**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR DRAGON BALL Z**

**AN- hey everybody, been a while hasn't it. well, sorry for the wait, hope ya'll like the newest chapter of namikagure; and hopefully i'll be able to get the next one out in a shorter period than this one. anyway, thanks for the patience, and on with the show.**

Namikagure

Chapter 10: Of Legs and Uzumakis

Five days; five torturous days filled with anticipation waiting for the cruise to get under way, and now they could finally experience it. The cruise line was even willing to allow Haku on board for free, as she was in the company of their home port's greatest hero. They had wanted to get a suite so all of them could sleep together. However, they underestimated the popularity of cruises, as well as the speed with which information travels. All of the married suites were taken, leaving Naruto and company with single rooms. The only good aspect about this was that their rooms were right next to each other, so they could easily visit each other whenever they wanted to.

Despite the building anticipation that they all felt, Naruto and his girls couldn't help but remember the wonderful event that happened to the boy that they had all gotten to know well: young Hosuke.

Flashback

Hosuke was being prepped for the surgery that would give him the ability to use his legs for the first time. Kaiza and Tsunami had cleared a room at the inn and sterilized it according to Tsunade's instructions, taking care to follow them to the letter. Tsunade had managed to use some old medical contacts to get some equipment delivered to the inn so that she could operate under the best conditions possible while also being able to properly monitor Hosuke's condition during the surgery and also making his rest and recovery as easy as possible.

The whole ordeal of lying in a bed waiting for the surgery was quite taxing for the little boy. He was excited, but at the same time he was terrified of being put under and then going under the knife. His parents were consoling him, giving him constant reassurance that nothing would go wrong. He was like this until Naruto came into the room with the girls. When Naruto told him with unwavering confidence and conviction that everything would be okay, Hosuke's fears were then laid to rest. Naruto helped Hosuke to understand that he was being operated on by the best doctor in the world. He also promised the boy that when he was ready to begin physical therapy, Naruto would personally work with him to get his legs into proper working order.

Tsunade reassured him that he would be just fine before she anesthetized him. Hosuke lost consciousness with a content smile. It was at this time that everyone else left the room and allowed Tsunade and an off-duty nurse from Wave's clinic to work. They all waited in the common room with Kaiza's family and the rest of the inn's regulars, all of them pulling for the patient, eagerly awaiting the news.

Tsunade and her assistant emerged from the makeshift operating room four hours later. When everyone caught this, they awaited Tsunade's report with baited breath.

"The operation was successful – no complications of any kind. He just needs four to six months to fully recuperate from the surgery. After that, we'll start him on a rigorous three-month physical therapy regimen to build up the muscles in his legs", Tsunade informed them in a manner befitting a medical professional.

She then smiled and finished on a much lighter note, "After that, he'll be running around getting tackled while playing football on his own two feet!"

The entire room broke out into wild cheering and applause, as though the victory belonged to all of them. Hosuke's parents were relieved and ecstatic for their son: he would finally be able to walk around and have fun with all of his new friends! Breaking down into tears, they both knelt before Tsunade's feet and thanked her profusely. Tsunade tried to wave their thanks off and encourage them to stand back up, but they would have none of it. They were grateful, and they didn't care how foolish they looked in expressing their gratitude for what their son's amazing doctor had done for him – free of charge, no less!

Tsunade then told the group that Hosuke should be awake in about three more hours and that they could head to his room to welcome him back to the land of the living at that time. They all decided to wait in the common room with Tsunami and her family all cooking up some celebratory hors d'oeuvres for everyone.

As they all ate and drank happily, Naruto struck up a quick conversation with Hosuke's parents about his physical therapy. He asked them if it would be alright if he helped their son with that when he was ready, and they readily agreed. Without him and Tsunade, this moment wouldn't have been possible, and it made them even more grateful to think that their national hero wanted to personally help their boy.

Tsunade went to continually check on her patient, just to make sure he remained stable. Once the three hours she had estimated had passed, true to her prediction, Hosuke began to wake up. Tsunade then announced that his parents and Naruto would be allowed entry into his room so as not to overwhelm the boy. Twenty minutes later, after he was satisfied that Hosuke was just fine, Naruto walked out of Hosuke's room, leaving the parents to spend time with their son as a family. Naruto had positioned himself behind Tsunade with his arms wrapped around her waist, his head nuzzling her neck.

"Tsu-chan, this wouldn't have been possible without you," Naruto spoke, ending the last word with a kiss on the cheek, "You're an absolute miracle-worker."

"Thank you, Naru-koi," she turned in his arms and kissed him quickly before adding, "But you're the true miracle-worker, here. You're the one who freed this country and made this chance for Hosuke-kun possible. I'm just glad I can be here to do some good."

Naruto smiled tenderly and kissed her gently, showing his love and gratitude for his amazing medic.

Kai

As the group continued to reminisce about Hosuke's new future, the women of the group's thoughts started to deviate. They began to think of their own futures with the transformed saiyan as well as the possible children that they could give birth to, none more so than Kushina, seeing miniature monkey-tailed versions of the girls and Naruto. They also reflected with immense pride at how far Naruto had come in his training to be a ninja.

Flashback

During lunch on the day following Hosuke's operation, Naruto broached a topic that he had wanted to talk about with the girls ever since they showed up in Wave.

