Notes:New chapter, new round of "thank you's" for everybody who reviewed and read the last chapter. I took the last week to rewatch Edgerunners and it's still so goddamn good. I was also finally able to afford a PC again. So I was able to play the first time with mods. With other words, I went down the deep end over the last week.
I appreciate every review and form of criticism.
Have fun with the nex chapter!
Chapter 8
It's the kind of alley you don't normally walk into unless you've got business, a death wish, or you're too fried on synth to tell the difference.
Tucked between a busted noodle stand and a shuttered ripperdoc clinic, the alley near Kabuki was narrow, barely lit, and stank of burnt coolant, piss, and cheap incense. Neon bled from the signs above—kanji flickering in pink and sickly green—casting warped shadows across rusted bins and overflowing trash bags stuffed with cyberware packaging and half-shredded braindance sleeves.
The pavement was cracked and uneven, smeared with patches of black oil that trailed into a drainage grate gurgling like it had a heartbeat. Sloppy graffiti smeared the walls—gang tags, anti-corpo scrawls, and a stylized chrome skull with an optic feed jammed through one eye. Still wet.
A dead drone buzzed overhead, hanging by a cable like a mechanical corpse. It creaked in the breeze, swinging above loose papers and ash. Deeper in, a flickering hoload buzzed "LIVE NUDES 24/7" in faded gold. The door beneath it hadn't opened in years.
A kid zipped past—wired reflexes, glowing eyes, arms full of black market parcels—followed by silence too heavy to be casual.
In the middle of it all stood Naruto and V, killing time while they waited for the rest of the crew. Just another day, another job in the shadows.
Every so often, V cast him a glance—sometimes curious, sometimes downright smug. She knew something was up. Naruto could feel it, but he did his best to ignore her silent interrogation. He wouldn't crack. Not to her.
A chill crept down his spine. If V was sniffing around, he didn't even want to think about what Jackie might say. The man had a heart the size of Heywood and a mouth to match—especially when it came to love. Naruto appreciated that about him. Cared, even. But he really didn't need it right now.
In a weird way, V's teasing was easier to handle. She poked fun like a big sister. Jackie? He'd get all invested and noisy.
Still, it was hard to keep a straight face—especially with V's smug grin greeting him the moment he showed up. First time they hadn't arrived at a meet together. And yeah, that felt strange for them.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably. Everything had been happening fast. One night he saves this cute girl who barely acknowledged him… and now? He's training with her and David. Becoming an unofficial part of their crew. Their family. He couldn't have predicted it—but somehow, it felt right. Spending time with her felt right.
Lucy was… more than she appeared. Way more. Being around her made things feel lighter, clearer. Like for once, he wasn't just surviving—he was actually living. Even the silence they shared had weight. Meaning.
And she was a netrunner. A good one. That helped too. Shared interests and all.
"Maybe I should take her on one of my prank dives?" He silently thought to himself.
But alongside the glow of new connection came something heavier. Guilt. The kind that coiled deep in his gut. So Mi was still out there—alone, trapped, fading. And here he was, building memories, smiling, even laughing. Having a decent enough time in Night City until now.
His thoughts snapped back when V finally spoke, a teasing gleam in her eye.
"So, how'd it go with Lucy?" she asked, slinging her arm around him.
Naruto stiffened, trying—and failing—not to blush.
"Good," he muttered.
V raised a brow.
"Good? Choom, you stayed over the whole night. Nobody stays the whole night if it goes wrong."
She threw her arms wide for emphasis. Then crossed them, grin deepening.
"You get laid?" she added, mock pride mixing with her usual playful venom.
Naruto didn't flinch—much. But his eye twitched.
That was enough for V. She howled with laughter.
He sighed. Of course he'd have to endure this.
Still, he wasn't about to go down alone.
"What about you and this Judy?" he shot back, lips curling into a smirk.
"You two hit it off last time at Lizzie's. And I haven't heard a peep since."
He leaned in a bit.
"And yes—I noticed you."
V's grin slipped.
She opened her mouth to retort but—
A roaring bike engine.
The sound of a Kusanagi bike sliced through the tension. Both turned as Sasuke Uchiha rolled in, cool as chrome on his maroon-blue Yaiba.
V and Naruto shared a silent look. Rolling their eyes.
"It's gonna be a long wait till Jackie shows," they both thought in near-psychic sync.
The day wasn't off to a great start for Sasuke.
He woke up with the same brooding hatred that burned in him like a low, constant flame—anger that refused to die down, no matter how many fists he threw or bodies he tangled with in dimly lit apartments. The outlets that once gave him some kind of release—cheap hookups, alley brawls, street races, boxing competitions—were becoming emptier each time. Hollow victories. Loops within loops.
Since the death of his family, that's all his life had been—an endless spiral. Always chasing ghosts, always running circles in the dark. And now? Even that was wearing thin.
He needed to move forward. And as much as it grated on him, the blond idiot and his crew were starting to look like his best shot.
V, Jackie. Even Naruto. Annoying, all of them, in their own ways—but sharp. Strong. Real. The kind of people who kept rising, no matter how often Night City tried to crush them. Or at least they seemed like that.
