Chapter 8 – A Gruesome Death, the End of the Preliminaries & Trouble at Home
Naruto took a deep breath and released it slowly as he drew his Akuryouno Ame blades from their sheaths and took a ready stance. The young man knew that he was about to enter a no holds barred fight against someone that was out for his life, and that if he had any chance of surviving, he had to take this fight seriously from the get-go. So, Naruto pumped a small amount of chakra into his blades and watched as they began to glow red. All I need is a few good hits. Once I get a few good hits in, that'll be it. Marco won't be able to so much as stand anymore if I nail him with these babies enough times.
Across from him, Marco was wearing a rather arrogant smirk, clearly believing that he was not only going to win, but that he was finally going to be rid of the nuisance in his life that was so named Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Slowly, he withdrew a small paper tag from within one of the pouches attached to his waistband and waved it back and forth in the air. "Remember this?" Marco asked in a taunting tone of voice. "I sure do. This baby and two others like it were used to restrain you while I nearly got to have my way with that lovely sister of yours. But you just had to use that beast's chakra to overpower them, didn't you little boy? Still, I bet it burns you up inside that I got to feel up that beautiful sister of yours right in front of you with you being powerless to stop me. Doesn't it Naruto?"
All around the room, eyes narrowed and all the women began to growl in anger at hearing this arrogant son-of-a-bitch talking about nearly raping Naruko as if it was some kind of special conquest. Hell, a good number of the men in the audience were furious as well, which was really saying something if one thinks about it considering some of them really weren't the greatest of people.
"Once I've done away with you, Naruko's all mine for the taking. She'll be so distraught at the loss of her dear brother that she won't even be able to put up a fight anymore. Once I get it in there, ohhh man it'll feel soooo good. She'll be my personal little cum factory, all for me, and you won't be around to stop me anymore. Oh man, it'll be so fucking fantastic!" Marco ranted on, clearly deranged from all of his fantasies and his obsessive hatred towards Naruto and his lust for Naruko.
People throughout the room were sickened by this behavior. However, there was only one person that truly mattered to Naruto at the moment. Up in the stands, Naruto could spy his sister hugging herself tight and shedding tears as she remembered that horrible experience. When Kurotsuchi wrapped her in a hug and pulled the redhead's head into her chest to try and comfort her, Naruto returned his narrowed gaze to the soon-to-be-dead man across from him. "I hope you've enjoyed your life Marco. I truly hope you did. Because in a matter of seconds, you're going to lose it. Best prepare yourself, because I'm not going to be holding back you little shit."
Hayate, feeling that the pre-battle banter had gone on long enough, and having quite enough of Marco's shit, brought his hand down and shouted out for them to begin before leaping back and away from the two boys. And just as the blonde had said, he vanished from his spot and appeared precisely two feet behind Marco, slowly sheathing his tanto as he did. Once they clicked into place, deep gashes appeared on his opponent's torso, legs, arms, and all along his back as well.
Eyes widening from shock, Marco couldn't even let out a scream of agony from all the pain he felt. It was such a shock to his system that it was taking a while for everything that just happened to register in his brain. Slowly turning around as blood seeped from his wounds, Marco tried to reach to his pouch to withdraw a weapon of some kind, but as he tried to will his arm to move, he found it unresponsive.
Unsure as to why exactly this was, he glanced towards it and found that his arm had fallen to the floor, severed from his body the very moment he tried to move it. Glancing to his left arm, the one that had held the paralysis tag, he found that it, too had fallen from his body. Blinking in shock at this, Marco went to speak, only to see the ground coming closer at an astonishing rate. What really confused him though is that the entire room was spinning around and around. At least, he was confused until he saw his body lying crumpled to the ground a few feet from where his head now lay. Oh. I'm…I'm dead…
Turning around to face his mutilated opponent, the young Uzumaki-Namikaze boy stared hard into the eyes of his rapidly fading opponent. "You weren't even worthy of dying by these blades. Rot in Hell Marco, because that's where you're going for your crimes. Say hi to Kirobi-teme when you get there, wouldja?" Smirking wickedly, Naruto walked over and kicked Marco's head as hard as he could, sending it flying and crashing into the wall at a high velocity to the point everyone could hear quite the loud crunch as the front side of his face caved in from the pressure at which the head impacted the wall.
Despite the gruesome display, Hayate maintained his composure and announced Naruto as the winner of the match. After the blonde had left to go to his sister's side so he could help Kurotsuchi calm her down, Hayate called in a cleaning crew to help clean up the massive mess that Naruto had just made of his opponent. I'd say that was unnecessary overkill, but the little bastard deserved it if anyone were to ask me. The proctor thought to himself with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
Hinata Hyuga vs. Neji Hyuga
Naruto wasn't even paying attention to the next fight. Honestly, he was too busy trying to console his precious sister alongside Kurotsuchi and Sakura to care. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the fight wasn't going in Hinata's favor, but she was looking a lot more confident at the very least and actually putting up one hell of a fight.
