Broken Faith 27
Nihil et Regnum; the Empty Throne.
Disclaimer : I own Jack Squat
Yes. Yes I'm the type of person that can't focus on studying for too long before my mind starts wandering around, desperately thinking up shit, which of course resulted in me writing this chapter just so I don't have to look at a text book.
Why do you ask?
Me after staring blankly at Auditing textbook for 3 hours straight
- (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Soundtrack List
Ayumi Hamasaki – Heaven
Legend of Heroes : Sora no Kiseki OST – Whereabouts of the Stars Harmonica Version
One Republic – Secrets
****Broken Faith****
Slender fingers unconsciously clenched and unclenched as their owner sat outside the entrance to Shinjuku's Park Hyatt's most luxurious penthouse.
Pale green eyes watched the mahogany doors steadily, studying each and every crack and grain in the wood, more to distract herself from the inevitable discussion rather than any real sense of boredom. That was why when the heavy doors were unexpectedly swung open; Ayaka Yukihiro could not prevent herself from jumping slightly.
"Your father is ready to see you young mistress."
Short and concise, something she was long used to from her father's personal attendant.
She smiled gently at the sharply dressed man with grey tinged auburn hair with an equally sharp handlebar moustache and received an equally warm smile in return, "Thank you Rob-jii san."
Sharp grey eyes glittered warmly and the older man bowed politely again before his lips took a down turn and he averted his eyes from hers.
At that, Ayaka had to forcibly remind herself to stop fidgeting and unnecessarily smoothing down her already pristine forest green gown again. Father hated it when people fidgeted; to him it was a sign of weakness. Not something that should be present in any of his offspring.
Swallowing the lump that had appeared in her throat, she strode in gracefully, her steps filled with confidence she wasn't really feeling. Directly at the back of the living room, behind an old and magnificent oak desk, with his back to an entire wall made of glass, an impeccably dressed gentleman sat with a proud, straight backed posture as he inspected a hand held screen in one hand with a tumbler of, going by the amber liquid swirling in it, what she assumed was whisky in the other.
With a posture every bit as regal and stiff as his, hands folded daintily in front of her, Ayaka stood exactly seven feet from the edges of his table and waited for the man to address her.
Ayaka found herself rather amused by the psychological warfare her father was trying to use on her. She knew it his standard tactic whenever he was meeting with anybody he felt was below his station, allowing his opponent's own fear, guilt and nervousness to overcome them and give him the upper hand. It would have worked if she didn't already know his habits, and so the blonde girl simply made herself content by observing him while she waited.
Grey hair was now interspersed with the black, combined with his confident posture, sharp black eyes and distinctly Asian jaw line, Ayaka wasn't surprised to note that it simply gave the impression that he wore his age with more confidence than most men could ever dream of. She had to ruthlessly suppress a whimsical smile as she randomly wondered whether a certain idiot blonde could match the stern and mature aura her father was giving off right now, when he was older.
Knowing him, he would either turn out to be some old perverted geezer type or surpass her father entirely. There was rarely any middle road when it came to him.
"It's good to see you again, Ayaka."
She internally chided herself for daydreaming and had to quickly gather her muddled thoughts, throwing out the less suitable ones while she was at it after her father's gruff voice had so suddenly broke the silence between them, "Is it good to see you too Otou-sama. You are looking well."
The regal man had finally put down his PA and settled his tumbler of whisky on the table with a slight clack, watching her from narrowed black eyes, "I was rather surprised by then sudden request."
He did not elaborate further but Ayaka knew he wasn't merely stating a fact; he was waiting for her to answer. Usually by not asking a specific question, it generally caused the person being questioned to out more information than was necessary.
Then again what was she supposed to say? I spent 40 million yen for a school festival because my friends asked me to host a special spontaneous event?
"My friends put forth an interesting idea. I felt it had merit, especially with the publicity both the Yukihiro name and the Mahora Academy could potentially gain if it was successful."
The man eyeballed her silently for a bit longer before picking up the hand held tablet again and pretended to read some data from it, "46 MILLION yen. On a MIDDLE SCHOOL event. Nearly half of that was given off as prizes, while the other half was spent on elaborate costumes and specialty equipment that almost certainly have no other use elsewhere."
The emphasis on the word 'million' and 'middle school' was not lost on her.
"In other words, wasted."
Ayaka winced and her shoulders sagged slightly, "I'm sorry Otou-sama." She murmured quietly
The black haired man stared at her for a while longer before shaking his head, "You remember our deal don't you?
Ayaka nodded, her eyes were still focused on the elaborate carpeting beneath her heels.
"I allowed you to return to middle and high school rather than start working for me even though you have already completed your university degree, your argument at the time was that you wanted some time away from your mother and that you did not know how to fit in to society. So I agreed, but in return; outside of a small allowance I gave you, you had to be absolutely self sufficient. You broke that deal."
Ayaka could've and would've argued a few points, like how that woman wasn't really her mother or like how he always seemed to turn a blind eye whenever that woman was putting down her achievements except that there really wasn't any point in doing so other than pettiness. Arguing something as petty as that right now would only seem pathetic and worsen her already terrible bargaining position, instead she felt compelled to defend her decisions.
She forcefully pulled her eyes up from where they were resting on the floor and steadily met his eyes, "But you can't deny that the Yukihiro zaibatsu profited from this. We've got an almost 30% increase in number of transactions alone the week after the Festival ended. All my calculations projected future increased demand on high end Yukihiro SFX technology, enough to justify the research costs; I've even sent you a report before I did anything, one that your analysts approved off. I just needed the start up capital." She pointed out as calmly and factually as she could. She knew that emotional and esoteric arguments held no water with him, only quantitative ones.
For a moment, father and daughter glared at each other over the table and she noticed that there was a strangely triumphant glint in his eyes, before the daughter relented and looked down once more; embarrassed that she had actually almost defied her father despite everything she had said to another blonde to the contrary.
"And that's exactly my point. This event has showed us exactly how good you are at managing businesses. Yet you want to throw all that away just so you can stay in MIDDLE SCHOOL?" His counter argument had been stated the same calm tone he had been using since the beginning but she noticed that there was now a hint of incredulity in his voice the way an adult would have while talking to a younger child that had just asked an incredibly stupid question.
Ayaka suppressed another wince; she had been trapped without realizing it. By pointing out that she had indeed done very well, it just didn't make sense for her father to waste a potentially significant asset like her by allowing her to stay in middle school.
For a moment, her mouth opened and closed aimlessly before clicking shut. She drew a deep breath and looked her father straight in the eye, "I want to stay with my friends and I don't want to get married yet." She stated resolutely.
They stared at each other for a while again before her father sighed in apparent disappointment, "I understand your argument, but you have to understand that having friends does not mean you will have a good life. Isn't it far more satisfying to get a stable career and home life? To be so much further ahead in life compared to them at such an early life? More importantly, you can never be sure when a friend will backstab you; the only thing you can count on is yourself."
