Naruto/Danmachi Crossover Idea

Baked Divinity

Part 5

Staring at the pale stone castle, Naruto couldn't help but whistle with an impressed expression. Tiona hadn't been kidding when she told him her Familia were one of the wealthiest in Orario. Standing taller than all the other buildings and homes in the district, it was hard to miss the towers and spires jutting out from each side. He wondered how many people it housed? A hundred? Maybe more? It put his little cottage to shame, though, not that he minded. He loved his little home. It was warm and cosy and it had character. What more did you need for home? He'd take his home over a large empty castle any day.

'I can't help but wonder how much a place like this costs though.'

The last few days had been fairly standard, but he'd been without Hestia for most of yesterday. Said tiny goddess had attended an annual Ball for the Gods and Goddesses that resided in Orario last night. Instead of coming home, he'd received a brief visit from a member of the Hephaistos Familia, with a message stating Hestia would be staying with her long time friend for the evening to complete some kind of project. It was no issue with him, though Bell seemed confused.

He didn't see much of the white-haired teen. He was up at the crack of dawn to parts unknown. Whatever he was doing, he hoped he was being careful.

Standing in front of the gates, he stood patiently and waited until one of the guards appeared. Thankfully, he must have arrived as a change was going on, as a young woman appeared through the large wooden doors carrying a spear. She spotted Naruto instantly and hurried over, her grip on her weapon tightening.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her eyes narrowing at the unknown individual.

"I think so." He gave a small wave, "I was told to meet Tiona here. We're supposed to go to Monsterphilia together."

Although not looking convinced, the young woman, who couldn't have been much older than sixteen, pulled a small list out of her pocket and began to check the names, "Naruto?"

The blonde nodded, "That's me."

"I guess you're good. Just don't go beyond the main foyer. No need to knock." She told him and unlocked the gate to allow him entry. The distance between the gates and the main door was a short one and he soon found himself pushing the wide doors open.

Peaking his head through, he didn't have far to look for his favourite customer. Stood a short distance away to the left, leaning on the wall between the main foyer and one of many hallways was Tiona, dressed as she normally would. As always, her sister was with her, stood a few feet in front with her back to Naruto, while another young woman leaned on the side of the wall next to the amazons. He didn't recognise her, but he could tell she was an elf by the pointy ears and unblemished perfect skin. Her hair was auburn and tied into a ponytail, wearing clothes a mixture of pink and white.

Stepping inside, the sound of the door closing behind him was enough for the three girls to look his way. He gave a small wave and smiled.

"Hi."

"Naruto! You came!" Tiona cheered and skipped out to meet him. Like the other day, he was mildly surprised by the hug around the torso, feeling her slender arms snaking around him. He smiled and laughed, reciprocating with a light squeeze and pat on the shoulder.

"Of course. I did promise after all." He puffed out his chest a little, "If there's one thing you need to know about Naruto Uzumaki, it's that he never goes back on a promise."

Tiona's face beamed in response and ushered over the elf, who was now looking over at them a little nervously, "Lefiya! Come over and say hi!" She called out. The pair watched as Tione nudged the girl over while giving the blonde a wave, "Naruto, this is Lefiya Varidis, a member of the Loki Familia and Riveria's apprentice. Lefiya, this is Naruto, the owner of the super and most awesome bakery in all of Orario." Tiona was practically giddy, jumping on the spot in excitement, "Today's going to be so much fun!"

Her sister could only shake her head and put a hand on her shoulder to steady her, "Would you calm down. Watching you is already tiring me out."

As the sister's briefly bickered, Naruto looked at the teenage elf, "It's nice to meet you, Lefiya."

The tips of her ears twitched at her name and he watched as she gave a little bow, "I-It's nice to meet you too, Mr Naruto."

"No need to call me Mister. I'm only a few years older than you."

"O-Oh, okay. I'll try to remember that." She replied before adding, "Tiona mentioned this is the first time you'd be attending Monsterphilia."

