Ashikabi No Shinobi

by The Engulfing Silence

Unable to move onto the next life, Uzumaki Naruto travels the world. He comes back to Japan, the place where Konoha once stood, and soon finds himself sucked into a game of battling busty women. It all started when a girl fell on top of him. Literally.

4. The Green Girl

A/N: Once again I would like to thank everyone for their support and reviews. It does my heart... and my ego ^_^ good that so many people seem to enjoy this story.

Disclaimer: Own Naruto and Sekirei? Yea, I wish I owned one of those. The unfortunate fact is I don't and while that is a very depressing thought and almost makes me want to brood like an Uchiha you don't need to worry about me. I'll get over it soon.

Now, why don't you all enjoy this chapter while I show everyone on the sparring mat my rage, since I can't take it out on Konohagakure because Sasuke already did that.

Chapter 3: The Green Girl

XoX

'Now that that girl and her Ashikabi are here I can't help but feel things are about to get hectic,' Kagari thought to himself as he began putting on the clothes he normally wore when going to his job at the gentlemen's club. He was wearing a pair of black slacks with sharp creases in them, a white long-sleeved button up shirt with a collar and a black jacket over that with a black tie. As someone who worked as a host at a night club it was required that he dress sharply. He would also admit, if only to himself, that he enjoyed looking stylish.

However, his mind was not on his work right now. As was the usual in the past few days his thoughts were focused on Izumo Inns newest tenants.

In truth there was no real difference to the Inn now that Naruto and Musubi were living with them. The house was a little rowdier, thanks in large Musubi's antics and enthusiastic personality. He had never met someone so... outgoing(?). Yes, outgoing in his life. Naruto on the other hand seemed to switch between personalities whenever he wanted. Sometimes he was just as loud as Musubi, others he was sarcastic and witty and still other times he was quiet and contemplative. It was confusing and Kagari still didn't know what about to make of the blond.

'Miya seems to trust him for some reason, but I can't help but feel uneasy about his presence. There's something... not quite right with him.' Kagari felt that was a small understatement. Aside from the blonds ability at switching personalities on the fly, he also seemed to be much more wary of the people around him. The white-haired man couldn't be sure, but he was almost positive that he had seen Naruto nearly attack some of the other tenants of the inn on several occasions the few times they managed to surprise him. It was as if he was reacting on instinct, like his body had been trained to respond to surprise with violence. It was highly unnerving.

Though he did remember the one time Uzume had jumped on him to surprise the blond, and been subsequently thrown across onto the table with a quiet chuckle.

It was as Kagari finished getting dressed, putting on his long coat, that his cell phone began to ring. Picking it up from it's place on the desk he looked at the caller ID, noting who was calling before flipping the phone open and pressing the accept button. He put the phone to his ear and said, "Hello, Takami, is there anything I can -"

He paused, listening to the person on the other line before his eyes widened. "You're joking?" Another pause. "You're not joking! Seriously? The scrapped number just got winged? I thought you said that was impossible!" He took another few seconds to listen to what the person on the other line was saying. "So who winged her?" After being given the name he practically shouted, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I said," came an annoyed female voice over the line. "Is something the matter Homura?"

"Takami, I know who your talking about," Kagari said seriously. He didn't resisted the urge he had to rub the bridge of his nose with his free hand in order to try and prevent the coming headache. He had not been at Maison Izumo when Naruto and Musubi had arrived home last night for their picnic, so he hadn't seen the scrapped number come in with the pair. He was actually glad that Takami had called in and informed him of this, otherwise he might have caused some serious problems and possibly even blown his cover.

His attention was taken away from his own thoughts when Takami's voice blasted his ear drums over the phone.

"You do! Who is he? What can you tell me about him?"

"Not much." Kagari shrugged, even though he knew Takami wouldn't be able to see it. "He's actually my new roommate at Izumo Inn."

"Really? And does he also have number eighty-eight with him?"

"Yes. But I don't know much about him other then that he's apparently been traveling the world for the last few years."

"Which is pretty much all we have on him as well," a sigh came over the line. It had been a while since he had heard Takami this disgruntled. "Listen, I need to ask a favor of you. I hate doing this, but can you learn more about Uzumaki Naruto? He's an added variable we haven't accounted for, and Minaka has taken an unhealthy interest in him. I get the feeling that man knows more then he's letting on, but unfortunately nothing I can do will persuade him to tell me anything."

"I'll do what I can, but I won't make any promises," Kagari said, snorting when he heard the last part about Minaka. He almost pitied the blond if that man had taken an interest in him. Naruto, while very friendly and seemingly open was surprisingly tight lipped about his past. He would tell you a lot of stories about his travels, but whenever anyone brought up the subject of his origins he would clam up quicker then you could say Sekirei. Finding out anything about him that would actually prove relevant to what Takami wanted would be difficult, if not outright impossible.

"That's all I can ask for."

Kagari sighed as he hung up the phone, the news Takami had brought him was... unsettling. He had known from the moment he met Naruto that there was something different about him, but he had never expected the blond to be capable of doing what should be impossible. Nobody knew why the broken number was unable to be winged, except for maybe Minaka. Kagari wouldn't be surprised if the bastard had something to do with her inability to be winged. However, all of the professors at the laboratory had deemed the possibility of her being winged a hopeless case.

Except apparently it wasn't as hopeless as they had thought.

He looked at the clock in his room, sitting on the night stand next to his bed.

5:16 pm.

Leaving the room Kagari made his way downstairs, towards the front door where he stopped and began putting on his shoes.

He would deal with this new information later. Right now, he had to go to work.

XoX

It was a few hours before Akitsu woke up again. The past few hours had been the most fitful sleep she'd had since she became a scrapped number. Stirring from her sleep, the light-haired beauty slowly sat up and looked around the new room she found herself in, and for a moment couldn't help but wonder where she was. It took her a while before she could figure it out, then she remembered what had transpired before she fell asleep; Naruto finding her and taking her home, and her subsequent winging at his hands. Were she the kind of person, Sekirei, who displayed her emotions on her sleeves, she would have probably started crying tears of joy by now.

As she was not that kind of person, all she did was blink and take in her surroundings as the most imperceptible of smiles crossed her face. While she kept it well hidden, a part of her, a big part, was rejoicing at the fact that she had truly found an Ashikabi, that she was no longer a scrapped number. Had Akitsu been the kind of person to think about such things more deeply, she may have wondered how it had been possible for the blond to have winged her, but as things stood she really didn't care one way or the other. All that mattered to her was that she had her Ashikabi.

A noise to her left drew her attention away from her thoughts. She couldn't quite put a name to the sound, but if she had to say anything Akitsu would say it sounded like flesh hitting flesh. Not quite familiar to her, but familiar enough that she could at least recognize it for what it was. Other noises accompanied it, talking, explosions, and various other sound effects that she could not put a name to. Deciding she'd had enough of staring at the ceiling, Akitsu let her curiosity get the better of her. She turned her head and soon found herself staring at the handsome blond who had winged her. He and Musubi, his other Sekirei, were sitting on a loveseat several feet away, watching some kind of cartoon about a bunch of high school girls wearing strange magatama earrings fighting each other and getting their clothes ripped off. Naruto had his arm wrapped around the other Sekirei's shoulder and Musubi was leaning against him. They looked comfortable, and Akitsu wondered if her Ashikabi would hold her like that as well.

Her thoughts were dispersed when she heard the blond speak. "I'm glad to see your awake," he said, his head turning so her could look at her. Though her cool and aloof look remained, she was surprised he had known she was awake. Had she given some indication that she had woken up? As far as she could tell she had not made so much as a peep since her return to the land of the living. The blond seemed to sense this because he favored her with a smile.

"If you're wondering how I knew you were awake," he started, and the words would have caught her attention had he not already held it. "It's because of that mark now on your back."

"Ah." Akitsu paused, her head slowly turning to see if she could see the mark that he was talking about. She couldn't, however, seeing as it was on her back. Thus she turned back to look at Naruto, a look of very mild confusion on her face. "Mark?"

"Your Sekirei crest," was his answer. Akitsu's eyes widened, at least insomuch as her eyes could widen. It was more like a slight opening of her half lidded eyes, nothing at all like Musubi's own expressive widening of the eyes.

That's right, Naruto had winged her and so she now bore his mark. Still, her lips turned down slightly. That didn't explain how he knew she was awake. As far as she knew, the Sekirei crest that a Sekirei gained upon being winged did nothing more than bond the Sekirei to their Ashikabi. At least that's what all Sekirei had been told. Akitsu would admit to not knowing as much about the Sekirei crest as others of her kind since she was, had been, a scrapped number. Was there more to the crest than she knew?

The noise abruptly being cut off alerted Akitsu to the fact that Naruto had turned off the tv. She turned her head to look at the blond again just as Musubi made to whine about the television getting shut off. "I was hoping we could finish watching that together, Naruto-Sama."

Naruto chuckled at her before saying, "don't worry, I have it being recorded so all three of us can watch it later tonight." That seemed to satisfy the girl because she gave a nod and shouted 'ok' causing the blond to grin a little before continuing. "Now that Akitsu-chan's awake, I was hoping you could take her down to the bath house and help her wash up."

"Do you want to join us, Naruto-Sama?" asked Musubi, a hopeful smile on her face. "I can wash your back again like last time."

"Not this time," Naruto said, causing Musubi to look down in disappointed. He gave an amused shake of his head before pressing his lips to her temple. The act caused the girl in skimpy shrine maiden clothing to do a near one eighty in her disposition, going from depressed to happy in a second. It seemed that Naruto was already capable of telling his Sekirei's mood and offering the appropriate stimuli to keep her happy. Akitsu wondered if he would be able to do that with her. "None of that now. I was actually hoping you and Akitsu-chan could use this time as a female-bonding moment. You know, so you two can get to know each other as women without having a male around."

"Does having a male around change things?" asked Musubi, her facial expression showing everyone that she didn't understand what the blond meant. It was an adorable look, the way her nose and eyes scrunched up in thought and general confusion. "Wouldn't it be better if we all took a bath together and bonded. Oh!" The girl suddenly smashing her left fist into her right palm almost startled Akitsu, even if she didn't let anyone else know that. "Is this another one of those 'discretion' things you talked about?" Her face went from understanding to confused as she released her hands hold over her fist and brought an index finger to her lips. "But wait, that doesn't make any sense because we already bathed together. Mou, this is all so confusing."

Naruto snorted in mild amusement before shaking his head. "No, Musubi-chan, this has nothing to do with discretion." It was more like modesty, but since he couldn't find it in himself to actually care about her being modest it had no bearing on his reasons for her sharing a bath with just Akitsu and not him. "You may not realize it, but having a male bathing with one or more females is actually somewhat unusual," he explained patiently. "It doesn't usually happen for one reason or another." Again, it was a matter of propriety, but he hadn't cared about such things for a long time. "More than that, however, there are times when girls normally want to talk about things that men simply don't like to talk about, or don't understand. Also, from what I know of the bonds formed between Sekirei and Ashikabi, you two are as good as sisters. So I want you to be as close to her as you are to me."

