A/N - First off, I'd like to say a few things in response to some of the reviews I got. Some of them kinda pissed me off. The one that really got to me though was the one complaining about Naruto's behavior at the end of last chapter though. You know who you are. Naruto apologized to Yamato for what he did when he gave the orders last chapter, but it was necessary considering Yamato didn't know enough about the girls to know which girl would be best for which enemy. Naruto did. So Naruto was right to do what he did. It's as simple as that. Yamato was reacting as he did because of his days in the ANBU where a captain is the one to lead and the subordinate follows the rules, no matter what. Naruto got pissed off about it and you can see how things played out. There's nothing wrong with how things turned out last chapter. It was a realistic turnout.
Now, as for this chapter, I wanted to say that I'm sorry to the person or persons that didn't want Sakura in the harem, but I actually LIKE Sakura, believe it or not. If you've read any of my others fics, you'll see that she's been included in some of the pairings. So I'm sorry, but she's in. *shrugs*
As for adding anymore girls, I don't have plans to add anyone else anytime soon. Sakura's the last one for now.
Anyways, can't really think of anything more to say up here, so enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 6 - Danzo's Downfall & A Talk with Sakura
The next morning, Rikku and the other girls (minus Gaige) were sitting in the Fantasia Coffee Shop with Temari. Each of them was sipping on their own preferred brand of coffee in their own unique style, whether it was with cream, sugar, or whatever else they preferred. However, they weren't just here to enjoy some nice cups of coffee, oh no. They were here to discuss Temari and her feelings for their man Naruto.
So, deciding to get the ball rolling, Yang spoke up. "So sister, when did you first realize you had feelings for our favorite blonde knucklehead?" she asked, a small grin on her face. "I bet those feelings caught you by surprise, huh?" she queried, a small giggle escaping her.
Temari giggled along and nodded as well. "I realized my feelings shortly after seeing him in the hospital after the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. When I saw him like that, I just...it hurt so much more than I thought it would. It felt like my heart was ripping in two. Believe it or not, when no one was around, I gave him my first kiss. He may have been unconscious, but I gave him a kiss right on the lips and told him to wake up soon." she said, giggling afterwards.
Naruto's girlfriends smiled and began to giggle at this. "That's so sweet and romantic Temari." Blake spoke up. "To have felt so strongly for him for all this time. But," here, Blake frowned slightly and reached over to place a hand on the Suna kunoichi's shoulder, "are you 100% certain that you are ready to leave your home, and more importantly, your brothers, behind to be with him?"
Temari smiled sincerely at Blake for her concern and nodded her head once at this. "Sure, I'll miss them greatly, but I can write them whenever I want to keep in touch. As for the village, like I said before, it may be where I was born and raised, but it's just a place I've lived. It may have been home to me, and I may miss it, but Naru-kun is so much more important to me than a place I've lived in. So yes, I'm sure I can leave it behind me." she explained, a small, but true smile on her face.
This was enough for Naruto's girlfriends and they each nodded in acceptance of her answers. "Then we welcome you to the family Temari. When are you going to let Gaara know?" Meru asked.
"I'll let him know as soon as we're done here. I'd very much like to spend some time getting to know my future sisters." the lovely blonde Suna kunoichi said with a smile on her face. And with this being said, the happy family began to chat happily with one another about whatever topics came to mind, just taking the time to learn more about Temari and for Temari to learn more about them.
With Naruto
Naruto was currently seated in his hotel room with Kakashi and Gaige. Both he and Kakashi had decided it would be prudent to speak with Gaige about where she came from and exactly what her story was. So far she had been rather cooperative, but it was necessary of them to determine if she was friend or foe. So, here they were, and so far, she was proving to be rather interesting company.
"And then I decided that, well...hey, cutting off my arm and replacing it with this metal one would allow me to better control my buddy Deathtrap! It worked like a charm! Though things kiiiinda got out of control and Deathtrap kinda killed the hell out of somebody and I had to hitch a ride to this planet called Pandora. But it was toootally cool 'cause I became what people called a Vault Hunter and bam bam BLOOM! I was on this train and things were awesome and we were blowing up Handsome Jack's Loader robots and then the train went KA-BOOM! and we almost died and…"
Naruto and Kakashi looked at each other at this point and sweatdropped, wondering how this girl could have this much energy to keep talking and talking and talking like this. Still though, they kept their ears open and listening as she continued to talk, spilling all this information to them. They could tell she was being completely honest with them, but a lot of this seemed like unnecessary information to them. Still, as ninja, they couldn't dismiss any of it, for you never knew what could be important. Look underneath the underneath after all.
Taking a drink of her glass of water, Gaige looked between the both of them before offering them a smile and pointing at Naruto first. "You know, you kinda remind me of Axton. You look a little similar, but it's really about the personality. I get the feeling you're a fun-loving kinda guy and into adventure and all that."
At this point, she turned to Kakashi and pointed at him. "And you, you're totally like Zer0. All mysterious and everything. Super cool though!" she said with a huge grin on her face.
"Anyways, as I was saying, we stormed the Bloodshot Stronghold in our attempt to rescue Roland, the leader of the Crimson Raiders. Super cool name by the way. Aaaaanyways, when we got to Roland after killing soooo many of the bad guys, who should show up but a bunch of Handsome Jack's fucking robots! We had to fight through the whole damn dam," here she giggled at what she said, clearly finding humor in it, "until we got to the Constructor that had kidnapped him, and we had to fight that damn thing and destroy it before it could get away with him. Naturally we were toootal badasses and killed the hell out of that thing, thus saving Roland and everything."
