A/N: EDIT: Not my finest chapter, I know. I'm in a lot of pain. Even so, I hope folks enjoy this. Silence only hurts T_T

...I may be preparing a Hazbin Hotel story. "Smile Like You Mean It" has a nice ring to it, I find.

But enough about that. Bloody site breaking threw off my updating schedule. Again!

It certainly doesn't help that Long Covid has been doing my head in, to say nothing of my lungs.

Not feeling my best with yet another damn HOLE in my side...but I've been watching Hazbin Hotel while recovering. Alastar is...entertaining.

Long story short, I had to get a massive swathe of skin on my side cut off the other day because my doctors are concerned and checking for cancer. And when I say cut, I mean CUT as in with several scalpels at once, leaving me in horrendous pain. Now I may need to go back to the hospital and get yet more "pieces" removed which has me stressed out even more. Don't get me started about the bleeding and the bandages. Painkillers aren't helping.

One of the tests has since come back negative. The others...I haven't heard back from them, yet. The silence is worrying. I'm considering seeing a different doctor.

I've since had more pieces carved away on my chest and neck besides. In other words. I. Am. Suffering. Writing distracts me from the pain, if only just.

So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.

As ever, I own no quotes, references, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one. Baldur's Gate is amazing.

I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.

Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.

In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!

Verbatim from Baldur's gate of course.

Goes without saying, that.

And SPOILERS!

"Gather Your Allies~!"

~?

Sage Says So

Naruto made allies easily.

He gathered companion even easier.

And friends? Once he got talking, that was it. You were doomed.

Shadowheart confessed some small semblance of anxiety -and a smidgen of jealousy- at just how smoothly he acquired reinforcements. Almost like it was second nature to him. As though he had a silver tongue of some sort; not only did he talk down a certain-knife-wielding-rogue with the pale hair in short order, but he somehow managed to free a rather peculiar wizard from stone. She wasn't making that last part up! He quite literally pulled a whole person out of that boulder! It only took a few words and the odd handshake to make them want to follow him.

Then they reencountered a certain Githyanki and things took a turn.

It was there that she learned the limits of Naruto's charisma.

That, and his patience.

(.0.0.0.)

It was him.

Lae'zel saw the Man's face from her cage and recognized him at once. That bright blond mane of his gave him away, the ringing voice, his sheer presence as he strode forth to speak with her captors. It was impossible to forget, no, she would never forget -never forgive him!- if only for the sheer riot of emotions he'd stirred up in her.

He'd gathered newfound allies since she had seen him last; the once-captive girl from the nautiloid and two men she didn't recognize; a rogue and a mage by the look of them. The trio followed him willingly and without coercion, she could see that much, even from up here.

Then he looked up to the cage, saw her trapped within, and smiled.

She felt his mind brush hers, warm as sunbeam, sharp as steel. "Got yourself into some trouble, did you?

Tsk'va! The wretched tadpole meddled once again! She hissed back through the brief connection "Get rid of them!"

With only a few words he both greeted, convinced, and summarily dismissed her teethling -was that how the people of this realm pronounced it?- captors, shooing the anxious duo away as though they were no more than naughty children. Curious, that. She had thought him little more than a dub brute capable of base acts of violence, yet he seemed to delight in defying her expectations.

Unless...?

Dread kicked at her chest when he made no effort to free her, but instead turned to confer with his companions.

Surely he would not leave her here, to rot in this cage. He mustn't! Her heart was mighty, yes, but her body was weak, wounded from the crash; her blade buried in the dirt below, lodged there when she first triggered the devil spawn's trap. Were he to leave her behind as she was now, she would starve to death, or worse, become a ghaik, a mindflayer spawn. There could be no worse fate. She would sooner bite off her tongue and choke on her own blood than lose herself. She thought of doing so now, but her nerve faltered. She was meant to be more than this...!

"Get me down!"

Naruto beamed up at her. "Say please."

