Naruto: Journey to Lyonesse Remastered

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

We're at the new chapters at last! There was an outline for the original chapter 7 but it was scrapped in its entirety. The only part that isn't 100% new is the intro. Here is Chapter 7. Enjoy!

Last time:

….Naruto asked, "So what's with the lack of people? I thought Whorl and Turing Arcologies were about the same in size and population."

Benibara giggled at Naruto's clueless look. "Naruto, over half the population spend two thirds of their day or more hooked into Virtual Reality in their homes. Some of the elderly are more or less living their existence entirely in the VR world as young people."

The ninja looked shocked. "So what happens when they die?"

Kraven said, "As I understand it a digital 'gravestone' with their data is made and the body is then recycled. It's quite efficient really."

"Sounds very disturbing." whispered Naruto to no one in particular. 'From the sounds of it the inhabitants would all potentially die if there was a power failure.'

"It's a really cool and wonderful place to visit." said Benibara enthusiastically as she accessed her VR device and called her cousin Ariel. After clicking it off Benibara said, "Ariel is sending a car to pick us up. She is attending a VR class lecture right now so she'll meet us at her place in about an hour. Just think Naruto; soon all this world will be accessible to you!"

For his part Naruto wasn't sure he even wanted it all to be accessible to him. 'I've got to do this to find Shizuka and Hinata-chan!' he mentally reassured himself. 'Locating them is paramount.'

….

A driver dropped the Whorl group off at the Tesla Mansion where they were greeted by a single attendant. Benibara explained the house was maintained by automated means so the entire staff of the Tesla Mansion was less than ten people (The Steelsides had a staff of fifty plus security guards). They were brought to a sitting room and served some tea and snacks until Ariel arrived about twenty minutes later and welcomed them. The tall, statuesque Benibara soon exchanged hugs and kisses with her shorter, more curvaceous cousin. The two beautiful blonde haired young women made quite the stunning pair.

Kraven stood up and bowed properly before kissing Ariel's hand. The two had met before on multiple occasions. "It is wonderful to see you again Lady Ariel and in such good health as well." said Kraven kindly.

"It's nice to see you too Wilhelm; I hope my cousin hasn't been too much of a troublemaker of late." said Ariel with a wink. Kraven smiled and Benibara pouted a bit.

Ariel then turned to Naruto who was now standing. She gave him a welcoming smile and said, "It's nice to meet you in person Naruto; please just address me as Ariel." She held out her hand and Naruto pressed his lips to her knuckles feather light. He still thought it was a rather odd custom but Kraven assured him it was a must.

"Thank you for the warm welcome Lady Ariel." answered Naruto. "And thank you for your invitation to come."

"It's my pleasure." said Ariel brightly as she turned to Benibara. "Father and Mother are both busy currently but I informed them of your arrival. They send their greetings. I hope they'll be able to join us for dinner. Come, let's get you three settled." The Tesla heiress then eagerly led her guests to their rooms….

….

Chapter 7

Turing Arcology

After her three guests were settled; Ariel invited them down to the lounge for a light dinner. Naruto and Kraven were eating quietly while Benibara and Ariel's laughter rang throughout the lounge as they ate and talked. The two cousins were having a wonderful time catching up on things. Kraven was enjoying the local cuisine and Naruto was on his tablet studying 'The Outskirts.'

Ariel's Enforcer soon came in and spoke in hushed tones to the Turing Heiress. She was taller than Naruto and extremely muscular. With her bright blue hair trimmed into a Mohawk and tied back into a long braid she looked like a street fighter to the orange loving ninja. Judging by her flamboyant attire he had to wonder if the woman wasn't a professional wrestler by trade but he decided not to ask. "This is my Enforcer, Anya." said Ariel as she introduced everyone. "She is from Hippolyta Arcology and is a Martial Arts champion there."

"It's nice to meet you." said Naruto in a friendly tone. "Nice sword by the way." he added in reference to what looked like a short sword with a serrated edge she carried on her back. 'It looks like an interesting blade but not very practical. I't's more decorative really.' thought the ninja.

Anya grunted and said disdainfully, "You don't look like much."

The blonde ninja thought with a mental face fault, 'Gee; what a sweet natured woman….'

