Three Square Meals - Naruto Edition

by donalgraeme

Literally "Three Square Meals" by Tefler on Literotica with the main characters replaced by the Naruto cast. Either read my version or check out the original. The ULTIMATE Sci-fi harem story, for the record.

38. Chapter 38

Naruto woke the next morning feeling refreshed and happy. He'd slept through the night, undisturbed by any more terrifying dreams, so he trusted the hypothesis that Hinata had suggested was correct.

"At least if we add any more crew, I can be prepared next time," he thought to himself, relieved that the next nightmare might not come as a surprise.

The girls had abandoned their normal sleeping arrangements after the Sapphic orgy last night, with Hana and Hinata curled up together, and Tenten wrapped around Sakura. Naruto had Fu snuggled up next to him, and he stroked her dark green hair affectionately where she slumbered against his chest. It felt strange to just have an arm wrapped around one girl this morning, instead of being flanked by two lovely young beauties, and he marvelled at how truly spoilt he'd become for it to be an oddity to wake up next to just one beautiful woman.

Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she winked at him over Hana's tousled brown hair.

*Don't worry, this was just an anomaly. I'll make sure you're always surrounded by doting girls when you wake up,* she promised him with a telepathic giggle.

*Ah, don't mind me. It was sexy as hell seeing you girls enjoying one another last night,* he said, grinning at the memories.

*You're just too good to us,* Hinata said appreciatively, as she stared into his eyes, and leaned over to kiss Hana's cheek lovingly.

Naruto smiled and suppressed his laughter, but the vibrations in his chest disturbed Fu, and she sat up before stretching languidly. The lights in the room began to brighten, as the sensors around the room detected faster heart beats, as well as the increased movement in the bed at this time in the morning. The warm glow of the lights seemed to highlight the viridian swirls that emphasised Fu's curves, and he drank in the sight of her ravishing form appreciatively.

"You really spoiled me last night, Naruto," she said as she looked down at him with her cat-like garnet eyes. "I don't think I've ever climaxed that hard before," she added with a contented sigh.

"Think of last night as a prelude to the main event," he told her with a confident grin. "Your Master still owes you a good ravishing. I'm looking forward to showing you what it's like, being mated with a powerful man."

He stroked her thigh as he spoke to her, feeling the strong muscles beneath her smooth skin. She felt cool to the touch when he began to speak to her, but as she grew more aroused, her body temperature increased dramatically. Her pupils dilated widely, and her breathing began to grow more laboured, as she panted with lust.

"You know just the right things to say to me," she said excitedly, as she stared into his eyes.

"Of course. A man should know what stimulates his mates," he told her boldly. "But for now, my balls are full, and I'd like to feel your wonderful mouth at work."

Fu grinned with delight and moved lithely between his legs, before she paused for a moment, glancing over at the rose haired pinkette to the left of the bed. "Sakura...?" she asked him tentatively.

"Is eager to see what you can do. Why don't you show her one of your skills this morning?" he prompted her with a lewd wink.

The Nymph nodded eagerly, and then leaned forward, maintaining unblinking eye contact with him as she enveloped his cock with her mouth. She sank his whole length down her throat, then began to purr happily, and the intense vibrations felt incredible as they stimulated his shaft.

"Good girl," Naruto groaned, as he stroked her head, "That feels amazing."

Fu blinked at him once, long and slow, as though wordlessly thanking him for his compliment, and he gazed down at her with a look of pure pleasure on his face.

"Morning everyone," Sakura said perkily, as she woke up and stretched.

Her body had absorbed the heavy load of cum that he had pumped into her stomach the night before, and like every morning since she had begun the change, she felt electrified and surged with energy. Sakura had gotten used to being encircled in Naruto's arms when she woke up, so it felt odd to be cuddled with only Tenten. She rolled over to see where he was, just as she heard the familiar sounds of a cock being sucked by an enthusiastic young woman. Her eyes opened wide as she watched Fu go to work on Naruto, the exotic beauty obviously using all the skills at her disposal. She knew this, because he was writhing with pleasure, his hips thrusting urgently at the alien girl's plush green lips.

The brunette felt a momentary pang of disappointment, as she'd been looking forward to being on her knees, sucking eagerly to get her breakfast. That was quickly overcome by her happiness for Fu, and how pleased she felt for her sister, that she would be able to swallow down some of Naruto's cum. She was so entranced as she watched the Nymph's neck seem to ripple as it massaged Naruto's cock, that she jumped with surprise when Tenten hugged her from behind.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" the ravenette whispered in Sakura's ear.

Sakura nodded as she stared, enjoying the show. "She's just so beautiful, like all of you," she said sincerely.

"Like all of 'us'," Tenten corrected her, as she leaned over to plant a tender kiss on Sakura's cheek.

"Don't worry about missing out on breakfast though, you're about to experience something fantastically sexy," the ravenette said gently to the pinkette.

Sakura turned her attention back to Naruto, just as he began to cum. He held Fu's head in his lap as he bucked, crying out in ecstasy as he began to pump the contents of his quad down the Nymph's throat. Fu moaned gratefully as he shot his spunk inside her eagerly sucking mouth, and swallowed down one long spurt after another.

Sakura looked down, expecting to see Fu's belly filling out, but she was surprised to see that it still remained toned and trim. It took her only a moment to realise why, when Fu's dark green breasts began to swell rapidly, and the young doctor watched in open mouthed amazement as Naruto's cum seemed to inflate the girl's tits, blowing them up to a huge size.

With a groan, Naruto collapsed back on the bed, and Fu slowly eased his long hard shaft from her throat, kissing the end as it left her lips. The Nymph sat up straight, and Sakura stared in awe at the hugely swollen breasts that sat taut and enormously rounded on Fu's chest. She turned to look at Sakura, then smiled at her warmly, and beckoned her over.

"Go on," Tenten whispered to her encouragingly, "It's time for breakfast."

Sakura got up and crawled over to Fu, eyeing her huge breasts with wonder.

"Can I touch them?" she asked the green skinned girl eagerly.

"Of course," Fu replied, smiling at her invitingly. "But please be gentle. If you're too rough, you might end up wasting Naruto's cum, and it's important that it all ends up in your stomach."

Sakura nodded, then reached out tentatively with her hands. Fu's breasts felt cool to the touch, and her soft skin was stretched taut to carry the heavy load on her chest. The titanic tits were highlighted with viridian lines, that highlighted the contours of her voluptuous figure, and Sakura lightly traced those lines with her finger.

"You look breathtaking," Sakura said to Fu, and the Nymph smiled at her appreciatively.

"You must be ready for a full tummy," Fu said to her soothingly and opened up her arms invitingly.

Sakura smiled, then approached the alien girl tentatively, and accepted her hug, being careful not to put pressure against her verdant chest. Fu was surprisingly strong, and she manoeuvred Sakura effortlessly, so that the pinkette was lying with her back against the Nymph's left arm. Fu supported Sakura's head with that arm, and then guided her swollen breast down with her right hand, so that the erect nipple brushed against Sakura's lips.

"There's a good girl, are you going to latch on for me?" Fu asked her in a soft maternal voice, and Sakura opened her mouth obediently, her lips enveloping the nipple.

Sakura sucked experimentally, and when the first splash of Naruto's cum covered her tongue, she immediately recognised the familiar taste. Sakura began to suckle hungrily, staring up into Fu's garnet eyes as she drank, and she could feel her stomach starting to fill with the sweet tasting liquid as she swallowed down each mouthful.

"That's good, we want you to grow big and strong," Fu told her lovingly, as she reached down with her right hand and began to stroke Sakura's expanding belly.

The Nymph's touch was cool and soothing as her fingers gently massaged Sakura's growing stomach, and the pinkette let out a little sigh of contentment. Tenten appeared at her side, and she gently brushed the curls of light pink hair to the side, and away from Sakura's face, as she continued to suck insistently.

"This is how we got healed when we were badly injured," Tenten explained, darting a grateful smile up at the Nymph. "She literally nursed us back to health."

Sakura nodded her understanding as she continued to suckle greedily, her green eyes hooded as she fed, while Naruto and the rest of the girls looked on approvingly. She eventually drained one breast, then shifted so that Fu could cradle her with the other arm, and she began to empty the other one too. Finally she was done, and over four pints of Naruto's cum were now settling in her belly.

"That was... unexpected," Sakura said in a quiet voice, smiling shyly as she daintily licked her lips. She sat upright with Fu's assistance, and looked flushed as she spoke to the Nymph, "How did you manage to do that?"

"I can readily manipulate my body," Fu explained carefully. "I'm able to temporarily hollow out parts of myself, which has proven to be very useful in the cases Tenten just mentioned."

"Fu was our ship's doctor until you came along," Naruto said, smiling at the Nymph fondly.

"I hope you didn't mind being fed that way this morning?" Fu asked Sakura considerately.

Sakura smiled at the green skinned girl gratefully, and she sounded emotional as she spoke, "Not at all. It felt so intimate, and you were so loving and maternal. Thank you, that felt very special."

Fu smiled at her warmly, and reached out with her hand, to gently stroke the girl's face. "It was my pleasure. I just hope we never have to do that because you've been injured."

