Red hair twirled in her finger as she seemed to ponder.
"Hmm...
The weight on the bed shifted, and she looked to the left.
Violet eyes met red.
"Still tense, little sister?"
She flushed, as she felt an arm around her neck, embracing her whilst their other companion, on the right, dozed in the bed with them.
"N-Nee-chan! Q-Quit it!"
A small chuckle, light and airy, as she pulled the sheets closer about their nude forms.
"I was right to return. This 'Naruto' of yours, is a suitable mate for us both."
Another deep cherry flush.
"D-Don't talk like that!"
It was always like this, she mused to herself, no matter what form she took, or in this rare case, was perpetually bound in...
Always the same in the end, ever since she had come to exist, ever since she had opened her eyes for the very first time.
Childhood had been wasted on her, when she was young, and THAT was a long time ago, she only retained the dimmest memories of blood, lust, and slaughter.
These three factors had taken precedence even in her love life.
Every time a human, male or female caught her eye, there were other suitors to compete with. More often than not, diplomacy would fail, and violence would ensue.
This would then result in a fight over said mortal, which would then bring endless pain and suffering to both sides. Back in her younger years, there was one of two likely outcomes to the disputes.
She would either kill the suitor, or her lover would just deem it not worthy of so much bloodshed and bitterness, instead choosing the other over her.
She had lost many a companion that way, broken her heart many a time. Even if things worked out, as they had way back in the Ming dynasty with that peasant….
A small sigh escaped her; she blinked the tears away, refusing to let them fall.
It was both a blessing and a curse to be immortal.
After suffering what humans called 'death' she was always reborn, again and again, whether she wanted it or not.
Her mortal lovers…
Did not have such a courtesy.
Humans were so frail, she thought to herself. A sword through the gut, or an arrow to the head, and down they came, with but a death rattle in their lungs, the life gone from their eyes.
There was a bright side to this, she mused silently.
She had given birth to great and noble lines. Powerful shinobi and kunoichi, shoguns and samurai, diplomats and scholars alike. All were unmatched, both in battle and in speech, able to talk their way down from the most precarious of perches, no matter the situation.
Many a time had she been on the arm of a powerful man, but rarer still was the case if she would stay for more than a day, or allow herself to be taken to bed.
She had…
Rather high standards, to say the least.
She had been there to see Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama build the Leaf Village , even lending a hand in it, using her mighty powers to carve the face of the first Hokage into the great stone wall.
This was a time when she trusted humans and often walked amongst them, always in the guise of a beautiful woman.
She bestowed many blessing and techniques upon the villagers, but of course, they thought they were merely being blessed by a sage, not one of the nine Biju, in human form.
Civilization soon grew boring for her, but Senju Tobirama was loathe to see her go. After Madara's betrayal, and the death of his older brother, he wanted her to stay, and help him rebuild the Leaf as the Nidaime Hokage.
She knew it was not her place to do so, nor did she want to be tied down,
Instead, she stayed on for the remainder of the week, just long enough to bear him their son, a perfectly healthy, mortal baby boy.
And then she had left him.
Both with the child…
And a gift.
She had been the one to give the second Hokage that necklace that Naruto now wore, the one that could, and would suppress her chakra, as well as those of her brethren.
It had been forged from a rare ore, one smoldered in hellfire. Bestowing it upon him, she issued these instructions:
He was to pass it down his lineage, and when his line died, then to his successor. It had been her final farewell blessing to the Leaf, and so long as this tradition was followed she would not raise her hand against the village she had helped to found.
Then she set out to explore the world, leaving her friends behind, eager to see just what else the world had to offer.
Alas, during the next decade or so…
Her naiveté was all but gone.
After a millennia, she had grown tired of this wretched repetition, this endless cycle of pain and loss, and never being able to experience long lasting love, and the horrifying, grisly images that haunted her at night….
She long ago realized that she could never tell anyone her innermost secret, what she truly was. For a time, the matter was trivial to her, but when odd circumstances, miracles even, began to occur wherever she went, it began dire.
Most humans found the concept of dating a demon rather…
Unappealing, to put it nicely.
Once a mortal found out what she really was, it did not matter whether that individual was pure nor if he was evil, she would be found out.
Even a then, there were still those who desired the powers of the Gods, and therefore, her as well, thanks to her near deity-like status.
Regretfully, she often reveled in the attention, more often committing a good deed, rather than an ill one. She had indeed been worshiped as an angel, even treated as such.
