FicWad

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So if these type of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks.

Chapter 58: The Rise and Fall

The Past: Day 1: D’s creation

Naruto D sprang into life along with B and C as A, the true Naruto, showed off his new jutsu for Tayuya. Naruto had created an extra clone to begin a long-term mission to try and heal the bad blood between the people of Fang and Claw. During the period where Naruto had pulled away from his lovers as a result of Kanji’s insistence that they were only with him due to the effects of the Binding, he had begun to turn his attention to places he had felt were potential fires that might grow out of control. The difficulty faced by the alliance between the Land of Fang and Land of Claw, which he had inadvertently helped forge by accidently sending a faux copy of Jiraiya’s Make Out Series to the Daimyo of Fang Country, was probably one of the most pressing.

As a result of that peace, the two leaders had agreed to build a joint city on the section of the border where most of the bad blood between the countries had been born as they had fought for the rich mineral deposits that were located there. They had named the new village Paradise and had quickly changed it to Paradise City as the small starter village had bloomed into a large urban area. The reason for the quick growth was due to the fact that with a treaty in place and no fighting taking place it was soon learned that the mines they had been fighting for contained just a fraction of the wealth to be had. The mining rights were quickly and fairly divvied up between the two countries and as the mining town boomed, other businesses began to set up shop to support it.

That wasn’t to say things had been easy as generations of hate and mistrust didn’t evaporate over night, but in order to keep the wealth flowing the town leaders found a way to resolve the occasional flare-ups that happened. Yet in recent months it had come to Naruto’s attention that the tensions in Paradise City were reaching a boiling point. Naruto suspecting that Iwa might be trying to create a situation where the old feuds would explode into violence so Earth Country could step in and annex both countries to expand its border so decided to act.

He couldn’t do so overtly, as it appeared that the other Four Elemental Countries were not interested in what was going on along Earth Country’s Western Border. More to the point, the Fire Daimyo had expressly forbid Tsunade from doing anything either overtly or covertly using the reasoning that Konoha’s involvement could inflame the situation more. But Naruto was convinced that if nothing was done it might erupt into a conflict which could pull Konoha or the other shinobi villages into it and thus make it harder to complete his ambition. D’s mission therefore was to put an end to the growing tension in Paradise City, especially since it was a place that both Fang and Claw claimed ownership of and thus would most likely be the place where an event that could trigger a war between the two countries would happen.

Still, Naruto hadn’t assigned the task to any of the clones that he had just created to please Tayuya. As the smoke from their creation began to thin D decided that he would take it up, which seemed to suit B and C fine as they remained still. Grabbing the backpack Naruto had been carrying for the occasion the nude clone disappeared into the bathroom as Tayuya upon spotting Naruto and his clones said, “Don’t tell me you…”

“Too much?” Naruto asked.

D heard the devilish smirk in Tayuya’s response of, “Maybe not enough.”

D watched the three Naruto share an amused look before they walked deeper into the hotel room to begin pleasuring the former Sound-nin. D looked into the bathroom’s mirror as he tried to ignore the sounds coming from the room as Tayuya basked at being the center of attention of Naruto and his clones. Knowing he needed to change his appearance, he applied Tsunade’s henge to his features so that his hair began to turn brown, and the whisker marks which Naruto sported disappeared. He made a few tweaks to his face before he combed his hair forward hoping that the different style and color would help to prevent people from identifying him as Naruto. D knew he could change his looks more, but didn’t want to keep being startled every time he passed a mirror.

Looking in the pack D found money and clothes but not much else in the way of supplies. D figured that since another part of his mission was to see just how long a K-clone would last on its own, he figured Naruto had left the money so D could take care of his needs as they came up. Pulling out the clothes, he dressed in the two toned pants that had grayish white legs that turned dark grey mid-thigh. His shirt was a collared, button-down black shirt over which he pulled a white short-sleeve with intricate black stitching. Pulling the black shoes with red laces on last, he found them a little constricting as they were not the open toe design favored by shinobi.

Now dressed, D glanced out of the bathroom to see that Tayuya was otherwise preoccupied so taking the backpack proceeded to leave the room. D took the elevator down and as he walked through the lobby noticed that the young woman named Ami at the front desk seemed a little flushed. Recalling from Naruto’s memories the show Tayuya put on in the elevator on the ride up after letting it drop in front of the purple haired woman just what they were going up to the room to do, he wasn’t surprised. For a moment he wondered if his fellow clones perhaps weren’t getting the better deal in pleasuring the feisty red-head, but knowing there was little point in complaining about his choice now he pushed the thought aside.

Looking at Ami, D recalled the arrogant bully she had been, but admitted to not being able to see such a trait in her currently. The woman still wore the same asymmetrical haircut she had in the academy with the bang on the left side of her face being longer than the rest of her hair which was chin length. She looked up as she likely sensed his watching her and when her brown eyes met his, her cheeks grew slightly brighter. D gave her a warm smile as he considered perhaps trying to seduce her since he knew Naruto still had some intention of doing so. In fact, one last objective that D had was to attempt to seduce a woman to see if The Binding took hold.

Naruto didn’t necessarily think that it would since while his tainted chakra had been shown to be able to affect certain women with sensor abilities; it had yet to be shown to be able bind them to him. But, he felt it was best to make sure while his clone was on its long term mission. However, D decided not to target the woman if only because of her past with Sakura and the awkward position it would put both women in should she find herself bound to the jinchuriki.

Leaving the hotel, D spent a moment considering his options, finally deciding to enjoy himself before starting the serious work he would be performing in Paradise City. Heading to Konoha’s Entertainment District which appeared rather dead, but that wasn’t necessarily unexpected considering the current late hour and that it was the middle of the week. Finding a place called Seventh Heaven, D decided to see if the place lived up to its name.

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The Present:

Fuka suddenly moaned before cursing as she pulled her hand away from the junction between her legs having found it had once more moved of its own accord to tease her pussy through her drenched shorts. She looked at the young man chained to the wall and felt a hunger that she hadn’t in centuries. She struggled to remain where she was leaning against the wall as she so desperately wanted to feel his manhood buried inside her. She knew she should likely drain off more of his chakra as it had been several hours, but doubting she’d be able to maintain control she decided to remain in place at the opposite end of the cell.

She tried to force her mind to focus on analyzing what had happened to her. She already figured that somehow the jinchuriki’s chakra had returned the spark of life to her current body. Moreover, her soul had detached from her hair and now resided inside of it. She had learned that as she had tried to use her Color Course Change only for her hair to remain in place causing the bald spare body to hit the ground lifelessly. This startled Fuka, who was now trapped in a body which predominately used Water Chakra. She quickly resealed the spare away as she wondered what it was about Naruto’s chakra that had returned her truly back to the land of the living.

She knew she could simply reapply the Forbidden Technique that had made her more a ghoul than a human for the past several centuries, however the idea of forcing herself back into the senseless existence she had known before was a difficult pill to swallow. For now though she decided to simply make do as she couldn’t even be sure the effect would be permanent which made her desire to explore her body all the more pressing. Cursing once more as she caught her hand trying to move between her legs like it had a will of its own, she instead tried to calm her body by turning her thoughts to the last time she had let passion take over.

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Several Centuries in the Past:

Fuka Uzumaki ran through the forest as she left the Land of Whirlpools behind. Clutched to her chest was a sealed scroll which contained forbidden jutsu using some of the Uzumaki clan’s sealing techniques. Her bright red hair flowed behind her as the moonlight illuminated her way to the man who had captured her heart. She felt giddy as she thought, “Soon I’ll be in your arms again.”

Despite her apparent happiness a part of her felt guilty as she knew she was betraying her Clan for selfish reasons. But she had tried to reason with them, yet they had followed her father’s pig-headed example in rejecting the offer of alliance that the Hagoromo Clan had made. The young man they had sent, Eiji Hagoromo, had been extremely passionate in his desire for the Uzumaki to join with them. A passion he had shared with her during the ceremony her father as the Uzumaki Clan head had hosted for him. Fuka had been charmed as Eiji had spoken longingly of a day when the Uzumaki and Hagoromo could exist in peace. He had also made it apparently clear that he was quite smitten with her, something she had more than reciprocated.

For a full week after the ceremony Eiji had tried to convince her father to enter into an alliance with his clan. Her father however had not been willing to turn his back on the ancient pact that the Uzumaki shared with the Senju. Fuka, who had taken to sneaking out of the village to meet with Eiji had surprised many by entering into the debate on the visitor’s side. Her father had not been swayed as he had pressed Eiji on the final day of negotiations, “Tell me boy. You come here asking that we abandon our generations old alliance with the Senju. Yet what of your own with the Uchiha, can you tell me that we can expect you to abandon them?”

Eiji had inclined his head proudly as he said, “There is something to be said for the faithful service our two clans have given the clans that most would proclaim as the strongest. Still I wonder how strong can they truly be considering that they have bled us and many other Clans dry in their untold millennia old disagreement. Can any here tell me why they have been at each other’s throats for so long? Do any here think they even know themselves?” Eiji leveled a pointed stare her way which Fuka felt contained the longing to be with her that he had expressed in their nightly trysts as he asked, “Does anyone here know why we must be enemies in a conflict that truthfully has nothing to do with us? True, the Hagoromo Clan has hurt you the Uzumaki Clan countless times; just as the Uzumaki have wounded us as my father was killed by your very hands.” Fuka’s father did look regretful especially as Eiji added, “Yet I harbor you or the Uzumaki no ill will. I understand that it was a result of the pact that you made with the Senju that led you into battle that day, just as it is for us and the Uchiha. But, I must hope that there are those among both our clans with the bravery to cast aside those ties, which keep us at one another’s throats for a conflict not of our own making.”

Fuka was proud of Eiji as she could see his words had indeed touched quite a few of her clansmen’s hearts. Long had there been talk among the Uzumaki as to why they should continue to aid the Senju in there almost never ending war. Fuka had never given it much thought before as she had always just assumed it was the natural order of things, but having only ever interacted with a few outside clans she had never imagined that people they had constantly fought against might wish to be friends and perhaps more. Eiji returned to his two bodyguards one of whom was a woman who sent Fuka a harsh glare. Fuka smiled as she figured that it was because the woman desired Eiji for herself and she viewed the bond between her and him as a threat. Recalling the night of passion she had shared with him the night before Fuka knew the woman was concerned for good reason, especially as she couldn’t see how her father could turn Eiji down.

Therefore, she was shocked as he stated, “I’m afraid that any offer of alliance must be rejected so long as a term of it is to toss aside our honor and loyalty to the Senju.”

“Father…” Fuka began.

Yet she was harshly cut off as her father said, “Be silent! Your words are well-crafted boy, but in them I hear the soft promising whisper of a devil. You come her applauding our loyalty and yet ask us to toss it aside. Only devils are so bold as to offer such fawning praise while hoping to get people to lower their guard enough to give up something of value. The bond between Uzumaki and Senju is more than just an alliance of convenience, it is a bond of friendship that has not been forged in battle, but tested by it. I too have asked why we fight, why it is this clan an enemy and this one a friend. But I have never asked that of the Senju, because when I do look upon them all I see are friends. And if my friends are convinced that the Uchiha must be opposed, then they can count on me to oppose them. I am not sure how you have bound yourselves to the Uchiha, whether it be that they have promised you land or power should you help them crush their foes matters not to me. But you may be surprised to know that there is no official accord between us and the Senju such things are not needed between the truest form of allies, friends.”

Fuka expected some sort of anger, but was rather proud as Eiji said diplomatically, “It pains me to hear you think so little of me. But hearing your words on the strength of your bound with the Senju only fills me with more respect. It also makes me twice as determined to prove to you what a boon it would be for us to become allies and as you say friends. But for now we shall take our leave in the morning with your permission.”

Her father inclined his head so Eiji collected his party and left. Fuka followed her father out of the Clan Building and waited till they were alone to ask heatedly, “Why would you treat him with such disrespect when he’s done nothing but praise our clan?”

Her father scoffed as he said, “Praised…hah. You should open your ears Fuka so that you hear his words for what they truly are. That boy has nothing but the destruction of our clan as his life’s goal. We have survived these turbulent times only because of our close ties with the Senju. To throw them away for promises written on paper would shame us all. If you weren’t so blinded by his serpent’s smile you’d see that.”

“Don’t speak to me like I’m some foolish child,” Fuka said agitated. “You’re the only one who is blind. Blind to the fact that the Senju use us to continue in their quest to destroy the Uchiha, a quest which cost you your wife and my mother.”

Her father stopped in his trek to their home to face her as he said, “I hear the devil’s words coming from you, Fuka. Do not think me so blind as to not know where you go at night?”

Fuka’s eyes grew wide, but she asked, “I… if you know then why have you made no move to stop me?”

“Were you not just telling me that you are no longer a child? Some state that it is our time as children where we make the mistakes and learn the lessons that help us grow into who we will become as adults. However, the truth is all of life is that. We are not bound to the path which our childhood would seem to be leading us; life is about learning and constantly changing.” Her father’s eyes grew hard as he stated, “Mark my words though; you have entered the stage of your life where the decisions you make can have lasting and terrible consequences. I know you think me a foolish old man locked in his ways, but trust in my experience when I say the sweet words that man whispers to you are solely for the purpose of spreading discord.”

“You do not know Eiji,” Fuka stated angrily.

“For your sake, I hope you are right.”

*****************************

The Present:

Fuka felt a deep sadness as she began to blink several times unsure of what was wrong. Reaching up to her eyes she felt the trails that marked where her tears had escaped one of which she caught looking at it in surprise for a moment. She rubbed her eyes as she pushed away the memories while trying to get control of her emotions again. She pulled a kunai, and pressed it against her breast as she once more contemplated ending this new existence so she could return to the simpler one she had enjoyed for centuries. While it had been bereft of anything resembling pleasure or pain unless an opponent managed to graze her hair with a jutsu, it did have the benefit of her having been in complete control of her emotions. Still, for a moment she hesitated as her apparent return to the land of the living promised her so much more. But, in the end she decided to cast aside such promises in favor of the life she had known so much longer even as she knew calling it living was a stretch.

