see the relic?"
Surprised, Naruto stared at the Miko, "Is that even allowed?"
The old lady chuckled, I'm the current guardian of the relic, and I know you will not harm me or the relic, if you promise not to tell I can show you," the old lady gave him a wink as though sharing a secret with him. Naruto could only smile, "I would love too."
The old lady bustled in front of the shrine, her back hiding whatever it is in the wooden hut but when she turned around Naruto felt his knees go weak and tears sprung from his eyes.
The old lady only smiled as if she was expecting this reaction but Naruto didn't notice, too focused was he on the scroll that he was intimately familiar with, the scroll that Jiraiya once carried before it was passed down to him after his death.
The Toad summoning Scroll.
He had left this with the Toads before he set off to the last battle, not willing to leave it in the hands of Konoha where any number of unworthy people could abuse it. He had no idea how it found its way back into this dimension but he was not complaining.
One hand reached out to gently caress the scroll, before in a flick of his hands he unrolled it, causing the priestess to gasp. No one had ever been able to open the scroll and unknown to most, the methods of doing so was only passed down from master to apprentice. Naruto flicked the scroll open in a fluid motion, spreading the thick parchment for him to see. Swiping the tears from his eyes so that he didn't damage the scroll he gently ran his hands along the long dried ink that contained names of past summoners when he stopped at the last three names.
'Jiraiya Otsuka'
'Minato Namikaze'
'Naruto Uzumaki'
Naruto couldn't help it. The blonde sobbed. Against all odds, a piece of his past had returned to him. One that wasn't tainted by betrayal.
He felt himself being embraced by gentle arms and the scent of wisteria as the old miko allowed the young sage to cry on her shoulder.
He didn't know how long had passed but he finally got a hold of himself. Blearily he smiled at the old lady, "I don't know how to thank you, but you gave me a piece of my past back to me," His smile dropped, "Obaa-chan, I know I can't take this thing out of here, but I need a favor."
The old miko just smiled, "Go ahead, from what I can tell, this probably belonged to your ancestors anyway."
Naruto didn't bother to correct her, it wasn't technically wrong anyway, biting his thumb, he elegantly wrote the new name
'Naruto Namikaze'
The old lady only quirked her eyes at the name and the similarity to the last two names, Naruto thought she was smiling because she thought her assumptions that it belonged to his ancestors were justified.
Rolling the thing up again, he gently placed it back in the old lady's hands and stood up. Once the scroll was safely back in the shrine he gave a watery smile in thanks to the miko.
"If you ever need anything, money, or even just someone to have tea with, throw this knife on the floor and I'll know." And Naruto placed the kunai into the old priestess's hands. The old lady just smiled as if she knew something he didn't, putting the kunai into her clothes before the old lady cupped the blonde's cheek. "Young man, you maybe the most Natural energy attuned Sage I have ever seen, but despite that, despite the strong front you put up, this old lady isn't blind yet, and I can easily tell that you are weighed down, chained by your own regrets. Your weakness right now, is all of your own making, and only you can release yourself. If nothing else, listen to this old lady, and learn to forgive yourself before it's too late."
Naruto only looked strangely at the miko but promised to think about her words and left to rejoin the girls who had to be wondering where he was feeling surprisingly refreshed, purified and lighter than he had felt since he had left Konoha.
When he looked back over his shoulder to wave goodbye, the old priestess wasn't there anymore.
*******Broken Faith*******
He found the girls hanging around the shrines, making wishes with the Emas hanging there while waiting for him.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully and Naruto was thankful for the absence of the Monkey using lady from the night before. Although he was amused when one of his clones sent a report about a confession from Nodoka to Negi shortly before everyone met up for lunch as well as the conspiracy by the rest of Group 5 to let them be alone. In fact, the whole ride back to the hotel, Naruto was amused to note a continuous blush from Nodoka who was being teased by the green haired girl and the really long twin tailed girl whereas Negi sat at the front of the bus looking like his brains had been bombed and fried.
He took an early dinner and quietly preparing proximity clones all around the hotel before going off to relax in the hotsprings, unknowingly missing the commotion between Negi and the rest of 3-A about his confession as well as allowing Group 4 to join and share gossip with the rests of their classmates about the hunky blonde that had just joined their class. Makie especially had a lot to say about his muscles.
