A/N: Important note here, please read.
I almost didn't have the strength to write this with my current mental state. Sorry.
As stated, this story remains M-rated and we all know why. Its Cyberpunk for crying out loud.
Hopefully the reviews don't dip too much because of that, but there we are, there's your warning.
Claws of a Lion is still in the works. Slifer's helping me with Blood Upon the Snow; I definitely need it.
In other news depression's starting to hit real hard these days. Like a sledgehammer paired with concrete.
Sometimes I wonder why I do anything at all. can't claim to understand what's going wrong with my head anymore.
I don't even know why I'm feeling this way! One moment I'm fine, then my mood craters for a few hours, then I'm back again for a bit, and the cycle repeats. On and on, round the bend, forever and without end! Its rather annoying; as though I've become a prisoner in my own mind sometimes. Sure, what's one more mental problem on the pile. Not like I don't have enough, what with already being this old. Feels like every day is a battle sometimes. Meanwhile, my doctor insists that I'm fine. Take a health walk he says. Go fishing. You'll be fine.
*siiiigh* Right. Suuuure. Don't bloody feel fine, doc.
I'm trying to stay positive and keep writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes!
They're merely tributes to legends far greater than I.
Now, then. Lets get this show on the road~!
"You haven't experienced real power until you've felt the force of ten suns exploding in your face."
"Wait, wait, wait. Did he actually-
"Take a guess."
~?
Eye for an Eye
I don't wanna move.
Sunlight warmed his face, and yet that was Naruto's first thought upon waking.
Warmth. He was just so darn warm under all these blankets. Hot, even. It enfolded every bit of his body, enough to make him want to move, yet simultaneously so comfortable that he didn't want to. The sun was out and he could guess it was early morning at least; a quick glance at the nearby clock confirmed his theory.
'Seven in the mornin, eh? Didn't mean to get up this early. Shoulda slept in...
Eventually he had to move by dint of getting a cram and rolled over.
Mistakes were made and they were most marvelous indeed.
Someone's bare bosom was pressed into his chest, infinitely warm and soft, so very yielding. Bigger than he'd thought they'd be. Memory proved swift to return and with it came sensation; a most pleasant soreness which began to pervade every inch his body. He flicked his eyes away from those gorgeous valleys and found a familiar face waiting for him, serene in slumber. He'd left one helluva hickey on her neck and judging by the way his hurt he had the distinct feeling she'd left him a present of her own. Perhaps sensing the weight of his gaze, she hummed in her sleep and tucked her head just under his chin. His arms betrayed him and held her that much closer.
'So this is what it feels like...
Now that he knew what it felt like, he never wanted to let it go. Never let her go.
And then tongue betrayed him. "Sasha...?"
Her eyes fluttered open, reminding him of a lazy cat.
There was no surprise in her eyes, no fear, no brief moment of tension. She looked up, saw him, smiled now and leaned up to give him a long, lingering kiss. He found himself returning it as she pressed against him. Her hands reached up to thread through his hair, tugging him closer.
...you're warm."
Naruto sputtered a little.
Apparently she liked to cuddle. Who knew?
She drew back, looking utterly at her ease. "Help me find my clothes?"
He hhonestly thought about it for a second then thought better about it, sprawling himself back in bed. "Nah...
"Cheeky bastard." She rose with a yawn and stood slowly, granting him a rather unimpeded view of her backside as she padded across the room. He couldn't help but notice that she was walking more than a little crooked besides. "Oh, jeez." he heard her mutter to herself as she stepped over a fallen dresser. An actual dresser. When had they knocked that over...? "We made an awful mess last night...
"You good?"
"I am...very good." She looked over her shoulder and winked, the faintest hint of a smirk dancing across her face. "You were better than I thought you'd be."
His face went red, even as hers lit up in an impish grin. She knew how to tease. That settled it, she was a keeper.
"Then again, we didn't exactly use protection now, did we?" She turned to face him, underwear in hand.
He made a strangled noise. "I don't think we did...
"Ah, well." She shrugged a bare shoulder; the lazy motion did quite interesting things to her bosom, moreso as she bent down to shimmy into her panties. "I'll let the chips fall where they may."
"You're being awfully blase about this...
"What can I say? I'm in a very good mood." She stalked back to him quick as can be and crawled back into his lap, pinning him down as a cat might her prey. "If a bun in the oven is the price I have to pay for getting my revenge against those Biotechnica bastards, then that's a fair trade. Besides," she tossed her hair as she sprawled herself atop him. "I always said I'd be twice the mom that mine was and I won't make the same mistakes an' leave any child of mine alone."
