FicWad

A fingerless-gloved hand traced over the aged wood of a broken door belonging to the remnants of a house. Under the shadow of the hood adorned on the person’s head, a pair of blue eyes surveyed the surroundings searchingly as a small frown pulled at the corner of his lips.

A sigh escaped him. “I don’t fancy my chances at finding any clues of that kid being here in this town either.” The young man said aloud to himself.

Apart from an Awakened One or two showing up here and there and the new generation of claymores coming out of their regions to put them down, Alphonse was pretty much abandoned. While Dabi served as a good shelter due to most of the town's structure being intact, it also served as a gathering hotspot for any claymore teams the Organization had sent North.

Putting a hand on the top of his hood to hold it in place, the young man peered up at the sky. Everything was dark, gloomy and cloudy here. Fitting, considering how barren and unsupportive of life the North was. He let out another sigh and looked ahead of him. The hooded man was wearing, as mentioned before, a hood that was attached to a cloak. Underneath the cloak one could see the young man was wearing a dark orange cuirass. The hooded young man also wore a pair of boots.

The sound of crunching snow was heard as the hooded figure delved deeper into the ruins of the nameless, abandoned ruins of the town. There was a resounding Crash! coming from a building to his left, a former warehouse, while any normal person would be worried about lurking bandits and outlaws preying upon wandering travellers this person wasn’t worried in the slightest.

A short moment later, another person emerged from the ruins of the building and he was wearing the exact same hooded cloak, clothes and armour as the first one. He joined the man and walked with him on his left.

“Did you find anything?” He asked the figure on his left without turning to look at him.

“Nothing, boss. I checked three buildings before that one and I didn't find any sign of that kid Clare’s looking for being here.” Said man replied, his voice was a direct match to the person on his right. “It’s very unlikely he was here when the Awakened Beings came through Seven Years ago.”

“I see.” A frown pulled at the corners of his lips again. “Well, keep looking. Even if there’s no sign of him being here maybe we can find some sort of clue that was left over.” The chance of that happening was small, but a chance is still a chance.

“Got it, boss!” With that order gave the man dashed off, his cloak flapping behind him as he got back to searching.

“Hmmm… gotta love Shadow Clones. When they’re not being rebellious that is.” The man’s hood fluttered against the gale of wind blowing against him, before it fell back, revealing a a familiar whisker faced blond, whose hair while still spiky was cut much shorter. While his appearance had not changed much in seven years thanks to his Uzumaki vitality, the changes were enough for Naruto to go unrecognised for a while. No one outside of a select few knew what he looked like without his mask on after all. He still wore the horned forehead protector, though. Naruto exhaled, hot air breathing out of his mouth before he reached back and pulled the hood back over his head.

Sometime later as he searchingly explored another part of town, Naruto paused as he received the memories of his clones. His lips pulled down into an even further frown. The memory feedback gave him no luck on clues on Raki’s whereabouts here. This ruined settlement was yet another dead end. He can’t remember how many towns he checked since the battle of Pieta, but he’s only found dead ends.

Honestly, the chances this Raki kid was still alive after all this time were slim. The small expeditions to made to the deeper bowls of Alphonse he was taking for this search were so far fruitless. With a sigh, the young man went and left the ruined settlement. He wasn’t going to give up - he did make a promise to Clare, after all - but, Naruto did deem this search to be another failure.

After making a good way out of the forever to be unnamed town, Naruto got started on heading to the town of Dabi because, while it is a hotspot for the new generation of claymores to meet before they ventured into the bowls of Alphonse it was fairly close to where the others were.

//

Sometime later, as the town of Dabi came within his eyesight the hooded blond came to a stop before he turned his gaze to the mountains towards his right. He could sense three Awakened Beings over there, though only two of them were suppressing their yoki. And he could sense three, no, four claymore’s heading right for them. One of them had incredibly weak yoki, it was so weak even he could barely sense her!

