IX

It is said that before the time of the magicians there were said healers who cared for people in need of their surroundings.
The first and most powerful magician of all time lived among these healers. The first magician was actually a ninja from a small village before. In pursuit of greater fame, the shinobi went in search of satisfaction and found something very fascinating in the healers he met in the woods.
The healers not only healed people in need.
No. In order to be able to heal at all, one needed a source of energy. They were not using their own source of their soul. They collected lights of life. Only how and where, the healers did not want to reveal to the ninja, for fear that their secret could turn against themselves. The ninja was so inquisitive that he gave up being a ninja and joined the healers.
So it came about that he was initiated with the secret. The source of energy for all healers and now today's magicians.

Venedia - present time

The seat of the throne looked at her opposite.
When nothing was replied, a slightly unfortunate look was painted on her lips. It had been a while since her most beloved protector of the city visited her.
She was so happy to see this person.
However, it seemed to her that something crucial was missing from this picture. This missing one dug a deep ignorant hole inside her. What she also did not know and could not recognize, was the tortured, twisted face of the visitor, which leaned low to the ground so that it was completely covered by the hood.
Too guilty were the feelings of the veiled, that he did not dare to lift his forelock in the direction of his highness. Great fear had anchored itself in the darkly disguised person just to keep their true identity hidden. The queen herself should never know. The reality.
That the person bowing to her wasn't who she thought they were. She was a fake. But only for the well-being of the high lady. To prevent the tension between them becoming even more unbearable, which she could almost grasp, she had to think of something as quickly as possible. What would the original have done in their place.
“Do you remember 8 years ago when we met for the first time.” The high lady's voice was composed and determined.
The other person knew that it was just a pretense.
Inside the queen it began to crumble. A little more every year. And soon she would show weakness that was not tolerated here. She would be cold-heartedly pushed off the throne.
The magicians needed a powerful leader. That the queen was once very well. Registering the loss of Venice's protector, perhaps, would drown the entire city a second time in the shadows. And in order to escape the terrible fate, everything had to be done to keep the belief that the falcon was here alive.She had been playing the fake falcon that wiped out the guruthos for a year. In the previous 6 years there were other fakes who had sacrificed their lives.
"We let rest what happened in the past. Now let's look ahead, high lady" An unexpected laugh came from the Queen.
"Why are you talking to me in such a strange way? Is it because we don't get enough sight of each other, oh my dear. But I agree with you. Another time we'll find a chance to chat about our old days. Well, what is the reason for your appearance? ”The woman looked down curiously. Uncomfortably, the person in front of her was summing up all the information in her head that she had to say just to be able to get out of here.
"Strangers have turned up in Venedia, but they shouldn't pose a threat. They are ninjas from the village of Konoha.
Depending on the geographical location, they must have walked a week to get here. Do you want to speak to them and welcome them, or do you want them to do what they want? "Shortly afterwards, to look up curiously at the Highness, the veiled person stopped in time. She still had to learn a lot to appear as inconspicuous as possible. The Queen seemed to think about what she had said.
"On the one hand it would be very polite if I would greet you and also bring you a good reputation outside the city, but on the other hand I have far too many other things to do that are more necessary for the city and me."
The veiled person bowed quickly and deeply to get up and disappear. But just outside the exit gate she heard the name of the person she was imitating shouting.
Excited about the name, which came out of the mouth of the high lady and was still addressed to her, left goose bumps all over her body.
“Yes, high lady?” Without turning around, the person waited. It was a bit disrespectful, but the courage to give back again was impossible for her.
"Keep an eye on them. If you notice something, send them to me immediately, but also keep the shadowy guruthos away from them at the same time. After all, I don't want to hear any complaints."
"Yes, high lady."


[Local jump]

Naruto didn't know what was happening to him.
A few hours ago he knew exactly.
One thing was certain. For a while now he had been sitting across from a young man with white-blonde hair and strange light-gray eyes who was grinning at him in amusement. Of course, Naruto didn't find that funny, but his counterpart seemed to be very friendly and probably hadn't planned to conjure a fire under his buttocks.
That was already a great thing. Naruto also knew that he hadn't slept since his team split up, so he could well imagine how terrible he must look now. What did he need sleep for?
The whole time they'd been standing on their feet, or rather running with them to get away from the damned zombies.Light, his neighbor called them the Guruthos. According to his information, one should never mess with them unless one is a high-ranking magician. There was no such person anywhere in this room. Naruto's eyes darted across the darkened room. He was only exposed to small candles, which gave him enough light that his eyes could catch everyone present. There were a total of four people in the room. Naruto didn't know where this room was. They had turned into too many side streets for that. He just hadn't paid attention. Back to those present. All were Light's allies, the white-blonde had said. There were two other guys who must have been a bit older than Light and Naruto. Naruto didn't know any more. There was not enough talk here for that, because the other two had been sleeping the whole time since they arrived here.
"I don't know what you're thinking of right now, but I can assure you of one thing. These guys are reliable, just like this place. Relax a bit, because tomorrow the journey continues. Besides, you look terrible, probably still from the shock when you were attacked. "It came from Light looking at Naruto. The boy didn't even know Naruto and yet he was very familiar with him. The Uzumaki could well rely on and trust this boy. For this moment. Besides, his neighbor looked so harmless and childlike when he looked closely. The boy was very pale, like his hair, and had light eyes. Naruto was a little confused by his looks. In Venedia, the magic seemed to have an effect on the external form of the magician, for the blond had never seen such a sight.
“I can't sleep as long as I know my friends are out there and may be chased by those zombies.” Naruto grumbled back, pretending that his neighbor's looks didn't affect him.
The Venediar slowly slid down from the chair and lay down on the floor, which was adorned with a thick carpet.
"As you like. However, you should think again, because if you stay in such a state, firstly you are a great snack for the guruthos and secondly you would be more of a burden to your friends than a help."
Affected by the words of the Venediar, he silently accepted the offer. The boy was right. So he would be a total burden for his team.

The sleep of the group lasted only a few hours, however, because in the next moment, which no one had expected, the only door of the room broke open with a swing and the daylight blinded everything that looked at the door to know who was the troublemaker. A figure stood in the middle of the door frame, enveloped in white light. Blinking and still confused from sleep, everyone tried to get up when a woman's voice rang out. Laughing and loud, it boomed in amusement in the ears of the four."I'm sorry, but boys no longer sleep.
Did you party all night or why do you look like four living corpses? "Giggling, the person stepped into the room and didn't close the door all the way to let in some more light.
“Well, who is that?” Stormy the woman stepped up to Naruto and kneeled down next to him, as if she had to greet her dog. Naruto got up immediately, whereupon the woman followed him.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki and I come from Konoha."
"So you're from Konoha. Nice. A ninja. Like our old ancestor." With that, the woman looked reproachfully at Light, who was standing next to Naruto and shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know about history, sorry." "You can tell by the grades, boy. You have just bullshit on your head anyway. That's why you don't have your magic completely under control. I can see it in your eyes that you You used magic and that means weakness. "Whether it was serious or a joke, Naruto could not judge, but the tone and what the woman said to his savior last night was hurtful and mean. He could already classify the woman as unsympathetic.
"Oh come on, I helped the boy when he was attacked. Don't make me a little higher. I saved a life." Light joked back, looking more and more insecure. Finally the other two people present stirred, but immediately fled when they recognized the visitor.
"Great, thanks guys for the support!" Light called after them and sat down resignedly at a small table with four empty chairs.
"Sit down. How did it go yesterday, Vin?" the addressed did the same and let Light fall into the chair opposite and Naruto in between.
Vin could no longer hold the stagnant hot