A/N: Attention my fellow readers I would like to say your welcome for this new chapter and the one after this is already in editing. I would like to say I am aware that the flowers mentioned don't exist and are harmless. I felt a responsiblity to not mention real flowers that can be made into poisions, since I don't know who reads this story and do not wish any harm to befall another due to my irresponsibility. That being said enjoy and review.
A gust of the frigid night air gave her skin a rush of goose bumps, which made her muscles tighten and restrict her forward progress. Sakura exhaled to calm her nerves as she looked down and noticed the void of black below her.
"How in the world could I get anymore screwed," she wondered with anger. She hadn't been informed to the entire situation of the zip line that she had used to cross the obstacle. The machinery had been set up in a hurry and it was one way, which meant that if she wanted to return a five day detour around a cold mountain pass absent cold weather clothes would be required. She continued to crawl along the cord that would've cut into her hands if she hadn't had gloves.
The wire only further complicated things when the cold made it feel like millions of tiny razors on the skin of her thigh. She had thankfully left the heavy pack behind, which made it an easy decision to just transverse the wire to return to the other side, however right now she just wished she had taken more time to decide.
"When I return to Konoha I am going to relax for a week," she thought with joy
"Screw that we murder Taro, then relax,"screamed inner Sakura with a shudder at how cold it was.
The thirst for vengeance caused a mild intoxication, but it wasn't enough to make her ignore another chilled breeze. She cursed as she shivered and moved faster, rejuvenated by the rage that had manifested. Sakura cracked a smile when she stopped to catch her breath and noticed solid ground below her. She plummeted to the ground and went to her knees, since her entire being felt drained from the long night. She shook herself to try and warm up and wrapped an extra shirt about herself and started to run for the inn.
*1 hour later*
She felt her lungs burn and plead with her to let them take in more oxygen. That in combination with the lactic acid in her leg muscles was almost enough to incapacitate them. She shrugged off the pain and entered into the business to see no one to attend to new arrivals.
"Excuse…me," Sakura gasped due to the prolonged run to the place.
"Oh, a customer at this hour," echoed from nowhere as a middle aged white haired female rose from behind the desk in a worn set of blue pajamas with a night cap to complete the ensemble.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but there aren't any vacancies at this time," she said in a sweet motherly tone as she thought the pink haired female to be a normal traveler.
Sakura partly scoffed at being treated like she was a child, since she had done her fair share of things that no normal teen girl could or would want to do.
"I was wondering if you rented out a room to two ninja, a loud male with blonde spiky hair and a black haired female with pale eyes."
"I'm afraid no one of that description arrived here today."
Sakura bit her lip at the comment. For one thing she was indeed dead tired and would give anything for a nice comfortable bed. However, she had counted on Naruto and Hinata to have returned and secured a place for her to sleep. Now she could only go and search for her companions. Her head began to drift ever so slightly as the exhaustion in her body rallied against her senses. She dearly hoped Naruto hadn't let his temper get the best of him and ended up in the Daimyo's prison.
"Let me sleep.Even a small nap will do wonders," inner Sakura begged as Sakura made her exit and continued now at a languid pace to the Daimyo's Palace.
Naruto groaned as he felt his conscious thought processes return to him. Azure eyes peered about the room and took notice of the extravagant location he resided in. He hated the room; since it was larger than his home. The walk to the bathroom with an over swollen bladder was painful beyond imagination.
"It was that same dream again," he thought as he strolled into the low light of the bathroom to eliminate the pain inside him.
It had continued to occur ever since he had gone on his two year trip with Jiraiya.
He would be in the forest and after a short walk come to a lake covered in a thick mist that obscured his sight. A figure of a thin female walked out on the water and with a small spin she would make the water cascade around her. It was an enthralling sight, yet he felt each time he saw it there was familiarity to it. He would attempt to call out, but the sound of the nearby falls drowned his voice. His effort would then become more desperate as he'd step out onto the liquid surface. Although the use of his chakra on the water would fail and let him slip beneath and when he surfaced for air she was gone.
Naruto went about his business as best he could, since the dream made a certain function of his body below the waist reoccur. He really hated when he had the dream. It wasn't because he wouldn't get to know who that girl was. It was due to the erection it gave him that made it difficult to get back to sleep.
He was quick to finish in the bathroom. Although now there was a need to find something to take his mind off of certain activities. He usually went for a walk to remedy his body's current state, because the cold air helped and it sometimes turned into a late night jog and any bit of training was beneficial.
He ventured to his room door still in his pajamas and night cap. He had been slightly surprised to see the door wasn't locked, since paranoid lords and the like would seal their guests in their rooms to prevent any extra chance of assassination.
"Hello," he called down the hall only to see that no one was presently there to question why he was out and about.
He took his pack with him, since he couldn't lock the door to his room. It felt good to know no one could come and look through his possessions.
Sakura closed her eyes and tried in vain to stay awake as she pushed sluggishly against the gates to the Palace.
"Declare your name and intent," echoed a female shout as a number of soldiers surrounded the pink haired Shinobi.
"Sakura Haruno…from Konoha Village…did a blonde guy and a dark-haired female come here," she asked barely balanced on her feet.
The soldiers lowered their weapons when she mentioned the Konoha ninja, since the green haired captain had been the one to open the gate to them.
"Yes, the Daimyo extended his hospitality to them for the good news they brought."
"That's….," Sakura trailed off as sleep had finally won. She would've hit the ground if the green haired captain hadn't dashed instantly to her side.
"Your orders, Nephenee," questioned one of her subordinates.
"There isn't any need to warn the Daimyo of this incident. I will let her sleep in my room of the barracks until morning," she hefted Sakura up over her shoulder with minimal effort.
"Ma'am," he retorted as he continued his duties.
