Broken Faith Chapter 28
Simplicity
Disclaimer : I Don't Own Anything Other Than My Own Ideas. Excluding the source material, Naruto and Negima.
Let me be absolutely frank. This chapter was already done, nearly a month ago, to be precise, I had a starting, and I had an ending. I simply had trouble picturing how to bridge the two parts suitably.
So here I am, middle of the night, puling an all nighter on my Auditing Assignment when I decided to take a breather by finishing this chapter.
Soundtrack List
Supercell – Utakata Hanabi
Chemistry (FMA OP) - Period
ZONE – Secret Base
****Broken Faith****
"Burning Axle!"
"Final Heaven!"
The clearing shook from the explosion, the red barrier shattered like glass and the ground itself rumbled like there was an earthquake from the resulting collision.
A young grey haired man stood up shakily from the spot where his leader had thrown him, scanning the dust cloud frantically. Although he was sure the Tenth was fine, it did not sit well with him that the brown haired man had once again put the safety of others over his own. But then again, that was why he had been elected as the European Union's leader.
"Juuudaaaaime!"
The dust slowly swirled sluggishly, as if mocking the gray haired man's frantic shouts.
"Be calm. I am here." A young man swathed in a cloak calmly walked out of the smoke cloud, nonchalantly dusting away slight patches of dirt from his suit with a casual gesture, acting for all the world like being attacked with a meteor sized sword was something he did on a daily basis. Overall, he looked completely fine, without even a single scratch on him.
"Juudaime! Thank goodness you're alright!" He immediately started looking around in anger, "Where is that blonde upstart! I'll teach him to attack the Tenth!"
"Don't waste your time. He already left." The brown haired man blandly interrupted his assistant.
"Tch. Bu-but Juudaime! Why did you go easy on him?! You could have beaten him easily with his level of power!"
Instead of replying his right hand man's question, the young leader looked up in the sky with a dry smile, "Neh, Gokudera."
"Hai Juudaime?"
"Don't you miss the time where everything was simple? Just us and them, where rules didn't matter because we only fought because we cared about our comrades and doing what was right?"
Gokudera scratched his chin in confusion at his leader's easy going question, "I… guess? Why?"
Slender fingers caressed the metallic gauntlet on his right hand, where a slight crack could be seen from where his Burning Axle had collided with the blonde's Final Heaven.
Tsuna gave a dry smile at the crack. His gauntlet and cloak began to glow a bright orange, slowly dematerializing before reforming into a huge lion made out of strangely ethereal yet solid seeming orange flames. Tsuna smiled affectionately and ran a delicate finger over a barely visible, tiny crack on the lion's head armour.
"Gaoo..." the lion growled lowly and nuzzled its owner's hand just affectionately.
Gokudera sweat dropped. In contrast with its younger form, the Tenth's box Lion was so huge and bulky that it was as tall as their shoulders. It's massive jaw and fangs inspired fear and intimidation in their enemies. Yet... the moment it opened its mouth and roared, if you could call it that, it immediately overwhelmed anyone nearby by its sheer cuteness... How... inappropriate.
"It's nothing I guess. But that man was interesting after all. Reborn would have loved to recruit him. I wonder what kind of flame would have suited him."
"Him? But he was so weak!"
The flame eyed man grinned slightly and started walking away slowly with the Lion following him like an obedient puppy, "Hmmm? Really? You liked him, didn't you Natsu?"
"Gaoo!" It roared affirmatively with a bright glint in its orange eyes, as if anticipating another chance to knuckle down with his newest friend.
"Hahaha, yeah, I agree with you Natsu. It was fun."
"Hu-huh? Wa-wait! You know I can't understand that overgrown furball! Aww, come on Juudaime!" the grey haired young man started chasing after his boss and his Lion.
****Broken Faith****
Play Supercell – Utakata Hanabi
A stealthy figure enshrouded in darkness slowly crept through a dark service tunnel, deep in Shinjuku's famous Park Hyatt hotel, carefully heading towards the highest floor where he knew his self proclaimed fiancée's father was waiting for him.
It took but a moment for him to charge up the stairs and burst through the magnificent mahogany doors into the luxurious suite with a complete lack of delicacy, "Oi! You old bastard! Where is Ayaka!?"
The suite was empty save a single person in a sharp dark blue suit with his back to Naruto, his silhouette highlighted by the lights of Shinjuku's night life as he stood straight backed, regally watching down on the masses like he owned them. Which wasn't true.
He only owned half of it.
He seemed to be holding a book that Naruto couldn't see from his point of view.
"She isn't here yet. Soon though. It seems like she managed to persuade her guards to stop somewhere first."
"What?"
The man turned around slowly to regard the intruder, gently putting down the book at the same time, "I said she will be here soon. I didn't expect my daughter's intended to be deaf."
Naruto bristled and nearly started yelling but calmed himself down almost immediately. Wryly, he thought that even years later, some of his rash tendencies had yet to wear off entirely. Instead he glanced at the book. To his surprise it was an old photo album, its pages were flipped open, showing a photograph of two blonde females. The older looked much like Ayaka, the same waterfall of golden hair and bright sea green eyes, only with a more mature and down-to-earth feel to her elegance. The younger girl was sitting on her lap, shooting a bright smile at the photographer.
It clicked and Naruto stared at the older man, curiosity replacing hostility in his sapphire eyes.
"Why?" a simple question left his lips.
The man with greying black hair seemed to understand the unspoken words, staring at the blonde silently, as if judging whether the blonde was worthy of the answer to the question he asked.
A moment passed between the two fathers.
