Ten Thousand Fists

by Evilsheeplordthatsaysmoo

In order to save his loved ones, Naruto calls upon the power of Heroes past, present, and future. Watch as he blazes a new path through the world, and finds the real meaning behind the word "Hero". Naruto/Ben10, Naruto/Harem

4. Fourth Fist: First Finger

Moo

AN:

Hello my lovers, my haters, my sisters, my brothers, my friends, and my enemies.

Most of you have probably been wondering what had happened to this particular story. Well the answer is that I have been working on if for the better part of a year. The result? 111 pages written for one chapter. The original intention for this chapter was to show one day of Naruto's new life and to show his humanity and his struggles, all the while mixing in some fun and a little bit of romance. Now because of this size, my editors have advised me to break it up into many different parts. This is part one of an unknown number.

I honestly wish I could say more in this AN but I honestly cannot think of anything else really. Well, one thing: this sub-chapter contains an exert from Icha Icha. So I tried my hand at a limey lemon. Tell me what you think of my work.

Disclaimer: Besides the 63 some-odd lambs that have been birthed in the past two weeks, I own nothing else.

XxXxX Fourth Fist: First Finger XxXxX

"Another bowl, please!" came the cry of a boisterous blonde as he licked the remainder of his now empty ramen bowl, clean of broth and leftover noodles.

Naruto didn't mind that no one was in the shop at that time, or that the ramen always mystically appeared before him. All that mattered to him was the ramen that appeared, and its need to be eaten. Even though he couldn't hear any noise but him devouring the helpless noodles he did not care. He could not hear the wind in the trees or the people that meandered in the streets; not even his favorite cook and waitress as they bickered back and forth. It seemed as if he was the only one in the entire world, the last in this hellhole called Earth.

It didn't bother him though, as he started eating his seventeenth bowl of God's gift to mortals. After what had happened the past couple of days with Iruka's death, Ayame's slight show of affection, Hinata's worry, team selection, and meeting those four temptress from yesterday, a little bit of 'Me time' was well needed and appreciated. In addition, there was the chaos and disorder, and the words and actions that his Demon turned Angel brought him.

However, that was a thought for another time, a time when ramen was not in front of his empty stomach and his watering lips. All that he needed to do now was enjoy his delicious ramen and bask in the silence of the moment. Enjoying it was something he planned on doing.

In truth, he feared that if he even attempted to process the information on those events from the day prior, he would either ruin his appetite or cause his brain to short circuit. It was just that so much stuff happened yesterday, stuff that was so foreign and alien to the blonde.

A date preposition with a woman that he had, at one point in time, saw as his older sister? How does one, who has never known how to express an emotion such as love or anything greater, dare to hope in successfully completing a date?

A caring woman such as Hinata was worrying over his mental well-being? How was he to process such an act, when he had never witnessed nor felt such an action towards himself?

The four temptresses that crept into his like for no known rhyme or reason, and began to treat him as if they had known him for years on end? The title alone was enough to relay all the uncertainties and lack of knowledge that the blonde had about them.

There was then a shift; a change in the air and his plane of existence. Naruto quickly snapped his head to the left, stray noodles that lay clasped between his lips slapping him in the face harshly. He was supposed to be the only being here! Who would dare rain on his parade? The moment his sparkling blue eyes found the stool next to him, his alarm evaporated and a happiness he did not know washed over his soul like a calm tide. The reason for this calmness was because that in the seat next to him was Iruka, who was daintily slurping a chopstick full of noodles into his mouth, eyes shut in euphoria and a delightful smile gracing his lips.

He wore his standard Chunin wear: forest-green vest, with a deep navy blue full-sleeved shirt and pants. His hair was as he remembered it, poised in its pineapple-like ponytail. His onyx eyes snapped open as he felt the presence of eyes scanning him, and Iruka tilted slightly towards the dumbstruck blonde. With a quick slurrrp,the noodles disappeared into his mouth and a wolfish smirk soon appeared on the face of his beloved teacher.

"What, do I have something on my face?" Iruka asked in a playful tone before examining his face in the metal plating of a nearby napkin holder.

This has to be a dream… that was the only thought that ran through the blonde's head as he continued to gaze at the scarred man, as said man continued to search for the allusive fragment of food that took refuge on his face. However, if it truly was a dream…Naruto wished that it would never end. He gently turned back to his own magical source of ramen and continued to massacre it to the best of his ability.

Iruka looked at Naruto with something in his dark eyes that resembled family love and turned back to his own ramen, letting a silence ensue between the two of them; a comfortable, secure silence. All thoughts that plagued Naruto's mind seconds earlier disintegrated into dust just with the knowledge that Iruka was back in the realm of the living It felt that all was truly right in the world, and the young blonde swore to himself that if there were one way to keep this sense of comfort and fantasy alive forever, he would give up anything in order to keep it, or so he thought.

"Naruto, can I ask you a question?" Iruka's voice brought Naruto out of his wishful thinking as he turned to his surrogate older brother. Iruka's face still had the look of comfort and brotherly love before gently placing his chopsticks on the rim of his finished bowl and stared at Naruto continued to devour his ramen.

With a vigorous nod of Naruto's blonde mop of hair, Iruka sighed and turned to face his younger brother. Iruka continued to gaze into this face of his brother and before long, an unease that the blonde did not quite understand began to graze Naruto's small shoulders. Iruka's eyes, even as Naruto continued to gaze into them, seemed to be loosing their happy light. It actually seemed that his onyx eyes were slowly starting to take on a grayish hue. Why were they doing that? Naruto thought to himself before Iruka opened his mouth.

"Why didn't you save me?"

Naruto faltered. What did Iruka just ask? "Why didn't you save me?" No, that couldn't be right…could it?

Sputtering and laughing, Naruto tried desperately to deflect the absurd question. "What do you mean?" he laughed nervously as he tried avoiding those two ghostly gray eyes and returned to his ramen. "You're fine. There's no need to be saved," The nervous laughter redoubled in force, "you're alive right now, so what is all this about 'being saved.'"

A stone cold hand gripped Naruto's shoulder with such intensity that Naruto feared that the bones composing his shoulder would shatter. Iruka spun Naruto around, coming face to face with the ashen-white face of Iruka. Naruto glanced away from those two gray, dead, eyes only to see that the hand grasping his shoulder like a vice was thin and ghostly white. The skin was like a serpent's hide, slick and glossed, and the bones hidden beneath the dead man's skin protruded out. His fingers reminded the terrified blonde of a spider he once killed during one of his first nights at his original apartment. Little did the blonde know, that the spider he killed, with bone-white hair and long tubular legs, was in fact one of the most feared and dangerous spiders in all of the Elemental countries, used by Shinobi's for specialized assassinations and quick incurable poisons.

"Why didn't you save me?" Iruka's voice rasped out, his yellowing teeth starting to show. Before the terrified boy's eyes, scars began to dig themselves into the once pleasant face of Iruka. Swirls and lines cut their way across Iruka's ashen face, identical to the scars given by that damnable cat man Mizuki. Flakes of flesh and skin peeled off with globs of clotted blood beginning to creep down his face as well as splatter onto the floor below. "Why didn't you save me?!" the crazed man repeated in his rasped tone.

With surprising ease, Iruka's spider-like hands gripped Naruto's neck like a vice. The bones popped and cracked each time the dead man added more pressure to his hold. The scarred man roared in animalistic rage, and before Naruto could understanding what was happening, he found himself pinned to the counter of Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, Iruka's crazed gray eyes burrowing holes into his skull. Extra chopsticks, napkin dispensers, and sauce containers all toppled to the ground as Iruka slammed Naruto's skull against the counter top, causing the wood and steel of the counter to start cracking with each assault.

"Why didn't you save me?!" roared the man in between slamming Naruto's skull against the counter top. As Naruto began to spit blood and spittle, Iruka continued. "You have all that power in that watch of yours and you couldn't even save me! You let me die! My blood is on your hands!" as if to prove his point, blood from his scarred and torn face dropped onto the blonde's face in clumps and globs.

Naruto looked up, horrified at Iruka. No, this wasn't Iruka. Iruka never said these types of cruel words, nor did he act like this. He didn't, right? No, no it couldn't be.

Suddenly the pressure doubled on his bruised neck, cutting off even more airflow to the blonde's already dwindling mind. Iruka continued to roar at Naruto as Naruto slowly began to slip from consciousness and undoubtedly slip into death. That ashen face, those mist-like eyes of the dead, the blood, even as Naruto began to die by the hands of his already dead brother, he knew that he would forever remember and be haunted by those features.

