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Some questions won't be answered to avoid the spoilers and if I miss some questions, sorry!
Most characters might be OOC and there might be some grammar errors but I'm trying my best.
Enjoy the final chapter of CMIYC!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Carmen Sandiego and anything else mentioned in this story.
Chapter 4: The Chase Is Always On
Chase drive the car with a grumpy expression and Julia look out the window with little worried look before Naruto slowly tilt his head into the view of the rear mirror. "Soooo…" The teenager glanced between them, "Are we going to address the elephant in room? Like the fact that your boss decide to make me, an former thief, a ACME agent and assigned me to you two as your partner?"
"No, we're not!" Chase gritted his teeth.
"Okay then." Naruto sat back up before he poke his head in again, "Is it really ACME? Like a company from old cartoon that sell things to some wolf that tried to get some fast bird and it always backfired on him. Did they get this name from it?"
"Um, no." Julia answered with a small stutter, "It's not, um…It's different because it stand for Agency to Classify and Monitor Evildoers. The one from cartoon stand for, um…"
"Who come up with this name?" He cut her off with odd look, "Five years old kid? Do you get this from a same guy who named VILE…"
"One more word out of you and I'll turn this car around!" The male detective shot a bloodshot glare at him.
"…Yes, dad." Naruto held his hands up with a joking tone.
"Don't call me that." Chase grumbled angrily and Julia shifted her weight awkwardly, trying to make herself smaller with a soft clearing throat.
Naruto climbs up the ladder to a catwalk and he walk across it, scanning everything in his surrounding. A shadow move from the corner of his eyes and he turn his head to see a figure climb the ladder to the rooftop entry before he run up to the ladder. "Guys, I get something!" He inform his partners on ground floor as he climbed to the rooftop to see someone leaping to another rooftop, "The roofs!" Naruto chased after the thief across several buildings until the figure stop right before the edge with a sharp inhale, the building in front appear to be in process of dismantle.
"Shit, that's not in the pl…" The figure hissed under breath.
"Ha, end of line!" Naruto stopped behind the figure with a smirk and the figure jolt up in surprise.
"…Naruto?!" The person turned with a gasp and the blonde blink few times at a redhead girl around his age.
"Um, how do you kn…" He raised his eyebrow at her until he notice something familiar about her the more he look at her, "…Wait a second…Lamb Chop?"
"N-Naruto, what are you doing here?!" Carmen stuttered out.
"Um, a tip come in about a possible heist and we were…" Naruto jabbed thumb over his shoulder before he shake his head with a stomp, "Hold on! Why are you here, Sheep?!"
"W-Wait, d-d-did they undo your brainwash?" The redhead stepped close to him with widened eyes.
"Yeah, the ACME guys cleanse my head of this brainwash business and they said the keywords will no longer have effect on me." He replied, "Although I get memory loss, everything between now and before the brainwash is one big black gap with some spots here and there but it's not bad…"
"You're all better now?" Carmen suddenly hug him tightly, "That's wonderful news!"
Naruto blink few times at her before he slowly return her hug with a light chuckle, "Yeah, I'm very good." They simply hugged each other with a happy smile before the redhead's eyes snap open when she realize something.
"…Wait, are you a cop?" She asked questioningly, still have her smile up.
"Yeah, in a way." He chuckled again with closed eyes, "They ask me to join ACME and I take up on it. Funny how it turn out for me, heh."
"…Ha, yeah…" Carmen quietly tied something to the back of his jacket, "Pretty funny." She break the hug with backpedal steps as she flash him a wide grin, "So that mean you have to chase me like old times, huh?"
"Yeah…" Naruto chuckled before he blink rapidly, "Wait…Sheep, were you trying to pull an heist? For VILE?!"
"Yes and nope." She hopped onto the ledge to walk across it with some balance as she shot him a sly smirk, "I've never been with VILE since I escape the island, around at the end of our first year at school. All the heists I committed are to foil their capers and steal things back from them."
