Broken Faith 14
Choices
Disclaimer : I don't own anything, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto as much as his screwing it up nowadays anyway, Negima belongs to Akamatsu Ken.
Hmhmhm, early update. Mostly because no job offers and the decision my family has made about my continued education in Australia. So I'll likely be free for at least another month except the occasional running around getting forms and what not. Huh…. I never knew freedom could be so torturous. There are only two things i love and hate as much as Clannad. One of them is the game Nier, the other is Persona 3. at the same time, their soundtracks are so beautiful...
Anyway... i dont think a lot of people will like this chapter...
AN 2 : Chapter 14 is rewritten. Do read it again.
Soundtrack List
Nier OST – Kaine (Escape)
Nier OST – Yonah (Piano)
Nier OST - Ashes to Dreams (Aratanaru)
****Broken Faith****
Crushing it in his hands, he looked up at everybody, "That is all a hypocrite like me can teach you. All of you can learn better from someone who isn't broken."
"Everything else….. is up to you."
They watched him leave.
Play Nier OST – Kaine (Escape)
Negi clenched his fist as he watched his Nii san's retreating back. Inside his heart he vowed to reach the goal that even his blonde brother had failed to achieve. Turning to the staggering old demon his resolve burned brightly before turning to his students, his comrades. No. His family. They shared a look before nodding.
Negi charged forward at the still staggering demon, "Konoka! Makie, you get rid of the other 4 demons, use that demon sealing bottle!"
Konoka and Makoe nodded before taking off to do their appointed tasks, Konoka blew more chilly wind at the two remaining slimes while Makie looked around for the bottle and snagged it with her ribbon.
Wilhelm finally shook off the hit to his head and saw his incoming opponents, "Heheh, looks like you got your resolve back." He pulled off the counterpart necklace that drew Asuna's power and crushed it as well, "No matter, even without the ability to nullify your magic you are still no match for me. Bring it on!"
"Tch, you talk too much old man," Kotarou split into clones to surround the demon, all of them with a simultaneously charged attack in their hands and fired it straight at the demon in their midst while Negi stood back and chanted a spell.
"Hmph, no matter how many spells you shoot at me it won't work," the demon stomped the ground and caused the earth to split and surround him, blocking all of Kotarou's attacks before the earth wall suddenly exploded as Wilhelm punched them, causing shards of earth to fly in all directions, dispelling all of Kotarou's clones as they were hit by the attack. A magical build up behind him suddenly caught his notice; Wilhelm spun around and saw Negi chanting, "Oh no, you don't!" the old demon ran towards Negi only for Kotarou who had been lying on the floor after being hit by a stray shard of earth to grin and stick a leg out, "Watch where you're running old man."
Wilhelm tripped right into the path of Negi's fist.
The teacher cum Mage smiled as the wolf boy positioned the demon perfectly and cocked back one fist, Wilhelm's face fell right onto the fist as Negi released the spell in the fist at the same time, "Sattica Magica : 20 Arrows of Wind!" and shot a "Vinctus Aquarius!", the spell he kept in his other hand at the mid air demon.
The demon was thrown clear into the sky from the force of the punch and the point blank spell before being suddenly surrounded by a water bubble that completely restricted his movements, as he was sailing through the air he heard more chanting.
"Kenotetos astrapsato de temeto, Jupiter's Axe!"
A lightning type High Ancient spell struck the airborne demon. The water restraining him magnifying any damage the lightning spell did to him.
"Gwaaaaah!"
Negi dropped to his knees, panting at the magical output he had just released as the smoking body of Wilhelm fell to earth.
Up in the tree with Evangeline and Chachamaru
Three shadows watched the battle, "Heh, not bad. He finally managed to use that combo you were trying to teach him and he improved it as well. Any mage worth his salt can find a way to escape or block after the initial Sattica Magica but he closed that loophole with a restraining spell, especially one that amplifies the effect of the Dios Tucos. Not bad. Not bad at all. I didn't know he could use Water spells though." the shadow finished thoughtfully.
Evangeline looked on the blonde who sat on the branch beside her. He had suddenly appeared on the tree and sat down without a word after leaving the battlefield so she had followed the blonde's lead and stayed silent until Naruto saw fit to break the silence himself.
"Hmph, he didn't, but he said he didn't want to depend on Konoka alone as the sole source of healing, so he tried to branch a little. Learning a few basic water spells was the prerequisite for him to start learning healing spells. And yeah…. He did pretty well improving one of the Thousand Master's favourite combos. That much I can agree." The small vampire replied with a tone of pride as a small flush appeared on her face.
"Ah… Master is blushing."
"Hawawa! Shut up Chachamaru!"
Back with Negi.
The teacher stood victorious over the fallen demon; behind him were the rest of his students and Kotarou. Konoka handed the demon sealing bottle to him, but a head shake indicated it was already full and couldn't be used anymore.
Wilhelm gave a choked chuckle even as bits and pieces of his body started to dissolve, "I admit defeat. What now young Master? Dietrich originally wasn't sealed in the bottle like me and the Slimes, and now that it is full you can't seal me into it again. If you let me disappear now, I will just reform in my home country and I'll just be back to harm you and those precious to you again."
Negi watched the old man silently as the rest of his comrades left the decision to him.
"Well?" the defeated demon urged the teacher.
Negi kept his silence before chuckling. His reaction surprised everyone there.
"Wh-why are you laughing? Are you insulting me?"
Negi choked as he tried to stop his laugh, his hands shaking to show that he didn't mean Wilhelm any offense, when he finally got control of himself he smiled at the demon, causing Wilhelm to cock an eyebrow in confusion. "Thanks to your words, I finally understand something else Naruto-nii san was trying to tell me. Trying to tell all of us."
Everyone stayed silent to hear what else Negi would say, "When we were in Kyoto. No, even after that, whenever we were struggling with something, he always told us, to try harder. That if there was a wall in our path we would just have to get stronger to break that wall. And if that wall came back to stop us again? We would just get stronger to beat it back down. No matter how many times we had to do it, we'd keep doing it until it gave up."
Negi took a deep breath, "He specifically always said to get stronger, not to get more powerful, and after what he told us about being legendary and you urging me to end your life, I finally understand." He looked straight at Wilhelm with piercing eyes that were so reminiscent of another pair of blue ones.
"Feel free to come back again and fight. In fact keep coming back, I'll just get stronger and I won't fall to anger like nii san did. I'll get stronger and beat you down every time. I'd rather lose than gain more power instead of strength and end your life just because it was more convenient. If I can't persuade you to stop hurting people with words, I'll just have to beat it into you with my fists. Believe it."
