HEELLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO, FANFIC CENTRAL!
Jeezus, I didn't even think you guys would manage to light a fire under my ass and push out that second chapter! Shit it was like my writer's block took a vacation, or something! XD
Anyways, just so that I'm not driving myself up the wall, I'm sticking to a 3 to 4k words-per-chapter kind of goal for this story. It's much easier for me to manage things. I'll...need to figure something out for the other stories I've left on the backburner, however!
*sigh* Okay, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Naruto or Hazbin Hotel, unless there are any OCs in it! On a related note, this story WILL ALSO BE FEATURED ON AO3!...if i ever get around to it... T.T
Everyone ready?! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Chapter Three: Making Plans! The Time For Training Begins Now!
Vaggie charged at her opponent, spear in hand as she thrust at their chest. Her target swiftly dodges to the left, grabbing the former Exorcist by the ankle just as she nearly passed by before using the momentum gained from her speed to fling her at a nearby wall. Undeterred, Vaggie caught herself by stabbing the ground with her spear before she spun herself around and opted for an overhead slash from brain to balls. Her opponent quickly parried her weapon with a small dagger before leaning forward and striking the fallen Exorcist barehanded in her solar plexus. She gasped as her assailant left her with no room to breath, jabbing her in the face and chest five times before spinning on his front heel and sent her crashing to the ground away from him with a roundhouse kick to the jaw...
Naruto sighed as he walked towards his friend. They've just started for the day, and already he could see several flaws with her fighting style. "Vags, we really need to work on your defense. How did your old teammates even survive every Extermination, anyways?" The whiskered blond finished with a question as he held his hand out for her.
Currently, they were at the outskirts of several ruined buildings, its destruction still evident by several previous Exterminations. Not too far from the limits of Pentagram City, but not too close to the other districts either. It was remote, subtle: a perfect place to train.
Vaggie winced a little at the slight throbbing pain before taking his hand. "You mean before you came along, right?" She replied before she stumbled over her own feet from the kick to her face. Finally bracing herself, the white-haired woman found herself blushing when she realized that she'd fallen forward onto the blond's exposed muscled chest - quickly removing herself from him. "U-um, sorry about that..." "Damn, that's a firm chest...'
"Hey, it's okay! You're the one who asked for me to help you train, remember?" He answered with a wide grin, getting a smaller one from her in turn.
"I know, I know..." Vaggie relented before her face straightened out. "But...Exorcists aren't normally on the receiving end of attacks, and only weapons of angelic steel can truly harm them. Any Sinner struck a fatal wound by one is guaranteed death." Making space between the two of them, she lowered herself into a stance. "So much so that we-... they've grown a bit overconfident; invincible, even. That's mainly the reason why I wanted to train with you."
"Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't ask me sooner. It's been, what, a month since the three of us met?" The former shinobi retorted with a raised eyebrow as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "We've been at this for a week already, y'know?"
It was true. After their three-way introduction, Charlie was able to point them to an apartment somewhere along the northside of Pentagram City - big enough for two people. The landlord there tried fleecing them for more money the first payment of rent, but after Naruto let a tiny - tiny! - amount of his power leak out, the weasel-like demon never tried anything again. That's where he and Vaggie had been staying ever since, managing to keep in contact with Charlie in the meantime. There were times where the three of them would meet somewhere and eat or catch up on various things. It sort of took a while, but eventually Vaggie warmed up to them both to consider them good friends.
Just recently, the former Exorcist had asked Naruto to help her train - something the whiskered blond was only happy to help with. He hadn't had a good fight in weeks since he got here.
'Those stupid murder-happy birds don't even start to count.' the former shinobi grumbled to himself as he rolled his neck around for another bout. 'At least Vaggie has potential...if her attacks weren't so easy to READ!'
Just then Naruto moved his upper body to the left, in favor of nearly avoiding a spear thrust that would've impaled his left lung. Pushing the overreaching shaft away from him, the whiskered blond made to lunge forward only to pedal back when Vaggie kept continuously jabbing her weapon at him - aiming for either his legs or his chest. He dances around her with a cheeky grin - the spear tip just barely missing his ankles. Irritated, the white-haired woman growled as she advanced to meet her sparring partner head-on up until he spun around her again and smacked her right on the back, sending her stumbling forward until the former shinobi tripped her up by the ankle with his foot. The fallen angel-in-hiding nearly skidded across the dirt on her face were it not for the butt of her spear breaking her fall.
"Doing alright, Vaggie?" Naruto asked her teasingly. "How's the weather down there?"
