Here we go again for another not-so-exciting chapter of Tsumeki-chan! I know a lot of you were upset about the last chapter. For those of you who don't read my blog, a quick recap: I forgot the Substitution Jutsu existed and that's why it went down the way it did, and I know it was rushed, but I had to get through writer's block and couldn't find a good way to fix it when I went back to try and do so. Also, the Substitution Jutsu is cheap and I don't like it, so I probably won't be using it in the future either.
Anyways. Here's the next chapter!
(Two Years Later)
"When the riot starts, close in on the target. Eliminate if possible. I'll provide backup just as soon as I'm sure the populace won't pacify quickly."
"Once the primary objective is complete, I'll eliminate any guards while you go and secure the vault."
"Affirmative."
"We'll rendezvous here after all mission objectives are complete. Try not to burn the city down."
"It hardly seems fair that I'm the one getting that warning."
"I'm not the one with fire jutsu." The speaking ANBU, his masked stylized to the appearance of a laughing mongoose, sprung off of the roof and began working his way around to the walled compound wherein there target slept.
His partner, a woman with a softly angled fox mask, silently made way to another nearby rooftop, from which she could see the large mass of torch-bearing citizens hollering and raging at the gates of the aforementioned compound.
Hizeki Toriyo was a notorious crime lord, but he had the local lord and governor in his pocket. Any attempts to bring him to justice were doomed to fail in the court, and anyone leveling accusations against him would surely disappear in the following months. Hizeki had recently begun attempting to open up a chapter of his business in Konoha, but they were rookie smugglers and were caught soon after they set up shop. The information extracted from them by the ANBU's intelligence division gave them the intel they needed to launch this mission, with the goal of permanently disabling Hizeki's operations and seizing any liquid assets available. The pair of ANBU had originally planned to infiltrate the target's mansion over a period of weeks, perhaps even months, but five days into their mission, before they could worm inside of his operations, one of his goons was caught disposing of the body of his most recent prosecutor. The town went into an uproar, and it was all the corrupt men-at-arms could do to prevent a riot from breaking out. Vixen intended to utilize this to their advantage.
Tensions were rising by the second. Any second now, the emotions would reach a fever pitch and blows would be dealt. Perhaps she wouldn't even have to get involved.
Wait, no, she thought. A man in gilded armor exited the compound gates and began speaking to the crowd. At first, they shouted and booed, and several of them threw food. However, the longer he talked, the less angered the crowd seemed.
We can't have that. Vixen flicked her wrist, and a young girl appeared in the midst of the crowd. She advanced forward and wielded her finger at the guards, insulting them and their mothers. Through the girl's eyes, Tsumeki could see one guard's face scrunching up in barely contained rage. She advanced the illusion on him, seeing her chance. The gilded man attempted to grab her arm, but Vixen refused to be impeded and did not make the illusion react. His hand seemed to pass through her arm.
"Something the matter," the illusion asked, "you yellow-bellied lowlife?"
The man must have already been on short strings, because he snapped quickly and slapped the girl across the face. This Vixen allowed, and the girl fell to the ground, a series of fresh, bleeding cuts on her face from the segments in the guard's gauntlet.
The crowd exploded in rage and charged the gates. The gilded man was lost quickly beneath the stampede, and the men-at-arms were pressed to the walls, their spears useless. The gates were barred from the other side, however, and no entry was to be found. With the rest of the guards on the other side of the wall, the only reinforcements to be found for the men at the gate were the sentries. They leaned over the ramparts of the fortress and began firing arrows into the midst of the rioters, felling several.
Beneath it all, the bleeding girl disappeared. The only ones to take notice were some citizens on the outside edges of the mob, but it made little difference. Vixen's job was done, and it didn't look too terribly likely that the riot would be stopping. Just to be sure, however, she brought the night in around her to protect herself from prying eyes and went to open the gates. After all, the more bodies in a riot, the longer it lasts.
Mongoose heard the roar of fury from the gates, and he knew that Vixen had succeeded. She would be ensuring the longevity of the anarchy before joining him in the mansion. With any luck, she would be able to head straight for the vault and they would be able to get out of here before the riot was put down and people began asking questions. He slipped in through a window on the third floor.
The mansion was opulent, that much was for sure. Moreso than living in it, he would have liked to simply take some of these golden vases and marble statues to sell so he could build his own house. Surely it wouldn't take very many to gather the funds to do so. That, however, would get him in serious trouble with the Kage. He moved on, past masterpieces of art, mahogany doors, and showcases of glittering gems and jewelry. In his head, he tried to draw a mental map of the mansion. He knew where Hizeki slept: it was a corner room on this floor. He didn't know the hallway layout – they obviously hadn't completed their infiltration of the mansion – but he was able to get an idea of where he needed to go.
