Chapter 14
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Ninja Gaiden or DOA
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I'm taking a lot of liberty with the plot of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword since many character dynamics have changed due to characters like Kureha still being alive and Aoi being added to the mix. Hope you enjoy!
Last time:
"I don't see how you aren't totally exhausted Naruto-sama. Travelling that way with passengers at those kinds of speeds is unbelievable!"
"I admit I am a bit winded" said Naruto as he downed his tenth bowl of steaming hot ramen. "The food of the gods really hits the spot. Give me about an hour and we'll head out again."
After making sure the kids all had bathroom breaks and making sure everyone was full, Naruto created a new batch of clones and dispelled his old ones since their chakra was running low. They took off again at a slightly slower pace and arrived at the Hayabusa Village just as the sun was setting. They were all tired but as predicted they'd made it there in record time. Naruto himself was completely exhausted.
Ryu and Kureha welcomed them to the village but decided to wait until the next day to deal with formalities. The Uzumaki and Hien clans decided that calling it a day was in order as they all entered the Uzumaki Clan compound. Most of the children were asleep the minute their heads hit the futons. Everyone else was tired too and after a shower Naruto was fast asleep also. Hinata supervised everyone else and got then organized for the evening. It was decided they could pick proper rooms for the Hien clan in the next few days. The main thing was the Hien Clan was safe and for that Akito and Akihito were eternally grateful….
The Haybusa Village
It had been nearly two weeks since the Uzumaki Clan returned to the village with the Hien Clan members. The Hien Clan found that the Hayabusa village was a friendly and peaceful place and were starting to get settled in. Inside the Uzumaki compound a certain indigo haired kunoichi was hard at work on her newest jutsu technique….
A full grown snow leopard was watching as Hinata said; "Summoning jutsu!" and two snow leopard cubs appeared. Hinata groaned in disappointment and the grown leopard laughed.
The two cubs raced over to Hinata purring happily. They were from the same litter, a little male named Merlin and his sister Morganna. "You summoned us both at the same time Hinata-chan! Now you are twice as awesome!" exclaimed Merlin.
"Just think, you'll be able to summon Mom and Aunt Lucretia in no time." praised Morganna.
Their Mother Mireille laughed again. "Hinata, you are learning well but I can tell you are getting tired. Let's all take small a break."
"Can we go play with the kids Mom?" asked Merlin eagerly.
"If it's all right with Hinata then it's okay with me." said Mireille.
Soon the two rambunctious cubs were playing with the Hien clan children who they had become friends with and Hinata sat down to rest a while.
In the forest nearby the village….
Aoi and Momiji were training together and the pair were relaxing before they went back. "I promised Sakura that I would gather some flowers for her Mother and Father's graves." said Momiji. "Will you help me Aoi?"
"Sure, why not?" answered Aoi. The two kunoichis had formed a bond of sorts and while they still found themselves at odds with one another from time to time they were getting along better.
They soon heard a scuffle and saw Sanji bolt out of the forest and towards the two girls. Behind him were the Okami triplets of the Black Spider clan's Dark Sect in hot pursuit followed by a group of low ranked Black Spider ninjas. The Okami triplets were up and coming members of the Dark Sect that had a distinctively wolf like appearance (hence their nickname) and specialized in tag-team attacks.
There youngest Okami brother exclaimed, "There's the shrine maiden! Capture her and-"
"What the hell are you three blockheads doing here?' asked Aoi angrily. "This is Hayabusa clan territory. Leave or Momiji and I will make you leave. I can't believe you've sunk to the low level of chasing little kids."
"Aoi-sama?" asked the eldest Okami brother. "Ummm….aren't you on our side and all? You're a member of the Black Spider Clan and we have orders from Obaba-sama to capture the shrine maiden with the Eye of the Dragon. Aren't you going to help us?"
"I'm part of the Uzumaki clan now." growled Aoi. "Why would I help you kidnap a fellow member of the Uzumaki clan?"
Momiji had her naginata at ready while Aoi had a pair of sais that she drew. They told Sanji to run back and alert the village and he took off like a shot.
The middle Okami brother had a resigned tone in his voice. "We'd better capture Aoi-sama too for her own safety." He turned to the Black Spider Ninjas and said; "Capture them both!"
'Oh, what a headache this is going to be.' thought the youngest brother as he and the others charged Momiji and Aoi….
Back in the Village….
