Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 142-A "Sobo"
Patron Release: 2021.08.09
It wasn't often that Naruko and Kushina had the opportunity to sit down and share a meal these days. Kushina was still trying to dig the Yamanaka out of the pit Naruto had dumped them into- trying to bring two clans back into prominence had, perhaps, not been the best idea. Next time she would bring one back up and then use that one to raise the other- and Naruko tended to spend her days avoiding Sakura's favorite Kunai.
She needed to get that girl a healthy- or at least safe- hobby. Safe for others, that is. An important distinction.
Even so, there was little conversation as the two focused on their meal and the thoughts in their head.
That is, until they were interrupted by two bursts of smoke.
"Naruko!" The recognizable voice of Karura told the Kyuubi Jinchuriki who it was before the smoke cleared enough to see. "Look, I was able to teach Gaara too!"
...What?
The smoke dissipated to reveal the two unexpected visitors, a beaming Karura and a surprised Gaara who looked about the Uzumaki dining room curiously.
Naruko's head slumped into the table.
What the hell had she done in a past life to deserve this?
Gaara's gaze went from the room to his auntie and then to the red headed woman he didn't know. His head tilted, he considered what he knew about the situation, and he came to the only conclusion he could;
"Sobo?"
Naruko nearly raised her head to slam it back down but instead settled on a groan.
Kushina didn't think she'd been more confused in her life. She was damn sure she didn't have a grandson nearly the same age as her children.
….Wait….
Hadn't Naruko mentioned something similar about one of the competitors from the Chunin exams?
"...Gaara?" She guessed. The young man's beaming smile- and an even brighter smile from the woman next to him- almost made Kushina forget her confusion.
Almost
His personal library being a place of calm and quiet was nothing new to Naruto, how he was using it- actually, that wasn't completely new. It was new to the room but this was hardly the first time he had found himself with his head lying on Mai's lap.
It was, however, the first time she had utilized it to hold him hostage.
"While I can't say I don't enjoy this normally, I do feel the need to point out that forcing me to relax with you kind of diminishes the effects."
"Shut up and start relaxing, Naruto, you're getting a full week of vacation and I'm not counting a single minute that you aren't fully relaxed towards it."
His eyes rolled up to -barely- catch hers.
"See? That's what I'm talking about. Forcing someone to relax isn't going to help any, Mai."
"Well what do you suggest?" She huffed. "You don't relax or take it easy on yourself normally, we have to either pry you from your work or you end up injuring yourself to the point where you can't work for a while."
She wasn't wrong, really, but that's when he had to be working. Hana and Sai were back now so of course he could move onto lighter loads-
-And his personal projects.
That's the sort of thing she'd prefer, wasn't it?
Then again, some of his latest project ideas did involve a lot of poking and prodding the functionality of seals he didn't fully understand so maybe that isn't the sort of thing she wanted him busy doing.
Oh! Hana and Sai were back, that meant he finally had a chance to test out his Kusari no Juin. His gaze moved to the corner of Mai's mouth where lips were pursed in an obvious downturn almost as if she knew what he was thinking.
….After this...vacation...of course.
"Well," He started carefully. "Perhaps we can start with you relaxing?" A challenging brow rose- or lowered, in her perspective- as he made his suggestion. "You can hardly expect me to take it easy when you're here stressing over me."
Her shoulders slumped. "How can I relax knowing you keep working yourself the way you do? I keep trying to reduce your workload and you keep finding more!"
"...Would it help if I promised only to work on personal projects for the next week?"
"It would help if you promised to do no work for the next week."
"...Four hours a day maximum, supervised?" Was his counter offer.
She nearly accepted right then and there only to catch herself. Turning to better face the young man on her lap, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Supervised by whom?"
Naruto hadn't actually thought that far ahead. Who could supervise him? It had to be someone who was loyal but who wouldn't hesitate to stop him if they needed to and it couldn't be someone who was going to be busy with their own work for the next week.
That didn't really give him a good list of people to pick from.
Mai would never accept Anko as his answer, nor would she go for Tayuya and probably not Tsunami either. Maybe Mikoto or….Keigo? No, he would probably go along with whatever Naruto was doing without question. Temari was a possibility, so was Rasa and Kankuro. Gaara wasn't but Sasori and Deidara...were S-Ranked Rogue Shinobi so probably not.
"Erm….Mikoto…?" She didn't seem to believe the woman would stop him from doing anything. Fair enough. She probably needed to get back to Ame soon anyway. "...Temari…." Her disbelieving stare said it all. "...Rasa...Kankuro….Sasori….Deidara….?" No, she didn't trust any of them. "...Tsunami?"
No, that wasn't going to work either.
"...We could call Kakashi back?"
"I would be better off just leaving you without supervision at that point." Yeah, probably.
"...Danzo?"
"It would probably take him a week to get here."
"...Shizune?"
Mai blinked in thought. She'd forgotten Tsunade's apprentice was here because she rarely saw the woman. Come to think of it, she tended to forget about Tsunade's presence too. They were usually working with Kankuro, Sasori, Deidara, Clicky, and Rusty on...whatever project Naruto had given them. Mai could probably ask them but she hadn't cared enough to find out yet. She was pretty sure it was just something Naruto had given them to keep them occupied and out of trouble anyway.
"That's not a bad idea." She agreed. "At least I know she's willing to tie you to a bed for your own good."
"I'm more than certain Anko would be perfectly happy to tie me to a bed if that's your only requirement for supervision..."
"Yes but Anko would let you go at some point, Shizune doesn't have that problem."
"So what I'm hearing is that you should just tie me to a bed and save someone else the trouble." He realized he might have made a mistake when she looked to be seriously considering his suggestion.
After a moment of thought she shook her head and smacked his leg gently. "Well I suppose you being in that sort of mood is closer to being relaxed than focusing on your work. Maybe I should get Anko in here."
