Summary: Flung into a world of advanced technology and magical fantasy, can a war torn hero defies the future that has already been decided and finds his own happiness there, or will he once again become an instrument of fate and lose all that he cares about? Lucky for him, his new friend seems to know a thing or two about the fate of her world, in a way one could not possibly imagine. [FF7R]
This is a crossover between Naruto and the Remake continuation of Final Fantasy VII, and eventually Rebirth.
Inspired by The Legend of Gaia's Sennin written by The Engulfing Silence, carrying many similar elements that I take no credits of – although I have received the permission to use these elements for this story from the author himself. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and creators!
"Naruto" Normal Speech.
'Naruto' Normal Thought.
"Rasengan" Magic/Jutsu/Technique.
"Kurama" Demon/Monster/Bijuu Normal Speech.
'Kurama' Demon/Monster/Bijuu Thought.
Defiers of Fate
Chapter 4
Life moves on
"Yo, chef. Can I have another bowl, please?"
"Seriously? Another? You sure can eat, kid. Coming right up."
Naruto chuckled as he spun around in his seat, having just finished eating his fourth bowl of noodles from a street food vendor in Wall Market, a shopping center and the foremost entertainment quarter of the undercity located in Sector 6 Slums. It was the closest thing to his beloved ramen that the blond could find in Midgar, since about two weeks ago, Naruto had discovered that ramen did not exist in this world, much to his dismay.
"Thank you!"
Naruto smiled as he casted his lingering gaze back on Aerith, watching her as she continued to sell flowers near the busy crossroad just a few feet away from him. It had been a little close to a month since his arrival in Gaia, but not much had changed for him in that time. Aside from completing daily mercenary jobs to earn his living in the Slums, the blond spent his time accompanying Aerith wherever she went, refusing to leave her alone when she left her house after taking it upon himself to watch over and protect the girl like a bodyguard
The night that they had been attacked by the Turks, Aerith had told him everything that she knew about her people, what little she was aware of at least, although it was still more than what he could find in planetology books that still had pieces of information about them. The Ancients, more often referred to as the Cetra, was one of the first civilizations of the Gaia, being believed to be the original stewards of the planet who had the power to communicate with it and was deeply spiritual in nature.
It seemed that at some point, most of the Cetra died out, with Aerith claiming herself to be the last remaining Cetra on Gaia. Naruto wasn't sure if the claim was true or not, but he had chosen to believe her. The only other Cetra that she knew had long since 'returned to the planet', being none other than her late biological mother.
Aerith had revealed to Naruto the same night that she was adopted, although the blond had actually figured that out himself after discovering that Elmyra had no photo of her below the age of seven in the house, which at first he didn't think much of.
Regardless, the fact that Shinra was after her solidified her claim. If there had been anyone else, without a doubt they would have made a big fuss about it due to their relentless, public pursuit of what was known as the Promised Land, a land of eternal happiness that Shinra saw only as a mine full of exploitable mako energy for their reactors, a land that they believed only a Cetra could lead them to.
Whether or not this land actually existed remained a mystery even to Aerith, but President Shinra and his closest subordinates seemed to think otherwise.
Despite the fact that Elmyra had struck a deal with Tseng, the leader of the Turks, that he would leave Aerith alone if she kept close watch of her adopted daughter and told them the location of the Promised Land the moment that Aerith knew, the past two years Shinra had been sending a Turk to retrieve Aerith and bring her to Hojo, the head of Shinra's Science Research Division, who would then conduct medical evaluations on her to keep a close watch on her condition. They believed that as Aerith grew older, she would grow stronger spiritually and magically and her connection with the planet would deepen, allowing her to eventually learn the whereabouts of the Promised Land.
And so far, their theory had yet to be proven wrong. They were even right about her magical ability, as Aerith could use her Materia at a level only a handful other people on the planet could. Her mastery over elemental Materia was also exceptional, allowing her to cast spells with incredible destructive power beyond that of even experienced users within Shinra. The past few years, she had also developed magic and abilities that were unique to her, using them to drive Shinra away and escape a number of times, although Naruto had a feeling the only reason she was left alone had been because Hojo already had enough evaluations from watching her using those powers.
