There was a moment of silence as the two of them stared off against each, like two finalists in the Chuunin Exams just before the match begins. Naruto's gaze was hard, his posture as if he would attack the woman who standing so close to his comatose girlfriend at any moment. In return, the woman herself looked passive and like her patience was being tested, like that of a cat.
It was Naruto who broke the silence. "You can wake up Hinata-chan?" He asked skeptically, this sounded too good to be true. "Why the hell should I believe you?"
"I don't really care whether you believe me or not. And frankly, I find your tone to be disrespectful." The woman said as if she was speaking to a disobedient child. "However, allow me prove it." She added, looking towards the sleeping girl then back to the blonde, as if waiting for his permission.
"Do you work for Aru or Lilith?" Naruto asked, hand ready to grab a kunai should he need it.
The woman's eyes suddenly went from passive to steely "Work for them? Hardly." Her voice had a bitter edge to it. "I know them, but prefer to not associate with or have anything to do with them whatsoever. They lost that right long ago."
Naruto was shocked, this woman knew both Aru and Lilith? But Lilith had been sealed up for a hundred years, and this woman looks like she was in her mid to late 20s. "Just who the hell are you? And how do you know Lilith and Aru?"
"My name is Rimona. And I have known both of those individuals for many years."
"Did Aru turn you into some kind of demon dog too?"
Rimona raised an eyebrow. "He did that? Damn, Dad must have been pissed."
"Dad?" Naruto repeated, he then looked harder at Rimona and suddenly it dawned on him, "Aru and Lilith are your parents?"
Rimona sighed. "Unfortunately yes." She saw Naruto reach for a weapon and held up a hand. "Calm yourself, as I told you, I don't associate with them. In fact, I don't like them anymore than you do."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Why?" She asked simply, there was no confusion or curiosity in her question, just casual.
The whiskered blonde opened his mouth, but stopped himself from speaking. Why was he so quick to disbelieve her? Was it just because she was their daughter? Was he so shallow that he'd make a kid inherit the guilt of the parent? Thus, making him absolutely no different than the people who hated him for what the Kyuubi had done?
"Can you wake her up?" He asked.
Rimona looked at him for a moment before answering. "As I already told you, I can, but I have to warn you, that won't fix her problem."
"What exactly is her problem? Why isn't she regaining her chakra?"
Rimona turned to Hinata. "Why don't you let her hear this too?"
Naruto hesitated for a moment then nodded. "Yes, please, just wake her up."
She carefully placed the palm of her hand on the Hyuuga girl's forehead, and sent a small pulse of demonic chakra into her. It was as if her chakra network had been jumpstarted, and with a sharp inhale of breath Hinata's eyes popped open.
"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked quietly as he came over to her and Rimona stepped back, as if he couldn't believe this was actually happening.
Her eyes went to the man she loved, standing there over her. "Na... Naruto-kun?" She struggled to get up, but her body protested the movement. That didn't stop him from leaning in and giving her a hug. Her arms couldn't wrap around him in return, but she managed to make herself hold his sides.
"Aru... what happened to him?" She asked, her mind still groggy as she was trying to grasp what happened.
"I kicked his ass. He'll think twice before coming back to get you."
"He'll think twice alright, but not for the reasons you think." Rimona noted.
Despite what had just occured, Hinata only now became aware of the other person in the room. She looked towards the other girl, without escaping Naruto's embrace. "Who are you?"
"My name is Rimona, one of the..." She paused to roll her eyes and scoff. "daughters of Aru and Lilith"
Hinata's eyes widened. "Rimona? Yes, I remember Lilith mentioning you. You're one of her children?"
"Yes, I am the black-sheep of the family, and I may be the only one who can protect you two from their wrath."
"Protect us? We sent those two running. If they come back then we will take them down again." Naruto replied.
This time Rimona laughed, it was a scornful almost sneering laugh that sounded exactly like one Aru had given.
"If my parent's ran it was simply because they had grown weary. Believe me when I tell you that they will come back, you wounded their pride, both of you. And to an incubus and succubus, despite our lifestyles, pride is everything. My parents don't forgive or forget, when they come back they won't play games or fool around. They will make you suffer and then they will kill you."
Hinata clung a little tighter to Naruto as he placed an arm protectively around her.
"However, if I am here then you stand a better chance."
"But... why would you do that?" Hinata inquired.
Rimona grinned in a wicked way, like the smile of a Cheshire cat. "Let's just say I've a score to settle with both of my parents. Normally I would not really care about what happens with humans, but I am feeling generous and I know that if I stay near you two, they will come back."
"How can you stop them?" Naruto asked. He had gone toe to toe with Aru with the kyuubi's assistance and even then the fight had almost been virtually even.
