Claymore Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Red Dawn ❯ A War Without a Leader ( Chapter 12 )

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

"So this is the place?" Naruto asked Konan as they stepped into a small cabin in the middle of a swamp. It was covered in grass, moss, roots and various bugs flew and crawled around it.

But what caught Naruto's attention was the odd cards at the wall, sitting on a ledge, it with Konan, Nagato and Yahiko's names underneath them. And finally, there was a single coffin placed underneath the cards, a red card placed on top of it and hundreds of paper flowers of different colors surrounding it.

Konan smiled as Naruto recognized the cards and his eyes began to widen, she simply nodded as she walked over to the cards, flipping hers from a frog face to red. "It is… This is our home. This is the place Master Jiraiya taught the three of us. …And this is where the Akatsuki truly began so many years ago. This is where it should start again."

As Naruto simply nodded as she had told him the story before, Sakura gazed at the place, unsure if she actually wanted to stay in such a place especially if this place was so sacred to Konan. "Are you sure? You are the leader of the Rain, so couldn't we just use that as our base?"

"We will… But there is another reason why we came here Sakura. …I came to pay tribute." Naruto stated, gazing over towards Konan, who simply nodded, before moving to the coffin and kneeling before it.

Not sure why Naruto was praying, Sakura continuously looked between Naruto, Konan and the coffin hoping some answer might be explained. Thankfully, Konan was getting slightly annoyed at her constant gazing and gave her the answers she was seeking. "That is Master Jiraiya. I fished him out of the sea after I put Nagato and Yahiko to rest… It was the right thing to do as he taught us all so much and restored our faith at a critical time in our lives."

Her eyes widened in realization and her attention snapped back towards Naruto. A pang of sorrow washed over her, now being reminded that she wasn't the only one to lose a sensei and a parental figure… Even if the toad was a bad example of the latter. She had begun to forget that he had lost so much more…

Standing from his prayer position, Naruto placed a plushy of a toad on the coffin and sadly smiled. "Don't worry perv, I won't back down from our dream. I will bring forth the world you wanted… The world we deserve. …Just save me a seat, will you? It won't be long till I join you."

A similar smile cross Konan's lips, knowing what he meant by that. It was very similar to what she said to Nagato and Yahiko every time she visited their tomb. Brightening her smile as Naruto turned to them, Konan tilted her head as she flicked her hand and a piece of paper flipped over her card. "Come on. We've got some recruiting to do."

Naruto simply nodded, moving past Konan and Sakura and exited. Konan stayed behind for a moment, looking inside and at the two turn cards. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. "I only came to visit… I will join you soon enough my friends."

As she exited the cabin, Konan was in shock. In a rare moment, the rain had halted and the sun shone through, a ray of light illuminating the cabin. Naruto only chuckled as he looked up at the sky before shaking his head as he saw Konan's face. Even the heavens above shone on them.

This was the right thing to do.

The heat was killing her. She couldn't understand how Naruto and Sakura weren't affected as much as she was. It was ridiculously hot! Sure it was a desert but…

In the lead, as he had been, Naruto shook his head as he could tell Konan was exhausted from the heat. He couldn't blame her as the Rain was rather cool thanks to the constant rain and cloud cover so she wasn't use to the heat even while she regulated her body temperature to stay cool. "We're almost there."

"That doesn't help at all… We still have to leave this place!" Konan growled, the heat making her unusually aggressive.

All her growl did was make Naruto chuckle to himself, which in turn earned him a rock to the forehead by Sakura. "Don't be laughing at her misfortune, Naruto. I remember the first time you came here, you were complaining about how hot it was."

"Hey! In my defense I was inexperienced and that was only after we rescued Gaara." Naruto retorted, rubbing the back of his head while wondering where in the world she found the gravel rock. They were in the desert and there were no cliffs in sight!

Glad she packed a scroll of rocks and stones to hit Naruto with, Sakura turned her attention ahead as a familiar sight began to tower before them. "Get ready… I doubt we're going to get a warm reception as we did last time."

Putting away his playfulness, for now at least, Naruto turned more serious as they reached the gate before he realized something. Why in the world were they going through the gate? They were the Akatsuki! And the last thing anyone remembered about them was they were after the bijuu!

"Ah god dammit!"

Right on cue, the guards immediately noticed them and saw their cloaks. Soon as they saw this, they went on the attack as the left unleash a powerful blast of wind towards them while the one on the right unsheathed a pair of blades and charged them, using the wind to his aid.

