Broken Faith 22
I'll Make You Love Me
Disclaimer : I don't own anything, Naruto and its variants belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Mahou Sensei Negima and its variants belong to Ken Akamatsu. Songs belong to their respective singers and publishers and I'm simply borrowing all of the above.
This chapter is released at the same time Chapter 353 of Mahou Negima Sensei went online near me as a commemoration of the 3rd last chapter of a manga series that has lasted for nearly a decade and entertained millions.
Secondary Disclaimer : The dates in this chapter. I have never and will never outright state what the official pairings are, outside of Asuna and Chachamaru and the future third girl. So bear in mind that these are just that, dates. Going on a date with Naruto once does NOT immediately constitute future wife, it's certainly possible of course but I doubt any of you married the first girl you dated in middle school, am I right? Love is unpredictable/confusing and while I definitely cannot do it perfectly I plan on doing my best to do just that for example the Naruto/Asuna situation which I know has baffled a lot of you.
By now, after following this fic for 22 chapters, if you still haven't realized that isn't the way I like to do things then you probably need a few more grammar lessons on subtlety. Do note though, you can recommend any girl you like, anyway you like. I may not openly display it on a poll or something, but I AM keeping count and it WILL influence which girls that stand beside him during the Final Battle so to speak.
Oh God save me! I went looking for romantic stuff for inspiration; I accidentally mixed up School Rumble and School Days. Oh God my eyes!
Soundtrack List
Utada Hikaru – Beautiful World
Supercell/Ryo – Love & Roll
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann OST – Rap Is a Man's Soul (Short Start Edit)
****Broken Faith****
"Negi-sensei!"
"Argghhh!"
Naruto smirked as the 10 year old teacher kissed the floor after being dog piled by his classmates in marshmallow hell while he calmly got a good spot beside Chachamaru. Quietly he kissed her cheek while everyone was busy fawning over Negi, the gynoid's lips curled slightly and she settled down to make a cup of tea for Naruto.
"Papa!"
Naruto's head swung around and watched as a super adorable Akako walked out of the changing rooms with a smiling Konoka trailing behind the small girl, "Uah! Akako! You look so cute and grown up!"
The girl who was wearing a lavender kimono decorated with light pink blossoms, her hair tied with the jade green hair pin, twirled around happily before jumping into his arms while giggling cutely, "Eheheh! Kono-kaa san helped me change! Kawaii dessho!"
One eyebrow quirked at the change in honorific's for Konoka, he raised his eyes to see a blushing Konoka who was also wearing a beautiful traditional kimono with earthy colours, avert her eyes while Chachamaru seemed to be stifling an amused cough, Naruto simply smiled warmly at the two of them before accepting a cup of tea from Chachamaru who was wearing a beautiful pale green traditional kimono that enhanced her own beauty.
Meanwhile over with Negi... "Was that really your father?"
Negi blushed and scratched his head sheepishly, "Yeah... he was and was not I suppose."
"Ah... I see... so he was some sort of mask that KuNel Sanders guy was wearing? Then what was that about adopting Naruto-san and Evangeline-san?"
Most didn't come outright and say it but they were wondering why those two in particular were chosen; the two most solitary and standoffish people in their class.
Negi blushed harder, "Tha-that was real I guess. I don't have any siblings and uh..." Negi's mind raced, trying to find an acceptable story, "My father and their fathers were sort of friends but they were orphaned so I guess my father wanted to watch out for all of us at the same time?"
"Awwwww!"
Most attributed that to the reason why they were so standoffish and resolved to try involving them in class activities more. They would fail spectacularly. They all looked over their shoulders and found an incredibly... heart warming scene.
Akako was sitting on Naruto's lap, greedily sipping sweet tea from Naruto's cup before grimacing and sticking her tongue out cutely because she had accidentally burned it while her pseudo father tried not to let her burn her tongue anymore than that. Beside him Chachamaru and Konoka was chatting quietly. The blonde himself had somehow changed into a dark blue formal male kimono when no one noticed and currently had a soft smile on his face as he scolded the pouting Akako gently while his customary ponytail was curled around his neck like a scarf.
More than one girl felt her heart skip a beat.
"Mooeeeee..."
Negi slowly crawled away while the girls of 3-A were going to pieces over the fluffy scene and sat beside Naruto with a tired sigh. Naruto smirked at his adopted brother, "That's what you get for seducing so many girls."
"Naruto!" Chachamaru gently chided him.
Said blonde automatically replied with an amused smirk, "Sorry dear," before grinning at the younger male, "But you can't really blame me though; I wasn't saying anything wrong or false was I?"
Konoka giggled behind her folding fan daintily as the gynoid sighed in an exasperated manner common to wives all over the world, "It's alright Chachamaru," She pulled Negi who yelped in surprise onto her lap and cuddled him like a plushy, "You can't that deny he's adorable, isn't that right Akako?"
The small girl simply grinned brightly, not really understanding what the princess was saying; instead she clambered onto Naruto to mimic Negi's position on Konoka's lap and grinned proudly at the child teacher.
The blonde realized something and hid an evil grin, "Akako, do you know who that is?" he pointed at Negi.
Akako shook her head cutely, and Naruto's grin widened a little, "That's my little brother. Call him Negi-ojii san."
"Eeeeh?"
"Negi- ojii tan?" Akako said cutely.
Naruto shrugged, "Eh, close enough." Turning to Negi, he grinned, "Oi Negi, meet your new niece."
Konoka chuckled humorously while Negi paled at being called an uncle at the ripe old age of 10.
Chachamaru simply shook her head and their antics, but a small smile playing on her lips contradicted her apparent disapproval.
Akako squirmed in Naruto's lap so that she could point at Chachamaru, "Mama!" Naruto, "Papa!" Konoka, "Kono-kaa san!" Negi "Negi-ojii tan!" then she looked up at her father for approval. The blonde gave her an easy smile and a thumbs up while Negi laughed nervously, being expected to be a good teacher was bad enough, now he had to fulfil the expectations of an uncle?
Crap.
Akako snuggled back into her father's safe embrace and sighed happily.
Makie came over and joined them, the rest of her classmates were still rather starry eyed, "Negi-sensei, Evil Naruto-sensei, I'm glad to see both of you are ok." she quietly said and gently grasped Naruto's arm as if to make sure to herself it was still there in one piece.
Akako leapt off Naruto and literally jumped on the pink haired girl with a squeal, "Maki-baa chan!"
Makie sweat dropped and cried anime tears, "Akako... I'm not old enough to be a baa chan!" But she still returned the hug just as enthusiastically, if not more.
Naruto smirked impudently, "Now you know how it feels when you call me Evil Naruto."
Makie stuck her tongue out at Naruto, "Bleeh~ no matter how much time passes, or what people call me, I'll always be the cute Makie-chan of 3-A and you'll always be Evil Naruto-sensei."
Meanwhile Akako clambered back onto her reserved spot on Naruto's lap.
Chachamaru perked up, "Speaking of time, it's nearly time for the ceremony to start. Negi-sensei, please follow me, the tea club has a spare kimono for you to change into."
"Ehhh? Do I have to? Wearing a kimono is troublesome..." Negi pouted from Konoka's lap.
Chachamaru didn't reply, she simply stared unblinkingly at Negi.
Negi felt cold sweat start to bead on his forehead.
She stared a bit more as an ominous aura started spreading around her.
Cold sweat started to tingle on his back.
