Eroninja - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Recovering Lost Mojo: Part I




Tsunade walked towards the hotsprings that was located on Kiyomi’s property. It had been three weeks since the successful raid on Kanji’s compound. That was the same amount of time since Naruto had been with any of his lovers in an intimate setting. Oh, he still spent time with them, but the second things took a turn in a sexual direction he’d find some reason to take off. It had been going on for almost a month and all of his lovers were getting worried that it might never end. That was why she had called the meeting she was heading to. Tsunade sighed knowing that once she reached the hot-spring she would be receiving an earful from one red-head in particular. This time the Hokage would have to admit that she would somewhat deserve it, since she had argued for allowing Naruto time to snap back to his usual self on his own. Tayuya though had immediately refused and had argued against it saying they needed to act. Tsunade had countered that the harder they pushed the more likely it would be that Naruto would think it was simply the jutsu making them. She had believed the last thing Naruto truly wanted was for them to pull away from them and figured by doing that he would recognize they controlled their own actions.

Tayuya hadn’t been swayed, so Tsunade had asked for a vote using her summons to inform those outside of Konoha. Since the vote had been a secret ballot no one knew who voted for what but in the end Tsunade had managed to enforce her decision. She just didn’t think several weeks later they’d still be waiting for him to come around. It was just so unlike Naruto. At times he seemed to be his normal carefree self, such as when he was eating lunch with Ayame, or training with Sakura and Fu. He even still came by her office just to visit and chat like he used to when he was bored and the village was quiet. It seemed to her that he was trying to convince himself that they were the same people they had been before his receiving the scroll from Kanji. Tsunade knew they were of course; it was the dynamics of their relationship with him that had changed by becoming more intimate and sexual and when they tried to act on those aspects that was when he pulled back.

That was something that they all wanted to fix immediately and to that end she had decide to call everyone currently involved with Naruto to Konoha except for Konan for obvious reasons. Truthfully after the first week Tsunade had decided to request everyone come to Konoha, but it had taken another two for it to actually happen. Entering the bathhouse before the hotspring itself, she began to strip out of her clothes and had dropped her henge to appear as she now truly looked which if she had to guess was roughly nineteen years old. Staring at a mirror that was set up inside the changing room she smiled at her reflection, but it didn’t reach her eyes due to all the setbacks Naruto’s ambition had experienced lately. The most pressing being that the blond knucklehead that she loved was afraid that she and the other women he had come to rely on were only interested in him because of the jutsu he had been given. The others she would address with the rest of her fellow Harem members.

Stepping outside, she saw that she was the last to arrive. Much as she expected Tayuya sent a glare her direction before directing her ire back onto Ino. Tsunade looked around the forest themed area and saw that much like her the women present seemed to have lost their luster. Tsunade thought back to how she told Tenten that the reason they all needed to put Naruto first was because he was the lynchpin of the family that was being created by his actions. But it was also because he was the driving force that had inspired all of them to make their world better and with his pulling back that goal stood on the edge of collapse.

“If only you could see just how truly special you are my love,” she thought before slipping into the water. She sighed as it warmed her up, before saying, “I’m glad you could all make it here.”

Tayuya pulled her glare off of Ino to say, “Why wouldn’t we come? It’s our chance to have an audience with the high and mighty Tsunade.”

Tsunade kept her retort to herself as she knew it wouldn’t help the situation any. Besides she could see that it was a sentiment that was shared by some of those from outside of Konoha. Primarily, Yugito, Temari, and Matsuri, she couldn’t fault them for it since to them it had probably seemed that Tsunade had decided and the rest of the Konoha-nin had gone along. That and due to Kin’s abstaining, since as she said she wasn’t technically a member of the harem, when the votes had been counted it had resulted in a tie so she had pulled rank and said the tie went to staying away from Naruto to show the jutsu didn’t control them.

Needless to say Tsunade wasn’t too surprised when her schedule had shown a meeting with Koyuki’s manager to discuss Konoha supplying some shooting locations for the Spring Princess’s next movie. Naturally the movie had not been on Tayuya’s mind as she laid into Tsunade about her giving Naruto time to come around on his own. The two had butted head and nearly came to blows, but luckily Hinata had been there as her assistant and explained that she had also voted to give Naruto space. She had reasoned that the last thing Naruto truly wanted was to be alone, and by giving him that space it would convince him the jutsu wasn’t subconsciously forcing them to stay with him. Tayuya wasn’t convinced exactly until Hinata added that confronting him on the matter could be the next. Tsunade believed that Hinata saying doing it the other way around would perhaps lead him to believe they were angry at him for rejecting them which was a real possibility that he would do as the emotions of the time were still raw. Looking at Hinata now she believed the Hyuuga felt that things had calmed enough to force Naruto to recognize their feelings.

“Look Tayuya,” Tsunade said keeping her tone civil, “You may not have liked it but the vote was a tie so…”

“So why was it what you wanted that won the day,” Yugito said having used the teleporter seal inside her apartment after making sure her schedule for the next several days was clear.

Tsunade directed her gaze to her fellow blonde before saying, “Because the method you wanted to try had already been used by Tayuya.”

“We still shouldn’t have just…”

Tsunade held up her hand to silence Tayuya’s response saying, “Look the giving him space method hasn’t worked exactly either. He hasn’t disappeared from our lives just pulled back and I know I’m not alone in saying I’m not happy with the current arrangement. Therefore today’s agenda is to find a solution…” Seeing a bunch of suggestions about to be sent her way she stopped them saying, “But business before pleasure ladies. Sakura, how are Guy and the others doing?”

“They’re alive only because of Guy’s stamina,” Sakura reported, “If he hadn’t of been able to make it to the Fire temple from where they faced Pain then they’d be dead. But they are out of the worst of it for now.”

Tsunade nodded, remembering the frantic message she had received from the Head Monk of the Fire Temple. At first she had thought it to be the bandits that had attacked it several months prior and were suspected to be behind the disappearance of a monk named Sora had returned. However she had quickly learned that was not the case and that the team of Yamato, Guy, and Kakashi that she had sent to secure the forbidden jutsu of the Tsuchigumo clan from missing-nin had run into none other than the leader of Akatsuki. Tsunade and the others, thanks to Konan, knew he wasn’t the true leader but a public face for the organization. But since the man known as Tobi had yet to step forward acting on that information would prove hazardous to Konan since only two people in Akatsuki were privy to that fact.

Tsunade was worried about Konan since according to the report she had received from a semi-conscious Kakashi after he had been transferred from the temple to Konoha; Pain had been the only one that they had confronted although they couldn’t be sure if he was alone. According to his report after defeating the bandits, Kakashi who had begun to suspect the man acting as a bodyguard out of a sense of honor to the granddaughter of the clan was in fact a jinchuriki ,had wished to talk to him. They had caught up to him after the man, Utakata, had been ambushed by six men that called themselves Pain. It was only due to Kakashi’s observation skills, who had identified that the six men they fought seemed to share one will, as well as Guy and Yamato’s might that they had lived to tell of the encounter. According to the report, Utakata had slipped away as the three Leaf-nin had fought the Akatsuki leader, but whether he had been caught afterwards or not they didn’t know. She hoped that Pain being by himself meant he had simply been confident he could handle the jinchuriki and not that he suspected the recent setbacks that the organization was reeling from due in part to Jiraiya was a result of her turning against it. For the moment though Konan wasn’t hinting in her rare messages that she feared such a possibility but that could just be her keeping things to herself. She couldn’t fault the woman for hiding such things as when Naruto had learned what had happened he had very nearly left to challenge Pain. But in the end, he had relented when Tsunade had told him doing so could put Konan in danger as well as pointing out that if Pain could hospitalize three of Konoha’s strongest. Then at his current level he wouldn’t stand a chance.

Tsunade took in the information as did the other women present and she could see the worry on their faces. The Hokage in her felt a momentary burst of anger at Konan for holding back so much information on Pain, but knew the woman was straddling the line of betraying an organization or her friend. Giving up information on the group but not revealing anything about Pain was just how she was handling the conflict at the moment. At some point Tsunade knew the woman would need to make a choice and only hoped it was before matters with Akatsuki progressed too far.

“That’s good,” Tsunade said relieved and referring to the condition of her men, “What are your results from the tests you’ve performed on Yakumo?” Tsunade held back a sigh as a result of the face Sakura made that told her the results weren’t good.

“I’m afraid she doesn’t have much time left at all,” Sakura reported sadly. “Her body is wasting away and it won’t be much longer before it begins to affect her respiratory system or her heart. Plus she has been unresponsive to all my efforts to treat her.”

“Do you have any idea why?” Tsunade asked causing her apprentice to nod.

“It took some pestering on my part, but Unkai finally admitted that she was born with the disease. The birthing had been difficult on Yakumo’s mother and since she had already miscarried several times her husband feared what another attempt would bring about. A part of the reason so many of the Kurama…”

“I’m sorry did you say something,” Kiyomi said responding to her old name not realizing she was not being talked to having been lost in thought. It was something that Yoruichi had noticed her fellow Bijuu was doing more and more lately which was allowing her mind to wander. Not to mention that although her face was obviously different from when they had both been in their old bodies, Kyuubi still reacted the same when she felt guilty about something. Yoruichi smiled remembering how the Old Man had always been able to tell when Kiyomi had been lying or hiding something so had learned what to look for as well. Seeing Kiyomi displaying those traits now, as she had for the past several weeks, Yoruichi wondered what it was.

However, she let it slide for the moment as Sakura said, “Um…sorry I wasn’t talking to you, but about the Kurama clan.”

“Oh,” the Bijuu said her tone carrying a hint of melancholy.

Sakura ignored it to say, “As I was saying, the clan refuses to seek medical attention from the hospital due to the old rumors of the clan possessing such an incredible Kekkei Genkai.”

“What do you mean rumors?” Tsunade asked confused. “Granted, Yakumo was the first to show it in my life-time but…”

She trailed off as Sakura shook her head in the negative before saying, “It never truly existed. The Kurama clan leader at the time of Konoha’s founding created a fighting style that used genjutsu to lure enemies into a killing area littered with traps he had already prepared. As his opponents supposedly died by the illusions he cast he’d let one or two get away to spread the rumors. When those survivors would return with reinforcements and they saw the bodies of the men that had died as the survivors had claimed while under the genjutsu well it solidified the rumors.”

“Wait…you’re saying he was a fraud,” Yugito said, “He managed to kill the first Raikage’s brother if my history lessons are correct. What you’re telling me is a man who was as tough as the First was beaten by smoke and mirrors.”

