Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

It was hot.

The work was hard, and she was very sweaty.

Kagura could see why she was being put to work with Naruto, because after a few hours of set building a metal and alien themed set, she had done more pull ups, and upside down sit ups than she had done in a long time. Her abs, her arms, and her legs were sore from the stamina draining work that she had been doing.

Kagura couldn't even wear her normal clothes.

She had to wear thick pants and a durable shirt while she worked, and they were warm to wear. She watched as Naruto hung upside down from the "ceiling" of the set, and instead of the set being in the building, it was build over the top of one of the hot springs so that a ton of steam could go through the floor vents of the set. It gave it a misty, and dangerous feel to it... but it also made it extremely hot during building.

"Master, can-"

"No magic during the building process." Naruto rejected the idea before she could even finish it. Magic could easily get out of control, and one slip up meant starting all over. "We aren't Fairy Tail mages... we don't destroy property, we build it." Naruto had nails hanging from his teeth as he crunched up his abs to bring himself closer to where he needed to be.

"Okay, how many more sets do we need to make?" Kagura asked Naruto, since it was hard work.

"Well, the others won't be nearly as hot... we need to build a Breeding Chamber, we have to make a Probe Table room, a Dark Hallway set, currently we are making the Nursery... oh... and once Wendy is d... speak of the devil." Naruto noticed Wendy coming towards the hot springs with a towel around her body. She blinked in some surprise and blushed slightly when she saw him.

"Oh... one of the sets is here?" Wendy asked awkwardly.

She was kind of naked under her towel.

"Just two of them, most of the others can be done inside in the set areas. I just thought the natural steam from the hot springs would... be pleasant for the shoots... also the other hot springs set will be of a Escape where part of the spaceship can be seen as crashed, and Mirajane will escape a hole into the water." Naruto had plans to make two of the sets in the hot springs for those reasons.

Wendy looked at the half-finished set, and nodded her head slowly.

"Okay?"

"Did you finish what I asked you to do?" Naruto asked her with a knowing look. Since Yukino and Sting were busy, Naruto had asked Wendy to do the stuff that normally Yukino was asked to do during the set building stage. He had her running around and going to the usual businesses that bought ad space with them, and getting the products for the new ads as well as getting her impression of them.

Then there was going to the supply companies that they bought set materials from, though that would be delivered to the building once it had been purchased.

"I did... what are we going to do about bathing?" Wendy was pretty sure that they wouldn't be taking any baths in the hot springs when both of the sets were built.

Naruto had an answer.

"We live in a hot springs town Wendy, and we aren't hurting for money. I already told Mr. Moneybaggs about this, just go to one of the public hot springs, we have budget up to a certain amount for bathing expenses." Naruto couldn't just rent out a public hot springs for a month, so they would have to use their private hot springs in their guild for the sets. That was unfortunate, but in the end it was cheaper for them to spend money on going and taking baths somewhere else, than it was to rent an entire businesses hot springs for a month.

Also, it was unreasonable to the other people in the city, and it would make them enemies with people who weren't too pleased to be unable to go to their favorite places to take baths. They did NOT need the bad publicity that came with being an issue for the people of their own town.

"All publicity was good publicity" was a fucking lie, and only superstar celebrities who already had shit tons of money could pull off such a line.

For a business like them, bad publicity could cause them to be the target of boycotts, which would be a problem. They were already a porn publisher, they didn't need "public enemy" attached to that when they already worked really hard to keep up a good reputation with the people who knew them. Their clients had a good image of them at this point thanks to the important work that Yukino did running around town.

"... Uh... so..." Wendy looked at a still pretty usable part of the hot springs, and wondered if she should just be naked around the two of them while they worked. She lowered herself into the water, and she noticed that Kagura was paying very close attention to her.

Kagura was looking at Wendy.

'... This girl is the 2nd in Charge... she seems... weak.' Kagura could hardly believe that this was the girl that had the second highest position in the guild, according to Naruto. Her arms were on the thinner side, and while she had decently toned thighs and legs, she gave off such a timid and weak aura about her that it was hard to believe that she was the guild's second strongest mage. "Master... can I take a break."

"Nope, keep working, we're on a schedule. You can break when it's time for lunch." Naruto responded, no thinking about it. He needed these sets finished before the end of the week, and he was glad to have the help. If they could get a few more members of the guild who were talented with their hands, then soon enough it would be a cake walk to build sets.

Taking them down was the fastest part of it.

"Yes sir." Kagura could see why this was stamina training.

The work was heavy, no magic was allowed to be used during the building process, and they didn't have any professional equipment to get to high or low spots, so they were working even harder than a normal construction worker since they used their bodies to make up for the lack of equipment.

