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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. Furthermore I’m not making any money from this story.

Eroninja: Limelight

Tsunade: With You I See a Better Version of Me

Author’s note: The events of this chapter take place during a period of time covered in Chapter 68: Night Terrors

Tsunade felt a gentle breeze blow over her naked body. She opened her eyes as she continued to use the chest her head was resting against like a pillow and smiled as she looked out on paradise. The sound of her lover’s heartbeat mixed with the sound of waves crashing against the beach as the cloth drapes continued to dance in the morning breeze filling her with a sense of contentment. She pulled herself reluctantly from the bed, since if she didn’t by the time Naruto awoke then she was sure that she’d be spending the rest of the day there.

She moved to the window where she basked in the sight and sounds of the private beach in Moon Country where Naruto had taken her for her birthday. She still couldn’t believe that Naruto had remembered how she had said that she wanted to go both during his own mission to the Land of the Moon, and once more when they had traveled to Kumogakure together. She knew that she necessarily shouldn’t have been, but it still made her happy to know that he recalled something that she had said almost flippantly, yet had still truly desired. It was especially meaningful when considering how many women he had in his life and whom he also strived to please.

She heard her lover stir from the bed and was warmed by him a moment later as he walked up behind her to wrap her in a loving embrace. She leaned back against him, before looking over her shoulder to kiss him on the cheek. Naruto returned the favor before asking, “So is Crescent Moon Island everything you hoped it would be?”

“Hard to say,” Tsunade said teasingly pulling his arms tighter around her, “I’ve only seen the inside of this hut since we’ve arrived. I’m starting to suspect that you’re trying to keep me away from the casinos.”

Naruto chuckled, a sound that reverberated pleasantly through her. Kissing her neck, he responded, “I’m merely trying to make sure my sexy Hokage knows how much I enjoy spending time with her.”

Tsunade moaned softly as Naruto squeezed a breast and kissed a little lower before moving onto her shoulder. She spun in his arms though, before things progressed any further and said, “Oh no you don’t mister. We’re going into the city to…”

“Gamble,” Naruto supplied for her.

“It’s definitely on the list,” she replied causing him to chuckle before kissing her gently on the lips.

“I guess I’ll go shower then,” he said pulling away to walk to the back of the hut and the screened off outside shower.

Tsunade watched his bare backside as he walked away. She tried to stand firm to her pronouncement that she didn’t want sex that morning, but instead wanted to begin exploring all the island had to offer. But the sight of her lover’s tight ass disappearing out the door that led outside had her following after him so as not to be deprived of it.

She heard the water begin to run when she stepped outside and could see his feet beneath the small bamboo enclosure which surrounded the shower head so she pulled open the door causing her lover to turn towards her with a knowing smile as he said, “Is my Senju Princess hoping to save time by sharing the shower? Or is she looking for some morning loving after all?”

“Oh shut up,” Tsunade replied stepping under the water as she pressed herself to him.

Naruto pulled her tightly against his body as he sealed his lips to hers and began to massage one of her heavy breasts. Tsunade mewed into his mouth as she wrapped a leg around his to begin rubbing her shaved mound against his thigh. Tsunade reached down to grab his stiffened prick causing him to break their kiss and groan. His lips moved to her neck and then to her ear as he whispered, “Where does my lovely Princess want me to stick that?”

Tsunade thought about it for a moment before turning away and bending over. Placing her hands against the wall she looked back sultrily as she replied, “Surprise me.”

Naruto grinned at her widely in the way that she loved so much since despite everything he had been through it showed the charm that she believed made every life he touched better. She looked away as he stepped up behind her and taking hold of his manhood, he caused her to whimper in anticipation as he teased her by sliding the tip of his cock between her succulent pussy and tight anus. When he stopped his teasing, his cockhead was pressed against her rear causing her to swoon as although she still felt a little uncomfortable whenever he fucked her butt. She loved it nonetheless as it was he who had claimed it as his and only he who would ever know the pleasure of doing so.

Tsunade groaned as he slowly entered her and once he was fully inside, he remained still giving her time to bask in the still relatively new sensation. He leaned forward as he waited and busied himself by playing with her hanging breasts and teasing her nipples. He began pumping his hips once she tightened her ass around his shaft letting him know that she was eager for him to begin.

Naruto moved slowly pressing his chest against her back and continued enjoying her soft and pliable tits causing his lover to moan softly. Her voice gained in volume as he pinched her hardened nipples before pulling them roughly. He let them go causing them to bounce back as he leaned back to grab her hips in preparation to begin pounding her ass in earnest.

As Naruto’s pace picked up and his thrusts became more powerful Tsunade had to push back against the bamboo wall in order to prevent from being smashed into it. Her hanging tits undulated wildly as he vigorously drilled his fat cock into her anus.

Naruto stopped moving in order to pull her back up against him. He angled her face towards him and kissed her fiercely. Their tongues danced while Naruto reached around to begin fondling her heavy breasts. He in turn moaned as his Hokage lover began grinding her butt against him.

Naruto groaned from her movement and her squeezing his cock with her back passage. Letting her breasts go, and while they still swirled their tongues against one another over her shoulder. Naruto grabbed the inside of her thighs and lifted her into the air. He then resumed pumping his cock causing his lover to end their kissing as she reached behind her to grip his neck. She stared up into the blue sky as he continued to slam his cock inside the orifice that only he had the privilege to experience.

