"I don't know!" Naruto replied his frustration rising as he stomped his foot in a petulant gesture "I'm no expert on these things, I thought they didn't even exist until jut a moment ago! How should I know why they don't exist and why the hell does it matter?!"
Tora's volume rose a good few decibels as her eyes shone with tears her pride refused to let actually fall, her anger working to hold back the growing sting of betrayal "What do they matter?" she echoed her tone almost sounding mocking if it weren't for the amount of emotion behind it and the slight hysteric twinge in it "They're our bonds! Our proof of our connection to our tamer! They let us know how much we're cared for!"
"That's bullshit!" Naruto blurted out almost instantly, he'd seen many attempts at loyalty seals of one sort or another, some successful, others not, in his stint with Jiraiya and honestly a lot of what he knew about these so called bonds was uncomfortably close to what these seals did. Creating a sense of ease and submission around the tamer, making the girl feel closer and exposing her to the desires of the person she was bonded to on an almost subconscious level? It was far too similar to those seals for the ninja to feel comfortable using such a mechanism, that Pokégirls' actually desired such things worried him greatly and for an instant he felt an unimaginable spike of hatred towards Sukebe, the one who had loosed these poor people on the world to suffer so. "What do they prove exactly?!"
It was at this point that Yochi began to realise that things were definitely spiralling out of control, perhaps allowing the two most emotionally charged members of their group to argue like this, especially on a subject one was so passionate about, might have been a mistake? She opened her mouth to try and calm things down but Tora's angry, clipped, response cut her off before she could.
"Oh nothing! Expect that you actually care for us!" her tone had a definite waver in it now, her anger beginning to peter out, she had never truly been angry, just hurt, heartbroken, betrayed. The anger had simply been a mask to cover the rest and she simply couldn't maintain the momentum for much longer.
Yochi couldn't help the gasp that escaped her, last night, even before everything had been so happy, everyone had gotten on so well. Somewhere, somehow, she believed this was her fault, if she hadn't insisted on joining Naruto's group this wouldn't have happened.
For Naruto those words might as well have been a kunai to the chest, at least the blade would have hurt less, he jerked back as if slapped, his mouth moving silently as his blonde eyes shimmered with emotion. His mouth working but no sound emerging for a few moments "Yo.. you.. you don't seriously..." he managed to stammer weakly. He'd been betrayed before, that wound on his heart had yet to heal, but never before had he been doubted, never before had he been the one accused of betrayal.
The emotions pounding through his mind were transmitted over his link to Shion who awoke with a start, cold fear and pain gripping her own heart. It took her a moment to realise the emotions flooding her were Naruto's and before that thought had even a chance to settle she burst into action.
With desperation fuelled by the echo of her liege's pain Shion tore her way, quite literally, out of the tent her blades making short work of the fabric as she burst into the open. Not a thought spared for her modesty she was totally nude, her hair mussed up and frizzy but her eyes narrowed and dangerous and her face set into a hard line that made her still somehow manage to seem intimidating "Who dares hurt my King?!" she didn't know what was going on, only that Naruto was hurting and she would remove whoever was causing this pain!
Naruto and Yochi were merely surprised by Shion's sudden emergence, the Elfqueen blushing at the totally bare girl and averting her gaze a little to prevent it from wondering over the show the insectile girl was offering.
Tora, however, reacted very differently. Shion's appearance was the fuel to the fire that was precisely the opposite of what the situation really needed. Her pupils shrunk down to a mere pinprick and a deep, primal, hiss escaped her "You!" she rumbled, somehow making the simple word sound like a threat, a curse, and an accusation all rolled into one.
Shion didn't seemed phased by the amount of vitriol aimed at her however even with her rather lacking understanding of emotions she could easily piece together the most likely culprit for the pain tearing at her king's, and by extension her own, heart. "It was you?!" her voice wasn't a hiss but a low buzz, a much deeper tone that seemed to resonate through the entire body rather than just being picked up at the ears. She didn't wait for any confirmation either as her blade flashed out at Tora, the pristine bone shimmering in the early morning light as beads of the girl's toxin were secreted out of pores at the base of the natural weapons.
Tora it seemed was just waiting for an excuse, the grin on her face anything but friendly as she put her natural flexibility to work bending back to avoid the sharp blades that whistled through what would have been her chest, Shion hadn't been aiming to kill. Wound? Yes, but not kill.
