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Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 16-

-Last Time-

"We both knew it was only a matter of time," Eva said while watching Amalia drag Naruto off to a nearby clothing store, likely to con him into holding her stuff while she shopped. "This isn't something he can just shrug off forever."

"I am well aware, but what happens when he reaches that point once more is what concerns me." Ruel said before turning around and walking off in a seemingly random direction. "Come on, we still need to wake up our young friend here and I do believe there is a hospital over this way."

Taking one last glance at the blonde and green duo, Eva nodded in agreement before following after the old Enutrof.

-And Now-

Inside a plain bedroom, our band of travelers could be found around an equally bland bed that their mysterious sleeping companion was now laid out upon. As he lay unmoving on the soft cotton padding, an Eniripsan man stood over him, a doctor according to the symbols on his outfit, his hands held out above the boy emitting a gentle green glow while he chanted quietly under his breath.

This went on for quite some time, just a little shy of ten minutes to be exact, before the doctor stopped and let his now lightless hands fall to his sides with a tired sigh.

"You were wise to bring this boy here," He said while grabbing a rag from a pocket and wiping the sweat off his brow. "It is definitely Eniripsan magic that is keeping him in this state."

"So you will be able to wake him up then?" Yugo asked with a smile… only for it to quickly fade away when the man shook his head. "What? Why not?"

"Yeah, you just said it is your people's magic so surely you can release its effect on him." Evangeline stated with a frown.

"I'm sorry but it is just not as simple as that," The doctor, who shall be called Doc from now on, stated, earning curious looks from all around until he elaborated. "What keeps the boy under is a complex series of spells, all intricately intertwined with each-other and him to maintain his current condition while keeping him alive. If I were to just dispel them all at once then the sudden surge of magic or even the loss of said magic would likely send him into shock or worse. And undoing them one at a time is just as risky since it could cause the others to act in… undesirable ways."

While most of the group understood what the man was saying, there was of course one certain Iop who was completely lost. "Uuuuh… what?" Dally asked while scratching his head in confusion.

"The doctor can't do anything without possibly killing the boy by accident." Ruel simplified for the orange-haired knight as bluntly as he could.

"Oh! … … …Oh…"

"So there is nothing you can do for him then?" Amalia asked sadly.

"Not personally, I'll have to request a High Cleric to come for assistance." Doc stated, getting Amalia, Eva, and Ruel to perk up while Yugo, Naruto, and Dally looked confused.

"Not to sound stupid, but what's a High Cleric?" The whiskered blonde asked with a raised brow, unknowingly voicing the other two boys' thoughts.

"It's a title given to Eniripsas who've proven themselves to be truly devote in the art of healing magic. It is one of the greatest honors to receive, with only the queen herself or her personally handpicked priests and priestesses outranking them." Eva explained while Doc nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, one of them would almost certainly be able to help in this kind of situation, though it will probably be some time before one arrives."

"Which means we'll have to play the waiting game once more," Ruel grumbled with an exasperated sigh. 'Well, we still need to resupply and charter a boat to Oma which could take a few days anyway so at least this isn't too ba-"

"By the way, before I forget, here's your bill for admission and the examination." Doc said while handing the elderly Enutrof a slip of paper.

Taking just one look at it, Ruel's eyes bugged out to near impossible size before promptly falling over backwards in a dead faint.

"Saw that coming," Eva muttered with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed the bill from the unconscious coot, only to do so again when she saw the total on said paper. "Oh no, a whole ten Kamas, what a terribly unfair price."

"Uh Eva," Amalia started to say, getting the Cra to look towards princess as she, Yugo, and Dally each held out all their money, totaling at exactly ten Kamas altogether. "That may be a bit more problematic then you think."

Realizing what her friend was implying, Eva reached into her coin purse and grimaced when she pulled out a solitary gold coin. Looking down at Ruel again, she kicked his side where she knew his own purse was, only to be meant by the ever-expected feeling of fabric and flesh.

She didn't even have to check with Naruto, the only money he had was no doubt… outdated, to say the least.

"…Crap."