The profound silence as everyone stared at the short red haired boy was broken by hysterical laughter. This time it came from the fallen demon. Wilhelm grinned at the boy, "And that, young master, is the right answer. Before I go, I'll give you a tip," he gestured at Konoka, "That young lady over there, she has great magical powers. If she trains them enough, she may even be able heal your villagers."
The demon completely dissolved into smoke, his last actions were to give Negi a thumbs up and a grin, "As you asked, I'll come back, then we'll have a real rematch, don't disappoint me, young master!" all that remained was the sound of his voice laughing.
Back with Naruto, Evangeline and Chachamaru.
Naruto felt a small smile spread on his lips as Chachamaru leaned into his side while Evangeline watched Negi with a growing blush. Chachamaru quietly saved the image of her Master blushing in a folder named 'future blackmail'.
"Heh, remember those words Negi. Those are the words of the man you will become." He whispered into the wind before lifting one hand.
Evangeline and Chachamaru watched the outstretched hand in confusion. That confusion only heightened as they saw a spinning orb of…dust? start to form in his palm.
Naruto gently blew on the orb in his palm before letting it float onto the branch behind him. Evangeline and Chachamaru just watched the orb with confused expressions until it landed and began to expand. Chachamaru let out a small gasp as the orb solidified into the injured form of Wilhelm.
The demon opened his eyes and looked around in confusion until he saw the broad back of Naruto, "Ah…. Naruto-sama…" the demon greeted in a rather hesitant tone.
"Wilhelm." Naruto greeted in return without turning back.
Both of them stayed silent.
"I'm sorry about my words. I let my demonic nature go out of control in the heat of battle…." the demon softly spoke.
Naruto stayed silent a bit longer, "It doesn't matter anymore, not like I can say otherwise considering my position," the blonde finally spoke with a rueful smile. "Anyway, take this." He threw a small vial with a piece of paper wrapped around it, over his shoulder.
Wilhelm stretched one hand to grab the vial before looking at it, "This is?"
"I already made my decision. I can't go back with you but I can help. That vial contains some of my blood and an some instructions. Go to the imperial palace in Makai. The paper will tell you what to do with the vial. It won't be immediate, but it will strengthen the barrier enough that your race won't be at the beck and call of the mages anymore, at least until a new ruler is selected."
"You speak as if you aren't one of us Naruto-sama."
Naruto smiled, it wasn't as if Wilhelm could see it though, "I never took the ascension ritual Wilhelm, no matter how many times you pleaded with me too. Even if I'm supposed to be dead, I'm still human. A monster of a human but a human nonetheless. I was born a human, so I want to at least die a human."
Evangeline frowned at the morbid words.
Wilhelm was silent for a while, "Akane-sama would have been proud of you. Human or otherwise…. I hope to see you again, Naruto-sama."
Evangeline and Chachamaru listened quietly to the conversation before watching the demon disappear into dust once more.
Naruto looked up at the stars, "Yeah... I suppose she would…." Turning to his companions he smiled, "Come on, let's go back, it's late and we have classes tomorrow."
The two of them silently nodded before taking his hands and all of them disappeared in a yellow flash.
A few minutes later, two figures stepped out of the shadow, "Well now…. Wasn't that an interesting night?"
Her companion kept quiet, tonight was interesting indeed, so much information, "Let's go to bed Kaede, the disturbances we felt were handled without any need for us to intervene." The shorter shadow eventually spoke in a soft tone.
Kaede looked at her companion with a hint of worry, Mana was rarely so introspective but she nodded anyway.
****Broken Faith****
"Negi-sensei! Are you alright? You look tired!"
Negi smiled as his blonde student fussed over him, "I'm alright Iincho, I'm just busy preparing for mid terms."
Ayaka look at him doubtfully, "Well..if you're sure…." She left the classroom with the some of her classmates, occasionally throwing worried glances at her homeroom teacher over her shoulder.
"Ahaha…. Iincho is so nice."
"Tch, it's not that she's nice, it's just that every time you do something, you make everyone else worried, especially if you look all depressed like that." Asuna grumbled from her desk while Setunsa nodded in agreement and Konoka gave a small "Fufufu." That sent chills down his back.
Negi blushed sheepishly while rubbing his sore muscles. Most of the students who had been at the fight with Negi and Wilhelm were relaxing in class, trying to catch up in their studies, especially since they had been slacking off so much after being introduced to the oh-so-fascinating world of magic.
Naruto on the other hand was there because he was still asleep and hadn't heard the bell ring.
A figure barged into class, loudly shouting "NEGI!" the figure crashed headlong into Negi in a semi hug-punch, "What you looking so depressed for so early in the day!"
"RAMEN!" The blonde snapped awake at the loud noise before looking around blearily and going back to sleep.
Everyone sweat dropped before turning back to watch the scene at the front of the class with Negi and Kotarou.
"Ko-Kotarou?" Negi stuttered incredulously at the boy that had crashed into him.
"Hehehe, Yo!"
"Yo, my foot! What are you doing here?"
The wolf boy laughed, "I'm being released due to my good behaviour and for helping with the Wilhelm incident!"
"Really?" Negi smiled in happiness for his friend.
"Yeah! I already spoke to the warde-smack-Buhah!" a shoe smacked into Kotarou's face and everyone turned to look at the culprit.
A half asleep Naruto.
"Ke-keep it down-yawn-will ya? People are trying to sleeping here." The blonde mumbled in his sleep.
Asuna face palmed before smacking the blonde's head and smashing his face into the table, "It's already after school, don't sleep now! In fact don't sleep in class!"
"De-demo…Asuna-chan!" Naruto cried piteously and looked at Asuna with wide watery eyes while rubbing the lump on his head.
Konoka smiled dangerously at Naruto, "I agree with Asuna-chan here, Don't… Sleep…In…Class…"
Naruto gulped and sat up straight in his chair, "Yessss Ma'am!"
Meanwhile, Kotarou rubbed his face where the shoe hit, "Whatever, anyway, why are you looking so tired Negi?"
"Ahaha, I've just been thinking, especially after fighting with Wilhelm. I think I want to be a Magic Swordsman." Negi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"What? For real? Why so sudden?"
"Ahaha…. Well its because fighting beside Kotarou, beside Makie, Asuna and Konoka, it felt so fun. And it wouldn't feel right letting everyone fight on the frontlines while I stood back."
Kotarou punched the air and laughed loudly, "HAHAHA! Yeah! Yeah! Now you know why I like to fight, it feels good right? Men like us have to fight with our fists!"
