Sekirei Unbound 2 –We Happy Few

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Sekirei, all characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their specific creators, Masashi Kishomoto and Sakurako Gokurakuin. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.

Notes

Second chapter done! Happy New Year!

Honestly, I write because no one else seems to writing what I want to read. But there's only so much motivation and pleasure I can derive from reading my own works by myself. So please review, it gives me encouragement to keep writing.

Playlist

Regina Spektor – While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Mary Clare - Radiant

****Sekirei Unbound****

Miya was silent for a moment, "Who are you really?"

"Uzumaki-fucking-Naruto." The blond man replied as if that was all that needed to be said.

"Clang!"

Miya smiled sweetly at the blond who had blocked her ladle with a wooden stick, "No swearing allowed."

The blond simply chuckled.

Then Miya had to step back as a small icicle suddenly burst from the ground.

She smiled thinly as Akitsu not so subtly placed herself between her and the blond man without a single change in expression.

Uzumaki-san may not have considered winging Akitsu, but she doubted Akitsu thought the same.

Then she realized what Akitsu was wearing.

"Ara, Uzumaki-san?" Miya asked with faux concern as her free hand tapped her cheek as she pointedly looked Akitsu up and down, "Do I have to be worried about the sanctity of my tenants?"

The ice user slowly looked down at her buttoned, bloody shirt, stretched tight across the chest, and the rather small towel was wrapped around her waist, so small that it was practically one light breeze away from exposing everything.

She looked up again with that same blank expression.

'What's wrong with my clothes?' her empty face seemed to ask.

Behind her, the blond man just rolled his eyes, "It's not like I carry around women's clothes for fun. You should have seen what she was wearing when I found her." He groused.

Miya just sighed to herself, well aware of what Sekirei were generally like. Their rushed educations did little to provide them with anything but the most basic functions and facts in them and even less so for nuanced social niceties like modesty, "Akitsu, come with me." She commanded, "Let's get you cleaned up first. I have some clothes you can wear for now."

The ice user slowly looked at Uzumaki-san, her head tilting just a fraction to the side.

The man who had brought her to his home just smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry about me, I'll still be here when you're done." He gave her a gentle push, "Asama-san will be gentle, right Asama-san?"

Miya smiled pleasantly as she tapped her ladle on her cheek, somehow managing to appear sweet and yet incredibly threatening at the same time, "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Uzumaki-san, but I'll happily listen to your explanation once we have this little one bathed and dressed."

Naruto just smirked.

In short order, Akitsu found herself summarily dumped into the bath tub full of steaming water where she sat blankly as Miya began rubbing shampoo into her hair for her.

Miya's crimson eyes gave the Sekirei Crest prominently displayed on Akitsu's forehead a complicated look as she ignored the twinge of guilt in her stomach and focused on washing Akitsu's hair.

"When was the last time you bathed, Akitsu?" Miya muttered under her breath, "The tangles in your hair are awful."

Akitsu considered the question for a long moment before she shook her head, "Can't… remember."

Miya's shoulders slumped slightly as guilt filled her modest chest again, this time she couldn't ignore it. To not even remember when was the last time one had a bath… Heads would've rolled if she was still at MBI.

And she meant that literally.

"I'm sorry, Akitsu." She whispered softly, "I should have stayed."

The sandy haired woman didn't reply, she just sat there listlessly until Miya finished rinsing her off.

"Stay here and soak for a while. I'll go and find you some clothes and bring out the food." Miya murmured quietly.

As she got up to leave the bathroom, the sandy haired woman stirred slightly.

"It's okay…. Miya."

Miya's breath hitched with a quiet "oh" and she spun around to meet Akitsu's gaze, "You… remember me?"

Akitsu slowly nodded, "They… told me…. You found your loved one." Her head tilted slightly with a questioning look in her eyes, "…Naruto-sama?"

"No." Miya replied softly, "My husband has passed away. Uzumaki-san is his friend who has only recently returned to Japan."

Akitsu nodded faintly and returned to her contemplation of the bathroom wall again.

****Sekirei Unbound****

Naruto looked up from the kamiza, or the guest's position at the dining table, where he was sitting with his legs folded into a lotus position as Miya and Akitsu returned to the living room that doubled as the dining room.

He let out a low whistle, the lilac-colored kimono a freshly washed Akitsu was wearing suited her.

Akitsu's face didn't even twitch, but a slight dusting of pink appeared on her cheeks at his appreciative look.

Miya just gave him a rather severe look before she shook her head and took her seat at the head of the table on Naruto's left, while Akitsu quietly headed over to Naruto and demurely took a seat on his right, but slightly behind him, exactly the same way he had seen Mutsu stand next to Hayato.

He was going to have to fix that.

He really had no intention of winging her, but Akitsu seemed determined to act like he had already done so, most likely as a mental crutch.

"Please, eat." Miya said and Naruto let out resigned breath as he just added his plans for Akitsu to his to-do-list and gave his thanks for the food. It felt like that list that was getting longer and longer with every minute he spent in Tokyo.

Dinner had already been set out on the table for the two of them while Akitsu had been bathing and it was simple fare; fish, rice, vegetables and chicken. Miya's side of the table was empty because she had eaten earlier.

Maybe it was the sheer banality of it, but he actually had to pause for a moment as a thought occurred to him. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had eaten a meal like this. Once, maybe twice, since he had arrived in this place.

He had always been in a rush, impatiently scrambling for any hint, any shred of information or knowledge on how to get home during the first few years, until he had settled down out of sheer resignation and regret that he never made the effort to learn more before his ill-advised trip.

And it's not like he had anyone to eat with, so he always just made do with whatever was on hand.

Then in a blink, it was already thirty years, and he was still meandering around aimlessly.

A slight bit of movement to his right snapped him out of his reverie, and he noticed Miya watching him with a quirked eyebrow.

The blond just shrugged before he turned to his right.

To anyone else, it would seem like Akitsu was just sitting as still as a statue, but he could see her making the tiniest of micro movements, essentially fidgeting in place.

So he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry Akitsu, I'm not breaking my promise. But it's late and you need to eat and get some rest. I'll take a look at you tomorrow alright?"

All at once, Akitsu went as still as the ice she used, before she nodded faintly and began to stiffly spoon some soup into her mouth. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she hummed in appreciation at the flavor.

It was that good apparently.

The blond just chuckled and gave Miya and appreciative smile, "You cook very well Asama-san. It certainly looks like Akitsu doesn't have any complaints."

Akitsu did that adorable empty faced flush and Naruto outright laughed as he took a bite of the fish himself.

The meal proceeded apace quietly other than that first bit and it was a satisfied Naruto that placed his utensils down on his plate neatly, "Thanks for the dinner, Asama-san. Like I said earlier, it was really good. I've not had a chance to eat so well in a good while."

Miya just smiled gently and replied formally, "You are very welcome. No thanks are needed, it was my pleasure to cook for you."

Just then, all three of them heard the front door opening again. Naruto already knew who was it, but he just leaned back onto the shoji and silently sipped on a cup of tea. He was rather interested in seeing how the other tenants would react to a newcomer like Akitsu.

No, he totally wasn't imagining a territorial cat fight between two busty ladies.

He blamed Mutsu for using the 'territory' word.

Much to his amusement, it wasn't a woman, but a silver haired man that eventually poked his head into the living room, "Miya, you're still up?"