Sakura let out a big happy sigh. "I keep thinking that being with you guys can't get any better, then you spring surprises like this on me!" she said appreciatively as she looked around the group.

"You're just so adorable," Hinata said with a grin, and all the girls moved in for a girlie group hug.

Sakura was tearing up as the girls embraced her warmly. She knew there was no ulterior motive, just an eagerness to show how happy they were, now that she was part of their sisterhood.

"Hey, you get in here too!" Hinata said to Naruto with a frown.

He laughed and moved over to join them, kneeling directly behind Sakura so that her pert bottom was in his lap, and he attempted to encircle them all in his hug. He just about managed it, and he chuckled as he poked his head out around Sakura's head.

"If we recruit anyone else, I'm going to have to grow bigger arms," he joked.

The girls descended into fits of giggles, and when they eventually recovered, Hinata, Hana, Tenten and Fu then broke apart from the group hug. They moved to sit in a semi-circle in perfect synchronisation, as though instinctively sensing Naruto wanted to speak to them all. They were after a fashion, but it was not by simply reading his body language. Hinata read his thoughts, and with silent, almost instant telepathy she simultaneously contacted the girls, and asked them to fan out. Naruto had long grown accustomed to the girls' uncanny ability to respond to his unspoken desires, but for a newcomer like Sakura it was unnerving to watch.

Hinata spotted the girl's wide eyed look, and sensed the feelings of astonishment from the nascent bundle of emotions in her mind. She turned to Sakura and smiled at her.

"Don't worry, it won't be long until we're linked telepathically too. I can sense your emotions, but it'll take a little time until we're fully attuned," she said soothingly.

"Doesn't that feel weird, being able to read each other's thoughts?" Sakura asked, sounding disquieted.

"No, it's amazing!" the four telepathically linked girls said at the same time, and then giggled as they glanced at each other in amusement.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure you're making her feel any better," he said doubtfully,

"No, it's okay, I'm alright, honestly," Sakura said, but didn't sound particularly convincing.

Naruto moved around to Sakura's side so that she could look at him as he spoke to her. "I've had Hinata in my mind for a few months now, and she's a... reassuring, if mischievous presence. I'm the only one she really teases though, so I'd imagine she's far more kind and loving with the girls," he said as he looked at the assembled young women for confirmation.

They had been hanging on his every word, and they nodded eagerly when he looked up at them, while Hinata smiled at him enigmatically.

"Don't worry, it's a wonderful thing to experience, I promise," Tenten said earnestly.

"Okay, I trust you all," Sakura said as she smiled back at them, her eyes lingering on Hinata for a moment.

"All I want to do is look after all of you, so please don't be afraid, you have nothing to be worried about," the bluenette said kindly.

Sakura smiled back at her more strongly, then sat up straight, turning towards Naruto to look at him attentively, as she had just seen the other girl's do. Hinata reached out and took the girl's hand, and squeezed it affectionately, causing Sakura to glance down at her hand in surprise. She grinned, and gently squeezed the bluenette girl's hand in reply.

Naruto sensed everything was now fine, so he sat back, leaning against the headboard. "I've booked our stay at Oceanus," he said with a grin, as the girls squealed happily. He waited a moment for the noise to die down before he continued. "How long will it take us to get to Oceanus from here, Hinata?"

The blonde closed her eyes for a moment as she envisaged plotting a course from here at the Olympus Shipyard, to the resort world of Oceanus. She had memorised most of the systems in the Terran Federation, starting with those along the most likely travel routes that she anticipated Naruto might choose for them. The various systems they would have to navigate immediately sprang to mind, and she calculated the effect her warp tunnelling techniques would have, increasing the already staggering Hyper-warp speed of the Tachyon drive.

"It'll take us about half a day to get there," she replied nonchalantly a few moments later, figuring he probably didn't need to know her calculations down to the minute.

"Thanks, honey, you worked that out quickly!" Naruto said, smiling at her gratefully, and Hinata felt her heart soar with his praise.

Naruto turned to the rest of the group. "Okay then, that gives us just over a day left to play with, before we're expected at Oceanus. Is there anything you want to do here before we leave?"

"Fit the new heat sinks on the Invictus," Tenten said immediately. "If we can use the maintenance gantries and the refitting equipment here at the shipyard, we should be able to get them all switched out within a few hours, if a few of you help out too."

Everyone except Sakura immediately volunteered to assist, and the ravenette grinned at them gratefully.

"I've got a number of tests to run, if I'm going to maintain my time-points," Sakura said apologetically.

"I've got more than enough helpers now, don't worry about it," Tenten said, when she saw Sakura's look of chagrin. "Besides, what you're doing is far more important. Plus, you're not really in any condition to be running around over the outside of the ship," she added with a grin, as she reached over to gently rub the pinkette's engorged tummy.

Sakura smiled back, relieved that the ravenette wasn't upset with her.

"Are you done with the Kintark dropship?" Naruto asked Tenten curiously. "You haven't mentioned any other exciting tech apart from the heatsinks, and you're normally all over anything new."

"Yeah, I've looked it over already. It was armed with heavy plasma guns, but other than the heatsinks in them being a bit larger, they didn't tell me anything I hadn't already figured out. I've already reverse engineered and enhanced that tech, from looking at the plasma rifles," she said, with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Everything else on the dropship, from the engines to the armour was comparable or inferior to our own equipment."

"Talking of armour, we should be able to replate the Invictus when we land on Oceanus," Naruto said, glancing at Hinata.

"You're not worried about snooping cameras?" she asked him, thinking about sensible precautions they might need to take, if they were to keep her psychic abilities a secret.

"The idle rich value their privacy more than heads of state. The contract I signed with the Oceanus Corporation promises absolute secrecy and discretion, or they'll have to forfeit their entire fee. Which is a hell of a lot," Naruto replied confidently.

"I can still sweep the site for cameras and bugs when we get there," Tenten offered enthusiastically. "I should be able to detect anything like that pretty easily, especially if they upload their data to a remote source."

"It's probably wise to be cautious," Naruto agreed. "The entire planet is supposed to be on a complete secure-net lockdown, so I'm not unduly worried. We'll have to notify the Oceanus Corporation of any contacts to allow through the comms dampening field around the planet."

"I'll add my family to the list if that's alright?" Hana asked him hesitantly.

"Of course, gorgeous, no problem at all. Anyone else?" Naruto asked the other girls happily, but was met with shakes of their heads. "Let's get showered then, and make a start on the refit," he added eagerly.

They all got off the bed, and showered quickly, with only a minimal amount of flirtatious teasing under the splashing warm water. While the girls were getting ready, Naruto sat down in the chair by the bed and called Jiraiya, opening a comm channel from the communications interface set up in his quarters.

A few moments later, the older man's face filled the viewscreen. "Morning Naruto," he said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"We need to do a quick refit, and wanted to use the shipyard facilities in the docking bay. I just thought I'd check if that was alright with you?" Naruto asked him courteously.

"Sure, go ahead. Our maintenance teams are busy at the moment though, so I'm not sure I can spare any to assist," Jiraiya said apologetically.

"Ah, don't worry about that," Naruto replied with an indifferent shrug. "We'll be able to handle the refit ourselves, the crew's very capable."

At precisely that time, Hinata chose to flounce into the room in an extremely revealing red bikini, showing acres of nubile young flesh. "Which would you prefer to peel me out of first, handsome? The red, or the white?" she asked him, brandishing a white bikini top in her hand, as she leaned in for a kiss.

Choking sounds from the holographic viewscreen drew Hinata's attention that way, and she waved brazenly at Jiraiya, when she saw who Naruto was speaking to. "Oh, hey Jiraiya! It's nice to see you. What do you think? The red, or the white?" she asked with an innocent expression on her face, as she arched her back to emphasise the mouth-watering view.

Jiraiya spluttered, and fumbled his words, rendered completely incoherent.

"That sounds like a vote for the red," she said cheekily, and strutted off into the walk-in wardrobe again.

"Like I said, they're very capable," Naruto smirked, and winked at Jiraiya.

The older man managed to pull himself back together again, and he sighed with regret. "You have no idea how lucky you are Naruto. Retiring when you did was an inspired move, and I wish I'd done the same, now."

"My XO can be pretty inspiring," Naruto said with a laugh. "Oh, that reminds me. We appropriated a dropship from the Kintark during the battle at Iota-Leonis. It's unscathed, and has fully functional plasma weaponry on it, which must be of significant value for R&D."

"How much do you want for it?" Jiraiya asked him cagily.

"20 mil?" Naruto asked ambitiously.

"Sure, I'll take it off your hands for that price," Jiraiya replied with a nod. "We've never had much success with replicating their plasma weapons, so the more functional examples we can get for research, the better."

"Glad I could help out," Naruto said, gaining a new appreciation for just how astonishingly capable Tenten was.

"Just leave the dropship parked in the docking bay. I'll have the funds transferred immediately," Jiraiya said, looking to his right and tapping away at a console to begin the transaction.

"Will do," Naruto said with a grin.

