[Hope in Ruination] Chapter 8 - Bilgewater

With the giant man on his right shoulder, the fox girl on his left, and the fluffy poro on his head, Naruto sprinted across the waves. As they got closer to the rocky shoreline, Ahri pointed her finger and said:

“Look, there’s a village towards 4 o’clock.”

Naruto had seen it too, and despite his exhaustion, he picked up the pace.

“Maybe it would be better to change your course a little,” Ahri added. 

“Why?”

“The Buhru people worship a divinity of the sea, Nagakabouros. Only the Spirits know what they would think if they saw you walk on water,” she explained. 

“Fair enough. Better not to attract too much attention,” he said in agreement and changed his direction slightly, towards 3 o’clock.

Soon after, they reached the shore, and Ahri was tactful enough to jump off his shoulder without being told. 

“I can’t wait to hit the bed,” he said as the natives’ village appeared on the horizon. 

He had not had any time to rest ever since he fought against the Black Mist earlier that day. Although he still had chakra, the corruption attempts of the mist had taken a toll on his mental state.

“You probably won’t get in bed anytime soon,” Ahri said when she saw a group of warriors wearing tribal clothes and jewellery coming to block their way once they got close to the village. 

Naruto didn’t understand their language, but judging by the negative emotions he could sense from them and from their act of brandishing their spears, it was clear that they were not welcome. 

A dark-skinned, muscular man wearing nothing but an open leather vest on his upper body and a pair of baggy white linen pants stepped in front of his group and asked:

“Who are you people? Why have you come to our land?”

Unlike Naruto, who didn’t understand a word of what he was saying, Ahri knew many languages; she had been alive for centuries and absorbed the memories of countless people. 

“We were headed towards Bilgewater, but our ship sank,” she said. “We were attacked by the Black Mist not long ago. We barely escaped with our lives.”

“The Black Mist??” the tribesman said in shock. “How can this be?! Our Truth Bearer drove back the mist years ago! We have not seen even one Harrowing since then.”

“We aren’t the only ones. We found this man washed ashore not far from here too. I think he was also a victim of the Black Mist,” she said, gesturing towards the unconscious man on Naruto’s shoulder. 

Sensing that the natives weren’t happy about their presence there, Naruto said:

“Tell him we won’t stay in their village. We just want to leave this guy here. We can pay for his treatment if needed. As for the two of us, we’ll board the first ship heading towards Bilgewater.”

As Ahri relayed Naruto’s words to them, the Buhru people talked amongst themselves for a short while before their spokesperson gave them their answer:

“The Mother Serpent teaches us not to turn a blind eye to those in need. We shall nurse your companion back to health. As for the matter of you going to Bilgewater, a merchant ship should leave the harbour in one hour. We will arrange for you to get on board.”

Naruto handed the bald, muscular man to the Buhru people, and Ahri couldn't help but start to giggle when she saw that the two tribesmen who tried to take the unconscious man from Naruto’s arms almost collapsed under his weight. In the end, they couldn’t carry him like that, and someone ran to the village to bring a stretcher.

⁂

Leaving the large man they had rescued from the sea in the care of the villagers, Naruto and Ahri followed a guide to the small harbour to board the ship that would take them to Bilgewater. 

The Serpent Isles were rather close to each other, and Naruto would have definitely been able to walk across the water, but the problem was that neither he nor Ahri had ever been to Bilgewater; they didn't know its precise location. Therefore, although they would have to wait until the sailboat took off, they had no choice. 

In the meantime, they sat on a bench nearby and watched the Buhru people go about their business while they made small talk. 

“Are you sure it’s safe to leave him with them?” Naruto asked. 

Although he had not sensed any negative emotions from the tribesmen (other than wariness towards him and Ahri), the blond was still suspicious.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to have a little more trust in people, you know? Not everyone is out to get you or others,” Ahri said. “You were like that with me as well when we just met, and I wanted nothing but to help you out.”

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. 

“Where I come from, there’s a saying: once bitten, twice shy.”

Naruto had been on the run his entire life. He had lost count of how many people had tried to kill him or turn him in for the bounty on his head. After spending over seven years running from assassins and mercenaries, being suspicious of others was like second nature to him.

Ahri let out a sigh. “I even tried to give them money, and they still refused.”