But the times that she couldn't get away, Aerith would be taken back to Shinra's headquarters. She never went into detail about what happened during those evaluation sessions, but it had been Hojo's cruel experiments that had weakened and led her mother to her death the day that they could finally run away from Shinra after being held captive there for seven long years.
Just the thought of Aerith being treated as a test subject and having to endure the same treatments made his blood boil. That night, after seeing her to her room Naruto had made a vow to himself that he would protect her, and never allow Shinra to lay their hand on Aerith ever again.
"So, are you gonna just stand there all day?"
Naruto asked loudly as he picked up a piece of pebble on the ground and threw it at the door of a nearby building, making Cissnei widen her eyes before cursing quietly under her breath, having no other choice but to remove herself from her hiding spot since her cover had been blown.
"How long have you known?" She asked, her voice as cold and serious as it had been while she kept the look on her face neutral, hiding her feeling well. Naruto had to give it to her. She would have made a talented kunoichi if she had been born in his world.
"Since the moment we entered Wall Market."
Naruto said as he received another bowl of noodles from the chef, who looked rather worried at the sight of Cissnei. Everyone in Wall Market knew what that black, tailored suit she was wearing meant, since the local crime lord of the area, who also ran the place, Don Corneo, was publicly known to work for feed information to Shinra. With the Turks being an intelligence agency, it would be obvious if they were the ones who actively dealt with the guy.
"You're not the first cute stalker that I have, so don't be so surprised."
Cissnei choked as she blushed, not just at the compliment but at the fact that this unknown man who had been protecting the Ancient actually gave her one before he picked up his chopsticks and went on to casually slurp on his noodles, not noticing the way she reacted to his compliment.
"And you can also tell your unit to stand down. As long as you guys don't give me a reason, I will just sit here and enjoy this wonderful dish that reminds me a bit of home in peace."
Naruto said as he gave Aerith, who had noticed what was going on and looked at him worriedly from the other side of the street, an assured smile, silently telling her that everything was still under control. It seemed to ease the nerves of the young woman somewhat, and she went back to selling her flowers, albeit with a lot less enthusiasm, and she also kept glancing back at him.
"What unit?" Cissnei asked with a face that couldn't be more straight.
"How much Gil are you willing to bet that I can kill the two men over there and over there with these chopsticks before they can even pull their triggers?" Naruto asked, pointing his chopstick at the rooftops of the building behind his back, and then the one on the left side of him, where two snipers were aiming their weapons at his head, although they were not the only ones that he had noticed.
Cissnei just stood there and looked at the man in silence, worrying that if she even dared to blink, he would defeat the infantry unit again like the last time. Cissnei still had no idea how he did it. Was it some super speed attack? Did he use a special Materia that they had no idea about? Did he have an invisible ally? There were so many questions about him that were still unanswered, and it pissed her off.
With just a small sigh to maintain her mask of a professional, Cissnei reached for the communication device she wore on her collar and ordered the sniper unit. "Stand down. Our cover has been blown. Lower your weapons and wait for my next order. One wrong move and we're all dead."
"Nope. They are all dead. You, on the other hand… I guess I will just send you back to your boss again." Naruto said casually before he lifted himself up, causing Cissnei to become slightly alarmed. However, he simply moved to the other empty chair next to him, and gestured to the one he had previously sit on "You've been standing all morning. Wanna come and sit down?"
"I'm not tired."
"How about some noodles?"
"I'm not hungry either."
"Man, you sure are cold." Naruto said with an amused grin, turning back momentarily to his food and slurping up another mouthful of noodles before asking. "Then, how about…"
"Can you, like... talk after you have swallowed your food?" Cissnei asked, dropping her professional look for the first time to speak to Naruto in slight disgust. However, when she saw him swallowing the food and then grinning knowingly at her, the red haired woman found herself saying. "You did that on purpose."
