74Sorry for the late updates. Alright, another chapter here for you guys. I do not own Naruto or Seven Deadly Sins, nor do I get any monetary gain for any work I publish. AN at the bottom.
Thought: Kyuubi
Speaking: Kyuubi
Radio/Phone Etc: Kyuubi
Jutsu/Deity: Kyuubi
Scene Change: xxXXxx
xxXXxx
Naruto was in the Mission Control room early the next morning. He had decided to forgo training for the day, and take Jericho on a mission to see how she handled a real life mission where anything could happen.
He knew that she probably already went on missions with the Weird Fangs, but he wanted to see where she stood with his own eyes. This would be a good test for her, and he'd be there just incase anything went wrong.
He had already received his mission, a simple bandit problem in a town about fifty miles to the west of the kingdom. It was perfect for a simple evaluation, and should hopefully be easy to handle.
He also didn't want to take anything too hard, or that might take too long, since he had a meeting with the king two days from now, and he knew that horses could get there in only a few hours at most. With a smile Naruto made his way towards the training ground.
He wasn't surprised to once more find Jericho there already training when he reached. This time he decided not to sneak up on her, even though he was sure that her reaction would be hilarious.
"Hey, Jericho, come here for a minute." He said catching her attention. She immediately stopped what she was doing and walked over to him, a smile now adorning her face.
"Good morning, Naruto. Are you ready to begin training?" She asked.
"No, I've got other plans for us today." He said as he handed her the mission paper. Jericho looked over the mission with a confused look.
"Are you going on a mission?" She asked since she knew it couldn't be helped. They both knew that missions were a part of their jobs, and had agreed to schedule training around them.
She figured that he had come to give her some instructions on what type of training he wanted her to do while he was gone. "No, we're both going on this mission." This response from the blond surprised her quite a bit.
"You mean that you're taking me out on a mission with you?" She asked.
"Yep, and you're in charge of it." Jericho couldn't help but to widen her eyes at this.
"What do you mean by 'I'm in charge'? Shouldn't you be the one leading since you outrank me?"
"While normally the answer to that would be yes, I want to see how well you can handle a real life situation. So you'll be in charge of the entire operation, and I'll follow your commands."
"I've never led a mission before though. What if I mess up or something?" Asked the girl a bit frantically. Naruto could tell that she was a bit worried about leading, but that's why he would be there.
"Don't worry, I'll be there and take control if things get out of hand. This is just so that you can get confidence in running a mission, and to see how you'd handle the situation." Replied Naruto calmly.
He had faith that Jericho would be able to handle this mission, it was a pretty easy one after all. He watched as Jericho seemed to consider the whole situation before she looked at him with a determined look.
"Okay, I'll do it." She said, which brought a smile to the blonds face. "If he believes in me this much, then I wont let him down. I'll make sure and do my best to show him that I'm ready for this." She thought to herself.
"Good, now we'll have to go and inform the Weird Fangs that you'll be with me for a few days." Said Naruto as the two left the training grounds and headed towards the Weird Fangs base.
Once they reached their destination, it didn't take long for Jericho to gather her equipment and explain the situation to her superiors. Soon the two were on their way towards the gate of the kingdom.
As the duo arrived, Jericho started looking around in anticipation. "So, how are we doing this?" She asked a bit too excitedly.
"That's you call. From this moment until we're done, or I have to take control, you're in charge." Replied Naruto, to which Jericho nodded.
"Alright, fine. The first thing we'll have to do is get to the town as quickly as possible." Said Jericho as she began thinking. She knew she wasn't that fast, but she also knew that Naruto was.
Instantly an idea came into her head, but she would have to play it cool. "Since I'm not really that fast, how about you carry me?" She asked, though she couldn't stop herself from looking at the ground.
Naruto gave the girl a confused look. "Why would you want me to carry you?" He asked, but Jericho was prepared for this question.
"Well, because you're faster than the horses. That means we can get there faster and get rid of these bandits that are harassing that poor town." She said, trying to sound serious. Naruto just nodded his head in agreement.
"That makes sense. I can get us there in no time, and we can handle the situation. Good call." Said Naruto as he gave her a thumbs up and a grin. Jericho was just glad that he bought that excuse.
"So, I guess we should go." Said Jericho, to which Naruto nodded.
"Alright, how do you want to ride?" Asked Naruto, which immediately caused Jericho to begin blushing as she started having some very dirty thoughts, but she knew that he didn't mean it like that.
"I-I'll ride on you back, to make carrying me easier." She said. She couldn't let him carry her bridal style, especially not after the thoughts he had just put in her head. Naruto nodded as he kneeled down so she could get on his back.
Jericho was quick to get on, while wrapping her arms around his neck, and placing her head on his left shoulder. Naruto moved his hands to beneath her knees and held tight, to make sure that she didn't fall. "Are you ready?" He asked.
Jericho just held on tighter while seemingly melding her body into his back. "Yeah, I'm ready." She said. Naruto nodded and took off, his speed actually surprising her a bit. She watched in amazement as they easily began traveling to their destination.
Seeing how fast Naruto was going, and that was without using his magic, made her wonder how fast the blond actually was. She also began to wonder if she could realistically ever match up to him, or if that was just a pipe dream.
Naruto, being in such close proximity to Jericho, could easily feel her negative emotions. He looked back at her face, and could see the sad look that she was sporting. "Is everything okay?" Asked the blond in concern.
"It's nothing, just thinking about some things." Replied Jericho as she tried to force a smile, but couldn't help but wonder if she was wasting both of their time right now. Naruto could tell that she wasn't being honest, but he'd wait for her to want to talk.
"Alright, but if you ever need to talk or anything you know you can come to me, right?" He asked. This actually got Jericho to give him a real smile and a nod, which got the blond to smile back at her as well.
With that, the two Knights continued on to their destination. With Naruto's traveling speed, a trip that would've taken a few hours at least by horse had been completed in less than five minutes.
Jericho once more couldn't help but marvel at the difference in power between them. If she had tried to run this, she might've been able to do it at the same speed as horseback. Oh she had impressive speed of course, able to dissapear in the blink of an eye, but she couldn't continuously move at that speed.
She honestly couldn't wait until she could reach this level, and she would do her best to make sure she did. As the two finally reached the outskirts of the town, Naruto stopped upon a hill that overlooked it.