Sakura nodded. “It’s true…he was also killed by the First Raikage in turn during the First Shinobi War. I can only assume that the First Raikage kept it a secret so no one would learn his brother had been killed by someone who in theory was supposed to be much weaker than him. The First Hokage also knew his secret as he had defeated him during the founding of Konoha and despite his supposed strength being revealed to be a lie the First was still impressed enough to allow him to join as one of the founding clans. Still, with so many clans with legitimate bloodlines joining Konoha the Kurama didn’t want their secret revealed so claimed that much like the First was the only one able to use Wood Release only the Leader of the Kurama could use theirs. Still the other members of the clan were amazingly proficient with genjutsu so the lie was believed.”

“Wait a second,” Shiho said interrupting the pink-haired medic,” But what about that incident three years ago. From what I understand she was able to make illusions real.”

“True,” Sakura said, “and the reason for that were due to what had held the disease she was born with in check for several years. As I stated Kurama members refuse medical help to conceal the fact that there is nothing unique in their D.N.A. to even suggest they have the potential for a Kekkei Genkai.”

Shizune spoke up in order to say, “It’s seems a rather strange coincidence that Yakumo would mysteriously develop a fake Bloodline then.

“I know, and what gave her that ability is still unclear although the man that did it was known to us. The rule about not seeking medical help from Konoha medics unless they were Kurama was nearly broken for Yakumo’s sake, however before that happened a wandering medic heard of the new parents’ plight. He offered to cure the child and to even give her the abilities the clan boasted about.”

“That was rather generous of him,” Koharu said skeptically.

“Not really,” Sakura said her tone holding distain for the medic in question. “His name was Shinno and I believe he used Yakumo as a test run for what he had planned for Amaru.”

“You mean Shinno sealed some sort of creature inside Yakumo, why? Not to mention how did he even learn about the Kurama Kekkei Genkai being a lie?” Koharu asked shocked.

“Well since the Kurama couldn’t take Yakumo to any of the non-Kurama doctors in the village they needed to find one that could help. Therefore, her parents pretended to be nobles and sought well known medics out. Shinno had already amassed a reputation as a first class healer at that point. But according to Unkai, he saw through their ruse, but told them not to worry as his only concern was for his patient. I believe the creature that took over Yakumo wasn’t just her Id as we believed but a separate entity. Probably a precursor to that thing claiming to be the Zero-tails that Naruto faced during the Sky Country attack on Konoha. Shinno probably figured that at the very least once it took over that it would cause some havoc for the village. Once it was destroyed though her disease was no longer being held in check and so she’s been wasting away.”

Tayuya could see that most of the women that new the Kurama heir were sad at the news so asked, “Hey, why doesn’t Naruto just heal her like he did me and Kin?”

Kiyomi seemed to get over her funk long enough to explain, “I’m afraid it isn’t that simple. Healing the type of damage done to you was easy as it was caused in a single point in time so to speak. With Kin I simply used my chakra to speed along a recovery that would have happened naturally.”

“Yeah, but what about doing what you did when you took over that body,” Anko asked pulling herself out of the water to dry in the sun.

“There are two problems with that,” Tsunade said before Kiyomi could answer. “The first being the nature of such a thing occurring again. Let’s not forget that Kiyomi’s chakra wave was classified as an unknown but beneficial event. There is still a lot of talk of it being supernatural in origin. But, if it happens again people are going to demand answers no matter how beneficial it was.”

Koharu leaned forward from where she sat on the edge of the water and resting her elbows on her knees folded her hands in front of her face as she added, “Not to mention if such events continue to be detrimental to Danzou, he will suspect that whoever is behind them is against him.”

“What do you mean?” Koyuki asked in interest, “Rumors of what happened spread all the way to Spring and considering the number of people it helped how could he possibly suspect a power aligned against him?”

Koharu chuckled behind her hands before replying, “When a man plots treason he sees enemies everywhere. Plus let’s not forget that Kiyomi’s taking over the Great Tree Shipping Company founder’s body was a blow dealt to Danzou since he lost that company’s services for secret Root projects.” Koharu paused as she saw several women had forgotten that point so let it sink in before carrying on, “Now he’s on the verge of ousting Yakumo and then suddenly another chakra event that mysteriously heals her puts an end to another of his schemes. He won’t see that as a coincidence. Perhaps if it happened in the hospital again he could accept it as a quirk of fate, but as Sakura reported the Kurama refuse to visit Konoha Hospital to protect their secret. That would mean either increasing the area covered or changing the focal point so the Kurama compound would be hit. Considering they live on the outskirts of the village it would imply to Danzou someone or something was targeting her to heal her sickness. It wouldn’t take a stretch of the imagination to figure Tsume, Tsunade, or I might be behind it since we are so opposed to Yakumo’s removal.”

“There is another issue as well…” Sakura began to add.

But she was cut off by Kiyomi who said, “There is also the relapse factor.”

“Huh, what are you talking about,” Fubuki asked sitting next to her princess.

“My powers could heal her, but it would only be for a short time if I used the method I did in the hospital. What I did there was use my chakra to heal damage done to the human body…however certain diseases can linger even after a body is healed. For example Sakura had received a blow to the arm from Fu that had left a bruise. When the chakra wave hit it healed and since it was simple damage once gone did not return. But the same couldn’t be said for things such as cancer or other sicknesses.”

Tsunade nodded saying, “True, many of the people with such cases had relapses. But due to our continuing to observe them we were able to save many of them. It may have temporarily cured them but by giving us a chance to prepare it gave us the edge. So although I’m hesitant to go that route I’m not willing to rule it out.”

Kiyomi nodded agreeing with the Hokage, but said, “Nor am I. In fact I could heal her completely, but it would require a similar method as I used with Tayuya to heal her weakened body after I awakened her. I would need to press up against her to maximize the contact as well as to lower the chance of my chakra being sensed.”

“I’m afraid that would be practically impossible,” Sakura said turning in the water she was sitting in to look at the Bijuu. “Yakumo is watched at practically all hours of the day. Even as I examine her it is only with Unkai’s handpicked personal guards or him present in the room. I haven’t even been able to plant the locator seal on her. Plus Danzou would be aware that even if we used the more flashy method to heal her it would be likely she would relapse. He’d simply use that as a pretense to have the council strip her of her title.”

“We still have a week before the next council meeting where we’ll have to vote on the issue. If push comes to shove we’ll have Kiyomi send out another chakra wave. At the very least it’ll buy us some time,” Tsunade said closing the subject for the moment.

“We still have to deal with the strife arising in the Training Force,” Temari said changing the topic. “I’ve transferred several of the newcomers behind it back to Suna citing their inability to get along. However those that remained and several of the replacements are simply changing tactics. Instead of directly goading Leaf-nin to attack, they are acting as rabble-rousers to indirectly bring people to blows. I can’t simply transfer them out since they aren’t doing anything but stating opinions or bringing up past grievances. But if this keeps up the Shinobi Council back home is going to demand we return to the village. Gaara won’t be able to ignore these events much longer.”

Sighing, Tsunade said, “Asuma has basically given me the same report. It seems Danzou has managed to slip in a few agitators of his own on our side. Not to mention even breaking up the few fights isn’t doing enough to heal the old wounds these bastards are reopening.” Looking around the Hot Spring, Tsunade could see that morale was at a low that they’ve never before experienced since joining with Naruto. She personally believed it was due to how she had explained every family had a foundation stone upon which everything was built. Naruto was theirs and due to his pulling back from everything Harem related including his ambition it appeared as if his dream was on the verge of collapse. Taking in all the faces it somewhat galled her to admit that, since they were all competent shinobi so she felt they should be able to hold things together until he came around. But, Naruto was the spark that just made them all that much better and his way of thinking tended to just naturally bring people together. To Tsunade, that was never more evident than recently when Koharu had discovered what was happening at the prison. She would have to admit that never in a million years would she have considered asking Suna to help lock-down the prison by creating a Training Force composed of the two villages’ shinobi. That was something Naruto did almost on instinct and it had taken months for more experienced shinobi like Danzou and Joseki, whom Temari suspected on the Suna side of the recent unrest, to even begin to counter it. Still Tsunade wasn’t sure on how to fix it since as Temari pointed out even transferring out the troublemakers would just cause those that replaced them to change tactics. Not to mention it did nothing to solve the hurt feelings their actions left behind.

Ino surprised her by changing the subject again saying, “Plus there is Naruto’s dating situation.”

“What do you care you…” Tayuya began to say but began to shiver before directing a glare at Haku, who was sitting next to her, as the water around them grew cold quickly. The red-head sat back glowering but sighed as the water began to warm up.

Ino looked hurt, but ignored the question to say, “People are beginning to question why if Naruto and Sakura are an item that they haven’t been out on a date again. I’ve held off their questions for as long as I could but they are getting persistent.”

“Well maybe we could get him to take her out on one,” Koharu suggested, “At the very least he needs to recognize that he can’t just completely ignore the situations that we were already dealing with.”

“If we do that though…” Ino began but trailed off sitting back in the water not wanting to admit that she didn’t want to confirm Naruto and Sakura as an exclusive item even if at the moment his distance from the group was working in her favor.

Tsunade didn’t exactly want to either, but said, “At the very least this is one fire we can get in front of so…”

“Hold on,” Tsume said cutting the Hokage off, “Before we do that lets make sure that it is what we want to do. Naruto had asked me to keep this a secret before he began acting like a dumbass, but he had me working on a means to date everyone. It would still sort of be in secret, but it would allow us all equal access to him.”

That surprised Tsunade but she smiled at his thoughtfulness asking, “How?”

“Simple we’d create a pair of new personas. As everyone here knows I’ve been supplying us with the formula that erases Naruto’s scent from us as well as ours from him. If you’ve ever looked in the bottles I’ve provided you’ll notice a piece of hair is located inside. This is what activates the formula telling it whose scent to erase.”

Anko spoke up asking, “Your clan sells that stuff mixed with perfume. It’s a huge seller in the village since people don’t want to alert your clan when they’re getting busy. I mean I’m glad for the freebies. But what does that have to do with Naruto dating us?”

Tsume smirked saying, “What you are unaware of is that the stuff you can get in the store is nothing compared to what I’ve been giving out. This formula is a secret known only to the Clan Leader. I mean think about it…if a rival village bought a bottle and separated the perfume from the formula then it would give our enemies a leg up on us.”

“I take it they’ve tried before?” Yuugao asked crossing her arms as she leaned against a rock wearing a towel around her body.

