Broken Faith 6.
Disclaimer : I own nothing, Naruto, Mahou sensei Negima, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Gundam Seed. None of them even remotely belong to me. A very very very distant cousin? Maybe. But not me.
Kisses, Flutes and a Ninja's trickery 2
Authors Note: I have decided that the official theme for this whole fic is the Gurren Lagann OST – Libera Me from Hell.
Soundtracks in the fic
Gurren Lagann – Libera Me from Hell.
Gurren Lagann – No helping it, I'll just suck it up for One hundred and Twenty Seconds
Gundam Seed – Fly Freedom
****Broken Faith****
'Beep beep' the clock struck 11 and a red haired reporter declared the games to begin, along with a perverted rodent cheering silently from beside her.
"The "Negi-sensei, Love love Kiss Operation" is beginning! Bringing this to you live is Asakura Kazumi the beautiful reporter of the Newspaper Club! Currently Teams 2, 3 and 4 are approaching rapidly! Will we be seeing a skirmish soon? I hope so!" the repoter shouted into her microphone excitedly.
*****Broken Faith*****
Elsewhere, ignorant of the excited chattering and shouts of support from their classmates, a blonde haired girl was busy arguing with another girl, this time a red haired one wearing round glasses as they both stealthily crept down the dark hallways of the hotel their class was staying in.
"Neh neh, iincho, you sure I can't go back to the room?" the red haired girl whined to her class president.
"Chisame-san!, you give up too easily! Do you want Negi-sensei's lips to be violated?" the blonde girl argued back. "It's our job to protect his chastity!" the blonde said with a righteous flame alight in her eyes.
Chisame just sighed, "Its not like I care either way," she muttered under her breath so that the blonde girl couldn't hear her.
Suddenly just as they turned the corner Group 1's representatives Ayaka and Chisame bumped into Group 4, Yuuna and Makie.
Startled, all four girls were stunned for a moment before they let the pillows fly at each other, Makie and Ayaka scoring the first hit on each other while Chisame just casually tripped Yuuna. However before Group 3 could get the upper hand they were all attacked simultaneously by Group 2's Ku Fei. Kaede just stood back and laughed quietly, not bothering to join in the festivities. Meanwhile they were all being watched by the rest of the girls who had not joined the game from the TV and cameras set up by Kazumi in the safety of their own rooms.
It wasn't long before Ayaka found herself outnumbered and desperately turned to Chisame for help, only to find the red haired girl missing. Unknown to her, the closet cosplayer had already left, tiring of what she called a 'childish' game. Unfortunately for her she was caught by Nitta-sensei and forced to squat in the hall and the sound of Chisame being caught alerted the skirmish in the hall, causing all of them to immediately scatter in their panic with Ku Fei sacrificing Yuuna to escape Nitta the demon.
Ayaka just laughed sheepishly from a corner watching the two cying girls forced to squat in the hall by Nitta-sensei. Looking around she noticed that everybody else involved in the skirmish had scattered and only she was left in hiding in the corridor. Quietly shrugging she stealthily continued her way towards Room 304, the room where her precious Negi-sensei was supposed to be.
Makie the sole survivor of Group 4 was crying anime tears, she had forgotten where Negi-sensei's room was supposed to be and forgot to ask Yuuna before the start of the game.
Outside, unknown to the remaining members of Group 3, 2 and 4, Group 5's representative of Yue and Nodoka and taken the scenic route to avoid confrontation in the halls entirely. Unluckily once they reached the third floor's corridor a step ladder plonked down from an opening in the roof. Startled they both looked up to see the equally surprised faces of Group 1's representatives. Almost on reflex Yue bashed both of them on the head with her book stuffed pillows.
Quietly, Ayaka made her way to the third floor and witnessed Yue bashing the Fumika twins with books and pillows while her team mate Nodoka panicked on the sidelines. Laughing gleefully in her own head, she took advantage of the commotion and slipped into room 3 without the others noticing.
Once inside the dark room, she turned around to survey the battlefield. Taking a deep sniff of what she thought to be Negi-sensei's smile she gave a goofy smile and crept towards a room where one of Negi-sensei's suit was hanging. Quietly opening the shoji which divided the apartment between the hall, the entrance and two rooms she quietly looked in and saw a comforter completely covering a slightly snoring dark bundle on the floor.
Quickly the stalker… I mean the class president crept over to the bundle, internally smiling at the cute snoring of her Negi-sensei. She was kneeling right beside the bundle; her breathing heavy and ragged like those most would assume belonged to some kind of pervert, she clutched her hands to her cheeks and make squirming motions with a quiet "Kyaaa~". Unable to believe she was being so daring, her heart was hammering in her ribcage so loudly she was afraid the girls fighting outside would notice and a fire red blush spreading all over her face before she heard Ku Fei's voice. She figured that Kaede and Ku Fei had reached the third floor and was now fighting with Yue and the Fumika twins.
Composing herself, she steeled her resolve to do what she wanted before the rest of them came in. Her shaking hands slowly moved inch by inch towards one end of the comforter, ready to gently pull it back and 'Protect Negi-sensei's chastity.'
Unfortunately of course, for the blonde girl, before she knew it the bundle had suddenly exploded open and her world had turned upside down.
In a matter of seconds, she was trussed and tied like a piglet with a gag in her mouth and her body being used by a sleeping Naruto like a bolster with the comforter back on, covering both of them this time.
