Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Final Fantasy VII Remake
Co-writer and Beta: Godospartan the kitsune
Chapter 6: Just another day in Midgar
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Cigar smoke lingered through the air of the executive office of the seventieth floor of the Shinra building. Or otherwise known as the presidential office where the most powerful man on Gaia resided over his empire. The room itself was utterly huge and pristine with numerous square pillars, plants, glass walls to look down upon Midgar with a helicopter pad on the outside. A large red carpet with gold accents went from the large doors of the room, all the way to the enormous desk where sat an elderly man in his sixties holding the lit cigar between his fingers. Adorned in a striped burgundy suit with a white shirt and black tie, short combed blond hair with hints of white strands in places, a thick mustache.
His sapphire orbs gazed coldly towards a bandaged Cissnei who stood in place of Tseng as he required more medical attention after their fight with Uzumaki. Near at the side of the desk stood professor Hojo who gazed at his laptop monitor. His eyes garnering every detail his drones took of the confrontation between the Turks and this mysterious 'retired' shinobi. Cissnei spent about an hour going through the debrief of the failed mission to her superior. The president remained entirely unreadable during it whiling smoking or taking a sip of his expensive liquor from his glass.
Though his brow did cock once the young woman finished; "Another shinobi village?" His deep baritone conveying faint interest. "Tseng is certain of that?"
"Yes sir, there is no way Wutai would allow such an individual like Uzumaki to ever leave their island nation. Not with the kind of power and level of skill he has. Thus coming under the conclusion that I agree with of a possible second village of ninja out there." Cissnei addressed neutrally.
Hojo glanced up from his viewing; "This man certainly does not match anyone of 'W' skills we have been able to study. Especially one with that kind of power he wields."
"What is that 'power' he controls," The president questioned taking a drag off his cigar.
"I would need samples or the man's body to even begin to grasp what that is. But if Wutai held such power they would not have hidden such a thing during the war." Hojo lamented with a shrug.
"Further, after the brief interactions of dialogue Tseng managed to get in before the fight, and everything else regarding his attitude, it's highly unlikely he ever undertook learning of any caliber from Wutai's nation. As far as we can tell, he may be operating on his own and not against Shinra in any fashion." The young woman couldn't say anything about their current situation or talk in favor of them or the ninja she anxiously wanted to take down a notch for breaking her beloved weapon. She had to remain professional, as per Tseng's instruction.
Hojo could only give a wry giggle as he saw the many tricks flashing by from the fight. "He's clearly showing us quite the negative attitude, though. Whilst he may not be against us, he sure isn't with us. This complicates matters immensely. But it'll be oh so fun to finally accomplish our goals."
The president turned his gaze to Hojo; "Perhaps he is another ancient?"
"Highly doubtful," the professor quipped; "But that remarkable power of his might just be able to help us greatly."
Rubbing his chin in thought the president mentally mauled over the information given to him; "Taking this man would prove an asset for our plans. But if there is indeed another village like Wutai out there we need to learn who they are. And see if perhaps if they are observing us, or how long."
Hojo sharply turned his eyes towards the other man; "Wouldn't it be easier just to capture Uzumaki and find out through him?" Cissnei heard the eagerness in the professor's words.
"And how would you propose we go about capturing him?" Shinra turned and walked around his desk as he spoke. "He has proven strong enough to deal with even the most dangerous creatures of Don Corneo that we gave him access to, and fight on par with our more dangerous Turks we can throw at him. Short of dropping our entire force on him, I don't see his capture being a likely scenario. At least not without more information at hand."
Deciding to speak up on the matter herself, the wounded woman knew well what a war campaign would do. "Turning the undercity into a war zone would not go over well. Maybe we can spin a retaliation against him, but he's seen by many to be dependable and for the people, we'd lose the populace supporting us if we did. Not to mention, the collateral would devastate the area and potentially kill key figures in the area."
That last bit did make Hojo wonder about the casualties, given the blonde shinobi's proximity to the Ancient in the area. "Right... So we would require much more subtle methods..."
"Cissnei. As soon as Tseng is on his feet, have him join me for a board meeting regarding our future investigations on finding this second shinobi nation."
The young woman gave a nod and soon left upon seeing a dismissive hand waved from the president. Turning on her heels she began to walk slow but brisk pace overhearing Hojo speaking; "I do have some experiments that could prove useful in testing this Uzumaki. You're curious as much as I to see what this man could do."
"As long as the manner is performed so Shinra doesn't receive any blow back."
"Of course Mr. President."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Outside the office doors waited Judet and Maur who sighed upon seeing Cissnei finally coming out; "So how did it go?" The former detective turn Turk questioned crossing his arms.
"Right now we're paused on going after Uzumaki. The president is more concerned about this possible second shinobi village," The petite woman stated as she strolled past the two who followed.
Judet eyed her second in command with slight concern; "You should be resting."
"You don't just say no to the man who rules the damn planet," Maur countered.
"Sometimes I know we wish we could." As the three Turks made their way down the hall, Cissnei couldn't help but wonder more. Ever since the target came into view, everything had been like some weird superhero show. "Wasn't Rude supposed to be in today? Haven't seen him since getting here."
"Said him and Reno were going to do some recon in the undercity," Judet spoke by Cissnei's side.
Almost immediately the petite redhead felt a headache begin to start; "Please tell me they aren't dumb enough to go after Uzumaki?" Oh, who was she kidding... "Of course they would."
Muar and Judet both groaned as they knew that be the case; "Should we send someone after them?" Cissnei was quiet for a long minute; "Boss lady?"
"...Guess we have to, don't we. Get someone to stop those idiots before they get themselves killed."
XxX ~ the following day ~ XxX
Naruto had to admit, Tifa's bar looked pretty damn decent and well-made compared to much of the other places around here. Clean hardwood floors, walls, and a ceiling with decent lighting and neon. Photos of the buxom brunette along with Barret and the others she calls friend hung around the bar. Decent-looking tables and chairs with some pinball machines and a dartboard filled the interior. The bar was well stocked with a full-on kitchen. Outside had a well-made deck with more tables and chairs.