"I'm already regretting this!" was her reply as she got back up on her feet. With a mighty yell, Vaggie charged at the blond Sinner - unaware of the gleam that shined behind his eyes.
"Remember, Vaggie: you asked for this..."
Then, it happened...
A/N: Before you guys say anything, just know that I was busy playing SIFU...and just so happened to watch 2009 Sherlock Holmes with RDJ while I was writing this chapter. This was TOO GOOD of an opportunity to pass up!
'First: distract target.'
Naruto managed this by kicking a cloud of dust into Vaggie's face, temporarily blinding her long enough for him to close the distance.
'Parry blind spear jab to the side away from the body. Swift kick to forwardmost shin.'
The former Exorcist - still dazed by the blinding dust - attempted to skewer him in the stomach, only for the Sinner to parry her weapon to the left with his dagger. Vaggie barely had time to register what happened before a kick to her shin threw her off balance.
'Discombobulate. Counter with backhand across the cheek.'
Tossing his dagger into the air, the whiskered blond swiftly clapped both sides of her head, enough to leave Vaggie's eardrums ringing and cause her to be disoriented before dragging his knuckles across her face with a hard smack! The white-haired young woman felt her entire head careening to the side as Naruto caught his weapon in midair with his right hand.
'Disable their weapon from further use, then push back with shoulder tackle.'
Naruto then channeled wind chakra around his dagger before slicing her spear in half using quick precision. Vaggie barely had time to register what happened when the whiskered blond slammed into her with a right shoulder tackle, sending her stumbling backwards about three feet.
'Follow through with palm strike to the jaw. Kick out the front leg. Punish the open chest: Employ fist barrage.'
Naruto closed in again, this time hitting her in the face with an open left palm - hard enough that she felt her teeth start to rattle and her jaw fracture even as her front foot was kicked off the ground, causing her to fall forward into a flurry of quick decisive jabs unleashed upon her chest - possibly cracking three of her ribs and breaking two.
'Grab a firm hold and strike the pommel of the dagger at the head, neck, and shoulder.'
Flipping said weapon into his left hand, Naruto grabbed the disoriented Vaggie by the arm before using the butt of the dagger to strike her on top of her head, the right side of her neck, and finally her right shoulder.
'She'll attempt to strike with the remains of her weapon. Parry, then deliver a punishing toe kick to the diaphragm. Dislocate left shoulder.'
As soon as the white-haired woman swung wildly with the broken shaft of her spear, Naruto parried with his dagger before kicking her just above her abdomen; effectively cutting off her air supply. Out of breath, Vaggie couldn't even scream as she felt her left shoulder being completely dislocated.
'Finally: Hard stomp to temporal lobe.'
Not taking anymore chances, the former shinobi ended their spar with a Spartan kick to the left side of her head; rendering her unconscious.
'In summary: Ears ringing. Jaw fractured. Blunt force trauma to the skull. Three ribs cracked; two broken. Diaphragm hemorrhaging. Dislocated shoulder. Moderate trauma to the left temporal lobe. Collarbone fractured; mild bruising of the trachea. Physical recovery with assisted chakra healing: ten minutes. Without assistance: two weeks. Full psychological recovery: ten months. Possible scenarios of instantaneous death: MULTIPLE.'
*BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!*
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'Eh?' Naruto blinked in surprise only to find himself and Vaggie just about to start their latest round of sparring when the timer on her Hell-phone went off, indicating the end of practice. Looking down, he saw his left foot braced to kick up a cloud of dirt into the former Exorcist's face. Raising his eyes to look back at Vaggie, he saw that her spear was still intact.
'...Aw, fuck! It happened AGAIN!'
"...You saw another way to kill me just now, didn't you?" When she saw Naruto scratch the back of his head with a sheepish grin, the white-haired young woman felt her eyebrows twitch in irritation as she gaped at him. "Wha-?! That's bullshit, you know that?!" Vaggie growled at the unfairness in his ability while walking over to stand in front of him.
"Sorry! I swear, I didn't mean to, Vaggie! It just-it just happens sometimes!" The former shinobi apologized to his short-statured friend.
Vaggie leveled him with a flat-faced glare before letting out a deep breath. "Do I even want to know what it was this time?"
*gulp!* "...It's best if you didn't." The whiskered blond mumbled as he looked at the ground, a depressed raincloud seemingly appearing above his head. The former Exorcist blinked at his exaggerated nature before playfully scoffing as she lightly punched his arm with a small grin on her face.
"Alright, quit beating yourself up! C'mon, we're supposed to be meeting Charlie at that new place she got in about two hours." She informed her whiskered friend, who had perked up at the information before taking off to the nearest shower.
