FicWad

A/N: Wahoo! I’m back!! I have a routine habit of disappearing and coming back with multiple chapters pretty much right after another. I’m hoping that trend sort of half continues, at least the posting multiple chapters rather quickly part.

Now where the fuck have I been? For lack of a better term, I’ve been bored. I couldn’t write, could barely read, there were no video games I’ve been wanting to play.

Even this story, wonderful story that it is, I just could not bring myself to work on. I had to scrap the current chapter I was working on, sort of, just to get my groove back into this story. I apologize, this chapter is… pretty much a filler. It originally was going to have a sex scene or two in, but I just had to scrap it

But I’ve been asked about it, so I give it. This chapter includes a date with someone other than Hinata.

We’ll see when I started writing next chapter how this trend will go.

Without further delay!

Lemon Games 23: Land of Sea and a Date

Naruto exited from the Hokage tower after turning in a few D-rank missions to help augment his pay. Unfortunately, feeding ten mouths, including his own, was costly and every little bit of money helped. Granted, it did help that he was no longer paying rent but instead mortgage so he knew that eventually he’d have the loan paid off for his home.

Ichi was helping with her glass working, selling beautiful sculptures and designs with the glass, things that would be impossible to break.

Kin, Karin, and Tayuya were all doing what they could. But Kin and Tayuya were technically considered slaves, so they weren’t allowed to work exactly.

Still, he ‘rented’ them out for Genjutsu lessons to those less adept at Genjutsu.

Karin was a Genin that was on rotation so she managed to go out on missions from time to time, but they tended to be D-ranks and C-ranks. Fuu was in much the same boat, so often Karin and Fuu were paired together so they had taken to getting better together.

Nana unfortunately was neither able to do something like glass work, or able to become a Shinobi. It was rather hard without a real past.

Tayuya had suggested teaching what she knew in Kenjutsu.

Nana had shot it down vehemently. Her Master had asked her to never teach anyone their style without his permission, and she would stand by her promise to her Master.

Not even Naruto could learn the secrets, even if he had seen it several times.

Zabuza managed to get accepted into ANBU so he took missions for Konoha that paid well. Unfortunately, they also paid high because they required more supplies as Naruto found out from Tsunade and Kakashi.

Still, Zabuza hadn’t yet gotten a mission yet anyways, so he didn’t have any money yet.

Haku worked at the hospital learning to be a proper Medic Nin, even if she had been scouted for ANBU. She had, politely, declined the admission into the Black Ops. She would much rather do healing than killing, even if she was able to do the latter.

Kimimaro had declined to be a Shinobi in its entirety, which made things difficult as he couldn’t exactly get a steady job either. Still, it had only been two weeks since the three had been released.

“Naruto!” Naruto turned when he heard Tenten call out to him and she was moving over to him. “I got good news, Daddy finished your swords.” She was practically bouncing on her feet at the news.

Naruto smiled a bit wickedly, thinking about it. “Let me guess, he hasn’t let you touch them since they’ve been finished.”

“No,” Tenten said pouting a bit and turning her head. She wasn’t even able to keep the Raijin no Ken; it had to be turned in with Aoi’s head for the bounty.

And Naruto kept the bounty for the sword, giving Tenten some for Aoi’s head, and even Neji got some.

Still, Naruto definitely got the majority of the bounty and it went to bills and supplies.

Naruto followed Tenten to her father’s shop. Even he was excited for the blades. It had been almost three weeks since he had them put into the shop.

The Forge was the best in Ninja supplies around town. Any Shinobi that used a lot of tools, from Kunai, to Shuriken, to Wire, and to Caltrops, all went to the Forge. It was a plain building on the far edge of town, with a walled off training ground that actually belonged to Tenten’s father. He had bought it for the sole purpose of letting Shinobi train the wares that they bought so that they knew they were getting top notch goods.

Inside, Naruto looked around at the various weapons that lined every useable space that Tenten’s father was able to use.

“Ah, Naruto-san, I had expected to see you back soon.” Higashi Daishi was a massive man with a barrel like chest. His arms were thick with chorded muscle and his biceps alone were nearly as big as Naruto’s head. The man was bald and had the mocha colored skin that Tenten had. He still proudly wore his headband on his arm, even if he was a retiree. He wore a black iron lined apron that covered the majority of his form. But the unmistakable sound of metal thumping against stone was unmistakable.

Daishi had a metal prosthetic limb after his leg had been taken when he had been on a mission.

It was a crude looking thing too, not even resembling a leg though Naruto was sure the man could certainly make one to look and act like a leg if he wanted to. He said his talents lay at the forge now, and that the Shinobi after him needed better equipment.

Daishi brought up a silk wrapped package and put it on the counter. “There we are, the Kiba re-made into something… well suited to you Naruto-san.”

Naruto moved over to the package and he touched the silk softly. He had spent a great deal of time working out the proper specifications with Daishi, along with working out the money needed to pay for such fine weapons.

Naruto unbundled the silk, noticing Tenten standing nearby and bouncing on her feet watching. Naruto lifted the silk and smirked a bit as he reached out for the handle, grasping it firmly and feeling the bladed guard around his hand.

Naruto lifted one of the Kiba, reformed into a hook sword. It also had a guard in front of his knuckles that had been sharpened to an edge and a sharp spike was at the base of the sword’s hilt. The inside of the blade, inside the hook, the arch, and the back of the blade was all sharpened to a razor fine edge.

Naruto balanced the blade against his hand and examined the hilt, looking over the special seals in place to give the sword its lightning attributes. Naruto nodded softly before he pulsed his chakra through the hilt, seeing electricity sparking along the blade, and at the hook it began to bounce back and forth between the edge of the hook and the beginning.

“Can I try them out properly?” Naruto asked as he cut his chakra off before picking up the second one.

Daishi nodded and led the blonde, and his pointy obsessed daughter, out towards the back training field which was walled off. “Go on out, as far as you think you need. Any damage you do to my shop, you’re paying for it.”

Naruto nodded and headed out a little bit. Once in the center he began to swing them around. He arced his chakra through them, sparking the blades to life into a deadly lightshow. Naruto threw up one of his new hook swords and grabbed the hook using the hook of the other blade, spinning around and spinning both blades around. Electricity sparked all along the blades, the pointed end of the hilt of the caught blade tracing lines around as Naruto swung his sword.

Naruto spun the blade charged with electricity at himself and caught it, absorbing the electricity flowing through him as he spun around, redirecting the electricity into the original sword and slashing upwards causing a streak of lightning to blast forward.

Naruto nodded a little bit before he began to go through the motions once more, channeling his chakra through the blades. He threw the right one up and hooked it on the guard using the left one while his right hand dropped down and grabbed the Kusanagi, drawing it out and slashing forward with it.

Naruto launched the hook swords up and he sheathed his Kusanagi before he caught the two blades and spun them in his hands before he put them on his back in an ‘x’ shape. Naruto briefly wondered if he should start collecting the swords of the various swordsmen he encountered.

He then decided against it, really not wanting to try and part Zabuza with his trusty blade, even if he could.

