The next day, in the town of Gatlin, Camilla found herself eyeballing a caravan that had stopped for rest. Apparently, they were on their way to Morris from Nile, as that town in particular was becoming rather popular. She couldn't help but stare at a few towheaded kids with whisker marks, wondering if the Ladykiller had produced them with the locals, or if the kids had some sort of face paint on their cheeks. It was hard to tell from where she was standing.
Either way, she was heading in the same direction and wondered if she could hitch a ride. Call it… free protection, from any potential attacks by any wandering youma. She gave a strapping, young lad among them a suggestive grin. If nothing else, she could offer some… additional incentive to bring her along.
Said young lad blinked owlishly at the admittedly attractive silver eyed witch, giving him a flirtatious grin. "M-may I help you, miss?"
"Please, call me Camilla," she replied. "I heard you and your friends here are on their way to Morris, and wanted to know if you let me accompany you there?" She leaned in close, her lips not even an inch away from his as she suggestively looked into the young man's eyes. "If need be, I'm perfectly willing to make it worth your while~!"
"Uh…" with a nervous laugh the young man slowly backed away. "That… won't be necessary. You can come with us. Just… don't cause any trouble. Okay?"
Camilla giggled. "That's perfectly fine by me. Thank you…" She looked at him expectantly, silently asking the man for his name.
"R-Raki," he introduced himself. "My name is Raki. Pleased to meet you, Camilla."
Camilla grinned at him, looking like a wolf who caught a rabbit. "Pleased to meet you too, Raki." deciding to take pity on the young man she leaned back and casually stood beside him, "So," she started, "where are you heading, cutie? Morris, I take it?"
Raki chuckled nervously. "I'm actually just hitching a ride; there is one more town before Morris named Venna. That is where I'm heading."
----
Mucha, Town of Nero.
Nina sighed as she looked at the mudhead and her… 'daughter', wondering how the hell that brat was able to be kept in check by such a weakling. Seriously, the little girl had just grabbed a youma by the ankled and beaten another to death by using it like a fucking club! Then she tore it in half with her bare hands!
Her bare fucking hands!
It was unreal… Still, she had to admit the way the young girl acted towards the mudhead was… adorable. And the Number 47 was beginning to act more and more like a parent and was getting use to her.
She was impressed - and a little jealous - of how familiar they were being in such a short amount of time.
"Alright, you two," she called out, "Enough rest. There's another group of youma approaching from the east."
"Ah… there's more?" Clarice stood up and peered off in the direction the Number 9 had sensed them. At times she wished she was able to sense them. Unfortunately, that will rarely happen unstable as it is…
Not to mention if she were to use it... she would not be able to handle it if she were to increase it beyond 20 percent. She would not be able to resist the impulse from the act of awakening, if she were to increase her yoki percentage. Her body would turn to dust and scatter right away at the scene.
She had learned this, by Handler Rado as he laughed, a short while before being assigned as Miata's ward. When Naruto said he could heal their stigmas… she had hope. Hope that he could fix this. And when he called her special, he made her feel better. That tiny part of her, that felt doubt, scared, and worthless had felt like a weight has been lifted.
"So it would seem," Nina confirmed. "They've apparently noticed their friends disappearing and came to investigate. Look sharp, you two!"
"Should we call mister Naruto, mama?" Miata asked, looking at Clarice expectantly.
Clarice gave the long haired girl a genuine smile and put her hand on top of her scalp affectionately. "No. Not yet, Miata. I'm sure we can handle this without him..."
"If our handler did lie to us about this assignment again, then we can call him." Nina told them with a frown, "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, and I'm not letting any of you die either… the Ladykiller likes you, after all." she muttered towards the end. Seeing what he did to Pieta, she did not want to find herself on his bad side.
"Well…" Clarice began, looking at Miata with a smile. "Looks like we can call Naruto to us if this assignment is more than what we were told. Come on, Miata, let's show them who's boss."
----
Back in the Morris citadel, Glissa let out a yelp upon losing her grip, falling off the wall and into Naruto's waiting arms with an undignified plop. Apparently, this tree-walking exercise was a lot harder than he made it look.
Naruto chuckled as he set the awakened being down on her feet. "You didn't put enough chakra into it. But you're doing very well for someone with only a few hours' worth of training. That is 10 yards you just made, right there." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Keep it up, and you'll master it in no time!"
The elf-eared brunette blushed heavily at the praise and nodded. Then she smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek, before trying again without a word.
Looking to the side, Naruto saw Evianna, Megan, Betty and Pyrrha were concentrating heavily as they performed the wall-walking exercise. Like Glissa they were doing just as well as her. As he expected though, Megan, Pyrrha and Glissa being in the lower double-digits were having a better time getting this chakra exercise down than Betty and Evianna who were in the single digits. Their smaller chakra pools proved easier to control, as it turned out.
Nevertheless, they were all doing great. He wondered how Clarice would fair in this; due to her non-existent yoki, would her chakra pool be just as small? Or, would it be a lot bigger? Would her botched conversion affect the awakening of her chakra coils?
To get a bigger picture, he would have to do more than just heal her stigma. He would have to go into Six Paths Sage Mode to repair any damage her body may have sustained during the operation to make her into a half-demon half human. That form is guaranteed to fix anything that may be wrong with her.
But, that was something for later…
"Evianna, don't rush yourself - take it one step at a time." Naruto advised the former Number 2. Then he looked to Betty and saw she was beginning to slip. "Add more chakra into the soles of your feet Betty, don't be afraid of failure. It took me a few days to get to the highest branch, and it only took you a few hours to make it ten yards."
Betty smiled at that, finding it very encouraging.
"Megan and Pyrrha, keep pushing yourselves - chakra works very differently to yoki. It's more versatile and has a lot of uses compared to the power you are use to using; your reserves will only grow if you keep exercising. The more stamina you have, the longer you can keep going."
Evianna couldn't help but be excited to learn just what this chakra could do.
"Once you master this technique, we can see what elemental affinities you have. Then, you'll be joining the others in their exercises."
"Elemental affinities?" Glissa asked, looking at him questioningly.
