Broken Faith 25
A New Balance
Disclaimer : I Don't own anything; Negima, Naruto or any songs I might use in the making of this piece of fiction.
Soundtrack List
Angel Beats! OST – Ichiban no Takaramono
Persona 3 OST – Kimi no Kioku
****Broken Faith****
"You're not going to join your class?"
"They're your class too." The shinobi dryly remarked from his spot under the tree at the edge the field where several mighty oblong pillars stood as he painstakingly peeled off the heavy armour. "Damn, I regret wearing something like this." He grumbled under his breath while the person standing next to him smirked.
"So?"
"So what?"
"You're not upset with me?"
"Should I be?" Naruto observed the vampire neutrally, "You obviously had your own reasons for helping Chao."
Evangeline shrugged, causing Naruto to raise one eyebrow, "Like you said, it was a good chance to test Negi. Training can only bring him so far. He often talks about conviction and justice but I wanted to see if his justice could hold up in a live combat situation like this. Whether he would lose his values like so many others."
"I distinctly remember having marginally more faith in him then you are at the moment."
"Meh."
Naruto laughed and grabbed her bottle of sake, much to her protests and threw the entire thing into his throat as the vampire sat down under the tree beside him. The two of them then watched Negi try to persuade Chao to stay on top of the tallest obelisk. "Aren't you supposed to go join them and convince her to stay?" Evangeline asked the man beside her curiously.
The blonde smiled slightly, "Eh... Maybe once I get this thing off." He replied, gesturing at the white breastplate, "It's rather embarrassing to be wearing something like this. Besides, this is something special to 3-A, I don't feel like a newcomer like me should interfere."
Loud laughter from the field behind them where those who were hit by the disqualification bullets were sent, reached their ears. Naruto smiled, knowing that his toad friends were enjoying the party with everyone else who participated in the battle. Most likely with a lot of sake.
She hummed quietly in reply before asking her next question, "By the way, what in the world made you wear something so..." the little vampire struggled for an appropriate word as she gestured at it, "Ostentatious, flashy, stupid?" she finished rather lamely.
The grimace on the blonde's face got more and more pronounced as the little vampire pronounced each word, the adjectives stabbing and deeply wounding his manly pride.
Grumbling slightly as he recovered from the attack, Naruto answered with a light blush, "Ah... Ayaka managed to grab me just before I could join the battle. Then before I could do anything she forced this thing into my hands. When I asked why, she mumbled something about matching with her costume and every princess should have a white knight."
He scratched his chin in thought, "It's probably a modern thing, or maybe it's something from her culture. Bottom line, I had no frigging clue what a white knight was, or what it had to do with princesses. Anyway, I really didn't want to put that thing on but in the end she just pouted at me and I... uh... gave up?" The blonde muttered with a sheepish smile.
"Oh..." Evangeline face palmed, regretting her question.
The last piece of armour finally dropped and the blonde tiredly got up, "Eh, time to go, see you at home?"
"Yeah, sure." She replied offhandedly as she watched the shinobi walk off, wondering if he noticed that he had begun to refer to her little cabin as home.
****Broken Faith****
"Nah, I'm going back to the future." Chao grinned as everyone around her face faulted.
When Negi recovered he asked, "Why Chao-san?"
Chao turned back to the innocent boy and felt like teasing him just a bit more, "Ehehe, ignore that part for the moment. I have a question for you that is even more important. Are you sure it's alright to say something that sounds so much like a confession of love to me? Especially with all your fans listening?" Chao asked with a mock pout at a reddening Negi.
"Eh!" everyone gasped at the same time at the new bit of information.
"In the magical world, to aim to be magister magi together would be like asking the person to marry then for life. Don't you think it's a bad idea to propose to someone who's blood related to you like me, Negi-bouzu?" As she said this she was affectionately caressed the red head's cheek, causing him to blush even brighter.
Asuna reminded herself to step on a certain ermine a few times for accidentally leaving out crucial information like that.
"Wait just a moment here Chao!" the red head yelled loudly, "Is that true?"
"We're standing here listening and being nice compassionate people by letting you talk peacefully to Negi-sensei and you take advantage of our kindness like that and flirt with him?" Haruna hollered indignantly.
Asuna slapped her forehead, "That's not the damn problem here Paru!"
"Ahahaha don't get mad, it was just a joke-ne," Chao grinned and waved at them apologetically.
Grumbling, the girls settled down, Konoka looking vaguely disappointed that the discussion didn't continue for some reason.
Meanwhile Negi was busy spluttering, "Bu-but I-I didn't mean it that way Chao-san!"
The self proclaimed Martian bonked him on the head with a light chuckle, "Ehhh? That makes it even worse Negi-jiji." She pouted at him, "Making such an insincere proposition, you'll never get a girlfriend like that you know, you really broke my heart." she sniffed a few times and even wiped away some crocodile tears for bonus points.
"I-I...guh... um sorry?"
her mood immediately changed and she flipped around to squeeze her homeroom teacher, "Heheh, so cute, you were always so serious in the future." She looked up at the sky to see something only she could see, "It's almost time for me to go now. I'm sorry Negi."
Negi steeled his resolve, "I don't want you to go Chao. No, I can't let you go Chao, I want you to stay here with us, with everyone precious to you. Stay with us here where you are HAPPY!"
Chao faltered for a moment but as soon she looked deeply into his eyes she clenched her jaw again.
"Fufufu," Chao laughed maliciously and her face took on a serious expression "Then you leave me no choice but to use my trump card. The final and most powerful weapon that Chao Lingshen can use-ne?"
Everyone prepared for battle as her aura suddenly skyrocketed.
The Chinese girl grinned as she smoothly pulled out something from behind her, "Hiyah!"
Everyone froze and stared at her weapon... a book?
"Th-this is...?" Negi stuttered out in shock and confusion.
"Fwahahaha!" she laughed evilly as she flourished the book in her hands, "Taste the bitterness of defeat! This is the book containing records of the Chao Family Tree!"
"Eh?"
Chao sweat dropped, she noticed that all the girls with the dropped jaws had already realized it but the boy in front of her was... eh... a little too naive, "Since I'm your descendant it would only mean that you married someone and had children doesn't it?"
Negi nodded in confusion, "So?"
"So this book has the name of that certain person of course!"
"Oh..."
Comprehension dawned like the sun on a winter morning.
"AH!" he lunged for the book only for a giggling Chao to side step him and duck under Ayaka who came in flying from nowhere before a ribbon whip suddenly wrapped around the book and jerked it out of her hand.
"Bwahaha! I got it!" the small pink haired girl laughed maniacally as she slowly opened the book with trembling hands and the kind of heavy breathing that is usually associated with perverts.
But before she could see anything, Chao spoke again with an amused tone, "Oh I should mention, since Naruto-jiji and Negi-jiji are so close, it is only natural that both families are somewhat connected with each other." She winked in the direction of a tree at the edge of a field, "Naturally that means the person that Naruto-jiji marries is in there as well." She finished mischievously.
