BIG NEWS!
As of a few weeks ago, I finally managed to finish writing my first original novel! Currently, I am looking into getting it professionally line and copy edited by someone. After that I plan on Self-Publishing my novel using Print on Demand, or POV for short. I am hoping that my book will be available on Amazon and other websites before my birthday in March. And I hope you will all support me by ordering a book and letting me know what you think when it does come out.
For those who are curious to know what my novel is about, here is the summary for my hopefully soon to be published novel, American Kitsune, A Fox's Love:
Kevin Swift is about to find out what happens when a supernatural, magical fox-girl falls in love with a human; the hard way.
Yesterday, the only thing Kevin had to worry about was turning his next homework assignment in on time and gathering what meager courage he has to ask his secret crush, Lindsay Diane, out on a date. All of that changes when he finds a small, injured fox with two tails and decides to take it home with him. Turns out that small fox is not a fox at all, but a Kitsune, a supernatural creature found in Japanese Mythology and Folklore that can shape-shift from a fox into a drop dead gorgeous red head that defines the term smokin' hot. Want to know what's even more interesting? This Kitsune has fallen head over heels in love with Kevin and is willing to do anything to make him love her back. Too bad our Hapless Hero has a serious case of Cannot Talk to Women.
Sounds interesting, right? I hope you guys will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it when it comes out. For more information on American Kitsune, A Fox's Love, check out my blog. The link is on my profile.
And now that I have thoroughly bored you to tears with my ecstatic ranting, I will let you do what you came here to do and read the next chapter of Ashikabi no Shinobi.
Enjoy.
Chapter 28: A Reason to Help Someone Pt. 2
"I see... so that's what happened."
Miya sat calmly in her usual spot at the head of the table. As always, she was sitting in seiza.
She had just finished listening to everyone explain what had sent her most enigmatic tenant away. It had been a rather trying explanation, with everyone interrupting everyone else and Miya needing to use her Hannya several times to make the high strung and emotional members of her house calm down. Needless to say, it had been a lot of work on her part.
In front of her was a steaming cup of green tea, which she had made for this meeting; though she was beginning to wish it was sake at the moment. While Miya was not one for drinking, having never really cared for alcohol and only made an exception on special occasions, like the anniversary her husband's death, she was feeling a powerful urge to have a stiff drink that would help ease her coming headache.
Absently, she cast a glance at Kazehana, who was currently guzzling down another bottle of the stuff. The woman's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were actually starting to get bloodshot. In spite of this, the wind user continued chugging down her alcohol like it was water. A few seconds later, the drunken Sekirei belched, causing Haruka and Kuno, who were sitting near her, to cover their nose as the stench of sake washed over them.
Miya shook her head. Maybe drinking sake wasn't such a good idea after all.
"You don't think Naruto-Sama is angry, do you?" asked Musubi, her eyes tearing at the thought. "He didn't seem angry, but he walked out on us so quickly." She sniffled several times and clasped her hands together underneath her chin, looking for all the world like a pathetic puppy that had just been kicked in the face. "I hope it wasn't because Musubi being immodest."
As one, every single person currently sitting at the dinner table stared at Musubi with a look that could only be described as 'what the fuck?'.
They then turned back to their regular conversation and decided to ignore everything Musubi just said.
Sometimes, they worried about that girl...
"Do you think you could talk to him?" Haruka asked of the kind and beautiful landlady. She had been very helpful and accommodating so far, so maybe she could help them with this. "Maybe get him to change his mind? I mean, he has so many Sekirei... surely someone with as many Sekirei as him could easily help us escape Shinto Teito..."
Miya opened her eyes to reveal sharp, purple irises. After staring at the young man for several seconds, she opened her mouth to say something, though just what she planned on saying would be forever lost to the sands of time.
Before she could even get a single word out, another voice spoke up.
"As if my husband would help you!" Everyone turned to look at Tsukiumi, who was glaring at the young man who had dared to suggest that her husband should help him escape from the city. "He made the right decision, it's not his job to help you escape the city. The weak have no right asking the strong for help. If you cannot escape the city yourself, then you have no right doing it at all!"
"Tsukiumi!" Homura said harshly, "That was uncalled for!"
"Hmph!" Tsukuimi huffed as she glared defiantly at the others, her arms crossed under her chest to go along with her defiant stare, as if daring them to argue with her. "We have no need to help these two if they cannot even help themselves!"
"Muuu~!" Musubi decided to get in on the action, pouting at Tsukiumi with puffed up cheeks and a comical expression that belied how serious she was. "But that's not right! I think we should help out Haruko and Kanu!"
'Kanu' moaned piteously.
"It's Kuno..."
Everyone ignored her.
"And why should we!?"
"Because it's the right thing to do!"
"The right thing to do? Says who!?"
"Says me! Just look at those two!" Musubi pointed to Kuno and Haruka as the two sat next to each other... though one of them was currently using the other as a human meat shield in order to avoid the arguing group of Sekirei. "They love each other so much! All they want is to be happy together! It's only right that we help them! For love!"
"Here! Here!" Kazehana raised the glass of sake in her hand, toasting to Musubi's words... she then began guzzling sake straight from the bottle, completely ignored the saucer she had just raised.
"Love?" Tsukiumi scoffed. "If everything could be solved with love, then none of us would be in this mess in the first place!"
"While I wouldn't have put it so bluntly, Matsu has to agree with Tsu-tan on this one," the perverted yet highly intelligent brain-type Sekirei spoke up, finally deciding that it was time for her to get in on the conversation as well. As the most analytical member of the group, she could see things the others couldn't, and she had her own reasons for not wanting to help the two escape. Reasons that differed from Tsukiumi's.
"Matsu!"
"What?" Matsu looked at Homura, who was staring at her, aghast that she believed Tsukiumi was right and that they should not help Haruka and Kuno. "We don't stand to gain anything by helping them, quite the opposite in fact." Matsu took off her glasses, making her appear much more mature then she normally did. "If we helped these two escape, not only is there no guarantee of success, but we would be putting ourselves in harms way for two people who would not be able to help us in return."