"Hmm?" The door creaked open softly and a purple pineapple popped her head in. "Ah, I thought I heard my name. Is this where you ran off with him, Mai? You know his bedroom is just another door down right? I can promise you it's much better than that couch." Anko paused, narrowing her eyes at the couch. "...Actually, I don't think we've done it on this couch yet." She frowned. "How on earth did we miss that? I even made sure to cross all the side tables off the list two weeks ago."
Mai's eyes flickered over to one of the side tables on either end of the couch and one of her brows rose automatically half skeptical and half impressed. "Do I even want to know how you managed that? It's only a foot across." And those legs, well, Mai would be surprised if they managed to support more than four books. Even Hanabi leaning against one was likely to send it to the floor.
"You'll have to join us one day if you want to figure out that trick." Anko winked. Her entertainment found, she proceeded further into the room and took her spot on the ground in front of both Mai's legs and Naruto's head. As soon as her rear hit the ground one of Naruto's hands was already in her ponytail, prompting Anko to laugh. "Now, doesn't this seem familiar?"
Naruto hummed in agreement while Mai smiled softly at memories of much simpler times.
"So is this a private party or can anyone join?" Tayuya poked her head into the room, obviously eager to be anywhere Naruto could be found away from his work. Before she could get her answer she found herself pushed through the doorway and stumbled into the back of a chair.
"Come on, keep it moving." Temari strode into the library, closing the door behind her. "You're not the only one looking for some Naruto-time, Tayuya."
"That doesn't mean you have to shove me!" Temari shrugged, a smug smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.
"I would have thought you'd be more eager to get close to Naruto, I felt gracious enough to help you out."
Tayuya scowled at the slightly older girl but managed to hold her tongue. She was willing to bet money- or, would be if she actually had any- that Temari had simply wanted her out of the way or had been amused by Tayuya stumbling into the room and looking foolish.
Probably both.
Naruto glanced up from Anko's hair and shot the two a pointed look. "Mai went through the trouble of having Sai and Hana both punch me in order to get me away from my work to relax, if you want to bicker find another room."
Anko craned her neck to look at Naruto and when she was confident he was being completely truthful her gaze moved up to Mai- which didn't look comfortable at all- and she gave her an impressed look and a long, low whistle.
"I probably would have either just walked into whatever room Naruto was in and stripped naked or gotten Shizune to give him medical orders confining him to bedrest but I guess that works too."
Inspiration struck and Anko's face lit up, eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Or you could send a naked Shizune in to confine him to bedrest. I hear she has a thing for rope."
"She does." Naruto proceeded to let the slight smack Mai gave his head slide without comment. He wasn't completely sure if it was to change the subject in general or just because she didn't want him encouraging any of Anko's ideas. Probably the latter so fair enough.
"Ooooooh," Anko's grin split her face. "Rumor confirmed. I'm going to have to spend some more time around that little minx. It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?" Her head tilted to the side inquisitively which meant Naruto could only partially see her face. Nonverbal communication tended to work much better when you were facing each other. "You think she'd be up for a threesome?"
"I find it unlikely." Temari cut in. She had swept past a disgruntled Tayuya and made her way over to the couch Naruto was lying on. As she tapped on his legs he lifted them up and she claimed a position beneath them, pulling them down to rest on her thighs. "After all, she hasn't actually shared a bed with Naruto as far as I'm aware." She used her eyes to send a silent question to Naruto.
"That's Shizune's business." Was his answer. "If you want to know you're going to have to ask her." Temari dropped the question with a shrug, continuing on immediately with another possible avenue.
"Well, if she's already been in your bed I suppose she might be more open in that case too, Anko. You haven't been poaching the gentle attentions of Naruto's physician now, have you?"
Anko's grin became downright predatory. "Not yet."
"Naruto." Mai's request was short and simple. He complied.
A gentle thump to her head brought Anko out of her lecherous thoughts and she turned back to Naruto with a pout. A quick kiss to her forehead wiped that away but was never going to be enough for the Tokubetsu-Jounin. She tapped her lips, pursing them slightly, and with an amused shake of his head Naruto leaned in to give her what she wanted.
"Dibs on next!" She may have been slow in entering the room but that had already taught Tayuya her lesson as she jumped to claim her own Naruto-time.
Temari scowled but gave Tayuya a nod, acknowledging her claim. Whether she would actually honor that when the time came, well, that was still to be determined.
"I pulled him away from his work to relax," Mai glared at the three. "Not so you lot could come get even more time with him."
"Oh, I'm sure we can find plenty of ways to relax him." Smirked Anko. "You girls up for helping me give him a full body massage?"
"...Full body as in his full body or as in using ours?" Tayuya and Anko shared a look before they turned to Temari in sync.
"Yes."
"Then you can count me in." Temari paused, tilting her head slightly in thought, and with a small sigh turned to Naruto. "Would you mind getting Karura out here? I'm sure she'd like to join in." Temari didn't like sharing but she did like Karura and it was only fair she helped the Biju out. She was, after all, Gaara's other mother.
They had to stick together to look after their boys.
"I said relaxing." Mai stressed. "We don't need to be setting Biju loose in the palace.." Her gaze turned back to Naruto and narrowed. "...Again."
"We found the missing Isobu." Not thanks to help from the original, unfortunately. She thought it was hilarious that the other her was hiding from them and not even her daddy had been able to get her to tattle on her 'sister'.
Assuming the hiding Isobu had even told the real Isobu where she was. They had definitely been in contact, though, Naruto had managed to pick up some of that conversation when he tried to get Isobu to help.
"It took us three days!" She looked like she was only barely restraining herself from jumping up and planting her fists on her hips.
"But everything worked out in the end."
"She made it through the Yato Pass and was found in the middle of the Hape Lake!"
"But everything worked out in the end." Repeated the Daimyo, not dwelling on the fact that they had indeed found her halfway across Nami no Kuni in the middle of a lake. He had to admit he'd been impressed both at the durability and the duration of that clone. He hadn't realized they would last so long but if he'd had his own active for weeks before it only made sense that one created with a Biju's chakra would have no problem doing the same.
He typically didn't send his out of the village, though, so who knows how long they would last in similar conditions. One of his had recently met its end at a high-velocity coffee mug so probably not so well.