This time her heart was hammering for an entirely different reason, afraid that Naruto had woken up she chanced a glance back to where the blonde was hugging her from behind before she sweat dropped and silently fumed. The blonde idiot was completely asleep judging by the snoring and he was being an obstacle to her goal of protecting Negi-sensei's lips!
Quietly she tried to ignore the shivers running down her back at the breath caressing the nape of her neck and the warmth of Naruto's muscled body enveloping her which caused her to blush even harder by focusing her mind on Negi and only Negi.
It wasn't working for some reason. Every time she tried to think of Negi hugging her like her blonde counterpart currently was, the image suddenly turned into a flash of sunlight blonde hair and blue eyes.
Another shiver ran down her back.
Shaking her head to clear the…..bad thoughts she tried to struggle to get out of her bonds without waking up her male classmate only to fail as the idiot started nuzzling her neck, starting another round of pleasurable shivers. At the back of her mind she heard a quiet voice wondering what the heck caused Naruto to automatically tie up intruders in his bed.
****Broken Faith****
Meanwhile, in the proper room, Nodoka who had been pushed into Room 304 shortly after Ku Fei arrived in the skirmish between Yue and the Fumika twins was quietly blustering and blushing to herself as she approached what looked like a sleeping Negi. Inwardly she noted that he looked extremely cute without his glasses.
"Ne-Ne-Negi-sensei… I'm sorry it had to be like this… but I'm glad…Please let me kiss you," and she bent over, her trembling lips approached Negi's sleeping ones.
Then she noticed the sleeping Negi wasn't exactly sleeping and staring back at her.
So were the other four Negi-senseis.
'Fo-four Negi-senseis? Too-too much man meat,' her mind crashed and burned at being surrounded by her crush…. "…..HIIIIII! KYAAAAH!" and the shy lavender haired girl fainted with a thud.
The girls outside immediately stopped fighting at the scream and rushed inside to find an empty bed and a fainted Nodoka. While the others immediately gave chase to the missing Negi, Yue immediately went to her best friend's side.
****Broken Faith****
In the other room, blue eyes snapped awake at the scream. Disorientated and confused the blonde tried to move but his arms that were currently stuck and wrapped around his pillow caused him to falter when he heard a quiet gasp from his pillow.
'I didn't know pillows could gasp….' He glanced down at his pillow and his fuzzy mind struggled to comprehend why he had a tied up Iincho in his futon.
The two blondes stared each other silently for a few minutes before the male blonde sat up and pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand, "I don't want to know. I really don't want know. Next time you want to tell me you have a bondage fetish please do it where I can run away easier."
The female one trying and failing to reply due to her gag could only struggle and stare angrily at her classmate.
Sighing at the angry glare he opted not to free her in case she took that anger out on him and tried to ignore the commotion out in the hall and the other room which he could only assume was the result of Negi getting into another mess. He stood up, giving up the idea of getting more sleep entirely and picked up his jacket and made to move to the window before seeming to think about something before he glanced at the bondaged girl.
The blonde moved back towards her and covered the other blonde in his bed with his futon completely, nodding in satisfaction at his handiwork he leapt out the window.
Purposely ignoring the blonde who was tied up on his futon and appeared to be trying to send him telepathic messages which would most certainly include messages of her inflicting some obscure pain and torture on him judging by the muffled screams of rage.
****Broken Faith****
He stretched on the roof and took a deep breath of the fresh cold air before dispelling a clone to send a request for reports from his proximity clones only to sweat drop when he realised his clones were boycotting against him in their own way for sleeping while they did the work.
Muttering about idiotic clones he sat down and relaxed on the roof before going still and activating Sage Mode for a while to get his bearings over everyone under his charge.
Everything was silent save for the occasional bangs and muffled sounds from 3-A's game, those that weren't participating were in their room while he found an unlikely couple hiding in the AV room. The rodent and Asakura. He sighed, this mess was most likely their doing, he would let them have their fun tonight but made a mental note to….educate them tomorrow.
Setsuna and Asuna appeared to be in the hot springs while Negi was doing his patrol.
The last person made him quirk an eyebrow but he ignored it.
Sighing again he dropped his Sage Mode before pulling out his flute and caressed it gently with a finger, savouring the memories before putting it to his lips.
It felt fitting, after the visit to the shrine.
It felt like he was saying goodbye.
Play Gurren Lagann OST – Libera Me from Hell Instrumental
Under the gentle silvery moonlight one would be forgiven if they saw him and thought he was an earth bound ghost. The melody he was making with his flute was one of loss and mourning before coming to terms with that loss, while the moonlight gave his black clothes and glimmering blonde ponytail an ethereal grace as the wind blew around the blonde.
Silently he thought he heard the sound of a chain snapping, but didn't stop playing.
If one were to look properly, one would see that the wind wasn't blowing around the blonde, it was circling around him like a invisible, silent and gentle cocoon that resembled a mother's embrace.
****Broken Faith****
Asuna stiffened in the hot springs and looked up at the bright moonlit sky. "Is something wrong Kagurazaka-san?" the swordswoman beside her asked.
Shakily Asuna replied, "N-no… I just thought I heard something."
Setsuna frowned but didn't push the matter.
