Naruto: Trapped Under Ice

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Akame ga Kiru

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I Didn't plan to have this out so quickly but I seem to be on a roll. We're finallystarting the new arc on the Imperial Continent. This chapter is pretty much character building but the action will return soon enough. Here is chapter 11 of Trapped Under Ice. Enjoy!

Last time:

"Why don't you tell me what it does then?" asked Esdeath darkly….

….Cruauté talked until he had no more secrets to tell. Everything about the Teigus, everything about the Requin-Tigres; He even admitted to stealing from the Emperor's vaults. Cruauté's screams would have deafened the entire ship if Naruto hadn't put up some silencing tags previously at Esdeath's request. The light blue haired beauty looked at Cruauté's frozen, headless body and snarled, "Weakling….so easily broken. You didn't even last three hours. I'm beginning to think Naruto-kun's more efficient methods are best. This wasn't very fun at all." Turning to Captain Canard's desk she looked at decapitated head of Cruauté that was forever frozen in abject horror….and perfectly encased in a block of ice. "I'm glad Leone came up with this idea." she thought aloud. "I'm sure the Prime Minister will just love this little present."

….

The six in Naruto's group decided the last few days of the cruise remaining they should just relax like they'd planned to all along. Captain Canard informed everyone that the crisis was over due to evidence found among the belongings of the deceased that implicated them for their crimes. Oddly enough Executive Officer Galen kept the little NIGHT RAID business card as a memento. The fact that Cruauté was dead and gone didn't bother him in the slightest. The passengers of the Behemoth were safe from the Requin-Tigres now and that was all that mattered….

Chapter 11

The Imperial Capitol, The Jaeger's Residence

Kurome awoke in Wave's arms in the early morning. Ever since the night they'd desperately needed each other weeks ago he always slept with Kurome in her room. Something deep inside Kurome stirred. 'Nee-chan is back….I can feel it. How is it I'm so sure?' The dark eyed girl pondered a few minutes and felt Wave's strong arms wrapped gently around her. She melted into his warmth. 'Nee-chan; I love Wave and he loves me. That's all that matters to me now.' Feeling herself lulled back to sleep she thought half dreaming, 'I want a family with Wave. Maybe I won't fight Akame nee-chan. Maybe Wave is right that we shouldn't fight. Do you feel the same Akame nee-chan...?'

Kurome fell back to sleep once again dreaming of having a life and children with Wave. The black haired girl had changed when she fell in love….For the first time since she took up being an assassin she actually wanted to live.

The Grand Canal

Night Raid's best infiltrator Chelsea** was waiting for her comrades Akame and Leone to arrive at the docks where the Behemoth had set anchor in the Grand Canal; given her Teigu 'Gaea Foundation' allowed her to appear as anyone or anything it was easy for her to blend in. Ironically the young assassin was dressed as a Nun of the Path of Peace so the others could easily spot her. Najenda specifically instructed her to get the Night Raid members out as quickly as possible just in case. Chelsea was anxious to see her friends but there were no guarantees they were even aboard. That and Chelsea had a very healthy amount of fear of Esdeath….

Aboard the Cruise Liner Behemoth, Naruto's cabin

"Fuinjutsu is amazing Naruto-kun!" said Esdeath enthusiastically as she finished the wrapping paper on Prime Minister Honest's 'present.'

Hinata nodded in agreement as show artfully tied a bow on the gift. "You should have learned the sealing arts sooner Naruto-kun. Who would have thought they were so useful?"

Naruto smiled. "I'm still learning but I never thought that I'd be sealing something like this."

Esdeath smiled evilly. "We've dropped anchor at the Imperial Capitol so we'll be disembarking soon. I know just the correct channels to get this present delivered to the Prime Minister directly."

Naruto quickly sealed the package in a scroll and the three went to retrieve the others in preparation to disembark. Soon all six of them were on the promenade deck looking out at the Imperial Capitol from the ship. The three Konoha ninjas were baffled by the colossal size of the Capitol. "This place is ridiculously huge." commented Sakura. "It's hard to believe anything man made could be so large."