The two ninjas couldn't help but notice something…off whenever Gaige talked about Roland. Whenever she talked about him, they could see a sadness in her eyes. Looking towards each other, they both nodded and decided they would wait to hear the rest of her tale, already having a feeling that they knew what happened to this Roland person.
For a while longer, Gaige continued to regale them with the tale of her adventure on the planet Pandora until she finally reached the point where she ended up in Control Core Angel. Taking a deep, shaky breath in, she began to hug herself and shook her head as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. "We...we…" Clenching her eyes shut tight, Gaige began to tremble. She was finding it so hard to talk right now. At least she was, until Naruto walked over and wrapped her in a warm hug, resting her head against his chest. "T-Thank you Naruto." Gaige said, blushing a bit as he held her close.
Taking a deep breath in and releasing it slowly, Gaige decided it would be best to finish her tale. "When we entered Control Core Angel...we learned that Angel wasn't a computer program, but another Siren like Maya and Lilith. She...was Handsome Jack's own daughter and he was pumping her full of Eridium so he could use her to power the Vault Key. In the process he was killing his own daughter!" she shouted angrily.
At this, Kakashi and Naruto looked absolutely horrified and couldn't help but clench their muscles in anger, clearly furious about what they just heard. What kind of monster could do such a thing to his own daughter?! Still though, they listened on.
"She begged us to destroy the injectors and put an end to the process. To free her from the pain and stop the Vault Key from being charged, to put an end to Jack's ambition. But Jack, that fucking monster...he claimed he 'loved' his daughter and sealed off the injectors with shields and began to throw an army of Loaders at us. Roland...he helped us take down the shields around the first two injectors, allowing us to destroy the first two injectors, but the third one was unreachable until Lilith showed up. She...she helped Roland get to the final injector to take down the shield around that one."
Sighing at this point, Gaige clenched her eyes shut and began to sob. "When Angel died...she told her father to go to hell...even called him an asshole." she said with a watery chuckle. "But then...Handsome Jack showed up and shot Roland from behind. He couldn't even face Roland head on...he killed Roland...like a fucking coward! And when Lilith went to attack him, he slapped this collar on her and ordered her to kill us. That's when Lilith tried to teleport us all away. But...I was pushed through that tear in space/time you created Naruto. The others were teleported away though, like Lilith meant for them to be." she said reassuringly. "But...now you can see why I'm pissed off and don't like fucking pretty boys. Why I asked if I could kill that fucking pretty boy back there."
Naruto and Kakashi both nodded, clearly understanding her dislike for pretty boys now. If they were in her shoes, they'd likely be out for vengeance against Handsome Jack for what he did, but since he was no longer in her reach...she needed a new target to vent her frustrations out on. Deidara simply happened to be a good target to unleash her rage on at the time.
With a smirk, Naruto looked down at Gaige and decided to offer up a suggestion. "Maybe I should bring you along when we go to confront Sasuke. He's a 'pretty boy' that turned traitor to the village. If he refuses to return with us to the village and attempts to kill me again, you might be able to have some fun with him." Naruto said in a joking manner.
Gaige grinned at this, but Kakashi quickly spoke up. "That's just evil Naruto. You know Sasuke would...wait...never mind. Sasuke never had any plans to use those 'man parts' of his. He had all the opportunity in the world to be with the girls back in Konoha that were practically throwing themselves at him and not once did he even look their way. Instead he was always looking at you. Can't revive a clan with dude-on-dude action. So y'know what...feel free Gaige." Kakashi said with a good-natured eye smile.
Naruto actually coughed and spluttered for a moment before looking wide-eyed at Kakashi. "Dear Kami Kakashi-sensei, don't even joke about that! I don't even want to think about Sasuke being into me like that. Just...just the thought of that is enough to send chills down my spine. Though it does make a lot of sense if you think about it. Still though...my point stands, I'd rather not think about him being attracted to me like that." he said, chuckling afterwards.
Gaige, although she didn't know who this Sasuke person was, found their banter amusing and couldn't help but smile along. She was thankful to them for what they were doing, trying to bring her out of her funk. She knew that's what they were doing, and she couldn't help but admire them for doing so. So, wiping her eyes of their last remaining tears, she hugged onto Naruto and planted a gentle kiss upon his cheek. "Thank you two. For being so sweet and cheering me up like this. You're great people, you know that? Most people wouldn't give two shits about me or what I've been through, but here you two are going out of your way to listen to me and cheer me up and everything, and I just...I can't help but love you guys for it. You remind me of my friends so much. I think I'll always miss them, but I know they'll be safe and I know they'll kill Handsome Jack for me. And I...I'll make the best of my new life here in this world of yours. I think I'd like to go to Konoha with you guys and see what it's like there. If you'll let me?" she asked, hopeful that they'd allow her to tag along.
Naruto and Kakashi looked at each other for a moment and nodded once together before looking back at Gaige, both smiling at her. "Of course you can return with us Gaige-chan." Kakashi said. "I think Tsunade-sama would be more than willing to give you a home in the village, and I'm sure she'd be more than interested in meeting you as well. Jiraiya-sama might be interested in meeting you as well now that I think on it, seeing as he was with Naruto during his training trip when he developed his new powers, so he has more insight on this whole situation than anyone else does." Kakashi said, rubbing his chin in thought. Shrugging after a moment, he shook his head and sighed. "Ah well. The point is, you'd be more than welcome in Konoha, and some very powerful and influential people will be happy to meet you." he said with an eye-smile.