******Broken Faith*****
Elsewhere the dark skinned Mana had separated from the rest of her group to join Kaede, the slit eyed ninja and Setsuna the swordswoman.
She raised an eye at Setsuna, the observation of Naruto was only between her and Kaede, how did Setsuna come to know about this? Nonetheless her thoughts were derailed by Kaede, "So? What is our new classmate like?"
"Bipolar."
"Oh?" Mana knew without elaboration that Kaede wanted more information.
"After his display on the train when he was first introduced, we took him for a loner, but during the outing he assimilated himself pretty well into the group and was accepted easily, he was also cheerful and exuberant."
"I see….. what about his skills? We already know he can use Ki."
Mana shook her head, "I couldn't find any signs that showed he was a warrior other than that singular display, he works out and has toned muscles, but his limbs lack any sort of calluses to show dedication to martial arts. Although I have to say throughout the trip, despite him seeming to be cheerful and laidback, his eyes were continuously surveying the surroundings." She left out the fact that Naruto was a half demon as well. That was a secret between the two of them alone.
For the first time since the meeting, a thoughtful Setsuna spoke up, "No, even if he doesn't look it, I know he is good at fighting. At worst he is probably out of practice since he was dug out from under the World Tree."
"I hadn't thought of that." Mana admitted.
Setsuna went on to outline what happened the night before and the skills Naruto had displayed but left out the fact that Naruto was a half demon as well. She knew better than most about the stigma of being demonic ancestry and it wasn't her secret to tell.
Once her tale was done, Kaede eyes were slitted even more in thought, but Mana didn't seem to be affected and couldn't care less.
They were silent for awhile, pondering new information before Setsuna got up, "Now that you know about the situation, can I count on your back up if things get bad?"
Mana and Kaede glanced at each other, "Usual rates?" Kaede nodded and Setsuna thanked them before leaving.
Once Setsuna had gone, Kaede looked at Mana again and inquired about something that had been nagging her senses from the beginning, "What are you hiding from me?"
Mana blushed and Kaede's eyes widened, she had never seen Mana blush in the 3 years she had known the mercenary.
"For nearly half an hour, Naruto somehow evaded all my senses and I was unable to track him at all while we were at Kasuga-taisha." Kaede nodded in realization, the blush that surprised her wasn't because of Mana was attracted, no, Mana was inordinately proud of her skills, and for a target to avoid her for so long, especially since he probably didn't even leave the premises probably wounded her pride.
"Do you think it is a skill he has?"
"No….. this felt different. Something else was actively hiding his presence from me, some sort of fog obscured all my senses whenever I got even a hint of his presence. Despite that, it felt natural, not artificial or manmade at all. He had nothing to do with it, I doubt he realized it himself at the temple."
"I see…. So what do we do?"
"Nothing, as far as I can tell, he doesn't mean anybody harm, and he was hired by the Dean to be a on-site bodyguard whenever we can't make it since we are still students. He has no such obligations."
"Very well….. Shall we go for dinner?"
Mana agreed before they left in silence, wondering about the blonde enigma.
*****Broken Faith*****
Naruto smirked when he saw who had just joined him in the hot springs but it seemed like the red head was so preoccupied he hadn't even noticed Naruto.
Inching his way beside the 10 year old, he smacked the boy's back causing him to topple over into the hot water and laughed as the boy spluttered.
"What are you doing Naruto-san!"
"Nothing… nothing… just playing around." The blonde stated before giving him another knowing smirk.
When Negi saw the smirk he felt a shiver crawl down his spine.
"So….. did you kiss her?"
Negi toppled into the water again, this time by himself and another round of laughter came from Naruto.
When Negi finally dried his eyes, he pouted at the older blonde, although he did note that Naruto seemed different…. somehow. More relaxed and open.
Said blonde finally finished laughing and patted the younger boy's back before they both settled into the water and relaxed.
"Neh… Naruto-san… have you ever been confessed to before?"
Naruto cocked his head in thought for a while, "Four times. No wait three times."
The fourth time…. was rather weird.
Flashback
Naruto had been training in his mindscape, shortly after Pein had demolished Konoha. Nagato had passed down his will of fire to achieve peace to Naruto and Naruto was determined to bring that dream into realization but he was candid enough to admit he didn't have the strength to achieve that dream yet. Hence why he was training so hard.