“Yeah, but what they are unaware of is that formula gives off a scent that only Inuzuka can smell. We might not know who or what it is covering up but we know something is there. The formula I’ve been supplying gives no hint of the missing scent.” Tsume smiled as she thought of her mate before saying, “Naruto asked me about this after I first began passing it out. He wanted to know if it was possible to create a scent rather than to just mask one. He wanted to be able to take all of us out, so since then I’ve been working on it.”

“That was why you took all those chemicals from the hospital,” Sakura said remembering how Tsume had taken some supplies a while back.

“Yep, I let Shizune in to what I was up to recently to create a pair of identities for us. I guess now would be a good time to come up with those details. That is if Naruto ever comes around to actually use the male identity to date again.”

“That might allow us to date him in secret,” Ino said speaking up, “But we still need to solve the problem of his not being seen with Sa…”

“Actually, I don’t mind using the fake identity to date him,” Sakura said surprising Ino as well as a few others.

“W-why,” Ayame said trying to hide her desire for the spot, “I mean… why wouldn’t you want to be seen as dating him?”

Sakura shook her head replying, “That’s not it at all. I would love to be seen as his girlfriend by the village, but this is more so all of us can go out with him in public. That means both Naruto and whoever is with him will need to be henged. If I’m the face seen as dating him that means you’ll not be able to be seen with as anything but a friend.”

“Y-you’re turning it down for me,” Ayame said shocked, “But what about Hinata surely…”

“Unfortunately dating Naruto publicly in a true romantic way would cause him too much scrutiny. The elders of my clan frown on relationships outside the clan. Besides what I think Sakura means is that of all his lovers you are the only one inside the village that doesn’t have the necessary skills to henge your outside appearance.”

Ayame poked her fingers together and although everyone could tell she wanted the honor she still said, “I-I learned how to henge my chakra though couldn’t…”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Tsunade said amused, “Besides it’ll shake up the rumors about his love life and remind people that they shouldn’t believe everything they hear.”

“But I’m not the only civilian,” Ayame said quickly.

Tsunami, having joined Karin, who had claimed to her genin protectors that something back home had required her personal attention, in coming to the village by claiming to have wanted to visit for a long time giggled before saying, “It’s okay everyone can see how much you want it. Not to mention my son isn’t looking for a new father and I’m fine with my relationship remaining secret.”

“And if mine came to light it would call into questions all the actions I’ve taken recently.” Koyuki then added under her breath, “Not to mention those annoying pricks the paparazzi would start hounding us.”

Ayame beamed as she began saying, “Thank you,” over and over again. Most of the women smiled except for a certain blonde that had recently wanted space.

“Still all this is a moot point unless we can get our man’s head out of his ass,” Tsume said retaking control of the conversation. Naturally the reminder caused most of the good cheer to disappear.

Ayame sagged back into the water saying, “I just don’t understand it though. When it’s just him and me at Ichiraku, he seems to be his old self. He even doesn’t seem all that bothered if I flirt with him a little.”

“I’m not surprised,” Tsunade said after a moment, “He’s the same with me. I suspect his desire to treat us all equally is responsible for his pulling away from all of us.”

“What are you saying?” Tayuya said standing up angrily, “If it wasn’t for some of us he’d still be fine with using the jutsu?”

“In a manner of speaking that’s exactly what I mean.”

“Hey! Just because your chakra was red before mine doesn’t mean…”

“But it does,” Tsunade said cutting the red-head former Sound-nin off, “It means we had a history before you even appeared in the picture. Just like Ayame and him. As such that means he has a greater understanding of how we normally act and therefore may be more comfortable being around us. For example when he eats at Ichiraku, he knows how Ayame normally behaved and perhaps due to her confessing her feelings is more inclined to believe the jutsu hasn’t affected her to the same degree. The problem is Kanji knew exactly what to say to him to begin doubting our affections. In truth Naruto may have already been having doubts and Kanji’s words just made them seem more real.”

“That might not be the only reason behind his funk,” Yoruichi said speaking up as she had watched Kiyomi and knew from the Bijuu’s reaction to the current topic she was hiding something. “Why don’t you tell us what you think it is, Kiyomi?”

The Bijuu in question looked up and feeling all the women’s gazes turning towards her sighed before saying, “I believe I’m partly to blame due to something I did in order to bypass his seal.” Seeing the women’s gazes hardening she said quickly, “I didn’t know it was still active…”

“Just get to the explaining what the fuck you did,” Tayuya said angrily.

Kiyomi’s glared at the woman but broke the stare down first saying, “Back during the training trip Jiraiya tried to train Naruto in how to wield my chakra. To that end he used a key that the Fourth had left him to open the seal partly. I took the opportunity to take over his body and very nearly escaped. Jiraiya managed to suppress me before it progressed that far. However it still left the seal in a weakened state.”

“Jiraiya never reported that,” Tsunade said shocked.

“I-I’m not surprised…I left him grievously injured. To this day I still don’t think he ever told Naruto so he probably kept it to himself.” Looking ashamed Kiyomi continued, “But in that moment I saw a way to escape. The reason I was able to take over was because despite how he may seem at times. He’s always carrying a greater burden then he’s let on.”

“You didn’t?” Yoruichi said leaning forward suddenly having an idea of what Kiyomi had done.

“Don’t judge me,” Kiyomi snapped, “That you’ve seem to have an inclination of what I did probably means you’ve done it yourself.”

Yoruichi looked away saying, “I’ve never done that Kiyomi. When the jinchuriki of Kumogakure would attempt to take control of us they would sit before the Falls of Truth. What you’ve done is give that dark aspect of his soul power using your own chakra.”

Kiyomi looked away but nodded before saying, “It was my hope that as his anger grew he’d eventually lose the will to keep me contained. I…I thought it would fade without me giving it chakra.”

“When you first began to suspect this thing was affecting Naruto why didn’t you put an end to it,” Sakura shouted angrily.

Kiyomi could see the other women felt similarly so stood saying, “I…I didn’t want to admit that another thing I’ve done had hurt Naruto. I…I’ll handle it.”

The women watched the Bijuu leave with various emotions and even after she left remained silent until, “What should we do,” Hinata asked sadly.

“Simple, after Kiyomi handles what she needs to we remind that idiot that he’s as much ours as we are his,” Tsunade replied giving a smile that slowly began to appear on the other women’s faces. “Here’s what I have in mind…”

*****

Kushina felt silly as she peeked around a corner nervously while dressed in her kunoichi gear and searching for what she believed was behind her son’s depression of the last several weeks. However, she couldn’t help it as over that time she had begun to fear some sort of haunting was taking place inside the seal. Not seeing anything she began to proceed down the hall which looked like some dark tunnel filled with pipes. She knew she could change the décor, but feared due to her current state of mind the seal would take on an even spookier appearance. As she traveled the corridors quietly, if not stealthily, she reflected on the past several weeks. They had been both a blessing for her as well as a source of worry. The good stemmed from the fact that for the first time since awakening she wasn’t sharing her son with a harem of women. As such it had given the two of them a chance to truly get to know one another without it always seeming rushed. Not to mention she hadn’t needed to constantly be on guard for the two lamps in the apartment representing the seal switching on.

Although one downside was even when the two of them were together she could tell that even if he was in the middle of laughing at something she had said as they joked around with each other a part of him wasn’t joining in. Naruto did an excellent job of hiding it but Kushina could still tell. To tell the truth she was surprised by his lovers pulling back, but quickly came to the conclusion that they were showing Naruto that they could act independent of him if they wanted. The bastard Kanji had done an excellent job of convincing Naruto that his control was extending even into their subconscious and therefore had figured out that since the last thing Naruto wanted was to be left alone their pulling back was supposed to show him that he wasn’t controlling them. It was a strategy that seemed to have gained a foothold in illustrating to Naruto what the woman considered to be the truth of the matter.

However whatever it was Kushina was looking for seemed to be preventing it from truly taking hold. She felt a pang of guilt since she could probably have done more to convince her son about her perceived truth of his harem’s actions. But, what held her back from doing so was losing her unfettered access to him. Not something easily given up especially since as a result she had gotten to spend his seventeenth birthday with him. Granted, she knew for him it had been a bit melancholy since although he had seen many of his lovers throughout the day it had been in a less then intimate way. But he had pushed aside those feelings to enjoy the night with her as they finally got to spend another birthday together outside of the first. Thinking about it brought tears to the corners of her eyes as she remembered him even eating the cake she had imagined for the occasion just to make it seem all the more real for her. It was also the first time that Kushina had wished to be free of the seal as although the night had been special it had also been muted due to the lack of sensation. For example as she had lit the candles she had been unable to truly feel the heat of them. Instead it had felt like a memory of what it should have felt like. Almost like it was due to her having experienced such events in the past and without those memories she would have felt nothing.

She supposed that was why Kyuubi had so desperately seized upon the sensations Naruto’s use of The Temptation Touch and Binding had created within the seal. But coming to the conclusion of how what little sensation she did feel in the seal worked had done little to solve her own growing need for physical pleasure. It was a problem being partly amplified by her son’s lack of sex. This was due to the fact that since she had unrestrained access to him that meant he had the same with her and the one good thing she could say about the lights turning green meant she knew she would be left alone for a while to handle her own needs. Although Kushina knew those needs were all mental in nature that did little to calm her when she was feeling particularly randy. During the past three weeks she had been too nervous to even try fearing Naruto would suddenly appear and catch her in a compromising situation.

Kushina felt a desire to bring her hand between her legs to give herself a quick rub, but doubted it would end there. Shaking her head she thought, “Stop acting like a horny teenager and remember why you came down here.”

Focusing on her task, she knew down was a relative term but considering the dark and dank condition of the tunnels it was easy to imagine she was in some underground passageways that led to a dank basement. With her focus once more attuned she recalled why she felt some outside force was preventing Naruto from seeing his lovers’ pulling back for what it was. The first event had happened when Naruto had confronted Kanji. After he had overloaded the device sealing his chakra Kushina had begun to give Naruto as much chakra as she could in order to ensure he was in top form. However she had quickly needed to stop as something had felt…wrong about it. Almost like it was being pulled out and tainted making her son angrier and angrier. Granted, at the moment she doubted he would have needed any help in that regards, but Kushina now suspected that it was so a takeover could take place. Like her consciousness would hitch a ride with the chakra that was being pulled from the seal which would allow her to take over. Remembering the condition that had left her son in she had immediately begun to pull her chakra back. The unseen entity had immediately pulled for more and a sort of tug of war had begun between them. As she fought against the thing calling for chakra she could sense its anger and frustration both at her as well as life in general. It had left Kushina with the feeling that whatever it was it would never see anything to be happy about.

