Claymore Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Red Dawn ❯ Luciela's Love ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The mountainous forest was alive with animals on the prowl, looking to fill their bellies. But they stayed away from the only area of the forest that was lit. While the fire deterred most creatures, the even more brazen ones stayed away as it felt like a monster was waiting for them, ready to slay them and devour their flesh.

While they were unsure what it was, they didn't care. Because whatever it was, the animals stayed away as the air seemed to be filled with such raw emotions that they were afraid to even approach.

Next to the said fire, Bishou no Teresa sat with her eyes ablaze as she stared off into the distance.

Irene sighed as she knew that something was wrong with Teresa. She had a feeling it had to deal with the man that the Abyssal of the South had taken a few days ago. In fact she was sure it was as there would be no reason to actively hunt down an Abyssal one as, despite Teresa's power, the Abyssals had far more experience and that was what kept any number one from actively chasing down the three of power.

Still, she didn't understand why the young man's importance was. That was one thing Teresa had not answered no matter how many times she asked. And it didn't help that the young girl would not talk to her at all. She was just ready to forget the entire thing and just go with it, but she couldn't. She had to know why they had to go after Luciela.

Looking at Clare, Irene had to admit the girl had been rather quiet and didn't speak more then a few words and those words were all directed to Teresa, if she wasn't calling the former number one by name. If she had to guess, she was being so quiet because she could sense Teresa's mood and didn't want to upset her further.

Sighing as she pulled out a rare passion fruit from her waist pouch, Irene took a small bite before setting it down. The bite was enough to satisfy her for now; however, she pulled out another before tossing it to Teresa. "Eat. It will do you no good if you don't at least eat something."

Teresa automatically caught the fruit but it seemed that she wasn't paying attention at first before she slowly took a small bite of it. Almost instantly, she felt better for it but she was still in a rather foul mood. Apparently the yoki that she had been following was just an awaken being that use to be a single digit warrior.

That alone had irritated her but the fact that there was no trace of Naruto or Luciela of the South made it even worse. All she knew was that the Abyssal one ruled the lands she had claimed below the man of the north and the witch of the west. That was all she had to go on outside of searching for their presences within the lands beyond the mountain cliffs.

"It's odd." Teresa mumbled to herself before she took another bite of the sweet fruit. "Why would the Abyssal of the South cross the border of her lands and the north just to claim one human? Despite his supernatural powers, you would think she would be more careful as Easley could consider it a possible attempt to take over of his land."

Irene looked at Teresa with some shock as it was the first time Teresa had really spoke to her since she told her that she was planning on going after Luciela. But that lasted only for a moment as she thought about what Teresa had said.

It really didn't make sense for Luciela to take such a risk knowing the man of the north could respond. And the last thing that anyone needed was two Abyssals warring with one another as the damage could be catastrophic for everyone.

After a few moments, Irene another took a bite before nodding in agreement with Teresa. "Yes, it almost doesn't make sense. …But you felt the power he displayed and I cannot believe that the Abyssals did not feel it. If she knew she could recover him and have him join her, no one would make a move against her due to the balance of power shifting into her favor. The Abyssals of the North and West and even the organization would refuse to touch her in fear of his retaliation."

Frowning as she hadn't thought of that, Teresa closed her eyes before throwing the remainder of the fruit into the fire. She remembered what Luciela had said when she confronted her making her frown deeper as it seemed that was Luciela's plan all along. However, there was one thing the awakened being could not predict.

And that was going to be Naruto.

She wasn't sure how the blonde would react, but she doubted that he would willingly stay with her. Naruto did not seem to be the type of person to stay if someone was forcing him and would just flat out leave. That was a problem in and on its own as if she got there and Naruto had already left, not only would she have to deal with a pissed Abyssal one, she would have to find him.

Opening her eyes, they trailed over to Clare as she thought this. The green stone necklace that Naruto had given her was still glowing softly around her neck. She wasn't sure what it was doing, but the necklace was something important to the blonde and he would more then likely seek them out.

Turning from Clare, Teresa sighed softly as she looked towards Irene. "It seems to be that way. But I doubt that Naruto is going to willingly stick with her and cause her a hell of a lot of trouble by trying to get away. I'm not saying he can't succeed, but I have a good feeling that it will take a while for him to fully recover."