He had picked a direction and began his travel around the palace. It was vastly larger then he figured as he had gone so far in a single direction for nearly twenty minutes and hadn't made a single turn. The palace was low on security despite the numerous soldiers they observed on their arrival. There wasn't even the slightest trace of a guard and that made him uneasy as to where they were.
He wandered for several more minutes and he noticed he hadn't seen another person for nearly the entire walk. He felt tense by the void. Though it made sense when you came from a ninja village, since there was always someone nearby whether you were aware of them or not.
"Bring it this way, I don't want anyone to notice," echoed through the hallway as grunts of exertion rang loud enough to sound like they came from every direction.
A group of men hauled something with several heavy duty metal chains. All the men were covered in an armor that appeared to glisten a yellow green when they passed by the torches that lit the dim hall. They came to a halt as one of them turned and spotted a statue of a female with long hair which obscured her special areas.
"Ah my type of art," the man thought until his superior's hand brought him back to his senses.
"Stop admiring the Daimyo's art and pull that damn thing to the trophy wing," he ordered and the task continued.
"Sir…when did the Daimyo get this statue," he queried, which gathered the stare of everyone present when they swore the statue yipped and began to sweat.
The leader figured none of them had gotten a good night sleep recently with the whole alteration process every four nights to ensure no one could accurately map the palace. It was a simple trick recently employed by their lord. The movement of furniture, statues, carpets, and drapes did wonders to confuse thieves and ninja. Hell only a few months ago they had added a new room and relocated the Daimyo's royal bed chamber.
"We're all tired and prone to hallucinations now. Since you found it take it with us to the treasure room," he ordered and proceeded with the others down the hallway
The guard smiled with glee as he picked up the light statue, but purposely grabbed it by the breasts due to loneliness.
Naruto couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, which combined with his gasp due to being fondled by the pervert.
*Treasure room*
The walls were covered in fine arts; there were statues of all different types of precious metals and minerals. There were piles of gold, jewels, and even a large rack that held rolls of exotic fabrics that shined in the low light.
The guards placed the two statues against a vacant wall and abruptly made their exit to get some rest in the barracks.
Naruto popped out of his henge with a yawn not even sure how long that jerk had had to fondle him. Naruto hadn't ever really been one to be greedy, but he was tempted a bit by the incredible wealth the Daimyo had at his disposal. While ninja were commonly used to steal things they were taught early on that any theft outside a mission wouldn't be tolerated.
He inspected the other statue that was transferred with him. It looked like a giant manlike golem made entirely of some white material he couldn't be completely sure of. He shrugged off his mesmerized stare and needed to escape out of the large double doors to find the path back to his room. He pushed open one and was a bit disappointed to see a pair of guards sleeping on their feet.
"Guess there is an Izumo and Kotetsu everywhere," he thought with a small laugh.
He closed the door silently and stuck to the shadows as he took the route he could best remember.
Unbeknownst to the blonde a small sand worm had wiggled its way out of the fabric of his pack. The creature made its considerable crawl to the marble golem. The golem statue slowly fractured around its eyes that opened to a set of brown orbs that inspected the room to ensure solitude. He pulled his head back to allow the creature access through the eye holes that sealed back up.
The statue had seemed perfectly solid on the outside, but on the inside sat an exhausted and battered Kelgan.
He sent the tiny insect back to its own realm with a smile chiseled on his face as to how fortunate he was. He hadn't any idea that a lord lived so close to where he constantly stole and smuggled things. Not to mention, all he had to do was use his earth jutsu to make this statue and they practically gave him the key to the castle.
"This is perfect all I need to do now is steal enough to live well and all the while frame those three brats for it," he laughed inwardly as he laid back to rest his only partially mended bones.
Naruto had to come to a stop when he realized he hadn't exactly counted how many rooms he had passed on either his first or return walk. He felt near collapse and needed a respite, though it wasn't anywhere in sight. He leaned against the wall his eyes barely glided over the ground he was so drowsy.
"Alright sleep you win," he grumbled as he propped himself against the closest wall. He decided to just walk into the nearest room and get some rest. It wasn't likely every room had an occupant. He felt relief when he entered a dark room without any signs of life. He didn't care to take any further precautions and just dropped to the floor next to his bed as he grabbed a pillow and some of the covers from his place on the ground.
*Morning*
Hinata groaned as she awoke to the bit of light that slithered through the shades of the single window that faced the morning sun. She took a deep breath and felt revitalized by the soft comfort that the regal bed had provided to every sore muscle. She refused to open her eyes and took account of her surroundings by touch as she lay face down.
"I must still be dreaming," she assured herself as she felt like Naruto was asleep right beneath her. She snuggled instinctively against his chest and relished his ramen and forest scent.
"Guess I should probably wake up," she grumbled as she lifted herself to be supported by her knees and arms.
Hinata felt her heart jump into her skull at the site that met her opened eyes. It hadn't been a dream. Naruto was sound asleep and she had been asleep right on top of him. She gulped and started to shiver with a cocktail of fear, embarrassment, joy, and shock mixed within her.
"Na…Na…Naruto…Kun," she trailed off as her face flash heated from the flush of blood. She couldn't catch herself and the lack of food in her belly prevented alleviation of her habit.
He had dreamed of many things before: his first day as Hokage; Sasuke's return to the village; a date with Sakura-chan; and the most frequent, ramen bowls the size of the village.
His current dream though was an oddity as he walked through a melon field. Naruto didn't get to eat melon that often due to it being insanely pricey, but when he did he enjoyed it as much as possible. This was definitely good that he did, since he rarely found fruits or vegetables that he liked.
"Wonder why I'm in a field picking out melons," he wondered. But, it was his dream and it wouldn't hurt to see where it led.
Naruto wandered about each row of melon plants and soon came upon a well sized pair. He got close and gave them both a pull, but neither wanted to come loose from the vines. He grabbed them tight and yanked with all his might and still the objects refused to move an inch. He gasped for air and took a break to plot his next course of action. He grinned and planted his face against the objects and gave another yank with all his might. Although he tried his best he grunted in frustration when the objects resisted. He gathered himself and pinched his cheek to escape and get something to eat.