Hugging his beloved tight, the blonde ninja kissed her lips tenderly and brushed his rough fingers through her long, red hair gently. "Sweetheart, look at me. He can't hurt you anymore. That scumbag is gone. I killed him. He can never hurt you or our family again. Kirobi-teme is gone too. Nobody will ever lay a hand on you again. I promise you that as long as you have us around, nobody will ever hurt you like that again. You are safe Naruko-chan. Please calm down and don't cry anymore. Seeing you like this hurts. It hurts me so bad right here." Taking his sister's hand, Naruto placed it right over where his heart beat inside of his chest and held it there with both of his hands. "I love you Naruko-chan. More than you could ever know. Don't let what he said hurt you anymore. Okay?"
Nodding her head slowly as she clutched tightly to her brother's shirt, Naruko wiped away her tears with the backs of the fingers on her left hand and started to smile a bit. "You're…you're right Naruto-kun. Thank you so much for everything. I love you so much." Looking to her friends, Kurotsuchi and Sakura, Naruko turned to the both of them and hugged the two of them in succession for brief moments. "Thank you both as well for being here for me."
Kurotsuchi shrugged and patted Naruko's back as Sakura returned her hug. "No problem Naruko-chan. It just sucks that I didn't get a chance to kick that guy's ass before Naruto-kun got to him. I would've loved to have roasted that punk's balls for the shit he was saying about you." The Iwa kunoichi stated as she began cracking her knuckles with a sadistic grin on her face that made Naruto chuckle nervously and shift a bit, hoping he would never incur her wrath himself.
They were all broken out of their thoughts when they heard a scream from down below in the arena. Glancing down, they saw Neji on the ground writhing in pain from whatever attack his cousin had just struck him with. From what Naruto had last seen, he had Hinata on the ropes, so how had she pulled off a come from behind victory like this? It was at this point he wished he had been paying more attention. Regardless of this, he threw his fist up into the air and cheered for her. "Alright Hinata! Congrats on your victory!"
Hinata's friends and teammates all cheered for her victory as well as she returned to the upper level. Meanwhile, Neji was carted off by the medics to have his internal injuries tended to. Whatever Hinata had done to him was severe enough that blood was pooling up in his mouth and dribbling down his chin. Naruto realized that the once-shy Hyuga could prove to be a major competitor and quite the potential threat in the finals if he wasn't careful.
Gaara vs. Rock Lee
This is a fight that Naruto wanted to pay full attention to. So, grasping the hands of both of his girlfriends next to him, the blonde stepped to the guardrails and paid close attention to both of these possible future opponents. Despite this, he was quite certain that Gaara would emerge the victor from this particular match.
When the match began, the young man could tell that his assessment was most likely correct, but at the same time he knew something was off. Lee was only using taijutsu without showing any signs of ever going for any other ninja techniques. When it was confirmed that he was only capable of using taijutsu, Naruto remembered hearing about a boy a year before him that was allowed to pass due to special circumstances or some such thing and figured it must've been this guy. With a shrug of his shoulders, he continued to watch the match in curiosity to see what somebody using nothing but taijutsu could really do against such a powerful opponent.
As the fight progressed, the green-clad boy just continued to impress with feats of incredible speed and strength. However, it all proved to be for naught in the end as Gaara's sand armor proved to be damn near impenetrable. Lee had delivered some pretty severe blows that had managed to crack it, but it just wasn't meant to be in the end. The poor boy had exhausted himself and suffered a career crippling injury to both his left arm and leg before the boy's sensei had intervened on his behalf, thus making it the Suna ninja's win.
Choji Akimichi vs. Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze
Choji found himself gulping nervously at this matchup as he made his way down into the arena. He knew how badly Naruko wanted to become a chunin alongside her cousin, so this fight was likely to be a tough one that might very well end in his defeat. To be perfectly honest, he was so tempted to forfeit right away to avoid the major beatdown he knew was coming. Despite being good friends with his teammate and friend's sister, he knew that she wasn't going to pull any punches! I'm in such deep shit!
Naruko on the other hand was giddy! It was finally her turn to fight! Giving her boyfriend a big hug and kiss on the cheek, she leapt over the railing and landed a short distance from the pudgy boy with a large grin on her face. "Let's have a good fight Choji-kun! You should know that I plan to win though!" Drawing her daggers and pumping some suiton chakra into them, the lovely redhead formed them into the shape of hook swords made out of water. "Okay Mr. Proctor man, I'm ready now!"
Glancing between the two fighters, Hayate raised his hand and brought it down in a slashing motion. "Begin!" And with that he leaped back out of the way so that the two of them could begin.
In an instant, Naruko was before Choji with one of her water-made hook swords positioned around his neck. Before the portly boy could move to avoid the attack, she moved her hand and the hook latched around his neck and pulled him right into Naruko's raised knee, disorienting her opponent. Within the next moment, she spun around and slammed the back of her left fist into the left side of Choji's face and sent him crashing hard to the floor where she watched him skid until his back hit the wall.
On the balcony, Naruto and Shino couldn't help but pity their teammate, but as much as Naruto wanted to cheer him on, he also knew that he couldn't root against his sister/girlfriend. This was a match that was very hard for the young Uzumaki-Namikaze heir to watch, and therefore he chose to simply remain silent and watch this match to its completion.