-Ten Minutes Later, Main Square Water fountain-

"Okay, so let me get this straight, we have exactly one Kama to go towards chartering a boat, enough supplies for six possibly seven people, and probably another hospital bill when the young lad we found gets woken up," A now awake Ruel listed off idly from his spot on a bench beside Yugo and Amalia, a magazine in hand that he was only half-reading. "Anyone got any ideas? And don't even think of mentioning my family vault, any treasure in there is strictly off limits."

"Yeah, yeah, we know how Enutrof treasure hoards work you greedy old coot," Eva said with a dismissive wave of one hand while the other idly thumbed over the Kama in her grasp. "Our best bet would be to find some work or something."

"Oh, I could-"

"That would take way too long," Ruel unintentionally cut Naruto off as he flipped the page in his magazine. "I say we just place a few bets on some gobbowl matches, if we're smart enough then we'll have all the money we need in just a few days at most."

"Why don't I just-"

"Oh please, we are not wasting the only Kama we have gambling on that barbaric sport." Eva scoffed with her arms crossed.

"Barbaric? How cruel Evangeline, I'll have you know that I used to be a major league gobbowler once." Ruel said with a frown, tossing his magazine to the side as he stood up.

"Then that just proves my point," The Cra stated with a dull look. "It's an old, archaic, and outdated sport that's just a bunch of dumb meat-heads clobbering each-other."

"How could it be outdated? They update the rules all the time."

"Yeah, with even stupider ones that make less sense than the old ones which are usually removed a week after they are added."

"Oh really, name one time."

"The slip-em-something mid-game break where teams were encouraged to try poisoning their opponents with potions that caused anything from random bloating to diarrhea, repealed because three teams died from actual poison."

"The wording wasn't specific enough, it happens."

"The if-you-break-it bonus where a team got an extra point for every broken bone they got in play, removed when the Gnorking Gobbals ended up permanently crippling themselves from self-inflicted injuries."

"It was meant to discourage breaking the other team's bones, not our fault some idiots decided to break their own instead."

"The foul-fouls where teams were forced to where increasingly rancid clothing for every foul, undone when almost thirty players died of infection, heatstroke, and disease."

"Erm…happenstance?"

As Eva continued to fling out increasingly ridiculous sounding rules and their reasoning for removal, the majority of which were the death of players, while Ruel retorted with a mixture of reasonable and not so reasonable countermarks, the rest of the gang lost interest and did their own things.

Dally wandered off to a nearby set-up of straw dummies that he started hacking away at to practice his sword swings…

"Hey! Stop that! I am not some pathetic training sword!"

…much to Rubilax's displeasure.

Naruto, more than a little annoyed at being cut off not once but twice, also wandered off and after a minute or two was bouncing around the town square, talking to various people and checking out anything that peaked his interest.

Lastly, Amalia and Yugo had grabbed up the mag that Ruel abandoned and were currently reading it curiously while occasionally glancing at the arguing pair.

"I had no idea that Eva hated gobbowl so much." The hatted boy said with a slightly tilted head with Az chirping in agreement as the Tofu landed on his owner's head.

"To be fair, it's not gobbowl itself she dislikes, but major league gobbowling like here in Bonta since it has a much more relaxed following of rules on things like player safety and such," Amalia explained with a shrug while flipping to the next page. "It's definitely the most exciting matches to watch then anywhere, aside from Brakmar who rate almost equally, but it also has the greatest amount of player casualties and forced retirement each year as well, again aside from Brakmar."

"Wow, really? Playing is really that dangerous? I always thought dad was exaggerating when he told me about it." Yugo said while thinking back to his adopted father's tales.

"Uh-huh, just look right here," Amalia said, pointing to one of the many articles they were reading. "Apparently one of the teams playing for the final lost one of their own players recently and are struggling to find a replacement in time for the game."

"Oh man… well I hope these Real Gobbly guys manage," Yugo said sympathetically, neither him or Amalia noticing Ruel suddenly jerk his head towards them as the lad spoke. "It would suck for them to get all the way there only to-Huh?"

Faster then the pair could react, Ruel swiped the magazine from their grasp and began frantically reading through the article they'd been talking about.

"Is it? …it is! I can't believe it!" The elderly man exclaimed as his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Can't believe whaaaa…and he's gone," Eva started to ask, only for the question to turn into a dry statement when the man suddenly bolted off. "We better go make sure he doesn't do anything that gets us into even more trouble."