"Oh…" He blinked, "I would say that I don't believe you about not being VILE agent but I saw myself and VILE goons going after you." She give him a curious yet concerning look, "It's like a short flash. Like I said, memory loss with some spotty pieces."
"Ah."
"So you're like a good thief?" Naruto said and his childhood friend give him a nod as she get close to the end. "That's great, but I still have to take you in. Law-breaking and all, you know."
"Ha, say the kitty that loves to break every rules." Carmen snorted.
"Don't call me kitty, lamb chop!" His eyebrow twitched, causing her to laugh out.
"And don't call me Black Sheep." She turned to face him with a broad grin as she held her arms behind her back, "My name is Carmen Sandiego." He opened his mouth, "And no, it's not alias. Black Sheep is a VILE name and I do look like an Carmen gal."
"And you decide to choose a city as your last name?" Naruto deadpanned at her.
"It's a temporary name until I take up your last name." Carmen teased as the blonde gain a blush, "Oh, and look." She reached inside her collar to pull a familiar piece out to him, "Your necklace."
"MY NECKLACE!" He pointed at her with a gaped mouth, "YOU HAVE IT?! I've been wondering where it went since I woke up!"
"Yup, I have it the whole time since my escape." She smirked teasingly as she jiggled it in front of him, "And no, I'm not giving it back to you this time."
"Give it back, lamb chooooOOOOOO!" Naruto charge forward…Only to yank backward and hit his back on the hard floor with a grunt. "Wha…?!" He tilted his head back to see that the bottom of his jacket have been tied to an chimney pipe by an grapple rope.
"Catch me if you can, kitty." Carmen hopped off the ledge with a wave, "Bye-bye!"
"COME BACK HERE, LAMB CHOP!" He took his jacket off with some struggle and by the time he reach the ledge, she was long gone. "I'M GONNA GET YOU, CARMEN!"
"W-W-Where is the thief?!" Chase finally show up with Julia as they panted, "Where is…" Naruto just scream out while throwing his fists up in air with some shouts and the adults blink at him then they exchange looks. "What's that about lamb chop?" His partner shrugged with her hands.
Carmen giggle to herself as she sit on the edge of rooftop with kicking legs, watching Naruto shimmying up the pipe with some growls. "S-Stay right there, lamb chop!" He climbed up while glaring at her, "I-I'll be right up there and…"
"Get another kiss from me?" She batted her eyelashes at him and the blonde slide down slightly with an squeak, mixed between flustered and annoying.
"I-I can't believe you stole my first kiss!" Naruto shimmied the pipe faster with red face.
"It was my first kiss too." Carmen chuckled down at him as his blush deepened, "I want to ask you that…Was it really great? Because I think it is."
"…I'll let you know after I arrest you!" He get close to the top.
"Oooh, kinky." She wiggled her eyebrows, "I don't mind us stealing each other's like that."
"Wha…" Naruto gave her a puzzling look before his eyes widened in realization as he gain atomic-red blush, slowly slide down the pipe with long squeaky noise.
"Soooo…" Carmen lie down on her chest with a giggle, "No grapple gun?"
"…I-I'm a rookie so we don't get gadgets…" He muttered with red face as he sit on ground unmoving, still holding onto the pipe. "That and they don't trust me with gadgets yet."
"Mm, shameful because you should be up here already and…" She wiggled her eyebrows again.
"Don't finish this sentence, you pervy lamb!" Naruto cried up to her.
"I was about to say cuddle like old time." Carmen flashed him a impish grin, "What were you thinking I was going to say?"
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response." He grumbled with red face and the redhead keeps looking smug down at him.
"Dammit." Naruto gritted his teeth angrily behind cage as Maelstrom walk up to him with a smirk, "I'm gonna tear…"
"Ah, ah." Maelstrom wiggled his index finger at him, "You sure give us some trouble trying to get you back but you're pretty slippy and crafty like a fox and that's no surprise because you…" Electricity went off on his back and he give out an high-pitched scream as the blonde teenager look so surprised and shock before the villain slowly drop down on his knees then slump over with smokes, revealing two legs behind him.