"So in other words, the faster we find Luciela the easier it will be to get him out of her clutches." Irene commented as she finished her passion fruit before throwing it into the fire as well.

Teresa shook her head as she laid down and looked up at the stars. "No. Despite my persistence on finding them quickly, I have no intention of immediately getting him out of there. The risk would be too great as he won't be fully recovered and Luciela would fight harder then normal to keep him within her boundaries."

Irene was more confused then ever as she listened to Teresa explain herself. While she knew that latter parts, it seemed that Teresa intention was to attack Luciela and dragged the blonde out of the southern lands. Gathering up what she had, she pieced together a reply. "Okay, then when will you strike as you don't know how long it will take for to recover or even wake at that? For all we know he could have gone into a coma after releasing the amount of power he did."

"I'll admit that is a very likely possibility. But it is not one that I'm not prepared for." Teresa half heartily admitted as she lifted herself from the ground just enough to look Irene in the eyes. "As you know, the odds of us winning even with our combined powers our chances are just about split down the middle. Now I know I'm nearly as strong as Luciela, but she edges me out in in almost every ability giving her a distinct advantage.”

"Now, if Noel and Sophia had made it, I would have said we go straight in and get him out of there. But with just the two of us… We have to wait for Naruto to wake once more before we can make out move. So for now, we will track Luciela and wait until he wakes." Teresa finished before she laid back down and closed her eyes.

Partially understanding, Irene picked her claymore from the ground and began sharpen the blade, not that it really needed it. Without even looking up from her blade, she spoke in her usual stoic tone. "What are you going to do about the girl during all of this then? It isn't like she can go with us when an Abyssal is involved."

Teresa's eyes snapped open at Irene's question. The one thing she had forgot to calculate into her thoughts was Clare. Despite how much she cared for the young brunette, she had completely forgot her in her quest to recover the blonde so they might find an outside world and live in peace from the organization and yoma.

Clenching her first a few times, Teresa sat up before looking straight towards Clare before closing her eyes. "I don't know. I just cannot leave her as she means the world to me. But with him, I can get her away from this place and find a new home so she can live without fear."

Listening to Teresa with her attention fully on her sword, Irene thought for a moment about how to reply. "Is it possible that you are so caught up in what happened that you forgot what was most important to you? I know that starting all over again somewhere new sounds great, but will it really last and is it even possible?"

Ignoring the growling coming from Teresa, Irene continued on with her little speech while keeping her voice just low enough not to wake Clare. "Furthermore, despite the efforts of the best sailors in these lands, not a single person has found evidence that there is another world out there. While we do know he is from another world, there is nothing to tell us where he is from. At best, his arrival her was a freak accident and we have no way to get to his home land."

Frowning at Irene's words, blood began to leak from her hands as she clenched her fist tightly. She hated to admit it, but Irene was right. She had been caught up in everything that she had forgotten that Clare's protection and survival was most important. Irene was also right about the odds of finding another land even knowing that the blonde was from another world.

Turning away from Clare, Teresa's gaze landed on Irene letting her silver eyes bore into the elf-like woman. "Then what do you propose I do?"

"Choose what your heart tells you." Irene answered as she looked away from her blade and Teresa into the eyes. "Do you want to go after this Naruto, who you barely know, just because there is a chance that he can take you and the girl to a new land and possibly lose the girl in the process of retrieving him? Or do you want this girl to live her life to the fullest her, letting the young man to his fate and maybe he escapes and returns? Those are your only two choices Teresa, so choose wisely."

"I can't lose Clare." Teresa answered without a moment's hesitation before she continued. "However, I will not let him suffer after he willing took a fatal blow for me. He saved my life, so I'm going to repay the favor and get him away from Luciela before anything can happen to him."

Irene sighed as she thought she was making head way with Teresa. She hated the fact that her former superior happened to be very stubborn and in some cases, very dense. Rubbing her temples softly, she looked towards her fellow platinum blonde before speaking in a somewhat annoyed tone. "And do you think he would want you to come after him? I really doubt it after seeing what he did for both of you."

Teresa was very close to grabbing her claymore and knocking Irene out. She knew that the elvin woman was right despite wanting to say otherwise.