Despite wanting to enjoy the food made by the beautiful barkeep, his mind was more focused on the events of the other day. Thus why Sofiya, Dutch, and Barret were sitting at the bar next to the blond as he explained the event with the Turks. He gave a nod to Tifa who handed him a glass of water. At some tables were Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie; all bore hard expressions after Naruto was done talking; "Didn't take those bastards long did it," Dutch murmured lighting a smoke.
"I guess someone from Shinra was watching the Corneo Cup but didn't think they would send the damn Turks after you," Biggs scratched the top of his head.
"They don't send their top three agents in to talk. The collateral was kept to a minimum, that's strange given the rather impressive radius of your powers at such output to take on their skills." Giving her drink some love, the scarred woman could only think about the retaliation coming. "Knowing Shinra, they recorded that fight as well. Meaning they will be trying something else. If their legendary Turks couldn't take you down, I fear what will become of all the slums."
"Or, in other terms, what I need to do to make sure things doesn't escalate further, right?" Naruto had little idea of what would be coming for him. Shinra, as he knew thus far, had resources and people to throw away at any problem, and he suspected himself to be considered such right now.
"We can handle it," Barret patted his Gatling gun arm; "Those Shinra bastards thinking they can do whatever they want. We'll teach them otherwise."
Dutch gazed at his bottle before taking a swig; "Not that simple Wallace. The fact Shinra sent the Turks shows how serious they take Uzumaki. And the fact he took down Veld's best alongside Legend and that Cissnei girl likely got their attention. This puts things in a precarious position."
Naruto glanced to Sofiya; "Should I leave the watch then? For your guy's safety?"
A few looked surprised by the blond's question but his fellow blond shook her head; "No, the watch doesn't tuck tail from anyone. Not even to Shinra."
"Okay... so what would Shinra's next move be?"
Sofiya took a drag from her cigar; "If I had to guess. They might send someone in SOLDIER." Having to agree with her, Dutch tipped his glass in the air before drinking it down. "Ahhh, more than likely the nuclear option. That's if they think you dead is worth the effort. And as much as I hate to admit it, you've got the interest of everyone under the plate. High profile." That got him thinking. "Or maybe... You are too high a profile."
"And that's... a bad thing or good thing? Because as far as I see, it's a great thing for the slums." The young woman with the boys by the table wondered. Her round friend stared at her and she shrugged with a smile. "It's not like Shinra's going to cause any major collateral damage down here, right?" That drew the attention of many in the bar.
Sofiya did not share the sentiment of Jessie; "Oh they would. And would make damn certain none of the actions came back onto them. Or find a way to blame someone else."
Or course... Naruto deadpanned hearing a grunt from Kurama; "So just have to make sure whatever comes my way the undercity does not receive any blowback. Got it." Barret gave him a pat on the back and grin.
"We got ya back kid." Soon he along with Sofiya, Dutch got off their stools; "Let's get back at it, work won't do itself!" He chimed kindheartedly leaving the bar.
A soft whine escaped Jessie's lips as Biggs and Wedge followed suit; "Break time over already? I wanted to stay a bit more!" She was quickly snatched by Biggs as she was about to make her way towards Naruto; "Oh come on! Our new guy needs some TLC!"
"Boss lady gave him a few days off, that's good enough." Biggs bemoaned dragging his longtime friend out the bar with Wedge in tow; "And we don't know a thing about wirework."
Tifa giggled as the group left the bar leaving her and the tall blond who remained sitting; "Sorry for the trouble," He muttered.
The buxom barkeep waved it off; "It's fine. A few of us might have been hesitant about you since being a ninja. But you've proven you're a good man and helped out a lot. You've earned our trust and friendship." She paused; "Where's Aerith?"
"Helping at the Leaf House." absently his mind went back to the other night as his flower-selling friend had been rather evasive when it came speaking about the Turks. He shook it off; "I heard Barret was usually a hard ass to strangers."
"Oh he is, but getting rid of that gang of former Shinra troops won him over."
That was good to know, after a bit of silence observing Tifa grab the glasses from the tables and bar to clean them. He noticed she was mildly avoiding looking in his direction; something she has done since their awkward first meeting at Watch HQ. It wasn't out of any malice, Naruto knew that much. His cerulean stared at the woman's back while she cleaned the dishes at the sink; "Do I really look like that old childhood friend of yours that much?" At those words, Tifa froze up for a moment.
"W-what are you talking about?"
If he wasn't trying to look serious as is, he'd have rolled his eyes, with his head to match. "The time we first met, you tackled me to the floor calling me 'Cloud' and ever since then you've avoided me in any personal manner as best you can. You are a very kind individual and very professional. Barkeep of the century, no question. But you tell me how it looks when someone does that when they meet someone, and suddenly tried to avoid eye contact and general talk unless required?"
And to add to his point was the silence as the woman was slowing her cleaning of glasses to a crawl thinking of ways to respond.
A defeated sigh escaped the brunette; "You truly do look like him. Outside of those whisker marks and round face."
Naruto leaned against the bar; "The resemblance is that uncanny? How long has it been since seeing this Cloud guy?"
"Years," Tifa murmured; "Last I saw him leaving our village Nibelheim to join SOLDIER..."
That sparked a sharp look from the sage; "SOLDIER?"
"Ever heard of Sephiroth?" She glanced away from the sink.
"The legendary SOLDIER who battled against Wutai," Naruto recounted as he heard the name a lot in the undercity; "Lots of folks down here tell tales about him."
He noticed Tifa's face becoming unreadable; "Yeah... Cloud looked up to him, so much so he wanted to join SOLDIER. He wanted to be a hero like him."
The pony-tailed blond gave her an interesting look; "And Cloud vanished after that once joining Shinra..."
"Cloud was never a social person. Got into fights with the other kids, I think I was the only person outside his mother who practically ever spoke to him." Memories flood her mind resuming her cleaning; "My father didn't like him."
"How could you not like a child," Naruto frowned absently recalling how Konoha use to treat him when younger.
Tifa shrugged; "I never found out. I think it might have been because my father never got along with Cloud's. But I'm just guessing. All I knew about that man was he vanished before Cloud was born."
"So you were the only real friend he ever had." The buxom barkeep nodded; "He's lucky to have a friend like you then."