Homura scowled at her, but Matsu was undeterred.
"You also have to take into account what, or I guess I should say, who, we would be going up against." It was a testament to how serious Matsu was that she was not referring to herself in third person. "We wouldn't just be fighting against MBI, who not only have a large standing army, but also intimate knowledge about all of the Sekirei, we would be fighting against the Discipline Squad."
Whatever words of protest Homura might have unleashed died in his throat as he too remembered what that meant. It wasn't necessarily the Discipline Squad that Matsu was referring to, just one of their members. While two of the three members of the current Discipline Squad were certainly troublesome, Homura was confident in their chances of defeating them. It was the last member of the squad, the leader, that gave him pause, and was likely the reason Matsu had brought this point up.
Karasuba. The Black Sekirei. The dog of MBI. One of the deadliest people in the Sekirei plan. Homura knew that, as of right now, the only person who had any chance of beating that woman was the purple-haired lady sitting next to them, and she would not fight unless provoked; that was the silent agreement she and MBI had made. She would not get involved in their affairs, and they would not disrupt her daily life.
Even if all of Naruto's Sekirei went up against that women, they were almost guaranteed to lose, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
If she ended up getting involved in the chase if they decided to help Haruka and Kuno, it was almost a certainty that they would be killed.
"I do see your point," Homura admitted at last, his body slowly slumping down. He looked over at the Ashikabi/Sekirei duo that had asked for their assistance, worrying his lower lip. "Still... it doesn't feel right to let these two go without at least trying to help them."
"Hmph! Of course you would say that, Homura," Tsukiumi said blithely. She received a rather vicious glare in return.
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
"It means that you're the kind of person who can't leave well enough alone, even when it means involving yourself in something that doesn't concern you."
Homura grit his teeth as Tsukiumi sniffed derisively at him. He opened his mouth to make his own scathing retort... only to freeze when gentle voice spoke up from the head of the table.
"I believe it might be best if we all discussed this issue calmly," Miya said, taking a small sip of her tea afterward. Though her voice was mild and her manner polite, no one missed the steel hidden within that tone. Everyone within the vicinity could not help but shiver at the landlady's voice, which made them very much aware of the sleeping beast that was sitting right next to them.
None of them wanted to wake the hannya from its slumber. Not again. Half a dozen times in a single one hour sitting was more then enough for them.
Needless to say, the two Sekirei of opposing elements both shrunk back into their seats with all due haste.
A moment of silence passed.
Naturally, this silence would be broken by the one who was least affected by all of this.
"What an interesting group of people you have here, Miya," Kazehana said in her usual sultry and slightly drunken tone. "I've never seen so much drama in all my life." The woman sighed dreamily as she took a deep chug of her sake. "It's like a tragic tale of loss and love! A young couple on the run, in need of help, and the group of reluctant heroes who want no part in lending them aid." With a smile on her face and a tint of pinks to her cheeks, Kazehana leaned back in her seat. "I can't wait to see how this conflict ends. Will it end in tragedy? Or will this young couple have their happily ever after!"
"Uhuhu..." Matsu put her glasses back on and pushed them up the bridge of her nose. The light from overhead flashed across the spectacles frames, looking almost ominous in their innocuousness. "I've always said this place is like a Soap Opera."
The tension within the room soon began to die down. Things seemed to almost return to what was usually considered the norm; Matsu and Kazehana began trading jokes and banter, Homura sat in silent contemplation, and Akitsu was feeding Kusano.
Only a few among the group had not returned to normal.
Miya was sitting at the head of the table. She didn't appear much different then she often did. However, the minute glances she cast at the door that Naruto had vacated from every few seconds were very telling.
Unlike her normally chatty self, Musubi was not arguing with Tsukiumi about who was Naruto's wife. She sat there, silent, her face scrunched up slightly, almost as if she were in deep thought.
Don't think too hard, Musubi.
The one that did not appear to be the least bit amused or joyful was Haruka. The young man in question was staring at all the others as they just got back to their daily routines, not even passing him or Kuno a second glance now that a consensus of some kind had been made. It felt like something important had just happened, some kind of agreement came to pass, and he had missed it.
His hands curled into fists underneath the table, which he clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white and the entire appendage began to shake.
"Just look at you people!" Unable to take it any longer, Haruka stood up and glared at everyone. "Sitting here, playing around, laughing! You all have it so easy, don't you? Never having to worry about what's going to happen because you're all strong! Every day, Kuno and I have to worry for our lives! Maybe if Kuno were as strong as you people, we wouldn't have to, but she's not! None of you even realize the hardships we've been through! How difficult it was for us!"
"Haruka..." Kuno mumbled under her breath, worry and surprise etched upon her face as she reached out and tugged on his pant leg.
Haruka ignored her.
"Well, I don't need you! I don't need any of you!" Tearing his pants from Kuno's grip, Haruka stormed out of the room, leaving a crestfallen and nearly in tears Kuno behind.
"Oh dear..." Miya sighed softly, before standing up. "I suppose I should bring that young man back. Honestly," she huffed as she, too, walked out of the room. "Leaving a girl in tears like that. I shall have to let him know what is and is not acceptable in Maison-Izumo..."
A couple of shudders traveled down the spines of all those present. They did not envy Haruka in the least.
"Hmph!" Tsukiumi huffed as she decided to ignore what had just happened and went back to eating. "What a rude man, I shall be glad when he is gone."
"You shouldn't say that, Tsukiumi," Musubi, ever the understanding one, said. "Haruka is just scared. He's afraid of losing the one he loves."
Tsukiumi continued to eat. "Like I care!"
"Muuu~!"
Musubi's cheeks puffed up again. She glared at Tsukiumi a bit more before realizing the water user was ignoring her. Frowning she turned in her spot... and then blinked as she realized someone was missing. Two someones, in fact.