Pulling the blade back ,she began to pull if forward into her heart but a voice telling her, “Stop!” caused her to pause like a statue. She looked up at the jinchuriki whose voice it had been, but thought she had imagined it as he still looked unconscious. She watched in surprised fascination as the still unconscious man said, “Good, now first put that kunai away.” Fuka tried to resist but ended up placing it back in her pouch. As soon as she complied, the unconscious man said, “Now just so you don’t try that again you are to let no harm come to yourself through your hand or any other. Furthermore, you are not to alert any of your comrades as to the hold my so… I mean Naruto has over you. Nod if you understand.” Fuka tried to once more resist the Voice’s power but finally nodded her head. Whoever was controlling Naruto seemed pleased although it was difficult to gauge as his face remained slack. After a moment the voice commanded, “The only exception to maintaining your own safety is should Naruto be in danger. You are to guard him with your life. Now then come here and remove the seal.”

Fuka didn’t bother putting up much of a fight as it appeared the Jinchuriki’s hold over her was absolute. After removing the seal she was ordered back to where she had been standing moments before and was told to await further instructions. Fuka did as instructed with a single bright spot to her current situation being that now that she was under the jinchuriki’s control her wandering hand seemed content to stay put.

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The Past: Day 1
D sat on a bar stool in the bar Seventh Heaven as he enjoyed the plum wine that he had ordered. To his surprise though, although he was on his second bottle he didn’t seem to be feeling any of the effects that he thought he would be. He looked over at the only other customer, an old man who looked like he was a regular, who smiled at him before raising his glass like offering a salute and then downing it. He stood shakily as he dug in his pocket for some money before placing it on the counter as he said, “Well that’s it for me tonight Ibara. You take care of yourself.”

The woman behind the bar smiled as she said, “You too Masa.”

“You know Ibara it might have been a weekday but this place was still rather dead. How’s an old coot like me supposed to have any fun in a place that’s as quiet as the grave? You know what this place needs is some fresh face waitresses. Preferably ones with giant…”

“Don’t make me tell Ume to come pick you up now? If you’re looking for an end to the silence I’m sure she would love to hear about your suggestions for my bar,” the owner of Seventh Heaven said amused, especially as the old man shivered.

“You’d do that to your most loyal customer?”

“I would since the reason it’s so quiet here is probably due to how some lecherous old man keeps scaring away the other customers.”

The old man laughed before waving exaggeratedly before stumbling towards the door. She wiped down the bar where he had been sitting before sending a look to see how her remaining customer was doing. D noticed she bit her lip for a moment as if considering asking him something, but then seemed to reject the idea. D held up the empty bottle causing Ibara to approach him after scooping up the money that the old man had left and asked, “Would you like another?”

“Sure,” he replied handing it to her. The woman turned away and D took a moment to study her reflection in some of the liquor bottles she was facing. The clone admitted that without the cold look that she had always directed towards Naruto whenever he had seen her collecting her son from the academy that the woman was rather beautiful. She turned back towards him to place the refilled clay bottle back in front of him before turning away to put the money she had collected in the cash register. D noticed that her gaze drifted to a picture of her standing with her son and he guessed husband sitting atop of it. She bit at her lip again so D asked, “Is something bothering you?”

“N-no why do you ask?”

D shrugged as he answered, “It might just be my imagination, but I get the feeling that there’s something about me making you uneasy.”

“I’m sorry,” Ibara said quickly. “I certainly don’t want to make a paying customer feel like I don’t want him around.” D was a little surprised at how fast the woman was to put him at ease. He had feared that he hadn’t changed his appearance enough to fool her and that his resemblance to Naruto was behind her apprehension. And while he knew Naruto’s star was on the rise in the village, he was especially surprised as Ibara added, “The truth is that you resemble someone in this village who I’ve wronged in the past. I was kind of hoping that you were him but just in disguise.”

“What makes you think this guy would need a disguise to come here?”

Ibara gave a sad smile as she stated, “Because when he was just a kid I used to be pleased whenever I heard how he failed in the Academy. I’d even go so far as to speak just loud enough for him to hear while talking to my friend.”

D kept calm although he felt some of the anger he imagined Naruto would feel knowing that the woman had intended for him to hear many of the hurtful things she had said. “Why tell me this?” he asked since he found her sudden confess rather strange.

Ibara sighed before she admitted, “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because you do resemble him. I doubt I’ll ever be in a position to actual talk to him myself, and considering how opinions have changed since back then he’d probably think I’m just trying to get on the right side of history. My son used to tell me that his dream was to be Hokage. Well when it happens, there are going to be a lot of people who are going to be worried about him looking to return the favor for how he was treated growing up.”

D shook his head as he pointed out, “I might just be visiting Konoha, but from what I heard about the previous Hokage, anyone looking to rise to that position just to settle some grudges isn’t going to be worthy to hold it.”

Ibara nodded in recognition of his statement but said, “Still, we’d deserve it.”

“Well since I look like this guy, why don’t you tell me what you’d want to tell him? Who knows, maybe someday your feelings might reach him.”

The dark-haired woman gave a knowing smirk as if guessing that he was just looking for some gossip, but deciding why not gave a small shrug although she said, “Sure, but not here. Would you like to continue this conversation upstairs?”

D nodded in agreement so helped Ibara close down for the night by placing the stools and chairs upside down on the tables and bar while she locked up. She then grabbed a bottle of liquor before guiding him to a set of stairs that lead up to her living quarters. Upon entering D noticed that although it was as big as the downstairs was, the room only seemed situated for a single occupant. Ibara moved to the kitchen taking off the cloth headband she wore and tossing it on the counter said, “Make yourself at home.”

D did as she suggested sitting on a large couch where Ibara joined him sitting on the opposite end after giving him a glass and pouring some of the dark brown liquid into it. She poured some for herself and downing it sighed as it burned its way down. Tucking her feet under her as she faced her guest she smiled as she noticed him eyeing it suspiciously and asked, “Too strong for you?”

Hearing the challenge in her voice D downed the contents in a single gulp and gasped as it burned his throat like a misfired Fire Jutsu before replying hoarsely, “Not at all.”

Ibara laughed a musical sound which again surprised D considering how all the memories of her that he had received from Naruto were of a face with a constant frown and cold eyes. She quickly covered her mouth as she said, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” D said just as amused, “it’s a little strong.”

The woman nodded as she poured herself and him another glass before saying, “Thank you.” D looked at her in confusion for a moment prompting her to explain, “It’s been a while since I’ve laughed like that.”

“You seem cheerful enough with the customers,” D pointed out.

Ibara smiled as she explained, “A trick of the trade. There’s an old saying that a bartender is a more effective person to unload your worries on then a spouse or member of the religious cast. If we’re going to be a person’s confessor than we can’t look like we have burdens of our own.”

“Sounds exhausting.”

“It can be,” Ibara admitted looking a little tired. But pushing some of her hair behind her ear she added with a tone of amusement, “But it lets you hear a lot of interesting thing.”

D gave an amused chuckle as he asked, “Still, who listens to the bartenders worries?”

Ibara smiled before replying, “Well, that is why I brought you up here.”

Returning the smile, D said, “So it is.” Adjusting his position so that he was facing her, he asked, “Now then, what would you tell this person who you say I resemble?”

Despite the lighthearted atmosphere that had been established, it vanished in a similar manner as the sun being blocked by storm clouds. Ibara placed her glass down on the coffee table near the bottle of liquor, before turning behind her to grab a photo from the end table. She ran her fingers over the picture in a longing manner which D guessed was likely a copy of the picture of her family that was down in the bar. D saw tears begin to gather at the woman’s eyes before she looked at him and said, “If you were him… I… I’d just want to thank you. To thank you for not letting a mean spirited and horrible person like me stop you from becoming a shining example of what a shinobi of Konoha should be.” D’s look of utter surprise drove the woman on as she found it easy to imagine that the person she wanted to confess to would wear a similar one. Finding it easier and easier to picture D with blond hair and whisker marks she explained as if talking to the person she wished was sitting across from her, “I… I doubt you realized it, but my son graduated at the same time as you. You never interacted with him which was due to my insistence… but I wish you had. I wish I hadn’t been such a fool as to judge you for what it was that you ca…”

Ibara stopped suddenly from breaking the Third’s law, since although by now the entire village was clued into Naruto’s jinchuriki status. The woman wasn’t sure if the taboo applied to visitors to the village and while she doubted the Anbu would suddenly appear, she didn’t want to take the chance as she knew she was skirting a thin line already. However, she saw the man before her as a rare opportunity to lessen some of the burden she carried as a result of the guilt she felt about her past actions. D surprised her as he apparently played along by pretending to be the person her words were meant for as he said, “I’m guessing you’re referring to my burden.” She nodded so he channeled what he suspected Naruto would say, “Ibara, you don’t need to apologize for…”

“You’re wrong,” Ibara said forcefully. “I was wrong and I pushed my son to ignore you as well. B…But despite that if you didn’t rise above it then…” She looked down at the picture she held the gathered tears began to fall from her eyes onto it.

D wasn’t sure what to do at first, but settled on closing the distance between them and pulling her into a hug. He felt her stiffen and feared he had crossed a line, but after a moment she began sobbing into his chest. He held her until she settled down before saying, “You don’t need to go on if you don’t want to.”

“I…I want to continue if you don’t mind,” Ibara said pulling her head from his chest. Looking down at the picture again she continued, “My son after graduating went on a handful of D-ranked missions. After several months he begged his father to take him on a C-ranked mission. My husband agreed and they took a job protecting a rich family’s home in the Land of Forests. There had been a few violent robberies where entire families were wiped out. But at the time the mission was still C-ranked because no one knew that there was any shinobi involvement at the time. That changed when the Shinobazu targeted the family that my son and husband were assigned to protect.”

She trailed off again so D recalling the group that Naruto had encountered said questioning, “They were killed by them?”

Ibara nodded again and looked on the verge of losing control of her emotions once more so he placed an arm over her shoulder to pull her back against his chest. She melted against him before finishing her tale, “The family escaped at the cost of my son and husband’s lives. But they were able to alert the authorities of the Shinobazu’s existence and thanks to the man you resemble they were finally brought to justice.” Ibara sighed as she added, “I wish I had the courage to tell this to his face.”

D smiled warmly as he tilted her face up to meet his eyes as he said kindly, “I’m sure your feelings will reach him one day, until then, thank you for sharing it with me.”

Ibara smiled as she replied, “Thank you for listening. It did feel good to share it with someone other than Tsubaki.”

D was about to suggest that he should get going, but then he suddenly received a burst of pleasure. Having felt something similar when the clones he had been created with disbursed after their time with Tayuya. He stiffened as he felt the memories of a recently created and terminated clone begin to assail him. He quickly learned that Naruto’s lovers had gathered to further show their devotion to him. The clone’s memories that he had just absorbed had been one of the many Naruto had created to help please his lovers as he entertained Kiyomi and Anko. As such, he had a flash of Tsunade staring up at him lewdly before cumming in her throat as she swallowed the clone’s cock all the way to the base. Having succeeded in milking her clone of its seed several times already it hit its limit and disappeared after falling back causing its dick to pop out of her mouth.

As a result, D felt his own manhood quickly swell which didn’t go unnoticed by Ibara as she watched the outline of it appear along his right thigh. “Oh my,” she stated as she watched him harden, “Don’t tell me you have a thing for weeping older women.”

An embarrassed D quickly replied, “I’m sorry about that. It kind of has a mind of its own sometimes. I guess you could say it’s something of a medical condition.”

Ibara found the red tinge of D’s cheeks cute as she said, “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s called being young.” Noticing it straining as it was trapped she said, “It looks uncomfortable.”

“A little,” D stated believing he was developing a case of blue balls due to the earlier hardon he had experienced when the clones with Tayuya had dispersed while in the bar. He feared that if he didn’t take care of it soon as the rest of Naruto’s clones disappeared he’d cum in his pants which would be far more mortifying for him. He prepared to excuse himself but the words to do so were replaced with, “Ibara…what are you doing?”

Ibara having placed her hand on D’s groin pulled his fly down and reached into his pants to pull out his cock. She stroked in gingerly a few times before looking up into his blue eyes to say, “Y-you’ve been so kind to me. Let me help you now.” D considered rejecting the offer since he wasn’t sure what would happen if a clone slept with an unbound woman, but figuring that Naruto would welcome the woman into his Harem should the need arise decided since it was one of the objectives of his creation to enjoy the moment.

And enjoy he did as she lowered her mouth to his dick causing him to grown as she swirled her tongue around its head before swallowing it. Her head bobbed in his lap causing D to place his hand on the back of her head as he groaned appreciatively. After several minutes of this though and wanting to explore her body, he moved his hand from her hair and began to squeeze her rump through her dress causing her to moan around him as she energetically sucked his dick. Lying down on the couch on his side, he turned Ibara so that she was lying similarly in order that he could hike her dress up and stick his head between her thighs to begin licking her pussy through her underwear. She moaned once more as they stimulated each other’s loins as D slide her panties to the side to enjoy the fluids her body was offering up directly.

D felt a familiar tingling in his body telling him that he was approaching his climax and although thanks to the recent memories of the clone that had just dispelled he knew he was good for at least four or five climaxes before he would need to worry about sharing a similar fate. He suspected that he might actually be good for more as he believed that the reason the alcohol that he had drunken before didn’t affect him was because it had all been converted into chakra to sustain his existence. However, he didn’t wish to test such a theory so he knew he needed to be rather conservative with his releases as she could literal suck the life out of him. Therefore, he began to target her clit with his tongue as he buried a finger inside her. It had the desired effect as he slipped from Ibara’s mouth as she gave voice to the pleasure his actions produced within her.

“Oh…gods…if you keep doing that… I’ll…”

Ibara didn’t finish her sentence as her pussy tightened around the finger he had been using to stroke her inner walls She whined softly as her climax racked her body, which although she had given herself plenty in the several years since she lost her husband as well as taken a few lovers. Yet for whatever reason, the one she was currently experiencing seemed far more intense than any of the previous ones. She suspected it was due to the fact that a part of her was pretending it was Naruto who she was with.

She felt a little guilty, but suspected that D knew she was using him in such a way as she fully expected him to be gone by morning. She received some confirmation that this was the case as D asked, “Is that enough, or would you like to continue?”

Ibara hesitated for a moment, before replying, “Let’s continue.”

D gave her a kind smile which contained a hint of the lust coursing through his veins as he said, “I was hoping you’d say that. Now, why don’t you show me exactly how you’d like to thank Naruto.”

Ibara stood even though she found it a little strange how he had mentioned the container of the nine-tails. To her it had sounded almost like he was confirming that was indeed who her confession earlier had been intended for and perhaps who she was seeing as she offered up her body. Still, with the unspoken words now out in the open she felt her guilt about pretending D was the blond jinchuriki fade. She figured that it must have showed on her face or in her body language as the smile D was wearing grew bigger. Mentally thanking the man for letting her express her emotions in such a way she hiked up her dress before stepping out of her panties. Turning away, she knelt before her coffee table and then laid her torso over it.

