Yo! Fiction Militia here with a new chapter! Ya thought I was gone, did ya? Well, I'm not and here I am!
Sorry for the late update though, I didn't mean for it to take this long but I've been debating whether to keep on going to reach a 5-7k words landmark or just stop at a good place.
And thank you for all showing interest in this story of mine - I have wandering ideas on where to take this but hopefully, I can keep it going.
Now, this'll be a short one but think of this as me planting seeds for future chapters and conflicts. Next time though, the chapter will be much larger, I promise.
If you're following my other stories, don't worry -I'll get to them soon enough, especially Eagle Savior and finish remaking the chapters.
An eerie silence hovers over the desolate slums of the city, the silence only broken by the few crackling fire barrels that barely illuminate the streets. The buildings look run-down as lights shine through the windows, indicating that it's used and occupied.
The unfortunate homeless inhabitants could only huddle themselves further into their thin rag blankets and clothes for protection as they shiver against the cold-biting wind.
A hard impact on flesh followed with a gut-wrenching grunt drew the attention of a few of the homeless, their eyes shifting towards an empty basketball court partially covered by broken wire fences
Inside the court were four figures, one of them on the ground in a fetal position, wheezing and coughing as they hold onto their stomach.
The other three remain standing, surrounding the individual on the ground. Two of them wore typical colored shirts and basketball shorts, one looking quite lanky while the other was fat with a red bandana tied up on their upper arm.
The third one wore a white wife-beater and sweats pants that has a single purple vertical line trailing down it with a red bandana covering his mouth, looking a bit buff in terms of muscle.
What was noteworthy however is that each of their red bandanna seems to have the letter 'G' displayed on it.
"You punk, didn't we tell you to come back here with interest?" The bandana-wearing goon spoke up, showing off a stack of thai baht bills "This here is chump-change."
The one on the ground was a skinny asian man, his black hair and mustache slowly greying on the edges indicates his upcoming old age. Wearing a dusty old olive jacket and cargo shorts, he raised his hand up to pacify the man's sudden anger.
"W-We agreed on sixty and forty, the forty being yours. It's what your boss agreed on." His reasoning was ignored as the bandana-masked man kicked him right into his stomach "Guh!"
"Idiot, the boss wanted sixty, not forty. Just because you have your hands on some money; You getting a big-head over it?" The man replied before resuming his kicks onto the downed man, his goons watching over it with a chuckle.
"Ugh! But... I'll barely have any revenue left for myself." The jacketed man wheezes in pain
"The boss man was kind enough to lend you some money, even letting you set up shop in our territory" The goon leader follows it up with another kick to the downed man, earning him a grunt of pain "All we ask of you is to give up the earnings that is requested."
"Please... Reconsider! If I give up anymore, I'll starve..." The beaten man pleads pitifully at the bandana-wearing man, who replied with an irritated tsk
"Not our problem. What the boss man wants, is what the boss man gets. Maybe this will teach you a lesson not to question his demands!" The man formed a fist, ready to deliver some pain onto the pleading man.
Before the sounds of pained grunts and something dropping onto the cracked concrete ground alerted him.
Turning around, the first thing he noticed was the bodies of his two goons laid out unconscious. Standing between the two bodies was a man decked out in all black; Black sweatpants, shoes, and a black hoodie with the hood covering the man's head.
Due to the lack of light and the shade of the hood, the man's features were shrouded in darkness.
The man remained weaponless and stood stoically infront of the bandana goon.
"Shit!" Backing away, he takes out a pocket knife from his pockets and points the blade at the stoic man, who remained unfazed. "Do you have any idea who you're messing with?! Huh?!"
The black-wearing man only stared back, their sharp blue eyes piercing int o his own which only ticked him off.
"I'll gut you!"
The bandana goon recklessly charged in; his knife poised as he sliced aimlessly towards the man. The man dodge and weaves away from the knife slashes before catching his arm, stopping the attacks.
"Gah!" The goon lets out a grunt as the black-shrouded man effortlessly disarmed him and used his elbow to strike him into the gut, stunning him for a moment.
