A/N: Revised as of 1/24/2024

'Hm… That's weird. I could have sworn there were harder quests on the board.'

Naruto thought as his eyes darted across the quest board for a challenging looking quest. He also noticed a lack of easy quests on the board as well. In fact, there was hardly anything on the board at all.

Not that he was in dire need of money, as the payment from the cabbage hunt had been passed out earlier that day. Naruto had earned about five-hundred thousand Eris with the cabbages he had managed to stash away before Megumin's Explosion magic hit. The money he would have had if it weren't for that troublesome spell... Oh well.

'I haven't seen Aqua yet today, but it didn't look like she caught much…'

Naruto thought before going back to his search.

"Slay a One-Shot Bear. Nah, too easy. Investigate dirty lake. Can't do that since it requires a Priest… Dang, what happened to that one quest that sounded like a real challenge?"

Turning on his heal, Naruto walked towards the reception desks.

Luna, who was cleaning counters, noticed the ninja walking towards her and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Naruto-san. How can I help you?"

"Where's that one really hard quest? You know, the one with the two monsters fighting and causing trouble? I could have sworn there was a hard quest like that on the board the other day, and now I can't find it so there's nothing good."

Naruto asked while pointing at the quest board.

"U-um… That quest is actually for large parties only, and since no one was taking it I took it down for the time being."

Luna said while adverting her gaze.

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Something didn't feel right about this.

"That's okay! As you saw during the Cabbage Hunt, I'm a one-man army. Since no one else is accepting that quest, and I'm bored, let me take it!"

"W-well… This is a very difficult quest for someone to take on alone. If Naruto-san formed a party, it would be a different story but…"

Luna continued to deny access to the quest.

"What are you saying? I can easily complete this quest by myself! Come on, let me accept the quest!"

Naruto fumed. Why was she being so difficult about this quest? He'd be just fine without a party!

"No! If something were to happen to Naruto-san because I let you take on this quest all by yourself, it would be on my conscious for the rest of my life!"

Luna yelled, before she blushed when she realized she unintentionally raised her voice.

"Aw, are you worried about me Luna-chan? You don't have to worry though, I can take care of myself. So just let me go on that quest."

Naruto said with a cheeky grin on his face, he wouldn't fall for her tricks again.

"No."

Luna flatly said, causing the shinobi to falter in his stance.

Was she talking about him, or the quest?

"T-that's cruel… But why!? There's nothing else on the board that looks like a challenge! Fighting two giant monsters sounds fun!"

Naruto persisted after straightening himself, stomping his foot to emphasize his frustration.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow a rookie adventurer, capable as they may seem to be, to go on a difficult quest such as this all by themselves. If you want to take on this quest, then please form a party."

Luna apologized in a professional manner.

"Come on…"

Naruto groaned and slumped onto the desk dejectedly.

"I'm sorry, but if something were to happen to Naruto-san, then who would I count on when I'm in trouble?"

Luna added with a wink, prompting the shinobi to blush.

"W-well, I guess I can do another quest for now… Wait a second! Is that what I am to you!? Someone you can throw your durian quests at!?"

Naruto shouted angrily, only to gnash his teeth when Luna stuck her tongue out playfully.

Seeing as he wasn't getting anywhere, Naruto marched back to the quest board and tore off one of the papers. Stomping back to Luna, he placed the paper on the desk with a thud.

"Consider this One-Shot Bear dead!"

Later That Day…

"So bored…"

Naruto moaned with his head rested on the table.

"Why don't you go on a quest? Naruto is strong, so you should be able to do one of those harder quests by yourself."

Megumin said while poking the shinobi's whisker marks. She would never say it aloud, but Naruto's whisker marks were really cool and made her want to touch them.

"I did, but it was too easy. One blow to the head and the One-Shot Bear went down… Is that why they're called One-Shot Bears?"

Naruto said and let out an annoyed huff. If only Luna would just let him go on that fun sounding quest with the Griffon and Manticore. Maybe he could ask Kazuma and the others if they wanted to go with him?

'This guy killed a monster with a dangerous name like that, and he's complaining?'