The whole thing was about five miles in diameter, and clearly there wasn't really much people that lived here, with there probably being only around a hundred citizens at best, give or take a few dozen.
"Where do you think we should go first?" Asked Jericho. She wanted to get some advice from the blond since he never said that she couldn't.
"Well, our first stop should be the Mayor's Office, since that was where the mission request came from." Replied Naruto. He was glad to help out, since that was what teammates were for.
"Alright then, let's go and find the Mayor. We'll walk from here." Said Jericho as she got down from the blonds back. It probably wouldn't paint a good picture if she came into town riding on his back, and would probably cause people to not take her as seriously.
With that the two Knights quickly entered the city, and was immediately receiving wary looks from the citizens. It was as if they expected the two to attack at any second, which was probably due to their bandit problem.
"Everyone looks so sad and afraid." Whispered Jericho as she took everything in.
"Yeah, I guess things might be worse than we initially thought." Replied Naruto in agreement. "Let's just find the Mayor so we can see what we need to do." He finished. With that the two continued to try and find the Mayor's office.
They had tried to ask the citizens, but every time they tried to talk to or approach one they quickly left. That meant they had to look the old fashioned way. Luckily the town wasn't too big, so it didn't take them long to find their destination.
"So, I guess this is it." Said Jericho as the two looked at the one story building with a sign that read 'Mayor's Office' on it. With that the two entered the building, but was caught by surprise by what was going on inside.
"Has there been any word from them?"
"Do we even know what it is they're looking for?"
When will they return our families?"
They've been tearing this town down looking for something for months, but what?"
"They've started getting more impatient and violent. We can't let this continue."
These were some of the things that the two were hearing from the crowd before them. It looked like the people were ready to start a riot with how they were acting. Jericho looked at Naruto, but he just shrugged at her.
"You're in control, remember." He said, to which she nodded. The young apprentice then proceeded to try and get the mobs attention, but everyone was making too much noise for her to be heard.
"Excuse me!" She tried, but her voice was easily drowned out by everyone else. "Can I speak to whoever's in charge?" Still, nobody paid her any mind. Finally having enough, Jericho snapped. "WILL YOU ALL BE QUIET!" She shouted.
That worked to get the attention she wanted, but with the way that the people were looking at her, she knew she had to speak up fast. "I'm looking for the Mayor. We are the Holy Knight's sent from Liones upon their request." She said.
"I'm right here." Said a voice as a hand shot up in the air from the back, which was previously the front, of the crowd. Jericho and Naruto watched as the person who had spoken slowly made their way through the crowd.
Soon, the speaker made an appearance. It was a slightly overweight man with brown hair and eyes. He was wearing a three piece tan suit with a white shirt, black shoes, and was wearing glasses.
He quickly approached Jericho and held his hand out for a shake. "Good day, I'm Mayor West." Said the man. Jericho quickly shook the man's hand as she did her own introductions.
"Jericho, and this is my acquaintance, Naruto. We were sent to handle your bandit problem." She said, to which the Mayor nodded as he filed the names in his memory.
"Yes, I'm glad that you made it here so fast. We had just put that request in yesterday, so I'm glad that we got such a quick response." Said the Mayor.
"We Holy Knights aim to serve the people of this kingdom to the best of our abilities." Replied Jericho. "So, can you inform me of the situation?" She asked. The Mayor gave her a nod.
"Of course. If the two of you would please follow me to my office so we can speak in private." Said the man. With that he began leading them away from the crowd, which seemed to have calmed down some.
It didn't take the trio long before they reached the mayors office. As the Mayor opened the door, allowing them to enter first, and he came in last and closed the door behind him. "Please, have a seat." He said, as he gestured to the two armchairs that were in the room.
"We'd rather stand." Replied Jericho. She was taking this serious, since she wanted to prove herself. The Mayor just nodded as he sat behind his desk. He then went into his desk in search of something.
Soon he pulled out a folder, which he placed on his desk as he spoke. "For the past five months, a group of bandits have been targeting this town in search of some hidden treasure. We don't know what, or where, this treasure is, but they seem to be getting impatient."
"If they've been harassing you all for five months, then why are you just asking for help now?" Asked Jericho in confusion.
"That's because at first they weren't really doing anything to us. They were actually paying us to help them look, but, after searching for so long they began to get impatient and attacking the citizens. Then, two days ago, they took a few of our people."
"Why did they take people all of a sudden?" Asked Jericho.
"They say that it's incentive, for us to look harder. They threatened that if they didn't get the treasure by the end of the week, they'd kill their hostages. Then they would continue until we either find the treasure, or until we're all dead."
Jericho just looked over the contents of the folder she had been given. It was the locations of where they had already searched, along with notes on who all were taken and how much potential bandits there were and where they were stationed.
After she finished studying the folder, she passed it off to Naruto for him to look over. "So, I'm guessing that you want us to apprehend these criminal and free your citizens, am I right?" Asked Jericho.
"Yes, that's right. We don't know where this supposed treasure is, if it's even still here, or if it even exists. We can't afford to leave the lives of innocent people up to chance." Said the Mayor, solemnly.
Jericho nodded as she looked over at Naruto, who just gave her a nod. "We'll see what we can do." She said. With that she turned to leave the room, with Naruto following behind her.
As the two were exiting the building, Naruto spoke for the first time in a while. "You handled that pretty well." He praised, which got Jericho to beam. She was glad that she wasn't letting him down.
"So, how do you think we should handle this?" She asked the blond for his opinion. She might be in charge, but Naruto had more experience with these type of things. She would get advice from him since people's lives were in danger.
"Well we know that there are at least twenty known members of this group, and that they've taken fifteen people. We know where they hang out, but we don't know where they're keeping the hostages. For that reason I say we need to do some scouting."
Jericho slowly nodded at this. She could see the reason behind his choice, but knew that she'd be useless in doing so. She wasn't really stealthy, just like every other knight besides Naruto. They were more about frontal assaults, not sneaking around in the shadows.
"I'm not sure if I'll be of any use with that." Said Jericho, truthfully. Naruto just smiled at her.
"I know, which is something we'll be working on when we get back to training. For now though, I'll do the scouting, and let you know what I find." Jericho quickly agreed with the plan.