Seeing this, Irene sighed once more before stabbing her sword into the ground behind her and leaned back onto it. "Do what you want, Teresa. I can't force you one direction or another Just remember this Teresa, your decision will impact more then just you.”

Watching Irene close her eyes, Teresa was more frustrated then ever and now had nothing to vent on as Irene had backed off. Growling to herself, she picked up her claymore before walking away from the camp.

After she was a good distance away, she readied her sword in front of her before closing her eyes. Focusing on only herself, she opened her eyes before lightly slashing her sword through the air in front of her. With each swing, she picked up velocity before she suddenly sliced through a nearby tree without the slightest trouble.

But her swings still were picking up power and speed as she gracefully slashed through the trees as if they were merely paper. As the trees began to fall, she seemingly danced around them with untold elegance and passion before she began to slice through the falling trees, turning them into mulch without the slightest problem.

Twenty minutes passed and she continued to level the trees in her section until she had enough. Looking at the damage she had caused, Teresa closed her eyes before speaking ever so softly to herself. "This power I have… Is it enough to protect Clare if I attempt to rescue him?"

Opening her eyes and gazing at her blade, she made one last slash, this one into the earth. "I need to become stronger. I have to become stronger so not only can I protect Clare, I can get him back and finally leave this place."

With her last words, she turned back to the camp.

Naruto could wait for now. She would have to become stronger before she could help him.

"Ugh… Oh man, what did I do last night?" Naruto muttered as he finally began to regain consciousness.

Everything was a blur to the blonde shinobi. He couldn't think of what happened the night before or see anything at all. In fact, he was so dazed that he was unsure of what happened in the last few days.

All he could remember was a young brunette that was eight to ten years younger then himself and a mysterious platinum blonde. He could not remember either of their names and he could barely remember their faces. It was quite strange as he had a good memory and not to remember their names and what he was doing with them was puzzling.

As his vision began to clear, he noticed he was in a rather luxurious room filled with what seemed to be priceless trinkets.

He also noted there was dozens of pictures hanging from the wall. Most of them had two young girls, one with brunette haired that just a tad off from being called a red head and another with light brown hair. There were a few that the two girls were with, who he figured to be their parents, as one had dark red hair and the other had a very light brown, almost blonde hair.

However, none of the pictures seemed to be of either the woman or young girl he was traveling with. So this left him to wonder whose bedroom he was in when.

His question was answer when he tried to lifted himself off the bed to only feel a ton of pressure on his chest.

Looking down at an awkward angle, Naruto was surprised to see a woman with the same hair color as the girl in the picture. He was confused as to why she was sleeping in the same bed with him and was sleeping almost on top of him. However, he quickly came up with an idea as he cringed as he noted that she was wearing a very revealing night gown that did not hide much of her figure.

"Oh crap… Did I sleep with her?" Naruto said, repulsed with himself, as he ran his hands over his face in embarrassment as he realized he was wearing nothing but his boxers. "Damn, I thought I had better self control then that… What the hell did I all drink last night?"

"Nothing. And no we didn't do that if that is what you are referring to, but I wouldn't mind if we did that so much." The woman suddenly answered without even lifting her head from his chest or even opening her eyes.

Naruto found himself clinging to the roof with chakra as his heart was beating a mile a second after she spoke. Despite all his training, he was severely surprised by her voice and couldn't help but jump up like a jackrabbit. As he began to calm down a little, he slowly let himself back down to only notice that she was giving him a very odd look.

"Wow, I've heard about being jumpy but that is something new altogether." She commented while trying not to laugh at the blonde haired shinobi as she sat up on the bed.

Under normal circumstances, Naruto would have grumbled some obscenities under his breath. But this wasn't normal circumstances as he had no clue where he was or who she was. To make things worse, he couldn't sense the presence of the woman he was traveling with so he knew she wasn't here.

Frowning at this, he gave her a dirty look before calming himself down. "Where exactly am I and who are you? …And where is Teresa and Clare?" As he finished, he remember the girl's and woman's names

"My name is Luciela; you are in one of my many homes here in the southern land." She answered immediately as she stood up before walking over to a door and opening it to reveal a walk in closet full of dresses and many other clothes.