"I think understand," Musubi said after a few moments of thought, her eyes drifting from her Ashikabi to Akitsu who was still looking on curiously. Naruto smiled at her for getting where he was going so quickly, however, the woman's next words nearly made him face fault. "So should I kiss Akitsu-chan like I do you as well? But it wouldn't be the same, would it? I mean, I wouldn't gain any wings from kissing her."

Akitsu blinked as she listened into the conversation and heard Musubi's last few comments. She herself was not what one would called an expert in relationships of any kind, hell, she couldn't even be called a novice since like most Sekirei she would only have one relationship and that was with her Ashikabi. Worse for her, she had been a scrapped number just a few hours ago. Akitsu had been told every since she had become a scrapped number that she would never find her Ashikabi, so she had not even bothered to look. If it weren't for Naruto she would most likely still be sitting on that cold bench, alone, without an Ashikabi. However, while Akitsu knew next to nothing about relationships, even she thought the question her sister Sekirei had asked was strange.

"No, no, you shouldn't kiss her," Naruto said, then blinked and amended. "Unless she wants you to, but that's an entirely different kettle of fish we're not going into right now."

"Kettle of fish?" Musubi asked, clearly confused about what fish had to do with what they were discussing.

Naruto ignored the girls confusion for now as he continued on his point of topic, "what I meant when I said I want you to be as close to her as you were to me, I was talking about forming a bond with her. I would like for the two of you to be as close as sisters. To want to watch each others backs and always be willing to help each other."

"Oh! I understand now," Musubi said with a bright smile, once more slamming her fist into the palm of her open hand. "We'll be like siblings!"

"Yes, that's exactly it." Naruto didn't mention the fact that they pretty much were siblings. After all, they were both Sekirei, and there were only one hundred and eight of them. "Now, do you think you would showing Akitsu to the bath house and helping wash her back?"

"Of course!" Musubi threw her hands up into the air, emphasizing her enthusiasm to a great degree. Naruto gave her an indulgent smile as he kissed her on the cheek. Standing up, he walked over to Akitsu, who had watched the entire exchange in curiosity. He knelt down next to her and kissed her on the cheek as well. The light-haired Sekirei looked at him for a second, then looked away with a mild blush staining her cheeks.

It felt so odd to have someone showing her affection. Odd, but not unpleasant. Naruto's actions to her thus far had invoked feelings of warmth to spread through Akitsu's body, and she loved how it felt.

She could easily get used to the feeling.

Standing up once again he gave the two a grin. "I'll see you two after your bath."

"Ok! Bye, Naruto-Sama!" Musubi replied cheerfully as she walked over to Akitsu. Smiling happily at the other woman she grabbed the ice users hands and pulled her to her feet. Akitsu only had enough time to blink before the excitable girl was dragging her out of the room. "Come on, let's hurry up so I can show you the bath, you're going to love it."

"Ah," Akitsu started. "Wait."

Musubi, of course, did not wait. It wasn't long before Akitsu was dragged out the door by the naïve girl, leaving Naruto alone in the room and watching them as they departed. After staring at the just closing door for a few seconds, the blond gave a profound sigh of relief.

He would admit, if only to himself, that while the past few days had been hectic, for lack of a better word, he had enjoyed them. Finding himself bonded to someone like Musubi and now Akitsu was not the chore he originally thought it would be. Naruto enjoyed loved being able to show affection for someone he actually felt affectionate towards, he truly did. But right now he was running towards his limit. It hadn't been that long since he'd arrived in Shinto Teito, and from the very first day he had gotten here it had been one mess after another. He needed time to himself, to sort everything out and bring his own overwhelmed emotions under control.

More than that he needed some space from his Sekirei, particularly Musubi. It was as he said, he did enjoy being with her, and enjoyed showing her physical affection even more. It had been a long time since he'd been able to do that with someone he actually saw as more than just a body to keep him warm for the night. But just because he was enjoying the more emotional aspects that came from a relationship with Musubi didn't mean his mind or heart were quite prepared to handle this sudden intrusion into his life. Akitsu's inclusion had only complicated matters.

To top all that off, there was this bond he had now formed with not just Musubi, but now Akitsu as well. Naruto could not be sure, he had never felt something like this before, had never even heard of something like this before, but he was positive that this bond was the cause of most of his emotional problems. Whatever the winging had been designed to do he was sure that it was not quite the same as the bond he and his two Sekirei had gained from the winging. At the very least he was sure that the bond on his side was vastly different from what most Ashikabi could expect. He needed to take a step back so he could figure out what it was about this bond that made him feel so... emotional, that made him respond to his Sekirei with more affection in the past two days than he had shown for the last several thousand years. He needed to know, and the only way he could see himself putting things into perspective was if he was alone.

XoX

Musubi smiled and stretched out her arms as she and Akitsu entered the bath house with nothing but towels wrapped around their bodies. "This is so nice. I always love taking a hot bath. It's just too bad Naruto-Sama didn't want to join us, I really like being able to wash his back." She looked over at Akitsu who had been silent for a while. In fact, she hadn't spoken the entire time they had been walking from their room to the bath house. "Would you like me to wash your back?"

"Ah..." Akitsu blinked as her mind registered the question. She seemed to think it over for several seconds, her head tilting left, then right, before nodding shyly. "Ok."

"Great!" Musubi smiled as grabbed Akitsu's hand once more and pulled her over to the stool where she sat the snow woman down. The first thing she did was fill a bucket of water and pour it onto Akitsu's still form. The light-haired Sekirei stiffened for a moment, but soon relaxed when Musubi's now soapy hands began to rub and wash her back.

"This is so relaxing, just being able to wash away your troubles with a hot bath. The next time we come in here, we'll have to go in with Naruto-Sama. He's really good at washing backs, when he does it I feel all tingly and hot." Musubi paused for a moment, and it looked like she was about to bring her index finger to her lower lip when she seemed to realize her hand was still soapy. She went back to washing Akitsu a second later and continued. "It's really weird, nothing at all like I usually feel when I'm with Naruto-sama, but I guess that's just another part of being in love."

Akitsu blinked at the naïve girls words, paying them only enough attention to pick out the gist of them before deciding more than half of what she had just heard was something she didn't need to know. Wanting to get away from the topic Musubi had brought up inadvertently, she decided to focus on the first point in the conversation the brunette fighter had spoken of. "Ah," a pause. "Our Ashikabi-Sama... what's he like?"

"Naruto-Sama?" Musubi blinked, pausing in her washing to think about what she wanted to say about Naruto. After a few seconds she smiled a beautiful smile that lit up the entire room. Or it would have if the room wasn't fogged over with steam. "He's the best Ashikabi anyone could ever ask for. He's so kind and caring. I always get this warm feeling in my heart when he looks at me. I'm sure you'll love being his Sekirei as much as I do."

"Ah," Akitsu once more paused, her voice barely above the volume of a whisper. "I think so to."

Just then the door slid open and revealed Uzume. "Oh, Musubi how are you?" she asked with a smile, before she blinked at seeing Akitsu as well. "Who is this?"

"This is Akitsu-chan!" Musubi said. "She's Naruto-Sama's new..." The brunette snapped her mouth shut as she remembered that the Sekirei project was supposed to be a secret, and her Ashikabi had asked her not to say anything about it, and she didn't want to disappoint him. A surprising thing considering she had just told Miya she was a fist-type Sekirei just a few hours ago and would have told Uzume had it not been for Naruto himself.

Of course, now the question was what should she call Akitsu? If she wasn't allowed to say the woman was Naruto's new Sekirei than what was she allowed to call her? Musubi still wasn't aware of some of the more basic functions of human interaction, things like the proper term to use when talking about someone who they had more or less just met was one thing among many that she still didn't understand.

Wow, who knew learning discretion could be so hard.

"Friend," Musubi decided on. She paused again, before nodding once. Yes, friend sounded like a good word to use. Congratulating herself on her quick thinking, Musubi began speaking with more confidence. "We found her alone in a park, and she didn't have anywhere to go, so we're letting her live with us. It's going to be great!"

Uzume merely smiled at the animated girl as she grabbed a bucket, filled it up with water and sat down on the stool where she proceeded to begin the process of cleaning herself up. "I guess I'm happy for you then. But aren't you concerned?" she asked.

Musubi blinked and tilted her head, an obviously inquiring expression. "Concerned?"

"Yeah, you know. About how another girl's going to be living with your boyfriend," Uzume continued. Akitsu looked up at Uzume when she said said boyfriend, then looked away with a blush, but Musubi remained confused about why she should be concerned. Undeterred the newest tub member continued. "I mean, now you'll have to be careful about showing too much physical affection, if you know what I mean."

"No, I don't know what you mean," Musubi said in a confused voice. "Naruto-Sama has no problem showing us both physical affection. He likes my kisses and I'm sure he'll like Akitsu's too."

By now Akitsu's face had taken on a fire truck red color, making impossible to be played off as her face being flushed from the heat of the bath, should a person have bothered taking note of it. Strangely enough, aside from the blush her face was still as expressionless as could be. Uzume on the other hand was looking at Musubi strangely. "So you don't mind that your boyfriend is two-timing you?" she asked.

"Two timing?" Musubi repeated in a questioning tone. "Is that like discretion? Because I think I'm finally getting that one down."

Uzume face-palmed at the girls gullible and unsuspecting behavior. She opened her mouth again before her eyes landed on the other girl, or more specifically the winged crest on her back. Her eyes widening the busty young woman turned back to Musubi she said, "Wait a minute. Are you two both Sekirei's?"

"How did you know?" asked Musubi, pouting a a bit that Uzume had somehow managed to figure out that she and Akitsu were Sekirei's. And she had just gone through all that trouble actually remembering that she wasn't allowed to tell the other girl about the Sekirei Plan. So much for discretion.

"Because I've got one of those too," Uzume said, turning around and lifting her hair to reveal her own Sekirei crest, the mark attracting Musubi's eyes like a moth to a flame. "Check it out." Because she had turned around she never saw Musubi's eyes widen, nor the girls face blossom into a smile.

She also completely missed when the girl cracked her knuckles and prepared for battle.

XoX

Naruto looked around the backyard of the house, his mind going to work on what he could do with the space. The yard was of a decent size, about half the size of the house, if he were to guess. The grass cropping up from the ground was a lively green, and there were a very small flower garden surrounding one side of the fence, the one directly opposite the shoji screen doors that led back into the house proper. He knew Miya probably wouldn't allow him to change it too much, but he was hoping she would at least allow him to build a garden, or something of the sort.

'I could also use this place to help Musubi train,' the blond thought with a sigh. He really didn't want her, or anyone else to fight. Truth be told Naruto didn't like fighting anymore. When he was younger he had enjoyed it, at least the sparring aspects of combat, where two opponents could fight without any ill will or hard feelings afterwords. Now he wasn't even sure if he would enjoy that much. Unfortunately, right now there wasn't much he could do about stopping that, he knew nothing of the Sekirei plan other then what he was told. It also didn't take a genius to figure out that other Ashikabi would force their Sekirei to fight his. The best thing he could do was ensure his girls were prepared and ready for anything.