Hinata was looking at the enormous city with her byakugan active. "There is nothing but city as far as I can see Sakura. It is truly monumental. I wonder how long it took to build."

Esdeath said, "The original Imperial Capitol was constructed ages ago and has gradually increased in size for over a thousand years." 'And I will see it all razed to the ground.' she thought darkly.

"Well, one thing is for sure. It would be easy to get lost." said Naruto. "We'll need to stick together."

Leone's gold eyes glittered in the sunlight. "It will be nice to finally get back on land." 'I can't wait to see our friends again.'

Akame was carefully looking at the huge crowd for a nun in the group. 'Chelsea will just have to find us. The crowd is just too big; I don't see her anywhere.'

About an hour later the group disembarked and went through customs which checked them over to a minimal degree. It was clear that the workers there in customs really didn't give a damn if they were carrying contraband or not and the Night Raid group got through unscathed. Esdeath motioned to a Customs Official with some hand signs indicating she was an Imperial spy and handed off the package to him. "This is for the Minister's eyes only. Code is East Wind Rain." The Official got wide eyes, quickly took the gift and departed.

"East Wind Rain?" asked Leone quietly.

Esdeath nodded. "It means it's a delicacy from the Elemental Continent and will spoil if it's not delivered quickly. The fastest way to get anything to the Minister is to give him food." Leone had to cover her mouth to keep from exploding into laughter.

Chelsea came marching up a few minutes later having spotted them and said, "Welcome to the Capitol pilgrims from the East. How long was your trip?"

Akame sighed in relief hearing the correct pass code and knew the Nun was indeed a disguised Chelsea. Akame said, "It took six long days and six long nights to make it to the ship but the trip was successful."

The nun looked a bit taken off guard. "Six days and nights you say? I thought it would take three days at most."

Akame's red eyes locked with Chelsea's. "No, it took six. We made many new friends on our successful trip."

Chelsea replied, "Well, after such a long trip you must be exhausted. Come my friends. I have a place where you can rest."

The ninjas easily read this code. 'I guess the contact was expecting Akame and Leone to return with Esdeath only making three. With us three ninjas added that makes six of us.' thought Sakura to herself.

Hinata was looking at Chelsea carefully as she led the group walked along. 'She's using some sort of variation of the henge. How very interesting.'

Esdeath grasped Naruto's hand subconsciously. 'I can't believe I'm so anxious being back here in the Capitol. I'm so glad Naruto-kun and Hinata are here with me.' Naruto softly squeezed her hand and Esdeath smiled gently at his reassurance. With her hood up covering her light blue hair no one would recognize her. Akame had a similar hood and cloak on to not be noticed.

Chelsea led the group to a side street and entered a hidden door that had stairs down. It was a back way into Night Raid's Capitol Hideout below the now closed bookstore that Lubbock used to run. Once everyone was inside Chelsea secured the place and deactivated her Teigu revealing her true, red eyed, auburn haired appearance. She asked without preamble, "Why are there six of you Akame?! The boss ordered you to retrieve Esdeath. Who are these other three?"

"That's my responsibility and no one else's." said Akame in a cool tone. "These are our allies. This is Sakura, Hinata and Naruto. Please treat them with respect as they are powerful warriors called ninjas." Akame then turned to Esdeath and said, "Esdeath, this is Chelsea of Night Raid. Chelsea, this is General Esdeath who will be joining our cause against the Empire."

The two young women stared at each other for a moment and Chelsea said, "W-welcome back to the Capitol General Esdeath." in a timid voice.

Esdeath smiled menacingly and was about to scare Chelsea witless but Naruto said, "Be nice Esdeath-chan."

The former Imperial General pouted. "Fine. I am Esdeath of the Partas Clan. I look forward to working together."