Daishi clapped from where he was at. “That was most impressive Naruto-san.” He said as he began to limp over to the blonde. “But your forms need work.”

Naruto chuckled a little bit. “Daishi-san, I don’t have any forms. I just do what comes natural. Thank you for the work. I’ll be sure to come back to the Forge if I ever need anything fixed, maintained, or altered in any way.” He said and clasped the man’s hand. “Bye Tenten!” Naruto called before he moved to leave. He had already prepaid for the weapons.

Naruto headed for home. He knocked on a few doors and explained to a few people what was going on.

Naruto then headed to a spacious and empty clearing field and waited.

Slowly Nana, Ichi, Haku, Kimimaro, and Zabuza all showed up. They all looked ready to fight, as Naruto had instructed them to show up.

“Alright Blondie, what’s going on?” Zabuza asked. He hadn’t expected to be called upon by the blonde already. He hadn’t even gotten to go kill something properly.

Naruto moved away from the boulder he had been sitting against. He flashed his Rinnegan, activating his Paths’ own set. “As you three can see, I see what you see; you see what I see and what each other see.” Naruto said. “So I am well aware of each and every single one of your fights against the various members of the Akatsuki. You’d be aware of mine if I had my Rinnegan active at the time, but I was using my Sharingan instead.” Naruto allowed his eyes to mutate to normal, but with some concentration and some chakra into the rods imbedded inside of them, his Paths’ eyes stayed.

Zabuza growled. “What’s your point?” he asked still getting used to seeing something from three different angles.

“Haku-chan,” Naruto said. “You need practice using your powers.” He told the Hyôton user. “So Ichi-chan, if she’s willing, will spar against you using her sand. You’re to try and absorb the chakra and then use only the absorbed chakra against her.”

Ichi cocked her hip a bit. “You know I’m always up for a good Dance Naruto-kun, but can she really keep up with me?”

“She’s fast Ichi-chan, don’t underestimate her. Plus, if she plays smart she can freeze your sand. I did it against Gaara during the Chunin Exams.” Naruto said.

Haku looked to Ichi and bowed slightly. “Please take good care of me Ichi-sempai.” Haku said.

Ichi nodded. “Alright, come on Ice Hime, we’re going to move away from the rest of them.” The Blonde Biju then began to walk away, already summoning up sand to her form.

Naruto glanced to Zabuza. “You’re fast, you’re strong. You’ve been augmented with the abilities of the Asura Path, making you stronger and faster. Unfortunately, Kisame is an absolute brute and he probably would have eventually won that fight. The Asura parts aren’t indestructible. They’re tough, but I could probably break them if I wanted to.”

Zabuza growled a bit and unbuckled his sword. “Watch it. I won’t mind trying my luck against your orders to cleave you in half.”

Naruto chuckled. “Oh, I’m not saying we’re not going to make you better.” Naruto’s eyes had a dangerous glint to them. “You’re going to be facing Nana-chan.” He said

Zabuza looked over to the tall green haired woman before back at the blonde. “I’m fighting her?” he asked.

Naruto smiled a little bit sadistically. “Nana-chan is faster than I am with her blade, and she’s even stronger than Kisame. Do try not to get split in half.” He said.

Zabuza turned to look at Nana once more who was already stepping into a lower stance. “Oh shit.” He said as he felt the buildup of chakra in the Biju’s sword and sheath.

Nana drew her blade like lightning, unleashing seven chakra waves from her sword that forced Zabuza to leap back. She then took a step forward and flat out vanished, clashing against Zabuza’s blade when he had barely been able to bright it to bare.

Nana was an absolute monster with Kenjutsu.

Naruto turned to Kimimaro and sighed a little bit. “I have worked out a deal with the Hokage in regards to you.” He said, even though Kimimaro kept a blank and uncaring face. “In return for your services as a Konoha Shinobi, you will not be interrogated for information in regards to Orochimaru.”

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes. “I will not betray my Master.” He said venomously. Kimimaro only showed any real emotion when it came to Orochimaru.

Naruto nodded. “I know you won’t.” he said simply. “But if you want to remain a citizen, then I’m actually going to have to throw you out of my home unless you can start pulling your own weight. Even Nana-chan has been trying and occasionally comes back with food to eat, to put on the table. You have yet to contribute anything. You can, of course, leave Konoha, still once more under the basic stipulations that I have put forth, but people in Konoha’s infrastructure aren’t just going to let you leave with your knowledge on Orochimaru. Someone will come after you; someone will get the information out. You still can’t fight a Konoha Nin, you can’t trap them, you can’t harm them, and you can’t even make an accident happen in your favor. In essence, you’d have to take it like a bitch.”

Kimimaro’s hands tightened into a fist, glaring at the blonde.

Naruto glanced upwards and held his hand out for the Messenger hawk overhead, taking it on his arm and taking the note off. Naruto glanced over it before he glanced over to Kimimaro once more. “This scroll details all of Tsunade’s deal.” He withdrew the scroll from his pocket and tossed it over to Kimimaro. “Read it over, make your decision.” Naruto said before stalking off. “I have a mission, Nana-chan; you’re in charge while I’m gone.” He said. Nana had a good, level head.

If necessary, Naruto was going to wash his hands of Kimimaro. He was getting to be too much of a hassle.

Naruto made his way over to the Hokage Tower and quickly headed inside. He was surprised to see Anko there speaking with Tsunade. “I can do this myself Hokage-sama.” Anko argued against the older woman.

Tsunade looked up to the purple haired snake-summoner. “The point is moot Anko, I’ve already sent out the summons for the team. You’re in charge, make no doubt about that, but if you’re going to one of my teammate’s old research facilities, then you are taking back-up.”

Anko sighed. “Fine. Who am I taking with me?”

“Chunin Uzumaki Naruto, step forward.” Tsunade said before watching as Naruto stepped forward and tucked his hands behind his back.

Anko glanced to the blonde who had definitely changed. She had to admit, the grey pants and blue vest worked for him. Plus, unless she missed her guess, her ‘dear’ old sensei’s sword was sheathed at his lower back. “How’s it going shrimp?” she asked.

Naruto shrugged. “Not going to complain.” He said.

Anko nodded before she glanced at Tsunade. “Who else Hokage-sama?” she asked.

“Genin Aburame Shino and Yamanaka Ino.” Tsunade said, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction as both blonde and purple haired Shinobi look at her like she was crazy.

Anko sighed and reached up, pinching the bridge of her nose. She just knew this was payback for something. She just, for the life of her, couldn’t remember what she might have done to upset Tsunade. She had been mostly sorting through whatever information on Orochimaru that she was allowed to that Tayuya and Kin had given them.

Plus there was her arguing about the Uchiha who had gotten a Cursed Seal placed on him willingly and then had it removed somehow. That was something she definitely wanted to know about. But the blonde that had done it had been running in and out of the village doing missions almost non-stop without break.

“Hokage-sama, if I may…” Naruto said. He wasn’t so sure if the team arrangement would really work.

“You may not.” Tsunade said simply and was pleased when the blonde shut up. “I have this team set up the way I have it for a reason.” She said. “Anko, you will be in charge of the mission, and if you are incapacitated, Naruto can take over.”

