Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Final Fantasy VII Remake
Beta and Co-Author: Godospartan the Kitsune
Author's notes: "To answer the question of a reviewer. 'NO' the Whispers of the Fate will not be in this. Think about it; some random guy is flung into a foreign reality. Do you think the Whispers would just let him stay there and screw up the will of Gaia? Not a chance in hell. So, there are no Whispers in this story. And lastly, as the title suggests, this will only focus on Midgar. So I aim to put as much into this. Then make book II once the next game comes out."
Re-edited 10/30.2022
Chapter 2: The slum life
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ Xxx
A groan escaped Naruto's lips as he planted himself on the bench in Sector five. Once he dealt with the bandits and their mechs, the blond proceeded to sort the bodies of the fallen Neighborhood Watch members near the gate. Outside the gate, he unceremoniously dumped the bandit corpses on top of one another with their broken Sweeper mechs.
What caused a bit of a stir among the residents was this was all done via shadow clones. Quite a few people asked what kind of Materia he used to do such a thing.
Overall that took over five minutes. Around the same time, people with firearms and swords came running down the dirt path toward the gate. Aerith and Kyrie quickly stopped the Uzumaki, who got ready for another fight, and explained these people were of the Watch. At the head of the said group was a tall, heavily muscled, ebony-skinned bald man, with a goatee and shades. He was dressed in an open flak jacket, a green shirt, black leather pants, and a pair of thick leather boots.
Introducing himself as Dutch, he thanked the young Sage for taking care of the bandits and the Watch's people. "You're a damn good man Uzumaki. I'm going to chat with my boss and see if we can do a few things."
Letting the Watch take care of the rest, the blond saw a few sector residents either helping out Dutch or watching from afar. Some came over to the blond, offering praise and gratitude for protecting the Sector.
"Well," Aerith finally spoke at his right, sitting on the bench, "This was an eventful morning."
Kyrie snorted on the tall blond's left, "oh yeah, nothing like bandits showing up and raising hell to get the day going."
"Could have been a lot worse, girl;" An elderly woman's voice garnered their attention. Approaching was a diminutive woman around Jiji's age dressed in a long sleeve light purple shirt with rolled-up sleeves, tan pants, and shoes, a down vest over her shirt, and a yellow scarf around her neck. Finally, she wore a watch cap with goggles over her long grey hair. "If your new friend had not been here, we all would have been in trouble."
"Grandma!" Kyrie rose to her feet, running over; "You okay?"
At that question, the elderly woman bore a dry look towards her granddaughter; "Now you ask that eh? Well, instead of you coming to find me and hunkering down like a sane person. Everyone at the center, orphanage, and Docs are fine, by the way. The explosion did rattle everyone well, though."
"I'd imagine so," Naruto quipped as the elderly woman stopped before him. "Naruto Uzumaki."
"Mireille Dudley," Kyrie's grandmother extended her hand, which the young blond clasped and shook firmly. "Glad you decided to wake up when you did. From how you looked, I didn't think anyone could live through something like that."
Naruto smirked as their hands detached; "too stubborn to die, I suppose."
A chuckle came from the elderly woman before another voice rang out; "Kyrie!" the raven-haired girl visibly cringed before they all turned back to the gate. Running passed the Watch members was a tall, fair-skinned teenage boy around Kyrie's age with a slim, thin frame. He wore the most gods awful purple suit that could be described as a thug's reject. Unfortunately, his fedora matched his suit's color over his short blond hair.
What had gotten Naruto's attention were the kid's solid blue eyes and defined facial features he'd typically see from highborn elites.
"My, my, you showed up at an interesting time, kiddo," Mireille quipped as the lad stopped in front of them in an exhausted huff. "Did you run all the way here from the station?"
The teenage boy rested his gloved hands on his knees as he hunched over, sucking in as much air as possible. "I…Heard…There…Was…Explosion," the poor kid could barely talk. He was so out of breath.
Kyrie deadpanned; "You know you don't have any real constitution for running, Evan."
"Or anything that requires physical labor," Aerith chipped in with an assumed smile.
Regaining a bit of said constitution, Evan gave both girls a dour expression; "You two always pick on me."
