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

Eroninja: Limelight

Yugito: More Than What I Carry

Author’s Note: This chapter takes place in between chapters 77 and 78.

Yugito’s apartment was filled with the sounds of her exertions while she punched the heavy bag to work out her frustrations. Those frustrations stemmed from the fact that she hadn’t been laid in months, which considering her very active sex life with Naruto from before Karui’s promotion party had left her highly frustrated. She ended the session feeling that she had worked out enough so grabbed the bottle of milk that she had poured prior to starting. She gulped it all down, and then headed to her kitchen area to leave it in the sink. She then began unwrapping her hands of the bandages that she wore before making her way to the window of her apartment. Drenched in sweat while dressed in just a sports bra, and t-backed panties, she was sure that presented quite the seductive image. She moved to the window while patting herself with a towel to show off her barely clothed form and then made a show of dropping her towel before facing away to pick it up. She didn’t look back as she walked away, but hoped her display left the Kumo Anbu watching her apartment as sexually frustrated as she was.

It had been a lonely couple of months as she had moved out of the Hidden Thunder Inn shortly after Karui’s promotion party. She had done this so when she did defect, it wouldn’t cause the investigation to look too deeply into the lives of the other women that called it home. Not to mention, it had led credence to Karui’s claims that she was acting rather suspiciously. She sometimes wondered how Karui’s Anbu commander or the Raikage had responded to her suspicions. But, she doubted either would have taken much convincing, especially considering her attitude after the disastrous meeting with Konan.

Left alone with her thoughts, Yugito was still angry at how taken in she had been with the notion that the Raikage had valued her as a person. Yet, now she knew that had just been a ruse, likely as a result of his understanding that it had been his bond with Bee which had helped the jinchuriki tame his Bijuu. Understanding that, Yugito supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised that they would do what they could to recreate the results. She was just upset that she hadn’t seen it sooner, but she supposed it was because unlike Bee, she hadn’t really been held in reserve like him. As such due to the constant praise she received from her successes, she had come to believe they had valued her. However, she supposed that she should have recognized that while they might have appreciated her, they placed the emphasis on what it was she had sealed inside her. Furthermore, since Killer Bee was such a beloved member of the village, she didn’t experience the same prejudices from the civilians or other shinobi as other jinchuriki had. In the end, she guessed it was the adoration that she had received from the villagers which had helped to mask that Kumo’s leaders primarily valued the Bijuu, and she was just its current container.

That was why Naruto’s decision to support her defection really solidified why she loved him. She hadn’t meant to set the events that she had in motion as she had been prepared to remain in Kumo. It had been a moment of weakness that had prompted her to ask Konan if she truly intended to leave a spot open for her in Akatsuki. She was quite aware that her leaving could cause Ay to reverse his support for the Alliance. She had been blindsided by the possibility that he would potentially target Naruto for elimination in retaliation. That thought still made her reconsider her defecting, but once Naruto had learned what laid in her heart, he had been unyielding in his determination to see her desire fulfilled.

Yugito did consider her current situation somewhat ironic. After all, of the two powerful men struggling for her. One had sought her out as an asset in his goal to create peace, yet he was treating her as a person. The other had apparently treated her as a person, but now his actions seemed to be due solely because it allowed him to use her as a pawn. She knew that was a simplification, but she couldn’t deny Naruto would benefit far more if she remained in Kumo. That he had made it clear that he wouldn’t be satisfied with her staying so long as she would be miserable by doing so, really moved the needle of her feelings for him. She had loved him almost since their first time together as he had treated her uniquely. But, now she felt there wasn’t anything that she wouldn’t do for him. She looked forward to showing him that once she could wrap her arms around him again. She began heading to the apartment’s shower so she could get ready for bed, and hoped that soon she would be able to see not just Naruto, but the rest of her Family as well.

*****************************
It was just after midnight when Naruto landed in some trees in order to mentally prepare to make his final approach towards the village of Kumo. Dressed in his Menma gear, which consisted of a fox mask and bluish gray robe which covered the clothes he wore underneath, he touched a button in the side of his mask and suddenly he had night vision and could see the barrier that surrounded the village of Kumo. He smiled as he enjoyed Rikku’s invention which she had created to investigate the Ghost that had been pleasuring the women of the Training Force before ultimately becoming one of those very same women. He began to feel a bit nervous since his next actions would effectively be rolling the dice on the future of the Alliance, as well as potentially leading to a future war depending how events played out. But, he knew he owed it to each of his lovers that he would always strive to create a world in which they could be happy and flourish. Yet, if he was going to do that then he needed to take risks since destiny only favored the bold because they were the only ones actually taking action.

He watched the barrier begin to distort for a moment thanks to the Chakra Vision that Rikku had built into his mask, and then leapt just before it faded out. He landed just inside the barrier as it flared to life after those monitoring it reset the field to accommodate for changes in the environment. He darted into the shadows cast by some rocks which rose from the ground and waited several moments to make sure he hadn’t hit the barrier too soon or late, but when no signs of alarm were raised he began to focus on the next part of his infiltration.

He felt his anxiety begin to spike since the next part was going to be even more difficult than the barrier. The primary reason being that unlike Konoha, which had several gates by which people could enter and exit, making it somewhat easier to infiltrate and in his opinion far too easy to leave since Sasuke had just walked out one of them as if a world populated by shinobi wouldn’t have a night watch. Kumo though certainly did, as with his mask, he could see several shinobi pacing around or near the only gate into or out of Kumo. The reason for the single point of entry was due to how much of the village was actually built into the mountain upon which it rested and so the mountain canyons created a natural funnel to the gate. Naturally, Shinobi wouldn’t be confined to just using the gate, but Nauto figured access points shinobi might use would be even more heavily guarded than the rather obviously guarded gate.

Still, even with such factors as Kumo’s defenders believing no worthwhile shinobi would infiltrate via the gate. Naruto knew a good reason shinobi would shun it was due to there not being a great deal of places to hide while approaching it. Thus he decided to use that to his advantage as he produced a scroll and then unsealed a rather heavy looking backpack. As silently as he could, he put it on his shoulders, which proved difficult as there were lots of knickknacks that would make noise as he moved hanging off of it. He wrapped a turban favored by traders over his head while also using it to try to conceal his mask before stepping from behind the rocks and approached the gate. The loose items on the pack made a racket which caused all the guards to go on alert instantly as he approached. Thanks to his mask, he could see they were all confused by his appearance, but he doubted any of them thought him a shinobi. He approached the gate but rather then stopping at it, moved off to the side before sitting down cross-legged.

The Kumo-nin on guard all looked at each other, before one of the men patrolling the top of the gate leapt down. He approached him stating, “Sir, I don’t know what you think you are doing. But all guests or potential clients must wait at the base of the mountain. Then provided they have been screened for entry they…”

Naruto waved the man’s concerns off while replying, “Don’t worry boyo. I’m not interested in entering your precise village. But, after climbing all the way up here, I’m sure many would like something refreshing to drink. A good trader goes to where the money is, and I’m sure I’ll make a killing while you lads process everyone.”

“Look, I don’t care if you’re selling drinks fit only for the gods,” the shinobi replied beginning to lose his temper as Naruto stood and made like he was taking off his pack. As he turned in a circle as if struggling to remove it, he could see the other shinobi moving to support their comrade in the dark thanks to Rikku’s invention. The man clamped his hand on Naruto’s shoulder as he finally removed the pack so he quickly grabbed the shinobi’s wrist with his right hand before suddenly turning to wretch his arm behind him in a painful hold.

“Don’t be rude now,” Naruto said as he spoke into the man’s ear as all but one of the shinobi surrounded him.

A slightly panicked sounding kunoichi said, “Let the commander go.”

“Now, let’s all remain calm,” Naruto said as he nudged the pack now at his feet to trigger the surprise he had for them.

The pack erupted into a cloud of gas as the pressurized canisters that Shizune had prepared for his trip released their contents. The man that he was holding was the first to feel the effects, due to the fact that he was immune thanks to the inoculation his lover had provided along with the canisters. The gate commander went limp in his arms as the paralyzing pink fumes cut off all communication between the man’s brain to his body. The other shinobi that had surrounded him also were swept up in the cloud causing them to collapse with wide-eyed expressions as they tried to figure out why their bodies weren’t obeying their commands. Naruto though didn’t rest on his laurels leaping out of it towards the man that had remained away from his comrades in order to sound the alarm should the supposed merchant prove to be something more. Luckily for Naruto, he had been caught rather flatfooted by the sudden dispatching of his comrades so remained rooted in place at the top of the gate.