Kazuma thought and fought the urge to strangle the ninja. He was struggling to get by every day, freezing to death in the stables with a useless former what's-it-called, and Naruto dared to complain about not finding a challenge in the beginner's town!?

Speaking of Aqua-

"Why is it so little!?"

"I-I'm sorry, but you had some lettuce mixed in with your catch…"

"How did lettuce get in there!?"

Aqua shrieked as she held Luna by the collar and shook her violently.

'If only I hadn't picked Aqua as the thing I could bring to this world.'

Kazuma thought as he watched Aqua skip over to their table with a cute smile on her face.

"H-hey, Naruto-san~? How much money did you make during the cabbage harvest~?"

Aqua asked the ninja in an exaggerated chirpy voice.

"Five-hundred."

Naruto answered without looking up, and Aqua jumped for joy.

"Yes! I won the showdown! I knew I would-"

"Thousand."

Naruto cut in and looked up with a smirk, and all three girls looked at him in surprise.

"Half a million!?"

"Imagine what he would have made if my Explosion hadn't destroyed those clones…"

Darkness and Megumin said with awed expressions.

Aqua's face paled as Naruto stood up, his form towering over her menacingly.

"Now then... About our little agreement..."

Naruto started with a cruel expression as he rubbed his hands together, much like a villain did before they were about to tell the hero their evil plan.

"N-noooo~! This man is going to take advantage of our competition and have his way with my godly figure!"

Aqua cried while squirming helplessly under the shinobi's penetrating gaze.

"Wh-what? No! I wasn't going to do anything like that… I swear, I wasn't!"

Naruto frantically said when the stares around him turned ice cold.

"G-guh…! Naruto! I challenge you to a showdown! The loser has to do anything the winner says!"

Darkness suddenly said in a serious voice, but the dangerous look in her eyes and deep blush on her face was enough for Kazuma to see right through her.

"What are you hoping to achieve by throwing that showdown? You know as well as I do that Naruto doesn't have the guts to make you girls to anything like that."

Kazuma stated while gesturing towards the shinobi.

"I'm right here, ya know…"

Naruto said with a twitching eyebrow.

"A-are you really not going to make me do anything humiliating?"

Aqua asked while looking up at the shinobi with puppy dog eyes and a quivering lip, and Naruto had to admit that her performances were getting better.

"No, I'm not. What I want is for you to admit you were wrong and apologize for rudely calling me a demon and a stalker."

Naruto said with a smirk and expected the bluenette to complain again. In the time he had come to know Aqua, he learned that she was as stubborn as a mule and would never live it down if she had to admit she was wrong.

"Oh, is that it? That's easy! It was my bad for not realizing the filthy demon stench I sensed was a demon sealed inside you! But I can't be at fault for calling you a stalker, you were following me to do research for that little performance after all! But I'll be willing to forgive you if you apologize and treat me to that special wine the guild serves!"

Aqua chirped with a bright smile, prompting Naruto to palm his face.

"Y-you actually apologized...? No wait-Why do I always need to treat you!? Also, why am I the one that's supposed to apologize!?"

Naruto barked at the unreasonable girl, and he heard the low grumbling sound of giant teeth grinding in the back of his mind.

'Naruto… My hatred for this false goddess has reached a new level… Give me the reigns, it will all be over in a couple seconds.'

'C-calm down, Kurama!'

While Naruto attempted to calm the tailed beast down, Aqua turned to the other boy in the group.

"Kazuma-san~? How much money did you make during the cabbage harvest? You see, there's a tab I built up recently… H-hey, Kazuma-san? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you thinking about lending me some money?"

Aqua said nervously when the boy in question looked at her scornfully.

"No. I was just thinking of the kind of life I could be living if I had chosen to bring something useful on my adventurer."

Kazuma stated harshly, causing Aqua to flinch. But he wasn't done there. Far from it.

"I wish I could go back and slap myself in the face for choosing to bring such a useless thing. I could have been strong like Naruto, and sleep in an actual bed without having to worry about freezing to death and waking up next to horse droppings every night! But most importantly, I could have had my own harem of girls with decent personalities! Instead, I have a priest that's only good for her party tricks, a mage that can only cast their spell once a day, and a perverted knight who wields a sword for show! Who asked for these problem children!?"