"That's right. I only moved here a few months ago. I'd never heard of it until Tiona mentioned it." Hestia, before she'd left for the Ball last night had filled him in somewhat about the festival, though, she too was in the dark since she'd only come down from Tenkai this year. Not to mention, this was Bell's first festival in Orario, so he was in the dark as much as he was, "Have you been too many Monsterphilia festivals, Lefiya?"

The auburn-haired girl nodded, "Oh, yes. I've been in Orario for eleven years, so I've attended Monsterphilia many times."

"In that case, I'll place myself in your care. Please look after me, Lefiya" He bowed and got a spluttering response from the girl, waving her hands in the air.

"P-Please! There's no need to bow. I'm not worthy of such praise!"

"Aww, you guys are becoming friends!" Tiona giggled, one arm wrapping around Lefiya's shoulders, "We're going to have such a good time!"

Lefiya gave a little nod, though a downtrodden expression appeared, "It's just a shame Miss Ais can't join us. I was looking forward to spending some time with her today."

"It can't be helped, Lefiya. Ais's punishment from Loki was ironclad. Maybe next year." A voice told them. Naruto looked up to the staircase and watched as a pallum with scruffy golden hair descended the steps. He wore a kind smile and didn't appear threatening, but the aura around him was strong. Stronger, in fact, than all three women stood around him, "Is this your friend, Tiona?"

"Yup! Captain, this is Naruto! Naruto, this is Finn. He's the Captain of the Loki Familia."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young man." He offered his hand out. There was no malice in his words. Merely a friendly greeting.

Eyes widening marginally for a moment, Naruto reciprocated and shook the pallum's hands, "It's nice to meet you too. You have a lovely home."

Finn's smile marginally widened, "That's kind of you to say. Personally, if I had my way, I'd have something not as grandiose as the Twilight Manor and more homely." The pallum shrugged, "But then again, that wouldn't be to our Familia's Goddess's taste. The bigger and more imposing, the better in her view."

"Is Goddess Loki here? I've met a few of the Gods since arriving in Orario, but I don't think I've met yours. Tiona paint's quite the picture of her."

Finn shook his head, "She already left with Ais an hour ago. If I know Loki the way I do, she'll try to keep Ais all to herself for most of the day. I doubt they'll be back until dark."

"That's too bad. Maybe we'll run into them, though, I have no idea what either of them looks like."

"I'm sure one of the girls will point them out if you do."

"Captain!" The voice came from the older of the Amazon twins and the blonde shinobi watched in surprise as Tione started fawning over the pallum, her face gaining a reddish hue to her cheeks as she tried to drape her body over him, "Are you sure you don't want to join us? You're always welcome. I promise I'll take good care of you!"

Finn shook his head while swiftly dodging her arms as she tried to grapple him, "Sorry, but I've got a few errands of my own to handle today. Perhaps another time." Despite the decline, he still smiled, but he looked rather tired as Tione continued to try and put her hands on him. This wasn't the first time today that Tione had made the offer.

Naruto looked to Tiona, who leaned up and whispered in his ear, "My sis has a thing for the Captain. He doesn't reciprocate but she's too dense to realise." The younger amazon sighed and shook her head. When would her sister realise the Captain was never going to be hers. Sadly, Tione could be as stubborn as a Silverback at times.

She was about to say something else when the sound of something swooshing through the air at high speed caught her attention. She moved her hands up to catch whatever was coming her way, but to her surprise, another hand promptly intercepted it mere inches away from her face. Blinking in surprise, she found it was none other than Naruto, his hand outstretched with a small coin caught between his index finger and his thumb. It appeared the other three were mildly surprised by the action and noticed Naruto looking up the grand staircase to find the Loki Familia's resident Werewolf stalking down the steps.

Putting two and two together, Tiona's face grew annoyed and let out a huff, "Hey! What was that for! That could have hurt, you know!"

"Tch," Bete made a noise, appearing displeased his little action didn't clock the amazon on the forehead like he'd hoped, "My hand slipped."

