Here is chapter two. 30,604 words. My longest chapter ever.
Some of you won't like this chapter as it goes back and forth between Naruto and Akasha's POV, but for the most part it will Naruto.
Chapter Two: War and Peace
"Meet me on the roof," he says before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto looks from Sasuke who also disappears in a cloud of smoke back to Akasha who has already left. Naruto puts on a sour face and disappears in a small tornado and reappears between Sasuke and Akasha.
"Alright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I am known as the Copy Ninja for obvious reasons; I have been a Jōnin for thirteen years and have been in and seen time during the Third Shinobi War. My sensei was Minato Namikaze. I have currently killed 146 people, permanently crippled 39, and saved 11 people. I have 1,141 official missions. Now you broody duck-ass."
Sasuke glares at the Jōnin before 'Hn' –ing "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, an elite ninja of the prestigious Uchiha clan. I have little likes and I hate almost everything. I have no kills or missions. I have only two goals and I'm telling you so you won't get in my way. They are to kill my bother and to rebuild my clan."
'Great. I knew he was a prick but damn. I didn't he was that big of one,' thinks Naruto.
"Alright Naruto. You next."
"Well, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. My mother is Kushina Uzumaki of Whirlpool Country. People always call me a demon behind my back but I don't know why. I love the color orange and ramen. I like Jiraiya-sensei but I always call him ero-sennin because he is a proclaimed super-pervert. He spends almost as much time training me as he does peeking on women.
"I have two kills, both in self defense. I have no missions and I have no real hopes or goals except not to die too soon. I did want the approval of the town but after getting the attention I was craving back then I realize I don't need the approval of ignorant and easily swayed people.
"I have a wind and lighting affinities but my wind is much greater to the point that I don't need to make hand seals to use wind natured chakra. I am quite good at Ninjutsu do to my monstrous reserves. Being an Uzumaki, I am very good at Fūinjutsu and I studied under the teacher of the Fourth Hokage. I am also able to use the Fourth's Rasengan."
Kakashi nods. "Alright pink…uh…Ms. Akasha," he says with a forced smile and a nervous chuckle.
"My name is Akasha. I have no surname. I trained under Anko Mitarashi for the last seven years. I hate sweets and sugary things, I hate stuck up people, I hate backstabbers, and I hate people who are stupid. I like dango and very rare steak. I like people who don't judge and assume.
"I am good at practically everything. I have large reserves and a different kind of chakra that makes it more potent, I have a bloodline that makes me very fast and extremely strong as two of you found out. I studied Fūinjutsu, Genjutsu, and tactics under my old sensei but I'm only proficient in Fūinjutsu and Genjutsu. I specialize in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. I am very proficient in infiltration, interrogation, torture, and stealth. I also hold scrolls of precisely sealed weapons so when they get unsealed they all come out. I got that from a store owner when I asked about it after seeing a girl do the same thing."
Kakashi nods his understanding. "Alright. I know somewhat of your abilities. Meet me at Training Ground 7 at 6am…uh I mean at 9am and don't ea…ah. Damn. Go ahead and eat breakfast," Kakashi is sweating bullets at the looks Akasha is giving him. He sighs in defeat.
"Right…now you're dismissed. Akasha, I need to speak with your privately."
Naruto notices the frown on her face but it isn't his business. He shunshins away from the area in his whirlwind and reappears outside Ichiraku Ramen.
"Good afternoon Naruto. Wow you passed! Congratulations!" He is glomped by 21 year old Ayame Ichiraku. He feels her somewhat flat chest pushed into his, giving him a small blush. He gives her a few pats on the back and she lets go.
"This is a special occasion! Your ramen is on the house tonight!" She rushes back into the stand to start making Naruto some shrimp and beef Ramen. Naruto lifts the flap and finds a seat. Teuchi comes out of the back cleaning a bowl with a towel.
"Wow so it is true, you passed. I haven't seen Ayame this happy since you told her you were getting apprenticed. Between you and me I think that she likes you."
Naruto grins. "Of course she likes me! I've known her for as long as I can remember. How can she not like me?"
Teuchi gives him a grin. "I didn't mean it like that. I think she likes you in the sense of 'date me then marry me and give me children' like."
Naruto's face goes red with a blush as he processes what Teuchi said.
"I don't mind just make sure you give me grandchildren before I kick the can."
Naruto flies back from his nosebleed as Ayame comes out from the back carrying Naruto's first three bowls. Teuchi laughs at Naruto's expense. It really is too easy to tease youngsters these days.
"Dad! What did you do to him?" she yells, worried over Naruto's condition. She goes around the counter and lightly shakes Naruto, who is passed out on the ground. She is about to call for help when Naruto groans. His eyes flutter open and he looks at Ayame.
Then a full on blush that goes down his body comes to his face when he remembers what Teuchi said. He clamps his hand over his nose to keep himself from passing out again.
"I'm fine Ayame-nee-chan. I just need to eat." Luckily Ayame bought it. Naruto puts his head down and chows down. Ayame looks on happily while Naruto is just happy to have an excuse to hide his face. After his three giant bowls Naruto leans back with a happy sigh.
"Kami…if I could only eat that every day for every meal I would be a happy man."
"And you would also not grow another inch," says a voice right outside the flaps. The flaps move to show Jiraiya the Sannin.
"Good job Gaki. I'm proud of you but I thought you were going to Rookie of the Year?"
Naruto looks to his teacher. "I was but I got beat out by Akasha. She is very good. Better than me. I'm fine with losing to her as long as I beat the teme."
Jiraiya nods. "Come with me. I have something I want to talk to you about."
Naruto nods and drops money on the table before it is tossed at his head.
"I told you it is on the house in celebration of you making Genin," Ayame says with a grin. She shoves the money back towards him.
"Fine fine. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"
With that Jiraiya puts a hand on Naruto's shoulder and shunshins away from the area.
Hokage Monument
"Alright so what is sooooo secretive that had to bring me almost out of the village?"
Jiraiya sits on the edge of the monument.
"There is something you should be aware of. There are more people like Akasha. Very strong, very fast, and arrogant. I mean ten times worse than Sasuke only they have something to back it up with. These people will have read eyes, silver hair, and pale skin. If you come across them don't engage them, always try to get away first. If that is not possible then use water. For some reason they are very weak to water."
Naruto has a scrunched up face. "So if Akasha-san comes from the same family does that mean that she is also weak to water?"
Jiraiya shrugs. "I don't know. She is very secretive about her family and only Anko knows but she is keeping her lips very tight. I don't expect you to run into any of her family any time in the foreseeable future and I don't want you to freak out. All I'm saying is to be careful ok?"
Naruto nods. "I understand. I'll keep a watch out."
Jiraiya smiles. "That's the Gaki I know. I'm off to do some research. Get a good night sleep. I don't know what your sensei has in store but it won't be a cakewalk."
Next Morning – 8:30am
Naruto stifles a yawn. He had been so excited that he didn't sleep well. He strolls up to Training Ground 7 when he realizes he has a problem. Kakashi didn't specify where on Training Ground 7 they were supposed to meet.
He picks a random tree and sits and gathers nature chakra. His senses expand as he enters Sage Mode. Jiraiya had requested a special training trip to Mount Myōboku a year ago. They had been gone a full month while Naruto trained in the ways of the Toad Sage. It took him a week and a half to master gathering nature chakra and keep it balanced within himself. The rest of the time was learning to control it and stay in it increasing amounts of time.
Needless to say that while he was a solid Chūnin level and with Sage Mode he could beat a Jōnin. Not that he had the experience to back up being a Jōnin but he could face one on par and have a chance of winning.
Naruto sits and expands his senses. He can feel five people three training fields away, two more one field over, and a few in the village itself. Suddenly he feels a large…something heading towards him from the village. The signature grows closer and whatever it has rather than chakra it has a lot of it.
When the signal lands right in front of him he opens his eyes and sees his teammate Akasha. She is wearing the same battle kimono except this one is dark green. She has her black hair put into a sharp ponytail and the extra hair is wrapped into bun on the back of her head.
"Good morning," Naruto greets.
Akasha tilts her head to the side.
"Why do you have a different signature than the rest of the village? You have something mixed in with your chakra. That's what drew me here."
Naruto suppresses a surprised reaction. So she is a very detailed sensor.
"I'll make you a deal. You tell me why you have a strange signature and I'll tell you why I do. Deal?"
Akasha shakes her head. "I can't do that. Only three people know why and I'm not all that inclined for more to know."
Naruto nods. "Well I'll tell you just because you would find out later anyways. I'm a Toad Sage. That means that I draw in nature chakra and use it to enhance myself. If I gather enough to balance with my normal chakra, I can enter Sage Mode. In this mode I am stronger, faster, my reserves are more efficient, and I can sense chakra from a distance like a sensor but with greater range and accuracy."
Akasha starts to feel guilty. He just shared what is possibly his trump card and she gives him nothing in return. How would one just offer that?
"Well, I can't tell you everything but my chakra is different due to…you could say a different bloodline from the one that makes me stronger." She finishes much quieter than she started out.
'Damn it! Why can't I just have a normal conversation with a boy? A boy who is actually interested in learning about me…and trusting…and knows when to back off…and'
She cuts herself off from those thoughts. Now is not the time for such thoughts.
During Akasha's inner monologue, Naruto is left waiting in the real world. An awkward silence falls between the two.
"So…what was your sensei like?" Naruto asks, hoping to break the tension.
Akasha joins him on the ground before answering. "Well she is kind, and caring, and most definitely sadistic. I pulled more pointed object out of me than I have stands of hair."
Naruto gets a laugh at that. When he feels Akasha's Ire rise, he holds up his hands in surrender.
"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at your sensei's way of teaching. My sensei dropped me in the middle of the women's side of the baths and I had to out run and evade the angry women without chakra. I got beat more time than I care to admit, but I did see a lot..." He finishes with a sheepish grin.
Akasha gives him a small chuckle. She had a brief moment where she wanted to hit him for being a pervert, but realized that any guy would have seen a lot and there was no avoiding it. They continue to talk about their sensei's methods when Sasuke walks up to them without actually walking to them. He walks twenty feet to their right and sits below a tree. Naruto and Akasha continue on without even looking up, much to Sasuke's ire and anger.
Akasha just finishes telling him about Anko's method of chakra manipulation by making Akasha stand on her head without any hands, using chakra as a plateau of sorts. Naruto laughs and says that Jiraiya had him use chakra to harden his hair. Jiraiya would then toss him into a wall until he got his hair embedded in the wall and have to hold it for as long as possible.
"That was probably an excuse for him to go and peek on the bath houses as I would be able to hold it for hours near the end of the exercise. I swear I had at least ten concussions from that before I learned to hold it. Jiraiya would throw me back against the wall whenever I fell."
Akasha smiles. Not a fake on, but a true smile that usually is only reserved for Anko. It has been a long time since she has been able to share a conversation with someone besides Anko. This boy just became her second favorite person in the village.
Kakashi then poofs onto the training grounds.
"Right. Well time for…wait. I can't do the bell test as you guys would just ace it anyways. So instead let's have a three way spar between the three of you so I can gauge your skills."
Naruto and Sasuke get up and into a fighting stance. But look to Akasha to see her just standing there. Naruto felt her chakra flare for a second and realizes it is a Genjutsu.
"Kai!" he says beneath his breath and flaring his own chakra.
The image of Akasha wavers before showing Akasha is in a compromising positions with her legs spread and her bent over with her ass to them. She is stretching her inner thighs and calves when she felt the Genjutsu get dispelled. She instantly stands up, hiding her ass from them with a large blush on her face.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what were you doing?" Naruto asks.
Akasha goes even redder, her face now a shade comparable to her hair. She quickly composes herself and forces the blush down.
"I was stretching. I put the Genjutsu up so lechers like you guys don't stare!"She crosses her arms in front of her chest, seemingly making her breasts bigger.
Naruto laughs. "You know, if you don't want people to stare, you shouldn't do what you're doing right now."
Akasha has a confused look on her face and Naruto rolls his eyes.
"When you do this." Naruto demonstrates crossing his arms and pulling his arms into his chest. "If makes your bust look bigger, more pronounced. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."
Akasha looks down and indeed it seems like her bust is accentuated by her current arm positions. She has a twinge of pink in her cheeks and covers her chest with her arms.
"Hentai!" she shouts.
Kakashi has a good laugh while Naruto only shrugs. Sasuke growls.
"Are we going to get going so I can get stronger or are we going to stand here and gawk at Miss Monstrous Tits over there?"
Akasha's mouth is agape with shock. That shock is quickly replaced by rage. This rage is not the normal kind. No, this is feminine fury at its worst. Akasha's yoki becomes a visible shroud around her.
"Kakashi, start the match," she says sweetly. That's when Sasuke begins to sweat. Maybe he pushed it a little too far.
"Just don't kill him. Hajime!"
Before Kakashi's hand even stops moving, Sasuke is flying through the air. He twists in the air so he won't break anything when a foot smashes his head straight into the ground from above him. Sasuke craters the ground and makes several large cracks in the dirt.
Naruto whistles in appreciation at Akasha's speed and strength. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
Akasha, who had been breathing hard due to her anger looks at Naruto and physically calms herself. It wouldn't do well for her to kill both her teammates. Besides, he just admitted to being inferior to her so she can let her anger go for now.
"Well, are you going to keep me waiting or do I have to take the initiative? I thought males were supposed to be chivalrous and be the one who acts first." She teases.
Naruto raises an eyebrow but otherwise makes no reaction to her taunt. Naruto then calmly walks towards Akasha and puts out his hand.
"Here is to the better shinobi."
Slightly stunned and very suspicious about a trap, Akasha hesitantly takes the hand and shakes it. To her great surprise, Naruto just shakes back and after a second lets go. He walks away a few feet and gets into a Taijutsu stance, waiting for Akasha to do the same. Still stunned at his behavior, Akasha gets into a basic Hebi stance. They stare each other down while analyzing each other's stance.
Something clicked and both combatants rush each other and meet with ferocious power. From the sidelines, Kakashi has to reveal his Sharingan just to keep up. Both get in good strikes and quickly adapt to each other's styles.
However, Naruto notices Akasha holding back. A grin forms on his face.
"Lets' go wild!"
Naruto always has clones in his apartment in case something should come up. He also has three clones at all times, sitting and collecting nature chakra, one constantly reading, another two doing housework. At Naruto's command, a nature clone disperses, allowing the nature chakra to flood his senses. Naruto immediately enters Sage Mode.
Akasha feels the change in his chakra and sees the changes of his pupils. Suddenly his strikes become a lot stronger and faster, putting her on the defensive. Naruto feints a kick and suddenly punches with his right hand. Akasha ducks under his strike and…
Akasha rolls on the ground, her head spinning. She feels like she just got done with a twelve hour training session with Anko. She shakes her head clear of the cob webs and slowly gets to her feet. She feels her cheek burning from whatever hit her. Suddenly Naruto is behind her and whispers in her ear, making her tense.
"Come on Akasha-chan. Is this all you got?"
Before Akasha can strike him, Naruto moves away at high speeds.
'Oh so he want more does he? Well I'll give him more.'
Akasha channels her yoki into her limbs, making her match Naruto's speed and strength. They are evenly matched and it shows. No ground is lost or gained and no hits are scored. They are evenly matched in Taijutsu even with Naruto's extended reach due to the nature chakra.
Suddenly Naruto jumps back, barely breathing hard.
"That was fun. Let's take it up a notch."
Naruto goes through hand seals.
"Fūton: Shinkūgyoku!" (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!)
Several blasts of air rush out of Naruto's mouth, all aimed in Akasha's general direction. As the pockets of volatile wind moves towards Akasha, their diverging trajectories make them spread out, making them cover a large area. Akasha smirks and starts her own seals.
"Katon: Haisekishō!" (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!)
Akasha exhales a large cloud of ash. It covers the area and when Naruto's Vacuum spheres go into the cloud, he waits. Suddenly the air clears…well clears shouldn't be the word. All the ash is sucked up into the spheres. Akasha is nowhere in sight.
Naruto suddenly feels a presence behind him.
"You shouldn't let enemies behind you."
Naruto turns only to be met with Akasha's foot. He goes flying in the air and when he regains his awareness, his eyes widen. He is in the middle of his spheres that contain the combustible ash. He frantically starts to let the jutsu go.
Akasha smiles and the tosses a flint into the air, right at Naruto. Naruto catches it then looks back at Akasha as she finishes some hand seals.
"Oh shit!"
"Raiton: Raikoin Metsu!" she shouts. (Lightning Release: Lightning Destruction!)
Akasha slams her hands on the ground and a bolt of lightning races across the ground right at Naruto. Naruto looks for a way to get out of his self made prison. His jutsu still hasn't fully dissipated so if he tries to get out, he will be in risk of getting injured by his own jutsu but he can't stay there. That bolt of lightning will ignite the ash cloud.
So Naruto takes the third option.
"Fūton: Kami no Gifu!" (Wind Release: Tornado (or Hurricane) of God!)
The wind violently picks up and swirls around Naruto without any hand signs. As the bolt of lightning approaches, the ash cloud and the Vacuum spheres are completely encased in Naruto's tornado. The tornado continues to pick up speed and chunks of dirt begin to fly up, making Naruto disappear from their view.
Then the lightning bolt hits…nothing happens. The ash cloud being too dispersed to ignite. Akasha growls in annoyance and forms more hand seals.
"Katon: Karyū Endan!" (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!)
A giant flame comes out of her mouth but it doesn't form a dragon, more like an oversized flamethrower. The tornado instantly goes from vicious wind tunnel to firey blaze of hell and charred goodness. The whole tornado is set ablaze and encompasses the entire tornado, reaching up to the heavens, making the entire village able to see it.
