Hyperdimension Naruto: Re Birth

by Redthefox

This is the completely rewritten story of Ultradimension Naruto: Scarlet Heart. Minato sacrified himself to seal the Kyuubi in Naruto. Treated as a demon instead of a hero, the CPUs decided to take Naruto far away in their homeland. But new threats will present themself to Naruto. Follow Naruto's adventure in Gamindustri. (Main pairing: Naruto x Noire) (Harem)

4. Chapter 4

Hello guys here's a new chapter for you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Neptunia, or any other elements from other games or anime.

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Chapter 4: Another dimension?! (part 1)

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Some time had passed before the trio found themselves able to return to the Guild Building to complete their quest, a quest none of them had thought or ever could have thought would be so troublesome. None of them would ever forget that experience, least of all Naruto whose words formulated that oath of pain of his. He had to let the girls put some bandages on his hand though, even though they knew he'd heal fast nonetheless. It was more for their peace of mind than anything else… though something he did notice while they fussed about his hand had been Greed… how there was no longer even a spec of blood staining the blade crimson.

He didn't pay it much heed though, there were more pressing concerns at the moment.

Speaking of concerns, that time had been spent either recovering or finishing off culling the number of Dogoos. Turned out that there was still a bunch left that needed culling, likely due to the excessive threat to their population.

As for the said threat, they never again encountered that big lupine monster that Nepgear had decided to give a name to: the Zinogre. When Neptune had asked for the reasoning behind giving it such a name, Nepgear remarked on how it just felt right and no other name felt like it'd describe it for the others. Naruto hadn't argued with the girl on this one because he too felt the same way about the name, not to mention that he didn't want to think too much about the issue for the time being.

Once they did return to the building though, Neptune and Nepgear were the ones who reported the quest being completed. They had collected a bunch of materials from the Dogoos, their 'spawn loot' as Neptune had called it, for verification which was something that was seen as important to do if only to showcase the kills one has made. Turned out collecting loot served multiple purposes, though Naruto once more felt jealous with regards to this 'inventory' system that the girls had.

According to them, the Inventory system was something that all Gamindustri residents had been born with. It was something of a blessing from the CPUs and it's become something of an inborn trait for the Gamindustri residents now, like a genetic mutation or something. Therefore as someone not from Gamindustri, Naruto didn't possess the ability to have an Inventory much to his inner frustration.

Yet another difference between them and him: the Gamindustri outcast.

Right now, the trio stood by a bench in the Guild Building, with the pint-sized CPU sitting on the bench and Naruto and Nepgear standing on opposite sides of her. Neptune stretched her arms over her head, a relieved sound escaping her lips at the rapidly decreasing tension leaving them. "GH, ahhh, that hits the spot…" she remarked after dropping her arms to her sides, pleasure flowing out of her in waves.

Meanwhile, the CPU Candidate had other concerns on her mind right now other than her sister's current attitude despite their recent brush with death. "Are you sure your hand's alright Naruto?" Nepgear questioned while her sister did her thing, a worried look on her face.

As for the male in question, Naruto had just taken off the bandages around his hand which showed his gloves with a series of tears around the palm where he'd gripped Greed's blade. Said weapon now rested in its sheathe after having been cleaned and resharpened by the blonde during their return to Planeptune. "Yea no worries Gear Chan, I'm good," he assured her, showing his hand and the lack of any permanent injury. "See? Perfectly fine."

"O-Oh, good. I see."

Neptune eyed her sister knowingly, having sussed out what it was that had been bothering her. She may not be the brightest light bulb out there but she liked to think she had good people skills, why else did the other Goddesses still hang out with her despite her getting on their nerves? "Geez no need to be a worrywart Nep Jr, you'll get grey hairs if that were to happen."

"I won't get grey hairs, Neptune, that's impossible for me." Nepgear countered, her concerned expression persisting. "But even so, I'm glad you are alright Naruto. Glad."

The blonde gave her his classic grin and a thumbs-up. "Yup I'm A-ok, Gear Chan ya know!" he proclaimed.

Neptune chuckled at the verbal tick that he expressed. "Hehehehe, if Naru Kun's doing the verbal tick thingie then he's an okie dokie beanie." she cooed playfully, watching in amusement at the way the blonde floundered at her teasing. She then glanced back at her sister with a curious glint entering her eyes. "So you told the Guildies about that thing yet?"

A bright flash of recognition flashed through Nepgear's eyes at the reference to the monster they had fought. "Ah, yeah I did when I handed in the quest details. The guild authorities said they're gonna send some agents in to investigate more thoroughly. There have been reports of similar monsters appearing in dungeons across all of Gamindustri." she explained, growing increasingly worried by the second.

She may have told her sister not to worry too much, but a slightly pensive frown did form on Neptune's face at such a thing. "Really? Man, that's a bummer, so it's not a one-time thing then, I gotcha…" she mused, looking mildly put off as she thought about the Zinogre. She didn't like the thought, but the way it acted towards them reminded her very much of the Deity of Sin and ASIC, with the former having used her power to influence the monsters and make them go out of their way to cause more problems. The latter didn't help with their antics when they were still around either. Yet some subtle differences between them made her wonder if this was something different.

Bah, leave the thinking to Histy, she was the one who did this stuff for a living. If things happen, Neptune would just deal with them simple as that.

Deciding something needed to be done to take their minds off the situation, an ingenious idea popped into Neptune's head. One which filled her with a sense of forbidden excitement at the prospect. Convincing her sister wouldn't be an issue, but it'd be a different story for Naruto. He would likely not bow to peer pressure, unlike Nepgear thanks to being raised by Blanc and her sisters. "Oh yeah, Nep Jr. While we're out here being responsible and killing stuff, wanna go visit your buddies?" she offered her sister.

Said CPU Candidate blinked owlishly at the suggestion while Naruto narrowed his eyes, trying to suss out what the purplette's goal was. "My buddies? You mean… visiting the other nations?" she questioned, confused about where this was going.

Not that it deterred Planeptune's CPU though, she was many things but weak-willed was not one of her protagonist traits. Made her better than those silly harem protags out there. "You bet! I bet you wanna visit Uni, Rom and Ram! Don't ya? I mean we've already got Naru Kun with us, so what's the harm in seeing everyone else?" Plus this way they could make a trip out of seeing the others to do, um, important stuff. Yeah, that's right nothing nefarious or loopholing at all.

Nepgear thought about it and was sure she would like to see their friends, but she remembered what had happened to bring them to this point. Thus that remained where the majority of her indecision lay. "I would, sure, but if we don't get any work done today, Histoire will be real mad at us."

"You just wanna use this as an excuse to slack off, don't you Nep Chan." Naruto chided, having grown up knowing what Neptune was like. Big Sis Blanc had also mentioned to him how she had only been allowed to see him if she did work for her Nation she was something of a professional slacker. No way would he fall for such schemes himself, his male pride demanded nothing less.

Neptune remained undeterred before their responses and Naruto's suspicious expression. "It's not slacking off!" she waved off the accusations dismissively like talks about the weather. "I'll be just a peacekeeping mission that comes with snacks and a break!"

"Do you mean it?"

"Aha! There's the patented Nep Jr Gaze-o-suspicion!" Neptune proclaimed upon seeing the look on Nepgear's face, one which declared her dubious thoughts about the situation. The pint-sized girl crossed her arms and looked to the side pretending to be huffy about the treatment she was being given. "You don't trust me huh?"

Seeing the girl's response and falling for it, Nepgear hurried to apologise with a great amount of fluster on her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry Neptune! I didn't mean to use that face!" she proclaimed, before finally giving in to Neptune's whims like the doormat she was. "Your right… if it's only a quick visit, I'm sure Histoire won't mind."

"And probably a quick visit to their snacks and games too while you are at it, ain't I right Neptune?" Unlike Neptune however, Naruto remained steadfast in his suspicions, fort Naruto remained unsieged against Neptune's assault. He may not know what had happened to result in the Planeptune girls doing all this work, but he bet that it had something to do with his sister and the other CPUs gaming a lot at her Basilicom over the last few years.

Neptune meanwhile, blew off his suspicions with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Meh, we could use a break after what happened with the tall and edgy monster, Naru Kun. It did take us to the cleaners, you know," she told him and as much as he loathed to admit it, Naruto knew for a fact that she wasn't wrong on that one. That Zinogre truly took them for a ride of pain throughout the fight, but unlike him and Nepgear, this half-pint didn't seem too nonplussed about it. "And besides I'm sure that Blanny-Blanny B recently ordered some good Ramen to try out, don't think you wanna miss out, eh?" she added with a Cheshire cat grin, having deployed her ultimate trump card for convincing the blonde.