Ariel sweat dropped and explained, "Ummm, Anya isn't much of a talker…."

After they finished eating; the blue eyed Tesla Heiress led Benibara and Naruto down to her personal office. Kraven retired for the evening and Anya came along to protect Ariel from any possible harm. Naruto kept an eye on Anya. 'Something about her makes me uneasy.' thought the blonde ninja. 'She seems a little bit too tense for a routine watch inside the house. Maybe it's just her habit but I'm going to keep an eye on her.'

When they arrived at Ariel's office Benibara giggled and said, "You are in for a real treat Naruto."

Naruto was about to ask what the Steelside Princess meant but the door slid open and revealed an incredibly high tech lab/office/workshop that blew away anything Naruto had seen in Whorl. Ariel grinned at Naruto's dumbfounded look and said, "Welcome to my parlor. This is where we'll create a custom datajack for you Naruto. Sit in the chair there and I'll take measurements so we can fit it just right."

The whiskered ninja sat nervously in what looked like an ophthalmologist's chair (instruments and all) and awaited Ariel's instructions on what to do. "So what type did you have in mind?" asked the Tesla heiress as she started checking and cleaning her instruments. "I can build just about anything with what I have here."

Ariel wasn't lying; she had access to anything and everything in Turing Arcology. The pigtailed blonde girl hardly batted an eyelash when her cousin Benibara said, "Naruto needs a datajack for Black Ops."

Anya looked a bit shocked and said, "Lady Ariel-"

"Shush Anya." said the Tesla Princess with a teasing smile. "This is for my cousin's protection and no price is too high for that. Besides….I'm curious to see exactly what Naruto can do with it….Let's get started on those measurements now."

….

It took Ariel about an hour and a half of measuring and laying out design parameters before she brought up a holographic display of Naruto's new and advanced datajack. "….And best of all I can disguise it as a mid-ranged TK-5 model that your average citizen can afford." explained Ariel to an excited Benibara (Naruto was thoroughly lost by that point). "Any checkpoint station in any arcology would simply assume Naruto saved his money and bought an up to date but reasonably priced datajack for home use and VR gaming like most young people these days." Then Ariel asked, "How old are you Naruto…?"

"I'm eighteen." said the swirl eyed ninja. 'I'm also totally lost.'

'Peerrffeect!' thought Ariel. 'He's only a year older than me.' "Excellent; you're in just the age group a TK-5 is targeted at. It will take me a few days to construct this beauty but worry not; that data tablet you're lugging around will be a thing of the past….'

….

The next evening Ariel decided to take her cousin Benibara (and Naruto and Anya by default) to a new dance club she enjoyed on the lower levels called 'The Plastic Casket' were they would be away from parental (and legal) supervision.

As the group walked down to the dance club the two girls turned a lot of heads in their attire. Benibara was wearing a gear patterned dress in red and white and Ariel was wearing a green and white circuit patterned dress. Naruto was in his plain charcoal colored suit and Anya was dressed in a men's tuxedo tailored for her. The blonde ninja noticed the girls were soaking up all the attention they were getting but he could see their smiles didn't reach their eyes. 'They are just here to be seen in social circles. I wonder if either one of them actually enjoys it at all.'

Naruto leaned over to Anya and asked, "Why would you name a club 'The Plastic Casket?'

Anya rolled her eyes at the blonde's ignorance. "Plastic casket is slang for the VR beds people sleep in when they are totally immersed in the Virtual Reality world. The levels below are filled with miles of VR beds for the elderly to use 24/7 and are nicknamed the catacombs. Get it?"

Naruto nodded and said, "Thanks Anya." 'Geez she's hostile. What did I do?'

The foursome soon was in The Plastic Casket and Naruto looked around at a strange dance club where people interacted with see through holographic dancers and mirrors as much as each other. There were flashing lights, lasers, the aforementioned holographic dancers and smoke….Lots and lots of smoke. The techno music was incredibly loud as well….

Ariel paid the huge bouncer at the door the entry fee and handed him a chip of some sort. Her blue eyes gleamed and she said, "Thanks for checking our ID's."

The bouncer put the chip in a slot on his datajack and suddenly got a huge smile on his face. The big man said, "Enjoy your evening…." in a dreamy tone.