"Hey! Where are Akitsu and Ku-chan?"
XoX
The sky was beginning to set. Dark reds and oranges with several streaks of purple running through it filled the space above him and created a beautiful picture, one befitting of heavens canvas.
Lying on his back, his hands behind his head as he lay on the roof, Uzumaki Naruto had a perfect view of this majestic image.
When he was younger, it was the sight of this sky that made him wonder if this was Kami's way of letting everyone know that she was watching over them. For how could this beautiful painting be anything but a gift from the very heavens?
These days, he knew the truth. Kami did not exist. The beautiful colors that were painted across the sky in the early morning when the sun first peeked over the horizon and the evening when it was beginning to set were simply the result of the air molecules and airborne particles causing the colors found in the ray of white sunlight to scatter.
White, after all, is the color that the human eye sees when it senses light that contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum. Or to put more plainly, white is a combination of every color combine, the total opposite of black, which was the absence of color.
Naruto could go into a several hour long dissertation about how the sunset and sunrise was created. He had studied it many thousands of years ago with some idiotic philosopher who had rediscovered gravity. Not that it mattered these days, all that was in the past, and while that man's name lived on, Naruto's name would forever remain in obscurity, just as it was supposed to.
A small, sustained burst of chakra caused Naruto's eyes to travel down from their current view of the sky. There, just a few feet in front of him, at the edge of the roof, a large vine stalk was growing visible as it climbed higher and higher into the air. Attached to this large vine was Kusano, who hopped off the vine the moment it had allowed her to reach the roof.
As the little girl walked towards him, Naruto sat up. Placing his hands on either side, palms pressed against the ground, he looked at the little girl as she stopped just a foot in front of him. Her face was conflicted.
"Something wrong, Ku?" asked Naruto.
"Are you really not going to help those people, onii-chan?"
Naruto sighed, he should have realized someone would be asking him this question. He had been expecting Musubi, though, not Kusano.
"I don't really see much point in helping them," Naruto shrugged.
"But, but onii-chan's supposed to be a hero!" Kusano argued, her tiny hands clenching into fists at her side. "Heroes are supposed to help people!"
A pained grimace appeared on the ancient blond's face. Memories of a time when he would have said something very similar to what this little girl had told him just now forced their way into his mind, invading the carefully constructed walls he had put up around himself. With the battering they had been taking ever since he had become involved in the Sekirei Plan, the memories found it very easy to slip through the cracks.
"Not all people can stay heroes, Ku," Naruto said softly. "A person can only be a hero so long as they have something worth fighting for, and I lost my reason to fight long ago."
As he looked up at the sky, as if seeking the answer and affirmation to his believes in that painted canvas brought about by natural changes in the atmosphere, the knuckles on Kusano's tiny fists turned white.
"If onii-chan... if onii-chan doesn't have a reason to fight, then he should fight for Ku-chan!"
Naruto's head tilted back down to look at the little blond girl standing before him. The girl looked about as serious as a nine year old little girl can be.
"And if onii-chan won't fight for Ku-chan and be a hero, then he isn't the onii-chan I love!"
Saying her piece, Kusano spun about and ran over to the vine. She grabbed a hold of it and used her powers to make it shrink.
Even though the girl was sniffling a bit due to her obvious disappointment in him, Naruto could not help but feel a small bit of pride when he saw how well she was controlling her powers. She would not have been able to do that when they had first met.
When the Green Girl finally disappeared from his sight, Naruto exhaled a deep, breathy sigh, and leaned back, using his arms to support himself as he looked up at the sky.
"And do you think I should help those people too?" he asked of no one in particular. At least, that is what he appeared to be doing before another voice spoke up behind him.
"Ah..."
A pause.
"I will abide by whatever decision my Ashikabi-sama makes." Another pause ensued, this one much shorter then usual. "But I would be a little disappointed. You had no reason to help me, yet you did so anyways. It was that kindness and desire to help others that drew me to you. Even though I could not react, I knew in that moment that you were my Ashikabi-Sama."
Naruto decided not to correct her misconceptions of him. He didn't have the heart to tell her that the only reason he had even taken a second glance in her direction was because of Musubi's emotions overpowering his own through their bond.
"And if I decided that I still don't want to help them?"
Silence reined for several minutes after Naruto asked his question. Even though he did not look back, he could just picture Akitsu standing directly behind him, her face carefully blank as she pondered his query.
"I would be disappointed in you," she admitted at last, "But I would still love you just as much as I do now, regardless."
"I see..." Naruto whispered softly. Still not turning around, he patted the spot beside him. "Would you care to join me?"
"Ah..."
Pause.
"...Yes."
There was a slight ruffling of fabric, followed soon by the clinking of chains. Footsteps eventually accompanied the other noises. A few seconds later, Akitsu was by his side, slowly lowering herself to the tiled roof and sitting in seiza beside him.
"You don't always have to sit so formally, you know."
"Ah... okay."
Some more ruffling and chain clinking occurred as Akitsu shifted her posture, changing from the very formal seiza position to one like Naruto's, legs stretched out in front of her and hands on either side of her body.
"There," Naruto smiled, just a bit. "Isn't that better?"
"Yes."
The two sat in silence for several seconds. Neither one saying anything nor moving as the sun continued to slowly lower behind the city of Shinto Teito.
It would be Akitsu who would make the first move, leaning into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. It was a bold move for the ice maiden, who still seemed a little reticent to actually give affection as opposed to simply being on the receiving end of it.
In return, Naruto wrapped an arm around Akitsu's shoulder and drew her close. Despite her elemental affinity being ice, her body was very warm.
Together, the two of them stayed outside, watching as the sun began to truly disappear, leaving them engulfed in the dark silence of twilight.
It wouldn't matter if they stayed out later then normal. This was Akitsu's night to be with him.
XoX
Waking up the next morning was a sordid affair. Having been pretty much waking up every single morning and sneaking out of bed to get some training in before everyone else woke up, Naruto's body had apparently decided to tell him that it did not want to get up and felt they (as in Naruto and his body) deserved a day in bed. The feeling of a lovely female body cuddling into his side did nothing to absolve him of this desire.