Tears pooled in the corners of Naruto's deep ocean blue eyes as he slipped away; if only there was a way for Iruka to forgive him, then maybe all this madness would cease. If only Iruka would love him again…and not despise him like he did now. As if the dead man could read the thoughts of Naruto's failing mind, the pressure on his neck lessened, and Naruto could soon breathe with ease. Hopeful blue eyes gazed into compassionate onyx for the first time in what felt like forever and Naruto marveled at the kindness that floated within their depths.

"Please…" Naruto choked out, "…forgive me…"

Iruka couldn't help but coo at his younger brother before his hands were caressing his sibling's neck. Iruka's compassionate voice sounded softly into Naruto's thrumming ears, "I forgive you…my dear Naruto-kun…"

Naruto's eyes welled with tears of joy and cheer. His brother was going to forgive his sins and embrace him lovingly. However, just as Naruto reveled in the bliss of acceptance and forgiveness, Iruka's smile gently slipped from his face and his spider-like talons grasped onto Naruto's defenseless neck once again. The glassy glare of Iruka's eyes tore into the helpless eyes of Naruto, and the next couple of words nearly crushed Naruto's soul.

"I'll forgive you… if you die with me, you demon bastard!"

The grip on Naruto's neck grew to a bone-breaking intensity. The yellow teeth of the once proud Iruka flung spittle and decay into the face of Naruto, and the lights of the world began to dim. This was the end, death was nigh as sorrow and fear plagued Naruto's mind and soul. Why was he sad? He clearly had nothing to live for, nothing to strive for. Yes, there was the title of Hokage, but the title held no weight if those that were meant to be protected were not there to protect. Then there truly was no one for him…no one at all to share in his success.

Iruka was speaking understandable words again rather than mindless and animalistic growls and roars. "Answer me, you monster! Answer me when I'm talking to you!"

How could the choking boy suppose to-

"…fox got your tongue…boy?" drawled a lazy voice.

The lights blacked out, or at least to Naruto, it seemed that the lights were doused. In reality, it was the form of a man that was leaning over Iruka's quivering shoulders; nothing of the man was viewable, not the style of his dress, nor the color of his hair, nor the make of his body were visible to Naruto. The only thing that he could see was that one damnable eye…that one onyx-colored eye as it crinkled upwards in sign of an unseen smile.

"…fox got your tongue…boy?"

XxXxX Within Naruto's bedroom; Time unknown XxXxX

A scream akin to the sound of a soul's ultimate suffering shattered the night's calm and placid air. Clouds parted just enough to reveal the waning moon, still smiling like a face smirking on the world where a boy's mind was on the verge of destroying itself in fear and woe. Its eerie pale light illuminated the village, filtering into windows and doors. The scream pierced the air again, causing the curtain of one specific window to flutter and sway, allowing the light to slither between their parted arms.

There, whimpering in his bed, sat one Uzumaki Naruto, legs drawn close to his chest, while his hands gripped his skull with fierce resolve. His fingers dented flesh as his ragged breath brought forth another scream. The images replayed themselves repeatedly within his weak soul. He continued to hear those words; those horrible, violent, ghastly words that should never be spoke nor uttered to anyone; no matter the race, ethnicity, or gender. His eyes crammed themselves shut, as another painful scream tore his body. To him, as he lay curled on his bed, all hurt: his throat, his mind, his heart, and his very soul hurt.

Another wave of horrors paraded in his mind like a sick, demented circus. The several images of his past woes and worries, tormentors, and that horrid dream and its ghouls; why couldn't he escape his past or these terrors? Why must he suffer like this? Why, oh dear God, why?

He felt so alone, and he spoke it to the world. He whimpered out his sadness and screamed out his sorrowful anger to that smirking moon. To him, he was in a never-ending nightmare that he could not escape, as the words of his horrible dream made his ears bleed and the sights of said dream made his brain ache. It was so dark out and so lonely in the Queen-sized bed that was nestled against the wall of his bedroom.

A sudden flash of that dead monster's pale face and decaying teeth caused the blonde to slam his cranium against his drawn up knees while stifling a woeful sob. He clenched his eyes shut painfully again, but the image of those ghostly gray eyes and those yellow gnashing teeth remained. All he wanted was for them, the images and the sounds of those things, to stop. Just stop. Just stop!

"Stop it!" screamed Naruto into the calm night air. He clawed at the air like some wild beast, desperately trying to wage war with the dastardly visions of his mind. "Stop! Stop! Just go away! Go away…please," but the images continued their assault on the young boy's mind. They bombarded him and harassed him until he was nothing more than a whimpering and weeping blob of flesh, curled up on its side.

It continued for a time that Naruto could not measure. All that existed were the images of the dead man, the words of his accusation, and the thoughts of his blood coating his hands. Slowly, oh so slowly, the images started to fade behind an unmarked door of his mind, but the effects were done, leaving Naruto lying there on his side, whimpering incoherent words under his ragged breath. Even that soon subsided into weary thoughts and steady breathing; that is until he chanced a glance out his window and lay eyes on the waning moon.

A moon shaped so much like the eye of that one man…

XxXxX outside Naruto's apartment; Time Unknown XxXxX

She stood before the door in the same purple panties and matching bra. It was a plain door, just like any other on her floor. Well, except for the sounds of terrified screaming coming from the other side of it; that was a slight problem.

She sighed gently and placed her free hand against the cold surface of the wooden door, as if reaching out to the man who was producing the screams. In her other hand, clutched securely to her breast, was a long and shimmering stuffed purple snake with a neon-green underbelly, which her other hand was petting absent-mindedly. She sighed once again as another scream resounded behind the door, shaking its hard surface and sending shivers down her spine.

It seemed that it had started the nightmares of your first kill as well as the memories of your first lost loved one. It was only a matter of time before either two things happened: he either cracked under the pressure of losing said loved one, or overcame and became a stronger person because of it. The only problem in this case was the fact that Naruto achieved both aspects of the Shinobi life in one night. She cringed at the thought of the terrible combination; she was lucky to have her first kill be a whole year before the lost of her first loved one.

Silence ensued behind the door but the silence did not bode well for the young woman as she nuzzled her face against the soft fabric of her stuffed and worn snake; all the while, her eyes never left the surface of the door, nor did her hand. The silence was like the eye of a hurricane, or a large cat hidden amongst the weeds, ready to strike and destroy all in its path when the time came. It was just that, for some reason, she wished for the young man to pull through this, to overcome and to gain strength.

Seconds ticked by with no noise and Anko continued to think about the man behind the door. He was young and innocent (to an extent), yet at the same time, he lived a life that others would run from, and had been treated to an extent that would bring lesser men to their own deaths. He was much like herself, she reminisced as she hugged her snake. He was unfortunate, just like Anko, to have something go against his will, and as such, became a martyr because of it. Yet, somehow he persevered and walked proudly, and-

A scream ten times greater then the one before shook not only the door, but also the entire floor of the apartment complex. She staggered back, frightened and alert. Cautiously, Anko edged towards the door slowly, and wondered idly why no one else had come to check on the young blonde. She knew that the other girls could hear and feel the sorrow permeating from behind the door, but why did they lay curled up in their beds? Why did they not wish to see if the young man was to prevail against the horrors of his mind?

A thought occurred to Anko. She was no better then those girls lying in their beds, listening to the screams of the tortured soul. The only difference was that she was standing before his door, but she wasn't entering in order to comfort him. However, she could not bring herself to open the door and scurry to the adolescent's side to comfort him. The reason was because that some battles, as hideous and as evil as they were, had to be battled by the person himself, and not by an ally, and no matter how badly an opposing force it was, Anko wished she could personally intervene…

The screams redoubled in an instant, causing the worrying and fretting woman to grasp the doorknob instinctively. The spare hand dropped the stuffed animal and tore through the air, thus stopping her from subconsciously tearing down the door of Naruto's apartment off its hinges. This was not her battle nor was it her war. Though part of her wished that, on a day that would come with the passing tide, this battle would become part of her war. Now was not the time, though.

Sighing, she released the damaged doorknob and took a step away from the door, taking deep, cleansing breaths as she went. Anko stooped down, captured her prized toy, and clutched it once again to her breast as the screams quieted down to pathetic whimpers and sobs. Maybe it was time that the boy met the dreadfulness of the world. Maybe it was time that he embraced the life style that he chose. However, maybe he wasn't ready for this reality. Maybe it was easier for him to keep holding onto the dream that most Genin were led to believe instead of the truth.

However, what little of the dream that was left shielding his vision of this Hellish life was going to be brushed aside starting in the morning, she grasped with a small start. If she was not mistaken, his new sensei was the infamous Hatake Kakashi. Whenever she thought of that man, she wanted to spit in his face, or lack thereof. She had extreme respect for him as a Shinobi and had a grudging admiration for him as a comrade, but when it came to Hatake Kakashi as a person, she had the utmost loathing for him. It was just that the hindsight of his upbringing, heritage, tutelage, experience, and other such details that made Hatake Kakashi a very egotistical man and an over-all prick. If this man, a term she used quite lightly, was this boy's sensei, an uncomfortable chill ran up and down her spine.

