I'm back bitches! Sorry for the slight delay; wife's birthday and some other projects left me a bit sidetracked, but here we are! I hope y'all enjoy!
Chapter Sixteen: Addressing the Hate-Boner
While Sylvia was getting ready, Naruto felt the need to get his mind off of what just transpired. So, he took the opportunity to personally show Liliana around as per Kurako's suggestion. Roxanne accompanied him, just to make sure the black haired "bitch" wouldn't try to throw herself at him. (1)
As for Kurako herself, she agreed to keep an eye on Kaguya and Shion. It was just a token gesture and they both knew it, but it still made Naruto feel better.
Everyone else did their own thing in the meantime.
"And this is where you'll be staying," the blond told Liliana as he pushed open a door that led to a rather elegant bedroom.
"This reminds me very much of how I used to live," the woman said in a tone filled with nostalgia. She stepped into the room and took it all in. It felt homely—fitting for one of her stature, but with a down-to-earth and comfortable feel to it.
"Is it to your liking?" Naruto asked somewhat awkwardly. Though he'd been a "lord" for some time, he was still getting used to talking like one.
"Yes. It is. Very much so, in fact," the woman turned on her heels and gave Naruto a polite curtsy. "My thanks for showing me to my room,"
"You're welcome. Feel free to ask one of my girls if there is something you need." Naruto informed her and Liliana nodded at that before turning to get herself settled in. As for Naruto, he turned to Roxanne and beckoned her to follow him.
Without a word, the woman did just that.
"So," Roxanne perked up at being addressed, "how's your stay here been so far?"
The woman shrugged, "It beats wandering from one place to another that's for damn sure." Roxanne readily admitted; she didn't mind it, but the woman would be lying if she said she didn't like it at all. "It's far more elegant than I'm used to, admittedly, but it's most certainly cozy."
"That… I have to agree on." Naruto replied with admittance. "Compared to how I used to live, I'm practically royalty." It most certainly paid off to bring Riful into the fold, he had to admit.
"How did you use to live?" Roxanne asked; the woman's curiosity surrounding this young man walking beside her was getting the better of her. And, to be fair, it's not like he divulged anything about himself.
Granted, it's because no one asked him outside of how he got here in the first place, but still!
"Like a peasant… at least by the standards of my homeland," Naruto replied with a shrug. "I was… not liked very much at first, as that crazy demon-lady pointed out. Thanks to the more advanced technology, though, we had a higher standard of living across the board. Even the peasants of my homeland were relatively well off in comparison to the ones we have here."
"Really now?" Roxanne asked after a moment of contemplation.
"Yeah; I can't wait to see the look on Sylvia's face when she sees some of the things we have there, like this thing we have to keep food cold and make things like fresh meat last for weeks."
"I can't help but be jealous…"
"Oh, don't worry; I'll make it up to you," Naruto chuckled, pulling the blonde into a one-armed hug.
Roxanne gave him a wolfish grin at that. "Oh, I know you will~!"
True to her word, Sylvia took less than half an hour to return, now decked out in... well, some of her uniform from the Organization—sword and all. Her old top was now a bit tight in the chest area for obvious reasons, and she had gotten slightly taller over the past year or so. Thus, she found herself borrowing Miranda's bodysuit; the pigtailed blond didn't mind, since she wasn't using it anymore, and that was that. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it would certainly do. Everything else, meanwhile, still seemed to fit just fine. (2)
Naruto smiled at the much-needed eye candy as she entered the great hall some time after he did. Kurako was still there, keeping an eye on Kaguya and Shion as promised. Riful was also present, now sitting on Dauf's shoulder as she took it upon herself to aid the demonic vixen.
"Neideen has agreed to keep an eye on little Kushina," Sylvia announced.
"I'll be glad to help as well," Riful chimed in. "I can't help but suspect that she'll need it."
"You have no idea how much I appreciate that," Naruto sighed, drawing a giggle from the Abyssal One.
"So, you'll be heading out now, I take it?" Dauf asked.
"Seems like it," the whisker-marked blond chuckled. "You behave yourself, now."
"I'll be sure to keep him from tormenting Garruk and the others," Riful teased.
"You be safe, my love," Kurako said longingly. She knew that Naruto wouldn't let her go with for fear of Akatsuki trying to get their hands on her or something, and she couldn't blame him. So, she put up no resistance and agreed to 'hold down the fort' as it were.