Negi scratched his chin, "Speaking of fighting…. Naruto-nii san? I was thinking about something else too,"
Naruto cocked his head in confusion and squinted at the red head, "About what?"
"That time when you fought that…um…. 'I don't know his name' demon, your eyes and aura changed. It was so powerful, so why didn't you use that against Fate in Kyoto?"
Asuna scratched her head, "Yeah... now that he brought it up, the way you fought yesterday was like, ten times better than when you were in Kyoto, and we didn't know you could use magic either." She raised an eyebrow at the blonde in mock questioning, "Were you just fishing for sympathy?"
"Oh, I'm hurt you could think of me like that Asuna-chan~" Naruto pretended to have been hurt before leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples. Everyone was suddenly thrown off by the sudden change in the blonde's rhythm while Evangeline raised a curious eyebrow at the conversation. Since she wasn't in Kyoto till the end, she wasn't sure what they were talking about while Konoka and Makie talked together in whispers.
Naruto considered his answer for a moment before looking at Negi, "There are a few reasons. One of which was that the seal prevents me from utilizing my full abilities outside of Mahora, even now I'm limited to about 40%."
Everyone gaped, "If that was 40% what the hell is 100%?" Chamo shouted what everyone else was thinking.
Naruto smiled at the ermine, "Don't worry about that rodent," his smile suddenly changed for a split second, "You probably won't find out." His words caused Evangeline to quirk an eyebrow at the weird choice of words.
"Anyway, bottom line, there were two main reasons I wouldn't use my powers. The first was because there too many unknown factors. First, I knew I couldn't defeat Fate in an all out battle, so my only goal was to gather information while only letting him see the barebones of my abilities. If it was only Fate present, and I knew I could…. incapacitate him…permanently, it would have been a different story but you heard what Fate said; he was working for another organization, one probably even bigger than Chigusa. Thus chances of someone observing our fights in Kyoto were too high, so I didn't want to risk too much information of my abilities reaching his superiors. In fact, the techniques I used against him, the Asura Style, was done on purpose, especially since I don't use them under normal circumstances at all. As you can see from the fight with Dietrich and Wilhelm using Asuna's Magic nullifying abilities against you, my prediction came true. It was a good decision since they didn't have proper intel on our abilities to use against us. Revealing all my cards then would have been stupid and unnecessary, especially since I wasn't banking on winning."
Negi gaped, that kind of reasoning hadn't even passed his thoughts.
Naruto went silent and stared at the ceiling, "The second reason….is a bit more selfish. You know about my old teacher? The silver haired one with one eye patch?"
When everyone present except for Kotarou and Makie winced he gave a small smile at their reactions, "That man also had a similar ability. His eyes gave him above normal abilities and strength like mine does. The difference between us is this, while he was renowned for being a strong fighter, be it… um spells or melee combat and illusions, whenever he got into a fight, he always used that ability from the start. In fact, he was so used to using the abilities of his eyes that if someone found a way to shut down that ability, he was downright useless even if his default skills were powerful. So I promised myself I wouldn't fall in the same trap he did, I would fight without using those eyes, thereby increasing my base abilities, which in turn also increases the abilities my eyes give me should I get desperate enough to need them."
Kakashi's fight against Zabuza had been an eye opener for the blonde, he felt the reason Kakashi even won was mostly because Zabuza, being the person he was, had dragged the battle out too long and allowed Kakashi to find an opening.
And he had taken the lessons learnt in that battle to heart ever since finding out Kakashi's hidden intentions. He had been developing strategies against all major opponents in Konoha. Even against the Konoha 9 and their teachers should they choose to side against him, although the possibility was low, the risk was present but that wasn't something to be said aloud.
Naruto shrugged, "It all comes down to tactics really."
Negi and almost everyone's jaw dropped at the level of strategizing Naruto just displayed to them, even going back as far as Kyoto while Evangeline nodded approvingly.
"Ahhhh!" Kotarou furiously scratched his head, "I don't get it! What use is thinking! All you need are fists and guts!"
Naruto cut his gaze to Kotarou from his relaxed position, and seemed to be considering something. Before Kotarou knew it a suffocating aura suddenly slammed him straight into the ground as Naruto observed him with glowing purple eyes, "Thinking is useless? Do you have anything precious to you?"
Kotarou shakily nodded his head at the weird question under that penetrating gaze while everyone watched in shock. They could only feel the edges of the presence that Naruto was emanating and even then Kazumi's knees were shaking.
"Let me give you two choices. You are in a fight with me and there are only two things you can do, your fists are useless against me, your spells and charms have no effect. Your first choice, fight me and lose before I destroy everything precious to you. The second, you distract me before running away to save those precious to you and getting stronger to fight another day. Which would do? Would you let your fists and guts guide your path where everything is ultimately destroyed or would you think and save your life and the lives of everyone precious to you. Think carefully little wolf."
Kotarou's first instinct was to charge the owner of those purple eyes.
His fists clenched hard enough to draw blood as he struggled to even stand under the same aura he had felt from yesterday, only this time it was pure undiluted malice and power aimed at him. He fought harder to stand up and similarly the pressure increased to keep him down. Shakily the wolf boy shook his head and gave in, "I would… run." He croaked quietly.
Naruto stared into the boy's eyes for a while longer, everyone was silent in the suffocating aura before the blonde smiled and nodded before cutting his presence off, "Yesterday, both of you won against Wilhelm, only because you had the help of Konoka and Makie. Otherwise….." the blonde trailed off.
Everyone stared at the blonde silently, he looked so…. non-threatening…so completely normal, while casually leaning in his chair against the wall but his relaxed posture belied a very scary person.
Kotarou panted on the floor as he watched the blonde warily, when the blonde had looked into his eyes, a voice had echoed in his head, 'I know what you did in Kyoto. You tried to block Negi from rescuing Konoka. Pray to the gods that the one you fought wasn't me. Had you tried to face me with such an insignificant reason and had Konoka been hurt for it, you would not have walked away with your limbs and mind intact.'
"In such situations where pure skill and power is not enough, brains and strategy come into play. Take for example Negi and his combo yesterday. Amplifying the power of his lightning spell with a water one was a good move, especially since most demons are resistant against human magic. Another example, Negi, remember when you fought me while I was using my pactio?"
Negi nodded quietly.