Bending forward, the hoodie man finished with an uppercut right into the man's chin – Making the head snap back with blood dripping behind the bandana before the goon flops into the ground. Knocked out.
The hoodie man stares at the downed goon for a moment before briskly walking towards the jacketed man, who looked up at the figure with apprehension and wariness.
"Who... Who are you? Look, everything I had on me is on him, all right?" The jacketed man frowned as he backed away from the figure, willing to give him his hard-earned cash for his life.
He's been through enough mugging encounters that people in this city can be quite merciless.
Instead, he felt something soft impact him on the chest. Looking down, the jacketed man saw his stack of money that he gave to the thugs.
Wide-eyed, he looks up to see the figure gesture with his head to the side – Silently telling him to leave.
Hesitantly, he stands up with a stumble and winces at the pain from beating he got. For a moment, he didn't believe that he was just saved and let go; Just like that?
"Why?"
There has to be some sort of hidden agenda, right? No one in this city does anything out of the kindness of their heart.
And for those who do; Barely last a day in this shit-hole.
The figure stands in stoic silence. Of course, he wasn't gonna answer, not like he's oblige-
"Because I can and seeing all of this just rubs me the wrong way. That's all."
"..."
Huh?
What? That's it? Just cause this guy doesn't like how things run here?
That's just...
The jacketed man stares at the man with an odd gaze for a moment before walking off. After a few steps he stops, prompting the figure's attention to center on him.
"Doing this shit will get you killed, you know... These ain't some normal thugs you can just beat and walk away without consequence..."
Organized groups can easily deliver the consequences to your doorstep if you ever decide to bark up the wrong tree. No one would ever take such disrespect lying down without some payback, especially if it came from a nobody like him.
Whoever this guy is just made a dumb move by beating a gang leader's goons during a job of extorting everything he has.
"I know." The figure responded without a shred of fear in his voice. Young too, from what he can hear.
"You're a damn fool."
A fool indeed...
A fool that's gonna get himself killed pulling this stunt...
But...
"... Thanks for helping me out."
He mutters loud enough for the figure to hear before he continues to walk away.
=== Roanapur's Orange Menace ===
An improvised oil lamp, consisting of an empty can, cooking oil, and a cotton ball, sat on a lone table.
Then a flicking sound followed with a burst of flame lit up the lamp, illuminating the table and all around it.
The black figure held a lit lighter before shutting it off, laying it down on the table before reaching for the hood.
Pulling it back, he reveals his uncut blonde hair followed with removing the facemask to showcase our whisker-faced shinobi.
Letting out a sigh, Naruto begins to change out of his current outfit that he looted off a previous mugger who tried to face off against him.
It didn't end well for the mugger and the clothing fitted him well enough, if a little tight. He did feel bad for leaving the guy out in the cold with nothing but his underwear though in the middle of a dark and damp alleyway.
Atleast he's alive and kept his dignity, right?
Right.
After mentally convincing himself, Naruto's thoughts strayed into more what he's been doing lately.
It's been two weeks, maybe three – He should probably get a calendar in here at some point – since he first visited Akari's place.
After their little confrontation, Akari felt more reserved than before when he continued to teach him their usual lessons. In their first meeting, she was guarded against him even if she didn't say it out loud.
Now, with his 'Negative Emotion Sensing', she began to close herself off from him as he felt her slowly increased wariness and fear of him to the point that she would try to avoid him entirely after their lesson was done.
Perhaps it felt like he pushed himself onto her a bit too suddenly and soon when they were still strangers. A mistake on his part, though.
He keeps forgetting that Akari is a 'civilian' if he compares it back to his world. Unlike Shinobi; Where their intentions and ideals were often easy to interpret and display to others, whether they be enemy or friend.
Most civilians don't have that kind of mindset.
That's why Civilians and Shinobi often have different perspectives in life – Shinobi tends to be straight forward and blunt, they don't have time to be complex as the life of a shinobi tends to be dangerous and life-threatening, often resulting in their death at an early age. Civilians, however, don't often throw themselves into danger hence why they have a luxury of being complex as they want. They expect to live a long life-span as most shinobi would probably not.
