Ghosts of the Past: Chapter 8

With a content sigh, Naruto exited the bathroom to the groggy faces of his newly accepted charges.

Gretal lay buried halfway beneath the covers of her bed as she sat upright, gently rubbing at her sleep-ridden eyes, having no doubt just woken up. The other half of the duo however was standing beside the rooms table, a frown marring his face as he held his bloodstained jacket.

"Morning, you two," Naruto spoke casually as he made his way over to the short-haired twin. "Don't worry about the blood, I'll wash them in a bit here, but before that we should probably go over the plan for today. Come and sit down."

He made his way over to his own messy bed, Hansel in tow, before he sat down facing a now more awake Gretal. Hansel moved toward his sister before taking a seat upon the same bed. Seeing the pair were ready to listen, he began.

"As the both of you are hopefully aware, this city is likely to become a pit of vipers sometime today," Naruto spoke, receiving quiet nods from the two siblings, "Since Verrochio felt need to include outsiders into our little game, things might become a little more complicated. With all the mercenaries making their way into town, our ability to move about freely isn't exactly ensured, and as much as I'd like to continue our playtime with Verrochio's idiotic underlings, I think it might be best to hasten things a bit. After all, as confident as I am in your abilities to keep yourselves alive, I can't guarantee nothing unexpected is going to happen. As such today the two of you are going to be staying here until nightfall."

A look of reluctance appeared upon the duo's faces before a frown appeared on Hansel's face.

"That doesn't seem fair to me, does it sora mea? Why do we have to stay inside when you obviously are going to leave? A nod of agreement came from Gretal.

"No it does not fratele meu." Gretal sent an icy glare at him a moment later, before gaining a creepy grin. "We aren't helpless brats, dear father. Me and brother have removed the wings from our angels, so they can't take us away. We will always be together."

Naruto frowned. These two could still be stubborn it appeared. Biting the inside of his cheek, Naruto wondered if he should let the two tag along or not. On one hand the pair held nowhere near the level of stealth needed to avoid being seen in the middle of the day, and with the fact that there were already bounty hunters making their arrival into the city having the pair tag along could get really messy really fast. Yet on the other hand leaving the pair behind might leave them in danger as well if anything were to happen while he was away.

The brief thought of leaving a clone behind to babysit the duo crossed his mind but was thrown away a moment later. It was still to soon to reveal too much to the children, regardless of whether or not they were growing closer. No, he couldn't leave a clone, and he couldn't stay here with them. In his opinion he still believed that keeping them both behind would be the better option as the likelihood that something would go wrong was minimal at best, but a quick glance to their faces left him releasing a tired sigh. Gretal now had an adorable pout marring her face as Hansel had his arms crossed over his chest.

"Is it really that much of an issue?" Naruto spoke with a slight deadpan.

"Yes!" both Gretal and Hansel replied in unison, followed by a brief silence as Naruto slowly shook his head.

"It's not that simple you brats," he said, a hard look coming to his eyes. "I hate to say it but today is simply going to be too dangerous for the both of you to come with me. Everything that is going to happen today is personal for me, and while I wish I could involve you both I just can't. It was great having you both along for the ride but this is where I have to fight alone."

Hansel sighed. "Confusing, right sora mea? But it seems we're left behind again."

"Hn, it appears so fratele meu," Gretal replied, eyes shut and arms crossed even tighter across her chest, obviously playing up her pout. Naruto held in a chuckle when he caught her sneaking a peak a second later.

"I'm not going to change my mind." Naruto said.

"...please?" Was Gretal's quiet response.

"No." Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. He wouldn't fall into this game. Memories of past times in which he had done so with his daughter quickly came to mind.

Gretal maintained her crossed posture. "We'll stay out of the way, and help you not die..." she spoke, sounding slightly annoyed. She then turned to her bother as if asking for his confirmation. Hansel nodded.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I don't really need help with that, I can kinda take care of myself. It's the safety of the two of you that I'm worried about. That's why I need you here. This is away from where the fighting will be happening and as safe a place as any for today." He was being honest. Without having to worry about the twins he could handle nearly any situation that arose without much difficulty, but if the two were to come then he'd have to refrain from using many of his techniques, and he'd be stuck making sure they were safe.

