My Misadventures as a Hotel Owner
Chapter 2: Three's a Crowd
Naruto sat on the sofa in the living room, rubbing his nose with a sigh to stave off the headache from bothering him.
"Master, is there something the matter? You appear to be distressed, am I the cause?" a female voice inquired timidly.
Naruto turned to look at the pale-skinned girl dressed like a maid who was looking at him with worry and hands clasped together close to her chest. She claims to be a spirit known as a Zashiki-Warashi who was awakened to serve him as her master. He's already gone through a lot; exploring a dungeon straight out of a video game, rescuing a girl from goblins then bringing her to the inn, awakening a weird power which he saw in his dreams, and now this pops up.
"No, not really. It's just that it's been a long day and I wasn't expecting you to show up," Naruto explained the best he could.
Felicia sighed in relief "Oh thank goodness, I thought I was inconveniencing you with my presence,"
"Helllooo, is anybody here? a voice called out from the second floor.
"It would appear that the girl whom you rescued has regained consciousness,"
"Yeah, I'm going to check on her," said Naruto before making his way upstairs and entering the room where he found the girl sitting up on the futon and called out to her "Hey there, glad to see you're finally awake. You were in a tricky situation in the dungeon,"
The girl frowned in thought "The dungeon? Oh yes, the last thing I remember is…," her eyes widened in realization and was starting to freak out.
Seeing what was happening, Naruto quickly rushed over to her "Calm down, take in deep breaths. Inhale and exhale…inhale…exhale…," the girl followed his instructions and her heart rate steadied itself which the blonde took notice "Are you calm now?"
"Yes, thank you. You must be the one who saved me," said the girl.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yeah, the name's Naruto Uzumaki,"
"My name's Hestia, the goddess of the Hearth," the girl introduced herself.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock "Y-You're a goddess, for real? You didn't bump your head back in the dungeon, did you?"
Hestia pouted a bit "Of course I'm a goddess, is that hard to believe?"
"Uh yeah, a goddess is supposed to be all powerful and stuff, yet you were captured by goblins until I saved you," Naruto pointed out.
The 'goddess' slumped in depression "I really am, it's just that…,"
"What is it?"
"I guess it's understandable that you wouldn't believe me since us gods and goddess are forbidden from using our powers when we come to the lower world from heaven according to the Arcanum," said Hestia.
"Really, how come?"
"It's a necessity for when we're forming a familia which is a group of adventurers and supporters headed by a god or goddess. Some of us descended from the heavens to create familias and I'm one of them but something went wrong…,"
"What happened?"
"I arrived at the city and tried to recruit some adventurers but then they started to accuse me of being a demoness seeking to absorb their souls and attacked me, what was shocking was that they had a weapon that was designed to hurt a god. I was captured and taken to the dungeon and left there to die. But there was something strange about one of the adventurers…his aura felt dark even though he was human,"
Naruto hummed in thought "A quick question, are there demons in existence?"
Hestia nodded in confusion "Actually yes, we've been at odds with them for a long time. Why do you ask?"
"I see…if my time with Yasuko-chan and the Otaku club has taught me, it could be possible that a demon had disguised itself as a human to trick the others into viewing you as a demon to get rid of. They must have wanted to prevent you from forming a familia which could be a problem for them in the future," said Naruto thoughtfully.
"Could that be what happened?" asked Hestia asked in shock.
"Yeah, but at least you're safe now,"
The goddess nodded in agreement, looking up to the spiky haired blonde with gratefulness in her eyes which made him feel a bit shy. The moment was disrupted by a knock on the door, snapping them out of their thoughts.
"Master, may I come in?" asked Felicia from behind the door.
"Sure, you can enter," said Naruto.
The door opened up by itself for Felicia to come through with a tray of a tea set which she placed next to them "I brought tea for you," she looked down at the tea set for the teapot to float into the air and pour the tea into the teacups before having them hovering to Naruto and Hestia who took them.
"Oh thank you um…," said Hestia politely.
Felicia smiled with a bow "I am Felicia; a humble maid of Naruto-sama. The pleasure is all mine, to be able to serve you,"
Naruto groaned at this "Please, don't call me that. It feels weird,"
"I cannot do that, Naruto-sama. You are truly deserving of my respect and entitlement," Felicia refuted earnestly.
"Even so…,"
Hestia giggled at their interaction "You must be a kind person for her to refuse your request, how long have you known each other?"
"Actually, we met today. Which brings my attention to how exactly you awoken to want to serve me?" asked Naruto.
Felicia bowed in response "If that is your wish; I used to be a maid for this inn many years ago under the previous owner before you. Things were going fine for the inn until business began to deteriorate and at that time, I fell sick. The owner and the other staff tried to help me but to no avail and I eventually succumbed to the illness. Things had gotten so bad that the owner had to close the inn down and left for greener pastures. However, my strong love for the inn had tethered my soul to it and fell into a slumber. Years later, I was awoken by a voice which told me that someone has gained ownership of the inn and that I was to serve him as a Zaraki-Warashi. After viewing his past memories, I was more than willing to serve with the same dedication as I did for the previous owner,"
Naruto was stunned to hear her story, to think that she was a spirit from way back then and woke up to serve him "Whoa, I just…I don't know what to say…,"
"You don't need to say anything, you are the reason why I have awoken. Please let me serve you, it will make me very happy if you allow me to do so,"
The blonde rubbed the back of his head with a sigh, already having a clear idea that refusing would sadden her "Alright, I wouldn't say no anyway,"
Felicia cheered happily "Thank you Naruto-sama, you really are an amazing master,"
"*Groan* Please don't add sama to my name,"
"I'm afraid I cannot do that,"
"*Groan*,"
Hestia was giggling at the interaction between the boy and the maid when she heard a strange sound from the former who took something from his pocket and looked at it before sighing and returning it to his pocket.
