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Night City Legends
Chapter Seven: Fallen Angels Who Loved and Lost
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Night City was a rough place to live, mostly scrapped by day to day, often sacrificing one thing or another just to make it by for another day. The area outside NC was rougher, not only did you scrape by but you had to scrape by with even less as barely anything made it to these areas in terms of goods or services. But beyond even that?
There was a reason it was called the Badlands.
No medical services. No police presence whatsoever. Dust, dirt, and sand as far as the eye can see and after a while the roads started chipping and cracking from age and a long lack of maintenance. Hell, even now he was starting to get long stretches of dirt road broken up by patches of pavement that tested the Archers suspension.
And to make matters worse, once you get far enough in even your GPS starts to go, hell he barely gets a signal on his holo or the radio for that matter, although that did explain why Rico gave him a boombox hooked to a small cyberdeck loaded with music and a 'You'll thank me later,' smirk.
Naruto laughed as he swerved around a large pothole in the road, the tires squealing on the patch of asphalt before hitting the dirt road with a roar. On the seat next to him the boombox was blasting some Chromerock held in place with the seatbelt as he pushed the little two door car to the max.
There was something about this, the roar of the engine, the air blasting him through the open windows, the music blaring, he felt so free and alive. 'I gotta drag Cami out here for a joyride when I get back.' he thought to himself with a grin.
He'd already been driving for a couple days, stopping to take a break and stretch every now and then when he felt the need. Sometimes he just climbs on the roof and meditates for a bit to get a feel for the nature around him. It was struggling but nowhere near as bad in the city. He even spotted some wildlife for the first time in… hell ever since he got to this place, they were coyotes but they were actual animals.
It wouldn't be too long before he made it to the area where the Raffin smugglers were supposed to be. Depending on how long he had to wait for them he could actually be headed back to Night City earlier than expected.
According to the intel he acquired, the rival faction of 6th Street hired Raffin shiv to smuggle contraband through here and according to Rico, if they were using Raffin it could be anything from weapons to a biological agent since most nomad clans would straight up refuse to deal with anything too hot. They were traveling through the Badlands to avoid NUSA entities and Night City Customs agents so it was definitely something that couldn't be ignored since most contraband could be slipped through with a 'Lost on Arrival' form and a small 'Donation' to the right person.
'Hmm,' now that he thought about it, if he sealed everything away he could probably smuggle nearly anything past customs with little trouble at all. Maybe he'll look into that.
*Chink*
A long series of spiderweb cracks formed on the windshield in front of him making him flinch, following them back to the source he cursed seeing the bullet hole, another hole sent small flakes of glass flying and the passenger headrest exploded into chunks of cheap foam, causing him to jerk the wheel.
The car jerked hard as he went fully off road, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and shaking violently as he hit several things one after the other while slamming both feet on the brake pedal. It was a rough and bumpy stop but he managed not to kill himself, now he had to deal with a sniper.
Luckily, he was temporarily concealed in the dust his car kicked up and these attackers didn't know who they were dealing with.
-xXx-
Earlier…
Life deep in the Badlands could be summed up as kill or be killed and survival of the fittest. Traveling alone was just asking for trouble from marauding bandits more than happy to pick your corpse clean. So when a lone car was spotted kicking up dust all on its lonesome it was like ringing a dinner bell.
"Dont fuck up and miss,"
"Fuck off, I wont,"
"...What's taking so long?"
"I'll shoot you with this if you dont shut your fucking trap."
Standing on the back of a thorton that looked to be pieced together from several other trucks and cars, two dirty looking men wearing leathers watched the car as it shot down the broken highway without a care. One was shouldering a large rifle and making small adjustments on the scope while the other looked on though another banged up looking optic. A couple other cars were nearby, all as rugged and rough looking as their truck with equally rugged looking Raffin at the wheel.
The rifle barked and the recoil dampener in the gun worked overtime as it spit out the sniper round with a massive ball of flame.
"Nailed it." the shooter smirked
"Naw, winged it. Send another!"
He fired a follow up and laughed when the car jerked and kicked up an even bigger dust cloud. "Hell yeah, now that's how you shoot." he pounded his fist on the roof of the truck, "Lets get after em!" There was a small cheer as all four vehicles revved their engines and tore down the open plains in pursuit of their prey. Shit talking and egging each other on over the short wave coms connected to each other's rides.
It took only a few minutes for them to find and surround the car, circling it with their own vehicles like vultures and scanning the car to see the damage and locate the driver. "Scan ain't picking up anything!" One Raffin called, even jumping out and running over to peer inside the car only to find a boombox was still playing.
"Nothing here!" she screamed out over the boombox blaring, turning to look at the others around her.
"What!?"
"Nothing, no one here. Gonk pulled a runner!
The sniper raised his scope and looked around them "Look around, make sure they're not hidin nearby!" his spotter called. Even if the driver did delta the fuck outta there they were fucked, this far out in the shit? They'd be dead in 48 hours. They'd take this car and add it to their own, he didn't hit anything vital to the car itself, he was a NUSA trained sniper after all.
The car behind him erupted into flames, two of his buddies gone in a sudden flash as an explosion rocked the area and sent carparts flying through the air as deadly shrapnel. If anyone was hit, he didn't know. Was it a grenade or a mine? Panic started to set in amongst the group, his spotter looked to be screaming something but… 'shit, ears won't stop ringing'
The spotter was trying to coordinate the remaining Raffin, pointing and yelling over the blazing fire behind them. The sniper shook his head and held his ears in pain, he then felt someone grab his arm and shake him, making him look up to see his partner looking him over mouthing, 'you'll be ok' slowly, already realizing that he couldn't hear.