His girls. God that sounded so unusual. After living alone for so long the idea that he now had two girlfriends, for lack of a better term, was not only surprising but incredibly awkward, at least for him. A part of it Naruto knew, had to do with the fact that he was simply not used to the emotional attachment involved with physical intimacy anymore. For the thousands of years he had been alive since the Fourth Great Shinobi War sex had been just that, sex. The act of two people, a man and a woman consummating in order to achieve physical pleasure. Sure, there may have been one or two incidences where he had made the mistake of getting attached to the female in question, but those had been near the beginning of his long life, and he had learned not to make that mistake again after suffering through more heart break.

At least that's what he had thought. Now, however, he had two girls, who he was not quite sure what to make of, that were, for lack of a better term, bonded with him. Not the bonds he himself had proclaimed to cherish back when he had been a foolish youth. No, the bonds he now had were literal bonds that had been forged through what could amount to a very mild version of a tantric ritual. And they were strong ones too. Even now, Naruto could feel the two girls he had bound himself to, pinpricks of emotions that he recognized as not his within himself; Musubi's happiness and joy, and Akitsu's more solemn yet hopeful presence. They were both singing to him inside of his soul, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore. It seemed that, even separating himself from their presence did not diminish the strength of the bond.

That was troubling, he had been hoping that by distancing himself from them he would be able to think without their emotions affecting him. It was hard, dealing with these newfound emotions that were not his. Musubi's joy and enthusiasm at just being in his presence had made it impossible for him to feel anything but joy at being in her presence in return. More than anything else, that disturbed him. How could a bond between two people be so profound that it affected his own emotional paradigm? Was this what it meant to be an Ashikabi?

Naruto growled, and with a violent shake his head dispelled the thoughts quite forcefully. They weren't helping him right now. He had too little information about Sekirei to form even a basic theory, much less a workable hypothesis on the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi and why it was affecting him so much.

Needing something, anything, to keep his mind off his thoughts of bonds, Sekireis, and Ashikabis, Naruto took the last few steps down the small stairway leading out into the yard and looked around. Aside from the shrubbery located on the opposite side of the in, the yard only had a single tree, which stood off to the side, large and unobtrusive like a silent guardian standing ever vigilant over the inn.

He walked over to it, and placed his hand on it to help him sit down where he planned to meditate and immerse himself in the natural energy of the world. It was one of the few things that had never failed to help him achieve some measure of peace within himself, to let him know that he was not alone. While he might be the only being on this large earth that would never die, he could be assured that the planet around him would stay as well, till Armageddon came and the world was burned into cinders, till all was consumed in oblivion. If nothing else, Naruto could rest assured in the knowledge that the earth would be here for as long as he was.

However, before he could even think to start meditating there was a flash of green light that came from the spot his hand touched. The light spread out and before he knew it the tree was gone, and in it's place was young girl around maybe nine or ten years old. She was had yellow hair, green eyes and was wearing a off white one piece gown with a ribbon on the back. Her eyes were wide and frightened, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a small pang in his heart as he looked at her.

"Please help me..." she said. Naruto opened his mouth to ask her about why she needed help, and just what it was that she needed his help with. However, there was another flash of light and the girl had disappeared with the tree taking her place, once more standing it's silent vigil.

'What was that?' Naruto wondered to himself.Frowning, the blond sat down, leaning his back against the tree as he crossed his legs and tried to figure out what that new experience had been about. In his long life he'd never had something like that happen to him. He would have chalked it up to a dream, but considering he was not only still awake, but also in complete control over his own mental processes ruled that out. It was like the girl had reached into his subconscious mind and used her powers to call out to him.

Was this girl perhaps a Sekirei? Perhaps there was more to Sekireis than he had thought thus far. Granted, he knew next to nothing about Sekireis in general, aside from the small amount of information Musubi and Akitsu gave, which was very little in retrospect. Damn, it was so frustrating to find himself in a situation like this, where there was not only a lot going on behind the scenes that he was unaware of, but also where he couldn't even correct that problem by gaining the information he required. That was at least a part of the reason he refused to involve himself in human affairs. Too much backstabbing and political dealing, especially in this day and age, that he just didn't care for.

Naruto couldn't help but feel a little worried for the girl as well, the look on her face when she pleaded with him to help her was just one of those expressions that people like him – who no matter how disillusioned they had become with life still harbor a deep seated need to help others – made him want to find her and rescue her from whatever it was she was afraid of.

'I wonder if I could find her using Sennin Mōdo,' he frowned as he turned the thought over in his head. 'Judging from the mere fact that she was able to reach out to me using some strange power through the trees, I believe it's safe to assume she's a Sekirei. I know for a fact that I can feel them when they use chakra, or whatever their equivalent is since it's close enough to chakra that the feeling is identical from what I remember of when other ninja would use jutsu. Would Sennin Mōdo allow me to sense her? Of course, I'd still have the problem of picking her out of the other Sekirei's since I didn't get a feel for her signature...'

His thoughts and issues on the little girl and her plead for him to help her were derailed when one of the windows to the second story of Izumo Inn was shattered and Uzume came flying out in nothing more then a bath towel. She flipped around and landed on the fence with the grace of a fighter and Naruto sighed when her towel slipped off, revealing her breasts to the world. 'Ero-Sennin would be having a field day with this...' thinking of how the old pervert would have reacted to the situation the blond now found himself in brought a sad smile to his face.

Thoughts on his old sensei brought with it plans that would make Jiraiya proud. Naruto had just been handed prime Icha Icha material, and it would be going into the new book he was making. He hadn't come up with a name for it yet, but figured it would come in time.

Uzume noticed him looking at her and gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I think I already know the answer but I just have to ask. Are you Musubi's Ashikabi?"

"Yes, I am," Naruto answered, not at all showing his surprise that the girl already knew the term used to describe the partner to Sekireis in this 'game' as Minaka called it. It seemed that this girl was already aware of the Sekirei Plan, which meant she was either a Sekirei herself, or an Ashikabi.

Given the size of her chest and the fact that he had yet to meet a woman as attractive as her and Musubi who was not a Sekirei, Naruto was going with his first choice.

He stood up and walked away from the tree, forcing his mind to the task at hand instead of the little girl who needed his help. It bothered him. Oh boy did it bother him. Whether because she was a Sekirei or some other reason, a part of him was tempted to run off, find that little girl and rescue her, even as the cynical side of him that had grown over the years told him it wasn't his problem and he shouldn't even bother. Despite his thoughts and desires there really wasn't much he could do for her right at this very moment, so it was a mute point.

"I take it she's the reason your jumping out of the window in nothing more then a bath towel?" Naruto let his eyes gaze at the busty young woman, taking in her form. She easily rivaled Musubi in the bust department, and had the same lithe waist and toned thighs and hips that his Sekirei had. In fact, were it not for the general difference in facial structure, eye color, and her hair, Uzume could have been Musubi's sister.

It was a damn shame she was a Sekirei and most likely already had an Ashikabi.

"Yeah, listen, I don't want to fight anyone and that includes her." Uzume jumped down and ran to his side. Wrapping her arms around his neck Uzume pressed herself against him, her large bust pressing into his back and allowing Naruto to feel her nipples as they were rubbed across his skin. She gave the blond a sultry, pleading look and asked, "can you please make her stop?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her for a moment before grinning a grin so wide his eyes closed into slits and made him look like a fox.. "No need to go all seductress on me. I'll make her stop." He saw Uzume give him a sheepish grin, her hand coming to the back of her head and rubbing the back of it. "So if Musubi-chan is trying to fight you can I assume that you're a Sekirei then?"

Before Uzume could answer, Musubi appeared by the shattered remains of the window. She peered out, her head tilting as she searched for something, 'or more like someone,' Naruto thought to himself as he glanced at Uzume. It didn't take long for Musubi to look down at the backyard and finally notice them. When she did her face set itself in a surprisingly stern expression.

"Hey! You let go of Naruto-Sama right now!" The excitable girl shouted. Whether or not Uzume heeded her words seemed to be a moot point with the fist fighter, for not a moment after she spoke she he jumped out of the window and landed on the ground a few feet from the other Sekirei and Naruto. Uzume hid herself behind Naruto, while Akitsu, who had just followed them from the hall of the bath house, also jumped out of the window.

"Akitsu-chan, what's going on?" he asked, hoping this his light haired Sekirei would be the one to inform him of just how this situation had come about.

"Ah." A pause. "We have just found out that Uzume-san is a Sekirei," Akitsu said in her slow, monotone voice. Naruto was beginning to assume that was a normal tone for her and frankly, it reminded him of Gaara. "Musubi-san decided that it would be a good idea for them to do battle. She stated her name and number as the rules dictate when challenging another Sekirei. However, Uzume-san didn't want to fight and took off."

"Musubi-chan, is this true?" asked Naruto as he looked over at the girl with a stern expression. "Did you pick a fight with someone who didn't want to fight?"

"Yes," Musubi said, before blinking at him. Seeing the serious look on his face and the tone in his voice she looked down at the ground, her left foot kicking at some of the dirt as she took on the expression of a child who had just had their hands caught in the cookie jar. "Did I do wrong again?"

Naruto scratched at his chin before sighing. He unwound Uzume's arms from around his neck and walked over to Musubi, lifting her head before kissing on the nose. The girl under his gaze blinked at the action, tilting her head to the left curiously. "You didn't do anything wrong per say," the blond said carefully, trying to find out the best way to get through to this girl. "But you can't just go around picking fights with people that don't want to fight, even if they are other Sekireis."

"But we were always taught to fight each other when we ran into another Sekirei," Musubi said in a tone that was more questioning than anything else. It was quite clear to all those gathered that she was confused by Naruto's statement,

Frowning, Naruto asked, "who taught you that?"

"The professor of course."

"Figures," Naruto muttered with a slight growl. There was seriously something messed up with Minaka and the whole Sekirei plan if this was what it created. Worse for Naruto was that he couldn't see a reason for it yet. Was this just the whims of a madman hoping to entertain himself, or was there a more diabolical purpose that he was unaware of? Whatever the case was, there was something inherently wrong with a girl who believed that they had to fight whenever another of their kind was near.

"Naruto-Sama?" Musubi asked, her face taking on a concerned expression, no doubt wondering if she had said something wrong.

"Musubi-chan, I want you to listen to what I have to say," he said, then paused. Naruto turned to Akitsu and gave her the same serious look he had given Musubi. "You too, Akitsu-chan. This is something I feel you, no, all Sekireis should hear. Fighting for the sake of fighting is pointless, baseless and should never be condoned by anyone no matter the circumstances. There is only one reason someone should ever fight, and that is to protect."

"Ah," Akitsu paused, her head tilting to the side as she absorbed Naruto's words. "To protect?"

