A Maelstrom's Tale
Chapter 19: The New Daily Routine
Naruto was currently cycling along the sidewalk on his bike with Nikan sitting in the basket and was enjoying the blowing wind in his furry face, and Chara was floating next to him in her spectral form. They were heading over to the Dreemurr home to hang with Asriel and Frisk.
"Can't you go any faster? I want to get over there and beat Azzy already," asked Chara with a small frown.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow in response "We'll get there when we get there, no need to be in a hurry,"
"Well, he's been getting cocky about being able to beat me and I want to knock him down a notch,"
"Sounds to me that you just don't like losing," Naruto retorted.
Chara looked away with a pout and her arms crossed "Who does? It sucks,"
"You can't exactly win every single time, you know,"
"Says you, you're just as good in video games and fighting in general. The moment you stopped being scared to attack, the HATE and I didn't stand a chance,"
"I had redesigned the techniques my dad taught me to be more defensive in the beginning, but now I'll be retraining myself to master the proper forms for the future. I have a nagging feeling that going to the other timeline isn't going to be a onetime thing and prefer to be ready for anything,"
"You have a point there,"
Soon enough, they finally arrived at their destination as Naruto parked the bike and made sure that it's secured before making his way to the front door and pressing the doorbell. They didn't have to wait long for the door to open and were greeted by Asgore.
"Oh hello, children!" said Asgore cheerfully, knowing full well Chara is with Naruto even if he couldn't see her at the moment.
"Hello Asgore-san, wasn't expecting to see you here," Naruto greeted.
"Tori has gone out to a teachers' conference today so I offered to watch over the kids for her,"
"Is Frisk still feeling unwell?" asked Naruto with concern.
Asgore frowned "In ways yes, she still has trouble sleeping,"
Naruto frowned at this, ever since the revelations, Frisk had been having trouble going to sleep as she said she'd been haunted by nightmares of attacking and hurting monsters which made her afraid to sleep most of the time. This made Naruto and others worried about and trying to find ways to help her.
"Anyways, come on in. Even Red and Monster Kid are here today in the living room," Asgore spoke up.
"Oh okay,"
Naruto along with Chara and Nikan went inside the house, they went to the living room where they could hear the sounds of video games from the hallway. Inside, they saw Asriel and Red playing Street Fighter on their PlayStation 4 with MK cheering them on while Frisk watched from a couch with a tired look on her face.
"Whoa dudes, Asriel won again!" MK announced, making Asriel puff up his chest with pride while Red pouted since she had more losses than wins.
"It goes to show just how amazing I am," said Asriel proudly.
Naruto then spoke up "Can you really say that given our win/loss ratio?" this drew the attention of the others in the room who welcomed them.
"Hi there Naruto, is Chara with you?" asked Asriel.
"Like always, just give me a moment…," the grimoire hovered in front of him and opened up while flipping through the pages before stopping at a particular one for him to read "Here it is…Scrying Sight!" a glyph appeared on the floor and expanded a bit, making everyone's eyes glow faintly which seemed to have given them the ability to see spiritual beings as they could now see Chara floating in the air above them.
Looks like you're enjoying your many wins, well I'm going to change that," Chara challengingly.
Asriel smirked in response "I'm ready when you are!"
"Naruto, if you don't mind…,"
Naruto shrugged "Sure, but I'm only letting you play for five matches. No more than that,"
"Yeah yeah, sure sure…," Chara flew into Naruto's body, his eyes changing from blue to red to signify the possession.
Chara picked up the game controller and went to the character select menu "Alright then, let's get started!"
"I can't wait to see what you guys can do!" said MK excitedly
Asgore sat on the couch next to Frisk with a content smile "Seeing those two playing together fills me with such nostalgia,"
"I can tell…," said Frisk tiredly.
Sure enough, the competition was underway with the first match of Chara choosing Chun Li and Asriel going with Sakura, and the end result was Chara being the winner, the second match was Chara with Chun Li again and Asriel choosing Dee Jay with the young prince winning this time. Third match was Asriel Dee Jay sticking to using Dee Jay and Chara choosing Ken but the latter lost again. Feeling a bit frustrated, Chara selected Blanka whilst Asriel remained with his previous choice and Chara managed to win the fourth match at the last moment. With the scores all tied up and moving on to the five match Chara went back to Chun Li and Asriel selected E. Honda with the end result being…
"I lost!" Chara cried out in displeasure.
"And Azzy won! Man, all those battles had me on the tips of my toes!" said MK excitedly, having been watching how the two had been going at it between them.
"Grrr, that's it. I'm going for one mo-," Chara suddenly found herself shoved out of Naruto's body and confronted him about it "Why did you do that?"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow "Have you forgotten that I specifically said only five matches exactly and no more than that? I mentioned that specific number to ensure who the winner would be more accurately,"
Chara turned away, looking a bit frustrated "That's not fair…,"
"How about you guys play a different game? I can barely feel my thumbs,"
"We can play that Spiderman game and pick up where we left off," Red suggested, getting the others to agree with her as they reset the console and prepared to switch the game discs.
Seeing that he could finally rest for a bit, Naruto went to sit on the couch with Asgore and Frisk before speaking to them "Frisk, are you doing okay?"
