A Shinobi's Take on this Wonderful World

Infiltrating With This Handsome Thief

'I hope I'm not late...'

Naruto thought as he made his way through the darkened streets of Axel, which were lit by various lamps and the rising moon above.

They had agreed to meet at the park in the center of town, which wasn't too far from the Adventurer's Guild. He tried waiting for Yunyun and Cecily, but they never showed up so he decided to just hold onto their portions for now.

"Kazuma-san~! Can we pick up some nice wine on our way home?"

"Kazuma~! I saw a really cool cloak in a shop the other day, can we get it?"

Naruto looked across the street to find Kazuma's party walking towards the guild.

"Of course, of course! Money will never be an issue again, so why not? Why not, I say!"

Kazuma chimed when he noticed the shinobi watching them dubiously.

"Ah, Naruto my friend! Good evening to you! Care to join us for a drink? We're celebrating, so it'll be my treat!"

"That sounds fun, but I got somewhere to be... Why, what happened?"

Naruto asked, and his fellow adventurer crossed his arms and smirked.

"I'll be honest... These past few days have been rough. I was a little traumatized from our adventure, you see. But it turns out I was just stressed about money! It's crazy how much of a stress reliever financial stability is."

Kazuma explained, earning a sympathetic nod from Aqua.

"Right... I'm guessing the products you designed are doing well? I haven't been to Wiz's shop since we got back, so I haven't checked."

Naruto deducted since that didn't really answer his question.

"Fufufu... Yes, but that's not why we're celebrating. Behold! The solution to our money problems!"

Kazuma declared and pulled something out of his travel bag. Or at least, he meant to. But his hand was empty.

"...Are you messing with me? I really do have somewhere to be right now, ya know?"

Naruto asked as Kazuma began to tear through his backpack, now in a panicked state.

"Where are you off to? Off to meet with another woman, I'm guessing?"

Aqua inquired while eying the shinobi suspiciously.

"N-no, I mean, yes... But it's just Chris! She needs my help with something I guess."

Naruto blurted out, and this time Darkness's eyes narrowed on the ninja.

"Why are you meeting with Chris at this hour... Don't tell me! You two have been secretly dating this entire time!? I heard you've been visiting the Eris church from time to time... That's probably where you two meet up in secret to conduct nefarious acts together as a couple!"

Darkness shouted and took a step back from pure shock.

"You're wrong! I've been going to the Eris church to confess my sins! Actually, I feel like I'm overdue for my next confession after what happened in Alcanretia..."

Naruto defended himself, but his words fell on deaf ears as Darkness was too busy muttering nonsense to herself.

Aqua wasn't faring any better as she was very obviously planning acts of revenge against the new "homewrecker" that was Chris the Thief.

"M-my magic mallet! My money! It's gone!"

Since Kazuma was still trying to find whatever it was he was planning to show off, Naruto turned to the final member of their party.