But, seeing Naruto emerge from the cloud of pink smoke had him returning to his senses. Although, instead of running for help as had been his job in the formation, he pulled a kunai which he tossed at the masked Naruto. He easily deflected the blade before landing on the gate, which seemed to make the shinobi that Naruto would guess was a genin remember his task. He turned to leap into the village, but Naruto moved fast enough to catch his foot before he cleared the wall of the walkway causing his leap to turn into an upside down face plant into the stones of the gate. The youth groaned groggily before Naruto hefted him back over the wall and then gave him a whiff of the same gas the rest of his squad had gotten to enjoy.

With the guards dispatched Naruto breathed a little easier as he studied the sleeping village and could see no signs of it beginning to awaken. Ducking back beneath the wall of the walkway atop the gate, he pulled out another scroll and unsealed yet another backpack although this one was more akin to infiltrating a village, especially as it was stuffed with the exploding tags he would need for the next part of his plan.

*****************************
Yugito and the rest of Kumo was rocked awake by the sound of an explosion going off. It was followed by two others, one of which was near her apartment allowing her to see the building engulfed in flames before collapsing like it had imploded. She was a bit confused, since she knew the building had been schedule for destruction, but couldn’t imagine why they would do it so late and in such a flashy way. Yet, despite her displeasure with the leadership of the village, she still hurriedly got dressed to see if there was anything she could do, especially if they were coming under attack.

Yet, by the time she reached the roof of her building to see what was going on. She began to suspect whatever had happened was an isolated event as she couldn’t see any signs that the explosions were a precursor to an attack on the village. Although, from how the smoke plumes were spread out in different sections of the village she began to rule out the cause was accidental. She began to approach the one closest to her building, and could feel the Anbu that had been watching her home begin to follow as well. She grew annoyed and angry since with their home possibly having a rather flashy arsonist of some sort running about they still considered her a priority. Still, she continued to head to her destination, although she began making it difficult to follow her as a minor form of rebellion.

*****************************
Naruto watched his handy work figuring the village of Kumo despite his rude way of waking them up, should be grateful to him for demolishing the rundown buildings that Mabui had selected for him to target. He had not told her why, only that they needed to be vacant, since he hadn’t clued any of his Kumo lovers into his plan. He had avoided doing so since he didn’t want them acting suspiciously so felt the best way to insure that they didn’t was to make sure they were as unprepared as the rest of the village. He watched Yugito appear on the roof of her building before taking off towards the closest demolition site. He waited until the four members of an Anbu squad watching her and were apparently led by a diminutive masked woman began to appear from the buildings surrounding his lover’s apartment to begin moving as well. He smiled as upon Yugito sensing her Anbu tails, began moving erratically forcing the squad to compensate on the fly.

This tended to occasionally leave one or two of the Anbu isolated, which Naruto planned to take advantage of. Working from a higher angle as his lover was traveling along the ground while she ducked through alleyways or other narrow passages to force the four Anbu following her to work for it in order to keep up. He came across one as he took a long way around a building while Yugito ran down the alley between it and another. Naruto had been running along the top of that same building so turned to leap over the side of it. The man was obviously caught by surprise as Naruto tackled him in the side while he ran along the side of the building using chakra. The man began to fall as his chakra was cut off due to the chakra suppression seal that Naruto had slapped onto him as they collided. The man then began to fight him, although his concern seemed more about trying to find a way to arrest his fall since without chakra he likely wouldn’t survive. Naruto used the man’s preoccupation with survival to press an injector to his neck. Pressing the trigger, it fired a chemical into his blood stream which rendered him unconscious especially as his rapidly beating heart distributed the agent throughout his body. Naruto threw a kunai with a rope attached to it into the building and then used that as a pivot point so that when he made contact with the building he easily could begin running back up it. Reaching the rooftop, he could see one of the Anbu was heading in their direction likely trying to find out what had caused their comrade to fall behind. Naruto slipped a surprise underneath the man he had just rendered unconscious before dropping back over the side of the building’s roof.

Circling around the side of it, he just leapt to the next building as the other Anbu landed near his unconscious teammate. He flipped him over only to release the pressure keeping the gas in the canister he had stuffed under the unconscious man causing it to envelope the two. He focused forward and had to rely on Yugito’s foxmark to locate her while also keeping his own presence suppressed. He also knew that he had to be careful as other shinobi were converging on the building that he had destroyed. He landed on a building near the demolished one and saw Yugito asking a dark skinned white haired shinobi what she could do to help. He recognized the man as Darui, and it looked like he was telling her to return home which he inferred from how she angrily reacted to the dismissal.

Naruto didn’t really focus on it since he saw one of the Anbu signal to the short leader of the group that he was going to circle back to see what was going on with their comrades. Naruto quickly moved to intercept him, and as they cleared the area, he found a perfect spot to spring his ambush. Waiting behind the exit that led to the stairs of his rooftop ambush point, the Anbu he was tracking landed along the perimeter of it as he began heading back. Naruto sprang from his hiding place and ran at the Anbu that sensed him at the last second. But by then it was too late as he bodily tackled the man along the waist. The hit carried them both off the roof and into the open window of an apartment on the adjacent building. They both crashed into the apartment that Naruto had aimed for and the Anbu took the brunt of the fall allowing him to punch the man in the face to knock him out.

Leaping back out the window, he could feel a disgruntled Yugito heading back to her apartment so moved to take out his last target before they would both make their exit.

*****************************
Yugito headed back to her home at a more relaxed pace due to Darui telling her that he didn’t require her help, and that she should return home so she could be secured. She knew his opinion of her had dropped rather steeply due to her rebellious attitude as of late, but she still felt that he had been rather unreasonable in telling her that he didn’t need or want her assistance. A part of her knew that she should have expected his dismissal though since despite the Raikage admitting his role in the Hyuuga kidnapping attempt, there were plenty of people willing to just dismiss it as being how the world was. She had been one of those people as well, but she felt it was primarily since his having admitted the truth about how he had set the Hyuuga Kidnapping Plot into motion was the payment that had extracted to secure her “release,” from Konoha, at the time, she had felt it showed that he had truly valued her. Now though, it felt like he had just paid lip service to wanting her back, but had truly valued only the Bijuu that she carried. In truth, she now realized it had been the same case with the shinobi who had lost his life trying to kidnap Hinata. Ay had claimed that the dishonor brought about by his shinobi’s death had demanded Hiashi Hyuuga pay with his life, and the Raikage knowing the people of Kumo had felt similarly used that to threaten war all so he could get his hands on the Byakugan. Yet, despite having been one of those Kumo-nin almost clamoring to go to war to avenge their comrade’s death, she now understood how to Konoha it had been a transparent attempt for Ay to get his hands on the Hyuuga’s ocular jutsu.

Yugito felt ashamed that she hadn’t really seen the truth when Ay had admitted to his role in the whole affair. At the time, it had disappointed her sure, but she couldn’t really say it had filled her with disgust as it did now. Naturally, a part of her shame stemmed from her thinking that she only really was feeling such now due to it seeming that in essence, she felt trapped in a similar situation so believed she understood how the Hyuuga must have felt. After all, many of her fellow Kumo-nin were beginning to shun her due to her attitude towards Ay, which she imagined the Hyuuga might have worried would have happened had a war broken out over the attempted kidnapping and Ay’s demand for justice. It also gave her an appreciation of how they might have felt knowing Raikage was just playing political theater to get what he wanted.

She sighed wondering how much longer she would be forced to live in a place that was feeling less and less like a home to her. She didn’t ponder it long as the leader of the squad of Anbu that had been tailing her dropped down in front of her demanding, “What are you playing at here, Yugito Ni?”

Yugito went on guard immediately as the female kunoichi was brandishing her sword and was obviously on guard for the jinchuriki to attack. “What are you…”

Before she could finish her question though, a second masked figured dropped down behind the short Anbu squad leader. He grabbed the woman by the back of the head, and slammed her face into the street smashing her mask. He then hefted her up while holding her by the skull asked, “Aren’t you a little short to be an Anbu?”

