Story start Meow
Chapter 4
"Hello, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure to meet you," the young assassin stated with a soft smile as he sat at the dinner table with the other residents of the Inn.
"I'm Matsu," the redheaded member of the group said with a childish tone as she put her hands in front of her face, allowing her sleeves to fall down in a manner that almost made her look like one of those cat figures he had kept seeing since he arrived.
"I'm Uzume," the housemate he had already seen naked stated with a sheepish grin, though this time she was actually dressed in what could be called regular clothes, namely a pair of skin tight jeans and a pink shirt with a yellow star on the front, "though you probably don't need me to tell you that after what happened earlier."
"Oh? What happened earlier?" the glasses wearing woman asked as she leaned forward before freezing upon feeling the dark aura that was beginning to emanate from Miya.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with Matsu," the purple haired landlady said in that sickly sweet voice that just sent shivers down the spiky haired youths spine… seriously did she have any idea just how much it turned him on when she spoke like that?
"O-of course Miya-tan…" the redhead sputtered out in a placating manner, obviously not prepared to incite the woman's wrath, "Matsu won't pry."
Naruto blinked, honestly he didn't think he'd ever get used to the way some people would refer to themselves in the third person like that in this world… that sort of thing just didn't happen back home unless you were stating the terms of a verbal contract.
"Well if you want to know," Naruto started before noting the glare the landlady was sending his way, "Uzume was a little careless leaving the bath."
Silence reigned as the redhead processed the information she had just received, the fact that he said it in a way that couldn't be described as lewd actually seemed to put the landlady off, after all, how was she supposed to do anything to punish him when he wasn't actually breaking her rules?
It took a little less than two seconds for the redhead to finally realise what had happened and she immediately started to grin and let out a chuckle that reminded him of Jiraiya… and himself but mostly the perverted toad summoner.
"Oh, and what did you think eh?" she asked before noting that the murderous aura surrounding the purple haired woman intensified, making her back down and try to make herself smaller by any means necessary.
"It was definitely a pleasant sight," the whiskered assassin admitted with a shrug before noting that the murderous intent had grown yet again and his other housemates were currently in the process of trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Hannya mask that was currently forming behind the powerful landlady, "do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation with my new neighbors' right now."
Uzume and Matsu found themselves gasping in shock at his casual dismissal of the eldritch abomination while Miya herself had taken to blinking at the fact that her new tenant seemed completely immune to her usual method of chastisement.
And then the intent increased even further.
"Uzumaki-kun, I believe I told you that lewd behavior is not tolerated in Izumo Inn?" she asked in that sickly sweet voice that reminded him of Anko… seriously, if she kept talking with that tone he would need to bed someone within the week… more likely two days if she kept up at this frequency.
"Huh? Did you?" and his response was greeted with a smack over the head from a ladle… not that he couldn't have dodged it if he tried but doing so would've been incredibly suspicious given the fact he was supposed to be a regular human, "ow! What the hell was that?"
He intentionally started looking around as if he was looking for whatever had hit him, earning a satisfied smile off Miya.
"What was what?" she asked in a voice that was too innocent to be genuine… well at least he now knew just how bad she was at lying.
"You! You hit me!" he stood up and accused her exaggeratedly, then again he did know for a fact that she had hit him with the ladle, he just choose to play ignorant… but that didn't mean he couldn't accuse her when she was acting so 'innocent'.
"Whatever makes you think that Uzumaki-kun?" the oldest at the table asked in that same innocent tone.
"The way you're smiling like that! You know I was hit by something, you know what it was that hit me and so you were obviously the one that hit me!" he stated with a fake scowl marring his face.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the way that her smile never faltered made the blond realise the reality of the situation, she wasn't really that concerned about the rules, she just liked to bully her tenants and play the innocent card as much as possible.
"I see…" the way he made his statement sound like a revelation made everyone in the room look at him, "I finally understand you Miya… you are a sadist!"
Silence reigned for several seconds as the other occupants registered his words and when they did… the aura of murderous intent came back far greater than before and pushed the other two back down as they tried to keep themselves clear of the firing line.
"Would you like to repeat that Uzumaki-kun?" and there was the voice again, that sickly sweet voice that promised untold pain for anyone that gave the wrong answer.
"You, are, a, sadist!" he repeated, pausing between each word just to make sure she couldn't mishear him.
"You may want to amend that statement Uzumaki-kun, or else you may find yourself suffering quite a bit," she stated with her face twisted into a facsimile of a smile.
"And we'll enjoy every second of it," it took a few seconds for the purple haired woman to realise exactly what he said and when she did, the murderous intent vanished as she gasped at him in shock.