However that feeling was in turn what was helping her track down whatever it was. The maliciousness that was at the center of it scared Kushina since it could very well be something natural inside her son. After all, the life of a jinchuriki was rather difficult, although Kushina had mercifully been spared that life due to nobody except a handful of the most senior of the Konoha hierarchy knowing she had contained the Kyuubi. It had been rather nerve racking when she had finally confessed the truth to Minato. She had felt rather silly afterwards due to his simply smiling as he told her he didn’t care about her being a vessel for what many considered the most powerful of Bijuu.

Learning that her son had not been so fortunate and as such had spent a considerable amount of his youth alone broke her heart. Still Kushina had a hard time picturing Naruto as the source of the hatred and pain she felt. Not that it was impossible for the anger to be Naruto’s however it was difficult to believe the depths of it were.

Peaking around the corner she didn’t see anything so headed down the corridor. As she walked she thought about the other reason she felt her son was being manipulated by the thing she was searching for. It would generally start in the morning or at night before he went to bed with Naruto vowing to at the very least to talk with his lovers. However something would then begin whispering and as time went by that whispering had grown steadily stronger. Mainly it would continue until his self-doubt would take over causing him to push talking to his lovers off for another day and then disappear. Only recently had she been able to sense it still, although weakly. While the whispering had stopped as Naruto had fallen asleep, Kushina could still sense the malice behind it. As Naruto slept, she had resolved to get to the bottom of things so that in the morning he wouldn’t be greeted by the nasty murmurs which would attempt to install the doubts that had been keeping him distant from his lovers.

Reaching another corner she approached carefully and then poked her head around to make sure what she was searching for wasn’t waiting for her. However suddenly something clamped down around her shoulder from behind causing the woman to scream in fright as her imagination ran wild about the ghostly spirit that was haunting her son getting the drop on her. She pulled free leaping away from the potential threat. Landing in a crouch she reached for a kunai more out of reflex then any plan to actual harm what had touched her. Focusing on the person she said, “Kyuubi!”

“It’s Kiyomi now,” the human Bijuu said annoyed both at Kushina’s using her old moniker and as well as the startled scream the woman had let out.

Figuring they had lost the element of surprise the Bijuu simply began to walk further down the corridor leaving the confused mother behind.

“Hey,” Kushina said quickly catching up with the Bijuu, “What the hell are you doing here? You and Naruto aren’t…”

Kiyomi looked over her shoulder smirking at her former host’s mother saying, “Oh you definitely know if we were and my consciousness definitely would be too occupied to be talking with you.”

Kushina blushed at what the Bijuu was alluding to, but getting control of her embarrassment said, “Then what are you doing here?”

Kiyomi’s amusement disappeared to be replaced with a look of wretchedness. “Putting an end to a plot I had believed would burn itself out.”

“You mean you’re behind what has been bothering Naruto,” Kushina said growing angry. However, seeing how full of shame the Bijuu was Kushina began to calm as she remembered her son’s words about trying to see things from another’s point of view. With that in mind she realized that whatever Kyuubi had done she had done so as a prisoner doing everything she could to escape. Her emotions relaxing she asked, “So then… what exactly did you do?”

Kiyomi was obviously surprised at Kushina’s calming down. Giving the woman a quick double glance she focused ahead again before saying, “You Konoha-nin never tried to master my powers so I doubt you are aware of some of the steps that are necessary.”

“That’s because as far as Konoha was concerned having you contained was enough,” Kushina replied following behind the Bijuu trying to keep alert for any other surprises. Wondering how she had been snuck up on and much like her son had problems focusing she asked, “Where did you come from?”

Kiyomi sighed at her former host’s inability to focus before saying, “I Hiraishined into your son’s room and I am currently standing above him channeling my chakra into him. Now, if we can focus on why I am here?”

“Sorry… I was just wondering how you just appeared behind me,” Kushina said properly chided.

“No I’m sorry,” Kiyomi replied, “I-it’s just that once again it appears that I’m hurting Naruto.”

Sensing Kiyomi’s true regret, Kushina placed a calming hand on the Bijuu’s shoulder saying, “Hey, let’s just focus on putting an end to it.” A moment later she asked, “What exactly are we trying to end?”

Kyuubi smiled at the reassuring gesture before nodding and saying, “Yes, in any case as I was saying, there were steps in order to completely master a Bijuu’s chakra. One of the most difficult was confronting ones inner self.”

“How do you know all this? I mean Mito Uzumaki was your first host and all she did was keep you locked away from the world.”

Kiyomi nodded before continuing, “True, but what I learned about it I did from the first jinchuriki, Old Man Rikudou.”

“The Sage of the Six Paths,” Kushina said in disbelief, “He was real.”

“Of course he was, and probably what you could consider my father,” Kiyomi said reverently. “Although he defeated and sealed the beast inside him. He only truly mastered its power years later after much trial and error. The first step to that was mastering his self and for that part he used a mystic falls located at his temple. That is where I got the idea.” Kiyomi remained silent for several moments before sighing as she continued, “A jinchuriki seal’s true strength is not the formula used, although this can help greatly. It’s the will of the host. No matter how perfect the seal if the jinchuriki loses heart or will, then the seal can be overcome or even bypassed. I’m sure Naruto has told you how his friend Gaara used to be… rather unstable.”

Kushina nodded before saying, “Yes, but after his defeat Naruto said he no longer suffered from those outbreaks.”

“That is because Naruto’s friendship gave him hope that he could one day be valued by the people of Suna. It also as a result strengthened his seal due to his desire to protect and shield his fellow shinobi from both the Bijuu he carried and the normal dangers they faced.”

“Then what you did was to try and undercut Naruto’s own will,” Kushina said some anger bleeding into her voice. She saw Kiyomi’s shoulders winced at the tone so she tried to hold her anger in check as she asked, “How exactly did you go about doing it?”

“Going back to the waterfall that I mentioned, I said the Six Path Sage mastered his own darkness by mediating in front of the falls. There he confronted a version of himself he kept hidden away from the world.”

“That rather hard to believe as all the legends I’ve heard about him described him as a saint.”

A small smile formed on Kiyomi’s lips but it melted as she said, “No man of flesh and blood is without darkness. They simply rise above it. It was a necessary step since the Bijuu chakra of the Ten’s tails was pure malice. Without knowing one’s own darkness then it would one day completely corrupt the person using it as all the dark ways it could be used tempted them.”

Kiyomi remained quiet as they approached a fork in the path. Kushina was about to ask which way to go since due to the conversation she was no longer able to concentrate enough to find the source of malice. Kiyomi without breaking stride chose the path on the left causing the former jinchuriki and now Bijuu in her own right to ask, “How did you know to go this way? Can you still sense it?”

“No… this path doesn’t look familiar to you?” When Kushina shook her head in the negative the Bijuu smiled saying, “No I suppose at the time you were more focused on meeting your son.” Kushina looked confused for a moment before a look of understanding appeared causing the Bijuu to say, “Picking up where I left off you could say that Jiraiya gave me the idea although Sasuke Uchiha made it possible.”

“Huh, what do you mean? How did Mikoto’s son make your plan possible?”

“Naruto does an excellent job of shouldering his own burdens and keeping them from people. His will was like steel and a reason for that was his goal to be Hokage. He understood just how difficult it would be but was so positive once he achieved it he’d have many bonds with others that he could cherish. I would know as I spent countless years trying to break free of the seal. Sasuke Uchiha gave me the one thing I had needed to make my dream of escape reality. He introduced Naruto to a lingering feeling of doubt.”

“Are you saying Naruto had never doubted himself up till Sasuke defected?”

“Don’t get me wrong. He doubted himself… but he always quickly squashed it as he concentrated on his next goal to attaining the position he dreamed of. Plus, on some level he never doubted that with enough time and effort he could achieve any result. Sasuke changed all that. Oh he never doubted he could and would bring him back… but he did begin to fear that no matter how much effort he put into it he would never be able to reestablish the bond of friendship that he shared with him and which the Uchiha was so hellbent to sever, something which Jiraiya constantly tried to pound into his head.”

Surprised her husband’s teacher would do such a thing she said, “I… I can’t picture Jiraiya acting so coldly.”

“He’s coming from experience,” Kiyomi replied after a moment as they approached an end to the corridor they were traveling through which ended in a door with a small pipe leading to the wall, “No matter how much Naruto wishes for Sasuke to return. Jiraiya knows that it is not going to happen if the desire is only one sided. His own history with Orochimaru is proof of that. With doubt comes anger and that was what I planned to exploit to escape. It nearly worked too when Jiraiya loosened the seal using the key Minato left him. Jiraiya just barely managed to restrain me long enough to retighten the restrictions on my chakra. Although it still left the seal in a weakened state and as a result…”

“You created me,” a third voice called towards them as the door at the end of the passage way swung open. Kushina gasped as a person looking exactly like Naruto stood in the doorway although he had red pupils surrounded by darkness. “Although perhaps creating isn’t the right word exactly, more like gave me enough chakra for me to manifest.”

Kiyomi nodded before saying, “Yes…although what you hope to achieve now is impossible to say.”

The dark version of Naruto smirked as he said, “My dream is the same. I’m going to become the real Naruto and then I’m going to teach this stinking village a lesson for all the times they’ve disrespected me.”

Kushina and Kiyomi shared a look before the Uzumaki said, “Naruto… honey you don’t…”

“Shut-up,” the dark aspect shouted causing the red-head to take a step back, “You weren’t there. You have no idea of the shitty life I had. Do you really think that smiling buffoon you met is who your son really is? He’s just a mask that became real.”

Seeing her son’s face twisted in such a furious veneer as it spit its ire at her caused tears to appear in the woman’s eyes as she said, “I-I so badly wanted to be there for you… to give you…”

“But you weren’t,” the Dark Naruto said coldly the words stabbing Kushina like a knife making her wonder if that was how her son truly felt about her. She began to hug herself as she felt on the verge of sobbing.

Kiyomi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder though as she said, “Don’t let its words bother you. It is merely acting as I had wished it too. But this is why Naruto has been so… withdrawn lately. It is merely using his own doubts against him.”

“It… that is so very cold of you, Kyuubi,” The dark Naruto said, “There was a time when you would have called me the real Naruto.”

“But you aren’t,” Kiyomi replied calmly. “You’re merely a construct of his negative emotions given a semblance of life due to my chakra and are no doubt using the platform that had sustained Kushina’s soul to maintain your existence.”