"Chakra can be combined with the five elements for various uses, such as attacks and defense, to illusions. For example…" Naruto rapidly went through the hand seals for Suiton: Mizurappa; to the surprise of the awakened beings they saw a powerful torrent of water shooting from his mouth and onto the wall in front of him. Once he was done he cleared his throat and wiped his mouth, "...that was Suiton: Mizurappa. A water technique you can use with chakra. Anyone can do it, though those that doesn't have a water affinity will find it hard to learn compared to someone that does. It's even worse for those that have its opposite affinities, fire and earth."
Evianna raised an eyebrow at that. "Interesting…" she muttered.
"Can someone have multiple affinities?" Betty asked.
"It's rare, but yes. Out of everyone here, Jean has 3 elemental affinities. Which is extremely uncommon. To put it in perspective, only ten other people had three or more chakra affinities. Out of them all, only two are alive today. Jean being obvious. The other, however has all five, which is also extremely uncommon."
Evianna and her cohorts couldn't help but be amazed. Apparently, Jean was quite a bit scarier in a fight than she let on. Good thing they were on her side...
"So…" Glissa began, "who's this other person that has all five chakra affinities?"
Naruto grinned and spread his arms, "You're looking at him. Granted, wind is my go to chakra affinity, since it's what I got when I first checked. But now I'm able to use all five with ease. Though apart from wind, and a little bit of Earth, I barely know any techniques for the rest. Those that I do know are too destructive for me to show. That is why Team Samui is here: to help me give you girls advanced training."
Glissa's eyes visibly shined at the mention of advanced training. Oh, she was going to enjoy learning how to be the best damn fighter in the continent!
"There's advanced training?" Megan asked, a similar shine in her eyes as Glissa.
"Oh yeah, there's a more advanced version of tree-walking: water-walking. It does exactly what the name implies."
"Ooh~! That sounds fun!" Glissa giggled. She eyeballed the wall and immediately went back to the exercise without a second thought, eager to get this shit down as soon as possible.
"Don't push yourself too much, Glissa." Naruto reminded her with a laugh. "Eagerness is good, but don't burn yourself out."
"Understood!" the former Number 45 answered with enthusiasm.
----
"Fuuuck," Glissa groaned, several hours later, as she lay upon her bed, sore as all hell.
"Well, you can't say he didn't warn you," an amused, but sympathetic Pyrrha pointed out.
Betty and Megan shared the redhead's sentiment as they eyeballed the aching, elf-eared brunette perform a incredible impersonation of a dying, old lady.
"I regret my decisions in life!" the brunette wailed dramatically.
"You'll recover, soon enough," Evianna pointed out with a chuckle as she made her way to the door.
"Heading out?" Megan asked.
"Just looking to have a little chat with our landlord," the former Number 2 replied. "Rest up. We have tomorrow off."
"Way ahead of you," Glissa groaned.
Evianna nodded in satisfaction and left the room in search of Naruto. It didn't take long for her to find him, as he was usually in his room at this hour from the looks of it. When she found him, the blond was sitting at a table, full of stacks of clear paper, pencils, ink and charcoal; he was busy sketching on a sheet of paper.
Curious Evianna made her way behind the blond and peered over his shoulder. Apparently, he was drawing a younger version of himself right next to a man in an odd outfit with spikey hair framing his face and streak-like markings on his cheeks, resembling tears. He carried a large scroll on his back and a strange, headband with a spiked metal plate on it.
"Who's the man next to you?" She couldn't help but ask.
"His name's Jiraiya," Naruto explained. "I guess you could say he was like the father I never had."
Evianna frowned. She could tell from Naruto's tone that something had happened to the man and that it was a sensitive subject. "Well, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry," she said, leaning in and hugging the blond from behind. "I just wanted to come here and thank you for all you've done for me and my little group."
"It's fine," he chuckled. "I would have done the same for anyone. Proven they aren't the type to cause trouble, and are reasonable."
"It's still sweet," she whispered into his ear sexily. "I can't help but want to… provide compensation for all the trouble you went through, not only to provide food and shelter for us, but training in this 'chakra' energy you've given, as well~!"
Naruto looked at her and grinned, "You don't need to do that. You having a second chance, to actually wander around without having someone out to kill you, is more than enough for me. You deserve it just as much as I do."
"Oh, you silly man," she giggled. "You should know that saying such things would only make me want to do it even more~!" she punctuated her comment with a peck on the cheek.
Naruto chuckled at the irony. "Huh, even after all this time, even with all my girls, I still find it hard to completely understand this kind of… affection." he grabbed her hand and rubbed it with his thumb. "It still feels good though."
Evianna grinned at him, placing a hand on Naruto's cheek and giving the man a chaste, but heated kiss. "I'm glad," she whispered, genuinely happy. "But, would you mind if I made you feel even better?"
"Hmm.... I don't mind at all." he turned around in his chair and pulled the wavy haired woman onto his lap. "What do you want to do then?"
"Ooh!" she yelped, giggling playfully as she straddled him. Then, she flashed Naruto a naughty grin and ground her crotch against his. "I want to make you the happiest man alive~!" she whispered huskily.
"Well, how can I refuse that?" he rhetorically asked, pulling Evianna into a deep, passionate kiss.
The wavy-haired brunette wrapped her arms around him and shoved her tongue into his mouth. Naruto trailed his hands down to her thighs, grabbed her dress and pulled it up past her waist. As Evianna rolled her thighs on his lap Naruto had a feeling more girls were going to join his family soon.
----
Clare hummed a little tune as she scrubbed the dirt out of little Shauna's hair. Oh, how she loved doting on her little bundles of joy~! It made her want to have a third one, but the former Number 47 already had her hands full the two she's already produced.
Then, without any reason whatsoever, Clare felt… there was something wrong. Like there was a pull in the middle of her chest. No, not a pull, more like some invisible force was trying to rip something out of her. It was the weirdest thing.
Maybe Teresa would know?
"Teresa, I'm feeling like something is trying to rip a piece of me away. Do you know what's going on?"
"I feel it, too," to Clare's surprise when Teresa replied, she sounded strained. "It feels like something's latching onto me and trying to yank me out. Call Naruto and see if he might know something."