When it broke again, the older man picked up a glass of wine and swirled it nonchalantly, but he couldn't hide the sadness and nostalgia in his tired black eyes, "I met Ayaka's mother during a business trip to Japan. At the time, my current marriage was stormy and cold so I was drawn to her passion and spirit. She was a beautiful and passionate woman despite her frail health. She absolutely refused to bow to the rules that she didn't like, even going so far as to disown herself from her family. Yayoi was a loving woman, rather than struggle with Christine for dominance; she treated her like a sister, even if those feelings were not mutual, and even embraced Ayaka's older sister like her own."
The man paused in his monologue and ran one hand through his hair tiredly, "Even through the worst of the arguments, Yayoi accepted it all and loved everyone in the family equally. You could say she was the glue that held the Yukihiro family together. Unfortunately when she passed away, it was like the spark in Ayaka had disappeared. After the funeral, she secluded herself in her room for months on an end. I was so worried, but at the time I, mistakenly now that I think about it, focused on my company to keep the pain away. Filled with regret and resentment, I couldn't even bear to face Christine, much less reprimand her actions due to her perceived victory and Ayaka because of how much she resembled her mother."
The old man set the flute of wine down without even sipping a drop, only sparing a brief glance at the photograph on his desk, "When she finally came out again, she had apparently come a conclusion all by herself; determined to be the perfect daughter that would fulfil my every expectations. To fit the mould her mother had shown her perfectly. But there was no more spark, just a mechanised drive to be the best according to the standards that she alone perceived…. She wanted to be her mother, not Ayaka Yukihiro."
He spread his hands helplessly as the blonde listened with an intense expression on his face, "I… I'm not a good father…. I can predict when the next financial crisis will happen, down the date and time, but this… this I did not know how to fix. I thought by giving her standards too high to achieve she would give up and return to the bright energetic daughter I knew…."
He sighed tiredly, "Needless to say, she not only reached those standards; she broke them completely." A large smile broke out on his lips, "Then she went to Mahora and although it was faint, she regained the spark. And though I had no hand in it, I was exceedingly glad that Ayaka Yukihiro, no, my daughter had finally returned to me."
The blonde youth listened carefully as the older man unburdened himself, he was unsure of why the straight backed man had chosen to be so frank and honest with a stranger like him, maybe it was due to the role they shared as parental figures, but the surprisingly vulnerable look on the grey haired man's visage told him that everything he had said so far was true.
"So I strove to fan that spark to burn even brighter through adversity." his reply was simply as if it explained everything.
In a way it made sense. A self made man like him did not know how to do anything other than through challenges.
Silence resumed as the old man sat down in his chair in one smooth and practiced movement. Naruto noticed that despite the topic that seemed to drain the energy from his frame, he still moved with the same regality Ayaka had in her's.
"What will you do now?"
"Nothing." He smiled wryly, "Whatever you said to my daughter, her backbone returned, enough to defy even me."
Naruto blinked and felt rather stupid, "What?"
The man smiled dryly, "I might have forgot to mention that shortly before you arrived, she somehow managed to buy my company right out from under my nose. From a shabby internet cafe no less."
He returned his gaze to the glass wall, "Then she threw the whole company back in my face, allowing me to continue to manage it under the caveat that every other Friday I am to spend at a chosen orphanage doing community service and every Saturday and Sunday is to be spent with family."
A goofy grin spread on the blonde's lips, "I think I'm in love."
Then he blinked, despite the meaning in the older man's words he sounded strangely happy.
The older man chuckled slightly, "Ah yes, the Namikaze family's third motto; Do not mess with us unless you want to find out exactly how big of a vindictive bastard we can be. Considering her circumstances, it is rather fitting."
The blonde blinked again, suddenly feeling very lost, "How did you know about that?"
"Oh please. As if I wouldn't realize a new player suddenly appearing and gobbling up more than half of the underworld while investigating all of my holdings at the same time."
Naruto floundered helplessly, "Why didn't you do anything?"
"There was no reason to. When my niece, Chizuru told me about you and Ayaka, I decided to bet on you."
Naruto peered into those sharp black eyes and decided that gambling against him probably wouldn't be very smart. Or profitable. At the same time, he decided to have a talk with Chizuru in the very near future.
"What if I failed, or if she decided to obey you anyway?" the blonde asked curiously.
"I was not worried. Sawada-san told me about you. The Black Paladin who never failed." He replied calmly.
Naruto wanted to protest, to say that it wasn't fair to Ayaka for gambling like that, but his mouth opened and closed without any sound, finally he just gave in and began chuckling along with the older man.
Suddenly the moment of camaraderie was broken by the sound of wood hitting plaster explosively as the mahogany doors burst open to show a resplendently dressed Ayaka striding in as if she owned the place, fire burning in her eyes, "Otou-sama, you WILL call off Naruto's punishme- Naruto?" she skidded to a stop and halted mid sentence, jaw dropping at the sheer ridiculousness of her father and her fiancée laughing together like old friends.
"Wha-what's happening?"
"We were just talking Ayaka."
"Wha-Bu?"
Seeing the girl struggle to comprehend everything, Naruto chuckled before walking up to Ayaka and enveloping her in a tight hug, "Everything is ok now, Ayaka."
Ayaka glanced briefly over Naruto's shoulder at her father, seeing him give no outward signs of displeasure, she reluctantly returned the hug and decided to let things go until she could talk to Naruto privately.
The older man turned his seat around to give them a moment together.
"Your father isn't going to force you to get married anymore. You don't have to get married if you don't want to." He whispered to her happily.
Ayaka's sea green eyes widened and she immediately pushed him away, giving him a hurt look as she did so, "Yo-you don't want to marry me? Breaking your promise so fast?" Hurt turned to anger as she hissed at him.