Ayaka opened her mouth again but was cut off by her father raising a firm hand, "That's enough. No matter how you argue, can you really realistically say that succeeding in life is more important than some friends that you will eventually forget as you get older?"
Without giving her a chance to reply the older man answered anyway, "No you can't. You will go back to your room. After your final exams next week, you will prepare to transfer out then begin your job as your sister's assistant. Your husband has also been determined, you will meet him tomorrow." The older man gave her a tired and disappointed look that sent stabs of guilt and pain into the young girl's heart, "You are too young to understand now, Ayaka. But I promise, when you're older, you'll see that I just wanted the best for you."
Despair filled Ayaka's heart and tears pricked her eyes but she was determined not to let it show. Instead she only submissively bowed once and swiftly turned around before regally walking back out of the room.
The older man with greying blonde hair watched her retreating back with a complicated expression on his face before slumping back into his seat with a gusty sigh and a wry smile, "From here on out, show me if you have what it takes, Black Paladin."
****Broken Faith****
Play Ayumi Hamasaki - Heaven
Blank jade green eyes shone in a pitch dark room as they heedlessly stared at her reflection in the polished wooden surface of a large organ. Elegant manicured fingers aimlessly danced on the black and white keys of the organ in a tuneless jarring melody, reminiscent of the emotions boiling on her chest, even if the emotions in question were not readily apparent on her pale face.
Most girls probably would have stormed into their rooms, thrown themselves on their bed and cried their eyes out if they were in her shoes but the blonde had too much sense of decorum to fall victim to such common behaviour. Instead she had just mechanically walked into her own private room in the Park Hyatt, sat at her organ and listlessly began picking at the keys, anything to take her thoughts off her impending wedding and work life.
Saigo ni kimi ga hohoende
Massugu ni sashidashita mono wa
It was only when she accidentally hit a particularly jarring note when the reality of the situation finally hit her and her thoughts began to achieve some semblance of order. She was going to have to leave Mahora Academy. She wouldn't see Asuna, Negi-sensei, Chizuru or Natsumi ever again. She would never see anybody from 3-A again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a fluffy panda sitting on a corner of her bed. The panda that Naruto had won for her on their first date.
Ah...
She would never see Naruto again.
Well, not unless they miraculously managed to join high society. She grimaced as if those last two words were a particularly foul swear word, if there was anything she hated more than taking her family name like some pretentious spoiled child for granted, it was having to posture and rub elbows with old, horny bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen.
Then in contrast with her earlier mood, a small amused smile touched her lips. What wouldn't she give to see Naruto stuffed in a penguin tuxedo and attending a high class party. She'd give good odds that not even twenty minutes would pass before he inevitably snapped and threw a slimy politician off the nearest balcony.
Tada amarini kirei sugite
Koraekirezu namida afureta
Her mood dropped again as the thought brought reality crashing back in. No matter how she imagined it, she would never see Naruto again. Right now, the blonde was probably having the time of his life with Asuna and Negi-sensei. He probably wasn't even thinking about her. How could he? Unless he stalked her all the time, he wouldn't even know she wasn't in the dorms.
As her thoughts steadily got angrier and angrier at the blonde male, Ayaka never even bothered to wonder why she felt a warm body pressing against her back or why the arm around her neck felt so real and why was a pair of strangely familiar calloused fingers playing with a strand of her glossy hair. She just brushed it off as a figment of her imagination, although... was she really so desperate for that idiot that she had started imagining that he would be here for her in her time of need?
Nope. That couldn't be it. His forceful proposal did not touch her at all. Things like that only happened in fairy tales that her Mother had spun for her on her bed side.
Yeap...
Wait.
Arm? Fingers?
Ano hi kitto futari wa
Ai ni fureta
Ayaka immediately tried to flip the intruder over her shoulder. Naturally it didn't work since the arm refused to budge no matter how hard she pulled, "Relax bondage girl."
"Naruto?"
Said blonde chuckled at her adorable yelp, "Yeah." One finger slowly traced up and down her neck, eliciting a shiver from Ayaka, "I never thought I'd see the day that I would find you sitting in the dark and angsting like some gloomy fujoshi. It doesn't suit you, especially while you are wearing something as beautiful as this."
Ignoring his compliment, her back stiffened, "Do not presume to know me. You have no right to say what does or does not suit me."
Naruto just hummed somewhat relaxedly, "Hmm... probably. I have no right to say what suits Ayaka Yukihiro. But the bondage girl I know was bright and passionate. Something like this wouldn't have been enough to stop her. Every day she would attend class with her friends, excel in exams, loudly boss everyone in 3-A, and fuss over Negi like the world was ending."
Watashitachi wa sagashiatte
Tokini jibun o miushinatte
She bristled and momentarily tried to struggle out of his embrace before her shoulder sagged in defeat, "What does it matter? It's not like you could do anything. If I asked you to elope with me could you do that? Could you leave Asuna, Chachamaru, Negi and Akako behind? Just for a girl that you've only been on date with once?" she muttered bitterly.
When there was no answer, the blonde girl snorted cynically, "See. You can't even do something like that. Just go Naruto. Jus- Kyaaah!" Firm hands grabbed her shoulders to turn her around, just as she was getting her bearings back a whiskered face was thrust right up to hers, so close that she could feel his breath playing on her lips and she could see his bright sapphire eyes glittering in the dark.
"Wh-wh-what the hell are you doing! Let me go you stupid idiot!"
Whatever Naruto seemed to be looking for in her eyes, he seemed to have found it and he wasn't pleased by what he found.
Yagate mitsukeatta no nara
Donna ketsumatsu ga matte ite mo
Her male companion completely ignored her words and just lifted her up in a bridal carry, cheerfully replied, "Nope. No can do. My fiancée wants to elope with me. So that's what she will get."
"Hu-huh? You can't be serious!"
Completely unfazed by the fists beating on his chest, he ignored her words and just kept walking down the hallway, "Wa-wait! Let me down! I- I'll scream! There are a lot of bodyguards here! They'll stop you from kidnapping me!"
The blonde shinobi smirked down at her, "Go ahead. Scream. If that is what you want."
Unmei to iu igai
Hoka ni wa nai
She really wanted to. Honest. But nothing came out of her open mouth other than a strangled "Urk."
Her mouth opened and closed a few more times until she finally gave up, her throat wouldn't respond to her for some reason, giving up, she tried another approach, "Let me down! If you do this my father will hunt you down to the ends of the Earth! He will destroy everything you hold dear!"
Her self-proclaimed fiancée eyed her curiously, "Did you take that sentence out of a game or something? Cause it kinda sounds like something Eva-chan was playing on her game machine thingy."
"Wh-wha? Stop joking around! This is serious! He will really do something about Asuna and the others if it can get him what he wants!"
la la la la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la la
"You! What are you doing with Ojou-sama!"
Naruto glanced aside to where they had been discovered by a few people in black suits. He presumed they were the bodyguards that Ayaka had mentioned early. When they started charging at him, the blonde easily side stepped them and disabled them with a few pokes to their nerve points with his feet, rebuffing Ayaka's words as he did so, "He can try to do that. I'll just stop him."
