The next chapter is here everyone! And it's a good and glorious one at that!... just lacking in fight scenes. Now quickly onto the reader responses before the story starts.
ArtanisRose: Hm… them merging huh? Well, no spoilers but maybe….
Dfields3710: Um, well, no. Storm release might have suited him element wise, but that a Kumo bloodline and I'm trying to link him to Kiri in a specific way. Besides I've already got a story where Naruto uses that. As for the Shikotsumyaku I don't think it's a good idea to give Naruto the dead bone pulse. It just doesn't suit him. Besides, even Dark Naruto isn't a homicidal maniac like the majority of the Kaguya clan. Kimimaro is an exception to the normal rule.
SParc781(and many others) : Now… I don't mean to be rude or anything but….. WHERE THE HELL IS TAYUYA SUPPSED TO GET ADAMANTIUM!? Sheesh! Adamantium sealing chains aren't actually metal at all. They are chakra constructs made out of extremely dense and potent chakra few outside the Uzumaki are capable of. And even then only those with the sheer willpower to use them can.
Now I'm not absolutely saying its out because it does sound awesome, but where the hell am I supposed to just come up with enough Adamantium for her to use? It's one of the mythological elements like Mithral. It doesn't really exist outside manga or comics. So unless I have a random meteor land after the Chunin exams…. Yeah… I'll be happy to use adamantium, but you guys have to give me a plot line for it.
And that's it for reader responses except for… "Strike the Blood" Yep most people seem to want it so I will post it in a few days. It mostly follows canon main events, but changes greatly later on.
(I don't own Naruto)
Now lets get this show on the road
Chapter 9
Ooo
Two days. It was two days until the Final test of the Chunin exams. And everyone was on edge, one Tayuya Uzumaki in particular. For one thing she was nervous about what Naruto was up to. He'd been gone for the better part of the three weeks since the blood test. She'd scarcely seen the real him. Only his clones and they weren't informative. In fact they were singularly moody most of the time. She hated to admit it, but she was starting to miss that stupid ass goofy grin of his.
For another thing she was nervous about her own training. It was coming along quickly, but still. It was nerve wracking. Gaara was the most unnerving person she'd ever met, above and beyond Orochimaru. At least her old master you could know what he was thinking. That evil pedo-chuckle gave everything away usually. Gaara rarely gave away even the slightest bit of information. Reading his body language was like trying to read fucking tea leaves. And she hated tea more than the idea of missing that stupid blond.
On a better note she'd learned how to use magnet release. It was actually far easier than she'd thought it would be. Apparently something to do with her Uzumaki heritage of course, but still. It was cool to be able to attack or block without ever moving or forming a single handseal. Not that she was capable of doing it to anywhere near the extent Gaara could. His impenetrable defense was a vicious weapon as well as an unbreakable shield. Her own sand defense was only enough to block minor jutsu or stop weak Taijutsu. Gaara said it was because she had a stronger connection to the lightning element than wind and probably needed metal sand of some kind to harness her full potential.
She was looking forward to it, but at the same time… would she have to carry a bid freaking jug of iron sand or something similar like he did? That would suck!
But all of that was secondary to Naruto. He was her big problem simply because of who he was. She'd never admit it, but she was alittle worried about him. He wasn't even sleeping in his own bed, which most likely meant he was either staying awake for days at a time or he was training till he dropped from sheer exhaustion. That couldn't be healthy…. Not that she actually cared about his health… much…
Tayuya's stomach growled, interrupting her paranoid musings. She grumbled to herself and slipped out of bed, already knowing that there wasn't anything to eat in the house besides instant ramen… and while it was alright… she would never be addicted to it like the blond. Which of course meant that she had to go shopping if she wanted something else….
"Fuck my life for having to shop… grrr…" She grimaced and moved to her dresser, grabbing a pair of black shorts and a red shirt. She got dressed as fast as she could before snatching her beanie from the top of the dresser and leaving the apartment.
She jumped from the third floor where their shared room was, landing on the street below. She turned on her heel and started in the direction of the market district, her stomach still growling audibly.
Ooo
Ten minutes later she was combing through the market stalls looking for ingredients to make something wholesome… and at the same time simple enough that she could make it with her meager skills. As ironic as it was, about the only thing she could really make well was ramen, but that came from having such an over abundance of the stuff in the house all the time. She despised cooking for herself for the most part and had gotten used to Naruto making her food for her… He wasn't a bad cook either…
"Damn blond ass hole trying to turn me into some pathetic housewife. If he wasn't so overpowered and clueless I'd beat his ass for it. But he doesn't even know what he's doing half the time." She sighed and bagged what she needed before paying with some cash Naruto's clone left her that morning.
After that she decided to get some meat for later. "But that always means going by that stupid flower shop and that loudmouthed bitch who's always asking stupid ass questions. I guess I could take another rout, but something always happens to come back and bite me in the ass later. I hate this village and it's karma."
Deciding to just go along with it, Tayuya took the most direct route to the local butcher shop… only to be suddenly set upon.
As she turned the corner to go down the side street a white and red blur blazed down the street behind her, stopping beside her in a great plume of dust. She waved her hand in front of her face and took an agitated step back. "Hey!? WTF?!"