"That's a lie and you know it!" Tiona retorted back, her cheeks turning a steamy red as the silver-haired man stalked forward, "Muuu, you big bully!" Next to her, Tione had her arms crossed and glared at her fellow Familia member. The pair of Amazons were two of a handful of members who weren't afraid of him and his rough personality. Lefiya merely steered clear of him.

While this was happening, the Captain of the Loki Familia couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He would scold Bete later but he was more curious about the young man who'd caught the coin between his fingers.

'Good reflexes.'

Bete, being a Level Five Adventurer on the cusp of attaining Level Six, could turn anything into a weapon. On a normal person, a coin being thrown by his hand would end their life in the blink of an eye. The fact this young man Tiona had befriended caught it so effortlessly spoke volumes.

Bete didn't say anything, merely walking through the small group and towards the door. He threw each of them a look before momentarily stopping at the blonde. Naruto hadn't said anything, but he was levelling a frown towards the older man and holding out the coin. The two were of similar height, their eyes meeting at the level.

"You dropped this," Naruto replied, throwing the coin gentle in the air. Bete swiped it out of the air and tucked it back into his pocket.

Bete looked the blonde up and down before settling on his missing arm, the sleeve of the shirt he wore tied into a knot. His smirk wove its way onto his face before turning away and heading towards the door.

"Making friends with cripples now, Amazon? How pathetic. Weak guys like that are scum at the bottom of the barrel." He pushed the door open and left the Twilight Manor.

"Hey! What did you say! Say that to my face!" Tiona shouted, her face practically steaming from how angry she was becoming. She took two steps when a hand gently clasped her shoulder. Turning, she found it belonged to Naruto, who was shaking his head and smiling at her.

"Don't let it bother you, Tiona. He can call me a cripple all he likes. He's technically not wrong." He rubbed the stump, "He's not very sociable is he."

"No." The response came from Tione, Lefiya and surprisingly, Finn.

Tiona's face puffed out and the blonde felt her take a step towards him, her head still looking towards the door and gently nudged him with her hip, "It doesn't matter. Next time I see him. I'll make him pay." She punched a fist into the opposing palm, "I'll clobber that big doofus into the ground!"

It wasn't much longer before the group headed out, with said blonde and three girls saying their goodbyes to the Captain of the Loki Familia. Before heading off in the opposite direction to another room in the Manor, he took one last look at the retreating figure of Naruto and let out a hum.

His thumb was twitching.

"Are you sure you don't want to watch any more of the Monster Tamers? We were only there for five minutes." Tione asked, tilting her head as she watched Naruto and Tiona walk ahead of them. Lefiya was by her side, looking around with a content expression, "I think I heard they had a sword stag later on. That should be cool to watch."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at the older Hiryute twin, "That's okay. I think I've got a good idea of what happens." Though brief, he'd watched from the stands in the Colosseum as an adventurer from the Ganesha Familia faced down a Lizardman in the centre of the field. The adventurer didn't appear to be taking the whole thing seriously, dodging and weaving with a nonchalant expression on his face as the monster tried to tear him apart. According to Lefiya, the man was a Level Three Adventurer, meaning he was more than capable of handling a single Lizardman on his own. Still, the blonde couldn't help but think the guy was being overconfident and lost interest in the whole affair after the monster was killed, "So, what should we do?"

"Oh! This way! This way!"

Tiona's hand grabbed the blonde's wrist and led him over to a nearby stand, not giving Tione the time to reply. The elder twin and the elf watched as they bundled around a stand selling chilli, operated by an elderly woman behind it with a kind smile. Multiple large cookers sat on the top with bowls and spoons laid high. Each took a bowl and started looking in each one.

"Miss Tione, can I ask you a question?"

Taking her eyes off the pair, Tione looked at Lefiya, "Sure, Lefiya. What is it?"

"Urm, well, I know this is none of my business." The elf pushed her index fingers together, "I couldn't help but notice how happy Miss Tiona looks when Mr Naruto appeared earlier and how she's been glued to his side ever since we left the Manor. Could it be that your sister...likes him?"

