Chapter 22
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Ninja Gaiden or DOA
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So now they've released Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and now we have a Cyborg Riadou and Schoolgirl Honoka. I'm not even going to try with Raidou. I had plans for him but it seems Donovan beat me to the punch with his corpse. As for Honoka, it seems she's got red eyes and an odd hair color like Ayane and has copying powers like Raidou. All evidence points towards Honoka being another illegitimate daughter of Raidou's but who knows? I can't keep up. Here's chapter 22:
Last time:
"….What about this Nezumi person?"
Naruto said darkly, "He poisoned my family. He is mine. Get clear when you see him because when I catch him it will be a bloodbath and he'll die.
Lei Fang cringed a bit at that part. She had no doubts that Naruto was going to kill this Nezumi person. She closed her eyes for a moment and steadied her resolve.
"Are you ready?" asked Naruto. "This is your last chance to turn back."
"I'm ready." she said. "Let's do this."
Block twenty eight, Laguna City
Nezumi was sitting in his office meditating on recent events. After he was killed by that Russian assassin he awoke and saw two women.
Flashback….
"Lady Ishtaros, I believe he could be of use to us; his last words were curses at Sage Uzumaki Naruto. Is he not the one you fear my Lady?" asked a very petite woman in a cheongsam dress of (apparently) Chinese descent. She was talking to a tall blonde woman that looked very imposing to Nezumi.
The blonde woman growled, "I fear nothing Eclissia. Never forget your place with me!"
The now named Eclissia visibly cringed. "Forgive me my Lady; I was completely out of line. I just know the Sage's name and I knew you wanted to get rid of him. This one could help us perhaps." she said as she looked at the now awakened Nezumi.
Ishtaros turned to Nezumi and said, "What is your name worm?"
Nezumi trembled "I-I am Nezumi, my Lady."
"You belonged to the Black Spider Clan, yes?" asked Ishtaros. Nezumi nodded uncertainly. "I brought you back from death itself Nezumi. I was even kind enough to bestow you a new arm and eye. You exist solely to serve me, Lady Istaros, the Greater Fiend of Creation. You belong to me now and will bow to my wishes or I will send you back on the path to hell you were on. Do we have an understanding?"
Nezumi crawled up into a kneeling position, "I am yours to command my Lady." he said fearfully.
Ishtaros looked at the shaking man disdainfully. "He isn't worth my time or power Eclissia. Take this….minion and do what you will with him." She turned back to Nezumi and said, "This is Eclissia, one of my captains. For some reason she sees potential in you that I do not. You will serve her until I say otherwise." Ishtaros looked back at Eclissia. "If you manage to do significant harm to Sage Uzumaki Naruto or destroy him with this pawn then you'll be in my favor Eclissia. I have other places to be." With that Lady Ishtaros seemed to vanish through some sort of portal. Nezumi remembered Obaba had some dealings with the Greater Fiend Ishtaros and he was petrified of her by reputation alone.
Eclissia watched her master leave and sighed. "Well Nezumi, you are a fiend now so the least you could do is stop cowering like that. Unlike Lady Ishtaros I have a use for you. Tell me about this Sage Uzumaki Naruto…."
Flashback end….
From there Nezumi told Eclissia of all his eternal hatred for Uzumaki Naruto and his undying love for Aoi-sama. It took time but eventually he and Eclissia pooled their ideas to poison the Uzumaki Clan. Aoi-sama would have to come to Lei Fen for the ingredients to the antidote and Nezumi could rescue her from Uzumaki's vile clutches. Using the spirit to posses that Hien clan member that cooked for the Uzumakis worked beautifully so now all he had to do was wait. He'd been set up by Eclissia to remain in charge of this minor triad and wait for Aoi-sama's arrival.
The only real thorn in his side was the mercenary bodyguard that Lady Eclissia hired to 'protect' Nezumi. He was an insufferable asshole by the name of Kamikaze Yaiba….Nezumi would admit the man was ridiculously strong. Yaiba wielded the Tempest blade and apparently killed the whole Kamaitachi clan to get it. Yaiba called the blade Heartless for some reason or other. The two didn't get along at all. Nezumi thought the muscular, black haired ninja was arrogant, sadistic and rude. Nezumi felt that Yaiba had no qualities that make a good ninja but he had killed several Hayabusa ninja though so that did earn him some points in Nezumi's book.