****Broken Faith****
This haunting moonlit scene was what Konoka stumbled into after having heard the haunting familiar melody and followed the sound till she climbed up onto the roof knowing exactly who was playing the melody. There was something she needed to speak to Naruto about.
She silently stood there and waited for the melody to finish since It didn't feel right to disturb the flute playing blonde.
It felt proper, like she was paying her last respects to somebody, but she didn't know exactly who it was. It just gave her that impression.
It was a few minutes later once the melody stopped.
They were silent for a few moments before the blonde spoke to fill in the silence, "You wanted to ask me something?"
Startled the brown haired girl tried to defend herself, "Ho-how did you know?"
Even though his back was to her, Konoka could literally feel the smirk coming off in waves from the blonde. "You don't have to act innocent around me you know. You, Konoka, are a very naughty girl. I knew that you weren't asleep the night I gave the flute to Asuna. I knew you were standing behind your door. I also knew you weren't exactly sleeping when you were kidnapped. Although I could only guess that the reason you didn't ask immediately ask Asuna and Negi about what happened and why they happened was because you wanted to trust them and let them tell you on their own schedule.
Hence the reason you are here, you knew you needed information to prepare yourself so you came to me, knowing I wouldn't care either way and could trust me to give you the truth without your friends knowing any better until they tell you. Am I right?"
Konoka huffed in indignation, "If you know me so well, why didn't you say anything earlier?"
The blonde shrugged, "It wasn't my problem. And you made a mistake, I promised your grandfather I wouldn't tell you anything because of a promise he made to your father."
Konoka's shoulder slumped, the blonde had been her last hope for unravelling this mess until the blonde spoke again. "Of course…. I promised I wouldn't say anything on my own volition, but I didn't promise NOT to say anything if you came to ask me on your own. Besides, given the way things are going, it's likely you would have found out everything by the end of this trip anyway. I'm just making sure you will be prepared and that makes my job easier."
Naruto didn't mention that he had been counting on that fact since last night and had been preparing himself for this conversation.
"So…you're going to explain to me what heck are Negi and Asuna?"
"Nope, I won't explain anything to you. I WILL answer any questions you ask though so be sure to make them the right questions."
Konoka silently pondered for a while before starting, "Those weird flashy things they can do? Is it really magic?"
"Yep, although Asuna doesn't really have magic of her own, she's just borrowing from Negi in order to protect her friends." The way Naruto emphasized friends didn't escape the observant brunette's notice. "What do you mean? Her friends are in danger? Who?"
Naruto looked directly into her eyes, "You."
And Konoka's breath hitched.
****Broken Faith****
"Good morning Iincho, did you have a good night's sleep?" The class president could only glower at the blonde in front of her at breakfast and was currently sporting a very wide smile
Furtively, she looked around to see if anybody had noticed them talking before stomping on Naruto's foot under the table, although it didn't seem to affect her adversary at all since that damned smile was still stuck on his face, before leaning over to whisper furiously at Naruto, "If you tell anybody what happened last night I'll kill you!"
Rather than looking cowed at all, Naruto just smirked before leaning forward and giving a very husky whisper in Ayaka's ear, "Oh I won't tell anybody you like bondage, but next time you want to sleep next to me, just let me know."
Ayaka failed rather spectacularly at hiding her equally spectacular blush and the sudden shiver, prompting another knowing smirk.
Failling to even ruffle his feathers she could only seethe and stomp over to join the rest of the girls who were collectively over the moon about the new 'collectible card' that Nodoka obtained as a prize for…kissing Negi. Konoka appeared to be sulking at not being able to participate in the games.
He had to give it to Konoka, she was one hell of a cunning actor.
Grabbing a toast he moved to join the rest of 3-A's Guardian Angels when he noticed them talking about last nght's….game and the resulting Pactio cards.
Approaching them from behind he gave a cursory "Yo." and smirked as all of them jumped, startled by his sudden presence. "What you guys doing?"
"Kinpatsu-sama!"
'S-Sama?the heck?' everyone there simultaneously thought as Chamo greeted his new hero before bouncing off Asuna's shoulder and started worshipping the blonde's feet. Naruto just raised one eyebrow before casually flicking the rodent off his feet, causing everyone who had been staring at the duo to sweat drop.
He deadpanned at everyone, "Make sure he stays away from me, I don't want to get infected by his pervert disease, I know he was with the red haired reporter last night probably orchestrating the game and getting his rocks off at the same time."
All the girls present blanched and glowered at the ermine, even shy quiet Nodoka, as it scurried over to Negi who just laughed sheepishly, and hid in his jacket, screaming "Help me Aniki!" the whole while.
"Anyway, what were you all talking about?"
"Just the Paction cards, now, Negi has two partners, although we haven't made it official with Nodoka-nee chan yet," a muffled voice replied from inside Negi's sweater.
"Yeah, Asuna-san just learnt how to summon her Hamanotsurugi on her own, hey wait, Naruto-nii san, you have a pactio card as well right?" Negi said.
"Yeah," Naruto replied before casually bringing out his own card and passed it to Negi who inspected it closer than he had the first time while Asuna peeked over his shoulder. "Naruto-nii san, can you bring out your pactio? I want to see it like Asuna-san's fan!"
"Errr… I'd rather not, it's too embarrassing and flashy to be using it outside of battle."