He first targeted Naruto, not recognizing him, and slashed through him only for him not to be there. In the next moment, both his wrists were gripped by the two women followed by a punch in the face from Sakura, knocking the guard out cold. His partner immediately moved to help only to freeze as he felt the cold touch of a kunai at the back of his neck.

"We aren't here to cause further damage. We simply wish to talk to your Kazekage as there is business to discuss with him." Naruto stated, his blue eyes gazing into the man's as he look back to see him.

"LIKE HELL YOU DO!" A young women's voice yelled followed by a powerful just of wind.

It, however, failed to even move the blonde but instead simply knocked the guard away and into the desert. Both Konan and Sakura were caught as well and held firm, Sakura more easily then Konan… Who was rather irritated as wind was yet another of her weaknesses… Along with any other elemental attack!

Not even bothering to turn as he knew who it was Naruto grinned underneath his collar. "Ah, Temari. I'm glad it's you. How long has it been? Two years since we've last seen each other."

Temari froze. Oh she knew that voice well. She wished she didn't as it would have been much easier to fight without knowing. But now that she knew…

Kankuro, who was with her, didn't recognize it and growled as his puppets began to move towards the blonde Akatsuki member, readying them to strike if he didn't like the answer. "Who the hell are you and how do you know my sister?!"

"You really want to know?" Naruto asked, toying with the puppeteer as he kept his back towards them, seeing if he would recognize his voice as his appearance was a little different since the last time they saw him. He had grown another four inches and the spikes of his hair grew longer.

Getting pissed as he knew this guy was messing around with him, Kankuro yelled out as Crow went to stab them. "Fuck you! Just die!"

"Ah, so you don't remember me Kankuro." Naruto whispered as he appeared directly behind Kankuro having used a replacement, a glowing blue orb just inches from the back of his head. "You are much more effective when you don't show yourself. However… A puppeteer will never beat me or my partners… Isn't that right Sakura?"

"Ever so humble are we? What happened to playing it cool and not showing off?" Sakura grinned as he moved towards them, her emerald eyes gleaming as it was rather fun to act all super powerful. "By the way, wave of sand directly behind you."

"I know. What do you think I am? Stupid?" Naruto commented before thrusting the orb into the ground below him, creating a crack in the rocky road and slowing the sand for a moment.

In that moment, Naruto back flipped and landed besides Sakura as Konan moved besides them, twitching her eyebrow at the two of them. "I swear… You kids don't even act like this is important! This isn't a field trip!"

Naruto nodded as he knew that was true, but he couldn't help but smile as the red headed Kazekage made his appearance in a vicious swirl of sand before his two siblings. "Yeah, I know. …But these are our friends too, Konan. As much as we believe in the cause, our friends have equal value and I will not ask them to stick their neck out for us."

Gaara had simply stayed quiet, listening to what Naruto had said. He had known the blonde was here as the sand told him. But to see him wearing the Akatsuki cloak… That was unsettling. However he still seemed to be the same, so there was something up.

Waving off the many shinobi that had came as a warning siren was blowing, he decided to get straight to the point. "Why is it you are here? I heard you had some business to speak to me about."

"How the hell did you hear that? You weren't even around!" Sakura yelled as she had barely heard Naruto say that to the guard moments before Temari and Kankuro arrived.

Simply lifting the sand around him by his will alone, Gaara gazed over at the pink haired medic and was rather surprised she was wearing the cloak as well. "I see and hear all within the desert as the sand speaks to me. Now answer my questions are we will forcefully expel you."

Konan stepped forward and inform him of their reason there when Naruto cut in front of her. "Nothing much. We came here to ask you if you wish to have Shukaku back. I know without the sand demon your power still isn't as great as it was and you have to actively keep your sand shield up with your own."

Glaring at Naruto for cutting her off and stating something they had not gone over, Konan stepped back and decided to see this play out. Naruto knew Gaara better and figured he was working an angle or trying to gain his trust as it obviously dropped.

"I rather not have that demon back inside me, if that's what you are offering. I like being able to sleep whenever I wish." Gaara stated, narrowing his eyes as he wondered what Naruto was up to as well.

"You doubt my ability in sealing?" Naruto questioned as he raised his eyebrow. "The seal placed on you before was simply too weak and that is why you were unable to sleep. I could easily fix that where you still get all the benefits and you still get to sleep whenever."

"What are you up to, Uzumaki? I know your skills very well and I know you could safely seal it back within me or a child if you wished. But there is something you want of me and I want to know." Gaara growled as he could sense there was an ulterior motive for Naruto's arrival then just to seal the sand demon back within him.

