Hello! Sorry for the late upload.

Continuing on, I hope to finish off another part of the funeral supply hunt here. Also, Childe might be a bit out of character in this chapter. You know the dril! Disclaimer is in the first chapter.

If you ask anyone about Naruto and his character, the first thing you'd hear was that he was a lovely person to know or that he was not so different from a silly fox. This was not a particularly well kept secret because by now, almost everyone in Mondstadt and their dog knew about how he made the Fatui lose their grip on the City of Freedom. However, if you asked the same question from Childe, he'd just call the loveable blond weak and brag about how he could beat 'that dumb fox' for almost one whole hour. At first glance, it would look like a silly rivalry, but any veteran fighter would see it differently. To a person who had fought and trained for most of their life, it would be clear that there was something else going on.

Right now, the Harbinger was inside Northland bank, giving orders and making sure that his men were keeping tabs on the Traveler and his longtime 'rival'. While he looked peaceful on the outside, his mental state was a completely different story. He was more ecstatic than he let on. He had the Traveler's guard almost down and he was going to give Naruto the beating of his life. Speaking of the Traveler, he lamented that Lumine had such a twisted view of the Fatui. If she was a bit more open, they would've been great comrades and sparring partners. With a sigh, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and left the bank. If he wanted to beat Naruto, he might have to train a bit more.

Speaking of the group, they were at the old ruins by Mt Tianheng, looking for parts to fix the Guizhong ballista with Zhongli, so that they can use it to find a 'Cocogoat' for the little zombie at Bubu Pharmacy. "Hey guys?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Naruto. "What does 'oojuwah' mean?"

Everyone blinked. Pamon floated around confusedly. "Ooju-wah? Paimon's never heard of a word like that. What's that word even supposed to mean Whiskers?"

"Why do you think I'm asking you overgrown baby?" Naruto's deadpan expression and the taunt at the end gave Paimon a tick mark.

"You take that back right this instant Whiskers! If you don't, Paimon'll give you another really ugly nickname!"

Lumine sweatdropped at the scene. "Um… Paimon? I think he meant bourgeois."

Naruto perked up and pointed at Lumine. "Yes! That's what I meant! Take that Yapping fly!"

'But I didn't say anything to help either of them…' Lumine thought with another sweatdrop. While Naruto and Paimon looked like they were about to recreate the Archon war, Zhongli scooted over to Lumine.

"Um… is this, a normal occurrence between them?"

Lumine looked at Zhongli with an apologetic smile. "Not really. I don't know how or why this happens, but it's actually kind of nice." She looked at the scene of Paimon trying to claw Naruto's eyes out while the blond held her away like a baby with a fond smile on her. "Reminds me of a lot of my time with my brother."

Zhongli hummed. "If you do not mind me asking, Traveler, what if, at the end of your journey, you don't find who you seek?" Countless faces passed through the consultant's mind. "What if he is… someone else?"

Lumine opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Eventually, after watching the blond and the fairy struggle for a few more minutes, Lumine finally found the words to speak. "I don't know. I really wouldn't know. We've always been together. We did everything together. Even now, I feel lost on what to do." She didn't know why she told the consultant this, but deep down, being near him felt… warm. Compared to Naruto's presence that seemed to hold her and guide her, Zhongli's presence felt like a steady presence that she could lean against when she was tired.

To Zhongli, this girl somewhat reminded him of Xiao. Years ago, when he didn't have to worry about accidentally making Mora when he shoved his hand into his pocket, the Adepti had often teased him on his relationship with Xiao. Even though he never admitted it out loud, Xiao was like a son to him and, as any father would, he'd do anything to protect the lone Yaksha. 'I hope you find what you wish to find at the end of your journey Traveler.'

While Naruto and Paimon were fighting, Zhongli and Lumine managed to find what they were looking for and start fixing the Guizhong ballista. After a while, the two 'overgrown babies', as Lumine had so eloquently copied, finally finished fighting, they had almost finished their tinkering. The fairy and the blond looked at each other, shrugged and joined in. After a few minutes of joint effort, they had finally managed to finish fixing the Adeptal contraption. "How this girl hasn't figured out that this old man is one of those Archons is beyond me. You should have gone for that deaconess girl, gaki." Naruto sighed. 'You're right about that first thing. Maybe Lumine just thinks he's just an Adeptus? Also, for your information, I'm not interested in her and I do not see either of them as romantic partners.' Kurama just chuckled. "Oh, well. We'll see about that. ~" Naruto sighed again and chose to ignore the oversized fox to look over at Zhongli, who had just finished fixing up the Guizhong ballista.

