The Ashikabi of Konoha

by ShadowStar91

On the way back to Konoha Naruto's life is flipped upside-down from a chance encounter with a rather well endowed girl. Now he's not just a jinchuriki or a shinobi but an Ashikabi being forced into the Sekirei Plan. With Akatsuki still on the loose and a promise to bring Sasuke home to fulfill, how will the blond handle his newest set of challenges in his life? Discontinued, sorry.

2. Dreams of 108

GrievousHollow: I like how much thought you'e put into your review. Your right in that the villages are after Sekirei, some more than others. However they won't be wanted as breeding factories as the smarter of the Sekirei have explained that their abilities won't be passed on through children, putting a stop to that part at least. However they are still wanted as weapons as they're powerful and completely loyal to whoever wings them. There also will be a few others with multiple partners, some willing and others not so much. As for your suggestions for Ashikabi, you actually correctly guessed a couple to begin with. The rest were taken under consideration save for the ones I already had paired off.

nim istar: Not exactly but pretty close to her canon backstory.

Apedrietor: MBI is similar in that they're a massive company that's also spying on everyone. They still specialize in technology too. But otherwise are also limited by the tech level in the Naruto world. Not too much but enough that there still won't be cars or anything like that.

Authors' Warning: As Sekirei is a series where flashing panties and boobs are as common as night and day, there will be no warning in chapters for any perverted moments or lemons. There's a reason this story is rated M. It will have dark times, it will have adult moments, and in true Sekirei fashion, it will have nudity on a seemingly regular basis. So don't complain about it later as you have been warned.

Dreams of 108 - The Green Girl

"So she's a Sekirei, you're now her Ashikabi, and she's coming back to Konoha with us, no questions asked?" Jiraiya summarized as Naruto and Musubi both nodded their heads. The morning had been rather hectic when Naruto woke up to find that Musubi had at some point in the night unzipped his jacket before snuggling back into him meaning his right arm was firmly between her breasts as her legs were even tangled with his. Not only that but her head was resting on his shoulder right next to his face. It had taken all the boy's willpower not scream in surprise as well as not pass out from a nosebleed as Musubi's bare chest both looked and felt great. And then had come the giggling to his left which made Naruto whip his head around to see Jiraiya writing furiously in a notepad and muttering things about gold and gakis. Naruto had scowled and whispered for him to shut up, but that just got the man to giggle more with a slight blush as he could see some of Musubi's rather large chest as it was pressed into Naruto. After gently waking Musubi up and then getting her to zip up the jacket, much to Jiraiya's disappointment, Naruto had gotten around to making a simple breakfast. Then Jiraiya had complimented Naruto on catching such a beauty and asked for the story, his face going from perverted and jolly to serious and business-like over the course of it.

Naruto was honestly worried about Jiraiya's response as the man stared at him to Musubi and back to him in a blank face while Musubi had a smile on as she didn't really notice the tension. Jiraiya let Naruto sweat a bit more before breaking back out into his perverted grin and laughing. "Fine with me! Now tell me gaki, how was the kiss? Huh? And how do those heavenly pillows feel huh?" Naruto gaped at the mans' complete one-eighty while Musubi laughed.

"You're funny mister Ero-Sennin!" Jiraiya's eye twitched as the girl used Naruto's nickname for her while the boy suppress a laugh. Giving the girl a calm smile he tried to introduce himself.

"Thank you dear, but my name isn't Ero-Sennin. That's Naruto's nickname for me. My real name is known far and wide-" He started even going into poses before Naruto cut him off.

"His real name is Jiraiya but since he's just a perverted sage I call him Ero-Sennin. You don't have to worry about him Musubi-chan." The girl just nodded with a serious expression as if she had just learned a great secret as Jiraiya face-faulted.

"Okay Naruto-sama!"

"Gaki!" Jiraiya shouted as he stood back up. "How many times do I have to tell you not to interrupt me when I get my pose on?!" Naruto jus waved him off as Musubi giggled so Jiraiya sighed and dropped it before turning the conversation back to the real matter at hand. "You know, while I may be fine with her, Tsu-hime is going to skin you alive." Naruto paled and Musubi could tell over their bond that he was filled with terror at the thought of this 'Tsu-hime' person.