"A-alright," Clare replied. She then looked over to Undine - who just got done washing little Damia - and called to her. "Hey, Undine?" she asked, "would you mind finishing up for me? something's … wrong, and I need to ask Naruto about it as soon as possible."
Undine looked at her, blinking, then gave the former Number 47 a concerned look. "I see. Alright, if it's that bad, I'll finish up for you."
"T-thanks…" she got up and went to seek out Naruto.
When she found Naruto in his room 20 minutes later, Clare found a satisfiedly glowing Evianna lying on his bed in a confident pose; her husband himself was sitting at his table, topless. She ignored the annoyance she felt seeing that… damn hussy lying under her mans covers, because there was more pressing matters at hand.
"N-Naruto…" said blond stopped sketching himself and Jiraiya to look at his wife. Concern was showing on his face when he heard the distressed tone in her voice. He quickly got up from his seat and went over to her upon seeing how strained she looked. "S-something is wrong…"
"What is it, Clare? What's the matter?" he asked, holding her arms comfortingly.
"It's like someone is latching on to me and trying to yank out my soul." she gave him a pleading look. "Please help me; please make it stop."
She didn't even need to ask. The second she mentioned her own soul, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on going inside of her mindscape. When he opened his eyes once more he found himself in the familiar flat, white plain that stretched on as far as the eye can see. The blond immediately looked around for what was wrong; it didn't take him a minute to find the cause.
Teresa was there, with a pained look on her face. Coiled around her chest was a tether. It was pulling against her, though the blonde was doing well keeping herself in place. Well, he can't have that.
Naruto marched on up to her and placed a hand on her back, Teresa was startled, not having sensed him due to being occupied. But when she felt his soothing chakra and yoki flowing into her she relaxed.
Naruto on the other hand…
He'd never done something like this before, but the blond was doing his damnedest to help. It honestly felt like her very soul was being ripped from Clare; the closest comparison would be Nagato's Deva Path, though it was thankfully weaker. Naruto focused intently as he poured his chakra and yoki into Teresa - the two energies serving as an anchor. Then, with his free hand, he grabbed on the rope coiled around the woman and focused his yoki, specifically, into that.
The fox's corrosive energies ate through the tether like acid, making quick work of it. When it snapped, and only then, Naruto calmed down and so did Teresa.
"You okay?"
The winded former Number 1 took a deep, calming breath and smiled at Naruto, before giving him a peck on the cheek. "I am now," she said, "thank you."
"That… was uncomfortably similar to an ability I had the unfortunate luck of experiencing, back on my continent during the Fourth Great Shinobi War." Naruto told her. The tugging Clare told him, that tether around Teresa trying to pull her out of his wife. It was remarkably similar, but different. "I… I think someone's trying to revive you, Teresa." Naruto told the woman.
----
Meanwhile, back in the Organization's headquarters, Dae scowled as Teresa's corpse seemed not to be reacting. Her body was healthy - alive, even! She was breathing and everything! She even had the same amount of yoki that made her… well, her!
But… there was nothing else. She was completely unresponsive!
For hours on end, he stared at her with increasing intensity, looking back and forth between her and the clock. Then, with a frustrated growl, he pulled the plug, turning off the machine that helped her breathe, and declaring this attempt a failure.
He wasn't going to give up though - not just yet.
"Miranda!" he barked. "Prepare to hook her back up! Chloe, fetch me the corpse with the eyepatch. We'll try two more times. If that fails, we'll need Neideen." Seeing as how Teresa's remains were used to created that one-quarter-youma hybrid from the previous generation, Dae had figured this might happen. But, he was prepared, just in case…
----
The next day
Now that she was aware the Organization was trying to get rid of their troublemakers, defects and partially awakened warriors, Elise had a gut feeling she was being set up. Here in a long-abandoned village once named Derby, there was said to be a small pack of youma feeding off passing caravans, but there was no such evidence in the area. No derelict wagons, no corpses strewn about, nothing of the sort!
Something was amiss… and the Number 21 had a good feeling she had indeed, been set up.
She looked about frantically, reaching out with her senses, but detected nothing. She looked at her wrist the Harishan seal was out on. Maybe calling Naruto to her would be a good idea? She shook her head after a quarter of a minute of pondering, no, she won't call him to her aid unless it's something she most definitely cannot handle.
For all she knew, these could be just some really smart youma.
With that thought in mind Elise drew her sword and ventured forth, with her weapon ever at the ready in a rat tail guard. Her eyes were sharp. Her senses were alert. And her stride was slow, but deliberate. She wanted to catch the moment these youmas - or worse an awakened being - decides to stop hiding like a little bitch and come out to face her.
She then snapped her attention to the left, changing her stance to a wrathguard and ready to cleave a bitch in two as she found herself face-to-face with precisely what she'd feared.
A god-damned awakened being! A former single digit too, from the feels of it!
The awakened being was a man with moderately long, black, wavy hair that is parted down the middle, and a goatee. He wore a dark brown, sleeveless tunic, a white long sleeved undershirt, with vambraces; brown linen trousers and brown foots.
"Tch… so he was right after all; the Organization really is trying to get rid of their troublemakers then!" Elise growled to herself. The Number 21 narrowed her eyes and slowly backed away. "P-please stay back," she said. "I don't want any trouble! L-leave me alone a-and I'll leave without a fuss, I... p-promise!"
The awakened being came to a stop, sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I'm afraid it's a little too late for that." he said, looking at her with narrowed eyes. "And this isn't the first time I had done this song and dance. The Organization would sent their warriors out here to kill a party of youma. Or so they think. In reality, they're sent to die." he she is left irritated because his peace and quiet is interrupted again.
"I-I can just leave here without b-bothering you any further. A-all you need to do is to let me pass. I won't do anything stupid, either." Despite being scared for her life Elise tried to appeal to the awakened beings human nature. She wanted to resolve this matter peacefully before getting the Ladykiller involved. From the looks of it though, it would appear that she is going to need his help and bail her out of trouble after all.
Fuck the Organization! Just. Fuck. Them!
"I can't take that risk." he sighed, giving the young woman an apologetic look. He was pitying her. Her! For what was to come next. "I'm sorry."