Like a certain game about collecting monsters to battle with, this move proved successful against the blonde, evident by how he immediately lost his prior suspicion and started daydreaming about his favourite food. "Ahhhhh…! Ramen…!" he mused, eyes closed and a bit of drool escaping his lips as he imagined being surrounded by his favourite dish.

"Naruto's Ramen love is just like big sis's love of Pudding…" Nepgear couldn't help but comment with a sweatdrop. She didn't know the full story behind that but she had heard that it was a food he had grown to love during his training it was due to it somehow tasting better and cheaper for him after a round of training. She knew a few people whose love of a certain food drove them to do weird things, though so it wasn't like she found this instance strange or anything.

Neptune immediately grinned wider, knowing that she had won this literal duel between them. She didn't think Blanc would mind too much that she bribed her brother with his favourite food, she wouldn't be THAT protective of him. "Hehehe, glad to see you see things mwah way, my cute little blonde…!" she proclaimed, getting up and shaking his hands in hers like they were sealing an ancient covenant. "Glad to see you coming around! After we say hi and borrow some of their food, we can borrow some of their games too."

"Goodness Neptune…" Nepgear muttered, knowing that this was just her true intentions coming to light. But since they had both agreed there was no stopping her sister now. She had no doubt Histoire was going to be furious with them, and Naruto would likely not say any more cause he had his love of ramen stoked by her. So in the end, Nepgear decided to just follow along and pray that Histoire wouldn't be too mad at them…

She probably would be furious, knowing their luck.

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First stop - Lastation - Basilicom

"Hello!"

"We're barging in!"

"Where's the Ramen?"

Nepgear, Neptune and Naruto soon arrived at the Basilicom of the Land of Black Regality: Lastation, one of Planeptune's most steadfast rivals. Rivals in both share generation, as well as economic too. Out of the other three Nations, it had been Lastation that remained the most competitive with Planeptune, according to Histoire. Noire's desire to catch up to and surpass Neptune is reflected in her followers because they have her attitude towards Planeptune with there being many cases of competition between their various companies and officials. There'd even been reports of Planeptune and Lastation civilians getting into scuffles over things either as minor as which cup was made better to what they liked to coin 'waifu wars'. Most of those instances involved their various fanclubs though.

It's honestly a miracle that the two Goddesses had not yet come to blows themselves since the end of the Console Wars many centuries ago.

Meanwhile, Naruto looked around with excitement and glittering eyes, his mind focusing only on one thing and only one thing: the food of the gods called Ramen. Pudding had been knocked from its pedestal in his the moment he first tasted that delectable broth, like a revolution designed to end the monarchy that had lorded over the peasantry. One could only imagine the tantrum Neptune had thrown when she first found out that her little bro had been 'corrupted' and 'strayed from the path of the pudding'. But at this point Naruto didn't care, he'd found his love and he would stick with her.

At the same time, they had just entered the building, a young girl had been in the process of moving a bunch of files and documents to another location… the size of which being enough to rival two versions of her standing atop one another. This young girl resembled Lastation's CPU quite a bit with her black hair and red eyes that they saw when she poked her head out from behind the pile. A bright grin spread across her lips at the sight of the trio, especially Nepgear and Naruto with her detached sleeves and black dress becoming slightly more visible when she put the files down on a nearby table. "Oh! Hi Nepgear, Naruto! Hi to your older sister too!"

Nepgear nodded her head in greeting, a matching smile on her face as she walked up to her with a still-daydreaming Naruto and bubbly Neptune in tow. "It's been a while, Uni."

"Dudette, I told you to drop the older sister thing…"

Either too focused on her conversation or unhearing of her due to being so one-track-minded regarding Nepgear, Uni ignored the flat stare Neptune gave her in favour of grinning at her sister. "It's only been a year, Nepgear. How was the reconstruction of that robot you were trying to build for that mech contest?" Uni questioned, arms crossed behind her chest.

In the previous year, there had been a contest held by Histoire meant to find the right company to hire to build next-gen mechs for Planeptune's military, but she didn't know that Nepgear had taken some lessons from Lastation's oracle on business economics because she created a small mech manufacturing company just so she could enter. Long story short, things didn't work out so well.

At the mention of this, Nepgear chuckled awkwardly while scratching her cheek. "Ehehehe, it's not going too great. Well, I mean the body itself is completely fixed, but there's a strange bug I can't work out…" she explained, or tried to cause whenever she thought about that 'bug' in particular she developed an annoying headache.

So many all-nighters, so many lawsuits…

Deciding to change the subject before she made herself feel like drinking into a depressed mess, Nepgear decided to inquire into the whereabouts of the other two people they came to see. "Where's Kei and Noire? We didn't see them when we came inside."

Upon hearing the names of her sister and Oracle, Uni perked up briefly before settling into a pondering posture. She then gave a small sigh through her nose as she provided the answer to Nepgear's question, a sense of mild exasperation about her. "My sister's working. She said that she didn't like the numbers and decided to make up for lost time by locking herself in her office. She's been there ever since." she explained.

Nepgear smiled weakly, having come to expect that from her friend's sister. "That does sound like her. Noire plays a lot, but she usually somehow finds time to get work done." Noire had always been a workaholic she believed, she just didn't feel comfortable unless she was being productive and actively supporting the people of her Nation. Whenever she wasn't swamped with paperwork, she had been out there taking quests to help the people out, something which made her quite the popular figure in Lastation's society, resulting in that admittingly large fan club of hers. She was the exact opposite of Neptune in many ways, but even then there were still some similarities between them, at least that was what Nepgear believed.

Said sister didn't share those sentiments of hers, however. "Meh, she's always so serious. That's why she and I are on different wavelengths." Neptune complained with a slightly exasperated grin, hands on her hips like she were a parent talking about their unruly child but still loving them regardless.

Like her friend, though she would never admit that, Uni gave an exasperated look to the Planeptune CPU. "Pretty sure you shouldn't be proud of being lazy…" she couldn't help but comment. Like Nepgear, Uni could also see just how much of an opposite to Noire Neptune was, and it irked her to some level too. Fortunately, Uni wasn't the target of Neptune's teasing as much as her sister was, so she didn't have to dive into the bottomless pools of tsundere within her. "As for Kei, she hasn't been around that much lately…"

This news caught both of the Planeptune girls by surprise. Kei not being around? That sounded almost alien to them, aside from Noire she's one of the more workaholic people too. Ironically the two of them got along quite well albeit neither would admit such a thing, due to their similar mindsets at work. As such they didn't think Kei would shirk her duties as Lastation's Oracle so why was she not around? "What's up with that?" Neptune questioned, though, in reality, she was asking for the two of them.

A worrying thought then popped into Nepgear's head, fuelling her worries further. "she didn't resign, did she?"

Uni closed her eyes, her lips pursed together and despite this one could easily tell that she had some complex thoughts running through her chest right now. "Well, she didn't quit per se… but she did say that she didn't feel like her talents were being useful in maintaining a peaceful nation… so she decided to start her own business. She was real tight-lipped about what it does though, and when we last saw her… she seemed to be anxious about something. Noire wouldn't say anything about it when I asked, so I didn't ask for details."

"Huh…" Nepgear mused, cupping her chin thoughtfully. Honestly, this sounded like something Kei would do, she figured based on what she knew of the woman. She was used to handling things from behind the scenes, so if she were to have noticed anything she would do a bunch of indirect stuff to solve that issue. "Yeah, this does have her MO written all over it… I wouldn't worry, Uni. Kei knows what she's doing."

Uni didn't say anything in response, making Nepgear sigh internally. She knew fine well how much Uni relied on Kei emotionally due to how work-focused Noire was, not to mention throughout the stuff many years ago with ASIC where Kei was the only person Uni had left when Noire got kidnapped, so her no longer being around must be taxing on the poor girl.

Neptune meanwhile did the one thing she did best, smashing the tension that unfolded with a paper fan. "You must be busy too, mini Noire. You gotta do the work of an Oracle in her place!"

