A/N: Finally uploaded the long due chapter! Hope you enjoy!
2 Years Time Skip
"Land! Oh how I've missed you, land!"
A blond collapsed on the ground, intent on not leaving it for a long time to come. He spread his arms and legs out, and began rubbing his whiskered cheeks on the floor with disturbing vigor.
"Ahh! Not having to use chakra to stand on the surface is the best! I'm never leaving you again!"
Mission Accomplished: Escape Kamikura Island
Reward: Beginner's guide to medical jutsu
Exp gained: 5250 exp
Level Up!
Lv.62 - Lv.63
"Damn the enticing mission! I almost died several times because of this! The helicopters, Karasuba chasing me like a madwoman, and the fucking never-ending sea!" He wailed as he turned and lay down on his back. "I would have ditched this mission only if they weren't so scarce nowadays…and with such a high exp gain and nice reward, I couldn't back down…"
"Walk a bit into the city and do the same thing, won't ya? It will be so entertaining to watch you completely humiliate yourself in front of so many eyes." A voice in the young man's head chuckled at his plight.
"Shut up, Kurama. Let's see you running on the sea for days, almost non-stop." He growled.
"I don't need to run on top of the sea for days, you hairless monkey. The water will part ways even before I let my paw down. My presence will create waves that crash upon the other creatures, though the center – where I am – would be tranquil." The fox boasted.
Naruto rolled his eyes at the chakra beast's repertoire. Even after years of contact with him, the pompous fox stayed exactly that. Pompous. His self praising never diminished, either.
But the blond could see where Kurama was coming from. The fox's strength, even the partial power Naruto could access through his body, was tremendous.
That wasn't a good enough reason to act like an ass, though.
"Whatever, you damn fox." He stood up and undid all the clinks in his joints. "I guess I should leave, though. Can't be lying here forever."
He plopped himself back up and started running again. But before he was able to go too far, a translucent screen appeared in front of his face.
"Hm? A mission already? Wow, maybe coming out here was a good idea."
Mission: Find your first job
Reward: Money
"…Well that was very descriptive." He sweat-dropped. It was the vaguest, yet the most obvious mission he had received since he arrived in this world.
It wasn't as if he weren't going to look for a job, though. He knew the necessity of currency, even if he lived in an isolated island for the past five years. His human teachers taught him better than that.
"You're a ninja, brat. You don't need those money or any of the rules that the weak create. Just steal and kill all that you need." Kurama spoke as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Even as a ninja, I still have morals that I follow. I'm not going to shun humanity just because you're in my gut, Kurama."
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. You're the 'hero' type that cannot condone a single bad deed, yada yada yada." He replied in a bored tone
The man's brows furrowed.
"You know that it's not like that. It's just that life would be boring if there were no limiters. It's not like this world is full of strong people to fight." He explained. "Shinobi aren't hero material, anyway."
He swiped the mission screen away without putting a halt to his run. But before he could run in an absentminded state again, another screen popped up.
You received a map. Follow this to find your job.
"Huh. So I don't get to choose what job I take?" He swiped the screen off again. "Meh. At least I'm guaranteed a job this way." He opened up his inventory to check out his new map.
Inventory:
-Disciplinary Squad members profile
-Beginner's guide to wind manipulation
-Wind manipulation scroll intermediate level
-Wind manipulation scroll advanced level
-Disciplinary Squad uniform x3
-Emergency Medical Kit
-Poison Collection Kit
-Green Tea x15
-Sandwich x10
-Onigiri x12
-Beginner's guide to Medical jutsu
-Map: Shinto Teito
The inventory was fuller than it usually was, as he stored some food and received two new items.
Speaking of food, he'd have to search for a ramen stand soon. He was showing signs of ramen withdrawal for missing out on it for five years.
He put his hand inside the inventory and pulled out the map, untied the red ribbon holding it together, then unfurled the scroll-like map.
The map itself wasn't too different from the ones he'd seen during his time in the elemental nations. There were roads, buildings, mountains and sea, all recognizable even without additional education. But if he were to point out a difference...there were just too many streets on this map. Of all things the humans chose to improve, they had to create a labyrinth out of the roads.
He sighed when he felt a certain fox laugh at him in his head. Cutting the connection off in annoyance, Naruto dismissed the inventory screen and clutched the map on his left hand. Then he resumed running at the direction he was running in.
When the blond finally reached an asphalt street, he climbed the nearest lamp post to check the vicinity. Not much was really ascertained due to its low altitude, because all he could see was roads and few blocks of buildings. But he was able to conjecture where a city seemed to be located from the increasing number of buildings down the road. So following the most logical line of choice, he ran toward that direction. Whether it was the correct city or not didn't matter to him. He could ride one of those…'taxi' things and ditch before he had to make payment. He was a ninja, after all. Deception and stealing was his specialty.
As expected, the desolate grassland soon disappeared and was replaced with more buildings and skyscrapers. A few 'cars', something of a replacement for horses according to his teachers, passed him by a few times. Their speed was pretty impressive. For civilians without any chakra, that is. He could outpace them any time he wanted.
"That…probably won't be a good idea, though." He shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was grab attention. He had to slow his pace to that of a 'normal person', meaning that he couldn't use chakra to travel anymore. Which sucked. Big time.
His run now turned into a quick paced walking, as he approached an area that was bustling with civilians and cars. The place somewhat reminded him of Konoha, full of life and people. After living in near solitude, interacting with less than ten people for five years, it was a nice change.
'Now only if I can find where the destination is…' He mused, rolling open the map that was crunched in his left hand.
"Yup. I still have no idea where the hell I am." He chirped to no one in particular.
Standing in the middle of the road, Naruto looked around the edifice that were surrounding him. How civilians with no tracking skills could find their way through such a confusing city, he'd never know. The buildings of the city were almost completely identical, save for some of the signboards and slight bits of decoration. It would probably be the best for him to memorize the area…if this was the correct city he was supposed to be in, that is. He sighed in frustration.
When he was going over some things in his mind, a car sped towards him in an alarming speed, honking for him to get out of the way. Not really seeing the vehicle as a threat, Naruto just stood still, not even bothering to turn his face to the car.
Panicking at the lack of response, the driver stomped on the break and steered the handle away from the young man. And as it would for any other normal cars, the car crashed into the side of a building, creating a pillar of thick smoke slowly dispersing into the air.
Naruto blinked.
'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to stand still…maybe this was what those teachers meant by not standing in the middle of the asphalt road? Huh. You learn new things every day.'
A crowd was beginning to gather at the sound of a car accident. A cue for him to make himself sparse. He felt bad for the man...but not enough for him to care.
Fleeing from the scene by hiding in the crowd, Naruto wandered around the district without a specific destination. It was then that he came to catch a sniff of something familiar.
'No, that can't be here, of all places...can it?!' His eyes widened in disbelief. Charging chakra in his feet, Naruto pushed off the ground at a speed that put modern cars to shame. He didn't care for the confusion he'd cause the civilians. It wasn't important any longer, not when he was so close to finding that...!
"It's here..." He muttered in awe. His eyes bore into the young woman that was busy working, oblivious to the crisis that was about to befall her.
The shinobi took a deep breath, calming his erratic heart, and willed himself to go inside and sit on the stool.
"Three chicken and two beef ramen, please! And keep'em coming!" He ordered.
The blond man was giddy beyond comprehension, nearly enough to bounce on the chair like a hyperactive child. To think that he'd find the food of the gods in this place…it was good to be alive.
He happily slurped the noodles as soon as the bowl touched the stand. His hands didn't stop moving for a moment, and he was able to lick clean the first bowl in thirty seconds. People around him stared at him in sick fascination. Not that he gave a damn. He grabbed the second bowl of chicken miso and drank out of it, not even bothering to use chopsticks this time.
"Mmh!" He called with noodles still in his mouth. After swallowing with an audible gulp, he opened his mouth again. "Get me one of each type of ramen you have!"
