Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 88 – Cuddles, Now
His office had been cleaned recently, he noted. It wasn't too uncommon as a pair of Wolves usually came in every Sunday to tidy up but for them to come in today was a bit strange. Well, it would have been more strange if he hadn't used it at all today. Tsukuyomi had been here today, so maybe something had been spilled or one of the Wolves had knocked something over so they just took care of the entire room.
Tsukuyomi was still out and about based on the fact that he didn't have the memories yet, so he could probably find him and ask. Seemed quite bizarre to have to hunt yourself down so you could ask yourself a question. He could wait until Tsukuyomi felt it was an appropriate time to dispel, there was no hurry.
Unless there was an emergency, of course, but he thought Tsukuyomi would be considerate enough to inform him in that case. Then again, knowing himself the bastard would probably stay around for as long as it took to resolve the issue before involving him.
He didn't know how to feel about protecting himself against his will.
This Kage-Bunshin thing was going to end up driving him crazy, he just knew it.
Maybe Orochimaru wasn't so bad after all, Anko thought, even if the gift was second-hand. Zaku, naked and bound, was thinking the exact opposite.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy playing with you." Anko grinned down at him.
He wasn't completely sure if his shiver was from fear or arousal. He thought it was probably arousal.
Still, what a way to die.
By the time she was finished with him he would wish he had never thought that. Of course by then he would be dead, so it wouldn't matter all that much.
Naruto looked up from his book – when was the last time he had an opportunity to just relax and read? – with the opening of his office door. Honestly, he had half expected it to be Tsukuyomi considering they both gravitated back to the office they spent so much time in. Instead of being greeted by the sight of a beautiful young man, however, he was instead treated to the visage of a pretty young woman.
Headship had done her well from what he was seeing, she had carried herself with much less confidence before. Not that she was a pillar of it now, she still seemed a bit hesitant to walk into his office and the dusting of red on her cheeks was adorable.
When she saw him, however, that confidence seemed to skyrocket. With the longest strides she could manage- which wasn't much because she was still rather short – she went right around his desk to stand before his chair. She frowned at him- which looked like more of a pout- and placed her hands on her hips, waiting for him to say something.
When he simply raised an inquiring brow at her entrance she took one of her hands off her hip to poke him firmly in the chest, her face burning a bright red both at the contact and as she tried to muster her courage to be authoritative with him.
"Cuddles, now." He blinked at her, amused. That had to be one of the most adorable things he had ever seen. He made sure she knew it, too.
"You are absolutely adorable, Hinata-chan." He had not been aware that she could flush any deeper. Evidently he had been mistaken.
"A-ah, eh." her finger left his chest to meet its cousin on her other hand as she resumed her nervous tick he had become familiar with years ago. "Y-you think so?"
His answer was to pull her into his lap, discarding his book in favor of wrapping his arms tightly around his captured prey. Her "Eeep!" of surprise seemed oddly pleased.
So did she, really, burring her head into the crook of his neck immediately and relaxing into his embrace. She gave a satisfied hum at the arrangement and already looked like she was only moments away from drifting off into sleep.
"Long day, was it?" He rose a brow at her bust she didn't open her eyes to see it. He wasn't sure if she was nodding her head against him in agreement or if she was trying to nuzzle his neck like a cat
"Long day," she eventually agreed. "And you never visit anymore."
No, he supposed he didn't visit his little shepherdess much these days. He simply hadn't had the time. Purple eyes flickered over to the book he had dropped.
No.
He had time, evidently, he was just wasting it. Having Tsukuyomi to lessen his workload didn't excuse him from the work of being Tsukuyomi. There were simply two of them now.
But Hinata wouldn't even know him as Tsukuyomi, either. She knew him as Naruto and Naruto hadn't taken the time to visit lately. That was inexcusable.
"You're right, my little goddess. I'm sorry." Her pale eyes opened to peer up at him and a frown pulled at her lips. Stretching up within his grasp she planted a quick, innocent peck upon his cheek and returned to the spot she had claimed.