"Well, if you didn't make it so easy for them," Kyrie's grandmother snorted before glancing over at Naruto; "Uzumaki, this is Evan Townshend, a friend of Kyrie's and Aerith's." She peered back at the teenage boy; "Evan, this is Naruto Uzumaki, the guy who collapsed and was saved by these two. He also took care of goons who tried to attack the Sector."
Evan turned his gaze to the older blond, and he finally recovered enough to stand fully; "The Wutai man."
"Don't just announce that in front of Shiva and everyone," Kyrie hissed.
The teen boy seemed to ignore her as he measured up to the Sage; "Well, thank you for protecting Kyrie."
"Along with everyone else, too, right," Naruto questioned with a cocked brow.
"Them too…" oh, that was a nasty glare with a blush coming from the raven-haired girl.
'Kid needs to work on his tact.'
Oh, the sheer IRONY of that statement coming from his host made Kurama scoff and roll his eyes.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
"Take a wild guess here that Evan has a bit of a crush," Naruto questioned with amusement.
Aerith giggled; "More than just a bit."
The duo had decided to head for the Sector five church per the flower girl's request. But, sadly for Kyrie, her grandmother made her stay behind, which put Evan in a very bright mood as he went with the annoyed granddaughter with her grandmother.
And this had left the blond and brunette alone as they traversed the dirt path toward the church. Strolling along, Naruto took note of the natural cliffs around the area beside the scrapyard around it. "Shinra not the type to clean up after themselves, are they?" The Sage quipped, staring upwards.
"That's what helped build Midgar. But once Shinra had the upper plate, they began to ignore what was below. Been that way for nearly thirty years since."
The more he heard of Shinra, the less he liked them. Finally, going up a hill, they were approaching the Sector 5 train station. Around said station were a slew of makeshift vendor shops selling anything from clothes to weapons and food. Finally, around that were numerous old abandoned factories. Like the central district, the station had a crowd of people either shopping or waiting for the train. Noticing some people in cleaning suits, Aerith explained a few topsiders have families in the slums. Some can only afford to bring them up or prefer the undercity over the upper plate.
Walking past the crowds, the duo went down a long path to a broken fence. "How far did you and Kyrie drag me back to the slums?"
"Far enough to know how heavy you are." A playful smirk crossed her lips as she skipped up to the fence. "Don't worry, we all enjoy a few sweets secretly." Heading into the fenced area, she giggled, feeling the blond man's gaze narrow a bit.
"Hey, pure muscle in these abs, thank you very much... But really, thanks for the help. Two young women carrying me back this far? You two must be pretty strong for that." Making their way through the opening of a fence, they go down another dirt path littered with more scrap of broken and rusted machines. Finally, they walked through an open barren warehouse that only held old crates and rusted-out machines.
Amusement shone on Aerith's lips as she lifted one of her arms, flexing it; "I'm stronger than I look." She soon giggled; "Kyrie was complaining the entire time."
That made the blond chuckle as they exited the other end of the warehouse. "I wonder how many buildings are just in shambles... But, of course, this is just one part of a sector, and there are several, right?" Looking up at the plate, he could only imagine what kind of environments the other sectors had, if any, were different at all.
"Yup. Many of these places were built for the people working to create the city." She gazed around at the damaged buildings; "Shinra simply forgot them once the upper plates were fully completed." Her eyes turned upwards; "I've been to the upper plate quite a lot," the flower girl omitted; "Each sector is its unique and beautiful city, even culture."
A brow cocked from the blond; "Shame Shinra didn't try doing the same below the plate."
"Quite a few feel the same. Others even outright hate it down here," the brunette looked to the ground as they walked; "But I never could. From the Undercity to the Upper-plate, all the people live above and below. There is an energy to this place I can't help but admire, and that is why I love it here. For the good and the bad."
It was like Aerith was both Ino, and Hinata rolled into one. But definitely without the shyness. She once proved again how alike she was to a certain Yamanaka and wrapped her arm around his. "So, let's see if we can learn more about you, Mr. Sage."
Naruto snorted as they neared several ruined buildings with makeshift ones clustered around them. If there is one thing the blond could say, folks here are creative. Finally, they neared one of the few large cement buildings remaining intact. Well, with the roof having several large holes. The structure was a church, given its overall design and colored stained windows. He recalled buildings like these in the larger cities across the Nations.
"So this is where I finally collapsed, eh?" The blond questioned.