Hinata's eyes started to become very heavy and her mind started to become drowsy, Rimona saw this and put her hand on Hinata's arm, sending another pulse of chakra into her. This felt oddly refreshing for the white-eyed kunoichi. "When you met Lilith, she was in a giant sapphire right?" Hinata nodded. "Did she tell you how she got in there?"
"Yeah, she said Uchiha Madara trapped her in it a hundred years ago."
Rimona grinned more wickedly. "So, tell me, who do you think told Madara that would work?"
Hinata gasped. "You helped a man imprison your own mother?"
"Yes, but can you really blame me? You've seen how selfish and entitled she can be."
"But she's still your mother." Hinata defended.
"So what? What does that really mean? I'll tell you what it means. It means she had unprotected sex one night and got knocked up and popped a kid out. Don't make her sound like she's the only woman in the world who's ever done that."
"But she raised you, didn't she?"
"Do you want my help or my life story?" Rimona asked, starting to get impatient.
"I believe a few answers would help us trust you like you want us to." Naruto spoke up.
Rimona looked to him then back to Hinata and closed her eyes for a moment. "Fine, you want to know?
Both Naruto and Hinata nodded their heads.
Rimona sighed. "I was the youngest of thirteen children. From a young age we were all taught that sex was more then just a means of pleasure. That it was power and control and that as members of the Incubi and Succubi we were the masters of such power. With this body, and with our bodies and stamina, there was no being alive that we could not dominate. My elder siblings lapped up those lessons like it was honey dripping right off the comb. I however, did not."
Both Hinata and Naruto remained silent as Rimona turned and walked over to the window, looking outside and staring off into the distance. "Do you know how other demons view members of my race? As nothing more than mindless nymphomaniacs who are only good as bedmates. As parasites who will prostitute themselves for the energy that sex provides us. And how do we respond to it? We simply continue to go out and have pointless and meaningless sex. Both for the energy we need and for the brief entertainment it provides. So, all we do is prove the stereotype right."
Suddenly Rimona spun around and gazed hard at both Hinata and Naruto in a way that made them both feel a shiver go through their spines. "So I spoke out against our 'traditional' ways. I declared that I wanted to be more than just some demonic whore and I told my parents that they should be ashamed for encouraging such behavior in their own children. My mother had been a sex slave for years to another Demon Lord, so she should have known better than to tell her children to just settle for sex. My father had led a bloody rebellion against that very same Demon Lord in order to raise the standing and status of our race in the hierarchy, yet in the end he just lets the stereotype continue."
Hinata and Naruto continued to remain silent, both out of shock and awe at the story that Rimona was telling them. With their silence the woman continued to speak, or rather now she was ranting with a deep personal conviction.
"And what did I get for my public decry of our ways? Ridicule and resentment. I was told that I was more human then demon. Others called me a traitor to the very nature of what it meant to be a succubi. And others, they simply laughed at me. And my parents… they did nothing. So, I turned my back on them and my entire race. If they wished to continue to live like animals in perpetual heat then they were welcome to do so. I however, would not be among them."
"When was this?" Hinata asked slowly.
"About 150 of your mortal years."
Both Naruto and Hinata looked shocked at this. "How old are you?" Naruto finally asked.
Rimona glared at the whiskered blonde. "Didn't anyone teach you it is rude to ask a woman her age?" She asked and then went ahead and answered before Naruto could give a response. "By human standards I am 300 years old, but by the standards of my race, I am still young, barely out of my twenties."
Suddenly Hinata's head slumped forward, like she had passed out. Rimona walked over and once again placed her hand on Hinata's arm and then suddenly she was fully awake.
"What is happening to her?" Naruto asked
"As I told you before, what I am doing will not fix her problem."
"What is wrong with me exactly?" Hinata asked.
"When you were bonded with my mother your body was, for lack of a better word, supercharged by the chakra that she supplied. Over time your body has become dependent on a higher level of chakra then your body can naturally produce. So when you became separated from my mother, your own chakra levels were no longer enough to keep you going. Your slipping into a coma is a symptom of massive withdrawl."
"So are you saying that without Lilith's chakra, I will just keep going back into a coma?" Hinata said, her voice filled with fear and worry.
"For now, yes. Your body will eventually adapt back to your own chakra levels. But that could take months, a year even."
"But you said you could help, right?" Naruto asked.
"Correct" Rimona said casually.
"What can you do exactly?" Hinata asked.
Rimona paused, as if this would be difficult to say. "I can... replace my mother's chakra with my own."
"Is that how you've been keeping her awake?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, but that's not what I mean. I mean..."
Hinata gasped. "You want me to be your host?"
Rimona looked mildly bothered. "I wouldn't say I want it, but I'm willing to tolerate it if it will help."
