Thank you for reading!
For those who had read this, there are some parts removed, changed and added.
The same goes for the first chapter.
Enjoy!
Kafka was happy.
While it was a rough one last night since Naruto disappeared all of the sudden, she was in a jovial mood.
It was nearly dawn when Kafka and Bronie found the boy sleeping in the room next to the former's with their companion.
The black cat then woke up before it rubbed its eyes drowsily and left the room.
It was then Kafka pushed Bronie out of the room and locked the door.
Since the room was soundproofed, whatever noises the girl made outside wouldn't be heard inside.
The woman then loosened her shirt and took off her black jacket before laying down next to the sleeping Naruto.
It was 6am and while she knew she had a briefing soon, being late once in a while wouldn't hurt, right?
She smiled at the sleeping boy before her attention was given to the whiskers on his cheeks.
As if drawn to it, Kafka began to rub them slowly.
To her surprise, he made a purring sound just like a feline.
The soon retiring Stellaron Hunter had to hold in her excitement or she would have woken Naruto.
It took all of hers just to prevent herself from squealing and wake the boy up.
"You're so precious..." Kafka said with a collected look although her eyes showed that she couldn't wait to know more about the boy.
Was the change happening already?
Elio did say that the boy would change her and the same for her to the boy and their destinies were intertwined together.
She wouldn't act like this before she met the boy but now, just under a day, he managed to melt her heart and slowly changed her.
It was incredibly frightening.
Even Silver Wolf, who looked uninterested in almost everything except for games and hackings, wanted to get to know the boy the moment she saw him.
Letting out a silent giggle, Kafka closed her eyes as she kept on caressing the boy.
Unbeknownst to the woman, Naruto was slowly waking up from what she was doing.
He was surprised to see someone so beautiful laying next to him but then he remembered that he was no longer in Konoha.
Yes, he had a new life now, thanks to the woman next to him.
"Oh, good morning." Kafka said, after sensing the boy stirred a bit.
His eyes began to water as he heard the words.
Kafka started to panic when she saw the boy cry.
But then she remembered the files Sam gave her, the boy was orchestrated by the village and had no one by his side.
Even the girl with the cat mask from before wasn't allowed to interact directly unless necessary.
Slowly, she pulled Naruto in a warm hug as she rubbed his back to calm him down.
She could hear him weeping, but she let him be and whispered that she would always stay by his side and never leave.
Naruto nodded.
After a few minutes of crying, he calmed down and began to pull away much to Kafka's displeasure since she was enjoying his warmth.
"G-good morning, Kafka. I'm sorry for getting your shirt wet..."
The woman giggled at his politeness before she poke his forehead.
"Don't be so formal, Naru. I won't punish you or anything for being casual with me or everyone here."
Naruto nodded nervously.
Kafka made a small frown.
She sat up on the bed and Naruto followed.
"Now, before we have breakfast, let's get to know each other first, shall we?"
Naruto bobbed his head once.
"I'll start first if you don't mind, okay?" Another nod, Kafka smiled. "My name is Kafka, as you've heard from my companions, my hobbies are shopping and watching you." Naruto tilted his head to the side with squinted eyes, what did watching him have to do with her hobby?
Kafka almost squealed if it wasn't for her experience to keep calm in every situation.
"Continuing, my likes are collecting coats, playing violin I guess, and you." A small blush sported in the boy's cheeks since no one ever said that they liked him. "My dislikes...I used to have none, but now, people who hurt you."
"T-thank you..." Naruto muttered, making the woman rub his head lovingly.
"As for my dream, since I've already accomplished my first one by meeting you, now, I guess I want to build a family with you."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before answering with a bright smile.
"I also want to be family with you, Kafka."
Once again, Kafka rubbed his cheek before she chuckled.
So pure, so innocent.
Ah, how she wished she could preserve this moment forever.
But none would stay pure as the time passed by.
If you throw a nun into a group of devils, would she stay pure and innocent?