It also couldn't be denied that they were extremely fortunate she'd been happily paddling around the lake rather than under it when a patrol of Wolves had passed by. It may have been a Kage Bunshin but the creator was a turtle and had spent gods knew how many years living at the bottom of the ocean.
If they hadn't seen her- or if she had dived down instead of allowing them to escort her back- she'd probably still be there.
Unless he could get ahold of one of those aquatic Shinobi Orochimaru had been working on, of course.
Luckily Isobu had decided that being seen by his Wolves counted as being caught by Naruto and came back to spend the rest of the afternoon with him before dispelling. Isobu seemed to find the whole thing even more amusing now that she had the memories from the clone's perspective which didn't bode well for the future.
Naruto really hoped Karura didn't teach her how she could make the Kage Bunshin without assistance otherwise the world would be flooded with them and there wouldn't be anything they could do about it.
….Actually, that didn't sound all that bad, honestly. Karura all around the world would cause untold chaos but little Isobu? Okay, well, she'd do the same, he supposed. She was her mother's daughter. It would just be harder for everyone else to be mad at her because she was so adorable.
Karura could only get away with what she did from the male population, though admittedly that in itself might spark further chaos in her wake.
…...Maybe that was the way to stop Akatsuki. Have hundreds of each Biju running around so they could never track down and capture the real ones. He might need to swing that idea by Mikoto later.
"My point still stands, letting them run around unsupervised is asking for trouble."
"Karura did just fine in Konoha."
Mai froze. "She what?!"
"Oh, yeah, so apparently due to the seal connecting me to Naruko Karura can use Mito's entrance and some of her Chakra to create a clone wherever Naruko is. Recently that's meant Konoha."
Mai groaned and Temari took her chance to make it worse. "Gaara mentioned she wanted to try something with him earlier today, you think he's back in Konoha?" She wasn't really worried if that happened to be the case. He was Gaara, he could take care of himself. Not only that, he was there in the presence of a Biju. There were few people in the world anywhere close to as safe as he was at the moment.
"...Please tell me that won't work."
Naruto diverted his gaze and that was answer enough.
"I'll let Kakashi know so he can keep an eye out just in case. Why can't things ever be normal around here?"
Tayuya shrugged. "Normal's not nearly as fun." Temari and Anko nodded in agreement and Mai rounded on the three of them.
"You three aren't the one who has to set things back in order afterwards."
They shared a look before shrugging and nodding agait. "Yeah," Anko grinned sheepishly. "That's fair." Pausing for a second a sly grin spread across her face. "Well, you heard the woman, she has to go contact Kakashi. I guess that means Naruto will need someone to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble in the meantime."
Temari and Tayuya caught on immediately.
Anko sprung from the ground and lifted Naruto's torso while Temari helped by grabbing his legs.
Mai thought about arguing but at this point she was probably better off letting them take him anyway. Even if he wasn't really going to be resting at least he wouldn't be doing any of his regular work for the time being. That was probably as close as she was going to get.
"Alright, everyone to Naruto's room for a massage." Tayuya opened the door only for Tsunade to pop her head in.
"Did I hear something about massages?"
Anko didn't miss a beat. "Only in the nude."
The Sannin thought it over for a second before nodding. "If it gets me a massage, fine." She turned to leave. "I'll go see if Shizune's interested in joining, where are we meeting?"
"Naruto's room, of course. It's the only bed big enough to hold everyone."
If Tsunade was surprised by that she did a marvelous job of hiding it and Mai wondered, not for the first time, if they were a paramilitary organization taking over countries or if it was somehow all a front to create Naruto a harem.
The only question then was who the hell was behind it because it sure as hell wasn't Naruto-
Right?
Hanabi stared blankly at the person in her doorway trying to determine if she was just seeing things. After a moment- and a subtle pinch to her thigh- she came to the conclusion that she was not.
It still didn't explain her visitor.
"Are you really so surprised you can't greet your sister, Hanabi?"
"Hinata?"
The young woman in question giggled softly behind her hand. "Is it really so hard to believe? I told you that I'd be stopping by for visits."
"Well, yes, you did" Hanabi had to concede that point. Hinata had mentioned that she'd start stopping by - mostly because it was going to be the only way for her to continue seeing Naruto with any sort of regularity. "I just didn't think you'd actually be following through with it."
"And miss the chance to simultaneously visit my little sister, Naruto, Mai, and get away from the clan for a few days? Not likely."
Yes, Hanabi could believe that Hinata wanted to visit and get away from the adoration of the clan for a bit but it still seemed strange to think shen had just upped and left Konoha for a few days. Hiashi had never, ever done anything close to that. None of the elders had either, asd far as Hanabi was aware. Hyuuga just didn't leave Konoha all that often.
With the exception of those on tracking teams or within the ANBU Hyuga Shinobi were either in Konoha seeing to clan matters or were patrolling around the wall to ensure no one could sneak in. Even with the caged bird seal the tempting target of the Byakugan was simply far to great a risk to allow their members to run about with wild abandon-
Or the Hyuuga equivalent, anyway.
It was also strange because while Hinata was the head of the Hyuuga clan she was also just a Genin. Not active, of course, she had left the active forces to focus on running the cult- er, clan- but she was still no older than the current generation of Genin and for them to just come and go from Konoha as they pleased didn't feel right.
That could be due to the fact that Genin shouldn't have anything they needed to leave the village for anyway- or, at the very least, nothing they needed to leave the country for- but who was she to say anything? Hanabi wasn't even a Genin and she had followed along with Naruto's Wolves here to Nami no Kuni.
She was pretty sure the majority of Konoha- or those that could be bothered to care- thought she had been killed during Suna's failed invasion attempt.
Now that she thought about it, that wasn't a very convincing cover was it? Suna had failed horribly so who would have made it far enough to get to her when she was supposed to be with her academy class? There was at least one Hyuuga member who knew the Wolves had come for her but did Konoha actually think Suna had anything to do with her disappearance?
Hanabi suddenly doubted that very much.