"Alright then. See what you can find out, then report back to me in an hour." She said. Naruto nodded, and was about to walk off, but Jericho stopped him. "And Naruto, make sure to be careful." She said with some worry in her tone.
Naruto just gave her his signature grin and a thumbs up. "As you command." He said playfully, which caused Jericho to let out a small giggle at his antics. Naruto then disappeared from view in a blur.
"Please, be careful." She thought to herself as she saw Naruto dissapear. While she knew he was powerful, she couldn't help but to be worried about him. "Now, what the hell am I supposed to do?" She wondered to herself.
She had an hour until Naruto was suppose to return, which left her with some time to herself. She really didn't know what to do at this time, since she knew that when Naruto returned they'd be heading off to handle the situation.
She then began to wonder if she shouldn't have just let Naruto handle it right away. She was pretty sure that he could, but then what would she have contributed to the mission? No, it was better that she helped him and show she could handle herself.
With those last thought, Jericho decided to go and find someplace to relax until Naruto returned. She knew that he'd be able to find her easily, since he had a knack for doing things like that.
xxXXxx
With Naruto, the former Shinobi was making his way towards the bandit camp. He had activated his Sage Mode already, and could tell where everyone was in the camp. He could also tell that there were thirty-one bandits in the camp.
He quickly entered the forest where the camp was, and proceeded quickly to his destination. He soon came upon the scraggly looking group with makeshift tents all around and a few fires.
He then noticed a cage in the middle of the camp, which held the fifteen captured townsfolk. They were a mixture of men, women and three kids. Naruto knew they were scared, but at least they didn't seem to be injured.
The most surprising thing for Naruto, was the fact that there was a mage in the group of bandits also. He could sense the person's magic, which was what he was most interested in.
"Whoever that is might just be the leader of this whole group." Thought Naruto, especially since the magic signature was coming from the largest tent. "I might as well go and inform Jericho." He finished.
That raised another problem for Naruto though. While he wanted to go and get Jericho, he also didn't want to just leave even if he was coming right back. He would've already put an end to this whole thing himself, but this was for Jericho to gain experience.
So instead the blond made a clone to go and contact Jericho. H would stay here so that he could move instantly if the situation called for it. Only because they weren't really hurting their hostages physically Naruto didn't attack.
The clone immediately made its way to Jericho's location, which didn't take long. He was quick to find her walking through town, and instantly appeared right next to her. "Yo, Jericho." He said.
Jericho would deny to the very end that she squeaked, jumped, or anything like that when she heard Naruto speak suddenly from beside her. As she finally got herself back under control, she just had to ask.
"What the hell are you doing back already? It's only been ten minutes since you left." Her heart was still beating a bit erratically, but it was getting back to normal.
"I'm done already. I've found the bandits, their hostages, and found out that they have a mage with them that's most likely the leader." Replied 'Naruto' with a grin. Jericho just began to rub her forehead.
"Of course you've already found all of that out. I don't even know why I gave you an hour when I knew you wouldn't need it." She grumbled a bit to herself.
"Yeah, I didn't. Anyway, I'm going to take you back to the camp so that we can handle this." Said the clone. With that, he moved and picked the poor girl up bridal style and took back off towards the original.
"Wh-Why the hell are you carrying me?" Asked Jericho in a bit of embarrassment.
""Well, I figured that we should get this done as soon as possible. So, I'll carry you to make the trip shorter." Was the reply. Jericho couldn't argue with his logic, so she just silently enjoyed the experience.
Soon they came upon the camp, and Jericho was set down. "Alright, the hostages are in the cell in the middle of camp. There are thirty-one hostiles, with one of them being a mage on the level of a Holy Knight that's in the largest tent." Said the clone.
Jericho took all of this info in as she observed their targets. They would have to handle this carefully, especially if there was really someone here on the level of a Holy Knight. "Our main goal is the hostages, so I'm thinking divide and conquer." She said.
"What's the plan?"
"Simple. One of us distracts the camp, while the other moves in to free the slaves." The clone nodded and went to stand.
"Alright, I'll distract them, and you get the hostages clear." Said the clone, but he was stopped when Jericho grabbed his arm.
"Actually, I was thinking that I'd distract, and you'd extract." She said.
"Are you sure you can handle that?" Asked the clone. Jericho contemplated the question for a bit, before nodding with determination.
"Yeah, I can handle it." She said, as she held "Naruto's' gaze. The clone could see she was ready, so decided to go with it.
"Alright then, I'll move when you have their attention." Said the clone. Jericho nodded and took off to a different location to prepare. The clone also moved to another location so that he could get to the hostages easier.
xxXXxx
Meanwhile, the original Naruto was watching to see how everything turned out. He would just observe for now, unless something happened that required him to take action. He trusted that Jericho could handle the situation.
Soon, he saw Jericho casually approaching the camp, which quickly caught the attention of all of the bandits. Soon he saw them all watching Jericho's approach, which was exactly what his clone needed if they were doing what he was thinking.
His hunch was proven right when he saw his clone casually sneaking through the camp while making his way towards the cage. He watched as the clone reached the cage while calming the people down, and wasted no time with breaking the lock.
Seeing that his clone was handling the situation well, which was expected, he decided to turn his attention towards Jericho. All of the bandits were crowding around her, with none of them even seeming to see her as a threat because she was a pretty girl, even with the sword strapped to her waist.
They seemed more interested in trying to get with her than anything else, which caused Naruto to frown as he reached for his sword. If any of those bastards tried anything, then he'd remove a few inches from their bodies.
His worry seemed to be misplaced however, as Jericho was putting on a pretty good act. She was looking flustered and scared, which made the bandits around her see her as even less of a threat.
That all ended when one of the bastards tried to grab her. Naruto was about to move, but as he watched the happenings going on, he quickly came to the realization that he wouldn't be needed.
He simply sat back and continued to observe. By this point his clone had already led the hostages away, so there was no real need for stealth anymore. Now, their only objective was to take out the group.
Since the leader hadn't made a move yet, and Jericho seemed to be handling the situation while his clone was leading the hostages to safety, Naruto decided to just sit back and observe. He would use this to get a better assessment of Jericho's abilities as well.
xxXXxx
Jericho was feeling a bit disappointed at this point. While she knew that she could take care of these guys quite easily, she was also hoping for more of a challenge. These guys were just plain disappointing, something that made her sigh.
