Chapter Thirty-Six

"A Queen's sacrifice, even when fairly obvious, always rejoices the heart of the chess-lover." - Savielly Tartakower

Interlude

Ino stood ramrod straight in the small room at the base of the Hokage Tower that Danzo used as an office. She had never been summoned to the Root leader's office before, and she couldn't understand why she was now.

She only knew Danzo by reputation. Lady Tsunade and her teacher Shizune despised the man. They thought that he was a power hungry bottom feeder, hiding in the shadows trying to increase his own power and prestige. That association alone made her want to spit at Yamanaka Fu's feet when he arrived at her house to summon her to Danzo. Her father was at the T&I department that day, so he wouldn't scold her for disrespecting another clan member.

However, Danzo was a staunch nationalist. He believed in the might of Konoha before all else, so she had to respect that at least.

Fu led her into the room, nodded to Danzo, and left. Three ROOT ninjas stood in the back of the office with her and Danzo. They were hooded and cloaked, their faces hidden behind masks.

DRAGON was the tallest of the bunch and SPIDER was the smallest. POSSUM fell somewhere in the middle. Ino suspected that SPIDER was a woman from her slight feminine frame. She was petite, even shorter and slighter than Ino, who was willowy and tall.

Danzo sat at his desk flipping through a folder. He looked up after a beat. He offered her a smile which didn't reach his single visible eye. Ino smiled back weakly in return. He stood up from his desk and walked over to her. She stood stock still as he walked around her, appraising her with a critical eye.

"You're quite a pretty girl," he said.

Ino cringed. "Thank you."

He stopped in front of her. She thought that he would ask to see her teeth like one would when looking to purchase a horse. "I would imagine that would increase the probability of success on your mission."

Ino shivered. She had heard about these sorts of missions, but she thought they were a myth. Naturally she could have guessed that a shinobi like Danzo would still have an interest in commissioning them.

"I was surprised to receive you summons," said Ino in reply. "May I ask what this is about?"

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Are you a virgin?"

Ino blinked. "I fail to see how that could be relevant."

"Just answer the question," said the quiet but firm voice of SPIDER from behind her. It was a woman's voice as she suspected.

"Yes," said Ino tightly.

"I find that surprising for a pretty girl like you," said DRAGON. There was a cruel sneer in his voice.

"And you've been a chunin for two years now," continued Danzo.

"Yes."

He continued to circle her, saying, "You studied your clan techniques with your father and medical ninjutsu with Kato Shizune. You have jonin level interrogation and infiltration techniques, high chunin level medical ninjutsu, high chunin level poison techniques..."

"That's right."

"... and jonin level kunoichi talents."

Ino took a deep breath. "I can hear what you're implying. Just spit it out."

Danzo paused in front of her, invading her personal space. There was a dangerous glint in his single uncovered eye. "We haven't seen the need to implement this program for many years; however, circumstances have changed that require the reinstitution of this program. One of Konoha's greatest clans is on the brink of extinction. Kekkei genkai are one of Konoha's greatest strengths.

"The genetics of the passing on of bloodlines is very complex. That's why many clans intermarry, to ensure that their kekkei genkai is passed on and not diluted. The Hyuga clan is one such example.

"When a shinobi with a kekkei genkai marries a kunoichi or civilian outside of his clan, often the resulting children have weakened versions of the bloodline or do not inherit at all. However, in our history there are some examples of ninja from two different clans marrying and their children possessing even stronger kekkei genkai than their parents."

Ino was stubbornly silent.

"However, there are very few examples of this. It is more often the exception than the rule. Usually when ninjas with two different bloodlines have children, their children have weaker versions of one of their parents' bloodlines or neither bloodline."

Danzo took a step forward and tucked her long bang behind her ear. He grabbed her chin roughly in his wrinkled hands and angled her face towards him so that she was forced to look into his single eye. "There is one such example of clan intermarriage that is relevant to your mission. Uchiha Kagami was a shinobi alive during the time of the Second Great Shinobi war. He and I completed several missions together. He was a young man, a chunin, during the war and was promoted to jonin soon after. He was nearly ten years my junior, but we received the promotion only a year apart.

"During the rebuilding under the Nidaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kagami fell in love and married a kunoichi from the Yamanaka clan - a woman very much like you. They had one child together, Uchiha Shisui. He was one of the most power members of the Uchiha clan. Her Yamanaka bloodline mixed with the Sharingan to grant Shisui the most powerful genjutsu the shinobi world has ever seen."