The feline girl let her momentum carry her backwards into an elegant back-flip, her foot lashing out as her claws unsheathed. Without her armour on Shion's flesh offered about as much protection as that of a normal human, which against Tora's claws might as well have been nothing. The insectile girl might have been caught by surprise had she not spent most of yesterday sparring with the Tigress but her experience allowed her to take a quick step back to avoid the claws that had been aimed for her face. Tora, it seemed, had been aiming to either rip out her throat or, at least, gouge an eye.
The exchange had only taken a split second "Stop this! Now!" Naruto's sharp shout split the air, as he glowered at the two girls. For a moment his hurt pushed firmly aside as he donned his Hokage mode "I won't have you two fighting!" his voice was stern and if he'd cared to look he would have seen a visible shudder of arousal run through Shion, her chest flushing a soft red as physical evidence of the affect this Naruto had on her.
"Wha? What's going ooooooon?" a new voice interrupted the on being drawn out into a loud yawn, Yochi breathed a silent sigh of relief as Hikari entered the fray, apparently this was the level of commotion it took to wake the Eva from her slumber. She hoped the innocent girl would manage to restore calm or at least create an opening for her to get a word in edgewise. The Eva was only marginally more decent than Shion. Having at least her fur to hide her more feminine areas, her hair slightly messy as she ran her hands through it to try and smooth it out, that is until she saw the scene in front of her and stopped abruptly.
Tora was visibly trembling now, her chest heaving as her breaths came in hiccups rather than gasps "Why don't you ask Shion!" she exclaimed, her voice now definitely weaker than it was before, sadder, her anger waning and her real emotions being drawn to the forefront "Since she's his favourite!"
Brown eyes flicked between the four people "What do you mean?" Hikari asked, genuinely confused as to what was going on, she could sense the tense atmosphere, see the emotions playing on Tora's face, anyone could, but she had no idea what had caused them.
The first tears slid from Tora's eyes as she tried to speak but her voice caught in her throat forcing her to choke out what she utterly refused to call a sob before she managed to actually speak "He bonded her?!"
Hikari's tail and ears drooped in an instant, her eyes widening with surprise before beginning to twinkle with the moisture of tears but before she could even speak Tora continued rounding on Naruto "Why did you bond that bee bitch and not me! Don't you love me?! Aren't I good enough?! Don't I mean anything?!" there was no way for her to deny that she was crying now.
Shion was twitching with the urge to just gut the ungrateful bitch right there and then, she could feel each stab to Naruto's heart that Tora delivered and if it were even possible for her species she was utterly sure she would be crying right now, how Naruto managed to look even remotely composed right now was beyond her.
Tora though had had enough, she just didn't want to be around Naruto right now, she didn't even wait for him to respond to her demands as she spun around and made to stalk off into the forest. Where she was planning to go she didn't even know herself she just wanted to not be here.
Naruto lunged forward his hand reaching out grab her before she could go "No wait!" he cried out, desperation tingeing his tone, no matter how he looked he had never been good at disguising the emotion in his voice.
"Don't touch me." It wasn't a shout nor even a sob but a dangerous, low, hiss as she spun around and lashed out with her claws, the sharp appendages drawing three bloody lines across Naruto's cheek.
In her state her movements were hardly her most composed and accurate, she was barely better than she had been whilst feral, Naruto should have been easily able to avoid the strike but the mere shock from hearing those words from Tora had stunned him so much he barely even noticed the cuts until he felt the wetness as the blood dribbled down his cheek.
Tora stormed off into the woods before anyone could stop her, her angry stomps only lasting a handful of steps before they gave way to rapid movements that quickly became running, the Tigress wanting to get away before anyone could hear her cry.
Shion turned to face her liege, she didn't need to see the emotions swimming so freely in his eyes, she could feel it pulsing through her very being through the link "Lord, please, let your servant take care of the traitor who has wounded you so." she wasn't talking about the physical wounds either, they paled to the injury to his soul.
"No!" he barked the order, his voice filled with a raw fury Shion had never heard in her liege. Her breath caught in her throat and the ever prideful retainer actually quailed as Naruto brought the full force of his killer intent to bear on her. In the span of a second a million different ways to die flashed through her mind, each more horrific than the last and she swore she saw Naruto's normally blue eyes flash a deep red "You will not harm her! Am I clear!"
In his emotional state he hadn't the concentration nor the will to focus his intent properly and the overbearing aura was pushing down on Hikari and Yochi, Hikari faring marginally better as she'd felt it before, but not this strong and this unfocused. Neither girl saw the hallucinations Shion did but both felt a palpable sense of danger, a sense that they were only alive because they hadn't yet attracted the wrath of the man before them.