"Tsu-chan, Miko-chan, Kushi-chan, I was wondering if you would like to have a spar: all of you against me. I want to see where I rank as far as skill, so what better way to do that than go up against three of the strongest kunoichi in the world?" spoke Naruto, sounding a bit nervous and excited.

All the women blushed in embarrassment at his praise, and rubbed the back of their heads sheepishly. They then started to quietly discuss it amongst themselves. After a few minutes, they turned their attention back to Naruto, who was looking at them intensely.

"Sure, Naru-kun," the girls said simultaneously, inwardly excited at the prospect of seeing Naruto's abilities up close.

"Awesome! I'll see you at the meadow just outside of the town," Naruto replied, eager for the spar that was soon to come.

An hour later, Naruto, who was wearing a black training gi and martial art boots, was sitting cross-legged on one end of the meadow with his eyes closed, waiting for the girls to show. Wanting to test his skills as objectively as possible, he had powered down from his super-saiyan form. Sensing the arrival of his loves sans Haku, he suddenly opened his eyes and greeted loudly, "Glad to see you're finally here, Miko-chan, Kushi-chan, Tsu-chan."

In front of him now were Kushina, Tsunade, and Mikoto, all wearing their respective shinobi attire instead of their previous civilian clothes. Kushina was the only one who had an obvious weapon at her side, while the others had an air about them that would put any rookie ninja on edge. Naruto, however, just ended up getting more excited about the upcoming battle. He quickly got to his feet and did some quick stretches and movements to get the kinks out of his body.

"Naruto, you know we don't plan on taking it easy on you, right? We are going to come at you with our best, and we expect you to do the same. In fact, it might be wise for you to face us as a super-saiyan," Mikoto warned him, preparing herself along with the other girls for the fight.

Naruto just smirked and nodded before adding, "Super-saiyan would be overkill for this. Trust me, as a super-saiyan, I'm stronger than Kyuubi – none of you would be able to touch me if I powered up."

"Well, alright then. Don't say we didn't warn you!" Mikoto retorted back with a smirk of her own.

Suddenly, the girls vanished from their positions only to reappear around Naruto in a triangle formation, ready to strike. Naruto quickly took out his double edged short sword, and stopped Kushina's blade. The others took this chance to attack Naruto: Tsunade with her brawling and monstrous strength, and Mikoto with her Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.

Naruto got inside Kushina's guard and knocked her sword away, and delivered a kick that sent her flying back, though she managed to right herself in midair and land on her feet. He just barely avoided the giant fireball heading his way, only to turn right into Tsunade's fist. The force from that one punch sent him back several feet, though it wasn't enough to knock him down. He rubbed his stinging jaw with a smirk, 'Damn, that stung. I can't let her hit me with a lot of those punches.'

He quickly dodged the next punch that Tsunade threw at him, though the punch after that found his own blade flying out of his hand. Once disarmed, he immediately found himself dodging and weaving out of not only Tsunade's attacks, but Mikoto's and Kushina's as well. It struck him that he didn't notice when Kushina had somehow recovered her blade. Deciding that he didn't want to evade any longer, he caught Kushina's sword-hand in his own, holding fast while he elbowed Mikoto in the gut, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to collapse to her knees with her hands on her stomach trying to gasp for air.

As Tsunade was about to connect with another haymaker, his figure suddenly flickered away and reappeared next to his sword. He picked it up in a reverse grip just in time to block Kushina's lightning-fast strike. He quickly pushed her blade away from his in a quick display of strength, spinning to land a solid elbow strike on her abdomen like he had done to Mikoto just seconds ago, and then sent her up into the air with a devastating uppercut from his sword hand.

He then swung his blade, which was glowing with humming wind chakra, towards Mikoto and Tsunade. A crescent arc flew from the blade straight towards the duo, aiming to cut them in half. Mikoto and Tsunade only saved themselves from being critically injured by a last minute substitution.

'Damn, that was a close one. Gotta be more careful, don't know what else he has up his sleeve,' both girls thought simultaneously.

With the two women temporarily stopped and Kushina still not fully recovered from his assault, Naruto gained himself a small breather. Mikoto and Tsunade were both giddy with excitement. Never had either of them had more fun in a spar. Both the girls noticed that Naruto was starting up a technique, so they prepared themselves: with Tsunade adjusting her stance and Mikoto activating her sharingan.

Suddenly, Naruto went through handsigns at the speed of a seasoned jonin, and channeled a large amount of water nature chakra, "Water Style: Wild Water Wave."

The torrent of water slammed into the two kunoichi at full force, knocking them off their feet, and rushing them back several feet, soaking them. Naruto then went through another set of handsigns, and called out, "Lightning Style: Wave of Inspiration."

The lightning arched from his hands to the water, traveling at unbelievable speeds towards Mikoto and Tsunade. The lightning made contact with the two women through the water, and shocked them violently, causing them to release ear-splitting screams of pain.

Naruto was afraid that he might have taken things too far, and was just about to go to them to make sure he didn't hurt them as badly as he feared until several golden chains appeared out of nowhere, wrapping around him tightly. He gathered his strength to break the chains, but was immensely surprised that the chains didn't even crack.

"Tsunade! Now!" Kushina yelled, using all of her chakra that she could afford to keep Naruto chained up.

Tsunade, feeding off of her pain, appeared in front of Naruto, and yelled, "UUOHH!" as she slammed an uppercut on his chin with all her strength.

