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Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 18-

-Last Time-

"Oh boy that's gotta hurt! Turns out it wasn't a mistake at all! It was all a trap set by Lamechester!"

"He sounds waaay to happy about that." Naruto muttered, giving the announcer booth an annoyed look before turning back to the field with concern on his face as Lamechester finally stopped their beatdown and an old Eniripsa woman floated out onto the field to treat his wounds.

"Welcome to the beauty of Gobbowl." Eva chipped in sarcastically.

-And Now-

"Owww… my everything," Ruel groaned out miserably as he lay on the Real Gobbly bench as the team's elderly Eniripsa healer finished patching up his wounds. "I'm starting to remember why I retired from Gobbowl."

"I still don't get how that sort of thing is just allowed to happen, it was completely over excessive," Naruto said while looking over towards the other side of the field, where Lamechester was laughing their butts off. "That big guy with the horns had giant spikes on his shoes for Kami's sake."

"That's the beauty of Gobbowl for you," Evangeline drawled in a dull tone as she adjusted the hem of her skirt. "They don't care if it's excessive, dangerous, brutal, or life-threatening, as long as the crowd likes it and you got the kamas for it, anything goes."

"Hmm, makes sense, ain't as interesting unless there are some real stakes," The whiskered blonde said with a nod, his gaze flickering to the blatantly biased crowd as they cheered loudly before turning back to the injured old man on the bench. "You still good to play Irezumi-jiji or am I up now?"

"Oh please, I didn't become a renown Gobbowler without taking my fair share of beatings before," Ruel scoffed as he sat up, all his previous moaning and groaning vanishing as he flexed and stretched, joints popping loudly as he stretched. "It takes a lot more than little tussle to keep this Enutrof down."

"Great, because I'm pretty sure we just ran out of time for our time-out." Naruto stated while jabbing a finger towards the field ref, who was blowing his whistle loudly and waving his arms, then at Lamechester as the team stepped back onto the field.

"Alright then! Let's do this!" The old man exclaimed while hopping to his feet and rushing off to meet their opponents.

"Yeah!" A hyped Dally cheered out as he did the same, leaving the rest of the group to watch on in a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"Man does this bring back some memories, and not all good ones." Toot said wistfully as he, Posho, and Calben followed suit.

"We're gonna get toyed with for the whole first round again, aren't we?" Calben asked in a tone that made it sound more like a statement than question.

"We wouldn't be Real Gobbly if we weren't," Posho said jokingly, before getting into his ready position as the Ref got ready to start the round. "But hey, you never know, this might be the game we finally break that streak.

-Fifteen Minutes Later-

*BWAAAAR* "That's the end of the first quarter folks! And what an incredibitastic quarter that was! Real Gobbly really gave it their all out their but Lamechester gave better leading at 1-0!"

"Ugh… I guess I was hoping for too much." Posho muttered tiredly as he and the team took their seats back on the bench, all five of them more than a little battered up and sweaty. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the field, Kriss and his team were laughing themselves silly at something or another, looking only a small bit worse for wear.

"Ah buck up Posho, it wasn't that bad. And besides, this is exactly what we wanted," Ruel said, wiping his brow with a rag while chugging down some water. "As long as they're underestimating us like this, then the chances of us winning this game are practically guaranteed."

"I get that, doesn't mean I have to like letting them trample over us."

"Noted, now then, we continue with the plan and-

"We should have Naruto play in this round," Eva cut in, getting everyone's attention as she stared at the players of Lamechester out of the corner of her eye. "That Kriss Krass guy has been sending annoyed glances at us since the break started, especially after one of his teammates makes a crack at how easily they're winning right now."

"I noticed that too, you think he's catching on?" Naruto asked curiously, only for Eva to shake her head negatively.

"No, I think his ego isn't happy without a challenge to show off just how good he is," She stated, a small smirk forming on her lips. "So how do you think he'll react if we decide to switch out one of our veteran players for an inexperienced rookie?"

At first confused, a look of understanding quickly dawned on Ruel's face before a similar grin started to form on his own. "Oh-ho, I like the way you think Evangeline."

*BWAAAR* "Alright you gobbowl fans, break's up! Let's get this fabultasitic game back on track!" The announcer yelled jollily, hyping up the crowd as they roared back their approval. "How will this quarter turn out!? Will Lamechester hold the lead or shall Real-Oh, what's this?!"