"Say who? Even Aerith told me I had bad table manners, you know." Naruto said innocently, making a tick mark appear on Cissnei's forehead as her left eye twitched uncharacteristically. She could feel her patience slipping… and it's slipping fast.
"I take that you're back for Aerith again." Naruto asked as Cissnei continued to refuse to move from where she was standing. "Where are the other two guys by the way?"
"What? You don't think I can get the job done myself?" Cissnei said "And not just the Ancient, we have been order to bring you in as well."
"Try, more like." Naruto chuckled, although he was not surprised. Granted he had a little bit of help from Aerith, but how many people could defeat three Turks and a unit of Shinra infantry without even breaking a sweat? How many could dodge and deflect bullets with extreme precision using a kunai? How many non-Shinra personnel individuals in Midgar could use Wutai type weapons with such mastery? Obviously President Shinra would want to bring him in for questioning, and Hojo would want to have him on the table for dissection to learn all the secrets that he possessed. Naruto was more surprised that they took such a long time to come back, and didn't send more…
Unless…
"Do you have your shuriken with you?" Naruto asked suddenly before Cissnei could open her mouth to say something else "What's its name again? Rekka?"
"Not gonna crack a joke about my weapon?" Cissnei asked sarcastically as she brought out Rekka using her right hand. Not counting the number of times she had been insulted and addressed by soldiers before she achieved her position as a Turk for preferring a Wutai weapon, Cissnei could think of five different ways to make fun of Rekka herself.
"I'm not that kind of guy. Plus, your shuriken is pretty neat." Naruto said as he put the empty bowl of noodles down, before pointing his chopsticks at Cissnei to continue "Open it after you have turned around and faced that wall over there. Your soldier won't get the wrong idea if you have your back to me."
"What are you trying to do?"
"Just do it. Pretty please."
Cissnei just stared at the strange man, finding the grin on his face increasingly annoying. He could be quite serious, but whenever he acted more laid back, he reminded her so much of him that it was almost scary, always knowing exactly how to get on her nerves, and crack a joke to break down her professional mask while she's at work.
Sighing, Cissnei decided to do what he told her to, turning around to face the empty wall behind her, though she continued to keep her eyes on him, glancing at the blond from over her shoulder. With a flick of her wrist, Rekka opened up, spreading out with all four blades at the ready.
"Show me your throw." Cissnei almost turned fully around to look at him "Just do it."
Narrowing her eyes at the blond, the red haired Turk turned back and raised her shuriken, holding it on the left side of her head.
"Stop." Naruto suddenly said, and it was only then that Cissnei realized he was standing right next to her. She almost jumped and immediately tried to leap back from him, but Naruto had grabbed her shuriken arm and pulled it to the side, making it so that she was holding Rekka on her left instead after adjusting her shoulder. "Widen your stance a bit more. Like this."
As he said that, he moved one foot up between her knees and spread them, making Cissnei awkwardly move her legs out so she would not fall over... or worse, toward him.
"Now, throw your Shuriken at that wall. Do it with your whole body, not just your arm." Naruto then said as he stepped back and pointed a finger at the wall Cissnei had been facing. Giving him a quick look, Cissnei tilted her body back a little to build up some momentum before she shot forward and threw Rekka with all her strength. The shuriken spun through the air before embedding itself almost all the way through the wall with a loud thunk, leaving Cissnei to stare at it in surprise and amazement.
"Not bad. It's a bit trickier to throw while moving, but you got the fundamentals down. Give it some practice and you will be even better." Naruto said as he looked at the shuriken in the wall before moving his hand slowly out in a neck chop toward Cissnei, who instinctively leaned back while glancing at him. "And consider having a sidearm. I'd recommend a short sword or a kunai, but whatever you feel most comfortable with. You leave yourself vulnerable after you throw away your weapon. I know leaving yourself seemingly defenseless is part of your boomerang trick, but it won't work all the time."
"Why are you telling me all that?" Cissnei asked while glancing suspiciously at Naruto, who smiled.
