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Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 10-

-Last Time-

Everyone minus Ruel burst into laughter at those words, with the old man himself simply scowled while muttering things like 'I'm not that old' and 'No respect for one's elders' under his breath.

This was the sight Nausica was greeted with as she watched the group walk off into the distance with a smile. Because she was focused on this however, she never noticed as the roots that had once held Amalia start to glow faintly once more before curling into a sphere around the empty bed.

…

…

*Ba-bump*

…

"I'll need to keep a close eye on this young man and find out what makes him tick." He said while snapping his fingers, causing the images to change once again, this time to a live feed of Naruto and the rest of the group as they were walking down a dirt path.

"He'll make for a very suitable replacement if the Eliatrope fails to lead me to the dragon."

-And Now-

"We're lost again aren't we?" Naruto asked dully while the group trekked through a lush forest, the sun starting to set in the distance.

"Probably," Eva said just as blandly with a deadpan expression on her face as she walked beside Naruto and Amalia. It had been three days since they'd left Nausica's place and for three days they'd been nothing but lost every single step of the way.

"Great, which means we're camping out again," Amalia grumbled, her face scrunching up in disgust as her bare feet sank several inches into the muddy ground.

"Hey it's not that bad, I actually find camping quite enjoyable." Naruto said before holding up a small sealing scroll between his fingers. "Besides, at least we have this nice tent that Wagnar gave us to sleep in instead of just the dirt."

"…Alright, you got a good point there."

"This is ridiculous, you'd think it'd be easy to get around with a magic map, but noooo, every time we use the darn thing we get lost." Ruel groaned in annoyance from the front of the group with Yugo, Dally, and said map.

"Oh marvelous magical map of wonderfulness, please show us the way out of this forest." Yugo asked with a begging smile that quickly vanished when the map scoffed loudly.

"Figure it out for yourself, the Iop has yet to stop insulting me."

"What a load of Iyarashī, even when we're as nice as Kami no jaakuna shūdō-shi you still led us in circles." Naruto said with a roll of his eyes before holding out his hand. "Yugo, could you hand me that for a second?"

"Uh sure, but why?" Yugo asked while tossing the talking map over to his fellow blonde.

"Just want to see if I can… negotiate with him." The whiskered teen said with a mischievous grin that made the others just a little uneasy.

"Oh, what are you gonna do, insult me some more?" The map asked sarcastically, though if one looked closely they could see just a hint of nervousness in the smiley face.

"Nah, just gonna ask a question. Can you feel this?" Naruto asked while grabbing one edge of the map and tearing it slightly.

"YEEEOUCH!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Naruto said, losing his grin and glaring at the map. "Here's the deal Bunchin-teme, I'm tired of you jerking us around so either you're going to start leading us like a good and proper map or I'm gonna start tearing you apart one small scrap at a time and use it for toilet paper." To emphasize his point, the blonde made the tear a bit larger, causing the map to yelp in pain once more.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do it! Just stop hurting me!" It yelled hurriedly, causing Naruto to smile once again.

"Which way out of this forest?"

"Keep following this path for another mile then take a left at the next fork and keep going for another three, it'll lead you straight to a bakers village!"

"For your sake that had better be true." Naruto said before rolling the map back up and handing it back to Yugo. "I should have done that three days ago."

"I agree, but don't toot your own horn just yet boyo, let's see if that village is even there first." Ruel said, getting the blonde to nod in understanding.

"Alright, though it's getting pretty late and some of us look like they could use some sleep." Naruto said while looking towards Amalia and Yugo, who were both rubbing their eyes tiredly, then back to Ruel himself who was stifling a yawn. "How about we call it a day and set camp?"

"Might as well," Eva said after taking a quick glance at the sky, "Ruel, it's your turn to get the firewood."

"If you say so." The old man said with a shrug before walking off.

"Yugo, see if you and the idiot can go find something to cook for dinner." Eva continued, getting a salute from the young boy and a slumped sigh from Dally. Every since they'd left Nausica's, the Cra had refused to talk to the Iop directly and when talking about him would simply call him 'the idiot'.

…Well actually she originally called him 'the fucking retard' for most of the first day but after a brief talk with Naruto and Ruel eased up slightly.

"Naruto- *Poof*…thank you." Eva said as Naruto unrolled the scroll in a clearing and made a large luxurious red tent with black trim appear in a puff of smoke. It was roughly the size of a small home with two large open flaps allowing one to see the interior, where several blankets and pillows were bundled up in five distinct piles.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go catch some-Hey!" Amalia started to say as she walked into the tent, only to end up yelling indignantly when Eva grabbed her by the collar. "What's the big idea?!"

"It's our turn to cook princess, and I'm not gonna let you pull a lazy pandawa on me." The elven girl stated, making the greenette smile sheepishly as she was dragged along. "Now come on, Naruto's almost done setting up the fire pit."

"Darn it."