Then his yoki spiked, and Elise bared her teeth as he transformed in front of her very eyes. His clothes tearing and shredding as he became a large, muscular humanoid, with heavy plate like armour forming around his body. Some thick tube-like tentacles with webbing acted as his hair in that form.
Elise growled and looked at her wrist again. Yeah. forget not calling him, this was a fucking emergency! She channeled yoki into her wrist and hoped for the best as she turned tail and ran for dear life.
There was a yellow flash, and Elise yelped when she was suddenly carried off her feet, bridal style. Then she found herself on the roof tiles of one of the buildings; she saw the awakened being reducing the spot she was standing on to a small crater.
She felt her breath catch in her throat and Elise started feeling lightheaded, suddenly hyper-aware of her own mortality. That… would have killed her instantly…!
"It's been just over two weeks since we last met, and you're already in trouble, eh?" Elise looked up at her saviour, and found the Ladykiller looking at her with… understanding. "Unfortunately, you're not the first one they did this to. And as long as they're around, you won't be the last."
Elise clung onto Naruto for dear life letting loose a pathetic whimper. "I… I'm sorry I doubted you…" she said, burying her face into his tunic. "Just take me away! I'll do anything! Please!" she began to hyperventilate.
Naruto sighed, frowning empathetically. The poor woman was having a panic attack.
"You…" Naruto looked in the direction of the voice, and found the awakened being staring at him and Elise with wide eyes. "You're strong. I… I recognize that yoki. You were the one in the North half a decade ago, weren't you? The one who destroyed Pieta."
"Indeed I am," the blond replied. Then he added in a no-nonsense tone. "And you, my tall friend, were about to kill my friend, here."
Elise went stiff as a board as her eyes grew wide eyed. What…? He considers her a… friend?
The awakened being frowned. "She was sent to kill me," he explained with a shrug. "I was merely acting in self-defense."
Naruto looked at Elise, then to the awakened being, and then to Elise again. "Were you aware just who you were sent to kill?" he asked.
"No!" she yelled, looking up at him with unshed tears. "I was told that this town had an infestation of youma! I had no idea there was a powerful awakened being here! I don't stand a chance against him!"
"Standard procedure for the Organization is to send a team," the awakened being pointed out. "I had assumed that she separated from the group to scout ahead."
"The Organization is giving false information to warriors that were troublesome. Purposely sending them on suicide missions in the hopes to kill them off." Naruto informed him.
"Ah… that old trick again," the awakened being growled. "They did that to kill off the rest of my generation."
"Your generation… wait a minute…" Naruto's eyes lit up, "You're from Isley's generation right?"
"Indeed I am," the being nodded. "My name is Chronos. I was the Number 4, back then."
"Well, it's nice to see someone else from the forgotten generation after all this time." Naruto said with a grin, he slowly eased Elise down on her feet and didn't mind when she hid behind him. Using him as a human shield against Chronos. "I have to ask, how are things for you out here?"
Chronos blinked, then shrugged. "Rather dull," he admitted. "Nothing to do out here, really. I was thinking about heading to Morris, ever since it showed back up on the map. Rumour is, awakened beings are safe there. They're even fed, I hear. I wanted to see it for myself. Maybe see how an old friend of mine is doing while I'm at it. Last I heard, he was heading there, too."
"Oh? I can personally confirm you awakened beings are safe there… so long as you folks don't cause trouble, of course. And yes, you're being fed too. Someone is working on a method of growing food for you, actually. Until she's done setting up the lab, though, you'll have to make due with bandits and criminals."
Chronos blinked owlishly. "Truely? In that case, I'll make my way there as soon as I can then." a roof over his head, a place where he doesn't have to hide and he's being fed? Count him in! "Sorry for the misunderstanding, by the way. I'd rather not depart on bad terms."
"Don't worry about it," Naruto waved him off. "No one got hurt, or killed. I'll see you there soon then, Chronos." with that the blond held the hybrid to him and they disappeared in a yellow flash.
"Heh…" Chronos chuckled, reverting back to his human form. He smirked as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "For someone with that much power flowing through him, he's surprisingly friendly. What a nice kid." then he sighed and looked down at himself. Now he has to find a new set of clothes.
----
Diana yelped when a yellow flash popped into existence in front of her and Naruto appeared with another woman in tow. This one, like Diana, had a bowl cut, but looked significantly younger.
"N-Naruto? Who's this?" the woman asked, looking at Elise with wide eyes,
'Her name is Elise," Naruto explained. "Number 21 of the current generation." Said woman shyly waved at her as she nervously kept close to him; the hybrid was clearly shaken from her near death experience.
Diana narrowed her eyes. "What happened?" she asked.
Naruto snorted. "The Organization happened. They set her up to die." that was unsurprising to be honest; that cutthroat mysterious organization was a pain in the ass. Thank god Miria had the foresight to bring his seal up two weeks ago, or Elise would have died. "You mind showing her around and getting her settled in?" he asked. "She's… 'gone missing' and I'd like to keep it that way."
Diana nodded gesturing for the warrior to follow her. Elise looked at the former Number 44 nervously, but with Naruto's prompting she followed her fellow hybrid and allowed Diana to guide her around.
Naruto sighed. First the thing with Teresa and Clare, then this, what's next? The awakened beings who were outside Morris for the past two years are finally brave enough to wander on through to the fortress? Nina, Miata and Clarice finally calling on him as well, after they get themselves into a lot of trouble with some youma that outnumber them 5 to 1? The sky falling as well, for the sake of it?
Seriously, it was getting that ridiculous…
----
Speaking of ridiculous, Dae was at it, again. This time, he hooked Teresa's corpse up to a capsule of harnessed lightning, alongside those of Cassandra and Roxanne. The man figured he may as well get those two out of the way while he was at it, since they were ready for revival.
Miranda was on standby, and was to keep Cassandra from murdering Roxanne the second she saw her.
"IN THE FUTURE!" Sistina bellowed.
"KEEP HER OUT OF HERE!" Dae yelled to Chloe, Licht and Lutecia. He was looking very, uncharacteristically angry. The man was really fed up with her.
"THE STORY OF A SPIDER-THING FALLING FROM THE SKY SHALL MAKE THE WORLD AFRAID OF CLOWNS!" Sistina exclaimed, still going on as if nothing had happened.