Aerith stopped them at the front of the church's massive double doors. "Right there," she pointed to the ground with her free hand. "You snore, by the way."
That earned her an eye roll.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
The church doors creaked loudly as the brunette opened them. The interior was pretty much like one would expect in a church. Pews are set up in rows beside towering pillars supporting the ceiling. Several chandeliers hung on the roof above them. And finally, there was the altar. In front of the altar, the floor was broken apart, revealing the ground with an array of yellow flowers growing.
"Outside my home, flowers only grow here," Aerith remarked.
Gazing at the altar, the blond looks back to the flowers; "Maybe the God worshiped here likes them?"
As they neared the flowers, Aerith tapped her chin in thought, "Hmm, maybe. Lady Minerva is pretty mysterious, but I'd guess all the Gods are like that."
Seeing the woman kneeling over the flowers, the blond crossed his arms in thought. "Huh..."
Several things roamed his thoughts; more was needed to make clear sense to ask at the moment. Finally, however, Kurama decided to give him one. "Why not ask about their gods? We got nothing else to do."
"So what kind of gods and beliefs do you folks have?" Not understanding why that was relevant, Naruto could only think it was saving the conversation for the time being. "There heaven and hell to people?"
Aerith did not pause while tending to her flowers; "Quite a few gods people believe in here outside Minerva. And some people believe in heaven and hell. Others believe we return to the planet and be reincarnated into a new life."
Now that sounds familiar, at least. He had never heard of the reincarnation part being called 'returning to the planet'. "Did you expect other worlds shared the same religious ways, brat?" Kurama quipped.
'Never thought of that till now. Hell, still wrapping my head around Shiva being a woman.' The blond hoped that did not sound as sexist as he thought it. And if by chance the said God was listening, wasn't offended.
"Deities can be whatever they want and appear as whatever they want in all the realms. Guess that reanimated bozo neglected to mention all of that," Kurama snorted.
'He has a name, furball...'
"So!" The blond was brought out of his thoughts as his new friend got back up to stand; "Why become a sage?"
Naruto blinked a few times; "You're blunt."
"Yup!"
Silence filled the church for a moment while the blond scratched the back of his head; "When I was younger, I thought being a Ninja would be the coolest thing. I could be the hero, save people from the bad guys, and get recognized." Naruto spoke carefully, not wanting to explain everything.
"So, you wanted to be the good guy," Aerith remarked as she went to another side of the flowers to work.
"Pretty much, found out fantasy and reality rarely are the same thing." the young Uzumaki's voice grew solemn; "I quit, felt lost for a while till my two grandmothers turned me to the Sage's path." A grin adorned his face; "I found my calling."
"Not many people can find what they are meant to be," Aerith remarked casually. "So being a ninja didn't pan out for what you wanted to be. But as long as you found what truly held your beliefs is what people should strive for."
"Blunt again... But you have a point." A moment passed, then another, before he took a closer look at the flowers. Something about them bothered him, more like he could see something but couldn't figure it out than anything was hidden maliciously.
"I just noticed something, Kit... There are electrical devices, machinery, and even engines. Have you seen a generator or power source to draw on around?" While Kurama could see through his host's eyes, something felt familiar to the fox, as if this place held a specific power naturally that was so faint it was nonexistent, however noticeable because everywhere else felt... barren, while not entirely so.
There was nature chakra in this church. But something else, Naruto could barely feel it. Something akin to certain places he had visited with his friends on their journeys back home. He shook the slight pang in his heart, looking up to find Aerith in front of him, arms behind her back, leaning herself forward. The ponytail blond leaned slightly back, realizing how close she was looking at him. "Deep in thought?" She questioned with curiosity.
"Just admiring the sereneness of this place."
Her cute brow cocked; "Really now?"
"Yup," the Uzumaki grinned back; "Places like this can help clear people's heads and hearts. Good for the soul."
"Maybe help that pesky amnesia of yours," Aerith bemused, leaning back with her hands on her hips.
"You never know," Naruto shrugged, peering around the church and putting his sheathed sword down on a pew. "So, what is today's schedule outside this morning?"
Aerith tapped her chin in thought, "Today, I'm usually helping at the Leaf House." The brunette grinned brightly; "I bet the kids will love to meet the new hero of the Sector!"