Lae'zel glared at him from within her cage. "Never!"

Shadowheart smirked behind him and made a show of inspecting her fingernails. "I'm not above waiting, are you?"

Tsk'va! Infuriating creatures! She glared down at him as a minute elapse. Then another.

Her stomach growled and her pride crumbled like so much sand.

...please."

His face split in a grin.

It was her one and only warning.

Quick as his surname, he snatched up her fallen sword from where it lay in the mud and launched it at her cage as one might a javelin. Instinct had her twisting aside to avert her gaze and well that she did; because her own blade nearly skewered her where she stood as it lodged itself through the wood. Cheeky bastard! Now where had he goneclosecloseFARTOOCLOSE!

She yelped as as Naruto landed on the cage and thrust his face through the wooden bars, leaving his visage mere inches from her own.

"Don't move, now." he sang. "Wouldn't want to take off your head."

"What are you-

He answered with decisive action, not useless words. Seizing the hilt of her longsword with one hand and bracing himself with the other, he wrenched the blade to the side in a savage sawing motion. Unable to bear the weight of his exertion or the strength behind it, her cage gave way in short order and tore itself apart; Lae'zel found she had but a moment to brace herself before gravity reasserted itself and she fell.

Such a short drop meant little to her even as she tumbled, she alighted in a pointed crouch, seized her fallen weapon and used it to haul herself to her feet. From there she glared at him, nostrils flaring as she fought to get the measure of this lunatic that had let her loose.

"Madman!" The word was as much challenge as statement. "You could've killed me just now!"

Would he shy away from her decree, she wondered? She swore she would kill him if he showed cowardice now.

"I'm not that sloppy." He clasped both hands behind his head and met her stare evenly. "You gonna give me a reason to punch ya again?"

The tadpole in her skull squirmed furiously as their minds joined once more; she glimpsed his thoughts, cold and hard and weary; he didn't want to kill her, but he would if she pushed him. If her heart was steel, then his was a silver sword, sharp and ready to cut through all opposition. He apologized for nothing. His was the way of action, not reaction. He might be human, but the heart of a Githyanki beat in his chest. Doubtlessly, this one would tear the horns of a dragon only to drive them into the heart of another.

Her heart flipped in her chest. A hot flush crept up the back of her neck. What was this feeling?

Against all odds, she found herself breaking eye contact first; she glaring heatedly at the ruins of her cage for a moment before reassessing. Only then did she dare try to reassert her dominance. "Do you intend to strike me a second time?

He tilted his head and clasped both hands before his torso, unknowingly mimicking the posture of her people. "Only if you so something particularly heartless again."

There it was, the proverbial gauntlet thrown down at her feet, waiting to be picked up. He was no Kith'rak, no dragon rider, but there was steel in her spine all the same. She bared her teeth and shifted her body to the right. He met her glare and matched her stance, only killer to another. This man had shed blood before, she was sure of it. She saw it in his eyes, his face, the faint frown as he watched her for the slightest movement, coiled and ready to spring. Oh, yes. He had shed blood. She wondered if he might shed hers.

He looked to her arm, noting her injury. "Let me see that; you're covered in blood."

Briefly cowed, she offered her limb and let him heal her. It seemed to take some effort on his part, and that too seemed to annoy him, but it made him no less fierce in her eyes. All her life she had been trained to respond to strength and intimidation. Dominance. If they were to fight, it would be a glorious one; she was eager for battle-

"Careful." And then the Cleric ruined the moment with her voice. "She clearly sees your kindness as weakness."

Lae'zel nearly throttled her on the spot.

"Better the devil we know than the one we don't." Naruto's glance never left hers. "Earlier, you said there's a way to get rid of these parasites."

Sense reasserted itself. Desire bled away, leaving her with the taste of ash in her mouth. Blast it all, she'd nearly forgotten about the looming danger. "There is. We must locate a creche and be purified-

The bloody blasted cleric interrupted again with her insufferable snar. "Are we really considering this? She could be trying to get us killed for all we know."