Rather than whine in pain, Choji quickly unleashed a jutsu of his own, his Partial Multi-Size Technique and threw out his rapidly enlarging left leg in an attempt to crush Naruko against the far wall. She dodge-rolled out of the way, but he quickly shrunk his leg and, upon leaping back onto his feet, threw out his right fist and enlarged it as well after calling out the name of the technique. Naruko once more had to dodge, but she used her hook sword to cut into his arm this time, forcing Choji to end the technique early.
So, not knowing what else to go with, Choji called out: "Multi-Size Technique!" and enlarged his entire body into a large ball before calling out: "Human Bullet Tank!" and began rolling right for Naruko in an attempt to crush her with his massive girth.
Quickly flipping over her opponent, the long-haired redhead lashed out with her right leg and, with a chakra-enhanced kick, sent her opponent careening into the opposite wall. However, rather than simply staying there, he reversed direction and came barreling at her once again while her back was turned. "Tch." Naruko scoffed from the frustration of not being able to put Choji down quickly. Still, she had to give him credit; the kid had lasting power, that was for sure.
Dodging out of the way again and again whenever Choji changed direction in an attempt to crush her, Naruko eventually sickened of it and slipped away her daggers before pulling out her sealing equipment. "That's it Choji. You've ticked off an Uzumaki, and that calls for something a little 'special'. I hope you're prepared for some pain my friend."
With a wicked grin on her face, Naruko first slapped down three paper tags around her in a triangular formation before calling out: "Seal!" When a barrier in the shape of a pyramid rose up around her, Choji had no choice but to cancel his technique and grumble in frustration, knowing that he was in deep shit now.
Now that she had some time to relax, Naruko began the process of writing an intricate, beautiful seal onto a blank paper tag as Choji popped a food pill into his mouth to replenish his chakra reserves. When Naruko had finally finished with her seal, she looked up with a devilish smirk on her face and held it up for the younger genin to see. "I hope you're ready Choji-boy, 'cause this is going to be the tool that leads to your defeat."
Sighing in what appeared to be resignation, Choji nodded slowly and watched as Naruko's barrier came down. Quickly moving forward, the young man engaged Naruko in a fierce taijutsu battle, the both of them dodging each other's strikes while making no headway against one another. Whenever Naruko went to slap the sealing tag on Choji, he would narrowly dodge it, and whenever Choji came close to striking Naruko, she would nimbly avoid it with her lithe body moving in ways that no man possibly could.
Finally, Choji overextended on a punch and his opponent took that opportunity to slap the tag on his chest and shouted out: "Seal of Depletion: Seal!" Within seconds, Choji screamed out in agony as he felt a large amount of his chakra be rapidly drawn into the seal. It was a painful process, but it wasn't a lethal one, thankfully. When it was finally over, the portly young genin collapsed to his knees as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Quickly ripping the seal from his chest, Naruko patted him gently on the head and smiled sweetly at him. "You put up an amazing fight Choji-boy. Be proud my friend." Naruko said sweetly before walking off to rejoin her beloved brother.
After announcing Naruko the winner and watching Choji be carried off to have his injuries tended to, Hayate announced that Kurotsuchi would be allowed through without having to fight due to there being no more opponents for her to fight against, which she was a bit disappointed about. Still, she understood and proceeded to join the remaining genin on the arena floor when he called the winners down.
It was explained to them that it was time to draw lots for the finals to determine who would face whom. So each genin reached into a box that was carried around by Anko. When it was finally over, they began to read off their numbers in order.
"7." Sasuke said with an arrogant smirk.
"6." Shino said as he held up his number.
"4." Kankuro stated when he flashed his number to the proctors.
"I'm number 9." Sakura stated.
"11." Temari said with a shrug.
"2." Kiba stated with Akamaru barking happily atop his head.
"1." Naruto said with a grin while shooting Kiba a glance.
"8." Hinata said with a gentle smile on her face.
"I've got 3." Gaara said in his blank monotone that he always spoke in.
"I have number 5." Naruko said excitedly.
"Number 10." Kurotsuchi said with a shrug.
"Alright, that's all of 'em." Anko said after they finished listing their numbers off. Once the proctors had finished marking the names on the board, they flipped it around to show it to the others; they all looked at who they would be facing in the finals before glancing at their opponents with varying expressions ranging from worry to excitement.
Match 1 – Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze vs. Kiba Inuzuka
Match 2 – Gaara vs. Kankuro
Match 3 – Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze vs. Shino Aburame
Match 4 – Sasuke Uchiha vs. Hinata Hyuga
Match 5 – Sakura Haruno vs. Kurotsuchi
Temari goes through to the 2nd round to face the winner of Match 5
With that, the group of genin were dismissed and were escorted from the tower and back through the Forest of Death until they were back in the village proper. Once they were there, Naruto stopped his girlfriends, Naruko and Sakura, as well as Kurotsuchi. "Girls, I kinda need to talk to you three about something. But first, we need to go visit Ino in the hospital, okay? She needs to hear this too. Okay?" Getting some hesitant, yet curious nods from the group, they began to move off towards the Konoha Hospital, each of them wondering exactly what Naruto needed to tell them.