That grip on his arms tightened and he felt something wet hit his face, wiping it with his hand, he stared at the crimson staining his glove and looked back up in a panic to see his best friend gasping with blood pouring from his lips and slowly sagging down, falling into his chest and sending both down into the truck bed.
Several shuriken were lodged in his back, one buried just below the back of his head and deep into his neck.
The ringing in his ears lessened and the sniper soon heard the sound of his own screaming as he held the body in his arms, half pinned against the cab of the truck. Gunfire erupted around him and suddenly, he wasn't in the badlands anymore. He wasn't a disgraced NUSA sniper making ends meet by ambushing desperate travelers anymore he was back in the shit again, fighting in the Metal wars in some hole with his commanding officer in his arms. Ambushed, trapped, abandoned and alone.
Several holes opened alongside the walls to the truck bed, one lodging into the body he held with another spurt of blood.
"Rasengan!" there was this awful whirring sound and something slammed into the truck, making it lurch to the side with a groan of metal and breaking glass. He clenched his eyes trying to block it all out. The flames, the screams, the gunfire, the smells of war, the sounds of slaughter.
What seemed like eons of battle to him lasted less than a minute in reality. As he gathered his wits and tried to get his shit back together, the sniper pushed the body of his dearest friend off of him, rolling it to the side and crawled to peek over the edge.
Their cars were wrecked, two were in flames, one still had the bodies of the driver and passenger inside, reduced to a charred husk. One of the others in the group laid in a bloody heap, her chest was ripped over like a beast tore into it. Some of the others that he could see shared his spotter's fate, knives or shuriken lodged in them. One man was indented in the passenger side of the door, most of his torso looking like paste while the door was caved in around him, but the most shocking thing.
12 men were standing around the area, all the same identical blond man. Some carried weapons that he recognized as belonging to his comrades, some were stripping them of anything useful, much like they did to their victims, one was simply twirling a knife on his finger and staring… right at him.
Something tapped the side of his head and the bandit slowly turned to look at it, only to look down the barrel of a rather large Overture revolver. He could see the bullet in the barrel along with a couple others in the next chamber, they were hollow points.
"Please… don't,"
Naruto stared down the sights at the man and felt nothing, they'd attacked him first after all and didn't deserve his mercy, he didn't even feel any pity, "Would you have shown me mercy?" he asked evenly, cocking the hammer.
"Y-yeah," The Overture echoed and the man's head snapped to the side, a red mist spattering the back of the truck cab while the body collapsed atop the other.
He shook his head and holstered the weapon, "Yeah right."
Twenty minutes later, he and the clones had gathered up anything useful they could find and sealed it all away. Various beat up guns and ammo, a few knives, grenades, and not much else. Any clothing they wore were worthless, especially now that they were bloodied and damaged from his attacks. The best thing he found was the rifle they must've taken the first shots with, a large bolt action sniper called a Grad. It was a beast and considering that he didn't notice them at the time, it must have a hell of a range. He'd have to play with it and figure it out some more later so for now he'd just seal it away.
His car was a little worse for wear, one of the explosions must've cracked the back glass and some stray rounds punched holes in his doors. The front bumper was damaged all to hell and one of the headlights was… missing? But it cranked back up and after pushing back a little and pulling all the scrub brush and debris out of the grill, he was back on the road and paying a lot more attention to the area around him.
-xXx-
"Oh Dee, I'm so proud of you!" David groaned in embarrassment as his mother latched onto him as soon as he got home from school, the door hadn't even shut all the way when she ambushed him and pulled him into her chest grinning like a madwoman. "I knew you could do it! My baby, he's gonna shoot right to the top!"
"Mom, stop!" he whined, voice muffled against her before she rubbed his head vigorously, "Hey, ow mom stop it," he tried to swat her hand messing with his hair with a laugh, "For real, stop. What's gotten into you?"
Gloria pulled him over to the terminal by the door and pulled up her messages, "Look Dee, I submitted your test scores and you were accepted!"
David looked over the screen and read the text, "David Martinez, blah blah blah, you have been accepted into Arasaka Academy and upon further review of your transcript we have approved you for our Scholarship program- mom what in the world?"
"It's great isn't it!" He hid his grimace, she looked so excited, "My boy, going to Arasaka academy and a guaranteed job with the company after graduation. I can see you now, shooting your way to the top of Arasaka tower!"
David quickly put on a smile, "Yeah, you know it mom… but, how can we afford it?" he had to ask, things were tight as it is. How she managed to get him tutors for his exams he didn't know.
"I applied for the Scholarship," she told him with a grin, "I mean it wont cover it all but I'll make due, we got some savings just in case and I'll pick up a extra shift every now and then if I need too but in a few short years you'll be making the big eddies!"
That did appeal to him, but he didn't want her to go back to killing herself with work. The past few months had been awesome, she cut down on her double and triple shifts and they even spent time together that wasn't her napping on the couch. Sure she still worked doubles but she actually came home on time at least three days a week, even took a day off! He'd have to work hard and study, and as soon as he could get a job he'd make sure she never had to work like this again.
"Yeah mom, just you wait. I'll blast my way past everyone else and be at the top of saka tower before you know it."
-xXx-
As David got changed out of his school clothes, Gloria sat back down and went over her banking information. The money from the silver and gold had been put to good use as far as she was concerned, rent was paid up for a couple months, she had hired a tutor from David's school to help him prepare for the exams and she still had enough to cover the first part of the tuition fee. With her working an extra double or maybe a triple shift every now and then, she should be able to keep things going pretty easy.
Of course, if things got really bad she could always sell chrome from the flatlines she finds herself bagging and tagging most days. Her partner wouldn't care, hell he'd probably help her if asked.
And if needed, she still had a half dozen or so silver coins just in case.
"Hey mom!"
She turned from the screen to where David was looking through his clothing, "Yes mijo?"
"Have you seen my shorts?"