“Yes… fuck me…my love,” she moaned as he redoubled his efforts. “Do you like fucking your Hokage’s ass?”

Naruto groaned due to her ass clamping around him like a vice before responding, “You know I do. Just like I love fucking your incredible pussy and mouth.” Nibbling her ear he asked, “Now tell me who it is whose dick my sexy Hokage can’t live without?”

“N…naruto’s,” she whispered weakly at first between moans.

“Really, is that all the passion you can muster,” Naruto said amused. “Maybe I should stop.”

“N...no,” his village leader said frantically. Naruto had no intentions of stopping as he instead slammed his cock into her even faster and fiercer. “Oh fuck,” she shouted as she felt herself on the verge of cumming from the reaming her ass was taking, “Fuck me, Naruto,” she then began repeated his name over and over again until finally screaming, “Naruto!!!” as a powerful orgasm wracked her body while her ass was pumped full of her lover’s seed.

Naruto set her down and the two kissed tenderly as they remained under the spray of the water. Eventually they began to wash each other before stepping out to actually experience what the island of Moon Country had to offer.

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

Tsunade was wearing a white sundress with a matching hat as she walked through the streets of Moon Country. She looked behind her and smiled as Naruto was carrying several bags worth of clothes for her. She was henged in the identity that the Family had created just for the occasion, as was he. He smiled at her which despite the not quite familiar face; she could still recognize her lover in it due to the depth of his love for her which was reflected in his eyes. They twinkled with amusement as he said teasingly, “You know just because you hit it big in the casino doesn’t mean you have to do your best to spend it all.”

Tsunade smiled back as she said, “Well seeing as half those clothes are lingerie that you will be enjoying at some point, I think you would want me to buy more.”

Naruto chuckled as he said. “Fancy underwear can’t improve on perfection. Besides some of it looked pretty complicated to remove.”

Tsunade blushed from the compliment but countered, “I noticed a certain part of your anatomy didn’t mind watching me try them on.”

“Well, I didn’t say that you weren’t stunning,” Naruto said adoringly, “But you could make a sack look appealing.”

Tsunade approached him placing her hand on his chest before kissing his forehead sweetly, “If you keep that up we might spend the rest of this trip in bed.”

“Only if you want to my Senju Princess,” Naruto stated loud enough for only her to hear.

Tsunade smiled thinking that spending another few days in bed with her lover wasn’t sounding like a bad idea. However, before she could comment on such, a large explosion went off somewhere deeper in the city. Both of them turned in the direction with Naruto stating, “That sounds like it happened near the royal palace.”

The Hokage sighed figuring despite being of the belief that her gambling was no longer a barometer of some upcoming tragedy. That didn’t mean it might not be clueing her into a future annoyance, especially as the idea of getting some more alone time with Naruto had really started to get the fires of her passions stoked. She considered for a moment telling Naruto that they should keep their noses out of it, but she knew her lover would never agree.

He met her eyes and she nodded before stepping up to him. She wrapped her arms around him and they disappeared in a red flash while the citizens of Crescent Moon began to panic at the chaos coming from the palace. Appearing in their beach side hut she said, “We’re going to need to be careful about how we go about helping. Considering how we entered the country and we are using false identities it will cause people to ask why we did so.”

Something about the smirk that appeared on her lover’s face made her suspect he had considered a scenario where they might need to reveal themselves. He proved her partially correct as he unpacked a pair of uniforms. She recognized them as the basic black shinobi garb that the Family wore when performing actions that could expose them. Tsunade sighed as she took the garb from her lover stating, “You know, its crap like this that makes me wonder if trouble follows you around.”

Naruto chuckled as he stripped out of his clothes before pulling on the all black garb. He looked back while he was fastening the cloth pants to reply, “I do seem to be a magnet for it, don’t I? But, look on the bright side…”

“What bright side?”

“You said you wanted to take a tour of the castle,” Naruto stated giving her his infectious grin, “You’re about to get an all access pass.”

Tsunade smirked as she pulled the hood over her head so that only her honey brown eyes were visible as she replied, “Great, we can see the sights while having to stop some unknown enemy and all while likely having to worry about the guards treating us the same as the attackers.”

Naruto placed his mask on stating confidently, “Don’t worry. You’ll be back sunning yourself on the beach enjoying a stiff drink before the sun sets.”

Tsunade smiled at her lover’s confidence although her hood hid the jesture as she thought to herself how her drink wouldn’t be the only stiff thing she would be enjoying afterwards.

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

Tsunade frowned as they stopped upon reaching the castle after having run through the jungle to reach it. She looked up to see her lover using chakra to remain upright as he studied the palace from just beneath the canopy of the palm tree. He let go of the trunk and cut the chakra to his feet to drop down beside her stating, “The fighting has already progressed into the castle. These guys appear to be full blown shinobi.”