Sensing the changing of the subject, Uni gave a dismissive wave of her hand while tilting her head and closing her eyes, her free hand placing itself atop her hip. "It's nothing to brag about. I just stamp and move papers, anyone could do it." She mused, ignoring the way that the girls stared incredulously at the piles of files she'd been caring for earlier. Nonetheless, her attitude experienced a positive buff as she spoke with a wide smile forming on her lips. "In the end, my sister handles most of it, anyways…"

Initially, Nepgear remained silent for a moment, being baffled by Noire and Uni's business-like relationship which remained the complete opposite to her and Neptune's. Speaking of whom, she slowly glanced over towards her sister with an awkwardness to her tone. "...You know, Neptune… hearing this makes it sound like…"

"Uh huh." turned out that Neptune and Nepgear were on the same wavelength here, light beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks. "Compared to those two workaholics, we're pretty pathetic," she stated, not even nearly as tactful as her sister tried to make it out to be.

Seemingly unaware of the gloomy aura surrounding the Planeptune sisters, Uni once more inclined her head in Nepgear's direction as she got out of her bout of sister worshipping. "Anyways, what brings you to Lastation, Nepgear?"

Her question successfully drove the CPU Candidate out of her funk as she recalled the prior events leading up to this point…. very nearly slipping into a depressed state once more when thinking about the Zinogre. "O-Oh, well, um, me and Neptune were getting some work of our own done through questing when we found Naruto…" she began to explain, gesturing to the blonde in question who still looked lost in his fantasies.

"...He's thinking about Ramen again, isn't he?"

"Yea. He is."

"I see…" Uni stated bluntly, staring blankly at Naruto for a moment before something clicked inside her mind. "Well, I heard Naruto was going on his first quest, and if he's like this I can imagine how bad it went," she stated, eyeing the various tears on his outfit warily and, dare she say it, worriedly. She didn't say that last part and she'd shoot anyone in the face with a rifle blast if they claimed she was anything but composed right now.

The way Nepgear's face looked like a mix of shocked and scared showed her more truths about this, she was always the easiest to read out of the group it was almost refreshing. Dealing with shady businessmen and politicians all the time made one good at reading between the lines.

Nonetheless, Uni's gaze soon fell upon the sword sheathed to his waist and for the first time in a while, Uni found herself drawn to a weapon that wasn't a gun. She ran her gaze along the hilt down to the sheathe that housed the blade itself, staring in an almost mystified manner at it.

'That sword…'

"You likey?" Having noticed the staring she did, Neptune grinned proudly as she puffed her chest out with her hands flying onto her hips. "That little beastie of a sword's something I got him, it's a cool sword! Of course not as good as my Katana, but close!" she boasted, trying to take credit for Naruto gaining his first weapon.

Those efforts were soon enough thwarted by Nepgear in person who aimed a lightly chiding look at her older sister whose propaganda skills were non-existent. "Neptune… he just got it as a second-hand deal at an armoury," she stated, before turning her gaze over to Uni so she didn't see the look of betrayal on Neptune's face as she stumbled forward. "But she's right in that it's a strong sword, I've seen it myself. The owner said it was named Greed and that it's from Leanbox."

"I see…" Uni muttered, trailing off for a bit as she pondered these words. Neptune's boasting aside, the Lastation CPU Candidate didn't get why herself, but that sword did not feel like any second-hand sword she knew of. She'd known plenty thanks to Noire once having taken her early into their working relationship to see which weapon she had the most proficiency with. Sure there were signs that it was old, but even Uni knew a quality sword when she saw one, and Noire would agree with her.

Still… she didn't know why but something about that sword bothered her. The feeling that it gave off… reminded her of something that she did NOT want to think about, nor ever would. Especially since it nearly drove the CPU Candidates and their sisters apart when it had been found and then later buried so deep nobody would ever find it again.

For now, though she decided to take care of the most pressing issue first, she could talk to Noire about it later. In any case, she gave a small exhale through her nose before clicking her index and thumb, and a second later a small compartment opened up near one of the walls. From there more followed suit and from them a bunch of furniture and stuff raised themselves out of the compartments, eventually forming a small table and chairs… filled to the brim with steaming hot Ramen.

Both Neptune and Nepgear gaped at the sight… but when NARUTO smelled the heavenly delight…

"RAAAAAAMEEEEEEEEEEN!"

He immediately darted towards the table and started wolfing down the ramen faster than a playboy running from his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend when she told him she was pregnant. The first bowl vanished in seconds, but it seemed like this had been expected as the compartments brought out more bowls, taking away the empty ones.

"Holy nepperoni…!" Neptune gasped in a shocked exclamation, her eyes nothing but circles at the sight. She didn't know what the hell to think about this, so she tried giving voice to the feelings inside of her the best she could. "What the heck is that, Uni? Some kind of Uber for those too lazy to learn how to cook?"

Uni shook her head, a small but amused smirk playing on her lips. "Heh, Noire said to record your reaction…" she mused, having taken out her game console and snapped a photo of the disbelieving CPU's facial reaction. Pocketing the device for later, she then proceeded to explain the situation. "After the great ramen withdrawal 4 years ago, Noire had a system installed by Lastation's finest engineers that'd put together the best Ramen bowls for Naruto whenever he visits. The ingredients are of top quality and are provided every day by our chefs. That way we can satisfy that bottomless pit we call Naruto's stomach." Uni boasted proudly, thinking about the enormous amounts of time, research and money it took to apply this updated software to the Basilicom.

She didn't mention that Noire had this system installed in her office too for various reasons, she wouldn't snitch on her sister like that.

No way would she be like Neptune.

"Whoa, whaaaaa?!" speaking of said CPU, she stared in absolute bafflement at the sight, her brain nearly short-circuiting at it as she tried to grapple with the sheer JEALOUSY that blossomed inside her chest. "No freaking way, this is hax goddess neppit! Why couldn't we have that in our Basilicom? I wouldn't have to leave my gaming consoles, it'd be a blast! Especially when playing those three cheating CPUs!" she wailed, falling onto her back and flailing her arms and legs like a child being denied her favourite toy.

Uni meanwhile rolled her eyes at the Planeptune CPU's behaviour. "Well, I'm not the one with the authority over the system. It's called the Minos system by the way. You can talk to Noire about it if she ever comes out of her office…" she explained, though she got the feeling Neptune had ignored her but didn't feel too bad about that. After all, she bet that Neptune would nag Noire about the system regardless.

Meanwhile, she had something more important to focus on.

"Hmmmmm, that hit the spot…!"

A satisfied hum left a certain blonde's lips as he walked up to Uni and Nepgear, a hand rubbing a circle around his stomach over his clothes. Behind him, the compartments had taken back the appliances used to create the Ramen he had enjoyed, the sight causing Uni to smirk to herself. "Enjoyed it, Naruto? That was about 20 bowls of the stuff," she remarked, causing Nepgear to go gobsmacked at how much Naruto managed to eat. "How the heck do you stomach all that and not gain weight?"

"Ehehehehehe…" Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his signature toothy grin. "Guess I just have a black hole for a stomach," he remarked, figuring that this would last him till lunchtime before he would feel the desire to eat again. Still he had a good meal right now, making this trip more than worth it and he had the Lastation sisters to thank for it. "Thanks a bunch for the grub, Uni! You and Noire rock!" he cheered, throwing his arms around the girl and pulling her into an embrace.

Immediately the girl's reaction proved why she was related to the CPU of Lastation. "H-Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" she cried out, face redder than a tomato as she flailed her arms out to the sides, unable to notice the way Nepgear stared with a gobsmacked expression.

"Hugging ya for such a genius system! Thanks a bunch, Uni, I mean it! I wanna give Noire my thanks too, could I see her?"

"S-She's busy right now, but I'll let her know! But can you let go of me?!"

In the end, the two started to quarrel, well, only Uni saw it quarrelling as Naruto teased her for the way she reacted to him hugging her, whilst Nepgear soon joined in somehow leaving the situation a threeway. How the argument got settled with the trio deciding to game together would be a mystery for the ages… as well as how they forgot the pouting planeptune CPU's existence.

---

Second stop - Leanbox

After they had spent slim time in Lastation, of which Naruto went and pulled a Neptune by barging into Noire's office and hugging the life out of her to gain an even more extreme reaction out of her, Neptune and the gang left Lastation for Leanbox. That had been their choice for their next stop due to Naruto being a bit uneasy about returning to Lowee, something which Neptune didn't seem bothered by, unlike a concerned Nepgear.

To journey to Leanbox, the trio had decided to take the slower and more normal route of taking a ship to the island that the nation had been built on. Leanbox had been an island nation due to one of Vert's predecessors having been fond of the notion, and thus travelling by foot wasn't possible. Sure Neptune and Nepgear could transform and carry Naruto across the ocean that way, but several things put a halt to that idea such as Neptune's laziness, her desire to take a cruise ship, and reports from some sailors they'd overheard that the weather indicates a storm might be approaching and none of them wanted to fly through a storm.