At the announcer's surprised shout, the crowd and Lamechester's attention turned towards Real Gobbly's side of the field to see an 'angry' Ruel trying to stand up with a new cast around his leg, only to be 'forced' to stay by Eva and Yugo while Naruto went out on the field with the rest of the team.

Upon seeing this, mutters of confused curiosity rippled through the audience and opposing players for several moments until the announcer spoke again.

"Well my oh my! It seems the old champ Ruel Stroud has been playing through an injury last match and his teammates have decided enough is enough! Taking his place is one Naruto Uzumaki, a total unknown folks! All my sources can say is that this guy hadn't even heard of spandific Gobbowl until yesterday! Talk about a total rookie!"

This statement was met with raucous cries of laughter, none more so than from the players of team Lamechester themselves, with all but Kriss having fallen over clutching their stomachs.

"What a bunch of dummies!" Jeremy bellowed out as he tried to push himself back up using Jay for support, only to almost immediately fall back on his rear when the other Iop rolled over.

"Ahahaha! These guys must be completely senile or utterly desperate!" Monty barely managed to get out between chuckles, the tears in his eyes preventing him from seeing the pure annoyance flashing across his leader's face before it was quickly covered by a calm yet cocky façade.

"Probably both, but that just means we get to show this guy the joys of playing Gobbowl firsthand, doesn't it?" He asked, getting all his teammates to finally stop laughing as cruel grins appeared on Jeremy, Jay, and Monty's faces while Benji chuckled mischievously.

"Oh yeah, the good old newbie initiation, I almost forgot about that."

"Hehehe, this is gonna be fun."

"Let's bring the pain."

With their pieces said, the Lamechesters continued on their way towards mid-field to meet their opponents.

*Rumble*

However, right as both sides reached each-other, the ground started to quake a bit before a square in the middle of the field opened up to reveal a strange bird like totem statue that steadily rose upwards.

"What the hell is that thing?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

"An annoyance." Toot stated bluntly while Calben and Posho nodded in agreement.

"Oh boy folks, looks like it's finally time for the audience surprise! Invented right here in Bonta, the audience surprise is now an integral part of Bontarian gobbowl where you in the crowd get to pick one of many hilarious surprises for our dear gobbowlers! Now let's see what you've picked!"

As the announcer was speaking, the statue started spinning around at high speed while dozens of weird green things shot out of its mouth, scattering all over the field. Being the curious and common sense lacking individual he is, Dally walked over to the closest mystery object and picked it up. "Huh, it's an egg."

An indeed an egg it was, a small green one with odd little brown spots covering its surface. The moment this fact was revealed though, Toot, Posho, Calbien, and even all of Team Lamechester suddenly groaned in near perfect sync.

"Oh just fantastic, Bwork Troups, why is it always Bwork Troups?" Posho grumbled under his breath.

"I'm guessing those aren't a good thing?" Naruto asked with a quirked brow, getting a round of nods from the elderly gobbowlers.

"Get ready to hold your breath." Toot told the whiskered blonde bluntly before inhaling deeply along with Posho and Calbien. Seeing Kriss and his team doing the same thing, Naruto was quick to follow in their example.

*Cra-pop* "UGGH!"

And not a moment too soon either as the weird eggs started to pop all over the field, releasing thick clouds of smog and goop in every direction while an absolutely vile smell flooded everyone's nostrils. Poor Dally had it the worst, gagging in disgust as his hands were covered by the foul-smelling substance and his lungs filled with the noxious fumes it released.

"Hahahah! Good old Bwork Troups! Seems the audience decided to have a comical start for this quarter!"

'I'm really starting to see why Eva dislikes this game so much.' Naruto couldn't help but think in a dull tone while getting into position facing off against Kriss, who was trying and failing epically to intimidate him with his puffed-out expression. To his left Posho stared down Jay, to his left was Toot squaring off with Jeremy, and a still nauseous Dally took up the rear with Calbein.

Being the master of pranks that he was, the whiskered blonde was quite familiar with the use of stink bombs for practical effect, but even for him this was excessive and dumb. That being said though, it doesn't mean he wasn't gonna take advantage of such a golden opportunity dropping into his lap.

Exhaling deeply, Naruto grinned mischievously before grabbing his own nose and twisting it slightly with a quiet cracking sound while a small trail of blood oozed out one nostril, making the Sacrier across from him blink in surprise.