Naruto said nothing simply snapped to a crisp Salute. “I’ll go round up our teammates and meet you at the front Gate at…?” Naruto asked.

“Two hours.” Anko said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She’d be ready in thirty minutes, but she definitely wanted to get a Dango fix in before she had to deal with a team of one year veteran Shinobi.

Naruto offered a nod of his head and turned on his heel to leave. He wasn’t quite sure about the team either. A tracker, an interrogation specialist, an assault specialist, and the right hand of the head of Torture and Interrogation, it was a team that he wasn’t seeing the cohesiveness to.

Some might argue it was a well balanced team, but unfortunately there were things that could go wrong. Shino, being used to tracking, would be more inclined to instead flank around an enemy. Naruto would instead prefer to go head on; he knew what he was facing with what he saw. Ino might rather do recon work and try to capture someone to try and find out the weakest point to strike.

All three were valid strategies based on what they were capable of and none of them were exactly wrong.

Naruto just wasn’t sure what Tsunade was thinking. Perhaps as he got older, he’d understand it a little more.

When he was done rounding up his teammates for the mission, Naruto ran off to handle something he wanted to get done before he left. He raced across the rooftops until he got to the Uchiha Estate. He unlocked the fence with the key that Mikoto had given him.

He then headed up to her door and knocked before entering. “Mikoto-chan?” he asked, heading towards the kitchens.

“Bedroom!” he heard the Uchiha Matriarch call out and Naruto soon made his way towards the bedroom that he had enjoyed some fun times with Mikoto in.

When he got there, Naruto took a moment to just stare. Mikoto was pulling a thong up her shapely legs and getting the straps of it to hug her hips. She turned to face him, even as she put the bra on and covered her ample breasts only slightly.

“Naruto-kun,” Mikoto said, snapping her fingers in front of his face to pull him back to the realm of the cognizant.

“Oh right, sorry about that.” Naruto said sheepishly with a light chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. “Anyways, I was coming by to tell you that I have a mission. It shouldn’t take a week, so I was wondering if you’d like to go out this Friday?” he asked.

Mikoto raised an eyebrow. “Naruto-kun, are you asking this older woman out on a date?” she asked in a playful teasing tone as she put her hands on her hips.

Naruto nodded seriously. “Besides Ayame-chan, you’ve been with me the longest Mikoto-chan.” He said softly and stepped a little closer to the lingerie clad matriarch. “Plus, you helped me with my date with Hinata-chan, I’d like to take you out on a date not only because I care for you but because you deserve it.” Naruto told her.

Mikoto smiled a bit, feeling the blonde place his hands on her hips. “Okay then.” She said softly. It sounded fun even. “Friday right?” she asked.

“Friday with casual dress.” Naruto told her. “I’m thinking of doing a little picnic somewhere nice and secluded.”

Mikoto couldn’t help but smile a bit more. “That actually sounds fun Naruto-kun,” she leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you then.” She said.

Naruto nodded and gave her a grin before he headed off to go to the gate. He had time to kill at the very least.

In two hours, they were racing along the trees heading towards the Land of Sea. Naruto took the time he had at point to reflect a little bit. He had noticed how Anko wanted to ask him something when she arrived at the beginning of the mission, her hand moving subconsciously a little towards her neck. Naruto thought he might know what she wanted to ask him about; unfortunately he wasn’t sure since he hadn’t taken a good look at it.

Plus he’d have to release the restraint on it.

Shino had given Naruto a brief nod, almost of respect, and Naruto figured Shino knew of his burden. Of the two that had been told he was being hunted, he figured Shino and Shikamaru would figure it out almost right away or quickly enough about why he was hunted. Still, Shino seemed a little more prepared than usual, having swapped out the coat for a black one that had a hood.

Ino of course was a pleasant surprise. Naruto hadn’t really run into her since he had given her a work-out routine. She had since then changed quite a bit, having a bit more muscle tone and some budding curves. Her hips might have been pleasant to watch move had he not been stuck in the front.

It was a few hours before they reached the Land of Sea and Naruto inhaled the salty air once more. It gave an interesting smell to the air and it always smelled good to him.

“Get out of here you filthy monster!”

Naruto’s eyes hardened and his head snapped over to the direction he had heard it from. He saw a girl with bandages wrapped around her about to get struck and Naruto just reacted.

He had moved faster than he had ever attempted and he grabbed the rod the man was trying to strike the girl with. “The only monster I see,” Naruto said his eyes boring holes into the man. “Is the person trying to strike an injured girl.” He said and broke the wooden rod with his hand.

“You don’t know the truth about here, she’s actually-“

“I don’t give a flying fuck.” Naruto said harshly. “There is no possible reason you could give me that would let you beat a girl that’s injured. She could be a demon locked in human form for all I care, she’s injured and you’re trying to add more to it? Unacceptable!”

Naruto watched the man give him a glare before he turned away. “It’s your funeral boy.” He said before sulking off, the various onlookers going back to what they were doing.

Naruto turned to the dark-haired girl. “Here, let me help you.” Naruto said softly, reaching out with a hand to her.

Instead, she smacked it away and quickly scrambled to stand and run off.

Naruto sighed softly as he watched his teammates move over. “How rude!” Ino said. “You try to help her and she doesn’t give any thanks?”

Naruto shook his head. “When a dog’s been repeatedly kicked down Ino, it won’t accept anyone that shows it kindness.”

Anko nodded understanding. She watched the blonde Chunin for a moment. “Go, we’ll do some recon here, find out what we can.”

Naruto offered a salute before he took off running after the girl, mustering his stealth to stay hidden from her senses. The situation was entirely too familiar and that was not something he liked.

Naruto came to the dilapidated shack that the girl was living in along the edge of the beach. He moved over to it and knocked on the door shortly after she entered.

“Go away!” she shouted from inside.

Naruto sighed softly and turned so his back faced the door and slid down so he was sitting down. “And if I want to talk to a pretty girl like you?”

“I said go away! I don’t trust any of you bastards!” she shouted.

“Look, I’ll stay outside, just please talk with me.” Naruto said and he hung his head. “I’m intimately familiar with your struggle.” He said. He waited, but inside was just silence. Naruto licked his lips. “Fuinjutsu is the sealing arts of a Shinobi. With it, we can do a lot. We can create explosive tags, we can create sealing scrolls, and we can create a sterile field for Medical Jutsu. We can also seal something away inside of a human being.”

His hand touched his stomach. “The day of my birth, a malevolent force attacked my home village,” he said and sent a mental apology to Kyuubi. “With a swish of one of her mighty tails, the Kyuubi no Yoko was said to be able to crush mountains and raise tsunamis and she had decided to attack my home. Many people died that night protecting the village; it wasn’t fair to any of them.” He inhaled deeply and sighed softly, glad that the girl hadn’t interrupted him yet.

“The Yondaime Hokage, the leader of Konoha at the time, he sacrificed his own life to stop the demon. But, it was a Biju, sentient chakra and mass. It couldn’t be killed, it would just reform and we’d be back to square one. He sealed the Biju into a child born that night, the only child born that night.

