FicWad

While Clare was rather eager to start making her way to Lautrec before the trail got colder any further, the woman did not take into account she needed fuel to keep going. In other words, she along with Flora, Jean, Cynthia and Yuma all need food and water on their person. It was something Naruto himself had to point out to her, and the young man even went so far as to tell her to not go anywhere until he got them some much-needed food and water for the journey. Helen and Deneve were not exempt from this either; while the former did enjoy eating a lot, they were mostly in the form of apples and thus advised them to get proper food and water to eat and drink from the marketplace.

Helen would’ve complained about that and would have also reminded him they didn't need to eat for a week as well, had Deneve not readily agreed with him. So the woman sucked it up and looked on the bright side; if they had food on their person when they needed it, then they wouldn’t have any delays getting to their destination!

Naruto made a shadow clone to go give them an extra hand and made another shadow clone to get his particular group a large amount of food and water for the journey to the West. With there being six of them, counting himself, their group was going to need a lot of it. As for the original Naruto, he was heading back to the tavern to check up on the clone that was making the teleportation seal in his place. While it may have been a short while since he had left the clone to his own devices, Naruto was hoping his copy had been able to finish off the seal in his absence, since unlike himself, his clone did not receive an irritating headache when he started working on it. So with that thought in mind, the young man was hoping the clone was either finished with it by now or was very close to finishing.

Upon reaching the tavern, the blond immediately made his way up to his rented room and entered. His clone was busy working away on the seal still, just as he left him. However, there was someone else in the room too. Another shadow clone, who appeared to be working on something of their own. And from the looks of the small pile of paper beside the clone in question, that something was something big.

“Uh, what’s going on here?” A very curious Naruto asked his clones with an eyebrow quirked.

Without taking his eyes off the tele-seal, his creator had been trying to work on, the Naruto-clone answered, “Since you were making a seal that would allow anyone using it to get from Point A to Point B, I thought it would be a good idea to make a ‘Point A’. The seal wouldn’t work if there was no way for you to actually use it in a far off place, right?”

The original Naruto blinked at the explanation and he chuckled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head, “Well, that’s very true. That scroll I had been working on would have been useless if there wasn’t a ‘Point A’. I take the pile of paper over there is exactly that? What do they do?” The blond asked as he gestured to the pile of papers in question.

“Well…I’m not good at explaining so I’ll make it simple. You carry those,” the clone paused momentarily to point at the papers, “on your person. They’ve been specifically altered so youki and chakra can be used on them; after that, the matrix is activated on both seals, and you’re brought here.”

“So...that would mean the others can use them and they would be able to get back to safety?” Naruto asked his clone to make sure he understood it right. His clones can confuse even himself at times if they’re not careful explaining.

The clone offered a simple, “Yes.”

That...made Naruto breathe out a sigh of relief. That got a huge weight off his shoulders. At the very least his girls - as Flora mischievously insisted many a time in Alphonse - would be able to get out of trouble the instant it rears its ugly head.

“So, are they ready, then?” He asked, directing the question to the clone of his clone.

“Essentially.” the clone of the original’s clone peered over his shoulder, “Why?”

“Because Helen and Deneve are heading to Mucha to see the former’s hometown. I’m heading to Lautrec with Flora, Clare, Jean, Cynthia, and Yuma. Riful, Luciela, Agatha, and Elda may come with if they haven’t split ways by the time we get to the camp we left them at.” the blond answered his copy.

“Ah. Alright. Yeah, they’re practically ready. Just give us a few more minutes to work out the kinks though. Gotta make sure they’re working at full capacity.”

“Alright.”

//

Sometime later, while they walked around the marketplace, Flora found herself looking for her beau like a lost puppy wanting attention. Cynthia was amused by it, Yuma found it to be oddly adorable, Jean looked indifferent to it but secretly found it amusing, and lastly, Clare looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but there. If Flora could whimper like a lost puppy wanting attention the girls figured she would be doing it right now.

It was unbecoming of a warrior like her - let alone one of her former rank - but she couldn’t help herself! Flora had become mildly addicted to her man over the years and wanted snuggles, damn it!

Taking a deep breath, the former Number 8 frowned and looked around searchingly. Where the fuck was Naruto?!

“Hey.”