She continued to dodge crappy sword swings, and many blunt weapons that were being wielded by her opponents. Not a single one of them seemed to know how to properly fight.
Maybe she should've just let Naruto handle this part, but she wanted to do a bit of showing off, but instead it was more like she was taking advantage of these guys. "I wonder how Naruto's doing?" She thought.
She took a quick glance at the cage, only to see that it was already completely empty. Of course he would've already been finished with his part, which meant that it was time for her to end this as well.
With that, Jericho disappeared in a blur, only to reappear seconds later behind the remainder of the group. As she slid her blade back into it's scabbard, all of the bandits around her simply fell to the floor unconscious.
She then proceeded to brush her bang out of her eye, while looking around to make sure that she had taken everyone down. Seeing all of her opponents unconscious, she started thinking on what to do next.
"Naruto's not back yet, but the leader is still present. If I take him out, then Naruto's sure to praise me." She thought with a smile on her face. With that she moved to approach the tent where the supposed leader was.
Just as she was a few feet from the entrance of the tent, someone exited. The person was a tall man who looked to be in his early thirties with hazel eyes and short brown hair. He was wearing black pants and shoes, a dark blue long-sleeved shirt that was unbuttoned at the neck, and a black vest over that.
"My name is Michael. May I ask the name of my assailant?" Asked the man, Michael, as he studied Jericho. The apprentice was still holding her weapon, and looked ready for a fight.
"My name is Jericho, and I am a Knight of the kingdom of Liones." Replied Jericho. She was tense, and ready to move at a moments notice. Naruto had said that this guy was on the level of a Holy Knight after all.
Michael simply looked around the camp to see everyone else unconscious and the captives gone. "Hmm, you seem to have messed up my plans a bit. I'm assuming that the townsfolk contacted you?" He said while sounding bored and looking relaxed, which annoyed Jericho.
"Yeah, they did. And sorry about taking out your crew and everything, but I don't like people who take advantage of others." Said Jericho with a smirk. The man just continued to stare at her as he began walking forward.
"Well, that's too bad. I was trying to give those people a fighting chance, but now I guess I'll just have to kill everyone, including you of course." Said Michael, who still sounded quite bored as if he wasn't talking about massacring an entire town.
"Oh yeah, well try it you bastard." Growled Jericho. She knew that there were some fucked up individuals in the world, but this was the first time that she had actually met one.
"Oh, I plan to." With that final statement, Michael disappeared. It was only due to her training with Naruto, even though they only had one session, that allowed Jericho to sense the attack coming from behind her.
She quickly spun around and used her sword to block Michael's blade, which looked like it had been made out of ice. It was a light blue broadsword, and Jericho could see frost creeping up onto her sword from where their blades men.
She quickly jumped back to evaluate the situation, which Michael didn't even try and stop her from doing. Instead he just stood there with his same bored look on his face, as if he wasn't even taking any of this seriously.
"What the hell is up with this guy?" Thought Jericho as she looked over her partially frozen blade. She was glad that Michael's ice sword hadn't touched her directly, or else she'd be in a lot of trouble right now.
"Why are you doing all of this?" Asked Jericho in a bid to buy some time. She needed to come up with a plan to beat this guy, or at the very least hold out until Naruto returned. So, for now she'd stall until whichever option came first.
"My reasons are my own, but just know that this land holds a great treasure. With it, I can do many great things." Michael said with a small smile, the first change of emotion that she had seen from the man.
"It's always about dumb shit like that with people like you, isn't it?" Inquired Jericho, who was getting a bit mad. He had messed with the lives of numerous people, and only to get his hands on some damn treasure.
"I don't expect you to understand my ambitions, so I'll save my breath. The only thing I'll do now, is kill you where you stand." With that Michael got into a ready stance, with his blade poised to strike.
Jericho also got ready to evade, or block, if necessary. She would mostly evade so as to not damage her weapon more than it already was, and try to counterattack when the opportunity arose.
"Well then, come at me you bastard." Growled Jericho. Then, the two combatants rushed each other, with one being noticeably faster than the other. The two clashed continuously, with Jericho doing her best to evade everything that she could.
xxXXxx
The original Naruto was still just observing the proceedings. He had contemplated jumping in when Michael had revealed himself, but had decided against it. The reason for this was because he wanted Jericho to get a true life or death battle under her belt now.
Jericho knew that Naruto wouldn't actually try and kill her in their training, just push her to her limits. So this would be a good experience for her to learn how different such battles could be, especially since she had Naruto watching over her.
Of course the blond wasn't just going to sit there and let her die, he would just allow her to try on her own. If she started getting overwhelmed, or her life got endangered, then he would move immediately to handle the situation.
But until such a time came, he would simply observe. He knew that Jericho would grow exponentially from this experience where she had to actually give a fight her all, and he would allow her to do so.
"I don't think that her blade can take much more." Thought Naruto after a few minutes of watching the duo go at it. Jericho had been doing quite well, but he knew that her equipment was taking too much of a beating.
As if to prove his assumption right, Naruto watched as Jericho's blade shattered as the girl was sent staggering back from the blow. He watched as Michael prepared for a killing blow and was about to move to help, until he sensed that he didn't have to.
xxXXxx
Jericho was in a bad position. Her weapon had just broke, and now she was practically sprawled out on the floor wide open for an attack. Michael did not waste such a golden opportunity to attack.
Jericho watched as he rushed at her, with his blade ready to pierce her through, and prepared to move. She might be tired, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as when she had sparred with Naruto.
Just as she was about to make her move, her vision was blocked by a familiar person. She watched, almost in slow motion, as Michael pierced through her protector with his blade, and her blood ran cold.
The person before her was Naruto, and she could see that his body was beginning to quickly freeze due to the attack he had taken for her. She couldn't stop the tears that formed in her eyes from this revelation.
"W-Why?" Asked the girl in shock, but all she got was that blasted smile of his.
"I'd never let anything happen to you when I'm around." Replied 'Naruto in a wheezy breath. She could already see the frost creeping up his neck, and knew what was coming next.