Naruto looked her way. "Trust me, Shadowheart."

"I do trust you." the mouthy cleric glared past him at her, eyes like a cloak of daggers. "Just not this one. I'll be watching you, Gith. Understand?"

Arrogant little kainyank didn't know her place. She sneered at her arogance. "If I decide to kill you, you will not even see it coming.

A knife set itself to her throat, cold steel against her jugular forcing her lift her chin with a hiss.

"Neither will you." Astarion's voice hummed in her ear. "Perhaps we should just open your throat now and be done with it, hmm?"

Lae'zel stilled. Dangerous, this elf. She hadn't even seen him move.

Naruto sighed. "Let her go, Astarion."

The rogue pouted. "Must I?"

"Yes, you must." the blond grabbed his arm and wrestled it away from her neck. "We have enough enemies without turning on one another."

"Quite so!" the magician -she'd not heard his name as of yet- temporized with a raised hand as she stumbled to safety. "I dare say we'll be doing the mind flayers a favor if we begin butchering one another now. Right now, our priority should be removing these little buggers from our heads.

"See? Listen to Gale. He's speaking sense."

Their resident rogue huffed. "And if I don't want to agree with Gale?

The whiskered warrior held up his dagger. "Then you won't be getting this back."

"Get what back-hey!"

Naruto tossed the dagger back to the pale elf, who looked just as surprised to have had it swiped out from under him it in the first place. "My chakra control may be shot at the moment, but I can still do simple things like this. Now behave, both of you, before I knock your heads together."

...fiiiiiine."

A thrill shot down Lae'zel's spine, and not entirely from fear.

"Very well." she mumbled under her breath. "We are allies. Until such a time as we aren't."

Naruto grunted and walked away, forcing her to follow or risk being left behind. With her inclusion their little party numbered five now; despite their disparate nature, they made for a formidable force indeed. They would be stronger still with a proper leader. She briefly considered taking command of their motley little crew, then thought better of it. Something in his eye warned than any such attempt would be received most poorly after that little fiasco.

Very well. She would let him lead for now.

Astarion perked up. "I hear shouting up ahead...

So did she. Her keen ears caught drums in the distance as well.

More foes to fight, good. Perhaps their leader was near.

This promised to be fun.

(.0.0.0.)

Minthara sneezed harshly.

"What in the Absolute's name?"

Had someone been talking about her just now...?

(.0.0.0.)

"Fun" turned out to be Goblins.

The little gremlins never stood a chance.

Of course not; they were Goblins; not Githyanki; the outcome was never in question.

That they were attacking a band of adventurers at some moss-covered gate was secondary; they were in their way, their flanks exposed, unprepared for an attack from the rear. Lae'zel's blood was well and truly up by the time they reached them. Moreover, she wasn't the only one in the group itching to vent their frustrations after that last argument.

First blood went to Naruto; he took one look at the scene before them and bounded forward with a snarl, fists swinging. The first foolish goblin to get in his way found itself shortened by a head; quite literally. She'd never seen someone punch a goblin's skull clean off their shoulders before. It was something of a novel experience. Entertaining, too; he punched the creature so hard that its head smacked another goblin in the chest, blowing them right down.

And with that, all bloody hells broke lose.

Not one to be outdone by such barbaric brutality, Shadowheart raced after him with a war cry, shield in hand. Necrotic energy burst from her fingers, mowing down another Goblin before they could take heed and focus upon the suddenly berserk blond tearing through them.

Astarion melted away into the chaos of it all, bow in hand, and a trio of goblin scouts found themselves gurgling on arrows in their throat. One of the Goblin's beast's tried to draw a bead on him, only to find themselves mowed down by a storm of magic missiles, courtesy of Gale.

Lae'zel didn't bother to follow the rest of her companions after that.

Hers were not the way of stealth or magic or miracles. She was a Fighter through and through.