"Huh? Bu-but?"
The older man who was looking out the window suppressed the undignified urge to face palm, instead he just rolled his eyes. Then again the younger man probably didn't have decades of marriage experience that would help him manoeuvre the mine field that was a woman's mind.
"Ahem."
Both blondes, one looking like someone had kicked his dog and the other somehow resembling a hissing cat, looked at him as one, ignoring their stares, he continued, "Technically I haven't called the wedding off yet."
"What?! What are you talking about Otou-sama!" the female blonde demanded loudly.
"I haven't approved off Namikaze-san." He replied succinctly, "And even if I did, there's still; the issue about your original intended, a son of one my business partners that came in order to cement a deal that would expand the Yukihiro family's influence even further. He is still waiting in one of our private suites and I cannot afford to call the wedding off over something like this; it would do irreparable damage to the Yukihiro reputation."
Ayaka winced out of habit at his stern tone before steeling herself again, "But I already called the wedding off when I took over ownership of the company." She protested calmly with a hint of steel in her tone.
The older Yukihiro smiled slyly, "Yes, yes you did. But the process was already initiated and he has already arrived. As the new owner, it wouldn't reflect very well on you if the result of your first, one sided, order caused so much chaos would it?"
"The-then what?"
The older man steepled his fingers together, "Well…. The young man is a noble from Mundus Magicus. I'm aware that they traditionally settle matters there by tests of strength." Here, his black eyes glanced briefly at the blonde man, "If your intended somehow manages to defeat him in combat, then calling off the wedding properly wouldn't be an issue any longer, would it?"
He shot a look at the young man with the hangdog look on his face that said, 'I gave you an opening, take it you dumb ass.'
Giving a grateful nod, he stepped forward before Ayaka could say anything, "I'll do it."
"Wha? Wa… Grr… ARGH!"
The two men watched as Ayaka stomped out of the room, internally Naruto sighed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for that."
The older man nodded, "No thanks are needed. Although that wasn't just for you, it was also for me." At the confused look from Naruto, he shot a stern glare at the blonde, "I know you are also a father of sorts. As a father you will understand that I want the best for my daughter don't you?"
"Don't say such reasonable words with such a sinister smile, you old bastard."
"..."
"..."
"Ohohoho."
"Ohohohoho... my ass! Didn't you mention you already knew what I was capable off?"
"I heard what the Black Paladin was capable off. Now I want to see for myself if you truly deserve my daughter. That little show earlier wasn't exactly the most convincing of arguments."
After a few moments of staring at each other, Naruto slumped in agreement with his motives. If anyone wanted to marry Akako or Chao, the man had BETTER be able to stand up to him. Or else.
"Very well…. Place and time?"
The older man glanced at the monitor on his table and tapped a few keys, after a few minutes of silence between them, he spoke again, "I will have a suitable place ready and warded so that you can fight as much as you want. Until then, go and assuage Ayaka." He smiled slightly, "She can be a little hot headed, emotional and stubborn at times. Just like her mother, but don't let it get you down."
Naruto nodded and spun around to chase after his fiancée but just as he was leaving he heard his name being called again, "Yes?"
"Show me what you can really do."
"Mah…. We'll see."
****Broken Faith****
Knock knock
"Go away!"
"Either you open the door, or I break it. Your choice."
"Go away!"
"Shame. This looks like a rather nice door."
"Go aw-BOOM!"
A tall silhouette stepped in through the wreckage of what once used to be a perfectly respectable door, sapphire eyes briefly swept around the room before finding what their owner was looking for. The shell shocked blonde girl who was sitting on her bed and staring at the kindling on the floor in disbelief.
Sighing Naruto quietly stepped over to the girl and gently sat beside her uninvited.
Ayaka glared at him and made to move but Naruto's sharp voice stopped her, "You try to run away and I'll tie you up so that you'll God damn listen to what I have to say bondage girl."
"Don't you dare! I'll scream!"
"Go ahead."
"KYAAAAAA!"
A voice from outside the door suddenly spoke, shocking Ayaka into silence, "Oh my, I seem to have gone temporarily deaf. Oh look. A ruined door. Shame, it used to be a rather nice door."
"Rob-jii san?"
Both men couldn't hide their chuckles at the disbelief in her voice.
"Oops. I accidentally ordered everyone off this floor. Have fun Ayaka-sama."
"Rob-jii san!"
Naruto sighed before reaching out to pull the furious girl into his lap, "Calm down bondage girl." He ordered her calmly yet forcefully.
Ayaka shivered at the quiet yet powerful whisper in her ear, "What? You haven't humiliated me enough?"
The other blonde sighed again, "And how did I do that?"
Ayaka growled lowly, "You said you didn't want to marry me! Everything you said last night was a complete lie. Was it because you pitied me!? Me? Th-" Her throat immediately failed to work and her brain stalled.
Naruto kissed her. His arms wound around her slender waist, crushing her body against his; enjoying their shared warmth as his lips ravaged hers. It took a while before the girl in his arms slowly closed her eyes and returned the kiss. Her lips opening slightly, inviting his tongue to dance with hers.
Seconds stretched into minutes before they finally separated, breathing rather heavily. Naruto put his forehead against hers and spoke softly, "Will you listen now?"
Ayaka averted her eyes unsurely but nodded anyway.
"I was always going to marry you. In fact I want to."
"Bu-but, you were so happy that I didn't have to get married anymore..."