Tsunade frowned as she had a hard time picturing any Shinobi Village taking such overt actions against a country. Not without a declaration of war in place first. The reason being that if a Shinobi Village was to take part in such an action as a military coup against a standing government it would reflect poorly on the country the village was from. It was one of the reasons why Iwagakure had used such underhanded tactics to topple the countries along Earth Countries Western border, rather that outright invade them. Therefore, she suspected the attackers might be tied to some outlying Shinobi Group such as the One King Movement. She quickly discounted them as they targeted Shinobi Villages since they believed all military power should belong primarily to the Daimyo.

She looked to her lover asking, “What do you think, my love?”

Naruto’s eyes grew wide behind his mask as he said confused, “What do you mean?”

Tsunade began to wag her finger stating, “You’re never going to make chunin if you aren’t willing to take the lead. Consider this a dry run.”

Naruto nodded but said amused, “I’m thinking that you’re trying to avoid responsibility here?”

“I am on vacation,” Tsunade replied with a smirk.

Naruto’s eyes sparkled before they grew serious as he said, “I’m guessing that they still haven’t reached the Royal Family yet? The guards should be trying to get them out of the area like they did when the Minister turned against the previous king. They will probably take refuge in the jungle. That means there should be a secret exit that leads to the mountains.”

“Sounds about right,” Tsunade said looking to the mountains in the distance. Recalling Team Kakashi’s previous mission to the country she stated, “Based on Kakashi’s report there is a hideaway in them where they store provision. They use it to hide the royal family until they can reclaim the country or ensure their escape.”

Naruto nodded recalling the place. “Right, then I want you to circle around back. See if they’ve already escaped. If so, then help ensure they are protected. If not, backtrack and try to help them to get out of the castle.”

Tsunade’s eyes reflected her concern as she said, “Splitting up is reckless, especially if you are planning to do what I think you are. We should both try to find this back entrance and protect the Royal Family.”

Naruto shook his head in the negative before replying, “They are just one part of putting an end to this situation. Even if the royal family gets away, it might just cause these guys to rampage through the island looking for them. They might not even really be interested in Hikaru or his family. They might just be bandits looking to ransack the place. Our duty is to protect everyone we can, and my attacking from behind them should help the guards as it will divide their attention. If the royal family is still in the palace and you join the fray it will allow us to catch them between us.”

Tsunade didn’t particularly like the plan, but having put him in charge placed her faith in him. Still, since she couldn’t help being concerned seeing that most of his jutsu arsenal would be off the table as they could be used to identify him. She was in a similar situation as her chakra enhanced strength was also just as unique. She smiled beneath the mask as she could see her lover was as worried about her as she was about him. Therefore, displaying the confidence she had in him, she wordlessly turned and dashed off to circle around to the other side of the castle in search of the royal family, or a hidden entrance into the castle.

It didn’t take long to learn her lover was correct since as she neared the base of the mountain where the late king had taken refuge when his prime minister had betrayed him, she heard the sounds of a man screaming in pain as well as the roars of a tiger. She stealthily reached the area and found several men and a woman standing before the cornered royal family. A boy a few years younger than Naruto stood before his injured father with a sabertooth cat roaring by his side. The boy had his arrow trained on the woman whose back was facing Tsunade as she approached the group from behind.

Tsunade’s eyes drifted to the injured King behind Hikaru to see the young man’s mother Amayo was holding her hands against a sword wound on Michiru’s stomach. She had heard that the beautiful woman had recently reconciled with her ex-husband as he had become a much beloved figure in his country. She could also see that Michiru had become rather muscular as he had maintained the exercise regime that he had developed after the Prime Minister’s defeat.

Also, littered around the area were the corpses of the guards that had likely been tasked with protecting the royal family as they tried to reach the safety of the mountains. There were also a few bodies of the attackers scattered around as well, one of whom was the one screaming as he had an arrow lodged in his thigh. She noticed more several of the corpses also had well placed arrows in them or had been mauled by the tiger. She suspected that Prince had over the past few years received some official training to use the weapons. She figured that more than one of the Royal guard had been members of the now defunct Moon Village which had been one of the first obstacles to be removed as Prime Minister Shabadaba had plotted to take over the country. He had done so by cutting funds to it forcing the shinobi to either leave or take positions in the Royal Guard. Naturally most chose to leave rather than give up on their shinobi heritage. Tsunade’s belief proved to be partially true as the woman at the front of the group threatening the family calmly said, “It would seem your highness has received quite the tutelage in the bow and arrow.” She nodded towards one of the men near their screaming comrade who promptly pulled his sword and beheaded him despite the non-life threatening injury.

Tsunade felt a jolt of anger at the cold blooded action which was mirrored in the Prince’s voice as he said, “Is such barbarism how the Eternal Sunrise treats its comrades?”

The woman he addressed was dressed in a white kimono blouse with red stitching that held the sleeves to it, and blood red hakama pants. The wooden beads around her neck shifted as she shrugged stating, “The Eternal Sunrise has no need of weaklings that can be so easily hit by a spoiled prince who fancies himself a warrior.” Tsunade had a sense of familiarity sweep over her as the woman spoke. It only grew more persistent as she continued, “We should thank you though. Many of our members were former members of the Moon Village that your country has forsaken.”

Michiru tried to sit up but his ex-wife stopped him. He relented as he stated, “Is that what this is about? The man responsible is dead. Shabadaba was the one that bankrupted the Moon Village.”