Naruto awoke in a hazy mess of thoughts. He sniffed the air and found that the reason he had dreamed of melons was due to the scent of it in the air.
"Why couldn't the maids spray ramen scent into my room," he blinked a few times when he noticed that it was hard to breathe and that his pillow was oddly shaped and on top of his face. He struggled against the increased weight and grabbed a part of the object and lifted it from his mouth long enough to draw in a deep gasp of air.
"Why does this feel softer," he asked out loud and realized that as he squeezed this pillow reformed and to his deepest dread moaned.
Naruto's mind blanked and he thankfully kept his mouth stapled shut to not shout. He separated the twin peaks slowly to observe the face of said female he had accidentally molested.
'Hinata,' he noted with dread.
"Crap she'll probably kill me for this!I remember how much a gentle fist strike hurts."
"Naruto-kun," she said in a soft whisper that made the blonde jerk his head back with closed eyes and anticipated a strike that didn't occur. He thanked Kami with glee when it was clear the female was still asleep. However, his thanks were withdrawn when he realized he still had to escape from the girl's grasp.
He attempted a movement of his hands, but found that his shoulders were pinned by her breasts. He tried to roll her by touching her stomach, although it didn't work with them wrapped together with bed sheets. That and he worried if he rolled too many times she would wake up.
"Why the hell are we wrapped up," he screamed internally as he attempted to make heads or tails of the situation.
He couldn't see how it was possible for this to happen. He had come back to the room and fallen to the floor by the bed. The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. He had probably pulled on the sheets while on the floor and yanked Hinata out of the bed and onto him. They probably tossed and turned through the night, which explained why they were practically inseparable at the moment.
"Shit, how the hell can I get her...," he stopped all thought when he realized what he needed to do for an escape. He bit his lip and felt a nosebleed start to flow as he knew there were only two places to brace his hands. He took a lovely melon in each hand as best he could and pushed slowly to raise her off him.
Each movement felt like he had to maneuver a tripwire maze attached to numerous explosive notes. He tried to stay focused on escape, yet with what he held in his hands he couldn't cease his random thoughts.
"Her breasts are huge compared to Sakura-chan.Why hasn't she woken up from this?I never knew they would be this soft.Okay just enough room to move.Why does she hide these with her jacket?I wonder what cup size she is."
Hinata slept quite soundly and with the added pressure she exhaled a high pitched moan that set the blonde's face ablaze as his groin started to swell instinctively to the sound.
"Don't enjoy this,Naruto.You aren't like either of your senseis," he mentally berated himself to make the drool leave his face and galvanized his resolve toward escape.
Hinata didn't seem to be aware of the situation at hand. However, the pressure on her chest made her react as the sudden winch of pain and that made Naruto retract his arms and end up with a face full of cleavage.
It had to be some divine vengeance against him. He was going to die when she woke, if blood loss from his nose didn't finish the job. He was certain the shy gentle Hyuuga would turn into a monster like all the other women he had met in his life, given the circumstances. He summoned up every ounce of self control he possessed and planned another escape route.
"Please don't wake up, Hinata," he prayed as he reached around to her side and lightly tickled her skin making her groan and grab in the general vicinity of his hand and roll slightly off him.
"Naruto-kun, don't…tickle me," Hinata whispered in a husky voice.
His struggle for freedom felt like it had spanned for a million years when, in fact, it only had been thirty minutes.
Naruto had managed to work his way out of the sheet cocoon and avoid Kunoichi aggression. He bolted for the door and exited the room with Hinata none the wiser.
"Thank whoever," he groaned.
"Um, excuse me," a soft female voice cut him off
He jumped and gradually rotated to face the origin of the question that was a small red headed girl with a familiar white and purple jacket in her arms.
"I…," Naruto gagged and knew it was all over. He had been caught and he knew what would happen next. She would scream "pervert" with all her might and cause a mob of angry guards to come in a flash flood to eliminate him. Although it could be far worse if Hinata came out and shut all his chakra coils.
"Um, is the lady decent at this time," she requested, not phased at all by the male's exit from the female's room.
"Huh," he yelped confused as to why he hadn't been chased away like Jiraiya already.
"I am well aware that all of us have needs to attend to. However, I must return the lady her clothing…I take it she isn't too tired to attend breakfast?"
"Huh," he asked with no minimal amount of distress.
The female moved between him and the door and entered inside.
"What the hell did she mean by that," he pondered as he moved down the small stretch of walk way to his own room.
He stayed lost in thought over the comment and attempted to clothe himself for the return trip home. He had thankfully left some clean clothes in his room, because he soon realized that he left his bag in Hinata's room. He struggled into his pants due to his body still being primed for specific activities. It wasn't until he realized how obvious the bulge at his crotch was that he realized what the red head had meant.
"She thought me and Hinata had...," Naruto coughed for a bit at the implications of it. He hadn't thought anything like that about Hinata. Hell he had only really held a conversation with her about a dozen times. She probably would accept the way he acted, but he knew all too well that no woman would be interested in a demon container.
"Its not like there's any chance that would happen," he grunted and caught himself for the thought of a possible relationship between them.
There really wasn't anything to show him she was interested. Hinata was just a weird ninja with some odd habits. She was heir to her clan, which meant she would probably be married off to some "important" individual. But she was different from the rest of her family and didn't seem to believe the world circled around her.
Naruto gave a sigh of relief that he had gotten dressed by instinct, even with his higher thought processes distracted. He bit his lip and realized he hadn't really given a relationship with anyone really much thought.
"The only female I ever really tried to be with was Sakura-chan. I wonder...," he brooded until interrupted by an all too familiar voice.
"Sir, would you please follow me to the dining area," a feminine voice questioned through the closed door.