It didn't take too long for Negi's will to crumble underneath the weight of Chachamaru's intense stare, the gynoid nodded in satisfaction before turning her emotionless eyes onto Makie, "You're coming too." The gynoid said as if it was a foregone thing. The pink haired girl shivered and her will to resist crumbled almost immediately, already knowing it was pointless to resist since she had more than adequate prior experience with the gynoid's stony stare considering how much time she spent with Naruto and therefore Chachamaru.
"Wow... Chachamaru's getting pretty good at keeping idiots in line..." Naruto commented idly as he watched Negi and Makie trailing behind Chachamaru like puppies on a leash.
"When she has an idiot as big and hard headed as you to practice on all the time, can you blame her?" Konoka replied, the amusement in her tone took the edge off of the sarcastic reply.
Naruto cried anime tears and quietly mumbled into Akako's soft hair that smelt of peaches, the same shampoo Chachamaru used, "Akako... papa is being bullied..."
The kitsune girl wiggled in his lap so that she could reach out with her tiny palms and pat her father's whiskered cheeks sympathetically.
Right after that she pointed at the cooling cup of tea and the traditional sweets that usually accompanied said tea and imperially ordered her Papa to feed her.
Naruto snorted, he was, as Albiero impudently put it, figuratively and utterly whipped by all the females in his life. The worst part was he didn't want it to end. How fun.
****Broken Faith****
"Negi-sensei... You never knew your father and you still don't know where or what he's doing now?"
Negi looked at his fidgeting fingers, "N-no... Even before I was born, my father..."
Ayaka gently set a new cup of tea down and sat back with all the grace of a high born lady, "I see..."
Negi picked up the cup and sipped nervously, he had never seen Iincho so serious before.
"I am Yukihiro Ayaka, second daughter of the Yukihiro Zaibatsu... but there are things even I cannot do." Ayaka smiled down at her nervous home room teacher gently, "Even though what I can do maybe limited, please allow me to help you in your search for your father; I know how important family can be to some people." She added casually.
"Ii-iincho..." Negi choked slightly, "Tha-thank you. I appreciate any help you can offer."
Ayaka simply smiled softly.
****Dean's Office****
Naruto walked in casually, having left the tea ceremony after being summoned by the Dean from the tea ceremony. The blonde halted in surprise when he saw the people who were sitting around the Dean's official meeting table, "Decimo! Eishun-san! Ramen Wife! Silver haired dude!
"Yo! It's good to the EXTREME to see you again!"
Naruto grinned at the extremely boisterous welcome and slapped the man roughly on the back as a greeting before sitting down in the seat allocated for him.
The brown haired lady smiled brightly, "Naruto! I heard you were hurt." She paused and squinted at him, "You seem pretty healthy to me." She said accusingly.
Naruto smiled at her, "Rumours of my injuries were greatly exaggerated. But why is everyone here?"
The cloaked leader of the South European Mages smiled benignly at him, "We saw you get injured. Even if it seemed like it was exaggerated, coming here for the Festival was worth it." The sharp look the leader sent him let Naruto know that he hadn't been fooled in the least.
"It's good to see you again Naruto-san." Eishun spoke this time, "I think we'll need to have a talk about the health of my daughter's future very soon."
Naruto felt a shiver crawl down his back. Neither had Eishun apparently.
"But that's something for later," the Eastern Mage Leaders continued with a knowing smile, "First, we wanted to discuss a few things with you."
"Oh?" Naruto said carefully.
"There has been a slight problem in our judicial system, namely in our detention facilities." Konoemon said carefully, "The conditions of your victims are worsening day by day. The medics have declared that Chigusa-san will die in one week if nothing is done to help her, and she is the earliest case we know off." Seeing Naruto about to say something, Konoemon held a hand up to stop him, "We know you did something, and frankly I don't intend on questioning your judgement or morals but I'm afraid that letting her die like that is rather inhumane. I hope you will reconsider lifting your err... curse."
Naruto was silent in thought for a long second as he stared unseeingly at his open palm; it was hard trying to shift his ideals after so long.
Killing people had become so... easy... so convenient...
Was this what Rakan meant?
Your wisdom restrains you.
Looking before you leap isn't necessarily bad, but then that makes the phrase 'leap of faith' a moot point.
You can barely trust without a contingency plan anymore.
Because you are Kyuubi. My one and only true friend.
Will you be proud Akane?
Naruto drew a steadying breath and spoke, "I agree with you." Everyone around the table were slightly surprised, having expected an argument from the usually implacable blonde, although they hid it well and Naruto continued heedless of their hesitation anyway, "Let me perfectly clear first, no one hears about what I'm about to say. Understood?" When he received nods all around the table, Naruto nodded in satisfaction and continued, "To be totally honest, my technique works by pressuring and breaks the human mind through incredible trauma, the most effective is usually fear but I've used pain and anger before. BUT I cannot manipulate feelings, I simply manipulate the person's memories and sort of play whatever affects him the worst on a permanent loop in his mind, but there is a condition I have to fulfil before being able to do something of that magnitude," Naruto took a deep breath, "I have to immerse myself in that person's memories, essentially, I see everything they do from their point of view..." He said ominously.
Everyone present blanched at the implications and the mood in the meeting room turned awkward.
Naruto seeing that they understood his explanation, continued in a monotone regardless of the atmosphere, "At any rate the human mind was never meant to withstand that kind of prolonged stress and the lack of sleep will not help. The average person's mind will break within 3 months and after that they will inevitably die. Since the cost of using something like this is too high, I only ever used that technique against people who I deem deserve it, rapists, murders, people who enjoy the pain of others." Seeing the Dean about to say something Naruto copied the Dean's earlier move and held a hand up to stop him, the dean paused before nodding and allowed him to continue, "But I do agree it is inhumane, I won't stop using the curse, it's one of the most effective non lethal technique I have in my arsenal but I will lift the curse on one condition."
All three leaders shared a look before Eishun spoke, "What condition is that?"
Naruto pierced all of them with a penetrating gaze, "They only get one chance. Just one chance. Not four, not unlimited. Just one. If they don't repent then..." he trailed off with a wave of the hand around his head.
Decimo's brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"
Naruto considered his words carefully before replying, "Technically it won't be lifting the curse, instead I'll add a caveat, a condition to the curse instead. The condition will apply from today onwards, and any previous victims I can reach in time to help. The victim will still feel incredible trauma, but it will only last until the victim experiences true regret of what he or she has done. Once that happens the curse will be automatically lifted."
"What if the victim does not regret?" Decimo added in a curious tone.
Naruto stared at him for awhile, "Then the curse will not break. However instead of breaking their minds to the point of death, it will instead cause a total mind wipe. It isn't really isn't that different from its original purpose because breaking their minds is only one step short of death so reconfiguring the curse won't be too hard. In essence, the curse will turn the person a blank slate, allowing them to start all over again. Better an adult baby than an unrepentant rapist or murder. Agreed?"
All of the leaders present shared another look before nodding one by one. "Agreed."
Naruto breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Next," the blonde suppressed a groan, "We have been requested to officially register you among the ranks of our mages. At the moment you are still a freelancer, albeit one with Ambassadorial status and privileges. Listing you among our ranks will solidify your existence as well as provide you with official citizenship in all participatory branches." Konoemon gestured at the tenth leader of the South European Mages, "Decimo has already agreed to prepare all necessary documents. All that is left is for you to agree and choose your country."