"Awww…. Please?" then Negi reinforced his pleas with his devastating puppy eyes. Naruto only sighed before agreeing, holding the card he incanted, "Adeat." A low flash lit the area caused everyone to avert their eyes before everyone took in the eye candy with a bit of awe.
Naruto was someone you didn't easily forget, tall and lean with piercing and sharp features that demanded fear and respect in equal measures which was tempered by his laid back attitude. But now he cut an imposing figure. Nearly 6 feet tall of lean muscle, his hair had been slicked back and his features obscured by a white mask that caused everyone to shiver at the memories it invoked. A huge rifle was strapped to his back and his previous jeans and sneakers had not changed but his previous wind breaker had morphed into a body length fitting red trench coat with belts crisscrossing his chest with the unbelted portion flapping around his long legs in an unfelt wind.
Unnoticed, to everyone else, Asuna had blushed slightly at the sight of the skin tight trench coat that displayed Naruto's lean muscles. Muscles that she personally knew could be as hard as granite or gentle and firm when he wanted it to be from the time he had embraced and tickled her in his room.
Negi though had a confused expression, "Wasn't your trench coat and mask black the other night?"
When Naruto replied, everyone did a double take, his voice seemed to be muffled in some way by the mask, and now had a deeper more forbidding tone, "They can change colors to obscure my presence. Watch."
6 feet of lean muscle didn't walk, it stalked towards the opposite wall which was a light blue and as he leaned on the wall, his trench coat took on the exact hue of the wall, as did his mask."
Everyone gaped at the blonde, while Asuna pouted slightly at his very flashy Pactio compared to hers until she noticed the mask looked in her direction. Even though she couldn't see it, she somehow knew that he had winked at her causing her to blush again.
With an amused chuckle at the various expressions of awe and another call of "Abeat." Naruto's equipment vanished and was replaced with his original clothes causing everyone except Asuna to snap their jaws back into place. "So? Whats the plan for the rest of the day?"
"Uh..um, the dean gave me a mission to do. I need to bring this," he pulled out a sealed letter from inside his jacket to show to Naruto, "To the Head of the Kansai Magical Association."
Naruto was just about to say that he would follow Negi, because he was the most likely target other than Konoka anyway when he caught said girl who had been watching them from the side of her eye give him a slight shake of her head.
He inwardly smirked, it looked like Konoka was going to force a confrontation so that they confessed, whether they wanted to or not, "Good luck then. I'll be watching some of the other groups just in case that Monkey Lady comes back and makes a fuss. Although, if you find yourselves in trouble, take this knife and throw it on the ground. It'll let me know you're in trouble and I'll come as fast as I can." Before passing the marked kunai to Negi who looked at the blade in awe. This was probably the closest anyone ever let the kid to a real weapon.
Waving goodbye to them he proceeded to produce a few clones and settled himself near wherever Ayaka happened to be. Riling his fellow blonde up was as fun as watching Negi get flustered. He didn't move as though to appear to be actively following Ayaka, but he knew that she could see him out of the corner of her eye whenever she turned around. And when she did, he would smirk at her, mouth the word bondage and watch the poor girl turn red, whether in embarrassment or anger was debatable but he didn't really care. As long as she turned red and tried to splutter at him without her classmates realizing it, it was all good.
It was like poking a sleeping tiger in the eye, hide, watch it pace around in anger before going back to sleep, and then do it again. Ah, good times in Konoha.
He could still remember Akane giving him this weird look on her face, as if she was torn between smacking him, laughing and disbelief before doing a face palm and muttering something about idiots with a distinct lack of brain cells when he told her about his harmless pastime.
What? He was a thrill seeker.
And they didn't have roller coasters back then.
****Broken Faith****
He continued having fun by harassing Ayaka throughout her trip in Osaka with some of Group 4 and Group 3. It got to the point where Ayaka had a permanent tick mark on her temple and he started timing himself before his fellow blonde finally lost it and charged after him like a bull.
At least he was having fun until he noticed something. Sighing in disappointment like a child whose favourite toy was taken away he faded into the shadows of a dark alley.
Jumping through the rooftops until he found what he was looking for he landed in an abandoned lot with a lot of wisteria trees surrounding it. Cricking his neck and stretching his arms, he stood up straight and waited for it.
A stone spike suddenly burst from the ground, surprising him before spearing him through. Naruto coughed blood, a surprised look on his face as the lavender haired boy that helped Chigusa escape 2 days ago melted out of the ground in front of his injured body. A strangled look appeared on Naruto's face, that melting thing brought back bad memories of Orochimaru before the light left his eyes and his body went prone on the stone spike.
****Broken Faith****
With Negi and Co. 30 minutes before Naruto was attacked.
"Neh, Asuna? Can I ask you something?"
Asuna turned to look at her classmate with curiosity, "What is it, Paru?"
"You and Negi-sensei…..are you two going out together?" Negi only gaped while Asuna's reaction was far more drastic; she tripped and fell on a tanuki statue. Once she had gotten up, ignoring the lump on her head and proceeded to pull Negi's cheeks, "Ho-how can you say that! His just 10 years old! 10 years old! I would rather date Naruto!"
A sly smile spread on Haruna Saotome's face, "Oho? Naruto? No honorifics? You must be pretty close to him even after only 2 days."