Naruto was learning how to properly handle a tsurugi from Genjiro and Akito and was really getting a feel for it. He was already competent enough to at least hold opponents at bay without causing them to die laughing at his lack of skill. They were taking a short break when suddenly they heard an alarm go off in the village and immediately hurried back. When they arrived they found numerous Black Spider Clan ninjas battling the Hayabusa ninjas.
Naruto drew his chakra blade and said, "Most of them are moving towards the shrine. I'm not going to see this village wrecked again. Let's go!" Naruto created a hundred shadow clones and said, "Wipe them out." in an icy tone.
Outside the Uzumaki compound….
"I don't believe this! We go to pick up groceries and end up in a massive battle instead." yelled Ayane over the sounds of battle to Kasumi.
Kasumi growled, "What's worse is they ruined our groceries!" she said as she cut down an enemy with her wakizashi. "Don't let them get to the house. We have to keep the children safe."
Ayane paused and wondered about her sister's priorities….ruined groceries or keeping children safe….Ayane planned to bring that one up later.
Three Black Spider ninjas slipped by and charged towards the Uzamaki compound to attack it. Out of nowhere an angry snow leopard pounced on one of them and tore his throat out. Mireille was not happy and the two remaining attackers were very afraid of her. One fired off an incendiary shuriken at the house only to see it impact against some kind of barrier and bounce off harmlessly. "What the hell?" he asked. Then Hinata body flickered behind him and stuck him in the neck with a juken strike that ended his life. The third one was already dead as he was distracted by Hinata and Mireille attacked.
"Sorry I'm late." said Hinata. "I had to activate the security and barrier seals that Naruto-kun set up around the house. The children should be safe now so we are free to take the offensive."
"That's what I wanted to hear." said Ayane as she charged the enemy. Her kodachis were soon slicing the Black Spider Ninjas to ribbons.
Kasumi said, "She's so impulsive! I'd better back her up…." With that, the three kunoichis and one angry snow leopardess rained hell on their unfortunate foes.
Later, near the shrine….
"Well, that was a bloodbath." said Genjiro as he flicked the blood off his sword. He looked over the battlefield and saw the bodies of Black Spider ninjas everywhere. "These were all grunts though. Where are their leaders?"
Akito was rather shocked. "Naruto-sama and his clone army slaughtered them like cattle! I'm glad he's on our side."
By this time Ryu had reorganized his ninjas. A hundred angry Narutos had flanked the enemy and they never saw it was coming. He saw Genjiro and motioned him over. The original Naruto was already there. "Their goal seemed to be to capture Kureha for some reason." said Ryu. Then he corrected himself. "Actually they were trying to capture the shrine maiden. They didn't say whether they meant Kureha, Momiji or both. Kureha is safe but we don't know where Momiji is. We need to find her."
Naruto jerked suddenly having received a clone's memories. "Shit! Momiji and Aoi are outside of the village fighting the enemy according to Sanji. We need to find out exactly where they are from him!"
Within the hour the main attack had been repulsed but Aoi and Momiji were still missing. It took a few minutes but Sanji convinced Ryu to let him lead the way there. Closely guarding the young ninja, Ryu and Naruto and several Dragon ninjas were soon led to the spot the girls had been training at. The bodies of Black Spider Ninjas were everywhere but there was no sign of the girls. There was blood all over the place and judging by the damage on the corpses Aoi had killed as many as Momiji had.
"It looks like those wolf guys must have escaped with Momiji and Aoi…." said Sanji downheartedly.
"Summoning jutsu!" said Naruto scaring the daylights out of those around him. Lucretia appeared in a puff of smoke. "Lucretia! I need your help."
Lucretia looked around at the rather frightened Dragon ninja (except Ryu that knew about the contract). "Hmmm….Well Naruto, it seems you've gotten into another fine mess. Is there something worthy for me to hunt here? I do have standards you know."
The Dragon ninjas all gawked at the talking Leopard until Sanji said, "Coooool! Naruto-nii you are so awesome!" Everyone stared at him and sweat dropped.
Naruto lowered his head down to face Lucretia nose to nose. "Three wolf men have captured two of my mates Lucretia. I want to rescue them and slay the wolves."
Lucretia could feel the bloodlust dripping off Naruto. She narrowed her eyes and asked. "Which of your mates were taken?"
"Momiji and Aoi." said Naruto gravely. "Lead me to them; I'll hunt those wolves to the ends of the earth before I give them up."