Naruto thought for a while, "What exactly does officially listing me among your ranks mean and why all of a sudden?"
"Officially? You will be categorized into the Mundus Magicus Immigration Plan, from there you will be able to legally get a home, rights and proper acknowledgement. At the moment, the person named Naruto Namikaze doesn't officially exist. Therefore you have no rights and legally you can't pass any sort of immigrations check, be it here or in the Magical World, unless you get there by foot or something and completely evade customs, which is illegal anyway. Unofficially? Our people are unsettled when you appear out of nowhere and simply observe missions regardless of the fact that you are simply doing the job your official capacity requires of you and that you were requested to take the missions in the first place."
All three of them then shared a nod before the Dean continued, "The more pressing reason is that the two other magical leaders are pressuring us, its politics at its finest, they are not comfortable when an powerful unknown entity that isn't even a graduate in any of the known schools of magic appearing out of nowhere and observing missions in their territories, even if they requested it themselves."
Konoemon paused thoughtfully before continuing, "So far you've been able to travel because you are inside friendly territory so to speak and at the moment, the only thing stopping them from kidnapping you or something even more stupid when you set foot on their territory is the fact that there are more of us then there are of them."
Naruto snapped his fingers in realization, "So that's what that marriage contract was about, they wanted to tie me down somewhere. A glorified kidnapping? And if I went with it willingly or otherwise you would have no grounds to ask for my return?"
All three of them nodded in confirmation.
The blonde sighed, "So? What does registering entail?"
"Nothing. You just sign a few papers, the documents will be produced under the Immigration plan so most governments will accept it, once that is done we give you an official OCC rank. That is all."
Naruto cocked his head in confusion, "OCC rank?"
Decimo shrugged, "Overall Combat Capabilities. There are all sorts of mages and fighting styles, so it's internationally generalized to help things along." He paused and snidely added, "That and it makes the bureaucrats feel safer when everything is organized. Anyway, the weakest rank is Magician, then the Mages; this is where the bulk of the mage population ranks at, and the Archmage rank. Technically there is another rank above that of the Archmage rank, the Grand Master rank, but only one person ever qualified for that in the entire history of magical culture." Konoemon gestured at Decimo, "At the moment, Eishun and Decimo are both ranked as AAA-class Archmages while Takahata is an S-class mage."
Eishun continued smoothly, "At the moment, based on all the missions you've done so far, you have been ranked as a C-ranked Archmage."
"Huh. Interesting. Is there a list or something where I can look at everybody else's ranks?"
The dean shrugged, "The lists are actually national secrets, so you can only see the list of the country you belong in as long as you have a ranking position in the mage government you belong to. The other leaders know this; so they only require that you be officially ranked. They don't really care what your rank is, as long as you are ranked, although I wouldn't put it past them to not try and ferret the secret out, it's mostly just a formality so that they know Naruto Namikaze isn't just a fictional character or something to intimidate them with."
Naruto grunted, "Politics?"
All three leaders grumbled as if they tasted something bad, "Politics."
Naruto grinned at their humorous expressions, "Alright, let's do this then."
Konoemon smiled slightly, while it wasn't exactly necessary seeing as the three of them presented a political bloc that had enough power to ignore the other two idiots anyway; it felt good to be able to give the blonde a proper background and roots to settle himself down when he wanted.
Once Naruto had signed all the papers, the dean passed him a few documents like his new passport before softly speaking, "Congratulations Naruto."
Naruto smiled back with hint of gratitude shining through.
"And welcome home grandson."
The blonde paled drastically, "Grandson?"
Beside Konoemon, Eishun's nodachi appeared out of nowhere and he suddenly started polishing it with his whetstone.
****Broken Faith****
Play Utada Hikaru – Beautiful World
Naruto sighed tiredly, he had been grilled for nearly an hour about Konoka's future wellbeing, Decimo and his wife hadn't helped either. Ramen Wife essentially spent the hour giggling. Loudly.
Decimo on the other hand just asked his extremely, pun intended, loud friend to bring a large bucket of popcorn before sitting back to watch the show. Literally.
"Papa, genki?"
He looked downwards; Akako had been sitting on his lap, using his torso to draw something with crayons. The two of them were sitting on a hill overlooking the church. The same hill from earlier today. In fact, he was even leaning under the same tree, only Chizuru and her charges weren't around this time. He had been feeling very rushed and stressed, what with the meeting, never-ending reporters and time travelling teenagers. It felt like a lot of events were happening at the same time and his nerves were frazzled just by desperately trying to keep up with everything and keeping things straight despite his clones. So he ended up hiding from everybody before stealthily making his way to the field to soothe his incredibly tense nerves before he suffered an aneurysm. The sudden change from hardcore fighting in the tournament back to normal, well as normal as it got around here, life didn't help either and was quite jarring, not to mention the nervous expectations he had about tonight's dates.
Akako had tagged along with him after Chachamaru had excused herself to help Negi avoid all the reporters that wanted to interview the younger half, mostly because the older one scared them shitless with his glares, of the newly formed Springfield Brothers that had suddenly become extremely popular in certain circles. He envied Evangeline, she somehow managed to avoid the hype, probably because she didn't really fight or show off much in the tournament and was peacefully hiding out in her cabin.
"Nothing, Papa's just tired."
Akako sympathetically patted his cheeks with her chubby hands while nodding wisely and went back to her drawing.
Naruto leaned down and placed a slobbery kiss on her forehead, smiling at her annoyed squeal before leaning back onto the tree while pulling out his precious flute. He lifted it to his lips and closed his eyes, letting his fingers dance along the flute, playing any random rhythm or melody that flitted in his mind.
Before long he felt his stress melt away, the flute's music, natural sounds like the blowing breeze and the rustling of leaves played a soothing counter harmony to the quiet steady scratching of crayon on paper, Akako's occasional quiet snuffling and her comforting warmth on his chest, all combined to make him feel like he was almost melting into nature itself.
He didn't know how much time passed and was only startled out of his near trance when a small finger poked his chest, causing him to jump in slight surprise, "Akako? What is it?"
The small girl rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned, "Akako sleepy."
Naruto smiled and picked the girl up, Akako yawned cutely again before laying her head down on his shoulder. Naruto couldn't help but smile as her tiny snores tickled his earlobe. As he started to move, a rustle of paper got his attention and he looked down to see Akako's forgotten drawing. Carefully he bent down to pick it up and his eyes widened slightly. Not even bothering to hold back his tears he tilted his side and pecked Akako's forehead, "I love you so much Akako, my precious daughter."
"I love you too papa." She mumbled quietly and nuzzled into his shoulder.
Naruto carefully folded the crayon drawing of him, Akako and Chachamaru together in the middle of crowd of stick figures that looked suspiciously like 3-A, before slipping it into a seal. He wiped his tears away and slung his cloak around himself so that he wouldn't disturb Akako, "You there, is there a reason you're watching me?"
A dark shadow emerged from within the tree's shadow.
He waited expectantly for the figure to speak.
A blonde girl slowly stepped out of the shadow, wearing her now customary black clothes and frowned at him with a conflicted expression playing on her face.
"You're that girl... Taka... something?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"Takane D. Goodman."
"Ok... Can I help you?"
Takane tilted her head slightly, "If you plan on going to the Magical World be very careful if you meet someone wearing a black cloak and a blank mask."
Naruto's brow scrunched in confusion, "Ok... Why?"
