ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

On August 27th (2023) I will be doing another mass update, so be sure to be on the lookout for that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other anime I use in this story. They belong to their respective owners: Masashi Kishimoto

8/13/23

Wrecked

The sound of a glass hitting a table reverberated around the room.

"Hit me with another," he said, gasping for breath, as he greedily took in fresh air for his lungs. Quickly wiping off the excess liquids from his mouth, he looked at his glass expectantly.

The man, old in age, next to him grumbled, "You know, Naruto, I'm not your bartender," he complained.

Yet his companion next to him just waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, old man, now hit me with another," the now-named 'Naruto' repeated.

Reluctantly, the old man, Tazuna, did so. Pouring him another glass of the sake, which he then filled to the brim.

Naruto gave him a bit of a side eye, but he shrugged his shoulders, not completely minding since he wasn't the one paying.

Gulping down the delicious beverage, he duly noted the effects of the alcohol already dissipating within his body. His healing factor performed its duty, much to his displeasure.

"You know," Tazuna started as the blond set down his glass, "the village is putting on a festival soon, in a couple of weeks; you should go." The old man told him.

"Is that so?" Naruto asked indifferently as he looped his finger around the top of his empty glass, signaling for the old man to refill his cup.

"Yeah, you should go," Tazuna suggested. "Maybe you could bring someone special? You've been quite the loner these days—"

Crack.

A small hairline fracture made its way onto Naruto's cup. Sighing, Naruto retrieved a new cup.

"Okay, maybe you shouldn't go," Tazuna remarked.

"It's not that," Naruto groaned as he reached up into a nearby cupboard, placing his glass inside and searching for a new one. "It's just that I don't think that's my kind of scene; I don't believe I'm the kind of person who can… fit in well in places like that," he told the old man, choosing his words carefully.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath, seeing as all the other cups in the cupboard were also broken.

Tazuna raised an eyebrow. "And why not? The people will love you; you gave our people hope," he told the blond, as instead of getting him another glass of sake, he just handed him a nearby bottle of beer.

With a glare, Naruto took the bottle, taking a large swig before wiping his mouth clear of any excess liquid falling from his lips.

"The only person who gave wave its hope was you," Naruto rebuffed. "'Tazuna the great master bridge builder'," Naruto said with air quotes.

Tazuna rubbed his chin with pride. "Well, I am the greatest bridge builder of all time," he bragged, before coming back to his senses. "But even so, Wave wouldn't still be the way it was if not for you; you deserve to be known as their hero," he told him.

"I'm no hero," the blonde rebuked.

"I just fulfilled my part of the contract, same as you; why else do you think I'm still here?" Naruto said nonchalantly. "Free food, free housing, and free alcohol." He listed off some of the things he received from the man in front of him, as he took another sip of his drink.

"You and I know that's not true," Tazuna told him, as he cleaned a glass, one of the few non-broken glasses they had left.

"I just want what's best for you; I don't want you to waste away as an old man like me." Tazuna told him, it was one of the few times the drunken old man actually acted his age.

Naruto snorted, "Like I'd end up like you, old man."

Tazuna shot the blond a light glare, before he continued, "The people should know the name of their hero, just like Kaiza; it'll give them some more hope, especially now."

The blond knew what he was referring to, but he kept quiet. As far as he cared, the people already had their hope, 'The Great Maelstrom Bridge.'

A name that Tazuna told the public was about the unleashing of a sudden storm of a new age. But truthfully, it was his way of commemorating their 'unknown hero', and the one who dealt with their oppressor in the only way he knew how.

This gave tazuna free rein to complete the finishing touches on his bridge, something that Gato had previously impeded.

And in just a few weeks, it would mark the anniversary of the bridge being built, ushering in a new age for Wave, one free from oppression and bloodshed, one that would allow a boom in the nation's economy.

Which, these days, is a rarity.

Snapping out of his thoughts, it wasn't long before he spotted a group of people enter the door. One was a young, beautiful woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties to early thirties. While the other was a small 14-year-old boy, obviously her son.

"Man, it sure is pouring hard out there," the boy sighed, as Naruto saw their soaked appearances.

"We wouldn't have been out so late if you hadn't run off so long, Inari-kun," the woman chided.

The now-named boy, 'inari,' rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he said, before he spotted Naruto, his expression lighting up in delight. "Hey, Nii-san, I didn't see you there; can you come with me to the beach tomorrow? We can do all sorts of things like—" he tried to make a request of his older brother figure, before his mother quickly interrupted him.