Once he was done he slumped down under a Sakura tree to relax. Until he noticed his mindscape's usual occupant was missing from sight. 'Meh, whatever.' He had thought and proceeded to relax. He was so relaxed that he nearly jumped into the air when he realized a pair of ruby red eyes were staring at him from a distance measured in inches. He had fallen back on his rump, rubbing his chest where his heart was beating at super speed. The reason his heart was beating so hard? He was honest enough to admit to himself that he had dreamed of having the owner of those red eyes close to him ever since he was 14, but never made a move because he didn't think he was worthy enough.
I mean, he was a 14 year old brat that loved ramen and could barely support himself. Much less another person, how was he to confess anything to a Demon Lord? The most powerful one at that. He was content to watch her beauty and grace from a far. As long as she stayed with him, even if he could never hold that ethereal beauty and grace in his own arms he would not regret it.
Once he had calmed down enough from the sudden shock he realized that she hadn't said anything, and just stood there watching him with a weird expression on her face. Warily getting up, he approached her slowly, he had learnt from experience, getting her riled up was a very bad idea, especially since his first meeting with her when Jiraiya threw him down the ravine wasn't exactly pleasant.
She had a temper when she was surprised or when she just woke up.
Who knew the Demon Lord Kyuubi no Kitsune wasn't a morning person?
Waving his hands in front of her face slowly, he asked, "Akane? You alright?"
The Demon Lord just swatted the hands away from her face and continued to watch him with that realllly weird expression. And it was official, Naruto was starting to get creeped out.
When she finally reacted, it definitely wasn't what he expected, although he admitted he never regretted it.
She had grasped the front of his coat and lifted him off the ground aggressively and smacked him against the tree, surprised, shocked, and confused were just a few of the feelings running through him at the moment.
She then thrust her face directly in front of his and asked in the lowest, most threatening voice she could manage, "Do you like me?"
Naruto paled, how had she found out, he was doomed. She would get offended because a nobody like him dared to have feelings for her, hence the sudden aggressiveness, so he did what any rational man would do in face of beautiful woman asking if he had feelings for her. Deny deny deny. Then run away with his tail between his legs. "Hu-huh?
"Do. You. Like. Me?" she emphasized every word by smacking him into the tree.
Naruto gulped, it looked like he wasn't going to get away, internally he was saying his last rites and prayer, 'Good bye kaa-san, sorry I couldn't have those grandchildren you wanted soooo much….'.
Externally? "Ye-ye-yes?"
The woman just continued to stare at him, that same weird expression was there again. Then she kissed him as hard as she could.
Hours could have passed and Naruto wouldn't know any better, he was currently on Cloud Nine with a Do Not Disturb sign.
Once she had let his lips go, a dazed Naruto could only slump back onto his butt and watch the Demon Queen stalk away in confusion.
It wouldn't be till a year later when he realized the reasons for her actions. She was a beautiful woman and powerful beyond belief, but the one thing that was most important to her was pride and dignity. Due to her pride, she couldn't bring herself to confess to him, hence she made him confess to her.
And people say men are weird.
It would take another year before Naruto successfully coaxed the reason she suddenly flipped like that, not that he was complaining. Apparently the Demon Queen had felt threatened by Hinata's confession during Pein's attack and decided to stake her territory before the 'Bug eyed girl tried to take her stuff'.
Naruto had laughed, and then decided that was the wrong thing to do when she proceeded to kick his ass six ways to Sunday.
Naruto had learnt the hard way that when they were dating, Akane was a VERY mellow and affectionate person when she had someone attentive to her needs. That all went down the drain when you pissed her off though. And one sure fire way of doing that was to hurt her pride.
End Flashback
Naruto smiled softly at the good memories and Negi could only smile along when he saw the soft smile. Despite being exiled, Naruto had good times, and that was all that was important.
Then reality cashed in and he started getting nervous again. When Naruto saw the boy getting anxious he just patted the kid's head like an older brother would for his little brother. "You're still 10 years old Negi, I won't say you are too young or not, but I will say this, right now, if you have feelings for her, then go for it, better to have had, then to never have at all, but be sure it is the real thing." A flash of red hair and crimson eyes passed in his mind's eye, "If you rush it right now, and you weren't sure that it was the real thing, it will only crumple beneath the pressure of the world's expectations of the two of you, causing even more pain for the both of you."