Chelsea got stars in her eyes. 'This blonde guy controls Esdeath! What is he?' "So Blondie, how come you can order Esdeath around?"

Naruto looked a bit shocked and Esdeath growled. He answered, "I don't order Esdeath-chan around; she's one of my girlfriends."

The redhead blinked. "O-one of?"

Leone said, "Give it up Chelsea. Hinata and Esdeath are very stingy and they won't share. They wouldn't let me join in the fun at all."

Hinata grasped Naruto's other hand and smiled kindly. "I'm Hyūga Hinata. It's nice to make your acquaintance Miss Chelsea."

Sakura said, "I'm Haruno Sakura and it's nice to meet you."

Chelsea's brain was still stuck on the plural girlfriend(s). "Okay, ummm….Naruto was it?"

"Yep, I'm Uzumaki Naruto; glad to meet you." said the orange loving ninja.

….

About two hours later the group was well on their way out of the Capitol and heading towards Night Raid's Hideout. Chelsea was a bit apprehensive about bringing four unknown quantities to the base (Esdeath alone made her more than nervous) but Akame swore up and down that they were allies. Given Akame had Leone's full support Chelsea gave up and led them back knowing Leone and Akame would do it on their own anyway….

"You call this base hidden?!" asked Naruto. It's not that far from the Capitol*** and it's pretty damned obvious once you see it. I mean it sticks out like a sore thumb." said Naruto looking at the fortress like base.

"It works just fine." scoffed Leone. "We've been here two years and no one has spotted us. The old base was the same until Dr. Stylish attacked and we had to move."

The ninjas all were sporting massive sweat drops at the (by ninja standards) blatantly obvious base. Hinata activated her byakugan and looked at the various traps here and there. Some were better than others but could be avoided easily enough…."Have you all updated your traps lately?" asked Hinata.

"No, why do you ask?" questioned Chelsea as she adjusted the lollipop in her mouth.

Hinata said, "Allow me to demonstrate." She then nimbly maneuvered around, under and over every trap in between them and the entrance to the base and waved from the front entrance.

"NO FAIR HINATA!" bellowed Leone. "You've got super eyes!"

"Any ninja could do the same!" called Hinata in the distance.

"Is that true Naruto-kun?" asked Esdeath curiously. Naruto and Sakura nodded in perfect synch with each other.

Leone said, "Prove it then!" in a challenging voice. Akame just face palmed. Chelsea, Leone, Akame and Esdeath soon saw Naruto and Sakura move in the exact same pattern that Hinata had and were soon waving back at them with Hinata. Then Naruto body flickered back and retrieved Esdeath who squeaked in surprise as Naruto body flickered back to Hinata and Sakura with Esdeath in tow.

"This is just wrong." said Leone with a pout as she, Chelsea and Akame they trudged up the long way to avoid the traps.

Mein had been watching this whole display from a window in the hideout with wide eyes and ran to alert Najenda. 'They avoided or traps without effort! They can teleport. They must be hostile Teigu users! PANIC!' The pink haired girl raced down to Najenda who was reading a report from Headquarters. Mein busted into the room and said, "Hostile invaders teleporting with Teigus….and….and Esdeath! They got through all our traps! Give me a rifle!"

After Mein's panicked report Najenda simply lit up a cigarette and asked, "Was Akame with them?" Seeing Mein's normally cool head nodding rapidly the General said, "Well, I guess we may as well go down and greet them. If they really were hostile they at least would have attacked by now." She yawned. "They must be Akame's friends or something. Come on Mein."

Mein sweat dropped. "Aren't you being just a little too laissez-faire about this situation Boss?"

The purple eyed General shrugged and said, "Nah. If they were really a threat then Akame wouldn't have brought them. For all that matter if Esdeath was on the offensive this place would probably be slick with ice already." Opening the armored door Najenda saw Esdeath taking off her cloak which revealed her long light blue hair and white General's regalia. Esdeath and Najenda stared at each other for a few moments before Najenda smiled and extended her mechanical hand. "It's good to see you are well Esdeath, I hope that we are comrades once again."