"Ayaka... you are just fourteen." He grinned in a rather exasperated manner, "Of course I'm happy you don't have to marry now. You still have a world in front of you, I want you to experience life, make sure it's really WHAT you want before we truly get married. I don't want us to get together just because of an emergency." His eyes softened noticeably, "I'll wait for you to get ready. Marriage isn't a simple thing for me. For someone like me who had to live his childhood watching happy families from outside the window, a marriage is an incredibly important step in life. I WANT you to be sure, Ayaka. Not with some half baked resolve created over the span of one month and an equally half assed wedding, you don't deserve that. Both you and Chachamaru."
She blushed softly and leaned her head into the crook of Naruto's neck, "Sorry..."
"S'okay. Your father warned me."
Ayaka rolled her shimmering green eyes, "I have no idea whether it's funny or creepy that you two get along so well."
"Huh? No we don't. He's an old bastard!"
Ayaka face palmed and chose not to remind him that he was technically one as well, "Idiot."
They shared a moment of quiet together, revelling in each other's presence and soft bodies before Ayaka broke the stillness between them, "I've never liked my birthdays."
Blinking at the sudden no sequitur Naruto could only voice a quiet, "Why?"
"Because of my family, all my birthdays have always been these big huge parties. I didn't like them because they always felt so stiff and impersonal, full of posturing idiots." Ayaka slowly peered up into his eyes, "Next month, after the exams, is my birthday. Can we have a quiet one? Just a small dinner, With Chachamaru, Akako, Negi, Chizuru and Asuna?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah. Anything you want, Hime."
****Broken Faith****
Two men stood in an underground arena, one was dressed casually, in a button down shirt, jeans and black boots. His long blonde hair tied in a simple pony tail. A small, almost disbelieving smile played on his lips as he looked around like a tourist. He hadn't actually expected the older man to truly keep to his word to prepare an arena in a few hours. When word had gotten through to the couple, Naruto had been incredibly shocked to find that his fiancée's father had prepared an underground dome that was large enough to fit ten football fields and its walls spelled with enough defensive wards to rival a fortress. When he had loudly expressed his disbelief at the incredible arrangements, especially in such a short time period, he had been treated to an elaborate 'OHOHOHOHO' from Ayaka's father and a declaration that anything was possible for a Yukihiro.
Yeaahh... those two were definitely related. He could definitely see where the blonde girl got it from.
The man across of the room from him however, was the exact opposite. A dress robe with elaborate designs of gold dragons that covered the entirety of his body, carefully glossed white hair that fell in a shiny waterfall and his bangs carefully held up with decorative, embossed silver circlet. His face held a casual yet refined expression of haughty boredom.
"Nice to meet you."
The man opposite of him simply gave him a condescending smile similar to those from a noble royalty humouring a particularly stupid person of lower rank.
Naruto immediately decided he didn't like this prick.
That incredibly familiar haughty smile on the stranger's face immediately gave rise to a sudden yet urgent need within the blonde's chest to put his foot through said smile. Suppressing the powerful urge to follow through with the need, Naruto simply returned the gesture with a hint of mocking.
"Basillica-sama. Namikaze-sama has challenged you for the right to claim Ayaka-sama's hand in marriage. Is this correct?"
Both of them nodded curtly.
Ayaka gently touched his hand, giving him a strangely soft look.
He felt a different kind of smile touch his lips at the look and gave her a confident nod before following the strangely named youth down a hallway towards the dome.
*******Booth***********
In a securely shielded circular room where three people sat watching a floating screen, Ayaka gulped nervously at the tenseness but didn't have enough time to do anything else when a sharp stern voice cut through the silence of the booth, "Basillica? Basillica Anheuser? Son of Salamander Lord Anheuser?! What are you playing at Yukihiro-san!? Inviting the son of one of the leaders of Hellas' most radical faction?!"
Jumping slightly in shock, the blonde girl shifted in her seat to look behind her where a new group of people had just arrived. Her eyes widened even further in shock as she realized that amongst the newcomers was the familiar bearded, bushy browed face of Mahora Academy's Dean, Konoe Konoemon.
The man in greying black hair didn't bother to turn around, simply acknowledging the Dean's words with a casual nod however before the Dean could ask for more information, they were interrupted by the referee speaking again.
****Booth****
"Very well. Nothing else need be said. There will be no fatal attacks. Everything else is allowed. Good Luck to both combatants."
And just like that, the elderly butler went silent, leaving both combatants to measure each other with piercing stares but it was the white haired man who spoke first, "How much do you want?"
Naruto blinked, "Excuse me?"
The white haired man rolled his golden slit-pupiled eyes in a bored fashion, "We both know you cannot win. You are but a normal mage from Mundus Vetus. Someone of that mere calibre cannot win against dragon folk from Mundus Magicus. Especially not one of the legendary Vritra bloodline. So just name your price so that we can both go home faster."
"Ah... Sorry. As far as I'm concerned, you can offer me Mundus Magicus itself, and it still isn't worth more than her pinky. Instead I'd like to give you a counter offer."
The blonde would never know that listening spells had been cast on the arena so that everybody that was watching them in the private booth could hear everything that was being said in the arena, or at least not until later, and that a certain blonde girl sitting in the viewing booth was currently blushing brighter then the setting sun.
"Oh?"
"I was going to give you a minute, but considering your attitude. I'll give you 30 seconds."
His opponent quirked a refined eyebrow, "30 seconds of what?"
Naruto smiled benignly, "I don't want to fight you. So please give up before then. If you do not, I will be forced to end the match."
The noble bristled slightly but otherwise showed no outwards reaction yet the anger in his words were unmistakable, "Someone of your stature should not presume to impose limits on someone like me. Besides no matter how good looking that wench is, is she worth the gold I can give you?"
