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Night City Legends
Chapter Eight: A Metal Soul of Rage and Fear.
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"Still haven't heard from him yet?"
Hearing the voice of her son, Guadalupe 'Mama' Welles looked up from her pad covered in handwritten notes and shook her head, "No mijo, I've tried and couldn't get through." she sighed while he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall next to her booth upstairs above the bar. "I couldn't even send a message today, unable to connect at all."
"Mierda" he shook his head, "Well… he's deep in the Badlands, maybe he's just too far out there?"
"I don't know Jackie, I hope that's the case but… I hate that he'll get the news this way." seeing the look her son gave her, she reached out and placed her hand on his elbow, "Do not worry mijo, you did the right thing by sending him a message."
"If you say so mama," Jackie placed his hand over hers, "But damn though, I still can't believe it… I never expected Camilla to go out like that."
That made the woman look away, back down to her notepad to hide the tears welling up. "Si, mijo. I still expect to see her come through those doors at any minute. Have you spoken to Gustavo?"
Jackie pinched the bridge of his nose, "Oh yeah, both he and Campo are fuckin pissed. It's looking like there's gonna be a war on the streets mama." that made her sigh a string of curses. "Not that I blame them, Camilla was Gustavo's little sister and he knocked the shit out of me when I left her."
"Does he know about Naruto?"
He nodded with a little chuckle, "Yeah, Camilla told him not too long after he left the city, probably to give Gustavo some time to chill out. You shoulda seen him Mama, he went all over protective brother, wanting to find her new output and have a 'talk' with him," they both shared a little laugh at the thought, "Oh and before I forget, he said he appreciates you handling the arrangements for her."
"While I wish I never had to, it's the least I could do for her."
Pepe appeared from around the corner to the stairs, holding a can of Nicola, "Hey Jaquito, how're you holding up?" he asked, patting the man on his back while setting the drink down in front of Mama Welles, "You heard anything from Naruto yet?"
Both Jackie and his mother shook their heads, "Neta? Damn, hope he's alright."
"Yeah, but I really doubt he's ok." Mama Welles muttered, popping the can open, "You should've seen how they looked at eachother, I can't imagine what he's going through."
There was a loud bang from downstairs making their heads snap over towards the noise. "The hell?" Jackie muttered, "Doors are locked right?"
"We don't open for another couple of hours," Pepe responded, walking over to the rail and looking down at the floor below and leaning forward "Santa mierda," he turned back to them, eyes wide, "It's Naruto,"
Jackie bounded over and looked with his mother hot on his heels, both looking over the edge to see the familiar blond looking like hell warmed over. Before he could say anything, his mother called out, "Naruto! Hold on, we'll be right there!" and quickly turned to make her way downstairs with Pepe close behind.
He took an extra minute to look at him, he looked rough. Clothing all ripped and torn, still covered in dust and dirt, he probably hadn't rested at all since getting the news. Turning from the railing, Jackie followed after the other two and made his way down stairs.
-xXx-
Making his way through Night City, Naruto contemplated on where to go first. Should he go to his storage unit and get a change of clothes? What he had on was pretty much ruined, he looked rougher than when he first got to this place. Or should he go to her apartment… no, he wasn't quite ready to go there just yet. Mama Welles' bar? Yeah, he wanted answers, he'd change later.
Making his way through Santo Domingo proved to be a test of his self control, every time he saw a member of 6th Street he could feel anger bubbling up inside. He wanted to give into the urge and make them pay but couldn't let himself do it, he wouldn't kill indiscriminately, he wanted the ones responsible.
He had planned to run all the way to Heywood, taking the rooftops like before but found himself taking the same path that Cami took him down that first night through Arroyo, over to the NCART station, taking it over the river and into Heywood. Every familiar place that she had pointed out to him made him smile bitterly. He almost expected to turn and see her grinning at him or hear her voice telling him about something she knew about the place.
But she wasn't there and as far as he was concerned, Night City was a much worse place without her.
El Coyote Cojo was the same as always, actually, maybe it was a little duller now? He stared at it for a minute remembering all the little stories she'd tell him about the place before going up to the doors and trying to push it open when the doors didn't budge he growled lowly and pushed, instantly regretting it as they swung open with a loud chatter.
He'd apologize to them the first chance he got and pay for the damage, he had some cash saved up at the storage unit.
Inside was indeed different from how he remembered it, Cami had told him that they rearranged the place and the pictures she sent didn't really show just how much had changed.
"Naruto!" his head snapped up to see Pepe, Jackie, and Mama Welles looking down at him from the second floor, "Hold on we'll be right there,"
Mama Welles came down the steps and met him halfway to the bar, "Oh dear boy, I'm so sorry," she told him, surprising him slightly by throwing her arms around him and pulling him close, he stiffened slightly before slowly returning the hug, "She was taken from us far too soon."
He trembled, eyes tearing up as he nodded into her embrace. She held onto him for a good minute, willing to stay there as long as he needed until he was ready, "Thank you… ah, I don't really know what to say,"
"You don't have to say anything," she replied with Pepe and Jackie nodding, "She was dear to us all, come on and sit, let's talk." The woman looped her arm around his and led him towards the bar, Jackie grabbed a seat beside them while Pepe made his way around behind the counter, "Pepe, grab us all a beer would you?"
"You got it Jefe," Four beers were opened and handed out.
Naruto took the offered beer and downed it in one go, making the other three share a glance, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," he told them, "I never thought that…"
"We're all still processing it," Mama Welles sighed, taking a sip of her beer while he fiddled with the empty bottle, "It was all so… sudden."
"What happened?" he kept his voice even as best he could, not looking at any of them. "How did she…"
"Driveby," Jackie answered, making the blond turn his head slightly. "6th Street bangers tried flatlining Gustavo Orta, Camilla's brother… she was caught in the crossfire."
They all flinched when the Broseph bottle shattered in his hand, his organic hand.
"I'll get the first aid kit," Pepe told them, already turning as blood dripped on the bartop.
Mama Welles nodded and stood up from her spot, moving closer and grabbing his wounded arm. "Santa Cristo, look at what you've done to yourself," she reached over the bar and grabbed a clean towel before opening his fist. "Be still, let me look at it."
Jackie grimaced, the guy broke a beer bottle with his hand and didn't flinch, even as his mother pulled a long jagged shard of glass from his hand while blood poured out. It was then that he noticed that Naruto had turned his head to look at him, making chills run up his spine.
"Your message… you said it was quick-" He cut him off, "Yeah bro, they said it was instant, didn't feel a thing," By now Pepe returned and opened the small first aid kit on the bar, handing the woman a small spray that she sprayed on his bleeding hand before wrapping a bandage around it, not seeing that it was already in the process of healing.
"Where is she?"