"The Afterlife doesn't sound too bad," Sasuke muttered to himself as he locked the door of his cramped apartment.
His morning ritual complete, he made his way to the nearby parking lot. There, in a corner protected by several layers of ICE and enough traps to fry a wannabe netrunner twice over, stood his pride and joy: a maroon-blue Kusanagi Yaiba. Sleek. Fast. Deadly. Just like him.
He slid onto the bike, its low purr greeting him like an old friend. The ride out was a blur—lights and chrome, bodies and buildings, all melting into a smear of neon velocity as he carved a path through the city.
The coordinates brought him to a narrow alley near Kabuki.
And sure enough—there they were.
Naruto and V. No Jackie, yet.
He spotted them instantly. And, judging by the synchronized roll of their eyes, they saw him too.
He couldn't help himself.
A cocky smirk tugged at his lips as he dismounted, casually striding over, relishing the visible spike in their blood pressure. Their annoyance was practically a gift.
"Miss me?" he asked, voice smooth, cocked eyebrow daring one of them to bite.
"Where did you dig this one up, Maine?"
Dorio's gruff voice cut through the low hum of the Afterlife, her eyes still following the fading silhouette of the doll proxy who'd just dropped the job on them.
Maine just shrugged, arms folded, muscles twitching under his worn jacket.
"Approached me ten minutes ago. Said it's exclusive. Didn't say much else."
The job was risky. High-pay, high-stakes, and courtesy of some "unknown Afterlife regular"—whatever the hell that meant. But the payout? Stupid good. And the details? Tailor-made for their crew.
They only got one shot before it'd go to another team. The mission would start tomorrow but they want their commitment now.
Everyone but Kiwi—off running a solo gig for Faraday—was crammed around a beat-up chrome-plated table tucked in the farthest, shadowy corner of the Afterlife. A half-flickering screen in the center displayed what little intel they'd gathered:
CLIENT: Unknown doll (proxy via the Afterlife)
LOCATION: Abandoned orbital uplink bunker—Pacifica outskirts
PAYOUT: 45,000 eddies
RISK LEVEL: Very High
TIME WINDOW: 6 hours to secure data, 48 hours to retrieve all the information
OBJECTIVE: Infiltrate the site. Secure data. Upload it to a provided shard.
Word is, the place used to be a satellite uplink bunker, now hijacked as a semi-legit braindance den for neural thrill-seekers. Gang presence expected. You'll need one of your netrunners jacked in on-site.
Lucy crossed her arms, brow furrowed. "Doesn't sound that different from other gigs…" she thought. But those instincts she usually trusted? They were uneasy. Felt... off. She shook it away.
"Sounds easy enough."
David's voice broke the silence. Becca chimed in with a wide grin and a loaded shotgun of enthusiasm. "Let's friggin' go!"
Pilar might've agreed too—if not for the brush with death he still hadn't shaken.
Lucy tapped a finger against her cheek, eyes drifting to David and Becca for a beat. They sit a bit closer to each other than before. "They're getting chummy," she noted. Not that it was her business—but she noticed. She always did.
"If it's really as risky as described, we should wait for Kiwi."
Her voice came quiet, calm, but carried weight. Even Rebecca, clearly bummed, didn't argue. David's nod said enough—Lucy's words still held sway.
Dorio and Maine exchanged glances.
Yeah. They'd been thinking it too.
Maine leaned forward, eyes barely visible behind his shades, voice low and certain:
"We take the job. But if the heat gets too much—we bail. No second-guessing."
No one argued.
The planning began—hard, fast, professional. It's what they did.
Meanwhile, Lucy's thoughts momentarily drifted.
"I should hit up Naruto after this meeting…"
Just a flicker of a thought—then gone again. Focus.
No time for distractions. Not in Night City. Not if you wanted to live.
Later that day—after wrapping things up with their respective crews—Lucy and Naruto found themselves back on the rooftop of her apartment complex.
No rocket launches this time.
No rare spectacle lighting up the night sky.
Just the two of them—and the weight of the day hanging over their shoulders.
Naruto had expected a greeting, maybe even a short rundown. But Lucy said nothing. Just pointed silently toward the roof as she walked past him.
That silence? It wasn't cold.
It was familiar.
They made themselves comfortable as the sun dipped fully behind the jagged skyline. The gritty air of Night City hung heavy—thick with smoke, neon, and static. Billboards screamed for attention, and chrome-skinned models blinked from towering holo-screens above. A city on fire with color, masking the rot beneath.
This was Night City, alive and breathing.
Beautiful from afar. Brutal up close.
Lucy lit up a cigarette, her eyes reflecting violet flickers of neon.
Naruto sat beside her, still not entirely sure what to say.
He looked at her, voice hesitant:
"How was your day?"
Lucy turned slightly to glance at him.
Not long ago, it would've been a cold, dismissive look.
Now?
Warmer. Softer. And it sent a strange flutter through Naruto's chest.
She paused, thinking.
Took a drag. Exhaled.
"Got a new job. Pays well."
Another drag.
"Stinks to high hell, though."
The second she said it, Naruto's expression shifted—eyebrows pulling together with quiet worry.
Lucy noticed.
And, weirdly, she liked it.
It wasn't pity. It wasn't him doubting her abilities.