That was also where the survivors had buried their fallen comrades and used their claymores as grave markers.

He had no idea if the others could sense them or not, but, he wasn’t going to take any chances. And so Naruto Uzumaki turned and dashed off towards the mountains as fast as possible. His form became a blur as he left a trail of snow cloud and a small trench on the ground behind him, such was his speed.

//

Meanwhile, with the claymores in question.

Four women were trudging their way up a mountain with the still standing but abandoned town of Dabi far behind them. The four women all wore the same uniforms the Organization gives to all its warriors, nothing much had changed there. Though only one of them had worn a hooded cloak, with the hood itself being down.

The first woman, the one leading them, has platinum hair and is wearing it in a ponytail with her entire fringe swept to the left side of her face. She had a stoic, completely uncaring, no-nonsense look on her diamond shaped face.

The second woman was attractive and she has short, wild, side-swept hair that is almost silver in colour and bore an expression on her heart-shaped face that seemed almost uncaring at first glance. However, if one were to look past the facade, the worry that was well hidden could be seen.

And the third person was a young, attractive woman who too had a heart-shaped face and bore a bowl haircut, that was parted in the middle and a sandy blonde in colour. She too had an expression that seemed uncaring at first glance, but the woman was surveying their surroundings from the corner of her silver eyes.

And the fourth and final person is a young woman with an oval shaped face and short hair with the endings spiked out. However what made her stand out from the other three women was her brown hair. And she was the one who was wearing the hooded cloak.

These women, in the order they were introduced are Nina, Camilla, Elise and Clarice. Nina, being the Number 7, Camilla being the Number 20, Elise being the Number 21, and Clarice being the Number 47.

These four women are in an Awakened Being Hunting Party and are currently in the process of hunting one such being.

“Our target lives in these mountains,” Nina told her teammates. “Should be pretty minor compared to those in the Battle of the North. Still, stay sharp.”

“Uh… hey… may I ask something?” Clarice asked, and when she didn't get an answer she took that as her cue to continue. “There’s no one living here in the North. Since there’s no one to make a job request, why are we hunting an Awakened One?”

Again, Clarice didn't get an answer. “Uh… Hey…”

“Noisy fool,” Nina grunted out with annoyance in her voice. “Somebody talk to her.”

Seeing as Elise wasn’t going to be talking anytime soon, Camilla looked back at Clarice from halfway over the shoulder and explained. “The Organization changed its thinking after the Battle of the North.” She began, “Until then, the Awakened Ones didn't herd up. They were solitary and moved around on their own. They weren’t much different from regular youma. But seven years ago, the Awakened Ones suddenly banded together and twenty-four warriors who fought against them at the time were wiped out. After that, the Organization stopped regarding Awakened Ones like youma. The new policy became to actively go after them whenever there’s information.”

Clarice gulped nervously at that.

“There had been sightings that the Youma Hunter had been seen walking to Pieta with three other warriors before the Battle of the North. And since the task force sent there has been wiped out, it’s said the Youma Hunter was one of the casualties. That he has not been seen again after the Battle of the North only solidified it.” Elise added.

“But… I... still don’t…” Clarice started, only for Nina to interrupt her.

“Looks like we’ve climbed far enough.” She stated, coming to a stop.

In front of them, they could see the Awakened One they were sent to hunt. The wind howled against their ear as they could clearly see that the Awakened One resembled a giant spider, or a beetle, that completely towered them. They could see its mandibles opening and closing, as it made a clicking sound.

A wide-eyed Clarice let out a frightened gasp.

“Don’t bunch up! Spread out!” Nina yelled her command, just as the spider-like Awakened One brought up both of its bladed arms, and several blades flicked out like a multipurpose tool before it brought down both arms.

Nina, Elise and Camilla all leapt out of the way, the arms stabbing into the ground and sending snow and rubble everywhere from the impact. Clarice, on the other hand, was thrown back and she smacked the back of her head against a rock.

“GYAH!”