"!" x3

Not just Aqua, but Megumin and Darkness were surprised by Kazuma's sudden rant.

"H-h-how dare you! Saying such things when you were the one that forced me to come here in the first place! You should be ashamed of making the great me sleep in a stable! Apologize! Apologize for not spoiling me like you should have been doing this entire time!"

Aqua shouted back, only to quiver in fear when Kazuma focused his attention back on her.

"Apologize? I'll apologize when you actually do something useful for a change! All you've done so far is get eaten by toads and complain about not having any money! Why don't you use those party tricks to earn us some cash, huh? Or better yet, teach me your healing techniques already!"

"Nooooo! Don't take away my only means of existing! Please, Kazuma-sama!"

Aqua cried out in dismay and almost tackled Kazuma in her apology.

"How dare you mock the greatest offensive skill that is Explosion magic! This path is a hard one, but this is the life that I chose! I refuse to learn other magics! I live for Explosion magic!"

Megumin boasted while pointing her staff at Kazuma, who was currently shaking off a sobbing Aqua from his leg.

"If you're not going to learn any other magic, then you can carry our luggage like you said you would when you first joined the party. I think I also remember you saying you don't need reward money either, so long as we fed you-"

Kazuma said, but was interrupted when Megumin grabbed onto his other leg.

"Ah! W-wait! I know that's what I said, but please wait a second Kazuma-san! We can talk about this! Because not having money would be troubling…"

With two girls hopelessly clawing at his legs, Kazuma held back a groan.

'How annoying… Why did I get stuck with these people? These girls are cute, but their personalities are the worst... What about the third one?'

Kazuma thought before turning to Darkness to see if she wanted to add anything, only to find the girl blushing while staring at him expectantly. Was she waiting for her turn in his verbal lashing?

"Ah!"

Darkness gaped when Kazuma ignored her and went back to scolding the other two.

Naruto's eyes were wide as he watched Kazuma go off on his party members. The guy must have snapped.

"Listen Kazuma, I think you should calm down a bi-"

"Shut up, you generic shonen manga protagonist!"

Kazuma barked, cutting Naruto off completely.

"Wh-Huh!?"

Naruto didn't know what a manga was, but Kazuma was saying it like an insult which was enough to make him angry.

"You heard me! You're overpowered, you have a 'I fight for my friends' personality, and you're dense as hell! That's the perfect formula for a generic shonen manga protagonist! Heck, I bet you lied about not being from Japan and being a ninja! I thought your backstory sounded familiar, you probably just copied it from a manga you liked! I mean seriously, what kind of ninja wears orange!?"

Kazuma shouted and Naruto looked down until his bangs were covering his eyes.

"You can make fun of my name, my whisker marks, or even my life's story. You can even call me stupid…"

Naruto started before glaring daggers at Kazuma.

"But NO ONE makes fun of my jacket!"

"There's something seriously twisted about that statem-Ack! Oh, you wanna go? Bring it on, Gary Stu!"

Kazuma shouted when Naruto pounced on him, and even the girls jumped in on the fight.

"Stupid Kazuma… Who does he think he is making fun of my precious jacket?"

"Right? How dare he make fun of Explosion magic!"

"…Why am I here again?"

Naruto asked as he followed Megumin down a trail somewhere outside the town.

After their little skirmish broke out, they had all been "soft banned" from the guild. Naruto was about to go back to Wiz's shop since he had nothing else to do when Megumin suddenly asked him to accompany her somewhere.

"You're here because Kazuma refused to go on our daily Explosion trip since he was too angry, and no one else was willing to carry me home…"

Megumin said while muttering the last part, but Naruto heard and his eye twitched.

"Wait, so you asked me to come with you just for that? You know, I'm still annoyed about your Explosion magic destroying my clones. I could have earned ten times the amount of money with the cabbages I lost, so don't get mad if I forget something on the way back."

Naruto grumbled, but relented and continued following the little girl.

"Please don't leave me behind…"

Megumin immediately pleaded, having caught what the blonde was implying.

"So, where are we going?"

Naruto asked with a sigh.