"In the dryer, Dee."
"Thanks!"
Her mijo was smiling more, that's all that mattered honestly. She'd rip the chrome out of a thousand dead gonks to make sure he had what he needed… although, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret thinkin about that blond guy. She took from the dead, they didn't need it after all and even then it was an extremely rare thing for her to do, but he was alive when she did it and couldn't help but feel that guilt of stealing from him.
After all, those coins were worth a lot. She was able to spend time with her baby boy and still have a bit of a safety net on top of it all.
"Hey mom, what're we having for dinner?"
She didn't have time to worry about that now though, "How about we go and find something huh?"
-xXx-
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." Naruto shivered as night fell in the badlands, out of nowhere the temperature fell and he'd forgotten to start a fire. Luckily it was more uncomfortable than deadly but he didn't really pack for this chill so all he had was a few extra sets of clothing and a couple sheets, one of which smelled like Cami much to his enjoyment.
There were several dead trees and scrub brush for him to burn and after sending his clones out to gather all they could he got the fire going and bundled himself up under both sheets while leaning against the car's front tire, using the remaining heat from the engine to help stay warm.
*Beep*
'The fuck?' he had a message? Out here? How the hell did he manage that?
Hey baby! Hope your staying safe out there, wanted to let you know I miss you! Just below the message was a picture of Cami and Mama Welles at the Coyote Cojo. Me and Mama Welles rearranged the bar today… well we made Pepe and Jackie move stuff, we just told em where to put things. Lol. :-) Another picture followed showing how they had the main floor rearranged differently. I know reception out there sucks but I'll keep sending you messages every now and then alright? Remember what I said, don't be fucking no Nomad putas now k? Lol. If your feeling a certain way use this and think of me.
He grinned at the last couple of pics. She was such a tease.
-xXx-
It took a whole week of travel to make it this far, between massive patches of disgusting mire caused by what looked like oil spillage, toxic pools of water, sinkholes, and the odd outlaw, Naruto was glad to finally reach what the piece of shit GPS claimed to be the target area. Oh and lets not forget the his first storm out here, he'd been so excited until he realized it was burning the shit out of him, fucking acid rain.
The area the GPS brought him to seemed to be what looked like an old town long since lost to time. Several old houses were basically left to rot years ago with remnants of cars, toys, and other such things scattering the area. Some buildings were mostly intact while others weren't much more than a rusted frame and some steps leading to where a doorway once stood.
A good section of the area around him went up in smoke, "Alright guys half of you scout the area around town, the other half search any buildings. Try not to disturb the area too much so we can set up an ambush here."
Upon closer inspection he even found evidence that this place had been looked after in some capacity. Some buildings looked like they'd been repaired, their electrical systems overhauled and replaced, some even had canned kibble stocked up in sealed crates. That had to be a smuggler's stash of supplies so this had to be the place.
Once all the clones finished combing over the place, he planned to prepare the area for an ambush. He'd have multiple shadow clones go out in all directions to act as an early warning for when the smugglers were close and have even more in position around the town in hiding. Some would use henge to blend in and hide in plain sight while others would use any little hideaways they found while scouting. Once the Raffin Smugglers showed up and got relaxed, he and the clones would spring the trap and take them all down. Then he could find what they were transporting, probably steal it or destroy it, and finally get back to Night City.
A pretty simple and straightforward plan in his opinion. The only downside was that now he had to wait…
-xXx-
Blasting through the badlands, a small convoy of Raffin Outlaws tore through the open plain dodging rocks or anything that could damage their cars, some larger trucks plowed through the brush and smaller trees without a problem where smaller cars would take some decent damage. And out here in the middle of nowhere, you had to take good care of your car so it'd do the same for you.
"Look alive boys and girls!" the voice of their caravan leader crackled over the short range radios they had. "Checkpoints up ahead so remember, make sure we ain't got no pests before you get fucked up, dont need a repeat of last time remember." that made several people among them chuckle and joke about the responsible party. "Tinker, you go on and get the power going."
"Roger, roger," came the voice of the crew's tinkerer and handyman extraordinaire. "I'll have em humming in no time bossman."
"Scop, you know the drill,"
"Yeah yeah, I'll get us some chow going." groaned a woman in response. "Still got that Coyote to skin so we'll have some actual meat tonight," that brought a few whoops over the radio in response.
"Good, Vince-"
"I know dude, *Cough* I'll get the signal tower up, *Cough* Scop's gotta have her Net access and shit, gotta have her weird porn, *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*"
"Hey, fuck off deckhead!" the woman hissed, "Wait a min- are you smoking? You fucker, you said we were out."
"Out? He shared some with me not too long ago, preem shit too." Tinker's voice crackled over the com, followed by several others voicing the same, causing the woman to rage on the other line much to their amusement. "Look out choomba, ya done went and pissed off the cook! Might want to check your kibble tonight."
"Couldn't be worse than the usual kibble she fixes, hell her trying to poison me might actually make it taste better!" Another wave of laughter and curses came through the coms.
"Enough you gonks. The rest of you know what to do alright, no fucking around now. This runs gonna net us some serious scratch with those NC Linefoots so dont any of you fuck it up." The old town was in view now and everyone could feel the travel fatigue hitting home.
-xXx-
'Fucking hell, what else could go wrong?' Rico slouched in the booth at the generals 'HQ', the 'Pigboys Delight' irish pub and watched over his people. His DB-4 Palica sawed off smart-shotgun weighed heavily in his lap, ready to fire at any moment due to his smartlink. Fucking Gunner went too far. Since they've been sabotaging him and weakening his support within the gang, Gunner decided to get a bunch of idiots together to push the valentinos outta Heywood.