"Enjoy your vacation, Naruto," Jiraiya nodded. "You earned it."

"Oh, one last thing Jiraiya. What's going on with my retired and/or still on-the-books status?" he asked curiously. "Since my rather public promotion, I don't know what the official line is any more."

"Yes, that did rather throw the cat among the pigeons," Jiraiya replied, his brow furrowed with irritation. "I've been trying to clarify your status myself..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he looked at the older man impatiently, then asked him, "So what's the verdict?"

Jiraiya gave him an exasperated shrug. "Business as usual until it gets clarified. You're still a free man and are outside the Chain of Command, but now you have a higher rank if you need to get things done."

"I can live with that," Naruto grinned.

Jiraiya let out a dry chuckle. "Yes, I'm sure you can," he said to Naruto with a wry smile, and ended the call.

"Hinata," Naruto called to the bluenette in a stern voice.

She appeared a few moments later, but now dressed in a form fitting green jumpsuit. "Yes, darling?" she asked far too innocently.

"What was the bikini fashion show about? I thought Jiraiya was going to have a heart attack!" he asked her looking puzzled.

"I could hear you getting ready to sell him the dropship, so I thought I'd put him off his stride a little before you boys starting negotiating. Besides, it helps reinforce your retired playboy image with him, to divert any suspicions," she explained quite reasonably.

"And what else?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well... I still don't think he has anything to do with it. I like Jiraiya, and I wanted to give him something to remember, in gratitude for him selling you this lovely spaceship, then making all the fun alterations to our room," she replied, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

Naruto laughed and got up from his seat. "You're a very naughty girl," he told her with a smile.

"I certainly am, but you didn't answer my question before," she said with a pout, as she joined him in walking out of the room.

"The red," he said with a wide grin.

It took them several hours to get all the new heatsinks fitted. Tenten had them replace the components in the dozens of Gatling lasers first, before moving on to the twenty four laser cannons, and finally the six beam lasers. Although it was difficult to reach some of the Gatling lasers and laser cannons that were located in the underbelly of the Invictus, the beam lasers took by far the longest to upgrade.

There were over twenty heatsinks to replace per beam laser, set up in rings around the barrel, and spaced at regular intervals along their length. That wasn't the main problem however; the beam lasers were forward facing weapons, with the thirty metre long barrels set deep into the hull. The other weapons were all mounted in turrets, which made their heatsinks easy to access and replace, but for the beam lasers, maintenance panels had to be removed to expose the necessary parts.

When they were finally done, Hana collapsed on the glistening black hull, and wiped a grease smeared hand across her head to wipe the sweat from her brow. "I forgot just how big these beam lasers really are. They're only a few inches across on the weapon loadout display," she said with a grin.

"If you think this was painful, try inspecting the Mass Drivers," Tenten said, before taking a big drink of ice cold water from her refrigerated canteen. "Two hundred metres of maintenance tunnels to crawl down," she added with a shudder.

"Can't you make some bots to help you out with this kind of stuff?" Hinata asked, frowning at her nails. One of them had cracked when she'd jimmied off a particularly stubborn maintenance hatch.

"If the Commodore says it's fine, I'll look into it," Tenten said archly.

"I'm too tired to tickle you right now," Naruto groaned. "Don't worry, I'll save it for later."

"Good to know, thanks," Tenten said as she giggled. "That doesn't really answer my question though."

"As long as they don't try and murder us in our beds, I'm fine with it," Naruto replied, as he leaned up on his elbows and looked around. "Have any of you seen my canteen?"

Fu got up and glided over to him, before kneeling gracefully at his side, and producing her own canteen. She held it out of reach when he lifted his hand to take it, and instead pressed her hand firmly against his chest, so that he would lie back down against the hull. She stared down at him while her lips formed a playful smile, and then tilted back her head to take a big drink of water from her canteen.

Naruto stared up at her, watching her with fascination, while wondering what she was going to do next. Fu leaned forward and kissed him, carefully passed him the big mouthful of chilled water, so that he could drink thirstily. He looked surprised but managed not to spill any, and swallowed the mouthful of water, before he chuckled in amusement.

"Did that slake your thirst?" Fu asked him coyly.

"Well, for water at least," he grinned, grabbing her, and pulling her down for another kiss.

The Nymph giggled in delight, her demure composure abandoned as she straddled him, and began to kiss him passionately. The other girls laughed at the insatiable green skinned girl, and watched her making out with Naruto before they eventually rose wearily to their feet.

"Let's get inside and on our way," Hinata suggested apologetically. "As much fun as it would be to see you screw our bewitching green beauty on the hull of the Invictus, we've got an audience," she reminded them, looking around the huge hangar bay pointedly.

Naruto let out an exaggerated sigh of disappointment as he released Fu, and the other girls offered them a hand to stand up, before they began to make their way off the hull.

"We need to move the Kintark dropship out of the cargo bay too. It would be rude to take it with us after Jiraiya paid such a nice price for it," he said as he walked along beside the blonde.

"No problem, I'll do that right now," Hinata agreed amiably. "We should probably give them their hover-flatbed back as well."

Chatting and joking happily together, they all strode off to the nearest maintenance gantry so they could get back into the ship, and leave the unwanted vehicles behind.

Unnoticed behind them, the hull of the Invictus was shrouded in a faint nimbus of light, the radiance centred where the amorous couple had been kissing. It slowly faded out of sight as the group walked away, leaving the jet black hull glistening with a dark sinister lustre.

Sakura had completed her latest set of tests, and she felt a rising sense of anticipation as she walked over to one of the consoles in the Medical Bay, eager to take a look at the data she had gathered so far. She pressed a number of buttons on the sterile white console, and a series of holograms appeared side-by-side, the images showing her body at regular intervals since she had begun this change process. She walked over to take a closer look at the first few holograms, reaching for her glasses instinctively, and sliding them into place on the bridge of her nose.

Her vision went blurry, so she lifted her glasses up and rubbed at her eyes, thinking that she must be more tired than she had originally thought. She lowered the glasses into place once more, but her vision blurred immediately, so she removed the glasses and looked at them quizzically, before glancing at the hologram without them. She was surprised to see that the holographic image was crystal clear, the detailed scan of her body appearing in fine detail before her unassisted eyes.

She immediately recalled her conversation with Tenten about her eyesight being fixed, and she eagerly set aside the glasses on the console, so that she could give herself an eye-test. She brought up the sample eye test chart on the computer, and hit a button to project the holographic image in place, just a couple of metres away from her. She was astonished to be able to easily read the bottom row of the chart, having suffered from short-sightedness since she was only a little girl.

Sakura grinned with delight, and was about to dismiss the eye-chart when she hesitated, with her hand wavering over the button. Instead of deactivating the chart, she moved it back another couple of metres, and then hit a different button that would generate a random replacement. Glancing up at the chart, she gasped in amazement when she could still read the tiny letters with no difficulty whatsoever. She sat down abruptly in the chair by the console, and stared down in wonder at her still rounded tummy, then smiled at the thought of what was currently filling her stomach. She let out a big sigh, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude towards the people that had welcomed her so completely into their happy little group.

Naruto and the girls groaned with delight as they stood in the shower, the grease and dirt sluicing off them immediately, due to the powerful cleaning agents in the shower gel. While they were occupied in the shower, a procession of cleaning bots trooped into the bathroom, following the trail of dirt and grease the grubby crew had left behind. The robots gathered up the soiled clothing, and departed with piles of grimy apparel in their metallic arms, setting off on their high priority laundry mission.

Naruto and his companions were soon freshly scrubbed and spotlessly clean, and dried themselves off before reconvening in the bedroom. They relaxed on the bed for a moment after all the hard work that morning, enjoying a little rest before thinking about their plans for the rest of the day. Sakura strolled into the room a few minutes later, giddy with excitement as she came over to join them, bursting to tell them her news.

Naruto smiled at her, pleased to see her buoyant mood. "You look like you have something exciting to share with us," he said in a friendly tone.

"You fixed my eyes!" she blurted out, overjoyed. "I've worn glasses for almost all my life, and now I've got perfect vision."

"That's great news! Those lovely green eyes were far too pretty to be hidden behind those glasses," he replied, happy that the change had already yielded positive results for the young woman.

"Sorry, that's not what I mean. Of course, that is wonderful, and thank you so much, but check this out!" she said excitedly, before turning to Tenten. "Would you be my beautiful assistant for a demonstration?"

"Of course!" Tenten beamed as she rose from the bed.

"OK, wait right there!" Sakura said, and then darted back to the doorway and produced a bottle of medication from her white coat pocket. "Can you read the label on this drug?" she asked excitedly.

"Termanzo-byrate: Adult dose not to exceed 15ml over a 24 hour period. In case of accidental overdose, consult your medica-," Tenten said as she read the label on the small bottle, until Sakura bounded over to join them on the bed.

"It's not just me then, it looks like all of you have enhanced sight!" she gasped, her grey eyes sparkling with excitement. "I tested myself, and I've now got 20/5 vision, which is at the extreme upper limit for Terran eyesight. After that little demonstration, it seems Tenten has been similarly enhanced."