XxX ~ Evening ~ XxX
"Was I ever that hyper as a brat?" Naruto questioned as he sat at his table.
On top of the table was Kurama, the size of a regular fox, who rolled his eyes. "You're still the same brat to me for the most part."
"Smartass..." The blond dryly quipped before picking up a green orb. "So these things do magic?"
Upon returning to the central slum district, a few residents approached the blond and gave him two bags. One with quite a bit of Gil, at least two hundred. And the other with this green orb, for which Aerith called them Materia. While explaining what they could do, they came to the Leaf house, where the former shinobi was overwhelmed by all the children wanting to meet him.
And then they proceeded to ask the blond about every question under the sun at a rapid-fire pace. It reminded him of when they were brats, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. Dokku and Shiseru's kids too…
Thankfully the main head of the orphanage calmed them down enough to give the blond some breathing space. And while there, he did learn of at least three kids who seemed to lead the other rascals by name. However, Oates seemed quite the silent type compared to Moggie (the name was just as weird as the brat's sense of fashion) and Sara.
After spending some time playing with the rugrats and regaling a few tales of his adventures, Aerith and Naruto both finally had to leave for the day. Now alone at his home, the blond looked over the Materia he was given with Kurama.
"So, they said this is just one color out of... four?" Naruto hummed as he saw it was a naturally made substance but was condensed unnaturally from the energy it emitted. "What's this one again?"
"Pure Magic." Kurama stared intently at the orb. "I believe that's what you were told. Though until we use it, we have no idea its power. I sense it resonates with an elemental type of energy. Funny, I get the same feeling as yours. What say we test it?"
Boy, was it a relief to hear that using Materia required mana. Something that is well and widely known back in his world and very much like chakra with another name. Lifting his free hand and extending it, he lightly concentrated a tiny bit of his chakra into the small orb. In a flash, Kurama's headshot sideways to follow a bolt of lightning that was unleashed from the blond's open palm.
Both human and Bijuu stared wide-eyed as the bolt shot through several old pipes and made a decent size hole through the steel walls. "...Holy shit..." The blond remarked in awe.
"How much chakra did you put in that thing?"
"Barely a teaspoon at best."
Kurama rubbed his lower maw; "Might be the potency of your chakra then. You have been training it for years, and doubt most around here even know how to do that."
Setting the thing down where it can be out of his hands and still visible, the blonde looked towards his partner. "Or, while similar in makeup, it's different in energy. Our chakra is almost fluid inside our bodies and is the core of everyone. But, unfortunately, not everyone here seems to have the ability to use Materia in any way, right?"
"Something to consider then..." Though their time to talk was cut short. The huge bolt wasn't exactly subtle or silent, shooting out into the open air after all, so it drew some attention as the door opened up.
In a blink, Kurama vanished as Aerith ran in; "What happened!?" She came over to the blond, who got up.
"Was trying out the Materia," the blond casually remarked, thumbing behind him. Then, leaning to her side, the brunette blinked at the broken pipes and new hole in the building.
With a loud huff, Kyrie soon appeared, having sped over; "What the hell sounded like a cannon going off!?"
"Naruto decided to try out the Materia indoors," Aerith deadpan to her friend, who did the same as Evan and Mireille had quickly followed the young teen upon hearing the loud band that rattled everyone in the district.
"How about using that Materia in a safer and more open area next time, young man? The district has had one crazy day already," the elderly woman droned, garnering a weak sheepish chuckle from the tall blond. Then, seeing things were fine, Mireille grabbed her protesting granddaughter and Evan before leaving.
The blond huffed a loud sigh before paying attention to Aerith glaring at him; "I promise not to use Materia indoors anymore."
"I'll hold you to that," She addressed before setting a bag down on his table; "Mom wanted you to have those so you can make dinner for yourself."
"I'll thank her tomorrow," Naruto gave a grateful nod before observing his new friend sighing before turning on her heels and exiting his home. Closing the door behind her, Kurama appeared back on the table as his host slumped forward. "Hell of a day..." Kurama snorted as the blond turned back to the table, peering down at the green orbs; "What do you think?"
"Be a waste leaving them around here, and you might as well try learning how to use them properly." Give the blond something to do anyways. "Given how you can't use that lightning of yours unless in using Senjutsu."