"On the other hand, If you don't, then tell her because stringing girls along and playing with their feelings is the one of the most despicable things a guy can do."
Naruto just shrugged, "I'm not exactly the best role model when it comes to these things so that's all I can say." Then he looked down to see Negi's big round tearful worshipful eyes and he had to sweat drop.
"Naruto-niisan… that was the wisest thing anyone ever said to me!" the younger boy said before he lunged at Naruto in a bear hug causing the both of them to overbalance and nearly fall into the water.
Naruto just laughed at the boy stuck to him and patted his head affectionately. Once he had regained his balance.
Unfortunately they were both distracted from their male bonding by the sound of the door opening.
Both of them snapped their heads up to see a blurry form moving through the steam.
Negi blushed bright red while Naruto simply arched a questioning eyebrow.
"Shi-shizuna-sensei?" Negi managed to choke out before he noticed that Naruto had once again retreated into his cold slightly distant persona. Before he could question the blonde though, the green haired nurse of Mahora had already approached him apparently ignoring the other occupant of the baths.
"Arara? Negi-sensei? You did a great job today! Do you want me to wash your back as a reward? 'Shizuna' spoke with the gentle yet cheerful tone that was typical of her.
Negi went red, stuttering nonsense, causing 'Shizuna' to gently laugh.
The 'nurse' knelt beside the small boy who was hunched over his privates and whispered into his ear, "Uhuhu, the truh is Negi-sensei… I know your secret….You are…a MAGE right?"
Negi stiffened in shock at Shizuna-sensei. In his surprise he had completely forgotten that Shizuna was already aware of the magical world.
Naruto stifled a snort, he had suspected but what the woman said just confirmed it. Still…. It wasn't his problem and watching Negi get riled up was a very entertaining pastime.
The person posing as Shizuna put a finger at her chin in a cute and thoughtful pose but her tone was seductive, "I…want to see your magic Negi-sensei…will you show me?"
"Eeehh? I-I can't do th-, Boing 3" Negi tried to object loudly but before he got any further he was cut off by 'Shizuna stuffing his face between her melons.
"Neee~ee, don't be such a prude, show me please?"
When Negi got free from her breasts, instead of replying he had a confused look on his face, "Ano… I know it's rude to ask, but did your breasts get smaller Shizuna-sensei?" Negi asked.
"W-What? I'm the fourth largest in the class you know!" 'Shizuna' shouted. "I even let you touch them!"
"Fourth largest in the class? Who are you!" Negi demanded.
"I've guessed you've figured it out. One moment I'm a big breasted teacher and next I am the breaking news reporter! My true identity is 3-A's seat 3, Kazumi Asakura!" She grabbed her wig and threw it off, to reveal the red haired teen, without the ponytail.
"Gaaah! Asakura-san!" Negi shouted in surprised
"This is bad Negi! She found out! We have to erase her memory!"
Right. Ras tel" Negi started.
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold your horses," Kazumi said holding up a phone. "Make one move towards me, all I have to do is press the send button and all your secrets will be revealed to the world through my home page."
"Eeeeh? This is bad Aniki! If that gets out, you'll be turned into an ermine!" Chamo shouted but was ultimately ignored.
Negi started tearing up and tried to plead with the reporter, "Wh-why are you doing this Asakura-san?"
"Huhuhuh, it can't be helped, this is a big scoop, and I need your help to achieve my global ambition of worldwide recognition! Think about it, with a discovery of a real mage, interviews, magazines, newspapers, ALL of those will come crawling to my feet" the reporter declared loudly."
"Bu-but I don't want worldwide recognition! Hawawaeuuuu!"
Naruto shook his head, Negi was close to snapping and it wasn't funny anymore. Watching him get riled up was one thing, watching him cry was another. He waded forward unnoticed by the maniacally laughing red head reporter and Negi, bringing one fist down on his head, caused both of them to shut up and Negi to stop crying.
The reporter had immediately jumped back out of the pool, she berated herself for not noticing the blonde was in here as well the whole time, but it was unavoidable, she had been to focused on her homeroom teacher.
On the other hand, while Negi tearfully rubbed the new lump on his head, Naruto just gave him a lopsided smirk, "You calmed down yet, Chibi?"
"Awaawa….. I can't be a teacher anymore…. What am I going to do Naruto-niisan?"
"Tch, just relax." Naruto said before giving him a wink.