"It's okay, I forgive you." She nestled her head back into the crook of his neck.
"You're far too precious for this world, Hinata-chan." He smiled down at her fondly. "The gods must be jealous of us mortals to have such a gift."
The Hyuuga head opened her eyes again and briefly stuck out her tongue. "I'm not jealous at all."
He gave a deep chuckle as delicate fingers began running through her long hair. "Of course you're not, but how do the others feel?"
"Doesn't matter." She mumbled, pushing her head towards his hand. Yeah, definitely like a cat. "I'm the most important."
He gave another chuckle. "That position is really doing you good, isn't it?" He was fairly confident that she was joking and hadn't really developed such an ego but just the fact that she had gotten to the point where she could make jokes like that was fantastic.
The only downside Tsukuyomi could see was that the more confident and assured she became the less she'd rely on him and the House of Wolves, which lessened their control. Naruto, on the other hand, thought it was just what she and her clan needed.
He wasn't going to be around forever, after all.
She looked up at him with a pout and one of the cutest glares he had ever seen. Gods help him if she ever taught that to Mai. She was already pretty when she was angry, if she wielded such a weapon he wouldn't stand a chance.
"It's not doing me good, it's horrible." She buried herself back into his neck. "If I'm not sitting through some pointless meeting that I don't even need to be a part of I'm going over mountains of paperwork."
He understood that very well but if she thought she had a lot as a clan head she would be horrified by everything an entire country generated. Fortunately he had a team that did a very good job in reducing that.
For the most part, anyway. He still had to redo a lot of Sai's work – and so did Mai, probably – but at least he reduced some of Nami's paperwork.
And Hana? Girl was a gift from the gods. He rarely received more than a report about the work she had done and when he did receive something from her it was simply something big enough that she didn't feel comfortable making the call for his country. He was going to need to do something nice for her soon.
He still had to go through all the reports the Wolves made, though, and that certainly ate a lot of his time. That was to say nothing of the abstract requests that somehow made it all the way up to him. He still harbored the suspicion that it was a joke from Mai or Sai – possibly both – or some way for them to make it seem like he had done more work than he really had.
Naruto wouldn't put it past them.
But his own paperwork troubles didn't matter right now. Gently rubbing her back he placed a small kiss on the top of her head. "It seems like you're doing well to me." He hadn't heard anything about the Hyuuga clan lately, which meant no negative response for the uprising – hmm, sounded a bit better than coup – and even if that was just luck because Konoha was busy taking over Suna the credit still reflected on Hinata because she was in charge.
Glory was odd like that.
"I would be," The pout was back, as was the finger poking his chest. "But someone promised me they'd be over every night to brush my hair and they haven't even visited once."
He turned his gaze from the pale orbs glaring adorably at him to the silky curtain of hair that framed her face. It really had grown quite a lot, hadn't it? Delicate fingers reached up for a few strands next to her cheek- deliberately brushing up against skin nearly as pale as his own- and he idly twirled them around.
He was not unaware of the pleasant pink that began spreading across her face.
"Hmm, I was right." He placed another kiss to the top of her head. "It looks fantastic grown out."
"Y-you'd know that if you were helping me brush it."
"You're right." He admitted. "I haven't been taking very good care of you, have I?" The pink on her face quickly darkened to a deep red. "Let's correct that." A chain dropped from one of his sleeves, landing heavily on the floor, and like a large snake began slithering out the door.
It took only a moment of beckoning for a Wolf to spot the chain and hurry into the room to see to their lord's needs. The female Wolf paused at the sight of a young woman on their lords' lap but quickly saluted anyway. It was easy to believe Tsukuyomi really was a god when every single one of them knew he had spent the entire morning- and a good portion of the afternoon – wearing out Mai.
Their lord certainly was insatiable.
"Yes, my lord?" It was hard to keep track of who knew his identities and who didn't, so this was safer.
"I need a brush, a good one. Hinata no Mikoto here deserves the best we have to offer."