Esdeath looked at Najenda's mechanical hand with a twinge of guilt before she grasped it in a firm handshake and said, "I never thought this would happen. It's good to see you too Najenda. I'm glad we are on the same side once more." The two women smiled at each other briefly and Esdeath said in a sorrowful tone, "Sorry about the arm and eye…."

Najenda said, "I've moved on from the experience. Forget about it. Friends?"

Esdeath nodded. "Friends."

About that time Akame came up and said, "Reporting mission fully successful Boss."

Leone and Chelsea caught up a moment later and Najenda said motioning to the three ninjas, "Friends of yours Esdeath?"

Esdeath's eyes seemed to gleam with power. "This is Naruto-kun, Hinata and Sakura. They are ninjas Najenda. They are here to help and it is my hope they will become our future allies."

Najenda's single eye widened as she looked at the three. She took her cigarette out of her mouth and put it out. Glancing at Esdeath she whispered, "Are they the real thing like we were taught?"

"That and so much more." said Esdeath with a firm nod.

"Who is you friend Esdeath-chan?" asked Naruto. Najenda's purple eye nearly popped out of her head at Naruto's affectionate suffix for Esdeath.

Esdeath smiled at her boyfriend. "This is my old friend Najenda that I told you about Naruto-kun. She is the commander of Night Raid and an excellent officer."

All of the ninjas exchanged introductions with Najenda and Mein before they were invited into Night Raid's hideout….

….

The Imperial Palace, Prime Minister Honest's private dining room

Prime Minister Honest was sitting down for his second afternoon meal after lunch but before dinner. (The man ate at least six square meals a day. It was tough to maintain his girlish figure). Honest was very excited. Only his highest ranking spies knew the code 'East Wind Rain.' This was sure to be a superb delicacy! After opening the box he read the note with it carefully, "Head Cake from Ice Country, remove tag before eating. Best served cold." he said aloud. Dabbing his finger in the chilled frosting on the round cake he found it was quite to his liking. Deciding to simply eat it like the glutton he always was Prime Minister Honest picked up the entire cake and bit into it making the fuinjutsu seal on it break. That caused the icing to slide off and the ice to melt revealing the semi-frozen human head of his favorite nephew….Whose nose was currently between the Prime Minister's teeth….

Honest's jaw opened in shock. "CRUAUTÉ! OH MY FUCKING GOD!" shrieked the Minister in terror as he lost control of his bladder. Honest dropped the bleeding head into what little lap he had before squealing in panic as the head rolled off of him and onto the floor where Cruauté's dead eyes stared lifelessly up into Honest's and blood seeped out everywhere. The Prime Minister tried to scoot back in fright but the rear chair legs couldn't withstand his weight and broke causing Honest to keel over backwards screaming and knocked himself out when his head hit the marble floor. This caused the wetness in his pants to spread everywhere….What a mess. The noise of it all could be heard all the way outside the Imperial Palace….

….

'That sounded like the Prime Minister was trying to sing soprano….' thought the boy-Emperor absentmindedly in his study. 'I would swear it was that or a large pig squealing in fright. Oh well….'

….Maybe the young Emperor was more astute than most people gave him credit for….

Night Raid's Hideout

Najenda led everyone into the kitchen/dining area so they could all sit down together and discuss things in a more relaxed atmosphere. Mein was glaring at Esdeath hatefully and Chelsea looked a bit nervous. Finally Mein said to Esdeath, "Did you kill Tatsumi?! I loved him and I want to know the truth!"

Akame knew this was coming but didn't expect Mein to bring it up so soon. Esdeath took off her General's cap and said, "I didn't kill him. I couldn't kill him. He was my enemy but I loved him too. Honest had him beheaded before my eyes and it broke me inside. I only recently recovered from it all Mein….You don't know how much I cried for him…."