"AUUGHH!" Naruto screamed as his was sent high into the air, his thoughts awhirl at her insane strength, 'That punch was fifteen times worse than the one she nailed me with at the beginning of our spar!'

Shaking off the disorientation from the blow, he noticed that Tsunade was somehow right in front of him spinning in a vertical motion.

After Tsunade sent Naruto into the air, she glanced at Kushina, who nodded, and began the next part of the plan. Kushina wrapped a chain round Tsunade's waist, and flung her towards the still airborne Naruto. As Tsunade flew closer to her target, she began to spin to add more momentum and force to her next blow. She, using the added momentum and her monstrous strength, then slammed her heel into Naruto's gut, sending him plummeting down into the earth.

Mikoto appeared next to Tsunade in the air, and began going through hand signs. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique", she said before breathing deep and expelling a massive fireball that looked like a miniature sun.

As the attack made contact with the area that Naruto resided in, it exploded violently breaking the earth around it.

Kushina used her chains to bring the falling Tsunade and Mikoto closer to the ground where the fall wouldn't hurt them. As the other kunoichi reached the ground, all three of them fell to their knees, panting extremely hard.

"You…ha…ha…think we…ha…won?" Mikoto asked in haggard breaths, having nearly depleted her chakra from overloading her fireball.

The other two didn't reply, both of them on the verge of passing out. One thought went through their heads simultaneously, 'Naruto sure pushed us to our limits.'

It was at that moment that the noticed that Naruto still hadn't appeared from 'ground zero', and they were beginning to get worried.

'What if we seriously hurt him?! What if he's…' was the collective thought between the three women until their attention was attracted by the sudden appearance of mist, which was getting thicker by the second.

"Heh heh heh, guess what you guys said about the basics is true: they really can save your life. I would have been in very bad shape had I not used a substitution jutsu at the last second. Now, let's end this match, shall we?" a disembodied voice rang throughout the entire clearing.

The trio was suddenly getting hit from multiple angles, and they couldn't counterattack at all. The thick mists impeded their eyesight, especially Mikoto's sharingan. Naruto was also using his sensing capabilities to get a feel for any attack that they might try when he engaged them at close range in the mist.

Naruto decided to release his hold on the hidden mist technique, revealing his form to the three women, who would have attacked him to end the spar if he had not flashed through several hand signs faster than their eyes could follow, "Combination Sealing Jutsu: Chakra Locking Four-Limb Restraint Seal."

The effect was immediate as the women could no longer feel their chakra flowing through them, and they couldn't move their limbs at all. Suddenly, three Shadow Clones of Naruto appeared behind Mikoto, Kushina, and Tsunade with each having an arm cocked back, the index and middle fingers extended, and imbued with wind chakra, ready to strike.

"Yield," he spoke evenly.

"We yield," they spoke simultaneously, knowing that they had been defeated.

He released all of his techniques, and the girls took a few minutes to rest from the extremely intense spar. They all noticed that Naruto didn't even look winded, which made them feel quite jealous of his stamina. Once they had all caught their breath, Kushina decided to start the critique on his skills.

"Naruto-kun, you did a wonderful job against us, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're highly, highly impressed," Kushina praised, completely amazed with what her lover just did, especially with his capabilities in fuinjutsu, "How did you get those seals on us without us knowing?"

"I just used the mist as a cover for my form, and planted the seal on your body when I hit you," Naruto replied in a jovial tone. At his answer, Kushina started to look at him with stars in her eyes, growing even more amazed at his skills.

"Yeah, you showed great ingenuity to pull off those jutsu the way you did, as well as a strategic mind with that plan you pulled off," said Mikoto, impressed with Naruto's capabilities.

Naruto rubs the back of his head sheepishly, "Aw gosh, girls, you're gonna make me blush."

Naruto then helped them all to their feet and powered back up into his super saiyan form. As they felt the surge of power required for this, all three of the girls were glad that they didn't fight Naruto as a super-saiyan, as they truly understood now that they would have stood no chance against him.

Kai

Thirty minutes later, Naruto and his girls had found their rooms and finished settling in. Afterwards, they decided to explore the ship as a group to see what they could do while on this cruise. They saw a pool, a few bars, some nightclubs, several different restaurants, and a casino, which had Tsunade salivating. The ship also had several auditoriums and theaters that would put on different events during the course of the cruise, from plays, to concerts, to comedy acts.

The group spent the next week trying out each different restaurant so they could sample the entire range of cuisine the liner offered. They all loved the service they received. During the six-week course of the cruise, Naruto had taken Kushina, Haku, Mikoto, and Tsunade on several individual dates that all ended with the Naruto flight express, which the girls couldn't get enough of. Remembering how blissful Tsunade was after she and Naruto returned from the Harvest Ball in Nami, the other women had wanted Naruto to take them dancing as well. Naruto took each of them to the different nightclubs, which were all themed to different dancing styles – one was a contemporary club, one was a two-step fast-dancing club, one was even a formal ballroom.

Two weeks in, Tsunade, after incessantly whining to the group, was finally allowed to go to the casino under the condition of having a chaperone. The group took a quick vote to decide who would look after her, so she didn't get into too much trouble. Naruto was the one voted in as Tsunade's chaperone to the ship's gambling hall.

As soon as Naruto and Tsunade got in the casino department, Tsunade looked like she died and gone to heaven. Fifteen minutes later, Tsunade somehow gave him the slip, which led him to search for her. He tried to sense her energy, but he couldn't detect it anywhere. He created a shadow clone and sent it to the girls to let them know what had happened to that point.