The dust settled, revealing the form of a man… A very tall man with shockingly white and spiky hair, tied back in a long ponytail. He was easily the most odd looking person she'd even seen, and that included Sakon and Kidomaru. "Kami damn them to a place lower than hell…" This man looked fifty if he was a day, with dark eyes and tanned skin. He had two red tattoos going down from his eyes on either side for some reason… and…
Her eyes dropped to take in his clothes, which were garish to be sure. He was wearing a great maroon vest over a green… something with lot of green and gold embroidery. Under that though was mesh shirt and what looked like the hard muscle. She took another step back and made a handseal behind her back, then stopped. He was wearing a headband with the kanji for Oil…
Tayuya's eyes went wide as she realized just who she was staring at, even as he did a flamboyant bow and produced a rose from somewhere. She really didn't want to know where it came from.
"Ah hello! My fine specimen of the fairer sex. How might I help you this day?! Could I perhaps assist you with carrying those groceries?"
Tayuya resisted the urge to let her jaw drop comically. Then she realized exactly what he was doing. He straightened, giving her a ten thousand Kilowatt smile that reminded her rather unnervingly of Naruto and decided to introduce himself. Something that wasn't necessary in the least. She knew who he was alright. Even if Orochimaru hadn't told her to beware of his old teammate, Naruto talked about him enough for her to know him on sight.
"You may be wondering who I am! In fact I am none other tha…"
"I know who you are. What do you want?"
Jiraiya of the Sannin stopped dead. "Y..you actually know who I am already?" He seemed astonished, as though her wasn't famous the world over. Though admittedly less for his skill in combat than one might think.
"Yes! you overzealous toad faced son of a perverted bitch! You're Jiraiya of the fucking Sannin and I know all about you! And I'm not in the mood to talk to lame perverts trying to hit on me! I must be thirty years younger than you for kami's sake so fuck off!"
People in the street had stopped to stare, some of which who knew of his reputation and history chuckled at what might have been the hardest rejection he'd ever received. Jiraiya for his part was looking at her with a slack jaw.
"Uh…. Pardon me…." He said uneasily. "I didn't mean to cause offence. Is this a bad time?"
She raised one eyebrow. "That depends. Are you looking for Naruto or were you genuinely hitting on me. If it's the first one it's a bad time for me since I don't know where the fuck he went to. If it's the second one then it's a bad time for you." She glared at him. "Now which is it? I haven't been able to cut loose on anyone in three weeks and I'm starting to get agitated."
"I um… Well, it's not what you thin….. I mean…" His eyes widened. "Wait, what did you say about Naruto?! How do you know him?"
Tayuya rolled her eyes angrily and started walking back down the street. "I'm his girlfriend moron. Maybe you should go jump off a cliff before he catches you hitting on me. Pervy sage was pretty damn accurate. I guess I should give him credit for being dead on the money next time I see him." She gave a mocking salute to him over one shoulder as she made her way out of his sight.
He took after her only to feel the ground underneath him shift, causing him to fall flat on his face in the street. Several watchers laughed at him. It was pretty hilarious to watch the world famous Sannin trip on nothing.
Twenty feet away, turning into the butcher shop, Tayuya snickered quietly. That guy really was as pathetic as Naruto claimed. "Maybe I should tell Naruto he was trying to hit on me. That would be fun to watch."
Ooo
Ooo
Tsunade sat at her desk battling against the sworn enemy of all Kage, paperwork. And currently she was winning. Thank the gods for small miracles. With all of the income that the Chunin exams were bringing in, not many complaints were coming in. At least not for funding anyway. Demands that visiting Shinobi pay for damages to various claims continued to stream in constantly, but that at least, Shizune could deal with. It allowed her a rare time of ease before the epic shit-storm that would be the end of the Exams.
Unfortunately any extra time she would normally have taken to get slobbering drunk was instead used to take care of other…. Problems. Mainly problems caused directly or indirectly by Naruto. For instance the lovely little mess he made with the blood work. His having Ice Release was a sore point with her, especially after he up and vanished without a trace. Tayuya's link to the Subaku family was a mixed blessing. It was good because she'd had Naruto marry a descendant from the royal family of Suna, all be it unintentionally. But it was also a royal pain in her ass because the Kazekage insisted on training her with Magnet Release while he was within the village. And that in turn alerted Danzo, which meant that her two advisors were in on it as well. The next thing she knew, she was having to fend off the pathetic attempt to manipulate the girl, Naruto, her, the Kazekage, and the situation as a whole.
If her advisors were any less helpful she'd be tempted to hang them for attempting to destabilize Konoha by giving her a migraine.
But all of that was icing on the original cake…. Naruto. That blond could stir up a hornet's nest just by blinking, heavens forbid he actually try to stir the proverbial pot. With him gone, presumably to train, she was stuck keeping ten ANBU observing Tayuya at all hours of the night and day. Why?
Because when she'd come back from doing the blood work and speaking with the Kazekage and his brother… she'd found a message scroll on her desk, rolled up as a cork for her best sake bottle. The message had made one thing perfectly clear. One; Naruto knew that Danzo didn't have his best interests at heart. And two; if Naruto found out that Danzo did anything at all to harm Tayuya in any way he wouldtear the village apart brick by brick until he had Danzo's corpse in a body bag.