She had been such a fool.
Feats such as raising the dead, parting oceans, commanding the five elements themselves to do her bidding…
These actions were bound to draw attention to her, hell that was the reason she did them in the first place! She had always loved the spotlight, especially when it was shining on her.
Never had it even remotely occurred to her that others might actually lust for her power, wish to make it their own, or worse, dominate her kind, her very brethren, totally and utterly.
But some did, and although small in number…
They were nonetheless deadly.
Akatsuki was nothing compared to that organization, the one that had struck fear in her heart, pure raw terror, for the first time.
They were called…
Sono Musei Yotogi, also known as The Silent Watchers.
Unlike the Akatsuki, who had sought simply to use the Biju…
Yotogi sought to eliminate them, their kind and all other unnatural beings. Their basis for this was that those whose abilities, or even appearance alone, intruded upon God's domain, were evil, and must be 'purified', so that they would not 'stain mother earth with their impurity'.
They were ruthless and vicious, resorting to any means necessary to kill the 'stains' that were her kind.
But no, this was not enough for them!
They eventually deemed any individual who possessed a bloodline limit, a gift she, her brothers and sisters had bestowed upon the people of the earth, a plague as well! This meant that they too must be eradicated.
When they came, it was so unexpected, so unpredicted, that no one saw it coming.
Or rather, one Biju did, but he was never paid any heed.
Ironically, this individual was Shukaku, the weakest of them, and the 'baby' of the family, which foretold the coming of a 'Great shadow', looming in the not so distant future.
If you could call a giant, psychotic raccoon dog with a penchant for mayhem a 'baby', that is.
Of course, everyone ignored him, and went about their carefree lives, doing as they pleased, despite the Ichibi's incessant pleas to prepare themselves for a great war.
Tsuki was included amongst those who ignored the prophecy. She went back to the Leaf, for a little R&R, and also to see how her son was faring.
Again and again he was rebuffed, paid no heed for nearly a decade, eventually driven totally mad, from the ever looming threat that kept growing with every day.
Time and time anew, no one lent him their ears…
Still, the fact that Shukaku had actually manipulated a human into founding a village, and in the desert no less…
Who would go to such lengths if they were lying?
Realizing that she was becoming sedentary once again, Tsuki bid farewell to the recently elected Hizuren Sarutobi, and then bid her goodbyes to her son as well leaving them both with warnings not to attack the Land of Wind .
Then she set out to see this new Sunagakure…
But not before making a much needed side trip, to ask for advice from perhaps the wisest amongst them…
Her elder sister, Keiei, the hidden Biju, the Juubi no Juubunnoichi, a fox, much like herself, yet she was wiser in the ways of this age, having been born a good century before Kami had deigned to create the other nine Jinchuuriki.
Other such differences were that the color of her fox form was a bright purple, as opposed to Tsuki's red.
She was taller than her sibling in human form, shy, generally mild-mannered, though when need be, she was a fierce fighter, and always, she was a sound tactician.
Another notable fact was that her Nee-chan refused to consider mortals or demons for love, always murmuring that she was waiting for the right time…
Keiei had told her to be careful, and when asked why, she had said that war was coming to the land.
Though many villages had been founded, and each with peaceful intentions…
The way of man was fickle. The five shinobi nation's villages, Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, Mist, and even Suna would soon be at war.
Tsuki protested that Hachibi and Nibi would never do such a thing, not even Shukaku could use his newly created Sand Village to start such chaos.
Her sister patted her sibling on the forehead, sighing to herself as she turned away, and rising from her seat.
"None of you shall start the conflict, yet each of you will be drawn into it."
"But sister, what about you?"
Surely she would not stand aside and let this happen! The very strands of time were privy to her will, she could undo all this with but a thought!
So why hadn't she done anything?
Keiei smiled, and suddenly, she seemed tired, so very tired. " Tsuki…my time here is coming to an end. I can only exist in this realm so long as I have a mate."
A sorrowed look flashed through her violet eyes, then it was gone. "I have created the Hyuuga clan, whilst you engineered the emergence of the Uchiha into a prosperous household."
She waved her hands in an encompassing gesture, her ears standing erect, alert, and her ten tails swaying smoothly across the marble floor behind her. "Yet no creation of mine can ever, will ever do for me, and though you have taken solace in the comforts of mortals, you know that I cannot yet do such a thing."
With a flick of her wrist, a portal appeared, a gateway to darkness.