"That's better."
Kakashi sweat drops at Akasha's desire to see a colossal column of fire.
Suddenly Akasha narrows her eyes and begins going through a long list of hands seals very quickly.
She completes her hand seals and holds her hands up.
"Ninpō: Ikazuchi no Kiba!" (Ninja Art: Fangs of Lightning!)
Her arms explode in lightning that goes into the air and forms dark clouds. Her eyes widen though when column of fire explodes outward in all directions. She has to shield her face from the intense heat that sweeps across the entire training ground, though she does keep her jutsu going, setting up her next move.
She moves her arms back up to resume pouring her chakra into the atmosphere when a sight catches her eyes. Naruto, walking through the smoke towards her, his blue eyes shining. His cloak is billowing behind him, his clothes completely unscathed. Akasha nearly loses her concentration on her jutsu, mesmerized as she is by the sight.
Then she remembers this is a spar.
"Hakkei!" (Release!)
Suddenly the area is lit up by numerous lightning strikes, all aimed at Naruto and the general area. She is determined to make this training ground look nothing its original form of a flat land.
After seven strikes, she lets the jutsu go and to her great surprise, Naruto is just standing there, albeit his hair is literally defying gravity right now and his clothes are vacuum sucked to his body, but other than that he is completely fine.
Before either can do anything else, Kakashi jumps between them.
"Good job. That was a very good spar."
Naruto puts a pout on. "Why did you stop it? I was having fun."
"Because if I don't stop it here, then both of you will use techniques that are meant to kill, like that last one, Akasha. Your Naruto put up a wind shield and used his Fūinjutsu to absorb the ones that would have hit him directly or he would be dead."
"Sorry. I got carried away," she rubs the back of her head sheepishly.
'Damn it! Why am I feeling guilty? If he couldn't dodge it then he wasn't fit for active duty and I would have saved him a painful death.'
"Anyways, you two are evenly matched. Akasha, your better at Taijutsu because it takes time for Naruto to gather nature chakra to enter Sage Mode and you are limited to three clones for nature absorption while you, Akasha, just need to channel your chakra to hold your own."
Naruto's mouth drops. "How did you know that?"
Kakashi smirks. "What? You didn't think I wouldn't do my research on my students?"
Naruto closes his mouth, allowing Kakashi to continue.
"Both of you are even in Ninjutsu in terms of knowledge of jutsu as well as proper use and destruction potential of said jutsu. Naruto is better in Fūinjutsu due to his heritage and Akasha is slightly better at planning as she disrupted your attack and nearly trapped you. Naruto however, has the elemental advantage. Wind is the most offensive and while there aren't many defensive jutsu, the ones that do exist are extremely powerful. Not to mention that wind is the easiest to manipulate since there is no shortage of air and it has no definitive shape."
Kakashi finishes with his assessment and both Akasha and Naruto are happy with his conclusions.
"Meet me at Training Ground 8 tomorrow at ten for training and missions. Ja ne!"
As soon as Kakashi left with Sasuke, Akasha turns to Naruto.
"What did you hit me with before you told me to stop holding back?"
Naruto gives her a shit eat grin. "Well, that is nature chakra. When I enter Sage Mode, I can manipulate the nature chakra within me to extend my range, enhance my strength, or make a completely different strike. I made a different strike, just below my hand made of nature chakra that hit you. Don't feel too bad about it though. Only people with Sage training can see nature chakra."
Akasha nods and mindlessly rubs the spot on her cheek that was hit.
"Hey, do you want to get something to eat? I'm really hungry after that spar," Naruto asks her.
"I can't. I'm meeting up with my old sensei. I promised her lunch."
Naruto gives her a look, like he was expecting her to give that answer, to reject his offer.
"Well have a good time then."
Naruto begins to walk off and Akasha can't help but feel a little…sorry? Guilty? She isn't sure, but it doesn't feel good to see this blond walk away for some reason.
"You…you could come if you want…" she calls after him, somewhat desperately. She curses her emotions for turning her into a prepubescent teen who is uncomfortable around the opposite sex.
Naruto turns and gives her a questioning look.
"Well? My offer isn't going to stay all day!"
Naruto smiles and walks back to her, a very happy grin on his face.
Akasha's face has a twinge of pink on it from the handsome teen next to her, his infectious grin on full display.
"Oh, and your paying for yourself."
Akasha pokes Naruto's shoulder and she shunshins to a very nice looking restaurant. Akasha walks in, but Naruto stays put.
"Come on. I'm not waiting for you." When Naruto doesn't move, Akasha turns around.
Naruto shakes his head.
"Thanks for the invite, but I'm not allowed in this is a place. I'll see you tomorrow."
Naruto begins to walk off, Akasha staring after him. She had not missed the look of profound sadness on his face, the way his eyes shrank back when he realized where they were.
Akasha distractedly walks into the restaurant, looking half heartedly for Anko, who for some reason, always arrives before her, even if they both just got done training.
She walks around, looking, but not really seeing when a hand grabs her elbow. She whirls around and is about to attack when a voice stops her.
"Stop it"
It is a simple, yet authoritative command. Akasha looks to find Anko is the one holding her arm.
Anko directs her to a corner table where Anko has Akasha sitting in the corner, the spot usually that is hers. But with Akasha not paying attention and getting spooked is not something that they need right now.
"What's with you? You passed my table three times and on top of that you nearly attacked me."
Akasha looks down. "Sorry. I was distracted."
Anko gives Akasha a worried look.
"Who are you talking about?"
Akasha answers without even thinking. "A teammate named Naruto. He asked to get lunch with me but I told him that I couldn't. He then gave me this look. It was like he expected me to say no. I don't know why but I felt bad for him so I invited him to lunch with us. Then when we got here, he said he wasn't allowed in. He looked so…depressed and lonely and walked off."
Anko looks at Akasha. Yes, this isn't going to be good.
"Akasha, that boy has done nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing to warrant his treatment by the village. Fifteen years ago, this village was attacked and…Naruto is blamed for it. He is hated on for something he has no control over. He has no family, very little friends. He grew up completely alone until Jiraiya came to train him.
"I know that he is affecting you. I can see it in how you act. But don't go prying into his personal life. He has secrets just like you do. You must wait for him to open up to you just like you must trust someone before you tell them your secrets."
Akasha nods in understanding. She will ask him about it tomorrow but won't pry too much into his life. After all, she knows exactly how it feels to keep secrets.
Time Skip – 3 Weeks
Turns out that Kakashi's training is mostly teambuilding exercises. Only once has he actually sat them down and had then learn jutsu. But Akasha and Naruto continue to talk, much to his delight.
Flashback – 2 Weeks Ago
Team 11 just finished another team exercise that has no value what so ever. Akasha and Naruto work well together, but Sasuke just goes off on his own and tries to pass on his own.
Akasha and Naruto aren't even sweaty as they have so much stamina. They could do those kinds of missions all day and not get tired.
"Hey Naruto," Naruto hears Akasha call to him before he shunshins away.
"I was wondering if you would like to get lunch."
Naruto cleans out his ears, making sure he heard correctly. He sees no evidence of a blush on her face. Yeah, Akasha somewhat fixed her problem of getting flustered around him, citing that it wouldn't do if an immortal being like her to get flustered over a short lived human, no matter how handsome.
Naruto feels his face brighten and he gives her his best smile.
"Of course. Where are we going?" He is literally bouncing in excitement.
"Well I don't know. Where do you usually go?" she asks him.
Naruto's mouth almost drops. "Oh, you have to have Ramen. It is the food of the Gods!"
Naruto excitedly touches her shoulder, somehow remembering she doesn't really liked to be touched, and shunshins to Ichiraku's Ramen stand.
"Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-nee-chan!" he calls loudly into the back.
A woman about eighteen steps out of the back with a white apron on.
"Hello Naruto-kun! The usual today?" she asks. Then spots Akasha.
"Whose you friend?"
"This is Akasha, my teammate!" he says excitedly.
Ayame eyes Akasha quite coldly before turning a smiling face back to Naruto.
"Two shrimp and a beef coming right up!"
She turns and goes right into the back.
"Are you not going to get anything?" Naruto asks, a worried expression on his face.
"Well I would if I were asked what I want," she retorts.
"Hey Teuchi-jiji!" Naruto calls.
A few seconds later, Teuchi comes through and spots Naruto and Akasha. He looks from Naruto to Akasha and immediately notices her apprehensive look and just how pretty she is.
"Well, how's my favorite customer doing today? Who is your friend?"
"This is Akasha, my teammate. She wants to order some Ramen!"
Teuchi chuckles. "Trying to convert more people to Ramen huh? Well I can't say I couldn't use the business. What can I get you, young lady?"
"I guess I would like a Miso Ramen please."
"Sure thing," he says cheerfully. But he stops before disappearing into the back.
"She sure is a pretty thing Naruto. I would watch out. Ayame may get jealous."
Naruto is instantly red in the face. Yes he had noticed Akasha's beauty but figured that she didn't like people staring at her all the time. Who would?
Akasha coughs, getting Naruto's attention.
"So…um...I was wondering why you weren't allowed in that restaurant."
Naruto hangs his head a little.
"I don't know. Sarutobi-jiji just avoids the question and Jiraiya says he isn't allowed to tell me. I'm starting to get tired of not knowing why I'm so hated."
Akasha looks on with sympathy. It was like with her and her 'family'. The glares, the reproaches, the ugly words behind her back. Yeah, she could understand his pain.
"Well, forget about them. From the looks of things you have people who really care about you. Don't worry about what bitter hearted people think. No matter what you do, you can't change them."
Naruto looks at Akasha, very surprised that she would hold the same kind of pain that he did. He continues to look at her, a newfound respect forming. She just turns and gives him a small, sad smile.
That is the scene that Ayame came to. She looks from one to the other before jealousy sets in. She slams the bowls down between them spilling a good deal of broth and making Naruto jump. Akasha had smelled her and the Ramen so she wasn't' surprised by her presence but of the pure jealousy in Ayame's eyes.
"Here you go Naruto-kun. Sorry about the broth, I slipped and didn't have a very good grip on them."
Naruto flashes her a smile. "It's alright Ayame-nee-chan. I like the noodles as much as the broth."
Ayame gives him her best smiles, then turns to glare at Akasha as she turns to go into the back. A few seconds later, Akasha's bowl of Miso Ramen clatters across the counter, spilling half of the bowl.
"Oh, clumsy me. I slipped."
Akasha glares at Ayame as she grabs her half spilled bowl. In two minutes, she has finished her bowl while Naruto is finishing up his first bowl of shrimp (he is taking it slower because he has a friend here for the first time and doesn't want to scare them off with his bad habits). He looks over to her with a confused expression.
"Did you get enough to eat?"
Akasha does look at him and sighs. If she tells him about the whole sabotage, things will just get ugly. And the last thing she needs is more attention on her.
"I'm ok."
But Naruto wont' have it. He hold up is beef ramen to her.
"Here, have mine. I don't really need it."
Akasha tries to push it away but Naruto keeps insisting.
"Please…I don't want you to go hungry because of me."
The pitiful tone and look he is giving her…she just can't fight against that. She begrudgingly takes the bowl and eats. She has no idea what he just did and how much of a miracle it is that he is sharing his Ramen.
Ayame comes back to talk to Naruto and sees Akasha eating one of Naruto's bowls and instantly assumes. She snatches the bowl out of Akasha's hands.
"Hey, I was eating that!"
Ayame glares daggers openly at her.
"Why would you steal that from Naruto-kun?"
Akasha looks confused. "What? I didn't take it from him. He gave it to me."
Ayame laughs bitterly. "Yeah right. I've known Naruto for most of my life and not once has he shared with someone. So fess up!"
Akasha gives her an annoyed sigh. "I have nothing to fess up to. Ask Naruto if you're so sure I took it. You know Naruto well. And if he loves Ramen so much like you say then I would have had a hard time stealing it without someone hearing the commotion."
"That's because you're seducing him!"
Akasha's eyes go wide. Anger starts to boil inside her. How dare this puny human accuse her of something so petty? Before she can act, Naruto finally has enough.
"Akasha, Ayame stop!" a hand on Akasha's shoulder told her that he would take care of this. "Ayame, I did give her by bowl because you purposefully tipped over her bowl and made most of it come out!"
Ayame looks down at the ground after she gets over the fact that Naruto had actually shared his favorite food.
"I don't know what your problem is but this isn't the Ayame that I know. I'll come back when I know she is here again."
With that Naruto gets up and storms off, leaving Ayame in a fit of tears.
End Flashback
Ayame had got to Naruto's apartment a few days later, eyes very red and puffy. She had profusely apologized and literally got on her knees, begging for forgiveness. Naruto had told Akasha later that Ayame had fallen asleep and was forced to spend the night. Of course Naruto was very quick to point out that nothing had happened, a small blush on his face, from embarrassment and making sure that she didn't see him as a "lecher" and a pervert.
He had apologized to Akasha, saying that Ayame was very protective of him. However, Akasha knew that wasn't the case. She had seen the severe jealousy in her eyes. And she knew this would not be the end of it.
Right now, Naruto and his teammates are in the Hokage's office. In fact all teams from seasoned Jōnin to fresh Genin were crammed into the large office but nobody knew the reason. However there were hints. Nobody wants to say it but they have a feeling why. There is only one reason for such a gathering.
"Thank you all for gathering here so quickly. I know the day is late and you wish to go home to your families, but there is urgent news that you all should be aware of. As of 4:30pm this afternoon, Kumogakure no Sato and Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country) declared war on Konohagakure no Sato and Hi no Kuni (Fire Country). We are now in a wartime status and engagements are now open war. I will be sending more shinobi to secure our borders so all teams expect to receive missions C-ranks and above.
"I know you are all worried. Tomorrow, I will address the public and our economy will be mobilized. I know that some of you will lose your lives, but rest assured that it will not be in vain. We will win this war and show why Konoha is the strongest of all the Elemental Nations!"
Sarutobi finishes nearly shouting, using his voice to light the Fire of Will. Shinobi start cheering and shouting, making Akasha cover ears, Naruto notices.
After a good five minutes of cheering the shinobi begin to dissipate. Hiruzen spots Team Eleven and calls for them.
"Thank for attending. I know that you three are probably scared. War is a nasty business and forces people to grow up much faster than they should. I have the first mission of the Kumo-Konoha war. Team Eleven is to set out tonight to find one Tsunade Senju and return her to Konoha. Here is a letter from me. If she refuses then give her this."
Hiruzen hands Kakashi two envelopes to which Kakashi seals them immediately.
"This will be a C-rank mission. I do not know what to expect but we cannot leave such a high level ninja by herself, open for attack. She is a Sannin and is a huge target. They will likely target her first. Here are the last known whereabouts and where we think she is heading. Included is a dossier on her habits and likely hang out places. This mission is open ended so pack for at least three weeks. Dismissed!"
The three Genin instantly turn around and look at Kakashi who received a thick folder.
"Alright team. Go and get your Go Bags and meet me at the East Gate in ten minutes."
Once all three are clear of the anti-shunshin barrier shunshin to their own houses.
When they leave, Jiraiya comes out from his hiding spot on the window sill.
"Do you think it's a good idea hiding it from him? He is already suspicious about the seal."
Sarutobi rocks back in his chair, smoking his long pipe.
"I have no choice. If he were to learn the truth then…I don't even want to think about what would happen to his emotional state. Not only that but the fact we lied to him about how his father really died."
Jiraiya slams his hands down on the desk. "But what if he gets contacted by the fox? What then? He is already near Sannin level with Sage Mode and his summons. He is going to resent us if we don't tell him. And how do we explain a group of S-rank missing ninja after him? He isn't naïve enough to believe that it is because of his father. You're lucky I found Minato's notes on the Shiki Fuin before Naruto did.
"I came back and left my spy network for him. I heard about his life here and did my duty as his Godfather. I believe we should tell him before this blows up in our face!"
"I know what I'm doing Jiraiya. I have been doing this for too many years and I need to find my successor. I'm too old for this."
Jiraiya eyes his old (in both sense of the word) teacher. He will abide by the will of his Hokage. However the last sentence puts him on edge.
'Just how many people are you deceiving or conning?'
With Akasha
Akasha opens her front door, careful to avoid the traps. One can't be too careful when in a city where the number of people she can fully trust can be counted on one hand.
It is a comfortable apartment that she got with Anko's help. It took a lot of convincing for Akasha to accept monetary help from Anko to pay for the apartment. Akasha has kept a very detailed account of just how much she owes Anko.
It is a relatively large apartment. One full bathroom, two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a large living room, her own washer and dryer (she has to put in herbs to make the water safe to touch and makes her clothes smell of grass), and three hall closets. It also came completely furnished.
Akasha keeps her home immaculately clean. One might not have pinned her for chores, but she is determined to not live in filth. Plus in her mind, it makes her feel like she isn't taking advantage of Anko.
She goes to her fridge and opens it. Inside are dozens of blood packs. This was her surprise from Anko. More than two dozen packs of human blood. While Akasha had been stockpiling animal blood for years, but there is absolutely no substitute for human blood. She has no idea how Anko had gotten so many packets of blood, but she isn't going to complain.
She reaches in and grabs a dozen packets of blood, both animal and human, and seals them in a specially marked scroll that she keeps on her at all times. It wouldn't do well for her teammates to accidently to come across it. Besides, she might need a pack when she can't access her pack.
She picks up her Go Bag and writes a quick note for Anko, saying that she will be leaving on a mission for an unknown amount of time. Anko has a key to her apartment and comes over quite regularly to eat and just hang out and keep Akasha company.
