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Night City Legends

Chapter Five: A Canvas with Two Faces

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One month later…

Late evening…

Despite what Ms. Welles had told him earlier about not banning him, Naruto still didn't feel right visiting the El Coyote Cojo after what he did to her son. Yeah Jackie was drunk and started the fight but he was literally a trained killer… hell, he was trained to subdue targets if needed. He wasn't sure what came over him to be honest, he just felt this angry wave well up inside him and grabbed the first thing he felt had a good weight to it.

When he asked about him, Cami waved it off saying he was fine. But Naruto knew better, he hurt Jackie, he felt bone break or maybe it was his chrome? Either way he knew there was no way that Jackie just got up and brushed it off so he pressed her for the truth. She finally told him and it was about what he expected. Jackie was lucky to be alive, his chrome kept his face from caving in. Naruto felt awful about it, he vividly remembered aiming right between the man's eyes that night with that pool ball.

So he avoided the bar, the first week or so Cami didn't mention it at all, after all things were still fresh but later on she told him that Pepe had been asking about him, for him to come down and have a drink some night and that after another week even Mama Welles had wondered about him.

He said he would stop by sometime when he had the chance, but he'd been busy with work. Hell, he'd only been able to hang out with Cami a few times since he started working, between doing his scouting and recon around the area claimed by 6th Street, he'd been pretty busy. He needed a lay of the land, needed to know the who's who and what's what, all in a city he barely knew.

But he learned a thing or two from the old perv. Jariya was every bit a spymaster as he was a pervert and passed on many of his teachings… well some more than others. But he had improved on some of his master's teachings, where Jariya spent years cultivating his network of informants to gather information in the long term, he figured out how to handle the short term.

Shadow Clones and Henge… and his Sexy Jutsu too on some occasions.

What would normally take weeks or maybe even months of prep time; getting a lay of the land, scoping out locations, blending in, cultivating relationships, mapping, compiling and comparing data, he could cut down on much of it by sending out his clones under disguise and just have them wonder the area. The old man laughed and said 'If you want it done right, do it yourself', that he had found a truly Uzumaki way of doing it. But he also warned him not to rely on it completely, he'd still need contacts that could access what he himself couldn't.

In his room at the Motel, Naruto opened his eyes and rose from his meditation position on the cleanest section of his floor with a frown. His clones were out scouting as usual and one just dispelled having found something gruesome, some poor dude was snatched off the streets and into a van that drove off. The folks around were freaked out but generally had a 'at least it wasn't me' reaction to it but his clone followed them. They didn't drive too far and disappeared into a filthy garage he had no trouble sneaking into just in time to hear a gunshot.

Whoever the guy was, they didn't need him alive. It was worse actually, they just wanted his implants. The clone didn't stick around too long, once they started ripping into the body and harvesting he took a quick look around to find several other mutilated corpses stuffed in a dumpster like regular trash.

He rang up Rico over the holo. They weren't wearing 6th street gear but he had to double check.

"Hey kid, what's up?" Rico's face popped up on the holo, a new feature he just learned to use from Cami not too long ago much to his embarrassment and enjoyment, she liked to chat while bathing.

"Does 6th Street have anything to do with kidnapping people off the streets and chopping them up for their parts?" He wasn't beating around the bush here, if the gang blatantly harmed normal civilians off the street like this he wouldn't stand for it and would cut the 'contract' short, damn his word.

Rico's head jerked back in shock, "Goddamn kid, some of the gang are rough but we ain't Scavs." he took a drag off his smoke, "What brought this shit up?"

"Saw some people snatch a guy off the streets and I followed them." He was already moving around the room. He had to do something. "Shot the guy and started cutting him up. Looked like they were taking his implants."

A small puff of smoke obscured the call for a moment, "Fucking Scavs, they're no friend of ours kid, believe me on that. Theyre a fucking plague, just a buncha butchers." he spat on the ground next to him. "They'd klep the optics out of a lil old lady if they thought they could bank the eddies for em. You get rid of em and I'll make sure you'll get something for your troubles."

He was already planning to, but getting paid to do so was just as good. "Consider it done." he ended the call and looked at his gathered gear. One Overture revolver, a dozen or so Kunai and Shuriken, a knife, and a plate carrier courtesy of Rico. He would have to look into recreating explosive seals as soon as he found a good place to do so, he remembered the basics well enough but didn't want to risk blowing up a motel full of people if he made a mistake. Some storage seals too now that he thought about it.