Hmm, a thought came within her mind quickly. Even though the time for her to enter into his battles was not quite at its dawn, maybe sending in a spy to scout out and to advise the soon-to-be ally was in order. A smile wrenched its way onto her delicate lips, revealing long canines and sparkling teeth. The smirk remained even when she wrapped her stuffed snake around her slim neck like a feathered boa and brought her slim thumb up to her plump and delicious lips in order to prick it with her sharp canine. She gazed at the crimson liquid as it coursed its way down her thumb, palm and wrist for only a brief instance, before her hand and fingers twitched.

A plume of smoke enveloped from her hand for an instance before dissipating to expose a small amount of coils of purple and black-scaled flesh. The coils were similar to the size of a loop of electrical wire with the thickness of a highlighter pen. Suddenly, it began to unravel itself within her outstretched palm, revealing its true length to be that of a foot-and-a-half easily as it draped itself across her palm and corkscrewed its excess length around her arm to ensure that the creature did not fall to the ground. What appeared to be the head of the lithe creature rose to become parallel to Anko's face. Two emerald orbs snapped open to gaze into the chocolate eyes of Mitarashi Anko, and the serpentine head gave a subtle and affirmative nod to its summoner.

Grinning, Anko nodded towards the newly summoned snake. This one being was the only thing that Anko would willingly thank her former sensei for giving her. If her former Sensei did not allow her to sign the Snake Summoning Contract, then she would have never met one of her closest friends and allies. This small snake was more of a familiar then an actual summon; Anko tended to summon the small and friendly creature in events of severe danger, boredom, and loneliness. This snake was, by far, one of the only 'people' that Anko could trust in this type of situation. Kurenai had a new Genin team starting tomorrow, Yugao was on ANBU duty as usual, and Hana was working at her Veterinarian Clinic as she always did. Therefore, it was up to either Anko, who knew if she started to hang around the blonde that people, including the Hokage, her close friends, and Hatake, would become suspicious, but her newly summoned 'spy' could look after the emotional quivering and distraught young man with no one the wiser.

"I want you to look after someone for a while, babe," Anko whispered to the snake summon while using her little nickname for her friend to help persuade the snake to do as asked, even this late of night.

The emerald orbs gazed into the chocolate eyes before gazing at the door of Uzumaki Naruto, then back to Anko with a quirk of a nonexistent eyebrow at the request, as if asking, 'You woke me up for this? Why?'

"Please," Anko whispered to her scaled friend, almost to the point of begging her familiar to help.

The snake's questioning look continued for several more painful seconds to Anko, until she finally sighed and unwrapped herself from Anko's hand and wrist, landing with a soft thump onto the floor. With silent swishes, the small and dark-colored snake slithered towards the wooden door and waited until Anko opened it for her to enter, and enter she did. Once Anko opened the door for her companion, the aforementioned snake snuck in with no more sound than a wisp of smoke.

With a grateful smile, Anko moved to close the door to Naruto's apartment, but before she could secure it, she felt a slight tug on her impromptu boa. Looking down, she saw the dark eyes of a canine companion sitting on its gray-furred haunches and as the waist high dog gazed into her eyes, then at the door and back into her eyes. She looked from the dog to look towards her right in the direction of Hana's apartment. Said woman was standing groggily at her doorway, also in the same attire as Anko, but with a faded pink blanket grasped in her hands instead of the snake plushie.

However, as soon as Anko saw her sleepy figure, Hana moved back into her apartment, but not before sending a meaningful smile and small wink in Anko's direction. Knowing what Hana wanted her to do, Anko opened the door to Naruto's apartment once again, but this time she admitted a four-legged guardian instead of a slithering one.

With a soft click, the door to the, now quiet, apartment closed and Anko made her way back to her own apartment. She did not know if their decision was correct, but she did not care. She just knew that in the incoming days, Naruto would need a couple of people/spies to look out for him, as well as inform their masters as to how the day went for the blonde. For Anko doubted that she would, nor could, get a straight answer out of the blonde, even if anything bad happened. It was just that Naruto's personality was one of 'holding the weight of the world on his shoulders,' and she doubted that he would let anyone else carry his weight.

Humming to herself, Anko proceeded back to her bed, but before the throes of sleep captured her, she sent a small, but heartfelt, prayer to God to look out for the small blonde.

Little did she know that prayer was going to be needed.

XxXxX Morning within Naruto's Apartment XxXxX

Light tore at the outside of Naruto's eyelids like an angered feline. Why did the day have to come so early? The blonde ranted internally before bringing his arm up to shield his eyes from the ravages of the cresting sun. He groaned again as a wisp of the morning's breeze shifted the curtains and allowed more sunlight into his room. It felt like he had just gotten to sleep and now the day was calling him to awaken and start his day. The nightmare last night had taken quite a bit out of him, and still had him shaken up. He just kept on repeating to himself that It was all just a dream. A simple but realistic dream, that's all. He just wished the sun would hide behind a cloud or something for the next few hours, so he could rest some more without dreams or fantasies.

However, deep down, Naruto already knew that his day was not going to be a good one. Why? Well, that would be because of the horrible aura that surrounded his soon-to-be sensei. Oh well, he dealt with people like in the past and he could deal with them again. He just wished that it were later on in the day when he had to deal with such a person and not at eight a.m.…

With a sigh, Naruto attempted to roll onto his side in hopes of capturing just a few more allusive winks of sleep before he was required to fully awake. The only problem was that an extreme weight was located on the center of his chest. With his eyes still shut, Naruto contemplated what could be weighing him down. His two pillows were still behind his head, and his blanket was underneath him since someone threw him onto his bed the night prior, still clothed. He had no other accessories for his new bed, and he was not planning to purchase any in the near future, so what could be weighing him down?

"Yep," drawled a voice from somewhere near by, "that's morning wood if I've ever seen one…though, I don't know if it's supposed to be that big? What do you think?"

"Bark ba. Grr yip yip."

"Hmmm, maybe you're right Nimaru. Though I never thought it would be that big."

"Grr! Ba bark woof grr woof!"

"Really now?"

"Woof woof!"

"Now that is something I didn't know…so how long do you think this thing lasts?"

"Hmm. Bowwow …uh grr---yip."

"That long! Oh my… Well I guess this is what you learn when you: haven't been in the presence of another human other than Anko for long periods of time and are stuck with a male."

"Grr!"

"I'm not saying that all men are sex crazed perverts…just the ones that stuck with, no offence."

"Bowwow…"

Now this was strange. It seemed that two…beings were talking about something called 'morning wood'. Odd, the term was one that Naruto was unfamiliar with and as such, the hidden meaning to the strange choice of words was lost to the blonde. That aside, the true question was who is in my bedroom?

Slowly picking his head up as to not alert his two guests that he was awake and functioning, Naruto peered down his lying frame to the purple and black mass that was located on his stomach. The way the mass was shaped reminded Naruto of a cinnamon roll, or similar types of bread products, coiled in on itself. It was surprisingly heavy for the size that it was, and every now and then again, Naruto could have sworn that it moved, as if readjusting itself for a more comfortable place on his body. The thing on his chest almost looked like some type of animal, a reptile maybe, and one of the voices from earlier was definitely a dog's, if he wasn't mistaken.

Naruto then recalled a lecture in class about Animal Summoning Contracts as well as animal partners and allies. There were several different summoning contracts throughout the world, each nation having their own personal set of summons; of course, this was an unspoken rule amongst the Elemental Countries. Now, if his memory was correct, and his was always a crapshoot, the Snake Summoning Contract was one of the personal summoning contracts to Konoha. In addition, dogs were the Inuzuka clan's allies and partners, just like the Kikai insects were for the Aburame clan. Did that mean that Hana was also here as well?

"Um…hello?"

The bantering between the two voices, the one that was speaking as if it were human and the dog, stopped once Naruto made his consciousness known. That was when the small coil of purple and black whatever-it-was shifted until it was facing Naruto. Two piercing and vivid emerald eyes, similar to the woman he had given up on, stared into his own. Several seconds passed by as Naruto stared into their depths. If he were to be honest, what he saw in their midst was what he wished to see within the young Haruno's eyes. That is, eyes lacking in mindless criticism and malice hidden within them. Instead, these two eyes held a look of curiosity and unbiased-ness.

"So you're awake?" asked the voice that mentioned the 'morning wood.' It was then that Naruto realized that the voice had a female's voice, which meant that a woman was in his room at the time, but the voice did not sound like that of Hana's…

"Oi." There was that voice again, but as Naruto looked away from the emerald eyes on his chest and looked around his new bedroom, he could not seem to find the woman that was speaking.

