Well, then... Now that my break is over, I must say, I'm feeling rather refreshed. Got a Lotta shit in the works, nearly done with the ending for this fanfic, currently doing some more collaboration with Spy while also working on two more fanfics and finally getting some shit done for Twisted Bonds.

Once Into the Void is finally done, Twisted Bonds will be back on top of my priority list, so look forward to that... and to a Magic: the Gathering crossover... and an Overlord Crossover... and one for Pokemon... and a rewrite of Silver and Gold in addition to the final chapter of the Release series. Holy shit, I've got a lot of work to do! XD

With that outta the way, though, let's get back to the story! I do hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Unwanted Attention

While Kurako was wasting no time making some overdue babies with her former vessel, a woman of the Organization with long, curly, golden locks and pointed ears, stood at a ridge far from Neo Konoha and well outside of even Neideen's range. She was a tall and pretty creature, infamous for her thousand-yard stare; this woman was Aya, the current Number 7 in light of Cassandra deserting... though from the look of things, they were due for another fluctuation in the ranks.

"So, that's how it is, then?" The one who said that was a man in black behind her—Aya's Handler, Jakob, who'd just arrived to receive her weekly report. Needless to say, he was not at all pleased by the news.

"Indeed," Aya replied, a concerned frown upon her face. "Though there's one thing I find especially strange."

"What is it?"

"The part that broke off from Naruto to intercept the assassins appears to have… solidified?" Aya visibly struggled to put what she'd sensed to words. "It was more like a thick fog before, but now… it feels more like a proper being; it's hard to put into words, but I can sense it more distinctly now. It also appears to have retained Naruto's ability to… relocate itself."

Jakob looked at her oddly, a deep, thoughtful frown upon his face. "So Naruto has somehow… spawned a permanent clone of himself, then?"

"It appears so," Aya replied. "Though, for some reason, this 'clone' feels... female. I'm not sure why. Also… There seem to be three very weak signatures in the castle; I do not know where they came from, though. I've only been able to sense them for a few days now. It's… it's as if they are slowly growing? I've never felt anything of the like."

Jakob frowned deeply at that. "Keep tabs on them. Anything else to report?"

"No, sir."

The very next day, Uranus was brought to the hospital to see her sister who was still unconscious by a clone of Naruto. The original wanted her there to calm both Evianna and Elizabeth down once they wake up, as they were surely going to panic and think they're prisoners. And since Evianna was clearly under the impression that her little sister's been killed or raped by Naruto… possibly both, having Uranus herself right there in the clinic, in person, would do wonders in calming her the fuck down.

At least, that was the hope. Uranus was all for it to be completely honest. It has been such a very long time since she last saw Evianna, and the sandy brunette missed her dearly. And if she can help clear things up between them all, then she'll gladly do it. It's the least she can do for all Naruto's done for them.

He did get rid of her stigma after all… and gave the woman a roof over her head… and provided her with all those clones to spar with. Truth be told, now that Evianna was here, she hadn't even the slightest intention of going back, anymore! Life here was just so much better than in the Organization!

"She looks good, considering the state Kurako-Chan brought her in yesterday," Naruto's clone commented. He was hoping Evianna would wake up at any moment now. Heck, he was hoping that Elizabeth would wake up. According to Uranus and Roxanne, Elizabeth had been their captain many times when they were paired up for an Awakened Being Hunt, so having Uranus here for when Elizabeth ensured that she too wouldn't have a panic attack.

"At least they were brought in better condition than Cassandra was," Uranus replied. And she was relieved for that. Seriously, Cassandra looked like she'd been beaten to death when Kurako dragged her into the castle. Her big sister and captain were just a little roughed up in comparison!

"Well, all we gotta do now is wait for them to wake up," Naruto's clone said, pointing at the far end of the wall in the clinic as he slunk over to said wall, far, far away from the slumbering women. "I'll go all the way back there, just in case."

Uranus rolled her eyes in amusement, not really blaming the guy as she awaited her sister's return to the land of the living as it were. A few minutes later, Sakura came in to check on the girls and assured her that they were just fine for the most part and, just as she said that, Evianna's eyes shot open and she immediately proceeded to panic.

"NOOOO! YOU PEOPLE WILL NOT TAKE ME ALIVE!" She roared, eyes wide in genuine fear; the woman's eyes glowed a demonic gold as she ready for the fight of her life.

Uranus quickly went to her sister before heads could roll, put her hands on her sister's cheeks and made Evianna look at her. "Easy! Easy, Evvie! It's okay! No one's going to hurt you!"

