Final Fantasy VII Remake: A Tale Of Midgar Book I

by Arch-Daishou00

Destiny... A set course is not meant to be changed. A path is already written and set in stone. Aerith had long thought that was true. Till he appeared by the whims of the prince of madness, and it all had begun to change. Now an heir of Rama stands upon Gaia's soil. Nothing will ever be the same again... As the goddess of harmony, designed.

14. Gaia: εγλ 0006

Disclaimer: We do not own Final Fantasy VII Remake or Naruto

Co-Author and Beta: Godospartan the Kitsune

Chapter 14: Gaia: εγλ 0006

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Had it been a year already?

Before the blond Uzumaki realized it, it had been months since Genesis attacked him. And even longer since Shinra had done anything. Naruto would have almost forgotten his birthday if not for Aerith reminding him.

A birthday spent in a reality, not his own. Away from all his loved ones...

If not for Aerith knowing the truth, the blond would have lost his mind and kept it to himself. There were the others who had also steadily become his friends since being brought to Gaia. But he would give anything to see his sister Karin, his mothers Lyn and Kya, and the rest of his Uzumaki clan.

As much as Kurama reminded him, trying to find a way home himself would be slim to none. He wondered if anyone back home had figured out what had happened. Were they looking for him?

...Suppose he will never really know...

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Biggs let out a long, heavy sigh, leaning against a cement wall, "Those two should be alright, right?"

"Hey, those two have been working on these missions for a while now," Wedge countered at his side, voicing reassurance, "Jessie and Naruto know how to do this. We hang back in case they need help."

"I know, I know. Just get nervous with all the waiting."

Wedge knew part of this was due to Biggs's problem of overthinking, but he could not help but be a little on edge.

At present, the two were a respectful distance from a Shinra base on the upper plate of Sector Three. If nothing else, this being a night mission helped them stay in the shadows.

The two settled in to watch as their infiltration team started in. Walking to the front were Naruto, decked out as a personal guard, and Jessie, dressed as an official that the trooper-disguised whiskered ninja was guarding. Getting to the gate, Naruto showed identification, forged thanks to their mutual friend's connections. "Transfer and Inspection."

Jessie whispered to the man beside her as the gatekeepers checked the forms. "Remember, we only have time to get in and do the job. It won't be my fault if you miss something because you paid too much attention to my ass in this outfit."

The blond rolled his eyes under his mask, whispering, "We could have henged, you know."

"As much you taught me, Biggs and Wedge, how to use our mana. I'm still adjusting. And that henging thing makes me feel weird."

It had been a decision Naruto made in case the bunch needed an extra kick in their skills. Something all three happily accepted as they had seen the results with Tifa close to the sage's physical equal now after a year. At the same time, the trio had no intention even to try gaining those kinds of skills of that duo. At the very least, the bunch can give any Shinra stooge, bandit, or monster a good thrashing.

The offer was made to Barret, but the stubborn ass refused.

"Your papers check out," The Gatekeeper's voice gained their attention, handing back their identification. Head inside." Pushing a button on his console, lights flashed above a smaller door near the base gate.

Back in their hiding spot, Biggs looked relieved, "Now comes the hard part."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"This place is busy," Jessie mumbled beside her guard as they strolled through a long metal hallway with a dozen connected rooms. The few with windows allowed them to see Shinra troops working on various tasks. Alongside them were several third-class and second-class SOLDIERS giving orders to some. Of course, those jackoffs are here, too."

"Anyone tell you that you get chatty when nervous?" Naruto quipped,

"It keeps me focused."

"Uh-huh."

Making their way into the compound's first stop, the technical server, Naruto, took to guarding the door as Jessie went to work. A few technicians were on duty inside, but thankfully, she could bluff about her business. Which she had to do when one found she was accessing records on their defenses. "Excuse me, miss? This is military classified blueprints."

"Yes, I know. I'm new here, part of the inspection team. I have authorization for military records. This is just level 2 stuff, ensuring the perimeter is covered properly and that the turrets and mech defenses are to code." She gestured to him to show that was exactly what she was looking at. "Any other issues?"

"May I check your authorization level?" Checking his tag, she could see it was the top engineer of the base, which is why he was giving her such a once-over. She gave her tag and records and hoped the forge was good enough. As he made sure, he went from third-degree to welcoming in a hurry. "Sorry to trouble you. We've had a few... hacking attempts recently. I'd rather not be chewed out again for not monitoring our data."

The brunette woman nodded back with exasperation in her eyes, "Oh, I've been there. My supervisor is a complete hard ass." Jessie waved her arms around and tried to make her voice sound deeper, "If we don't finish our quota, it will come out of your paychecks." She slumped forward with a deadpan.

The technician nodded back dryly, "Yeah... That sounds right..."

Jessie perked up soon, beaming, "Luckily, after this, I can go see my boyfriend for some relaxing."

Overhearing the whole conversation, Naruto squinted, 'That what we are?'

"Would you prefer her to say 'the guy she has casual sex with'?" Kurama quipped.

Ten minutes later, he clears his throat to remove himself from his mental conversation with his Bijuu; the blond glances to see Jessie looking at him at the door. "Daydreaming? About me?"

"Well, hard not to sometimes."

The brunette smirked, "And you just earned some fun after this." She began to walk out, with Naruto following. "I got everything from this server. Onto the next three, and then we split." She deeply breathed, "Those acting lessons do come in handy."

Naruto had to agree that Jessie was nearly as good as Koyuki Kazahana but not quite as good as actress Yelan. But that wasn't very objective given his... (Certain) Activities with that woman.

However, he focused back on the present with his fellow Avalanche comrade keeping their cover as they passed through a long hallway to the next server room.

Finding the secondary server wasn't an issue, and thankfully, even the second-class SOLDIERs weren't overly observant of the two coming in to check things out. Most left for a meal, but two kept near the door, with one eyeing the disguised sage. Naruto could feel he was eyed up, but it didn't seem suspicious.

The SOLDIER who was looking shrugged from his laid-back leaning on the wall to come up. "Hey, I got a question for you. Are they still using that lame Mark-2 scope on those things? I sometimes wonder how any one of you ordinary grunts can hit anything out of those Googled helmets of yours."

Thankfully, Jessie's held breath was released without notice as she continued her work, but Naruto kept his cool very well. "Cost-cuts. Tech development is more focused on big shiny over-engineered pieces of crap. Our gear is over-looked for 'giant weapons that can take out blocks at a time' and the like."

"Don't we know it," The SOLDIER exclaimed, chuckling wryly. "Overlooking the manpower that gets them the tech and materials for stupid scrap-bots."

Boy, was Naruto grateful for the intel he received about the current state of Shinra's military, even to be aware of that "Quantity over quality, forgetting that you need a balance of manpower and machine to get things working."

"Preaching to the Choir man." The SOLDIER paused, "Heard any news from Genesis? How has he been?"

"...Genesis died in Banora years ago."

"..." The SOLDIER's face remained blank before smirking, "Sorry about that. Can't be too careful, so had to check."

A nod of understanding came from the disguised blond, "Infiltration issues here, too?"