Naruto wondered what was going on and Benibara giggled at his clueless look. "That was a neuron blaster chip that Ariel gave him. It's the most potent neural drug*① on the market. Our bouncer friend just got 'blasted.' Most clubs like these have dealers that sell the stuff. Maybe we can get blasted together after you get your datajack." she whispered seductively.

The blonde ninja wondered what other illegal junk was floating around in this club….

They were soon at the bar where some guy with a goatee surrounded by women was hitting on both Ariel and Benibara. Anya had stars in her eyes looking at the man and Naruto figured he must be famous or something. The bartender was a strange looking fellow with some sort of helmet on with a multi lensed cover over one eye that rotated when he looked at different things. He also had a prosthetic arm with multiple attachments. He seemed friendly enough but Naruto thought he was just odd. 'Maybe he was in an accident or something.' thought Naruto. 'That helmet looks like it's actually part of his head….'

"Gearheads*② are kind of creepy aren't they?" asked a cute woman nearby.

The blonde ninja raised an eyebrow. "Gearheads?" he asked.

She giggled. "You must not be from around here cutie."

"I'm from Whorl Arcology." explained Naruto.

"Ahhhh; that explains it." she said with a wink. "The guys with prosthetic head attachments call themselves Gearheads. They are from Clyne's Arcology to the east of here. Because they often have artificial eyes they often are employed here in Turing Arcology as technicians but some of them run in the streets as gangs. I've never been over to Clynes but I hear it's the best place in Lyonesse if you need prosthetics….Dance with me?"

Naruto smiled and said, "I would but I'm on guard duty." as he motioned over to the crowd at the bar.

"Hmmm….Maybe we'll see each other again when you're off duty Mister Enforcer." The woman walked away with a sway in her hips….

The whiskered ninja turned back to the crowd and saw Benibara and Ariel were still flirting with whats-his-name-

"OH MY GOD!" said a drunken woman beside him. "It's Tyler. He's soooo hot!" She stumbled over towards the crowd and tried to fight her way through the groupies to the goateed man in question.

'Well, that saves me asking who the rich guy with the goatee is.' thought Naruto as the drunk woman started fighting with the others and generally causing a ruckus. 'Time to get Lady Benibara out of there.' thought the ninja as the fight escalated.

That's when the orange loving blonde heard a tiny noise over the music and leaned his head back on reflex. A dart shot by and imbedded itself in the metal ceiling. Naruto traced the needle's trajectory back to a Gearhead with some sort of needle launcher built into his prosthetic forearm. The Gearhead's mouth was mechanical as well and he said in a speaker like voice, "You got lucky Uzumaki. Let's see how you do in the dark!"

….

When the main lights cut out there was the sound of gunfire and all hell broke loose. People started to panic and screams were everywhere. The music and laser lights strangely stayed on with a stroboscopic effect and as they flashed and blinked off and on within the smoke Naruto's blue eyes locked on his needle firing opponent. The Gearhead assumed Naruto couldn't see at all in the low light and chuckled in a mechanical tone. "Unlike you I can see fine in the darkness!"

That's when Naruto body flickered behind the Gearhead and removed the man's needle firing forearm with a wind chakra enhanced kunai. The man stared in disbelief at the smoking, sparking stump that had once been his forearm and heard Naruto whisper over the music, "Never let your guard down." The blonde then stabbed his kunai through the back of the Gearhead's neck. Hearing the spine crack and seeing copious amounts of blood flowing liberally across the floor Naruto dropped the Gearhead's corpse and rapidly looked around.

The whiskered blonde heard Anya's voice yell, "Lady Ariel; Lady Benibara!" and caught a glance of the martial artist as she ran out a side exit of the club.

"Damn it." growled Naruto. He saw several armed Gearheads in between him and the exit Anya took. Drawing another kunai out of his coat Naruto streamed enough wind chakra through the two blades to make his kunai knives glow to the length of long swords….

Soon blood was spattered everywhere….

….

Ten minutes later the blood coated blonde ninja was running through the 'catacombs' looking for Benibara and Ariel. Naruto looked at the people in their VR sleep and wondered if they would ever wake up. 'It's if they are just waiting to die; how creepy.' He heard footsteps and silently listened to see if he could tell if they were Gearheads. It was Anya. She had her odd sword drawn and was looking around cautiously. Naruto whispered, "Anya, over here! Any signs of Lady Benibara and Lady Ariel?"