Play Chemistry (FMA OP) - Period
Naruto shrugged, "You can be the prince, the Queen, or the King himself, heck you can even be the God of Mundus Magicus, and I still wouldn't give a shit."
He leaned backwards to evade a swift blow and began to backflip away from repeated claw swipes.
30. 29.
"Really? Attacking without a warning?"
"You don't deserve one."
28. 27.
"So uh..." he dodged a powerful punch, "What's the difference between you and say... that Dragon underneath Mahora? Can it talk as well?"
The so called dragon folk noble growled, "Do not mistake us for a dumb beast like that."
26. 25. 24.
Naruto jumped away from another ridiculously powerful kick from above, sure the pretty boy was powerful, but he fought with delicate, useless movements and over the top flourishing gestures, "Yeah, yeah, so what's the difference? Other than the fact that... you don't remotely look like a dragon. You know, wings, tails, claws."
23. 22. 21.
A powerful spiked tail exploded out of the back of the white haired youth's spine and instantly wrapped around an airborne Naruto's foot, the white haired man's fake smile gained a hint of malice as his circlet slowly turned into huge ivory horns, "You want horns, tails and claws?"
20. 19. 18.
The tail around his foot aggressively swung Naruto around like a rag doll, slamming the blonde into the ground before dragging his limp body to hand upside down in front of the haughty draconic man.
Bleary sapphire eyes came eye to eye with golden slit-pupilled ones, "Is that different enough for you, commoner?" the malice in his smile grew tenfold, "Don't worry about your precious Ayaka-sama. I'll treat her extremely well. She'll be a good addition to my sex slaves."
17. 16... Screw 30 seconds.
Basillica drew back one arm and punched right through the blonde's torso, tearing through in a spray of blood and meat.
Rather than the painful screams he expected, the body hanging from his tail simply smiled, 'Doton : Bakuhatsu Bunshin'
"One."
Then the body slowly thickened like rock and mud around the arm in its torso, "Wha-what are you?" Rather than replying, the rock like face gave the most sadistic smile its rocky face could manage shortly before violently exploding at point blank range.
Barely managing to bring his free hand up in order to protect his eyes, the white haired man screamed as he was pelted by a flurry of super heated rock shrapnel, the only reason he wasn't immediately turned into Swiss cheese was because of his skin's scale like resistance granted to him by his draconian heritage.
Roaring angrily, the half dragon, half man spun around, looking for his adversary.
The sound of bone cracking alerted him to the blonde's position, "You know, from the moment I saw you, I realized you were just another idiot that the old bastard tricked into fighting me so that I could satisfy his curiosity. I really wasn't going to hurt you that badly. Then you had to go and insulted Ayaka."
Right below him.
"Start running you worthless fuck. It's time I teach you what money can't. How reality really works."
Looking downwards, his eyes immediately widened at the couching blonde's mouth cracked again and his jaw completely unhinged, 'Katon : Enraiha no Jutsu'
Desperately, he swung a fist powered by lightning, hitting the blonde's face at the same time that a massive burst of dangerously beautiful white fire bloomed from the blonde's jaws collided face first with the humanoid dragon's face, the subsequent detonation was powerful enough to rock the entire dome, leaving behind a smoke cloud that obscured everything.
A smoking figure was thrown clear out of the smoke, landing roughly. His entire top was gone, leaving only his ragged trousers and smoking but undamaged skin. Another dark figure with a bruised cheek dashed out of the smoke, continuing his relentless barrage while blocking a knee strike and twisting mid combo to catch a clawed hand by the wrist while his right hand swung like a whip at the captured shoulder joint.
Golden eyes widened mid swing as he realized that the air in front of the knife hand strike was shimmering slightly, the half dragon immediately reacted and caught the hand with his tail, barely stopping the invisible blade from piercing the lesser armoured skin under his armpit and slicing his entire arm off. Angrily growling, he swung his free hand out in a elbow strike that cracked the blonde's shoulder. Ignoring the sound and pain, Naruto fluidly switching combos, the crouching blonde pivoted, snapping the wrist in his hand and throwing the heavy dragon over his shoulders onto the floor, 'Suiton : OniGeki no Jutsu'
A cloud of vapour formed above his head, forming a massive hammer that the blonde grasped by its handle to swing around with. Naruto swung the massive yet weightless hammer, the earth rumbled with each powerful strike, crushing the dragon's body deeper and deeper into the ground mercilessly with each swing.
"Gwooooh!"
The white haired man exploded upwards, destroying the hammer and charging at the blonde and began attacking him with a barrage of fists, tail lashes and kicks, all at the same time. Naruto momentarily froze, allowing Basillica to land a powerful blow on his abdomen but 8 hands suddenly grabbed his attacker's limbs, stopping his charge cold. Golden eyes widened incredulously at the sight of an extra 6 silvery metallic limbs sprouting out of the blonde's shoulders, then they widened even further as the grinning blonde's chest slowly opened like a hideous Venus flytrap, showing a massive sideways jaw with silvery fangs.
'Raiton : Niruida Gian no Jutsu'
Two massive thunderbolts exploded from both jaws, hitting his chest in two spots at point blank range. This time, unlike the earlier fire technique which had barely any effect on his dragon scale like skin, the thunderbolts pierced his chest like hot knife through butter, sizzling the tender flesh underneath armour like skin.
Coughing blood, the formerly dignified noble managed to leap and kick the blonde in the face with his free leg before stumbling backwards. In front of him, unfazed by the kick, Naruto's extra 6 hands slowly retreated into the blonde's shoulder again.
'Konbi Jutsu : Murakumo no Ken'
The swaying man barely noticed the yellow flashes all around him, what he did notice was the feel of invisible blades cutting him all over his body, hamstringing him painfully and near fatally. His torn and abused body fell flat on its face with a wet splat.