Why? Maybe to make himself look better? Who knows what that gonk had running through his mind. There had been talk of expanding and removing the tinos from Heywood for a while but they didn't have the manpower or backing to do it so Morton refused to greenlight it. Maybe Gunner thought that if he showed that he was getting shit done he'd be able to oust Morton and take his place.
They put together a coordinated series of drive bys in Heywood targeting Valentino shotcallers and their hangouts, the biggest target being Gustavo Orta who was apparently visiting some family at the time when a squad rolled in and unloaded on the home with their rifles. Fuck, the drive by was one thing but with the family there for fucks sake That set a dangerous precedent that family was far to flatline as well.
And they didn't even kill him, hurt his girlfriend and a neighbor and worse yet, killed his little sister. Word was out on the streets that Orta was on a rampage and several retaliation hits had already taken place. 6th street had close to 2300 members in total, the fucking Valentinos had over 6000, typical fucking Gunner kicked a nest and now they were suffering the fallout.
6th street may have an edge with most of their members having training and decent gear but the Valeintinos had numbers and an even tighter familiar bond that guaranteed a united front against them.
Mortons was raging for hours over the should've would've and could've, how he should've just had Gunner flatlined and just dealt with the fallout it caused. And at this point Rico could only agree, maybe his nephew would still be alive.
Diego's mother, his little sister wouldn't speak to him, she was inconsolable and terrified that something would happen to her daughter next because of him. His niece had called crying as well, trying to help her mother but all they could really do was be there for eachother in their grief, she said she understood and didn't blame him but it was probably best he stay back for now. That hurt the most…
They couldn't even give the kid a proper funeral. Some gangers pulled up on his ride and tossed a few granades through his windows, reduced the boy and his friends to a bloody paste with frags and burnt everything else it with a fuckin incendary. Fucking brutal.
"Oh god!"
He was broken from his thoughts by the gasp coming from an uncharacteristically serious and somber Ortiz, she was typing away at her laptop before something caught her attention and caused her to yell out. "Turn on the holo!"
There were a few mutters around the room, "Fuck off Ortiz, we don't have time for-"
"I said turn it on! Now!"
Morton raised an eyebrow then nodded to the owner behind the bar, whos eyes lit up as he connected to the holo screens hanging on the wall which soon popped on to reveal an emergency N54 news broadcast underway. The blond haired blue eyed Gillean Jordan looked slightly disheveled compared to her usual professional attire with a stock photo of a mushroom cloud behind her.
'-are receiving reports of what appears to be an explosion deep in the plains near the Sierra Sonora to the east of Night City and…' she stopped momentarily as her eyes flashed, "and we are just now receiving access to satellite footage of it now," The screen flashed to a view from orbit, zoomed in to get a top down view of a massive cloud of dust and debris.
"Rico, isn't that…"
He nodded, "Yeah, the kid was running an op up that way."
"You don't think?"
It just didn't make sense, was Gunner trying to smuggle a goddamn nuke into the city? There was no way, he wasn't that stupid was he trying to pull a fucking Silverhand… but it was right there on the screen, that was a mushroom cloud and a fucking massive one. Oh fuck, there was no way the kid made it out of there alive. It wasn't the first time he's had people die on an op he organized, but damn it never got any easier.
"Data comparison roughly estimates the size of the blast to equate to that of a megaton bomb. Investigation is underway to discover whether or not the explosion is radioactive and who's responsible."
Catching Morton's eye, Rico motioned for him to come over and leaned over to mutter in his ear, "I think this shit's part of what the kid was looking into." that got a muttered curse from the man. "We need to handle this asap."
-xXx-
Hours earlier…
Naruto hid his car a little ways from the area hidden by some brush and dead trees and watched the approaching dust cloud through the spotters scope he'd taken from the Raffins that ambushed him days before. He took extra care not to let the sunlight cause a glare that could be seen for miles and he didn't want to tip off the approaching smugglers.
'One… three… four trucks and… three cars, huh,' he mused to himself watching as the vehicles entered the main road of the town, two of the trucks broke off and went towards the old gas station while the other two went towards some electrical equipment. The cars split up and each drove around the buildings slowly, probably trying to check out the area if he guessed correctly.
A little time passed and since he had not heard any shooting or got any influx of memories from his clones, he knew that they hadn't stumbled across anything making him grin. Just wait, when they suddenly find themselves surrounded by a bunch of his clones they don't know what hit him.
Suddenly, there was a burst of sparks that caught his eye and to his shock, the town started lighting up, several neon lights that somehow hadn't been broken lit up, the gas station lights blinked on, illuminating the trucks by the gas station where several people were stretching. One of them started pointing and gesturing so he figured him as the boss. He'd have some questions to ask that one later, for now he'd lay low and try to get an accurate head count before starting the mission.
*Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep*
He jerked in surprise as his holo started going off nonstop, notifications kept piling up one after the other with missed calls and messages popping up rapidly. How the fuck was he getting a signal out here he wondered, scrambling to mute the damn thing and take a deep breath.
Then he chuckled, that scared the shit out of him.
'I got plenty of time till I go down there' he thought to himself while moving to lean against the front panel of his car, 'lets see what's going on…' he looked at his messages and whistled, damn he quite a few.
The first was from cami dated a few days ago
Cami: Hey Naru! Been thinking of you ;-3 Checked out a few apartments around the city today, even a few outside Heywood. There's a cute little one in Japantown, nice and cozy but a little far lol :( although the rent's decent. We can check it out when you get back!
Cami: Thinking of you! Attached to the text was a picture of her winking at the screen, she was wearing one of his orange vests and nothing else while sucking her finger.
He grinned, of course she would be teasing him like that and not only that but it looks like she sent him one almost every night. Once he handled these Raffin he would go through the rest of them and see what the others said.
Rico: Hey kid, good luck out there.
Rico: Don't know if you're getting these messages or not, shits getting heavy here in the city.