It was becoming increasingly clear that even if Naruto's alter ego wasn't in charge, the innocent little boy was growing up. He was still as stubborn as a deaf Iwa Shinobi, but he was starting to act like his parents more and more. He had Kushina's possessiveness and overprotective attitude towards those he cared for… and he had Minato's no nonsense reaction to threats. Most who had known the Fourth thought he was a brilliant if laid back man. She knew better. Minato Namikaze was easy going sometimes, but when it came down to his loved ones, he'd made more than one ultimatum… and carried them out too. Most of Iwa could attest to that.
Tsunade wouldn't personally mind if Naruto killed Danzo in front of the whole village. The bastard had it coming ten times over, but she didn't need an infuriated Uzumaki/jinchuriki dismantling Konoha looking for the slippery bastard.
A tap at her shoulder caused Tsunade to look up from her paperwork. A second later the door to her office opened… and she sent the largest book in arms reach flying through it.
WHAM!
"Ouch!"
"Damn it Jiraiya! From this moment on you are banned from leaving the village under any and all circumstances! I don't care if Kami herself wants a copy if Icha-Icha! I needed your ass for the last month and you were off on a STUPID RESEARCH TRIP!"
The collapsed form of the Toad sage raised one hand in a very sloppy horizontal salute. "Yes hime… Understood."
Ooo
Twenty minutes later he was reading the letter Naruto left for her, while looking over the results of the blood work. His expression constantly shifting between shock, worry, and something akin to fear. He quickly dropped the paper with the blood work. His eyes traveled over the letter one more time as he read aloud.
-Tsunade
I want you to know something. I don't care what you think of me for it and I don't care how anyone else feels about it. When I got back to the apartment earlier that Danzo guy had found Tayuya and threatened her. I know you don't trust her still, but if I ever find out that guy is EVER responsible for hurting her. I will murder him. I will not try to make friends. I will not ask what he was thinking or try to make him see the light. I will rip him apart and I swear by the necklace you gave me, No one will stop me.
P.S. I know that he has others working for him. If he hurts her, I won't stop with him.-
Jiraiya lowered the message and glanced at Tsunade. "Naruto sure has changed in that short time since I left… I honestly have no idea what happened. He hardly changed at all during the training trip. From what you say, he taught himself sealing, Hirashin, is making new seals that even I haven't thought up. He apparently copied the Hyuuga fighting style and enhanced it with Lightning chakra… "When he doesn't have lighting release to begin with…" He's somehow managed to get Ice Release from Minato even though I should have known that Minato didn't have it. Hell, I trained him."
"On top of that he's developed a bloodthirsty alternate personality, made some arrangement with the Kyuubi, and has decided that he's going to make himself famous in the final test." Jiraiya frowned. "You've told me what happened and when…. But you haven't told me why." He eyed her carefully. "I want to know why Naruto is so protective of that girl, when and why he developed a split personality, and finally, why he's suddenly acting like his parents instead of a bone headed kid."
Tsunade shook her head. "On that first one it's most likely the fact that he sees her as the only family he has."
"You mean the fact that you made the two of them marry secretly? I bet that went over well. How much shit did Naruto give you over that?"
"Not very much. It was either marry the girl or have Danzo be given the opportunity to do what he wants with her. I didn't need to do much in the way of convincing. And she's smart as a whip with a sharp tongue to boot. The choice was fairly obvious for her too. As I said, she's his family. And this…." She gestured to the letter. "That proves just how attached he's become to her."
"She's a former member of Orochimaru's elite guard, the Sound Five. Is she…?"
"She's trustworthy enough and she has a firm grasp of common sense unlike Naruto…. Although that might be changing as we speak."
Jiraiya shook his head. "That's not what I was about to ask. I was asking if there was any change Naruto developed actual feelings for the girl."
"I seriously doubt it. Fondness for family sure… he's friendly enough even to his enemies, but no…" Tsunade chuckled dismissively. "I don't believe those two would ever be romantically involved. They're like oil and water. And not to mention her habit of cursing him out without the slightest provocation."
"But she referred to herself as Naruto's girlfriend."
"That's their cover. Until they fulfill the terms of their agreement or decide to make it official, they are publicly only dating. Privately they're married as I already explained. So I doubt it meant anything when she said that." She leaned back in her chair crossing her arms. "Anyway, it almost seems to me like you were hoping they were romantically involved, which would probably be more bad than good with Naruto's recent change in personality. If he's this protective over her just because they're family… how far would he go for someone he was genuinely infatuated with?"
"Yeah… I see what you're saying, but I can't help but wish he had someone." Jiraiya sighed painfully. "All of this wouldn't be so bad if there was someone he could cling to, but there just isn't. None of his friends are close enough to help heal the wounds that are there. In a sense all of the friends he's made are only acting as pain-killers. He's never healed from the injuries he suffered to his psyche. I just wish I could tell him what he needs to hear. I would have already broken the rules and told him about Minato… but I'm not at all sure how he would react."
"I know the feeling."
Both of them looked at each other, their thoughts running along similar lines.
"I'll stay in the village and keep an eye on them."
"You better."
He nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Tsunade grimaced and returned to her paperwork. Her talk with Jiraiya had given her much more to think about. It turned out that Jiraiya hadn't really done much more than improve Naruto's chakra control and fine tune his ability to control the Kyuubi, even though they hadn't made much progress. However Jiraiya mentioned that Naruto had been trying to create new variants on the Rasengan…. She'd have to keep an eye on him because of that. No telling what damage he could do if he succeeded in adding an elemental change to that deadly jutsu.