Dark Naruto smirked saying, “You’re only partly right. True, although you ripped the pipe from the dais she was lying dormant on the pipe itself is still active. But in all honesty do you think I’ve been able to influence him to such a degree off of the scraps of chakra that left me access too.” The dark Naruto raised his hand and suddenly the corridor disappeared to be replaced by the Falls of Truth.

“How!?” Kiyomi exclaimed looking around in shock.

“Why you were just talking about it?” Dark Naruto said smirking, “You know you have some rather dark memories of this temple. Ah…betrayal, it’s such a beautiful emotion, why it almost feels as good as when Sasuke slammed that Chidori into my chest.” Kushina gasped upon hearing that causing the dark version of her son to say, “Oh I’m sorry did the buffoon fail to mention that to you. Makes you wonder what else he’s hiding from you doesn’t it.” Focusing back on Kiyomi, he said, “Come on Kyuubi don’t pretend you truly give a rat’s ass about this buffoon’s dream. These are the same people that locked you up for over a century and do you really want to be reunited with your brethren. They’re the same ones that were always jealous of you and your power. Why I imagine they were snickering for years after abandoning you to the Uchih…”

“Shut up,” Kiyomi shouted losing her composure, “I will not be lectured by some puppet that I gave an aspiration to become real.”

The dark Naruto chuckled saying, “There you go again acting as if I’m not the real Naruto. If all it takes to be considered real is to be flesh and blood then once I break the buffoons will I’ll be the one calling the shots because as you well know being considered real is a matter of perspective.”

For a moment Kiyomi was confused as to what the construct of Naruto was alluding to. However a memory flashed of Madara confronting her saying, “Kyuubi you are merely a momentary life, a temporary existence of coalesced energy…energy that once was a single ultimate form.” Hit by a revelation she thought towards the Dark Naruto, “Is that how you see me?”

The dark Naruto smirked as if it had heard her silent question. But then a pair of arms wrapped around it from behind and Kushina whispered softly, “I’m not sure what to think of what you are at the moment… but I do realize that you are an aspect of what my son must feel on some level and since you are a part of him… I love you too.”

The dark Naruto’s eye shot wide open at Kushina’s words. It shouted, “Let go of me,” however despite its words the construct of Naruto’s dark emotions seemed to melt into the embrace. But then it felt as if the existence it had fought so hard to maintain was beginning to slip away and surprised the woman by pulling loose of her grip. Spinning it formed a Rasengan in its hand shouting, “Do you think that’s all it would take, you spouting some nonsense about love to make me go away? I want…” The construct trailed off as it began to bring the Rasengan forward and Kushina could see tears appearing in its eyes.

Yet, before it could strike Kiyomi grabbed it by the neck from behind and almost before it had time to react the dark Naruto burst into red chakra as it was absorbed by Kiyomi. Kushina shocked by the sudden end asked, “W-what did you do?”

Kiyomi brought the hand she had gripped the dark aspect of Naruto with towards her stomach saying, “I merely reabsorbed the chakra I lent it.”

Kushina could sense that Kiyomi was holding something back so asked, “But what about…well him. I-I think he just wanted a chance to exist to experience…”

“Kushina, the matter has been resolved,” Kiyomi said rubbing her stomach almost maternally, “It was only a single small aspect of your son’s personality unable to feel anything but the negative emotions that I needed to crack the seal. Those emotions exist in your son, but not to the extent it would have wanted you to believe.”

Kushina wasn’t sure if Kiyomi believed what she was saying. However as the alternative would be to once more let a darkness loose inside Naruto, she nodded and accepted the Bijuu’s words.

*****

Naruto awoke feeling surprisingly upbeat and was rather shocked when he didn’t immediately begin to feel the insistent voice in the back of his head trying to remind him of Kanji’s words about his lovers’ reasons for caring for him. That wasn’t to say his doubts had just disappeared, but they seemed more manageable. Getting out of bed, he had a strange sensation like someone had just left the room. But he shrugged guessing it was his mind playing tricks on him, and considering where his mind had been at the last several weeks he’d gladly take it.

Now though a new worry was entering into his head and that was how to approach his lovers. After all, it had been three weeks and although he had still tried to spend time with them. He would quickly put the brakes on anything turning physical. After taking a shower, he dressed and as he ate his breakfast he wondered on how to best approach the subject when there was a knock on his door. Upon answering it, he was surprised to find an Anbu waiting on the other side, “Um… yes,” he asked disappointed although he had already known it wasn’t one of his lovers.

“Naruto Uzumaki,” the Anbu replied stiffly, “You’ve been summoned to the Hokage’s office.”

“Any idea why,” he asked although he doubted he’d get an answer.

“No,” the man said before disappearing into smoke.

Naruto closed the door and wondered what Tsunade wanted. He reasoned it was for official reasons since she had sent an Anbu and not one of his other lovers. He sighed and began to mentally berate himself for taking so long in getting over his funk. He shook his head to clear his head to prevent a darkening mood from setting in and resolved to show each of his lovers just how much they meant to him. He was aware they had gathered in the village the night before although Karin seemed to have left already as had Tsunami, with the civilian traveling much slower.

Stepping out of his apartment, he locked it behind him and slowly walked to Tsunade’s office. He hoped to find her alone and although he could sense Koharu nearby wanted the reasons for his summons to be unimportant so he could plead for them to forgive him for his recent withdrawal. He knew his way of handling things had been childish, but his extreme fear that everything was based on the jutsu made it almost seem impossible to confront. Every time he had tried to talk himself into bringing it up something would whisper his deepest concerns to him. One such example having been before going to sleep the night before and sensing his lovers gathering he had nearly headed to their private hot-springs. But just before getting out of bed his inner voice had said, “And do what exactly? Ask them, ‘Hey are you sure none of you are being controlled?’ Never mind the fact that even if they are, they’ll quickly assure that they aren’t. Face it, the only reason you’ve known any of their sweet caresses is because of that jutsu. You’re nothing special you couldn’t even save your best friend and you expect to change the world.” He had fallen asleep to the voice’s dark laughter as he just curled up into a ball feeling so very small.

Reaching the office, he was about to knock when Tsunade voice beat him to the punch as she called, “Come in Naruto.”

Feeling bolstered by the fact that if she was using her mark it meant that both his lovers were likely alone in the office. He entered happily but stopped upon seeing the serious look on their faces. Taking note that although they were alone Koharu was henged to look like her natural age instead of her more youthful appearance, he asked, “What’s wrong? A-akatuski hasn’t gotten their hands on the Six-tails have they?”

“I’m afraid we still do not know what the Six-tails status is. Although it appeared he got away as Pain fought Kakashi and the others. We can’t be sure if Akatsuki caught up to him since then,” Tsunade said her tone grave.

“T-then what is it?” He said worriedly splitting his focus between the two women.

Tsunade folded her hands in front of her face as she rested her elbows on her desk to hide her mouth from her lover. Her voice carried the weight of her authority as she said, “The reason we’ve called you here is due to a need to address your recent dereliction of your duties.”

“Huh,” Naruto said elegantly, “I… I mean if this is about my…”

Koharu still henged as her seventy year old natural age attracted his attention saying, “Naruto perhaps you are unaware that it has been over a month since you’ve taken an official mission for the village.”

Both women could tell the last thing Naruto expected was for them to be talking about his performance as a shinobi. Tsunade took the opportunity of his looking at Koharu to push a sheet of paper towards him. After the young man picked it up to look at it he asked, “Um what’s this?”

“That is a list of D-ranked missions, as well as your scheduled physical evaluation that you will need to perform today.” Tsunade said her tone telling Naruto she wasn’t in the mood for debating the matter.

However, Naruto couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Ah come on I’ve been training all this time… I mean I can understand needing to…”

“Naruto,” Tsunade said cutting him off, “You are a genin and per Shinobi code 9612-42b you need to perform tasks appropriate to your current rank. D-ranked missions are exactly what a genin should be performing without the benefit of a team. And while we are aware you’ve been spending a great deal of time at the training field these several weeks that does not excuse you from performing mission unless you ask for permission, which you didn’t do.”

Naruto sagged his shoulders before he said, “Alright… I guess I’ll go get started.” Making his way to the door, he walked slowly towards the door making it obvious he was hoping for one of them to stop him and let him know they were kidding or that they wanted to talk to him about his recent behavior. However even after he opened the door and no one stopped him they could hear him mumble, “Dog walking, man I hate dog walking.”

*****

Nanabi stood a little straighter as the seal the prison used to restrain her chakra switched off. The other prisoners around her also straightened up as their chakra became accessible again. Taking in some of the faces of her fellow prisoners, she imagined that many of them would have joined up with Akame just to have access to their chakra again. Still Nanabi only felt halfway complete due to her in ability to use her Bijuu chakra as it was being mostly sealed by Kyuubi.

Nanabi ignored the anger her inability to remove Kyuubi’s seal usually gave rise to in her to focus on the task before her. Spending a moment she studied her fellow inmates who surrounded her and were also waiting for the signal to begin the day’s training. Although to be honest it felt more like a test than just the usual being put through their paces.

The inmates were crowded inside a room within a compound the chunin guards of the prison used for training. On the other side of the door that the prisoners were waiting behind lied a room that could be modified to reflect almost any environment. Usually it was mocked up to look like the prison’s interior so the guards could practice what they would do in case the inmates ever got loose. Over the past several weeks Nanabi and her fellow prisoners had engaged in battle in several types of environments. Usually their opponents would be other new recruits to Akame’s scheme. During these mock battles it was stated that they didn’t want the inmates to kill their opponents although it still happened. To Nanabi’s surprise Akame almost seemed to silent praise the more bloodthirsty inmates due to his general disdain for their lives. Upon receiving a report of a death or even witnessing one he’d often shrug his shoulders and whisper to his number two man Bekko. The second in command would then mark something down on a clipboard he’d carry as they observed the training sessions. This left all the prisoners with the impression that being as aggressive as possible during these training sessions was actually a plus.

Another thing that surprised Nanabi was that the training wasn’t geared towards making the inmates act as a team. Instead it was as if Akame was simply culling the herd of the weaker prisoners. For what though she wasn’t sure as she was still having trouble figuring out why they would allow the number of prisoners to drop. After all, if the enemy they were supposed to attack was Konoha then the Bijuu figured they would need every able body person they could get. Therefore Akame was either a quality over quantity type, or he had something else in his pocket that he felt would give him an edge.