"Almost forgot that tomorrow's a weekday…," Naruto muttered to himself.
"Um Naruto, what kind of artifact is that?" asked Hestia.
"Artifact? Oh you mean my phone," said Naruto then he realized that he hadn't informed Hestia that she's not in the Isekai world as of now "Um Hestia-chan, there's something you need to know,"
Hestia blinked in confusion "What is it?"
"Well, the thing is…," Naruto went on to tell her that she's in his world which is linked to hers through a doorway in his inn which led him rescuing her and bringing back to recover.
Hestia was stunned to hear this "Amazing, none of the deities ever suspected for there to be another world besides the lower world…,"
"Yeah, the concept of other worlds were believed to be fictional like in stories and stuff like that. At least until I owned this inn which kinda make me start questioning a lot of things now," said Naruto "There've been a lot of trucks these days…,"
"Excuse my rudeness lady Hestia, but what will you do after you recover?" asked Felicia curiously.
The twintailed goddess froze at the question, having not thought of it till now "Well I…it would be a given that I'll return to the city but…,"
"You're worried that the demon would target you again and you can't go through the dungeon alone," Naruto guessed.
Hestia nodded unsurely "…Yes,"
"If that's the case, how about you stay here with us for the time being? I'm getting the hang of the dungeon crawling and working on getting stronger so I can go further,"
"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother,"
"It's okay, plus I want to see more of the other world and I'm sure you want to do the same for my world,"
"Well, I am curious to see how your world is like…," Hestia admitted shyly, having been the type to want to know new things which was why she descended from the heavens to the lower world to start up a familia.
Naruto smiled "Great, just rest for now and call Felicia if you need something. I'm going to be a bit busy,"
"Okay, and thank you for everything,"
"No need to thank me plus we're friends now," Naruto turned to Felicia "Be sure to help her out when she needs it,"
Felicia bowed in response "As you wish Naruto-sama,"
Fighting back the urge to groan, Naruto left the room to go downstairs and exit through the kitchen to reach the backyard to stand in the middle with a thoughtful look on his face. Today was really something; he finished cleaning up a majority of the inn, discovered a doorway leading to a dungeon, rescued an actual goddess and a cute one at that *Ahem*, awoken a Zaraki-Warashi which desires to serve him as her master and so much more with one of them holding a majority of his attention right now.
"This power of mine, chakra if I recall correctly…I'm somehow able to use what I've been seeing in my dreams ever since I was a kid. Could those dreams be real and rather my memories of another life? Ugh, there's too many tropes going on right now," thought Naruto, he decided to try the technique from before again and created a shadow clone who waved at him.
"Hiya boss, what's up?" said C-Naruto happily.
Naruto waved back awkwardly "Uh hey, I was just checking how I was able to do this from my dreams. Still finding it hard to believe,"
C-Naruto quirked an eyebrow in response "Since you're able to create me, doesn't it mean that those dreams hold some truth?"
"If so, would that mean that I have a giant fox sleeping in my stomach," Naruto lifted the shirt to reveal his torso to see nothing there "But I don't see any markings or hear the fox in my head,"
The clone shrugged his shoulders "Maybe you could try imitating the some of the stuff you saw in your dreams to see if it would do something different,"
"You have a point there, I'll give it a try,"
"Alrighty then, I'll be going. Good luck!" C-Naruto did a two-finger salute before disappearing in a puff of smoke,"
Naruto sweatdropped "Yeah sure, totally not weird to have a conversation with oneself," he hummed thoughtfully "Now what can I imitate from those dreams of mine? Should I try that walking up the trees…no, the last thing I want is a broken neck…maybe the swirling ball thingy…no, can't recall exactly how to do it…oh yeah, I can do that mediation thing! It's the most harmless out of all of them!"
Recalling the dream the best he could, Naruto sat underneath the tree in a cross-legged position and put his hands together to form the handsign which he saw in the dream and closed his eyes to concentrate. He blocked out everything from the outside and focused only on what's inside him, searching through the void within…then he started to sense something, it felt somewhat familiar. He slowly and calmly reached out and felt something brush against him for a moment before losing it out of surprise. Naruto tried once more and was successfully in grasping what he was now sure to be chakra. However, he never expected for the chakra to suddenly latch on to him and pull deep into the void where he lost consciousness.
Naruto opened his eyes and noticed that he was standing in the middle of a forest clearing much to his confusion.
"Where am I and how did I get here? I know full well that I was meditating," said Naruto confusedly while looking around. Suddenly, he heard an animal yipping and turned to see a fox kit at the edge of the clearing "A baby fox, and it's not afraid of me?"
*Yip**Yip* the little fox turned towards the forest and would look back at him as if trying to say something.