Still, get up he did. His actions slow and deliberate, Naruto opened his eyes to the world, blinking several times as they began adjusting to the light. After that, he turned his head towards his current bedmate.
Akitsu was already wide awake. Her steel gray eyes were staring at his face, unblinking.
Had he been any other man, Naruto probably would have been unnerved by her stare. As things stood, he had not only seen far more freaky things then a hot woman staring at him, but he had also grown used to Akitsu doing this.
Staring at him, that is. She did it all the time.
"Akitsu," Naruto greeted with a slight groan as his arms appeared from within the blankets and stretched above his head. "Good morning."
"Ah..."
A pause. Naruto was used to this as well.
"Good morning, Ashikabi-Sama."
"How long have you been awake?"
Akitsu tilted her head to the side. It was a very cute gesture.
"Only an hour."
Only an hour, she says.
"And you've been staring at me the entire time?"
"Ah." Another pause. "Should I not?"
"It's fine," Naruto waved her worries off, and she was worried, even if her facial expression did not change. He had grown rather good at sensing his Sekirei's emotions, to the point that he could now pinpoint which of his Sekirei was feeling what. It came in handy a lot, even though Naruto rarely ever used it. "I don't mind you watching me while I sleep. I used to do the same thing to someone I had a relationship with a long time ago."
It was only after he said this that Naruto realized what he had just admitted to.
"This person." There was no pause this time. "Were they female?"
"Yes," Naruto frowned a bit. He had not meant to say that, it had just sort of slipped out.
"Was she..." Akitsu hesitated for a moment before taking the plunge, "Special to you?"
"She was," Naruto admitted.
Akitsu tilted her head, considering. After another moment had passed, she spoke again. "Why is she not here with you?"
"She's dead," Naruto answered bluntly, sitting up in bed and looking out of the open window. It was a nice day outside, clear skies, bright sun, beautiful weather; a perfect contrast to his current thoughts. "She died long before you or any of the other Sekirei were even born." Yeah, like a couple thousand years before they were born.
"Ah..." while Akitsu's face still did not change all that much, he could sense her melancholy coming through the bond. "I'm sorry."
Naruto sighed, shook his head, then smiled. "No, it's fine. You're my Sekirei, so I guess it should be alright to tell you these things. I've never really been one for sharing my past. Who knows? Maybe it will do me some good?" Fat chance, but you never know.
"Ah..."
To anyone else who may have been looking at her at that moment, Akitsu's face would have looked the same, but Naruto could see her relief as surely as he could see the suns rays shining in through the window. It was all in her eyes. While her face might remain a mask of ice and stone, her eyes could never hide her emotions, especially from him.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"...Ashikabi-Sama?"
Naruto looked at the woman curiously, noting the strange hesitation in her voice. It was different from her usual hesitance.
"Yes?"
"Can I..." Akitsu trailed off. "I mean, may I..." Her cheeks turned pink. Naruto thought it made her look quite fetching. "What I want to know is, could we..." failing to speak yet again, the snow woman turned her head to the side, her cheeks a warm red now.
Naruto sighed. He was pretty sure he knew what she was going to ask, but it would be better for both of them if she actually voiced her question rather then let him take the lead this time.
"You don't need to be afraid to ask me something, Akitsu. If you have a question, or want something from me, then ask."
Akitsu paused for a moment. It was different then her normal pauses.
There was no 'ah', you see.
"Would be alright if we... if I kissed you?"
"There. That wasn't so hard now, was it?"
Naruto smiled a bit. Despite his still somewhat reluctance to engage in anything too sexual, he felt a bit pleased that Akitsu had actually managed to be so forward with him, even if that really just meant she was asking him instead of staring at him with a blush on her face. Progress was progress, no matter what form it came in.
"And to answer your question, yes, you can kiss me."
It started off slowly at first, as Akitsu was the one initiating the kiss. Despite having been on the receiving end of his kisses before, she had never been the one to kiss him, and that made all the difference.
Still, she managed to muddle through her hesitation, placing her lips over his and silently allowing them to rove over her Ashikabi's mouth. In return, Naruto carefully guided her along, letting her remain in control, but also directing her with silent cues. Eventually, Akitsu was confident enough to open her mouth and allow her tongue to slip out and probe the last shinobi's waiting mouth.
The kiss soon became more heated. Akitsu's tongue rubbed against the inside of Naruto's mouth. She pushed and pulled against his tongue, allowing the incredible sensations and pleasant tingling to fill her up. It was unlike any of the other kisses they had shared thus far, and the young woman could not help but enjoy the feeling of her lips on Naruto's, of her tongue playing with his.
A moan escaped her. It was a sensual, lustful moan brought about by Naruto's arms wrapping around her in a possessive hold. He pulled her close, allowing her to relish in the feel of her Ashikabi's body pressing against hers. Soon enough, she was straddling his waist, her breasts smashing into his muscled chest as she shared in a wet, sloppy kiss with the one she had pledged herself to in body, mind and soul.
"Akitsu," Naruto whispered against her lips. His voice was ragged and hungry, carrying with it an edge that Akitsu had not heard before. It lit a fire underneath her, or melted her ice, if you prefer that term instead.
"Yes, Ashikabi-Sama." Akitsu's voice was just as hungry, just as eager. Unlike the many other times she had spoken, her voice did not possess its usual monotone. Instead, it was passionate and emotional.
At any other time, it would have been beautiful to hear such emotion in her voice.
"Why aren't you wearing panties?"
But not this time.
"Ah..."
A pause.
"I forgot?"
Naruto gave her an odd look. "But you were wearing them last night." He knew this because she had been wearing nothing else when they went to sleep.
"Ah..."
Another pause.
"No I wasn't."
Naruto twitched, then sighed. "Right, of course you weren't."
"Can we continue kissing now?"