That made sense, kind of. Maybe this wasn't sexual at all. Of course, as soon as she had thought that the Wolfs' imagination started going through all the other things the brush might be used for.
Punishing the goddess? Oh, that was a naughty thought indeed.
"I'll find something suitable." She paused briefly. "D-does it need to be large at all? Maybe a flat back?" She was very glad for her mask, she was sure her face was burning just as brightly as the goddess on her lord's lap.
Naruto gave her a confused frown and rose a brow. "A decent size would probably help, there's quite a lot of area to be covered."
The Wolf couldn't help it as her eyes immediately went to Hinata's hips. Yes, she was already starting to develop nicely. She had never expected her lord to have this side to him, however.
She kind of liked it.
"O-of course, my lord. I'll see to it at once."
She needed to get out of here before her thoughts got too out of control. Or before she tried calling her lord 'Master'. She was sure he wouldn't mind too much but it was obvious his hands were full at the moment. Maybe some other time.
With brisk steps – and perhaps just a bit of extra swing in her hips – the Wolf left in search of a brush. Naruto continued to watch her go, his brow raised, and wondered if he had missed something important in that exchange.
He was probably just imagining things.
"Well, we don't have a brush quite yet but I suppose I can still get started." Hinata didn't have time to question his statement before his slender fingers started combing through her hair and she melted back into him with a purr.
She acted like a cat but everything about her was as soft as a lamb. Either way, she really shouldn't be so comfortable around the Wolves. His little pet was certainly interesting.
Curiosity alone had him moving his fingers to just behind her ears where they gently brushed the skin. She was sensitive there, apparently, judging by the mewl that left her lips. A cat then, an especially soft one.
"You, Hinata-chan, are simply too adorable." He muttered softly. He could feel her blush against the skin of his neck and it brought with it a certain satisfaction. How her clan let her out of their sights enough for her to make her way to his lair he'd never know, she was just too cute.
He continued to play with her hair, making sure his fingers danced behind her ear every so often, and just when it seemed she might fall asleep on him his Wolf returned. Naruto couldn't tell if Hinata was more disappointed that her imminent nap on him had been interrupted or excited to finally have him brush her hair.
The brush the Wolf presented him was a dark lacquered wood accented with a deep crimson. The back had designs of thorny roses and each thorn grew from the brush as semi-precious stones. He supposed it looked pretty enough, but he didn't see why they needed to raise from the wood like actual thorns. Certainly flat gems could have been used to convey the same image, right?
Strangely enough his Wolf had also removed her mask and despite her bright red face green eyes gleamed with barely-restrained excitement.
"Will this be suitable for your needs, my lord?" He gave her a smile that had her blushing even more, something he didn't even think possible. He had no idea why she was in the first place, either.
"Yes, this will do perfectly." He beckoned her closer so he could pat the top of her head. "You've done well."
The excitement in her eyes seemed to be fit to burst. He could have sworn he had seen that look from Anko recently, he just couldn't place it.
"Ah, t-thank you, my lord." She squirmed for a moment, knowing she should leave her lord- Master sounded so much better now that she had thought of it – to his fun with the Hyuuga princess- or was it queen now? - but she still had a request of her own she'd like to make. If nothing else, it would let him know that she was open for fun too.
After that, it was all up to him.
As it should be.
"M-my lord?" She managed to muster up the courage to ask.
"Yes? Was there something you needed?"
'Oh, yes.' She thought. There was something she very much needed and she hadn't even been aware of it until a few minutes ago.
Still, she could be good for now. This was Hinata's time, after all. She wouldn't earn any favor with Naruto by being greedy and any punishments probably wouldn't be the kind she was looking for.
"I just, uh, well, sometime later could you..."
"Yes?" His delicate brow arched, a command to tell him her every dirty secret, and she almost forgot what she was trying to ask.
"C-could you do it for me, too?"