"Um, sir?" The lady tentatively spoke. "Our stand has fifteen types of ramen…are you certain that you want to order all?"
Naruto finished another bowl as if to prove his point. "Just bring it out. Preferably before I finish the ones in front of me." Then he dug in again before the girl could say anything else.
Ten minutes and seventeen bowls later, the blond realized that despite the amount of missions he'd been doing on the island, he had never received money for a reward. For anything, actually. He never had a reason to use money on the island. In other words, he had not a single coin on him. He didn't even know the currency of the country.
He furtively turned his gaze to the man sitting next to him.
'No bag, no coat or jacket on person. Which means that the only possible place to store a wallet is...'
With great finesse and experience, Naruto slid his hand inside of the man's pants pocket and plucked out a leather wallet.
'Yup! Still got it~' He smirked before opening the wallet to make the payment.
"Here you go. All sixteen thousand yen." He proudly presented the money on the stool and flashed an accomplished smile at the woman. She just stared at him weirdly, thinking that the customer was one of the most eccentric ones to ever visit.
"Ahhh, that really hit the spot." He patted his full stomach in contentment. That was bound to keep him satisfied for...another day or two. Probably.
Anyway, now that his stomach was filled and fatigue worn off, it was time to proceed with the mission. 'Well, as soon as I find out where I am and where I need to go.' He reminded himself.
He wandered around some more, then grabbed a young teenager passing by. The boy panicked for some reason, and frantically looked left and right for help.
'Interesting reaction. Do I look that intimidating? Or is it my clothes? Now that I look at it, it is a bit different from what the civilians here are wearing.' He quietly mused.
"U-umm. Me...I-I don't spoke...speak English." A black haired teen stuttered in a foreign language to him.
"Uhh...what?" Naruto raised his golden eyebrow. "I speak Japanese just fine, boy."
The teenager's stiffened body relaxed visibly.
"Sorry. I..I studied really hard and I know that I can read and write English just fine, but...when I thought that I was speaking to a real foreigner, I...blanked out." He laughed sheepishly.
Naruto waved it off with his right hand. It's not like he knew the language in the first place.
"It's fine. You can forget about it. Anyway, I have a question I'd like to ask."
"O-oh. Of course. Ask away." The boy shyly replied as he fidgeted with his fingers.
Naruto momentarily eyed the spineless boy, and showed him the map the blond was having so much trouble with.
"Could you point out where exactly we are in this map? And if possible, how to get to the building circled in red? I arrived at this city just today, and I'm afraid I do not quite know where I am." Naruto coolly explained the situation, leaving only the bare necessity information for the boy to process.
The said boy quickly looked around their surrounding and stared intensely at the map. Then he pointed his index finger at a specific spot on the map.
"Right now, we're around here. I guess you could call it the East side of Shinto Teito? The place you want to go is around the South side, meaning that you should probably take a cab there or something. I can't really point the direction for you, though. Sorry..." The boy's gaze turned to his toes.
"Nah- It's alright. Thanks for answering my questions. You were a great help to me. See you around!" Naruto chirped, though he had no desire to meet such a meek person again.
He walked out to the streets and looked at the cars speeding to their next destination without a hint of stopping. Naruto wondered how he was going to get a taxi's attention and ride it. Was he supposed to jump on front of it? Or stop it with his strength?
He crinkled his eyes in annoyance. Those damned human teachers of his should have taught him something as important as this. Just because he and many other Sekirei have the ability to run really quickly didn't mean that they wouldn't ride taxis. Those people always made him take things into his own hands. How troublesome.
He came to the conclusion that it would be best if he stared at other civilians getting on cars. It wasn't as if he had any better idea.
"So this is the place?" Naruto scrutinized the building, impressed by the size of the edifice. It was much bigger and more grandiose than most of the other buildings in the city. That meant that his client-to-be was most likely to be rich…with a high probability of being a pompous ass.
Speaking of clients, he didn't even know his.
"Am I supposed to go inside the building and ask around everyone to see if they needed a person to do some random job? How irresponsible can the game system get?" He grumbled at the unfairness of it all. This would not only make him look like a crazy hobo looking for a job, but also a suspicious person who was prone to get thrown out by the securities of the building.
A small window popped out, as if answering to the man's complaints.
You received a hint. Follow this to find your client.
He raised his eyebrow at the sudden appearance of help.
"Huh. So the game did make a blunder. To forget something this important until I pointed it out…this thing is getting more unreliable as more time passes." Naruto huffed and opened his inventory to pull out the new hint.
Client: Mouto Kamashura
Location: Top floor of the Kamashura Co. building.
Job Type: Assassination
"…That's it?" He turned the small slip of paper to look at the other side, to see nothing but a blank sheet. "So much for extra help. Well, at least I know where to go now." He shrugged.
Looking at the client's photo, Naruto could tell that this man was a stereotypical rich man who thought that money could take care of everything, and that he was superior to almost everything in the world. He could just see it from the fat man's licentious and greedy smile.
Naruto couldn't believe that he was going to work for such a guy, a person like that bastard Gato. But it couldn't be helped since the game nearly forced him to do so. But…that didn't mean that he couldn't have some fun scaring the guy. It was probably well-deserved, anyways. Just a little bit of makeover here and there, coupled with a slight killing intent wouldn't hurt…himself, that is. The client, not so much.
"Henge." With a single hand sign, Naruto's appearance changed somewhat. Though his height stayed the same 6'1, his blond hair elongated to his neckline, causing his normally spikey mane to straighten into smooth and silky hair. He also had a mask obscuring everything but his eyes, just like what Kakashi used to where back in Konoha. His Disciplinary Squad uniform changed into a completely black set of clothes that showed off his lean muscles that were created for pure speed and strength. On his belt were two daggers that he carried around everywhere. Overall, he didn't really change himself too much other than his hair and clothes, because he really wasn't bothered to. It wasn't as if he wanted to really hide his identity from anyone. He just wanted to give the client a little scare, nothing more.
Going into full stealth mode, Naruto scaled up the wall of the building at high speeds. It didn't hurt that the building wasn't located in a place where a lot of citizens passed by. In less than ten seconds, Naruto reached the top of the building, where he could look down at the entire city. But without stopping for the view, he slunk down to the window beneath him, going straight into the client's office.
"Good afternoon." Naruto spoke in a low tone right behind the fat man's chair.
The unsuspecting man clutched his paperwork in surprise and whipped his head around to stare at the shinobi's black-clad form. "W-who are you? How did you get in here?"
His tone was full of fear and dread. Good. At least this one knew his place.
"You can call me N. Assassin. Highest caliber you could ever find." He gruffly spoke to the plump man. "I heard that you were looking for a certain service from my kind."
The obese man visibly relaxed in his chair, though with a slight hint of wariness. "How did you hear of this? I have never told anyone of the need for this…service."
"I have my ways. Now, are you willing to hire me or not?" He continued speaking in the monotonous voice that he came to learn was a great way for petrifying others.
"…I am not going to hire a stranger that suddenly appears in my room, pretending to own the entire place. There are plenty of others that I can trust to handle these problems just fine." The plump man crossed his arms in an attempt to control the pace at his will. Let it be known that it backfired big time.
"Oh? Are you sure that you want to throw away this chance because of your petty pride of a rich man? You won't be able to find an assassin as accomplished as me anywhere in this world."
"That's what everyone says. How do I know that you're the real deal?" The plump man cockily asked.
Before the head director could even blink, Naruto appeared behind the man's back and put one dagger on his throat, and the other on his chest, right over the heart.
"That good enough for you? Or do you want more?" The masked blond unleashed some of his killing intent to make his intimidation more effective.
The plump man's breath hitched, trying to pull away from the blades to no avail.
"I-I'm good. Sorry for doubting you, good sir." He replied pitifully, in a squeaky tone.
Naruto held the urge to chuckle. It was always satisfying to put greedy fools in their places. He allowed a smirk to take place on his lips, but kept his eyes cool and aloof. It wouldn't do to allow the man think that he was off the hook, after all.