"Oh no! Baa-chan's gonna kill me!" Jiraiya started laughing as Naruto freaked out and Musubi tried to calm her Ashikabi down. Honestly he knew Tsunade wouldn't really kill him. Yell at him and hurt him maybe, but she wouldn't kill him. Rather, she would kill Jiraiya himself for letting her little brother/son figure get caught in the mess in the first place. But Jiraiya also knew that once they explained the situation the Godaime Hokage would accept it without much issue. Well, maybe after a drink or two.

"Calm down gaki, she won't kill you. Besides, she's a medic. It's not like she can't bring you back if she does."

"Not helping Ero-Sennin!" Jiraiya chuckled as Musubi latched onto Naruto and started cheering about how she wouldn't let this 'Baa-chan' person hurt her Ashikabi-sama, Naruto being pressed firmly into her chest as she did. If he was perfectly honest with himself Jiraiya truly didn't have any problem with letting the girl travel with them. She was kind, found him somewhat funny, was obviously head over heals with his apprentice and was exceedingly beautiful. Her chest especially was… Shaking his head to get back on track Jiraiya also thought about why they couldn't leave the girl alone. One was because she and Naruto were now bonded as a Sekirei and Ashikabi, something Naruto didn't really understand and Musubi wasn't doing a good job explaining beyond helping her Ashikabi ascend to the skies above. Whatever that meant, but it was obvious they were connected on more than a physical level and that connection was not about to be broken. Not only that but the girl was naïve. She wasn't stupid by any means as she picked things up rather quickly and was surprisingly insightful from their brief conversation but rather she was just naïve in that she didn't know the ways of the world very well. In fact the Sannin was positive she actually had no idea what sex was and if she did it was only the barest of terms as she had completely missed all the teasing he had given the two over the morning and instead thought they were just regular jokes. Not only that but she didn't seem to care about being naked around the opposite gender or in public. Not because she was as perverted and depraved as the Sannin himself but because she simply didn't know it was considered taboo. A girl that naïve and innocent couldn't be left alone, especially around here. The crooks here would capitalize on that innocence and take advantage of her likely to the point she'd never recover. While Jiraiya was a self-proclaimed super pervert and author of the best-selling Icha Icha series, he did hold women in high regard and would never let anything happen to them.

"Hey Naruto, you know you're gonna have to train much harder now right? Akatsuki isn't going to just go easy on you since you've got a girl with you." Jiraiya pointed out getting Naruto to freeze in Musubi's arms and get a serious expression.

"Yeah, I know. And I can't let them try anything against Musubi-chan either. I've gotta get way stronger." Jiraiya smiled at the blonds' determination while Musubi looked from Naruto to Jiraiya before smiling. She may not understand everything that they were talking about but it didn't matter much to her. So long as she could be with her Ashikabi-sama then everything was alright. She was simple like that.

The three of them were drawn to the door when there was suddenly knocking. Glancing at Naruto and Musubi the two shrugged their shoulders to show they didn't know so Jiraiya sighed but walked to the door himself. "Can I help you?" He asked as he opened the door, only to have a package pushed into his hands by a man who then walked away. "Hey! What's this for?" Jiraiya called out to the man but was ignored so he walked back inside looked it over. Thinking it over Jiraiya just decided to go for it and ripped open the package only to pull out a white kimono top in the style priestesses wear.

"Oh! They brought me my clothes!" Musubi quickly got up and took the clothes from Jiraiya before taking off Naruto's jacket and revealing her bare chested form to both men. Naruto instantly blushed and looked away while Jiraiya was going gaga over how large her chest was. Musubi paid neither of them any mind as she pulled the top on and covered up before checking over herself in the bathroom mirror to make sure she was set. However when she came back she saw Naruto struggling to look at her without blushing and Jiraiya laughing perversely while writing quickly in his notebook. "Is something wrong?" Jiraiya paused for a moment before shrugging and going back to his writing while Naruto coughed into his hand.

"Uh, Musubi-chan, you know we were in the room when you took my jacket off right?" The girl blinked but then nodded so Naruto continued. "It didn't bother you to be showing off your chest in front of us?" He asked and the naïve Sekirei tilted her head to the side.

