Chapter 51 : Home Again (3)

The next day Naruto spent about two hours talking to Billy and Kid as he showed them around, explaining what some of the different rooms did and which they weren't allowed to enter. After the clones had finished their work his once simple underground cavern had become a complicated system of tunnels, making it little more then a maze for anyone that didn't either have a map or already know where they were going. The bedrooms were still close to the entrance, but the training rooms and gyms were spread out, with the vault and his study deep in the maze somewhere that wasn't marked on the map.

With the addition of Billy and Kid Naruto had had an idea, though it would take some time to get it running and would only work if the others agreed, but it would make both his life easier and the world a little safer.

The fact was that he wouldn't be able to collect all of the 'Legions' as he had decided to call he books he was collecting, on his own, so why not form a group that could. It would be risky, of course, and depending on whether or not he was able to create a seal that could bloke out the Class 2 and 1's power would affect the number of people that could help, but it was the best plan he could come up with. He did have a theory that people like Jinx, and maybe the others ex-villains with powers, might be immune to the books powers the same as him. After all, Jinx's power was a fixed genetic ability, just like the others, so it was possible that they were unable to use magic.

The thing that worried him the most was that eventually a time will come that two Legions would fall into the wrong hands at the same time and he wouldn't be able to collect both. He was already starting to think of the guidelines and rules that would be needed to be put in place, and maybe creating several different Vaults for the different Classes wouldn't hurt either.

A neutral group created with the soul purpose of collecting and sealing the Legions. With the fortunes he had accumulated since arriving in this world, and was continuing to, it would be easy for him to fund such a group.

XXX

Looking at the bored in front of him with a serious expression, Naruto took several minutes thinking about his next move before picking up his Rook and using it to take a Pawn. He had started playing chess shortly after arriving in this world, in a strange way it reminded him of the Elemental Nations. The game was made in such a way that it simulated war; every move counted and needed to be planed out several moves ahead of time, one mistake could cost you the whole game.

At the moment he was playing with himself next to the counter of his store, the bored placed on a small foldout table in front of him while Kid, who had taken a liking to working in the store, manned the counter.

When the blonde heard the bell above the door he didn't pay it much attention at first, assuming that it was just another customer, at least until he was hit with the familiar sensation of a person with chakra. His head shot up so quick it startled Kid, not that he could make any sound to indicate it, and his blue eyes instantly locked on the black of Shikamaru.

Without getting up, every muscle in his body tightening in preparation for an attack and his left hand slowly moved to grab the kunai taped to the bottom of the table, an action not missed by the lazy Nara, who raised his hands in the air.

"...I come in piece?"

Despite the tense situation, Naruto couldn't help the sweat drop that appeared on the back of his head at the pathetic attempt to ease it. Keeping his hand in place, ready to pull it out at a moments notice, he motioned for Kid to leave without taking his eyes off the Leaf-nin in front of him.

"The last time I had an encounter with you guys you tried to kill me."

"That was an accident; it wasn't supposed to be that powerful."

"Would you believe that if you were in my situation?"

"...I guess not"

For a moment they stayed in uncomfortable silence, before letting out a sigh Naruto gestured to the bored in front of him and pushed the other chair out with his foot, which Shikamaru took, and started resetting the pieces. He didn't even bother to ask if the boy knew how to play.

For the next few minutes they played in silence, both setting up their strategies, but after the first four moves it slowed down to about one move every few minutes. Another thing that the blonde liked about the game was just how much you could learn about someone from playing them. From aggressive to defensive and everything in between, you could learn a lot about a person by how they played.

When they reached a point that they were taking at least ten minutes to make a move, Naruto decided to break the silence, his eyes never leaving the bored.

"Why are you here, Shika? I never thought you stupid enough to walk into a hostile environment without backup, Lee and Ino don't count while on the other side of the street, I could kill you long before they arrived and you know it."

Frowning slightly as he moved a piece, Shikamaru nodded his head in agreement.

"You have no idea, it's so troublesome, but Kakashi thought you would be less likely to kill me on sight them him after what happened."

"...good point, so why are you here?"

Letting out a sigh, partly because of what he was about to say, and partly because Naruto had just captured one of his Knights, the shadow user leaned back into his chair.

"We want to get this over with and go home, Naruto. Kakashi wants to meet up and get it over with. The meeting place is tonight at midnight, 200 miles Southeast in the middle of the desert. We win you send us home and come back with us."

"And if I win?"

"There are seven of us and one of you, two if you include Gaara, but the end result is the same."

Taking a moment to think about his words, while moving another piece on the bored, the whiskered teen let a small chuckle escape his lips.

"You're more arrogant then the last time we spoke, which means you're more likely to make a mistake, either that or your trying to bluff. You know as well as I do that numbers mean little where we come from, especially to me."

"We have all been separated from the Leaf for over three years, we have Kakashi's knowledge to help us train and while you have skills in Fuuinjutsu that we didn't know about, you are still a gennin, Naruto."