"When you have an opponent like that, someone who was restricted to long range battles, and his attacks only move in a straight line. One of the best things that you could have done was to use a simple spell to create boulders and obstacles instead of wasting your energy dodging all my shots and trying to get closer, I'm pretty sure there's a simple spell like that. In that one move you would have nullified my ability to fight effectively at range as well as impede my efforts to stay away from your own spells and close combat attacks. Once that was done, you could have taken your own sweet time to defeat me."
The blonde looked at everyone present, "Basically what I'm trying to say is that use every advantage, use both power and brains, seek balance and efficiency in your attacks, be flexible enough that you have spells for most occasions, but specialize enough that when the situation demands it, you have overpowering firepower at your command and when spells don't work, at least know how to fight with your hands and feet. Know when force is needed and be sharp enough to realize when words are more effective."
Makie and Konoka stood side by side seemingly unaffected at all and simply watched the proceedings.
The blonde got up and made to leave the classroom, as he reached the door, he left a parting shot, "Remember little wolf, wishes and hopes alone cannot move mountains but don't lose sight of the reason you were trying to move that mountain in the first place."
Everyone watched the blonde leave the classroom and all was silent until Chamo broke it and said what everybody else was thinking, "Kinpatsu-nii san is fucking scary sometimes."
Konoka simply gave a dainty "Fufufu. That may be true. But he means well even if he speaks harshly."
Asuna stared at the brunette, "Speaking off which, both of you didn't seem affected by that….whatever he calls it aura at all!" she spoke incredulously.
Makie burst into anime tears and clung to her partner, "Every time Evil Naruto-sensei made us train, he used that aura. That sadistic bastard said if we could do that, we would have learned to move in any circumstances and keep a clear mind regardless of the situation. It was so damn scary! Bwaahh!"
Konoka laughed and gently petted the pink haired girl that clung to her, "There, there…" before the vampire who had been quiet until now spoke, "He wasn't wrong you know. Yesterday when you were fighting that demon, you used your more powerful spells against him, but when they didn't work you immediately gave up that avenue. The problem was a simple one, your single target spells didn't work, but you neglected to try an area attack. Negi."
The silent red head perked up at his name, "You have a wide arsenal of skills and I know you have been practising water spells. One of the spells I know you have can call a deluge of water right?"
The teacher nodded causing the vampire to continue, "Then you could have summoned water to soak the demon and the floor before firing lightning spells at the water. The conducted lightning would have been just as effective as a normal Fulguratio Albicans. If even that hadn't worked, spells that threw rocks or spikes would have definitely worked. It would nullify the magic but the inertia in the rocks would hurt just as bad. Like the blonde idiot said, sometimes the battlefield is just as important as the fighters themselves. Although you would have to be careful since wolf boy might have been hit as well. But then again, I'm an evil mage, I don't care. Bwahahaha!"
Everyone sweat dropped as the laughter finally died down, "Anyway, I'm not putting down your efforts from yesterday. In fact they were exemplary, but thinking things through might have netted you the same result with less effort."
Evangeline looked at her homeroom teacher and saw the boy trembling slightly in place, thinking that he was sad at his perceived failure she hurriedly tried to rectify the situation, "Don't let it get you down so much, you are already well on your way to that level of skill. Naruto didn't mean to say it so harshly but he is worried about you. He doesn't want any of you to make the same mistakes he did. Charging in without thinking that is."
Negi raised a clenched fist and showed a wide grin as he looked at his magic teacher with resolve burning brightly in his eyes, "Heh, Don't worry about me, I'm not down. You and Naruto-nii san showed me how it could have been done better. So I'm going to improve, I'm going to get stronger so that one day I can match you and Naruto-nii san!"
Evangeline averted her face so no one could see the heat on her cheeks that rose as Negi stared at her with those resolved eyes, "Wh-who said I was worried baka! Tch, I'm getting stupider wasting my time here with you guys. Chachamaru let's go."
"Ah… Master you're blus-" Evangeline literally jumped on her taller companion and slapped her hands around her mouth to stop the gynoid's words before hissing at Chachamaru, "Don't say those things in the classroom!"
"Understood."
"Wh-whatever, let's get out of here." The smaller girl hurried to the door while her companion followed at a more sedate pace.
Once the two left the classroom Negi could hear Chachamaru's voice, "Master you're blushing, do you want me to bring Negi-sensei here so that you can feel better?"
"Dammit! Didn't I say not to talk about those things here!"
"You said not to say it in the classroom. We are no longer in the classroom."
"!#$#^!"
Negi and everyone else sweat dropped at the bickering duo.
Asuna glanced at Setsuna before both of them nodded and excused themselves from the others that remained in class. Setsuna saw the look and understood her fellow swordsgirl's intent. They needed to find somebody. Somebody that had experience in fighting if they wanted their skills to go further. The lack in their ability was especially apparent after last night's skirmish. Even though she had been asleep for the better part of it, that fact alone rubbed her the wrong way.
She had been ASLEEP while Konoka was in danger. While Negi and Naruto fought. While Asuna was captured. It galled her pride something bad. And she knew Asuna was the same way. Even after teaching her the rudimentary skills of sword fighting, even though she was very good at it herself, those skills with the sword was completely useless in the fight. They needed to get stronger. And they knew who to ask. And they found him walking slowly on his way to his tent.
"Naruto!"
The blonde stopped and looked over his shoulder, one cocked eyebrow showed his confusion at being hailed, "Yo, what's wrong? Both of you are panting."
Setsuna glanced at Asuna again before both of them bowed deeply, "We want you to teach us like you have been teaching Konoka-ojou sama and Makie!"
Naruto faced them with a contemplative expression before he spoke with some slight confusion, "Why? I mean why me? The only things I could even remotely teach both of you are primarily hand to hand skills and increasing your base abilities. I can see how the latter would be useful, but both of you are use swords; I can't do anything in that field. Even Setsuna is a better fighter with a sword than I am."
"We know, but we saw how Konoka and Makie fought, we want to get better."
Naruto kept quiet for a little longer, "I didn't do anything for either of them….. I only gave them some training to sharpen their instincts and abilities. How they used their weapons, or ribbons or pactios as the case may be, was all achieved with their own effort. I only gave them some basic lessons on how to use those, and even that I got from books. Everything else was their own creativity with a little bit of advice." He shook his head, "You're looking for the wrong person to get lessons from."
Asuna set her jaw, "It doesn't matter. I know you can help us. I have faith in you."
Naruto face palmed, I have faith in you. Fuck those words were so unfair, especially when they came from that particular person. "Very well…. Do you really intend on sticking with what I can teach you? Even if it's not some flashy skills?"
