A/N: Revised as of 3/27/2024.

After interrogating the two goons, which went quite smoothly as soon as they saw Naruto's face, they discovered that the temporary member that Dust's old party had hired was, in fact, a mole that was feeding out information on Lynn's whereabouts in preparation to kidnap her.

Why were they trying to kidnap her? Well…

"I can't believe these guys want to kidnap Lynn because her face makes her look like a child... This town is full of weirdos."

Naruto muttered as he and Dust walked out of the alleyway. They also received the time and place that the goons were going to meet with their boss, so all they had to do was go there and catch them in the act.

"You're one to talk, Boss. Your harem includes not one, but three lolitas. Not that I disapprove or anything, it's just that lolis aren't my thing. I prefer my woman mature with a sizable bust. Ah, except Yunyun. She's still just a brat."

Dust casually replied while adding the last part bitterly.

"First off, I don't have a harem. Secondly, apologize to Yunyun next time we see her. She already doesn't like you, and saying stuff like that behind her back will only make things worse."

The shinobi scolded, but the only response he got from the delinquent adventurer was a shrug.

"Say what you want Boss, but we both know that what I said is true. Anyways, about our plan to save Lynn and the others. They should be coming back from the job that they accepted this morning, so we should probably get to that meeting spot soon. Anyways, I was thinking that when we confront those goons, there's probably going to be a lot of them. So while you're taking care of the masses, I'll swoop in at the best part and-"

"I refuse."

Naruto suddenly interjected, causing Dust to falter in his steps.

"What!? Why!?"

"Because you never do anything! After watching you disarm those two thugs back there, I realized that you actually have some skill. Since I got permission to do harder quests from Luna-chan, I want to see what you're really capable of. I'll come along since Lynn might be in danger, but you'll be making all the calls and doing most of the fighting."

Naruto explained while firmly nodding his head.

Dust's face paled, but he knew better than to argue. The shinobi looked like his decision was final, and that talking back would be pointless.

But if Naruto was only going to spectate, then this really put Dust in a bind. He was more or less planning on letting Naruto do all the fighting.

'Guess I have no choice but to recruit some help… Oh!'

Dust thought before he bopped a fist into his other hand.

"I always see Yunyun at the adventurer's guild playing games by herself. She'll probably agree to help if I tell her that she's the only person that I can count on. Of course, I won't really mean it."

"You have a terrible personality, you know that?"

Naruto commented with a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek. If he always saw Yunyun by herself, why didn't he at least say hi to her? No, the better question was why Naruto kept this troublesome person in his party.

'Because you wanted to change this fool. I think we both know how that's going to turn out.'

'I changed you. Even if it was only a little bit, I think that counts for something.'

'…'

When Kurama failed to respond, Naruto smirked victoriously.

They were nearing the adventurer's guild. But just as the pair of blondes were about to cross the dirt street towards their destination, they were confronted by a man wearing a familiar looking helmet.

"Halt! In the name of all that is good, step away from that innocent man, demon! I know that you're using your vile demonic powers to make Dust-san do horrible things like peeking in the woman's bathhouse, stealing peeks under women's skirts from under a bridge, and other various acts of sexual harassment! Although, he already does things like that on a daily basis… But anyway, stay away from him, or there will be consequences!"

"…Hah?"

Was all that Naruto could say in response to the sudden accusation. Wasn't this the crazy helmet guy that was spouting nonsense from the trial? Who was this person, anyway?

"Hey, you can spout out all of those obvious lies about me if you want. No one will believe you. But who do you think you are flapping your gums to Boss-"

Dust started when Naruto suddenly pulled him to the side.

"Don't get it twisted, Dust. Even you have fans, right? This guy's probably just a big fan of yours and misunderstood something. Ask him for help, I'm sure he'll say yes. You could use the extra manpower, right?"

Naruto slyly whispered into the guy's ear. If Dust brought this weird helmet guy along, Naruto would be able to clear up any misunderstandings about him and Dust, and they would get help in the task of saving Lynn.