“Really,” the woman stated as Tsunade noticed that a few of the other attackers gripped their weapons firmer in anticipation of striking the family down. She suspected that many of them were the former shinobi that once protected the Land of the Moon. As the woman continued it was easy to hear the mocking tone in the woman’s voice despite it never losing its even tone, “The former Prime Minister might have been the one that set events in motion. But did your father the king reach out to them or act on their behalf as they were forced to sell their homes? How about the people of this country? No, the truth is that Shinobi were never welcomed in Moon Country. You all secretly were glad when the village failed and they were forced to leave.”

“That’s not true?” Michiru stated again trying to sit up but let out a pained cry as the pain of his wound grew worse.

“Michiru!”

“Father!”

The woman payed the family’s concern for their patriarch no mind as she smoothly continued, “What of you good King Michiru? You opened your vast treasury up to your people as you righted the wrongs done by the Prime Minister. Yet what of the village Hidden by the Moon? Did you make any effort to right the wrong done to them?”

“No,” Michiru admitted.

“And why is that?”

“Because Moon Country is a place of peace,” the King stated, “We had no need of a shinobi village.”

“A land of peace,” the woman said with some mild scorn, “Do you not think the shinobi of the Moon Village wanted peace as well. Daimyo like your father sent them off to fight and die for your various petty ambitions. In return you gave them a small fiefdom and a bit of tribute leaving them to eke out a living by selling their skills and putting them in constant conflict. Then the moment they falter, you turn your backs on them. You see the shinobi as being the cause of the conflicts of this era. What nonsense. It is you nobles that force the shinobi into a world of kill or be killed, while your samurai dogs watch on as they salivate at the mouth. We tire of being bled slowly day by day. Therefore, we shall begin a war that will shine a light on all the truths of this world. A world that will truly know peace as only the victors will be left standing to claim it.”

“Now who is spouting nonsense?” Hikaru stated angrily, “How does attacking Moon Country bring about any of that?”

Tsunade could almost imagine a slight smile was on the woman’s face as she answered, “It doesn’t. At least not at first, to create the conflict that we desire it takes time and preparation. You are but the first domino to be toppled.”

Tsunade tensed as the woman raised her arm to order her men to attack. But then one of the men with a large backpack that turned out to be a radio transmitter and amplifier said, “Mikumo, the palace attack team is reporting that they are facing heavy resist coming from an unknown party.” Tsunade despite the shock she had felt at hearing the woman’s name nonetheless smirked as she could see a look of disbelief appear on the radioman’s face as he said, “Can you repeat that?”

When the man didn’t immediately offer up what he was being told. Mikumo turned to face him giving Tsunade the first good look of the woman that she had tangled with many times during the Second Shinobi War. “Well…”she said impatiently as Tsunade wondered how it was that the woman hadn’t appeared to age in the time since she had last seen her.

The man gulped at the implied threat in her tone as he said, “They are reporting that they’ve already lost half their attack force to a single masked man in black.”

Mikumo didn’t show any emotion other than annoyance as she said, “Very well, kill the king and queen. We’ll use the prince to barter with this hindrance. He’s likely here to lend aid to the Royal Family.”

The Eternal Sunrise’s forces had been distracted by the news of a new enemy attacking them. Sensing that Mikumo’s attention wasn’t completely focused on him, and correctly identifying her as the biggest threat, Hikaru let loose his arrow. It flew true and would have pierced her through the side of the neck, but Mikumo easily caught it. She then tossed it back almost faster than it had been launched by the bow.

Tsunade had already been moving as soon as Hikaru launched his arrow, having a good idea of how events would turn out. Therefore, as the arrow flew past the prince to strike Mikumo’s true target which happened to be his mother, she was able to burst from her hiding spot and was able to catch it.

Amayo’s eyes grew wide as she felt the arrow that had been stopped just as it had touched her skin. To her credit she didn’t move or remove the pressure that she was applying to her ex-husband’s wound. Although it was easy to see that she understood that she was only still breathing by the thinnest of margins.

Hikaru turned to Tsunade already drawing another arrow, but paused as the Hokage told his mother, “Good, keep applying pressure. The wound shouldn’t be life threatening as long as he receives medical attention soon.”

She then threw the arrow which flew faster than when even Hikaru’s bow had launched it. It buried itself in the forehead of the radioman, even as Tsunade then leapt to engage the remaining Eternal Sunrise forces. An arrow whizzed by her as Hikaru targeted the surprised man that had been standing behind her first target. Although she had sensed the arrow, Tsunade suspected that the reason he wasn’t regarding her as a threat was because his pet Saber-tooth Cat Chamu hadn’t reacted to her presence negatively.

Tsunade was glad for the help as the Prince’s arrow buried itself in his target’s neck while Tsunade used Chakra scalpels to slice the throats of two more men as she moved to close with Mikumo. Yet, to her surprise the woman simply raised her hand and then gave a motion which from how her squad suddenly faded into the jungle obviously meant to retreat. Tsunade feared it was a ruse to lure her away from the family, as she found it strange Mikumo would issue such an order despite her surprise appearance.