Rico: Gunners making a move on the Valentinos, wants to try and muscle em out of the area ahead of schedule. Tried to zero some of the leadership and got a bunch of people hurt.
Rico: It looks like a war is coming, kid. Keep a lookout on your way back.
'The fuck?' he looked over the messages from Rico again, this was sent to him just a few days ago. He'd need to finish this up and go find out what the hell was going on back in NC.
Padre: Word on the streets is that things between the Valentinos and 6th Street may heat up. When you return from your journey come and find me, I will have work available if you are interested.
Padre: I just heard the news myself and offer my sincerest condolences for your loss. Mrs. Welles tells me that you have yet to return from your work out in the badlands, I can not imagine the shock of getting this so suddenly.
He got a bad feeling deep in the pit of his stomach and quickly backed out to read the next message, it was from Jackie…
Jackie: Shit Holmes I don't know how to say this, Mama's been trying to get up with you for the last few days to tell you but… It's Camilla, she's gone man.
Jackie: She got caught in the middle of a driveby targeting her brother. She's dead bro, I'm so sorry. Medics said she couldn't have felt a thing when it happened.
Jackie: Jesus christ man I'm so sorry.
His breath caught in his throat. "No… oh no no no," he gasped out. His stomach clinched, this had to be a sick fucking joke.
Mama Welles: Naruto I'm so sorry. Jackie told me he's already sent you a message, I wanted to tell you in person but- She loved you so much, you're all she thought about these days. I want to wait until you return so you can say goodbyes. I'll be holding an ofrenda for her at the bar so please let me know when you're back.
His heart sank the more he read over the messages. Again and again hoping that he'd misunderstood something but there it was, she was gone. Cami was dead. This couldn't be happening, his chest heaved, he felt like he was about to be sick.
He did the only thing he could at the moment and sobbed, the sound more akin to that of a wounded animal than any human cry. Clutching at his face with each hand as the tears overwhelmed him with all the pain, frustration, and anger he's kept bottled up inside. Both from before and after arriving in this… cursed world that wouldn't let you have anything, not a single good thing!
His fingernails dug painfully into the skin on his face as they sharpened, his teeth doing the same shortly after as he bit his lip and broke the skin. But none of it came anywhere close to the wretched pain tearing a hole in his chest. His cyberarm twitched, fingers malfunctioning while the tech in his right eye glitched.
All of his clones in the area dispelled, filling his mind with the location of every person down there.
He was no longer standing in the badlands but in the crater that was once the Hidden Leaf, facing Nagato. "Because of the existence of love," Naruto trembled and slowly looked down at the man's feet where Hinata laid, blood pooling around her. "Sacrifice is born, as well as hate." Hinata's figure was replaced with Cami's body "When one comprehends, one knows pain."
"Do you hate me now?'
Hatred boiled and bubbled under his skin, pure anger and rage coursed through his entire being and wanted out. He threw his head back and screamed at the world, unleashing a wave of crimson that devastated the immediate area around him, sending the Archer Quarts flipping and tumbling like a toy car across the sand. A crimson pillar of energy shot into the sky, parting the clouds visibly for miles and the shockwave from it all kicked up what many would assume to be a mushroom cloud.
And in the center of it all, Naruto hunched over on all fours, twitching as his body disappeared underneath a haze of crimson chakra, his eyes a glowing and mouth a gaping jaggad maw. Yells and calls from the town caught his attention and he let out a hissing growl as the forms of the Raffin outlaws glitched and took the form of Nagato in his eyes.
-xXx-
Down in the old abandoned town, the Raffin were winding down after a long drive by breaking out a few bottles of shitty moonshine that someone in their camp distilled. It tasted awful but did the job so they didn't complain more than a few times. Scop was busy skinning the coyote that they managed to catch… and by catch they meant someone hit it with their car. Several others were sitting around the small bar next to the gas station talking shit and drinking. The boss man had disappeared with one of the girls, no one commented on it but they knew he was screwing her. Vince and Tinker were in the gas station garage, working on a truck and sharing a smoke while cracking jokes. A few others pulled the short end of the straw and were stuck on guard duty, which was mostly just chilling on a rooftop with a sniper and trying not to fall asleep.
All of this came to a sudden end as everything shuddered, several items hanging on the walls fell and even the lights flickered off and on for a moment. Those that had been around during the war likened it to an artillery shell going off nearby and rushed outside yelling.
"What the hells going on out here, did you gonkbrained fucks set off another explosion!" their boss reappeared, shirtless and zipping up his pants, behind him a frazzled, half dressed woman was trying to put on the rest of her clothing.
He stopped and stared at the crimson beam shooting up into the sky. 'What the fuck-' he gaped, following it up into the sky then back down to where it seemed to collect. From the distance, he saw something flipping and rolling away from it and recognized it as a car before yelling out, "Arm up boys! We might have company!"
He then noticed that much of the town was filled with smoke, "What's going on! Someone report!"
One of the younger guys he recruited ran over with a panicked look on his face "Don't know boss, everything shook then smoke filled the place. Is that a mushroom cloud, did a nuke go off!"
"Don't be stupid, if a nuke went off this close we'd all be-" he stopped and everything started spinning the leader had just enough time to register that his body was still standing there as his head hit the ground. A glowing red… thing with clawed hands then ripping his body in two.
"We're under attack!" the underling yelled, bringing his gun up and firing wildly. "What is that thing-" he soon joined the older man as a massive fist crushed him, leaving nothing but red chucks on the ground.
The girl inside the small room screamed upon seeing all this, covering bare chest with one arm and snatching a pistol from her holster. The bullets from the rapid firing pistol tore into the glowing monster's back, sending what looked like liquid fire spattering from its back and side before it turned to glare at her with glowing eyes.