Mongoose heard footsteps from around the hall, and he sprung up to the wall, pushed off of it, and then leaped again, clinging to the ceiling with chakra. He hid himself in a corner the lights weren't quite illuminating.
Shortly after he hid himself, two men came around the bend. They looked like they were just men-at-arms, judging by their equipment. They were walking stiffly, but not looking around very much. They were probably freaked out about the rioters outside; they had been there for several hours, and the escalation of noise and alarm bells ringing really only could have meant one thing. That they weren't looking around was probably a result of inexperience; they probably hadn't even seen combat yet. He crawled across the ceiling, back towards where they came. Not wanting to be detected, he remained on the ceiling even after he was out of sight of the guards.
He went around three more corners and passed two more patrols before arriving at the door that Mongoose was sure lead to Hizeki's room. Instead of simply killing the two guards stationed outside of the door, he summoned a Shadow Clone. They had to maintain stealth until the vault was opened in order to maintain optimum mission efficiency. The clone appeared around the corner, and the noise startled the guards. They both went to look, and Mongoose dispelled the clone. The second noise made them break into a run.
Mongoose dropped down from the ceiling silently and quickly entered the room. He pulled the flask of poison out of his belt; his orders said to make the cause of death look natural if at all possible. He uncorked the vial as quietly as possible and approached the bed. As he drew closer to the sleeping figure, the hairs on his neck prickled and stood on end. He wasn't alone in the room. Someone else was here. Glancing out of the corners of his eyes, no other occupants were made evident. He'd let them think he didn't know for now; letting them think they had the element of surprise was more advantageous than entering a fair fight.
He was at the bedside. There was one figure in the bed, sleeping on his side and breathing...
No...
Sleeping on HER side.
Hizeki wasn't in bed.
Mongoose heard something flying through the air behind him, and he ducked and rolled to the side. A metal vase clanged against the wall. He heard the scraping of steel leaving its sheath, and straight out of the roll he drew his own blade, just in time to block the incoming overhead swing.
"ANBU," said Hizeki, his voice deep and charismatic. "Konoha's sending people to kill me?"
Mongoose didn't answer. He pushed the other man's sword off of his and executed several swift swings and a stab. All were blocked by Hizeki; the man was at least an adequate swordsman.
"You think me stupid and defenseless, don't you? I have ways of defending myself!" he cried.
He smacked the hilt of his sword, and a tanto slid out of it. Hizeki grabbed the dagger and stabbed at Mongoose. He grabbed Hizeki's wrist and pushed, trying to keep the tanto away while also holding back the sword. The crime lord was strong; even with the force against him, he still managed to dig the tip of the short blade into Mongoose's flak jacket.
"Send better assassins next time," Hizeki gloated.
Mongoose still said nothing. Instead, he channeled chakra into his blade. In the first moment, it was the deep blue of regular chakra, but it quickly lightened to a lighter blue when wind chakra was infused. The edge of the blade became infinitely sharper and sliced right through Hizeki's sword. The top half fell to the ground, but the bottom half continued down towards Mongoose's arm. He released the arm holding the tanto and spun to his right. Instead of being cut by the broken sword, he was punched in the shoulder. Mongoose carried his sword through, using the pressure he had been pressing against the other weapon to bring his sword down and around. The tanto clattered to the ground, and Hizeki's head rolled and hit the ground. His body followed shortly after.
In the half minute this encounter had taken, the guards had come back from checking the area where the shadow clone had been summoned and dispelled. They heard Hizeki's final gloat and burst into the room just in time to see his body crash down.
What they could see of Mongoose terrified them. He appeared dark and shadowy, and only his upper chest protector and mask were illuminated by the light from the hall. Both were spattered with the blood that had gushed from the headless Hizeki. His sword, still channeling chakra and dripping with blood, glinted in the dimness.
"S-s-shinigami!" cried one, and they both turned to run.
Mongoose reached into his belt, drew two kunai, and threw them. In the brief seconds that he held them, he pushed wind chakra into them. The first blade pierced the skull of the guard it struck, but didn't make it out the other side. The kunai lodged in his brain, he fell dead. The second ripped through the torso of its target, embedding itself in the wall on the other side. This didn't kill the man, but he fell to the ground, bleeding heavily and still attempting to crawl away. Mongoose approached him and flipped him onto his back with a foot. The man sputtered in fear.
"I am sorry for your suffering," Mongoose said. "I will make it quick."
With a flick of his wrist, the man's head was separated from his body. Mongoose ceased the chakra flow to his sword and cleaned it on the screen of Hizeki's door. He exited through the nearest window and got on top of the building, standing in clear sight of anyone who was looking. After waiting for a moment, Vixen hoisted herself over the lip of the roof.