She began to step into it, but paused, midway through.
"I shall return my sister, though I may be gone for ages, I will stave off the evil that we have seen on the horizon…I wish you well."
And then she was gone.
She truly feared, and prayed that her sister had wiped out the last of them as she said she would. Even one of them could spell her doom-
Raw fear clutched at her breast.
And Naruto's as well.
All it took was one stray word, oneremaining member and they would come for her family again, en masse.
To that end, thanks to them, she had become bitter with the mortal realm. They had taken her sister from her, and in doing so, left her devoid of her former life.
War had come indeed, and Tsuki could only look on in horror, as the clans she and her sister had created, from their own blood, wreak indescribable horrors upon their enemies.
Yet their victories would have all been for naught, if not for this "Yellow Flash" fellow, who was rumored to be the eventual successor to the Third Hokage. He seemed to move like a ghost amongst his enemies, cutting them down in a manner similar to that of what her kind called a 'shunpo'.
She remembered looking on in terror, as the humans somehow devised a way to seal her brethren, and during the long years of warfare that followed, her brothers and sisters were sealed within shinobi from different villages, time and time again, freedom snatched from their claws/paws…
Forever.
She was soon the only one left, the last of her kind, that is, if her sister was alive. She did not yet know that the first Hokage had made it a standing order to NOT pursue the Kyuubi, in hopes of sealing her into one of their shinobi…
However, this did not stop several other villages from trying, and eventually, she witnessed the one thing her heart could not bear.
Her son, by this time a full grown man…
Was slain in battle, a conflict she had observed, yet remained aloof from.
Until she had watched the mask of her son fall off, mere moments before the blade pierced through his stomach, the one soft spot in his armor, she had been content to supervise the battle…
Her eyes went wide as she saw his short, spiky hair, matted down with sweat, and his eyes, one blue, the other red, go wide in horror, as he felt every agonizing second of the katana erupting from his back.
In slow motion, he toppled to his knees, clutching at the hole in his stomach, even as his attacker ripped the blade out.
The moment he hit his knees, his attacker raised his blood soaked blade…
With a scream she had leapt upon the enemy and ripped them asunder!
"GET AWAY FROM MY SON!"
It was all over in an eye blink.
Yet she had been too late to save him.
Far too late.
Alas, before death took him…
His eyes became less cloudy, and he seemed to recognize the kunoichi that cradled his head in her lap.
After all this time, he still recognized her, and that alone hurt Tsuki more than anything else possibly could or would. It scarred her emotionally, knowing that her boy still loved her, even when she had left him to grow up on his own.
"M-Mother…The word was a dry rasp in his throat, followed by a spew of blood from his mouth, as he gazed up at her.
"Sh… Don't speak, Musha…
He forced his pallid face into a smile, reaching up to pat her head, as if to determine that the ears he had often tugged at during his childhood, were still there.
"Y-You c-came b-back…
Tears began to pool in her pale red eyes, one of which he shared, despite being mortal.
"Of course. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't-
He shook slightly, and this involuntary action drew her body rigid with tension.
"I'm c-cold…He murmured, the blood steadily pooling beneath him. Alas, it was her ownblood, already mingled with his own from birth, which rejected her healing chakra, having developed immunity to it…
Due to the number of times she had healed him in the past, upon returning every year or so, to patch up his scratches and battle scars, which he got quite a lot of, what with being made Anbu at age twelve, something that had never happened before, and would not occur again for several more years.
Honestly, she couldn't be more proud of him.
Slowly, she ran a hand across his right cheek, the other running through his fiery hair, more an effort to calm herself, than comfort him, although that was what she still intended to portray.
"Sh... You'll be fine now. I'll warm you up, and-
"N-No!" His right hand suddenly lashed out and seized the hand that caressed his face, holding it tightly, as if it were the only thing left tying him to this world.
His breathing suddenly became labored, his chest rising and falling rapidly, thusly spreading blood everywhere, splattering onto her white robes.
"I…just…want…
More blood vomit, and he looked at her pleadingly.
…I just want you…to…hold me…one last...time...mom."
One look at all the holes his body had, told her that was the worst possible idea, as his legs were at odd angles, and clearly broken.
It was miracle he could even speak, let alone breathe at this point.
"Don't be stupid. If I move you-
He grits his teeth together.
"All I…ever wanted…was… to be…a…fine…shinobi…like you…He strangled out, fighting a coughing fit, losing as his body was wracked once more with the convulsions, his breath the faintest of whispers, even in her sensitive ears.