"Wait, you're telling me to follow you?" asked Naruto, and to his surprise the fox kit actually nodded before walking away albeit slowly "Okay, add talking to foxes to the list of the weird things I've done today,"
Not knowing what else to do, Naruto decided to follow the fox kit through the forest all the while wondering just what had he gotten himself into. Eventually, the fox kit stopped I place and started gesturing for the blonde to go on ahead.
"You're seriously wanting me to go on without you?" asked Naruto skeptically.
The fox kit gave him a look which clearly said 'Do you have any better ideas?'
Naruto sighed "Under which star was I born? Fine, I'll go but know that I'll haunt you if I die," the fox kit simply rolled its eyes at his threat. Grumbling, Naruto went on ahead with the utmost caution considering that he has a lot to live for than to die here.
As he ventured further through the forest, he reached the edge which opened up to a massive waterfall that stood high above him. Relaxing on top of a stone at the base of the waterfall, Naruto came upon the sight of a giant fox with fur as well as long rabbit-like ears and nine furry tails which was currently asleep. Looking at the fox, Naruto couldn't help but find it to be very familiar to him. He hardly took a step forward when the fox suddenly stirred and raised its head while letting a loud yawn, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth before turning to look at Naruto who tensed.
"Step forward human," the kitsune spoke in a deep voice, Naruto complied since he didn't want to do anything to irritate the beast who leered at him "Hmmm, it would seem that you haven't changed a bit…still the scrawny little brat I see,"
Naruto's tension suddenly disappeared and was replaced with anger which he wasted no time to make vocally evident "Who are you calling scrawny fuzzball!?" his eyes widened with a hand raised to his mouth in shock at what he just did, then he heard chuckling and looked up to see the fox appearing rather amused instead of angered.
"It's good to see that this part of you still exist after all these years," said the fox with mirth.
"I've been seeing you in my dreams, I feel like I'm supposed to but…," Naruto unsure of himself.
"Hmm, it's no surprise that you wouldn't remember anything thanks to the people upstairs as a way of wanting you to live a supposedly normal life up until this point. Seems to me like the time for relaxation is over and the time for action has come," said the fox.
"What do you mean? I don't understand," said Naruto confusedly.
"Of course you wouldn't with the way you are right now, you need to awaken your true self,"
"Awaken? My true self? What are you talking about?"
"*Groan* this is the part of you that I don't miss…follow me and you'll see what I mean,"
As the fox rose to its feet, it suddenly shrunk down to the size of a full-grown German Shepherd whilst hopping off the stone platform and walking past Naruto who followed into the forest. It was a silent walk until they reach a forest clearing where a massive tree grew at the center of it, they approached the tree and Naruto noticed that a portion of the bark had been scraped off and letters were carved into it.
"Read them," said the fox.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the odd request "I should just read them, what does this have to do with awakening?"
"Just do what I say, you'll understand soon enough,"
Shrugged at the fox's words, Naruto approached the tree and noticed the letters were actually names as he began to read "Hiruzen…Iruka…Kakashi…Sasuke…Sakura…Kiba…Shikamaru…," with every name read out, Naruto would see the images of the person per name and his heart would thump strongly against his chest "…Chouji…Ino…Tenten…Rock Lee…Neji…Hinata…Shino…," tears began flowing down his cheeks, his knees were growing weak "…Gai…Kurenai...Asuma…,"
"…," the fox watched on silently but then was sympathy in his eyes.
At this point, Naruto had collapsed to his knees and sobbing whilst forcing himself to continue reading "*Sob*…Gaara…Tsunade…Jiraiya…*Sob*Minato…Kushina…," by the time he was done, Naruto was assailed by the dreams from before only that they were much clearer than before and this time they didn't fleet through his mind like in the past but rather stayed with no intention of leaving anymore which he fully accepted.
"…hey brat, are you doing okay?" asked the fox.
"…," Naruto didn't say anything in response for a moment.
"…hey,"
"…you must have been bored to death since I wasn't talking to you at this time," Naruto looked back at the fox with a wide grin "Did you miss me, Kurama?"
Kurama scoffed whilst looking away "Like I would miss a headache like you,"
Naruto smirked mischievously "Tsundere like always, you can never be honest with your feelings,"
"I'm as honest as can be, giving it to you straight," Kurama grunted in annoyance before smiling a bit "Given your attitude, it looks like you're wide awake now,"
The blonde held out a fist "Yeah, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze is back baby!"
Kurama bumped Naruto's fist with his own "Welcome back, so what's the game plan unless you're going to wing it like always?"
Naruto hummed in thought "Well, in the meantime I'll go about things the normal way whilst making preparations to venture through the dungeon. I'll need to get myself back in shape, I also need to work out a way to obtain weapons besides the ones I've got. Think I can check with him to see if that's possible. There's a lot to do so it's one step at a time right now,"
"So we're at an experimental stage for the meantime,"
"Yeah, until we're good to go. Plus, there's helping Hestia-chan back to the city and flushing out the demon that tried to get her killed too,"
"I have to admit, your crazy luck helped net you a goddess and one with big boobs for that matter," said Kurama, smirking at Naruto who began to blush.
"Shut it, furball! Why do you have to do these things!?"