Takane silently considered her reply, "Because I know how much a father can love his daughter and I don't want yours to be sad." She immediately turned around and faded back into the shadows without another word.
"That... was weird..." and considering the era he was currently in, that really said something.
Sighing, he continued to walk towards Evangeline's cabin. Once he was sure Akako was tucked in safely, he left a clone with her before going out to start his 'punishments'.
****Broken Faith****
Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, Mana's idea of a date was to spend her time shooting couples. Naruto couldn't help a small smile at the girl's eccentricity but he complied and largely spent the date quietly talking with her, competing to see who could shoot the most couples and by and large, simply providing company. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that as someone who had grown up on a battlefield, to her love as most people defined it, did not exist on the battlefield, instead she was merely seeking a worthy companion for her journey to the top. He even managed to get a few new tips about how to use a sniper. Naturally he had to pay for it but he didn't mind, the dark skinned girl was intriguing in her own way, and he felt obliged to do his best in drawing her out of her shell.
****Broken Faith****
On the other hand, Konoka took it to the other extreme. Rather than the relaxed date Naruto had been expecting, it was a very formal affair, or to be more accurate, it was a full blown omiai. A traditional Japanese matchmaking ceremony where she solemnly sat on one side of the customary neutral territory table wearing makeup, traditional kimono and her hair was elaborately decorated in the common to most Japanese brides. He had been wondering why he had been provided with a stiff collared male kimono earlier and the scene he had stumbled into answered a lot of questions. Gracefully moving into the seat on the other side of the table designated for the male, he sent the girl a slightly questioning look and received an apologetic smile in response. Before he could say anything, the shoji slid open again to show the elderly Dean, Naruto automatically realized the dean would probably be acting as the intermediary between them during the omiai.
Before the old man could start the formalities, Naruto held a hand up to stop the proceedings. Konoemon raised a bushy eyebrow, "Is there a problem Naruto?"
"After our earlier conversation, I doubt it. Even if you and Eishun-sama hadn't made it a point to give a... fatherly 'I will hurt you if you hurt her'speech to me," He paused, a slight chuckle escaping his lips, allowing Konoka to finish glaring at Konoemon as well as kicking him under the table for good measure before continuing, "As I was saying, even if nothing was said, I would have protected her with my life, if not because of my job, then because I consider her a good friend." Naruto wryly said and the Dean had the decency to chuckle quietly in remembrance, "There's also the fact that while I would usually never compromise or agree with an arranged marriage in any way; I already know that both I and Konoka are at least interested in each other, "Konoka blushed brightly at her attraction to him being stated so openly and in front of her grandfather no less, "And we are both willing to try and do our best to make this relationship work, so outside of the fine print and the more technical terms, an omiai is pretty much a moot point and an unnecessary formality by this point. However I would at least like to take it slow and know her outside of formal settings as well as discuss this with someone else important to me before I make any further decisions."
Konoemon nodded in agreement, his terms were reasonable so far.
He looked at the Dean, "What I AM curious about though; is why you chose me Konoemon-sama. I was literally a nobody that dropped out the sky and don't have the prestige or credentials one would usually expect from something of this degree. So why me?"
The Dean fidgeted uncomfortably for a few seconds before shuffling over beside Naruto and whispering something in the younger man's ears.
Konoka watched curiously as the normally unflappable blonde slowly turned an unhealthy shade of red.
"Cough, cough, I err... see. Uh... I'll leave something like that up to Konoka when we uh... progress that far."
"Ohohoh, you have my gratitude my boy, despite the risk of sounding old fashioned, I won't say I wasn't pleased. It might have been mere coincidence that both of you happened to be interested in each other and I wanted to find a worthy husband for Konoka but I am truly glad that there is the potential for everybody to be happy in something like this."
As Konoka swivelled from one red faced man to another, she silently resolved to get the truth out of Naruto later.
Hopefully he resisted.
She would enjoy beating it out of him just because the waves of embarrassment that was emanating from him was making her feel embarrassed as well.
****Broken Faith****
Play Supercell/Ryo – Love & Roll
Naruto blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes slightly, "Err..."
"Wha-what? Am I underdressed?"
His eyebrow twitched a little, "More like overdressed..."
Can you hear me ?
Nee ima dokora hen
Hiiru wo haki nagara calling
Wakatta sore ja mata ato de
Okiniiri no music kaketara
Odekake magiwa kagami ni wink
Ayaka tugged at the edges of her knee length black dress nervously, "Sho-should I go back and change?"
"No, no, it's alright. What do you want to do for your date?"
This time Ayaka started fingering her pearl necklace, "Um... I was err... hoping you could show me what a normal date was like... I-I've... never been in one..." Her blue eyes steadily stared a hole at her heeled sandals.
Naruto rubbed his temples tiredly while frantically trying to remember what passed for a normal date nowadays. He had been hoping to just let the girls chose what they wanted to do and go along with it, but it looked like the fidgeting blonde in front of him wasn't going to be offering advice anytime soon; Ayaka was unexpectedly... pure. Really, really, pure.
Do you hear me ?
Konna no hajimete
Tokimeku mune wa motto heat up
Atashi ga atashi ja nai mitai
A lady in love nante
Waratchau
Patchiri omeme
Koakuma meiku
Chiiku wa itazura ni lovely
"I see... have you had dinner yet?"
"Um... I thought you would bring me to a restaurant?"
"Ok... What do you feel like eating, and are you hungry yet?"
Ayaka shrugged, "A little, what do people normally eat on a date?"
'How the hell would I know? Incidentally, why does everyone I meet take one look at me and automatically assume I'm some sort of Casanova? It's the whiskers isn't it?'
Honto wa konna no naretenain dakara
Yasashiku escort shite
Daibu ganbattemita kedo
Konna kanji suki ja nai desu ka ?
Motto chanto mite
Do you wanna ask me out ?
Seeing the blonde female start to shuffle her feet, Naruto quickly shoved his thoughts aside and took the lead, "Alright, I know a good place."
Ayaka nodded nervously and followed behind Naruto silently. The man himself was quietly sweating bullets as he tried to think of something to say.
Oh God, he was never going to tease Negi about that 'Talking is nice' thing ever again if karma kept coming around to bite him in the butt like this. Speaking of butts, he could almost feel Ayaka's nervous gaze restlessly crawl around on his back and nowhere else, as if she was unable to find a safe spot to rest her eyes on.
Dokidoki tomaranai heartbeat
Onna no ko onna no ko shitai no
Amai kaori ni wagamama na body
He almost screamed in relief when they reached the small quaint bistro that Negi had introduced to him before. He was going to have to get a present for his little brother very soon if Negi kept indirectly helping him like this. They quickly got a seat and ordered some salad as appetisers, steak for him and some sort of French dish for her. Once that little blessing was done with the nervous tension returned twofold. Naruto stared across the table at her, while she stared at the table. He probably wouldn't have had this problem in a more normal situation but Ayaka's obvious nervousness amplified his own, hence the current silence at the table.
Shy na boy henjiteru wari ni wa
Sakki kara mesen ga munamoto da yo ?
Tsumannai... Kimi tteba okute sugi
Woooo ho !
All right ?
Before long a quiet sigh of despair from Ayaka shook Naruto from his downward spiralling thoughts, "Is something wrong?"
"N-no... I guess I'm just not suited for these kind of things. I'm ruining the date aren't I?"
Naruto cocked his head in confusion, "Not really, why would you think something like that?"