So their trip to Leanbox took longer than one expected, with Neptune sampling all the delicious food on the ship (as well as being pampered by all the guys on board). Some Sailors even tried hitting on an uncomfortable Nepgear, only for Naruto to come in clutch and keep her away from them much to her relief. Turned out that Nepgear wasn't that good at handling members of the opposite sex yet, something Neptune teased her mercilessly about for the duration of the boat's trip to Leanbox's main port.

Once they arrived at the port, the trio made their way to the Basilicom…

"Pardon us!" Nepgear called out as the trio entered Vert's room, quickly being rendered speechless by the sight. "Wow, even after all this time, Vert's room hasn't changed…" she couldn't help but comment with Neptune nodding in agreement, a faint snicker escaping her lips at a humorous memory that entered her mind. She may not have said what it was, but Naruto must have had a super sense cause he picked up on her thought process and turned a bit pink.

Vert's room itself looked like an otaku's paradise, having a rectangular structure while being stuffed to the brim with different merchandise. Posters, books, visual novel games, figures of varying types, all of that stuff remained scattered across the edges of the room and on top of any table surface one could see. If one looked closer, they would also see another more disturbing fact for anyone who had a sausage between their legs: that every piece of merch was linked to a certain… genre.

A genre involving hot guys… and only hot guys.

Naruto tried not to look at this stuff, shuddering as a particularly unpleasant memory flooded his mind involving the first time he had stepped foot inside this room when he had been 7 years old. It had happened during one of Lowee's CPU's many business trips to Leanbox, but up till then he hadn't been allowed to explore the place much to his chagrin… until that time when he accidentally stumbled across this room and went inside. At the time Vert had just finished playing a game and was about to head out, a rarity for her he'd come to learn in the future when she spotted him looking at one of the books she had… let's just say that she tried to 'convert' him when he asked her what the stuff was.

It became a point of trauma for the blonde, and Blanc very nearly turned the entire Basilicom into a pile of ashes during her rampage. Not even Vert in HDD could stop her, and it took a combination of the other CPUs and their Candidates to calm her down enough for discussion. One that involved Vert apologising to a shaken Naruto who hid behind Blanc like he was staring at a ghost.

One could say it presented itself as a mini console war in its darkest hours.

Fortunately in the years since, a combination of the Lowee sisters and some therapy put Naruto on the path to recovery, so he's pretty much fine now… with a semi-blazing hate for anything gay or to do with BL. Hence he was trying not to think about the stuff and currently had his eyes closed while seated in the lotus position on the floor doing some meditating.

"Naru Kun's doing his thing again…" Neptune remarked to herself, but her sister heard her and nodded her head in agreement. Neither of them intended to tease the boy about it though, not even Neptune was that stupid. She remembered the look of sheer terror on the poor boy's face back during that incident and did not wish to reopen such old wounds.

Nepgear hummed in thought, thinking back to that incident. Now that Naruto was old enough to take quests she hoped that he would be able to overcome that trauma of his once and for all.

"Hello there Nepgear, Neptune, Naruto."

Just then a female voice was heard from behind them and all three widened their eyes in surprise. Even Naruto's. They turned around to the source which stood in front of a doorway leading to a smaller more isolated part of the room. That source? Well, that turned out to be Vert… not gaming for hours on end like the girls thought. Instead, she seemed to have come out of her room with a cup of tea in her hands and a book tucked beneath her armpit. She had a pair of leanbox headphones on, sure, but other than that she looked like she hadn't been gaming for a while.

"Vert…!" Neptune proclaimed in stunned amazement, shock still flooding her system as she and Nepgear regarded the blonde woman like she were an alien. "What are you doing out of your room? In cannon weren't you in some kind of guild raid when we came over or something?" The Planeptune CPU questioned, wondering what Vert had been smoking… and wanting to try some herself if only she could win some arguments against Histoire.

Never mind the fact that Planeptune's Oracle remained a living tome with thousands upon thousands of years of experience plus knowledge, way more than Neptune ever could have.

Vert meanwhile hummed a pleasant tune as she moved to a nearby chair located next to a stack of books. Based on some of the titles, Nepgear assumed they were gaming guides or something as she sat on the chair and crossed one leg over the other. "Maybe, but in canon, you didn't take so long to get here Neptune. Because of that the raid I was partaking in got wrapped up, so now I am simply recuperating with some gaming guides," she explained, taking a sip of her tea before placing the cup on its small china plate atop her lap.

"Huh, makes sense… so what gaming guides you got for us, Verty poo? Some kind of cheat codes, haxes?"

"Heavens no." Vert immediately shook her head to deny such accusations. "I would be no better than some of our past enemies if that was the case. No, I am merely reading up on some guides for different game genres. Broadening my horizons a bit." she explained, reaching towards the pile and handing Nepgear one of the guides. The one trapped beneath her armpit, though thanks to Vert improving her room's AC she wasn't sweating very much in recent times, so the book didn't get stained with her scent.

Taking the guide, Nepgear looked it over and to her surprise, Vert was being truthful. She recognized this guide and the game it was for based on the glint that appeared in her eyes. "Huh… I know this game, isn't it that series involving that traveller pair which got separated by that goddess entity?" she questioned, looking back to Vert who gave a nod.

"Indeed, I've been expanding my horizons like I said into other game genres. I save the MMOs for late at night now, so I'm not around as much… fortunately, my guildmates are aware and respect my decision." Vert replied, smirking as she pulled another guide from the pile next to her to begin reading it.

She didn't get beyond the first page though thanks to Neptune making the 'I know something you don't' face, followed by the comment that left her lips. "Asuna Chan's the one who made this change, isn't it?" she questioned, though it sounded more like a statement.

At least the blonde woman had the decency to look a little sheepish when she answered after a moment's silence. "...Yes, indeed. She and I had a bit of a scuffle and this is how we resolved it." The woman explained, though based on her tone she sounded like she didn't want to talk more about it lest Neptune get any ideas on how to tease her further about being a siscon.

Essentially what happened was that Asuna finally lost her temper with her sister after a time when she played nothing but MMOs for a whole week, ignoring her CPU duties and delegating most of the work to her Oracle and Candidate. It led to Asuna storming in and yanking her from her PC right after clearing a difficult raid boss so she didn't get much loot. The two sisters had argued about the CPU's habits for seemingly 3 days much like a certain book fairy, until Asuna pulled out the big guns by threatening to destroy all of Vert's merchandise if she didn't agree to the compromise Asuna had devised. That being to expand her horizons to more linear single-player games than just MMOs, saving them for nighttime. Of course, she knew that Vert could spend hours playing MMOs, so she had her install a timer that'd tell her when it was time to go to sleep, and if she were to break this 'curfew' then Asuna would burn one of her butler outfits. With Napalm. Lots and lots of napalm.

Let's just say that Asuna could be much scarier than her usually pleasant demeanour could suggest. Probably didn't help that this had happened not long after Vert had traumatised Naruto as well.

How Nepgear and Neptune didn't know this was anyone's guess. however, the latter must have been too lazy to notice.

Naruto shuddered, thinking of the times when Blanc blew her fuse whenever the twins or he went too far with their pranks. The explosion of rage that followed and how they got a severe beating (mostly smacks to the backsides) taught him that lesson the hard way.

This reminded the trio of how well Asuna had been doing with things as a CPU Candidate. Initially, Leanbox's most prominent opinion had been confusion, as they didn't know how the hell they'd been able to get a Candidate in the first place. It likely had something to do with similar events happening in the past which raised their shares to a high level, but even then no Goddess was born. As a result, her presence was received with mixed results with some wondering if she was a fraud or something especially since Asuna couldn't transform yet. It had been fortunate that Histoire agreed to help mitigate these concerns herself otherwise the possibility of a civil war happening proved to be relatively high.

But in the years that followed everyone pretty much accepted the CPU Candidate as Vert's sister for many reasons. One of them was the girls' similar love of games, with the two often bonding through competitive fighting games or working together on online games. Not MMOs though for some reason, according to Asuna she tried one but wasn't very fond of them. She couldn't describe it well but going into an MMO made her worry she'd be trapped there or something. She got VERY popular with the military side of things though, due to her love for weapons like the sword, the Spear and the like, often going out the Basilicom for lessons from various prominent weapons masters with her primary weapon being the sword, unlike the spear that her sister wielded. She'd often go out on hunting expeditions with the Leanbox soldiers whenever she could, displaying a leadership quality to her in that she always managed to lead the majority of the men into victory thanks to having also studied strategy games and how to win, applying that to her tactics.

