*It has come to my attention that fanfic.net is glitch as all hell these days – readers mentioned duplicate chapters (I don't see them on my end of the site) and I can't even use the desktop version of this website. I am forced to alternate between the app on my phone and my documents on my computer (for some ungodly reason). Unfortunately, this seems like a quirk of this site, so I can only offer another method to access this story – you can read this story on Webnovel under the same name (https://www.webnovel.com/book/sage-of-hearts_30860617300150205).*
Again, sorry for the inconvenience – besides P**reon, this is the only other place I upload anymore.
Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?
"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)
'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought
Late evening, Naruto's home…
It had been a long day for Naruto – he was expecting another lazy day of shooting the breeze with Scuttle but a surprise visit from Ariel turned the day completely on its head. It seemed that his gullible mermaid friend had literally sold her soul to a devilish witch for the sake of a crush (no matter what anyone said, Naruto was adamant in his belief that ardent love at first sight was impossible since that would meant people had to be extremely simple and superficial to both fall in love and have shallow personalities at the same time…it sometimes felt like he was dealing with cardboard cutouts- another reason why he disliked the Grimm Lords)! Thankfully, he was able to understand her gestures and with the clarification given by Sebastian, was made aware of the critical situation Ariel was in.
Alas, things were never simple regarding magical contracts – Ariel was still as naïve as ever and without her beautiful voice, was just another comely redhead. After they arrived at the castle, Ariel tried to convince Eric that she was the girl he had been looking for (even trying to kiss him out of desperation) but her attempts were thwarted by a woman who looked almost exactly like her! Caught completely flat-footed, the final nail in the coffin of her despair was delivered to her – her precious prince would be wed to the girl (named Vanessa) in two days time! Now more than a little unsure at how to proceed, Ariel became listless and it fell to Naruto to gently lead her back to his home so he could get counsel from his wives (Shanti was also one of them now, only lacking the official ceremony to confirm the matrimony).
Seeing as the rest of his family would be busy at the local marketplace, Naruto simply let Ariel rest in his home, occasionally helping her acclimatize herself to her new limbs and body proportions (she was especially caught off guard by the lack of buoyancy of the air around her – moving around was both easier but more deliberate since there was no water to keep her afloat in an idle state). However, the day had finally come to an end and with it, Alice, Grimhilde and Shanti returned with a good haul of gold (Naruto's fishing prowess had become so well known that people came to him with particular requests of exotic fish, with an appropriate level of compensation to boot – he even funded Santaigo's dream to open up a tavern so he could tell his stories to patrons and make good money selling his wife's meals…his wife was also relieved that she wouldn't have to worry about her husband getting lost a sea anymore so it was a win-win situation for everyone).
"We're home! Naruto? Are you here darling? It's been a long day and I for one need some kisses to perk me up~!" Alice hollered as she opened the door to the house, walking into the living room boldly, missing Shanti's blush at her brazen declaration while Grimhilde merely smirked in amusement – Shanti was no longer a blushing virgin but she sure acted like one at times…
"Alice! Welcome back everyone – I am in the kitchen right now! You ladies can come in – food's almost ready and I've also brought home a guest!" Naruto said as the women walked over to said room, where the pleasant scent of beef stew bubbling away in a pot and the smell of fresh bread being pulled out of the oven wafted out (Alice actually had to wipe some drool from the corner of her mouth – it seemed that she really lucked out with her choice of husband – give him any task with repetition in it and he'd master it in no time). They also noticed a new girl at the table excitedly looking over to Naruto as he cooked (she had gotten over her earlier despondence – Naruto was just too good at cheering people up and the good food being made certainly helped matters) while a…crab….also sat on the kitchen counter looking over the meals with a pleased eye while making some comments every now and then.
"Oh my, who's this beautiful young lady Naruto? Have you begun whisking fair maidens away like some dastardly villain even when you have many wives to tame your beastly urges?" Grimhilde teased Naruto, enjoying his mild exasperation while Ariel turned to regard the women with a curious glance (she found them all beautiful and while Alice was certainly the most familiar looking one, Grimhilde and Shanti were quite exotic looking- she couldn't help but look at them closely, something that the women did notice as well).
"Okay, okay enough of that nonsense Grimhilde. You know I am not like that – besides, I look like an old man to everyone in this world. What kind of girl would fall for this mug?" Naruto asked, pointing towards himself as Ariel tilted her head curiously.
"I don't know – hearing the local gossip, it seems that since you have many women around you, the local girls think you're quite the catch~…" Alice said, nudging Shanti with a wink as the Indian girl was day dreaming about her many, many 'intimate' sessions with Naruto (she was quickly absorbed by the pleasures of the flesh…so what?).
"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, sit down – food's ready. It looks like the conflict in this world is coming to a head and I need all of your advice." Naruto said, coming to the table with the food as everyone gathered at the table.
"What do you mean Naruto? What's going on?" Shanti asked, watching as Ariel seemed to play with the spoons instead of actually using them.
"I think it has something to do with the aura of dark magic on this poor girl. She's been cursed hasn't she?" Grimhilde asked, her eyes flashing with a soothing purple glow as she inspected Ariel's body.