Thinking about seals made him think of Kurama and the toads. The Fox was nowhere to be found, he'd meditated for hours trying to connect to him with no success yet at the same time he still felt his chakra which baffled him. Summoning was a waste of chakra no matter how much he pumped into the jutsu, each attempt failed and he really wished he could summon at least one familiar toad, hell maybe even a tadpole. Anything to get that connection back home.

"No, focus!" He gave himself a couple pats on the cheek. He could get depressed later, he had some scavs to deal with now, he'd make Night City a little better in the process too.

His phone buzzed. "Hey kid, Scavs may look like a buncha gonked out deadheads but they usually have some kinda contact with other scav crews, keep an eye out for anything that might have some deets. Maybe we can flatline their whole op in our territory. Make the whole damn area safer."

Yeah, that sounded like a decent plan. He shot back a quick reply and donned his gear. Holster on his thigh, knife and pouch on his belt, plate carrier on and covered by his vest. It felt different but not in a bad way, just different.

But he had one last thing to put on and he would be ready, Cami's gift. It reminded him of the older oni masks that some samurai used from the Land of Iron, Painted a dark orange with a grinning maw of teeth and black lips. She thought it looked cool and would fit his 'ninja' style, and he thought it a perfect homage to Kurama. He had to replace the strap on it as the cheap elastic wasn't reliable enough, but a few strips of synth leather later and he had it tied securely over his face.

He couldn't just ignore these Scavs like the rest of Night City seemed willing to do, it wasn't right. Sure, they'd probably get taken out sooner or later once they snatched someone with connections but how many more would they mutilate before that happened?

-xXx-

The area around Arroyo he found himself in was a maze of industrial plants and mega buildings that filled the air with the scent of rust and chemicals mixed with trash and filth. Naruto was certain a good portion of the smell came from places like this garage where Scavs were harvesting chrome from their victims, what they did with the corpses once the dumpsters were full he didn't know. Hell they probably just left them to rot.

From his perch atop a Petrochem chemical tower, he looked down across the street at the target building and mentally mapped out the area. There seemed to be two guards at the front doing a poor job of hiding the fact that they were guarding something. Another two were walking around the outside perimeter talking loudly but every now and then one would go inside for a minute before returning.

Behind him there were a couple puffs of smoke as three clones popped into existence behind him, "Alright, let's do this quietly," he spoke to himself, the shadows nodding at his words, "and remember, no scav escapes."

If anyone were watching at that moment, all they would see is four blurs leap off a Petrochem cooling tower and make their way down below. One clone landed on a series of connected pipes and scaffolding that crossed the street soundlessly, using it to pass the road below and leap over the barbed wire fence surrounding the garage. Another followed suit but jumped from the pipes onto a passing heavy duty truck that followed along the road where he cleared the fence a little further from the first clone. The third clone followed the original and descended the tower back down to street level. With a small series of hand movements the clone nodded to the original and waited while he crossed the street and took up a position next to the tall fence before signaling to the clone. With a burst of speed, the clone made his way to Naruto who braced and caught his foot, giving the clone a large boost and tossing him up and over the fence, leaving Naruto to infiltrate his own way.

By walking through the front gate.

-xXx-

A little over an hour earlier…

Rayray grinned as one of his chooms called to tell him the van was here, things were so fucking slow these days that they had to start snatching random gonks off the street while waiting for any hot tips from their sources. Personally, he wanted a shot at getting his hands on that preem ass chrome from those vids that popped up a while back. Kleping that shit would earn them a hefty fucking payday.

But oh well, maybe one day. He didn't have time to dwell on it now, the van was pulling in past the rolling door and after closing it shut with a clatter of chain and metal, he and three others slung the doors open and grinned at the terrified gonk inside with his hand tied.

"Fucking tough luck for this chump hey Rayray?"

He smirked when the man visually recoiled back, realizing what they were. "Oh yeah Trav, you and Jean grab em, let's jack in and find out what he's got for us."

The meat struggled as the two went to grab him, only to be suckerpunched by the others in the van with him. After a short beating, he was picked up and tossed onto the ground where he coughed and whimpered. "Please no, ah!" He was cut off as one grabbed his hair and jerked his head to the side while Rayray approached with a cyberdeck.