Makie... wasn't really listening anymore.
As soon as those words had spilled out of Chao's lips, the cold metal of a gun barrel was pressed to the back of her head.
"Book. Now."
The small girl felt a shiver run down her back and whimpered at the cold low monotone; a cold low monotone that she knew very well and heard every time a certain gynoid wanted things to go her way.
A fox spread out on Chachamaru's head made some giggling sounds as the entire clearing went silent.
Everyone stared in shock as the normally calm Chachamaru instantaneously teleported across the gap between platforms with her trademark big gun already at the ready.
Chao sweat dropped and whispered to the red headed boy beside her, "Wow... I think she was even faster than you were earlier Negi-jiji. If you were light speed, she damn near shattered space and time."
"Er... I learned early on pissing Chachamaru off is usually a very bad idea." He whispered back at her and winced as he rubbed his butt as if remembering a phantom pain.
"Smart boy."
Hakase breathed out in awe at the unusual reaction from her creation, "Wow... I guess an A.I. can really love..."
As if a switch had been flipped at her creator's voice, the gynoid realized what she was doing and immediately seemed like she was deflating into herself and timidly moved back to Hakase's side with a luminous blush, "Sorry..." she muttered shyly.
No one believed her sudden display of shyness and timidity.
"Err... Ok?" Negi muttered as he tried to forget what just happened while Makie turned her attention back to the book.
It wasn't there anymore.
"Eh? Where's the book?"
"Bwahaha I got it!" a voice floated to them from the air.
"Paru! Get back here!" Asuna yelled as she flung her harisen at the artist who was riding a armoured bird of some sort and giggling rather pervertedly.
****Broken Faith****
A figure hiding underneath the shadow of a tree sweat dropped as he watched Negi's party self destruct while Chao started the ritual to send herself back in time and dramatically floated into the sky with a flashy exit.
He winced and rubbed his temples to alleviate the pain.
As soon as he heard Chao call him Naruto-jiji, his memories of that day had returned in a tidal wave and with it, came a massive headache. Urgh... he really hated memory seals. He remembered when the one his father put on him broke, he had been bed ridden for a week while Akane tried to put his scrambled brain back together.
Incidentally that was also part of the reason why he didn't go rampaging in Konoha at the time, he was too confused to even tell left from right, much less commit a massacre.
Anyway, as soon as his memories returned, the missing pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place and he could finally see the reason behind the entire Mahora Festival fiasco.
Sighing slightly at the missed opportunity to speak to someone that might genuinely be his family, he faded into the shadows with another wince.
Reappearing in an abandoned pavilion, the blonde walked around the edge, breathing the night air deeply to lessen the pain.
As he trailed one finger on the marble banister he realized this was also the place where he first realized that Chao was literally family and related to him by blood.
How ironic.
He didn't really have a place in mind when he shunshined away. he just wanted a place to be alone for a while.
Play Angel Beats! OST – Ichiban no Takaramono
"I was hoping you were here."
The blonde jerked up in surprise at the voice and spun around to see an apprehensive Chao Lingshen slowly walking towards him, still wearing her ragged uniform and one half of her usual bun spilled down her back in a untidy mess.
"You-But-How-huh?"
The Martian giggled slightly at his dumbstruck expression before dimming again, "I wanted to talk to you earlier but you weren't there. And I couldn't outright ask to speak to you because I didn't want anybody to know there was more than a passing relationship between us."
Naruto smirked, "You make it sound so wrong, and for your information I don't do incest."
Chao pouted, "Mou, jii-chan meanie."
Naruto laughed and held his arms open to her.
Without hesitation the girl flung herself into his arm and buried her face in his chest.
Without realizing it, years of tension bled out from her shoulders. Year after year of planning, of back breaking efforts and cunning moves. Everything had been executed properly and she had technically lost yet all she now felt was a profound relief. All the building pressure she had suffered under ever since she had hatched this plan was gone. It was a wonderful feeling.
All there was at the moment was her jii-chan and her.
Without realizing it, she had started crying into his chest.
Tears of happiness and relief.
Naruto patted her back with a soft smile playing on his lips.
"Thank you."
The girl in ragged clothes giggled wetly, "Why are you thanking me? I literally forced everyone you know to participate in a senseless war, you should be angry at me."
"I'm not happy about that part of the plan but I wasn't talking about that."
He paused and wiped her tears away with a handkerchief before pulling out an elastic ribbon he usually kept with him for Akako and neatly looping her messy hair into one acceptable ponytail, "There, now you don't look like some mess Akako dragged in." Chao giggled and pouted at his gentle teasing.
"I was referring to the meeting with Ichibi, Hachibi and Akane once again. I realized it once my memories came back. The reason you couldn't tell me about your plans. If you had told me, I would have looked forward to the meeting by preparing myself. The talk with Akane wouldn't have been sincere; preparing myself would have lessened the value in the... conversation that followed."
Chao smiled unsurely, "I'm not sure what you mean by conversation but I didn't really know what I was hoping for," she admitted. "Even at my best estimate, I fully expected you to kill me before moving on."
Naruto's eyes widened at her frank assessment of her possible death, "Wh-Why would I do something like that?"
Chao shrugged and averted her eyes, "The plan had two ultimate goals. Either one was fine by me; the first was if I had succeeded in spreading knowledge about magic despite everything. The second was if the first failed, I could rest easy knowing that I at least prepared you and Negi-jiji for the future by giving you what you lacked in the future."
The blonde's eyes narrowed sharply, "Even at the cost of your life?"
She nodded firmly.
Naruto slapped her.
"Is your life worth so little? Do you really think I, no do you think your grandfathers from the future would be happy if everything they did came to you sacrificing yourself for something so trivial?" he demanded from the stunned girl.
Chao backed away in shock with wide eyes, one hand touching the red mark on her cheek, "I-it's not trivial! You and Negi-jiji died because of me! I had to do something, anything! If I hadn't done anything, you would have continued on as you were, in my future, your regret never went away, the Black Paladin stayed Black! Something happened, you two had a goal, to save a lot of people but lacked the power to do so, but it was a half victory at best, a postponement of the inevitable! Especially with your regret and the constant fear of dying by that seal holding you back! I came back so that the two of you can get stronger and achieve a true victory!"
By the time she ended her rant she was crying.
Naruto looked sadly at the crying girl, "Even if we failed, do you really think we would actively sacrifice our granddaughter for a goal like that? Even if we were to die and fail, I would want my family to live on at least. I can't force you to put more value on your own life, but you should remember that to me, to your real grandfathers, to your mother, to your father, your life is absolutely priceless even if you don't think so."
Chao looked like she had been slapped again as she slowly slid to her knees.
Naruto knelt down and gathered her into his arms where she sobbed quietly, "The good of the many is one thing; family is another. I don't know if I can speak for Negi, but I will damn myself to hell and back before I let my granddaughter die for the so called Greater Good. Family always comes first."