"If…I live…then I'll…have nothing…to live for…
She could barely even breathe from the emotional sorrow that was clawing at her breast.
Violence.
In this war torn world, this was all he knew, all she knew, but still, she acknowledged his final request.
Gingerly, she pulled him up against her lap, now cradling part of his upper body in her lap, his head resting against her breasts.
If he wasn't her son, then she'd slap him silly for that nosebleed he was getting right now, but honestly, she wasn't sure if it was internal bleeding.
A ragged sigh escaped him, as he squeezed her hand…
One final time.
"Mom…I…love…you…
Slowly, his eyes drifted shut, and just the faintest hint of a smile was upon his face…
He breathed his last.
At that moment, she felt his spirit breeze right past her.
The tears spilled down her face in rich geysers, and she realized the gut wrenching truth.
"Musha? Musha! Musha?!"
Grief stricken, she buried her head in his blood stained chest.
"No…no no no no!" She sobbed, sobbed until she had nothing left at all, crying all her pain, sorrow and misery into her offspring..
Then the medics got there.
Unfortunately for them, they were Stone Ninja medics.
They recognized the redheaded kunoichi immediately, as if the blazing chakra fox head over her body wasn't a dead giveaway.
"Oh shit! It's-
She never even gave them time to scream, as was suddenly enshrouded in green light, revealing her real form, her beauty transfixing them, allowing her to silently rip out their throats, before they could even speak.
Moments later, shaking off the blood of her victims, she dispersed her power, took up her usual form, andwas gone.
Like a wraith, she sprinted through the treetops, a hollow look in her eyes, still crying softly to herself, even as she ran.
Although she knew a good many of her children did die, the resulting guilt of actually holding her child's body in her arms, watching the light of life fade from his eyes…
Would haunt her for the remainder of her free life.
Broken, she wandered about for a month, killing whatever enemy nin she could find, a means to satiate her bitterness…
This led her to the main battlefields, along the border between Rain and Leaf, where the fiercest of fighting occurred.
Her tenacity for battle soon earned her the reputation of the Shinku no oni, otherwise known as the Crimson demon, after her long red hair, and flowing robes, which had long since been stained with the blood of her enemies.
She was not a killer for hire, as both sides soon found out. However, she had a strong disposition against killing Konoha nin, which would often lead them to give her a wide berth.
Whenever she appeared on the battlefield, the Leaf was almost guaranteed victory, yet before she could be thanked, she was always gone, on to the next kill.
For a time, that was all she lived for.
Until she ran into him, the one with the blond hair, and the cheerful attitude, the one who Iwa feared and hated so.
It had been after a rather gruesome bloodbath, with both of them leading the charge against an overwhelming force of enemy nin. They were outnumbered, 10 to 1, yet once again, Konoha prevailed.
For what seemed the millionth time she picked herself up from the carnage, and turned to go-
Yet this time, his hand on her shoulder held her fast, with an iron grip
"Wait."
Slowly, she looked over her shoulder, cold even to the touch, red eyes flinty and hard. "What is it you want of me?"
Minato had scratched the back of his head sheepishly, but the look in his eyes was anything but, as the remainder of his battalion trudged their way back to camp.
"You've done much for my village."
"What of it?"
"Come back with us." His voice nudged at her gently. "I'm sure my village would gladly accept you as an ally."
A bitter chuckle escaped her, as she rolled her shoulders, shrugging him off. "I'm sure they would. Therefore I refuse."
She began to rummage through the corpses, taking any available weapons on hand, depositing them into her storage scroll when she did find something of use.
"What?" Her statement only confused him more, and now he was following her.
She tossed him a rock Nin headband, something she had no need for, something he tossed aside seconds later.
"I will aid you in battle, but do not expect our alliance to remain steadfast for long, Namikaze Minato.
"I take it you're not my enemy then?"
She sighed sadly, a small tremble passed through her body, as she obtained a kunai from one corpse, then a sword from another.
"No, I am not. But it does not matter; I will be forgotten soon enough."
"Huh? Who could forget all that you've done for the Leaf, miss…
Now the sheepish grin was back.
"This'd be a lot easier for me, if I knew your name."
She gave him a deadpanned look.
"I have never told a mortal my true name, nor will I ever."
"Aw come on!" He had whined. "Here, I'll even tell you my name-
Her vicious snarl cut him off, as she whirled on him with great speed, for one of her stature, as that sword she had just picked up…
Was suddenly held at his neck.