Realizing this, Vaggie grew a dead-panned expression on her face.
'Hijo de-...I should've just kept my mouth shut. If only he weren't so handsome-GAH! No, bad thoughts!' The former Exorcist shook her head rather violently, her cheeks heated and blushed.
Two Hours Later...
"So...what do you guys think?" The cheerful demoness had asked as she led Naruto and Vaggie up to where they were standing in front of a rather run-down hotel just on the outskirts of the city. It looked like a tall, elaborate amalgamation of arched windows and turrets, one of which seems to be broken. It was at least seven stories tall with remnants of an airship, an ocean liner, a sailing ship and a carousel littering both sides and appeared to have been incorporated into the structure of the building itself; there is also a train with some tracks looping the first and second floor exterior. The entrance has a tented cover with a booth in the center reminiscent of a circus or theater ticket booth. And on either side of the booth were a set of double doors that have stained glass with depictions of apples on each one.
It used to be some kind of manor that Charlie's family had previously owned before abandoning it. After so many years of neglect, she thought it was a good idea to open it for her purposes.
"Well..." Vaggie made to start, only for Naruto to cut her off.
"Looks like it could use a lot of work." he said bluntly...only to wince at just how that sounded coming out of his mouth. If the kicked puppy look on Charlie's face was anything to go by, he had to explain himself further. "N-not that it's a bad thing, Charlie! What I meant was that it could probably use some fixing up, that's all! Pleasedon'tcry!" The whiskered blond stammered quickly, holding his hands in front of him in a praying gesture.
Luckily for him, Charlie had an understanding look grow on her face. "W-well, I mean obviously it needs a lot of work done. But I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end! Right, guys?" She finished with a smile, shaky as it was.
Vaggie was a bit hesitant before nodding her assent, secretly wanting to atone for all the lives she'd taken in previous Extermination Days.
Naruto just gave her an infectious grin, knowing that Charlie's heart was in the right place. He then thought back to that conversation they had just a month ago when they met. His eyes turned somber as the young man knew what he had to say would probably make her angry and hurt...and prayed silently that she would listen.
Flashback-no-Jutsu
"Wait a minute. Time-out!" Naruto blurted out in an exaggerated fashion as he, Vaggie, and Charlie were currently standing in the very alley where they first met. It wasn't even ten minutes in that their conversation took to revealing each other's pasts. Well, in Vaggie's case, she had been a Sinner who had a run in with a few Exorcists last week during Extermination Day - one of which cruelly took her eye before departing back to Heaven.
While Charlie might've believed her at face value, Naruto assumed that there was more than what the former Exorcist was telling them if she were to lie like that. But he chose to keep what he knew a secret from his fellow blond.
That story was for Vaggie to tell. And her ALONE.
And then, it was Charlie's turn...
"YOU'RE the Princess of Hell? As in, THE Princess?!" At his fellow blond's affirming nod, Naruto blinked twice before relaxing his stance. "Huh. Small world..."
"What? You're not affected by that? Even I know who she is, Naruto!" Vaggie stated in a dumbfounded expression.
"Vaggie, relax. This isn't the FIRST time I've had run-ins with royalty." The whiskered blond waved off her concerns with a carefree tone.
Upon seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, he told them about his life before coming to Hell - albeit a very HEAVILY sugar-coated version of it; he was still a proud Konoha shinobi, regardless of his death! - and as to what he'd been up throughout the following week. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, snatching instant noodle cups from unsuspecting vendors, keeping out of trouble, etc. Charlie was in equal amounts astounded and horrified at his retelling of events. Vaggie was not as shocked but no less surprised as to how he came to be.
When it eventually came to goals, however...
"So, lemme see if I got this right..." Naruto mused as he leaned against a building. "You're the Princess of Hell - the Heir to the Throne, right?"
"Yep!"
"You hate seeing lives being wasted every Extermination and want a more peaceful way to get around it."
At seeing the princess' fervent nod, he continued. "And your goal is to rehabilitate Sinners...so that they can get into Heaven?"
His answer? Charlie Morningstar's optimistic grin nearly blinding him in the face.
Flashback-no-Jutsu End...
"Charlie," The former shinobi called out, gaining the princess' attention. "You remember that conversation we had the day we all met? About how Vaggie and I said we'd help you get Sinners into Heaven?"