"I will," he assured. "I'll be back before you know it."
Kaguya frowned thoughtfully and decided now was as good a time as any for some generosity. It would do wonders in keeping things civil if she earned some good will points, after all. With that in mind, she produced a blood red stone from one of her sleeves and held it above the palm of her free hand. The red glow that followed caught the attention of those present and before anyone could ask what she was doing, it dissipated to reveal two small, identical mirrors, about the size of drinking saucers.
"These mirrors are linked to each other," the demonic woman explained, allowing one to float to Naruto and the other to Kurako.
When the demonic vixen and her lover grabbed them cautiously, the mirrors briefly flickered red.
"And now they are bound to you. Just think of the one you wish to speak to and they'll do the rest; no chakra required. They have enough energy for you to speak to each other for 72 hours, in case this takes longer than expected. That way, you two can check on each other if you so wish."
Exchanging a glance, Naruto and Kurako tested the mirrors out and the other's face appeared in each one. Concentrating on deactivating them, the two saw that was all they needed to do to turn them off.
"I... thank you for your generosity," Kurako muttered awkwardly.
Prompted by Sylvia elbowing him, Naruto sputtered his own half hearted show of gratitude. "Uh… y-yeah, same here," he said, pocketing the mirror.
Kaguya nodded in satisfaction and opened up a portal back to Rouran. "This way, then," she urged. "The sooner we get the meeting over with, the sooner you can return. Once all is said and done, I'll compensate you for your time and help."
Shion wasted no time, walking through the portal first. Kaguya followed her through and when Naruto hesitated, Sylvia grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him along as she slipped through herself.
On the other side of the portal, Naruto was admittedly impressed by the room he found himself in, though he was more than wise enough to scope it out for potential threats at that point. There was no shortage of men and women in black robes decorated with red clouds in the room, eyeballing him warily but keeping to themselves. He recognized the attire as that of Akatsuki, so Naruto assumed that they had several new recruits in the wake of winning the previous war.
In the place of actual guards, though, Aside from what appeared to be Kaguya's personal entourage, there seemed to be large… puppets? They looked to be made of wood and metal, vaguely human-shaped, but somehow more sleek and futuristic. He recognized them as being very similar to the battle puppets from a dream he had that was apparently not a dream…? To this day, he hadn't the foggiest clue, but those "puppets" seemed more refined and advanced, even to him. Naruto could only imagine Kankurou's reaction to those things…
Pushing his odd combination of wonder and annoyance aside, Naruto addressed Kaguya once more. "Now, then…" he began. "When's our appointment with the Coalition?"
"We'll leave once we hear back from them," Kaguya chirped, now looking extremely happy. With him here this little farce with the Coalition can finally be taken care of without wasting more of her precious resources. "Rouran is currently floating above the village we agreed to meet at, Otafuku Gai, I believe it's called?" (3)
"That it is," Shion confirmed with a nod, having already known where it was to take place.
"Huh… Pleasant surprise," Naruto muttered.
"Until then," Kaguya said, clapping her hands. A woman in black and red robes scurried on up to her without hesitation. "Hisame, be a dear and show them to the lounge, while I meet up with Amaru."
"Of course, milady," the woman replied. She was a fetching, young thing with messy, brown hair; a yellow hairband, and coal colored eyes. (4)
"Also, don't mind her too much," Kaguya added, gesturing to Sylvia. "She's Naruto's wife and just being cautious. The girl's smart enough not to cause any trouble, though. I can tell."
"Understood, milady." Then, when Kaguya waved her off, Hisame turned to address Naruto, Shion, and Sylvia with a respectful bow. "This way, please."
Some time later, in a massive lounge that put the one in Soragakure to shame, Naruto and Shion shared an amused chuckle at Sylvia's childlike wonder.
The 'room' stood a massive five stories tall, split down the middle with walkways connecting either side of every floor. In the back was a massive statue of Kaguya, apparently carved from pure white marble—her hands were outstretched and came up the undersides of the third story, as if to hold said platforms up. While Naruto didn't much care for it, he had to admit that the monolithic ego-stroke was an impressive one that honestly made the whisker-marked blond a little more envious than he would ever dare let himself show.