Growling under his breath Dae looked back down at Teresa, Cassandra and Roxanne's corpses. Teresa was the strongest of all claymores - Cassandra was right behind her and Roxanne was in third.
Getting them revived in preparation for the Ladykiller was the highest priority!
Taking a deep breath to calm himself he looked to Miranda and started relaying his orders for her to perform. "Miranda I pull all three levers, exactly two seconds away from one another," Dae commanded.
"Understood," Miranda answered, obeying to the letter.
The first lever was pulled. Two seconds past, then the second was pulled; another two seconds past, and the third was pulled. Lightning shot from the machine and into the cables hooked up to the slabs the deceased women were lying on top of.
Dae then pulled another lever and Miranda felt a surge of yoki flowing from the contraption and into the three women. All three opened their eyes, their eyes glowing a demonic gold, though they were still clearly dead, as lightning and yoki coursed through their veins. However, oddly enough, one of them had her irises moving the combined yoki and lightning having briefly jumpstarted her heartbeat.
Teresa was… terribly confused. One moment she was within Clare and the next she was… somewhere else. She recognised the place she was in as her own body. But she wasn't in it. Not completely at least. She couldn't see anything but the ceiling, and all she could hear was the sound of machinery and electricity. She was being shocked - like her whole body was being struck by lightning; though she had no idea what being hit by lightning felt like..
Then her eyes closed and when she opened them again Teresa found herself back in the familiar, endless white plain that was Clare's mindscape. She shook her head, blinking owlishly.
"...Strange. What was that?" she asked herself. Was that actually real? Or, was it just something her imagination cooked up?
Either way, she had no idea what was going on.
But then she remembered Naruto's words… was someone really trying to bring her back to life? Who? Why?!
----
The next day
Naruto was caught between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. The instant they'd heard about the new arrival popping up out of nowhere in addition to five awakened beings, Riful, Priscilla, Miria, Cynthia, and even Jean - of all people - teamed up on him in a jealous fit and now, he was buried under a dogpile of mostly pregnant, newly-satisfied, happily-snoozing wives.
"I can't tell if you're the luckiest man I've ever met or the most unfortunate," Karui chuckled, eyeballing the fine mess her husband had gotten himself into. To her left, a very worried Clare stood beside the chocolate redhead.
"Probably the happiest, regardless," Naruto replied with a chuckle of his own. "So, what brings you to here? Is something wrong?"
"I'm here to give you a progress report on the new arrivals," Karui stated. "Seeing as how you're… occupied, Samui decided that I should be the one to tell you, so as to avoid the wrath of four pregnant women."
Smart move on her part, Naruto had to admit.
"As for Clare," the redhead continued, "it would seem that you were right about someone trying to revive Teresa."
The former Number 47 nodded. "She… woke up in a room, feeling as though she was being struck by lightning, though it was only for a brief instant."
"I see…" the whisker-marked blond mused aloud. "Seeing as how she told you this, I take it the attempt failed."
Clare nodded.
"Looks like we might have to deal with them sooner than expected…" Naruto muttered. Recruiting the awakened beings waiting outside Morris might be a good idea, in that case. Most of them were former Single-Digits, after all. "If they're trying to revive Teresa, then it stands to reason that they'd try and revive other dead warriors, as well. I'll let Miria know when she wakes up." He gestured to the woman lying on top of him. "If anyone here's likely to know the biggest threats they could go for it's her."
Clare nodded and Karui smiled at Naruto. That was a sound course of action.
"Alright," Clare said, visibly relieved, though only just a bit..
Clearing her throat, Karui decided to address the reason she was here. "Right," she said. "Seeing as how that's out of the way, I suppose now's as good a time as any to tell you how the new arrivals are progressing."
Naruto smiled and gestured for her to continue.
Karui nodded and did just that. "Elise is progressing pretty well with the tree-walking exercise. Glissa, Pyrrha, and Megan have completely mastered it, and will be ready to start with their elemental training, tomorrow. Evianna and Betty are well on their way to catching up, now that they've learned Kage Bunshin. They should be ready in a day or two, if they keep it up."
"Very nice!" Naruto said, visibly impressed. "Evianna's team is looking good, then. Tell Irene that she and Elise are gonna be a team, once the newbie's ready for elemental training. Miria felt that would be the best thing to do with them."
Karui nodded. "Alright. Is that all?"
"For now," Naruto confirmed. "Unless you have anything else to report."
The redhead shook her head, no.
"Alright, you're free for the day once you tell Irene."
----
The next morning
Cassandra groaned pitifully as the phantom pains of her brutal death still lingered. Then her eyelids snapped open, her eyes were gleaming gold and her irises slanted like a felines. Scowling the elf-eared woman sat up with a fierce growl as she looked around for the bitch - that Love and Hate bitch! - who allowed her best friend to be brutally mutilated and killed.
She didn't know how she was still alive, but by the Twin Goddesses she was going to go and fucking HACK that bitch apart with her Dust Eater! She was about to go ahead and look for Roxanne to do just that, until...
"Cassandra!"
The woman jumped in surprise; her eyes grew wide at the familiar voice of her best friend, and when she looked in the direction she came from the woman was enveloped in a hug by her best friend. Who was alive!
So shocked was she, that Cassandra didn't know how to react to the sight of her best friend hugging her with such a bright smile and actively flowing tears.
"M-Miranda?" she asked, whispering in trembling disbelief.
"Yes! I'm here! I… I…" Miranda pulled back and gave her friend a tearful smile. "I missed you!"
With shaking arms and running tears, Cassandra pulled the Number 35 into a hug and buried her face into Miranda's hair.
Cassandra's bottom jaw trembled, as the unshed tears she had for that day were finally shed. "I'm sorry, Miranda. I am so, very sorry." She was sorry, that she couldn't save her friend. She was sorry, that she couldn't avenge her death. She was sorry, that she hadn't been there for her when she was needed most!
She had died with a lot of regrets.
Miranda sniffed and rubbed her friends back. "I'm here. You're here. We're both here." she pulled away again and gave her best friend a tearful smile. "A lot has happened, Cassandra. We need to catch you up."