Once she locks the door, she shunshins to the meeting place and finds that she is the second one there, after Kakashi.
"Alright, open up and let me check your Go Bag."
A Go Bag is just as it sounds. A bag that you literally pick up and are ready to go at a moment's notice. She opens the bag and takes out about a dozen scrolls, each labeled.
Kakashi looks over each. There is a scroll for "Camping Gear", "Clothes", "Weapons", "Weapon Scrolls", "Interrogation", "Stealth", "Poison", "Traps", "Rations", and "First Aid".
Kakashi opens the ones labeled "Weapons" and "Weapon Scrolls". Out flashes about a hundred each of kunai, shurikan, senbon (most likely poisoned), explosive tags, smoke tags, and a spool of ninja wire. She literally packed for every conceivable
Satisfied, he re-seals the weapons and looks at the "Weapon Scrolls". He finds a dozen near identical scrolls. There are a dozen with a blue tag and the rest have a red tag. Kakashi looks to her with a confused look on his face.
"Those hold specially sealed weapons that when unsealed, it will unleash all at the same time. They have kunai, shurikan, senbon, javelins, scimitars, battle axes, pikes, halberds, bear spears, tridents, sais, scythes, glaives, sickles, long swords, kodachi, claymores, nodachi, stilettos, several francisca (throwing axe)…" She is about to continue when Kakashi interrupts her. His eye brows kept rising after every weapon she listed off after number five. She could no longer see his eyebrows and wouldn't be surprised if they were floating about his head.
"I get the picture. How do you have all these weapons?" he asks desperately
Akasha shrugs. "I don't know. I just pick them up from when Anko threw them at me. Ask her. By the way, half of those I had to pull out of me. Anyways, all are poisoned of course. The red ones have a lethal poison while the blue ones only paralyze for two hours and is fast acting."
Kakashi sweat drops. Leave it to Anko to do such a thing.
"Alright, are you on your special…needs."
Akasha pulls out her blood scroll. "I got a dozen here. I can ration them and have either one every three days or have a half of one ever two days. The last one will put me in a weakened state because of malnutrition. After that, I will have trouble controlling the cravings."
Kakashi nods. "I don't know how long it will take. That depends on how accurate this Intel is. If needed we can stop near a village and I'll go with you to take some from the animals."
Akasha nods. Truthfully, she doesn't like being away from her supply. Since she doesn't have an easily replaceable source.
"Also, we could ask the Hokage to send Anko to deliver a new supply for me. So that is an option. She knows everything plus has a key to my apartment so we wouldn't have to explain anything to someone new."
"Well, that will only work one-if the Hokage agrees to send her and two- if she already isn't on a mission."
Akasha smirks. "Well that is an easy one. Anko has a supply on her for this very thing but this is only for emergencies. We agreed to use my supply before we use the one she has."
Kakashi takes all the information in stride. "Well, it sounds like you and Anko have thought this out thoroughly. Just keep me updated if you get low
Kakashi then checks her med pack, interrogation, stealth, and rations. He raised an eyebrow at her when he picked up a wicked looking metal hook in her interrogation pack.
"What? You expect me to tear their finger nails off with my hands? I may be partial towards blood, but I don't like getting it on my hands. It would be a waste."
Kakashi chuckles at Akasha's…whatever she is being. He finds it funny that she will drink the stuff but won't get it on her hands.
Akasha is busy re-sealing her pack when Naruto shows up.
"You know, I said ten minutes not half an hour," Kakashi admonishes.
"Kakashi-sensei, you're the last one to get on someone for being late. Remember when Akasha had to literally drag you to a team meeting and then burned you Icha Icha?"
Kakashi's hand instinctively reaches for his pouch. He touches it, making sure that it is indeed still there.
"Now Naruto, show me your Go Bag."
For the most part, Naruto's is like Akasha's minus the "Interrogation" and "Poison". His gear almost matches hers as well, Jiraiya pounding it into his head about being ready for all occasions. Naruto also has a section labeled "Books".
Inside, he has books from beginning chakra control to extremely advanced wind chakra manipulation. He also has several notebooks from both Jiraiya and his dad, having access to the Namikaze house at the age of eleven.
"I figured that we would have at least some down time so I had my clones copy down almost every book in the library and add it to my own. It may be of use someday. We may have some time to read so I thought I would bring a small selection."
Naruto then unseals it and hundreds of books come unsealed. Their mouths drop and Naruto has a sheepish look. "I couldn't decide on what to bring so I brought a lot."
Akasha picks up a book and reads the cover. "'Fūinjutsu for Dummies by Dummies', 'Wind broken down', 'Chakra, the Life Giving Energy or Leach?' What the hell is all this stuff. Surely you don't need all this stuff."
"Like I said, I couldn't decide so I brought a little of everything."
Before either can say anything else, Sasuke appears.
"Alright Naruto. Just don't be too distracted. Seal up your stuff. Sasuke, show me your Go Bag."
Sasuke just turns and does his signature noise.
"Sasuke, that wasn't a request. Let me see your bag now."
Sasuke glares at him and hands over the bag. Inside there are only four scrolls. "Camping", "Clothes", "Weapons", and "Food".
"Sasuke, where is your med pack?"
"I don't have one. I for one do not plan on getting hit to use one."
Kakashi sighs. "That was one of my requirements for a Go Bag. What if your teammates needed a med pack?"
"Then they deserve to die. They obviously weren't strong enough to deal with a threat and therefore are getting in my way."
The three of them just stare at Sasuke in disbelief.
"I will let it go this time, but next time I check your bag, you will have one. You will buy one at the nearest town."
Sasuke glares at Kakashi. He opens his mouth when a very harsh glare cuts his off.
"Those who abandon the mission are garbage, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than the cockroaches we walk on. This is not up for debate. If you do not have one, then you have no part of this team and no amount of leverage the council puts on me to take you back will not work. Not move out."
Kakashi takes the lead, jumping off into the trees. The Chūnin guards don't bother to stop them. They had already cataloged them while they were standing there.
They travel for four hours before it got too dark to travel safely. Each unrolls their camping gear.
"Naruto you take first watch then Sasuke then Akasha. Take two hour shifts. Akasha you are last since your night vision is the best of all of us and right before dawn is the darkest part of the night and the most susceptible to attack."
Sasuke is miffed that Akasha is put in charge of the most important part of the night.
Naruto creates a bunch of clones and sends them in all directions and has them henge into bushes or rocks or a twig on a branch. Naruto leaves three clones in his tent, all gathering nature chakra in case there really is a fight. He notices Akasha's curious look when his three clones go into his tiny tent, but when she shrugs, he continues preparing for a night watch.
Naruto jumps into a tree after taking the fire out. It would ruin his night vision and create incredibly deep shadows. He becomes very still and takes in the world around him. In his hand is a book, but he doesn't think he will be reading much of it. Instead, he lets his senses go.
He can feel everything. It is different here than in the village. Here there are no artificial buildings or paved roads. Just nature and calmness. He feels the crickets as they chirp and the owls as they hoot. He basks in the calm feeling as he soaks up the nature energy.
Slowly his thoughts turn to Akasha. He can feel her unique chakra, so very calm right now. Usually it feels like it is about to boil over but as she sleeps right now…it is almost soothing to feel such a powerful yet gentle flow.
How can such a nice person have such a violent chakra nature? He is pretty sure that a pair of wings would not be out of place on her. He imagines her beautiful face sleeping right now, her guard dropped, her worries forgotten. How angelic her face would be if it weren't so guarded?
All too soon, Naruto's internal clock tells him that it has been two hours. He silently hops of the limb and lands without a sound. He walks to Sasuke's tent and zips it open. What he sees almost makes him puke.
Sasuke is naked with a white substance, that isn't too hard to figure out what it is considering he is naked, on ground. His rather average Johnson on full display as his prostate is working like it should, giving Sasuke a hard on. A picture of Akasha in a short battle kimono taken from the ground, getting an up skirt shot of her blue panties is lying in his unconscious hand. He has a satisfied look on his face and is drooling.
Naruto, for once in his life, isn't sure what to do. Then an idea comes to mind. Naruto soundlessly sprints to his tent, as soon as he zips it open, a clone hands him what he wants.
Muttering a quick thanks, he moves back to Sasuke's tent, camera in hand. He stops just outside the tent. He knows that a sudden flash will wake him up, so Naruto makes a few hand seals.
"Katon: Nensho Hikari!" (Fire Release: Burning Light!)
Naruto whispers the jutsu as ball of fire appears out of the low light of the fire that Naruto breathes. Naruto uses the minimum amount of chakra to keep the light very low. Slowly, Naruto makes his way to back to Sasuke. Naruto moves the ball into the tent and very slowly, ups the amount of chakra.
Naruto then carefully reaches and takes Sasuke's empty hand and moves it as fast as he dares towards his boner. When near, Sasuke's hand instinctively wraps around his own length. Naruto has to suppress his laugh, lest he wake someone.
At this point, the fireball is bright enough to get a good picture. Naruto creates to clones and has them hold open the flaps. Suddenly a breeze blows into the tent, making Sasuke shiver and clamp down on his erection.
'This is too perfect.'
Naruto snaps a dozen photos, making sure to get several good shots of the picture in his hand to the hand around his member to the drool on his face. All-in-all, a very good night. This is blackmail material for years to come.
Naruto slowly recedes the light and dispels the clones and zips the tent back up. He then places the camera in his tent before walking over to Akasha's tent. By that time, an extra hour had gone by. He gently taps on the outside, alerting her to his presence.
Akasha blearily opens her tent, clearly half asleep. "Naruto? I thought Sasuke was supposed to wake me."
"Sasuke is rather…indisposed of right now. I thought we would split it three each since Sasuke won't be joining us."
Akasha yawns stifle a curse. She nods and grabs a ration bar out of her bag. She also makes some instant coffee from herbal water, coffee ground coffee beans, and her fire element. She has a specially made mug that conducts heat through it, but doesn't burn the user when fire chakra is run through it. It acts like a thermos and keeps the liquid warm.
Naruto notices that Akasha is headed to Sasuke's tent.
'Shit! That will not end well.'
"Hey Akasha. Do you mind if I stay up with you for a while? I don't feel like going to bed. I'm not tired."
Akasha gives him a confused look but shrugs. She yawns again and bypasses Sasuke's tent, having, what Naruto can only guess, is that she decided that it isn't worth a fight in the middle of the night.
Naruto sits under the tree he was in and Akasha joins him.
"I like it at night better. It is less chaotic and everything is peaceful. It's as if this is the world's center, the thing that holds the world's sanity together. Could you imagine a world with no night?"
Akasha looks up to the stars. They are so different from the ones back in her home realm.
"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it before."
"I think of the night sky as a window, through which you can see all the wonders of the universe. It makes you feel so insignificant…to know that all the way up there are things infinitely bigger and more complex than you. It calms me a bit to know that to see something to beautiful all I have to do is look up."
A pleasant silence falls between them. Akasha keeps stealing glances at Naruto, not sure what to think of him. Most teens his age are worried about getting some girls hooch or a cool jutsu. But Naruto has taken the time to wonder about things bigger than him.
'He is definitely different'
They talk in low voices about theory of bigger things when Kakashi walks out and sees both Akasha and Naruto up and sees the two of them nearly sitting on top of each other and completely engrossed in their conversation.
"Good morning you two."
"Good morning Kakashi-sensei," the two say with little hesitation.
"Where is Sasuke?"
A Naruto emerges from his tent gets up and shows Kakashi a picture. Instantly Kakashi is on the ground laughing his ass off.
"What is it?" a confused Akasha asks.
Naruto nervously chuckles. "You don't want to know. It's a guy thing," he adds quickly as his first excuse wouldn't be sufficient.
"Is he? When did you? Oh this is priceless!"
Let it be known that Kakashi's laugh is quite creepy, coming from a man who hides behind a mask and a cloud of indifference.
"Oh Kami…just wait until I share that with the guys back home. I haven't laughed that hard since…well…shit. Since never. That was the funniest thing I have ever seen."
Kakashi has to work very hard to suppress his laughter as he walks up to Sasuke's tent and unzips it. Kakashi falls back, laughing again.
Now Akasha is feeling left out.
"What is really on that picture?"
Naruto starts sweating bullets.
Seeing how she isn't going to get answers from Naruto, she stops over to Sasuke's tent. But before she can see anything, Naruto's hand on her shoulder stops her. She sees no playfulness or joking in his eyes. He is serious.
"I really think you shouldn't look. I know you are curious, but if you trust me not to look, I will tell you when we get back to the village. Do you trust me?"
Akasha is torn. On one side, she really wants to trust what Naruto says. So far as she knows, he hasn't lied to her. At least not while being serious. On the other hand, her instincts to not trust anybody are warring. That part of her wants to shove Naruto aside and see for herself. The fact that Kakashi is still rolling on the ground is not helping her curiosity.
"Is what is in there that bad?"
Naruto sighs. "Yes and no. One- it would be incredibly embarrassing for him. Two- there is a very strong possibility of you actually killing him. We can't afford that right now. Not on our first mission. I for one would love to be able to leave the city again and not be confined to D-rank missions."
Akasha cringes at the thought of doing D-ranks again. D-ranks had been allocated to the Academy students to get a trial run of just how missions happened. The thirteen and up students would do anything from garden to babysit to picking ticks out of a man's ass hairs. Akasha had been the unlucky one to get that mission. She had to be admitted to the Psyc-ward of the hospital for severe mental trauma and was there for a solid two months before she was well enough to not be in a padded room, a reinforced straight jacket, and a chakra suppressant seal.
She ended up getting an A-rank pay for that and that mission was declared sealed. No other mission has been declared off limits. Not even catching Tora the cat, no matter how many times that cat demonstrated it can USE chakra. That cat has a higher casualty rate then many Jōnin.
Back to the camp site, Akasha searches Naruto's face for signs of deceit. She can hear his heart pumping fast, like he is afraid of her reaction.
"Fine but you had better tell me the instant we are back within the gates."
Naruto lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He flashes her a thankful grin as his body visibly relaxes. He walks over to Kakashi who is still chuckling on the ground. He keeps trying to get up, but every time he does, his eyes fall on Sasuke's form and the laughter begins anew.
That ends when Naruto kicks Kakashi in the sternum. "Oi! Get duck-ass up. We have a mission to do."
Kakashi regains control and gets up. "Thanks for that. I wasn't sure if I would ever stop laughing."
"No problem but let's get this going before Akasha changes her mind and decides to look."
Ten minutes later, Sasuke comes out of his tent, sleepy eyed and tousled hair to where it looks like there are two ducks sticking their asses straight out of his hair.
"Good morning, Akasha-chan."
Akasha's blood immediately begins to boil
'How dare he call me with such familiarity!'
Naruto, feeling that the situation is about to go from bad to worse, shunshins over to Sasuke then shunshins again with Sasuke. They land a few hundred feet from the campsite.
"What the hell are you mphh!"
Naruto's hand is over Sasuke's mouth, a very serious glare staring down the Uchiha.
"You need to tone it down. If you didn't notice, I just saved you from another beating by her hand."
Sasuke throws Naruto off.
"What the hell are you talking about dobe?"
All Naruto does is to hold up a picture, making Sasuke pale considerably.
"She does not know about this…yet. Right now, I am the only thing between you and a six foot grave. So you had better back off before the Uchiha clan dies out!"
Sasuke's pale face only nods.
"That is how I found you when I went to wake you for your rounds. You had better volunteer for an extra shift tonight, lest you give Akasha even more reason to be upset with you."
Naruto shunshins them back to the campsite, leaving the Uchiha alone with his thoughts. Akasha raises an eyebrow at Naruto who shrugs. They have a quiet breakfast and a quick one before they set off into the early morning hours.
They reach a small town after two hours of fast travel. After hours of searching with Naruto using his Sage Mode to search and Akasha's natural sensor abilities, they come up empty. While they don't know her chakra signature, all they really have to look for is a large one. Most villages do not have someone with chakra reserves large enough to do twenty A-rank jutsu in a row and not be dead. Next town, same result.
Town after town, they come up empty and it has been a week since war was declared. Kakashi is starting to get worried. It has been a full month since they started on their first mission outside of Konoha.
He messages Sarutobi as they head to the next village on their list.
"Stop."
All four come to a stop and turn to Akasha, her face scrunched in concentration.
"Two hundred yards to the southwest, ten signatures. I can't tell from this distance just how strong though."
"Hang on. I'll join you," Naruto offers as he creates three clones. Naruto and his doppelgangers all collect nature chakra. As soon as each clone has a fourth of the charka required to go into Sage Mode, he releases each clone and just barely has enough to enter Sage Mode.
"It seems I'm not in range yet. I need to be closer."
The group takes off towards the signatures, rapidly closing the distance.
"Ok, ten signatures. Nine Jōnin level reserves and one Kage level. They are heading at a constant pace towards the north east."
Akasha nods her agreement to Naruto's assessment.
Kakashi frowns. There shouldn't be anyone with those kind of reserves here in this part of Hi no Kuni.
"Gear up. Leave all non-combat gear here. Get several explosive and smoke tags. Do not use a Genjutsu to hide it. They might have a sensor with them. We do not know if they are friendly or not so we will go in prepared. In case we get ambushed, Akasha, you are the heavy hitter, Naruto you absorb as much as you can with your Fūinjutsu, and Sasuke, you are to watch our backs."
"Why am I the one that has to be on the sidelines?"
Akasha rolls her eyes.
"You're not on the side lines. We are trusting you with our backs obviously. That is a position of honor to know that people trust you enough to turn their backs to you."