"Target eliminated," said Mongoose. "Silent disposal failed. He knew I was coming. I killed him and two guards."
Vixen nodded. "I interrogated a guard before coming over. The vault is in the basement."
"After you, then."
The two jumped down from the roof, softening their landing with chakra. They sidled up against the wall, and Mongoose looked through the window they straddled. In the edges of his field of vision, he could see a patrol coming. It was two men strong, and they had their weapons drawn. Evidently somebody had noticed the dead bodies on the third floor. He looked at Vixen and held up two fingers. She nodded and grabbed a smoke bomb out of her pouch. He checked through the window again. They were close. He looked at her again and held up three fingers, then put one down. When he had one finger left up, his free hand was holding the window. After the count reached zero, he pulled the window up and Vixen threw the smoke bomb into the building. Mongoose dove through the window, colliding with the first guard as he sputtered and coughed. Two punches, followed by a sharp crack, sent the man toppling down. The second guard tried to stagger out of the smoke, but he was stopped by Vixen, who vaulted through the window and tackled him to the ground. She made a hand sign, and a spark of light could be seen coming from the man's throat. He stopped struggling almost instantaneously and his eyes glazed over. They threw the bodies out the window.
"Which way?" asked Mongoose, shutting the window.
"It's a secret passage in the main dining room. There should be a trigger underneath the table."
"On your six."
Vixen took off at a run, and Mongoose followed. After about a minute of running, and nearing the other side of the building, they encountered another patrol. Vixen threw her body forward and did a handspring, planting her feet into the chin of the first man-at-arms. With a loud crack, he fell to the ground, and Vixen fell into a roll that ended with her back on her feet. She continued on, ignoring the second guard. Mongoose took care of him by body checking him into the wall. The guard wasn't wearing a helmet, and there was a large splatter of blood where his head bounced off of the stone.
He turned to see Vixen throw a sliding door open and go into the room beyond. When he arrived in the room, he saw her examining an overturned table. She found the switch and flipped it, and then placed her hands over her ears.
"Radio triggered," she said, her slightly shaking voice betraying her gritted teeth from behind her mask. Mongoose grimaced in sympathy. He didn't have the same range of hearing Vixen did, but he imagined that it hurt.
A section of the floor in the corner of the room slid open, revealing a staircase heading down.
"Eliminate all remaining guards on this level," she said. "We don't know how much is down there. We can't risk having to leave any behind."
He nodded. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Twelve copies of Mongoose appeared and split off into pairs to clear the floor. He descended into the vault with Vixen.
"I think we might need backup," she said, awed.
"Shadow clones should do the trick. We don't have time for backup." Though he kept his voice mostly level, Mongoose couldn't help but sound amazed.
The vault was filled with briefcases upon briefcases, each likely filled with thousands of ryo. This wasn't counting the pallets stacked with gold and silver bars.
"Can you...can you make that many shadow clones?"
"I've done it before, once."
While waiting for the Shadow Clones to disperse and give the all clear, Mongoose and Vixen secured the gold and silver onto their pallets so that they could be transported with minimal losses. They waited for some time as the clones dispersed, pair by pair, until the last one was gone. Mongoose nodded to Vixen, and she stood back.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The free space in the vault became filled with clones, and they trailed up the stairs and out of the vault. Mongoose flagged slightly. He hadn't created that many shadow clones in a very, very long time. He began shouting orders once he steadied, and they created a human train of briefcases, ferrying them to the clones in the back, who would depart once they had all the cases they could carry and head to the secondary rendezvous outside of the city.
"The pallets won't fit out of the passage," said one of the last clones remaining, as they began to move the pallets.
Mongoose cursed, but Vixen put a hand on his arm. "It's not a problem. Stand back. Make sure to give me some fuel." After the clones had gotten out of the way, she made several hand signs and said, "Fire Style: Fire Breath Jutsu!" She breathed a cone of fire against the walls of the vault, and the stone cracked under the intense heat.
Mongoose made his own hand signs and said, "Wind Style: Wind Release Stream!" He exhaled a stream of high speed wind, which he funneled into Vixen's fire breath. The flames expanded and intensified, becoming blue in their heat. The stone walls could not stand against the fire, and Vixen was able to melt a larger path through it. Mongoose continued to breathe wind after she ceased her fire jutsu to cool the rock and make it safe to traverse.
The clones were able to get the pallets out of the vault after that. They escaped the mansion, and though it took some work and creativity to get the pallets over the compound walls and then the city walls, they were able to meet up with the rest of the clones and the secondary rendezvous.
Mongoose held his hand up. "Mission accomplished."
Vixen gave him a high five. "Time to go home."
"Hokage. ANBU Mongoose and Vixen reporting mission complete."