"I was just accompanying some guests with their dinner, Kagari." The purple haired landlady replied politely, "They just finished and are letting their stomachs settle with some tea. Would you like to join us?"

"it's okay, Miya, I've already had-" He caught sight of the two strangers at the table, or rather that one person in particular, and froze for a moment before he continued, "I suppose I am slightly thirsty." He said slowly, "Would you mind if I imposed?"

"Of course not, Kagari. Please, sit." Miya replied with a knowing smile.

Naruto measured the silver haired man as he took a seat across table from them with a nod.

So this was the fire user he had sensed earlier today messing around with the water user. This close to him, he could feel the fire user's presence roiling chaotically like an out-of-control furnace.

On a completely unrelated note, did all male Sekirei have silver or light-colored hair?

Another thing to add to the to-do-list he supposed.

"Kagari, please meet Uzumaki Naruto-san." The landlady gestured at the only other man in the room, who waved back in acknowledgement, "He was a friend of Takehito-san and will be staying with us for a while."

"Sup." The man with long fuzzy, bright yellow hair, and what Homura figured were strange whisker-like birthmarks on his cheek, said simply, "I'll be imposing on you."

Next to him, Akitsu inched forwards, subtly putting herself ahead of him. The way she was staring at the uncomfortably fidgeting man made it fairly obvious that they knew each other. They'd probably even fought each other before too.

The two of them continued to stare each other, ratcheting the tension up with each passing second until a ladle suddenly bonked both of them out of nowhere, "There will be no violence in Maison Izumo." Miya declared with a steely look in her eyes.

Akitsu and Homura glanced at each other again before Akitsu settled back into a demure position slightly behind Naruto.

"You know him then, Akitsu?" the blond man, asked with a slight grin.

Homura's eyes widened as dread pooled in his guts.

"Sekirei #06. Homura." Akitsu immediately answered bluntly, with none of her customary air-headedness.

The silver haired man let out a strangled groan before he deflated with resigned expression, "Why do you always have to be so tactless, Akitsu? He can't be your Ashikabi. Does he even know what Sekirei are yet?"

"I do actually." The blond replied blandly, "Bumped into one earlier, calling himself #05 and his, what did you call it? 'Ashikabi? Your older brother of sorts I take it?"

"In a sense." Kagari, or rather, Homura allowed before shooting am inquisitive look at Akitsu and the strange man, "So if you haven't winged anyone yet, how'd you get involved in this mess?"

"#05's Ashikabi was trying to kiss Akitsu. Akitsu looked like she didn't even know what planet she was on, much less say no. I objected." Naruto summarized plainly.

Homura gave him a skeptical look, "And Mutsu just let you walk away with Akitsu in tow?"

At the head of the table, Miya twitched and leaned forward slightly at that.

Naruto smiled a rather toothy smile, "I persuaded him to see it my way."

"I see…"

He did not see.

He knew what Mutsu was like. More importantly, he had Takami's files on Mutsu's Ashikabi. To say that the boy was an egoistic, narcissistic child was putting it nicely. So how did this one random man get Akitsu away from Mutsu and his Ashikabi without a single scratch?

"And she just followed you back?" He continued dubiously.

The rugged man shrugged, "I'm a doctor. #05 was yapping about Scrapped Numbers being defective. It offends me when people treat other people like defective goods, so I objected even harder." The blond noted dryly, "Then I figured I'd see if I can help."

"With what?" Homura countered somewhat heatedly. Not even Takami could do anything for him or Akitsu with all of MBI at her beck and call, so what did this random man that came out of nowhere think he could do? "Do you have a laboratory somewhere that can match what MBI's equipment? Do you even know where to start helping?!"

The blond looked completely unaffected by the fire Sekirei's sudden hostility, "Don't need it." He answered placidly, "I don't even know you, but just looking at you is enough for me to tell that you have just as many issues as her." Naruto jerked one thumb in Akitsu's direction.

Akitsu's face didn't even budge, but she began emitting an air of smugness for some reason as Homura stared at him incredulously.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa."

Whatever Homura was about to say in response was cut off as another person stumbled into the living room, the dark-haired woman with her hair hanging completely loose around her while she wore nothing but a way too loose t-shirt and polka dot panties, "Whassh going on here? Whyrre you shouting Kagari?" She slurred sleepily.

Naruto sighed as the sandy haired woman next to him inched forward again.

It was going to get rather annoying real fast if she kept insisting on putting herself between him and every Sekirei he seemed to bump into, and judging by his luck so far, it was starting to look like he was going to be doing that pretty frequently. Partly because there was basically no way for him to just walk away from this at this point, and partly because he felt that he owed it to Takehito for not coming to his friend's aid in time.

Luckily, Akitsu seemed to soften slightly when she realized who the newcomer was, "…Uzume."

She glanced back at Naruto-sama.

Akitsu was honest with herself. She knew that she didn't really have any real hope of being winged, of being a proper Sekirei, regardless of what Naruto-sama had promised her. Homura had spoken nothing but truth, but she wanted to act like one.

She wanted to be valued.

Thus, she elaborated, "Sekirei #10."

Uzume almost stumbled at that but caught herself at the last second. She immediately snapped up fully awake now and her eyes alertly assessed everyone the room before she did a double take at Akitsu. She blinked rapidly, "A-Akitsu? You… They let you out?" She asked with a strangely hesitant tone, her eyes flickering between the former #07 and the stranger leaning on the wall slightly behind her with an amused expression.

Akitsu simply gave her a tiny shrug.

"Actually, she fought her way out." Homura cut in dryly, "MBI put out a wanted notice for her after she froze an entire building. They didn't give any other details though."

His pointed stare was ignored with great ease by an impressively impassive Akitsu.

Uzume sighed as she glanced at the blond stranger again. Any attempt to hide or gloss over this would be pointless because Akitsu would spill everything the moment he asked anyway. The former #07 was weird like that. She had no filter whatsoever, even when they were growing up together on Kamikura Island, long before she had become a Scrapped Number. Back then, whatever she was thinking would immediately fall out of her mouth regardless of the consequences. She looked a lot more reserved now, but it was apparent that her bluntness hadn't changed one bit.

Then again, when you considered all of the Sekirei in their batch, Akitsu wouldn't even qualify as the third weirdest one. Kinda hard to do something like that when the top three was a tossup between the love freak, the serial killer and the gender changer.

"You couldn't have said something before I showed up, Homura?" She poked him playfully, "How's a girl supposed to keep her secrets if her bestie doesn't help?"

The silver haired man gave her a strange look, "Bestie my foot. Also, how exactly am I supposed to do that? Why're you even blaming me? Blame her!" He gestured at Akitsu who continued to watch them impassively.

"Meh. It's like a class reunion I suppose. Always wanted to go to one of those. The second batch of Sekirei to be Awakened after the First gen Disciplinary Squad." Uzume noted somewhat humorously, "We got 6, 7 and 10 here. All we're missing is Tsukiumi and…" She trailed off.

"Yume." Homura said quietly.

Uzume huffed somewhat sadly before changing the topic delicately, "What's Tsukiumi doing nowadays anyway?"

"Looking for her Ashikabi. Running from her Ashikabi. Plotting to murder her Ashikabi. Take your pick."

"What?"

"It's Tsukiumi." He said wryly, as if it explained everything.

Uzume considered that for a moment, before nodding.

Akitsu followed along.

It did.