Perhaps they assumed she had perished like the elders when the Branch family rebelled and took control of the clan. That was probably more believable. Even so, if that was the case Hinata would have- probably- held a funeral, even privately, so the fact that she hadn't should have tipped more people off.
Then again, did it really matter?
She was never a Shinobi and at most she was a missing Konoha citizen. Even if they realized she was gone they wouldn't do anything unless the Hyuuga clan called for it and considering who was currently in charge of that particular clan she didn't find that likely.
The chances of Hinata trying to pull her away from helping Naruto when he had specifically taken her from Konoha was slim to the extreme.
She was probably just overthinking things.
Snapping out of her thoughts she returned her attention to her older sister. "Have you already seen Naruto, then?"
Hinata raised a challenging brow. "Do you really think I would see him before checking on my little sister?"
"Yes." Hanabi didn't hesitate to answer. She knew just how devoted her sister was to the Lord of Wolves and it would not surprise her to know Hinata had arrived yesterday, spent time with Naruto, and was now coming to see her. She also really didn't mind.
"Well then won't you be surprised that I'm seeing you first, hmm?"
Hanabi was surprised but only briefly. Her eyes narrowed as she came to the only logical conclusion; "He was occupied with...others, wasn't he?"
Hinata crossed her arms, a slight pout on her lips as she turned slightly from Hanabi. "...Yes."
The smallest of smiles tugged at Hanabi's lips. That sounded about right.,
"Well, sit down then." The head of the administration team gestured to the seat before her desk. "You can vent your frustrations at being denied your own Naruto-time."
"I don't need to vent-"
Hanabi cut her off. "But you'd like to."
Hinata didn't say anything but she did take the seat.
Sai spun around in his chair before stopping himself so he faced Hana as she sat down. "Do you ever get the feeling that you're really not needed?" He asked idly, fingers tapping on the desk and his gaze on the wall behind her. After a second they dropped down to meet hers only to be greeted by a wry smile curving her lips.
"Normally? No." She sighed as she collapsed the rest of the way into her chair. "After looking over the work for the past month? Absolutely."
Sai's head bobbed several times in agreement. "Mmm, yeah, I was getting a similar feeling. It's good to know I'm not alone."
Silence fell for almost a minute before Hana broke it.
"Rumor has it that while Hanabi and Mai were doing half of his work Naruto was doing both of ours and giving attention to Anko, Tayuya, Temari, and gods know who else."
"He used clones, from what I understand." It was offered as if it somehow made the whole situation better.
Hana shrugged. "Maybe, but if he has the option to use clones that doesn't make us any less obsolete, does it?"
"No." Frowned Sai. "I suppose not."
Silence fell again, this time to be interrupted by Sai. "It was all organized too." He said the word with no small measure of disbelief. "I could find everything that had been done easily and if I wanted an explanation he had a copy of his daily journal to let me know not just what had been done for my work but how it interacted with everything else he had done that day."
"Part of that credit goes to Hanabi, I should think. It's her new system that has it so organized." She hesitated a moment. "The journal idea is pretty good, though. We should keep that up."
"To do it to the same degree would require us to be constantly communicating everything we were doing rather than just periodic meetings to go over the important things. At that point we might as well just send memos and keep copies of sent and received in a folder."
Hana raised a single brow as he said that, her pointed look telling him that was exactly what they should start doing. He made sure to scribble it down on the back of one of the reports Naruto had gone over in his absence.
Best not to forget that one.
"He'll be gone soon, too." Hana pointed out. "So we'll be needed to oversee things here."
"Yeah, it just feels different knowing it's more of our presence needed than our work. Well," He quickly corrected himself. "For me, that is. You're an icon to the people of Nami so your presence has always been- arguably- more important than the work you did on Naruto's behalf."
"And the Wolves still need their commander. Have you forgotten? Who else is going to oversee their operations?"
Sai ducked his head, conceding the point. "True, true." he suddenly brightened. "He wasn't able to figure out my budget either, though." The young man almost seemed proud of that fact. "His mentions of it in the copy of his journal he gave me sound like the rantings of a madman. He couldn't figure out for the life of him how all the numbers were below what they needed to be but still came to be above our monthly budget."
Hana sat up a bit straighter. "Tsukuyomi Tou-San ranting like a lunatic about budgets? You brought it with you, right?"
With a grin Sai slid a small black book across the table, the pages blooming with red bookmarks. Hana glanced up, her wry smile back in place and mischief glimmering in her brown eyes.
"Please tell me these bookmarks are for what I think they are."
"Oh, yes, every single one of his ramblings about the impossible budget. I think at one point he theorizes about the possibilities of a cursed desk and how it could have come into our possession."
A brow quirked in his direction. "Seriously?"
"Something about a forest spirit being spurned by an accountant, taking revenge on the man's family, and then the man hiring a priest to bind her soul to a tree that he had cut down and turned into a new work desk."
Hana's wry grin had been replaced by a wide smile of pure amusement and anticipation. "Oh, I can't wait to read about that."
Sai nodded again but his expression seemed a bit uneasy. "I will warn you though, some of those theories he rambles on about?"
"Hmm?"
"They make a scary amount of sense for some reason and for the life of me I cannot figure out why, It's rather eerie, really."
"So don't read it right before bed, got it."
"Or drunk."
"Who would read a journal keeping track of a month's worth of work running a country while intoxicated?"
Sai's silence spoke volumes.
Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 142-B "Massage"
Patron Release 2021.08.16
Karura had taken the seat in the sitting room offered by Kushina and promptly pulled Naruko next to her. Kushina found that odd at first, thinking her son would have been given that spot, but in the next moment it seemed that wasn't mutually exclusive.
Gaara squeezed himself between the two and seemed perfectly content if a little squished. Karura smiled indulgently and Naruko just rolled her eyes. Even then, she couldn't keep a small smile from pulling at the corner of her lips.