D smirked as he watched the woman while she ran her fingers through the trimmed fur between her legs to spread her pussy lips for him. “Please accept my body as a means of making amends for how I treated you in the past and as thanks for what you’ve done for me.”

D slipped down behind her from the couch. He ran his dick against her slick folds teasingly before leaning down her body to whisper in her ear, “I accept your body and gratitude in his place. But if you ever find yourself in a similar situation with him you should know that he doesn’t hold a grudge against you and is glad his actions helped.”

Hearing honest sincerity in his voice she wanted was about to ask how he could know that, but instead moaned as her pussy was spread around his cock. D took a moment to enjoy the feel of Ibara’s wet warmth which he was now immersed in. He then began to slowly withdraw causing the bartender to moan in loss before just as slowly returning to his starting point. His pace was slow and deliberate until she begged, “Please fuck me. Stir up my insides with your dick.”

“Very well,” D said as he began moving his hips faster and faster until he was slamming his hips into her ass. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pulled her body off of the table so that her back was resting against his chest. Turning her face towards him, he asked, “How is it? Are you enjoying my dick?”

“Yes,” Ibara hissed out before being pulled into a kiss which stole her breath away. Her tongue sought out his and was met halfway where they began rolling around one another. She moaned into his mouth as his hands rose up to her chest where he squeezed her breasts through her dress. Ibara couldn’t believe how incredible it felt to be in the young man’s arms or to have his cock buried inside her. A part of her felt that it was due to a feeling of pride that such a virile young man found her attractive enough to sleep with. But another part felt it was also due to his words which almost seemed rather prophetic in that by expressing her gratitude and feelings now they would somehow reach the person they were meant for.

A particularly powerful thrust caused Ibara to break the kiss as she gasped in pleasure. She became aware that D was close as she felt him growing even larger inside her. Nearing her end as well she placed her hands on her coffee table and began pushing herself back against his increasingly erratic thrusts.

D although it was a part of his mission to see if he could bind someone felt it was right to alert Ibara of his release. “I’m about to explode… it could have some rather…”

“Inside,” the woman pleaded, “I want to feel you filling me up. It’s okay today’s a safe day.”

“T-that’s not…fuck,” D said losing his battle to contain himself as he began filling Ibara’s womb with his seed. She screamed out loud a heartbeat later as she climaxed along with him. D pumped himself inside her gripping walls several more times as they continued to milk him before sliding free as he fell back against the couch.

D felt weak, but not in a dangerous kind of way as he guessed he had probably used up less than a quarter of chakra. Still as he watched his seed begin to slowly appear from the dark brown-haired woman’s satisfied quim, he knew he shouldn’t get carried away as he could find himself near chakra exhaustion before he knew it. Luckily it didn’t appear that Ibara was in any condition to continue as she had yet to stir from her release. Getting up so that he could see her face, he noticed her eyes were closed as she had passed out from the pleasure.

D took advantage of the situation as he whispered some instructions into her ear in case she had been bound to him. However, even as he finished instructing her to visit Naruto in the morning if she were, he knew that she wasn’t as whenever Naruto used The Voice it seemed to apply a sense of command to his words. Not feeling the reverberation that normally passed through the jinchuriki as he used it, D guessed that although he was made using Naruto’s tainted chakra it wasn’t enough to bind the woman. He wondered why, but suspected it was due to his origin as a copy of the original. He theorized that since Tayuya had claimed that she could feel the difference between Naruto’s chakra and Kanji’s when the later had tried to bind her to him. That each user of The Binding had their own sort of unique chakra code and although D was a copy of Naruto made of his tainted chakra that code or more accurately the complete code wasn’t transferred to him.

D figured he was rather close to the truth, but knew thinking on it more at the moment was pointless. Picking up the woman, he carried her to her bed which he placed her on. He smiled gently as he was struck again by her beauty as she slept peacefully, hoping Naruto would also get to see her face without the ire she had directed towards him as a child he left her a simple note which read, “You’re feelings will reach him someday.” He then left her home as he began his journey towards Paradise City.

*****************************
The Present:

The seal Fuka had removed had only been gone for a few seconds before a panicked Kiyomi made contact as she mentally said, “Kushina! Naruto is he…”

“He’s fine,” Kushina said almost able to feel the relief that Kiyomi gave off at her statement. The Human Bijuu’s concern ramped back up as the Uzumaki added, “He is currently being held by a monk named Sora and several shinobi intent on trading him in for a bounty.”

“We need to discuss your definition of what fine means,” Kiyomi replied agitatedly.

Kushina calmed Kiyomi by explaining, “I meant he isn’t hurt physically. He had a seal placed on him likely to keep him from Hiraishining away as well as to seal his chakra. I’m guessing it also dampened your ability to feel his presence.”

“It did,” Kiyomi confirmed. “How did you remove it?”

“A woman named Fuka made the mistake of siphoning off his chakra it looks like she bound herself to him in the process.”

“Then what are you still doing there,” Kiyomi asked angrily.

“Naruto is still unconscious and despite the fact that the drugs they used to subdue him have burned off due to how fast acting they were, he has yet to wake up. I’m not sure why,” Kushina said the last part tinged with concern.

Kiyomi quickly said, “Then take control of his body and get the hell out of there or heaven help me I’ll…”

“Calm down,” Kushina said her calmness in the face of the danger her son was in being the only reason his lover listened. “It appears that they need to keep Naruto alive otherwise they would have already killed him. I tried to gather what intelligence I could about who placed the bounty but thus far it appears that they don’t know either. I’m guessing it was placed with one of the underground organizations that handle such matters.”

“It could be anyone,” Kiyomi said irately, “What does it matter?”

“If someone is looking to kidnap my son I think its best we know who,” Kushina said losing some of her composer. “We need to know where to focus our energies in combating this threat because as you pointed out it could be anyone. Perhaps Tobi is making a move against Naruto.”

“Without the statue it would do him little good,” Kiyomi informed her lover’s mother. “We were unable to return it to its original resting point but without the Rinnegan it is beyond Tobi’s ability to reclaim it.”

“Then it could be another shinobi village for all we know,” Kushina countered.

Kiyomi was about to reply that she doubted that was the case, but even with the current good relations between Kumo, Suna, and Konoha. She couldn’t deny that perhaps Iwagakure or Kirigakure would try to abduct Naruto to claim his Bijuu as their own. Especially since currently along with Suna, they were also villages without a jinchuriki putting them at a severe disadvantage militarily. Although Kiyomi doubted that the other villages would turn to a third party to handle such an important mission, she could understand their doing so in order to have some plausible deniability. It was after all a tactic that Iwa was suspected of using as they stirred up trouble along their Western Border so they could step in and quell it they annexed their neighbors under the guise of restoring order.

“It is a risky game you are playing Kushina,” Kiyomi stated. “What if they turn him over and decide to extract you to create a new jinchuriki.”

“Don’t worry I won’t let it get that far,” Kushina stated, “I’m going to make it so they can’t extract your power from him.”

Kiyomi had an idea of what Kushina was saying so began to say, “Don’t tell me…”

Interrupting the woman she said, “Anyhow, what of Kakashi and the others?”

Kiyomi frowned but let the matter drop as she answered, “Once Naruto went dark it was all we could do to stop Tsunade from sending half of Konoha into Vegetable Country especially as it seems Kakashi and the others are fighting for their lives. However, those unaligned with a particular village are under no such obligation. Sage and Naruko are near their position now. I imagine now that Naruko can feel Naruto she will be more motivated than ever to deal with the threat Kakashi’s squad faces. I will inform the others of what it is you have planned, but do not let this ruse last too much longer or else I will step in to extract Naruto myself.”

Kiyomi ended the communication as Kushina looked down at her still sleeping son hoping he’d wake up soon so she could say her good-byes before the situation got too out of control.

****************************
Kakashi sent a fireball down the mostly destroyed stairs that led from the first level of the castles base down to the ground. His jutsu destroyed several of the Zombie like creatures before hitting the base of the stairs. A Watari kunoichi next to him then threw several kunai through the gap he had made in the zombies’ ranks and buried themselves into the stairs at the same spot his jutsu had hit. The exploding tags affixed to them went off creating a good size crater as well as blowing several more zombies off their feet and off the side of the stairs.

Kakashi spared a moment to look at the young woman dressed in light beige outfit similar to the rest of the Watari except appeared more personalized which the jounin suspected was due to her rather spunky personality. Instead of typical shinobi footwear, her feet and ankles were tightly bandaged showing off her toes and heels. Her blackish hair was done up in a topknot which extended down to her waist. He chuckled as she pulled down her eye in an insulting manner towards still advancing horde she called out, “You better think twice if you are going to try and eat the great Ibuki.”

“I don’t think that eating us is their goal,” Kakashi stated kicking one of the zombie’s away before it could attack him. He looked around to see the other Watari throwing shuriken or firing jutsu into the creatures’ ranks as they tried to ascend the badly damaged stairs. Kakashi upon realizing that the Watari had been betrayed considering that some of the Zombies facing them were dead Watari which he suspected had been killed during the Flower Village Raid, and that the rest were now trapped in the Village along with the seeming undead creatures had offered them an alliance, since he figured they’d need every person available to defend the castle and civilians from the seemingly unending horde.

Luckily thus far the creatures appeared to have none of the skills or talents of the shinobi that had been killed to create them, but he had little doubt that the true purpose of the jutsu was simply to wear them down. He looked behind him and had to amend his opinion slightly as he saw Sakura healing a Watari that had been a little too careless in attacking some of the creatures and as a result had his arm ripped out of its socket. He spared a moment to study his student and he was proud of her composure considering he had learned that she had thought Naruto had been killed. Luckily, some of the Watari that had witnessed the altercation between Naruto and Sora had informed them that it appeared he had still been alive as they had carried him off.

He noticed that his student seemed calmer now making him wonder if perhaps she was now able to ascertain that the Watari had been telling the truth. “Hey old man, pay attention!”

Kakashi turned his gaze forward in time to see Ibuki leap over him kicking the zombie that was about to grab him in the neck crushing its windpipe and then in the face before flipping back over him. “Thanks,” Kakashi said appreciatively. The zombie regained its footing so he quickly slapped an exploding tag to its back before tossing it into several of the ones following in its wake. The group of zombies toppled back down the stairs before exploding into a fireball.

A Watari shinobi fell back as the zombie he impaled through the chest with his sword kept advancing. He was saved by Toka, who kicked the handle of the sword propelling it and the several zombies behind it backwards. The Zombie with the sword stuck through it hit the stairs causing the sword to stick in the ground, but the zombie undeterred raised itself up tearing a vicious looking hole through its chest before trying to climb towards them again. The Watari Toka saved ran back from the frontlines crying out about how hopeless their position was.

Toka took up the person’s spot in the defense line as she reported, “These creatures have surrounded the castle but appear too dimwitted to climb up the rear.”

“Let’s be thankful for small miracles,” Kakashi stated creating a mudwall midway up the stairs. The zombies trapped on the same side of the shinobi were quickly destroyed giving the Konoha shinobi and Watari time to catch their breaths. The wall soon began to break under the relentless pounding of the undead against it, but the few minutes were needed as Kakashi ordered those that had been fighting for the past few hours to pull back so that fresher shinobi could take their places.

Following Toka as a Watari took his place in line and braced for the wall to come down he asked, “What about the contingency plan?”

“We’ve rigged the stairs up to the second level of the castle to explode,” Toka informed him. “We could simply pull everyone up there now.”

“Yeah, but then it leaves us in the perilous position of having nowhere else to go,” Kakashi stated. “I think it is likely that whoever cast this jutsu may still be nearby. He’s also likely a strong earth user, if the barrier jutsu and the description the Watari gave us about where these creatures came from is accurate. If that’s the case he is likely toying with us and could simply create some land bridges to help their assault.”

“That he hasn’t, could also mean he’s gone and this jutsu is meant simply to delay us while they make their escape… although that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Hearing something in Toka’s voice he asked, “I take it communication had been reestablished.”

The Senju inclined her head as she said softly, “He is currently stationary so I’m not sure what his captors are waiting for.”

“Well let’s hope it’s simply a sign that things are falling apart on their end as well,” Kakashi stated taking up a spot to watch the Watari and to shore up any holes in the defensive line that appeared as he tried to rest and recover some chakra.

*****************************

Fuka watched as the jinchuriki remained motionless for what seemed like an eternity, Unable to move from the spot she had been directed to take, she let her memories return to the past.

*****************************
Several Centuries in the Past:

Fuka paused for a moment as she neared the small clearing near port village she had sailed to where Eiji had said he would meet her. It had been several days since her defection from her home, and in the time she had studied the old scroll that housed some of the Uzumaki Forbidden Jutsu. To her surprise, it had only contained two jutsu both of which appeared to be connected but first required the castors death. She wondered if that was why she had yet to notice any sign that her fellow Uzumaki were pursuing her as her father had likely considered the scroll of little value. A part of her hoped it was her father also giving his tacit approval of her choice but doubted that was the case.

Yet, despite being a few steps from her future happiness, she hesitated as she felt the guilt of her actions settle on her shoulders. Recalling Eiji’s final night in Uzushiogakure she remembered telling him, “It’s not fair. Why does my clan have to be so pig-headed?”

Eiji had held her gently as he said, “It’s hardly only your clan, my dear. There are many who opposed my coming here in my clan as well.”

Being in love and wanting to spend the rest of her life with him she said, “T-then let’s leave them. W-we could start a clan of our own.”

Eiji smiled warmly but said, “Nothing would make me happier, Fuka. But we both know that doing so would only ensure that we are hunted down by both clans. That’s not exactly how I envisioned our two clans coming together for a common purpose.”

Fuka sighed as she knew he spoke the truth so said sadly, “Does that mean I’ll never see you again?”

Eiji sighed disappointedly as he admitted, “Most likely. It took me calling on a lot of old favors owed to my father for my Clan leader to agree to even let me come her to negotiate. Now that my efforts have been rebuffed, I’m afraid that there is little chance he’ll agree to my trying a second time. I will never forget you though Fuka.”

“I don’t want this, I want to be with you forever. W-why don’t you stay here and join my clan?”

Eiji stroked her fiery red-hair as he stated with a little criticism, “Fuka, do you honestly think your father would take me in? He’s made his dislike of me abundantly clear. No our paths must part here… although…”

He trailed off prompting Fuka to ask, “What is it? Is there a way for us to be together?”