“That just makes them more suspicious. People who don’t do it for money usually have some other motive.”

“Hey! I resent that! I didn’t have any hidden motives when I befriended you and those siblings!” Ahri huffed in chagrin.

“Yes, you did. You approached me because you thought I was a vastaya. My life energy smelt like a fox, and you were hoping I had some connection to your people.”

Ahri opened her mouth to argue but quickly deflated when she realised he was right. Her fox ears drooped, and her tail stopped wagging.

“Still… I didn’t mean any harm.”

Naruto found himself grinning. “Aw, you’re pouting now.”

“I am not!” she snapped, crossing her arms and looking away.

He chuckled and reached out, patting her between her perky fox ears.

‘Crap, she’s so cute!’

In moments like this, it was easy to forget that the fox girl was old enough to remember the times when starting a fire was the latest tech.

Still pouting, Ahri pushed his hand off her head, and the two spent the remaining time in silence. Every once in a while, the girl would sneak a glance at him, inwardly growing annoyed when she realised Naruto was more preoccupied with watching the harbour instead of trying to make up with her. 

In his defence, the Buhru settlement’s harbour was of a rarely seen picturesque beauty. Even he, who had no artistic sense, could recognise its uniqueness.

The water was clear and crystal blue. The Buhru people stood out with their dark skin, simple breezy clothes, and tribal tattoos. The cliffs and buildings along the shore were covered in beautiful carvings and paintings of large sea serpents and a striking Kraken-like creature, the symbol of their god, Nagakabouros.



Eventually, it was time for them to get on a rowboat in order to reach the sailboat that was waiting for them in the open sea. 

⁂

By the time they boarded the sailboat, Ahri had returned to her usual, bubbly mood. Bilgewater was only a few hours away, but the fox girl couldn’t help pacing back and forth impatiently.

As for Naruto, he unfurled the large Scroll of Seals and started studying the Flying Thunder God Jutsu; it was something he always did whenever he had a bit of spare time. 

Ahri would have loved to spend their trip chatting and having fun, but with how focused the blond seemed to be on his scroll, she had nothing to do. She grinned in mischief to herself, and Naruto was startled to notice from the corner of his eye that she had disappeared!

No, she didn’t vanish entirely. The girl vanished, and a cute white fox appeared in her stead. She had turned into a fox. 

Ahri’s giggle was somehow recognisable even in her fox form, and Naruto watched wide-eyed how the laughing fox jumped into his lap and curled herself into a ball. 

“I didn’t know you could turn into a fox!” Naruto said in awe. 

He poked and prodded at her fur, but her transformation did not come undone. It was not a henge, nor was it an illusion. She had actually shapeshifted. 

But when he tried to touch her fluffy white tail, Ahri’s needle-like fangs sank into his hand playfully. 

He started chuckling as he began to annoy the little fox by pulling at her ears or grabbing her paws, and she tried to bite him in turn at every chance she got. They played around like that for nearly half an hour, laughing and giggling the entire time, the Scroll of Seals left to the side forgotten. 

But after half an hour, fed up with getting bullied like that, Ahri unexpectedly turned back to her human form, straddling his legs. 

The Buhru sailors and merchants sat back and snickered in amusement as they watched two grown-ups wrestle and roll around on the deck as though they were children. 

Try as she might, even after turning back to human form, she couldn’t get an advantage over him. He was far too powerful physically. She tried every dirty trick in the book—biting, scratching, tickling, and even licking his ear to make him recoil in disgust—but nothing worked. A few minutes later, he pinned her hands above her head and mounted her, immobilising her completely. 

“Really now? Biting and scratching? What are you, a kid?" Naruto said, his breathing laborious. 

“That’s rich. . . coming from you!” she said while gasping for air. 

“You even tried to lick my ear!” he said incredulously. 

Ahri started sniggering, and he began chuckling too. Eventually, they started laughing out loud together. 

“Alright, enough monkeying around. I’d really like to get some reading done,” Naruto said as he stood up, letting go of her wrists. 

It was weird to hear himself say he wanted to study, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He really wanted to learn Fuinjutsu and the Hirashin. 

He sat on the bench again and grabbed his scroll, but Ahri was quick to hop into his arms and sit in his lap. 