Seeing her sister, alive and well, made Evianna stared at the girl in disbelief, her shallow breathing slowing down a bit until she calmed down. Evianna blinked repeatedly, unable to believe her eyes and slowly reached out to touch Uranus' face. When her digits brushed against her baby sister's cheek, Evianna's eyes grew wide before they teared up.

"Nissie…? Is that… is that really you?" She meekly asked, sounding much like a little girl who was afraid her parents were going to leave her.

"You have no idea how much I missed hearing that nickname, Evvie," the younger sister replied. "Everything's okay, I promise. Naruto has been nothing but hospitable to me and the others."

"Good thing I'm aaall the way over here, isn't it?"

Uranus sighed, but had a smile pulling at her lips when the clone Naruto had assigned to the clinic said that. "Yes, Naruto," she said. "It's a good thing you went all the way over there." She rolled her eyes in amusement, much to the bewilderment of Evianna. "And that she doesn't have her sword… she's very good at throwing it."

"He… looks very different from what everyone says he does," Evianna commented. "Much younger…"

"He does," Uranus agreed, "He's also human."

"Human?!" Evianna looked at her little sister as if she had grown a second head, "But… he has youki!" Only youma, warriors like herself, or Awakened Ones have youki; Uranus knew that full well.

"That would be because of Kurako," Uranus calmly told her big sister, and seeing the confused look on Evianna's face, Uranus elaborated on who Kurako was, "The girl with nine tails? That's Kurako."

"And what does she have to do with Naruto having youki?" Evianna questioned sending the blond in question a suspicious look.

"Everything," Evianna looked to her sister, her brow furrowed to show her confusion, "Naruto is… similar to us; only him having youki is not the result of having the flesh of youma surgically implanted into him. Kurako was… somehow imprisoned inside of him on the day he was born, because his father couldn't kill her. Think of Naruto being a jug and Kurako being the water inside."

"That's right," Sakura stated, making the now-conscious Single Digit stare at her. "Though Kurako has since escaped… thankfully after he somehow managed to make her fall for him… damn horndog has a knack for the impossible." The clone next to her let out a sheepish chuckle as she leered at him. Then, the pinkette returned her attention to Evianna and continued. "As for why he has, uh, youki… from what I gathered, when she separated herself from him, Kurako had left him a small fraction of her power so he could live."

"...Live?"

"The extraction of a Tailed Beast—which is what Kurako is—normally ends with the death of their container," Sakura explained to the utterly lost Evianna. "Since she left him a small fraction of her youki upon separating herself, he was able to live through it. That small portion of power she left inside also... grew back for lack of a better term, so he's back at full strength."

"To make a very long, very complicated story short; Naruto is similar to us, yet different. The youki he and Kurako are able to use is similar in feel to our own, but is used differently… and something tells me you've already experienced what it can do first hand."

Evianna let out a shudder at that. Now that she was reminded of the thorough ass-kicking that fox-bitch put her and Elizabeth through, Evianna could feel phantom pains in places she never knew could hurt!

"She's scary…" Evianna whispered fearfully.

"She was also holding back," the clone chimed in, "a lot, in fact."

"Had she wanted to, Kurako could have just used her most powerful attack and wipe several kilometers of land off the face of the earth," Sakura added.

Evianna looked rather haunted to hear that. "You're… you're not joking…" She could tell… They were being sincere.

"No, they're not," her sister said. "You think you and Elizabeth had it bad? You should have seen how Cassandra looked when Kurako brought her here."

"I'd… rather not hear about it," Evianna muttered. The idea that there was someone stronger than Cassandra of all people… and now that she was among them.

It was hard to forget that energy signature; it was the very same one that first showed up in This World on the training ground Sylvia was at. The youki that was stated to be on par with the Man of the North... but, now that she got a taste of that youki Evianna wasn't sure if that was accurate. She was certain Kurako is beyond the Man of the North. And if Naruto had Kurako's energy too and is back at full strength… then he would be around the same.

That's a scary thought.

"So… what happens now?" Evianna asked, finally speaking up.

"Well, we were hoping you would stay here with us." The clone of Naruto answered. "You'll have a roof over your head, and plenty of other things you could possibly want." Also, he noticed that Uranus was rather depressed about not being able to see her sister, but he didn't want the woman to feel like she was being guilt tripped into staying.

"My heaaad," they then heard someone groan and looked to see Elizabeth now starting to wake up. The poor thing had received quite the savage whack from Kurako, according to Sakura, so she was not at all feeling good as a result.

"Oh!" Uranus chirped. "Hey, Elizabeth! You okay?"

The woman in question bolted up with a yelp. "URANUS?! YOU'RE ALIVE?!" then she winced and held her throbbing head.

"Very much so," the woman in question chuckled sheepishly. "In fact, Naruto hasn't hurt anyone since he got here… well, save for Riful's wounded pride, maybe."