It was just… Naruto.
Of course, he started to speak—ready to ask something—but she cut him off before he could even begin.
"I ain't telling you details, though. Confidentiality and all."
She said it casually, flicking the last of her cigarette over the edge of the roof.
Naruto sighed in defeat, eyebrows raised. He knew better than to push. Hell, he'd do the same thing if the roles were reversed.
He leaned back, arms propped behind him. Looked up at the sky.
Well—what passed for sky in Night City.
"You know how long it's gonna take?" he asked, tone shifting to playful.
"Not like you're ever gonna introduce me to the Afterlife at this rate."
Lucy smirked.
"Ah. I see."
She leaned in slightly, tone equally teasing.
"You're only in it for the glory."
She gave an exaggerated shrug, like she was already unimpressed.
Naruto blinked, mock-offended, then laughed—because somehow, coming from her, even the teasing felt good. He didn't get defensive. He didn't have to.
It was strange.
And it was nice.
He smiled. Really smiled.
Wide and open and real.
They didn't say much after that.
The city below kept screaming. Traffic buzzed, sirens howled, music thumped from open balconies, and a couple argued two floors down. Life in NC, doing what it does.
But up here?
They just were.
Side by side.
In a world that felt like it had long stopped making room for moments like this…
They made space for one anyway.
The next day came fast.
Everyone showed up to the rendezvous—except Kiwi.
The meeting spot? A decaying outskirt of Pacifica, half-swallowed by wild overgrowth and industrial waste. Lucy was the first to arrive, always preferring to scope things out before the others. She and Naruto didn't do much after leaving the rooftop last night—just talked. Or rather, Naruto talked.
He rambled about some prank he'd pulled—half in the net, half in meatspace—Jackie and their new "asshole of a recruit," as he called him, were great targets apparently. Lucy caught the name when Regina Jones pinged them: Sasuke, or something like that. Didn't matter.
She barely listened, but somehow… she didn't mind. Naruto's voice had become background noise. Soothing, even. She gave him a nod here, a smile there, raised her brow at the right parts. It was nice. Nicer than she'd expected.
But now?
Focus.
They were here.
The bunker loomed ahead.
At first glance, the place looked dead.
A buried relic—choked by weeds, cracked asphalt, and rusting fencework that sagged like a forgotten corpse beneath the wet, heavy air of Pacifica.
Its entrance was carved into the cratered side of a low hill, mostly obscured by cargo crates, scorched earth, and piles of discarded netrunner junk: melted decks, tangled cables, and the skeletal remains of unlucky scavs who dove too deep.
The air was thick—ozone, mildew, and something older. Something burned into the walls.
A pair of ancient auto-turrets hung limp above the blast doors, barrels long scavenged. The security pad below was cracked open, its wiring stripped and replaced by a nightmare of neural ports, duct tape, and scrap. Someone had tried to bring this place back online.
And they'd only half-succeeded.
Inside, the corridor tightened. Narrow. Barely enough room for two to walk side-by-side. The walls wept condensation, catching flickers of dying fluorescents overhead. Clusters of exposed fiberoptics snaked through the ceiling like veins, pulsing faintly with leftover data. The air was too cold—mechanically recycled by an HVAC system that hadn't fully shut down in decades.
Farther in, the hall split.
To the left: shattered cryo-pods lined the wall, cracked glass reflecting in the flickering light.
To the right: a control chamber, sunken and dark. Dust choked the corners, but the old satellite relay equipment still buzzed. Holo-screens blinked in uneven rhythm—like a heartbeat missing beats—fed by a ghost signal that surged and died with no pattern.
And then, at the core of it all:
The well.
A data pit.
Wide. Deep. Humming with something alive.
A single uplink console sat embedded into the floor. No interface. No monitor. Just a direct neural jack—crudely fused into what remained of a netrunner's skull. Whoever it was… they jacked in. And never came back.
There was no chair. No prompts. No guidance.
Just the port.
A low-frequency hum.
And a presence you could feel the moment you stepped near.
This bunker didn't just hold data.
It remembered.
And it had been waiting—quietly, hungrily—for someone to plug in again.
Because of the limited space inside, only Lucy and David could safely navigate the narrow bunker corridors up to their objective.
Lucy—set to jack in.
David—her backup, her anchor.
They'd made the call earlier: if things went sideways, she needed at least one person who could pull her out. Two would be better, but the only other option was Rebecca—and Rebecca never left the front lines. Not unless she was dragging a body back.
Lucy knelt by the uplink console, brushing her fingers across the metal. Cold. Old. It hummed like it had a pulse.
She steadied her breath.
Not Arasaka. That helped.
She could keep the old trauma on a leash—barely. The anxiety didn't vanish, but it didn't rule her. Not yet. Still, the setup was something else. ICE was stacked thick, layered like corporate paranoia. Not just for deterrence—this was made to kill a deckhead dumb enough to dive too deep.
Challenging for any regular netrunner..
But Lucy was far from regular.
She slots in the shard and jacks into the system
She breached the first layer like slicing through glass. Elegant. Smooth. Behind it, a wall of shifting algorithms—aggressive, invasive. They pulsed like they knew she was there.
She pushed deeper.