"Now then, the job?" He continued speaking laconically.
"O-oh. The job. Right." His fattened hands reached for the drawers and took out a thin folder, which he opened straight away. "This is the target." He pointed at a photo of an old man. "He's the president of the accursed Hitoshira inc. That man always took-"
Naruto cut the man off with a cold reply. "That's all I need to know. There is no need for me to learn of your squabbles. I will return when the job is completed." And with a quick series of hand signs, he vanished in a flurry of leaves, leaving the flabbergasted man behind.
Now that Naruto knew how to ride a taxi, finding the next destination was much easier than before. Humanity had really outdone itself in creating something as useful as the taxi system. He no longer had to spend hours on the road, lost in the maze they called a city. Though it slightly wound his pride as a ninja to rely on civilian vehicles to get from one place to another, he decided that it didn't really matter because he was new to the place. He could display plenty of stealth and finesse when he infiltrate and kill the target, anyway.
According to Matsu, he would have to be extremely cautious when sneaking into a building, especially that of high importance, because there are cameras installed in almost every room and corridor. What he had to fight were not guards or workers, but the cameras themselves. And since there weren't anyone like Matsu that could back him up by turning those things off, he had to do things the hard way: somehow avoid all the cameras and kill the target. To boot it off, he had to make it seem like a natural death, too.
It was so much easier back in his days when all he had to do was enter the target's room and slice his neck off.
Naruto sighed and flicked open the file he received earlier. There was an awful lot of information in it, including the man's looks, locations, family, secretaries, favorite food, drinks…and the list went on for a while.
'Did that man really have nothing better to do? Wasting his time and money on gathering such information…it wasn't as if knowing who the target's secretary would help me kill…him…!' Naruto suddenly came to a realization and traced back his finger to where the data on the secretary was, and perused it once more. 'Stupid me. Stupid. Stupid…of course I could use this to my advantage…'
He henged himself into a non-descriptive businessman and stored all his weapons back in the inventory.
He then confidently opened the main door and entered the building, and went straight to the toilet on the first floor. And he swiftly chopped the back of the neck of a random man washing his hands. Once again making sure that no one was watching, Naruto dragged the body to one of the stalls, then tied the man's hands with ninja wire and taped his mouth shut, in case he woke up sooner than expected. He created a single shadow clone as well, just to make sure that nothing went astray while he was on his mission. The original then henged as the man that he knocked out and left the stall, leaving his clone to close and lock the door.
Naruto's clone stood awkwardly in the cramped stall, glancing at the downed man every once in a while.
"Boss…you better finish quickly, cuz it is freakin uncomfortable to stay in a stall…with another man….who is all tied up and gagged. Kami, what did I ever do to you to make me suffer such a fate?" He quietly sobbed to himself.
Naruto walked into the elevator and pressed the button to the seventeenth floor, the second floor from the top. When the door reopened, he was greeted with the sight of a commodious room with a single person sitting on a large desk with piles of paperwork on it.
Before doing anything rash, Naruto glanced around the room. On the edge of the ceiling was one security camera that was focused on the desk and probably covered most of the room with the exception of the area near the wall the camera was attached near. He had no other choice than to lure the secretary to the edge in order to successfully finish the mission.
Naruto approached him, still fully in henge.
"Secretary-san. There seems to be some problems concerning the documents that need to be sent to the president by this afternoon. Could you perhaps come down to look it over?"
The secretary raised his head and stared at the nearing person. "Isn't checking and editing the job of the district's chief? Why bother coming all the way here to ask me?" He inquired.
Naruto was taken aback by the question. He hadn't thought that far. Actually, it was more correct to say that he didn't know what exactly a secretary did. Thinking on his toes, Naruto replied. "The...president's personal view! For this project to reach its fullest potential, we need to take account the president's view of this. But since it is not easy to approach him, we came to a consensus that asking you would be the best choice."
The secretary scrutinized the man that was standing in front of him, still not entirely convinced. "I too, am a very busy person. But only for today, I will look over the project. From now on, please try to take care of things inside the team."
Naruto sighed in relief when the secretary stood up and walked towards him. When je was near the door, Naruto grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him to the side, before strangling him until his body went limp.
"This...better worth the trouble. It was so much easier when all I had to do was avoid the guards and throw attacks..." He muttered while holding his hands up in a sign, transforming into the secretary. He then created a shadow clone to look like the worker he henged into previously and left the room together.
Naruto sent his clone back to the washroom in the first floor to relieve both his clones of their jobs. He, on the other hand, went down to the restaurant in the building to receive a slice of cheesecake and a cup of high-grade coffee. And on his way to the elevator, he added in the coffee an odorless poison that acts up an hour after consumption, though not without making sure that there were no bystanders or cameras.
"President-san. I brought you some refreshments. Please take a short respite from all these work. I'm genuinely worried for your health, sir." Naruto stated in a worried tone as he put down the tray on the old man's desk. Of course, inside, he was laughing his ass off at the irony of the statement.
"Ah, Kurou-san. Good timing. I was starting to tire from the workload. But I doubt that anyone works harder than you. Be this old man's company for a while, won't you?" He smiled gently, as a grandfather would to a child. Too bad he wasn't going to live much longer.
"I apologize, president-san, but I have piles of documents to go over…I might even have to spend the night here. Maybe next time, sir." He declined in a polite tone and bowed his head in apology.
The old man waved it off with a kind smile. "Maah, maah. I understand. I should get back to work soon, too. Then I'll see you at dinner?"
Naruto barely held in a smirk. "Yes, sir. Of course I'll see you at dinner. But until then, please enjoy your break, sir."
"The sudden death of Hitoshira Inc.'s president, Satoshi Hitoshira, shocked everyone in the company. His physique was said to be normal until lunchtime, when he greeted many of his employees. The cause of his decease is currently thought to be stress overload and bad habitual lifestyle. The Hitoshira Inc. is currently-" The television was turned off by a chubby man, wearing a pleased smile on his face.
And just in time, a familiar ding rang in front of the blond man.
Mission Accomplished: Find your first job - Assassination
Reward: five million yen
Exp gained: 1100 exp
"Well? Satisfied?" Naruto was back in his mask that covered up half of his lower face. Standing in front of his client again, he wanted to be smug and rub it all over the chubby man's face, but decided against it and opted to keep up his stoic persona.
"H-hai. That was extremely quick indeed. And efficient. I am…really impressed, N. I am looking forward to continue working with you, if you don't mind." The man's tone was kept mostly polite, though he wasn't able to fully curb the haughty attitude of his, even in the presence of the elite assassin.
Naruto held his hand out, asking for his pay. "We'll see. Now, the payment?" He spoke in a gruff tone that prompted the president of the company to move more hastily and quickly than usual.
"Here you go. 5,000,000 yen (approximately $50,000) in total." He put down a briefcase on his desk and opened it, showing it to be full of grey paper notes.
Naruto closed the briefcase without any showing signs of surprise, and brought it to his side. "I guess we'll be doing more business in the future, then."
"W-wait! How will I contact you?" The pudgy man hurriedly asked the fleeting blond.
"I'll return when I am needed. Until later, then." He disappeared once again in a swirl of leaves.
"…Does he disappear in leaves just to spite me?" The chubby man grunted. "Someone clean up this mess!" He called over his employees.
Naruto, wearing his standard Disciplinary Squad uniform again, sat down on a bench in a park, and pondered on what he should do next. He surmised that there won't be any more missions in the next few days or so, seeing that he had two consecutive missions in one day. Which meant that this would probably be the best time for him to settle down and train some more, especially since he now had access to medical jutsu.
But his priority would be getting a house, preferably somewhere away from the bustling city, then getting a new set of civilian clothes. From the way pedestrians stared at him while he was walking down the road, his attire attracted way too much attention. He didn't mind the interested looks of others, but he did worry about the MBI tracking him down…especially Minaka, that crazy bastard. So until then, he'd have to stick wearing the uniform only when he was in secluded areas.