However, something told her it wasn’t a ruse which made her wonder if killing the royal family was truly the group’s goal. Therefore, she opted to chase after the dark haired former Kirigakure kunoichi. A pair of her men noticed her pursuit so stopped in an attempt to delay her. The first man she swept off his feet, and then while he was still airborne struck at his heart using a chakra scalpel. The chakra blade pierced it causing the man to die in seconds as his major arteries were severed. The second man forced Tsunade to step back as he used a large sword to cut his compatriot in half, either guessing him to already be dead or not caring either way. Tsunade guessed it was the latter, but although he halted her forward movement as she stepped back for a moment to be clear of the blade. He didn’t delay her for more than a moment for as soon as his downward stroke reached the ground, Tsunade struck at his wrists with her glowing hands. His blade slipped free of his numbed hands allowing her to snatch it from him, and then reversing course swung the blade up through his groin as she cleaved him in half.

Tsunade’s senses told her that an attack was coming from behind so she spun using the blade to deflect a strike from a pair of kama. The muscular man wielding them tried to use his strength to force the sword Tsunade was gripping one handed down so that he could bury his blades in her chest. She could tell that he was surprised that despite his bulk, he couldn’t budge the blade down an inch. Instead, she pushed back forcing the large man back so that she could spin and toss the blade into a shinobi that appeared as he charged them while flashing through handsigns. The jutsu never materialized as the spinning blade hit him in the chest lifting him off his feet and his corpse flew backwards until it was pinned to a tree.

She stepped back and raised her arms blocking the double Kama wielding shinobi’s attack by catching his forearms with hers. She then slammed her head back smashing his nose and forcing the broken shards up into his brain. The man tumbled back dead, allowing her to take his weapons. She then used both weapons to deflect a barrage of kunai and shuriken that appeared from the forest before her.

She heard clapping as Mikumo and her remaining men appeared from the trees before her. “Impressive,” the former Kiri-nin said respectfully, “Those men you just killed might not have put up much of a fight but they were listed as B and A ranked in their villages’ Bingo books.”

Tsunade knew it was a risk to reply since Mikumo if she hadn’t already recognized her voice, might get the same sense of familiarity that had hit her nonetheless replied, “Rankings don’t exactly mean much of anything on the battlefield.”

She couldn’t tell if Mikumo had recognized her voice, but it was easy enough to tell her response had pleased the woman as she said, “Precisely. The only rankings that truly matter is who the victor is after a life or death struggle. If you encounter an opponent stronger than you and you attack head on then you deserve to die. But even a physically stronger rival can be brought down if you slip a knife into his back. That to is a victory as a shinobi should never lower his guard. Rankings don’t truly take such matters into account, now do they? Planning and precise timing carry the day far more than we give it credit.”

Tsunade smirked beneath her mask as she countered, “Well it looks like you should have planned this operation a little better then.”

Her satisfaction at seemingly disrupting the woman’s plans faded as Mikumo replied, “I wouldn’t go patting yourself on the back just yet, youngster. The first domino has already fallen. Today, regardless of what you think, is my victory.”

Tsunade wondered what the woman was alluding to as she was certain none of the remaining men had slipped past her to attack the Royal Family. Rather, she noticed them beginning to fade into the forest as Mikumo charged forward. Tsunade was forced to block as the woman closed the distance in a heartbeat. Then at the last moment, she separated into several copies as she used the Bunshin jutsu. The copies surrounded her, but Tsunade didn’t hesitate as she leapt forward and through a clone in front of her.

The ground around where she had been standing exploded upwards as if air was being forced to the surface. However, as the dust cleared and disrupted the other clones it revealed that Mikumo had circled around behind her. Tsunade focused on the ground where rather than a crater, a deep hole now resided. The difference being that rather than how the ground ruptured out from the point of impact like when she struck it, it instead looked as if a giant had come along and stuck their thumb in the earth. Mikumo straightened from her pose as she saw that her blow had missed, and as her dark eyes locked with Tsunade’s they showed a soft excitement which seemed to be growing as she recognized her opponent wasn’t a run of the mill kunoichi.

Tsunade for a moment saw that the woman’s face almost resembled the quiet glee she had shown when they crossed paths in their younger days, rather than the truly dispassionate mask that she had displayed thus far. Focusing on her opponent, Mikumo stated, “Impressive, did you truly see through my technique, or perhaps have some past experience with it.”

Tsunade masked her reaction wondering if the woman was starting to suspect that they had crossed paths before. Hoping to avoid the subject she quickly questioned, “Staying behind to cover your men’s escape? That is rather noble of you considering how cruelly you executed the other one.”

“Hardly,” Mikumo countered, “I simply recognize that none of them would manage to hold you back for long. They, unlike the fools that just attacked you, recognize that as well. Strength is also having the wisdom to know when you are outmatched. Running from battle is as much a key to surviving as being strong.”

Tsunade couldn’t disagree with the statement so said, “Still, most people would use them to cover their own escape.”

“What makes you think that you’ve caught me?” Mikumo countered, “There will be time enough for escape after I kill you.”