Each node she passed grew colder. Denser. Less like code and more like… a presence.
Something was in there. More things than one!
Watching.
No—waiting.
A pressure began to crawl across the back of her skull, subtle at first, like a whisper just outside hearing range. The deeper she dove, the more the ICE shifted from digital constructs to something else. Something aware.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
A shudder ran down her spine.
Her breathing grew uneven. Her heart punched against her ribs.
What the hell were they sent to retrieve?
The feeling clawed at her—paranoia, dread, memory. Arasaka shadows flickered behind her eyelids. Trauma looping back around like a glitch in her synapses.
She wanted to pull back. Just for a moment.
But she didn't.
She couldn't.
She had to push through.
The presence intensified. They weren't speaking—but it felt like they could. Like it was waiting for her to ask the wrong question. To plug just one layer too deep.
Lucy closed her eyes. Centered herself.
She knew how to handle this.
She hoped.
Suddenly, a low rumble echoed through the bunker walls—deep and guttural, like a warning growl from the Earth itself.
David's holo buzzed to life, Maine's face popping up with static distortion and a whole lot of shouting.
"Hey, kid! We've got company!" Maine barked. "Scavs! Way more than Lucy said—organized, too!"
David's gut sank. Dread crawled up his spine.
He clenched his left fist. Pistol in the other.
He glanced at Lucy—still jacked in, still vulnerable.
He wanted to move. Wanted to help the others outside. His instinct screamed for it.
But he stayed.
"You need backup?" he asked into the holo, teeth tight.
"No. Stay with Lucy." Maine's tone left no room for argument. Gunfire cracked through the feed. "Don't forget your part in this gig, kid! We can handle this!"
In the background, David could hear Pilar's frantic curses, Rebecca's unhinged laughter, and the pounding roar of heavy weaponry.
He gritted his teeth.
Then—a groan.
He turned. Lucy's body twitched, her breath ragged. Her eyes… were glowing. Not from any tech he knew. Just wrong. Bright red, fading quickly.
A small data shard clicked free from the console and dropped into her lap.
"This is it," Lucy exhaled, like the words hurt.
David snatched the shard, shoved it into his pocket, and helped Lucy up. Her body sagged against him, weak, drained.
"You look wrecked," he said, half-joking, half-scared.
Lucy didn't answer at first. She was still catching her breath. The bunker behind them now hummed lower—like whatever lived in its walls had gone back to sleep.
They pushed through the corridor, then—
Gunfire. Explosions. The battlefield outside erupted in chaos.
The sight slammed into them like a fist. Dozens of scavs, a few lone Voodoo Boys, and a Militech strike team were going all out, turning the bunker's entrance into a meat grinder. David could barely tell friend from foe in the mess.
"Why the hell is Militech here?" Lucy muttered, more to herself than anyone else.
David's stomach twisted. "No clue. But we need to move."
They ducked low, running for cover, until they caught sight of Dorio waving them in.
"MOVE YOUR ASSES!" she shouted. "WE'RE PULLING OUT!"
The crew had carved out a rough perimeter. Rebecca was laughing, covered in blood and scorch marks, gunning down anyone that moved too close. Pilar was spitting curses while trying to keep a drone online. Falco was prepping the car, doors open, ready to move.
Militech was no longer aiming at the crew—or even the scavs. Their firepower was now focused on the bunker entrance.
"They're trying to wipe the place clean…" Lucy murmured, realization dawning in her voice.
"Wipe whatever the hell you jacked out of," David shot a look back. "Let's delta."
The team moved fast, weaving through debris and gunfire, staying low but tight. Explosions rained around them, lighting the sky in sick neon colors. One last shell hit behind them—BOOM—the bunker's entrance collapsed inward, dust and metal flying.
Gone. Buried.
And with it, whatever ghost still lived in the data well.
They piled into the car, breathless, bruised. Falco didn't wait—he hit the gas and maneuvered through the chaos like a man possessed. The team didn't speak for a long moment. Just sat there, feeling the tremble in their bones.
The job was done.
They got a moment to breathe.
"So what the hell is on that shard for Militech to bomb the whole damn place?" Maine's voice cut through the silence like a blade, still wired from the firefight.
The crew sat in the back of Falco's ride, the interior dim and humming, everyone's eyes drifting to Lucy.
She didn't answer right away.
Her gaze was distant. Still shaken. Not from fear—at least not the kind they could see. Her lips parted, then closed again. Processing.
"It was the fragmented mind of a Militech whistleblower," she finally said, her voice low, tight.
A sharp shudder rolled through her body, and she clenched her arms close as if to hold something in.
"Whatever he knew…" She paused. "It was enough for Militech to nuke his mind with rogue AIs."
David's eyes went wide. "Militech is weaponizing rogue AIs?!" He exclaimed.
That lit the match.
Everyone snapped to attention—Rebecca stopped chewing her gum, Dorio leaned in, even Pilar stopped muttering to himself.
"Wait, hold the fuck on," Pilar said. "Like, real rogue rogue? As in RABIDs? The ones from bedtime horror stories?"
Lucy nodded, exhausted. "Apparently. I was able to salvage what was left of his mind into the shard provided by our client. It's fractured, though. Badly. It'll take time to piece it back together."