The other man growled, crossing his arms, "More like it escalated months ago. Avalanche or Wutai, we're not certain who it is. But it might be the same one who caused the commotion at Shinra HQ, thus why Second Class SOLDIERs like me and Thirds are mixed with the regulars now."

"That has to suck."

"I also had a nice, comfy position at HQ. My name is Kunsel, by the way."

"Sam..." The two shook hands. "Any word on the dirtbag who caused all that chaos for us?"

Kunsel shook his head. " It's just rumors here and there. Nothing concrete, save a few who think it is Golden Boy from the Undercity."

...Out of all the damn nicknames to give him, it had to be THAT!

"Poetic irony, all things considered," Kurama chimed, smirking.

Naruto ignored the comment to express his curiosity: "Any news about that guy? I'm too busy to hear much."

"That's the thing. No one knows. The last piece of solid intel had his home for a while, but he vanished from it a while back. Now it's back to square one on finding him. If we hear a rumor about him, it's usually nothing real. Every time we are missing something, it has to be him. 'my last pack of cheese is gone! Had to be that damned Golden Boy!' and the like." The SOLDIER informed them.

'So I have all of them chasing their tails. Seriously, though, could they have at least thought up another name?' Hiding his grimace, the blond could only hope they got out of there fast. "He can't be everywhere, can he? No way he's that fast."

Kunsel put a finger up, clicking his tongue with that. "Sorry, he might be given some of the eye-witness sources we could get. But even if he wasn't, he's got either a ton of men who run around disguised like him, or that rumor about making copies of himself is real. So he's fast and resourceful. Might wanna stay away from him and let us handle the guy."

"You'll get no backtalk from me on that," Naruto said, raising his hands before seeing Jessie come his way. So how is everything, boss lady?"

"Everything checks out. We're all good here." She nodded to Kunsel, who did the same. "I hope your day gets better."

The SOLDIER grunted, "Minerva willing." He gave a farewell wave to the duo as they left the room. His eyes lingered at the door for a moment before leaning back against the wall. 'As long as those two aren't here to hurt anybody. None of my business what they do' Kunsel had been around long enough to know who is and isn't a Shinra trooper, scientist, etc. 'Zack is the hero, anyway.'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The rest of the mission went off without a hitch; gathering all the information they came for, they made for a quick and quiet exit from the base. Once meeting up with a relieved Biggs and Wedge, they made their way back to the Undercity. The four split up upon nearing Sector Seven. But instead of Jessie joining her childhood friends back at Seven, she followed the Sage back to his home.

Which, thanks to Genesis having shown up to fight at the one place he had scoped out. It made the blond look for another place after the two thrashed the other. So after some more searching came this new abandoned warehouse with decently large walls for protection in between Sector Four and Five.

Perfectly hidden by scrap metal and broken buildings. And with only those, Naruto trusts knowing the way to it. Everyone pitched in, making the interior look like a real home instead of the bare basics Naruto was just happy with. Still, he could not complain, and it was nice making good friends who cared about here.

Presently... One of those trusted friends currently straddled the blond with pleasured-filled moans escaping his and Jessie's mouths on his new large couch. Their naked forms glistened with sweat as their respective hips grind against each other. The brunette wasn't lying when she stated proudly her chest was fairly decent in the C range. Not too big or small, and with erect puffy nipples, the blond currently took his mouth to one with the other massage with a hand. Jessie only let out a delightful gasp, liking the action.

Jessie bit her lip as their slow, sensual motions sent waves of pure bliss throughout the nerves of her lean-toned body. Her hands rubbed over Naruto's chiseled torso before both picked up the tempo of their thrusting. The brunette moaned louder, wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck with their foreheads touching. Both breathed heavily before their lips locked in a passion-fueled kiss. Jessie soon parted as she arched back, letting out her voice in ecstasy. Naruto held to her shapely hips as his thrust grew harder and rougher. Both felt the build-up rise in their bodies as their climaxes neared.

Oh, Jessie did not want it to end! Her head swayed from side to side; she wanted to stay in this haze of pleasure longer! But it was not to be with her, unleashing the loudest orgasm-filled moan matched by the blond with his warm seed rushing inside of her. The brunette quivered in the afterglow before leaning in and kissing her partner with all the passion she could give.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"So late-night sex and then pizza."

"Hey, I did say you earned some fun after the mission."

"True." The blond sat at the wooden table he found in the Church with only his boxers on while watching Jessie, only clothed in her panties, fixing them both a meal with one of her favorite meals her mother cooks. "You look good with your hair down, by the by."

Jessie winked, looking back, "Thanks! But I have to keep up 'cause it gets in the way so much." She huffed, blowing a bang out of her eyes.

"Doesn't make it any less alluring to see it swaying freely." He could only watch her as he was in thought about reporting to the boss in charge.

His foxy friend didn't help as another topic came to mind for the nine-tailed one. "We haven't heard anything from Shinra. The grunt at the base says we've been hard to find and face off with, but there's more to it than that. Not even the Turks are tailing us anymore. I don't like the silence from our adversary here."

'You have a point, but we can't do anything but wait. After my hasty exit, they've probably got even more secure points of entry and redundancies in my changing forms.'

Noticing the slightly blank stare appearing on his face, the nearly naked woman got up close. "I know you've got a good eye for sexy looking at me, but that isn't what's going on, is it?"

An apologetic look came from the blond's face, "Sorry. Just going over what that Kunsel guy mentioned about me."

"..." Jessie moved one of the chairs to sit close beside the Uzumaki, "Does that make you relieved or anxious they are grasping at straws again?"

"A bit of both?" he asked honestly, resting his arms and hands on the table. This silent treatment makes him wonder what the hell they could be planning. And what could happen to the slums if whatever they decided to unleash next time?" Naruto blinked as Jessie leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Always thinking of others before yourself. Anyone ever tell you that could get you hurt?" As much as she had come to admire and found it attractive of her friend's utterly selfless heroics, it did drive her crazy, too, mainly in how reckless he can get, despite knowing full well that Naruto does not have much to worry about with the regular bad stuff in the Undercity.

But seeing how badly beaten he was facing that four-armed monster and then battling freaking Genesis Rhapsodos weeks later. She knew she wasn't the only one who worried.

But as she, Aerith, Tifa, and the others had come to learn. Naruto put the well-being of everyone else over himself. And you couldn't tell him to stop being who he is.

Answering her question, the blue eyes rolled as he heard it quite often. "Anyone ever NOT tell me that?" Seeing some smoke coming from the still-cooking meal, he pointed it out. "Focus on saving us from a house fire?"

Jumping up to take care of the food so it wasn't burning, the brunette let a relieved sigh escape her. "Nothing to worry about." She did give him a look, though. "Except you. At least make sure you don't get into any real trouble, alright? At least not until we can back you up better."

Naruto waved it off, though, and let himself stop thinking about anything else but the food getting ready to fill him up. " I almost don't want to head out tomorrow, even if I have to."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Jessie faintly gasped with her back soon arched, lying on the blond's much larger new bed with said blond on top of her. His full erect manhood sheathed into her eager core and began the slow piston effort with their hips. "Mmmm," The brunette mewled, "Think we're going to be a little late this... Ahhh... This morning...Mmmmm..."