“Ahri… come on!”

“I’m not doing anything now, I promise,” she said, looking up at him cutely. “I just want to be close to you. . . is that bad?”

Her honey-laced voice and their closeness made it impossible for him to stop the flush spreading across his face. They had wrestled just a minute ago, rolling on the deck together, but that was different. They had been playing. Their current posture was. . . intimate.

"I don’t think friends are supposed to embrace each other like this," he muttered in embarrassment.

Ahri wrapped her arms around his neck and smirked as their faces were only centimetres apart now.

"But you didn’t have any qualms about falling asleep with a face full of my breasts last night."

Her sensitive ears didn’t miss the way his heart skipped a beat at her words, and the even more obvious sign of the effect she was having on him could be felt from below.

Naruto shifted around awkwardly so she wouldn’t notice, and it took every last ounce of her willpower not to start giggling at him. His face was so red she could practically feel the heat radiating from it.

"Ahri," he began, his voice unsteady.

"Shush~" The fox girl cut him off, pressing a slender finger to his lips, over the mask. 

Naruto trembled with desire, and a delightful shiver ran down Ahri’s spine. Without thinking, she licked her lips, her eyes smouldering as she gazed up at him.

She had not used her Charm ability, yet he was completely captivated by her. He could do nothing but watch as her hands cupped his face, her fingers slowly tracing their way to the edges of his mask.

He had teased her about it and spent weeks keeping his face a secret, but now he was completely entranced by her.

Every little movement drew him in. The slight tilt of her head, the teasing glint in her amber eyes, and the way her lips curled into a smirk. She knew exactly how to push his buttons and what gestures made him weak. It was as if she could read his mind.

'But she did read my memories,' he reminded himself absentmindedly.

Ahri’s own heart started pounding in her chest as she slowly peeled off his mask, her slit, fox-like eyes widening as she took in his true appearance. She had seen many handsome men in her long life, but none had ever taken her breath away like this. He wasn’t pretty like the princes and aristocrats she had encountered, but there was a rugged charm to him that drew her in.

A soft pink warmed her cheeks as she stared, unable to look away from the three pairs of whisker-like marks on his face. He was. . . so much better than she had expected! No, he was positively adorable. Those whisker marks that were so similar to hers and that prickly on the outside, warm on the inside attitude of his made him cute as hell. It was Ahri's turn to blush now.

Her hands moved to the back of his head, and she pulled him down to her, her head tilting in preparation for what was going to be a soulful, passion-filled kiss. 

However, at that moment, an abrupt tremor shook the ship, and their foreheads clashed against each other painfully. A massive aquatic monster had attacked their ship. 

And, just like that, the special moment they had was broken. Naruto quickly distanced himself from her and covered his face back with his mask. 

Before the captain could even shout for the crew to prepare for battle, Ahri jumped off the ship. Her tail multiplied to nine, and her eyes glowed with her magic power as she let out a furious cry. 

A fireball, larger than her own body, appeared above her head. She threw the devastating attack, and the thirty-meter-long sea serpent let out a terrible shriek as his body was set on fire. 



Taken aback and frightened by the violent retaliation, the immense sea monster immediately pulled back from the sailboat and tried to flee. 

“You’re not getting away!” Ahri yelled. 

She had been trying for so long to get through Naruto’s walls and make him realise that she liked him! And she had been on the verge of succeeding. . . but that serpent ruined everything. Now, only the Spirits knew when another opportunity would come for her to make the blond blockhead understand her feelings! All her efforts went up in smoke!

She was going to kill that blasted snake if it was the last thing she did!

Three more fireballs, just as massive as the first one, appeared around her, and she started bombarding the surface of the water with her magic. Another three massive fireballs formed around her, and she began raining down her magic on the sea with wild abandon.

The Buhru people, who had been preparing to channel the power of the Bearded Lady to fight against the creature, stood frozen. They watched in stunned silence as the previously bubbly and flirty fox girl went apeshit on the sea serpent.

Half a minute later, the massive body of the serpent sank to the bottom of the sea. Alas, the monster had been unable to get away. Ahri’s foxfire was hot enough to melt steel even before she absorbed Naruto’s life force; her magic was several times stronger after feeding on his chakra. Although the serpent had gone underwater, Ahri’s foxfire had heated the seawater to the point where the serpent was boiled alive. It died a terrible death.