Gaige smiled at this and leaned back, stretching her arms above her head to try and get a kink out of her back. This had the wonderful effect of pushing out her chest and making her breasts look a bit more pronounced, but Naruto did his best not to stare. Kakashi, on the other hand, allowed himself to take a small peak before looking away when Naruto shot him a glare for being a pervert. When she was done, she leaned back on her arms and grinned at the both of them. "Sooo...what's on the agenda for the day? We doing anything fun? We goin' anywhere? What's up?"
"Well…" Naruto began, rubbing at the back of his head. "We're actually planning to head out today to make our return trip to Konoha. Just trying to get a few things ironed out first and then we'll be making our way back home. That's kinda why we wanted to talk with you before we left. If you wanted to stay here in Suna with Gaara, we couldn't really make you come with us against your will. It was well within your rights to stay here after all." he said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Still, I am glad you said you'd be returning with us to Konoha. You seem like a really nice person and someone I'd be glad to have as a friend." he explained, a soft smile on his face.
Gaige smiled at this and reached out with her hand, gently brushing at his whisker-marked cheek. "Awww, aren't you just the sweetest? Thank you for being honest with me. I considered staying here with Gaara. He seems like an interesting guy, but he's really not my type. That and I don't really know anybody here. All the people I do know from this world are people from Konoha, so it only makes sense to return to Konoha with you guys, don't you think?" she replied with a grin.
Chuckling a bit, Naruto nodded in acceptance of that. "True enough. I can't argue with that logic." he agreed. "Well, we should probably go ahead and get our things packed up and ready to go. You need any help packing up your things Gaige-chan?" Naruto asked. Seeing her shake her head no, Naruto nodded and went about packing up his things and sealing things away into storage scrolls. Once he was done, he sat upon the bed and thought about what his girls might be up to for a moment before his mind wandered to Temari and that wonderful kiss they shared. Temari… I wonder if she'll be staying here.
At the Entrance of Suna - 3 Hours Later
After the group spent some time saying goodbye at Chiyo's grave, they now stood at the entrance of Sunagakure, prepared to leave on home for Konohagakure. Standing before them were Gaara and Kankuro. Temari would be standing with them, but it turned out, much to some of the Konoha group's shock, that she was returning to Konoha with them, now that she was going to Konoha to become one of Naruto's fiances.
Looking into Naruto's eyes, Gaara decided on two things. Firstly, he held out his hand and shook his friend's hand. "Thank you, Naruto, for helping to save my life." he said, a kind smile on his face. Then, he squeezed his friend's hand tighter and scowled at Naruto. "But if you hurt my sister in any way, I will kill you, friend or not." he threatened, a small grin playing at his lips.
Naruto sweatdropped at this and nodded quickly, clearly understanding the message. "Roger that Gaara. I promise, I won't hurt Temari. She'll be just as precious to me as my other girlfriends are. She already is precious to me. And I'll make sure nothing happens to her. You have my word on that." he assured his friend.
After a moment, the two of them wrapped each other in a hug and patted each other's backs gently before separating and grinning at one another slightly. "I'll miss you." they said to each other. "Take care of yourself Gaara." Naruto said. "You too Kankuro. Make sure to look after Gaara as well. I worry about you guys sometimes. I can't help it. You're like brothers to me." he said sincerely.
Kankuro smiled and wrapped Naruto in a hug. "Don't worry man. We'll look after ourselves and be safe. You can count on it. You just be sure to take good care of my sister, alright? I'm going to miss the both of you. Heh, I'm really going to miss her cooking. Gaara and I can't cook worth shit. We kinda relied on her to cook our meals for us every day. Now we've gotta figure something else out. You lucky bastard, you get to eat her cooking now." he joked.
Naruto chuckled at this and patted Kankuro's back before they separated. "You two will figure something out, I'm sure of it. Just...take care of yourselves." he said. "We'll see you both later. I love you guys." Naruto said, a small, but true smile on his face as he said this. And with that being said, Naruto stepped back and allowed Temari to come up and say her goodbyes to her brothers, giving them both hugs and kisses on their cheeks goodbye. Afterwards, the Konoha group began their long trek back home to Konoha.
2 Days Later - Konoha
The group had made surprisingly short time on the way back to Konoha. They had originally set out at a civilian's pace, albeit a quickened one, but somewhere along the way, Guy and Lee had decided to make it a race to see who could make it back home the fastest. The reason they did this? It was simply because they felt they were moving far too slow and they quickly grew bored of it. That and they figured they would turn it into a training exercise of sorts, as per the usual.
So now, here they were, back in Konoha and standing before the Hokage, giving their report on what had happened during the mission. Once they were finished giving their report, Tsunade spoke up. "It's unfortunate that the Akatsuki managed to capture the Ichibi. Still, I'm glad you managed to recover the Kazekage. And Temari, you are more than welcome to join our ranks if you so choose." she said, getting a nod from Temari to signal that she would very much like to join as a kunoichi of Konohagakure. "Alright, come see me later to get the details ironed out. Gaige, can you please wait outside in the hall for a moment? I need to speak with Yamato and his team alone for a moment. The rest of you are dismissed. Have a good day and make sure to pick up your mission payment on your way out." she said, a smile on her face.
Nodding at this, Gaige left the room with Kakashi and the others following her out, leaving Yamato, Naruto, and his girlfriends in the room alone with Tsunade. Once they were gone from the room with the door closed behind them, Tsunade began to speak, her eyes slightly glazed over. "Naruto-kun, Yamato, I've decided to place a new person on your team. He goes by the name of Sai. Please do your best to get along with him and treat him as one of your own." she said.