"Beg all ya want choom," he took the jack and slotted it into the man's neural port. "No getting outta this." the programs started their work and an outline of his body appeared on the small data pad, "Hmm not a lot in you eh choom? Maybe we could just cut this one loose…"

At the man's hopeful gasp, they laughed again, "then again, it's been a slow week. Well just have to make do with you for now!"

"Aw poor fucker pissed himself,"

"Least he didn't shit, what's he chipped with?"

Rayray handed the linked datapad over, "Take a look," as he did, the driver and two snatchers got out of the car while he threw on a bloodspattered apron and his face shield with a holo overlay, not really practical but he liked mocking his victims by making it make faces at them.

"Ooh a medtech cyberheart mk.2 not the best but with the waiting list for one we can score a decent load on the black market." his partner mused before flipping through the data, "And synthlungs too, my oh my!"

Their victim whimpered and cried out as the link was pulled out, his system registering painful feedback at the improper disconnect. He was forced off the ground and on his knees by multiple hands, looking at the ground whimpering and sobbing. He'd never see his family again, would they think he abandoned them? Would they ever know what happened to him? His little girl would be devastated, oh god how would they pay their bills?

"Oh don't worry choom," he heard one say as he stopped in front of him, he opened his eyes to see a pair of rubber boots standing in front of him and followed them up. He was wearing some kind of green rubber hazmat overalls tied at the waist and a dirty bloodstained apron over a matching tank top. But the worst was the smiling holographic emoji over his mask. "You won't feel another thing, promise!" the smiley face winked before being blocked by the barrel of a pistol.

A flash of light, his head jerked back, and over the ringing in his ears he heard the fading laughter of the people… no monsters around him.

"Alright boys and girls, let's get this meat opened up before it starts stinking up the joint!"

-xXx-

Naruto watched the pair guarding the front for a moment, his clones should be surrounding the garage now, he hadn't heard any cause for concern yet, no screaming or gunshots to let him know something went wrong. As a matter of fact the only thing he really heard was the loud rumbling of the few vehicles that passed by here and there. He thought about using a henge and transforming into something that wouldn't stand out but settled to take cover beside a dumpster near the gate where he could peek around.

"Hmm?"

He watched as one of the two scavs stopped talking and looked over the other's shoulder.

"What's up?"

"Thought I saw something over there."

"Well, go check it out."

"Me?"

The pair went back and forth for a bit and Naruto used the distraction to move and slip past the half open gate. There were several junk cars and trucks scattered around and they all made excellent cover once you got past the open area by the entrance. The two he'd been watching kept arguing and that's when he noticed his clone over to the right of the building, peeking out where they could see eachother but the scavs couldn't see them.

Distract them he signaled before making another sign, Lure.

The clone returned an affirmative signal and leaned back out of sight. A few moments passed and a rough looking woman wearing dirty clothes with glowing cybereyes sauntered around the same corner with a rifle slung over her shoulders. "Hey, you two hear something over here?"

"Yeah, but this lil bitch is too much of a pussy to check it out." the scav in question punched the other in the arm and said, "Man fuck you," causing him to laugh.

She huffed and put one hand on her side, cocking her hip, "Well one of you come help me check it out."

"Goddamn your bossy today," the pair muttered amongst themselves, "I'll go and look since you're being a little bitch… like Terry over there." he muttered the last part, rubbing his arm where he'd been punched. He grabbed his pistol and gave it a quick check before walking around towards where the woman was waiting. "Be back in a minute, pussyboy."

"Fuck off,"

Naruto used the exchange to creep around the junk vehicle and move around the yard, he hadn't seen another clone or the patrol but he spotted evidence of a small struggle, fresh blood and drag marks leading to a half closed car trunk that had some red leaking from the bottom.

"Hey fuckface!" he heard the guard up front call out, making him wince, "You only want to go check over there with her cause you wanna lick her shardslot!" he took a breath, for a minute he thought he'd been spotted.

-xXx-

"Hey fuckface! You only want to go check over there with her cause you wanna lick her shardslot!"

Terry looked at the scav in question as he sputtered, face turning bright red to the point one would think he'd short circuited. He muttered a few curses promising payback and started clamoring denials only to stop when she smirked and raised a finger to her lip.

"You wanna huh?" she grinned at him, "Well come with me, I'll show you something to die for." Terry winked and turned around, walking around to the side of one the crew's vans and stopping at the side door. "Go on, open it up and hop in."