He knew that tone; it drew a sigh from him. "You're still angry about BioTechnica, aren't you?"
"Yup."
Naruto knew that tone of voice. "And you're not done with them, are you?"
"Nope." she lowered her head, kissing him along the jawline. "You took out their main building, and I'm grateful for that, but the executives and their cronies are still around-ah!" a gasp trickled out of her as he took hold of her rear and planted her in his lap much more firmly. "And they're corrupt. All of them are. They'll try something like this again in the future, mark my words. I'll be keeping an eye on them."
"You said they were corrupt; that most people working for them were corrupt, right?"
"I did." she leaned back as he began to massage her hips, tracing his hands across her skin in slow, smooth circles that had her biting lower lip to stave off a whine. "I know you're busy with Arasaka an' all, but I'd really appreciate some help with these bastards."
Guilty by association, were they? He'd be the judge of that. But she was right- this wasn't over, not by a long shot.
A thought occurred to him. "So what now? We go steady or something?"
"Or something." Sasha smiled and laid her head against his chest. "No need to be so old-fashioned. We had fun." her fingers flitted downward, stroking his ribs. "I wouldn't mind havin' fun again." she blinked up at him through long lashes. "Simple as that. We can see where this goes. Sounds good?"
That...was a lot simpler than he'd thought it would be.
Sasha must've seen his expression, because she gave him another kiss, a quick peck on the cheek. "Night City gives and she takes. Enjoy what you have, while you have it, live in the moment, and don't worry about the future." her lips pursed suddenly, drawing down in an adorable pout. "Although...
"Although."
"Maine left a message." she tapped a finger to her skull, indicating she'd received a call from the man himself. "He's got another job for you, if you're interested." her gaze flitted up and he could tell she was reading some message through her cyberware that he, having none, couldn't see. "Maelstrom." she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Nasty guys. Drug-runners, murderers and psychopaths, among other things. Seems they've been getting too big for their britches. Someone's put up a bounty to knock them down a peg, but its weird. They asked for you and him specifically. Nobody else.
It did sound strange, bu maybe he was getting popular. "We should probably get out of bed."
Sasha grinned. "We should, but we're not going to...not yet."
"And why is that?"
She kicked off her panties.
...you make a compelling argument."
He didn't leave her apartment until late afternoon.
By the time Rebecca came around, he was already long gone.
(.0.0.0.)
Rebecca was nobody's fool.
Sure she might be a little crazy -everybody was here- but she wasn't stupid.
She knew Sasha had bagged Him when she opened the door, she just didn't know how...at first.
Sasha was more than happy to take her to a bar and tell the story; therein lie the rub, she wasn't making any effort to hide her satisfaction; she was acting like this was some kind of foregone conclusion, like she'd already won the freakin' lottery or something. That irked Becca. She wanted to play that way, did she? She may have won the first battle, but there would be many more to come.
Maybe that was possessive of her, trying to claim someone who admittedly hadn't shown that much interest in her.
So she was protective of Naruto. So what? She liked him. They clicked. Kid had moxy in spades and he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He wouldn't take shit from anyone, and when it came time to put up or shut up, he would be right there swinging with the rest of them, better than the rest of 'em. There was just one problem.
He was too nice.
Night City didn't do nice. It ate nice for breakfast, took "nice" people like Sasha's mum, chewed them up, and spat them back out. She didn't blame her friend for swearing vengeance on BioTechnica; she'd be a hypocrite to say otherwise. Hells, she'd go right on the warpath herself if anything happened to her bro. But there were limits, things you just didn't do. They were pissing off the corpos, no problems there, but they were tickin' off too many at once. Arasaka was enough to deal with without those Bio-bastards nipping at their heels.
And they'd leveled a freakin' building!
Defacing a skyscraper top to bottom was one thing -heh, AraSUCKA, she'd never forget that as long as she lived- because it pissed people off and embarrassed them, but destroying one, even an empty one? That put a target on your back. BioTechnica didn't have the manpower of Arasaka, but they were vicious little shits and nobody liked losing money. They wouldn't turn the other cheek for this. They'd lash out. And if Sasha kept dragging Naruto into this crusade of hers, he might actually di-
"You alright there, Becca?"
Becca blinked, tugged back from that thought at the last instant.
No, she was not!
She knocked back another bottle for courage and scowled. "Where did Whiskers wander off to anyway? I thought he'd be here."
Sasha crossed one leg over another, utterly unrepentant. "Maine snagged him for a job about an hour ago."
Tch. Course he did, the jerk. Still that made things easier. They could have it out without him here.