The robed man looked up from his desk. It was clear of paperwork, which was a rarity, and it seemed he may have been taking a nap.
"Hnnnn...Report."
"Hizeki Toriyo was eliminated successfully. However, he had warning of our approach, and I was unable to administer the poison. I was forced to kill him in combat."
The Hokage sighed. "That may cause some backlash. Did anyone see you and live?"
"No, sir."
"Then at least they don't know who did it," he said. "We will be able to maintain relations with the city until a regime change is possible, then. This is an acceptable outcome. And the assets?"
Vixen stepped forward. "Sir. We were unable to determine an approximate value of the assets seized from Hizeki Toriyo's vault, but we secured one hundred and twenty three briefcases of money and eight pallets filled with gold and silver bars. They have been hidden at the drop off point until such a time as covert transfer into the village is possible."
He nodded. "Good." He fished a form out from a drawer and stamped it. He handed it to Mongoose. "You'll be receiving payment for an A-rank mission. Good work."
Mongoose accepted the form. "Thank you."
"You will be sent for when we have another mission for you. Dismissed."
Mongoose and Vixen both exited the building with the Shunshin jutsu.
The Hokage, woken from his nap and still faced with nothing to do, spun around in his chair and faced the Hokage Monument. He looked at his face, there next to Minato's, and sighed.
"Still looks nothing like me," sighed Shikaku Nara. He took his robes off, a plain pair of pants and a shirt underneath them. "I think I'll have a walk around the village."
Naruto relaxed on his couch. He had just stripped out of his armor and flak jacket, which were scattered on the floor along with his backpack. His mask rested on the hilt of his sword, which was in the corner, by his door. He hadn't been home in almost three weeks. The assassination mission orders had come by messenger pigeon while he and Tsumeki were on their way back from their previous mission, a kidnapping meant to get information about Iwa's movements. He hadn't liked the idea, particularly, but he sent back the information with the pigeon after receiving the orders. The A-rank payment had been nice, considering that the two missions were a C and a B, respectively. Well, the first was more of a C and a half. They were sent to do it because of Tsumeki's knack for interrogation. She had spent part of their ANBU training taking lessons from Ibiki Morino and Anko Mitarashi themselves.
ANBU training. That had been an ordeal. While they operated as a team, he and Tsumeki had done remarkably little of their training together. While Tsumeki was receiving basic instruction on how to use a Katana, Naruto was learning advanced forms. While Naruto was being taught more advanced chakra control exercises like Water Walking, Tsumeki (having mastered the concepts of water walking quickly) was being taught to interrogate captives, which she excelled at even considering her aversion to torture. In fact, the only real training they had gone through together they were only together for for a short time. They were being taught about elemental affinities, and Tsumeki had really all but confirmed her Fire affinity, which had her shipped off to train with another Fire-aligned ANBU. Naruto's elemental affinity was Wind, which meant that he, once again, wasn't with Tsumeki. All they had done together was learn about the elemental affinities and then use the Chakra Paper.
All of that, plus advanced stealth and combat training, was murder. He was glad when it was over, and he was proud of his accomplishments. He looked at his left arm and grinned. His tattoo was there, signifying him as a member of ANBU.
He rolled his head back onto the arm of the couch. No sooner had he gotten comfortable than did three knocks come at his door.
"No!" he yelled. "Not today!"
The door opened, and Tsumeki came in, wearing a short t-shirt that showed off her midriff, shorts, and flip-flops. When she shut the door, she dropped her Concealment, dropped a bag next to his sword (he could see her ANBU uniform past a loose strap), and lay down in the armchair Naruto had next to his couch. "My building is being gassed for roaches or something," she said. "I nearly choked when I came in, so I grabbed some clothes and changed on the roof."
"Fun," he said.
They were silent for a moment. "God, I'm tired," she said.
"We've been on duty for three weeks," he said. "Not had a full night's sleep. Haven't taken food pills. Had to run hard when we were almost caught in Iwa. Then moving all that damned metal from the Grass Country. Yeah, we've been run kinda ragged."
"We shouldn't be this tired," she said. "People fight wars and don't whine like us."
"Yeah, well, we're used to a certain lifestyle. Three weeks is stretching it a bit."
"Maybe we should work on that."
"Eh. Later. Too tired."
"Right with you."
More silence.
"I feel disgusting," she said. "I don't even know when I last had a bath."
"Then go take a shower," Naruto said.
"I don't feel like a shower. Do you have a bath?"
"No. You'll have to go to the hot springs."
Tsumeki groaned. "But that would require moving. And putting my tails away." She twitched them a bit. "I don't get to relax like this nearly enough."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. It's nice to see you out of the Concealment." Without looking, he reached over and rubbed one of her ears between his fingers. She sighed contentedly.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too."