“Why don’t you come with me Fuka?”

“Do you honestly believe my situation would be any different in your village then yours would be here?”

“It’s possible,” Eiji said after a moment of thought, “My leader although skeptical did at least let me try to bring our villages together. I’m sure you would be welcome… but it would require a show of loyalty to us so as to quiet any thinking you might be a spy for the Uzumaki.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“There is a scroll which contains a jutsu I know my clan leader is interested in. If you could bring that scroll then I know he would allow us to be together.”

Fuka frowned as she pulled away from Eiji as she asked him, “How can you ask me to betray my Clan like that?”

“I’m not asking,” Eiji said surprising her, “I’m simply telling you what I think would be necessary for us to be together.” He came up behind her as he whispered in her ear, “I know it is a difficult thing to think about. So banish it from your mind, let us make this last night a memorable one.” He began to kiss her neck as his hands snaked around her hips pulling her back against him, “But, I will wait in the clearing near Fisherman’s Bluff every night of the full moon hoping that you find your way to me again.”

He then reached up to cup her breasts causing Fuka to moan as they sank to the ground to once more show their affections for one another.

Fuka blushed at the memory, and unable to deny herself her happiness had only waited until the near arrival of the first full moon since Eiji had left to steal the scroll and abandon her village. A part of her feared that Eiji had already moved on and that she had betrayed her home for nothing, but she heard a twig snap causing all doubts about her actions to be banished from her mind as she called out, “Eiji.”

Rushing towards the noise she smiled gleefully as she saw the man she had abandoned her home for giving her a pleased one in return. She ran into his arms as he said gently, “You brought the scroll. I’m glad you came.”

“Me too,” she said kissing him passionately.

She gasped in pain moments later as she felt something stab her in the back. Looking behind her, she saw that Eiji’s female bodyguard was the one holding the short sword buried in her back. The woman ripped it free causing her to fall from Eiji’s loose grasp although he made sure to grab the scroll that she held. Already dismissing Fuka, he indicated the small cut in his clothes as he said, “Dammit Kagerou you nearly stabbed me as well.”

His bodyguard smirked as she said, “You’re lucky I didn’t aim lower. Do you know how angry it made me watching you seduce that cow?”

Fuka tried to grab Eiji’s foot but only managed to weakly snag his pants leg as she asked, “Eiji why?”

“Come now Fuka, have some dignity at the end and realize you were fooled and like the poor mouse to my cat now that I have what I want it’s time to end this.”

He reached into his clothes to produce a kunai which he intended to use to slash her throat, but Kagerou stopped him by grabbing his wrist as she said cruelly, “Let the bitch suffer.”

Eiji gave the idea some thought before putting his kunai away. Kissing his true lover in front of Fuka, he ended the kiss to say, “I suppose traitors do deserve to die painfully. Thank you Fuka, I would never have been able to complete my mission without you.”

Fuka watched the two leave as she cursed them both although too weak to give voice to her anger. As they left Kagerou asked, “So what do the Uchiha want with that scroll anyway?”

Eiji shrugged as he replied, “I have no idea. Although our leader believes that it might be the key to sealing a Bijuu inside an object, perhaps even a person.”

Fuka smirked darkly as she thought, “Oh it’s so much more than that,” as she used her blood to draw the necessary seal that would seal her soul into her hair. As a sign of her using the Forbidden Technique she had seen in the scroll her fiery red-hair darkened as it absorbed the chakra remaining in her body before detaching itself. She floated along in the air as she followed silently intending to have her revenge and undo her mistake.

*****************************

The Past: Day 96: Shortly after Naruko’s visit

D sat across from a pair of youths although they were older than even Naruto was. However, despite that he did see himself as an old man in spirit if for no other reason than he was the oldest clone he knew of. Not that D thought of himself as solely a clone of Naruto any more since with each new day he developed along his own path. A fact he hoped he had conveyed to Naruko during her short visit even though he knew his would end differently than hers.

D sighed as he looked at the two youths while wondering how to proceed considering what he had caught them in the midst of doing. He wished it was something cute like sneaking out for a midnight coupling, which considering their fathers were the respective leaders of the two factions fighting over control of the town would be a headache in its own right. But seeing as he suspected the two geniuses before him had hit on the same plan to sabotage the other family’s mine he doubted it was a coincidence even though he found it sad that it appeared their parents hatred had been inherited by them.

Thinking over the situation he had been fighting against the past several months, D knew that most of the really bad blood was well in the past. The current tension in Paradise City was like embers of an old fire just waiting for the right wind to come along to blow them into some dry grass to ignite them once more. Naturally should that happen it would likely not remain contained in the city. Both fortunately and unfortunately the Daimyo’s of Claw and Fang seemed to genuinely have gotten over their past rivalries due to their mutual love of the Make-Out Paradise series. It was rumored that was why they had indeed named the joint city the way they did. As a result the Daimyo wanted to see their city grow and flourish so were trying not to add fuel to the situation by sending in their armies, since they likely believed there would be more bad blood between their two forces then could be mustered by the city’s residents. As such it did allow D quite a bit of leeway in trying to quell the fights that broke out between the two groups and he suspect that the Daimyo were secretly rooting for him.

Unfortunately, without a strong authoritative presence the two factions had taken it upon themselves to fight for their respective country’s pride. Usually this was demonstrated in block wide brawls in which D would show up to stop usually resulting in both groups attacking him. Luckily thus far outside of a few broken bones no one had died from any of the fights.

The same unfortunately couldn’t be said about what D viewed as the source of the conflicts the mines which each side controlled. Back when Paradise City had first been founded, things had been tense between the citizens of Fang and Claw, but had been tempered by both wanting their mine to thrive so for the most part they stayed to their respective side of town. A far cry from the vision the Daimyo had imagined but given time things would likely have improved.

D looked towards the bar and the woman who owned establishment around which Paradise City had been built. Otose was a woman who wore her age proudly and from the few pictures hanging in the bar had been a stunning woman in her youth. Although D had a hard time believing it especially as there was always a cigarette hanging from her lips or between her fingers. The woman was a citizen of Fang country, but had married a man from Claw. Her husband had earned the respect of the miners on both sides of the border before the City had existed as he had acted as a constable for both sides in order to keep the occasional border disputes from growing. He had died before Paradise City had been built having been murdered by a group of bandits that preyed on both mines, but he like his wife had both hoped such a place would one day come to be.

It’s was for Otose more so then Naruto that D was working so hard to make it the type of place they would have loved. It had started as a result of her saving his bacon by offering him food as he had laid face down in a gutter after barely making it to the City having fought some of the bandit members of the group which had murdered Otose’s husband. But as the months had passed he had generally come to see the woman as a type of caring grandmother although he’d never tell her that to her face.

Turning back to the two, he began to drum his fingers on the table. He knew that the relatively fragile peace between the residents of Paradise City had been disturbed by what had started as minor mishaps in the mines which both sides had experienced. As a result it wasn’t long before they were blaming each other for them, which culminated in a major collapse in the mine on the Claw side of the city. Several people had died in the incident which had nearly had the town erupting into a full-scale conflict, but D had recovered much of his strength by then in thanks to Otose’s cooking and quickly put it down.

As a result he had been a target of both sides, which suited him fine as the longer he could keep them focused on him the less they bothered with each other. Tonight had nearly resulted in another catastrophe but luckily due to his patrols to catch who he actually suspected was behind the trouble it had been averted. The one behind it though said, “You can’t hold me here. When my dad finds out that you have me he’s going to kick your ass.”

“He’s tried before,” D said cockily, “and yet my ass remains unkicked.” The woman named Mila scowled at him, but D smiled in reply as he added, “And while he’s stubborn enough to try again I’m sure. I think he’s going to be more concerned as to what you are doing out so late at night.”

“That’s none of your business,” Mila said angrily.

Picking up the bag he had caught her with he said, “Oh, I think it is.” He dumped it on the table showing several sticks of dynamite one of which he picked up as he said, “It’s a little out of season to be carrying fireworks don’t you think.”

The other youth and the son of the Fang Country leader Kanbei looked at the dynamite as he said sadly, “Mila don’t tell me you were going to…”

Mila’s hard glare moved from D to the young man Terumi as she said angrily, “You’re damn right I was. I was going to even the score. I lost people I cared about in that collapse. I know you Fang bastards were behind it.”

Terumi winced from her accusation, although D suspected it was because the young man was used to being teased since he had a rather youthful and innocent face. D knew the young man wasn’t a fighter like his father and as such was often teased by many on both sides for being something of a wimp. That was why D had been pretty surprised to find he was the one Mila have been pummeling as they stumbled upon each other while heading into their rival’s territories.

D focused on the young man and pulling his bag up said, “Well let’s see what had you out so late at night.”

“Wait don’t,” Terumi said as D dumped the contents onto the table as well. He frowned as instead of anything useful to sabotage the Claw country mine all that came tumbling out was some drawing utensils and a sketch pad.

D stared at them in confusion having a part of his theory crumble, but opening it up found several nude drawings of Mila which looked like they had been done in a nearby watering hole. D looked up in surprise as he looked at Mila for a moment before saying, “Um, well that’s not what I was expecting.”

“What!” Mila said standing up to catch a glimpse seeing her nude in the drawing she glared a Terumi as she shouted, “You Fang pervert, when did you draw those?”

She was about to leap on top of Terumi to begin pummeling him again, but D stood pushing her down into her chair as he said, “I think between the two of you, your actions are the ones that should raise the greater concern.”

Mila looked down torn between embarrassment and guilt. D sat down as well as he said while flipping a page in the sketchpad, “Now I think we should try and remember… Ouch!” Looking back at Otose who had just hit him in the back of the head he asked, “What’s the big idea, Granny?”

“Give that sketchpad back you foolish pervert.” D grumbled under his breath annoyed as he began to hand it to Terumi earning himself another rap to the back of his skull as the woman said, “Not to him you idiot.”

D sighed handing it to Mila, who quickly snatched and held it to her chest. Clearing his throat D said, “Anyhow, now I’m in a rather uncomfortable spot. I had hoped you both had been morons and were trying to pick up on your fathers’ foolishness. Now though since that appears not to be the case I might have to get the Daimyo involved.”

The color drained from Mila’s face although it was Terumi who asked, “Why?”

D shrugged as he explained, “Up till now there was no hard evidence that one side or the other was behind the mishaps going on in the mine. Now that Mila has been caught red-handed this means that it is likely that your father Kanbei will use this as a means to prove that all the mishaps at his mine were a result Claw country’s tampering. Naturally without any other culprits all the crimes will fall on Mila’s head, which means she might be lucky enough to escape execution only to rot in jail for a very long time.”

Mila didn’t say anything in her defense so was surprised when Terumi stood and forcibly said, “Please don’t inform anyone of what happened tonight.”

“T-terumi…”

“Whoa now kid,” D said holding his hands up, “look you’re asking me to look the other way here after finding the first real evidence that the trouble here was due to tampering.”

“But I know Mila wasn’t responsible for all that,” Terumi said, “She’s a good and kind person.”

D picked up one of the sticks of dynamite she had been carrying as he countered, “The evidence doesn’t seem to be supporting your statement kid.”

Terumi calmed as he sat down and sounding much like his father did during business negotiations stated, “Name your price.”

“Hey now. I’m insulted that you think you could bribe me,” D said although the smile on his lips gave the opposite impression. Leaning forward he said, “Fine, if you want me to forget what I saw tonight then I need information out of the two of you. Since you want to be the hero and likely don’t know anything let me ask, why are you fighting so hard for her? When I came across you two she was in the process of using her fists to rearrange your nose.”

“It was a misunderstanding… like this whole conflict… it’s like someone is trying to stir up the old resentments.”

“True, but you didn’t answer my question.”

Terumi looked down at his lap before gazing at Mila out of the corner of his eyes. Closing them he nearly shouted, “Because I love her.”

Mila was obviously shocked by his announcement, but D chuckled as he said, “Really, considering your fathers’ animosity towards each other I find it hard to believe that you have been around her long enough to…”

“I know,” Terumi said, “B-but she… she stopped some of her dad’s thugs from picking on me once when they caught me sneaking to Hollowed Falls.”

Mila looked at the sketchpad she was holding as she commented, “T-that’s where I’d sometimes swim to cool off after training with my dad or at night”

“I know,” Terumi admitted, “Although I didn’t realize that until later. I used to go there whenever I’d disappoint my dad figuring he didn’t think I would be brave enough to go to the Claw side of the border to get away from him. I wanted to approach you, but couldn’t find the courage. I guess my dad was right and I am a coward.”

D shook his head as he said, “Hey, you found the strength now when it mattered the most. That’s what counts.”

Focusing on Mila, he said, “Alright your turn. What set you off on your little self-appointed mission today? We’ve exchanged fists in the past, but you never struck me as a would-be murder.”

“I wasn’t going to kill anyone,” Mila said quickly, “I was just going to blow up the entrance of their mine when no one was in it.”

“Yeah, but why. The collapse in your father’s mine was months ago. It seems rather late in the game to be suddenly angry enough to do something so risky.”

Mila looked down as she said, “A…a merchant came to town yesterday. He was selling supplies to our men when I heard him mention the collapse and how he believed Fang was behind. He said he had heard from a fellow merchant that Kanbei had worked out a deal with the bandits located near the city. He says that’s the reason so many of our shipments had been hit recently.”

Terumi chimed in as he added, “That’s not true. They’ve been hitting us as well.”

“We haven’t heard anything of the sort,” Mila said quickly.

“No doubt because doing so would be showing a weakness to people they didn’t want to see it,” D said.

Focusing on Mila, he said, “You’re lucky I stopped you today, because if I’m right this same helpful merchant supplied you with the dynamite.”

Mila nodded as she explained, “He said it was only right that they experience the same setbacks as us.”

“I’m sure he did,” D said, “But he had far more sinister reasons the he was letting on. You would have placed these charges and lit the fuse only to find they didn’t explode. I’m betting he was hoping you’d lose your nerve and leave them there. Although it would have worked out well enough if you went back.”

“Why?” Mila asked.

“Well, if you left them there then come morning, they would have exploded on cue likely in the middle of a shift or as people first began entering the mine. If you tried to remove them then they would have gone off then as well killing you and giving Kanbei the hard evidence that his rival was behind his troubles. I’m sure you can imagine what would happen then as both sides went after each other in earnest.”