"I could've dodged that attack! You didn't have to get in the way!" Said Jericho, who was now crying loudly. She couldn't believe that Naruto had just thrown his life away like that.
"Sorry, my body just moved on its own when I saw that you were in danger." Jericho began crying even louder at this as she tried to grab onto Naruto, but his body began to break apart due to the touch which caused her to recoil.
"Please, I don't want you to go." Cried Jericho as she watched the frost finally cover Naruto's head, which showed that it was too late.
"How pathetic. I should've known that there were more of you." Said Michael in his same bored tone as he pulled his sword out of the blond. This had the effect of shattering the rest of the blond into tiny pieces.
Jericho just looked over the scene with a look of horror on her face. She couldn't believe what had just happened in the last few minutes, and could only rationalize that she was having a bad dream.
"If all you're going to do is sit there and cry, then I'll just use this time to end you like I did the other weak bastard." Said Michael. This immediately got a reaction from Jericho.
"Don't talk about him. Don't you DARE TALK ABOUT HIM." She shouted in rage. With that one statement, Jericho began to release al of her anger and other emotions of the situation.
xxXXxx
The original Naruto could only face-palm when he saw his clone take an attack that was easily avoidable. This was one of the main issues with clones, they had no sense of self preservation.
That was why they would jump in front of attacks, or take hits, that they could've easily avoided. They literally didn't care for their own lives at all. Now, because of that, Jericho was going through an emotional turmoil because she thought that he was dead.
Naruto quickly jumped down from his perch in order to try and quickly get to Jericho, but he immediately found himself frozen in place. This wasn't due to some strong killing intent or power output, which Jericho was doing both, but because his legs were literally frozen to the ground where he stood.
Jericho was literally freezing everything in her grief, and she was doing it quickly. It was only thanks to the use of his Boil Release that Naruto didn't get any more frozen, but sadly Michael and his goons didn't have such an ability.
Naruto watched as the man's face turned into one of shock and horror once he started freezing over. "No, this can't be happening!" He exclaimed as his body was freezing, while Jericho continued to release her anguish.
With a final scream and pulse of magic, which Naruto sensed and was prepared for, a burst of ice went around and turned everything into ice. Finally Jericho's body slumped to the ground, having fallen unconscious.
Naruto quickly ran over to her and picked her up, while appraising the damage she had caused. "I'm sorry, Jericho. It shouldn't have went this far." Whispered Naruto as he picked her up.
As he began to leave the area, he watched as everything that had been frozen began to break apart into small, microscopic pieces. Everything within a twenty meter radius was now gone, with no trace of it left behind.
This included the forest, the entire campsite, as well as Michael and his crew. The only thing left behind was a barren circle, where it seemed that all life within it had simply ceased to exist.
"Her power is really impressive though." Was Naruto's final thoughts as he began to carry Jericho back toward town. He would handle the rest of the mission proceedings so that Jericho could get some rest, and then he'd explain the situation to her when she awoke.
xxXXxx
It was a few hours later when Jericho finally awoke. She groggily sat up in bed, while rubbing her head to try and alleviate a serious headache. "What the hell happened, and where am I?" She wondered as she looked around at the strange room.
She was feeling extremely tired right now for some reason. The last time that she had felt this drained, was after her and Naruto had their first training session and he pushed her until she was drained.
So why the hell did she feel like this now? Her eyes widened as the memories of her last time awake came rushing back to the forefront of her mind. "No, that didn't happen. It was all just a really bad dream." She tried to rationalize to herself.
She refused to believe that Naruto had died protecting her, even though she knew what she saw was real. In her grief she curled up on the bed while pulling the blanket over her and began to cry, while cursing the idiot for getting in the way of an attack she could've dodged.
"Why! Why did you have to do that?" She thought as she tried to calm herself down. She knew that his death was also partially her fault, which made the negative feelings bubbling up inside her even worse.
If she hadn't tried to take on a superior opponent alone, and had waited for Naruto, they would've been able to take Michael down together. Instead, she had wanted to prove that she could handle things, and had inadvertently caused his death.
So she laid in bed crying for what felt like an eternity, but was only five minutes. She then began to think about what she would tell everyone else when she got back to the kingdom.
Of course a Knight dying on a mission wasn't anything new, but they'd know that it was her fault that someone of Naruto's caliber died. If he hadn't had brought her along, then he could've probably finished this entire mission in a few hours at best with zero problems.
She sunk deeper into the blanket as she continued to cry. She would've continued to so so probably indefinitely, but the jingling of a key, as well as the sound of the door being opened, instantly caught her attention.
She thought that it might've been one of the townsfolk who had most likely brought her here since she remembered passing out, so she didn't bother trying to get up. She just hoped that they would hurry up and leave her alone soon.
Her nose then picked up a delicious scent, which probably meant that whoever it was had brought her something to eat. She doubted that she would be eating anything anytime soon though.
She heard the person moving around the room, and could hear things being set down, but she didn't care. She just wanted this person to hurry up and leave, because she refused to let anyone hear her crying.
She soon noticed that the person didn't seem to have any intention of leaving, especially after she felt a weight drop on the bed. She was about to confront whoever it was, but was stopped by a voice.
"Are you going to hide under there forever, or are you going to help me with all of this food I got?" It asked, which caused Jericho's eyes to widen in shock, hope and a myriad of other emotions. The reason was because she knew that voice.
Instantly the blanket was removed, and she found herself sitting up to peer into a familiar set of blue eyes. She took in his other familiar features as well; his blond hair, tanned skin, and those adorable whisker marks on his cheek.
Her hand moved of it's own accord to run across them, and she found herself shedding tears when she actually felt him there. This wasn't some twisted illusion or anything, this was real.
"Wh-How? I watched you die." She asked, voice full of shock and happiness as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Well, that's going to take some explaining." Replied Naruto and he was about to start, but instantly had to catch Jericho as she lunged at him to give him a hug. If he hadn't been prepared, then they both would've ended up on the floor.
He could immediately feel his shirt getting wet, which coincided with the sound of Jericho crying. He felt terrible about what he had no doubt put her through, so he would let her get it all out.
Naruto just sat there rubbing her back and whispering soothing words into her ears. He knew what it felt like to lose people close to you, so he knew what Jericho had probably been going through when she thought that he was dead.
