FicWad

Everything was deathly silent in the mountains of Alphonse. Further out in the North, partially covered in snow laid one Naruto Uzumaki. His eyes were still blank and lifeless and his skin was a pale white.

That was until...

“GAH!” a high pitched totally masculine scream echoed off the mountains.

Naruto abruptly cried out when he awoke and quickly sat up, throwing off the snow that had settled on him, only to hiss in discomfort when he felt how stiff his body was. Like a mirage was just lifted, life returned to his eyes and his skin regained its complexion. The blond looked around and found himself in a mountain pass with ruins to his left.

With a grunt Naruto quickly pushed himself up on his feet and stared in the ruined town that was Pieta. A deep pit formed in his stomach. Pieta was in ruins, he was expecting that much to happen… but he couldn’t sense anything. No yoki from the Task Force, or any Awakened Beings. Granted he was expecting being unable to sense yoki from the Task Force since they took half of that suppression pill… but he was expecting to feel the Awakened Beings still in the area. How long had he been out?

“Okay… deep breaths, Naruto. There could still be survivors here. I just need to find ‘em.” And where’s Pervy Sage? Shouldn’t he have come for him as soon as the battle was over? He’d have to look into that later. Right now, he needed to look for survivors. “Since I can’t sense their yoki, I’ll have to check on them the old-fashioned way, I guess…”

And with that Naruto went to the ruins to search for survivors… after reactivating those heating seals of his again. He was freezing his butt off right now! It didn't help he had his own blood on him, but in the heat of the moment Naruto kinda forgot that he had been injured before applying that genjutsu Pervy Sage taught him all those years ago.

//

Back in their little hideout, Eva paced back and forth like a caged lioness. Never in her life did she feel so guilty… so helpless… so ashamed! She should have been down there helping all those poor women who just came there to die, all those poor villagers who undoubtedly suffered such a gruesome fate!

But… her fear had gotten the better of her. She simply couldn’t.

Though it was probably for the best, seeing how she was an offensive-class warrior with a missing arm, the woman simply couldn’t help but feel the way she did.

“Everything’s quiet.” Lucia said, drawing Eva’s attention to her. The Number 12 was leaning against a wall, looking outside. The snowy mountains of Alphonse had greeted her. “We should check if anyone has survived. Knowing Miria, she probably made some sort of plan to get as many people through that massacre as possible.” That and she wanted to make sure Naruto was okay.

Eva sighed and nodded. While she doubted that any actually did survive, the least she could do was give the women a proper burial.

//

As he ventured forth towards the center of what was Pieta, Naruto came to a stop when he sensed two heavily suppressed yoki signatures approaching. Apparently, Eva and Lucia were coming out of hiding. Strange, he thought they were heading to the West when his clone got them out of Pieta before the first battle. They must have stuck around after the clone dispelled; well, he wasn’t going to object having some more help. Naruto changed direction and headed directly for them.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for them to converge and when they did, Naruto yelped and chuckled when Lucia glomped him. Eva rolled her eyes, mildly amused. If nothing else, it put a much-needed smile on her face.

“Glad to see the two of you,” Naruto said, rubbing Lucia’s back.

“I simply had to check on you,” Lucia replied, hugging him tight. “I simply couldn’t live with myself if I learned that you died.”

“More than a little roughed up, but I’m okay,” Naruto assured, giving her a peck on the forehead. “Miria had the girls take half a yoki suppressant before the second fight so they could play dead when they were knocked out. You wanna help me check on them?”

Lucia’s eyes lit up at that. “I knew Miria had some kinda plan! I’d be happy to help!”

“You saved my life,” Eva added, “I’m with you wherever you go until I can repay you.”

Naruto nodded. “Okay. Follow me you two.” With that he turned and headed back in the direction of Pieta with Eva and Lucia following him. “With their yoki suppressant they will look like they’re dead at first glance. So we’ll have to see if there are any survivors the old fashioned way.”

“Got it.” Lucia said with a nod. She could do that… rather well, actually, after having been trained to pose as a nurse a few years back.

“What about you? Are you well?” Eva asked in concern, having seen Naruto covered in his own blood. And he had a slash mark on the front of his shirt. He was also walking with a bit of a limp… and not the good kind.

