Akira looked at her friend, her clan Head.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked. The two had been there for nearly two months, and in that time Naruko had managed to bring back hope to her clan.
"With this, all ties to this world are severed and Nagi will never be able to use her. And it will make it that much easier to keep her safe when I open the Way," said Naruko.
In order to protect Nina from Nagi and everyone else once the shinobi came back, Naruko was going to do something drastic. It wasn't enough that Nina was her Otome. Otome could be taken out if one used the right technology or removed her nanomachines.
Naruko wanted to keep her safe from her soon-to-be former village and everyone else as well. Nina would be considered a clanless orphan in the Elemental Countries, not worth noting and someone that is easily expendable to a shinobi commander. Bringing her fully into the Uzumaki clan would change that.
Nina had no objections to losing her name and connections to her 'father'. Sergay had used her and betrayed her, and he was too close to Nagi who would have corrupted her soul. She was tired of being an Otome anyway.
"Very well. But you do realize what this means if she is taken in under your name right?" said Akira.
There were two ways to be adopted into a shinobi clan. One was as a family member...the other was through marriage. In this case due to the nature of the Otome contract, Nina would be in most ways of the word Naruko's "wife" to the shinobi countries. Considering some of the tactics Naruko knew Danzo used to brainwash people, this was honestly the best method she had to protect them both.
You couldn't force someone to marry a person they hated if they already were after all.
"Alright. What did he have to say about this?" asked Akira. It was obvious who he was, as few people inspired heights of anger and disgust among females like Jiraiya did.
"He's torn between crowing about me having such a 'cute' partner and writing a yuri novel that isn't faked for a change," said Naruko annoyed.
She had beaten the crap out of him with the other girls when they caught him peeping.
"Where's Nina anyway?"
"Getting ready."
"Nina Wang, Otome of the Neptune Emerald. In this sacred area, do you solemnly swear to honor the ways of the Uzumaki clan, the love of clan head, and the loyalty to the clan name?" intoned the Elder.
"I do."
"Do you, Uzumaki Naruko, Head of the Uzumaki clan and third master of the Kyuubi no Yoko, agree to take this girl in as your partner in all ways from this day forth and accept her oath to this clan?" he asked.
"I do."
"Then henceforth among our clan, you shall be an Uzumaki. Your children shall bear our name and our clan's symbol. Should you ever betray us, your life is forfeit. Arise, Uzumaki and take on your new name with pride," intoned the Elder.
Nina Wang, daughter of Sergay and the true Princess of Windbloom died as Nozomi Uzumaki stood up to accept the clan symbol. Naruko had no idea that all Uzumaki were given the traditional swirl that was on every jounin and chunin's vest upon induction to the shinobi way of life. But she had worn the symbol anyway...probably because Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't wanted the girl to lose her heritage.
"Welcome to the Uzumaki clan, Nozomi Uzumaki," he smiled.
Nozomi smiled. For the first time in a long time, her destiny was hers alone to make. Though she wouldn't go by her new name until after this mess was over and she was in Naruko's home.
Naruko and Nina flew to where the Black Valley was, generally speaking, thanks to the information Miyu had given her.
Well...that and the fact that Miyu had mentioned off hand that the Otome stationed there could make very good ramen, according to the one in charge of the area.
Naruko had to be all but restrained when she heard the words 'good' and 'ramen' in the same sentence. Nina had to grab her pigtails for the first time in months!
Strangely, most of the clan seemed inclined to follow that lead to this mystery Otome when they heard about this as well. It appeared ramen addiction was entirely genetic.
"I still don't get why this Tsunade laughed when she heard the way I was let into the clan," said Nina.
"Do you know what the general purpose of a significant other is, and why most shinobi rarely marry?" asked Naruko rhetorically.
"A husband or wife provided companionship, and occasionally reigns in the other...oh you have got to be kidding me."
"Tsunade apparently believes you'll reign in my more idiotic tendencies. The better chance is that you'll keep me from committing political suicide," chuckled Naruko darkly.
"That is at least doable," snapped Nina.
"But in all seriousness, shinobi rarely if ever marry. Since what I did was the equivalent of marrying you in our world, that's considered highly unusual, especially since I was even considering the idea of marriage at my age. Plus there's the fact you're a girl as well."
"So what?"
Naruko leveled a look at her, flying backwards.