Frowning at this, Naruto spoke up immediately. "No." he said somewhat angrily. "The Granny Tsunade I know wouldn't put some person none of us know and trust on our team out of the blue like this. She made this team because we're familiar with one another and know how to work well together. She wouldn't throw a wrench in that now by adding in an unknown subject to the mix." he said. Turning to Yamato at this point, he nodded his head towards Tsunade discreetly and whispered to him. "Yamato-sensei, I think she might be under a genjutsu of some kind. A powerful one by the looks of it."
Yamato frowned at his student. At first he felt he was insubordinate during the mission, but some part of him knew that Naruto made the right decision at that point in time. He just didn't want to admit it to himself at the time. As team captain, he was in charge and having a rookie Genin take charge like that kind of stung a bit. But now he was disobeying a direct order from his Hokage of all people! Before he could say anything to reprimand his charge, Naruto had turned to him and said something that made a surprising amount of sense. A genjutsu?
Turning to look at Tsunade, Yamato looked into her eyes and noticed that they seemed glazed over, almost as if she were in a trance of some kind. It was barely noticeable however. Her eyes looked almost completely normal from first glance. It was only when you looked close enough that you saw the glazed look in her eyes. Frowning, Yamato held up his hands in a hand seal and proceeded to shout out, "Release!"
Tsunade looked to Yamato with a questioning eyebrow, her eyes still glazed over, much to Yamato's shock. "What are you doing?" she questioned curiously.
Yamato looked down at Naruto and frowned as he whispered back to him. "She's definitely under a genjutsu, but it's a powerful one Naruto. Can one of your girlfriends break it with their magic?" he questioned.
Looking to his girlfriends, Naruto pondered which of them might be able to do so before frowning. "I don't know. I can ask, but it might be a long shot. We might need to work together and pump almost all of our chakra through her system to break her free of this genjutsu. I might even need to tap into Kyuubi's chakra if we're really unlucky." he said, a deep frown on his face.
Walking over to his girlfriends, Naruto decided to explain the situation to them. He could tell they were equally upset by the fact that Tsunade was trying to push an unknown person on them, so hopefully this would help settle things. "Girls, Yamato and I figured out that Granny's under a pretty powerful genjutsu. We're trying to figure out how to break her out of it. Do any of you have any magic that might be able to snap her out of it?" he asked hopefully.
Rikku scratched the back of her neck and thought about it for a moment before she glanced towards Tsunade with a frown. "Hmm, I don't know if any of my magic would help, but I do have a dressphere that might do the trick. The Psychic dressphere would allow me to connect with her mind and try to fix 'er up. Want me to give it a try Naru?" she asked with a smile.
Smiling at his fiance, Naruto nodded. "Anything's worth a try. I say go for it Rikku-hime." Naruto exclaimed, hoping dearly that Rikku would be able to fix what had been done to his dear Granny Tsunade.
The perky blonde thief nodded once and performed a dressphere into her Psychic dressphere. Once that was done, she took aim at Tsunade and performed a mind link, quickly delving into the mind of the village leader of Konohagakure. Once inside her mind, Rikku began looking around for anything that might be out of the ordinary so she could squash it like a bug and fix up one of Naruto's most beloved people.
When she finally found what she was looking for, Rikku had to admit that it wasn't pretty. This...thing was ugly as sin. It looked like a black blob with a single red eye with a central circle with three tomoe spinning around in it lazily. And it was looking right at her. Luckily it wasn't making any hostile movements towards her yet. Instead, it just seemed curious about what she was doing in here and how she even got in here to begin with.
Rikku, deciding to nip this problem in the bud right now, quickly raised up her hand and unleashed her Telekinesis ability, instantly annihilating the ugly creature. As soon as it was eradicated, the lovely young blonde disappeared from Tsunade's mindscape and returned to her body, sighing a breath of relief at being out of that creepy place.
"It's done Naru. She's free now. Though I think, judging on what you told me about the Sharingan, that somebody used that on her. Whatever that thing I destroyed was, it had an eye that looked like a Sharingan." Rikku explained, shivering in disgust at the mere memory of that ugly creature.
Naruto, hearing this, growled and looked towards Yamato to see he was furious at hearing that someone with a Sharingan eye had dared to use it on their esteemed leader. Once Tsunade came to, she looked around at everyone and blinked a couple of times. "Wh-What? What's going on?"
"Granny Tsunade, I need to ask you something very important. Who was it that told you to put this Sai person on our team? Whoever it was used a Sharingan eye to place a very powerful genjutsu on you. Rikku here had to delve into your mind to break it and it wasn't easy." Naruto explained in a very serious tone of voice.
Tsunade frowned as she tried to recall the last thing she remembered about this Sai person before her eyes widened in realization before they narrowed in fury and she slammed her fist down on her desk in anger, causing the desk to break in half. "Danzo! That rotten bastard! I refused his request to place his little 'protege' on your team and he just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer! That's the last thing I remember about that situation. You say he used an implanted Sharingan to place me under a genjutsu?" receiving a series of nods from everyone in the room with her, Tsunade scowled angrily and rose from her desk. "Then that's grounds for an execution. He's committed treason against his Hokage and most likely stolen a Sharingan from one of the deceased Uchiha without anyone finding out until now. It's time he pays for all of his crimes." she said angrily as she walked towards the door. "And if I find out the other elders helped him in any way, they will pay too."