"The shrine maiden and the poison mistress?" asked Lucretia. Naruto nodded in reply. "I've learned their scents well since they are future summoners. Don't worry Naruto, we'll rescue your mates and get the vengeance you desire." she said in a reassuring tone. "I can smell the stench of wolves in this direction."
Naruto stood up and turned to Ryu. "I'm going wolf hunting Ryu. I'll bring Momiji-chan and Aoi-chan back if it's the last thing I do." He made about fifty clones and said to them, "Help Ryu any way you can and protect the girls. Obaba's head is going to roll for this. Lucretia and I are going."
"Good luck Naruto." said Ryu. "As soon as the village is completely secured I'll be going after them too." Naruto nodded and followed Lucretia into the forest.
The Black Spider Enclave….
Obaba was positively furious at the Okami triplets. The three were quaking in their boots as she yelled at their cowering forms. "You idiots! Not only did you rough up Aoi-chan but you grabbed the wrong shrine maiden! She obviously doesn't have the Eye of the Dragon on her." the old sorceress seethed. "Do you realize what you've done?! I ordered our forces to not lay a finger on the Uzumakis even if we managed to conquer all the Dragon ninja by surprise. Now I have no doubt that both Uzumaki and Hayabusa are going to be beating our doors down with blood on their minds. One or the other would be bad enough but both?! Arrrgh! Get out of my sight before I kill all three of you!"
The Okami triplets didn't need to be told twice and ran out as quickly as they could in their mangled states. Frankly, all three all received a brutal thrashing from Momiji and Aoi and wanted to crawl under a rock and lick their wounds. On top of that they'd lost all their men in the process of capturing Aoi-sama and the shrine maiden. They understood fearing the Dragon ninja (Hayabusa Ryu was legendary) but were wondering why Obaba-sama was so up in arms about this Uzumaki character.
They weren't too concerned until the youngest remembered that the Tengu brothers nearly died at Uzumaki's hands months ago and they couldn't lay a finger on him in return. Worse still, they realized that this was Aoi-sama's husband and from what she'd said to them the shrine maiden was married to him too. They hoped that they wouldn't run into him anytime soon….he would want the triplet's heads for kidnapping his wives!
With Naruto and Lucretia….
Naruto put away his chakra blade looking at all the carnage around him. He'd cut down around thirty low level Black Spider ninjas but the man in front of him was anything but low level. "I have to hand it to you boy; I'm guessing you're Aoi-sama's husband Uzumaki Naruto. You certainly aren't a match for me with a sword yet, but in a few years you could be a real threat…." he said brandishing his nodachi.
Naruto growled, "You know my name; why don't you tell me yours?"
"How rude of me. I am Genshin." said the tall ninja. "I'll give you a choice Uzumaki. I was told we are not to fight the Uzumaki clan but obviously those bumbling triplets attacked you. Obaba-sama forbade this. Go back and sit this out. I have enough rank and power that I can return Aoi-sama to you without further harm once this is over. This is a battle between the Black Spider Clan and the Hayabusa clan. You have no reason to involve yourself in this conflict. If you continue on this path I will cut you down. You have quite a blade there but it's no match for mine. Take your pet cat and go."
Naruto pulled out a scroll and sealed his chakra blade away. "Maybe you're right. The smart move would be to not face off with someone who is clearly a Master Ninja." Genshin nodded glad that the boy was actually listing to reason. Naruto pulled a different sword out of the scroll. "But you see, I'm not that smart and your people have captured two of my wives."
Genshin saw Naruto pull out a gleaming tsurugi. 'That blade is….' Naruto entered sage mode and the waves of killing intent and sheer bloodlust coming off the young man ware astronomical. Genshin braced himself. 'What is this boy?' he wondered.
Naruto's glowing, toad like eyes locked with Genshin's own. "You seem like a reasonable sort Genshin-san. Step aside and let me retrieve my wives and slay those wolves. Do that and there will still be a chance I won't drive the Black Spider clan into extinction."
"Strong words boy." said Genshin as he readied himself.
"You made your choice. You won't stand against this blade." said Naruto as he pulled the Kusanagi into a ready position and channeled wind chakra through it.
Neither of them moved for a second and then they both charged at each other with explosive speed. Genshin saw the boy didn't have as much experience with a tsurugi as he did with a katana. He would parry the tsurugi strike towards his head and cut the boy down in one fatal strike. It was a shame the young man was blinded by emotions for his wives; Genshin believed Uzumaki Naruto had real potential….