"Yes," Naruto nodded as he began informing his two Sekirei and the one that he was not bonded to about his beliefs. It had been a long time since he had ever truly thought of the reasons he used to fight. The simple fact was that Naruto didn't fight anymore, had not been in battle for thousands of years. The few times in the past when someone had tried to kill him had been few and far between, and most of those incidences had been during before the Renaissance period in Europe, near the time of the Middle Ages when he had been wandering the broken down remains of the Roman Empire. And at none of those times had the blond ever been in what he would call a serious fight. Sure, he had killed, he had killed quite a few people during that time. Men who had been foolish enough to think him an easy target because he never carried any visible weaponry and never had anybody guarding him. But even if a few of the people attacking him had some skill in combat, it was simply no match for his chakra enhanced capabilities.

The fact of the matter remained, no human in this day and age was capable of matching even the weakest of ninja during his time.

"Naruto-sama?" Blinking, Naruto startled when he saw Musubi looking at him so close that her nose was nearly touching his. He jerked back in surprise, then shook his head as he realized that he had once more gotten caught up in his own thoughts.

It had been happening surprisingly often lately.

"The only time fighting can ever be justified is when you are protecting something important to you," he continued on with his previous train of thought, the one he had been intending on imparting onto the three before him. "Whether that something is a person, a place, an object, or even an ideal. Protecting that which you hold close to your heart, the things that are precious to you, is the only time combat can be justified. And it's the only time when your true strength will come out."

"What do you mean by true strength?" asked Uzume, getting just as into his words as his Sekirei were. There was something about the way Naruto spoke, the way he talked about his beliefs with such conviction and passion that it was hard not to get caught up in his words. Maybe it was the tone in his voice, the way it possessed such passion, such an unbending will and belief that he was right. Or it could have been his eyes, intense orbs of the purest cerulean that seemed to be smoldering in flames that told her to listen to the blonds words. She didn't know, and a part of her didn't even care.

Whatever the case was, Uzume found herself listening to the blond as he spoke.

"True strength only comes when you are protecting something that is precious to you," Naruto restated. It was so strange, speaking about a belief he had, well, not quite abandoned, but had given up hope on. He had no precious people, there was nothing in this life that he cared for any longer. With the people he loved dead, his ideals shattered, and his curse making it so that moving onto the next life was impossible, Naruto had stopped following those beliefs. Not because he didn't want to follow them, but because he was no longer able to find that 'precious something' that he could protect with all his might.

At least, that was how it had been before now. Perhaps, just maybe, things were beginning to change. Only time would tell.

Even as these thoughts flowed through him, Naruto remained undistracted unlike his small lapse a few moments ago. His will was currently honed to a fine point as he continued with his speech. "When you have something that you hold so dear to your heart that you would be willing to risk your life to protect it, that is when your true strength comes out." The blond paused here, as if in thought. Then he shrugged his shoulders and continued. "There have even been documented cases that support this theory, women who's children have been in trouble and they performed great feats of strength to save them. I remember one time hearing about a woman whose baby was stuck in a car that had been flipped upside down, and she had actually lifted the car and righted it, despite the fact that such a feat of prowess should be physically impossible."

Naruto actually had a theory on that. He assumed that the adrenaline and fear that came from having their children in a life and death situation forced them to temporarily access their reserves to perform these feats of strength. It was quick enough that their chakra did not get drained enough to kill them, and was really the only way they would be able to do something like lifting a several ton car.

"Naruto-Sama," Musubi sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "That was so beautiful. From now on, I will follow your words and fight only to protect the thing that is most dear to my heart. I will protect Naruto-Sama with my dying breath." Naruto shifted slightly, uncomfortable upon hearing her words. Though Musubi had said it before, multiple times, his mind was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that this girl apparently loved him. The bond flowing between him and her only made dealing with this particular revelation that much worse.

"You won't be protecting anybody being so indecently exposed," came the voice of Miya. Naruto and the others all turned their heads to see the woman walking out of the house and down to the gravel of the small courtyard. She gave Akitsu, Musubi, and Uzume the look, that dangerous look that all woman learn at some point in their lives and speaks of inflicting great pain on the recipient of that look. Normally it was a look that wives directed at their husbands, or mothers at their sons.

Naruto was just glad it wasn't directed at him.

Once again that aura of dread appeared around her, the very air was thick with malicious intent as the area around the lavenderette seemed to darken as if there was a small solar eclipse happening just around Miya and nowhere else. Then it happened. Even Naruto could not suppress a small shudder when it appeared, a hannya mask, the kind used in Japanese Noh theatre to represent a jealous female demon or serpent. It crawled out from behind Miya's deceptively delicate frame, a mask of hatred that seemed to pierce your very soul. The fact that she had a pleasant smile on her face just made the look that much more creepy. "You three shouldn't be exposing yourselves in such a manner, I expect all of you to get dressed. Understood?"

Akitsu, Musubi, and Uzume all hid behind Naruto, crowding around his back as they held onto him and each other for comfort in the face of such malevolence. The blond turned his head and looked at the three with a raised eyebrow. Able to see no more than the top of their heads, he turned back to look at Miya whose hannya mask was still hanging out behind her.

"Don't worry about a thing, Miya-chan! I'll make sure they put some clothes on," he reassured her with a smile. While the mask itself was scary, no doubts about that, Naruto had experienced far worse. Orochimaru's killing intent when he was a genin had been worse than that. Still, one couldn't help but admire her technique, and it would definitely be a useful skill when he apparently wanted to reinforce his will on someone else and not saturate them with his own impressive killing intent.

Miya blinked at Naruto, surprised that he seemed completely unaffected by her hannya mask and malicious aura. It was very slight, only a small stiffening of the spine that anyone other than someone like Naruto would miss. It was just one more piece of evidence that the kind landlady who had taken him and Musubi in was far more than met the eye.

"See to it that they do," she said in a voice that was somehow both cheerful and solemn. Giving one more glance to the three girls hiding behind Naruto, the hannya mask disappeared and she turned around to walk back inside. As she left she looked back and smiled, "oh, and dinner will be ready soon."

As she left, all three Sekireis looked out from behind the blonds back. "Man, Miya-san can be so scary," Uzume said from where she was peeking out from behind Naruto. "Don't you think she's creepy when she's mad?"

"I suppose to some she might be," Naruto murmured, more to himself than Uzume. He rubbed his chin in thought. "I wonder if that technique of hers can somehow be replicated or if it's a trait unique to her."

"W-Wait!" Uzume cried, surprise lacing her voice. "You don't mean to tell me you're actually thinking of learning to make that – that thing!"

"Well," Naruto smiled as he looked over at her. "Perhaps not something similar but not the same. I got to keep some originality after all."

Uzume wasn't sure whether to face fault or shiver at the thought of someone wanting to actually learn Miya's fearsome technique. In the end, she did both.

XoX

Naruto frowned as he looked around the area he now found himself in. Everywhere he looked the blond could only see trees, trees, and more trees... with the occasional plant of course. It looked like he was in some kind of jungle, even the air was moist and sticky, much like one would expect in jungles found in South America. Worse still, even with his enhanced vision he could still only see a few feet in front of him.

He heard an echo through the forest, someone was crying, and they sounded young. He began to walk, hoping to find the source of the crying. As he moved, a part of him tried to figure out just how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was going to bed with Musubi and Akitsu. Did that mean this was a dream? If so it was the most realistic dream he had ever had. He could feel his lungs pumping oxygen in and out of his body with each breath he took, the feel of his sandaled feet crunching the rocks and gravel of the forest floor, even his hands were tingling with the added pressure as he was forced to move branches from his path.

Yeah, this was nothing at all likes those dreams where he had been getting chased by giant bowls of ramen hell bent on revenge for having eaten their bretheren.

Putting those thoughts in the back of his mind, Naruto ventured deeper into the jungle, eventually finding the source of the crying in the form of the young girl he had seen the other day. She was perched up on a branch, crouched down with her face buried in the tree. Her entire body was shaking from the crying she was doing, and Naruto was worried that the little girl might lose her balance and end up falling if she didn't get down from their soon.

"Hello there little one," Naruto said kindly. His words seemed to bring the girl out of her crying state, at least they attracted her attention. Bright green eyes with the innocence of youth peered down at him partially hidden by a frame of messy blond hair while the lower half of her face remained hidden behind the branches. Naruto gave the girl a warm smile and held out his hands. "Come on, why don't you jump down from there and Onii-chan will catch you."

The little girls eyes seemed to light up with hope at the word 'Onii-chan'. She looked from the blond to the tree branch, than back to him. After a few seconds, she scuttled to her feet and Naruto worried that she might end up falling. He was thankful when she didn't and instead managed to safely jump down towards him. Like a feather the little girl fell into his arms, and Naruto pulled her close until he had one arm secured around her legs and the other her back.

"There you go," Naruto said, giving the girl a grin. "So what's your name?"

"K-Kusano," the girl said in a shy voice.

"Kusano, huh? That's a cute name," Naruto gave the girl a kind smile. Kusano gave him her own shy smile even as a small blush lit her face and the blond continued. "So what's wrong, Ku-chan? Why have you called me?"

"It-it's all Kusano's fault," Kusano said, sniffing. "Kusano was being bad and selfish and wanted to go outside." Naruto almost frowned at the words. What she had told him was only useful if he had some context to go on.

"So what happened?" he asked softly, Naruto didn't want to force to the girl to relive what seemed to be painful memories. At the same time he needed to know more if he was going to figure out what was happening and how he might be able to help. Kusano opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get a word in her body began to glow.

As if an invisible hand had grabbed onto her, she was pulled away from Naruto, her eyes widening as one of her hands desperately shot out to latch onto him. Naruto reciprocated the gesture out of insinct, but the moment their hands touched, his own went right through hers."No! Onii-chan! Help me, Onii-chan!" She called out, even as her body began to fade.

"Don't worry, Ku-chan! I'll come find you!" Naruto said just as the girl disappeared, leaving him alone in the strange jungle.

"Ku-chan," Naruto mumbled as began to stir, his mind once more returning to the land of the conscious. Even as he awoke, he could still feel the girl in his arms. She was a lot heavier than he had expected her to be. She also seemed to be a lot bigger than he had remembered when holding her in the forest. Even though his arms were spread apart, he could feel the weight in both of them as he lay on his bed.

Wait. Weight in both of them?

Cracking his eyes open just a peek, Naruto tried to figure out just why it was that he was feeling the weight of two people, people who were much larger and heavier than a nine year old little girl, in both of his arms. He paused for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room, then tilted his head slightly so he was looking down.

"So that's why my arms feel like something was sleeping on them," he mumbled out in a low tone. The reason for this statement, of course, was because something was sleeping on his arms. Two somethings in fact.

Currently sleeping with him on the air mattress was both Musubi and Akitsu, who were snuggling into him on either side. Rather than feel any measure of surprise, shock, or embarrassment that most normal men who looked to be his age would probably feel at seeing two stunning beauties snuggled into his body, all Naruto felt was a slight stirring of long suppressed emotions. He couldn't help but enjoy the warmth that came from both their own body heat and the feelings they emitted over the bond, which Naruto noticed now included Akitsu. It was in all honesty the first time he had slept with two women at once and was therefore a novel experience for the whiskered blond.