Kushina could understand that. For supposedly being Sunagakure's greatest weapon and a murdering psychopath the boy was absolutely adorable. It looked like he had started growing out his hair since she had seen him at the Chunin exams, too, in fact-
The matriarch felt her thoughts come to a sudden, screeching halt as she was struck by the resemblance he now shared with her son. The eyes were a different color but his hair seemed the exact shade and in a familiar style from when he was younger. Pale skin and slightly angular features only added to that and seeing him sitting next to Naruko like that…
It took a moment for Kushina to recover, a moment during which she tried valiantly to ignore the presence of Karura in the scene. With the two children squished in the large seat with her it was almost as if she was looking at some other family.
Fortunately Karura's hair was far from being similar to Kushina's own which certainly helped separate that idea from reality. She was also glad it didn't match Naruko's or it would be like looking into some sort of odd alternate reality.
She banished the thoughts from her head as best she could and set down the tea service on the coffee table and took her own seat opposite the trio.
"...So…." Kushina began. "What brings the two of you here to Konoha?" Not the most interesting discussion normally but a perfectly valid question when it came to a Biju and her son -
Especially when they suddenly appear in your dining room.
Karura finished pouring a cup of tea which she handed to Gaara before answering. "I was trying to teach my darling son here how to utilize the Kage Bunshin technique and he seemed to have the hang of it so I decided I would come show Naruko here."
"So you just wanted to show off his accomplishment?"
"Oh, yes," Karura nodded cheerfully. "But also no. This was the best way to make sure he had it down completely. If he hadn't then I would have appeared by myself. We could have gone through Naruto but I didn't want to disturb him and Gaara's seal wasn't an option because, well, it was Gaara who was supposed to be practicing the Kage bunshin."
The Biju paused as a puzzled look settled over her face. Naruko barely managed to hold back a groan knowing that the woman was probably coming up with some other idea that was inevitably going to end up interrupting her everyday life.
"Well, I suppose there isn't a reason he couldn't try it. Either nothing would happen or, if successful, he'd make a Kage Bunshin at his location." Her thoughtful look became a frown. "But if it just appears next to him we have no way of knowing if he traveled through the seal or if he just used the technique like normal…."
"If it succeeded the original Gaara would be unconscious, wouldn't he?" Naruko chimed in hoping to put an end to this train of thought before it derailed and crashed into even stranger territory. "The thing you're really testing is moving his consciousness though a seal and into a clone there. Sort of like how you disappeared from the seal when you visited last time."
Karura brightened considerably at that. "Ah! Yes, exactly." She reached over and gave Naruko's whiskered cheek a quick pinch. "You're such a smart girl, Imouto."
Gaara nodded in agreement- as if there would be any chance of him disagreeing with his mother. "Aunty's smart."
Kushina knew her daughter was decently clever and was rather intelligent already but she, however, had focused on a few other points.
"Was Karura-San here before?" She asked. How often was her home playing host to Biju? And, better yet- why?
"Yeah, Mito was looking to talk to me and when I went in the seal Karura was so excited to show me what she could do she created a Kage Bunshin in my room."
Scratching the back of her head sheepishly Karura's smile was equally embarrassed. "Heh, yeah, Mito really didn't appreciate me just using her Chakra like that. I had to apologize a lot before she would let me take some again and I think that was mostly because Naruto was waiting for me to return."
"Ah, I see." Kushina nodded but she did not, in fact, 'see'. When had Naruto's presence become part of the story and why did it sound like she was getting Chakra from the Kyuubi in order to visit Naruto in Naruko's room? "And where was Naruto?"
"Oh, he had come looking for me and was waiting in Naruko's room."
Kushina's brow rose and she turned to fix Naruko with a questioning look.
"Aha, eh, well, I hadn't expected him to just pop in either but he couldn't stay long." She knew her mother was probably more displeased by the fact that he hadn't been invited to stay and visit or join their meal than the fact that he had been here- she probably counted that as a minor victory, intentional on his part or not- so Naruko made sure to establish the fact that she couldn't get him to stay as quickly as possible. "He's really busy over in...Nami." She was pretty sure he mentioned his body was back there but even if he wasn't there was little chance Kushina was going to be able to determine otherwise.
She could write to him, Naruko supposed, but she had been backing off for the most part and it didn't seem like that was going to be changing anytime soon. To her credit, that had probably been for the best so far. It had been a while since the two of them had come into conflict and that was something Naruko could consider a minor victory.
She didn't hold out any hope of him rejoining the family but she did have a good feeling he could become a friend of the uzumaki given time. Well, he and the Wolves. They were sort of a package deal as far as Naruko could tell.
Naruto, The Wolves, and Biju she mentally amended.
That was really a frightening combination if one thought about it so Naruko chose not to.
"That's a shame," Kushina sighed in disappointment but something about it seemed...off...to Naruko. She narrowed her eyes in her mother's direction, wondering what she was up to, but Kushina ignored her pointed look. "It would have been nice to see him again and while I'm glad you and Naruko seem to be getting along it would have been more proper for Naruto to be the one to introduce you to me, don't you think?"
Karura gasped in surprise in perfect sync with Naruko's realization of her mother's intentions. Maybe she had spoken too soon, it would seem Kushina hadn't' completely given up trying to interact with her estranged son. Naruko had to give it to the Uzumaki Matriarch, though, this was a much more subtle and clever plan than some of her other hasty attempts.
If she didn't know better Naruko would say Kushina had actually been planning tis but she knew very well that Kushina had just now met the Ichibi so that couldn't have been the case-
Unless she had planned this out for any woman interested in her son. There did seem to be an absurd number of them if Jiraiya and Ayame were to be believed and while the Sannin's words may have been affected by a bias towards his godnephew- or whatever the hell he was referring to Naruto as these days- there was absolutely no doubting the woman who served the Uzumaki Ramen at the greatest stand in Konoha. That woman was a saint and if she said something Naruko- and Kushina- were likely to take it as gospel.
Within reason, of course, they just couldn't imagine any sort of reason for the young woman to be making up stories about Naruto like that which meant they were most likely true-
As strange as they still seemed.
With Jiraiya having similar information and knowing that no self-respecting woman like Ayame would ever conspire with the super-pervert unless absolutely desperate it only became more certifiable as the truth.