And that smile was getting on his nerves! Would he stop smiling?! This was suppose to be serious!

"I would ask no such thing my old friend. I simply came here out of good will to show you that the new dawn is not the same as the last. We are not to collect the bijuu in order to recreate Jyuubi and destroy these people's lives. …We are to restore peace to this land, once and for all." Naruto announced rather loudly and looking at the shinobi of the village instead of Gaara as he finished.

Motioning for both Konan and Sakura to leave as he turned around, Konan very displeased with what had transpired, Naruto stopped and spoke softly. "War is coming soon, Gaara, and I don't want your people to suffer. I truly wish for your help, but I will not ask for it as I would be asking for too much of you and this village."

"Good day and I hope to see you again… Whether it is in this life or the next." Naruto finished and followed Konan and Sakura out of the gates and back into the desert.

Watching their retreating backs fade into the distance, Gaara looked on with a stoic face despite his head spinning in turmoil. He wasn't sure what this was about… But war was coming? Why had he heard nothing about this?

Frowning, he turned from his spot and headed to his tower. There were things he needed to know.

"What the fuck was that about, Naruto?!" Konan screamed at the blonde as they camp at the edge of the desert as night set.

Konan was beyond enraged. She was almost foaming at the mouth and ready to strangle the blonde for his actions in the sand. "You screwed everything up! We were suppose to have invited Gaara to join us along with his village to strengthen our forces! Even with the Sand's help our chances were low but without them… We don't have a chance! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"

"Konan… Shut up." Naruto growled, his eyes golden as he had been staying still and gathering natural chakra to pour into his seal. "I know very well what I did and I don't need you to tell me off. Besides, I lead the Akatsuki and our plans, not you! You gave me that power and I will do what I think is best!"

At first it seemed Konan would back down, Naruto standing up for what he did and enforcing that he was the leader not her. She, however, did not. "Yes as I thought you would do what was necessary for us to succeed! I trusted that you would do whatever it took even if it wasn't always the right thing to do!"

Becoming worried as she sat by Naruto's side, seeing that Naruto was becoming very irritated, Sakura placed her hand on Naruto's back and rubbed it softly. "Konan… Would you just trust us? Naruto knows what he is doing and he doesn't need someone cutting his legs out from beneath him."

Turning her angered gaze at Sakura, Konan refrained from cursing at her. Damn the girl reminded her too much of herself. She always tried to play the mediator between two parties that didn't agree, often Nagato and Yahiko, and try to calm them down. "You knew he was going to do this, didn't you?"

Grimacing as she nodded, Sakura indeed knew as she knew Naruto very well. She braced for the verbal assault that was about to be unleashed upon her but it never came as Naruto spoke before Konan could say anything. "Gaara is my friend as is his brother and his sister. His village is precious to him which makes it precious to me and I will not rape it for resources as my friends trump my goals every time… Why do you think I accepted your invitation to lead this dawn?!"

This time Konan was silent as her gaze turned back to Naruto, her eyes widened yet she was unable to speak as Naruto continued. "Our goals mean nothing if they cause suffering for others, Konan. That will only add onto the hatred and this cycle will never end as another Madara will be born! It must end and if I have to sacrifice my own goals to stop suffering, I will!"

Konan could not respond this time. She felt a little bad as she could relate to what he said. What peace would be brought if people suffered in order to achieve it? Someone could have lost everything and then blame them and gain unimaginable power to destroy them and wreak havoc among everyone… Just as Madara did.

"Well spoken, Uzumaki." Gaara's voice stated as the sand around them began to swirl before Gaara appeared causing Konan and Sakura to be on edge. "But let me ask this. The war you plan on starting… Won't it bring more suffering?"

"It will… But it will set everyone free from the chains that bind them to hatred." Naruto responded as he gazed at the red head, as if he had expected him to arrive. "I know I have practically no chance in succeeding… But I have to try. I love this world too much to let it go to hell."

Staring right back at him, the slimmest of smiles cracked on his face. "I would expect nothing less from you. …My village and my power are at your disposal. Just make sure of one thing for me."

Somewhat surprised that Gaara actually joined, not really having planned for it, Naruto only blinked. "What?"

"…Don't ever touch my sister again. I will kill you if you do." Gaara stated nonchalantly as he sat down before the fire as if there was nothing wrong with what he had said.