"I hadn't really noticed before," Tenten said with surprise. "My eyesight was pretty good beforehand anyway, but now you mention it, I've been finding it a little easier to see when background illumination is poor, like in the maintenance tunnels."

"Fu has much sharper eyes than us though," Hana said, looking thoughtful.

"I'd love to test exactly how good they are sometime, if that's ok with you?" Sakura asked the Nymph enthusiastically.

Fu nodded, whilst smiling at the brunette. "Of course, just let me know when, and you perform whatever tests you like. I'm curious to find out more about myself and my species as well."

"It looks like we have another thing to be thankful to Naruto for," Hinata purred seductively, and the mood in the room changed like a switch had been flipped.

"Thank you, Naruto," Tenten murmured gratefully, kneeling beside him and kissing him tenderly.

"Mmm, thank you," Hana hummed softly in his ear as she planted gentle kisses on his lobe.

Fu manoeuvred herself behind him, and then pulled him back so that his head was pillowed against her firm breasts. She began to massage his shoulders, while gently purring, "Thank you, Master."

Sakura stripped off, and then crawled towards him, with a hungry look in her eye. "Thank you," she said emphatically, before leaning down to engulf his cock right down to the base.

Hinata sat back and surveyed the scene with satisfaction, while Naruto groaned in ecstasy at the attention from all the girls.

*Thank you for letting us show you just how appreciative we are,* she said to him telepathically, and she shivered with delight at the overwhelming pleasure she could feel from him.

Hinata crawled around the bed until she was kneeling beside Sakura, and then leaned in to kiss her gently on the cheek. Unable to communicate via telepathy with the girl yet, she brushed back the light pink hair from Sakura's ear, and began to whisper secrets to her. Hinata told her all the things that she had learned while on her knees for the last few months, her little tips and tricks to really blow Naruto's mind.

Sakura was a quick study, and followed her mentor's advice avidly. When Naruto held her face to his groin and began to unload his quad into her hungry stomach, she began repeatedly swallowing and smiled around his cock as his orgasmic cries got louder. He eventually collapsed back on the bed, totally shattered after such an epic release. The combination of Sakura's improved technique, along with the sincere, loving gratitude from all the other girls had left him reeling.

"That was perfect, you did so well," Hinata said proudly to Sakura as she sat up.

"Thanks for all the advice, it felt so rewarding to have him cum that hard!" Sakura gushed excitedly, then leaned forward to kiss Hinata gratefully.

Hinata could taste sweetness on her lips, and instantly recognising what it was, returned the kiss passionately, slipping her tongue into the pinkette's mouth. Sakura realised what the bluenette was after, and she flickered her own tongue against the other, urging it in deeper. They shared a deep, sensual kiss for a long moment before they eventually parted, and Hinata licked her lips.

"Thanks for the taster," she grinned. "Now go and cuddle with him and have a little nap, you've earned it."

Sakura returned her happy grin, and then carefully crawled over to Naruto's sprawled form. She lay on her side and snuggled up against him, and he rolled to encircle her with his arms. Fu and Tenten curled up with them too, but Hana looked up at Hinata, and with a nod started to get dressed as well.

With a final glance, Hinata saw that her friends were all fast asleep now, so she walked out of the room by Hana's side, turning off the light as they left.

*Thanks for keeping me company,* Hinata thought to the brunette, to avoid disturbing the others.

*You know I love being with you,* Hana grinned at her affectionately, and they held hands as they walked to the grav-tube, and then floated up to the bridge.

They walked up the steps to the Command Podium, and Hinata automatically went to sit in the XO's chair, so that she could start them on their journey to Oceanus. Hana halted her before she sat down, tugging her back gently with her clasped hand, instead of releasing her.

"With Naruto fast asleep, you're in charge now, Captain Hinata," Hana teased her playfully. "Why don't you try out his chair for size?"

Hinata paused, half-turned as she was, and glanced at the Commander's chair. Hana released her hand, and watched curiously as the beautiful bluenette visibly struggled with the idea of assuming his position on the bridge. With a bashful smile, Hinata sat down in the XO's chair, and began to plot the course to Oceanus.

"You can't do it, can you?" Hana gasped excitedly. "You make fun of him all the time, but you respect his rank and position as our leader just as much as I do!"

Hinata grinned back at the Latina, and shook her head in appreciation of the other girl's perceptiveness. "Please don't let him in on that little secret. He enjoys the banter too much," she requested gently.

Hana laughed happily and squeezed Hinata's shoulder affectionately. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

Hinata received clearance to leave the docking bay, and after a few final checks, the Invictus lifted off the ground with the aid of its retro-thrusters. The engines powered up with a throaty rumble, and the glistening black assault cruiser left the confines of the Olympus Shipyard, and began to make its way to the Nav Beacon. She stuck to port speed, and the Invictus slotted in behind a massive battlecruiser as it made its ponderous way out of the dockyard section of Olympus.

They were only a few minutes from the jump point, when the comm interface flashed, alerting them that they had an incoming call.

"It's from a Peter Koeman," Hinata said as she looked at the caller details, then glanced at Hana.

Hana shrugged helplessly. "Never heard of him, sorry."

Hinata hesitated a moment, then pushed the button to accept the incoming call, and a jolly looking man in his late forties filled the viewscreen.

"This is Hinata Hyuuga of the Invictus, how can I help you Mr Koeman?" she asked in a friendly voice.

"It's a pleasure to speak to you Miss Hyuuga. I was wondering if I could speak to Naruto Uzumaki, if he's available?" the man asked, looking hopeful.

*He only just went to sleep,* Hana advised. *I wonder what this guy wants?*

*Let's find out,* Hinata replied, darting a quick glance and a smile at the brunette.

"Naruto is indisposed at the moment, could I ask what it's about please?" she asked politely.

"He rescued my sister from the Kirrix, so I wanted to pass on my heartfelt thanks, and give him a gift," Peter replied with a broad smile.

"Would we have to meet in person for the gift?" Hinata asked him thoughtfully.

"Yes, that would be for the best. It's rather valuable, so I'd rather not entrust it to a courier," the man explained in a friendly tone.

"Where are you at the moment?" Hinata asked him, whilst bringing up the sector map.

"I'm based at the trade hub in Theta-Serpentis at the moment. Not too far away from you I hope?" Peter replied optimistically.

Hinata didn't need to find the system on the map to know that it was a significant enough detour, that it would make them late to arrive at Oceanus. She knew how much Naruto was looking forward to showing the girls the resort, so she smiled apologetically at the man on the viewscreen.

"I'm really sorry Peter. We've got a pressing engagement elsewhere at the moment, so we won't be able to meet you right now. I'll pass on your message to Naruto though," she said with a warm smile as she turned to look at Hana. "We were both there in the fight against the Kirrix, and we're both delighted we could save your sister. I hope she's fully recovered after her ordeal?"

A momentary flash of some unreadable emotion flashed across Peter's face, before he smiled back at Hinata warmly. "You both have my gratitude as well then! And my sister is much better now, thank you for asking."

"Well, I'll pass the message on to Naruto then. Safe travels Mr Koeman," she said, clearly ending the call.

He looked like he was going to say something else for a moment, but then nodded reluctantly. "OK, I'll look forward to hearing back from him," he said, and waved goodbye to them with a pleasant smile.

Hinata ended the call, and then looked up at Hana with a raised eyebrow. "He seemed pleasant enough."

"I wonder what he wanted to give to Naruto?" Hana pondered out loud. "He seemed very keen to give it to him personally."

"Perhaps he's just very grateful," Hinata said with a shrug, as she smiled at the Latina. "Some families are closer than others."

"I haven't told mine yet about the award ceremony. Do you think I should warn them?" Hana asked her pensively.

"Nah, keep it a surprise. They're all going to love it! Can you imagine how Kiba is going to react?" Hinata said with a giggle.

"You're right, I'll let them wait for the broadcast," Hana smiled fondly, thinking of how shocked her parents and three brothers were going to be.

"Ayame said it'll only take a couple of days to be approved by Terran Federation Comm Division," Hinata mused.

They reached the Nav Beacon and the bluenette girl engaged the Tachyon drive, enveloping the Invictus in a soft blue glow before they surged into Hyper-warp.

Hana thought about the last news interview, when Naruto had heaped her with praise. "I wonder what he said this time?" she asked the other girl with a smile.

"He'll probably just talk about what a hot piece of ass his Tactical Officer is," Hinata teased the Latina.

The brunette giggled as she imagined how her family would react to that breaking news story. "I think he'll talk about how he loves to fuck his foxy XO, until she begs him for mercy," Hana said with a cheeky grin.

"Hana, your language!" Hinata said, as though mortified. "Where did you learn such profanities?!"

"I've been corrupted by a very bad girl," Hana replied, and the two girls shared a smouldering look.

Hana held out her hand and the two of them left the bridge, to join the others back in bed.

Everyone slept for a few hours, before they awoke feeling refreshed. They got up for a quick lunch, and then Naruto sent all the girls off to the firing range to get in some more practice, apart from Fu, who joined him in the pool. It felt like ages since the last time he'd been able to relax with a swim, and he thoroughly enjoyed swimming lanes, while the Nymph splashed and played around him.