Once again they shared a look, before Mama Welles stood, "Hold on, let me wash this blood off my hands and I'll be right back,"
An awkward moment of silence passed by before the blond broke it, "Guys Im sorry, I know this has to be uncomfortable," they waved him off and sipped their beers.
"It's ok hermano, we lost our friend but you lost your girl." Pepe responded, setting his beer down and taking another towel to clean up the blood and glass. "I don't know what I'd do in your place."
"I already know what I'm gonna do," his tone was deadly serious and cold as ice, "I'm gonna find every person involved with that shooting and make them pay," he told them, looking at his bandaged hand, it was mostly healed but the blood had already seeped through and turned the cloth over his palm red. "Every single person involved, then the ones who ordered it."
"You'll be going up against the entire 6th Street gang if you go there vato,"
"I'll tear them apart too if they get in my way Jackie,"
Jackie finished off his beer, the first one he's finished in a while he mused to himself and thought about it. This guy was gonna get himself killed, he understood though. Even though their relationship soured and ended the way it did he still cared about her in his own way and the thought of the fuckers responsible getting away with it pissed him off.
But joining in on a gangwar? He left the Valentinos because of shit like this, and promised his mama he'd quit when he saw her crying over him in the hospital all those years ago.
"Fuck it," he decided, "Need a hand?"
"You don't have to help Jackie."
He snorted, "Fuck that gonk shit," he turned on the barstool and ignored the disapproving look Pepe sent him, "We might've spilt up but she was my friend. Not only that but if I don't and you wind up zeroed out because of this, she'll haunt my ass till the end of days."
Looking at the larger man for a moment, Naruto saw the determined look Jackie had and nodded, "I… appreciate it Jackie,"
"Hell yeah holmes. Tell you what, we plan it out right and we can get Gustavo and Campos to help out too. They'd give anything to get even with the gonks responsible."
"I can't believe you two," they heard Mama Welles say from behind them, making Jackie cringe, "Haven't even had her Ofrenda yet and you two want to charge out there and get yourselves killed trying to avenge her."
His teeth clenched, Naruto swallowed the words he wanted to say back to her. The way she just talked to them pissed him off but Cami would never forgive him for cursing the woman she thought of like a mother, especially when she was right for the most part.
He never saw Pepes eyes widen at his anger.
Turning on his stool, Naruto was about to give a small apology to the woman but felt himself go numb. Standing just a few feet away, Mama Welles held a simple metal urn to her chest with both arms, 'Camilla Orta' engraved on the side with a few small roses etched around it. Sliding to his feet, Naruto took the urn from her with trembling hands, she didn't seem to want to hand it over at first but relented with a small sad smile.
He didn't even get to see her one last time. It hit him like a ton of bricks, he'd never see her again, never hold her hand, hold her to him, feel her warmth, hear her laugh, he'd never get to tell her how much she mattered to him.
He'd never be able to tell her how much he loved her.
He didn't know how long he held the urn to his chest or when he started silently crying. All he knew was that Mama Welles had wrapped her arms around him again and just held him until he managed to pull himself together. Pepe and Jackie acted like they hadn't noticed, Jackie fiddling with the bottle while Pepe wiped the bar.
"Thanks Mama Welles," he told her as she let him go, he ran a finger over her name one last time before handing her urn back over, "Sorry about the ah-"
She shook her head and took Cami's urn back, "It's ok dear, don't mention it. But now that you're here, we can arrange her memorial."
"What do you need me to do?"
Mama Welles explained what the plan was, he didn't actually have to do anything, she just felt that he should be there seeing how close he was to Camilla. "It'll take a couple of days or so to get everything ready, I need to get up with everyone and make a few arrangements."
"I want to help out somehow,"
"The best way you can help then is to find an offering for her, something special to you both." he nodded slowly and she reached out to squeeze his arm with a sad smile, her other arm holding Cami's urn protectively. "You should go home and get some rest. You look awful."
Naruto looked down at himself and sweatdropped, "Ah yeah, I guess so." He already knew he looked like shit but her outright telling him really pushed the fact home.
She turned to Jackie and cleared her throat, "Mijo, be a dear and give him a ride would you? Take my car."
"You got it Mama," Jackie stood up and walked over to the ninja, slapping him on the arm. "Come on holmes, I wouldn't try arguing with her."
The woman hugged him again, "If you need anything at all, just ask ok?" she said softly. He nodded against her shoulder before she let him go. "I will… oh and I'm sorry about the door, I'll bring you some eddies to pay for it later."
"I'll hold you to it dear,"
Naruto followed Jackie over to the doors and out onto the sidewalk. The pair walked around to the small parking lot and over to an older model Archer Hella parked by an Arch motorcycle.
"So what's the deets holmes?" he asked as the pair got situated in his mothers car, it rumbled to life with the radio starting to play before Jackie reached down and turned it almost all the way down. Seeing the blonds raised eyebrows, he smirked, "I know that look, there's no way you're letting this go."
Naruto turned to look him in the eye for a moment before looking forward, "I know some people who'll tell me what I want to know," he leaned back and rested his head on the headrest while Jackie nodded.
"Got yourself a Info Bro huh? Nice," he was a solo runner, of course he'd have some helpful connections he'd be able to call on. "Gonna need some scratch to grease the wheels?" The car pulled out onto the street, "by the way, where are we going?"
"Actually Jackie, I need a favor."
"I got you mano, what's up?" Holding up his chrome arm, Naruto showed Jackie the damaged cyberware making him whistle, "Damn man…" he looked back and forth between the damaged arm and the road before stopping at a light. "Your chrome all good?"
"It works mostly, but feels a little slow at times though. The biggest issue is this," he tapped the side of his head where the chrome for his shard slots and other basic day to day implants were. "Cybers fried, optics, communication, personal link, everythings down."
"What!" Naruto looked back at the man when he heard the genuine shock in his voice. "Your neural ware's fried? Santo mierda, change of plans, you need to see a ripper now!"
"You know a good one?"
"Hell yeah Holmes, I'm taking you to Viks. Solid guy, best Ripper in the city." He was already turning around, pulling a U turn in the street and pissing off another driver that honked his horn at them.
"Wait, stop by my place first, I need to grab some eddies."
"Sorry but no dice. I'm no pro but I know Neuralware is connected to all kinds of shit in your head, you need a check up asap. Viks cool though, he actually cares about his patients. He'll even let you pay later on too." The car sped through the city center just fast enough where the NCPD wouldn't raise a fuss, bypassing Corpo Plaza and taking the bridge into Watson.
Watson had a strong asian influence in its style with much of it coming from Arasaka backed interests in the area at first then overtaken by the many chinese immigrants that flooded the district. Many of the buildings were once owned by Corps but now a good few now housed immigrant squatters of various ethnicities, some were dangerously falling apart from within and those who went inside often found the remains of poor souls killed by something collapsing on top of them.