The massive 'lounge' had more than that, though, by a long shot: several spas, gyms, shops, cafes, and even brothels dotted the area with soothing music playing, several fountains, flower bushes and fruit-bearing plants adding to the atmosphere.
Once they chose and got to a cafe, Naruto got Shion's attention. "Now that we're here," the whisker-marked blond said, "I need a little information on what happened while I was gone."
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything," Naruto answered with a heavy sigh. "What happened to my friends, how everyone is doing… how many women I… uh… y'know... stuff like that."
"Right, where to begin?" Shion muttered, this was not a comfortable topic she was going to go into by any means. The Priestess decided to start from the beginning. "Well, shortly after you were cast into the void, Konoha fell. Those who were in the evacuation shelters were unharmed… but not just them. Even the people who were protecting them as a last line of defense, despite attacking Kaguya herself on sight, were spared. She just brushed them aside like gnats and had them restrained, before sending them to Sunagakure with the others."
Sylvia held his hand when she heard her husband take a sharp inhale; clearly what he had just heard shook him. "And… what happened to the others? Kakashi-Sensei? Anko-Sensei? Tsunade-Baachan? Shizune? Sakura? What happened to them?"
Shion took a moment to think on her answer; the young woman saw there was no way to sugarcoat it, so she simply told the blond the truth. "Shizune is dead. Anko is missing in action; she had been fighting alongside Shizune just before being removed from battle by one of Kaguya's portals and has been lost ever since. Your sensei, Kakashi, died in battle. The Fifth Hokage was lost to the void like you were, but… was not as lucky as you were; she died almost immediately after. There was a lot of casualties, needless to say."
Naruto closed his eyes. "I see…" He tightened his grasp on Sylvia's hand and she did the same thing back; he was hurting inside. "And… and what about Sakura? Hinata? My students? Gaara?"
"Gaara is still alive. As for the others, they're safe. Mostly." Shion replied. "Sakura, Hinata and Team Konohamaru was among those defending the evacuees. They were restrained and sent to Sunagakure in shackles… and promptly freed once they arrived." At the relief Naruto displayed, Shion inwardly winced. He was not going to enjoy what she had to say next, "Later, however… Hinata joined the rebellion along with Shikamaru and tried to assassinate Kaguya. Their whole team was killed in self-defense and made an example of."
It felt like he had been sucker punched, "I… I see. A-and the others?"
"Gaara managed to talk sense into your students before they could enlist, but Hinata wouldn't listen to him. She thought you were dead, despite my assurance that you weren't; she and Shikamaru managed to infiltrate Kaguya's headquarters with the help of Itachi and a couple others. And well…" She pointedly avoided detailing the brutality of Hinata's death, lest it impact how this situation would develop any further than her words already undoubtedly have.
Naruto clenched his fist and his entire hand shook. He quickly took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "And what about Sakura?"
"She's fine. Mostly. I'm sure you know that she was never the same again after the two of you were forced to kill Sasuke but… After losing you, Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune and even Anko, all in one day, she… broke." Shion sighed heavily. "Your students have been taking care of her, knowing you'd want them to, but she is not a happy person." (5)
Despite the dire news, Naruto cracked a sad smile at that; those three were such nice kids, doing that for him.
"To make matters worse, thanks to Itachi's assassination attempt," Shion continued after a brief pause. "Kaguya laid siege upon Suna; she thought your friend had thrown his lot in with them, since the team Itachi had assembled was entirely comprised of survivors from Konoha. Sakura managed to defend Gaara in the end, but was injured in the process. She lost an arm from the shoulder down. Sunagakure has also been annexed by the Gelel Empire, mostly to serve as an example of what happens when Kaguya's mercy is thrown back in her face the way she thought it was."
"Dammit," Naruto muttered. He took another deep breath and exhaled. So, a lot of people he knew is either dead, injured or missing entirely… and to make matters worse, so many of the rest have lost their homes on top of that! There was no other way to say it: everything was fucked up.
"We managed to diffuse the situation before it got worse, thankfully," Shion pointed out. "As I said before, we're negotiating a peace treaty. The Coalition, an alliance of several countries whose people you've helped, agreed to break their stance of absolute neutrality and open up negotiations if she were to find out what happened to you and bring you back."