"Yeah, you did." The young woman replied...only to have an uneasy look start growing on her face. "Y-you're not planning to change your mind, a-are you? I-I mean, that's okay! I-I guess it was kinda too much to ask-"
Vaggie, seeing where the interaction was going with a raised eyebrow, wanted to get the conversation back on track. "Okay, as much as I hate to break this up - and to kick your ass for nearly crushing her dreams, Naruto!" She whispered at the former shinobi, who was scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin in apology. "Look, what exactly are you even talking about?"
The whiskered blond sighed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Looking at the pair of women, Naruto stated his case. "Look, it's a good dream - great, even. But Charlie, you need to understand that other people won't see it that way." He gave a pointed look at Vaggie, who wanted to say something only to pause at his words. "What I am trying to tell you is that sometimes you're gonna have to stand up to people who'll do anything to stop you."
"...Um, Naruto we already knew that this was going to be an uphill battle." Charlie cocked her head to the side in confusion. "But, I'm sure that we'll get through to pretty much every demon we can, so-"
"I was talking about the Exorcists."
Vaggie froze; a proverbial dagger just barely scraping at her throat. As a fallen angel in hiding, she knew that her former sisters would be a straightforward topic to bring up. But it still brought an icy chill running down her spine hearing it now.
The blond princess couldn't help the goosebumps forming on her skin at where this conversation was going. "Wh-what about them? I thought Heaven would like the idea of redeeming Sinners..."
Naruto sighed as he shook his head, knowing that his friend meant well, but she wasn't there that day. From what he heard, Charlie was sweet and compassionate - that's two of many things he liked about her. But she was also idealistic to a fault. Turning to face Vaggie, he sighed as the white-haired woman seemed to understand what he was meaning to say.
'If we're going to have a shot at this, it's best if Vaggie and I try to open her eyes little by little.' The former shinobi mused to himself as he motioned for his fellow blond to sit on the outside steps leading to the front door. "They like killing Sinners; how can they not, it's all they've ever known! I can sense emotions from literally almost anything, Charlie; it's kinda what I was born with." When it was clear that they needed further explanation, Naruto sighed. "Everyone - human or otherwise - gives off a signature specific to a single person. Sinners and Exorcists are no different, Charlie. And believe me," The whiskered blond's face hardened as he recalled the emotions he felt that day. "They enjoyed in causing as much pain and death as they could dish out. These Exorcists? Whoever's leading them? They will do anything to stop you...even if it means killing you."
Charlie stood froze in shock at his words, the harsh reality at what he was implying.
'Wha-?! Kill me?! Would...would they really go that far...?'
It was then that something inside of her - something rather ugly - decided to rear its head...
"Kill...me? But-but I'm trying to make a difference for my own people! Give them a chance for something better!" Her pretty face turned from frozen fear to that of slightly trembling rage. As she spoke, however, her tone became a little more... "I-I can't stand seeing all those poor souls being left to die when I could've DONE SOMETHING! ANYTHING! AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT THEY WON'T CARE?!" ...darker. "NO! I WON'T LET THEM!"
Naruto had to step back, shielding Vaggie behind him as Charlie quite literally exploded into a pillar of flame with a loud roar. Horns grew out of her head as her eyes changed to a piercing hot white within a field of burning red sclera. Small jets of flame were coming out the corners of her mouth as the ground seemingly started to melt beneath her feet. It was an impressive light show, but Naruto could see the pain on her face.
"NARUTO IF WE DIE HERE, I'M BLAIMING YOU!" Was all Vaggie could say over the hot whistling winds coming from Charlie's aura.
The former shinobi knew he'd messed up his delivery; He also knew that it had to be said, but the young man didn't factor in the amount of anger that the princess would be feeling at the moment. Now he just had to calm her down before she went nuclear.
" Charlie! CHARLIE! I'm not saying that all of Heaven is like that, I'm really not! Please, listen to me!"
"Then what are you saying?! That I should give up?!"
"NO!"
Before he even realized what he'd done, Naruto closed the difference between the two of them in the blink of an eye - wrapping his arms around Charlie's waist and bracing her against him to prevent any further outburst.
Surprised, Charlie's anger suddenly halted; her more demonic features were now reverting to her normal form. The Princess of Hell was more focused on the strapping young man holding her close to him as he gazed into her eyes; the strength and assurance in his cerulean orbs only served to allow for a scorching heat to flush within her cheeks.
"Dammit, Charlie, that's not what I meant at all! Of course I'm gonna help you, and there's nothing that'll change my mind! You've got a dream worth fighting for, and I'll be with you every step of the way!" He roared out, finally getting his friend to completely calm down.
"Y-you really mean it?" Even with a shaky voice, there was an underlying hope in the princess' plea.