Although she probably should have recognized her by her size, due to the broken mask she had little trouble identifying the Anbu as a kunoichi named Hiyori Sarugaki. She focused on the fox masked man holding the woman and despite her feelings about Kumo prepared to attack him. But she stopped as suddenly she felt Naruto’s presence flair to life in the fox mark network and identified the man in front of her as him. Hiyori was beginning to recover from the blow she had taken so in a disguised voice Naruto said, “You have to decide how this encounter plays out.”

Yugito’s eyes widened as she realized what an amazing opportunity her lover was giving her. Which was essentially deciding whether to truly leave Kumo behind, or to erase her recent behavior by fighting off the saboteur that had suddenly appeared to recapture her status as a hero of the village. Yugito felt her feelings for the Leaf-nin reaching new heights as he was letting her decide her destiny. She especially appreciated it due to the fact that now that the moment was before her, a part of her was unsure if she should proceed. She knew it was a fear of the unknown since all her life she had only really known Kumo. Her missions had taken her to faraway lands sure, but she had never truly gotten to enjoy them. In fact, her period in Konoha when she had pretended to be captured had been the longest that she had been away from her home village outside of travel to and from a target.

Yet despite her not really being sure about what to expect going forward she said, “Are you the person I was in contact with to help me defect?”

Hiyori began to struggle as she focused a still slightly dazed glare at Yugito to mumble weakly, “T…traitor…”

Naruto raised his other hand and jammed the injector that he held against the woman’s arm. With a hiss it delivered the nerve agent into her and confident that she wouldn’t be an issue for several hours tossed her conscious but paralyzed form away as he said, “Let’s go. Per your request, I’ll safely see you out of the Land of Lightning.”

Yugito nodded and he leapt to the roof of a nearby village. She paused for a moment to see Hiyori’s gaze boring into her with an anger that she didn’t doubt would blossom into hate for her. But, having made her decision to escape the cage that Kumo now represented for her, she didn’t try to offer any excuses as she simply leapt after her masked lover. She wasn’t sure what to say to him after not speaking for so long, but Naruto seemingly playing the part of a hired operative simply scanned the village. Together they focused towards the gate as an alarm sounded from the area to join with the others already having been ringing since the blasts went off. She found it strange until he stated, “Looks like they found the guards at the gate.”

Realizing that was the spot where he had entered the village she asked, “What condition did you leave them in? It might be possible to slip through an exit only assessable by shinobi if they think we’ve left already.”

Naruto looked back at her stating, “The nerve agent is fast acting, but it is also easily removed since we didn’t want to cause permanent damage. Chances are they’ve also received check-ins from the other guard points so realize that was where I entered from. Once they get the main gate guards back on their feet they are probably going to realize we haven’t exited yet.”

Yugito nodded and figuring how the village would next respond she said, “The Raikage is currently securing important installations and assets. This will include places like the hospital, administrations building, and the Vault.”

Naruto’s interest was piqued by the mention of Kumo’s facility where they stored powerful weapons or artifacts that they had come across, or in some cases stolen. He turned towards Yugito to ask, “Where is the Vault located?”

Yugito shook her head as she replied, “I don’t know. Only a handful of people outside of personnel are aware of its location, and I’m afraid I wasn’t one of them.”

Naruto frowned since he had heard the place had been raided so asked, “How could a place not even shinobi of Kumo know about have been hit?”

Yugito shrugged before replying, “Just because its location is only known to a few people, doesn’t mean one of those people didn’t betray the secret. I can’t really recall an actual raid taking place, although I do remember a big ruckus being caused when a rather low level hospital administrator went missing around the time the Raikage reported to the Alliance that the vault had been hit. The Anbu were crawling all over the hospital after it happened, maybe the two events were linked.”

Naruto frowned beneath his mask since he couldn’t understand why Kumo would admit it had been raided, but one of its own shinobi would dispute that fact. He suspected it might be due to the Raikage wanting back whatever had been taken, or to create the impression that the vault might lie outside of Kumo. He also wondered how the missing hospital administrator fit into the scenario, but knew now wasn’t the time to focus on the matter. Looking back at his lover he stated, “I imagine right now a squad is also heading to your apartment to secure you as well. It won’t be long before they find your watchers.”

Yugito nodded so replied, “Then how do we get out of the village? I’m guessing you didn’t teleport in because you wanted to establish a trail for them to follow afterwards.”

Naruto nodded before pulling Yugito close. A moment later the two of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke. They appeared in a strange place, and from the abundance of toads, not to mention the large yellow one that had reversed summoned Naruto, Yugito guessed that they were on Mt. Myoboku. Naruto removed the mask to favor the frog with a wide smile that didn’t really look like it belonged on his face due to the red eyes and black hair that he was sporting. “Thanks Gamatatsu.” He pulled out a pair of scrolls from his pouch which he tossed before the toad as he stated, “I can’t stay to chat, but here are the snacks that I promised you.”

“Much appreciated Naruto,” the toad said already beginning to unravel one of them, “I was getting hungry.”

Naruto pulled Yugito to him again, and this time they teleported away using the Hiraishin jutsu. They appeared in a field and from the alarms she could hear in the distance, quickly realized they were back in Lightning Country and in a clearing rather close to Kumo. She looked around and saw that the area appeared to have been staged to look like he had a partner who had reversed summoned him from the village. It achieved this effect due to a large scroll being laid out, which although was currently marked with the Flying Thudergod Jutsu could also have been used to create a short term summoning contract between two people. She also saw foot prints leading to the area which made her think that Naruto hadn’t actually staged the scene, but it might have been done by one of his other lovers. Since the person hadn’t simply stuck around to reverse summon Naruto, she imagined the woman had likely been one of his lovers that called Kumo home. The thought made Yugito feel warm since she knew there was a bond that linked them which transcended the symbol on their headbands. Nodding towards the footprints she asked, “Who set this up for you?”

Naruto smiled while kneeling down to remove the Hiraishin seal from the scroll and then answered “Mabui did. I teleported her out of the village several hours before nightfall. If it wasn’t dark and you looked carefully you’d see that she backed out of the area using the same tracks. I then teleported her back to Kumo when she was far enough away. If our pursuers find this area, it may divert several of our pursuers down the false trail.” Naruto then increased the likelihood the area would be discovered as he set the scroll on fire. Holding his hand out to her, he said softly, “Well this is it. No turning back now.”

Yugito nodded before stating with a hint of melancholy, “Yeah, let’s go.” Naruto nodded, and then together they ran west hoping to make it to the Land of Frost’s border. Although there was no guarantee that would stop the Raikage’s pursuit of her.

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

Mabui sat at her desk wondering what was being discussed in the office. She frowned since the only people being allowed inside were Tosen and Darui. She wished she could bug the office, but with the constant monitoring for various listening devices or other methods, couldn’t take the chance. She felt her nerves were getting the better of her since she knew Naruto and Yugito were still in the country. She tried to calm herself since if everything went well then they would escape into Frost without much resistance since the border was rather lightly guarded. Yet, even if they were engaged by Kumo’s forces and people should discover what laid behind the fox mask Naruto wore. Her village’s leadership wouldn’t be able to just accuse him of the crime. The main reason being that currently Naruko was playing at being Naruto on a rather public publicity tour for Koyuki’s latest movie. Even as Kumo was being rocked by explosions, a henged Naruko was likely being photographed with the Spring Country ruler as she attended her latest movie’s premier in the Land of Demons.

Granted, with jutsu like the Shadow Clone and Hiraishin jutsu at his disposal, if the Raikage wanted to make the case that Menma was Naruto should his face be seen, then it would probably be rather easy too. How much weight was given to his charges would depend on the other Kage, and to her knowledge Gaara still had not given his blessing. But with the Execution by Kiss technique which would alter his chakra signature depending on who he kissed. Not to mention Shizune had injected him with a substance that reacted to the chemicals used during DNA testing to muddy the results. Mabui figured a just as strong case could be made to clear Naruto of any charges the Raikage might issue.

Yet, naturally she hoped any such concerns would only be raised after both Naruto and Yugito safely exited the Land of Lightning. The door to the Raikage’s office opened, and to her surprise only Darui stepped out followed by the Raikage. The leader of the village turned towards her harshly ordering, “Mabui, I want you to make preparations to add Yugito to the bingo files. She is to be brought back alive. Also, I want all the files related to children born in the past three years to talented shinobi brought to my office.”