Chao sniffled and smiled, "That's what Akako-nee san said when she refused her 300th suitor."
Three words stood out to Naruto.
The first was Nee-san.
The second was three hundred.
The third was suitor.
"Wait you're my daughter? Suitor? Where? Who? He'll taste my BLADE!"
The girl in his chest sweat dropped as flaming blue swords sprung out of nowhere.
She... probably shouldn't have said that...
Her father was probably one of the bravest men in her rather large extended family.
It took him 23 times before he gathered enough courage to ask her mother's hand in marriage.
19 of those times he didn't even make it into the compound before he fainted.
It probably didn't help that her biological grandfather was the God of Lightning while the God of Blades literally lived next door. Needless to say, all her other uncles that married into the family were well and truly whipped. There was even one uncle who tried 80 times... well... she had to at least give him credit for persistence.
Unsurprisingly, none of her aunts had any problems of the sort. Come to think of it... her family was filled with a lot of... strong women. Emphasis on the strong.
So she did the most natural thing. She bonked her so called grandfather on the head, "Settle down!"
He obediently did so with a mulish expression on his face and the flaming blades all disappeared as well.
Chao giggled at the expression and sighed at his stubbornness, "I'm not your daughter, I just call her that because decades later, Akako-nee san... err... never grew up?"
That was an understatement.
She was probably way past her eighties at the time and still looked fifteen going on early twenty-ish, for some reason. Chao suspected that she just loved to be the darling of the family.
"And don't scare away all the future husbands! If you do I might not be born!" Chao scolded her mulish grandfather with an equally mulish expression.
The two of them stared at each other defiantly before the older child finally relented, "Ok ok, but I get to choose."
Chao rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Point taken." She drooped slightly, "I won't do something like that again."
"No more using that soul eating seal thingy?"
"You made it!"
Naruto looked at her like she was stupid, "Why would I make something so stupid for?"
"There was a ritual that could turn Chachamaru-baa chan human, but it required a hugely powerful magic user and the user had to be intimately in tune with her soul. Negi couldn't do it because of that uh... requirement, so you tried to upgrade that memory translation seal that Negi-jiji uses to convert chakra into magic forcefully. It was never finished because you were..." Chao gulped sadly.
"Ah... speaking of which, why are you even using something like that? As one of our descendants shouldn't you at least have magic or chakra?"
Chao lowered her face shamefully and was silent for a long while.
Naruto was starting to get uncomfortable with her long silence until she finally spoke, "I don't and will never do. I was the runt of the family; the only person in the whole family tree without magic or chakra. That's why I kept pranking people, because I wanted attention. Our family loved me, don't get me wrong, but there was always this glass wall separating me and them, a gap that separated my dull life from the magic filled fantasy life everyone else had... a chasm I couldn't breach, a life where I could only watch from the outside. They treated me like an invalid! No one cared about a runt except you..."
The girl looked at him with tearful eyes, "Only Naruto-jiji cared enough about me. You told me that you were the same when you were younger, no one cared about you, no one acknowledged you as well. You gave me confidence in myself. Then you taught me other things, that is why I'm so good at hand to hand fighting and studying, you showed me that I could be the best even without magic or chakra."
Naruto understood and simply hugged her tighter and he silently listened to her sobs.
He leaned back into the marble banister and silently waited for her to calm herself down as he rubbed her back soothingly.
Hours might have passed before the girl lifted her head and smiled wetly at her grandfather, "I have to go soon jiji..."
Naruto nodded, not knowing what to say to someone that was supposed to be his granddaughter a few times removed until he thought of something. The blonde squinted at his descendant, "Speaking of leaving, didn't you already leave earlier? How did you get back?"
Chao laughed mischievously despite her red puffy eyes, "I didn't really leave. As long as I there is a compatible source of power nearby I can move along the time line whenever I want, that means I just stayed in the 7 day period where the tree is active. Earlier I just turned back time to the beginning to the Festival and came back here again. Right now, there are twenty six compatible sources all around the world, including the World Tree. In my time line, there was only five." she made a gesture with her hand that Naruto took to mean something bad had happened to them.
Seeing the blonde nod along with her, she continued, "Let's say that power source in the future has a six day grace period and comes about every 10 years. That means as long as I rewind time to stay in that six day time period, I can theoretically come back whenever I want. If I miss it, then the next time you see me, I'll probably be ten years older."
"Very interesting, was it me or were you the one to improve the Hiraishin to that degree?"
Chao's eyes widened, "You knew?"
"As soon as I inspected the magical array the time piece creates." He replied with a smirk. "The Hiraishin is more or less a localized version of your Cassiopeia with only the time stop function available, though it took a while before I managed to unravel everything. I only truly noticed when you used those bigger arrays earlier." He acknowledged with an easy smile.
Chao pouted at being outwitted. Naruto laughed at her cute pout.
For a split second, she felt like she was 6 years old again and being held by her grandfather as he taught her how to fight. She remembered that he was the reason that she tried so hard in everything, she didn't want to disappoint the only person who actually bothered to teach and love someone like her.
****Later that night****
Dim moonlight shone upon the blonde shinobi as he lay in his bed with a snoring lump of fur on his chest and a gynoid curled up in his side as he considered everything Chao had told him in the depths of his mind.
If the Festival hadn't happened, if he hadn't met Akane again, it was likely he never changed his ways; that he went around screwing up people's minds without much mercy or forgiveness. He understood that sometimes, although force and violence was a great power and a wonderful method of persuading people to see things his way, it usually only brought more problems in the long run.
On the other hand, there were times when sincerity and trust were equal or even greater motivators.
Ah... sometimes ignorance was truly bliss. The politest way to describe him in his youth was stupidly naive yet that naiveté had allowed him to achieve so much by virtue of the simple fact that he simply didn't know it wasn't possible. Yet as the highs were orgasmic, the downs were traumatic because he trusted and loved without reserve, the recipients were simply unable to match up with the devotion he gave them.
Konoha's citizens were a good example.
The face of a white masked feminine boy in hunter ninja garbs flashed in his mind's eye.
He smiled fondly at the memory of Haku. A memory he had not perused in years.
He remembered what Rakan had said, that knowledge had truly limited him.
In any case, it had probably caused him to stop short of this goal that Chao mentioned. A goal where the lives of many hung in the balance.
Huh... shouldn't be that to figure out, there were only so many times where the apocalypse was coming and he was the only thing standing between it and the rest of the world.
Oh wait... damn.
More than he wanted to count. And knowing his shitty luck, the count would keep going up.
Meh... back to the old routine then.
Wing it as it comes and hope he didn't break something too important, or too many of them anyway.
Naruto smiled wryly, considering his track record, it really wasn't a comforting decision.