“I’m fine. I got into a fight with Rigardo the Silver Eyed Lion King, and he knocked me out. I used a technique to make it seem I was killed. It helped I was bleeding at the time I cast it, so it helped me out in the long run. The wounds he gave me sting like a bitch, mind you, but that’s the worst of it.” His side still felt a bit raw to be honest, but that’s because his healing factor isn’t as strong as it used to be without Kurama. That and his seal containing the chakra of Kurama and the other tailed beasts was locked up tight.

“Well… if you’re sure.” Eva trailed off unsurely.

“I am. You have nothing to worry about.” The blond reassured her with a pat on the shoulder. Naruto then looked at her missing arm and frowned. He still has access to Six Paths Sage Mode thanks to Hagoromo giving him his chakra...maybe he can regrow it?

As they approached the battlefield, the trio winced at the corpse of Veronica. The woman was clearly dead, having been literally chopped to bits. With a heavy sigh Naruto knelt down to close her eyes, only to recoil a bit when he felt something akin to an electric shock race up his arm. He withdrew like he had been shocked and looked at his hand. Strange.

A static shock, maybe?

Naruto shrugged and reached down a second time. This time, there was no shock and he closed the woman’s eyes respectfully. Giving the woman a short prayer, he then made a clone to give the fallen warrior a proper burial. With that out of the way, Naruto, Lucia, and Eva carried on.

It wasn’t long for them to find more bodies. Bodies belonging to the Awakened Beings and claymores. And Naruto found Rigardo’s headless corpse in front of the bodies of Miria, Zelda, Jean and Cynthia

Almost immediately, Lucia scampered on up to check on them. Naruto and Eva followed suit but not before the former gave Rigardo’s corpse a kick in the ribcage. It was mainly out of childish spite.

“They’re breathing,” Lucia announced excitedly. “All four of them are breathing!”

“In that case,” Naruto slowly got down on one knee beside Miria with a grunt, and pressed his hand on her chest. “I’ll wake them up.” And with that the blond sent a surge of chakra into Miria’s body, shocking her awake.

“GAH!”

Naruto leaned back just in time to evade the woman’s startled uppercut. “Welcome back,” he said with a chuckle.”

“N-Naruto?” Miria couldn’t help but stare at him with a sense of disbelief...and immense relief. “Y-you’re alive?”

“Very much so.” The blond answered with a nod. “I’ll… explain in a moment. I need to wake the others up.” Then he went over to Zelda and pressed his hand against her chest and did the same thing he did for Miria, and Zelda woke up with a startled cry when she felt his chakra kick starting her awake. He did the same for Cynthia and Jean, though those two woke jumped awake without making a noise, though when they saw Naruto standing over them they felt relief and also confusion wash over them.

“How… how are you alive? Rigardo said you were dead!” Zelda said in disbelief. Was she… truely dead? Was this some kind of afterlife?

“Rigardo saw what I wanted him to see.” Naruto told the woman, and since Miria, Cynthia, and Jean was there they heard what he said as well. “I was taught a technique that lets me play dead. It works even when I’m knocked out. And, that lion wannabe drew blood so when I used that technique before getting knocked out, it looked like I was dead. Thank god no one was smart enough to actually check.” Then he looked to Eva and Lucia who had gone unnoticed by them. “Eva, Lucia, keep searching for more survivors.”

“On it!” Lucia chirped.

“Wha…” Miria’s mouth opened and closed as she stared at to women who, by all rights, should be dead. Number 7, Eva and Number 12, Lucia who had been said to have died in the North. She quickly noted that the former was missing an arm and gave Naruto a shocked but expectant look. Somehow, she knew he had something to do with them being there!

“I uh… I suppose I should explain their survival, huh?”

Miria gave him a ‘what do you think’ look. “You think?” She deadpanned, with Cynthia, Zelda, and Jean all nodding in agreement.

“Well… during the days Flora and I were in Lydd with you, I actually sent a clone of myself to the North to check on Lucia.”

“A… clone?”