She even became known as the 'Flash Goddess' due to her proficiency with a movement technique she devised known as the 'Flash Step'.

All in all, Asuna had been doing pretty well for herself which even Neptune had to admit was impressive, though she tried not to think about what it'd be like if she had been around during ASIC's antics cause that'd only discourage her sister.

Speaking of the Leanbox CPU Candidate…

"Ah, Nepgear, Naruto!"

"?!"

In an instant, a white, red and brown blur shot through the entrance to the room and trapped both Nepgear and Naruto in a strong embrace. Not too strong that they couldn't breathe, but strong enough to catch them off guard. Both of them jumped at the contact but their reflexes managed to save them from being taken to the ground like any normal person would have been.

"Whoa, Nep baskets!"

Neptune made that startled exclamation while the affected duo took a moment to regain their bearings. But after that moment passed, the blur that slammed into them finally pulled back to show a pair of hazel eyes and chestnut brown hair staring back at them, her eyes shining in joy at seeing them. The sight caused the duo to smile back, happiness shining in their eyes at seeing the girl they'd just been thinking about again.

"Hi Asuna, sorry for intruding." Nepgear greeted her cordially with a small bit of meekness.

Naruto followed suit soon afterwards, grinning his signature grin. "Man, you've gotten stronger Asuna Chan! I almost fell there!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Asuna had the decency to look sheepish as she stepped back and put her hands behind her back. "Ehehe, sorry bout that. I didn't know you were here so when I heard you guys were visiting from the guards I got overexcited…" she explained, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

"...Huh, an outfit change? That's rare for this franchise aside from fan service…"

It was then that the three got a look at her outfit with Neptune being the first to be vocal about it. Asuna had indeed changed her outfit from the one she'd been in when they first met her, donning a prominently white uniform of sorts with red as a secondary colour. There was still the breastplate covering her chest, but her shoulders were bare whilst her arms had long white arm sleeves that covered them from the biceps down to the wrists. Red bands wrapped around her upper arms, too. Beneath the breastplate was a white coat with red outlines, one that reached her ankles in length and split at the front above the abdomen, revealing a red pleated skirt underneath. Covering her legs were a pair of white thigh-high stockings with red bands wrapping around the thighs, and red crosses directly underneath them. These stockings slid into a pair of heeled knightly armoured ankle-high shoes. All in all, she seemed to embody more of a knight-based theme compared to the adventurer look her prior outfit gave off.

Asuna once more gained a sheepish look as she twirled some of her hair strands around her right hand's index finger, smiling in a bit of embarrassment. "Yeah, I decided to try and go for something new…" she explained, though the way she explained it implied that there was more to it with Vert not helping by looking away from her sister. Either she hadn't forgiven her sister for decreasing her gaming time like a child throwing a temper tantrum, or she had more to do with this than what was being let on. She then shook her head and went to change the topic. "Anyways, what brings you three to Leanbox?" she asked, sending an apologetic look Neptune's way for ignoring her before, getting a big smile from the said Goddess as a result.

"Well, we wanted to take a break from the work we were doing in Planeptune, so…"

Before Nepgear could say more, Asuna beamed happily at them which silenced her. "Great! I haven't had a sparring partner in a while since Chika's busy trying to quell a worker's strike at some factory," she stated, before grabbing Nepgear by the hand. "I know you said you were on break, but come with me! Naruto too! To the Coliseum, we got some sparring to do!"

Naruto and Nepgear blinked owlishly as they registered these words, briefly noticing the Rapier that matched her uniform's colours strapped to her hip instead of being in her Inventory. They looked to Neptune for help, only to get a 'have fun, kids!' gesture from her while looking at some of the games on a shelf. To that end, Asuna finally dragged the duo out of her sister's room with the door somehow magically closing behind them since it wasn't an automatic door.

"..."

"...Wow, your sister's grown quite a bit Vert, kinda hard to keep up with her if you know what I mean."

After a small silence, an awkwardness enveloped her as Neptune tore her gaze away from the games and directed her attention towards Vert. She had to admit that this was WAY unlike what Asuna had been like in the beginning, acting all shy and meek before them all like some little sister character… which she was supposed to be, Neptune thought. Vert must have her hands full handling her, kinda like Rom and Ram were to Blanc.

Said CPU sighed at this, closing the guide she was reading before getting to her feet. "Yes, well, I blame her for hanging out with the Guards and soldiers a bit too much. She must have gotten some bad habits from them…" she bemused, holding a hand on her cheek like a worried parent for their child's future.

Neptune sweatdropped at this, remembering the way Asuna came in, and practically stole her companions before leaving. "I'll say, couldn't get much of a word in, she just came and went like a storm that was approaching or something. Pretty sure there's a song about that somewhere…" Neptune mused, thoughtfully before shaking her head and noticing a shift in Vert's demeanour. "Hm? What's up, Vert? You're looking a little stern right now…"

"Nothing bad Neptune, I assure you. This is just a perfect opportunity to speak to you privately. I didn't want little Naruto and Nepgear to be worried about this…" Vert, now looking like a concerned leader when hearing of a threat to her people came into being. "May I ask you if you've seen anything like that Sword before? Also, some sources told me you encountered an interesting monster recently…"

"...?!"

---

Third stop - Lowee - Leanbox main port

For the next 3 hours, Asuna Nepgear and Naruto remained in a special building called the Coliseum sparring with one another, something that the trio often did in the years that followed their first meeting though Naruto only started joining when he turned 11.

The Coliseum meanwhile had been a building with a rich history behind it to all Gamindustri residents, having started in Leanbox as a way to train future knights and guards amongst anyone willing to join their military. It originated in the times of the Console Wars as a way to fast train people in how to fight, bolstering Leanbox's numbers which resulted in it having one of the stronger militaries at the time. For an island nation, while it didn't have the numbers it could punch well above its weight, hence why it remained competitive with the other three Nations on multiple fronts.

Once the Console Wars concluded with a friendly rivalry taking its place, the Coliseum idea was allowed to spread to the other Nations with the new purpose for it being to train adventurers in how to fight various monsters. It has been a remarkable success ever since, with many top-tier adventurers in interviews explaining how it had been thanks to it that they were able to fight so well. So naturally Asuna had to use it extensively and had become someone who held one of the longest record of hours used inside the Coliseum. Practically became her second home, Vert once bemoaned whenever she saw evidence of her sister's borderline blood knight tendencies.

Right now, however, Neptune, Nepgear and Naruto were setting sail on another boat that was headed for Lowee's main port, Lowee being their final destination for the day. Of course, Naruto tried to hide his anxiety about going back home, something Nepgear noticed which after a look towards Asuna who looked back showing she'd also noticed, solidified a decision inside her mind. Asuna may not be accompanying them to Lowee, but she nonetheless wished them well before heading off to find some of her favourite soldiers to spar with.

As the boat, shaped more like a cruise liner, sailed out of the dock, Naruto sat with his back leaning against the main deck's barricade which was just about the height of an adult male. He had his head leaning back with his hands tucked behind his neck, eyes closed with a light snoring sound escaping him. All these showed that the blonde was fast asleep, Greed leaning diagonally against the barricade next to him.

Neptune lay sprawled out on a reclining beach chair, her face buried within it as she snored like a foghorn, muttering things like 'this is the life', 'pudding', and 'soft Naru Kun pillows'. Like the blonde in question, she too had drifted off into Lala land, looking no worse for wear to even Nepgear like she hadn't just been talking to Vert about something that could possibly spell disaster for not just their continent but to Naruto as well. She was always like that though, able to hide her feelings from others to avoid worrying them.

As for Nepgear…

'This is it… my chance…'

Thoughts like this populated the CPU Candidate's mind as she stood on the opposite side of the main deck next to the barricade, watching the calm seas passing them by. She couldn't help but notice the irony of her position compared to Neptune and Naruto being so close together whilst she remained far off to the side. It reminded her of the issue she was facing, trying to figure out how to call Naruto out on what she had been seeing.

Nepgear knew herself well, she was in no way a confrontational type of person. She had been classified as a doormat by everyone around her, even Uni who claimed she was her best friend. She couldn't even imagine herself being as strong as her sister or as charismatic as Asuna was rapidly becoming, that girl and she were like complete opposites in both personality and temperament. She was shy and timid yet Asuna had been both brave and headstrong, probably due to their different lifestyles. Asuna had been more like a knight whereas she was more like a mother or housewife, taking care of the chores with a hobby of hardware development on the side, one of the few things she could take pride in. Even if she often made mistakes like making WMDs when trying to build a small doll or something. It had happened before… and more than once.