“Captain!” Elise cried out, “Number 47-!”

“Forget her! She’s no use to us!” Nina shouted.

Then, Nina, Elise and Camilla all dashed forth and circled around the Awakened One with the latter two attacking its legs, only for their swords to bounce harmlessly off its armour. Elise and Camilla weren’t trying to harm it however only distract it as Nina leapt up and flipped herself around so she was facing it with her claymore held up towards the sky.

“Secret Sword… shadow-chaser.” Was all Nina said, then she closed her eyes as gravity took hold and her sword moved seemingly of its own violation!

The insect-like Awakened One moved out of the way in alarm as Nina’s sword smashed into the ground, sending rubble and large chunks of the earth around her. Then he appeared behind her in a blur of motion, a few second after.

“Too bad. Despite my looks, I’m faster than most Awakened Ones.” He taunted, only to let out a gasp when Nina swept her sword behind her without moving from her position. The insectoids feet dragged across the ground as he moved out of the way just in time. “How! How did you...see?!”

Nina didn't answer the woman merely leapt up towards the Awakened One and flipped herself above him. Then gravity took hold and she attacked with her eyes closed, despite having a lack of vision the woman was somehow following him?!

“What… What the?!” He hissed in both shock and sight fear. Then Nina landed on the ground and swiped at one of his legs with her sword. The sharp end of the blade was able to cut off a few of the clawed toes, making the Awakened One cry out in pain.

He leapt back to evade and Nina who still hadn’t opened her eyes, followed after him and swiped in his direction, and missed his leg but just barely.

“WHAT?!” How was this woman doing this?! How was she tracking him without opening her eyes?!

“It’s no use.” The close-eyed Nina calmly stated as she kept up her assault on the Awakened One who kept on avoiding her attacks but was getting slower and slower with each evasion. “Once it’s released, this sword… will not stop until it has destroyed the target.”

“You can…” if he could widen his eyes, they would have done so when the revelation of this girls technique became known to him. “...Follow my youma energy?” With that revelation he counterattacked the Number 9 when she leapt at him with his arms, the smaller blades pointed at the woman with the intent to impale and slice her into bloody chunks. He would have succeeded too, had Camilla and Elise not leapt up and severed both his arms near the shoulder with but a single swipe, stunning him at the sudden loss of his limbs.

“To prevent that from happening…” Camilla started.

“...We’re here.” Elise finished.

“GAAAH!!” The insectoid Awakened One let out a roar of agony as the pain from the loss of his arms finally registered.

Suddenly, there was a rush of air around Nina and the next thing she knew the woman had her feet back on the ground. And a huge spike like projectile hit the ground… and based on the trajectory that projectile would have impaled her through the stomach had she still been in midair.

“W-what the hell?” The confused and startled woman shouted out. Suddenly, Elise and Camilla were standing beside her, both of whom were just as confused and startled as she was.

They all heard the sound of rushing projectiles and they looked up and their silver eyes grew wide as the three women found several dozens of projectiles heading directly for them.

“W-what?!” Actually, make that four eyes now since the deadweight had just woken up. “Who are you?”

That got Nina to pause as the words dawned on her. There was someone else here?! And just as the projectiles were about to strike them the very earth itself moved. The earth rose up in less than a second to form a protective wall against those projectiles.

The sharp objects struck against the wall and it held up… for about three seconds before crumbling completely under the assault. But it did the job: Nina, Elise and Camilla all got out of the way.

“Damn! I missed!?” Nina, Elise, Camilla and Clarice all looked up at the hill behind the armless Awakened One and felt a weight drop in their stomach when they saw two other Awakened Beings emerging from their hiding place. And they were equally as tall as the bug looking one. And looked just as ugly. The one on the right had many spikes jutting out of its back and arms, telling them that it was the one responsible for the projectiles.

“You didn't miss.” The Awakened One on the left said; surprise could be heard in his voice. “The damn ground moved in their path!”