Naruto's eyes simply widened as he knew that Gaara had just learned about that and nodded vigorously. And with that, he got up and dusted himself off before waving at all three of them. "Welcome to the Akatsuki, my friend… And if you don't mind, I'm going to get a head start back to the Rain."

Whistling as he walked away, he felt a pair of gray and emerald eyes boring into the back of his skull. He simply continued forward, moving faster then before. He didn't want to be murdered in his sleep tonight.

Turning her gaze from Naruto, twitching madly in the process, Konan shook her head. He was young after all and the young should not be bound to the old.

Shaking that out of her head, not wanting to dwell on it, she turned to Gaara before speaking. "Aren't you going to head back? It is best that people do not know that you are apart of the Akatsuki as they may think we have manipulated you, as Madara did to the Yondaime Mizukage for so long."

"No need." Gaara answered as he built a gourd of sand besides him, knowing he would have to keep some now that he was leaving the desert. "Temari and Kankuro will run the village in my absence. Besides… I have accepted Naruto's offer. …I want Shukaku's power back to supplement my own. I know he can seal her back into me without any ill side affects."

Being taken back by his response, unsure why he wanted to be a demon vessel again as his life as one was rather horrid, Konan was unsure what to say as Sakura came to her rescue. "We'll do it when we arrive as Konan will have to take us there. She is the only one that knows where they are kept."

Simply nodding, Gaara closed his eyes. Soon he would be whole again.

It was rather loud as Konan stood on her perch in the tower overlooking the village below. And below her, the entire village population waited for her to make her announcement. There was no civilians as they Rain had been ravaged by so long no civilian wanted to live there any longer, a view shared even by the shinobi.

"Listen to me everyone." Konan started, knowing all of their attention was on her as she was God's Angel, "Less then a week ago an assassination was attempted against me by Konoha."

Hearing the mummer below of anger and outrage, Konan silenced them with a wave of her hand. "I do not want any aggression. We have no need for that now as we do not have the power to challenge them. As such I want you all to act accordingly and go out of your way not to attack Konoha ninja. The last thing we need now is to give them a reason to invade our lands."

"But fear not… I am not letting their blatant disrespect of our land go. …I know what the Hokage wants and I will not give it to him. As such, a new dawn has been born!" Konan spoke with fire burning in her eyes, gazing down at her people and gauging their reaction as she continued. "…However, I will not be leading it… There is one more suited. The very same one that Nagato had passed his will onto. The will to change this world!"

Knowing this was his time to speak, Konan pretty much laying it out for him to take the stage, Naruto sighed before pushing his feelings aside as he stepped onto the perch as Konan gave way and Sakura stood at his side, just slightly behind. There were many gasps, many of the shinobi recognizing who he was having spent a few months in he Rain with Konan after his final battle against Madara in which he save Konan's life.

"I see you all know me… That makes things easier." Naruto announced, glad he didn't have to introduce himself as Gaara stood behind him donning the Akatsuki cloak. "I have left Konoha in order to peruse a greater goal… To save this world and give it peace, even if is only for a moment."

"But know this… War is coming soon and that is unavoidable. We must be ready for it but… For all those that don't wish to be apart of this, you may leave. We will grant you amnesty and will not mark you as missing ninja. I simply ask when this is over to come back and help rebuild." Naruto stated, feeling that it would be best to let those who didn't want to be apart of this go.

Surprisingly, no one moved. Standing beside him, Konan smiled as she knew her people well. They had been ravaged by war so much that another one wouldn't damage their spirit as long as there was hope it would be the last. That was all they wanted… To be given a chance to live their lives like they want to.

"For those who stay, know it will be a long and trying affair… one we may not succeed in. But if we do succeed… I promise the light will shine once more on these lands." Naruto finished and as he did so, the rain even if it was only briefly, heeded to his words and stopped.

Taking advantage of the shock in the crowd as the rain began to pour once more; Konan stepped forward and stand directly at Naruto's side. "What say you?! Will you join us for this one last time?!"

It wasn't immediate, but it took only one shinobi for the rest to follow. The one, who was one of the younger leaders of the village, stepped forward. "I shall follow you into the depths of hell! I'll do whatever it takes to end this misery!"

It was a shock wave as the rest of the shinobi, almost simultaneously, broke out in cheers and agreement. Everyone from the old to the young stood by each other, celebrating the chance of peace was something they all yearned for but were denied so many times.

Taking this all in stride, Naruto simply nodded at each of them as they quieted. "Then prepare for combat. When I return, war shall follow. Stand by one another and support each other as you are now and we will bring forth a new era… One of hope!"