Naruto kept his breathing even; his hands interlocked with his partner's, and now her legs wrapped around his waist. "Worried?"

"Nope!" The brunette's amber eyes glowed with lust as she panted, "We're not leaving this bed till noon." Jessie moaned as the blond moved his head down and latched onto one of the hardened nipples of her bouncing bosom.

On her declaration, the sage was in full agreement.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sofiya exhaled the smoke of her cigar and glared at her desk slightly impatiently: "And where were you two that took until one in the afternoon to get here?"

Her ire at the direction of Naruto and Jessie, who had walked into Watch HQ, was several hours late for the debrief. Rasberry was quick to speak up, "Well, I had some tension from being in that base full of Shinra troops and SOLDIERs, so I went out for a jog to clear my head." The brunette made body motions of running.

"Training," Naruto declared.

Besides their boss, Biggs, Wedge, Dutch, Tifa, and Barret all held the same dry, deadpanning expression, "I'll just bet," the tall, bald, ebony man in shades dryly quipped, lighting a cigarette.

"Uh-huh... and you both showed up at the same time... riiiight," Biggs snorted.

Well, it was not like the two were hiding anything from the others. Neither called it dating; both agreed that this was just two friends enjoying each other's company.

Ire put aside for the sake of the meeting, the scarred leader spoke up. "Well, if your head is cleared up, maybe you'll have no trouble with the details of the mission. How it went, if we need to be careful, and the damage done to the facility." She wasn't too worried about that last one.

Not everyone shared her sentiment, but the report was as she suspected. Naruto gave the initial damage report, which was the same as every other mission he ran for the secretive group. "Infiltration and information extraction went as planned and without a hitch. A SOLDIER did get a little casual with me, but it seems Shinra's neglecting their workforce, and they aren't too happy about it. We should be fine; no one knew what we did, and we got out without trouble and casualties. Complete success."

Relief came from Tifa, who sighed, "Glad to hear nobody got hurt."

Wedge thumbed over to the tall, ponytailed blond, "Big bro has been knocking it out of the park with his missions." The results do speak for themselves on the blond's work. At least eight missions and all of them went off with high successes and zero losses on any side.

Sofiya took a drag from her cigar, processing the information, "That sounds like business as usual. Heidegger and Scarlet were always backward in how things were meant to be done. Director Lazard Deusericus used to keep those two in check till he disappeared. Now they do whatever they please."

It was a shame if the blond heard right about Heidegger used to be a decent and honorable soldier back in the day. But as the old song and dance goes, power and greed can even corrupt the most noble of people if not careful. Scarlet was evil, to begin with.

"Nayo has been working through all the information since this morning," Biggs said, taking a sip from his cup at his desk. The decryption is a pain, but she is working through it."

"Good work, you two." Sofiya offered a rare smile with a nod.

However, the only one who looked agitated was Barret, who leaned against the wall, tapping his boot. "You still could have taken out some of those SOLIDER asshats when you had the chance. Less strength for Shinra to use."

"It's practically a drop of water to a lake. Not to mention, there's more heat on us, more innocents possibly in the crossfire, and fewer chances for intel and infiltrations further on," the sage advised sagely. "We can't fight something like Shinra with brute force. The way I've experienced things, if we tried, it would just be used against us."

The grunt was short but to the point; the gun-armed member of the group was still itching for some payback for the suffering Shinra had caused and still caused. "We can't take them down without a fight, either. We have to go bigger if we want to send the message."

A long, frustrated sigh escaped the scarred blond woman, "We have discussed this, Wallace."

"And I am bringing it up again. We can't tip-toe around with Shinra. Not when they got everyone by the balls, and those damn reactors are killing the planet. We need to hit them hard and make it hurt where they fill it the most."

Tension grew in the room as Barret and Sofiya glared at one another. As Uzumaki has come to find out, this has been the longstanding dispute between the two for years now, mainly on how to deal with Shinra in general.

Sofiya has been following the method laid out by Avalanche when it formed. Taking down the global megacorporation slowly. 'Death by a thousand cuts' as one would say. A tried and true method that does work slowly but effectively.

With Barret, though, he sees only one way to deal with Shinra. Hit them as hard as you can and keep the pressure going as long as possible. A 'blitzkrieg' as he had heard of the term from the lands outside the Nations. It does work, but it is a short-term path carrying a lot of potential loss of life.

Moreover, "Sending a message is all well and good as long as it is done right. But only if you do it without playing Shinra's rules," Naruto reasoned.

A glare came from the taller man with a gun-grafted arm, "Don't get me wrong, Whiskers. I respect what you have been doing for the Undercity and Avalanche, but we can't just be sitting on our hands while those reactors are still going. We don't have any damn time wasting to be patient while the world and people are suffering." Barret spoke with intensity and passion in his voice.

But the underlining of hate wasn't hard to miss from the Sage or Kurama. Naruto wasn't really certain how the older man would react when saying this, but he felt he had to be spoken to. "I don't know what Shinra did to you. But you know this won't bring back whoever you lost."

"The hell did you say?" Barret spoke slowly as he stood straight and no longer leaned against the wall. The others grew pensive as he stomped heavy steps toward the Sage with a look of fury on his visage, "You think I'm doing this just for revenge! You think I'm that fucking petty!?"

Naruto did not flinch as the taller, more muscular man glared down at him, "No. But do feel a lot of anger and hate is guiding your actions. And I'm worried for you."

The tension was thick; the clenched muscles of the large fighter grew tighter as he was ready to throw a punch already. "You don't have any right bringing up a past you don't know or how it makes me feel! You're damn right. I'm angry, and there's plenty of reason to be! And if we don't do anything about Shinra sooner rather than later, all that reason is forfeit from the massive death of everything anyway!"

It was true that time was running out, but the Jinchurriki knew time limits better than most. "And if we rush this and take them down with a full assault, who is left to reap the benefits from the takedown? You have no idea how many people will die because of it. More will suffer worse than you think possible. And you have no idea just how long the planet has before things turn bad, it could be next year or next millennium. We can't just base our actions on the worst-case scenario."

The two men stood resolute in their stances as neither shifted from the other with hardened glares. Another reason the blond was so grateful for his Aunt Kaida, Tsukiko-Baachan, and Tomoe-chan teaching him the value of patience. Oh, he still has his fiery temper, but it was properly disciplined to use for battle.

Not to say he still had his moments of outbursts when a situation was strained enough.

He saw a lot of his old self in Barret. Both good and bad. Which made it hard to argue with him as he does consider the man a friend. But as a friend, he did not want Wallace to make the same mistakes he had made.

Why Naruto was trying so hard to change his friend's perspective.

"That is enough, both of you." Sofiya stood up from her desk, speaking authoritatively. I won't have you two fighting all over Seven."

Both men glanced over before Tifa and Jessie came over to calm the two. A sigh escaped the sage's lips, "We just have strong differences of opinion. But I shouldn't have said what I did. But still worried about you, Barret."