Tione tiled her head, "Likes him? Well, they are friends after all."

"W-Well, no, that's not exactly what I mean. I-I mean in the sense of," Lefiya started and gulped as she finished her sentence, "Does she like like him. As in more than a friend?"

"More than a friend?" Tione replied, frowning before quickly understanding what Lefiya was trying to get at, "Oh! You mean, does she have feelings for him!?" The elf nodded her head, "No! No way! This is Tiona we're talking about. She's like that with everyone. My sister doesn't know the first thing about romantic love." Tione wanted to laugh. The very idea that her ditzy and often absent-minded sister could be falling in love was preposterous. Tiona was overly friendly with everyone.

"Hot! Hot Hot!"

"Pfftttt!"

Tione and Lefiya both looked back in the direction of the chilli stand and became mildly amused as the blonde baker was jumping up and down like a mad man, holding his mouth. If they had to guess, he must have tried one of the hotter bowls of chilli and was regretting the decision. Next to him, Tiona was laughing and trying not to spill her bowl of chilli at the same time.

Tione shook her head and spoke, "They're just friends. Tiona's like that with everyone. I don't see an-"

She stopped talking and watched as her younger twin put down her chilli, grabbed a napkin and wiped the sauce off his mouth. Then, she forced a cup of milk down his throat. After a moment of silence, the blonde let out a sigh, the burning in his mouth disappearing and appeared to thank her. Tiona merely smiled and laughed.

Then she did something Tione had never seen her do before.

Something so daring on Tiona's part, that Lefiya's words now had some weight to them.

Her free hand came up and rested on the baker's bicep.

And then she squeezed.

Tione's mouth dropped and her eyes widened.

Could it be! Did the impossible happen? D-Did her sister have a crush? Or dare she say, have feelings for the blonde!? As Amazons, it was in their nature to feel attracted to strong men. In their mindset, strong mates meant strong children in the future. It was how she initially fell in love with the Captain. For Tiona to feel something akin to that for the baker was both shocking and unsettling. It was nothing against the blonde, but he wasn't exactly the poster boy for guys their race would want to throw over their shoulders, take to bed and have their way with. The lack of his arm certainly acted against him, despite the lean and muscled body he had packing beneath his clothes. There may have been something there but Tione had never pictured her sister would find him romantically interesting.

She couldn't help but wonder if Tiona was aware of this growing development. Her sister usually had her head in the clouds, so would she even notice what her actions looked like?

She stood there watching for a couple of minutes, watching as it was her sister's turn to start dancing around like a madwoman as the chilli burned her mouth.

"Miss Tione? What are you thinking?" Lefiya asked. Her amazon friend and companion had been oddly silent for a while as she stared at the duo.

"I think," Tiona started as rested a hand beneath her chin, "You might be on to something, Lefiya."

"I am?"

"You are. Don't say anything to them. Let's just watch how this develops for now."

"These are some tricky fella's to pin down," Naruto commented, his tongue idly poking out from his lips as the little net gently swooshed through the water, following after the goldfish he was trying to catch and take home with him, "Don't worry little buddy. I promise I'll give you a good home."

Along the side of the tank, all three girls were doing the same thing, each one finding themselves with a look of concentration as they tried to scoop the fish up into the net. Tiona already bagged three up but decided to try for a fourth. Something about not wanting her new pets to get lonely when she wasn't home. He and Tione were on two, while poor Lefiya had yet to catch one. The elf was looking a little frustrated.

"Why is this so hard?!"

Watching the fish glide beneath the surface of the water, the blonde shinobi felt a small weight appear next to him, grazing against his leg. Small hands appeared on the glass of the tank and he noticed a young girl watching with fascination as dozens of fish swam in front of her. She was a pretty little thing with cream-coloured hair and canine-like ears sprouting from the top of her head. A fluffy tail gently swooshed around behind her. Light red eyes full of wonder watched as the fish continuously dodged the net and let out a giggle when Naruto blew a raspberry at the evading aquatic creature. She couldn't have been very old. No older than ten.