"B-b-but…" She stammered looking mighty conflicted.

"He's the enemy?" Uranus offered; Elizabeth dumbly nodded at that and the sister of Evianna sighed, "I thought so too at first, then I got to know him and the circumstances around Sylvia's disappearance. It turns out she deserted after having a huge panic attack."

"Panic attack? What could cause her to have a panic attack?" Evianna asked in bewilderment.

"Naruto got her pregnant." Uranus prepared herself for what was to come next, and was not disappointed.

"WHAT?!"

"Im-impossible…"

"And according to her, he has a knack for the impossible," Uranus replied with an amused chuckle, gesturing towards Sakura as she spoke. Then, crossing her arms, she lifted her top. The two warriors simply couldn't believe their eyes when they saw her gash was conspicuously missing without a trace. "He's able to heal our stigmas… and apparently, restoring our fertility is a side-effect of the process." she covered her abdomen and continued from there, "Sylvia was also a lonely girl; though she never really showed it, she wanted companionship like most of us do. So, when Naruto literally fell from the sky and established himself as friendly, she latched onto him and one thing lead to another."

"The damn horndog knocked her up again, too," Sakura grumbled with a pout.

Elizabeth and Evianna looked at the pinkette in question when her griping caught their attention and the former… just stared. It was mostly the hair as neither of them had never seen such a color before, so it looked reallyout of place for the two of them.

"That's Sakura, by the way," Uranus explained. "She's basically Naruto's old teammate from another world… long story. The summarized version is that he was basically fighting a goddess, believe it or not, and she banished him to our world. Sakura's here as a result of said goddess being on… relatively good terms with him, now."

"I… I need a stiff drink," Evianna grunted. "A very stiff drink…" This was too much for her to take in all at once. Though, seeing the unblemished skin in the place of the stigma on her little sister… Evianna eyeballed Naruto's clone from the corner of her eye. Would he do the same for her?

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to those in Zakol Castle, and even the Organization, a large gathering was taking place in Icecrown, a massive castle to the far north of Alphonse. The one who owned this land, the Abyssal One of the North, was named Isley, the White Silver King. Like the Organization, he was far from unaware of Naruto's arrival in This World. And just like the Organization, he had been keeping tabs on Naruto's presence; but doing so had a tendency to prove quite difficult at times; still, while he may not know as much as the Organization itself the Abyssal One was well aware of the rumors that had sprung up in Lautrec over these past years. (1)

He'd heard about this man who married a claymore, about the rebuilding of Zakol Castle, and about a 'little girl' who had beaten the current Number One to a bloody pulp. He also had no doubts that Riful was this 'little girl' in question… unless Europa had joined forces with them, but that was far less likely.

Knowing Dauf, the former Number Three had undoubtedly thrown his lot in with them as well.

Looking up to address the men and women who'd gathered before him, Isley spoke. "I'm sure you're aware of why I've gathered you all," he said.

The man in the middle, a lanky, but athletic one with black hair and silver eyes was the first to respond. "This being has caused quite a stir for tale of his exploits to travel this far," he commented.

"That he has," Isley agreed. "Have you anything to add, Rigald?"

"Our scouts have sensed something… unsettling," the dark-haired man replied. "It would appear that this 'Naruto' has... split himself in two and captured two more single-digit warriors."

That got many an eyebrow raised.

"Unsettling, indeed," Isley commented. "I've never heard of a being who is capable of splitting in two." There were those who came close to having such an ability, but this sounded like it was on a different level.

"The strangest part, however, is that this second half feels distinctly female to our eyes for some reason," Rigald continued. "We have not been able to discern why, though…"

"If I may, Milord," a woman chimed in. She had wavy, jet black hair and red eyes and was garbed in quite the scandalous, red dress.

"Please continue," Isley urged. "What do you have to add, Elenda?"

"I would like to ask permission to get a better look," she replied. "Though my range isn't as good as Rizaado, I was still once an Eye… and unlike him, I can fly, so I shouldn't have too much issue in gathering more information." (2)

Isley didn't need to think on it. "Permission granted," he said almost immediately after hearing her request.

Elenda bowed respectfully. "I will do my absolute best to get to the bottom of this, then."

Meanwhile, back with a very familiar blond, he was rather busy cuddling with a rather moody Sylvia. This was not his first rodeo, though, so the blond knew full well how to handle her when those hormones started acting up.

"You feeling better?" Naruto asked.

"Less talking, more cuddling," Sylvia huffed, before nuzzling into her hubby's neck. Naruto couldn't help but grin at that and held his wife in his arms.