"My true name gives those who know it power over me. Therefore I refuse to divulge it, and even if I did, it would certainly not be known to a mortal like you."
He didn't even flinch, in fact, he shrugged, his tone holding just a tint amusement, as she pulled the blade away. "Then I look forward to fighting alongside you again oh nameless one."
She rolled her eyes, blew aside a strand red hair, and growled slightly, placing both hands upon her hips, looked up at him.
"Are you going to call me that every time you see me?"
A foxy grin, made her blush, just the faintest tinge, but it was definitelystill there. "You better believe it missy-whoa!"
He was a bit surprised, when she yanked him down by the collar, to meet him eye to eye. Red eyes briefly became a pale yellow, so as to reflect her true form, and not her preferred one.
The words whispered across the distance that separated their lips.
"Tsuki. You may call me that if you wish."
With that she released him, and shunpoed out of sight.
Still too hurt, and unwilling to lower herself to the level of another human, she instead turned to others of her own kind, demons and demigods alike, for compassion and comfort.
She found nothing but lust down in the black abyss that was and still is Hell.
Bereft and alone from her latest failed love, with a fellow demon who would later call himself Naraku, she had spirited herself away from civilization, swearing to never love again.
After a time, she had fallen asleep in a dense forest, one that the entire continent had regarded as sacred, and dared not touch, for fear of instilling her wrath.
Unfortunately, it would seem that they had forgotten about her, and her warning to never fell a single tree from her sacred abode.
When Konhagakure had torn up the forest, to further expand their village, she had awoken, full of wrath, spite and rage, half her home was no more.
Mere stumps of the giant oaks remained.
This sacred place, were she and her sister had played as children…
Had been desecrated!
It was all gone!
Were gone.
How dare they!
She had bestowed countless blessings upon them, and yet they still dared to ravage her forest?!
She would make them pay for this transgression!
It was well remembered by all, the night she attacked the village. Her roars shook the very earth, and her eyes gleamed with a madness never seen before, taking her demon form in her rage, and ripping apart all opposition, with Konoha's lights fixated in her sights.
Then he had arrived on the battlefield.
Being sealed inside Naruto was the last thing she had expected to happen, nor had she desired such an outcome.
When she felt the cold hand of the Death God clamp down upon her soul, she had gone pale with fear, and used all her power, shredding mountains, toppling trees, setting the very earth ablaze in her feverish attempts to be free….
Freedom was the only thing left that she could call her own!
She did not want to be made a captive!
Shrieking her fury, she thrashed and raged against its hold, tearing at the toad summons the fourth Hokage had ridden upon, and taking sight in his right eye…
Only to see that necklacedangling round the neck of the Yondaime.
Immediately, all of her strength was sapped away, and she was left powerless to resist, bound into the baby boy in a moment.
She remembered that night as if it were yesterday.
That was when everything had changed….
--
(Flashback)
The body of the Hokage and his wife slumped to the floor, as their spirits took the place of hers in the belly of the Death God, so that she could be sealed into Naruto.
She screamed her fury inside the child, and in response he cried, the trio of whisker marks forming on either side of his face.
Everyone looked on, as Tsuki's body, or rather, the form of the Kyuubi, collapsed and turned to ash, deprived of her spirit.
No one had been there to pick him up, no one had come to shelter him.
Confounded, she rammed against her prison, and screamed until she was hoarse, barely able to speak.
Confound them! How dare they do this to her!
The seal was still fresh, and she could not get through, yet she soon saw that it was allowing her chakra to escape the infant…
No, it went into him, throughhim, and she marveled at this, as it coursed into his undeveloped chakra coils, keeping him safe and warm.
She was being forced to help this human!
She could feel the infant's mind, panicky and scared, unable to understand what was happening to him.
At first, the peevish fox ignored his anguished cries.
Yet, cold as she was, she could not help but feel a trace of compassion, for his cries. She had given birth to many a child, and even now, she could not ignore the pained screams of this newborn infant, that had been deprived of his parents.
Curious, she tried an experiment, and probed into his mind, for any image that would bring him comfort.
Immediately, she received a mental snapshot of his mother, who eerily bore a rather similar appearance to her preferred human form.
It wasn't surprising really, she had been all over the five elemental nations, AND had so many affairs that even a legendary pervert would blush at.