This was a side of Tsunade that he'd never seen before. She must have gotten so immersed in gambling that she unconsciously suppressed her chakra in order to not be found, so he was left having to go through the whole department in order to find her. He finally found her thirty minutes later at the poker table, and was astounded by what he saw and heard.

Tsunade had acquired a debt of twenty million ryo, and it seemed that she had no intention of stopping. He created a clone and quickly knocked her out to prevent her from losing any more money. As his clone took Tsunade back to her room, Naruto transformed into Tsunade and quickly took her place so as to not cause any trouble. This turned out to be the best thing for Tsunade and the worst thing for the casino, seeing as in fifteen minutes Naruto repaid Tsunade's debt and gained ten million ryo more on top of it. After gaining five million more ryo through slot machines, Naruto decided to cash out and leave before his luck ran out.

When he went back to the rooms he was met with an irate Tsunade, who demanded to know why he had knocked her out. He explained to her that had he not knocked her out, she would've increased her debt, which would have led to the entire group being on bad standings with the cruise liner. He proceeded to tell Tsunade that he had been able to not only pay off her debt, but also gain fifteen million ryo. When he told her this, he could see a familiar gleam enter her eyes. He started to back away as she sashayed over to him.

"Can't you get a little bit more from the casino? I'll make it worth your while, Na-ru-to-koi", Tsunade spoke in a sensual tone. Even though he had already taken Tsunade to bed, Naruto began turning redder by the minute, leading him to believe that she was using some jutsu to arouse and try to manipulate him. Before the situation got out of hand, Naruto quickly used instant transmission to get to the rest of the girls, who had decided to take a break from looking for Tsunade.

Letting them know that he had found their wayward blonde companion, and after explaining the situation to them, they "took care" of Tsunade. They didn't tell Naruto just what it was they did or threatened to do, but when the girls, with Tsunade in tow, returned to Naruto, he saw that Tsunade had a cute pout on her face, much to the amusement of the other girls. After this barely-averted fiasco, it was decided that Tsunade would not be allowed out of their sight in order to prevent another gambling problem. Tsunade all the while could be heard muttering things such as, "Lucky Devil," and "Not letting me gamble through my 'Lucky Devil'".

A few days later found Naruto and the girls sunbathing by the pool. After half an hour or so of this, Naruto decided to cool off and got into the pool. The girls all watched him just swimming and wading through the water for a few minutes before he got out. He told the girls that the water felt amazing – perfectly cool for a hot summer day. None of them responded, which confused Naruto until he noticed that their eyes were glazed over while running up and down his bare chest and they all had heavy blushes across their faces.

Naruto gave a chuckle before heading back into the pool. This time, however, kids who were enjoying the pool all began to gravitate towards him. He began to play with them, tossing them up into the air and letting them fall into the water, laughing all the while. Kushina was the first one brought out of the mutual daze that all of the girls shared as she looked first at Naruto with the kids, and then around at the parents of those kids who were all just relaxing and keeping an eye on their children. She noted that all of them were smiling at the sight of the big, gentle blond helping their kids have a blast.

As though a fog was suddenly lifted from her mind, Kushina suddenly realized what was holding her back from completely giving herself to Naruto: it was her fears of the future. She had been scared of either repeating the mistakes she'd made as a mother with Naruto and Naomi, or making new mistakes that might be as grievous and as cruel as her previous mistakes. She absolutely did not want to make any children she might have in the future suffer at her hand, but she had been terrified that she might once more not realize her mistakes until it was once again too late.

Watching Naruto playing with the children in the pool brought her thoughts back to when he made Hosuke able to play football with him and the other kids. Here he was, laughing with them, talking with them, gently chiding them when they were about to do something wrong or possibly harmful, and even defending them gently from the occasional overbearing parent. She realized that Minato Namikaze had done nothing to point out any mistakes she'd made as a mother; if anything, he'd encouraged them. Looking at Naruto at that moment, she knew in her heart that she had nothing to fear: he wouldn't allow her to walk down that path again.

'It's time I put this behind me, forever,' she thought to herself with determination as a serene, confident smile slowly crept across her cheeks, 'Tonight, I am going to confess everything to him, and I'm not going to hold any part of myself back from him any longer.'

It was night time, and Naruto, who decided to forgo sleep, was doing one of his favorite things in this world.

Naruto was on deck by himself, leaning against the railing at the edge, contently enjoying the peace of the night. The liner was somewhere in the ocean, with nothing in sight in any direction except water. The hiss of the surf and the waves below and around was quite soothing to him, and the brisk breeze brought a refreshing cool.

Peace was something that was very hard for Naruto to come by, so when peaceful moments such as this came, he liked to savor them. After a few moments of just looking out over the sea, he sensed a presence that he found to be more and more welcome with each passing day. His smile grew slightly as he felt two arms snake themselves around his waist as his visitor hugged him from the back.

"Hi, Kushi-chan," Naruto greeted her warmly and softly, placing his own hands over hers.

"Hi, Naru-kun," Kushina began just as warmly, "I've been looking for you."

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Everything's fine," she reassured him, "I just wanted to be with you, that's all."

Naruto chuckled warmly in response, "Thank you."

There was a few moments' silence between the two before Naruto spoke up once more, "I love nights like this. Moments like this that are just…quiet. You know?"