"Welcome to Little China," Jackie told him as they crossed the bridge, he grinned and gave a little wave to a pair of officers leaning against their squad car on the corner of the street next to the bridge. They drove a little ways away and stopped at a light.
"Yeah, playground to the fucking Tiger Claws." Naruto groaned, nodding his head across the road. Three members of said gang were busy threatening some poor street vendor, all of them wearing bright biker leathers and neon colored masks with a pair of what he thought were the ugliest bikes he'd ever seen.
"Poor fucker," Jackie sighed as they passed, "Fuckin Claws, man,"
They went deeper into Little China, passing more and more street vendors, homeless people, and numerous stores before Jackie pulled up on the curb beside a stripclub. Naruto looked at the windows lined with glowing pink neon strips where some girls were dancing, teasing the guys and girls standing on the street before slowly turning to look at Jackie with the same look he used to give Pervy Sage.
"Gomorrah… really?"
"What?" Jackie looked at the club then back at him, "No pendejo, across the street." he leaned forward and pointed to the building directly across from it.
"Misty's Esoterica?"
"Yeah, well no, the entrance to Vik's is in the alley behind her shop." that didn't make him feel any better. "Misty's good people too, we've known each other for years. Grew up on the same streets," he told him while opening the door and climbing out. "Well you coming?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. Though i have to say Jackie, if this guys so good why's he running a clinic from an alleyway." They started walking towards Misty's shop.
"It's not in an alley, it's in the basement. It's actually really nice down there, he's got a ton of room down there. Look, just wait and see."
Naruto nodded slowly after all, what'd he have to lose now anyway? The door to Misty's Esoterica slid open and the smell of incense hit his nose, not strong but it kinda reminded him of the stuff Cami used to burn before she stopped smoking Rezzin out of nowhere.
"Hey, welcome to Misty's- Oh hey Jackie,"
"Hey Misty, good seeing you again. Is Vik in? I got a buddy here that needs to see em pronto."
Naruto walked in behind Jackie and saw the woman he was talking to, she was young and pale with a gothic vibe to her, dark eyeshadow and lipstick with a spiked collar around her neck. She had on an old oversized sweater from what he could see as she stood behind the counter surrounded by new age spiritual symbols and statues that he couldn't make heads or tails of.
"Oh wow, your aura… it's so heavy." she sighed in a breathy voice looking at him with pitying eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Jackie make a little gesture with his hand with a small shake of his head.
"Oh ah… Yes, Dr. Viktor is in," she seemed a little put off by that but smiled either way, "Head on through,"
"Thanks Misty," Jackie smiled at her and motioned for Naruto to follow him. "Oh and before I forget," he introduced the two blonds to one another and promised to talk to her again in a little bit before leading him to the alleyway and down a set of stairs a little ways away, "Viks is right down here."
They descended the steps and as the door opened, Naruto heard the sounds of a boxing match going on. Jackie stepped forward and opened the metal gate, motioning for him to follow, "Hey Vik! Got a customer for you."
"Jackie, good to see you kid."
Naruto took a moment to look over the Ripper doc. He was an older man with a five o'clock shadow wearing square plastic framed glasses, dark paramedic pants, and a blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up showing off his muscled arms. The man stood up from his stool and met them halfway, glancing at him for a moment and slapping Jackie on the back.
"Good to see you too, but we're here for him," he motioned to Naruto, "His neuralware burned out."
Viktor lost any hint of a smile and quickly turned serious, "He what!" turning to the blond, he stepped over to him and looked at him with genuine concern, shocking Naruto. "You in the chair now," he ordered, not giving the blond a chance to speak and following him as if he'd collapse at any minute. "Jackie I'll handle it from here but I need to speak to my patient alone."
"No worries I got it Vik, hey Naruto, I'll be at Misty's when you finish up alright."
"Got it Jackie," Before he could even finish, Vik had him sitting on the rippers chair and had a light shining in his eyes, "Damn Vik it's not that serious,"
"The hell it ain't kid." he shot back, "These implants interface with your ganic nerves." the man pulled a link from the terminal next to the chair, "I need to jack into your personal link, get any readings I can. What were you doing when it happened?"
Naruto thought about it for a moment, he sure as shit wasn't gonna tell him exactly what happened, what would he say? 'Oh yeah, I lost my self control and channeled a ton of demonic chakra to wipe a band of smugglers out along with anything in the general vicinity.' "Hunted down a band of Raffin Shiv. must've overdone it somehow."
"Overdid it?" the ripper repeated looking at the readings, "diagnostics can barely get a reading on your chrome… Hold on a minute." he turned the blonds head and shined a light at the slot behind his ear, "How are you even alive kid? Your shard slots are warped… no they're melted."
"Can you fix it?"
"Fix it? This? Sorry to say kid but I doubt anyone could fix this," the old ripper typed a few things out on the consol. "Tell me, were you experiencing anything unusual before this… overloaded, I guess is the best way to put it? Pain, double vision, phantom smells, numbness maybe?"
"I…" Naruto took a breath, "Look doc, just between us. Patient to Doctor? Before things got crazy I… I found out my girl was killed." that made Viktor stop, "I lost it. Those Raffin I was after, they changed into someone I fought a long time ago. I could hear him…It was like I was there again. My arm couldn't stop shaking, it felt like my eye was burning."
"I'm sorry for your loss kid," he sighed, "But that sounds like signs of Cyberpsychosis,"
"But don't that only happen to chrome junkies, all I'm chipped with is my neural implant and this," he raised his right arm. "It couldn't be that."
"No ones really sure how it's caused but you're right, there's never been a case of someone going Cyberpsycho with so little chrome… but."
"But what?"
"You went through a sudden and traumatic shock, add in the stress of a fight and your chrome burning out like that. It's theoretically possible." Viktor scratched his head with a thoughtful look, "Visual and auditory hallucinations, feedback causing your arm to shake. While it sounds like cyberpsychosis there's also pretty strong evidence that it wasn't the case." when he saw the questioning look Naruto gave him he shook his head, "You're still here kid. I'm not aware of anyone who's fallen over the edge and got back up"
Naruto couldn't even pretend to know much of anything about cyberpsychosis, all he really did know was that when someone snapped they usually murdered anyone that came close to them until Maxtac showed up to put them down and put them down hard.
"Alright," he snapped out of his thoughts, "I can replace your dome chrome, a little tricky but I can do it… hmm, this is a pretty standard package. If you want I got some pretty preem pieces in stock that you can check out. Same for your arm, it's no gorilla arm or mantis blade but it'll look more natural than what you have now. Probably stand up to the heat better too when you decide to try and melt this one."
Naruto grinned at the look Vik gave him.
-xXx-
"You're not gonna tell him huh?"
Mama Welles turned to look at Pepe for a moment and shook her head, "I was going to… but you saw how he reacted."