Behind the three of them, Naruto hummed quietly to himself.

He gave a sidelong glance at Miya who had been happy to watch the byplay with distinctly amused air, "So, is this considered a family reunion?"

Miya laughed pleasantly, "Fufufu, I have no idea what you mean, Uzumaki-san. But it's really nice to see, isn't it? These children all… grew up too fast." She said with a slight sadness in her elegant posture.

"What about the last one then? That one not gonna come out I take it?" He observed dryly as he watched Homura and Uzume bicker with each other.

Miya's eyes narrowed at him. She had no idea how he knew about Matsu, but she steadfastly kept her mouth shut. She bitterly refused to acknowledge that there was anything out of the normal.

She didn't really have a reason to do it, she knew. Both of them knew that the other was not what they seemed at this point. She knew the blond had already figured it out the moment he had come back with Akitsu. Him mentioning Matsu really just solidified it. At the very least, he knew that she was related to the Sekirei somehow.

She, on the other hand, knew he was not a Sekirei. But after withstanding her killing intent with ease and his apparent ability to locate Sekirei without even seeing them, she also knew he was not exactly a normal human.

At the same time, she wished to keep up her façade as the simple, lonely landlady of Maison Izumo. To break that façade, felt like a betrayal of Takehito's memory and sacrifice.

Plus.

She didn't want to get drawn back into Minaka's insane game.

The blond seemed to notice her reluctance.

He might not know why, but she was slightly grateful when he just nodded, not pushing further,

Miya hummed softly, "Will you be busy tomorrow?"

"Depends on how long it takes me to deal with Akitsu's problem I suppose." Naruto responded thoughtfully.

"Before you start on that, I would like you to take Akitsu and purchase some clothes for her. My clothes… don't exactly fit her."

"So, what you're saying is, she's not wearing any underwear?"

"Oh my, it sounds like I need to have that discussion with you about appropriate behavior right after this. But yes."

The Uzumaki eyed her skeptically, "Let me get this straight, you want me, to buy woman's clothes?"

"Good point. You'll undoubtedly force your lewd and twisted preferences on Akitsu if I let you."

"You know, I'm starting to get the teeniest, tiniest impression that you think I'm a pervert of some sort," The blond noted dryly, "And I have absolutely no idea why."

"You let Akitsu walk around in a face towel. If I let you buy her clothes, who knows what you'll make her wear."

Naruto hummed to himself absent-mindedly, "I hadn't thought of it that way, but now that you mention it…. A maid uniform does sound nice."

"I will cut you." Miya smiled at him sweetly.

He just grinned.

Off to the side, and unnoticed by the two of them, Uzume and Homura had slowly stopped bickering. Instead, they shared a discrete look.

What the hell was going on with Miya?

She was… a lot more animated than either of them had ever seen her. To them, she was always aloof, if caring. Like a commander or leader or an especially distant mother, even if she never imposed her will on them, but she seemed to be treating the newcomer like… a peer of some sort

And who the hell was that guy?

He had some pretty big brass ones to be teasing Miya like that.

Then Miya's laser-like gaze landed on them and both of them shivered simultaneously.

They both immediately found other topics to talk about.

Whatever was going on over there, neither of them wanted any part of it.

****Sekirei Unbound****

Once dinner and tea were done and Miya had brought Naruto and Akitsu to the room she had set aside for them, she went back down to wash the dishes. Typically, she preferred to do the dishes by hand, but since it was already so late at night, she would just leave them in the dishwasher with a timer on.

Miya hummed quietly to herself as she loaded all the dirty utensils into the dishwasher and patted her back to relieve the bit of soreness she felt there as she left the kitchen, already anticipating a good long soak in the bath tub after such a tumultuous day.

When she entered the living room on her way to the rooms, Miya blinked in the darkness as she felt that something was out of place.

Maison Izumo's living room slash dining room was separated from the raised wooden platform that was the veranda, by two shoji. The veranda was framed by two wooden pillars on each side and overlooked the front garden where she usually did her morning exercises and the main entrance to Maison Izumo.

Previously on her way to the kitchen, she had turned off the lights and shut the shoji, but now she realized that they were open just a sliver. Calmly trotting over to the sliding paper doors, she slid the crack open just a little wider to see the strange blond man just sitting on the veranda in the moonlight, his right leg hanging loosely off the wooden platform while the other was propping up his elbow while it leaned on the wooden pillar on his left.

His shoulders were slightly slumped and downtrodden and his back felt tired and bent.

His head was bowed.

"No need to sneak in your own home, Asama-san."

The man's back suddenly straightened again and the palpable grief he had been exuding faded like a misty morning on a summer day, almost as if she had imagined it and the Uzumaki was back to his regular self-assured, mischievous self as he glanced back and shot her a smirk.

He was good at it, but so was she, and she recognized it for what it was.

So, she calmly opened the shoji and walked over to the other pillar. She elegantly sat down and silently offered him the company of a fellow mourner.

His façade cracked for a moment with a bitter smile before it was gone again.

[Play Regina Spektor – While My Guitar Gently Weeps]

"I thought you were asleep." She began neutrally.

"I don't need that much sleep nowadays." The blond observed quietly, "Akitsu blacked out the moment her head hit the pillow though. I imagine she hasn't had a lot of sleep recently."

"So you came out here for a bit?"

He grunted in acknowledgement as he looked down again, and Miya realized that the blond was holding something in his right hand. It was a picture, she realized, but she could see what was it about from her side of the veranda, "Haven't had a lot of down time myself ever since I got Take-chan's message. Just wanted some time to think. And mourn I suppose."

Miya nodded at that.

The two of them enjoyed the silence for a bit until Miya broke it again out of curiosity, "May I know what picture is that?"

The blond caressed the piece of photographic paper.

"It's our last picture together."

He lifted the picture and suddenly flicked it to her. Miya started for a moment, thinking it would fly off somewhere but the picture almost docilely fit itself into her open hand.

She stared between the picture and the smirking blond for a moment before it hardened into a slight glare at the blond that was summarily ignored.

Turning the photographic paper around, she felt her breath hitch at the two people in the picture.

A slightly younger Takehito, maybe in his early twenties, was standing next to the blond who was taller than him by half a head. Both of them were wearing yukatas, Takehito's was a sober grey, whereas the blond's was a deep navy. The blond was also wearing a very elaborate haori over his yukata. On the inside, it was a deep royal blue, with intricate, life-like designs of animals at the bottom made with golden threads. On the outside, it was a pure white contrasted with very unusual flame like designs at the bottom that were of the same royal blue color as the insides.

It was far too flashy for a normal haori, usually those were only available in solid, dark colors, so it was likely to be a custom-made piece.

It also gave him a very mature air and a regal bearing that seemed completely unsuited to homeless looking blond man she had first encountered two of them were attending a festival of some sort if the colorful lights, stalls and torii were any indication.

She gazed at the picture for a long moment, somewhat aware that she was currently holding solid evidence that the blond had truly known Takehito in the past, but she was too busy lapping up the looks of a younger Takehito.

She had never seen any of those before.

She had never known what he had looked like before they had met.

It was a part of him she had never known about.

Her husband rarely kept any pictures around, and he had been an orphan, so there was no one to ask for pictures.

And it lit a desire for her to see more that she had never felt before.

She looked up just in time to see the blond flick another picture at her, as if he had read her thoughts.

Miya caught the picture deftly and looked at it.