“That it did,” an unfamiliar, masculine voice chimed in, catching the girls - except Clarice - by surprise.

“Ah! T-that was you?” Clarice asked looking at the newcomer with wide eyes. He was wearing a hooded cloak, similar to hers so the brunette was unable to see what he looked like.

“That it was.” The hooded man replied with a nod. “Are you ladies good to take them on by yourselves or do you want me to immobilize them for you?”

“P-please help,” the brunette replied in a tiny, meek voice. The poor thing was utterly terrified.

The hooded man nodded. “Alright,” He made several hand seals quickly before slamming his hands against the ground. The ground shook and the group of Awakened Ones and Claymores were rightfully surprised when three pairs of giant hands made of earth grew out of the ground and grasped the former before they could respond.

“W-what the-?!”

“Was is this?!”

“How is this possible?!”

All three Awakened Ones cried out in genuine shock, disbelief and fear. After all, it wasn’t every day that the very ground itself comes to life and holds you down. They could have easily broken out… but being overcome by fear tends to not make you think straight.

“Well...” The hooded man asked, looking at the shocked women in front of him. “...that’s my part in this done.” He told them before gesturing to the immobilized Awakened Ones in front of them. A nice thing about those hands is that they can be used as platforms.

They didn't need to be told twice or look a gift horse in the mouth. Nina, Camilla and Elise all dashed forth and leapt up onto the platforms where they made their way to the immobile Awakened Ones.

Only Clarice hesitated, still trembling in horror and utterly overwhelmed by the sheer presence of the Awakened Ones. The hooded man put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. “You can stay right here.” He told her; he wasn’t going to order someone who had so little yoki to go fight those things. He wasn’t stupid.

“O-okay…” Clarice said with obvious relief in her voice.

Because the Awakened Ones were held down, quite literally at that, Nina, Elise and Camilla were all able to take care of them in record time. Nina used her Shadow-chaser technique on the armless bug one and sliced his head off. The rest of his body was crushed by the hands. Elise cut the head of her one into two pieces and the hands holding that one down crushed him for good measure. And Camilla, she sliced the head of her Awakened One off despite his protests for mercy before cutting the head again, and again and again reducing it to bloody, purple chunks. And again, the hands holding the body down crushed the corpse for good measure.

And when all three women leapt away the hands sunk into the ground...and dragged the headless crushed corpses down with them.

“Well done.” the hooded man beside Clarice praised them as they turned to look at him. “It’s been a while since I last saw one of you claymores here in the North.”

“Oh?” Camilla asked. “How long has it been since you last saw people like us?”

“Since that massacre in Pieta seven years ago.” The hooded man answered with a sigh. “And as you most likely know, the North is a barren wasteland now. Not many people venture up here in No Man’s Land.”

“Wh-what happened to those warriors?” Clarice asked hesitantly. “Is it true that they’re all dead? And what of the Youma Hunter?”

“Those warriors were wiped out. I saw the bodies myself and buried them. Used their claymores as grave markers as is custom… but several of ‘em have been stolen or otherwise lost through the years. Out of 24 only 9 are still standing, last I checked.”

“I… I see,” Clarice muttered, looking discouraged by the news. “I just… had to ask. Sorry if I caused you any discomfort.”

“It happened almost a decade ago. No need to apologize.”

“What of the Youma Hunter?” Camilla asked. “You never did say what happened to him.”

The man’s cloak shifted, he was most likely crossing his arms. “Well, the Youma Hunter did come to Alphonse. And he slew six Awakened Ones by himself before he was beset by the one leading them. A powerful monster called Rigardo. The Youma Hunter and Rigardo fought, and despite a lengthy battle the Youma Hunter was seemingly cut down, but managed to cripple the powerful monster - which allowed him to be later slain in the main battle.”

“...You said ‘seemingly’,” Clarice pointed out.

“Yeah,” Camilla said with a nod of her head. “That was an odd word to use.”