To Genshin everything was in slow motion. He simply had that much experience. He gracefully brought his nodachi up to block the tsurugi and saw the blue sparks from the impact. He had to grant Naruto one thing; the boy had incredible strength. All Genshin had to do was guide the tsurugi away from him now and- his nodachi chipped –it was breaking! –The tsurugi was cleaving through his blade like it was nothing! Genshin whipped his head to the side and dove to avoid the sword slash at the last instant.
The Master Ninja screamed in agony. Instead of losing his head he lost his right eye….the pain was unbearable. Genshin didn't even register Naruto's follow up kick to his ribs that broke several of them and sent him falling off of the path they were fighting on and into the shallow canyon below. He felt the air knocked completely out of him as he landed flat on his back, feeling shattered as his blade. He saw the boy glaring down at him with his blurry vision from his intact left eye before he passed out from the pain….
Naruto glared down at Genshin's broken form. He knew the man wasn't dead –far from it. He pondered whether he should go down and finish him off when Lucretia broke him out of his thoughts. "We have a trail to follow Naruto! We've wasted enough time with him. Your mates are still in danger you know."
Naruto shook himself and looked up at Lucretia apologetically. "I'm sorry Lucretia, let's get going. Momiji and Aoi are far more important than finishing this guy off."
Lucretia nodded. "Just calm down and focus. The heat of battle can cloud your judgment, you'll learn cub."
"Cub?! Hey now, I-"
"Come on Naruto!" Lucretia said as she darted off. She was quite pleased that her little jab at Naruto's pride got his head back into the game.
Obaba's Chambers….
"What have you done Obaba baa-sama?!" spat Aoi angrily. "I thought you wanted to be allies with the Uzumaki clan. Were you behind Nezumi all along?!" Aoi stared furiously into Obaba's eyes and saw….regret?
Obaba looked at her most favored grandaughter's beautiful, angry face and said, "This wasn't supposed to happen Aoi-chan. Nezumi is a traitor and my orders were to not lay a finger on the Uzumaki clan when we attacked the Hayabusa village…."
Aoi looked confused. "Then why? What do you want with the Eye of the Dragon?"
"Lady Ishtaros made me an offer I couldn't refuse." Obaba said cryptically. "Your husband is on his way. He just cut down Genshin on the eastern path though I sense Genshin survived."
For Aoi this was too much. "Naruto-sama cut down Genshin?!" Her eyes were as big as saucers. 'Just how strong is he?'
"He's coming for me next Aoi-chan." said Obaba tiredly. "Tell me Aoi-chan, do you love Uzumaki Naruto?"
Aoi was taken completely off guard by this question, "I-I do love him; I didn't mean to…." she said shamefully.
"Then I have no regrets Aoi-chan. I will fight him but win or lose I will let you escape with him before Lady Ishtaros arrives. It is all I can do for you." Obaba declared solemnly. "Do you want me to kill this one?" she asked motioning towards Momiji. "This shrine maiden doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things."
"Please let Momiji live." said Aoi. "Naruto-sama would be very sad if you killed her."
Obaba suspected that Aoi actually had become friends with this girl but decided not to call her out on it. "Very well granddaughter, I-"
The doors to Obaba's chambers were completely obliterated by a wind rasengen. When the dust cleared the light behind Naruto made him appear as a silhouette with glowing eyes hovering like a dark specter in the doorway. "Obaba! Release my wives and face your death like a shinobi! You've gone too far this time….it's time to pay the price…."
Obaba cut the ropes holding Aoi and Momiji down. "Take her and go Aoi-chan. Your husband and I are going to have a little talk about….respect."
Aoi wanted to argue but the killing intent between Obaba and Naruto was suffocating. She whispered, "Thank you….Grandmother…." as she picked up Momiji's prone form and ran out when Naruto stood aside. Aoi ran down the hallway out of the range of the upcoming fight. She didn't know why but she had tears running out of her eyes for that hateful old woman. She quickly finished untying Momiji while Lucretia stood guard.
Back in Obaba's chambers….
Obaba cackled as she saw Naruto step down to face her. "If you want Aoi-chan to live you'd better fight well, Uzumaki Naruto!" With that she unleashed a bolt of energy that Naruto barely dodged. Using the aid of her magic crystal, several weapons in the room levitated at her will and flew at Naruto. He countered with his clones and his finger blades wind jutsu and quickly started dismantling everything she threw his way. She laughed every time one of her energy bolts hit Naruto only to discover it was a shadow clone. The game of cat and mouse went on for some time before Naruto grew irritated started counterattacking.