Nanabi’s focus was pulled from her thoughts as Akame’s voice began speaking through a speaker. “Good morning comrades. Although I imagine as you sit there waiting for the starting bell you probably are finding it difficult to enjoy it. Well in the interest of elevating your mood you’ll be pleased to know this is the final hurdle before officially becoming one of the soldiers that will remind the world what it is to be shinobi. Good luck… oh and try not to die.”

Suddenly a buzzard sounded and the door to the room swung open. Nanabi had positioned herself to be the first through it, and although that might have been a mistake if someone was waiting for her on the other side. She figured as long as she didn’t hesitate, that if someone was there they would be as surprised as her at the sudden start and would be unprepared enough to miss the first person through. Running forward, she cleared the doorway where she was both surprised and disappointed to find no one waiting for her. The other prisoners began to follow her out to find the area was configured to look like a typical small one street village.

Although the buildings were complete it was obvious that they had been used many times most likely in scenarios on how to subdue escaped criminals in such an environment. As a result of the damage it gave the air of an abandoned town due to the lack of other people. Nanabi could feel the rest of her fellow inmates shifting uncomfortably behind her since they all knew that something was there to test them. Not wishing to be grouped in with the rest of the crowd she began strolling down the center of the street as if she owned it. Her reason for putting herself at such risk was simple. She needed to be viewed as one of the more highly valued soldiers in the coming rebellion. But whether it was for the sake of Kyuubi’s plan to bring down the impending revolt or her own ambitions she wasn’t sure of at the moment. The truth was Nanabi wasn’t even sure of what she wanted either, outside of taking full possession of her new form. If she could break Kyuubi’s seal, which would expel her will from it and was also denying her full possession of her Bijuu chakra, she would have no need of playing along any further. However she was still drawing a blank on what to do after, something that was annoying her greatly. The reason being that for close to over a hundred years, having been the second Bijuu captured by the man that would become the First Hokage, she had longed for her freedom, but apparently had no idea on what to do once attaining it.

Nanabi’s boldness paid off as out of the first two buildings she passed two large men burst from the walls shouting, “Ta-da.” Spinning towards the threats and recognizing the Legendary Stupid Brothers of Fujin and Raijin, she felt a small measure of relief as they headed straight for the other prisoners. It didn’t last though as she felt a presence land behind her. Turning again she came face to face with Mizuki who gave her an amused smile as he said, “Aren’t you the brave one?”

Nanabi leapt back creating some distance and as she entered her fighting stance only relaxed somewhat as Mizuki having remained completely relaxed said, “Hey now, there no need to fight… well unless I don’t like your answer to my proposal.”

Nanabi scoffed as she replied, “Proposal? Is that what you were calling it? Funny, to me it simply sounded like an offer to be one of your whores.”

Mizuki’s face grew dark as he said, “Sounds to me like that’s a no. What a shame really guess it’s important to remind you why some of your fellow kunoichi were so quick to accept my protection.”

Nanabi scowled but could understand why some of the other women had joined with Mizuki as it was obvious that the warden viewed him as something special. Due to his status, one of the women Mizuki had taken a shine to had not needed to bother with any of the training the rest of the new recruits had. Not to mention it had afforded her protection from any of the other predators the prison had to offer, besides the one she had aligned with.

Nanabi much to her surprise found herself unwilling to follow suit even though it would fulfilled some of her goals. The most obvious being gaining a good position in Akame’s rebellion, the other though was a baser need and that was to enjoy the thrills of sex in her new form. She had little doubt that Mizuki would quickly use her in such a way and that coupled with the inside track to Akame’s plan would be killing two birds with one stone as it were. Still, even with her knowing that something prevented her from agreeing to become one of Mizuki’s protectorates. Whenever she thought on it though, she always came back to an image of her host’s lover cradling her or tenderly stroking her skin after a bout of love-making. Of course, that was all it was, an imagine, since the one that had been in that situation had been Fu. But still something told her being with Mizuki wouldn’t have any such moments.

But outside of that reason and although it was the more difficult path to where she wanted to get to, she figured another way to becoming one of Akame’s more trusted soldiers was to kick the man standing in front of her ass. Therefore tightening her stance she replied, “Sorry, but I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“Is that so?” Mizuki asked his features shifting as he activated his Animal Curse Mark turning into the humanoid tiger form the mark gifted him with. The man then charged at her holding his clawed arm behind him. Once he got within striking distance he swiped at her stomach hoping to spill her guts all over the ground. She leapt back managing to avoid the blow, but Mizuki allowed his momentum to spin him around so he could lash out with a foot. The heel connected with her face, sending the Bijuu flying into and through one of the walls of the mock village’s buildings.

Landing inside the empty building, she picked herself off the floor only to see the woman that’s vest read only zero-zero-zero, sitting in a window sill. She seemed disinterested in the entire battle taking place outside but said, “Perhaps you should have said yes to his offer.”

Nanabi glared at the woman, who was wearing a dark pair of sunglasses, as she replied, “Thanks for the advice but why don’t you mind your own business.”

Far from being insulted the woman smiled as much as she ever seemed to let herself before saying, “Are you sure? I could handle your little problem for you.”

Nanabi got back to her feet as she said, “Again thanks, but like I told him I can take care of myself.”

A second later a roaring Mizuki burst in through another section of the small home’s wall with his arms outstretched to strike at her. Nanabi raised her arm in an upward swooping motion and as if responding to her will a column of stone shot up from the ground catching the beast man in the stomach as he flew towards her and shot him up through the roof. Nanabi began walking towards the hole she had made in the wall but looked back to see the surprised look on the woman’s face.

Nanabi smirked before stepping outside to see where Mizuki had landed. She couldn’t blame the woman for her surprise as she doubted there was anyone in the world that could do what she had just done which was use Earth Jutsu without using handsigns. Granted, there were people, who could use sand or water in a similar manner, but the earth elements greatest strength was also why it wasn’t such a great offensive weapon and that was the solidness of it. Therefore due to that solidness it required a massive amount of chakra to manipulate. That wasn’t to say people hadn’t thought of ways to use it offensively, but still for the most part unless in a cave were a person could literally bring the house down, the attacks were slow and unwieldy. Not to mention they often required quite a few handsigns to perform.

Her best example of why Earth jutsu were lacking in offensive capability stemmed from how her body was captured. Nanabi had heard the story from Kyuubi, who had learned as much as she could once the seven-tails had taken the body, about how in the final clash her body had used an Earth Dragon. The old genin that had captured her had countered with a Water Dragon. In the clash between jutsu the more malleable and less chakra intensive Water Dragon jutsu had eventually won out and due to all the chakra necessary for the Earth Dragon had left her body near exhaustion.

But now for Nanabi, Earth Jutsu almost seemed to require no chakra and responded to her beck and call almost as if it was made up of water. She believed this was due to her extreme proficiency with Earth chakra as a result of her time in Fu as well as her host body’s own natural talent with it. As she thought of her new talent for Earth Jutsu she drew a parallel to a man she remembered facing when the Senju had come to capture her. He had been so proficient in water jutsu that he could use it in even the most arid of environments and could seemingly create a lake out of a desert.

Reaching the middle of the street, she could find where Mizuki landed, but he found her jumping from the top of a building and landed behind her. He reared his clawed hand up into the sky to slash open her back, but a serpent of stone rose from the ground to coil around her. Mizuki’s claws slashed the stone snake causing sparks to shoot off. At the center of the jutsu Nanabi spun and pointed at where Mizuki was standing causing the stone snake to uncoil and launch itself at Mizuki catching him in the chest. The jutsu picked the man-beast off his feet carrying him through a building before smashing him into the ground. The building he went through collapsed causing the area to get covered in dust and temporarily obstructed her view.

It settled down moments later to reveal an extremely pissed of Mizuki snarling and foaming at the mouth. Nanabi took no small measure of pride in seeing some of the foam was reddish indicating he had some internal injuries. Mizuki charged at her roaring in anger so she spun creating another stone snake that she sent flying at her opponent. This time Mizuki was ready though and used his claws to smash his way through the jutsu. Reaching a claw out towards her, Nanabi countered by stomping the ground causing a small pole of stone to shoot up hitting the man in the jaw. He stumbled backwards so she held her hand back as it to punch him and several large pieces of stone gathered around her fist creating a stone gauntlet which she smashed into his head. The blow sent Mizuki down to his knees and he used one hand to prevent himself from completely collapsing. He screamed in pain though as a spike of stone shot through it before unraveling to pin it to the ground. He tried to use his free hand to pull his other one free but a stone snake shot from the ground wrapping around his wrist. It pulled his arm back leaving him wide open for the Bijuu.

Nanabi walked with a deliberate sway in her hips as she willed a blade to appear on her gauntleted hand. “Looks like you’re the one in need of protecting.”

Before she could brandish her weapon towards him though she felt her seal switch back on as Akame’s voice called through the loud speakers, “That’s enough. I believe we’ve seen all we need too.” Nanabi directed her attention towards her fellow new recruits and saw a good portion were still alive. She noted that the two brothers appeared none the worse for wear so suspected the sudden end of the test was due to Mizuki’s predicament. She wondered briefly what made him so special since Akame hadn’t ended any of the other sessions even when some of the prisoners had taken their time in killing their opponents.

However for the moment she let it go as the woman with the triple zero number walked by and snidely said, “Lucky for you that ended when it did Mizuki. I’m sure Akame would grieve losing his favorite pet. I wonder what makes you so special.”

A now human Mizuki glared at the woman holding his injured hand responding, “Shut it crone. I don’t even know why Akame bothers with you.”

“Jealous,” the woman replied with an amused smirk, “It’s because I’m special too.” She then lashed out kicking him in the side of the head sending him into unconsciousness before turning towards Nanabi to say, “But I’m not the only one am I. You are going to bear some watching after all.”

The woman then began walking towards the exit she presumed that Mizuki and she had entered from. Nanabi was left with more questions than answers such as why did Akame keep the woman around since she didn’t seem to have any intention of helping him, at least from what the Bijuu had seen. Yet unlike Nanabi, the woman didn’t seem to hide that fact. Turning to head back towards the main prison to grab a hot shower, Nanabi figured at the very least if the woman was interested in her it would be prudent to return that interest.