“Good catch.” The man said with approval. “If the Youma Hunter had been killed then the body was never found. All that was seen from that battleground was a large trench in the snow, and human-sized footprints and drips of blood leading to the town.”

“Is he still around?” Elise questioned him.

With that question, the hooded man let out a chuckle before he turned and started walked in the direction they came from as he said, “Of course he is still around. He rescued the four of you, didn't he?”

That got them all to look at his back in surprise.

“W-wha-?” Clarice looked at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. He was the Infamous Youma Hunter?!

Camilla reached out to grab him, “Hey wait!” she cried, as she went to go after him only for the hooded man’s image to flicker and vanish before their very eyes.

“He’s… gone?” Elise slowly said as she, Camilla, Nina, and Clarice all looked around for him in the surrounding area.

“Fast…” Camilla muttered. There was no yoki from what she could sense. That was pure speed. That...was scary, and unheard of from a human. Was the Youma Hunter truly a human being? Or was he something more?

As for Clarice she was looking a little jealous. She may not be able to use yoki, for reasons known only to herself, but at times, she can sense it when it’s being used. And when the Youma Hunter disappeared, the brunette could not feel any yoki being used. Or when he made those strange gestures with his hands and made rock hands coming out of the earth. The fact a human of all things is that strong made the Number 47 more than a little jealous.

Nina closed her eyes and exhaled. “Come on.” She said, putting her claymore back in the backplate. “Our job here is done. Let’s report back to the Organization.” The woman added as she made her way back down the mountain with Clarice, Elise and Camilla in tow.

Had they looked back, the four women would have seen the Youma Hunter observing them from the place the Awakened Ones once were. It was only after they were a quarter of the way down the mountain that the Youma Hunter, turned around to see three more people wearing the same hooded cloaks as his own land in the snow. The hooded cloaks they wore hid their gender entirely.

“Came to check up on me did you?” He asked them.

“We sensed a group of auras in this area and came as quickly as we could. Are you alright, Naruto?” The figure in the front, asked with a clear feminine tone.

“I’m fine, Miria.” Naruto replied, now he was walking to the cloaked woman. “The same cannot be said of the three Awakened Ones though. An Awakened Being Hunting Party had gotten ambushed. I merely bailed them out.”

“Did you reveal anything about us?” The figure on Miria’s left asked.

“Yeah, that would be pretty dumb, Naruto.” The figure on Miria’s right added. Both of whom were also women by the clear feminine tone.

These two were Helen and Deneve.

“About you specifically? No. I told them you all were dead, I even gave you a cover in the likelihood one of them went to check on the graves. I told them only 9 claymores remained out of 24 that are acting as gravestones and that the others had been stolen by bandits. The Organization is likely going to be aware of it when those women report back to them.” He shrugged, and walked past them. The cloaked women turned and followed him. “As for me, I may have let it slip that I was the Youma Hunter.”

“And by ‘may’ you mean, ‘purposely’, right,” Miria said as she stared a hole into the back of Naruto’s head.

The shoulders of the cloak raised and lowered in a shrug. “It depends on your point of view. If the Organization does happen to send a party to search Alphonse, they won’t be looking for you, because you all suppressed your yoki to the point even I’m having trouble locating you. They’re going to be looking for me and because I have no yoki, and being good at covering my tracks they won’t be able to track me down unless I was letting them.”

“So, how did your search go?” Helen asked in an attempt to change the subject. It worked.

Naruto let out a sigh. “I ran into another dead end. There was no clue or sign that Raki was there in the town I searched. Just ruins. I sincerely hope that Clare and Yuma have had far better luck in their search than I.”

“For her sake, I hope so, too,” Miria replied with thinned lips. “She needs the closure.” That kid still haunts her.

“Not confident that they’ll reunite?” Helen asked Miria and Naruto, but mainly the latter.