After a couple of hours, the rest of the girls came to join them, with Hana and Sakura both eager to get in the pool. Hinata had started to get over her fear of the water, and came in happily with Hana. Tenten was more reluctant, but with some coaxing from Naruto and Sakura, she built up enough courage to join them as well.

It turned out that Sakura was an excellent swimmer, having grown up with a pool in each of her father's many homes. She seemed reluctant to talk about her past in great detail, so Naruto didn't press her too hard. Instead they had some fun racing against one another, and she was actually good enough to beat him a couple of times.

They soaked in the hot tub for a little while afterwards, and there was a moment of awkwardness when they remembered the last time they'd been in the hot tub as a group. Sakura's novel new presence soon distracted everyone, and within a few minutes, the gym was echoing with the excited chatter of the girls.

Naruto luxuriated in the tub, and enjoyed the view of the five beautiful young women surrounding him. Fu caught his eye as he checked each of them out in turn, and raised an eyebrow at him playfully. Wondering what she had in mind, he looked at her quizzically, and she tilted her head to one side to show him the gills that she'd grown in her neck. He laughed as she licked her lips suggestively and the other girls stopped talking, as they wondered what he was grinning at.

He turned to face Sakura, and asked her, "Fu wants to feed you again this evening. Is that okay?"

The brunette flushed at the thought, and nodded her head eagerly.

"You've already seen the fins I can grow," Fu said, as she smiled at Sakura. "I can grow gills too, which can be fun."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, looking intrigued.

Fu winked at her, then moved off the bench she was sitting on and sank below the surface of the water. A few moments later, Naruto sighed happily as the Nymph's hot little mouth was wrapped around the head of his cock, and the girls instantly recognised his satisfied smile.

"Oh, wow!" Sakura gasped. "How long can she stay underwater like that?"

"Fu says, 'Indefinitely'," Hinata said with a smirk, having asked the Nymph the same question telepathically.

"She's amazing," Sakura said shaking her head in wonder. She tried to brush the bubbles away from the surface of the water to see more clearly, scientific curiosity and voyeurism competing equally.

"She's got quite a few tricks up her sleeve," Hana said enthusiastically. "Wait until you see the tiger!"

"Don't forget the light show!" Tenten chipped in with a giggle.

"She's got a few surprises in the bedroom too," Hinata said with a twinkle in her eye.

"You can't leave me hanging with all these teasers," Sakura said with a good natured grin. "What are you referring to?"

"Don't worry," Hinata said playfully, "You'll see them all in good time."

Naruto looked at Hinata with a smile. "Ask Fu to swallow half, I can always top Sakura up again later."

Hinata nodded eagerly, and passed on the message.

Tenten and Hana were to Naruto's side, so they leaned in to kiss him, while he watched Sakura and Hinata begin to make out with each other. It didn't take too long for them to bring him to the edge, and Fu was soon swallowing down his load. She rose gracefully out of the water a few moments later, her breasts reaching the surface like two enormous flotation devices, while her belly was now nicely rounded with a stomach full of cum.

"Lights off," Naruto said in a loud voice, and the gym was abruptly plunged into darkness as the voice sensitive lights deactivated.

Sakura glanced about, but could see nothing in the pitch black. She wondered what was going to happen next, and clung on to Hinata for reassurance. A few moments later a soft ethereal green glow began to fill the room, as steady pulses of viridian light began to spread out from Fu's abdomen to travel the length of her body.

Sakura let out a started gasp, then leaned in to stare at the Nymph in fascination. "I've never seen anything like it!" she said in awe.

Fu smiled at her and held out her arm, so that the pinkette could watch the pulse of light travel languidly up her limb to her fingertips.

"What does that feel like? Oh, and why is your body doing that?" she asked, quite intrigued.

"It feels indescribable," Fu sighed contentedly. "My body feels like it's surging with power. It only ever happens when I swallow Naruto's cum."

"I can't wait to find out more about you!" Sakura said exuberantly. "You're by far the most interesting alien I've ever met!"

"Hey!" Naruto said with a fake frown.

"As amazing as you are, you have to admit that a shapeshifting girl, who lights up a room when she swallows cum, has you beat," Hinata interjected.

Naruto nodded and agreed. "You make a fair point," he conceded with a grin.

Fu held out her arms, and Sakura moved into them with a coy smile. She soon began to feed, draining the swollen breasts of their sweet tasting contents, her silhouette showing on the ceiling as the room was lit by the glowing radiance from Fu's body. Eventually she was done, and so they reactivated the lights in the gym and headed back up to the Officers' Lounge to make some dinner.

They worked well together as a team, but they were reaching the limit of people who could constructively assist in the kitchen without getting in each other's way. Dinner was relaxed and enjoyable, as everyone discussed the upcoming trip to Oceanus, and how they would soon be there in a few hours.

Suddenly the Invictus began to vibrate, rattling the plates and causing the cutlery to clatter together, as a blaring siren sounded through the Officers' Lounge.

"BWOOOP!" "BWOOOP!" "BWOOOP!"

Naruto and the girls stared at each other in shock for a moment, before leaping to their feet and sprinting for the grav-tube to the bridge.

"We're deep in Terran Federation territory, what the fuck could be interdicting us?!" Naruto swore as he ran, but Hinata, Hana, and Tenten could only dart worried glances at him, having no answers.

Sakura had half-risen from her seat, and Fu moved around the table to her side comfortingly. "I'll take you up there too, so we can see what's going on," the Nymph said in a calming voice, and the pinkette nodded gratefully.

Naruto and his bridge crew darted into their places, with the girls moving fluidly to react as quickly as possible to the threat. Hinata brought up the tactical map, and activated passive sensors to try and locate who or what had just interdicted them. Hana sat in her tactical chair and activated the targeting grids, while grasping the weapon fire controls. Tenten smiled with satisfaction, noting that her Automated Interdiction Response System had worked perfectly. She looked at her engineering console, and saw that the system had powered up the weapons and shields, while starting to perform evasive manoeuvres.

"Shields at 70%," she called out. "We're being fired on by something!"

A few seconds later, the tactical map populated with the data gathered by the sensors. They had been travelling through the Beta-Persei system, an eclipsing binary system consisting of three stars, that was known colloquially as the Demon Star. There were a couple of gas giants orbiting the primary star, and a broad, dense belt of metallic asteroids close to the centre of the system. Of more interest though was their attacker, which was a long cruiser clad in grey armour plating, and bristling with weapon ports.

Hana looked at it in alarm. "The ship's got Terran Federation insignia, but it's no ship design I've ever seen before!"

"Me neither," Naruto replied. "But it's hostile, so light it up!"

Hinata assumed manual control of the Invictus, and swung the assault cruiser around to face their attacker. The two ships were of comparable size and the 500 metre long vessels raced towards each other as though daring the other to break away first. Orange beams blasted out from the mysterious ship, half of which hit the Invictus, while the other four lances of energy sailed wide, their gunner fooled by Hinata's manoeuvres.

"Shields down to 50%!" Tenten called out in alarm.

Hana pulled the trigger and the six beam lasers from the assault cruiser lit up the map with a brilliant flare. All six blindingly bright orange beams of energy throbbed with power as they slashed into the enemy's shields, sending coruscating pulses in concentric rings over the shield's surface as the target's shields struggled to remain intact.

"Mute the glare from the tactical map, Tenten," Naruto ordered her, shielding his eyes as he winced, blinking to try and get rid of the after-image burned on his retinas.

The huge boost in power that was now being fed to the ship's laser weapons, was being faithfully reported by the ship's sensors, and then displayed on the tactical map. This meant that the holographic representation of their laser fire was now blindingly bright, as it lashed out at the floating image of the enemy ship.

"Sorry about that, compensating..." Tenten replied, as her hands flashed over the console and she made the corrections.

The two cruisers had now reached laser cannon range and both ships opened fire, sending fusillades of bright energy bolts at one another. Hinata's piloting abilities greatly exceed that of the other pilot, allowing her to dodge most of the enemy ships' weapons. Some still struck home though, and Tenten glanced nervously at the damage control hologram, which showed the shields at 34%.

Naruto was staring at the other ship intently, and his eyes suddenly widened as he realised their intent. "They're going to ram us!" he yelled. "Evasive manoeuvres!"

Hinata gritted her teeth, and focused intently on the enemy ship, watching and reacting to their every change of course. When it looked like a collision was inevitable, she ramped up the power to the retro-thrusters, and the Invictus seemed to groan with protest as she pulled up the nose. They narrowly avoided a direct head on collision, but the ships still clipped each other, the starboard side of the topdeck screeching in protest as it dragged along the underbelly of the enemy ship.

Sakura and Fu had joined them on the bridge, and they stared in shock as they saw how close they had just come to disaster.

"Why would they ram us?!" Tenten exclaimed in alarm, as she looked at the scored surface of the Invictus on the damage control hologram.

"I've no idea! Try hailing them," Naruto said abruptly.