Having no response to that, Sasuke just keeps his mouth shut.
Naruto creates four clones. Three of which immediately start to gather nature chakra while the fourth is instructed to look over their bags and if needed to begin collecting nature chakra himself.
Kakashi nods to his team and they silently jump in the direction of the large group.
All too soon, the group is in sight and because of the direction Akasha had them go, they are right in the path of the ninja. And none of them like what they see.
A tall, beautiful blond with enormous breasts jumping alongside a black haired woman slightly taller and much skinnier. That wasn't what bothered Team Eleven. The problem is they are moving with eight people in black and yellow cloaks with masks, consistent with Anbu division of Kumo.
"Damn. Why the hell is…Sasuke! What the hell are you doing?" Kakashi hisses.
Sasuke has jumped from their hiding place and into the direct path of the Kumo nin.
"Hand over Lady Tsunade before you get hurt," Sasuke arrogantly demands.
The large group stops and exchanges looks before all of them form hand signs.
Sasuke's eyes go wide when a half dozen high level Raiton jutsu and two water jutsu race at him.
"Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Butai Sesshu Natsuin!" (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Elemental Absorption Seal!)
Naruto jumps in front of Sasuke and hold out his hand. A seal appears on his palm and suddenly a gale force wind sucks every last jutsu into the seal on his hand.
Tsunade's eyes go wide.
'Blond hair, blue eyes, Uzumaki techniques. Could it be?'
The Kumo Anbu all have surprised body language.
"I'll repeat what my teammate said. Release Lady Tsunade and nobody gets hurt."
One Kumo nin laughs and steps to the front. "You honestly think that we could force her to do something she doesn't want to do and not come out without injuries. Look around you. All eight of us are untouched and neither she nor her apprentice has a mark on her as well."
Kakashi narrows his eyes.
"Step aside. I am going with Kumo," Tsunade says authoritatively.
Naruto's eyes narrow. "So you're just going to abandon your village to its enemy during wartime? And here your sensei was worried about you only for you to be sleeping with the enemy," he says harshly.
Tsunade winces at the remark.
"He sent you because you need me, need my medical expertise."
Naruto shakes his head. "He said to give you this."
Naruto produces an envelope and tosses it to her. But before it can reach her, the lead Kumo nin slices it into hundreds of pieces.
"As touching as that was, we aren't here to make small talk. Now get out of our way or die. Oh and tell your two teammates to come out."
Akasha and Kakashi are surprised that they were found out but Naruto chuckles.
"What teammates? Lord Hokage sent just the two of us since he didn't think there would be any trouble."
"Ha! As if. Konoha policy is a group of four, not less. So tell the other kiddies to come out."
Naruto starts to laugh. "You know, if your Intel is that bad you won't last a year into this war. While that may be true for Genin teams, both him and I are Chūnin and the rules differ. So…hand Tsunade over and leave while you can or be defeated or at least delayed long enough for reinforcements to arrive, which should be in about ten minutes."
The Anbu look nervously to one another. They all heard the stories of the infamous Uzumaki clan and their very dangerous Fūinjutsu. They held off three of the five major hidden villages with just over three hundred people. And now they have one right in front of them.
Kakashi looks on with great surprise at Naruto. Not only did he just put doubt in to the minds of the Anbu, but he also told them not to show up for at least five and let them attack from the rear.
"We wait. We will go in five or if it is looking bad for them."
Akasha nods and goes through hand signs, stopping on the last one, waiting for the signal.
On some unknown signal, the Anbu charge, leaving Tsunade and Shizune standing on the side lines. A few stay behind and form hand signs.
"Raiton: Jibashi!" (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!)
"Suiton: Teppōdama!" (Water Release: Gunshot!)
A giant bullet of water erupts out of the mask of an Anbu and mixes with the electricity of the other Anbu. The other Anbu rush towards the two, making it a Taijutsu and weapons battle.
Naruto lifts his other hand. Another seal appears on his palm.
"Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Butai Hanpatsu Natsuin!" (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Elemental Repelling Seal!)
A wide, transparent seal becomes visible in mid air and when the collaboration jutsu strikes the seal, it does what the name suggests and rebounds the jutsu back on the Anbu.
The Anbu scatter, their charge broken.
Naruto, not being one to wait for anything dispels a clone and absorbs the nature chakra and charges at the Anbu, Sasuke staying behind.
"Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!)
A dragon erupts out of Sasuke's mouth. While smaller and not as hot as Akasha's, it is still something nobody wants to hit with. Sasuke directs the dragon to the back two Anbu who were going through hand seals, almost ready to release more jutsu but they are forced to stop and jump out of the way of Sasuke's dragon.
Sasuke loops the dragon behind the Anbu and smashes it into the rear ranks. Most of the Anbu Kawarimi away but one either wasn't fast enough (unlikely) or wasn't paying attention. The Anbu is incinerated in seconds, his screams carried across the field.
"Boar!" a couple of Anbu shout.
While Anbu from Kumo don't paint their masks, they have their animal stitched into their cloaks. It is a more subtle way of telling them apart without giving too much away. Also unlike Konoha Anbu, Kumo Anbu have a full head mask, covering their hair and the back of their neck, making it very difficult to identify each of them by hair color and style.
Back to the battle, the seven remaining Anbu's eyes burn with fury.
"He was our friend you bastard!"
Sasuke shrugs. "If he wasn't fast enough to dodge it then he didn't deserve to live."
'Brilliant Sasuke. You used your natural douche-ness to anger them so they won't think so clearly.'
Then the shit hits the fan. All seven Anbu rush the two. Naruto is put to the extremes of his Taijutsu abilities to avoid the five Anbu all around him. Sasuke, even with his Sharingan activated, only got two. Naruto hears a growl of annoyance from him, annoyed that Naruto deemed such a major threat over him.
But Naruto, using his Sage Mode is dishing out much more than he is receiving since his natural resistance to…well everything is increased tenfold. His mind is completely focused on the battle, he has no room left for outside thoughts.
Over the next few minutes of straight Taijutsu, Naruto feels himself exiting Sage Mode and dispels another clone. That is when he notices that two Anbu are missing…
Suddenly all the Anbu jump back from Naruto.
"Raika Hōrai no Jutsu!" (Coming of the Lightning Fire Phoenix Technique!)
Naruto feels electricity climbing up his legs, then into his spine, paralyzing him completely. He then sees a fire dragon heading right for him. Unable to move, mold chakra, or even blink, Naruto waits for his demise.
"Katon: Karyū Endan!" (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!)
"Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)
A giant, white hot flamed dragon sweeps into the fight at frighteningly high speeds, engulfing the smaller dragon, assimilating it, then smashing into the ground where the two Anbu who had targeted Naruto. Those two Anbu didn't even get a chance to scream at they were less than ash the instant the dragon touched down.
Akasha and Kakashi drop into the fray, drawing opponents from Naruto, who moved to re-engage the Anbu before they felt the need to attack themselves. The best defense is a good offense.
The five Anbu, while Anbu in abilities, find themselves being beaten by kids and the Copy Ninja.
One Raikiri, three dragon flames from Sasuke, and an insane amount of ass kicking from Akasha and Naruto, the three Anbu that are left all back away.
"You win this time. But we will be back," says the leader before they shunshin away.
Feeling it safe to, Naruto lets his stance go and marches right up to Tsunade.
"So you were just going to skip town and abandon your responsibilities?"
Tsunade looks guiltily at that ground when Shizune comes between them, a furious look in her eyes.
"You do not get to judge Lady Tsunade. She has suffered a great deal and heart break. Her choice was justified."
Naruto stares down at the smaller woman.
"Oh but I do get to judge her. She is not only willing to abandon her village in a time of need but me as well. Or did she not tell you that she is my God Mother?"
The entire group's mouth's hand open. Tsunade, if possible, looks even guiltier.
"Yeah, I know pretty much everything. Jiraiya felt the need to tell me about my family and I may not have had one while growing up but even I know that family does not desert one another!"
He is shouting by the end of his tirade.
"I know why and respect why you weren't in my life earlier. Everyone needs their own time and way to grieve but the time for self wallowing is over. Sarutobi has recalled you and if you have any respect for your family name or me then you will return to the village with us. If you don't then I will personally beat you to a pulp and drag you back myself!"
Tsunade is now weeping. "I…I just can't go back there."
"Bull shit! That was fifteen years ago! I have no qualms about kicking your ass too. And believe me when I say that I can. I have experience fighting someone with your…unique strength."
He steels a glance at Akasha who doesn't know how to feel so she continues her indifference.
Shizune is about to re-assert herself into the conversation when a fierce look from Naruto makes her hesitate. Naruto then turns his attention back to the busy blond.
"You have thirty seconds before I force you to come back."
"Why are you being so cruel! Can't you see that she is in pain over everything?" Shizune shouts.
Naruto's fierce look turns back to her but she keeps a brave face.
"I am cruel because that is how this world is. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that. It is not all flowers and sunshine and her fairytale is ending now whether she wants it too or not. You have fifteen seconds."
Tsunade's mind is clouded. Right in front of her is Kushina's boy and has her personality down to a tee. How can she go back now?
"Three…two…one. What is your choice?"
Tsunade looks at Naruto's cold eyes, her own red and puffy ones looking to him.
"I…I…"
Naruto sighs.
"Sorry"
Tsunade looks up confused.
"Wha…"
Tsunade's vision goes dark as she slumps to the ground. Naruto's fist buried in her gut. He picks her up over his shoulder and starts to walk away.
"What just happened?" Akasha asks.
"And I thought I had family problems," Sasuke comments.
Shizune gets over her shock of one: he just hit Tsunade. Two: he just hit her so hard that she blacked out from one punch.
"Hey! Bring her back here!" she roars after Naruto.
Kakashi shakes his head. "Come on. Mission successful. Let's return to Konoha and keep Shizune from killing Naruto."
They pick up their weapons and seal the intact bodies of the Anbu in a sealing scroll before taking off after Naruto.
Time Skip – 4 days
Team Eleven plus Shizune walks up to the large gates of Konoha, Tsunade still unconscious on Naruto's shoulder. Akasha used Raiton: Ranshinshō (Important Body Points Disturbance) to keep her unconscious the entire way [if it can disrupt the nervous system, it can block it]. Naruto also refused to let anyone carry her stating that she is his family so he will be the one to carry her.
They had eventually calmed down Shizune enough from attacking Naruto, but she refused to leave Tsunade's side for even an instant. She fed, changed her clothes, and helped Tsunade with the bathroom. At all times they had a team member with the two so Shizune wouldn't run off with her.
Kotetsu and Izumo are talking animatedly. Kakashi sweat drops. Don't these two ever get assigned to a different position.
"Team Eleven reporting in," Kakashi says, handing them the cards for his students. Shizune hands her card and Tsunade's to the guards. After a quick jot down of the names, time entered, and the specific gate, they give the cards back and send them on their way.
Kakashi stops his team just inside the gate.
"Congratulations team on your first completed mission outside the village. I will request a higher pay since we did fight Kumo Anbu. It should be an A-rank. Naruto, if you will hand Tsunade to me, I will take her to the Hokage and report the mission a success."
Naruto shakes his head. "I already told you. My family, my responsibility. I will take her to the Hokage."
Kakashi lets it go for now. "Well then, the rest of you are dismissed."
Sasuke immediately walks off but Akasha stays.
"I too will go with you as you will need my help to reverse the jutsu I put on her."
Kakashi nods and leads Shizune and his students to the office. Once there, they are immediately let in to see Hiruzen.
"Ah Team Eleven. I am glad to see you returned. I was starting to worry. Report!" Sarutobi's eyes shifted to Tsunade's form for a second before returning to Kakashi.
Kakashi delved into the story how they were unsuccessful in finding her then they came across them attempting to defect to Kumo. Sarutobi glares at Tsunade and Shizune, but doesn't say a word. He returns his attention when Kakashi gets to the part where they took on and defeated eight Kumo Anbu.
"Very well. Now then. Why is she unconscious?"
"That is my doing. I had a chat with her after the Anbu left and she didn't want to return, even after I yelled at her. So I hit her so she would fall unconscious then Akasha did a jutsu that would keep her under until we got back here."
Sarutobi nods. "Everyone except Naruto is to leave. Akasha if you would mind releasing your jutsu. I will upgrade this mission to an A-rank. Anbu, keep an eye on Shizune until I say otherwise."
Kakashi walks to the door and waits for Akasha while Shizune just walks out the door, an Anbu visibly trailing her. Akasha goes through the familiar hand seals before touching Tsunade's neck.
"It will take a few minutes until she is fully aware."
Sarutobi nods and thanks her for her help before she leaves, Kakashi in tow.
"You know, I may need a larger supply. That took way longer than expected and if I'm not here to collect by packs, then I don't get them. I have about half left and I need one now."
"I'll talk to the Hokage about it and see what I can do. We will have two days off of unless Hokage-sama has a mission for us in which case I'll come and get you."
Akasha nods and heads for her apartment, intent on draining a blood pack then sleeping. She hasn't slept on a bed in a month and she fought a couple of tough opponents recently. Not to mention the fact that they traveled for nearly four days nonstop except for food and bathroom breaks.
Time Skip – One Year
"Hey there Moka-chan!"
Moka turns around in the alley way and sees two guys heading towards her. She smiles and waves at them. Both are tall and skinny, one having a darker complexion and wearing sunglasses. Both are what most people would consider attractive in their own right.
"Good morning! How are you guys doing?" It was 11:30 but still considered morning, well late morning.
The two men stop right in front of her, both hiding a blush.
"Well, we are having a party tonight and I was wondering if you would give us the honor to grace us with your presence."
Moka giggles behind a hand.
"Always the charmer Teke but I have to work at the café until close and I have some shopping to do. Maybe next time though!"
She gives them a billion watt smile. It seems to light up the alleyway from just her smile alone. Both men are sporting heavy blushes, though both are trying very hard to push it down.
"Uh…sure Moka-chan. In fact we are already planning one for next month. Wanna come?"
Moka strikes a thinking pose. "It would depend on what day. I'll try to get off work, but unless I know the day I can't plan for it. But otherwise I'll go!" she finishes excitedly.
Teke and the other guy, known commonly as Komodo, talk to her. Moka looks down at her watch suddenly.
"Oh no! I'm going to be late! See you guys later!" she shouts before pushing past the two, not without getting her ass smacked. She turns and shows them a blush.
"See you guys later!" she says, giving them a wink before disappearing about the corner.
Moka runs to the café in which she works. Over the course of her employment, the café has seen a lot of business, no small thanks to the drop dead gorgeous girl that is working there. More than three quarters of the people that come in, request her as their server. Most just want to see her in a maid's outfit.
After a grueling eight hour shift of flirting and constant talk, the café closes for the night and Moka takes off. She has to be sure that she seems close enough to chase without actually giving hints that she wants to be chased.
Moka makes her way to the open market, which is also about to close for the day. She window shops before coming to a shop with a fresh fruit and vegetables. She takes several tomatoes, apples (dear god does she love the apples here), green beans, celery, and cauliflower. She looks around the market, interested in what else was here today while the grocer packed her bag.
She thanks the grocer before skipping off down the market, pausing only to pick of steak and pork chops, and makes her way to her third story apartment. After seeing and saying good night to several neighbors, she opens her door.
The instant it closes, she slides down it and lets out a long, drawn breath. The smile instantly drops and scowl mars her angelic features. She doesn't know how much more she can take this. Her apartment is a good sized, one bedroom with a half kitchen mixed in with a small living room. Perfect if you are single.
Deciding she can't really do anything from the floor, she gets up and checks the perimeter seals, making sure that nobody got in. As usual, nobody did.
She then takes out the hidden scroll that was in the fruit and vegetable bag, put there by her contact that works the stand. She unfurls it and reads the short message. It is a meeting between the cell members in two days. Great, high risk meetings are always fun.
She unseals the materials and out poofs her bi monthly supply, which she immediately places in the fridge, hiding it with the rest of her supply behind a complex illusion. She then burns the scroll in her already active fireplace.
She puts the rest of the food away, turns on the stove and puts a steak on to cook while she heads to her room to change. She chucks the maid outfit, careful to hang it up, lest it get wrinkled. She then looks herself over in the mirror.
Her waist length pink turned black turned light blue cascades freely down her bare shoulders, free of her usual bun at the back of her head. Her bindings, tightly wrapped around her generous bust, making then smaller to the outside world. Her very tight, slim, and powerful abs are hidden underneath a layer of self induced fat, the normal kind for women who don't work out every day for hours at a time.
Of course she still works out in her apartment. Doing crunches, sit-ups, and running on something they call a treadmill. That is new to everyone from Konoha. Who would have thought that Kumo had such advanced electronic devices for the public? Imagine what technology they have for military use. To maintain her cover, she eats a lot more than usual, like Anko and dango a lot with everything from sweets to starch to pigging out on the couch three days out of every week just to maintain her civilian weight (Though it is more pigging out and starch because she hates sweets). That would be coming off the instant she gets back to Konoha.
Kurenai had taught her Genjutsu that would allow a person to train in their mind, keep their edge. Since you can't go to a training ground, you have to maintain your skills somehow. She trains like this every week and learns some jutsu, mainly lightning from her supply scrolls. She had requested jutsu to occupy her time and they had given in but they don't send anything that is too dangerous. (this jutsu is not like Tsukuyomi, more like a mindscape experience where people can do whatever the hell they want without worry while they sleep)
But the most noticeable change are her eyes. Her forest green eyes are now purple, hidden by a very high illusion, one that doesn't use much chakra (not that it uses much for her anyways). She trained for this infiltration mission for a full two months, getting acquainted with the Kumo landscape, mannerisms, and anything else a spy would have to know to fit in.