"I don't blame you jefe, never seen a guy crush a bottle like that… well not with a ganic hand anyway." he looked to the side where he'd tossed the bloody towel out of the way to be washed later. "Not to mention that look he had when you mentioned going after revenge."
"Eh, I can't really blame him." she sighed before giving a little laugh, "The way Cami would go on and on, she was madly in love with him. We spent all day looking at apartments… she was a sight. She wanted to have as many options for them to choose from when he came back."
"I think you should still tell him, he deserves to know… I don't know what I'd do in his place if anything happened to my Cynthia" he opened the ice chest in the bar and double checked it, the bar would be opening soon.
"I know Pepe, I know…" she looked miserable, "but he just lost her, you saw how he was, how can I tell him?"
The man slammed the door shut. "She was carrying his child jefe!" the thought of being in Naruto's position had gotten to him, "Dios mio, he was gonna be a father and you saw how excited Cami was when she told us."
The usually unflappable woman covered her face, "I know Pepe, I know. Oh dios mio I know." she wiped tears from her eyes and looked at the man who looked ashamed for snapping at her.
They'd spent days running around Night City, just her and Cami. Looking at apartments and homes trying to find the best ones where they could raise a family. When she found out that she was pregnant, Cami never had a single thought of getting rid of it and joked about having to call her Grandmama Welles.
"Jefe, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that,"
She stepped over and patted his hand, "No it's ok Pepe, you're right… I'll tell him before the Ofrenda… so he can say goodbye to them both."
They soon got back to work and opened the bar. Both feeling down at the whole situation and accepting the condolences of their closer patrons who wished them the best.
-xXx-
"Yo Maine, what's shaking my choom!"
The man in question looked up from his conversation with Dorio and raised his head in greeting, "Nice of ya to make it," he bumped fists with the smaller girl, his fist three times the sizes of hers before looking her up and down with a raised eyebrow, "Any trouble gettin here?"
She looked down, "Huh?" seeing a few wet spots on her black hoodie she groaned, "Ah man, I just got this washed!" she rubbed the spot and her fingers came back bloody, "Stupid gonk remembered me from Lizzies and was asking for trouble, so I gave it to him."
"You're not hurt are you?" Dorio asked, leaning up from her chair to give her a once over, only for the girl to wave her hand.
"Nah, I'm preem. That chump on the other hand's gonna need two new pieces." the girl fished out a Lexington auto pistol and grinned, "Took this from him and shot off his Mr. Stud."
Maine grimaced while Dorio laughed, "Well so long as you're fine, hear anything from your bro?"
Rebecca groaned, "Ugh, gonks probably stopped by that junk shop." she walked around and fell back onto the couch next to the much larger woman with a bounce. "Said something about… eh hell if I know, some kinda tech."
Maine's eyes lit up as he shot the techie a message to hurry it up.
Their little base wasn't much, just a little abandoned gas station for now they cleared out a while ago as one of their first gigs together as a crew. Some scavs had tried setting up shop here but they were tasked with shutting that shit down early. The crew claimed it as their own afterward as their little meeting spot here in Heywood.
Mainly due to the fact that none of the crew wanted the others to outright know where they all lived, at least not this early into the partnership.
The door opened up again, getting their attention.
"Hi guys!"
Dorio waved at the new arrival, "Sasha, been wondering when you'd finally make it back around."
Sasha was a pale young woman although not as pale as Rebecca, with short black hair in a bob cut, blue and pink eyes and a small catlike smirk on her face. The cyberware lines on her face added to her cat like features and though most of the crew hadn't seen em yet, she chipped herself with a pair of Cats Paw Rippers, giving herself a set of devastating claws when needed.
"Sorry!" she grinned, "That runner gig sucked big time, but it was a favor for a choom you know." The woman walked over and joined them, dressed in her tight plugsuit and carrying her bag over one shoulder. "So what's up Maine?"
"Figured we need to have a discussion," he answered with a serious look at the three of them, "This dust up between 6th Street and the Valentinos has a lot of folks nervous and both teams are wanting to bring in outside hustle."
"Your thinking of signing up?" Sasha asked with a shocked look, only for him to shake his head.
"Not really, but words out on the street about it and I figured I'd bring it up and get some thoughts on it. Not really a fan of either if I'm being real." Maine grumbled while crossing his arms.
"Didn't you and Maine get tangled up with some 6th Street guy a while back?" Rebecca asked the woman next to her, getting a nod from Dorio and a grunt from Maine.
"Yeah, El Captain was kind enough to do some digging for us since he's the one that got us tangled up with the guy. Flatlined a whole Scav crew and tortured one of them. He's some kinda heavy hitter ninja for 6th Street, call em the 6th Street Shino last I heard," Dorio explained, "I hear he's the one hunting down scavs in the area, ghosted the lot of em too."
Sasha's eyes lit up as she quickly checked the net, "So if we did join in and help the Valentinos, we run the risk of that psycho targeting us." Dorio nodded while Maine cleared his throat.
"Help the Tinos and risk fucking with the Shino or help 6th Street and face probably the biggest fucking gang this side of NC…"
"Neither option sounds pretty good honestly," Sasha looked at the others and shrugged, "Lets not then. Let the two gangs fight it out on their own, there's plenty of work we can score."
"Our only fixer right now is based here in Santo, kinda hard to pick up any gigs right now with 6th Street on edge.," He mused back. "Ain't got the street cred to just walk up to any other fixer, they'd sooner zero us than hire us."
"Talk about being between a rock and a hard place," Rebecca leaned against her new choom Dorio, who grinned at her antics. "There's no other fixer who'll give us a shot?"
"Most only deal with those they trust or who have the rep to back em up. We ain't got shit at the moment."
The door slammed open, causing them all to turn and pull their iron. Maine and Dorio with matching Overtures and Rebecca dual wielding the new Lexinton she took earlier and the highly customized Liberty pistol from her time with the Mox while Sasha was in mid hack ready to fry any chrome the attacker had.
"Hey hey chooms, sorry I'm late!" came the voice they all instantly recognized as Pilar, he came backing into the room holding the door open with his ass and holding a box of scrap tech with a grin on his face, "Got a hell of a deal on this and-" he turned to see them all ready to zero him and froze, "Ah… bad time?"
"You goddamn gonk brained fool!" his sister screamed at him, "What's the big idea huh?"
"What?" he cried, "What the fuck did I do?"
"Bustin up in here like a gonk!" Rebecca jumped up and stood on the couch, still aiming her pistols while the others put their guns away, "Coulda shot your dumb ass!"
Pilar rearranged the box in his arms and stuck his middle finger up at her, "Oh bite me half pint!"
The Gremlin hissed and pulled the trigger, shooting the tip of his chrome finger.
-xXx-
Naruto grinned as the overlay in his eye rebooted, "Hey I'm seeing something now!"
