Chapter 33: A Take on this Would-Have-Been Party!

Alright, it's time to put my new skills to the test! Boss Naruto, today is the day I surpass you!'

A certain delinquent adventurer thought to himself to solidify his resolve.

The young man left the alleyway he was hiding in and walked up to a beautiful young woman who was currently standing by herself.

"Hey miss, those are some nice skirts. What's the drop rate?"

*Smack!*

The young man's strategy seemed to have failed, as his left cheek was now stinging painfully.

"Pervert!"

The girl spat before she walked off with a huff.

The youth sighed as he sported his aching face.

"What a bitch. I even complimented her ugly clothes. Oh well, guess my new pickup line needs some more polishing. But I really feel like there's an improvement!"

With that said, Axel's delinquent adventurer returned to the secluded alleyways.

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Adventurer's Guild...

Naruto and Yunyun were sitting at one of the tables in the Adventurer's Guild, at the table in the corner of the room to be precise.

'I hope Naruto-San doesn't mind sitting here... I kind of walked here without thinking since I always sit here. What if he's weirded out and thinks I have a strange habit?'

Yunyun thought as she struggled to meet the older blonde's gaze.

Naruto sat with his arms crossed, waiting patiently for the girl to say what she wanted. They had agreed to meet at the adventurer's guild so they could discuss what Yunyun wanted.

But for some reason, their conversation was stalled the moment they sat down.

The shinobi was beginning to grow impatient, but he didn't want to be rude since he owed Yunyun for dragging her all the way to Axel Town and forgetting about her a couple times.

Although, maybe it would hurt to give her a little push...

"So, what do you want to do today Yunyun? Did you want to go on another quest? Though I don't know where Dust and Cecily are..."

Come to think of it, not knowing where those two troublesome individuals was actually kind of scary. Who knows what kind of trouble they were getting into?

"Ah, actually... I was kind of thinking... Um..."

Yunyun started while poking her fingers together timidly.

This conversation was going nowhere. Maybe she needed a little more than a push...

"If you want, I can buy you lunch? Though I'm a little low on cash because of a certain someone..."

Naruto suggested before grimacing when he remembered just how deflated is poor wallet was. Stupid Aqua...

"N-no... That's okay... I-"

Yunyun stuttered, but Naruto went on to another suggestion before she could muster to say anything else.

"Oh, I know! We can prank Megumin! Although she's probably still sulking over the Explosion competition..."

"I actually wanted to ask you about that, but maybe later..."

"Maybe I could-"

"I want to do activities friends do together!"

Yunyun finally raised her voice to audible levels, causing the ninja to tilt his head in confusion.

"...Huh?"

When Naruto said he was willing to do anything to make it up to the girl, he really meant it. He was willing to go as far as following any outrageous orders. Like doing tedious house chores, or even take on an absurdly challenging quest by himself.

...Hang on, that last option sounded fun. Why didn't she ask for that?

"I see... To be honest, I don't really know what friends do when they hang out either. What do you think friends do together?"

Naruto asked, since the only time he ever hung out with his friends was that one-time Shikamaru and the others came over to play cards.

"W-well... I once read in a book that friends usually eat meals together while holding steady conversations about things like work, or l-love... M-maybe I can help Naruto-San with the bet?"

Yunyun explained with a slight blush on her face.

Truth be told, one of Yunyun's life goals was to talk about love affairs with a friend. Since Naruto made that bet with Aqua, Yunyun was going to use that as an excuse to finally have that kind of conversation.

"W-wait, you want to be my girlfriend!?"

Naruto blurted out in surprise, causing the younger girl's face to heat up as she could feel the stares throughout the guild.

"N-no! I only want to help with the bet!"

The Crimson Magic Clansman hastily denied.

"Eh? Oh, I understand now. You want to pretend to be my girlfriend so I can win the bet. That's nice of you to offer, but I want to win this bet fair and square!"

Naruto said and gave the girl a thumbs up.

"No! You don't understand at all!"

Yunyun, now on the verge of tears, said while frantically shaking her head.

—After Yunyun somehow managed to clear the misunderstanding, the shinobi nodded sagely.

"I guess it would make sense to ask a girl for advice about this kind of thing. I would have asked Wiz, but I heard from some Dust that she's never had a boyfriend and that asking her would only make her angry. Something about her 'getting to that age' or whatever that means."

Naruto said while tapping his chin in thought as he tried, and failed, to understand the hidden meaning behind the Dust's words.

There was also Luna, but she still seemed a little upset with him. Though not as mad as she had been the other day, Naruto just didn't want to risk making her angry again. Otherwise he could kiss those harder quests goodbye.

'I don't know who this Wiz person is, but I suddenly feel sorry for her...'

Yunyun thought with a sweatdrop as Naruto debated whether he should risk asking the shopkeeper for advice after all.

Coughing into her hand, Yunyun's expression grew excited.

"Now then, let's start with the obvious question! Does Naruto-San have anyone he likes?"

Yunyun seemed rather fired up for this conversation, and while it may be a little embarrassing to talk about this subject, Naruto was happy to see the little girl was having fun.