"No way!" Naruto declared, grasping what was being said now. "Lilith nearly got Hinata-chan killed in all this! And now you're going to do the same?!"
"No boy, I am not. There will be a strong difference between what Mom did and what I am suggesting."
"Like what?" Naruto asked, still against the proposition.
Rimona looked to Hinata. "Mom was in a weakened state, wasn't she?" The white-eyed girl nodded. "She needed you to replenish and sustain herself. When she was bonded to you, she was essentially leeching off your chakra, using it to strengthen her own. You were losing chakra to her every hour of every day, with sexual activity lightening the load. By the time she was healthy enough to leave, you would have had so little chakra left for yourself that with your expanded reserves you could have died in an hour. Maybe less."
Hinata gasped, her hands over her mouth, but she began to feel faint again. Rimona gave her another boost.
"I suppose Mom would have given you enough warning to make sure you'd survive." The young succubus continued. "But with me, this risk will be unlikely to occur. I am at my peak, I have no need to leech off her chakra. This will give her body ample condition to replenish her own and meet the demands of her new limits. And because I am not weak, I can leave at any time without hurting her."
"But she'll need sex all the time still, right?" Naruto asked.
Rimona nodded. "Yes, that is an uncontrollable part of my biology. But unlike my mother, I intend to honor this girl's wishes regarding her sex life."
"So you won't try and force me to sleep with anyone other than Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
Rimona shook her head. "No, unlike the rest of my family, I see the value of monogamy. I had a husband once, and..." She trailed off. "Let's save that for another day."
"But wait, if you go inside her, then won't this problem of her going into a coma just come back when you leave?" Naruto asked.
Rimona nodded. "It's likely, but we will have time to figure out a solution, and if I leave and reenter once in a while, in theory her body will adjust to a more stable norm. Trust me, I'm trying to accommodate her here, not control her."
"But still, why do all this?"
"Because Aru and Lilith are going to come back for you two, and they will be coming back in full force. You cannot defeat them like you would any other ninja. I'm your best chance at getting out of this alive. And if I help you, I also get my chance to put them both behind me once and for all."
Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, neither knowing what to say.
"It's easier than needing me to constantly touch her every five minutes for the next year." Rimona reminded them.
"It doesn't look like we have much choice." Hinata conceded.
Naruto nodded, then looked to the succubus. "If you trick us or hurt her in any way, so help me Kyuubi will destroy you."
Rimona said nothing, but she nodded and turned to Hinata. "You ready?" The white-eyed girl nodded too.
Without any words, Rimona gently put both hands on Hinata's collar bones, not exactly grabbing her by the shoulders but not close enough to be actually touching her breasts. She channeled some more chakra into the Hyuuga heiress, but made the transfer larger and continuous this time. To Naruto, it looked like the girl was becoming transparent and blue at the same time, like she was dissolving into a human-shaped mist. All the parts of that mist crept closer to Hinata while retaining the succubus's form, and Hinata breathed heavier like this was strenuous exercise to her.
The mist that had once been Rimona enveloped Hinata's body, making her look like she glowed in the dark with a moonlit chakra. She had a sharp inhale, like a swimmer does when they resurface, and the glow faded.
"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, concerned.
Hinata looked to him then to her hands, and with a small blush checked her breasts under her hospital outfit. "Naruto-kun, do I look any different?"
"You don't look like you did before Lilith was kicked out if that's what you mean." He told her. "But you're still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."
Hinata smiled and pulled him in for a kiss, feeling the familiar spark of energy she used to get from this.
"Looks like we're going to have to get acquainted with each other Hinata." Rimona remarked.
"Do you want to say that again Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked.
It was early in the morning, the sun was not even fully up and the toad sage had been summoned to the Hokage tower. Even Shizune was not there yet. Tsunade sat at her desk, Tonton was in her little bed in the corner oinking softly as she continued to sleep, unaware of the two Sanin speaking.
"Clean the wax out of your ears you old pervert and listen. I need further details on the Akatsuki. I have a feeling that they are going to attack this village."
"Tsunade, I don't think that-"
"Sarutobi-sensei never thought that anyone would dare to attack Konoha either and yet the Sand-Sound forces breached into the very heart of the village and our sensei was killed."
Jiraiya was silent, the memory of the death of his mentor was a bitter one. He had gone to the funeral only after everyone had left and there in the rain he had wept bitterly.
Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "I will not have this village be caught unaware again. Jiraiya, you have a spy network, I know you do. You must know someone who can get us the intel that we need."
Jiraiya stood there like a statue and simply stared at his old comrade for a long time. He could tell how serious she was on this. Though she pretended and hid it well, she loved this village and she was willing to fight tooth and nail to protect it.
The toad sage let out a very long and heavy sigh. "I know… one person who might be able help in this."