Mabui wanted to protest, or to muddy the waters a little by suggesting that perhaps she wasn’t a willing participant in her leaving. But, with Hiyori’s testimony, not to mention Yugito’s behavior for the past several months, she knew doing so might only cause suspicion to fall onto her. Still, she was concerned by Tosen’s lack of presence so asked, “Sir, what happened to Head Captain Tosen?”

“He sensed Yugito’s reappearance near the village so exited via the window. Our guess is that the man that is helping her may have reversed summoned the pair of them out of the village. With any luck this matter will be resolved before morning.”

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

Yugito could feel dozens of different chakra signatures closing in on them from the direction of Kumo. Naruto with his mask back in place said, “Well that didn’t take long. It was probably a mistake to reappear so close to Kumo, but those are the limitations of making it appear that we used a temporary short term contract.”

Yugito felt her stomach begin doing back flips since she didn’t want to have to fight her way to freedom. Hoping to distract from the prospect of a potential fight she asked, “Why not just use a real summoning contract like we did?”

Naruto focused on her and could see she was conflicted by the prospect of fighting her former comrades. He hadn’t wanted to put her in such a bind, but at the same time had to face certain realities so explaining some of them answered, “A true reverse summons would have limited the number of candidates that those investigating your defection would have focused on. With the location or owners of most summoning scrolls being known, Kumo would have likely focused their inquiries on shinobi that know how to summon. Naturally, I would have ended up on that list. A short term summoning contract however just requires a little prep time, but does limit the range. So, we really needed them to find that sight where we were supposedly summoned to.”

Yugito nodded, but with a slight frown added, “Then it’s likely our appearing just outside the village was like shooting up a flare to any sensors types.” Considering what she knew of her former home’s operating method she said, “If I’m right, then we likely can consider the man leading those after us to be Kaname Tosen. He heads up the Anbu Division, and although blind, his chakra sensing abilities more than make up for it. The Anbu division would also be the only people that we are likely to encounter.”

Naruto kept his focus forward while asking, “Are there any border patrols that we’ll need to be worried about?”

Yugito shook her head in the negative before replying, “No, I doubt Ay imagines the chunin and jounin stationed along the border would offer much resistance. But making it to the Land of Frost isn’t going to cause those chasing us to break pursuit. Kumo has a long standing contract with the Daimyo to offer military assistance when requested. One of the benefits it gives the village is access to Frost’s territory.”

“I figured as much,” Naruto stated with a smirk. “Truthfully, I doubt Ay would call his men off even if we headed into the Land of Fire. Still, I doubt he wants to cause any international incidents so he needs to wrap this up before we make the border.” Naruto looked back at his lover asking, “Yugito, I had hoped we could slip away quietly. But the bridge to freedom before us can only be crossed after defeating our pursuers. Can you fight?”

Yugito bit her lip since she wasn’t entirely sure herself. She knew that the Anbu chasing them wouldn’t hesitate to attack her, but she was having trouble discarding her ties with her fellow Kumo-nin. Especially as Hiyori’s calling her a traitor had cut rather deeply. The feeling that she had struggled with during her months of isolation which was that perhaps she was acting like a petulant child angry at not getting her way began to return.

But, before they could take hold on her, her masked lover stated, “Yugito, I like to believe that I have some idea as to what you are feeling. But, no one thinks you are just being spoiled here. As a jinchuriki, you are thought of in terms of being a weapon not a person. Where normal shinobi would get to retire or pursue other interests after a while, you would always be kept in a cage. For a time that cage was a gilded one, but now you see the bars. When feeling trapped, it is only natural to want to escape.” Naruto turned to look back at her, and despite the mask, she could easily imagine the reassuring smile that she believed he was wearing for her. He focused forward again while explaining, “I also know you have lots of good memories with your fellow shinobi. Many of whom may now being chasing after us. I only ask if you can fight because if you say that you can, then I’m going to trust you to. If you truly aren’t prepared and you tell me that you are, then you become a liability. So if you aren’t, just tell me. I will carry you through safely to the other side of the bars. That I promise you.”

Yugito felt buoyed by Naruto’s words and while she still didn’t want to cross blades with her fellow Kumo-nin. She knew the time for such thoughts had passed. She had made her choice when she had stated her intention to defect in front of Hiyori, so felt she needed to show her commitment to her new path. Steeling her resolve, she stated, “I can carry myself, thank you very much.”

She could hear the wide smile on her lover’s face as he said, “I never doubted that for a second.” He still sounded amused as he said, “And despite how things might look. You can say everything is still going to plan. But first, we need to deal with those people acting like the hounds to our foxes.”

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

Tosen was standing at the bow of the diesel powered boat that Kumo had recently developed which he and the squad that he had assembled to capture Yugito had commandeered. His second in command and a man he had once been a subordinate of stepped up saying, “I still can’t feel any of the chakra signatures from the squads that were assigned to follow after Yugito and her masked ally. I’m not much of a sensor, but if they kept to the timetable you gave them then they should be close by now.”

“Nor will you,” Tosen replied in a calm manner, “The two of them turned back to face those pursuing them several hours ago. I doubt they managed to put up much resistance, they were assembled for speed and chakra sensing abilities. But, they served their purpose.”

Kensei Muguruma gritted his teeth at the calm dismissal of what may have been the deaths of several of their colleagues. He kept the complaint to himself, since Tosen had always proven to be a rather stoic individual. He would admit that at times the current Anbu Head Captain made him uncomfortable, but that estimate included the time when he had been a part of his squad as well. Kensei just could never shake the feeling there was more to the man then meets the eye, and that should it ever be revealed he would come to regret it. He would admit that some of the negativity he felt towards Tosen might be from being passed over for the position of Anbu Head Captain in favor of a man that had been a subordinate. But, he at times just assumed that Tosen was selected due to his well stated desire for justice, especially after the previous Anbu commander had been revealed to be a double agent for Joseki. After all, he couldn’t say that Tosen was not talented enough for the job. Plus, despite a reputation for not caring for politics, he was astute enough to make Kensei his second in command of Anbu operations in order to quiet and hopefully smooth over the potential bad blood brought about by his promotion.

Despite being his second in command though, they rarely worked together which Kensei did find strange. But Tosen unlike most shinobi, had not formed a squad of his own, but instead would form teams based on the situation. While he claimed this was so every situation could be dealt with in the most efficient manner. Kensei wondered if it was so Tosen wouldn’t form deep attachments with people. He attributed this trait being a result of an incident in the man’s youth where a kunoichi he had cared for had been killed by her husband for what the man felt had been her disrespecting him. His friend’s killer had never faced justice as the man’s family had been rather well connected to the Raikage’s. Although the man had died by Hiashi Hyuuga’s hand after he botched kidnapping his daughter.

Kensei felt a vein begin throbbing in his skull as his squad’s lieutenant began saying with a petulant tone, “This is so boring. How much longer is this going to take?”

“Stow it Mashiro,” Kensei said wondering if he should perhaps start following Tosen’s example. “Can you try to act like a professional?”

“Perhaps she draws her inspiration from her commander,” Tosen said turning to face the other members he had assembled. “Your tone just now was hardly professional.” Focusing on the squad, he waited for them to stand at the ready before addressing them, “This squad was assembled for one purpose to capture and secure Yugito Ni the current host of the Two-Tails. I think you all understand the gravity of this mission. Losing the two-tails will effectively weaken our village, thus leading to an era where justice cannot be maintained. I’m not sure why Yugito Ni has decided to defect, but that is unimportant just as whatever feelings you hold for her are unimportant to the task.” His unsighted gaze landed on a still recovering Hiyori to make it clear that he expected her to put whatever issues she had with Yugito on hold so the mission didn’t suffer.

Confident he had made his point, he was about to turn around when Kensei asked, “If we lost contact with the team following them, then how are we supposed to track them down?”

“That doesn’t seem to be a concern as for the moment. It seems her accomplice has found us,” Tosen said turning back to look at the beach the boat was approaching. His squad looked in the same direction to see a masked man staring at them from the top of a sand dune. Tosen called out, “I’m not sure how you managed to suppress Yugito’s chakra signature. But you should have used the same technique on yourself.”

“Can’t, as I doubt that I would be a match for a squad of Anbu if I did,” the man replied.

“I see,” Tosen said calmly, “A chakra suppressant seal is an effective means to hide her. But, it would make it all but impossible for her to detect us once we pick up her trail.”

“But it does make it easier to smuggle her,” the man replied. “I take it you’re a guy that likes to count his chickens before they hatch since you’ve already dismissed me in favor of chasing after her.”