A few minutes later he noticed that Jericho's crying was slowing down. She still held him tight, but she wasn't crying as bad as she was before. "Do you feel better now?" He asked.
She sniffled a bit as she replied. "Yeah, I do. What the hell happened in that forest, 'cause I was sure that you died. I could literally sense your energy fading and everything." She questioned as Naruto sighed.
"Well, that's because I did technically die. I guess that I should explain everything, but you also need to eat since you've been out for a few hours." With that Naruto brought out a bag that had food in it.
He took all of the food out and spread it over the bed so that they could eat. As the two were enjoying their meal, with Jericho now sitting next to Naruto, he began to explain everything that had happened.
As he was finished, Jericho was looking at him with widened eyes again. "So, wait, you're trying to tell me that you can make copies of yourself." She said, to which Naruto just nodded.
Then, with a single half seal, a copy of him appeared on the bed next to him in a puff of smoke. Jericho immediately reached over to touch the clone, and found that it was actually solid.
"That's incredible." She whispered in awe. Naruto had just become even more amazing, but he had also just showed her that the gap in their abilities were even wider than she had originally thought.
She then had another idea. "Hey, Naruto, do you control the clones or something like that like, are your minds connected?" She asked.
"No, not really. Each one can think for themselves and make their own decision which I have no control over. They do-" Before he could finish, Jericho had grabbed his clone and rushed off to the bathroom. "-transfer their memories back to me." He finished.
He had tried to tell her, but she had ran off before he could. He just hoped that his clone explained it, or that Jericho didn't do anything that might embarrass her or something. "Meh, I'm sure it won't be too bad." He said.
xxXXxx
Inside the bathroom Jericho stood while leaning her forehead on the bathroom door. She knew what she was about to do was both reckless and could probably end what they had, but luckily she was doing it with a copy.
"Look, Jericho, you need to know tha-" The clone instantly found his sentence stopped due to a pair of soft lips that were pressed against his. He felt Jericho wrap her arms around his neck, and couldn't help but lean into the kiss some more.
It was a few minutes later when the two separated. As they looked at each other, they both began to blush, though Jericho's own was much worse. "W-What was that for?" Asked the clone in a bit of shock, having not expected that to happen.
"That was something that I wanted to do for a while. The truth is that I really like you, but I've been holding off on telling you until I could move up from being an apprentice. But then I thought that you had died, and I wouldn't get a chance to tell you how I felt."
Naruto just took everything in stride. He could tell that Jericho's feelings were genuine, but he had to know something. "Why did you want to wait until you moved up from apprentice?" He asked.
"So that I could at least be on a slightly closer level to you. I wanted to be able to show you that I can stand side by side with you." She replied with a massive blush on her face. The clone just smiled at that.
"What makes you think that you had to be on my level? I really don't care about things like that." Said the clone, but Jericho just sighed.
I know you probably don't, but I wanted to do it for myself. But then I thought that you had died earlier, so I decided to just get it out. In truth I was going to confess to the real you, but I'm glad that you had this ability."
Well, why don't you go and confess to the boss?"
"No! I can't do that, not now. I almost got you killed because I wasn't strong enough, I won't let that happen again." Replied Jericho with determination burning in her eyes. "I'll train and make myself better. And then, when I've gotten strong enough, I'll confess to him."
The clone nodded as he accepted her wishes. He would've told her that the original would be getting his memories, but decided against that. He wouldn't put her in another needless situation right now.
"So, is that it?" Asked the clone, to which Jericho nodded.
"Yeah, that's it." With that, the clone went up in another puff of smoke. Jericho took that time to take in her appearance in the mirror. Her eyes were still bloodshot, and her hair was disheveled, but she had never been more happy in her life.
"It actually felt good to get that out." She thought to herself. With that, she exited the room to go back to the original. She exited the bathroom to find Naruto peering into a long, old looking box.
As he looked at her, she could've sworn she saw something in his eyes, but it was gone a moment later. "Hey, come check this out." Said Naruto, which got Jericho to walk over to him and also look inside the box.
What she saw was a rapier that looked to be in far better condition than the box it was occupying. "What's this?" Questioned Jericho as she studied the sheathed blade.
"I have no idea. This was just something that I picked up on while I was doing my scouting earlier." He had sensed the magic in the blade, which was how he had found it to begin with. "The Mayor has already given me permission to keep it." He finished.
"It's really beautiful." Said Jericho as she picked the blade up. Instantly there was a spike in magic as the room began to frost over, which caused Jericho to immediately drop it. "What the hell just happened?" She asked.
"I'm not sure, but it seems that the sword raised your magic when you touched it." Naruto looked over the blade that was now on the floor. He then reached down and picked it up, before handing it back to Jericho.
"What are you doing?" She asked as her magic began to spike again. Naruto just hummed at this.
"Well, it seems that I've found you a new weapon to replace the one you lost." Said Naruto as he turned away. He had no need for the sword, especially since it seemed to raise a person's magic, which he didn't have.
"What! Are you sure that I should have this?" Asked Jericho in surprise. She wasn't expecting Naruto to just let her have something like this after all.
"Of course I'm sure. Don't expect to become reliant on that sword though. I plan on turning that into your trump, not your crutch." He said as he took the sword and put it back in the box it came out of.
"Thank you, Naruto." Said Jericho. Naruto just nodded at her.
"Of course. By the way, we're going to have to get back to the kingdom early tomorrow, since I have a meeting with the king in the afternoon." Jericho once more felt her eyes widen in surprise at this.
"You have a meeting with the King? Why?" She asked, since it wasn't everyday someone got a meeting with the ruler of the kingdom.
"The note they sent said something about honoring me for my achievements so far. That reminds me, do you want to come along?" Jericho just couldn't seem to get a chance for the blush to fade from her face.
"Are you sure that I can? I mean, I wouldn't want to get you in trouble or anything." She asked nervously. While she did want to go, especially with him, she didn't want to cause problems for him.
"Who cares, you're coming. Besides, what kind of party doesn't let the person being honored bring a guest of their choice?" Asked Naruto with his smile on his face.
"Okay, I'll go." Said Jericho with her own smile in place. Now she had to hurry up and get back home so she could pick out something nice to wear, along with deciding how to wear her hair.