The two were currently arguing as usual. Yaiba said, "Nezumi you little pussy! Can't you read the tension? There's blood in the air and I can feel it!"
Nezumi growled, "Moron! We have two fiend guardians outside along with four human guards, not to mention I'm a powerful fiend myself! Just stay put."
Yaiba had been pacing around like a big cat locked in a cage for the last hour and he was about ready to attack Nezumi. "You haven't shown me any power you spineless little shit. A real ninja wouldn't be stopped by one of those worthless low level fiends out there."
About that time an explosion rocked the office blowing the door down and the disembodied head of a fiend crashed into the desk Nezumi was at shattering it in the process. Nezumi's eyes grew big as saucers and he gasped out, "U-Uzumaki!" as he saw Naruto through the hole in the wall standing there with the Kusanagi in hand.
"I've been looking for you Nezumi." said Naruto. Beyond the angry blonde was Lei Fang along with some shadow clones pummeling the triad members who were trying to provide reinforcements. Naruto barely had time to react when the berserker Yaiba attacked him with the Tempest Blade. The two locked blades briefly and sparks flew everywhere as they engaged in a fierce duel.
Yaiba yelled out, "This is what I'm talking about!" as he increased his speed of attack. Naruto was knocked back was quickly regained his footing. The crazy, blue wearing ninja seemed to really be enjoying himself and Naruto was on the defense.
"Get the hell out of my way man!" yelled Naruto as he shoved Yaiba back. "I don't have time for you. Nezumi poisoned my clan! I want his head."
"Then you'll have to fight me to get it!" laughed the mercenary. Yaiba was having a blast! As their swords flashed and the sparks flew there was nothing but the thrill of battle. Nezumi had made this Uzumaki Naruto out like he was some kind of monster and Yaiba was overjoyed that he actually was! There were very few that could stand up to Yaiba in combat but this blonde kid was incredible. Yaiba was gaining the advantage though, slowly but surely….
Naruto's mindscape….
The blonde was freaking out. 'I don't have time for this nutcase, Nezumi has to die and I'm losing Kurama!'
'I told you; you should have charged in at full strength with Sage Mode Naruto.' scolded the nine tails.
'I haven't got time to switch to sage mode now and this guy's going to win if I don't do something!' Naruto pondered for a split second and said, ' ….juice me Kurama!'
'I thought you'd never ask, how much do you want?' asked the fox spirit gleefully.
'Give me two tail's worth!' The mindscape was flooded with red chakra….
Back in reality….
Naruto took another cut but was still going as Yaiba grinned savagely. They had their blades locked again but Yaiba knew he had this kid now. Suddenly Naruto's eyes blazed red and the chakra blast knocked Yaiba back. The mercenary watched dumbfounded as a chakra shroud with two tails formed. "What the fuck…?" asked the mercenary.
Before he could react, a red rasengan hit Yaiba in the chest with enough impact that the crazed ninja was blown back through the wall into Nezumi's office and out the window as the shockwave blew all the windows in the office out. Nezumi gaped as the powerful Kamikaze ninja soared out into god knows where. Naruto's voice sounded feral now. "I told him I didn't have time for him; now where were we? Oh yes….I was about to kill you Nezumi!"
"I-I have to escape!" yelled Nezumi terrified as he vaulted out the window. Naruto was dumfounded for a second and then rushed to the shattered windowsill and looked out. Down below he saw Nezumi transform into some kind of crested pterodactyl/man thing and level out in flight.
Naruto made a dozen shadow clones and said, "Clean this place out and get Lei Fang clear. Nezumi is mine!" as he leapt out after Nezumi.
Nezumi leveled out in flight several stories below. He was frightened but at the same time he was reveling in the power this fiend form gave him. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor he decided to withdraw….Only for the horrid sensation of Naruto's feet planting straight into his back to make him shriek in pain!
"You really didn't think you were going to get away after what you pulled did you Nezumi?" growled Naruto as his corrosive chakra burned into Nezumi's ribs.
Nezumi looked back wide eyed as he desperately tried to flip upside down up dive to shake Naruto of his back. He bucked and slid through the air terrified of what Naruto was going to do to him. Naruto stuck like glue with chakra through every gut wrenching maneuver. Nezumi shrieked, "You're insane! You not human; you're a monster!"