Ayaka lowered her eyes, unconsciously she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, "Why? Why are you doing this? You don't even love me and I don't love you. It's not worth sacrificing everything you DO love for me." She whispered weakly.
Soft lips brushed against her forehead and Ayaka immediately looked up in shock, Naruto simply gave her a small but confident lop sided grin as he continued to demolish his way down the five star hotel with his feet, "I told you before didn't I? I'll make you love me."
Kimi ga tabidatta ano sora ni
Yasashiku watashi o terasu hoshi ga hikatte
He unleashed a massive glare filled with his Killing Intent down a hall way filled with black suited men.
Every one of them immediately passed out with a soft gasp.
"Besides who said I was sacrificing anything." He remarked casually.
"Bu-but Asuna and Chachamaru?"
"Who the hell do you think I am?" he leaped off the elaborate balustrade that led to the main entrance, "Whether it's you or Asuna and Chachamaru. I'll make all of you happy. It's that simple."
Soba ni ite aisuru hito
Toki o koete katachi o kaete
Futari mada minu mirai ga koko ni
Nee konnanimo nokotteru kara
She could only stare at the blonde carrying her with glimmering eyes, deep down she couldn't help but want to believe him. She buried her face deep into his chest and nuzzled him slightly. Just one night, she promised herself. She would go along for the moment, and pretend that she really did have an inkling of feelings for the blonde; just to feel what a true romance might have felt like before entered a true fake one.
But one the sun rose again tomorrow, she would return to do her duties to the Yukihiro family...
"Ayaka-sama. Namikaze-san."
Ayaka immediately perked back up from Naruto's chest to stare in shock at the familiar voice, the elderly man who was their lone obstacle to the outside, "Rob-jii san?" she muttered incredulously.
Soba ni ite aisuru hito
Toki o koete katachi o kaete
Futari mada minu mirai ga koko ni
Nokotteru kara
The elderly gentleman smiled warmly before shooting a glare at the lean blonde man carrying her.
"Will you stop us?"
"..."
The stllness between the two men stretched as they seemed to warily measure each other for a fight.
"Wa-wait! Don't hurt Rob-jii san, Ba-baka!"
The two of them glanced at her then resumed glaring at each other.
Irritated that they were ignoring her, Ayaka was about snap again but the tense atmosphere between the two men suddenly shifted and her father's personal assistant suddenly regained his warm smile before stepping aside and simultaneously throwing something to Naruto. The blonde somehow managed to keep Ayaka in his arms and yet catch the thrown item. After inspecting the item in his hand briefly Naruto nodded once in thanks and started moving again.
As they passed the older gentleman, Ayaka heard him whisper something to her kidnapper.
"Please take care of Ayaka-sama. She can be a little dense sometimes but please make her happy."
"Huh?" Whaa? Dense!
"Yeah. That's the plan. She has a beautiful smile."
The older man chuckled lightly, glancing at the radiantly blushing girl as he twirled his moustache with a knowing look in his eyes.
Shinjite aisuru hito
Watashi no naka de kimi wa ikiru
Dakara kore kara saki mo zutto
Sayonara nante iwanai
Naruto didn't bother to hide his smug smile as he reached the jet black motorcycle that was parked in the middle of the lane, "Huh. That old man has taste."
"Wha? Thi-this bike? You're not serio-" Naruto dropped her on the bike gently and got on himself.
She grabbed the back of his jacket in panic, "Wait, you ARE serious! Wait you idiot! I've never ridden a bike before!"
His cheerful response did nothing to sooth her fears, in fact it only made her cling to him tighter as the hunk of metal beneath them started roaring even louder, "Neither have I. Should be fun. Just don't let go. I dunno where the brakes are on this thing so we might have to er…. improvise."
"WAAA-KYAAA!" she started screaming as the black Kawasaki Ninja sport bike roared forwards. Whether Naruto's accompanying laughter was directed at her or because he was just having too much fun was up for debate as they shot down the road.
Ano hi kitto futari wa
Ai ni fureta
****Broken Faith****
It was a quiet night at one of the more abandoned industrial areas in Hachioji, but it didn't stay that way for long as a loud black sports bike roared to a stop in front of a particularly dilapidated building with two riders on it.
As soon as the vehicle stopped, the second passenger who was dressed in a deep forest green gown that was completely unsuited for the locale as well as the ride; literally jumped off it and the night air was split by her screeching as she began wailing away the first rider with her fists, "Yo-yo-YOU IDIOT! How can you just go get on a bike without even knowing how to brake! Do you know how scared I was! What was Rob-jii san even thinking? Giving something like this to an idiot like you?"
The rider merely laughed quietly and gathered the furious girl into an embrace after he slipped off the vehicle, "Relax."
Ayaka pouted but since her arms were being restrained she settled for slumping into Naruto's arms. They stood there in silence for a few minutes, Ayaka cuddled up in his arms and doing a few breathing exercises in order to calm down. When she finally regained her balance enough to gather her confused thoughts, she glanced around warily. Her regal nose immediately scrunched up in disgust at the shabby area, "Whe-where is this?"
She looked at the blonde man who was slightly taller than her accusingly, "You're not planning to do something bad to me here aren't you?"
Naruto blinked at the rather unexpected slight upon his honour, "Wha-what? Who the hell do you think I am? I'd never do something like that!"
"Then why the heck are we at a place like this?"
The blonde rolled his eyes, "There's a good reason." He waved at the building, "When I first awakened, I was rather lost and confused and outside of the items in my scroll, I literally had nothing but the rotten clothes on my back, so while I gathered them by working for the Dean, I was also making my own back up plans just in case something bad happened and I needed to disappear for a while."
Ayaka wrinkled her nose, "Back up plans? Were you expecting to become a fugitive or something?"
Naruto shrugged sheepishly, "At the time I didn't know anything about local customs and I as sure as hell wasn't going to trust the Dean immediately but didn't really have a choice since I needed currency and a place to regroup, so to speak." He looked away casually to hide the expression on his face from Ayaka and murmured lowly, "I was also rather used to being backstabbed by then."
The girl in his arms fell quiet and squeezed his fingers gently, "Why didn't you leave after you healed?"
"Because I was tired of running."
Naruto paused to grin at her mischievously, "And quite frankly, because teasing you is way more fun than travelling around the world alone."
Ayaka huffed and crossed her arms haughtily, pretending to ignore him, after a moment she looked around again, "So this... place is one of your safe houses?"
Naruto shot her an apologetic look as they started walking towards the building, "Yeah. We can stay here for tonight and figure out what we want to do from now on."
Pale bluish green eyes nervously looked away as Naruto opened the shabby door. She didn't want to tell him that she was determined to return to her father and do her duty tomorrow. If not for him then it was for the rest of her classmates. She didn't want her father taking it out on them just because they were acquaintances with her.
She... just wanted some time away to fully accept it before facing her eventual destiny.
Tha-that was right.