*****

Naruto landed on a tree several miles from the village and wondered why his first mission for the day was so far outside of it. Normally when doing a dog walking mission as a genin, his team had gone to the Inuzuka kennels since besides having the best veterinarians. Everything and anything to do with even civilian dogs generally was handled by an Inuzuka business. Hoping this mission wasn’t the canine version of chasing after Tora the cat, he looked for his person of contact. He spotted Tsume in the distance and felt elated but considering the businesslike reception he had received from Tsunade and Koharu quickly got a hold of himself. Dropping to the ground he ran up to his lover whose face remained impassive so said calmly, “I’m here for the mission.”

He noticed a collar around his lover’s neck as she studied him before she said, “Here take this.”

Looking at what she placed in his hand he saw a leather lease but not seeing any canine was about to ask where its owner went when she turned away from him. Immediately he could see that the end of the leash was connected to the collar around her neck and before he could ask why she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, Tsume stood before him naked except for the collar. Shocked Naruto began to say, “Tsume… what’s the meaning…”

However the woman without turning to face him placed her finger against his lips as she said, “Don’t say anything. Just do as the mission says.”

He could hear several emotions in her voice the most prominent being embarrassment. But before he could find the words to say something she dropped to all fours and began walking pulling him along. Naruto couldn’t imagine what would possess Tsume to do what she was. It was just so unlike anything he’d expect from her due to her pride.

As he followed behind he tried to keep his head straight ahead but being a young man couldn’t completely ignore the fact that his naked lover was allowing him to walk her through the woods like a dog. Again and again he tried to understand why she was doing it until it hit him like a slap in the face. She was doing it for him. She was doing something so far removed from what her pride would normally allow to in order to show him how much she cared for him. Still it had shown as she walked stiffly with her head down that her pride was warring with her. It also made him feel like a complete fool for allowing Kanji’s words to solidify the doubts he had begun to feel. It made him feel like a bastard for even having doubts in the first place.

Stopping he wanted to tell his lover it was enough but when he called her name she looked up with a look that told him that Tsume wasn’t exactly home any longer. The woman turned completely as he let go of the leash her face showing him that her animal side had taken over, which only made Naruto feel worse about his behavior of the past several weeks. Both Tsume and Hana since their involvement with him had not slipped into their more primal side. The reason they had explained being that as long as they were kept well satisfied sexually there was no need for it too. However, due to his recent neglect he figured she had now simply as a result of her own desire that her actions would lead to a romp with him.

Tsume proved this by nuzzling the crotch of his pants with her nose. He felt a little embarrassed by the fact that despite telling himself seeing Tsume debase herself for him wasn’t something he wanted the fact of it was that it was a rather erotic sight. Reaching down he cupped her face before saying, “Alright, I get it.”

Tsume’s face lit up almost innocently if that term could be applied to what they were about to do. She quickly spun around tripping slightly on the leash still connect to her collar. Naruto reached down and took off the collar before tossing it away. Tsume although still lost to her animal lust recognized the gesture of removing the collar turned around again to lick her lover’s face. Naruto laughed softly as she rose up on her knees and her tongue tickled him as she showed her affections. She then dropped to all fours and this time pawed at his crotch like a dog would a door when it needed to go outside. Naruto spun her around before releasing his cock and rubbing it along his lover’s wet slit asked, “Is this, what you want?”

Tsume whimpered at the contact and then howled in pleasure as Naruto in one push buried himself balls deep into his lover. Naruto immediately began churning her passage as fast and as hard as he could not just to give Tsume what she needed, but also found it difficult to control himself due to the long absent and missed sensation of having his dick completely surrounded by the warmth only a woman could provide. Still even though it felt like he could blow at any moment he wanted Tsume to enjoy it as much as him so resolved to last until she climaxed.

As their bodies continued to move and writhe against each other, Tsume looked over her shoulder. Naruto was always struck by the way some people would describe their lovers as animals in bed. He assumed those people never had been with an Inuzuka since the look Tsume was giving him was anything but the sultry and lust filled ones he received from his other lovers, including Tsume when not lost to her Inuzuka blood. Those looks of lust always screamed to him, “I need you,” or “I want you to mess me up.” However, the look he was receiving from Tsume and had from Hana was saying, “You’re my mate.” But it didn’t have the same undercurrent of sexual tension, but at the same time implied some deeper meaning. He supposed that in a sense at this moment as far as Tsume was concerned they were man and wife.

Tsume looked away and lowered her head to the forest floor changing the angle he was stroking her insides from. Her voice moans grew more pronounced and when she looked back her eyes were filled with the lust that only a human could give and when he smiled to say, “Welcome back.” He barely got the first syllable out of his mouth before she reached back and grabbed his jacket to pull him towards her into a heated kiss. Their tongues dueled one another, and as soon as Naruto reached down to fondle one of her breasts she pushed him away. She followed him backwards until he landed on his back and sat atop him with her back facing him.

“What?!” Naruto said surprised as he stared up at his lover.

Tsume turned her body around while still impaled on the blond’s fat dick. When she was facing him again she said, “Shh, I want you to sit there and watch as I take what you’ve denied me these past few weeks.” With that said she placed her feet flat on the ground and spread her legs widely. She then used her powerful thighs to slowly raise her body up giving Naruto an excellent view as his dick inch by inch emerged from her love tunnel.

When only the tip remained buried inside her, she just as slowly lowered herself causing both of them to hiss their approval at his length once more spreading her insides with its intrusion. When she bottomed out she’d simply start the process all over again except a little faster each time. After several minutes Tsume was pounding herself downwards and screaming her enjoyment as his fuck stick hit her deepest spot. She was also aided by Naruto who reaching beneath her thighs aided her on each upstroke.

Tsume hands which had been resting on her knees as she raised and lowered herself moved to her young lover’s chest as she neared her release. Staring into his eyes she moaned, “I-I missed this…not just the….sex…fuck…the connection too. Y-you feel it don’t you.”

Naruto met her gaze and although the lust was there now, he could also see the look her animal side had given him earlier. Naruto understood then that to Tsume this wasn’t just a fling and that she was in fact saying in words what her animal side’s gaze had conveyed, “You’re my mate.”

Naruto pulled his hands from beneath his lover’s thighs and cupping her face pulled her lips down towards his before saying, “I do.” They kissed passionately and lovingly as their orgasm ripped through the pair. Naruto deposited three weeks’ worth of pent up release deep into Tsume’s milking channel.

After having her insides flooded Tsume broke the kiss and sat up. She slowly raised herself off of the cock impaling her and hovering above it allowed some of the semen mixed with her own love juices to leak out and coat his love muscle. She then sat back down making sure not to impale herself on him again but used her pussy to rub their combined fluids into his skin. She then leaned down to rest her head against his chest to listen to his heart as it returned to normal.

Once it did she asked while also rubbing his chest, “Do you know why I’m with you? Not your plan but you.”

Naruto shook his head no, since although she had agreed to help him they had never talked about their more personal relationship. Part of the reason had been due to Tsume trying to keep him at arm’s length. Giving him some insight into why she said, “You know my husband left me right?”

“He’s an idiot.”

Tsume giggled lightly, a rather unusual sound from her as it was a more feminine sounding than he was used to. “That goes without saying,” she said amused. But she took on a tone of seriousness as she added, “But the truth is… I’m not blameless in it either.” Pulling her head from his chest she met his gaze her own softer than he had ever seen it outside of being lost to her animal side as she said, “I loved my husband. He gave me my two wonderful children… but in return I couldn’t give him what he needed.”

“What was that?”

“A chance to feel like a man,” the Inuzuka matriarch replied, “I was the youngest Inuzuka clan head in history and some say the longest serving. As a result I could never let my guard down…even when in the bedroom.”

Naruto began to understand where Tsume was going and imagined that she also needed to be in charge even during their love-making. He was surprised since he imagined the animal side was meant to overcome this so asked, “He couldn’t make you submit even when… well you know.”

Again Tsume let loose a feminine laugh as she said, “Acted like a bitch in heat.” When he nodded she answered, “It’s true that Inuzuka males never enter into the Lust. Some say it’s because ever since the clan’s founding only females have ever been in charge…but that isn’t to say even if they mate us we recognize them as the stronger.” She pulled herself so that she could stare down into her lover’s eyes as she said, “The amazing thing is my inner bitch does recognize you as stronger…but you calm her too.” Lower her head so that it rested on his shoulder she said, “I don’t know if that makes any sense.”

Naruto did understand since he imagined it was also why the thought of any of his lovers being with him solely due to the Binding had scared him so. But hearing Tsume’s words could only say, “I’m sorry.”

She hushed him softly before kissing him gently before saying, “I understand what it was you feared… it was partly my fault again as well. I should have told you all this before…but again I was afraid to let anyone in too close.”

“I should have talked to you all about what I was beginning to fear,” Naruto said in reply.

“Yes you should…but that is what a relationship is. Making mistakes and overcoming… the important thing is not to keep things to yourself until they reach a point where they can’t be dealt with.”

Upon receiving Naruto’s nod, Tsume leaned up and seeing his dick hadn’t softened reached for it saying, “Good, now that the mushy part is out of the way I still have some time before your next mission.” Leaning down she took his dick in her mouth and began showering it with all the pent up lust she had needed to endure for the past several weeks as Naruto wondered what was in store for him next.

*****

The room was deathly silent as the two combatants stared each other down. After several heartbeats they charged and after passing each other the younger let out a grunt as she grabbed her stomach where she had been hit. “Winner Hinata,” the Hyuuga branch member shouted upon seeing the clean hit.

The room erupted into a small murmur at the victory especially since although the elder sister had improved a great deal since her own days as a genin. Hanabi was still considered the heavy favorite in their spars. Hanabi stood up before facing her sister and bowing an action Hinata match. The sisters then bowed to their father. Hiashi stood saying, “Hanabi your concentration was lacking. Your opponent may only be Hinata but that is no excuse.”

Hinata kept from flinching at her father’s tone, but his remark still stung bitterly. “Yes father,” the young girl replied with a stiff bow.

“Hinata, you were adequate,” Hiashi said sternly before turning and leaving the room followed by Hanabi.

Hinata turned ignoring some of the looks she received fearing she may tear up since some of them were quite sympathetic at least from the Branch Family members. However, although disappoint it appeared her father still saw her as a failure she refused to let it bring her down. Due mostly to the fact that despite her father’s words Hanabi had been fully focused on the fight and had still lost. She entered her room and allowed a small smile to grace her lips before stripping out of her practice clothes and showering. Her spirits continued to rise since with her victory against her sister it meant she had reached one of her goal and therefore was deserving of the reward she had set for herself.