Wearing absolutely nothing, Musubi was sleeping in the same position she had the last few times they had slept together. Her head resting on his shoulder while her breasts were pressing themselves against his chest. Some time during the night her hand must have sought his because she was currently grasping his left hand in her own, and had brought it dangerously close to her chest. One leg was thrown over his and was actually slightly rubbing against what the blond recognize as his morning wood.

On his other side Akitsu was, if possible, even closer to him then Musubi was. Unlike his fighting-type Sekirei, she was wearing one of his large shirts as sleepwear, though he was not surprised when to feel that she was not wearing underwear. Akitsu was odd like that. Her entire body had quite literally conformed around his, keeping as little distance between them as possible, almost like she was trying to make sure he wouldn't leave her. One arm was snaked around his waist, hugging him to her, or her to him, it was hard to tell, while her face was buried in the crook of his neck. He could even feel her cool breath against his neck, sending shivers down his spine. Her other arm had slid itself under his body, and Naruto had to wonder how long it would take for that particular appendage to regain feeling.

He must have had a case of wandering hands that night as well, because his right hand was not only resting against Akitsu's firm derriere. The fact that she was not wearing panties meant that he was cupping her ass cheek directly. Despite the position he was in Naruto was not embarrassed, while this was, oddly enough, only the second time he had ever slept with a girl – two in this instance – and not had sex, and actually woken up with the intention of seeing said girl – or girls – again, he had long since become immune to most situations where he might have been embarrassed when he was younger.

His hand slid up Akitsu's tush, more out of respect for her than any fear of reprisals, and placed itself on her hip instead. While he removed his hand from what could be considered by most women to be 'forbidden territory' Naruto let his mind wander back to the dream he had. That girl, Kusano was in trouble. He was now sure that she was the one responsible for the Botanical Garden's overgrowth of plants. He was also positive that she was in some kind of danger, though from what was hard to figure out. She was definitely a Sekirei, so perhaps MBI would be after her. He was not sure what happened, but from Musubi's words all Sekirei lived within the labs of MBI while they were being adjusted. Did that mean Kusano was still being adjusted and had escaped? Or had something else happened? And if so what?

As he was left to his thoughts, his right hand absently stroking Akitsu's side, said Sekirei and Musubi began to wake up.

"Hiyah..." without opening her eyes, Musubi sat up and stretched her arms up over her head as she let out a cute yawn. The sound of her back and arms popping resounded throughout the room before she let one of her arms fall back down to her sides while the other went up to her eyes and began rubbing the sleep out of them. On his other side Akitsu used her left arm as support to push herself up. Despite being nearly impeccable and statuesque during the day, it was clear that his newest Sekirei was not a morning person. Aside from her hair being in general disarray, sticking up at odd angles all over the place, her eyes were droopy, more so than usual, had a lot of accumulated gunk in them, and were slightly red. The ice user blinked several times, her free hand moving up to being the arduous process of rubbing the sleep out of them as her mouth opened in a wide yawn.

"Good morning, Musubi-chan, Akitsu-chan," Naruto greeted the pair as he watched them. Once more, he couldn't help but feel... something, as he watched the two of them while they went through their own processes to wake up. Just what that something was he didn't know, and truth be told, a part of him was afraid to know.

"Naruto-Sama, good morning," Musubi said with a sleepy smile. She leaned down and kissed him directly on the lips, taking great pleasure from the feelings sharing such an affectionate gesture with her Ashikabi gave her as her wings flared out behind her. Naruto managed to keep himself from stiffening at her affectionate gesture, and even returned the kiss. Yet even as he went through the motions, a part of him tried to fight the feelings this one small action evoked.

When she broke the kiss Naruto turned to look at Akitsu, who was blushing a little in embarrassment. He paused for a moment, unsure if he should truly continue. However, he had given Musubi a kiss, and it wouldn't quite be fair if she got one and he didn't allow his newest Sekirei the same chance at receiving his affection, however forced it was. "Akitsu-chan, would you like a kiss too?"

"Ah." There was her customary pause. Even though Akitsu's face didn't change much, Naruto thought he could detect a hopeful look entering her eyes. "Can I?" Naruto managed to keep his smile sincere before leaning up and claiming her lips with his own. The snow woman stiffened for a moment, then relaxed as she gently pressed her lips against the blonds. The light-haired woman's wings flared as she gave a soft and demure moan into the kiss. Ending it, the blond gave her one more peck on the lips before he remembered his dream.

"Hey, Musubi-chan, Akitsu-chan, I have a question," he started cautiously. So far neither of them had really been able to provide much in the way of information. Musubi didn't seem to know anything beyond fighting, and Akitsu was just not that talkative. Still, right now they were the only source of information on Sekirei that he had.

"What do you want to know?" asked Musubi, pleased to know that Naruto needed her for something.

"Ah." Akitsu gave a slow nod. "I will help if I can."

"Ok. Last night I had a dream," Naruto started. Once again, his body seemed to respond without his mind giving input, pulling both Musubi and Akitsu towards him so he could wrap them both in his arms while their heads rested on his chest. He told himself that it was just so he could get comfortable while telling his story and that there was no other reason for his actions. "I was wandering through a forest, when I ran into a little girl who was crying. I don't understand her circumstances, but she said it was all her fault because she wanted to go outside. I assume she's talking about why she was in the forest. Anyways, she told me to find her and help her. The thing is, I think she's a Sekirei, but I don't know for sure. Can Sekireis call out to people through dreams like that?"

"Oh, I think I heard something about this!" Musubi said, nearly bouncing up and down in her enthusiasm. She probably would have to if she weren't currently snuggled into Naruto's side. The blond and Akitsu looked over at her and she smiled. "I've heard from the professor who regulated me that when a Sekirei reacts to her Ashikabi but can't find them, she'll often reach him in his dreams."

"So she's definitely a Sekirei then, and she's reacting to me," Naruto muttered even as he gave the naïve girl a strange look. So she could remember hearing about how a Sekirei might try to reach a person they are reacting to in their dreams, but she couldn't remember her adjustor giving her an important lecture on sex? How messed up was that.

Naruto shook his head. He didn't want to know, he really didn't. Getting back to the topic at hand he asked, "what do you think I should do?"

"What do you mean? If she's reacting to you then you have to find her," Musubi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe it was as far as Sekireis went. He still didn't know enough about Sekirei to judge what the norm was when it came to them. Hell, he still didn't even know what a Sekirei was beyond that they were apparently some kind of super humans with the ability to use chakra that MBI let loose. "She's meant to be your Sekirei."

"And do you feel the same way, Akitsu-chan?" asked Naruto as he looked at the light haired beauty.

"Ah." Akitsu blinked at him and Naruto got the impression that the woman was carefully considering his question. After a few seconds she gave him a slow nod. "I think you should find her." He gave a nod at her words, already having guessed her unspoken thoughts. Not even twenty-four hours ago, Akitsu had been, in her words, broken. She had been alone and in the depths of her own despair. If anyone knew how this little girl was feeling, it would be her.

"Also," Naruto was startled when Akitsu began speaking again. Both he and Musubi looked over at the ice user as she cocked her head to the side. "Before I... escaped from the lab, I heard rumors about Ashikabi who forcibly winged Sekirei."

"So she's possibly in danger of being forcibly winged? Is that what you're saying?"

"Ah." Akitsu paused, then relaxed and nodded. "Yes."

"In that case we'll need to find this girl soon." Naruto frowned at the thought of someone forcing a Sekirei to be winged. From what he understood, a Sekirei's Ashikabi was someone who reacted with them, he assumed it had something to do with them having compatible chakra signatures, or maybe there was some kind of emotional element involved. He couldn't be too sure, but he assumed that certain Sekirei only reacted with certain Ashikabi. The thought that a Sekirei could be winged by someone they did not react to had never crossed his mind. He had simply not contemplated it as being possible.

Now that he thought about though, perhaps it made some sense that anybody who was capable of being an Ashikabi could wing any Sekirei. There was obviously something special about Ashikabis that made them different from normal humans, otherwise the ability to become an Ashikabi would not be such a big deal. But what was that difference? What made an Ashikabi special compared to a normal human? Was it there chakra? Perhaps they had more than the average human, enough at least for the purpose of winging Sekirei. After all, he had felt the drain on his own reserves, and it was a decent bit bigger than what most humans were capable of producing. The amount of chakra both Akitsu and Musubi had taken from him would have killed a normal human. From that standpoint, his theory was workable, but he would need a lot more information before he could be certain of whether or not his hypothesis was correct.

Bringing his mind away from his new possible discovery on Ashikabis, Naruto thought about the information Akitsu had given him. He did not know how she had acquired that information, and was honestly surprised she had even remembered it. Maybe she had simply deemed the knowledge that someone out there was forcibly winging Sekirei to be more important than remembering to put on underwear.

With his mind now focused on this new idea, Naruto found that he was not surprised in the least. Disgusted? Yes. The idea that someone would force a Sekirei to bond with them was one that repulsed Naruto. From what he understood so far about the bond between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi, it was a very intimate thing, almost sacred. It formed a literal bond between the two that kept up at all times. Even now Naruto could still feel Akitsu and Musubi in the back of his mind, their presence comforting him in ways he did not even realize was possible. By forcibly winging a Sekirei, the Ashikabi in question was, in essence, trampling on that bond. They were declaring it worthless and less important than their own needs. It was a selfish, heartless, and cruel thing to do to another human being.

It was just another reason Naruto had become so disenfranchised with humanity. That human beings were not only capable of what seemed to be essentially enslaving another being to them, but also perfectly willing to do such a thing was beyond reprehensible, and just gave Naruto one more reason to hate humanity. After all of the fighting he and others had done for their freedom, after all of the hardship, pain, blood, loss, and tears, it seemed that humans still refused to understand each other.

Sometimes Naruto regret not letting Tobi enslave the world using the moon to cast an eternal issusion. At least than Naruto would not be forced to watch as humans continued to show how depraved they could be.

"Ah, Ashikabi-sama/Naruto-sama are you alright/are you ok?"

Naruto blinked, his eyes clearing to find Musubi and Akitsu looking at him in concern, most likely at the stormy expression his thoughts were causing. It took a concerted effort of will, several deep breaths, and the patience of a man who had lived for thousands of years, but Naruto was eventually able to relax the look on his face. He could not quite get rid of the dark thoughts now possessing him, but he could at least mask them by bringing happier thoughts to the fore. It wasn't quite what he wanted, but it would have to do for the moment.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, smiling at the pair. Musubi smiled back immediately. Akitsu on the other hand looked at him intensely for a few seconds before relaxing. She gave him a brief nod. Having realized that he nearly let his emotions go again, the blond shinobi made a mental note to begin meditating more often to keep his dark thoughts from boiling over, especially now that he had this bond. He had no clue if they could feel him like he could them, but Naruto did not want to take any chances. The thought of what might happen if these two were to experience what he experienced every day, the accumulated negative emotions and thoughts of several thousand years, was not one he wished to contemplate.