"I forgot how fun it is to mess with you,"
"Ugh, I'm outta here before you say anything more irritating,"
Kurama shrugged before taking on a serious expression "A quick heads-up, you're not at the top of your game as of now which means you shouldn't use Sage Mode and we can't link up for you to access our modes either,"
Naruto nodded in understanding "Hmmm, I think it might have to do with that level up thing. Anyways, I balance between dungeon crawling and ninja training for now," he disappeared in sparkles of light.
Kurama sat alone with a soft smile "Kept me waiting long enough," he glanced towards the names on the tree "He now carries the legacy of the ninja world on his back, it makes one wonder if the worlds there are ready for him…perhaps not with what I know about that brat, logic can't apply to him,"
Naruto opened his eyes and found himself back in the real world, he rose to his feet and could tell that he felt different, likely due to having regained his memories. He called on the Status Screen which appeared, revealing new information.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze
Age: 18
Race: Human (Reincarnated)
Job: ?
Title: Child of Prophecy, Sage of Peace, ?, ?
Level: 7
Strength: 46
Magic/Chakra: 47
Attack: 38
Defense: 34
MAG Attack: 33
MAG Defense: 29
Agility: 41
Luck: ?
Weapon: None
Armor: None
Accessory: None
Skills: Chakra Manipulation, Shadow Clone
"Looks like I have those two for now, some training and I regain my main techniques before working with Kurama on reacquiring the other ones. I wonder what kind of skill I'll gain from the dungeons though," said Naruto thoughtfully "Anyways, it's getting late and I'll need to prepare dinner,"
"Let's see what else you can cook besides ramen," Kurama teased.
"Shut it!"
Entering the kitchen, Naruto leaned against the counter and thought of what to cook. Normally, he wouldn't be that picky but this is Hestia's very first meal out of the Isekai world and wants to make it a memorable one. He reached into the upper cupboard and brought out a recipe book to flip through the pages before making a selection. He started taking the ingredients out from the fridge and cupboards to place on the table then brought out the kitchen utensils, he was about to start when Felicia appeared in the kitchen.
"Naruto-sama, are you about to cook?" asked Felicia.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yup, this is also Hestia's first meal in this world and I want to make it a great one for her,"
"May I be allowed to help you?"
"Sure, I'm not gonna stop you anyways,"
Felicia beamed joyfully "Thank you, Naruto-sama!" the maid spirit wasted no time in joining Naruto with the cooking, he could see that she really likes helping.
Soon enough, the food was ready and Felicia was in charge of setting up the table while Naruto went to bring Hestia over since she had recovered sufficiently enough to move around. She sat at the table and looked at the food with intrigue.
"So, this is food from your world. What is it?" asked Hestia curiously.
"Well, there were a lot of recipes to choose from so I settled for one of Japan's best…Dandelion Omelette Hashed Beef with Rice!" said Naruto with pride.
"It looks so delicious,"
"I recall some girls asked for you to be their bride when you cooked at that restaurant you're working at," said Kurama.
"I thought I told you to shut it!"
"When have I complied to that demand?"
"One of these days Kurama, one of these days…,"
Hestia took a spoonful of rice mixed with the hashed beef and put it in her mouth, taste exploded in her mouth the moment her tongue touched the morsel of food. She chewed slowly, savoring the taste before finally swallowing it, Hestia turned to Naruto with sparkles in her eyes.
"It's so delicious, I've never tasted anything so good like it!" Hestia took another bite and added a piece of the omelette "And this egg is so fluffy too!"
Naruto grinned "Thanks for the positive review! If you love this, then the dessert will be just as amazing,"
"I can't wait!"
Soon enough, they were done with the main course sans Felicia who couldn't since she's a spirit after all. Hestia was now looking at she could identify as a bowl of white cream which appears to be frozen with a spoon next to it, she was about to ask but Naruto beat her to it.
"It's a frozen dessert containing cream and sugar and flavoring which call ice cream, and this one's a vanilla flavor. But be careful not to eat it too quickly else you end up with a brain freeze,"
"O-Okay," Hestia cautiously took a bite of the ice cream and reacted to it rather giddily "So sweet! Just how many wonderful things does your world have!?"
"Too many to count…,"
After dinner, Hestia couldn't stop being amazed by the things around her like the designs of the inn, the atmosphere, the technology and so much more…to think they were able to do all this without the use of magic, making up for what they lack, humans are full of endless possibilities.
The goddess had gone to her room and was preparing to sleep when a certain thought came into mind "I wonder if I could persuade Naruto to join my familia, he could be the very first from another world to do so," Hestia giggled as she imagined how the other gods and goddesses would react when they learn of this, then she blushed when the image of Naruto appeared in her mind "He's so nice…I want him,"
Over with Naruto, he was in his room after a shower and was preparing to go to sleep when he received a notification about a message on his phone.
Hey Naruto, Rav here. Just calling to let you know that I'll be needing some help over at the garage. A client made a special request for the restoration of a car and I'll need you for this one, even Yumi will be in on this one. Make sure to show up tomorrow, it's gonna be a busy day.
"This sounds like a big deal for Rav to call us in," said Naruto thoughtfully.
Naruto started out as an assistant in Rav's Garage as a parttime worker and proven to be a great help as time went on to learn how to repair, upgrade and modify various vehicles. It was there that he met Yumi, a girl with a love for cars and has talent as a fabricator. Thanks to that, Naruto was drawn to…certain activities but didn't dive deeply into it.
"It will be interesting to see how human functions in this world," said Kurama.