He swiveled to face the naked reporter who was still berating herself internally, or at least she was until she noticed Naruto making his way towards her.
"St-stop, you heard me, Negi is a mage! If you let me go, I'll share profits among the three of us equally!"
"I don't really care about money….." he put on his most sadistic smile, "but I really don't like people that profit at the expense of others."
When he didn't stop, Asakura tried to punch in the orders to her cellphone, only to hear a 'Thwip" and a 'Smack' and her cellphone wasn't there anymore.
Frantically looking around for her only lifeline she saw it embedded in the wall with some sort of knife piercing it.
She almost started wailing on the spot at the loss of her cellphone and big scoop when she turned around and saw that Naruto was a few feet from her, the sadistic and malicious smile causing her body to freeze up in fear. The way he walked was like a predator and she knew what was the prey today.
Forcing her body to move, she started edging away from the predator that she knew was going to hurt her until she felt something bump her back, desperately swinging around she realized that the blonde had backed her into a corner, when she turned back around it was too late and Naruto was right in front of her.
The blonde immediately grabbed both her arms and pinned them above her, she never felt more fear in her life. "Wha-what do you want?"
Naruto didn't reply but just stared at her and the reporter, despite her situation felt very self conscious that she was currently naked, and pinned to a wall by an almost naked blonde. The grin returned, this time there was a hint of lust and Asakura honestly didn't know if she was more afraid or turned on by the situation. The blonde lowered his head to her ear and whispered in her ear with a husky tone, "Next time you want to play with the big boys, make sure you're prepared to lose everything….." the blonde nipped her neck and the red head almost moaned at the feeling of his teeth piercing her, "Now….. what kind of a punishment a bad girl like you deserves? Hmmm?"
This time she felt the blonde run his tongue up her neck and when she felt an even harder bite on her neck, the combination of fear and sexual desire became too much and her fuse broke and Naruto was left holding an unconscious reporter.
The blonde gave a loud laugh and carried the reporter over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes before tossing her on Negi. "Do what you want with her, but tell her if she tries to force you to do anything you don't want, I won't let her off with just a simple bite."
From start to finish, Negi was silently gaping at the blonde. Even when he tossed the girl on to him, even pinned under the fainted reporter he was STILL gaping at Naruto.
Chamo's declaration after Naruto had left pretty much summed up his thoughts.
"My hero!"
And then the ermine proceeded to worship the place where the blonde had last stood.
****Broken Faith*****
After Asakura had woken up with a red and dazed face, Negi had explained his situation and the law on Magical Secrecy before getting up to leave, "Oh, and… I don't get it but Naruto-niisan says if you try to force me to do anything like that again, he won't leave you with just a bite," Negi finished with a sheepish chuckle and left the hot springs. Although he did wonder why Asakura looked so red at that last sentence.
When the rest of 3-A trooped in 10 minutes later they found Asakura sitting in the exact same pose Negi had left her in, with a smile torn between horrified and goofy as well as a lobster red face.
*****Broken Faith*****
"So do wehave a deal?" Chamo asked the red head.
"Of course we do," Kazumi smirked. "When do we start operation X?"
"Why tonight of course!" Chamo puffed from his cigar. "We have a lot of planning to do. Nyohohoho!"
*****Broken Faith******
"Someone found out about you being a mage!" Asuna shouted. "And of all people Asakura!"
"Y-yes…" Negi sheepishly replied, "Bu-but its ok! Naruto-niisan took care of her and now she promised she won't do anything anymore!"
"Naruto? What does he have to do with this?"
Before Negi could answer Asuna's question they were interrupted by the reporter in question.
"Hey Negi-sensei!" Kazumi greeted as she came into the room, surprisingly with Chamo on her shoulder.
"Asakura?" Asuna sighed, "Try not to pick on Negi so much ok? He's just a kid."
"Pick on Negi? What are you talking about?" Asakura asked. "And speaking of that, don't you hate kids?"
"Aniki, reporter-nee-san is on our side now!" Chamo cheered.
"That's right. Chamo here convinced me to turn over a new leaf. So from here on out I am your agent if you need me," Kazumi said.
"Really?" Negi shouted gleefully.
"Yup. I'm even going to give you back the negatives," she explained handing over an envelope with pictures inside.