"Mmm," she hummed in acknowledgment, "What do you find so appealing about them?"

"Peaceful moments are very few and far between for me. They…" he paused for a moment before continuing, "…they always have been. It just seems that wherever I go or whatever I do, trouble or excitement always seems to somehow find me."

Kushina held him to herself more tightly, but said nothing. Naruto went on, "So when I get peaceful moments like this, I…really like to savor them, you know?"

"I do," Kushina admitted, "The life of a shinobi doesn't afford many peaceful moments. And we didn't have that many when we were Namikazes, either, did we?"

"No…" Naruto answered softly but without anger or resentment, "…at least I know I didn't."

Kushina's arms left Naruto's waist before her fingers came into gentle contact with the base of Naruto's tail. The tail twitched before going almost slack, completely relaxed. Kushina untucked it from around his waist and ran her fingers along its length, bringing the entirety of its length behind him.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked curiously, though somewhat warily at the same time.

"It's funny, the things you suddenly remember about people…" Kushina continued her ministrations up and down Naruto's tail, causing his muscles to relax, though at the same time causing his breathing to hitch and quicken.

"I used to do this for you as a baby…" Kushina reminisced, causing Naruto's eyes to go wide, "…you always loved it when I would handle your tail like this. There were some nights when you were so…fussy, for whatever reason, and this was the only way I could calm you down and help you to go to sleep. You always had a smile on your face when I was done. This is how I was able to teach you to sleep through the night."

Naruto suddenly began thinking back as he enjoyed Kushina's gentle massage and fondling of the entire length of his tail. This sensation was new to him as far as he could remember, but at the same time, it also felt so familiar. His tail felt wonderful as it was manipulated by her gentle, loving hands and fingers.

Kushina continued to reminisce, "I remember the night when you were born. I was holding both you and your sister. Jiraiya noticed your tail and he just…" she paused for a moment before her tone gained an edge to it, "…started grabbing it and yanking on it. You started yelling and screaming in pain, but he just kept pulling on you like it was some kind of joke. He didn't stop until I literally threatened to kill him."

There was another brief period of silence before Naruto responded, "I just realized something, too. Whenever anyone tried to bully me, they would yank on my tail, knowing how much it hurt me. Minato would sometimes grab my tail as hard as he could and twist and mangle it in his supposed attempts to discipline me…"

Kushina gasped in shock at that, but Naruto simply continued in an even tone, "…but I do remember that…for all of the time I was in the village, even when you were enraged at me, there were times you slapped me and such, but…" he turned around and regarded her with a warm smile, "…you never once went for my tail in an attempt to hurt me, and…thinking about it now, that really means a lot."

Naruto brought a hand up to her face and planted a gentle, lingering kiss on her lips, "Thank you. You really did care, even though you might have forgotten that you did."

Kushina smiled at him lovingly as a single tear fell from each eye and trailed down her face slowly. She brought Naruto's tail to her own body, holding it against her chest as she continued to caress and fondle it. She brought the end length of it to her face, closing her eyes and nuzzling it with her cheek before gently laying a kiss on it. Naruto was truly touched at the degree of gentle affection she was treating the single most sensitive part of his body with. He began to move his fingertips across her cheek, causing her to open her eyes and look into his. His genuine smile made her heart leap for joy and overflow with love for him at that moment.

She gently released his tail and moved into his personal space. Naruto also moved closer to her and brought his hands up to her shoulders, resting them there. Kushina brought both of her hands to his face and brought it down towards hers while also standing on her tiptoes. She brushed his lips with her own a couple of times before slowly and gently but firmly planting her lips on his own. As they shared their kiss, Kushina licked the bottom of his lip, letting him know what she wanted. Naruto complied, opening his mouth with hers as they allowed their tongues to dance with each other. Naruto's arms wrapped around Kushina's waist as hers wrapped around his neck and shoulders.

"Naru-kun?" Kushina said to him between kisses.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, not ceasing to kiss her, either.

"I'm ready, now," she told him, full of assurance and confidence.

Naruto did pause at this, "Are you sure?"

She stepped to the edge of his arms' reach, and with a smile, began to answer, "Yes, I'm quite certain. I finally realized what it was that scared me so much. I was scared to death of making the same mistakes I made with you and Naomi…" Naruto narrowed his eyes, paying her his undivided attention as she continued, "…or of possibly making even worse mistakes with our kids. I never meant to be a bad parent; I don't think anyone ever does. I never imagined that I would be such a horrible mother, and…I was afraid that in ignorance, and even meaning well, I would…hurt or harm any children we have in the future."

Naruto simply nodded, allowing her to finish her explanation without interruption, "But when I saw how you were at the pool with all those kids today, I realized something: I realized that Minato actually encouraged my mistakes as a mother, but you would keep me from going down a wrong road. Even if I did act in ignorance, you and the others would be there to keep me from losing my way again. I realized that with you, I have nothing to worry about, and you'll work hard with me to make sure our kids are raised with all the love they need, by both their mother and their father."

She stepped back into his arms once more. Her smile took on a longing quality as a single tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. With a look of anxiety tempered with complete trust in him, she finished, "Naru-koi, I want a baby…" she brought her hand up to his face, "…I want your baby. I…don't know if this is selfish of me or not, but…I feel like…I can redeem myself, in a way, if I start over as a mother…and I can't imagine anyone else I would want to father my children. Please…" Kushina closed the distance between the two, brought her other hand up to the other side of his face, closed her eyes and planted a firm yet tender lingering kiss on Naruto's lips, which Naruto returned just as tenderly.