He briefly wondered what happened to do him and his family in, quickly quieting the flare of anger at such a thought, but immediately ditched that line of thought. There too many ways of dying and there probably was an equally numerous list of people that might do it if he kept offing people. Even if he permanently silenced the main threat, their precious ones would never forgive him.
Especially since it was even more than likely that his attitude only got worse as time passed.
A never ending circle of hatred.
A new balance was needed.
****Broken Faith****
"Naruto, will you be busy today?"
The blonde looked up from where he had been playing with Akako, throwing a small ball of yarn for her to chase, "Yeah I suppose. I asked to train with Michi today, then Al wants a meeting with me, I heard Negi and the others will be there as well."
"I see..." the green haired gynoid quieted for a moment.
Naruto frowned, "What's wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything."
"Ah," the gynoid looked up in slight surprise, "No it's nothing. I was... simply wondering if I needed to cook your portion of dinner as well. I was also planning on talking to Hakase today so I was wondering if you would take care of Akako today."
"Of course." Naruto smiled warmly at her.
The gynoid ducked her head down to hide a blush, "I-I also made a bentou for your lunch. Wi-will you take it with you?"
"Anything you made will be delicious."
Chachamaru smiled slightly and finished cleaning their room before leaving for her appointment with Hakase.
Naruto watched her leave with a slightly confused glint in his sapphire eyes before simply shrugging and picking up a squirming Akako. He gently scratched her white tummy, causing her to purr lightly, "You'll always be a daddy's girl wont you? You won't leave your papa and mama for some dirty guy right?" he cooed affectionately.
"Hai papa!"
Naruto smiled and left the cabin with Akako riding on his head like a red flag.
****Broken Faith****
Naruto panted hard as he dodged a powerful punch that blew a crater in solid rock.
"What's wrong Naruto! You're far slower and weaker than normal!" his opponent taunted him.
"Bleh! I don't to hear that from someone that can't stop smoking for even 5 minutes dammit!"
"Then fight back and show me rather than talking at me! You are the one who suddenly wanted to train with me!"
"Muuu..." panting angrily, the blonde ducked under another punch and slipped into Takahata's guard with a side step before planting a fist in his guts hard enough to blow the older teacher into the air, "Adeat!" Takahata watched in slow motion as the blonde reached behind him and pulled a large shining sword from dimensional rift in thin air before splitting it into several smaller blades that was hurled in his direction in one smooth move.
He grinned; the blonde was finally getting serious, and activated his Kanka, blowing the blades away with simple gestures before aiming at the blonde once more.
Naruto skidded to a spot and spun, barely dodging Takahata's trademark massive punch, finishing it off with a swing of the main blade in his hands that shot a crescent wave of energy at the teacher.
Takahata grunted and began rapidly punching the air beneath him, slowing down his descent so that the attack missed him completely, he was just about to land when he realized it was a trap, the entire floor had been laid with bluish white chains of some sort, out of the corner of his eyes he noticed that the ends of each chain was tautly connected with the smaller blades he had blasted of course earlier.
Activating a basic flotation magic array, he managed to stall for barely a second when Naruto started throwing a barrage of energy attacks at him. He deflected each one with his iai-ken until he felt something smashed into his back, throwing him into the chains below.
Twisting around Takahata noticed that at least one of energy attacks was a disguised clone that managed to flank him while he was distracted by the original Naruto flinging dangerous attacks like candy at him. With attacks coming from all directions, the teacher gave up and let himself be captured with a resigned smile.
The blonde sighed as he wiped the sweat off with a towel while the older teacher did the same beside him.
He leaned back tiredly on the cool wall until a voice disturbed his thoughts, "What was wrong with you today? No offence, but you were far weaker than normal. I mean yeah, you always use traps of some sort, but usually traps or tricks are a back up rather than the first line of defence for you."
Naruto let out an explosive sigh at the question, by his estimation his max combat capabilities had dropped by at least 20%. Put simply, he moved slower and couldn't hit quite as hard anymore. If he could describe the bittersweet feeling it would be like now a punch was just that a punch, it was powerful true, but before, he punched like he was determined to put his arm through his target. Though he admitted it felt good not to want to permanently maim all his opponents whenever he fought, the malicious flame in his gut no longer burned as brightly as it once did.
He gave a small smile, even if he was weaker, he marked it up as an improvement, "I had a revelation of sorts you could say, and as a result I gained a few new abilities but lost some power in return."
"New abilities? Like those chains?"
By way of reply the huge blade suddenly reappeared and Takahata's eyes widened in shock as Naruto stabbed him through the torso with it.
A few moments of silence passed as Naruto leaned back into the wall, sipping water from a water bottle calmly while Takahata desperately tried not to hyperventilate at the thought of being killed like this. It was only after he heard a low chuckle from the blonde beside him that he realized something.
He felt no pain whatsoever. No blood either now that he had enough brain capacity to think about it.
Naruto pulled the massive blade out of him with a mischievous smile, "You could say those chains are just something I... rediscovered. That sword on the other hand is a new ability. As long as you don't mean me harm, the blade cannot harm you either." He smiled at the blade lightly, "Pushy, protective woman."
The teacher leaned back with a relieved sigh before whacking the blonde upside the head, "Next time warn me before you do something like that. I thought I was going to die for a moment. Even if your blade didn't kill me, the heart attack would have!"
"What was that? Did I hear something along the lines of Naruto-sama was right and that smoking is bad?"
Takahata snorted and whacked him again just because he felt like it.
And because if he didn't, he would have started throttling the laughing blonde.
Meanwhile the blonde's laughter belied his darker thoughts. The fight he just had with Takahata just reaffirmed what he already knew. He was now weaker. Therefore he had to become stronger. In his mind there was no other option.
But this time he would strike a balance between enlightenment and naiveté.
A balance between sincerity and cunningness.
A new balance.
****Broken Faith****
Sometime during the day after the festival, deep within the tunnels of library island, in front of the gates that led to Albireo's house stood Negi, Asuna Konoka and Setsuna. Setsuna came with an assortment of weapons, namely various blades on her back, while Asuna had her sword out as well. In front of them stood the dragon that had attacked them the first time Negi came down there.
Offhandedly Negi remembered this was also the same dragon that Naruto had downed with a so called 'Iron Wall' in the other time line.
He decided his head wasnt quite that hard yet, therefore he took the safer option.
Nervously putting his hand into his pocket, the red head took out a piece of paper with the words "Invitation for Mr. Negi Springfield." The dragon took one look at it, nodded its large bony head and flew away with big flaps of its huge wings.
The group then let out a collective sigh of relief. "Thank Kami we didn't have to fight that thing," Setsuna said aloud as they walked through the doors.
"I agree. We'd be in serious trouble if we had to fight something like that," Asuna replied before adding quietly, "And I really didn't feel like trying to hit that thing with my head no matter how hard Iincho claims it is."
All four of them glanced at each other until Negi blurted out, "How did you know what I was thinking?"