Yet deep down, they're still human and everyone can have issues buried in their heart, regardless of their statuses.
He's witnessed that with many of his foes that he's talked and sympathized with, alongside his friends as well.
Naruto will help Akari, just like how he helped others. Just gotta be more careful with her case as she looks ready to bolt everytime he's ready to try something.
Other than that – Once he has a good grasp on the local lingo of both thai and English, he began to survey his local surroundings; See how bad it was if Akari's words were taken at face-value.
And man, it was not bad.
It was worse than he even imagined compared to his earlier days in this city.
Drugs Addicts, Criminals, Scum, and those who've given up in life was just everywhere around here.
This is a small part of the city too as he hasn't ventured beyond the slums yet.
And this is probably just the surface level on the number of problems this wretched city has.
After he went home that night from Akari, he decided to take action against such problems.
By tracking down these 'drug dealers' and local organized crime groups before beating the snot of them.
Not a perfect nor solid plan but Naruto has always been one to think up plans as he goes. Even after studying much literature with Iruki-nii didn't change that part of him.
Sighing underneath his breath, Naruto finishes changing to his spare clothing for sleeping
Donning a simple getup of shorts and a white shirt, he lays down onto his sleeping bag as he lets the soothing lamp fire help him fall asleep.
'Wonder what will be on the list for tomorrow...'
Unknowingly tempting fate, Naruto's eyelids slowly shut themselves from the world, sleeping blissfully.
=== The Next Morning ===
Waking up early and having a somewhat hearty breakfast, Naruto realized that his current supplies were running low. Mainly food as his recent night 'strolls' and natural big appetite got him eating through his stock more quickly than anticipated.
Akari tends to demand groceries in her payment in exchange for a percentage of his lacking funds during their lessons, this led Naruto walking towards the nearby local market.
Luckily, Naruto's night escapades of beating down criminals and drug dealers earned him more than enough money to restock his food supply and then some.
Extortion of poor sods and drug-dealing is a lucrative business, unsurprisingly.
The blonde shinobi purchased mostly canned goods and ready-to-eat food items like fruits as his skills in the culinary arts is... not the best, at the least. He did include some vegetables though, both for himself and Akari's request.
He's a big boy now. He can eat these horrid vegetables without a sweat, believe it!
Walking by the various stalls and stores, some were selling food-stuff to any customer willing to by and others were offering various services that didn't spark an interest within the blonde man.
'Guess I'll go home – I already have the food in hand and nothing else here really seems interesting.' Shrugging to himself, he turns around and starts thinking on how to prepare lunch for Akari's arrival for lessons this afternoon.
Another attempt in having her open up to him, he convinces himself. Maybe she'll open up after having a taste of his home-made ramen?!
'Yeah, that sounds good' Naruto wipes away the drool from his lips at the thought of tasting ramen once more, as none of the stalls or stores seem to hold any sort of ramen for him to buy.
Blasphemy of the highest order! These ignorant heathens don't know the food of the gods!
Turning around, his eyes briefly shift over to a commotion happening near a stall that he previously passed by a few minutes ago.
Squinting his eyes, he proceeds to get closer to what's causing such a racket so early in the morning, no less.
Once he sees what the commotion was all about, Naruto freezes as he quickly hid into a nearby alleyway yet peering around it to see the issue.
A group of six people were surrounding a stall with one of them loudly speaking to the owner. All of them looked thuggish, obvious from how they proudly present themselves in a manner that reeks of arrogance.
However, what caught his eye wasn't the fact that they looked like goons holding various melee weapons looking to mug someone.
What drew his attention was the fact that they all wore red bandanas with the letter 'G' etched onto the fabric, displayed for all to see.
It appears like he isn't the only paying attention either as most of the passersby's shoot the thugs a look of wariness before seemingly walking away from the commotion that's happening.
"Show some respects to your betters, huh?!" The one speaking to the stall owner snarled loudly, prompting the owner to fearfully offer various meat on a stick to the man "Heh, that's more like it!" He swiped a few before walking off, enjoying his 'free' food.