She couldn't tell where the picture was taken, other than the fact that it was outside a café of some sort.

Her eyes softened again as she gently touched the young boy's face in the picture. He had a bright and happy smile as two men stood beside him; the grinning blond man was on his right, arms folded as he leaned on the door. The other was a large black man, taller than even Naruto, with white hair tied into tight cornrows and his eyes were obscured by a pair of shades, "He looks so young." She murmured softly.

"Yeah, he just entered high school at the time, I think." The blue-eyed blond hummed thoughtfully as he chewed on his bottom lip, "It was a year or so after we met if I remember correctly."

She pointed at the large black man, "Who is that?"

"Gyuuki. He's one of the mutual friends I mentioned. In fact, he's the one that maintains the anime and manga forums where Take-chan and I met, and the one that Take-chan informs whenever he dropped something off."

"Oh…" She went back to her contemplation of the two pictures.

As she looked at them, she had a startling realization. Something she had missed when they had first spoken earlier that afternoon.

The two Narutos in both pictures looked exactly the same as he was now.

"You said you first met Takehito-san fifteen years ago… but how?" Miya began slowly, "You barely look thirty. You would have been in high school yourself at the time if that was true."

The blond let out an amused grunt, "Thanks for the compliment, but no, I'm not thirty."

Miya waited for a moment, but when the amused blond showed no intention of answering her unasked question, she rolled her eyes, it was obvious the blond was taunting her if that impudent smirk was any indication, "Fine. How old are you really?"

"Sixty-three." the blond replied languidly.

Miya blinked slowly, "…. Really?"

"Yep. I have good genes."

"Oh."

"Really good genes." The blond chortled to himself quietly.

Miya rolled her eyes at him again before she looked back at pictures with a soft expression.

"Thank you. For showing me this."

"Idiot should have showed you himself."

Miya closed her eyes and leaned on the pillar next to her, "It wasn't his fault."

The blond grunted noncommittally but didn't say anything.

"Do you have any more?"

Naruto shook his head slowly, "I've said before, but I really don't spend much time in cities. I can count the number of times I've been back in Tokyo in the past thirty years, on both hands, and still have fingers left over."

"Is there any particular reason why?"

"Personal preference I guess." Naruto replied evasively before snorting, "My friends are always telling me I should get out and socialize more, but I just can't be bothered. I'm pretty happy just camping out in the wilds by myself where I can read my manga and watch my anime in peace. Any socialization I need, I can get fine through the internet."

"There's internet out there in the wild? I've heard that it's difficult to get a reliable connection when you're out of the city."

The blond shrugged, "It's my own personal connection. Or rather, it's one that was made for my group of friends and myself."

"I can't imagine a personal internet connection built specifically for a small group of people being very cheap." Miya observed, "Is this group very big?"

"Not really, no." The blond smiled somewhat sadly, "There's only ten of us. Sometimes more, but never less."

Miya blinked at the oddly specific number of friends that the blond had.

"Gyuuki is the one owns it by the way. He had it commissioned and built when he realized that all of us were basically hermits anyway. And Chomei is a paranoid bastard." The blond blinked with dawning realization, "Now that I actually think about it, they're always calling me a NEET, but none of them are any different. They're all just as NEETy as me, if not worse. I at least spend some time working. They just laze about."

"This Chomei is another one of those friends you mentioned that are always nagging you? Do all your friends nag you a lot?" She asked with amusement.

The blond nodded with a faint smile, "All the damn time."

"Perhaps you should stop doing stupid things that make it necessary then."

The blond rolled his eyes, "You don't even know what I do in my free time, Miya."

"It can't be good or there would be no reason to nag you in the first place." She retorted.

The Uzumaki grunted again, "You'd get along well with Matatabi. I can already tell."

"Do you have a picture of all of them?" She asked curiously.

Naruto nodded and dug around in a box on his lap that she hadn't noticed until now, from which he retrieved a picture that was flicked over to her again.

She gently received it and smiled at the various expressions on each and every face in the picture.

They were an eccentric group certainly, but there was no doubt of the camaraderie in this particular band of brothers and sister. There was no one ethnicity that seemed to dominate the group, so their Japanese sounding names was most likely a nickname of sorts, or perhaps their usernames on the internet?

On the ground, there was a placard, with the words "Tailed Beasts" on it in Kanji, and each of the people in the picture was holding up their fingers that went from one to nine. The name of their group perhaps?

Of the ten people in the picture, she only recognized Gyuuki and Naruto, Gyuuki had eight fingers held up, while Naruto simply had his in a circle shape that she assumed was meant to be zero. In between them was a disgruntled looking man with sharp features, crimson red hair and exotic looking brown skin who was obviously being manhandled into place by Naruto and Gyuuki if the way their arms were tangled was any indication. He held up nine fingers. The man also had similar looking whiskers to the one that adorned Naruto's own cheeks. A brother or relation?

On Gyuuki's left, were 7 other people, all of varying hair colors and skin colors. She was about to ask which one was Matatabi when Naruto spoke up as if he had already anticipated her question, "Chomei is the one Gyuuki's left. Matatabi is the second one from the left."

Her eyes glanced over there and noted that Chomei was an Asian man with a pinched expression. He was dressed in a dark green Chinese cheongsam and was holding up seven fingers. Further to the left, she observed that Matatabi was a disturbingly pale but beautiful blond lady who had her hair tied up in a gentle ponytail that hung over her shoulder in a motherly manner. Her almond shaped eyes were a light jade green and had slitted pupils that reminded her of a cat.

The blond woman was holding up two fingers with a gentle smile even as she pinned an annoyed looking man wearing a monk's robes to her side with her free hand. That one was only holding up one finger. The brown-haired man to Matatabi's right was holding up three fingers and looked half asleep.

"Did Takehito-san know any of them?" She asked after a thought.

Naruto was thoughtful for a moment, "He knew them, and talked with them on the forums, but other than Gyuuki and myself, I don't know whether or not they have ever met with him personally. They might have, Matatabi, Kokuo and Kurama all live in Japan as well and I don't make it a point to tell them who they can or cannot meet."

"Kokuo and Kurama?"

"Five and Nine." The blond answered simply.

She looked down; Kurama she had already seen, but Kokuo was a man of average height, who dressed like a traditional samurai, up to and including having a katana at his side. She couldn't see any of his other features due to the thick looking muffler obscuring his face and a wide straw hat that blocked out the rest. He was naturally holding up five fingers.

"Matatabi tends to stick to Hokkaido because the weather and culture there reminds her of her home while Kurama and Kokuo spend their time lazing around Osaka and Kyoto."

"What do you think he spoke to them about?" Miya asked wistfully.

"Dunno." The blond grunted, "I do know that Matatabi doted on him though. She practically adopted him at one point."

That caused her to look at him with curiously burning in her crimson eyes, "'Practically' implies it didn't happen. Why?"

"Probably because they were both stubborn idiots for one. I don't know what was it about, but it was pretty bad and as far as I can tell, they pretty much stopped talking after that. There was a lot of anger there."

"What did you end up talking with him about then?"

"Mostly nonsense about anime and manga." Naruto admitted, "That's how I found out he was an orphan though. After that, whenever I was the area, I'd take the chance to bring him out on a camping trip or help him buy things he couldn't buy himself. I even offered to pay for his university studies, but he refused." He laughed softly.