Mein didn't want to believe it but she could see the sadness in Esdeath's eyes that simply couldn't be faked. Hot tears spilled down Mein's cheeks and she said bitterly, "I -I guess that's just one more reason I should hate Honest then. If I still had Pumpkin I could at least blow his fucking head off…."

Akame blinked and looked at Hinata. "Where is the Dreyse? Do you have it Hinata?"

Hinata nodded and pulled out a scroll. Channeling chakra into it a gunmetal colored case popped out. Chelsea, Mein and Najenda all look surprised when it appeared from the scroll. Akame gave a soft smile and said, "Here Mein, open this case. I think you'll like this."

Mein rubbed her eyes and sniffled before she unlatched the case in front of her. Her eyes widened when she beheld Dreyse for the first time. "This is…!"

"This is the gun type Teigu Dreyse that Hinata captured from an enemy." said Akame. "Do you think you can use it? We don't know all the details about it so you might have to experiment."

The pink haired sniper lifted Dreyse out of the case to get a feel for the weight of it. She looked in the case and said, "….And all these attachments?"

"We have no idea what all they do Mein." said Leone. "We figured you and Boss are the most qualified to figure it out since you both used a gun type Teigu before."

Najenda looked at the Dreyse and said, "It looks more like a short range type but it's got a barrel extension and a scope in the case. Have any of you seen what it can do?"

Hinata nodded. "The woman who had it seemed to be able to fire anything from dozens of metal needles to a single large shot with greater penetration power. None of the items in the case were attached to it when she was using it against me so I assume that is its most basic form."

Mein smiled at the Teigu. It felt good in her hands. "I can't wait to try you out Dreyse." she said. "I want to be one hundred percent and see what we can do together."

"Were you injured?" asked Sakura. "I noticed you favor you right hand a bit."

Mein nodded to her fellow pinkette. "I was in a coma. I can get around okay but I'm still not combat ready."

Hinata asked, "Sakura, do you think you think you can help?"

Najenda looked intrigued. "I'd be interested how you could help Miss Sakura."

Sakura was about to explain when Naruto piped in. "Sakura-chan is one of the best medic ninjas in the Elemental Nations! She's saved my life more times than I can count. Let Sakura-chan examine you Miss Mein. If anyone can help you it's her!"

Sakura blushed slightly at the praise. "I'm a combat medic. I'll be happy to look you over if you want."

Mein looked a little dubious at the idea but Najenda seemed enthused. "Mein, I know you still hurt when you move around a lot. What our doctors have already done is all they could do for you. Let's see what Miss Sakura can do."

Esdeath said, "Sakura helped me with my recovery from being locked up for two long years. She is an excellent physician."

Leone and Akame both voiced their opinions that Sakura could really help as well.

Mein sighed. "Well, I don't know what you can do but I'm willing to try Miss Sakura. What do you need me to do?"

"It would be best if we laid you down on a bed or table where I could do a full diagnostic. Hinata, help me check her chakra coils."

Soon everyone was crowded in Mein's room (except Naruto being male and all). The pink haired sniper was in her panties and bra and was blushing a bit from the attention of everyone staring at her. Sakura sat down beside her and said, "Hold still while I run a diagnostic technique." Najenda, Chelsea and Mein jumped when Sakura's hands lit up green with healing chakra. Akame said, "It won't hurt you Mein; just relax."

Soon Mein was feeling the strange sensation of Sakura's healing chakra circulating through her body. It was a warm feeling actually. Sakura went over Mein's ribs several times and over her right arm in particular before she scanned the rest of Mein's body. "Looks like you were in close proximity to an explosion. There are hairline fractures on your ribs and your right arm. There is also some minor nerve damage to your right elbow and wrist. The right shoulder has some torn muscle as well."

Mein was shocked and her pink eyes were wide. "You can tell all that just by using that green light?"