"I dressed wrongly, I don't know what to say, I don't have an-"
Naruto cut her rant off, "You are also stunningly beautiful," Ayaka blushed slightly, "And it's not like I know what to say either." Naruto shrugged, "I've never been on a normal date myself." He admitted honestly with a lopsided grin. It was true, he never had one in Konoha, and the two previous ones obviously didn't count as normal no matter how anyone looked at it.
Honto wa konna no naretenain dakara
Yasashiku escort shite
Daibu ganbattemita kedo
Konna kanji suki ja nai desu ka ?
Ayaka looked at him in surprise, "Re-really? But you always say the right things!"
Naruto chuckled in amusement, "I'm not some gutless main character from those cheesy love mangas that are so popular nowadays where more than half the plot only happens because they don't have enough balls to say what's happening or properly communicate their feelings or something along those lines. I rather not end up like them and get depressed for people's entertainment just because I couldn't just say what I felt. So yes I've really never been to a normal date."
"And yet aren't you either dating Chachamaru or Asuna?"
Naruto stared at Ayaka dumbfoundedly, "It's true that I'm currently dating Chachamaru but do you really expect her to go out on a normal date with me? And what do you mean by dating Asuna?"
Technically, none of his current or former partners were the kind of people you could or would take to a normal date; Konoka didn't really count since they only got together today.
Ayaka averted her eyes, hiding a brief flash of disappointment, "I see... I just thought you were really close to Asuna."
Naruto hummed slightly in a non committal manner before continuing, "What about you? I expected you to be the really popular princess type."
Ayaka frowned slightly, "Do I really seem so bad?"
Naruto smiled slightly and shrugged, "There's nothing wrong with being a popular princess but yes. You're blonde, you are incredibly beautiful, you're rich and you like to be in control, it might seem a little like I'm stereotyping you but yes I was essentially expecting you to be the popular princess that knew what you wanted and had really expensive tastes in everything while I followed you around like a lost puppy."
Ayaka laughed slightly, "No... I've never had much time for those kind of things. I'm always rather... busy." She smiled fondly at something, "In fact Asuna became my friend precisely because she was too stubborn and refused to go away even though I kept telling her I was busy."
Honto wa konna no naretenain dakara
Yasashiku escort shite
Daibu ganbattemita kedo
Konna kanji suki ja nai desu ka ?
Motto chanto mite
Do you wanna ask me out ?
Naruto grinned and filed away the slight tidbit of information about Asuna before asking, "Busy with?"
Ayaka smiled sadly, "Family matters."
"I see..."
Naruto was saved by the bell as dinner arrived, the meal was eaten in silence, but the oppressive nervousness was no longer as bad, they even shared some light conversation around a bit as Naruto swapped dishes with Ayaka.
Naruto stretched slightly as he and Ayaka walked out of the bistro, "What do you want to do now?" Ayaka asked Naruto timidly.
Naruto looked around and smiled before grabbing Ayaka's hand, "It's the Mahora Fest isn't it? There's a lot of stuff to see." Ayaka blushed slightly and squeezed his hand before agreeing happily. The rest of the evening was spent walking around and visiting the various stalls lined up along the main road. Ayaka's face glowed with happiness as Naruto managed to win a big panda plushie for her to carry around. At the end of the road Ayaka looked around disappointedly as they ran out of stalls to play at. Naruto smiled slightly before looping an arm around her waist, "Eeep! What are you doing!"
Do you love me ?
Taido de shimeshite
Chotto kurai gouin demo ii
Nannimo shinai nante how rude !
"Relax, you just seemed a little tired, and I wanted to show you something."
Ayaka averted her eyes and grumbled a little but she couldn't help snuggling into the familiar warmth as her as she hugged her new plushie to her chest even tighter as Naruto led her down a dark alley.
"Na-naruto?"
"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything bad or stupid, I just have something I want to show you, and this is the shortest route there.
Majimaji mitsumechau your eyes
Choppiri warui koto ga shitai no
Furifuri shiteru hip no shippo
Woooo ho !
Nee
Love na scene henjiterun dakara
Namae kurai yobisute ni shitemite
Mimimoto atsui toiki wo kakete
Woooo ho !
All right ?
The blonde girl pouted but allowed him to lead her up a few flight of staircases until they reached a small deserted observatory near the top of a hill. It was barely bigger than 3-A's classroom, some elaborate stone railings circled the pavilion and there were a few seats dotted among the marble pillars that served as decorations. As soon as they crested the last step, Ayaka's eyes widened.
"It's beautiful..."
"Isn't it?"
The pavilion overlooked the festival of lights and stalls on the main road while the World Tree quietly glittered in the distance; a gentle breeze quietly blew around the pavilion, not too hot and not too cold. From their vantage point, the night sky made it look as if they were watching a winding river filled with of glittering lights while the scattered stalls looked like bright golden flowers, the river itself seemed to flow from the bright shiny waterfall that was the World Tree.
"I found this little spot a few days ago while I was on patrol. You're the first person I brought up here." Naruto quietly said as he leaned on a pillar and they enjoyed the view.
Ayaka efficiently pinned her hair into a neat bun to stop it from whipping around in the breeze and breathlessly watched the scenery.
"That's not all."
Ayaka's glowing face turned to face him and Naruto grinned as he pulled out a small pack from behind him, "I bought a few fireworks to play with as well. I thought you might like them."
Naruto hadn't thought it was possible but Ayaka glowed even brighter as they played with the sparklers, she danced and swayed in the wind like a dancing little child, waving the sparklers in the air against a background of the starry night sky that contrasted with the river of lights below them.
Listening to music only she could hear, Ayaka spun slowly, waving the sparkler in her hand against the inky sky in an entranced manner. From his spot, leaning against a pillar, Ayaka seemed like a goddess that came down to Earth as the dancing blonde was framed by the sparkling lights of the city and the night sky while the wind blew around her. His only regret was that it wouldn't last as he watched her smile brightly at him.
Majimaji mitsumechau your eyes
Choppiri warui koto ga shitai no
Furifuri shiteru hip no shippo
Woooo ho !
Nee
Love na scene henjiterun dakara
Namae kurai yobisute ni shitemite
Mimimoto atsui toiki wo kakete
Woooo ho !
All right ?
As the last sparkler died, her smile dimmed as well, causing Naruto to frown, walk forward and instinctively reach out to cup her cheek, peering into her jade green eyes, her already flushed cheeks brightened further at the intimacy, "You are doing it again," Naruto commented quietly. The wind blew around him gently, his ponytail whipped in the air as he continued to gaze intensely at her.
"Do-doing what?"
"Whenever we do something, like scooping goldfishes, eating toffee apples, playing games, you glowed so brightly and so innocently, you smiled and laughed, but then as if remembering something, you suddenly stop yourself and become sad but you try to hide it. You've been doing it the whole evening."
Ayaka scrunched her eyebrows together and frowned before averting her eyes, she pulled away from him, instinctively wrapping her scarf around her tighter at the sudden fall in temperature that she always experienced happened around her distaff counterpart, looking out at the festival of bright dancing lights she steadied her voice and replied, "It-It's nothing. I was just thinking."
Naruto frowned, "Why are you hiding something from me? Aren't we friends?"
Do you love me ?
Taido de shimeshite
Chotto kurai gouin demo ii
Nannimo shinai nante how rude !
Yappari riido saretai no
Oshitsukeru ude tomadou kimi
Korekurai sureba wakaru desho ?