So Naruko supposed her mother could have been thinking of ways to use that fact to spend time with Naruto again- though a situation in which the woman already considered Naruto to be the father of her darling child seemed a mite too specific for Naruko to wholly believe that- and utilizing someone with a strong tie to him to guilt him into visiting definitely seemed like one of her better plans to Naruko.
….Why hadn't they tried something similar to this with that pineapple-haired one? Actually, nevermind. Naruko was reminded that she really didn't like her so the less time around the psycho the better. That one she had first seen with her brother though, the black haired one Jiriaya was rooting for, though, they could have tried to cozy up to her.
No.
On second thought the only reason this was working was because Karura already knew and liked- or seemed to, anyway- Naruko and her son Gaara saw them as family. In this case the woman- and her child- had attached themselves to the Uzumaki on their own terms rather than being coerced to gain favor. That sort of natural- and gods it felt wrong to say that considering the situation and the fact that it contained a Biju of all things- connection was going to be far more effective for this sort of attempt.
So, that meant Kushina probably had just magicked this plan out of thin air during their relatively short talk so far. Naruko could admit she was a bit impressed, she just wondered how well things would go in the end.
"Oooh, you're right!" Karura, obviously, had a much different train of thought. "I had already met Naruko in the seal but I should have waited for Naruto to introduce me to his mother. How improper…." She moped. Gaara patted her leg reassuringly, earning a faint smile from the woman.
Erm, Biju.
"Oh, it's not your fault, dear. You didn't know I would be here when you stopped by to visit Naruko." Kushina reassured her. "Still, it would be nice to have him over for dinner one of these days and hear from him how the two of you met. I'm sure he's quite busy but maybe you could ask him what a good day to bring you to visit would be?" She suggested. " You can let Naruko know through the seal, of course, so I know when to expect guests."
"That's a wonderful idea." Karura beamed happily. "I'll have to see when I can steal him away from his work for a night." She cast a glance over to Gaara and then back to Kushina. "You don't mind if we bring our children, do you?"
"Of course not," Kushina waved off her concerns. She didn't necessarily want to be a grandmother at this point- or at least not like this- but she didn't have anything against the boy who looked up to her son like a father and as the two before her were obviously an important part of Naruto's….new family- and that didn't' get any easier to think let alone say- it was a good idea not to exclude them if she wanted to get back into her son's good graces.
The way the Biju said it, though, it almost sounded as if Gaara wasn't the only one. She didn't know how to feel about that and, honestly, she was a bit afraid to ask. She'd leave that to when Karura had managed to convince Naruto to stop by for a visit- whenever that ended up being.
"I'd be happy to get to know my little Mago." She sent a smile Gaara's way and he happily returned it, always glad to collect new members to his growing family.
"Perfect!" She cheered. "I'll bring it up the next time I see him. I can't wait for us all to be together at once." The Biju seemed genuinely thrilled by the idea of a full family gathering and Kushina found that heartening.
No matter what strange situation Naruto had found himself in with this...woman...she at least seemed to care a great deal about him. It was reassuring, honestly, but she really did want to get some answers from her son about this whole situation. She was having enough trouble trying to make sense of it from the bubbly Biju.
And there was a sentence she never could have imagined having to think for any reason. The fact that she wasn't using it as part of some strange book was less than encouraging for her current mental state.
'Oh, Sochi, why can't anything around you ever be simple?'
The bed was absolutely glorious as Haku- or Yakito Yua to anyone here in Namihime - allowed herself to collapse backwards onto it. No more damp sleeping bag out in the cold for her, no sir, she was able to enjoy the dry, soft warmth of the Nautilus Suite here in the Coral Palace.
She still sometimes had trouble believing she was utilizing such an upscale hotel room as her residence sometimes but a glance to her things scattered around the spiral-themed room helped reassure her this was in fact where she was currently living. A warm soak in the absolutely massive bathroom also told her she wasn't dreaming.
She used it several times a day, just to be sure.
Of course, life wasn't all pleasure now that she had started to receive unexpected- but not unwelcome- support from Tsukuyomi. She still had a job to do and Haku was nothing if not reliable. If Shin-Kirigaure no Sato needed her to do something then it would be done-
Which is why she had spent weeks in that damned sleeping roll.
She'd burned the accursed thing as soon as the funds from Tsukuyomi had been secured in her name. It hadn't been easy considering she didn't know any Katon- her ice affinity always did make that element difficult for her- and the damn thing was still damp but in the end her perseverance had succeeded and the moldy fabric was reduced to little more than ash.
She hadnt' had the patience to wait for it to fully burn away, too eager to enjoy the amenities her new funds would secure her, and so she had put out the fire just a bit early. Still, she could rest assured that it would never serve as a sleeping roll for anyone else ever again.
Good riddance.
Hakus' current work wasn't her favorite sort- even though she didn't like killing the more stealthy or assassination-type missions were more her style. She wasn't as fast as she was for nothing. - but it hadn't been wholly unpleasant.
Young men were always eager to speak with a cute girl and it wasn't hard to convince one of the sons of a lesser noble or a wealthy merchant to invite her to any of the parties here in Mizu no Kuni's capital now that she could afford a decent dress and a bit of help from a local beauty parlor.
She made sure not to stay with the same person for too long- even at the party or event they brought her to- which had brought with it the wonderful effect of several of them subtly fighting over her attention. As a normal girl that would have been flattering but as a Kunoichi it was also an excellent opportunity.
Getting them to speak about recent happenings and upcoming plans of their fathers or members of the council was a trivial matter when they hoped to use it to impress her and the more time he spent in the upper circles the more attention she garnered from other members of that lifestyle which meant her contacts juist continued to grow.
She was quite pleased by how well everything had been going so far and hopefully with just a few more parties she would have enough time to finish currying favor with some of the local ladies so she could attend with them instead of accompanying a young man each time.
It was easy and useful but she knew if she kept allowing them to take her they would eventually expect things to start going further and that simply wasn't part of her plan. If she arrived with some of the local ladies she could still dance with the men there- it would be expected, even- and she would get her information but it would also be much easier to pull away when she had to.