"No… should it have?" Naruto coughed again as he tried to explain while Jiraiya had stopped writing and was instead listening in to the conversation now to see how Naruto handled it. He wasn't going to let her be taken advantage of for sure, but when they were all alone he wasn't going to stop her from getting naked either. As far as he was concerned Musubi was currently on the 'look but don't touch' list.

"Well, uh… girls don't normally do that around guys." Naruto told her. "They only really get naked around guys when they're really close and stuff and we just met yesterday." Musubi looked even more confused now.

"But you're my Ashikabi-sama so I already am close to you Naruto-sama." Then her face lit up seemingly in realization as she slammed a fist into the palm of her other hand. "Oh, but Musubi's not that close to mister Ero-Sennin so she shouldn't do that around him! Is that what you mean?" She asked as Jiraiya gawked in shock before paling as he realized he was about to get cut off from his free boob viewing.

"Close enough." Naruto relented as he realized he likely wasn't going to get any better than that. Plus, while he may not go around peeping or looking at porn he did appreciate the female form. He was a hot blooded straight male after all. Musubi nodded happily at getting what Naruto meant before remembering something and pulling out a card.

"Oh yeah, this was in my clothes!" Both Naruto and Jiraiya leaned in to see it was a large card with M.B.I. printed on it and some info on the back.

"What is it?" The blond male asked as Jiraiya picked it out of the girls' hand and started looking it over.

"It's an M.B.I. card! Now when we go shopping we can just show this and they'll send the bill to the professor's company!" Musubi explained as Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a price limit or anywhere it can't be used?" He asked while mentally making a note to get his contacts to dig up everything they could on Sekirei, Ashikabi and M.B.I. in general.

"Musubi doesn't think so…" She answered as she placed a hand to her chin in a cute manner. Honestly, everything the girl did was extremely cute or sexy and she didn't even notice. It was almost like she was taunting them but they doubted she even realized what she was doing. "Musubi forgot to grab it when she left the lab."

"Lab?" Both men chorused, their faces even dropping into matching frowns. Musubi though didn't notice and explained a little.

"Uh huh, it was where Musubi grew up! They taught me how to hold back my strength so I don't hurt anyone and lots of other stuff too. All the Sekirei are born there until they're ready to be let out!" Naruto calmed down after the talk mistaking it for a simple boarding school type of place but Jiraiya kept scowling. He didn't miss the 'born there' comment she had slipped. He really needed to get some info on M.B.I. now. They were starting to sound like something Orochimaru would be into.

"Naruto, grab your stuff. You're gonna do a little shopping for Musubi here before we get started on heading back to Konoha. While you two do that I need to see my contacts one more time before we go. I'll meet you at the eastern exit in two hours, alright?" Jiraiya handed the card to the blond as he slipped his jacket on and grabbed a pack filled with his things that was sitting in a corner before nodding.

"Alright, we'll see ya later Ero-Sennin." Naruto could tell from Jiraiya's voice he was serious about the contacts this time so he knew to simply follow orders and go with it. He had a slight idea as to what Jiraiya was going to get info about too since they had just dumped all of his confusing info on him. "Come on Musubi-chan, let's get you some stuff." He said as he took the girls hand with a smile and led her out of the room. Jiraiya sighed before running a hand over his face.

"Honestly brat, how do you get dragged into all of this shit?" He muttered before leaving the room himself. He had work to do.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"So you don't have anything but the clothes you're wearing right now Musubi-chan?" Naruto asked as Musubi was looking through a shelf filled with various woman's' clothes.

"Nope! Musubi was only released a few days ago and then I was chased by that mean girl from yesterday until I met you Naruto-sama." She admitted before holding up a white shirt to her chest to get an idea of how it would look on her. Naruto nodded his head as she then grabbed a few in her size and moved on to another section with other clothes for her to buy. "How much should Musubi get?" She suddenly asked before facing Naruto who was adjusting the straps to his pack. He paused for a moment before shrugging.

"Enough to last a week I guess. Once we get to Konoha and have an actual place to live instead of just hotel rooms or camping out then you can get more. And don't worry about a pack or anything; I'll take care of that." He added before going back to adjusting the straps on his pack so they were a little tighter. Musubi wondered how he would but just nodded and decided to trust him on it. After all he was her Ashikabi; he had to have a plan for that.