"Wow! The ballista is moving on its own." Indeed, just as Paimon said, the Ballista was moving on its old gears, that were in surprisingly good condition for something that was supposed to be as old as the Archon war. "Look! It even has a scope." The fairy moved up to the scope and held onto it with her little hands, causing the contraption to stop moving, and moved it around. "No. Over here? Nothing. Over there? More nothing. Over here? Even more nothing. Huh?" Paimon hear a voice and turned to face it, but also unwillingly pointing the Guizhong ballista at a group of Treasure hoarders. The one in the front, presumably the leader, just glared at Paimon through the scope while his underlings shrunk back. Paimon let go of the ballista and pointed a finger at herself confusedly; and action that was mirrored by everyone except Zhongli.

"Yes you! What do you think you're doing? That machine is not normal! It has a life of its own! We try to make a living but every time me and my boys get to one of those old ruins, this thing would fire at us! It's deadly accurate too! Finally, aafter being bombarded by that thing for months, some of my men risked their lives to destroy this thing yesterday and not a day later, you come along and fix it? Do you know how hard it is for a Treasure hoarder to make a living around here?"

"So you guys are Treasure hoarders?" The words drew everyone's attention to Naruto. "If that's the case, then why do you need to destroy the ballista? I mean can't you just go and turn yourself in to the Millelith? At least you won't be homeless anymore." Paimon burst out laughing while Lumine just giggled confusedly.

Zhongli however, understood what he was doing. 'He's trying to provoke them into making the first move. Anger can truly be man's worst enemy.' True to his thoughts, the Treasure hoarders made the first move when Naruto thanked them for their service in making sure that the ballista was functioning properly.

Just as hoarders were about to move in, Naruto shared a nod with Lumine and used his Anemo to fly into the air. The girl took advantage of the distraction to leap off the ballista's platform before descending with a powerful, geo infused kick. Waves of crystalline Geo spikes pushed the Treasure hoarders away, breaking their formation and allowing Naruto to sweep them up into a large tornado and send them off the old ruins. When Naruto landed, he gave Lumine a fist bump before turning to face a stoic Zhongli and a shocked Paimon. "Wow. Remind Paimon to never get on your bad side. Also, when did you have the time to practice that? The las time Paimon saw Lumine use that move, Whiskers almo-AB AB AB AB! They don't need to know that part Paimon." Lumine started laughing at Naruto's antics and even Zhongli cracked a small smile.

"By the way, what will we tell little Qiqi? In the end, even with the Guizhong ballista, we were unable to find a Cocogoat." Naruto waved off Zhongli's concerns.

"Don't worry about it Mr Zhongli. I have a feeling I know what Qiqi is looking for. Actually, why don't you go meet up with her at Bubu Pharmacy? I'll go and get something that will hopefully help us get the incense form Qiqi. If we can afford it." With that, Naruto ran off without waiting for another word, much to the confusion of everyone.

They went to Bubu Pharmacy anyway.

*Timeskip*

They got to Bubu pharmacy and relayed the news to Qiqi, who took the situation much better than they expected. Right now, she was telling them why she wanted a Cocogoat. "Cocogoat milk is tasty. So tasty. Much better than normal goat milk. Such tasty milk can only come from an Adeptibeast." Qiqi paused for a moment and held her head for a second before droning on in her monotone. "I'm sorry. I have poor memory, so I wrote down. Where did I put it?" The little Zombie rummaged through some things and finally found a slip of paper. "Here it is. The name is… 'Coconut milk'"

Lumine almost lost her balance. Zhongli let out a small groan before turning to face Lumine and Paimon. "I must apologize to you. I hastily agreed to what appeared to be an equitable agreement with this Zombie child without knowing the specifics. I should not have been so hasty."

"Never mind Zhongli. As they Liyue proverb goes, 'All things are random, and… so how are you supposed to predict anything'. Literally no one could have seen this coming." Lumine nodded along with a smile at her travelling companion's words.