With that, Tsunade led the group out into the hall where she saw Gaige waiting patiently. Frowning a moment, the Godaime Hokage bowed her head slightly. "I apologize for having kept you waiting so long Gaige. Unfortunately out conversation will have to wait until later. Something urgent has come up that needs to be dealt with immediately." Tsunade began to walk off again, but stopped after a couple of steps before looking over her shoulder. "Actually, you might as well come along. Perhaps we can have our conversation as we walk." she said with a smile. "You might be able to help us after all."
Gaige smiled and nodded enthusiastically as she fell into step beside Tsunade. "Sure thing. I'm always willing to lend a hand or two!" she said with a grin, pumping both fists into the air with a giggle. "Deathtrap's always willing to shed a few pints of blood too. From our enemies of course." she said with a maniacal grin forming on her face.
Tsunade sweatdropped at this, but couldn't help but share her grin after a moment. "You know, I think I'm going to like you Gaige-chan. Tell me, what's your stance on perverts?"
"Wellll…" Gaige began…
Danzo's House - Moments Later
Tsunade, Yamato, and the others had arrived at Danzo's humble abode. They were all prepared for a fight, knowing that the old bastard likely wouldn't be willing to lay down and die like he should have years ago. Yamato had a personal score to settle with this rotten old bastard and he had to admit, even if only to himself, that he was looking forward to putting this bastard in his place, which was six feet underground.
Stepping forward, Tsunade decided to oh so gently knock on the door. By which I mean that she punched it right off its hinges and sent it crashing through the opposite wall and flying beyond into the building past that. Once inside his house, they saw Danzo rising from his couch in the living room area, the two elders Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado with him, both of them looking fearful for their lives.
Tsunade, deciding to be merciful, asked one question. "Have you two played any part in any of Danzo's schemes?" she asked, hoping that they would say no.
Homura decided to be the one to speak up and shook his head, a small sweatdrop rolling down his cheek. "N-No Hokage-sama. Not at all." he said, lying through his teeth.
Koharu, on the other hand, glanced at him and then looked straight into the Hokage's eyes. "Yes Hokage-sama, we both have. Numerous times. However, we tried to caution him against doing some of the things he's gone through with, but he never listens to us. Danzo's a warmonger through and through and does whatever he wants, claiming it's all in the name of Konoha, when it's really only benefitting him. If you'd like, I will give myself up to you and come in peacefully, giving you whatever information I can on all of our past dealings with Danzo, all of his crimes that I know of, and even our involvement with him. All I ask in exchange is to be allowed to live the rest of my days with my family in peace and solitude. Is that acceptable Lady Tsunade?"
Tsunade nodded. "Agreed Lady Koharu. As for you two…" Nodding towards Gaige, she grinned when Gaige pulled out her sniper rifle and immediately fired a single round straight into Homura's skull, right between his eyes, all faster than he could blink. Meanwhile, Yamato went through a series of hand seals and shouted out, "Wood Release: Four-Pillar Prison Technique!" right before a prison of wood shot out of the ground, surrounding Danzo and locking him within, shackles quickly binding his wrists and legs, preventing him from performing any jutsu.
Danzo was furious. Glaring at Yamato, he tried to use his implanted Sharingan eye to command Yamato to release him, but found that he couldn't focus enough chakra into his eye to do anything. Glancing to the side, he found the reason for this was because Naruto had slapped a seal tag of some kind onto the side of the prison. Snarling, he began to hurl curses at them. "You rotten bastards! Don't you know what I am?! I'm a patriot! Everything I've ever done was for the good of Konoha! You don't know what you're doing! I…"
Before he could rant anymore, Tsunade approached and ripped away all of Danzo's bandages, revealing his grotesque form for all to see. What really sickened her most of all, however, was seeing his arm and her grandfather's face on it. What really bothered them all the most, however, was seeing all the Sharingan eyes grafted into the arm. Looking to Koharu for some help explaining this, they saw her look down and away, holding her right arm with her left.
"He...played the Uchiha clan like a fiddle. Peace talks were going well, but Danzo wouldn't have any of it. He craved power and wanted their Sharingan eyes for himself. But more than that, he felt the Uchiha clan was far too dangerous and claimed they would betray the village, regardless of how loyal they were. Shisui-san had plans to use his Mangekyou Sharingan to convince his father not to stage a coup. But Danzo...Danzo killed Shisui with his ROOT and stole his eye for himself. That's the eye you see in his eye socket. All because of the Sharingan ability Kotoamatsukami. Danzo orchestrated the entire thing. He's the entire reason the Uchiha clan was wiped out down to every last man, woman, and child except for Sasuke and Itachi. All in the name of obtaining more power for himself. He claims it was 'for the good of Konoha' like usual...but it was really all for himself, as usual." she explained before releasing a heavy sigh. "What a selfish, horrible, brute of a man."
Tsunade had heard enough. Reaching through the bars of the cage, she gripped Danzo's disfigured arm and pulled hard, ripping it right off before beating him over the head with it a few times. "You. Are. Sick! What gives you the right to do such things you rotten bastard?!" she yelled out before tossing the arm away and reaching through the bars again, gouging out his Sharingan eye. Looking at it in the palm of her hand, she was tempted to crush it, but thought better of it. Looking at Naruto, she got an idea and figured she would run it by him later. For now, she took out a scroll and sealed the eye within it for safekeeping.
At this point, they figured there was no longer any purpose in keeping Danzo alive. So, without allowing Danzo to say anything else by means of farewell, Tsunade reached through the bars, gripped Danzo's head on both sides, and quickly snapped his neck with a brutal twist, his head spinning all the way around until it looked like it was about to pop right off. And with that, Danzo was dead.