Garnering a nod, the blond sat back down; "Least till I find a way we can get back home." At that, Kurama's furry brow rose, but he said nothing.
XxX ~ one week later ~ XxX
The blond's groaning from reverberant metal banging stirred him from blissful slumber. His sight was blurry before rubbing their sleep out and rising out of bed. "Who the hell is this," he growled with irritation. Then, stomping out of his room and out of the old warehouse, he groaned at the morning sunlight as he put on a shirt.
Nearing the main fence garage door, he lifted it with a glare; "I am not a morning person, so who the hell is it?" He quipped dryly before fully seeing who was in front of him. "Dutch, right?"
The tall, dark-skinned bald man nodded; "The same. I spoke to my boss in the Watch."
With a yawn, the blonde shuffled his hair. "And why does that bring you to my big door this early morning?"
"To offer you some work if you're interested. After the other morning had you face off against some very rough customers, I thought we could use some of that on our side against some other problems we've got roaming around." He could feel a slight glare that could be accompanied by cricket sounds like in some comedies.
"This some kind of weird-ass initiation to join," The blond droned back.
Dutch gave a half-ass nod; "Kind of. Boss wants to know if you can handle any tough opponents. And between the monsters and bandits, we're always swamped. You should see what Wymer deals with over in sector seven."
The blond was quiet for a moment before turning and gesturing for the older man to follow. "So, who am I to be dealing with?"
"A gang the Watch has been after for a long while. Calls themselves the Crimsons, they took over the collapsed area of sector six and have been nothing but a headache ever since."
Pausing inside the factory, Naruto peered back at Dutch; "If they stay in one area, shouldn't they be easy to take out?"
"You're not the only one to think that," the bald man quipped; "But it turns out these punks are former Shinra military turned rogue. Experts in stealth and guerilla tactics. The Watch may have a few ex-military like myself and others-"
"But the rest are just regular folks who have no formal training and can't face down guys like this," Naruto finished.
Dutch clicked his tongue; "Bingo. Numbers don't mean shit compared to experience and skill. So Sofiya figured two birds with one stone. See if you can truly handle yourself against actual dangerous folks and bring down a group we don't want to grow any more than it has."
A low grunt came from the blond as he thought for a moment, "What have these guys been up to?"
"If you want to eat breakfast, it's better not to know."
That told everything the Sage needed to know about these Crimsons. He nodded sharply to Dutch; "Let me get ready."
Unbeknownst to the two, while they conversed, a tiny humanoid figure sat on an open window cloaked in blue light with four dragonfly-like wings on its back. For another moment, it stayed watching Naruto and Dutch before flying off.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Sitting at her desk in her room, Aerith was drying her hair with a towel after her morning shower. Dressed in a simple pink dress, a gentle hymn hummed from her before she heard a light tapping on her window. Gazing up, she smiled before standing and opening the window as the tiny being of light with wings flew inside.
"Good morning Mr. Fairy; what's up?" Aerith quipped as the tiny figure flew to her ear. The brunette nodded a few times before the Fairy flew away and out her window; "thank you," she called out before sighing; "Guess Naruto will be busy today." She paused for a moment before sitting back down. Her emerald eyes grew distant-
'The cycle of hate must end.'
Placing her towel on the desk, Aerith looked out the window. Once in a while, the memories returned to her, the ones that were not hers to see but had looked anyways. And all that she saw will forever be burned in her memory.
A vast empire once ruled by five in constant warfare. The once broken and scattered Uzumaki Clan was reborn anew from its ashes, the horror that was the cult of Jashin... Another world, so strange and alien, was its history compared to Gaia.
Earth's history… A delicate balance of chaos and peace.
And had she seen it all from the unconscious man who collapsed at her church's doors. Not that she had meant to, nor did she want to poke into a stranger's head without permission. But when the planet kept calling him Outlander over and over again, curiosity had won out.
His memories were like an old film from an old fashion camera. Closing her eyes, she could see and feel his hardships and struggles as an orphan. His own home and its people ostracized him for events beyond his control. A long shudder escaped her lips as she will never forget the immense entity he safeguarded and once called his enemy.
She could only imagine what Kurama could have possibly done to Gaia and its people if he still had clung to his hatred.