“It’s been 7 years, Helen.” Naruto reminded the woman. “Seven years of searching and neither I nor Clare has found one clue of him even being here in the North. Even I’m beginning to think he’s dead. And if he isn’t, he could be anywhere by now.”

“Point taken.” Helen nodded. “So, what’re we gonna do, now?”

“We regroup with the others,” Miria answered. “Clare and Yuma should be coming back now.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Then Naruto reached up and pulled back his hood to give Miria a teasing grin. “And we can have a ‘little’ fun while we wait if you want.” He added, teasing the sandy-brunette; while he couldn’t see her face Naruto knew the woman had a blush growing on her cheeks.

“P-perhaps,” Miria replied evasively.

“Translation: take me now you fucking stud~!” Helen snickered with a toothy grin.

Naruto couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Oh, behave, you, or I’ll give you a spanking!”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” The woman said with another snicker.

Beside her, Deneve shook her head under the hood in exasperation.

Along the way back, Naruto, Miria, Helen, and Deneve met up with Cynthia and Tabitha who had come along as support. They weren’t all that surprised there were no casualties, and Cynthia was especially happy that no one had gotten hurt. And after a brief explanation was given by Naruto relaying what he had told Miria, the six of them were now heading back to the others.

//

The others were back in the temporary hideout they set up in the mountains close to Dabi. It was in a cave that had supplies, in the form of pottery, mattresses, and baskets, mainly stuff that wouldn’t be used by anyone anymore. Naruto himself had to go resupply the girls with food and water by venturing out of Alphonse and head to the nearest town. When he, Miria, Helen, and Deneve all entered their hideout Naruto chuckled when Flora glomped him. The woman in question had only become more possessive of him as the years went on by. In fact, ever since the incident in Pieta, she’d become even more aggressive, as exhibited by the ravenous kiss that nearly devoured his face.

Naruto didn't mind it. If he was to be completely honest, he welcomed it. After a short while, his girlfriend/lover withdrew from his lips and Naruto took that opportunity to take his cloak off.

No longer was he wearing the clothes 7 years previously. Now, Naruto is wearing dark orange armour, with mesh-armour worn underneath the cuirass. He was wearing military-grade trousers, the kind the ANBU back home would wear, and a pair of matching boots and fingerless gloves. The armour itself is constructed from numerous metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body with a pair forming arm, shoulder and thigh guards. The spaulders were similar to this worlds rather than his. What the blond did keep from a near decade ago was the horned forehead protector, and the Sage Coat, which was worn around the breast plate. The armour he wore was very similar to what ninja used to wear during the Clan Wars era.

Lucia observed him from her part in the cave. “Hard to believe you got that armour from your toad summons. I thought you couldn’t get anything from them?”

“Neither did I to be honest. When I found myself to be stuck here I didn't think I would be able to get anything from there to here.” The blond admitted. “Still… it never occurred to me to ask or even test if they can give me things from their realm. Even passing messages.” And boy did he feel dumb about that. Not once did he even think of asking the Toad Summons if he could ask for things from the Elemental Nations, or even sending messages to reassure his precious people that he was alright!

Another thing: the deserters were aware that Naruto did not come from this island. Miria already guessed that he came from elsewhere, some place that was undiscovered; the prowess he showed in the Battle of Pieta was more than enough proof of that. There was no records in the Organization that described anyone, be they Awakened, Youma, or Claymore that could perform such… god-like feats. So Miria came to the only conclusion she could: Naruto came from somewhere else. Somewhere that is untouched by the Organization. She didn't confront him with these deductions because she had no proof, but it was the way he carried himself, the way he wasn’t afraid of what they were and what they could become. Naruto just treated her, no he treated all of them, as if they were normal human beings. That was why she liked him, if Miria was completely honest. It was why everyone liked him. There was something about Naruto that drew others to him. Deneve had offhandedly said it was very similar to the way she draws people at one point.

“Well, it’s better late than never, as the saying goes!” Helen chirped as she went to take a seat. She, Deneve, and Miria all threw off their hooded cloaks and put aside their claymores to reveal their new outfits.