The next important thing in line was learning to blend in with the humans…or going in seclusion, again. He found the latter rather distasteful, as he craved some interaction with people…people who don't have a penchant for destroying every little thing that annoy them. Which, he believed, meant that he had to buy many things including televisions, computers, and…and…and other things that people might use.
Naruto sighed at his lacking knowledge and information. Kami, he had a long way to go.
First things first. He needed to get a place to live in. The blond stood up and started to leisurely walk out of the park.
Then he suddenly realized something. He didn't know how he was supposed to buy a house. It wasn't as if he could walk in a store and pick a house...
"Damn you teachers for not teaching me how to live in the real world!" He cried out to the sky, his fist shaking by his side.
4 Years Time Skip
A young man looked over the city of Shinto Teito, standing atop of a tall building. It was a sight to behold. The young man, that is.
He had silky golden hair that slid diagonally across his face, concealing his right eye and a part of his cheek. On the uncovered side of his cheek were three tattoo-like lines that resembled an animal's whiskers. His jaw was chiseled without an ounce of fat, but his skin was smooth and unblemished, with no scars or facial hair. But the most mesmerizing part of his face was his eyes. His uncovered left eye was bright sapphire blue, swirling with much loneliness and mirth at the same time. His right eye that peeked through his bangs only once in a while, was also a shade of blue, though of a darker hue. Coupling those traits with his lithely muscled body, he gave off an ambience of an ancient fox: feral and elegant.
"Haah. Life is getting a tad boring." Naruto shook his head, allowing the golden hair to sway in the wind. "Training, eating and sleeping, with an occasional assassination or information gathering mission…with stingy exp and rewards, no less. The pay is good and all, but…" He sighed. "Even I have a limit to how much a person can train non-stop..."
Naruto left the building and walked around aimlessly, trying to burn off some time and boredom. When he came out of his half-dazed state, he was greeted by the smell of his favorite food.
"It's amazing and scary at the same time how my legs find way to this stall even without prompting to. But since I'm here already..." He lifted the flap and entered the ramen stall. "Hey, Zana-san! Start me off with three beef!"
A cute girl with a long black ponytail amicably greeted the blond. "Good afternoon, Naruto-san. Haven't seen you in a while. I was getting worried, you know?" She spoke in a teasing tone as she placed three bowls in front of the man.
"Maah, maah. It's only been three days, you know? How much of a ramen glutton do you take me for?" He chuckled good naturedly.
"Well, you practically worship the food...isn't that saying enough about you?" She giggled at the blond's pouting face, which he somehow pulled while continuously eating noodles.
A message screen emerged with a ding, as sudden as always.
Mission: Greet all the residents of the Izumo Inn
Reward: New residence
Because of the constant manifesting of random windows, Naruto had learned to check the messages without looking directly at the screen, and continue what he was previously doing, reading the message from the corner of his vision. Even for a ninja, this was a hard feat to achieve. Sensing attacks or people without looking was one thing, but reading text was a completely different problem. So Naruto was really proud of this ability of his.
However, despite the arduous training to suppress his outward reactions down, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise and reread the mission, even pausing his consumption of ramen as he did so.
'Izumo Inn…That's Miya and Takehito's house, if I remember correctly. Hah! It's as if the game system's reacting to my about-to-burst boredom gauge. Well, as long as I get to have some entertainment, who am I to complain?' A smirk crept onto his lips.
"Is something the matter?" Zana asked in concern. With good reason, too. There weren't many things that could stop Naruto from inhaling his ramen, after all. He even learned to enunciate with his mouth full of noodles, just so that he didn't have to interrupt his 'intimate session' with his favorite food. Having seen how far the man went to eat his precious ramen without interruption, his cessation of eating only spelled for trouble on the woman's part.
"Umm, no. It's just that…I remembered something really important to do." He grinned at the Japanese woman. "But it's not going to deter me from eating another dozen bowls of ramen or so! Bring on the next batch!"
"Hai, hai. Every dish on the menu, coming right up!"
Naruto stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he walked towards the north side of Shinto Teito. Although he would normally ride cars or run to his destination if it was quite a distance away, the blond didn't see any reason to hurry at the moment and walked at a leisurely pace.
It wasn't that he wasn't excited to see Miya and Takehito. Quite the contrary, actually. But he wanted to think things over. Calm his mind and all that. It has been two years since he last saw them, and four since he last interacted with them. Because they looked so infatuated with each other the last time he checked on them, he decided against bothering the happy couple.
But now, apparently, they were taking residents in, so he didn't have to feel too bad about intruding. Maybe he could tease them now that they were officially together…?
The blond let his creative mind tinker with the idea all the while he was walking to his destination.
When he finally reached the traditional Japanese dwelling, he creak opened the gate and knocked the front door of the house. It was an understatement to say that Naruto was shocked to see the door open to show a demure lavender haired woman who was kindly smiling at him.
"Hello. This is the Izumo Inn. Can I help you?" Her voice was small and high pitched, her face kind and amiable, and her hands on her thighs like a traditional Japanese wife. Her Disciplinary Squad uniform was no longer draping her frame, but rather a white and lavender colored yukata that hugged her form quite nicely. She didn't even have a katana on her. Naruto was completely and thoroughly taken aback at the change, and he couldn't help but gape and stare at her for a short while.
"U-um…Sorry. I think I came to the wrong place." Naruto tentatively took a few steps backwards. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here too suddenly. He wasn't ready to take in so many changes at once. Could he perhaps run away before she notices that he's not a stranger? ...Nope. Too late. She was already linking the hints together.
Miya narrowed her eyes slightly as though she was thinking something through, and widened her eyes when she came to a realization. "Naruto...kun? Is that you, Naruto-kun?!" She approached him in short and hasty steps.
The blond stopped his retreat and smiled awkwardly at the woman, raising a hand halfway as a greeting. "Uh, hey there Miya-chan. Long time no see, eh?"
Then she did something unexpected. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly, burying her nose in the shinobi's chest.
"I missed you, Naruto-kun. When you disappeared suddenly that day, I…" She tightened her arms around his waist, unable to continue speaking due to a deluge of emotions.
Naruto, on the other hand, had a mental shut down. It was just one shock after another, and the last one was too much for him to process in his brain, even with his high intelligence stats. When he finally rebooted his mind, he stiffly returned the hug with one hand, leaving the other hand dangling on his side.
"There, there. I'm sorry, okay? I had some urgent things to take care of outside the island, so I couldn't leave with a goodbye…" He patted her back and comfortingly whispered into her ear. "But I'm back now, aren't I? All in one piece, too." He jokingly said in a cheeky tone and tried to separate himself from the woman to look at her face, but she didn't budge in the slightest.
'Strange. Since when was she so emotional and clingy? Her appearance, too…I can barely recognize her as the Miya I once knew anymore. Just what did she do during the past four years?'
"Uhh, Miya? You want to, uh, get off me now? I doubt that Takehito's going to like this scene if he walks in on us."
He felt her arms slacken, though she didn't do anything to move herself away from him.
"Naruto-kun...Takehito...Takehito isn't here any more." She croaked.
"Oh." He couldn't say anything else. He didn't know what he should do, either. But after a moment of contemplation, he pulled her closer to him and protectively held her waist with one hand and cradled her head in another. "I'm sorry for not being there for you, Miya. I promise you that I won't leave you alone again, so please don't be sad." He consoled her in a soft tone. Neither dared to break the embrace, opting to enjoy the momentary peace and solace in the warmth of the other's body.
The comforting atmosphere was broken by a gasp.
"H-how...what…w-who…?" A brunette pointed a finger at the pair, going far as shaking in astonishment. "Aahhhhh! Some hot stud is hugging Miyaaaa!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
When Naruto was about to ask Miya who the girl was, he was amazed to find her out of his arms and in front of the new girl in an instant. Her face was now completely devoid of the previous anguish, and a pleasant smile adorned her face again. Though why that smile seemed familiar, he didn't know.