With his negative views of the world and his own boiling emotions hidden under layers and layers of carefully crafted defenses, Naruto decided to get back to the whole point of their original conversation. "I'm already pretty positive of where she is," he started. "But we'll need to make sure I'm right before doing anything, it wouldn't do for us to go off half cocked and end up being wrong. I'll be counting on both of you for help."

"Don't worry, Naruto-Sama. You can count on me!" Musubi said, pumping her fists in the air, which did delightful things to her breasts, as Naruto could attest to. They really were some of the largest breasts he had ever seen in his life. And quite distracting too. Seriously, if she had let those things lose a when he had been... brooding, his thoughts might have never gotten so dark in the first place.

"Ah." Naruto pulled his eyes away from Musubi's swaying breasts to look at the light-haired snow woman. The eternal shinobi was honestly startled and more than a little unnerved when Akitsu gave him a look of such complete devotion that it would make the star crossed expression Tenten had when talking about Tsunade look like a childhood crush. "I'll help too."

"Thanks," Naruto said with a smile. He let the pair go and slid himself out from under them. Both Musubi and Akitsu shifted as he moved, slightly disappointed looks crossing their face as their Ashikabi extricated himself from their grip and stood up. After doing a few stretches of his own, he offered his hands to the two of them, which they accepted. Lifting them to their feet he began talking again. "Now we should get dressed to begin the day. Musubi-chan, would you mind letting Akitsu-chan borrow some of your clothes? I plan to take her shopping today while I do a preliminary search of the area I think our lost Sekirei is most likely to be, but until then..."

"I understand," Musubi gave another one of her signature smiles as she grabbed onto Akitsu's hand and began pulling her into the closet. The ice user stumbled slightly, having obviously not expected such an action, before managing to right herself and allow the enthusiastic girl to pull her along. "Come on, let's see what I have to wear."

Naruto also decided to get dressed, as he was currently in nothing more then a pair of black boxers with a ramen bowl theme on them. He followed the pair to the closet and began outfitting himself. The blond ended up dressed in a casual pair of clothes, blue jeans with a white shirt, a faded orange hoodie and a pair of black sneakers. When he was finished, the blond looked over to see that Musubi and Akitsu had dressed much differently.

Musubi was wearing a pair of what looked like red underwear, the only reason he knew otherwise was because of the fabric it was made from. The stretchy, elastic material let him know she was wearing a pair of bloomers, though he did have to wonder why she would choose to wear something like that. She also had on a white shirt with red kanji on it. The shirt was so tight on her that Naruto could see her nipples poking out through the fabric, which also let him know she had decided to forgo wearing a bra. It took all of his considerable will power not to get a hard on just from the sight of her.

Meanwhile, Akitsu had taken to wearing a pair of white short shorts, a white skirt over that, and a white button up shirt that Naruto recognized as one of his. Not that he cared about her wearing his clothes. The blond would freely admit that he thought she looked sexy wearing his clothes, far better then he looked in them. But god dammit if this didn't make his already difficult position harder. It apparently wasn't enough that he was dealing with this bond, he also had to deal with the fact that the two he was bonded two were stunning, incomparable beauties the likes of which he had rarely ever seen.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto closed his eyes and calmed both his raging hormones and his thoughts. When he opened his eyes again, he was once more a sea of calm.

"Alright," he started, clapping his hands together. "Are we all ready for – huh? What's that noise?" He paused, cocking his head to the side as his sensitive ears picked up a noise his mind had previously been too busy to pay attention to. Turning his head the blond look out of the open door where the sound of swishing could be heard. He, Musubi and Akitsu all shared a look before walking out of the door and onto the balcony to see who or what the cause of the noise was.

The source turned out to be Miya. Her left hand was lightly clenching a sword, a katana judging from the legnth, at her side, the tsuka and the saya were obviously crafted from the same wood. The hilt and the sheath flowed seamlessly into one another. Were it not for Naruto's unnaturally sharp eyesight, he would have never been able to see the small line where the two objects separated. The weapon, while plain, was obviously well crafted as far as modern day swords went.

The lavenderette had a very relaxed look on her face, eyes closed and very little in the way of facial expressions. Her body was likewise very loose, yet ready, like a cobra that was coiled and prepared to strike. A few leaves were falling around her, and Miya brought up her other hand to let it lightly rest upon the tsuka of her blade.

There was a flash of light, a slight streak of silver as the only sign to Musubi and Akitsu that the woman had drawn her katana at all before it was resheathed just as quickly. A leaf that had been passing her mid level just as she had drawn her katana was split in half in perfectly even segments.

Her movements were perfect.

Naruto took note of her stance, it was much more narrow then the traditional kendo stance, and slightly angled to present a three-quarters view to the opponent. Designed for someone of a smaller build, more then likely made for a woman, the stance was one which would allow the user to remain light on their feet and able to react both defensively and offensively with equal ease. It was a stance designed for quick movement in all directions and Iaijutsu, the art of drawing the sword at blinding speeds for either a quick counter attack, or an aggressive per-meditated assault.

He also noted her stance was perfect and relaxed, with not a single flaw in her posture. His first guess that she was a warrior of some skill looked like it was proving to be true.

"She's got nice technique," Naruto said, more to himself then the others. "I can't detect a single flaw in her swing or her execution." It was a bit surprising to the blond when he felt the familiar feeling of excitement settle in his chest. It had been a long time since he had met a swordsmen with skills as masterful as hers. So long. And for the first time in a long time, Naruto was tempted to ask someone if they would be willing to spar with him.

A squeal alerted him to the girl at his side. He looked over at Musubi and sweat dropped when he saw her hands fisted under her chin and stars in her eyes. The girl wiggled excitedly in her place and Naruto thought she looked like she was about to orgasm. It was kind of creepy, if he were honest with himself.

With her attention no longer on her practice, she looked up at them and affected a surprised look. "Oh, hey, good morning you three." Naruto was not fooled for a second. He knew she had known they were there the moment they appeared on the balcony, but her act would certainly fool anyone else. It seemed to work well enough on Akitsu and Musubi.

Taking his attention away from the lavenderette, Naruto looked at Musubi when he heard the girl let out a another delighted squeal. When he saw that her entire body was literally shaking with excitement, the blond began to worry. She looked like she was about to burst. In a way she did, not even a second later the excitable girl leapt off the balcony, landing lightly on her feet just a few feet from Miya.

"Landlady-san, would you spar with me? Please?" said Musubi as she looked at the woman with pleading and awe filled eyes.

Miya put a hand to her mouth as she giggled, her eyes crinkling in amusement. She brought her hand back down, and it looked like she had decided to indulge the girl as her hand was drawn back to her blade. "Okay, but I won't go easy on you."

"That's what I want. Ready, here I come!"

Naruto and Akitsu watched from the balcony as Musubi charged towards the purple-haired landlady. The fist fighter was actually pretty fast, her speeds were definitely around the same level as Rock Lee's after he had become an elite jonin. All things considered that was very good, especially considering it didn't look like she had any formal training. Naruto was sure that with training she could be faster though.

The brunette Sekirei threw her fist out, a straight jab aiming for Miya's head. However, the more experienced woman dodged it not only very easily, but with minimal movement as well, just a slight tilting of her head to let the blow pass by her left.

"Well, since we've got some prime entertainment for the moment, I think we should hold off on our shopping trip to watch this spar," Naruto said, making Akitsu look at him. "I haven't actually gotten to see Musubi fight yet, so it would be a good idea to know what she's capable of. I'll want to see what you're capable of as well."

"Ah," Akitsu paused, the nodded. "Yes."

Once more it happened, Naruto would later blame it on his own excitement at the thought of watching the spar. His body reacted before his mind could tell it not to. He leaned down and scooped Akitsu into his arms. The normally emotionless Sekirei let out a startled 'eep!' as Naruto launched himself off the balcony and into the land. He watched as the ground came closer and closer, his chakra already circulating to his legs as he prepared to land. When he hit the ground he bent his knees to absorb some of the impact, his feet making two very small show prints in the earth as he did so. Straightening his bent posture, he walked over to the small veranda leading to the inside and sat down with Akitsu firmly seated on his lap.

As his arms once again moved on an instinct he didn't have, Akitsu flushed. It was very slight, just a minor reddening of her cheeks as the blond's arms secured themselves around her waist. But it was enough that even someone more oblivious to such things like Musubi would have noticed. Naruto, however, wasn't actually paying attention at the moment, his eyes instead focused on the spar happening before him.

He watched as Musubi continued attacking the more experienced female with great zeal. However, no matter how many punches she launched she was unable to hit the purple-haired swordswoman. Even when she came at the woman from behind, all Musubi had to show for it was getting a small lump on her head where Miya hit her with the butt end of her sword.

"Musubi-chan has a lot of energy and great potential, but she lacks finesse," he muttered, more to himself then anyone else, though Akitsu could hear him just fine. "She's putting all of her power into her first punch, making her unable to follow up with any combination attacks. Add on to the fact that she's throwing her entire weight into her shoulders, rather then spreading it evenly amongst her body for a better flow in combat and you have a problem. She won't be able to bull doze over someone like Miya with that kind of technique."

From what he could see Miya was incredibly talented with a blade, even more so than he had originally estimated. All of her movements were designed to not only utilize the 'minimum effort for maximum outcome' style of combat, but also combine Miya's raw speed and strength to create a style that was both showy and deadly. It combined all the grace and skills of a dancer with the power and abilities of a being who had managed to surpass the physical capabilities of humanity today.

It was, in short, something he would have expected to see from one of the kage's of his own time, perhaps even better. Even more impressive was that Naruto was positive the woman was holding back.

"Wow, sounds like someone know what he's talking about." Naruto turned his head to see Uzume sitting behind him. The busty brunette gave him a grin before setting her head on his shoulder, the act of intimacy making him raise an eyebrow but not react otherwise. "You a fighter or something?"

"Or something," Naruto replied offhandedly. Uzume puffed up her cheeks in a pout, but the blond just chuckled at her and let one of his hands begin rubbing up and down Akitsu's leg. He frowned for a moment when he realized what he was doing and paused. When his ceased movements caused the snow woman on his lap to frown in disappointment, Naruto twitched slight before resuming his movements. Akitsu seemed to settle down again, her cheeks lightly suffused with red as she made to hesitantly place her head on his unused shoulder.

"Well you can't say she doesn't have a lot of energy," Uzume commented as she watched Musubi fighting with enough energy for both her and Miya. Then she sent a sly look towards Naruto. "By the way, those gym clothes, is that what your into?"

Naruto resisted a sigh at the obvious teasing. He was tempted to simply play off her words as nothing, or ignore her, but another part of him was actually interested in playing a game of 'who can make who the most uncomfortable' with his new housemate. It had, after all, been so very long since he'd allowed himself to indulge in simple banter for the sake of doing so.

