"Quit fucking with me, Uzumaki." She bit out, struggling not to grind her teeth at the boy's insolence, how dare he withhold information from her, head of the Shimazu family, a prestigious clan that dated back for centuries.
Naruto just stared down at her coldly, eyes narrowed in a show of how little this girl intimidated him. Eyes darkening due to the effects and serving to change his whole demeanor into something much less friendly.
'I forget how much of a cunt she is.' Naruto thought.
Sakuya wasn't quite sure what happened, but Naruto suddenly looked a lot less like someone she could just order around. Perhaps it was the way his aura seemed to visibly change, taking on the demeanor of a predator, much more wild and aggressive, a lot like the white wolf they had fought last night.
"We're wasting time here, we should go looking for signs of this opened gate, I can feel that it's on school grounds." Naruto said after a short stare down.
Sakuya just hefted out a sigh, something she had been doing quite often with Naruto around, before letting go of the taller blonde's collar and turning around.
Walking down the hall at a clipped pace, she agreed with his sentiments.
Naruto let his hands slide into his pockets, fingering the kunai and shuriken he had taken with him today, not willing to be caught off guard like the night before.
Eyes still narrowed, a stern yet somewhat indifferent look across his features, Naruto was in full blown Merc-mode. Senses heightened, his breathing steady, chakra racing through his body, the new feeling of lightning chakra surging along with his natural affinity to wind, Naruto followed after Sakuya, his steps measured and completely silent.
Whatever came next, he was ready to face it.
Chapter 2: Red Tori Gates, Shrines, and Tiger Maple
Naruto had calmed down by the time they had finally reached the chem lab, however he would soon find out that letting his guard down hadn't been a good idea.
"Hey, Anko. You know anything about the-" Naruto didn't get to finish his sentence upon opening the door to the room, something barreled into him and tackled him to the ground.
"The hell is she doing here!?" Sakuya asked angrily.
The object of her ire; Tama, who was busy rubbing her face against Naruto's in a show of affection, quickly retorted.
"Because Master's here!" She said just as angrily.
Naruto tried reminding her not to address him as "Master", but she didn't seem to hear; occupied in a glare match with the blond mystic.
"Were right next to Kamakura, we can't exactly let a specter run about." Anko having had her fill of fun finally stepped in and gave explanations in a rare display of maturity. "It's better to keep her here where we can keep an eye on her, rather than the mansion."
"I would of just chained her up." Sakuya huffed in indignation, crossing her arms and sneering slightly.
"No," Naruto replied, holding up the cat girl by the waist seeing as she refused to let go of him. "You would have killed her first chance you had."
Sakuya threw a glare at the boy, Tama blowing raspberries in her direction didn't exactly help her mood.
Luckily, Naruto fulfilled his job as mediator and tried to defuse the situation.
"Tama, don't taunt her." He ordered, setting her down and looking the redhead in the eye. "We'll all be working together as a team so we need to get along."
"And you, Sakuya." Turning towards her and softening his features, Naruto hoped he could get across to her. "Tama will be sticking around indefinitely, you should make an effort to get along."
The two huffed and turned away from one another, Naruto failing to get them to come together, however it did seem that they settled down somewhat.
There was still something Naruto wanted to know before they got down to business; he had noticed it when he was holding Tama earlier.
"Tama?" He asked quietly, getting a cheerful yes in response.
"Why aren't you wearing any panties!" He finally cracked.
"Oh." She said in a cute manner, pulling up the hem of her skirt in response. "They feel too restrictive."
"Please don't flash me," Naruto shook his head in exasperation. "You remind me far too much of those older women who couldn't hold their sake back home."
"Mitarashi sensei, why didn't you do anything about this?" Sakuya asked the purple haired woman sitting at the desk in front of them.
"Don't bother." Naruto said as he pulled Tama closer to him, and away from his older sister figure. "Anko doesn't wear panties either."
"And just how do you know!"
"Ah, Naruto you know me too well."
"AHHHHH!"
The atmosphere in the room shifted once the screams had sounded off, and an eerie hush had fell over them.
Anko's expression fell into one of seriousness as she vaulted over the desk and crossed the space between it and the door in one smooth motion.
Tama was shocked and looked to Naruto for answers, unable to discern anything with the stern expression on his face. It looked a lot like the expression he wore last night while facing off with the Lightning Beast.
Sakuya rushed after Anko, with Naruto grabbing Tama and bringing up the rear.
The team of four quickly flew down the hall, Naruto actually flickering away once the origin of the screams, the girls locker room, came into view.
Naruto could clearly smell the arousal rolling off the two girls writhing along the floor, he didn't need to hear their loud moans to know.
"My leg… my leg's been chewed down to the bone~"
He didn't need to hear that either.
"What the hell is she going on about?" Sakuya asked in horror.