Turning as they all broke into cheers once more, Naruto exited the perch and into the office. It was rather strange as Konoha's podium for speaking was at the top of the tower, not just outside the office. Nonetheless he took a seat in the main chair and sighed. "It is strange… I never thought I would have to rally people to go to war… As it is something I detest."

Both Sakura and Konan moved besides him, glaring at each other for a moment for the other copying them, they were about to speak when Gaara cut them off. "So… Shall I head back and inform my siblings?"

"No, not yet. You aren't back at full strength so it is best to wait. I won't be leaving just yet as Sakura will head back to the leaf first. Thanks to Sai, it is believed in Konoha that I chased after a rogue ninja that kidnapped both Konan and Sakura. But if word about this gets out…" Naruto thought about it for a moment before grimacing as that would blow his cover.

"We can arrange to keep it a secret, if you like?" A voice stated, catching all but Konan off guard as she realized who it belonged to as another voice joined it. "Yes… We are good at keeping secrets, espionage and eliminating spies."

"Show yourself Zetsu!" Konan commanded immediately after his two halves had stopped speaking.

Doing as he was told, a plant-like figure rose from the floorboards. "Very well my lovely lady. You are looking as fine as ever."

Never having been hit on by Zetsu before, Konan was slightly flattered but kept her poise as she looked over at him, noticing he had his Akatsuki cloak on. "Why is it you have arrived? We are not like the last dawn and do not plan on ruling this world as the last regime did."

Both sides of Zetsu simply smirked at Konan as he tilted his head before the black side responded. "My, have you mistaken why we originally joined? It was never about power or anything like that. It was simply for the thrill of being apart of something greater then our self. We care not whether this world is torn asunder or is at peace. We simply want to be on the side that brings forth change as this world is quite boring now."

"Besides, whether or not you like it you are in need of our abilities. Now as we asked, would you like to keep others from discovering this little rally you just had?" The white half of Zetsu added, grinning as he did so which in turn made Konan frown as she knew he was playing them for fools.

"If you could." Naruto responded, making Konan's neck nearly snapped as she turned to him. "I admit we are rather short on ninjas that excel in espionage these days. You would be an asset we would value greatly… But I will let you join on one condition. …Was I Madara's final plan?"

The question silenced the entire room. Each knew what Naruto was hinting at, having been told of Naruto's reoccurring nightmares of Madara's Tsukiyomi. If that was true… Was what they were doing wrong? Were they just playing into the Uchiha's hand?

Zetsu simply shook his head before white answered. "We would not know that. Madara never once thought he would fail, so we cannot say for certain that you were. It could have very well have been the other Uchiha as well."

Staring at the two halved man for a moment, detecting whether or not he was being truthful, Naruto closed his eyes and nodded. "Then go. Make sure no news of this gets out but be discrete about it. I want Sakura and my return to go off without a hitch."

"We're on it." The black half chimed before Zetsu sunk into the floor to complete his task.

After a moment, making sure he wasn't there any longer, Konan turned to Naruto. "He could be a spy for all you know! He was faithful to Madara to the end so what makes you think he would be on our side for this!"

"Simple… He desires change; that much I see." Naruto retorted as he tried to put Konan at ease. "He was loyal to Madara for that reason alone and he will be loyal to our cause for that said reason. Danzo and others like him don't offer him what he desires as they simply want power, something he is bored with. For that reason, I know he will not betray us."

Konan wasn't entirely convinced and neither were Gaara and Sakura, both of whom were gazing/glaring at him before the former spoke. "Was it because… He spoke the truth that you accepted him?"

Naruto tilted his head slightly in confirmation. "That had a little to do with it. I wouldn't have accepted him otherwise but… I truly believed in what he said. He doesn't care what the world we want is like… He just wants something new to play with and while he may be a dangerous element later on, for now he is a valuable asset and we must accept that."

Having placated the three, Naruto closed his eyes once more before he was forced to open them as Sakura shook his shoulder. "Shouldn't we go over how we're going to travel back to Konoha and go over the story so we get it right?"

Sighing as he rather just take a nap at the moment, Naruto shook his head. He had to get this over with.

"Okay… I really wished I traveled with Sakura." Naruto complained to himself was he walked alone in the forest, no longer wearing his Akatsuki cloak and instead donning his normal clothing with a fixed head band along with his sage cloak. "Not only is it boring to talk to only myself but the scenery is the same. Tree after tree after tree…"

"Now you know what we have to go through every day." Zetsu's white side stated appearing out of the tree Naruto was standing next to.