The extra help with the bet was also appreciated.

"Well, I wouldn't say I have someone I like... But there is a girl I'm kind of interested in? At first, I thought she was just a really kind person. But now I don't know what to think of her, because I just recently found out she's a little weird..."

Naruto said as he thought of Darkness and the event with the thugs in the secluded alleyway. There was definitely something off about Darkness' personality, but he knew she was someone who cared deeply for her comrades and he liked that. So there was that.

"Is that so? But if you like her, then it's okay if she's a little weird right? Everyone has their quirks, so you should see what happens!"

The normally shy mage said with an abnormal amount of energy. She was certainly enjoying this conversation.

"So you think I should ask her out to see what happens? You don't think that would be weird?"

Naruto asked, thinking that there would be more steps to this. But then again, how would he know?

"No, not yet! First you should try spending more time with this girl. Is she an adventurer here at the guild? If so, then you should invite her to go on a quest!"

Yunyun suggested while clasping her reddening cheeks. The thought of two adventurers getting to know one another during a quest, then falling in love in the process... Such a romantic scenario really pulled her heartstrings!

"Invite her on a quest, huh? She is an adventurer of the guild, but what about you guys? I'd feel bad about leaving my party members behind after we only just formed a party..."

Naruto said, only to be immediately waved off by Yunyun.

"That's okay, I don't mind waiting to go on another quest if it means I'm helping my first f-f-friend..."

Yunyun said while stuttering. It was still hard to believe she had finally made her first real friend.

"Really? Well, thanks Yunyun. Oh, would you look at that? She's here."

Naruto said and the two looked towards the guild's entrance to see Kazuma's party, save for one member, enter the guild.

Seeing as they were one member short, Naruto decided to ask if they wanted to merge parties today. That way he wouldn't have to leave to Yunyun behind again.

'Ah, so the girl was in Kazuma-San's party. But Megumin's not here, and Naruto-San's bet is with Aqua, so that leaves...'

Yunyun thought as she marked off the possible girls until her eyes fell on the final member of the party.

"Oh, you aiming Darkness-San!"

"Shh! Not so loud! What if people here you!?"

Naruto hissed, causing the girl to cover her mouth.

Aqua's eyes suddenly snapped to the corner of the guild and directly at Naruto.

"Ahah! I knew you would be there with that awkward mage!"

'A-awkward!?'

Yunyun thought as Aqua stomped towards their table.

"Hey, Yunyun's not that awkward!"

Naruto said while pointing at his party member defensively.

'Naruto-San didn't deny it!'

Yunyun thought and hid her teary face behind her hands.

"What do you want, Aqua? I still have three more days until the bet is over, ya know?"

Naruto asked, meeting the goddess face-to-face. He was a good five inches taller than her, so he had to incline his head down.

"I've come here to make a bargain."

Aqua said with a confident gleam in her eyes, earning strange looks from both Naruto and Yunyun.

"A bargain?"

"That's right! A certain hiki-NEET made me realize something yesterday. Naruto, you are a man who is helpless without my divine guidance! So here's my bargain, and you can take it as a blessing if you wish. So long as you agree to shower me with gifts and praise, the great me will accompany you on a date. Of course, this would mean the bet is no longer valid. But I'm willing to look past all of that immaturity."

Aqua said with a rather smug look on her face, seemingly proud of her proclamation. It was as if she had already won in her twisted view.

"...Hah?"

Naruto's jaw dropped as he listened to the nonsense that came out of Aqua's mouth. What was this girl saying? No, what was she thinking? Did she really expect him to back out of their bet just like that!?

Shaking his head, the shinobi looked past Aqua towards Kazuma. The boy merely shrugged as if to say: 'I didn't take part in this'.

"I refuse."

Naruto simply said and walked passed the smug goddess of water.

"Eh?"

Aqua blinked when she realized her offer had just been flatly rejected. She whirled around to see Naruto walking towards Kazuma and Darkness.

"Hey, do you guys want to go on a quest with me and Yunyun today? I don't know where Dust and Cecily are, and you guys seem to be missing a couple members too. Wanna combine parties today?"

Naruto asked without missing a beat.

'A quest with Naruto AND a compatible mage... That sounds promising.'

Kazuma thought to himself, and after receiving a nod of approval from Darkness, he gave Naruto a thumbs up.

"We are short on numbers today, so let's do it-"

"Waaaaait a second!"

Aqua's screechy voice interrupted as she rushed over to Kazuma.

"What do you mean you're short on numbers!? I'm here! We're only missing Megumin who sealed herself inside her room all day! Don't leave me behind! Waaahhh!"

Kazuma's expression turned bitter as the 'thing' he brought with him to this world clawed at his legs. In what world was this a goddess? This pitiful creature whose only strong suits was healing and attracting undead?

"Don't worry, Aqua. We won't leave you behind."

Darkness said with a comforting smile, causing the sniffling girl to look up with teary eyes.

"D-Darkness!"

Aqua whaled and buried her face into the taller woman's bosom.