They stopped talking again. This silence lasted several minutes. Naruto continued to rub her ear until the angle started hurting his shoulder, and he stopped.
"Hey, Tsu-" Naruto started, looking over her shoulder. He stopped because he noticed that she was asleep. He smiled. She was adorable when she slept. Her mouth was just slightly opened, and he could see her fangs poking out past her lips. Every now and then, her ears or tails would twitch. "All right," he said. "Time to get up." He got off the couch and picked up Tsumeki. She didn't stir, and he carried her to his room. He only had a single person bed – he hadn't hardly changed the the apartment since he moved in – but if it was big enough for him, she would be fine. He put her in the bed and tucked her in. She snuggled into the pillow. She could probably smell him on it.
Naruto stripped off the wife-beater and boxers he had on and went into the bathroom. He didn't care for the idea of a shower much, either – in fact, the hot springs sounded like a damned fine idea, but he couldn't just leave Tsumeki alone here, nor was he about to wake her up – but he was chafed, sweaty, and had a nice layer of dirt and grime on him. He needed to purge his skin, and since he didn't have a full-blown disinfecting machine in his room, the shower would have to do. He didn't even wait for it to warm up before getting in.
Feeling water running over his skin was fantastic. He didn't even notice the temperature. He could feel the grime running off of him already. He thoroughly soaped himself three times before he felt clean, and washed his hair twice. Finally, when his skin was red from being rubbed so much and there was a collection of shed hair at the bottom of the shower, he turned it off and stepped out. The bathroom was steamy – he had turned the shower all the way up – and he started to dry himself off and enjoy the steam. It was almost like a hot spring. When he heard a door open and footsteps out in the living room, he thought nothing of it.
At least, not until he realized that there were more than one set of footsteps. And that Tsumeki had forgotten to lock the door when she came in.
Totally undressed, Naruto burst out of the bathroom, steam billowing out behind him. The tactical part of his brain noted with relief that his smoke detectors would be out of range of the steam and would not mistake it for smoke.
There was a man and a woman in his apartment. The man had an athletic build and was wearing something almost like a short kimono. His legs were bare, as were his feet, but Naruto took more note of his six white fox tails and the triangular ears atop his head. The woman could have been a stunt double for Tsumeki, save for her five tails. His tactical brain noted that they had left the door open, so his ANBU mask and Tsumeki's pack were hidden. Of course, so was his sword. And with what Tsumeki had said of her parents, Naruto wouldn't doubt that he might need it.
"Oh, my," said the father, looking Naruto up and down. "Look, dear, it's a nude barbarian."
Naruto scowled at him. He knew exactly who they were, but perhaps they wouldn't know he knew and might believe they had gotten the wrong place if he played dumb. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, pulling on his ANBU pants. They felt odd with no underwear.
"Oh, hush, talk not to your betters, human," Mrs. Shuro said. She waved her hand, and an orb of foxfire appeared. "Find her, would you, dear?" she asked, dismissing Naruto.
"Hey, I'm talking to you," he said, struggling not to stare at the foxfire.
"Oh, it's resisting," she said, suddenly interested. She licked her lips. "This will be interesting indeed."
"We don't have time," Mr. Shuro said. "We need to get back to the skulk. Find Tsumeki. I'll kill it."
"Ah!" Naruto said, holding up a finger. "You can't kill me."
He raised an eyebrow and stopped moving towards Naruto, obviously deciding to humor him. "And why is that?"
"Because I'm a ninja of Konoha," he said. "If you kill me, you'll get in some deep shit with the village. They might even declare war on your skulk." Naruto wasn't exactly sure what a skulk is, but be it a family unit, village, or whatever, he was sure that he had used it correctly.
"And who's to say they'll ever find out?" he asked.
"We have a very good intelligence division," Naruto countered. "They'll find you."
"Oh, dear, we'll just take it back to the skulk. I'm sure Mei would love a new pet," said Mrs. Shuro.
"Naruto, what's going...on..." said Tsumeki sleepily, coming out of Naruto's bedroom. She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide at her parents. "You," she hissed. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"We've come to take you home," Mrs. Shuro said. "You've earned your place in the skulk by defeating the Ichibi. We are so proud of you. You can come back now, sweetie." She extended a hand, smiling.
"Like she would want to-" Naruto started.
"Silence!" she shouted. She snapped her fingers, and her spark of foxfire doubled in size to the diameter of a small plate. Naruto couldn't look away anymore.
"Don't do that to him!" Tsumeki yelled. She waved her hand at the foxfire and it shrunk until it winked out of existence.
"Darling," said Mrs. Shuro, "You can't mean to tell me you actually have some sort of attachment to this human's mind, do you?" She snapped again, and the foxfire came back. Naruto had screwed his eyes shut, but he could still see the haunting blue through his eyelids. He still couldn't turn his head away.