"Why not? You're really cute, and you use shuriken like I do." Cissnei felt her cheeks heat up "And Aerith told me you looked after her whenever she was forced to stay overnight at Shinra headquarter. That alone is enough to make you kinda okay in my book."
"Kinda?"
"You're still working for them." Naruto said with a gesture of his head at the giant structure of metal above them. "As long as they continue to send you guys after Aerith, we will still be enemies."
"So, there's nothing that I can do to convince you to let me bring her back for maybe… an evening, is there?" Cissnei asked, finding herself sighing a little.
"No. But you can tell your boss he can stop wasting both of our time. I will not allow that Hojo man to be anywhere near Aerith ever again." Naruto said simply, making Cissnei glance over to him before she saw Aerith standing at the crossroad looking at them. "Oh well, I guess that's my cue to leave. It was nice talking to you."
As he said that, Naruto strolled over to the noodle vendor and settled his bill with the chef, before turning his attention back to Aerith and waving his hand at her with a grin. The brunette returned his smile and waved back, at the same time acknowledging Cissnei with a nod when she caught her eye.
"Until next time, Cissnei."
Cissnei watched as Naruto walked away, his hand waving at her above his head as he went. She almost said goodbye in return, her lips already parting slightly to mouth the word, but she stopped herself before she could do so, despite feeling a strange appeal at the idea.
Still, the red haired Turk remained standing there and kept her eyes on the mysterious blond, waiting for him to reach Aerith to walk over to her weapon and yank the wall… hard. As Cissnei looked at her Rekka, she couldn't help but recall his instructions on how to better use the weapon, and how his hands had gently adjusted her arm as he corrected her posture, causing her to blush a little.
"Dang it…" Cissnei groaned in frustration as she shut her eyes and ruffled furiously at her hair.
She hated how much of a complete mess her feelings were.
"Is everything alright?" Aerith asked in concern once Naruto had gotten to her.
"Better than ever." Naruto answered as he flashed Aerith a grin "I just learn from Cissnei that Shinra is now after me too. Guess we have something in common now."
"Shouldn't you be worried?" The Cetra asked as she walked with Naruto out of Wall Market, heading toward the Northern exit to start making their way home in Sector 5 Slums.
"Nah, not really." Naruto answered with an amused chuckle before he asked "Say, do you always come to Wall Market on this day of the month?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Cissnei was here before we did. She must have studied your traveling pattern and set up an ambush with the hope to catch you without me around, or at least at the moment I lowered my guard." Naruto nodded "We can't rule out the possibility that the other Turks also know of it, so maybe you should think about altering your destinations randomly from now on."
"That would be too bad." Aerith answered with her shoulders slumping in disappointment "Some of my regular customers always expect me to come by and buy lots of flowers on the days that I go to their Sectors."
"Well, I guess that would certainly be a problem then…" Naruto said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"It's alright. I honestly don't think it will be a problem." Aerith shrugged while smiling at the blond, who returned it "Hey, maybe tomorrow we can head back to Sector 7 Slums and see Tifa?"
"That…"
"We have had enough of you, Madame M!"
Before Naruto could answer, a voice caused both Aerith and Naruto to look over to a building near the exit of Wall Market, seeing a group of men grouping up in front of a woman, who had a slender, yet incredibly attractive physique. She had light skin, black hair pinned up with elaborate golden hairpins, dark brown eyes, and sported purple eyeshadow and red lipstick. Her outfit was a black kimono with a golden flower pattern secured by a patterned orange obi tied in the front. Her right shoulder was left bare, revealing the bandage that she wore over her large breasts underneath. In addition, she also wore a pair of black geta sandals, and carried in her hand a fan that matches her kimono.
"Do you already forget who I am? I suggest you gentlemen leave me be or there will be trouble." The woman said in a voice that was both chilling yet soft, waving her fan at her as she stood fearlessly in front of the group of men with one hand on her hip.
One of the men standing at the front laughed arrogantly as he took a step closer to her. "Oh, there will be trouble, alright? Trouble for you!"
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Aerith shouted as she rushed forward "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
"Huh?"