Kushina pulled back just enough to whisper to Naruto, "…marry me…just like you married Miko-chan and Tsu-chan. I want you to come to my room with me and make me your wife."

Naruto smiled back, pulled her into his arms, and suddenly both of them disappeared from the deck of the liner.

LEMON, SKIP IF YOU DON'T LIKE

They reappeared in her room via seal beacon that possessed Naruto's energy within, which allowed him to use instant transmission to get to this location. He also took the same measure in the other girls' room, so he could teleport to any of his girls' room if something went wrong. He had also applied silencing seals for any 'nightly activities' that he and the girls might engage in.

They continued to kiss each other for several minutes, each of them exploring the other's body with their hands. When they broke for air, Kushina took three slow steps backwards as she started to slowly undress. The serene, contented smile that complimented her loving gaze tantalized Naruto in a way that even the other girls couldn't seem to. Naruto smiled back softly and began to remove his clothes as well.

By the time Kushina was down to just a pair of bikini-style red silk panties that matched the bra she had just removed, Naruto had already stripped bare, his organ standing at full mast. Kushina hooked her thumbs into the outside of her panties…and slowly pulled them down. For the first time, he was now able to behold this beautiful redhead that he loved so much completely unadorned. As the garment fell and she stepped out of them, Naruto noticed something about her that was different than his previous two partners. While Mikoto and Tsunade both had a thin, neatly-trimmed thatch of hair around their womanhood, Kushina's was as bare as the rest of her body. Her pubic region didn't even have any stubble. This revelation actually made Naruto's rod twitch slightly, the surprise of it fueling his anticipation at claiming the vision of beauty before him.

Naruto's breathing quickened at this sight, and Kushina's own breathing started to quicken in response to his. She moved back into his space and started caressing his chest and stomach while his hands found their way to the outsides of her back, rubbing and caressing her silky-smooth skin.

"Are you…are you ready, sweetie?" Kushina asked with mild apprehension, though her smile had lost none of its serenity.

"I've been ready for this for quite a while, now. Are you?"

She widened her smile and nodded, leaning towards his face in order to kiss him. He met her halfway, their lips connecting softly. Kushina opened her mouth and gently invaded his with her tongue. Naruto followed her lead and massaged he tongue just as slowly and as gently as she was doing to his own.

"Let's make a baby," she whispered to him between kisses, "I want to wake up tomorrow morning with your child in my womb. Please?"

Naruto didn't stop kissing her as he whispered back, "Kushi-hime, you never have to ask."

The couple resumed their gentle ministrations with each other's oral cavities. Naruto continued to suck on and taste Kushina's oral secretions as he scooped her up into a bridal carry and walked towards her bed, neither of them making a sound beyond their panting and the smacking of their lips.

Naruto knelt on the mattress of the bed and gently lowered Kushina onto it, never breaking rhythm or stride with his ministrations. Once he was sure Kushina was laying comfortably, he left her mouth and proceeded to kiss and suck on her neck, making a slow trail down her chest and ending at her left nipple.

Kushina gasped once Naruto started sucking on her sensitive nub. A mischievous smile suddenly made its way across her face as she held Naruto's head in place at her breast, and then suddenly rolled them over to the other side, ending with her straddling him. She let go of his head and sat up to show him her mischievous smirk. She then leaned down to kiss him while simultaneously grinding his hips with her own.

As they resumed kissing each other again, Naruto glided his hands over Kushina's entire body from her creamy, milky thighs to her generous, firm, supple breasts. Kushina positioned herself next to him with her arm around his neck, while her other arm was stroking the whisker marks on the left side of his face. She switched between whispering sweet nothings and 'I love you' in his ear with kissing every inch of the right side of his face.

Naruto held Kushina to himself and rolled them both back over to the side of the bed that they started on, and began to kiss her body everywhere he could reach.

"Kushi-hime, let me show you how much I love you. Let me give you what you want most," he offered with earnest sincerity, conveying the love and affection he possessed for her. He lined up his length to her flower and gently pushed himself in. Both of them moaned in bliss as Naruto filled her canal. Kushina herself was at a loss for words – never had she felt like this before! It was as if Naruto was filling her up with his heart and not just his manhood. She never felt this happy with Minato, but Naruto was bringing forth emotions from her that she didn't even know existed.

"Naru-kun, I love you. Please love me," she moaned out.

Naruto responded by redoubling his efforts to show her his love. They moved in complete synchronization, filling each other up with their hearts, engaging and holding themselves off for as long as they could. As his impending climax approached, Naruto grabbed Kushina around her back and pulled her into his lap where they were both sitting upwards with his hands on her hips, working her up and down his member at a furious pace.

Kushina was so close. She had her tongue dangling out of her mouth from the pleasure she was feeling, and was using any energy she could to continue bouncing on Naruto's lap, desperately trying to prolong the pleasurable feeling of Naruto's shaft massaging the inside of her sex.

"Naru-kun! I'm cumming!" moaned Kushina.

"Me too, Kushi-hime, me too!" Naruto grunted out in response to her proclamation.

"Yesss! Do it, cum in me, I want your child, Naru-koi!" Kushina moaned, wanting…no needing his cum inside her, needing his child.