"Uzume-san." Miya called the brunette girl, black and purple miasma pouring out of her body.
'Oh, so that's why it was so familiar. It was the preparation stage for the hannya mask thing. Of course she'd learn that from Takehito.' Naruto sweat-dropped.
"What did I tell you about wearing improper clothes when coming out of your room?" She threatened, her killing intent getting stronger by the second.
The blond did a double take. True to Miya's words, the girl was wearing nothing but her undergarments. How he noticed it only now, he didn't know. He must be losing his touch.
"Ummmm….not to?" Sweat was now poring out of her entire body, enough to see visible droplets of sweat even from where he was standing. "Bu-but Miya…you were doing 'lewd acts' yourself! Y-you shouldn't punish me when you were breaking the rules as well…" She retorted somewhat meekly.
The monstrous mask finally appeared in front of Uzume's face. "This…was a hug of reunion. It was completely platonic and pure. Understood?"
"Y-yes, Miya." Uzume shrunk back and replied in a shaky tone, before hightailing it out of their sights.
As soon as the girl conceded, the mask along with the oppressive aura disappeared without a trace. Miya turned on her heels and faced Naruto again.
"Do you want to come in, Naruto-kun?" She inquired in a cheery tone. Although it was posed as a question, the look in her eyes said otherwise. Naruto inwardly shrugged. It wasn't as if he was planning on doing anything else. Not to mention that it would be plain rude to leave a friend hanging after so many years of staying apart.
He conveniently forgot about planning to slam the door and run away right in front of Miya's face, which was a much ruder action to take.
"Of course, Miya-chan. I want to hear all about what happened while I was gone." He replied as he followed the woman into the house.
Before he was able to fully inspect the interior of the inn, the sound of footsteps tumbling down the stairs stopped him short.
"Miya! What was that about you hugging someone?!" A tall woman in purple dress shouted from the stairs, gripping the rails and looking down at the pair. "Could it be, love~?" She put both her hands on her cheeks and squirmed, a blush already adorning her face. Though whether it was caused by the actual thought of romance or by alcohol consumption, he didn't know.
A tick mark formed on Miya's forehead. "It is nothing of the sort, public obscenity. I am but a pure maiden, unlike you and Uzume-san. It was simply a hug of reunion. Look for yourself." She huffed.
"Hmm? What are you talking about, Miya?" She stared at the blond man that stood behind Miya. She didn't really know any blonds except for that kid back in the island...but he had spikey hair and whis...kers…
Her eyes widened in realization and stood amazed in the drastic change in the man's appearance, despite not having aged in the slightest since they last met.
"Foxy-kun~! It's been too long~!" She jumped down the stairs and lunged for the man without wasting a single second. The only thing that kept Naruto on his feet was his supreme strength stat. He was really thankful for it too, because he would've seemed pathetic if he couldn't handle holding a single woman, supercharged alien or not.
"Kazehana, the least you could when seeing a friend after so long is call me by my actual name…" He chided the woman who was still snuggling into his arms.
"But foxy-kun, then it would be no fun~" She whined as she not-so-discreetly pushed her assets onto his arm.
"Kazehana-san." Miya articulated every syllable of the name in a tone that brought shivers to the spine. "No illicit behaviors are tolerated in the Izumo Inn. Or do you perhaps wish to sleep outside the inn tonight?" Her eyes sparkled in a red, predatory gaze.
Kazehana slowly let go of Naruto's hand and backed away ever so slightly. "Ahahaha...Your face is so scary, Miya.
She wanted to retort that Miya's previous actions weren't much different than what she was doing now, but opted against it seeing that the landlady would only give harsher punishments to her.
"I'll go get some tea. You can show him to the living room and go back to where you came from. We don't need a public obscenity like you dirtying our conversation." She addressed the wind user with a strange mixture of polite and scathing tone. Despite her different outward attitude, it seemed like her blunt and hurtful side hadn't changed in the slightest.
"Hai, hai." Kazehana waved her away. Then she spoke in a hushed voice so that only Naruto could hear. "As if I would do that. Come, foxy-kun. I'll show you how a real lady treats a guest." She giggled before grabbing the man's wrist and dragging him upstairs. Or she tried to, for her part. Instead, she found herself rebounded back to Naruto's side.
"Woah! Hey, Kazehana! Even if I haven't seen Miya for a long while, I doubt that she takes kindly to disobeying her direct orders..." He tried to reason.
"But foxy-kun, don't you want to get a tour of the inn? My room, especially?" She circled her fingertips on his chest, teasing him as she did countless of times before.
Naruto stood in contemplation. On one hand, he didn't want to get on Miya's bad side from day one. But on the other hand, he wanted to annoy her badly, because there was nothing more satisfying than watching the reactions of the previously stoic Sekirei. Being able to show Kazehana how much he changed was only a bonus.
"Well, if it's a tour that you're offering, I guess I can't really decline it. So where to, hana-chan?" He smirked.
"I think the upper floor would suffice for now, don't you think?" She flashed him a smile and led him up the stairs.
"All the rooms down this hall are for residents to stay in, and thr...two of them are already occupied. I guess that if you somehow end up staying in this old place, you'd most likely be living on this floor." She quickly added more explanation to cover up her blunder. Naruto didn't show any outward reaction to it, but filed the tidbit of information for later.
"The room on the far end is currently empty, a girl called Uzume lives in the middle room, and I live in this one." She pointed to the room closest to the stairs. Kazehana then slid opened her door to show the layout of the rooms. "The rooms are moderately sized, and are comfortable enough to live in. We don't have any toilets in any of the rooms here, so we have to share the one on the first floor. I don't mind if you accidently walk in on me when I'm bathing, though." She winked at him.
Despite the slight innuendo on her part, Naruto was surprised to actually receive a proper tour of the house. He thought that she would have taken this chance away from Miya to tease him, so he had been prepared to counterattack at any time. Perhaps she was affected by Miya's threats a bit more than he had thought…?
"So, you want to check out the bathroom while the scary landlady is occupied?" She closed her distance with long and graceful strides, draping her arm around him soon after.
He took that back. She only wanted to get the tour over with so that she had a perfect alibi for being with him. How…consistent of her.
Before he could retort in any way, a blood-chilling presence graced them from their behind.
Whack! Whack!
"No lewd acts are tolerated inside the Izumo Inn." Miya threatened them with a ladle on one hand and a tray of a tea set on the other.
The recipients of the punishment held their heads in pain. Despite the flimsy material she used, the power barely lessened from when she used a sheathed katana to hit them. Knowing Miya, he could bet that she had been training to hit that hard with the ladle. She was just sadistic like that.
"And that's why I like that one best of all the females around you. She can whip your hide real good." Kurama snickered in his mind. "Not to mention the alpha aura she always has around her. It's nothing compared to mine, of course, but it sure is impressive for a non-bijuu entity. You should go court that one."
'And get myself nearly killed? No thanks. She recently lost her lover, too. I'd be a huge jerk to pull her into another unstable relationship.' He inwardly replied.
"Your point is?" Lazily whipping his tails around, he continued. "You fancy her, and you have the capability of doing whatever you want. Wasn't that the reason you raised your charisma thing?" The gigantic fox nearly snorted towards the end at the absurdness of his jailor's actions. Relying on outer devices to get help in wooing females was pathetic in his opinion.
'Whatever, you damn fox.' Naruto grunted and cut off the connection before the women in front of him started to suspect anything. Luckily, the two were too busy bickering...if you could call it that. It seemed more like a mother admonishing a rebellious child. Not that he would tell the either of them that.
"Shouldn't we drink that tea you made? You don't want it to go cold, do you?" Naruto interjected with a bit of mirth present in his voice.
"Oh my, you're right. I momentarily forgot because of public obscenity here. We should leave her here and go downstairs. Don't wander off this time, Naruto-kun." She warned and walked away.