Akasha sighs and strips the bindings off before putting on a plane t-shirt and short-shorts, not bothering to put on something underneath. She walks back into the kitchen, still thinking about her mission, how she was planted here a few months ago under the name of Moka Taguri, an immigrant from the same country as Kusagakure no Sato (the Village Hidden in the Grass).
Team Eleven took this assignment six months ago, trained for two, and then was deposited here for the last four. After the A-rank mission, Team Eleven has completed four C-rank, five b-rank, and two A-rank missions. This current mission is a long duration, undercover A-rank mission.
She has grown to 5'7" now and is sixteen by three weeks. Yeah, wasn't much of a party. Not like any of her past eight have been either. Mostly it was just her and Anko with a cake and a present or two. But even before she came to the land of humans, her birthdays were all just fake smiles and pretentious people who didn't give a damn about her but had to come due to social obligations.
Akasha comes out of her thoughts and realizes that she has finished cooking and eating her steak while she was lost in the depths of her mind. She curses herself for not realizing it. Steak is one of her favorite foods and she just mindlessly wasted it.
She cleans the dishes, grabs a blood pack, drains it, burns the package, and strips again. This time she gets in the bath after making sure that it is well herbalized. She takes her time, letting her feet soak. Even high level shinobi like herself will get tired feet after such a long shift of never sitting or almost never stop walking.
That is when she hears her doorbell. She quickly hops out of her bathtub and dries herself before getting on pre-wrapped bindings. (they are already wrapped, but needs to be clipped in the back for quickly putting on) She normally wraps herself every morning and saves these for times like now. She quickly puts on a sun dress, not really looking at what she grabbed and makes herself presentable. All the while, she quickly, but silently goes to the door.
She activates a hidden seal and the door and wall goes transparent, allowing her to see anybody stacked outside her room and what they have. She lets out a breath when she see who it is.
She opens the door after deactivating the seal.
"High Komodo-kun! What can I do for you?" she asks in a falsely cheerful voice.
The tall teen looks nervous and wipes the sweat off his brow.
"I…uh…was…uh…"
Akasha puts on a fake confused look. She has seen this flustered act before.
"Yes?" she asks, hopping that he will lose his nerve and run away.
He blushes even more but slaps himself in the face. 'Moka' gives off a fake gasp of surprise. Her character is supposed to abhor violence.
"Can I come in?" he asks hopefully.
"Well, I was about to go to bed…" she leaves off hopping he would get the hint.
"But you're still wearing a dress; it will only take a minute," he pleads.
Akasha curses herself for not paying attention, but when she doesn't move, Komodo gets the hint that she isn't going to let him in. So, he draws in a steadying breath and continues.
"I…would like to…go with me…Friday to eat dinner with me."
'Finally' she thinks exasperatedly. She puts on a thinking pose, one that she notices makes Komodo's blush increase if possible.
She then pouts. "I'm sorry but I have a friend from Kusa that I'm supposed to meet in the next town on Friday. I'll be gone tomorrow through Saturday."
Komodo hangs his head.
"Is it a guy?"
'Moka' nods her head.
"Why is it every time I ask you for something as simple as a meal, you always find some reason to not go?"
He lifts his head, traces of tears forming in his eyes. "I really like you and you aren't even willing to give it a chance. Is it me? Is there something you don't like about me?"
If Akasha hadn't been a shinobi, she might have felt sorry for him. However, her character is not. "I'm sorry Komodo-kun. I'm do have free time, but whenever you ask I already have something planned or I have to work."
He grips her arms. "Then suggest a time. I don't care when. I'll make it happen."
'Moka' looks down. Komodo gets the message.
"So it is me. What is it that makes me undesirable? It isn't fair how I try and try and forsaken all others just for the possibility of dating you. Do you know how much I sacrificed?"
Now things went from annoying to very bad. He is getting angry and angry people do stupid things. His first mistake.
"I mean, how can you just stand there and not feel anything? I…you…you owe me. I have given up too much to not come away with anything!"
He pushes 'Moka' back into her apartment and closes the door. His second mistake.
He then grabs a handful of her long, silky hair and brings it to his nose and gives a very creepy, long breath in. His other hand however, crawls up her stomach and it finds a place over her right breast. His third and last mistake.
Before Akasha can act though, he drops her hair and looks into her eyes. But they weren't the frightened eyes of a woman about to get raped. They were the cold eyes of a killer. Not only that but they weren't her normal purple eyes either. They were emerald green…and slitted. It scares the shit out of him.
Akasha's hand flashes out and grabs him by the neck and halls him off his feet. A quick pulse of chakra, and a blue hue takes over the room for a second.
"You dare touch me? To feel entitled? You sacrificed too much? Know your place!"
She lifts him into the air before kicking him square in the balls with a yoki enhanced kick, making every guy within a ten mile radius cringe and grab their own due to a preservation instinct.
Komodo passes out from the pain a few seconds after the kick connected. Not surprising. Only Naruto can withstand an attack like that and not pass out but only if he is in Sage Mode. She sets him down on the couch and takes his head between her hands.
She then rips his head to the side, breaking his neck with a sickening crack. After killing him, she takes out a sealing scroll and seals the body for later use and creates a clone and henges it into Komodo before the clone walks out the door and to his house where he dispels into the sink as a bunch of dirt just on the floor would be suspicious.
To preoccupy her time, she packs for traveling the next day. Luckily she already has the next few days off so she won't have to make up an excuse to her employer that could be tracked down. Of course the most boring part would be the walking. Well, she could put up a Genjutsu and have a clone walk, but that may not be a good idea. There is no telling what can happen to the clone.
Eventually she is packed for a five day trip just in case something happens. She puts her things in a scroll then puts it on the storage seal on the bottom of her food. All of Team Eleven got tattoos of storage seals on their feet because it is the one place people don't look when searching you and it can be hidden with socks or pantyhose.
Hers is different though. Her skin kept rejecting the ink so Naruto drew up the symbol on a piece of paper and used Fūinjutsu to transfer the seal from the paper to her foot. He used some kind of Uzumaki Fūinjutsu that she has no idea how it works but it tickled and she had trouble keeping still for him, especially when he tried using a brush with ink. It was weird having him around her bare foot, him touching it, trying different things.
He was very tender and careful. And it was entirely embarrassing for her to just sit there while he basically worshiped her foot by examining it, cleaning it, all the while giving her a minor foot massage, and almost kissing it once. But luckily before things could get awkward, Anko appeared and made the tension go away by force.
She sighs and crawls into her bed after activating the security seals around her bed room. Seriously. When Naruto came over and set the place up, he placed like five high level seals. One is a perimeter seal that checks to see if someone entered or not. Another is the one that make the wall and door one way transparent, another is the high voltage seal if anyone tries to open her window or open the door without the seal being deactivated. Yet another is an escape seal. That is a one use seal that will self destruct her apartment in a huge, I mean HUGE explosion. Naruto said something about it would be equal to a thousand Uzumaki explosive tags and those are four times more potent that the standard ones.
The last one is really something special. Is an SOS beacon. It was also placed on her foot, not the one with the storage seal, so it would be undetectable. It connects to a seal that makes your location blink red on a map that is drawn on top of the seal. She has no idea how it works but is damn glad that if needed, someone can find her and extract her.
'Uggg! I need to stop thinking before I go to bed. I won't be able to sleep if my mind keeps going a hundred meters per second.'
Time Skip – 2 days
'Moka' strides into a town ten miles from the town she is living in around 7pm on Friday. She has an infectious smile planted on her face, making people around her smile and gasp at her beauty. I is quite a comical sight to anyone paying attention to men three times her age confess their love for her or just straight out proposition her. She ignores them all while cataloging the ones who propositioned her in case they try anything.
She walks down the main street of this surprisingly clean and pleasant to look at village. It would maybe be someplace that she would have to consider when she leaves Konoha, whenever that may be.
"Hey, Moka-chan! Over here!"
Akasha looks around for the source of her name. She spots a red head with hair long enough to reach his lower back waving towards her in an outdoor café. She excitedly waves back and rushes over literally jumps into a hug with the red head.
"Hi Moka-chan. I missed you too."
The red head is about two inches taller than her and well muscled with expressive silver eyes. He puts 'Moka' down and pulls out a seat for her, in which she gratefully sits.
"Wow Moka-chan, you didn't have to dress up," he says.
She is wearing a stunning summer dress with thin straps that goes just below mid thigh. She finishes the look with a wicker hat and walking sandals.
"Hey Moka-chan! Thebi-san!"
Both look around to see another male with very short light blue hair like 'Moka' with green eyes. He also is taller than her and taller than Thebi. She launches herself into the arms of the other male, rubbing her face into his steel-like chest.
"Onii-chan! I missed you!" she says with enthusiasm.
Reishu looks to his 'sister' and smiles and returns the hug.
"How have you been imōto?" he asks.
"I've been good. How's To-san?"
"He is back in Kusa working the shop trying to keep peace between everyone else. You know you were the peace keepers for all of us, right?"
'Moka' nods her head into his chest again.
"Are you two going to be all lovey-dovey all day? Or are you going to make the third wheel?" 'Thebi' asks irritatedly.
'Moka' immediately blushes and jumps out of her 'brother's' grasp, eliciting a chuckle.
All three sit at the table and order things to eat. They chat amicably between the three of them when a voice interrupts them.
"Moka-chan? Is that you?"
All three turn to see one of the guys she ran into in the alleyway.
"Ah Teke-kun! What brings you out here?"
A blush. "Well, I had some business in this town. I was also looking for Komodo. Do you know what happened to him? I haven't seen him at all."
'Moka' shakes her head. "Sorry. He came by my place on Wednesday to ask me to eat with him today, but I'm meeting by brother and friend from Kusa!"
She wraps both boys at the table in a large hug, forcing them (unconsciously of course) into her breasts. Reishu doesn't miss the blush on Thebi's face.
"Oh, does someone have a crush on my imōto?" he asks in a teasing voice.
"N…No. I don't know what you're talking about." A glint in his sliver eyes shows. "Besides, it isn't like I would win over you. It seems that you two are quite close."
Reishu just chuckles while Moka blushes again.
"Ah, I see. Well then why did you leave yesterday? I know it isn't any of my business but I got here in just a few hours," Teke questions.
"Well I'm not as strong as Teke-kun. I also went to another town about twenty miles from here to visit another friend. I spent the night at her place and left this morning and just got here."
Teke nods his head. "Well I can see that you need some catching up to do. I'll see you back in town! And please keep an eye out for Komodo."
"I will. Half a safe trip home!" she shouts after him.
"Komodo?" Thebi asks.
Moka shrugs. "It's what people call him. I don't know his real name."
The three finish eating to light conversation.
"Where are you staying for the night?" Reishu asks.
"Well, there are a few hotels in town. I'll stay there."
Thebi buts in. "But all of them are already closed. What are you going to do now?"
Moka's eyes go wide with shock. "Oh no! Now where am I going to stay?"
Reishu chuckles. "You can stay with us. We have a two bed hotel and I don't mind taking the floor." He finds himself glomped buy his 'sister'.
"Oh thank you Onii-chan!"
Thebi look on and coughs, separating the two. "Well it is getting dark and I think the manager wants to close. Let's get going."
They pay their bill and go to a nearby hotel. They walk in the door and lock it. A blue hue takes the room, the blinds get closed and a security seal is activated and the blue haired guy falls to the floor in a fit of laughter.
"Spill it Naruto. What's so funny?" Akasha questions.
"You weaker than that guy? Please. Your pinky has more muscle than that guy's entire body. I almost broke when you said that."
Akasha gives an approving nod as to his reason and chuckles a bit before turning to Sasuke.
"Your acting is so creepy. No Uchiha should act all bubbly like that. Gives me the goose bumps and makes me want to slit my wrists."
That receives a 'HN' and a small glare. "Oh like your one to talk? How about that cheerful, touchy, friendly thing with both of us and not to mention saying that guy's name with the suffix."
Akasha groans. "Uh, don't remind me. You have no idea how hard it is to play a bubbly girl who smiles at everything and anything and flirts with guys to get them to come to a café. At least you guys get to travel. I have to severely restrain myself to not kick someone's balls into oblivion. Seriously! Do you guys have any idea how many times my ass gets slapped or someone 'accidentally' gropes me?"
Naruto slowly gets off the floor. "Don't worry imōto, I'll protect yo…I can't do it!" he almost falls over from laughing again.
"As funny as Naruto's act is, we have a reason here. Kakashi has another target for us, a big one."
Over the past four months, they have been doing small things like sabotage a water plant or sewer system or city defenses or outright stealing Intel. There were always two of them and the other was back in their cover so people don't get suspicious and they would rotate based on whose cover is getting the most suspicion.
"This will require all three of us. Our primary objective is the backup jutsu vault located inside a town a hundred miles from here. The town is heavily guarded and infiltration will be difficult. Our objective is to sneak in, copy all the jutsu and get out without being detected. After that, we blow the place sky high."
"Any secondary?"
"In this city is also a secondary command post. They have all the current troop positions and locations of high value targets. There is another team infiltrating to get the Intel at the same time and destroy it as well. Our secondary objective is to assist them if there is trouble. The Intel have top priority over the jutsu so we will help if needed. If things go bad for the other team, we will do their job and obtain the Intel. That is why we have extra maps and the guard rotations here."
"When do we move?" asks Akasha.
"One weeks. This will give you time to set up arrangements with your cover and get to the rally point. The meeting place is a town called Remale in a hotel named the Golden Horse. The contact will be in the northeast corner of the dinner. Challenge is 'Little girl' response is 'red riding hood'."
Naruto looks confused. "Who thinks of these call signs? Whoever it is sucks at it. And while I'm at it, who names a town Ramale? It is like someone thought for two seconds and wrote down some random letters that looked like they went well together. Does Ramale mean anything in any language?"
Naruto gets a slap over the head. "Don't argue with the Higher Power. You might end up dead by drowning in a puddle."
Sasuke chuckles lightly while Naruto scowls.
"There are worse ways to die. Like death by dildo, death by choking on a piece of dango, death by decapitation by garden shears, death by flame jutsu down your throat, death by garden hoe down the throat," Akasha almost laughs at that. That is the exact same thing she thought of all those years ago about how to kill people.
But instead, she hits him on the arm. "Do not give the Higher Power any ideas! He is watching us…most of the time. He comes and goes and watches people when they have sex and getting intimate and then tells other people about it. A Voyeur if you will."
"Whatever. What is the resistance and natural defenses?"
"The town sits on a hill with no forest around. They have fifty Chūnin shinobi and thirty Jōnin. In addition they have a squad of Anbu there and are guarding the vault themselves. However, there is a secondary entrance through the ventilation shaft and vents from the roof. They have patrols in every area once every two minutes."
Naruto whistles. "Man that's a lot of shinobi outside those walls."
Sasuke nods. "In addition to the patrols, they have guard towers with spot lights ever y fifty meters plus a thirty foot walls with chakra repelling seals and reinforced by earth chakra. Gates are at the cardinal directions and heavy checkpoints. They literally take everything apart and almost make you strip. Getting in will be the hard part. Once we get inside, we will go directly to the vault.
"Akasha, since you are the smallest, you are relegated to entering the vault in which you will set up a chakra barrier to keep our presence undetected. You will then reverse summon me.
"I will then memorize the scrolls with my Sharingan and make copies of all the jutsu with my fire clones. Each one of us will get a copy so the entire mission is resting on one person's shoulder. Akasha will then pack seal up the originals and replace them and place the tags so they don't suspect anything.
"Naruto, you will be outside the city with a reverse summoning seal ready for use should things get nasty or when we complete the mission. You are doing that because you are our Fūinjutsu expert and have the most chakra out of all of us. Just in case something goes wrong for the other team, you will reverse summon me first and find out the status of the other team. If they haven't had any problems, we summon Akasha and get the hell out.
"If they have and need us to finish, then you and Akasha will reverse summon each other at the same time and you and me will be the one to get the Intel in the command center once we return. Once that is done, Akasha will reverse summon us and we get the hell out of town after detonating the tags or we move to assist the other team."
"Naruto, you will make more of your communication seals for us. We shouldn't have to worry about people listening."
Naruto and Akasha both nod at their parts. Naruto would normally argue about his part but knows that reverse summoning is a delicate thing. One mistake and part of you could get sheared off or end up is a dimension that isn't yours. Also, the further you reverse summon someone, the more chakra it takes. The Toads are famous for their reverse summoning as they charge the seal with nature chakra instead of their own and he will be applying the same principles.
He also developed the communication seals a few months before going on the assignment. One takes in sound and the other relays it. It can communicate between linked seals. All one has to do is use chakra to activate the sound input seal and talk and the sound output seal is always active so it. One can turn on and off the sound input seal through the activation of chakra onto the seal. The best part about that is the seal doesn't need to be up against skin, just close to skin for the chakra to activate it. No longer apart than an inch.
Akasha isn't too happy that she is going to have to crawl around in dirty, tight, and cramped spaces, but she is the smallest and not just in height. While she has semi-large breasts, with bindings, her bust is much smaller. She also has smaller shoulders and is all around narrower than her two male teammates.
"Since neither of you have questions, I suggest we turn out the lights and get to bed before people get suspicious."
"Oh, that reminds me."
Akasha pulls out a scroll and tosses it to Sasuke.
"Remember the guy that told me to keep out an eye for his friend? Well he is in there."
Sasuke raises an eyebrow.
"So…what happened?"
Akasha shrugs.
"He tried to force himself on me when my character wouldn't go on a date with him. He pushed my character into the apartment and came in so I had to kill him for that, not just for his audacity."