He had been under Viks tender care for a few good hours now, the process of replacing his neuralware was a delicate process and dealing with his nerves and greymatter made Vik take his time while walking him though every step in the process. If he was honest, after the Ripper gave him a shot of anesthetic and started removing the fried chrome, he kinda lost him.
All he knew was that Jackie was right, Vik was awesome. His last ripperdoc was good, sure, but Vik went above and beyond. Made sure to warn him when he did something, let him know when making connections and that he might feel certain things. Why the man ran his clinic here in such a hidden location instead of somewhere he could show off his skill he didn't know.
"Replaced your OS with a Militech Paraline over the standard civilian OS you were chipped with before. Not the latest and greatest mind you but you should see a decent improvement when it comes to syncing with your communications package and optical screen. I'd recommend replacing that by the way, the newer optics are much more stable and less prone to irritation and glitches."
Naruto grimaced, the idea of fully replacing his eye with a cybernetic one sounded cool but he really didn't know enough about it to commit. Hell the optical tech he had now was basically a small contact that his old ripper installed in his eye that was just a small HUD with the most basic overlays for information and communication.
"Arms online too, just take it easy for a bit and let your body adapt to the chrome," Vik rolled away on his stool and grabbed something off a shelf before rolling back, "Here, take two puffs of this and another tonight. Immunosuppressants, although it looks like your bodies adapt pretty well but this is just in case."
Naruto nodded and did as directed, feeling a cool sensation spreading from his lungs with each inhale. "You're the best Viktor."
"Eh, just call me Vik." the man shrugged, "and I know we didn't talk about it before but your payment."
"I promise I'll get you the eddies,"
"Oh I trust you, anyone Jackie says is good is good in my book. I was just gonna say feel free to pay me back when you're able, or we can even have a payment plan if you're strapped for it." he watched as the blond set the inhaler down and studied his new arm. "The arms pretty basic but way better than what you were chipped with before."
He grinned, a little embarrassed, "Yeah I couldn't really afford anything better at the time." The blond then started poking at the skin covering the arm. "Dude this feels so weird."
"Weird?"
"Not bad, just doesn't feel like my actual skin."
"Oh, well that's normal. Some of the newest models can simulate the feeling of actual skin but this synthskin covering the chrome is purely cosmetic. It'll heal itself over time from small scratches and cuts but don't expect it to hold up to… whatever you did to your other arm." he finished it off by looking over to where his other chrome had been set aside.
Naruto chuckled nervously, "I'll try, but like I said, I'll get you the eddies for this soon, a day at least."
Vik raised an eyebrow behind his glasses, "That's 20,000 eddies kid, no need to break the bank… but hey, you do you. I wont complain about getting paid." he chuckled.
"Besides… who knows, I might just bite it pretty soon."
"So you're certain about this?" He had told Vik about how he planned to hunt down the people responsible for his inputs death, no doubt making an enemy out of all of 6th Street in the process. He didn't try to dissuade him either, he was just his Ripper, hell he'd only met the guy today so he didn't feel like he had a right to talk him out of it.
Naruto nodded and clinched his new fist, "Believe it. They won't know what hit em."
Vik sighed and crossed his arms, "Alright then kid, give em hell. Just promise me one thing, once it's all over, how about you come back and I'll give your chrome a once over alright?"
"Vik, I'm planning on only using your clinic from now on so don't you worry," that made Vik laugh. "Besides, I'm kinda interested in one of those arm upgrades. Gotta make it back to chip it in don't I?"
"Damn straight kid."
-xXx-
Even with war looming over the districts of Heywood and Santo Domingo, biz still needed to be handled. It was mainly old biz, gigs that were already underway or ones that clients had already paid upfront to be done. Until he got a sense of where things were going, he wouldn't be adding to any chaos on the streets by sending a trigger happy runner out to possibly fan the flames.
"But Padre, we can't let them get away with it. They killed her, I can't just sit here and do nothing!"
Sebastian 'Padre' Ibarra sat at the small folding table in one of the many old lawn chairs while Gustavo ranted and raved. The man came to him wanting information to use to strike back at 6th Street for the attacks but mainly because of his little sister's death. Normally he would've happily provided him with such details, after-all, he had been there when both Gustavo and Camilla were born and kept an eye on them all throughout their lives.
"Gustavo, this is information that I am unable to provide." he raised a hand to halt the man's next outburst. "I have people looking into it. But for now you must mourn and be there for your input." that made him deflate a bit. "Ms. Young is still recovering is she not?"
"Yeah," he muttered, pulling a chair out for himself and sitting down.
They were sitting in the back lot of one of the fixers usual hangouts, a basketball court near a highway ramp. Several of Gustavo's people were standing around on the lookout along with the hustle he kept around the area while one pair of young Valentinos fought each other in a friendly match with several others betting and cheering them on.
"Have faith Gustavo, I assure you that their sins will not go unpunished. Go and be there for Ms. Young, she will appreciate your presence more than you think, I-" he stopped short as his driver and bodyguard walked over, "Yes Marcus?"
Ever the cool and collected man, Marcus leaned down and spoke quietly in his ear, "Sir, our contact reached out, a Mr. Uzumaki was seen entering El Coyote Cojo."
His eyes widened just a hint, "I see, thank you Marcus." The man straightened and nodded before returning to his spot a little ways away, giving him sightlines to both the entryway to the courts and where his employer sat. "I am glad to see you as always Gustavo but I must cut our meeting short."
"Everything nova?"
"Yes, yes, just some biz that needs my attention." he waved it off, "I will be in touch. Go and be with your loved ones and prepare for little Camilla's Ofrenda. I'm certain that I'll see you there."
"Yeah, that's right, Ms. Welles called and said she's got a date for it." Gustavo deflated the rest of the way. "Never thought she'd go before me."
The fixer stood up from the table and laid a hand on his shoulder, "She will be missed, I am certain she's looking down on us now and smiling. Go with god, little gusto." The last part made the man groan and chuckle.
"Oh I thought I'd outgrown that name."
"You may be the man you are today but I'll always see the little shit that tried stealing the communion wine." that got him another groan. "Until next time Gustavo,"
"Later, Padre."
The man left, meeting Marcus half way and following him to the car, stopping every now and then to say hello to a few locals he hadn't seen in a while before moving on and climbing into his car as his driver held the door "Thank you Marcus," As he got situated, Marcus climbed into the driver's seat in front of him and got them on the road.
"How long has he been back in the city?"
"Unknown, but our contact believes that he just arrived and made the bar his first stop."
They pulled out onto the road and into traffic. "Hm, so the lad has returned… and hell will follow with him."
Marcus glanced at the rearview mirror, "What was that boss?"
He waved it off, "Nothing, nothing, just the musings of an old man."