“Seeing as how I’m blind,” Tosen stated giving a small signal to his squad to attack. “I think you’ll find that I have other sense that compensate so I tend to be rather accurate in assessing such matters.” The Anbu on the ship then disappeared from behind him as he added, “Based on the size of your chakra, you do not appear to be much of a threat without Yugito to aid you.”

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

Naruto held his hand out before him as the Anbu appeared above him with weapons drawn. He imagined they were going to pin him to the ground in order to force him to talk. Holding his hand out, a dark mass of chakra took shape that looked almost like an atom. He strained to control the shape but then just before the Anbu reached him let it go. A wave of chakra exploded out from his hand which blew the Anbu away from him as he countered, “You know what they say, it isn’t the size of the chakra but what you do with it that matters.”

“I… I can’t move. You bastard what did you do to me this time,” one of the Anbu said while struggling to raise to her feet.

Naruto recognized her as the diminutive woman that he had bested when first meeting up with Yugito so replied, “Just a small taste of my chakra nature.” He was forced to dodge though as one of the men wasn’t as affected by the chakra he had siphoned from Yoshino as the rest.

“Get him Love,” another of the squad said raising to his feet.

Naruto focused on the man who upon losing his mask revealed he was wearing sunglasses and sporting an afro as he swung his Kanabo, which resembled a spiked round cactus, at him. The man’s movements were rather sluggish making him relatively easy to dodge, but the masked blonde suspected that he might be playing it up some to draw him in. Willing to play along, he waited until he completed a downward swing before moving to try and close with him. Much as Naruto expected the man suddenly doubled his speed as he swung around before trying to bring the weapon down on him like he was a spike to be hammered into the ground. With a mighty two-handed swing Love brought the club down causing a massive eruption of sand to shoot skyward.

“Damn,” the club wielding Anbu said straightening up, “I might have overdone it a little.”

“I’ll say,” Naruto replied from behind him, “Now I’ve got sand in some very uncomfortable places.”

“Shit,” Love said trying to spin and bring his weapon around but was stopped as Naruto caught his forearm. He then delivered a backhand that sent his opponent flying leaving his weapon behind so he hefted the club up onto his shoulder. He knew the shadow wave he had used would wear off soon, but he felt a little uneasy about how Tosen was remaining behind. After all, if he had really wanted to put his mind to the task, he could have killed the Head Anbu’s entire squad shortly after the initial attack.

Naruto focused on the watching the Anbu Head Captain studying him and frowned due to how it appeared he was hardly all that concerned by the danger facing his men. Calling him out on it, Naruto said, “No offense, but you seem to be a rather shitty leader. If I wanted to, I could have killed one or two of these losers by now.”

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short,” the dark skinned blind man said not leaving his spot at the front of the boat, “I imagine you could have killed them all if you wanted to. I am curious as to why you are holding back though. I wasn’t sure before, but it appears you are holding back.”

Naruto frowned as he wondered if the man would really sit back and watch him murder some of his subordinates. Naturally since he wasn’t really prepared to do so himself, he knew it was pointless to act like he was willing to so countered, “I find needlessly killing tends to complicate matters unnecessarily.”

Naruto didn’t get to hear the Anbu Head Captain’s response as he was forced to turn and use the Kanabo to block a whip from one of the recovering shinobi his shadow wave had washed over. The man pulled the club out of his hands and into an airborne Love’s, who again tried to drive him into the ground. Naruto stepped back to avoid the blow, but before he could counterattack he was forced to duck as a kunoichi leapt at him shouting, “Mashiro Kick!” He raised up quickly and stepped backwards as Love tried to bring his club up to hit him in the face, he was then kept off balance as he had to dodge to the side in order to avoid a knife slash to the neck.

Naruto was glad for all the training he had done to counter the Sharingan with Mikoto and Toka as he was definitely seeing the benefits. His remaining relatively in place was proving to be rather effective means of countering his opponents due to their need to coordinate in order to avoid getting in each other’s way. Naruto took advantage of this as Love moved to bring his club down again, so stepped forward and to the side in order to close with the man. As the club smashed into the ground, Naruto uppercutted him sending his head reeling back. He noticed the others moving to help, but spinning so that his back faced the man he reached behind him grabbing Love by his Anbu jacket and then tossed him over his head towards the whip wielder.

Love collided with the whip user, who managed to prevent them both from toppling back. But without his concern that the man’s weapon would tangle him up. Naruto spun to cross his arms above his head to block a downward kick from the kunoichi that seemed to think she was in some masked superhero production. He then griped her leg and spun using her like a club to hit the knife wielder that was coming up behind him. His human club caught the man in the side and he let go causing them to saild off to land in a mass of limbs. Naruto spun sensing an attack at the last second and received a pair of feet to the face as a result. His mask cracked under the blow causing it to fall from his face as he stumbled back. He shook his head to see that his attacker was the diminutive blonde woman that he had attacked earlier when he had first met up with Yugito.

He could see that she was shocked by what she saw as she didn’t follow up her attack, but ignoring the obvious question on her face. He bent down to pick up his mask and tuck it into his pouch while stating, “I guess you owed me that one.”

“What the hell are you playing at?” Hiyori asked angrily. “The Leaf not satisfied with stealing one jinchuriki, they plan to help Yugito defect as well?”

Naruto gave her a confused look as he spent a moment wondering what the woman was talking about, until her realized she was referring to Fu’s joining. Figuring his initial confused reaction worked to his advantage, he rolled with it by replying, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t play stupid,” Hiyori said angrily, “Why else would the Leaf send its jinchuriki to help the traitor escape the village?”

“Ah, I think you have me confused with someone,” Naruto replied smugly. “Although the similarities are intentional.” He tilted his jaw up, and turned his face side to side in order to allow them to study him fully while adding, “The doctor does good work don’t you think? This face helps me remember what that bastard did to me, and if it causes him some trouble along the way all the better.”

“You expect us to believe…”

“It doesn’t matter, Hiyori,” Tosen said having joined the others on the beach. Stepping past her, he drew his blade stating, “Whether you are just a man pretending to be the Leaf’s jinchuriki or not, doesn’t matter. The truth will be unveiled soon enough once we bring you back to Kumo. But I am curious why you would wish to cause chaos in this world? That is all your helping Yugito to escape will result in.”

Naruto shrugged stating, “She was just willing to offer me something I couldn’t refuse.”

“What is that?”

“I doubt you would understand even if I told you,” Naruto shrugged running his hand through his dark hair. “Truthfully though, hearing you describe her defecting as escaping kind of just makes me want to help her all the more. I imagine she must have been feeling quite trapped by her circumstances.”

“Her situation helped to insure justice,” Tosen said drawing his blade.

Naruto went on guard as the other Anbu also readied themselves and he let some of the anger that he felt from Tosen dismissing Yugito’s being forced to suffer for the convenience of his beliefs enter his voice as he replied, “That’s all the more reason for me to want to see your justice fail.”

He reached under his cloak as he considered adjusting the seal worked into the one on his stomach that was partially dampening his chakra, since he had figured with his massive reserves it would almost serve to identify him as easily as his signature would. But, he refrained from doing guessing that might lead to a few questions he didn’t want asked. Instead, activating a seal Tenten had sown into his robe, he produced a Naginata which he spun in a circle over his head before planting the shaft in the sand. He then waved his opponents forward, and wasn’t too surprised when the short angry looking woman was the first to charge.

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

Yugito pulled herself onto the boat having remained underwater while her lover had engaged the Anbu. She had to marvel at her lover’s forethought as he figured one of the ways their pursuers would get in front of them would be to use the engine powered ship Kumo had produced. Although it appeared they had looked out as Tosen had commandeered one with the prototype diesel engines that were in development which while horribly inefficient, was much faster than sails and even the steam powered motors that Kumo had used in its navy prior. She had needed to remain underwater using the rebreather Naruto had given her due to Tosen remaining behind. Fearing for his safety, she had considered removing the seal that was dampening her chakra since she was confident she could best him. But, Naruto had wanted to draw them away so as to not damage the ship. Still, it had proved difficult since she knew the longer the fight dragged on the greater the chance would be her lover could be hurt or worse. Especially since he was fighting so as not to kill anyone while the Anbu wouldn’t be nearly as concerned with taking him alive.