It was only answered by a wide, foxy grin. "Heh, once Naruto Uzumaki gives his word, there's no going back on it!"
Charlie was taken aback; struck with wonder and awe at how strong and passionate his words really were - like he could take on the whole world and come out on top. No one - not even her own father, despite being caring as he was - had believed in her dream a hundred percent. The only other exception being her mother, and even then there was only so much that the Queen of Hell could do openly. And yet here was this boy - no, this man - who she'd only known for a month, but was willingly going out of his way to help make her dream come true.
Charlie Morningstar could've SWORN she felt her own heart flutter, even as tears started to leak from her eyes...
"Eh? Uh, Charlie?" Naruto wasn't sure if he'd overdone it with his outburst as soon as he saw the princess there was one thing that Naruto hated more than giving up, it was seeing a beautiful girl cry. "Are...you okay?"
"Y-yes!" the beautiful princess assured with a smile as she wiped her tears away. "It's just...that...well, thank you, Naruto. I'm glad to have you."
Naruto's eyes widened before a wide smile grew on his face. He chuckled, Charlie giggled, and pretty soon they were both laughing.
"Will you two please stop flirting and get serious?"
With the abrupt sound of Vaggie's voice cutting through, the pair of demonic blonds blinked their eyes for a moment before they flushed in embarrassment at their current predicament. Quickly separating from one another, they were mumbling out apologies while the white-haired woman looked on with a straight face...if one were to look closely, however they would find a tiny smirk pulling at the corner of her lips.
Clearing her throat, the former Exorcist began. "Charlie, as much as I hate to say it, Naruto may have a point. Who knows what they'll do after losing two hundred Exorcists in the last Extermination. Worst case scenario, and if neither of us are nearby..." She trailed off when the blond princess finally registered what her friends were trying to tell her.
"Oh! Oh..." Aaaaaaaaaaaannd now she felt even more nervous. "So, what should I do? You guys have any...ideas? Wait..." Now Charlie turned to her fellow blond with a question that she really should've had more time to think on:
"Hey, do you think you could train me to fight?"
Vaggie froze at Charlie's question, dreading the implications. To be honest, it was a good question - nothing wrong with good questions! But given to whom she was asking...
'Oh, no...No!'
Slowly turning her head to the side, the white-haired woman gulped at the sight of Naruto's face. The gleam in his eyes, the wide smile with WAY too many teeth, the way he was bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet.
'Ay, mierda... I know THAT look!' She thought, 'Naruto, show some mercy!'
"Welllllll..." the former shinobi answered with and all-too innocent tone, "I mean I could help with training you..."
"Huh? Really?" Vaggie wanted to scream for Charlie to change her mind. "But I normally don't like fighting...is-is that okay?"
"Eh, it's not so bad so long you know what your doing. And you've got ME!" Naruto exclaimed while pointing a thumb at himself. "Besides, I'm helping out with Vaggie, and she's been improving a lot! Go on, ask her!"
'¡Hijo de puta! I'm going to fucking skin you ALIVE!' The former Exorcist seethed as Charlie turned to her with hopeful sparkles in her eyes.
"Really, Vaggie?!" She exclaimed, wondering what her tough-as-nails friend was learning from Naruto.
'Tell the truth! Save her! Spare her the suffering!'
"...yyeeeaaaaah! It's going great!" Vaggie finally replied, earning her a near bone-crushing hug from Charlie.
'FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! WHY WOULD I SAY THAT?!'
"Y'know, if you train for long enough, you'll get to be as good as she is~" The grinning Sinner chimed with a sing-song tone. To which Charlie gained bright shining stars in her eyes.
Hook. Line. Sinker.
"Okay, Naruto! I accept your challenge!" The Princess of Hell beamed at her fellow blond, who in turn gave her an easy-going grin. Vaggie could only groan in despair as she accepted the fact that Charlie would learn the truth of the slave driver their friend truly was.
*sigh* 'Welcome to Hell, Charlie...'
-End-Chapter-
A/N: Okay, Imma be real honest with you people...I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when writing this chapter! I was pulling a Jack Sparrow right out of my ass the whole time! XD
What I DO know is that obviously, this crossover can't continue featuring the Narutoverse alone! I'm going to try bringing on as much of Hazbin's main cast as I possibly can without ripping my hair out, however!
But Charlie...asking someone like NARUTO to train you is like getting a genie in a bottle. Be VERY careful with what you wish for...
And thus, the end of another chapter, my friends!
Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go to Fuyuki to see if someone else wants to join the bandwagon...
Ciao for now!