"I had no intention of stopping."
They began kissing again.
XoX
Miya woke up at the same time she always did; just a few minutes after the sun began its slow rise over the jungle of brick and steel that was Shinto Teito. It was a habit she had gotten into back when she was the leader of the Disciplinary Squad and she had never really seen fit to change it. The fact that Takehito had been like her and got up early only reinforced this habit.
She rose from the large, queen sized bed in her room. It used to be a king, but without anybody to share all that space with, she had changed it out for a smaller, more practical one. And by getting a smaller bed, she had enough space to place a small shrine in her room dedicated to her husband.
What followed was her usual ritual of getting dressed in her normal 'landlady' clothing (aka, her kimono), burning a stick of incense and sitting in seiza with her hands clasped and her head bowed as she prayed for her husband in the hopes that he would remain at peace with himself in the after life.
Afterward, she made her way into the kitchen to make breakfast.
"Hand me those potatoes, would you, Akitsu?"
She stopped in the doorway, however, when she realized that the kitchen was currently occupied.
"Ah."
A pause.
"Okay."
Miya watched as Naruto and Akitsu worked together to create breakfast. Naruto was chopping up ingredients and adding them into a pot. Meanwhile, Akitsu was washing the vegetables and keeping an eye on the oven, which was baking something; fish, from the smell wafting through the air.
The two actually worked together rather splendidly, like a well-oiled machine. Sure, Akitsu was a tad slow, doing everything in her methodical and glacial manner, but Naruto seemed to have accounted for this. They seemed to make a great team, at least as far as cooking was concerned.
"Would you like to help us out, Miya?"
Startled out of her thoughts by the question, Miya turned her head and blinked several times. Naruto had not even turned around, simply continued to add several ingredients to what looked like some kind of stew.
How he managed to know she was there without even turning around was something she still couldn't figure out, though she had long since realized that there was far more to this man then met the eye.
"I wouldn't want to be a bother," Miya started to say, only to have Naruto interrupt her.
"You wouldn't be bothering anyone. And besides, I need someone to add the ingredients while I chop them."
Miya paused for only a moment before coming to her answer.
"Very well then. I would be more then happy to help you."
She smiled as she walked up to Naruto and took his place by the boiling pot of stew, which she now recognized as Miso Soup with several additives, including the potatoes he had just put in.
"Thanks." Naruto offered her a rare, genuine smile, before moving over to the cutting board to begin chopping more ingredients. Miya felt something strange flutter in her heart at the sight of that smile, but ignored it in favor of helping to cook breakfast.
The three began working in tandem; Akitsu washed the vegetables, Naruto cut them, and Miya added them to the pot of Miso. They worked in silence, for a time, until one of their numbers let her curiosity and concern overtake her.
"Naruto?" Miya said just as the spiky-haired man walked over to her with his cutting board filled with sliced vegetables.
"Hmm?"
"I wanted to ask..."
Miya hesitated for a moment, but quickly shook her reticence off. There was nothing untoward or unusual about her worrying over her tenant. It was perfectly natural for her to be concerned, or so she kept telling herself.
"Are you... alright? Last night..." she trailed off, not quite sure how to bring up what happened last night. She had not been there for anything that had transpired between Naruto and Haruka, only heard about it second-hand from the others. In truth, Miya was not even sure it was her place to bring this up.
Naruto looked at her for a moment, blinking several times, as if he were not quite sure what she was talking about. After several seconds, however, his face cleared up and a small smile caused his lips to quirk upwards.
"I'm fine," he reassured her. As he said this, his eyes strayed to Akitsu, then went back to her. "I spoke with someone who managed to put my head on straight."
Miya looked back and forth between the Ashikabi and the Ice Maiden, her brows furrowed and a small frown marring her beautiful complexion.
So, Akitsu had spoken with Naruto and helped him out of his funk last night?
"I see." Shaking her head, Miya slowly smiled. "Well, I am glad that someone was around to pull you out of whatever funk you were in this time. I was getting pretty tired of being the one to do that."
"Such cutting words, Miya," Naruto sighed in mock depression, a wry grin on lips. "Your words wound me deeply."
"As well they should," Miya told him primly. "Now be a dear and start setting the table, Akitsu and I can finish up here."
"Kicking me out of the kitchen when I was the one cooking?"
"Of course."
"Alright... " Naruto made a big show of acting like he was greatly saddened by Miya telling him to get lost. "I see how it is. Now that most of the work is done, you want me out so that you can claim to have made this delicious meal all by yourself. Don't think I'm not onto you, Miya."
Miya rolled her eyes. "Oh hush. You know very well that I am not the kind of women who would take credit for someone else's work."
"So you say, but how do I know you're telling the truth?"
"I hope you're not calling me a liar, Naruto." Miya smiled sweetly at the blue-eyed, whisker cheeked male. Had it been anyone else who had been on the receiving end of that smile, they would have probably begun running for the hills. Naruto? He just gave the woman a smirk.
"Did I say anything about you being a liar? There is a difference between being a liar and simply tweaking the truth."
"A liar is a liar regardless of whether some of it is true, Naruto."
"And that is where I feel we must agree to disagree."
Naruto began to grab the dishes he would need to put on the table from one of the cabinets overhead, even as he continued trading banter and barbs with Miya, who seemed to be enjoying the game of wits and words as much as he did.
They were interrupted from their small banter by another voice, one that had not spoken up in some time.
"Ah."
Needless to say, a pause.
"Don't worry, Ashikabi-Sama. I won't let her take all the credit for your cooking."
Naruto and Miya both gaped.
"Did you just make a joke?" asked Naruto.
"Ah."
A pause.
"Did I?"
Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but no words would come out. Finding himself speechless, the immortal shinobi grabbed the plates and eating utensils, and walked into the living room to begin setting the table.
Miya, finding herself similarly incapable of speech, simply shook her head and began to put the finishing touches on the food.
"Ah..." Akitsu tilted her head to the side at the silence her words had created. "...Was it something I said?"