"You'll see by tomorrow; I'll have my shadow clones start practicing from tomorrow. Just need to make sure that they don't dispel while I'm working," said Naruto before going to sleep.
The next morning, Naruto had woken up and put on some clothes after a bath then he went to the kitchen to find felicia having already prepared breakfast for everyone which consists of toast, bacon and scrambled eggs, croissants, fruit salad, coffee for Naruto, and orange juice.
As they ate, Hestia wanted to ask Naruto something "What will you be doing today?"
"Actually, I've got a job to do today which is likely to take up time so I might be coming home late. But I'll be taking you out to get some clothes when I get back," said Naruto.
"You can leave the tidying of the inn to me Naruto-sama, it is part of my job after all," said Felicia.
"Oh okay, I was planning to leave some of my clones behind to help besides training. Anyways, I'll be sure to return,"
Hestia nodded in understanding "Okay Naruto, please be careful,"
After breakfast, Naruto grabbed his backpack and bike then rode off whilst biding the others farewell. Along the way, Naruto noted that his already high stamina was even higher as he was pedaling quickly and wasn't feeling tired. Soon, he arrived at his destination which is a garage called 'The Alchemy'. Naruto once asked about the reason for the name and Rav said that it was because he spends his time turning piles of scrap into works of vehicular art; making his friends call him 'The Alchemist'.
He went inside to find numerous vehicles parked with some half repaired and others having been modded. Hearing footsteps, Naruto turned to see an elderly man of Singaporean nationality, wearing a mechanic's outfit as he approached him.
"Good to see you Naruto," said the man.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Same here, Rav-san,"
"Now that you're here, the only person left is-," Rav was disrupted by the sound of a car engine and sighed upon recognizing it "…looks like she's here as well,"
They turned to see a modded Mitsubishi Eclipse GT with glossy green body paint and black decals on one side of the car. Then someone stepped out of the car, revealing to be an Asian girl with hair dyed cobalt blue and tied to short twintails. She wears a short-sleeved red t-shirt with a white star on the chest, black short skirt with blue spats underneath, and a pair of black knee-high shoes.
"Hey everyone, I'm here!" said the girl cheerfully.
Rav shook his head in amusement "Yes, we can see that Yumi,"
Yumi is one of the part-time workers at the garage with her focal role being that of a fabricator, able to come up with decals, vinyls, body kits for the cars depending on the requests from the customers. She's a cheerful girl who gets along with everyone so it's no wonder that she's dating someone.
"Now that we're here, what's the job?" asked Naruto curiously.
"Follow me and I'll show you," Rav led them to a large tarp "Our job is this…," he pulled the tarp off to reveal a severely weathered vehicle, Naruto and Yumi's eyes widened in shock with the latter being more vocal.
"Is that a 55 Bel Air!?" asked Yumi, still in disbelief.
Rav nodded in affirmation "What it's supposed to be but yes, the customer wants us to restore it to its prime in time for a car show at his villa. Apparently one of our regulars recommended him to us,"
Naruto walked around the car to get a better look at it "One look and I can tell it's gonna take some serious overhauling,"
"Which was why I called you two for this,"
Yumi then noticed something "But what about the others, aren't coming over to help?"
"They were the first I called but apparently one had to prep for the finals and the other had gone to visit the family in the country, so it's just us three for this one," Rav explained.
"Oh, didn't know about that,"
"Might as go change and let's get things started,"
"Roger that," Naruto carried his bag over to the changing room to put on his mechanic's uniform with the same for Yumi.
They started things off by removing outer body of the car and examining the inner structure of the vehicle with Yumi typing away on a computer which was displaying a diagram of the car and taking appropriate measurements for the fitting. Naruto and Rav also removed the seats and other things, leaving just the engine and chassis which was actually in good condition with just a little cleanup required which they started on. As they worked on the restoration, Kurama was giving comments of his own, the Bijuu normally doesn't interest himself in the things humans do but that was back then in the Elemental Nations and this is a whole new world belonging to humanity.
"It's quite impressive for humans to be capable of such feats without chakra or perhaps that it's due to the inability to wield internal energy amongst the majority that technology evolved quickly to make up for it," said Kurama.
"I'm think so too, I even wondered if this world is the scenario of what if humans weren't able to use chakra compared to our old world where chakra is mostly focused upon and lesser attention was given to technology," thought Naruto as he worked.
"Indeed, like you would have used your clones to restore this machine within three days or even less. But we both know there are snakes hiding in the grass…,"
"Yeah, it's fine to be curious but not overly curious," Naruto thought about the scientists that wouldn't hesitate to rip you open and see what makes you tick.
Sometime after ensuring that the chassis and engine are in good shape, Yumi had also ensured that the measurements for the bodywork are accurate. The group decided to have a lunch break.
Naruto took a sip from his canned soda before asking a question "Hey Rav, how are Tyler, Mac and Jess doing?"
"Yeah, it's been a while since we last heard from them," Yumi added.
"Those three are doing what they do best; Mac's been traveling around, making and breaking the best drift records all over. Tyler's still the reigning champion of the Rush in Silver Rock. And Jess is still making cops want to pull their hairs out every time they fail to catch and she trashes their cars in response," said Rav with a fond smile, recalling the times spent with them before moving to Japan to take things easy.