Just one night.
Ayaka steeled her resolve and followed him inside the run down building, the moment they cross the threshold, she had to cover her nose in disgust, "Ho-how can we stay here? It smells like something died in here!"
Her companion chuckled lightly, "Relax, I won't ask my princess to sleep in a place like this."
There it was again, him calling her princess again. Gah, he was so infuriating! And at the same time, it was making it harder and harder for her to rationalize going back.
Ayaka watched him stealthily walk over the wall furthest away from them and trace a few intricate patterns in the dust covered wall with his finger.
A panel of the wall recessed deeper in to reveal a tunnel that was barely big enough for him to pass, and that was if he crouched slightly. The jade eyed girl quirked an eyebrow in surprise; she hadn't heard the sound of gears moving, which meant the whole thing was being powered by magic.
Bending slightly, she followed his broad back down the tunnel lit with floating orbs that shone with a soft blue light, Naruto talked lowly, "All of my hideouts are equipped with water and magic dampening fields powered by runes or seals to hide us from prying eyes. We should be safe here for now. It took me quite a while to make them." There was a note of pride in his voice that made Ayaka really want to roll her eyes at his paranoia.
"Was it really necessary though? Outside of isolated events, I really don't see the need for something like this."
Naruto hummed quietly as they finally reached the end of the corridor, a small neat room that was lit with the same soft blue orbs she had seen in the tunnel, "Probably. But it was sort of an ingrained habit by then plus I really wasn't sure of the situation when I woke up. I might have awakened in the middle of a war or something. Besides you can't say this wasn't useful."
Ayaka made a non committal noise as she carefully lowered herself onto the bunk bed and looked around cautiously; the room appeared to be rather Spartan. Other than a the bed, a desk, a chair, a small safe that Naruto was currently rummaging around in, and a small back room that she assumed was the toilet, there was nothing else in the extremely neat room.
"Here, you can wear these for now." Pointing at the door she had noticed earlier, "You can clean up and change in there, if you want hot water, touch the red rune until it gets warm enough for you."
Ayaka could only mumble her agreement as she mechanically did as he had suggested silently; half in awe and half exasperated at the precautions the blonde man had taken. It was as if he expected to be thrust into a guerrilla battle from the moment he woke up.
After she had cleaned up with the hot water and felt incredibly refreshed from the bath, she cautiously stepped out of the steaming toilet with her neatly folded gown in one hand, the blonde shinobi seemed to be sitting a corner of the room, reading something in his hands.
The moment he heard the creaking of the door, Naruto looked up from his scroll.
His scroll, his jaw and his heart hit the floor in that order as he stared at the blonde princess with her hair tied up into a bun, dressed in a pair of too large shorts, a flannel shirt, and yet somehow managed to make it look better than he ever would. What was it with women looking better when they were dressed like that?
Ayaka noticed him staring with his jaw opened slackly and immediately blushed as she pulled the shirt tighter around her, "Wha-what? Why are you looking at me like that? You pervert!"
In response the blonde shinobi coughed loudly as he nearly swallowed his tongue during his brain's brief absence, "So-sorry, yo-you err... looked really... good. Better than in that gown even."
"Ah..."
Infuriating bastard.
Naruto quietly shuffled into his corner again and pointed at the bed without looking at her, "You can have the bed, I'll sleep on the floor. If you're hungry, there's some dried stuff."
"Oh..." Ayaka quietly slipped into the comforter, "No, that's alright, I'm not hungr-..."
Her classmate couldn't help but chuckle as she yawned cutely, causing the princess to glare at him, "It's been a long day. Sleep for now, we should be alright here for a day or two. I already asked a friend to bring us some extra supplies."
The blonde reached out one hand to swipe a weakly glowing seal on the wall, causing the floating orbs to dim noticeably before gradually disappearing completely. The two of them curled up on their respective beds in the dark, Ayaka on the thin mattress and Naruto on the floor, wrapped up in a thin blanket.
Play Legend of Heroes : Sora no Kiseki OST – Whereabouts of the Stars
Ayaka didn't know how much time passed as the two of them tried to fall asleep.
Or at least she tried; she wasn't sure if the Namikaze had fallen asleep already or not because there hadn't been any changes in the rhythm of his breathing. Desperately she tried to find a comfortable spot on the bed by tossing and turning as quietly as she could so that she didn't break the stillness of the dark room. Strangely enough, despite being tired, she couldn't fall asleep at all, although that was probably because she kept thinking about the situation she was currently in.
She also tried not to think of the fact that she and someone she was probably attracted to were in a small dark room.
It wasn't working.
Not to mention she felt rather guilty that she was sleeping alone on the bed, with a nice comforter while Naruto was on the hard cement floor with nothing but a thin piece of cloth as protection from the autumn cold.
Heaving a disgruntled sigh, she finally sat up tiredly and threw the comforter off with a tired look on her face. Grabbing the cotton cloth, Ayaka timidly crept towards where she could hear Naruto's breathing and tried to cover the blonde with it as discretely as she could, not wanting to wake him up if he was truly asleep.
Once that was done, she sidled back under the edge of the covers, as far away from Naruto as possible. Once she was sure that she hadn't disturbed him, Ayaka let a relieved sigh escape her lips and wiggled a bit into a more comfortable position. The cement floor was hard and cold, but strangely enough it was more comfortable then the bed. She tried not to attribute that to the fact that she was close enough to Naruto to feel his body heat.
"What are you doing?"
"Eeek!"
She heard a deep chuckle from the body sharing the comforter with her before strong arms suddenly winded themselves around her torso, pulling her closer to him. A shiver that had absolutely nothing to do with the cold ran down her back as she felt her body crushed against his.
"Better?"
Not trusting herself to speak properly, Ayaka could only nod, not caring whether he saw it or not. Though, judging by the fact that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, it was probably safe to say he had noticed.
They stayed like that for a long still moment sharing the warmth of the comforter, Ayaka resting her head on one of Naruto's biceps while the other was securely around her waist.
The period of silence as they lay on the floor together felt almost sacred and breaking it seemed really wrong but she couldn't take it anymore.
She needed to know.
"... Why?" she asked softly.
The breath on the nape of her neck hitched as the blonde mumbled sleepily, "Why what?"
Ayaka sighed exasperatedly, wondering if he was pretending to be stupid or if he was really just that obtuse, "Why go so far for me? I know I keep saying this but by doing this, you are leaving everyone else behind. I know you don't really have feelings for me, or at least not like you do for Chachamaru or Asuna. So why?" She asked bluntly.
"Mmm... that's true." Ayaka's heart fell.
"Ignoring me for the moment. What do you think Asuna, your best friend in Mahora, would feel when she hears that you went and got married without letting her know?"
"...She would hate me." Ayaka's reply was barely a choked out whisper.