Ten minutes later and Musubi was handing the M.B.I. card over to the cashier to purchase a few shirts, skirts and pairs of panties that she had picked out for herself while Naruto stood off to the side patiently. The clothes were all put into bags as they were paid for before getting the card back and heading outside. "Okay Musubi-chan, jus hold the bags for a second so I can seal 'em away." Naruto told her while pulling a blank scroll from his pouch as well as a brush and some ink. Opening the scroll and crouching down to lay it on the ground, Naruto dipped the brush in the ink before writing out a seal formula though Musubi would've called it a bunch of pretty lines since she didn't understand what they were for. Once he finished he gave a grin and waited a minute for the ink to dry before motioning to the Sekirei next to him. "Alright, now lay your bags on the scroll." Confused, Musubi did as he said before he made a couple hand signs and placed his palm on the edge of the seal. "Fuin (Seal)!" He called out as the items vanished in a puff of smoke. Instead the 'pretty lines' as Musubi called them were now all circling the kanji for clothes and Naruto was grinning up to her from his kneeling spot on the ground. "And there we go! Now I can just put the scroll in my pack and we don't have to carry all those bags around." Naruto didn't get to say more as Musubi was suddenly hugging him tightly while squealing in delight.

"That's so cool Naruto-sama! You made all of Musubi's clothes disappear! Is that one of those ninja powers?! What else can you do?!" She asked rapid fire while squeezing Naruto to her chest. The boy was waving his arms around frantically as he was accidentally being suffocated by the girl with super strength.

"M-Musubi! Air!" He managed to gasp out before she noticed his struggling and let him go. The blond fell to his back as he breathed deeply, filling his lungs with the substance Musubi had squeezed out.

"Sorry! Musubi didn't mean to hurt you!" The girl cried out, worried she may have hurt him somehow. Naruto coughed a couple times while waving a hand to let her know it was okay.

"You… you just caught me off guard is all. It's okay Musubi-chan." He told her so she let out a sigh of relief as he picked up the scroll and rolled it back up. He quickly scribbled Musubi's name on it before blowing on the ink to dry it faster and then put the scroll and writing supplies back into his pack. "Now let's go get some lunch before meeting up with Ero-Sennin okay?" He offered as he stood back up, the girl happily nodding and taking his hand as they headed for the nearest restaurant.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

A couple hours later and the three were happily walking down the path from the town towards Konoha. Jiraiya was in front and had told them that it would only take them three or four days to reach the Shinobi village pending nothing interrupted them. Behind him were Naruto and Musubi, the former telling the latter all about his home, his friends, and some of his childish adventures a.k.a. pranks. Musubi meanwhile would laugh when Naruto told her about something she found funny while also making comments on how she'd like to meet his friends or see the places he kept describing with the blond promising that she would. After a while though something was bugging Jiraiya about Sekirei so he decided to ask about it. "Hey Musubi?"

"Yes mister Ero-Sennin?" She responded getting his eye to twitch again, not that she could see, while Naruto snickered into his hand. Great, she just had to pick up the kids name for him didn't she?

"You said something about fighting other Sekirei so does that mean you can fight too?" He asked the girl getting her to smile and pump her fist up.

"Yep! Musubi is a fist-type Sekirei!"

"Fist-type?" Naruto asked, voicing the same question Jiraiya was about to. Musubi meanwhile looked happy to be explaining about a Sekirei's powers.

"A fist-type like me is really strong and fast. We're physically the best of all Sekirei! Then come the weapon-types like that Sekirei yesterday. They're not as strong as fist-types but they all have a weapon of some sort and can do lots of really cool stuff with them! Then there's the simple-type. The professor told me that they all control an element of some kind and are only physically better than regular humans." She explained as Jiraiya nodded his understanding while Naruto looked confused for a moment.

"Wait, control an element? Like what?"

"I don't know. But Musubi heard the professor say some could shoot lightning or make it rain and stuff!"

"Like an elemental ninjutsu gaki." Jiraiya added getting Naruto to nod but Musubi to look confused.

"What's that?" She asked so Jiraiya stopped for a moment before looking around. He then grinned and gestured to the field at the side of the road.