Gaado wa sukoshi amaku shite
Nan'ido sageteageru kara
Ayaka suddenly hissed angrily at him, "Friends? Hiding?" she laughed weirdly, "You don't have the right to say something like that to me. You are hiding even more things than I am." She whipped around and tried to calm herself as she watched the lights again.
"Like what?"
Ayaka glanced at him briefly with a slight frown before turning back to stare impassively at the dark sky, "Like magic."
Naruto's breath hitched, "How?"
The blonde girl snorted quietly, "Why should I tell you? You and Negi have done your best to hide everything from me and the others in class haven't you?"
Naruto stared at the silently fuming girl.
You can't even trust without having contingency plans.
Naruto stifled a quiet groan before making an on the spot decision, "I'm not human. I was sealed in the World Tree 5000 years ago and was only recently released; I never had amnesia, that was just a cover story the Dean made for me because after freeing myself from the Tree, I was weak and had nowhere to go so the Dean recruited me to stay here as a bodyguard to 3-A..."
Ayaka stared at him in shock as the blonde prattled on about everything he had done until now, uncaring about who might hear him.
"I won't say who in the class knows about magic, if you want to know, you have to ask them because it's not my secret to tell." He took a deep breath, "There. Other than those that are too dangerous to mention or too personal, I have no other secrets to hide from you. You even know me better than Asuna now." he watched the blonde girl expectantly, "Your turn."
It took a while for Ayaka to gather her wits, "So... you're not really human?" she asked carefully.
Naruto shrugged uncaringly, "Not exactly, what passed as a human 5000 years ago probably no longer applies to those from today, right?"
Tokimeki kanjiru wa my heart
Onna no ko onna no ko shiteru no
Uwamezukai wa kimi e no sain
Woooo ho !
Nee
Karuku smile kusugure koigokoro
Lock on kimi wa mou meromero
Kakugo ga dekita nara kiss shite
Woooo ho !
All right ?
"I see..." Ayaka promptly fainted, fortunately a chuckling Naruto managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Carrying the limp girl bridal style he sat down on the stone seats provided for visitors to that pavilion, her head lying on his lap.
****Broken Faith***
Minutes or hours passed, Naruto didn't really care, one hand stroked her hair while he absently watched the parade pass them, until Ayaka stirred on his lap, opened one jade green eye and carefully surveyed her surroundings, "That... wasn't a dream was it?" were the first things she said.
"Nope." Naruto promptly replied with a humorous smile.
"That really isn't funny you know..."
"That depends on the person who's asking doesn't it? Watching you faint and then snore so cutely definitely qualified as funny for me."
Ayaka blushed, whether from embarrassment or anger or something else, Naruto didn't know since the blonde girl started pummelling him. Laughingly, Naruto endured the beating for a few minutes before pulling the girl onto his lap, "Kyah! Let me go you pervert!"
"Not until you tell me what you were hiding."
The girl immediately sobered up, "I wasn't really hiding anything."
"Right... and I'm not a relic from the past."
They were silent for a while, Naruto letting the girl gather her thoughts, "Would you say I resemble Chizuru?"
"Huh?" Naruto looked at her weirdly, "I suppose so, you're both surprisingly... err... beautiful for your age I guess... why?"
Ayaka snorted in amusement at how he phrased it, "She's my cousin from my mother's side. My mother's family were mages." Naruto's jaw dropped by Ayaka continued to speak with glazed over eyes and a fond smile, "They weren't mages in the traditional sense. They can't use magic like Negi-sensei does; instead their magic is restricted to within their bodies, making them far stronger, faster, smarter and better looking than the average person. I suppose you could say that the mature looks Chizuru and I have; despite being only 14 is a trademark of the Naba family."
"A Kekkei Genkai... a bloodline limit..." Naruto said in slight awe, "I never thought I'd see one again. Wait, why do you refer to your relatives as 'they'?"
Ayaka seemed thoughtful, "Hmm... bloodline limit... sounds like an apt description..." she murmured quietly before snapping back into focus, "Oh, I call them 'they' because they disowned my mother." Ayaka said in a monotone.
"What? Why?"
Ayaka stared down at her toes, determined not to meet Naruto's eyes, as she wiggled them slightly, "When I said they were better than an average person, I wasn't joking. You can usually find a Naba, or someone blood related at or at least near the top of any vocation or chosen field of studies. My mother was an exception. She was extremely smart even for a normal Naba, but it was offset by her very bad health. She was so frail..." Ayaka trailed off slightly before shaking, as if trying to dislodge the depressing thoughts from her head, "Basically because of the bloodline limit as you put it, Naba family members are always matched to a suitable partner shortly after birth to ensure there is no shortage of geniuses. My mother disagreed and ran away. I don't know if she did it out of spite or if she really loved him, but she became my father's mistress and to make matters worse, she exposed the magical world to him. The Yukihiro's were completely Mundane till then and after that my father, overjoyed at the new and incredibly versatile market and labour pool, started hiring mages by the dozens."
Naruto held her tighter as her slight frame started to shiver, the strong Iincho of 3-A suddenly seemed so weak and vulnerable. A quick flick of his hand wrapped his cloak around them like a blanket.
She looked at him gratefully and snuggled into his arms, she wanted to stop there, but suddenly she couldn't stop from spilling her secrets. She had never told anyone this before, not even Asuna, although she suspected the red head knew something and was merely waiting for her best friend to gather enough courage to tell her.
Heedless of her mind, her heart and lips continued in a low whisper, "I heard there were a lot of problems; my mother's family demanded her return, the Magical Association tried to stop him from exposing the Magical World anymore than necessary and my father's first wife among others, but my mother persevered because she loved him even though she was disowned. My father's first wife only had one child, a daughter, my half sister and first daughter to the Yukihiro family at the time, then Mother gave birth to me. The process was difficult and she nearly died. After that... things started to decline. Knowing my mother was a Naba in blood and any child from her would be exceptional, Father tried to make her pregnant again. He was so happy that he was finally going to have a son and one with great potential at that... but she didn't survive the pregnancy...and neither did he..."
"Negi-sensei reminds me so much of Mother... she was so smart..."
Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around the shaking girl on his lap as she started to sob quietly and buried her face in his shoulder to hide her embarrassment, "Mother loved me very much, one of the earliest things I remember about her was that she always read me bed time stories about family... I know Father loves me just as much... but he is a businessman first and foremost. After Mother passed away... things became very... tense between me and my step mother so I was given a monthly allowance of about 50000 yen and sent away to Japan, because it was my Mother's home country, to stay by myself. I didn't mind, if going away meant I could keep the peace in the household, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
Externally, the chronologically ancient ninja was speechless, internally there were more than a few things Naruto could say to describe her father.
And her stepmother.
None of them polite.
Actually polite would be a seriously understated euphemism for what he currently had in mind.
So he forced himself to focus on something else, "You said only 50000 yen, then how are you able to afford so many things? Shouldn't you be saving instead of spending?"
Ayaka sniffed and wiped her tears away with his cloak before shrugging his question off like it wasn't important, "Father wanted me to be the perfect daughter and wife, so I studied very hard for him. I wanted to make him proud, that's why Asuna was my best friend, she stayed by my side no matter what, even when I yelled at her while mourning for my Mother. At any rate, I had to learn a lot of things on my own. I saved the money and invested them properly. Most of the time, I just tell the others that my Father paid for them because I don't want them feeling indebted to me." She finished sheepishly.