The taller man grimaced, seeing Tifa's pleading eyes calm him. "We're good, Whiskers. But still, mean what I said in what needs doing." Before anyone else could speak, Barret made for the door and left the headquarters.

As silence permeated the room after the big man left, the mood improved slightly with Sofiya getting to the next part of the meeting. "With the data still being decoded and gathered for future use in our favor, the next major operation against Shinra will take a while to plan. No doubt they've at least suspected being breached, so we'll need to lay low. For the moment, Naruto, your missions with AVALANCHE are on hiatus. Get some rest or train up; I don't mind either way. You did excellently and deserve the time to yourself."

"I'll holler if we need you for anything and keep you in the loop. So no sweating on reaching us." The bald man in sunglasses reassured the sage. "If you feel restless, I'll try to find a mission or two from the Watch stuff."

Nodding, Naruto saw Tifa looking at him a bit. "We might as well train. Does anyone want to join me?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Well, it was more than just Naruto and Tifa training at the Abandoned Talagger factory as Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie followed. He guessed they all needed something to break the tension after that little spat and the high-end missions of Avalanche. So, at present, the trio was being couched by several shadow clones. The Sage was grateful Jessie took his warning about her armor chest plate to heart and got it changed. The armorer in Sector Three was happy enough to help Avalanche.

The real Naruto stood in front of Tifa in a different warehouse of the factory. Better for them both to cut loose and not hurt anyone. Both took stances in their respective martial forms before dashing at each other with great speed.

The clash was intense from the moment their fists connected, slamming together hard enough to make them both internally wince but tough through it and back off for their openers. Being exceptionally quick on her feet, Tifa lunged her rear foot forward and spun with a crushing snap kick.

Her strength was without question, so the golden-haired warrior was eager to back off more and steady his footing, readying himself as his opponent's foot hit the ground forward and her body spun with her rear leg swinging, her heel uppercutting towards him. Charing forward in between her legs, he tried to get a hold of her hips to prevent her next strike and tackle her to the ground.

This, however, was a bad tactical decision. Once her leg reached height, her arms, tucked close to her chest under her, reared to the side and helped spin her torso from facing the ground to facing up as he went to tackle her leg and hips, according to her plan as her raised leg hooked around his back. The force of his tackle left her head coming towards the ground, but her palms smacked onto the dirt as her fingers gripped it, and with all her strength, she pulled her body and even Naruto up into the air to throw him upside down and right for the wall.

The surprising move had Naruto flung into the air, but he recovered quickly and landed on the wall feet first, attaching himself to it as he looked up to Tifa, who also got her bearings and turned while on a knee. "I might be regretting giving you the ability to enhance your already high strength with chakra." He wasn't wrong. The wall had a dent in it from his feet from that throw.

Tifa gave a grin the Sage had only seen from Sakura or Tsunade-Baachan before dashing for him. Bending her knees with chakra enhancing her shapely limbs, she leaped from metal pillar to metal pillar straight for the blond. He smartly dodged, jumping away as she reared back and slammed her fist into the metal.

The blond nearly shivered, landing on the ground, and turned to see the crater now turned to a rupture. The metal wall bursts open, letting more light in. But Tifa did not waste a moment, only standing on the metal wall for a moment before leaping down right for her friend.

Readying his defense, Naruto pulled a new move from his bag of tricks she hadn't seen yet in hopes that she wouldn't be able to stop him as she'd been figuring out how to do. The next strike against him was surprising to him as well, as she landed directly in front of him, just enough away that he couldn't strike her as she leaped in a backflip, sending one leg then the other in a rapid one-two combo strike that was enhanced with much more strength and speed, causing him to back off fast as her forward flip was not stationary, launching herself at him as a cannon shot her out.

Tucking her legs in from the flip, she sent both heels snapping out to his chest. Thinking she finally had him, she was smiling proudly at her move. But as her kicks were about to meet him, he twisted his body in a strange direction, his chest facing the other way than his hips were in his stance as she flew past him only for his elbow to roll back and up into a drop against her. Tensing her body for the strike, she clenched every muscle as he sent the appendage right to her gut and knocked her to the floor on her back next to him.

Spinning on his feet away, the sage took a breath of air in relief and relaxation, having held in what little air in his lungs there was in the excitement and surprise of her move. Thankfully, her endurance for pain was built up, as the hit didn't knock the air out of her, and her tensing helped with the impact. Kicking her body up and back in the vertical, Tifa brushed off her back and butt before getting back into stance.

A sense of pride glowed from Tifa, never losing that beautiful, fierce smile. In one year, the buxom barkeep had close the gap between her and the Sage. Utilizing all she had learned from Master Zangan, applying it to Naruto awakening her Mana (She still can't call it Chakra), Naruto being a thorough teacher for her to understand and use it to her strengths.

Now, here she was, pacing herself against the blond evenly. Well, she was getting close to it anyway. Tifa asked why he never used that weird power from the Corneo Cup that Jessie and Biggs told her about. Naruto seriously expressed that power was only to be used against his enemies, not his cherished friends.

'I haven't been holding back since you started using Chakra. Your raw talent and whatever that Zangan-jiji taught was damn awesome!'

A martial arts savant, Naruto, called her. She wasn't really certain about that, but if this meant protecting everyone she cared about, then all of this was worth it. And it has been fun sparring with someone again.

The last time she ever did was with her father when Master went wandering to see his other students.

"You ready," Tifa declared.

Naruto smirked, "Let's rock!"

Racing at one another, the fighters clashed with an elbow blocked by the barkeep's fist and a sweep kick missing as the sage jumped and flipped forward with a heel drop, the speed of their fight increasing as was its intensity. Tifa deftly dodged the drop kick with her rising heel brushing their legs together like swords clashing, though even her counter was dodged by the arcing back of the blonde, who landed leaning back on his bent kneeling legs.

Dropping her foot quickly on him was her only choice, to save from another attempt at his tackle as well as take advantage of his broken defenses. Or it seemed until his hands clapped around her upper foreleg under the knee and twisted it around. As she fell on her knee, she stopped her fall with her hands and immediately kicked from the ground, getting some dirt in the air behind her.

Naruto's quick thinking to twist her leg left him really off balance, but it saved him from being hit; still, he knew to get out of there and leaped from his spot next to her to gain some distance, out of the way of her kick and the dirt thankfully.

Flipping herself up from the kick, the buxom boxer of a martial arts savant had twisted herself during the flip to land facing her opponent, which gave her ample opportunity to weigh her options. One of which was to sprint dead onto her sparring partner and utilize one of her newest tricks. "Try this on for size!"

In an instant, she shoved both palms out at once. The sage was not at a distance to safely dodge out of the way, so he infused his strength with Chakra to match as their palms met. Naruto had a millisecond to realize that Tifa did not use her Chakra to enhance her strike but rather to cancel out his strength enhancement as the chakra buffer caught his strike. Her fingers forced themselves to interlace his as she gripped his hands with chakra-infused strength to catch him completely off guard.