Frisk smiled tiredly "I'm doing okay, nothing for you to worry,"
Asgore frowned a bit "You may say that because you were able to sleep last night, but that partial insomnia hasn't gone away,"
"I'm okay, really," Frisk insisted, wanting to bother anyone with her problems much to everyone's inward disagreement.
Seeing that Frisk is refusing to budge on the matter, Naruto decided to change the subject "Asgore-san, can you tell me about the concept of Orange and Light Blue attacks?"
"I'm curious to know why?" asked Asgore curiously.
"Ever since my return from the other timeline, the power of my Determination had truly awoken and also because…," Naruto stretched a hand out as a knife made out of white aura materialized and plopped onto it then he tossed it into the air and transformed into a bokken and dropped onto it again before he dissipated it with a wave of his hand "…it has opened me up to infinite possibilities which I'm gonna need for whatever comes my way in the future,"
The King of Monsters saw the look on the face of the child whom he had come to view as a son just like Asriel and noted that he stills retains some traces of innocence but the majority is of a guardian who desires to be strong enough to protect those close to him and sighed, wishing that wasn't the case "Very well, but you'll need to understand the origins of the Light Blue and Orange attacks if you wish to use them to their fullest potential,"
Seeing that he has Naruto's full attention as well as Frisk's, Asgore began to explain "The Light Blue and Orange attacks are based on the traits of certain SOUL types with the former based on the SOUL Trait of Patience and the latter based on that of Bravery. An aspect of those possessing SOUL traits of Patience is that they're calm enough to wait things out which influences their magic, causing things to go through them unharmed should they stand still. As for those possessing traits of a Brave SOUL, they willingly approach dangerous situations without fear, always moving forward to reach their goals. Enemies would have to keep moving around if they wish to avoid damage from such attacks and users of this SOUL trait will have increased defense against attacks if they move towards them as opposed to standing still,"
"I see…," Naruto hummed in thought, gaining an idea of the concept and recalling how Asgore used the two attacks when he fought him and Frisk in the past.
While Naruto was deep in his thoughts, MK decided to ask the others about something "So, what guys have planned later on?"
Red looked thoughtful for a moment "Well, we have a training session coming up with Undyne and Alphys, said that she has something new to try out with us,"
"Sounds to me that Undyne wants to check up on Naruto the most," Asriel pointed out.
"A training session with Undyne and she has something new in mind? Can I come and watch, please?" asked MK pleadingly.
"Sure, just as long as you have your parents' permission. You tend to forge to ask them," said Red.
The armless raptor-like monster child started jumping up and down in excitement "Awesome, I can't wait for that day! I'll get to see some cool moves!"
Sure enough, it was the weekend and the group went to Naruto's training grounds in Mt Ebott and were taking part in various training routines with Alphys, Sans, MK and Frisk watching due to the latter not being physically or mentally suited to take part for now. So, it was Naruto, Red and Asriel who are undergoing training and had just finished the Capture the Flag game against Undyne and Papyrus.
"Alright you three, you can take a break now," said Undyne before going over to Alphys who was looking intently at the screen of her laptop and was studying the recording of the recent activity "So, what do you think so far?"
"I've gotten a lot of data from today's exercise, even more than the previous training session,"
"Because of Naruto, right?" asked Undyne.
Alphys brought up a recording of the previous training session and placed it next to the latest one "In the past, Naruto always hesitated to attack but now…," she played both recordings and the difference between them could not be ignored "He's more inclined to attack more than defend,"
"Tell me about it, he kept me on my toes the whole time and made it that he practically forced Papyrus and I to keep an eye on him while the others got more room to be able to claim the flag and secure it at their territory,"
Sans popped up next to them to look at the screen "It's rather obvious that the kiddo's change has to do with his time in the other timeline, no doubt his interaction with Chara forced him to change,"
His statement made them glance Naruto who was smiling in amusement at MK's excitement upon seeing how he and the others accomplished the Capture the Flag game then at Chara who was floating above them with a bored look on her face. They couldn't help but feel sad upon seeing someone as young as him had to had experience such things and was forced to mature mentally. Undyne had still not let go of her displeasure towards Chara due to being the cause of Naruto's change and doesn't trust her fully. Even Sans has made it point to keep an eye on the spectral girl in case she attempts anything that would endanger everyone.
"Ngaah! We can think about that punk at a later time since we've got better things to do right now!" said Undyne in annoyance.
Sans shrugged his shoulders "You're right, we can pick bones with her later,"
"W-Well, looking at the recording. Naruto had been sticking to the basics of his sword style and hasn't used any of his new powers and magic spells," Alphys pointed out to them.
"In that case, I've got an idea," Undyne then called "Hey Red and blondie, I need you two over here!"
Naruto and Red went over to Undyne to find out what she wants with the former speaking "What is it, Undyne?"
"I'll be needing you two to spar with each other in full contact which means you can use everything during the spar. This could help Red figure out how to at least summon one of her guardians and we get to see you use some new moves too,"
"I'm okay with it if Red-chan is," said Naruto, having no objections.
Red nodded eagerly "I'll be happy to, I'm sure to find a way to summon a guardian with your help!"
With that said, Naruto and Red faced each other in the training ground while the others stood at the sidelines to watch the spar which was about to begin. MK and Nikan were cheering for the both of them.