"You're one to talk fiend." said Naruto as he grabbed the crest on top of Nezumi's malformed heed and steered him straight towards the oversized mirror windows of the nearby Block twenty six. Nezumi desperately tried to veer off but Naruto kneeled down and brute forced Nezumi to stay on a collision course. The last thing Nezumi heard before impact was "Three tails…." from Naruto as the power output from Naruto skyrocketed.
Inside Block twenty six….
A board meeting for a clothes manufacturing firm was being held. An older man representing one of their client companies was giving a presentation extolling the virtues of the new line of one size fits all unisex lingerie he wanted to put into production. Two of the younger members of the board were cringing at the accompanying visuals while trying to look stoic and composed. The young man said, "This presentation is going to give me nightmares. I can't take much more of this." to his female coworker.
"I can't either." she replied bored. "I'm falling asleep at this freaky side show. I wish just once something interesting would happen."
One should always be careful what they wish for….
The large two story window that looked out over the Laguna City landscape suddenly imploded as the shrieking form of Nezumi came plummeting into the center of the large table the executives were all sitting sending glass flying. His screaming, pterodactyl like form was writhing in pain from the many shards of glass running him though. Naruto was still glued to his back and rode him across the table grinding the fiend's jaws down scattering teeth in the process. Nezumi finally slid into the electronics in the back that electrocuted the fiend causing him to scream even more. Then Naruto picked Nezumi up by digging his chakra claws into the fiend's shoulder. He drew the Kusanagi and said darkly; "Say hi to the Yoru clan in hell for me." and then cleanly lopped Nezumi's mangled head of his shoulders. Nezumi exploded into mystic ash ending his existence forever….
Naruto looked around and saw he'd interrupted a high level meeting and everyone was staring at him. He felt a bit out of place and looked around for an exit as everyone continued to gape at him. Finally Naruto's blazing eyes fell upon the plus sized display dummy with an ungodly piece of unisex lingerie stretched across it and cringed at the horrific sight. He let out an "Ugghh!" sound in revulsion and destroyed the offensive piece of clothing and the dummy it was on with a slash of the Kusanagi's blade before he body flickered out….
The director of the board stood up calmly and resolutely said, "It seems that this new one size fits all unisex lingerie line is offensive even to murderous, fiery demons in human form. All in favor of dropping this line say aye."
"….AYE!" was the universal answer leaving the presenter in anime tears.
Back in Bock twenty eight….
Lei Fang had an interesting time thrashing the low level thugs of this particular triad. Any time she needed help one of Naruto's many clones was there. To be honest cutting loose like this was a thrill for the girl. She had actually faced a couple of creeps with pistols but she'd been fast enough to disarm them. Finally, one of the Narutos said, "Where done here! Let's pull out." Eventually it was Lei Fang and three Narutos riding the elevator down. They'd all used some ninja trick to change their hair color and clothing colors.
"How did you do that?" Lei Fang asked one of the Narutos. "Which one of you is the real one?"
One Naruto scratched his head. "Well, to tell you the truth, none of us are the real Naruto. Boss jumped out the window after Nezumi. I'm sure he'll meet us back at the bus stop."
Lei Fang's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates "We were on the twenty-third floor!"
Another Naruto said, "Eh, no big deal. Boss is fine. Let's just head back to your Grandmother's place."
They soon exited Block twenty eight and didn't notice a dump truck headed for a landfill nearby with a moaning Kamikaze Yaiba in the back. He had been saved from certain death by landing in the soft garbage. Other than most of the bones in his body being broken he was just fine….it was nothing a few months in a body cast wouldn't fix.
Lei Fang's group was soon at the empty bus stop waiting when the real Naruto came strolling up. Taking the offered scrolls from his clones he dispelled the three and said. "Well done Lei Fang. You kept a level head and gauged the ebb and flow of the fight well. Are you hurt in any way?"
"I'm okay; I got a few bruises though." answered Lei Fang tiredly. "What exactly happened after you jumped out the window?"
Naruto said nonchalantly, "The objective was achieved; it just was a bit more problematical than I expected." he said no more after that.
The two teenagers peacefully rode the double decker bus back over to Lei Fen's shop. It was getting close to evening when they got back there. Lei Fang was getting sleepy since the adrenaline rush left her system although Naruto seemed unaffected. As they entered Lei Fen's shop she came out from behind the counter to greet them and once again flipped the door sign to 'closed.' The old herbalist smiled gently and said, "How did things go?" as they all sat down.