"At least it's not all bad news," Sylvia said with some optimism Naruto can take comfort in that. The worst thing that Shion could have said is everyone from Konoha had been killed after he was thrown into her world. So there was still some good news in there.
"Speaking of… Several members of the Coalition are women were among those you… uh, y'know," Shion said, trying to lighten the mood. "Most of them are, in fact. Among them and a few others, you currently have nine children—excluding Nora, Harja, and Kushina, I mean… well, that Kushina."
"Well, that's not gonna be confusing," Sylvia commented sarcastically.
Shion only giggled in amusement. She couldn't wait to see how they reacted to what one girl in particular named her son.
Naruto, meanwhile, sat there in utter shock, sputtering incoherently.
Off to the side, still keeping an eye on the trio, Hisame was equally surprised; to think he had that many kids...
Seeing that her hubby's brain needed a moment to recover from that revelation, Sylvia turned her attention to Shion. "He… wasn't married when we met, was he…?"
She never bothered to ask, because the rogue trainee felt his past love life wasn't her business. But now…
"While most certainly not for lack of trying, no, he wasn't," Shion assured in mild amusement.
"Uh, good," Sylvia muttered. "I would've felt incredibly guilty if he was, I'll admit."
Meanwhile, back home, Cassandra couldn't help but feel a bit of envy tugging at her heart at the sight of Neideen looking so content. In the one-eyed woman's arms was a pink-haired bundle of joy with honey-colored eyes and whisker marks. The girl was Nora, Neideen's daughter.
Riful was tending to Harja and Kushina in the meantime.
The more recent former Number One simply had to ask… "So… what's it like to be a mother?" She fidgeted nervously, feeling rather awkward.
"It's… chaotic," Neideen replied. "It's not easy in the slightest, but for some reason, holding my baby girl makes me so happy."
"They say it's the most wonderfully-horrible thing you could ever do," Riful chimed in. "I'm inclined to agree, now that I've experienced it for myself." (6)
"R-right," Cassandra muttered, her cheeks burning at the thought. "So… uh, how does a woman know she's pregnant early on?"
"The first signs vary from one woman to the next," Riful explained. "It's easier to tell for some than others early on, because their symptoms are more obvious."
'I… see," Cassandra muttered. "So… how long does it take to… to conceive?"
Riful and Neideen perked up at that, the wheels in their heads visibly turning. No woman bedded Naruto without his harem's knowledge, after all.
"The whole process takes about six days," Riful replied. "Once every 28 days, our bodies apparently produce something called an egg cell, according to Kurako, which is what combines with a man's seed to make a baby. I'm not sure how long it takes for them to merge, but it's less than a day for sure... and once they do, it takes another six days for the seed to take root and start developing into a baby."
"I… I see," Cassandra muttered. It had been longer than that. "What are the symptoms?"
"Again, if varies," Neideen stated. "You're better off asking Liliana, once she's settled in. She is an experienced healer and midwife after all."
"Noted," pointy-eared woman replied with a mildly annoyed sigh. That exchange was bound to be far more awkward for her, since she wasn't good with strangers... though Cassandra had been planning on checking with her anyways; this just solidified her decision on the matter.
After the gloomy conversation Naruto and Shion had over the fate of his home and friends, the discussion took a much needed, cheerful turn. It wasn't anything to detailed on Naruto and Sylvia's part, and Shion didn't mind, as it was meant to make Naruto happy. It was working as Naruto was more chipper than he had been earlier.
"Oh, so that's how the two of you met?"
Naruto and Sylvia both shared a chuckle. "Yeah," the former said. "It is. I'm glad she was there, too. If she wasn't, I am damn sure things wouldn't have gone as well as they did for me." Both husband and wife held each other's hand.
Sylvia gave a helpless shrug at that, but the girl was beaming.
"Well it seems you're in good hands where you ended up." Shion observed; it was clear to her that the girl was in love with Naruto.
That was when the God-Empress Kaguya floated towards the group. The three blondes watched as she hovered on over to them.
"I hope everything is to your liking?" She asked, her three eyes looking between the three of them with expectancy.
"It is. Thank you, Lady Kaguya," Sylvia answered with a respectful bow.
"So…" Naruto began with an awkward expression, feeling way out of his element right here. "When's our appointment with the Coalition?"