Sakura nodded. "Roll over on your stomach Miss Mein so I can check your back over. About ten minutes later Sakura said "Your right thigh muscle was torn as well; we'll have to fix that." Sakura turned to Hinata. "What do her chakra coils look like Hinata?"

Najenda and Chelsea were startled by Hinata activating her byakugan. "W-what are those?" stuttered out Chelsea who nearly dropped her lollipop.

"Those are Hinata's magical super eyes." said Leone humorously.

Hinata sighed and gave Leone a flat look. "I just activated my byakugan eyes so I can see if there is any internal damage to Miss Mein's body. There is no need to be alarmed." Focusing on Mein carefully Hinata said to Sakura, Her coils are pinched at the right shoulder. By some miracle her elbow and wrist coils are intact. All four of her right fingers have some damage as well."

"And her thumb?" asked Sakura.

"It is undamaged." answered Hinata. "The coils are naturally thicker there."

"Well, that confirms my findings." said Sakura."It will take a couple of hours but all the damage is all repairable. There's no reason I can't do it in one session but you'll need to be on an elevated table where I can work easier."

"It's repairable?" asked Najenda dumbfounded. "Wouldn't you need to do extensive surgery to fix all that damage?"

Sakura shook her head and turned to Najenda. "No incisions will be necessary for this kind of procedure. All of Miss Mein's organs are intact and fortunately the ribs didn't splinter. That would require surgery. What I need to do is fairly simple." Turning back to Mein who was still lying on her stomach listening in disbelief Sakura said, "I can repair the back of your thigh while you are lying here. It will take about fifteen or twenty minutes. Everything else I need you lying on your back elevated. Do you want me to fix it Miss Mein?"

Mein looked a bit shocked and said, "Don't I need to be knocked out or something?"

Hinata said, "Miss Mein, Sakura will be repairing the damage to your body; you might experience some discomfort but nothing truly painful."

Mein said. "The shooting pains in my thigh have been killing me. Go ahead and try it."

"Hold on a minute!" said Najenda alarmed. "I can't have you accidentally injuring one of my people. What are the risks here?"

"Given no actual cutting is being done there really aren't any risks." said Sakura.

Leone piped up, "Boss, you can trust Saint Sakura. She cured me of the worst hangover in history even after Akame-chan did her best to poison me to death!"

Everyone in the room got a huge sweat drop at Leone's jubilant testimony praising Sakura's skills. They then stared back and forth between the smiling Leone and stone faced Akame.

"Ummm….do you want me to do this or not?" asked Sakura.

Najenda looked at both Akame and Leone who nodded reassuringly. "Alright; if it's okay with Mein then you have my permission."

….

Ten minutes later Mein asked, "So when are you going to start?"

Sakura sweat dropped (again). "I'm almost done Miss Mein. Be patient and stay still!" Five minutes later Sakura said, "Done. Roll over onto your back so I can test your leg's flexibility."

Mein looked visibly puzzled and said, "But I didn't feel anything except a warm sensation."

"That's the sign of a good medic." said Hinata.

Mein rolled over and noticed the shooting pains were gone. Sakura gently lifted Mein's leg and said, "Relax your leg Miss Mein." After that Sakura gently moved Mein's leg around through the motions to see if there was any discomfort or catches in the leg's motion. Finally satisfied with her work Sakura said, "It appears to be completely successful. Get up and walk around a bit Miss Mein. We need to test it with some weight on it."

The pink haired sniper got up and gingerly moved her leg about before she walked around the room and went through various stretches and movements at Sakura's instructions. Najenda asked, "How is it Mein?"

Mein got a huge smile. "This is awesome Boss! The doctors told me I'd have that pain the rest of my life and my leg feels good as new!" she turned to Sakura and said, "Thank you; I won't forget this!"

Sakura nodded and smiled. Najenda asked. "Did you say you could heal the injuries to the rest of Mein's body Miss Sakura?"