"There's an abandoned castle up ahead that I've been casting my magic on every day. Ah~ The feeling of casting Explosion magic on something so big and hard is the best!"

Megumin said with an ecstatic expression.

A bead of sweat rolled down Naruto's cheek as he stared at the girl incredulously.

'This kid must have a screw loose in that head of hers… But damn, why do I feel like I've heard someone say something like that before?'

As Naruto was lost in thought, Megumin ran up to the top of the hill and pointed her staff to the distance.

"There it is! Prepare yourself, for I, Megumin, have returned to blast you away with the full expense of today's mana!"

Megumin declared and began to chant her spell, and the surrounding area began to visibly shake.

Naruto watched in awe as Megumin chanted. Even if he was still a rookie with all things mana, Naruto could feel the sheer amount a energy collecting at the tip of the mage's staff. It was hard to believe that such a young girl could handle that much energy.

"Explosion!"

Boom!

The earth shook violently as the castle was consumed in a fiery pillar of flames, and a deafening sound cracked before a hard breeze rushed over them. But even after all that, as the smoke lifted, the castle was still standing. Albeit a bit tattered.

What a sturdy structure.

"T-that… felt good. Oomph!"

Megumin cooed with a glazed expression as she fell to the ground.

"So that's what I've been hearing these past few days… You guys were coming all the way out here to train."

Naruto said as he nodded sagely.

"Ah, yes… Training… So what would you rate that Explosion? Kazuma has been rating them out of ten! I feel that today's explosion was quite good!"

Megumin asked with a tired, but excited voice.

Naruto hummed in thought. If he were to compare that explosion with his destructive techniques, then he would have to say it was close to a mini tailed beast bomb. Which was quite an improvement since the last time he saw her.

'Now, shall we show her what real destructive power is?'

'Not today, I'd rather not destroy Megumin's training grounds.'

Naruto thought, and Kurama grunted in dissatisfaction.

"I can't rate it out of ten since I haven't seen your other Explosions, but your magic has definitely gotten better since the last time I saw it. Maybe learning that spell wouldn't be such a bad idea…"

Naruto responded as he picked Megumin off the ground and onto his back.

"…What did you just say?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking I might learn Explosion magic. I haven't learned any other skills since I haven't really needed to, and my skill points are starting to stack."

"W-w-what!? D-d-d-do you really mean that!? Has my performance opened your eyes to the glory that is Explosion magic!?"

"W-woah! Stop moving around! I thought you couldn't move after using Explosion magic? But anyway, I only said maybe! The whole 'paralyzed from the neck down after using that magic' is still kinda bad!"

Naruto said when Megumin started moving and almost made him lose his balance. She seemed so exhausted just a second ago, but now the girl was bouncing on his back.

"I'll finally have an Explosion companion… We can be true rivals who walk down the same path! Our contests will purely consist of seeing who casts the bigger and better Explosion! Kazuma can be the judge…"

Megumin began with a brilliant smile and became lost in a daydream.

'She's not listening at all…'

Naruto thought with a wry smile on his lips.

It was almost nostalgic seeing how energetic Megumin was even though she was tired. Was he really like this when he was younger?

While Naruto was on his way back to the adventurer's guild while carrying the mana exhausted Megumin on his back, a voice called out to him across the street.

"Hey~! Boss Naruto! Over here!"

Naruto stiffened upon hearing the voice, but he kept walking.

Megumin turned her head to get a look at the person Naruto was seemingly ignoring. She knew the ninja didn't necessarily get along with the adventurers in the guild, but he didn't seem like the type of person who would ignore someone.

"Hey, who is that man with the scary looking eyes? He's calling you 'boss'. Is he one of your underlings?"

"Don't assume he's my underling just because he's calling me boss. That guy is a troublesome fellow who proudly sleeps in jail for a free meal, so just ignore him."

Naruto responded to his cargo as he slightly picked up his pace, and at the same time the shouting stopped. Did that troublesome fellow give up?

"Ah, he's coming this way."

Megumin said, crushing the shinobi's wishful thinking.

"Hey, I was calling for you Boss Naruto! It's me, Dust! Oh, what's this? Out on a date?"