Naruto sighed and hoped the girl kept the incident to herself and hadn't informed Hinata of what had transpired.
Hinata awoke to the sound of the door's groan as it allowed access to someone.
She blinked a series of times and found herself with a pillow under her that she had been face down into.
"It was a dream," she said both sad and relieved to know that the incident had been just a hallucination inside a dream.
"Pardon me," called a female voice that drew her attention to the red headed occupant in the room.
"Um, hai?"
"I just wished to return your jacket. I noticed it was damaged and I wanted to repair it before your departure."
"Thank you."
"Um, if I must say it appears you had quite an active night."
Hinata realized what she meant with the sheets and pillows being piled up on the floor.
"I'm sorry I usually don't move around that much. I'm sure it was only a one night thing," she replied, the comment completely lost on her.
"I see. I will go and inform your companion of breakfast and guide you both when you are prepared," she gave a low bow and excused herself from the room a rather red blush along her cheeks.
Hinata disregarded the comment and dressed herself appropriately for the morning. She put on her jacket and was a bit taken aback when her breasts felt sensitive and hurt as if some pressure had squeezed them a bit.
"I must have fallen off the bed and crushed them," she concluded and tried to put on her jacket, but the extra strain caused by the zipper made her wince. She removed the item and felt a hint of dread when she knew that if she put on her bra the pain would be far worse than the jacket.
She had decided to chance the possible soreness and removed a lavender colored bra from her pack. She removed her shirt and positioned her breasts into each cup, but as she went to attach the straps she bit her lip in reaction to the pain.
"What can I do," she thought and in a minute was inside of her pack. She just prayed to Kami that she brought some bandage wrap. She smiled with glee when she found a half roll.
"I need to bind them, otherwise I could get hurt even worse," she thought and prepared for the challenge of binding her breasts without a second pair of hands.
The process took her a few minutes and it wasn't the most comfortable fit, yet she knew it wasn't any better for a choice if she went bra-less. She had just finished when a knock made it clear she needed to be done shortly. She put on her shirt and grabbed her jacket for the day and decided to leave it unzipped. Hinata took her bra and left it on the bed, since she figured she would have time to pack after they ate.
*Konoha hospital*
It had been a rather uneventful day for him as he finished the written reports on his last few patients. Taro had gotten bored over the last day and decided to come into work to occupy his brain. He had nearly finished all his previous backed up reports when a knock at his door brought him back from medical processes to his normal enthralled self.
"Come in the door is open," he said to not waste a moment to raise his head and observe the person.
"Taro Masahiro," queried a ninja with a weird set of goggles on.
"Last time I checked that was the name on the door," Taro continued as he signed an order for pain killers and a few general components to imitate the effect of soldier pills.
"Two messages for you sir, please sign here," the man added as he withdrew a scroll from his pouch with a spot designated for his signature.
Taro narrowed his brow and became serious when he noticed red and black marks on the paper notes. He signed abruptly and took a hold of the items and already knew what needed to be done.
"I apologize for the damage done to the notes; however, I haven't endured any rain over the travels since I took them," he tried to reassure him as he took off.
Taro opened up the letters one at a time and knew what was required to decrypt them. The marks on the edges of the notes meant that it was Anbu related and was a request for specific supplies.
The first letter had a number of markings all over it. None of the marks made any sense, but that was only to those who weren't knowledgeable about how Konoha coded their higher security materials.
Taro folded the scroll in numerous directions and eventually had a circular shaped piece of paper that when held up to the light had the kanji for a specific number placed on it. The first one had the number 43 while the other a 98.
He was confused by the random numbers brought in. The numbers were coded based on what exactly was required by that particular ninja. Values 1-30 were for chemicals needed to make specific bombs or traps. 31-70 were solutions made to enhance physical performance like soldier pills, and chakra steroids. While values 71-160 were poisons for assassination or suicide.
Taro hadn't made any of the compounds in several years. This was due to him being off active duty. Not to mention, the possibility of him dying due to the dangerous process the poisons needed to be crafted in. It wasn't that he was careless, it had been an accident caused by an idiotic assistant who was immediately fired.
"Why did these come to me," he wondered as he pulled out a notebook that had the list of the requested materials correlated with their numbers.
Under normal circumstances these medical requests would come into the village by general hawk messengers. Anbu would collect the note and return it to headquarters where the letter would be scrutinized for any chance of forgery. Afterward, the compounds would be made and then the elders of the council would dictate whether or not the materials would be provided based on the mission and ninja who performed it.
Taro, for one, wondered if he knew the person who sent the scrolls to him. However, the real problem was what he should do about the requests. It would be a lot of trouble if he sent out a poison to someone and it was used to kill an important person to Fire country. He could also be charged with treason if the medicine was sent to an enemy of Konoha.
"What the hell do I have to lose really," he asked. From the intricate details on the seal he could tell the message wasn't a cheap imitation.
He doubled checked the numbers and noted the special pills were requested to have a chakra coil dilator, which would help to increase chakra flow temporarily. The other chemical was a Citric acid cycle inhibitor and would prevent the body from making the high energy electron carriers from undergoing cellular respiration.
"Why the hell would someone use this for assassination," Taro wondered at the choice of poison.
Most assassinations were done swiftly and made it appear as if a natural cause was the reason. However, this wasn't a fast death. This stuff could linger for hours to days. It was a poor choice of poison and would eventually make it seem like a natural death by fatigue or age. Crushed Ilium or reduced water lily extract could be fatal and were plentiful, which made the origin of the poison hard to pinpoint.
The other request was equally strange. The coil dilator would make it easier to pump chakra through ones system, but it wouldn't really help unless the person had a large amount of stamina to create adequate chakra flow. Logically, it would just make more sense to ingest a soldier pill. The most this would do is allow someone to bypass the pain limits from their chakra coils.
"I don't understand who would want these things. Neither of them seems like optimal choices for an assassination or personal enhancement," he thought and noted to send the materials to the Hokage after they were produced.