After a moment, the scav grinned, scrambling to do as she said, they were all keyed in to open their vehicles so he just grabbed the handle and it popped open only to stop short. "The fuck, whys the handle wet?" he snatched his hand away and looked at it in the light, it was blood.

He grunted as his face was slammed into the side panel before being spun around, Terry was no longer standing there, replaced by a grinning orange masked demon with blue eyes. "Who the fu-" blood spat from his lips and he gurgled.

The blond stared and pressed the kunai deeper, watching the blade sink pierce the roof of the man's mouth, it wouldn't kill him quickly but he'd seen the bodies they dumped in the dumpsters, they didn't deserve a quick and painless death. He looped his finger through the ring of his kunai and pushed again, pushing until his fist touched his chin. That killed him, still too quick honestly but the terror in his eyes would have to be enough.

Sliding the door open, he pulled the kunai from its impromptu sheath and pushed the corpse in where it landed on top of the twitching body of the female he now knew was named Terry. She was pale and desperately holding her throat with slick red hands, he'd slit her throat a couple of minutes earlier and was genuinely surprised she was still clinging on to life.

"Don't worry Terry," her eyes twitched at her name, "You won't die all alone, I bought you a friend," the floor panel was steadily getting slick with her blood, now with another body, the pool grew larger faster.

There was a duffle bag laying in the front seat that he'd found earlier, full of useless junk but all of that had been dumped out on the ground a little earlier. Now he'd use it for whatever useful stuff he found on them, he'd already searched the woman and took her stuff, a small roll of eddies, a pistol, knife, and even a maxdoc. He'd even snatched the small device she wore on her arm and tossed it in as well, apparently it was connected to her too as she had jerked and twitched when he did.

"Lets see what you got huh?" Pistol, eddies, no actual gear though, a knife, junk, junk, junk.

The girl's rifle went into the bag too, he had a rough idea of how to use it but knew better than to take a weapon he knew little about into battle. He learned that lesson using Lee's nunchaku in a spar, took two bruised knees, a hit to his head, and one he refused to talk about but a lesson well learned. Wasn't much of a haul all but it was more than he had. Since no one was around, he dispelled in a soundless puff of smoke, leaving a duffle bag next to the tire and a small steady drip of red coming from the door.

-xXx-

"Got us a simple job babe, Scav haunt. They've been snatching gonks off the street. Some of the vics families pooled their eddies to hire some guns to get payback… hey, you ok Dorio, hey."

The pale blond woman in question was built, bulging muscles everywhere, one could easily mistake her for a member of the Animals gang if they didn't know better. She had on a simple coat and tights spotting a few cyberlines on her face, mainly below one eye.

"Yeah, I heard you Maine," She looked up from her datapad and smiled from the passenger seat, "Scav haunt huh? Been a while since we busted one up. Where at?"

Her lover smirked back at her from behind his sunglasses and got settled in the driver's seat "Arroyo, new up and coming fixer got a lock on em near the Petrochem plant, dude called 'el capitan'" he was just as big as her, chromed out more than most ever dared to go without being called a Malstrom ganggoon. Dark skinned, blond haired, and with the most adorable blue eyes in her opinion, she surprised him with a quick kiss before leaning back.

"That's 6th street turf." the woman mused, "They gonna be ok with a couple of edgerunners rolling in heavy to zero a bunch of gonks?"

Maine shrugged, "If they aren't then they should've dealt with it sooner. El Capitans gonna reach out and make sure things go smooth." he reached behind her and grabbed his shotgun, setting it between him and the door before driving off towards the target location. They'd been running jobs around the city for a while, not long enough to be called veterans but with their training and skill the smart money was on them making a name for themselves soon enough. They were already talking about recruiting some fellow runners for the team, one being a techie by the name Piller, weird gonk but skilled.

She checked her own weapons, a pair of pistols and a rifle while Maine drove. "So long as we don't have to deal with those militant gonkholes in some pissing contest." she muttered, making him chuckle. "You hear back from that runner you were talking about trying to bring in, Kiwi?"

"Naw, not yet. Though from how I hear it, she's probably keeping tabs on us. She's a paranoid one." that made her laugh, "Who isn't in this city, hey

It took another 20 minutes to drive to the target location provided by their fixer, a old body shop long since bought out by one of the corps but yet to be torn down, they probably took it just to own the land or maybe even used it to fix up any of their work vehicles though they doubted it. They found a spot across the road and scoped it out for a minute with their optics until one had to point it out. "Maine, I'm not seeing any movement."