She had noticed that Naruto seemed to like her hair down from when they went out last, so maybe she could try and do that again. Her mind was instantly flooded with thoughts on what else she could do to get his attention.
Naruto smiled when he saw the happy look that Jericho had on her face. He was glad that he had managed to get her out of the bad mood that she was in earlier, even if he knew that she wasn't fully over the incident.
He had also received the memories of the clone that Jericho had kissed in the bathroom. He was actually surprised that she liked him like that, especially with the way she normally acted around him.
He would grant her request. He wouldn't bring up any of it until Jericho felt that she was ready to tell him how she felt, and would make sure do his best to train her so she wouldn't have to think that something was her fault because she was too weak.
xxXXxx
The following evening found Jericho and Naruto heading towards the castle. Jericho was wearing a black spaghetti strap dress with a slit coming up to her thighs and black heels. She also had let her hair down again, which she noticed Naruto liked.
She had also noticed how he looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking, a fact that she enjoyed immensely. She was glad that she had picked this dress, even though it wasn't her usual style.
She would normally prefer to dress more masculine, but around Naruto she could just be herself. She had nothing to prove to him because she was a girl, which was why she could be feminine around him.
Naruto himself was now wearing black pants and boots, with a white shirt and his orange jacket that he had bought when he went clothes shopping. He had refused to dress all fancy, or stuffy as he preferred to call it.
"How do I look? Is my hair okay?" Asked Jericho, who was almost a nervous wreck at this point. She had never met the King, so this was a big deal to her.
"Don't worry, you look beautiful." Replied Naruto with his signature grin, which made Jericho's cheeks flush. She then noticed that Naruto didn't even seem slightly uncomfortable with what they were about to do.
"How the hell are you so calm? Have you met the King already?"
"No, I haven't. The reason I'm calm is because I don't really let status define anyone. I'm also a bit excited to find out what type of person I'm working for." Jericho could only shake her head in amusement.
Leave it to Naruto to just not care about such an amazing opportunity. She did find herself calming down a bit thanks to that though, so some good did come out of it. With that, the two made their way to enter the party.
As they reached the entrance to the castle, Naruto pulled out his invitation and passed it to the person who was handling the entrance. The man quickly read over the invite as his eyes widened.
"So, you're the guest of honor." He asked as he looked Naruto over.
"Yeah, that's me." Replied Naruto. The man then looked over at Jericho.
"And you are?" He asked her, but Naruto was quick to reply.
"She's my guest, unless that's a problem?" The man looked over Jericho once more before replying.
"Of course not. I hope you both enjoy." With that he ushered them both into the castle, where they followed the crowd that they hoped would lead them to wherever the party was being held.
"I've never actually been in the castle before. This is amazing." Said Jericho as she was looking around in excitement, while trying to take everything she was seeing in.
'Yeah, but it's a bit much for my tastes." Said Naruto as he really didn't see the need to live in such a big place. The two continued to enjoy the sites until they reached the hall where the party was.
Naruto's presence was instantly announced when they entered, which annoyed him a bit. He looked around to see all of the fancily dressed people that were spread out and enjoying the party.
Soon he was being approached by a few of the other guests, with them asking questions like how he managed to rise up the ranks so fast, what type of magic he used, and what his plan was for while he was a Knight.
Naruto immediately found all of those people annoying, and quickly tried to find some way to get rid of them. His prayers were answered when the King himself arrived at the party, which took all of the attention off of him.
"These people are quite persistent." Said Jericho, who everyone had completely ignored in their quest to find out more about Naruto.
"Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more." Said Naruto as he was glad that they were gone. While he was used to such treatment, it didn't mean that it wasn't annoying at times. "Hey, do you want to get something to eat?" He asked.
Jericho looked over the wide array of different foods that were spread out before her, most of which she had never had in her life. "Sure, I can eat something." With that the two made their way over to the food table.
They each quickly got a plate and began picking foods that they thought either looked and smelled good, or they just wanted to try. As they were picking out their food, a voice spoke from behind them.
"So you're the one who's been rising up the ranks so quickly. It's a pleasure to meet you." The two turned around to address the speaker, and Jericho immediately bowed her head when she saw who it was.
"Your Highness, what an honor." She said from her bowed position, since it was the king himself who had spoken to them. Naruto on the other hand didn't bow, and stared the king right in the eyes.
"That's a pretty long beard, probably the longest I've ever seen. It must've taken a lot of effort to get it like that." Said Naruto nonchalantly, like he was just having a conversation with a random stranger. As far as he was concerned, that was exactly what he was doing.
Jericho, from her bowed position, could feel the sweat accumulating on her brows. She was now truly worried for Naruto. Did he not know that he was speaking to the King, or did he just not care? And how would the King react to this.
They had also caught the attention of everyone else in the room as well, but Naruto paid them no mind. He kept his attention firmly on the King to try and get a glimpse of what kind of person he was.
When the old king began chuckling, Naruto gave him a smile. "You're quite right young man. This thing took effort to grow, and even more to maintain." He said in a jovial tone.
"Yeah, and it looks good on you." Said Naruto since the King was really pulling off his beard. The King once more began to chuckle at this.
"I am King Bartra Liones." Said the King in introductions.
"Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my friend Jericho." Said Naruto, introducing both himself and Jericho. "Is it cool if she stands up now?" He asked. The King gave a nod, and Jericho finally stood up straight again.
She couldn't believe how the conversation between the two were going. "This is a nice party, though it's a bit too extravagant for my tastes." Said Naruto as he thanked the host for the party.
"Well, I just thought that the young man who was putting in so much effort should be rewarded accordingly." Replied Bartra.
"It was nothing, really. In truth I was also quite surprised with the speed of my promotions, but everyone else told me that I deserved them."
"And why exactly did you choose to join the Knights?" Asked the King.
"Well, it was mostly because of what I heard. I was doing some traveling before coming here, and everyone spoke so highly of the Holy Knights. They were the protectors of the people and all that, which was what I wanted to be as well."
"So you wish to keep people safe?"
Yes! I want to keep people safe, as well as make sure the peace that we have lasts. Once I can do that, I'll be happy." Both Jericho and the King were now looking at Naruto in a bit of admiration.