Yet despite all that, Naruto persisted and became a Genin protecting the man he loves as a brother while stopping a traitor to his village. And that was where his story truly began. The life lessons he learned from enigmatic Haku in Nami no Kuni. She smiled when his team joined forces with her and her mentor/adopted father to face the evil Gatou and his men.
Further along, Aerith realized he was not alone in finding his cousin Karin—learning of his heritage of the ancient Uzumaki and nomadic Namikaze clans—learning of his parents and meeting more of his kin from both clans.
He realized the hard truths of the shinobi life and its cycle of war and hate. But, then, being taken under the wings of his grandmothers to walk the path of the Sage. The brunette felt joy seeing him find his true dream and gain the family he always wanted.
Aerith saw all the evils the blond had faced. From the nightmare that was Orochimaru, the Blood Leash, the Akatsuki, the friend who betrayed him for vengeance and power. Said a former friend later murdered by a wicked man who lost his humanity several millenniums ago. Who was just an agent of much greater wickedness.
The cult of Jashin…
Their immeasurable evil was so vile and perverse that she had no right words that could describe such monsters. The war that came to bring them down made the conflict between Wutai and Shinra seem like child's play.
Then came the long pursuit of Sasuke's murderer, Zu Zhang…
Her green eyes soon opened as a frown graced her lovely lips. No matter how hard she pressed, she could not see further from that. The memories became like misty static from lousy reception.
As if she was being blocked. No, she would see what happened. She closed her eyes and concentrated as she tried to clear away the static. Reveal the memory that was hidden from her.
A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes shot open. But she was not in her room but a void of never-ending darkness. Aerith could feel her pulse race as her heart began to beat wildly. Her breath quickened as she gazed all around her. But then, Naruto's memories came to life and brought light to the darkness. Her form grew still as he emerald eyes soon met the silhouette of a figure standing a few feet away from her.
Though wholly cloaked in darkness, Aerith could tell the person was a woman. And though she could not see her, a chill rose from her spine as she could see a feral, deranged Cheshire grin on the woman's face. Glowing golden and silver eyes gleamed towards her as the woman's right hand rose slowly and began to wave at her.
Aerith's body jolted from her chair as she eyes now had indeed opened. Her breathing was erratic, as was her heart, the pounded so loud it felt like it would burst from her chest. Fear and shock were etched in her eyes which were as wide as humanly possible.
In the name of all that was holy… Who was…
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
The ruins of sector 6. Dutch had explained that the sector six upper plates had collapsed during the construction of the upper plates. Shinra had left the area as it was while they made another platUnfortunately, he was also ignoring the countless lives lost during that horrific accident. It made the young Sage sick to his stomach, but he ignored it as he began his tread through the broken streets and buildings of sector six.
Adorned in a simple black shirt with dark burnt orange pants, he wore the sage sleeveless red haori that resembled his dad's. A gift from Maw-Maw Meihui and Tsukiko-Baachan when achieving full Sagehood. On his belt, he had several satchels holding his scrolls, he was thankful one had some shuriken and kunai, but he'll need to find a smith to make more. In his hand, he had his sheathed ebony katana.
His gaze took in the desolation around him; "Have to watch myself," he muttered quietly.
"Remember what baldy told you? These idiots wear armored gear and have all manner of weapons," Kurama chimed into his thoughts.
'Have to find them first.' No point standing around, so the ponytailed blond had begun his sojourn through the ruins.
The tunnels and caved-in concrete walkways were still unstable after decades but mostly held up thanks to the grace of engineering not being COMPLETE shit. Naruto soon walked into a more extensive open area with many cranes and hummed as he slipped in behind some broken wall. The fox had a thing to say but knew the blond had the same idea. "Perfect place for an ambush if they thought someone was coming... Sense any nearby?"
"Sort of... But I can't tell where; it's slightly faint. Something is scrambling the energy of this place; it's been that way since we woke up here, for the most part. I'm starting to think those reactors are causing it, but without a first-hand look, it will be speculation." Quietly he moved forward, hoping to find any traps before the ambush started.
His footsteps were silent as he moved through the shadows. His eyes never surveyed every inch around him. Finally, he stopped at the sight of very subtle tripwires. Taking out a kunai, he cut the wires that would have sprung said traps before entering the opening area. The moments he came from the shadows, at least a dozen men in blue military fatigues with forearms and pauldrons appeared from their shadows. All had their rifles trained on the tall blond. He noted that some wore strange helmets with three red lights on them.