Asuna spluttered, completely failing to say anything other then to make some choking noise and vaguely protesting hand gestures. Although her blush told a completely different story. Something the pervert detector in Haruna immediately noticed and filed away for future blackmail. "Ahahaha, gomen gomen, I was just joking," Immediately she tried to change the subject, something Asuna was silently thankful for and called out to the shy one at the back of the group clutching a book, "Neh Nodoka~ don't just stand there all day with a weird book, let's go take some purikura photos in that arcade together~ you can even take one with Negi-sensei" Haruna said with a knowing smile at the shy bookworm.
"Eh? Eeeeh?" but before she could say anything Haruna had already dragged her off while Konoka had jumped into the conversation as well, "Ah~ I want to take purikura as well, c'mon, let's go Se-chan, I want to take them with you."
Haruna immediately pushed Nodoka and Negi together into the booth and let them take a picture with a sly smile. After that, Negi took another with Asuna, Konoka took one with Setsuna, Yue, Haruna took another with Negi, and then everyone piled into the booth and took a picture together. Chamo sneaked into every picture while assuming what he thought was a cool pose.
Once that was done, they all wandered around the arcade, "We come all the way to Kyoto and we spend the day in an arcade?" Asuna commented with a sweat drop but Chamo whispered his opinion from inside Negi's sweater, "Aniki, Anee-san, play with them until you see a chance, then escape!"
"I-I guess you're right, ahahah."
The three of them joined the rest who seemed to be playing some sort of card game, "Eh? What are you playing?" Haruna cheerfully answered Negi's question, "It's a game about mages! We can get limited edition rare Kansai cards if we get the high score~"
"A-a game about mages? I-I guess I can try it…."
"Here, I can lend you my starter pack, "Yue passed a pack of cards to Negi who shyly tried his hand at the game and proved to be pretty decent at it until a strange boy wandered up to them and challenged Negi to a game.
Sadly Negi lost to the boy, "Aww… I lost…"
"No, no, you did very well for your first time playing Negi-sensei," Paru tried to comfort her disappointed homeroom teacher.
"That's right," the strange boy interjected with a wink, "You were pretty good, but you need to be better before you can be a real mage. Anyway, see you around, Negi Springfield."
"Eh?" Negi stiffened, his senses on alert, "How did you know my name?" the stranger just smiled before pointing at the screen where his name was displayed in large letters. Negi laughed sheepishly. While he was watching as the boy accidentally bumped in Nodoka while he was leaving and the ensuing commotion, he felt a tap on his shoulder and Asuna's whisper "C'mon let's go. Everybody is busy" the red head turned to Setsuna, "We'll leave Konoka to you alright, Sakurazaki-san."
The swordswoman nodded, "You two be careful, I have a bad feeling about today."
"Alright, we'll try to come back as soon as possible."
Unknown to the three of them, Nodoka and Konoka had both noticed Asuna and Negi leave. Konoka had a slight frown; she had purposely interfered whenever the word Mage was mentioned in order to trigger a guilt trip. Or any reaction really. She had been disappointed but couldn't reliably interfere anymore than she already had.
****Broken Faith****
The stranger which had defeated Negi at the card game joined four figures hidden in the shadows of an alley. One of them was short and wore a Goth dress, another was shorter than even the swordswoman and had a face as bland as his clothes and a large Zenki stood behind the last person who was dressed in a kimono and various bandages. "Report," the one in a kimono demanded.
The stranger gave a mock salute before answering, "The teacher's name is indeed Springfield, but I didn't sense any hint of demonic aura around him, so even if he was the son of the Thousand Master, he probably doesn't have any connection to the demon from the other day."
The one with the blank face frowned for a split second, something wasn't adding up and slipped away before his companions noticed anything. The wolf boy had said he hadn't sensed any demonic aura, but then again the wolf half demon had been only ordered to specifically sense for the demonic aura that left his employer more paranoid then a monkey on speed. He on the other hand had noticed the residue aura of another powerful presence on Negi and Asuna but whoever the residue belonged to wasn't here. What was more, the aura, despite the lack of any demonic feel to it, gave a similar echo to the demon's signature in a weird way.
"I don't care, that western mage must have had something to do with that demon," A malicious smile spread on her face as her hand inched toward her stomach where a permanent scar remained as reminder of her humiliation for the rest of her life, "I'll pay you back tenfold for the pain and shame you caused me that day Negi Springfield. Kotarou, attack Negi and the red haired girl, distract them so they don't realise our main target is the Konoe heiress, Newcomer….Newcomer? Where did he go?"
Kotarou shrugged in response, "Whatever, Kotarou go attack them, you don't have to win, just stall them, take these charms and they'll help you trap them. Tsukuyomi and I will attack the heiress directly. Kukuku, the western mages' day of reckoning is at hand."
Kotarou didn't say it, but he suspected the encounter with the demon had unhinged his employer even more than was usual but he kept his silence. he didn't care either way, he was just interested in fighting someone strong.
****Broken Faith****
Back with Naruto
Fate inspected the body impaled upon his stone spike with a curious expression. He had tracked the powerful aura directly to a blonde person they hadn't encountered the first time around, and despite his slouched posture that Fate noticed while watching him, he was obviously competent enough to detect his own presence and lead him to an abandoned lot where their fighting wouldn't hurt any innocent passer bys.
And yet he was so easily taken down with a single attack? Something didn't add up.