Without warning, Naruto was forced to look away as he blushed a deep crimson color as she walked in and threw off her night gown before picking out a dress. She smirked to herself as she heard him mumbling under his breath as she put her dress on before answering his last question. "As for this Teresa and Clare, I don't know. I really didn't stay long enough to learn any of the Claymores' names when I took you away from that place."

All alarms where going off in Naruto's mind as he heard the last words from her mouth. He was ready to defend himself if necessary and get away from the area. However, there was a few problems with escaping. He had no clue where his clothes or where his pack was and even if he escaped, where would he go as he had no place to call home here.

Growling as he could not leave his equipment behind, he watched Luciela walk out of the closet wearing a green dress, similar to what she wore a few days earlier. He didn't care to notice this he clenched his fists tightly and glared at her. "What did you do to them and where is my equipment?"

Luciela could sense that he was uneasy just by a quick look. She really couldn't blame him for being so as she had counted on him being quite hostile for a while until he adjusted. To put him at ease, she reached into her closet before pulling out the clothes she had stripped off him. "I did not do a single thing to them. I merely came for you as your power has perked my curiosity."

"As for your equipment, I'll be keeping that for a while. I don't want to arm you until you are comfortable around me and I can trust you." Luciela continued before throwing his clothes towards him. "I also took the liberty of repairing your clothes and bringing some of the color back out in them."

Catching them, Naruto unfolded his cloak to see that it almost looked new again, despite still being somewhat faded. While he was grateful to get his clothes back, not having his weapons or his scrolls troubled him. While he could leave without them, he rather not as he carried some of his most treasured possessions within scrolls in his pouch.

He thought about just attacking her and taking his pouch, but he wasn't too confident he could win without resorting to Kyuubi's power. He needed at least a week cool down after using as many tails as he did before he could even begin to use the fox's yoki once again. To top things off, he could tell the woman was on a level on her own that was just beyond his making him doubt his ability to defeat her without his weapons.

Another problem was that he had no clue where she could have hidden his equipment. She could have put them anywhere and the fact that she had many homes over the southern land meant that it didn't even have to be any where close to where they were now. That put a severe damper on any escape attempts he had as he refused to leave any of his precious treasures behind without knowing how long he would be away.

Throwing his clothes on his shoulder, he took a deep breath before speaking not to allow any of his anger out in his voice. "Where is your bathroom?"

"The door right behind you." Luciela simply answered before walking towards the last remaining door in the room and opened it. "I'm going to start lunch seeing it is just past noon. So take all the time you need to freshen up."

Watching as she walked out and closed the door behind her, Naruto frowned deeply before creating a shadow clone to keep an eye on her as he entered the bathroom. He wasn't sure what to think of what was going on. But he would know soon enough.

Luciela happily hummed to herself as she flipped the pancake over to toast the other side just perfectly. It had been a while since she had attempted to cook human food, but she still found it to be oddly peaceful. It reminded her of the times that she cooked for her father and her little sister after their mother had passed away.

Sighing as old memories began to resurface; she closed her eyes and tried to think about something else. Her thoughts ended up shifting to the blonde she had claimed as she flipped the pancake off the skillet and onto a plate, already stacked with a little over ten on it.

From the little she had gathered from his personality, she could tell a few things about him and one was he was extremely loyal. That was a big plus for her is she could gain his trust, he would at least stay at her side and the other Abyssal would hesitate to try anything against her. She could also march against them and possibly even the organization if they over stepped their boundaries.

Another quirk she picked up from him was that he seemed to be a drinker, a partier or both. While that would make him fun to be around, she would have to keep him tamed otherwise he would go wild on her and despite her nature, she would not look forward to stopping him if he were to get out of control.

Finally, he seemed to have a sense of justice and villainy to him. She wasn't sure how she knew as there was nothing that led her to this conclusion, but his demeanor just seemed to fit the part. If anything, he seemed to be like a vigilante that fought for what he believed to be right even if it wasn't. This was a trait she wasn't sure if it was going to help or not. She wasn't even sure if he indeed possessed it, but if he did she would not know how to treat it.

Hearing the bedroom door open, she watched him walk out with his cloak slightly opened. His face seemed to be blank making her wonder what he was thinking about, but she said nothing as she put the plate of pancakes onto the table before walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out some butter and a few different bottles of syrup and placing them besides the table.