"Right now, if you so wish." Kaguya answered with a polite smile. With him here this little farce with the Coalition can finally be taken care of without wasting more of her precious time and resources.
"Huh… I was expecting it to take longer," Naruto muttered, pleasantly surprised.
"Shall we go and get this done, then?" Sylvia asked, looking up at the horned woman.
"I have a thopter at the ready. We should get there in… five minutes or so, unless there's some kind of turbulence. I'd advise a slower trip, though, so I can fill you in on all of the details."
"A… thopter…?" Naruto asked, looking utterly lost. He slowly looked to Shion for clarification, hoping she would be able to explain what it was.
"Some kind of air ship, apparently," the priestess clarified. "A small one. They're also incredibly fast though a bit noisy."
"Okaaay?" That only raised more questions, but Naruto decided to drop it there. "Getting to know everything sounds like a good idea. Should we get started now, then?" He asked looking to Kaguya once more with expectancy.
"We shall," the three-eyed woman chirped, turning around and floating out of the longue to show them where it was. She didn't wait for them to get up and follow her because the woman already knew they were doing precisely that.
A short while later, all four of them stepped out of the hall and onto what looked like a large patio. Before them was parked a large, mechanical contraption with two bladed axles on either side, looking like they were designed to spin those blades for some reason. The whole thing seemed to be made of glass, gold and wood, save for the silver-looking blades, though… and their positioning was too far back or them to be used in an offensive manner, which left Naruto understandably confused.
The vehicle was also vaguely shaped like a teardrop,with the larger portion in back, standing on what looked like spider legs. Naruto had never seen anything of the like. (7)
The demoness turned to look at Naruto, Sylvia and Shion. "This is the thopter we will be traveling in," she said. "There are three cabins; two 'guest chambers' on the sides and a 'main cabin' in the back. You and I will be in the main cabin, Naruto. That way, we can discuss everything without any distractions." It was a convenient excuse. The young man in question could tell there was more to it than that, but said nothing as he didn't want to risk gaining her ire. Shion smiled impishly, her pervert senses tingling, but she was also quiet for the same reason as Naruto. Kaguya then addressed the priestess. "You will be occupying one of the guest chambers."
Shion had no objections there. Said chambers on either side of the thopter and were large enough to accommodate four people, while the main cabin she and Naruto were going to use was in the back and was the largest single portion of the contraption; it was a two-story setup, with glass walls in the back for a wonderful view.
The four bodyguards who had gathered by the thopter looked unhappy to hear that, but kept quiet. Sylvia meanwhile, clung onto her hubby—not at all intending to let him out of her sight.
"You can rest assured that I had intended for you to come with us," Kaguya clarified with a look of mild amusement.
"Okay," Naruto said, both looking and sounding a little unsure. "Lead the way."
With that, they all boarded the thopter, Kaguya telling the driver to take a twenty-minute trip. As the blades started to spin and its engine roared, the thopter then started to lift itself up and retracted the legs into its belly. Soon after, several of those mechanical "guards" also took to the air and surrounded the machine to protect the God Empress from anything that may intend to do her harm.
As Naruto, Sylvia and Kaguya sat side by side in the main cabin, the former had to take a moment to admire it. The room had two sofas against the back wall with a small table between them and on either side. There was a fully stocked mini bar and refrigerator on one side of the chamber, with the doorway to the cabin and the stairway to the lower level on the other side. The wall in front of them was also made of glass with elaborate, golden framework. It also curved forward to form a ceiling of sorts.
"Impressive transportation you have here," Naruto said with genuine awe in his voice. He and Sylvia occupied one sofa after Kaguya plopped down on the other.
"Thank you for the compliment," Kaguya replied with a smile, "though I can't take credit for its design. That honor goes to a man who lived a long, eventful life, centuries before I was sealed away. A nice man; my empire was never quite the same after his age took him."
"Uh-huh…" Naruto honestly had no idea what to think about that.
"Obviously a few updates have been added," Kaguya went on, gesturing towards the mini bar and refrigerator. "But, I feel we'd best be getting to the topic we came here to discuss."
"Yeah, that would be kinda preferable," Naruto agreed with a nod. "So… who is in the Coalition?"