"Thanks. Though I doubt he fully appreciates it, and sometimes I feel I don't do enough to even garner such appreciation. Still, better to try instead of not do anything, right?" Even with a smile curving her lips, it wasn't all that happy still.
"Better than most do, anyway. As I said, he's a lucky man for having such a good friend." That gave him a more sincerely nice smile from the woman, though he wondered what he could do to get her mind off the negativity. He had many ideas, just wondered which one would be most effective to talk about.
A spark soon came to the blond's mind; "You're into Taijutsu right?"
"Tai...Jutsu?" Confusion danced on the beautiful brunette's face; "What's Taijutsu?"
"Means martial arts, sorry. You know how to fight."
Tifa gave a slow nod; "Was taught by Master Zangan. Mamoru-Ken he called it. 'To become a warrior one must understand strength is not only meant to defend yourself but those who can't defend themselves'." She recited some of the wisdom she remembered during her days of training.
Naruto liked the sound of that before getting back on track; "How about we spare?" His request was met by a surprised look from the woman.
"Uh... Why?"
"Because it might break the tension here, and I want to be your friend and all."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Tifa wasn't quite sure how Naruto persisted her into this. But her she and the sage were at the Abandoned Talagger factory inside one of its open warehouses. Still, she supposed it was better than doing nothing as the bar wouldn't open till later. And Marlene was at the playgrounds with Nayo watching.
Though she still felt a bit awkward; "You sure about this?"
"Yes," Naruto gave a nod; "And can't help being curious what you can do."
Gloves in hand, the buxom barkeep started putting them on as she sized her opponent up. "After all the rumors and news floating around you, I can't help but feel like I'm going to regret being on the receiving end of your blows." In her head, she could only further that sentiment. 'Haven't seen Cloud in so long, can't tell if he ever got as strong as this guy. Just how he presents himself shows I'm way under the skill to even touch him. Master, thank goodness you trained the goosebumps out of my system or I'd be having them right about now.'
"Oh, don't worry so much about whether or not you'll get hit. Friendly spar, nothing else. Doubt you'll be going full out on a friend and ally, so expect me to follow suit and hold back as well." Standing still, showing no signs of stance or guard, he watched his partner for this bout get into hers. It was a very interesting guard, to be sure, and he could see she was trained very well already. Smirking, he chose to copy someone he knew in his stance.
Tifa was quite interested to know what kind of stance the blonde took, as one hand was behind his back, the other in front of him as if becoming her to start the match already, and his body turned to the side. "What kind of stance is that?" 'One that will no doubt throw me on my ass...'
"Learned from an old buddy of mine. He and his sensei are HUGE martial arts nuts," Naruto lamented despite he had learned some Taijutsu from Rock Lee and Gai-Sensei. How Tenten and Neji stay sane around them is a miracle. "Unlike you and them, I sort of made my unique martial arts from a bunch of styles."
Tifa cocked a brow; "Really?"
"I'm just weird that way." He motioned with his hand for her to come at him.
"Well, let's see how weird fares against THIS!" Knowing full well the beating she was probably going to take by striking first, she chose to get it started as requested. Leaping in, Tifa got close before flipping her body and extending her leg to drop as hard an axe kick at her opponent as she could muster.
Choosing to be ever the gentleman, Naruto didn't just clobber her first strike. Instead, choosing to take the brunt of the strike in hand, catching her mid-air. The power, though, was enough to skid his back foot an inch behind him, but that only gave him leverage to chuck her backward and off him. A whistle escaped his lips, shaking his hand which looked to almost be smoking from the power he caught. "Reminds me of my friend already. He packs a wallop too. Then again, so do I."
Catching her balance from being thrown back, Tifa tightened her fists, ready for her defense. her eyes barely able to see more than a yellow blur of speed as the man before her only took barely two steps and was instantly in range for his attack to connect, which it did when her blind-side was struck by his foreleg, throwing her to the side before being caught by the shoulder and pulled up into the air and thrown into the corner where some soft dusty bags and pulled weeds were.
Eyes wide in shock, the dark-haired fighter looked to see the sage standing back in his stance as if he never moved. "That's insane..."
The blond smirked; "Not even getting started, hun."
Rising to her feet and dusting herself off, Tifa gets back into a stance with a more determined look; "Mind if I take it up a notch?"
"Go ahead," Naruto addressed brightly; "Show me what you got Lockhart!"
Eyes locked on his opponent, Naruto watched as his sparring partner raced in yet again, this time being way more cautious of throwing her all into an attack and more into leaving no openings as she struck swiftly, her foot coming up to snap at him. Ducking back just enough for it to miss, he watched her twist her body and thrust her heel out to catch him, the snap kick a feint to catch him off guard.
Twisting out of the way, the sage took the blow of her fist as it came crashing forward to hammer his chest, though his hand caught her fist just in time as the back of his hand rest against his heart. Pushing her hand back, Naruto watched her body shift from static to fluid, getting in way too close as her knee came up high even on her rather impressive chest to finally hit the mark.
Tifa kept her momentum as the blonde stepped back to get out of the way, but that was part of her plan as she stepped down and onto his knee so she could twist her body and flip forward, heel rising from under her to uppercut him fiercely. As he took his leg away and kept backing up step by slow and effortless step, the strong fighter in front of him had gained the forward momentum to almost cartwheel in the air to catch him with a final rising uppercut heel kick, which he continued to effortlessly dodge until she was upside down and in the air in front of him. Seeing his opening, he threw his punch, his fist twisting with his arm as it connected to the woman's arms that blocked instinctively when she saw he was just fine and without a single hit against him.
The punch connected and the twisting motion caused her to fly back and be turned right-side-up to land on her feet, though rather ungracefully as she stumbled onto her rump for a second before standing to her feet again.
'This Master Zangan-Jiji knows how to teach,' Naruto mentally mused in praise.
"More than that kit," Kurama quipped in a half-interested tone; "That girl has potential in spades to being your physical equal. Unless outside of using Senjutsu or my power, that little lady has some talent."
It said something when his grouchy Bijuu partner offered praise to a person. And it did not happen very often if not at all save one or two people from back home. The blond took his partner's words to heart; "Keep it up!"