It would be killing two birds with one stone.

"Boss… You really do look out for me."

Dust whimpered with tears streaming down his face, having clearly misunderstood Naruto's true intentions. He then turned to the helmeted man and pointed.

"I need you!"

"!?"

"I don't know what your gripe with my Boss is, but can you put that aside for now and help me out? One of my old party members is being targeted by some weirdos who like girls with childish faces."

After Dust's sudden outburst, the helmet guy seemed rather startled for a moment, but then calmed down after hearing the delinquent's continuation.

"Ah… I thought that Dust-san was declaring something amazing just now…"

"Did you say something?"

"N-nothing! I will tend to your aid, Dust-san. My helmet is at your disposal."

The helmet guy stammered before making a fine salute.

"Is that so? Well, thanks, I guess."

Dust responded with a wry smile. This guy was a little weird, but Naruto was right. He needed all the help he could get, so now wasn't the time to be picky.

"Alright! Let's go get Yunyun, and we'll go to the meeting point that those guys told us about!"

"J-just so you know, I'm coming along because a girl might be in trouble."

Yunyun stuttered as she held onto the back of Naruto's jacket, as to avoid falling off the horse that they were currently sharing.

"Yes yes, I understand. But I didn't know that you also had a tsundere archetype, Onion… Hey! Watch where you're putting those hands!"

Dust waved the mage off before shouting at the helmet guy who was sitting behind him on their shared horse, and the man muttered a ragged apology. Seriously, what was up with this guy?

It was bad enough that Naruto made him pay for the rental horses, but even made him share a horse with the weirdo-Ah! Again with the hands!

While Dust was busy shouting at the helmet guy, Yunyun's cheeks burned in anger.

"You just called me 'Onion', didn't you? Didn't you!? At least say my name correctly!"

Yunyun accused while glaring at the boy with teary eyes. The gall that man had to mispronounce her name after asking for help, and using the pathetic line that she was "the only person that he could count on"?

…No, she wasn't moved in the slightest when he said that… Seriously!

Also, why Onion of all things!? It wasn't even clever!

"H-hey, stop shaking so much Yunyun! I'm still not used to riding this thing!"

Naruto scolded when Yunyun started bouncing around on the horse, and the girl immediately calmed herself and obediently sat down.

"Phew… I thought we were gonna fall off for a second there. Anyways, where were you this morning, Yunyun?"

"A-ah… N-nowhere in particular… Heh heh…"

Yunyun murmured while averting her gaze, prompting the shinobi to raise an eyebrow.

Great… Was Yunyun hiding something from him too? No, she wasn't that type of person. He'd give her the benefit of the doubt. She probably overslept this morning and was too embarrassed to admit it or something.

"We're getting close to the destination, so we should probably hide the horses here and go on foot for the rest of the way."

Dust advised after having made the helmet guy sit on the horse in reverse.

As soon as the horses were tied to a tree, the group set off on the side of the road and into the forest with Dust at the lead.

"I am forever in your debt. I apologize for any misunderstandings that I may have had of you, Uzumaki-san."

The helmet guy walked up to Naruto's side and said in a hushed tone.

"S-sure…"

The shinobi stuttered while making sure to stay as far away from the strange man whose eyes were glued on Dust. He was glad to have cleared any misunderstandings with this man, but Axel really was full of weirdos…

'Aren't you glad to be one of them?'

'That would apply to you too, Kurama…'

Naruto retorted while rolling his eyes, not that he denied being weird.

'Keh! When you've lived as long as I have, you learn to appreciate the insane. Keeps things interesting.'

Kurama responded with a snort.

"Hey Boss, could you scout ahead and check if any enemies are camping around? You won't be fighting, so you can at least do that, right?"

Dust asked in an almost hopeful manner.

"Sure. It'll be nice to stretch my legs after sitting around and doing nothing these past couple days. I'll be back in a few."