Sighing at this, the snake spoke, "This is your first time dealing with a ssummon before, isn't it?"

Stopping his search, Naruto slowly shifted his eyes down to those of the, now recognized, snake that lay on his stomach. For his reply, Naruto nodded that it was in fact his first time that he dealt with a summon of any sort. He didn't know why he directed his answer towards the snake, because snakes surely couldn't talk, right?

The snake, even as it continued to gaze at him, slowly began to slither up his torso until it was directly in front of his face. It reared its length in order to be at eye level with the human, allowing Naruto to measure in his mind the length of the small snake to be that of a foot and then some.

"So, I take it that you don't know that most summons can talk, right?"

Naruto eyes became the size of common-sized dinner plates. He had seen the jaw of the snake move in time with the female's voice. That could only mean that the voice/snake was correct in saying that summons could talk. Then that would mean…

"AH! Talking snake!!"

Yep, the one and only Uzumaki Naruto responded as only he could. He jumped straight out of bed, thus sending the snake airborne, and accidentally landed on top of the dog sitting there on his haunches, watching the entire event unroll before it. Luckily, the innocent Snake Summon landed on top of some dirty laundry and was unharmed. Unfortunately, for the dog, the weight of the ramen-addicted Uzumaki was more than enough to reduce him to a broken and twitching pile of pain and pathetic whimpering.

Now, since the little creature, that went flying was in fact a snake and not something like a rat or a toad, she easily sunk into the pile of dirtied clothes like a weighted pipe in water. She soon found herself near the bottom of the waste pile wedged between a pair of boxers and a pair of wriggling socks; wriggling due to the fermenting stench and sweat that had, by now, caused the pair of socks to move on their own.

Ugh, and this was why she was glad that she was not human, but a Snake Summon; she didn't have to deal with clothes. Not to say that she didn't change into her human battle form from time to time like any other type of summon, it was just that she was so use to not wearing any clothing whatsoever that she viewed clothing as cumbersome and somewhat annoying. That could be one of the 'banes' of the Snake Summon Clan and their body, they did not wear jackets like those of the Toad clan, nor did they wear backpacks like the Reptile clan because they did not have arms to wear a jacket/backpack. However, she did understand why her main Summoner wore those types of clothes; it made her look rather ravishing and tempting, like a glistening apple just out of reach. Maybe she should change into her human form more often in order to become more accustomed to clothing…but that was a thought for another time, a time when she did not have a task set before her by her Summoner.

Whishing through the clothes until she felt the cold wooden floor underneath her scales, the petite summon made her way through the disturbingly dirty clothes and slithered her way towards the heap of human and dog parts. It seemed that since the boy, Naruto she believed his name to be, fell on top of Nimaru, a dispute of sorts had broken out between the two; one that was now being settled with thrashing, biting, and incoherent words.

'Boy's…' she thought with a shake of her triangular head.

An attempt to gain their attention by clearing her slender throat was futile as the two continued to thrash and assault each other. A second attempt seemed equally futile and time was short, judging by the height of the sun…as well as the time on the alarm clock that lay strewn on the floor. Therefore, she tried a different tactic in order to gain their attention.

"Boys…" she called out in a moderate tone of voice.

Still, the battle between man and beast waged.

"Boys," she called again, this time adding more force to her tone and volume.

Still, the battle between man and beast waged.

"Boys!" she barked out loudly, still trying to get their attention.

Still the battle between man and beast waged.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP!"

Now, that was both loud enough as well as rude enough to stop the tussle between the males. They both stopped instantly in their battle, Naruto's arm clasped between Nimaru's teeth, and Naruto was currently strangling Nimaru's tail. Some would see this as a rather humorous scene and event…but the Snake Summon saw the scene as one of the utmost immaturity. Luckily, the two males did not hear her giggle; that would just go against what she had just thought.

"Now that I have your attention," she strained her words as she slithered past Nimaru, said dog bowing his head and lowering his ears in shame. Once she reached Naruto, she scaled up his body by coiling up his bent legs, around his torso, and settled herself around his neck like a tie; only she was currently looking into his eyes as she did this.

"I believe it is time for you to get ready for your day today. If I'm not mistaken, your Genin Exam with one Hatake Kakashi as your sensei, right?" a nod was her response from the startled boy. Then again, who wouldn't be, with a talking snake currently looking into your eyes from only three inches away?

"Good. Now then, I think that it is time for you to get ready since it is quarter after seven…"

Blinking several times, Naruto began to process what she just said. He had 45 minutes to get to training ground seven, a training ground he had never been to before, hence its location was unknown. It took him several minutes to shower, mostly due to his rat-nest of a head of hair, and then after that, he would have to spend the remainder of his time hunting for the unknown training ground. So in other words he-

The snake was fortunate enough to have the bed next to Uzumaki, for if she were anywhere else, she would most likely have injuries as she fell from his neck as he bolted upright in alarm. Luckily, she fell onto the bed and watched as the young Naruto retrieved some similar looking clothes from a box that lay near the door of the bedroom seeing as they were the only clothes he was now comfortable wearing. In a flash, he was gone, most likely to the bathroom to shower and such.

Sighing, the young and small Snake Summon glanced towards the scolded Nimaru. His ears were downcast; his tail was nestled between his legs even in his sitting position, and his chocolate brown eyes mirrored the disgrace and sadness towards his pup-like actions with the human. The small Snake Summon cocked her head to the side as she gazed at the dog. She had cooperated many times with the Haimaru triplets and other such Ninja allies, and she just couldn't help but marvel at how they acted more human-like than animal. They argued with their 'handler' Hana, they argued amongst themselves like human brothers, and they even argued with the other girls: Kurenai, Anko, herself, and Yuugao, when it came to poker… yeah, not very animalistic indeed.

"Oh well," the snake sighed to herself in a hiss-like fashion.

Nimaru was already up, even though he was still ashamed by his actions earlier and watched as Naruto made his way rather quickly towards the small bathroom to begin his morning rituals. It was finally good to be in the presence of another male, someone that could listen to him, eventually. Nimaru and his brothers were always stuck with the girls and Hana at the forefront. Rarely would they spend their time with either Akamaru or Kuromaru, but since Akamaru was still a pup, he tended to act and think rather childishly, and Kuromaru was so old that either all he talked about were things related to his past, earlier battles or how pups these days knew no respect or honor. It was like talking to some type of infant or fossil… but Naruto, on the other hand, was just like his brothers and him, an adolescent. In addition, Naruto was a male and could understand Nimaru and his siblings more so than Hana, who sometimes threw a fit because of how they reacted to her tantrums, or when it was that time of the month for humans.

A sudden weight crashed into Nimaru's spine as he was contemplating the man of the house, thus causing him to fall flat onto his stomach, his legs sprawled out about him like that of a squashed spider. Slowly rotating his head while shaking from the pain, Nimaru found the Snake Summon smiling cheekily at him from her position on the center of his spine.

"Mush me to the closest anti-boredom device! Mush, mush!" she squealed from her spot, bouncing up and down on his spine as much as a snake could.

Nimaru glared venomously at the offending snake, "And why should I, Kitenhime?" To most others on the outside, more on the lines of those who were human and not familiar with animal allies, all they would have heard would be a series of 'barks, yips, and growls.'

She pouted in a strange, snake-like way before replying, her lower lip quivering, "Cause you're my friend…and 'sniff' you love me…'sniff'…" the way she spoke, and the volume that she used could have melted any man's heart and cause women's souls to swoon.

Nimaru gazed at the whimpering summon for several more seconds, debating on how he should proceed, before he sighed dejectedly. "Fine, whatever…"

Another squeal echoed from Kitenhime as she danced to her small, but important, victory. She bounced, shimmied, and shook on Nimaru's back like some type of drunken dancer, all the while singing incoherent beats to herself. Nimaru, while making his way out of the bedroom and towards the living room, shook his head at Kitenhime's actions and winced in pain each time she bobbed and weaved on his back.

"Goodness, you weigh a lot…" Nimaru whined.

whap!

"Ow! What was th-"

whap!

"Ow! Come on-"

whap, whap!

Nimaru soon found the pain of Kitenhime's tail as she whipped him like a horse, but it was no ordinary tail, for the snakes of the Snake Summoning Contract had the ability to harden their scales to that of the density of iron, as well as transform them into different steel weapons. He was just lucky that she wasn't biting him. Ugh, he remembered when Sanmaru said something sexual and extremely perverted to her and shuddered at the memory of him lying on the floor muttering about beautiful green fairies and winking unicorns as her venom took effect. The mind-numbing hangover-like aftermath that followed the hallucinogenic venom that Kitenhime had administered didn't help matters either. Sanmaru was just lucky that she hadn't decided to give him a numbing toxin or a pain inducing poison into his system… Ugh…

Whap! Whap! Whap!

