A/N: Revised as of 4/9/2024/2024.
"Are you sure that you'll be able to convince Aqua to come with us? That girl can be quite stubborn, you know?"
Kazuma asked as they ascended the stairs towards Naruto's place of residence.
"That may be true, but I'm sure that she'll come around if I ask nicely. I've gotten pretty good at handing that girl."
Naruto bragged while pointing a thumb at himself, but Kazuma remained unconvinced.
Dealing with Aqua was not an easy task. If you were too nice to her, she was quick to exploit that kindness. Naruto was a nice person, so long as you stayed on his good side, and Kazuma was worried that the blonde was being taken advantage of again.
"Come to think of it, hasn't something like this happened before in the past? Naruto seems rather lenient on Aqua when she bosses him around. You don't think he's like Darkness, is he?"
Megumin whispered into her party member's ear.
"Hey now… Don't say such scary things, Megumin. You'll raise a flag."
Kazuma responded while shivering at the thought of Naruto having similar tendencies as their party's resident "M".
At the same time, Naruto stopped at his door and unlocked it. The shinobi then proceeded to step inside with a bubbly smile adorning his face.
"Aqua~! I'm home~!"
"Oh! You're back early!"
Aqua sprang off the bed and ran over to the entrance to greet Naruto with a toothy smile of her own.
"Welcome home darling~! Would you like to make us lunch? Or have us?"
Cecily cooed something unbefitting that of a nun from her spot on the bed.
'Are we still doing the family setting thing? Or rather… Is Naruto always being greeted like this when he comes home!?'
Kazuma thought with a twitchy eyebrow when he suddenly felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Looks like our girl found a new home, Kazuma-san. Let's just go…"
Megumin whimpered while wiping a tear from her eye.
Ignoring the heartbroken mother, Kazuma turned his attention back to the others. Either Cecily's obvious implication went over the shinobi's head, or he just chose to ignore it as he jumped straight to business.
"I'll make us all lunch, but we'll eat it once we get to the dungeon."
Naruto said while patting Aqua on the head affectionately, but the girl squirmed away from his reach upon hearing his proclamation.
"Eh~? A dungeon? Why would we eat in such a cold and damp place? Don't wanna~!"
Aqua complained with puffy cheeks.
"That's right! If you want to bring us to a dark place, you can just turn off all of the lights and close the shades! The neighbors won't complain about the noise, I already asked."
Cecily added with a dangerous gleam in her eyes, puffs of steam coming out of her nose.
"…I'm not even going to ask. Anyways, Kazuma needs Aqua to go on this quest, and I decided to come along, so you're coming too, Cecily. After all, we still need to pay off your debt."
Naruto explained and stepped out of the way to reveal Kazuma and Megumin standing in the doorway.
Cecily squealed in delight upon seeing the little girl.
"Megumin~!"
"Geh…! C-can't breathe…!"
"Mmf! This size… *Sniff!* This smell… Perfect loli! Yunyun is good too, but she's a little too mature for my tastes."
With a now limp Megumin who was foaming at the mouth in her arms, Cecily turned back to Naruto relented a sigh.
"Fine, I guess I'll go. If only to make sure this child is kept safe!"
"I wanna go home…"
Megumin whimpered with fish-like eyes as the Axis Cultist to her to the bed to brush her hair.
'My condolences…'
Kazuma thought and sent a mental salute to the mage of his party. That priestess seemed just as troublesome as Aqua in her own right, but with her own unique quirks that were just as bothersome.
But this was fine since Megumin wouldn't be going into the dungeon in the first place. Now all that was left was Aqua…
"Come on, Aqua... Please? Just come with us!"
"Don't wanna! Don't wanna! Don't wanna~!"
Naruto was trying his best to convince the stubborn goddess to join them, but he seemed to be getting nowhere. The girl was now flailing about on the ground like a child who didn't want to go to school.
They didn't even need to bring her, as Kazuma felt he'd probably be okay with just Naruto. But he still had his pride as an adventurer! He couldn't keep relying on Naruto all of the time!