Yet, even though the Anbu Head Captain had apparently left, she knew that didn’t mean the ship was unguarded. Therefore, she cautiously moved from the rear of the boat to the front where she found what she hoped was most of the crew standing around and watching the fight happening on the beach. Checking out the uniforms that they wore, she couldn’t say she was surprised by their all gawking in one place. This was because she imagined that once Tosen realized that she had escaped the village; he had quickly assembled two squads. The first had as Naruto surmised acted as hounds to drive and harass them. She had also been wrong about the border patrols playing a factor, but she suspected it was since Tosen had wanted to force them to either tire themselves out via battles or force them to slow in order to avoid them. All the while, Tosen had taken his squad northwest from Kumo to appropriate a ship from one of Kumo’s development bases. She smirked as she watched the crew looking amazed while her lover fought off the Anbu attacking him. After all, by recruiting the developers and scientists at the base to sail it, many who she imagined were only shinobi in name only, he had inadvertently played right into Naruto’s plan.

Watching her lover, she had to marvel at how he had predicted Tosen would want to use the water in order to get in front of them. She guessed he had simply called on his experience when Sasuke had defected so knew how dangerous it was to have a rear pursuit chasing after you. Moreover, it made the entire affair more dangerous for those being chased if they ended up sandwiched between two forces. So while she knew they could have probably easily smashed through the groups coming at them from the border. She imagined that Tosen would have simply sailed a little further up the cost to have his squad intercept them.

She could picture that the Anbu Head Captain had thought they were playing right into his hands when instead of facing the patrols after dealing with the rear pursuit, they had turned north. Especially as her chakra signature had disappeared due to the seal Naruto had applied to her. The two actions together likely made Tosen believe they were meeting a ship which would smuggle her to a nearby country. She guessed that was why although Naruto was fighting impressively, he wasn’t exactly facing the Anbu at their best. That was because it was apparent to her that they were attempting to tire him out, so as to take him alive. She figured they needed him alive so as to question him if they had missed the other ship already, and if so where it would make port so they could pursue. Or contact other shinobi in the area to stop her.

That thought made Yugito realize that she needed to stop gawking, and start doing her part. Confident the entire crew was gathered before her, she considered removing the seal suppressing her chakra. Partly to distract the Anbu facing her lover, but she knew doing so would cause them to become aware to what they were planning. As such she instead tossed what appeared to be marbles at the crew. They looked around in confusion as they rained down on them, but it didn’t last long as the small metal pellets released their contents upon hitting the deck. A cloud of smoke washed over them and as it passed, she saw them snoring contently in a pile. She shook her head as she thought her lover hadn’t been kidding when he said Sakura’s sleeping gas was fast acting.

Quickly securing the crew in a life raft as the sun began to rise, she cut it loose. She then moved to the boat’s wheelhouse where she quickly learned the controls and then fired up the engine. It made a loud rumble as the it roared to life and she began turning it away from shore leaving Kumo and her lover behind.

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

“What they hell are those baldies doing?” Hiyori shouted as she looked back to see the boat motoring away from the coast. She wondered if the crew had spotted the ship that they suspected might be how the man that they had been fighting intended to smuggle out Yugito. But if they had, they had been ordered to fire up a flare since they were mostly genin who had been promoted due to their engineering and design skills. And as such, would have been all but useless in an actual combat situation.

Tosen looked back, and then in a rear moment of anger, cursed before stating, “Yugito’s on the ship!!!”

As if to prove his words true they suddenly felt her chakra flare into existence as the boat began disappearing along horizon. The Anbu were stationed around the dark haired man, and although they hadn’t been fighting all out, she suspected that had been the case for him as well.

For a moment the Anbu were torn between abandoning the fight to pursue the boat to either catch up to it or sink it. But, that short period of unsureness was all their opponent needed to capitalize on the moment. Having believed they had been herding him so that they could surround him, he revealed that in fact it had been the other way around. He made a handsign, which caused a dozen flares to fire up into the sky in a circle around them in the early morning sky. The flares caused the Anbu’s shadows to all cross on him. He then slammed his weapon’s blade into the sand, Hiyori imagined he was about to tell them that the real fight was about to start. But, to her surprise as he twisted his wrist to unlock the blade from the Naginata’s shaft, she followed suit.

“What the… are you a Nara?” a still masked Rojuro Otoribashi asked as he struggled against the jutsu forcing him follow their opponent’s movements as he placed the metal shaft of his weapon over his shoulder.

The man shrugged as he answered, “I guess you can say it is likely that I’ve got a little Nara in me. But, not enough that I can control my shadow like them. But it is easy enough to lock you in place once yours contacts mine.”

“Yet all you’ve succeeded in doing is trapping yourself,” Tosen pointed calmly as he was confident if they captured the man, they’d be able to reacquire Yugito.

The man ignored the comment instead, having them strike a pose which had them all standing facing him and sticking their thumbs up. A moment later he disappeared in a poof of smoke, and they quickly realized that the blade he had left behind had also absorbed his chakra and so would leave them locked in the pose until help arrived or the charge the blade carried wore off.

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

Naruto appeared on the scroll that Yugito had unraveled at the back of the ship which she had used to summon him. The seal being one of the short term contract variety began to disappear even as she leapt up to wrap her arms around his neck. She could feel her body beginning to respond to the kiss as it had felt like an eternity since she had been in her lover’s arms. It would have to wait a little longer as Naruto gently pushed her away before stating, “Trust me there will be time enough for that. But, let’s put a little more distance between us and them.”

Yugito nodded, before returning to the wheelhouse where she called back to him, “So where should we go?”

“You decide,” Naruto replied sealing the shaft of the Naginata away, “That was kind of the point for this whole excursion.”

Yugito smiled as she decided to set course for the unclaimed territory between The Land of Waterfalls and The Land of Rice Paddies. She knew it was probably the obvious place, but she doubted the boat had enough fuel to go much further than that. Plus, she figured it would be the first place that Kumo would send shinobi to regardless, in order to block her path to Rain if she and Naruto went through the Land of Fire. Feeling confident in her decision, she steered the ship due west as there was also a place she wanted to take Naruto too.

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

Two days later they arrived, although they were still a few days out from Amegakure. After ditching the boat, which Yugito had used exploding tags on as a final middle finger to the Raikage. The two of them had ran almost nonstop to clear the wild territory between Rice Paddies and Waterfall. They had needed to slow some once they reached the Land of Waterfall’s to avoid shinobi patrols, but had avoided any entanglements since they had stuck to the paths that she had mapped out during the sabotage mission that had her first cross paths with Fu.

It had been during that mission where she had discovered the spot where they had made camp. The area was secluded and featured one of the many waterfalls that gave the country its name. The waterfall in particular wasn’t a straight shot over the cliff, but instead passed along different routes that it had carved through the rocks. Due to the man falls and turns the water almost appeared white as it filled the small pond which in turn overfilled to create another waterfall which fed the nearby river.

Yugito had been struck speechless when she first found the area many years ago, and had found that she immediately wished there had been someone special who she could have shared it with. She had even thought that someday she might bring someone she cared with there, but knew it had been a silly fantasy since unless on a mission Ay would have never just let her wander in another country’s lands.

Upon arriving Yugito had made sure to watch Naruto’s face and had been overjoyed when many of the emotions that she had experienced upon first finding the spot had appeared. Yet, despite wanting to dive into the water, the two of them had promptly set up camp and then passed out. Neither of them had been too concerned about Kumo catching up, not only because of the massive head start they had enjoyed. But also due to their incredible stamina which had allowed them to run almost nonstop the entire time. There were other factors as well such as while Kumo sending shinobi into the Wild Territory in pursuit might have been an obvious concern. But she was sure that they wouldn’t be able to move nearly as fast as they had through it. For one, they would need to tread slowly to make sure in their haste they didn’t overrun them without noticing. The second was that the wild territory was filled with missing-nin, bandits, and other criminal elements. Elements that might not notice two shinobi moving through the territory, but like kicking a beehive would come alive as Kumo-nin turned over every rock and beat every bush looking for them.

Yugito awoke from her slumber, and felt a sense of unease which she attributed to her effectively being unsure about what to expect of her life going forward. She pulled herself free of Naruto’s arms to climb out of the small shelter that they had made using branches and leaves. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was feeling so unsure of herself and her future now, when she had thought of nothing else but her defection for months. But, she quickly attributed it to how the moment was actually here and now reality was setting in. After all, it had been easy to picture a future free of Kumo when her anger at the Raikage had been present. Then during the escape, she had been sustained by adrenaline. But now the anger was gone, and the adrenaline had worn off leaving her painfully aware that for the first time in her life, she wasn’t bound by the structures of being Kumo’s jinchuriki any longer.