"No, stay away!" she screamed as it leapt towards her, a few more rounds impacted it before the beast was upon her, its clawed hand gripping her wrist and severing it with its other, "AHH-" Her scream was silenced with another swipe, opening her throat and ripping part of her face with another spray of crimson.
Several more bullets pierced the walls and impacted his back, making Naruto turn to glare at the holes in the wall only for another to snap his head back, making him roar. The beast charged through the open door, tearing it off the hinges as he did only for another round to hit him in the chest making it stumble for a split second. Hissing, he spat several pulses of his own chakra like a cannon towards the shooter, body flinching with each large bullet that tore through him but healed just as quickly.
The rooftop the snipers were perched on erupted into flames, parts of the building exploding outward and killing a few inside as well as the super heated chakra caused the building to burst into flames. Several Raffin fired at him from other positions, many of the bullets missing but some still found their marks which only enraged the beast more.
"What is that thing!" "Shoot it!" "Our guns aint hurting it!" "Fall back to the garage!"
As they tried to do so, Naruto chased after them, passing them in the blink of an eye and slaughtering the one in the lead which made the following group stop in a panic. One shook herself out of it and raised her rifle, firing round after round as he slammed his fists into the ground. Several glowing tendrils pierced the ground near them, forming into enlarged claws that slashed, crushed, or pierced each Raffin without mercy one after the other.
The tendrils retreated back into the ground, leaving the remains of what used to be humans smeared along the ground while he pulled his arms out of the soil only to snap his head to the side just as a truck slammed into him, attempting to run him over with two tons of metal. The truck carried him for a bit before shuddering, glowing claws tearing into the ground and forcing the truck to a slow halt. The driver slammed down on the gas, pressing the pedal to the max and causing the tires to squeal and smoke against the broken pavement.
"Die you monster!" screamed the outlaw over the roaring engine, seeing his truck slowed to a halt he continued trying to crush the beast only to see it raise it's head over the hood and glare with glowing eyes, "what the fuck are you!" he leaned over and snatched a SMG off the seat next to him and aimed.
The windshield didn't even slow the rounds that punched through and pelted the beast, which seemed to only flinch and close its eyes before turning his head with a hiss.
"That's right you god damn monster take that!"
Naruto dug his claws into the front of the truck, hissing as the bullets tore through him and snarled before raring up and roaring at the man behind the wheel. Flames burst from his gaping maw, engulfing the cab of the truck which in turn quickly superheated the interior, cooking the Raffin alive and causing the SMG to half melt and its ammo to explode. But he didn't stop, the beast continued to spew flames until the truck was completely disabled and exploded, sending him tumbling and skidding back along the ground.
By now, the few remaining Raffin had given up on fighting and were trying to hide, he could feel them. Trying to hide themselves away inside the buildings he hadn't destroyed, but he wouldn't let them escape.
Leaping on top of the gas station, he jumped a few more times across the town and settled on a rooftop at the edge of town and raised his head. Small particles of his chakra broke off and slowly gathered above his gaping maw to form a swirling orb that glowed, more and more joined the orb.
Back at the gas station, Scop, Vince, and Tinker peeked out the doors trembling in fear at what they just saw, "Jesus christ, what was that?" the girl whimpered, holding a bloody vest to her chest, it was the only thing left of her best friend that she watched get ripped in half.
"Don't care," Vince gasped, holding his arm where a piece of shrapnel had broken it, "I dont fucking care, I just want to get outta here,"
Tinker trembled in the back seat of the truck they'd been working on, eyes clenched shut in an attempt to make himself as small and invisible as possible so that the monster would maybe leave them alone.
"I think it's gone," she muttered, peaking a little further out, "Think anyone else made it?"
Vince winced as he stood and looked out of another doorway for a few moments, "I think… I see Jimmy across the street, in that trailer," he motioned to the person across the street with a wave, "yeah, that's him. Him and his inputs prolly hold up over there."
She snorted, "Saved by a game of grabass… seriously though, what the fuck was that?"
"I don't know and I don't want to find out," he told her, "Tinker, get outta there. We need to delta the fuck up outta here,"
"Hold on," Scop whispered loudly, making him move closer to the truck for cover just in case, "What's that light?" When he turned, the last thing he saw was a blinding light before a massive pressure lifted him off his feet, Scop vanished in the flash and for barely a moment he felt everything get hot before he knew no more.
The beast that Naruto had become grinned even as he was engulfed in the blast of his own attack and sent flying away, tearing large chunks of terrain as he bounced along the ground trying to catch himself. Now they were all dead, everything that hurt him here was dead. What was once one of many abandoned towns in this desolate hellscape was now nothing more than a smoldering hole in the ground. Disintegrating everything in the immediate area, flattening and killing anything around with the pressure wave while kicking up a massive mushroom cloud.
No… he wasn't finished yet, there were still people that needed to pay. His clawed hand gripped a stone and shattered it in his grasp, he still had to get back, back to the city… to destroy the ones that caused this pain. In a flash he took off in the direction of Night City, vanishing with a sonic boom that tore the already devastated area up worse.
He tore long fissures through the ground as he ran, clawing at the ground and pushing himself harder and faster. Anything that got in his way was shredded with a swipe of his claws, trees, boulders, animals, abandoned cars, all ripped apart and thrown like tissue paper as he continued his mad dash the words from the message playing over and over in his mind. Adding fuel to the raging fire within.
Naruto ran, day and night. Rage pushing him to go faster and further. Where it had taken several days by car, he pushed himself past his limits and soon found himself tearing past the holographic projections stating that he was leaving NUSA lands and entering Night City territory. Setting off alarms with the border units but was miles away before they even got close.
