12 Guren and Amaru
A/N: I thought I would warn all of my readers now, since many people are already confused either or not this is a harem novel, and the answer is yes.
It is technically a harem novel because Haruka will be getting into a relationship with at least three or four girls, but no more than five at the absolute limit since, he will not actively pursue a harem, and it will just arise as a consequence of his actions.
There will be a lot more female characters in the coming chapters than male ones, but it is mostly just because I either didn't like the implementation of the character in the original, or they weren't fleshed out well.
Sorry if this ruins your enjoyment of the book, but that is just the way it is. As an author, I have to stick to my guns and not be persuaded by the readers at every whim, or else the writing won't be consistent. This doesn't mean that I don't take suggestions or criticism, I just won't change major aspects of the story, such as harem or not, because some people don't enjoy it.
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For such a big complex, there were surprisingly few researchers. My clones, even when using the Byakugan, were only able to find one survivor, and he was a janitor named Soji who was cleaning the bathrooms during the attack. Don'yoku was really putting all his eggs in one basket when he planned this, but thankfully, that means that I can keep all of the research data in the lab for myself.
As Honoka, Soji, and I left the research lab's entrance, we saw Haku, Jugo, Hikari, and Karin rushing over to us with Karin in the lead.
'Ah! Karin must have sensed the Ultimate Summoning Beast's rampage and led everyone here' I thought to myself. My assumption was labeled correct as Haku ran up to me and hugged me tightly before stepping back with Jugo and them both bowing to me.
"Haruka-sama! I am sorry I wasn't there with you to protect you as your shield and sword!" Haku said.
"I agree, Haruka-sama! I am sorry I wasn't able to arrive sooner" Jugo continued.
"*Sigh*... I forgive you this time. Honoka and I were betrayed by someone we trusted, there was no way to predict this outcome" I say. 'I've gotten more used to lying in the last few days. I am surprised that I haven't gotten a...' *Ding* 'Nevermind'
Haku and Jugo look at one another while still bowing before they look up towards me. It is clear that they still feel guilty about it, but I know how to alleviate this. I remembered from a certain anime when a succubus stated to her master that 'rewards and punishments are the way of the world' and that punishing a servant may help them feel relieved of guilt, even if it isn't their fault.
"Haku. You are supposed to be my shield, and even if I didn't consider there to be any danger, you should have still been there to protect me just in case. Jugo. As my companion and servant, you should not have left me alone without permission. Both of you will be navigating the boat on our way to the Land of Fire using your water and wind releases respectively. During this time, Haku, you are not allowed to sleep with me, and Jugo, you will not have any dessert!" I say.
Jugo and Haku both looked shocked at their punishments. Haku looks like she wants to say something, while Jugo is silently drawing circles on the ground while tears silently stream down his face in a classic anime fashion.
"Ara ara! Haruka-san is so mean to his cute servants" Hikari states as she hugs Haku from behind.
Honoka looks at me weirdly, while Karin is looking at Haku with a smug look. She then turns to me and begins to twirl as she moves closer to my side before hugging my arm.
"Well well well, isn't that harsh! I suppose if Haku isn't going to be sleeping with you then your bed is open right?" Karin says as her face flushes and she begins to pant heavily.
'GROSS!' I yell out in my mind. 'Seeing someone do it in an anime or manga is one thing, seeing it done in real life by a child just makes my skin crawl!"
"Thank you but I think I will pass, besides, Honoka and your mom are giving me funny looks," I say, as Honoka and Hikari both quickly turn their heads aways, trying to whistle.
"Um... what about me?" Soji asks, confused, and feeling left out of our interaction.
"Mister Soji, we will be headed to the Land of Fire soon. You are welcome to join us, but if you would like, you can stay here, though I wouldn't recommend it" I say as I point to the forest, where red glowing eyes can be seen glaring at us from the distance.
"I here the Land of Fire is lovely this time of year!" He says as sweat begins to accumulate around his forehead.
"Well then, Soji, Honoka, if there is anything else you need, get it now, because we won't be coming back here."
"I have all of my things back at the research station where we were before," Honoka said.
"All of my stuff is back inside, but from the looks of the barracks, it is buried under the rubble of whatever attacked this place" He said.
"I can provide you with clothes and other necessities on the boat Soji, so we will stop by the research station from earlier, pack our things, and leave. I don't want to stay on this island any longer. I want us to arrive in the Land of Fire by tomorrow."
...
...
...
After arriving back at the boat, and witnessing the spectacle of my clone trying to get George off of a tree branch that he somehow got onto, we get sail just after mid-afternoon.