"Got'cha!" In a blink, the buxom brunette charged at incredible speeds. Not Gai or Lee's level, but she was still pretty fast to keep him on his toes.
As her flurry of blows charged forward, a hook missing a hair on the head of the sage with a kick hitting air where legs were, Tifa could only think of how she was going to even land a hit at this point that wasn't blocked. 'Strength doesn't work, matches me in spades. Technique overall doesn't work; he's got that even more in the hole. How much speed does he have!?'
More than her even though sparks almost flung from her limbs as she rotated on the heel to spin sweep kick into a tornado roundhouse, landing in time to duck under his kicking attack and then charging in with a knee that was caught in hand by her sparring match. Her breath strained in the effort, chest tight from the exertion of her speedy attacks, Tifa could only continue sending blows. Body twisting, she throw rapid jabs from both arms, backing Naruto up in the process as he was starting to take even faster steps in various directions.
Diving to the side, Naruto gave room to breathe for them both, but his opponent was not letting go, staying on the attack as she jumped, twisting her body and slamming her heel into the very ground he stood a second ago before kicking his way with a wide-angle sidekick that led her to spin and kick the ground under her to launch into a feisty hook.
it was taking every step to calculate her next trike and get out of the way because as her momentum and speed built so did her power, showing her prowess in physical combat to be greater than anyone else he knew from this world so far. 'Give her enough training, even those three from before wouldn't stand a chance.'
His focus was razor-sharp; his light-colored hair waving from the speed his head had to move to get out of the way, her sheer speed launching into an uppercut that hopped her into the air. Even though she was technically in a state of easy prey in the air, her speed showed otherwise as her knee rose to strike at him before kicking out and launching her closer, enough to split kick his way.
Long dark hair flowed in the air, blocking off sight from Tifa's target, but she still knew he was still in front of her, as her split kick was caught instead of dodged. With every effort in her body, she kicked forward with her untouched leg and tried to connect a blow, only for it too to be caught. 'Here goes, my best move!' Roaring her held breath outward, she used her height and angle to hook her feet to the arm blocking her and pulled herself forcefully forward and saw her target moving to the side as the still straightened leg dug into the dirt.
Shifting her body, she caught the ground in front of her with her hands and kicked off the ground, standing on her hands as she spun her body around rapidly, legs out as she finally connected her first strike. Her leg swept the blonde's, pulling him down and towards her as her second kick landed and drove his body to turn around and fall above her. Rising and closing her legs above her, the multi-striking kicking attack soon sent Naruto spinning above her before she crunched down to the ground and launched herself high into the air to send the finishing blow.
With a strong mid-air spin, she brought the heel of her boot down hard on the blond's stomach. Slamming him full force onto the ground, the force was strong enough to leave some cracks. Back flipping away from her opponent Tifa took several hard breaths, she felt quite proud of herself till her jaw dropped as the tall blond slowly got to his feet. "H-how!?" What was this guy made out of, Adamantite?!
Naruto popped his neck; "Damn that was good." His tone not out mocking but high praise.
"That brings down most monsters and bandits around here!"
"Were any of those bandits highly trained and any truly good in fights?"
"Well... I mean..." She couldn't rightly recall, and even if the buxom woman could remember a correct answer her mind was still processing that this man in front of her was showing signs of her attack being as strong as a teddy bear toy being thrown at him by a child.
Rolling his shoulders, as the ground kind of did stick to his back from that attack, the sage smiled as he explained. "Not saying there cannot be skilled fighters in bandit groups, but around here? I've seen more bite from a toothless squirrel than from any bandits. Still, don't sell yourself short. Sans the Behemoth I faced down, you'd probably have taken the Corneo Cup with that kind of fight in you."
Though skeptical, the buxom brunette saw he wasn't playing to her pride with fake words.
Naruto meant everything he said, the only difference between the two was their experience. While the scumbags and monsters in the undercity could keep your skills sharp. They did not compare to the extreme life and death situations the sage had been in. This included war against a giant legendary serpent god of destruction and his legion of demons and undead.
But closing the gap between them should be no problem as the blond mentally mused on it; "Say, how about when we're not busy we train together."
"..For real?" Tifa cocked a brow.
"Oh hell yeah," Naruto beamed; "Given enough time and training you can catch up to me. And that can go a long way down here keeping all the riffraff out of the sectors."
The blond observed the beautiful barkeep think for a long minute before looking back to him; "If it means I can keep Marlene and everyone else safe I'm game."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
An easygoing whistle came from Reno who lazily sat on top of a roof of one of the many buildings in sector seven near seventh heaven. He paid no mind to the towering shadow strolling his way; "So what were that target of ours and the barkeep hottie up to partner?"
Coming to Reno's side was a tall bald tan-skinned man adorned in a Turk's uniform with shades over his eyes and piercings in his ears. His stature and expression conveyed a pure business demeanor. "Nothing debauched as you were thinking. They were just training in the old Talagger factory."
"Seriously?!" Reno drawled gazing up to his partner; "With a babe like that, training would be the furthest thing I do with her." The redhead ignored the mild frown from his companion as he sighed; "So how good is he, Rude?"
"Immensely. If you want me to rate our chances, you may not like my answer." The chrome dome of a man crossed his arms, knowing full well the man who was their target was beyond them, and something told him he better keep eyes on the woman for future reference.
Pulling out his metal rod and tapping his shoulder as he thought about it, Reno was scowling now at the possibility they were in over their heads. "The punk hospitalized our boss, boss lady, and Legend..." Turning to his partner, passionate eyes spoke volumes. "I don't care if I lose a limb or two; he's getting hurt for it."
Despite always showing an overly lazy demeanor, Rude's longtime partner had always been fiercely loyal to the Turks. Even while being an insufferable unambitious ass and perv, he was there for any member of their group. Reno just has his personal way of doing things.
However, in this instance, it felt like the Genesis fiasco all over again.
Still, Rude wasn't about to leave Reno alone in facing down this retired ninja; "We should get as much Intel on this guy before any else."
"How many days do you think?"
The tall man crossed his arms in thought; "Three days."