"But with that being said, we'll be a party of five. People usually don't go over four members because it makes splitting the reward more difficult. Especially with lower paying quests."

The crusader said as she comforted the crying girl on her chest by patting her head.

"That makes sense... When you have more party members, you have to split the reward more. Which means less payout for each member."

Kazuma repeated as he tried to think of a solution. Maybe they could just leave Aqua behind? It probably wouldn't take much to convince her to do something else.

"U-um... I can stay behind. I don't mind."

Yunyun offered, but Naruto shook his head.

"That's okay, Yunyun. It'll be fine as long as we take quest with a big reward, right?"

Naruto said with a foxlike grin. If they took a quest with a higher reward, then that would also mean they'd be taking on a harder quest! Like the quests that Luna had been keeping from him for some reason!

"O-okay..."

Yunyun lowered her head shyly.

This did not go unnoticed by Kazuma, who was grinding his teeth in jealousy.

Seriously, why did Naruto get to have such a cute mage on his team!? While his was-

"Wait just a darn minute!"

The sound of doors flinging open filled the room, and all eyes turned to the entrance of the guild to see the town's very own Explosion girl.

Naruto smirked. He was impressed to see Megumin recover from his prank so soon. She was a lot stronger than he initially thought.

"Hey, Megumin. I'm surprised you actually showed up toda-"

"Silence, you human cheat code!"

"H-human cheat code?"

Naruto glanced over at Kazuma for an explanation, but the teen adverted his gaze.

Kazuma, after chasing after Megumin back to the mansion and shut herself in her room, started making fun of Naruto in attempt to cheer her up. "Human cheat code" must have sounded funny to the little girl and seemed to have stuck.

"How foolish! Did you really think I wouldn't realize your plan?"

Megumin said, her eyes shining brightly as she smirked at the shinobi.

"What plan? Oh, you mean teaming up with Kazuma and Darkness today? Like I said earlier,

"Hey! You forgot about me again!"

Aqua complained, but was she ignored.

"Hah! I could care about who that man parties up with! I'm happy as long I get to fire my Explosion magic every day!"

Megumin said with a shrug.

Kazuma's eyebrow twitched. Maybe he should ask Naruto if he wanted to form a permanent party. He was getting sick and tired of the girls he was currently living with and how they treated him with so little respect.

"So? What's my plan then?"

Naruto said while rolling his eyes. This girl was such a child, there's no way she'd be able to comprehend the plan of a master prankster such as himself.

"I was thinking that it was rather strange that sch a high-level monster had showed up during our competition, and I noticed yesterday that you were wearing a strange pendant on you neck. So today, I went to Wiz's magic shop to investigate and-"

"Hey, Megumin! You should come with us on a quest today! We're going to go on a harder quest, so maybe we can have another competition to see who can blast away the most monsters with Explosion magic!"

Naruto said in a friendly, yet strained voice.

"Deal! But that Demon ability of yours is sealed!"

Megumin instantly replied without missing a beat.

"Then it's settled! Let's go pick out a tough one!"

Naruto said and was about to walk to the request board with the group when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see Yunyun fidgeting in her seat.

"What's wrong?"

"U-um... On second thought, I think I'll stay behind after all."

Yunyun stuttered, causing Naruto to tilt his head in confusion.

"What? Why? If it's about the reward, then..."

"No, it's not that! Um... I thought I would find Dust-San and Cecily-San while you were gone. That way, when Naruto-San returns, we can all go on a quest together like last time!"

The timid mage said with a bright smile on her face, and when Naruto was about to say something she spoke again.

"That way, you won't have to worry about me and can go all out with Darkness-San! G-good luck, Naruto-San!"

Yunyun said and took off out of the adventurer's guild before the ninja could say anything.

"Yunyun..."

Naruto didn't know what to say. Not only did Yunyun help him with the bet, but now she was going to round up their missing party members. Wasn't he supposed to be making it up to her today?

"Naruto! I found a good one!"

"Good one my ass! Who would want to fight dangerous sounding monsters called "Death Crows"!?"

Aqua and Kazuma's voices could be heard from the bulletin board.

"Guh! I heard Death Crows are attracted to shiny objects... If only I had my armor..."

"Why do you look so disappointed!? You just want to be harassed by giant birds, don't you?"

This time it was Darkness, and Kazuma was swift with the retort.

"Don't worry so much, Kazuma. With Naruto's and my Explosion magic, a couple twenty-meter birds are nothing!"

"Why is it that your solution to every problem is to blow something up!? Also, did you say twenty meters!? That's terrifying!"

Finally, it was Megumin, who was immediately shot down by the now trembling Kazuma.

'...Looks like Kazuma has his hands full. Better lend him a hand. After all, we're going to be party members today.'

Naruto thought and began to make his way to the request board. He was definitely going to properly thank Yunyun later, but for now it was time to focus on the bet!

Only three days left!

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A/N: For those who's waiting Naruto X Re:Zero and Sasuke X Fairytail, I'll update soon once I'm out ideas to make this chapter, right now i should focus this until i reach my limit.

See you on the next chapter :D!