"A bad omen," he grumbled and against his better judgment left to the market and Yamanaka flower shop to obtain the material components.
The dining area was a large table that was nearly twenty feet long and five feet wide and made from some dark wood. The ceiling was constructed from what looked to be marble and had some golden plant pattern engraved into it. The effect of the majestic sight was only further enhanced by the morning sunlight that flowed into the room through a series of stained glass windows.
It had been a beautiful presentation with all of them equally satisfied with their meal. Naruto and Hinata had never seen such a breakfast set out for them. The gratitude of the Daimyo was almost limitless, which showed in the quantity and variety of foods. There was rice, omelets, grilled/broiled fish, and miso soup. There were also several fruits neither of them had ever seen let alone tasted.
Hinata gently squeezed the pomegranate seeds in her mouth to partake of the sweet tart flavor and swallowed the remaining "pit" to not appear rude. She felt a bit embarrassed when Naruto put a handful of seeds in his mouth and covertly hid the pits in an empty cup he pretended to drink from.
The meal they had was magnificent to the last bite and was suddenly interrupted by a familiar pink haired female who entered behind a green haired guard.
"Good morning," whispered the low female voice of one Haruno Sakura being a bit worse for wear, but rested somewhat for the return trip.
"Morning Sakura-chan," shouted Naruto, which wasn't the best idea he noticed by the vein that throbbed in her forehead.
Sakura looked drained and this protected both teammates from retribution for her despair. The rest she had gotten was wonderful to say the least. The bed she had slept on was a lot softer then what she would've expected for a soldier, even a captain.
She joined her comrades at the table and welcomed the food, which helped to ease the headache that throbbed from her forehead to her eyeballs.
A half hour passed and by this time all of them were satisfied and prepared to depart. That was until the noise of wood tapped on the floor grabbed all their attention.
"Ninja of Konoha, may I present Tsubasa Takahashi," Nephenee shouted and quickly went to a knee as her lord entered into the meal area.
"Nephenee," the Daimyo thundered, "Address me properly when we are in the presence of others, or do you forget your place," he questioned with hardened eyes.
Nephenee immediately bowed her head so suddenly that her helmet clacked against the floor.
"I ask your forgiveness, my Lord. I forgot my place," she whispered in a rare moment of submissiveness.
"Be gone," he shouted at her
The green haired female took no time to vanish into one of the nearby corridors.
The trio of Konoha Nin all appeared confused as to why the Daimyo was enraged by the use of his name. Although sometimes individuals of power did tend to let their ego inflate over time.
Naruto bit his lip at the Daimyo, since the guy acted all high and mighty and probably needed his ass kicked. It also pissed him off, since it reminded him of a certain black haired person. Naruto lowered his head as he remembered Sasuke and wondered where he was.
Hinata looked over at Naruto and saw him stare into the floor with a depressed expression.
"I wonder what is on Naruto's mind," she thought as they were greeted by their benefactor in a much kinder tone.
"I thank you once again for the news that you brought. I'm certain the hospitality I have shown you properly represents my feelings toward the Leaf village."
"Thank you for your time and care, Lord Daimyo. We shall be departing shortly," Hinata responded respectfully and topped it off with a small bow of her head.
"Thank you," Sakura added a small bow of her own.
Naruto remained silent unable to shake the thought of his ex-teammate from his head. He did constantly wonder what things would've been like if he had stopped him at the valley's end. Would they all be here at the Daimyo's? Could they have beaten that guy in the desert without issue?
Naruto was so deep in thought he didn't hear a single word that was said nor see the shocked faces of his teammates that wanted to think him to give his thanks.
"Was there any displeasure with my hospitality ninja-san," the Daimyo more stated then asked.
Naruto came back from his mind trip and looked dumbstruck at the older man.
"I…"
An explosion knocked everyone out of their seats and made the Daimyo go face first into the carpet.
"What the hell was that," shouted Naruto.
*Corridor outside the treasure room*
Nephenee had taken her leave and had decided to go about her rounds to ease her frayed nerves. She had forgotten her place as captain of the guard and she was bound to suffer the wrath of the Daimyo for her stupidity.
"I will not fail you again, my lord," she reassured herself as she made her way to the treasure room.
"Attention," she shouted when the two soldiers she had on duty were within range.
She approached closer and saw that the neither of the men made a move despite her approach. She gritted her teeth in the fact all of these morons had been stupid enough to fall asleep while under her charge and she was in no mood to suffer idiots.
"Wake up, damn it," she yelled and shoved the pair.
She glared in horror when the bodies struck the wall and disintegrated into sand.
"Care to join your men, soldier," echoed a voice for all around the hallway.
She immediately pointed her weapon down toward the darkness and tried to isolate the location of the voice.
"Ramped Earth," echoed out as pillars of rock spikes rushed down the hall and prevented any chance to dodge.
The hall filled with dust and obscured the view. Kelgan laughed as he landed with a pack full of treasure still on his back.
"Simple soldiers."
When the dust settled he couldn't imagine how unlucky he was when said female stood in the same place as trails of lightning danced off her armor and halberd.
"You picked the wrong time to fuck with me," she shouted with near demonic lust.
"Nebula Tornado," she flicked her halberd in front of her and made a cyclone of green electricity that blasted out a section of the wall to the outside.
Kelgan retreated and took some cover behind a stone pillar to prevent him from being fried. He cursed as it seemed he continued to run into impossible odds.
"Fuck this there's no reason to take all this money if I can't spend it," he thought and jumped out the hole in the wall.
"Little bastard," yelled Nephenee as numerous guards arrived behind her.
"Orders captain?"
"Secure the Daimyo and make sure no one tries to engage the enemy ninja," she jumped through the hole and kept pursuit of her prey.