Nodding, Sakura replied, "After a good night's rest I don't see why we couldn't do the procedure tomorrow after a good breakfast. It will take a couple of hours though."

"I'm all for it!" said Mein enthusiastically. "Is it okay Boss?"

Najenda nodded, "Anything that helps my people I'm in favor of."

The Imperial Palace, Royal Infirmary

There was a lot of noise in the Royal infirmary. Prime Minister Honest woke up in a daze with a terrible headache and saw the young Emperor standing above him. "Ah! You are awake now Minister. How are you feeling? When you didn't show up for dinner I sent some servants to retrieve you from your private dining room. You've never missed a meal in all the time I've known you. I feared the worst."

"What….what happened?" asked Honest groggily. He absentmindedly noticed the bandage wrapped around his head.

The boy crossed his arms over his chest and frowned, "Well, for starters I'm rescinding your previous orders to never be interrupted during meal times for the sake of your own health. You were unconscious and in a deplorable state when the staff found you. There was blood and urine everywhere as well as a decapitated head in the floor with a bite taken out of its nose. I've also taken decisive action by ordering stronger chairs to support your girth." The Emperor turned to his Royal Physician and said, "Do you have a prognosis Doctor Goodwill?" The Doctor nodded wearily. "Please read it if you will."

Royal Doctor Goodwill cleared his throat and said, "Prime Minster Honest, you were found with a major concussion as well as a herniated disc in your lower back. Furthermore you sprained your right ankle very badly when you fell backwards and hyper extended it when your foot caught on the table as you fell. I fear this will not only result in you needing an ankle cast but also you will be wheelchair bound as you attend to you duties. More than likely you will suffer intense pains in you buttocks and thighs from the herniated disc. Due to the severity of your concussion you may experience dizziness or grogginess as well…." Honest was in a daze wondering just how things could be any worse….

"….But most importantly by the Emperor's decree you must go on a healthy diet to lose weight posthaste!" concluded Doctor Goodwill.

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Then Prime Minister Honest cried, "NO, not a diet….Anything but that! NOOOOOOOOOO!" His pitiable wails of mourning for the loss of his food were a worse blow to him than losing his nephew Cruauté whose nose he bit into. Poor Prime Minister Honest would be grieving for some time about his change in his diet plan….

"He must be mourning for the shocking loss of his nephew." whispered the boy Emperor to his Doctor.

Doctor Goodwill didn't believe that for a minute but nodded in agreement with the young Emperor. 'Honest may be frightened for his life but I doubt he gives a damn about his nephew. He didn't bat an eyelash when his son died. Honest is probably mourning the fact he won't be able to stuff himself sick at mealtime.' "Your Majesty, perhaps we should let the Minister have some time alone. He needs some time to recover from the shock and grieve." whispered the Doctor.

After the Doctor and the Emperor stepped out of the room, the boy Emperor asked in a hushed voice, "What about all the urine? Surely someone as brave as Prime Minister Honest would not have wet himself in fright at seeing a decapitated head."

Doctor Goodwill nodded in false agreement and suddenly was hit with divine inspiration. He said with a wicked gleam in his eye, "Your instincts are spot on as always your Majesty! We'll need to test him for urinary incontinence and…. other issues. I'll need to run a full battery of (invasive) tests with your approval."

"My decree is that you run any and all tests necessary Doctor." said the young Emperor. "The Minister's health is paramount!"

Doctor Goodwill nodded. "Your wisdom is great your Majesty. I'll get the tests started right away." 'I'm going to put that bloated, corrupt bastard through hell!' thought Doctor Goodwill evilly. 'I'll start by humiliating him with some adult diapers….'

Night Raid's Hideout

That evening before dinner Mein was in one of the best moods she'd been in months. She could be healed! On top that she had a new Teigu to try out. Mein and Chelsea were sitting and talking with Akame, Leone and the three Konoha ninjas about their adventure. "So your continent just came out of a major war." said Chelsea. "From the sounds of it you all must have a lot of battle experience. Do you all have Teigus like we do?"