She leaned back in the seat, letting her head hit the rest with a soft thunk. A tired groan slipped past her lips.
The car buzzed in eerie silence.
Even Maine looked shaken now. "Rogue AIs aren't supposed to exist outside the Blackwall. That's why NetWatch breathes down everyone's neck."
David spoke again, slower this time. "If Militech has figured out how to use them…"
"Then the Blackwall's more of a suggestion than a line," Lucy finished for him. Knowing this already but playing along.
The thought hung heavy.
Lucy glanced around, catching everyone's looks—concern, curiosity, fear. They weren't used to seeing her this drained. Even when things went south, Lucy was steel. But now, something felt... different.
"At least I can work on this with Kiwi," she added quietly. "She'll know what to make of it. Or at least help crack it. She should be free by tomorrow."
None of them spoke. Not even Rebecca, who just kept staring at Lucy with an unfamiliar kind of seriousness.
They all knew what rogue AI meant. What dancing near the Blackwall meant. And they also knew—if corps like Militech were poking the bear?
Then the bear might already be awake.
The car hummed through the streets of Night City, neon lights sliding across the windows. They were heading toward the nearest safehouse.
But rest wouldn't come easy.
Not with what Lucy was carrying.
Another day, another gig for Naruto and the crew.
This time, they'd been tapped to clear out an old garage-turned-scav hideout, doubling as an illegal XBD production line. Classic scav haunt. Hard to fuck up, easy to make your name on. Dirty work—but work worth doing.
The place used to be a service garage, back when this cracked stretch of highway still saw legit traffic. Now? The walls were tagged with chrome-slick graffiti, the roof half-caved in, and the garage door groaned like it wanted to die already. The sign out front was shattered, but a few dying red letters still blinked: –OP SH–.
Locals just call it The Chop Chop Shop at this point.
Inside, it was worse. The air reeked of burnt plastic, blood, and cheap stim smoke. Broken-down cars lined the walls—gutted for parts or repurposed into freakish support rigs for body-mod experiments. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, most cracked or flickering, casting everything in a sickly green haze.
At the center of it all sat the main rig: a throne of janky tech slapped together on an old car lift. Wires snaked across the floor like veins. Braindance gear was bolted to the steel chair—some poor soul always strapped in, twitching, pupils blown wide, brain fried. Willing or not didn't matter. Scavs never cared.
A rusted frame nearby held up a busted screen, looping previews of their content. Screams, blood in slow motion, glitched cuts of suffering sold as entertainment. This wasn't just thrill content—it was torture sold for creds.
A side room had been converted into a cage. Steel mesh. Lock welded shut. No one wanted to know what was in there.
A couple of scavs loitered near a stripped-down van. One was blowtorching a cyberlimb for parts, the other patching new input nodes into the BD rig. Twitchy. Paranoid. Always armed.
Out back, a burn pit still smoldered. Whatever couldn't be sold got disposed of.
The Chop Chop Shop didn't run on profit. It ran on cruelty, addiction, and the broken pieces of people no one would miss.
The crew was already in position, watching the place from multiple angles. Comms were live.
"Yo, Naruto!" Jackie's voice came through, clear and booming. "You spot a clean access point yet? V and I are ready to crack open their front door."
Naruto responded with a calm swagger. "Yeah. Had to drop a couple scavs on the way. No stun rounds this time. Scavs don't get mercy."
He wanted to spit on their corpses. Wanted to identify the victims, give their families something, anything. But right now? The job came first.
"I'm close to the access point. Ready to mess their shit up. Yo, asshole—you in position?" he added, shooting a quick jab toward Sasuke's channel.
A quiet scoff. Then, short and cold: "I am, idiot."
V and Jackie exchanged a breath of relief. Sasuke's mood was ice—but steady.
Naruto cracked his knuckles and jacked in.
There were four automated turrets inside the garage—Naruto locked them down in seconds. Then, he set off chain reactions across the scav's slapped-together tech: shorting radios, triggering sparks, and mini-explosions that lit up the chaos like fireworks.
Scavs burst from the garage like panicked hornets—only to be caught in the crossfire of V and Jackie. The rest inside? Wiped out by Sasuke's ruthless efficiency and Naruto's digital support.
When it was over, the crew regrouped at the front.
Grins all around. Even Sasuke looked faintly pleased with himself. First gig for Wakako Okada, the fixer from Japantown—and they nailed it.
V's holo lit up. Wakako's voice followed.
"You and your crew did well. Your recommendation wasn't misplaced. I'll remember your names. Expect your compensation soon."
Then she ended the call, just like that.
The crew shared another look—mutual satisfaction without a word.
"To the Coyote!" Jackie shouted, already grinning.
No one argued.
Naruto, V, and Jackie were posted up at the Coyote, winding down after the gig with greasy food, a couple drinks, and the easy kind of banter that only came after a job well done. Sasuke was already gone—left quietly after finishing his second beer, tailing a local Valentino girl who'd been eyeing him all night. Typical.
Eventually, the trio left their table and made their way to the bar for another round.
That's when it happened.
A woman, maybe in her late twenties, sauntered up to Naruto and got way too close. Practically glued to his side. Her tone was sweet, but her eyes were predatory—undressing him in real time, fingers grazing dangerously close.