"I have an attachment to him, actually," Tsumeki snarled. She destroyed the foxfire again.
"Nonsense," her father said. "You're being ridiculous. Come home with us, right now."
"No!" Tsumeki shouted. "That is NOT how this works! You don't get to dump me off at an orphanage for not getting my first tail 'on time' and then come back like nothing ever happened after I've made something of myself!"
Mrs. Shuro blinked a few times and laughed slightly. "Do you mean to tell me, dear, that you don't want to come back?"
"No, I don't! I never want to go back! You abandoning me like you did, it scarred me! I spent seven years of my life in depression, until someone came along who actually cared about me enough to help me! I would never have gotten either of my tails without him!"
"Him?" asked Mr. Shuro, pointing at Naruto. "This pathetic being?"
"Yes, him! And he is not pathetic! Do not say anything about him, don't even talk about him! Your mouths are not worthy of his name!"
Her mother choked slightly. "Tsumeki, are you...you aren't..."
"Yes, I'm in love with him! Madly! More than a pathetic animal like you could ever comprehend!"
Mr. Shuro grunted. "Can't have that, can we?" He turned around to slap Naruto across the faith.
A part of Naruto's brain did a quick dig through his memory banks, and he recalled that tail six was a great boost to strength. Being that Kitsune were already pretty strong to begin with, Naruto felt it was prudent to not be hit by that. He ducked. The Kitsune's palm swept through the air.
"Don't you DARE!" shouted Tsumeki. Her ear twitched, and all of a sudden her Concealment was up.
A moment later, Naruto heard it. Rapid footsteps, coming down the hall. He could feel the energy under them. It could be only one person.
"Naruto! I was overjoyed to hear you were back in town after several weeks! Your flames of youth must be burning stronger than ever before, and I must test them for myself! Will you spar with me?"
Rock Lee Had finished his sentence before he realized that something was amiss in the Uzumaki residence. Tsumeki was standing at the edge of the living room, an accusing finger pointed at two unfamiliar people who had tails and animal ears. Naruto was crouching on the floor, a mere foot under the open palm of one of the two people. Lee's eyes narrowed. "You must be enemies of Naruto and Tsumeki! We will defeat you, for our flames of youth burn stronger than yours, and -"
"Lee," Naruto said. "Go get help."
"But Naruto, we can-"
"Trust me, Lee, get somebody. Quickly."
Lee nodded and sprinted down the hall.
"No!" said Mrs. Shuro. "Get him! Our presence cannot be known!"
"We are discovered," said Mr. Shuro. "We must leave before we can be followed. We will be back for you, daughter."
"No," she snarled, "You won't. Because I am not your daughter." She dropped her concealment, bit her wrist, and then spat a mouthful of blood at the faces of each of her parents.
Mrs. Shuro stood there, horrified, with the blood streaking down her face. "But you- you can't – we're your parents!"
Mr. Shuro simply frowned and wiped the blood off of his face. "No," he said. "Not anymore. So be it. Come, dear. Back to the skulk."
They disappeared before any further conversation will be had.
"What just happened?" asked Naruto, slowly getting up.
"I disowned them," she said, her voice shaking. She walked to the armchair and fell into it. "That's what the blood was for. They wash their faces of my blood, they wash themselves of me."
"Your mother, she didn't wipe it off. What if she doesn't?"
Tsumeki's voice steadied slightly, and turned grave. "Then she coats her face in blood and the rest of her life is devoted to reclaiming me."
"And your father? Does he actually have to wash his face, or...?"
"No. Wiping is sufficient. Even if my mother reclaims me, he will not be my father."
"Reclaim, what do you mean reclaim?"
"She'll be back," said Tsumeki. "And if she defeats me and puts her blood in my veins, she has power over me. I'll have to go back with her."
Naruto paled. "D-does that work with anyone, or...?"
"No. It's part of being a Kitsune. Specifically part of the disownment ritual."
"Is there anyway to fix it?"
"Only if her blood is expunged from me or replaced by someone else's. But then they'll have power over me."
"What can we do, then?"
"Hope she wipes the blood off."
"Will she?"
"No. She's too proud. She won't be bested by her own child. We have to go somewhere safe."
"Where can we be that's safe from that?"
Tsumeki bit her lip. "I think I know a place. Pack some bags. I'll be back. I'm going to get more clothes. And my sword."
Rock Lee came around the corner, tailed by Might Gai.
"Where are they, Lee? The trespassers who threaten our dear friends Naruto and Tsumeki?"
"They are here, Gai-sensei! We must defeat them triumphantly to defend the honor of our comrades!"
"They left," said Naruto. "Lee going to get help scared them off. They didn't want to face more people."