Anya looked over at Naruto and sighed. "They aren't in this area. Neither are the Gearheads." She walked up slowly and asked, "Have you picked up any trails?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "No; I haven't…."

The martial artist woman whispered, "Good." and spun around with her sword above her head. Anya went for an overhead slash with the intention of splitting Naruto's skull right down the middle….

But the blonde ninja was too fast for her though and caught the sword with the flats of his palms. Anya's eyes widened and she said, "Whaaaat?!" Then Naruto used some wind chakra to score the blade and snapped it off at the base as he twisted it sideways. "Y-you can't do that!" exclaimed the Mohawk wearing woman in shock and disbelief.

Naruto said, "I can and I will." Then he open palmed her in the chest and sent her flying into a concrete wall. "I had my suspicions about you Anya. You are working with the Gearheads aren't you? I wondered how they knew my name."

Anya growled "You're dead Uzumaki!" and charged in with a series off roundhouse kicks. "I'll kill you!" she bellowed as Naruto nimbly evaded her kicks. Then she got frustrated and roared, "Stand still!"

The blonde reached in like lightning and caught the twirling woman's braid as she spun around. He yanked it down hard enough to cause her to cry out as he pulled her awkwardly down to her knees from behind. The next thing Anya knew was a world of pain as Naruto rammed her face into the concrete pillar multiple times which broke her nose and several teeth. The ninja hissed into her ear. "Tell me where the Gearheads are and where they took Benibara and Ariel!" The bloodied Anya hesitated and he smashed her face into the pillar again making her whimper. "Tell me." growled the blonde as he pulled a kunai back out and placed it against her throat which caused a tiny cut in the skin. Her eyes widened in fear and Naruto said darkly, "Do you want to live? Start talking or I slit your jugular!"

The martial artist woman was terrified. She'd never felt this much fear in her entire life! "D-don't kill me! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

"Then start talking." said Naruto with a hiss.

"The Gearheads wanted Lady Ariel and paid me a fortune to hand her over. They took Lady Benibara as extra insurance." whimpered Anya. "The Gearheads took the fifth basement exit to the streets and are taking her to Clynes Arcology nearby."

"How many are there down here?" asked Naruto.

"There's only six here in T-turing." said the Mohawked woman through chattering and broken teeth. "About fifty more Gearheads are waiting for them in the S-streets. P-please let me go. That's all I know."

Naruto said in a bone chilling voice; "Let you go? That wasn't part of the deal traitor….The sentence for breaking your oath to you Mistress is death." Anya tried to cry out for mercy but Naruto slashed her throat before she could. Naruto dropped the limp betrayer to the floor as she hemorrhaged out her life essence and he said, "Die in dishonor…." Then he body flickered away.

….

The Streets

Naruto slipped out of Turing Arcology through the only exit he could find on the fifth basement floor of the catacombs. The blonde quickly looked around and started tracking by making a dozen shadow clones. "Dispel when you find the girls." he ordered quietly. The shadow clones all nodded and took off in different directions while Naruto sat down and waited in the seiza position….

….Within five minutes one of Naruto's clones located Benibara and Ariel with their hands bound behind their backs being carried along by over a dozen Gearheads. The shadow clone dispelled and the original Naruto's eyes opened. His eyes were yellow and toad like. 'I'm not holding back on these scum.' thought the Sage as he took off after the girls like a bullet. Soon the blonde was chakra hopping over numerous ruins and debris which littered the urban decay known as the streets.

….

The fifty some odd Gearheads were spread out and Naruto ruthlessly ambushed small groups of them before their leader realized they were under attack. She sped her underlings along and led them to a clearing where she ordered her men to split into two groups, each with one of the heiresses. She called out; "I'm Rainer of the Gearheads! Come out and show your yourself or both of these women die!"

Rainer was surprised when Naruto stepped out of the shadows into the twilight of the streets. He had a dead Gearhead by the throat and dropped the corpse unceremoniously about twenty feet away from her. Hear visible blue eye widened a bit in fear as her mechanical eye zoomed in on Naruto's blood spattered face. Rainer said in a surprised voice, "You're Uzumaki Naruto! Anya said she'd take you out. Where is she?"