"Sounds like them," Yumi turned to Naruto "What about you, Naruto? When are you going to take to the racing circuit? I know that you want to get in there after that day,"
According to what Yumi said, Naruto had been taught how to drive by Rav in order to test the vehicles they restore or repair with the blonde being quite good at it. He was invited by Yumi to a street race, spectating the race had lit up a fire in his heart and made him want to do the same but then they had to hightail it out of there the moment the police came over.
"Yeah, but we both know that I can't exactly do that since I don't have a car and need lots of money to mod it for racing right," Naruto pointed out.
Rav nodded in understanding "True, but we'll see how things go along the way…," the mechanic had something in mind and decided to work on it at a much later, maybe after they're done with the restoration of the current vehicle "Anyways, let's focus on the engine and chassis for today then deal with the bodywork tomorrow,"
By the late afternoon, the progress was much sooner than Rav predicted. Naruto had been receiving memories from his dispelled shadow clones and applying chakra manipulation to strengthen himself to make the work go faster for him and Yumi to be let off early and pick up where they left off tomorrow. Naruto rode back to the inn and was at the door when it was opened by Felicia who wanted to welcome.
"Welcome back, Naruto-sama. I hope that you had a good day," said Felicia with a bow.
"I did, where's Hestia-chan?" asked Naruto.
"She's in the living room, watching TV. She's quite fascinated with it,"
"Of course she would,"
"By the way, there's something I wish to speak to you concerning the inn and the dungeon,"
"What is it?"
"If possible, we could speak of it after dinner tonight since you will taking Hestia-sama out to purchase clothes for her,"
"Okay, is there anything you'd like for me to buy?"
"Actually there is, I'd like for you to purchase these list of groceries for the inn," Felicia handed over a list which Naruto took and read through.
"Alright, I'll be sure to get them for you on our way,"
Naruto went to take a quick shower and change into new clothes before going to the living room where he found Hestia who was wearing one of his old tracksuits from university which was a bit baggy, watching a telenovela on tv quite attentively much to his amusement till the show ended.
"Uuuuuu, I hope nothing bad happens to the two lovers. I can't believe those people want to separate them just because they're jealous," Hestia whined worriedly.
Naruto spoke up "Those kinds of shows love using cliffhangers at the end of each episode,"
Hestia jumped and turned to look at Naruto with surprise "Naruto? I didn't notice that you were home!"
The blonde smirked "It's no surprise especially since the show had your undivided attention,"
The goddess looked away in embarrassment "I couldn't help it, story was so enticing,"
"Which was why I waited till it was over, remember that we're going to get you some clothes to wear. Can't exactly expect you to keep wearing my clothes," Naruto pointed this out with Hestia blush at wearing a boy's clothes.
"O-Okay," said Hestia shyly.
Taking out his phone, Naruto ordered for a taxi to pick them up at the inn and take them to the market district. Hestia couldn't stop looking around ever since they left the inn.
"I've never seen buildings so tall…carriages able to move so fast…items never before seen…this is so amazing," said Hestia in awe.
"I'm glad that you like it, but don't forget that there are also bad things in this world besides the good things. Anyways, we've arrived at our destination. Yumi told me about this place and they sell clothes and other stuff for women with great quality," said Naruto, they went inside and headed over to the receptionist "Good evening, my friend here is in need of clothes and I'm hoping that you could help with that,"
The receptionist smiled politely "Why of course, please wait while I send for one of our assistants to aid you,"
Soon enough, one of the female assistants appeared and guided over to the racks of clothes where she started giving recommendations then encouraged Hestia to try them on in the changing room. The goddess tried on various clothing like shirts, dresses, trousers, shoes, apparel and many more with each and every one of them suiting her all too well, making it hard for them to decide which ones to purchase now and which ones to leave for later.
An hour later, Hestia stepped out of the store, looking like an all-new person. She was wearing a long-sleeved grey sweater which exposed her midriff, a flannel trouser without a belt, and a pair of black tennis shoes with white accents (an Hestia from Danmachi Fanart by kainex19 on DeviantArt) Naruto stepped out, having requested the store to deliver the clothes to the inn for Felicia to receive for them.
"Since we're done with the clothes, how about exploring the place?" Naruto suggested.
Hestia nodded with excitement "Yes yes yes!"
They started walking around the place with the goddess marveling at the sights, they came across a crepe shop which Naruto went to buy one while having her wait for him. He was returning to Hestia when he saw that she was being bothered by a pair who were being too insistent to talk to her.
"Wow, you're so cute. Are you a model by any chance?" asked one of the guys.
"Did something happen? We can help you if you'd like," said the other.
"Um…," Hestia looked around nervously, not knowing what to do in this situation.
"Excuse me…," the guys turned towards Naruto who was grinning at them but there wasn't any friendliness in it, his reconnection with Kurama helped him regain the ability to sense emotions and he sensed that the two men had bad intentions towards the goddess "Is there a problem?"
One of the guys snorted in disdain "Nothing that concerns you, so you can be on your way,"
"Considering the fact that she's my girlfriend, it definitely concerns me," Naruto said with a frown on his face.
"There's no way that this chick is your girlfriend, you're just making it up!" said the other guy.
"I'm only going to say this once, leave while you still can or else…,"
"Or else what, you're gonna glare at us to death?"