As the two cruisers flashed by each other, Hana maintained the deadly rain of laser cannon blasts, and potent energy bolts punched over and over into the enemy shields. They eventually disappeared, overwhelmed by the concentrated firepower, and the ships raced apart, flying in opposite directions to each other.

Hinata pulled the Invictus around, to prepare to attack once more, and Hana prepared herself to fire their main guns. Tenten established a comm channel connection to the enemy ship, and there was a sudden squeal of noise, before the channel went dead.

"What was that?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Tenten frowned as she stared at the console in front of her. "We definitely established a connection for a couple of seconds," she said looking puzzled.

The ships were out of laser cannon range again by the time they swung to face each other once more, and both ships fired their beam weapons at the same time. The beams from the Invictus lit up the map again, but not so painfully blinding this time, after Tenten had made the corrections to the display. Their shields were extinguished in an instant, and three of the beam lasers scythed into the heavy hull armour, melting huge gouges across the vessel and coring through into the interior of the enemy ship.

Unfortunately, the returning beams from the enemy cruiser hit home too. Hinata managed to avoid most of them but the Invictus' shields had been weakened by the point blank flyby with the enemy's laser cannon batteries, and the two that did hit home knocked out their shields. Following up uncannily quickly, the ship opened fire with a pair of Mass Drivers, and although one sailed wide, one slammed home, causing the Invictus to lurch with the impact.

Hana returned fire with their four Mass Drivers, and the tachyon accelerated shells smashed into the melted crevasses in the armour that had already been severely damaged by the beams. The four shells caused huge fracturing impacts as they smashed through the armour, before punching deep into the hull, and the grey cruiser was rocked by a thunderous ripple of explosions as their payloads detonated a moment later. The ship seemed to judder with the impact, as engine control was blown to bits, and the cruiser began to drift and roll helplessly.

"See if you can knock out their fire control, Hana," Naruto said to the Latina. "If we can disable them, then we can think about boarding and getting some answers."

"I'll run an active sensor sweep and see what we can learn," Tenten said excitedly.

Hana nodded eagerly. "Great! Once I know what to aim fo-," she said, but was interrupted from finishing.

A thunderous explosion lit up the tactical map, and the attacking cruiser was vaporised in an instant as it was obliterated by the colossal detonation. As the blinding flash of the explosion dissipated, Naruto and the girls stared at each other, stunned by the abrupt obliteration of the other ship.

"What caused that? Some kind of secondary explosion caused by the mass drivers?" Naruto asked in confusion. It hadn't looked like the enemy ship had been that critically damaged before.

Tenten looked up at him in bewilderment, her shock clearly evident on her face. "I think that was self-inflicted! It looked like a power core overload," she said with disbelief.

"Why would they blow themselves up?" Sakura asked in astonishment.

"I have no idea," Naruto said as he slumped back in his seat.

The girls sighed in relief as they realised they were now out of danger.

"How bad is the damage, Tenten?" he asked her with concern.

The redhead looked at the damage control display carefully. "The mass driver hit smashed up our armour, but didn't get through," she replied, the hint of a proud smile on her face at the resilience of the Invictium plating she had developed.

Hinata felt relieved that they had survived relatively unscathed, but she hated the thought of their ship being vulnerable. "I'll do the repairs, and upgrade the armour as soon as we reach Oceanus," she volunteered immediately.

"That ship had Terran Federation insignia on it," Hana noted. "Do you think someone has realised we know there's a traitor in High Command?"

"The only person we've had any discussions with about what happened in the Dragon March is Jiraiya," Naruto said, looking grim. "I don't recognise that ship design though. Even if Jiraiya was the traitor, he's only in charge of the Olympus Shipyard. He's not going to be able to design some experimental new ship, equip it with a suicidal crew, then send it out after us."

"Maybe he told someone else he's working with?" Hana said, but her doubtful face clearly showed that she didn't think the scenario likely either.

"What was that weird squeal from the comm channel?" Sakura asked curiously. "Could some creature have made that?"

"The Terran Federation doesn't use a lot of non-Terrans in their crew, so it seems a little unlikely. Are you able to analyse the sound at all, Tenten?" he asked the redhead.

She nodded eagerly, and smiled at him confidently as she began to run some tests using the engineering console. Suddenly her bright smile was wiped from her face and she stared at the console in shock.

"What is it, honey?" Naruto asked urgently.

She turned away from the string of numbers to face him, her face filled with dread. "It was a message in binary," she whispered in horror.

"What does that mean?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Tenten closed her eyes for a moment as she concentrated on converting the binary into hexadecimal in her head. "Accursed organics, death to you all..." she translated in a tremulous voice.

"That must have been a robot ship, manned by an AI..." Naruto said, his voice trailing off.

Tenten glanced at her console as the active scan results came back. "Scan results confirm no biological matter in the debris..." she said quietly, looking up at him with worry.

"We've got company," Fu said, looking up at the tactical map.

Moving steadily in their direction was a huge spacecraft, which dwarfed their own. It was at least three times the size of the Invictus, and clad in grey armour plating. As it got closer, the passive sensors read the transponder, and revealed that it was a Terran Federation Battleship.

"Shields recharging, but we're only at 8%!" Tenten warned them.

Hinata glanced over at Naruto, and they shared a look of concern. "Time to run?" she asked him urgently.

"We're being hailed!" Hana noted, and after a nod from Naruto, accepted the incoming call.

The viewscreen crackled and a bespectacled older man wearing full dress uniform, including his peaked Terran Federation hat appeared as a hologram in the centre of the bridge.

"This is Vice Admiral Von Brandt on the Battleship Loki. It looks like we were too slow to assist you against that pirate ship, but my congratulations to you for defeating them," the man said in a dispassionate voice.

"This is Commodore Uzumaki on the assault cruiser Invictus, and that was no pirate ship! It had Terran Federation markings for one thing!" Naruto protested.

"Yes, we'd been warned that a pirate band had stolen some Terran Federation vessels, and were using them to ambush shipping," Von Brandt said, telling Naruto an obvious lie. "Thanks for helping with the cleanup, but we've got it from here. It's probably best if you go about your business."

*What do we do?* Hinata asked him, sounding worried.

*We're in no position to fight them, and we don't have any real justification to attack a Terran Federation ship in any case. We're going to have to do what he says,* Naruto thought to her, and she could sense his frustration.

"Happy to assist, Vice Admiral," Naruto said, managing to smile without it turning into a grimace.

"Farewell Commodore Uzumaki," the older man replied cordially, then ended the call. The Battleship Loki still bore down on their present position, flying on a direct heading towards the debris of the annihilated cruiser.

Naruto turned towards the blonde sitting at the station beside him. "You better take us out of here, XO," he told her firmly.

Hinata nodded, and turned the Invictus away from the approaching battleship, moving well clear of any local gravity wells so that they could jump into hyper-warp. Despite having decisively won the encounter with the strange grey cruiser, the atmosphere was bleak on the bridge of the Invictus.

"I better report this encounter to Jiraiya," Naruto said gloomily. "I can't believe the Terran Federation could be so stupid as to experiment with AI again. The Ganymede incident was too recent to have been forgotten about."

"Maybe they're getting desperate?" Hana suggested, looking perturbed. "I can't imagine they can continue to take sustained losses against the Kintark. At least not on the scale that flotilla of battle damaged ships from the Dragon March seemed to suggest."

"Well we had a successful fire test of the upgraded heatsinks at least," Fu said positively, trying to lift the downbeat mood.

Naruto laughed, and nodded at her affectionately. "Yeah good point. We seemed to be doing a hell of a lot more damage with the beams and the laser cannons now. How much more powerful are they?"

Tenten grinned at him eagerly. "The laser weapons are pumping out fifty percent more damage than before!" she exclaimed with a sparkle in her sky blue eyes.

"We cut through their shields like a hot knife through butter," Hana said with a grin, as she recalled the punishing damage their weapons were now putting out.

"Can we upgrade the Raptor soon, too?" Fu asked with an eager look of anticipation.

"Sure, we can do that at Oceanus, no problem," Tenten announced accommodatingly.

"That Interdiction Response System you set up saved our ass, Tenten," Naruto said to the ravenette gratefully. "Just getting the shields up in time let us turn that whole ambush around."

"Powering up and deploying the weapons saved valuable seconds too. You made a big difference... thank you," Hana said, nodding her appreciation.

"Ah, thanks guys!" Tenten said, beaming at them happily.

Naruto watched Hinata power up the Tachyon drive, and launch the ship smoothly into hyper-warp. He got up out of his chair, and addressed them, "I'll submit an AAR to Jiraiya, and let him know what we encountered. We should be arriving at Oceanus in a couple of hours, so you ladies might want to start getting ready."

The girls got up and started to head for the grav-tube, with Naruto and Hinata walking down the illuminated steps to the Command Podium at the same time. Just as they were about to part ways, she turned to him, to let him know about the earlier call that he had missed.

"We were contacted by a Peter Koeman, while you were sleeping earlier," she informed him matter of factly.

"The name doesn't ring a bell," Naruto said as he tried to recall the unfamiliar name.