All was silent for a moment before they shared a laugh as they realized they were all thinking the same ridiculous thing.
When they got through they were met by a breath taking sight. In front of the group was Albireo's oddly shaped home, surrounded by a picturesque scene of large trees and glittering waterfalls.
"Wow..." Konoka said in wonder taking in the beauty of the sight. "This is the kinda of place you can just imagine a mage living in." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. They climbed up some stairs that lead to the front door and entered.
"Man this place is full of books," Asuna grumbled as they passed by numerous shelves.
"I wonder where KuNel-san is?" Konoka said.
'I'm over here,' a soft voice that unmistakably belonged to their eccentric host echoed in each of their minds. Following the voice the group came up to a terrace to find the slender man smiling at them, with Eva sitting on a floating ball next to him. "Welcome to my tea party, I've been waiting for you."
"Took you long enough," Eva added as she took a sip of tea. "The other idiot here got tired of waiting and wandered off somewhere."
"Naru-kun is here too?" Konoka asked.
"He's somewhere around," Eva gestured up the winding staircase vaguely, "I think he was messing around with another new creation."
Ignoring the comments about his eccentric adopted brother, Negi cleared his throat to get the attention of their equally eccentric host, "Um KuN...no Albireo-san..."
"Negi-kun!" Albireo said sternly.
A little startled by the stern tone, Negi deflated, "Y-Yes?"
"I believe that I had requested to be called KuNel Sanders."
"Um... uh... Sorry KuNel-san..."
"Very well done," he nodded approvingly while Evangeline simply rolled her eyes at the former Ala Rubra's theatrics, "Now let's take this conversation up there, where we can sit and eat some food," Albireo suggested and everyone nodded.
"What's with the stupid name anyway Al?" Eva asked. You get addicted to the chicken while you were up there?" Albireo who was walking in the front suddenly stopped walking and turned around to face his guests.
"Negi-kun, Setsuna-san, Asuna-san, Konoka-san, I don't believe I've properly introduced my young friend here," he said as he casually gestured at the vampire, "I don't believe that she ever told you her full name either, correct?" he said with a glint that was obvious even in his squinty eyes.
The little vampire's eyes widened in horror, "N-no! Don't say it Albireo!" Eva yelled in panic. The mage completely ignored the little blond.
"Al?"
Still no response.
Relenting, the vampire wheedled quietly, "KuNel?"
"Yes, Kitty?" the sarcastic librarian asked with a bright smile. Negi and the three girls couldn't help the small giggles as an enraged Eva began to shake Albireo from side to side and pummel him with her small fists.
"I told you to never call me by that name!"
"I think it's adorable. Don't you Negi-kun?" Albireo laughed.
Negi didn't dare to reply. Partly because he was too busy keeping his lips shut in case he started laughing and partially because he knew if he said anything he probably wouldn't survive his next training session with the vampire.
After all the theatrics and comedy was said and done, the group sat around a table full of different types of sweets, fruits and teas. "This is really good tea. It's wonderful, and has a taste of plums," Negi commented on the cup of tea he was drinking.
"You think so? I have many other kinds of tea too," Albireo said. "Please enjoy my humble services. I don't get many guests recently."
"Either because you live under a tree or because you're an asshole. Probably because you're an asshole." Evangeline grumbled from beside him.
"Did you say something Kitty?"
Evangeline leapt at him with a snarl and a glowing blade that did a grand total of nothing against the elusive mage.
Completely ignoring the angry vampire that was making hissing noises as she tried to make mincemeat out of him Albiero casually continued his conversation, "How about you boy? Did things go as expected for you during the Festival?"
"Huh?" Negi replied, not quite hearing the question since his attention was partially on his enraged teacher as she tried to violently kill someone.
"Did you get something out of this entire experience?" Negi nodded his head and took a deep breath.
"Yes I did. I now understand just exactly where...and what I'm getting myself into. No rather I probably knew that even before Chao-san told me. It was just as master said. We cannot keep ourselves clean. No, we were most likely never clean to begin with."
By then Naruto had stopped messing around and listened into Negi's speech along with the girls. Setsuna had a serious look on her face, Asuna had food in her mouth and Konoka looked confused by the whole thing.
Evangeline nodded approvingly, "If you look with a lucid eye, you will realize that 'being alive' means the same thing as 'doing evil.' As this is how the world is structured, no one can escape from this law. 'Evil,' to be sure, is the truth of the world. Were you finally able to reach that recognition?"
"That's not what I meant Evangeline-sensei."
That reply threw her off her rant.
"When I said we are not clean, I did not mean evil. When you say that the world is basically structured around a foundation that says the strong rule while the weak die, I agree because in order to live, we as humans need resources." He lifted the cup of tea in his hands, "Whenever we consume something, we deny other's the right to do the same. In that sense you are right. That is evil. That is basically why I fought Chao-san I hesitated so much. That is also what I meant by not being clean. By fighting her, I denied her choices; I denied her entire reason for being here."
He glared at the liquid in the cup, "I am not proud of it. But I won't back down either. To me it's not right. If being good means standing back and watching people die then I rather be evil. It's as simple as that. The world will never be perfect. If I keep worrying about what every little action does or does not do, I might as well condemn the whole world to Armageddon; same results, just faster and less gray hairs." Negi added wryly.
"So I will make sure to do the best I can in every situation, to keep everyone around me happy, but at the same time I recognize that I am not God. I cannot stop everyone's suffering but if I can help alleviate it I will as long as my own principles are not violated. That's why I cannot abide by your opinion that just living is evil. That's just too cynical for me because Life itself is precious in every way."
He shot a penetrating stare at the vampire, "I know deep down you believe that as well."
"Oh?" the vampire spoke challengingly.
"Yes. Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be right here, right now. You stayed alive, killed people, crawled, struggled and fought just so you can live. Isn't that what being a human means? To crawl, to fight and to struggle just so that you can see a new sunrise every morning? Don't deny it either because I know Nii-san trusts you. If anything; that usually means you are an intrinsically good person at heart thus we can come to the conclusion that you claim that living is evil because in some way you are repenting for your actions. You recognize that it is evil and you try not to be too excessive."
The vampire was struck speechless.
A slow clapping resonated around the elevated platform.
"Well said. Very well said."
"Nii-san!"
Naruto smiled as he dropped into the sofa next to Evangeline, "You learnt a lot from Chao eh?"
Negi blushed at the praise and nodded happily.
"Evangeline's outlook on life is a little too bleak," He petted her head fondly, "Semantics and philosophical arguments aside, it comes out to the same. You fight to live and keep everyone precious to you together, because that's all you can do. That's all we can do and it's definitely worth doing well."
The vampire spluttered and whacked his hand away.
Negi smiled softly, "If it's worth doing, then it's worth doing well eh nii-san? You said that as you defeated Fate as well."