"Can we shave it down to two?" Getting no answer by the look from behind sunglasses his partner was giving, Reno retracted the rod in his hand and put it away. "Fine. Noon in three days, not a moment later..." With that, he hopped to the next building to get a better vantage point of the two coming back from their sparring session, Rude in tow.
XxX ~ the following day ~ XxX
Kyrie gave her friend a long glance as she and Aerith strolled back to her older friend's house. "You're getting that look." The buxom teen commented.
"Hmm," The undercity florist perked up peering over; "What look?"
"Your weird spooky ancient look." She never liked speaking about that. In truth, it still freaked her out as it did when she was younger and Aerith knew about her parent's untimely fate.
It was the reason she stopped being friends with her fellow brunette after her grandmother had explained what Aerith is... And was the dumbest decision she ever had made. Especially since it was Aerith who saved her from a really bad situation a few years back. And after a long talk, the two buried the hatchet and became friends again. Or as Mireille had bluntly put it, her granddaughter stopped being a stubborn idiot.
But it was still a topic Kyrie avoided as much as possible. However, that has been rather hard of late as she had been keenly noticing the gazes Aerith has had for a while now.
"Oh I'm just lost in thought, it's nothing as dramatic as all that." Even if she was clearly very convincing, Aerith saw the glare deepen on her and was hoping continual denial worked to subside her friend's nose-in-business attitude right now. "Honest, I'm just thinking about Naruto, he's been rather busy of late, even more than when he first started helping around here. Can't I worry about a friend?"
Eyes rolling, the young thief was just about through with the bull. Hands being thrown up and behind her head, Kyrie twisted her body side to side as she explained bluntly. "Of course you can, we both worry about him. The problem is less about worrying, and more about HOW it's becoming worrying. Whenever you get that look, it troubles you till you pull your hair out. And don't say it's a normal look. We both know it's not. So, if it is about our sage-like buddy, then you will be spilling the beans even more because that means trouble."
And just before Aerith could open her mouth Kyrie interrupted; "And Gram along with your mom seen it too."
"I thought you hated talking about that stuff."
"I do," The buxom teen omitted; "But I know things are serious when you've had that look."
Aerith made a small grunt crossing her arms behind her back; "You really wouldn't believe me."
At those words she received a dry look; "And when you told me about my parents I learned not to assume anything when you're in ancient mode."
"It's not exactly a 'mode', you know."
"You know what I mean! You've been acting weird ever since Naruto showed up!"
'...Because he's not supposed to be here.' Aerith kept her inner thoughts to herself; "I could just be falling for him you know. I mean he is handsome and all. You find him attractive too."
Kyrie deadpanned with a tiny blush; "Because he's the most built man I've ever seen in my life!" And she knows it is just a physical thing because that damn blond knucklehead is way too crazy for her tastes. "What do you know that is so unbelievable about Naruto?"
A heavy sigh escaped the flower girl. She saw this going nowhere fast. With a serious low voice, she tried her best to end the subject. "Whatever my thoughts are, whatever my 'mode' is telling me? It's nothing you should concern yourself with. Naruto's just a very special and... Unique entity in the world. More so than you may understand and more than I can even think about." Turning with a smile, her hair flowing behind her with her short hop of a step, Aerith finished with a happy tone. "And that's all you get from me. It's honestly not something we can figure out now anyway, even if we tried."
Though unsatisfied, Kyrie did not press further as they neared the Gainsborough home. She supposed if her friend was still sorting it out, she would have an even harder time with it too. "Will you least explain when you do?"
"I promise I will," The florist smiled. Yet there was so much undone by the blond sudden appearance... Moreover, 'they' should have stepped in the very moment Naruto arrived. But now everything is changing, and she just didn't know where this was going to lead.
And then her thoughts turned towards that...Entity... Despite taking the appearance of a woman, Aerith knew that being was far beyond anything mortal they know. But what she did know was that creature was the reason Naruto came to their world.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Noah let out a long exhausted sigh while observing Aerith and her friend Kyrie going into the Gainsborough house. The young blond was adorned in casual wear while sticking to the shadows; "No sign of Rude and Reno," He muttered into his earpiece.
A low disgruntled growl came from it; "I swear those idiots have a death wish," Cissnei's voice quipped back. "And when they finally want to act professionally it is impossible to find them."
A weak chuckle escaped the blond Turk's lips; "They do have a roundabout way of things ma'am."
"AND if they roundabout into a lethal situation with someone we're supposed to observe and not attack again for the time being? Pretty sure we're all going to be hard-pressed keeping our emotions in check around him after that."
Seeing no signs of them near Sector Five, Noah leaped off to go to the next point of interest. "Mind if I ask you something? Regarding how the hell you three were taken down..."
"Unless it's classified, I'll give you as best an answer I can."
The silence was met with silence as he was making his way into the next sector. "He took you all down. Crippling you all in some way. As I hear it, he walked away as if it never happened. Did he just not find you three worthy of a quick death after defeat? Or am I right in suspecting he's not a cold-blooded killer? Because if he's sparing lives regardless, I'd feel a lot better knowing those two won't just become monster chow in parts of the slums darkest alleyways."
"...It wasn't about us not worth killing," Cissnei reproached; "We heard some reports of his work throughout the Undercity. He will kill without a second thought against people who have it coming. But he won't kill needlessly or for the thrill of it. And the fact he didn't kill me, Tseng, or Legend on account we're Shinra speaks volumes."
Noah rubbed his chin; "So he's not from Wutai is he? There is another Shinobi village out there on Gaia?" Just the thought of that was a huge revelation. Why didn't they help Wutai when facing down Shinra? Or were they enemies of Wutai and didn't care what happened to either warring faction? Have they been watching in the shadows all this time?
"Officially, we're looking into a matter concerning his origins I cannot disclose." Shorthand for obviously classified even to coworkers.
Noah got the message loud and clear. But thankfully, he was smiling. 'As much as Reno is gonna go for the throat, I believe it's going to end in another hospital visit and not the morgue, from what I can sense.' The core went from on high to low, as he stopped, seeing the subject of the conversation making his rounds around the very outer edges of Wall Market. "Found the target. I'll try to see if our boys are in the area."