"Nah, she wouldn't hate you, but she's too nice for that. But she'd be angry with you. She'd be angry that you didn't tell her, she'd be even angrier with herself for being the reason this is happening. She would be disappointed that her rival, someone she admired for being strong and indomitable gave up just like that. She would sad that you aren't there to argue and bicker with her, that you aren't there to fawn over Negi anymore. And most of all, she be angriest with you for bending over so easy. Especially if she realizes that you didn't get married out of love"
A nostalgic smile crept onto Ayaka's pale lips. Yeah, that idiot would definitely be angry with her. Unknowingly tears started falling.
"What do you think she would do then?"
"Huh?" Ayaka tried to stop crying to answer properly as his warm fingers were slowly touching her cheeks and wiping her tears away. The ones around her waist stroked her skin soothingly.
"She'd find out where you went, where you were getting married, then she'd jump in, crash the wedding as loudly as possible and then kidnap you. And then because this is Asuna we're talking about, she'd bring everyone else from 3-A, including me and Negi, just for shits and giggles."
A resigned smile crept onto her lips even through her tears and she nodded again.
"Then we'd have an international incident on our hands where everyone gets screwed one way or another. By kidnapping you alone, I'll be the only one to take the fall."
Oh... so this was purely for Asuna. To keep her friend safe.
Not her.
Yeah, that was what she expected.
Was what she thought, but it hurt, and she couldn't help but curl up tighter, trying to stop her tears.
It hurt more than she expected.
Her body tried to jerk away from contact with Naruto but the blonde refused to let go of the sobbing girl.
"Well. That's one reason anyway. That's not the only reason." A whisper that sounded rather embarrassed for some reason reached her ears.
Huh?
"Why was I willing to do this even if you're just a classmate? Why was I willing to do so much to help this girl that stumbled into my bed during the Kyoto trip, that looked beautiful whenever I teased her so much she got pissed? I asked myself that same question. Do you want to know what the answer was?"
Ayaka sniffed tearily and nodded.
"I care for you a lot but I don't love you."
The blonde girl scrunched her eyes shut and stifled the urge to get up and run.
"If you truly believed it was your duty to listen to your father and get married according to his wishes, I would have obliged, kept quiet and left. Yet that time in your room, when I looked into your eyes, the bright lively sparks that was always present in your eyes were gone. At the time I realized, that; no I don't love you. But it would be too easy to fall for you."
His arm around her waist pulled her closer and he whispered lowly, "And I fell hard. That's why."
"Really?"
Naruto winced; he had never heard her sound so small and timid before. It didn't suit her.
"Have I ever lied to you before?" Simply saying yes did not feel adequate.
Ayaka turned around to look at him through teary blue eyes and hesitantly spoke, "You will love me like Chachamaru, Akako and Asuna?"
"Yeah, I will. I promise."
Tears began dotting her lashes again and she screwed them shut in embarrassment, "Sorry, I can't seem to stop crying for some reason."
Naruto simply held her tighter as she slowly regained her composure, "Well, think of it this way, if we do get married, you'll be registered as a Namikaze-Springfield and Negi will technically be your little brother. You can baby him all you want."
Ayaka couldn't help it, she buried her face in his chest and began giggling at his words. Naruto smiled, happy that his little quip had managed to get her to stop crying.
When the princess finally stopped laughing, she peered into his eyes, a hint of fire returning to her jade blue orbs as she jutted her chin out at him defiantly, "You're not doing this because I'm rich or beautiful, are you?"
It was only for a second but the girl in his arms stiffened in surprise as Naruto leaned in and forcefully kissed her soft pouting lips, pouring all his thoughts, feelings and conflicts into that one kiss, tenderly tracing soft patterns on her back as he did so.
When they finally separated again, Naruto smiled at the dazed girl in his arms, "I told you before didn't I? I didn't fall in love with Ayaka Yukihiro. I fell in love in with bondage girl. I couldn't care less if you were rich or beautiful, although if you were, we probably wouldn't be in this situation in the first place."
She blinked a few times before finally regaining the capability to think properly again and glared at him, "You're never going to stop calling me that are you?"
He grinned down at her, the pure fire and passion in her that had attracted him had finally returned in full force, "Nah."
"Good." Ayaka's thin arms wound around his neck and jerked his lips down to hers. Her lips darting out to caress his in tantalising glimpses. When she finally let him go, Naruto couldn't help but see stars.
"Wow."
Ayaka smirked triumphantly. First kiss or not, she was a fast learner after all.
****Broken Faith****
Artificial orange light mimicking the rising sun slowly grew in brightness as they shone on two entangled bodies; the comforter was half kicked off and covered only their lower bodies. In response; the larger of the two bodies began to stir slightly. Sapphire eyes slowly opened blearily to see a head of bright yellow hair, their own was currently drooling on his chest. His eyebrows twitched slightly at the cute scene, sometime during the night, Ayaka had apparently climbed on to him to use his body as a mattress.
Sighing slightly, he relaxed again, one hand automatically starting to stroke her soft hair while the other shaded his eyes from the orange orb of light on the ceiling.
"Muuu..." his lips twitched slightly at the satisfied moan from the lump on his chest as it began to awaken as well. Mussed sunshine yellow hair shifted as the girl on his chest stretched cutely then pale green eyes began to open slowly, looked up at him and blinked sleepily.
"Awake already?"
He watched as realization slowly dawned in her green eyes, her face burning a violent red as it did so before burying her face in his chest, "This is so embarrassing."
"What is?"
"You seeing me after I wake up. I look so inelegant!" She complained in a muffled tone.
Naruto shrugged lightly and lightly caressed her cheek, "I don't really think so. Girls always look incredibly beautiful when they just wake up. I don't know why, it has something to do with their natural beauty just shines through at times like that I guess."
Ayaka gave him a deadpan look, "Akane-san trained you well." She drily remarked.
He simply winked mischievously back in return and laid a gentle kiss on the top of her head, taking a breath of her unique scent as he did so, "True that. But I wasn't lying either. Whenever I see Chachamaru, Akako, you or any other girl really, when they've just woken up, there's this adorableness about their sleepy expressions, cute sounds or tousled hair that makes me want to hold them as long as possible."
She tried not to roll her eyes at his impassioned speech and failed magnificently, "That's the first time I've heard about a fetish for something like that."
"Hey! I just think girls look their best when they look natural." Naruto grumbled with humour lacing his tone.
"Yeah... Pervert."
"Oi!"
Ayaka chuckled as she laid back down on his chest, one finger idly tracing patterns on his broad chest.
"What do you want to do today?"
She looked up at him with thoughtful eyes, "I... I want to go back and see Otou-sama."
Naruto's watched her with concern, "You're not going back to get married to whichever idiot he picked are you?"
Ayaka gave him a miffed look, "You proposed and I accepted. Are you backing out on me now?"
"No, no... I'm just worried about you."
She settled back on his chest and listened to his reassuring heart beat with her eyes closed, "I just want to clear the air between. No matter what, I'm still his daughter and I have a duty to him, within reason of course."
Ayaka sat up and held up a fist in defiance to an imaginary opponent, "If I don't go back to Mahora, Asuna will be mad with me, and I still have to pamper Akako and Negi a lot!"