"Well since there's nobody around to accidentally hurt I don't see why we can't show you. Naruto, make a couple clones for targets." The blond shrugged before making a cross with his fingers.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" He called out as three clones appeared in puffs of smoke and ran out to the field while Musubi stared at them with stars in her eyes.

"That's so cool! There's even more Naruto-sama's!" The blond scratched the back of his head sheepishly at the praise for what he considered a simple matter while Jiraiya just chuckled.

"If you liked that then watch this Musubi." He quickly made some hand-signs before raising a hand to his mouth. "Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet)!" He called out as he breathed out a large fireball that flew straight into one clone causing an explosion that destroyed it. As Musubi cheered at the impromptu fireworks and Naruto grimaced at watching himself essentially be blown up, Jiraiya ran through a few more hand-signs before stomping on the ground. "Doton: Yomi Numa (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld)!" Underneath the two remaining clones the ground suddenly changed into a dark muddy liquid as the clones were caught off guard and started sinking. They struggled to stay afloat with the water-walking exercise but failed to do so as the swamp had a special consistency that only Jiraiya knew how to walk on. After a few seconds the clones were submerged entirely and two small bubbles of smoke rose to the surface signifying their demise so Jiraiya cut the chakra to the technique restoring the field to its original condition. "Those Musubi, were just two examples of elemental ninjutsu. I'm guessing you meant something like that with your talk about simple-type Sekirei?" The girl had been staring at the show the entire time with stars in her eyes as she was amazed humans could pull off such acts, even though the professor had told her that ninja were 'super-humans' capable of them. Hearing Jiraiya talk though made her remember what she had said so she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! But the professor said a simple-type can only have one element, just like weapon-types only get one weapon! There's a couple more Sekirei types but Musubi can't remember them, just that they're really rare while fist-types and weapon-types are the most common." Jiraiya nodded before another idea came to him and he grinned.

"Okay. Naruto take off your pack."

"Huh? Why?" The blond asked, even as he did what he was told anyways.

"I'd like you to have a spar with Musubi here."

"Huh?" Both of the younger people chorused so Jiraiya just pointed out to the field.

"You heard me. I'd like to see what Musubi can do first hand plus see how you stack up to someone besides me. Besides, since you two have to fight other Sekirei, it would be best to learn and understand each others limits now when there's no danger rather than hit them at the worst possible time." He explained so Naruto nodded and walked onto the field while Musubi followed and started bouncing in place a few feet away. "Just don't use any weapons or the Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere) Naruto!" The toad sage called out making the blond nod.

"Got it! Ready Musubi-chan?" He asked as she nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm really happy I get to fight you Naruto-sama! Musubi won't hold back!" She cheered before charging forward with a straight punch. Naruto moved to the side to avoid the punch before throwing one out himself at the girls' midsection that connected and made her stumble back. Seeing the opening Naruto jumped up slightly to bring his left leg down in an axe kick that Musubi rolled to the right to dodge before she sprang back to her feet and threw another punch at Naruto, this time catching him in the shoulder. The blond was sent back as he spun slightly with the blow before coming to a stop and wincing while rubbing his now sore shoulder. He then looked back to see Musubi charging him again so he grinned and ran to meet her charge with his own.

'She doesn't seem to have much of a style to fighting really. She just charges in and punches at him.' Jiraiya thought as he watched the Sekirei and his apprentice punch, kick and dodge each other. 'In fact I'd say her fighting style is like Naruto's when I found him in that she just rushes the enemy with whatever she can. Despite that she's pretty fast and strong with some decent reflexes. If she were just taught an actual fighting style though she could be a taijutsu powerhouse on par with Gai.' He thought as he watched Naruto jump to the side to avoid a downward punch of Musubi's that ended up splitting the ground where she hit, making the man's eye's widen. 'And with Tsunade-level strength to boot! We have got to get this girl a real taijutsu teacher back in Konoha. She has tons of potential.'