"I've heard the story," said Ino.

Danzo continued, ignoring her interruption. "Your Yamanaka bloodline is purer and stronger than that of Shisui's mother. And the father has an Uchiha bloodline purer and stronger than that of Uchiha Kagami. I'm sure that your child will be an even stronger ninja than Shisui. Your child will be an asset for Root."

"You want me to sleep with Uchiha Sasuke," said Ino simply.

"No, I want you to sleep with Uchiha Itachi and bear his child."

"That's impossible!" Ino cried out, finally losing her composure. "And even if it wasn't, I won't do it. There's nothing you can say or do to convince me otherwise. You can threaten me and those I love all you like. I won't do it. What I will do is report you straight to Tsunade."

DRAGON chuckled from behind her. The ROOT shinobi took a step forward and grabbed both of her arms tightly in his grasp to prevent her from weaving handsigns or striking blows. He pulled her in close to his body, and wrapped one of his arms across her chest. His arm pressed into her breasts, further preventing her from moving.

She tried to struggle in his grasp and he laughed in her ear. He ground his hips against her ass and she could feel him starting to get hard. Her struggles intensified. "Get off me!"

"Feisty, this one," DRAGON mused. "Can I have her before the Uchiha, Danzo?"

DANZO frowned at the ROOT ninja. "Her womb will be growing a new Uchiha very soon. I don't want to run the risk of compromising that."

"I'm not going to do it! Let me go!" Ino's struggles and cries were becoming hysterical.

SPIDER walked over and rolled her eyes at DRAGON before slapping Ino across the face. "Calm down. You should be honored that Danzo-sama chose to include you in his plans. You should be proud that your child will become central to Danzo's new village. The child might eventually grow to be a ROOT commander like POSSUM, DRAGON, or myself."

Ino spat in her face. "Then why don't you do it?"

Danzo took a step forward. "SPIDER has other uses." Danzo's grip was hard on Ino's chin as he titled her head to look into his face. "I had anticipated a struggle. I would have been disappointed if you hadn't. Luckily, I was prepared for such a contingency. It's an unfortunate waste to use this on you, but the benefits will outweigh any inconvenience."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm a kunoichi from the Yamanaka clan. None of your second rate mind control will work on me."

SPIDER, DRAGON, and POSSUM chuckled.

Danzo smirked at her, as he unwound the bandages hiding the other half of his face from view. She watched as a Sharingan was revealed to her. "It's fitting then that I'll use Shisui's eye to commission this mission. To think you'll soon be bringing to life a second such pair of eyes in your womb."

Ino tried to close her eyes against him, but she was powerless. Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan bored into her as Danzo compelled her to complete the mission.

Uzumaki Naruto

Sakura's arm was tight around his back. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he leaned on her, glad of her support as he returned home. He wanted to think of something clever to say, but he was too tired. He told her that he could get to his apartment by himself, but Sakura had insisted on escorting him. She either thought he was too stupid or too foolish not to pull another stunt like the one he'd done that evening.

"No funny comment, Kura—" He'd just said it unconsciously. He'd spent so much time lately bantering back and forth with Kurama. How long would it take before he'd get used to the silence within his own mind?

"Naruto, is everything alright?" she wondered.

He smiled down at her, gripping her shoulder. "Everything's fine. I'm just a little surprised that the voices in my head have stopped talking to me."

"Voices in your head?" asked Sakura raising an eyebrow.

"Kurama was pretty chatty," he said with a laugh. "He liked giving me a hard time when I'd do something stu—"

Sakura glared at him. "Something stupid, eh?"

Naruto grimaced. "Er, yeah."

"I guess you'll just have to start talking to yourself instead," teased Sakura.

They finally reached his apartment and she used his key to open the door. Naruto's apartment complex had been badly damaged during Pein's attack. The entire west wall had been torn down by the flailing limbs of one of the massive summons that had wreaked such havoc on the village. After salvaging what he could from his apartment – the ramen survived Pein's assault surprisingly well – Naruto moved into a new place. It was closer to the center of Konoha had afforded a beautiful view of the Hokage Monument out the tiny window in his kitchen.

He probably didn't need to lean on her like he was, but he was enjoying the closeness far too much. He was glad that he had cleaned up the place before he left for the Kage Summit.

"Are you sure you're alright?" asked Sakura. "Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"

Shaking his head, he grinned. "I feel fine."