Naruto chuckled at the righteous look on her face, "Alright, alright, let's get cleaned up, then we'll go back to meet your father."
Ayaka scrambled up and quickly darted into the toilet, leaving Naruto to wonder why the female half of his species were so conscious about being seen after waking up.
It took the both of them nearly an hour to get ready, mostly because Ayaka refused to leave the bathroom until everything was perfect, even if she had to wear the same gown again. The couple kept a light and cheery atmosphere between them as they quickly ate and left Naruto's safe house.
"I was waiting for you."
That was the first thing both of them heard the moment they stepped over the threshold into the bright morning sun. Outside, leaning on the motorbike was a youthful man, sharply dressed in a black suit and orange tie, with brown spiky hair and a posture that gave others the impression that he was extremely laid back and sleepy.
Despite that, Naruto tensed, fully aware that his heavy lidded eyes and slouched posture hid an extremely determined fire if the orange fire burning in the man's eyes were any indication, "Sawada-san."
"Tsuna-jii san!"
Naruto blinked, Ayaka knew him?
The young man smiled affectionately, "Ayaka-chan. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, but why are you here Tsuna-jii san?"
"Your father contacted me last night. He said a Western Mage had kidnapped his daughter." The tenth leader of the European Mage Union rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, "Imagine my surprise when I saw it was you, Naruto-san."
Sensing the mounting tension, Ayaka immediately dashed in front of Naruto with her hands spread open, "It's not his fault Tsuna-jii san. I-I asked him to take me. I needed some time away from Otou-sama to think! We're already going back to talk to him, there's no need to fight is there?"
The brown haired man nodded blandly, "I figured as much. Unfortunately, despite being a non-mage, your father is a valued member of the European Union of which the Vongola are a part of. I cannot refuse his requests without a good reason or we would face unfortunate backlash. As it is, Naruto-san is guilty of offences against a Union member. Your father wishes him to be punished no matter what." He looked pleadingly at the blonde girl, "I know Naruto-san isn't truly at wrong here, but it is what your father has asked of us and it is completely within his rights. Please step aside so we can take him into custody."
"No! I know Otou-sama will want him punished no matter the reason, just let me take him to otou-sama to explain everything."
"… I'm sorry Ayaka-chan. Your father has already predicted this would happen. He says that because of last night, you have shamed him in the eyes of your potential fiancée and wasted their time. Even if you do come back with him, Naruto-san has to be punished and you will have to get married with the man he has chosen."
"Tsun- Eek!" a blonde clone had hefted Ayaka up into a bridal carry while the original stepped forward, "You go ahead and talk to your father Ayaka. I'll try to reason with Sawada-san a bit longer."
Ayaka glanced at the broad back shielding her from Tsuna-jii san's line of sight and gathered her resolve. Her jaws clenched in anger and defiance, "Alright, just wait for me. I'll get Otou-sama to stop this stupidity."
The spiky haired youth made no move to stop Naruto's clone from leaving with Ayaka, his attention focused on the original, the air between them stilled.
"I'm sorry this had to happen, Naruto-san."
The blonde simply smiled flatly in response, "Don't worry about it. I already predicted this would happen. I just didn't expect you to come yourself."
"Unfortunately. Even without magic, his words hold much weight in the Union and he is one of the loudest voices against discrimination towards non-mages. Were it not for him, magic terrorism against non-mages would have been far more widespread. Even if that was not the case, Ayaka-chan's father is still one of our biggest sponsors and I cannot simply refuse a request for help to fend off an attack against his family."
Red gauntlets that seemed to be made out of some sort of polished metal formed around his fists and orange fire began burning brightly, both on the gauntlets and Tsuna's forehead.
"Even if you know what he is doing is wrong?"
The older man disappeared from his spot and reappeared directly in front of Naruto with a fist already cocked back, "It is legal." Was all he said before a burning gloved fist rocketed forwards.
Swiftly deflecting the flaming fist, Naruto reacted by grabbing the outstretched arm and trying to slam his elbow into the Tenth's elbow joint before twisting the arm to chamber an upper cut into his chin, Tsuna simply stepped forward, evading the elbow and countered the upper cut with an elbow strike. The impact from the elbow nearly staggered Naruto, but the blonde barely shook it off and flowed into a handstand, utilizing the force from the counter to spin a full circle and axe kick his opponent. His downward kick was blocked by Tsuna's cross guard. Undeterred, the blonde curled the leg against Sawada-san's right arm, shifted his weight and used his stomach muscles to pull himself up and launch two knife hand strikes at the sides of Tsuna's neck from his position. The brown haired man easily stopped both knife hands using his left elbow and palm before said palm launched an immense beam of orange fire point blank at the blonde's stomach. Blue eyes snapped open and Naruto instinctively leaned back down into a handstand, narrowly avoiding the attack and using the leg around Tsuna's arm to lift him and tried to slam the man into the ground head first.
The tenth leader of the European Union immediately twisted in mid air and placed his free palm on Naruto's knee. As the glove began glowing with an intense orange fire again, Naruto's immediately let his hold on the tenth's arm go, it was either that, or risk losing his knee. This resulted in the older man being thrown in the air instead of being slammed into the ground as planned, however instead of flying away, his upward momentum was immediately halted by flames from his gloves, just as suddenly the flames intensified, sending him rocketing back at Naruto and landing a powerful flame fuelled hammer strike on the blonde's abdomen with both fists, hard enough to leave the blonde's still body in a huge crater.
Tsunayoshi glanced down at the body, still with the same calm yet intense expression on his face, "Don't waste your time trying to trick me. Due to my Hyper Intuition, feints or tricks don't work on me. Although I must say I'm surprised. From what I have seen so far, you usually fought with pactio type artefacts supplemented power type brawling, instead you've only been using non lethal grapples so far."
The body in the crater immediately poofed away at his words and another blonde launched out of the ground to grapple with his brown haired opponent, evading point blank beams of fire and aiming for his joints. Sawada-san barely seemed fazed and defended himself from each grapple with precise strikes before finally landing a double palm strike on the blonde's upper torso.
Hurling through the air, the blonde's sapphire irises morphed into a violet colour with concentric rings around the pupil before he grunted, liberally applying his powers to soften the fall. As it was, the blonde landed in a crouch hard enough to leave a trench in the ground.
Holding his bruised ribs, Naruto managed to growl out as his legs pumped forwards again with as much speed as he could muster, "Rasengan Saishu Genkai – Ame no Nuboko!"
A familiar, sparking, neon blue javelin forming in his hand, "I don't care if it's legal or not. I'll do what's right no matter what."
He thrust the javelin out like a spear directly at the Tenth's torso.
"Mantella di Vongola Primo." The red metallic gauntlet around Tsuna's left fist morphed into a blue one with spikes on it, the Roman numeral for ten on its diamond clad back shifted into a single I and the suit wearing young man was suddenly clad in a black voluminous cloak that he flourished around him.