Al laughed slightly at the brother's interactions, "But still, it is as expected from someone like Evangeline," Albireo complimented the vampire. "Being able to guide an honest young man this far. I guess some of the best teachers are the bad guys. Does this mean that someday the son of a hero would turn into an evil great mage? Or in this case the successor of the Dark Evangel?"
"It's nothing like that. Besides what's with you! Don't go butting into the education policies of others! The brat is the one who said he wanted to become my apprentice you know! I'm free to do whatever I want."
"Hahaha, you are right. Please excuse me." Then Albireo turned towards Negi. "Well, with that recognition, what will you do from now on?"
"Yeah otouto? What are you going to do from now on?" Naruto asked, trying to see where the person who has been the trouble of his new life will go.
"I-I will still aim to become a Magister magi after all. Now that I have stopped Chao-san's plan, I cannot afford to stand still. I have to continue on ahead. That's why I wish to become a proper mage, although perhaps not the same way as dad...and help out as many people as I can. Is that weird?" Naruto smirked and walked over to his friend. He then gave him a pat on the back.
Negi nodded, understanding that his eccentric brother said all that was needed to be said with that action.
Al nodded approvingly. "If that is the case Negi-kun...how about you be my apprentice?"
From her place on the couch Evangeline spat out her tea, causing Naruto to casually step aside, narrowly avoiding a face full of hot tea.
"Eh?" everyone said at the same time.
"Nii-san?"
Said blonde simply shrugged, "Both of them can mold you into a great Magister. The only difference from my point of view is that Albiero will also mold you into a great perverted Magister. Evangeline will also make you into a great perverted Magister... only in a different orientation if you get my gist." He said with a wink and a conspiratory nudge.
"What!" Evangeline protested indignantly as Negi looked at him cluelessly while Asuna thwacked him on the head.
"Mou... what is with you people and hitting my head today? Isn't anybody worried that I might lose a few brain cells?"
"We would if you had any if in the first place!"
"Asuna- chan... so mean..." Naruto transformed into a cuddly five year old and pouted at her.
"Mu-must not yi-yield!"
"Naruto's antics aside, I mean as a teacher she's no good," Albireo stated out as in as a matter of fact tone. Naruto merely squawked as he was literally squeezed up by a squealing Konoka.
"If you have her as a teacher it's like giving up your life you know?"
"What the hell did you say?" Eva screamed.
"I mean with me, aside from the obvious perks, you can learn more about the Thousand Master's fighting style," Albiero continued on as if Evangeline hadn't spoken at all.
"And there's the fact that she is an ice-type mage as well. Not very good as a wind mage teacher," Albireo added conspiratorially. Eva's jaw dropped in disbelief and her face red with anger.
"Ca-can't breathe! A-Al! He-help!"
"And you know that I am very skilled in gravity magic as well. Very useful those; Naruto has some pretty fancy gravity moves in his repertoire as well. Don't you want to learn them?" he smirked as he dangled the bait in front of a sparkly eyed Negi while Evangeline raged impotently.
"Grarrh! Thats it! You're dead KuNel!" Eva shouted as she started trying to slice him again.
"Yes, Kitty?" The mage replied casually even as her energy blade passed through him harmlessly causing Eva to gain a tick mark on her forehead.
"Stop calling me that! And stop trying to poach my apprentice! What are you scheming Albireo...I mean KuNel! What is your objective of making the boy your apprentice!"
"My objective?"
He smirked, "To get you frustrated and flustered obviously"
"DIE!"
****Broken Faith****
Once everything had calmed down once more, Konoka tried to steer the conversation to a safer vein, "Back to topic, what was the main reason you invited us here Colonel-san?" Konoka asked.
Her words were serious.
Her death grip on the slightly blue faced blonde child on her lap was not.
KuNel smiled, "Ah. I promised some information for Negi about his father if he won the Tournament did I not? I simply thought it would be better if it was said with everyone who needed to hear it present."
"Is it true then?" Negi asked.
"It is true. Your father is still alive I can guarantee you that," Negi told them.
"YES!" the girls cheered. "That's so great isn't that Negi?" Asuna asked.
"Y-yes!" He then turned to his dad's old friend. "Where is he?"
"That I do not know," Albireo answered hesitantly.
"T-then how do you know he's still alive?"
"That's because of this," Albireo replied pulling out his pactio card. "This is the card between me and the Thousand Master. This card is 'alive.' This is the proof of his survival. While these," Albireo pulled out several other cards that looked like his current one, but missing many, many details, "these cards are dead."
"At least we know he's still alive. Do you have any leads?"
"Not from me. However if you want to find him, you should head back to England or Wales. Over there is the door that leads to Mundus Magicus, the Magical World." Suddenly around Negi a violent tornado appeared. In the eye was Negi, with a determined smile on his face. After a moment it died down and he looked at everyone. His eyes were sparkling and he had a happy demeanor on his face.
"Well, then I'm off!" Negi. This caused everyone to face fault except for Albireo. As he did a quick step, Naruto appeared and grabbed him by the collar of his suit.
"And where do you think you're going baka?" Naruto asked in a deadpanned voice.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Eva asked appearing next to the blond. "Besides do you think you can just waltz over there?'
"Yeah! Geez, whenever it comes to your dad, you just lose sight of everything around you!" Asuna reprimanded him.
"It gets annoying Negi," Naruto frowned.
"B-but I can't just stand around doing nothing..." Negi defended himself.
"Well, you can help me teach the girls for their final exams."
"Gah! I almost forgot about those! Nii-san is gonna fail so badly!"
"What? Where the hell did your faith in me go?"
"Fufu...It looks like you'll have to put it off until later."
"GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE!" a voice suddenly called out. Everyone turned towards the entrance and saw that everyone from team Negi has appeared, even dragging along Chisame. They then started to eat and party like usual.
"My my I forgot I invited them too," Albireo sighed as his new guests completely ignored him in favour for fawning over Negi.
****Broken Faith****
Play Persona 3 OST – Kimi no Kioku
Chachamaru knocked gently on the door, "Hakase, are you free? Can I come in?"
She heard a few crashes on the other side of the door and various mumbled curses that she probably shouldn't record into her dictionary.
The door swung open to show a messy Hakase with her usual braided pony tails in a lopsided mess while she struggled to pull up a skirt.
"Ah... do you want me to wait while you get ready?"
"No, no, there's no need for something like that. Besides it's not like I have anything to hide." The professor glanced at the gynoid, "So what brings you here today? It's unlike you to request a meeting outside of your usual checkups and upgrades."
"Ah. I had a little problem... and I'm not sure who to go to for advice..." she trailed off, the implication of her unique situation was enough for even the socially stunted professor to grasp.
Chuckling slightly, the messy girl ushered the gynoid to a seat, "Don't worry too much," she smiled softly at the gynoid, "Even if I look like this, I really care for you. So you can tell me anything that's worrying you."
'Even if it shouldn't be...' the professor added in the security of her own mind.
The gynoid looked down, embarrassed at the show of caring from her creator, "I... I want to have children."