His purple eyes blinked in surprise before moving to the hair of his Wolf. The raven hair only came to just above her shoulders and looking behind her he couldn't see anything to indicate she had longer hair in the back – he hadn't seen any when she left earlier either, he recalled. – but if brushing the hair she did have was something she'd like he'd be happy to spend time with one of his beloved Wolves.
Naruto gave her a gentle smile. "Of course,..."
"Ah! Chizuro, my lord."
"It would be my pleasure, Chizuro." She disagreed, it would be hers. "Come to my room later and I'll take care of you."
Chizuro was sure he'd take very good care of her indeed.
"T-thank you, Master." She gave a quick bow before scurrying from the room in excitement.
Naruto wondered if he had heard her correctly while Hinata's blush continued to warm his neck. He had most definitely missed something and had a feeling that he would figure it out tonight.
That was then, though, he could worry about it later. Right now he had a goddess to pamper.
"N-naruto-kun, too rough!"
"Sorry, sorry."
"It's fine, k-keep going."
Mai paused mid-step just outside Naruto's office door, her head snapping to stare at the wood as if she would be suddenly granted the ability to see through it. Standing beside it was one of the Wolves, a large blush on her face and a dreamy look in her eyes.
She had just been with Naruto only minutes before, so what was she hearing?
A pit of dread settled in her stomach as she crept closer. He had been with others, she knew that already, but they had only just slept together. Had he really moved on so quickly?
She shot a quick glance back to the Wolf. "Leave."
Mai received a disappointed frown in response but her orders were followed nonetheless. As soon as the Wolf was out of sight she slowly opened the door, her imagination already running rampant. Naruto's chair was turned away from the door but his red hair was unmistakable. The long, dark hair of his companion was also pretty familiar but it took a second for her to place it.
She should have recognized the voice after all the times she had come to her for advise.
Hyuuga Hinata, Goddess of Fate, squirmed on Naruto's lap.
Mai wasn't able to see much with the chair in the way but with what she was hearing and the movement she could see she knew she really didn't want to.
"I'm really not any good at this." Naruto's voice sounded honest but Mai knew that was a complete lie. For as much as she hated not being his first, the snakes had seen to it he was no bumbling fool in the bedroom.
Or the office, as it had been for her and now Hinata.
"No, I- ah, I like it."
"You don't have to lie to me, Hinata-chan."
"Well, uh, y-you could u-use some practice."
"Thanks." His dry answer earned a giggle from the girl and Mai wondered how she could simultaneously find this cute while absolutely loathing it in its entirety.
She also wondered why she hadn't managed to tear herself away. Surely there was something better she could be doing with her time than standing in the doorway watching them? Something that would distract her from thinking about what she had stumbled on.
Naruto- or maybe it was Hinata with her squirming- moved too much as the chair turned slightly. Her view of them was still mostly blocked but evidently Naruto was now able to see her from the corner of his eye.
Turning his head more towards her he shot her one of the most helpless looks she had ever seen from him.
"Mai!" He greeted pleadingly before the chair rotated again to show a brush tangled in Hinata's long hair and both occupants fully clothed. "Help?"
She couldn't describe the feeling of relief that swept through her body and she certainly couldn't stop the laugh- half amusement and half exhaled tension – that escaped her. Hinata turned an even brighter red at her laughter but Narutos' frown- he was spending too much time with Anko if she could describe his frown as 'pouty' – earned another wave of melodious laughter.
"So...is that a no?" He eventually asked.
Mai managed to compose herself after that but her smile refused to be wiped from her face. She sashayed over to her hopeless lord and planted a fond kiss on his cheek as she wrapped her hand around his.
"I'll help." Mai turned to catch as much of the Hyuuga's eye as she could from her position. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan, Mai's here to save you from him."
The young goddess remained bright red but shot the smallest of relieved smiles at her rescuer.
"T-thanks."
It took Mai only moments to undo the damage her lord had caused and a minute later both young woman found themselves on one of his legs. Having Mai brush her hair hadn't exactly been what Hinata wanted but she still thought this was nice.