"Wha?" The blonde teenager's gaze shift up from legs to a face, "Cleo?!"
"Unbelievable." Cleo walked up to the cage with a stun baton in her hand, "After all the works I put into to get you out of VILE's grip, you just walk into an obvious trap and nearly get yourself back in their grip!"
"Wait, what?!" Naruto blinked rapidly as she unlock the cage to free him, "Out of…What are you talking about?!"
"I switched Bellum's mask with an prototype mask the day they plan to turn you into their brainwashed assassin." The Egyptian woman dragged him out of the area, "If I don't, you could have been trapped under VILE's thumb forever as Kitsune."
"W-Wait, you what?" He blinked again as they reach the parking lot before he yank his hand out of her hold with a rapid headshake, "Hold on! What the hell is going on?! Is that some kind of two-in-one con?!"
"You will get your answers…" Cleo unlock a rusty car's door as she look right into his eyes sternly, "If you get in the car with me." The blonde stared back suspiciously, "I promise you that is not some trick. Get in the car so we can get out of here, please." He stare at her for a moment before against all his best judging, he circle around the car to the passenger's side as he get in with the Egyptian woman and she start the car up. "…Put your seatbelt on." She shot him a sideway look and the blonde made sure his seat wasn't rigged by anything before he put it on with a click then the car took off right away into the foggy night.
"…Is that where you going to tell me why you're helping me?" Naruto asked her about twenty minutes into the drive.
"Because I do not want to get your hands bloody." She said with eyes on road, "Which I success in this when I tipped Black Sheep off when VILE assigned you to your first assassinate contract and you failed, which lead you to your 'reformed' life that you're living right now." She huffed, "I still wish you never get your hands dirty in first place, but no, you have to go and being a brat, running around with Sheep and breaking rules at four. Clearly, she's a bad influence on you."
"I…" He furrowed his brows in pure confusion, why does she sound like…"What's our relationship?"
"I'm your adopted mother." Cleo said bluntly as Naruto dropped his jaw with widened eyes, "I'm the one who found and took you in."
"What?!" Naruto cried out, "You what? But! You…You never like kids! You always do everything in your power to keep us away and vote against us on almost everything!"
"I like one kid and that's you." She replied before a huff escape her lips, "I was trying to keep you away from VILE business, but unfortunately, Black Sheep ruined everything as usual. She's the one that got you accepted into the academy in first place." She rumbled under her breath, "You should have been homeschool a little longer before I send you to a good university so you can have a decent and honest life."
"I-I-I…Y-You…Wha…" The blonde thought he just lost his mind before he take a deep breath to settle himself down, "…Um, why did you decide to take me in and bring me to the island in first place?"
"Personal reason and as one of VILE council member, I had no choice." Cleo replied. A blonde man and red-haired woman appear in her memory as they greet her into their home warmly, the two people she was secretly in love but was too cowardly to confess to them about her feeling out of fear that she'll lose their friendship and more. She was heartbroken when she see them so happy with a baby on the way then more heartbroken and regretful when the new parents passed away in an car accident. Naruto is only connection she have to them and the boy have no idea how bad she want to fill in the mother role without VILE's eyes on her all the time…Until now.
"And the reason is…?" Naruto pressed.
"I'll tell you when you're older." She replied right away, "Now let me focus on the driving, we have some car swaps to make a clean getaway." The blonde have so many questions but he was still too stunned to think straight.
Carmen nearly spit water out before her head shot down over the ledge at Naruto with widened eyes, "Hold on! Cleo is…What?!"
"Yeah, she's the one who found me when I was a baby and she turned out to be my adopted mom." Naruto sipped from his water bottle as he sat on the crate, "What make it crazy is that all of her adoption paperwork is legal and all after she whip them out to the ACME agency and give them quite ear lash about having me work as agent at young age when I should be in a school with every normal kids."