"Listen here, kitty-kat," she jabbed a finger against her stomach. "Don't think you've won this."
"It isn't about winning." Sasha took the jibe in good spirits. "He saved my life and gave me a reason to live."
That earned her a particularly surly scowl. "Is that why you fucked him?"
Her smile didn't waver. "I did. Loudly and happily. I like him."
"Yeah?" She squinted at her. "Good for you. I like him too. And I saw him first.
Sasha poked her right back, utterly unfazed. "If we're going by that logic, Gloria saw him first."
Rebecca flinched despite herself. Shit. She'd forgotten about David's mum. Gloria was cool and all, but she'd given her plenty of chances. If she was going to hide away like a coward...well, that sucked, but she couldn't wait forever. Let her make a move if she wanted to. If not...
No, no, no. Don't go there. She stamped down on that thought and shook her head, setting her hair swaying. "My point stands. I called dibs! And I don't like to share."
"Share?" Sasha smiled, a slow, satisfied smirk that dimpled her cheeks and lit up her eyes. "You don't know, do you?"
"Know about what?"
She tilted her head. "About those shadow clones of his."
"The clones?" her brow furrowed, not quite comprehending. "Those copy things? What about them? They're good for pranks and shit, and takin' a hit. So?"
Sasha leaned in. "They're useful for other things, too. Things we tried this morning."
Other things...? Her eyes widened.
Oh.
Ohh.
Ohhh that kinky bitch.
"Think about it." Sasha licked her lips.
Becca took a deep breath. "This means war."
Sasha strutted away, hips swaying. "Then war it is~!"
(.0.0.0.)
His head hurt.
Maine wasn't sure why, but it ached something fierce. This damned migraine had crept up on him for the last week now slowly but surely, growing stronger every day, and now it was tugging and twisting at his temples, grinding his gears at the worst possible time. Like a jackhammer banging off behind his skull. He couldn't think straight, couldn't aim his gun, couldn't even function. He'd thought he was alright, that he wasn't going to have another attack; not here, not now, not in the heat of a firefight.
A bullet whistled past his head, snapping him out of his daze.
Right, right. Maelstrom. He remembered. They'd tracked some of the bastards down, gone to crack some skulls.
That had been the plan, at least. Turned out the bastards were ready for them, and they'd brought friends.
And this damn headache had him cowering behind cover like a coward.
He hated it.
"Maine?" Naruto dropped down beside him, jacket smoldering from the last round he'd taken, but he remained in good spirits. "You good?"
"M'fine." he muttered, cursing himself for the slight slur in his words. "How're you holding up?"
"There's a lot of 'em." the Kid cracked his neck. "Might take a few more minutes."
A lot? Was that what he called fifty gangsters? Damn showoff.
"Go on." he waved him on. "Kick their asses. I'll catch up."
The kid didn't need to be told twice. He vaulted a makeshift barrier, burned gold and then he was among them. Maine poked his head out and watched the carnage that followed. Fists flew, blood spattered, bastards cried out. He didn't show them any mercy. He was killing easier now. Not good people, but the bad ones. Said he knew the difference. Should that worry him? Sure he could tell which was which, or at least he claimed he could, but what happened if he ever decided they were bad people?
Maine knew the answer. They'd die. Badly.
But that day was far off...he hoped. Right now they had a more immediate concern, one hellbent on grinding their bones to dust.
Maelstrom weren't nice guys to begin with; they were scum through and through. Most other gangs hated them even more than the Inquisitors and THOSE bastards ripped out cyberware from living people to save their so-called "souls". Buncha crazies. Night City took all kinds.
Still, he couldn't let the Kid take all the credit now, could he?
He raised his arm, felt metal shift as his cannon came up. He fired round after round in after the Kid. A pair of big bruisers went down with smoking holes in their chests. Another jumped the kid and lost his head for it; literally, a backhand swipe blasted it clean off his shoulders. Even as it fell he dropped flat, scissored a man's legs out from him under him and smashed a rasengan into another's groin. Ouch. Damn good work. Then the knives came out and he became a golden dervish of death, whirling and slashing with abandon.
Cheeky kid was stealing all his kills. Not close enough. He needed to get closer.
Couldn't make him do all the work. So he kept firing.
Again and again. Round after round.
All of a sudden, his head didn't hurt so much right now. In fact, he felt good. Reeeaaally good. He laughed and waded in, firing at the thugs with reckless abandon. Bodies hit the floor. Maine laughed louder. His headache seemed so distant now, little more than a bad memory. Just keep firing. That was all that mattered, no, nothing else mattered. Just kill 'em all. Rip and TEAR UNTIL IT IS DONE.