He released a wind: great breakthrough jutsu that demolished everything in its path and reduced the remaining furniture in the room to splinters. Obaba used her crystal to create a shield to defend against the wind but saw it shatter as Naruto demolished it with a wind powered rasengan. The ancient sorceress moved with shocking agility for someone of her age and tried to hit him with and energy bolt point blank only to find she couldn't. Looking down she saw a gleaming tsurugi sticking out of her. It was run straight through her heart. "K-Kusanagi…." was the last thing she said before she fell dead in a pool of her own blood.
Naruto pulled the blade out and flicked the blood off of it before he noticed something enormous was coming. He heard Kurama's voice in his head. 'Time to grab your vixens and run Naruto! Some kind of huge power is flowing into that corpse; it might explode!' Deciding his furry friend was probably right Naruto created two shadow clones to grab the girls and carry them out while he bulldozed a path out if need be. The explosion of power behind them nearly blew them over as they ran out. Naruto didn't look back or stop running until he and his wives were well clear on the eastern path that led to the village.
Finally, Naruto stopped to check on his wives and Lucretia. Panting, he felt Aoi hug him tightly as she cried. "I'm sorry I took so long Aoi-chan." He and Aoi shared their first kiss as he comforted her in his arms. After about five minutes they released each other from their embrace and she smiled softy through her tears.
"That's the first time you've called me Aoi-chan, Naruto-sama." she said before she gave him a peck on the lips.
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I guess it is Aoi-chan. I guess you should call me Naruto-kun now like the other girls." She gave him a smile that lit up her whole face at his declaration.
"Ahem." came Momiji's voice. "I hate to break this up but that energy I'm sensing feels like a greater fiend or worse to me."
"Are you okay Momiji-chan?" asked Naruto concerned.
"I'm fine Naruto-kun. I've been awake for quite awhile now." answered Momiji. "Thank you for saving me from Obaba, Aoi."
"You were awake then?!" asked Aoi.
Momiji nodded, "Yep, I played dead because I didn't want to draw her attention. I'm glad you truly love Naruto-kun too." Aoi blushed atomic red as Momiji laughed at her expense.
"What's this?" asked Naruto.
"We'll discuss it later Naruto-kun!" said Aoi suddenly feeling shy and self conscious for some unknown reason.
Lucretia spoke up. "Well, as fun as this little adventure has been, I'm running low on chakra. I trust you can get you mates home safely Naruto?"
Naruto nodded, "Yes Lucretia. Thank you so much for your help." Lucretia nodded and dispelled.
"Do you think that power is Ishtaros, Aoi?" asked Momiji.
"Who is Ishtaros?" asked Naruto.
"Ishtaros is a greater fiend that Obaba was working with. She is called the Greater Fiend of Creation." explained Aoi. "I don't know much about her except she made an offer to Obaba said she couldn't refuse. I don't know what the offer was though."
"Well, be that as it may, we need to head back to the Hayabusa Village and report our findings to Ryu-sama and the others." said Momiji. "Another attack could start soon."
Meanwhile in Obaba's chambers….
"Consider yourself fortunate that I still have use for you Obaba." said Ishtaros angrily as she revived the old sorceress. She watched as Obaba morph into a fiend before her eyes. "This new form I have granted you should enable you to retrieve the Eye of the Dragon. I am disappointed in your performance so far. If you fail me again I'll destroy you myself."
Obaba looked at her new spider-like fiend form and felt drunk with power. She cackled loudly. "Do not worry Lady Ishtaros. With this power I will be able to perform this task easily. But it will take months to rebuild our forces. I have no doubt that Uzumaki and Hayabusa's powers combined will be too much for the Black Spider Clan to handle at this point."
Ishtaros growled in frustration. "Uzumaki, he is the ancient one I sensed. His power still lingers here; the power of a sage."
"A sage, Lady Ishtaros? I do not understand." said Obaba with confusion in her tone.
"Sages are powerful beings that existed before the rise of the Dark Dragon." explained Ishtaros. "It is said that a sage linked to some form of bird was responsible for spawning the Tengu race. We must not take him lightly. If he combines his power with the Dragon ninja then all my plans with be laid to waste. I am going now Obaba. Re-gather your forces and await my orders. Your mistakes you made this time cost us dearly." With that Ishtaros disappeared in a portal leaving Obaba alone to ponder what she'd heard.