Dust asked as he ran in front of Naruto, then proceeded to grin slyly upon seeing the girl on his back.

Naruto held back a groan and strained a smile. As tempting as it was to say yes and tell Dust to take a hike, Naruto didn't want people to start spreading rumors about him dating a little girl. Being branded a pedophile would be even worse than a delinquent.

"No, I was just-"

"Can't say I'm not surprised, I didn't know Boss was into lolitas! But she's a real cuitie, I'm jealous!"

Dust spoke over the shinobi with a hearty laugh.

…What's a lolita?

While Naruto was pondering on the foreign terminology, Megumin's grip around his neck tightened.

"Naruto, dear… Since I cannot move, can you do me a favor and beat this guy up for me?"

"H-hey settle down, and don't call me that! This guy will probably take you seriously!"

Naruto scolded Megumin, but the girl merely smiled bashfully.

"But what about that scenic 'walk' we just had? It was so explosive, it took all of my energy... I can't even walk."

"W-w-wha-"

Naruto sputtered when Megumin started blurting out such nonsense.

It was true they went on a walk, there was an explosion, and it left Megumin powerless. But it was the way Megumin phrased it... Was she doing it on purpose?

"W-walk… Explosive… Can't walk…?"

Dust said and swallowed as he looked between Naruto and Megumin with wide eyes, his imagination clearly running rancid.

'Oh no, he definitely misunderstood that!'

Naruto thought and was about to clear everything when Dust suddenly took off running.

"I'll get out of your way, Boss! Good luck!"

"Good luck with what!? W-wait, you're wrong!"

Naruto desperately shouted, but Dust was long gone. He grumpily glanced at Megumin, but the girl simply averted her gaze.

'Oh yeah, this girl is defiantly on the prank list…'

The shinobi thought and began to formulate a plan. The two then fell into a comfortable silence, with the sounds of food stall owners drawing in customers and bartering overtaking the atmosphere as Naruto walked.

It wasn't awkward; the two simply didn't know each other that well. Naruto himself wasn't really sure what to talk about.

"…How long have you been training? I could tell you were holding back during the cabbage hunt, and please don't just say years of hard work and guts this time."

Megumin suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sudden question, but he hummed in thought.

"Well, I've been training in the way of the ninja my entire life. But my real training started when I was thirteen when I graduated from the ninja academy and was placed in a team with some of my fellow classmates."

"I don't know what a ninja academy is, but we have a school back in the Crimson Demon Village. I just graduated half a year ago."

Megumin said, piquing Naruto's interest.

"A school for mages, huh? That sounds like fun."

Naruto said thought about the different kinds of magic spells they probably taught there. The Crimson Demon Village itself sounded fun. He found himself wanting to go there and explore.

"Not really, the classes were super boring and easy. Then again, I am the genius prodigy of the village. So of course it would be that way. I even graduated early at the top of my class."

Megumin boasted rather proudly.

"I-is that so?"

Naruto stuttered before he circled back to the original topic.

"But anyway, after training under Kakashi-sensei for a while, I left the village with my master, Jiraiya-sensei-"

"Pui!"

"-and trained with him for three... Hey, did you just spit?"

Naruto asked when he heard Megumin spit on the ground while he was talking.

"Sorry, please continue."

Megumin casually apologized, and Naruto raised an eyebrow before ultimately continuing.

"…During my training with Jiraiya-sensei-"

"Pui!"

"-I learned a lot. But it wasn't until after I returned from the village and Jiraiya-sensei-"

"Pui!"

"-passed away on a mission that I pushed myself to surpass him and learn one of the most powerful techniques from the Toads of Mount Myōboku. Something that even Jiraiya-Sensei-"

"Pui!"

"Why do you keep spitting!? Do you want me to tell you about my training or not!?"

Naruto shouted angrily and stopped walking to demand an answer.

"I'm sorry. It's just a law in the Crimson Magic Village I have to follow…"

Megumin sheepishly responded while doing her best to avoid the blonde's glare.

"What law!? You know what, never mind! I was thinking about going to that village of yours, but that place must be full of weirdos if there's a law that makes someone spit while someone is talking about something important!"