Naruto said, "Nezumi is history and Lei Fang did excellent in a pitched fight. She has a couple of bruises and scrapes but she said….ummm, Lei Fang?"
"….ZzzzZzzz…."
Lei Fen smiled, "It seems your little play date wore my Granddaughter out." said Lei Fen. "How did she do? Did she remain calm?"
Naruto nodded. "She was very cool and level headed throughout the fight. She was reading the battle accurately and knew when to advance and when to fall back intuitively. I believe given time and experience she'll be superb. It's obvious Lei Fang has all the right instincts. I believe she will become a master some day."
"Good, very good." said Lei Fen. "It seems my instinct in furthering her education was the correct one." The older woman smiled at her sleeping Granddaughter. "She looks so sweet and innocent when she sleeps. Who would believe she was such a little tigress? I have your order together Naruto; I trust you'll be rushing back to Japan soon?"
"I'll be headed for the airport as soon as I collect the order and pay for it. As soon as a flight out is available I'm going." said Naruto.
"Since you've helped with Lei Fang's education and eliminated that fiend problem I've discounted it a bit." said the herbalist as she handed the total to Naruto.
The blonde's eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling. "This is a discount?! I'd hate to see the full price."
"Normally in life or death situations I charge triple that." she replied kindly.
Naruto shook his head, "I trust you'll take a Visa?" he said handing her the card.
"Indeed I do young man." she answered with a smile.
Naruto left a note for Lei Fang praising her fighting skills and to say goodbye before he took off into the night.
Hong Kong International Airport
Naruto was soon stowing away in the cargo hold of an airliner heading back to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. He'd originally intended to buy a ticket but when the opportunity to get back to Japan faster came up he jumped at the chance. Naruto made a shadow clone to keep lookout a slept all the way back to Japan with his precious cargo sealed in scrolls. He was awakened hours later by his clone shortly before the aircraft landed. Donning his ninja gear he waited until they started unloading the airliner before he stealthily slipped out of the Haneda Airport with no one being the wiser.
Naruto was soon racing along at top speed and made it to the Hayabusa Village at about four in the morning. Verifying his identification with the village guards the exhausted clan head arrived at home with all the necessary ingredients for the antidote. He was dog-tired and took a shower. Then he waited till sunrise before he woke up Aoi-chan to make the antidote. He had checked on each of his sleeping himes and found they were resting peacefully even though they were wheezing heavily.
Aoi woke up to someone shaking her gently. Cracking her tired eyes open she saw Naruto hovering over her with concern in his eyes. "Aoi-chan, you need to wake up! I brought the Mu Xiang so you can make the antidote now."
Her eyes opened quickly and she noticed it was dawn from the light in her window. She hugged Naruto and said, "Thank you Naruto-koi. You're my hero. Let me get dressed so I can inspect the Mu Xiang." With that Naruto made shadow clones to take care of each of his wives and he waited for Aoi down in the kitchen with the scrolls of ingredients.
Within the hour Naruto and Aoi were over at the castle of the Dragon waiting for Kureha to come down so they could begin making the antidote. It took about two hours to formulate the stuff. "There." said Aoi tiredly. "There's enough for everyone. It will take two doses every day for three days to purge the poison out. I'll be so glad when this is over." She drank down her first dose of the antidote and grimaced at the flavor as it went down. "I'd forgotten how strong this stuff was. Let's take this back to the compound to the girls and Chiharu. Chiharu needs it the worst." With Kureha in tow, Aoi and Naruto went back over to the Uzumaki Compound to administer the medicine.
Naruto's wives were all up by then but were rather lethargic although they were very happy to have Naruto's clones pampering them. Naruto and Aoi came in and gave everyone their first dose of medicine. They all blanched at the taste but felt it was a lot better than the alternative of dying. Chiharu was bedridden and Aoi and Kureha had to help her take her medicine. All of the girls got drowsy after that (a side effect of the antidote) and Naruto helped his wives back to bed leaving a clone to snuggle with each of them to keep them warm. Naruto sat down and had some tea with Kureha after he made sure everyone was settled.
"This is the first time in a week I haven't been totally stressed out." said Naruto in a very fatigued voice. "I can't wait until my himes are all better."