"No… don't tell me you're a…" she said with obvious disbelief in her tone.
"A masochist? Yes, is that a problem?" once again silence reigned as Uzume and Matsu processed exactly what he said before turning their heads to face each other.
"Please, tell me this won't happen every day?" Uzume muttered as she shook in fear at the thought of what would happen if what the blond had said was true.
"It mustn't… there's no way we'd survive this every day," the bespectacled woman stated with obvious fear in her tone.
Miya however was thinking over the current situation, how was she supposed to punish someone that enjoyed punishment? Honestly she would love to be capable of threatening him with eviction but she couldn't really afford to do that, not with both Matsu and Uzume boarding at the Inn with no means of income and even if they had their MBI payment cards on them, she wouldn't accept anything associated with the company that caused her husband's death.
"This isn't over Uzumaki-kun," and with that she proceeded to stand down and return to her meal, earning wide eyes off the other two non-humans in the room.
"D-did Miya just stand down?" the shock in Uzume's voice as she said that was very telling of the fact that the woman wasn't the sort to let anyone else win in a situation like that.
"I… I don't believe it," the redhead also seemed disturbed by the fact that Miya hadn't continued the scolding any further.
"Now you two, I am more than happy to punish you in his place if you wish," the serene smile on the purple haired homeowners face was far more threatening than any scowl could be and made the two cower even further.
"N-no, that's not fair Miya-tan!" the bespectacled woman shouted piteously, earning an even wider smile from the malicious woman.
"Wow… you really know how to turn me on don't ya Miya?" and with that the purple haired landlady jerked her head to glare at her newest tenant while the two older tenants stared at him with wide eyes, "that vindictive smile, that domineering aura… the way you threaten your tenants without any hint of hesitation or guilt… it is all just so, damn, hot!"
Throughout the blond's declaration, Uzume and Matsu found themselves growing more and more shocked as the only male in the house somehow managed to make Miya of all people sound erotic... when she was trying to suppress such behavior in the first place.
Miya herself seemed completely incapable of figuring out how to approach this strange and perverted new tenant, every thought that popped into her head was immediately shot down by the simple fact that he would enjoy whatever punishment she could force on him… and so it was with great reluctance that she decided to do the only thing she could right now… she withdrew.
"Well, I suppose it is time to pay my respects to my dearly departed husband," she decided that that excuse would work as a way to leave the table without losing too much dignity, sure she would lose some from the simple fact that she couldn't think of a way to deal with Uzumaki Naruto but it was better than simply leaving because she couldn't win yet.
"Ah! You're a widow?!" Naruto asked while feigning shock, the fact that he had known she was a widow before he even knew who she was didn't change his ability to put on a good act of being ignorant, "how long ago?".
"My husband died a couple of months ago," she decided to inform him, it wasn't as if telling him would change anything anyway.
"A couple of months ago huh?... well then I guess I'll just have to wait about ten months," the spiky haired youth stated with a firm nod, earning confused looks from everyone else in the room.
"And what are you planning on leaving ten months Uzumaki-kun?" she asked him cautiously, uncertain if she wanted to know what he was planning.
"Trying to seduce you of course," silence reigned after he made that statement before a loud thud echoed throughout the house as a ladle smacked against his head again, "ow… that hurt… can you do it again?"
Miya could only let out a sigh of defeat upon seeing the hopeful look in his eyes, deciding that instead of giving in to his strange desire to feel her hit him with a ladle, she would simply do what she had said she would when she first rose from the table and leave the room.
"Aww… come on Miya-chan, aren't you going to hit me again?" there was no reply as the purple haired woman simply chose to ignore him to the best of her abilities.
"Hey, bro… you aren't serious about being a masochist right?" the bustier of the two women that remained in the room asked cautiously, earning a snort off the blond.
"Hell no," the sheer speed and certainty he made that statement with caught the two other tenants off guard, "it's obvious Miya just likes terrorizing her tenants so what better way to screw with her than to make her think I enjoy being terrorized?"
Silence once again reigned as he received looks of complete shock from his housemates, apparently unable to comprehend the fact that he had managed to get such a clear reading on her character in less than a day.
"Balls of steel," Uzume muttered quietly but not quite quiet enough for anyone left in the room to miss, "you have to have balls of steel to do something like that."
"Why thank you, maybe you'd like to find out just how hard they are later?" he said it so innocently that it took the other occupants of the room a few seconds to realise just what he was saying and when they did… Uzume found herself nearly choking on air in surprise while Matsu started giggling like Jiraiya again as her hands started to make familiar groping motions in the air.