Poor Flora nearly jumped out of her skin upon hearing said young man greet her, hugging the woman from behind while he was at it. Hearing the slightly muffled sniggering from Cynthia, Flora sent the young woman in question a dirty look but that only made Cynthia try and hold back her laughter even more.

Naruto chuckled into Flora’s ear and gave his girlfriend a loving peck on the cheek, “You missed me I take it?” he asked her. Even though he had left a clone with them to help with getting the needed food and water for their journey to the West, it just wasn’t the same as having the real deal with them… especially for Flora.

“If she could, Flora would have been whining for you like a lost puppy,” Cynthia told him with a very amused giggle and an equally amused grin.

“Not surprising,” Naruto told her with a shrug and a grin of his own. Then he pulled a pleased squeal out of his girlfriend when he leaned in and nuzzled his nose against the crook of her neck. “She’s a good girl though.”

Yuma was tempted to speak up about that but thought better of it. Reminding the woman of the time she almost awakened multiple times in Pieta would do her no good. And she knew full well by now that the rumours of Flora murdering any bandits she comes across had some sliver of truth to it. The woman was all for sending Luciela, Elda and Riful to that bandit camp while the rest of them made their way over here to stop Agatha.

“Damn right I am…” Flora cooed; then she leaned back against her boyfriend and let out a happy sigh as he embraced her even more.

“So, where’s the clone I left with you? Is he still getting the stuff you need?” He asked, directing the question to the others since his girlfriend was a little preoccupied at the moment.

“The clone is wandering around and is still getting the food and water we need.” Yuma answered; then she looked around searchingly for the clone in question and let a small frown pull at the corners of her lips, “he should be around here somewhere though…”

“Where exactly did you go?” Questioned Clare.

“Went back to the tavern I was staying in to collect a few things,” he answered with a shrug. Then he reached into his pouch and took out several pieces of paper with an intriguing seal on it. “It was these papers I was getting. I’ve been working on it for the past two days actually.”

Cynthia grew wide-eyed in remembrance, “Is that the-”

“-seal I was making that would let someone get from Point A to Point B instantly?” Naruto finished for her and when Cynthia nodded in response, Naruto answered with, “Yes. Yes, it is. Well, to be more accurate it is a part of that seal I was working on. The one in the tavern is more of a ‘Point B’, the destination. These pieces of paper are the ‘Point A’.”

That caught their interest damn near immediately.

“So, we can retreat to the tavern from anywhere if we want some… privacy, then~?” Flora cooed as she looked up at him with a coy grin; she very much found herself liking the idea.

Naruto blinked, and before his trail of thoughts could delve further into lewdness, he quickly cleared his throat, “Uh...it’s…erm...it’s not meant to be used like that. But y-yeah it can?” he answered sounding a little unsure towards the end, even though he had no intention of sounding unsure. The blond quickly picked up where he left off, “The downside to these pieces of paper is that it can only be used one time. You’d have to traverse all the way back to where you were after it’s used.”

“So it’s meant to be used as a last resort, then?” Jean asked for clarification.

Naruto nodded, “Yeah, essentially.” he replied.

“I see… so how does it work? We don’t have chakra.” Clare both asked and pointed out to him.

“The seal matrix was tailored specifically to interact with the first type of energy it's exposed to. It’ll react to your youki, drag you out of whatever trouble you may have found yourself in, to here in a split second.” Naruto explained to her and the others. “I’m planning on handing some over to Helen and Deneve too.” Knowing how Helen is, Naruto wouldn’t be at all surprised if she were to bite off more than she can chew. Deneve would be with her sure but the woman in question is more likely to follow her into that trouble rather than convince her to stay out of it.

“Oh! That’s very handy!” Cynthia gushed. Her eyes were sparkling with delight. As long as they had that on their person, then no one in their group would have to die needlessly! They would be able to get away from any life-threatening situations easily!

“Can it work on just a single individual? Or can it work on multiple people?” Jean asked as she was now thoroughly intrigued by the way that piece of paper worked.

“...I’m not too sure, to be completely honest,” Naruto answered after taking a moment to think. “It’s recommended for one person to use; it is in theory possible for more than one to use it, if you were to hold on to the person holding the paper. But I wouldn’t do that unless it’s extremely necessary.”