The answer was a no.
And if Naruto would be losing his innocence, that would be her job to do it.
In Bronie's room, the girl was listening to their conversation since she had placed hidden mics connected to the network in all rooms.
"Kafka and her insinuation..." the girl sighed as she blew up a bubble and popped. "You're lucky he's just an innocent kid...although..." her eyes trailed to the second screen where it had all the information about the boy, Uzumaki Naruto, the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox and the son of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, the latter being the previous host of the beast.
It was detailed to the smallest point.
From the day he was born, what the Elders' council planned for him, what the villagers thought of him and what they did to him.
Plans to sabotage and hinder his growth to make sure his loyalty was placed on the Hokage and turned into a weapon for the village.
She didn't know how Sam and Elio found all this information since the planet itself was far more primitive than their own.
Did they go there and gather them manually? or did they have agents stationed there?
She shuddered.
Thinking of life without games, computers and modern techs.
But due to the lack of techs, she could understand how the people on the planet were superior to other planet's inhabitants since they focused themselves in most physical activities.
Not to mention this energy called Chakra they had.
She glanced at the report Kafka provided her, Otsutsuki.
Silver Wolf sighed, she didn't want to spend time to read about it now.
Returning her attention to the first screen where she was watching Kafka and the boy, she pitied him for enduring such harsh treatment from such a young age.
Since he held the most powerful Beast inside him, he would either break first or persevere and change the villagers' opinions of him.
Kafka herself was the same.
If she kept pushing the way she was, she would either break or die the way she was.
The two were given the reason to complete each other, no wonder Elio told Kafka that the boy would change her and she would change the boy.
"A destined partner across the universe huh..." the hacker said as she returned to listen to the pair. "To think he would be in the most dangerous part of the Universe..."
"It is your turn now, Naru."
"R-right...my name is Uzumaki Naruto... I...didn't have any likes and dislikes before..."
Kafka gave him a knowing smile before asking.
"How about now?"
"I-it's you and your friends...and my dislike is...someone or something that wants to hurt you..."
The woman smiled as she ruffled his hair.
"My hobby...I don't have one now, maybe in the future..." Kafka nodded in understanding.
The boy had lived in isolation, after all.
"My dream...I want to be strong!" The boy declared with passion in his eyes.
"Oh? And why do you want to become strong?"
An amused smile etched onto the woman's face.
"So I can protect you."
Content with his answer, Kafka leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead.
"Good boy. And I'll help you to achieve your dream."
Naruto nodded before Kafka stood up and fixed her outfit.
She blinked before realizing something.
"Did you have dinner?"
"Un. Kitty took me to the shower and dinner with the scary Baldie and cool Sam."
Kafka had to stifle a laugh hearing Blade's misspoken name.
"Fufufu, as much as I want you to keep calling him Baldie, his name is Blade, or Bladie."
"Baldie?" Naruto tilted his head to the side.
Kafka giggled.
She knew his comprehension wasn't good from what she read from Sam's report, therefore, she'd let it go for now.
The woman then offered a hand for the boy.
"Now, let's get you prepared and have breakfast, shall we?"
The boy smiled at her before the two left the room.
"You're late." Sam addressed.
"Well, I do have little Naru to take care of." Kafka casually replied. "Remember how I did the same to you?"
An unnoticeable small smile crept onto Blade's face in the corner of the room.
Sam decided to move on.
"...Speaking of the boy, how was he? Did he have a nice sleep? Is he having breakfast now?"
Kafka laughed at Sam's inquiries.
This surprised everyone in the room, including Silver Wolf who was playing games quietly on the couch as Kafka NEVER laughed like that.
"I apologize," the woman said as she calmed herself. "It would seem what Elio said was true, everything was unpredictable after Naru joined us."
Sam grunted in affirmation while still waiting for Kafka's answers.