"Good luck." Cissnei sighed heavily. "Rude's good at blending in when he needs to. Reno wouldn't risk getting caught being near this guy too early."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Despite being told to get some rest yesterday, Naruto had gotten far too restless at home and begun patrolling around Sector six ruins and Wall-Market outskirts. At present, the blond was taking a break at one of the small diners near Madam M's parlor. His brow cocked glancing up from his meal seeing two ravens perched on a roof looking at him. 'I swear those damn birds have been watching us.'
"They're ravens," Kurama drawled; "They watch everyone."
"The guardian of the undercity," The sage shifted himself upon hearing a deep baritone voice speak behind him. His eyes widened upon seeing Hangi approach, dressed in a very refined suit. "It has been some time my boy." The large man came to sit opposite of him.
"What's up," Naruto offered a friendly grin before resuming eating; "Guardian of the undercity?" He queried while munching down.
Hangi chuckled; "Your exploits in the watch have garnered the attention of many, my lad. The denizens of the borough under the great sky metropolis have breathed easier with the rate of monsters and bandits dropping slightly."
He heard many regarded the area with less and fewer hostilities lately, though he didn't believe it was all thanks to his involvement. His fox friend, however, was keener to enlighten him. "One more fighter against such hordes of horrors, and you think your impact is that little? I'll admit; it's not so strange or noticeable from us that you've had any impact given it's just your standard way of doing things. But to everyone else, it's more than normal to the point it tipped the scales. Your specialty, right?"
Chomping down on a big bite, Naruto groaned at the thought of being held as such a high figure again in such a wide view. Still, as he swallowed his food he could only continue talking to the man who joined him. "I'm just doing my part to help, like many in the watch. If more people fight the monsters, fewer monsters show up, nothing special. I'm just another resident of the place."
A chuckled escaped Hangi's lips; "So a humble soul."
"Not sure if I'm that," Naruto gave a lump-sided grin.
"So I bring a question to you. Why do you fight?" Naruto cocked a brow; "What drives you to face down those who wish to harm the defenseless? And not because it is just the right thing to do. What is your personal motivation to walk into danger and face down the unsavory and spiteful?"
...This felt like a test for some reason.
The blond thought for a long moment for an answer; "I've always hated bullies."
Hangi leaned in; "Care to elaborate?"
"If I did, would it matter?" If he didn't, he could tell the old man would not be satisfied. Groaning under his breath, the blonde shinobi could only try to keep it short. "Context then, tell me; do you believe the past defines our reasons for the future we want?"
"A question as an answer." Deciding to sit for the moment to talk seriously with the younger man, Hangi smiled. "Let's see... you are saying your hatred of bullies, as you put it, has something to do with your past. But does the past define that belief? You tell me. I'm just a nosy and curious sort. What does anything matter? Including your own work to reduce the monster and bandit population by a significant margin? What does any life matter in the grand scheme of things? We make it matter, that's how it works. So, if it matters so much to you to fight the good fight, there must be a reason behind it. Are you saying it's as simple as you were once a victim and do not wish to see others become as such?"
"Something like that," The blond quietly omitted as he stopped eating to gaze at the older man; "Would have likely been just another bottom feeder thug hating the world if not for one act of kindness."
Why he will always love and cherish old man Teuchi and big sis Ayame for giving a very lonely little boy free food on a bad rainy day.
Naruto looked at his food and back to Hangi; "The rest is kind of personal." And he did not know this guy too well save in passing.
The older man raised a placating hand; "I understand lad. Appreciate your honesty, a refreshing thing to see in the undercity." He rose from his seat; "I do apologize for disturbing your meal and the questions."
"You do this often?"
Hangi chuckled; "Only to those I find interesting, good day Uzumaki." The older man turned on his heels walking away.
'Weird dude,' Naruto muttered before resuming his eating.
Going around a corner further into Wall Market, Hangi only kept his ever-present grin while two ravens landed on each of his broad shoulders strolling into the shadows of an alleyway. "The destiny of Gaia has taken quite the paradigm shift indeed." He slowly vanished as he walked.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
The blond scratched the back of his head; "So you want to sell flowers in sector seven?"
"Yup," Aerith chirped brightly wearing a plain pink dress and sandals. "Why I figured this thing could get fixed up so could bring a cart of them there."
Naruto stared down at a slight beaten-up old wagon brought to him by the brunette. Barely finished breakfast when his young lady friend came over and dragged him just after he dressed to the sector five church. She explained she had sold flowers at Evergreen Park back in the day but stopped when the monsters and bandits got too thick. But now with the dangerous areas more cleaned up Aerith brightly decided to not only return to the area but sell flowers within sector seven.
"And you want me to fix this old wagon to take as much as you can to sell your good there?"
The brunette cupped her hands in front of her bosom; "Please?"
Scratching the back of his head in thought, wondering why he was being dragged into carpentry and restoration. Still, not like he had much else to do today or any reason to not help a friend. "Well, if that's what you want to do. I'll get it done quickly so we can head out and take it easy with a relaxing job for a minute."
"Like you prefer those?" His resident grinning friend retorted.
'Sometimes, furball. Besides, better a relaxing job than boredom.' With that, he went to see what he would need for the wagon. As much as it was in disrepair, what was there kind of held together pretty darn strongly. 'Well, not a bad amount of handiwork here. Guess the importance is sentimental.'
The blond sits down in front of the wagon looking it over with Aerith kneeling beside him; "How long you'd think it would take?"
"Less than a day maybe," Naruto glanced to her; "You make this?"
The brunette shook her head; "My ex-boyfriend did." Her voice grew distant. "He was good with his hands like you."
At that the sage paused; "You're okay with me working on this then?"
"Oh it's fine; I guarantee Zack wouldn't mind either."
Taking her word for it Naruto flipped the wagon upside down; "I recall you mention about that ex of yours. Was he an ass or something?"
"Not at all," Aerith quickly defended now sitting beside the tall blond; "Zack was just always busy with work. I think we just drifted away from each other."
She hid it well but Naruto could tell the subject was a sore spot; "Didn't mean to pry."
The brunette waved it off; "No it's fine. Heh, if I know Zack he's likely playing hero to some damsel out there."