Setsuna looked down and clenched her fists, "I was asleep. I WAS ASLEEP. The guilt I feel now because I was asleep while everyone fought, while Negi-sensei fought, when even Konoka-ojou sama fought. The guilt won't leave me, I failed her in Kyoto, and now I failed her because I was captured and put in a sleep by some slimes. I don't know what I can do, but the guilt of not being able to do anything. The guilt that my sword was useless in that situation. I don't know what to do with this anger Naruto… please help me."
Naruto sighed as he saw some tears fall down Setsuna's face and Asuna put an arm over Setsuna's shoulder. He should have known it would have affected Setsuna the worst. Her pride as a swordswoman was trampled on, the sword she put her pride and honour in had been utterly useless. But what could he do?
He ruffled the girl's hair, "Hey now, where's the strong swordswoman I know?" Setsuna sniffed a bit and smiled, "At any rate, I'll try. But I can't guarantee anything since I don't know what I can do to help you counter that weakness. Well not yet anyway, I'll think on it. Asuna…. you on the other hand…."
Asuna gulped at the glint in his eyes.
****Broken Faith****
Konoka, Negi and Asuna were running to school, "Argghh! I'm going to be late for the teacher's meeting!" behind him Konoka and Asuna trailed along, Konoka on her skates while Asuna kept up with her speed easily, "Damn you princesses. How the heck can you be so energetic? Naruto is a freaking slave driver! He kept us working even with mid terms on!" she grunted quietly at the girl beside her.
Konoka frowned, "I don't know…. He was never this urgent when he trained me and Makie." The princess shrugged, "But you'll get used to it. The trick is to use the pactio to enhance your strength and keep up with Naruto-sensei but slowly wean yourself off the strength boost as time passes." Konoka said with a small smile. "In that regard, Makie surpassed all of us because she is completely normal, she complained true, but she stuck to it and now, among everyone of our skill levels and strength, I can safely say that the one person I don't want to fight is her. If I fought Setsuna, I can confidently say I can outlast her as long as neither of us uses Magic or Ki."
Asuna glanced at Konoka, "Is she really that strong? Naruto hasn't allowed us to spar with each other yet. And when you and Makie do, he won't let us watch."
Konoka shrugged and made a face, "It's not that she's strong per say, it's the way she fights. It's very similar to Naruto-sensei's in that it's incredibly irritating and misdirecting, the fact that her ribbons are enhanced so that you can't burn them… or cut them… is really…..annoying."
Asuna sweat dropped at the dark aura that her best friend suddenly developed as the brunette started giggling in a disturbing manner while plotting how to destroy Maki-chan's ribbons.
Konoka put one finger at her chin thoughtfully and the aura suddenly disappeared, "Anyway, Naruto-sensei once argued with Makie about her ribbons. At the time he commented that with her flexibility, balance and ability to discern her opponent's rhythm, had she used a sword she would have been even better at it compared to Setsuna but Naruto refused to let her use one. On the other hand, she didn't want to use her ribbon because it was something so 'useless' and flimsy in her own words."
Flashback
"No swords Chibi Pink."
"Bu-but, it's a ribbon, how am I supposed to be powerful with a freaking ribbon! It's useless and flimsy!"
Naruto sighed and sat beside the small girl before lifting her small hands in his own, "Look at these hands Makie," the girl perked up, this was the first time Evil Naruto had used her name.
"Can you truly bring yourself to hurt? To stain these hands with blood? Because that's what a sword is capable of, even if you use it to protect, it will hurt someone sooner or later. With it, you limit yourself because what you are used to using is not a sword, it is the ribbon. You can go far with a sword Makie, but if you use a ribbon, you can go even further. Your purpose in training with me is not to hurt, it's so that you can go with Negi wherever he wants to go. For that reason, the ribbon will be your best choice. If you couple your flexibility and grace with the ribbon, I can confidently say you have the potential to be a very strong fighter. Your purpose Makie is to fight to protect. To win without drawing blood. To subdue. You are a pure girl Makie, don't change it just because something is flashy looking. Out of everyone else here, you are the only one that can do that."
Makie looked at Naruto, rarely had she seen the blonde so serious.
The small girl set her jaw, "Alright…. I'll use the ribbon."
Naruto smiled, "Good. Besides it suits you. It may look completely flimsy and worthless, but it's energetic, dazzling and completely irritating."
"Evil Naruto-sensei!"
End Flashback
Asuna looked thoughtful, "Heh, that idiot can say some good things sometimes. But it kinda galls me that he has so much faith in Makie compared to us."
Konoka just laughed, "It's not that he doesn't have faith in us, everyone else has our own specialty and ability. Look at the way he trains you and Setsuna, he focuses even more on both of you because the two of you have the potential to branch out in other fields. Me? I just get endurance training. Although I know he regrets it because he can't train me in anything else since I'm focusing on my mage skills and he can't help me with that. With Makie, I think it's just because Naruto sees himself the most in Makie. Everyone else has more than one side, different facets so to speak. But when you look at Makie, you know there is no other side. What you are seeing is what you will get."
Asuna just kept quiet at her housemate's words, she knew it was true, but she couldn't help the slight burn of jealousy that settled in her stomach. "Oh yeah, speaking of facets, has Naruto been looking different lately to you?"
Konoka chewed her bottom lip and replied hesitantly, "Slightly, he's been a bit distant lately. Like his thinking about something."
Asuna scratched her head furiously, if even Konoka couldn't figure out, she had no hope, "Aahhh! So complicated things so early in the morning is bad for the health! Run! Run!"
Konoka smiled at her best friend as she sped up to catch up to Negi who was speaking to Kotarou and Chizuru.
They caught up just as Chizuru smushed Kotarou into her chest and said she would take care of Kotarou in lieu of his missing parents.
"Cu-cut that out Chizuru-onee chan! You're embarrassing me!" Kotarou protested, only for Chizuru to smile menacingly at Kotarou, "Ara? You don't want me to take care of you?"
"Nononono, I want you to do it, yes I'll be a good boy!" Kotarou hurriedly replied.
Konoka laughed with a dainty at Kotarou's actions, "Fufufu."
Asuna glanced at Konoka and Chizuru who were standing side by side and sweat dropped, "You two are scary similar sometimes."
The two of them looked at each other and smiled menacingly at Asuna, causing her to gulp, turning quickly to Negi she tried to ignore the two demons behind her that started to giggle.