Naruto looked at her sharply, "Daughter and wife?"
Ayaka shrugged slightly, "I am a Naba in all but name, I cannot inherit since I was technically born out of wedlock, so I am expected to help his heir, my sister in running the company. At the same time, I was allowed to use the Yukihiro name because I am supposed to get married to someone of his choice and produce more... suitable heirs. It's the logical thing to do..."
Naruto tried to hide his thunderous expression from Ayaka by burying his face in her hair, arranged marriages from birth weren't something strange to him considering the people from his own era had a bad tendency of doing exactly that in order to preserve their bloodline limits.
Didn't mean he liked it though.
Scratch that, he really didn't like it.
Naruto's voice came out muffled as he mumbled into her hair, "You are a far better person than I am."
Ayaka laughed slightly at the ticklish sensation, "I doubt it."
"If my father was like that, I would have run away as soon as possible and made my own fortune just to spite him; that alone makes you better than me."
Ayaka chuckled throatily.
"And arranging a wife? I would have told him to shove it where the sun doesn't shine. No one deserves to have the choice of who to love taken away from them. You can't marry someone just because your Father wants you to, Ayaka."
Ayaka abruptly stood up and stepped away from Naruto with her back facing him, a silent pause fell between the two of them before Ayaka finally replied with slight waver in her voice, "I... I can't do that... He's my father."
Naruto stood up and growled, "Look at me Ayaka," the blonde hesitantly listened and gazed into his determined eyes, "Would a father do something like that? Think of me and Negi, do you think either of us could bring ourselves to do something like that to our children? You don't deserve a loveless marriage Ayaka, I won't let it happen even if I have to marry you myself!"
Ayaka desperately tore her watering eyes away from him at his declaration, "It's not my decision to make. Besides I don't love you and you don't love me either. What difference would it make?" She answered stiffly before continuing, "I'm sorry I don't feel like talking about something like this anymore. Excuse me for a moment; I need to find a bathroom."
Naruto watched the blonde girl walk away stiffly; he could tell that he had offended her by pushing her about something like that, but he couldn't help it, because of his upbringing, freedom of choice was a very sore issue for him. Angrily he let punched a wall uselessly; the cement wall crumbled under the force of his anger and made another spontaneous decision.
It was time to use one of his contingencies. Oh the irony.
Snapping a small cell phone out of his pocket he dialled a number and lifted it to his ear and heard the dial tone for a few seconds before a deep gruff voice answered, "Kichi here. Who's calling?"
"It's Naruto. Did everything go well?"
"Aniki? Yeah, it was too easy." The deep voice laughed; a cross between a bass croak and a gong, "Our men already infiltrated most of your targets. I'd be the first to admit that five thousand years have made the toads as weak as hell but when I look at what passes for humans nowadays I can't help but laugh. The yakuza nowadays are pathetic compared to ours. Jiraiya woulda knocked everything down in two days before crowning himself Ruler of the World and making his own private harem."
"Laugh all you like but don't get careless. You've only been fighting normal humans so far, I doubt you've fought any mages so far."
"There were a few. Mostly alley rat types, nothing of consequence."
"That's exactly why I don't want you to let your guard down; there are people here who can match me blow for blow and fight as good or better than you. Anyway I called because I finally got legit documents. You don't have to forge them anymore."
The deep voice on the other end grumbled about squishy mages trying to attack him, "Eh good, it was a pain in the ass finding a forger good enough to make what you wanted exactly as you specified."
"Good. Go ahead with Phase 2."
"Huh? So fast? I thought you wanted complete control over the triads and the Yakuzas first?"
"Something came up, so I need operations to get legit as soon as possible, use as much money as you need. I'll send the copies to you but before you start anything else, check out the Yukihiro Conglomerate. I want any and all information about the current CEO, then we can start strategizing about how we can pressure them into folding. Long term target; I want the current CEO wiping your ass with toilet paper plated with gold."
"Snort, whoever he is, he's going to need a lot of gold for that, I had three hundred years of doing nothing but waiting around on my ass and now I'm twice as big as Dad ever was." There was a bit of mumbling on the other end of the connection, along with the sounds of fingers clacking on the keys of a keyboard, "Yuki... Yukihi... Damn keyboard, ah, here we go. Ooh... Ambitious, not bad, Aniki, I thought you were getting soft on me, what with all the soft targets. Pretty well known, pretty big, fingers in every pie, but one of the organizations we infiltrated already have a toehold with them, something about illegal magic to make their deals smoother. Shouldn't be too hard, but it'll take a while, they have a lot of investments all over the place."
"One year, coordinate with Decimo's Mafia if you have too."
"Two and a half."
"Two max."
"Done."
"Don't do anything too illegal or damage them too badly, it's a wedding present. I just want the CEO susceptible to suggestions. Very susceptible. Also dig up any blackmail along with the information on him if you can but don't do anything with it until I say so. I want him to know that I have him by the balls as he watches his life figuratively crumble around him slowly and painfully."
"Wow... I don't think I've ever heard you so pissed off before. Then again, I never thought destroying people like this would be more fun than spitting huge gobs of water at them either. Kukuku..." Naruto heard the strangely happy gruff voice start yelling orders.
"Like I said, don't let your guard down and make sure they don't get any dirt on us, I don't want them getting away because of some loophole. Other than that, go wild."
"Osu Aniki. I'll be seeing you soon? The men are getting restless since you haven't shown up lately."
"Next week, I'll bring the copies at the same time."
"Good." The line went dead and the cell phone went back into his pocket, an evil yet completely satisfied smile played on his lips. Being a good and pure and utterly virginal hero was one thing but being a manipulative bastard had its moments as well. Toads made great financial brokers and yakuzas. Who knew?
"Naruto? Can we go back now? I don't feel well."
The blonde glanced over his shoulder to see Ayaka standing with a straight back, her head held up proudly, by the staircase. Naruto nodded shortly and moved to escort the girl home. The entire journey was silent, not a hint of the previous light heartedness was present until Ayaka broke it with an idle comment as the dorms came into view, "I saw Asuna earlier when I was looking for a toilet."
The ninja quirked a curious eyebrow at her, "Oh?"
"She was confessing to Takahata-sensei. Shouldn't you be there to stop her?"
"Not really." Was the casual reply as they reached the front door.
"Why not? You like her more than me after all." she stiffly asked, "Or are you are just a doppelganger or one of those clones Kaede can make, and the original is there stopping her?"
Play Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann OST – Rap Is a Man's Soul (Short Start Edit)
Naruto blinked, before slowly drawing a small tri pronged Kunai out of his pocket.
Ayaka gazed curiously at the blade, "What are you doing?" she asked warily.
Her date twirled the blade in his fingers expertly with a small smile before with a swift but violent move stabbed the kunai straight through his free palm.
"What are you doing! Are you mad?" Ayaka screeched as she grabbed his injured hand and tried to stem the blood flow with her scarf.
He pulled out the blade with a crunch of bone, causing Ayaka to pale, before gently wiping her blood soaked hands with a handkerchief he pulled out from somewhere, all the while his sapphire eyes were gazing intensely at her, "She is no more or less important than you. You are both my friends and equally important to me, I refuse to insult someone precious to me by sending a clone in my place to a promised date." His voice was soft yet firm.