That would make things much easier.
Now she just had to figure out if Lady Misato's feud with Lady Ayaki was going to become an issue in the future or if she was better off aligning more with Lady Kikano and taking up a mediator position to secure her place among them.
It was a good thing her social skills didn't come from Zabuza otherwise this would never work.
Mai frowned down at yet another report that felt as though it should have landed on Naruto's desk. It had become increasingly common lately for these issues to end up reaching her rather than him and she wondered whether he was sending them over or if they were simply reaching her first.
Did he even know about any of these? She'd been tempted to bring it up and ask but two major things stopped her.
First, she clearly remembered the recent report she had brought him and how he had expected it to be something well within her capabilities to handle. It had been, too, there was no question there, and a lot of these she was more or less able to rectify without really needing to go to him first.
Second and the reason she didn't even let him know of what she'd done for the other reports was the fact that he was on vacation. A vacation that she herself had forced upon him. It would be exceedingly bad form- and not just a bit hypocritical- to interrupt that with matters of work. He would just end up using it as either an excuse to cut his vacation short or as support for an argument along the lines of "there's too much to take care of for a vacation now, I'll take one later."
With that in his corner she wouldn't have much of a choice but to agree and that's where he'd get her because they both damn well knew that 'later' was never going to come.
As she'd already proven, his stubbornness required him to be literally dragged away from his work in order to take a significant break.
Hopefully the following week- or as much of it as she managed to keep him away from work for. she really didn't expect him to be away for the entire week, that had been more of a generous goal.- would provide enough time for him to recuperate before some other project came up or he decided to do something stupid like give all the Wolves vacations and proceed to cover all their patrols of Hanahime for the next month.
Knowing that he was now capable of multiple clones- and she was pretty sure that was new- that wasn't as unfeasible as it might be for someone else. Even so, she didn't want him doing that.
Maybe she needed to start providing him hand-picked projects to occupy himself much in the same way he was giving puppeteering projects to keep Shizune's team and their wayward Akatsuki members out of trouble.
She didn't know what that was about either and she was a bit afraid to ask what he might be planning with nearly half the Akatsuki organization under his influence. If memory served Orochimaru had once been part of it too, so they essentially did have half of Akatsuki.
She just didn't know why and she had a sinking feeling Naruto didn't either. There probably wasn't even a plan tied to them, he had just managed to draw half the criminal organization to him by being his usual trouble-magnet self.
Mai hoped the other countries were oblivious of this fact, otherwise they might think Naruto had hired the Akatsuki as some villages- notably Iwa and Kumo- had before. Nothing good could come from that and she was sure the others would see it in a similar light.
When the Wolves were currently trying to recover from Mizu no Kuni and build up strength the last thing they needed was to make another world power believe they were planning something and end up getting hit by a preemptive strike. That would cause absolute chaos as the Wolves retaliated and would draw in all of their allies- many of which Mai was sure Naruto would rather remain unknown for the time being- to spiral things inevitably into a global conflict.
They did not need to be the spark of the Daiyoji Ninkai Taisen, thank you. Their reputation was in enough shambles between Nami- still- and more recently their actions in Mizu no Kuni.
Not that there was anything they could really be doing to improve that reputation. No one was going to believe any Wolves claiming to be on a humanitarian mission and there were no world enemies they could take down to show everyone they weren't the worst out there and could still be a valuable member of the international community.
She had to think about that for a second. They weren't that global enemy, were they? Mai shook the thought from her head. No, of course not. They didn't have a great reputation but they weren't at that sort of level quite yet. Kaminari no Kuni was neutral to them, so was Tsuchi no Kuni. They had allies in Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni was essentially the same as Hi no Kuni these days so there should be no issues there.
Only Mizu no Kuni hated them and she was pretty sure that was true for minor countries too. She couldn't recall making enemies with any of the smaller nations.
Then again, there was no telling what Naruto or some overzealous Wolves may have done while her back was turned. Maybe she needed to look into that.
Her attention now on whether or not the Wolves had been making trouble in minor countries she put her suspicions about the recent reports reaching her to the side and simply wrote out orders to take care of it.
She was Ameterasu, after all, so what if a few reports reached her and not Naruto? As long as she took care of them and made sure a report eventually reached him everything was just fine.
Right?
There were several things Hinata may have expected upon letting herself in Naruto's room in her search for him- this was not one of them.
The curtains were half-drawn as if someone had either attempted to sort them and was pulled away before they finished or had simply been in such a rush they hadn't really even bothered. The bed, which she knew from her time in his apartment should have been kept neat and ready for use was in a stature of absolute disarray. Sheets and blankets pooled off onto the wooden floors and the pillows had been scattered about with wild abandon.
Much more surprising for the head of the Hyuuga head was the very naked Tsunade in the middle of the rocking bed moaning lowly in pleasure.
Naruto, sat in a chair that had probably been pulled from his private sitting room, gave the young woman a lazy wave with one hand as he enjoyed a cold drink in the other. Temari, wrapped in nothing but a towel, was happily taking up his lap and smiled serenely at their newest guest from her position leaning against his bare chest.
On the bed a naked Shizune, Tayuya, and Anko were busy at work giving Tsunade a full body massage. From the sounds alone Hinata felt pretty confident saying the Sannin was enjoying their ministrations.
She tried- very hard- not to look. It wasn't easy.
Naruto didn't seem to have that problem. Not because it was easy for him not to look but because he simply wasn't trying not to. He seemed more than content to watch the show from his position across the room and Hinata really, really wanted to know how on earth things had ended up like this.
For her own sanity, she realized, she probably shouldn't ask.
She made her way over to Naruto's position and was greeted by a quick one-armed hug when she was close enough. Temari only looked a little jealous that it had gone around the Hyuuga and not herself.
"Ah, if it isn't my little goddess!" He smiled. "How are things back in Konoha?"
Hinata took a second to glance over to the events on the bed, taking her time to make sure Naruto noticed what she was doing before returning to meet his inquisitive purple gaze. "Much less exciting than here, I have to say." Her stutter didn't make an appearance this time but her blush was more than making up for it.