An hour and a half later, the group was gathered around said pit enjoying some roasted Piwis along with various wild fruits and vegetables.

"And I was like, 'See it? It almost took my head off, of course I saw it!'" Ruel said with a grin as the group burst into laughter, the Enutrof having just finished telling the tale of one of his many (mis)adventures around the world of twelve.

"Man Ruel, you sure know how to get yourself into trouble." Dally said with a chuckle as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"It's not my fault really, I just tend to run into a lot of unreasonable people." Ruel said with a shrug.

"Are you sure it's not because you're a cheap old coot who tends to annoy others when you try to swindle them?" Amalia asked cheekily, making the old man give a fake pout.

"How cruel the words of youth are, no respect whatsoever."

"Quit acting so dramatic Jiji, you ain't fooling anyone." Naruto said with a good natured roll of his eyes.

"Hey Naruto, I was wondering. Would you mind telling us another one of your stories?" Yugo asked hopefully, immediately getting everyone's attention. "I mean if it's not too much of a bother."

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Naruto blinked in surprise for several moments before responding. "Uh… sure I guess, if you want me to."

"Sweet!" The hatted boy cheered, the ears of his hat twitching wildly from his excitement. Dally and Amalia weren't much better as they started to fidget in their seats in anticipation, Eva was much more restrained but still highly interested, and Ruel… had a notebook and quill?

'If this story is as good as the first one then I could make a fortune off it!' The old man thought, drooling slightly as he imagined all the kamas he'd make from book profits.

"Alrighty then, where do I start?" Naruto thought aloud, rubbing his chin in thought.

"How about what happened after your mission to… er Nami no Kuki was it?" Amalia asked curiously.

"Close Happa-chan, it's Nami no Kuni, and good idea," Naruto said before smiling a bit sadly. "Well after that mission things were a bit dull for a while as my team was stuck doing D-rank missions, which are basically over glorified chores like painting fences and walking dogs."

"…Seriously?" Eva asked with a raised brow.

"Yep, Kakashi-sensei said they were meant to promote teamwork and cooperation for newly made teams but all they really did was bore the hell out of me." Naruto grumbled before shaking his head. "Thankfully we weren't stuck with those to long as Kakashi-sensei signed us up for the Chūnin Senbatsu Shiken."

"Middle ninja selection exam?" Ruel translated in a questioning tone. "Sounds like some kind of remedial training course."

"Actually, it's a series of three tests to see if genin are ready to be promoted to chunin or not." Naruto explained with a shake of his head. "It's actually a pretty large event as shinobi and kunoichi from several villages participate."

"Ah, my bad."

"Anyway, the first test started as soon as my team showed up at the place for it, but we didn't know that."

"Let me guess, subterfuge practice?" Eva asked, smirking slightly when the whiskered nodded.

"Got it in one Surudoi-chan, the man in charge was Ibiki, who was an expert at screwing with people's heads." Naruto thought, chuckling a bit when he remembered how the scarred man played around with all the genin during that exam with absolutely no difficulty. "He made us do a paper test that was too hard for most people to do while giving us extremely subtle hints that you had to cheat without getting caught."

"So how did you cheat?" Yugo asked curiously.

"…I didn't." Naruto stated, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"You passed the test legitimately?" Ruel asked, his voice full of disbelief. "No offense boyo, but you don't exactly seem like the brainy type."

"Actually your right, I am a bit of a baka, even more so when I was younger. Paper tests and word games just give me one big headache." Naruto admitted with an embarrassed smile. "I missed the hidden meaning of the test entirely and ended up panicking until time was up, didn't answer even a single question."

"Wait, so you failed?" This time it was Amalia to ask the obvious question.

"You'd think so, but nope, I passed." The whiskered boy said, a chuckle escaping his lips when he saw the dumbfounded expressions on everyone's faces.

"How?" All five of them asked at the same time.

"I bluffed my ass off and got really, REALLY lucky." Naruto said bluntly, "Turns out that the entire test was nothing more than part of a big set up to put us in a super tense situation which led to a single trick question that you could either try to answer and risk being stuck a genin if you got it wrong forever or not and quit the Chunin exams till next time."

"Oh… Oooh, I get it, they put you in a do or die situation to see how you handle the pressure of major decisions. Very clever." Eva muttered once she thought it over.

"Yeah, which was good for me in the end since I was just too stubborn to give up, even though it seemed pretty obvious at the time that I was gonna fail." The whiskered blonde said with a chuckle that spread through most of the group, the only exception being Dally who had a confused look on his face.

"Uhh, I don't get it." The orange-haired warrior muttered with a tilted head.

"It was all a trick to see if he'd give up or keep going," Ruel simplified for the Iop as he wrote down everything on the notepad before tucking it into his bag. "Now, as much as I'd love to hear more, I do believe it's time for us all to hit the hay."

"It has gotten pretty late." Naruto said in agreement, stretching a bit as he stood up.

