I do not own these series, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 82: Uneasy Warriors

Naruto passed Sasuke a towel as he climbed out of the pond. They had just finished taking a bath. They had been in this world for three days now and were getting used to its strange climate. Naruto walked over to the clothes line and checked on his clothes. They were still slightly wet so Naruto walked over to his bag instead. He pulled out a tan shirt and brown pants. He had noticed that the clothes the people in this word wore were not as extravagant as some of the other places they'd been. The townspeople from Kiera's town all wore simple clothes, usually brown or white in colour. He decided to do the same to fit in.

Sasuke got out of the pond and walked over to his own bag. Naruto turned to give the other some privacy, something he found to be really hard, as all Naruto's eyes seemed to want to do was stare at his companion's back. The pale skin no longer had any red blotches which made Naruto beam with pride. Sasuke put on pants similar to Naruto's but he didn't put on a shirt. Sasuke had been mostly shirtless during their time in this world, something Naruto wasn't going to complain about.

"It seems someone has followed us," Sasuke said. This broke Naruto out of his musings. He turned to see where Sasuke was looking. Two people were walking towards them. One was a woman wearing a black cloak over a brown dress while the other was a boy. He also wore a black cloak, except he had one a blue shirt and grey pants. Both were carrying swords. The two came to a stop several feet away from Naruto and Sasuke. The boy took an extra step forward.

"Hello," he said. "I didn't expect to see fellow travers out here."

"We're just stopping here for a break," Naruto said. "It looked like a good spot to rest and clean some of our clothes."

"So we came here for the same reason then," the boy said. "Clare said she remembered seeing this spot before. Oh! That's right. We haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Raki and this is Clare."

"I'm Sora and this is Roxas," Naruto lied. They had decided to lie about their names in case anyone was looking for them. They debated about using a Henge, but decided against it. Naruto was really hoping that decision hadn't been a mistake.

Raki looked over at Clare. "Are they…?"

"No," Clae shook her head. "They are human."

"That's good then," Raki said, nodding. "If you two don't mind, we'd like to use the pond as well."

"Go ahead," Naruto said, not wanting to raise suspicion.

Raki set his things down near the water before removing his cloak. "So where are you two headed? We are on our way back North."

"We aren't really going anywhere in particular," Naruto said.

"Hm…" Raki began to remove his clothes. "Clare?"

"I am fine," Clare said.

"Right," Raki nodded. He stripped down to his underwear before pulling out a towel. He wrapped it around his bottom half before dropping his underwear to the ground. He then got into the water. Clare kept an eye on Raki, but her main focus was on Naruto and Sasuke. The two decided to sit down and start to make something to eat. Naruto started the fire while Sasuke began to cut up some vegetables. Once the fire was ready, Sasuke handed Naruto the vegetables. Naruto placed them into the pan. He then grabbed some leftover fish and added it into the mix. Sasuke started on the rice. He handed that over to Naruto before opening a can of soup. Naruto stirred everything together. "Wow!" Raki walked over to them. "That smells very good." He was now wearing a grey shirt and dark brown pants.

"You can have some if you'd like," Naruto said

"Are you sure?" Raki asked. "We have our own food."

"I don't mind," Naruto said. "We have plenty." He grabbed a bowl and poured some of the food into it. He then handed it to Raki. Naruto did the same for Clare, but she shook her head.

"I don't need it," she said.

"Don't mind her," Raki said. "Clare just doesn't need to eat much."

"Alright," Naruto said. He handed the bowl to Sasuke instead and then filled one up for himself. He sat back and began to eat.

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After all of the meal was over, Naruto went to wash the dishes. Raki joined him. Just like Clare was keeping an eye on them and Raki, Sasuke was doing the same. He was making sure that Naruto wouldn't do something stupid. He also wasn't sure about this Clare. Raki seemed to be harmless, but there was something off about Clare. It reminded him of Kiera, but something was different. Her eyes were silver, but Kiera's had been brown before she showed her true self. If Clare was a Yoma, then Raki was either her pet or provisional food for later consumption. If either was true, then Sasuke felt a bit bad for Raki. But it wasn't any of his business. As long as neither of them attack himself or Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't do anything.

Unknown to Sasuke, Clare's thoughts were along similar lines. She found both Naruto and Sasuke strange. She couldn't sense any Yoki from them, but something was telling her that they weren't normal humans. She remembered the description she'd gotten from the townspeople of the two people who had taken out their target. It was obvious that these two were them. The question was, why were they hiding it? They had lied about their names. Someone had heard them calling each other Naruto and Sasuke. Clare really wanted to know why. But she also didn't want to ask, just in case it made them angry. If they attack them, Clare wasn't sure she'd be able to protect Raki.

Naruto got back to the group, thanking Raki for his help. Raki shyly sat down in front of Clare. Clare and Sasuke looked at the two and sighed. It was clear that the two were getting along. Clare and Sasuke weren't sure if that was a good thing. Naruto walked over to their clothes and was glad to see they were dry. Sasuke joined him in taking them off of the line. He folded them, placing them in a basket. Neither wanted to show Clare and Raki their sealing ability so the two just attacked the basket to Sasuke's backpack. Naruto did the same to the bag of cooking supplies. He promised to seal them back into their scroll when Clare and Raki weren't looking.