"...If it's just a massage why are they all naked?" She dared ask. It was as much as she was willing to at the moment.
"Because Anko, Tayuya, and Temari here are horny." Temari promptly smacked him just hard enough to let him know she didn't appreciate him saying that. Not to Hinata, at least. She probably wouldn't care if he said something like that in just the presence of Anko. "Excuse me. Anko and Tayuya are horny." Naruto corrected himself. "And Temari here was feeling a bit sensual."
She seemed to think about the change of word before giving a content nod into his chest followed by a quick kiss to the bare skin. "Much better."
"I- I see." Things really weren't any more clear for her so she took a chance and extended the question a bit. "And why are Shizune-Sensei and Tsunade-Sama naked?"
"Like I said," Naruto shrugged lightly. "Anko and Tayuya are horny. Tsunade couldn't resist the chance at a massage and Kato-Sensei…." Naruto paused, his head tilting to the side in thought. "Actually, I don't know how Tsunade pulled Kato-Sensei into this."
The woman in question turned around to face them, a light dusting of pink across her cheeks. "It was this or Tsunade was going to convince Anko to tie you to my bed again."
"Is that all?"
"...Naked."
He nodded, that made more sense.
"We were also going to lock her in the room with you until she showed us just how freaky the quiet ones can be." Anko chimed in, one of Tsunade's legs held between her thighs as she worked on the soles of the medic's feet.
"When, exactly," Naruto started slowly, cautiously. He wasn't even sure he wanted to ask but at this point he didn't think he could avoid it. "Did the two of you make this plan?"
Anko grinned, immensely proud of herself. "While we were carrying you here."
Tsunade moaned loudly but whether that was agreement or just a result of Tayuya at her neck was hard to tell.
"And...why?" He paused for a second before coming to an important conclusion. "Actually, no, forget I asked. I don't want to know."
Tayuya looked like she had been about to answer when his words deflated her with a pout. Naruto returned his attention to Hinata.
"So, what brings you to Nami no Kuni?"
The Hyuuga matriarch pulled a familiar brush from somewhere on her person and Naruto couldn't help it- his laughter was heard down to the bottom floors of the palace.
Only his little lamb would travel all this way just to get her hair brushed.
He rested his lower face on entwined hands, a hard stare sightlessly piercing the distant lands beyond his window as he focused on his thoughts.
It was not unexpected, not really, and he would be lying if he said that even he- the legendary Fence-Sitter- had not already been contemplating the merits of doing so but now the decision had been made for him.
The Daimyo was nervous- many of them were- and for good reason. Hi no Kuni's recent expansion was more than a little concerning and their ties to the rising power that was Nami no Kuni created an alliance that represented an alarming portion of global power through economics and the sheer amount of land that now flew Hi no Kuni banners.
Give it a few years and the armies Hi no Kuni would be able to rise would be a formidable force indeed.
They couldn't be allowed to reach that point.
Ōnoki knew that the Fire Daimyo- Iroh, he was pretty sure- was unlikely to try expanding anytime soon. In fact, it would probably be decades, but the fact stood that even giving them years with this influence would forever change the balance between the great nations and through them the entire world.
They would need to make preparations to...dissuade...Hi no Kuni from maintaining such a large area of influence. A show of...practicality... to encourage them to trim the fat a bit and lean down to a more manageable size.
And if Tsuchi no Kuni could scoop up at least half of Kaze no Kuni in the process of doing so? Well, that would only be a reward worthy of their good deed. Better for them to learn now than for unrest to tear it all apart in the future.
Or, that's how the Daimyo had worded it. Ōnoki didn't usually bother with sugar-coating things.
Iwa, it would seem, was going to be showing Hi no Kuni just how much the other Daimyo agreed with their latest bouts of expansion.
His gaze tore itself from the distance and glanced towards the opened letter that sat so innocuously on his desk. To think such a plain thing could set into motion such major events, it was something that probably deserved more thought than he had to spare at the moment.
Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki had a war to prepare for.
My continued gratitude to the Patrons who support me.
Lord Generals
Cephalon Keeper, Michael Huber, B4NH4MM3R, Jacklefrackle
Lord Marshals
Ronji, MythicFool, EagleE, Pope Gregory Trivium III, Sedition, Luxano
Lord Majors
The SHARP fox, Malte Krain, StayFrosty, Noah, Alex Robb, Jeremy Webb, Jamel, McKinzie, Tjk9399, Raymond Saragian, Elypsus, magicheart 0, Gamer91, Marcothephoenix, DamnedThrice, Ben Peek, Nathan Carlson, Solace Hollow, Xerxes8796
Lord Commissars
Tim Keizer, Akira, Daron Smith, gabriel reynoso, Romulan, Shi_no_Kage, Whatzzzzzzzup, Nick Payne, Christopher, Desertgem1, Daniel Witry, Liam Kearney, TormisD92
Lord High-Inquisitor
Janus
Lord Inquisitors
Angel Morales, Haistos, Bob Ross, Brendon, Joe Schumacher, Michael Friede, Cameron Yourell, Nilzor, Chase, Maroner, Forseeti, Carlos Campbell, Thanyx, Chace Gannon, Slip123, Godfrey Kawi, Nicholas Hoover, Nicholas Liu, Supernowy, Milton Pereira, YGO, Louis Lennin, OldManCain, Sivellan, Brandon Romero, Vio, MB, Brandon, LoneSaiyan, Para, Angel de la torre, Nekrull DeUmbrus, Jennifer carpenter, HKaz, Pantheras, Marin Dimovski, MasterT941, J. G., Tyrell2000, Gobo, June Tai, james escobedo, Sebastiaan asselbergs, Perez, Hentai Prince, James, TheGreatBubbaJ, TheAbsoluteMonarch, Polo Pannini, JonCotterill, Zack Crum, SMatatabi, Theepicslime, Matthew Smith, Wrex
Until I next have your attention, I remain,
-Eyazahrid