Meanwhile Ayaka was staring disbelievingly at his palms. The gash from the strange blade he carried was completely gone, the blood was still there but the wound had steamed and healed right in front of her eyes. Her emotions boiled inside her chest; anger at his stupidity, embarrassment at his heartfelt words and something else she didn't particularly want to acknowledge at the moment. Instead she pulled her hands out of his grip and glared at him, "Stop saying embarrassing things like that!" she tried to stomp away only for Naruto to grab her hand again and pull her close.
His other arm went around her waist possesively.
Ayaka's breath hitched at the closeness.
Their noses were barely inches apart and his determined eyes bore into hers.
"I wasn't lying about anything I said so far. And I really meant it when I said I'll do everything in my power to stop you from being stuck in a loveless marriage, even if I have to marry you myself." His words were tinged with a quiet but fierce confidence that sent shivers down her back even as he slowly cornered her until her back was against the cement wall.
There was nowhere to run.
"I won't disobey my father."
"I'll make sure he can't turn my offer down."
Ayaka's resolve started to falter.
"What about Chachamaru, Konoka and Asuna?"
"I'll deal with it."
Ayaka bit her lip; she was running out of arguments.
"But I don't love you." She whispered in an almost husky tone.
"Then I'll make you love me."
Then his lips captured hers, and she forgot her name.
****Broken Faith****
Evangeline quirked an eyebrow at a whistling Naruto as he walked in and sank into the sofa opposite her, "What's got you so happy?"
"Nothing. I just proposed to Ayaka." Naruto paused and grimaced briefly, "Now the problem is that I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to Chachamaru. Anyway, she fainted before she could reply, then when she woke up she got a phone call from Ku Fei about something important so she had to run off... I never knew she could run so fast. In high heels too. "
"Oh." Evangeline looked back at her book, ignoring the smirking shinobi. The other blonde simply smirked, patiently waiting for the inevitable explosion.
He wasn't disappointed.
Evangeline's head suddenly shot up when his words managed to permeate her brains and the book in her hands suddenly tore in half, "Wait what? Proposal? What happened to 'only Apologies'? What happened to dying?" Evangeline yelled in shock.
Naruto tossed her a very wide smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Who the hell do you think I am? Unless Kami-sama wants to personally find out exactly how much of a vindictive bastard I can be, He'd better get in line and wait for me to get there; when I want, how I want and like it."
****Broken Faith****
Strangely enough, I felt this song really fit Ayaka and Naruto in this situation.
Can you hear me ?
Nee ima dokora hen – Do I look weird now?
Hiiru wo haki nagara calling - I'm calling from somewhere as I wear my heels.
Wakatta sore ja mata ato de - Ok, well then, I'll see you in a bit
Okiniiri no music kaketara - As my favorite music plays
Odekake magiwa kagami ni wink - I wink at the mirror before I leave.
Dobikiri kawaii kakko de - With a very cute gesture,
Boryuumu agete let's gouon - Let's pump up the volume and [roar] !
Kibun wa full 10 de knockout ! - My mood is a Full 10 Knockout !
Do you hear me ?
Konna no hajimete -
This is the very first time
Tokimeku mune wa motto heat up - My throbbing heart Heats up...
Atashi ga atashi ja nai mitai - This is not like me...
A lady in love nante - "A lady in love"... As if,
Waratchau - It makes me laugh !
Patchiri omeme - Big and beautiful eyes
Koakuma meiku - With devilish make up !
Chiiku wa itazura ni lovely - My cheeks are uselessly lovely...
Konya no shisen wa hitorijime - Tonight, all eyes are on me, but
I don't know what to do
Datte watashi - Because I...
Honto wa konna no naretenain dakara -
I'm not really used to this...
Yasashiku escort shite - So gently escort me 'kay ?
Daibu ganbattemita kedo - I'll try to give it my all but,
Konna kanji suki ja nai desu ka ? - Do you like it like this ?
Motto chanto mite - Take a good look at me,
Do you wanna ask me out ?
Dokidoki tomaranai heartbeat -
My heartbeat won't stop,
Onna no ko onna no ko shitai no - A girl, I wanna be like a girl
Amai kaori ni wagamama na body - With my whimsical body covered in a sweet scent.
Woooo ho !
Nee - Hey,
Shy na boy henjiteru wari ni wa - You act like a shy boy, but
Sakki kara mesen ga munamoto da yo ? - Haven't you been staring at my body since a while ago ?
Tsumannai... Kimi tteba okute sugi - So boring... You're too shy.
Woooo ho !
All right ?
Do you love me ?
Taido de shimeshite -
Show it with action,
Chotto kurai gouin demo ii – It's fine if you're a bit forceful !
Nannimo shinai nante how rude ! - Not doing anything to me... How rude !
Yappari riido saretai no - As I figured, you want to be led instead huh ! ?
Oshitsukeru ude tomadou kimi - If I push the bewildered you,
Korekurai sureba wakaru desho ? - With this much, you'll understand right ?
Gaado wa sukoshi amaku shite - Bring your guard down a bit and
Nan'ido sageteageru kara – I'll bring my difficulty level down.
Aseranaide yukkuri de ii kara ne ? -
It's better taking it easy without rushing right ?
Baby
Koko kara escape shite - Let's escape from here and
Futarikiri ni nattara amaechau yo - When we're alone, I'll spoil you !
Sonna kanji suki ja nai desu ka ? - Do you like it like this ?
Motto kotchi kite - Come here a bit,
Do you wanna take me out ?
Majimaji mitsumechau your eyes -
take a long look at your eyes,
Choppiri warui koto ga shitai no - And feel like teasing you a bit !
Furifuri shiteru hip no shippo – I shake and shake my hip and tail !
Woooo ho !
Nee
Love na scene henjiterun dakara - I wanna try acting out a love scene,
Namae kurai yobisute ni shitemite - So at least try calling out my name
Mimimoto atsui toiki wo kakete - Whisper it into my ear with your warm breath !
Woooo ho !
All right ?
Tokimeki kanjiru wa my heart -
I feel the throbbing of my heart,
Onna no ko onna no ko shiteru no - A girl, I'm being a girl !
Uwamezukai wa kimi e no sain - My eyes glancing up are a sign for you,
Woooo ho !
Nee
Karuku smile kusugure koigokoro - My light smile tickles your heart,
Lock on kimi wa mou meromero - Lock On, you are already enchanted by me !
Kakugo ga dekita nara kiss shite - If you're ready for it, Kiss me !
Woooo ho !
All right ?
****Broken Faith****
Author's Note
Someone said that they are getting tired of only reading about a strong and cool Naruto , that all the cool scenes so far belong only to him and it's getting tiring because ya know, by and large he's pretty much superman etc etc.
While I can hardly comment about that statement, mostly because I'm rather biased myself, I do understand where you are coming from and I cannot deny the possibility of that kinda thing happening. I've said it before, I admit I'm not good enough to think of, write and juggle multiple scenes, character development, romance and all those other junk, between Naruto, Negi and all other related characters and still be able to keep everything straight at the same time. I am simply unable to multitask to a level like that. Lol.
So the story will primarily be Naruto-centric despite Negi being the protagonist. If you get tired with that... well there's really nothing I can do except apologise.
Oh and if the phrase "Broken Faith" didn't clue you in to the fact that there was going to be some heavy emotional stuff going on, you need new glasses.
And yes I left Chizuru's date out on purpose. Hehehe...
P.S : I think we all knew that this being something created by Akamatsu Ken, a happy ending was more or less inevitable. But that time travel thing was rather cheap, even by my standards. T^T