Meanwhile Naruto was sweating at how she had affected he landscape with a single hit. 'Seriously, she's as strong as Baa-chan! How the hell is she that strong? She doesn't look anywhere near that strong!' He thought before seeing her breasts bouncing slightly with her movements. 'Is it really the boobs or what?' Again he thought drawing connections between the two physical powerhouse women he knew. He pushed the somewhat perverted thoughts from his mind before making a cross with his hands and creating a clone. Musubi looked shocked for a second before remembering he could do that and getting serious again, though she was still grinning showing she was enjoying the fight. After a second both Naruto and his clone grinned as well, he was having fun too.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Alright you two, let's set up camp and get dinner ready." Jiraiya said as night fell and they pulled off to the side of the road. It was hours since the two had sparred and both were slightly scuffed but neither was hurt. After Naruto had brought out his clones he had quickly managed to subdue Musubi, though she hadn't gone down without a fight. After his victory Musubi had praised him for being so strong which Naruto brushed off before telling her that she was a really strong fighter. Jiraiya had offered his input, mostly that Naruto needed to work on his speed more, before telling them that he was going to try and get Musubi a teacher back in Konoha since all she really needed was an actual fighting style and she would be set. She had he strength and speed, she just wasn't using them to their full potential. Naruto agreed since the man knew more than he did and Musubi thanked him for helping her while he just laughed it off with a comment about her being like Tsunade when they were younger.

"Oh yeah, Musubi-chan I've been meaning to ask about this for a while but kept forgetting to." Naruto started as he pulled his pack off and grabbed the scroll that held his tent supplies. The girl faced him with a smile so he continued. "When we kissed and I 'winged' you, I felt something going on with my chakra. Do you know what that was?"

"What?!" Jiraiya shouted as he overheard and spun around to face Naruto. The younger pair faced him, shocked at his reaction before he rounded on Naruto. "You never said anything about something going on with your chakra!"

"I forgot, really!" Naruto defended. "Plus it didn't seem like anything bad and nothings changed since other than that I can feel Musubi-chan in the back of my head! He explained so Jiraiya calmed down slightly while Musubi took the chance to explain.

"Um… the professor said when a Sekirei is winged their energy bonds with and connects to their Ashikabi's so that we can use it for our Norito." Both glanced at her asking for an explanation but she didn't get it so they actually had to ask for her to explain what that was. "Oh! A Norito is a power Sekirei can use after being winged. We just kiss out Ashikabi-sama and recite ours and we get stronger for a little while."

"So you can take some of the brat's chakra to give yourself a power boost just by kissing him and saying something?" Jiraiya asked for clarification, getting the girl to nod. He sighed but then turned back to Naruto. "Okay, I guess its fine for now. We can have Tsu-hime or a Hyuuga check it out closer back in Konoha. I was just worried because of that." Jiraiya admitted, placing an emphasis on 'that' that Naruto instantly knew what he was referring to and nodded. He hadn't thought about it but when Jiraiya brought it up it made him realize how dangerous messing with his chakra might've been. What if he had been using Kyuubi's power? And what would happen now that the bond was formed if he started using it? As a matter of fact, could Kyuubi even do anything through their bond? The fox did have a very close tie on his chakra due to the seal but this was something different.

"What's that?" Musubi asked, wondering what they were talking about. The two glanced at her before Jiraiya shrugged.

"This is your call gaki. Since she's going to be with you and all I'm gonna let you decide if you want to tell her or not. It's your secret to give out." Naruto silently thanked the man for that as he then turned and went back to setting up his tent, only keeping an ear open to hear incase something worrying came up. Musubi glanced at Jiraiya in confusion before turning to Naruto.

"Naruto-sama?" She could feel some slight apprehension from him over their bond about this so she walked closer and grabbed his hand as he just gave her a small smile and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I… I don't think I'm ready to tell you about his Musubi-chan. It's something that's been with me my entire life and it'll probably change everything you see about me. Please, just give me a bit of time okay? I promise I'll tell you soon." The girl was slightly unhappy he wouldn't tell her now but nodded her head. It was obvious even to her naïve self that it was a sore subject for the blond.