Asuna sweat dropped at the sudden change in attitude, 'Whatever Naruto did to her, he really did a number. She's even being nice enough to sacrifice her negatives...' she suddenly felt she had swallowed another lemon.
Ignorant of the problems Asuna was currently facing, Negi was delighted. "Thank you so much! This makes me lose one problem," Negi cried tears of joy.
"What's going on Negi-sensei?" Ayaka asked with the rest of 3-A behind her.
"I was just improving my relationship with Asakura-san!" Poor poor naïve Negi.
"That's right, hihihi." Asakura said while cuddling Negi's head to her bosom, causing Ayaka and Makie to burn with anger but before they could say anything they were interrupted by Nitta-sensei shooing them to bed and reprimanding Negi for being so soft to his students.
Setsuna laughed sheepishly from the sidelines before prompting Asuna to join her on patrol, although the twin tailed girl seemed to be simmering about something before she seemed to think about something, spinning to face Setsuna she asked the swordswoman what was bugging her, "Have you seen Naruto? I haven't seen him since dinner."
"Oh, Naruto-san already went to bed after dinner and bathing. Earlier he told me that he was still tired from last night so he would leave security up to his clones. They're already all around the perimeter and we only need to tell anyone of them if we have a problem and it'll know what to do."
Unseen to the swordswoman, disappointment flashed across Asuna's face before confusion appeared. Confusion at exactly why did she feel disappointed that Naruto would not be on patrol with them. Shaking herself at the needless thoughts she squared her shoulders and set off for patrol with Setsuna.
Meanwhile, Groups 2 and 4 were holding a pillow fight. Groups 3 and 1 were telling scary stories and Group 5 was discussing the events of the confession made by Nodoka, or at least they were until Nitta-sensei, attracted by all the noise immediately threatened all of them with squatting in the halls the whole night. Needless to say everyone of them went quiet and were about to obediently go back to bed.
Or at least they were until Asakura made her appearance.
"Well, well, well, it seems like that could have went better…" Kazumi trailed off from out of nowhere.
"Where were you the whole time you coward!" Ayaka said.
"It doesn't matter where I was hiding the whole time. But it would be a waste of time if tonight ended just like that isn't it Iincho? So I got a suggestion, how about a little game?" Asakura continued coyly.
"I won't allow this sort of thing," Ayaka denied the request.
"What kind of game would it be?" Fuuka asked her fellow red head, ignoring the fuming Iincho.
"Let's just call it…. 'War of the Lips'. A game to get a 'Love-Love Kiss' with Negi-sensei during the school trip~!"
"Eh! A kiss with Negi-sensei!" half the class shouted.
"Hey, hey, quiet down, we don't want Nitta finding out about this do we?" Kazumi warned them. "The rules are simple. Every group will choose two representatives. Those two will wander the hotel looking for Negi-sensei and try to get a kiss from him as well as dodging any of the other teachers. You can sabotage other teams if you want to, but you can only use pillows to do so. There are wonderful prizes for the winners but if you get caught you will have to squat until morning without telling Nitta about the game even if you die."
"What's the wonderful prize you talked about?" Fuuka asked.
"What about Naruto-kun?" Misa asked. "Can we go after him if we want to?" Several girls heads turned towards Misa as if she was mad. Kiss him after that display on the train? Although a certain few didn't seem to object to the idea. Then they swiveled their heads to stare at Asakura.
Her reaction caused a few of them to get puzzled reactions.
Her face had gone red, but she looked over her shoulders as if he would pop up from the shadows of the room with a nervous look on her face until she noticed the rest of the class staring at her.
Composing herself she replied to Misa.
"Sorry but this game is dedicated to Negi-sensei. You won't get a prize from kissing Naruto-k-san," Asakura caught her slip up at the last second, her body couldn't seem to make up its mind whenever the blonde was mentioned. Some of the girls pouted but agreed nonetheless.
"So what do you say Iincho?"
When everyone in the class turned as one to look at the blonde female, they were surprised to see her still fuming. In fact, she seemed to be so angry her shoulders were shaking and her eyes were obscured by her hair. At least they thought she was angry until she started walking towards Asakura who started to look as if she was regretting her idea.
"As class president I…" Ayaka said with her hair covering her eyes. "I wholeheartedly approve." Her face was a bright tomato red when she agreed.
Everybody cheered.