"The kid had so many questions." Naruto said reminiscently, "What should he study? How do you save money? How do you download pirated anime? How do you court girls? What should he wear to an interview? And so on."

Crimson eyes stared at him for a moment before Miya groaned quietly, "Is that why he kept taking me to a ramen store?"

"Yep. Like I said, he was a smart kid, bwahahaha!" The blond laughed proudly.

"He didn't even like ramen." Miya noted wryly.

"No one's perfect." Naruto immediately countered, "Did he at least take you a festival or a parade?"

Miya sat there silently, grief and sadness warring on her face, "No. There was never any time." She said softly.

The blond frowned at her for a moment, "I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me."

"It's fine." Miya said with a soft but firm expression, "For me… Maison Izumo is enough. It's his gift to me. Izumo and the area around it. I've never really gone beyond it after… after I was born and left my... home. I never needed to. It is my world and I am happy with it."

She got the impression that her dearly departed husband's friend greatly disagreed with her.

He just closed his eyes and shook his head before he stood up slowly with a quiet groan, "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow, Asama-san."

"Wait. Your pictures?"

"Just put them on the table when you're done with them." He said back at her with a dismissive wave over his shoulder as he re-entered the house.

Miya looked down again at the pictures of Takehito.

She didn't need the third picture, but she'd ask Matsu to make a copy of the other two for her.

****Sekirei Unbound****

When the next morning arrived, Miya had to blink her sleep away for a bit before she frowned.

Even without a clock, she could tell that she had woken up earlier than normal.

The sun had already risen, and sunlight was already peeking in to her room, but it still had those last shreds of gloomy night time hanging on to it. Which put it at around some time before 6 am in the morning given that it was almost at the end of March and Japan was practically on the door step of Summer.

Miya nuzzled her pillow for moment before she shot upwards.

She had sensed movement in the house.

No one else woke up this earlier.

Miya added a white haori coat onto her yukata and tugged it on tighter because even if it was summer, the morning chill still made her shiver and quietly left her bedroom on the ground floor. Socked feet made their way to the living room with soundless steps where she immediately noticed Akitsu already sitting demurely next to the kamiza, although the blue-eyed guest himself was nowhere to be seen.

Akitsu slowly turned to her and acknowledged her with a small nod of the head.

The crimson eyed landlady couldn't help but smile at Akitsu's messy hair and rumpled yukata, the same one from last night. She had obviously woken a bit too earlier than she would have liked.

"Why didn't you sleep longer?" She asked the seventh oldest Sekirei in a hushed tone.

The sandy haired woman blearily stared her for a long moment, as if she was having trouble processing her thoughts, before eventually answering, "…Naruto-sama."

Miya had to take a moment to translate that as well, "He wasn't in the room when you woke up?" She asked tentatively.

Akitsu slowly shook her head mournfully and looked in the general direction of the corridor that led to the kitchens, on the other side of the room from the corridor that led to the rooms.

The purple haired woman took that to mean that the Uzumaki was in the kitchen for some reason.

She was about to go take a look when the blond in question appeared in the corridor, carrying two plates of some fluffy rounded cakes that smelt rather wonderful.

"Waffles?" Miya asked curiously. She had heard of them, but she had never cooked them before. Her skills mainly laid in traditional Japanese food.

"Good morning, Asama-san, I didn't expect you to wake so soon." The blond greeted her with a smile, but there was faintly mischievous glint in his eyes, "They're crepes. I learnt how to make them in France."

He set the plates down in front of Akitsu and passed his own plate to Miya before he went back to get another set

Miya inspected the cake on her plate for a moment. It looked quite pleasing, it looked like a thin layer of cake that had been folded over twice, and filled with a white cream. A small sniff told her it was a mix of cream cheese, yoghurt and vanilla extract. The side of the crepe was beautifully decorated with a line of sliced mangoes and strawberries.

That brought her to a pause.

She knew she didn't have any yoghurt or cream cheese in her kitchen.

"Did Uzumaki-san go out to buy groceries?" She addressed Akitsu curiously.

The sandy haired woman who still looked like she was desperately missing her bed nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving her plate. She apparently refused to eat until Naruto ate first.

Miya took pity on her and leaned over the gap between them to lay a gentle hand on Akitsu's shoulder, "You know you don't have to follow him around, right? It's okay to sleep a bit more if you're still tired. If he is really your Ashikabi, he would hate to see you so tired and forcing yourself."

Akitsu stubbornly jut her lower jaw out and ignored Miya as she resolutely stared at her plate.

"I said that earlier. She did the same thing too." A voice noted dryly as Naruto arrived and took the guest's seat between the two of them and passed them both a cup of tea as well, "Figured I'd just take it as a good thing that she is willing to ignore me when it suits her."

Akitsu pouted.

She actually pouted at Naruto.

The blond laughed quietly and reached up to pat her head fondly, "Alright, alright. Don't give me that look. Go on and eat."

Next to him, Miya nodded after she had taken a moment to drink a mouthful of hot tea, "Thank you for the breakfast. Itadakimasu."

"Please, help yourself." The blond finished the thanks politely.

At her first bite, Miya couldn't help herself as she closed her eyes and swayed slightly as a light and fluffy texture filled her mouth. The milky cream cheese and sour yoghurt played well with the sweet, tanginess from the mango slice and it was all packed into a deliciously crunchy and savory wrap. She had expected it to be too sweet for her, like most other western dishes she had tried where one flavor dominated all the rest, but this one wasn't like that at all.

Next to Naruto, Akitsu was making similarly happy noises as she munched on her crepe while the blond himself ate at a much more measured pace.

When she opened her eyes again, she was shocked to discover that her plate was empty. Both her crepes were already gone without her noticing what she had been doing.

Next to her, the blond just smirked as he slid another plate over to her.

… When did he even have the time to and get that?

The next crepe was completely different from the first one. Where that one had emphasized the light and fluffy texture that was not too sweet, this one was savory and a little salty. She could tell it carried more weight and was meant to be the bulk of the meal with a good helping of cheese, egg and bits of crunchy bacon in it.

It was a satisfied Miya that put her utensils down politely, a light pink dusting her cheeks at her unbecoming actions.

The blond just hmmmed to himself.

There it was again.

That sly smirk she had seen earlier.

That damned smirk that looked like he was planning on doing something and there was nothing she could do about it.

Miya huffed quietly and slowly stood up, "I'm going to change." She muttered, slightly aghast as she realized she was still dressed in her plain white bedroom yukata and coat.

When she came back, Akitsu was no longer there, but the blue-eyed blond was still sitting there, although he had pulled on a rugged coat around his shoulders as he pondered over an old-fashioned looking scroll with some sort of unreadable script neatly scrawled all over it in regimented columns.

He was holding a calligraphy brush that he regularly dipped into an ink bowl on the low-slung table as he wrote in a slightly smaller scroll in that same unreadable script, stopping every few moments to reference something from the larger scroll. Off to side, were two more of those smaller scrolls, but they were still empty.

Without giving any sign that he had noticed her, he suddenly spoke, "Akitsu went back to sleep. I had to promise her I wouldn't leave before she let me go."

"Stop that." Miya muttered under her breath, "It's annoying."

The blond turned around to quirk one eyebrow at her, "Stop… what?"

"Acting like you can read my mind." The crimson eyed woman muttered in a clipped tone even as she forced down her flush. Even just saying those ridiculous words made her feel embarrassed.