*POW*
The next thing anyone knew was that one of the guys was sprawled out on the sidewalk with a swollen cheek and totally knocked out with no intention of waking anytime soon…let's not forget about the three teeth laying on the ground next to his open mouth, no one even saw Naruto move and yet they suspected him to be the attacker. Naruto turned to the other guy and released a bit of his killing intent, making him sweat in fear.
"What the hell man, we're outta here!" he picked up his unconscious companion and got the hell out of dodge.
Naruto scoffed at the sight of this "Sheesh, idiots that think with the head between their legs. Are you okay Hestia?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," Hestia noticed what Naruto was holding in his hand "What is it?"
"It's a crepe, a very sweet food. There are many flavors with this one being banana cream flavored, give it a try,"
Hestia took the crepe and bit into it, she let out a cute squeal and ate it with fervor. Naruto couldn't help but feel that the way Hestia was eating with puffed cheeks reminds him of the way hamsters eat their food in a cute way.
"It's official, Hestia has a sweet tooth…a very sweet one," thought Naruto with a smile.
Hestia on the other hand was blushing as she recalls the confrontation "He called me his girlfriend, I know he said that to scare them away but…why does it feel so right to hear him say that?"
Resuming their tour through the city, Naruto noted that the sun had gone down and night settled in so he took her to a shopping mall so they could purchase the items which Felicia requested then taking a taxi back to the inn. Felicia happily received the items went on to prepare dinner for them which was spaghetti with stir fry vegetables and meat sauce.
Due to all the excitement and experience today, Hestia felt more tired than usual and decided to go to bed but not before speaking to Naruto "I had a good time, seeing all those things that one wouldn't have even dreamt of in my world. I'll treasure these memories,"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, maybe you can show me around when we go to your world in the future,"
"Of course, I'll be your guide just like you are mine," Hestia fidgeted about something then steeled herself to stand on her toes and peck Naruto on the cheeks with the blonde looking at her in shock "C-Consider it a g-gift of gratitude, i-it's not every day that someone receives this gift!"
The blonde ninja nodded, still dumbstruck "O-Oh, thank you…,"
"Yes…well, goodnight!" Hestia hastily went up the stairs and into her room before anything would happen.
"Wow, you still have that crazy luck of yours. Makes me wonder why you haven't gambled since you were reborn here besides those small-time bets in school," said Kurama amusedly.
"Cause that luck of mine can be my best friend or my worst enemy," Naruto retorted as he sat down in the living room where Felicia was waiting for him "So, what was you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Naruto-sama, I'm sure that by now you are aware that this inn is rather special," said Felicia.
"Considering that I somehow won its ownership through an online questionnaire, discovered that it links to another world and saved a goddess while I was in the dungeon, and finally meeting you. Then yeah, I figured that it's special," said Naruto with a shrug.
"Indeed, but there's more to the inn than what you know so far. It is capable of adapting to the needs and desires of the owner. As of now, it possesses the passive ability of enhancing recovery in health and mana as well as percentage in income albeit at a low level," Felicia explained.
"Okay then how do I see the status of the inn?" asked Naruto curiously.
"That was one of the matters I wish to speak to you about, you haven't given the inn a name yet which prevents you from viewing the building's status,"
Naruto blinked for a moment then bonked his head in realization "Of all the things to forget…let me think…," he closed his eyes while deep in thought, trying to come out with a good name. he thought back to his past life, wanting to bring a bit of it to his present.
The blonde ninja then smiled as he finally came up with one "I'll call this inn…The Spiraling Leaf," the name is based on his link to the Uzumaki clan and the Hidden Leaf Village. Then a screen appeared before him
[Name registered, loading status…please wait]
Name: Spiraling Leaf
Owner: Naruto Uzumaki
Reputation/Ranking: One Star
Number of Tenants: 1
Number of Available Rooms: 8
Rate of HP Recovery: 10%
Rate of MP Recovery: 10%
Rate of Income: 0.5%
"Guess that's the current status of the inn, is there any way we can improve it?" asked Naruto.
Felicia replied "The inn gains experience by attracting customers and satisfying their needs, there's also the instalment of upgrades into the building,"
"I see, I'll need to work on that. So, what else is there to talk about?"
"There's also the matter of the dungeon. When I awoke to serve you, I had received information concerning the functions of the dungeons in the other world; a dungeon tends to follow a particular theme whether it being underwater, in a deep forest, snowy plains and many more. The type of monsters also varies in the dungeons that they reside as well as their levels and ranks get higher the deeper the floor," Felicia explained.
"What about chests and monster drops?" asked Naruto, his inner gamer piquing his curiosity.
"Indeed, there are chests inside the dungeon with some of them being well-hidden and requiring skill to locate them with contents ranging from materials to weapons with various levels of rarity but please be aware of the traps installed to prevent access. As for the drops, one can obtain magic stones which are the core of monsters and contain magical power whilst continually absorbing other forms of energy to increase the strength of the core and thereby the strength of the monster, therefore a powerful monster would be as a result of possessing a powerful magic stone. There are also times that a monster would leave behind a part of itself along with its magic stone when defeated which can then be used to make weapons and items and therefore are traded at high prices,"
Naruto hummed in thought "At least I know more now than what I knew before, but how come I didn't get any stones from the monsters from my first dungeon exploration?"
"Perhaps, you should check your inventory,"
"Inventory?"