"So…so that was you? Geese, I was feeling phantom sympathy pains for a half hour! And I was nowhere near your town!"
Naruto and Sasuke unconsciously bow their knees inward and run their genitals. Somehow the act gives Akasha satisfaction to know that she can cause that kind of reaction.
"Alright, I'll take it back to the meeting spot and have someone dispose of it. Let's get to bed."
"Wait. People are going to wonder. We brought an absurdly hot chick back to our room and nothing happens? Not a sound?"
Naruto gets hit over the head. "Hentai. You just want some."
A very defensive and fierce look comes over his face. "No but I'm keeping our cover intact. Remember how buddy-buddy we were at lunch? Oh Sasuke, nice fake blush when Akasha pulled us into her chest."
Sasuke hides another blush. Ever since their first mission, Naruto hasn't let his crush of Akasha die at all. It is only a miracle that Naruto convinced Akasha that not viewing the picture was a matter of national security and the Hokage declared it an S-rank secret. (not really but he said that to keep Akasha from killing Sasuke)
"Whatever. I'm with Akasha. I think you just want some."
Naruto shakes his head. "First off. I never said that we actually have to do that. Just pretend. Second, I would make our cover that much better. I'm not saying we have to, but I think it would be a good idea since Akasha was literally hanging off of us when we got here.
"And it doesn't have to be sex. It can be laughter or storytelling. Just so that people hear something."
"Alright. Let's do the sex thing."
Both Naruto and Sasuke look blankly at her.
"What?"
"Um…I never figured you were the kinda person for a threesome."
Naruto gets hit into a chair. Akasha chose the chair and not the wall because the privacy jutsu stops sounds in the room from getting out, it does nothing to stop sounds created by hitting walls or a floor or ceiling.
"We aren't actually going to have sex. I'll get on the bed and jump on it while making noises. You two contribute and hit the wall. After five minutes or so, we stop and go to bed."
Naruto looks to Sasuke, who looks back before 'Hn'ing and walking to one of the beds and crawling under the covers.
"Well, looks like it's just you and me."
Akasha shoots him a small glare. "Don't get cheeky on me."
Akasha goes into the bathroom and changes into full on long pajama pants and a long sleeved pajama shirt. She then jumps onto the bed and starts to slowly jump up and down. Naruto, who used the time to change into boxers and nothing else stands by the front of the bed and deactivate the privacy jutsu.
Then Akasha moans. It was clearly fake. Naruto rolls his eyes before looking at Akasha. She had increased the speed of her bounces and now her unrestrained breasts are flapping in the air with her jump along with her very long and silky hair.
She lets out another obviously fake moan and Naruto can't stand it anymore.
"Look, stop. As much as I like the sight of you jumping up and down, you need some work. Even I can tell your moans are fake," he says quietly as he jumps on the bed himself. He had stopped her jumping by his words as soon as he said stop.
Akasha's arms are instantly covering her chest. "Hentai. And please Master Gigolo, show me how it's done then."
Naruto half smirks. "I would love to show you but I'm not the one putting on the show. You need real stimulation otherwise everyone will know your faking it. So lay on the bed, I'll turn around and worry about hitting the wall and making the bed creak. I'll do that by having a few clones underneath the bed."
Akasha blushes madly. "That's not funny! Don't say that," she hisses.
Akasha is only met with a serious look. "We can't go back now that people know we are 'getting it on'. It is either do that or people get suspicious."
Naruto gets off the bed and turns to face the other bed, all the while Akasha is warring with herself.
'Am I really going to have to masturbate with not just one but two guys in the room?'
The minutes tick by when her feet are suddenly swept out from underneath her. She us caught in the arms of Naruto who, faster than she can react due to her being distracted, puts her under the covers.
"Well? The people beside us are waiting."
Naruto turns around and has his hand on the wall. "My clones will adjust the rocking of the bed to you so don't disappoint."
"Fine. You had better not turn around."
Akasha slides down her pants and underwear and starts to finger herself. She goes with it and moans again, this time a very believable one. Her cheeks burn red at the small squelching sounds her is making. The clones slowly rock the bed from underneath, matching her. Akasha closes her eyes and concentrates on the pleasure spreading from her nether regions. She picks up the pace, moaning even louder, throwing in a few, "Yes Reishu-sama!" for effect.
By now the bed is rocking heavily and Naruto is knocking on the wall, moaning himself a few times and slapping his leg, imitating smacking 'Moka's' ass. Akasha gives out a scream with Naruto following with a loud groan of his own. The clones stopped shaking the bed and Akasha just pulls up the covers over her head and rolls over, going right to sleep.
But not without a," you owe me" without turning her head.
Naruto sighs and replaces the privacy barrier and checks the security seals before plopping himself down on the couch and is immediately engrossed in his own thoughts. Guilt pours through his body like fire, making sleep impossible.
'Did I do the right thing by making her do that? I wonder if she hates me now. I wouldn't blame her if she did though. I was pretty pushy and in her personal space. How could I do that to my best friend? I'll have to apologize to her tomorrow. Hopefully she won't leave me.'
Next Morning
Naruto lays on the couch, not asleep at all. He had stayed up the entire night, so deep in his thoughts about what he did that he didn't get a wink. Because of this, he is up before the other two. As a piece offering, he makes breakfast for her as Akasha normally wakes before Sasuke.
Akasha wakes to the smell of eggs, bacon, and sausage. A heavenly smell to say the least. She sits up and blushes as she sees that she didn't pull up her pants or underwear. She does so before she clambers out from under the heavy comforter.
Naruto notices that she sits at the counter but doesn't turn to face her.
"Akasha…"
His voice reaches across the space and from the tone, she instantly knows that something is bothering him.
"I…want to apologize for last night. I had no right to do that to you."
He turns and loads her plate with food but the food isn't what she is looking at. His eyes have extremely heavy bags and his skin is slightly sagging. His actual eyes are missing their fierce blue and is kinda a sickly green mixed in.
"What happened to you?"
"I couldn't sleep, not with what I did to you. My mind kept going over and over it again and how I crossed the line. I'll understand if you don't want to be friends anymore."
Naruto turns his back to her in acceptance of his punishment.
Akasha feels her heart go out to him. How can she stay mad at him after that? Is he expecting her to give up their entire relationship as punishment? Does he not know that he is her best friend and one of a select few friends her age?
Naruto feels a light slap on the back of his head and sees Akasha move in front of him.
"It's alright. I can see that you are truly sorry."
"So…you don't mind?" he asks confused.
"Of course I mind! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was? Why don't you go into a room of women and masturbate in front of them and see how it feels!" She calms herself before moving on. "But you were only thinking of the mission and not self gratification or my embarrassment. Besides, I agreed to it. I forgive you…just don't make me do that again."
Naruto looks away, hiding tears in his eyes. He turned his head, but finds soft but firm hands turning it back.
"Whoever said that men shouldn't cry is a dumbass. You can't put up a strong front all the time."
Naruto lets a tear falls and hugs Akasha tightly. She doesn't pull back or flinch. She returns the hug in earnest. Naruto allows a few more tears to leak out before pulling out of the hug, looking right into her eyes.
"Thank you. You have no idea how much our friendship means to me."
Akasha gives him a kind smile. "You should get some sleep now. You look half dead."
Naruto chuckles a little. "Is it really that bad?"
Akasha just nods. Naruto decides not to argue.
"Sure thing mom."
Akasha hits him very lightly. "By the way you owe me a favor."
Naruto grunts in acknowledgement as he falls on the bed Akasha had occupied and was asleep as soon as his eyes saw the inside of his eyelids.
Akasha chuckles at him and eats the breakfast Naruto made her. Once done and the plate rinsed in the sink, she moves to the chair and takes out a blood pack and drains half of it quickly before resealing it lest Naruto wake back up or Sasuke get up for breakfast and see her.
She should have been angry even furious at him for that but the way he looked at her, with eyes accepting that it was wrong. But not just that but also an acceptance that she would end their friendship right there and never talk to him again outside of missions and training. He felt that badly?
She rubs her forehead with her palm. He is a human! Just a human and he has worked his way into her heart somehow. She wouldn't go so far as to say that she loves him but…it wouldn't work out. He will only live for about eighty years, a blink for her.
But if he were immortal or even partially immortal…he…he would be the perfect mate. Kind, caring, thoughtful, humble, protective, strong, and best part of all-loyalty. He wouldn't go behind her back and cheat or stab her in the back. No he would care for her not her status or power or wealth but because he genuinely cares for her. It is so rare to find that in Vampire society.
Akasha forces those thoughts aside. There is no point in thinking about why he is so great when she can't have him.
Besides, he doesn't know about her true identity. If he did, then he would hate her like the rest of the human race.
Grunting in frustration that she can't stop thinking, she unseals a book that Anko got her on advanced poisons to distract herself. But she can't concentrate on the book. Her thoughts keep wandering back to Naruto.
'Damn it it's not fair. Why couldn't he have been born a Vampire? I can't turn him because I don't know what the Shinso blood will do to him since he is a human. Why is life so cruel?'
Akasha actually has to blink back tears but a few escape. Akasha, the mighty Shinso Vampire, has a broken heart over a human.
Time Skip – 3 days
Moka is working the noon shift. The patrons all sitting and talking around her. She has on her usual smile and someone rubs her ass while sitting a try down.
"Sir, please don't do that."
The offending guy gives her an innocent look.
"What? I didn't do anything. My hand has a mind of its own."
She is about to retort when a glare catches her eye. She follows it to a two story building with an overhang…her eyes widen slightly.
"Excuse me, I'll be back."
Moka quickly walks to the back room. That glare from that specific building is her signal to get out now, something is coming and quickly. She goes into the bathroom and changes clothes quickly. She dresses into a battle kimono complete with her armor underneath and a mesh shirt underneath that, and actual combat boots that she got from her Go Bag in her foot storage seal. Next she pulls out a scroll and unseals the body of a woman almost physically identical to herself and forces the maids outfit on her. Next she puts her hair in a messy but tight bun.
She then leaves the bathroom and to the bewilderment of the cooks, maids, and manager at her change of clothes. She ignores them and lifts she sinks in the back. People stare intently at her. That sink weight eight hundred points. It took ten guys to get it in the kitchen and hook it up properly.
Akasha touches a seal that she put on the back wall behind the sink and puts yoki into it. Timer set.
"Sorry, but I quit," Akasha says, not bothering to use her cheerful voice. Then she vanishes from sight. No hand seals, no muttering. She just vanishes.
Not a minute later, the seal on the wall explodes. The blast obliterates the walls on the kitchen and into the dining area in less than a second, thanks to Naruto's special explosive seals. The flames shoot out of the diner into the street, scalding and burning many others in the process. Then the one story building collapses due to the support pillars being either blasted or melted. Those fifty-three bodies, twenty-two injured, and four in critical care would be the final count in officially named 'terrorist' attack.
Akasha is moving at top speeds and gets out of the city. If she was being followed, than they were very good and out of her range. She couldn't risk going back to her apartment so she set off the explosive seal and leveled the building she was in due to the strength of the explosives. Naruto wasn't kidding in the strength of the explosives. She say the explosion from three miles out of town.
Deciding that it would be best to hunker down in the city they were meeting in, she heads right for Ramale. She slows down to a fast walk and forces herself to take it slow. She doesn't need to be rushing right now. That could get her in trouble.
According to her map in her Go Bag, Ramale is eighty miles from her town and would take a normal person six days to reach it. But she isn't normal. If she pushes it, she could reach it tomorrow or maybe today if she took the main roads. But that is too risky. She may be recognized.
Deciding that it would be better to go through the county, well away from roads, would be best. She could move extremely fast since no one would be around and only slow down when nearing a road.
Time Skip – 3 days
She finally pulls into Ramale late in the evening. She is dirty and tired and is in need of a hot bath. Her feet are killing her and she is low on yoki. She was running at full speed, taking the long way around but still managing the distance in a fourth of the time that route would normally take.
She heads right for the Golden Horse and doesn't bother to check in but goes right past the counter to the eating area. She finds the northeastern corner quickly. A man sitting in the shadows with his back to the wall is occupying the table.
Akasha makes for the table and sits. The man eyes her with lust and anger.
"You know, little girls like yourself should be careful out here. People would love to get…acquainted with your body."
"Shut it. I'm used to the attention. My father got me a red riding hood just so people would notice me. So, shall we get down to business?"
The man nods and gets up and Akasha follows, on edge about…something. Whether it is just because the guy is creepy or something about this hotel, she doesn't know.
The man leads her to the third floor and opens the door to the last room. Inside however…is much different than the shady theme of the hotel.
Inside the room is huge. It has a full kitchen and five doors that probably lead to bedrooms and a well furnished living room. She is so wrapped in how luxurious the room is that she barely notices the door close.
"Hey there…Akasha…why the clothes?" Naruto asks her, coming out of one of the rooms.
"My cover got blown somehow. I got the signal to get out while at work and bugged out. The apartment is gone along with the shop that I worked at. Man you weren't kidding about that explosive seal. I saw the explosion from three miles away."
Naruto rubs his head sheepishly but before he can say anything Sasuke exits from the same room.
"Well I guess that means were going back to Konoha after this. How is your medicine supply?"
"Not good. I kept six days worth in my Go Bag but it took three nonstop days to get here."
Sasuke shakes his head. "How dire is it that you get your medicine on time?"
"Not very. It works best when it is consistently in my system but I can go a few days without it in a pinch and this, I would think, counts as a pinch."
"Teide here will message Konoha for more immediately. The operation will take four days, three and a half for observation and the night to commence. Briefing is in ten hours so I suggest you shower and sleep. You room is the one on the far left."
Akasha nods before disappearing into her room and closing the door. A half hour later, she is bathed and dressed in sleep clothes and is passed out on her bed.
Time Skip – 5 days
Akasha and Naruto are in the tree line watching their target city in the early morning, watching the patrols go by. It is the third day of surveillance to get patrol patterns, shift changes, habits of the shinobi, and how attentive they are.
They had arrived here three days ago and started surveillance with Naruto and Akasha as they have the best eyesight of the seven. The other team consists of four shinobi with three Genin like her team
However, Akasha isn't doing too well. It has been three days since she ran out of her blood packs and she is already feeling the very strong thirst. It doesn't help that she can hear Naruto's heartbeat beside her. She has scooted over as par as possible to get away from the rapidly growing thirst, the need to be true to her nature.
'No, I can't give in. I have too much at stake to do something like that.'
But her body isn't cooperating too well. She wills her body to stay put. She brings the binoculars to her face again to survey the surrounding areas.
"Are you ok?"
Akasha looks and to her horror, Naruto is right next to her, nearly touching her.
"You're shaking. What's wrong?"
'No. No! He is too close!' Akasha tries to will her body. To maintain control.
Naruto watches Akasha shake, almost violently. He sees her close her eyes and her body stop its quaking.
"Akasha?"
He reaches out and when he sees her eyes open. He sees her teeth elongate, a glazed look in her eyes.
Faster than he has ever seen, she appears right in front of him, pressing her body against his, and he feels something pierce his neck and drain him of his blood.
He tries to yell out but he finds a hand on his mouth, covering it.
But while Naruto is being a human cocktail, Akasha is in heaven. Never before has she tasted blood this good. All the blood packs are cold and lifeless and the animal blood is outright disgusting. Naruto's however is like liquid fire rushing down her throat.
However, it is that same fire that makes Akasha's brain reboot. She pulls out her fangs sharply and tries to jump away, to hide, to be anywhere but here. Away from Naruto's rejection, away from his soon to be cruel words. She would rather not know exactly what he is going to say and know that it will be more than hurtful. However a hand on her wrist stops her.
"What was that? What just happened?"
It wasn't a demanding voice, but calm and concerned. She is too afraid to look back, so she stands there.
"What was that? I think I deserve an answer."
"Are you sure you want to know? There is no going back."
Naruto is rather confused at her tone, one that she has never used before. It is fear? Sadness? Regret?
"Yes I want to know. Just tell me what is going on."
Akasha rips her wrist out of Naruto's grasp, still facing away from him.
"You really want to know? Something that only three people in this entire world knows? My darkest secret?"
"What is this all about? Just tell me already. Enough with the suspense."
A creepy, dark chuckle emanates from Akasha.
"What would you say if I wasn't human? That I may be from a different race than you?"
"I don't understand! What does that mean? What else is there besides humans?"
Akasha turns around, her face lowered to the ground, her bangs covering her eyes. Then she lifts up her head and Naruto is met with her jade eyes, jade but slitted.
"What else is there besides humans? How about me and my kind. The Vampires. Creatures of the night, natural predators to humans, bloodsuckers. Take your pick!"
"So…what does that mean?"
Akasha huffs. "It means that by definition, I'm your enemy. Haven't you read any manga about Vampires or read any books about them?"
Naruto shakes his head and shrugs. "They never seemed real so I didn't bother to read up on them. Past that they drink blood, I know nothing. It isn't like there is something that people can access around the world to look up any information.
"Please explain how this changes things."
Akasha stares dumfounded. "Uh usually when people find out Vampires exists they run for their lives, scream, or try to kill the Vampire," she says it like it would be the most obvious thing in the world. "I understand if you don't want to be around me anymore. I'm a danger to everyone, especially right now."
Tears well up in her eyes against her will and she spins around to hide them. Once again she tries to jump away, but a pair of strong arms around her stomach stop her.