Obaba's elation at her new form was diminished somewhat. 'If Uzumaki Naruto is indeed a sage like Lady Ishtaros says then he may end up being more dangerous than the Dragon Ninja once he's fully grown….He cut down Genshin and actually succeeded in killing me….and he's still just a teenage boy….' Obaba had no delusions of winning him over through Aoi-chan now. Aoi-chan was now on his side as well; how could Obaba blame her? Uzumaki Naruto proved beyond a shadow of a doubt just how strong he was this day and Obaba taught Aoi to always side with the strong. It was only the natural order of things for Aoi-chan to become bonded to him. Obaba had a lot to think about….
The Hayabusa Village
One of Naruto's clones came in and reported the situation to Ryu about Ishtaros being involved and the girls being rescued. He also explained that Obaba was after the Eye of the Dragon. The original Naruto would be back in a couple of hours since he was travelling slower because of Momiji and Aoi's injuries. Everyone was relieved to hear the news. Whatever forces the Black Spider clan had in the area had fully retreated by then.
The question on Ryu's mind was 'What were their goals? If it was true that Obaba was acting under the bidding of Ishtaros and the raid here was to capture Kureha and Momiji in order to get the Eye of the Dragon then they must have had a purpose in something larger. What else is strange was they sent only low quality ninjas to do the job. They must have believed quantity would outweigh quality.' The whole situation of the greater fiend's involvement did not sit well with Hayabusa Ryu at all.
Two hours later Naruto, Aoi and Momiji made it back to the village and were given a big welcome and Hinata tended to Momiji and Aoi's injuries. The Uzumaki compound was untouched and the rest of the village only received minor harm. Considering the surprise nature of the attack they were very fortunate to have suffered so little damage. The casualties were low as well but the Black Spider forces that attacked were lower and middle ninjas. They only had numbers and Naruto's clones evened the playing field in both quantity and quality.
A few days later….
Hayabusa Jô returned from his training trip only to find the village in a strange state: It was damaged and seemed to be in the rebuilding process. He went directly to the Castle of the Dragon and found his son talking with Kureha, Genjiro and Naruto. Jô was shocked and horrified over the massacre that took place months ago. On the other hand he saw that the group had all grown stronger for it and hadn't given in to despair. He was immensely proud of their performance in his absence. It took hours to explain all that had happened and Jô was stunned more than once by the bizarre happenings that took place.
In spite of his serious demeanor he couldn't help but face-palm at the actions of his old friend Shiden that led to Naruto ending up with a harem of all things. Naruto explained that he and his wives were settling into their situation and he believed that they were going to be happy in spite of the problems. It would be several days before Jô would have all of the information in hand since so many things had happened. The villagers seemed elated to have their clan head back though and a quiet celebration was held to honor his return.
In spite of all the hardships, the Hayabusa Village grew stronger for it and Jô couldn't have asked for more from his people and his son….
The next day….
Naruto and his wives welcomed Jô into their clan home and he met and greeted the former Hien villagers and gave his condolences for their loss. He saw the newcomers as being welcome additions to the village and felt that Akito and Akihito's skills as both teachers and fighters were going to be a great asset to their new home. He later sat down alone with Naruto for some tea to discuss things.
"Naruto, you and Hinata have helped the village in more ways than I'd imagined possible." said Jô gratefully. "You haven't done too badly for yourself either. You have a fine home here, five beautiful wives and retainers to boot. What are you planning for the future? Do you want to start your own village someday?"
"Not really." answered Naruto. "Everyone in the family is happy here and now that Aoi-chan has cut her ties with the Black Spider Clan I feel safe that she's no longer some sort of spy."
"Was she an actual spy?" asked Jô. It wouldn't have surprised him in the least if she was.
Naruto half shrugged. "I guess she was sort of a sleeper agent. Aoi-chan explained to me that Obaba wanted her to seduce me into joining the Black Spider Clan but we all saw how that turned out. She no longer wants to associate with them. On two occasions she was injured by members of her former clan. One was a psycho that tried to kill her because she never loved him and then there are the Okami triplets that will suffer by my hand for what they did to her and Momiji-chan. She told me that Obaba let her go in the end. I guess the old witch may have had a shred of humanity left in her before she died; assuming she stayed dead of course."
Jô raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by stayed dead Naruto?"