"Okay Naruto-sama. Musubi will wait until you're ready." He smiled and gave her a small hug before picking up his tent supplies and getting back to work. Musubi waited a moment before looking around and going off to grab some branches for firewood. She didn't want to just stand around doing nothing after all.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

He was walking through a forest alone; however it wasn't a forest he recognized. The trees looked wild and untamed, entirely different from the forests in and around Konoha which were kept in a certain condition by the Shinobi that lived there. "Musubi-chan? Ero-Sennin?" Naruto called out, wondering where they were. He even tried to feel Musubi through their bond and came up with a blank. "What's going on? Where am I?" He muttered as he walked around. As he walked deeper into the forest the trees grew thicker and closer together, almost as if to keep people out. Eventually he blond genin made it to a clearing and looked around. "Hello?" He called out again, hoping to hear a reply just to hear someone sobbing in return. Naruto quickly spun around with his eyes darting all over before he found the source, a young girl high up in one of the larger trees. Naruto walked over until he was underneath her and placed a hand on the tree as he looked up. "Hey, are you okay up there?" He called up the girl.

"Huh?" She muttered as she seemed startled someone was there. Looking down at the blond he gave a gentle smile.

"Why don't you come down from there? Don't worry, I'll catch you." The girl looked from him and back to the tree for a moment so he spread his arms out and gestured for her to jump down. "I promise, I'll catch you. And I always keep my promises." The girl waited a second longer before wiping her eyes and jumping down towards him. True to his word, Naruto moved and caught the girl out of the air before spinning her slightly to disperse the momentum of her fall. "There, now why don't you tell me your name? I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He introduced himself as he got a good look at the girl in his arms. She had long blond hair that went down her back and bright green eyes. She was wearing a one piece white dress with a bow on the back and wasn't wearing any footwear of any kind. She also seemed to be no older than eleven or twelve years old at the most.

"K-Kusano." She replied timidly so Naruto sat down with her in his lap and gave a smile.

"Well Kusano-chan, how about you tell me why you were crying up in the tree?" The girl seemed saddened by that and wrapped her arms around Naruto as she buried her head into his chest.

"Ku was just being selfish! She just wanted to go outside and then some mean people came and hurt Takami-nee! And Ku ran and then the trees all got bigger and Ku was scared." The girl explained as Naruto started running a hand through the girls' hair and rocking back and forth slightly. A small known fact about his was that he seemed to have a natural skill with children in that he knew just what to do. "Now Ku's all alone and she doesn't know what to do."

"Hey, you're not alone." Naruto told her as she lifted her head to look into his smiling face. "I'm here aren't I? I'll help you out, I promise." Naruto said before using a hand to brush the tears out of the girls' eyes. "So don't cry Ku-chan, I'll keep you safe. Now can you give me a smile?" He asked while lightly tickling her sides getting her to squirm in his lap for a second before giggling a little and smiling. "There we go. Pretty girls need to smile or everyone gets sad." Kusano giggled some more before starting to fade away, worrying both Naruto and the girl immensely and immediately. "Ku-chan? Ku-chan!"

"Help! Help me Onii-chan!" She cried out as she faded away, Naruto staring at the spot she was just in. "Onii-chan!" Her voice echoed out.

"Ku-chan!"

"Ku-chan!" Naruto shouted as he jerked awake into a sitting position, accidentally tossing off Musubi who had been sleeping on his shoulder again. He quickly looked around and saw that he was in his tent and Musubi was rubbing her eyes after the rather shocking wake-up call. The girl was also dressed in just an over-sized white t-shirt that was strained slightly against her breasts and a pair of panties that he could see when she stretched her arms up, accidentally lifting the hem of her shirt and exposing them.

"Mmm Naruto-sama? What's wrong?" She asked as she put her arms back down. Naruto held his head for a minute as he tried to make sense of what just happened, ignoring the Sekirei next to him. 'A dream? No way, I've never had a dream like that before. It was way too real. I could really smell and feel the forest I was in! And the girl, Kusano, she was genuinely scared of something. I didn't make that up! That had to be real!' He thought as Jiraiya's voice called out from outside the tent.

"Yo Naruto! You alright in there? What was that screaming for?" He asked so Naruto sighed and turned to the side to grab his clothes for the day.