Fate hated it when the world didn't add up.
Although he didn't have to worry for any longer when the prone body suddenly went up in a poof of smoke and a fist that landed on his chin was added to the equation and his confusion multiplied.
As he flew and flipped in mid air to land on his feet, he looked up to notice a perfectly healthy doppelganger of the person who had been impaled on the spike return his stare with equal impassiveness.
"What…was that? I know that hit you."
The blonde with his arms folded just shrugged when he felt another identical presence approach him from behind. Fate ducked and swept the feet of the assailant behind him with a low kick only to stare again as another exact doppelganger fell and disappeared with a puff of smoke.
He looked back at where the blonde was only to see 5 identical blondes stare back.
"You can create clones from air." Fate stated in a monotone that was colored with slight amusement.
He got another nonchalant shrug in reply. This annoyed him. Fate didn't like it when someone even more blank than him showed up. It was hard to use logic when there was nothing to build upon. Seeing the lack of reaction, Fate charged the group of blondes, only to get attacked from the side, a blonde jumped out of the trees and tried to hit him with a mysterious blue ball, the blank boy immediately ducked under the attack, catching the outstretched arm and elbowing the attacker in the side only for the body he attacked to explode violently.
Landing in the cloud of dust and smoke, his left side was slightly singed, he immediately calculated the odds, it was obvious the mysterious person was reluctant to attack him head on and depended on misdirection to land his hits, melting into the ground he made his way towards the group of blondes only to be surprised when all 5 of them scattered and proceeded to thrust that mysterious blue ball again into the ground exactly where he was.
This was getting ridiculous. It was as if the blonde knew where he was, even underground. Escaping with minimal injury he jumped out from the ground and sent a multitude of stone spikes at the blondes scattered all over the place, reluctant to get near anyone of them in case they did their exploding trick again. All but one of them were hit by the stone spikes and he noted that the clones seemed to be more sluggish than the one he assumed was the original.
Getting tired of all the misdirection he charged at the original full speed and landed a punch. This time he was pleased to note he didn't disappear in a puff of smoke. The blonde flipped around and used the momentum to dash back into the fray, they exchanged a few blows, carefully noting each other's style and level of power, Fate almost tripped when he heard the blonde's completely illogical first words.
"So... nice weather isn't it?" his tone was almost conversational, as if they were having a nice stroll in the park, not exchanging fists and kicks, taking advantage of the trip, the blonde grabbed the back of Fates head and slammed his head on his knee 3 times consecutively but before Fate was hit, he thought he saw the blonde's blue eys flash a different color for a split second, any further thoughts after that were knocked out his head when the 3rd knee bash, punched right through his weakened barriers.
Before his opponent could land a fourth hit, Fate reacted by breaking the blonde's grip and stepped into his guard before throwing the blonde over his shoulder in a basic judo throw.
When the blonde landed on the opposite side of the lot, he saw the blank boy dab his bleeding nose with one hand and look at his blood.
"You hit me."
Naruto would have chuckled if he wasn't so anxious. The newcomer seemed almost stunned in disbelief. "I did at that, by the way this might be a bit too late, but why are you attacking me?"
Fate swiped his bloody nose on his sleeve before turning his impassive stare back at the blonde, "That is private, but know that I have no grudge against you. In fact, I find it fun. It has been a long time since anyone made me bleed."
"I'm glad to know that. How is Chigusa doing by the way, is she already attacking Konoka? I already know Kotarou reached Negi shortly before you attacked me." This time Fate was sure his eyes flashed a different color, but he was too stunned to consider that fact properly even though his face didn't show it. "I'm afraid that now that you know about my mission, I cannot let you leave here alive. I'm very sorry, I truly had fun with you." Fate charged the blonde at full speed, he noticed the blonde's eyes widened slightly and it did his ego good to know that he outmatched the blonde in speed.
Only to almost lose his temper when his punch went straight through another puff of smoke. Warily looking around for the next attack, he waited for a few minutes before he decided that the blonde enigma had left the battlefield.
This really rankled.
He had been completely outmatched from the start although he KNEW that he was stronger and faster than the blonde.
As Fate left the battlefield, the concession he allowed himself to express his anger was to punch the ground and create a deep crater.
****Broken Faith****
Naruto slumped down in a side alley nearby Group 1, clutching his side, he had barely taken nothing more than a few glancing blows in that short exchange and already he could feel at least 2 cracked ribs. He had flashed to the nearest clone to his position once he decided he had finessed enough answers from the earth using boy. It had been very very close.
Shortly before he felt one of his kunai being thrown, he had detected the faint presence; ultimately he had to confront the presence first before he could deal with whatever had caused Negi to throw that kunai rather than immediately leaving, so that he could protect Ayaka's group from whoever was following him. Once that was done, a clone he had discretely left behind while roof top jumping had dropped back out of sight before hiding in the trees and started gathering Natural energy for Sage Mode.
One hidden benefit of Sage Mode was that once he activated it and became one with nature, had he wanted to; nothing could find him since any tracking methods would just display him as part of the landscape.
That solved the question of just why Jiraiya was such a great Spymaster, he could be sitting beside you wearing nothing but a traditional ninja tarp and you wouldn't notice him unless you were actively looking.