When Camilla started hanging around someone new and vouched for him so early he couldn't help but look into the blond. Not only as a fixer but as her 'godfather'. Naruto had no history at all and that did indeed set off some warnings to him as no one had absolutely no trail. He had one of his people trail them when they went out one night and his contact had a rather interesting picture from that night of them buying masks. At the time he didn't think too much of it, it wasn't until later when he managed to get a hold of a copy of that damaged BD with the Shino of 6th Street on it did he put things together.
The Shino of 6th Street was Little Camillas output, Uzumaki Naruto. The thought had staggered him. Every time news of a scav operation being ghosted all he could think of was that the man capable of it was with his godchild. The irony wasn't lost on him either, the little sister of Gustavo Orta, a leading figure of the Valentinos was with the Shino, a 6th Street boogieman. Not only that but Gustavo himself was with Martha Young or otherwise known as Martha Frakes, the child of a senior member of 6th Street.
"Marcus, inform our people to be ready," he told the man grimly, "I do not know what he plans to do but I feel that young Naruto will cause quite the ruckus."
-xXx-
"Ah no offense Holmes, but a storage unit?" Jackie leaned to look out his window at the fenced in self storage area while Naruto directed him to drive through and where to turn, "I mean I'm sure you could find a better place to stay than this."
"Turn here, third unit to the left." he told the larger man, "and I only stayed here every now and then. Usually keep some spare gear here…" as they slowed to a stop outside his unit, Naruto sighed, hearing the unasked question, "I stayed with Cami most nights."
"Oh…"
Naruto opened the car door and climbed out, "Feel free to come on in,"
Jackie nodded and opened his door, joining him outside on the cracked pavement while he unlocked the gate with a small key and slung it open, the metal door clattering as it raised and making the man whistle. "Holy shit mano,"
While the unit wasn't too big, measuring 10 by 10, Naruto had made it a small armory. "Sorry about the mess," he joked, motioning to the shelf next to him with several guns haphazardly piled on it and what looked like a few backpacks full of random assortments of loose mags, grenades, and boxes of ammo. "Give me a second would you?"
Seeing the blond grab a pair of pants off a cot against the opposite wall, Jackie nodded, "Be right outside." It only took a minute until he was called back and returned to find the blond wearing his spare orange outfit and stuffing some things into a duffle bag. "Where'd all this come from?"
"Mostly took them from people I went up against," he admitted, "a few of them were just idiot kids, figured I could at least keep them from doing something stupid if I took their weapons. Some didn't have owners anymore. Feel free to grab something you like." It was a strange feeling to let someone look through his stash, the only other person who'd been in here was Cami when he first got the place. Jackie looked intrigued and carefully started looking through the shelves, picking up a few things here and there before moving them out of the way to look at what was below it.
Jackie had to admit, he felt like when he was a kid with his mother all those years ago, looking through a second hand thrift shop except these shelves had guns instead of clothing and nicknacks.
"Hey Jackie,"
The man looked over, holding a tech pistol from the shelves, "What's up?"
Naruto had finished packing his extra gear, his remaining kunai, some medical stuff, a new overture revolver since his last one was lost somewhere in the badlands, a lexington pistol and some cash. His mask and plate carrier still safely sealed away on his person thankfully, his mask was one of the very first things Cami had given him and he never wanted to lose it.
"Do you really want to help me go after these guys?"
Without a moment of hesitation, Jackie nodded, "Hell yeah I do," he set the pistol down and turned with his arms crossed, "This ain't about no gang fight, I left the Tinos years ago. I'm doing this for Camilla," then he chuckled, "Besides, if you went off and got zeroed doing this then I'm certain she'll haunt my ass till the end of my days for letting you go alone."
He raised an eyebrow when Naruto reached into the bag and tossed something to him, making him fumble with it for a minute before realizing that he'd tossed him a thick stack of worn Eurodollars, "Neta?" looking between the bundle and the blonde he was shocked and thumbed through them. "Hermono this has got to be like… a few grand here."
"10k actually… you want to be a merc don't you?" the shino zipped the bag closed and stood up, "Use that to get some gear you need," It was a good chunk of cash but aside from what he made doing the odd gig with the Padre and Rico, most of it came from what he took from Gunner and his people when he raided their shit.
"Shit, I wont say no to this kinda scratch," Jackie stuffed the eddies into his pocket.
"I still gotta pay back Vik too, you mind stopping back there before you drop me off at… her place." he felt a bit of fear well up in him at the thought of returning there but he needed to.
Jackie nodded, "You got it holmes… you mind if I take this?" He held up a rather nice looking machete with some engraving on the blade and ivory grips with a picture of a saint carved on them.
It was something he'd picked up from some Scavs and while it looked nice, Naruto didn't have any attachment to it, "Yeah sure, take whatever you'd like dude."
He played with it for a second before putting it in the small sheath it had, "Sweet, what do you think," he held it by his thigh then by his shoulder blade, "think i'll look good here or on my belt?"
"Whichevers easiest to get to when you need it," he answered truthfully, picking up the duffle bag and walking towards the car, stopping for a moment to pick up a backpack. "Shoulder does look kinda awesome though,"
The taller man grinned and patted the blade like a 6 foot tall child that just got a gift. "Fuckin preem choom."
-xXx-
"You sure you don't want me to stick around for a bit holmes?"
Naruto looked Jackie in the eyes and shook his head, "Nah, you helped me enough today man." he looked out the window at the apartment building he and Cami lived in for a while, "I think I need to be alone here for a while."
The man nodded, "If your sure then," his eyes lit up, "Shooting you my contact, let me know when your ready to move out and flatline those fuckers alright," Naruto nodded, receiving the ping from Jackie as he climbed out of the car and shut the door.
"I'll be in touch Jackie," he slapped the roof of the car and leaned to look through the now opened window with a small sad smile, "They don't know what hit em,"
"Damn straight,"
"I'm probably gonna wait on it though, till after I can say goodbye."
Jackie grimaced but nodded, "I feel you Holmes, just hit me up if you need anything alright? Oh and you mind if I share your new contact info with moms?"
He nodded, "You got it Jackie and sure, I don't mind." saying their goodbyes, Naruto grabbed his bags from the trunk and closed in. Giving a little wave as Jackie drove off. He wasn't exactly a friend considering they'd only interacted a few times but he felt that Jackie was one of the few good people left in this city. The Shino then turned to look at the apartment building and grimaced.
"Cami deserved better than this place." If anyone heard his muttering, they didn't react.
The building itself was a wreck, covered in filth and graffiti… but then again everywhere here in the sub district of Vista Del Ray was that way. You could probably say that this was the worst area of Heywood, eaten alive by widespread poverty and oppression by both the corpo elite charging to take as much as they could and gangs stealing the rest.
Even now he could hear gunshots, probably not even a few blocks away, but then again that's nothing out of the norm here. Several people on the streets didn't even bother looking up from their own business as it happened, they were already so used to it after all, 6th Street claimed a lot of territory around this part of Heywood.