"Lo-look at that parade Negi, all of them are so weirdly dressed!" Negi and Asuna watched the parade of many interestingly dressed people and and many different contraptions walked past them, "Wooo…. Look at all those. The senior at college are working pretty hard to make the Mahora Festival one of the best." Asuna commented. Just then a commotion drew their attention, when they looked they saw a figure flying about from hoop to hoop in a fantastic gravity defying stunt of acrobatics.
"Woow…."
Suddenly the figure dropped out of the sky, "Gah! Watch out!" Negi almost brought out his staff to save the figure but it simply landed gracefully without any injuries. Dressed in a entertainer's outfit was Zazie Rainyday of their class, "Za-Zazie-san!"
Said classmate simply held out a few pieces of paper that seemed to be tickets, she smiled and spoke in a soft and gentle voice, "Here are tickets to the Nightmare Circus. Please visit us sometime, Ok?"
Negi took the tickets with a shaky "Thank you," before Zazie leapt back onto her hoops as Asuna watched stunned from beside him, "Sh-she spoke! I never heard her speak before!"
"Fufufu, you shouldn't be so impolite Asuna-san, she has her own reasons."
Asuna gulped as a chill ran down her back at the motherly voice, "Ha-hai!"
Soon the group walked to class, all of them laughing and watching as the rest of the students bustled and cheerfully worked together to make the Festival a success.
Just as Negi opened the door with the rest of the girls in tow a spurt of blood flew across everybody's line of sight in slow motion.
Asuna's jaw dropped, "Wha-what was that! Was that blood?"
The source of the blood spurt was lying on the floor with a goofy smile as the reason for the blood greeted Negi and his entourage. Everybody watched as Ayaka, Kazumi, Misa, Madoka and Sakurako were wearing revealing maid outfits. "Welcome to 3-A's Maid Café Ensemble!"
Behind the group who were all watching with open mouths, Chizuru nudged Naruto with a dainty foot as a sniggering fox clambered up her shoulder and watched her nudge the prone blonde with a foot. She lifted the fox of her shoulder before scratching the fox between her ears with a small smile, "Naruto's such a naughty boy isn't he?" she cooed to the purring fox who nodded with a grin. For a moment Chizuru widened one eye to the fox's reaction but continued like nothing happened.
"Wha-whats going on?" Negi shouted as his brain tried to process the scenery.
Ayaka replied, "Ohoho, I don't know what a Maid Café is, but if everyone wants custom made uniforms I can gladly help~"
"Eeeeh?"
Behind Ayaka, Yuuna and Haruna rubbed their hands together and conspired to take advantage of Ayaka.
"Negi-sensei! Come, you'll be our first customer for us to practise on, girls change~"
As Negi watched the girls danced around in bunny suits and maid outfits with a dazed expression, another spurt of blood appeared like a fountain in the background. Chao in her revealing Cheongsam bent down beside the blonde and grinned before poking his side. But the fountain of blood didn't stop as the girls kept changing into more and more sexy outfits. Even sexy kunoichi were no match for this!
Mana smirked at the blonde in her miko outfit as the blood slowly drained from the blonde on the floor. She would charge him double later for the special viewing while Setsuna blushed deeply in a school swimsuit and her hair let down.
"Ka-kawaiii…."
The last sentence that was breathed out by the blonde on the floor caused her blush to burn even brighter before Naruto finally succumbed into blessed unconsciousness.
Later that Evening
"Gurgh… I don't know whether to thank or beat Nitta-sensei up for stopping all the girls from doing…. Whatever they had planned…. Luckily they only managed to get my top off."
An ermine leapt onto the dejected blonde's shoulder, "There there, I know how you feel Kinpatsu-nii san!" looking around he whispered to the blonde, "Don't worry, I took pictures.
Naruto looked at the ermine before looking around furtively. When he saw that no one was paying attention, money and pictures exchanged hands under the table before both of them flashed each other a thumbs up and a cheesy grin.
A beautiful friendship was born that day.
Chamo went off while Naruto went back to his tent.
He went straight to his next business deal.
Leaping onto Konoka's shoulder he grinned at the girl, "Neh, neh, Konoka-onee san, I got some good pictures to sell. He flashed a few pictures at Konoka.
Konoka lifted on hand and laughed a dainty, "Fufufu," to cover the fact that she had developed a slight nose bleed.
Money and pictures exchanged hands again.
"Ko-konoka-ojou sama!" Setsuna watched in disbelief.
At least she was in disbelief until Konoka showed the pictures she had just bought. Pictures of an unconscious Naruto being stripped by Chizuru-san with a laughing fox in the background and more pictures of an unconscious Naruto in full butler suit, behind him, the girls were trying to fit a struggling Negi into another butler suit. Naruto had been wrong, they hadn't only got his top off, they were putting his original uniform back on before he woke up.
Then she just fainted with a nose bleed.
"Fufufufu, I knew you wouldn't disagree."
Asuna came up behind her, "What are you laughing about Konoka? Wait, why is Setsuna unconscious?"
"Fufufufu, blood loss. Don't worry its only temporary."
"Guuh…. What just hit me?" Setsuna stirred on the floor, when she saw the wink Konoka gave her from behind Asuna, she blushed like a light bulb again.
With Naruto
The blonde walked back to his tent and was surprised to see that someone was already home. Standing outside he hesitated for a while, he didn't know how to tell the gynoid about his plans but he couldn't walk away now because he knew that she had most likely already sensed him, and he had already been avoiding her most of the week.
The blonde shifted the opening to find a scene that warmed his heart.
Chachamaru was kneeling by one side of the tent with a cutely yawning red headed girl sitting on her lap. The both of them had apparently just bathed and Chachamaru was drying Akako's hair.
Dropping his stuff by a side of the tent he moved to sit beside the green haired girl before moving her into his lap. She let out an adorable squeak as warm hands encircled her waist and lifted her up on to the blonde before the same hands started to dry her own hair. "Na-naruto!"
"Hmmm?" Naruto just gave a non committal reply as he focused on drying the soft green hair.
"I-I can do that myself!" the gynoid protested.
Naruto smiled, "Yeah I know…. But I wanted to do this…." At least once.
The girl gave up and concentrated on the small yawning Akako but the hands that occasionally brushed against her neck and back was very….distracting.
****Broken Faith****
"Heart Pumping Swimsuit Extravaganza Café!"
"No no! Girl's Mud Wrestling Tea Shop!"
"Neko Mimi Nudebar!" What the fk? Underage nudebar?
Spurt. Shit I'm being corrupted. No loli, no loli. NO LOLI.
"Fufufu, Why not we just do a pantyless tea shop?" Ah…. Chizuru…when it comes from you it doesn't even sound like a joke….