"I can't believe you don't know how to brush hair, Naruto-kun." Mai teased fondly. "Your hair's probably longer than Hinata-chan's."
One arm wrapped around the waist of each girl and squeezed them gently to his chest.
"It's not like I've ever brushed it," He defended. "I've had you and the Wolves to look after it for me."
"Well then, it's definitely time for you to learn. Here, I'll guide you." Loathe as she was to do so, she moved his arm from her waist and placed the brush in his hand before moving it up to Hinata's hair. It proved to be easy when he started near the bottom instead of the middle. "See? Not hard at all."
"Hmm, I guess not." Naruto agreed. "Should make it easier to get myself ready." That thought- and his hand- was quickly slapped down.
"No," Mai turned to meet his eye to make sure he knew she was serious. "You're only allowed to use what I taught you on Hinata-chan's hair." The young woman turned bright red again while Naruto blinked in confusion at his favorite Wolf.
"And why might that be?" He was more amused than anything else. She usually only got like this when he was trying to steal her paperwork.
"Because you're not stealing that from m- the girls." She poked him firmly in the chest- was that where Hinata had picked it up from? - and gave him the sternest look she could muster. When Hinata did it it was just adorable. When Mai did it he very much wanted to attack that sexy frown of hers with his lips. "They like spending time with you, so don't you dare lessen the things they can do with you."
The reminder that he didn't spend enough time with his children definitely put a damper on his mood but he did his best not to show it. "I don't see why my brushing would keep them from brushing it again, but if that's what you want..."
She gave him a bright smile at his response before leaning in to peck his lips. "That's a good answer, Naruto-kun."
He was a little confused at her actions but if she wanted to steal a kiss from him he wasn't going to deny her.
She was his favorite, after all.
"I have those from time to time." He turned his attention back to Hinata. "Had your fill of cuddles yet, Hinata-chan?"
She shook her head. "This was hair time, those cuddles don't count."
"Heh, says who?"
"Your goddess." Hinata stuck out her tongue impishly and the other two shared an amused look.
"I'm blaming you for that, you know." Mai didn't look all that offended but she did raise a questioning brow.
"Oh? And what exactly are you blaming on me?"
"Her confidence," He squeezed them both to his chest again. "She definitely gets that from you."
Mai gave him a flat stare. "Says the boy who decided he could take on an entire clan of Shinobi by himself."
Naruto stared at her for a moment before inclining his head in surrender. "A fair point, really." He paused. "I'm still blaming you, though."
Hinata giggled softly while Mai gave him a fond smile.
"Oh, how will I ever live with the guilt?"
"You could help me sate her hunger for cuddles." He suggested only to earn a bright blush from Hinata and a suspicious gaze from Mai.
"You're just hoping to spend time curled up with two beautiful young women, aren't you?"
Naruto shrugged with a grin. "I already am." He squeezed again. "And are you really going to try to say you don't' want to? Look at her, she's all soft and cuddly."
"Well," Mai mock pondered this new dilemma. "I suppose she does look nice and soft, and she's just the cutest shade of red I've ever seen."
"She makes adorable little sounds, too." Naruto added helpfully.
"Oh, in that case I'm sold. Looks like you're not going to be getting out of here any time soon Hinata-chan.
"T-that's fine." As red as she was, Hinata was loving every bit of attention the two were lavishing onto her. She was also really looking forward to more cuddling.
Huh, what were the chances? Tsukuyomi gently shut the door to one of the many sitting rooms, leaving the three occupants to continue cuddling on the couch. He had taken a book from here earlier- and it had been an absolute pleasure to have the time to read again, almost as enjoyable as his time with his favorite Wolf – and had intended to return it but there was no point in disturbing them.
He'd just set it aside for Naruto to return when the three were done using that room.
Tsukuyomi supposed he'd head to the office if Naruto wasn't using it at the moment. He was pretty confident they had managed to keep up with all of their daily work but there were still future projects that could use more refining.
He still hadn't decided how he wanted to obtain Yuki no Kuni's trains, after all, and he really wanted some of his own.