He nodded, "Yeah, scavs usually have at least one lookout, I'm not picking up anything."

They looked at each other for a moment before nodding, Maine checking his sidearm before doing the same with his lexington while she did the same with her Pulsar submachine gun and pocketed the extra mags.

They started towards the front prepared to go in guns blazing. "No guards out front. You sure this is the place?" She couldn't help wondering only to bump into her lover when he stopped short just past the gate

"Dorio, look alive. Check out the front door."

There was a wet red spray of blood on the wall, from a distance it looked like rust but the closer they got she saw that it wasn't. "I'm seeing it. Blood… and fresh."

The closer they got, they found a small trail leading to the side of the building and around some trash cans. They followed it around and took a look only to find a scav staring at them with wide unseeing eyes and a gaping mouth, head pulled to the side with his throat opened from ear to ear. Maine whistled lowly, "Goddamn, surprised his head's still on."

There was a banging noise on the other side of the wall, inside the garage. It made both of them flinch and duck as the metal wall nearby flexed, something heavy was thrown against it inside. They shared another look and she nodded to the building in question.

"Let's clear the area around it first, don't want some scav shooting that pretty ass of yours." he smirked with a wink.

Her eyes rolled, "Focus babe, i'll let you check it for damage later."

"Hold ya to it."

Both quickly checked the area, covering each other as best as they could. While it wasn't much, the training Maine got during his time in the NUSA armed forces helped them stay ahead of other poorly trained gonks they normally came up against. Dorio had gotten him to share that training with her early on in their partnership and was glad for it, probably saved both their lives multiple times honestly. She wasn't arrogant enough to think that they'd match up against a squad of fully trained gonks but they had the edge on a bunch of scav punks.

That said… where were the rest of them and what the fuck was going on here?

A quick loop around the building and they made it back to the front, Maine would normally have them split up and breach from opposite sides but with how strange this whole situation seemed he didn't want to split up and Dorio agreed. They shared a quick look as they leaned against the wall on either side of the front door. It was barely ajar but they couldn't see anything through the tiny crack.

"Ready?" she muttered softly, getting a nod in response. Maine aimed his shotgun at the opening as she pushed the door open from her side.

The garage was little more than a metal shoebox thrown up as quick and cheap as possible, like most buildings around Arroyo, in a mess of old tools and junk scattered against the walls. Several large and filthy pieces of machinery were great places to hide behind but as they approached they didn't see a single scav. Moving in further, Dorio pointed out the van that their fixer had provided a picture of, this was definitely the place.

The window was shattered and red streaks of blood ran down the side to the floor where they saw a small smear but a sudden metal clattering further in caught their attention first where they saw a small walled off area with a sign reading 'Office' further back.

"Let's check it out." He muttered, shotgun aimed towards the sound.

She hesitated "Not liking this babe, something's off."

But before they could move, there was a step, then a drag, a clatter, then from the doorway of the office a man in a green hazmat suit staggered out, half hunched over and clutching his stomach. He stumbled into the wall, breathing heavily and leaving red smears where he slid against the metal before noticing them.

"H-help…me… pl-please." the man choked out his words, each syllable wet with blood running down his lips. "P-Psy-cho," They heard a ringing sound and watched as he stiffened, falling to the ground with a wet thump and his head rolling a few feet away.

But they had more pressing concerns. Now they could see a masked man standing over the now headless corpse with a rather large cleaver in his bloody hand. They aimed their guns at him, the barrels shaking ever so slightly.

Maine cursed to himself, this wasn't what they were expecting at all, a few scavs with battered leadspitters and high on lace, maybe one or two packing some serious chrome at most for them to flatline but what the fuck was this? A solo runner maybe? A cyberpsycho? Fuck he hoped not, although when dealing with scavs he really should expect anything. He edged closer to Dorio, covering her a bit more with his own body just in case, neither had time to contemplate for now, they'd compare thoughts later.

Dorio took her eyes off the man for a split second as Maine edged closer in front of her, if it wasn't for the situation she'd kiss him for being sweet like that… or slap him upside his head, she'd decide later. But for now she got back to the situation at hand and studied the man before them. Blond hair, glowing red eyes, an orange mask with what looked like a plate carrier, very few pouches or other gear aside from a holstered pistol and a knife. While they weren't plugged into all the gossip in runners circles, she hadn't heard of a merc that looked like this.