Naruto just barely kept himself from jumping and screaming out in surprise. Zetsu was simply too stealthy and that on its own was a problem as he was rather good at sensing others. "How was Sakura's acceptance back into the leaf?"

"It went off just as planned. We had to rough her up a little to make her story credible. Using us as the kidnapper was actually rather intelligent move as we still are a known part of the last regime. Shall we do the same?" The black side reported as Zetsu tilted his head a little, seeming excited at the prospect.

Shaking his head at that, Naruto raised his eyebrow at him for a moment before deciding to make camp here. "Not at the moment. I'm still a good ways away and it will take a little while before a team is sent out to see that I return. I want you to be look out for them and when they are close, we'll start fighting and you will use them to make your escape."

"Meh… I liked our way better, but that is more believable. You did kill Madara." Zetsu stated before sinking into the ground and head in the direction of Konoha to watch for the retrieval unit to uphold his portion of the task.

Sighing as he hoped this would work and nothing would go wrong, Naruto began to set up camp. He would have to hide it well to make sure there was no evidence, but he couldn't just stay here and do nothing. …Well he did have a certain book.

Forgetting about making camp, Naruto looked all around him to make sure Zetsu wasn't around. Reaching into his pouch, he started to pull out the greatest creation for all perverts when he stopped.

His entire body flickered in and out of existence before he hit his knees and began to dry heave. The feeling… It had come from his stomach. Was this the fox's doing? …No, the fox wouldn't do this now. The control he had slipped away from him as Naruto was in complete control as of now. So what was that…?

Convulsing as his entire body flickered once more, Naruto's hands hit the ground as he clawed at it trying to gain some sort of grip. But this was an unearthly feeling… Something was tugging on him, trying to draw him away from here… No not him… Someone was trying to summon…

His body's flickering become more constant and he was no longer able to concentrate on his thoughts. All there was… Was pain.

"Hey wake up!" Clare's voice screech in his ear, forcing Naruto's eyes open and jerking his head back… Right into the tree he was leaning against.

Cursing as he rubbed the back of his head as Clare laughed, he twitched at the girl she finally got a hold of herself. "Aren't we suppose to be training? You dozed off again in Miss' Luciela's apple grove again."

Suddenly a dozen apples all fell onto Naruto's head followed by the branch, making the young man curse more then before as he looked up to see Teresa eating a single apple with Irene sitting next to her with a smirk on her face as she sheathed her claymore. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Slouching on your training." Teresa responded simply as she ate the apple, glad that they had finally found out how to annoy Naruto just like had done to them, mostly her, before.

"For you information, I was thinking." Naruto retorted as he was half tempted to fill the tree with explosive notes but thought better of it. Luciela would be very pissed as she loved her apple trees as she grew them from seeds… Which made him wonder how old she was as these trees were rather mature.

Teresa snorted as she noted Luciela entering the area, no doubt searching for Naruto for some reason that probably involved either not being in the house the last few days or the fire he had accidentally set to yet another garden of hers. "Yeah and I like to have alone time to study life."

Groaning as he didn't want to prolong this, and also because if he had countered her with what popped into his mind he would have been missing a head, he turned to see Luciela enter the apple grove, looking rather irked. "Naruto… Where were you last night? I slept alone again!"

Not wanting to say anything that would bury his grave, like she gravitated towards the bed he slept in every night after he fell asleep alone, Naruto decided for a different approach. "I was thinking about my world and I guess I dozed off and relived those moments in my dreams."

Already being irritated, Luciela took a deep breath to calm herself before she scowled at him. "I see… Did you at least get anything good out of those dreams? Maybe those two were in the dream… Perhaps you were having se…!"

"DO NOT SAY THAT WORD IN FORNT OF CLARE!" Teresa yelled at Luciela, interrupting her by pegging her in the face with the apple core of the apple she had been eating.

Growling, half tempted to forsake this was her apple grove and maul the Claymore, Luciela threw it back at Teresa who simply caught it as she was prepared. Pissed at this, Luciela was ready to forget about Naruto and teach the Claymore mother a lesson when Naruto stopped them both. "Actually I did… I finally figured it out. I was summoned here."

This brought the attention back onto Naruto, which he was glad for as another fight between Luciela and Teresa would not end well. They had nothing to say about it as it made sense, but now it begged the question…

"Now who was it that summoned me?"