“It’s a technique I can do that lets me make solid copies of myself and can do everything the original can.” Naruto explained. Then he paused… how come he didn't use that to outnumber Rigardo?

“Why didn't you use it against Rigardo then? Wouldn’t have that put the odds in your favour?” Cynthia asked, unknowingly asking that very question Naruto was asking himself.

“While they can do everything I can, my power split evenly with every clone I make. They’re also easily dispelled; a good enough whack can put them out. So, it probably wouldn’t have mattered in the long run against someone like Rigardo.” Naruto explained, but he can’t help but wonder if it would have made a difference. If he had left back a clone or two to gather Nature Chakra for him, he would’ve had that fight in the bag!

Naruto sighed, knowing damn well those questions would haunt him for the rest of his days. He cleared his throat and continued where he left off. “Anyway, back the the point: I made one to check on Lucia. By the time he got there, a… week later, I believe? Lucia’s team was in trouble, two of her team was already cut down and at near death; Eva had just gotten her arm chopped off. The clone bailed them out and made two other clones to get the other two out of dodge… as you can see, only Lucia and Eva survived. The other two died later on.”

He wondered what happened to that arm of hers anyway? Was it still there on the battlefield? Maybe he could find it and find a way to reattach it? Long shot of the century though it may be, Naruto felt it was at least worth a try. Since it was frozen, it’ll be preserved… but still a long shot.

“Naruto! I found a couple of more!” Eva called out.

“Same here!” Lucia added.

“On my way!” He answered them. Then he stood up and searched for more survivors. With Miria, Cynthia, Zelda, and Jean all pitching in.

While they did find bodies, they also found survivors and Naruto slowly woke them up one by one until the rest of them woke up by themselves - one of whom being Flora, which had a rather… spectacular, if somewhat predictable result.

“NARUTO!” Flora wailed, bawling her eyes out as she tackled her boyfriend.

“ACK!” So surprised was he that Naruto had been knocked down on his back as his girlfriend straddled him and hugged him to her like a plushie. He hugged her back, staying put as he tried to comfort his frantic girlfriend.

“YOU’RE ALIVE! RI-RIGARDO SAID YOU WERE DEAD! WAHAHAHAHAAAAAAH!” The woman cried.

“You have no idea how much hell she put everyone through when she thought you were dead,” Clare sighed. “I had to pull her back from Awakening three damn times before I passed out from exhaustion.”

Fortunately, Flora was knocked out soon after. Were it not for that three-headed female with the tentacles throwing her into a nearby building, then Flora would... not be as safe here, to put it lightly.

“Thank you,” Naruto replied, truly grateful. Though he made a promise to kill Flora had she Awakened, the blond didn't think he could do through with it. Looking down towards his still-frantic girlfriend, he couldn’t help but notice a visible streak of red in her hair… and it wasn’t blood.

How strange…

Though he couldn’t help but have a pit form in his stomach. “Flora, can you look at me for a moment?” He asked her.

Forcing herself to calm down, the woman sniffled and nodded. Taking a few deep breaths for good measure, Flora pushed herself up slightly and did as requested.

He exhaled with relief. “You have a streak of red in your hair but you still have silver eyes. That’s good.”

Flora looked utterly shocked to hear that and frantically checked herself. True to her boyfriend’s word, there was a streak of red now dyed into her hair, just to the right of her face, She averted her gaze and fidgetted nervously.

Naruto knew damn well what she was feeling and pulled her down into a tight hug. “It’s okay,” he assured. “I’m sorry I made you worry so much.”

Flora didn’t say a word, frowning deeply, but returning the hug and snuggling up to his chest. After that Naruto looked around did a head count of who was alive.

Miria, Queenie, Yuma, and Tabitha. That’s four.

Flora, Clare, Wendy, and Lily. That’s eight.

Jean and Natalie. That’s ten.

Deneve, Zelda, and Juliana. That’s thirteen.

Cynthia and Helen. That’s fifteen.

“Fifteen out of twenty four of you are alive.” Naruto said.

“Yeah,” Miria said solemnly. She wished she could save everyone, but knew that was hoping for the impossible.

“So… what now?” Juliana asked.