Naruto stiffened. Visibly uncomfortable. Not just because of the situation itself, but because… well, he kept thinking of her.
"I probably think too much about her."
The thought rolled through his head with a mix of guilt and quiet longing.
Still, he didn't pull away fast enough—and the woman took that as permission.
Thankfully, V stepped in before it escalated.
"YO! Piss off, gonk-brain!" she barked, sliding between them like a human firewall.
Message received. The woman backed off with a scoff and a dramatic eye-roll before vanishing into the crowd.
Jackie leaned on the bar, raising a brow, amused.
"Man, you need to get laid," he teased, elbowing Naruto. "Can't be actin' all stiff around the chicas like that."
V didn't miss a beat. "Pfft. He's this uncomfortable 'cause he got laid, Jackie."
Naruto's head snapped toward her. No. No no no. Exactly what he didn't want broadcasted.
Jackie's jaw dropped—eyes so wide they looked like they'd fall out of his skull. Then, a big grin bloomed across his face.
"Well damn! Look at you!" Jackie hollered. "Not checkin' the girls 'cause you already got one!"
He leaned in with a sly smirk. "So? Who's the lucky gal that netted our netrunner's heart?"
Naruto opened his mouth, but the words never came. V beat him to it—again.
"You remember that crew from the cyberpsycho gig? The one with the quiet little netrunner?"
Jackie nodded slowly, gears turning.
"Her." V pointed a finger at Naruto with a laugh. "She's the one. Cute, right?"
Jackie burst into full-blown laughter, slapping Naruto's shoulder with enough force to knock over a smaller man. "A netrunner romance? Nice, hermano. You gotta bring her along sometime. We'll make it a night."
Naruto, face flushed and thoroughly defeated, just muttered, "Sure…"
V and Jackie kept laughing, already moving on to more drinks, but Naruto's mind had slipped elsewhere. Again.
Lucy.
He couldn't help it. More and more, she crept in when he least expected it—when he wasn't on a job, when things were quiet, when there was space to feel.
"Maybe I should call her," he thought.
And just like that, he drifted off—lost again in thoughts of her, a little smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Confirming his earlier thoughts.
The water's still.
No bubbles. No movement. Just Lucy—half-submerged, arms resting along the rim of the tub, chrome-flecked fingers twitching like they're already moving through code. Her eyes are closed, but her mind? Already slipping under.
A nest of wires trails from the neural port at the base of her neck, all feeding into a compact custom deck on the floor—sleek, humming with quiet intent. Glowing threads of data-light pulse along the cables, syncing to her heartbeat.
The room is dim. Only the soft flicker of a HUD above the waterline lights her face—lines of data scrolling like veins through a digital body. ICE, nodes, traps. Everything mapped out in quiet blue. Her face is serene, but the lines of her jaw give it away.
She's loading for war.
There's still work to be done. Fragments of corrupted data left over from the last run, half-buried like shrapnel. Her thoughts stray for a moment—"I hope I got rid of everything…"—before she reins them in.
The crew waits nearby, stationed close. Just in case.
She begins.
And before her consciousness unhooks and drops into the deep, she draws one last breath. Steady. Controlled. Like a diver on the edge of a cliff, toes curled over the ledge.
Then—
She dives.
The HUD flares. A pulse of light—
And Lucy is gone from the real.
It's slow, agonizing work. Fragmented code snarled like wire, corrupted bites latching on like ticks. But she's good. Very good. She burns the rot away with precision, and with every line she scrubs clean, the system breathes a little easier.
The puzzle takes shape. Big. Ugly. Layered in secrets.
Her virtual self groans.
She presses on. Until finally—exhaustion wins. She lets herself resurface.
Reality blinks and shifts. A bright light stabs through the black.
She's back.
Padding out of the room, towel slung around her shoulders, she joins the crew. David is red-faced and doing everything to not look at her. Rebecca, meanwhile, is fuming—jealousy curling off her like steam. The difference between the two is comical.
"Precious," Lucy thinks, lips tugging upward. She plops down beside Rebecca, lights a cigarette.
Dorio clocks the fatigue immediately.
"Lucy… you done for today?"
A puff. Smoke rings swirl upward like coded whispers.
"Yeah. I'm done."
Maine nods. "What do we have so far?"
Another drag. Another puff. Her voice flat, but not empty.
"It's a puzzle. Giant. Tedious. But manageable. I've cracked about a fourth." She sighs, smoke curling up with the exhale. "Nothing juicy yet."
The crew nods, murmuring strategy. Maine starts talking again—something about Kiwi returning tomorrow—but Lucy tunes out.
Her holo buzzes.
Naruto.
She answers.
"Hey, Luce."
The nickname slips out so casually it almost catches her off guard. But it fits, and somehow, she doesn't mind it.
"Hey," she says.
"You still on a job?"
"Yup."
Short. Blunt. But Naruto doesn't take offense—he sounds worried. She can see it in the way his voice sounds panicked.
"I can call at a better time—"
"No," she cuts in quickly.
She doesn't notice the crew going quiet. Doesn't see David now glancing at her, not away. Doesn't clock the soft whisper-laughs or the grins passing between Maine, Dorio, Rebecca and Pilar like smuggled contraband.