"Her body was being infused with a massive amount of energy when I left. I'm assuming it was from the Greater Fiend Ishtaros." explained Naruto. "There were jutsus in my time that could bring the dead back to life by infusing energy into the body. My friend Gaara was brought back to life by an elder from his village at the cost of her own life. There were other forbidden jutsus that could raise the long departed by sacrificing a human life to bring them back temporarily as puppets for the person that performed the jutsu. It wouldn't surprise me if this Greater Fiend Ishtaros wasn't able to do something similar. She is called the Greater Fiend of Creation after all."
"You sound pretty confident about this." said Jô. "It's a very disturbing thought though."
"Well, I have no proof." replied the blonde. "But I just couldn't think of any other reason to infuse a corpse with masses of energy. When I felt the energy building up I got the girls out of there and ran because I was afraid Obaba rigged her body as a bomb of sorts to take out anyone who killed her. In the end there was a powerful wave of energy released but it wasn't a physical explosion that would have killed anybody. That's why I thought of those forbidden jutsus."
"Nevertheless, it's something I'll have to take under advisement." said Jô in a grim tone. "I'd never have thought of such a thing but Obaba or Ishtaros may have figured out a way to bring her back. Obaba was over one hundred years old so devising a way to survive death does seem like something she would attempt. Fiends haven't got any moral issues when it comes to sacrificing lives either after all." Jô nodded to himself. "If Obaba is in fact alive in some way we will be prepared for it." Jô stood up. "Thank you for your hospitality Naruto. I need to meditate on this matter and talk to Kureha to see if the Dragon Gods have granted her any insight on this matter." Naruto walked Jô out of the compound and bid him farewell for now.
"So that's Hayabusa Jô-sama." said Aoi as she stepped out of the shadows. "He's quite an imposing figure. I see where Ryu-sama got his personality from."
Naruto turned to his auburn haired wife. "You didn't need to hide Aoi-chan. I could sense your presence so I'm sure he could."
"I just didn't want to interrupt your conversation." She paused a moment and then asked, "Do you really think Obaba could be alive still?"
Naruto nodded grimly. "From what you said she basically sold her soul to Ishtaros. There was a reason those jutsus were forbidden Aoi-chan"
Aoi questioned, "What do you mean?"
"Ishtaros may have brought Obaba back as some kind of puppet." explained Naruto. "There's no telling what Obaba even is now if she is actually alive."
Aoi saw the ancient look in Naruto's eyes. They looked far older than his body. It bothered her and she placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I love you Naruto-kun."
He blinked once and his eyes returned to their usual bright and glowing look. He smiled and returned her kiss. "I'm so happy we don't have to hide secrets from each other anymore Aoi-chan."
"I am too Naruto-kun. It makes me feel warm inside having our family together. I finally feel like I have a home." They held each other for a while and she basked in his warmth.
Two days later….
Naruto was enjoying breakfast with his family. Things had settled down and all his wives seemed pleased to be together. After the scare of having Momiji and Aoi kidnapped all of them seemed to be a little closer. Naruto for once didn't have anything urgent to do so he was planning to relax and enjoy the company of his girls….needless to say those plans were shattered in an instant.
The young Dragon ninja Akio came from the aviary and knocked on the front door of the Uzumaki compound. He blushed when Kasumi opened the door clad in her Uzumaki Clan kimono. The large spiral on the back made her feel happy. She smiled and asked, "How may I help you?"
"I have an important message from the aviary. It is from the Mugen Tenshin Clan addressed to Uzumaki Naruto-sama, Kasumi-sama." he said.
Kasumi turned business-like and said, "Follow me." as she led the ninja in to see the others.
They entered the dining area and he blushed again seeing all Naruto's wives dressed in kimonos of the same design but with different colors and trims. 'Gods Naruto-sama is so lucky.' At Kasumi's cough to get his attention he turned to Naruto. Embarrassed, he stopped gawking at the girls and said, "I have a message from the Mugen Tenshin Clan from the aviary for you Naruto-sama." he said as he placed the scroll in Naruto's outstretched hand.
"Thank you Akio." replied Naruto. "How is the house coming? Are you and your grandparents settled in?"
Akio was a bit shocked. "You remembered me, Naruto-sama?"
"Of course I do; I remember everything my clones do." said Naruto matter-of-factly. "Do you need any more help with your house? I can send some clones if you need help."
"Thank you for asking Naruto-sama. My grandparents and I are just fine." said Akio. "If you don't need me I'll be headed back to the aviary. There is much to do."