"You don't look like Scavs," the masked man muttered, the blade clattering to the floor. He stepped around the corpse and they could see glowing red eyes staring them down. "Friends of yours?" it was subtle but Dorio swore she heard his knuckles crack when he clenched his fist.

"No, no friends of ours," Maine quickly snapped out, taking his hand on the pump. He raised it in a peaceful motion, aiming the gun slightly below the masked man's feet just in case but showing that he didn't want to fight. Dorio did the same, lowering the barrel but ready to raise it and open fire just in case. "Got a job to clear out a scav den, but ah, looks like you beat us to it."

"..."

Dorio was starting to worry and tightened her grip.

"Wish I'd found them sooner." the guy muttered, but in the silence both heard it clearly, "You're not with them… so I don't have any problem with you." he rubbed his head and both shared a quick glance. "Sorry to steal your job I guess…"

Maine cleared his throat, "No problem, saved us the hassle."

"This something you do often?"

"Ah depends really, if a fixer lines it up then sure."

"I see…" There was something about how he was speaking that set them on edge, too cold, too dead, was he close to going cyberpsycho? If so they needed to delta the fuck out. "I'm sorry… it's just… I knew these scavs were monsters but… one of their victims. Fuck it was just a kid." he lashed out and punched the wall next to him, denting it with a screech of metal that shook the rest of the walls around them, "She was a fucking child! What's wrong with this city!" Their guns were raised again. There was something guttural, so vicious that struck at a primal fear deep inside that made them feel like they were about to die yet afraid to fight for their lives.

He looked at them for a long moment, red eyes shining only to dim and turn blue as he let out a short huff and laughed, "You know, I don't know why Im bothering talking to you… you probably don't give two shits. This is just a job to you isn't it?" he didn't give them the chance to respond, "Well don't let me stop you, I'm leaving… but… the kid, her family should know what happened."

"Yeah, we'll handle it." Maine shot Dorio a look as she answered him and the masked man stared for a moment then nodded.

"Thanks,"

Out of nowhere the masked man was engulfed in a plume of smoke and Maine fired a round followed by Dorio, thinking it was an attack. Several boxes on the far wall were shredded by the buckshot along with a burst of lead from her SMG but when the smoke cleared both were shocked to find nothing there. No masked man, only the headless corpse of a scav.

They looked at each other for a long moment, "Did… did that just happen?"

-xXx-

Making it back to his motel unseen was childsplay, he quickly stepped into the bathroom and took a deep breath while leaning on the sink. This city…. It made his heart ache, the things he's seen in his time here would never be allowed to stand back home. Yeah there are some monsters that hurt others… a lot actually, but they were never just blatantly ignored. Anbu or even regular ninja would hunt down animals like this as soon as they got a whiff of it. He'd found a datapad detailing their 'harvests' and this particular crew had been operating for months, even hinting at some Corporate backing but there just wasn't any hard proof. He didn't know what pushed him to want to know, damn this city… it pushed and pushed and he even crossed a line he never thought he would.

He tortured that man.

A cold and hateful part of him said he'd been sloppy, caused too much damage vs the amount of pain he dealt, this butcher needed to suffer even more for each and every person he tore apart. The parts of that little girl in the cooler demanded it from him, screamed at him to do the same in return, rip out any and all cyberware the man had. And he did…

He had some metal plates around his stomach, hiding what looked like synthetic or cybernetic kidneys. The man screamed as he cut it out, begging, pleading, trying to struggle as he carved away with a clone holding him down so he couldn't move.

It wasn't until he was holding the organ in his hand and sensed new arrivals that he snapped back to his senses. He wanted to be horrified at himself to hate himself. When he saw the look his clone had he couldn't help but slug it with all he had, sending it crashing into the wall and dispelling. That flow of memories made it worse.

The scav was a lot tougher than he had thought. He'd stayed awake through his 'surgery' and once free managed to roll off the table and tried to stagger away. He didn't get far obviously, he'd lost too much blood and was trying to hold his guts in. Naruto couldn't let him go on, he had to die, a mercy kill though it somehow didn't feel that way. The man's own cleaver seemed like a fitting tool.