*The Dining hall*
The Konoha team was quick to recover, not too startled by the explosion and mayhem about them. Hinata checked the Daimyo and was surprised to see the man knocked out cold. She called over Sakura who did a diagnostic jutsu and found the man had broken his nose in the fall.
Naruto moved to one of the stained glass windows and noticed a familiar looking red head pass by, followed by a rather ominous green haired soldier. He gritted his teeth at the site of the man and formed his favorite hand seal as two clones appeared beside him.
"Let's go," he said as the clones lifted the Daimyo up and carried him off.
Naruto broke through the window and gave chase and was joined soon by his companions. He didn't know why, but somehow he felt he needed to catch this man.
Kelgan kept up his pace best he could as he felt the broken bits of his arm still jar about. It was a temporary fix he did with some emergency pills to grow bone and muscle. However, he was no medic and hadn't placed the bones back correctly so he was handicapped.
He neared the edge of the roof, yet was blown off course by an explosion of electricity again. He rolled down the slope of the rooftop and allowed himself to fall over the edge. He reoriented his body and began a run down the wall to the courtyard to try and get some cover with other soldiers around.
"Shit," he thought as he landed in a place full of emptiness. There were no guards, maids, or servants. The area was about the size of a vacant park and decorated with pots filled with exotic plants.
A loud explosion was all he heard before a sharp lance tip narrowly skewered his heart. He tilted his body to let his cargo absorb the shock, although he quickly realized that the gold conducted electricity.
He skidded on the ground and took a second for his muscles to come back under his control.
"Why out of all the ninja I can come up against...a lightning user," he growled and rushed through a series of one handed seals as the rocks and stone from the ground began to stick to all his exposed flesh.
"Living colossus," he wheezed already worn from the relentless assault he had been chased by.
He swung his arms into the ground to crack the foundation of the brick masonry. The debris accumulated into a bulbous mass to make an impromptu mace. Kelgan shifted his priorities and decided to attack the female. The armor helped to fortify his defense and took little away from his offense.
Nephenee jumped back and dodged the boulder fists with ease and looked for weak points. She took a series of swipes with her halberd at the joints, which took out chips of rock and stunned the man as the electrical current disoriented him.
"Surrender now and I promise your death will be swift," she offered as she braced herself and struck with a lightning infused fist that made a crater near her opponent's chest.
Kelgan stumbled back from the sudden pain, but kept his mind focused on his plan. The rubble that was torn from his body floated in mid air and flung themselves at the soldier. The shards of earth made dents in her armor while she blocked the shards from her face with her weapon.
More shards flew at her head and forced her to dig into her defense. She peered around her weapon and noted the golem advance on her position. She tried to jump back, but her efforts failed as some of the rock shards had clung to her feet and glued her to the floor.
"Damn," she growled and started to rip off the restraints.
The next moment she could hear bells ring around her and things appeared over bright and fuzzy. Her back felt alright, but there wasn't any doubt that now she probably had a concussion and maybe some internal hemorrhage. The stone humanoid appeared larger from her place on the ground. She struggled to kept conscious, which was aided when the golem's hand restrained her arm and effectively broke it under its weight.
Nephenee couldn't fight back. Her arm was stuck, her halberd was pinned, and she barely was able to keep a single eye open with the pain she was in.
"Forgive me, Takahashi-sama," she whispered and closed her eyes to await death.
"Rasengan!"
A blue orb contacted the golem and sent it halfway across the courtyard. The orb had torn off a considerable amount of rock to show Kelgan inside.
"The fucking blonde asshole again, just great," he yelled and refocused his chakra to reform the rock armor.
Naruto prepared for a fight and wondered where his teammates were, but knew he could handle this. He started to form another rasengan with a clone and charged forward. A cerulean orb of chakra collided with the golem's fist, which again flew back and destroyed all the things around it.
Hinata waited to join the battle and instead examined the golem to find something that could be exploited. The technique used chakra to add rock and mortar to itself to keep the user protected.
"Naruto-kun that armor will just keep repairing," she shouted and threw explosive tag kunai all over the rock armor to see if the time to repair differed due to location.
Sakura saw to Nephenee and was glad to see that she only had a cracked humerus and radius bone. She began to bend and break the armor plates off so she could view the muscle tissue damage.
"Why aren't you helping them fight? I couldn't stop him and you trust two of them to be able to," Nephenee asked confused as to how the pink haired girl could so freely work on her without care of the battle.
"You don't know Naruto," was all she said and mended the bones back into place.
Naruto continued to pummel Kelgan with numerous rasengans and refused to relent in his efforts. He struck full on with another sphere, however he was stopped cold when the ball tore open the rock and the golem stood strong. Kelgan had expected the blow again and anchored himself with some spikes of rock from his legs impaled into the ground.
"Surprise, asshole," Kelgan laughed and landed a punch with his uncovered hand that swelled Naruto's eye a bit.
The blonde recovered quicker than the Earth nin planned when he tossed a kunai that cut into Kelgan's right eye brow while in mid roll.
"Alright now I'll just need to kill everyone," Kelgan groaned as the armor turned black and hardened.
"I could always use explosive clones, but that would destroy everything here too," Naruto grunted and made a hundred shadow clones puff into existence.
The clones pulled out their own kunai and shuriken and rained down metal death on the animated statue. The metal tools broke and deflected off the black surface without a single visible chip in the stone for the effort.
Hinata had examined the situation long enough and found the chakra flow in the earth shield had nearly doubled and the only way to break through was to stop the user's chakra flow or some attacks that caused mass devastation.
She grabbed a hold of a nearby clone and spoke something into his ear and was shocked when it stabbed itself and vanished.
"Attack," thundered as all the clones rushed in throwing shuriken and kunai with explosive tags.
"Shards of Earth."
The golem smashed its hands into the ground and the wreckage formed into razor sharp shards that flew out all around. The clones all seemed to vanish save for a single blonde with a blue orb that came at him.