Yamato released his technique, Naruto recollected his seal tag, and Danzo's body collapsed like a heap onto the floor. Tsunade gently took Koharu by the arm and led her out of the building, smiling at her as the two of them began to talk. She would lead the village elder to T&I where the woman would give all the information she could about Danzo and his activities, as well as her involvement in such activities, while the others left in the house were left to deal with Danzo and Homura's remains. Such a messy job.
Yamato smiled towards Naruto as they went about their work. "I have to say Naruto, you have a good eye. At first I thought you were being insubordinate when you responded to Tsunade, but to recognize a genjutsu of that caliber based on your intimate knowledge of her due to your personal relationship with her, I must admit I'm impressed. Good job." he said, genuinely impressed. "And...I'm sorry about before. You were right to do what you did. I didn't mean to accuse you of being insubordinate. I want you to know that I trust in your judgment Naruto. I hope we can become friends in time and work well together." he said, smiling at his comrade.
Naruto smiled softly at his team captain and offered him a hand to shake. "Thank you Yamato-sensei. That means a lot to me. And again, I am sorry for behaving the way I did during the mission. I did what I felt was best at the time. I wasn't trying to undermine your authority in any way. And...for what I said at the hotel to you...I'm sorry. I was upset at the time because of what you were saying and...well...things got out of hand and I'm sorry. I hope we can become good friends and team members with enough time as well Yamato-sensei." he said as they shook hands.
The Next Day - The Nightingale
Temari and Naruto's other girlfriends had managed to find Sakura early this morning and had invited her out to breakfast with them. After all, they were planning to talk with her today and decided to do it bright and early before Tsunade could assign them any missions or anything for the day. So, they had all decided on going to the restaurant known as the Nightingale, a very popular restaurant in the village.
Sakura was understandably nervous in their presence, but seeing a familiar face in Temari helped to ease her nerves, if even only somewhat. However, after receiving her meal and beverage, she couldn't contain it anymore and blurted out, "W-What did you want with me? If you're here about what I did to Naruto in the past, I'm sorry. I really am. And if you're upset about me making a move on your boyfriend Miss, I'm sorry, I didn't know at the time." she said, a sad frown appearing on her face as she said this. Despite herself, she was still very upset at her missed chance.
Meru smiled sweetly at Sakura and shook her head. "Well, you're partly correct, but there's something you should know first." she said with a wink. "Naruto's been inducted into the CRA. We're all his girlfriends now. And...we wanted you to know that Naruto still cares for you. He may have moved on from you, but at the same time, he still has lingering feelings for you. Does that make sense to you?" she asked, still smiling at the pink-haired woman before her.
Sakura blinked a couple of times as this information cycled through her head. After a moment, a megawatt smile appeared on her face and she looked pleadingly at the group before her. "Are...are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asked hopefully.
Blake held up a hand and shook her head. "Not quite yet Sakura. We're here to talk to you about the opportunity first." she said before taking a bite of her food. Swallowing, she looked at Sakura and narrowed her eyes slightly. "First thing's first. If we were to give you a chance at being with him, you aren't to hit him ever again. Even if he says or does something you think is stupid or you don't like, you are not to hit him. Do you understand me?" she stressed as sternly as possible.
Sakura flinched at this and nodded slowly. "I...I understand. I know I did that a lot in the past, and I hate myself for it. Now that I've trained under Tsunade-sama and learned how to use master's strength technique, I know I could really hurt him if I were to hit him now. I know I have a bad temper, but I promise that if you give me a chance to be with him, I won't ever hurt him again. I...I love him. I love him so much. I just want to be with him. More than I've ever wanted anything." Sakura explained, tears welling up in her eyes.
Watching as Sakura brought her hands up to cover her eyes as she began to sob, Rikku frowned and shook her head. She couldn't help but feel for the poor girl, but there was still something that needed to be asked. "That's another thing we need to ask you about Sakura. You used to fawn over Sasuke and truly believed you were in love with him. You...seem like you genuinely love Naruto now, but what made you change while he was gone from the village?" she asked with a frown as she went back to eating her meal, waiting for an answer.
Sakura hiccuped and wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hand before looking around at everyone and smiled a bit. "Master helped open my eyes. Sasuke was just a childish crush. When I saw what he did to Naruto...when I saw my dear teammate in the hospital like that...that's when I began to hate Sasuke. Naruto was our teammate and Sasuke tried to fucking kill him! All so he could go to that bastard Orochimaru!" she yelled, clenching her fists tight.
Taking a deep breath in, Sakura took a moment to finish her meal before she began to speak again. "As for my feelings for Naruto...well...Master helped open my eyes. He was always there for me. He made me feel special. When I was feeling down, he always found a way to cheer me up. Believe it or not, I remember that he was my first true friend before I met Ino and...things changed. I...I remember that when push came to shove...I always counted on Naruto to come to my rescue rather than Sasuke. I knew Naruto would always be there for me. I knew Sasuke didn't care enough…" Shaking her head, Sakura looked down at her hands and giggled a bit. "Naruto always found a way to make me laugh and make me smile. He just had that gift, you know? He's such a good guy and I can't help but love him for being, well...him." she explained.