"It's an illusion, their having their life force taken while being shown an illusion of being eaten." Anko answered.
"That's some strange fetish." Naruto said off to the side, Anko trying to keep the serious face, but ultimately cracking a grin at the absurdity.
"Eww, a rat!" The short blonde shrieked in horror, pointing behind them to the body of a girl being dragged into a locker by multiple rats.
Upon being found, the rats rapidly morphed into a tall figure with a mask adorning a long beak for the nose, and a black robe that covered it's form.
"Black death, eh? How fitting." Naruto muttered under his breath.
Tama immediately leapt into the fray, striking at the rat spirit with a wickedly sharp clawed hand. The rat spirit shifted to the side at the very last moment and dodged her initial attack. Following up, the new specter jumped through the window outside, Tama quickly following.
Naruto stood there tracking everything with an observant eye, tracking the movements with a calculated gaze that revealed quite a bit about the enemy in the short farce that had occurred.
"Anko."
"Yeah, yeah I know." She said looking over at him, sighing in displeasure. "I wish I could go fight too, but this nurse job is top priority."
Naruto smiled at her in thanks, before panning his eyes for the little blonde. He spotted her crouched in the corner, fear evident in her features.
'Damn.' He didn't have much time, he would have to resort to some back handedness if he wanted to get her back into the fight.
"Aren't you the next head of the Shimazu Clan, how bleak their future seems with a leader who can't handle something like this." Naruto said, choosing to keep the snarkiness to a minimum.
He needed her pride to kick in, not for her to get pissed at him.
"Let's go, Uzumaki."
Luckily it seemed to do the trick.
"Tama." Naruto called out once the two arrived on the scene.
The foe they encountered wasn't the robed figure from before, this was just a large pack of feral rats. It seemed Tama had been taking care of them, but it was clear from the slight tremble in her legs, the enemy was taking its toll on her.
"Naruto." She returned, relief in her features and a new fighting drive in her.
"Damn, there's no end to them is there." Sakuya piped up, her apparent unease around the little rodents gone for the time being.
"We just need to get all of them." Was Tama's response.
Unfortunately, before she could make good on it, she collapsed to the ground.
"Shit." Naruto cursed under his breathed, quickly gathering lightning into his right hand, Naruto prepared to fry all the rats in one go.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the rats scattered once they're opponent fell, thus Naruto let the lightning fizzle into inexistence.
Naruto immediately kneeled onto the floor, scooping up Tama's head into his lap and brushing her bangs out of her face.
"She's almost out of life force." Sakuya commented from above.
So that's what this was.
"When's the last time you've sucked out lifeforce?" She asked forcefully.
Tama blearily opened her eyes, showing off a weak yet well meaning smile to Naruto, before she eventually got to answering.
"I don't remember."
"Wait, have you never actually attacked anyone?" Sakuya asked in disbelief, surely the cat girl had, right?
"Cat's don't forget debt's." She replied simply, before passing out.
"Silly," Naruto said fondly, stroking his charges head in what he hoped was comforting. "Dogs are the ones who don't forget debts."
"Specters can't live without sucking someone's life force."
"Hmm." He grunted in acknowledgement.
"I'll just have to give her mine."
"I won't discourage you from it, your combat abilities prove that you have a fair amount of spiritual energy." She began, surprising Naruto with her level headedness, something she only tended to show when in battle. "However what will you do next time. If you don't continuously supply her it'll keep happening, then you'll end up dying."
Naruto seemed to ignore her words, shaking Tama awake and telling her what they were about to do. The cat girl seemed hesitant at first, but she complied once Naruto told her it was an order.
Before their lips met, Naruto said once last thing.
"You underestimate just how much spiritual energy I possess." And wasting no more time, the two met their lips together in a kiss.
Very quickly the kiss became a heated battle of tongues, and Sakuya had to look away in embarrassment.
Once the task was over with, Tama released the blonde boy who had passed out due to this being his first transfer. Tama tilted her head in confusion when she looked at Naruto's facial expression.
He should've been smiling like a goofball, Tama was a specter after all, and specters gave humans the best possible pleasure.
So why was his face scrunched up slightly.
Her thoughts were cut off though when the energy she took from her master started to kick in. It pumped throughout her entire body, and she could feel her heartbeat pulsing faster as it pounded in her ears. A wave of energy crashed into her, and she could feel herself transforming.
Sakuya gasped slightly when she took in the cat girls new appearance. The redhead looked much more mature than before, her hair growing longer, and her facial features having become much sharper.
Just when she was about to ask what happened though, cracks appeared in the ground beneath them until the foundation broke.
Sakuya screamed slightly as she fell, thankfully though, Tama caught both her and Naruto before they reached the floor at the bottom of the large cave beneath them.
Setting the two of them down, Tama faced the main culprit.