Just then, they heard a familiar voice. "She's right Mr Zhongli. Besides, you didn't really break the agreement." Everyone turned to look at Naruto who walked up to Qiqi and kneeled down in front of her before summoning something from his storage. "Here you go Qiqi! A freshly made… um… coconut of Coconut milk!" Just as he said, there was a coconut with a straw and a small purple umbrella right there on his hand. Qiqi stared at it for a moment before snatching it from his hand with a surprising amount of speed and started sipping from the straw. Naruto chuckled at the action and moved back to the group.

"How did Whiskers know Cocogoat milk was Coconut milk?" Naruto laughed again at Paimon's question.

"I just ran around the city trying to find Dr Baizhu and I told him about it when I met him. He was surprisingly easy to find, given his green hair and the snake around his neck. After that, I just bought a coconut of Coconut milk and brought it here." What Naruto neglected mentioning was that the first part of this had all happened on his first visit to Liyue and that he now carried some Coconut milk on him just for little Qiqi. 'Man. And here I was, excited to see what Zhongli, or rather Morax, would do when he heard about an Adeptibeast calling itself a Cocogoat. Not to mention I also wanted to see one.'

"Haha. Has someone learned a valuable life lesson today? Thank you all for taking care of my little Qiqi, and thank you Naruto for telling me about this. I hope you aren't as injury prone as you used to be?" Everyone turned towards the voice and saw a green haired man with glasses and a snake around his neck. From Naruto's earlier description, it was clear that this was Dr Baizhu, the owner of Bubu Pharmacy. "Oh, I apologize. My name is Dr Baizhu. The owner of Bubu Pharmacy."

"Paimon thought Qiqi was the boss. Turns out, it's just some wacko who wears medicinal ingredients around his neck." Lumine gave a valiant effort to hold back her laughter and she was lucky that only a giggle escaped her throat. On the other hand, Naruto was absolutely hollering.

"Oh Paimon! *haha* I've wanted to say that since forever!" Naruto's comment made Pimon float up a bit higher with a smug look on her face.

"What a sorry state of affairs. This little mascot is more of a simpleton than little Qiqi." The snake around Dr Baizhu's neck spoke out, much to Paimon's shock.

"I think that's enough Changsheng. You've sent the poor thing into a coma. Oh, and for your information, she's not a mascot." Paimon shook her head and floated up while nodding at Naruto's words. "She's emergency food!"

"Wah-Hey! That was uncalled for! Paimon is Paimon! Not a mascot and definitely not emergency food!" Pimon shouted while stomping her foot in the air.

Everyone chuckled for a while before Baizhu took the stage. "So, putting Qiqi aside, what business brings you to my Pharmacy?"

Zhongli cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. Do you sell everlasting incense here at this fine establishment?"

Baizhu smiled. "Everlasting incense? Why of course we do!" Paimon made a sound of relief, glad that things were finally coming together. "Three million Mora, top quality guaranteed."

Lumine sighed. "You might as well rob the Golden House for that kind of Mora."

Naruto hummed. "The Qixing have tightened the security there, so maybe Northland Bank will be a better option." Lumine also hummed and nodded in agreement.

Paimon make a confused sound. "Ahh… Are you two really having conversation about robbing a bank? Paimon knows she made a joke about it earlier but this is a bit much don't you think?"

*Timeskip*

They had in fact, not robbed a bank. Instead, they had called Childe, who'd had one hell of a good time laughing at the rollercoaster of events and about the Cocogoat. In the end, he had paid for the incense with a discount by offering to set up a fast way to get coconut milk. After all that was done, he was now watching everyone leaving the shop and leave the entrance empty.

Well, almost empty. "That lot is such a riot. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. A Cocogoat!" He let out a small laugh before turning to a pillar. "So, you've been eavesdropping, I hope. What did I miss?" He waited for a moment, but nothing happened. "Ekaterina?" There was still no answer. Now a bit worried, Childe moved behind the pillar and saw that the person he called out to was lying on the ground with a knife in her back. "What!" Childe quickly kneeled down and found that the body was still warm. He quickly checked for a pulse and was surprised to find one still there. He carefully lifted up the nearly lifeless woman into a bridal carry and quickly dashed to the nearest Fatui medical ward. Once there, he let his medics take a look at Ekaterina and in a few minutes, she was in stable condition and he was informed that there won't be any permanent damage. Fatui medics were trained that way for missions that might involve casualties or otherwise fatal injuries. Childe picked up the knife that was stabbed in her back and took a look at it. 'Naruto, or rather Sage. He's trying to send a message huh? For all they know, Sage was the one that did this. No one will take my word for it even if I try my hardest explain that Sage is Naruto thanks to his little cloning trick, so it's best to keep quiet about this for now. I guess it's like master said, not all battles are fought with weapons. *chuckle* Never thought I'd use that saying.' Childe put the knife back and called one of the medics. "Take this knife and have it sent to the Tsaritsa. It might prove quite valuable." The medic bowed and moved to carry out his orders while Childe went to see the now conscious woman lying on her stomach on one of the beds. "Ekaterina." She looked towards the voice and her eyes widened when she saw Childe. She tried to move on her back and stand up but Childe stopped her. "Easy there. You need rest. Do you remember what happened."