Red brandished her sword whilst Naruto concentrated inwardly then stretched out a hand as he materialized a katana made from his Determination but everyone soon noticed that there was something odd about the weapon.
"What's up with the kid's sword and why is the sharp edge on the wrong side? How is he supposed to cut anything with that unless he rotates it?" asked Undyne confusedly.
Alphys had her drone take a picture of the sword with her drone and ran a search online on her laptop and soon found information about it "It's called a Sakabato or Reverse Sword in English. It is especially made to oppose the very purpose of all swords which mainly designed to kill. The main purpose of the Sakabato is not to kill but to incapacitate the enemy so they won't be able to fight anymore. There's even a saying here 'He who fights not for the taste of adrenaline or the sake of power, but to bring peace to the world',"
"Now I get it, he wants to be able to fight with his full strength and not restrain himself out of worry of possibly killing someone," said Undyne in understanding and approval.
"Guess the kiddo is taking his job as an ambassador rather seriously," said Sans with his usual toothy grin.
"They're about to start," said Alphys upon seeing Naruto and Red take their stances to begin the spar.
Music Start: Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep OST; Future Masters
"Coming at ya!" Naruto leapt into the air with a front flip and attacked with a onehanded downward diagonal slash which Red evaded with a sidestep then countered with a frontal thrust of her saber, Naruto dashed sideways to dodge and actually threw his sword at a surprised Red who deflected the thrown weapon before dashing to attack her opponent.
Naruto stretched out a hand as his sword reappeared on it in time to deflect Red's incoming strike "Ignis!" he thrust a hand to conjure a glyph which launched a trio of fireballs at Red but then she summoned the large spinning blades and launched them to destroy the incoming projectiles and continue to attack Naruto "Cubus!" he slammed a palm to the ground to form a glyph to create a large solid block of stone in front of him which the spinning blades impacted upon but then slowly grinded to a halt and dissipated afterwards.
"Pneuma!" he thrust a palm forward to conjure a glyph to launch a gale of green wind downwards whilst streaking across the floor towards Red but she quickly leapt high into the air to evade. At that moment, Naruto utilized Endeavor to reach up to her in the air and both began clashing blades as they descended before breaking away upon landing on the ground.
"Whoa, those two are really going at it!" said MK in awe.
"Yeah, I never would have thought that Naruto can fight like this," said Asriel thoughtfully, having fought him and Frisk back then and he could see the stark differences between then and now.
Sans watched the ongoing spar attentively, particularly Naruto whom he took note of the white fiery aura radiating from his eyes which reminded the comedic skeleton of how his eyes would glow whenever he uses his magic "I wonder why his eyes does that when it doesn't apply to Frisk either, could the power of Determination somehow affect him differently compared to everyone else? They say curiosity killed the cat but it's a good thing that I'm a skeleton,"
After breaking away from yet another clash, Naruto thought to try out what he had discussed with Asgore. He channeled his aura through the sword and swung it to launch a red slash wave horizontally towards Red. Surprised at first, Red regained her focus and immediately stood still for the attack to pass through her but then Naruto appeared before her after using Endeavor to rush up to her and attack with a flying kick whilst the extended foot was emitting an orange fiery aura much to Red's surprise as she got hit and was knocked to the ground.
"Since when did Naruto learn how to use Blue and Orange attacks?" asked Alphys confusedly.
"I remember Naruto talking to Asgore when he came to our place to play games with us, maybe he learnt it from him," said Frisk thoughtfully.
"Makes sense since I learnt much from the king as well, but I gotta admit that combination attack is quite impressive. Baiting Red into standing still to avoid the Blue attack but be unable to defend against the Orange attack in time," said Undyne in approval.
Red groaned in pain as she got up from the ground "I must admit that I wasn't expecting you to do something like that just now,"
Naruto shrugged in response whilst twirling his sword onehandedly "My dad had taught me to always be unpredictable in everything I do, this way I can have an edge against whatever comes my way,"
"I pretty much felt that point,"
"Which is why you need to focus on summoning a guardian,"
Red frowned "I'm trying but it's like I've almost got it but at the same time I haven't,"
Naruto hummed in thought, trying to recall how he achieved his own awakening and accessed his inner powers before coming up with some idea "Maybe it has to do with your drive…,"
"My drive, what do you mean?"
"Looking back, I noticed that my powers truly awakened when I came to terms with myself and resolved to move forward from then on. Maybe that's what you're missing; what is the purpose of your summon? Why do you want to use it? How strongly do you feel about it?"
"My purpose, my reason, how I feel…," Red stood there in thought with everyone watching her "I want to protect my loved ones, to not let them down when they need me the most, I'm willing to give everything to do that!"
With her declaration, there was a bright flash of light which almost blinded everyone until it faded for them to see what appears to be a Delta Guardian which closely resembles the Delta Rune symbol with a purple glowing orb at the center as it floated in front of Red protectively.
"Well what do you know, you managed to summon a Delta Guardian," said Undyne in approval.
"I guess Naruto's suggestion really helped her figure out how," said Alphys.
MK looked at the Guardian with sparkles in his eyes "Wow, it looks so cool!"
"And that's saying something," Asriel added in agreement.