"For someone so young to have such an aspiring dream, I can tell that you'll do great things." Said the King as he held his hand out for a shake. Naruto was quick to comply, but the moment he touched the King he felt a strange sensation.
What Naruto didn't know, was that King Bartra had seen a vision of the future by touching him. In that future was peace and prosperity, and not just on Britannia. The entire world was at peace, and at the forefront of it all was Naruto.
The vision had lasted for only a few seconds, but Bartra had already seen enough. He could tell that the boy before him would do great things for the entire world. Seeing that gave the King a new idea.
"Naruto, I would like to give you a mission." Said the King, which surprised both Naruto and Jericho.
"Sure, whatever you need." Was the blonds reply.
"Wonderful! If you would follow me, please." Naruto looked towards his companion.
"Do you mind waiting here for a bit by yourself?" He asked her, to which she just gave a nod. He had been asked directly by the King to do this, so who was she to argue. With that the King turned around and began to exit the party hall, with Naruto following behind him.
Naruto silently followed the King as he led him down numerous different corridors. He was wondering what exactly it was that the King wanted. "So, where are we going?" He asked while trying to start up a conversation.
"We're almost there." Was the curt reply from Bartra. Naruto silently sighed at this. As they continued walking, a voice Naruto hadn't heard in a few days spoke up.
"Hey, brat, we're heading towards that weird energy signature we sensed a while back." Said Kurama, which made Naruto activate his Sage Mode. He immediately found that Kurama was right.
"What do you think it is?" Asked Naruto since the signature didn't feel like anything else he had sensed in this world, besides the dark energy he felt within it that was worse than what he felt from Dreyfus and Hendrickson.
"I don't know, but I think that we're about to find out." Replied Kurama before going silent again. He was probably just going to observe what was happening, and comment only if he had to.
The duo soon reached an ornate door, which the King gave a quick knock. A muffled 'Coming.' was all that was heard from the other side. Naruto waited for a few seconds before the door finally opened.
Standing before him was a girl with long, silver hair, and blue eyes. She was wearing a robe, and looked like she was getting ready for bed. "Father, is there something you need?" Asked the girl.
This immediately gave Naruto an idea of who this was. "Yes, Elizabeth, I wanted to introduce you to someone." Said Bartra while gesturing to Naruto. "This is Naruto Uzumaki, and he's your new bodyguard."
This got surprised looks from both of the teens. "Are you really sure that you want me for the job? I mean, I just became a Knight a few months ago, even with my promotions." Asked Naruto since he wasn't expecting something like this.
"Oh, I'm sure. You're the best person to have watching my daughter and making sure that she is safe." Replied the King as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"What exactly does this entail, because I have someone that I'm helping to train who I promised to get them stronger, and I never go back on my word." Said Naruto, seriously. He had promised Jericho he would help her, and he wouldn't go back on his word.
"I wasn't aware that you had an apprentice, but you'll still be able to train them and go on missions if you wish." Said the King, which got a sigh of relief from Naruto. He would've turned the whole thing down if he couldn't train Jericho anymore.
"Before I accept, can I have a moment to talk to the princess?" Asked Naruto. The King gave him a scrutinizing gaze, before he nodded.
"You can speak to her privately, but remain in the hall." Said the King. While he knew that Naruto was destined for great things, he also knew that Naruto was a teenage boy, and his daughter, a teenage girl.
He wouldn't allow Naruto to go into her room. While he doubted the young teen would try anything, the father part of him just didn't like the thought. "That's fine." Said Naruto, to which the King nodded and turned away.
I'll be waiting for you around the corner to take you back to the party. You have five minutes." Said the King as he began to walk off. Naruto waited until the man had rounded the corner before he spoke again.
"So, anything interesting that you want to tell me?" He asked the now madly blushing princess.
"Not really, Sir Naruto." She replied respectfully.
'Please, just call me Naruto. I hate all that title crap." Said Naruto with a casual wave.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. As a Knight you deserve respect for what you do for this kingdom." She replied, which annoyed Naruto a bit. No worries, he would get her to drop the Sir in no time.
As he stood there trying to figure the princess out, she spoke again. "Is there something else that you'd like?" She asked a bit meekly. Naruto just sighed.
"There is something that I'd like to know, but I'm not sure if you'd be willing, or even able to answer it." Said Naruto.
"What is it? I promise that I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have." At this Naruto just walked up closer to the princess.
"I'm going to try and get some answers, so I'm sorry for this." He said. With that his right arm began to glow yellow. Before Elizabeth could question what he meant, Naruto rammed his hand into her chest.
Her eyes widened in shock at the action, before she passed out. Naruto quickly caught her and continued to search around in her body, before he found what he was looking for. He quickly pulled his hand out, leaving no trace of damage on the princess.
Naruto had seen all of Elizabeth's memories, and knew that she had no idea about what she was, though Naruto didn't know either. She also didn't know that she had this thing inside of her.
Naruto then looked at what he had pulled out of the girls body. It literally looked like multiple faces of different ages that was spitting another face out in a circle. Seeing it raised just one question for both Naruto and Kurama.
"What the fuck is this?/What the fuck is this?" They both asked at the same time, with neither having any idea of what the hell they were looking at. This had just raised a whole lot more questions, but gave zero answers.
xxXXxx
Alright, I'm done. As I'm sure that some of you may know, Naruto is now holding Elizabeth's curse in his hands. Don't try and assume what's going to happen to it. I can either have Naruto destroy it, or put it back.
Not just because I had Naruto take it out means that it's going to stay out. Also yes, Elizabeth is one of the girls I'm considering for the harem. I already have the story planned out, and know who she's going to end up with.
It could be with either blond, so don't just assume anything until the end. I also don't really like the whole Elizabeth/Meliodas pairing since I only see that relationship being based on manipulation.
The first time, yeah they were in love. Every time after that was just Meliodas using his knowledge to manipulate a new Elizabeth into loving him, which always caused her to have to die early.
He also made sure to keep anyone she might be able to fall in love with away, always keeping a close eye on her at practically all times. The only time that Meliodas was actually away from Elizabeth, was when he became a fugitive.
But don't let my above rant make you believe that the pairing isn't possible in this story. As I said, the only person who knows what's going to happen is me. Once again please read, review, and enjoy.