“Years passed and I never learned of my burden. I was so alone, so hated, so feared by the people. I never asked for it, I never did anything to deserve it.” He whispered softly.

Naruto jumped a bit when he heard the bolt to the door unlock and it creaked open a little bit, showing the girl looking at him with careful eyes. “Prove it.” She whispered.

Naruto stood up and his hands went to the collar of his vest. “Kyuu-chan?” He asked mentally as he turned and unzipped his vest, flaring his chakra to show the intricate seal on his stomach. His answer came in a flood of Kyuubi’s chakra that surrounded him and flowed through him until it began to bubble up and form a deadly looking cloak, complete with a swishing tail and twitching ears made of chakra. Naruto knew his eyes were crimson and he looked even more feral.

Isaribi looked at the blonde Shinobi a little fearfully as his appearance took a bit more feral and demonic look. She could feel the malevolence of the chakra radiating off of him, yet he stood straight, tall and proud. The Konoha Nin hadn’t made any moves to harm her, not that she’d really be able to see them coming. She bit her bottom lip. “My name is Isaribi.” She said softly.

“Uzumaki Naruto,” he said and he slowly absorbed the chakra once more into his body. He zipped up the vest, though he did notice Isaribi’s eyes moving along his torso, as though memorizing as much of his form as she could. Naruto held a hand out, carefully to her. “Would you mind if I saw your injuries? I might be able to help them heal a little faster.” He said softly.

Isaribi dipped her head. “I’m a freak, they’re not wounds. I wear them so people can’t see how different I am.” She said a little angrily.

“I could still help, I’m well versed in Medical Jutsu, and I just need to be able to examine them.” He said, looking at the extensive bandages over the poor girl. He swore, whoever had done this, he was going to rip their soul out in the most painful manner he could.

Isaribi bit her bottom lip. She was torn between this perfect stranger, offering to help her for no reason, and the one that had done it to her. Amachi had promised to heal her; she just needed to get him more gold. He knew how he did it; he had to know how to undo it right?

Isaribi began to raise her arm towards the blonde anyways, looking away. Amachi’s experiments were painful, even knowing as much as he did. She wanted to be prepared for it and she didn’t want to see any tools that Naruto might be using on her arm.

Naruto took Isaribi’s hand and raised it up to kiss the back of it. “Relax.” He whispered softly as he began to unwrap the skillfully done bandages. “I won’t hurt you, just trust me.” He said. Naruto felt his blood boil at the sight of the scales all along the girls arm. Undoubtedly she had to jump into the water just to keep them moisturized every now and then.

If she didn’t, some bad things could possibly happen that Naruto frankly didn’t want to think about.

Still, he summoned a clone and felt her tense. “Shh, relax. It won’t hurt, I promise.” Naruto said softly as he held her hand and gently stroked the back of her hand. He could feel her tense; he could feel her squeezing onto his hand for dear life.

Naruto moved to stand in front of her and he saw the tears sliding down her face while his clone worked. He knew the procedure was painless; it was just a general scan. He reached up and cupped her cheek, brushing away the tears softly. “It’s okay Isaribi-chan.” He told her.

Isaribi leaned into the touch softly. It was a painless feeling in her arm. But she was still scared, she was still worried. She was so used to being in pain. She surprised herself when she leaned in and kissed the blonde, wanting to be treated as someone important, someone precious for once.

Not just another test subject like Amachi treated her.

Naruto leaned into the kiss. He kept it tender and soft as he kissed her like she did matter to him, and in a way she did. She was like Fuu, she was like him. She was scorned for something outside of her control. He felt her tongue brush hesitantly against his lips before it shot back into her mouth, like she was worried

Naruto slid his tongue out and swept it over the bottom of her lip, tasting salt water. She gave a surprised sound before she hesitantly allowed him access. His tongue slid into her mouth and he gently brushed it against her own.

Naruto lost track of time as he kissed her, their tongues moving against one another. But he eventually had to pull back, out of breath. Isaribi barely seemed winded though while he was definitely breathing a little heavier.

His clone moved away from Isaribi. “All done Isaribi-chan. Boss.” The clone gave a nod of his head before dispelling.

Naruto closed his eyes the memories of the clone’s findings. He kissed Isaribi’s hand once more before moving away to pace in the sand. He muttered softly to himself, thinking about the findings.

It was a mutating enzyme that Isaribi had been injected with. He knew he had seen it elsewhere. Specifically, he had found it Sasuke’s Curse Mark when he had removed it. The ink had been saturated with the stuff.

The problem was, any sample of it he had turned into the Hokage to be researched to try and come up with a counter measure and Anko wasn’t there for her Curse Mark to be examined. Kimimaro’s vanished when he had passed away.

If he had an understanding of the compound, he might be able to reverse engineer the process once he got a DNA sample from Isaribi. The problem was, he didn’t have an understanding of the compound and he didn’t have a sample.

“Yes you do.” Kyuubi’s voice sounded far more amused than it should have been in his mind.

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked his redheaded tenant inside of his gut. He had a sample of the enzyme that was the basis of the Curse Mark?

“A more… mental example, but you do have it. You used my chakra to purge Tayuya’s Curse Mark from her neck. This means that my chakra saturated the enzyme, allowing me to absorb it. It absorbed chakra naturally, so of course I was interested in it. I have isolated the compound inside your mind. While I can memorize the details of it, due to your extensive reading into everything you could get your mitts on, you can make more sense of it than I would. I see the pieces; you see the whole picture and the pieces.”

Naruto sat down in the sand. “Give me a second Isaribi-chan.” He told her before he closed his eyes and entered his mindscape.

His mindscape had vastly changed. It looked instead like some sort of imperial palace for some grand emperor. Black thunder rolled overhead, flashing with bolts of lightning. Fires burned in brazier as he walked past them, igniting his path. To either side of his path were perfectly done rock gardens without even the tiniest of pebbles out of place. The slight thunk of a bamboo water spout was heard in the distance, and Naruto could pinpoint it if he wished.

Inside the palace was a very massive throne room. Despite the bars behind the throne, a physical mental projection of Kyuubi lounged in the ebony throne that was inlaid with rich gold and reds. The hand rests were formed into fox skulls and her tails swished lazily around her. She was able to interact outside the cage, able to enjoy the luxuries of the palace Naruto created inside of his mind, but she was physically unable to do anything. She could not make any adjustments; she could not even attempt anything on Naruto.

He quickly made his way to where Kyuubi had the properties of the enzyme, sitting on a pedestal at the base of the dais leading up to the throne. The report had everything down to every last detail that she could get from an extensive examination using her chakra.

“I could kiss you.” Naruto said as he worked through the details of the enzyme. “I swear by everything I am, you are getting free the second I get the chance.” He said.

Naruto stood up, about to get out of his mindscape so he could work on fixing Isaribi for her.

“Wait.” Kyuubi said bringing him back to the mind once more. She was at the bars of the cage. “What about my kiss Naruto-kun?” she purred softly.