Yugito found it rather ironic that she was currently free of the cage that her being a jinchuriki had created. But now found she missed the comfort of it. After all, unlike other jinchuriki. She had never been actively hated or despised. Plus, it had meant that she had never wanted for anything since she had lived as a ward of the state. She had always been told that she was special, but those words she now realized had been part of a process to forge her into a perfect jinchuriki like Killer Bee.

She began to strip in order to clean herself in the pond. As she did so, she wondered if Kumo would be putting so much effort into getting her back if they knew she no longer carried the two-tails. She thought that they probably wouldn’t be, which caused a sense of melancholy to envelope her as she began to wonder if there was anything special about her. She might have been special in Kumo, but that specialness had only existed due to the village sealing a Bijuu inside her. Without it, she wondered what she would have amounted to. Even the Family name she had been given referenced her holding the two-tails. The foster mother that had raised her had often stated it was because she was born to be the host of the two tails. Yugito had searched Kumo’s registry for any other famous Nii, but strangely the search had come up blank.

Once bereft of clothes, she leapt into the pond sighing at how the water seemed to be the perfect temperature. She began to swim to where the waterfall was feeding it, and stepped under one of the spots where the water was acting as a shower. She began cleaning herself and began to think that without Yoruichi, she probably would have lived a rather mediocre life. Even the man that she loved had only entered it because of the Bijuu that she carried. She paused in her grooming as that thought brought her up short. Since, although she knew Naruto didn’t value her because of the Bijuu, couldn’t help feeling that without the two-tails there wouldn’t have been anything there worth his time.

She tried to banish such thoughts, but couldn’t since she knew now everyone would be fighting not over her, but the Bijuu they thought she carried. With most being unaware that the only thing that had made her special had already been removed. Being overwhelmed by the negative feelings starting to grip her, they were banished as Naruto arms wrapped around her from behind.

She gasped wondering how he had snuck up on her, but unlike how some of his lovers had recently reacted to his surprising them. She simply melted into his embrace. She placed her hands over his as they hugged around her midsection, and smiled as he said, “You shouldn’t have let me sleep in. I really want to enjoy this little paradise that you brought us to.”

Yugito smiled softly, but replied, “I considered it. But, I kind of needed a moment to collect my thoughts. Now that I’m free… it is kind of all hitting me at once.”

Naruto could understand where she was coming from so asked, “Are you regretting it?”

Yugito bit her lip and made as if to reply several time before answering, “I don’t know to be honest. I think it is a little early to make that call.”

“I can understand that,” Naruto replied pulling her closer. “For so long you were Kumo’s jinchuriki, it must feel like you now need to find a new way of even thinking about yourself.”

“Exactly,” Yugito said between glad Naruto understood her, but uncertain about how to find the answer to the question now assailing her. Who was Yugito Ni now that she was no longer Kumo’s weapon. Clarifying her feelings further for her lover, she said, “Even after Yoruichi was removed from me. I was still able to fall back on the powers that I gained from her, and the status I enjoyed because of it. I mean you only targeted me because I contained her, after all.”

Naruto couldn’t deny what Yugito said was true. Although he felt that she was forgetting that he had refused to take women that would move the Family’s ambitions forward if he couldn’t develop feelings for them. He kissed her neck as he said, “True, I did first lay my sights on you because of what you carried. But, I stayed because of who I found. You are so much more than just a container Yugito, and while I can’t say our paths would have crossed if someone else had been chosen. You are what makes you special. Maybe you should talk with Fu about this when you are both in Amegakure.”

“Did she really go through the same thing?” Yugito asked surprised, since she was under the impression the host of the Seven Tails had hated her status as a jinchuriki.

“A little,” Naruto said as he began to rub his hand over Yugito’s stomach. “She might not have missed Taki all that much. But, finding herself in a new place did take some time to get adjusted to. Just the fact that the villagers didn’t seem to despise her made her feel unsure about who she was. You might have noticed how she now talks in the third person compared to when she first joined. That is due to the acceptance that she had received from Konoha. In the past, she just wanted to fit in. Now, she doesn’t mind standing out. It might feel like the ground fell out from beneath you. But, you’ll land on your feet soon enough.”

Yugito rolled her eyes but felt a genuine smile appear on her face. She turned in his arms, and although his hair was still dark. She was glad that he had removed the contacts that made his eyes red. Shaking her head at him, she said, “Really, a cat joke.”

Naruto chuckled as he said, “It did bring a smile to your face.”

Yugito’s smile grew wider as she wrapped her arms around his neck to state, “If that is what you were shooting for. I could think of a far more pleasurable means by which you could have achieved similar results.”

“Do tell,” Naruto replied wrapping his arms around her waist.

“I think I’ll show you,” she said placing her lips against his. The kiss started out chaste, but almost as soon as her lips touched his, she couldn’t help deepening it. She kind of felt like a person who had suffered through withdrawal only to come into contact with what they had been addicted to, and without thinking about it was back on the bandwagon. She moaned as Naruto’s hands traveled over her body while their tongues danced with each other. At first his hands felt like they were becoming reacquainted with her, but it didn’t take long for them to get acclimated enough to begin exploring in earnest.

She did a little exploring of her own as she began cradling his cock and was glad to feel it almost instantly respond to her touch. Once he was erect, she began to stroke him which caused him to moan into her mouth. She couldn’t wait to feel him inside her, so lifted her leg up over his hip before raising up enough so that she could guide him inside her.

She had to break the kiss as he began entering her, and her insides came awake at his return. She began to shiver all over, and realized she had experienced a small orgasm. Naruto prolonged it when upon feeling her pussy convulse around him quickly began pumping his manhood within her. Yugito leaned back as far as her arms would allow her as she arched her back to let out a shout as a second more powerful climax began racking her body. Still Naruto didn’t relent, as he grabbed her other leg and wrapped it around his hip. She locked her ankles behind him as he carried her to a portion of the waterfall that he could set her down on. He set her down on the smooth rocks causing the gentle stream of water to wash over them while he went about churning her insides. The cool water contrasted with the heat building inside her almost making her feel like a piece of metal that was being heated and cooled at the same time.

With her pussy’s near constant milking, Naruto couldn’t hold back his desire to fill her with his seed. As such he buried his rod deep inside her, and gave her womb what it desired. Almost immediately, Yugito reacted as she arched her back and began slapping the rock she was laid out on. The cool water rushing over them only heighted how hot the exchange of pleasure happening within Yugito was. Naruto sighed as he felt drained, but as he pulled away Yugito refused to let him go stating, “Leave it inside. I don’t want to be apart from you right now.”

She began squeezing her pussy hoping to prevent him from deflating. It didn’t take much coaxing on her part to motivate his cock to maintain its hardness. Guessing, they would probably lose a day of travel Naruto easily picked her up and carried her towards their shelter. Yugito kissed his neck and chest as he carried her, but he ignored it long enough to create a shadow clone. Knowing what he expected, it leapt off to enter into Sage Mood to make sure those hunting them were still far away.

It proved a little challenging entering their makeshift structure since it had a low roof and he was carrying a squirming woman as she planted kiss against his face, neck, and chest. But he managed so set her down on the sleeping roll that they had shared the previous night. Almost immediately, she began raising and lowering her hips trying to generate some pleasure. Naruto stopped her though before urging her to roll over. She moaned as she complied and his cock rotated within her. Naruto then adjusted himself so that his legs rested outside hers as he knelt over her and then began to drill his cock in and out of her. Yugito moaned contently as his dick’s new angle of attack began causing new pleasure neurons to begin firing within her.

Naruto leaned forward causing her to turn her head so they could kiss over her shoulder. It didn’t last long as her pussy seemed primed to make up for lost orgasm as she exploded into a new one. Her lover groaned when her pussy began trying to coax more of his seed from him. But, he held strong by pausing to let her quivering quim calm down. When her inner muscles began to relax, he leaned back pulling on her hips to prompt her to raise up to her hands and knees. Keeping her thighs pressed tightly together, Naruto began pumping his manhood within her again causing Yugito to start pushing back to meet his thrusts. Naruto leaned forward and groped her dangling breasts causing her snatch to grip his driving cock even tighter.