XoX
Uzume and Chiho were early to breakfast, for once. Naruto had just finished setting up the table when the two came walking into the living room.
As always, Uzume had a bright smile on her face. She had become a much happier person since Chiho started living with them. These days it was very rare to see the buxom brunette in anything less then a fantastic mood.
"Oh! Hey bro!" Uzume replied cheerfully as she led Chiho over to the table. The younger girl was now walking on her own two feet, but she still needed someone to lean against because she hadn't built up enough strength in her legs to walk on her own for extended periods of time. "How ya doing?"
"I'm fine," Naruto eyed the pair as they sat down. "You're up awfully early."
"Hey! I usually get up early!" When both Chiho and Naruto sent her deadpanned looks, Uzume flushed. "Well... I sometimes get up early, but it's not like I sleep in a lot these days, you know? I just don't like getting out of bed."
"Because you hope to engage Chiho in sexually explicit acts?" Naruto half-asked, half-stated.
"N-Naruto-san!" Chiho gasped in surprise at his audacious and blunt statement. Her face had turned a nice shade of red.
Uzume, on the other hand, laughed. "That's it exactly!" The way she said this made Naruto think she was quite proud of what she had done, or tried to do. He wondered how far they had gone? Maybe he should get Matsu to spy on them, for the sake of his research, of course.
Chiho just began blushing some more.
"U-Uzume-chan!"
"Awww... look at you!" Uzume squealed as she leaned over and engulfed her Ashikabi in a hug, her hands coming up behind Chiho's head and gently pressing the younger girl onto her superlative bosom. "You're so cute when you get all flustered like that! Don't worry, Chiho-baby, I won't be giving Naruto any of the juicy details." After saying this, she sent the blond a sly, seductive look, complete with half-lidded eyes and her tongue trailing across her lips. "Unless he would like to add those details to his newest book."
"U-U-UZUME!"
While Chiho reached a shade of red that had yet to be discovered by humans, Naruto adopted a look of thought. "You know, that might actually be a good idea." He tapped his chin. "I was just thinking about how my stories lacked any true lesbian sex scenes in them, and it would be nice to have a female share her experiences with me. I feel it would enhance the quality of my writing."
"Not you too, Naruto-san!"
Naruto and Uzume both looked down at Chiho, who looked like steam might start pouring out of her ears any second now. They then looked at each other and shared a good natured chuckle.
"Don't worry, Chiho-baby, we're just joshing with you."
"Yeah, and besides, I can transform into a female whenever I want, so I was lying about not having any true lesbian sex scenes in them."
Silence.
Uzume and Chiho stared at Naruto, both of them gawking for several second before...
"Bwahahahahahaha!" Uzume burst out into what sounded almost like diabolical laughter, but was far too cute to sound anything close to diabolical. "Ah ha! Ha... Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Naruto and Chiho both stared as Uzume made a scene of rolling around on the carpet, her hands clasped around her stomach as she laughed uproariously. Neither of them would be surprised if everyone in Maison Izumo was now awake thanks to this girl.
"I don't think it was that funny," Naruto said dryly as Uzume's feet began kicking up in the air. The cloth user looked like she might actually bust a gut if she kept laughing that hard.
"Please ignore her, Naruto-san," Chiho said, bowing to the young looking man, though, Naruto was sure she was just bowing to hide her embarrassed blush. The girl's cheeks were quite pink. "She tends to overreact to any joke."
"Oh, don't worry," Naruto said blithely. "I know that. And who says I was joking?"
Chiho opened her mouth to speak, but just as quickly snapped it shut. She stared at Naruto, wide eyed, as if not quite sure what to make of his statement.
Thankfully, she wouldn't have too.
"I hope you are joking, for your sake, Naruto," Miya replied pleasantly as she and Akitsu entered the living room with several trays of food in hand. What was interesting about the two as they walked in was Akitsu, who was balancing four trays while she walked; one in each hand, one in the crook of her left arm, and the other on her head. It was a truly magnificent feat of balance.
"Hmhmhm," Naruto gave a mild, closed mouth chuckle, "Don't worry, Miya, you know it's not possible for people to change genders at will."
"Hmm..." Miya eyed the blond-haired, blue-eyed man sitting at the table speculatively, but eventually shrugged his words off. There was no way to tell if he was lying anyways, so there was no point in worrying about it.
And besides, who had ever heard of a person who could change gender?
Somewhere, in another time, in another dimension, a certain fighter from the Anything Goes School for Martial Arts sneezed. Consequently, this sneeze also threw off his concentration and he ended up getting kicked into a pond of cold water.
XoX
Musubi and Tsukiumi were the next to enter the living room.
They appeared just as all the food was set on the table, Musubi bouncing in with her usual excitement and Tsukiumi walking in with a scowl on her face. The blond-haired water user seemed to be displeased by something, though what that something was, none of them could guess.
"Good morning everyone!" Musubi announced her presence with great cheer, then directed her attention towards her Ashikabi. "Good morning, Naruto-sama! Did you sleep well?"
Naruto sent the girl a wan smile. After his revelation about the similarities between his old self and Musubi, he had begun feeling a little weary around the vivacious, fist fighter.
"I slept fine. How about you, Musubi?"
"Musubi slept great!" This exclamation came complete with Musubi throwing her fists up into the air, as if to emphasis just how happy she was. Beside her, Tsukiumi scowled.
"Well, I slept horribly." As if to present a stark dichotomy to the cheerful young woman next to her, Tsukiumi gave a great huff and cast Musubi an irritable glare. "Someone kept hitting and kicking me in the face last night. I hardly slept at all!"
Musubi looked at the other Sekirei in confusion. Her head tilted to the left, and her brows furrowed as she pursed her lips slightly. "But who could have possibly been hitting you? Only Musubi was in the room with you."
Tsukiumi twitched, her glare increasing in intensity and vitriol as her annoyance at the fist fighter reached new heights. "Who do you think!?"