Ooo
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Naruto sighed, expelling a large cloud of steam. He was so… cold. "I might have overdone this… I shouldn't have tried to do this with Ice release. My body can't handle these temperatures…" Molding his chakra into the proper pattern, Naruto activated the Hirashin seal linked to his apartment. He needed to rest after training so long at the edge of chakra exhaustion. And he needed to get warm again.. He was freezing.
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Ooo
Tayuya opened the door to the apartment and stepped in. She quickly made her way to the kitchenette to set out what she'd bought. Then she activated the storage seals on her wrists. A small cloud of smoke dispersed around her to reveal the excess groceries she'd purchased. She turned to open the cupboard and stopped. She felt the temperature take a sudden massive dip, falling twenty degrees in an instant.
Tayuya whirled around just in time to see Naruto collapse to the floor like a stiff board. "Hey?! Naruto!" She didn't get any response and quickly put the food away before moving to his side and kneeling down. Nothing moved. He was unconscious.
She reached out to touch him and snatched her arm back. His skin was radiating a dense chill. It was like he had shoved himself inside a freezer for a few hours. His body was like a giant ice cube. Tayuya's eyes widened as she realized the cause. "Idiot! He was out training Ice Release without anyone else helping! How could he possibly know how a new Kekkei Genkai would react the first time he used it?! Shit. I need to get him warmed up before he turns into a shit head popsicle."
Tayuya gritted her teeth and channeled Fire chakra through her hands as she grabbed him. It took several tries before he was in his bed. But he was still cold to the touch. She hurriedly made two shadow clones. One went to get the blankets off her bed. And the other moved to make some hot chocolate. She continued to pump heat into him through her palms, but it seemed to have a minimal effect. A minute passed and her clone had buried him under every blanket in the apartment… and the other one had two fresh mugs steaming. But she couldn't seem to wake him up!
Channeling yet more chakra she attempted to burn through whatever was keeping her from warming the blond up. It didn't work. Her clone to her left was muttering to herself in an agitated way, mimicking her original's frown.
It took a second for her to realize why she couldn't bring his body temperature up. Ice style was the use of Water and Fire Release in concert. Fire might have wind beat, but this wasn't wind alone. It was water as well. The two elements were now running rampant through Naruto's body and preventing the Fire chakra from helping much.
Tayuya cursed. "Fuck! You two keep heating him up!"
Her clones shared a glance and nodded, getting to work. Tayuya herself darted over to the table where all the Fuinjutsu equipment was. She pulled out ink and paper and slammed both on the table in front of her. As soon as she dipped a brush in the ink she froze…. Why did she care?
That thought chilled her as surely as Naruto was at the moment. Why did she care if he was hospitalized for abusing Ice Release? As long as he didn't die she was fine wasn't she. She didn't actually care for him. He was just a stupid ass who couldn't keep himself under control. There was no reason to help him right now. It wasn't like he would die. If he could fight the Eighttails then he would come out all right in the end….
Tayuya closed her eyes briefly. No… "I'm doing this because he would do the same for me. Damn it, little shit making me sentimental." Tayuya quashed the voice in her head telling her to leave Naruto alone and started to paint kanji. After ten minutes she finished and stood, blowing the paper dry even as she walked to Naruto. Her clones stepped aside as she pulled his shirt aside and slapped the makeshift seal over his heart. The effect was immediate.
Naruto's whole body twitched like he'd been shocked… and then he relaxed, his breath changing from white frost to mere cool air. Tayuya sat on the bed and touched his arm, which while still very cool, was no longer icy. She sighed. The chakra absorption seal worked after all. Not as well as she thought it would, but his chakra was more potent than most, even weakened. He was lucky that he was a jinchuriki. She didn't think any normal person would survive being frozen like that…
Tayuya sighed and dispelled her clones. She wasn't sure what to do now, but she figured it would be a good idea to stay with Naruto until he woke up. There was no telling what he would do when he was awake again. Knowing him he'd probably try to go out and train more… "Fucking lunatic… He'd chop his hand off to spite his arm when it comes to training. Is it going to be up to me to keep him in line from now on? I'm married to the idiot so that's probably a yes. The Hokage certainly can't control him worth a shit."
Grumbling to herself, she covered Naruto back up with the blanket and grabbed one of the mugs of hot chocolate. She sipped it slowly as she waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Tayuya drained the rest of the second mug of hot chocolate and slammed it on the small table by the bed, her irritated/worried grimace falling on the blond after a good half an hour had already passed. "Bastard just won't wake up… He isn't even twitching now. Whatever the hell he was doing either took a massive toll on him or my guess about him training for days without sleeping was dead accurate. What the fuck do I have to do to wake him up?!"
She rubbed her brow, pulling off her cap and smoothing her hands through her hair. This was not what she wanted to do today. If things went the way she wanted, she'd be working on her sealing again, not babysitting her overpowered and yet mostly incompetent pseudo-husband.
After a few more minutes of watching him breathe she grew tired of waiting and gave a sharp chop to the side of his head. "He STILL didn't wake up!" Tayuya growled and pumped a small amount of lightning chakra into her fingertips… and then jolted him in the arm.
Naruto rolled over.
"BASTARD!" Tayuya howled with rage and grabbed pulled the covers back to wrench at his jacket. "Wake up piss-for-brains before I turn them to ash with a fireball!"