One of the thugs expressed his confusion with a simple "Huh?" as they all turned to face Aerith, who instinctively took a step back as each thug was much larger and more intimidating than she had made them out to be from behind. "Hey, guys! Take a look at girly over here!"
"You want to mess with us?" The lead thug asked as he brought out from behind him a bat.
"Hey boss, don't you think that she's rather pretty?" A masked thug asked excitedly as he rushed up to the boss, causing the others to agree with him before he looked at Aerith and continued "Hey girl, wanna ditch your boyfriend and come hang out with real men?"
"And what's with all those flowers? You trying to smell nice for us, or something?" The group of thugs roared in laughter, while Aerith just clenched her fists and glared at them.
"Here you go, milady." Naruto chuckled as he walked up to Aerith and handed the girl her staff "I can hold onto the flowers for you, if you want."
"And now she has a staff with her? What are you gonna do with that? You gonna give us a little twirl…"
Before the leader could finish, Aerith had thrust her staff right at his face, in a move that Naruto had taught her. With a loud crunch, she knocked a tooth off and sent the thug tumbling to the ground while the rest of his gang stood there and watched the sudden turn of events in stunned silence.
"Well?" Aerith asked as she drew her staff back and held it ready at her side.
"Get that bitch!"
Recovering, the other thugs did as the command of their angered leader, who whimpered on the ground, and lunged towards Aerith with menacing cries. But before they could reach her, Naruto swiftly stepped in and kicked the closest one to her away while holding Aerith's basket of flowers above his head, sending him flying before crashing into nearby trash cans. Another thug rushed at Aerith with a knife, but Naruto had pulled out his kunai and threw it at the weapon, effectively disarming him by knocking it out of his hand and allowing Aerith to thrust her staffs into his guts, using his own momentum against him and sending him tumbling back while holding his stomach in pain.
Together, the two swiftly took care of the remaining thugs, with Naruto making sure that none of them would be able to reach Aerith so she could freely practice the moves he had been teaching her to defend herself without having to rely on her Materia and magic all the time to defend herself. Not that Naruto would ever allow a situation where she would have to defend herself alone, however.
"Damnnn you!"
At last, with the rest of his gang on the ground whimpering in pain, the recovered leader ran at them with a club, and Naruto was fully ready to deal with the guy. The blond was stopped, however, not by any of the other thugs, but from seeing his own breath, noticing the sudden drop in temperature around him before he saw a layer of ice spread rapidly on the ground toward the thug. Not noticing it, he slipped, his body almost a horizontal line as his feet swung up into the air before he fell down hard on his back with a cry of pain.
Tracing the trail of ice back to its source after realizing that it was not Aerith who had caused it, Naruto finally landed his gaze on Madame M, who was standing with her fan on a spot of the wall next to her, a sneer etching across her face as she slowly lowered her hand down and left behind a bluish trail of ice from the tip of her fan, which seemed to cause the ice there to thicken. Lowering the fan to her hips, the woman then walked elegantly toward the leader of the thug, with impeccable balance on the frozen ground, and did something that stunned both Naruto and Aerith.
She kicked the thug in the stomach in the most thuggish way they had seen.
"GET THE FUCK OFF MY ESTABLISHMENT, YOU THUGS!" The woman yelled as they scrambled to their feet and ran away in fear while crying in terror "IF I EVER SEE YOUR FACE AROUND HERE I AGAIN I SWEAR I WILL HAVE YOU ALL DRAGGED INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE TOWN AND PUBLICLY SHOT, YOU HEAR ME?"
"Now…" Clearing her throat, the woman elegantly turned her attention over to Naruto and Aerith and hummed while matching toward them, her voice soft and smooth as silk. "What can I do for you lovebirds, hmm?"
"L-lovebirds?" Aerith stuttered, while Naruto couldn't say anything when Madame M suddenly put her fan against his chin and tilted his head back.