The blond stared at her incredulously before he burst out into a full-blown belly laugh.

"It seems that you have plenty of energy this morning," Miya smiled dangerously at the laughing blond as she held up a regular katana, "Perhaps you would like to join me for some exercise?"

The blond just casually waved her off as he settled back into his seat and went back to his scrolls, still chuckling every so often.

Miya glared at him, she was curious what the scrolls for, and what language was that, but she refused to ask. Instead, she just went off to start her exercise with a small huff.

She was midway her first set of movements when the blond spoke again, "I wasn't you know."

"Wasn't what." Miya replied blandly as she focused on her dance-like movements.

The blond propped his chin on one hand as he ignored the scroll for a moment, "Reading your mind."

"Oh?"

"You just broadcast your intentions too much. Things like how fast you walk, or even when you lean forward just a fraction. It practically screams what you are thinking because of how obvious they are to someone that knows where to look. All of you do it really."

Miya stopped as something clicked, "Is that why I can never seem to catch you moving? You… mute your intentions?"

"Something like that." The blond agreed with a lopsided smile before he gave her a serious look, "It also tends to be an indicator of someone who grew up without proper socialization. Like they never went through the same processes and events a normal child would have so they're only going through the motions because they never really learnt whether something was appropriate or not. Mutsu, Homura, Akitsu and Uzume might look like adults, but to me, their movements are exaggerated and slightly clumsy, as if they're still children."

"Mutsu and the others are very strong fighters." Miya pointed out.

"You don't need to be weak to act like a child." He observed offhandedly, "I'm not even sure if it's something that can be fixed because they're all already adults and set in their ways."

She resumed her exercise with a noncommittal hum while the blond went back to his scroll.

"What about me?"

Bright blue eyes squinted at her for a moment, "Like an awkward gangly teenager on the verge of adulthood."

Miya smiled at him prettily, "Oh my, are you teasing this lonely widow?"

The blond gave her a vaguely amused look, "Are you going to cut me if I say yes?"

"Yes."

"Then no."

Both of them smirked at each other before they went back to a comfortable silence, the blond continued to write in his scrolls, his back ramrod straight and his hand steadier than rock, while Miya continued her morning routine, sunlight glistening of the dew on the blade of her katana with each swirl, her footwork measured and yet deliberate.

By the time Homura appeared in the doorway with a big yawn, it was already mid-morning and Miya was cooling down from her exercise while the self-proclaimed doctor was almost done with the final scroll.

Naruto didn't even bother to look up, "Morning, Homura. Your breakfast is in the kitchen."

Homura had to blink for a moment. He looked at the landlady with a puzzled expression before he warily took a look in the kitchen. The blond seemed to be implying that he had been the one to cook today's breakfast, but as far as he knew, the landlady had never let anyone else into her kitchen.

Granted… that might have just been because neither he or Uzume could cook anything that was even remotely edible.

The silver haired man came back a moment later with a plate filled with three stacks of crepes.

"Crepes?"

"Yep. You've had them before?"

"They're popular with the women at the club." Homura commented wryly.

"Club?"

Homura cleared his throat awkwardly, "I work as a host at a night club."

Naruto just made a quiet, "Ah." sound and Homura was glad to notice that the blue-eyed blond didn't sound disgusted or embarrassed by it.

The silver haired man looked back at his breakfast and gently cut into the first crepe. His grey eyes widened incredulously at the first bite, "Thhish ish gud!" He mumbled with his mouth full of cream before flushing and swallowing, "The ones at the club doesn't taste anything like this." He explained again with a dark blush staining his cheeks.

The blond just smirked again, "Thanks." He tapped on the last scroll and wound it up with a practiced flick of the wrist and a satisfied sigh, "That reminds me, do you have any plans today?"

Homura swallowed another mouthful before he replied hesitantly, "I was… going to take a walk before work I guess?"

It was basically his entire daily routine when it was a good day. Go out after breakfast, spend his time roaming the city and protecting other unwinged Sekirei, go to work in the evening if there wasn't anything urgent, then drag his exhausted body back to Maison Izumo late at night, or unless his client at the time wanted him to spend the night with her.

Of course, more often than not, most Sekirei operated at night, so he would have to do the same and then sleep in the morning until it was time go to work.

"Skip the walk. In fact, you might as well call in sick too. I can issue a medical cert to you if you need it."

"What?!" Homura yelped at the sudden commanding tone coming from the normally unassuming blond man, "Why?"

The blond gave him an exasperated look, "I'm a doctor, Homura. Do you really expect me to let you go out when you're as sick as Akitsu? I need to at least take a look at you even if it's not a problem that can be solved in one day."

"B-w-huh?"

Naruto tapped his chin, "I should probably go wake Akitsu and Uzume while you're eating."

Homura blinked, "Uzume's doing this too?"

"Why not?"

"She's… not sick?"

The self-proclaimed doctor just shrugged dismissively, "Then why is she visiting a hospital?"

"How do you know that?!"

Homura leaned back and watched awkwardly as Akitsu and Uzume trooped into the living room, both of them looking far more awake than he had expected. Uzume in particular had a wary and unexpectedly hostile expression on her face as she skirted around Naruto and the table to stand by the exit, her body was tensed as if she was expecting to make a run for it.

Or attack.

"Your clothes. They smell." The blond noted bluntly, "You go there so often that the smell has practically soaked into them."

"I…." Uzume's eyes flitted left and right before she shrugged uncomfortably, "I have a friend there. I'm not sick. Really!"

Miya who was still outside in the garden eyed the four them of contemplatively. She was starting to understand what the blond meant by exaggerated movements now that she was looking for them. It had been incredibly easy to tell how uncomfortable and tense Uzume was, not to mention it was blatantly obvious that her friend in the hospital was most likely her Ashikabi. Not that she didn't already know that. But it was that obvious.

She hadn't missed how grateful Homura had been either when the blond hadn't shown any outward reaction to his occupation as a host.

Akitsu didn't seem to care either way. She certainly held no hope of getting rid of her Scrapped Number, if Miya was reading her right, she was just here because Naruto wanted her to be.

The blond just sighed and gestured to the kitchen, "Go get your breakfast first, Uzume. If you really don't want to join us, then that's fine. I won't force you, but you really should."

Homura held one hand up slowly, "I don't get that option?"

He got a flat, "No." in response and slouched in his seat sulkily.

As the three of them ate, two of them kept a wary eye on Maison Izumo's guest, but he seemed content to simply wait for them to finish, because he was just sitting there, idly tapping on the scroll. Outside, Miya hadn't said anything against or for the Uzumaki, but Homura and Uzume boh got the impression that the landlady was actually quite interested in seeing what the Uzumaki was planning to do, because she was still doing some light exercise, even though she was usually done by now.

In fact, she had squarely placed herself right in the middle of their escape route, should one become necessary.

[Play Mary Clare - Radiant]

"That reminds me." The blond suddenly said, "I never did get an explanation about Sekirei last night. What are they really? Modified humans? And why are there so many running about all of a sudden?"

#06 and #10 shared an uncomfortable look before Homura started, "Actually… we're not supposed to share this information with you. You have to be contacted by the owner of MBI once you've winged a Sekirei before you're allowed to find out about us, but Akitsu…." He trailed off.

"Why?" The blond replied blandly.

The silver haired man returned his question with a nonplussed look, "Why…. It's just the way things are."