"Hey there, choom." a gravelly voice croaked, bringing his attention to an old homeless man. Filthy and down on his luck like most of the city. "Haven't seen ya around, thought they might've got ya." he cackled.
The man was half blind from the look of his eye, hair gray and thin. He was wearing several shirts and a coat, some of which had been given to him by Naruto, earning him a lifelong friend as far as the man was concerned.
"Hey old man, I see you're still kicking" Naruto tried to put on a grin for the man but it was noticeably half hearted.
The hobo nodded and laughed, "Oh yes, no gonks gonna be gettin me!" before looking as if he'd just woken up from a nap and seen the blond for the first time. "Hey kiddo, you look down."
"Cami… she's dead." The words still tasted bitter.
"Oh no," his shoulders sagged, "Such a nice girl, she gave me these shoes." he wiggled his feet showing the blond a pair of old shoes, a little rough but in good shape. "Gonna miss her, always told her to look out, that they're always out to get ya you know,"
Naruto let the man ramble for a moment, he was harmless enough but something wasn't quite right with him. Something in his head short circuited as Cami would say. Everyone always seemed to avoid and ignore the homeless unless it was for a cruel reason, something he himself had dealt with, so upon seeing the man outside her building, he at least tried to help him out.
The man wouldn't accept any big help but he was grateful for a coat when it was cooler despite the weather being mostly warm and some kind words every now and then. Just those small acts earned him and later Cami a friend. A friend who had yet to tell him his name, but a friend either way.
"Yeah… seems like the city's always out to get you," Naruto muttered, clinching the bags in each hand. "I'll see you around old man."
"Laters Choom," the sadness in the man's face vanished as he seemed to go back to his dreamlike state. "Remember they're out to get you."
The inside of the building was just as rough, smelled worse too. At least outside you got a breeze every now and then but in here you had a concentrated stink coming from the various bags of trash left sitting in corners. No one was at the front desk, just a scanner and terminal for dealing with rent and such, as a matter of fact he's never even seen anyone behind that desk.
The elevators were broken as usual so he took the stairs and encountered a trio of new faces hanging around the second landing above him, two guys and a girl. The girl was sitting on the top stair, back leaning against the wall with her legs across the walkway. One guy was leaning on the railing next to the second set of stairs, propped on his arms and drinking a beer. The last guy was sitting opposite the girl, her feet in his lap.
He walked up and stopped at the bottom of the steps, "Hey, you mind moving?" The three shared a look and looked back at him.
"Eh I don't feel like it," the girl groaned, "Just sat down,"
The one leaning on the rail above them all stood up, "Yeah, how about you turn around and use the other stairs… as a matter of fact, how about you be a choom and leave those bags here too."
Honestly, he felt like he should've expected some shit like this. "You know, I don't think I've seen you three around here before."
"What's it to you gonk?" the girl scoffed, leaning over and grabbing something next to her. It was a machete covered in neon splashes of pink and blue paint. She put the point into the stair next to her and played with it, spinning the weapon back and forth. "If you dont drop the bag you won't be seeing much else after we're done with you."
He looked them over for a bit more and they looked more like a bunch of kids than gangers. "I've had a really bad few days… chooms." he stressed the word, not really having used it before, "and I don't want to hurt a couple of stupid kids"
"The fuck did you say?" the guy sitting snapped.
Naruto dropped the duffle bag, the guns inside clattering together with his gear and sat the other bag down softer. "Let me put it to you in a way you might understand." He took a step up towards them. "I'm in no mood to deal with three little shits." The guy pushed the girl's feet out of his lap. "Your going to get out of my way… no, your gonna get the fuck out of this building." The guy stood up followed by the girl. "And now, the question is whether or not the three of you are going to walk out." he made it up to the last step and got face to face with the first guy. "Or be carried out."
Naruto could see the three look him up and down, he wore his usual set of orange and black clothing but none of his gear, even his holster was empty. The only thing he really had on him in terms of weapons was a handful of kunai and they were mostly out of sight in his back pouch, so to them he had to look like an easy mark.
"Alright Choom, guess you're getting a tune up." The guy tried to shove him back, to push him down the stairs which was honestly a good plan, but as soon as his hands touched the blond, Naruto caught them and twisted, tossing the punk over his shoulder and down the stairs himself.
"Olie!" the girl screamed, swinging her machete, "You fucking bastard!"
Leaning his body away, the blade missed the blond and narrowly missed the other punk, making him stumble back in shock, "The fuck Nicki?" he yelped as she swung again, "You almost killed me bitch!"
"Fuck. You!" was her only response, grunted out between swings until her blade slashed the blonde's hand. "Ha!"
Or so she thought, Naruto caught the neon painted machete with his cyberarm, the blade digging into the Synthflesh and most likely leaving a gouge cut into the palm itself. He gripped the blade tight as she tried to snatch it back and stepped in, his organic fist slamming into her stomach.
"Oh fuck," he heard the last guy muttering in a panic, "Oh fuck oh fuck" he looked like a small trapped animal and seemed to be considering running up the stairs. The girl, Nicki fell to her knees, giving up on the blade to hold her stomach while gasping, her wheezing and gasping to refill her lungs the being the only sound around them.
"Don't," Naruto snapped, spinning the blade and catching the handle to point it at the last man, "Don't move," he stepped closer and closer to the now trembling man who backed himself against the wall, "What's your name?"
"N-Nox," The curve of the machete blade touched his cheek.
"No, not a stupid little nickname." Naruto pressed the blade down slightly, just below his eye, "I want your real name,"
"Donnie, my name's Donnie," he quickly answered, "Look man I'm sorry, I just hang out with these guys every now and-"
"Donnie, shhh" he shook as the blond slowly removed the blade from his face, "How old are you?"
"Six-Sixteen, sir."
Naruto hummed, "Sixteen years old huh? Pretty young age for you to die isn't it? Chopped to pieces with your friends in some stairway." he watched the teen shiver and press himself into the wall harder. "Then again, there are worse things than dying that could happen to you right now."
"S-sir please-"
In a flash, Naruto raised the blade and brought it down fast before stopping above his left shoulder. The kid's eyes must've flashed before his eyes as he locked up, no longer trembling, too afraid to breathe. "I said… Shh." he repeated, lightly patting his cheek with the blade. "Here's what you're going to do ok?" the blond looked him in the eyes for a moment, "You're listening right?"
Donnie nodded fast, "Yes sir,"
"You're gonna get her up," he pointed the blade towards the winded girl, who chose that time to vomit on the top step. "Then both of you are gonna drag that," he pointed to the punk at the bottom of the stairs, "Olie, right? Yeah, you're gonna drag Olie out of this building and keep walking."
He let his words sink in for a moment, "And if I ever… see any of you anywhere near this place again."
Spinning on his heel, Naruto slashed at the railing. The machete shattered but the railing on the landing slowly slid down before clattering down to the bottom of the stairway, leaving four cleanly cut poles with the final snapped in half from the force.