Konoha Hospital – Ino's Room – 20 Minutes Later
As they walked into Ino's room at the hospital, Naruto could be heard grumbling angrily while his girlfriends tried to calm him down. Kurotsuchi, curious about something, decided to voice her question. "Okay, seriously here, what the fuck was that woman's problem? All we wanted to know was her room number, but all she could do was give Naruto-kun a fucking death glare and tell him to get lost."
After shutting the door, Naruto walked over and took a seat beside Ino's bed and frowned. "She's one of the bigots Kurotsuchi-chan. You already know that I hold the Kyuubi. Well, some people don't appreciate the fact that I'm just the container and view me as the beast itself. They hate me and wish me nothing but ill will. So far, nobody's ever actually tried anything, but that doesn't stop them from being assholes."
Frowning at this, Kurotsuchi walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it helps any, Roshi and Han aren't exactly treated very well either. They're the jinchuriki back in Iwa, and…well…they're treated more like weapons than anything. I've never treated them as anything but people, but I'm in the minority. I'm in your corner Naruto, and I'll never treat you as anything less than human. You're a good guy and you've been nothing but sweet to me." With a small smirk on her face, the black-haired lass leaned in and placed a small peck on his cheek, much to the jealousy of his girlfriends in the room.
Blushing a bit, Naruto raised his hand up and held it to his cheek. This wasn't the first of Kurotsuchi's affectionate actions with him and he was beginning to wonder if she only did this to tease him or if she had genuine feelings for him. Shaking his head free of such thoughts, Naruto decided to focus on what he had brought them here for instead.
"Thank you Kurotsuchi-chan. But that's not important right now. Still though, I do hope things improve for those two." He said, genuinely hoping the situation would improve for his fellow jinchuriki over in Iwagakure. Again though, he had something more important, at least for now, to discuss. "I'm afraid that I kinda did something that you girls miiiight not be too happy with me about."
Seeing their questioning gazes, Naruto chuckled nervously and proceeded to walk around and place silencing seals around the room so that what he said wouldn't leave the room. Once he was finished, he walked back over to Ino's bedside and smiled at her and the others. "During the exams, I encountered a fellow jinchuriki named Fu from Takigakure. We talked for a bit, and I found out that she was being used by her village as a means to help her teammates become chunin. She was never going to be promoted even if she went all the way to the end and won the damn tournament at the end. Fu's been abused back in her village and things haven't been good for her."
Noticing the looks of outrage on their faces, the Uzumaki-Namikaze heir nodded his head and proceeded with his explanation. "I was meaning to tell all of this to you girls back in the tower, but Uke-teme interrupted us." When the girls giggled at his new nickname of the teme, Naruto smirked and gave a small bow. "Thank you, thank you. I'm glad you like the new name. Enough of that though, I have something important to say."
With a sigh, Naruto decided it was best to just get it over with. "Together with my teammates, we knocked out her teammates and proceeded to fake Fu's death. We escorted her out of the Forest of Death and I asked Anko to see her to the Sandaime Hokage so she could request sanctuary here in the village before…erm…" Chuckling nervously at this point, the fourteen year-old blonde began scratching at the side of his nose. "I kind of decided she would be living with me from now on here in the village."
After saying this, the blonde male closed his eyes and awaited the screams of outrage he felt were coming. He knew he deserved the wrath of his girlfriends for making such a decision without asking them about it first, but he still felt he did the right thing in the long run. What he didn't expect was to be hugged by three pairs of arms while another hand patted him atop the head. Blinking a few times in shock, he glanced around at his girlfriends and Kurotsuchi and asked the question on his mind. "You aren't mad at me?"
Shaking their heads in the negative, Ino decided to speak up for all of them. "Naruto, honey, we aren't mad exactly. We're unsure of what to think of her living with you, but we're happy you did the right thing and helped her out of that horrible situation she was stuck in. If you feel that her living with you is the safest thing for her right now, then we'll have to trust in your decision. But I think we should all come over to your place and have a little 'chat' to make sure she understands something first, before we're really okay with her living with you. Understand?"
Gulping slightly, Naruto quickly nodded his head. "Message read, loud and clear Sweetheart. Girls need to have a talk and the guy will stay out of it. We'll get the doctor to release you and then we can head on over to my place in a bit. Sound good to everybody?" Getting nods all around, Naruto grinned and went off with Sakura to retrieve a doctor so they could get Ino discharged from the hospital. After all, she was only in there for a short time due to her nervous system taking a bit of electrical damage, which she had already recovered from by the time they had arrived. The wonders of medical ninjutsu would never cease.
An hour later – Uzumaki-Namikaze Compound
After the group arrived at the Uzumaki-Namikaze home, they knocked on the door to alert Kushina that they were home. What they did not expect, nor could they ever have expected, was for Zabuza to open the door dressed in a frilly maid uniform with a broom in hand. Looking up into his eyes, Naruto's jaw dropped and he couldn't help the question that came from his mouth. "Z-Zabuza-sensei? What the fuck man?!"
Grumbling to himself, Zabuza let the group inside before slamming the door shut behind them and turning to glare at each of them in turn. "I swear to Kami that if any of you laugh, I'll make your training soooo much harder Naruto you won't be able to stand after I'm through with you! Your mother's a freaking sadist! Making me wear this damn thing around the house all day all because I told her she was the damned devil in disguise." Practically snarling by now, the powerful swordsman-maid went back to continue sweeping as he continued his grousing. "The way she wields that frying pan, you'd think she was more monster than woman."