Naruto looked over to the redhead beauty that had licked her lips sensuously. He was instantly more than a little weary, but she motioned him over with her finger slowly. Naruto carefully moved over to the dais and made his way up towards the Biju who had adjusted her seating and was now sitting up straight with her legs crossed, exposing a bit of her pale thigh in a slit of her kimono.

Enough to be sultry, seductive, and desirable without being called a slut.

Naruto stood in front of her, leg distance from her. He had always been weary of Kyuubi, ever since his first encounter. Especially when it came to desires and such like that, he just wasn’t sure what she was ever thinking.

Naruto stepped closer towards the redhead and he hesitantly reached up and cupped her cheek, watching the Kyuubi lick her plump lips. He bent his head down and she leaned up to him at the same time. Naruto’s eyes closed as he finally kissed the Biju and she turned aggressive.

Her tongue swept over his bottom lip before probing into his mouth and she actually worked his tongue into submission no matter how well he worked his tongue. She gripped his hair in her hands, nipping at his bottom lip and Naruto tried to take control once more, but against Kyuubi, he might as well have been a virgin all over again.

Kyuubi drew back with a satisfied smirk on her face, licking her lips sensuously. “Mm, quite tasty. Go on then.” She shooed him off.

Naruto sat there, stunned for a few moments before he shook his head and headed out of the building to leave his mind. “The fuck just happened?” he whispered. He felt more like the bunny, hapless at the maw of the fox.

Isaribi watched the blonde who had sat on the beach for a moment. His blue eyes snapped open and he stood up once more. “What just happened?’ she asked.

“My tenant needed to speak with me.” Naruto said as he once again took Isaribi’s hand. He took a sample of her DNA through some skin, he made sure the process was painless and didn’t look like more than his thumb brushing over her knuckles.

He then began to analyze it using his chakra, the Medical Ninjutsu allowing for his mind to access the information more like he was examining it physically. Unfortunately, Medical Ninjutsu was a vague art that someone either got or didn’t. That’s why there weren’t a thousand Tsunade’s running around.

Some got enough that with some medical knowledge they could be doctors. People like Shizune, Tsunade, and Sakura, they were the gems.

Granted, Naruto was at that because of the game, but without it he’d likely be one dense motherfucker.

He brushed his hand over the scaled portion of Isaribi’s arm, analyzing that as well, seeing what the Enzyme was doing at an active site. “Good news, I can fix this.” Naruto said. “Better news, it won’t take me long. Best news, I can do it right now.” He said.

Isaribi looked surprised and she nodded, hoping desperately that the blonde wasn’t just messing with her because he could. She hoped something she had practically given up on.

Naruto set to work fixing Isaribi. Tsunade could probably do it faster than he could and without so many problems, but he was doing what he could. He had used his chakra to numb the pain completely. He could even make it so that she’d still benefit from the experiments by being able to go under water for extended periods of time, stronger and denser muscles, etc.

An hour and a half later with half his chakra used up, Isaribi was looking at herself in a mirror in her shack while Naruto sat on the small bed while she looked herself over, in awe at the blonde’s work. Isaribi turned to look at Naruto who sat there with a pleased smile on his face. She moved over and slid into his lap, feeling his arms wrap around her.

Isaribi was quite for a while, resting her head on Naruto’s shoulder, holding him close. “Amachi was never going to cure me, was he?” she asked. “No matter how many ships I sank to collect gold for him to fund his research, he was never going to cure me.” She whimpered.

Naruto stroked her back a little bit. “No, he likely wasn’t.” he said softly. “But that’s a moot point right now.” Naruto held her a little closer. “You’re back to normal, better than normal even. You have the strength to face your fears.” He kissed the top of her head. “But I also have work to do. Point me in the direction and I’ll go take care of him.”

About twenty minutes later, Naruto was exiting the shack clothed once more with a heading. He cracked his neck slowly and stepped forward, about to extend his wings and fly off towards the island. Isaribi was resting, tired from the emotional turmoil and finally their fun.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the Jinchûriki dead-last.” Naruto’s eyes turned to see Kabuto’s two teammates stepping from the shadows. “If we kill him and return Orochimaru-sama’s sword, he might reward us handsomely instead of having us out here at this slow Hell.” The one that drained Chakra was speaking.

“Yeah, he can’t be too tough.” This from the one that stretched. “You drain his chakra, I’ll keep him pinned.” He said.

Naruto sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah, about that, I’m in a bit of a hurry, so why don’t you two feel my Smoldering Rage.” Naruto said. Naruto dashed ahead moving faster than the two expected him to. He grabbed them both by the face, activating his Fire Manipulation Mutation.

Naruto was palming their faces, his palm covering their noses and mouths. His fingers and thumbs dug into their faces and they struggled, but Naruto kept an iron grip. It began to happen as he channeled his Fire. His clothes were the first to go, shriveling and turning to charred ash. Sweat and oil was next, literally turning him a little red and steam rising off of his body.

Their muffled screams were next.

It was like putting a piece of paper in smoldering charcoal. It wouldn’t catch fire, but it did burn. The smell of flesh shriveling up and burning away, followed by cartilage, muscle, and eventually bone filled Naruto’s nostrils. They struggled desperately, kicking and punching, clawing.

When their struggles ceased, Naruto dropped them. He looked at them, memorizing what he did to them before going to the ocean and throwing up. It was a hideous sight. He used his Will of Fire to set the bodies ablaze before he used his Rinnegan to literally throw the bodies over the water, but he knew that image would haunt him.

It was like a great smoldering hand grabbed their face and only burned where the hand was, burning everything it touched to smoldering remains with only ash to remain.

It wouldn’t have been so bad had one of their eyes not been hanging limply in a destroyed socket.

He grabbed his gear and sealed it all up in the emergency storage seal on his bicep. He never thought he might need it, but now he knew his Smoldering Rage destroyed his clothes even, so he’d have to keep a change of clothes in it.

Naruto turned, looking out over the sea. He extended his Chakra Wings, not his Divine Wings, and took off over the ocean, flying low and fast. The sea spray against his naked body felt fairly nice, but he was too distracted to be able to properly enjoy it.

When he landed, he opened his emergency seal and quickly put on some clothes and rolled his neck a little bit. He put everything back into its proper place.

Naruto then began to walk in a meaningful direction, being careful to avoid some of the clever traps that were laid. When he got to the water’s edge, he leapt in and began to swim downwards. He soon found the secret entrance to the base and quickly swam up. He watched the researcher who was working furiously at a console, as though he was onto some major breakthrough. “You must be Amachi.” Naruto said as he walked along the water towards the concrete.

The man turned around, looking like an utter slime ball and confirming Naruto’s suspicions. “Who the hell are you? How did you find this place? The little bitch sold me out!” he shouted.

Naruto rolled his eyes a little bit. “Yeah well, you’re an asshole so it’s not really surprising.” He said. “So… you want to fight or just roll over and die for me?” Naruto asked bouncing on his feet a bit.

Amachi turned and grabbed some Syringes before throwing them. Naruto sighed softly. “Shinra Tensei.” He said, blasting them away from him without thought. Fuck trying to dodge that crap.

Amachi snarled a little bit. “Fine, if it’s a fight you want, behold the pureness of the new Emperor of the Oceans!” he said as he began to change.