Those two mercs were a surprise though, it seems like someone hired them to deal with the group as well, nice to know that someone stepped up to deal with it even if it was a job.

*Beep* *Beep*

His phone went off, alerting him to a message, it was Cami and the thought of her lifted his spirits somewhat. "Hey Naru ;) you busy? What would she say if she saw him? That thought formed a pit in his stomach, what would she say to him? Would she call him a monster? Or would she see his actions as that of an avenging angel?

"No, just finished up a job actually. What's up?"

"Preem, you wanna chill and watch something on the Holo? Got a free Watson Whore marathon scription today.'

He looked at his reflection in the mirror, the blood spattered mask grinning back at him, flecks of blood on his face shining in the light above him. He almost didn't recognize himself as he took off Cami's gift and set it on the edge of the sink to wash his face. While doing so, his phone rang with a notification that she was calling.

No, he couldn't let her know about this... this part of him, hell he didn't even know it. For now, at least until he figured things out, he'd grin and bare it, act like nothing was wrong.

With a quick once over, he picked it up and grinned, "Hey Cami, yeah I'd love to hang out.

-xXx-

Jackie knew that he was dwelling, hell he was moping and feeling sorry for himself. Ever since that damn fight he's felt like a massive pendejo. He hated his father for all the times he beat him but absolutely despised the very air he breathed for all the pain the man caused his mother and that was before he knew the entirety of it. Hell, he kept his fathers belt handy just in case that pedazo de mierda ever came crawling back, the same one he used to beat him and his mother with. Before he'd planned to whip his ass black and blue before tossing him out like the trash he was but now he'd use it to beat him to death when he got the chance.

But the belt was more than that, it was also a reminder not to be like him…

For his mama to look at him and even get a hint of that bastardo made him feel no small amount of shame, he'd rather her hit him with her shoe like when she caught him sneaking shots of her tequila a million times than ever have a reason for her to say that again.

He promised to change and he meant it, he would cut down on his drinking and was determined to apologize to everyone, his Mama, Pepe, his friends… Camilla. Oh he owed her a hell of an apology, that guy too… What was his name, Naruto? He really needed to talk to him too. Shit, even if that dude whooped his ass again he couldn't really blame the guy.

Jackie really didn't feel like wasting away at the bar, especially under the disapproving yet understanding gaze of Pepe… or his mama for that matter. So he went to the next best place to think and waste away his 'sorrows' Chubby Buffalos. The place was pretty dead at this time of day and he sat at the bar by the kitchen windows, the only other person there being a redhead chica sitting a stool away looking just as miserable.

"Long day eh V?" he asked, looking pointedly at the three cups of what seemed to be synthcoff.

She looked over at him and huffed, "Try a long few fucking weeks, psycho bosses are going even crazier trying to one up eachother and the rest of us are stuck in the crossfire,"

A waitress came by and set down a plate of synth eggs and toast in front of her with a nod before heading over to Jackie, "how about you dear, what'll it be?"

"Eh I'll have what she's having," she nodded and walked off to return with a coffee cup.

"Fresh pot will be out in just a minute,"

"Gracias,"

The two were silent for a while then shared a small laugh, "It's good to see you chica, though I'd have to mount some daring rescue to get you out of your offices, be like that mess in Mexico."

"Ha, that would be a sight. You look different Jackie, new chrome?" V turned to face him on her stool, idly eating bites of her synthegg and raising an eyebrow when he winced at the mention of his new chrome. "Weird, Jackie usually loves talking about any new chrome.'

"Yeah, needed to get chipped with some new hardware," he rubbed a finger on the new bridge on his nose between his eyes, "Speaking of new, that suit of yours looks newer. You get a promotion?"

"Oh no, well yeah I kinda did. But you aint skipping any juicy details jackie boy now spill what's with your new implant… come on you usually send me a text if nothing else as soon as you get anything new and it looks fully healed." she studied him like a hawk on one of those old precrash nature docs

Jackie muttered a curse, "Don't be going all detective and shit on your choom like that chica." The waitress showed up with his plate and a fresh pot of synthcoff, filling up his cup and placing his plate in front of him. "Gracias,"

"Just call if you need anything alright?"

Both gave her a nod and watched as she left.

V slid her plate and cup over and took the stool next to him with a smirk, "Alright Jackie, now spill. Tell your choom V all those juicy details and I'll tell you some of mine."