Showing them what he meant, he snapped one of the sticks of dynamite, but instead of gunpowder it had a rolled up tag inside of it. “With this that merchant would be able to detonate them at his leisure. He is probably near the mine right now to see if you go through with it or not.” Mila looked sick as the realization of what could have been hit her. D smiled gently as he said, “That’s the problem with hate, it lets us see only what we want to see about a situation and causes us to ignore what doesn’t fit our beliefs. It also makes it easier for people to manipulate us. There is trouble her in Paradise City, but I believe it is someone operating from the outside hoping to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit.”

“But who?” Terumi asked.

“Let me go ask our friend the merchant if he has any ideas,” D said standing to see if his guess as to the man’s whereabouts was right.

*****************************
Several Centuries in the Past:

Fuka found her new existence rather disturbing as she floated along. Luckily her killers seemed rather confident that she was done for as they had not set a quick pace back to their clan’s territories. She had been able to track them to a small inn several miles away. Gliding stealthily through the inn, she found the room which they had checked into not even bothering to change their names in the registry. She suspected that Eiji wanted her father to know who it was who had so thoroughly fooled his daughter before killing her and taking the scroll.

Cursing her foolishness, she managed to slide into their room through the gap under the door. She saw Eiji lying naked on the bed, and moved to kill him but paused as he said, “Hey babe hurry it up. It’s not like you were the one covered in that Uzumaki bitch’s blood after all.”

“Hold your horses,” Kagerou replied, “Consider it your punishment for sleeping with that sow.”

“Hey I was under orders,” Eiji said with a chuckle, “Do you honestly think I enjoyed having to stick my dick inside her?”

“You looked like you were enjoying it.”

Eiji chuckled as he whispered softly to himself, “Well maybe a little.”

Fuka’s hatred of the Hagoromo Clan grew, yet it was a white hot fury for these two in particular. If she still had her body she would have smiled as she decided how best to enjoy her revenge. Gliding low to prevent from being spotted by Eiji, she entered the partially opened bathroom door. Rising above the shower curtain, she saw her target washing her hair. Fuka began to lower herself down onto her victim’s scalp. Kagerou sensed the attack a few seconds too late as the strands of Fuka’s hair wrapped tightly around the woman’s throat squeezing the life out of her even as she siphoned off her chakra. The woman struggled to call for Eiji, but he was too absorbed in fisting his own cock in order to have it ready for his lover to notice anything.

Between the lack of air and the absorption of her chakra the fight left Kagerou rather quickly. Fuka prevented her from falling by wrapping strands of hair around the showerhead. When Kagerou ceased being a person, but a lifeless vessel upon which Fuka now resided the not quite living woman turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She looked in the mirror to see Kagerou’s features had been replaced with her own so used her hair to cover her face as she emerged from the bathroom.

Eiji seeing his lover’s black hair was now marooned said, “What’s with the new color? Don’t tell me you where jealous of all the compliments I paid to Fuka’s hair now.”

Fuka used Kagerou’s voice as she said, “You did pay it quite a few.”

“You know how those Uzumaki love their red-hair,” Eiji said amused, “But it’s cute seeing you so jealous. Although, the color is darker than it should be.”

“I could go back to try to match it better,” Fuka said turning away.

“Hey now, its fine the way it is. But more importantly…”

Fuka smiled to herself as she could almost imagine Eiji motioning towards his erect cock. “Of course,” she said as she turned back around and reaching the foot of the bed began to crawl up it. She almost wanted to laugh since she doubted that Eiji would have noticed her face even if she wasn’t keeping it concealed. Approaching his dick she said, “This is the cock which belongs to the dick who first awakened me to pleasure.”

More annoyed that his lover wasn’t sucking him already and a little confused asked, “What the fuck are you going on about now? I thought you said, the first person you slept with was… Fuka!!!”

Fuka smiled darkly as she pushed her hair from her face. She basked in the terror that she saw in his eyes before they darted to the bathroom. “Shh, don’t worry Eiji we won’t be disturbed again. You could say that Kagerou is already in the room with us.”

“F…Fuka…I’m sorry… our…our plan was discovered and…”

He trailed off as Fuka climbed up his body to place a finger against his lips as she said, “Shh, Eiji it’s okay. I just want to know one thing.”

“W-what’s that?”

“Do you want a soft kiss or a deep one?”

“Wha… hpph?!!!!”

Fuka sealed her lips to his and began draining him of his chakra. Eiji struggled against her but quickly grew weaker and weaker until she had consumed his entire life-force. Placing a soft kiss against his lips as a follow-up, she asked his lifeless body, “Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

Fuka stood from the bed and quickly found her clan’s scroll. She took a moment to bask in her having cheated death and gotten her revenge, but frowned as outside of her hair, she couldn’t truly feel anything making her feel as if the body she now controlled was just a puppet. Figuring that she would worry about it later after returning the scroll, she dressed and disappeared into the night.

*****************************
The Past: Day 290: Hours before The Fall

“To the new village leader D,” both Bass and Kanbei said causing all those gathered to take up the toast as well. D smiled and accepted the toast, but planned to talk with the two men later as he intended to gently turn the position down since they had surprised him with it just moments before. D looked around the room and smiled as he saw what he felt was the culmination of his efforts since it was filled with natives of both Fang and Claw.

Thinking about what led him to this point, he smiled as he recalled his hunch about the merchant had been right. Although truthfully, it would be more accurate to call him a mercenary. The man had been a missing-nin and while likely chunin level in talent, he had forced D into a corner due to his limited number of jutsu which he could safely use. Luckily for him, both Mila and Terumi had gone to their fathers to explain the situation. Both Kanbei and Bass had showed up and between the three of them they had managed to subdue the man. He quickly explained that he had been hired by the Redhawks, the bandit group behind a lot of the hardships facing both factions to keep them from getting along.

The Redhawks upon hearing of their agent’s capture decided to raid the village before they could be attacked in turn, but were demolished by the united citizens of Paradise City. D would admit that he found the confession a little too convenient, but in light of the attack on the City was forced to accept it since the leader of the group had escaped. The bandits they did capture though had simply claimed that their leader was a stranger to the group and had killed the previous one before beginning his campaign against the city. D suspected that in spite of the fact that the attack on the village had seemed to unite the citizens of both countries, that the real reason the Redhawks’ leader had ordered it was to keep to the narrative that all the trouble in Paradise City had been the groups doing.

Hoping that if he was right, that the true culprits behind the trouble afflicting his home had moved on he resolved to keep his guard up. Still seeing as it had been several months since then, he admitted that it was hard to remain wary. Looking out the front window of Otose’s bar, he could see the base of the shining building that the citizens of Paradise City had begun to build in the wake of the attack and whose completion they were now celebrating.

He looked away and saw Otose smiling happily as she served the revelers since it appeared that her and her husband’s dream was coming true. The large building even bore his name as it was called Tatsugorou Tower, which was why rather than celebrate the opening there everyone had opted to go to Otose’s.

“Hey, quite daydreaming,” a loud voice said next to him.

D smiled already imagining the woman’s disproving look as he turned and his eyes met the pink ones of Megumi. She had been a new addition to the town having moved there from her hometown in Fang Country hopping to strike it big. She had soon found employment in Otose’s where she had been a constant pain in the butt as she kept prying into D’s business. Still he had come to care for her during that time as she would help him regain his strength after a new group of bandits tried to raid the ore shipments from the mine and in his more honest moments recently he believed he loved her.

Lately though, he had noticed that the closer they seemed to get, the sadder her eyes seemed to grow. Still a part of him suspected that he was transferring his own feelings onto her as D felt that it went without saying that although he felt like he was his own man, he knew that time was his enemy. He pushed the sad thoughts away as he chuckled mentally as he thought of some of the misunderstandings that happened between him and Megumi whenever he received some of the memories of clones that had been with Naruto. It was a rather rare occurrence usually and at times didn’t seem to happen until his mind was calm making D understand partially how it was that Naruto could not notice for so long since he had most often used them in the heat of battle. But while he had accepted that his time was more finite then most, whenever he was with Megumi, he found he wished his time could go on.

Focusing on the woman he said, “Sorry, my mind was just reflecting on the past.”

“Since when does mister live for today ever worry about the past?” she asked teasingly.

D shrugged feeling like they both were just playing their parts before answering, “I don’t know. I guess maybe I just realize that things won’t always be like this no matter how much I wish they could be.”

A conflicted look appeared on Megumi’s face prompting D to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing,” Megumi said quickly turning to leave.

D grabbed her gently by the shoulder causing to stop as he asked, “You can tell me what’s bothering you Megumi.”

She paused before looking over her shoulder to ask, “C…Can I meet you tonight in your new apartment?”

D nodded as he still had a hard time adapting to the large penthouse he had been given considering the small room he had rented from Otose. Glad that perhaps he would have some company tonight, he watched her melt into the crowd as she continued to serve the guest. He was still concerned by what was troubling her, but a hand on his shoulder caused him to turn and he smiled seeing Megumi and Terumi behind him. Giving the couple a happy smile he asked, “What’s up you two?”

“There’s something we want to tell you. Can you come with us?”

“Sure,” D replied looking back at the crowd searching for Megumi as he wondered if they could have a future like the young couple leading him outside.

*****************************
The present:
Naruto stood in a dark space as he reflected on the answer that D had received courtesy of Megumi, although he doubted that was her name. He sighed sadly feeling an emptiness caused by the betrayal of a woman he didn’t know.

“Is it really a betrayal if we both were lying to each other from the start?” Naruto turned to see D, who smiled at him and giving him a relatively decent Kakashi impression as he said, “Yo.”

“How?”

“Hell if I know,” D said amused. “I mean as near as I can tell I’ve been dead for a couple weeks now. Although I don’t think I dispersed like normal, kind of like that clone you made of Koyuki so it’s probably due to my chakra slowly bleeding off. Or, much like in your youth you needed a quiet moment to actually realize you had memories that weren’t entirely yours.”

Naruto looked at the clone he had made and truthfully never given much thought to. Face to face with him now he said, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” The clone asked amused again, “I always knew it was going to end like this… well maybe not like this, but you get what I’m saying. Looking back, it was always just a matter of time before it all came to an end. Most of my brethren get what perhaps an hour or two at most. I got a whopping two-hundred and ninety days of life to enjoy. I’m grateful for it.”

“But, what about how you viewed yourself no longer to be an extension of me?”

“Well that’s true enough I suppose,” D answered, “But it only goes so far as to explain that for that span of time I lived a different life then you, and as such developed differently then you. Now though, my time is up and I guess it’s fair to say that now it’s my turn to change you.” D began to glow before turning into chakra which traveled towards Naruto before he absorbed it. Before being absorbed completely D said, “There is one thing I want you to do for me. If you do find Megumi please don’t hold what happened against her. Remember that she was likely just completing a mission that she had been tasked with as well.”

Naruto nodded as the dark world of his subconscious began to be replaced with world of yellow and white. He heard his mother’s voice calling him so opened his eyes and met her worried gaze, “Just five more minutes’ mom.”

“I wish we had them honey,” his mother said sadly.


Fuen found Sora lost in thought as he sat in a chair in their hidden base’s council chamber. She frowned having come to view the man as a competent commander so if he was concerned she knew there was good reason to be. Therefore she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sora looked up as he replied, “While we were collecting our target somehow or another Kazuma managed to get himself free.”

She frowned as she knew how dangerous Kazuma could be. Wondering why he was not proceeding to the bounty collection office she asked, “Then why are you still here? Wouldn’t it be best to get out of here while the getting is good?”

Sora glared at her, but calmed a moment later as he explained, “Normally yes I would agree with you. But moving a jinchuriki could be dangerous even under the best of times, with my father out there it could be a downright fatal mistake.”

Fuen didn’t point out that so could remaining still as she had learned an interesting bit of information while dropping off the corpse of Chiriku. Passing it along, she said, “Well what if we didn’t need to turn him in alive?”

“Explain,” Sora demanded.

Fuen smiled as she said, “It seems that whoever placed the mysterious bounty to collect the nine-tails has some competition. I was informed that a competing bid was received, the price was higher and the condition for payment was that all we need to deliver is his head.”

“How fortuitous?” Sora said sounding rather skeptical.

“I know, but I did confirm that the bounty was genuine. It is being held by a trusted third party, if the customer tries to back out the only ones out of anything would be the middleman. Not something a person should do unless he wants a price put on his head in return.”

Sora smirked as he said, “Well that certainly simplifies things. I’ll allow you to do the honors while I go collect Fudo. He is likely checking on the status of the Leaf shinobi and Watari by now. We’ll want their corpses to add to our jutsu for when we attack the Leaf.”

Fuen smiled as she began heading down to the dungeon, “It’ll be my pleasure.”

****************************
Fuka was busy unlocking Naruto from the wall having received the instructions from whoever was giving them. She was glad for the work as she didn’t want to remember returning to her home only to find her father blocking her path. He had then cast her out using the color of her hair as proof that not only had she betrayed the clan, but that she had become something monstrous in the process.

In the years following her banishment much of Fuka’s anger had been directed against her clan’s enemies. But as more time passed and the years turned to decades and then centuries she had ceased to care killing simply because she must in order to continue her ghoulish life. Now though with a true flesh and blood body, she wasn’t sure what to do. Yet, for the immediate future it didn’t seem to matter as her destiny seemed to be in the hands of the jinchuriki. He came loose of his binding causing Fuka to catch him and then begin moving him towards the cell door and back to Vegetable as she had been ordered. However just before reaching it the door opened to reveal Fuen causing Fuka to frown as her body tensed to attack the woman.
*****************************

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked as he sat up from his mother’s lap.

Kushina ignored the question to explain, “I’ve been holding you back, Honey.”

“No you haven’t, mom,” Naruto stated firmly. “You’ve helped me lots of times.”

Kushina nodded as she said, “Yes, using a power that is yours. But because of your… nightly activities it has been locked away from you so as to prevent our chakras from completely merging.”

Naruto frowned sensing his mother’s sadness so asked, “I don’t understand?”

“I was given the key to your seal shortly after Jiraiya’s death. Since if the seal was opened I would fully experience what your lovers did Kiyomi gave me the key and would let me decide when to open it.”

Feeling a cold chill pass through him as he suspected what his mother was alluding to he asked, “Did you?”

Kushina nodded as she explained, “I did a few moments ago and I disconnected my soul from Kiyomi’s original form. I feared that I would fade away before you awoke.”

“Why would you do that?” Naruto said panicking as she began to fade.