"Have to say you're good. We almost didn't notice you," A man standing on a crane yelled. He wore no helmet, with his fatigues being red. "Then again, you Wutai bastards were always good at stealth."
"You're the Crimsons, I presume?" Naruto didn't flinch as a bullet nearly grazed his face hitting the wall behind him.
The man who fired the shot growled, "No talking, scum. You Wutai killed quite a few of my buddies during the war."
"Funny calling me scum when you lot turned into bandits," Naruto quipped back.
That got another shot at him, barely grazing the other side. Naruto smirked throughout. "I said no talking! Bandits huh? You don't know anything! But you don't get to know because you die here. Any last words before we blow your brains out?"
"Yeah? The last word session? You'll need one when I get through with you, but for mine, before we start, I think I'll mention that you lost five seconds ago, and I can't wait to see your faces when you realize it." The men started firing right after he spoke, but as soon as the first trigger was pulled, the gang saw him appear everywhere as the sparks flew. Still, not a single drop of blood was shown, not a single agonizing scream of pain and death; only more and more of the blond in front of them appeared before vanishing entirely, causing them to stop firing.
"What the fuck was that, boss!?" One of the men was looking around wildly. "Who the hell is this guy? Is this some damn Wutai grandmaster or something? Ain't anyone saying anything about clones and teleportation!"
"Get your act together and find him! NOW! He's playing us; don't let him get the jump on you!"
As the gang started searching the area, Naruto was on the ceiling hiding behind a support beam that had fallen through the roof. He witnessed their splitting up and gently let go of the roof with his feet and used the support to orientate himself before falling right on top of one member, knocking them down without a sound and crushing his neck underfoot before tossing a Kunai, hitting behind another patrolling member.
As the sound alerted him, and everyone else, some of the more frantically shocked members started firing, which covered the Uzu Sage's next move of grabbing the guy he threw at and pulling him back harshly into hiding and quickly snapping his neck.
Swiftly, the ponytail sage went around the underside of the area and grabbed another kunai. Just as he came out into the open, he slashed the throat of another gang member before twisting, jumping, and throwing it in mid-air. The thrown kunai was thrown with such speed and power that it not only struck into the heart of the more far-off patrolling gang member, but it shot through them enough to exit and drop behind the now dead man's feet.
Naruto ran up the tunnel wall and saw seven more enemies, grabbing three shurikens and throwing them with an arc as he jumped off the wall; the throwing weapons spun with such speed that their arc curved. Two were sliced into the heads of two enemies, and the third whipped past the leader's head and cut the helmet. The leader looked at his hand after wiping the scar on the helmet and then back to see that the blond was gone. "This cannot... No... Not happening, not happening! Show yourself, you fucker!"
"Why should I," Naruto's voice echoed throughout the area; "Considering all the people your band of assholes has murdered and violated down here. I don't see a damn reason why I should give any of you an honorable death."
The leader snarled, "Big talk about honor coming from a ninja! I fought in the damn war and saw what your kind did to prisoners." He held his gun tight, looking in every direction; "You're as much of a scumbag as I am."
"See, that's a problem. Yes, I am a Ninja... But I am not from Wutai," as soon as he said that, however, Naruto's paranoia kicked in, thinking any unseen eyes and ears might get that back to others. "Not that I remember with amnesia, but I am not scum like you!"
Seeing how the blond picked off his patrols, he recalled the last of his guard. "Get back here, everyone, now! Back to back!" Doing as he said, the leader and his remaining four members looked everywhere, but the sound of a sharp object was heard before the leader stopped moving.
Silence rang throughout the area, all but the slight panting fear of the leader, who turned his head and body around to see his four remaining guys. Appearing behind them, in front of him, was the man responsible for the deaths of every member of his gang. Naruto took his sword, still sheathed, and brought it up and horizontal. "I should correct my earlier remark, and I WAS a Ninja. I'm much more than that now, much stronger than that. I am a Sage, and thugs like you? A Sage shows no mercy to horrid evil thugs such as you."
"Turn behind you idiots! He's behind-!" he gasped as the four rigid standing men fell to their knees. Their bodies arched back to show a kunai buried in each of their foreheads, all holding a shuriken through the hole on their heads, marking a bullseye that was already hit clean and without any damage to the metal objects at all.