Naruto was mildly impressed by Amachi’s transformation into something similar to what Isaribi could have done if the young woman was believed. Naruto shook his head and sighed as Amachi leapt into the water. “Fuck it.” He said and sank in after Amachi, cutting the flow to his feet to sink beneath the water and chase Amachi through the water.

Naruto eventually got to open ocean, having lost Amachi and was standing on the water once more, rocking back and forth with the waves a little bit, constantly adjusting his chakra. It was rather taxing actually.

Amachi sprang out of the water and spat a blast of water at Naruto who dodged and lashed out with a whip of water at Amachi before he ducked back into the water once more. Naruto sighed as he waited. “Kami, if he does hit and run tactics we’ll be here all day.” The blonde said.

Amachi came up, once more; trying to actually hit Naruto, but the blonde ducked under the swing and instead caught Amachi’s leg with a punch. A super strength enhanced punch that wasn’t stopped by the hardened scales.

Amachi’s leg gave a sickening snap before the man dipped back into the water once more.

The water began to move away and rise, with Amachi on top of it, trying to mend his leg. He had to release his scaly form to do so. “No more! Now you will face my pet the Umibôzu!” he shouted before cackling maniacally.

Naruto sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re nothing but a two-bit villain!” he shouted. “Do something interesting! You have two trump cards?! Seriously?!” Naruto was seriously getting tired of these assholes.

At least with Akatsuki there was a challenge and potential for growth.

“The Umibôzu cannot die! Not unless you plan to evaporate all the oceans in the world!” Amachi said gleefully expecting the blonde to try and to die.

Naruto sighed and tapped into the powers of his Rinnegan. He was feeling a little hungry. He dashed across the surface of the water and literally dove into the creature’s core. There, he treaded water, holding his breath and glaring up at Amachi while he just used his Rinnegan to absorb the creature’s vast chakra.

Amachi looked on fearfully as his construct began to fall apart. “N-No! What are you doing! I’ll kill you!” he shouted, diving into the water and forming into his scaled form once more, swimming at the blonde.

Said blonde grabbed Amachi by his throat and held him like that until the water creature was no more than some more sea water. Naruto shook his head, squeezing tight on Amachi’s throat so he couldn’t make many sounds. “Hey Amachi?” He got a small squeak in return. “You lost.” Naruto said flatly before he grabbed the man’s head in both hands, his fingers digging just behind the jaw so Amachi couldn’t speak. Amachi made a pitiful sound that could have been an ‘I know.’ “And now I have to read your mind.” Naruto needed to know how Amachi got his hands on the Enzyme and if there was any more plus any additional research, information on Orochimaru, etc. Amachi made another squeaking sound like he was asking how. “By devouring your soul.” Naruto wrenched Amachi’s soul loose and absorbed it into his body, despite the scientist’s pathetic whimpering.

Naruto shook his head, clutching at it as he fought with the memories and emotions. Greed was there in abundance, arrogance, anger, hatred, and a multitude of more. It was all there and Naruto was trying not to lose himself. He hated using this particular power, but it was a double edged sword. The more he yanked, the more he absorbed into himself, the more painful it was for the person having their soul removed.

Naruto finally managed to compose himself and he looked over to the island that Isaribi had been experimented at. Even Anko had been experimented on there.

It had to cease to exist.

Naruto dived back under the water and quickly swam to the hidden lab. There he used his clones to begin gathering everything into storage seals that he stored away. When it was all done, they began to draw their parts to a massive sealing array.

Massive in that it took up about six whole rooms to make.

Naruto had been experimenting with this type of seal, on small scale of course, where when he wanted something to cease to exist, it would draw itself and its surroundings into a seal that would then vanish as well, leaving nothing to exist.

It wasn’t destroying matter.

It was putting it into hammer space and then blocking it off from being able to come out.

Mostly Naruto had tried this on kunai and shuriken, sometimes in large scale with fish remains and such. It was proving to be useful at least in theory.

Naruto flew above the island, looking down at it as he flapped his chakra wings. He activated the seal remotely and then watched as the island began to collapse in on itself; towards the over powered storage seals in it. About a third of the island managed to be sealed away before the seals were inevitably sucked into themselves.

Naruto brushed his hands off against each other. “Mission accomplished, time to report back.” He said as he flew downwards over to the land. He saw Isaribi standing outside of her shack, speaking with Anko who was trying to figure out where he had gone of course.

Naruto landed and put his wings away. “Hi!” he said cheerfully with a bit of a wave as he walked over to the staring Isaribi and Anko.

“Explain. Now.” Anko said sharply.

Naruto looked out over the ocean towards the island then back to the Tokubetsu Jonin. “Amachi, using Isaribi-chan here as a base, performed experiments to give him scales, fins, gills, etc. and he used this to sink the ships to continue his research. We fought, he summoned some water monster that I absorbed the chakra to, and I killed him after interrogating him. I got all the plans, lab reports, experiment notes, etc. before I then proceeded to erase that part of the island from existence with an experimental seal. “

“I didn’t think seals could do that.” Anko said a little suspicious.

“Think a giant storage seal with a brief moment of a vacuum to draw everything in. Then once it has done all that, the seal is pulled in on itself. It would be like sealing a kunai into a scroll and then destroying the scroll. You won’t ever get the kunai back.”

“I didn’t know you knew both Medical Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu to such a level like that.” Anko said softly. The blonde might as well be the second coming of two of the Sannin put together.

It was sort of intimidating.

“You wish for me to look at your Curse Mark.” Naruto said simply.

Anko jerked a bit, like she had been slapped and she straightened. “How did-“

Naruto motioned to her hand. “It rises every now and then, when you’re not sure you want to talk about the Curse Mark.” He said.

Anko nodded softly and touched the mark on her shoulder. “I want this thing gone. Everyone is expecting me to be a sleeper agent because of it. I want to get it gone and then run to Inoichi for a full mental evaluation just so I can get people to stop looking at me like I’m going to one day turn on them.” She said in a soft whisper.

“Isaribi, would you mind if we used your shack?” Naruto asked the girl who looked a little surprised. She turned and opened the door for them and Naruto followed Anko in, bringing Isaribi inside as well.

Naruto sat Anko down on the ground and he drew the trench coat off the woman’s shoulders. He noticed her bountiful breasts once more and shook his head lightly to get it out of his mind. He then looked at the Curse Mark that was sealed away.

Interestingly enough, out of the corner of his eye he saw Isaribi looking Anko over as well.

Naruto unsealed the containment seal and felt Anko wince in pain as he held onto her shoulder. His mind began to analyze the Curse Mark, disgusted by the abomination that was created with Fuinjutsu. It was good; he’d say that much, but it still disgusted him.

“The chainmail will also have to be removed, down to your waist.” Naruto said in a professional tone as he examined her chakra coils. “I’m going to have to draw the counter seal all the way down through the roots of the Curse Mark that have been corrupting your chakra coils. They likely slowed when you had it sealed away, but they’ve still been progressing as your chakra levels have gotten bigger and bigger.” Naruto had to estimate that she had as much chakra as Fuu had without being augmented by her Biju.