"Wow." He heard her mutter.

"They're very pretty, huh?" He said peering down at her.

She looked up and nodded, "Uhuh."

"I've managed to get two already." He admitted with a laugh and showed the two small containers holding the fish inside. He then offered the net to the little girl, "Would you like to give it a try?"

Blinking in surprise, she gave a shy nod and hid half her face beneath the yellow scarf wrapped around her shoulders, "Y-Yes please!"

Pulling up a small stool, the little girl scurried up and was handed the net. For a couple of minutes, Naruto watched with a smile, cheering her on as she glided the net through the water. A look of concentration on her face and her ears twitching at the tips.

Then, as the fish darted to go in the opposite direction and swim away, she managed to react quick enough to get the net in front of the fish and had it trapped in a corner. The next thing the little girl knew, she had the fish in the net and it was being collected by the owner of the stall and placed into a container.

Naruto took it and offered it to her, "Good job. This one's all yours. Make sure to take good care of it." His smile was wide and whatever shyness the little girl had quickly disappeared. A smile that could light up the sun radiated from her face and stared into the container where her new pet now resided. She made little oohs and ahhs.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed an older woman in a plain grey dress stop and look at them before heading over, "So this is where you went too, Fina." The lady was older, in her forties with crow's feet beginning to appear in the corner of her eyes, "What have I said about wandering off?"

"Miss Maria! Look! Look! Look!" Fina said, holding up the bag to show off her new pet.

The woman smiled and patted Fina's head, "How lovely. We'll have to find a place for him once we return home later."

Fina giggled and nodded her head before spinning around and looking up at Naruto, "Thanks, Mister!"

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Naww, your welcome."

"I hope she didn't cause you any inconvenience," Maria asked.

He shook his head, "None at all."

With that, Maria took Fina's hand and gently led her away to a small group of children, who were waiting for them over at another stand. They all looked around the same age as Fina. Fina turned her head and gave Naruto one last smile. In return, he gave her a little wave and watched as the pair reunited with their group and disappeared down another street.

When he turned around, he found all three female members of the Loki Familia looking at him with silly expressions. Lefiya even had her hands on her face, eyes sparkling.

"What?"

"That was so cute!" They said in unison.

The former shinobi of the Hidden Leaf found his afternoon passing him by rather quickly. He'd lost count at the number of stalls the group visited, but it must have been closing in on a hundred. He was starting to see why the festival was beloved by the city. It was a chance for the people of Orario to have fun and let their hair down. Konoha had similar festivals he'd attended in the past, though, none were of the scale to this.

'Maybe next year, I should open up a stall and sell some baked goods.'

According to Tione, there would be fireworks later in the evening once the sky goes dark. Those were very popular, especially with the children of Orario.

"Hey, Naruto. We're just heading down the street!" Tiona shouted, her hands cupped to her mouth, "Don't fall back too much, okay!"

"I won't." He waved and he picked up another ball and threw it towards the coconut, hitting it dead in the centre, "I'll be right along!" He was busy trying to win the bright orange ramen bowl sitting on top of a nearby shelf.

A ramen bowl!? Coloured orange!? It was like the gods were shining down on him. Maybe Hestia put in a good word for him and blessed him with some divine luck.

Sadly for him, there was no ramen stand in Orario, though a few places in the city did provide his favourite bowl. None were as good as Ichiraku Ramen, but then again, no one could ever best Teuchi and Ayame in the art of ramen-making.

Thinking back to Hestia, he couldn't help but wonder where she was. He'd seen her every day since coming into his life, so it was strange not seeing her daily. Would she be home tonight? Or would she and Hephaistos still be working on their project together? Whatever it was, he hoped they'd be done by tomorrow. Uzumaki Bakery might have been closed for Monsterphilia, but they were open the next day. His customers would have his head if he closed down for a second day.

"You'd think after nineteen years of life, you would finally get over this obsession you have with that insufferable meal," Kurama spoke, one eye open and releasing a loud yawn.