So being the only one who had noticed Naruto's changes whenever the subject of home or Lowee was mentioned, wasn't that easy.

The CPU Candidate looked up at the clear blue skies, her shoulder-length hair flowing behind her and fluttering alongside the gentle breeze. A lost, yet hopeful look shone behind her eyes before she closed them, as she remembered what her friend from Leanbox had mentioned to her.

(Flashback)

"Eh? Confront him directly?"

Nepgear gawked at her friend Asuna while they were resting in a dressing room after a round of sparring, one reserved for the female adventurers. Naruto had deigned it necessary to continue practising while they took a break, hence why they heard the sounds of combat in the distance.

Asuna nodded her head, her eyes firm and convicted. "Yea, this is not something that's going to get any better without a direct confrontation, and you know it. Naruto's headstrong and stubborn though so it won't be easy, he's trying to show off that he can be as brave as the rest of you when fighting monsters," she explained, furrowing her brows.

Nepgear wanted to call Asuna out for how she described Naruto since it also applied to herself, but didn't want to be impaled by Asuna's Rapier. "Bu-But I…" she tried to say.

But Asuna shushed her by placing her index finger on her lips. This caused the other girl to blush crimson at the gesture while the auburn-haired girl gazed into her eyes. Given the intensity of her gaze, one would not be blamed for thinking she was the stronger of the two. "No Nepgear, this HAS to happen before you all reach Lowee. If I'm right then something happened there and he's trying not to let it show. If it's not confronted before he returns I fear that it'll only escalate, you know better than me how Blanc acts when people she cares for keep secrets from her or put her city in danger."

Nepgear nodded her head at that, thinking of a few times when such incidents indeed happened like when one of her failed experiments accidentally broke out in her lab and wandered over to Lowee. She shuddered at the memory of an angry Blanc whose wrath got directed at her after the fact… she still had nightmares about it.

"So you MUST talk to Naruto about it, do whatever you must to get him to open up. Neptune probably won't do it given her personality and I don't have much of a chance to either as much as I want to…" Asuna explained, briefly lightening her gaze to glance to the side in sadness for a split second before it hardened and her gaze fixed itself onto Nepgear. "I know it's going to be hard Nepgear, but right now you NEED to grow a spine and talk to him. People keep secrets from one another because they don't want anyone to worry but once the secret is exposed even a TINY bit, it all falls apart in the end. I learned that the hard way, so don't be a doormat right now. Go talk to him. Show that you know and won't tell anyone, that'll soften him up."

(Flashback end)

Opening her eyes once more, Nepgear returned to reality when she heard the sounds of crashing waves against the cruise liner. She glanced behind her to where Naruto was and saw he was still sleeping in the same place, just like Neptune, but the waves had started rousing him from his slumber.

Nepgear took a gulp, now was the time.

With a swift turn, she strolled across the main deck towards Naruto's position, ignoring Neptune's sleeping form since she knew her sister to be a deep sleeper. Histoire had personal experience with that. As she approached his awakening form, Nepgear squatted in front of him with her arms wrapped her stocking clad knees that were pressed tightly together, a look of concern on her face became the first thing Naruto saw when his eyes opened.

"...Hm? Nepgear?" the blonde questioned, rubbing his eyes to cleanse them of the sleep they had still. Once his vision cleared up, he saw the expression on his friend's face and inclined his head in concern. "What is it? Did something happen with Neptune again? I swear, that girl…"

Nepgear shook her head. "Nothing like that, Neptune's sleeping like a log right now… which means we're alone," she replied, glancing at the chair housing her sister's slumbering form. She then looked back to the blonde male, taking a deep breath while mentally preparing herself for what was to come. "Naruto, can I ask you something?"

Naruto smirked a bit after a couple of seconds of blinking. "You just did, ehehe," he stated, snickering at the end.

"Something happened to you in Lowee didn't it?"

"?!"

All of a sudden the snicker got wiped right off his face, and a tense atmosphere soon took hold of the main deck. It was a good thing that the passengers resided inside the vessel with the main deck restricted to their personal use on orders from the higher-ups. Nepgear wouldn't have managed to start this conversation otherwise, even now she felt like breaking and apologising for asking this of him, but she fought off those urges for the time being, her passive self wasn't needed here.

Again, Naruto snickered and then aimed his signature grin her way, rubbing the back of his head. "Ehehehe, what are you saying, Gear? Nothing happened back home…" he said, but Nepgear could see the fakeness behind that expression of his due to how it no longer had that 'light' it usually did. It all but confirmed something DID happen likely before he left Lowee for Planeptune.

"Naruto, I know that's a lie." This time the CPU Candidate didn't fall for it, though it remained easier this time thanks to the changes she'd observed. "When Neptune suggested going to Lowee before you rejected it without seeming like it. You seem like you're trying to avoid going there, you tense up whenever Lowee's mentioned and even now you seemed restless which was why you tried sleeping." She went on, listing the oddities that she had noticed about the blonde's behaviour while monitoring his reactions.

With each thing she noted, Nepgear saw his lower lip tremble and his eyes start shaking a bit like something was trying to break free of his control. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on inside his head or his heart right now, but if she were to guess then it would not be pretty. It only got worse as the seconds passed, till it stopped when she became silent once more but she didn't need to say more, cause all the rest she needed to say got conveyed by her eyes.

Even as he stared into her lilac-coloured orbs, Naruto still tried to act like nothing was wrong even as a tinge of desperation cracked through his facade, his features turning slightly pink as he looked away from her, not wanting the girl to see what lay behind his mask. "I'm fine, Nepgear! Real! I'm just having an off day is all, I'll be back on my feet in no time, I-"

"Again, we're all alone right now, Naruto."

"Eh?"

Nepgear gestured to their surroundings, prompting Naruto to look around as well. True to her words, other than a sleeping Neptune nobody else was around, which right now truly hit the blonde. He'd known this place had been reserved for them and the waves crashing against the cruise liner's sides, but this was the first time he TRULY comprehended this fact. He was alone with Nepgear right now… alone…

Cracks started forming inside the blonde's shell, against his screaming brain's demands to fix them. Even as Naruto tried to think of other ways to deflect the girl's words or her concerns, nothing came to him as if his thoughts were rebelling against him.

At long last, though, the facade shattered and Naruto looked down, his cheeks turning redder by the second even as his mouth opened and the lips formed words. "You… promise you won't tell anyone?" he questioned, but there was a pleading sensation in his voice.

Nepgear, heart skipping a beat at the somewhat needy tone of voice he was sporting in a way that sort of disturbed her, nodded her head. She curtailed the excitement at being able to break through to the blonde so easily, when talking with Asuna she feared she would have to go out of her comfort zone to get him to open up.

"...fine, something DID happen in Lowee… it's just something mega embarrassing though."

"Talking about it will help, Naruto. Its what precious people do for one another."

"...Promise you won't laugh?"

Nepgear, instead of answering, held out her pinkie which Naruto recognized. With a face now redder than a tomato, he reached out and clenched the pinkie with his own, signing into social law the pinkie promise. Once that was done, Naruto took a moment to take a breather before opening his mouth.

"Well, it all started like this…"

(Flashback)

"Gotta run, gotta run!"

Excited pants and gasps constantly fled out of Naruto's lips as the young blonde sped through the Lowee Basilicom's many corridors and performed acrobatics when turning tight corners or going down staircases. Parkour skills shone through during this time as despite him emulating road runner he was not actually hitting any of the servants or the Basilicom staff members that he passed by out of experience… and a lot of trial and error. Heck, no matter how many left his lips, Naruto's chest felt like a factory producing an unlimited supply of eager excitement that hadn't stopped since he first woke up and did his morning routine faster than an E girl scrolling through the many simps she had at her leisure.

It was finally here, the day had finally come. The time had come for him to be registered as an Adventurer and achieve his dreams… Naruto honestly couldn't believe it. He'd waited for so long now, having had to fight his sisters just for a chance to prove himself while training like crazy day in and day out. He liked to think he was ready for whatever the world threw at him by now, especially thanks to his training. Weapons training, close combat training, even emotion sensing training which big sis Blanc had been adamant that he perfect the most for reasons he didn't quite get. Another thing he didn't get was the warm looks that most of the female staff members gave him or the sometimes envious looks the males gave him when he darted past them. Strangely enough those females had been ones whom he had recalled helping out when they were sad and trying to hide it for some reason.

But now the day was finally here, he couldn't help but be absolutely gleeful, not wanting to waste a single second more than necessary. He was going to bulldoze that guild building in Lowee and get his adventurer liscence, ya know!