Shutting off the water to her shower she toweled off before stepping out of it. She moved to stand in front of her mirror and wiped it clear of the mist so that she could see her reflection. She then activated her bloodline limit. Taking a deep breath she released the genjutsu that hid her chakra’s color and did feel tears enter her eyes as a brilliant red showed up. Having not looked at her chakra since the night Sakura had joined the Harem having denied herself the knowledge of what color it currently was as a way to focus on getting stronger. She believed that truthfully it had changed that very same night due to what Naruto had not only promised her, but also because he had told her how much he cared for her.

Putting the genjutsu back in place her chakra turned blue again and she left the bathroom still naked but uncaring. Granted she was alone, but in the past strolling naked through her room was something she could never picture herself doing. Picking up the Kimono she held it up to admire it, but felt a frown threaten to mare her features. It was due to Naruto’s pulling away from her and the others. Hinata had been hurt a great deal by his pulling back, but in the end had come to believe it was due to the doubt he had about some of his other lovers. Mainly the ones he had the least amount of interaction with, but since he tried to treat them all equally that had meant he had needed to pull back from all of them just as much.

But that Naruto had not come to her or any of them with his doubts had really left her quite perturbed at the blond. But when she had calmed down, she had realized that although he was intimate with them he hadn’t ever really confided in most of them. Tsunade seemed to be one of the few exceptions to this but even she had been blindsided by his sudden pulling back.

To Hinata this had highlighted to her why her chakra despite her long time belief that she loved Naruto had not been red, and that was because she had never seen him as a complete person. She had seen him as someone who never let any obstacle prevent him from moving forward. But as a person that could suffer from the same doubts as her never. As a result she couldn’t truly claim to love him as she had only been interested in the things about him that she had felt she needed. Namely his confidence and never say quit attitude, although she knew it seemed kind of silly now considering all they shared. Learning he had doubts too, did a great deal to humanize the man she had claimed to love but never imagined as being as filled with self-doubt as her.

Dressing in the fine kimono she put her hair up into a bun and left the Hyuuga compound to head towards the academy. Reaching her destination, she approached the woman that was gracious enough to meet her even though it was the weekend and her day off. Bowing to her in greeting, the Hyuuga princess said, “Thank you again for letting me use it Suzume-sensei.”

Suzume the kunoichi instructor of the academy bowed in return before saying, “I was rather surprised by your request to use the tea ceremony house. You always used to say you’d never have the confidence to perform it correctly. ” The woman then indicated the small building where she would grade her students as they practiced the art of serving tea in a refined manner with a nod of her head.

Hinata gave her former teacher a smile the older woman would never have imagined the Hyuuga capable of possessing as she replied, “Well… as you use to say, never say never.”

Suzume studied the young woman that seemed to have blossomed, before handing her the key to the small building as she said, “Please return it to my desk in the teacher’s lounge after you’re finished.”

Hinata nodded and watched the woman go before unlocking the building and getting everything ready. She would conduct sweeps with her Byakugan ever few minutes to make sure Suzume didn’t decide to drop in on her former student. She smirked to herself as she pictured the scene that would create especially if it was during what Hinata had planned after serving the tea. She knew that the chunin teacher had been a target at some point to provide some insight into the jutsu Naruto had been given. But with the inclusion into the Harem of Shiho and her ability to decode the scroll Tayuya had procured those plans had been scrapped. Still Hinata had a hard time imagining the woman as the potential seductress that Tsunade had painted.

Hinata heard footsteps walking up the porch leading to the tea house and wasn’t surprised when the door flew open. Bowing to the young man in the doorway she said, “Please have a seat, and thank you for helping me practice the tea ceremony.”

“Um…sure,” Naruto replied obviously a little confused.

Hinata smiled to herself, since considering what Tsume had planned for him to experience earlier probably meant actuality meeting at a tea house for tea was the last thing he expected. Naruto sat down although she imagined that if Suzume was present she would have smacked him on the head with the clipboard she had often used when grading her due to his undignified manner in doing so. She could see in his face that he was feeling guilty about his recent decision to pull away from his lovers. He began to say something to that effect when she silenced him by saying, “Please do not speak during the ceremony. It is a time for quiet reflection.”

He nodded and even sat a little straighter causing her to smile as she performed the precise movements of preparing the tea. For Hinata the ceremony was a way to display the confidence she had lacked and believed she had gained from Naruto’s love and acceptance of her. She also hoped that for a change she could instill some into him. Filling his cup and she placed the ladle she had used down before offering the cup to him. He cupped her hands for a moment before taking it causing the Hyuuga’s face to heat up.

Naruto gulped it down so she asked, “Was it good?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you think about?”

“How much of an idiot I’ve been these last few weeks?”

Hinata gently chided him saying, “You’re not an idiot Naruto. That wasn’t the point of this.”

“I know… but it doesn’t change that I was one.”

Hinata shook her head before gently taking his hand in hers. She then said, “Naruto, please take it from someone who knows how doubts can cripple a person. It’s okay. The important thing is that you overcome them and grow stronger as well as learning that you can come to us… to me with all of your concerns.”

“Thank you Hinata,” Naruto said taking her hand and kissing it.

Hinata smiled and then turned her attention to the tea pot asking, “Would you like some more?”

“Yes, please,” he said recovering some of his usual good cheer as he looked around the small building. Hinata smiled and while his focus was elsewhere adjusted her kimono so that it exposed a good deal of cleavage. When his attention once more focused on her, she could feel his eyes travel over her body. “Um…Hinata,” he said his voice filled with a combination of confusion and arousal at the appearance of her milky white cleavage.

“Hmm,” she replied innocently.

“N-nothing,” he quickly said figuring she knew about her nearly popping out of her clothes.

Hinata did know and this time used the precise movements of preparing the tea to silently drive her man wild. For example she’d get a little too close to the flame and then when a few beads of sweat would form would move in such a way that it would trace a line right to the valley between her breasts. As she moved slowly and as erotically as possible given the confined way she needed to for the ceremony she tried to gauge Naruto’s reaction and was pleased to see him transfixed. She watched him out of the corer of her eye as his gaze followed a bead of sweat that broke free from her neck to begin its travel down her chest. When it disappeared into her cleavage she saw him lick his lips. Adding a throaty tone to her voice she said, “Your tea is ready.”

Naruto took the offered cup from her and she turned to attend to the flame asking, “Would you like some more?”

Naruto downed the drink again but growing thirsty for something else set it down saying, “Don’t worry I can get it myself.”

Hinata let out a surprised yelp as Naruto pushed her back to gain access to her lower lips. “N-naruto…don’t my clothes will get dirty.”

Naruto though had managed to reach between the folds of her kimono and not finding anything beneath said, “No underwear Hinata. Something tells me you wanted to get dirty.”

Hinata was about to deny it but her lover’s head found its way underneath her clothes causing her to moan in pleasure. Pulling his mouth tighter against her snatch she said, “T-that’s not t-true.”

He smiled against her skin and adding a finger he began to stir up her insides before saying, “These lips are calling you a liar Hinata.” He then began to lick her snatch as he continued to finger her, adding another when she began moving her hips looking for more stimulation.

Hinata leaned back further giving up on her meager protests and pulled her kimono away from her breasts so she could fondle them. Pinching her nipples she continued to rub her mound against Naruto’s mouth. Having missed the warmth of his breath against her pussy, she felt her body growing tense so pulled a hand away from her nipple to plant it on top of his head to pull him right to where she needed his tongue. He hit her clit with it and she tensed as she planted her feet on the ground lifting her ass from the ground and came hard. Naruto rode out her moving hips as he drank her essence. When her hips returned to earth he pulled his head from beneath her clothes and climbing up her body gave her a deep soul searing kiss.

Tasting herself on his lips really fired her up and when the kiss ended she pleaded, “Naruto…I need it.”

Naruto pulled back and after staring into her eyes nodded. He quickly stripped but when she moved to do the same said, “No…leave it on.”

Hinata nodded so leaned back pulling her kimono away from her pussy saying, “Please fill me.”

Naruto pushed his dick against her snatch and slowly pushed inside. Once he was fully buried within her both of them groaned in contentment at the feeling of being connected again. Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “Welcome back.”

Naruto gave her his trademark grin as he said, “It’s good to be back.” He then began to move his hips causing Hinata to moan as her body began to feel the sensations Naruto’s actions were creating within here. Their movements were slow and deliberate much like Hinata’s actions during the tea ceremony. The two lovers peppered each other faces and necks with light kisses as they continued to edge each other to their inevitable release. Naruto pulled back enough to grip Hinata’s breast and squeezed it so that it presented him her nipple. Running his tongue around it Hinata pulled him into her tit so that he sucked the nipple into his mouth. Giving it a nip with his teeth her moans raised in volume before telling him, “T-the…mmmm… the other one too.”

Following her direction he switched his focus by trailing his tongue from one nipple to the other. “Y-yes…” she moaned after his tongue completed its journey.

Hinata also showed her appreciation by flexing her cunt muscles around his tool causing him to stop his actions for a moment and gasp, “D-damn Hinata you’re gripping me so tightly.”

“I-it’s because you’re making me feels so good….Naruto…mmm….more… pound me more…”

“As you wish my princess,” he whispered into her ear causing her to emit a tiny squeal of joy. Naruto’s pace grew more frantic as his thrusts grew more powerful. As a result it wasn’t long before his lover was writhing about beneath him as they both neared their individual ends.

Feeling the telltale signs he was nearing his end he said, “H-hinata…I can’t hold out much longer.”

“G-go ahead cum…” she said but having a delicious idea added, “Cum in my mouth… I want to taste you as well.”

Naruto groaned before pulling out and giving his cock several pumps aimed for the Hyuuga’s open mouth while with his free hand he rubbed her pussy. He fired his load just as her orgasm hit causing her to buck her hips and throw off his aim causing him to splatter her tits with his first shot before readjusting and hitting her mouth with the next several bursts. He watched her close her mouth making his cum disappear down her gullet and felt his dick stiffen again from the content, “Mmmmm,” that she let out as the warmth of his seed made its way to her stomach. His cock’s resurrection was completed from the way she used the index finger of one hand to draw a little spiral pattern in the puddle he had left on her chest. She gave him a sultry smile as she noticed him watching her and beckoned him forward with said finger before putting in her mouth to clean it of his essence. It was an invitation Naruto was all too willing to accept and as he lunged forward couldn’t believe he was only on item number two of the list he had been given. As Hinata did her part to help him recapture his mojo, he couldn’t help but wonder how he could have doubted his lovers for so long and why the voice that had been pushing him to seemed to be so silent as of late.

Next Chapter: Recovering Lost Mojo Part II