Apparently, Soji was the former apprentice of Ryoshi and was kidnapped by the researchers to be used as a janitor since none of them wanted to do it, so when he saw the boat and was told of how his old master died, I was expecting him to be sad, but instead, he insisted that he was fine, even cursing Ryoshi in his grave when he found out he never tried to rescue him.
I felt bad for Soji, so I told him he could have the fishing boat and the original boat fare I would pay to Ryoshi as compensation for navigating us to the Land of Fire.
Thankfully, on our way to the Land of Fire, I was able to teach Karin about water-walking, and Jugo, once again, came up with a substitute for training. This time, he tried to master walking on cresting waves as a replacement for water-fall walking, which I was at first skeptical over but turned out to be surprisingly good practice for all of us.
True to my predictions, we arrived in the Land of Fire the next morning, in a small village by the sea.
We landed on the docks to a small crowd, as no one was expecting foreign boats to arrive at this time of year. The major offered us a place to stay while giving Roji his old fishing shack to live in. It seems Roji would be staying at this village as the resident fisherman for the time being.
We were also warned about not interacting with a redheaded girl and purple-haired girl, due to the redhead being infected with a plague and the purple-haired girl having demon-blood.
'Oh great, I wonder who they will be' I thought to myself, as Haku gave me a knowing look.
After setting up George and the Wagon for the night, I left Honoka and Jugo o gather supplies from the town, while Karin, Haku, Hikari, and I gathered information about the plague and demonblood girl. While we didn't get names, I still have a fairly strong feeling I know who they might be, though it could be a coincidence.
Later that night, I took out a few senzu beans and grounded them into a powder before pouring it into a small bag. 'This will work much better to convince people it is a rare medicine' I thought, before heading to bed. Of course, since we were no longer on the boat, Haku took this opportunity to sleep beside me once again. I swear, she is adorable when she smiles in her sleep.
My group set off to meet with the sick girl first thing the next morning. I have a vague idea of who this might be, but if I am wrong, then at least I can do a good deed before I leave. As we approached a dilapidated house, I could hear faint coughing from within. Haku approached my side quickly as we made our way through the gate and up to the door. She was clearly ready to jump to my defense at a moment's notice, as she was once again circling her chakra.
Karin and Hikari looked at one another before entering after me. It still shocks me that, despite there being two adults with us, I, the seven-year-old, am still the leader, though I chalk it up to me asserting my dominance with the events of the Summoning Island. Not because I am the main character. Definitely not.
As I knocked on the door, I was surprised that it was open. "Hello. Is anyone here?" I say. I faintly hear that the coughing has stopped and a purple-haired girl walks out into the hallway from the far room.
"Who are you? What do you want?!" She asks. The girl who comes into the hallway to greet us is a fair-skinned young woman with blue hair that is closer to a shade of purple than blue. She has dark eyes and a gorgeous face. I can tell that in the future, she is going to be a beauty. She is holding a kitchen knife in her hands and looks like she is ready to pounce at any sign of danger.
"Hello. My name is Haruka. I am a traveler. I heard there was a sick girl here. I have some medicine if you are interested." I say as I raise the bag with senzu powder in it. Internally I am panicking again. 'Damnit! I knew that there would be something! This is Guren of the Crystal Release. She is eventually going to be another henchman of Orochimaru. I thought the redhead was probably an Uzumaki, but now I am not so sure.'
"Guren-chan, who is it *cough*," Says another little girl as she comes into the hallway. She has long straight brownish red hair and sky blue eyes. Her hair is a different shade of red compared to the Uzumaki, so she probably isn't another member. I don't immediately recognize her, but after Guren says her name, I am once again shocked.
"It's a traveler Amaru-chan! He says he has medicine!" Guren says, as she is rather excited. Her friend might finally get better, but she is too young to realize that there is probably going to be a price.
'Amaru...*internal sigh* another character, though this one is from the Naruto Movie Bonds. That means I am saving two people from evil mentors. Orochimaru and Shinno. OH CRAP! That also means that the Land of the Sky is probably part of this world too.' I think as I step towards the two, but Haku raises her arm in front of me to stop me.
"Haruka-sama. Are you sure you want to give away such valuable medicine to someone you don't even know?" She says. Karin, who is on my left, also nods at the statement, but Hikari looks down at her arm before looking at me. I can tell that if I don't, she will offer to let Amaru bite her to heal. Most Uzumaki are kind-hearted after all, and a female Uzumaki letting a sick child go when she can help it isn't something she can do.