"Good idea. Naruto! Dally!" Amalia agreed before shouting over her shoulder to get said boys' attention while Eva and Yugo went ahead. "Ruel's run off for some reason and we… have…"

The princess trailed off mid-sentence once the two young men got close, more specifically once Dally did as the Iop hobbled over covered in bruises and bits of straw.

"Uh Dally, are you alright buddy?" Naruto asked with a quirked brow as he got back as well.

"Oh I'm pine, youth shouve shee ve other vuys," The battered warrior mumbled indistinctly while jabbing his thumb behind him where a huge pile of dummies lay, chopped to bits and pieces. "They vought they vere sho swart thrying tho vang upf on ve, vut I showed vem a thing or thwo."

"I don't… I can't… that doesn't even… you know what, I not gonna bother," Amalia said with an exasperated shake of her head before grabbing a hand from either boy and dragging them along. "Let's just go before we fall behind any farther."

"Don't worry Happa-chan, I doubt they got that far."

As the trio left however, none of them noticed as one of the destroyed straw-men slowly lifted its head and stared at their retreating forms with its button eyes.

-Ten More Minutes Later-

"Oh boy, the Gobbowl Hall of Fame and Museum!" Amalia exclaimed happily as the group, Yugo and Eva included, arrived at a large ornate building with huge statues of muscular men holding gobbowl balls just as Ruel vanished inside. "I can't believe I almost forgot about this place, it's one of the greatest places in Bonta to visit. And it looks even bigger than the last time I saw it."

The exact moment after the greenette said that, a large bird decided to take a dump right on top of a statue, causes a few of the group to grimace slightly in disgust as the feces splattered around.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Yugo, having missed the crappy sight due to excitement, exclaimed as he rushed towards the main doors, prompting the others to follow after him a more sedate pace.

"Huh, you weren't kidding Happa-chan, they really went all out with this place," Naruto said, whistling lowly at the massive and well decorated interior, which had massive gold statues, displays of old team uniforms, giant paintings, and even pictures which surprised the blonde slightly. "And you said it used to be smaller?"

"Yep, last time me and Eva visited it was only half this big, remember Eva?" Amalia asked the Cra, her voice full of nostalgia.

"Oh I remember," Eva stated, her prior annoyed expression fading away in favor of a bemused smirk. "You kept getting lost every five minutes because you wouldn't stop running ahead and then almost got us kicked out when you picked up the gobbowl ball from the first official Gobbowl Final."

Instead of getting upset or offended like Yugo and Naruto had expected, Amalia giggled softly as she looked up towards the ceiling. "It was so worth it."

"And what about the photos?" Naruto asked while jabbing a finger towards a section that display dozens of photos about some Osmodian guy who was apparently the worst gobbowler in history. "I mean, you guys were pretty surprised when I showed you mine and my camera, so what's up with that? I was gonna ask earlier when I saw you guys reading that magazine, but it slipped my mind."

"They weren't here before either, if I'd hazard a guess, someone either reinvented or rediscovered that device of yours since the last time we were here," Eva said after thinking it over. "The Sadida Kingdom is rather far away from Bonta so they don't trade often and most Sadidans prefer not to use technology if they can avoid it anyway."

"It goes against our nature, or more precisely, it goes against nature itself." Amalia agreed with a shrug.

"Makes sense I guess, what about you guys?" Naruto asked Dally and Yugo.

"Dad never let me read a magazine before." / "What's a photo again?"

"And that's all I need to know," Naruto stated at the pair's responses before looking around curiously. "Anyone see Irezumi-jiji yet? He couldn't have gotten that far."

"…"

"Guys?" Naruto called out in confusion upon not getting a response before turning his head to find everyone else but an exasperated Eva stopped at a display of famous team uniforms, Yugo and Amalia gushing over how they were still sweaty.

"Ugh, sweaty jerseys, such a disgusting sport." The Cra muttered, her nose crinkled up in annoyance and distaste.

"Really Surudoi-chan? I get you don't like the game and all but do you really have to keep ragging on it like that?" Naruto asked with a quirked brow.

"I don't know Whiskers, do you have to love ramen so much?" Evangeline asked back, her prior annoyance being switched with mild humor as she spoke.

"Touché Surudoi-chan, touché," The whiskered blonde said while chuckling-

"By the holy shovel! Toot! Calben! Posho!"