"What are you…" Naruto asked as he leaned his head away, earning himself a warning tap on the shoulder from the woman as she gave him a hard look that clearly told him to be still. Furrowing his eyebrows, the blond watched as she began to trace her fan down his shoulder, and then his arm before eventually stopping at his hand, which was holding onto his tri-pronged kunai. The orange Materia glinted as she tilted her head and gave it a studious look before she turned her gaze back to him.
"Well, you certainly have the firm, strong body of a warrior." Madame M said as she took her fan back and gestured to her establishment "How about coming into my parlor for a massage session, hmm? For helping me, it's on the house."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks, but… I think I'll pass." Naruto chuckled and said, waving his hands in front of him to decline the offer.
"Yes, we didn't do it to gain anything from you, ma'am." Aerith joined him and spoke to Madame M, who just gave her a quick, unimpressed glance. For some reason, both of them couldn't help but feel that there was something off about the woman.
"Oh, that's just too bad then." The woman said, despite not sounding at all disappointed "How about I tell you a little secret about that Materia of yours?"
"You mean this?" Naruto asked, holding up his kunai to show the orange Materia, which he still had no luck in using.
"Having trouble using it, yes?" She asked, making Naruto nod in response "Have you not been hearing anything from a friend of yours recently?"
Naruto could only widen his eyes in realization at that.
"Well then, if there's nothing else, I will return to my business now." With a smile and a gesture of her head, Madame M turned around and began to walk back to her establishment. "Appreciate the help, but keep your nose out of trouble, kiddos. Especially you, plain Jane."
"P-Plain Jane?"
"Wait! How do you know about Ku…"
Before either Naruto or Aerith could get another response from her, the woman had already slammed the door of her establishment shut, leaving the two to stand there and stare at it in surprise.
After a moment, Naruto finally broke the silence and turned over to speak to Aerith.
"Well, she's certainly… quite the character." He said with a soft, amused laugh, making Aerith nod her head slowly in agreement. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Naruto urged.
They got a train to catch.
And something for him to try out.
"Oh hey, isn't that Tifa?" Aerith asked suddenly before walking ahead of Naruto and calling out while waving her hand excitedly above her head "Tifa! Tifa! Over here!"
Tifa turned around when she heard her name being called, her face lighting up with recognition when she saw Aerith waving at her while walking with Naruto through the main gate of Sector 5 Slums, having just gotten off the train that took them back from Wall Market.
"It's so good to see you, Tifa!" Aerith said as she brought Tifa in for a warm embrace, making the black hair girl beam as she returned the gesture. It had been two weeks since they last saw Tifa, but it was quite clear that the few hours that he and Aerith had spent at Seventh Heaven was enough to make Aerith and Tifa good friends.
"Hey, Tifa." Naruto grinned as he waved a hand at the girl. "What're you doing here in Sector 5? How've you been?"
"I have been doing well. Thank you." Tifa's smile widened as she answered him "What about you two? Have you been taking care of Aerith, Naruto?"
"Oh, you have no idea." Naruto said, making Aerith giggle softly into her hand while Tifa just glanced between the two, feeling that there was more to his answer than the fact that Naruo and Aerith felt awfully close, much closer than they had been when they came into her bar for a drink.
"Tifa, what are you doing here in Sector 5?" Aerith asked, making Tifa turn her attention back to her.
"I actually came here looking for you, Aerith." Tifa answered, making Aerith and Naruto look at her in curiosity. "The flowers that I bought from you last time, my customers really loved them. They really make the place feel livelier, more alive. I have also been taking care of them at the bar, but… I am hoping I can buy some more from you to decorate Seventh Heaven."
With a gasp of excitement and a beaming smile brighter than the sunlight filtering through the unfinished portion of the Plate, Aerith exclaimed, "Oh, I would love to, Tifa! Come, let me show you where I grow them. You can choose as many flowers as you want there."
With that said, the brunette wasted no time to grab her friend by her hand and pull her along with her, making Tifa smile as she followed Aerith to her home with Naruto following a close distance behind the two.
"Yo, big bro Naruto!"