"Astounding, I the Great Papyrus must work hard to achieve a similar feat!" Papyrus declared in excitement.
"Try not to overdo it bro, else you'll end up bone-dry," Sans pointed with his daily skeletal pun much to his brother's frustration.
"Let's see what it can do, Fulgur!" Naruto conjured a magic glyph to launch a ball of purple lightning, the Delta Guardian immediately positioned itself to intercept the incoming projectile without Red giving it a command, successfully blocking the attack. Then it retaliated by launching an energy beam at Naruto who quickly formed a Shield of Determination in Crescent Form to block it.
They were about to resume the spar when Undyne called out "Alright you two, the spar is over!"
Music End
Naruto and Red looked at Undyne in confusion with the former being vocal about it "But Undyne, we were just getting started!"
"As much as I want to see you two keep going at it, let's not forget the purpose of the spar which is to see what you can do and to help you figure how to finally summon a Guardian which you did," Undyne explained, making them pause in thought
"Now that Red has succeeded in the summoning, we can run some tests on it such as its duration while summoned, its durability, functions and what else we can discover," said Alphys already taking notes the moment the Guardian was summoned.
"Oh well, I could use a break anyways," said Naruto with a shrug before sending away his sword, seeing no need for it as of now.
"After all, we still have lots to do," Undyne pointed out.
"Oh man, I'm all tuckered out…," Naruto moaned tiredly as he plopped onto his bed later that night at home. Undyne had really run him and the others to the ground with her training, making them reach their very limits in order to make them break through, even the wolf pup wasn't exempt save for Frisk for understandable reasons.
Naruto felt too worn out to take a bath but knew he had to if he doesn't want his mom to come up and see that before actually bathing him herself. He felt embarrassed, recalling how she did so sometime back and he swore to never let that happen again for his own sake. He was about to rise from his bed when his phone began to play a tune to notify him of a message, he picked it up and looked to see that it was from Ms. Muffet.
"I wonder what she wants…?" Naruto tapped the mail icon to open the message and read it to find out.
{Hello there, cutie pie. It's been quite a while since you came to my bakery so I figured that it was long past due to invite you over to have tea with me. I do hope you accept my invite cause it will be quite saddening if otherwise. I do hope to see your reply soon ()}
Naruto looked at the message thoughtfully "Well, she's been offering an invitation to have tea with her and frankly I could use a break too. So, I don't see why not," he sent a reply in affirmation to come over to her place for tea and received a response containing lots of emojis to depict her happiness at his acceptance.
"Ugh, I don't see why you should have tea with that arachnid," Chara complained with a huff.
"Because she's my friend and I'd like to spend time with her, considering I've been doing so for the others," Naruto responded.
"But is it really necessary?"
"I know you're still getting the hang of being friendly but you shouldn't be letting your past be stopping you from achieving your own happiness alright? I was shackled by past sins but broke free, since then I had never felt so at ease,"
Chara was silent at Naruto's words "I see…,"
Naruto went to the bathroom but stopped at the door for a moment "And no peeking from you,"
"Hey, what do you take me for!?" Chara was irritated by the blonde's words.
"Just making sure, since you're a ghost and all…,"
"Just go and take your bath before you make me any madder!" Chara turned away with her cheeks redder than usual in embarrassment.
On Sunday, Naruto was riding his bike, having left Nikan and a grumpy Chara behind to stay with his mom at home while he headed for the bakery. He arrived at his destination and went inside to find Ms. Muffet tending to the last of her customers before seeing Naruto and beaming happily that he's here.
"You finally came and right on time now that the rush hour is over!" said Ms. Muffet happily.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Guess it's in the timing,"
"And with that said…," Muffet snapped her fingers once the last customer left for one of her spiders to lock the door and flip the sign to show they're closed for the day "I'll have everything set up at the terrace above while you put this on and meet me there,"
Naruto looked at the freshly clean tuxedo in his hands which Ms. Muffet had just given "You bought a tux for me, but why?"
"Well obviously I can't have tea with you dressed like that…," the spider girl gestured towards Naruto's current state of clothing "This is a special time between us and I'd like for it to be proper,"
"Okay okay, I get it. I'll go and change," said Naruto in a placating manner.
Ms. Muffet nodded in approval "Good, my little dearies will show you to the room and then lead you to the terrace. Hope to see you soon," then she left to get things ready.
Sighing in resignation, Naruto followed the spiders to a room to change from his clothes into the tuxedo. Stepping out of the room, he adjusted the tie around his neck so he could breathe easier and was seriously fighting back the urge to take off the tux as he dislikes wearing these kinds of formal wear but chose to bear with it for now. He followed the spiders to the terrace and was quite taken in by the décor.
The scenery is that of a rose garden with beautifully designed wooden archways along the path to a vintage style table at the center where Ms. Muffet sat waiting for him while dressed in a vintage tea dress with purple flower prints, puffed up sleeves and a frilled hem while she had her hair done in a bun and a large purple bow tied around it, a pair of teardrop earrings, and a pair of purple cone heel shoes.
"You're finally here and you certainly look quite handsome in that tuxedo," Ms. Muffet looked at Naruto with amiable eyes, making the blonde blush from the complement.