To attempt an escape, Naruto raised both legs and tried to kick her stomach, hoping to deal enough pain to weaken her hold on his now achingly squeezed hands. He could almost see the smirk appear on her face when he was about to kick her as she pulled him in by spreading her arms out, causing his legs to catch without enough momentum to kick her anymore with his knees trapped under her very well-supported chest, solidly held down to his amazement. Spinning herself, Tifa roared in exertion as she built up momentum to finally let her arms extend out, giving Naruto his room to suddenly be like a ragdoll just before she lifted him overhead and slammed him on his back to the ground. She was careful not to use her chakra strength to hurt him too badly, but his body still did impact with a very loud THUD!

The spin and momentum carried her with the strike, but she didn't have the footing to keep her stance as she fell next to him, skidding on her arm and back a little ways from the unbalanced fall forward.

If not for her low ponytail, her long locks would have been everywhere as she was catching her breath. Her crimson orbs turned to Naruto, who stayed on his back with a low groan. A chuckle escaped his lips, now glancing at her before patting her cheek, "And I thought Sakura kicking my ass was painful." He let out another groan as he sat up with Tifa sitting on her knees.

"I did try not to put too much mana into my strength."

Never mind her deceptively natural physical prowess, which, to stress again, rivaled Sakura-Chan and Tsunade-Baachan. The girl was a powerhouse, whether she truly realized it or not. Combined with her speed and agility, she was a frightening opponent for anyone dumb enough to cross her.

The blond kept his amusement, waving off his friend's concern. "I'm having fun as much as you are; don't deny that." A slight grin came to the buxom brunette before her face narrowed in thought. "Something on your mind?" The blond questioned.

By her expression, Tifa was having difficulty saying whatever was on her mind. But soon, sighing deeply, she turned her eyes to the blond, "You never had amnesia, did you?"

Naruto's brow shot upwards passed his bangs. "H-how did you-"

"For starters. You are a terrible liar, at least when it comes to friends." She said pointedly, "Another has been so many things you mention. You speak about things with way too much clarity with someone who is supposed not to remember much of anything."

"Heh," Kurama quipped. She is a perceptive one, isn't she?" At that, the Sage grunted, slumping his head forward.

Tifa kept her gaze on him, "I'm just trying to figure out why you're keeping it hidden from us. Is it Wutain orders?"

…

"...I am not Wutain Tifa." Naruto lifted his head to look back at her. "I come from Konohagakure no Sato. The Village Hidden In The Leaves."

Shock bloomed on the brunette's face, "So there is another Ninja Nation?! Are you still a-"

"I am a Dainin, A Shinobi in service to Empress Maiyuri Sasaki of the Lands of Fire. Technically no longer a part of the Konoha forces, so I am retired. Kind of, and I am a Sage."

As much as she wanted to believe him, she still didn't even fully understand what all those words meant. Heck, she still refused to call the power given to her chakra. "So you're still in service, but not? What kind of job is that where you are not the thing you are?"

Trying to put it in the most simple and non-knowing way possible, seeing the differences in culture being the problem, not her understanding of words, the blue-eyed shadow warrior worded it out a little slowly. "I'm more like a wandering advisor with jurisdiction to fight on behalf of my country and loved ones if I deem it necessary. I think that's a better way to put it. I'm still a ninja for the Empress, but I've got ultimate operational freedom to do and go wherever I want."

He noticed she understood that answer and was glad. It was more complicated than that, but he didn't feel like explaining anything else. 'If she knew all the responsibilities I was given, it'd be brain-melting.'

But that didn't stop Tifa from trying to get to the answer to the real question she was asking. "Well, what does this other village want with us? Wutai probably wants resources or something. Most wars are fought over those. But why come here?"

Humming aloud, Naruto tried to think of a way to tell her it was a fluke without telling her how. Aggravatingly, he knew he had to half-way lie for obvious reasons. "Well, truth is, I ended up here by total accident. I didn't even know you guys existed. We're pretty secluded, and any information from the outside is reserved strictly for the highest powers, so no one knows anything about Wutai or Midgar among the common citizens. Trust me, we've got no interest in anything but our slice of life and want to keep it that way."

"But wouldn't your empire be concerned about the state of the planet and Shinra," The brunette countered.

"Tifa, my nation spent nearly eighty years in a cycle of neverending conflicts and wars. We went so far as to make child soldiers." Horror glowed in the Buxom barkeep's eyes. "And before you ask, yes, I was a child soldier. That was something my Empress stopped first and foremost."

That was... the most dreadful thing Tifa had ever heard. "They forced you-"

"We were never forced; becoming a Shinobi was always a choice in Konoha. A few were like us, but not all of them." Before Iawgakure's destruction by the God of destruction, Yamata no Orochi, it was mandatory to be a Shinobi for several years. Kumo was militaristic from the beginning, so many were proud to serve in service to their nation. Kiri... After the Bloody Mist Era, it came down to people choosing if they wanted that life or not.

"That still doesn't make it right."

Naruto agreed with Tifa's words, "No, it didn't. But the place I came from was very violent and bloody. A middle ground was nearly non-existent. We made do with what we could. I can at least say we are a lot better off now with the Asahi Empire in place and all our nations brought together as one."

So, Tifa figured that, given all they had been through, any thoughts of Naruto's nation joining the fight would likely be impossible. While Naruto felt half-relieved, he finally told the truth to Tifa. It was still a half-lie, and as much as he hated lying, there was no rational way he could explain how the hell he got to Gaia.

Hugging her legs in front of her a bit, the fearsome fighter of a woman had so much she wanted to ask. But she let most of it go, seemingly too personal or too far back to bring up. And it didn't matter in the long run. She could still know him without seeking answers about his childhood. "Well, as long as this empire of yours stays hidden from us and for itself, then there shouldn't be any more bloodshed. Shinra would be frantic knowing there's another nation of ninjas around."

"Even if they did know about it, I honestly doubt they'd find it." 'If they could, then I'd have to wonder how they made a portal in the first place... and if they did, and that's why I am even here.' It was a theory, one that had no evidence and the farthest stretch imaginable, though, so he put no stock in it being true in any way.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As morning came and the sun lamps began to glow, Aerith huffed, jogging. Dressed in exercise clothes given to her by some friends. Sweat dripped off her brow while taking a lap around Naruto's home, with the Sage in question jogging right beside her in simple sweats but no shirt. "This is only the third lap," the blond smirked, earning a glare from the brunette. "At least you are not passed out on the first like last time."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" She lightly snarled as Kurama ran past both of them, being the size of a large hound, "And you're just making fun of me!" The Bijuu laughed in her mind.

It was almost heartwarming to see her taking this seriously. Naruto was proud she was making progress. "Keep it up, and you'll be taking down the others in a real fight solo! Just two more laps, and you'll be done with the leg work. You got this."

As the lap approached the last stretch and entered the next one, Aerith was heaving a bit from her body, starting to grow way too heavy. But seeing the blonde hunk before her encouraging her got her to dig deeper for another lap. "You owe me if I get to five!"

"Oh yeah? And what exactly do you want if you can get to five whole laps without collapsing once?" The cheshire grin on both his and the fox's face made Aerith want to slap them both, but she kept her back straight and kept up regardless.