"N-no thanks bro, nothing against you or anything but I'm just not interested," the brunette stated quickly with her hands held in a placating manner in front of her.
"Well, what about Matsu? Will Naruto-tan let her experiment with him?" the redhead asked as she made her perverted giggling and groping motions. Naruto quietly thought to himself that he wanted whatever delusion was going through her head if it was making her as hot and bothered as it appeared to be.
Then Uzume noticed her behaviour.
Naruto found the fact that the bustier of the two went wide eyed at her housemates behaviour unusual, surely she shouldn't be that surprised when someone as obviously perverted as that gets excited at the prospect of enacting out some of her fantasies.
"Matsu, I think you've had a bit too much to drink," the brunette stated as she grabbed the redheads arm and quickly pulled her from her seat at the table, "I think it's time for you to go to bed, right?"
Now Naruto was suspicious, sure the redheads condition would actually correlate with having too much to drink, however Naruto could tell from his nose alone that there wasn't any alcohol at the table, so Uzume's reaction was proving… Naruto had to clear his head of that train of thought, there was no way Matsu was doing what those scientist called 'reacting' to him, he wasn't even from this world so he couldn't be an Ashikabi and from the information he had managed to collect from his Kage Bunshin's trips into MBI, only Ashikabi could make a Sekirei react.
So there had to be something else.
The question though was 'what'? what was wrong with Matsu to make her act in a way that would alert her friend in such a manner.
Thinking on it, he was left with nothing. He honestly didn't know enough about these Seikirei's biology to come up with any real conclusions, for all he knew she could simply be having an allergic reaction to the meal she had just eaten.
So with a small sigh he decided to just get one part of his cover out of the way.
"Miya! I'm just going to go and get my things! I'll be back in a couple of hours!" sure he didn't really need to get anything, it was all stored in his storage seals after all, however he needed to make sure they knew he had brought his belongings over.
"Are you sure? It isn't particularly safe to go out this late at night," he heard the alien landlady call back to him and he had to admit that she had a point… for a normal person that is. With the sun already down and not many establishments open for business, there would be less people in the streets and therefore, it was more likely that he would run across a group of muggers… of course the only problem with that was that he would probably have to dispose of the corpses when he was finished explaining to them why it was a bad idea to try robbing a shinobi from the elemental nations.
"Oh, I'll be fine, I bet I won't run into any trouble at all," he told her with a smile before walking to the door and putting his shoes on, "well, I'll see you in a few hours."
"Take care," Naruto almost let out a chuckle, it seemed like she was really happy to finally have a lodger that actually paid and didn't want to lose his rent.
XXX XXX XXX
Higa had to admit, it was strange.
Here he was, in the board room for the Higa conglomerate and he wasn't having to put up with those old fools incessant blathering over trivial matters.
Now, now he was in control of the way his company was run, sure most of his profits would be going towards the Yakuza to maintain his life but he could start pushing funding into areas that were too expensive for the board of directors to accept.
He simply had to decide what he wanted.
That was the main problem, he didn't know what he wanted, for so long he had been moulded to the whims of the directors, he had simply followed orders and run the company as they saw fit… he was just a figurehead.
But now, now he was important, now his position actually held power and he needed to decide what he wanted to do with that power.
"Kakizaki," he called out calmly and not ten seconds later, his dark haired secretary and childhood friend entered the room calmly.
"Yes Higa-sama," the man responded, taking his position as secretary as seriously as he always did.
"What should I do?" the young CEO asked with a hint of frustration on his face as he tried to think in a way that hadn't been taught to him, "I finally have complete control over this company but I don't know what I want to do with it."
Kakizaki for his part simply let out a tired breath before releasing a small smile, it had been a long time since Izumi had decided to talk with him about important matters.
"Well, from the way I see it, there are two paths you can choose," he started calmly as he took a seat opposite the dark haired businessman, "profit or public interest."
"If you want to focus on profit then it's just a matter of running the business as usual but if you want to serve the public interest… then you will have to put a lot of funding in R&D and even then, it is a question of what type of research you want to fund, technological or medicinal," the secretary stated calmly, earning a nod from the other man.
"And what would you advise?" Higa asked, hoping to get at least a little inspiration from his long time friend.
"Personally, I would advise dedicating resources to a terminal illness that isn't being extensively researched," the man stated calmly, it wasn't a particularly profitable avenue but it would potentially help the people that suffered from lesser known illnesses that weren't researched nearly as much.