Kushina gave a sad smile and didn’t say anything although she thought to herself, “Because I didn’t want to become a sinful woman.” Yet to her surprise her son managed to grab ahold of her and her form began to stabilize as he pumped his chakra into her. “Naruto, stop it. You need to conserve your strength to escape. I’m so happy that I got to spend as much time with you as I did, but my time is over…”

“I refuse,” Naruto said pumping even more chakra into her, “You told me you wanted us to be a happy family but then you do something like this. If you wanted me to have access to the Bijuu chakra there were better ways than to go about it.”

“Naruto don’t you see the situation called…”

“I said no,” Naruto replied angrily, “I told you I’m selfish and I don’t give up on the things I want and I want you in my life mom.”

His mother hugged him as she said, “But it’s a mother’s job to sacrifice herself for her child. Let me go so you can go back to your family.”

Naruto gritted his teeth as he said, “You are also a part of my family and since Dad isn’t here it’s my job to protect you.”

“But…”

“I said I’m not letting go,” Naruto said determinedly.

*****************************

“What the hell is going on here?” Fuen asked since if she didn’t know better she would have suspected Fuka of helping the jinchuriki to escape. To her surprise though, she noticed that Fuka’s body tensed as if to attack her. Deciding to kill them both, seeing as she held no allegiance to her teammate, yet before Fuen could begin creating the hand-signs which would have the stone walls crush the two, the unconscious jinchuriki’s arm shot forward sensing the threat as a result of the malice she was giving off.

His hand clamped around her throat as he said, “I’m not letting go.”

Fuen was about to make him regret those words, but then a pulse of chakra passed through him and slammed into her which blasted her consciousness away. Naruto instinctually used the knowledge he had absorbed from taking complete possession of Kiyomi’s Bijuu form to transplant his mother’s soul into its new home.

He returned to unconsciousness again due to the chakra he had expended while to Fuka’s surprise Fuen’s body began to change. The woman’s blue eyes began to turn violet, but to Fuka the most striking change was how her hair began to grow even longer as it turned the fiery red of the Uzumaki clan. The woman that had been Fuen sank to her knees before looking up worriedly as she said, “Naruto, dammit you stubborn fool.” Fuka noticed a small smile appeared on Naruto’s face at the woman’s words, but he still remained dead weight in her arms.

Kushina noticed her son’s smile as well and felt a small one threaten to appear on her face. But knowing they were still in danger said, “Let’s go, follow your orders.”

Fuka didn’t feel any drive to obey the woman, but her body responded regardless aware that the woman wasn’t a threat and so she could do as she had been instructed. The two women stepped out into the hallway and preceded a handful of steps before their path was blocked by Sora who said, “What the fuck is this? I’m glad I decided to check on Fuen, her story sounded a little too good to be true. I’m guessing you killed her to infiltrate this base and hoped to sneak off with my prize.”

Kushina sighed before replying, “Sure, let’s go with that.” She then moved faster than Sora could actually follow until she appeared right in front of him. Spinning, she kicked him in the stomach sending him flying back through the entryway he had appeared from before turning her head back towards Fuka to say, “Get going now!”

Fuka didn’t need whatever spell had been cast on her to take effect as she was sure that Sora wouldn’t waste time with questions, especially if he decided to go all out in which case he would likely attack everything in sight. Recognizing that at present her best avenue of survival relied on the jinchuriki’s, she began moving as fast as she could to escape the hideout.

*****************************

Kakashi was beginning to lose hope in their situation as he considered giving the order to retreat up to the second level. He knew that doing so would likely signal to the enemy watching that they were tiring and desperate to create some room between the endless and untiring horde of undead. If the situation was reversed that would be the moment whem he would use a jutsu to give the zombies multiple avenues up into the second level thereby overwhelming the tired defenders. Yet, looking around at his tired team and the Watari with even the upbeat Ibuki seemingly ready to accept her fate, Kakashi almost gave the order.

However, an injured Watari resting against the back wall pointed to the sky asking, “What’s that?”

Kakashi directed his gaze skyward to see a meteorite passing through some clouds before smashing into one of the altars casting the barrier around the capital. The giant rock devastated the construction causing it to collapse thereby causing the barrier to fade. The zombies seemed unaware of the change as they continued to attack, but a handful of moments later many of the ones standing on the stairs were pulled away from the beleaguered defenders. Kakashi saw a young woman with orange hair standing among the undead which began to move to attack her. Rather calmly the woman raised her hand and said, “Almighty Push,” sending the undead flying away from her.

Several more moved to attack so Sage channeled her Asura path chakra and directed it into her hand. This caused it to take on a mechanical appearance before further morphing into what looked like a cannon of some sort. Sage targeted the closest one and fired, blowing its head off and causing it to turn into dust. She repeated the feat multiple times as she moved up the stairs to the rest of the weary defenders.

Kakashi didn’t recognize the girl, but Sakura did as she said, “Sage, I was wondering why I felt Naruko moving away from us, especially since she didn’t seem to be heading towards Naruto’s location.”

“Sister could sense someone nearby whose chakra matched the one powering these creatures. She suspects that he is the one that cast the jutsu,” Sage informed the pink haired girl dispassionately as she blasted a hole through the chest of one zombie before decapitating a second. “She is pursuing him in order to force him to end the jutsu.”

“What about Naruto though?” Kakashi asked not sure why the woman bound to him wasn’t mounting a rescue.

“I was unsure why Naruko wasn’t moving to rescue him when she could feel his chakra again. When I inquired she said it was because she believed your situation was more dire and Naruto would prefer she help here first.” Sage was still rather confused by Naruto’s harems actions since outside of Naruko it appeared the others had not moved to help. She suspected that it was due to the fact that for the most part the women couldn’t expose themselves every time an unexpected situation arouse even if it affected one or more members. Yet, Sage felt it must be extremely difficult to know that they could help but be powerless to do so lest everything they worked for become undone.

She knew her sister had been extremely agitated as she had pushed herself harder and harder to reach Vegetable in time to be of assistance. An agitation that Naruko took out on Fudo when she caught up to him, and which Sage saw courtesy of her bond with Katsuyu. The Blonde Toad Sage didn’t even give Fudo a chance to defend himself as she appeared on a branch in front of him as he tried to get away from whoever had destroyed the barrier. The woman in full sage mode smashed her fist up into the man’s jaw sending him skyward.

Sage caught sight of him with her own eyes as he appeared above the canopy of leaves before crashing back to the earth in the middle of the Vegetable Capital. Sage was sure if it was Naruko’s punch or the fall that ultimately killed him, but a moment later the zombies all began crumbling to dust. Sage was approached by a young Watari kunoichi who asked, “Wow what hit him?”

“My sister,” Sage said calmly before turning her cannon on the Watari, many of whom appeared about to flee, “and she will be extremely displeased if she has to come back this way to capture you all instead of heading to where she wants.”

Many of the Watari sagged defeated as they saw their chances of building a home for themselves crumble to dust in a similar manner as the undead had moments before.

****************************

Sora had rolled back to his feet by the time Kushina appeared through the doorway that she had kicked him through. To the red-head the large room looked like a place where Sora and his allies would gather to discuss their strategy to capture Naruto. He swiped at her from across the room with his left hand and channeling his wind chakra into the metal claw sent three sent several Wind Scythes towards her.

Kushina didn’t slow down as she continued running towards the young man. At the last second she dropped to her knees and used her momentum to slide under the jutsu. Then just as smoothly got back to her feet, she did a forward flip into the air and lashing out with both feet caught her opponent in the face. The former Fire Temple monk stumbled backwards from the blow as Kushina used him to flip backwards. At the apex of her flip she reached out towards Sora and a pair of chakra chains shot out from the palms of her hands. The chains stabbed into his shoulders causing him to scream out in pain as she pulled him into the air and then whipped the chains around. Sora was lifted him into the air was smashed into a heavy wooden table.

Sora pulled one of the chains free and attempted to use the other to pull the woman towards him and onto his claw. However, it faded away causing him to stumble back before glaring angrily as he regained his footing and said, “You’re going to regret interfering in my plans. I’m really going to enjoy seeing the despair in your eyes when you realize you’re no match for me.”

Kushina didn’t bother responding to the taunt as she watched her foe carefully, she noticed the wounds on his shoulders began to close causing her to wonder just what abilities the young man possessed. She knew that Naruto suspected the young monk was some sort of Human Weapon along the same lines of the jinchuriki, but she wasn’t sure what sort of creature or being had been sealed inside him to augment his abilities. Her eyes grew as she felt a familiar chakra pulse from the youth as he screamed painfully while grabbing his right arm. Looking at his bandaged right hand Kushina noticed that it seemed slightly more claw-like as he struggled to calm his chakra.

“How can…” Kushina began to ask recognizing the chakra, but Sora went on the offensive charging towards her placing her on the defensive. Dodging back a step, she avoided a thrust with his clawed left and then raised her right arm to block a punch from his right hand. She slid back a few steps to avoid another swipe with his claw, and when he tried to sweep it back she caught it at the wrist which she followed up by locking his arm. Slamming her knee into it she broke his elbow at the joint.

“Fucking bitch,” Sora gritted between his teeth before lashing out with backward kick which forced her to let go. Sora rolled away holding his freshly broken arm before resetting it as he continued to glare daggers at the woman.

Kushina found the stare reminded her of a caged animal which only knew how to lash out at a world which had hurt it. She knew it was a stare which she herself could have worn had Mito not taught her the essence of how to survive as a jinchuriki, or one which her son could have developed as a result of his own hardships. Knowing that the young man in front of her carried a similar burden as Naruto, she said, “You need to stop this madness. I know the burden you carry isn’t an easy one but…”

“A burden,” Sora said amused, “I suppose it used to feel that way back before I learned the truth. But now I understand that what my father gave me was a gift.”

“Gift,” Kushina repeated with an air of disbelief as she recalled how Sora had reacted upon learning that his father who he had locked up had escaped. “If you view it as such why would you betray your father?”

Sora’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “How do you know that? Are you working for him?” He smirked though as he said, “It doesn’t matter I suppose, since you aren’t leaving here alive. But if you must know before I end you it’s because while it is something he gave me, he only ever intended for me to use this power for his benefit. After being a plaything in his and Chiriku’s rivalry I’ve decided to use this power for my own ends.”

“What ends would those be? Shouldn’t a monk have sworn off all earthly pursuits?”

“Those hypocritical teachings no longer hold any meaning for me,” Sora said dismissively. “They preach accepting all those seeking enlightenment, yet turned their backs on me in fear.”

“Are you not proving them right in fearing you?” Kushina asked hoping to reach the young man.

“What does it matter?” Sora replied dismissively. “What does matter in this world is power, and once I kill the jinchuriki of the nine-tails there will be precious few that will be able to match mine.”

Kushina’s eyes narrowed as she said dangerously, “That was a mistake.”

“Well you already made yours fool,” Sora said cockily, “Wasting time trying to reach me with meaningless words when you should have been more concerned with stopping me.” Thrusting his right arm at her a massive claw made of wind chakra launched at the red-head.

Kushina managed to avoid it by rolling out of the way, but Sora used the moment to close with her. She blocked the claw on his left but received a knee to the stomach which doubled her over. His right hand grabbed her by the throat like a clamp before lifting her off her feet. His grip tightened around her neck as he tried to squeeze the life from her.

The edge of Kushina’s vision began to darken, but she remained calm as she shot a chakra chain from her right palm into the ruined table behind him. She pulled it towards them causing Sora to spin around to batter it away, but Kushina used the sudden distraction to wrap her legs around his arm and pushing her foot into the side of his head broke the grip on her throat before trying to pull his arm out of its socket.

She quickly abandoned the attempt as he tried to stab his claw into her side so kicked off of him to land several feet away. The two stared at each other as they looked for openings to exploit, Kushina moved first quickly traversing the distance between them, as she expected Sora swiped at her with his claw. Although he used his wind chakra to extend his reach, she was prepared leaping over it the strike sideways upon landing she kicked his hand downward causing him to cut into the floor. Before he could recover she smashed her knee up into his head, as he rocked back she grabbed his left hand quickly removing the claw and tossing it away. She then flipped him so that he landed on his rear, and her arms around his neck from behind began to cut off his flow of oxygen.

“L…Let go of me you bitch.” Sora wheezed out wasting precious air.

He attempted to reach back and grab Kushina’s head, but she countered by channeling chakra to her hair which grabbed his arms. Her hair pulled his arms out and back holding them away from his body making it easier for her to apply pressure to his airways. Kushina felt the fight fading from Sora’s body as he became weaker and weaker, but then she felt the familiar chakra pulse dangerously seconds before being blown back by it.

She managed to land on her feet as Sora’s bandaged arm began to pulsate and grow causing the wrapping to give way and exposing his demon like arm. He screamed as chakra began to coat his body as six-tails began to appear. Kushina cursed as a skeletal fox also began to appear around the boy. Sora’s face was last to be covered by the chakra so he looked behind him giving her a dark grin. Kushina threw another chakra chain which appeared from her outstretched hand hoping to hit the young man between the eyes. But the chakra as if sensing the attack or Sora fully gave himself over to it quickly swallowed the exposed head. Her attack drove harmlessly into the fox skull that appeared as the Six-tailed beast form Sora seemed to study her for a moment. Kushina yanked her chain free and prepared to attack but then the Chakra Beast roared, knocking her back as well as causing the hideout to collapse.

*****************************

Naruto felt like he was moving at a relatively good pace, which surprised him considering his eyes were closed. Still feeling drained he left them closed as he said questioningly, “Mom?”

“I’m not your mother,” Fuka’s voice quickly responded heatedly.

Naruto pushed away from the hostile voice causing her to stumble and him to roll along the ground as he fell from her back. Scrambling to his feet, he faced the angrily glaring woman as he said, “Where the fuck are you taking me? Where’s my mom?”

“I’m getting you to safety,” Fuka said in a tone that made him aware that she was answering as a result of being bound to him, frowning since he didn’t remember sleeping with her, he ignored the questions he wanted to ask to instead inquire, “And my mother?”

“I don’t know.”

Naruto glared, but calmed as he suspected that Fuka was fighting his apparent control so she was simply giving the terse answers The Voice compelled from her. He felt a powerful burst of chakra as did Fuka who looked back towards the direction they had been traveling away from. Suspecting it was Sora, he questioned, “Why were you leaving with me, and what’s going on back there?”

Fuka’s brow furrowed as she tried to resist before answering, “I was obeying the orders that came from your mouth. You did something to an ally of my and she changed into some red head. She’s back there fighting Sora, but if I had to guess she won’t hold him for long so we should get going.”