Of course he never knew that Sage Mode had this ability until after he had lost his Sealed Hatred Form and Tailed Beast Shroud, when he had started looking towards increasing his mental faculties as well as fighting smarter and more efficiently by utilising what he had at his disposal and being creative. Part of the reason, he freely admitted to himself, was because of his self hatred of his old stupid and brash self that depended so much on Akane's youki source and neglected to properly explore his original skill set. **Yes, that was a jab at canon**
Anyway, he had mentally ordered the Sage Mode clone to remain hidden in the trees rather than his original plan of dispelling it and passing the energy to the original once he had realized his opponent could hide in the ground as easily as he did in the air. The Sage Mode provided him with updates as to where Fate had been at any time while the original took the advantage.
To be honest though? Another reason he depended so heavily on misdirection and guerrilla tactics was because he knew in his currently thrice damned weakened state, he was no match for the boy and left as soon as he realized was happening elsewhere by activating his Rinnegan in flashes, to read the surface thoughts of the boy whenever he asked questions, enabling him to glean any answers as well as to avoid the majority of the damage the boy could apparently dish out.
Although he had to admit, the fact that the boy had no knowledge of his skill set and the surprise factor of his lackadaisical attitude that had allowed him to hide his current weakness in battle was the biggest factor in allowing him to sneak in hits to great effect. The next time wouldn't be so easy; the boy had already seen some of his arsenal and would be prepared the next time they clashed.
Slapping his cheeks, he squared his shoulders and prepared to flash to Negi, they were in trouble and he had no time to sit around and regenerate. Clutching his sides he flashed to where the kunai was.
Only to find that the fighting was already over and Negi had managed to defeat the wolf half demon he had recognized from Fate's thoughts. The half demon was currently throwing a tantrum and rolling around on the floor, shouting something about thunder and punches. Naruto stealthily crept around the wolf who hadn't noticed him and tried to sense if Negi was anywhere near them.
The results he got were mixed, they had been there but their presence was muted somehow. He started to move towards them, only to bump straight into some weird barrier in the way.
This really wasn't his day. Was this some sort of karmic retribution for bullying Ayaka?
He had absolutely no idea about how to dispel the modern day barrier; but things shouldn't have changed too much, knowing that all standalone barriers without someone constantly maintaining them usually required some sort of foundation; the most basic would generally consist of some sort of trigger mechanism at the four cardinal points. The blonde rooted around for a while before he hit the jack pot and found a spell tag hidden underneath a rock in the East quadrant.
Hurriedly he studied it for awhile to determine the barrier was a time space barrier mixed with an illusion spell. He still had no idea how to dispel it but he had an idea about how to bypass it. Looking at the place where the barrier was supposed to end, he threw a three pronged kunai and watched it vanish into thin air, although he couldn't see it, the homing signal on the kunai activated and he could feel it outside the barrier. Theoretically this should work, since it was a time space barrier, the Hiraishin which worked by creating time space tunnels would hopefully circumvent the barrier entirely. Talk about creative.
Crossing his fingers, he flashed to the kunai he could feel but couldn't see.
And found himself teleported outside the barrier successfully.
The blonde danced a little victory jig that he would've been appalled to be told that it resembled his perverted old mentor too much, before his body forcefully reminded his brain that he was lugging around a few cracked ribs and groaned before following the now completely clear tracks of Asuna, Negi and surprisingly Nodoka. Hopefully he would reach in time to prevent any major fuck ups and find out how Konoka was doing; if anything happened to her, it was totally be his fault for not giving Konoka one of his kunai.
****Broken Faith****
"Um…uh…. I guess you found out huh? I'm sorry for trying to deceive you but it was a secret." Negi said as he sipped some tea.
The three of them were resting after an intense battle, hidden between some rocks far from where they fought the wolf half demon.
"Ah…no, I had a vague idea anyway, demo…to think that Negi-sensei is a mage…its kind of exciting, like a fairy tale straight from the books," Nodoka shyly replied.
Meanwhile Asuna and Negi had a hushed argument about letting Nodoka into their secret, "Bu-but, didn't you say you didn't want Honya-chan involved in this kinda thing?" Asuna said.
"But..she already knows this much…"
Their conversation was loudly interrupted by Chamo, "But she could be useful! She has an unusually powerful item! It would be good to let a strong partner like her join us!" she ermine loudly shouted.
"Geh! Hentai ermine, don't steer the conver-"
"Yare yare, I don't appreciate you talking about my classmates like she's some item for you to keep, you rodent."
Everyone on the rock jumped, startled by the sudden addition to their group and they all spun around to see their only male classmate casually walking up to them with his hands in his pockets. "Naruto!" they all shouted at the same time and dashed at him.
Asuna reached him first and threw her arms around him in a bear hug, silently she noticed his flinch while the blonde himself chuckled at his exuberant welcome as Negi and Chamo joined Asuna in a pile on top of him. Nodoka was shyly smiling at the pile up from the sidelines.
"Alright alright, I get it, you guys missed me," then he turned serious, "I'm sorry I couldn't come when you threw that kunai, somebody attacked me, I presume he was one of the Monkey Lady's minions. I was able to determine that the Monkey Lady herself is going to attack Konoka, do any of you know where she is right now? I need to get there immediately before anything bad happens."
"Ahem." The chibi version of Setsuna cleared her throat. "I know where she is. She is currentl- Huh? Quickly something's wrong, she's at the cinema-Gurk." The chibi version fizzled for a bit before completely reverting into a piece of paper.