"Anyways, there's something I need to check on quick before this day even starts. So once again you two stay here." Naruto ignored Gretal's pout before he made his way over to his gear and got ready. Once he was finished he heard Hansel speak.

"So what are we supposed to do all day then?"

"Start by cleaning your weapons." Was the last thing Naruto said before leaving out the door.

The rythmatic hum of the engine slowed as Benny pulled the car to a stop in front of the Yellow Flag once more.

"Alright, try not to drink too much Revy. With how things are starting to look around here lately, whatever conclusion this episode of madness is coming to is likely right around the corner," Dutch spoke, as he looked into the rear seat of the Road Runner.

Revy waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah yeah, I got it. We'll just do what we came to do and if nothing turns up we'll give you a call. Come on Rock." Dutch opened the door and got out before Revy released the seat he had been in and did the same, followed by Rock.

"I still don't get why you to aren't staying too. All were doing is a little eaves dropping."

Dutch having gotten back into the car held the door ajar as he spoke, "I already told you, the sooner me and Benny get the Black Lagoon fixed the better. I don't want to be trapped in this city if the shit hits the fan too hard. Call it a Plan B."

"Whatever, just don't forget to pick us up." Revy responded before turning and making her way towards the bar; Rock in close pursuit.

"I get why we're trying to find this guy, but why am I coming with you to listen to drunks at the bar?" Rock questioned.

"What? You saying you have anything better to do? You aren't exactly a mechanic and the sooner we find this guy the sooner we get paid. Sis has an interest in this guy, and with the way her interests go, he'll be found... sooner or later. But we only get paid if it's us. We're her expedited shipping. If she wants something done fast, she calls us." Revy gave him a pat on the back. "Besides, it's not like we aren't going to drink. You heard the boss-man, he just said not to get Too drunk," Revy said with a laugh.

Without another word the duo made their entrance into the bar. However something immediately caught the interest of the gun-woman. Instead of the usual quieting of the bar and cautious glances her presence usually garnered, the bar's patrons were entirely focused on their own whispered conversations.

Revy looked back at Rock. "Oh yeah, something definitely going on." Walking up the the counter the duo sat down silently. Revy greeted Bao, "Hey Bou! Get me some whisky!"

Bao instantly shushed her. "Quiet down Revy, read the mood would ya?" He whispered gesturing to the room. Revy took a look at the rest of the patrons, noticing their staring states. It was then she noticed something else; while usually it wasn't uncommon to see the visitors of this particular bar carrying concealed and some unconcealed weapons, what was unusually were the many tables covered in various weapons; to her surprise even a few assault rifles.

"What the hell's going on Bao?" Revy questioned incredulously.

Placing two empty glasses on the counter of the bar, Bao grabbed a bottle of whisky and poured the too glasses half full. "What you haven't heard? I figured you would have been the first to know." Seeing Revy's look of confusion he continued after placing the drinks in front of them. "There's a new bounty in town, and it's worth two-hundred fifty-thousand... and that's US dollars, not Thai Baht either."

Revy instantly spit out the mouth full of whisky she had just taken, before speaking in a whispered shout. "Are you fucking kidding me?! How many people need to be iced for someone to pay that amount of cash?!"

"Heh, that's the thing. Nobody knows exactly who's put the bounty up, but the thing is... it's only for one guy. Really broad description too; a tall blond man, Asian, with a red coat. The whole bars been trying to figure out more since this morning."

"God damnit!" Revy shouted, once again drawing all the attention in the bar towards her outburst before everyone quickly went back to their own discussions. "I can't fucking believe it! The things that amount of money could get me—" Revy let out her anger with a long sigh, "—and I can't even go after it."

"Huh, why the hell not?"

It was now Rocks turn to speak. "That description sounds a lot like the description of a man Balalaika wants us to find, preferably alive."

"Well shit. How much is she paying you? I severely doubt it's more that two-hundred and fifty-thousands dollars? Why wouldn't you go after it?" Bao asked.

"That's not it. I'd love to get paid for this bounty, but crossing Balalaika isn't something that even this amount of money make's worth it. And now, things got even worse because we have to try and find this asshole—alive—mind you, before everybody else gets to him. Aw fuck..."

