A/N: Well, you didn't have to wait forever, but it's not the promised OH or LB2 yet (I have worked on both, I swear!). This chapter is also currently unedited except by myself and in a hurry, because I'm unwilling to wait. I will fix that when I get it back from either or both of my beta editors.
Also, correction: My new beta is MARK, not MIKE. Sorry about that. Lol
Enjoy!

Chap. 14 The Demon's Demise

Several hundred kilometers to the east-northeast, a contemporary of Kakashi's, also a Jonin (secretly also an ANBU) of Konoha gave his young charges a careful, grim stare. "You are sure you're all prepared for any eventuality? You all know the plan?"

"Yes, Yamato-sensei," the only original member of Naruto's team present replied, her pink hair wiggling a little as she withdrew from the sketch of the area from a birds-eye view their current team leader had provided. To her right, the creepy, very pale boy with short black hair merely nodded and withdrew from the light of the small lantern they were huddled around, while to Sakura's left, Shikamaru and Chōji agreed as well.
It was a simple plan, but would almost certainly be effective. Using the robes she and Chiyo, and then Naruto and Kakashi, had recovered from her battle with Sasori no Akasuna, Yamato would be creating a Wood Clone puppet with his signature jutsu, while she, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sai, the newcomer, would be laying in wait in case he was ambushed.
The meeting site between Yamato as Sasori and Sasori's unknown spy was to be at the middle of the Heaven and Earth Bridge, a narrow foot-bridge crossing a wide, very deep gorge on the border of the Land of Rice Paddies and Grass, a half-day north of the border with the Land of Fire.

If all went well, Yamato- coached extensively for the last five days by Sakura, who was the one who had fought and helped kill Sasori, and therefore knew him best- would meet with the spy, find out what he knew about Orochimaru and Sasuke's condition and whereabouts, and then leave peacefully.
If it did not... well, Yamato was a Jonin, and he had four Chunin as backup, even if they were young. Between Shikamaru's binding, Chōji's striking power, her own strength and medical jutsu, and... whatever Sai did besides draw (well, she had to admit, having glanced in his notebook several times over the last few days), he should have plenty of backup to escape. It was just one spy, after all, no matter how skilled.

Of course, the next day as the sun began to sink down toward the horizon, Sakura remembered one of the first lessons taught in the Academy.
No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

Yamato had apparently been known to be a spy from the beginning, unless somehow Sasori's conditioning had broken and the spy was going to attack him anyway.

Yamato, clad in his wood puppet, had been all-but immune to the damage of the bastard Kabuto's chakra scalpels (and how did he learn that, Sakura had to wonder), but when she heard that laugh...

That chilling, frigid-cold laugh of amusement mixed with a healthy dose of disdain...
Sakura's blood did more than just run cold.

"Ah, Kabuto... perhaps your 'master' is still too surprised to react to your conditioning being broken? Or maybe he never knew you were immune to conditioning from the start, thanks to your old master?"
But that fear was nothing compared to seeing Orochimaru himself walk out of the treeline on the far side of the gorge, then hear him speak again, "Your little Chunin squad seems a little scared to come out and play... Tenzo. I have to admit, I'm surprised one of my experiments survived, I'd heard you all died."

Sakura gulped, though she didn't know what the snake was talking about. Whatever it was, it wasn't good, that she did know.

Without warning, two trees from the far side of the gorge grew out with astonishing speed and attempted to trap both Orochimaru and Kabuto in their many, twisting branches.
Only then, did Choji, Sai, and Sakura move out to protect their team leader, with Shikamaru wisely staying back to conserve his strength and ability to act from cover, hopefully gaining a small element of surprise.

Except neither Orochimaru or Kabuto were in the least affected. The branches withered away even as they touched Kabuto, who was suddenly emanating a green-purple glow as his chakra flared, while Orochimaru had simply drawn the glowing blue-white blade of Kusanagi, the Grass-Cutter Katana, a legendary blade, from his throat and cut the branches to ribbons as they approached, leaving only old dust and splinters to fall far, far down into the river below.
"Ku ku ku ku... you'll have to do better than that, Tenzo... still, I have to admit, I'm interested in seeing what you can do. Just not this moment. Come, Kabuto. We have work to do, now that your 'master' is no longer around."

Of course, they tried to stop the pair from leaving, but by the time Yamato had removed his own trees from the other end of the bridge, the pair were gone, vanished as if they'd never been.
And even Yamato, who claimed to have been able to plant tracking seeds in just about anyone, had to admit his failure in doing so to either of the two ninja who had just walked away.

But somehow, despite all that, Sakura had hope now. More than before, at any rate.

Wherever Orochimaru was, so was Sasuke.

And while Orochimaru was leagues ahead of her in terms of skill...

She had seen his arms move, seen his skill as he batted away the trees. He was good, damned good.
But he was not perfect.

A monster of the Shinobi world, maybe. But even monsters could be killed.

There was still a chance.

And that knowledge was enough, for now. One day, Sasuke would either come home willingly, or be brought home, kicking and screaming (Or unconscious, if he forced her hand).