"I slit the traitor's throat after she revealed she sold out the Tesla family." said Naruto in a cold tone.

The Gearhead woman chuckled. "Wow! You're the real deal blondie. You're cold as ice."

Naruto didn't move. "She pissed me off….Just like you are doing now."

Rainer held up her hands in a placating manner. "Now, now. Cool your jets. You have to look at your circumstances."

The blonde shifted his weight onto his right foot and crossed his arms. "….My circumstances?"

"Look pal; you can't be two places at once." said Rainer logically. "Let's make a deal Uzumaki. You take the Steelside Heiress back unharmed and we'll take the Tesla Heiress with us. That way you've done your job and no more fighting. It's that or we kill them both. It's your call. I'm a pretty reasonable gal deep down. Take you Mistress and walk away from this one man."

The blonde ninja sighed as he looked at the twenty or so remaining Gearheads and their leader Rainer who was standing in between the two groups. The Gearheads were divided pretty evenly and each group head one of the girls. Benibara was putting up a brave face but was obviously terrified for her cousin. Her ice green eyes were flooded with emotion and kept darting between Ariel and Naruto. For her part Ariel was holding back the tears and was frozen up. She had already concluded that Naruto was going to take Benibara and walk away leaving the Tesla Heiress to her fate.

Naruto said, "You know Rainer; you drive a pretty hard bargain. Taking Lady Benibara hostage along with Lady Ariel was pretty slick thinking. Since you've got them twenty feet apart there's no way I could rescue them both."

Rainer smiled. "I'm glad you understand the situation."

The blonde nodded somberly and replied, "You messed up on one thing though."

"One thing…?" asked Rainer puzzled.

Naruto's toad like eyes blazed. "….I can be two places at once."

Rainer's visible eye widened as Naruto disappeared in a body flicker and both groups of her remaining men started getting mowed down ruthlessly. 'Which ones do I help?! I-I don't know what to do!' she thought in a panic.

That's when Naruto appeared behind Rainer and chopped her neck. As she blacked out Rainer heard Naruto say; "Actually I can be several places at once. Count your lucky stars I need you alive…."

Ariel was shocked into disbelief when the Gearheads around her were cut down in a blur by two wind swords. She felt herself get scooped up by Naruto and was dizzied when he whisked her away in a body flicker jutsu.

In the meantime Naruto cut down the group holding Benibara hostage with a windcutter jutsu that sliced them into shredded piles of meat and metal. Likewise Naruto carried her out of the line of fire in a body flicker.

Three blonde ninjas and their passengers appeared back where Naruto had been originally when he was 'negotiating' with Rainer. Two of them set Benibara and Ariel down and cut their bindings while the third tied Rainer up with ninja wire. After that two of the Naruto's dispelled leaving the original to escort the two heiresses and his prisoner back to Turing Arcology….

….

The two heiresses were virtually clinging to Naruto as they walked back to Turing Arcology. He was already lugging Rainer along over one shoulder and just wanted to get everyone home to safety.

"Were your eyes actually glowing yellow Naruto?" asked Ariel. "You looked so cool! Those Gearheads were scared out their minds!" she gushed.

Benibara exclaimed, "There were three of you! How did you do that?! It was amazing!"

The girl's barrage of questions and praise were coming at supersonic speeds but Naruto knew they were both frightened out of their minds and virtually on an adrenaline high. He figured they both needed to get medical treatment and a good night's rest more than anything.

Soon several patrol vehicles with spotlights were hovering over the local area looking for the Tesla Heiress out in the streets. They quickly located the blood spattered Naruto escorting Ariel and Benibara back to Turing. Within minutes a medevac vehicle arrived to take the exhausted group to the Turing Medical Facility for medical treatment and decontamination.

After arriving at the hospital; the paparazzi were basically trying to break the doors down at the hospital but luckily security was tight and they were kept out. It wasn't long before Naruto saw Kraven arrive along with several staff members from the Tesla Mansion. He waved at Kraven but Naruto didn't see any sign of Ariel's parents. He found it very strange….

….