⁂

Maybe it was because the other sea serpents had seen their companion’s brutal death, or maybe they were just lucky, but the ship didn’t face another attack for the rest of the journey.

Naruto spent the next few hours in silence, trying (and failing miserably) to focus on his scroll. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate, his mind kept going back to what had almost happened between him and Ahri. The fact that the fox girl was sitting next to him, her head resting on his shoulder, didn’t help matters. At all. 

Her closeness made him self-conscious, and the faint scent of flowers that drifted from her made his skin break out in goosebumps. He felt like he had a fever, his entire body on fire every time he felt her breath on his arm. He was at the end of his wits. 

Fortunately, that sweet form of torture came to an end when the port of Bilgewater appeared on the horizon. It was a strange city built on cliffs and even atop the water, with all sorts of weirdly shaped buildings, some of them looking like actual sailboats that had been dragged on land and turned into homes.

Nevertheless, seen from a distance, it could not be denied that Bilgewater had its own, special type of beauty and charm.





Letting out a sigh of relief, Naruto furled back the Scroll of Seals and stored it safely in his backpack before standing up from the bench. 

By the time they reached Bilgewater’s docks, the sky had turned to sunset. Ahri’s face twisted in disgust, and even Naruto had to cover his nose as the overpowering stench of fish, blood, and salt hit them like a punch to the face.

“Welcome to Bilgewater!” Ahri said, her voice sounding funny while she pinched her nose. 

Bilgewater was exactly what the two of them had imagined a lawless pirate den to be like. Shouts and yells of people partying could be heard from everywhere as the bars and taverns were filled to the brim with customers; a bunch of men and women were having a bare-knuckle fistfight on the street, some drunkards were throwing up messily in a side alley, and prostitutes stood outside brothels, trying to pull in men. Occasionally, the sound of gunshots could be heard in the distance.

Wanting to avoid unnecessary trouble, Ahri covered herself with her long white cloak and put on its hood, hiding herself completely. She smiled happily when Naruto actually took the initiative to grab her hand so that they would not get separated, and the fox girl intertwined her fingers with his in a lover’s hold. 

Even in that lawless cesspool of pirates, criminals, druggies, killers, and other dangerous individuals, the crowd parted like a miracle wherever Naruto went. They only needed one look at his metallic arm for them to think thrice about trying to start any trouble with him. They all knew what a hextech prosthetic was. 

⁂

Unfamiliar with the messy and cluttered pirate city, Naruto and Ahri wandered around aimlessly in search of an inn. After spending such a long time at sea, the two of them wanted nothing more than to sleep in a quiet, steady place, without fearing that some gigantic Jaull-fish or Kraken would attack them in their sleep. 

“Should we camp out in the forest?” asked Naruto after fifteen minutes. 

However, Ahri had not even noticed the passing of time. So happy she was about walking hand in hand with him, that she even forgot that they were supposed to find an inn for the night. 

“No, let’s keep searching. I’m sure we’ll find an inn soon.”

Passing by a large, impressive manor (by Bilgewater standards), Naruto and Ahri noticed a group of people entering through its large double doors, all heavily armed. The man leading them stood out with his blue, fur-collared cape, wide-brimmed captain’s hat adorned with a scarlet feather, and the golden epaulettes on his shoulders.

Naruto was about to keep walking and mind his own business, but Ahri grabbed his hand, stopping him.

“Hey, want to see what they’re up to?” she asked, grinning.

“We just got here. We don’t know anything about this place. Let’s not stick our noses in things that aren’t our business,” Naruto replied.

“Don’t be like that, Ifrit~. Aren’t you curious?”

“I’m more tired than curious. I just wanna go have a warm bath and sleep in a proper bed for the first time in weeks.”

The fox girl pulled on his hand, whining.

“But I wanna seee!”

“Curiosity got the fox killed.”

“That’s not how the saying goes!” she retorted hotly. “Curiosity killed the cat, not the fox! And that’s not even the complete saying! Curiosity killed the cat, but the truth brought it back!”

He started chuckling at her. “What am I going to do with you? You’re getting me in trouble every day!”

Ahri giggled and nudged him with her shoulder. 