Naturally she went for the biggest bastard she could find; a hulking brute -Bugbear!- and struck at him.

By luck or dint of her own exhaustion, the hideous creature saw her coming at the last second and blocked clumsily with his mace. The barbed end of his weapon held up under her assault, but the wooden haft did not. A second strike sheared it clean in half, leaving him quite defenseless as he clutched little more than a large club. Her longsword swept up and came down with a song of savage sundering steel to shatter that entirely and bury itself in his collarbone.

The bugbear collapsed with a gurgle and she tore her blade free, seeking another.

An outraged Goblin rushed her, bearing a crude machete and spiked shield. His first clumsy swipe was easily evaded, the second parried, and the third dragged aside to leave him wide open. Gityhanki steel knew no equal; from there, a single swing disemboweled him neatly at the waist. Not so what came after. Goblin guts were as messy as any others - they smelled worse. She wrinkled her nose and moved on, casually cutting yet another Goblin in twain, as was her wont.

Hmmm? Those were enchanted gloves the ghastly creature wore. She would take them as right of conquest once this battle was done.

But first...

An arrow flicked her way and she twisted aside with a snarl, only to watch the unlucky archer fall as Naruto brought a massive azure sphere of some sort down on its head. It was, in a word, overkill. Nothing better. She spared a glance for his blood-spattered face, nodded once and threw herself at the nearest Goblin within reach.

This one must've been a mage of some sort; because the horrid little creature raised its staff and lobbed a firebolt at her.

Pitiful! She took it on the shoulder, trusted in her armor, and brought her blade down with a roar.

Another kill, another blaze of glory, another life snuffed out. No more spells followed.

On and on it went, the cries of combat raging around her until she finally heard no more.

By sword and stealth and spell the rest fell, until none remained.

It wasn't enough for her.

These creatures weren't any sort of challenge; they had tactics, but they were crude, unfocused, unable to stand up to true savagery. The battle had barely lasted five minutes. How could she possibly feel fulfilled after such a meager showing?

She spied Astarion rifling through bodies as she stowed her blade. The rogue granted her a graceful bow, somehow unruffled despite the carnage. Perhaps he had the right of it. This lot might have some valuable baubles at the very least. Rolling her eyes, she knelt to retrieve the gloves she'd been eyeing. They looked remarkably clean, despite the state of their former owner..

"Looting the dead already, Gith?" Shadowheart sneered her way. "How like you."

She glared at the girl in return. "My name is Lae'zel, k'chokhi. And you know nothing of my kin."

"Now, now," Gale interposed himself between them, idly smoothing out his robes. "We're all friends here...

Naruto paid their argument little heed; she saw him leap up to the gatehouse, clear it in a single bound, and promptly began barking orders as he tended to the wounded. One of said wounded warriors, a horned man with golden skin the color of sunrise sat up now, clutching at his healed chest; one that had, only just recently been feathered with arrows. By all rights, he should be dead.

And yet here he was. Bah. Weakness.

Sentiment. She would never understand such weakness.

Another of the teethlings came running, a female by the look of her. "Let me through! He's my brother!"

"Arka, wait." the man mumbled, holding out a hand. "Just calm down-

She most assuredly did not. "Kanon! What have you done to him?!"

Naruto said something softly, words she couldn't quiet hear from down here, but whatever it was caused the teethling female to perk up. She, at least, remained quite noisy; Lae'zel had no trouble hearing her. By Vlakith she almost wished she couldn't; the woman was so loud...

"Wait, what? You healed him? You beautiful bastard!"

And then, much to her surprise, she threw her arms around Naruto and gave him a wet, sloppy kiss.

Gale groaned.

Astarion whistled.

Shadowheart gagged.

"Interesting." Lae'zel ignored them all and tilted her head. "Acceptable enthusiasm." tilted it some more now as the teethling tackled a terribly startled Naruto to the ground. "Decent technique...