Naruto turned back to Kazehana and smiled. "You heard her. I don't think it's wise to antagonize her any more than that." He chuckled, looking at the slight pout on her luscious lips. "I'll have to take a rain check on that offer, though. I wouldn't want to miss the remaining part of the tour from the sexiest resident of the inn." He whispered the last part in her ear, sending delightful shivers to the Sekirei's spine.
"Later, Kazehana-chan!" He left the second floor, raising a hand and bidding her goodbye before she could reply.
Downstairs, Miya was already sitting formally in the living room, the cups already set in front of her. Naruto plopped down on the tatami mat, positioning himself just across the woman.
"What tea is this?" He inquired in an exuberant manner unfitting of the atmosphere.
"Jasmine." She answered before pouring the tea with practiced elegance.
"Mm." He changed his position to befit the formal ambience, now kneeling as he raised the cup to his nose with both his hands. "It has a nice scent to it. You've gotten real good at this domestic stuff, eh? Who would have guessed that the strongest Sekirei would become such a good wife?" He sniggered to himself.
"What kind of woman did you think I was?" She huffed. "But…I guess that time changes people. Even Sekirei." She sipped on the tea before continuing. "You're the one who's more surprising, Naruto-kun. You really don't…well, didn't look like the type who would sit down and have a cup of tea in such a formal way. Since when did you like drinking traditional tea, anyways?"
Naruto put down his cup and responded. "I don't. Never did, and probably won't for a long time to come. I like the cold tea in plastic bottles only because they taste a lot like water, but with more benefits." He swished around the liquid in the cup and stared at it. "But if it's tea made by you, I guess I could learn to like it."
Miya blushed ever so slightly at the proclamation, but quickly hid it by covering the bottom half of her face with her sleeve. "Are...are you trying to enforce your beastly urges on me? On a widowed woman, no less." She backed away in mock horror.
"Beastly…urges?" Naruto sweat dropped. Was she for real...? For her to play jokes like this, she must have been either very bored or had a massive personality change. It was probably both. Just why she found pretending to be a feeble housewife interesting, he didn't know. And he didn't want to know, either. But he decided that he could play along with her just for the heck of it.
"I doubt that I would be able to do anything against you, Miya-chan. Actually, the one who should be scared is me! Do you know how suspicious you are right now by acting like an ordinary woman of all things? Just what are you planning to do to me by hiding your real self?" Naruto backed away from her, comically trying to cover his body with his hands, as if she could see through his clothing. "I-I'm scared that you would ravish me as soon as my guard is down…" He timidly spoke.
Miya's brow twitched. "What are you talking about, Naruto-kun? How could a lady like I do such vulgar things?" She tried to speak like the calm and indifferent innkeeper that she was, but couldn't keep out the hint of annoyance out of her voice.
Naruto inwardly smirked. He knew that he had already won that round.
Hook, line and sinker.
"B-but haven't you done this and that with Takehito? And since you couldn't do...that for a while, you must have pent up frustration of some sort. Therefore my conclusion is that, of all the residents in this house, you are the one most prone to...assault me, the only male in this house, sexually." He smugly, but hiding it well behind faux terror, pointed his finger at the trembling woman.
"Naaruutooo!" She could no longer keep her cool, and let loose her killing intent to the fullest. Her hair defied gravity and billowed out, despite the fact that there wasn't a smallest breeze of wind in the room. Her eyes once again took a demonic form, glimmering with red light. It was quite interesting to see her form change in such a way, because Naruto was certain that this wasn't a genjutsu of any kind. In fact, he remembered seeing Takami do the same thing at one point. And she was a civilian without much training, as far as he could tell.
Filing this away along with the hannya mask as one of the unsolvable mysteries of MBI and Sekirei, Naruto watched Miya with unhidden mirth. She somehow drew a ladle out of nowhere and gripped it with vengeance radiating off her. That mixed with the miasma from Takehito's hannya technique made an impressive killing intent, though it didn't bother Naruto too much due to a certain bijuu living in his abdomen. He had also gotten used to the 'woman's fury' thing that scared the shit out of him in his younger days, owing to the constant encounters of scary women, especially Miya herself.
When she finally assailed him with the culinary equipment, the blond calmly, but quickly, stepped away to the side and dodged without much problem. However, Miya wasn't discouraged in the slightest and continued swinging the ladle to hit the blond. She probably no longer cared about 'disciplining' him, but actually taking him out of commission. And from the way she was wielding the thing, he was pretty sure that she could cleave off half his arm if he got hit. With a ladle, of all things. Seriously, what was with her and her fetish of ladles?
Naruto zigzagged around the attacks in a burst of speed that he didn't have to use in a while. But he made sure not to make any big movements, with no other ulterior motives other than to annoy the older Sekirei further. He even went as far as to stick both his hands in his pockets just to spite her even more.
"Hey, Miya-chan. You seem a bit…rusty. Can't even land a clean hit on me anymore?" He taunted with a cheeky smile on his face.
The woman didn't answer, but closed in on the blond and raised the speed of her strikes. Naruto only backed away swiftly and continued dodging, matching her tempo.
"It's been a while, Matsu-chan!" Naruto suddenly spoke out of nowhere.
An unsecure tile on the ceiling creaked fully open and a head poked out of it. "Kukukuku, long time no see, Naru-tan~" The redhead giggled at the entertaining situation that the blond created in a span of a few minutes.
"You're the third resident of the second floor, eh? Why am I not surprised? Anyway, nice to see you looking good, like always." He called out to her again, all the while dodging the incessant attack. She was now slashing at every part of his body, so he had to move around a lot more than before. It didn't discourage him from talking, though.
"You've become very handsome, too, Naru-kun. You've enlarged Matsu's urge to experiment on you even more, kukukukuku." She completely ignored Miya as well, and stared at the chiseled face of the blond man, captivated by his new look. Even though she already saw his arrival on the screens in her room, the real thing was so much more salivating. The only thing that kept her on the ceiling, not on the floor pouncing on him, was the thrashing form of Miya. Even her gigantic libido didn't dare her to approach the devil woman.
"Well, I try-" He had to pause in order to duck the slash that was aimed to maul his head off. And the game of cat and mouse began anew.
"As I was saying-" He sidestepped a thrust. "I try to-" He jumped backwards just enough to not get hit. "-please others in any way I can." He dodged the ladle by swiftly turning to the side, which made Miya crush the Japanese-style table in pieces. This only caused to fuel Miya's fury even further, strengthening the force behind her blows and accelerating the speed of her strikes.
Matsu only watched in amusement. "Aren't you not pleasing Miya right now, though?" She asked.
Naruto jumped back and stood on the broken table, only to flip back off the table again when Miya attacked. "Well, I can't please everyone." He cheekily stated and sped past Miya. "I'm giving you a good show, so it evens out, right?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"True, true." She nodded sagely.
As much as he enjoyed egging Miya on, the shinobi decided that it would be best to stop the rampaging Sekirei now, before she ended up breaking down the entire inn.
Holding the tiger seal discreetly as he jumped around her, the blond created a shadow clone without making a noise. And just as he leaned back to avoid a hit, his clone grabbed ahold of Miya's ankles and made her topple over in surprise. What he didn't intend to do, however, was for her to clutch onto the sleeve of his haori as she fell forwards, making him unable to move out of her way. And because he was already bending at an uncomfortable angle, he couldn't support her weight and got knocked over with a loud thump.
True to Naruto's plan, the assault ceased. Another problem took place, though. Miya was now prostrated on top of him, her face pushed into his chest.
And she wasn't getting off him.
This was most unusual, because he doubted that Miya, the strongest Sekirei on earth, would faint from such a small scuffle. Was he supposed to take the initiative and push her away? Or was he expected to stay still until she moved away from him?
He didn't know. And frankly, he didn't care, either, because he was starting to get uncomfortable from staying in this position for the past few seconds. So he did the most sensible thing he could think of.
"Ow." He drawled in a monotonous voice, not caring if his reaction was unpunctual or unconvincing.