“You know what they say, bad decisions make the best stories~”

Two minutes later, Naruto sneaked to the back of the manor, and, by making use of the semi-darkness of the dusk, he wall-walked on the dark side of the building, with Ahri hanging off his back like a monkey. 

“You really have to teach me how to walk on water and on walls one of these days!” she whispered. 

“Why do you need that when you can fly?”

“I can’t fly for a long time. It’s just a short, temporary levitation; it takes me a great deal of magic power to maintain it for a longer time.”

“Don’t you have my memories already?” he asked. "You should know how I control my chakra."

“I don’t have them all. And I can’t control what exactly I’m seeing.”

“Well, tough luck for you then,” he said snarkily, trying to rile her up on purpose. 

But he chose the wrong moment to do so because, with her position on his back, Naruto was at her mercy. Bringing her lips close to his ear, she whispered seductively:

“Then I guess you’ll have to feed me again tonight. Intimately.”

It was as though he had short-circuited. He lost control over his chakra, and the two of them fell off the wall like a sack of potatoes, crashing down with a heavy thud.

Ahri started giggling uncontrollably. 

“Shhh! They’ll hear you!” he said in a harsh whisper, his face burning with embarrassment as he covered Ahri’s mouth with his hand to muffle her laughter. 

"Ahahahaha!"

Two minutes later, the girl finally got her laughter under control, and Naruto's own embarrassment receded somewhat. He climbed on the wall again, and they stopped next to a window as they peeked inside, becoming quiet to eavesdrop on them.

⁂

“I see you’ve been doing some remodelling,” said the man wearing the captain’s hat and the blue, fur-collared coat.

Across from him stood a red-haired woman wearing a pair of tight, high-waist pants showing off her slender waist and long legs and a black corset that further accentuated her wasp-like waist and perky breasts.



“What can I say? The place needed a woman’s touch. I don’t think the previous owner would mind,” she said sardonically. 

“Guess not. Seeing as how you gunned him down, along with the rest of the conclave,” the other captain replied. 

“Are you here to parley, Captain Thorne, or to criticise my sense of decor? I trust you’ve considered my offer?”

“Offer?” the man scoffed. “You’re asking me to hand over all my operations to you, my fleet, and all of my men. . . of else? Miss Fortune, you may have killed Gangplank, stolen this fancy manor from him . . . but that don’t make you my queen.”

At his words, all the men behind him took out their guns, machetes, and daggers. 

“From where I’m standing, it looks like Bilgewater is still up for grabs,” said Captain Thorne. “Now give it up, girl. You know I’d hate to ruin that pretty face.”

The dark-skinned man standing at the red-haired woman’s right let out a sigh. 

“So much for diplomacy,” he said. 

“You know what, Rafen?” Captain Fortune said, “I think I’m starting to enjoy it.”

Faster than anyone there could react, the woman pulled out the twin pistols from the holsters at her waist, and then Ahri had to flatten her ears against her head as a thunderous noise rang out. 

A hail of bullets exploded from the hand-cannon-like pistols in the redhead’s hands, gunning down a dozen pirates in the blink of an eye. Screams of pain and panic came from the pirates as they collapsed on the floor, holding onto their bloodied legs in agony. 

At the same time, three dozen pirates flooded the large chamber; they were Miss Fortune’s men. 

The still-standing pirates on Captain Throne’s side all moved back to back, but their faces paled when they realised they were surrounded from all sides. 

“I’ll consider this your formal surrender,” Captain Fortune spat. 

“The Syndicate will never follow you. You hear me, tyrant? I’ll die first!” shouted Captain Thorne.

“I see,” she said indifferently. “How about you, boys? Does your captain speak for you all? Will you become fish food too like he is about to?”

Nobody answered her question, but they all lowered their weapons, recognising a lost cause when they saw one. 

“Well then, Captain Throne,” Miss Fortune said as she walked closer to him and aimed her pistol at his temple. “I’d say this meeting is adjourned.” 

A loud gunshot rang, and even the pirates recoiled at the macabre sight of Captain Thorne’s head blowing up messily and the geyser of blood that burst out of his headless corpse. 