"It probably wouldn't. We saved his sister from the Kirrix, and he wanted to give you a gift in person. Meeting with him would mean a little detour, and I didn't think you'd want to be late to Oceanus, so I told him you'd get in touch later," she said, explaining her reasoning.

"You made the right call," Naruto told her approvingly. "We can always meet up with Mr Koeman after our vacation. You girls deserve a great holiday, so I wouldn't want to cut short our time there. Besides, I've arranged some training with a rather elusive swordmaster, and I don't want to risk upsetting him by turning up late to our first session."

"So I did well?" she asked him tentatively.

"Maybe I should leave you in charge more often. You shouldn't doubt yourself, you're extremely capable," he told her sincerely, as he pulled her into his arms.

The bluenette shivered with excitement as she thrilled to his words, his praise making her heart lift with joy. When Naruto leaned in for a kiss, she returned it with passion, and moaned into his mouth as his hands gripped her taut muscular ass and squeezed her cheeks firmly.

*I wish you could just bend me over one of the consoles, and skewer my ass right now,* she told him eagerly, her lusty thoughts surging through his mind as he manhandled her.

*There's a lot of tight little holes that are going to have to remain neglected for the next two weeks,* he thought to her with a hint of regret, as they kissed fiercely.

Hinata stopped kissing him for a moment and let out a lovely melodic laugh. "I'm sure you'll survive," she smirked at him affectionately.

Naruto chuckled, and released her from his arms. He gave her a parting smack on her perfectly rounded rump as she walked away to join the others, her firm flesh felt wonderful to his touch, and the look she shot him over her shoulder was positively indecent.

"I'll be down in a little while girls, as soon as I've finished speaking to Jiraiya. Hinata's feeling horny though, so perhaps you can keep her occupied until I join you?" he asked them playfully.

The girls giggled and Hinata's musical laughter echoed around the bridge as they descended down in the red glow of the grav-tube.

Naruto smiled happily as he watched the young women depart, and then hit the button to open the door to his Ready Room. The door swished open a moment later, and he strode over to his desk so that he could fill out his AAR. After hitting a button on the console built into the desk, he began to dictate the report to the computer, detailing just what had happened in their encounter with the mysterious grey ship. His words appeared in sharp clear text on the viewscreen, and he looked over the report when he was done, making a few minor corrections, before sending it off to Vice Admiral Jiraiya.

He paused for a long moment, wondering how he was going to broach the possibility that there might be some secret AI research going on, or even more alarming, the fact that it might be secret at all. His thoughts were interrupted by the chime on the comm interface that alerted him to an incoming call, and he swiped over the button that would open the channel to Jiraiya.

"You were attacked by an AI ship?" Jiraiya said in alarm, skipping the pleasantries.

"That's what it looked like," Naruto replied with a curt nod. "It seemed relentlessly determined to kill us, and when we crippled it, the ship appeared to self-destruct. We found no evidence of biological matter aboard when we scanned the wreckage."

Jiraiya slumped back in his chair, his worry lines looking even more pronounced. "Vice Admiral Von Brandt is a ranking officer in the Terran Federation R&D division. I've heard of him, but we've never met," he explained, looking like he was trying to recall what he knew about the man.

"They can't be researching AI again, that would be insane!" Naruto exclaimed.

Jiraiya shrugged at him helplessly, then said, "R&D is notoriously secretive, and I've no idea what they're working on at the moment. I'll keep you in the loop if I find out anything."

"OK, thanks Jiraiya," Naruto said gratefully. "We'll be mostly incommunicado for a couple of weeks, but you can always get through on an emergency secure channel if you really need to."

Jiraiya nodded and saluted grimly before he ended the call.

Naruto rose, and shook his head in disbelief. Everything seemed to be going crazy in the galaxy at the moment. Kirrix pushing into Terran territory again for the first time in decades, large scale piracy, escalating tensions with the Kintark, the Drakkar raids on the Ashanath, and the Trankarans seemingly going mad. Now, to top it all off, Terran R&D appeared to be throwing caution to the wind and starting up AI research again, with entirely predictable results.

He stretched his arms above his head, and rotated his neck to release some of the tension. "It's not just the girls who need a break, I could do with a rest myself," he thought to himself, and made his way out of his Ready Room to rejoin the girls in his quarters.

When he strode into his room, he expected the girls to be engaged in some debauched orgy with Hinata writhing at their centre, so he was very surprised when they were all sitting waiting patiently for him on the bed. They were nude of course, which provided a spectacular view, but the way they were looking at him didn't look at all flirtatious, and the mood was pensive.

"I overheard your thoughts, and we've been having a chat," Hinata said ominously.

"Really, that sounds foreboding. What's up?" Naruto asked her curiously.

"Everything 'IS' going crazy right now! Galaxy wide chaos suddenly ensues, just as a Progenitor makes a mysterious reappearance? That can't be coincidence," she stated firmly.

"So you think whoever was flying the mysterious black ship might be stirring up trouble elsewhere too, not just with the Drakkar against the Ashanath?" He asked her, rubbing his chin as he thought it over.

"It's definitely worth considering," she confirmed with a nod.

"What could they hope to achieve by escalating conflicts everywhere?" he pondered.

"Divide and conquer?" Hana said, staring up at him with her dark brown eyes. "If the Progenitors destabilise all the galactic empires, they can pick them off piecemeal. At least, that's what I'd do," she added with a shrug.

"Fortunately you're on my team though," Naruto grinned, as he walked over to sit on the bed beside her, and he stroked her toned olive-skinned back affectionately.

"You seem to be taking this revelation in your stride," Fu observed with a smile.

"Well we've seen what looked like a Progenitor ship, and we know they were stirring up trouble with the Drakkar. It's surprising to think they might be involved with all the rest too, but after what the Ashanath showed us on those stone pictographs, it doesn't come as too big a shock," he said calmly.

The girls looked relieved at his relaxed demeanour, and smiles began to light up their faces once more.

"All this will still be waiting for us in a couple of weeks time, but we don't have enough information to do anything about it at the moment. You're all amazingly gifted young women, but as incredible as you all are, you need a rest to recover from the recent strain we've been under. I want you all to relax, forget about galactic conflict for a while, and just enjoy yourselves for a couple of weeks," he said sympathetically. "That's an order," he then added firmly, but with a hint of a smile.

The girls all looked at him and nodded as they heeded his command, smiling back at him appreciatively.

"Good girls," he told them patronisingly with a smile, and they began to laugh.

He stood and started to strip off his clothes, before joining them on the bed, and the mood in the room changed to one of eager anticipation.

"Now, I notice your waist is looking slim and sleek again," he said, turning to look at Sakura. "You look gorgeous, but how do we like the new girl to look around here?" he asked her teasingly.

"Like she's stuffed full of your cum?" Sakura answered him with a happy smile.

"Clever girl," he told her playfully, and she grinned with excitement as she crawled across the bed to work on filling her tummy.

"As for the rest of you, I believe I told you girls that Hinata needed some attention?" he asked them quizzically, as he softly stroked Sakura's hair while she sank his cock into her snug throat.

Hinata let out a startled gasp as the other girls pounced on her, and after a few moments of giggling where they all arranged themselves around her, the sounds of licking and lapping filled the room.

"Oh my God..." Hinata groaned as her eyes rolled back in her head.

A couple of hours later, the girls were all packed up, and the entire crew had assembled on the bridge to watch Hinata bring the Invictus into the planet Oceanus. They had been met by the picket ships that guarded the planet, and had been amazed to see a battleship leading a flotilla of destroyers and corvettes. After Naruto identified himself to the Captain of the battleship, the man waved them through, after wishing them a pleasant vacation.

"With the amount they charge, I can see how they can easily afford a defensive fleet of that size," Naruto had observed.

"The super wealthy take no chances with security," Sakura agreed, but there was an odd catch to her voice.

Tenten noticed it immediately, having got to know the pinkette very well over the last few days, and she looked at her new friend curiously. Sakura didn't elaborate, so the ravenette decided to ask her about it some other time.

Hinata brought their ship closer to the planet Oceanus, and the beautiful blue orb filled the viewscreen as they approached. They glanced at each other excitedly as they looked at the place that would be their home for the next couple of weeks.

An incoming call lit up the comm interface, and Hinata pressed a button to open the communication channel. Naruto recognised the strikingly beautiful blonde girl he had spoken to the other day, as her image appeared as a hologram in the centre of the bridge.

"Welcome to Oceanus, Mr Uzumaki!" she said in her lovely clear spoken voice.

"Thank you Felicity. Is everything prepared?" he asked her politely.

"Of course, Sir. You and your guests may land at your resort whenever you are ready," she replied with a sparkling smile.

*Oh my, she's gorgeous!* Hinata said to him, and he could sense her growing arousal.

*She is, but the role of devastatingly beautiful assistant has already been filled aboard this ship,* he told her playfully.

Hinata glanced at him and grinned, before focusing her attention on the Oceanus Representative once more.

"We're ready now," Naruto confirmed with a nod. "By the way, did you receive the packages I ordered? I asked for them to be delivered to Oceanus," he asked Felicity curiously.

"Yes Mr Uzumaki, I took the liberty of arranging for the training equipment to be prepared in readiness for you. I do hope that was not overstepping my bounds?" she asked him in her precise and elegant manner of speech.