Kureha nodded slowly as she sipped her tea. "After three days of medicine they'll all still be weak but they'll get there energy back soon. You did very well Naruto. That reminds me, was there any sign of Nezumi? If he's still out there…."
"I took Nezumi's head with the Kusanagi." said Naruto in an iron tone. "He'll never bother anyone ever again."
"That's a relief." replied the shrine maiden. "Was he cooperating with the fiends like we suspected?"
"He had somehow actually become a fiend Kureha. I don't know all the details but everything that was in his office including a desktop and laptop computer I sealed up and brought back with me." answered the blonde. "Hopefully Ryu has some people that can look them over."
"He does Naruto. Between us and the Mugen Tenshin Clan we should easily be able to get the data out of those computers." she said. "I'm sure Ryu and Jô-sama will be very interested at what's in them. Get some sleep Naruto. You look exhausted. I'll inform Ryu and we'll come back this evening after dinner and talk then."
After Kureha departed, Naruto cleaned up the tea set and went up to sleep with Hinata. Of all his wives somehow her presence still calmed his soul the most….Hinata felt the clone she was sleeping with dispel and opened her tired eyes. "Naruto-kun…?"
"I'm exhausted Hinata-hime. Can I sleep with you?" asked Naruto. She smiled and let him slide into her futon beside her. Naruto snuggled up into her bosom feeling her scent calm him. "I love you Hinata-chan. I've missed you all so much."
Hinata curled her arms around him and said, "We missed you too my love. Just rest for now Naruto-kun. I'll be here when you wake up." She kissed his forehead and the pair drifted off to sleep contentedly.
Laguna City, Hong Kong
The fiend Eclissia looked at the camera footage she had retrieved from Nezumi's office. She watched Kamikaze Yaiba as he brutally attacked Naruto and was impressed that Naruto was able to match the crazed criminal ninja given he was strong as most fiends. That's when she saw Naruto enter his two tailed form and completely blow Yaiba away. He jaw fell open as the camera in the back room vibrated badly and showed the mercenary fly through the wall and out the window and all of the other windows explode outwards from the shockwave. Her cleanup squad was already taking care of any signs of illegal activity on that floor.
Eclissia set up that low level Triad strictly to test the Sage's strength and she found she'd completely underestimated the blonde. When she was onsite at the office collecting the cameras the corrosive red energy the Sage let out still lingered. She tried to absorb some of it to examine but it burned her rather badly and it took awhile to regenerate from the damage to her skin. Just what the hell was this Uzumaki Naruto anyway? Accord to what little information she had he was human but the video she'd just witnessed told an entirely different story that belied him being a mere human. No wonder Lady Ishtaros was afraid!
At least Eclissia's plan to draw out the Sage had worked. The details were scant on Nezumi's exact nature of death but she'd felt her expendable little puppet die regardless. The news reports had it that Nezumi foolishly exposed himself to the public in his fiend form and tried to fly away. Sage Naruto somehow ended up on Nezumi's back and drove him into the side of Block twenty six where he died. She figured the story would eventually leak out through the local occult newspapers as some kind of fanciful battle between demons or monsters but she personally wasn't going to follow up on it for curiosity's sake alone. Actual footage would be useful but third hand word of mouth wouldn't.
Eclissia concluded that a fiend of her level of strength simply wouldn't be able to match Sage Uzumaki head on. That begged the question of whether or not even Lady Ishtaros could do it herself. At any rate, Eclissia figured she could probably hurt the Sage but ultimately she would pay for it with her life. Lady Ishtaros had four other captains besides Eclissia competing for her favor throughout Asia and the fiend of Hong Kong felt it would be prudent to team up with a couple of them. She hadn't stayed alive hundreds of years by being foolish. Eclissia concluded that if she pooled her resources with one or two others she might be able to not only eliminate this Sage but also some of her fellow captains in the process. Climbing up the ladder in Lady Ishtaros' hierarchy was a long road of bones after all….
Lei Fen's Shop
"You could have waked me up so I could have at least said goodbye Granny!" pouted Lei Fang. "It isn't everyday you find someone like Naruto. I would have liked to exchange phone numbers with him….or at least email addresses."
Lei Fen smiled at her cute Granddaughter's antics. "You may cross paths again someday Lei Fang. His family was poisoned and he had to rush the ingredients for the antidote back to Lady Aoi so she could formulate it. He wrote you that goodbye note while I rang up his purchase. Once he sealed everything up in one of his ninja scrolls he was gone in a flash."