"Okay, okay, all groups must tell me their representatives by 10:30. The game will start at 11!" The rest of 3-A cheered again. She walked away and Chamo appeared from within the vest of her uniform. "That went really well. Everything is going according to plan! Nyohohoh!"
"Just what I expected from you onee-chan. My diabolical plan to get more of these," Chamo held out three pactios (two mistake pactios and Asuna's) "will finally come to fruition, ohohoho~"
"So these are the wonderful prizes huh?" Asakura inquired.
"Hai Negi has the originals but I made these using my magic so his partners could use them. I've set up a magic circle around the hotel. So if anyone kisses aniki we will be able to establish a contract immediately. And since these are 50,000 ermine dollar a card, when we sell them, we will be millionaires."
As the unlikely couple walked down the corridor giving creepy villains laugh they failed to notice a Naruto clone sitting outside under the windowsill with a large sweat drop and dead pan expression due to the stupid plan.
He was tempted to dispel and wake the original but then again, he was a security clone and this wasn't a problem at all. Besides he resented the original for being able to sleep while he and his brethren slogged throughout the night. It would be fun to see him wake up in the chaos.
The night was silent except a little perverted giggle from the clone.
******Broken Faith******
"Negi-sensei, we finished our patrol and I improved the barrier," Setsuna said to her teacher. "But I saw Chamo set up some sort of weird magical array outside."
"I wonder what is that perverted rodent up to?" Asuna said while glancing at her homeroom teacher.
"Ah, not so loud, Naruto is asleep in the next room. Anyway otsukare-sama, its my turn to go on patrol then." Negi replied as he got up, then he paused before making a face, "For some reason I get the feeling I shouldn't stay here or something."
Negi shivered as he said those words right then and Asuna noticed due to her motherly nature. "Negi did you catch a cold?" she asked before she shivered as well, "Now that you mention it I feel it too." Asuna said with a cold sweat running down her back.
"Yet it does not feel evil at all," Setsuna interjected. "Whatever the case maybe if you go on patrol, I'll give you these substitution stencils so that students wont panic if they find you missing."
"Substitution stencils?"
Before Setsuna could explain they were interrupted by the door slamming open and an entirely too cheerful Shizuna-sensei stumbled in.
"Negi-sensei! It's almost time to go to sleep!" Shizuna said as she opened the door to his room.
"Ah yes yes, I was about to got to sleep."
"Very well, we'll handle looking over the children. Please don't leave your room," Shizuna told him as she walked off. As she turned the corner she removed her hair to reveal Kazumi.
"Hurry up nee-sama." Chamo shouted.
Kazumi gave an evil cackle before she announced, "Let the games begin!"
******Broken Faith******
Author Notes
This was actually already half done before my exams ended, so I figured why the hell not? After all I haven't updated this in a while and thus decided to give my readers a treat rather than wait the prerequisite 2 weeks for another update.
Finished this as of 5 am, 8th of December.
'Brown desu.' - means the same as 'Watashi no name wa Brown desu' but is more colloquial, way less formal, much easier to remember and will not get you into trouble.
'Hajimemashite' - means 'Hello, I am pleased to make your acquaintance' and you only use it the very first time you meet unless you want to break the ice by being a comedian
'Yoroshiku onegaishimasu' – very formal way of introducing oneself.
Shika Senbei – Deer crackers.
Torii – Shinto shrine entrances, usually said to separate the mundane world form the world of the Gods.
Otsuka – the surname of Jiraiya's seiyuu.
Otsukare-sama – a way of saying, 'good work.' In an informal setting.
Do Note, I NEVER directly said that Naruto IS a half demon, just that in all the ways that mattered it made no difference. One of my reviewers didn't like a half demon Naruto, in my defense I never said he was half demon, you just assumed he was because I had him grow claws. Even in canon Naruto grew claws when he used youki.
The Buddhist temple where Negi and Nodoka were playing around at is the Todai-ji. A Buddhist temple. The shrine in this story is the Kasuga Shrine, or the Kasuga taisha, a Shinto shrine dedicated to Takemikazhuchi-Ou, Futsunushi, Ame no Koyane and Himegami. Both Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi are related to swords and lightning btw.
Credit to Ashaman of Fire and his Kitsune on Campus, I took some parts as well as research done by him, although I think there was a part in his fic where he mistook Buddhist temples for the Shinto Shrines.