-before suddenly snapping his head to the side when he heard Ruel's voice yelling out, followed by jovial laughter.

"Whelp, found Ruel," He said upon seeing said Enutrof happily chatting with a pair of old men, a midget fella barely two feet tall with goggles and a dark-skinned man… wearing a diaper, while another old guy wearing a wrestling mask, and a weird innertube and floaties to Naruto's confusion, glared halfheartedly from the sidelines. "Hey Surudoi-chan, are those normal outfits or…"

"They're old fashion trends, very, VERY, old fashioned," Eva stated quickly, she and Naruto watching the quartet suddenly grow somber and walk into a small curtained room. Eyes widening slightly in recognition of what that room was for, Eva sighed softly before grabbing Naruto's arm and leading him off in another direction. "Come on, we found out what was up with him, now we can get out of here before the smell makes me puke."

Chuckling as he was practically dragged along towards the exit, Naruto rolled his eyes as he went along with the archer. "Yeah, yeah, sure, who knew you were such a drama queen Surudoi-chan. Anyway, now that we got a moment, I wanted to talk to you about something."

This statement caused Eva to stop right before the exit, her head jerking towards the whiskered blonde. "Really, something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," He said, waving off her concern with a grin. "I just had a few ideas on how we could-*Shwup*-huh?"

For what had to be the dozenth time this day Naruto found himself cut off, this time by a vine suddenly flying between the two blondes and wrapping itself around the whiskered boy's waist. All either of them had time to do was blink in surprise before the plant just as quickly retracted from whence it came with Naruto in tow.

The next thing the ancient ninja knew, he was on the other side of the museum, forced to hunch over slightly as Amalia hugged his shoulder excitedly.

"Check it out Naruto! It's the Gobbowl ball Eva and I were telling you about! From the first official Gobbowl final!" She exclaimed while pointing to a pedestal that had a very old and worn out looking Gobbowl ball encased in a thick glass box. "Look! You can still see my handprints on it! Isn't that awesome! Oh you should've seen it when I had picked it up. It had been in an open exhibit and the guy guarding it had fallen asleep. I was so excited that I just couldn't help myself…"

Unfortunately for Amalia, due to her excitement the greenette was utterly oblivious to several things as she gushed over the old relic.

The first was how Naruto's face was barely even an inch from her own.

The second was that said face had rapidly turned a bright red as steam poured out of the blonde's ears, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to say something only for his own embarrassment and Amalia's constant rambling preventing him from getting out a single word.

Finally, and most importantly, was that his blushing had nothing to do with the proximity of their faces one bit.

This was something Evangeline was able to figure out quickly upon joining the pair, her keen eyes quickly pick up one more key detail which made a light blush crop up on her cheeks before a wide smirk crossed her lips. "Hey Amalia."

"…And the guards chased us all over the…" The Sadida princess kept rambling for a few moments on before her brain registered the call, causing her to look over towards her friend/bodyguard, her brow rising upon seeing the Cra's expression. "Uuuh, hi Eva, what's with the creepy smile?"

"Oh nothing," Eva said casually, her smirk widening slightly as she spoke while clapping a hand over Yugo's eyes when the curious boy and his Tofu also joined them. "I'm just imagining what's about to happen in the next minute or so."

"What are you talking about Eva? And why are you covering Yugo's eyes?" Amalia asked, for some reason a trickled down her spine.

"Yeah! What's going on?" Yugo added while trying fruitlessly to pry Eva's hand away.

Now grinning as widely as physically possible at this point, Eva giggled and point down in the plant girl's direction. "I should be asking you that Amalia, I had no idea that you were so forward."

"Forward? What in Sadida's name… are you…" Amalia started to demand, only to trail off as her gaze wandered downwards, her eyes widening so much in the process that they looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

You see, it turned out when she grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and pulled him closer, she inadvertently pushed his arm up to her chest, right between her breasts to be exact. If that wasn't bad enough however, due to whiskered blonde being just over a foot taller than the greenette, his arm was easily longer than her torso thus resulting in his hand resting right on top of her-

-Town Square-

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

-End Chapter-

AN: Alright, sorry for another filler chap but I guarantee next up is the gobbowl match. Hope you all liked the chapter and please review.