"Look after him for a bit will ya." She told her, Sakuya complying, and putting the blonde boys head in her lap and watching the fight about to unfold.
"Alright, I've got you know, ya little vermin." Tama said with a smirk, as she stared down the robed figure before her.
A high pitched squeaking noise was her only response as the two began to clash.
The reason for Naruto facial expression after the kiss became known to him once he blacked out.
He expected to wake up once the fighting was all finished, and to then congratulate his new charge.
What he wasn't expecting was to wake up in his current surroundings.
The slow trickle of water was the only sound there. Naruto stood up and felt grass underneath his bare feet. He wasn't sure where his shoes were, but then again, he wasn't sure about a lot of things going on at the moment.
He seemed to be in a small garden, one that was surrounded on all sides by water with 4 small red wooden bridges leading into 4 different directions. Around him were walkways that connected a large complex. It looked almost like a shrine with the red bridges and guardrails.
Stepping onto the bridge in front of him, Naruto walked straight ahead to the largest building he could see. There was no land beneath him, as far as the eye could see, all he could make out was water, red torii gates and lanterns hanging in the distance being the only reprieve.
Looking at the dark waters below, Naruto looked at the reflection of the moon, or rather moons. Continuing on his way, Naruto observed the polished hardwood floor beneath his feet that reflecting just as well as-
Wait a second!
Whipping his head up, Naruto widened his eyes in shock as he looked at the anomaly above. One was slightly covered by the other, but there most definitely was TWO moons hanging above.
"Beautiful sight isn't it?"
Turning around, Naruto felt the breath in his lungs get stolen from him as he eyed the woman who had just appeared.
There was so much to look at, Naruto stood dumbfounded as his eyes drunk in her entire appearance. God was she fucking beautiful. He didn't even know what to focus on anymore.
Her hair was a deep black, blending into the dark surroundings, yet still reflecting the light from above. Her hair was done up in a traditional eastern asian style, a bun pulling back most of her hair, two crystal hair pins holding it in place, while she allowed the rest to fall behind her ears and trail down her back, her bangs left alone near the sides to fall and frame her face. There was a silky sheen to it, it was clear to the boy just how much she took care of it, her hair alone was something he wouldn't mind staring at for hours on end.
A silk kimono adorned her frame, doing absolutely nothing to hide her figure. Red and black, a pattern like tiger maple formed the front of her dress, tight obsidian black lines contrasting with the dark blood-like red, strongly resembling crimson waters. His eyes were lead to her chest first, large breasts, somewhere between C and D, were pushed up by her navy Blue obi. A slim waist line, leading down into what were some fairly wide hips, more than likely hiding a nice ass that he wouldn't get to see until she turned around.
A strong jawline, but not too sharp to look unfeminine, sat below plump ruby red lips. A smile on her face showing off a row of shiny white teeth. A cute and dainty nose like that of royalty, creamy white skin, and long bold eyelashes were placed around a unique set of eyes.
Deep wine red iris' that lightened up a bit further away from her pupils. Pupils slit like those of a reptile, yet not offsetting in the least paired with the rest of her body.
It took all of 7 seconds for him to respond, having finished staring.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." His voice starting out fairly weak from the shock of such a sight.
She leaned her arms against the railing next to him, leaning over slightly and staring off into the far distance.
For the life of him, he could not take his eyes off this woman. As far as looks went, she was perfect. He could spend hours trying to nitpick, and he wouldn't find a damn thing. Her skin was flawless, a sign of purity with how pale she was, but it wasn't sickly. No imperfections on her skin, no blemishes, and her proportions were all correct. Better than correct, he might add. She was his dream girl incarnate.
No, her looks topped even that. Naruto was sure that he would've fucked up some detail if he tried to make the embodiment of perfect.
The girl in front of him didn't have any of that.
Crimson eyes half lidded in satisfaction held his attention. It was those unique eyes of hers that truly captivated him.
It was at that point that Naruto finally took his eyes off of her, and returned to reality. His mind snapped back to attention and he returned to the present.
Looking down, he noticed how his hand had been reaching to grab her, how his body had been inching closer and closer to her.
Recoiling in shock, Naruto leaned his back against the railing, his arms supporting him. He turned his head away from her, and took a second to gather his composure.
His breathing was laboured and his left hand kept twitching. He needed a second to get his head set straight again.
Just what the hell was wrong with him, why couldn't he think straight. God, he hadn't reacted to a girl like this since he was 12!
Glancing over at her again, Naruto caught her gaze. A small smirk paired with narrow red eyes that looked absolutely malicious marred her face for but a moment, before relaxing into something a bit more peaceful.
Naruto couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly in return.
Now that he could think properly, his mind quickly came to a couple different conclusions.
"I'm guessing you want some answers, follow me." She ordered, turning around and leading the way inside of a sliding screen door.