"And that's why you never question a woman's weight…"

… whap!

A beaten and battered Nimaru collapsed in a bruised heap before the coffee table of Naruto's living room, the same coffee table laden with graded papers, magazines, books, and other assorted items. Kitenhime smirked to herself impishly as she saw the swirls in his eyes and snickered soon after a twitch took hold of the canine's back leg. Yep, women were the rulers of this world, and all who opposed them were to fall via brutal flirting, nagging, and/or beatings like the one administered prior.

Forming herself into a spring, Kitenhime launched herself onto the coffee table in hopes of finding something to occupy her stemming boredom while the blonde-haired teen finished up in the bathroom. All she found, though, lying on the table was literature that would only cause her boredom to grow and manifest into some type of snarling, teeth-gnashing, retarded beast of strange ideas and even stranger events. There just had to be something on this table to pacify her boredom… nope, nada, zilch, tough lu-

Wait a minute…what's this?

She had to stop herself from singing out in pleasure as she came across a small, orange paperback. Now, where had she seen this particular piece of literature? She knew she saw this book before as she slithered curiously towards it, head tilted slightly to the left. If she was correct, she saw Anko reading it a few summons back… actually, Kitenhime could distinctly remember Anko reading this peculiar orange-colored book before; as well as a red-colored, green-colored, pink-colored, black-colored, purple-colored, blue-colored, gray-colored, and a yellow-colored book for that matter. Now, if Anko were an adamant reader of this book series, than that would mean that it was a rather good series, right?

Peering over the side of the coffee table to see that Nimaru was still currently unconscious from her iron-incased tail, Kitenhime coiled herself before the small book and, using her elegant tail and flipped said book open to its first page. Once there, Kitenhime started reading, hoping that this lone book would stem her boredom.

XxXxX Within Naruto's Mind XxXxX

Yoko was lying on her back, gazing up into the canopy of her new four-poster bed. This simple thought of selflessness was one of the best gifts she ever received, even though it was one of the few gifts she received… ok, it was the only gift she had ever received, but who's counting? However, something was bothering the woman as she gazed up into a window into the outside world; she didn't even react as an image of Naruto's fully nude body filtered through the viewing portal, as her mind was elsewhere.

The previous night, try as she might, and indeed she did try, she was unable to make any form of contact with her mate and love. It was strange; even as he lay curled against her frame while he slept, she was still unable to touch his consciousness or his soul. It frightened her greatly because during the whole event: every image, every sound, word, and scream erupted within her own mind, like some kind of unstoppable horror movie. Usually, she was able to fend these types of night horrors and phantasms off, but last night, it had been impossible for her to ward them off. It boggled her mind, but wounded her much more in seeing, as she could not buffer the horrors from her love's mind. It was not that she saw her love as weak-willed or incapable of fending off the phantasms. It was just that, with nightmares of that magnitude, and a mind still new to the weight of souls that dragged him closer to Hell she knew that he would have a hard time coping with them.

Yet another question arose within her mind as she clutched a wine-colored pillow to her chest, vaguely noticing that it still held the intoxicating scent of her love. Why was she not able to reach out to him and quell his horrors? Why was she unable to shatter the glass nightmare and free her Naru-kun from its clutches?

Deep down, she had an inkling of who was behind her lack of contact. More precise, she had inkling on the ten individuals that were behind her lack of contact, and it did not matter what they said about their reasons; she was going to tear them apart, sow them back together, and then tear them apart again for making her worry like that.

"Yeah well…what are you gonna do? It's over now, and they did have a point in doing what they did."

Yoko whipped her head to the left to see the slanted image of Revy sitting on the corner of her new bed. "Doesn't mean that those guys know what's best for Naru-kun," she hissed as she sat upright on her bed, all the while clutching her pillow tighter to her chest.

"May be wrong, but they know what doing, aru!" the broken Japanese of one Ku Fei reached Yoko's ears and soon after, the pom-pom haired girl eased herself out of the darkness of the Seal.

"Still-," Yoko tried again to finish her rant, but once again, someone interrupted her yet again.

"Sometimes, something horrible has to occur in order for something good to happen..."

Yoko growled at the words spoken from within the darkness. It grated on her nerves at what she heard, because part of her knew that it was correct. Hell, she was a living testament to that saying; if not for being mistaken as a demon and sealed within Naruto, she would have never known true unyielding love.

"Alright, I know you're all there, so why don't you all just come out, now!" Yoko barked annoyingly into the depths of the Seal. It was no surprise to her when Ku and Revy just smirked and waited along side her for their sister to appear.

One by one, like wraiths in the night, or, more precisely, like succubi slinking out from the darkness into men's minds to flaunt and prance, the Heroines made themselves known. Yoko quickly picked out the familiar forms of Maggie Mui in her tall stature and suitcase filled to the brim with paper, Tsumura Tokiko with her sailor-style school uniform and horizontal facial scar, and Shirayuki Mizore in a heavy sweat shirt and lollipop. Those three girls quickly took their places by the bed, either standing by the corners, or taking a seat on the actual bed and waited for the other five Heroines to make their entrance.

The first of the remaining feminine starter ten slowly walked from the darkness, her steps calculated and preplanned. Her rich blonde hair cascaded down her back like molten gold, coming just short of her rear. Her slightly torn and worn black dress held her form with much elegance and grace, even though it looked to be old and tired. Her slim and small form could easily fool most men into a false sense of security, but both her martial arts knowledge and her body augmentation would simply crush her foes and dice up her enemies. She was the feared, and rightfully so, space assassin "Golden Darkness," or more commonly known to her close friends, Yami.

Wasting no time, a second form appeared and made her way to the bed just as her shorter sister had. Her wine-colored hair stuck up in place while at the same time stayed cleanly above her shoulders, though it never fell into her murky blue eyes. An equally wine colored headband was across her forehead, a testament of her devotion to her cause, and a reminder to all the brothers and sisters she lost in her fight for freedom. To some, her outfit would seem provocative with a close fitting top with no sleeves, and a uniformly tight fitting pair of piloting pants. It was evident to all that would look at her way of dress that she favored the color of her hair, as all of the clothing had the some tint of red. However, it was also evident to anyone who was to gaze onto her meek, yet slender, form, that she was a warrior, tried and true, and would end all who opposed her ideals or threatened her loved ones. Kallen Stadtfeld, Ace of the Black Knights, was a woman one never wanted to cross.

After the stunningly beautiful, as well as strikingly deadly, Kallen came to rest on the four-poster bed; a much younger looking woman entered the scene. By no means, however, was she young. Her short onyx hair formed around her skull like an eggshell with the same type sleek smoothness as the small oval item. Her eyes were of a casual and common brown that one would see in the eyes of a civilian, not a Heroine of her class. Her outfit was of a similar observation since it consisted of a white blouse and a black skirt with a fitting blood red bowtie completing the ensemble. In all regards, the outfit was that of a Japanese high school student, but the full-length katana that she held firmly and gracefully within her left hand told those that opposed her that she was not willing to falter or lose. Otonashi Saya, one of the two Chiropteran Queens, could, and would, live up to her kind's ruthlessness if pressed, and she would not look back.

As Saya found her place next to Tokiko, a woman of equal clothing, yet another young lady, made her way into the circle of light. She was by far one of youngest, as well as one of the shortest Heroines that consisted of the starter 10. She was just a little taller than Ku Fei, a feat that was not easily achieved by the young honey blonde-haired shamrock-eyed girl. She also wore a school type uniform just like Tokiko, Mizore, and Saya, but her uniform had one major difference. Her uniform, which consisted of a white long sleeved blouse, yellow sweater vest, and a red plain skirt, was topped off with a long flowing, midnight black trench coat; a trench coat that reeked of the 'blood' of vile spirits. Her form-fitting white gloves, gloves that assisted in her grip, also spoke volumes to those that knew of her weapon of choice. Maka "Scythe Meister" Albarn was one of the most feared Weapon Meisters among the tainted souls of killers and rapists.

Yoko looked around her to the women that now took refuge around her new bed with interest. All were there, all but one. The one Heroine that stood above all the others, just as Alucard stood above all the Heroes in Naruto's current possession. She had yet to make her appearance. Yoko, if she were honest with herself, feared both Alucard as well as the final Heroine, for both of their power was just below her own. In truth, there were probably a total of five to six beings held within the inner confides of the Omnitrix that could rival her in raw power, and maybe two that could hope to defeat her in an outright match. The woman approaching the nine Heroines and one angel could most likely have a draw with the crimson-haired Archangel.