Wearing a red wife beater along with some tan cargo pants, the tanned young man walked briskly without a care along the street. His head was covered with the red bandana, the 'G' letter displayed at the front.
As soon as he walked, the rest of the thugs followed suit with the man and took a bunch from the stall as well – Leaving the depressed stall owner mourning over most of his lost product already gone as soon as the day started.
"Thanks for the 'generous donation'!" The tanned young man guffawed loudly, the rest of his peers following shortly as the stall owner seemed ticked off from the taunting.
"D-Damn you, Dao! How else am I gonna run a business if I have nothing to sell!" The stall owner's moment of defiance quickly shriveled up as he felt something metallic touching his skin that made him freeze in fear.
The gun barrel from 'Dao's pistol pressed gently into the stall owner's chin, the tanned young man's earlier grin now replaced with a challenging look.
"Listen here dumbass, lest you forget. The only reason why you got this stall and why you're allowed to operate here was thanks to the boss' mercy. In return, you pay him back in tribute. Simple, right?"
Dao's now low-tone voice made Naruto narrow his eyes at the tanned man, his sensitive hearing and close-proximity allowed him to hear their conversation just fine.
Despite the fact that his instincts are telling him to go help the poor stall owner, Naruto kept his calm and continued listening to the nature of their conversation, intriguing him.
The stall owner stuttered in dismay, pleading to the man "B-But, I can't get any revenue if you keep taking my stock without p-paying me..."
Dao's dark-brown eyes stared right into the owner's own for a moment, unnerving the owner even further before he was smacked right in the cheek with the gun
"Agh!'
"Then find a way to earn it. Simple, right?" Dao's 'simple' answer baffled both the owner and Naruto at such logic.
"H-How-"
Before the owner could reply, he was smacked once again with the firearm in the other cheek.
"I said... Simple, right?" Dao slowly spoke the words once again, with a menacing undertone as he stared at the owner.
"I-Y-Yes... I'll find a way to earn more money for the tribute..." The stall owner drooped his head down, submitting to the tanned young man which earned him a smirk.
"Good. Anything else you wanna say?"
"N-No."
With that, the conversation ended as Dao and his fellow goons left the bruised-up stall owner as they continued walking down the street – The nearby people moving away from their path, as if to not incur his attention upon them.
Naruto followed suit as he turned around and walked further into the alleyway that he found himself hiding in. A frown displayed on his lips as he analyzed the situation and conversation he just witnessed.
'Seems like these red 'G' guys run the show around here. And using my 'Negative Emotion Sensing' on the other stall owners, I felt their fear; As if they might be next...'
It made sense now that he thought about it. Something like a market of all places seems a bit out of place for the slums. Most people already looked jobless and homeless around here, so having a market being naturally built was next to impossible.
It means that something or someone made and funded such a place.
'These guys might be a part of that' Remembering how Dao treated the stall owner cemented that these guys aren't the most benevolent of people.
Looking down on his watch, his eyes widen at the time before he starts running towards the direction of his home.
'Crap! Been too focused watching that it's almost time that Akari usually arrives to start the lesson!"
In a few seconds, he disappears from the alleyway – Missing as Dao and the rest of his goons passed by it, with one of the goons asking outloud
"Hey Dao, you finally up to patrol tonight? Some of our boys been getting pummeled the last few nights and the Boss ain't happy 'bout it. He wants us to find the asshole who's been stealing our rent."
Dao side-eyed the thug beside him, making the man twitch in apparent nervousness as if he unintentionally slighted his leader before shrugging with a grunt
"Eh, just take some of my crew to help in the search. Those guys need something to do than just hittin' our product anyway." Dao kept on walking with a carefree nature as the thug deadpanned
"Come on, man – The boss will be pissed that you ain't putting in work, ya know. What's got ya so busy every night anyway?"
This got the man to stop, turning around to give the thug a malicious smirk with predatory eyes which got the thug to shiver in disgust at the sight.
"Oh, just been havin' fun with this little thing I got going on..."