Ariel was shocked – humans could also use magic?! Her shocked expression quickly dissipated however as Naruto patted her head before feeding her a spoonful of beef stew, smiling as her eyes lit up at the taste and the knowledge of how to use spoons in general. Naruto then turned to his wives with an annoyed look.
"Oh yeah – wait until you get a load of this story. The girl's name is Ariel by the way and she's the mermaid I've been telling you guys about…" Naruto said before launching into a long spiel of explanations about how Ariel had been duped by a witch named Ursula. When he was done, everyone was done with dinner and the atmosphere in the room had grown quite somber.
"I can see why you brought the poor girl here Naruto. While you were right to assume that I would recognize the curse on the mermaid, I can't really break the curse from here…it seems that the curse was placed on Ariel here as a contract. As a demonic magic user, I must admit that the legality of the transaction prevents me from dispelling it but there might be another way to get around it…" Grimhilde mumbled, her hands glowing with magic as she ran them over Ariel's legs and throat. Ariel looked quite interested in that last detail though and tugged at Naruto's shirt in excitement.
"Man, if Ella were here, she could fix this stuff in a jiffy…what do you mean there might be another way?" Naruto asked, watching Shanti and Alice chat with Sebastian about Atlantica and its society.
"You mentioned Ursula had taken Ariel's voice to give her legs but did she actually take her voice or did she store it in a vessel of some kind? Once we know that, I think we can force a cancellation of the contract before the three day time limit is up!" Grimhilde said, smiling as Ariel let out a silent whoop before dancing a little jig.
"Alright then – I'll head to the castle and find a way to sneak into the quarters of 'Vanessa'. Since we're all in agreement that she's Ursula in disguise, I'll just kill the villainess in her sleep. Boom, problem solved!" Naruto said, wrapping the lower part of his face with a black mask before walking out of the house, leaving Ariel gaping after his retreating form. She then turned to Grimhilde worriedly – while she had long come to terms with the fact that Ursula was an irredeemable villain who had essentially scammed her to take her voice and become a ruler of men, she wasn't sure how Naruto was going to defeat her (as far as she knew, he was also a cursed person with no control over magic).
"Don't give me that look dear. Naruto may seem reckless at times, but all of us have learned one thing about him – no matter the obstacles before him, he always finds a way to prevail! Why don't I tell you just how powerful he really is?" Grimhilde said, waving Shanti and Alice over to regale Ariel and Sebastian about their adventures.
Meanwhile, back with Naruto…
"Man, this sure feels familiar – maybe I was a professional sneaky man in a past life…" Naruto murmured as he jumped over the castle gates and began scaling the building walls – it was all routine to him somehow. Upon finding an open window, Naruto jumped in to find himself in the corridors of the royal staff bedrooms where he found a familiar face waiting for him.
"Max? Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be with your master boy?" Naruto asked, kneeling before Max, who only whined before looking in the direction of his master's room.
"Oh boy…why do I feel like I am walking into a mess right now…" Naruto grumbled as he leapt into the rafters of the room and climbing to the edge of the castle's walls to spy on the stuff going on in Eric's room.
When he finally got to the window of Eric's room, Naruto had to cover his eyes as the occupants of the room were *ahem* very exposed.
Ursula in her Vanessa form was busy having Eric please her – with the siren qualities of Ariel's voice, she had reduced the handsome prince to a simple boy toy, as evidenced by the dull look on his face as he gave the foul woman a cunnilingus session.
"Hmmm, that feels good Eric. Please your mistress well and perhaps I won't get rid of you as soon as we are wed. After all, even royalty needs some company on lonely nights such as these. Now, go summon the royal guard for me – it is time I tie up some loose ends…"Ursula said, waving Eric off to call said guard. When she spoke, Naruto noticed the necklace around her neck glow with power and quickly put two and two together- Ariel's magic voice was trapped in the necklace and if he destroyed it, he could break Ursula's hold over Ariel.
Just when he was going to enter the room and assassinate Ursula however, said witch already had the guards summoned to her room so he had to restrain himself – he couldn't be seen committing murder after all.
"Guards – I have a task for you. In the fisherman's district, there is a man named Naruto. I have it on good authority that he and his wives are pagan worshippers who practice dark magic. I order you to go to his home and kill everyone there in their sleep. If you see a woman who looks like me however, capture her and bring her to me. I still can use her to extort the trident of Poseidon from her father!" Ursula said, laughing maniacally as the guards nodded, the bewitching power of Ariel's latent siren abilities transferring these orders to all the guards in the town like a hive mind of some kind.
"Damn! Looks like killing this bint will have to wait – I need to go and get the ladies out of town as quickly as possible. I can still kill the witch during her wedding – it will most definitely be on a ship so she can't bring a lot of guards then!" Naruto cursed, leaping down the castle parapets before running full pelt to his house, his mind already making plans to use Ursula's plans to take advantage of Ariel's father as a way to awaken his own power, which had been sealed away with a curse as well…
And that was chapter 68! A bit short but I have been especially busy this week.
If you'd like to support me you can find me on Patreon on the 'search for creators' bar under DudeWithaMac (I only get free time on Sundays since money's extremely tight-details on Panacea chapter 14). Alternatively, you guys can follow this link:p#at#re#on.#com/DudeWithaMac (remove the hash tags). Reviews and comments are always welcome!