The rhythmic and hypnotizing click, clack of stilettos announced the approach of one of the most feared and powerful woman to ever exist in any of God's creation. She emerged from the darkness, her crystalline blue eyes were shut serenely, which caused two beauty marks at the corners of her eyes to seem more pronounced, more stunning and defined. To every woman in the circle of light, this one woman, this pure maiden of love and of unrivaled magical prowess, also embodied unadulterated beauty and allure. She was, by far, one of the most beautiful women that the ten other women ever saw. The approaching woman's sleek silver hair reached far past her rear, and her heart-shaped face and sensual smile could cause any man to fall to her feet. However, she would not allow them to woo her or to capture her, for as she was the embodiment of beauty and power, she was also the embodiment of love; a love that she fought Heaven, Hell, Earth, and several false Gods for. Her choice of dress, a skintight leather body suit, was also something that the other ten girls would not dare pull off, either out of how embarrassed they would be, or out of the lack of the proper body measurements; the other girls would not say. Her measurements were that of a Goddess and her voice was of an angel. She was beauty, but she was also power, a power that could easily be harnessed and manipulated by the large pistol strapped to her sculpted hip, the pistol Senryu. Kurohime, slayer of Gods and the strongest Witch Gunslinger, was one of the only women that Yoko feared to fight.

"You and I should know," Kurohime continued, as she stalked towards the wine-colored bed, "just what it means to have a blessing within a curse."

Yoko continued to gaze at the ravishing woman before her. She swore, if only to herself, that if the option to ever become 'more then comrades' was ever offered by the silver-haired goddess, Yoko would not help but accept the offer. It was not that she swung towards the left, it was just that Kurohime, in all her glory and splendor, could easily seduce a member of the same sex into a relationship with her; that is if Kurohime so wished it. However, her heart was solely for the one and only Zero, so there was no need to worry.

However, Yoko did worry. She knew there were quite a few other women in the running for the lips of her love…so it was only a matter of time before she got roped into some strange, and rather perverted, circumstances. That, though, was a thought for another more appropriate time, for Yoko was brought out of her inner musing as Kurohime laid herself upon the bed, sprawling out like the massive and sensual feline that she was.

"Dirty," Kurohime said with a wink, as she seemed to be manipulating and reading Yoko's mind.

"Anyway, even though Naruto received a piece of the world he entered into, it is not enough," she continued, her voice dark and cold as she gazed up into the endless darkness above the bed's canopy. "I agree with Alucard and the others. He must be reminded, time and time again, on what he chose." The look of outrage and impending protest from Yoko was stifled by a sharp piercing glance from the Goddess of women.

"This boy has yet to walk!" Kurohime barked out, "And yet, he wishes to run with the herd. Agito would put it like this, 'this team has the power, the moves, the speed, and whatever the Hell else that pig has to offer…but, they're missing the one thing that all Teams have: the heartlessness of crushing another Team's hopes and dreams and climbing over their corpses to the top of the Tower'…or something like that…"

Kurohime sighed as she saw Yoko confused look and attempted to interject. "That means that he must be taught and shown what choice he made before he breaks… he still holds this world within a Black and White lens, he needs to see the gray within it." Kurohime sighed woefully. Most Heroes saw life only in a black and white aspect and that caused most of them to fall from grace. She sighed again and quickly switched gears, continuing.

"Naruto, even if he has not admitted it yet, has chosen to protect: not just you; not just the other girls that will fall for him and vice versa; not just this village; not just these people. He has chosen to protect all!" Kurohime shot up and looked keenly at each and every one of the Heroines around her. Within her eyes was something, something that each of the girls gasped at. It was a conviction and adoration that was frighteningly strong. "He will become the Greed of this land, the old and honorable Homunculus that taught Edward and fought against Father. Naruto will not be satisfied with just this land, not just these people. He will defend all, protect all, and care for all!

"But!" Kurohime grew so quiet that all the other girls had to lean in closely, even Yoko, in order to hear what she proclaimed next. "But, Greed will not be the only one. Because of you Yoko," a finger snapped in the aforementioned woman's face, "because of your Angelic influence and because of past events, more sins have been manifesting; manifesting stronger in him than in other humans. His Wrath is slowly but surely growing, as is his Envy and his Pride. His Gluttony is under control as well as his Sloth, and then there is his Lust. His Lust is almost non-existent, but once his other mates start to converge, it will explode outward like a weed."

"He will beat them all!" Yoko interrupted loudly and brashly. This caused Kurohime to look upon her with an accusing eye, "He will!"

Yoko knew what could happen to those who were plagued by the seven deadly sins. It was not a pretty sight, but she had full confidence in her love, in her mate. She knew that he would overcome, that he would achieve victory. He was her one and only, so it would be no other way.

Kurohime grinned wolfishly at her proclamation. "Of course he will, of course he will…"

XxXxX with Kitenhime XxXxX

"No! You mustn't Ikuto!" Tomiko stuttered out from her position on the bed. "You just mustn't!"

But Ikuto just smirked, and to Tomiko, it was a smirk that set her blood afire. He inched closer, his impressive male form shadowed by the room's lack of lighting. When he neared her, his hand caressed her bare skin, so smooth and slick with the sweat of his body. His teeth flashed dangerously bright as he brushed his hand across the leather restraints that kept her wrists strapped to her ankles and her plump, inviting rear positioned high in the cool night's air.

"You know you asked for this once you said those three little words," he cooed, like a father to a newborn babe.

He lowered his head, dragging his untrustworthy tongue across her spine. His torturous tongue, an organ she wished to damn for all eternity, came to rest just at the junction of her slender neck and glossy shoulder. Ikuto nipped her lightly before settling down to suckle the small joint. Oh how he loved the taste of her flesh, her porcelain white and icy smooth skin. He wanted more and more and more still. He wanted her to beg for it to continue.

"Now say it," He ordered into her ear, "Say those Three. Little. Words."

"Never," she spat out venomously. "I should have never said then in the first place---ahhh~!" Her voice quivered like a violinist's note as he teased her body.

His hands were at it again, plundering her, viciously and mercilessly owning her. Her eyes snapped open as he ended his intrusion on her core and moved to strike her rear with a resounding SLAP. The moment the spank ended though, his fingers returned to conquer her and not just her core.

She whimpered in such a way that she truly sounded like some type of dog. "Plea—se," she barely formed her sentence as she felt his one, lone finger pillage her second most sacred and undefiled place. "No—o! Please for a--ahh~—ll that's goo—oh~ od please not there!"

Oh, how she wished the leather shackles that bound her in this humiliating and demeaning position were gone. She could barely remember how she came to fall into this situation. All she truly remembered was saying those three words at their last meeting, a meeting she believed was at some teashop two days ago, and when she came to meet him again she was, she believed, knocked unconscious and woke up on this king-sized bed, bound and restrained.

Her thoughts shattered as his accursed tongue entered the assault. Her back arched as best it could from her facedown position on the bed as he licked, nipped, and probed her. Damn those shackles! She wondered, well she wondered as best as her pleasure riddled mind could, even with all her Kunoichi training, why couldn't she break these restraints? Or, at best, unlock them?

"Come now, Tomiko-chan~… Just say those three words, and I'll end it all~!"

She wanted to scream back at his silky words. She wanted to shove those sugarcoated words straight down his throat. She wanted—

"AHH~!"

--… she wanted him and him only…for the rest of her days…

"I should have killed—ahh~ you when I had the cha—oh~--ance…" she spat as she looked over her shoulder at him.

To Ikuto, she was of the pinnacle of beauty, and he had seen many beauties in his day, what with being a Missing-Nin and visiting brothels and the likes when the time called for it. However, with her hair plastered against her shapely back like trickling streams of midnight water, and her eyes like lemon drops in their golden hue, an uncommon hue to women and, finally, her sweat drenched and blushing face and swollen lips…she was of the utmost to the word, breathtaking. He almost had to will himself to continue the torturous torment upon her senses and her begging core.

"Yes," he agreed gazing into her golden eyes, eyes that had a fiery and seething wrath that he wanted directed at himself. "You probably should have…" He loved her raw, untamed emotions; her Greed for his form pressed against his, her Lust for his warm and throbbing member, her Wrath for him when he took control of their 'playtime', her Pride for when they 'played', and her Happiness and Joy as she laid cuddled up against his chest once 'playtime' had come to its…climatic ending.

He remembered when she was not like this, when she wore a veil over her soul and just smiled and laughed whenever he did something that called for such a reaction. All the while, she wore the veil when they had first met, she was waiting, waiting for a moment that she could slit his throat in his sleep or slip poison into his tea as they drank together. His ex-leader sent her to him …six months ago. Since then, they had progressed, almost exponentially to this stage, and there was nothing in the world that would take this away from him.

He nipped the shell of her ear as he got his mind 'back in the game'. His hand was still conducting the orchestra between her thighs, and he loved the music that was coming forth because of it. Her whimpers, her moans, her little "please…st—op" or "no—oh~--t ther—e," but his favorite was when she gently began to succumb to the sensations of her body with words like "m-more" or the subtle "y-y-YES~."