"GRAAAHHHHHH!" he shouted as he felt his length twitch inside her canal, releasing his seed deep inside her womb.

At the same time, Kushina screamed unintelligibly as she felt her womanhood contract around Naruto's member, milking him of the giant load that he was pumping into her while releasing her own orgasmic fluids onto his lap and into the bedding surrounding them.

After half an hour, Naruto had climaxed three more times, and after continuous orgasms of which she lost count, Naruto fell back onto the mattress, rolling over and taking Kushina with him. Kushina was lying on top of Naruto once again with his length still buried inside of her.

Panting vigorously, she told him, "Naru-koi, that was…unreal! I didn't know that…love could be…anything like this. You're…so amazing!"

"No, Kushi-hime, you were amazing," Naruto complimented back as he began to stroke her jawline gently.

After about ten more minutes of the two of them laying there and catching their breath, Kushina moaned again as she felt Naruto's length grow to full mass inside of her.

"You're a machine," she said in a playfully manner, and begins to roll her hips against his body.

Naruto chuckles, and says, "Well, what can I say, I have a beautiful woman that I love on my lap, and that I would do anything for her. Besides, you said you wanted to wake up tomorrow morning with our son or daughter planted inside of you, right?"

The way he worded the question, referring to the child to be as their son or daughter, made her grin ecstatically while bringing tears to her eyes. She nodded vigorously, prompting him to begin pumping his member in and out of her once again. Kushina moaned and giggled when Naruto flipped them over to where he was on top again. Pleasurable moans and shouts of 'I love you' could have been heard outside the room, if not for the silencing seal that Naruto placed and activated beforehand, which would continue for the next five hours.

LEMON END

Just before dawn, Naruto and Kushina were lying in bed, simply holding each other after the rigorous hours of lovemaking that they had indulged in with each other. Knowing that they had to get up, Naruto regretfully groaned out, "Kushi-hime, we need to get back to our own rooms just in case any of the ship attendants decide to go snooping in the rooms, we wouldn't want them to throw a fit upon finding a couple in a single's room now would we?" while he gently rubbed her stomach, which he had released so much seed into that it had actually expanded slightly.

Kushina just moaned, not wanting to get up, especially with the amount of cum inside her, which made her feel bloated. Naruto was finally able to get her up with a few kisses on the lips. They got into the shower, washed each other's bodies and got out in twenty minutes to avoid spending more time than necessary in the shower.

As they got dressed, Naruto couldn't tear his eyes away from Kushina's lovely form. He couldn't help but imagine what she would look like when she was five months pregnant…seven months…eight months. He could see her with no expression on her face to accompany her pregnant state in his mind's eye except glowing radiance and expectant happiness.

'Soon that will be a reality instead of simply a wish for the both of us,' he thought, and, unknowingly, Kushina had the exact same thoughts while she was gently rubbing her bloated belly.

After laying Kushina down and allowing her to recover and get some sleep from their activities, Naruto teleported back to his room and went to bed himself to try and get some sleep to prepare for the day, which was sure to have an interesting start.

Mikoto, Tsunade, and Haku woke up the next morning, got ready for the day, and were now waiting on Naruto and Kushina to show up, which was weird since Kushina was usually the first one up out of all of them.

The girls had been waiting now for nearly an hour, and they were getting quite irate, with multiple tick marks forming on their heads. They were just about to barge into Naruto and Kushina's respective rooms and drag them out, kicking and screaming if they had to, so they could finally start their day together.

Suddenly, both doors opened up, and the scene to which they were exposed caused all of their anger to quickly be forgotten. Naruto had this silly grin on his face that seemed to be stuck there, while Kushina was glowing. Glowing! It was as if the sun itself had taken human form and was standing there before them.

The three women took a minute to realize what had happened to the two, and sly grins suddenly appeared on their faces. They sashayed over towards Naruto and Kushina, and surrounded the couple blocking off any kind of escape.

"We were just about to break down the doors and drag you guys out of there…" Tsunade began only for Haku to finish with, "…but based on what we're seeing, it's clear that you two did a lot last night to stay in bed this late," both women ending their little tease with giggles.

Naruto and Kushina blushed at being reminded of all they did last night. A few minutes later, somehow, Naruto was stuck in place with Kushina as she animatedly told the other three women of their night together. Naruto couldn't get out of there to not listen to Kushina relaying last night's activities for two reasons: one, Kushina had wrapped her arm around Naruto's, so he couldn't move. Two, he was rooted to his position from pure embarrassment, as Kushina explained in great detail everything they did last night: the positions that were taken, how long they went at it, and so on.

Mikoto, Haku, and Tsunade all had fierce blushes on their faces as Kushina finished her detailed explanation of last night's activities. Tsunade then spoke, "Well, Kushina, Mikoto and I already know from personal experience that you're going to need more than one woman to help tire Naruto-kun out. I think that would prove quite the challenge, eh Mikoto?"

"Yes, quite a challenge," Mikoto said in a sultry voice, before noticing something. Licking her lips, she started caressing Naruto's chest sensually, who looked like someone had dumped a gallon of red paint on him, "Well, well, Naruto-kun, I am glad to see that you're up for anything."

As the other women took note of this, they looked downwards at Naruto's groin, noticing the size of his morning wood. Naruto's entire body was blood red, and having the four women in his life stare at him like this only warranted one reaction: a bit of blood trickling down his nose and passing out.