"To your questions, he is fine and from what I've seen, he had a good sleep and yes, he's having breakfast now." The woman finished with her arms crossed under her bust. "And why don't you change back, Sam?"
Sam nodded before they answered the question.
"Uh...I'd like to but...I don't want him to be disappointed to see someone so frail behind this armor..." They sighed before continuing. "I saw his eyes, you know...I guess boys really love this kind of things..."
"I do too! Especially when you transform!" Silver Wolf raised a hand. "We need to think of cooler lines and pose though!"
"Yes, yes, I guess you're an exception, Silver Wolf..." Sam sighed, but there was amusement in their voice.
"I think you don't need to worry whether Naru will be disappointed or not, Firefly." Kafka addressed the person behind the armor. "I think he'll be thrilled to see the pilot behind Sam, not to mention that you're pretty too."
Sam aka Firefly fidgeted from the praise.
"I-I'll think about it, give me some time please..."
"Good enough~" Kafka nodded at the answer before Sam continued.
"A-and I think you should prepare more food than just a simple toast for breakfast because the boy ate more than the all of us combined." Sam suggested as they pointed at Blade and themselves.
Kafka blinked.
"Oh, really? Well, then I'd just have to give him more snacks to hold until lunch after we're done here."
"Right, speaking of it, since you're retiring, and so early too...where do you plan to go?"
"Well... seeing how much I've done for our group, I don't think that it matters that I retire early..." Kafka smiled at the armored girl in front of her. "Anyway, I planned to retire to a place that has a similar level of technology to Naru's world, however, due to unprecedented situations...it seems like I have to scratch my plan."
"And they are?"
"Naru wants to be strong, therefore, I'd like Baldie's help–" Cue snickers from Silver Wolf. "Forgive me, I mean, Bladie's help to help him get stronger." Kafka continued, correcting her mistake and while Blade's brow twitched at his moniker, Silver Wolf didn't hesitate to laugh, while Firefly remained indifferent despite her armor trembling.
'Must be the boy,' Blade thought before opening his lips for the first time after they gathered in the room.
"I'm not suitable to teach him..." The man said with his eyes closed and arms folded. "You should go to the Xianzhou Luofu and have him learn under that woman."
A hitched breath could be heard from the one in armor.
"If it is who I was thinking...I don't think that is a good idea." Sam said, a bit upset that Blade would recommend the woman.
"Too bad, since I–" Blade was about to continue before Kafka cut him off.
"Listen to me, Bladie," Kafka spoke bewitchingly. "I agree to have that woman teach my Naru swordsmanship, but you would be the one who delivers the message to her."
"Kafka?" Sam called out, clearly surprised that she would let that...woman teach the boy.
"...Very well." Blade grunted out. "However, do not blame me if something happened to that boy...you know how she is." He finished before leaving the room, uncaring for what would be discussed.
With Naruto who was already done with his breakfast.
It wasn't filling him up though he wouldn't complain since it was free.
He watched the...machines -robots- as Kafka told him to clean up the table before he unrolled the scroll Yugao gave him.
He could see several writings in the scroll, the largest word 'Will' was written in the middle of the two smaller words, 'Inheritance' and 'Weaponry'.
Naruto unrolled the scroll further and started to read the content.
The one who wrote it was someone called Namikaze Minato and he noticed that this was made in case something happened during his birth.
"Namikaze Minato...where did I hear that name?"
The redhead then put a hand on the word 'Will' before he noticed Blade coming out of the briefing room.
The man glanced at him briefly before standing in the corner of the room, leaning on the wall, eyes watching him sternly.
Naruto raised an eyebrow before waving at him.
He received no reply.
"Oh well..."
He shrugged before pumping a little chakra as his hand was on top of the word 'will'.
This time, two smaller scrolls and several pictures popped out of nowhere, startling Blade who was watching him.
The boy looked at the pictures first and found a woman with long red-wine colored hair sitting on a couch with a pregnant stomach and a blonde man with spiky hair resting his head on it.