Mikumo again charged forward, but this time Tsunade followed suit. Reaching her opponent she lashed out with a punch, but Mikumo didn’t so much as catch it as she did guide it. As such, the next thing Tsunade knew she was being flipped as if she weighed nothing. To Tsunade it had almost felt like she had thrown herself. Still, she had recovered in midair so that she landed on her feet. Turning to face her opponent, she blocked Mikumo’s attempt to grapple with her by raising her arms to block her opponent’s grab for her shoulders. Tsunade’s forearms pressed against Mikumo’s wrists and then she moved them out and around so that she could grip them in order to lock her arms. Just as Tsunade gripped them and began to bend them to lock Mikumo’s elbows, her opponent jumped up and over the masked kunoichi. Tsunade tried to let go, but Mikumo gripped her wrists instead as she flipped over her. As she came down behind her, Tsunade again felt as if gravity had temporarily lost its grip on her as Mikumo effortlessly pulled her off her feet as she landed while rotating and threw the Hokage.

Tsunade tumbled through the air, but before she hit the tree that Mikumo had aimed for. She tucked into a ball and then timing the roll waited until in range to lash out with her legs. Suddenly opening the ball she had formed caused her rotation to slow so that using her feet she was able to grip the trunk of the tree with her chakra. She then collapsed like a spring to bleed her forward momentum and then pushed off the tree. She launched herself like an arrow at Mikumo, who was forced to leap out the way as Tsunade buried her fist into the ground several yards behind where she had been standing as she had been aiming to take her head off.

A shockwave of earth traveled from the point of impact that almost looked like a wave before the devastation stopped. She rolled out of the way as Mikumo attempted to strike at her back, and quickly regained her footing as she faced her opponent. Mikumo resumed a relaxed stance, that didn’t fool Tsunade as she couldn’t see any openings despite how the dark haired woman appeared to almost be inviting an attack. Mikumo smirked, before stating as she began walking in a wide circle, “I thought your voice sounded familiar. It is strange though, the last I heard about you. You had become Hokage based more on your past achievements then anything you have done in the present. A shell of a woman only given her title based on the blood in her veins.”

Tsunade pulled her hood off as she mirrored the woman’s movements replying, “That was perhaps true for a time. But, I’ve worked to be worthy of the title since then.”

“Worthy of being Hokage,” Mikumo scoffed filling Tsunade with the same anger that she had seen from Naruto when she had spoken poorly of the title, “That title is but a collar that the Daimyo use to leash us to their will. Or, worse a title our own fellow shinobi use to blind us to their own naked ambition while they hide behind ideas like nationalism. All the while using us all like pawns in their grand schemes.”

Tsunade didn’t let her emotions get the better of her as she countered, “So what? Your answer is to slaughter indiscriminately. We might have been enemies, but at least back then you didn’t just kill for the sake of killing. I can’t deny that both good and evil men have called themselves Kage. Nor can I refute that some days it does feel like my position is something the Fire Daimyo uses to keep me in check. But, this isn’t the answer.”

“I know it is said that you henge yourself to appear younger, but honestly it seems as if your naivety has returned as well,” Mikumo replied dismissively. “I would think that having buried so many of your friends and colleagues would have woken you up. Or, perhaps from watching your lover bleed out in the rain.” The two women completed their circle around each other stopping where they had started as Mikumo added, “I would have recruited you into The Eternal Sunrise if you hadn’t have become such a wreck after leaving Konoha.”

Tsunade wanted to tell the woman that she would have been wasting her time, but instead replied, “And I might just have taken you up on that offer.” She could tell that her stark admission surprised the woman, who had likely been expecting the usual bravado. The Hokage continued, “But, as things stand I’m glad the choice was never presented to me. It gave me time to regain my true self.”

“Is that who I’m supposed to believe that I’m looking at before me?” Mikumo asked with a slight snarl to her tone.

Tsunade picked up on it countering, “That’s right. Yes this world does feel wrong. But I’m willing to try and fix it while your grand plan is to burn it to cinders.” Tsunade took a step forward which caused Mikumo to step back as the blonde kunoichi continued, “You said I was a wreck, but you Mikumo Kushinada are no different. A twisted shell of the honorable woman that I once exchanged blows with. You think setting off an unstoppable war will prove your strength, but you’ll be one of the first to fall as you have nothing of value to protect.”

Mikumo charged forward as if to show the Hokage how wrong she was as cracks in her dispassionate mask appeared. But strangely, Tsunade who few would ever say shelved her emotions felt a sense of peace descend upon her. From that sense time seemed to slow down for her as real openings appeared in Mikumo’s defense. It allowed her to block several strikes in short order before attacking one of them.

Mikumo didn’t avoid the blow that she received to her stomach so much as fold around it. Her training was the only thing that prevented every organ in her gut from rupturing as she had leapt back and bent around the blow as Tsunade had released her chakra. Still the former Kiri-nin flew back like she had been kicked by a stallion.

Mikumo bounced off a tree, and quickly scrambled to her feet. However, she felt a pain in her shoulder that told her it was likely broken. She focused on Tsunade and wondered if she was using the Bunshin jutsu as a few copies of her seemed to be crisscrossing in front of one another as the Hokage ran her down. She quickly realized it wasn’t a jutsu, but an optical illusion brought on from a possible concussion as she fought against blacking out.