Kazuma was about to intervene when the shinobi suddenly walked towards the kitchen, a sly grin on his face.
"If you go with us… I'll make your favorite Food of the Gods-style ramen tonight~!"
Naruto offered while patting a crate inside of his kitchen, where he likely stored his ingredients.
Aqua stopped squirming on the floor and glanced up with one eye warily.
On the other hand, Kazuma was utterly baffled. Ramen? Naruto was going to bait Aqua of all people with ramen?
Then again, Wiz seemed to have some sort of weird withdrawal symptom whenever she went without eating the stuff for too long… Naruto wasn't drugging those noodles, was he?
But it seemed even the "food of the gods" wasn't enough to convince the goddess as she turned away in a huff.
This seemed to really hit Naruto hard as he sank to his knees in disbelief. But his disbelief quickly turned to anger as a tick-mark formed on his forehead.
"F-fine! You can do whatever you want when we get back! Just come with us to the dungeon, alright!?"
"Deal!"
Looks like Naruto still had a long way to go when it came to dealing with Aqua. But for whatever reason, Kazuma could have sworn he saw Naruto smiling as they filed out into the hallway. He really hoped his troublesome party member wasn't awakening something dark in the shinobi.
The last thing the former high school student needed was another problem child to deal with.
Adventurer's Guild…
"Oh, welcome Naruto-san, and Kazuma-san! Are you heading out to Keele's Dungeon together?"
Luna chirped as Naruto and Kazuma walked up to the reception stalls.
"Yup! We just wanted to stop by to let you know, Luna-chan. Oh, and to pick up Yunyun too."
Naruto responded with a grin that was just as cheerful. Was it just him, or was Luna in a rather good mood?
"Is that Yunyun over there? She looks beat…"
Kazuma asked and pointed towards to the back corner of the guild where Yunyun usually waited for Naruto.
Despite the rowdiness of the other adventurers who were still drinking their Destroyer reward money away, the younger girl was sleeping rather soundly with her face rested on her arms.
"Ah, yes… That Crimson Demon has been accommodating me these past few days and even lends me an ear when I need to vent. Yesterday, I had to break up yet another fight between some of the adventurers. Honestly… There aren't that many quests because most of the weaker monsters are hibernate during the winter. But all these men have been doing is getting wasted all day and night. I just hope this doesn't last after Winter passes. Of course, I'll have you to rely on if quests start to pile up. Right, Naruto-san?"
Luna shook her head before asking a question that Naruto would have been more than happy to hear at any other time. But the fact that the woman's cheerful demeanor never left her features despite her complaints sent shivers down the shinobi's spine.
Scary…
"O-of course!"
Naruto stuttered before saying his farewells to the busty guild lady. That must be why Luna was in such a good mood. Naruto knew full-well that the head receptionist had a rather stressful job. Yunyun must have taken the full brunt of Luna's frustrations…
Maybe it was best to let Yunyun have a break today.
"Rope… Check! Potions… Check! Lantern… Check! Emergency Rations… Check!"
Standing in front of a cave entrance that was Keele's Dungeon, Kazuma listed off his dungeon exploration essentials before wrapping them in small blankets and placing them into his backpack.
"You sure came prepared."
Naruto commented while looking over his fellow teen's shoulder with an impressed look.
"Fufu… In games, one could never be too prepared when entering a dungeon. You never know what will happen, or how long you'll be in there."
Kazuma claimed with a confident smirk as he showed off the knowledge he had gained over the years from fantasy games.
"Who needs all that useless stuff when you have the great me with you?"
Aqua bragged while puffing her chest out with pride.
"Oh, is that so? Great, because this bag was getting kinda heavy with all this food. I guess I'll just leave our lunch with Megumin and Cecily-"
"W-wait! I'll go hungry in there if you do that! Please don't, Kazuma-san!"
While Kazuma was busy prying a teary Aqua from his legs, Naruto pulled out a scroll from his ninja pouch.