"I'm not going to lie and tell you I don't think she looks absolutely sexy in those, if that's what you mean," he said, grinning when the woman puffed up her cheeks again, having obviously been hoping to catch him off guard. Too bad for her she was three thousand years too soon to be a match for him. "But those were clothes she bought, not me. To be honest, I don't really care what she wears. Her and Akitsu-chan here would look beautiful in anything."

While Akitsu's slightly pink cheeks darkened, Uzume grinned. "Sounds like we've got a charmer here."

Naruto shrugged, still playing his part of naïve playboy, a paradox if there ever was one. "I just say what I think." That was true. A part of Naruto's charm was his ability to slip complements into conversation without really intending to. It was at least half the reason he had gotten as much sex as he'd had. Naruto simply spoke his mind, and it just so happened that what was on his mind was often complimentary. At least when it came to women.

Uzume seemed to realize she wouldn't be making him flustered any time soon. With a huff, she looked back out at the spar, taking in the two battling it out before letting loose a sigh. "Some day she and I will have to fight each other, whether we want to or not."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Naruto said, snorting loudly. "You and she are friends, and I'm not going to let her fight someone she cares about."

"It's not something you'll be able to help," Uzume said. "We're destined to fight, because we're both Sekireis."

"Don't give me any kind of bullshit about destiny or fate," Naruto actually scowled at the woman. Uzume actually looked taken aback by the vehemence in his voice. "Garbage like that is what people who are too weak to create their own fate feed others. I won't let Musubi-chan or Akitsu-chan fight someone they care about. If that really is the fate of a Sekirei then I'll change it," he looked back at Musubi and Miya, his eyes hardening. "I'll change their fate. I don't care if I have to storm M.B.I. headquarters and kill Hiroto Minaka myself to do it either."

Naruto blinked as his speech finally ended. Where had that come from? That intense feeling of emotion, that passionate desire to help a group of people he had only met a few days ago. Why was it that after all this time he was getting so worked up about something that he wouldn't have given two shits about a few days ago?

What the hell was wrong with him?

Uzume looked at the blond with wide eyes for several long seconds, while Akitsu actually felt herself grow slightly hot from the blonds determination and the feelings it was bringing into their bond.

"That's... some goal," Uzume said after a while. Her eyes were on him with equal parts admiration and uncertainty. "I'm not sure how you would even plan on going about accomplishing something like that. The only way to stop Sekireis from fighting each other is to stop the Sekirei plan."

Her words brought a halt to Naruto's self recrimination. He looked over at the busty Sekirei in the star shirt, the only sign of his struggle being the frown on his face. For a second, he hesitated, doubts and uncertainties hidden behind a picture perfect poker face.

Was he really ready to commit himself to something that involved helping others? Was he willing to break his longtime isolation from humanity and it's problems? Well, he supposed he was already neck deep in this Sekirei Plan, being bonded to two Sekirei and all. But was this what he wanted? The answer was both complicated and simple, and one that he was not sure he was ready to acknowledge. In truth, he had already decided, even if his own mind was struggling to come to terms with that fact.

In his minds eye the blond saw the struggles he and his friends had gone through so long ago. Their fight to ensure that people would have the freedom to make their own choices. Being forced to fight against people he had come to respect, both as shinobi and as human beings, all because some sick fuck had decided to resurrect them from the dead. The differences between that time and this were obvious, but Naruto couldn't help but draw up the similarities between now and back then. While these people, these Sekirei, were not being forced to fight their loved ones and people they respected that had come back from the dead, they were still fighting their own people. Even if Naruto did not know what a Sekirei was, he assumed from the fact that they were all called Sekirei that they were all related in some way or another, either by blood or whatever MBI had done to them they were family.

No one should be forced to fight their own family.

"Then that's what I'll do," he said softly, his mouth twitching slightly as he did so, as if unsure what his expression should be. "I don't care what I have to do, I won't let the people I care for fight each other." He closed his eyes and grit his teeth as he tried to block out the memories of his own haunted past. "There's nothing worse in this world, then being forced to fight someone you love."

One more a stunned look crossed Uzume's face. She seemed to find it uncomfortable to look at the blond and was forced to look away, her own eyes closing as she did so. Akitsu looked up at him, the bond apparently allowing her to sense his inner turmoil because she moved one of her hands to grab one of Naruto's. More than the hand now gripping his own, the feeling being sent through his bond flooded his body and forced his broiling emotions away. His body relaxed, his mind once more becoming calm.

Yep, he was definitely going to have to do some meditation.

Sighing, Naruto called out to Musubi, stopping her spar with Miya. "Listen, I'm going to take Akitsu-chan shopping. We'll see you when we get back, ok?"

"Ok! Take care, Naruto-Sama," Musubi shouted with cheerful enthusiasm, her left hand coming up to wave at him.

Naruto chuckled as he stood up, set down Akitsu and then laced the fingers of his left hand with her right. He didn't have time to meditate right now, there were things he needed to get done, but physical contact with his Sekirei seemed to keep his feelings and thoughts at bay. It bothered him, having to rely on others, but for now it would have to do.

"I want you to also prepare for tonight," he called out to Musubi again. "By then I should have the location of the person who reacted to me and we can go and rescue her." While Miya and Uzume looked confused by his words, Musubi just gave him a cheerful smile and pumped her fist.

"Ok!"

"You ready?" he asked Akitsu, favoring her with a smile. She looked over at him and nodded. "Then let's get going."

XoX

Naruto sighed as he stood outside of the changing room Akitsu was in. It hadn't been long since they arrived at the shopping district, an hour at most. During that time they had stayed in this one store for more or less all of it, and his Sekirei had been in the changing room for about half of that. He could hear shuffling going on inside of the room. While he knew women normally took longer then men to get their clothes ready, out of principle if nothing else, he couldn't help but wonder if she was alright.

"Akitsu-chan, are you alright in there?" he asked.

"Ah," Akitsu made what Naruto was coming to recognize as her customary pause. "I'm having some trouble putting my clothes on," she admitted quietly. Were this an anime, Naruto would have no doubt face-faulted at her words. Since this was not an anime but real life, all he did was palm his face before running his fingers through his hair.

Seriously, how hard was it to put on a set of clothes? She had already been in there for half an hour!

"Do you need help?" he finally relented and asked.

"Ah." Once more with the pausing. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of quirk the snow user had gained or if there was some other reason he was unaware of. "Yes." Her words, err, word, worried the blond slightly. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if she was actually having troubles changing, or if she just wanted him to change her. The idea of dressing the bodacious female up like a doll was only slightly appealing, he prefer taking clothes off to putting them on. At the same time, if she really was having difficulties getting dressed, that didn't speak well of her ability to survive in the real world. Given that he knew not which one was the answer, a part of him couldn't help but be curious and wonder how she had managed to survive so long before meeting him.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching him, the blond shinobi slipped inside of the changing room. The first thing he saw was Akitsu tangled up in several straps that he was sure did not belong on a kimono. Though he would admit to having never dealt with a kimono for females. Were female Kimono's different from their male varients? Perhaps those were built in bra straps?

Not quite sure what to do to help her, the blond began grabbing at the straps and attempting to untangle her first.

"Ok, let's see here..." Naruto stuck his tongue out between his teeth as he actually focused on what he was doing. It really was quite difficult to keep his focus. With each strap of fabric he managed to untangle the girl out of, more and more of her skin was revealed, opalescent milky white skin that seemed to glow ethereally in the lighting of the changing room.

It took a while before the two of them were finally able to get Akitsu dressed, the task proving more difficult than Naruto felt it truly warranted, and during that time the blond noticed that was his newest Sekirei was wearing wasn't quite a kimono. The top was a white shirt with long, flowing sleeves in a similar make to a kimono, but that was where the similarities ended. The cut out for her head was lined with black fabric and was larger then the standard cutout for her head, it was wider, allowing some of Akitsu's shoulders to be seen and then going down in a very low V cut that showed off nearly a third of her breasts and stopped at her upper stomach. A black obi with a bow in the front held the shirt tightly against her body.

The blond also noticed at some point, that she had chains in her ensemble, which he had only spotted when she began trying to place them around herself. With some help from him one set of chains was used to bind her clothes together above her breasts, while the other set looped around her neck and then went down between her cleavage, giving her what Naruto would call an elegant dominatrix look.

Finishing her look was a two piece skirt that wrapped around the lower half of her body. It was the simplest part of the woman's ensemble, but somehow seemed to fit and Naruto had to admit that he enjoyed the way the simple cloth gracefully flowed of her hips and legs, with a split in the front to allow for quick movement when needed.

"You look really nice in these clothes," Naruto said with a smile, though he had to admit the chains just looked weird. "I don't know why but they suit you."

""Ah." A pause as Akitsu tilted her head to the side. "So you like them?" she asked, and though her voice was still cold and melancholic, the blush on her face told him she liked his compliment. The look on her face was undeniably cute, combined with her strangely submissive demeanor and the odd fetish-like garb and Naruto simply found his will leaving him. Before his mind could catch up with his body, the blond shinobi cupped her face in his hands and drew her in for a kiss.

Perhaps it was the way she looked, perhaps it was the bond. Naruto would never know what caused him to react like he did.

Akitsu's eyes widened for a moment as her wings flared behind her, looking odd in the confined space of the changing room as they 'pushed' against the walls. It was strange, seeing as the wings were made of pure energy, yet they seemed to follow the same laws as any other corporeal appendage. The ice-like constructs conformed to the room around them, looking decidedly delicate as each 'feather' reflected light in prismatic colors.

Akitsu's moment of surprise didn't last long, and though her face turned a shade of beet red, her body began to respond in what could almost pass for mating instincts. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, the movement reactive as she greedily drank from his lips. They stayed like that for several long minutes, both of them enjoying the feeling of each other, before breaking apart.

"You look beautiful," he said, almost snickering when he got another blush. He didn't because he felt it would be mean to laugh at her, even though he thought it was the cutest thing she had done. A part of him still felt awkward being so affectionate, yet another part felt almost like his actions were natural, as if this more affectionate and kind side of him were the real Naruto which had just come out after being hidden under layers of locks and entrapments.

"Ah." Akitsu, her face still red, eyes glazed over, looked up at him, her steel gray eyes partially hidden behind a curtain of bangs. "If you like them than I like them," she said at last, and Naruto got the feeling she just liked them because of the kiss he had given her in what she assumed was response to her clothing, even though Naruto himself did not quite know what had possessed him to kiss her.

Naruto nodded, more to himself than to Akitsu, especially since she was still looking quite dazed. "I just have one question," he said, pausing until the snow woman snapped out of her slight stupor to look at him. "Where did you get those chains?" Seriously, they were in a clothing store, one that sold regular clothing. Those chains made her already dangerously risque clothing look like something that came out of a sex shop. To top it off, he hadn't noticed her holding onto them when she had first entered the changing room. So when had she gotten them?

"Ah," Akitsu started, then looked at the chains on wrapping around her womanly frame. "I found them near our home."

Naruto blinked. She had carried those all the way here? How had he not noticed them before?