"Gaara and the refugees from Sunagakure," Kaguya started. "Their village was originally going to be left alone, but then many survivors from Konoha started causing trouble; some of them even tried to assassinate me and…"
"I heard about that from Shion," Naruto interrupted, sounding rather grim. "Hinata was a girl I kinda liked."
Kaguya frowned. "The feeling was clearly mutual… I'm sorry it had to turn out the way it did. For what it's worth, I tried to talk her out of it." Deciding to move away from that sore spot after an awkward silence, the three-eyed woman carried on from there. "Next is Oni no Kuni, which had stayed neutral throughout the previous war and appears to be the biggest reason behind the Coalition as a whole following suit."
Shion undoubtedly saw to that, knowing that they'd have been fighting a losing battle otherwise. The Gelel Empire's numbers, resources, and technological advantage made for quite the terrifying military force… never mind the three-dimensional combat they brought to the table. One should never underestimate the power of aerial superiority..
"Next," Kaguya continued, "we have Kazahana Koyuki of Haru no Kuni, though upon hearing of Konoha being lost, she's become the most vocal of the lot to forego their neutrality and declare war on my empire. To be fair, I can't say I blame her; from what my people have reported, she cares for you far more deeply than many would assume."
Naruto couldn't keep the smile off of his face at that. The only thing that stopped her from becoming his wife years ago was the fact that she was the queen of her country and he was a ninja from Konoha. He was also their Jinchuuriki which also played a major factor. Granted he had some noble blood in him thanks to his Uzumaki heritage, but it was those two factors that prevented him from becoming a king… or daimyou as it's called here.
Naruto subtly realized he's getting used to living with his girls for far too long if he's calling daimyou, kings and queens. "So… there's Gaara, Koyuki, Shion… but that can't be all. Who else is in it?" It can't be only them that is a part of the Coalition. Kumo has to be part of it too, since they were there, defending Konoha when Kaguya's forces attacked them en masse. Unless they swapped sides after the severe ass kicking she gave to Konoha, that is.
Kaguya took a deep breath and started listing them off. "The others are Shizuka, Chief of Nadeshiko no Sato; Toki, Daimyou of Tori no Kuni; Haruna, Daimyou of Na no Kuni, Naruko of the Children of the Desert, and the refugees of Nami no Kuni and Iwagakure, lead by Tsunami and Kurotsuchi respectively. They all seem to be rather non-combative for the most part, but the vast, overwhelming majority were very supportive in wanting to find you… I daresay adamant, in fact."
"I see…" Naruto trailed off, curling his digit against his chin with a thoughtful look. So the Coalition really was mostly made of people he's helped out in the past. "What about Kumo? Their forces were with us when you kicked our asses in Konoha."
"They issued an unconditional surrender in the wake of Konoha falling," Kaguya stated. "Though if the Coalition were to declare war upon the Gelel Empire, I certainly wouldn't put it past the Raikage to join the fray on their side."
"Well, the Raikage's brother is the Eight Tails Jinchuuriki. I think he'd throw in his lot with the Coalition to protect him."
"Precisely," Kaguya added with a nod. She agreed wholeheartedly. "Apparently, said vessel's students were among those who fought in Konoha. While I did personally reunite him with the two who survived, he still bears a grudge against me." She sighed. "I can't say I blame him, either. But what's done is done." She then looked Naruto in the eye and said, "let's not forget that you were one of said students, though…"
Naruto frowned at that, knowing full well what she was implying. "I'll see what I can do," he relented. "No promises, though."
"This Kiraa Bii seems like the vindictive type from what I can tell," Kaguya replied with a nod. "If you're not able to help, I won't blame you; all I ask is that you at least put in your best effort."
With another frown, Naruto nodded back. This woman was… just so different from what he'd been expecting. He honestly wanted to hate her guts for what she did, but her civility and mannerisms were making it so damn hard!
"I'll make sure he does," Sylvia said, as she put a hand on Naruto's knee. "We can't have him screw things up because he wasn't trying his best, now can we?"
"I said I would see what I can do…" Naruto sighed. "I can't make any promises, but you can be sure I'll do my very best to make sure this doesn't turn into a shit show."
"Good, good!" Kaguya nodded in satisfaction. "With that said," she said. "Let us discuss my payment for your help and cooperation."