She's only focused on him.
Naruto still sounds unsure. "When you're done, wanna come over? Stay at my place this time?" He scratches the back of his neck… Or at least it sounded like it. "V got shitfaced and decided to cruise with Jackie for the night, so… it's quiet. Thought you might like that."
He sounded like a puppy waiting to be let on the couch.
Lucy's expression softens, just a little. The corner of her mouth curls up.
"Sure. Let's do that. See you later."
She ends the call.
And turns. The room is grinning at her.
"Well, I guess that's it for the night," Maine says with a smirk.
No one disagrees.
Like they talked about on the holo, they're now at Naruto's apartment—halfway buried in a crumbling Japantown mega-complex, surrounded by flickering paper signs and the ever-present buzz of noodle carts four floors down.
They were excited to see each other, but neither of them wanted to show it too much. Cool masks, easy smiles. They greeted with a quick hug—brief, but warm—and then drifted to the coach like it was second nature.
For a while, they just sat in silence. Comfortable. Lucy's eyes wandered the room.
It was the first time she'd been here since her rescue. Usually, they met at her place or out in the city—training sessions, rooftop hangs, or low-lit bars. Here, though, she could finally look around without being on guard. No defense mechanisms. No shame.
Naruto was staring out the window now. Watching the lights crawl across the skyline. The quiet up here was strange for Night City—soft hum from a dying ceiling fan, old rice cooker in the kitchen bubbling slow, and the occasional waft of street oil and cherry incense drifting through the cracked window.
For once, it felt like the world outside could wait.
They ate something simple. Now they were barefoot, sitting close on the coach, half-wrapped in a blanket that somehow felt sacred—like a shield from the noise beyond these walls. They laughed quietly over something dumb Jackie said earlier. Naruto was the one telling most of the stories. Lucy was content to just listen.
That was when Naruto noticed the data shard.
Just sitting there. On the table.
His eyes fixed on it. His voice vanished.
Lucy's heart dropped.
Why did I throw that there? she cursed herself.
It wasn't just any shard. It was that shard—from their latest gig. He wasn't part of the crew. He wasn't supposed to be involved. Was she really getting so comfortable she'd let something like this slide?
Stupid.
Naruto's brows furrowed. After a long beat, he broke the silence—voice quiet, almost small.
"Hey, Lucy… where did you get that shard from?"
The small tone of his voice caught her off guard.
It wasn't like him. Not the way she knew him.
"This?" she tried to play it off, eyes sliding away. "It's the shard we got from our client. Sorry. I guess… I just dropped it without thinking. I usually do this when I get home. Just… habit." She shrugged one shoulder, but the embarrassment clung to her like static.
Naruto didn't answer right away. He looked torn, uncertain—like part of him didn't want to say what he was thinking, but another part couldn't let it go. Still, he looked… touched. Flattered, maybe, by the idea she saw this place like her own.
Then he spoke again.
"If you're having trouble with it," he said slowly, "I can take a look. I'm kinda used to this sorta tech."
Lucy blinked. Her eyes narrowed slightly, not in suspicion—more in curiosity.
He knew. Somehow, he knew what kind of shard it was. Maybe even more than they did.
"I don't want to drag you into my crew's biz," she mumbled, words muffled as she leaned her head into his shoulder. The shame burned beneath her skin. She wasn't used to this kind of softness. Not from others. Not even from herself.
But Naruto's arm wrapped around her tighter. Warm. Reassuring.
"Believe me," he said gently, "I know how to deal with this kind of stuff. Better than most. And I can show you how to handle it, too—if you want."
His cybernetic arm twitched, scratching the back of his head in that nervous way of his.
But his voice? Steady. Confident.
Lucy sighed, caught between caution and curiosity.
"…If you really want to."
She still wasn't sure. Still wasn't sure how much of this was okay. But she didn't stop him. Because part of her did want to learn. And part of her did want to see more of who he was beneath the orange jacket and deadpan jokes.
And when she looked up and saw his bright smile—genuine, warm, aimed just at her—she flushed.
Her face found its way back to his shoulder, hiding the smile tugging at her lips.
Shortly after, they were standing in the netrunning section of Naruto's apartment.
Lucy couldn't help but admire the space again—modded gear lined the walls, tangled cables ran in organized chaos, and every inch of it was personalized to Naruto's style and specs. It was his, through and through. A netrunner's haven. She hadn't expected this level of finesse, but somehow, it fit.
She slotted the shard into a nearby deck with a soft click. Naruto was already stripping down, making himself ready to dive in.
And, okay—she wasn't gonna lie. She liked the view.
Here and there, their limbs brushed as they moved around the space. Each little contact sparked a flicker of heat, excitement… maybe even a touch of shyness they didn't usually show. It was refreshing.
Lucy raised an eyebrow, not bothering to hide her wandering eyes.
"You're not a suit person either?" she asked, playful.
Naruto glanced over his shoulder with a grin, matching her energy. "Nah. Had one really good one in the past… everything after just felt wrong."
Then he turned fully toward her, expression shifting to something a little more wicked.
"Don't lie," he said, voice teasing.