"Excellent work, thank you, Felicity!" Naruto exclaimed, genuinely pleased. It came as quite a relief that he didn't have to set up the equipment himself, or in all likelihood, have to ask Tenten to do it.

"It was my pleasure, Sir. I hope you have a wonderful stay here with us, and please get in touch should you require anything at all," Felicity told them, beaming a wide smile at both Naruto and the girls assembled with him on the bridge.

"We will, thanks again," Naruto replied, and ended the call.

"Her accent was amazing," Tenten sighed, as soon as the blonde girl had disappeared. "I sound like some poorly educated street urchin in comparison!"

"That simply isn't so." Sakura replied, in the same well spoken accent, sounding remarkably like the sublime voice that they had just been entranced by. "You have a wonderful sounding voice, your speech could just use a little refinement."

Naruto and the girls stared at her in amazement, and Sakura flushed self-consciously.

"You sound so classy!" Tenten gasped in awe. "How did you learn to talk like that?"

"It's the way I was trained to speak, growing up in high society. I made a conscious effort to drop the accent when I went my own way," Sakura admitted, talking in what was apparently her natural accent. "Speaking this way made it painfully obvious that I hadn't received a normal upbringing, and I didn't want to draw undue attention to myself."

"You've got to teach me!" Tenten pleaded, her eyes sparkling with excitement. This was echoed by a chorus of excited pleas by the other girls too.

Naruto laughed with amusement. "It looks like you might be running a finishing school in your spare time," he said to Sakura with a smile.

"Would you prefer me to speak this way, too?" Sakura asked him anxiously, looking up to where he sat in the Commander's chair.

He got up and walked down the steps of the command podium, and she rose to join him. He opened his arms to embrace her, and she gladly accepted, her heavily swollen belly brushing against him after her late evening supper.

"I'm not going to dictate what accent you use," he said, smiling down at her gently as he held her in his arms. "You've had a troubled past, and I know there's some things you're not telling me about, but whether you decide to share them with us eventually is entirely up to you."

Sakura looked up at him with surprise, and he leaned down to kiss her comfortingly on the cheek.

"Joining us as you have, is a fresh start for you. You can decide to keep hold of things from your past, like Hana with her lovely family, or start over, like Hinata, Tenten and Fu have. Be the Sakura that you want to be; whether that's a completely new person, or keeping elements of your old life," he said, empowering her with the decision.

"It feels more honest to not use an affected accent. As long as you're okay with me speaking this way?" she asked him tentatively.

"He's being nice, and giving you a choice, but he's loving your 'new' accent," Hinata interjected with a grin.

"Is that so? You like the idea of being with a well bred young lady?" Sakura said with a flirtatious smile.

"If you keep that up, you'll be well bred in no time," Naruto said wryly, and the girls giggled excitedly.

"That sounds wonderful," she whispered softly, staring up at him with big round eyes.

He smiled and kissed her tenderly, then said, "We'll have plenty of time for practice down on the planet."

They looked up, and saw that Hinata was bringing them ever closer to Oceanus, the big blue orb filling the planetary map as the holographic images switched over from the system map. A glowing green guide path led them down, and under the bluenette's highly skilled hands they rapidly approached the surface. Their island was currently shrouded in darkness, it being eleven at night local time, so all they could see at the moment was the gentle glow of the lighting in the docking bay as she brought them in to land.

"And here we are!" Hinata exclaimed exuberantly, as she powered down the engines.

She flashed an excited grin at Naruto, and then they all rose, and headed down in the grav-tube to collect their suitcases for the vacation. It didn't take too long for them to assemble in the corridor in Deck Two, and they headed down in the grav-tube, ready to leave the Invictus.

When they left the ship, they were surprised that they couldn't see the night sky above them, the entrance to the docking bay having closed while they got ready. They saw a brightly lit guiding line on the floor, and it provided an easy-to-follow trail out of the huge room. They followed the light, out into the nearby corridor, and it ran along for a few dozen metres before ending at a set of double doors. The exuberant chatter from the girls died down as they looked at Naruto with eager anticipation.

"Home sweet home for the next two weeks," Naruto said, now just as excited as the girls, and he pushed the button.

"Oh, wow!" Fu exclaimed, as the girls gasped collectively.

Ahead of them was a huge room, which looked like a hollowed out cove. There was a path that led around the side, with a long curving sandy beach that was being lapped gently by the night-time sea. There were seating areas that overlooked the beach, complete with immaculate white summer furniture, that looked pristine, like it had never been used before. They walked along the path around the edge of the cove, their way illuminated by the soft glow of lanterns set at regular intervals along the route, until it ended at a couple of glass double doors. They opened automatically, leading them into a large lounge area, with massive fifty foot high glass windows that looked out onto the cloudless night sky.

There were a couple of doors that led off from the lounge, and a glass elevator at the other end of the room that led up to some kind of open balcony area. They followed the glowing path, flashing excited glances at one another, and it led them to the elevator. It was big, with plenty of room for all of them and their luggage, and once they were inside, the elevator rose up to the mezzanine area. There was a comfortable seating area up here, warmly lit by an ornate lamp, and the soft glow illuminated more sets of doors leading off to the side. The room then led out, seemingly through the huge glass windows and up a couple of steps, before opening out to a spectacular bedroom.

There was a huge, luxurious looking bed in the centre of the room, and on every side were tall windows that spanned its entire length. Up above them the ceiling was glass too, and they had an uninterrupted view of the night sky through the yawning portal.

"Sleeping here will be like camping outside!" Hana exclaimed in wonder, looking around the opulent luxury of the suite.

Tenten had wandered over to a small table that held a series of remotes. She picked up one and began to press buttons experimentally, and the ceiling and walls suddenly went opaque. She played with the controls for a while, grinning as she learnt how to operate everything.

"There's some huge walk-in-wardrobes over here!" Hinata exclaimed, as she reappeared from one of the double doors.

The girls descended en-masse to put away their clothes, and Naruto left the chaotic sounds of playful laughter to explore a bit more. He found a couple of bathrooms, with enormous baths inside and a couple of roomy showers. With a grin, he realised it wasn't too far removed from their home aboard the Invictus. He went back down in the elevator, and explored a bit further, finding a well stocked kitchen, and the training room that was now stocked up with the equipment he had ordered.

He grinned when he saw the practice swords, and picked up a Katana and Wakizashi, which he swung around with an experimental flourish. When he spotted the Odachi, he replaced the other blades, and picked this one up so that he could get a feel for it. It was single edged rather than double, but of a comparable size to his Invictium blade. He swung it around and tried out a few slashes before he replaced that blade with its compatriots.

With a smile, he left the training room and re-entered the lounge, then jumped, startled as a stealthy figure rolled in from the darkness outside.

"Good evening, Sir," a tracked black garbed robot said, as it rolled up silently. "My apologies for startling you. My name is Rupert, and I'll be your robot butler during your stay on Oceanus. Would you or your guests care for refreshments?"

"We'll be going to bed soon Rupert, but if you could prepare breakfast for us tomorrow at nine, that would be great!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Of course, Sir. Full English or continental?" the automated assistant asked politely.

"Prepare a broad selection, then the girls can choose whatever they prefer in the morning, and we can keep this as a surprise," Naruto said to the butler secretively.

"Very good, Sir," the butler replied, and tilted at the waist in a reasonable approximation of a bow.

"Thanks Rupert, goodnight," Naruto said, and then strolled back to the elevator to head up to the mezzanine.

The girls were waiting for him in bed by the time he arrived, and there was just a dim light illuminating the room now, enough for him to comfortably find his way in the darkness. He stripped off himself, and got into bed with them, and he could see their happy faces as they cuddled up with him.

"Thanks for an amazing holiday," Fu whispered to him breathlessly.

"We've only just arrived!" Naruto said with a light laugh.

"It's already the best one ever!" she replied enthusiastically, and they laughed as they settled down in the covers.

Tenten had made the ceiling transparent once more, and they looked up in fascination at the spectacular overhead view. Thousands of stars twinkled away, like diamonds strewn over a vast black velvet cloth. The vista was breathtaking, and they were all rendered speechless by such a panoramic sight of the heavens.

*Thanks so much for arranging this,* Hinata told him quietly in his mind. *This is the first proper holiday for both me and Sparks, and it feels magical already.*

*I really hope you both have the best time here,* he told her earnestly. *Since you girls joined me, you've been thrust into one crazy adventure after another. Now I want to show you that life with me doesn't always have to always be so dangerous.*

*You know we all love every minute with you, whatever we're doing, right?* she said to him lovingly. *Thank you for going to all this effort though, it means a lot,* she added in an emotional voice.

*You're always worth it,* Naruto replied, then smiled as the bluenette moved gracefully over the other girls so that she could cuddle up next to him.

She sighed happily as she snuggled under his arm, and he wrapped Sakura in the other, pulling her in towards him too.

"Good night girls, here's to a great couple of weeks," he told them in a quiet voice.

The girls murmured good night to him, too, and within a few minutes they were all fast asleep.