Sweatdropping, the group decided it was probably for the best that they leave the rambling swordsman-maid to his duties and walked off to find Kushina and Fu so that they could have their little 'talk'. As the group walked off, they did their best to tune out Zabuza's mad rambling. After all, they had the feeling that whatever sanity the poor man had was rapidly dwindling thanks to Kushina's sadism and didn't want to be around as he slipped ever closer to his breaking point. Nobody wanted to be around when a guy dressed in a maid outfit broke down after all.
When they entered the living room where they heard a conversation taking place, they spotted the Uzumaki matriarch and her guest enjoying cups of tea together while chatting away. As soon as Fu spotted Naruto, however, she set her teacup down and rushed over to him. Within seconds, she had thrown her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Thank you! Thank you so much Naruto-kun for saving me like that and inviting me to your home! Your mother is wonderful and your home is beautiful! Although that Zabuza person is kind of weird. I mean, what kind of man wears a maid uniform?"
Chuckling nervously at this, Naruto couldn't help but glance at his mother and the evil smirk she had donned at this question. "I really don't think it's by choice Fu-san."
Before he could say anything more, Fu stepped back from Naruto and poked his nose. "Nope, call me Fu-chan. I won't have you calling me anything else Naruto-kun."
Just as she did with Naruto, before Fu could say or do anything more, the girls surrounding Naruto grabbed Fu and dragged her away from him and practically growled at her. "No flirting with our guy. We're going to lay some ground rules here if you're going to be living with Naruto-kun, Missy." Ino said, clearly not liking this Fu person already.
"First off," Sakura began, "no flirting with him. Naruto already has three girlfriends that he's more than happy with. He doesn't need any more than that."
Before Fu could interrupt, Naruko raised a finger and shushed her. "Second, you are not to sneak into his room at night. You seem like you might try that, so don't do it. Understand me?"
Blinking in confusion at these rules, Fu stayed silent as she continued to listen on. They just continued on like this for a while, listing off rule after rule after rule until finally she had enough of it. "I get it; you don't want me going after your man. Well tough molasses! He saved me, he's cute, he's got a great personality, and he's already got three girlfriends which tells me he's in an open relationship. Therefore, that means I have a chance. Sooo…" Walking past the four young women, Fu went right up to Naruto and grabbed his crotch through his pants before speaking her mind. "You see this ladies?! This is gonna be mine!"
At this, Kushina couldn't take it anymore and ended up spitting out her tea all over the table in front of her right before she began laughing hard. It didn't help matters any when Kurotsuchi hurried over to Naruto, grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Fu. "No it isn't damn it! Naruto-kun's going to be my boyfriend! I'm tired of trying to hide my feelings for him, and I'm not about to let some hussy get to him before I do!" And with that being said, Kurotsuchi leaned in and began kissing her beloved Naruto-kun as passionately as she could.
When Kurotsuchi pulled back from the kiss and licked her lips in a sensual manner, Naruto blushed up a storm before falling backwards in a faint with swirly eyes and hanging mouth. The girls all quickly gathered 'round him and began trying to see if he was okay. The entire time, Kushina couldn't help but laugh even more raucously than before while slapping her knee. Oh Kami, my son has the funniest luck, I swear!
Later that evening
After a rather large catfight had broken out over her son, Kushina had eventually broken it up so that the five girls didn't end up destroying her house. They had eventually decided to discuss their feelings for Naruto in-depth later once they had all calmed down and had time to think it over. For now, Ino and Sakura had departed for their homes, while Naruto, Naruko, Fu, and Kurotsuchi were resting in their rooms after a tiring day and a rather tiring Chunin Exams, at least thus far.
Sadly, their time of relaxation and rest was about to come to a rather 'frustrating' end. Upon hearing knocking once again on her front door, Kushina opened it this time and saw an ANBU standing before her. "Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"
"Ma'am, er, Kushina-sama," the ANBU corrected herself after seeing the look on the Uzumaki woman's face at being called ma'am, "your son and his girlfriends have been called before the Council. I have been sent to retrieve your children. I think it might be a good idea for you to come as well. I don't think this is likely to be a pleasant meeting for them."
Frowning, Kushina nodded in agreement, having the same feeling of foreboding as the female ANBU member standing on her doorstep. So, inviting the woman inside, Kushina went upstairs and fetched all of those she felt would be required at the meeting: Naruto, Naruko, Fu, and Kurotsuchi. After explaining the situation to them, Naruto and Naruko nodded to each other before turning to their mother. "Mom, I think I know what this is about. If I'm right, we might just have to kill ourselves a teme."
Curious, but not willing to delay things any further, Kushina simply chose to nod her head and, along with the ANBU, performed the Body Flicker Technique to take the group to the Council Chambers. After all, whatever was going on must be fairly serious if her son and his girlfriends were being summoned before the Council of Konoha.
Council Chambers
Upon walking into the council chambers, the group saw both Ino and Sakura waiting for them. So, joining with the two of them in the center of the room, they proceeded to glance around at all the faces until they saw a face that caused them all to scowl: Sasuke Uchiha's. However, he wasn't standing with his mother, but with a few members of the Civilian Council, which showed that he was using them to get something he wanted, and whatever it was, obviously didn't mean anything good for our group of protagonists.