Meanwhile; Kraven was on the Turing Net at the Hospital talking with Lady Rosalie and Lord Magnus back at Whorl. He was informing them of the situation. The manservant hadn't talked to Naruto directly but he had spoken with both Benibara and Ariel briefly and found that the two young women were shaken up but unharmed. "I can assure you that Naruto did his part Lord Magnus." said Kraven. "Lady Benibara and Lady Ariel indicated that they were betrayed and Naruto tracked them down and rescued them. No; I don't know the nature of the betrayal….Naruto…? He was practically painted in blood….No; I suspect it was someone else's blood. He was moving around fine and waved at me from the decontamination chamber as if he was uninjured." Kraven sweat dropped. "I assure you I will contact you as soon as I find out things with more substance my Lady. Yes, yes. I'll be in touch soon. Goodbye."

Naruto came out of decontamination with his fabric suit ruined but all his black ops mesh and gear intact. Given he was licensed Enforcer for the Steelside Family he was permitted to retain his weaponry. He scratched his neck nervously and thought; 'I wonder what the fallout is going to be from this mess. The body count was awfully high. Lord Magnus and Lady Rosalie are going to be tied in knots.'

Ariel and Benbara were in the same room with each other after decontamination. They were being treated for various cuts and bruises that they got being jostled about by the gang of Gearheads. Ariel was elated about Naruto rescuing them but was upset by Anya selling them out. "I can't believe my own Enforcer turned on me Benibara."

"Naruto set it right." said a glowing Benibara. "I still have no idea how he does all that stuff but he was so heroic today. I was afraid for both of us but he came through without a hitch….By the way Ariel; do you think your parents will come?"

The Tesla Princess shook her head and said; "I'm sure they are studying the situation is total VR immersion as usual. It must be nice having parents to visit with in real life instead of only in Virtual Reality."

….

It wasn't long before Naruto was given a clean bill of health and had on a new suit of clothes thanks to his friend Kraven. The two men were talking about what exactly had happened and Naruto was compiling a report for Lord Magnus and Lady Rosalie. As far as Naruto was concerned Benibara was a trouble magnet though he didn't write that down. And then there was the paparazzi….

The mass media was in a frenzy considering the number of losses that the local gang of Gearheads had incurred. The body count hadn't been this high around Turing Arcology since the last major gang wars that took place 50 years before. Naruto wasn't all that up on the details but apparently gang wars were something of a common thing back in the day. Clynes Arcology and Turing were close enough to each other that when tensions got hot gangs running in the streets between the two arcologies made travel dangerous by ground. The same thing was in Whorl's early history but the strong military presence in Whorl Arcolology dissuaded a strong gang presence in the area of Whorl anyway….

Finishing his preliminary report Naruto said to Kraven; "I'm going to meditate for a while if you'll keep an eye on the Ladies. I need to relax a little bit and I think the hospital staff can keep Lady Benibara and Lady Ariel out of trouble for a few minutes anyway."

Wilhelm chuckled. "One would hope so. I'll wake you up when Lady Benibara and Lady Ariel are ready to go home. It should be a few hours yet."

"All right then; it's lights out for me. Wake me if you need me Wilhelm." said the blonde.

….

Soon Naruto was in deep meditation when he heard a familiar yawn. Two red eyes blinked awake inside the seal that was the home of the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi. Naruto was ecstatic seeing his friend had finally awakened. "Kurama, boy am I glad to see you!" exclaimed the blonde. "I've been worried about you. You've been asleep for weeks."

Kurama yawned and said, "Was I out that long? I used a ton of chakra keeping us from being crushed within that tunnel's wall after you blacked out."

"What exactly happened?" asked the blonde. "I remember touching Hinata-chan's hand and the next thing I knew I crashed through a barrier and landed on some thugs."

"After you touched her hand the two women were swept down the center of the water tunnel to wherever it leads I presume." said the ancient fox. "We weren't so lucky and crashed into the wall of the water tunnel and were drawn within it. The pressure was so great that I had to burn tail after tail of chakra to keep us alive and whole. To add insult to injury the tunnel wall spit us out and launched us for miles through that goo before we hit something that looked like glass and busted through. I felt us freefalling but then I blacked out from lack of chakra."

The orange loving ninja sweat dropped. "So we got crushed, I blacked out and you took over, then you blacked out and I took over again."

"That's it in a nutshell kid." agreed the nine-tails. "Any sign of your girlfriends?"