"Awwww," Yugo and Amalia groaned in disappointment, though they didn't argue as both could feel the unbeatable pull of drowsiness urging them along.

After quickly smothering the fire with dirt, everyone but Ruel headed inside the tent, with the old man saying his usual excuse of preferring to have some personal space before disappearing into a large bush.

Used to this odd vanishing act of his, the five other members of the group merely shrugged it off as they meandered to their own spots. Naruto, Dally, and Yugo were out like lights the moment they were laid down, and Amalia would have been the same if it wasn't for Eva suddenly pulling her up to a sitting position.

"Ugh! What is it now Evangelyne?" The greenette demanded snappily while rubbing one of her eyes.

"Just checking something really quick." The elven-like blonde said while leaning over until she was eye level with Amalia's waist, specifically on the side where she'd been bitten by the demonic rose.

In said area was a small jagged L shaped scar about an inch and a half long with two small dots beside it, one beside the top of the L and the other right in the middle of the curve. However, unlike normal newly formed scars which would be a shiny pinkish color, these ones were instead a light mossy green thus making them look more like a crude tattoo.

"This again? Come on Eva, I'm fine." Amalia grumbled while pushing her bodyguard/friend back with an annoyed huff.

"I'm sorry Amalia, but I don't trust those one bit." Eva muttered, giving the scars a dubious look.

"Yeah, yeah, you've been saying that since you saw them. So they're a funny color, Nausica said that it was just a side effect of Naruto using his sennin mody thing on me." The greenette said as she curled back up under the blankets.

"No, she said she thinks that is the reason but wasn't sure." The blonde countered blandly.

"Tomato tomahto, can I go to sleep now?"

"Fine," Eva muttered while laying down in her own spot. "But if you notice anything-"

"Goodnight Evangelyne!" Amalia cut in exasperatedly with a mild glare.

*Sigh* "Goodnight Amalia."

-Morning-

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon when Yugo slowly sat up from his bed, his nose twitching as a delectable aroma wafted into his nostrils.

"Mmmmm~ who's making-Mph?!" He started to ask groggily but was cut off midsentence by a wrinkled hand clapping over his mouth. Now fully awake, the boy's head snapped towards the owner of said hand as his palms started to glow, only to blink in confusion when he saw Ruel standing beside him with a humorous grin.

"Ssssh, you'll ruin the moment." The old Enutrof whispered while pointing towards the other side of the tent. Following his directions, Yugo slowly turned his head in the direction Ruel was gesturing to, his eyes widening in surprise the moment he did so.

Amalia had moved in her sleep sometime in the night as she was now splayed out haphazardly across Eva, forming a + shape with their bodies. Not only that but the greenette was also latched onto the arm of one Naruto Uzumaki, cuddling with it contently like one would a teddy bear while she used the whiskered blonde's stomach as a pillow.

"By Enutrof I wish I had that picture box Naruto showed us right now." Ruel said with a quiet chuckle, looking from the hilarious position the trio were in to Yugo's equally humorous reaction of it.

Once he managed to recover from his surprise, Yugo pushed the old man's hand away, revealing the wide grin that had been hidden as he giggled. "Should we wake them up?"

"Nah, don't have to, they'll be up in three… two… one."

As soon as Ruel finished counting, Dally shot up from his bed, drooling heavily as he sniffed the air with his nonexistent nose before loudly proclaiming, "I smell food!"

What followed next would be quite possibly the funniest five minutes of Yugo's life so far.

While Naruto and Amalia were roused by the shout, Eva was wide awake as soon as the sound reached her ears thanks to her military training. Sitting up to find out what the commotion was about, the Cra reflexively shoved off the extra weight she felt on her torso.

Said 'extra weight' let out a shriek of surprise when she suddenly found herself briefly airborne before tumbling onto Naruto's chest, jolting the whiskered blonde awake as the air was forced out of his lungs. Disoriented and still groggy, both tried to move at the same time, only to end up falling over and getting tangled up in each-other's blankets.

Then to top it all off, as the duo struggled in a blind daze trying to get free, one of Amalia's blankets snagged itself on Eva's wrist and pulled the blonde elf-girl into the mess before she even had time to blink…

…and that was just the first minute.

The remaining four was a mess of yelling, screaming, squirming, struggling, and enough profanity to make a sailor blush as they flailed around in total confusion. By the time the trio finally managed to gather their wits and calm down, they were completely jumbled up in a ball of cloth with their heads and limbs sticking out at random points.

…

…

"…What the hell just happened?" Naruto asked with a raised brow while desperately trying to fight down the blush spreading across his face as he felt Amalia and Eva's bodies smooshed up against and contorted around his.

All he got in response was equally embarrassed blushes from the two girls and a chorus of laughter from the boys.

-End Chapter-

Translations:

Iyarashī: Bullshit

Kami no jaakuna shūdō-shi: God damn monks

Bunchin: Paperweight

AN: Another filler chapter, hope you all don't mind. Thanks for reading and review.