He grabbed her wrist. She glanced down, realizing he was still asleep. "Still can't wake up, but you're unconscious body apparently has some retarded self defense routine. I guess this is progress though…" Tayuya pried his fingers off of her wrist… or tried to. In actuality his hand stayed firmly attached.
Tayuya's eyes narrowed. "Grrr….. Let go jackass…"
Naruto didn't respond… again! Infuriated Tayuya wrenched her arm back, only to curse as Naruto's arm pulled back, dragging her forward instead. She let out a muffled shout into the blankets as she pushed herself up with her other hand. The stupid blond was STILL asleep. It galled her that he possessed the nerve to lay there, snoozing, and still manage to be more irritating than most people were awake! It pissed her off that he could be so treacherous when he wasn't even conscious! And it pissed her off even more that she allowed herself to be pissed off by someone who was asleep!
Her primal growl turned into a shriek as Naruto's rolled over, the movement pulling her over him and into the space between him and the wall. Tayuya bared her teeth in a reasonable (at least for her) attempt to bite his throat out. Her attempt to murder him was cut short by his other arm wrapping around her waist.
Her face abruptly glowed red as her anger flipped off like a light switch. She registered the feeling of now very warm breath over the nape of her neck and the ridiculously strong arm curling her against him. Tayuya tried to pulled free, channeling chakra into her arms. But her sleeping jailer only pulled tighter. She gritted her teeth and strained to get out of his grip.
A second later she grudgingly gave up and relaxed. Naruto, as if sensing her surrender, shifted. Tayuya squirmed a bit, barely managing to turn around. She twisted her head to look at his face. Her breath caught in her throat. He looked so… She shook her head hard, dispelling whatever compliment might have been coming to the forefront of her mind. He wasn't handsome… he might have looked damned peaceful but that was it….
Tayuya found her grimace slipping as she let her head drop back down. Again, this was not how she'd envisioned spending the day, but it seemed fate had other things planed She'd just have to lay here until his grip loosened or he woke up. Not so bad….. Tayuya closed her eyes. There wasn't any point staring up at the ceiling for kami knew how long. "Minds as well take a nap too while I'm stuck here…"
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Standing in the middle of a wide training field south of Konoha, Gaara waited. He'd been standing here for nearly three hours and Tayuya hadn't shown up to train. He wasn't sure what to make of that. She'd been on time for every other training session. Point in fact, she was usually early. So what had prompted this sudden absence? Tayuya didn't strike him as the kind of girl to leave him out here for hours on end without any explanation…
Gaara scratched his chin in thought. Perhaps it had something to do with Naruto. They were married after all. It was perfectly reasonable to assume that they were busy doing something together. Or perhaps it was as simple as her sleeping in. Even he was susceptible to such things these days. After mastering Shukaku to some degree his occasional naps were bliss. He certainly couldn't fault anyone else for grabbing a little extra shut eye.
Although… he didn't feel Naruto's chakra at the moment, which was strange. Every day for the past two weeks he could sense the surge of his friend's chakra about now. And today it was strangely absent. Gaara frowned slightly and glanced around the training field once more. Then he started to walk back into the village. He'd check their apartment first. And then Ichiraku. Temari had told him that was Naruto's favorite hangout. How she knew that he didn't know, but it was probably Shikamaru.
Then again… how someone so lazy could even be that observant he had no understanding of.
He sighed inwardly as he continued on his way, wishing he understood people just a bit better than he did.
Ooo
Ooo
Back in the village Jiraiya had finally finished speaking with his old acquaintance Mei, the Mizukage. It was refreshing to speak with her again. Refreshing but…. scary. Mei could be just plain frightening sometimes. Especially with that selective hearing problem.
She was almost as old as he was, but somehow retained her youth. Easily the hottest woman in the Elemental Nations anywhere near Kage level. It was no wonder Tsunade hated her, or at least hated Mei's seeming immunity to the ravages of time.
Jiraiya sighed happily. Besides that, it was always good to meet with new corruptible young boys. One free signing of an Icha-icha book and he had another lifelong customer! He enjoyed the look on Ao's face when Chojuro pulled out a brand new copy of Make-out tactics. HA! So his valuable words were getting through to the next generation! Even in countries savaged by war!
He just wished his favorite blond student would have taken at least some small interest in his work. It would have made things soooo much easier on him. The way Naruto collected female admirers was a bit unfair in his opinion. The kid didn't even appreciate all the attention he got! He'd had at least three girls take an interest in him during the training trip and he didn't so much as get a kiss out of it! Not even that minuscule concession. Truly he was hopeless when it came to women.
Then again… Minato would probably be cracking up in his grave if he knew. His sensei, who lusted eternally, never got laid or even had any females take interest in him. But his son, who had half a dozen girls who liked him. Maybe even one or two who were obsessed, didn't have any inclination to take advantage of it at all! Priceless….
Jiraiya silently sobbed at the thought of all the hot moments in his godson's life, he'd never get to write about. Then a thought popped into his head and he turned on his heel in the middle of the street. He took off in the opposite direction heading for Naruto's apartment. It was time to do some catching up, man to man….
Ooo
Jiraiya landed on the third floor of the apartment building and moved to the door. It looked as though he'd replaced the door since last time he'd been there. "I kinda figured with how that Haruno girl acts. She's turning into a miniature Tsunade." He raised one hand to knock, but stopped. Some sixth sense told him that a good story scene was close. He could almost smell it on the breeze.