Sniffing herself Cassandra rubbed the tears out of her eyes as she regarded her friend with confusion. "Ah… catch up?" she allowed herself to be guided out of the… strange room she awoke in. "Catch up to what?"
"I'll tell you once you're dressed."
Blinking owlishly Cassandra looked down at herself. Oh… so that was why there was a breeze. "Uh… fair enough," she chuckled sheepishly. "Can you tell me at least how we're alive? I remember being... " she shuddered as the memories of her fellow comrades hacking into her skin and bone flashed through her mind.
"Dae." was her answer. And Cassandra understood immediately. Really, that creepy old man was always experimenting and cooking up some… weird ideas. She let the matter drop there.
"A-alright," Cassandra said, "How do we get to the supply department from here? I don't know where we are."
"Where I'm staying is close to it actually." Miranda replied, "And as for where we are - we're in Staff… specifically Dae's lab. The room I'm staying in is only about three doors down the hall."
Cassandra blinked, immediately recognizing where she was in the building. She'd always wondered what lied behind that door as she passed by, but never asked. "Alright, then. Lead the way."
Miranda nodded and did just that. But, just as she opened the door she paused and suddenly looked rather nervous. "Uh… one more thing… You see, I was revived for a reason."
Cassandra looked to her friend both worried and confused.
"You and a few others were brought back, because the Organization is facing a threat like nothing they'd ever seen before," Miranda elaborated. "Someone who will take everything we have to eliminate… That… includes Roxanne." She immediately scrambled to calm her friend down upon feeling the malice. "S-she will not be a problem!" Miranda assured. "In face, she was executed a few months after she… uh… yeah. Y-you have nothing to worry abo-"
"IN THE FUTURE, YOUNGSTERS SHALL LISTEN TO MUSIC BY INSERTING GIANT COINS INTO SINGING CLAMS!"
"CAN'T A GIRL GET SOME SLEEP?!" Roxanne screamed. "I SWEAR I'M GOING TO RIP THAT WOMAN'S TONGUE OUT!!"
"You think I haven't tried?!" Chloe asked. "She's a defensive type - it just grew back."
Miranda chuckled nervously at the expectant, utterly befuddled look Cassandra gave her. "Thaaat was Sistina, the Divine Oracle and Heavy-Bladed Chloe." she explained. "Both of them were the Number Ones of their generation when they died, and were revived as well."
Cassandra blinked owlishly. "How many have been revived?!"
"Out of everyone, including you? Seven. Dae tried to bring back another. Someone named Teresa of the Faint Smile, but that failed. He's going to try one more time with that one though, since she's reputed to be the Strongest Number 1 of all Generations. There are quite a few more who are still in the process of being brought back."
Cassandra looked at her friend nervously. That… legitimately scared her. "What the hell could we possibly be facing that would require so many Number Ones?!"
The door opened, and Sistina was there, looking at the two friends.
Sistina gave her fellow Number One a cool look. "Someone who's stronger than all three Abyssal Ones combined." she told her.
That got Cassandra's attention. "Wait, there's three, now?!"
----
Glissa giggled as she saw Naruto enter the training chamber, blatantly ogling him as she turned to face the blond. "Oh, hello~!" She chirped. "Come to check on our training?"
"Of course." he chuckled. "What kind of a teacher would I be, if I wasn't here to watch over my students?" he walked beside her and looked at Pyrrha, Evianna, Megan and Betty and saw they were still training in their chakra control. Looks like they were getting in some last minute training before they do their elemental techniques.
Speaking of elemental techniques, he has to see what kind of elemental affinities they have first. Luckily, he came prepared for that occasion.
Then, he turned to Shizune - who was overseeing their exercises - and asked, "So, how've they been doing, Shizune-Neechan?"
"Quite well," She said with a giggle. "I'm impressed, actually. They should be ready for elemental training."
"Very good, any time they want, they can see what kind of elemental affinities they have." that got the attention of Team Evianna almost immediately.
"Ooh~!" Glissa chirped, enthusiastically scurrying up in front of him. "So how do we do that?"
Naruto answered by taking out a scroll, unfurling it, and after channeling his chakra into the seal, took out five chakra papers for them to use. "Just channel your chakra into one of these slips and I'll tell you that the reaction means," he explained.
Glissa hastily snatched one up and did just that, her slip instantly turning brown and crumbling before her. She and the other four blinked owlishly at the… admittedly odd reaction her chakra had on the paper and they looked at the blond. All of them were confused and wondered what that meant.
"It looks like you got an Earth and Lightning affinity… the earth is the dominant one too. It's defensive in nature, but a savvy enough user can make deadly traps with it." Naruto gave Glissa a grin as he added, "It can also be used to harden your skin to be as tough as diamonds and increase the power of your physical attacks. So looks like you're going to be a tank. Someone who can tank hits and deliver just as much damage too."
Hearing that, the Former Number 45 of the current generation squealed in excitement. Having skin as tough as diamonds? Count her in! "I can't wait to try that out~!"
"Get far in your training and you will." he told her with a grin. "We're going to have to tell you the strengths and weaknesses of the elements too, and what is strong against what and so on. But outside of the other warriors that cannot use chakra, you're going to be pretty hard to take down. Imagine how deadly you're going to be in your awakened form though~."
That got her salivating. She'd be unstoppable~! Or close to it.
Evianna was next; she took the sheet of paper from Naruto and channeled her chakra into it. It unsurprisingly split down the middle, but then, the two halves started to crumple up.
"Looks like you have two element affinities there, Evianna the same as Elise; we may have to get you a new nickname soon~" he grinned at her with wagging eyebrows. "So, you have Wind and lightning. The Wind affinity is stronger though, so there's no surprise there. The lightning, though, is a bit surprising. Those two are opposing elements, so even among people with double affinites it's rare to see them together. You're going to be a heavy hitter too, since wind and lightning are aggressive elements."
She was pleased to hear that. "I see… and what about this new nickname?" she asked with a playful grin.
"Hmm…" he allowed the woman to lean against him suggestively. "I can think of a few~. Stormbringer Evianna is one. Blazing Evianna is another. Storm Crusher Evianna. I can probably think of a few more in time, but which of them do you like most?"