Breathing a soft sigh, Sakura looked around at each of Naruto's girlfriends and smiled at them with tears trickling down her cheeks again. "I wasn't even aware of how deep my feelings for him were until Master sat me down and talked with me about Naruto. She could see how Naruto's absence from the village was affecting me. And...they do say that absence makes the heart grow fonder." Sakura said with a giggle. "And when I saw him upon his return to the village...oh Kami my heart was racing. I wanted to pull him into a kiss and never let him go. I wanted him soooooo bad! It hurt to find out that he was taken."
Looking into their eyes one by one, Sakura took a moment to think before she pushed her chair back and knelt down on the floor, prostrating herself before them. "Please, I beg of you. Allow me to be with Naruto. I love him so, so very much. He's the only man I'll ever love and I don't know what I'd do without him in my life."
Shocked by this sudden move, the girls, having finished their own meals, quickly rushed to Sakura and helped her up. "Please Sakura, you don't need to do this. If you're this serious about being with him...if you're this in love with him...then we can't deny you your chance. Come with us and we'll help you talk to Naruto. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." Rikku said, smiling softly at Sakura.
Yang left some money on the table to pay for their meal before the large group of girls left the restaurant to make their way back home so they could chat with their shared boyfriend about allowing Sakura into their growing family.
Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate - 20 Minutes Later
Naruto was curiously staring at Sakura and his girlfriends as they sat before him. Gaige had been showing him her robot Deathtrap before they had shown up and asked if they could talk to him, so naturally he was a little confused when he saw Sakura amongst their numbers. Looking around at them, he decided to voice a question. "Umm, not that I'm not happy to see all of you, but what's Sakura-chan doing here?"
Rikku walked over and sat beside her boyfriend, placing a hand on her fiance's thigh. "Naruto, we had a talk with Sakura about you. We informed her that you've been placed in the CRA. We...also informed her that you still have feelings for her." she explained before poking her fingers together and giggling a little nervously.
Naruto stared at her with wide eyes. Before he could say anything though, Meru spoke up. "Naruto, don't get upset. We love you and we want you to be happy. And...we were concerned about Sakura as well. We feel she deserves to be as happy with you as we are. So...we talked with her and we decided in the end that she's worthy to be with you. So...will you accept her into your life as a member of our family?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't disagree.
Before Naruto could say anything, Sakura decided to be a bit bold and walked over to him, swaying her hips a bit and sat on his lap before leaning in close and smiling sultrily at him, leaning her face in close. "Come on Naru-kun, say yes. Pretty please? I promise you won't regret it. I love you so much. I really, truly do." She said before placing kisses along his jawline, his neck, and then on his whisker marks.
Chuckling softly, Naruto grabbed Sakura's chin gently and turned her head so she was looking into his eyes. Leaning forward, he captured the pinkette's lips with his in a fiery, passionate kiss before moving his hands down to her ass, giving it a good squeeze. Naruto always did love Sakura's perky, firm butt and he was happy when she gave a little squeal into the kiss before moaning and deepening the kiss, even adding in her tongue.
After a moment, the two of them separated and Sakura began to giggle happily. "That...that was amazing. It was everything I had hoped it would be." she said as she rested her forehead against his. "You're amazing Naru-kun." Sakura said. "I really, truly love you darling."
Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes and smiled at her as well. "I love you as well Sakura. Just as I love all of you." he said, smiling softly at everyone. "Now, why don't we head out and do something fun?" he said with a devious grin on his face. "I say we enjoy a good prank. We haven't pulled one yet since returning to the village and I think it's high time we pull one girls. What do you say?"
Rikku grinned and nodded in agreement. "Oooo, I can't wait! I say we do it!" she agreed with a giddy giggle. The other girls nodded in agreement with him, even Blake and Temari.
Sakura on the other hand looked at everyone wide-eyed before looking down at Naruto, who was looking into her eyes with a curious smile. Releasing a sigh, she nodded at him with a smile. "I'll help too. This might actually be pretty fun. And, considering your past pranks, this might actually prove to be good training now that I think about it." she said, rubbing at her chin in thought. With a shrug, she nodded once again before grinning at Naruto and getting off his lap. "Let's do it Naru-kun!" she said with a giggle.
1 Hour Later - Streets of Konoha
Shopkeepers and various other business owners were running around in horror and screaming random gibberish about their shops being vandalized in some horrible way. What had happened to cause this particular ruckus? Within virtually every store, at least all the ones that had kicked Naruto out or wronged Naruto in some way in the past, paint bombs had gone off and splattered the walls and merchandise. But more than that, in some stores squirrels had been released and allowed to wreak havoc. Along with that, in other stores, a strange and horrible smell could be smelled, but nobody could place exactly what it was, and nobody could find the source.
They all knew who the culprit was, but they had no way to prove it. After all, nobody actually saw him committing the act. There was no proof he had done anything. And yet the entire time, he was laughing his ass off at what was happening, finding great amusement in what was taking place before him. His girlfriends were finding great amusement in the situation as well.
There was one person who was experiencing a monster of a headache from this whole experience though. Tsunade sat in her office, looking out over the village below at the chaos that was currently going on. Massaging her temples, she grumbled angrily to herself and hung her head at the amount of paperwork she'd have to do now and all the complaining she'd have to deal with now. "Damn it Naruto, why do you do things like this?"
Hokage's Office - Later that day
Naruto, his girlfriends (including Temari and Sakura), Gaige, and Yamato, were all standing before Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton, each of them wondering why they had been summoned so suddenly. Before anyone could pose the question, the busty blonde Hokage spoke up. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I summoned you to my office. Before you ask, no, it has nothing to do with the pranking spree that I'm sure you committed. Though I have to ask, why would you do such a thing Naruto? Was it really necessary?"