Leaving the teen standing there, Naruto turned and walked back down the steps, stepping around the girl and her vomit to grab his bags. The teen named Olie groaned and whimpered in a pile where he fell, one of his legs draped across the backpack which Naruto kicked off. With both in hand, he went back up the steps and started to pass by Donnie but stopped before sighing.
Kneeling down, Naruto opened the duffle bag, letting the kid see the weapons inside while grabbing a bounce back before zipping it back up and standing, "Give them this," he muttered. When the kid didn't move to take it he rolled his eyes and tossed it at his feet. "Remember what I said kid."
Donnie stayed there for a while, pressing himself into the wall as if he'd become part of it until the guy was out of sight, he heard a door slam shut above them and slid down the wall trembling. They fucked up and messed with the wrong gonk, that was a fucking Edgerunner that could've zeroed them just as easily as he kicked their asses. He felt like crying… Looking down, he groaned, well at least he had on dark pants, he'd never live it down if they knew he pissed himself.
-xXx-
"Hey Baby Girl… I'm back…" Naruto stood in the open doorway of her apartment, half hoping it was all a dream and that she'd be there grinning at him.
The apartment somehow seemed even smaller without her, it was already barely a closet in his opinion but it was all she could afford and she wouldn't accept him paying for a bigger place… not yet anyway she had told him with a wink. It was twice the size of his storage unit at least, fit their bed, a small table with a chair, a wall mounted holo screen they watched together sometimes, and lastly a dresser.
He dropped his bags in the doorway before shaking his head and picking them up again. She didn't like it when he left them there like that. What if someone opened the door and snatched it? She would say. She even made him a little spot to the side for him to put the duffle bags he carried his gear in, never once asking what they held.
With them placed in the proper spot, he walked through the room just looking around. It felt so wrong without her. Sitting on the bed, he ran his hand over the red sheets she bought, one of the first things they'd got together for this place, they were still tossed aside. He could picture her now, throwing them back and stretching like a cat before getting up and getting dressed. She never made the bed… but then again, neither did he. Naruto grabbed her pillow and pressed his face into it, her scent filling his nose.
That dam he'd been holding back broke. Pressing his face harder into her pillow he clenched his fists into the pillowcase and screamed for what he'd lost until all he could do was sob.
-xXx-
Good Morning Night City!
Naruto looked over to where the holo popped on, Cami must have set it to be a morning alarm. But he'd been up for the past couple of hours, preparing.
Yesterday's body count lottery rounded out to a mighty fine thirty-nine 25 outta Heywood - thanks to the unabated gang wars! Got a sudden blackout in Japantown. Netrunners are at it again, pokin' holes in the power grid and folks are not happy.
Today he'd have a little conversation with Rico. He doubted that the man had anything to do with Cami's death but he had to be certain. If he'd had his old contacts he'd just call the man and set up a meeting but since he'd lost everything destroying his phone in the badlands he'd have to go find someone who could get up with the man.
While over in Westbrook, Trauma Team's scrapin' gangland victims off the pavement, a little spillover from the fighting in Santo. And in Pacifica... Well... Pacifica is still Pacifica.
His niece, whatever her name was. He knew where she worked and she had to have a way to get in touch even if the man had gone to ground thanks to this gang war. Tightening his new plate carrier, the large white 6 painted on the back making him a little annoyed, Naruto went about attaching his gear, knife, kunai and shuriken pouches, a new pouch for his exploding tags.
With that in order, he loaded his weapon and holstered his new trusty Overture on his thigh.
This has been your man, Stan. Join me in another day in our City of Bugs!
'Cami… what would you say if you saw me now?' he wondered, standing up and walking to where his mask was laying. The snarling half face grinning at him, its orange paint scratched and chipped in a few small spots. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other mask she bought, leaning against the wall with a small photo next to it.
It was one that Mama Welles insisted on taking the first… and only night they ate dinner with her. They were smiling together and looked so content.
Her mask stared at him, a white full mask that reminded him of a fox styled ANBU mask with pink flowers painted here and there with a pair of long ears extending from the top. That gave him an idea…
"I'll be back baby girl," he whispered, picking up the picture and cleaning the frame, "gonna borrow this for a while too ok?" He set it down gently and grabbed her mask. Naruto slowly slipped it over his face and attached it firmly letting his hands slide down the front of it slowly before looking up.
'Sorry Jackie boy,' he thought, knowing that the man would have wanted to join him on this 'I don't mean to pull a Sasuke, but they're mine." His eyes flashed red at the thought before returning to his normal blue. He could forgive some things, hell he knew the pervy sage would be ashamed of how he was going about this but… he didn't have it in him to forgive these enemies.
He henged himself back into his usual form and gave her picture one last look. "I won't let them get away… I love you Babygirl."
-xXx-
To be continued…
-xXx-
Here's a sneak peek of Chapter 9: We Had to Pay the Price
"Hey Uncle Rico,"
It was his niece, why was she calling? Her voice sounded shaky, which was no surprise. Since her brother died she's probably been mourning with her mother… but no, this sounded strange… oh no, had something happened to her mother, his little sister? "Hey, what's wrong? Is everything ok?"
"There's some men here…" her voice cracked. "Oh god, uncle… he says he needs you to come here now."
"Listen where are you?" He sat up straighter in his chair, catching the attention of those around him who quickly lost interest after seeing him on a call. Ortiz was the only one to notice his rising panic.
"I had to go to work." she told him, "I'm at the dinner."
"Who is it? What does he look like," he looked around and stood up, making his way out. No one questioned him leaving or gave him a second look.
"I don't know, he's got on that army gear you guys wear," not good, had Gunner sent people after his family? Was he trying to use his niece as leverage against him? "They're all wearing the same thing and have masks on. The guy in charge is blond." definitely not good, an actual disciplined squad? Not many of those in the gang to be honest. Blond though… he needed more. "They got these weird masks on-"
His eyes widened, only one person matched that description but wait, he didn't have a team. "The mask, is it a grinning animal face?" it couldn't be.
"No," so it wasn't the kid then. "But he has a mask like that, painted orange."
The kid was alive…
He must think that they tried to kill him, sent him out into the shit to blow him up. Oh fuck this was bad, why did he come after his family though? Why not just come straight for him?
"Listen, you'll be ok. Just tell him I'm on the way ok?"
-xXx-
Anyway, here's chapter 8. I had to cut it into two parts because I wanted to go on and update it. I actually wanted this chapter to be his move against 6th street but there was a lot I wanted to put in ahead of it.
I hope you enjoyed it, like I said before I've probably made a bunch of mistakes but I really hope you're able to enjoy the story either way, love you guys.
A big thanks and shoutout to AizenTheGoat, really enjoy messaging back and forth bouncing ideas, love you dude. It's always nice to talk to a fellow fan lol.