Spurt Spurt Spurt
"Hawawa~ Nii-san! I don't know what all these terms mean! I feel like I'm missing something!" Nodoka and Fumika cried anime tears beside Negi as they agreed. Negi clung to the blonde's back until the blonde turned around with a serene look of one who had achieved enlightenment on his face.
"Ahh… don't worry Negi, you'll understand in a few years. It is something every man must go through."
Negi, Nodoka and Fumika slowly backed away from the blonde.
The serene look and words were completely spoiled by the rather impressive river of blood flowing down his nose.
"Negi?"
"Eerr yeah?" the classroom teacher who was still backing away said.
"When I die from this nosebleed, please take care of Akako…"
They were interrupted.
"No! That's not enough! Maid café's and cute girls are so cliché! We must do something new!" Haruna grinned at her only male classmate and teacher, "And since we are the only class with two guys…. Ehehehehe…."
"Shit. Negi start running."
"What? Why? And why aren't you running?"
"I'm sacrificing myself to save your purity! Nippl- I mean Nippon Banzai!"
Later that evening
Naruto and Negi were slumped face down into the counter at Chao Bao Zi. "Today….was a long day…."
Negi only received a grunt.
"The girls tried to strip me…"
Another grunt.
"I'm corrupted…."
"Corrupted? What about me? They tried to strip you. They stripped me and tried to make me walk around campus topless without my underwear, the only thing they let me wear was my pants and a bow tie! I was nearly raped! I swear Chachamaru groped my ass."
"Why didn't you just do that scary eye thing? You could have saved us both without Nitta-sensei interfering!"
"Take my word for it; no matter what I did we were going to lose. You ever try fighting against that many rabid girls at the same time? It's a sucker bet."
Negi gave up trying to argue and they both just thanked the gods for Nitta-sensei.
Naruto glanced at the clock, "Ah damn, I gotta go pick up Akako, you wanna come Negi?"
"I think I'll stay here a bit longer Naruto-nii san. See you tomorrow."
The next day Naruto would find out Negi was the kind of drunk that cried his eyes out.
The blonde strolled away in the direction of the child care centre. While Akako was fully content with being carried around in fox form, Naruto wanted her to socialize more and had enrolled her in the day care centre, much to her protests at first.
Walking through the door of the cheerily painted building he knocked softly on the counter to get someone's attention.
"Oh my, Naruto-san?"
Naruto's head snapped up at the unexpected voice, "Chizuru-san?"
"Arara… didn't I tell you no honorifics?"
'You didn't but I'm not dumb enough to argue.' Instead Naruto cleared his throat, "Aahaha… I forgot I guess. Anyway I'm here to pick someone up."
Chizuru raised one eyebrow in slight surprise, "You have someone here? This is a child's day care centre you know…. Oh my…. Did you get someone pregnant?" Chizuru covered her mouth with one hand and feigned fear, "You're such a pervert…. Who was the mother?"
Naruto frantically shook his head , "Nononono! I didn't get anyone pregnant. I adopted her."
Chizuru immediately dropped the teasing, "Oh my…. I'm sorry if I came across as insensitive… Her? As in a girl?"
The blonde smiled softly in reply, "Yeah… a precious daughter. Anyway can you show me where is she?"
The auburn haired girl led the blonde into the back where they found kids playing. Or at least... Akako was playing. Playing mock wrestling while the other girls watched in horror that is. Akako was proudly grinning with one foot resting on a pile of boys that she had presumably 'wrestled' into unconsciousness.
Naruto face palmed, now he knew what Konoka kept whispering to the little fox, while Chizuru giggled, "Oh my… precious daughter indeed. If I didn't know she was adopted I would have thought she was your real daughter."
"Chizuru…."
****Broken Faith****
"Naruto-nii san! They're talking about some ghosts in Mahora!"
Naruto looked up from his texts, "Yeah, good luck and have fun he waved them off and continued on his way home."
"I-is something wrong with Naruto-nii san? He's been weird lately. And he's been rushing home early as well." Negi asked the two girls with him. Konoka and Asuna looked at each other and shrugged. "Maybe he's just busy?"
"Yea-yeah… I guess."
Evangeline showed up behind them, "He isn't going home."
"Gyahh! Don't appear just like Evangeline-sensei! And what do you mean? Where is he going?"
Evangeline scratched her cheek thoughtfully, "You know how he said that a seal restricts his power by more than half?"
The trio looked at each other and nodded in response, Evangeline nodded in satisfaction, "Yeah, he has been going deep down into Library Island to where a section of the World Tree's roots are visible. He seems to be messing around with the seals or something."
"I-I see… in that case everything is fine isn't it?" Asuna asked hesitantly.
Negi looked uneasily at the World Tree in the distance, "Yeah I guess, Naruto-nii san knows how to deal with stuff like this. When he's ready he'll tell us about it."
The three of them were distracted from their conversation by their classmates that were preparing to hunt a ghost.
****Broken Faith****
A silhouette roared as he threw element after element, attack after attack of his arsenal at a barrier made of seals, trying to exhaust himself. The shadow finally stopped his barrage before punching the wall one last time in frustration. "More… I need to reduce more power! Dammit!"
The silhouette set his jaw before proceeding to throw everything at the wall he had erected.
****Broken Faith****
Later that night
Naruto slowly walked into his classroom. When he had gone back to his tent he had found Chachamaru and Akako already there, and since he didn't know how to face them with a smile he retreated somewhere else.
Sitting down in his chair he stared out into the utter darkness and pinched the bridge of his nose.
He felt so tired.
Bringing out his flute he started to play
Play Nier OST – Yonah (Piano)
The sound of someone sobbing reached his ears and he lifted the flute away and looked around confusedly, "Ano…. Is anyone there?"
"Bwahhhh! That was so beautiful!"
Naruto cocked one confused eyebrow before activating his Rinnegan to see a small pale girl sobbing on the ground beside him, "Um…. Can I help you?"
The girl sniffed, "Yo-you can see me?"
Naruto knelt beside what he assumed was a ghost, "Yeah, what are you doing here?"
"Sniff sniff, I'm Sayo Aisaka, Seat 1 of 3-A."
The blonde smiled at the girl, "So you're the ghost Negi was talking about earlier huh?"
The slight girl nodded, "Ca-can you play that song again? It…It made me feel like I was alive again, like I was warm again…"
Naruto smiled before agreeing and lifted the flute back to his lips while he sat beside the ghost.
When he was done the ghost was crying softly again before she tried to hug him but simply barrelled through his body.