Lee dropped from his combat stance, looking disappointed. "Oh...Then there will be no glorious fight in defense of honor." He sounded like he looked.
"No, Lee, there won't, but you've done something better!" said Gai. "If what you told me is true, these people are truly formidable, and Naruto and Tsumeki could not have triumphed over them alone. By coming to get me, you defeated them single-handed!"
"Really, Gai-sensei?! Do you think that's what their retreat means?!"
"Yes, Lee, I do! I'm so proud of you, Lee!"
"Thank you, Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Here comes sunset no jutsu..." muttered Tsumeki.
Sure enough, Lee and Gai collided in a hug so strong the backdrop of the apartment became a sunset. Manly tears were shed by both involved.
"The Hyuuga compound?" Naruto asked. They were standing outside of the aforementioned building. "Why here?"
"I found out a while back that the Byakugan can see through Kitsune illusions," she said. "With all of the branch family guards, we'll be safe. Oh, and Hinata knows I'm a Kitsune. That's how we discovered all of this."
"Hinata knows? Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never asked, and it never came up. Several branch family members and her father also know, but they've all sworn to secrecy."
"Only a few? How do they not all know?"
"They can see through the illusions, but not the Concealment. Besides, the ones that know won't go telling it even to their friends. They really like me here."
"Why? I was under the impression most of the Hyuugas didn't really like anybody."
"I trained with Hinata a lot," she said. "She's become a lot stronger and a lot more confident than she used to be. I'm sure you've noticed that. She's become worthy of the title of heiress, which the Hyuuga Clan Council was unsure about a few years ago."
"Wow. I had no idea. Why didn't you ever say anything about all that?"
"I told you I was really good friends with Hinata. And that we trained together all the time. The rest just..." she shrugged. "Didn't seem relevant, I guess. Come on."
She and Naruto approached the gate to the compound and were stopped by one of the guards. "Halt! State your business."
Tsumeki stopped and bowed slightly. She kicked Naruto, and he did the same. "We ask a meeting with Hiashi-sama," she said in her most respectful voice.
"And whom shall I annouce?"
"Tsumeki Shuro and Naruto Uzumaki."
The guard nodded. "Wait here."
Several minutes later, the guard returned. "Hiashi-sama will see you. Follow me."
Naruto was grateful that he had finally come back. For the entire time that he had been gone, his partner had been staring at Naruto and Tsumeki. It had been very uncomfortable.
They went through the winding halls and spacious gardens of the Hyuuga clan compound for what felt like half an hour before they reached a door. "Inside."
"Thank you." Tsumeki bowed again. Naruto did so as well, not wanting to be kicked again. She opened the door and stepped in. He followed.
"Tsumeki," said Hiashi Hyuuga, smiling. "To what do I owe the honor?"
Tsumeki bowed, deeper than she had with the guard. Naruto did the same. "I come requesting asylum for myself and Naruto."
Hiashi furrowed his brow. "Sit," he said, gesturing to the cushions opposite him. "We will have tea shortly. Tell me what is happening."
"Hiashi-Sama, you know the secret which I hold dear, and what powers the Byakugan has over it."
"Yes, I do," he said. "Why? What's going on?"
"Sir, you know that I grew up in the Konoha Orphanage. However, I am not an orphan." Tsumeki went on to explain the situation with her parents, starting with why they left her at the orphanage and ending with the events that took place at Naruto's apartment.
"I see," he said, sipping from his tea. It had arrived partway into Tsumeki's tale. "And you require asylum because you are afraid your mother will return to...what, reclaim you, was it?"
"Yes, sir. I can't afford to stay awake all of the time to defend myself. If I did, I would be unable to fulfill my duties as a ninja." She subconsciously rolled her left shoulder, where her tattoo was.
"I understand that your mother is very dangerous," he said, "and sheltering you will put the lives of some of my clan members at risk."
"Yes, sir."
Hiashi looked at her sternly for a moment before smiling. "But what are we if we do not help our friends in their time of need. You are welcome in my home, Tsumeki Shuro and Naruto Uzumaki. Rooms will be arranged for you."
Tsumeki breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Hiashi-sama. Thank you so much."
Naruto was found a vacant room in the Main Family wing, where the security was the highest. He was led to believe that this was highly unusual, but considering the danger, Hiashi was more than willing to make an exception. Being that the Guest Wing was mostly empty and putting more guards in there would be more trouble than it would be worth, and no other conveniently located rooms were empty, Hinata had volunteered to share her room with Tsumeki. This was a relief for Naruto; he knew Tsumeki was by far the safer of the two, because not only was she with Hinata, but she would have more people in the area than Naruto would, as the Heiress is given more guards. A lack of those had nearly resulted in her kidnapping when she was a small child, and Hiashi was loathe to make the same mistake twice.