Hakase Satomi was a hard person to shock; her interactions with Chao over a two year long period only reinforced that notion, especially since the precocious Chinese girl started breaking all her preconceptions about science by introducing advanced quantum mechanics and theories that were almost impossible by the level of present day technology on a nearly daily basis.
Hakase Satomi blinked.
Then she blinked again and dug in her ears with a pinky finger. When that turned up with nothing she tried using a pencil.
Once she had finally calmed down after Chachamaru narrowly stopped her from inserting a pencil into her ear, Satomi slumped into her chair tiredly, whatever she was expecting, it wasn't this.
"Let's start again," she spoke slowly, "You want a child? Or more specifically, you want multiple children."
Chachamaru nodded.
"The same way a human woman would have one?"
She nodded again and Satomi started rubbing her temples as her mind ran theory after theory about possible upgrades to mimic a human's pregnancy.
Giving up she refocused on the obviously nervous gynoid, "While I'm not saying it's completely impossible, why the sudden interest in having children? Rather, I thought this was just a crush, how did it get to something like this?"
Chachamaru literally wilted in front of her eyes.
"I'm well aware I'm not human..." the gynoid raised a jointed fist and clenched it to emphasize her words, "I shouldn't even be able to feel something as... subjective and esoteric as love. My original programming never covered anything as complex as this. Yet..."
Satomi nodded with what she hoped was a compassionate expression. Someone she considered a daughter was asking about children. It was a very strange feeling, bittersweet, but more on the bitter side of things, especially since she had never even saw a single male in a romantic light before.
"My original programming required me to emulate caring and protectiveness to three specific people. You, Chao-san and Master. Over time I found that to keep all three of you happy, I should also keep everything precious to you happy, so I cared about most of 3-A. When Na... Naruto showed up... he shouldn't even be factored into my decisions considering his near refusal to join class activities at the time. But somehow by treating me like he treated everyone else..." the gynoid shrugged helplessly, "I found I want to care about him even if it made no sense. Then he became important to Master and I found an excuse to hide behind but the alogical feeling did not go away."
"The other day, during our scheduled checks when I ran away," Satomi nodded, realizing that the green haired android was referring to the time she had nearly gone berserk, "I realized one thing. My one and biggest priority was always Master Evangeline, but that day I found that my loyalty was split between Naruto and Master... I didn't know what to do..."
"I wanted to keep him happy, so I read about what women would do to keep those important to them happy... it mentioned... err.. a lot of things I would never be capable off."
Hakase found herself speechless for the second time in under an hour.
"Err... what was the book's title?"
"Playboy."
Third time speechless plus she felt like hitting something or someone that was preferably blonde even if he didn't know why, "Who in the World gave you the idea that a porn magazine would help keep your partner happy?"
"Chamo-san."
Fourth time with a reminder to fry an ermine sometime soon.
"I came to the conclusion that I would never be able to satisfy Naruto physically,"
Fifth time with a huge blush.
The gynoid continued in a monotone that somehow made the whole discussion even worse, "Therefore I came to the conclusion that because I am unable to do it, I would allow Naruto to see other girls, such as Konoka."
Sixth time. 'Oh God' and several other less polite words were making their way across Satomi's mind.
"But then I talked with Chisame. That day on a Ferris wheel she asked me something I had never really considered before."
Flashback
Pale green eyes shone in the darkening shy as she slowly stroked her fingers through her sleeping homeroom teacher's red hair.
Opposite her, amber eyes watched the gynoid's fingers with a curious glint in them, "You've more or less avoided the question every time I mentioned it before but don't you think you should come clean?"
"I am not sure I understand what you mean Chisame-san."
The auburn haired girl gestured at the sleeping homeroom teacher, "You mentioned that your relationship with Negi-sensei was satisfactory, that you were sparring partners, but to someone like me it almost seems like you care for him, too much. You seem too happy for it to be normal."
The gynoid tilted her head in confusion, "Is it wrong to care for him? He is important to my Master. He is also important to Naruto-san, that is reason enough for me to care for him is it not?"
"Naruto? That crazy blonde guy in our class?"
Chachamaru nodded.
"That insane idiot that lost an arm and somehow grew it back?"
Another nod.
Chisame blinked, "What are you to him?"
"I am... dating him?"
Whatever she was expecting, that wasn't it and Chisame somehow managed to choke on air.
"Ah, are you alright?"
Chisame barely managed to swallow the lump in her throat and waved the gynoid's assistance away, "Do-don't get me wrong, but you aren't human right? Magic is great an all but you can't miraculously have a pregnancy right? Give birth to organic children?"
Chachamaru paused in thought before slowly shaking her head, "I have no such information in all my extensive databases about magic."
"Then why is he dating you?"
"Sorry?"
"I don't get what you're apologizing about since I should be the one doing it," the red head muttered under her breath, "Anyway, to be absolutely blunt. I don't have the slightest clue about romance but even I can tell that you aren't human but he is. Someday soon, he will want children, a loving wife waiting for him. Warm skin to skin contact etcetera. No offense, but I really don't see him staying around unless he is just playing with you."
"I am perfectly aware of that and have considered allowing him to romance other women to fill the holes in his life that I am unable to. That would be the most logical conclusion."
Chisame looked at her in horror, "A harem? That's what you are implying!"
Chachamaru blinked, "I... suppose so."
The cosplayer shook her head, "So you allow him to find warmth and children elsewhere. Find others who can give him the kind of organic love you can't," Chisame stared at her with something Chachamaru couldn't quite identify.
Was it pity?
"Then what about you? If everything else is being relegated to other people, what role would you have in his new life?"
For once Chachamaru did not know what to say.
End Flashback
"What was the extent of your relationship with Naruto? Someday he will want children or crave the warmth of a lover's touch. Sure you can give other people that right, what will you do then? Just be an observer staring into a happy family from outside the window?"
Chachamaru paused and stared sadly at her jointed knees, "I cannot provide for him. I cannot even give him my loyalty because it will always be split between him and Master. He cannot touch me; and I cannot provide children for him like any other women could."
"Maybe I am being too greedy... but I want him to look at me more..."
Chachamaru finally looked straight into Hakase's chocolate brown eyes. She could see tears start to flow, "Then what am I to him Hakase? What is my place in his life? I don't want to lose him, but it seems like it is the only option..."
Hakase took a very deep breath, "I'm... not sure... I've never had to deal with something like this before."
The gynoid looked down disappointedly, "Oh..."
Satomi smiled and looked around her cluttered lab, "Look around Chachamaru. I'm a disappointment aren't I? I can't even advise my own daughter about her love. How can I, when I'm semi permanently stuck in here..."
"No... You are a truly good person..." Chachamaru weakly tried to protest but the professor held a hand up to stop her, "The hallmark of a good scientist is to know where his limit is, and then remove it. For now all I can do is advise you to talk to Naruto directly since this seems like a problem between the two of you as a couple."