“Right now, it’s safe to assume all of you are considered dead by the Organization. Even me. Given how many of those Awakened Beings there were, it’s safe to assume the North no longer has any life within it.” Naruto told them. When he was keeping an eye on the Awakened Beings in Sage Mode he never sensed anyone else beyond them. And now that he thought back on it that was not a good sign.

If he had anything to say about it, he would tell them to go into hiding and train their pretty asses off until they’re ready to come back out again.

And it turns out great minds think alike.

“We should go into hiding.” Miria stated. “Hide and train ourselves until we are strong enough to defeat most single digits.”

“I approve,” Naruto chuckled. Then he remembered something, the lack of a certain perverted Toad Safe. “By the way, what happened to Pervy Sage? Why isn’t he here?” he asked, looking around for him.

“After he killed Rigardo, a coffin appeared out of nowhere... and... snatched him up,” Zelda replied awkwardly, visibly having a hard time believing her own words.

“He said he took too much damage before it… took him away.” Miria added.

Naruto blinked at that. “Oh. That’s… odd. A reincarnated warrior taking too much damage shouldn’t be a factor since they’d just regenerate from it. Unless you seal them away they’re unstoppable-” he paused before realization dawned on him. “Oh… I think I know what happened. Whoever brought Pervy Sage here must’ve added a fail safe of some type.”

“A… fail safe?” Natalie asked.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I explained it to you all, but I’ll explain it again just in case: back home the Impure World Reincarnation is a technique that lets you bring back a deceased warrior through a ritual and a living sacrifice.” Naruto paused to make sure they were all following him and when he was sure they were, the blond continued. “That warrior who was brought back has all their previous experiences, their memories and techniques they had in life. They can never die. They don’t have to rest, sleep or eat. They have an infinite well of power that can never run out, and, they can heal from any injuries you inflict. So unless you can seal them they are quite literally unstoppable.”

Everyone went ashen-faced at that. Having to fight against something like that would be… nightmare inducing. And Jiraiya’s like that?!

“However, since no one but me can stop Jiraiya, it seems whoever brought him back had the foresight to add in a fail safe, and it seems he gets sealed away automatically whenever he takes too much damage. I could be wrong, but it’s the only explanation I can think of.”

“Duly noted,” Miria replied with a nod.

Then Naruto let out a shiver. “We should probably get to someplace more… warm. You may not be able to feel the cold, but I do.” And away from the bodies - they already buried the fallen and used their claymores as grave markers.

“We should probably send out a scouting party to find a suitable shelter,” Jean chimed in.

Naruto nodded and put his fingers into a cross seal. “Consider it done.” Just then, a small group of Naruto clones appeared around the couple in poofs of smoke, surprising the 15 women immensely. One clone give them a cheeky two fingered salute, before he and the others dashed away to find a shelter.

While his doppelgangers were busy with that, Naruto turned to the women and asked, “So, does anyone need anything?”

“More snuggles,” Flora buttered somewhat grumpily. After going batshit crazy, thinking her man had gotten himself killed, the woman understandably needed some attention.

Naruto couldn’t help but chuckle at that if his life depended on it as he hugged her tight and rubbed her back. Then he sat up with a grunt, and stood up and held Flora in a bridal carry - said woman squawking in surprise at the sudden movement.

The blond addressed Miria, “I never mentioned this before but, a while ago, when I was keeping an eye on those Awakened Beings, I couldn't sense anything beyond them.” He revealed.

“Eh?! What do you mean by that?!” Helen asked, no she demanded with a look of expectancy on her pretty face. The other survivors were surprised as well.

“It’s exactly as it sounds.” Naruto said.

“Given how many Awakened Beings there are, he did say it is safe to assume that the North is now a winter waste,” Miria chimed in. “I agree with him in that assessment, though it wouldn’t hurt to check and make sure. Better safe than sorry.”

“I can go back into Sage Mode and double check if you want?” Naruto offered. It won’t hurt double checking; he could have been sensing things wrong after all.

“Please do,” Miria replied with a polite smile.