Lei Fang propped he hand up under her chin and said despondently, "Besides, he had a great ass and the rest was nice too…."
"Yes it was dear." replied her Granny indulgently.
The Mugen Tenshin Village
Hayate received a letter from Ryu reporting that Aoi formulated an antidote for the poison and that everything was going to be fine. He exhaled in relief. "Thank the gods…."
"Good news Hayate-sama?" asked Yomiko.
"Yes, Naruto returned from China with the ingredients for Aoi to make an antidote. The Uzumaki Clan is safe and the one that poisoned them is dead at Naruto's hands. Mother and Father will be thrilled to hear this." said Hayate.
Yomiko asked eagerly, "Then Nezumi-san is…?"
"Naruto took his head while in Hong Kong. It doesn't go into detail." stated the young clan head.
"Hmmm….It seems that Naruto-sama has grown into quite a stud." said Yomiko with an exaggerated sigh of longing. "Since you so cruelly refuse to take care of Yomiko-chan's needs maybe I should marry him too. I sure he's brilliant in the sack by now given he's keeping five women satisfied…."
Hayate didn't bat an eyelash. "You'll have to consult with his wives about that I'm sure." Yomiko pouted. "At any rate it's lunch time so I'm going to go to the main house and inform Mother and Father." With that Hayate went to visit his parents.
'Hmmm….I need to write Aoi-sama immediately.' thought Yomiko. She giggled mischievously. 'I'll consult her about Naruto-samas talents in bed while I'm at it.'
The Hayabusa Village, three days later….
The group had a meeting today at the Castle of the Dragon regarding the computers that Naruto had captured. Unfortunately it seemed that the Greater Fiend Ishtaros held some sort of umbrella over the criminal underworld. They'd discovered one fiend named Teiji that apparently had operations in the Kansai region of Japan centered around the city of Osaka was one of her captains. Likewise there was a fiend captain in Tokyo named Asuka. There was the decidedly non-Chinese sounding fiend Eclissia was captain in Hong Kong. The Hayabusa and Mugen Tenshin computer techs found references and links to five accounts: Osaka and Tokyo in Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China and the last in Bangkok, Thailand. This led them to believe that Istaros had at least five captains.
"I really thought the fall of the Vigoor Empire spelled the end of the fiends for now but it seems I was overly optimistic." said Ryu rather glumly.
Jô simply said, "The fiends have been entrenched in human society since time immemorial Ryu. You no doubt dealt a crushing blow to them but they weren't quite as exterminated as we hoped." He turned to Naruto. "It seems your little task to destroy Ishtaros and her twin you got from the Shinigami isn't so little after all Naruto."
Naruto felt the weight of his wives' stares upon him. They hadn't been too thrilled that the Shinigami of all beings had an errand for Naruto or that he accepted it. "I'm sorry himes! I didn't mean for it to be this big of a job. Anyway, it's still to help Kurama….please don't be mad."
Hinata sighed. "Well, it seems we Uzumakis are going to be in the fiend hunting business just as much as the Hayabusa Clan. I know you wanted to help our friend Kurama but didn't you think about the difficulties involved?"
"Well, I for one am fine with it." said Momiji in a resolute tone.
"Isn't that to be expected Momiji?" asked Ayane. "You were taught to hunt fiends since you were old enough to walk and talk. The rest of us weren't."
"I saw how the fiends have gradually corrupted the Black Spider Clan from within." said Aoi. "I'd rather be actively hunting them than having them hunt us. Count me in."
Kasumi groaned, "The difference is the Hayabusa Clan is hunting the fiends for righteous reasons because of the Dragon Gods. We Uzumaki's are doing it because our foolish husband made a deal with death. Does anyone see the irony here?"
Kureha laughed. "We of the Hayabusa Clan welcome our allies of the Uzumaki Clan in helping us destroy the fiends."
Ayane saw Naruto's depressed look. "Don't worry Naruto-kun, we forgive you. Even if it was stupid your heart was in the right place. Besides, it isn't like all five of us would force you to sleep on the couch."
Naruto immediately brightened up. "Thanks, Ayane-chan!"
'Must be nice….' thought Jô and Ryu grumpily as one.
That afternoon….