"Sooo... about the bonus models... uh... how does Yukino usually convince them to sign up?" Wendy had been doing Yukino's job.

Yukino always complained to her about how her job was so un-important feeling to her, but after doing her job, Wendy was starting to understand just how important it was. Yukino was the face of the company behind the scenes, with ad buyers and with the whores who would join the magazine as models. Yukino was the one who ran around town, placing all of the orders for all of the things they needed. Half of the places that she visited during her work day had asked if Yukino was sick, and hoped that she would get better.

"Don't know, I just trust that she will do a good job."

'I should tell Yukino when she gets back, that her work is way more important than she thinks.' Wendy was the camera operator, and she helped Naruto to pick out which shots would go in the magazine, but that just meant most of her work happened during the second half of the month. Yukino worked all month long, and during the first half of the magazine process she worked her ass to the bone. "... I wonder why she doesn't think what she is doing is important?" Wendy questioned silently.

Naruto laughed.

"Because, she's a kid, and she thinks what you do is cooler, and if what you do is cooler, that makes it more important. Kids don't realize just how important grunt work really is... when she gets older and matures more, she will understand how important her jobs are." Naruto could practically read Wendy's mind.

"It's called grunt work." Kagura stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Any building that does not have a good foundation will collapse. Yukino and what she does helps set a good foundation... now I won't claim her work is the most important job, but the work she does is what makes sure we have a good reputation with people... we make porn... having a cute girl like Yukino, with a good attitude and good work ethic, really helps make us look good... and in the business, looking good is the best publicity." Naruto didn't explain it to Yukino for a few reasons.

The biggest being she really was just a kid, and when you told kids they were doing super important work, they would get a big head about it. Yukino might look older than Wendy, but mentally she was a few years behind the girl. Wendy had the mentality of a girl about Kagura's age, while Kagura had the mentality of a girl exactly her age. He didn't want Yukino to get a super-inflated ego like some other famous people he could name.

Children with big egos were typically the kind to get knocked down harder, and gave a harder time recovering from failure.

Naruto wanted Yukino to have self-confidence, but he wanted to make sure she remained humble.

Well, as humble as she could be.

"So, about the costume... are we all really going to dress like aliens?" Wendy asked, since she was curious about that.

"Fully body blue suits, with alien costumes on your backs... it will look cute, trust me." Naruto waved a hand at her concerns, her unspoken concerns. "... and don't worry, none of you will be naked. Everyone is just going to be in the background of shots... just for a little fun. A kind of spot the hiding alien vibe. There is going to be a fun contest. If a reader finds all the aliens in all the pictures, and fills out a survey in the back, we will mail them a coupon that will let them buy any future issue of their choice... for 25% off." Naruto laughed at that.

"... That sounds like a good deal... how do you make money off of that?" Kagura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, they have to find all of the aliens to win, but what is more important. The surveys are just... questions related to things the readers like and stuff. We can sell the data collected from the surveys to other businesses. Companies are always looking for ways to collect this kind of data on consumers... likes, dislikes, what they look for in a shopping experience, what they like in the products they buy... companies would give an arm and a leg for that info... and perverts are used to keeping their activities a secret from companies... so we can offer companies info on a market they have little info on." Naruto stated the economics behind just how important the info was.

If Naruto weren't hanging upside down by his knees, he would look more convincing to Kagura.

"What data would they already have?"

"Women between the ages of 16 and 40, they have the elderly of 55 and up. Men between the ages of 20 and 30... These are the general stats they have decent info on."

"... and you and convince bigger retailers to carry the magazine!" Wendy realized after she thought about it.

Right now, they were sold in magazine stands and other places that focused on that type of product, but they could sell consumer data to retailers on the condition that they carry their magazines. Having more locations to sell magazines at would be a huge way to get their name wider spread, and it would be a huge increase to their sales. Now that they had a few magazines under their belt, it would be easier to convince retailers to buy their magazines in bulk to sell to customers.

Their profits would sky-rocket.

"Bingo, which is why this magazine has got to be the best one to date, and why Mirajane is going to sign the centerfold of exactly 20,000 random copies... that and another reason for her to do that." Naruto had more than just that as his reason.

"... To artificially inflate sales, by spreading a rumor that some issues are signed by Mirajane..." Carla spoke up when she landed next to Wendy.

"Smart cat." Naruto complimented. "Also, with the amount of magazines we sell, a good number of people will actually manage to get a signed copy. But, people who have a signed copy of something value it more... and it subtly makes them a more loyal customer." Naruto knew the game was not just about getting new customers.

It was also about keeping old ones interested and loyal.

You could never neglect your loyal customers in favor of reaching out.

It was all about balance.

Chapter End!
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