This. This was no commander, now Naruto seemed more a dictator, a warlord. Shion lowered her gaze in submission "Yes, my Lord." she agreed, a slight hint of fear colouring her voice as she realised that she had managed to anger her king, she could only hope he found it in his heart to be merciful in his punishment.
"Good." Naruto bit out, the pressure of his intent lifting as suddenly as it had come and allowing his girls to suck down the lungfuls of air they suddenly found themselves needing. Hadn't they been breathing before? They couldn't quite remember.
His gaze swept over to Yochi and Hikari noting that the two had taken a step backwards away from him at some point he let his stormy gaze lock with theirs "You two, you'll stay with me won't you?" it was a plea, that much was obvious, he was stranded in a strange world and everything he knew said he wouldn't be able to get home, he was still clinging desperately to the thin hope that he was wrong on that fact but his girls, his team, his precious people had always been his anchor no matter what world he was in and here he literally had nothing else.
Yochi swallowed, it just felt wrong to see Naruto this vulnerable, this human. The burning guilt at the back of her mind that somehow this was her fault, she should have interrupted Tora and Naruto before they could argue, she shouldn't have joined the harem, she should have... she should have "Yes, I'll stay with you." she agreed softly, he had given her hope, let her live again, even if the lack of bonds was slightly worrying she owed him so much that that fact was rather easy to overlook.
He offered a world weary smile, one that belonged to a person far older than himself "Thank you." it was but a whisper on the wind but Yochi heard it all the same. His gaze drifted from the Elfqueen to Hikari.
The Eva regarded her trained carefully, hurt swimming in her own eyes "Is it true?" she asked softly, somehow Naruto imagined the tone to be similar to a woman from his world asking a significant other if he was cheating on her, it certainly seemed to be fairly analogous.
He closed his eyes and took her shakey breath, he wasn't going to lie to her, but he didn't know how she was going to react. He tried to steel himself, to firm himself up for the blow but nobody can ever just shrug off or choose to ignore heartbreak "Yes." he admitted, he wasn't ashamed of this fact, he was still fairly confused about why this was such a big deal to them, but he was nervous about how she would react.
Hikari staggered back as if she had been slapped, she hadn't wanted to believe that. Her eyes shone with tears as she broke down and began sobbing, her hands coming up to hide her face as the tears flowed freely, unlike Tora she seemed to have no problem with crying in front of Naruto "Why? Why would you do that?" she sobbed heavily, great heaving sobs wracking her body.
A tiny, pathetic, whimper escaped Naruto's mouth as yet another serrated blade was worked through his heart. But, at least, Hikari hadn't run. His eyes caught a flash of motion out of the corner of his eyes as Shion made to move "Don't! Even think about it!" he hadn't the energy to put and furor behind the order, he just sounded tired.
The first few steps he took towards Hikari were tentative but he quickly built speed until he reached her at an almost jog crossing the few feet that had separated them in a moment "Please." he begged, wrapping his arms around her "Please believe in me Hikari."
She was still if his arms, not trying to throw him off but not relaxing into his grip as she usually did either, her soulful eyes bore up into his, the girl desperately wanting to find a reason to forgive and forget "Why?" was all she could ask.
What cut deepest to Naruto was the pain he saw swimming in her eyes, she was hurting now more than she ever had with Adam, for all the evils he'd done that man had never lead her one, never given her hopes and having hopes and reams only for them to be crushed hurt a lot more than never having them in the first place. His hands gave her a soft squeeze as he met her gaze letting her see the pain in his own orbs "I don't know. I really don't." his view of the world swam as finally the tears began to gather in his own eyes "I had no idea these bonds even existed until just now. Please Hikari, I need you, I need everyone, please believe me."
The girl hesitated and Naruto felt her shifting in his arms, she wasn't quite as stiff as she had been a while ago though still she was far from relaxed "But.. why Shion?" she whispered, what was so special about that girl? What did she have that they didn't?
"I. Don't. Know." Naruto reiterated, emphasising each word "I have no idea how this works or what it means." he shook his head to try and clear his frustration at his own impotence, he wish pervy sage was here, even if he was a stupid perv the man was smart, like scary smart, when he needed to be and he'd of worked it out by now he was sure. Naruto tried to ignore the way Hikari flinched slightly at his clipped tone and let his gaze meet hers "But. Hikari, please, look at me." he waited for her gaze to meet his once more "Do I look like I'm lying? Do I look like I did this on purpose, like I wanted this? Do.. dihd" he choked out the word did simply because thinking of their relationship in the past tense only served to twist the dagger into the wound "you care about me, love me?"