"No… Naruto you lucky devil. You wouldn't… Tsunade-hime said you didn't have that kind of interest in you 'girlfriend'. Hm…. I wonder…"
Activating his camouflage technique, Jiraiya snuck around to the other side of the apartment, glancing in windows… No good. All the windows were shuttered. "Oh, wait… That one isn't" He smirked and applied chakra to the soles of his feet and walked out on the side of the apartment that faced the street. Then he silently moved into position, peeking in the window and catching a glimpse inside the room.
Nothing… just a regular room, but from the angle he was at all he could see was the opposite wall and an empty bed, devoid of covers. A small table was set in the room, littered with what looked like Fuinjutsu."So he has been practicing on his own. I already knew from hime, but it's good to have it confirmed." Jiraiya frowned. He could feel two presences inside the house with his limited sensory ability and they seemed close… but where were they? He grunted and pushed farther up, bringing the rest of the room into sight.
Jiraiya froze.
Just below him, less than two feet away on the other side of the glass… were Naruto and Tayuya. In the light from outside he could see the blond sleeping deeply, facing towards the window. But that wasn't what startled Jiraiya. No, what had him gaping was the petite red head currently wrapped up in his arms. The Toad Sage stared for several seconds unbelieving.
Nope, his eyes weren't deceiving him. Tayuya, the loud, vulgar, extremely abrasive girl who'd cursed him out in the street…. was laying back first up against Naruto's broad chest, her head just under his chin. Jiraiya registered the half annoyed smile curling the corner of her lips and the tight hold she had on Naruto's arm.
"Well…. I'll be damned… Naruto actually is sleeping with a girl in the same bed… cuddling no less. I feel like…." Jiraiya paused in his thoughts, suddenly feeling forlorn. "That's it… I feel like I'm intruding. This feels too similar. I think… I think I need to get going."
Jiraiya let himself drop from the side of the building to the street below. He quickly brushed himself off and turned away from the apartment building, wishing he could dispel the unpleasant memories that filtered through to him… Naruto… and her, there were too similar, to close to the Namikaze and Uzumaki he'd seen the same way twenty years before. It wasn't right for him to watch them. Not then anyway.
He shook his head dejectedly and walked off. He either needed a stiff drink or a co-ed hot-spring. And there weren't any of those in Konoha… so he'd have to settle for the former. Jiraiya turned his steps in the direction of Hokage's tower, feeling a great urge to annoy Tsunade rising up. Maybe that would keep his mind off Naruto and the secrets he had yet to learn the truth of.
Ooo
Tayuya shifted, rolling over in bed. She felt so warm… Unconsciously she nuzzled her face into the source, desiring to sink back into the realm of sleep, but a muffled groan escaped her as she found herself being dragged unwillingly into wakefulness. Tayuya mumbled sleepily as something tightened around her waist. She shoved away the urge to get up and let her breathing slow again. A moment later she'd drifted off again.
It wasn't long after that when she was forcefully roused by a shifting and a low yawn. Tayuya cursed silently, already annoyed that someone woke her and ticked off that she'd been deprived of her warmth… "Wait… what?" She blinked her eyes open. She was lying under the covers of a bed, but the warm… thing she'd been reluctant to leave had disappeared.
Tayuya turned her head, rolling onto her back as she did so…. and came face to face with Naruto, his azure eyes surprised and…. She didn't know what to make of his expression. It was so open and… chaotic, a dozen emotions all running through it at once.
He blinked slowly and rubbed at his eyes.
She didn't move, worried that he might try to… "Try to what? Kiss me or something?" Why would he do that? What could possibly make him want to unless it was the other him? And why in fucking Kami's name did that pop into her mind the moment she saw him?! Tayuya was still frozen when Naruto shook his head and dropped back into bed muttering. One arm slipped around her again startling her sufficiently that she couldn't resist as he closed his eyes. She heard him muttering about dreams before his voice became inaudible again.
"He just went back to sleep…. He just fucking went back to sleep…" Tayuya didn't know what to do. She genuinely didn't. Under normal circumstances she would have pummeled him into oblivion, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to do it. She simply couldn't dredge up the angry indignation to strike the bastard. And even now! He was lying there with one arm around her pretending as though this was all a dream or some shit!
Tayuya's thoughts derailed at that. Did Naruto really assume this was a dream? The way he just muttered to himself and went back to sleep, it was almost like he'd…. like he'd dreamed that before. But she knew for certain that she'd only slept in the same bed with him once, and that was by accent. At the time she had been too exhausted to notice which bed she crawled into. So… Does he really dream about me and him... sleeping like this? No… that's stupid, idiotic. Why would he ever dream something like that?"
A soft knocking came from the apartment door, jolting her out of her thoughts. Tayuya sat up quickly… or tried to. Naruto's restricting arm pulled in closer into his broad chest. She was now quite aware of two things. First Naruto was stronger than her using chakra… without using his. And the second was that he was hot. Not in the sense of his looks, or maybe that too, but she realized that his body was giving off a substantial amount of heat. Quite contrary to the unnatural chill from a few hours earlier. It disturbed her, but not as much as the thought of someone… anyone… catching them in bed together.