Naruto's eyes widened.
The boy recognized the blonde-haired man since he saw his pictures multiple times in the old Hokage's room and the Hokage mountain.
The rest of the pictures were the same but the couple turned younger and younger until the last one where they wore Hitai-ate and looked like a fresh shinobi out of the academy.
A small drop of tear began to form in the corner of his eyes before he wiped it dry and sniffled.
Naruto then hurriedly untied the scroll with a woman's name written on it, Uzumaki Kushina, the same surname as his before he began to read the content.
"Dear Naruto,
My adorable baby, if you receive this letter, that means something terrible happens when I'm giving birth to you-"
Sighing at Blade's absence, Sam decided to continue what they discussed.
"What was the second situation?"
"Wolfie here decided to come with us.'
Kafka dropped the bomb.
"I...see."
"Yes, but I know that you guys wouldn't be able to survive long if Bronie here comes with us, therefore, I've decided to go to a world which has a more advanced technologies for you to be able to contact her, not too advanced since I wouldn't want anyone to find my location."
"Do you have an idea where you would be going to?"
Kafka smiled.
"It's in a galaxy called the Milky Way, located in one of the Orion Arms, which lies about two-thirds of the way out from the center of the Galaxy, one of the eight planets, as well as numerous comets and asteroids and dwarf planets which orbit the sun, the third planet from the sun in the solar system."
"...Earth."
"Correct."
"Created by one of the unknown Aeons and later on, they adopted the title of God." Sam added a bit more information for her.
"That's news to me." Kafka added as she now started to question her choice.
"The Aeon isn't active any longer since they were killed after exhausting their power to seal a calamity called the Trihexa."
Kafka hummed at the news.
"And how many years have passed?"
"Several hundreds."
"Good enough."
"I don't think this is a good idea, Kafka. The boy, once he entered the planet, he would immediately be blessed with what they called the Sacred Gear and some races, like the Fallen Angels would want to erase him in case his sacred gear is too powerful for their likings while the devils would want him to join them."
"I understand, and even if they wanted to, I can just seal these sacred gears like we did to the Stellarons we collected before." Kafka said dismissively.
"Or maybe, you can choose a different world to live in." Silver Wolf suggested. "There are other Earths in the universe in different Galaxies."
She pondered about what the girl suggested before giving them a small shrug of her shoulders.
"I'll think about it."
With that all done, the woman turned and left the room, leaving Sam and Silver Wolf alone while the latter was busy enjoying her games.
The former sighed exasperatedly before Bronie called out to her.
"Want to play co-op, Sam?"
"...very well."
At the Luofu, in the most secluded place of the flagship, a woman with long pale hair sat at the veranda of her home as she admired her garden.
She wore a black blindfold with a silver crescent moon detail in the middle. Her clothing consisted of an elegant dress with a palette of black, dark blue and white with designs of moon phases, along with a blue ribbon in her hair and a red ribbon on the hip and back of the dress
A strong gale of wind blew past the garden as she watched the tree dance rhythmically.
"It is almost here...as the Master Diviner predicted..."
The corner of her small lips curled upward slightly before she enjoyed her wine.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Jingliu?" Another voice rang.
The woman called Jingliu turned to the owner of the voice sitting next to her.
A girl with light purple hair with horns on her head tilted her head to the side with a glass of wine in her hand.
"It's nothing, Baiheng. Pour me another?"
The girl pouted before picking up a bottle of wine, doing as the woman asked.
"Geez, I told you to call me Bailu, I don't use that name anymore, remember?"
Jingliu let out a small chuckle as Bailu finished refilling her cup.
"Or are you getting old that you can't even remember my name?" Bailu teased with a grin.
"...I won't show mercy even if it's you, Bailu."
The two stayed quiet for a bit before they chuckled and enjoyed the night breeze.
This is AU, whatever happened in canon star rail timeline doesn't happen here...maybe!
End