Hikari shook her head softly and for a moment Naruto's heart felt like it would burst "No." she mumbled softly "No, I don't think you're lying." she agreed. She knew Naruto, or liked to think she did, and everything she knew about him said he wouldn't have done this on purpose. It didn't make the sting of betrayal hurt any less though, nor was it any balm to sooth her heart "But I did, I did love you, you saved me."
"And I loved you!" he gripped her shoulders, perhaps a little too hard in his urge to get his message across "You were my precious person, my first in this..." he bit back the descriptors that came to the forefront of his mind before they could come out "world!" he shook her lightly "And we had all of that, we were happy without those stupid bonds! What do they matter!"his hug became tighter as he held her close clutching the woman like a lifeline in spite of himself "Please, don't leave me, I can't take that. Not again." whether he was talking about Tora or Sasuke or even Sarutobi it was hard to tell, perhaps all three were running through his mind.
In that moment all pretences had been stripped away, all masks shattered and Naruto was laid bare for the world to see. A scared young man who desperately clung to his friends and family for fear of being truly alone. All his bravery, all his bravado and loyalty all drew from this simple, primal, fear.
It was tearing up Yochi ad Hikari to see Naruto like this and Hikari just couldn't find it in herself to walk away from him now. She was hurt, the wound on her own heart fresh and raw but Naruto seemed to need her more than she needed him and that, somehow, helped her cope, helped her ignore her pain. Finally she relaxed in his arms "Ok, ok, I'll stay." she agreed only to suddenly wheeze as Naruto's grip tightened painfully, driving the air from her lungs.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Naruto mumbled his mantra for a few moments before he realised that he must have been crushing her and his grip loosened the boy pulling away, his eyes red and puffy and face streaked with tears they hadn't heard him cry, the tears mixing with the blood from the wound of his right cheek and creating a series of bloody smears that ran down his face "Thank you." he mumbled "I'll do whatever you want ok" his hand traced her cheek gently, as if afraid she would shatter at any moment if he applied any pressure "Just please, don't ever think I don't love you, that you're not precious to me. Please" his voice was almost hollow sounding, devoid of energy and his usual spark. He was the master of masks but his own had received a hairline fracture that would take at least a little while for him to repair.
Off to the side Shion let out a tiny sigh, as some of the pain pounding through her heart lessened fading to mere agony. The girl stewing in her own impotence in protecting her liege from harm adding to the toxic stew of emotions boiling over from her Lord.
Leaning in Naruto pressed his lips against Hikari's, he was too tired and spent for it to be truly passionate but he wanted to tell her, to convey, how he felt through the kiss "We don't need a link to be together, we don't." he mumbled as he pulled away, his chest heaving both with the sobs that had refused to fully leave him alone and with the breathlessness left in the kiss' wake.
Hikari gave a tiny nod of agreement, she wanted a link, jealousy burned in her heart towards Shion, but for Naruto, for them, she would try and ignore it. Maybe he was right. Maybe the bonds weren't that important? It seemed alien to her but then Naruto wasn't from around here so he had an odd way of looking at the world. She hoped, she prayed, that he was right.
Yochi hated to bring it up but she had to ask, the very seed of a smile pulling at her lips as seeing Hikari calmed gave her hope that maybe the entire group could pull through this, that things could go back to the way they had been before "What about Tora?" her eyes flickered to the woods the Tigress had run off into, she could feel the plants and branches she had snapped and run through in her haste to get away but she couldn't detect the girl herself. She'd moved out of the range of the Elfqueen's new-found senses it seemed.
Naruto followed her gaze what little happiness had managed to find it's way onto his face disappearing "Tora?" he muttered softly, his tone defeated "Tora has made her choice." he closed his eyes to try and fight the tears that threatened to overwhelm him once more "I'm not going to force her to stay."
His mind cast back to the Sasuke incident, he'd chased after his friend then to try and convince him to stay and what had it gotten him? Five of his friends had been injured, he'd been forced to use the bloody fox, he'd gotten a Chidori through the stomach and he still hadn't even managed to get Sasuke back. No. He was in no hurry to repeat that particular set of events and in his current mindset he was sure he would fail Tora just as he had Sasuke, maybe she was better off without him? He hoped she would be happy.
Drama! Hehe well I do apologise that the tone of this chapter is probably a little different to what you're used to in this story. I hope at least it's good drama but I just couldn't see this getting brushed over lightly, especially given Tora and Naruto's personalities. I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway despite the rather heavier tone.