"Here you go! I decided to make pancakes as I didn't know what you liked. I hope you enjoy them!" Luciela chirped in a happy tone, trying to lift him out of his blank mood.

It really didn't seem to work that much as he merely nodded and thanked her softly. She frowned as he seemed to be attempting to seclude himself from her. While she had suspected that he would probably do so, she was hoping he wouldn't as it would make it difficult for her to reach him.

Looking around the room, Naruto sat down at the table before taking a slice of butter and slathering it on top pancake. He really wasn't paying attention all too much to it as he wasn't too hungry. He was paying more attention to what decorated the place so he could get a firm grasp of what Luciela was like. He didn't like it much that he was going to have to stay here for a while, but he needed his equipment before he could leave.

All the rooms seemed to be connected into one large room as there was no walls or doors except for the ones that led outside or into the back rooms.

The living room had nothing but a few small, but comfortable chairs surrounding a coffee table. There was few paintings along the wall and they all seemed to be personally done by Luciela as they were either of her family, her sister or herself. The dining room was similar to the living room in the fact that there were a few slightly less comfortable chairs surrounding the dinner table.

As he reached for the syrup, his eyes landed on an all too familiar weapon. A larger then normal, claymore sword with a cross-like symbol etched into the base of the blade hanging off a rack.

His gaze instantly turned to her as he saw this before he frowned. "You use to be a warrior like Teresa and the others, didn't you? What caused you to become… What you are?"

Luciela sighed softly before she sat down in the chair opposing his. Looking over at her old blade, she nodded before closing her eyes as the memories flashed before her once more. "I did at one point. But the organization tried to test both my sister's and my abilities and it failed horribly as I could not be brought back and I went berserk and destroyed everything I could."

Naruto could hear the sorrow in the woman's voice. It wasn't because that she had transformed, though. It seemed that she was glad that she had transcended her human limits. "I see… It seems like you miss her."

"I do. She is all I have left in this world." Luciela answered back before standing up and walking into the living room, which was right besides the dining room and kitchen, before seating herself on a softer chair as she pulled out a book from underneath her dress. "Eat please… There are things we have to do today."

Not going to question her, Naruto poured the syrup onto his pancakes before he carved into them and ate at a regular pace.

Once he was finished and had rinsed his place off, he walked into the living room. As he did so, he instantly recognized the book she was reading and frowned. "You know, it isn't polite to go through someone else's things without asking."

Luciela smirked at him before she responded by turning the page. "Well, I read the other book you had and I must say, I want to try a few of those acts. I think they would be quite pleasurable."

Naruto wisely backed off before muttering to himself while being glad that his cloak concealed his lower half of his body. "Never mind… Just take care of the book, please. That book was written by my sensei and it carries his will on to this day."

Smirking as she could sense that he was semi-aroused by her taunt, Luciela closed the book before laying it down onto the coffee table before standing up and stretching. "Alright, let's get going…"

"The name is the same as in the book." Naruto responded as he waited for Luciela to lead the way, not sure what they were going to be doing or where in the world they were heading.

"Whoa… Is the book base on you or something?" Luciela asked as she tilted her head at him in a cat-like fashion as she was curious to know.

Shaking his head and rolling his yes, Naruto picked up his book before pocketing it into his cloak's hidden pocket. "No, that book was written before I was born. My sensei actually based that story off his first pupil as he believed he was the one that could change the world. My father ended up being his next pupil and read the book and when I was born, he decide to give me that name as he wanted me to carry on our sensei's legacy."

Nodding her head as she kind of understood what he was talking about, Luciela took the book from his pocket before continuing to read it as she walked to the door. "Alright then, come on. We're going out for a stroll through my lands."

Almost face faulting at what she had said before sighing to himself. "And here I thought you had something important to do…"

"Hey!" Luciela countered as she looked away from the Legend of the Gutsy Ninja and towards Naruto. "We could go back into the bedroom and test out some of what that other book had written in it."

Naruto could only shake his head before smirking to himself as he walked besides her and opened the door. "As flattered as I am that you would wish to perform such acts with myself, I don't know you very well and your breasts aren't big enough to perform one of those acts."