When the Hokage began to speak, the group of seven turned to him and began to listen. "I'm sorry to call you here when you were most likely resting after such a trying time in the Chunin Exams. However, something has come to the attention of the Council and they would like to discuss it with you. All thanks to a certain nuisance." Hiruzen stated as he narrowed his gaze and glared at the arrogant boy that was currently directing a smug smile at Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, almost as if he'd already won this 'battle'.
At this, Mikoto decided to be the one to break the news to them as gently as possible. "Naruto-kun, my son," she said this with a tone of disgust, "has brought news to the Council of Konoha that you've been seeing more than one young lady in a romantic sense. He has it in his head that he can have his way here and get them taken away from you. In fact…"
Here, Mikoto was interrupted by a pudgy civilian councilman that directed an arrogant grin at the fourteen year-old Uzumaki-Namikaze heir. "Sasuke-sama has been inducted into the CRA and has chosen to take all of your precious girlfriends, plus any others you might have, as his brides. What do you say to that you little brat?"
Within seconds, Kushina had directed an enormous amount of killing intent at the man to the point he began having a heart attack. It didn't take long for him to collapse dead to the ground and for her to smile a satisfied smile after the deed was done. "In case you bastards forgot, my son is the heir to the Uzumaki name and is currently the only male Uzumaki in the village. In fact, it's quite possible that he's the last male Uzumaki in the world. Therefore, he qualifies for the CRA as well, and thus is allowed multiple wives. On top of that, he has been dating Ino-chan and Sakura-chan for years, while Naruko-chan and he have been dating for a matter of months now. And before you get it in your heads to say anything about incest being wrong, keep in mind that incest is practiced in other clans as well, and our Uzumaki genes would cancel out any genetic defects that might result as a product of birthing a child between my two children. Any questions?"
At this, Sasuke began to seethe angrily before another idea came to him that might allow him to hurt the Uzumaki-Namikaze heir he so despised. Moving closer to one of the civilian councilmen he knew was on his side, he whispered his idea into the woman's ear. After he had finished, the woman proceeded to speak.
"I can't help but notice that you didn't say anything about the two girls standing there. I believe that one is named Kurotsuchi-san, but the other I don't recognize. It doesn't matter, the point stands. Sasuke would like to take them as his brides if Naruto-san hasn't laid claim to them yet." The councilwoman said.
In response to this, Naruto decided to be the one to speak up. "First off, Kurotsuchi-chan isn't a member of our village. She's here as part of a system to try and foster peace between the different hidden villages, and therefore is exempt from this shit that the teme is trying to pull. Secondly, Fu isn't interested in the teme, and nobody has any right to 'claim' her as if she's some kind of object! Thirdly, they both have the right to be with whomever they choose to be with. From what I understand of the CRA, you can't force people to be with you. Instead, they have the freedom of choice. Therefore, all of this is complete bullshit and you civilians that have a problem with me can effectively suck it!"
Kushina smacked her son in the back of the head in response to this. "Watch your language Mister! I've warned you about this before! I don't care if they're in the wrong here, you will behave like a proper gentleman in front of your mother or else you'll be in trouble with me later!"
Chuckling a bit nervously at this, Naruto nodded his head and proceeded to turn to look at his grandfather figure. "Jiji, because the teme decided to pull this stunt, can we just slap the ol' CRA on me and call it a day? I'm bushed after such a long day, and I don't want something like this happening again."
Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled softly at this and nodded his head. "Of course Naruto-kun. But do you really understand what you're asking for here?" Seeing a shrug of the shoulders as his response, the elderly man released a soft sigh and shook his head in exasperation. "You will have to take a certain number of wives as determined by us and have to birth at least one child by a set date. Can you agree to these terms?"
Frowning at this, Naruto looked at his girlfriends and received a hesitant nod in response after they conversed with one another. "If my girlfriends have accepted the idea, then I can as well. It…it won't be easy, but we agree Jiji."
Nodding in response, Hiruzen glanced around the room and listened to the whisperings of the various council members, both civilian and shinobi. When everyone had finally come to an agreement and delivered their judgment to him via paper, he looked down at it and shrugged. It wasn't a bad amount, all things considered. "Alright Naruto-kun, it looks like it isn't so bad. The Council has come to the decision that you are to accrue at least six wives and birth one child by your seventeenth birthday. Do you agree to these terms?"
Looking at his girlfriends to get their opinions, he received nods in response which told him that they could accept that, but their looks also said that they would need to talk with him about this after they were done here. So, turning back to his grandfather figure, Naruto nodded determinedly. "Yes Jiji, I, or rather, we accept."
Once again nodding, Hiruzen waved his hand and smiled. "Then this council meeting is over. Everyone is dismissed. Get out of here." He commanded in an authoritative voice.
As Mikoto was rising from her chair, she caught the look that Naruto was sending her. It was a look that said 'We need to talk.' Nodding her head, she decided to wait for him outside the council meeting chambers.