The blond continued to tap the scroll with a composed expression, "I mean, why does this man have so much authority over you? Are you his property? Experimental humans owned by MBI?"

"Experiments…?" Homura looked up from his food with a horrified expression, "How did you even reach that conclusion?"

"We're aliens." Uzume cut in with a perfectly straight face, "There were 108 of us in our spaceship. It crash-landed in the sea near Japan and we didn't wake up until recently. Now we're out and we want to eat people."

A katana's sheath suddenly immediately bopped Uzume on the head as Miya silently sat down on the veranda and began cleaning her katana.

"Owww…." Uzume cried out piteously.

Homura just stared at her.

"Why're you looking at me like that for?" The disgruntled girl mumbled as she rubbed the bump she could already feel growing on her head, "Just take a look at him. You really think he's some naïve little idiot you can just wave off with a few words?"

Naruto simply nodded with aplomb, "She's not wrong. Don't be mistaken though, if you really do not wish to tell me, that is fine. I'll simply find out another way. The three of you are just the closest and most direct source of information right now."

Homura glanced at the blond was still sitting there with a serious expression and sighed, "Technically she's not wrong. We are extraterrestrial supposedly, but indistinguishable from normal humans. As for what we're running about for…. It's for the Sekirei Plan."

Naruto cocked his head with interest, "Supposedly? You mean you're not sure? And what is this Plan about?"

"When the ship resurfaced from its crash landing on Kamikura Island, we weren't awake yet," Homura explained softly, "In the ship, there was only one adult, eight embryos and ninety-nine fertilized eggs." He awkwardly shifted and edged away from Miya, "I don't exactly know when the adult, #01, was awakened, but shortly after, the eight embryos were given life as well as #02 to #09. It goes without saying that the remaining ninety-nine, are #10 to #108."

Uuzme nodded, "They incubated us or something, I guess. And then we grew up on Kamikura until we were old enough to be…. adjusted in batches. For most of us, it was like we went to sleep as children, but then woke up as adults with information stuffed into our heads and abilities that we never knew we had."

Homura followed up with a slight bit of venom in his voice, "And then were thrown out just like that, told that we had to find our Ashikabi and then fight each other for the sake of the Plan."

The blond man blanched, "So… let me get this straight. MBI's owner found your ship. He forced all of you to grow up at an accelerated rate. Then he forces all of you to fight each other. To kill each other? Your own family?"

All the Sekirei paled dramatically and Homura hurried to interject, "No, no, not death. Even unconsciousness can be considered as defeat." Here, the silver haired host hesitated, "But…. we won't wake up. Our bodies will be separated from our Ashikabi and retrieved by MBI for storage."

"Won't wake up? And stored away? You don't even know what MBI is doing with your bodies do you?" Naruto blurted out, "How is that any different from death? No even worse, you don't even know if they're straight up experimenting on the bodies, do you?"

From where he was sitting, he could see Uzume twitch with guilt and shame pouring out of her.

Homura and Akitsu sat there with their heads bowed.

"Don't look like that." The Uzumaki said a little sharply, "It's not your fault. From what I can tell, it doesn't seem like any of you have any control over this whole mess anyway."

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with some frustration, "Take-chan… what have you done?"

Outside on the veranda, Miya sadly bowed her head in shame as well as she heard the blond's whispered question. She was just as guilty as Takehito-san.

Naruto shook himself wearily, "Fine, we'll deal with this plan afterwards. Moving on, I got the impression from Mutsu that the first ten Sekirei are a pretty big deal. Is that why? Because the ten of you were the first to wake up and thus the strongest and most likely to win the Plan?"

"Technically I'm not a Single Number. I just happened to be lumped in with them because I was the oldest of the remaining ninety-nine." The dark-haired girl who had tied her hair up in a side pony tail today noted wryly, "And Akitsu doesn't really count anymore."

The blond simply shrugged dismissively, "Semantics. So?"

"Tuning." Akitsu explained with one word.

Homura grimaced, "Akitsu is correct. We are the oldest, and have the most experience with this world. But at the same time, we also underwent the most tuning. Experimental tuning. Because it's not like they knew how everything worked at the time. As a result..." He trailed off again with a helpless expression gesture at himself and Akitsu. "Let's just say you weren't exactly wrong when you mentioned experimental humans."

"So Sekirei are stronger the smaller the number?" The blond guessed with a knitted brow, "That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Why make it so all of them have different power levels if you want a battle royale? Why make some weaker than the others? Is there some sort of drawback? Not to mention, if that really is the case, then all you'd need to is wing number one or two, and this Plan is as good as sunk, isn't it?"

Uzume cleared her throat awkwardly, "Uh…. #02 isn't a combat type. She can't really fight."

"So… #01?"

All three of them shared a look before Uzume who had apparently been bullied into being their speaker because she was the baby sister there, technically speaking, coughed into one hand apparently, "#01 is… not available."

"Why not?" The blond man questioned curiously.

Homura looked right.

Uzume looked left.

Akitsu closed her eyes.

Everyone in the living room very pointedly ignored Miya who had silently parked herself on the veranda, and was not very subtly eavesdropping on them as she continued pretending to clean her katana.

It might have had something to do with her sickeningly sweet smile that completely failed to match the bloody death in her eyes that dared them to say even a single word about her.

Naruto just facepalmed.

Was there anyone out there dumb enough take these idiots at face value when they kept throwing out oh-so-subtle hints like confetti at a parade?

He considered it minor miracle that Sekirei as a whole hadn't been completely exposed yet.

"Fine, so the strongest one at the moment should be #03?"

"Uh, if she ever gets winged, then maybe? I have no idea, it's not really that simple. Besides, #03 doesn't really seem to be very interested in the plan either. Most of the time she just wanders around Tokyo a lot." Uzume shrugged carelessly, "I meet her sometimes when I'm taking a shortcut over the rooftops."

"And when she's not doing that, she's drowning herself in a cup." Homura added dryly.

Naruto's brow knitted, "Long black hair, overly ripe body, purple dress that's so short and tight that it's a miracle that she hasn't been jailed for public indecency yet. That her?"

Everyone stared at him.

Miya suddenly smiled dangerously, "Hmmm… you were paying a lot of attention to her dress, were you?"

"That's what got your attention?" The blond shot back as he pinched the bridge of his nose again, "I saw her drinking yesterday at the shop where I got my dinner. And no, I only noticed her because of how much she was drinking. Anyone else would have died from alcohol poisoning already considering the number of bottles she had already gone through." He looked up again, "What about #04?"

All three Sekirei made a disturbed face, "Karasuba… works for MBI as their main enforcer. Anyone who refuses to participate in the Plan…. Will have to deal with her."

"In other words, MBI has the allegedly strongest functioning piece left on their side, making sure that their insane Plan is working the way they want it to." The blond summed it up.

He leaned back on the wall with a quiet sigh as he watched Akitsu, Homura and Uzume take their dishes to the kitchen. Once they were done, he flicked his wrist and threw three scrolls at them, one each for Homura, Akitsu and Uzume.

"What's this for?" Uzume queried curiously.

"Put them in your mouth, lengthwise, and sit down. That scroll will do the rest." The blond instructed.

"Wait, 'do the rest'? Is this about that checkup thing again?" Uzume protested, "I thought you said I could say no?"

"After what you told me, I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist. I need to know if they have done anything to you that might hurt you." Naruto nailed her with a firm gaze as he released a bit of the mounting anger he had been holding in at the two protesting Sekirei.