*********Booth***********
Up in the booth the Dean began chuckling, "Now that was new. I was unaware that he was capable of using all the elements like that, nor his abilities to form extra... errr... limbs. Although, is there a reason he isn't using his pactios?"
The man sitting beside him nodded slightly, "I requested that he use only his own powers, not those that others have bestowed upon him. That lightning attack in particular was rather... effective. Crude, but effective."
Another man spoke up as he petted a Lion made of flickering yet solid flames, the lion somehow watching the ensuing fight with glittering eyes, "In our fight he mentioned that it was a new ability thought it's not very surprising. I get the impression that Naruto-san is the kind to play his cards close to the chest. That Cloud Gathering Sword of his was exceedingly formidable. I doubt I could have countered it in its entirety."
Black eyes glittered in approval, "It seems this fight is over. Shall we?"
The two men sitting to his sides chuckled, "It is barely over yet Yukihiro-san. You underestimate Basillica-san too much. The dragon boy, despite his boasting is still the Salamander Lord's son and dragon folk are renowned for their high speed regeneration, powerful defensive scales, attack power as well as stamina."
"Oh?"
A loud roar rung throughout the entire chamber, resonating even within their viewing chambers without the help of the screen.
"PAPA! Behind you!" a female voice screamed.
*********Booth***********
Back in the arena, where a weary Naruto had begun walking back to the exit until he felt a shadow start to cover him, sweat dropped.
"I've got something really big and angry behind me isn't it?" He asked no one in particular and sighed just as a massive paw smashed him straight into the ground with ridiculous amounts of power and speed.
An furious roar shook the chamber as a fully formed, massive black dragon began repeatedly churning the ground with its serrated claws, each one of them the size of a small bus, completely focused on tearing his offender into shredded meat before finishing his rampage off with a massive burst of crimson dragon fire.
The fire flooded the entire chamber, obscuring everything from view save the dragon's 50 foot tall silhouette as it roared triumphantly.
Then it gave an undignified yelp as something grabbed its tail and began swinging the 20 tonne dragon around like a sack of potatoes, that something grunted and released the tail at the pinnacle of his swing, throwing the massive dragon through the air before crashing into the side of the dome with a massive cracking sound as the entire wall crumbled under its weight before burying the black dragon underneath a rock slide regardless of what defensive spells that had been cast on the now charred black stone construct.
*********Booth***********
As the fire began to clear, Ayaka's father began laughing loud and long, "Ayaka! Was this your idea? A white knight fighting alone against a black dragon for his princess?"
The princess in question merely blushed and sent the green haired gynoid beside her an apologetic glance. Chachamaru simply nodded and reached over to gently squeezed the blonde girl's hand with jointed fingers, eliciting a surprised look from the blonde girl.
She had been expecting anger, even resentment but not comfort from the green haired girl.
"We will talk later."
Ayaka felt her throat clam up, and it was all she could do to nod in response.
*********Booth***********
Play ZONE – Secret Base
The mountain of rocks began trembling as Basillica in complete berserker mode began trashing madly underneath the weight, it didn't take long for the massively powerful dragon to explode out of its makeshift grave and start advancing on the small figure clad in white armour and a red cape.
It didn't hurt.
Since when was his opponent so weak?
Sapphire eyes peered at his armoured arm from behind his visors with a sweat drop, wondering how in the world this particular costume had saved itself as part of Akane's pactio. He didn't have long to think as he deflected a massive serrated claw, the serrated edge screeching dissonantly against his massive silver blade as he did so. Skidding slightly from the massive strength of the attack, Naruto nonetheless held his ground and only spared the fire burning in the dragon's throat a single glance before leaping up. The sword in his hands split into two distinctive parts that he began swinging like a whirlwind on the way down, slashing the dragon's nose and neck. On the way down, he threw a blade like a javelin, wounding its eye and deflecting the river of flames from his landing spot.
Light.
Too light.
His sword was light.
The moment he landed, he began dashing forwards as the swords split again, throwing another blade to distract the massive dragon, he began slashing at the dragon's ankle to hamstring it with minimal success.
He had almost forgotten how light he had felt, all those years ago, fighting with Akane by his side.
Thus began a process where he threw a blade every now and then and attacked whatever vulnerable part while the dragon was distracted. Naturally it didn't take long for him to come down to his last blade. The other six were scattered all around the dome before he found himself staring down a pissed near legendary creature.
Tsunayoshi had been right. He was selfish, he wanted Ayaka to be happy, and yet he didn't want to let her go either, laws and principles be damned.
That's right. This resolve, he had been through so many complex situations, so caught up in getting resurrected and adapting, in the festivals where everybody's motives had been murky at best, in defying a direct order from Sawada-san...
All he wanted was for Ayaka, no not just Ayaka, for all his precious people to be happy, and right now, the way to achieve that was through this moving wall made of reptilian scales and muscles.
It was that simple. There was no complex situations this time.
"Meh." Blue eyes looked up in the general direction of the ceiling where he realized a small floating orb had been watching the whole match. "Oi, old bastard. You can hear me right?"
Sapphire eyes closed under the hood, and he relaxed his posture, feeling the weight slowly lessen as his breath slowly fell into a steady rhythm. The world around him slowed down and gained a clarity he had nearly forgotten.
He stopped caring about being selfish.
Not bothering to wait for a reply he continued, "You wanted to see my full power right?" he thrust the sword in his hand into the ground and grinned as each blade embedded deep into the concrete walls began resonating with the one in his hand with a low deep thrum, glowing with an unearthly light. He knew from above, the positions of each sword would show up like the points of a hexagon from above, with him in the centre.