"Um thanks, your dress makes you look pretty too," said Naruto shyly.
Ms. Muffet cupped her blushed cheeks with one pair of her hands, seeing how shy Naruto was acting when he complemented her "Aww, you're just saying that. But thanks anyways, have a seat so we can begin,"
"Sure, but…," Naruto went over to one of the chairs and pulled it back "Ladies first,"
"A gentlemanly cutie…what a lovely combination," said Ms. Muffet happily as she took her seat before Naruto pushed it into position before sitting down on his own.
He looked at the table which has a white laced styled cover to see it ladened with a three-tier serving tray which has several types of pastry, a vintage tea set with multicolored flower prints on them and he could see the vapor wafting out of the teapot.
"One moment, let me serve you…," Ms. Muffet began doing several things at once with her arms; she picked up the teapot to pour the tea into the teacups, took a few sugar cubes from the sugar bowl to drop them into the cups, also pouring milk into them before finally stirring the contents in the teacups to mix them evenly then passing one of them over to Naruto "Here you go,"
"Thank you," Naruto graciously received the teacup and took a sip, feeling the hot beverage course through his body and sighed in relaxation "Haaaaah, so calming and tasty. What flavor is it?"
"It's Chai, a tea flavor from India. I learnt that drinking will make you feel warm and cozy, even best suited for setting up the mood for conversations," Ms. Muffet explained.
"Couldn't be any truer as I feel very calm right now,"
"Glad you approve, shows that I'm making great progress for my future plans,"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow in confusion "Future plans?"
"I'll tell you about it soon, for now let's enjoy our time together,"
Taking heed to her words, they drank tea and ate the pastries which she had prepared for them; the spider girl had made chocolate chip cookies, macaroons and cheesecake. After some time, Naruto decided to speak up again.
"So, what future plans were you talking about?" asked Naruto curiously.
"About that, my dearies and I have been making plans to extend my bakery business with an addition of a teashop which is why I've been studying intently on the various kinds of tea and the benefits they grant both physically and mentally," Ms. Muffet explained.
"Oh, that would be why you decorated the terrace this way?" Naruto looked around to see that there were several open spots mean for outdoor furniture.
Ms. Muffet nodded happily in affirmation "Exactly, I learnt that a good décor makes for the perfect ambiance when having tea. I've already found suitable furnishings for the place,"
"You mean this table we're sitting on?" asked Naruto.
"Goodness no, this is my personal purchase meant for me and the dearest of friends!" Ms. Muffet stated while looking straight at Naruto, making him realize the true meaning of the sentence and started blushing.
"Oh, I see…,"
"But the next step would be to purchase the right tea sets which might be tricky since I want to avoid going for potential fakes in the current markets,"
Naruto hummed in thought while trying to come up with something when he recalled a certain memory "How about checking the antique shops, I remember my mom buying a unique tea set a long time ago. I can take you to the shop where she bought it and you might be able to find ones to your fancy,"
Ms. Muffet clapped her hands happily "Oh, such a gracious idea! We can schedule the right time for us to go together and see what they have,"
"Sure, I don't mind!"
Soon it was time for Naruto to leave as he had changed back to his normal clothes and the tuxedo was packed into a bag but not before Ms. Muffet made it clear to him that he's required to wear for their tea times.
"Dear me, how easy it is for time to go by when one enjoys themselves a lot," Ms. Muffet sighed while feeling a bit disappointed.
Naruto nodded in agreement "True, but it's not like this will be the last time,"
"Indeed, but to commemorate our very first…," the spider girl suddenly leaned forward and kissed Naruto on the cheek much to his shock "…I believe this will do just fine,"
"You? I? What? Why? Huh?" Naruto couldn't make up a proper sentence with his face glowing red and steaming coming out of his ears with the whistling sound of a boiling kettle.
Ms. Muffet giggled at his reaction "You just don't stop getting cuter,"
"Thanksfortheteabye!" Naruto got on his bike and sped off at highspeed in embarrassment.
Seeing Naruto leave in such a manner made Ms. Muffet giggle in amusement before then speaking up "Did you get them?" a spider lowered a brown envelope with its web line which she took and reached in to bring out several photos depicting her with Naruto having tea while the last one was of her kissing the blonde on the cheek with the image of his surprised expression made her giggle even more.
"I can't wait for more teatimes with cutie in the future," said Ms. Muffet eagerly while looking at the photo.
It was another day at school and students were leaving their classrooms for recess, Frisk was currently walking through the hallway with Asriel and Monster Kid accompanying her out of concern due to her weary disposition.
"Frisk, are you sure that you're okay?" asked Asriel.
Frisk smiled tiredly in response "Yes, I'm fine. No need to worry,"
"You saying that while having dark rings around your eyes for more than a week rather makes us worry even more," said MK.
"I'm sure that it will eventually go away,"
"That's what you said last ti-look out!" Asriel cried out a warning but he was too late as Frisk ended up bumping into the back of someone and of all people, it had to be Susie who turned around and was anything but happy the moment she set eyes on Frisk.
"What are you playing at here?" Susie demanded.
Frisk shook her head while waving her hands in a placating manner "I'm not playing at anything, it was an accident,"
"It certainly didn't feel like an accident, you think yourself to be a big shot around here that you can do anything?"