It was a lot of chakra.

Anko removed the chainmail, letting it pool around her waist as she shrugged out of it, exposing her body to both Naruto and Isaribi.

Naruto looked over to Isaribi. “I need a bowl of water, preferably purified fresh water, but any will do.” He said.

Isaribi nodded and rushed to get the water like the blonde asked.

“You didn’t need this sort of prep for the Uchiha.” Anko said softly, hoping beyond hope that the blonde could rid her of her Sensei’s mark.

“No, I didn’t. His was an advanced, simpler version that allowed for more people to survive. Sasuke also had his for a shorter period. You’ve had yours for what? A decade now?” he asked.

Anko nodded softly. “A little longer, but close enough.” She said.

Naruto nodded and he accepted the bowl from Isaribi. He checked it for any contaminants and soon separated them out with his Water Element Manipulation. “Isaribi, hold this.” He told her and was pleased when the girl came over and took the bowl. “Anko, hand.” He said. He then cut the Tokubetsu Jonin’s hand with a kunai over the bowl, letting her blood drip into the bowl.

Naruto then healed Anko’s hand and returned it to her before he cut his own across the wrist. He let the blood drip freely into the water, letting it mix. He used at least three times as much of his own as he had for Anko’s. When he was done he healed his wrist up. “Now Anko, sit very still.”

Naruto used two finger tips and began to hand draw the seal, starting from the Curse Mark and snaking its way along her back, down her front, and across her shoulders. Everywhere he sensed even the slightest bit of taint, he had to draw and connect to the seal.

She had held it back as best as she could, her will desiring for it to be held back. Even still, her chakra was at least thirty percent tainted. When he purged it, her chakra coils would expand a little bit no longer feeding the Curse Mark.

Naruto stood up once the bowl was empty and he put his hand on Anko’s chakra. “Flare your chakra.” He said and felt Anko flare it up. Naruto closed his eyes and flared his own up, soon synchronizing his chakra with hers.

It was a complicated process, more complicated than anything he had ever done, even when taking into the fact he had raised the dead.

“Release!” he commanded pulsed his and Anko’s chakra through the seal. Anko gave a groan of pain, but she held firm, digging her fingernails into her thighs. That was at least until Isaribi took her hand and held it for her.

The lines all along Anko’s skin glowed, flaring brightly with crimson before they raced backwards, up along her body and it was then that Anko yelled in pain, closing her eyes and drawing blood from her thigh, even as she squeezed Isaribi’s hand tight.

The seal on her shoulder went counter-clockwise just a bit before Naruto placed his hand on it and twisted it fully to the left. It shattered under his hand and the seal’s influence vanished, remaining as some ink.

For a brief second, it sound like a male screamed.

Naruto placed his hand on Anko’s. “Isaribi-chan, I need a rag.” He said. She went to grab one quickly and handed it to the blonde. Naruto used it to begin wiping up the Ink on Anko’s shoulder, wiping away every piece of evidence of Orochimaru’s taint.

Naruto would eventually end the man himself. But for now, for Anko, Naruto was happy to be able to help how he could.

Naruto ran a quick diagnostic scan over Anko, healing any problems that could cause her serious problems. There were a few torn muscles from the retraction of the Curse Mark, but those were taken care of quickly enough. Naruto healed Anko’s thigh up before he moved away from her.

Anko stood up, shaking on her legs a little bit for a moment. She turned to face the blonde and grabbed his vest, yanking him closer. “Thank you.” She said before she kissed him on the mouth. The kiss was completely unlike Anko’s general persona. He had expected something wild, something aggressive. This was soft, tender, expressing all of her thanks to the blonde in the best that she could.

Naruto leaned into the kiss, getting lost in it for a moment, even as Anko’s tongue swept over his lower lip.

Anko managed to pull back and she pushed him backwards onto the bed before she turned and grabbed Isaribi. “And don’t think I forgot about you.” She said. Naruto was treated to Mitarashi Anko kissing Isaribi, full on the lips with heavy tongue. It took a moment for Isaribi to reciprocate the action, but it did happen and Naruto sat ramrod straight, most intrigued by the sight. He didn’t really see a whole lot of girl on girl action.

Naruto decided then to stand up and walk outside to get some air from that complex little bit of unsealing. As much as he might have liked to see the girls kissing, he had to take a moment for himself to recover after that sealing. He cracked his back a bit.

Anko came out a few moments later fully dressed. “Thanks Gaki. I don’t know how to really thank you, but…”

Naruto nodded. “Don’t mention it. What’s going to happen to Isaribi?” he asked.

“Well, she asked to come with us to Konoha. I’m really not sure if she’d be able to.” Anko said a bit upset about that, like she was failing the girl.

Naruto nodded, thinking about it once more. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to best determine what he wanted to do. If he took Isaribi in, it would be yet another mouth to feed. He couldn’t keep saving everyone that had a sad tale that he didn’t agree with.

He’d have liked to, but as it was now he was unable to. A thought occurred to him, maybe he could help Isaribi out. “Isaribi-chan, how well can you fish?” he asked the girl as she was coming out of the shack.

“How well can I fish?” Isaribi asked, blinking a moment. “I live in a shack by the beach and was forced to turn into a sea monster, how well do you think I can fish?”

“Fair point,” Naruto said with a bit of an internal cringe. “But I know of a Sushi restaurant in Konoha that gets fresh fish daily from the lake they’re on.” It was brilliant, he was sure Sakana wouldn’t mind giving Isaribi a job of collecting fish to be served up.

Isaribi nodded. “I think I can do that, do you think they’d hire me?” she asked.

Naruto shrugged. “Might as well try right?” he asked the girl.

Isaribi nodded again. “But where would I stay?” she asked. Even she seemed to understand that she just couldn’t go to Konoha without needing some place to stay and someplace to work.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. “I uh, I have some room.” He said. He did own the building. “But I also happen to live with nine other people, seven of which are girls. Rooms tend to be shared, at least two people per room.”

Isaribi looked thoughtful for a moment before she looked at Naruto. “And how many of these seven girls have you been intimate with?’ she asked.

Anko chose that moment to raise her own eyebrow, wanting to know that very answer herself. It was a very good question.

Naruto coughed into his hand. “Uh… all of them. Plus an additional… fourteen or so women?” Naruto had a feeling he’d be in trouble, but at least he wouldn’t get in trouble for being dishonest.

Anko gave a low whistle. “Go Gaki, you’re treating them all with respect right?” she asked, even though she knew that answer.

“Of course I am.” Naruto said in a flat tone at Anko. “At least, that is when they want me to.” He gave a wink to Isaribi and a pointed look at a blushing Anko.

Anko smacked Naruto upside his head. “Behave.” She said.

“I am!” Naruto said loudly.

Isaribi giggled a bit. “Alright, I’ll move in with you Naruto-kun, but I expect the same treatment as the rest of them.” She said, rubbing his chest with her index finger. “In all aspects,” she said with an attempted seductive purr, but it didn’t quite have that sultriness to it.

Naruto gave her a grin and a salute. “I’ll make sure it happens.” He said.