"Lord Childe. My apologies for my failure. I shall accept any punishment you give me." Childe sighed at her tone before kneeling down next to her bed to look her in the eye. Call him a battle obsessed maniac, but at the end of the day, he was also an older brother that would give his life if it meant that his siblings could live a happy life.

"That's enough Ekaterina. Your apology is accepted. Rather than a punishment, I'll give you a small task. Tell me what happened. Do you remember who attacked you?" The woman shook her head.

"No, Lord Childe. I just remember a flash of blond hair. I also overheard that the Qixing had tightened the security of the Golden house. That is all I remember."

Childe stood up. "Thank you, and take some rest. I'll give you two weeks off." With that, he walked out with his head deep in thought. 'So the Qixing tightened the security in the Golden house. That means that there is something important in there; quite possibly the Exuvia. Thanks to that Traveler, the Adepti should be at odds with Ningguang and her cronies. I just have to bide my time. Hehe. Just you wait Naruto. One of these days, I'll take you down easily.'

*Meanwhile*

Ningguang was sitting at her desk, deep in thought. Her work was already done, and was now lying in neat stacks on her table. Hearing the unmistakable sound of heels clacking, she turned her head to see Keqing. "It seems like your friend from Mondstadt is certainly one of a kind. He managed to find enough evidence to give us a good amount of leverage over the Fatui in Liyue. If I wasn't for your insisting, I may have even arranged a marriage for the two of you."

Keqing just ignored the Tianquan's teasing and stood infront of her. "I'm glad that the state of affairs about the Fatui are favorable but can you please stop with the teasing? *sigh* Anyway, I sent Ganyu to find the Traveler and bring her here. Re- *ahem* Zhongli told us that he'd be treating them at Third-round knockout. Ganyu should be there in just a few minutes, just in time for your plan to work out. Now if you don't mind, I'll take my leave."

Ningguang hummed. "That's good. Go ahead Keqing. Now it's a waiting game." Keqing nodded and left for her own office, leaving Ningguang to think of a way to take advantage of this situation.

*Meanwhile, in Liyue harbor*

Lumine, Paimon and Naruto were walking around Liyue to try and kill some time. For some reason, Naruto had been sneezing for a while now. Finally, after the fourth minute, he stopped sneezing and wiped his nose. "Wow. I wonder how many people are talking about me? Actually, who is talking about me. Wait a minute, I might know who it is."

Paimon looked at him curiously while Lumine giggled. "Say, Naruto?" Naruto looked at Lumine. "Do you know Childe from somewhere else? You two seem like old acquaintances."

'Was it that obvious?' Naruto hid his thought with a smile. "Yeah, we do. We met by chance and he thought I was an enemy of the Fatui, granted I was, and attacked my instantly. He was a tough fight, but I came out on top. After that, he started calling me his comrade and trying to pick a fight wherever we meet. This one time… actually, I'd rather keep that to myself." He laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, he's a good guy once you get to know him. His only real problem is that he's obsessed with fighting strong opponents. Otherwise, he's a really good person. He also has some younger siblings. I've met one of them once and he was really sweet to him." He let out a small sigh. 'Now I'm just making it harder for me to beat him up.'

Paimon, who was listening to this the whole time suddenly remembered something and flew infront of the group. "Hey! Look at the time! Shouldn't we be at Third-round knockout? Come on! We can't keep Zhongli waiting." Paimon grabbed both their arms and started trying to drag them towards the restaurant. Safe to say, Naruto didn't budge.

"You and Lumine go ahead. I'll join up with you in some time." With that, he untangled Paimon's arm from him and walked off.

"Where are you going?" Lumine spoke just a bit louder, just enough to get Naruto's attention.