"Grenade!"
Maine heard the warning too late.
Saw it at his feet. His eyes widened. A curse formed on his lips.
And then Naruto was there, diving on the damn thing without a second thought.
"Get down!"
A wave of heat blasted forward.
Maine's arms went up and then he went back.
Everything became...blurry after that. He was distantly aware his dim vision, of the shouts, the sirens in the distance, the pain in his shoulders. Still alive, though. He supposed that counted for something. Crazy Maelstrom bastards. What kind of psycho cooked a grenade for that long?! No, nevermind that, where was the kid.
He found him there, sprawled on his stomach in a pool in street.
Something deep inside Maine cracked.
He was moving almost before he realized what was happening, dropping down to his knees
"Oi!" he gave him a shake. "C'mon kid, don't do this to me!"
And then the blond bastard rolled over onto his back, grinning from ear to ear like a cheshire cat. "Owwww...
"Kid?! How are you alive?!"
"Sage Mode." Golden eyes gleamed up at him, half-lidded with pain. "Hardened my skin at the last second. Still hurt like hell, though...
It looked like a helluva lot more than that. His shirt and been blasted apart and there was an ugly red patch across his chest. He could see bits of shrapnel stuck in there, bits that were even now tumbling out as the blond tightened the muscles in his chest. Those wounds, at least, closed. The burnt skin began to mend as well, but slowly, far slower than it should have. Even he could see that.
"How bad is it?" Naruto croaked out a cheeky laugh where he lay. "Are my dashing good looks ruined?"
"You're probably gonna have a scar, even with that healing factor of yers."
Damn brat smirked at him "Ladies like scars, right?
"Sure they do-
He blinked and found himself standing in a desert.
"Maine?"
Another blink and he was back in the city again. Weird. Maybe he needed some more sleep if he was seeing things. Sleep. Nothing else. That was all. Yeah, just some rest. There was still so much for him to do. He couldn't go and let a little thing like this trip him up. Naw. Hell no. He'd be fine. He had promised Gloria. He still had to look after the Kid. Still had to get that ring and pop the question to Dorio...
He was fine.
Just fine.
FINE.
"Maine!" Naruto snapped his fingers at him. Huh. He was standing, now. When had that happened? "You alright?"
"M'fine." he wiped a beat of sweat from his brow and fought down an awful shudder of realization. No...he was alright. Just peachy. "Its only a headache."
"That's good." Naruto raised a soot-covered hand. "You mind telling me how many fingers I'm holding up, then?"
Maine squinted at him. "You flipping me off with both hands there?"
"No," that seemed to make him sad, somehow. "No, I am not. I'm gonna need you to lay down.
"Ha?" a disbelieving peal of laughter tumbled out of him. "That grenade rattle your brain or something? I'm fine."
"You are not fine, big guy." a finger jabbed at his gut. "You are exactly the opposite of fine right now. You went completely spacey during that fight and almost got shot for it; that grenade would've blown you to bits if I hadn't jumped on. Sit down or I'll knock you out and call Dorio."
Fat chance of that! He was fine.
"You're overreacting. I've never felt better." he clapped him on the shoulder and turned to leave. "C'mon, lets go collect our reward."
The blond boy immediately to block him, arms spread wide. He walked right into him and bounced off.
A low grow rumbled in his throat, deep and menacing. "Move, kid."
"No." Naruto glared up at him, resolute. "There's something wrong with you. I'm not letting you take another job like this until Kiwi and Dorio take a look at you or-hey!" He leaned past him suddenly, eyes alight. "Speak of the devil! You have perfect timing."
Shit! Maine glanced to the door.
No one was there.
"I'm sorry."
He rounded on Naruto, but too slowly. Far, far too slowly.
Clenched knuckles barreled into the side of his head.
It was a good punch. He never stood a chance.
His body spun to the floor, reeling.
Darkness swam in.
(.0.0.0.)
Gloria glared at her arm.
Her arm remained silent and immobile.
Of course it did. It was an arm. It didn't have a mind of its own...
.
..
...right?
No, that was silly. She'd watched too many horror movies.
She rolled over on her sofa with a pent-up sigh. "Am I losing my mind?"
Sometimes it felt like she was. Even as she spoke, her fingers absently scratched her her bare arm, scraping it raw. Damn thing still itched like a bitch. No, it had gone well past that; these days, it felt like she'd dunked the damn thing in lava. It tingled all the way up to her shoulder now, even when she slept. Reading couldn't distract her long enough. Sleeping on it was no help at all, wrapping it bandages didn't help either; there was no wound. Every doctor she'd been to had told her something similar.