"Who?" Tsunade said leaning forward.
"I am not entirely sure. This contact… this is one I did not establish myself. I 'inherited' this spy from Sarutobi-sensei. I was told by Sensei that if I ever needed information the kind of information on the worst and most dangerous missing-nin possible that I was to use this contact. But I have never met him, or her, face to face."
"How do you request information then? How do you get a response?"
"Any contact we've had has always through the most strict and secretive of measures. I've only ever used this contact three times. If I ever need any information I write a scroll saying what I need and who I need it on. I leave it in a particular spot, that for obvious reasons I cannot tell you about."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes but nodded for Jiraiya to continue.
"After some time has passed I get a message. I don't know who delivers it but it always appears at a place I am staying. It gives me a date, a location, and a time. I go there and there will be another scroll, specially sealed so that only a master sealer like me could open it. It has the information I need and typically an expressed warning to not try to contact them again for a certain period of time."
"Do you think this contact could get the information we need on the Akatsuki?" Tsunade asked.
Jiraiya nodded. "All the information I have ever gotten from this person has always been 100% accurate."
"Then see if you can get your message to this person. Tell them we need information on the Akatsuki and what they are planning."
"I will see what I can do Hime."
"But, seriously, you don't even have a name or any idea who this person is?" Tsunade asked.
"The only thing I have is a code name that Sensei gave me."
"What is it?"
"The contact is known as Crow."
Deep within the bowels of one of the Akatsuki's many hideouts, Uchiha Itachi was deep within meditation. This was a special form of meditation that he often underwent, where he would journey through his own mind. It was a form of memory enhancement that he had learned when he first joined the ANBU, but over the years he had perfected and refined the technique. With his form he was capable of looking back through his memories as if he was viewing them in third person. He did this when he wanted to review a situation or event that he had lived through. He used this method when he wanted to gain better understanding of things. At the moment he was reviewing an old and a very familiar memory, the night of the Uchiha Massacre.
He often reviewed this memory, watching it over and over again. Not because he had to. But because he wanted to. The memory always renewed his resolve and reminded him of why he did what he did and why he was doing what he was doing now.
At this point in his memory he was watching himself standing before the kneeling forms of his mother and father, his face as impassive now as it was then.
But then, suddenly his concentration was broken by the sudden entrance of Kisame. The memory faded and vanished from his mind as Itachi slowly opened his eyes and stared at his partner who was ranting and raging.
"Kill him! I am going to kill him!"
"Kill whom?" Itachi asked, his tone though suggested that he did not truly care.
"Tobi, I am going to kill him! I am going to take off his head and shove it in the toilet!" The shark-like swordsman from the Hidden Mist Village declared with what sounded like total albeit heated sincerity
"And what did Tobi do to earn such a vulgar fate?" Itachi said as he rose from his lotus position.
"He is so damned annoying. The way he talks, the way he acts, this whole 'Tobi is a good boy', I thought he was just an idiot at first. But that man... he is a freak. There is something wrong with him."
Itachi allowed the thinnest trace of a smile appear on his face. "In case you had not noticed Kisame, our entire organization is made up of freaks and monsters of all shapes and sizes."
Kisame glared at Itachi and his hand gripped the hilt of his sword. "You calling me a freak, Uchiha?" He said with a growl.
"You should take it as a compliment. It makes you more unique then the common variety ninja." Itachi noted fearlessly as he walked past Kisame towards the door.
"Yeah, and if we are all freaks and monsters, what does that make you?"
Itachi paused for only a second, but he did not even look over his shoulders. "It makes me the one, the next time you place your hand on your swords in a threatening manner towards me, who will remove both your hand and your head before you even blink." And with that he left Kisame standing there in silence.
Itachi left the darkness of the underground tunnels that the Akatsuki used for their hideout and stepped out into the light, or what little light there was in Amegakure. The small but heavily industrialized village with its tall skyscrapers and near constant rain. Itachi went up to the top of one of those skyscrapers and stared out into the distance, completely oblivious to the heavy rain that struck him.
Suddenly there was a caw and a black thing fluttered and landed on the railing of the edge of the skyscraper where Itachi was standing. It was a crow. It's feathers as black as the night and dripped wet with rain. It stared at itachi, it's head cocked to the side. Itachi stared back at it for a moment and then, his black onyx eyes changed to a blood red as he activated his sharingan, as did the eyes of the crow.
Itachi extended his hand and the crow hopped onto it. He lifted the crow up to his face and stared into it's eyes, when he did he could see what it had seen when he had sent it out to gather his information.
Itachi kept multiple crows scattered throughout the various lands, keeping tabs and gathering information that was only valuable to himself.
And this crow show himself something very important.
It showed him his brother, Sasuke.
His younger sibling was hunting for him... to kill him.