After Mikoto had left, Naruto turned to his girls and frowned. "Sweethearts…I need to ask you something." Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. "Would you be okay if I asked Mikoto-chan to be one of my brides? Now that the teme has been inducted into the CRA, it's only a matter of time before he realizes that, well…his mother is 'fair game', so to speak. She's a pure-blooded Uchiha, and you know how he is. And before you ask, I'm not just asking this because I want to keep her safe from him. I've…had a crush on Mikoto-chan for years. I just…it felt…awkward, y'know?"
Giggling at this, Naruko hugged her brother and kissed his cheek. "Honey, I've known about your crush on Mikoto-obasan for yeaaaars. I want to keep her safe from that jerk too. It…would be weird for a while to have an older woman in the mix, but she's such a sweetheart that I know she would never mistreat you Naruto-kun. If you want to be with her…well…I won't deny you. What about you girls?"
Ino walked up and hugged her boyfriend tight after Naruko stepped back away from him. "Sweetie, it's okay. I don't want Mikoto-san to suffer at the hands of that monster. He's already tried to take us away from you, and I don't know what else he might try to do. From what you've told us, he already treats his mother like dirt. I can't even imagine what it would be like if she was forced to lay with him like that. You go and talk to her, try to convince her to be with you Sweetheart. We're willing to allow her into our little 'harem', if you want to call it that."
Nodding, Naruto turned to his mother and looked deep into her eyes. "Mom? Are you okay with this? Mikoto-chan is your very best friend after all, and this has to be weird for you."
Frowning, Kushina reached down and brought her son in for a tender, yet tight hug. "Sweetheart, it's okay. It might be weird to consider, but if you're willing to help her out of a fate worse than death like this, then I can deal with the awkwardness of it. Now don't keep her waiting for you any longer. I saw the look you sent her. Get out there and talk to her." Giggling a bit, Kushina gave her son a shove towards the doors and watched as he stumbled through them.
As soon as Naruto left the room, Kushina turned back to the five girls before her. "So how do you really feel about all of this?"
With a sigh, all of their shoulders slumped in resignation and depression. "Honestly? This kinda sucks. I can't believe that asshole would pull such a thing! Actually, yes I can. He's definitely the type to do whatever he can to try and hurt our precious Naruto-kun!" Ino exclaimed, clearly frustrated by everything that had just taken place.
Sakura piped up at this point as she stared at the doors her beloved had just left through. "To be perfectly honest, I was trying to get used to the idea of sharing him with Kurotsuchi-san and Fu-san. Now I have to share him with an older woman too? I'm not sure how to feel. But…I don't want Mikoto-san to suffer. On top of that, I want Naruto-kun to be happy. So…"
"You're right Sakura-chan. I feel the same way. It will just take some getting used to, that's all." Naruko said as she hugged Sakura and Ino close to her. Looking to her teammate, Naruko frowned for a moment before walking over to her and hugging her next. "Kurotsuchi-chan…I'm sorry about giving you such a hassle before about liking my brother. If he makes you happy, then I'm happy for you. Just try not to hog him to yourself, got it?"
Giggling a bit, Kurotsuchi nodded her head and hugged Naruko back. "I won't. If we're going to be sharing the same guy, we need to truly share him. Equal opportunity and all that. I like how you did things before, all spending time with him equally and even group dates sometimes. I'd like to try and make this work, group dates and all." She explained, quite glad that her best friend was willing to give her a chance finally.
Fu, on the other hand, was ecstatic. Throwing a fist up into the air, she cheered out loud. "Woo-hoo! I'm being given a chance! I hope you know I'm still determined to be the first one he sleeps with though!" Upon feeling her ear being pinched and tugged on, Fu winced and began whining in pain. "Ow ow ow! Let go, let go! Stop it, please!"
Kushina narrowed her eyes and glared down at the girl she had in her grasp. "Fu, what did I tell you earlier? You are to behave and act like a good girl when around my son. I understand that you're 'eager', but you will not rush into anything. You will get to know each other, and if it happens, it will happen naturally and without pressure from either side. Is this understood?" Receiving a fearful nod as an answer, the older woman nodded with a bright smile on her face and released the mint-haired young lass. "Good. I'm so glad we could come to an understanding."
With Naruto
As soon as Naruto left the meeting chambers, he spotted Mikoto just to his left with a smile on her face as she waited for him. Approaching her with a sheepish grin on his face, the young blonde rubbed the back of his head and decided to apologize to her for the wait. "Sorry for making you wait for me Mikoto-chan. I hope you weren't waiting too long. I had to talk to my girlfriends about something."
Giggling to herself, the Uchiha matriarch shook her head and smiled sweetly down at the younger man. "It's okay Naruto-kun. You didn't keep me waiting at all. What was it that you wanted to talk with me about?"
Blushing a bit at this point, Naruto looked her in the eyes and did his best to steel his nerves for what he was about to say. Inside he was a nervous wreck however. After all, it's not every day that you ask an older woman to be one of your brides! So, taking a deep breath, Naruto released it slowly in an effort to calm himself down.
"Mikoto-chan…my mom told me before about the CRA. She said that if I was put into it, I might have to bed either her or Naruko-chan for purebred children, so-to-speak. Or at least that it wouldn't be frowned upon. The teme, Sasuke…I wouldn't put it past him to try and use you for that same purpose now that he's under the CRA as well." Looking up into Mikoto Uchiha's eyes at this point, Naruto gently grabbed one of her hands and began running circles on the back of it with his thumb. "Mikoto-chan, I'm worried about you. Really worried."