"Hey Lar! You guys be careful up there, alright?" Naruto heard a familiar voice call out to him and looked up to see Lar on the rooftop of a nearby hut with a small group of other children from the Leaf House orphanage, whom had started to look up to him like a big brother. Whenever they didn't have anything to do, like running errands for Elmyra, Naruto and Aerith would hang out and play games with them at their playground, which had been improved after he had brought in some construction materials that he found at a nearby junkyard and built up the place to make it feel like an actual secret base.
"Don't worry, big bro! You know us!"
The kids quickly vanish, leaving Naruto to catch up with Aerith and Tifa as they ran into the tunnel that led to Aerith's home and the flower field surrounding it, a sight that never failed to amaze Naruto no matter how many times he had seen it. Unexpectedly, Tifa had a similar reaction to him the first time he saw it.
"Oh… wow…" The black haired woman uttered in astonishment as she stood in place and took in everything around her. It had been so long since she had seen such a display of pure serenity, a scene that one could never expect to see in Midgar. "I thought you grew your flowers in pots, but… how is this place possible? Most of Midgar was a barren wasteland because of the reactors. And yet..."
"I have something of a green thumb." Aerith winked as she walked ahead of Tifa, who could only nod her head as she followed her toward her home with Naruto, who rushed up to Naruto to open the door for both girls, waiting for them both to come in before he then followed.
"Mom, I'm home!"
Elmyra walked out from the kitchen, a smile lighting her face. "Aerith, Naruto... welcome back. How was work today?"
"Fantastic, mom!" Aerith beamed "I was able to sell a lot of flowers, and Naruto…"
"I finished my job, and watched over Aerith." Naruto said, giving Elmyra a meaningful smile. The woman just sighed, knowing that they probably had an encounter with Shinra again. She cared immensely for Aerith, and even though she now had Naruto to watch out for her, it would be in her nature as a mother to be concerned for the wellbeing of her daughter.
With that, Elmyra then turned her attention over to Tifa and asked, "And who's this beautiful young lady?"
"Mom, this is my friend, Tifa. She's from Sector 7 Slums and here to buy flowers." Aerith introduced heartily as she skipped over to Tifa and introduced her, making Elmyra smile in response as Tifa greeted her.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am."
Nodding, the eldest Gainsborough said with a pleased smile, "My, am I glad to see that my daughter finally has a friend?"
"What do you mean? I'm also her friend!" Naruto pouted, while Aerith barely managed to stifle a giggle with Tifa.
"Yes, but you're also a boy, young man." Elmyra said with a motherly glare at the blond, though the smile never left her face as she continued "I think my daughter will be better having a friend who is also a girl."
"Riiight." Naruto acknowledged with his arms crossing over his chest. He could hardly disagree with that kind of logic.
"So, will you be staying over for dinner? It's kinda late and the next train back to Sector 7 is much later tonight, right?"
"I'd love to, but… I don't want to be a bother." Tifa shook her head and said hesitatingly.
"Don't be ridiculous, dear. You will stay and have dinner with us." Elmyra insisted sternly, causing Tifa to laugh before nodding her head at the older Gainsborough.
"Then it's settled. Come on, Tifa. Let me show you around the garden so you can pick out some flowers that you want." With that said, Aerith grabbed a large basket before she led Tifa out of the house with Naruto trailing behind them.
As the girls walked through the vibrant garden, admiring the variety of colorful blooms, Naruto slowly made his way to his usual spot and pulled out a kunai. His eyes flicked to the bright orange Materia gleaming in the handle as he held the weapon up, recalling what Madame M had told him earlier about a friend of his. If the Materia was truly what he believed it to be, then…
"Hey Aerith, what's Naruto doing?" Tifa asked, noticing Naruto standing on a mound of grass near the waterfall with his eyes shut and kunai in hand.
Aerith turned towards the blond and tilted her head curiously. Like Tifa, she had no idea what Naruto was doing either, but she could sense some form of energy, similar yet different from the one that he normally used to cast his techniques that he had explained to her was Chakra, rushing into a kunai in his hand.