This snapped Miya out of whatever trance she was in, and made her sheepishly crawl off his body, though not without copping a feel of his abdomen muscles as she regained her balance.
Mid way through standing up, her left hand still in contact with Naruto's stomach, she bonked the top of his head with the ladle she was holding and stood up completely.
Naruto lay there motionlessly, only his eyes following Miya's movement.
"Again, ow." He voiced his complain without much enthusiasm.
"You shouldn't have accused a woman of such heinous acts." She huffed and crossed her arms. "Or trip a lady so ungracefully." She added.
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry for having a bit of fun." He slowly lifted himself off the floor. "It will never happen again. Not." He smirked at her defiantly and left her presence.
Miya regained her composure and shook her head, staring at the spot where the blond was lying a few seconds ago. "That boy…"
Matsu on the other hand, snickered in her hand at the amusing turn of events. "Kukukukuku, it's going to be a lot more interesting in this inn now that Naru-tan is back."
The blond shinobi retreated to the second floor for two reasons. One was to escape from Miya before their chase recommenced due to his last comment, and the other was to find the last resident he had to greet in order to finish the mission. Although he had already seen her, and vice versa, he didn't really get to greet her properly. That was an understatement. She basically pointed at his face and screamed, for all he could remember. Hopefully things would go differently this time.
He strolled past Kazehana's room to the middle room, where this Uzume girl was residing in, from what Kazehana told him. He pondered on whether he should knock or not and decided against it, wanting make a lasting impression with his ninja ways. Not to mention how fun it was to watch other people jump from getting startled.
Pushing the door open just enough to let his body in, Naruto slid in and silently closed the door behind him. Fortunately for him, the girl wasn't facing the door, but staring at her cellphone.
The girl, he noted, now actually had proper clothes on her. A simple t-shirt and jeans didn't do much to hide her voluptuous figure, but he was thankful for it nonetheless. Even after all that time he spent with Kazehana and Matsu, it was hard to look at women's faces when they were half naked. No. His eyes went a bit below that to stare at something more…alluring. Can't blame a healthy, straight man to have such a reaction, but it was bad for his reputation with women, which meant that having a conversation while the girl was almost nude, was a big no no.
Simply observing the fair beauty of one was a completely different matter, though. He would enjoy the mornings when he came to live in this inn.
Locking on to the target, Naruto scaled the walls just for the fun of it, and lightly plopped down on his toes before moving right behind her back.
"Boo." He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear.
The reaction was priceless, though it would have been better if he personally knew the girl. He could practically see the hairs on her neck stand in shock. But she didn't waste any time standing frozen in spot, and jumped away from him in an instant, taking a battle-ready stance.
"What do you think you're doing by attacking me?!" She snarled. "The S-plan wasn't set to start for at least another year or two. There's no need for a Disciplinary Squad member to visit this place! We haven't been causing any trouble!" She desperately tried to defend herself.
'Why the sudden hostility? And did she call me a Disciplinary Squad member?' He quirked his head in confusion. Then he realized that he was still wearing the squad's uniform, despite never having been a part of it. It wasn't his fault that it was extremely hard to find clothing that was battle efficient.
Putting the thought about the uniform away for now, Naruto mulled on more important matters. It seemed as though MBI, or more specifically Minaka, was onto something shady, again. Minaka or Takehito never really told him why they were raising aliens from outer space. They always avoided the answer by saying that it was none of his business, or that it was for the development of humanity. This S-plan was obviously a part of the crazy bastard's scheme, which he didn't even know what it was about.
For things to have become this hectic while he was gone…should he have stayed on the island?
'Nah. I would have died from boredom. It was bad enough when I was training on the mainland. Not to mention that if I were to stay there, I wouldn't have leveled as much, either.' He reasoned in his head.
The brunette still kept her guard on, even more defensively than before, probably due to his lack of reply. It would probably be the best for him to dispel the misunderstanding.
But since when was Naruto Uzumaki satisfied with the easiest solutions, especially when a different path allowed him to have some fun pranking someone?
'It's show time.' He stifled his cackle and put on his professional mask.
"How you are acting right now is not of any concern, Uzume-san. That stunt you pulled, however, is a different story." He smirked as he overtly had his hand linger on one of his dual daggers. "I had to come all the way here just to find you, you know?"
He approached her, one step after another. Uzume growled in retaliation and somehow dissolved her previous clothing and wore a white cloth around her, all in the span of a second. The long cloth was floating around her protectively, ready to strike at a moment's notice. The blond noticed that she had a different piece of cloth to cover her private areas, though a lot of skin still showed.
'What was the point of going through all that troubles of wearing clothes if she was just going to change into something revealing again?' He wondered bemusedly, once again not realizing that he was the cause of it all. 'Meh. At least it is nice to the eyes.'
Naruto didn't really get to appreciate the view for too long, as the Sekirei whipped two ends of the cloth at him. Although a piece of cloth wasn't the most threatening weapon he faced, he was cautious enough to dodge it.
This was proved to be the correct decision, because the strips of cloth gave out a heavy thud when they missed him and cracked the floorboard. This didn't deter them, and two more joined the fray in trying to land a hit on him. They weren't really fast enough to push him, though. Let's just say that training with Miya, as well as with a few dozen clones, trying to beat him to death was an extremely effective training method.
Even if she couldn't land a hit on him, it was still pretty impressive to see four different pieces each moving individually to attack, cutting and smashing at different intervals.
Curious, Naruto plucked out a single dagger and blocked a cloth aimed straight at him. Surprisingly, it didn't rip into two, but tried to push him back, engaging in a wrestle of brute strength. While he was staring at the fabric in interest, the remaining three wrapped his wrists and ankle.
Uzume smirked in victory, and pulled him into the air. Or so she tried. The blond shinobi didn't move an inch despite her efforts. Panicking, she tried again with much more force behind the cloth. Again, nothing happened.
Naruto stared at the cloth wrapped around his wrist with curiosity and slid his finger on it without much constraint. It was really soft, softer than most simple t-shirts, but really hard and sturdy at the same time. It was an interesting sensation.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Uzume gritting her teeth for not being able to contain him. She put in a lot of power in hardening the cloth and saturating it with power so that she could detain him, but he didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
The blond suddenly raised his head and smiled. "My turn!" He flexed his muscles and pulled his right arm back with amazing speed and strength.
Not expecting the sudden counterattack, Uzume was thrown back in the shinobi's direction, sailing through the air. Just when she was about to tackle into the blond, he stepped out of the way and let her fly a bit further into a wall.
The force of the hit had her staggering. She was barely able to stand on her own legs, barely able to keep them from shivering and giving out on her. The man in front of her was completely out of her league, giving her so much damage with just one hit like that.
Uzume leaned on the wall for support as he tried to stand up. But before she was even able to stand up fully, Naruto appeared in front of her nose with a dagger at her throat and a hand holding up both her hands above her head.
"Game over, little girl." Naruto sneered in a sinister, throaty tone. It was one of his 'evil' personas that he enjoyed using when pranking or scaring other people.
"Do your worst." Uzume snarled. She knew that it was impossible to outrun him or make any counters, so she chose to go out like an honorable Sekirei instead.
Now wearing a full grown grin, which looked extremely feral due to his glinting fangs and whisker marks, Naruto let go of her wrists, though he kept the dagger under her throat.
"Gladly. But don't worry. I'll be done before you kn-" He couldn't continue his evil speech as he was bonked on the head. "Ow!" He grabbed his head in pain. "Miya-chan~ I was getting to the best part!" He whined.
Miya only stared at him with a pleasant smile on her face. "Naruto-kun. No violence is allowed in the Izumo Inn." She threatened with a ladle on her hand.
Uzume blinked at the sudden change in atmosphere. She was just about to get tortured and killed only a second ago, so to say that she was shaken was an understatement. But having the need to understand the situation, she took a deep breath and calmed herself before inspecting the suspiciously familiar intruder.