I look at Haku and nod, before turning to Amaru and Guren who look a bit more worried.
"Haruka-san, not Haruka-sama! If you heal my friend, I promise I will make it up to you!" Guren says hastily.
"Guren-san" Amaru looks at her friend before coughing some more.
'Ugh. These cheesy anime scenes are starting to annoy me. Back in my world, acting like this would be considered extremely corny and fake, but here, I suppose i am the odd one' I think as I approach with the bag.
"Alright, Guren-san. I'll make you a deal. I will heal your friend, but you and her have to leave this village with us when we leave" I say.
"That's fine! I hate this village anyway! They treated us like trash and we only get food from the old lady down the street once a week so that we don't go into town!" She says.
'Should I burn down this town?' I think. 'If Soji wasn't going to live here, then I probably would, although with the number of tracking based clans in Konoha, entering Konoha as a prisoner isn't the best way to go about this.'
Haku looks at them one more time before saying something "You will still be traveling as servants of Haruka-sama like the rest of us. Are you willing to risk everything for Haruka-sama's sake? If not, I will end you right here!"
I don't say anything to Haku. I know she thinks I like taking in lost or broken people, even if we just met, out of the kindness of my heart, but the truth is, unless they are special, at best I will help them in passing, but not help out anyone who catches my interest. And I most certainly won't go out of my way to help the average person without reason.
Guren and Amaru both jump slightly at Haku's threat, but Guren steels her gaze at her before saying with all her little might "If Haruka-sama can save Amaru-chan, I will devote myself to him body and soul!"
Silence
'I can't believe she just said that!' I think to myself. I notice that Haku and Karin are bright red, though Karin has a little blood coming out of her nose. I can hear Hikari going 'Ara ara' behind me, as I stand dumbfounded by the whole situation.
"G-Guren-chan..." Amaru stutters with a bright red face.
While it takes a moment for Guren to realize what she just says, a blush slowly appears on her face while she begins to steam from her ears. "I-I-I I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!!!!!" she screams.
...
It took a while for everyone to calm down. During this time Haku was giving Guren the stink eye while Karin was looking between me and Guren while muttering to herself, nose-bleed on full display. Hikari was leaning against the wall while muttering something about young love. I had already found a glass and had pored roughly a senzu bean's amount of powder into it, before string it with water. I presented it to Amaru while trying my best not to say 'DRINK THIS!' with an ALL Might Face.
Amaru was instantly better after roughly five minutes after the drink. As I thought, changing the Senzu bean's state can slow the process. I had wanted to reduce the healing effects of the senzu bean because if I created medicine out of it, I could use it and it would be less suspicious.
After that Guren and Amaru joined the party, while Honoka, Jugo, and Hikari looked at me with wide smirks on their faces. I couldn't hear their thoughts, but I somehow knew they were thinking rude things about me.
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...
Later that night, Guren had taken me and Haku aside to talk to us about 'something important'.
As we entered a clearing roughly 500 meters from our campsite on the outskirts of town, she turned to us and confessed about her Kekkei Genkai.
"I am sorry! I lied to you earlier. I have demon's blood inside of me and I didn't tell you because I was afraid you wouldn't heal Amaru-chan if you knew!" She said, holding back tears.
Haku looked like she was about to say something but I cut her off. "Oh? What does this demon's blood do?" I said.
"I can create crystals and trap things inside of them" Guren said as she summoned a pink crystal to surround a flower growing in the meadow.
"Well, I have quite a bit of good news for you!" I said. GUren looked at me for a moment before hope slightly returned to her eyes.
"You do not have a demon's blood inside you. You have a Kekkei Genkai! Rejoice, they are gifts, not curses!" I say.
"It is as Haruka-sama says" Haku continued. She piggybacked off of my comment and made a lotus flower out of ice appear in her hand before stepping forward and giving it to Guren, who was amazed beyond belief.
I also have three Kekkei Genkai, so if you just have demon's blood, I must be the devil himself" I say creating a bone blade from my plan and activating my Byakugan.
Guren is at first taken aback by my appearance, as everything that we just did is being processed in her head.
'Everyone in my party has some kind of Kekkei Genkai. I consider them to be gifts that make us stronger than normal people, rather than the powers of demons" I say, deactivating my Byakugan and receding my bone blade. "So we won't abandon you or Amaru over something like this."
Guren looks at us for another second before bursting into tears. She runs to me and Haku as we embrace her. I can detect that Honoka is leaning against a tree in the forest, eavesdropping. I can't see her face, but I know that she is smiling.