As if she hadn’t just violently murdered someone in cold blood, Miss Fortune wiped the blood that had splashed on her face and said in a serene voice:

“The rest of you, welcome to my crew! Prove yourselves loyal, and you will be rewarded. Betray me, or even whisper the name Gangplank, and I’ll stuff you in a box with your former captain. Understood?”

She looked like a slender and delicate woman, but the terror her actions had instilled had several dozen men suddenly straighten up their postures and salute in fear with a hand to their temple:

“Yes, Captain!”

⁂

“Damn. The pirates’ haven, indeed,” said Naruto as he took off the wall and jumped into the distance with Ahri on his back. 

“It’s even more lawless than I thought. We got here not even an hour ago, and we already watched a dozen people die,” she said as she got off his back. 

They chatted about the incident they had just witnessed for another twenty minutes before they finally found a decent-looking inn. 

As they entered the inn, their arrival turned quite a few heads. Although Ahri’s appearance was mostly hidden by her white cloak, one could tell just by her gait and the shape of her silhouette that she was most likely a very attractive woman. Nevertheless, when their eyes moved to the man accompanying her, they quickly lowered their heads. 

Ignoring the rest of the people dining on the ground floor, Naruto and Ahri went to the innkeeper, a bald man with half his teeth missing and a red scarf around his neck. 

“Ah. Do you want the hourly rate, or…?” he let out an insinuating laugh.

“Two rooms for the night,” Naruto answered, pretending to not catch his drift. 

“Hehe. You sure?”

Seeing the opportunity to mess with Naruto again, Ahri barely held back a teasing grin as she replied to the innkeeper:

“One room will do~”

Naruto twisted his head to her sharply, but she made a show out of ignoring him and took out a pouch of money from the inner pocket of her cloak. 

“Is that Ionian coin?” the innkeeper asked, sneering when he opened the bag and saw its contents. “That ain’t no good here. We only take Silver Serpents, no exceptions!”

Naruto couldn’t even be mad at him. Bilgewater was a lawless, pirate city. It made sense that the innkeeper wouldn’t want to risk doing business with exchanging currency and whatnot.

The baldie tied the bag’s mouth and pushed it across the counter, back to Ahri.

“Take your foreign coin and go someplace else.”

She didn’t make a move to retrieve her money. Obscured by the hood of her cloak, the fox girl’s eyes glowed with a magenta colour as she asked:

“Are you sure? Take another look~”

The innkeeper’s eyes clouded, and a dumb look appeared on his face as he grabbed the pouch of coins and opened it again. 

“Ah! Such rare coin!” he said, in a trance. “You’re too generous! Take any room you like!”

Leaving the Charmed innkeeper behind, Ahri ran upstairs, barely containing her excitement. Naruto couldn’t fault her for it. The trip from Ionia to Bilgewater could not have been any more unpleasant. He was also glad to finally spend the night on land, in a relatively safe and quiet place. 

“Ohh!” Ahri exclaimed in happiness when she opened the door and saw the clean and surprisingly well-kept room. 



She actually Spirit Rushed inside and threw herself on one of the two beds, just like a child. She rolled around in bed wildly for a few moments before lying on her back, her arms and legs spread eagle. 

Shaking his head in amusement at her childlike innocence, Naruto put down his massive backpack and took off his grey travelling cloak before hanging it on a coat rack by the door. 

“Well, I’ll go have a bath while you’re playing around. Don’t wander off, okay? Please keep an eye on my bag till I’m back,” Naruto said, but before he could leave, Ahri suddenly jumped off the bed as though there were springs under her feet and grabbed him by his hextech arm. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Surely you’ve heard of “ladies first”, right?”

“There’s no such saying where I come from!” Naruto said as he yanked his arm out of her grip before bolting towards the bathroom. 

“How rude!” she yelled after him, and suddenly Spirit Rushed ahead, actually arriving at the bathroom door before him. 

But just as she grabbed the doorknob, Naruto caught her by the fox tail, and Ahri yelped as a very powerful charge of lightning coursed through her body. 

Naruto snickered like a hyena as the girl fell on the carpet paralysed, with her waist-long black hair standing up like a huge mohawk and the white fur on her fox tail becoming like the blade of a handsaw.

“Naruto . . . you vile . . .!” Ahri struggled to say through the paralysis, but the blond blew her a goodbye kiss and walked inside the bathroom, leaving her there on the floor.