Naruto quirked a brow and folded his arms across his chest. "And who says I'm the one that did it. Did you find any proof that I did anything? I was with my girlfriends the entire time." Tsunade looked towards his girlfriends to see them all nodding at that, and the Godaime Hokage couldn't help but sigh, coming to the realization that either he really didn't do it...or they helped in the pranking spree. Either way, it wasn't a good thing.
Sighing to herself, Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose before shaking her head in frustration. "Never mind. That's not important right now." she said. "I kind of checked on you using sensei's crystal ball earlier to make sure you were doing okay and saw what was going on in your estate. And I've been thinking about this ever since then." Sighing softly to herself, Tsunade looked into their eyes one by one before closing her eyes and smiling to herself. "I know it might be a bit odd to add more to your numbers, but considering you're a big group already, would you like to add Temari, Sakura, and Gaige to your team? Sakura is without a team of her own, and I assure you that she is a wonderful medic. She also has my chakra enhanced strength, which will prove a huge boon to your forces. Temari, I'm sure you already know very well what she is capable of. And Gaige? You've already seen firsthand what she is capable of. But she hasn't quite shown everything yet from what I've gathered. I'm rather curious about this Deathtrap robot she's talked about. But yes, I do believe she'll make a fine addition to your team. So...what do you say? Do you accept?"
At first, Naruto wanted to joke and accuse Tsunade of being a pervert, but he knew that wouldn't go over too well. But as she spoke, he couldn't help but like the idea of Sakura and Temari being added to the team. Then he thought about Gaige and, while he barely knew her, he thought she'd be a good addition as well. She would need some serious training in order to truly keep up with the team in terms of speed and stamina, but she certainly had the firepower down. At least, she did for now. From what he understood, she didn't have unlimited ammo, but she had enough to last her for a very long time, thank goodness.
Looking around at his girlfriends, he could see them and Yamato conversing with one another and he decided to join them in the discussion. After a while, they separated from their huddle and smiled at Tsunade. "We accept Hokage-sama. We would be glad to have them on the team." Yamato stated for the group. "Each of their skills would be a most welcome addition to the team. However, we will need to take time to hash out our teamwork and get acclimatized to one another's abilities." he explained, hoping that she would give them some time off from missions for the time being so they could take the time to train and familiarize themselves with each other and their abilities.
Tsunade nodded in understanding, but she had to burst their bubble. "Unfortunately, your team is being sent to Tenchi Bridge to meet with Sasori's spy in two day's time. I want you to take these two days to train and get used to each other as much as possible. Do whatever it takes to familiarize yourselves with one another and hash out your teamwork, because I want you to be as cohesive a unit as you can be before you leave here in two day's time. When you return from this mission, I promise I'll give you the time you need to train." she said, hoping that Yamato would understand her position.
Sighing softly, the team captain nodded a few times in resignation before saluting the Hokage. "I understand Hokage-sama. It shall be done. Come team, let us head to Training Ground #3 and begin. We've only got two days and I'm going to make sure to train us all into the ground. We're only going to take breaks for lunch, dinner, and restroom breaks. Is that understood?" he asked, hoping they would understand.
Once they were gone, Shizune turned to Lady Tsunade and frowned a bit. "It's nice that he's serious about this, but isn't he taking this a little too far? He can't push them that hard. They'll collapse from exhaustion at that rate." she said, genuinely worried for the group.
Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "It's not our place to intervene Shizune. They're just going to have to deal with it and tough it out. Yamato wants to make sure they're prepared for whatever life throws at them. He wouldn't be doing this if they weren't on such a tight schedule. Once things have calmed down some and he's allowed the time he so desperately needs to train his team, then he'll start taking it a bit easier on them. Do you understand?"
Nodding slowly, Shizune let out a soft sigh and looked out the window. "I do. I just can't help but worry though." she explained. She truly cared about Naruto and the others. It was just in her nature.
2 Days Later - Konoha Main Gate
Naruto and the others had to admit that Yamato's training was brutal. Even after getting a good night's rest and soaking in the hot springs on their estate, they were still sore and even a little exhausted. Still, they were ready and prepared to go and kick some ass on this mission, even if all they were supposed to do was meet with a spy and capture him to bring him back for interrogation.
Letting out simultaneous yawns, the group were glad when Yamato finally arrived on the scene and motioned for them to follow him. It was about damn time too! They had been waiting on him for about half an hour now! It was time to go and capture a spy. Hopefully they'd get the information they needed so they could hunt down Orochimaru and bring back Sasuke. Whether he was alive or dead, it didn't matter anymore. A traitor didn't have any rights. If he resisted and/or tried to kill one of them, he was fair game.
A/N - Alrighty folks, that's the end of the chapter. As you can see, it's a little shorter than the others I've pumped out recently. Oh well. :P Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter regardless.
Anyways, like I said at the beginning of the chapter, I don't plan to add anyone else to the harem for the time being. So as it currently stands, the harem is as follows:
Rikku (Final Fantasy X-2)
Meru (The Legend of Dragoon)
Towa (Time & Eternity)
Yang Xiao-Long (RWBY)
Blake Belladonna (RWBY)
Temari (Naruto)
Sakura Haruno (Naruto)
And that's it. Not too big a harem compared to some you see out there. God I've seen some MASSIVE harems. I wonder how people can keep up with some of 'em, they're that big. I try to keep mine as reasonable, manageable levels y'know?
Anyways, again, hopefully you liked the chapter. I can't think of anything else to say. Sooo...take care and hope you're all doing great!