“Alright.” Naruto closed his eyes and went completely still. An orange pigmentation appeared around his eyes a moment later, and when he opened his eyelids the women all saw Naruto’s eyes had changed. Helen and Deneve had already seen it before so they weren’t as surprised - the other’s though were staring at his toad-like eyes with wonder.

After a moment of silence and concentration Naruto finally spoke his findings. “...There’s nothing beyond the ruins of this town. We’re the only ones here.”

“Good to know,” Miria chirped. She meant about them being alone. Not that pretty much every other town beyond this point were either eaten whole or abandoned.

“What does that even do?” Juliana asked, she was genuinely curious about what Sage Mode can do, but the way she phrased her question came off as far more rude than intended. Since he explained a little bit of it to Helen and Deneve, Naruto thought it wouldn’t hurt to explain it to all of them now that things were much calmer.

“It’s an empowered state he can go into. It can give him a boost in pretty much everything.” Deneve answered just as Naruto opened his mouth to answer.

Blinking Naruto looked at the pixie-haired woman some with degree of surprise. “You’ve been paying attention.” He smiled at her. “That’s good.” then he brought his gaze back to Juliana and said, “But yeah, Sage Mode boosts pretty much everything. My physical strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, perception, and durability are enhanced. My attacks and techniques are more powerful. And I get the ability to manipulate nature energy, which in my case, allows me to make it an extension of my body. So while you have to hit me, I don’t have to hit you.”

“Damn,” Zelda chimed in, looking just a bit jealous. “Might as well add an inch to your dick every time you use it at that rate. Anything it doesn’t do?”

“Well, that for one,” Naruto chuckled.

“I don’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed,” Flora muttered thoughtfully. She honestly didn’t!

“Sage Mode does have its weaknesses though.” Naruto pointed out to them. “In order to enter Sage Mode, you have to remain completely still. And I mean completely. Still. This obviously, leaves me open to attacks, so I have to be prepared to enter it or be in it before battle. And because you have to move during a fight, the nature chakra can’t be refilled, because in order to do so you need to be absolutely still. And once the Sage energy is used up, it leaves you exhausted. You can re-enter it, but if it runs out again, you’ll be left even more exhausted. So the more you keep using it, the more exhausted you get.”

“Can anyone learn this, empowered state? It would be quite the boon.” Miria asked. It would be quite the boon for her goals, for what she intended to do. And she needed all the advantages she can get.

“Deneve asked me the same question. It has specific requirements, but because you’re not aligned with Mount Myoboku, I can’t tell you.” He answered with a shake of his head. “I can tell you though that the process to learning Sage Mode is very difficult and not just anyone can go under training to master it. If you’re unable to balance the energy you take in, then it slowly turns you to stone and kills you. If you take in too much, it turns you to stone and kills you. If you move too much while taking in the nature energy and not remain completely still, it turns you to stone and you guessed it: kills you.”

“Yikes…” Julianna muttered.

“Yikes, indeed,” Miria concurred. “Oh, well. Thank you for the information.”

“The energies we use may be different, but I can still help you train.” Naruto pointed out as he let the nature chakra flow back into the environment, his features changed back to normal in the process. “I just have to figure out how I can help. Training your reflexes, enhancing your techniques, make you rely less on your yoki and build up your base strength… something like that.”

As he talked Naruto had beckoned the other 14 women to follow him as he carried Flora out of the ruins of Pieta. They were all in this together now and having nowhere else to go - not that they would go anywhere - they followed him, with Miria once more taking the lead, but stayed behind Naruto.

“What do you have in mind?” Helen asked.

“I’ll think on it when I get to it.” The blond answered, “However, seeing as you all know your own limits with your brand of power and the abilities that comes with it I would suggest you improve what you are already capable of. Miria, as an example, can make herself look like a phantom if she uses yoki to increase her speed… But I’d bet she can only use it for a limited amount of time, so what would happen if she were to be able to do that, but uses pure speed alone, no yoki involved.”

That got the sandy-brunette in question thinking. Could she really improve her Phantom using nothing but speed alone? It would take a lot of work, but it is feasible. Not to mention, if she accomplishes that, then in theory she can use that phantom as much as she wants with no limit.

“And Helen can stretch her limbs, without using yoki,” Naruto added, “Imagine what she could do with that! She could like… twist her arm around several times and make a drill with it.”