"We both know that's never going to happen." He replied, thanking the stall owner as he handed the bowl over, "Nice of you to finally wake up."

"I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about. Where's the Amazon?"

"Over at another stall the next street over."

"Explains why it's so much quieter."

"Don't be mean. Tiona's great."

"Whatever you say, brat."

At that moment, a shiver ran down the back of his neck and from inside the seal, Kurama opened both of his eyes and raised his head. Behind him, a cloaked figure walked past him, weaving between the people of Orario and narrowly avoiding bumping into anyone. All he saw was a silver eye looking at him with mild curiosity and amusement and a lock of silver hair dangling down their face.

She disappeared into the crowd before anyone could blink.

A woman.

A goddess?

"Who do you think that was?" Naruto asked, "And why did being around her give me such an unsettling vibe."

"I don't know, but I don't like it."

Almost as if the gods took their blessing away and were now laughing at him, the hairs on his arm stood on end and a tremor ran through the ground beneath his feet. The sound of a nearby building being demolished immediately send people running in a panic, debris shooting through the air and impacting other buildings in the surrounding area. Then, something shot out of the earth, something akin to vines or plants.

"An earthquake?"

From above, rocks began hurdling down from the sky. Looking around, not everyone was moving quick enough to avoid getting hit or finding somewhere to take shelter, so he made a familiar hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A dozen Naruto's appeared along the street and darted towards the scared citizens, picking them up and moving them out of the way before anything could happen to them. None said a word but looked visibly stunned as they were suddenly relocated to a safe spot a hundred meters away from the ongoing chaos.

Just then, one of the plants burst through the ground, reaching at least twenty meters into the air. Naruto acted fast and didn't need to be told these things were deadly.

Ordering his clones to get anyone left over out of the area, he burst over next to the creature and delivered a kick that would have made Lee and Guy proud. The impact was enough to throw it to the side and impact a nearby building, but Naruto couldn't help but wince at the pain now shooting through his leg.

"Is that thing's body made of iron!?" He said aloud and watched as it started getting back up and wriggling in the air. The bud at the very top of the plant began to shift around and convulse, and he watched as it opened up into a flower with petals coloured red and purple. A mouth was at the centre of the flower, like one of the Venus flytraps he'd seen on the south coast of the Land of Fire.

It let out a roar in his direction and looked ready to lunge.

"Uwah!"

Blue eyes widening, his head snapped to the right and felt the pit of his stomach drop. Hidden beneath one of the broken stalls with debris covering the top were Fina and Maria, the woman holding Fina closed as a look of terror was on their faces. They were tucked away with barely enough room for two people and somehow the stall had remained intact despite the added weight on top of it.

A deep hiss started emanating from the plant and watched as its attention diverted away from him.

"No!"

The second it launched forward and snapped its jaw wide open, a fist collided with the side of its head, just a few feet away from the terrified adult and child. Blinking his eyes, the usual shade of azure blue changed and became the shining topaz, courtesy of Senjutsu.

In a burst of speed, he picked Fina and Maria up over his shoulder and reappeared fifty meters away, tucking them both behind an alleyway.

"Are you both okay!?" He asked in a panicked tone. Neither looked hurt, aside from a few grazes on their arms and cheeks.

"Y-Yes. W-We're okay." Her hands wrapping around Fina, she pulled her close. The little girl was still clutching the fish she'd won earlier, keeping the container tight to her chest.

He gave them a reassuring smile, "I'm gonna go sort that monster out. Stay here where it's safe, okay." He turned but felt a hand clutch his shirt, finding the cream-haired girl looking up at him with fear.

"Don't go."

Not wanting her to worry, his hand came down and ruffled her hair, "Don't worry. This won't take long. I'm going to set the monster straight." His smile widened, "No one messes with Naruto Uzumaki and gets away with it. I'll be back in the blink of an eye. I promise."

A few seconds passed but the little girl eventually nodded.

'I'm gonna make this quick.'