He was the lean and tall type, with a lot of muscles that was visible even with the uniform covering up most his skin. His silky, golden hair that was covering his eye was extremely alluring as well. All in all, he was one of the most handsome guys she'd seen during her short life. But she still couldn't put a finger on just why he looked so familiar…
"Ahhh!" She pushed herself off the wall and pointed at the man. "You-you're the guy that was hugging Miya!" She shouted.
"Yes, and you're the girl who was wearing only undergarments outside the house." He calmly replied. Uzume had the decency to blush.
"Who are you anyway? And…what are you doing with a marker on your hand?!"
True to her words, there was a felt-tip pen on the hand that used to be free of any tools. He had…borrowed the pen when he saw it lying around one of the shelves in the inn.
"Uhhh, nothing. Nothing at all." He smiled mischievously and put away the marker in his pocket before anyone noticed that it wasn't his. While he was at it, he put his dagger back to his waist as well.
"The name's Naruto Uzumaki. As for who I am, I'm Miya-chan's very first friend!" He smiled and offered her a hand.
The brunette skeptically stared at the hand, but shook it nonetheless. "Uzume, Sekirei number 10. Can't really say that it's a pleasure to meet you, though." Sure, he was hot, but he was still a Disciplinary Squad member. She had to be careful around him, even if he was Miya's friend.
Naruto only shrugged at the response. He did nearly kill her, even though it was a joke, so it was expected for her to show some animosity. He casually let her hand go when he heard a ding.
Mission Accomplished: Greet all the residents of the Izumo Inn
Reward: New residence
Exp gained: 400 exp
"Hey Miya-chan." He turned to face the lavender haired Sekirei. "Do you think I can become a resident of the inn? I really like the atmosphere of this place. The residents here seem to be nice, too."
"You want to stay here?" Miya quirked a brow at the sudden request. "Don't you already have a place you stay in?"
"Well yeah." He drawled. "But it's so boring to live all by myself. Don't you feel bad for me, Miya-chan?" He gave her the best puppy eyes he could.
She only stared at him impassively. He was probably too old and cool to use such a cute technique. Damn.
Uzume, on the other hand, was once again gaping at the man's change in demeanor. She still couldn't believe that this was the same man who destroyed her in battle only a moment ago.
Pulling herself together, Uzume spoke her mind. "Miya, you aren't thinking about letting him stay, are you? I mean, a Discipline Squad member? Seriously?"
Miya stood silently for a few seconds, thinking of her response. He probably wasn't in the squad, and he probably hadn't contacted MBI after running away from the island like that. He didn't even know that Takehito passed away...
She waved the thoughts away. It wouldn't do to get depressed in front of one of her residents here.
"I don't see why I should chase a good friend of mine away." She started. "He won't cause much trouble. Right, Naruto-kun?"
"When have I ever?" Naruto dramatically put a hand on his chest and innocently blinked his eyes a few times.
Both women's faces remained stony and unresponsive.
"Fine. I'll be good." He slumped.
"Let us discuss the terms, then." Miya spoke and left the room, beckoning the man to follow. Naruto cheerfully waved a hand to the defeated brunette and followed the landlady out the door.
The duo returned to the living room and sat on the tatami mat. Like always, Miya was sitting on her knees in formal, Japanese way, while Naruto was casually leaning back with his legs crossed. It would have created the same picture as a few minutes ago, if not for the missing wooden table that she broke during their little scuffle. Actually, he was pretty surprised to see the place so tidy in such a short amount of time, considering that she made a huge mess when she chased him around.
He didn't touch a thing, though. It was all Miya.
But maybe he should have broken a few things. That way she would have taken longer to clean the room, which meant that he could have doodled all over Uzume's face with the marker he took.
Oh well. He would have plenty of chances to prank them later, living under the same roof and all.
The blond really wanted to cackle evilly, but he restrained himself from doing so just in case Miya changed her mind about letting him stay. Or make him pay the rent and kick him out to live in the back yard without any food. Sure, the game system gave him the right to live here as a reward, but Miya was just sadistic like that.
"So, Naruto-kun." She pulled him out of his thoughts. "Do you do anything for a living?"
He was confused by why she would ask such a random question. Unpredictability was his thing. "Maybe I do. Why are you asking?"
"Can't a lady be curious in what her friend is doing?" She replied. When Naruto only stared impassively, she gave in and answered properly. "I was wondering if you could pay the full brunt of the rent with legitimate money. Not MBI's or stolen money."
Just what was it with these people and MBI? Sure, Minaka was a douche, but the rest of the people seemed nice enough.
Again, Naruto filed away her apparent vengeance for MBI for another time. This file sure was getting rather large…
"But it's true that I am curious on whether my friend has a job or not. It would be interesting to see you work." She quickly added when he wasn't answering, still.
"Well, why didn't you say so?" He grinned. "I do have a stable supply of money, so you don't need to worry about any late rents. As for what I do…" He paused for a dramatic effect.
"It's a se-cret!" He stuck his tongue out.
Miya nearly face faulted at that. But knowing that Naruto wouldn't tell her no matter what she did, she let it slide.
"Your unwillingness to cooperate aside, the monthly fee will be 50,000 yen. Is that okay for you?"
Naruto was almost insulted. He would be able to pay the rent a hundred times over with a single mission if he wanted to. But he would have to let it slide because she didn't know anything.
"Of course it's fine. Who do you take me for, seriously?" He sighed. "I'm going to be really sad if you really think that lowly of me."
"You never know, right?" She giggled into her hand. Naruto, on the other hand, pouted at her jab.
"Anyway, two meals per day are included in the rent, so you don't always have to go out to eat. And finally, the most important part of the terms: the ground rules. It's fairly simple and there's only two, so even someone like you should be able to remember."
Naruto twitched at the comment, but decided not to call on it. He was not going to give the woman the satisfaction of his reaction.
If Miya noticed Naruto's train of thought, she didn't comment on it, but carried on explaining.
"The first rule is that no violence is permitted while you're in the Izumo Inn. The second is that lewd acts are not allowed in this building."
Naruto tried to stifle a laugh, only to fail badly. "Y-you're prohibiting violence? A-and lewd acts?!" He chuckled some more. "But Miya-chan, you're probably the most violent being in this entire building! And don't get me started on that hidden libido of yours..."
Too busy laughing, Naruto was only able to dodge the oncoming ladle by a breath's width.
"See? See?! This is violence, right here!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the woman.
Miya started enveloping herself in a sinister aura as she approached him. "This is discipline, so it doesn't break any of the rules. Now come take your punishment!" She lunged at him again.
"Gah!" Naruto ducked and backed away, dodging every strikes while still on the floor. He then jumped back up and continued weaving through the onslaught. "This, this is definitely violence! Disciplining should not damage household properties, Miya-chan." He admonished her in a serious tone, before he shifted his weight to parry yet another slash.
Seeing no point in continuing this again, the blond grabbed the ladle with one hand and lightly bonked Miya's head with his fist. "Your punishment. A landlady should act more lady like, Miya-chan."
His seriousness stopped Miya in her tracks for a moment, as she touched the top of her head with one hand and stared at the blond.
The mood was broken when Naruto stuck his tongue out.
"You'll never punish me for any of those! Cuz you can't even touch me~" He dashed for the door. "Anyway, gotta go pack. I'll be back before dinner!" He slammed the door behind him before the lavender haired Sekirei could try anything.
She stared at the closed door for some time, her hand on the top of her head once more as if she were trying to feel the shinobi's warmth. Then she suddenly threw her hand away as though her hand had been burned.
Miya shook her head and growled. "That cheeky brat...!"
On the Next Chapter:
"...san." He didn't know why, but he somehow felt the need to add the '-san' suffix to her name. Weird. "People call me by many things, but you can just call me Naruto. Glad to meet you." He flashed her a full-blown foxy smile.
"So, Naruto-kun. What are you doing in a bar at such a bright time of the day?" She inquired.
"Aah, it's kind of embarrassing to say this, but the shop was just so pretty and eye-catching that I had to check the place out." He sheepishly smiled.