Naruto barked, causing the little girl to gawk at him.

"Wh-How dare you mock the Home of the Crimson Magic! As a Crimson Magic Clansman, I cannot overlook this! To say such things about the village is the same as picking a fight with me!"

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it when you can't even walk-Oww oww oww! Stop pulling my hair! Megumin!"

Later…

It was dinnertime, and Naruto and the others were no longer "soft banned" from the adventurer's guild. Everyone was sitting at the corner table while peacefully eating their long-awaited meals.

Well, as peaceful as a couple of wolves feasting on their first prey in a week could be. Everyone pitched in and they ordered a lot of food as an apology for the fight, mainly Naruto and Kazuma since they had made the most from the cabbage hunt.

'These girls aren't cute at all…'

Kazuma thought as he watched his party members in disdain while they dismembered the remains of a roast.

Money has been tight due to the sudden shortage of weak monsters near the town, but these girls made little to no effort to hold back and proceeded to seemingly scarf their food down whole.

'These girls could probably give Choji a run for his money right now…'

Naruto thought with a bead of seat rolling down his cheek.

"Shay, Nashuto! Are chu gonna… *Gulp!* Are you gonna eat that?"

Aqua asked after gulping down some food, then started at the plate of stir-fried cabbage in front of Naruto with hungry eyes.

"K-knock yourself out…"

Naruto said and pushed his plate forward, to which Aqua accepted with glee. His appetite had been spoiled anyway.

"Thank you~!"

Aqua cooed and greedily snatched the plate, prompting Darkness and Megumin to slam their hands on the table loudly.

"No fair!"

"Taking your boyfriend's meal is cheating!"

Were they having an eating contest? Or rather…

"She/He's not my girlfriend/boyfriend!"

The "couple" shouted at the same time, then shot each other a heated glare.

"You know what? I think I'll eat those cabbages after all. Give em back."

Naruto said and outstretched his hand, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"No, wait! Kazuma has been stealing my rations, so I'm extra hungry tonight! With the lack of easy quests right now, who knows when my next meal will be?"

Aqua hastily pleaded while bringing the closer to her protectively, and this time Kazuma slammed his hands on the table.

"Who stole who's food!? You've got some nerve to say that when I caught you hiding leftover snacks in the stables this morning! If you're so worried about food, then stop spending all your money on booze!"

Kazuma shouted while pointing at Aqua accusingly, but the girl ignored him and quickly shoved the stir-fried vegetables into her mouth.

"Why you arrogant little…"

Kazuma said while grinding his teeth, but stopped when Naruto waved him off as if to say: "Don't worry, I'll teach her a lesson later".

After that, everyone went back to eating.

Naruto decided to order his favorite Neroid juice. His appetite may have been spoiled, but he could always drink the delicious beverage that was neroid! Although, he still hadn't figured out how it was made.

"By the way, Naruto said he's learning Explosion magic."

Megumin suddenly revealed, causing Naruto to choke on his drink.

"You're actually going to learn that useless magic!?"

Kazuma asked in disbelief while looking at Naruto like he had grown a second head.

"How did Megumin convince you with that undeveloped body of hers!?"

Darkness asked while looking genuinely surprised.

"Oi. Do you two want to get kicked out again?"

Megumin asked and grabbed her staff, her eyes glowing dangerously bright.

Having cleared his throat, Naruto scratched at his whisker marks awkwardly.

"I was thinking about it since I haven't spent any of my skill points in a while…"

"How many skill points do you even have? Didn't Megumin say it could take years to gain the necessary amount of points?"

Kazuma asked, because that was the main reason he didn't want to learn Explosion magic. Why bother spending all that time grinding skill points on a spell he would only be able to use once a day? That included IF he had enough mana to cast it in the first place!

"I couldn't look earlier, but let me see your Adventurer's card. I'll judge if you are worthy of Explosion magic. If one tries to walk down the path of Explosion unprepared, you may just lose your life."

Megumin ominously said and reached across the table towards Naruto expectantly.

"In other words, you're going to see if I have enough skill points?"

Naruto asked, but handed his card over without much thought.