Its all in your head, my dear. Here, take these pills. Here, drink this. Here, try this exercise...
Useless sods, the lot of them.
Naruto. This was all his fault. He'd done something to her. He must have. The next time she saw him, she was going to give him a piece of her mind and demand that he FIX IT-
A knock on her door brought her up short.
"Hello?" Someone called out to her, voice muffled by metal. "Miss Gloria? Is there a miss Gloria Martinez living here?"
Her blood ran colder than ice itself. "Yes...?"
"There's a package here for you...
Package? What package. She hadn't ordered anything. Was it something from David? It seemed like something he'd do. She'd not seen her dear boy in so long now. Maybe he was trying to raise her spirits with a cheesy gift or something? Still, she wasn't about to just open the door to anyone without being prepared.
She swung the door open and laid one hand on the sidearm at her hip, ready for an Arasaka ambush...but none came.
A weary, haggard-looking man in a blue delivery uniform awaited her on other side.
He thrust a clipboard at her. "Sign here, please."
She scribbled out a signature, mumbled her thanks, accepted the package and closed the door in the man's face. A quick inspection of the package allayed her fears. Huh. It was from David after all. How sweet of him. He was risking himself sending her something but she appreciated the sentiment.
Now if only her arm would stop pissing her off!
Pausing only to lock the door behind her, she threw the gift down on the counter and stalked to the fridge. A cold bottle of beer awaited her, just the balm she needed. She'd never considered herself much of a drinker these days, but drinking was the only thing that made her arm stop aggravating.
Beep.
She paused, bottle to her lips. What was that noise? Had she imagined it?
Beep. Beep.
Blast it, there it was again!
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Run."
She jolted. "Hello?"
The voice came on again. "Run away."
She clutched her head and leaned against the wall.
It was practically a shout now, a shriek. "Leave this place!"
Gloria gripped her head and doubled over. "Shut up already, will you!"
Remarkably, it did.
Great, now she was hearing voices in her head. She didn't have that much cyberware. Surely this wasn't going cyberpsycho-
Her arm felt like it was on fire now, which only shortened her already exacerbated temper.
Exasperated, she stalked back toward the package and tore it open with both hands.
A neat little digital clock awaited her within; no, a timer counting down to-
Zero.
Her eyes widened. "Oh."
Gloria's world burst into flame.
A/N: Did she live? Did she die?
YOU ARE NOT PREPARED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.
Next chapter working title is as follows: Tooth for a Tooth/Evil for Evil.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't enjoy this, it will remain, but won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? Well, it won't be continued. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
And because its a habit!
POTENTIAL PREVIEWS.
If this story stays off the ground.
If not...well. Suppose it depends on you.
Some of them are pretty far out, others are closer than you think...
(Previews)
"MOM!" David skidded down in the ashes next to her body. "No, no, no! Don't do this to me! Breathe!"
Naruto twitched. "I won't let you...get away...with this!"
Blue eyes snapped into red.
"I WON'T LET YOU!"
"I'll always remember that day. The day the sky turned black. You could see it for miles around...
"Please tell me you can fix cyber-psychosis. Because that's what we're looking at here...
"Hey, hey!" Becca bulled in from the side. "You crazy? Arasaka's already got it out for him; if they find out he can fix shit like this? He'll have no peace.
Dorio turned a pleading look on him.
"Hear you been askin' about me."
"Hello~! Is this Arasaka~? I'd like to make a withdrawal~!"
"We're having a moment here!"
"You don't seem to understand. This city belongs to the people. Not the gangs. Not the corporations. And certainly not you."
"I have an army!"
"Do you, now?" A golden finger pointed to the sky. Explosions rippled outward as each hovercraft died in a roaring fireball.
Naruto tilted his head.
We have a Kurama." He snarled. "Your argument is invalid."
"Adam Smasher, was it?" he stepped over the corpses, uncaring of the blood, and lifted his chin to glare up at the machine man. "Not a bad name. Gives me an idea. Wanna hear it?"
The lumbering titan growled down at him. "And who the hell are you supposed to be, meatsack?"
Blue eyes boiled seven shades of searing scarlet, snapping into furious slits.
No. No freakin' way. He wasn't gonna...
.
..
...he was gonna.
"NARUTO SMASH!"
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Thanks for reading!.
I worked really hard on this, and I never have enough time to write these days, even so, I wanted to make folks happy...T_T
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Looking forward to hearing from you all when I get back from work~!
Feedback means the world to me. I appreciate you all~!
Warm regards,
~Nz.
R&R~!