The sun was out for the first time in days and the entire Uzumaki Clan and Hien Clan were up and outside. Those that had been suffering from the effects of the poison where still winded but well and in a good mood. They were on the lawn bidding farewell to their guest Nyotengu now that she was fully healed. "I must return home until the matter of succession in the Tengu Tribe is settled. I am forever in your debt for not only saving my life but taking care of me until I was fully healed Naruto-sama. I still hope that we can form an alliance as originally planned but know that regardless I will always be an ally of the Uzumaki clan."
"Good luck Nyotengu." said Naruto. "Until we meet again."
Nyotengu bowed. "Until we meet again Naruto-sama." With that she vanished in a vortex of wind.
Naruto's wives were generally glad to see Nyotengu go. They didn't hate her by any means but all of them saw the underlying look of lust in the Tengu woman's eyes when she looked at Naruto. Aoi in particular had been guarding Naruto from her. Ayane simply didn't care for Nyotengu's arrogance. The violet haired kunoichi had seen how Nyotengu tended to view herself above mere humans but at the same time she had Naruto on a pedestal of adoration. (She did have a grudging respect for Hinata; Ayane figured seeing as Noh Akuto had been utterly annihilated by the pearl eyed kunoichi that Nyotengu didn't wish to have a go with her).
The others were ambivalent but now at least the Tengu woman wasn't eating their food and freeloading. Naruto's wives had temporarily formed an alliance to hide their individual snacks from Nyotengu (as opposed to each other) since she had a sweet tooth and second to none seemed to be a bonafide manjū addict. They wondered how anyone could eat that many sweets for over a thousand years without dying of diabetic shock. Naruto was absolutely clueless about the kunoichi cold war that had been going on around him over the various treats in his home. Each of his wives had a hidden cache of sweets in hidden compartments that Naruto had no idea even existed….
That evening….
Naruto was summoned back to the Castle of the Dragon by Ryu that evening. Ryu saw him come in and said, "I was looking at the data and one of the people I believe you fought was Kamikaze Yaiba. He holds the Tempest sword; did you kill him?"
"The berserker nutcase?" asked Naruto. "I may have blown him out of a twenty third story window but he sure as hell didn't die. I would have sensed it if he had."
Ryu hummed to himself and said, "Naruto, he acquired the Tempest sword from Mount Osore about a month ago and left the kunoichi Hayabusa Keiko at the top of it. I can't retrieve her and I'd like you to do so as a personal favor."
"You can't retrieve her Ryu? How am I supposed to then?" asked Naruto incredulously.
Ryu answered, "The Storm Temple at the top of Mount Osore is blocked by the Sanzu or River of Three Crossings that leads to the Underworld or so it's said. I can't cross it."
Naruto thought it was a bit odd but said, "So you want me to water walk across it then? If it's that simple then…."
"I wish it was that simple." sighed Ryu. "I would have retrieved her easily then. It's a river that reflects the sins we commit in life. When I went there it was a fiery inferno but when someone innocent sees just a river or even a bridge they can pass. Somehow, Yaiba managed to get across with Keiko and the abandoned her up there. While you were in China I was trying to rescue Keiko and ultimately failed. She was after Yaiba for the murder of her brothers so I don't know what sort of trick he used to get her to go with him. At any rate, I'm asking you just to try to cross the river and rescue her. I don't want to leave one of our own up there. If you can't cross the river then just turn back."
"When do you want me to leave?" asked Naruto.
"Thank you." said Ryu. "Leave tomorrow morning. I'll have a helicopter arranged for you. It's in the far north and will be a long trip to Mount Osore and back without one."
POSTSCRIPT:
Well, now we have the basic premise for the Fiend Hunter's Arc; Naruto and his family have a lot of work cut out for them. Kicking off there will be one little solo mission (Mount Osore) for Naruto before the real fiend hunting starts. There will be other side adventures as well but this arc will be churning in the background for quite a while. I'm planning on writing some more adventures for the kunoichis as well since that was pretty well accepted during the Yoru Clan arc (and isn't like they are mere sidekicks anyway).
A note on Nezumi's death: I really, really wanted there to be some spectacular battle but let's face the fact that Nezumi was more spineless than a jellyfish. I added Kamikaze Yaiba in there to spice it up a bit but in the end Nezumi died just like he lived; just plain pathetic. By the time I got rid of him it was pretty cathartic. See you next time. Blue out. 2/18/15