Her posture slumping, Musubi gave off the image of a young woman who had no clue what her friend-slash-rival-slash-contender-for-position-as-Naruto's-wife was talking about. "I don't know. Who did it?"
Tsukiumi's twitching increased to almost spastic movements. The blond's fingers began moving violent, as if attempting to claw at something that wasn't there. If one looked closely enough, they would see water swirling at near maelstrom levels of intensity near her fingertips.
A few seconds later, the water user took in a deep breath, blew it out, then began marching right passed Musubi, who watched her go by with obvious confusion. "Tsukiumi-san?"
"Never mind, just... forget I said anything."
With one final huff, Tsukiumi sat down next to Naruto, who had the spot to his left free thanks to no one coming over to claim it.
"Aw!" Musubi moaned piteously as she realized both spots next to Naruto were now taken. "Musubi wanted to sit next to Naruto-Sama!"
"That's too bad," Tsukiumi sniffed derisively, "I was here first, therefore I get to sit next to my husband. And it's only right that I get this privilege. He and I are wed, after all, even if we have yet to consummate our marriage."
When Tsukiumi cast Naruto a look, he sighed. When Akitsu began casting him that same look, his shoulders slumped.
"Musubi is ―"
"Don't start that again." Everyone turned their attention to the new voice entering the room, Homura, who walked in with an irritated expression on his/her face. "I really don't want to hear you two arguing over who gets to be Naruto's wife first thing in the morning."
"What is your problem, Homura?" Tsukiumi glared at her irritated rival, who slumped into his seat with none of the decorum he used to have. It appeared the cool and composed facade the fire user often kept up for his duties as a host was gone for good. "You seem to be in a foul mood today, even more so then you normally are."
Homura's scowl deepened. His cheeks also flushed a dark shade of scarlet. "I don't want to talk about it."
Tsukiumi opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when Kusano barged into the room.
"ONII-CHAN!"
The little girl rushed towards Naruto, her arms spread wide as if to engulf him in a hug, only to remember that she was supposed to be mad at him. Slowing her progress to a halt, the girl stood in indecision for several seconds. She looked at Naruto with an expression of childish longing, then at Uzume and Chiho. After a few seconds of this, she decided what she was going to do.
Sticking her tongue out at Naruto, the Green Girl swiftly changed directions and sat down next to the female Ashikabi/Sekirei pair.
"Jeez, bro," Uzume said after watching the strange scene with the others. "What did you do to upset little Ku-chan so much that she won't even sit by you?"
"Onii-chan's being a meanie," Kusano informed everyone primly. "And Ku-chan doesn't like meanies, so until onii-chan stops being a meanie, Ku-chan's going to sit with Uzu-chan!" With her declaration made, little Kusano began studiously ignoring Naruto, at least as much as she could. Every so often, she would turn her head to look at him, as if expecting him to stop being a 'meanie' any second now.
Naruto merely sighed. It seemed Kusano had not forgotten about their conversation yesterday.
"Oh, I see," Uzume cast Naruto a sly look. "So your Onii-chan's being a meanie, is he? Well, don't you worry, Aunty Uzume won't let that big, old meanie come near you anymore. Not until he apologizes for being a meanie, kay?"
"Kay!"
"Oh my." Naruto groaned. It seemed Miya had decided to get in on the action. "I hope Naruto has not done something... inappropriate, to hurt little Kusano's feelings. Why, if he has, then I would have no choice but to kick him out... ufufufu..."
As Miya let out a creepy, ominous sounding laugh, Naruto rolled his eyes. "It seems everyone's picking on me today. What is this, make fun of Naruto day or something? Maybe you should have given me a memo, that way I could stay in my room."
"Awww, don't be like that, bro," Uzume grinned at the immortal ninja. "You know we love you."
"Right, because I can just feel the love pouring off you."
"I... I have never said anything bad about you, husband of mine."
Naruto glanced over at Tsukiumi, whose already flushing face went even more red when she noticed he was looking at her. Ducking her head, the water user tried to keep her scarlet colored cheeks hidden from view.
It was utterly adorable. The powers of a Tsundere's cuteness are fierce indeed.
"Thank you, Tsukiumi."
When Naruto smiled at her, Tsukiumi's cheeks went from scarlet to a deep, all-encompassing crimson and her heart threatened to burst into her chest.
"Y-You're welcome, husband." Tsukiumi leaned into Naruto's side, a pleasant thrill running through her when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and let her get close to him. This was where she wanted to be, where she was meant to be.
On Naruto's other side, Akitsu also began leaning on Naruto's shoulder. She might be the quietest of the group, but she wouldn't allow either Tsukiumi or Musubi to beat her!
"He heh," Uzume chuckled, her eyes dancing with merriment as she stared at the trio. "Look at you, bro, all nice and cozy."
"Yeah." Naruto sweatdropped. "I guess I am."
"Oh my, you're such a ladies man," Kazehana, who had flitted into the room sometime without anyone noticing, commented with a coy smile. The woman was sitting in a rather lax position with one leg up, forming a triangle against the tatami mat, and the other splayed out in front of her. Like always, she had a sake bottle in her hand.
"Uhuhuhu..."
Naruto slapped a hand to his face as Miya glared at the ceiling.
"Matsu, I demand you get down here this instant. The ceiling is not a place for people to hang up there like some kind of bat, peeping. It's bad enough that you peep on the other residents with those cameras of yours. I won't have you doing this too."
Hearing Miya's command, and not wanting to anger the woman who could kill her in a heartbeat were she so inclined, Matsu quickly slid one of the small panels away from the ceiling and scrambled to get down.
In her haste, she lost her grip and ended up falling to the ground in a senseless heap.
"Owww..." The mass of flesh and red hair that had once been Matsu moaned. Everyone stared at the hacker Sekirei for a moment... then decided to ignore her. It wasn't like this was the first time she had fallen from the ceiling, it probably wouldn't be the last either.