It wasn't until he crouched on one of the many rocky overlooks a few miles away from the city, looking out at the highway and the massive towers in the distance did he take a moment to slow down. The crimson flames surrounding him flickered and faded, leaving him feeling physically exhausted, mentally wiped, and emotionally worn thin. He wanted to stay angry, let his rage continue to push him forward, make it so he didn't feel the ache anymore, but he just couldn't do chakra cloak vanished, leaving him crouched in place for a moment before falling back to sit on his ass with a huff.
Looking down at himself, his clothing was a mess of bullet holes, tears, and rips, his cybernetic arm twitched several times, looking half burnt and covered in deep scratches. Hell some of the small wires by the elbow joint looked close to snapping and partially melted.
And now that he thought about it, the implants in his head seemed offline too. The small overlay he normally had over his right eye for connecting to his messages and phone didn't even show up anymore, not even an error message popped up… in fact, it was getting harder to stay focused…
Naruto slowly fell back, smacking his head on the stone as he did. The jolt did little though, he just needed a break, yeah, just a quick breather. His eyes slowly fluttered closed as days of no stop exhaustion caught up to him and before he knew it, he was out cold.
Left to bake in the afternoon sun.
-xXx-
"Hey Naru?" Hearing his name, Naruto rubbed both eyes with his fingers and looked to the voice, smiling at the sight of his blue haired (girl)friend lying mostly on top of him in her tiny apartment on her twin sized bed.
He grinned and snaked his arm around her, pulling her closer, "Hey baby, something wrong?"
She giggled as he pulled her closer, "No, nothings wrong." she sighed, stretching up to peck him on the lips, "Just thinking you know, like… what do you want?"
"Mmm, I don't know… I wouldn't be against laying here with you all day." he grinned, raising up and propping his head on his metal arm to look at her better before joking, "although, I think after a while we'll do a different kind of laying,"
That made her snort, burying her face against him, "Oh that was terrible… But maybe a little bit." she nipped at his flesh and winked, "But I mean what do you want as in… I don't know, outta life?" her hand traced over his chest, trailing over the numerous small scars on his body, paying a little extra attention to the large one over his heart.
"I ah…" the blond looked puzzled for a moment, "You know, I hadn't really thought about it." she hummed against him and continued tracing the scars. "I can't really follow my dream anymore, for years I wanted to be the best and become the leader of my home but now… well, I guess i'll have to find me a new dream then won't I?" he grinned and traced his finger along her back, making her twitch as he lightly followed her spine.
"Yep," she smiled at him, his grin infectious. "And whatever you decide, I'll back you up alright,"
"Oh?" he patted her rear, "and what if… oh I don't know, decide to clean up the city and fight its corruption?"
"Oh I can see it now, be like one of those holo movie heroes. Wear your underwear on the outside… oh!" she patted him excitedly, "and the spandex! Your ass would look great in spandex!" Naruto sweatdropped, she clearly didn't take him seriously… and she was right, his ass did look great in spandex.
"Im serious Cami," he groaned, "one day I want to do something about how… inhumane this city is. Even if I can't fix everything, if I could make at least one thing better for people then I'd be happy."
"Oh," she sounded smaller, "I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean to laugh at you like that," the girl hugged his chest tighter for a moment before looking up at him again, "That's a great dream to have honestly, it… won't be easy for you but I'll be there for you,"
They smiled at each other and just stared before he asked, 'How about you baby, what's your dream?" She hummed and rested her head against his chest.
"I want to open a restaurant." she finally admitted as if expecting him to laugh, when he didn't she looked back up at him, "Not some Scopshack either, Mama Welles taught me some of her secrets and I wanna open a place. Show these gonks around here what some good food is." the girl stared at him for a moment, waiting for his input.
"That's a great dream Cami," he smiled, "You'd make an awesome chef , you'd have all the customers. Hell I bet you'd be able to open up a bunch of other restaurants too all over the city."
That made her blush a bit, not used to someone actually believing in or encouraging her dream, she buried her face again to hide the blush and cuddled into him again this time throwing her leg over his and- "Oh hello there," she grinned up at him and peaked under the blanket, "Is someone getting a little excited?" His cheeks turned a little pink despite all that they've done in the past.
She trailed her hand down and fondled him, "were you saying all that so I'd blow you?" she teased, slowly pumping him up and down.
"Nope, I meant every word babe."
Cami leaned up and kissed him, "Good, cause you know… all you gotta do is ask." she winked and trailed kisses down his chest, "and I'll reward my 'hero' whenever he wants"
-xXx-
Eyes snapping open, Naruto sat up with a gasp and looked around for Cami only to realize that it was only a memory. Once again, his heart clinched. That's right, Cami was gone… murdered… by 6th Street. His eyes flickered from his usual blue to enraged crimson several times as he clenched his teeth.
But no, he couldn't lose control… not again. Not now.
The stone beside him crumbled as he punched it, the dull throbbing in his hand only adding to the throbbing in his chest.
"Hello once again fellow traveler," Naruto jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see a man in orange monk robes kneeling by the edge of the overlook, looking over at him with a kind smile and understanding eyes through his orange tinted glasses. "Once again we meet on the crossroads of our journeys… or perhaps benefactor will suit you more." The monk gave him a thoughtful look for a few moments.
"What the…" Naruto looked around, he was still miles outside of the city and didn't spot a car or anything all he saw was… an umbrella?
"I thought you could use the shade, dear benefactor," he smiled at the unspoken question, though not explaining why he had one in the first place.
"No that's not… I mean what are you doing out here, man?"
"I am merely going where my feet may take me," he answered without answering, "Our paths have merely crossed once again on our respective journeys dear benefactor. Last time you aided me but this time I feel that you are the one in need of aid." the monk patted the stone next to him "Would you care to join me dear Benefactor, you seem even more lost than when we last met."