'Did he just-'

*Phweee* Kriss was cut off mid-thought by the Ref's whistle, his attention automatically snapping upwards on reflex to track the gobbowl ball being thrown into the air. His instincts kicking in, he quickly tensed his legs and-

"Poke." Naruto said in a nasally tone while lightly jabbing the white-haired man's cheek at high speed, catching him off guard as the sudden pressure forcing the air past his lips before gasping with tears filling his eyes when he accidentally inhaled the Bwork Troup gas. This left Kriss unable to do anything at all as Naruto caught the falling ball and walked past him.

The whiskered teen then braced himself for the next guy to come after him, only to end up raising a brow when he saw that the other four members of Lamechester rushed past him and engaged the rest of Real Goobly, completely missing their captain's condition in their rush.

"Guuuuh!" *Cough* "Oh Iop I'm gonna hurl!" "Urp!" *Cough-cough* *Blarg*

Of course, it's not like it mattered anyway as not even three seconds later they along with the whiskered blonde's own teammates were also gagging and heaving, since holding your breath while trying to run around really didn't end well.

"Holy Bwork! Did you see that!? In an absolutely mindbefuddling turn of events the new guy Naruto has somehow taken possession of the ball and is now going for the goal completely unopposed! How is that possible!?"

"What does he mean how is it possible?" Naruto muttered to himself, glancing up at the announcer's podium with a raised brow before planting the ball down at the goal mark and sitting down on it. "I literally just poked a guy and walked away, not that big a mystery-Ttebayo."

"Wow, such class and dignity! You can just tell he's thinking 'this is my field now'! Not even five minutes in and Lamechester has already lost their lead! Will they retake it or shall this mysterious new player show them up again?!"

Naruto tuned the rambling man out along with the loud symphony of cheers and booing from the crowd as he stood back up, idly making his way back to midfield while tossing the ball to the referee. By the time he'd arrived, most of smog in the air had dispersed into the breeze and the sludge seemed to evaporate away into nothing, thus allowing the rest of the players to gradually regain their breath.

"Well *Click* that was fun and all, but if that's the best you can do you might as well forfeit now." The whiskered blonde said once they were all back on their feet, clicking his nose back into place before cracking his knuckles and neck simultaneously for extra effect.

And just like he'd hoped, all five members of team Lamechester were now glowering at him, enraged at his apparent cockiness. However, after a few moments Kriss's expression shifted back to normal and he grinned widely.

"Heh, don't get so cocky newbie, you just got lucky earlier," He stated, cracking his own neck and getting into a ready position across from Naruto. "Now the air is clear and you'll get to see just what real gobbowl is all about."

Grinning right back, Naruto chuckled lowly as he got into position as well. "That's a lot of bark you got there, you better be able to back it up with some bite."

Nothing else was said past that, the pair instead opting to focus their attention on the Ref as he rode up to their side on his gobbal.

"Ready…" He started, waiting a moment for everyone else to get to their spots before tossing the ball high in the air. "GO!"

In a blink, both young men sprung up after the ball, clearing almost a dozen feet to match its accent and grabbing it at almost the exact time. After a few split moments of pulling back and forth to no avail, Kriss suddenly lashed out with his free arm, smacking Naruto across the face with his elbow.

However, he quickly regretted this as not only was Naruto barely even phased by the sudden impact but a jolt of pain shot right up the Sacrier's arm when it made contact with what felt like a brick wall. What was more surprising however, was that his whisker-faced opponent didn't both retaliating at all, instead just tightening his hold on the gobbowl ball as he and Kriss fell back down in a deadlock.

As soon as his feet were on solid ground again, Naruto once again did something unexpected as he moved forwards rather than pulling back, pushing the white-haired man back several feet until he managed to steady himself and push back.

'Holy Sacrier, this guy is way tougher than he looks,' Kriss thought with grit teeth, his feet leaving shallow trenches as he struggled to hold the blonde back. However, out of the blue his lips curled back up into his signature grin as he saw the shadows enveloping them. 'But he's definitely a rookie.'

*CRASH*

""Naruto!"" Amalia and Yugo shouted from the sidelines, their eyes widening in worry as Jay and Monty crashed down on Naruto and Kriss, kicking up a large cloud of dust from the impact. Meanwhile, Jeremy and Benji kept the rest of Real Gobbly at bay with a combination of brute force and high-speed trip ups.

"Yikes, better call the medic back." Ruel said with a wince while Eva scowled at the scene with a combination of worry and disgust.