Asriel stepped up to try to calm things down before they escalate "It was an honest mistake Susie, Frisk hasn't been feeling too well lately,"
"Of course you would support her Mr. Prince, you can do anything after all," Susie sneered in response.
"He didn't mean it like that," MK pointed out.
"Like you speak for him, lizard boy? Our highness can do that by himself and as for you…," Susie grabbed Frisk by the collar and lifted into the air with one hand "You're gonna play the piper,"
"Wait, put Frisk down!" Asriel wasted no time trying to help Frisk, knowing full well that her current condition makes her unable to properly defend herself.
"Back off, goat boy," Susie knocked Asriel down to the ground with a backhand, making the surrounding crowd gasp in shock "And now for you…," she reared a fist back to hit Frisk when someone yelled at her.
"Susie!" everyone turned to see that the person yelling was none other than Naruto who glared at Susie angrily.
Several minutes earlier before Frisk was being bullied, Naruto had left the classroom while in the company of Red and Noelle after having listened to the teacher's lecture for the day. Chara was floating overhead with a bored look on her face.
"How I hate school, just what is there to benefit from it," Chara complained.
Naruto retorted "You can't really say that when you're not exactly a part of it, being a ghost tethered to my SOUL and all. Frankly, you ain't gonna receive any sympathy from me since we'll both suffer the same pain here,"
"You two don't have to be so negative about school, you know," Red pointed out to them.
"Hmph, speak for yourself," Chara retorted.
The group were walking along the hallway when they noticed that some of the kids were running to a specific location and the crowd was forming a circle around something much to their curiosity.
"I wonder what's going on there?" asked Noelle.
"Let's head over there and find out," Red suggested, they went to take a look and were shocked upon seeing Frisk being held up by the collar by Susie with one hand, and Asriel was trying to settle things peacefully.
"What is Susie doing?!" asked Red confusedly.
"Are you seriously looking for a reason when there's something far more important to do?!" said Chara angrily.
It was at that moment that they saw Susie knock Asriel down to the ground and was turning to hurt Frisk which made Naruto's anger skyrocket.
"Susie!" his shout made the students part away from him to approach Susie with his fists clenched and narrowed eyes locked onto his target.
The person in question quirked an eyebrow at the supposed wimp's change in attitude but shrugged it off "Oh it's you, nerd. What do you want?"
"What I want is for you to let Frisk go," said Naruto.
Susie scoffed in response "And what makes you think that I'll listen to you? Get lost, loser. This has nothing to do with you," she was about to turn her attention back to Frisk when Naruto spoke up.
"The moment you start bullying my friends then it has everything to do with me, now put her down,"
"Oh, is she now. What is she your girlfriend or something? Afraid that I might mess up her pretty face? I wonder how her mother would react if she were to see her sporting a black eye or a broken arm,"
Naruto was growling almost like a feral beast after hearing her say that he was barely suppressing his magical aura while Chara was basically calling out Susie's death as she demands to take control in order to do the act herself but was refuted. Red was getting angry at how Susie was intending to do harm to Frisk while Noelle was worried and afraid of Frisk's safety and hoping this doesn't break out a fight. Asriel was horrified at what Susie wants to do to Frisk while MK looked concerned and afraid.
Frisk herself was scared of what Susie was planning to do to her when that she heard next left her horrified "Oh I got a better idea, I think I'll just bite her face off." Frisk looked so scared she tried to get Susie to let go but her strong grip wasn't budging as Susie just laughed at how pathetic Frisk is doing desperately trying to set herself free which only angered Naruto further with the same going for Chara and Red.
Having had enough of this, Naruto spoke "Knock it off Susie! Let go of her right now or-"
"Or else what?" Susie cut him off "You're gonna make me 'tough guy'? Because there's nothing you can do. You don't tell me what to do. Now you better keep your mouth shut if you know what's for you," with that threat given, she thought that Naruto would obediently listen and back off. However, that thought was dashed away with the boy's response
"If you don't release Frisk right this instant, then you're gonna regret your actions and suffer the consequences if you know what's good for YOU," Naruto spoke with no sign of hesitation or doubt.
Everyone was silent as they looked shocked at what Naruto had said to Susie as some are murmuring at each other over this.
Susie slowly looked at Naruto as she spoke in a low but threatening tone "What did you just say to me?"
Naruto without batting an eye replied "You heard me. This is your final warning and I won't repeat myself. Let. Her. Go. Now,"
Susie was glaring at Naruto as they both starred at each other before Susie finally lets go of Frisk…by dropping her which Frisk landed on her butt which hurt as Asriel and MK rushes to her to check if she's alright after what Susie just did.
"That was uncalled for, Susie!" said Red angrily.
Susie merely responded in an indifferent tone "Guess my hand must've slipped. Besides I did what the nerd wanted; I 'let her go' as he requested,"
"This little…why isn't she dead already?!" Chara yelled.
Naruto himself was this close to his breaking point "Alright, what's your deal here Susie?! You think this is funny to you? Do you find enjoyment just by bullying others? Huh!?"
"So what if I do, got a problem with that loser?"