Despite her injuries, she was able to roll underneath a kick that Tsunade aimed at her head. Tsunade’s foot shattered the trunk of the large tree that she ended up connecting with tearing a huge chunk out of it. The tree began to topple over, which Mikumo waited until the last second to roll under. She held up the arm connected to her uninjured shoulder, and then almost effortlessly redirected the falling tree onto Tsunade. The Hokage punched upwards shattering the massive obstacle, but Mikumo used the opportunity to escape.

Tsunade gave chase as she quickly was able to pick out the direction the woman had fled as she hadn’t tried to cover her tracks. She wondered if the woman was disoriented as her path took them up a steep incline as the scent of the sea air became stronger. Tsunade busted out of the foliage of the forest to find Mikumo standing before at the edge of a cliff. Approaching slowly she said, “It’s over Mikumo.”

“You haven’t caught me yet,” the dark haired woman said turning to face her, “So what exactly is going to stop me from letting everyone know that it was you that had interfered this day. If you were here for a sanctioned mission you wouldn’t have hidden your identity. Or, do you plan to just kill me?”

Tsunade scowled as she couldn’t help feel disappointed at how the woman had fallen, “Are you really pleading for me to let you go?”

“Every tactic becomes…”

“Oh shut up,” Tsunade quickly said angrily, “You want to know what I’m going to do. I’m going to march you right up to the family you tried to kill today, and turn you over to them. Then what your fate is will be out of my hands, and if there are consequences for my actions then I’ll face them as well. But stopping you here and now was the right thing to do. I used to believe there was a time when you understood that as well.”

Tsunade spotted a quick sign of regret that appeared on Mikumo’s face, but it disappeared so quickly she could have easily convinced herself that she imagined it. There was a hint of the emotion in her opponent’s voice as she said, “But then I learned this world is based on nothing but lies. Perhaps one day you’ll realize this as well, and on that day we’ll see if you try to stop me from setting it ablaze, or help me to strike the match.”

The former Kiri-nin then fell back so that she toppled over the edge of the cliff. Tsunade quickly raced up to it as well just as she saw a splash hit the water. She wondered if the woman had hit the rocks below and wondered if it even mattered. She was forced to consider the possibility of following after her as the sounds of men charging through the forest filled her ears. Suspecting them to be the Samurai from a nearby base located a few miles from the capital. She prepared to run down the cliff, but was stopped as her lover appeared behind her and scooped her up in his arms stating, “It’s time to get you that drink.”

She smiled as she said, “I agree,” before the two of them teleported back to their hut.

*****************************
Tsunade was lying on the beach in front of their hut completely naked as the sun set over the water. Watching the setting sun, she wondered if it would rise on a world that was a little more like the one she and her lover were trying to build. Or, if it would be closer to the one that Mikumo seemed hellbent on destroying. She mentally shrugged as she told herself it didn’t matter since if it was the latter she would be there to blow out the match Mikumo tried to light. She looked over her shoulder to see her lover staring off into the distance with a contemplative face as he sat on the porch of their hut where he had been since getting her a drink that she had technically asked for, although she had actually been requesting something a bit more physically stimulating. She sighed as they hadn’t exactly recaptured the light mood the vacation had been earlier that day.

She couldn’t exactly blame Naruto as she could tell that having heard that whatever was motivating Mikumo’s current actions seemed to be based on her finding out some great truth that she had held onto might have been someone else’s fabrication. Naturally, considering how much of what they were trying to do was done in the shadows, she figured her lover was wondering if what they were doing was much different.

Tsunade wanting her happy go lucky lover back, and not sharing in his crisis of confidence, stood to walk towards him. Stopping a few inches from him, she said in a huff, “You know, I think I should be offended that here you are sitting on a beach looking glumly off in the distance, when I’m sunbathing nude not ten feet from you.”

Naruto stared up at her as he said, “I’m sorry. I know it’s stupid, and you are certainly right to be upset as I know people would kill to be me right now.”

“Then be you, my love,” Tsunade said tenderly, “Stop letting what she said bother you. I should kick myself for telling you.”

“No, I’m glad you did.” Naruto looked off again and Tsunade noticed what he had been staring at were storm clouds passing by the island. He turned back to her adding, “Especially since I can’t help wondering if people would react any differently should they discover the world at peace that we want to create was done so while hiding the truth from others. I mean, I’m asking so much of all of you. I’m blessed to have so many lovers, but in return I ask you to hide the truth of our relationships from our villages, your friends, and families. I can’t help wondering if it is worth it, especially if someone should find out the truth and proclaim everything that we build was a lie because of how we went about it.”

“Stop overthinking it my love,” Tsunade said pulling his head against her stomach. She smiled contently as he wrapped his arms around her torso as if clutching onto her for strength. “We don’t know what Mikumo learned to set her on this destructive path. But the truth is I believe she would gladly sign onto what we are trying to accomplish should she remember her true self.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because, before I met you I was no different than her,” she said causing her lover to stare up at her.

He quickly stated, “You were nothing like her.”