"…First Shadowsan and now Cleo…" The bewildered redhead muttered.
"I know." He shook his head with a sigh, "I thought Past Cleo was scary but doting mommy Cleo is way scary that I can't even get used to it."
"…D-Doting?" Carmen gave him a funny look, "Ok, I call bullshit on this one." Her chaser give her a flat look as he pull his phone out to dial someone on speakerphone and it was pick up immediately at first ring.
"Hello, sweetie." Cleo's voice spoke with a warm tone.
"Um, hey, Cleo." Naruto replied awkwardly, "Is it okay if we can have some ramen for dinner tonight?"
"Yes, we can have ramen for dinner." The Egyptian woman's voice chuckled softly, "There is a restaurant near home so we can go there and order as much as you want on the menus. Don't worry about the bill because I can buy the whole restaurant out if I want to."
"Cool, alright, um, I gotta go." He muttered, "Bye."
"Bye, sweetie, love you." Cleo's voice said before he end the call right away and the blonde look up to shellshocked redhead.
"Believe me now?" Naruto deadpanned up to her.
"…Send me this audio file so I can confirm it's real thing…" Carmen uttered with widened eyes, it's good thing they call time-out on the intense chase for a quick water break or she'd be arrested by Naruto right here and now.
"Done!" Naruto grinned to himself in middle of his apartment, "My own place to call home." It may take a lot of time to convince Cleo to let him move out on his own with some conditions that she set up but it don't matter because he finally have his own space away…Several tapping noises draw his attention to a window and the blonde raise his eyebrow at a phone taped to the window with a note with his name on it. He scan the surrounding from the window before he take it off the window then examine it with some caution. It suddenly spring to life with a call and a picture nearly take him by surprise, it was Carmen blowing air kiss. He hit the accept button and a video call pop up on it.
"Hi, kitty." Carmen waved with a cheery grin, "Heard you got your own place so I want to congratulate you on it."
"Thanks…" He blinked with a raised eyebrow, "What do you want? I mean, you should just sneak in instead of leaving this phone here…"
"I can't risk having you chase me again like last time." She snorted amusingly, "Remember this hotel in Chad?" Naruto shrug his shoulder with a small mutter, something about on duty. "I'm calling because I want to make a proposal."
"A proposal?" Naruto raised his eyebrow again, "What kind of proposal we are talking about here?"
"A neutrality one." Carmen tucked a hair strand behind her ear bit nervous and hopeful, "Your apartment can be buffer zone. No workshop talk until necessary, everything leave at the door when we're inside, no hostile actions and so on, you know lot of neutral things."
"My apartment as neutral zone?" He blinked before he shrug his shoulders, "Ok."
"I know you're against the idea…" She said before she pause for few moments with rapid blinks, "Wait, did you said…Yes to my proposal?"
"Yup." Naruto confirmed.
"…All the work I put into my speech, now it's all for nothing." Carmen sighed to his amusement.
"But I have one condition." He lifted his index finger up, "When in apartment, my necklace go back to me."
"Deal!" The redhead hang up on him and before he know it, the thief jump through the opening window behind him then roll up to her feet with a duffle bag. She drop the bag at her feet as she went up to hug him tightly with a big smile on her face and the blonde blink couple times before he hug her back, "Ah, it feel so good to be hold by you and not under arrest."
"Yeah." Naruto can't help but to chuckle lightly before he glance at the bag then at the phone in his hand, "Should I throw this burner phone away and what's up with the bag?"
"Nah, keep this phone so we can talk to each other anytime when we're off from 'work'." Carmen stepped back to break apart from him with air quote as she giggled, "And for my bag, it's my clothes and stuffs."
"For overnight or…?" He asked.
"To live here." She laughed at his surprised face as he choke on his spit, "It'll be like old time but better!"