He was right, she had a great ass.
He just couldn't figure her out.
They talked for hours on end, and throughout the entire discussion he couldn't get a read on her.
She was toying with him, and he didn't appreciate it one bit.
An incredibly cunning, manipulative, and logical woman; perhaps demon was a better word.
She seemed cordial at times, but at most she seemed to find some strange entertainment in goading him. Constantly trying to get a rise out of him, she resorted to petty insults and other tactics.
He probably wasn't helping with that matter though, keeping his face indifferent and refusing to rise to the bait more than likely.
"Look before I go, mind answering a question for me."
Her legs uncrossed and the playful smirk widened. Leaning forward on her throne and crossing her hands together, she narrowed her eyes even further.
"Ask away." Her voice beckoned.
"Why did you do it."
Fortunately for him, she actually got straight to answering rather than her little game of dodge and divert, or acting ditzy and putting him through a wide array of personas, searching for the best one to annoy him like she had the past several hours.
"Ah, you wonder why I did what I did 15 odd years ago." She said in that sultry voice of hers, the kind that should probably be listed as a form of mind control.
Curling up in her seat and tucking her legs behind her, Naruto tried not to get caught up in her mind games but found it difficult.
The way she purposely flaunted her assets, the sexy poses, the facial expressions. All of it was with intent to garner his attention.
He hated it, but he also couldn't help but appreciate the eye candy.
"Hmm," She had closed her eyes almost as in thought, before opening them and smirking in what could pass off as cruel, but on her face appeared sexy. "I don't feel like telling you."
That finally set him off, not even he could stay calm after this fruitless conversation.
Dark blue chakra burst forth and surrounded him in a veil, flickering erratically and casting long shadows across the walls. Piercing her with a glare, Naruto actually snarled at the woman, sounding exactly like a wolf. The room becoming suffocating under the pressure of his intent.
She suddenly stood up and let her own chakra flair out, A disgustingly dark crimson that cast her own unique shadows upon the wall behind her. Nine tails total flowed from her back, shifting in an almost aggressive manner.
Eyes narrowed like his own, she smiled at him, one that only enhanced the crimson slit eyes she possessed.
"You do assume me so."
Anko took a step outside when her phone rang, all too happy to leave the room.
Whatever happened to the kid while they fought the specter must've messed him up quite a bit. He had been in a bad mood since.
Luckily enough Tama was there to comfort the boy, and even though she looked much older and mature, she still resorted to old habits.
Through the sliding glass door, she could see Tama resting her head in the boys lap; Naruto stroking her waist length hair gently.
Enough of that though.
"Hello."
"Anko it's me."
"Oh, Hey Hiruzen." She responded amicably, completely throwing away all protocol when it came to speaking with the chief. "What's up."
A long sigh was heard over the line.
"From what you've told me so far things don't look too good on Naruto's end."
"Yeah, not so much." She answered, her smile falling and relaxing into a more serious expression. "He's doing the best he can under the circumstances, but I don't see him making too much of the situation living under the Shimazu girl. They don't get along well enough for that, not to mention she's not very strong or mature, I don't see him growing too strong underneath her lead."
"Although he has had a bit of success during his fights with the specters." Anko added.
"I heard." He replied gruffly. "Lightning Manipulation that runs more potent than it does within most of our mercenaries with such an affinity, as well as that mysterious True Name power he holds."
"His future looks promising, but only if he can cement himself with someone of a higher position, someone with more resources." Anko said with a little frustration on her end.
She was well aware of his situation, and she did not want to see her little brother die because he was being held back from reaching his own potential.
"I had been thinking on the same lines."
Anko knew that Hiruzen felt just as bad if not worse, after all he had known that boy longest, Naruto was just as much a grandson to him as Konohamaru was.
"I had the intelligence network look more into The Shimazu family," Anko heard him pause, and assumed he had taken a puff of that pipe he held so fondly. "We found a better candidate."
"Oh, really?" She responded, looking back through the glass door and watching the boy who had gotten up and began to prepare dinner.
"Yeah, turns out the little blonde isn't the only one being considered for the seat. Her cousin Suseri is also a candidate, and seems to have the support of the clan itself. She's apparently much stronger I hear."
"Of course, it'll be up to Naruto to decide which path he takes." Hiruzen ended.
"I'm sure he'll make the smart decision."
"As do I, that boy has been taught well." Another pause. "I have made arrangements already, she will show of her own accord soon enough."
"I don't know exactly what she's planning, but she seems to have some interest in the boy. The sheer level of chakra the boy holds caught her attention the most."
"I got it."
"Good, stay safe."
Anko hung up, and entered the house once more.
I'm not too proud of this chapter, but i really needed to get it out there instead of just sitting on my computer. future chapters won't be this bad, promise.
I should also start updating more frequently, something like once a week uploads.