Tayuya prodded Naruto hard, earning a barely audible growl from him. This was followed by his curling slightly and pushing his face into the crook of her neck. Her face blazed red as he breathed out, heating her neck with his warm exhalation. She couldn't take that. The intimate feeling of him practically nuzzling her set off alarm bells in her head. She lashed out, smacking him hard upside the head and finally getting him to release her.
Naruto rolled out of bed with a breathless shout and a loud thump. Tayuya slipped out of bed too, shaking her head violently, trying the repress the crimson blush she knew was there. It wasn't working. He cheeks still felt hot and her stomach was tying its self in knots, the sensation not as unpleasant as she wished it was.
By the time Naruto had sat up from the floor and collected himself, Tayuya was at the door. She glanced back at him as he grumbled. "Good morning tiny violent one. Can I ask what the smack was for?" She ignored him and his annoyed/confused expression and sarcastic tone. Instead turning back to the door and wrenching it open with enough force to tear it off.
She was greeted by the somewhat surprised expressions on two faces. One being average height and female, the other being slightly less than and male. Tayuya immediately recognized them as Naruto pseudo-teammates, Tenten and Konohamaru. Both looked at her, their eyes quickly taking in her appearance. Tayuya did frowned.
"What do you want?"
"Well I uh…" Tenten's cheeks were ever so pink at the moment and she was glancing at the floor. Tayuya glanced at Konohamaru who had a drop of something red seeping out of his nose. Tayuya looked down at herself as Tenten finished…. "We were actually looking for Naruto… if you don't mind much…"
Tayuya didn't register what she said, instead distracted by the fact that she was wearing significantly less clothes than she'd thought. Somehow, during the short time she'd slept, she'd managed to kick her pants off as well as one sock. Her bra was missing… but that was perfectly logical. She was only a C-cup and didn't wear one. And her large T-shirt was hanging off one shoulder.
Her eyes rose to meet theirs again and her blush deepened… if that were possible. She realized that she looked like a literal hot mess. Her blushed skin, added to her state of dress, and crazy messy hair all came together to paint a false, but very convincing picture.
"Fuck me…" she thought angrily. But then again… that's probably what they were assuming happened.
Tenten smiled sheepishly and stepped back. "Um, we can come back later if you want. It's no problem. We were just wondering if we could ask Naruto about the lineup for the Final Test…" She trailed off, nudging Konohamaru as she back away slowly.
The boy snapped out of the trance he'd been in and eyed his boss's girlfriend once more. Then he wiped at his nose and stepped carefully away. She, seeming just as… if not more embarrassed, nodded and slammed the door. He glanced at Tenten. She glanced at him.
"Do don't think…?"
He nodded. "No doubt about it…"
She shook her head once and turned around. "I've got to tell Ino about this."
"Hey! Wait a sec for me!"
Ooo
Ooo
Naruto stared at Tayuya, unable to form proper words once he actually was looking at her. She stood in front of him, glaring, but at the same time blushing furiously. The expression making his chest hurt slightly… pleasantly…. The long red hair was disheveled and messy, almost as spiky as his at the moment. Her slender neck led down to her small shoulders which were only half covered by her crooked T-shirt. The same of kilter hem of the shirt showed of the lovely pale skin of her belly and the white of her panties. And below that… the smooth cream of her long legs.
Naruto's gaze was drawn down her body as his own cheeks darkened.
"Tayuya…chan…?"
"Shut up shithead.. and don't look at me!"
He turned his head away from her as she darted to the other side of the room to put on proper clothes. He glanced back at her as she pulled on a pair of black shorts. Naruto looked away quickly. He was confused. Why had he been woken by her hitting him? And why oh why was she in HIS bed?! It defiantly wasn't his fault this time. And… of all things why was she wearing nothing but panties and a too large T-shirt?!
The sight of her like that was more than enough to send Jiraiya through a wall on the back end of a nosebleed. For him… it was still hard not to think about… things. Especially when his instincts were shouting at him to close the distance and… "Damn it… I'm turning into a pervert like Pervy Sage… It's her fault for walking around like that though." Groaning, Naruto stood and sat on the edge of his bed as Tayuya finished dressing. A second later she was stepping past him into the bathroom.
The door closed with a snap.
He sighed and dropped back onto the bed, closing his eyes. He was so confused. He'd been training hard, skipping sleep and mastering his new bloodline as best he could in the short time left before the Final test. Then he'd flashed home when he was just about to hit empty. And… he didn't remember much of anything after that. Except the weird dreams, but he would swear now that the last one hadn't been a dream in the least. That in and of its self raised a few questions, but there were other thinks to think about besides his conflicted feelings.
For instance, why Tenten and Konohamaru had been there and what they told Tayuya. Or what he was going to do for the ending to the Chunin exams. As much as he'd boasted he'd finish with a bang, he never really thought anything out in particular, besides of course showing off the Fourth's jutsu in front of everyone. And now that he could use Ice release, there was another thing to consider.
In the time he'd trained it, he found that using a Kekkei Genkai was extremely difficult. It was far beyond just using a normal elemental affinity. His seals helped a little, but not as much as he'd liked or hoped. Over all he faced the same problem with Ice release that he'd faced with everything else. Chakra control. His sucked, and probably always would. That went beyond Wind release or passive chakra use… or the regular Clone jutsu. It was a fundamental part of him. Which meant he was either limited to overpowered techniques, or he'd need to work out a real chakra limiting seal that didn't stop him from using large portions of his chakra. While at the same time giving him the control he needed on the smaller jutsu.