Laughter full of energy acted like fuel for him, spurring him forward as he made his way down the Basilicom corridors and staircases, eventually ending up at the main reception area. Just passing through here would lead to the outside and then it would be smooth sailing to the guild building, his heart hammered away in excitement within his chest as a bubbly air flooded his entire demeanour. Almost there, he was so close he could almost taste the sweet smell of freedom…

Wait, why was this smell of lavender in the air?

"Eh?! Mina?!"

"Ah, Na kun its you!"

The source of the smell, something he had not smelled in a long time but nonetheless recognized immediately, turned out to be one Oracle Mina Nishizawa who had recently just entered the Basilicom and closed the door behind her. She'd just turned around after this when she'd noticed the blonde blur racing towards her, her eyes brightening at the sight as she held her arms out and scooped him into a powerful embrace.

Mina Nishizawa.

Oracle of Lowee, Mina had the form of an adult woman in her early to mid-twenties, though for some reason she gets mad when someone asks her actual age. Naruto didn't get why, she was pretty no matter her age. She sported long sky bue hair that reached her thighs, worn in low pigtails alongside a red graduate hat atop her head. Made sense cause apparently she became the Oracle shortly after graduating from one of Lowee's top universities. Her eyes shone with their cerulean light behind a pair of red glasses.

Outfit wise, Mina wore a short white pencil dress and by short it reached to about high thigh in length, on top of that being a large, long red coat-like robe worn in an open manner with golden lining and buttons. The sleeves were puffed below the elbows while having long cuffs, while around her neck was a collar and red bow with a golden badge. For legwear, she wore a pair of white silk stockings with lace trims on the top, that got tucked into a pair of red heels that Naruto still didn't get the reason for their use. Mina often complained of aches late in the afternoon so he had taken it upon himself to learn how to do foot and leg massages to soothe the woman, which fortunately worked and eradicated much of her built-up negative emotions.

Then somehow other female staff members wanted the same treatment for some reason, making Naruto wonder if they were really suffering during their jobs.

Eagerly wishing to return the embrace, Naruto's excitement shifted towards the arrival of someone he hadn't seen for the majority of the year. He slammed into the woman and wrapped his arms around her, the speed of which made his arms slide beneath her coat robe to then wrap around her back. Mina's own wrapped around his body, their size difference meaning his head was being buried into her chest… with a few onlookers emitting some jealousy over the 'lucky bastard' in their eyes.

Adults are weird.

But that wasn't important right now, as Naruto looked up from his spot between her breasts and gave the woman one of the brightest grins he'd ever produced. "It's so good to see you again, Mina!" he proclaimed, earning a chuckle from her. "When did you come back? I thought you said you'd be gone for a while!"

"Ufufufu, I'm not completely back yet, I'm just taking a break from my trip to pay you a visit, Na Kun," Mina replied soothingly, her voice as warm and gentle as he had remembered. It hadn't been long now, but he remembered hearing her say to Blanc one time that she wanted to go on a soul-searching trip for some reason, but when Blanc queried into that reasoning the woman had mentioned something under her breath that only she could have heard, to which Blanc made a strange face similar to when Nepgear and Uni did that weird jealous thing when he first met Asuna.

Anyway, whatever she said wasn't important. Not when compared to the joy Naruto felt upon seeing her. As Rom and Ram's caretaker, Naruto had initially pegged her as one of his many prank targets… but then something happened involving one of Ram's pranks targeting him getting Mina caught in them instead… ruining her robe and dress and making some areas transparent. What that implied Ram wanted to do to him Naruto wasn't sure about, but the moment Mina tracked the cause down she gave her a scolding Naruto had never seen before… made herself look like a damn demon or something.

From thereon, Naruto swore she would be an exception to his pranking spree. He never wanted that look directed at him.

Instead, he paid attention to her emotional state, often finding that she had a lot of things on her mind that stressed her out that he couldn't understand. They were grownup stuff honestly, so his pea-sized brain didn't really comprehend what stressed her out… so Naruto did the next best thing. He went and figured out what women liked by asking servants throughout the Basilicom and through some secret visits outside (that not even Blanc knew of) he found some things that women did to relax, which he then managed to help Mina get into herself. Mina had been hesitant of course, since this was a child recommending her these things, but she tried them anyway due to his infamous puppy dog eyes technique.

Let's just say other than Blanc, he became one of her favourite people in the Basilicom.

Sufficed to say that he missed her when she left, and he could sense that she didn't want to leave him or the kids either based on what he sensed from her. But whatever she talked to big sis Blanc about won the day and she left to go on a journey, with Blanc taking over her workload while she was gone… which explained a lot about why she got a lot more moody in the months that followed. Good thing Naruto gave her the same stress relievers that he gave Mina to help out with that, or she might have overworked herself.

"Guess you know it's high time I go out, make my mark in the world, then?"

Mina nodded her head, her motherly smile still present on her face. He didn't know what she was thinking right then and there, but Naruto got the feeling she held a great deal of pride for him for sticking to his guts, and it filled him with joy knowing she was on his side in this. "Indeed Na Kun, you're going to be out there adventuring, meeting people, slaying monsters…" she began, listing off the things that she knew would invigorate the blonde. Based on the way he had stars in his eyes, she knew she was on the right track, and he knew it. "Maybe even meet and snare a few maiden hearts along the way."

What she did NOT expect was the response that Naruto gave, or rather she should have considering Blanc's overprotective streak. "Huh? Snare maidens hearts? What is a maiden and why would I take what they need to live? Hearts are important." Naruto questioned dumbly while inclining his head slightly, unaware of the way that onlooking female staff members doing their thing nearly tumbled over at the dense reply…

Though, that was not the response that Mina went through, as she would later showcase.

"...Oh dear…"

Mina looks like she's about to have a stroke as she holds her head in one of her hands, stumbling back. Naruto worried that he had said something wrong, a panicked expression forming on his face as he hurriedly tried to see what was wrong with her. "Um, you okay Mina? I didn't say anything wrong did I?"

"No-no, it's alright dear… it's just that… oh boy, looks like Blanc never told you…"

"Huh? What do you mean, what hasn't she told me?"

Again Mina looked like she wanted to scream, which only worried the blonde more to the point where he lost his earlier excitement for going on an adventure. But she instead restrained herself, and promptly leaned down so she could whisper something into his ear…

What was that, one might ask? Whelp, it was something that any young child learned when they started looking at women differently. Since nobody had told him before he'd go out adventuring, Mina had deigned it necessary to give him THAT talk about the birds and the bees. Prompting Naruto to finally learn what maidens really were and why he sometimes got strange actions from the female maids….

…

…

…

…

…

…

(Flashback End)

"There you go."

Nepgear blinkied owlishly at the sudden flashback ending, before looking down at the blonde who gave her it. "That's it? Seems kinda anti-climactic…" she muttered, confusion laced within her tone.

Naruto shuddered, his face redder than a tomato especially when he recalled the things he did for Mina for so many years now. He felt so embarrassed about that combined with how he casually complimented a lot of females older than him while being so affectionate with them that he couldn't look back without wanting to dig himself into a hole to die in. "Yea well I couldn't help it, ya know! I never felt so embarrassed in my life!" he shouted, flustered. "I ran like a bat outta hell when she finished, I couldn't even look at her the same way as I used to anymore. I couldn't look at any woman the same again after that talk…" he proclaimed, feeling smaller than anything in the world even an ant. Remembering the way he looked at some of the women since he had left Lowee was… not a pleasant experience for him.

Silence took over the atmosphere between them thanks to Nepgear not saying anything, and its not like Naruto would be saying any more with the level of embarrassment and shame flooding his system. The more she thought about it though, the more Nepgear started feeling the same way as her friend as her cheeks turned pink and then redder than the lifeblood flowing through humanity's veins. The more she thought about it the more she began to see what Naruto meant by this being embarrassing, she was doing all she could herself to not blow up like a bomb or turn into a tomato at the thought of having this 'talk' with someone especially someone she knew and cared for.

Even so, it looked like Naruto needed it and far be it for her if she didn't try at least. She started this convo, she shouldn't forsake it. "Do you… dislike what you were like before?" she asked him slowly, pausing to think of how to phrase the whole scenario.

"Dislike…" Naruto paused for a moment when he had been about to say hell yea he did, because those words didn't quite feel right. In fact his brain closed his mouth before the words could escape, and soon enough he figured out why. "Well… I dunno, cause everyone seemed really happy when I did that stuff…but whenever I think about their smiles I get all embarrassed now…" he tried to explain, doing his best to ignore the way certain thoughts came up about the females he'd seen like Mina and the receptionist.