Rock glanced around the bar once more before speaking up, "Well it doesn't look like we have much time left. If there's already this many people aware, I'm willing to bet people from outside of Roanapur have heard as well."

Bao nodded, "Yeah I actually heard a few of the more known names are coming in tonight to try and snag this one. You two might want to think about just staying out of this one tonight. Especially if you're going to be placing yourself in the middle rather than on one side."

"Hey Bao," Revy spoke gaining his attention once more. "What's the latest word about it? Does anyone actually know where to find this guy or what?"

"No, nobody knows who he even is, let alone where to find him, but give it time and this whole city is going to be turned upside-down to do so."

Revy remained silent for a moment before speaking once more, "Well, then we still have time to find him." Revy set her now empty glass down on the counter. "Come on Rock, we need to move. The sooner we talk to Balalaika the better." Rock set his own glass down and followed Revy toward the door, but before the two made it the doors swung open.

"Oh Revy! Long time no see! Drinking cheap again?"

Revy let out a growl. "I don't have time right now Eda!"

Hearing the unusually angered response, Eda's eyes widened briefly. "What the fuck's crawled into your panties Revy? I was just saying hello." Eda turned and followed as Revy walked passed her and through the door.

"You're that sister from the Rip-Off church, Eda, right?" Rock asked, light surprise showing on his face.

"Oh? So Romeo remembers me!" Eda let loose a laugh. "Hey, why don't you ditch this wild boar and come hang with a real woman, baby?"

"Now is not the time to piss me off Eda!" Revy yelled, pulling Eda's attention away from Rock's reddened face.

"Seriously what the hell's wrong Revy?"

"We have a job, and it's costing my two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars is what's wrong!"

Eda finally caught on. "Oh, you're talking about that bounty on the red coat killer aren't you?"

"Red coat killer? Is that what they're calling him? How fucking lame. Regardless yes, that's who I'm talking about. Balalaika paid us to find that same man before this bounty was placed. So now, we need to go renegotiate our contract with her. There's no way we're jumping into a war zone for any less than the full price of that bounty!"

Eda nodded in understanding. "So if your after him as well, do you happen to know where he is? It sounds like you two had a head start, two-hands."

"Forget it, even if I did, there's no way I'd tell you. I don't need every asshole in this city getting to him before we do."

"Ah, well whatever then, I'm personally not really after that particular bounty anyways. Way to much heat and competition to go after myself. Besides what everyone else ignored was the second bounty that was placed just this morning. From what I hear it's going to be a piece of cake, if a bit distasteful. Two twin children with white hair. Fifty-Thousand US dollars, presumably placed by the same person as the larger one."

This piqued Revy's interest. "Hey Eda, you looking for a parter for that one?"

Eda fake pondered for a second before speaking up, "Sure, but only if I get sixty percent of the reward."

"What?! The fuck makes you think that's fair? There's only two of us and I'm no doubt going to be doing all the work!" Revy shouted, stopping her walk to stare at Eda.

"You wouldn't even know if it weren't for me!"

"So fucking what?!"

"What do you mean so fucking what?"

By now the duo of women were locking horns with their fists clenched.

"Um, Revy... What about the job we already are taking?" Rock spoke up, trying to get Revy's attention.

Revy briefly paused from her arguing to look at him. "Don't you get it Rock? Eda said these two bounties were placed by the same person. There's no way that they aren't somehow connected. Meaning, if we find our mark we'll probably find the other bounty. Which we then claim and add to our reward."

Rock sighed. "Regardless we still need to find him, and we still need to inform Dutch and Balalaika."

Revy relented, dropping from her deadlock with Eda. "Yeah, true enough." With that she began walking once more toward a pay phone on the street.

Chapter end

Gonna end it here, even though it's a bit short. If I don't it won't be released for another few weeks due to my work schedule and a visit to my family.

Also, to all my readers, seeing as I lost most of my notes about where this story was going, feel free to comment things you want to see in a Naruto x Black Lagoon crossover and I'll see if I can incorporate anything from the suggestions to get this story to where it needs to go. If you have ideas for an arc, special interactions between two specific character or whatever else, let me know!

Oh, and feel free to check out my Naruto x Silent Hill crossover if you haven't yet!