The women had long abandoned their uniforms of the Organization. Now, they all were clad in black form-fitting cloth and leather outfits; Cynthia’s getup was a leotard, a long-sleeve tunic and thigh-high boots and padded leather for extra protection.

Miria and Tabitha both wore sleeveless tunics, a short skirt that was split at the sides to grant better manoeuvrability, arm length gloves, and thigh-high boots with straps to hold the boots up. They too had padded leather on for protection.

Helen and Deneve were wearing similar but different outfits; a long-sleeved tunic as well as tight, form-fitting black pants. Though, Helen’s looked more like a one piece with a zipper due to her tunic having gloves.

Deneve was wearing a sleeveless halter-top and armlets that covered the entirety of her arms; it was only the padded leather armour she wore on her shoulders that covered them. She was also carrying two claymores, just like her captain Undine use to seven years ago. And she’s gotten quite good at using them too.

Had Clare and Yuma been there, they would have been seen wearing similar outfits as them; the former would have been wearing an outfit similar to Miria and Tabitha, and the latter’s would be similar to Helen and Deneve’s.

Jean actually was wearing an outfit that was emulating what Clare was wearing, albeit with some differences. The woman’s skirt was shorter for one to show off more of her lovely thighs and she wore knee-length boots to reveal her legs; the tunic had sleeves, but those were small and the Jean wore a pair of fingerless gloves that reached to her elbows.

Flora was garbed in something far more scandalous, one that honestly reminded him of an outfit described in one of Pervy-Sage’s books, though he wasn’t complaining. The getup in question was a sleeveless, revealing leotard with thigh-high boots and elbow-length gloves. It was kept up with a tie behind the neck like a halter top and Flora wore a pair of greaves and bracers for at least some protection.

Zelda was decked out in a black tank and short shorts with matching boots and fingerless gloves. Her padded leather armour was lying in a pile beside her where she was sitting.

Juliana’s outfit was the girliest of them all, consisting of a short, black summer dress, black slippers and matching stockings. Where the hell she found the outfit in the frozen north was anyone’s guess. Naruto swore she was trying to seduce him, too, seeing as how she was quite clearly wearing nothing underneath from his point of view. The woman was usually wearing a black short-sleeved tunic, tight, form-fitting pants and matching coloured boots with padded leather and plate as protection when training, and fighting Awakened Ones with the others whenever they’re found, but now was not such a time.

The former Number 43 wasn’t alone in her desire to bed Naruto, however, as Lucia was decked out in a skimpy halter top that showed of quite a bit at the sides and a long skirt with a slit up the side reaching up to the hip. A pair of thigh-high stockings and knee-high boots finished off the attire.

Eva was more subtle, in her desire to get Naruto’s attention, her outfit consisting of trousers and a low-cut, sleeveless top. The outfit hugged her enticingly, and a pair of boots finished off her look.

Natalie needed not vy for Naruto’s attention, as she was the first to jump him after Flora nearly fucked the blond to death that fateful night, seven years ago. It didn’t stop her from wearing something enticing, though. Her outfit was very similar to Cynthia’s: a long-sleeved tunic, but instead of a leotard, she wore a pair of scandalous short shorts. Finishing the look was a pair of knee-length boots and padded leather to act as armour.

Lily was wearing a sleeveless halter-top and form-fitting shorts that stopped just above her knees. The woman had her leather-padded sabatons, vambraces and spaulders on the ground next to her, as well as the buckle and strap to hold her claymore.

Queenie’s outfit consists of a short skirt like Jean’s, and a halter-top like Deneve’s, and gloves that covered up to her forearms with strap buckles holding them in place. She was wearing shin-length boots. Lying in a neat pile beside her was the padded leather armour in the form of spaulders, gauntlets and shinguards.