"I see…" and he did, Higa honestly felt that his old friends suggestion had merit, even if it wasn't profitable, it would be a nice way to use his company, so the first thing he would have to do would be find out what sorts of illnesses there were that were considered untreatable, "Kakizaki, bring me a list of patients at Hiyamakai hospital."
Upon hearing that, Kakizaki couldn't stop a small smile from gracing his lips, he always knew the man he worked for was a good person deep down, he had just been raised to ignore that part of himself and now... now he wouldn't have to worry about others getting in the way of what he wanted to do.
"Right away, Higa-sama," and without another word he proceeded to do exactly as he had been instructed.
XXX XXX XXX
Naruto couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh as he walked through the street and noted that there wasn't really that much to pass his time with.
Sure he could watch a movie but that would take more than two hours and he had told Miya he wouldn't be that long… so in the end he simply decided that all he could really do was wander around aimlessly.
He had ended up in a park, the lush green grass was obviously well kept, while the trees were in full bloom. It was something about Shinto Teito that reminded him of Hi No Kuni, it was for the most part a warm climate with very few days that were actually cold. Having been to other countries he was well aware that such a climate didn't always exist, hell even northern Japan was significantly colder than the city he was in, something to do with ocean currents or something, he didn't really pay much attention to the science of it.
After all, the why didn't change the fact that it was… and because of that, the park he was currently strolling through was beautiful.
Looking around he was greeted by the sight of men and women sharing romantic moments with each other, something he had no true experience with, sure he had orchestrated such situations but there had never been the feeling that was ever present around him… he had never shared a romantic situation with anyone he loved.
Then again it was hard to do so when you didn't even know what love felt like and all the romantic situations were information gathering missions that required seduction as opposed to interrogation or torture, he was particularly good at the second one.
Psychological warfare was something he loved, getting under a person's skin and making them act irrationally, it was something he had eventually learned from Ibiki and while he wasn't quite at the man's level, he wasn't far off.
Unfortunately he hadn't had much reason to use those skills since he arrived, most of his missions were simply 'go there and kill such and such', sure there were the odd kidnapping missions but they didn't require interrogation either.
Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, he instead decided to walk to the small bridge that was located near the centre of the park, giving those that spent time there a good view of the small river that flowed through the park. Sure it may not have been natural but it was a well done imitation of an actual river so he wasn't going to complain about it.
Besides, it was a nice view that he regularly allowed himself to enjoy.
In some ways it reminded him of Konoha, the green grass, the river running through the area and the lack of people that frequented the park all added up to give him a sense of home, even if there wasn't a Kage tower, ANBU HQ or Ichiraku's ramen or any of the people associated with those places.
He was alone in this world, mostly through his own design but in the end, he was simply creating the perfect alibi for his missions in this world… he simply didn't exist. He had no friends, no family, no residence, no birth certificate, no form of identification or anything else that could lead back to him.
And that suited him just fine. It may be lonely but he had grown up alone, he may have been performing missions that were morally questionable but he'd been doing them for nearly three years, he may not exist but he left no trace to follow… and that wouldn't change because he was black ops.
He was Mamushi.
XXX XXX XXX
Hours passed as he stood there, reminiscing the past before he finally decided to return to Izumo Inn. As he has leaving the park five people surrounded him four man and tall woman who seemed to be the leader. She pulled out a gun pointing the gun at him she demanded he to give them his money?
Normally he did not like to kill women but win they threaten him like this all bets are off he thought. Ann yelled at him a gin the money or your life in an instant he grabbed to nearest man to him a threw him at her knocking them both down. He pulls out two kunai throws them at two of the men hitting them in their chests simultaneously killing them.
Instantly moving too fast to be scene he snapped the neck of the third man killing hem by this time the last two were up. Moving with a shunshin he was behind the last man putting his hand in his chest killing him by crushing his hart. By this time all Ann could was watch in horror as the blond with an emotionalist face appeared in front of her. All she could think of as she was peeing herself was her friends and the horrific sight of them ding so fast. Please don't kill me was the last thing she said as Naruto cut her head off with a Kaze no Yaiba blood was spewing from her body as Naruto made a couple of hand sine's using Katon Goukakyuu on Jutsu to burn the bodes not even leaving ash behind with a quick shunshin he lifted with no trace he was there appearing a few blocks away he walked away like nothing happened.
It didn't really take that long for him to make his way out of the business districts and back into the residential district in the north, even if he was only walking he was still a bit quicker than a normal human, just another one of the advantages of having chakra coursing through his body.
Upon nearing Izumo Inn again, he checked to make sure there was no one to see him unseal his belongings, namely a small suitcase with a couple of changes of clothing contained within and a case for his laptop that he slung over his shoulder before carrying on down the road.