"Now say it…," he hissed into her ear as he bit it with just a little more force. As he said that, he doubled his force on her nether region, so much so, that her body rocked with each thrust and the sound of slapping flesh resounded around the room; a sound that Ikuto found strangely appealing.

Her back arched painfully within her restraints, and she cried out with enough force to shake Ikuto's body. She was near her wit's end. She could feel her body coiling in upon itself, waiting and fueling its own fires as it waited for the catalyst to send it, and her, over the edge to ecstasy. With each thrust and intrusion of his finger within each of her sacred places, she could feel the end coming. He suddenly bit into her shoulder and suckled the flesh harshly, an action that nearly sent her over the edge. Just a little more, just a little more torment and she would be—almost, almost th—er---e—

He stopped.

He stopped just as she was about to release, release all of her soul and pleasure upon the bed sheets and him. He deliberately stopped and halted her release; he was now torturing her more then when she was a martyr to his skilled fingers and mouth.

"Say it," Even as he said that, his fingers did not move from within her sacred places, and as time ticked by without her answer, he would jerk his fingers either to the left or the right and cause her to cry out. It was just enough of a pleasure stimulator so that her peak would just be out of arms reach, but still there to cause havoc with her mind.

"Say it!"

"I…I…" she couldn't take it anymore. No matter how much she wished to defy him, to show him that she was the pinnacle of Kunoichi training, she just couldn't stand not having her release, her mind-numbing orgasm.

"I…Lo-Love…You…" there, she had finally said it. She had finally admitted to the man that stood behind her bound form that she loved him, that she cared for him, and that she would do anything for him. Even if she did not say those exact words aloud to him, he could hear them still, echoing inside of his mind just as much as the words "I love you" echoed in the room.

Ikuto smiled down at her as she again gazed over her sweat-covered shoulder at him, those intoxicating eyes, swollen and rosy red lips, unfocused eyes, and reddened face gazing back at him. She was now his…and no one else's.

"Good girl, my sweet, sweet Tomiko-chan…" Ikuto cooed into her ear before licking its shell, causing her to sigh happily.

To her surprise, his hands left her core and rear, his lips departed from her shoulder and neck, and he stepped away from her. She wished to protest, for she loved the warmth of his flesh against her own and within her. Ikuto took a moment, as he set the final scene, to drink in her form; he had been in a rush to position her and strip her that he did not take the time to appreciate her nude young figure.

He positioned her upon her knees with her wrists clasped to her ankles by two sets of leather shackles. Because of this, Tomiko could not raise herself from her stomach and kept her face plastered to the pillow at the head of the bed. The shackles also kept her heart-shaped rear jutting up into the air, and with her legs spread, just enough he was able to gaze at her in a most revealing and humiliating way. He saw her pink and puckered rose bud; it had been assaulted in such a way that it was more of a delicious cherry red than a soft rosy pink, but that did not stop his mouth from watering and his body from growing firmer still. He also saw her glistening nether lips. Oh how he wanted to, almost literally, sink his teeth into those begging and plump lips, clean of hair, and feast upon her like there was no tomorrow, with her moans as the 'show' to his 'dinner'. Her breasts, her curvy breasts of such size and mass, that any man would gladly lay his life on the line for just a taste, grope, or caress of those wonderful orbs. The strange thing was that, even though they were masked and unseen do to the bedspread and hidden from view, her delicious breasts could not be consider that of monstrous proportions, but of those considered a 'healthy handful'. They were of a size that were not disgustingly large or with grotesque sag, but they were 'perky' with coin-sized areolas and pebble hard nipples. He licked his lips subconsciously before advancing upon her.

Tomiko was about to see if had abandoned her to her semi-glow status when she felt his fingers assault her again, and with a moan, she reveled in the attack. Something was different; something was not the same as before. His finger, the finger taking part in the attack, seemed to be much thicker and of a sturdier quality than of the fingers prior. However, she was not complaining in that aspect, as he teased the outer lips of her womanhood and the contours of her puckered rosy bud. She was panting, rocking to and fro with his teasing, but she could not keep the thought of how different this finger was compared to the ones before from plaguing her mind. That was, until the realization that the 'finger' was not actually a finger…but something of a grander scale, a realization in the form of a slight bit of penetration.

He was claiming her! It was inch by miniscule inch, but the fact remained as clear as the nose on his face, or the painfully taunt erection that was beginning to plunder her. In the time that the two had known each other, Tomiko had tried, unsuccessfully, to seduce him in bed in order to kill him, but he had always beaten her to the punch by forcing her into an orgasmic sleep. Yet now, now, it was truly happening. She was now his, just as she promised in the words she spoke earlier, but with the action figuratively sealing the deal, she truly knew what it meant to be his. His to toy with, to own, to control…and it felt wonderful!

He stalled in his taken. His arms, which clasped her sweat slick hips, shook with barely restrained lust. He wanted to throw himself into the throes of lust and passion without looking back, but he needed her to say one last thing. With a shaking breath, a breath he disguised as a superior chuckle of dominance, he continued. He, too, finally understood what the words she spoke to him, the same words he held for her within his heart, truly and honestly meant. He had been with countless women in and out of missions, as well as numerous prostitutes and whores out of Ninja service, but none of them held a candle to what she was doing to his libido, body, and soul. To any other woman, he could have taken her with ease, without looking back or without losing himself to the sensation of her body. However, Tomiko and her body were treating his trained and experienced form like some type of first timer! Like some type of boy laying his first crush. Yet he loved this feeling, this feeling of feeling this sensation anew, like a virgin.

He was now one with his love, forced to the hilt and she surprised him as she wished for the friction more then he did. She rocked her hips from side to side, as she whimpered and pleaded heatedly. He almost gave her what she pleaded for; he almost surrendered himself to the tidal wave of sexual pleasure, but he reminded himself that he needed to hear that one word. As she rocked against his member for a second time in hopes of his surrender, he stilled her rebellious waist with his hands to the point that his fingernails began to draw blood.

"What am I to you, Tomiko-chan?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

That intoxicating face turned to him once more, drool slipping from her open maw and sweat dripping off her nose. Her eyes, shadowed by indescribable pleasure spoke the word he wished to hear, he just needed to hear it from her lips. "Plea-ease Sir…ca-can I ha—AH~--ave some mo—Oh~--ore…" she took a page, quite literately, from a classic piece of literature in hopes of persuading him…but to no avail.

A sharp spank to her rear silenced her play on words.

"What am I?"

"I-I beg yo—OH~--ou Love, plea—"

Another sharp resounding spank forced a moan like none before it to pierce her lips.

"WHAT AM I!?" he barked impatiently. Not only was she begging for the main attraction to begin, but Ikuto's body was also beginning to betray him. Each spank that he delivered to Tomiko sent pleasant vibrations through her very flesh and teased his aching member as well as her inner core and nub.

"YOU'RE MY MASTER! MY OWNER! MY RULER!" she squealed out.

With a gruff sound, Ikuto claimed her. He withdrew, before pillaging her like a mighty enemy army. Her sounds of submission only fuelled his actions to the point of desperation. A truly perverted and deranged part of him needed to hear her approval as well as her words of surrender.

"Is it good, my Dear?" he whispered but could easily hear them over the sound of slick slapping flesh.

And her response was a loud and clear—

XxXxX Real world XxXxX

"Um…Miss Snake Summon."

"YES MY MASTER!!!" Kitenhime screamed out, completely forgetting her place between reality and fiction.

Time stopped in such a way in that one single instance that it was almost destroyed. For Kitenhime, as she lay there on her stomach while reading one of the most interesting books in existence, she could not believe that the boy caught her red-handed reading such a dirty, dirty book. Slowly, she rotated her head with clicking and jerking motions, so that she was facing the fully clothed, yet wet-haired, Uzumaki Naruto. Her gaze swept up to the top of his golden blonde head to the bottom of his bare feet, then swept back up his male body, taking points to stop and examine certain areas before gazing into his crystal blue eyes.

This was the form of a man? This was the instrument of such pleasure, feeling, and emotions? …Oh my… That one book, bound in an innocent orange paperback cover, had awakened some kind of new revelation inside of Kitenhime, as well as solidified the thought of changing into her human form more often. Then the thought of that morning's 'morning wood' incident entered into her mind like a gust of scorching air. Her eyes once again trailed his body, but this time, she had a destiny in mind at which she was about to gaze at.

"Grr, bark bark…," whimpered Nimaru, as he peered over the top of the coffee table, stopping Kitenhime's quest for sight. His words could be translated as 'Pervert…' or something close to it.