“Oh poo…” Flora muttered with disappointment; she would have loved to be able to use that seal to have some ‘snuggle time’ with her boyfriend. But she could see the benefits to it. She turned her head and gave Naruto a peck on the cheek, “Well, at least you’re thinking of keeping us all safe.”

And that’s one of the many reasons why she loved him! He was so gosh darn considerate!

“I want to be as sure as I can that you girls are safe,” Naruto replied. “I mean, I know you’re all very capable, you’ve trained for the past 7 years to get to that point, but I still want to help.”

“Much appreciated,” Cynthia chirped, a cute, little smile upon her face.

“Very appreciated,” Jean added, giving him a smile of her own. “Knowing you’re looking out for us takes a lot of weight off my shoulders.” Indeed, the woman felt lighter now that they have a way to get out of life-threatening situations.

“Oh! There you are boss!” the group of six looked to see the clone the original had left with the five women was making his way over to them. The copy had several large pouches hanging from his waist, along with waterskins. “I’ve got the stuff for the journey! You can get moving any time you want now.”

“Got it,” Naruto said with a nod; the clone proceeded to hand the women their own waterskins and pouches first before going to his creator. Looking inside, the blond saw the pouch was filled with beef jerky, bread, some fruit such as apples and bananas and other assortments of goods for them to eat. There was plenty of things for them to eat while they made their way West. Good. Naruto looked at his clone and gave him a smile, “You did a good job. Have you seen Helen and Deneve?”

“Yeah, they were a little busy getting their foods sorted out; the last time I saw them, Helen was getting a bunch of apples.” The clone answered with a shrug. And once he was done handing over the pouches and waterskins to everyone else, the clone gave his creator a two-fingered salute, which the original returned, before walking away. Once he was out of sight the clone dispelled himself.

Naruto closed his eyes as he received the memory of his clone and almost smiled when he got to the memory of seeing Helen and Deneve, mainly Helen, practically dragging the clone he had made for them around the marketplace while Deneve followed with exasperation. Okay, that was funnier than he would admit.

“Alright,” he cleared his throat, and addressed the five women, “now that we’re fully stocked up on food and water, we can finally make our way West.”

“About goddamn time…” Clare muttered; finally, they can get moving and stop wasting precious time! The longer they waited here twiddling their thumbs, the colder the trail Raki left behind would get!

Without a word, or waiting, the former Number 47 immediately left the marketplace and made her way towards the Western city gate. It didn't take the woman long to hear the others following after her, and for Jean herself to keep pace. They already had their cloaks on their person, since they were planning to keep themselves under the radar for as long as possible.

Though Naruto did not forget about Helen and Deneve; while he followed after his girlfriend and the other four, the blond quickly made another shadow clone while they were out of eyesight and handed him the rest of the teleportation seals to give to them. The ones in the tavern were still around and busy working on making more of those teleportation seals. It wouldn’t hurt to have more than one for backup.

//

A little while later Naruto, Clare, Jean, Cynthia, Yuma, and Flora were now in the remnants of the bandit camp they had sent Luciela, Riful, and Elda too. The six of them took notice they were two short; Elda and Agatha weren’t around. The clone that was with the Awakened Ones was still there too.

“Where are Agatha and Elda?” Naruto asked, directing the question towards his clone since he was meant to be keeping an eye on them.

“Agatha went off on her own. She’s a bit of a loner it turns out. Elda wanted to go her own way for a bit…again. She also said she’ll find us when she wants to be around company again.” The clone answered with a ‘what can you do’ look on his face and shrugged helplessly.

“I see…” Naruto wasn’t at all worried for Elda; from what he had seen of her for the past 7 years the woman knew how to take care of herself. And whenever he had to go into town to get more supplies, the woman also knew how to mingle with the crowd. Agatha… for good reason, he wasn’t too sure about. For one he had no idea what she was like and he didn't know her all that well. But from what little he did see of her, the nude woman knew how to take care of herself. She was rather bloodthirsty too. But there was nothing he could do about it now.

“So what happens now?” Luciela asked when it was obvious Riful still wasn’t going to talk to her friend. Depending on the answer they get they’d go their separate ways.

“We’re heading West,” Naruto answered, making Riful and Luciela perk up at that.