Naruto had been tossing and turning for several hours before he decided to lend himself to the guards for a while. He couldn't sleep; his mind was far too trouble by the threat of Tsumeki's mother to allow him such a privilege. He felt like his mind was a guard dog; it wouldn't stand down until the master assured it that the threat was understood and taken care of. He wasn't sure who the master was, but he wished he'd hurry and give the all clear command.
"Uzumaki-san?" said a passing guard as Naruto left his room in full ANBU garb, save his mask.
"Hyuuga-san," he said, nodding. "I can't sleep. Who might I talk to about lending myself to the guard for a few hours?"
"Azara, in the front courtyard. Can you find your way?"
"I'll figure it out. Worst case scenario, I wander for a while."
The Hyuuga nodded. "Stay safe."
"You too."
Naruto stayed true to his worst case scenario and wandered the halls of the compound for what felt like forty minutes before finding the front courtyard. Three Hyuugas were on duty; two at the gate, and one patrolling the courtyard. Unlike all the other Hyuuga guards he had seen, the patrolling Hyuuga was a woman. He assumed that this must be Azara and approached her.
"Uzumaki-san?" she asked.
"Azara-san?" he asked in return.
"Yes, I am Azara. What brings you in such dress at this hour?"
"I can't sleep. I was hoping to help out for a while."
"If you wish. We currently do not have anyone stationed on the roofs. Normally, this is a superfluous addition, but with the heightened level of security, perhaps it would be prudent."
"Stationary or patrolling?"
"It is usually a patrolling position," she said. "Simply watch the walls as best you can to ensure nobody is climbing over them."
"Thank you. I'll let you know when I plan to retire."
"Thank you, Uzumaki-san. I will be here for the rest of the night."
Naruto walked up the side of the building and began to circle the roof of the compound. He stepped as lightly as he could. It probably made him move a bit slower than was optimal for a patrol, but he didn't want to make giant clopping steps that woke everyone beneath him. During his patrol, he dutifully kep this eyes on the walls, but he made sure not to be a rookie about it. He mixed up his route as often as possible to throw off anybody attempting to time their infiltration. He also made sure not to watch the walls all the time. It wouldn't do to watch the walls with such intensity that someone sneaked up behind him and shoved a kunai through his head.
About an hour, maybe an hour and a half into his patrol, he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. He went to investigate, but found that it was nothing but a Hyuuga guard. Or at least, that was what he thought until another guard came around the corner and immediately shouted for the alarm to be raised. The "guard" charged forward at him, and he moved very quickly, but Naruto's reflexes were too quick for him to close the distance.
"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" He knew the power of the jutsu, and he didn't feed it as much chakra as he could have to avoid damaging the Hyuuga grounds. Six wind bullets flew from Naruto's mouth and headed for the false guard. Two impacted with his – well, her – back, throwing her forward, but she dodged before the rest could hit her. The interruption of concentration dispelled the Kitsune Illusion, revealing Tsumeki's mother, her face covered in bright scarlet blood. Four more Hyuugas rounded the corners of the compound and headed for her. She looked up, made eye contact with Naruto, and he thought he saw her snarl. She retreated over the walls, and Naruto was sure she was pulling back for the night to reevaluate her plan. She'd be more careful next time, now that she knew her Illusions weren't supreme over the Hyuuga.
Azara joined the group of Hyuuga guards, and before long, one pointed a finger at Naruto, still on the roof.
Azara joined him and immediately bowed deeply. "You have saved the life of one of my men. I am in your debt."
"Naw," said Naruto, waving a hand. "Tonight, I'm just another guard doing my job. You don't owe me anything."
"I will inform Hiashi-sama upon the morn," she said.
"Really, it's okay." He looked up and saw that the moon was high in the sky; two, maybe three in the morning. "I think I'm done for the night. Thanks again for letting me help."
"Any time, Uzumaki-sama. There is no need to ask in the future; simply fall into whatever patrol you wish."
"Thanks," he said.
It took him some time to make it back to his room (not nearly as long as it did to get to the courtyard). He stripped quickly and fell into his bed. The master had assured his mind that the danger was gone for the night. Naruto could go to sleep. And he did.
Late update! Laziness! Woohoo!
This chapter flowed nicely. I actually didn't start it until yesterday, and I wrote all but two thousand words of it today. It flowed nicely. I'm happy with how it turned out. And no hate mail about Shikaku as the Hokage. He has the resume, I'm surprised he was never offered in canon. Trust me, I did my homework on him.
Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP, but this semester is a bitch for homework. I'm not making promises. Please do review, I thrive on them and they make me want to write more. A review is actually what motivated me to get to work on this one. True story. You can all thank skooglie for this one.
'Till next time.