It was just seconds after this happened that Haruka and Kuno, the two newest residence of Maison Izumo walked in. The moment they did, everyone froze, including the two new tenants.
Well, Haruka froze. Kuno actually moved to hide behind her Ashikabi.
"Oh, good morning, Shigi-kun." Miya, in an attempt to break the awkward silence that now stifled the room, spoke up, a pleasant smile etched upon her lovely features. "How are you doing today? Are you feeling any better?"
"I'm fine," Haruka mumbled as he quickly moved further into the room, pulling Kuno along with him. Naruto noticed almost immediately that the boy was studiously refusing to meet his eyes. It seems his little spiel from last night had not gone over well with the boy.
"Ah! Koko-chan!" Musubi greeted the petite Sekirei. She was cheerfully oblivious to the thick tension in the room. "Good morning! How did you sleep?"
Her response was a pathetic moan from the person she was speaking to. "It's Kuno..."
Naturally, she went ignored.
XoX
Stifled didn't even begin to aptly describe the atmosphere that permeated the room. If someone were to walk in right now, they would have likely choked on the tension that surrounded the table that all of the Maison Izumo residents had gathered around for breakfast.
Naruto Uzumaki ignored this feeling, unlike the others. He also ignored Haruka's glare. This wasn't the first time he'd had such a look directed at him ― many humans throughout the ages had given him that look, and it most certainly wouldn't be the last.
The others were not as fortunate as Naruto. They did not have his thick skin and talent at ignoring the large elephants that were in the room. Of those present, only Miya and Kazehana seemed to be able to pretend the atmosphere wasn't stifling enough to snuff out a wild fire. Tsukiumi was doing her best, but she would occasionally glance at Naruto. Musubi seemed fine, but that was just because of her naivete, and even she knew something was going on from the way she was looking back and forth between Naruto and Haruka. Akitsu wasn't even worth mentioning, that woman was like ice. Biting his lip in the place he normally sat was Homura, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two people currently responsible for this unsettling vibe. Even little Kusano had remained silent thus far as she sat next to Uzume and Chiho.
And speaking of Uzume and Chiho...
"Is it just me, or does it feel like someone's entire family just died?"
Well, at least Uzume was trying to lighten the mood, even if that really only involved her leaning over to her Ashikabi and cupping her hand to her face so she could whisper in Chiho's ear.
Okay, so maybe she wasn't trying to lighten the mood so much as make conversation with her Ashikabi in an effort to ignore the current atmosphere. There was only so much a Sekirei as peppy as her could take of this asphyxiating tension.
"Uzume-chan, you really shouldn't joke like that," Chiho chided her Sekirei.
"I know, I know," Uzume sighed. "I just wish someone would say something. You know?"
"I would like that too," Chiho told her.
Naruto continued to eat in peace, ignoring the world around him. He could feel the eyes on him as the various tenants sent glances his way, feel the glare of anger and frustration being directed at him from the young man on the other side of the table. He could also sense the confusion of his Sekirei as they wondered about what would come from this stifling tension in the air.
Eventually, Naruto put down his chopsticks and, after downing the entire bowl of Miso soup in one gulp, set that down as well.
"Are you going to glare at me all day?" Though he was looking at no one in particular, it was clear to those present that he was talking to Haruka. And it was never more obvious then to the young man in question, who stiffened in his seat.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Haruka scowled at him. He then tried to studiously ignore Naruto, as if he had not been staring at the blond for a full fifteen minutes.
Naruto chuckled in a depreciating manner. "Of course you don't."
Haruka grit his teeth, causing Naruto's lips to peel back slightly in a condescending grin that showed off his pearly whites.
"Now, now." He wagged a finger at the much younger man. "Is that any way to look at the person who has decided to help you?"
"Help me?" It took Haruka several seconds to actually understand what Naruto was saying. When he did, his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. "Wait! You mean you're actually going to help Kuno and I escape?"
"Husband!" Tsukiumi looked aghast at her Ashikabi while everyone else stared at the spiky-haired shinobi in surprise. "Is this true?"
"I've decided that helping these two will be good test of your skills," Naruto said with a decisive nod. "The Dscipline Squad is supposed to be one of the strongest players in the game. They lack the numbers that Higa and Hayato Mikogami have, but their members make up for it by being stronger then the average Sekirei. Fighting against them will be a good way to see how far you've all come and how strong we need to be to win this."
"That... makes sense," Tsukiumi admitted reluctantly, trailing off for a second. Only a second, though. Her eyes flashed after the second ended. "But I still don't like it! Why should we help this weakling of a Sekirei and her Ashikabi!?"
"Hey!" Haruka glared at Tsukiumi as Kuno began tearing up at the insult, especially because she knew it was true. "You take that back! Kuno might be weak." Kuno began to cry more. "And whiny." Flinch "And she cries a lot." More flinching and even more crying. "But she's still my girl, and I won't have you insulting her!"
Tsukiumi glared at the impudent monkey who dared to yell at her. Her! The strongest Sekirei in the game! The impudence of this fool! First he tried to use her husband for his own selfish desire because he was too weak to do anything himself, and now standing up to her like he was her equal!? Preposterous! If he thought she was just going to let this slide, then he had another thing coming!
Just as she was about to blast the foolish monkey with her Water Celebration, a squeal erupted from the drunk Sekirei next to them.
"Oh how romantic!" Kazehana squealed like a little girl. "Such devotion to your Sekirei! This is love! This must be love!" Before any of the people in the room knew what was happening, the wind user had appeared right in front of Kuno, startling the poor girl half to death as she clasped the very normal looking Sekirei's hands in her own. "Don't worry, Kuro! You have my support!"
Kuno took one look at the much more mature, much bustier woman... then she began crying. "It's Kuno!"
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I think it turned out pretty well, even though it's only a bridge chapter to the next arc. And speaking of the next arc, it looks like Naruto is actually going to be helping Haruka and Kuno escape. Let us hope his plan to get them out of Shinto Teito is better then Minato's plan in the canon!