“Can you say why?” Riful questioned with a quirked eyebrow. Maybe she can use this to her advantage?

“Business I’m afraid.” Naruto answered, much to the Abyssal One of the West’s irritation. “But what I can say is that we’re looking for someone, and the trail is bringing us to the West. Since you’re heading there anyway I figure why not go together until we have to go our separate ways? We’d kill two birds with one stone.”

“There is strength in numbers. And we Awakened Ones are actively being hunted down by the Organization’s lapdogs.” Riful mused aloud and completely ignored the glare she got from both Clare and Flora. It’s not like they can do anything to seriously harm her. At least, that is what she believed.

“I’m all for it.” Luciela smiled. Who knows, maybe they’ll get lucky and have a chance encounter with her beloved Rafaela along the way! She missed her sister dearly.

Sighing Riful shrugged and figured being in a group with The Youma Hunter and his little harem - even if he denies it - would be a lot safer than going at it alone.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s go while the sun is still up!” Naruto said with a bright smile that was so infectious it made Luciela’s smile grow wider. Even Riful was affected by it and before long she too found herself smiling.

Soon enough the group of eight were leaving the remnants of the bandit camp and were now making their way back towards Lautrec.

//

20 days later

“Well, this place looks vaguely familiar.” a slightly more ragged looking Naruto said aloud as he looked at the distinctly familiar landscape before him. Green valleys, and distant mountains were laid before him; it was a sight Naruto very much welcomed.

Naruto looked halfway over his shoulder when he heard the others emerging from the treeline behind him. Excluding Luciela and Riful everyone else looked slightly out of breath, as if they had done a marathon without stop.

Taking a gulp of fresh air into her lungs Flora exhaled and walked over to her boyfriend; then she took in the sight that laid before her silver eyes. “Well, this does look familiar doesn’t it? It reminds me of the time the two of us were travelling together out of Mucha and into Lautrec under the guise of ‘keeping watch’ over you.” The woman stated before she leaned up against Naruto so she could catch a small breather.

“Those were good times, weren’t they?” Naruto asked her .

“Yes. They were.” Flora answered with a nod of agreement. Back then everything was so much simpler. No hiding from the Organization. Being able to kill bandits without anyone being the wiser… though the higher ups within the Organization did have their suspicions of her. Then she looked up at him with a concerned frown, “How are you feeling? Is everything…” she made a gesture towards her own head.

The flinch Naruto made almost went unnoticed. Almost. “Yeah. It’s fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Is it going to be a problem?” Naruto and Flora both turned around to face the woman who asked. It was Clare. While she may look indifferent the two of them knew Clare was actually worried about the former.

“No, it won’t.” Naruto reassured her and the others. “So far all the voice is doing is… well… singing. The words are faint and I can barely make it out, but it is singing.” Naruto was very perplexed by the voice. It sounded familiar, vaguely so. He also knew the owner of the voice was a deep baritone in tone, and the way he talked was… guttural. Like he was growling.

“That’s… good.” Flora hugged him to her like he was a plushie, prompting Naruto to look at her with an amused smile. “That’s really good to hear.”

“And to think it happened after the clone you left behind in Rabona dispelled.” Cynthia said with a shake of her head and a sigh.

The clone Naruto left behind to work on the teleportation seal had finished working out the kinks a few days after they had left the city. And when he dispelled, the headache Naruto had been experiencing when he worked on the seal matrix returned tenfold. It was so bad the backlash from the memories of the clone had knocked him out for nearly five minutes. The last thing Naruto was able to recall before he lost consciousness was a sharp pain in the middle of his head. Like something had ‘cracked’ open. And when he woke up it was to see a panicking Flora holding him to her chest… and a voice he could barely hear in his head talking to nobody but itself.

While he did try to make contact with that voice, the blond had no luck so far.

Riful still feeling rather vindictive towards him for what he had done 7 years prior had taken enjoyment from his little episode. Luciela was more concerned though, but made no attempt to see if Naruto was alright. Mainly because Flora was doing a good job of that herself. While Flora may have been a former Number 8, Luciela had to admit the way she glared and hissed at her like a damn cat had made the brunette a little wary of getting close.

“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting the backlash to be that bad.” Naruto admitted with a close-eyed sheepish smile.