Nepgear nodded her head in understanding. She could grasp why he found his past behavior embarrassing, even she looked back on her prior actions and felt some level or embarrassment from them. Still, that was the point she wanted to make. "That doesn't sound like a bad thing, Naruto." she stated, shifting her position so she now sat beside him with her legs being tucked towards her chest. "Its not wrong to be kind and there's no need to feel embarrassed either. In fact…" taking a pause, Nepgear thought back to some times where Naruto's innocently affectionate behaviour led to outcomes most favourable for those involved… there were a lot. "I think those people really appreciated the help you gave. I know some staff members at the Basilicom who light up when hearing your coming over, more so than even their Goddesses or Candidates."

"But I wasn't doing it with any kind of motives in mind, I just wanted them to not be sad, angry, stressed or anything like that." Naruto explained, looking up to the liliac-haired girl with uncertainty shining in his eyes. The thought that he could unintentionally make people get the wrong idea about his intentions frightened him, he remembered learning from history class how people who misunderstood others caused horrible things to happen like wars and mass death. He didn't want to be the cause for such things.

Once more Nepgear nodded her head, totally seeing where Naruto was coming from. "Yes, I can see that, and I'm sure everyone else can too." she remembered worrying she might not have clarified things with others as well, most prominent being Uni since she often miscommunicates quite badly, being a tsundere like Noire after all. "But I don't think you'll need to worry Naruto, you've become quite the sweetheart for many women, and I've even heard some men are taking notes and improving how they act around girls." That was true, she remembered once Compa talking to IF about some romances she had seen back at the hospital she worked at, as well as encountering fewer creepy perverts with those of her traditional clientel saying that they wanted to try doing what Naruto did. Even people already in a couple with another took Naruto's actions to heart and led to stronger relationships with their respective partners.

Naruto's actions led to a lot of good already, and he didn't even realise it.

"But what if some poor girl gets the wrong idea and falls for me? How would that even be possible? I don't want her thinking that I was doing those things just to get into her pants…"

"Aside from that not being possible… mostly, some people just don't have that high standards, Naruto you shouldn't be afraid of a girl falling for you. In fact I bet many girls would like a man like you as their partner. If it happens, don't shy away from it as that can make things worse."

Naruto hummed, pondering Nepgear's words for a moment as he tried to suss out how he felt about them. In all honesty he could see what she was trying to say, that its not unnatural for a girl to fall for him if he treated her like he treated anyone. It just depended on the girls themselves, he remembered Blanc once complaining that some couples she had hired for the Basilicom spent more time flirting with one another than actually working, while some couples preferred to work and flirt in private. It just depended on the girls themselves.

But more than that he shouldn't shy away from a girl developing a crush on him because of those said actions, it wouldn't be right for her or him. He could get that reasoning, cause Naruto felt like if he did that then he would see himself as a cowardly piece of shit who betrayed the efforts he had made to stomp out those negative emotions in the first place. He'd tackle that problem of a girl liking him when it happened then, right now he didn't have to worry about such things…

Not to mention he didn't really want to change his ways in the first place.

He just got more understanding of the effects his actions had on others.

"...Hehehehe, thanks Nepgear." Naruto eventually started laughing in amusement, grinning over to the now smiling CPU Candidate. A surprised squeak soon left her mouth however, when he reached out and pulled her into an embrace with her head resting on top of his chest. "Really dunno how I could have calmed down without your help, ya know."

Even under the embarrassing situation that she was in, Nepgear smiled happily and buried her face further inside his chest while wrapping her arms around his back in turn. "Hehehe, no problem Naruto. I'm happy to help…" she began, trailing off and spending a couple seconds deliberating whether to say this next part or not. She decided to be honest, put her money where her mouth was. "... I'll admit that I worried you wouldn't let me hug you anymore with all of that on your mind. I like your hugs, they're… nice…"

Hearing this made Naruto turn bashful, a similar pink hue on his cheeks though he didn't pull away from her. "Heh, no worries there, Gear. Your getting executive hugging permissions from me for this." he told her, his serious yet honest tone melting Nepgear's heart inside.

"Mhm…"

"..."

For a moment the two just say there, enjoying both one another's warmth and the sounds of crashing waves. Neither said anything anymore, they didn't need to. Everything that neede to be said had been delivered. Somehow some way their respective weapons had even impaled the deck like an X, crossed together. How the beam sabre wasn't setting the deck on fire was anyone's guess be it the material the deck was made from or the amount of heat the beam sabre radiated. None of that mattered to the two though, they just silently celebrated this hurdle that Naruto had just hopped over with his friend's help. His precious friend, his precious person…

Briefly the thought entered Naruto's mind that Nepgear was definitely as beautiful as the other girls he'd complimented, but he didn't dismiss it this time nor did he feel ashamed or embarrassed about it. In fact he agreed with those thoughts, to him Nepgear was beautiful both inside and out. Helping him with his issues… he had always done that for others, curing them of things that ailed them to which in turn he received their favor even though he didn't want that. Like he said he just wanted to see people happy. But perhaps Nepgear had been the first to try to make HIM happy without anything being asked of him in turn.

Was this what those folk felt like?

As they stayed there…

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH…!

Their tranquil silence suddenly got disturbed by an irregularity in the flow of crashing waves against the Cruise Liner's hull, the whole vessel trembling because of it. This caused Naruto, Nepgear and even the awakened Neptune to lift their heads over to the seas, varying looks of confusion and alarm written over their faces.

"The waves…!"

"Darnit, must be because of a storm…!"

"Neppit, I thought the plot was building up to something!"

Each had their own reactions to the sight of the waves becoming increasingly violent around the cruise liner, though they didn't even try to think about how badly the civilians inside the vessel were taking it. It was a good thing they weren't on the main deck but safely inside the ship, otherwise things could have gotten ugly real fast…

Especially when they saw storm clouds gathering overhead.

"Looks like the storm warning from before has come true…" Nepgear muttered as the trio stood upright and gazed upwards, whipping winds now blowing through their hair. She had her hands pressed together as if in a prayer, which seemed rather fitting for her considering her status as a CPU Candidate.

Naruto meanwhile narrowed his eyes, acting fast as he retrieved Greed and held it in his right hand. "Be careful ladies, these storm clouds… they don't feel natural." he hurriedly informed the girls, having sensed an almost… animalistic malice from them. This quickly rang alarm bells in his mind, for storms should NOT have emotions in the first place. So either this storm had some kind of sentience… or there was something controlling the storm somehow.

Soon enough the entire cruise liner shook when something slammed into the side of it, a particularly long something which then quickly flew out of sight. Neptune and Nepgear stumbled a bit while naruto barely stopped himself from falling flat on his ass by stabbing Greed into the ground to use it as an anchor.

"Nepu!"

"Neptune-kyaa!"

Seems like the girls didn't think fast enough cause they tumbled onto the floor, Neptune going first and Nepgear, like the dutiful follower she was, falling after her. The two landed like a mess of limbs onto the floor, groaning in mild pain from the fall.

Once the shaking had stopped Naruto wasted no time in plucking Greed out the main deck floor and rushing over to them. "Neptune, Gear, you alright?" he asked them hurriedly, sheathing Greed temporarily so he could help them both to their feet.

"Yea, somehow Naru Kun…"

"What the heck was that?"

Naruto shook his head at Nepgear's question, about to reply to it regardless but he stopped opening his mouth. Not voluntarily, but because that same long something, black in color, flew right overhead once more with a fierce wind trailing behind it. He had to shut his mouth and close his eyes lest he choke, this time sliding backwards before he fell onto his back.

Getting the chance to repay him for earlier, Neptune and Nepgear stood up and rushed over to the blonde, quickly helping him back to his feet. The blonde then re-drew Greed from its sheathe while Nepgear rushed over to pluck her Beam Sabre out the ground and Neptune summoned her Katana from her Inventory.

Once all these had happened, the trio looked upwards once more trying to find the source behind this attack… which soon revealed itself to be circling around the airspace above the ship. They couldn't make much out about it due to the storm clouds and the creature's black body providing some sort of camoflage, but soon enough the creature stopped in mid air, floating in place while flapping its wings continuously.

None of them got the chance to say anything though, for the creature only spent a second in this position before diving down towards the main deck where they occupied, a loud roar soon flooding the seas.

---

To be continued.

Here we go. We've reached the end of part 1.

Stay tuned for the part 2 in the 5th chapter.