Was that how the people of this realm greeted one another? The customs of this realm were most enticing. She looked to Shadowheart and quirked a brow.

The cleric sputtered and flailed her hands. "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't lump me in with him!

"Indeed." she sneered at her, "You don't strike me as the sort to partake in the pleasures of the flesh..."

The half-elf sputtered, face gone red, and triumphant, Lae'zel sauntered away.

Victory would be hers...and it would sweet.

A/N: The amount of sass in this chapter will be LEGENDARY.

Naturally, Lae'zel still doesn't realize that's now how you say Tieflings or Faerun.

She has an actual scene where she mispronounces both and we can correct her on it; bloody adorable

Worry not, we'll still see Withers. Naturally, Naruto and the gare are gonna have one helluva time with him.

Still, our boy's silver tongue persists, even with his chakra control beng shot. If he isn't careful, he might blow things up. And there we have it. Hope you enjoyed this nice, long chapter. Would you like weekly updates? Do let me know! Feedback is important~! Just wanted to thank everyone for their heartfelt support. Covid has...given me a lot to think about.

There are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things, of this site, when I'm gone.

As ever, the Embers rule still persists. If folks don't like this story? Well...I'll not continue it. I can't bear to write something no one likes. That's no joke. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! I'm literally working every day now, so I have less and less time to write. Daily updates might...slow down in the interim, but I know that would upset a lot of people.

So, in the Immortal words of Atlas...

...review, would you kindly?

And of course, enjoy the previews! Rough though they are...

(Previews)

Oi! Stow the chatter! We need to find that healer. I want this worm out of my head!

The druids let them through in short order. As well they should; she suspected there would've been a riot if they hadn't.

Naruto listened to two refugees tell him a tale of woe and muttered something and lef them them to their own devices.

Wel, well, isn't he the feisty one.

Indeed.

He felt so powerful here; there was so much natural energy and it just kept coming; he could hold sage mode for hours, days, even!

Kagha must've seen something she didn't like, because she bridled a this expression

"Why are you looking at me like that? What in the hells are you doing?!

"Listening." he held up a hand. "Can't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

...all the f * * * s I do not give."

He opened his eyes and grinned.

"Alright, alright, alright." to her horror, those once blue eyes gleamed gold with the wisdom of a sage. "Seems my Sage Mode's extra powerful here. Which means...

He surged forward, grabbed Kagha by the throat, and slammed her into the nearest wall with an almighty crunch.

His forehead pressed against hers, teeth bared.

...I'm charge now."

A mighty quake rattled the grove.

Out he came, but not alone; idly sh enoticed his parcel, or perhaps she should call her captive, given that he was dragging that redheaded woman by the hair.

Gale winced. Oh, dear. Perhaps we should-

No. Lae'zel flung up an arm to stop him. I want to watch.

And what she did. All that followed.

Kagha flung up her hands.

"I yield!"

"Neat trick," Mol tilted her head. "Can you teach me?"

Arabella's hand shot up. "Me next! I call dibs! All the dibs!"

It was the pebble that followed the avalanche; the little ones swarmed him.

Gale hid a laugh behind his hand as the children pestered him with questions. "Seems they're quite fond of you after that stunt."

Shadowheart clicked her tongue. "Impetuous little creatures, aren't they? Maybe we should-

He yanked her down to sit beside him. "If I have to tell them stories, so do you!"

By the log, the sass on this girl!

"Soldier~!"

"Aww, Scratch! Who's a good boy?!"

"I just...well, I need blood. Please?"

"Are you serious? No, you CANNOT be serious. Just look at us! This group is full of weirdos!"

Naruto raised a hand in question. "Doesn't that make you one of them?

"Quiet, you!" Astarion flung up his arms! "I'm having a rant!"

EDIT: Hope you enjoyed! May your day be a good one and filled with lots of luck!

EDIT: Hope you enjoyed~!

R&R~!