"Stupid barbaric excuse for a sport." She muttered under her breath, her gaze flickering towards the cheering crowd sourly.

"OOOOH! Well folks, it seems history has repeated itself today as Lamechetser dogpiles the newbie!" The announcer yelled excitedly over the sounds of punching, kicking, cries of pain, and cheering. "Oh boy, it really sounds like their giving it to him now! And after such a spectabulous start-Wait, what's this!?"

The announcer's sudden exclamation snapped everyone out of their thoughts, just in time to see a figure walk out of the dust cloud. Assuming it to be Kriss at first, given the still ongoing sounds of pummeling in the background, the Lamechester side of the audience started to cheer even louder…

…Only to immediately fall silent when an utterly unharmed Naruto casually strolled out into the open with the ball under his arm and an amused grin on his lips.

This caught everyone by surprise so much so, that Benji ended up crashing right into a stunned Dally, Jeremy tripped over his own feet on top of poor Toot, and Posho accidently blasted Calbien with his shield charge. By the time any of them managed to regain their wits, and their footing, Naruto was not only most of the way to the goal again but the dust cloud behind him had cleared up enough to reveal a shocked Jay and Monty standing over a severely beaten Kriss.

"…By Enutrof." Ruel whispered, his eyes threatening to pop out of his skull from how wide they were.

Ignoring the confused and shocked rumblings that echoed through the audience, Naruto simply made it the rest of the way to the goal zone and scored once more while making a peace sign with his free hand. "Score-Ttebayo."

"I… I don't believe it folks! Somehow the Real Gobbly rookie has scored again whilst Kriss takes a beating! From his own team no less! How you ask! I have no idea!"

Once again ignoring the annoying man known as the announcer, Naruto passed the ball back to the ref and made his way towards his team as a time out was called while Kriss was getting treatment from Lamechester's healer.

However, the moment the whiskered blonde arrived at the Real Gobbly bench, he was immediately surrounded by all his friends and teammates.

"Okay kid, I have to ask, but how in the hell did you pull that one off?" Toot demanded, voicing what everyone else was wondering.

"Oh that?" Naruto asked coyly while jabbing his thumb towards Lamechester's bench, where a somewhat recovered Kriss was scowling at him angrily as his team's Eniripsa treated his many, many injuries. "It was nothing much, I just…"

-Mini-flashback-

Noticing the shadows on the ground, Naruto glanced up to see Monty and Jay coming down from above, vicious grins on their faces as they bared their fists and excessively spiked cleats. Instead of being worried though, the whiskered blonde simply turned back to Kriss and grinned cheekily, confusing the Sacrier greatly…

"Wha-!" *Crash*

…Until he suddenly found himself stumbling forward when Naruto relaxed and allowed himself to be pushed back right as the Burly Lamechester players crashed into the space he'd previously been occupying.

-End Mini-flashback-

"And the idiots were too caught up in the action to notice what happened until it was too late." Naruto finished his explanation, though he doubted anyone heard it as they were all too busy laughing their butts off.

"Hahaha! Oh man, you're killing me here kiddo!" Ruel said while idly wiping a tear from his eye, before gradually managing to recompose himself as his expression turned serious. "Seriously, great job, but you were supposed to be keeping a low profile. Getting two scores right away ain't exactly incognito."

"Hey, it isn't my fault their making it so easy," The orange loving ninja said with a shrug. "And as I recall, you only told me not to use my speed which I didn't."

"…Alright, fair enough," The old Enutrof said with a shake of his head. "Just don't get cocky out there, you here me."

"Ruel's right Naruto, you'll need to be a lot more careful," Eva added. "Those Lamechester guys were underestimating you before, but no doubt they'll be a lot more cautious around you from now on."

"Oh I know," Naruto stated, his mischievous smirk never wavering as he crossed his arms and turned his head to meet the gaze of a still glaring Kriss. "In fact, I'm counting on it."

-End Chapter-

AN: First off, I am sooooooo sorry for the late update, but so many things happened that really made writing a mess. My computer crashed twice while I was typing, I got the flu, writer's block was a pain, and my cat accidentally unplugged the power cord. This chapter was supposed to be the rest of the Gobbowl match arc in one, but I really didn't want you guys to have to wait even longer for an update so I got what I could done. Sorry again if anything seems rushed or such, and I hope you still enjoy the chapter. Thanks for reading and please review.