“Don’t be so quick to disagree,” Tsunade said remembering the bitter woman she had been and what she had nearly done in order to make the pain go away. “I nearly accepted Orochimaru’s offer to bring back Dan and Nawaki. I even planned to sacrifice you and Jiraiya to achieve it.” She knew Naruto was surprised by her admission since they had never really talked about what she had intended to do on the day that she had met up with Orochimaru after he had made his offer. Afterwards, Jiraiya had played it off as if she had gone down to best their former comrade herself, and hadn’t wanted him interfering. But Tsunade knew the truth, which was that she had fully intended to heal the Snake Sannin before remembering Naruto’s words about what the title of Hokage had meant which had reminded her of how her loved ones had felt the same. She sank down so that she could straddle his lap as she explained, “But, your words saved me. They reminded me of the woman that I had been, and of the people I had loved. You have given me and your other lovers so much, my love. You’ve helped us to become better stronger women. I can’t speak for the others, but the reason I have no problem sharing you with them is because I can so easily recall the broken woman that I was, and how having in you in my life has made me whole again. No, your love has made me better than I was, and that is a feeling that I know you have given to the others as well. That is why we are all here, because we believe in you as you have shown that you believe in us, and that is what draws us to you .This is why we can’t deny others from wanting to experience much the same.”

“Tsunade,” Naruto said affectionately as he pulled her into a passionate kiss. She basked in the feeling of being in her lover’s arms as their tongues danced. Even as she got caught up in making out with Naruto, it didn’t stop her from thinking about how the world was filled with broken women just like she had been. She knew it was a pandemic of the shinobi world that they now lived in. But luckily for her, she had received the cure in the form of Naruto’s love, and as such wanted to share it with others.

But enjoying that she currently was alone with the one that had healed her, she broke the kiss to say, “Mmm… now I think it’s time for a little sex on the beach.” She was surprised as Naruto began to pull away causing her to ask, “Where are you going?”

“Um… to make you another drink,” Naruto said as she had been enjoying that particular drink as she sunned herself.

Tsunade laughed softly as she said, “You can be so incredibly dense sometimes, my love. The drinks were delicious, but when a naked woman says she wants sex on the beach, and she happens to be on the beach…” She laughed joyously as Naruto picked her up as he finally got the hint and began to carry to the water’s edge where they spent the night making love and waiting for the sun to rise.

Next Chapter: Hinata

Well I hope the chapter meets everyone’s expectations. Also, let me thank everyone that has reviewed the last chapter as always and I hope the fight scene helps to offset the statements from the reviews that she had been taken out too easily in the main story. Just to help clarify my thoughts on why sometimes the characters go down quickly and others they tear through enemies, it is because to me rankings don’t really account for much more than a recognition of the skill a particular character has. But, people can plan for such an encounter, and frankly I think it would have been nice to see a bit more of it in the manga. For example, when Deidara and Sasori just march into Suna to kidnap Gaara. Granted, it was a sneak attack in a sense, but then they engage in this big flashy battle over the skies of Suna and not one Suna-nin tried to help the Kazekage. I mean sure it took place in the air, but it is the shinobi village where one of the characters uses a fan to fight from a distance. I just found it hard to believe there were not hundreds of jutsu being shot into the air in order to knock Deidara out of it.

To me, if you are going to go after a strong opponent you don’t take them head on. You especially don’t do it on their home turf without a pretty impressive plan to tie up the rest of the village. For this chapter of Limelight, besides showing how Mikumo is kind of how I imagine Tsunade was before meeting Naruto and what she might have become had see accepted Orochimaru’s offer. I kind of wanted to show why it is I so often use ambushes rather than have a full on battle. I mean, in this chapter I hope it showed Tsunade in a much more positive light and why if someone was targeting her they weren’t going to attack head on. It was the same reason I had Sora trap Naruto the way that he did.

But the other reason is kind of like with Night Terrors it requires you to put your characters in difficult situations, and I feel going the typical manga route where the villain and hero fight, with the hero losing only to eventually return to win is kind of overdone to death. Take the last fight with Sasuke. It was a boring recap of the first fight at the valley of the end. I mean did anyone actually think that Naruto was going to lose this time. I highly doubt it. As like I’ve said before, to me it was almost more of a, “what if Naruto had won the first Valley of the End fight,” rather than a battle onto itself. That was why I didn’t want Tsunade squaring off with Furofuki in this big drawn out fight before the conclusion of this arc. Furofuki’s abilities are still relatively unknown and as such I want people wondering who exactly is the stronger of the two. It also cuts down on the last minute power-ups so that the hero can suddenly grow strong enough to beat the villain that bested them the first time.

I guess the final reason is because I like to see strategies put into place rather than what we got from the manga. It was one of the reasons the war arc was such a huge disappointment to me. I mean seriously after one day of fighting both sides lost nearly half their forces, and yet we were supposed to believe that the other previous wars were these long drawn out affairs. Granted it was apparent at the end that Kishimoto was getting lazy, but seriously that the 4th Great Shinobi War was resolved in 2-3 days was rather hard to swallow. I mean did they really need a brilliant strategist like Shikaku Nara to basically just throw their shinobi head long into their opponents. But considering that was basically how every fight in the series was handled I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. I mean at least when Orochimaru took on the Leaf he put a brilliant plan into play and probably did more damage to it than the other 4 great villages combined before Pain. That to me is how a true villain operates. He doesn’t announce himself to great fanfare. He lurks in the shadows and waits for the right time to strike, so that when he does he holds all the cards. Because if he doesn’t, well this chapter I hope illustrates what happens when they don’t have those advantages.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the chapter and until next time, take care. Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.