"Come," Yamato called to the members of his temporary team after Kabuto and Orochimaru had disappeared, "we have work to do. I can track them out to a hundred kilometers, they won't escape, but we need to get moving. Sai, send a message to Konoha about the results. Your mission will have to wait until we catch up to them anyway."

If Shikamaru was surprised (as she was) by the news that Sai had another mission, he did not show it, but Sai himself only paused to give their team leader a rather flat look for a moment before nodding and pulling out his drawing pad. A few seconds later, the message was written. Seconds after that, the eagle Sai had sketched around it leapt off the page, taking all the ink with it including the message. "Very well. I will also send a report to my master about my failure to keep my mission a secret."

"No," ordered Yamato (or was he really called Tenzo?), "wait until we've met up. I don't care what Danzo thinks he's doing with you, but only someone not paying any attention at all wouldn't wonder why a ROOT member is put on a mission with a known enemy like Orochimaru. As smart as these two are, I'm sure they figured it out as fast as I did," Yamato finished with a gesture to Shikamaru and herself, making Sakura blush and look away. She certainly had not... not that she'd admit it!

"We have to catch up quickly now," Yamato reminded them, "so be prepared to move quickly but expect combat or an ambush at any time. The odds that they are not leading us into a trap are almost non-existent. We simply don't have a choice. Move out!"

(O)(O)(O)

Naruto's Rasengan buried itself in the gut of the stone ninja, shredding the 'invincible' body of the chakra-created body into flechettes of granite that spread over a surprising area. As all the breath left the gray, spiked body in a rush, the shrapnel from the impact shredded into the flesh of the blue-haired water user, taking out one of his eyes and filling his remaining vision with blood.
A few meters away, the bullets of Kakashi's summoned Water Dragon blew through the air cannon that the light-blue haired male was shooting off constantly, while Kakashi's sharingan proved to be more than a match for the medical jutsu the pink-haired man he was fighting, easily shutting down the strange double-bladed kunai and chakra scalpels he was trying to kill the Jonin with.
Naruto grinned as his rocky opponent fell, the stone beginning to disintegrate already from the large hole Naruto had punched through the man's torso and turned an almost feral grin toward the orange-haired young woman, "You're next, right?"
The girl stared at her partner for a few seconds, blinked, and turned her attention to Naruto for a few seconds. He watched, ready for her to pounce at any time with the great speed the flexible water user had already demonstrated, while her black eyes moved over to Kakashi's two on one (yet easy for the Jonin) fight. "Fuck this, I'm out of here! Jigoku can handle it himself!"
But before Naruto could stop her, the girl has used a waterspout generated under her feet to throw herself more than a hundred meters into the air and over the temple walls.
As she vanished from view, Naruto turned to watch Kakashi backhand the medic across the face with his kunai, tearing through cheek, skull, nose, and out the other side. Naruto grimaced... medic or not, no one was coming back from that, likely the kunai had bisected part of the ninja's cerebellum and the lower front half of his cerebral cortex.
Kakashi was vicious when he wanted to be!
Naruto shuddered and moved in to help his sensei with the last of the ninja, the already bloody and battered blue-haired wind user, but Kakashi, Sharingan blazing, whipped through hand signs faster than Naruto could follow, and the man collapsed to the ground.
"Wait, Naruto," Kakashi ordered as he moved in to finish the enemy off, "We need someone to question and he's the last one left. But I don't see a fourth body... what happened to the girl?"
Naruto pointed over the walls, "She took off that way when she saw how badly we were kicking their asses, Kakashi-sensei. Want me to chase her?"
The Jonin shook his head, "No... this is the second attack that we've smashed. I doubt the ring-leader will try again, and if the girl is smart she won't be going back to report anyway. Most ninja who would kill a priestess wouldn't hesitate to kill a follower who failed, much less someone who wants to take over the world doing so."
Naruto snorted, "Got that right. What is it with bad guys killing their own people? Are they just stupid?"
As Kakashi covered his Sharingan eye again, he bent over the profusely bleeding enemy and rolled him over, not kindly, to hog-tie him with high-tensile wire. At least he was nice enough to do it over the man's long-sleeved tunic, because that stuff hurt if you were carried that way on bare skin. Naruto had heard stories of people just struggling to get free and dismembering their arms or legs. Or at least cutting down to the bone. There was a reason the stuff was used so often for garrottes. "They probably are," the man agreed, "It takes a certain kind of fallacy in thinking to believe you can take over the world anyway. It's been tried since humanity first came to be, but no one has ever succeeded. Somewhere, somehow, people always find a way to fight back. Still, you have to give most of those crazies credit for persistence, right?"

Naruto laughed, before beginning to field-strip the bodies of the two enemy ninja that had died, leaving only the barest of their clothing. Shion might be mad if she had to see them in detail, and the last thing he wanted to do after the previous incidents was piss her off more.