The bright blue eyes of the master fighter before him paralyzed him, and the leader could do nothing but shiver in fear. "Any last words?" Slowly and unnaturally, silently, the blade unsheathed, the blade shadowed, and the sound mute. The sage's blade tip was pointed at him, and the leader fought to control any part of his body.
Stepping forward once, that was all it took as Naruto broke the paralysis the leader had experienced. The horrible bandit grabbed his gun and fired at the enemy in front of him with every bullet in the clip until the gun clicked empty. The flash of the gun blinded the leader enough that once the shooting stopped, Naruto was gone from his sight.
His sight, however, was slowly dividing. One eye looked down and to the right, the other up and left. Behind him stood Naruto, his ponytail floating behind him and his sword dripping blood. "Hope you suffer in your next life, prick."
The body of the leading bandit dropped into a dozen pieces of meat, and his helmet was cut cleanly with every piece of the head it was on. Kurama was grinning ear to vulpine ear. "Brutal, I like it."
His host grunted lowly, "Think I've hung around Maw-Maw Meihui and great-granduncle Genryu a bit too long." The blond had noticed he had no longer gotten a more draconian sense of justice—a far cry from his younger days of just beating up bad guys and locking them up.
"Least you're no longer that naive little brat you once were," Kurama remarked as he appeared sitting on the hood of a broken car.
"We can thank a few good reasons for being my wakeup call," Retrieving his kunai Naruto surveyed the area; "Better sweep through this sector, making sure no more of these idiots are around."
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Never let it be said Naruto didn't do a half-ass job as he inspected every inch of the ruined Sector. Blissfully he found nothing save he found out where sector 7 was before turning back for another full sweep. The Sage left no stone or crevice overlooked. Oddly enough, he only found an intact bench where he took a seat to rest while placing his katana leaning beside him.
Manifesting, Kurama appeared once more beside his host.
"Place is a damn maze," the blond grumbled.
"Which will likely refill with more human scum or these monsters we keep hearing about."
Naruto deadpanned; "Your optimism is astounding," he droned before gazing upwards. "How long do you think we will be here?"
At that, Kurama raised a furry brow; "You assume we can even find a way back."
"...We have to. There has to be something..."
The old fox grunted; "And how exactly do we find something like that?" Naruto turned sharply to his comrade; "We have zero clues about what to look for in this place. But, never mind, we have not a clue if we find something that we can get it working."
"Are you saying we can't get home?" The blond rose from the bench and stood in front of Kurama; "I should give up going home knowing everyone is probably worried sick!" Anger grew in his tone; "My clan, my friends, everyone..." He couldn't bear how all of them were feeling now. And if he knew Karin as he did, she'd be relentless in finding some way to find him.
However, Kurama remained unfazed by the outburst. "We may not have any choice in the matter."
"I refuse to accept that!" Naruto began to pace, "Not everything I went through! We brought down that damn cult and saved Sasuke's soul. We were able to restore the Uzumaki clan, and I finally had a family! Now I'm supposed to give that all up." More emotion bled into his voice; "Hell, we know mages who've traveled realms!"
"And were you paying attention to their lessons!" Kurama snapped back; "They told you how realms and dimensions work in the multiverse. How there are endless worlds, many paralleled to one another. So finding us would be like finding a needle inside a haystack the size of a mountain!" That made the blond stop pacing; "Never mind, there could be versions of us in the same situation but in different realms. And they might have never reformed the Uzu or saved that wretched Uchiha friend of yours. Never mind the weird bitch that brought us here."
The two stared down before the Sage just sighed and turned to walk away. "Like it matters what brought us here, I still want to get back to ensure everything is alright. So let's get back and give our report."
Kurama's entity vanished from sight as he hummed in thought. "I do too, but if we cannot go back, we should at least do what we always do, make things go for the better." They returned in silence after that.
As they were heading back the way he came, he leaped over much of the rubble this time, and as they got to a higher point, he saw an area with a dense high wall around it. Wall Market, Naruto looked intently. "I get the feeling we'll be loathing that place... can't fathom why, but it's giving me bad vibes."
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Dutch is based on... Dutch from Black Lagoon. An those who know the name Sofiya, you'll see her next chapter. See you then!