A loud screeching sound filled the clearing as the tip of the blue sparking spear hit the cloak and was stopped cold.
Naruto's purple eyes widened in shock, even Sasuke's SusanoO had been pierced by this attack, yet a piece of cloth had stopped his attack easily. Even as he watched, the tip of his Ame no Nuboko began crumbling and the screeching sound began to disappear, "Do what is right?" He snorted calmly, "Screw the rules? I admit, I don't like what Yukihiro-san is doing either, but he isn't wrong. The rules are there for a reason, yes this incident seems bad, but if there rules were not there in the first place, even worst things would have happened on a regular basis. You should have discussed this with Yukihiro-san diplomatically, instead you kidnapped his daughter."
"Mitena di Vongola Primo" Hidden by the voluminous cloak, the right gauntlet began to shift into a large, gleaming gauntlet with a sharp point. "Admit it; you are only doing this because Ayaka-chan is connected to you. Would you do the same for any other person in a similar situation? No you won't, you self righteous hypocrite. For all your proclamations that you will do what is right, what you are doing is now is the complete opposite. It's not right, it's selfish."
Jarred by the older man's words, the blonde could only stumble back slightly before the black cloak suddenly shot out with a jerk of his left arm, wrapping around Naruto so tightly that the shinobi couldn't escape.
"Big Bang Axle." Tsuna swung his right fist, the silver metal burnt as bright as a comet, leaving a fiery trail in its wake, the sharp point heading straight for the blonde's face.
****Broken Faith****
"Na-Naruto! Slow down!" Ayaka yelled as she clung to the blonde's clone tighter.
"Ahaha, sorry Ayaka-chan, but someone's following us, the boss wants me to get you out of here before they catch up." The clone laughed sheepishly.
"We've already caught up. We were just waiting." A tall young man with a sword and a cherry grin landed in front of them lightly.
"Waiting for what teme?"
An arrow burning with red flames flashed by the clone's cheek, opening the slightest of cuts on its cheek. The clone instantly poofed away, barely having time to make a surprised look on its face as it immediately dropped Ayaka who screamed in surprise, "Kyaah!"
The young man darted forwards with amazing speed, catching the blonde girl, "Waiting for that. Nice shooting Gokudera!" He called out cheerfully.
"Yo, baseball freak, you got the girl?" a grey haired youth stepped out of the trees called back crudely.
"Yep."
"Good, I wanna go help Juudaime. You can handle this right?"
"Hai, hai."
"Don't mess this up, just bring her to the client and make sure she ain't hurt." The second youth called over his shoulder as he leapt away agilely.
"Ahaha, sorry bout this ojou-chan. Don't worry, you'll be safe with me."
Ayaka blinked, still startled by the exchange, "Ah…." She narrowed her eyes at him as a sly thought began forming in her mind, "You are bringing me to my father?"
"Yep." He grinned affirmatively.
"Would you mind taking me somewhere first? I need to get something urgently."
Yamamoto gently lowered Ayaka to her feet and scratched his head, "Its… ok I guess, as long as you don't try to run away."
"Don't worry. I won't. I want to talk to my father after all."
"Then it's no problem. Come on, we have a car waiting." The tall man led Ayaka away, whistling happily as he did so.
****Broken Faith****
An extremely loud explosion rocked the clearing, the building where Naruto's safe house had been located had been blown away by the force of the Tenth leader of the European Union's attack.
"Hooh? That's interesting." Sawada commented with one hand still outstretched, but his target was obscured by smoke.
With a flick of his left wrist, the cloak swished loudly and blew the smoke away, revealing the silver point of his gauntlet to be buried in some sort of white metallic mask, barely stopping it from doing maximum damage to his target.
Glancing downwards, Sawada noted a silvery drill like lance that had scored a slash on his side. The attack had earlier forced him to evade or be run through, reducing the power of his Big Bang Axle.
The white mask slowly crumbled away like clay despite looking like metal, revealing purple eyes with concentric rings and whiskered cheeks. As the two of them leapt away from each other, the tenth smiled slightly as he rubbed his side to alleviate the pain, "That… is decidedly not a pactio."
The blonde glanced down at his right arm. Halfway down, ordinary flesh had transformed into a metallic 2 meter long drill like lance, "No it's not. Unfortunately, I only received this ability recently and haven't had much practice with it. There's also the problem that this ability eats up too much calories to use often; I am literally shedding flesh as they break off. And quite frankly, it looks rather disgusting." Naruto remarked with a wry smile.
Naruto dashed forward, his left hand morphing into some sort of scythe. Tsuna ducked under the wide slash and flipped backwards, evading rapid thrusts from the lance before firing a massive fire attack during the lull in between thrusts.
The scythe immediately morphed again, forming a massive silver shield that seemed to be made of the same organic yet metallic material as the scythe and lance, the kite shield took the attack head on without even cracking.
Flaming eyes widened as his body was suddenly jerked forward by an invisible force, immediately he tried to counter it by increasing the soft flames in the opposite direction, narrowly evading another smaller lance that had shot out of the blonde's shoulder.
Landing lightly, both of them panted, "Body morphing and control of vectors, can I assume that has something to do with the change in your eyes?"
Naruto smiled slightly, "Technically I have three at the moment, but I get the feeling trying to read your mind would only give me a headache."
"Oh? What is this ability called?"
"The Rinnegan. Or the Eyes of reincarnation."
"Hmmm…. That sounds familiar." Tsunayoshi stood up and began dusting his suit lightly, "Would I be right in saying that there are six abilities in total?"
"I'm not entirely sure actually," the blonde admitted freely as he panted tiredly on his knees, "My predecessor seemed to have all six abilities unlocked from the start, mine, although more potent than his, appear to have a few conditions before they are usable to me. In that case, it's entirely possible I might not get the full six."
The man in the suit began laughing, "It seems that the abilities given by the Eyes of Reincarnation differ from person to person. One of my guardians has similar abilities but his are geared towards illusions. You seem to be of the more straightforward type; it's probably no surprise that your abilities are of the direct combat variety. You should talk to my friend when you have time. He might be able to help you unlock the rest of your abilities."
"I'd lo-" Naruto momentarily froze.
"What's wrong?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man, "It seems that you predicted I would try and get Ayaka away before stalling you. Two of your subordinates have defeated my clone and captured Ayaka."
Tsunayoshi winced, "'Capture' makes it sound like we're the bad guys," he grumbled lightly, "But yes, I expected you to do exactly that while Ayaka tried to convince her father."
"Juudaime!" another voice called out, interrupting their conversation. A grey haired youth about the same age as Tsunayoshi landed in a cat like manner. From the memories of his clone, Naruto noticed that they were all wearing the same sharp black suit but with a few alterations to suit each person's individuality.
"Juudaime! You're hurt!"
Tsunayoshi brushed his fussing assistant off, "It's just a scratch, I've had worst."
"Gah! You!" He pointed at the blonde with an accusing finger, "I'll get you for hurting the Juudaime!"