"Stop! Let me go!" she yells quite loudly. When Akasha had bitten him, he had some henged clones for recon and had them set up a barrier that blocks all sound from the inside and makes everything inside invisible. It could be detected by the patrolling shinobi but there is a less chance of that then Akasha screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Don't you see? I can't stay here. I can't…no, I won't subject myself to that kind of ridicule," Akasha yells again. Naruto has to use his Sage Mode to hang on to her and chakra to plant himself onto the tree. Akasha suddenly stops struggling. "Please…let me go. I don't want to be hurt."
This time, the tears fall, soaking Naruto's sleeve. Akasha heaves in his arms, not bothering to hide them anymore. At a loss, Naruto does the only thing that he can think of. He jumps both of them to the ground, and puts Akasha in his lap while he sits up against a tree.
He wraps an arm around her shoulders and one around her stomach and just sits and lets her cry. Just how long has she been holding in her emotions? Naruto gently rocks her back and forth, all the while whispering, "I'm not going anywhere."
For Akasha, she lets loose the pain of sixteen years of ridicule, of constantly having to watch her back, of her backstabbing parents. And then…when she finally found someone that she actually likes, someone where she can drop her guard, she can't have him. She cries for all she can, a good half hour before her tear ducts run dry and she is left with sniffling.
"Is this why you couldn't tell me about your family and your past?" he asks softly knowing that is a sensitive topic with her.
His only answer is a solemn nod. She doesn't trust her voice.
"I'm not going anywhere. I don't care if you're a Vampire or something other than a human because over the past year, I've really enjoyed your company. I believe that if you truly meant me harm, then you would have done so before now."
Akasha's breath catches in her throat and tears threaten to spill again. He doesn't care. After all this time of thinking he would…but he doesn't. With that little thought…he really does care about her. Her emotions are running raw and she comes to a decision.
She gently pries his hands off of her and she spins around quickly and her lips find his. Damn immortality and damn the species barrier. Naruto is right in front of her and while she may never have someone quite as caring as him, at least he can give her something, en eternal gift. A child, maybe two if he lasts that long.
After a few moments of Naruto being completely shocked that the girl of his dreams is right now kissing him with fervor, he starts to kiss back. The two kiss passionately, letting built up tension between them go. Naruto grips her hips while Akasha's arms snake around his neck.
They kiss until the need for air is greater than their desire to continue their activities. When they separate, they both are sporting heavy blushes.
"Well that was nice," comments Naruto, breaking the heavy silence.
When Akasha looks down, he gently pushes her chin to meet his eyes.
"Are you ashamed of what we just did? Because if you are, there isn't any reason to be. That was a beautiful thing. Nothing about that could be wrong or even something to be embarrassed about." It was so gentle, his words so soft as if she would break.
Akasha has no idea what to say so she just hugs him, to which he returns.
"So tell me about yourself. What is it to be a Vampire?"
"Well…Vampires by nature don't absorb nutrients efficiently through solid food so that is why we must drink blood. It is the richest source of liquid nutrition that comes natural to the human body. Over the centuries, Vampires developed a dependency for blood to where if we don't get some, we go into a withdrawal and we die if we don't get blood."
"So that was what happened. Your medicine is blood?"
Akasha nods. "The Hokage and Anko supply me with human blood from the hospital sometimes while I most of the time I am forced to drink animal blood." She finished the last part with a shudder, one not missed by Naruto.
"I'm guessing you don't like animal blood."
Naruto feels Akasha shake her head, her body still hugging his.
"It is disgusting. The first time I had it, I nearly gagged and threw it up. However I got over it quick enough. The blood packs, while not much better, are tolerable at least. Your blood…I can't even begin to describe how good your blood is. Could I…have more?"
Once again, Naruto is shocked. This is a completely different side of her, the vulnerable side, the not so confident side. Akasha had asked and is being shy about. Never before has she been shy about anything. He can imagine that if she were not hugging him right now that her face would be looking at the ground and poking her index fingers together.
"Sure. Just not too much."
That wasn't the response she was expecting. She doesn't know why, but she keeps expecting him to suddenly say, "Ha, got you!" or "I changed my mind." She doesn't know why does she keeps expecting the worst.
She doesn't have the experience or the objectivity right now to realize that she is still trying to protect herself. If she doesn't get her hopes up, they can't fall and be broken.
With an uncharacteristic blush, she moves forward and gently pierces his neck and slowly feeds. The thick life water flows down her throat, quenching the thirst like never before. She could describe it almost as euphoric.
Remember not to take too much, she retracts her fangs and instinctively licks the wound to close it. She feels Naruto shiver underneath her.
"Delicious," she says out loud, not realizing that she did so.
'He really is the perfect mate. He doesn't even mind when I drink from him. How else can God throw it in my face that he will never live as long as me?'
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. What else about Vampires is there? I want to know more."
Akasha sighs. It is to be expected. Of course he is curious about the species of the girl that he just made out with.
"We vampires are very fast and extremely strong. We…don't have chakra like humans. We have yoki, something far more potent than chakra."
She feels Naruto nod. "So that is why your signature feels weird. I never imagined that it was something completely different. So are they all as fast and strong as you?"
Akasha hesitates. "Well, no. I'm a bit special. But to tell you, I would have to go all the way back when I was just a child. I'll tell you and as much as I want to stay like this, we need to get back to watching the patrols."
Time Skip – 2 hours
Akasha finally finishes her story, everything from how she met her father to how Anko took her under her wing to her suspicions of the Hokage. She didn't leave anything out, she wouldn't. If there was something that is going to make him leave, she would rather it be now than later when she is really attached to him.
Naruto is sitting quietly thinking. He has so many emotions running through him right now he can't decide on which to feel. But the main reoccurring emotions are anger and sympathy.
"I'm…I'm sorry you had to go through that. I mean I had a rough childhood but it can't even hold a candle flame to yours."
Akasha reaches back and strokes his cheek. "Of course it does. I never got physically beaten and I could even do something about it while you had no strength to fight back. I lived the life of luxury while you struggled to get the bare necessities. Let's not compare to see which one had it worse. Suffice it to say we both had fucked up childhoods."
Naruto holds her closer in his lap.
"Could I…take blood from you every now and then? I know I shouldn't rely on you entirely but I would like your blood every now and then."
Naruto lets his head rest on her right shoulder. "Sure. I don't mind. Hell, I would volunteer if you keep pressing your body up against me like that."
Akasha suppresses an urge to elbow him in the ribs. "Don't go getting perverted on me."
Naruto smirks. "Only with you."
Akasha blushes. Let it not be said that Jiraiya isn't a good teacher when it comes to flirting and being sensitive. The one thing that Naruto has that Jiraiya doesn't is a brain in one of his heads.
A calm silence falls between them. Naruto gets the feeling that something is bothering her.
"What's the matter?"
Akasha sighs. "It's just…this is moving a bit too fast for me. You are the epitome of a perfect mate. Your kind, you listen, you're strong, compassionate, intelligent, loyal, endearing. There are too many good qualities to name them all. But even with all of those, I am just sixteen years into a very long life. I know I want to be with you but let's go slow."
"Anything for you my kyu ketsuki (bloodsucker, vampire)."
Time Skip – 36 hours later
Team Eleven is running through the forest at high speeds. They just completed the mission and are running to meet up with their contact to get them out of Kaminari no Kuni. The mission hadn't gone as planned. From the get go, Akasha felt a…void right where command center was.
Their mission had gone without a hitch but the other team wasn't so lucky. They had a Jinchūriki waiting for them. The secondary team had infiltrated the complex and right as they were about to obtain their Intel, the Jinchūriki caught them. During the battle, between the five shinobi, they destroyed 40% of the city.
Then Sasuke and Naruto snuck in and claimed the Intel. As Team Eleven was leaving, the Jinchūriki descended upon them. Apparently the Jinchūriki had eliminated the secondary team and felt their presence.
Flashback
A loud snarl and Team Eleven scatters and a blur impacts right where they had been standing.
The smoke clears and a tall blond haired woman in her late twenties stands ready to strike. Team Eleven readies for combat as they all see the Kumo headband on her forehead. And judging from the chakra rolling off her, this is going to be one hell of a fight.
But judging from the look on her face, it is clear she doesn't want to be doing this.
Without warning, the woman charges Sasuke but Akasha intercepts her with a kodachi, meeting the blonds nodachi. The two struggle for an instant, the blond being much stronger than she looks. But Akasha quickly accesses her yoki and with a burst, throws the woman back, where she dodges a wind jutsu from Naruto.
"Raiton no Yoroi!" (Lightning Armor!)
"Oh so she wants to play that game? Kaze no Yoroi!" (Wind Armor!)
The wind around Naruto's body picks up but that is only evidenced by Naruto's clothing moving to the violent winds.
Both the woman and Naruto dash at each other and trade Taijutsu strikes. The woman's shirt becomes torn and Naruto's hair gets even spikier from the electricity. While the wind armor doesn't boost the reflexes of the user, it literally cuts through everything. It would take a Dojutsu to notice, but within the wind armor are tiny, almost molecular in size, wind blades. These blades tear apart anything that comes into contact with it.
And since wind is superior to electricity, the woman has no chance at winning in Taijutsu. And she seems to realize this as she drops her Lightning Armor, only to have to dodge a fire dragon from Sasuke.
"Don't underestimate me! Raisō: Ikazuchi no Utage!" (Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning!)
She plunges her arms into the ground, shooting off several lightning bolts at each of them. Akasha jumps into the air to dodge, but gets nicked by one. Her spine goes ridged as the electricity arks between her vertebrae.
"Akasha!" Naruto shouts.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine!"
Naruto nods and runs into the fight while Sasuke does mid to long range jutsu, giving Akasha time to set up her own jutsu. After several minutes, Akasha finishes healing and her long list of hand seals.
"Raiton: Rairyū no Tatsumaki!" (Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Tornado!)
A giant dragon made of lightning rises up out of Akasha's body. It reaches forty feet tall and Akasha is straining to keep control of it. The woman's eyes go wide when Naruto and Sasuke clear the area. She finds herself in the direct path of an A-rank jutsu.
The dragon collides and an EMP like explosion erupts from the epicenter. The wave of electricity destroys all electronics, military or otherwise. Any paper that is directly exposed to the wave is instantly ignited from the static charge.
But there, standing in the middle of the epicenter, stands the woman without a mark on her.
"Thanks for pumping me with chakra. Ninpo: Ikazuchi no Kiba!" (Ninja Art: Fangs of Lightning!)
Akasha's jaw drops as that is her signature move. However, this woman's version is different. Instead of making the lightning to into the clouds to call down the lightning, she directs the lightning like a pair of giant whips. In this case, even if it gets near you, the near plasma temperatures would instantly melt anything.
She drags the whips across her, intending to cut them all in half, but Naruto raises a hand, which one, she can't take the time to find out.
"Uzumaki Fūinjutsu: Butai Sesshu Natsuin!" (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Elemental Absorption Seal!)
The woman's eyes go wide as she finds her lightning being absorbed into the palm of this teen. It is a battle of who gives up first. The woman is running low on the lightning that she stored using her bloodline but Naruto is having a hard time concentrating from the extreme heat of the lightning.
Fortunately for Naruto, the woman's supply of lightning runs out first, saving Naruto his hand, which by the way is smoking.
"Sasuke, by us some time!" Akasha yells.
Sasuke only nods, which is weird for him. Little did she know that he had actually copied the Fangs of Lightning the woman just did. Kakashi won't let him copy the jutsu of his teammates, but now he has an A-rank jutsu and that much closer to killing Itachi.
Akasha summons a bubble of water in the air and Naruto immediately sticks his hand in. He sighs as the water cools his burning hand. Akasha makes sure to stay plenty away from it. After a minute, Naruto takes out his hand and Akasha drops the jutsu.
"Thanks," Naruto breathes.
"No thank you. I never thought of using the Fangs of Lightning like that. If that were to have hit us, it would have killed us. So, thanks for saving out lives. We had better get back, Sasuke seems to be getting his ass handed to him."
True to her words, Sasuke is getting hammered by the woman who is back into her Lightning Armor and Sasuke was stupid enough to engage her in Taijutsu.
That's when Akasha appears in front of her and with a yoki enhanced Hebi style, she goes on the offensive. Although the electricity hurt, her regeneration kept the damage to a minimum. The woman curses at the force of Akasha's blows. Each one would be enough to break her arms twice over if it weren't for her natural flexibility and Lightning Armor that absorbs a lot of the power behind the strikes.
Suddenly Naruto appears behind her and slaps a piece of paper to her. The woman grunts as the armor dissipates at the chakra is being drained from her. She slumps to her knees, still grunting as she fights to keep her chakra.
"Don't bother fighting it; it will only be more painful."
But when Naruto thinks that will do it, the woman is engulfed in purple yoki. All three Leaf shinobi back away as the clothes on the woman are burned away in a blue flame. The same blue flame envelops her and the woman starts to grow.
The Leaf shinobi stare intently at the fully transformed Nibi no Bakeneko.
"I didn't know she was a damned Jinchūriki! How the hell are we supposed to beat her now?" asks Naruto.
"If we can do enough damage, she should revert to her normal state or so I've read. I'd rather not leave out chances to the theoretical misgivings of a crazed old man!" Akasha hisses but no further conversation is permitted when a flaming, blue paw strikes the ground, making the earth shake.
The Nibi lets out a roar of fury.
"You hurt my kitten…now suffer the consequences!"
The three scatter when the Nibi shoots enormous fire balls at them, exploding on contact with the ground.
Sasuke activates her communication seals.
"How do we stop this thing?" he asks.
Sasuke dodges one of the two tails and then a swipe from a claw.
"Well, traditionally, people would slap a chakra draining seal on them and they would revert to their human forms. However the first chakra seal didn't work on the Bijū chakra. Anybody else have any ideas?"
"I say we go with the damage one. There are three of us and if we work together with collaboration jutsu and keep out of the way of those flames and claws, we should be fine."
"I said we shouldn't rely on untested data," Akasha says as she sends out a bolt of lightning.
"I know but it the only thing we have to go on. Even if I did make a chakra draining seal on it, the fire would just burn it off before it could do anything and a Five Elements Seal won't work with this much chakra being channeled at once."
Akasha growls as she kicks a paw out from under the Nibi.
"Fine. I'll distract with Taijutsu while the two of you hit it as hard and often as you can."
"But you'll get burned to a crisp! You should pull back too! You have some powerful jutsu as well!"
Akasha is happy over his protectiveness and his concern for her, but now isn't the time for that.
"I'll be fine. My regeneration and healing will take care of the burns in no time. Besides, someone has to keep it off you two."
Without waiting further, she cuts her communication seals and jumps to engage the Nibi. Meanwhile Naruto meets up with Sasuke.
"Burning dragon?"
Sasuke nods his head and they both go through hand seals.
"Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)
"Katon:Gōryūka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!)
The two jutsu combine and rush towards the Nibi. While one would think it wouldn't hurt, Nibi's main chakra element is still lightning as it is based off of the host, not the Bijū itself.
Nibi cries out in pain and Akasha takes advantage but kicking the Nibi in the nose. Nibi is pushed back a couple of feet, but her sense of smell is shot for the time being. Akasha keeps up on her assault while Sasuke and Naruto continually hit it with jutsu and collaboration jutsu.
They keep this up for a full ten minutes before Nibi has had enough. She couldn't understand how someone could be so fast and yet pack suck a powerful kick. Sure more speed equals more momentum which in turn makes a hit hurt more. But there is always a point to where you lose speed to concentrate on power or vice versa. This girl has both in insane amouts.
She jumps a good distance before gathering chakra around its mouth. Akasha feels the massive buildup of chakra.
"Shit! If that thing hits us it will kill even me! Naruto, do you have anything that can combat that?"
"Yeah, but it is still in the experimental stage and I have no guaranties it will work."
"Do it! It may be our only chance."
Naruto starts by summoning six clones. Four go and gather nature chakra while the other two help him create it.
Akasha watches in fascination as Naruto starts with the normal Rasengan and watches it morph. First it goes completely solid white and then expands due to the wind chakra the first clone is adding. She hears the wind pick up and the white Rasengan grows fins. The second clone is responsible for maintaining the shape while the real Naruto, who now has to hold it above his head, maintains the stability of the element.
Suddenly Naruto's other clones dispel and Naruto enters Sage Mode. Naruto winds up to throw it and Akasha realizes what is about to happen.
"Sasuke, dragon fire bullet now!"
Just as Naruto throws the jutsu to the name, "Fūton: Raseshurkian!" Akasha and Sasuke finish their hand signs and with almost sync voices, "Katon: Karyū Endan!" (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!)
The S-rank jutsu flies towards Nibi as she fires the, "Bakeneko Imari!"
The two jutsu meet in the middle and the shurikan seems to shrink and get absorbed by Imari, much to Akasha's disappointment. Such an anti-clim
Suddenly the area is lit up with a large white dome, encasing the Nibi. Akasha and Sasuke direct their dragons and they crash into the white dome. What was a seeming calm, but violent wind turns into a fire storm that has no equal. Temperatures reach into the hundreds maybe even the thousands. The Imari is long forgotten, unable to hold up to the extreme heat.
And just as sudden as the white dome appeared, the first storm disappears. The area is steaming with the ground practically a molten lake. In the center is the nude form of the woman. Not wanting the guys to see, Akasha braves the heat and picks her up and shunshins back and takes out a spare jacket and wraps her up.
Her two teammates walk over and peer at the woman, who abruptly coughs and wretches, her lungs desperately trying to either expel something or let something in. After a few seconds, the woman's breathing normalizes and she opens her dark eyes opening and seeing the Genin team that defeated her.
"Go on. Use me how you like. But please when you're done…please kill me."
To say that the teenagers are shocked is like saying Kakashi likes porn. Naruto is the first to come out to his shock.