"Oooh, Stormbringer Evianna is one I like the most~!" the former number 2 was very happy with that nickname, it was a hell of a lot better than the one Roxanne had given her. Highland Harpy - the deceased bitch deserves an embarrassing nickname of her own!
"Then, Stormbringer Evianna it is!" Naruto solidified it by giving the woman a playful spank. The awakened being giggled girlishly, but did not otherwise move from her spot. Chuckling, the blond handed the next awakened being, Megan, a sheet of paper.
It went up in flames, startling her and the other four.
"Looks like you have an affinity for fire, Megan." he told her. "And in my opinion fire is the most aggressive." he grinned as he came up with a pun. "It looks like you're quite a, hothead!"
Everyone was quiet for a moment; then it was broken when Shizune groaned and palmed her forehead in exasperation.
"Naruto, that was a lame pun."
Naruto turned to the brunette with a look of faux outrage, "Screw you, Shizune-Neechan! That pun was bloody good one!"
"Um…" Pyrrha raised her hand, "Can we continue with our chakra affinities now?"
Naruto looked at her, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure, here's your chakra paper."
When the redhead channeled her chakra into it, she was curious to see it turn brown and then light ablaze. She yelped, dropping it out of surprise.
"Fire and Earth… Interesting."
The last one to channel her chakra into her sheet of paper was Betty. Hers turned brown as well.
"Huh… So, we have every element accounted for between the five of you, except for Water," Naruto mused aloud. "Yours is Earth, as well Betty."
"I see…" the blonde crossed her arms, "so when can we begin training in our respective elements?" Betty asked, looking at Naruto expectantly.
"As soon as you want to. I got several scrolls for various elemental techniques translated into your language - so you can learn many different elements step by step from them. Team Samui has also been assigned to help anyone who needs it. They're from the same continent as I am, like Shizune-Neechan and Granny-Tsunade. Elemental Training takes place in the bailey."
"Understood." Betty then looked to Evianna and asked, "Should we wait and rest a bit, or go straight on there?"
"You've been training for a few hours," Shizune pointed out to them. "I recommend resting for a bit to let yourselves regain any lost chakra. If you exhaust yourself, you can die if you keep on using it beyond the limit of what your body can produce."
"That's the only downside," Naruto added. "Chakra's made from your physical and spiritual energies. If you run out of chakra: you die. So resting, or exercising to increase the amount of chakra you have, is key to stop that from happening. Then again I can just share my chakra with you babes, and you'll be as energised as a five-year-old with a sugar high."
"That was… oddly specific, Naruto." Shizune said.
"I'm trying to increase my vocabulary." was the blond's lame-ass excuse. Then he cleared his throat and looked at the apprentice of Tsunade, "So when the next ' meat shipment' coming?"
Meat shipment was code for 'criminals on death row'.
"Two days from now. It's a large shipment too. Seems Kirigakure and Iwagakure want to help out as well, no questions asked."
In translation, that meant Kiri and Iwa had a few missing-nins they want to get rid of. And they didn't care what was to happen to them. Naruto certainly didn't mind, that meant the awakened beings here had some more innards to eat; and the more they had to eat the less chance they are to go and cause havoc anywhere else.
Chronos would have a field day, if he manages to get here before then. Thankfully, he was pretty far away then they met, so he should take a while. The awakened beings that are still lurking in the mountains around the town, on the other hand… he's going to have to make contact with them soon. Either they piss off, or they join. No matter what happens, his family wouldn't be agitated or nervous by a potential threat to the wellbeing of their children.
"Interesting…" Naruto muttered. "I'll have to send them a token of my gratitude, sometime."
----
"The golden haired one shall confront the many with the power of the one, and they shall submit to his might…" Sistina muttered, pacing about in a little circle.
"Is she always like this?" Cassandra looked to her best friend with concern. "She's always talking like this. What are they, some kind of… predictions?"
"We're… not quite sure," Miranda muttered. "Sistina said they are, and they tend to come true. The golden haired one is someone we so far know as 'Ladykiller Naruto'. The many with the power of one, is most likely you, and the other Number Ones here, though we're not sure… She's been a bit tight lipped about it."
"So who is this Ladykiller person anyway," Roxanne asked. "From what I gathered, he's strong. But what is he like? Do we even know?"
"Not much…" Licht answered, since she knew Cassandra and Miranda have a… sour relationship with the woman. "What we do know is that he just showed up one day to the South."
"The golden haired one ventured forth from the East. A land beyond the sea," Sistina muttered, "many trials, he has faced. Many trials, he had overcome. Growing up with nothing, he has become strong. Growing up with pain, he has become kind... understanding. The beasts with many tails he has befriended."
"If he's so kind and understanding," Roxanne asked, "then why the hell is he being a thorn in the Organization's ass? Shouldn't he be helping us?"
At that Sistina looked at the curly-haired blonde, her eyes still distant and glazed over. "The one of the phantom has asked him, to help rescue us," she said. Then she went back to pacing. "He shall be our salvation, slaying youma and handler alike for their sins. He shall heal us of that which cannot be healed. Thus, the many with the power of one shall be impaled upon his mighty spear and bear him twenty sons and twenty daughters..."
"It… it sounds like she's saying we're fucked. Literally, at that." Cassandra said in bewilderment, her cheeks turning beet red. "But… who's the one of the phantom she's mentioned?"
It sounds like a ghost. Or, possibly someone with a unique technique...?
"From what I can tell," a beet red Miranda answered, "that's probably this 'Phantom Miria' Dae mentioned a while back. She's the Ladykiller's second-in-command and former Number 6 of the previous generation."
"It sounds like this Phantom Miria is the one behind this whole mess," Roxanne said with a giggle. "Didn't you hear what that delusional woman said? The one of the phantom asked him to help her. If anything she's the leader, and he's the second-in-command… or maybe just her attack dog."
"That 'attack dog' is strong enough to dominate two Abyssal Ones," Licht pointed out. "The first time, from what I discovered of the reports 'God Eye Galatea' had given, was when he wasn't even known to the Organization. He managed to kill Riful's rumoured consort to the degree that only a crater was left. And the rumoured consort was fully transformed, and the Ladykiller was not. The second time, it was when Luciela of the South intentionally sought him out. He dominated her by himself, right in front of her own sister, no less, before moving on to dominating said sister."