They already took over a country and he had alliances. Maybe he should try espionage or bribery next.
He could try just asking, too, but that didn't sound as fun.
Whistling as he walked back to the office he shared with his creator he was completely unaware of the awestruck looks the Wolves he passed gave him.
He had just passed them with a young woman on each arm, how on earth had he satisfied them both already?
It was a few hours later that Hinata had to regretfully leave. To be honest, it was probably a miracle she had managed to sneak away for as long as she had. If any of her clan had noticed her absence the entire compound was probably in a panic right about now.
Considering they could see through walls and worshiped her as a goddess there was a good chance they had noticed.
With their little cuddle-bunny – a bunny, a cat, and a sheep, Hinata was really just anything cute and cuddly – leaving them Mai had managed to regain enough of her willpower- it was really hard to resist those large pale eyes, especially when paired with a pout – to drag herself away.
She had mentioned something about some work she had to do back in the den but Naruto hadn't felt the need to ask for specifics. It was probably important but it probably didn't need his input, either.
He trusted her to take care of whatever came up and, when necessary, to bring it to his attention. If she hadn't told him something it was because she had everything under control.
But with both young women gone he hadn't had any reason to remain in the sitting room they had relocated to. Walking back to his office he was aware of the confused stares being sent at him by his Wolves but he didn't pay it any mind.
Naruto could honestly say he got along better with the Wolves than he did any normal person but even he didn't fully understand his pack or the way they thought. If they needed something he was sure they would tell him and he would do what he could to provide, but until then he wasn't going to play 'Guess what the Wolf is thinking'.
Probably had nothing to do with him, anyway.
Reaching his office he was able to make out the end of a hushed whisper between two of them and could only shake his head in amusement.
"-old you he was a god..."
Or maybe it did have something to do with him after all. Like he said, he really didn't know how they thought. Well, not completely. He liked to credit himself with having a pretty damn good idea most of the time.
"Good evening, Tsukuyomi-sama." He greeted as he entered his office. The clone addressed looked up from a small stack of papers with a surprised blink. The confusion of the Wolves he had overheard made sensed now. It must have been terribly strange for your leader to walk by you twice without having left his office.
"Ah, Naruto-kun." The clone gave him a smile that reminded him a great deal of Orochimaru and Naruto realized for the first time exactly how the rest of the world saw him.
Were his features really that feminine?
Naruto shook his head clear of those thoughts- he could wonder about his physical apperance later- and moved closer to the desk to peer at whatever was being worked on. Tsukuyomi started to move as if to hide them but managed to catch himself as Naruto rose a brow in his direction.
"Sorry, habit."
Ah, the purple files, then- his personal projects.
No one, not even Mai, was privy to those files. They were his and his alone.
"Any fresh ideas?" He asked without looking up. Tsukuyomi had used a red pen to write new notes between existing plans and the entire page seemed to be covered in them now.
"New? No." Tsukuyomi shrugged despite Naruto's inability to see it. "But I managed to develop some of them more. Here, see for yourself." Rather than hand the original the rest of the notes he instead placed them back in their file- snatching the paper out of Naruto's' hand- and dispelled himself in one smooth motion.
He had at least possessed the courtesy and foresight to perform a replacement with Naruto before doing so, however.
As considerate as that had been, it didn't really lessen the irritation caused by the unexpected influx of a day's activities.
"Gods above," Naruto groaned. "I'm an asshole." Ten minutes- and a generous application of his new favorite technique from Shizune – later he understood why Mai had been so bold earlier. They had done quite a bit more than kissing back in his office.
And in that sitting room.
He really needed to remember to tell her that he had a clone running around at some point.
He'd get to that after he figured out how he had never noticed that he seemed like the illegitimate son- or perhaps even daughter- of Orochimaru and Kushina. That was an idea that was going to take some serious work to remove from his mind.
The Kage-Bunshin was seriously going to be the end of him, or at least his remaining sanity.
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– Eyazahrid