When Clare saw Raki shiver, she handed him her cloak. He thanked her as he wrapped it around himself. Naruto pulled out his own cloak while Sasuke did the same. They weren't cold but if Raki was, then it would be best to pretend they were. Sasuke briefly wondered why Clare wasn't cold. He then saw a shiver of her own. Sasuke smirked. It was clear that she had given up her cloak since she cared a lot about Raki, more than she did herself. Naruto must have seen it as well, as he stood up and walked over to her. He held his cloak out to her. "You're cold."

Raki turned around to look at Clare. "Clare?"

"I'm fine," Clare said, refusing to take the cloak. Raki took off the cloak around himself and put it back around her. He then grabbed Naruto's, thanking him. Naruto nodded before making his way back to Sasuke. Out of the four of them, Naruto was probably the only one that could run around naked during a snowstorm and never get cold. Sasuke knew this and didn't bother to offer to share his cloak. Sasuke threw that thought out of his mind.

The night continued and Raki was the first of them to fall asleep. He didn't look comfortable, but he didn't seem to care about the position he was in. It wasn't long until Clare lifted Raki up and laid him down so that he was more comfortable. She then returned to the rock she'd been sitting on the entire day. Naruto walked a little bit away to change into his night clothes. He urged Sasuke to do the same. The Uchiha was stubborn, but he eventually did just that. When he got back, he found his sleeping bag laid out. Sasuke sat down in it, but didn't want to go to sleep yet. Naruto and Sasuke didn't need to sleep. They were trained shinobi and they should be able to stay up for at least three days. But for some reason, Sasuke felt really tired. Naruto gave him a look and Sasuke sighs before he laid down. He closed his eyes. Naruto smiled as Sasuke's breathing evened out and he fell asleep.

"You care for him," Clare stated.

"He's my best friend," Naruto said. "We've been together for a long time."

Clare nodded. "Are you protecting him?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "It is hard to describe, but it looks like you are protecting him from something. It seems he is also doing the same."

"Well, that's just what we do," Naruto said. "We've been traveling for a while now. It is good to have someone watching your back." He motioned to Raki. "Aren't you two the same?"

"I suppose," Clare said. "I don't know if you'd call us friends though."

"I'm sure a human and a Claymore can be friends," Naruto said. Clare's eyes widened at that and she reached for her sword. "You don't have to act so startled. I know you know who we really are. You've been on guard since we've met. I'm guessing someone gave you our descriptions. But you don't have to worry. We only killed that Yoma because she attacked us first."

"You didn't take the money," Clare said.

"We didn't need it," Naruto said. "Besides, if we hadn't been there, so many people might not have died."

"I don't know if that is true," Clare said. "That Yoma could have lost control even if you weren't there. Controlling Yoki isn't easy."

"Are you a Yoma?" Naruto asked

"Only a quarter," Clare answered honestly. "I'm the only one. The others are all half. As a warrior, it is my job to slay Yoma and only Yoma. I'm not allowed to kill humans."

"Even if you're just defending yourself?" Naruto asked.

"It doesn't matter," Clare said. "It is against the rules."

Naruto nodded. "I understand. Sometimes defending yourself against those that call you a monster just makes them think you're a monster even more. Hatred is far too easy to spread."

"I don't sense any Yoki coming from you," Clare admitted. "So you can't be a monster."

Naruto smiled at that. "Thank you." The two stayed up the rest of the night talking about Yomi and how dangerous they could be.

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When Sasuke woke up, he found Naruto making breakfast. Clare was shaking Raki awake. The four of them ended up eating together. Even Clare had some. Once the meal was over and everything was backed up, the two pairs stared at each other. Clare was the first to move. She put out a hand towards Naruto. "It was nice meeting you."

Naruto smiled and shook her hand. "The pleasure is all mine."

"We must be going," Clare said. "The North awaits us."

"I'm not sure where we are going next," Naruto admitted.

"Do you wish to come with us?" Clare asked.

Naruto looked at Sasuke. The raven looked ready to protest. "I don't think we should. I wouldn't want to get in your way."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Clare said. "But if that is your decision, then that's fine. But there is something you should know." She pulled out her sword. This caused Sasuke and Raki to be on guard. "Claymores are what we call our swords. It was you humans that called us that." She resheathed her sword. Roki dropped his guard and looked at Clare in confusion. Sasuke kept his hand on his sword, just in case Clare changed her mind and attacked them.

"Understood," Naruto said, motioning to Sasuke that everything was fine. "May your next hunt go well."

"Try to not incite the wrath of anymore Yomi," Clare said. "The organization doesn't like it when someone steals one of their jobs."

"We will be careful," Naruto agreed. With one last look at Naruto and Sasuke, Clare and Raki started heading North.

"Dobe, what was that about?" Sasuke asked.

"Clare and I had a discussion about our situations," Naruto answered. "You don't have to worry. Even if we were to stay here any longer, Clare and Raki would not be our enemies." He showed Sasuke his bracelet, which made Sasuke look down at his own. Sasuke simply nodded.