Naruto's eye twitched at that. Seriously, couldn't this bitch at least be a little easy to hate?! "With all due respect," he muttered, shifting about to make himself a little more comfortable, "I'm not sure if there's anything I could want in exchange."
Both Sylvia and Kaguya could smell the bullshit.
The latter sighed heavily and reached towards what looked like a light switch between the sofas they occupied. When she started pulling it down, the windows started becoming harder and harder to see through until they became entirely opaque, the lights turning on automatically to compensate for the lack of sunlight.
Oookay, he had to admit, that was kind of cool. (8)
"I insist," Kaguya declared. "I will not allow myself to be in anyone's debt; if I have to go so far as to bend over and let you take your frustration out on me, then so be it. There's a king-size bed in the lower level." It wouldn't be the first time she resorted to such methods, despite preferring to avoid them; the Kaguya Clan had to come from somewhere, after all. (9)
Naruto sputtered incoherently at that, unable to respond at first. After taking a deep breath, he averted his gaze. "A-as tempting as that is," he honestly admitted, his pitch rather high, "Konoha has two clans with the ability to literally smell that we did it from a mile away; they'd think I'm biased or something."
It was a lame excuse… and to be fair, hate-fucking the bitch who razed his village to the ground sounded very enticing… but, the blond to avoid doing something he might regret later.
"We'll consider it later, then," Sylvia chirped.
"WHAT?!" Naruto couldn't believe his wife just said that!
The white-haired teen rolled her eyes and leered at him. "Honey, I don't know about you, but where I grew up, there's a word for what you have right now. I believe the literal translation is 'hate-boner'."
Naruto cleared his throat and covered his groin. "I have no idea what you're talking about, dear."
Kaguya, meanwhile, mouthed the word "hate-boner" to herself in disbelief; it had been a looong time since last she'd heard something sound that uncomfortable.
Sylvia rolled her eyes at his response. "Bullshit," she deadpanned. "We both know you need this."
Her tone left no room for arguments. After all the time they shared together, she could read her hubby like a book.
"That aside," she continued, if Naruto wasn't able to think of anything, she most certainly could. "I have an issue I'd like to see resolved. I cannot age after a certain point, and neither can Naruto's mistresses." Kaguya's eye twitched at that last word as Sylvia carried on from there. "I wish to know if there's any way you can make Naruto stop aging when he reaches his prime, so we don't have to watch him whither and die."
"I see. Is there anything else…?" Kaguya asked respectfully. "Such a feat is trivial to me; I could do it in my sleep, thanks to this." Reaching into her sleeve, she produced the little, red stone from earlier.
"The Bijuu," Naruto grunted. "I want you to bring them back."
"I already intend to do so," Kaguya pointed out. Upon seeing the blond's suspicious look, she clarified. "They were originally guardians of this world, made with my essence after I was defeated by that peasant you call a sage," the God-Empress explained. "I merely wish to reinstate them… with one less assignment for obvious reasons." Kaguya shrugged. "I'm not the only being who can traverse the realms of existence, after all, and there's no telling if or when another such being might just happen to stumble upon this world with ill intent."
Naruto… didn't know how to respond to that.
Seeing his conflicted expression, Kaguya elaborated further. "A king with no subject is but a man," she told him in a sagely tone. "I will do anything and everything in my power to protect my people, hence the willingness I expressed to alleviate your… 'hate-boner' if needed." Kaguya cleared her throat, averting her gaze. Saying that just felt so… dirty! "That said, I simply cannot consider something I was already going to do a sufficient payment for your assistance. Is there anything else?"
"Can you connect these realms, then?" Sylvia asked. "Like with one of those portals?"
"It would require a different method than what you appear to be thinking," Kaguya answered with a thoughtful hum. "A permanent portal like that is very resource intensive to keep open, because the fabric of space time doesn't like having holes in it. That method's more trouble than it's worth, but there are other ways to go about it… This world may have one immediately available, in fact. We just need to get the necessary resources and the skilled people to perform it. I'll send some sealmasters to your home and see if we can develop something."
"Like a summoning seal?" Naruto asked.
"More or less," Kaguya replied. "Though what we need will require a bit more… substance, I hear." She had been thinking about developing something like that for some time now, just for a different purpose. The other methods were simply not as efficient and required a lot more energy, so creating such a seal for her own use would make connecting the various realms of her empire much easier and far less resource-intensive.