"What we just went through was the equivalent of a civil union without the rings. Most same-gender partners aren't even allowed to do a civil union, especially when one of them is a clan head. Then there's the fact that according to shinobi laws, your ability as an Otome is a valuable military asset. To be honest this was possibly the one way I could protect you from those bastards in the village."
"Plus the fact that Jiraiya already sent notice to Konoha about the Uzumaki clan still being very much alive and active..."
"Bonus. Last I heard Uzu was almost inhabitable, and since the clan refuses to settle in Konoha, they can't do anything about it since Tsunade pre-approved my transfer to a former ally."
Actually it was more along the lines of them sending a scroll with the Uzumaki clan symbol with the simple line of "We're taking back our family."
Tsunade, being half Uzumaki herself and knowing that the brat deserved to be happy for once, had signed off on the transfer. The idiot Elders assumed she had sent the girl off to Suna in the hopes of a political match with the Kazekage's son (now Kazekage himself) Gaara. Had they known Naruko had accidentally found, retrained, and planned to bring back the full force of the Uzumaki on the unsuspecting Elemental Countries...well, they would have done a lot less cheering and a lot more cursing and weeping.
Mostly because the clan was less than happy with the treatment of the only one to give them hope and their heritage back.
There were even a few who had Jiraiya drop them off in the Summons realm to regain their lost contracts so that they could really do some damage.
Some had decided to head home early to prepare the way for the rest.
Finally they landed in a spot that looked rather ordinary really.
Naruko went in first and Nina grabbed her hand before she vanished.
They walked for what seemed like hours...only for Nina to hear a yelp of surprise as Naruko was grabbed by a net. She easily cut through it, but it was the principle of the thing.
Twenty minutes and a pointless game of tag later, and Nina finally saw Arika again.
She did, however, have a tight grip on Naruko's long hair to keep her from all but jumping into the ramen pot.
Nina wasn't surprised in the least when Naruko immediately bonded with Mikoto the Cat Goddess once she learned they had a shared love of ramen.
"So...what's your plan of attack for dealing with the idiots in your castle?" asked Naruko.
"The other countries will distract the Valkyries and the Slaves while Arika and I slip in to disable the system," said Mashiro.
Mikoto slurped down some more noodles before she said "I can make Mr. Fuzzy your Child...but he'll have to give you his real name."
"Child?" said Naruko.
Mikoto gave her an odd look.
"You didn't know?" she said.
"Know what?"
Mikoto bared her back and showed Naruko the odd marking. It was some sort of open circle with a dot in the middle.
"I'm the last HiME left. Your demon is one of the offspring of the only Child to operate inside the airless regions of space. It's why they moved to another dimension...she had been going out of control."
Seeing everyone's blank looks, Mikoto explained in detail. Alyssa and Fumi came to pipe in as well...thanks to the unique nature of the Black Valley, everyone could see them.
"A long time ago there was a series of battles called Mai-battles. There were twelve girls with a unique gift given a summon-like creature called a Child. I say summon-like because unlike the Toad summons you have Naruko-chan, these didn't require chakra to bring out. However this gift came at a cost. Should the Child ever be defeated, then the one most precious to the HiME, which is what they were called as a whole, would die instantly. During the last battle, two HiME were left alive and the Obsidian Palace crumbled. However, one of the HiME from a previous battle named Mashiro used her powers to reset the battle in a way that restored all the Childs that had been killed."
Mikoto shook her head.
"There was the problem however. One of the HiME during that last war had been fake. Her Child had been very real, but her powers were manufactured by foolish humans. Her Child, Artemis, went out of control after the Battle had finally ended. Because it was a fake Child, Alyssa couldn't fully control it and it went berserk. It eventually became what the shinobi now call the Juubi. A man rose up called the Sage of Six Paths and split Artemis into nine different Childs which became the Bijuu...but Alyssa had already left that world to come here."
"Wait, you mean all that technology came from my world? But I don't even recognize half this stuff!" said Naruko.
"That's because your world slipped back into a more primitive time. Anything not useful for survival was discarded, and most of the sciences slid backwards because they had to focus on surviving a chakra-rich environment thanks to the powers that Artemis set loose. I'm surprised you managed to break through the barrier I had to put in place with Miyu...it should have discouraged shinobi from coming through."
"I'm an Uzumaki."
"That explains it. Uzumaki are very good at fuinjutsu which made the barrier. It must have recognized the bloodline and let you through," said Mikoto.
Naruko focused inward. She looked at the Fox and he sighed.
"I have no objections to becoming a Child again. But only if you let me give Konoha a well deserved scare and let me punt any Uchiha we run into," he said flatly.