He snorted, "Fine, fine… you remember my ex right?"

She nodded, "Camilla right? Dark blue dye job and quick with a razor?"

"Hehe… yeah her." he touched his ear, where a small scar caused by said razor tingled, really didn't have it in him to call her crazy for cutting him. It felt like a lifetime ago, both young, madly in love, and gonked out of their brains on synth coke… "Well you know we split right? Pretty much kicked her out, packed her stuff and left it at the bar with Pepe before sending her a text."

"Goddamn Jackie,"

"I know, I know… felt like the right thing to do at the time. We'd been distant, I thought she was cheating. Late calls and texts you know the whole thing," he groaned and rubbed his eyes, "We fought back and forth for a while but then I hear she's with some new gonk at the bar,"

"Wait she brought a guy to your moms bar?"

Jackie nodded, "Sounded like they were close too. Anyway it kept bugging me. Mama told me it wasn't like I thought but well, Mama loves Camilla. I'm ashamed that I was thinking she was lying but it kept fucking with me. So I hung out at the bar for a while."

V shook her head, "Oh Jackie you didn't," he only nodded.

"Yeah, I was plastered and angry. Pepe was keeping an eye on me when this guy came in, nice dude, definitely wouldn't have minded sharing a beer with him." "But it was him," he nodded, "Oh yeah, said he was there to meet a lady and when he said Cami's name I lost it."

She patted her friend on the shoulder, "Damn Jackie, sorry to hear you had to deal with that shit choom, guess your chrome got damaged in the fight?" she looked confused when he shook his head between sips of synthcoff.

"That won't no fight chica, I couldn't put my hands on him. Kept using some taichi kundo mushi-mushi shit and blocking me, or slapping my punches away like he was playing with a kid. Shit, I only hit him once and that was because Camilla showed up and called his name."

"So he beat your ass in front of your ex?"

"Fuck, V. Kick me while I'm down why don't you?" he muttered, "But worse than that, he nearly caved my skull in with a queball, in front of mama for that matter," she grimaced at that, "If it wasn't for my chrome, doc says I'd probably be six feet under."

"Shit Jackie, and I thought I had a rough few weeks… well at least you proved that you're not as hard headed as people say."

"You ass," he chuckled back, flicking a tiny piece of egg at her, which she slapped away. "Well how about you, what'd you get into in your glass tower oh Corpo queen?"

That sucked all the fun from her and V's shoulders sank, "Ugh I don't even want to think about it. You remember the whole mess between Jenkins and Abernathy I was telling you about?"

"Eh not really, Corp-rat and a Corpo-cunt each with a hardon to fuck the other over right?" she nodded, "Shit really? I was just guessing."

"Well I've been assigned under Jenkins as a junior member of Arasaka Counter Intel and-" She leaned closer and muttered as not to be overheard, "he's been pushing us to find information on some new chrome that lets the user run up a vertical wall, some anti-grav shit."

"I saw that vid, that's some preem shit," he whistled, "Any luck?"

"If I found anything I'd probably be either dead or promoted up to fucking executive level," V huffed, finishing her food, "Higher ups are in a frenzy, trying to cover their asses and push the blame on others about missing such a development. Everyones trying to use this mess to profit somehow and it's tiring…"

"Such is the way of the Corpo… What's your plan to deal with it?."

"Oh, bite me." she laid her head on the counter for a minute, "I'll do my job and keep my head down. If that mess is another corps project I ain't getting my ass shot off for it. How about you, what're you doing about the whole Cami situation?"

"Well, you'll be happy to know that you choom put a lot of thought into it…" he started, ignoring her 'this should be good' jab, "I'm gonna apologize." she blinked, "Oh yeah, I'm gonna man up and talk to both of them and make things right…"

"Well damn Jackie, I'm actually impressed."

He smirked, "Oh yeah, I'm all about growing as a man… that said… any ideas on what I could do to make things right?"

-xXx-

To be continued…

-xXx-

Well I've decided on V's gender and life path and introduced a young Maine and Dorio, things are starting to line up and come together. I feel like while legends leave their mark on the city, Night City leaves its marks on everyone and Naruto's starting to feel and suffer from that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. I'm probably gonna slow down for a couple days cause I'm pretty sure I've got the flu… although even though I saw that, i'll probably still be writing off and on in bursts :-p oh well.

Like I said, hope you enjoyed it. Love yall.