"You're not seriously considering that magic, are you? I mean, sure it's powerful. But you don't even have a party. What are you going to do after using Explosion and you're paralyzed?"

Kazuma asked, finding himself worried for the ninja(self-proclaimed). Unless Naruto joined a party, using Explosion magic would leave him completely defenseless.

"Like I said, I was only thinking about it since I haven't learned any other skills. I have a lot of skill points stacked… Huh?"

Naruto blinked when he felt a familiar rush in his head, like he was learning the experiences of a Shadow Clone. It was like when he learned the Steal skill…

"Did you-!?"

Naruto suddenly shouted and stood up, his eyes wide like saucers.

Kazuma followed the boy's gaze and his face paled when he realized what had happened.

Megumin, who had been in possession of Naruto's adventurer's card this whole time, had her finger firmly placed over the skills portion.

"It's possible for people to make choices on someone else's card. But does that mean Naruto had enough points to learn Explosion magic? Then why did Megumin…?"

Darkness wondered aloud with a frown, and Megumin adverted her gaze.

"My finger slipped…"

"Like hell it did!"

Naruto barked before slumping back onto his chair, his head resting in his hands as he groaned.

All of those skill points… Wasted.

Kazuma and Darkness looked back and forth between Naruto and Megumin, unsure as to how to react. On one hand, they felt bad for Naruto and wanted to say something supportive. But they couldn't think of anything. On the other, they wanted to scold Megumin for doing something so drastic without permission. But the girl had a look that said she did NOT regret her actions at all.

Everyone went silent for a couple minutes, even the guild had grown quiet.

That is, until the one person who couldn't read the mood because she was too busy eating walked over to Naruto with a skip in her step.

"Here, this is for sharing your food with me! You can praise me if you want to!"

Aqua chirped and placed a napkin on the table in front of Naruto, beckoning him to pick it up.

'She's giving me a napkin… What the?'

Naruto thought as he picked up the napkin, only to find that it was actually a large folded piece of paper that had the rough shape of a toad underneath.

"Look out! It's a nasty toad! Also, look! There's a tiny me inside! Save me!"

Aqua wailed as she opened the paper toad's mouth, and there was tiny paper figure inside that faintly resembled the goddess.

Naruto looked at Aqua in bewilderment before his eyes lit up in realization. Reaching into his ninja pouch, Naruto pulled out the straw Aqua made him and stuck it into his neroid juice. After the straw turned yellow, he brought it towards the paper toad and knocked it to the side.

"Yay! You saved tiny me! You sure took your time!"

Aqua cheered, and a smile cracked on Naruto's face.

"…Heroes always arrive late, Arch Priest-san! Oh? Is that a blush I see?"

"I-I am not blushing! I mean-For saving this Arch Priest-sama, you are allowed one wish! You also have the privilege of treating me to dinner. Make sure there's wine."

"Wait, why am I treating you to dinner!? Shouldn't it be the other way around!?"

Naruto raged, before he shoved the tiny Aqua back into the toad's mouth.

"Take this!"

"Ah!"

As the two began to fight over the paper toad, Kazuma watched with a flat expression until they finally reached an agreement for the next scene.

"… What are you two doing?"

"Don't mess up the last part, Kazuma! You didn't do anything except stand there with a dumb look on your face, remember?"

Aqua said while blocking the teen off with an arm.

'She's really into reenacting the scene…'

Kazuma thought, a tick mark forming on his forehead. He then turned to Megumin, who was still staring at Naruto's adventurer's card with a triumphant look on her face. Letting out a sigh, Kazuma wondered if he would ever meet a normal person in this world.

A/N: Dang, this one looks like a full chapter! Sure feels like it! Thank you Acidash for going beta mode and making this chapter squeaky clean!

This chapter was another good example of the differences between Naruto and Kazuma's personalities, especially with how they deal with Aqua's shenanigans. :p

Also... Naruto (unwillingly) learns Explosion magic!

The Explosion skill costs a lot of points to learn, fifty to be exact. Naruto, with the combined skill points he had naturally when he first came to this world, and the numerous points he gained from leveling, was just enough to learn it.

Why wouldn't Megumin take advantage of the situation to have an Explosion companion? XD