"So much stuff to think about all at the same time. How does Granny Tsunade do all of this? It's no wonder she's always cranky. Maybe I should give her more credit for doing her job and not going insane? Then again, Gramps always seemed to do it all fairly easily. Maybe she's just inefficient…" Naruto grumbled to himself and sat back up. "No that's all pointless to think about right now. First I'll ask about Tenten and little Bro. Then I need to figure out what my strategy will be for the final test…. If any. And last, I need to find out what I can about Iwa. Maybe Jiraiya can help with that when he gets back. He's supposed to show up just before…"
As he thought to himself Tayuya left the bathroom, brush already stroking through the tangled mess of her hair. She didn't pay any attention to him… but her cheeks were still almost the same shade as her hair. He watched her, waiting for her body language to signal it was alright to talk again.
Eventually Tayuya dropped the brush on her bed and sat down. Naruto took it as the sign that he could speak without being attacked by an angry redhead. (never a pleasant experience) He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted as Tayuya jumped off the bed and stormed over to him. Naruto cringed slightly as she grabbed him by the front of his open jacket. Tayuya growled ominously, dragging his face closer. Their eyes met.
"First things first. If you ever try to sleep with me like that again I will cast a Genjutsu on you so vicious, Itachi Uchiha himself will feel chilled where ever the fuck he is." Her purple eyes narrowed as her fist clenched harder, the knuckles turning white.
"I didn't get into bed with you though…."
"SHUT UP!" Tayuya shouted. "AND SECOND, don't you dare train that stupid fucking bloodline of yours alone. Got it?!"
Naruto leaned away from her unsuccessfully. She brought their heads together with a smack hard enough to wake Gaara from full possession. He saw her wince fractionally as she continued. "Don't you try to get out of this shithead! Let me tell you something. When you popped up here after training alone and without rest for kami knows how long, you… were…. frozen!"
Her hand released him just long enough for him to pull away…. Only to have their head slam back together. "UNDERSTAND? FROZEN! You're the one who is supposed to protect me here Naruto! And you can't do that if Danzo is chilling his drinks with your corpse!"
He looked away as the nails of her other hand were slowly digging into the meat of his leg. "I don't give a damn about whatever family we have back in Iwa. I don't give two fucks about parents I've never met and probably never will, but you… I care what happens to you damn it! So I don't ever want to hear about you using Ice release alone. I don't…" Tayuya's strength seemed to vanish as she collapsed, letting go of him. "I don't want you to leave…."
Naruto, horrified by her outburst, dragged her back onto the bed. She didn't fight the action, but she managed to punch him weakly, pointlessly. A miserable, almost lonely expression marred her usually proud features. Naruto didn't know what to do or say. He never really knew what to do or think around girls and this was completely unexpected. Usually he tried to act how Kiba or maybe Choji would, but somehow he knew that he couldn't fake his answer here. He didn't want to disappoint or… scare her.
Letting out a long sigh, Naruto wrapped his arms around her slim shoulders. She dropped her head on his chest, breathing hard after her rant. He noticed that even though her body shook… she still wasn't crying. "What do I say? Is there even anything I can say?" Naruto allowed his head to rest on hers. It was a long time before he came up with something.
As Tayuya's dry sobbing finally degenerated into shivering and then stillness, Naruto rubbed his hands over the small of her back. "Tayuya-chan… I won't leave… Promise of a lifetime… k…"
Her fingers tightened, curling gathering fistfuls of his jacket again as she pushed her face into his chest. "Fucking better be... Naruto…"
Ooo
Ooo
There you have it. This chapter of Sealing Twilight is finished. Yeah I know there was NO action in this one but I think I more than made up for it. The hack and lash stuff is saved for next chapter…. Maybe.
Just so you know I will be including a bonus chapter after the Exams end for the "Kakashi mask incident"
And a short note on Naruto's power level, for all those out there who think he's overpowered and no one stands a chance against him. He fought Killer B a few chapters back, however… I'd like to remind those who think this is significant that B wasn't using his tailed beast cloak… or his (eight) blades simultaneously. Also, while Naruto is strong, B, Chojuro, Kurotsuchi, Kakashi… etc… have way more experience fighting than him.
Also if we want to be honest with ourselves, the only truly analytical fight in Naruto where both opponents used every trick in the book to win…. Would be the Sasuke's fight against Itachi, and even that shit was rigged. Most of the time Naruto is completely reckless and would be pieced apart by any shionbi with experience to match Jiraiya, Kakashi, or any of the older Shinobi. Nearly endless chakra reserves or not.
Such is the reason why Jiraiya was killed by Pein. If Jiraiya fought like Itachi, he would have won, but he's just as big a knucklehead as Naruto.
And no, Hirashin isn't an instant win as awesome as it is. I'm sure everyone can recall that Naruto can't use it the same way as Minato, as he needs to inscribe the seal onto an object before using it. Minato could teleport to anywhere he touched once. And even then he wasn't able to defeat A and B back in that flashback….
Finally you need to remember that despite how powerful his Ninjutsu has become, he is still hopeless with Genjutsu, unskilled in Kenjutsu and missing both Ninetails chakra mode and Sage mode. So despite all the power ups he's gained, he's also severely weakened compared to canon Naruto…. As long as he doesn't go dark… Now there is a blond who you don't want to mess with.
Anyway… remember to critique and review!