"Carmen, um, what are we?" Naruto asked the said redhead as they lie together in bed with her spooning him from behind. It look like she have fall back into her habit by sleeping in same bed with him and it have been going on for a week now.
"Mm, what do you think we are?" Carmen put their cheeks together with a sly grin.
"I'd say best friend but I don't think they kiss this often like you do…" He muttered as she pecked his cheek, "We're something more than that?"
"Yes." She gave his cheek another peck.
"…We're a couple but at same time we're not yet?" Naruto muttered.
"That's right." Carmen squeezed her arms around him with another peck, "Why are you asking me this question…Until you want to be my boyfriend?" She teased.
"…What if I say yes?" He muttered and there were few moments of silence.
"…I'm going to make out with you right here and right now." The redhead said.
"Wha…?" Naruto looked up just in time to have her smash their lips together and she make out with him as his limbs flailing around out of startle.
Naruto stare at something in the apartment with a briefcase in his hand as soon as he entered his home, it was a messy kitchen. "Don't worry, I'll make Zack clean this mess up." Ivy gave him a sheepish smile and the blonde slowly turn his head to stare flatly at the siblings who were sitting at dining table with sandwiches and some meats as Zack still pig out with his foods.
"…I just brought groceries today." Naruto's eyebrow twitched.
"They'll go shopping for groceries for you tomorrow." Carmen patted her boyfriend's back with a nervous smile before she shot Zack a look, causing him to swallow his food with a confusing blink. "As a big thank you for letting them crash here for few days."
"Ugh, that's fine…" The blonde muttered before he notice something that make him a little nervous, "…Why is Shadowsan sharpening his swords while giving me a dirty look?" He stared at the said man that was kneeling in living room with his weapon on low table and the man stare back emotionlessly.
"Um, I kinda told him that I've been seeing you for a while." The redhead coughed into her fist, hoping that her guardian will not go slash-crazy on Naruto.
"Oh." Naruto uttered, "…I hope it's not going to be awkward like this time when mom and ACME guys come over for a surprise homewarming party…How they can't recognize you with just black wig is still beyond me."
"I know." Carmen whispered back, the wig was a last minute throw-together and she have been sweating her ass off when Cleo make some small talk to her.
"What's beyond me is that he's calling Cleo mom lately." Ivy whispered to her brother and he make an agreeing noise with mouth full.
A car pull up to the sidewalk in front of an art museum with a skidding brake and Naruto step out with Chase and Julia. "Keep your eyes peeling, we don't know who the thief is or why they trigger the alarm without…" Chase said.
"It's Naruto's wife again." Julia said.
"Whoa, hey, that's a false ac…" Naruto said before she point up to the rooftop with flat look and they look up to see Carmen in her infamous red outfit as she wave down at them with a teasing smirk. "…REALLY, CARMEN?! YOU'RE PULLING HEIST WHILE PREGNANT?!" He pulled an grapple gun out to fire up to the roof before it launch him up in air, "STAY RIGHT THERE!"
"Nope!" Carmen took off with a laughter, "Catch me if you can!"
The ACME agents stare at the fleeing couple before they calmly look at each other until Julia speak up, "Best guess? Nothing is stolen and she's just doing it for thrill again."
"Maybe, but it don't hurt to check the museum." Chase walked away with a sigh, "Only if Naruto's home is not a neutral zone, we'd have arrest her long time ago." He grumble under his breath, something about stupid agreement. His partner follow him with a shrug of her shoulders, ignoring some shouting from the blonde in background as he chase his laughing wife around the city.
And that end the final chapter and story of CMIYC!
Everything start to look up for Naruto after he finally break away from VILE and life throw some bombs at his way like Cleo as his adopted mother and Carmen who he later married in future. One thing that doesn't change between Naruto and Carmen is their endless cat-and-mouse chase.
Anyway, I think that's all I can say for now. Thank you for your time to read it.
Please leave reviews and feedback here. The flames will be deal with by the cleaners.