For the next hour, Naruto was laughing as he sprinted for his life as Luciela chased after him, screaming obscenities at him for calling her small chested.

He just loved getting a rise out of women, no matter who they were.

As the sun began to set, Naruto and Luciela stood on top of the tallest mountain in the region, or at least that was what Luciela told him.

The view was quite majestic, Naruto had to admit. Even more surprising was all this belonged to Luciela as there was no one else to challenge her for it. He had to wonder about this as despite how strong she was he knew that if she was the only one with this kind of strength the organization she hailed from would have no problem about coming after her.

"Luciela… I have a question to ask." Naruto spoke suddenly as his eyes caught movement in the forest below and he quickly realized it was an awakened by the amount of yoki it was unleashing.

"Hm, what is it?" Luciela responded as she had caught the movement as well and knew all too well what it was. She was just waiting for it to pass by as it wasn’t worth her time to deal with it.

Shrugging his shoulders as she was ignoring it, he would ignore it to as it posed no threat to him. "Well, the first thing that comes to mind is why do you only live her in the south? The aura you possess is far beyond anything I felt here except for that girl that awakened and the woman I was traveling with. So why not live over the entire continent?"

Keeping an eye on the awakened as it seemed to be heading closer and closer to them, Luciela turned towards Naruto as it seemed he knew nothing of this world. While this was good as it would mean he would be less inclined to try and escape, but it also meant he wouldn't know how to deal with certain things when they happened. "I cannot leave these lands because of the organization and two other awakens with equivalent power to mine.”

"There are others that power is equal to yours?" Naruto question as that was not something he wanted to hear. Honestly, one or two people that were stronger then he was without Kyuubi was tolerable, but to have a handful was not funny. He prided himself for being one of the strongest around and to hear that there were others even stronger then him was unbearable.

Luciela couldn't help but smirk as she could smell his desire. It was intoxicating to her that he was so powerful on his own yet he wanted to get more powerful. That was something she was definitely going to like about him; that was sure.

Putting her thoughts aside, she answered Naruto with a quick nod. "Yes… As you saw with that girl, we are what happens when a Claymore goes over their limits and/or can no longer control the yoki inside of them. …In the history of this world, there has been only three cases where the number one has awakened. One was during the era of men and the others were during our time, the era of female warriors. I was one of these cases when the organization was testing to see if I could fully awaken and then have my sister bring me back.

"Afterwards, I came here to settle in the south as the man had taken the north and the other woman had taken the west. I could not take the east as the organization is based there and despite my abilities, I know the organization has the strength to defeat me if I had rested there. I couldn't live in the north and south either as neither of them would have taken too kindly to me moving onto their turf. That is why I can only live here in the south." Luciela finished before her eyes gaze below.

"Now, aren't you stupid?" Luciela commented as the awakened being that they had spotted earlier had climbed up the mountain in search of food, probably Naruto. "You complete ignored that I was here and I have claimed him. That is unacceptable…"

Faster then Naruto could blink, one of Luciela's two tails swept from underneath her dress before it slithered back under the dress. With that one strike, the head of the awakened slid off and tumbled down the rocky cliffs of the mountain and its body soon followed suit as Luciela kicked it off as it slumped onto the ground.

Naruto was mildly shocked at the speed of Luciela's attacked and made a mental note to avoid those tails as they could be the end of him before he could even put up a fight.

Shaking that off, he walked down to Luciela before following the trail they followed to get up there. He stayed quiet as she answered what he wanted to know and he got a bonus piece of information that would be helpful once he acquired his gear and could escape.

"Now, I have a question for you." Luciela spoke breaking his concentration as they headed down the mountain.

Giving her a slight nod to ask it, Naruto waited until she stopped in front of him and looked him into the eyes. "What is it that is distracting you? You've been looking off into the distance all day and seemed to be thinking about something. Despite my skills, I've known all day that you could escape. I want to know what is keeping you from doing so."

He was not expecting that question. She somehow read him well enough throughout the day that she knew he wanted to escape. Despite what he been telling himself, he could have escaped without his stuff. While he would have to come back for it later, he could have left at any moment.