Anko shook her head for a moment. “You’re carrying her back then so she can keep up.”

-Break-

As it turned out when they got home, Naruto ended up getting another sort of long term bounty that no one had really told anyone about. There had been a long standing bounty for anyone that could remove the Cursed Seal on Anko’s neck without killing her.

While Anko had written up most of the mission report, Naruto was forced to give some input as well, also explaining that they had stayed there for a few days just to make sure nothing else was attacking the ships. With Amachi unable to attack and Isaribi no longer doing it on his orders, the ships made it into port just fine.

Naruto had also written up all medical notes in regards to how he cured Isaribi and he turned them into Tsunade so that she could judge how well he did. She seemed pleased with his medical knowledge and ingenuity.

He also turned in his notes on the enzyme and that included its chemical composition. It truly was a dangerous thing and he couldn’t believe someone like Orochimaru had such a thing at his disposal. Were all Cursed Seals like that?

Fortunately, he had two sources of information when it came to Orochimaru. Even if Kimimaro didn’t want to give anything, Naruto would be damned if that would let him stop him in regards to this enzyme. It was not something that could remain in Orochimaru’s grasp for much longer.

Currently however, Naruto was getting ready for his date with a certain beautiful Uchiha Matriarch. She was going to meet him at the location for their picnic, somewhere nice and private so that it could just be them and they wouldn’t have to worry about anything else.

Isaribi was also fitting in fairly well. She currently bunked by herself given that the other girls were already bunked together. Sakana, the nice woman that owned the sushi restaurant that Naruto took Hinata for her date, had admitted she was in need of a new fisher since her previous one quit.

The pay was not fantastic but given Naruto wasn’t officially charging anyone any rent, it was more than adequate. He simply asked for their help where they could. More often than not, Isaribi had come home with some fresh fish for them to eat, but she promised they weren’t from the lake Sakana’s restaurant sat on.

No need to risk her job after all.

Naruto stepped out of the shower and quickly went about toweling off. He glanced to his hair which had been steadily growing longer, it now brushed his shoulders. He ran a comb through it, pulling it back and managing to get it to lay down flat for once.

He was considering keeping it long; who knew, maybe the girls like it long?

Some string kept his hair back away from his face and Naruto moved to his bedroom to get dressed properly. He wore a simple pair of blue Shinobi pants with a black shirt over top that clung to his upper body. He frowned a bit when he put the shirt on, it had been getting tighter on his chest when just a few weeks ago it had fit nicely.

Oh well, he’d handle his wardrobe when he needed to. There was no use crying about it after all.

A scroll with his swords went into a pocket and a hidden kunai pouch was placed on his leg. His Shinobi ID went into another pocket. Finally, he headed over to the kitchen to grab a basket of food that a Clone had taken to preparing.

It wasn’t much really but he was sure that Mikoto would appreciate it. He had cooked rice, some fish, steamed vegetables, and a bit of ramen. Despite their insistence, they would not break him of his ramen.

A pulse of chakra went out and when he felt his chakra ping off the Hiraishin Kunai, Naruto vanished in a flash. He landed in the forests behind the Hokage Monument and he set about setting up the blanket for the picnic. It was a nice temperature out, plus there was a nice gentle breeze.

A flare of chakra and Mikoto suddenly arrived, showing just why she was considered the Substitution Goddess. Rumors were that her top distance was a half mile. Granted, when someone asked she just gave that peaceful smile that seemed to always be in place on her face.

And speaking of Mikoto, Naruto looked her over. Her long jet black hair was pulled back into a braid instead of how she’d usually leave it loose. She wore a black skirt that came down to her knees and a nice looking deep crimson blouse that showed a fair bit of her generous cleavage. Naruto’s eyes roamed over her body, shuddering a bit. It had been well over two months since he last got to fuck that body and while it wouldn’t happen that night since Naruto was already told he had to prepare for a mission in the morning, Naruto decided that he was going to fuck Mikoto again soon.

Mikoto moved over and took a seat upon the blanket and their little date quickly got underway. It was just them with a wonderful view of the sunset off the top of the Hokage Monument.

Naruto also just talked with Mikoto. He didn’t talk about any of the other girls, he didn’t talk about work, he just talked to her. He found out things like the things she had wanted to do in life, some she managed and others she didn’t.

One thing that made Naruto a bit nervous, understandably so, was Mikoto admitted to wanting another child. Naruto was unsure how he would do as a father. He didn’t think he’d be a good father. It had nothing to do with his age or with how he acted. Hell, he wanted to have children someday.

But Naruto didn’t have any real father figures in his life during his formative years. Teuchi and the Sandaime Hokage had come across more as grandfather figures. Iruka and Kakashi seemed more like brother figures.

Naruto just wasn’t sure if he’d be able to be a good father.

Even still, he didn’t let his nervousness bother him. He made sure it was as wonderful for Mikoto as it had been for Hinata.

He made Mikoto giggle a few times, and even have a few full on bouts of laughter that she just couldn’t control herself from.

Naruto even danced with her, without music, just them underneath the stars. Naruto noticed also that he was getting taller than Mikoto, something she definitely noticed as well and liked quite a bit.

However, all things had to come to an end and soon Mikoto and Naruto were both heading back home. Naruto might not have arrived with Mikoto, but he walked her home like a perfect gentlemen, his left arm being pressed into her breasts as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

He brought them to a stop in front of Mikoto’s home and she slid her arms around his neck. “I had fun.” She whispered against his lips. “And I hope we get to do it again with a proper ending.” Mikoto kissed Naruto, an action he reciprocated in kind.

His hands wrapped around her waist and he held her close while he kissed her in return. Though as Mikoto began to nibble on his bottom lip a little bit, he couldn’t help but cop a feel of Mikoto’s ass. His tongue swiped over her lower lip, making her back arch a little and her mouth part. Their tongues slid over one another. What had been a goodnight’s kiss turned very quickly into making out.

Finally, Mikoto pulled back and she tugged on his lower lip with her teeth once more for a quick moment. “You be safe Naruto-kun.” She said in a more somber tone. “Please, promise me you’ll be safe.” She said.

Naruto shook his head and he kissed Mikoto on the forehead, having to lean up to do that. “I’m sorry Mikoto-chan, I can’t promise that. I’d like to, but with Itachi and his Sushi buddy after me at the very least, I can’t. I’ll do everything in my power to come home, that much I do promise.” Naruto said, looking into Mikoto’s dark eyes.

Mikoto nodded softly. “Goodnight Naruto-kun, I love you.” She whispered so softly.

Naruto bit his lip for a moment. “Goodnight Mikoto-chan, I… I love you too.” He whispered the last words, but Mikoto heard them. She knew why he was hesitant to say the words, anyone in his position would be. But she felt he really believed that fact, just by the way his hand moved to his chest.

Mikoto walked into her home, steeling her resolve. She would start training hard once more. She would see about taking the fight to Akatsuki and showing them what happened when they messed with Uchiha Mikoto.

She was sure several others would willingly join her in training, including perhaps Tsunade herself. Akatsuki wasn’t going to take Naruto away from her without a fight.