"Let's get dressed Musubi-chan, I'll tell you guys about it over breakfast." The girl just nodded before pulling off the t-shirt and exposing her chest as she grabbed her clothes that she had set aside the previous night. It was only a couple minutes later that the three travelers were sitting around the remnants of their campfire eating a small breakfast of sandwiches that Jiraiya made. "All right, I just had the strangest dream ever and the thing is I know I just can't be a regular dream." Jiraiya was silent while thinking that whatever it was may have been Kyuubi influenced while Musubi just listened patiently. "I was walking through a forest on my own looking for you guys when I came to this clearing and there was this little girl. She was crying up in a tree so I got her to come down and I calmed her down some before having her tell me what was wrong. She was crying and scared because she had just been outside with someone when they were attacked by some people. She got scared and ran before saying the trees all grew around her and she got lost and stuck up in a tree. I tried to cheer her up when she started to fade away crying for me to help." Naruto explained. Jiraiya instantly ruled out it being possibly Kyuubi influenced but was having trouble thinking of what it could be when Musubi started bouncing up and down where she sat, holding her hand up as if she was a student in a classroom.

"Oh! Musubi knows! Musubi knows!" Jiraiya chuckled as Naruto just nodded his head for her to explain. "The professor said that sometimes when a Sekirei is looking for their Ashikabi but can't find them, they'll reach out for them in their dreams! I think she's a Sekirei that's reacting to you." Musubi explained as Jiraiya shrugged and Naruto looked a little lost.

"So what am I supposed to do now?" He asked as was still unsure about everything and this Sekirei/Ashikabi business was still new to him. Musubi gave him a scandalized look.

"Isn't it obvious? You've gotta find her!" She shouted getting both men to stare at her. "She's reacting to you! That means you're the one who's supposed to be her Ashikabi! Plus she's in trouble! You need to go help her!" Both men were shocked at the conviction in her voice as they'd never seen Musubi this way before Naruto nodded his head with a serious expression.

"Right. Plus I promised her in the dream I'd help her. I have to." Musubi smiled before both turned to Jiraiya who decided to play the voice of reason.

"Now hold on you two, we don't even know where you would start looking for this little mystery girl. All you said was she was in a forest. Provided where she really is happens to be like where she was in the dream you still only have a forest to go off of. That's at least eighty percent of Hi no Kuni alone, not counting the forests in other lands. You'd have no idea where to search, how are you supposed to find and help her? And this may just be an actual random dream, have you thought of that?" He asked as he pointed out how looking for her would be a bad idea. Musubi scowled at Jiraiya as he shot down their plans to look while also claiming she could've been wrong with what the professor told her. Naruto on the other hand grinned.

"Actually I do know where to look."

"Oh?" The sage asked, genuinely curious as to how Naruto knew.

"She said the trees grew so all we've gotta look for is a forest that's in a spot where there shouldn't be one." Jiraiya's eyes widened as he nodded, actually impressed by his students insight. If the trees really did grow around this girl then it would cause a brand new forest, or cause and existing one to be overgrown, he thought as since most of the country was forest it would be more likely than a brand new one. "So let's hurry to a town and you can go do your spy thing and find out where she is and then we can go rescue her!" Naruto declared as Musubi started smiling at how Naruto was going to go ahead and find the girl that was reacting to him. Jiraiya stayed silent as he finished his breakfast before turning back to his tent and began putting it away.

"Well, you might as well finish eating and clean up your stuff so we can go if that's your plan. But if this isn't in Hi no Kuni then you're gonna have to give it up Naruto. We've got a schedule to keep ya know." Naruto nodded as he stuffed the last of his food into his mouth and went to work putting his tent away, Musubi helping him as she was anxious to start looking for the girl that was reacting to her Ashikabi.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"The Sekirei escaped because you were too wild with your damn religious bullshit."

"Fuck you! You could've grabbed her ya fucking money lover!"

"I could've, but I had to drag you away before you killed our target! Now shut up and come on. She made this forest with her little Mokuton (Wood Release) variation and it reeks of her energy so I can't track her. I'm not letting this payday get away."

"Do you ever fucking think of anything besides money?! You damn heathen, Jashin-sama is gonna send your ass to hell when you fucking die!"

"Even hell runs on money, I'd be just fine. Now I said shut up and come on."

Uh oh, apparently Naruto and the gang aren't the only ones looking for Kusano. Who will find her first and what will happen when they do? Find out next time on Dragonb- oops, wrong series.

Find out next time on Ashikabi of Konoha!

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(…I always wanted to do that joke….)