Fallen Grace: A Naruto Fanfiction (Book 2, vol. 1)

Chapter 49: The Mercenary Swordsman {1}

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POV: Naruto

I had my phone up as I looked at the location where Zabuza was supposedly still at. I stood, leaning beside the rigid trunk of a tree that stood, towering over me.

As 3 of my clones trained, I looked for an area around the warehouse that I could use to my advantage. I was confident that, if I set the variables in my favor, then I'd eventually take the win.

As long as I can endure, and wear him down, then I'll always have the upperhand. My finger swiped across the screen, the overview welcoming my eyes.

"Could this be good?"

I wondered aloud. It was a place decorated in rubble, abandoned by the people who had once worked on this potential luxury. 

And it had an outdoor pool littered in green sludge. It had been there for a long time, uncared, and couldn't even be called a place to hangout. 

But, it was good.

The place was decently large, filled with secretive crevices that I could surely use to my advantage. I couldn't help but wear a small smirk that showed my devious thinking.

And since Aoi will be fighting Haku, Zabuza will have added pressure on his shoulders, burdening him further. This success rate was already abnormally high, and considering Aoi was with me--

I could almost say that this success rate was 100%.

Almost.

Aoi was assurance, giving me a lighter feeling, giving me hope in a plan that could easily go awry. Hah... I was smart, yet I made plans that could go wrong so easily.

"Come here," I called out to my clones, making them stop their training and walked towards me. They stood in front of me, huffing as they sweated buckets of sweat.

"Shall we discuss our plans to succeed? What kind of things shall we incorporate to increase our success?"

That's what I wanted.

To begin with, that loss that I could've became a win had hurt my pride that I did not wear on my sleeve. Perhaps I was more petty than I had originally thought.

But, behind this unmoved gaze was a person vulnerable to feelings more than anyone else. Maybe it was curse, but, to me, I took those feelings for granted in my past life.

It only struck me when my emotions started to wither; and while I had always been capable, deft, all my life, it was only Satsuki who could soothe my soul.

She was emollienting.

I had wanted to feel again so bad, and I clung to the leftover food that I wanted to desperately keep, preserve, and have for myself.

And so my clones and I sat down on the coarse dirt. 

In that moment, for a single period of short-lived time, my clones and I - who were usually taciturn people - could not help but prattle, becoming talkative as we explored our thoughts and ideas.