Kitenhime's face flared red, or as red as it could with her deep purple and black-ringed scales, and she attempted to hide the orange-bound masterpiece under a nearby magazine with a shuffle of her coils and a flick of her tail. She coughed into her tail; head titled to not reveal her blush, as difficult to see it as it was, and addressed the newly washed Naruto.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat to refocus his attention on her. "Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I think that you should grab something quick to eat and head out right away. I don't think it would be wise if we were late."

…and Naruto stared.

"…uh…grr whimper bark grr, woof…"

…and still he stared.

"…ugh…" Kitenhime sighed in annoyance and impatience, her face tilted towards the table top and the tip of her tail massaging her temple. "Yes, I can talk. Now, can we get on with things!" her words were crisp and harsh though she did not mean them to be.

Naruto blinked at her outburst, and almost took a step back out of habit, but caught himself. He nodded rather timidly in response to show the temperamental summon that he understood what she meant, and what she wanted him to grasp.

"Good, now that we have overcome that obstacle now…," she said with a sigh and a nod before she continued, "…get over here and pick me up!"

Naruto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow for two reasons: one being the motion that the snake-girl made, a motion similar to that of a tempering babe with her coils akin to a pair of outstretched arms, and two, being the command itself.

"Why should I…uh…"

"Kitenhime," Kitenhime informed, knowing that the young man was missing her name, "and because Anko told me to look after you for the day, and I plan on doing just that." She finished matter-of-factly.

"Wait, wait, wait," Naruto interjected, placing his hands before him in a halting nature, "You mean that crazy…crazy woman sent you to look after me today?"

"Not only her, Hana-sempai put Nimaru in charge of looking after you as well! This way, I'll have someone who's able to keep up an intelligent conversation!"

Naruto bristled at that comment. He could indeed hold up one side of a conversation without a single problem. Why just the other day—

"Now, we all know that you're trying to justify how you can hold one end of a conversation within that small mind of yours, but need I remind you: we have a schedule to keep to!" Kitenhime had to keep her voice level and calm, lest she scream in outrage. Outrage for the fact that they were currently late, or at least in her mind they were late, and being late to your first team meeting with a Jounin Ninja instructor was never a way one should start off their relationship with their future teacher.

Grumbling in a way that would make one of his fellow Genin proud, Naruto stalked over to the coffee table and stooped to retrieve the controlling and manipulative snake. However, she surprised him by leaping, in the way that snakes only could, and coiled herself around his neck. At first, Naruto was about to wrench her from his throat in fear, and instinct, that she may attempt to strangle him, but the way that her scales brushed against his skin, and the way that an uncommon warmth radiated off of her seemed to calm his conspiracies.

A sniff redirected Naruto's attention towards the ground, or more precisely towards the medium-sized canine that was sitting on its haunches before him. When Naruto first took in the dog, he had to resist the urge to call it a wolf, or something along the same lines. It was, in his opinion, large and slightly scary. It was not that he minded dogs; it was just that dogs were not something he came in contact with often, kind of like women, so he couldn't stop himself from being slightly wary. Not only for Nimaru, but for Kitenhime as well, even though she was giving off an aura of no aggression.

The dog, much to Naruto's worry, rose from his haunches and began to circle the blonde. Naruto suppressed the urge to stiffen under the scrutinizing gaze of Nimaru, but that did not stop him from sweating. Kitenhime smirked from her position around Naruto's neck, a position akin to that of a draping shawl, as Nimaru inspected, as well as intimidated, the young blonde. All Nimaru was honestly doing was checking out the blonde that interested his partner and close friend. It was common to animals, dogs especially, to inspect new future members to their packs and families.

Nimaru finished his rounding, coming to a stop in front of Naruto once again. He had inspected most of the boy's body structure, looking at the muscle density, mass, and height. He was moderately impressed with his structure, but there was much, much room for improvement. Then the thought of the young man still being a Genin entered Nimaru's mind, as well as the information of his burden and curse, something he heard the four girls talking about at one point in time, so he would give the boy leeway in that regard. However, Nimaru couldn't help but smile, knowing that the four women living on this level of the Shinobi's only apartment complex would take a liking, or loving, whichever came first, to the young man and help him on his road to greatness. Smiling at the thought, Nimaru leveled his eyes with those of Naruto's and stared deep into them. This was the last part of the inspection, and one of the most crucial steps: the judge of character and soul. Animals were lucky in having the innate ability to read into people's hearts and could easily judge whether a man was either kind or aggressive, just by being near them.

It seemed that this young man's soul was troubled, Nimaru concluded: troubled, worried, but overall intact and understanding. Understanding to the world and its inner cruel workings, yet, Nimaru narrowed his eyes just a margin as he dug deeper. The boy still held an infantile view towards the profession and goal he chose. Interesting…

With a huff of air through his nostrils and a gruff sound, Nimaru approved of the young blonde Genin. He then barked sharply and shortly as he walked past the sweating Naruto, and headed into the mid-sized kitchenette.

"Well," Kitenhime giggled with a grin that split her spear-shaped face, "it seems that Nimaru approves of you, as will the rest of the Haimaru Triplets, I would guess. Now follow that butch!"

Try as he might, Naruto could not send the young Snake Summon a quizzical stare seeing as her head was located underneath his chin. He then sighed in defeat and followed the light gray and white dog into the kitchenette. Once he entered the kitchenette, Naruto waited for instructions from the Snake Summon, for he had a feeling that as long as the young summon was in his presence, he would not be making any of his own decisions. A feeling that he knew he was going to be very familiar with in the future. Nimaru was stalking around the mid-sized kitchenette while looking at the counter tops at some of the strewn and displaced foods and snacks forgotten by their prior purchaser, and by the now moved in Naruto.

Nimaru suddenly tilted his head towards the defeated Naruto and barked, thus getting the spaced teenager's attention. Nimaru then jerked his angular skull towards one side of the counter top, the side that held a bowl of fresh fruit. Naruto looked at the dog in confusion as Nimaru continued to motion towards the bowl of fruit, not entirely understanding what the dog meant to say. Sure, it was a bowl of fruit; what was he supposed to do about it?

"Ah, good idea Nimaru," Kitenhime piped in. "Naruto, get a couple of apples and let's head out. You can eat them on the way to the training grounds."

"Wait," Naruto tried to make his case heard against the pushy and controlling summon. "Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat breakfast. Not unless we-"

"-like throwing up?" Kitenhime finished for him. She rolled her eyes, even though he could not see the action, and justified her own reasoning for the breakfast suggestion, "You're going up against a Jounin instructor, right? Well, I doubt that even if you had read the entire Forbidden Scroll you'd even have a shadow of a chance in Hell of defeating him…so what's a couple of apples to help stave off hunger going to do…?"

"That's not the point. The point is I was instructed not to eat!" Naruto's bullheadedness once again began to rear its uniquely shaped snout.

"…Naruto-kohai…" Kitenhime stated with the utmost calmness in her voice, "…just take the apples. You'll need them, trust me…"

At the tone of her voice, Naruto once again sighed in defeat and reached forth to snag three apples from the bowl upon the counter top, foregoing the strict words of his sensei. They were about the size of his closed fist, and with two of them, Naruto placed them into his left lower pocket of his forest green cargo pants. Taking the third and final apple, Naruto brought it to his lips. With a flash of bright white canines, a quite hungry Naruto tore into the apple, though he would not tell the Summon that he was indeed hungry. It was no wonder he was hungry, considering that all he had to eat within the span of 24 hours were the few bowls of ramen that he had when he was entertaining Hinata and Ayame as Negi Springfield.

As he devoured the innocent and unsuspecting apple, much to the hidden glee of Kitenhime as she smiled impishly, Naruto made his way towards the front door of his new apartment in an increasingly faster pace with each of his steps, Nimaru hot on his heels. By the time Naruto tore the door of his apartment open, he was at a dull jog, and quickly gaining. He entered the hallway outside his apartment and he was skidding across the dark carpet due to his speed, with Nimaru performing a similar act, only that Nimaru accidentally struck the far wall, causing a yelp in surprise. This in return, as Naruto tore down the hallway, brought forth a boisterous laugh from the blonde teen's lips. He rocketed down the narrow stairwell with Kitenhime securely around his neck, and with Nimaru bound on behind him, the sounds of childish laughter echoing throughout the concrete stairwell. Once all three of them had reached the rooftop, Naruto launched himself high into the crisp morning air, the bright morning sun glitter off of his sapphire eyes.

It was a wonderful day to become a Shinobi…

XxXxX End (Part One) XxXxX

AN:

Now remember: this is just part one. The chapters original size was 111 pages, but was broken up. As of now, my editor is currently working on the other parts so look for them in the foreseeable or unforeseeable future.

Tell me what you think of my work, but please be mature and considerate. If you have something to say then 'Do unto others' when you say it.

Also, there is a poll on my profile about stories for the future. Please vote: poll ends at the end of April '10

TTFN

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