Naruto nodded and thanked him before he showed Akio out. Returning to the dining area he found his wives all eagerly looking at the scroll. He stifled a chuckle before he sat down and opened it. He saw it contained two other scrolls as well; one of them had Aoi's name on it.
The main scroll was written in Hayate's script:
Naruto:
I hope this message finds you well. I have intelligence reports from our contacts in Tokyo. We have located Nezumi there. I've already dispatched a team to hunt him down but I felt you might want to be involved as you have much more personal reasons to track him down and kill him than the Mugen Tenshin clan does. It would do all of us good to see his life ended. I've included two other scrolls from Yomiko-san. One is a condensed report of Nezumi's whereabouts as of 18:00 last night. The other is a personal message from Yomiko-san to Aoi-san. She felt she needed to reassure Aoi-san about the situation. Apparently Yomiko-san has developed an attachment to Aoi-san during their conversations while Aoi-san was recovering.
If you decide to join in the hunt then please send me out a message before you leave the Hayabusa Village. I have already informed my contacts that you may be joining in this hunt but I need to know how many will be in your party to make accommodations for you. Please read the intelligence reports and get back to me.
-Hayate
Naruto opened the second scroll and saw that it was neatly typed out and Nezumi was seen hiding in the Shibuya area, specifically in Harajuku. "So what do you think about going to Tokyo girls?"
"Where in Tokyo, Naruto-kun?" asked Ayane.
"Some place called Harajuku. It's in the Shibuya ward."
"Harajuku?!" yelled Aoi and Kasumi as one. Naruto got a chill down his spine as the two got way too excited for his tastes. "Please take us, Naruto-kun!" they both said in unison again.
Since Naruto was obviously stunned, Hinata asked, "What's so special about this Harajuku place?"
"It is the center of youth culture and fashion here in Japan!" said Aoi excitedly. "Where have you been Hinata?"
Hinata answered flatly, "In another time period, remember?" Aoi looked embarrassed.
Kasumi was still at full steam though. "We must go there and shop! We need clothes to blend in with the regular populace and we have to look good doing it."
"Well, I would like to see it regardless. It's supposed to be quite amazing." Ayane interjected. 'I'm not a huge fashion plate but it wouldn't hurt to pick up some civilian clothes either.' she added mentally to herself.
Hinata was face-palming and Naruto looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he mentally watched his funds get flushed down the proverbial toilet.
Momiji asked the most important question though, "Why are you asking us if we want to go to Shibuya and Harajuku if you don't know anything about it Naruto-kun?"
Naruto then said in a cold tone, "That bastard Nezumi is there. I'm going to have his head for attacking our family and causing the destruction of the Hien Village. We're going there for blood, not shopping. Now who is coming with me?"
All of sudden, the room temperature dropped and Naruto saw the looks in his wives eyes; the look of hardened kunoichis. They all said simply, "I'm in."
"Then we're leaving as soon as arrangements are made." said Naruto.
Meanwhile….
Somewhere in Shibuya Nezumi got the ice cold sensation of someone walking over his grave. He had ditched those following him for the time being and didn't know why he felt that way.
Soon he would be running as if the very hounds of hell were right behind him….
LONG POSTSCRIPT:
Next chapter we'll be taking a trip to Tokyo. A few things:
I always wondered how Genshin ended up with that eye patch so I came up with a reason. I thought it would give him and Naruto a reason to clash later on. Also, I did not mean to belittle Genshin's skill as a ninja at all. He is one truly tough opponent. The only reason Naruto won is because he was betting on the Kusanagi's cutting power and Genshin not being prepared for it (which is exactly what happened). Had the Kusanagi been a normal blade Naruto couldn't have won in a straight swordfight.
Another thing I've noticed is the Black Spider clan seems to have overwhelming masses of low level ninjas. While it's a characteristic of the Ninja Gaiden games for Ryu to cut down hordes of these guys, I'm trying to point out the reason this particular attack was repelled so easily was because this group was all low level compared to the Dragon Ninjas.
Ishtaros is far from out of the picture, she'll be back later along with her sister among others.
The Okami Triplets are OC's. They basically look like werewolves from the Underworld movies. I originally was going to have the faceoff be with the Tengu Brothers again but decided it would turn into a running gag if I did.
Lastly, I'm not going to include The Ninja Gaiden: Vampire War in the story. I know nothing about it except from the Ninja Gaiden Wiki and rather than completely botch it I'm simply going to ignore it. Traditionally it's not my style to do so but in this case I'm making an exception. Blue out. 11/23/14