Sakura shook her head 'no.' "From what we can tell Teigus are items that act as chakra adapters which emulate jutsus. We can use jutsus without such things so I don't know if a Teigu would be all that useful to us."

"Chakra adaptors?" asked Mein. "What do you mean?"

Hinata said, "It's kind of hard to explain but a few of your people seem to have chakra like yourselves. I'm guessing that Miss Chelsea's Teigu allows her to perform the henge or something similar."

Chelsea asked, "What's a henge?"

"It's probably easier to demonstrate than tell you." said Naruto. "Henge!" a puff of smoke later Chelsea was looking at a mirror image of herself. Using Chelsea's voice and mannerisms Naruto said, "Let's all be Chelsea!" At that idea Hinata and Sakura henged into duplicates of Chelsea as well; lollipops and all.

The original Chelsea's mouth fell open and her lollipop rolled out of her mouth and onto the floor. Mein was dumbstruck as well. "Y-you can do that without a Teigu?!" asked the original Chelsea.

Three other three Chelseas adjusted their lollipops in different ways a said "Yep!" in Chelsea's exact tone of voice.

"Please turn back to yourselves." said Mein. "The idea of four Chelseas running around is far too much to bear." 'If they all start teasing me about how small my breasts are people will die!'

….

Najenda was in her office talking with Esdeath. "….So these ninjas; there's a continent full of them and the things we use Teigus to do they can do naturally." said Najenda in amazement. "Of course I'll want to see this for myself but that does support the old Military History Professor's theory about them."

Esdeath raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean Najenda? Which theory; the old geezer was full of them."

"The old man said they disappeared and some may have survived and interbred with the native population of this continent." said the cigarette smoking General. "The descendants of those same ninjas could be the select few people capable of wielding Teigus like we can…."

"I remember him saying there could be ninja blood in the very room we were having the lecture in." agreed Esdeath. "I wonder if there is any way to prove the old coot right. I'm guessing he died from old age by now but even being proven right posthumously is something. It would basically mean that the Teigus made to fight ninjas on even terms could only be used by the ninja's own descendants. Talk about irony."

Najenda blew out some smoke. "It's just a theory but it's worth looking into. The chakra affinities you mentioned that the ninjas have would also explain why certain Teigus are only compatible with certain people. Damn, what a concept."

Esdeath nodded. "It would be difficult to prove given all the wars and the lost records over the last thousand years. We should ask Sakura about it. The ninjas may have a medical way to prove such a lineage." '….And Akame and that Kurenai woman are so much alike it's frightening even by my standards.'

The two sat and pondered a bit before Esdeath decided to change subjects. "….I have a question for you Najenda."

Najenda gave her full attention to Esdeath and said, "What is it?"

"What would you think about recruiting the surviving Jaegers to our cause?" asked the light blue haired beauty. "I know them well. They could be a tremendous asset."

"Go on; I'm listening…." said the purple eyed General with interest in her tone….

POSTSCRIPT:

**After getting several opinions I decided to go ahead and bring Chelsea into the story after all. Since it's an AU for the sake of the argument she never encountered Kurome after she assassinated Bols and thus avoided her grisly fate.

***As far as I know it's never been revealed exactly where the new hideout is. Given the old hideout was only ten kilometers north of the Capitol I figure that the new one is also relatively close to the Capitol as well.

Well, the wheels are starting to turn for the Kurome Rescue Mission and it seems that poor, hapless Prime Minister Honest has been the victim of an unfortunate series of events. Now he's under the tender loving care of the aptly named Doctor Goodwill that may or may not have heard of the Hippocratic Oath where Honest is concerned. Next chapter we'll see Najenda receive the full reports from Akame and Leone as well as the three other Teigus seized from the Requin-Tigres. Mein will be under Sakura's care and will start to explore the mysterious gun Teigu Dreyse. See you next time. Blue out. 2/8/15