Before Aerith could answer the question, the winds began to pick up. The energy Naruto was channeling into his kunai became visible, flickering from his arm and the weapon he was holding like a golden flame. At the same time, the orange Materia began to emit a bright light, so bright that Naruto, Aerith, and Tifa had to shield their eyes with their arms, with the girls holding onto each other for support against the gusts of wind. Naruto, meanwhile, had to use his chakra to keep himself rooted to the ground to keep himself standing, wondering if he had made a mistake.
"What is this?"
A familiar voice rang out before Naruto heard the sound of something landing on the ground next to him, making him immediately lower his arm down and open his eyes. Although Naruto hadn't heard his voice in over a month since arriving in Gaia, Naruto could never mistake it to belong to anyone else but his partner, the nine tailed fox Bijuu, Kurama himself.
"Kurama!" Naruto shouted, his voice echoing through the flower field. "You made it!"
"A summoning?" Tifa found herself uttering in amazement. Because of their rarity, she had only heard rumors about them, but they were amongst the most powerful with the power to grant its user power to summon powerful entities to come to their aid in battles, with only a handful of people having them in their possessions. There was even a saying that the summons were sentient beings who would choose their summoners, instead of the other way around, unlike other, more common Materia.
"Naruto?" The fox Bijuu acknowledged as he turned his head to the blond, his eyes widening in realization after he saw their surroundings "Wait… am I outside of you? And why am I so…"
"Aw… so cute!"
Although it probably wasn't what he had intended to say, Kurama's question was interrupted by Aerith, who let out a delighted squeal as she rushed over and kneeled down next to the mighty Bijuu to rub at his head. Although Tifa was more reserved in her reaction, it was quite clear she also found Kurama adorable.
And he could hardly blame them. Not only was Kurama now the size of a small dog, for some reason, but his orange fur had grown, giving him a fluffier appearance compared to before. Nine long, swiping tails waved around behind him, and his ears still resembled those of a rabbit than a fox with black mark stretching down to his red eyes, but Kurama's forepaws and upper body had become more foxlike, making him look even more like an actual fox with nine tails than he had been ever before.
And indeed, to the girls, he was cute as hell.
"What's this!? Naruto, who's this girl!?" Kurama demanded while avoiding Aerith, who just laughed and chased after him.
"Aw, come on. Don't be like that."
"Hey, back off!"
"You can… talk?" Tifa asked in surprise, with Aerith sharing the same expression when Kurama finally opened his mouth to speak to her, having only been telepathically communicating with Naruto from the moment that he was summoned like they had always done in the past.
"Naruto. Who're these people? What's going on?" The nine tailed fox continued to ask in confusion as he leaped into the air and landed on Naruto's shoulder, baring his fangs threateningly at Aerith, but the brunette didn't look like she was scared of it in the slightest.
"A lot has happened since you were trapped as a Materia." Naruto said as he held up his kunai and showed Kurama the orange Materia that he had summoned him from, making the nine tail fox look on in surprise.
There's so much for them to talk about.
End of chapter 4
Note: And that is the end of this chapter, folks! It's a bit shorter than the last one, but I have a lot of fun writing this to further develop the relationship between Naruto and some of the featured chapters. Hope that you guys have had a good time reading it!
And yep! Kurama is back guys! We will have more of him starting from the next chapter as a regular. And in case that you do, don't worry about it, he's not gonna get stuck in that tiny fox form all the time, but that's all I will say about it for now as I don't want to spoil anything.
And that's it, that's all I want to say. As always, be sure to leave behind a REVIEW once you have finished reading! Tell me what you think about this chapter!
All new chapters and updates are always available much earlier on my p/atreon than here, so make sure to check it out if you have the financial powers to support me and want to read new chapters earlier than their public releases or make requests as well as commissions. Your supports would be immensely appreciated, and help me keep on pursuing this hobby of mine as well as pay for my university tuition fees.
And be sure to check out my discord channel as well, and join my amazing community! (Both links to my p/atreon and discord channel can be found in my profile page).
See you in the next update, everyone!