"Deal."
"Very well, my HiME...my name is..."
"He said his name is Kurama and he has no objections," said Naruko.
"After dinner we'll settle that," said Mikoto.
Naruko sat in a dark place. Mikoto couldn't come down there because her Child was waiting for a new HiME, but she could.
Focusing inward, she found Kyuubi...no, Kurama. According to Mikoto, in order to make Kurama her Child she had to work around the seal that kept him from escaping and find a small crack he could materialize from.
So here she was inside her seal.
"So brat...how do you want to work this?" asked Kurama.
"How does a Child normally work?" asked Naruko.
"Typically the HiME awakens their Element, a weapon specific to them alone. Mikoto-sama for example, had a black sword called Miroku. I believe Mai's previous incarnation had a pair of bracelets that went around her wrists and ankles that allowed her to fly, and Natsuki's incarnation had a pair of guns."
"What did they look like?" asked Naruko eagerly.
Because of where they were, Kurama pulled up a few memories from the Child that had passed for her to watch.
"Mai's ability looks awesome."
"It might be easier to manifest a version of her Element than the others considering your heritage. I want you to focus on making your chakra solid, something like the Rasengan, but different."
Naruko stuck her tongue out and concentrating on making her chakra solid. She could feel something at the edge of her fingers, but it was slippery.
"Now imagine it taking it's natural form. Don't force it, let it flow out of you,"coached Kurama.
She took a deep breath and let her chakra flow out of her. Rasengan training was great for times like these. Slowly and somewhat sloppily, her chakra which was usually blue (or when drawing on Kurama a crimson red) began to glow gold.
Something, whatever was about to formed most likely, clicked into place. It was like something she had reached for her entire life had found what it needed. Feeling something solid in her hands, she opened them.
There in her hands was a strange staff. It was golden colored thing, and it pulsed with her chakra.
"Now add some elemental chakra to it."
She added her primary ability, Wind, and two large fans appeared. The top one was much larger than the bottom, and it seemed to be primarily for flight. Then she switched to water...it became a trident. Lightning became a naginata with electric designs. Fire became a zanbato. Earth, however, was the most surprising because it turned into a gigantic hammer.
She had been experimenting with chakra elements since Akira mentioned them and they found out that Nina's ability to use water chakra bordered on the level of the Shodai Hokage. She could already belt out a few water dragon attacks with her robe on at least three times without being drained...Naruko couldn't wait to see how she handled some of the more chakra intensive water jutsu.
"Now that you have your Element, we'll work on summoning me out. Due to the unique nature of HiME, it's not exactly covered by this particular seal. However because of the nature of summoning a Child, it also means I would be bound to your line until something breaks our connection."
"I think...from what Mikoto said earlier...you were already bound to me," said Naruko. Kurama had taken a nap while they polished off the ramen and Mikoto explained about the summoning process.
"Che...just because I've literally been with your since before you were born doesn't mean I enjoy the idea of being bound as your Child!" snapped Kurama.
"What does that mean?!" said Naruko angrily.
"It means you annoying girl, that I was inside your mother before you. Kushina was my container when you were conceived and she kept using my chakra during missions until she learned she was pregnant. In short, the reason why you have such ease using my powers is because my chakra already mixed naturally with yours. We've literally been together our entire lives," said Kurama flatly.
"Which means me turning you into my Child isn't as far-fetched as most. Mikoto-chan said there were some unique circumstances that would allow this to be possible, though she never said why."
"Either way, I want some freedom from this sewer. I hate this cage!"
Naruko walked past the bars, allowing her Element to shatter into pieces.
"Kurama, we're in this together no matter what. You've been with me for the good times and the bad, and I would be happy to be your HiME," she said gently, placing a hand on his nose.
"Che...well you aren't as irritating as Kushina was. She used to keep me impaled in her mind when I was inside her. I suppose there are worse females to be bound to than you runt. Perhaps this partnership could work out in ways neither of us were expecting."
Naruko could feel a bond between them settle. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start. There was a level of trust between them that had been absent for so long.
She would never be alone again.
She opened her eyes into the real world and called out "Kurama!"
And behind her, a massive fox easily bigger than the newly designed palace in Windbloom appeared. He shrunk to something that could fit through the door and they walked out together side by side.
"Wow...I'm surprised you managed to convince him," said Mikoto.
"Why shouldn't I? We are partners after all," said Naruko with a chirp.