Quickly grabbing him so he didn't collapse, the others all laughed at his reaction, while Kushina pressed herself closer against Naruto laying her head down on his shoulder. They quickly woke him from his state of unconsciousness, and went about their day.

The last four weeks of the cruise were both relaxing and eventful for all of them. As cruise liners could be considered independent states when they were upon the water, the captain of a cruise liner could perform any and all civic duties required or requested by his passengers. This included the power to legally perform weddings.

It was one week after Naruto and Kushina had their first night together that the captain legally wed "Kakarot" to Kushina Uzumaki, Mikoto Uchiha, Tsunade Senju and Haku Momochi under international laws regarding Clan Revival or Creation with a single man with an endangered bloodline limit. On paper, they all took the name "Uzumaki", thus reviving the Uzumaki Clan as Naruto did have the Uzumaki's famed life force and dense chakra. Since the older wives had already had their wedding night, they all agreed that Haku deserved her wedding night with their mutual husband before they had any second encounters. After that night, Naruto would rotate nights with each wife before suddenly thinking to leave the other wives a Shadow Clone so that they didn't have to wait four days to share their bed with their husband.

Events aboard ship had also given Naruto a wider variety of dating experiences: sometimes plays or concerts would be put on in the ship's auditorium; sometimes a stand-up comic would come in and have them all roaring in laughter. There were several themed dinner and banquet events that they all attended, ranging from ship-wide barbecues to formal dining with seven-course meals.

They all regretfully disembarked when the liner finally docked back in Wave, signifying the end of their cruise, though that morning had not been without its good news: Kushina had woken up, run into the bathroom and thrown up. While they were sure they knew what this meant, they had Tsunade perform a diagnostic scan on her. Their suspicions were confirmed: Kushina was pregnant! And they couldn't have been happier for her.

Kushina, Mikoto, and Tsunade didn't have to set off for Konoha for another week or more, so with that in mind, Naruto politely asked all four of them for their input on some of the techniques that he had created. They happily agreed, and designated a small clearing just outside of wave in order to get started, evidently it was the same clearing they had used for their spar.

"These are Jutsus that I am still working on, as you didn't see me use these during our spar", Naruto spoke, his voice oozing eagerness.

"First is the Lightning Fist. I channel lightning chakra to my hand, which increases my blow's strength immensely; however I can use the technique to pierce as well. I am able to use this technique on other parts of my body as well, my feet for example." He threw a punch at a nearby tree, which exploded into pieces upon contact with his lightning covered fist. Then he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of them with small electrical sparks surrounding his body. "Another technique I learned was channeling lightning chakra through my body, which increases my speed and reaction time. I am currently trying to combine the two techniques into one," He told the girls, while they looked at him with shock.

They couldn't believe it. Naruto was well on his way to recreating the lightning armor technique that the third and fourth Raikages used.

"Here's another technique that I've been working on, but this time I am using water nature chakra", he spoke once again, catching their attention.

Naruto then covered his hand in water chakra, which confused the women as to what he was going to do next. He then slung his hand toward some trees, and the result would shock them even further.

Little balls of water flew off of his hand and hit the tree and pierced right through it. Naruto then explained his technique, "With my strength, I was able to hurl the water at such speeds that it gave the water the ability to pierce just about anything after collecting it on my hand. Well, that's all I got so far."

Kushina, Mikoto, Haku, and Tsunade's jaws had now dropped clear to the ground as they stared at Naruto with shock. They couldn't believe that he had done such things, which made it only more amazing.

After showering him with praise for creating his own jutsus, Kushina informed him that she would send him some wind, water and lightning style ninjutsu from the Uzumaki library for him to work on, as well as several control exercises that he could use to master changing his chakra nature to his elements for greater control.

They had returned to Kaiza's and Tsunami's inn to stay for the remainder of the time they were there. Naruto was making plans to travel, but he had encountered Hosuke and his parents. He remembered his promise to the boy that he would personally work with him on his physical therapy to get him strong enough to walk, and immediately cancelled his travel plans, knowing that Hosuke would need at least three months of supervision by Naruto.

Haku would also remain in Wave and assist Naruto with Hosuke. Of course, it wasn't lost on the other three that this meant their husband would be alone with Haku all that time, and she would get to enjoy him every night. They, on the other hand, would have to do without for quite some time – something they were not happy about, but they knew was unavoidable. Their spirits were lifted when Naruto promised that he would arrange to meet with them whenever he could – after all, Tsunade could simply reverse-summon him to the Senju Compound through the Slug Contract and Katsuyu would send him back to wherever he was when they were finished, so it wasn't like he couldn't come and go as he pleased. He also assured them with a promise that he would return to Konoha for an extended visit when his and Kushina's baby was born.

This promise became even more important when Tsunade and Mikoto also started experiencing morning sickness, and were both confirmed pregnant as well, both about a week behind Kushina. More congratulations were offered them and celebrations became a near-mainstay in the common room of the inn. Tsunami had hugged all of them warmly, even Kushina, as she had assured the redhead that she had more than earned the trust of Wave's people with regards to her feelings and intentions towards Naruto.

Naruto and his wives all looked around, and couldn't help but smile. They were welcome, here. In fact, they weren't just welcome; they were home. When Kushina, Mikoto and Tsunade returned to Konoha, they wouldn't be going home…not really. This place, this wonderful little fishing village turned boom town – this was home to them, and they wouldn't have had it any other way.

END