Kelgan gritted his teeth and decided this time to be aggressive he ran right at the blonde and was ready to catch him with both hands. He smirked as they closed the distance between them. He brought both hands down and noticed how the blonde turned into that pale eyed girl.
Hinata fell on her back, which she covered with a layer of chakra to allow her to slide on the ground and between Kelgan's massive feet. She came to a halt and catapulted herself up as she dug the heel of her foot into the ground.
"Eight trigram sixty-four palm," she shouted and began a series of strikes into the back with as much chakra as she could focus into each blow. She struck at the chakra coils and did her best to penetrate through the dense covering.
Kelgan laughed as he was pushed forward and he didn't feel his shield falter. The blows abruptly ended and in so her life would as well. He raised his still stone covered foot and prepared a kick into her head and burst it like a watermelon. His chest suddenly felt tight enough that he couldn't breathe and his muscles ached as he lost control of his chakra.
Hinata jumped back from her exertion and smiled when the giant soldier of stone crumbled into pebbles.
Kelgan couldn't recall a time when he felt so powerless. His will was still strong enough to keep up the fight, but his body refused to be invigorated by such a source of energy. His hands and legs twitched as he struggled to keep them stable. He didn't care if he died or not now. He just wanted to kill one of the fucks who brought him to this end.
"Bitch," he shouted and stumbled on his battered limbs to the pale eyed female. He had a dozen explosive tags and a single kunai, which was more than enough explosive to suicide bomb this girl.
He was ten feet away when the blond kid tackled him to the ground. Kelgan grimaced as the bone in his right arm felt like it had been drummed on with a sledgehammer. He brought the kunai around and stabbed and felt it sink in followed by a puff of smoke. He felt his heart stop when the explosive note started to burn down and he didn't have the time to get rid of it.
An explosion rocked the entire palace and left many of them to wonder what had occurred. Thankfully, Naruto had sent a clone to pull Hinata out of the area of effect before the detonation.
The aftermath was a horrid sight for all of them to view. There was nothing left of Kelgan, save for a few pieces that were displaced here and there. It was ghastly the way he had brought about his own end.
"Nice work," Nephenee commented as she overlooked the crater to ensure no type of trickery was used for the red head to escape.
"I thank you for your assistance, Leaf nin," she said not at all affected by the blood or the twitches the body parts did as its nerves kept firing.
"That wasn't necessary for him to do," Naruto grumbled a bit taken back that he couldn't stop him. The main reason he tackled the guy was to restrain him
"His life was about to end and he found it better to die at his own hand then suffer in a dungeon or torture chamber," she responded with an almost prepared speech.
"Do you really believe this was better," Sakura questioned not really sure what to make of the guard.
"All of you could one day end up in the same situation and be forced to decide whether you want to end your life or suffer a long time before the end," she retorted with calm logic.
Naruto wanted to further argue the point, however he really couldn't. He knew from the first day that he joined the ninja academy he would eventually be killed while on a mission or if the village needed to be defended when he became Hokage. He just figured he would use suicide as a last resort, since as long as he was alive there could be a way to succeed.
"Will I need to make that kind of decision if I fought Sasuke? Would he try to kill himself if I stop him," he wondered and broke eye contact with everyone. The thought of his ex-teammate as nothing more than a red splat on the ground made him sick to his stomach.
Hinata knew that a ninja wasn't guaranteed life, but death. It was the life they chose and she was sure each of them knew it was going to be difficult. She for one had only seen s sight like this when Gaara had annihilated those rain nins. But, to actually see someone blown into a pile of red goo made her feel queasy.
Sakura couldn't bring herself over the sight before her. She had expected Naruto to bring this nin down and get him to stop like he normally could. However, there were some people who were just as unpredictable as Naruto and, in this case, it meant someone had died. But, no matter how much the sight of death saddened her she would rather bury an enemy then a friend.
"Captain Nephenee," shouted numerous guards that arrived to investigate the abrupt silence.
"What are you doing here? I gave specific orders to protect the Daimyo. Why are all of you here when he could still be in danger," she demanded and her anger was instantly stifled by the arrival of the Fire Daimyo himself.
She went to a knee and bowed embarrassed that they were probably there on his direct order.
"I must apologize for the situation Daimyo, I…"
"There is no need to explain the situation. A pair of blonde ninja explained the state of things to me once I awoke. When he informed me that you fell in battle I ordered all the troops to reinforce you."
Nephenee couldn't help it, but she smiled at the fact that he was worried about her well being.
"Thank you, my lord. We owe our thanks to these Konoha ninja as well as my life to Naruto."
The Daimyo examined the trio and was deeply impressed by the potential he saw. Konoha sure knew how to train them.
"I can only offer my thanks, Konoha ninja. I won't forget this favor you have done, but I must ask you to leave so we may get things in order and clean up this incident."
The Daimyo walked over to Naruto and did something rare for himself. He bowed to Naruto and gave his deepest thanks.
"Heh, no problem," Naruto responded as the guards arrived and had their personal supplies with them.
Naruto gave thanks when he grabbed his pack and was glad to know Hinata wouldn't find out about their nocturnal activities.
*Palace Gates*
Nephenee escorted the team to the gate for their departure.
"I can't thank you enough for the job that you did. And I won't forget that you saved my life, Naruto," Nephenee offered and noticed a few cryptic looks on the groups faces.
"Yes," she questioned.
"Where did you learn to fight and move like a ninja," Sakura asked and was surprised when the green haired female only laughed.
"I was trained in the hidden cloud village. I was once in line to be the next Kage…but things changed."
The group was astonished by the fact that the Daimyo had a personal ninja as his body guard. Yet, it made sense with normal soldiers being no match against a trained ninja assassin.
"Um…why is the Daimyo so nice to you? I didn't believe a lord would be so attached to his captain of the watch," Hinata asked.
Nephenee actually giggled for a moment before she put her serious face back on.