"Damn right I got a problem with it. I'm sick and tired of you being a jerk to others just because it makes you feel big as if you own the place. That needs to stop now,"
Susie just laughed this off "Where's this newfound confidence coming from nerd? You didn't show anything off that the other day when I pinned you against the wall and threatened to bite your face off while you look like you were about to wet your pants in fear. So since when did you get the guts, I wonder?"
Naruto's eye started to twitch as everyone was murmuring about this information while his friends gasped at hearing this news which Red suspected this must've happened at the that time when Alphys asked Naruto to check on Susie the other day which only reinforced her anger towards Susie.
"I wasn't afraid of you. If anything, you just caught me off guard while feeling shaken. That was it. Besides, why would I be afraid of someone who's from a kids show, Barney?"
After saying that, everyone started snickering with Susie looking angered by him calling her that "What did you call me runt?"
"You heard it clearly, Barney the Dinosaur,"
Everyone started to laugh at Susie as they began singing that cringy song "I love you, you love me" towards Susie which made her embarrassed and enraged. Having had enough, Susie slammed her fist into a random locker which made a dent from her strength which made everyone silent, making them back off from this.
Susie slowly made her way towards Naruto, intending to hurt him "You got some real guts saying that to me. You think you can make fun of me and get away with it?! Perhaps you need to learn to respect the pecking order and know your place!" she was about to grab hold of Naruto and Red was about to jump in to intervene when the blonde suddenly released a small burst of his magical energy as a warning for her to back off. What's even more shocking was that his left eye was glowing with a white fiery aura which shocked the students.
Naruto spoke sternly "My place is to keep bullies like you in line and to never mess with my friends. You're not gonna lay your Barney hands on me nor will you hurt me. Here's what's gonna happen: back off, leave my friends alone and go about your business elsewhere. If I find out or catch you pulling another stunt of bullying one of my friends again, just know this…," he held out a fist radiating with the same energy as his left eye "You'll be facing severe consequences,"
Susie wasn't sure of what to make of this because this isn't how she was expecting this to happen as she feels shaken at this "New" Naruto before her. Deciding that it would be wise to back off for now, she put her hands in her pockets and turned away from him "Tch! Whatever, I'm outta here,"
As she made her way through the hallway as the group of students quickly moved out of her way, she stopped and gave Naruto a glance of anger which was basically telling him 'You better watch your back nerd. This isn't over' then she continued to leave while everyone was shocked that Naruto had actually talked Susie down and made her back off which was something no one had ever thought would happen and would not be forgotten for a very long time.
The crowd cleared out of the hallway as Naruto went to check on Frisk and the others to see if she's alright "Frisk, are you okay?"
Frisk smiled in reassurance "I-I'm okay, thanks for helping me,"
"What about you Azzy, you good buddy?"
Asriel nodded in affirmation "I'm okay too, no need to worry,"
"Whoa dude, it's so cool that you stood up to Susie like that. You were just like Undyne!" MK exclaimed with eyes sparkling with awe and admiration, making Naruto feel a bit shy.
"You certainly emit the fiery disposition of a knight," said Red in agreement.
"It's no big deal, I just wanted her to leave you guys alone," said Naruto, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
Noelle sighed in relief "I'm just glad that no one got hurt,"
"Hmph, I would have simply killed her," Chara commented nonchalantly.
"Which was exactly why I didn't allow you to control my body, killing is too easy of an option that you would choose,"
That was when a voice spoke up "I got to hand it to you, it's pretty brave of you but also foolhardy to go up against Susie," everyone looked to see Berdly approaching them with a frown on his face "Now you've ended up making yourself a major target for Susie to focus everything she has to make your life miserable,"
Naruto scoffed "I could care less about that," then he turned to Frisk "But what happened that made Susie target you like that?"
Frisk then explained she accidentally bumped into Susie without paying attention due to her not getting much sleep which resulted in Susie thinking that she was asking for a fight "It's all my fault, none of this would have happened if I was more aware of things,"
Naruto shook his head in disagreement "No it's not, don't blame yourself over this. Frankly, it's been a long time coming that someone would need to stand up to Susie. So please don't blame yourself,"
"But…,"
"Honestly, we held back because we didn't want to misuse what we were taught in the off chance that we could really hurt someone," Red pointed out to Frisk.
"I wouldn't have hesitated to do so," said Chara.
"That's enough Chara, remember our agreement: NO KILLING whatsoever," said Naruto mentally in a serious tone.
"Ugh, fine…,"
"Hey, how about a sleepover at my place? That ought to put us all in better moods," Naruto suggested, hearing this made the others perk up.
"Sure, I'm game for it!" said MK eagerly
"I certainly don't mind at all, I'll even bring along some anime for us to watch," said Red happily.
Asriel nodded in agreement "It's been a while since our last sleepover, I'm all for it!"
"I don't mind either…," said Frisk with a tired smile.
"Alright then, we'll have the sleepover on the weekend. I'll get everything set before that day," said Naruto.
"Let's hurry over to the cafeteria, lunch break will soon be over," said Noelle.
Berdly scoffed at the group "Goes to show that I'm more prepared than you all with my lunchbox already set. See ya!" then he left them for his own destination.
"Well, he has a point so let's hurry," said Asriel, the rest soon made their way to the cafeteria in order to get something to eat before the next classes.