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief since he had not felt his mother’s presence inside him, instead only feeling a connection to a massive amount of chakra, although an even larger amount seemed just out of his reach. Suspecting that his mother had transferred Kiyomi’s chakra to him, he reached for the first layer of chakra and almost immediately his world seemed to expand. Able to sense the source of the massive chakra, he was also able to feel the emotions behind it. Although, he sensed a dark malice at the center of the large chakra being, what he mostly felt was confusion and fear. But then he focused on the one fighting it and could feel a desperate determination to fight for as long as possible.

Naruto frowned as his mom’s recklessness since she seemed determined to meet her end rather than retreat. He guessed it was because she believed that the longer she could delay Sora then the more likely it was that he would be able to escape. He turned to head back to get her but was stopped as Fuka said, “Wait!”

“What,” Naruto said impatiently.

“Don’t go back there. If you do then I’ll have to as well because of whatever your chakra that I took in did to me.”

Naruto considered ignoring her, figuring she’d have to fight for him as well. Yet despite knowing she was a villain, he didn’t like the idea of forcing her to take part in a fight where she could die. Naruto also had a sneaking suspicion that she was more important to the events that had brought him to Vegetable Country then he was supposed to suspect. He couldn’t place why he felt that way, but he had the feeling that he was once more a piece in someone’s game and due to his previous encounters he immediately suspected that the game’s master was Kabuto.

Deciding to trust his instincts, he placed his hand on the ground creating a Hiraishin seal. He paused after its creation as he noticed for the first time that his hand and arm was coated in a yellow chakra. Looking at the rest of his body, he saw it covered in the same. Still he didn’t have time to admire his new form as he saw a massive explosion erupt behind them. Quickly, moving he grabbed Fuka before teleporting to Kiyomi’s mansion and appeared before his red-headed Bijuu lover.

A look of relief appeared on Kiyomi’s face as he appeared in her study which quickly turned questioning as she noticed his glowing yellow form, but Naruto pushed Fuka towards her before quickly saying, “Obey every command Kiyomi gives you.” Focusing on his lover he added, “Sorry can’t stay and chat. Love you, bye.”

Kiyomi smiled at where her lover had stood before focusing on Fuka and asked more to herself, “Now what do we have here?”

*****************************

Kushina picked herself up having created a Chakra Chain Barrier around the beast as it had created a relatively small Beast Ball. Still, her barrier had barely held only giving out towards the end and having been knocked off her feet she felt as if she was on her last legs chakra wise. However, she hoped that her gamble had worked and that the Chakra Beasts own jutsu had destroyed it.

Yet, as the dust cleared she could see that wasn’t the case and worse still the beast which had been growing larger and larger as the fight wore on appeared even stronger as it now had seven-tails and was roughly about two stories high. Moreover, it was beginning to become covered in muscle as the fox like creature howled before locking its new eyes on her. The beast leapt towards her intent on bringing its paw down atop of her, but Kushina rolled under and towards it in order to get out of the way. However, the beast, rather than turning to face her upon landing instead began to bring one of its massive tails down on her. Kushina knew she wouldn’t get out of the way in time so closed her eyes as she whispered, “Please be safe Naruto.”

She thought she heard Naruto shout, “Mom!” But it was drowned out by the sound of the tails smashing into the ground. Kushina felt like she was flying and as opposed to her first death found it a relatively gentle way to leave the mortal plane.

But then she had trouble breathing as dust washed over her, she coughed wondering why the afterlife was so dusty, but her eyes snapped open as she heard Naruto say, “I’m beginning to think I know where I got my foolish recklessness from.”

Kushina blushed as she realized she was being held in her son’s arms as they stood atop of a tree. For a moment she thought it was her own strong feelings causing him to seem to glow as the scene reminded her of when Minato had saved her from the Kumo-nin. Yet, she quickly cleared her head of the less than motherly thoughts which threatened to appear next. Commenting on his appearance she said, “It seems you’ve made use of the chakra I’ve left you.”

“I’m not entirely sure what abilities this chakra mode has, but luckily for you it does seem to have increased my speed a great deal.”

Kushina nodded in agreement, and was surprised that the Bijuu like creature wasn’t pressing the attack. Looking over towards it she was surprised to see it watching them carefully as if gauging the new arrival. “W-why isn’t he attacking?”

“I take it that’s Sora then,” Naruto asked causing his mother to nod.

Kushina stared up at her son as a small frown appeared on his face. He absentmindedly adjusted her weight in his arms instantly reminding her that she was being held in them. Her blush returned as she said, “You can put me down Naruto.”

“Actually, I don’t think I should.” Naruto responded keeping his eyes on the Bijuu. “I don’t think Sora is in control of the Bijuu and I think the reason it’s not attacking is because it doesn’t want to be the aggressor.”

Surprised she asked, “What do you mean? It had no trouble attacking me.”

Naruto gave her a playful smile as he countered, “True, but you were also pounding on its host. It was probably just defending its home. If I’m right then what we’re looking at is kind of what Kiyomi did with the piece of the eight-tails that Urd was born of, except it took years for it to grow this much.”

They watched as an eighth-tail formed causing black fur to begin coating the new Bijuu which continued to watch the pair. “I can sense malice within it, but if I’m right then that’s likely Sora.”

“You mean you developed a similar sense as Mito?”

Naruto nodded as he answered, “Yeah, it’s kind of strange but it’s like some kind of aggression detector and a few other surface emotions. This Bijuu is giving off a lot of fear and confusion, but it is keeping the malice contained.”

Naruto placed his mother down, who was a little worried that her son would sense her sadness at his doing so. He didn’t seem to pick up on it as he said, “Stay back. I want to try and calm it down.”

Kushina felt nervous but nodded as Naruto dropped down to the ground and cautiously approached the Bijuu while holding his hands. “Hey there,” he said soothingly, “I know you’re scared, but I’m not going to hurt you.”

The Bijuu watched cagily as Naruto approached and growled threatening which caused him to stop. Naruto remained still for a handful of moments before approaching once more, this time as the Bijuu growled he kept walking slowly. After several tense minutes he was standing in front of the Black Kyuubi which after several heartbeats lowered its face towards the male Uzumaki. Naruto reached out slowly placing his hand on the Bijuu’s snout which he began to rub affectionately, “There, there, everything is going to be alright.”

Kushina smiled as the Bijuu seemed to relax from her son’s touch, but then something shifted in its eyes causing her to shout, “Naruto!”

Naruto sensed it as well as the malice seemed to switch places with what he believed had been the will of the Black Kyuubi. The Bijuu suddenly surged forward and tried to bite the blond in half but Naruto managed to get clear in time. Landing away from the Bijuu he said, “You really do like your sneak attacks.”

The Bijuu grinned evilly as it said, “You should consider it a sign of your status. It would be rather foolish for most people to fight you head on. Although I do need to thank you, your calming this beast down finally allowed me to establish control. Still I need to make this quick already I can feel it fighting me. It seems you’ve made a friend.”

Naruto grimaced from Sora’s words since if they were true then the monk in a sense hadn’t been behind the destruction of the Flower Village, but instead it had been the Bijuu he contained. The blond suspected though that much like with his mother, the reason the young Bijuu had attacked though was because it had been attacked first. He could understand why the Flower Shinobi would respond the way they did when a powerful chakra creature first appeared in the midst of their village, but he felt a red hot boiling anger directed at Sora for putting the Bijuu in such a situation.

Sora leapt at Naruto, who in a blink of an eye quickly darted under him so that he stopped just behind the Tailed Beast. Naruto called upon the knowledge he absorbed from his own Bijuu’s original form and formed a pair of chakra arms which rose out of his shoulders. As Sora’s beast form landed Naruto leapt towards him moving almost like a streak of light through the dark and slammed the large fist protruding from his cloaks right shoulder into the side of his opponents head. The blow sent the black beast’s head reeling to the side. Where after hitting the ground Naruto leapt again and appeared on the other side hitting the human controlled Bijuu’s head back the other way. He then appeared above Sora as he tried to recover and then in an overhead blow brought both large hands down on human controlled Bijuu’s skull.

The blow slammed Sora’s head into the ground hard enough to leave an impression. Landing, Naruto watched as Sora got back to his feet and then roared causing a massive pressure wave to pass through the area. Naruto stood his ground as he struggled against it, but was sent flying as Sora spun quickly hitting Naruto with one of his form’s tails. Naruto smashed through several trees and dug a deep furrow in the ground before finally coming to a rest. He heard trees snapping like twigs as the black fox tore through the forest towards him. Getting to his feet, Naruto formed a pair of Big Ball Rasengan in the palm of his chakra arms’ hands which he jammed into Sora’s face and chest as he appeared through the trees.

The jutsu sent him flying back the way he came, causing him to land in a heap near the clearing where their battle had begun. Sora slowly got back to his feet, but was pulled back to the ground as chains sprang from the ground wrapping themselves around his beast form. The corrupted monk tried to pull free, but they held fast.

Still the transformed man struggled against them until a new voice said, “Food Cart Destroyer.”

Naruto looked in the air to see Gamabunta’s massive form blot out the sky as he smashed down onto the Black Fox. Sora screamed out in pain even as the Boss Toad said, “What the hell? A black Kyuubi, who the hell gave you permission to summon me to fight against such a troublesome opponent?”

Naruko replied, “What good is it to call forth the Boss Toad if all he wants to do is take on weaklings?”

“I didn’t say that,” Gamabunta countered, “I’m saying that it would be nice if once in a while they were weaklings.”

Naruto landed behind Naruko as he said, “Nice timing you two?”

“Hold onto that sentiment brat,” Gamabunta said as the Black Fox glared up at him. He noticed that the glare seemed to fade, but he didn’t have much time to contemplate it as the beast opened its mouth to form a Beast Ball.

“Return home Boss,” Naruto shouted as the ball shot away towards the ruined hideout. Naruto grabbed Naruko leaping from the summon’s back before it burst into smoke and sped towards his mother, who was kneeling on the ground with the chains coming from her back. Naruto grabbed her as she ended her jutsu just before the energy ball exploded upon hitting the ruined base. Naruto took off as the shockwave of the blast headed towards them zipping through the trees while surprised at how powerful the blast was.

He was about to Hiraishin away likely giving Sora a chance to escape but upon finding a nearby rock formation, Naruto landed behind it pulling both women towards him even as several chains once more shot forth from Kushina as she created a barrier to protect them just as the shockwave hit. The stone barrier took the brunt of the blast before collapsing over them as the wave of destruction washed by. Kushina’s barrier protected them from the falling rocks, but once the shockwave passed it still took several moments for them to extract themselves without causing the rocks to collapse on them.

Once free, Naruto said, “Wait here.”

He quickly headed back to the site of the blast but found no sign of Sora or his Bijuu form. He tried to sense the monk by the hatred that he had sensed earlier, but as he believed it had been the Bijuu and not the monk who had created the beast ball, he wasn’t surprised that he couldn’t. Still, it worried him that the Monk had somehow managed to escape since he didn’t think even the Bijuu would be so unaffected by being caught in the blast. That he couldn’t even sense the Chakra of the Tailed Beast made him worried that someone had collected it while they had been busy extracting themselves from the rocks. Turning away, he quickly returned to Naruko and his mother in order to check on his other lovers.

*****************************

Sage lay in her bed with Katsuyu as another clone of the slug observed Naruko as she snuck through the castle towards her target. It had been several hours since the end of the battle against the undead animated by the jutsu Fudo cast and the fight against a Sora possessed Black Kyuubi. Although Naruto’s lovers had not been able to act overly affectionate upon his return, Sage could see they were obviously relieved that he was alright, just as he was that they had not been hurt. She had initially suspected though that the night would be filled with his lovers showing their feelings for him.

Kakashi seemed to as well which was why he gently reminded the Leaf Kunoichi that they were still on a mission. Still, Sage knew her sister, so wasn’t surprised that it appeared that she wasn’t going to be held bound by Kakashi’s no sex rule. Yet, Sage knew that her sister would have one other obstacle to sneak by since Kushina seemed also to be pleased by the idea that Naruto’s lovers would not be monopolizing his time, and had even sequestered herself in his room with him so that he would rest.

As Naruko reached the hall of Naruto’s room, she hid in the shadows while she waited for her chance. Sage passed the time by thinking about how Naruto had seemed after they had returned from searching for Sora. He had obviously been worried when Hana and Kakashi after searching the blast area had not been able to find a scent trail. There hadn’t even been a physical one for some reason, which considering its size did seem surprising, but if Naruto’s belief that the Bijuu had retaken control was accurate then it might have realized that stealth would be the best way to lose its pursuers.

But that wasn’t the only thing she had noticed which seemed to be bothering the blond man. He also seemed to be carrying a sadness that only appeared in his quieter moments which admittedly there hadn’t been many until the sun had begun to set. She suspected it was one of the reasons for her sister’s nighttime visit, since he had been unwilling to discuss it earlier.

Sage figured she would know soon enough as the door to the room Naruto had been assigned opened and Kushina stepped out holding a bowl and a pot which had contained ramen. Kushina seemed particularly pleased as Sage knew that the woman had cooked it for her son personally making her guess that he had enjoyed it. Taking the empty dishes down to the kitchen she paused for a moment looking down the hall where Naruko was hiding. Sage watched her sister slide a little further into the shadows until Kushina shrugged and began heading away.

As soon as she disappeared Naruko made her move and disappeared into the room. A few moments later the slug clone was sliding beneath the door and heard the shower running. It headed to the bathroom in time to hear Naruto say surprised, “Naruko…my mom…” It proceeded into the bathroom where it climbed the wall to get a good vantage point to peak down into the shower.

****************************

“Is down in the castle’s kitchen,” the female sage said having taken off all her clothes before joining her lover. “I raced all the way here from Stone Country; it’s not fair that she gets you all to yourself.”

Naruto pulled Naruko into a hug before kissing her after which he said, “Thanks for dropping everything to save me.”

Naruko nodded but teasingly replied, “You should be. I was getting a lap dance while trying to uncover Jiraiya’s spy network when you went dark. She was quite talented.” Naruko giggled as she felt her lover’s dick lurch and although she wanted it inside her, she turned serious as she asked, “Is everything okay? You seem kind of down despite getting your mom back physically now and stopping the bad guys.”

Naruto nodded, but knowing Naruko would know what he was talking about said, “D was killed.”

“I see,” Naruko said sadly, but added, “I guess he couldn’t quell the chaos going on it Paradise City.”

“Actually he succeeded it seems,” Naruto replied, “They even wanted to make him the city leader.”