Building someone from the ground up wasn't new to Naruto. He had to do it to himself to be the actual competent warrior he is now. Aerith made it clear she had zero interest in actually physically fighting anyone. Which was perfectly fine to the Sage; if nothing else, it was just something she could fall back on if ever she could not use her magic.

But likely, even then, she would never use it. That was just how Naruto's florist friend was.

If nothing else, Aerith could say she was keeping herself in shape. And she was quite the astute learner. For the brunette she found Naruto, a very thorough teacher in breaking anything down for it to be explained. He made certain she could learn on her own while being there if she needed it.

This really showed in the differences between him and Zack, Something Aerith had been taking notice of for a year now. How can two people be the same and so different? Her ex and the blond were cut from the same cloth yet varied so wildly.

Though she knew a lot about the life of this man from another world, it was only the tip of the iceberg. With the last of the five laps causing her lungs to feel harshly on fire, she couldn't think about it anymore, determined to finish and win this contest. A content where she was given a blank check to fill from the blonde on rewards, though she was too exhausted to think of a good reward for this. As she finished, she let her body stop going forward.

But one does not stop and stand up when their bones and muscles want to screech and no longer function. The brunette's body had started to fall, Aerith's brain halfway catching up before noticing she was about to face-plant. That was until she noticed Naruto had caught her to save her from that. He helped her to the bench he set up to relax on, laying her down as he stood beside her. "Nice work! All five! A week's rest, and then we can try for six!"

"If she tries that, she might die halfway through. This exercise was light stuff, and she's barely keeping up." The Bijuu furball teased as he patted his claw hand lightly on her forehead, knowing she wouldn't be able to stop him.

The Sage smirked, kneeling beside his friend. "You really are doing quite well in the body conditioning. Slowly, but everyone has their own pace."

"Well, I'm not planning on smashing mechs with a fist like you or Tifa," Aerith quipped with a side glance. "Now, can I train with my materia?"

Rolling his eyes, the Uzumaki snorted, "All right. But catch your breath first." Aerith gave a playful salute before adjusting her sports bra and sitting up. "An there ain't no way in hell you are a B cup."

"It's Easy to hide when you know how to dress right," the brunette winks. "Kyrie and I are about the same size, and she is competitive when I'm showing off."

Kurama snorts before moving one of his tails forward, holding Aerith's new collapsable staff. It is very ornately designed on both ends and made of bronze-gold type metal, which, as Aerith explained, conducts materia better. It was a gift from, of all people, Andrea Rhodea. While Naruto had his suspicions when it came to that odd man, he had not stabbed him in the back yet.

But still smart to keep at a distance.

Gripping the leather-bound handle. Open ports for materia glowed with three on one end and three on the other. Mainly elemental attack materia and healing. The brunette stood once she finally caught her breath, "And you have been getting better with that lightning materia." Her emerald eyes dance with amusement.

The blond lifting arm shows a simple wrist leather bangle housing the only materia he has. "at least not so wild when using it anymore."

Remembering seeing one of the first few times he tried it, she thought the Materia would break. "You are attuned to the element, so all it took was gaining control through practice and training."

More than that, Naruto knew his chakra was much too potent to throw off anything more than a simple transformation to gain a bolt of lightning capable of easily destroying a steel and concrete wall. "Speaking of training, are you ready to show us how you use that new pole of yours? I've been dying to try it out if I remember you screaming at me when you got it."

With her bearings gathered and her legs no longer numb, the flower merchant got up and stood facing her target. Her weapon extended in her hands, she gathered her powers and swung the bottom end of the pole up, casting an ice orb that made an arc and spiral towards the target before hitting it dead on, the frosty residue splashing to the side. As the blast hit the target, she spun the staff in her hand and shot the other end out to cast a fire spell that curved in the other direction and hit at the exact opposite angle she aimed for. The target scorched, and the ice melted away. Turning to the sage, she grinned. "My control of the spell's aim is even better than before."

Naruto encouraged with a gesture, "Keep going."

Aerith steadied her breathing before slowly spinning her staff. She unleashed a barrage of ice spikes at a propped-up metal wall. Painted at the center was a bullseye that the Cetra aimed for. Kurama sat on the bench with his nine tails swaying idly. "Well, your control has gotten better. But your accuracy needs work." The Bijuu addressed as he and the blond saw the ice spikes were still going in varied directions instead of the intended one.

"...If I was intending to hurt people..."

And there it was. The mark difference between Aerith and the others.

Though the fox had seen and focused on where the spell hit, the blue-eyed ninja had another thought about it; he had noticed that the blast's focus was contained until the spikes burst outward. "If you hadn't forced the blast apart like you did, it would have been. The control you have over your spells is incredible. It reminds me of a few friends of mine back home; potency didn't matter because they had such fine control and efficiency over their chakra manipulation."

"We call it mana here~." Naruto rolled his eyes at the correction. A sigh came from the brunette, lowering her staff. "Do you want me to be a warrior?"

The question itself made the Sage blink in surprise, "Where did that come from?"

Emerald eyes turned to look up at him, "I'm not like you, Tifa, and the others."

"And I'm grateful for that. You are like Hinata; she isn't a warrior. She is a defender. A protector who won't kill unless there is no other option."

"Has she ever killed before?"

"A few times during the Suna and Oto invasion, she did that only to protect her baby sister, Hanabi. During the mission with the Blood Leash slavers, she refrained from killing unless there was no choice. Further on and so forth, Hinata never once raised a palm to kill anyone because she wanted to." He really saw a lot of Hinata in Aerith, outside the shyness, of course. "I'm not trying to make you into something you are not. Just making certain can protect yourself and others if needed. Having a defender is just as important as a warrior."

"Then what good does training in offensive spells do if I'd be better off defending? Shouldn't I be trying to shield everyone?" Aerith was curious how that made sense more than anything. She wasn't against using a spell to freeze monsters or the like, just hesitant to harm other people.

But the war-hardened whiskered ninja was a sage for a reason. "And if your barriers fail? Or your ability to give others protection against the elements becomes a detriment? Of course, practice and make your defense stronger. In fact, Hinata and her clan specialized in defensive techniques. But you still need to have the ability to attack enemies to you and your loved ones. Even if it's to deter the enemy so your more offensive allies can get a hit in without getting hurt, a sword can still defend, and a shield can still attack after all."

...That... It was actually good advice to adhere to. Huh, "You really are a Sage." Aerith giggled upon receiving a deadpan from the blond Uzumaki. Kurama snorted, glancing up to see two ravens perched on the cement fence.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The sprawling megacity on the upper plate of Midgar was always inspiring. Even if you harbored misgivings about Shinra, you still had to admire the level of ingenuity and craftsmanship it took to build such a glorious metropolis from nothing. Hangi showed a modest respect for the company, if nothing else. However, on this day, his usual grin was not present. His gaze was surveying his surroundings, with Omkara beside him doing the same.

Quickly, they had made their way to the Upper Plate from their patrols in the Undercity. Normally, neither would ever rush to the topside, but a shift in the air drew their attention that could not be ignored.

That... Presence was here again...