The weekend had eventually arrived and Naruto was already making preparations for the sleepover before the others arrived. Having decided to have the sleepover outdoors in the backyard, Naruto had gone to purchase two Extra-large dome tents with porch attachments for each gender thanks to the gold he has and had deposited into his back account along with an inflatable sofa for movie night.
Setting things up was a bit tricky like pitching the tents and filling the inflatable sofa up with air as well as other things but he was able to pull through and Kushina had already prepared food and snacks for him and the others. Sure enough, the others had arrived with Asriel and Frisk showing up first Red and MK coming afterwards with their things.
"Glad to see you guys make it here," said Naruto as he welcomed them into his home.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" said MK excitedly.
"So, what is it you have for us on our third sleepover?" asked Red curiously.
"I got the activities list right here!" Naruto held out a notepad for the others to read from it.
#1 Bake a Cake
#2 Blind taste testing
#3 Board Games
#4 DIY Photobooth
#5 Singing Karaoke
#6 Pillow Fight
#7 Movie Night
#8 Stargazing
"What do you guys think?" asked Naruto.
"I'm thinking that we're gonna have a lot of fun," said Asriel.
And like Asriel said, they did have fun that night; baking a cake which got a bit chaotic and left a mess in the kitchen but luckily Naruto's grimoire came to the rescue by providing a spell to help them clean up, testing each other's ability to identify certain recipes without looking at them., playing board games and doing faux photoshoots with much more to come.
"We really need to do this more often," said Asriel.
As of now, they were all sprawled out on a large blanket as they looked up at the twinkling stars in the night sky. Naruto saved this activity for the last, recalling how the monsters enjoy the outdoors greatly due to having been locked inside the mountain for so many years because of humanity's paranoia.
"You're right, Asriel. It's nice to just kick back and have fun with friends," said Red with a content smile.
"And not having to worry about anything," Naruto added.
"Well, this is nice," Chara admitted, recalled how she used to do something like this with Asriel when they were in the Underground.
Frisk yawned tiredly "I'm feeling a little sleepy, I'm going to bed first,"
"I think we all should turn in for the night before mom gets mad at us for staying too long,"
"You're right, I'm kinda scared to imagine how angry Mrs. Uzumaki can be," said MK, shuddering at the thought of it.
Bidding each other good night, they went to their assigned tents with Naruto, Asriel and MK going into one tent while Frisk and Red went into the other before falling asleep. However, someone wasn't sleeping and it turned out to be Chara who emerged from within Naruto's SOUL, checking to make sure that they're fast asleep.
"Good, he's sleeping. Now to go and confirm my suspicions," Chara muttered to herself.
She left the tent and went to where the girls were sleeping, entering it and came upon a saddening sight. Frisk was curled up in her sleeping bag, her body shivering all over and sweat dripped down her face as she moaned in fright as if she's having a nightmare.
Chara frowned at this "Sorry for what I'm about to do, Frisk. But I need to if I want to find the source and get rid of it,"
She then transformed herself into a blue ball of flame and disappeared into Frisk's SOUL with the girl squirming for a moment before trying to combat her nightmares once more. Chara appeared in the soulscape and was surprised upon seeing what it looks like.
"It looks just like our Home back in the Underground but…," Chara saw how the windows of the house are smashed and the door itself has been broken down "…something's wrong here," she went into the house and welcome by the sight of the place in shambles "I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this,"
Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
The faint sound of something banging was heard and Chara traced the sound to where it was coming from "It seems to be coming from the basement," she made her way down to the basement and could hear the banging sounds getting louder then she heard someone shouting farther ahead of her.
"Argh, you stupid girl! Why do you keep resisting me?! Give up and let me take control already!" the unknown person spoke angrily.
Upon hearing this, Chara hastened in her steps to reach the end of the tunnel towards the doors that would lead out to the snowy forest from the Ruins. She arrived to see the very doors having been heavily damaged and barely holding on, and the person responsible stood before it with their back facing her as they resumed attacking the door but then stopped to turn around.
"So, you're the one I sensed," said the person.
Chara glared in response "And you're the one responsible for plaguing Frisk with nightmares all this time. Guess I shouldn't be surprised since it would obviously be you…Chara,"
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto along with Chara and Nikan arrive at the Dreemurr home to play video games with the others while Naruto inquires from Asgore about the concept of Blue and Orange attacks which he later applies during a spar with Red on one of their training sessions and helped her manage to summon a Delta Guardian.
Naruto went to Ms. Muffet's place to have tea with her and even learnt that she plans for a business attachment to her bakery in the form of a teashop which the blonde is in support of and even offered to help her purchase unique tea sets in an antique shop which his mother once visited.
Frisk had mistakenly bumped into Susie which led to the latter intending to hurt her until Naruto stood up for her and the others, shocking the bully considering their previous interaction. She backed off but wasn't going to forget this anytime soon. Wanting to get over it, Naruto invited his friends to a sleepover at his place. Later that night, Chara went into Frisk's SOUL to find the source of her nightmares and it turned out to be the Chara of this timeline, the major question now will be what's going to occur between them?
I based Naruto's Sword of Determination on the Reverse Sword/Sakabato from Samurai X as a form of representing his desire for peace but not hesitant to defend himself and his loved ones.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.