Naruto nodded slightly and pulled out a card, "I really didn't want to use a Pactio against you because of who they came from and the reason I got them in the first place, it would not be right to use a Pactio gained as a Representative from the East and the West in a personal battle but it's starting to look like I don't really have a choice."
"You will still fight? Even after Ayaka-chan has been…. Captured?"
"Yeah, I'll just have to go save her then persuade her father."
"Even after how I told you that everything you've been doing is nothing but because you are selfish and naive."
Naruto winced.
Play One Republic – Secrets
He slowly drew the Pactio across his chest and intoned a quiet Adeat.
"When I was first awakened, I had planned to leave Mahora as soon as possible. It didn't take long for me to heal and figure out that my powers are severely limited outside of Mahora, but as long as I lived a normal life, there wouldn't be a reason for me to need them. I could live alone, that was all I wanted. To be left alone. I didn't plan on bonding with anyone, I had the memories of my wife, I thought it would be enough."
The card glowed and slowly transformed into a huge silver two sided blade with an undecorated hilt.
"I wanted to leave, but then I met everyone in 3-A. They accepted me without question even though I was nothing but a hostile stranger. Negi, Asuna, Setsuna, Chachamaru, Ayaka. All of them accepted me."
He twirled the and bent his knees into a ready position, causing his opponents to tense.
"I was tired of running, of having to fight just so I can live without having a group or retards trying to kill me for one reason or another, of hiding secrets just so I can have friends. But then I realized that none of them cared that I used to be a murderer, so I stopped running."
"Yeah, I'm selfish, Yeah I'm greedy." he remarked bluntly, "I can't justify why I am doing this other than because I love Ayaka. Yeah, I can't help everyone, I don't have the answers."
He put two fingers on the hilt of the blade.
"But I'll let you know when I find out. For now, I have to find my fiancée. And you happen to be in the way."
He pinned them both with a powerful stare, "I can't control this yet. Don't die."
"Even if all of Heaven's hosts stands in my way, the blade of my conviction shall pierce them. This is my Justice.Nihil et Regnum."
The sword began burning with a blue flame, its intensity matched the orange ones that wreathed Tsunayoshi's gauntlet, as it began shifting, what began as a solid two sided sword morphed into an even larger and strangely segmented blade.
With a click, the sword separated into two pieces that Naruto twirled into a reverse gripped cross guard, "I can usually activate their second stages without an incantation, but that generally weakens them. I think I might need that lil extra right now."
Nodding in satisfaction, Naruto disappeared, leaving two bright blue trails of fire.
"Gokudera! Get the hell out of here!"
"Wha-what? Juudai- Gha!" Grunting, the brown haired man lifted his friend by the collar and threw him out of the clearing before fluidly spinning to block a flaming blade with his gauntlets. A split second before the sword landed, Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise and the flames on his gauntlet intensified, grunting as he barely managed to withstand the attack, the same spot had been hammered six times instead of one. If he hadn't noticed and reinforced his gauntlet, it probably would have cut completely though. Another blade appeared near his mid section, the orange eyed man immediately dropped to the ground, avoiding six interlocking slashes.
What had looked like one blade was actually six.
His eyes twitched slightly; there was more than one blonde on the field now, and all of them danced in an intricate rhythm. Clones?
He rolled away, avoiding six consecutive downward strikes; each perfectly timed to corral him. All of the replicas seemed to be moving in a strange synchronized motion, each a split second later than the first, creating the illusion that there was only one insanely fast blonde. The floating blue fires all over the field wasn't helping. He blinked. Something was wrong.
They weren't clones.
Each and every one of them was somehow real.
Roaring in defiance, the blazing flames on his gauntlets burnt larger and the tenth disappeared as well, matching blow for blow, evading or deflecting the slashes by punching the flat of the blade in rapid succession. As they danced back and forth across the clearing, in a symphony of blue and orange flame trails, Tsunayoshi, methodically began to see through the technique. There were six groups and each group contained six blades, together when viewed from above, the six groups would look as if they were moving in a massive interlocking helix.
Slowly closing in on the middle. Him.
"Final Heaven."
The ground around him suddenly flared with a red light. Too late, he realized that a barrier had been erected, each missed slash from the blades had not been wasted, each gash they made on the ground were slowly pieced together to create a tight barrier that locked him in. Just as he was about to attack the barrier, the sound of glass cracking could be heard.
He shielded himself and instinctively looked up. Above him a huge shattering sound could be heard as the sky itself cracked like glass. Something was pounding on the other side of whatever that glass wall was.
He blinked in shock as the massive tip of a burning sword pierced through the sky, sending shards of glass raining down in the barrier, as they fell, each shard morphed into a copy of the huge blade. Expertly, Tsuna began punching the blades away from him as the massive sword began retreating for one last charge, leaving a gaping hole in the sky.
The massive flaming sword rammed completely through the glass barrier, followed by another six smaller copies. all of them revolving in an intricate sequence that Tsuna absently noted, gave the impression that instead of seeing seven massive swords falling from the sky, it was one combined massively huge one that was as wide as the barrier. Apparently there was no dodging this once someone was trapped
Grinning widely, he began powering up his gauntlets.
Interesting.
Naruto Namikaze-Springfield was too interesting.
"Burning Axle!"
****Broken Faith****
Author's Note
Translation Ayumi Hamasaki – Heaven
Saigo ni kimi ga hohoende - What you offered straight to me
Massugu ni sashidashita mono wa - With a smile for the last time
Tada amarini kirei sugite - Was just so beautiful
Koraekirezu namida afureta - That I gave way to tears
Ano hi kitto futari wa - Surely, that day
Ai ni fureta - The two of us touched love
Watashitachi wa sagashiatte - We sought for each other
Tokini jibun o miushinatte - Lost ourselves at times
Yagate mitsukeatta no nara - And found each other at last
Donna ketsumatsu ga matte ite mo - So whatever result may be waiting for us
Unmei to iu igai - It's nothing but
Hoka ni wa nai - Destiny
la la la la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la la
Kimi ga tabidatta ano sora ni - In the sky you set out for
Yasashiku watashi o terasu hoshi ga hikatte - Stars are shining tenderly upon me
Soba ni ite aisuru hito - Stay by my side, my love
Toki o koete katachi o kaete - Crossing over time and changing your shape
Futari mada minu mirai ga koko ni - You see? The future we haven't yet seen
Nee konnanimo nokotteru kara - Remains here like this
Soba ni ite aisuru hito - Stay by my side, my love
Toki o koete katachi o kaete - Crossing over time and changing your shape
Futari mada minu mirai ga koko ni - The future we haven't yet seen
Nokotteru kara - Remains here
Shinjite aisuru hito - Trust me, my love
Watashi no naka de kimi wa ikiru - You live within me
Dakara kore kara saki mo zutto - So I'll never
Sayonara nante iwanai - Say good-bye to you
Ano hi kitto futari wa - Surely, that day
Ai ni fureta - The two of us touched love
****Broken Faith****
How was it?
Negima summer holidays, trip to the beach and Wales begins next chapter!