Naruto responded with a shrug before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, and the group heard fading sounds of footsteps in the distant trees.

After seeing the shinobi off, Dust turned to the mage of his group.

"Also, Yunyun. You have the Detect Enemies spell, right? Use that just in case some powerful monster decides to pop up out of nowhere like usual."

"Thank you for using my name correctly this time. But sure, I guess that would be a smart thing to do. Especially with Naruto-san around."

Yunyun had to agree with Dust, knowing the exact reason as to why those strong monsters were always appearing around their party.

Hearing this, Dust's eyes narrowed on the little girl as she chanted her spell. Did she know why those man-eating creatures were constantly popping up? He always thought it was strange that rare and powerful monsters appeared so frequently during their quests as a party.

But leaving that aside for now, as Dust didn't want to get in the way of Yunyun's spell, he leaned against a tree as he waited for Naruto to return. Hopefully, there weren't that many enemies…

"…Hey, do you mind? I was here first."

Dust grunted when the helmet guy leaned on the same tree as him, close enough that their shoulders touched.

"Oh, I'm sorry Dust-san. It's kind of hard to see in this helmet."

The man apologized and tapped on his metal helmet to emphasize his point.

Dust sighed and moved to another tree. He'd put up with this weird guy since he needed the extra help, but as soon they got back to town he wanted nothing to do with him.

"It's fine, I'll just move-H-hey! Stop coming closer! If it's hard to see, then how are you following me so precisely!? Is your sight actually being hindered by that helmet!?"

"Forgive me! It seems this helmet is cursed, and it won't stop pulling me towards you until it tastes the sweat of two different men!"

"That's gross! That's seriously gross!"

Dust shouted as he now ran around the tree for dear life, but the helmet man was hot on his trail.

Yunyun's eyebrow twitched as she continued to concentrate on her detection spell, but it was getting rather difficult with the two boys shouting behind her.

"Ah. A monster is heading our way."

A Couple Minutes Later…

"Hey guys, I'm back…"

Naruto greeted with a cheeky grin as he landed on the ground, and he was immediately greeted with a strange sight.

Yunyun was standing over the corpse of a large One-Shot Bear, her breath sounding a little ragged.

The helmet guy was standing a couple feet behind the girl, with Dust firmly attached to the man's torso.

Upon seeing the shinobi's arrival, Dust detached himself from his meat-shield-Er, comrade, and ran over to Naruto.

"Explain to me why these powerful monsters keep showing up whenever I leave town with you, Boss! Right after you left, that One-Shot Bear came out of nowhere and tried to eat me! One-Shot Bears are supposed to be a rare monster around these parts, yet I've seen twelve just this past month!"

Dust demanded while thrusting his finger at the dead monster.

"I can die happy…"

The helmet guy mumbled, but his voice was drowned beneath Dust's shouting.

"You're... Welcome…"

Yunyun huffed as she continued to catch her breath. Because of the noise Dust had been making, the One-Shot Bear had gone straight for him. She had to cancel her detection spell, put up a defensive one to protect Dust and the helmet guy, AND fire her Light of Saber spell within a span of seconds just to keep everyone alive.

"S-sorry I took so long… I ran into a pack of Silver Wolves on my way back, so I decided to fight them with only my feet-"

Naruto stuttered while he held his hands up in defense, but Dust interrupted him midsentence and got up in his face.

"I almost died, and you're fighting monsters with a voluntary handicap!?"

The delinquent adventurer roared. It was actually kind of cool that Naruto was able to fight off a pack of Silver Wolves with just his feet, but that was neither here nor there. This was his life they were talking about!

"Calm down, Dust. Yunyun clearly had everything under control, right Yunyun?"

Naruto asked, and the mage nodded her head shyly. But it was strange… A One-Shot Bear was nothing for Yunyun, so why did she seem so tired?

"Fine… We'll save this for another time. Did you at least see anyone out there?"