"Inari, leave Naruto some space to respond," his mother chided, causing the boy to grumble slightly.

"Thanks, Tsunami," Naruto mouthed silently, something that the boy saw and deflated a little bit at.

"Oh, and Inari," the boy perked up at his older brother's voice, "I'll think about it; maybe if the storm blows over," he told him, causing the young man to smile brightly at his older brother figure.

"Thanks, Naruto; it's nice to have someone look after the troublemaker," the woman, now named "Tsunami," told the blonde.

"Mommmmm!" Inari wined.

"Hey, I'm here too, dear 'loving' daughter of mine, and you too, 'dear' grandson," Tazuna told them all.

"i think she's requesting someone responsible," Naruto corrected for tsunami, to which the woman slightly nodded.

"Hey, I'm—" Tazuna started, before realizing nobody else was listening, and he was speaking to deaf ears.

Which left the grumpy old man to take another swig of alcohol and grumble to himself.

XXX

(Somewhere in the ocean)

"Come on," a male said with a perverted grin as a heavy blush adorned his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Jason, but I'm just not in the mood," a woman told him, but even still, his hands trailed down her slender figure. Suddenly, he stopped his movements, much to her relief.

It was strange; at one point, she would have loved the sensation, but now? She wasn't so sure.

"Fine, fine," the blond male with green eyes relented. Before bouncing back once again, "The rest of the Argonauts are down below partying; why don't you come on down?" he suggested.

"After all, it isn't everyday you get to see the great hero Jason single-handedly complete one of his many quests!" He added, as he pumped his chest in pride. Not noticing the slight frown the blue-haired woman was sporting.

Before Jason turned his head, he saw the large chest in the corner of the room.

"It won't be long before we get this fleece to my uncle, and then I'll be on top," Jason said in glee, his goals finally coming to fruition.

The woman frowned. "Don't you mean 'we' will be on top?" She questioned.

Jason, realizing his mistake, quickly rectified his mistake: "Oh, don't worry, your beautiful little head; I can assure you that the rest of the Argonauts will get their dues, just as I had promised." He corrected, but that only caused the woman's frown to increase, not that he noticed.

Jason took a large sip of a nearby bottle of wine, only increasing the level of intoxication he was currently experiencing. Before noticing that the bottle he was currently holding was nearly empty.

"Here, I'm going to go find some more wine; you can come down when you stop being such a rump," he told her, as he handed her the bottle of empty wine, leaving the deck of the ship to head down to the Argo's cargo hold.

She stared at his retreating figure for only a moment, as he opened the door, revealing the harsh weather that lay outside. As a crack of thunder sounded off in the distance.

It had been storming for hours, and given that they were on a ship, it could be dangerous. She had suggested they try to head to a nearby dock to wait it out for a bit.

But Jason had told him in full confidence that the gods were on his side, and that they wouldn't allow his quest to be halted. He decided that they would carry on, and so they did, despite her protests.

She wanted to believe him, and at the time, she did. She wanted to have faith; after all, wasn't that what love was all about?

But something felt… off.

Like a piece of her head was missing. No, that wasn't it; something wasn't right.

But she had to love him; after all, what else did she have left? She couldn't just go back; she couldn't—

Her mind ached, jolting her out of her thoughts, so much so that she could barely think at the moment.

Another crack of thunder reverberated around the room, this time much louder. She could hear the crashing waves outside, as well as the cheerful hollers of the Argonauts down below.

The ship rocked, and as she heard faint cracks under the pressure, she didn't feel good about that. She had to go warn Jason; it was the least she could do, but before she could...

Splash

It wasn't long before her form was engulfed in water, forming what little protection with magic she could in such a short time. She needed to find Jason. She needed to find—

Unexpectedly, her mind was engulfed in black.

End chapter.

An: A short chapter, written to just kick this story off.

This was written in a similar manner to my tamamo fic. That being an intended longer oneshot made to be into several much shorter chapters.

Don't worry, more chapters are to come.

Medea is probably one of my favorite characters from UBW. And she became more so when I heard her actual lore. It's very sad, so I think she deserves a happy ending.

Anyways, my Raikou, Jalter and Brynhildr pulls didn't go so well.

But I did end up getting Merlin in my pulls, in one Ten roll.

Man the CQ's are hard, but I did manage to do them all. The da Vinci one was undoubtedly the hardest, but Galatea was the MVP for that one.

Anyways, be on the lookout for a mass update on August 27th.

I got a plethora of New one-shots, New stories, and new chapters I want to release so why not do them all at once?

——————

Inspirations: I forgor