Breathing out, she released some of her chakra, into a nearby body, that was still alive, giving it enough strength to rise, whether it wanted to or not. Its current occupant had no desire to live, so she did the woman a favor, and kicked her right up to heaven.
Yet for all her healing, this form would probably wouldn't last the night, as it was bleeding internally, and she could only patch up so much.
She recalled the gasps everyone gave, as her the body of the nondescript kunoichi rose, shook off the dirt that had accumulated on it, and walked over to the boy.
Slowly, she bent down cradled him in her arms, pressing him against her bosom. Smoothly, she rocked him back and forth until his crying at last quieted, and began to fall into a fitful slumber.
When she spoke, it was in an ethereal voice, projecting the image of the boy's mother onto her features, a rudimentary genjutsu, that could only target one person at a time.
The boy didn't mind, in his little tear soaked eyes, he saw his mommy, comforting him, soothing him, placing a taste, cold, clammy kiss against his forehead.
Poor child, you never asked for this did you? Poor little kit…
Everyone had cried out in protest.
"It's the demon! It's raising the dead!"
This woke Naruto, making the baby cry.
Tsuki had tried to console the infant, but he just wailed louder and louder…
Till the point where she decided to reveal herself.
Her eyes glittered red, and she amplified her voice as best she could, in her weakened state, leaking a bit of red chakra as well.
SILENCE! If any of you peons raise a hand against him, then you will not live to see the next sunrise!
Now there wassilence, and in the ensuing confusion, she walked right up to Hizuren Sarutobi, who know had been forced to take up his position as the third Hokage once more.
Her red eyes glared into his very soul as she spoke.
You had best take care of this boy, Sarutobi because from this moment on, I claim him as my own. If he gets the slightest scratch…
She left the threat hanging in the air.
The startled old geezer managed a nod, as she placed the boy in his arms, her makeshift patch job already falling apart.
Then I shall take my leave…
And with that, the corpse collapsed.
(End Flashback)
--
(Present)
A small smile touched her face, as she recalled sheltering the gaki, or kit, as she called him. Whenever he needed help, whenever he was in danger, she had come rushing to his aid, no matter how small it might be.
And whoever harmed him, turned up dead the next morning, aside from his friends, whom she knew the boy would not be able to live without.
He had come so very far in what she considered such a short amount of time.
He had come close to seeing her for the first time, when he had summoned that old fart of a toad boss, Gamabunta.
When he needed power against Sasuke, she had introduced him to the Jinchuuriki cloak, and the first of his nine tails, which would have overwhelmed Sasuke, had not Naruto turned aside his rasengan in the last second before impact.
During his three years of training, she had appeared in his dreams, as they began to harmonize with one another, first one, then two, and at last three.
And finally, during his fourth tailed rampage, he had forcedher out, lost herself in the bloodlust that was her inner nature.
In reality, she had found herself growing jealous of those who grew closer to him, with this 'Sakura' in particular. Unused to being kindly spoken too, she had tried to make Naruto attack Sakura, to show that he was not just some pushover.
He had refused, and somehow won their little tug of war.
Ironically this was what had been her salvation.
And now, here she was, caught in the wheel of fate once again.
The intense spike of chakra that freed her had attracted her sister back to the realm of mortals.
Unlike before, she could not simply take her demon form, and tear her competition to shreds, as she had done here and there in the past…
Now, she would have to tolerate that she might have to share him with another. The idea was new to her, and despite the brash façade she had put up for him…
The notion was rather disconcerting for her, sharing him with her sister.
She gingerly touched a hand to her stomach, and breathed out nervously, slightly fearful, that if Naruto did survive the test of time…
That new life might someday be stirring within her.
Briefly she recalled holding him in those disembodied arms, when he was but a baby…
Now, he could easily put his own arms around her…
The thought was oddly pleasant.
He would certainly have a long life, and raising a child with him made the smile grow even further.
She caught herself giggling, and smiled softly, it was as if she was returning to her old playful self, before the world had shown her just how cruel it could be.
This was a risky gamble she was taking, opening herself up like this again, and throwing caution to the winds.
What if…
Shaking her head, she dispelled her doubts, and decided to go wherever her newly melted heart would take her.
Her and her sister.
She felt arms encircle her, and smiled softly, as she heard his voice in her ear.
She shivered slightly, as did her sister.
"Morning, Tsuki-chan, Morning, Kei-chan."
"Morning... Naruto-kun."
Neh, neh, you like? Flashback is up next to explain everything!