And finally, Wendy… She was garbed in one of the more conservative outfits among her comrades, consisting on a long-sleeved, knee-length dress and stockings with knee-length boots, shin guards, vambraces and her old spaulters.

As they were the more ‘revealing’ in comparison to the others, Eva, Lucia and Juliana’s stigma could be seen from the base of their neck and down, though since he’s already slept with Flora, Miria, Natalie, and Lucia already Naruto didn’t mind. He still thought it wasn’t the worst thing he had seen.

“So it’s just Clare and Yuma we’re waiting on, then?” Naruto asked since those two were the only ones he could sense were nowhere near the vicinity.

“Yep,” Helen said as she stretched her arms above her head with a groan. “They’re somewhere far to the North. They took a different route in case you were wondering.” The woman clarified just in case Naruto was wondering why he didn't see them make their way out to their own search.

“It’s been hours since they went out, so they should be heading back now,” Deneve added from her seat; her claymores were laid up against the cave wall.

Naruto closed his eyes and spread his senses out. “...It’s faint, but I can sense the two of them.” There was a pause. “...They’re on their way back now. At their current pace…they should arrive in…two to three hours.”

“Good. That’s good.” Miria exhaled with well-repressed relief. While they were no longer part of the Organization she is still their commander. And as their commander, she valued the lives of her comrades to the point of worrying about them if they were out there alone.

“Has there been any sign of your mentor?” Eva asked him.

Naruto shook his head. “I’ve found no trace of him in any of the towns I’ve been to. It’s like he vanished off the face of the Earth… He might be back in the Pure Lands.” He had seen it happen to the Kages of Kumo, Konoha, Suna, Kiri and Iwa. It’s entirely possible it happened to Pervy Sage. But, no one saw any ‘light that reached the sky’... mainly because they were either dead or y’know, unconscious. But that was still a possibility.

It’s been Seven Years, it could happen!

“So!” Naruto decided to change the subject, “What’s on today's agenda? Oi! Flora! Don’t you think about it!” He gave his girlfriend/lover a stern look.

His girlfriend just gave him a pleasant smile. “Think about what?” Flora’s expression looked far, far too innocent for it to be believable.

“You know what I’m talking about.” Flora was still goading him into fucking the other girls. He didn't have much of a choice with Natalie: she took him being fucked to near exhaustion by Flora to her advantage and had her way with him; sure, he enjoyed it, but still!

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, dear.” Chirped the woman, giving him a close-eyed, toothy grin.

Several of the ladies present were hard-pressed to hide their amusement at the exchange.

“To be fair, I have yet to pay you back for what you did all those years ago,” Eva chimed in. “I’m sure that several among us are eagerly waiting for an opportunity to reward you.”

Despite having been with Flora, and these women for Seven Years, Naruto was still a bit clueless when it comes to the fairer gender. “It’s fine. Neither of you have to reward me for something like that.” He told the one-armed woman with closed eyes and a sheepish grin.

Then his eyes snapped open and he let out a squawk when Helen suddenly appeared beside him and threw her arm around his shoulder. “C’mon, kid! Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth! You can literally ask us to do anything… and some of us would likely do it at the drop of a hat, eh? Eh? Eh~?” She teased, grinning at him with her eyebrows wagging suggestively.

Naruto just gave her a flat look, then gave her buttocks a swat.

Smack!

“Oh~!” Helen gasped, “How forward of you!” The cheeky woman cooed mischievously. And she noticed he didn't take his hand away from her ass, so she did what any mischievous woman in her place would do: she pressed her butt back against his palm and wiggled against it.

“That’s it, hubby!” Flora giggled, grinning at him encouragingly from her seat. “You grab that nice ass!”

More than a few of the women present were amused to see him blush at that. Naruto pulled his hand away from her posterior as if burnt and pointedly looked away from everyone else. Well… they have a few hours to kill… what can they do in that amount of time that does not end up with him bedding them?

Then, he got an idea and gave the assembled women a smile that sent chills running up their spine. For some reason...they did not like that smile.