Thinking about it for a moment, Naruto nodded slowly and moved over to where the monk was kneeling and joined him, sitting with his legs dangling over the edge with a sigh. "I ah… I dont think you could really help me with this,"
"I may not be able to provide you with advice, dear benefactor," he told the blond as he got settled, "But what I can provide to you is an open ear, often times one can provide aid simply by listening, so tell me what troubles you dear benefactor."
"Why are you calling me that?" he couldn't help but ask, "How am I your benefactor? I haven't given you anything… have I?"
The monk slowly turned his head to look at the blond with a peaceful smile, "You've given me more than you may think. When my faith in my master's teachings wavered, you opened my eyes and revealed to me that his teachings are sound. In our last meditation I saw the beauty of the natural world as it truly is and should be… I must admit, it inspired me to find a BD of nature to use in my own meditations."
Naruto watched as the monk moved to face him and was surprised when he gave a small bow, "You have truly aided me more than you think, I can think of no better way to honor you than to name you my benefactor." He then straightened up and resumed kneeling next to him, facing the city. "It would be an honor to listen and aid you upon your journey dear benefactor, but only if you wish."
"Ah… I'm glad I could help… I guess," he muttered the last part before sighing and leaning back, propping himself up on his hands.
A few moments passed in silence, only the distant sounds of cars on the highway reaching them every now and then.
"Ah what the hell…" Naruto huffed, "I… lost someone."
"I see… my condolences, were you close?"
He gave the monk a hollow laugh, "Oh yeah, we were close… fuck, I think… I think I love her."
"I am truly sorry dear benefactor, did you know her long?"
Naruto sighed, "Not long enough,"
"While your journey together may have been brief, it would seem that your companion has had a most profound effect on you." the monk observed softly, "Would you care to speak of this companion?"
"Oh where to begin?" he chuckled, "She was amazing… a fireball really, she was passionate, she was hard, then soft then hard again… she didn't fear anything, she was just so full of life." his eyes started tearing up. "Oh god she was… great. We found eachother when we were both at a pretty low point… hehehe, she actually really laid into me. I tired to help her out to be nice and she thought I had a different reason you know. Actually kinda scared me."
"Not many believe in helping others on their road simply for the sake of doing so."
He nodded, "Yeah, I guess so… but we clicked," he thought about all the fun they had and a single tear fell down his cheek, "She helped me so much, I was new here and she showed me around, introduced me to some good folks, I don't know how i'd have made it this far without her help."
"It seems like you found yourself a wonderful traveling companion… in the words of my master, do not fear the sudden sounds. Stay free like that of the wind in a net. Be like the horn of the rhinoceros of old and walk alone. However, should you happen upon a companion whos soul you can rest yours with, then face all adversity and brimming with joy… walk with her,"
"But she's gone," Naruto snapped, feeling his heart clenched as he deflated. "She was murdered, they killed her and there's nothing I can do about it… and now I'm alone."
"Benefactor, if I may… I would like to share a portion of my master's teachings with you."
Looking at the monk for a minute, Naruto shrugged, "Yeah… sure why not?"
"My Master teaches that we were all once a part of the same great energy, every living being from the smallest insect to the largest animal and everything in between. We split off from this energy to begin anew and start our own personal journey, to experience all that life has to offer for ourselves. This solitary journey is why we fear to be alone, split off from the great source, why we seek companions to share this journey with until our energy returns brimming with these new experiences. This energy is everywhere, it's the breeze that we feel now. It's in the air we breathe."
"Your companion has merely finished her journey and returned back from where we all began. So I believe that she has not left you dear Benefactor, she's all around you. Your companion is the breeze we feel, she's the warmth of the sun, the gentle glow of the moon, she's in the calming sway of the grass… she will always be with you so long as your memories of her keep her there."
Naruto leaned forward and wiped the tears from his face, "Fuck man… I don't know what to say,"
"You don't have to say anything, dear Benefactor. If my words and the words of my master have helped you even the smallest amount then that will be enough for me."
After a few more minutes, Naruto stood up and closed his eyes as the breeze caressed his face, "Thank you… I needed to hear that."
The monk gave a small bow, "Think nothing of it, you aided me so it is only right that I repay my benefactor."
"Who are you?"
That got a smile from the man, "Merely a simple traveler blessed to cross paths with another fellow traveler." he mused, "But if I might ask, what will you do now dear Benefactor?"
Naruto clenched his fist again, "I'm gonna find the ones responsible for killing her and make them pay… I'll make them all pay" he growled.
"I can't say that I agree with your plans… but I understand your feelings and wish you luck dear benefactor" the man gave him another small bow, "I pray you find the peace you deserve along your path. Should you ever need, I will always lend you an ear."
Naruto nodded, his heart still ached at the loss of the woman he cared so deeply for but he felt a bit lighter after this. Closing his eyes, he felt the wind blow against him and smiled at the thought that maybe it was her. 'Rest easy baby girl, I won't let them get away with hurting you.' But first, he needed to get back to Heywood, he needed to see Mama Welles… and her.
Then, he'd find everyone that had a hand in her death and do what needed to be done.
-xXx-
To be continued…
-xXx-
Cami's dead, that was always the plan to be honest but I gotta say I kinda got attached to her, oh well. One of the reviews I saw before was complaining about the pairing and I was just like, 'Just wait and keep reading,' I thought about posting 'Pairing is subject to change' before but figured that might give it away too soon.
Anyway now that she's dead and Naruto unknowingly had an episode of what may have been Cyberphychosis look forward to the next chapter alright.
I really hope you enjoyed it. I'm having fun writing this even though I know I'm probably making a ton of mistakes. I'm probably gonna try and keep writing longer chapters, this one's around 10k before the AN so sorry if there's a bit of a wait.
Anyway, have a good one and remember, I love ya.