He would do what he wanted.
He would make sure that Ayaka was happy.
He would not let any of his precious ones go either.
He would settle for nothing less.
That was the way the person named Naruto Uzumaki had always done things; even if everybody else called him foolish, naive and stupid.
"Nihil et Regnum, Burst Mode."
The glow brightened even further.
Then they disappeared completely like a light that had been put out, with the darkness came a new feeling, an unnatural heaviness in the atmosphere that hadn't been present earlier.
In the booth, several people began to shake in their seats as the pressure could be felt from even there.
"This... is what I like to call stage one."
A huge solid brilliant gold aura began forming around the knight, slowly settling into a vaguely humanoid form with nine flicking solid gold tails and two large curved horns. From the screens, they could hear the sounds of bone cracking underneath the knight's armour.
The massive pressure doubled. Konoe's old wrinkled fingers closed tightly around his knobbly stick, just when he thought the ridiculous amount of pressure could go no higher, it tripled.
Naruto groaned as he felt his bones roiling, stretching underneath his skin, before speaking again, "This... is stage two."
The brilliant gold aura flared and exploded into a magnificent yet somehow ethereal monster fox that stood on two bipedal feet, towering over the dragon. Its snout looked vaguely canine, its grinning jaw filled with massive ivory fangs, two massive curved horns scratched and gouged the ceiling as the ethereal yet solid monster moved. Each step it took shook the entire arena like an earthquake.
Floating in its centre, barely visible through the thick golden aura was Naruto, still clad in his armour.
In the viewing booth, Konoemon dropped to his knees under the sheer pressure and the screens began to crack from the monster's very presence.
"Konoemon, you alright?"
"Yes-yes, I'm alright Sawada-san, but th-this is incredible, th-this has gone so far past any human limits that..." he was rendered speechless by Naruto's next words.
"And this. Is stage three."
The gold aura vanished. The pressure vanished. The huge brilliant gold demon disappeared, leaving two gigantic indents in the concrete where it had been standing.
The only thing left was Naruto, a thin golden aura around him and two large curved horns sprouting from the top of the helmet, nine golden furred tails lazily flicked in the air behind him, streamlined and yet somehow felt utterly lethal. Only they weren't wavering or ethereal anymore, they were flesh and blood, completely physical. The formerly ethereal quality that the monster had had was completely gone.
The horns, tails and fangs, looked completely solid, only they were now human sized.
The being stretched as he looked at his glowing hand in nostalgia, this form was the embodiment of his and Akane's bond.
A form that he had been unable to successfully activate since her passing.
Then he briefly disappeared before reappearing underneath the dragon's jaw with one hand outstretched and casually finger flicked the dragon's chin.
Contrary to everybody's expectations, that small move somehow managed to propel the dragon straight up into the air as if a giant had punched its jaw with all its strength. A small glowing figure, barely a fraction of the dragon's size suddenly phased into existence above the dragon.
"Clench those pretty teeth Dragon, all the gold in the world isn't going to stop this from hurting a little."
He cocked his head back, and everybody winced as two massive horns caved in the dragon's skull.
****Broken Faith****
Omake
Vindictive Bastard.
"Oi, Naruto. Where are you?!" a gruff voice echoed in the seemingly empty wooden cabin until the visitor heard a muffled grunt answer his call.
"In here, Kichi." A voice softly called out.
Quirking one eyebrow, the tall, bulky man slowly manoeuvred his way through the empty house to a slightly open door at the very back of the hall before slowly easing it open with one huge hand.
Inside the room was Naruto sitting on a couch, a pair of glasses perched on his nose as he read a scroll. The reason he had not come to answer the door in person became evident in the form of a small yukata clad girl snoozing on his chest, snuffling quietly as her two tails slowly flicked back and forth in time with Naruto's free hand stroking her long fiery hair.
He lifted one finger to his lips and motioned the large man into the room, "Is there something wrong? It's rare for you to come all the way down here." He said quietly, trying not to disturb the girl sleeping on his chest.
Gamakichi gave a dry grin at the scene, he had never thought that the rash and dumb blonde that he had met nearly 500 years ago, would look so at home with his adopted daughter sleeping on his chest, while he read a book, "You actually look half intelligent with those glasses on."
Naruto shrugged carefully, "I never realized it until Negi brought it up, apparently I am suffering from something called long sighted. I always thought that I hated books so much that I couldn't read, turns out reading is kinda fun when you can actually see the words for once. Anyway you haven't answered my question." Naruto fixed his old friend with an expectant stare.
The man nodded, "We have a problem. One of our competitors refused to start negotiating until they meet our leader, in other words, you. Something about honour and reason," the huge man frowned, "Yakuza are so pretentious nowadays."
Naruto nodded slowly as he considered the situation, "What was the deal about?"
Kichi slowly leaned against the wall and folded his arms, "They are one of the few local yakuza groups left with enough influence left to block our advance in Kanto. The deal was to ensure we get trade priority with them in exchange for leaving their territory alone."
The blonde gave a wry smile, "Looks like I don't have much a choice then." He motioned at the girl on his chest, "You wanna have her for a moment while I get ready?"
The huge man smirked, and with uncharacteristic gentleness, softly lifted the sleeping girl into his arms, cradling her. He couldn't help but smile as the small girl curled into a tight ball and nuzzled his chest softly, emitting small and content purring sounds from her throat.
Naruto only grinned at the somewhat out of place scene despite knowing Kichi was one of the gentlest men he knew around children, as he quickly got ready. It didn't take long for the blonde to hurry out of the room with a deep crimson haori with black flame patterns decorating the bottom hanging on his shoulder.