Hmm, glancing to his friend the blond turned back to the wagon; "Besides cleaning off the rust, dirt, and dust. Replacing the wheels this thing should be good." This Zack guy knew how to build things to last at least.
Their heads soon sharply turned towards the doors as they opened loudly. Almost immediately Naruto's eyes glared hard while surprise danced on Aerith's. "What's up Mr. Wutai," Reno quipped as he and Rude walked into the church. "We interrupting your little date?"
"You sound jealous," Aerith quipped without missing a beat quickly rising to stand with Naruto.
"Not gonna lie, you're quite the catch there. But not my type." Reno smirked as he glared right back at the man with the ancient. "No, if there is anything I'm jealous of it's not being invited to the last smack down."
'And more Turks cometh. Is it me, or are they popping up out of the woodwork even more than ever recently?' Brushing off his hands, Naruto kept his eyes on the two black suits walking their way still. "You mean the trio didn't bring two more fighters than usual? Either they underestimated me, or you two aren't as skilled as them and they didn't want you getting hurt."
"Say that one again, tough guy!" Reno scowled. But his friend put a hand on his shoulder and held him back to calm down. Calming himself a bit, mister red hair tapped his toes on the floorboards in anxiety "Hey, Aerith? Mind stepping outside? I can't exactly go all out here with you in the room. I got a couple of bones to break with blondie there."
The Sage blinked for a long moment before peering down to his brunette lady friend; "So how does a Turk know your name?"
"Oh don't play coy," Reno snapped; "You Wutai found out our dear Aerith here was an ancient so you came to get her!"
...What the hell is an ancient? Pure confusion glowed on Naruto's face though curiosity danced on Kurama's.
A low groan escaped Rude's throat while rubbing his temples. Aerith deadpanned at the lazy redhead; "Wutai doesn't even think Ancients still exist Reno;" She drawled.
Rude adjusted his shades; "Normally I'd take your word on that. But this isn't about Wutai..."
"Rude..." the brunette quietly muttered.
"Excuse me," Naruto spoke up; "What the hell is an Ancient?"
There were two gears for the rod-wielding Turk. Lazy as can be, and fiery passion that could get him in trouble for his big mouth. Reno was not thinking about what he was talking about as both his friend and the local flower girl were ready to punch him themselves to keep him silent. Too late, though. "You know damned well what an Ancient is; do NOT play coy with me! You know they are the old race of guardians to the planet, with connections to the entire lifestream! No way you being with her so much isn't something to do with that."
"RENO!" Both non-clueless people yelled at him.
Naruto was processing that a bit but didn't rightly care for the time being. "So you're here to stop me from... what? Taking her to Wutai? I don't even know where Wutai is, let alone care about taking anyone anywhere they don't wanna go." He WAS going to ask more about this later though.
The tough-looking bald guy groaned loudly as he fixed his glasses on his nose. "Forgive my friend for his outburst. He does not exactly understand that he shouldn't be talking about that in public. We both came here for you, blondie. Not because of your connections with Wutai."
Naruto was quick to pick on those words; "So this is payback for your bosses and that one dude with him." Now the blond walked around Aerith who quickly stopped him holding his arm.
"Reno and Rude aren't bad people." She was quick to defuse the situation that was growing. "Reno can be an idiot but he's okay." she ignored the vocal indignation from the redhead.
Rude spoke up; "You know what we do for a living Aerith. We're not saints."
"But you're not evil either," The brunette stood firm on her words. "Neither is Tseng, Cissnei, or the other Turks."
The blond eyed his friend before glancing back to Reno and Rude and back; "Don't think they are in the mood to listen. And we're going to talk after this." He continued around the flower girl grabbing his ebony katana that was leaning against a pew. "Don't you boys think it best we should take this outside?"
Out of respect for Aerith, Reno scoffed and turned around. "Just outside, you ain't getting a head start to escape buddy. We're doing this, got it?"
"Acceptable." He gave his friend one more look and smiled. Wanting to reassure her he would not do anything too harsh to them. With that, the three men left the church, with the Ancient putting her hands together in prayer.
With them all outside, the sage watched as Rude tightened his gloves and his tie, making sure everything was ready for heavy movement. Reno's rod came to electrical life alongside him. "Ready for this? We won't be as easy to take down as you might think."
"I don't underestimate anybody," Naruto spoke plainly. "Unless your Corneo's goons and they are about as dangerous as soap." Aerith quickly came outside staying at the top of the steps of the church. "So who's first?"
In a flash, Reno vanished in a burst of speed and light with his rod coming at the blond; "Me!"
Whilst not new to having someone be extra fast, it's been a long time since the sage faced someone who could do what Reno just did. Still, the surprise wore off fast as he reacted with a simple block of the rod with his still sheathed blade. Stepping back for a distance, he was found to be predictable by the bald man's keen eye for fighting as he was behind the blonde quickly and already coming in to grab him.
Jabbing the dull end of the sheathed into his gut, Naruto kept him at a distance and ran to the side to dive from the next speedy attack from the redheaded Turk. 'Color me impressed so far...' He had a hunch, but he'd need to draw the fight out to prove it. And thankfully, he was going to do just that to piss the man attacking him off even more by ducking under a spinning side kick that turned to a backward heel uppercut. Back flipping away from Reno, he was met with the man face to face inches from each other, with the redhead striking and hard with a jabbing attack from his extending rod.
Using his own speed, Naruto simply vanished from the space he occupied to above his opponent. As he did, he saw how the speedy one managed to practically teleport from one attack in the air to right in front of him as his friend had pushed him and was jumping up to meet him right now. 'VERY impressed.' Spinning on a Gil, the blonde kicked out and knocked Rude back and away before dropping on top of Reno, who landed on the ground only to look up and get a kick to the chest that sent him to meet his pal, clobbering them both to the ground in a heap. 'They are either really good at group combat, or just sync on a level even those three before could do. These two are damn good at coordinating their movements with each other in a fight.'
Reno was the speed, Rude was the strength and both complimented each other's skills extremely well. Naruto tapped his sheathed blade on his shoulder; "Got more to show?"