"And I personally know how vicious Luciela is." Chloe added, "She utterly dominated me, in combat and then devoured me. And there's the newest awakened being by his side, and she's considered to be beyond the power of the Abyssals, themselves, and he managed to dominate her."
Cassandra and Miranda shuttered. No wonder so many warriors were being revived to deal with him!
Roxanne scoffed and gave the blonde a small smile. "If you ask me, this is just a waste of time. However…" she looked at Sistina, "is she ever wrong? Has any of her so called 'predictions' gone against her?"
Suddenly Sistine went ramrod straight, as her eyes went wide as saucers. "IN THE FUTURE, A MOB OF EASILY-OFFENDED YOUNGSTERS WILL DRESS IN BLACK AND START PUNCHING PEOPLE FOR HAVING THE WRONG OPINIONS!"
"I hope so…" Miranda muttered worriedly. "The future sounds… apocalyptic, otherwise."
"Oh gawd," Sistina whined as she massaged her temples. "It happened again, didn't it?"
"'The many with the power of one, shall be impaled upon his mighty spear~!'" Roxanne quoted with a disturbingly wide smile. "Why, it sounds like you're predicting the Ladykiller having his way with us all~."
"...I wonder if he has a big dick?"
"CASSANDRA!!?" Miranda exclaimed, utterly aghast.
"What? It's a perfectly legitimate question," Cassandra replied defensively. "'Impaled upon his mighty spear' doesn't exactly make it sound small, and if we're going to be defeated that way, I would frankly hope it's at least by a stud!"
"Fifteen inches." Sistina automatically answered, before she covered her mouth with horrified eyes. She looked at everyone in the room, and found all their eyes were on her. "Uh… you didn't hear that. At all."
Cassandra was about to say something, but clammed up then she was elbowed in the ribs by her friend.
Miranda sighed heavily. "I knew Neideen would be a bad influence…" Then, she groaned, rubbing her temple, "and it would be just my luck that she's next in line for revival! Ugh..."
"...She's going to obsesses over his dick isn't she?" A blushing Roxanne questioned in a deadpan. Damn it! That pervert was insufferable, the first time around! At least she was a good cunt-muncher, though; shame she had to go and… 'have an accident' on her awakened being hunt.
"Most likely," Miranda confirmed. "Among other things…"
Lutecia hummed to herself with a thoughtful expression. "Maybe she can keep him distracted long enough for us to kill him before her prediction of us losing in… that way comes to pass?"
"I'm actually thinking of throwing down my claymore the second we meet him." Cassandra admitted; a big dick like that, reaching all the way to the deepest depths of her neglected pussy? There's no way she's going to pass that up! "Hell, I'll be the distraction..."
"Cassandra, no, you're not going to offer yourself to the Ladykiller…" Miranda paused, and feeling a little vindictive she looked at the one responsible for the deaths of herself and her best friend. "Let Roxanne do it, instead."
"Excuse me?!" said woman demanded.
Miranda grinned deviously, "Consider it payback for getting me, Cassandra and so many others killed with the bullshit you pulled in your first lifetime!"
As Cassandra's eyes lit up at the very suggestion, Roxanne scowled deeply at that. She had no fucking intention on being some fucking live bait.
Licht and Chloe suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable, literally feeling the malice in the air. Hopefully, these three would put their priorities first.
"The golden haired one shall be unpredictable. The one of the 'Dust Eater' shall be a match for him with her own unpredictability." Sistina uttered, now back in her trance. "Her most hated ability shall be her greatest advantage… until he becomes one of golden flames." she began to slowly pace as everyone's eyes were on her, listening to her prediction. "As shall the one with a Blade of Evil, as shall the one of Windy Storms, as shall the one with insatiable lust for men and women alike, as shall the one called a Master of the Hunt. The one of elegance will be at a disadvantage as he surpasses those of one in all their abilities and skills. As shall the one of the Heavy Blade, as shall the one with three arms, as shall the one with a sword of beauty, as shall the Universal One, as shall the coated in red, as shall the one with a heart of black, as shall the one with a heart of gold, as shall the one with the insight of gods. All will fall before his golden elegance of power and domination. Thus the many with the power of one shall be impaled by his mighty spear and bear him twenty son and twenty daughters."
"That… is starting to become a bit too consistent… and specific for my liking…" Miranda muttered uncomfortably.
Licht, Chloe and Lutecia all exchanged looks.
"It sounds like the Ladykiller likes strong women, all things considered… and he's coming for us, specifically, because we're strong?" Licht asked, sounding a little unsure towards the end.
"She keeps mentioning those with the power of one… so… single digits then?" Chloe asked aloud, thoughtfully. She looked to Miranda. "If that's the case, then, what happens to you? And that one other warrior that's going to be revived?"
"The one with a heart of gold and the one with the Blade of Evil shall be impaled upon his mighty spear and bear him five sons and three daughters," Sistina droned robotically, still pacing.
"Well… there's that answered. Thanks for the nightmare fuel." Lutecia said, giving Chloe a mocking clap.
"The Universal One shall be the first to fall, should she not learn from errors past," Sistina continued.
"Oh, shut up!" That loss she's suffered to Isley was quite visibly still a bit of a sore spot for her.
"...I just realised something." Miranda started, as her eyes followed Sistina back and forth.
"What is it?" Cassandra asked.
"Whenever we ask a question pertaining to the mission, Sistina would always answer." The Number 35 pointed out to them.
"The one with the insight of gods knows many things," Sistina droned. "The one with the insight of gods warns ye all, the men with robes of black provoke a demon lord the likes of which they cannot comprehend."
"Can Naruto Uzumaki really turn into a mountain-sized, Nine-tailed fox?" Miranda asked, opting to go for the questions directly. If she really has the 'insight of gods' then they would be able to learn much about him!
"IN THE FUTURE," Sistina suddenly shouted, stopping dead in her tracks.
...once she was done being weird, of course.
"THE WAY SHALL BE SHOWN BY A MAGIC BOX THAT TALKS TO THE SKY!"