“Then what happened?”

Naruto felt the pain of the betrayal again as he said, “He was killed by an Iwa kunoichi posing as a waitress at the bar he was staying at. I… he loved her.”

Naruko nodded and then said, “Which means you love her.”

“I…I don’t know,” Naruto admitted, “I know it hurts, but can I say that means I love her. I mean I never even met her and D…”

“Was you,” Naruko said surprising Naruto considering her own origins. She smiled at him before continuing, “I know that is shocking for me to say due to my origins. But D was a clone which meant that even if he developed along a different path from you, eventually that path would merge again. Plus I think D was as aware of this as any one. He told me he viewed the mission to save Paradise City as his, and not yours. But the reason for that I feel, is because he knew those people and cared for them, and now so do you. I’m glad about one thing though.”

“What’s that?”

“He said that he didn’t think that you would appreciate his memories as much as he would. But that doesn’t appear to be the case, I can tell you’re worried about what’s going on there now that he’s gone.”

Naruto nodded as he said grimily, “I’m afraid that Iwa’s killing me…I mean D might make the situation there worse.”

“I could go and find out.”

“No,” Naruto said, “I’m going to head there in the morning.”

“Are you sure?”

Naruto inclined his head so she said, “Then let me have you tonight.”

She kissed her lover needfully, who responded with just as much desire hoping to create a new pleasant memory rather than focus on the ones he had been brooding over for the past several hours. His desire for his lover took over causing him to push her back against the back wall of the shower. Kissing down her neck and chest, he squeezed her right breast which he then lifted to his lips so he could suck on her hardened nipple. Naruko moaned as her hands buried themselves in his hair and pushed his mouth tighter again her tit. She moaned happily as he soon switched to the other while she ground her pussy against the knee he had placed between her thighs. Growing wetter by the moment, she whispered, “We don’t have long. Please I want you inside me.”

Naruto broke away from chest to look into her matching blue eyes; he then leaned forward to hungrily kiss her as he grabbed her by the thighs. Picking her feet up off the ground he easily found her opening with his cock and slid inside her. Both of them groaned as his length disappeared inside her warm welcoming cunt, but neither one wanting to be caught by his mother quickly got down to the business of fucking.

Naruko’s head fell back as her lover quickly tried to fill her with his seed. She stared up at the ceiling, but then noticed something staring down at them. She focused on it and seeing Katsuyu was rather surprised, but then noticing the Rinnegan eyes that it sported realized that her sister was watching her. An amused smile appeared on her lips which she didn’t bother to hide from her sister. Finding being watched by Sage an incredible turn on she wrapped her arms around her lover’s neck and brought her lips to his ear.

“That’s it baby,” Naruko moaned softly into it, although loudly enough for the slug to hear, “hurry and fill my naughty pussy with your cum. It feels so fucking great to cum after receiving a belly full of your man cream.”

Naruto was a little surprised by Naruko’s behavior, but couldn’t deny he loved the way her cunt was suddenly gripping so tightly around his pumping cock. “W-what’s gotten you so hot?”

“I…I just wanted to let you know how good you’re doing,” she replied not wanting to possibly embarrass her sister by alerting Naruto. Wrapping her feet behind his pistoning ass, she added, “Now hurry up baby, and cum. Give me what we both need… RELEASE!!!”

Naruko shrieked the last part as Naruto slammed his cock into her fully, before grinding his pelvis against her. The added friction against her clit caused her to cum, her quivering pussy pulsed even more as its pleasure buds were coated in the liquid warmth of Naruto’s seed as he injected it in her womb and the overflow began to leak out. Naruto sagged against her, but remained standing as he pinned her against the shower wall.

“Thank you Naruko,” Naruto said gratefully as she loosely held him.

“Mmm, my pleasure,” Naruko said softly kissing his neck while staring up into the Rinnegan eyes of the slug. Placing her feet on the ground she sighed softly from the loss of him, and despite seeing his cock was still hard resisted the urge to drop to her knees. Knowing that she was pushing it already, she exited the shower along with her lover and after toweling off gave him a quick kiss. She then quickly left the room, glad to see that Kushina hadn’t returned.

*****************************
Kushina frowned as she watched Naruto appear from Naruto’s room, but she wasn’t sure if it was due to the blonde apparently disregarding her wishes that her son be left alone to rest, or a desire to have experienced what she likely just had. She quickly dropped the matter since she didn’t want to tempt herself. Stepping into the room, she smiled as saw Naruto passed out on the bed and guessed she owed the woman some thanks after all since she knew her son had been brooding over something, so had feared he wouldn’t settle down and sleep.

She smiled contently as he snored happily. She moved to sit in the chair she had been watching him eat the first meal she had ever cooked him. She stopped though as she remembered the night of his birth and recalling lying next to him as he cried while Minato fought the Kyuubi was tempted to join him. She tried to resist, but as a result of being free of the seal she couldn’t deny herself the feeling of his warmth. Kushina couldn’t believe just how amazing having a flesh and blood body felt especially when compared to the mostly senseless existence that had been her time in the seal. After all, it was hard to imagine how much a person could miss just having the wind blow across their skin until being denied it.

Kushina gave in, and climbed next to Naruto content to watch him sleep. But, she made the mistake of lying across an outstretched arm so found herself pulled tightly against his chest a moment later. She blushed from the closeness, but settled down as she reminded herself it was just her trying to be close to her son. But, she felt a heat building in her body, which made her worry that the chakra he had used to pass her soul into the body was beginning to affect her. Still, she didn’t try to escape as she leaned up and kissed his cheek as she lovingly said, “I love you Honey. Thank you for not letting go.” She then placed her head against his chest and let his steady heartbeat lure her into dreams where she enjoyed sharing a bed with him in a less motherly fashion.

Next Target: Mikoto Uchiha

Author’s Note: Well first let me thank everyone that has read and review. While I know some people weren’t happy with how Naruto was captured last chapter, I admit to feeling justified a little by the latest manga chapter especially how they mentioned how a person sometimes acts out against their better judgment. In any case, I hope everyone finds that Naruto better acquitted himself this time around.

Moving onto this chapter, I’ll admit that the end result was definitely not what I envisioned originally. When I first plotted this chapter out I intended it to focus entirely on D, and his adventures in Paradise City. However, I decided to forgo this idea for two reasons, the first being that the Fuka backstory really wrote itself and worked well into the theme set by the title. And so while the D portions focused on rising, it was Fuka’s portion that dealt with falling. The other reason though is due entirely to my narration style. I know I kind of gloss over D’s end, but since it ties more into my ideas for Kurotsuchi I feel it best to tell that part of the story from her view and as such since she won’t be appearing anytime soon felt it best to wait until then to delve into it.

Now as mentioned on my Deviantart page and as can be seen above the next target is Mikoto and as such I figured most people would prefer seeing that above the Limelight Birthday Chapter. Thus far it seems my hunch has been correct at least if the comments I received on my profile are anything to go by. Therefore, that is what I will be working on and then I’ll do the next chapter of Limelight. Also, just as a word of warning for those thinking that Mikoto joining leads into Kushina it is still quite a few chapters away. While I do feel that Kushina having a flesh and blood body does make things easier for Mikoto to come to terms, I think the opposite holds true to Kushina. Now she can’t say it’s her situation which drives her desire for Naruto therefore I feel if anything she’ll definitely resist any such urges.

Now I’m going to be trying to update the story on Fanfiction.net at a quicker pace. So, to avoid confusion if you see an update notification from FicWad and a new chapter hasn’t been added then it means I’ve updated the chapter on FicWad as well. I do this so both sites have the most up to date corrected versions.

Finally as a reward for reading this far, below is a small bonus scene which should eliminate who was behind this little adventure. I don’t think anyone is going to be overly surprised, but the reason I don’t add it to the main story is for narration purposes. While I have told scenes from the Villains perspective before its generally as a last resort since I try to keep to either people that know of the Harem, women on the edge of entering, or Harem members themselves. That way the schemes of the villains tend to be more surprising. Plus like I said it’s a reward for reading this far, after all I’m going to be seriously disappointed in the person that comments on the below scene but still leaves a question asking about receiving an update that Ficwad was updated but can’t find the new chapter.

Again, thanks for reading and reviewing. So until next time take care, Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.

Bonus Scene:

Sora’s body ached all over as he awoke slowly. He recalled the battle with Naruto, but things got fuzzy after he had been crushed by the toad. He tried to sit up but found he couldn’t move causing his eyes to shoot open. He found himself strapped to a table that was tilted at a forty-five degree angle in what appeared to be some sort of dimly lit laboratory. He tried to call on his chakra but found it unresponsive causing him to realize that it had been sealed. In desperation he began struggling against his bonds only for a calm voice to say, “You really should calm down. Your body has been through quite a bit of punishment. Why if it wasn’t for me you probably would be dead considering just how taxed it had been by letting that Bijuu rampage.”

Sora looked to his side to see a cloaked man standing in front of three illuminated tanks with his back towards him. Inside the tanks was a clear fluid in which another fluid seemed to be suspended. The suspended fluid was a deep blue which appeared motionless for the most part, although he noticed that behind the three tanks were similar ones which seemed to be fed by the three the man was standing in front of. Sora watched the man disappear into the darkness as he turned off the light illuminating the fluid in the tanks.

Sensing him watching from the darkness Sora said defiantly, “And who the fuck are you?”

The man sounded amused as he answered, “Why, I’m the person who placed the initial bounty on Naruto. You did far better than I thought you would, but I never expected you would deliver.”

“Then why hire us?” Sora asked angrily, “Was this some scheme to get ahold of me?”

“You certainly are full of yourself aren’t you,” the man said amused walking just outside the edge of the light shining above Sora. “Truthfully, I considered you a curiosity but nothing more. No, the true reason I hired your team was because I figured it would put one of your allies and Naruto in close proximity.”

“You mean Fuka,” Sora stated, “So she betrayed me because she was working for you. I guess you sent that other woman that killed Fuen.”

“Very good,” the man said, “Although I was as surprised as you that Fuka betrayed you. Due to her… unique means of dispatching her enemies and her… rather ghoulish nature I was interested in seeing what would happen should she consume Naruto’s chakra. The results were surprising to say the least. Since I doubted she would be the type of person Naruto would keep tabs on I had hoped to collect her and learn more. Sadly it seems that he at least on some level might have guessed as much and he’s moved her somewhere. Considering some of the secrets he’s been keeping, I doubt I’ll have an opportunity anytime soon. But I didn’t send anyone to kill Fuen… what happened to her is more… confusing.” The man stepped into the light showing off his scaly face, adjusting his glasses Kabuto said, “But, it seems that I might have actually come out ahead. To think that growing inside you was a new Bijuu and one on par with the nine-tails no less. I doubt Kazuma had any idea his little experiment would net such results.”

“What do you mean by…experiment?”

“I could tell you,” Kabuto said approaching the table, “but I really don’t think I should. After all, you were going to betray me by accepting that offer to end Naruto’s life. It was rather sneaky of Sasuke to one up me like that.”

“How do you… it was you. You set my father free.”

Kabuto nodded as he said, “Indeed, I was surprised you left your base unguarded so took the opportunity to bug it. I was rather surprised you left Kazuma alive. But the game will be more interesting with him on the board which is why I let him go.”

“What do you mean game? What do you want with me?”

Kabuto shook his head as he said, “It’s so sad not to know the truth about yourself, isn’t it? I suppose that does explain your rather mercenary attitude. I’ll tell you what. I’ll clue you in on the truth and in return you agree to work for me.”

“Why should I, you’ve already admitted to setting me up to fail?”

Again amused, Kabuto said, “And you already attempted to betray me. But, I think you’ll find that if I’m right about what is happening inside you then I might be your only hope to survive the coming storm.”

“What do you mean?”

“All in good time and we have yet to reach an accords, but let’s just say that if certain individuals come to realize that there might be an alternative means to gather the chakra necessary to enact their plans. Well then you will be in need of friends and considering your recent actions in Vegetable will find them rather hard to come by.”

Sora thought about the man’s offer but asked, “And what do you get out of this deal?”

“A chance to study just how special you might actually be,” Kabuto replied. “The truth is the man that you thought of as your father was not. In truth, your real parents died horribly as did the many other people he killed by having them ingest the chakra of the nine-tails.”

“W-what do you mean?”

Kabuto shrugged as he answered, “Kazuma knew he needed power in order to enact his scheme to destroy the shinobi village system. Naturally since the greatest sources of power in this world are the Bijuu when the nine-tails attacked Konoha he knew he needed to act.”

“But the beasts are made of chakra, how could he gather it?”

“True they are chakra which is how something so massive can be sealed in children, but they are given form and substance in their natural state. So during the fight as the Kyuubi was wounded during the battle this substance which for all intents and purposes was the Kyuubi’s flesh was as solid as any meat of a beast. Kazuma arrived after the battle, and was able to gather this meat, for lack of a better term, and then began to taint people’s food.” Kabuto turned away as he continued, “You see in Kumo there were a pair of brothers who gained jinchuriki like abilities from consuming the flesh of the Kyuubi after being swallowed by it. However the greatest number of tails they ever displayed was six, and I believe now that the reason for this was due to their being killed shortly after gaining these abilities. You see they betrayed their home village and fellow shinobi, something you both share in common.”

“What is the point?”

“The point is that isn’t the only thing you may have shared,” Kabuto said turning back his eyes gleaming with excitement, “It’s possible that the Gold and Silver Brothers might have been related to the Sage of the Six Paths. After all, many have tried to gain powers the same way they did, that was the whole point of Kazuma’s experiments after all. He’d poison a town here, or a school there until finally one day one of the poor children survived. That child was you who he took as his son after sealing away your abilities, all in his scheme to make the One King Movement a reality.”

Sora glared angrily at Kabuto as he said, “And he’s free now because of you.”

Kabuto hardly seemed intimidated by Sora’s anger as he said, “True, but what does it matter. Do you really want to waste your power on revenge? Weren’t you just bragging about what a wonderful gift he gave you?” Sora calmed as he reluctantly nodded so Kabuto said, “Good. Besides, the more players there are the more satisfaction there is to be had when you win. Don’t you agree?”

Sora studied Kabuto before finally saying, “I’ll work with you… for now.”

“Excellent,” Kabuto said pulling a chakra draining device from beneath the table. Seeing Sora’s confused look he said, “Now try to relax, I just need a sample.” Activating the device Kabuto watched as Sora squirmed while mentally adding, “Now to see if it’s the man or the beast that makes the difference in what makes Naruto’s chakra so special.”