The girl fell on the floor and remained there, sniffing slightly, "I-I can't touch anything. It's so lonely…"
Naruto smiled with touch of sadness before holding his hands out, "I can't help you touch again, but I can make you feel warm again."
Sayo gasped as her body started to glow before slowly dissolving.
The blonde held the glowing blue orb he held in his palms before thrusting it into his chest.
****Broken Faith****
Play Nier OST - Ashes to Dreams (Aratanaru)
"Ah… good morning everyone." Chachamaru greeted Negi-sensei, Konoka, Asuna, Setsuna and Naruto with a soft smile.
"Naruto? Are you ok? You look tired." Naruto smiled at the gynoid, she had been too busy lately to come over to the tent, and when she did he almost always wasn't in. if she waited, he wouldn't show up at all like yesterday. "Yeah, I'm alright, I just have some things on my mind. Speaking of which, you look beautiful today." One hand almost reached up to caress a strand of her hair but Naruto suppressed the urge desperately.
"Ah….. I'm sorry I have to go." The gynoid blushed at the compliment before hurrying away.
"Did…I say something wrong?" the blonde asked his brother with a cocked head only to get a shrug in reply while the rest of the girls face palmed.
Suddenly the blonde dashed forward just in time to wrap one arm around Chachamaru who had almost tripped and another to steady her load of dishes, "You alright?" he asked her with a concerned tone.
Chachamaru averted her eyes, "Yes. I'm very sorry for being a nuisance." The gynoid hurried off again.
As the rest of them sat down to eat Naruto just shook his head before leaving again.
Negi and the gang all looked at each other with confusion etched onto their faces before watching the leaving Naruto. Behind them Chachamaru stared at the leaving blonde with a weird expression before almost tripping again because she hadn't been paying attention to where she had been going.
"Chachamaru!"
"Ah…Hakase. How are you?" the gynoid greeted her creator.
"Good, wait that's not the point! You can't tie up your hair like that! Why would you do something like that? You'll overheat you know?"
"Ah…." A flashback to the blonde calling her beautiful passed in her memory and the words slipped out without her knowing it, "I just wanted to be called beautiful."
"Wha?"
****Broken Faith****
Later that evening after running away from Hakase who was intent on checking her memory drives, Chachamaru sat down under the World Tree. She had tried to find Naruto, she didn't know why, she just felt like being in his presence after that fiasco but she couldn't find the blonde anywhere. The gynoid stared out into the distance, even as her Master watched from above in the shadows of the leaves.
Evangeline gritted her teeth. Something was wrong with the blonde and she intended on finding out what.
With Naruto
"Arara… what brings you down here of all places? Shouldn't an old man like you have better places to go rather than stay here with another old man with all your free time?"
Naruto looked up from the scenery. He had been sitting on the edge of a cliff and enjoying the scenery of all the waterfalls. "Shut it Chicken man. I don't want to hear people calling me old, especially from you."
The cowled man laughed slightly, "Chicken Man? All I did was ask you to call me Colonel Sanders." He nudged Naruto with his foot causing the blonde to slip off his perch."
"Aaah! If you're angry about the name say it dammit, don't just kick people off cliffs!"
"Arara, oops. My old man joints were acting up..."
Naruto grumbled under his breath and clambered up the cliff, "Damn old man. You really are angry aren't you?"
"Ohoho, I don't know what you're talking about jiji. So? What really brings you to this place of solitude?"
Naruto stared at the man, "You're just angry my presence stopped you from fapping off to pictures of Evangeline," Naruto shot back with a grin.
Both of them stared at each other before laughing at the banter for a while.
Naruto leaned back on a rock and looked up at the sky, "It's nothing. I just hit a block with the seals on the World Tree, that's all."
"Oh? Then why the melancholy?"
Naruto smiled sadly at Albiero, "Neh, Albireo, if you were going to die, what would you do?"
"What!"
Both of them jerked up at the sudden voice, "Eva-chan? What are you doing here?"
Evangeline stomped up to the blonde before kicking him off the cliff again.
"Gwaahhhhh!"
"Ohohoho."
Once a sopping wet Naruto had climbed back up he sat as far away from the edge of the cliff as he could, "What the hell is with people and cliffs today? The blonde grumbled under his breath and pulled his wet bangs out of his eyes. So? What brings you here as well?"
"Damn you, don't change the subject, explain what you were saying! Is that the reason you have been distant to everyone lately? Have you even seen how Chachamaru is acting because of you lately?"
Naruto fell on his back and looked up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes, "I'm sorry I was busy…." He pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, "It's just that I miscalculated something. It's rather ironic now that I think about it. I attributed my survival that day to my sword. At the same time, this sword is what's keeping me here permanently. Long story short, shortly before the fight with Wilhelm I finally made the breakthrough to the last seal. After I reached it, I've been trying to circumvent it all this time."
Evangeline snapped her fingers, "So that's why you've been so weird and busy lately!"
The blonde smiled, "Yeah," the blonde pulled the sword out of the seal and caressed it slightly. "I said before the sword isn't normal and under certain circumstances it will seal the thing that it cuts didn't I? The problem here is, the sword is literally a divine artefact granted to me." He looked up at Evangeline and Albireo, "That being said, the seal it makes are also divine level seals made to contain powerful beings. There is nothing I can do to break or even circumvent it since I am only mortal, the only way to lift it would be for the creator for the seal, in this case, a person long dead, to lift it willingly. Hence the only thing I can do if I want freedom is to wait for my own core to overpower the seal, and since my core is combined with my wife's who was a being that was almost on par with the divine herself, overpowering this seal is something inevitable." He touched the slight cracks along the blade, "See these? This is proof that my power is slowly forcing its way out and the seal can only contain so much and it only cracks faster each time I draw on her power."
Evangeline cocked her head in confusion, "So what's the problem! That's a good thing right? You just have to wait for freedom and keep using that youki you have! So what is this about dying!"
Naruto smiled sadly at her and Albiero, "When the blade finally breaks, the fail safe will activate since the seal was broken in a way it wasn't meant to. It comes down to a choice between limiting myself on purpose to avoid breaking the seal or everybody will die with me in the blast radius when the sword and I self destruct."
Naruto shook his head in frustration, "But there is no sure fire way of limiting myself forever, especially if I reach the limit and draw more power for some reason or other or lose my temper like I did with Dietrich. Sooner or later I have to die."
Evangeline looked at the tired blonde in horror as the pieces of the puzzle fell together. The reason he had been distancing himself from everyone.
****Broken Faith****
AN : =)