"That's because I am one of the Daimyo's brides."
"What," they all shouted with open mouths.
"I didn't believe it would be that much of a shock," she sweat dropped at their response to it. Almost insulted they would think she couldn't be married.
"Why don't you have people to serve you? And what about the message that was an agreement of marriage," Hinata asked, staggered that someone could love someone and be okay with them married to another. She couldn't imagine the pain that came with the knowledge of a shared husband.
"I wasn't raised in a position of high class or honor. I was brought up knowing only how to kill and remain hidden. I am not someone that would live a life of being served and waited on. The Daimyo is a very special man, and if I can only act as his guard and not a full bride that is what I shall do. I make that sacrifice to be with him," she responded with sorrow and love on the edges of her words.
Hinata gulped and wondered if one day she too would need to make that choice. To be selfish and keep the man she loved to herself or let him be shared due to how special he is.
"Good day, Ninja of Konoha. Kami light your path," Nephenee said and retreated behind the gates.
"I just want to go home," Naruto sighed glad that the mission had come to an end.
Taro had just finished the compounds from the safety of the sealed off room in the highest floor of the hospital. He carefully removed the white pills from their covered molds. He wanted to swear when his visor filled with fog from the condensation of his breathing so hard. He hadn't wished to take any unnecessary risks and went in a full body suit with air filter.
Taro's hands started to shake as he was about to transport the medicine to a small colander that had incredibly fine holes in it. He gathered the white circular pills and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Easy now…nice and slow," he dipped the colander into a boiled black fluid, which resulted in a white vapor cloud in the room.
He removed the contents and dunked it immediately into an ice water bath and examined the completed product. The black fluid had immediately hardened and made a water resistant coat on the medicines.
"Perfect," he grunted and extracted the pills into a small white container.
Taro double checked his "cook book" to confirm he hadn't skipped a single step of the process. He had already squeezed the fluid out of the Ilium and water lily flower petals and condensed it down into a powder. The substance was shaped into pill form with some aspirin and sugar to slow the metabolic breakdown of the compound, with the final step of a coat of gelatin to ensure that the medication wasn't damaged by any moisture.
The chakra steroids had thankfully been a lot easier. It was a simple matter to order the steroids from the pharmacy and condense them together with some coil stimulant pills. The same water resistant casing was just an extra precaution for transport.
"That should do it," he confirmed and exited the safety chamber so he could take off the damn mask and gloves.
He blinked a series of times and was frustrated as he looked into the mirror of the decontamination area and noted the indentions on his skin from the safety gear.
"Stupid.This is just stupid...what I'm doing," he thought as he washed his arms and rinsed his hair to ensure he hadn't gotten any contaminates on himself.
Taro began to slowly lean as he felt the world spin about him. His vision blurred and he barely caught himself on the counter top.
"Just fucking great," he grumbled and figured his suit had some type of tear in it and he had exposed himself to some of the toxic fumes.
"Miki," he shouted and did his best to remain at his current location.
"Hai," yelped a brown haired female in a nurse uniform who appeared freaked out to be an assistant to Taro.
"Take these to the Hokage's office and make sure they are shipped to the numbers listed on them," he slurred a bit on the end and crashed to a seat on the floor.
"Masahiro-san," she ran and assisted him in his endeavor.
Miki had only been a nurse for two years so far and she did enjoy the work she did. However, there were times she wished Masahiro-san didn't do such dangerous things and left it to the Anbu that had the necessary equipment. She prayed to Kami each time he did such things so he wouldn't abruptly end his life.
"Let me help you first," she offered and wasn't rewarded for her kindness.
"Get these fucking things to the Hokage, now," Taro shouted as he threw the white packages into her arms and lied down on the floor.
Miki stood a bit wide eyed at the sudden dismissal and wanted to and help Taro. However, she did know better and Taro was quite a vicious individual with his words. She hadn't thankfully been the target of his razor tongue as of yet. Although, she had seen more than one occasion where certain people looked like they had been spiritually murdered.
She gave in and left with at frustrated grunt. She took her trip down the hall and was happy that everything appeared to be business as usual without any major emergencies.
"Gai-sensei, I challenge you to a race around the village," echoed down the hallway and a green blur dashed by and she almost drop the pouches.
"I accept your challenge, Lee. And I won't even use my legs," came the reply, and this time a similar green blur flew by. However, this one left a trail of tire marks that were distinct to a wheelchair.
Miki felt confused beyond belief as to why there was a race scheduled in the walkways of the hospital.
"What do you two think you're doing," she thundered and shook both her hands into the air.
Her heart dropped when the packages descended from her hands and ruptured when they impacted the tile floor. Her mind panicked as the contents from both bags rolled along the floor and only further added to the dread when she noticed they were both the same color and size. This was due to the coat that was meant to keep out water also made almost all the pills appear the same.
She scrambled to gather the medicine and picked up both bags to only spiral further into fear when one of the bags entire content had fallen out.
"What do I do? Taro will butcher me if he finds out I screwed up like this? What if I just put them back into the bags?No I don't know what the compounds are. They all look the same too," her mind rambled on as she gathered all the pills and hid in a nearby room that was thankfully unoccupied.
Miki felt her heart beat a mile a minute as she attempted to save herself from the horrible mistake she had made.
"Kami, if you can hear me please save me," she prayed as she examined both the containers and noticed no markings in the corners.
Konoha frequently checked and double checked everything they sent to their ninjas or otherwise. The absence of a label meant that the package didn't have anything dangerous inside of it.
"They're both harmless," she shouted in relief and carefully weighed out an even amount of pills and filled both bags again.
She smiled in contentment when once again the world slammed her back down. She had to drop these off with the Hokage. She bit her lip and rubbed the back of her head when she came to the most logical explanation.
"Neither bag is poisonous so there shouldn't be any harm in sending them out myself," she smiled and made off with the supplies to the courier ninja office.