"I'm ready."
The tall dark blue haired man blinked owlishly, "We're bringing Akako along?"
Naruto made a face, "Negi and the rest are preparing for their finals and I don't want to leave Akako at home alone."
"Clone?"
"We-well I thought Akako would like to play with Gamashiro and the rest," Seeing the blonde blush slightly and avert his eyes, Kichi gave an amused grunt, knowing that the blonde didn't want to let his daughter out of his sight, and they made for the teleporter Naruto had set up between their Headquarters in Kyoto and Mahora Academy at the back of the wooden cabin.
****Broken Faith****
Naruto kept his expression carefully neutral and his posture rigid, hiding his distaste for the obese person across the table from him. From the start, the obese man, Nabou Koryuu, a well known leader of one of Kanto Yakuza factions had given him the impression of a forgettable, oily snake, the fact that he was dressed in an acid green suit, did not help the imagery.
The blonde had no idea how this... rat had even managed to weasel his way into the faction's leadership, probably by whining at everyone until they died of a broken blood vessel, he thought more than a little unkindly at the smaller man. Nonetheless, as annoying as the man was, he still held a position of great importance and the gateway to the Kanto region's underworld was strictly monitored by his group to reduce competition.
At that moment, with the same tinny confrontational voice in his ears that had been grating on his nerves for the past 5 hours, it was like the little man existed for the sole purpose of trying to annoy Naruto and the blonde was tempted to just throw a Rasenshuriken in his direction and call it a training accident. Fortunately, the negotiation was nearly complete, although the blonde realized that he had been forced to concede a lot more ground than expected in order to placate the Japanese mafia, Naruto silently berated himself, knowing that this had only happened because he was more concerned about getting out of hearing range rather than actually bargaining for a good position.
Which was probably the point, he internally reflected. It was a dirty, but certainly viable tactic.
"Papa?" a small voice called out from behind the shoji.
Naruto immediately felt lighter, and his back straightened, "Akako? What's wrong?"
"Papa still busy?" two wide ruby eyes peeked through the crack in the shoji, and Naruto could immediately tell that she was pouting at him, "Want to play~"
"What is the meaning of this?"
Naruto blinked, and tried to let a blood vessel burst at the unpleasant interruption, "I apologize. This is my daughter Akako."
The chubby man slowly got up and dawdled over to the shoji, opening it roughly to reveal a surprised Akako, who immediately scampered behind Naruto, clinging to the back of his red haori. Smiling softly, the blonde reached behind him to pet his daughter and calm her down.
"Hmph, little children should be seen and not heard. This is not the place for a brat," his condescending tone changed for the worse as the tubby man leaned forward with a leer at the cowering girl, "Though, how old did you say she was again? Give it a few years and she will be an absolute... prize."
Naruto froze. He decided that he didn't like the way the small fat man was emphasizing the word prize.
It took him a few seconds to force his face into a stiff smile, "I'm sorry, I think you better go."
"What!? We haven't even had a drink yet!"
"Please. Leave." Naruto restated with a steely glint in his eyes.
The chubby black haired man immediately staggered backwards before stumbling out of the room with a high pitched, "Yo-you'll regret this!"
Naruto stayed frozen until he was sure that the man's pathetic energy signature had completely left the ground before picking a quivering Akako up and cuddling her, "It's ok. That bad man won't come again. I'll make sure of it."
The small red haired girl nodded tearily, "Why don't you go find Shiro? I heard he has some sweets."
Her terrified expression was immediately replaced by a greedy one as she scampered off to find her latest target. Naruto decided he'd apologize to Gamashiro later with a particularly nice helping of cake.
"Well... that didn't go well."
"Hummm..." Naruto hummed quietly in thought for a moment before nodding coldly and unhesitatingly, "Buy out his entire holdings. Do anything it takes."
The tall man that had slid into the meeting room didn't bother to argue but he did scratch his chin carefully, "You sure? It'll set our long term goals back by quite a bit."
"Do it." Naruto ordered firmly, "And once you are done, make sure that the only job Nabou will ever get in Japan ever again is as a janitor."
A crooked smirk appeared on the tall man's lips, "I was hoping you'd do something like that. Anything else?"
Naruto nodded sharply, "Jot down today's date. For the rest of his life, I want you to send him a cake shaped like a brick on this day. A little reminder that he should learn how to keep his mouth shut." Naruto paused and added something else in an offhand tone, "Throw in a bar of soap as well. I don't think I've ever met such a greasy individual."
Kichi left the room howling with laughter.
****Broken Faith****
Author's Note
Doton : Bakuhatsu Bunshin – Earth Release : Exploding Clone
Katon : Enraiha no Jutsu – Fire Release : Supreme Blaze Technique
Suiton : OniGeki no Jutsu – Water Release : Giant Hammer Technique
Raiton : Niruida Gian no Jutsu – Lightning Release : Double False Darkness
Konbi Jutsu : Murakumo no Ken - Combination Jutsu : Cloud Gathering Blade
Nihil et Regnum; Burst Mode – Empty Throne; Burst Mode
****Broken Faith****
Yes, rather short chapter compared to my usual standards, but it does give a good end to the Ayaka Arc and I didn't want to continue since I would only get to briefly touch on the next arc. Not something I want to do. Not to mention, it'll help me get back in the groove for the usual 11-13k chapters again. The trouble i had with this chapter was mostly cos I was undecided on whether to make Ayaka's father a bastard or at least more sympathetic.
Cheers for coin flipping o^o
Look forward to the next chapter, where we finally kick off the Mundus Magicus Arc.
Oh and don't forget to review~