Homura and Akitsu all stiffened as they stared incredulously at the blond.

There wasn't a Hanya like Miya's, no.

His killing intent crashed into them like a tidal wave.

A pressure choking them and stilling their hearts.

They could feel their blood freeze in their veins as their fingers and toes began to tingle, implying that it wasn't just a feeling. Their blood really wasn't flowing.

Like they had been dumped into the depths of the sea, and were being crushed by sheer atmospheric pressure. Trying to look directly at the blond was like trying to observe an immense shadow floating just out of sight. A shadow they couldn't even comprehend, much less fight.

Then the throat stuffing feeling was gone, and Naruto was just another man once more.

The two of them immediately collapsed to their knees and began gasp for breath while the blond eyed them sternly. The two of them looked away, something in them couldn't bear meeting his gaze directly.

Unlike Homura and Uzume, Akitsu looked startled. He hadn't targeted her, but it wasn't really something you could narrow down like a laser. However, rather than get scared, Akitsu looked as if she had finally seen something she hadn't seen in a very long time.

Hope.

"Put the scrolls in your mouth." The blond repeated flatly, "It will feel a little strange, but it won't hurt you. It's just doing a full scan of your body."

Akitsu immediately put hers in her mouth and knelt down to sit in front of Naruto in a seiza.

Homura and Uzume shared another complicated expression, they wanted to ask a thousand and one questions, such as how exactly was a scroll supposed to scan anything?

Unfortunately, the blond didn't look to be in an answering mood, so they could only reluctantly comply.

Neither of them even thought about fighting him.

The blond let out a quiet sigh and made a reminder to apologize to them and thank Miya for not interfering. He knew that she had felt his killing intent as well, but she had held back, content to just watch warily as long as he didn't physically make a move.

Then his blue eyes bugged out in shock as all three Sekirei suddenly exploded with chakra and three separate sets of magnificent wings of ice, fire and light unfurled in the room, including the one who supposedly already had an Ashikabi.

Almost as one, all three of them let the scrolls drop from their mouths as words leapt to their lips unbidden.

"This is the ice of my pledge. Shatter the misfortune of my Ashikabi."

There was an almost disturbing level of devotion in that look Akitsu was giving him.

"These are the flames of my pledge. Burn the karma of my Ashikabi."

Homura could only give him a complicated gaze before he bowed his head.

"By the veil of my contract, my Ashikai's nightmares will be dispelled."

Uzume looked utterly terrified and horrified by what was happening, and oddly enough, that was the most normal reaction out of the three.

"Naruto." Miya suddenly stood up, katana already in hand as she spoke with a clipped tone, forgoing her usual stiffness with honorifics as she began exuding an almost lethal level of killing intent, "What. Have. You. Done?"

The blond didn't even have time to answer because things promptly went from bad to worse.

The already potent chakra gushing from all three Sekirei hadn't stopped, in fact, they kept gushing out in higher and higher levels, so much so that he could practically see a blue haze coming from them now.

Homura let out a cry of pain as he suddenly lit up in flames, immolating himself.

Akitsu's eyes silently widened as ice began climbing up her legs and the floor and walls began to freeze over.

Uzume only had time to gasp before her clothes absolutely shredded themselves and a tornado of torn cloth and threads began whirling around her uncontrollably.

"Shit." The blond muttered.

Then he burst into action.

A whirling circle of blue light, inscribed with mystical script appeared in his left hand before a red one appeared in his right.

"Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu." [Water Style: Water Prison Technique.]

"Katon: Kagerou no Jutsu." [Fire Style: Heat Haze Technique]

The circles of lights pulsed even brighter at his words when the blue one suddenly spewed out a shock of water that enveloped a writhing Homura, putting out his fire immediately while leaving only his face exposed while a fiery haze that gushed out of the red circle did the same for Akitsu and floated around her, causing her ice to steam violently and melt.

For Uzume, who at the very least wasn't hurting herself while her powers went berserk, he sucked in a deep breath and blew a thick wall of black mist at her, hoping to reduce the damage she was doing to the living room instead. He had to blink when his mist was shredded to bits by the tornado rampaging around Uzume.

He had apparently mistaken her ability as control over an element like Akitsu and Homura. A quick pulse of chakra immediately told him it was closer to something like control over cloth, which made it somewhat more annoying to handle ironically. He had originally thought he could just overcome her tornado with his own raw control over elemental wind.

A circle of brown light appeared beneath his right foot.

"Doton Kekkai: Doro Domu." [Earth Style Barrier: Dome of Magnificent Nothingness.]

And a quick stomp of said foot caused Uzume to yelp as the tatami beneath her suddenly broke apart and earth surged out from the wooden paneling below the tatami before it snapped shut around her in a hard shell of dirt, only the sound of rattling and slashing cloth from the cocoon told everyone that Uzume was still well and alive in the dome encasing her.

His lips twitched as he felt Uzume's tornado immediately started wearing away at the earth dome, so he had to pump additional chakra in to reinforce the dome as well increase the rate it was sucking the chakra away from her. That was the problem with non-elemental abilities. Elemental abilities were strong, but they almost always had a huge weakness to their opposing element which made it easy to shut down elemental users. Non-elemental ones on the other hand, rarely had that issue and thus needed more complicated methods to deal with. Off the top of his head, he knew he could have burned all her cloth, or froze them so that she couldn't move them, but he was trying to limit the damage here, not defeat her.

At the door, Miya watched with wide eyes at the man who had casually just used Four. Separate. Elements.

Almost simultaneously.

And he had subdued three rampaging Sekirei with just as much ease.

The energy she could feel pulsing from him with each so-called technique was now unmistakable.

This man was an Ashikabi, and an incredibly strong one at that.

Strong enough to actively manifest his inherited powers unlike every other Ashikabi she had seen so far.

Likely a direct descendant of one of the other ships with at least four Sekirei in his lineage, but the bloodline was still impossibly strong in him for someone in this day and age.

The orb of water, fiery haze and shell of dirt suddenly receded as the rattling and shaking from the cocoon died down, leaving a completely torn up room.

The shoji had already been ruined. Akitsu had been relatively lucky. She was just soaked through. Her kimono was probably ruined, but they were supposed to go and buy more for her anyway.

Homura and Uzume were… less so.

There were burnt patches and puddles of water all around Homura while deep gouges in the floor and bits of dirt surrounded a rather naked Uzume.

All three dumbfounded Sekirei were staring at the blond incredulously.

The blond just rolled his eyes.

****Sekirei Unbound****

Unknown to them, elsewhere in MBI's headquarters, things were just as chaotic as Maison Izumo.

"Sahashi-san!" An attendant ran into Takami's room breathlessly. The sounds of yelling, screaming and confused screaming followed him into the room.

A gray haired woman looked up fiercely at being interrupted in her work and the attendant quailed back until Takami cut it out with a resigned sigh, "What is it?

"That..." The attendant swallowed, "#06, #07 and #10's noritos were just activated within seconds of each other."

Takami shot up with an intense expression, "Are they fighting? Wait, #06 and #07? Homura AND Akitsu? Someone winged them? Both of them?"

"No." The bewildered attendant shook his head, looking as if he had seen a ghost, "That's just it. We detected #06 and #07's noritos, but not their winging. W-we have no idea how that happened!"

"What the hell?!"

****Sekirei Unbound****