Lucy tensed, expecting something outrageous. But he just smirked.
"You enjoy this a lot."
His eyebrows wiggled suggestively.
She stayed silent. Didn't deny it.
Naruto's smirk softened, turning focused. Serious.
"I'm going in," he said simply.
Lucy nodded, watching his vitals light up across the connected monitors as he submerged himself into the Net. She tapped her fingers on the side of the tub, eyes scanning the feed, watching everything and nothing at once.
Fifteen minutes ticked by.
She bit her lip. "I should've asked if I can smoke in here…" The thought pulled a quiet curse from her, but she resisted the urge. Instead, she turned on the old radio sitting on a side table.
"I couldn't wait for you to come and clean the cupboards…"
Body Heat Radio crackled through the space, eerie and comforting all at once.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then Naruto came back.
He emerged from the dive with a low, drawn-out groan, hand to his head. He looked wrecked.
Lucy moved around the tub, already jacking him out like it was muscle memory—as if they'd done this a hundred times before.
"Thanks," Naruto muttered, giving her a small nod. Another groan followed, and Lucy responded by rubbing his arm lightly. She knew how brutal that puzzle of a shard was. It had drained her too.
But something was off.
Now that she really looked, Naruto seemed… spooked. Paler than usual. His expression tight, distant.
"You okay?" she asked, voice low and steady. There was concern there—but she didn't want to overwhelm him with it. Not yet.
Naruto met her eyes. He looked exhausted, yeah—but thankful too. Then he reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently.
Lucy's stomach twisted.
The gesture was soft, comforting—but it felt like it carried weight.
Too much weight.
"What. In. Hell. Were we recruited to retrieve?" she thought, again, heart rate ticking up.
All the earlier warmth, the teasing, the comfort—it collapsed into silence, a heavy stillness pressing against them both.
Something was wrong. And they had no idea just how deep it went.
Jackie's already more than a few shots in—boots kicked up on a sticky bar table, swinging around a half-eaten burrito like it's about to deliver a keynote address. V's not far behind, tipsy grin stretching across her face, jacket half-off, drink sweating in one hand, attitude looser than a joytoy's morals.
Only Naruto sits upright, glass of water in hand, barely touched. Not even buzzed. Which is weird. Music's thumping, someone's shouting near the jukebox, but it's background noise. Right now, it's their night. Just a crew blowing off steam.
Then Jackie squints at his phone.
"Ey, guys… Check this out."
He holds it up. NCPD scanner ping. Something about a "suspected small gang convoy" heading through Rancho Coronado. Fast creds. Too fast.
Jackie's already on his feet, grabbing his pistol with his free hand and shoving the rest of the burrito into his mouth. "Let's just check it out. In and out."
V lights up. "Yessss. Field trip."
But Naruto stands, brushing off his orange jacket. "Nah," he mutters, eyes flicking red for a second. "I'm good. Think I'll head home."
He's already walking out the door before they can protest. V leans into Jackie with a mischievous smirk. "Bet he's calling his lil girlfriend."
They both snicker like teens with a secret, then hustle out the door, still high on drinks and impulse. Jackie already on the move to get a taco.
Cut to:
V behind the handlebars of her bike, Jackie behind her—one hand holding a pistol, the other still cradling that same damn taco. They're weaving through traffic, slicing down side streets, laughing like maniacs. They maybe sideswipe a car. Or three. Subtlety? Dead and buried. Being irresponsible is fun after all.
They pull up fast on the convoy: two vehicles and two bikes. A heavy-duty Thorton Mackinaw rumbles up front, a slick Mizutani Hozuki behind it, and two Yaiba Kusanagi riders flanking them—each marked in gang colors, chrome glinting in the night.
V skids the bike sideways, blocking the road. Jackie dismounts with the grace of a man whose blood alcohol content is legally a threat.
He hiccups.
"Think… we can talk this out?"
One of the gang goons doesn't even blink. Just opens fire.
Jackie yells over the gunfire, "Never mind!"
Now it's full-blown chaos.
Jackie dual-wielding pistols like it's a telenovela shootout. V trying to hack a support drone mid-roll, cursing when her neural interface flickers because she's still half-drunk. She was no Naruto but successful. The drone falls on top of the Mackinaw which leads it to explode. A Yaiba crashes through a hot dog stand. Someone screams "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" but no one's got the time to answer.
They're too busy accidentally winning.
A bit Later, the two of them stand in a scorched alley, smoke curling in the air, adrenaline tapering off. V wipes blood and beer from her chin. Jackie's still holding the taco.
He surveys the wreckage.
"Yo… did we just finish a scanner gig?"
V shrugs. "Guess we're civic heroes now."
Jackie grins and slaps her on the back, his laughter echoing down the alley.
"Let's never do that again."
They absolutely will.
Chapter End
Notes: Here we are at the end of the chapter. Lucy and Naruto are able to progress their relationship while being cute in the meantime. I already mentioned that I rewatched Edgerunners but there is definitely something I have to overly praise again, and that's the music. It's perfect! I never realized how good the ending song was and together with the Phantom Liberty-track and the song when 'spoiler' (lol) Maine died I listened to it while writing this chapter a lot.
Thanks again for reading the chapter!