Or, to put it another way, it truly never left and has been extending to certain individuals within Midgar. Whispers that come from these people always say three words that have been echoing for a year now.

*The Cheshire Woman*

Every sighting, all evidence of her existence and groups of people that flocked to her, it was utterly maddening how little there was to a pattern in the first place. Nothing was consistent. Every time they thought they had a single thread of coherent evidence to follow, the next would change it almost entirely to a new diversion.

Omkara wasn't the slightest bit amused by it and wanted this uncomfortable feeling to end. "Are we sure this will be different in any way? We have never been as close as you suggest, ever."

"Differences have been the only real constant. Not having one is the key. I feel we've been this close or closer and never realized. But this time, our eyes are open. We are close. Even if we fail again, we'll know more than before, " the single-eyed man offered. His attention was rather split, but his focus was on his current task, even as he appreciated the sight of the last Cetra being given important advice and instruction.

The blue-haired woman absently nodded before she froze in place. Her gaze fixed and was noticed by her comrade, who turned his gaze into an alleyway a block away. Despite the crowd of residents moving and vehicles passing by, no one could miss the pair of pure crimson eyes half-cloaked in the shadows. The eyes are attached to the grey-skinned female figure who has also been sighted throughout Midgar. "The Ashen One," Omkara muttered. Another entity connected to the presence and figurehead of the people who were touched came to.

Relmyna smirked, dressed in an alluring halter top and skirt, in their direction before retreating into the shadows.

Omkara dashed like the wind, with Hangi following suit through the masses on the sidewalk. A few startled gasps and shouts came from people they brushed aside; screams soon came as they leaped over oncoming traffic to the other side of the street and gave chase to their target.

Diving into another alley, the long-eared figure kept pace out of reach of her pursuers. As one leaped onto rooftops, the other followed around the next corner. Neither of the chasers was going to let her escape, but the Ashen One quickly turned to a dead end. Or so they thought, as Hangi found her running to a wall that suddenly turned darker than the shadows themselves. And the woman went in without hesitation.

Stopping a moment, Hangi focused on his aerial recon. It didn't take long to get a glimpse of her coming out to the next street. A raven cawed out to signal to his partner in the chase and led her to the fleeing woman. Omkara was quick to jump from roof to roof to get to the streetside and found the greys-skinned woman laughing at her from across the street again. "She's toying with us!"

Hangi already figured that out as the woman seemingly teleported from place to place, smiling mockingly. "Incarnations. I bid you greetings." She chuckled as Omkara leaped at her, only to be hit with smoke. Relmyna appeared at a longer distance between herself and her pursuers. "I must say. While you are fragments of more distinguished entities." She sighed dramatically, "I had assumed you would be more entertaining."

Sternness grew on the duo's faces. But they did not speak; they only kept their chase for the Ashen One.

The chase was a game to her, and Hangi knew this was only giving her what she wanted. But they couldn't give up. Switching things up, he called upon more of his ravens to keep a lookout, this time for any use of powers; maybe understanding its use would benefit their goal of catching and stopping these beings. "You'll find we are not so easily deterred from the hunt."

As the man made his way around, he took another route as his partner Omkara led the chase, giving just enough leeway to keep from random instant teleportation being their target's desired option. The long-eared prey found herself coming to another street and shot to the side after coming to an end. Finding Hangi coming out to corner her, she escaped into the wall in the bright lights of the street and vehicles passing, making the bystanders all look in wonder and fear and a few grinning in secret.

Thanks to his network, the powerful seer looked up where his extended sight caught the Ashen One standing on top of a power pole. Something felt off, but before he could judge his next move, Omkara went for it, attempting to catch the cloaked individual. "I GOT YOU!"

Feeling it just too late, Hangi tried crying out to stop her. "IT'S A TRAP!" Which was sprung as his partner vanished in the ethereal shadow being, and both vanished. His partner was thrown a block away from a high building, falling from the portal.

Above her, on the roof, sat the Ashen one herself, waving. "I'd tuck and curl if I were you!"

Relmyna smirked and whistled upon the falling woman, vanishing in a flash of light, and quickly appeared beside her male comrade, "So you do have powers while in those fleshy shells."

"We are not so defenseless, my lady." Hangi declared, gazing up with a glare. "What does a Dark Elf of Mundus want here?"

The silence was the only response from the smirking elf before vanishing in smoke. Both sharply turned as the woman reappeared on another roof of a building with her hands behind her back. "Certainly, the Höarr must know something."

Frost began to form on Omkara's hands, "If you wish harm upon Gaia and her children, you face us."

The elf chuckled slowly before bursts of full, insane laughter followed. "Oh, Sadashiva, what makes you think we're the enemy?" Within a blink, Relmyna vanished, and Hangi and Omkara quickly pursued.

The chase continued through the entire sector, all up to the point they found themselves separated by the sector walling. The wide open area next to it had the long-eared robed runner in a big enough clearing that the raven king was certain this was a trick or trap. *Or, a big leap forward...*

As he predicted, the moment she hit the wall, she vanished into another portal. Though this one stayed open, he had to think quickly. Should he risk another falling trap? Or hope his partner's attempt at predicting her exit bore fruit? As much as he trusted Omkara to be where they thought this being would pop out of, nothing made sense enough for him to trust their prediction. So he jumped in with only a brief hesitation and prepared for any trick that he was about to be caught with.

To his surprise, he found himself in another sector now alongside his partner, who was just as confused.

A cane tapped the cement ledge of a tall skyscraper. Shrouded Gold and silver eyes gleefully stared down in observation of the little chase against her dear Relmyna and the avatars, with her namesake, which she has been dubbed in this realm, an insane Cheshire smile formed upon her lips. "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. Oh, sweet William was a silver tongue devil, wasn't he?" The mad woman giggled, adjusting her hat before twirling her cane in her hands. Beginning to tapdance on the ledge, the Cheshire Woman hummed a tune, "Gaia, sweet Gaia; you have nothing to fear~. Lord of the Never-There will make it all clear!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Sauntering, along with no care, was the sunglasses-wearing, orange-haired powerhouse of the Turks. Beside him walked the analytical stare of his partner today. "Did we get anything off the lower levels?"

"If we did, we wouldn't be running containment." Judet quietly sighed. "This is getting out of hand. Tseng's running us through every firewall and hard lock to find even a scrap of evidence on what Hojo has locked up. I agree that having another one of those horrors get released is something we must avoid at all costs, but we don't have the clearance to get past theory work from Hojo's notes."

Legend, with a hand flaring his hair up for appearances after an all-nighter he wished he went without, could only agree. "I'd say Tseng has gotten paranoid, but we all know he isn't the type to overthink and overreact." Speaking of the man, they were coming into the office for him. They were not looking forward to reporting their lack of progress.

Upon the office door slides open, the two take in the sight of Tseng going through several papers at his desk. Little boss lady Cissnei paced about the room looking at her portable tablet in her hand. Neither glanced up from their work, "Were you able to find anything," The raven-haired man inquired.

A sigh of defeat came from Judet, slumping, "Next to nothing, sir."