“Easier said than done,” Jean pointed out. “I have such a technique and it puts a heavy strain on my arm when I do that. I need quite a bit of prior preparation to perform it.”

“What may be difficult for you may be easy for someone else.” Naruto fired back goodnaturedly. “For example: that energy sphere that I and Pervy Sage used during the first battle was invented by my father. It took him three years to create, but he never managed to complete it. It took Pervy Sage an entire year to learn its incomplete state, and it took me just three weeks. I however, was able to complete it three years later by adding an element. The reason why it took me three years was because I never knew it was incomplete. But once I did know, it took me a couple of days and you all saw the fruits of my labour in action. It was when that clone of mine dashed head first into that retarded looking lizard.”

They remembered that; an energy sphere with blades spinning around it. When that clone dashed head first into the armadillo-like Awakened One, it expanded and enveloped it, and made a dome like vortex.

That was it in its complete state?!

“Why didn't you use it again if that was the case?!” Queenie angrily demanded. They could have suffered less losses damnit!

“Three reasons, actually. One: I underestimated Rigardo. While I do have experience fighting fast opponents, he was still a bitch to deal with, and I ran out of Sage energy at the time. If I had left some clones behind they could have gathered more Sage Energy to use. But I underestimated him and you all paid the price for it.” He said with a large amount of self loathing in his tone. He should’ve left some damn clones behind to gather nature chakra for him! That’s what he gets for underestimating his opponents…!

Naruto took a deep breath and continued where he left off, “Two: if I had killed all of the Awakened Beings there, then I would have to deal with the one behind them, Miria knows who I’m talking about from the looks of it.”

“I-Isley, the Abyssal One of the North…” Everyone, except for those who are already in the know looked at Miria in surprise and fear at the mention of that name. “He’s of the Lost Generation and is considered to be the strongest Creature of the Abyss.”

“I wasn’t sure it was him, but the energy I felt was immense. It was certainly larger than Rigardo’s. And there was another one there too that was absurdly big. Fighting them right after taking down Rigardo and the other Awakened Beings, I would have most certainly lost. And they would have made a beeline for the lot of you.” And that would have been bad. Very bad. If those two had come out of the woodworks, then Miria’s plan to get as many people out of this alive as possible would have ended with less numbers than they have now. Probably everyone would have died instead.

Naruto took a moment for his words to settle, before getting to the final point. “And three: I was knocked out. Even if I wasn’t, there was no guarantee I would have been able to hit him with it.” Naruto said with a roll of his eyes, not that Queenie could see it.

“Why do you say that?” Natalie asked.

“The Rasenshuriken - that’s the name of the technique - needs to be thrown. It can be thrust into someone as you all clearly saw, but I would have been putting my own life at risk. You all saw what happened to the clone when he used it on that retarded looking lizard. And you all saw the aftermath on said retarded looking lizard. Even if you had an incredible healing factor, good luck trying to regenerate your entire body from being constantly attacked by billions of blades so tiny that you can’t even see them.”

“That sounds… painful,” Flora commented.

“It is.” Naruto told her with a nod. “I have another technique that’s the precursor to the Rasenshuriken. It’s basically the Rasengan with four smaller sharp points spinning around it, and I only ever used it once. The first time I used it my arm got caught in the blast and… well… to put it into perspective at how lucky I was to not lose my arm, the four sharp points spinning around the Rasenshuriken are sharp enough to cut through rock…and disintegrate people.”

“I have no idea what the last part means, but it sounds like it hurts,” Helen muttered.

“That… more or less means to turn them into dust,” Deneve pointed out.

“Fuuuck!” Her best friend hissed in surprise. What kind of enemies did this kid face to create such a technique? Did she even want to know?! On the other hand, Helen was even more curious about the blond now.

“And that was the precursor to that Rasen-whatchamacallit?” An equally curious Yuma asked.

“Yeah. And it’s just as destructive as the Rasenshuriken. Since it’s not a technique that can be thrown though, I hardly use it, because if I do, it’ll fuck up my arm… and pretty much anything else caught in its blast radius.”