Sighing out loud, he tapped his wrist before a kunai suddenly appeared in his hand. "You are right, I could have escaped any moment I've wanted to and I have enough weapons sealed onto me and in this cloak that it wouldn't matter. My stuff is important and all, but not enough to keep me here. I'm not trying to escape right now as I have no place to go. My home isn't even on this continent and I do not know where to go to try and find it."

Seeing him put away the kunai as it apparently was part of his demonstration, Luciela frowned. He was lost and was trying to find his way back. That was the only thing keeping him from leaving. Now that was a good thing that he was staying on his own free will, but how long would he stay because after he got the rest of his things he more then likely would just leave.

But if he was happy, he could keep him with her and she knew one thing that would keep him there. "If I help you find your way home, will you stay with me?"

"What?!" Naruto barked as she surprised him with what she said and wasn't too sure that he heard her correctly.

Luciela sighed before walking over and standing in front of him as she looked him into the eyes. "I said, if I can get you back home, will you stay with me and become my mate?"

This really didn't help Naruto's nerves as his entire body froze as he looked Luciela in the eyes. While he did indeed wish to return home, she wanted him to stay with her and become her life partner.

Regaining his composure, he sighed before crossing his arms and looking back into her eyes. "And why would you do that for someone like me? And why would you want me? I'm not the best person out there especially because I harbor a demon."

"Because you are mine and I want only you." Luciela simply answered as she smiled at him. "Sure, you have a demon within you but I am one and I have to admit, its power has attracted me to you. However, you seem like a person that can accept me for who I am and not care what I have to do to survive."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond but shut it almost immediately as he had a good point at the end. He was slightly put out by the Kyuubi portion but he was use to Kyuubi screwing with things, whether it be good or bad. But the first thing had him questioning everything she had said. "I belong to you?"

Luciela nodded as her smile grew even more as she tilted her head at him. "Of course silly. I claimed you soon as I sensed your presence and you belong to me. And you being good looking is icing on the cake."

Giving her a flat stare, despite how flattered he was from her compliment, Naruto's eyes twitched as he belonged to no single person. Still, the deal she was offered him, while not unlike Teresa's, was tempting. But he did not want to give himself away just to achieve that one goal.

"How about this, I will stay with you until you find a way for me to return back home. During that time, I will help you in whatever you are trying to accomplish in this world. But once you do find a way back to my world, I'll decide then to whether or not be your mate." Naruto attempted to compromise as he was trying to avoid having to get himself involved in a serious relationship.

"Sounds quite fair." Luciela commented as she looked over at the blonde. She did not like the part that he had a choice in being her mate, but there was a way around that. "I will accept, however, if you do not accept becoming my mate I will not tell you how to return to your home."

Refraining from growling, Naruto bit his lip. He knew he had left that open, but he really didn't have much of a choice. He really wanted to go home and get back to the Akatsuki, but his chances were low and if he did not accept her counter offer they would drop even lower.

Looking up towards the darkening sky as if searching for an answer, he sighed before he looked towards Luciela and nodded. "I'll give you my word. I will stay with until you can find a way back to my home and will become your mate to get back."

Luciela squealed loudly in excitement as she jumped into the air. Soon as she landed, she grabbed Naruto by the wrist and literally began to drag him back towards the house that she brought him to before.

Naruto began to regret his decision as he struggled to keep up with the Abyssal one as she dragged him down the cliff. Just what was she going to get him into during the time it took her to find his homeland?

"Are you sure you want to do this, Teresa? I don't really want to do this if your going to save that man." Irene asked as she held her claymore in front of her.

She had to parry Teresa's response as the woman slashed towards her abdomen. Irene cursed at this before jumping back and gripping her sword tightly. "I guess that is a yes then."

"I want to become stronger for her and the only way for that to happen is to be taught by the best in their own fields. If I become strong enough to rescue him, so be it but I'm doing this for her so I can fight an Abyssal one on equal footing if something like that day happens again." Teresa answered as she held her claymore in front of her while staring into Irene's eyes.

Hearing Teresa's answer, Irene sighed once more before sheathing her sword behind her. Almost instantly, slash marks began to appear besides her as she tore the ground asunder with her ultimate technique.

"Then I shall teach you the Quick Sword, Bishou no Teresa."