"What's your name?"
The woman coughs. "What does it matter? Even with my charge, I'm not going to live long. Please just take your spoils and don't make me suffer." To make her point, she coughs again on purpose.
"No."
Her eyes fly to the blond male. "We aren't going to rape you nor are we going to let you die. So what is your name?"
"Its…Nii. Yugito Nii."
It's the first time someone was interested in her. Suddenly the pressure of all those missions, the stares, the hatred...it becomes too much. Despite her injuries, she latches onto Naruto and puts herself into his chest and weeps. Not one for just leaving a woman to cry alone, Naruto wraps his arms around her if not to keep her from straining herself.
"I don't get it…the council forced me to take the Nibi after it was captured from its home. Ever sense then I've been hated and ridiculed. The council hires me out for seduction missions for themselves. They…they took the baby that was the result of one of those missions!" Her sobs are so hard here that she has to stop talking. "They…they put something in me and…and…" her voice is once again lost by the racking sobs.
Words can't express how revolted all three of them are. Even Sasuke, who is the least caring of the three, is shocked. Even he isn't incapable of feeling sympathy.
"Please just kill me. If…if I go back now I'll just be sent on another mission. I can't have a relationship, I can't have anybody to love…I can't go on."
"Shhhh…it's alright. You don't have to go back there."
The three others including Yugito all freeze in shock.
"Konoha may not be perfect, but you will be able to pursue your own goals…to live without fear of having to be put on a seduction mission. Konoha isn't perfect by far…but it sounds like paradise from where you're coming from."
"Do…do you mean it?"
Naruto flashes her a smile. "Of course I do."
Yugito is overcome by joy and wraps her arms around Naruto's neck, making the jacket covering her fall to the ground. Her crying resumes but these are tears of joy. Naruto is now very aware that two good sized and bare breasts are pushing into him. He does the only thing a human can do. He hugs her back.
Akasha on the side lines feels…something rising from the bottom of her stomach. It is an acidic feeling, like it is burning her from the inside out. The longer she stares at Naruto hugging Yugito, the worse it gets.
Naruto fells the ire literally rolling off her and sends her a wink. That kills the acidic feeling in her stomach quicker than Anko can eat a plate of Dango. Naruto shakes his head at Akasha, a silent message that he will not cheat on her.
Eventually, Yugito falls asleep in Naruto arms.
"Help me turn her over. I have a feeling I'm going to find something."
Akasha moves forward while Sasuke gets up to watch the perimeter. Their fight is sure to have attracted some unwanted attention.
Sure enough, when Naruto and Akasha turn her over, she has an intricate seal on her back. Naruto examines the seal in the light provided by the moon for a few minutes before speaking to Akasha.
"It's a loyalty seal. If at any time the key holder feels like the person with the seal on them has betrayed them, they activate the key and it will kill the person. Hold down her arms. I'm going to cut the seal off from the holder and then remove it. It will hurt, but since she is out I don't know if she will feel if."
Akasha nods and holds down Yugito's slender arms.
"Uzumaki: Masuta Ki Kai!" (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Master Key Release!)
Naruto slams his hand onto the seal on Yugito's back. The seal glows for a few minutes, Naruto's eyes closed the whole time. Eventually the seal dies down and Naruto's eyes open.
"Man that is the toughest loyalty seal I've ever seen. A seal like this has booby traps in case the person tries to get someone to take it off. I had to disable a dozen booby traps in quick succession otherwise the seal would have killed her."
End Flashback
Naruto removed the loyalty seal on her back. Then they had dropped Yugito off at a doctor they could trust and set up a day for her to be picked up before getting to their rendezvous point. But it seems that Kami wasn't yet done with them tonight.
Team Eleven stops in a clearing to catch their breath. Each of them were down to less than 30% of their chakra/yoki reserves. Akasha feels a spike of something she hasn't felt in eight years.
"Watch out!"
A giant boulder lands right where they had been standing. Akasha eyes the dark woods, searching for the source of yoki. Their attention was drawn when a slow clap was heard and a man emerged from the brush.
He was tall and had silver hair and red eyes.
"So…Akasha Shinso. It is a pleasure to meet you after all these years."
Akasha growls. "Isario. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Akasha, is that…"
"Yeah, that is my birth father."
"And what do we have here? A human? Well, I could use a snack."
"You touch him and your dead!" Akasha threatens.
"Oh and you are in a position to dictate that to me? According to our senses, you have 25% of your yoki left after you fought that cat. I must say though I'm impressed. It would have taken three Vampires to take it down."
"I won't ask again. Why are you here?" she growls out.
Sasuke looks to Naruto in confusion. "This is a family feud and it is probably about to get ugly."
Isario steps forward. "What I want is simple. Return to our dimension and I will leave these tiny humans alone."
"I won't go back. I have nothing to return to. Here I have a life and you are not going to take it away."
"But you are assuming that I am giving you a choice. Did you really think I came here on my own?"
Sounds in the bushes indicate more people, highly probable that they are Vampires too, are moving towards them. In a few seconds, they are surrounded by fifty, red eyed Vampires.
"Now come quietly."
The only remark they get is Akasha blurring out of view. Isario finds himself on the wrong end of a yoki enhanced kick. He flies through the air at speeds unheard of. She had not held back.
"Raiton no Yoroi!" (Lightning Armor!)
Raw electricity envelopes Akasha as she uses her Hebi style Taijutsu to its fullest. More than half the Vampires had gone after her, trying to be the one to gain favor in Isario's eyes.
Naruto had been gathering nature chakra while he and Akasha were talking and is in Sage Mode and dealing some serious damage. He has been sparing against Vampires of Akasha's stature. Compared to her, their hits and speed was nothing .
Sasuke is having a much harder time, but with his fully matured Sharingan, he is barely avoiding strike after strike that would end his life. It only takes one.
Twenty Vampires down, mostly by Akasha, and her lightning armor starts to flicker. Her yoki is almost completely used up, not to mention that she is extremely tired. And one lucky hit gets in. One hits Akasha in the chest and sends her into a tree, making her cry out in pain. She clutches the back of her head in pain as the world spins around her.
"Akasha!" both her teammates shout. And that was a distraction neither could afford to have. Sasuke gets a fist upside his head, sending him painfully to the ground while Naruto gets kicked in the back and lands right in front of Isario.
"You see what happens when you defy the Bloodriver house. You cannot escape your fate now. With you, we will begin a new era of the world, one ruled by the Bloodriver house. And it will be all thanks to your blood."
Naruto groans, drawing Isario's attention. Akasha's eyes go wide.
"Leave him be! He has nothing to do with this."
Isario's eyebrow twitches. "You like this human? Maybe even love him? Haha. What a silly notion. Humans are inferior to us in every way. You degrade and lower yourself." A malicious grin crosses his face. "Fitting that you should get to see him die."
Isario picks him up by the throat, hoisting him off the ground. He pulls his hand back to strike. "Remember this…remember that this is the price for disobedience."
Akasha watches in horror as Isario plunges his hand into Naruto's chest. He purposefully missed his heart. Naruto coughs violently, blood filling his lungs as his body tries to cope with the sudden hole in his chest.
"Naruto!"
Akasha is forcefully held down, her yoki mostly spent. She can only watch in terror as Isario tosses Naruto, making him land a few feet from her. Tears spring up and she cries unabashed at the dying man in front of her.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she repeats over and over.
She feels a hand on her foot and she looks to see Naruto smiling at her, blood dribbling out of his mouth. He coughs once more, depositing a large amount of blood on the ground.
"I'm not. Don't blame yourself. This isn't something you could have changed. Live. For. Me."
Naruto breathes his last breath and his hand goes slack. She hears his heart fibrillate for a few seconds before stopping entirely.
The world around Akasha stops. Time itself stops in memoriam.
"Kill the other human. Leave no traces."
Akasha's brain doesn't even register the words. She is still staring at Naruto's corpse, half expecting him to suddenly jump up. But as the minutes pass slowly, Naruto's body continues to lay there.
"No! No! This can't be happening! I haven't gotten my revenge yet! I cannot die ye…"
Sasuke's yells are cut short when his head is separated from his body. The squelching sound made when the hand passed through the neck. Sasuke's head rolls on the ground, making some sort of signal for time to return to normal for Akasha.
"No. This can't be happening. We just got together. We just accepted our feeling for each other…this can't be happening!"
Everyone within a hundred miles look in the direction of her. A visceral, dark aura surrounds her, making the trees get uprooted, dirt flies from the ground. It blots out the sky and the stars. It is thicker than syrup, heavier than iron, hotter than plasma. It bears down on the Vampires, making them tumble and go to one knee under the sheer weight of it. Many throw up or slit their own wrists, trying to end the nightmare that is Akasha's yoki.
Many stare in awe as Akasha's hair goes from its light blue dye to the shade of bubblegum pink. It blows all around her as it comes free from its housing. Her head low, her hair blowing furiously around her with the black yoki pouring out of her is the terrifying image burned into the eyes of those around her. Akasha has just fully awakened her Shinso blood.
She lifts her head, making those around her quiver in fear. Her eyes are slitted but not the normal slit either. It is a cross shaped, making her extremely petrifying. Her fangs are so long that they stick out of her mouth, giving her a feral look.
With no warning, she appears next to a random Vampire and sinks her fangs into his throat and tears it out. She spits out the chunk of flesh before moving onto the next victim except she rips out his face and skull.
Moving on, two Vampires find themselves impaled by a hand that is sticking all the way through their spines, ribs, and lungs. Akasha rips the head off the next one, crushes the throat of one Vampire before curb stomping his head.
Meanwhile Isario watches in mute terror as all thirty of his vampires are completely outmatched in every way. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen! It should have been a simple task to capture her, bring her back to the Bloodriver mansion, restrain her, seal her, and use her as a blood bank and a breeding house!
Abruptly, Akasha stops in the middle of the bloodbath. She is covered in head to foot in blood, her fangs tingling with the blood from her victims. She then turns her eyes to Isario, the source of her anguish.
Isario sees his ex daughter turn her terrifying eyes towards him. He does the only thing he can do. He runs.
He doesn't get two steps before he is caught in an iron grip. He is suddenly staring into her eyes and he shits his pants. Her expression turns to joy as she grabs his right arm and tugs on it. After a few moments of resistance, it tears off.
Isario screams.
He tries to grab is no stump but it only gave Akasha better reach. She too pulls it off with ease one handed. She repeats the same with both his legs.
"This is the price you pay for killing my mate! He was innocent in this and your pride is now going to cost you your life," her voice taking on its full effect.
Before he can bleed out, Akasha uses a C-rank fire jutsu to cauterize the stumps. Isario's screams can be heard from miles away, but Akasha isn't done.
"Now you will get to experience how it feels to be a victim!"
Akasha digs her fangs into his flesh and drains him. She nearly spits it out at how foul it tastes, but manages. She looks right into Isario's eyes as she drains him, glaring all the way. She watches as the spark leaves his eyes.
Only after watching the life leave his eyes, does she take out her fangs and she spits out the last of the blood onto his corpse.
She then calms and the black yoki recedes into her and her eyes go back to looking like a human. She walks over to Naruto's body and places it in her lap.
Only now does she break down and cry. She holds his body to her, taking in his features, memorizing them. His eyes are closed, a serine smile on his face. If it weren't for the blood dripping from his mouth and the fact that his heart is not beating, she could have sworn he was sleeping. Apparently, he wanted her to not be haunted by his death.
"Goodbye Naruto. I'll never forget you."
As a parting gift, Akasha uses her thick yoki and manipulates it into a physical spade and she does what anybody would want. She digs him a grave. While it may be shallow, it is the best she can do in such sort time. She could have used her yoki to dig into the ground and in seconds, have the full six feet.
But no. This is something she wants to, no has to do on her own. Using her own sweat and muscles. She has to say goodbye. Possibly the Gods will take pitty on him and give him the afterlife he deserves, where this world had failed him.
She carefully lowers him into the shallow, three foot grave. His skin is starting to pale and go cold. With one final goodbye, she kisses him gently on the lips before covering him up. She pats down the soil, making it so that if people walk on it, their feet won't sink and disturb him.
After she is finished, she runs. Years ago she had asked Kakashi where it was that he found her. Seeing no reason as to not tell her, he gives up the location. A forest near Takigakure no Sato.
Time Skip – 2 days
In two days, two days, she had traveled from the northern half of Kumo to the forests of Taki, more than two thousand miles. But now another problem presented itself. Just where is the portal?
She vaguely remembers scarring several trees but other than that, she has no idea where it is.
"Kagebunshin no Jutsu!"
Three hundred clones burst into life and instantly move out without her even speaking a word. What? Training with Naruto for so long does have its benefits.
That brings a very painful pang to her chest. She puts her hand up to her heart and squeezes the flesh, trying to make the pain go away. Not two days ago, she buried that man she loved. Yes now she can say it, admit it to herself. It will forever be a regret that she hadn't told him that.
But her time in this world is over. The attack had taught her that much. People were not meant to cross over and live. It upsets the balance of things. Each bring things that neither is ready for.
The pain recedes and she sits up against a tree and tries not to remember that the last time she had done so, she had been in the lap of her lover. A tingle alerts her to a clone dispelling and from the memories, it had found her markings.
Not a minute later, she finds the portal, still with the same knarled, ugly wood she remembers. Just touching the runes, her yoki floods it, activating the portal.
The same sensation of nothingness until she is again deposited back onto the ground. She groans as she sits up.
"Akasha?"
The voice stops her. There is only one person she knows with that voice.
"Lord Shinso," she spits like acid. She stands up, revealing her bloodstained self. There he stands, a dozen of his personal guards around him.
"What happened? I came to the Bloodriver mansion to come and see you and I was told you attacked and killed a maid and ran off."
Anger boils within her. "You care now? After all the letters I sent? And then you tell me that I was replaced! How was I supposed to react?" she finishes her tirade breathing heavily, her eyes turned to crosses again.
"What! I received no letters. And what is this about me replacing you? What about the letters I sent. I was told you tore them up right after reading them and never writing back?"
And then it hits her like a ton of bricks. The man behind it all. Isario. That son of a bitch. If she could bring him back she would do it just to torture him and kill him again.
"Isario"
Shinso's eyes narrow. "When I find him, he will beg me for death."
"Don't bother. He is already dead. I killed him."
Shinso looks to his daughter about to cry. Just what happened to her over these past eight years?
"Come. We shall talk after you have had a bath and a change of clothes."
Akasha only nods before stepping close to him. Shinso watches with vested interest in how she moves, like a cat with coiled muscles, ready to strike out at anything in any direction. That and her eyes are not of the same innocence. Those are the eyes of a killer. One who has seen death, known its intimate embrace, and thrived off of it.
But there is something behind those eyes. Something deeper, something she is trying to keep hidden and pushed back. Whatever it is, it will take years before he is going to gain her trust so she will open up to him. Right now, they are both victims of treachery and one that will not go unpunished.
When she is close enough, he touches her shoulder; just a finger knowing that anymore contact that isn't initiated by her could set her off. A seal array lights up underneath them and they sink into the seal, only to reappear on an identical one inside Shinso Manor.
"Please take your time in getting cleaned up. I eagerly await to hear your tale."
Akasha shakes her head. "I'll talk now. If I go up into a bath, I won't make it down here. But first how did you know where I would be?"
"That is an easy one. When you awoke the rest of my blood within you, you output so much that the portal absorbed the excess yoki and activated itself. From there, your yoki crossed into our world and I know that yoki anywhere and I followed it to its source. I was about to follow it through when you appeared."
"I'm sorry that I didn't find you. I spend years looking for you and it never occurred to me that you would have made it a thousand miles from the Bloodriver mansion to the portal in only two days. I am very sorry musume." Shinso looks genuinely sorry and that makes her feel better in that someone still cared for her.
Akasha nods her acceptance of his apology. "I was looking for a place in which I could start over and I found it…but…I know that the Bloodriver house will answer for what it has done. But…I want to be the one to do it. I must do it for a…friend."
Ah, there it is. What she is hiding. He can only recognize from others, having never experienced it himself. It is unrequited love. No…that is not right. In fact it is just the opposite. Love that had just been realized but cut short before it could ever become something beautiful.
That is what is bothering her so much. Nothing is more tragic than a love that is cut before it can blossom. Now there is doubt as to just how far that love would have gone or what would have become of them.
Shinso swears revenge on those that did this to his daughter, broke her heart just as she had found it. But it is not his to get even. No, that is Akasha's right. Only she can exact justice on those that stole something very precious from her.
"Very well, but only after you have cleaned up and we make sure that you are alright." He knows the answer, but he must ask it anyways. "Will you be returning to the other world?"
Akasha just stares off at the ground before turning away and walking up a set of stairs. "I have nothing to go back to…"
End Chapter 2
Before anybody flames about Naruto's death. I don't want to give away the next chapter, but you will not be disappointed. You have nothing to fear but I can't say what those fears are or it will give away the story. And yes Naruto's death was planned from the beginning.
Here are a few things to think about when reviewing to help remind people:
1. How were the fighting scenes
2. How were the emotional/touching moments
3. Does this story make sense?
4. What did you think about the Raseshurikan + fire canceling out the Imari?
5. Did you like what I did with Akasha's cover name? I literally came up with that the night before I started writing in the scene.
6. How do you feel about Naruto's death?
7. What do you think about Akasha returning to her world?
8. Did you enjoy the fight with the Jinchuriki Yugito? I wasn't going to put the full fight scene in there but I had a feeling that the readers would want it
9. How was the grammar/spelling?
10. Any suggestions about upcoming chapters?
11. How were the humor parts? What stuck out? What was your favorite scene?