Dust asked while pinching the bridge of his nose. This was why he hated being the leader, especially when the party was full of weirdos. Like the girls in Kazuma's party, although nothing would ever beat how stressful those few days with those three were…

"Hm? Oh yeah, I did. I saw a group of cloaked men hugging the side of a hill just outside of the forest. They seemed to be watching the road, so it's probably them."

Naruto said while tapping his thoughtfully.

"That's definitely them! Dang it, why are we wasting time here? Lynn and the party are probably almost back! Come on, let's hurry over there!"

Dust shouted and started running in the direction the shinobi had come from, with the helmet guy right behind him.

Naruto smirked as he watched the delinquent's fleeting form. That guy must be really worried about Lynn. Did he have a thing for her or something?

Before he followed Dust and the helmet guy, Naruto looked back at Yunyun who seemed to still be slightly winded.

"Are you okay, Yunyun? You seem to be a little tired today…"

"Y-yes, I'm fine! Don't worry about me, Naruto-san. Let's go save Dust-san's old party members!"

Yunyun stuttered while failing to meet the older boy's eyes and chased after their temporary leader.

This troubled Naruto, but he'd respect the girl's wishes. If something were troubling her, she'd tell him… Right?

"There they are, just as the boss said. But remember boys, look but don't touch."

"Yessir!" X4

The hooded goons saluted to their second in command as they watched the small party of adventurers walking down the road in their direction.

Oh, it seemed that they were now stopping to take a break. They were only about a two hours walk from the town, so this must be the work of their leader!

Now they just had to wait for the signal, and they would move in for the attack!

"But those other two sure are late… I wonder if they got cold feet."

The goon acting as second in command wondered aloud.

"Hey, the two boys are falling over!"

"That's the signal!"

"Lolitas for life!"

The goons shouted as they stood up and started running down the hill as their boss waved in their direction, but their route was intercepted by a fireball.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you guys take my old party member!"

Dust shouted with a shit-eating grin on his face, with Naruto, Yunyun, and the helmet guy standing behind him.

"Who are you!?"

"Ah! I recognize that guy!"

"Yeah, who could forget that face!"

The hooded men shouted as they took a few steps back in fear.

Dust cackled with laughter.

"Hahaha! You all fear my infamy that much? Don't worry, if you leave Lynn and your wallets behind, I'll forget everything that-"

"It's Naruto Uzumaki! The man who will prank you if you hit on his girls!"

"Damn it, is that lolita a part of his harem too!? Who was in charge of research!?"

"!"

As Dust froze in his stance, the boss of the hooded goons picked up Lynn's unconscious form and slung her over his shoulder.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Were there really still people that thought of him like that? He thought the town was passed that, what with the trial and everything…

"Don't falter! Remember the plan! I'll meet you all back at headquarters, even if you get arrested, I'll wait! Remember the rules!"

"Look, but don't touch! Boss!"

The men shouted with tears streaming down their hooded features, which was kind of gross to watch.

"Ah! I won't let you get away!"

Dust shouted and was about to take off after the man who was taking Lynn away, but the hooded men got in his way. He looked back at Naruto with an almost pleading look, and the shinobi let out a sigh.

"Go on. We'll take care of these guys."

Naruto said, and Dust nodded before he ran around the group of men.

"Hey, don't think we'll let you get to our boss-"

"Sleep."

"Ugh…" X5

With a single chant, Yunyun put all five goons into a state of unconsciousness. After which, Naruto tied them all up with a thin wire.

"There we go. Nice work, Yunyun. That Sleep spell has gotten stronger, you should try it on me sometime. I need to be able to resist those types of spells."

"T-thank you! But I don't think my Sleep spell is strong enough to put Naruto-san to sleep yet… I still need more practice."

As Naruto and Yunyun conversed while standing over the unconscious men, the helmet guy was shivering to himself.

'What kind of monsters is Dust-san cooperating with…?'

A/N: Even Dust deserves some time in the limelight!