“Well…we’re in Lautrec now.” Luciela said and abruptly changing the subject and bringing everyone’s attention on to her and Riful. “So this is where we part ways.”

“Yeah.” Naruto gently got out of Flora’s grasp and surprised Luciela when he went over and brought her in for a big hug. “You take care of yourself out there, you hear?”

Chuckling Luciela returned his hug with a smile before separating. “I will. Take care of yourself as well, my friend.” she told him, then she leaned down and gave Naruto a peck on the scalp.

Once she withdrew for a second time Luciela looked to Riful. When the second oldest Abyssal gave her a nod, Luciela returned it. The grass ruffled beneath their feet when they moved. One second they were standing beside Naruto and the other five women, and the next they were already disappearing into the green valleys below. Their destination was clear: Riful’s second hideout.

Something told Naruto he would be seeing her again soon enough, though.

Then the blond turned to Flora and the others and asked, “So, who wants to take a small rest before setting off again?” In response, Flora, Cynthia, Yuma, and Jean all raised their hand, beating Clare four to one.

Then Naruto let out a startled squawk when a giggling Flora suddenly hopped up and wrapped her arms and legs around his shoulders and waist. Then she pecked him on the lips. “I think that’s a wonderful idea~!” she purred into Naruto’s mouth with half-lidded eyes.

“W-well… we have been moving almost non-stop for several days. So… I suppose we can rest our feet and legs a little.” A mildly embarrassed Clare said as she took her gaze away from the making out couple. She figured resting for a few hours wouldn’t hurt. Unlike the five of them Naruto was still human. He needed to eat and sleep just like any other human being that are not Claymores.

By this point Naruto had fallen down on his ass as his arms and legs had been wholly unprepared to handle the extra weight Flora suddenly and abruptly provided, as for Flora she was outright snogging him.

As she sat down with crossed legs, Cynthia giggled with amusement when Naruto moaned into Flora’s mouth as the woman got a little ‘hands on’ with her boyfriend. Deep down, though, she couldn’t help but feel jealous of the woman for snagging up such a nice young man. He was nice, kind… handsome. A little shy and reluctant when Flora tried to get him to bed other women, though that was steadily becoming redundant now thanks to Flora whittling him down. And it was about goddamn time too!

Jean, Yuma, and Clare all sat down and crossed their legs too. Though Jean and Clare stuck the tip of their claymores into the earth and sat against it. Yuma put laid her claymore down on the ground, before laying down herself with her hands behind her head. Jean and Yuma tried their best to ignore the kissing sounds Naruto and Flora were making to no avail. As for Clare, she had initially thought of going on ahead while everyone else rested...but thought better of it in the end. She knew they would find her again if she tried to rush off ahead and leave them behind.

And there was Naruto himself to consider. With him around she wouldn’t make it a mile before he caught up with her. It was best if they stuck together. What was that saying Naruto once told her in the North?

You’re stronger together, than being alone. Was that it? It had been a long time since she heard that figure of speech, but it was good advice...even if she preferred to go solo. With a sigh, Clare reached into her pouch and took out an apple which she promptly started eating.

“We’re almost out of food again,” Cynthia informed Naruto after she went through her own pouch. “We’re going to have to restock in the nearest town.”

After she finished getting out some food of her own, Jean looked ahead of her and took in the landscape to see if it was a place she recognised, “...It’s been a while, but I do recognise the location we’re in. The nearest town in the West is Lacroa; from where we are it would take us a few hours to get there.”

“Then that’s where I’ll begin my search,” Clare said with a determined look. Staying away from settlements would make her job of finding Raki more difficult than it needs to be. Plus they would be killing two birds with one stone.

“Not… not yet,” Naruto gasped out after Flora broke the liplock. Holy moly she was a thirsty one! He turned to address Clare, who quickly took off the jealous look from her face before it was seen by him, “Take a rest, eat and drink and then we’ll head on over to Lacora.” He absentmindedly rubbed the back of Flora’s head who was now hugging him as if he was a giant plushie.

“Yes. We’ll be rested and prepared for anything then!” Cynthia was in full agreement to Naruto’s suggestion. Her feet were aching from all that walking and so Naruto suggesting taking a break was very welcome in her opinion.

So that was what they did until they were ready to move out again.