At Naruto's words, a screen popped up in front of him and he saw that everything in his possession had been placed in two Folders named Modern and Isekai then categorized into Items, Materials, Weapons, Armor and Key Items for easier viewing. Naruto took note that there were options for him to materialize the selected items into his hands, extracted from a backpack he would carry on his back and almost turn the Auto-Gather option on or off.
"Thanks for telling me all this, Felicia-chan," said Naruto gratefully.
The maid simply bowed in response "I only live to serve you, Naruto-sama,"
Naruto groaned mentally; he really wants her to stop acting that way as it reminds him too much of how Haku viewed himself as a tool meant to serve Zabuza all the way to his death. He then made his way to his room and got ready to sleep when he decided to view his stats first.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze
Age: 18
Race: Human (Reincarnated)
Job: ?
Title: Child of Prophecy, Sage of Peace, ?, ?
Level: 7
Strength: 46
Magic/Chakra: 47
Attack: 38
Defense: 34
MAG Attack: 33
MAG Defense: 29
Agility: 41
Luck: ?
Weapon: None
Armor: None
Accessory: None
Skills: Chakra Manipulation (LV2), Shadow Clone, Transformation, Negative Emotion Sensor (Passive), Rasengan.
"Looks like I got my old moveset from before I went on that trip with Pervy Sage along with increasing my chakra control since my clones were able to relearn the tree climbing exercise. Just need to find a good time and place to relearn the water walking exercise without anyone seeing and thinking that I'm the returning messiah," said Naruto whilst looking at his stats and noting that recalling his techniques didn't give him experience.
"At the very least, you can handle anything with your current moveset. You were already dangerous with those back when you started out as a Genin," Kurama pointed out.
"Yeah but there's also the question of my equipment, I guess I have no choice then…," Naruto picked up his phone and dialed in a number to call, he waited a bit until the person finally "Good evening, it's me,"
{…}
"Yeah, I'm doing great. I'll make sure to come over once my working schedule frees up,"
{…}
"Sure thing, by the way; do you recall the offer which you tried to give to me but I put a raincheck on it? Well, I'd like to take you up on it…,"
{…}
"Well, I ended up obtaining a business which would require self-defense but I'll need the right tools for the job,"
{…}
"When I come over, I'll tell you about it,"
{…}
"I don't mind, I can wait. Alright then, talk to you later, bye," Naruto ended the call before laying his head on the pillow and soon falling asleep.
On the other side of the phone, a black silhouette brought the phone away from his ear with a sigh "I was wondering when he was going to cash that favor of his. Now to make a few calls to some old friends of mine to start the process,"
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto was trying to fight off the stress from building after everything that has occurred and now has to deal with a maid spirit, that wasn't even the clincher as he later found out that the girl whom he saved from the dungeon is a bona fide goddess who was attacked by a disguised demon and dumped at the dungeon to die. Being the nice guy he is, Naruto offered to let Hestia stay until he had gotten strong enough to escort her back to her world and seek out the demon that tried to get her killed.
After their conversation, Naruto decided to investigate the mystery of the power he unleashed in the dungeon and how it was similar to what he saw in his dreams which led to him being pulled into his soul where he had an encounter with a giant nine tailed fox who helped him realize that the supposed dreams were truly memories from his past life and was now eager to restore his true strength and again be the unpredictable ninja he has always been.
The next day, Naruto headed over to the garage which is one of his parttime jobs to help restore an old vehicle for a client, there he reveals his interest in the street racing circuit but unable to take part due to lacking a vehicle. Afterwards, he took Hestia shopping for new clothes and tour the city with the ever-curious goddess taking it all in. as the day came to an end, Felicia confided in Naruto to inform him of the capabilities of the inn which he named the Spiraling Leaf as well as the mechanics of the dungeons in the Isekai world. Seeing the potential difficulty in the future, Naruto decided to call an unknown person to cash in a favor with the question being who the person is and what Naruto would be needing from him.
Characters in this chapter and their origins
Hestia – DanMachi
Rav – Need For Speed: Payback
Yumi – Need For Speed: Carbon
Felicia (OC)
I'll be responding to certain reviews and explain things as well;
Spellbat: Yeah, she's still a goddess in this one. There'll be a lot of them, both from Danmachi and other shows and games.
Kazutoxx123: Mostly rare and strong monsters will drop body parts along with their magic stones which can be used for blacksmithing or trading.
Explanation: To clarify things, Naruto is basically training to relearn his jutsu both canon and non-canon so it's nothing like I'm nerfing him but rather grow along with the aspects of the Isekai world. I'll also be combining the dungeon mechanics of both Death March and Danmachi whereby magic stones are extracted from defeated monsters and certain ones will drop body parts which can be used to create weapons, armors and apparel. I also included chests and I've capped the maximum level to 100 for now. With some help, I'll borrow certain concepts from DnD but still open to suggestions. I don't have much knowledge in terms of vehicles so i'm just making it up as i go
To avoid confusion, I've decided to combine various manga, anime and games into this story so you guys have guessed by now that Orario is the first stop in Naruto's adventure and will attract certain people when he appears there before setting out to other places. I'm sure you've noticed that I've included some NFS cameo in this chapter but keep in mind at Naruto will also be having adventures in the modern world besides the Isekai world. Be sure to read and review like always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana
Signing out and staying alive.