She knew he was close as she could feel him growing larger so increased the ferocity with which she threw herself back at him. It wasn’t long before his grip on her hips grew firmer and he pulled her taunt against him driving his cock as deep as possible. She roared in pleasure as he climaxed within her again sending fresh seed into her quickly filling womb. She sagged forward, and Naruto followed her down to keep his dick buried deep inside. She reached back over her shoulder to try and pull his lips to hers. But feeling more drained then from their days of running settled for the peck on the cheek that she received. Then with her Naruto blanket over her, she allowed herself to fall asleep.

When she reemerged from their shelter a few hours later looking to find them something fresh to eat, she felt a sense of deep satisfaction as she quickly found her underwear as she tried to prevent his cum from just dribbling out of her. She smiled as she realized the early feelings of unease that she had experienced that morning were simply due to her leaving a comfort zone that she had known all her life, and so long as she had her Family, she would land on her feet as her lover had put it.

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

Yugito stood in a window overlooking her new home. She would admit that the near constant rain of Amegakure would take some getting used to, but thus far she was managing. She spent almost every day under the heavy ponchos that most citizens wore while exploring her home like a cat tended to do after a big move. That had of course been after Naruto and her had spent a few days making sure every room in her temporary apartment had been sanctified with their moans. He had then needed to leave in order to take over for Naruko, who had been playing him while Koyuki toured the Land of Demons. She imagined the Priestess and Daimyo were making the most of the time just as she had.

She focused on a building which was being constructed, and when complete would house the members of Akatsuki. The structure was being constructed on the same spot that Pain’s tower had once stood, which Jiraiya had brought down during his battle with the self-styled god. In front of it was a rectangle tarp where she heard a statue had been constructed, but would only be unveiled during the ceremony for the new Akatsuki. The top of it wasn’t covered though and occasionally what looked like black flames seemed to appear from whatever was being hidden. She considered sneaking a peek, but had the sense Konan wanted it to be a surprise even to people close to her.

She heard a knock at her door, and went on guard since although she doubted Ay would send assassins so soon due to the fact that he was trying to force her return through legal means. She couldn’t exclude the possibility that he knew it was unlikely that he would succeed so had decided to use other means to get back what he viewed as his property. She relaxed though as she felt a reassuring presence through her mark so knew the woman was Konan. She approached the door and got a sense that someone else was with the Daimyo of Rain so asked, “Who is it?”

“It is Konan, and I brought a kunoichi named Fuyou with me,” the blue haired woman said through the door.

Yugito made a production of releasing the many locks that she had on the door, and then opening it was caught a little off guard by the unease that she saw on both women’s faces. A little concerned by it she asked, “Have I already worn out my welcome?”

Konan seemed surprised by her question so quickly assured her, “No, of course not. We will not succumb to the pressure the Raikage tries to apply in order to force your return. But, we have learned something… unsettling from your medical exam.”

Yugito frowned since she felt perfectly fine and knew that thanks in part to her lover’s semen she should remain that way. But she knew no method was perfect so asked, “There isn’t something wrong with me, right?”

“No,” Fuyou said quickly trying to put the woman at ease. Having been the one the medical staff at the hospital had contacted upon running Yugito’s samples through various tests and then alerting Konan to what they found, she explained, “When you first arrived we gave you a full examination. A part of the exam had our medics analyze the blood and DNA samples that they drew for various purposes.”

Yugito arched an eyebrow before focusing on Konan. The blue haired woman stated, “One of the reasons was so we could figure out blood types and the like. A less known reason was so Nagato could identify potential bodies for his jutsu. He could use it to control just about any body he needed to if necessary, but certain chakra and blood types required less effort.”

A pained look appeared on Fuyou’s face, but she quickly caused it to disappear before either woman noticed. Continuing with her explanation she stated, “We found other reasons to keep the program going since in some cases it was discovered certain people with bloodlines would reject organs from people with a differing Kekkei Genkai, even if they had the same blood type.”

Yugito wasn’t sure what any of that had to do with her and getting a little concerned said, “This is all fascinating I’m sure. But I can’t help hoping that you’ll get to the point about what this has to do with me.”

Fuyou frowned even though she could understand why Yugito might desire that they get to core of the matter. Konan quickly took over to provide one more important piece of the puzzle so said, “You might not be aware of this, but a few years ago a group of slavers were shut down by an unknown group. That group deposited the women they had saved in our lands, where we took care of them as we contacted their home countries and families.

“I’m guessing you also used the opportunity to add some information on people from other lands to your little medical database,” Yugito said neutrally figuring she shouldn’t be surprised.

“Yes,” Konan admitted without shame, “Another reason we run these tests is to help identify common genetic traits between people inside the database. I guess the reason Nagato included such testing criteria was so he could identify other Uzumaki or discover lost family.”

“I’m still not seeing the point I’m afraid,” Yugito said confused.

“The point,” Fuyou said quickly, “Is that we discovered a link between you and one of the women that was rescued from the Southern Wolves.” The kunoichi handed the blonde woman a folder which Yugito opened despite feeling a little numb. Inside was a file on a blonde woman named Suiren.

Looking up from it in shock she said, “I…I’m not sure what to make of this. I guess it is possible I could have some distant relation to her.”

Konan shook her head saying, “It isn’t a distant relationship. It appears from our tests that Suiren would be your sister.”

“But… that isn’t possible this file says that she’s…”

Yugito trailed off as it hit her as to what they were suggesting. Konan gave voice to the thought currently running rampant in the blonde woman’s mind. “Suiren was indeed a kunoichi of Kirigakure, and we believe it likely that if that is the case… then you were born there as well.”

Yugito wanted to deny it, but in light of the fact that she knew a pair of women that her former village had also tried to kidnap found that she couldn’t. She stared back at the picture of the woman that she was being told she was related to, and suddenly felt an anger begin to take root. She didn’t try to reign it in as she knew in this case it was well deserved. Focusing on Konan, she didn’t let the anger enter her voice as she said, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I…if you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone.”

Konan frowned, but nodded and quickly left the apartment along with Fuyou. Yugito set the file down on a table as she passed and then moved back to the window where she vowed she would one day confront the Raikage with the truth that she had just learned. She wasn’t sure what she would do in that moment, but for now she would simply let the anger burning inside her run its course. After all, while she was angry in a way she had never truly been before. She couldn’t deny some good had come from the course that her life had taken. So, when the anger faded she would focus on that as well. A moment later a red flash appeared behind her, and she found it easier to focus on that good as Naruto wrapped his arms around her.

With obvious concern in his voice he asked, “Is everything alright?”

“It is now,” she said simply while enjoying a different kind of warmth that was hot but never scalded as anger could.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“In time,” Yugito said contently, “But for now, you’re doing everything I need of you.” Naruto got the hint so just held her close and she found her anger fading as if being smothered by his presence. She sighed contently, but knew she still intended to have words someday with the Raikage. Yet for now, she would focus on how good her present was and how bright she imagined the future they were trying to build would be.

Author’s Note: Hello everyone. First off, as always let me thank those that take the time to read and review. I hope the wait for this chapter was worthwhile, and the surprise at the end was rather intriguing. This was one of those reveals that I’ve been waiting to get to for quite a while. Particularly since it really plays into the idea that despite how he was portrayed in the manga, the leadership of Kumo really were kind of scumbags. Sure their plots to kidnap people appeared to fail, but I wanted to delve into what would be the result if they succeeded. One of the many issues I had with the manga is that crimes such as kidnapping only really mattered when Kishimoto needed people to pin crimes against Konoha on. But, then when people from those villages appeared, their personalities didn’t really reflect this. Regardless of whether you like Ay or not, he was responsible for the plan to kidnap Hinata and then orchestrated the events that led to Neji losing his father. He might have cared for his shinobi and Bee, but he is still an opportunist and to me at least a scumbag. Furthermore, that seemed to be the case for his father as well. I guess my point is just because he had a somewhat amusing personality, it didn’t mean we should forget what kind of actions he was capable as. After all, his plots were just as despicable as anything Danzou ever did.

The next chapter of Eroninja will pick up with some of the ramifications from what happened, but just to caution people this doesn’t really open the door to Kiri. I think people will understand why after the first scene in chapter 78 so I’ll wait to go in further details.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this Limelight chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing. So until next time, take care. Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.