Naruto perked up when he received the memories from his clones. “...My clones dispelled,” He announced. “They found shelter.”

“That fast?” Cynthia asked looking surprised.

“They can move quick.” Naruto chuckled in amusement. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

//

The place the shelter was located at was in a town called Dabi.

The bad news: it was abandoned, many buildings were in disrepair and had been attacked.

The good news: the buildings were still structurally intact and not a lot of them had taken too much damage. There were no bodies either. Which told the survivors that the bodies had either been buried by survivors before they fled or there were none and had been picked clean.

The shelter in question was in fact an inn. It was a... mostly intact inn, but it was an inn nonetheless.

“Pretty warm. Thank god for that.” Naruto mused aloud as he set Flora down on her feet. He took a look around and found places for everyone to sit. Tables for them to put their things down. There was even a fireplace for them to use, though he didn't see any firewood to use for it. He needs to wash up too, the blond remembered that he had his own blood on him.

No doubt Flora would eagerly ‘help’ him bathe if she got the opportunity… not that he minded.

“Looks good, I must say,” said woman commented. “I’ll see if I can find some firewood for the hearth.”

“Don’t stray too far, dear.” He advised.

“Of course,” she chuckled. Deciding to check the storerooms first, she ventured down the hall to see if there was any firewood in the building itself. “If there’s any in storage, I might not even have to leave the inn.”

“Hopefully, there is.” Naruto chuckled; then he took off his sage coat, his long-sleeved shirt and the mesh-armour he wore underneath to get a look at the injuries he received from his fight with Rigardo - assuming they hadn’t healed up yet.

When he checked, Naruto felt his side was still raw, but wasn’t as uncomfortable anymore. That was understandable, since his healing factor isn’t as strong as it use to be anymore now that Kurama wasn’t in him and the leftovers of the fox’s chakra was sealed up tight. On the bright side he could do some heavy lifting now. There was a slight discolouration in the form of holes where the Awakened One had struck him. He was also giving the other women a show… inadvertently of course. He had his back to them, but the women in question could see that Naruto kept himself in shape.

“My, my, no wonder Flora likes you so much,” Helen giggled. Deneve promptly gave her a whack on the head for her troubles.

“Har har har,” Naruto said, with a roll of his eyes. He turned around halfway and saw all the women were ogling him - even Clare, even if she were to deny it. Then he turned completely and that was when they all saw the scar on the right side of his chest. The only ones who saw it were Lucia, Flora and Miria so they weren’t all that surprised, the others on the other hand...

“Holy shit! How’d that happen?!” A wide eyed Helen exclaimed.

“A ‘friend that I would have killed in his position,” Flora muttered spitefully as she scoured the immediate area for any firewood. There were a couple of logs lying about, but not enough to heat the room. “Spoiled, sociopathic, little shit wasn’t worth all the hell he went through to save, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Can’t say I blame you for feeling that way,” Naruto chuckled sheepishly. Then he went and answered Helen’s question. “I got this scar by trying to stop someone I consider to be a brother in all but blood from making a huge mistake. I never succeeded in stopping him though, because while he was trying his damn best to kill me I was holding back. I had a hand shoved through my lung twice, my neck broken and piledrived into a cliff headfirst. I think I was set on fire too on that day.”

“Again, not worth it in the slightest…” Not anything she could do about it now, though, much to Flora’s chagrin, so she simply carried on in her search.

The other women, meanwhile, were utterly amazed that he was still alive. A few of them were looking at him more hungrily, now, as well - visibly wanting to have their ways with the badass blond.

“Why did he do that?” Helen asked.

“Revenge.” Naruto was pointedly ignoring the looks some of the other women were sending his way. “He wanted power to kill someone; he was given an opportunity to do so, but to get that power he had to join one of the greatest traitors my home had ever known. I was part of a team that was sent to retrieve him, and one by one we got separated by people loyal to the traitor that he allowed to take him away. I was the only one to reach him. To make a long story short: I got in his way, we fought, I lost. Killing me, his best friend, would have been a stepping stone towards that goal to getting power. But for some reason he spared me when I was at his mercy.”