She smiled slightly, "This is obviously a big weakness that I will have to overcome if I want to become a truly great scientist, but in the future when I have experience myself, I'll come to find you, and then we can talk all night long about love alright as we munch on chocolates and ice cream, alright?"
"I... understand."
As she stood to usher Chachamaru out, Hakase was struck dumb for the seventh time today as the gynoid impulsively leaned in and hugged her tightly, "You may not be able to advise me today, but you are truly a good and caring person... Mother."
Hakase grinned brightly and walked the gynoid out of her lab. As she observed her greatest creation walk away she wiped a few stray tears with the cuffs of her lab coat.
Then she thought of something.
"Chachamaru!"
The figure in the distance turned around with a questioning tilt of the head, "When you talk to Naruto, make sure you remember to mention that it was Chamo that taught you to use that magazine!"
The figure bowed before continuing her walk back home.
Satomi giggled evilly, the blonde could inflict more damage on that idiotic pervert while he was half dead than she could ever even dream off on her best day.
Chamo felt a chill run down his furry back and wondered which one of his crazy schemes would come back to bite him in the furry behind sometime soon.
****Broken Faith****
"Will you take this request?"
A slender finger ran down the paper where the mission details were written down in a neat elegant feminine scrawl, "Likely. Negi seems to be headed that way as well. I'm not really interested in finding Nagi Springfield but I do want to watch out for him. At least this will give me something to do while he chases after his father."
"Shouldn't that be Our Father?"
The blonde shrugged, "It might sound callous but I'm not exactly interested in tilting at windmills, besides all this hype about Nagi Springfield just makes me want to know why everyone seems to just gloss over his apparent wife. The records mention he was officially married but no other mention is made about her."
A finger ran across the name of the client.
"Theodora Basileia Helladis de Vesperisszimia." The blonde looked up and smiled at his employer.
Konoemon shivered slightly; there was something about that smile that reminded him of a shark.
A big yellow shark.
"During my research of the magical world to help Negi in his search I realized two things. Nagi Springfield obviously didn't want to be found. If he did, someone would have done it within the past 10 years. I'm not saying that I won't follow if something happens to give Negi a hint about his whereabouts but basically this is Negi's quest, it's his responsibility and I won't interfere with that, but when shit happens, I'll be first in line with a camera and laugh at him before digging him out. With a small shovel. The smallest I can find."
"I uh... see..." the old man stroked his considerably shorter beard, "And the second?"
"Hmm...? Oh. I just found it extremely strange. Information about people as well known as Nagi Springfield is usually very easy to come by and I wasn't wrong about that, there is loads of information about him out there, some of them are even true. Thus by association his romantic partner should receive an equal share of the spotlight. This is where it got weird."
The blonde waved his hand vaguely in the direction of Wales, "I knew her initials so when I looked around for information, in direct contrast to her husband, almost everything related to A.A.E., so called wife of the Thousand Mage was blacked out. Not the, 'I kept my wife a secret so that people couldn't harm her' black out. The kind of black out where someone purposely wanted to prevent her identity from being exposed."
The blonde man paused, "The impression it gave me was as if someone or rather, a lot of someones went through a lot of effort to delete her name from history itself."
The old man shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Which the blonde noticed, "Ah, I see you know of her. Let's make things simple. You can't answer or won't answer?"
"Can't." The dean replied briskly with a hint of sadness. "Even now her name is almost taboo among most Magical World citizens and the event that led to such a miscarriage of justice was put under a high security spell to prevent 'Important information from being known to hostiles'." He emphasized the phrase with mocking gestures, "In other words, it was an incredibly high profile event where a lot of political big wigs were incredibly embarrassed and as long as I am outside Mundus Magicus, I am unable to tell you exactly what she did to piss off so many higher ups despite my position."
The blonde smiled slightly, "I see... That narrows it down then. All this conspiracy stuff just makes me even more interested in her. Someone who can piss off so many people that they actively try to erase her from history? In my books, that puts her near deity status. Bonus points if it was a prank."
"I'm sorry?"
"No need to apologize, I figured as much already."
"Oh? I would be interested to hear your deductions."
"Simply put, they were extremely efficient but even they can't delete everything and for someone like me with a lot of strings to pull, the information is easy to get if you know who to ask. A.A.E or Arika Anarchia Entheofusia. Known regular contacts; all members of the Ala Rubra and a certain Hellas empire princess who was once kidnapped along with her."
A finger landed firmly on the client's name once more.
"Knowing that there seems to be an information block on the subject, the only people that could possibly be excluded from this debacle are either so high up the hierarchy that they have an equally large telephone pole up their behinds or the known contacts themselves."
"This saves me the time of going through a bunch of gossipy informants." He added jokingly.
"I do hope I wasn't included in that telephone pole comment."
Naruto winked at him and slowly strolled out of the office.
Once outside he stretched for a bit before absentmindedly walking down the corridor. Right until he walked into somebody.
"Oof!"
"Kyaa!"
Naruto slowly got up and turned to help the person he had bumped into get up as well.
"Shizuna-chan?"
"Mou... what were you day dreaming about Naru-chan?"
"Ahaha... a little of this and that I suppose. Here let me help you."
He bent down to retrieve her dropped papers when he noticed something about them.
"These are... 3-A's health records?"
The busty teacher pouted slightly, "Protocol is a pain." Naruto chuckled and gestured for her to continue, "Basically Ayaka requested a complete set of all her information but I can only access them in a package, so I'm stuck carrying all of them around."
"Oh? Why would someone need all their information while they were here in Mahora for?" the blonde idly commented.
Shizuna shrugged, "Dunno. The only possible reason I can think of at the moment is for a transfer, especially with the summer holidays so close."
"I see..."
Shizuna frowned slightly as the blonde seemed to space out, "Naruto?" she waved her hands in front of his face, "Naruto!"
The blonde snapped out of it and smiled sheepishly at the teacher, "Sorry about that." He hefted the stack of records into his hands, "Here, let me carry all of these to your office for you."
"You sure? Thanks a lot Naru-chan! My back's been killing me with all the lifting I had to do recently."
Naruto desperately tried not to let his eyes stray anywhere below her chin or make any sort of comments that were even remotely related to lifting.
****Broken Faith****
Author's Note
The Bad News: I lost my USB drive two weeks before exam,
The Worse News: At least the next 3 chapters for all three of my stories was in there, including this one and I lost my drive to write fics for a while, especially with mid terms looming up on me.
The Good news: Mid terms ended yesterday.
The Better News: I am rewriting the lost chapters again, this chapter was largely written from memory and I'm working on pumping out the rest once more. At least I didn't take longer than a month and still managed to stick to my update schedule despite the general mess my life has been.
Oh and notice the Persona and Angel Beats! Songs? They are shout outs to the upcoming developments from both titles, English release Persona 4 Golden and (maybe) Angel Beats Season 2.