Honestly the residential district was much safer than the business district since most muggers would be aiming at office workers that had just finished doing a bit of overtime instead of people that were probably just going to and from a convenience store for a few bits and pieces.
It didn't take long for him to make his way back to the inn, where he immediately entered through the front gate and without any prompting, opened the front door and carried his belongings with him.
"Miya, I'm back," he called out, causing the purple haired woman to come to meet him in the hallway before blinking in surprise at him.
"Ara? I would've thought you would have more belongings with what you told me about having more than enough money," she said with a light smile, earning a sheepish look from the blond in the process.
"Well, you know how I said I was in a bit of trouble," he started, earning a look of realisation from the landlady.
"I see, so you tend to have to travel light, am I correct?" she asked him with an understanding smile as he nodded to tell her that indeed she was correct.
"Kind of, I just like being capable of moving easily in case I am ever found… it shouldn't happen with everything I've had done to protect myself but you can never be too certain," he explained, after all, if what he had guessed about Matsu was right then the chances were that she would find out about his lack of identity sooner or later and he wanted Miya to at least consider it something he had worked towards.
After all, when you lived under mysterious circumstances, it was sometimes better to let the people you lived with know that you had mysterious circumstances so they wouldn't question them too much when they finally found out about them.
"I see, well, I'm certain you're tired after such a busy day, why don't you go to bed and get some sleep?" she said with a calm smile, earning a nod from the blond.
"Yeah, I'd like that, thanks Miya," he said calmly as he walked past her, sure it was completely wrong to say he was tired, he could easily go another six to eight hours without sleep if he wanted to but why do that when there was no need?
"Remember, you're in room one oh two, that is the first floor next to my room… and I will be more than capable of hearing you if you decide to get up to anything prohibited," she stated with a sickly sweet smile on her lips, completely unaware of just how good Naruto was at stopping others from noticing him or anything he was doing.
"Oh? Next to your room?" the blue eyed ninja asked with a mischievous glint in his eye, "does that mean I can come and say hi if I get lonely?" he asked with a wide grin before finding himself getting hit over the head by a ladle once again, "ow… can you do it again?"
With a twitching eye, the purple haired landlady proceeded to promise herself that the next time he made a comment like that, she would get the rock she usually reserved for Seo and add him to the list of people it could be used to hit.
"The next time you make a comment like that, I'm getting my rock," she stated bluntly, earning a look of confusion from the blue eyed teen.
"Your rock?" he asked in confusion, earning a firm nod off the landlady.
"Yes, you will be the second person to ever make me resort to my rock," she told him with narrowed eyes, making him tilt his head to the side.
"And who's the first?" the curiosity in his voice was clear to her as she decided to give him the abridged version.
"The worthless trash that is supposed to be fixing up room two oh one," she said calmly earning a nod of understanding from the blond.
"So I'll probably meet them soon right?" Naruto muttered calmly, earning a nod of acceptance from the older individual, "well then, I'll be off to bed, I'll see you later," and with that he proceeded to walk towards his new room.
"I hope not," the attractive landlady muttered to herself, the thought of the blond and Takehito's old friend hitting it off wasn't exactly difficult to imagine and the thought of those two working together was about as comforting as a bed of shattered glass.
She just hoped that the two would somehow manage to avoid each other, she very much doubted she would be that lucky but it didn't hurt to hope.
XXX XXX XXX
Naruto's smile quickly dropped once he entered his room, not because there was anything wrong but he didn't feel like spending anymore time grinning.
He immediately put his clothes in the dressers that could be found in the room, it wasn't hard, two sets of spare casual clothing and seven sets of underwear didn't take up much room.
His laptop bag didn't take up much room either, he knew he would have to ask Matsu about teaching him to hack sooner or later but it was a question of getting her into his room without Miya disturbing them and he had a feeling that doing that could be difficult.
The room was quite simple, just a wardrobe, a dresser and a futon decorated it though it was a four and a half tatami room so there wasn't that much room to utilize should he ever want to get new furniture, which given the fact he was already considering buying a desk so he could start practicing and experimenting with Fūinjutsu on a deeper level, meant he would have to be careful about how big the one he chose was.
Of course it was better than what he had been living with over the past few months, honestly the thought of having heating and an actual bed was comforting, plus he had someone he could screw with and two other housemates that were absolutely gorgeous, so he was definitely not going to complain about space.
But that didn't matter right now, he hadn't received any information that would indicate that anything had gone wrong with the Higa situation and so he would simply take the time to get a good night's sleep for the first time in nearly two months.