"Whatever the big wigs have planned is way above even our clearance," Legend quipped, taking a seat on a couch. "But Hojo is doing something; we just don't know what."

Cissnei stopped pacing to peer over to Tseng looked in her direction. That wasn't what the two wanted to hear, but none of the Turks were getting any leads or information into what Hojo had been doing for months, only that he had been going to a highly restricted area in HQ and working for hours down there. Outside of slug-rays monitoring Naruto's movements when finding him, nothing else could be tracked by the Turks, which has been frustrating.

With no real show of emotion, the group leader turned to the two arrivals. "Heidegger is requesting an update on rumors of mysterious figures running about these days. Join up with Rude, and if you see Maur, tell him Reno's his partner for the next shift to look into things."

"Understood, sir." judet bowed her head before heading out with Legend at her back once getting back off the couch.

As they left, the red-haired second in the office sighed loudly. "This is getting us nowhere. We're trailing every lead and skirting every line, but we can't even get a scent of what Hojo's up to. We can't keep going like this; we need to forget clearance and permission for once if we want to find anything."

Not that he disagreed, given how the current plan of attack was progressing. But he also knew they weren't on solid ground with the top brass. They were starting to ask more of them. If they looked too closely, it might make the Turks look insubordinate. 'And then we'd have no way of preventing another disaster...'

Cissnei glanced at Tseng, "Did Verdot leave anything that could help us?"

"No, that was the first thing I looked into," Much to the man's frustration. After the former boss's retirement, it's doubtful they could even find the man now. Whatever Hojo is planning, this is strictly known only to him, the executive board members, and select scientist officials working under Hojo."

The auburn-haired young woman huffed, "We can't let what happened a few months ago occur again."

"At the same time, our hands are tied. Again to do anything but watch and wait."

Cissnei had no retort from that statement, 'You would still do something. Wouldn't you, Zack?'

XxX ~ days later ~ XxX

"I'm home!"

Elmyra looked up from cleaning her dishes to glance back at Aerith as she entered the house. "Hey, sweetie. What has been going on?"

"Oh, not too much today. Will be visiting Naruto later to check up on him."

The older woman paused before sighing, "I figured as much. You seem fond of him."

Knowing how protective the mother of the house was, Aerith didn't try antagonizing the issue. I know you mean well... Still, she had a clever tongue on her. "He's a great person. Much greater than any of us realize. A golden heart and an even kinder soul. He may be good at breaking necks, but only because he practiced breaking the necks of trash and horrible scumbags. He'd never hurt anyone unless they deserve a good smackdown."

"And if he thought someone did, but they weren't a bad person?" Elmyra quickly pointed out the slope that was someone choosing a dark path for any reason because they thought they had the right to do so.

"Naruto isn't cold-blooded like that. And you know it." Aerith commented with a gaze. "Can you really say that about him?"

"...I can't, but he is still a Ninja. Retired or not," Elmyra stopped with the dishes and wiped her hands dry with a cloth, turning on her heels. "and he is a lot like that boy." The older woman's eyes narrowed at the thought of the SOLDIER...

The brunette shook her head, "Naruto isn't Zack."

"He is a lot like him, though. His hairstyle matches; he is always up for a fight, always causing a scene and the center of attention." She could go on, but she let that be it.

Still, even if her daughter agreed to this, the bright-eyed Cetra also had her list. "Zack WANTED to be the center of attention. Besides, Naruto is much wiser than he may look, which Zack didn't have." She stood her ground in front of the motherly woman. "And still... You can't keep me safe from everything, and keeping those who would do better at it away won't help. I'm safer with strong friends than by myself. And I don't want you to get hurt for my sake..."

The older woman let out a low huff, "I'm a mother. I'm supposed to worry about you. It doesn't matter that you're a grown woman." Coming over to the brunette's side, she patted her shoulders, "You'll be the same way when you have kids."

Aerith smiled ruefully while stroking one of her side-bangs. "Yeah..." Despite sounding cheerful, there was an underlining, unreadable tone of melancholy: "Guess I will eventually."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The evening sun glowed in the barren mountainous region around Midgar. As Naruto vividly recalled, when he first came here, it was the best time to be out in that area when the heat was not so unbearable. Dressed in simple training clothes, he pulled out the dragon ornate scroll he had on him. Kurama appeared beside him, sitting on a large rock, "Not so simple as you thought in harnessing this sword, is it?"

A squinting deadpan came from the sage, "Gee, you think." Even if it was a minor fraction of Maw-maw's power, it was still immensely overwhelming to handle. In the months he had resumed training with it, the blond realized having Tsukiko-Baachan and Meihui-Baachan to help him, he missed dearly.

But he had little to no choice; he only had himself and wouldn't put his new friends in danger while trying to master this damn sword.

Shaking off his doubt, the Uzumaki knelt and unfurled the scroll. The inside of the paper shows a highly complex seal array that housed Dragonscale but also contained its power. Biting his thumbs, Naruto goes through several hand seals before slamming his hand on the paper, "Release!"

A puff of smoke exploded from the scroll and slowly faded, revealing a sheathed Uchigatana. The sheath itself was made from pure white scales that came from his draconian great-great-grandmother. The guard was a single scale trimmed down with some ridges, the handle made of a piece of Maw-maw's claw wrapped with scales, and the pommel being the head of a dragon.

Naruto felt a quickening within his veins; his blood raced to his heart, feeling the power radiating off the sword. Even Kurama shuddered with respect, staring at the Dragonscale. Evening out his breathing, the sage slowly grabbed the sheath before standing. A low growl escaped his lips feeling a surge of energy begin to pour into him.

Fully stood with sheathe held evenly horizontal in front of him, he gripped the handle with respect. The energy surging through him had his skin bristling like the very hairs on his neck were about to set fire to everything around him. Firmly, he pulled the blade's violently shimmering scaled edge from the sheath and slipped the empty thing to Naruto's waist belt, where it almost felt fused to him now as he held his greatest gift, with such a power he was already showing trouble at keeping fully under control.

Taking the handle in both hands, the blonde's hair flowed even without a gust. Every fiber of his wish for control went into keeping the energy from overtaking him; both he and his foxy friend could practically hear the sword calling for action, almost demanding it as the tsuba's brush-like follicles flared and waved in the still non-existent wind.

Closing his eyes for a moment to steady himself, they reopened, revealing slit golden dragon eyes with no white sclera. Slowly, from the tips of now his claw-like fingers and palms to his wrists, and lastly, his forearms became white-golden scales. Underneath his shirt, his chest and back also became scaly up to his neck and shoulders. Naruto's spiky blond ponytailed hair also grew longer and more wild.

With the sheer power of Dragonscale being able to rouse his draconian form when he is usually in Dragon Sage mode. But in this case, the sword merely rouses Uzumaki's heritage within his blood.

"Good," Kurama addressed, "Keep yourself centered. Remember, no shadow clones can help with this."

Something the duo found out painfully once starting the training months ago. Dragonscale's energy was too much for the clones. They either went feral or popped instantly. This was all on him and what little Kurama could do to help.

He would make his family proud by mastering this sword; he was a Uzumaki, after all. Too stubborn to give up.

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