With a sigh, he shook the thought off, deciding that it would just be too troublesome to dig any further than that. There were some things that a man was better off not knowing. "Ok then, so we'll get these, and maybe find a few more articles of clothing for you," he said, pulling her out of the changing room. "After all, we should get you a kimono or two so I can take you out to an expensive restaurant on a date or something and..." he trailed off when he saw several people staring at them as they walked out of the changing room. No, they weren't just staring at them. Everyone female who had been near them when they had come out was now looking at them with distaste, mostly, there was the occasional woman who was eying the two of them with a speculative gleam and a few more who were giggling, but for the most part they were giving the two mild glares and whispering theories on what he and his... his... girlfriend, had been doing.

Damn, that would take some getting used to.

Fortunately this was a female apparel store, so Naruto was the only male in the entire shop. Quite possibly because he was the only man who was comfortable enough with himself and his masculinity to actually be capable of standing in a female apparel store while helping one of his girlfriends shop. He was very glad that no males were there, otherwise he might have gotten violent when they started ogling Akitsu. And he had no doubt there would be ogling.

Naruto scowled. "What the hell are you people looking at!" At the sound of his voice everyone that had been gaping at him and Akitsu turned their attention away from the pair and made to pretend they didn't exist. The scowl that had been on the blond's face slowly left him, and after a moment he shook his head and sighed. "There' now maybe we can shop in peace. Oh, and Akitsu-chan..."

Akitsu looked over at him. "Hmm?"

"Is there any particular reason you're not wearing panties?"

"Ah." Akitsu paused, cocking her head to the side before she looked down at her new outfit, as if the answer to his question was somehow stitched into the clothing. "I forgot."

"Riiiight."

XoX

Naruto and Akitsu stood on top of one of the buildings overlooking the Botanical Gardens. Now that he was seeing it up close and personal, Naruto was positive that the overgrowth of trees had been caused by a Sekirei. The kinds of twisted formations that the trees had taken, the branches that were intertwined in spider webbing patterns that intermingled with each other and crisscrossed every which way would take hundreds of years to grow naturally. That was not even mentioning how the climate of Japan, and Shinto Teito in particular, was not suited to creating that kind of geological terrain.

Naruto was crouched down as he surveyed the jungle of overgrown and twisted wildlife, his hands pressed against the roof, legs and arms looking like a spring that was drawn taut as they bent to accommodate his kneeling posture. The look was something akin to an animal who was about to descend upon his prey.

"Ah." The sound of Akitsu's voice made him start. Turning his gaze away from the Botanical Garden, he looked over at the snow woman as she tilted her head towards the place he had been focusing on for the past few minutes. "Do you think the Sekirei is in there?"

"When I met Ku-chan in my dream I was in a forest," he said, nodding as he looked from Akitsu back to the grove of trees. "From what I know of the Sekirei Plan, Sekirei aren't allowed to leave Shinto Teito. This place is the only jungle like area in the entire city, there simply isn't anywhere else she could be. Though I'll need to check to be sure."

"Ah." There was that pause again as Akitsu slowly nodded her head, before her eyelids slowly moved over her eyes in what Naruto assumed was a blink. "Check?"

Naruto frowned, pondering just how much he should tell her. As someone whose life was marred in secrecy, who had been forced to adapt, to hide in plain sight, the thought of telling someone, anyone, that he had abilities and powers that no other human could do in this day and age bothered him. At the same time, Akitsu was his Sekirei, they were bonded on a level that he had never felt before. Her life was now tied to his in ways he hadn't known were possible. Was it really right for him to keep this a secret from her, especially since Musubi already knew that he had some abilities that weren't quite human?

"Some time at the beginning of my life I was trained by a group of... people who were powerful Sages," he started, his mind working as he tried to tell her a little bit about himself without giving away his past. It might be for the best if he informed the woman about his powers, some of them anyways, but he wasn't quite ready to reveal the true nature of his life. "During my training I was taught how to harness and manipulate the natural energy of the world. Every living thing be they plant or animal naturally exude this excess of energy, and I can bring it into myself to increase my senses and physical strength. One of the benefits of being able to harness and control nature energy is that I gain the ability to sense other people around us." He looked up into the eyes of his Sekirei, whose only sign of emotion was the blink. "With this ability I should be able to find any Sekirei within several miles of myself, since you guys exude far more energy then regular humans."

"Ah..." Akitsu trailed off, seemingly unsure of what to make with this new information. "I see," she said finally, whether her words were one of acceptance, skepticism, or something else entirely Naruto was not sure. He didn't bother trying to find out though, and Akitsu seemed more intent on staring at him again than answering any question he might pose. So he turned back to the forest, his eyes closed as Akitsu watched him. The blond's breathing slowed, so much he almost looked like he was dead. Only her connection to him told her otherwise.

It came as a surprise to her when Naruto's eyes changed. They were still closed, so she couldn't see much. But the area around his eyes took on an orangish-red pigment. She had to wonder what that meant. Was this the power he was talking about? She didn't dwell on the thought long. It wasn't her place to question her Ashikabi. The strange coloring of his skin only lasted for several more seconds in any event, before the skin pigment changed back to normal and he opened his eyes.

"She's in there," he said, standing up. "I can sense the same energy signature that I did in the dream."

"Ah." Akitsu tilted her head to the side as she stared at him. "What are your orders, Ashikabi-sama?"

"We'll go home, for now," Naruto looked over at her. "Later tonight you, I and Musubi-chan will come back and go in there to rescue her." This wasn't a decision he had made lightly. Naruto knew that with this act he would be breaking his long standing position of ignoring the world and all it's problems. By rescuing Kusano he would be effectively involving himself in an affair that he was not all that sure he wanted to be apart of. The Sekirei Plan. He still had no clue just what being a part of the plan created by MBI meant. He had no idea what the plan even was. Minaka had called the Sekirei Plan a game. Naruto knew it was more along the lines of a free for all battle royal where the last Sekirei standing won. But what did they win? And more importantly, what did MBI and Minaka in particular gain out of all this.

He didn't know, but a part of him found that he couldn't care less. Not right now. Right now all he knew was that there was a little girl who was frightened and needed his help. In the end, Naruto couldn't ignore that.

For better or worse, he had now become a part of the Sekirei Plan.

XoX

Omoke: Uzume's Sex Advice

XoX

"Hm hm-hm hm-hmm," Musubi hummed a tune to herself as she went on her self appointed task of cleaning up the room she, Akitsu and Naruto-Sama shared, using the duster that she had gotten from Miya.

As she was cleaning the desk she paused, her eyes spotting the stack of papers on it. Setting down the duster she grabbed the first sheet on the stack and began to read what was on it. "'Haruto-kun, won't you please let me wash your back?' asked Nusumi as she gave the handsome but scarred warrior a sultry look. Haruto gazed at her and Nusumi felt her breathing quicken and heat begin pooling between her legs. He gestured for her to come over to him, beckoning her with a single finger. Doing as told, Nusumi stopped when she got in front of him, only to moan as Haruto cupped her bountiful chest in his hands, kneading them and sending tingles of pleasure through her body..."

Musubi continued reading, eventually moving onto the sheet below it. As she did her mind began to wonder some of this story sounded so familiar. Then it clicked. "Ah! I remember! This heat the Nusumi feels is the same kind of heat I feel when me and Naruto-Sama kiss!" She quickly continued reading, her mind thinking about the story and how it might apply to her and Naruto-Sama.

'I wonder, if Naruto-Sama and I did this, would it feel as good as this story claims?' she asked herself. Unfortunately, she didn't have an answer.

"I know! I'll ask Uzume if she knows anything about this!" Musubi said. She quickly dropped what she was doing, grabbed the stack of papers, and left the room in search of her fellow Sekirei.

XoX

"Uzume-chan! Uzume-chan!" Musubi called, knocking on the other Sekirei's door. "Are you there, Uzume-chan!"

"Yeah, I'm here, I'm here. Hold on a second." Uzume opened the door and gave the over enthusiastic girl a slight smile. "So what can I do for you?"

"I need your help," Musubi said, shoving the stacks of paper she had found on Naruto's desk into her hands. "I saw this lying on Naruto-Sama's desk and read it, but I don't understand what it is. It sounds really fun, and I was hoping to try it with Naruto-Sama, but because I don't know what it is I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

Uzume read through the papers, and as she did her eyes went wide. "I don't believe this! I recognize this writing. This is a brand new unfinished Icha Icha book! For him to have this..." her eyes widened even more as she realized what that meant. The only logical conclusion she could come up with.

Naruto was the author of Icha Icha!

"So can you help me?" asked Musubi. She didn't really understand what Uzume was talking about, all that mattered to her was that she wanted to do this with her Ashikabi, and needed help.

"What do you need help with?" asked Uzume, having actually forgot the entire reason Musubi had come to her in the face of learning that her favorite book was being written by her new roommate.

Maybe she could get his autograph.

Even better, maybe she could convince him to let her star in one of his novels?

"I want to do those things in the book with Naruto-Sama," Musubi said. "But I don't know how."

Uzume looked at her friend for several minutes longer, before a sly grin crossed her face. "Ok, I'll help you with this."

"Really?" Musubi said with wide hopeful eyes.

"Yes. Now, here's what you're going to do..."

XoX

"Welcome home, Naruto-Sama..." said Musubi the moment Naruto entered the room.

"Musubi-chan?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening in shock as he saw what the girl was wearing. A skimpy little maid outfit that brought a whole new meaning to the words sexy french maid. The outfit was loaded with frills, lace and showed enough skin that it was a wonder the blond hadn't died of a nosebleed yet.

"I've cleaned your room for you," Musubi said in the sultry voice that Uzume had told her to use. It seemed to have an effect on Naruto as his entire body began to get goosebumps. She walked up to him, swaying her hips in an exaggerated manner, and had it not ruined the mood Uzume had wanted her to set, she would have squealed as she saw his eyes follow her hips. It was just like in the book!

"However, I can't permit you to come in all dirty like that after I just finished cleaning it..."

"Uh huh..." Naruto said, nodding his head as he watched his moved from her hips to her jiggling breasts. By now Musubi had walked right into him, pressing her body into his side and rubbing herself against him. Her hand went to his crotch and began to rub that as well, causing it to become rock hard.

This was also how it was supposed to according to what she had read from the book.

"Which means that Naruto-Sama must be clean before coming into the room," Musubi continued, her lips moving over to his ear where she blew on it very lightly. "If it would please you, I will endeavor to wash your body and make sure it's all clean, Na-ru-to-Sa-ma..."

Apparently, even Naruto had his limits, because the moment Musubi had said his name in that sultry and sexy voice, enunciating each syllable he lost it. Blood spurted out of his nose and the blond fell onto his back with a happy grin as he passed out.

However, the moment Musubi saw the blood she began to freak. "Ah! Naruto-Sama, are you alright!" She knelt down and placed his head in her lap, trying to wake him. When it didn't seem he would wake any time soon the brunette Sekirei pouted. "Mou, this didn't happen in the book."