“I still say it wasn’t worth it… despite how it turned out in the end. It took you three bloody years to bring him back!” And a world war that escalated to a something that threatened all life where he’s from, but they (the others) didn't need to know that. Not yet at least. They still had no idea that Naruto is from another world.

Speaking of years…

Helen slinked on over to Naruto and threw an arm over his shoulder. “Soooo…. I heard from that mentor of yours that you’re actually older than you look. He said the last time he saw you, you were 16 going on 17… care to explain Mr. ‘I am 15 years old’? Hmmm?”

“Naruto was also taller. I remember the man saying that.” Deneve added giving the blond male an expectant look.

“Uh…” Naruto had no idea what to say to that. Dammit, Pervy Sage! What was he supposed to say? Meh, he’d might as well tell the truth. “Well… I don’t really know. Truth be told, I’m a little confused as to why I look younger than I should be, except when I go back to Mount Myoboku.”

“‘Mount Myoboku?’”

“That’s the place where I learned Sage Mode.” Naruto answered Jean’s question, before continuing where he left off. “I even dispelled any possible illusions that may have been on me that made myself look this young. There weren’t any. Physically, I am 15 years old. Mentally…I’m around 18.”

Though, he does tend to have a lapse of judgement from time to time. Something he’s been trying to curb lately. Though, given his blunder with Riful and everything here, it happens from time to time.

“You act much more mature than that, actually,” Cynthia pointed out thoughtfully. “Were it not for your appearance, I’d have thought you were in your mid-twenties.”

“Uh… thanks,” Naruto chuckled sheepishly once more. “I was trained to be a mercenary for hire, when I was 7. And despite failing twice, I finally became one when I was 13. I’d do damn near anything for the right price… even looking after someone’s kids. Though there are things I’d never do; killing kids and burning down entire towns are things I will never do.”

“When I went to inform you about Miria wanting you and your mentor at the meeting, I remember you telling me that you were…the weakest in your generation.” Yuma hesitantly spoke up.

That surprised almost everyone. “Wha- really?! You, the weakest?!

No way!” Wendy exclaimed with her eyes wide in shock.

“Yes, way.” Naruto told her with a light smile. Flora was long gone by this point. “I was the weakest. The burden. Way back then, everyone didn't think I would amount to much and that I was a burden. I wouldn’t be all that surprised if everyone thought I would end up dead in a ditch on my first mission.”

“How’d you get stronger?”

“Training. I trained until I collasped, then I got back up and trained some more.”

Zelda looked particularly interested in him now, a hungry shine in her visible eye as she did her best to avoid fidgeting.

Naruto blinked when he realized something: the women all had tears in their uniforms where they had been struck. Since their wounds had healed, that meant Naruto could see skin. And a lot of them were rather… exposing.

Naruto went dull eyed at that and very slowly covered his eyes. “I just realized you’re all wearing damaged uniforms and armour… and you’re exposed where the tears are.” He told them, without taking his hand away from his eyes.

“I don’t mind if you stare~” Helen chirped cheekily. “I’m pretty sure Miria wouldn’t mind either, heh heh heh!” The mischievous woman was obviously referring to the time when Naruto was fucking her ‘big sis’ in Lydd.

Again, an exasperated Deneve whacked her upside the head. Geez, Helen really was the playful, forward woman and Deneve being the responsible level-headed one.

“And I do remember my captain mentioning that you’re a bit of an ass and tits man, and that you’ve been fucking her until she had a limp.” Wendy added with a wolfish grin. She saw an opportunity to tease the blond and she was going to take it. “I even heard from her that you’ve fucked both Lucia and Captain Miria! Though she admitted into having to goad you both times.”

At that almost everyone looked at Miria and Lucia, showing a mixture of reactions. Some showed jealousy. Others surprise. And some with intrigue.

Naruto took a deep breath and lowered his arm before looking in a random direction that had no clock.

“Oh! Look at the time! I gotta go help Flora!” He quickly gathered his upper clothing and got the hell out of there before any of them got any ideas.

Flora obviously needed help with finding firewood!

She totally needed help!

He wasn’t doing this to avoid them… Nope… He wasn’t… He totally wasn’t...