Naruto's expression turned grim and both Negi and Asuna were reminded of the time when Naruto had went ape shit at the Monkey Lady. Naruto quickly started emanating a commanding aura and snapped off a few orders in a commanding tone, a very different change from the laid back Naruto they had known, "Do either of you know anyway to find Setsuna and Konoka?" this questions was directed at the ermine and Negi who both felt their backs stiffened at sudden need to stand at attention, both of them glanced at the other before nodding, "I can reconstruct a Chibi version of myself with that paper the same way Setsuna did, but I'm not as proficient at it so my real body will have to be unconscious while the Chibi version traces the magic trail of Chibi Setsuna." Naruto thought for a bit before nodding, Asuna, Nodoka, do any of you have any medical items?" Nodoka raised her hand, inside she suddenly felt braver than she ever had, the feeling of being useful to somebody that needed her emboldened the usually shy girl, "I have a few bandaids and some energy drinks."
"Good, start patching Negi up while he prepares that spell. Negi can you're Chibi version carry this kunai while you're tracking Konoka and Setsuna?"
"We'll be slightly slower but yes." A short and curt answer.
"Good, get to work, take this kunai and throw it as soon as you reach there, I'm going get some rest until the signal is given." Naruto walked behind a rock out of view and slumped down unnoticed by the bustling duo of Nodoka and Negi. He clutched his side and closed his eyes to get a few scant seconds of rest.
"You blonde idiot."
Naruto gave a tired smile, Asuna's presence knelt beside him and he took comfort in it. "Yeah well, I'm you're idiot," he shot back to her with a teasing manner. Since his eyes were closed, he hadn't noticed the fiery blush that decorated the twin tailed girl's face.
"You got hurt in that attack didn't you?"
Naruto made a face, "Trust you to notice that I'm hurt, you seem to have a habit of doing that very easily." Naruto sighed, "I was still hurt from losing control that night, and the fact that my opponent was somewhat stronger than the usual mooks didn't help. But I was very lucky, he was surprised by my skills and I managed to get some useful information before I retreated."
Play Gurren Lagann OST – No Helping It, I'll Just Suck it Up for One Hundred and Twenty Seconds.
He felt a wet cloth gently wipe some scuff marks off his face but that wasn't what got his attention, the hand holding the cloth was trembling slightly, grasping the hand he held it to his cheek and savoured the coolness before asking in a concerned tone, "What's wrong? You're shaking like a leaf."
"I'm…I'm scared Naruto…. Before this when me and Negi fought Evangeline," Naruto had no idea who Evangeline was but he didn't think it was the proper time to ask, "It hadn't hit me yet because she was a classmate. I didn't think she would really hurt us."
Naruto felt her bury her face in his chest but didn't outwardly react other than to run one hand up and down her trembling back.
"But that fight Negi had with Koutarou, it really sunk in, they were fighting to hurt, maybe even kill. I'm just a normal middle school student…. I'm scared Naruto, this magic and fighting business is so far out of anything I've ever experienced. And then when Negi threw that kunai, I was expecting you to come and help us, it really really scared me when you didn't." she took a deep breath, "If Negi hadn't pulled that last second win, I'm scared to think what would've happened to us. And it wouldn't have stopped at just us, they would've gone on to hurt Konoka, maybe even the rest of 3-A."
Naruto just embraced the shivering the girl close to his chest and gave her whatever comfort he could. He really had no idea what to say, he wasn't some eloquent charismatic leader that had all the answers. So he just said what he felt was natural.
"I won't let it get that far Asuna, I promised you remember? I... failed once before…. And I won't fail again. I won't say that no one will get hurt but no matter what, we won't give up right? If there's something in our way, we beat it down. And if it keeps coming, we'll keep beating it down. If we can't, we'll get stronger and we'll get keep getting stronger together so we can tear it down until it quits trying to make US quit. We'll get strong enough so that nobody else has to fight, so that everyone can go home together in the end no matter who or what we have to fight. So don't cry alright? We'll get through this."
He would never know it, but those words would be the ones Asuna upheld as a pillars of truth that she lived the rest of her life by.
That they would all go home together in the end.
The two of them stayed like that and time felt like it had stopped for Naruto. He really hadn't meant to get so close or emotionally involved with the students of Mahora Academy but it appeared that Kami still had other plans for an old weapon of war like him.
And he couldn't find it in himself to resent Kami for it anymore.
Play Gundam Seed OST – Fly Freedom
The signal came and Naruto regretfully removed the cool palm from his cheek. Quietly he said, "I have to go Asuna, Negi is there already and we don't know how bad the situations is."
The girl buried in arms just removed herself without a word and swiped one arm across her face to wipe away the tears. Giving him a cheerful smile despite the red rimmed eyes, "Go kick some ass blondie."
Naruto gave her an equally wide smile and a thumbs up before he flashed away.
Had he stayed a while longer he would have heard the rest of the sentence.
"And come back to me you blonde idiot."
****Broken Faith****
Author's Note.
This is actually the start of one of those parts where I have already written a part of the fic. One of the best parts that inspired me. The reason why this came out so fast was because I just needed to recalibrate the written parts to match what was already written and published, add a few interesting and voila. One good to go chapter.
Enjoy. And review.