"You know, Kazuma… If your bag is too heavy, I can always store yours and Aqua's rations in one of my Storage Scrolls?"
Naruto offered, and to give an example, he placed his own lunch onto the scroll that he had laid out on the floor and made a hand sign with his other hand.
Poof!
Kazuma's eyes widened when the food disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only the scroll with strange markings on it.
'Convenient! N-no, wait! I need to go through this dungeon with as little help from Naruto as possible…'
With that thought, Kazuma held a hand up and shook his head.
"I appreciate it, but no thanks. I want to see how far I can go with my own power. But please teach me how to make those scrolls later."
"So that's how it is… Sure thing, Kazuma!"
Though he said that, Naruto wasn't sure if he could teach Kazuma at all. After all, making and using a storage scroll was a jutsu that required chakra.
Naruto pondered while tapping his chin in thought. Would he be able to teach someone ninjutsu even if they had no chakra? This was something that he would need to test later on.
"Alright, let's go!"
Kazuma declared and set off to march into the dungeon for the very first time in his adventuring career. He could barely contain his excitement! This was the first time that he was going to experience something that was ACTUALLY fantasy-like since coming to this world! At least since he learned elementary magic.
"Good luck, you three! I'll be sure to keep Megumin nice and warm while you're in there!"
Cecily chirped while waving goodbye with her free hand, the other squeezing Megumin into her bosom.
"Help…"
The Crimson Demon's muffled voice came out from the blonde priestess's clothes.
Naruto chuckled awkwardly while waving back to his fellow blonde. He was pretty sure that Megumin would be alright with Cecily… Hopefully.
"It's kinda dark in here… But I'll be fine with my new skill: Foresight! Couple this together with my other skill, Danger Sense, and we won't have to worry about monsters ambushing us in the dark! Impressive, right?"
Kazuma boasted as he crept down the poorly lit stairs with ease.
"Fufufu! Silly Kazuma… Have you forgotten who I am? I can see perfectly fine in here with my God Vision! It might as well be daytime in here for me~!"
Aqua boasted back before skipping a few steps to catch up to Naruto with her hand outstretched.
"Since you probably can't see very well right now, I'll allow you to hold my hand so you don't fall, Naruto!"
"That's okay. I can see just fine with my trained Ninja Vision!"
Naruto replied while stepping over some rubble to prove his point.
Kazuma grumbled to himself. The look of disappointment on Aqua's face probably would have been funny if it weren't for his failed attempt at showing off. Just what kind of monsters was he acquainted with anyway?
Also, what was this "God Vision" and "Ninja Vision"? Were those actual skills?
—For the next couple minutes of walking through the dungeon, nothing eventful happened.
Luna had explained that Keele's Dungeon had already been explored and mapped by plenty of adventurers, save for the recently discovered secret entrance marked on their map.
So, while they were making their way towards the secret entrance, Kazuma decided to ask Naruto a few questions that he had been meaning to ask.
"I heard that Dust quit your party the other day. Did something happen?"
"Ah, um… Dust missed his old party and… didn't approve of a certain magic item I used on our quests."
Naruto muttered the last bit while scratching at his whisker marks, something which immediately drew Kazuma's suspicion.
"What kind of item?"
"A necklace that attracts rare and powerful monsters."
"…Oi, Oi! You're not wearing that thing right now, are you!?"
Kazuma demanded while taking a step away from the shinobi. Now that he thought about it, a magic item like that would explain why they were attacked by a One-Shot Bear during Naruto and Megumin's Explosion competition, as well as that Abominable Snowman appearing while they were being confronted by the Winter Shogun.
In other words, it was that necklace's fault that he died again!
"Don't worry, I don't need such an item anymore! Luna-chan gave me permission to do more difficult quests without a full party anyway. Although, I do wonder what would happen if I brought that necklace on one of those quests…"
Naruto explained before adding something rather dangerous at the end with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
The two walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds being their footsteps and Aqua's light humming.
Then-
"Please throw away that necklace."