She stepped closer and grasped his hands in her smaller ones. "When you came to visit me before the Kage Summit, you said some strange things. Now that I think about it, it was as if you were saying goodbye."

He looked down at the ground. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen."

Sakura squeezed his hand. "Naruto, did you think you were going to die?"

Naruto shrugged. "I planned it out so that I wouldn't die. I figured that using Sage chakra would ensure that, but everyone else who'd had a bijuu ripped out of them had died, so I had considered it as a possibility."

Sakura shook her head. "But how could you be so selfish, Naruto? If you died after unsealing Kurama, what would that have accomplished? You were the leader of the movement for bijuu rights. Their cause would have floundered if you had died."

He put a hand to her cheek, caressing the skin with his thumb. "We'd still have you and Kakashi and Yamato to continue the cause."

She took a step towards him and whispered, "But we don't have that talent for having other people see things our way. That talent for making everyone fall in love with us that you have."

She stood up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his. He moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her head, his lips moving with hers. He still didn't quite believe her pronouncement after he awoke from the unsealing. Did she really love him?

"I'm so glad you're not dead, idiot," she muttered between kisses.

He ran a hand gently through her hair, his lips gliding over her in a gentle kiss. He could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest as she stepped closer to him. Her body slid against his, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, trying to draw in closer to him. Sakura captured his lower lip between her teeth, pulling back teasingly.

Her hot breath mingled with his as she muttered, "I've been thinking about this for a while, Naruto."

Naruto brushed his hand through her hair, murmuring, "Hm?"

Standing on her tip toes, she leaned in closer. Her eyes twinkled as she said, "I love you, Naruto, and I want to make love with you."

He didn't give her a chance to change her mind, before he gripped her waist tightly and pulled her towards him, closing his mouth over hers again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned closer. He teased her with his tongue, tracing the seam of her lips and she opened her mouth slightly to allow him entrance.

They backed into his bedroom. He fumbled with the doorknob and then pushed the door open with his back. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and he lifted her by her bottom.

Giving her ass a little squeeze, he laughed, "You have the most beautiful ass, Sakura."

She let out a little gasp as he fondled her rear. "Is that why you're always lagging behind me then?"

"Among other reasons," he said dropping her on his bed. He crawled towards her and didn't get far before she started tearing off his clothes.

Smoothing a hand over his bare chest, she said, "I love you, Naruto."

He tugged down her skirt and sat back and she pulled her shirt over her head. What a strange day he was having. To think he had spent the morning trekking through the mountains of Kumo, the afternoon arguing with the Kage, the evening unsealing the Kyuubi, and now was spending the night making love to Sakura.

Interlude

It was SPIDER who visited her tonight. The lady was nice enough, but she still gave her the creeps. She poked and prodded her late into the night. Nonetheless, she did offer great prenatal care.

Ino had returned from her mission only that morning. She was surprised they already knew, though maybe she shouldn't have been surprised. SPIDER was the first to visit. She had been overjoyed that the potions that she had provided Ino to help the girl conceive had worked.

"This is marvelous, darling," said SPIDER caressing Ino's still flat belly. "To think my little pink potion worked so well."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Ino. "You're fabulous."

The older woman chuckled before taking out a scroll decorated with beautiful calligraphy. SPIDER unscrewed the cap to a curious little green mixture and poured it on top of the scroll. Ino watched as the green fluid flowed over the words on the scroll turning them red like blood. Words that she couldn't read bloomed out from the center. "What's that for?" she asked. "I don't want you using that on me."

"I'm going to need a chakra sample from the baby, darling."

"The hell you are," Ino spat.

"I'm just being polite," said SPIDER raising her cold eyes at Ino. "We both know that I going to get it."

Ino glared at the woman but did as she was bid. It wouldn't do to resist. She didn't have the power to.

"Now lay back and think of Konoha, darling. Isn't that what you did when you were with him? Or did you imagine that he was someone else? Maybe you pretended that he was your friend Nara Shikamaru. There is a certain resemblance," said the SPIDER as lay the weird scroll on top of Ino's belly and activated it.

Ino flinched at the uncomfortable sensation. It was like a thousand little needles were prodding her abdomen. "You're going to hurt the baby," she yelled. "Please, don't hurt it. It hasn't done anything to you."

SPIDER laughed and released the jutsu. "I've gotten what I want anyway." She rose to her feet and rolled back up the scroll. "I'm surprised that you've gotten so attached to the little parasite."