The bald Turk popped his neck; 'He's going easy on us.' Rude's eyes were sharp enough to know if an opponent was being serious or not. And their current target was being gracious. He casually took off his broken shades pulling out a new pair and putting them on.
Naruto snorted; "Fight in style. I can respect that."
Looking to Rude, Reno gave a small huff and slump of his shoulder. "He's making us look like chumps... Time for plan B." Rude gave a nod, and Naruto was waiting for the show to end.
Baldy grabbed the weapon from his friend and sprinted full speed for the blonde. This was a very unexpected tactic, but one the sword-wielding warrior was figuring out as a trick tactic. He was right, but as he watched the bulky man come at him and get ready to attack. Expecting a back attack, the blonde kept his ground. Reno had his number, though, and with his expert speed had grabbed his weapon from his partner's hand and jabbed forward with a flashy and lighting quick lunge.
Stepping out of the way, their target dodged effortlessly to the side as Reno flew past, but long muscled arms circled and finally caught the sage in a tight grasp. "Got you now."
"Don't underestimate us!" Roaring in effort was the lighting wielder as he landed and leaped for their target, powering his weapon to the max as he struck down at Naruto.
Thinking fast, the blonde twisted his body shared, planting himself to the ground to do so as his movement picked Rude up from his being in his own rooted position and swung him out of the way with Reno missing by just a few inches of his target. Enough so that Naruto struck with his foot,
Kicking the man in the gut and launching him back on his ass and rolling a few times before stopping. Now with both of them out of danger of hurting each other, Naruto stomped his kicking foot onto his captor's foot and slammed his head back into the bald head behind him.
Unable to keep his grip, Rude hissed as his attempt to minimize the damage of the backward head-butt was for naught, the skull smacking his was made of stronger stuff than even Cissnei's weapon in his mind as he was suddenly launched back by a hook to the chest, knocking him to the ground to the side.
"You two are pretty damn good," Naruto omitted respectfully; "But I think we know why only Tseng, Cissnei, and bomb guy fought me." Outside of using Kurama's power those three were his physical equals in martial combat.
However, Reno only spat out some blood onto the ground; "That's what I think of your praise blondie."
Concern only grew on Aerith's face as she knew Reno wasn't the type to back down when angry. "Stop this!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears as the two Turks got back to their feet and pressed on against the blond. "You can't beat him!"
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Noah walked down the dirt path for the sector five church; "Three days and noth-." He came to a stop as he saw at the front of the church was his Turk companions facing down Naruto Uzumaki. And losing badly... He also saw Ms. Aerith Trying to stop them from fighting.
"Oh... Crap!" The young blond sprinted.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Rude caught his partner after getting a roundhouse kick to the chest by the former shinobi. Both were huffing with exhaustion while their opponent did not even look winded. Hell, he hasn't even drawn his sword against them. "How much further do you two want to keep going?" Naruto questioned with a light pace.
"What the hell are you, a damn SOLDIER," Reno huffed with frustration.
"Nope, just been in life and death battles since I was twelve years old and been fighting ever since. Traitorous psychotic ninjas, warlords, slavers, immortals, monsters both small and big, and pure evil demons. You name it, I've fought it." Naruto addressed seriously.
Growling, getting on his very tired feet, the redhead could only wonder what kind of past this guy had. Yeah, he knew now it wasn't Wutai, he saw enough of their tactics to know this was not their style. Still, he wondered just who was this monster of a warrior. "Alright, but you still need to take a hit. We aren't... going... to let you beat our friends without getting a WOUND!"
Screaming as his body protested, Reno took to using every effort, all his power, to flash into the range of the man before him. Striking down, chopping with his rod, the blonde dodged out of the way as Aerith tried getting into the way, only to fail as Naruto kicked the legs from the Turk, and grabbed his arm before throwing him to his partner again, who was practically unable to move at this point.
"Look, they attacked me. They gave me no choice, I gave them no choice. They wanted me brought in, I told them no. They tried force, I defended myself. I do feel sorry for their injuries, but they were damned tough. Do you want a wound? Give me a reason to get one." he was already noticing his friend trying her all to stop him vocally. He needed to knock them out and without more damage.
Rude got up and made sure his dressing was pristine. "You want a wound earned? Fine... Cissnei deserves that much."
With bald head shining in the day, the tough fist-fighter got into stance and range, quickly enough that even Naruto was impressed. But what impressed him more was the passion and fire, the dedication as Rude threw every single punch, hook, and jab, and straight throw as he got into every single defense he could.
The guard Rude had was surprising from every single angle, though Naruto was able to see every opening. Eyes concentrated on his target, the darker-skinned man threw his all into every strike. Left hook, right jab, right uppercut, sweep kick. He kept his momentum, not letting up. 'Come on, one hit... All I need is ONE!'
Naruto sighed seeing the impatient man's strikes, every dodge was hopefully demoralizing. Naruto cut down under a jab and uppercut the man, only to find a knee suddenly come up and knock his chest, causing him to finally get hit by the Turk combo squad. Rude smirked through his bloodied lip. 'He WANTED to get hit... He was hoping for a counter! This guy's pretty damn determined.'
Although, before the tall pony-tailed blond could land an attack, a shorter blond ran past him delivering a hard kick to Reno's chest. The force sent him flying back into Rude who caught him. Noah quickly spun on his heels with his nunchaku out; "Okay this is over please!"
Naruto however saw the attire the younger blond was wearing; "Am I really to believe that from 'another' Turk?" He blinked as Aerith had run down from the steps and stood in front of Noah.
"This is done," The brunette spoke with finality. "Noah take Reno and Rude out of here."
"Yes, Ms. Aerith!"
The sage eyed his friend for a moment before grunting and walking over to take a seat on the church steps. He said nothing as he observed Reno still wanting to fight till being knocked on the head by his fellow blond's weapon. Rude didn't seem to want to continue fighting as he simply grabbed his unconscious partner and walked away with Noah. He stopped for a moment looking back; "Sorry for the bother." With that, he continued walking away.
Aerith let out a long sigh slumping forward before turning her attention to Naruto who looked at her evenly; "So how are you so chummy with the Turks again? And what is this Ancient business?" By his look, he was expecting some answers...
Oh boy...
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