"I refuse."
When Naruto declined without hesitation, Kazuma realized the reason why Dust left the shinobi's party. This guy was dangerous!
"Hey, Naruto? What happened to that creep with the magic sword that you beat? Y-you know, the one you made that promise to?"
Aqua suddenly stopped humming and asked, having missed the two boy's entire conversation.
"Creep with a magic… Oh, you mean Mitsurugi!"
Naruto bopped a fist into his hand when he realized who Aqua was referring to.
"You two should apologize to that guy later…"
Kazuma muttered with a sigh. Mitsurugi's hero complex was one thing, and he was quite unreasonable to challenge him to a duel that one time, but the guy had good intentions. So there was no need to hold a grudge.
"After the trial, Mitsurugi actually asked me to join his party."
"!?" x2
When Naruto suddenly mentioned such a surprising development with a casual expression, Kazuma and Aqua almost tripped on their own feet.
"W-what nerve! First, that man unreasonably challenges you to a dual, then he doesn't even show up at the trial to defend you!"
Aqua steamed while stomping her foot on the ground.
'If I recall, weren't you one of the reasons that Mitsurugi was so mistakenly angry at Naruto?'
Kazuma retorted in his mind, but he quickly dismissed the thought and turned to Naruto.
"You obviously didn't accept his offer though, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be here with us right now."
"Yeah, that's right. I declined. He had wanted to take me closer to the capital where most of the battles with the Demon King's army are taking place. But I told him I still had things to take care of in this town, and people I couldn't say goodbye to yet…"
Naruto clarified his answer to the Sword Master's request. Besides, Mitsurugi sounded a lot more serious about taking down the Demon King than he was right now, and if Naruto was being truthful, he didn't want to defeat the Demon King yet.
He was having fun helping Wiz with her shop, going on quests with Yunyun, and coming home to Aqua's smile…
'My god… You're completely smitten to that monstrosity! Did you lose a part of your brain after coming to this world?'
'Shaddup! I don't want to hear that from a monster fox who plays with his friend's body in the middle of the night!'
'P-play…!? Before I educate you in your lack of context, must I remind you that my taking over your body was for a just cause!'
Ignoring Kurama's nonsensical rambling, Naruto crossed his arms in frustration. Leaving the fox's irrational hatred for Aqua aside, he was genuinely enjoying himself and felt that things were only about to get better.
It might sound selfish, but he wanted things to remain they way they were for a little while longer. Besides, Jiraiya said he needed to work on his standing in the kingdom before taking down the Demon King.
While Naruto was lost in his own thoughts, Kazuma was eyeing his party's priestess who was currently hiding her face. He didn't need his Foresight ability to tell she was blushing hard right now.
'Yup. That girl definitely mistook Naruto's reason for staying.'
But then again, Naruto seemed to genuinely enjoy Aqua's company. So maybe this situation wasn't all that bad?
He had this doubts before, but wouldn't it be good if Naruto and Aqua crossed the line and became lovers? That would mean that Aqua wouldn't be his problem anymore! She'd be Naruto's responsibility!
If that was the case, then maybe he should-
'Wait a second… I might just be overthinking here, but…'
Kazuma glanced over his shoulder to look back at Naruto and Aqua when a sudden thought hit him.
Aqua, despite her faulty personality, was a goddess with a limitless pool of mana and was a complete scatterbrain. On the other hand, Naruto, while not the brightest person either, had the mind of master trickster and the power to wipe out an entire nation if he wanted to.
If those two were to ever have a kid, their offspring would have nearly limitless potential. If that child was born with a faulty personality like his/her parents…
. . .
Kazuma vowed to keep those two from ever crossing the line. For the sake of the world.
A/N: Long time no see! It's been a while, huh? I do apologize for those who are suffering STWS, other known as "Shinobi's Take Withdrawal Syndrome" Ooooh~! 0_0
…Just kidding!
Review or P.M. me if you have any questions/comments/concerns for the story, or if you just wanna chat.
See you in the next one!