Said blond turned around and looked at them with a sly smile. "I'm going to top up on some Mora. I'll say, you won't find me trusting Zhongli to cover my bills ever in my life. Anyway, see you in a bit." Lumine and Paimon sweatdropped and watched him run off. They hated to admit it, but he had a good argument.

"Shall we go then Traveler? Paimon is starving." Without waiting for a response, Paimon flew ahead. Lumine shook head with a fond smile and chased after the fairy.

Meanwhile, Naruto ran to the outskirts of Liyue, where he was supposed to meet up with a contact. He extended his senses and did a quick sweep of the area and felt at least five signatures around him. None of them held visions, but they all had some form of tainted elemental energy. 'Delusions. So, Fatui. This might be a bit tougher than I thought. Actually, why not just make a decoy?' With that thought in mind, Naruto gripped his Vision to hide it and activated his Rinnegan. He then made a seal less shadow clone and instantly swapped places with it. The clone then proceeded to go up to a rock and jump over it before poofing away, confusing his stalkers quite well when they went to take a peek. After looking for a bit longer, Naruto activated his Chameleon Jutsu and teleported to one of his Hiraishin markers. Once he was there, he put on a mask. This mask looked a bit like his fox mask from before, but with some extra touches that made it rather difficult to tell what it was supposed to be (Menma's mask from Road to Ninja). With a deep breath, he put it on and felt the warm rush of Chakra around him as it condensed some Abyssal armor, a red sage coat with black flames and Kanji on the back along with black fingerless gloves that had metal plates on the back with a spiral carved into them. He also felt the invisibility technique slipping off. "Took you long enough, Sage."

The slightly raspy vice made him turn around and make eye contact with the slightly larger than average, green and gold bird looking at him form the branch of a tree. "Nice to see you too Alatus. What made you call me here?"

The bird sighed and flew upwards before plunging down into a cloud of dark green Adeptal energy. With the flick of a hand, Sage dispelled the cloud of energy, revealing Xiao crouching on the ground with his Primordial Jade Winged Spear held behind him. The Vigilant Yaksha stood up and looked the masked man directly in the face. "I called you to tell you that the Adepti have finished convening. We will be meeting up with the Qixing tomorrow afternoon with full intentions of get everything out of them. How it will go, I do not know. Do what you will with that information, but according to our deal, I need something from you."

Sage nodded. "That is some valuable information. Listen; the Fatui are doing research into Sigils of Permission. Last week, my alter ego managed to find out that they were planning to bring back the Overlord of the Vortex. Of course, if we still had Rex Lapis, this whole thing would have been much easier, but as of now, we have to be careful."

Xiao hid his shock quite well. "Are you sure about this? By no means is this a light accusation." Naruto nodded in conformation. "Alright then. In that case, can I let the other Adepti know about this?"

Sage hummed. "Tell them to keep it secret. As of now, I'd like to see how things play out and make sure that the Fatui are unaware of anything. I know that your fellow Adepti know about our intel trade and I'd like to keep my relationship with them at that level." He looked around before looking back at Xiao. "Anyway, I think you should leave now. Thanks for the information. I'll meet you some other time." Xiao nodded and crouched down before gathering Anemo energy into his feet and jumping up. Just as he was at the peak of his jump, he took his bird form and flew off towards Wangshu inn.

Sage took off his mask, re-activating the invisibility, and Hiraishined to Liyue. He mulled over the conversation with Xiao in his head while on his way to Third-round knockout. Naruto was so invested in it that he completely missed the soft voice calling out behind him. Finally, a tap on the shoulder made him turn around to face Ganyu. "Hey there Naruto. Ningguang has invited you and your companion to the Jade chamber. Please make your way there while I go and find your companion." Naruto nodded and left for the floating chamber after telling Ganyu that they were at Third-round knockout.

'*sigh* Looks like it's going to be a long day."

4200 words. Not bad. I do plan to explain Sage's relationships with everyone in some other chapter.

So, like I said before, OOC Childe here. I personally like to believe that he treats anyone shorter than himself as his sibling because they remind him of his own siblings. That's why I wrote that whole thing with Ekaterina. As for not calling Sage, Naruto, that's because I want to make it seem like they are 2 different people. I also based Sage off Menma from Road to Ninja. As for the Xiao segment, they have a bit of a bond based on sharing intelligence. If either of them shares some information, the other must also share some information. Anyway, that's all from me. Please leave a review.

Peace out!