Frowning at this point, Mikoto pulled her precious Naruto-kun into a hug and kissed him atop his head. "Naruto-kun, it'll be okay. I wouldn't let my son touch me in that way, I promise you that. Besides, I doubt he'd ever try anything. Is that all you were worried about?"
Shaking his head, Naruto looked determinedly into her eyes and grasped both of her hands. "Mikoto-chan, you don't understand! As the last members of the Uchiha clan, it's expected of you to…to…" Practically growling to himself at this point, Naruto shook his head again and tried to calm himself down. "Mikoto-chan…I've had such a crush on you for so many years now. I don't want the teme to touch you! He doesn't respect you, he doesn't treat you well, and he doesn't even act like you're his mother for crying out loud! He's a self-entitled little shit that will only use you as a baby-making factory and then throw you away when you don't have any use to him anymore!"
Breathing heavily now that he had finished, Naruto looked deeply into Mikoto's eyes and could see that she looked hurt by what he said. With unshed tears brimming in his eyes, Naruto did the only thing he could think of to do at this point. Placing his hands gently upon Mikoto's cheeks, he leaned in and kissed her tenderly upon her lips.
At first, Mikoto was absolutely stunned that a younger man, Naruto of all people, was kissing her! But after a moment, she closed her eyes and began to return the kiss. It had been such a long time since anyone had done such a thing with her and to be perfectly honest, this action felt so good and so right to her that she couldn't help but give into it wholeheartedly.
Slowly, Mikoto wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and deepened the kiss, probing at his mouth with her tongue. Upon granting her entrance, the two of them began to wrestle tongues with each other and explore one another's mouths until the need for air became too much and they had to separate. Upon doing so, Mikoto blushed fiercely at what she had just done and glanced away from him as she brought her hands up to her cheeks and began to panic. "Oh dear me, what did I just do?!"
Gently grasping Mikoto's hands in his, Naruto turned her to face him once again. "Mikoto-chan, I have feelings for you. I want to not only keep you safe from your son, but I want you to be with me as one of my future brides. Will…will you give me a chance?"
Mikoto's brain felt like it was going to go into a meltdown situation at any minute as a fierce blush overtook her face. Shaking her head from left to right repeatedly in an attempt to cool off, she could tell that Naruto was mistaking her action for a negative and quickly went to interrupt him. "Naruto, do you know what you're asking of me? I'm more than twice your age! Why would you want someone like me when you already have such beautiful young women after your heart?"
Frowning slightly, Naruto leaned in and kissed Mikoto again for a brief moment before he began rubbing circles on the backs of her hands again. "I already told you Mikoto-chan. I've had feelings for you for the longest time. I just…never came forth with them because I felt that you would reject me. But now…I don't want to lose you. I want you to be with me Mikoto-chan. Please?"
Taking a few deep breaths to try and calm her nerves, the beautiful ravenette looked into her young friend's eyes and slowly found herself nodding. "I'll…I'll give this a chance. Give us a chance. But…will your girlfriends accept me? I'm so much older than the rest of them."
Smiling sweetly at her, Naruto leaned in and captured her lips again in a tender, yet passionate kiss. When he pulled back, his love's face was colored even redder than before and she had a content smile on her face. "That's what I was talking to them about before coming out here. They're willing to accept you Mikoto-chan. All you had to do was say 'yes'." Hugging her close, Naruto whispered into her ear. "Thank you for saying yes."
At this, Mikoto wrapped her arms around the younger man and kissed his cheek. "You're welcome Naruto-kun. Thank you for caring so much about me. I'm actually a little anxious to see how this works out. I'm old and haven't had any experience in the 'dating game' in ages."
Chuckling softly, Naruto poked Mikoto in the forehead and shook his head. "Stop saying you're old Mikoto-chan. You're still a beautiful woman with a lot of life left to live. I think we're going to have a lot of fun dates and a lot of good times together. Just you wait and see." Seeing her nod in response with a broadening smile on her face, Naruto took her hand and walked with her to rejoin the others. He was looking forward to seeing what the future had in store for all of them.
A/N - Okay, first off I'd like to apologize for the agonizingly long wait you've all suffered while waiting for me to update any of my fics. When I DID return, I put up a new story instead. Whether or not you liked it doesn't matter, it means I kept you waiting even LONGER for an actual update. Sooo...I apologize for that.
Secondly, I might be a little slow on the updates for now. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, so I just hope you can all be patient with me. On top of this, I have to go in for surgery sometime in the coming weeks (not sure when just yet, I'm still trying to get it set up), so that'll suck. I've included information on other things on my profile in case you're wondering.
Thirdly, as some of you might be wondering about this, NO, Hinata did NOT use the curse seal on Neji! She used a technique to beat him that I did not reveal to keep you all in suspense. I know, evil isn't it? lol.
Finally, I really just hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It took me a while to get it finished, and it turned out shorter than my chapters usually are. Still, I hope you enjoyed it. *shrugs* If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to address them and I'll do what I can to allay them. Have a good day!