That being said, this arrangement was as good of an excuse as any to follow through with those plans.
"Alright, we'll go with that, then," a very happy Sylvia chirped. "That way, Naruto can visit his other children at his leisure."
The whisker-marked blond in question blushed at that. He loved Sylvia very, very much, but damn was she making him look like an ass, right now…
"Very well then," Kaguya chirped. "So, to recap, we have eternal youth, a new seal that allows someone to visit his children more conveniently, and… uh..." She just couldn't bring herself to say it a second time.
"Addressing the hate-boner," Sylvia added with an evil grin.
"Indeed..." the God-Empress trailed off, her voice becoming remarkably small from embarrassment, but the God-Empress was nothing if not a woman of her word. "I think we'll call it even at that."
"Agreed," Naruto muttered, just as awkwardly.
1: Of course, Roxanne would view her as competition, but is very well-behaved for the most part. She wants to prove to Naruto fare and square that she is the "superior" lover... at least that's the thought process I was running on, lol.
2: Something I tend to find weird about anime in general is that the usually lower-teen protagonists don't seem to grow very much. Over the course of a year or two, they'd likely gain an inch or two at least and need some new clothes. Also, intense training at a young age, if done in a way that doesn't cause the kid to fall apart typically results in them going through puberty early on; twelve is just the average, ladies and gents. Bear that in mind.
3: one thing that drives me crazy about Naruto is that none of the other towns and villages in Hi no Kuni get any real attention; they're only ever mentioned once or twice, making the world feel too small for my liking. It's something I seek to improve on in my fanfiction, but Into the Void sadly doesn't present a lot of opportunities to do so.
4: I'm sure some of you remember her from the Takigakure... thing... Was it a movie or a TV special? O.o Regardless, the changes I made to Fuu gave me the opportunity to use her elsewhere in this fic, so I asked myself, why not?
5: Well, shit... here comes another rant.
Another gripe I have with the main canon story is that when Naruto and Sakura confronted Sasuke no less than twice after actively seeking him out, he tried to kill them... and the fact that they weren't forced to off him in either instance was such a waste of good character development potential. I'd have forced them to kill him after Sakura sought him out with that very intent, myself.
Also, the fact that Sasuke got away with multiple counts of murder, assaulting a Kage, the attempted (apparently successful at the time) kidnapping the motherfucking Eight Tails Jinchuuriki, AND desertion with zero political ramifications was frankly bullshit, "saving the world" be damned. He's still a criminal who deprived many people of their loved ones and should have died MULTIPLE times in the series! Needless to say, if I get around to writing that rewrite of the Naruto canon that I'm planning, I'mma Butch Gen that little fucker.
Speaking of wasted potential, Naruto being given a field promotion to chuunin and becoming Team Konohamaru's 'honorary" sensei early on in Shippuden as a test to see if he was ready to be promoted to jounin would have been such a wonderful way to make the aforementioned blond grow as a character learning leadership skills and responsibility, thus showing actual fucking progress towards his goal of becoming Hokage! Afterwards, he could have become their official one, which would have only presented even more opportunities and allowed the story to focus on its actual fucking protagonist and his development as a character! Seriously, this shit would have written itself! Ugh...
Also, no, learning a fifth Rasengan variant is not character development. That's not to say it's not progressing the story, but progressing the story does not necessarily equal progressing the characters therein. A decent writer knows when to pick one at a given time to progress and manages to make it entertaining; good writers, however, can reliably do both at the same time and still achieve the same effect.
Rant over... damn that was a long one; my apologies.
6: Fun fact: "having a child is the most wonderfully-horrible you could ever do" is a quote from a teacher's aid in my social skills class. A wise man, I must say.
7: The thopter's appearance is inspired by various artworks from Kaladesh in Magic: the Gathering. I loved the setting and aesthetics thereof, I must say! Still a LOT of wasted potential, mind you, but that sadly appears to be a common theme among the more popular things I like, lol.
8: After FatManFalling mentioned the lightswitches that control the opacity of windows in RWBY, I can't help but want them too, lol. The concept is indeed rather cool.
9: Yet another idea that I shall be exploring in the future. =3
And that is that! Holy shit did this take longer than anticipated! Hope y'all have a good weekend and I shall update again on the 4th or 5th of next month if I can.