"About time. You should have destroyed it already." Kurama added, keeping one eye on th situation but not appearing to be bothered by the situation. The blonde idiot had this covered.

Cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders, Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed. He crossed back to where the plant monster was still writing around and delivered a solid uppercut beneath the lower petals. His senjutsu-enhanced punch caused the whole body to writhe and vibrate from the shock and followed it up by jumping high in the air and delivering a kick beneath the top of its jaw. The head of the plant got stomped back towards the earth, making cracks form along the ground.

Summoning a clone in mid-air, he felt its hand grab the back of his shirt and spin him in the air, firing him forward and back towards the plant. At the same time, his hand lit up with chakra, a familiar blue sphere swirling to life. It grew bigger and bigger until it was roughly the size of a food cart and was thrust forward into the centre of the petals, drilling the head of the monsters upon impact.

"Giant Rasengan!"

It didn't stand a chance and neither did the terrain around them. A powerful shockwave that put the earlier tremor's to shame hit the area, shaking every building within a seventy-meter radius to its core. Grinding the monster into oblivion, the rasengan drove it deeper and deeper back into the ground until an explosion like nothing Orario had heard before ricocheted across the city, stopping all in their tracks. When all was said and done, Naruto appeared back on the ground, staring down at a new hole in the middle of the city. It went down a fair distance, enough that what remained of the creature was barely visible. Pieces of its long body were still intact, but anything above the mid-point was reduced to nothing.

Slowly, its body began to disappear until nothing remained but black smoke.

"Holy shit!"

Blinking at the voice, he turned his head and found himself looking at...a goddess? Her hands were tucked in her pants and walking casually towards him, her hair tied into a short ponytail by a black hairband. Her eyes were half-closed, but he could spot the red iris looking straight at him. She was dressed rather tomboyishly, in clothes that typically a guy would wear. She didn't appear bothered that there was still a battle going on the next street over with more of those plant things.

"Lady Goddess? Shouldn't you be seeking shelter?" He asked, though his question only appeared to amuse her.

"Nah, it's fine. My kids are already dealing with whatever those things are. Plus, my ickle Ais is taking care of the monsters that escaped from the Colosseum. It's all good." She stopped in front of him, not caring for personal space and leaned in until they were practically touching noses, "I'm more curious to learn all I can about the guy with one arm channelling the power of nature through his body. That seems like it's worth more of my time." She wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "I bet every divine being in the city felt that neat trick of yours. Name's Loki and that was one hell of a display you just put on."

"...Thanks?"

"Tell me, who's Familia are you part off? I can't work out who's divine essence is circulating through your body."

He shook his head, his eyes returning to blue as he let go of the senjutsu circulating through his body. The act was enough to make her eyes widen marginally. More so her smile turned into a grin.

"I'm not a member of any Familia. I'm just a baker."

His answer appeared to delight the woman, who followed up with a simple request.

"Wanna join my Familia?"

Thanks for reading everyone.

I had a few thoughts on Naruto's power level at the end of the chapter when fighting the Viola. Remember, Tiona and Tione are formidable fighters in their own right, both Level Five at this point and on the cusp of becoming Level 6. That makes them two of the strongest currently in Orario and in the anime and light novels, both commented how tough the Viola's were and punching and kicking them was like hitting a block of iron. Base Form Naruto probably could have defeated the Viola but to end it quickly, it made sense to me that Sage Mode would booster his power enough to wipe the floor with it. Anyone under Level Five against a Viola would have struggled, if not been outright defeated by them without teamwork. Sage Mode Naruto is strong enough to combat anyone in Orario at this point. Synchronising with Kurama for Nine Tails Mode or accessing Six Paths Sage Mode would put him in a league of his own.

Who knows. Maybe he'll appear in those forms at some point ;)

Just to let people know, after a lot of back and forth, I'll be posting a Part Two to Divinity in a Bowl, my Naruto/One Piece Story. It'll be a week or two before I post it, but keep an eye out.

Please review and let me know what you thought.