"Alright," he complied, chuckling with amusement. Then he gave Sylvia a peck on the cheek and nuzzled her back.

"This is the last one we're having for a while," she muttered. "I hate being outta commission."

"Understood; no more sex for a while," Naruto sighed, seemingly in disappointment, before asking with curiosity, "Cuddling and fondling is still good, right?" The blond let out a sharp laugh when he got a light punch to the arm for his troubles.

"That's not funny," Sylvia grunted. "And we are cuddling right now. If it wasn't alright then we wouldn't be doing it. Also, I will have you know that Riful's not the only one who likes her tongue lashings, thank you!"

Naruto gave her a smug smile at that, "From how loud you scream when I give you those 'tongue lashings' it's hard seeing you not enjoying it," he teased. "And I will happily be your cuddly teddy bear for as long as you need one."

"You'd better… because I'm going to milk this for as long as I can."

Naruto chuckled warmly at that, giving his wife another peck on the cheek.

"So, how's Kurako adjusting to her new body?" Sylvia asked after a brief pause.

"She's getting used to it pretty well," Naruto noted, smiling in mild amusement at the memory. "She feels a bit weird about having to eat and use the garderobes like everyone else, though… and has been a bit fussy about how hard it is to keep her fur clean." He nuzzled the crook of his wife's neck. "Those seem to be her only complaints, though."

"Good to hear," Sylvia yawned. "She'll get used to it."

"She will," he agreed wholeheartedly, "Kurako-Chan's very adaptable; she'll eventually get over it." If nothing else he could get some enjoyment out of her struggles… as payback for all the lewd shit she put into his head when the fox in question was still hostile… that and the times she whispered all of that dark shit into his ear, trying to tempt him into doing something horrible. Of course, he never gave into that temptation, but damn was it hard to resist at times, particularly when Sakura was sleeping right next to him over the course of some long term missions.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Naruto basked in the silence, enjoying Sylvia's warmth while she delighted in his. With Neideen looking after baby Kushina, they were free to enjoy the peace and quiet at took full advantage of that.

But, then, something came to mind and the pregnant teen simply had to ask. "So when do you plan on fucking pinkie?"

Naruto flinched and turned beet red at that. "I don't. I kinda grew out of that phase?"

"'Kinda', huh? So the temptation is still there…"

"...Admittedly," her hubby grunted, averting his gaze. "I mean, she's literally the reason I have a thing for petite girls. And my first crush... And, well, old habits die hard. While I'm over the childhood crush I had, I still think she's pretty damn sexy."

"Sexier than me?" she challenged.

"Hell no," he said, knowing better than to give his pregnant wife any other answer. "She's not nearly as sexy as you are."

"Yet you still wanna stick your dick in her."

The incriminating boner he popped at that was all the answer she needed.

"...Again, old habits die hard," Naruto muttered, drawing an amused giggle from Sylvia. "As I said, she was my first crush. So please forgive me if I have some old fantasies that refuse to die." Hell, if Hinata was still around, he'd want to fuck her too! She was just s cute! The poor thing... But, what's done is done. (3)

The blond couldn't help but feel… unsafe when Sylvia's impish giggle brought his train of thought to a grinding halt.

"What're you thinking?" Naruto slowly asked with suspicion.

"Oh, nothing you have to worry yourself about, dear~!"

That didn't help in the fucking slightest!

Sylvia merely giggled again upon seeing the look sent her way.

1: As a former WoW player, I simply couldn't resist the reference... especially given that I was a Wrath baby.

Icecrown is named after a zone from World of Warcraft. Fond memories… I need to get back into that game, sometime. That aside, I thought this name would be quite fitting as the castle in question is 'on top of the world' in this story.

2: Elenda is named after Elenda, the Dusk Rose - a legendary vampire from Magic: the Gathering. Meanwhile, Rizaado is the Japanese name of Charmeleon from Pokemon.

Also, fun fact: when I first heard Rigald's name in the sub I'd watched (which was pronounced 'Rigarudo', by the way), I was legitimately hoping that the official translation of his name would be Rigaldo because it made him sound like an evil luchador… which I found hilarious. Needless to say, I am very disappointed.

3: I don't know about y'all, but I find it easy to picture Naruto having feelings for both Sakura and Hinata, with the former simply being more pronounced and obvious given that she's his teammate. Of course, he'd like them both for different reasons. Naruto did canonically state that he liked people like Hinata. In the dub, he stated that he finds her cute if memory serves, so take that as you will, lol. In either case, Naruto finding her cute is my headcanon on the matter.

And that is that for now. Given how little has actually happened, though, I'm thinking I should upload a bonus chapter for this month. Look forward to Chapter Twenty-Four next week, eh? :)