Naruto blushed slightly and said, "I've been searching for Hinata-chan and Shizuka-chan ever since I crashed here in Lyonesse. Even in Sage mode using all my sensory techniques I haven't been able to detect them."

"Lyonesse?" asked Kurama. "That was a massive sea power nation in my youth. They took slaves wherever they went. I remember Asura and Indra both hated them with a passion and it took a lot for those two to agree on anything. The Empire took people from both sides of chakra wielders. Hmmm….It's been centuries since I even thought of the Empire of Lyonesse. Whatever happened to them?"

"The entire Empire sank to the bottom of the ocean." said Naruto. "They've been stuck down here for centuries."

Kurama exploded into laughter. "Hahahaha! Serves the bastards right!"

The blonde ninja sweat dropped. "….And we're stuck down here with them."

"….Oh….That sucks." replied the Kyuubi. Man and Fox Spirit sat there in silence for a few moments reflecting and Kurama asked, "So what's been going on while I was sleeping?"

"It's a really long story…." said Naruto.

….

Kurama was stretched out with his tails moving around lazily. "So you got a job and are trying to search for your missing girlfriends. The only real source of chakra you've found is up north in The Outskirts and you think there are many chakra users there."

"That's the gist of it." agreed the blonde. "I guess the next step is to acquire that datajack and put their technology to use. After that it's a matter of exploring The Outskirts somehow or other."

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us Naruto." commented the Fox.

"Too true." replied the whiskered ninja.

….

Naruto was jarred out of his meditations by the Turing Security Police. A rather large pair of officers was there in blue and white bodysuits. I'm afraid you'll need to come with us regarding the abduction of the Tesla Heiress Mr. Uzumaki. We have a number of questions for you."

The blonde ninja showed his Whorl Enforcer identification and said, "Once my Mistress Lady Benibara Steelside and Lady Ariel Tesla a safe and secure inside the Tesla Mansion I will be happy to accompany you. Until then I am not leaving their sides. If you have a problem I'm sure Lord Magnus Steelside of Whorl Arcology would be more than happy to intervene on my behalf."

One of the officers looked irritated and the other said, "We will address our superiors on this matter. We're keeping an eye on you Mr. Uzumaki."

Naruto looked bored and said, "You do that."

After the officers stepped away Kraven whispered, "I can keep an eye on the Ladies if you need to talk to the Security Police Naruto. There is no need to antagonize them."

The blonde replied, "Until they are completely safe I'm not leaving the Ladies' sides. It's bad enough that they got abducted on my watch. Those Security Police could keep me for hours playing twenty questions and I'm not about to let that happen…."

….

Whorl Arcology

Magnus Steelside was reading Naruto's preliminary report regarding the abduction of his daughter and niece. He sighed. "Naruto eliminated 57 people in the process of rescuing Benibara and Ariel from a Clynes Arcology gang. I have no doubt the media in Turing Arcology is going to be all over this like flies on a stink."

"At least our baby and Ariel are safe." said Rosalie. "That's all that matters to me."

The Steelside Patriarch nodded. "I'd better brief our lawyers on the situation. I don't know how this will pan out but Naruto is going to walk away scot-free. That's a promise…."

….

POSTSCRIPT:

*① Neural drugs: These are programs that induce various types of pleasures (euphoria, sexual, uppers, downers, etc.) They are inserted into a datajack and can be turned on and off at the user's will. Obviously blocking out the drug for later use would be handy in case you had to act quickly. Depending on the individual's tastes they can be a mild pleasure or highly addictive. Naturally; most are highly illegal as they can cause brain damage in extreme cases.

*② Gearhead: Real Gearheads are people interested in mechanical things such as cars or computers for example. In Lyonesse they are cybernetically enhanced people from Clynes Arcology as described in the text. They often collect cybernetic parts like people get tattoos or body piercings. Imagine a much less extreme version of the Borg in Star Trek TNG without the Hive Mind.

This chapter ended up being primarily Naruto-centric. It was by accident rather than design. I originally planned to delve into the girl's stories in detail but I wanted to bring Kurama back into the picture first and ran out of space. We'll be catching up with Hinata and Shizuka more in future chapters. See you next time. Blue out. 12/23/18