(O)(O)(O)

"There you have it, Miroku-sama," Kakashi reported two hours later, after they had questioned the ninja, killed him in the nicest way they could (a kunai into his blind eye socket so he wouldn't see it coming), and then disposed of the three bodies before finally removing the gore with a shower and dressing in clothes that weren't battle-ruined.
"I see," the elder Priestess nodded, "And you are certain of the information the captured ninja gave?"
Kakashi nodded once himself, "Not absolutely sure, but pretty close. It's hard to lie when you are poisoned, bleeding internally and externally with near-lethal wounds, and believe you are talking to your own superior. That was the genjutsu I used. He could have been lying, but I believe he was not. I would... not precisely stake your lives on it, but I would stake mine and Naruto's."

The blonde Genin gulped. That was... rude! Heartless!
"Very well," the priestess said softly, looking once more at her wide-eyed daughter, who was still bed-ridden, "I believe Taruho and the other guards will be able to handle things if you wish to pursue them... though I must admit to a certain reluctance to end your time here. I believe having the two of you has been good for the both of us."
Naruto looked at Shion's mother with confusion, while out of the corner of his eye he saw Kakashi's mask and eye bend into what he was certain was a side smile. Kakashi bowed, "I have enjoyed it for my part as well, Lady Miroku. But we cannot linger once the mission is complete and your safety is assured. It is... nothing personal."

Naruto's eyes widened. He'd never heard Kakashi-sensei say anything like that... ever! What was going on here?"

He did not notice Shion's lilac eyes widening as well while she looked between her mother and the older ninja in shock. Surely...? Surely not! No way! Yet... her mother had been in a strangely good mood...

No... it couldn't be.

It just couldn't.

(O)(O)(O)

"So is this the place, Kakashi-sensei?"

The older ninja nodded, "It matches the description and directions. Besides, it's the only active volcano in several hundred kilometers, and there's a stone torii arch around the cave. How could it not be?"

"I donno," Naruto shrugged, "I'm just asking. So what's the plan?"
It was two days later, and Kakashi had mostly refilled his chakra loss from using his Sharingan for about ten minutes plus a couple of high-end genjutsu using it, and they were a day and a half away from the main temple, west and a bit north. Supposedly, this was where the spirit of Mōryō was bound. Their next stop was the more well-known location of Mōryō's body, on the other end of Oni no Kuni, before returning to the temple to let Miroku and Shion know that it was over. Neither expected much of a hassle, given how easily the gang of four had been defeated, but both were also experienced enough to take nothing for granted.

"Well... I would suggest using a couple of Kage Bunshin to go in and scout. That's what they were originally for, after all."

Naruto nodded, surprised he'd never thought of that himself, and formed his most trademark hand-sign.

Ten minutes later, Naruto stood from his crouch, "There's two men in there. One about your age, one a lot older. They're both wearing the same kind of clothes, old black or brown trenchcoats. It's hard to make them out from a distance because of the heat, the floor is half lava with narrow paths of stone all over. It's... I don't know, it doesn't really look safe. It's a couple feet up from the lava, so it's gonna be hot. The paths look stable enough, but if you slip... and it looks complicated, but there aren't many dead-ends."

"Can you sketch a map?"

Naruto shook his head, "Probably, but I don't think it's worth the work. They're like, in the main lava chamber or something. It's a big cavern, but the floor is mostly flat and the path goes straight in before opening up. There's a directly line to the men, but we could go around easy enough if you want to flank them."
"Alright," Kakashi nodded, "so our options are sneak and try and flank, or bust in the main door. What do you think we should do?"
Naruto shrugged, "They already know we're here. They saw my clones 'cause one of them slipped and fell into the lava and screamed. I guess just go in."
"Normally," Kakashi smiled behind his mask, "that would be a terrible idea. We aren't samurai, we don't normally go for the frontal assault. I know you prefer it, but that might hold you back in the upcoming Chunin exams... no matter how resilient and tough you are. But this time, I think you're right. We'll go to the edge of the chamber, you swarm them with clones, and use that distraction to get close. You go for the younger guy."

Naruto nodded, "Right."

"So," the old voice rang out over the sound of slowly-boiling stone, "our enemies show their true faces. Yomi... you will retreat. We have lost this day, but our dark master will rise again in the future."
With obvious reluctance, the long dark-haired man nodded, "Yes, Father. As it has been, it shall be, I suppose... if not me, and the girl, then the next Priestess, or the next after that shall fall."
Without further warning, the lava on either side of Kakashi and Naruto flared, spouting in an arc over both of them. While droplets scattered, hissing, onto the stone where they had been standing moments before, it quickly became clear that there was not actually an attack taking place. Still, when either had a moment to look around, the dark-haired man was gone.
Naruto whipped around, just in time to see the man's booted feet disappearing up the tunnel they had just vacated. "Damn it," he cursed, and made to give chase before Kakashi's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"We have bigger fish to fry, Naruto," the Jonin said, pointing forward to the old man on the platform ahead.
Naruto looked... and was amazed.
The man, who had been equally long-haired but stooped with age, had suddenly swelled to nearly twice Kakashi's height and four times his breadth. He had grown spikes, curved, wickedly-sharp ones, from his knees and elbows, jutting back as if they were extensions of his forearms, along with smaller spikes covering his scalp and pushing up through the thin, white hair.
He was covered in a purple-blue miasma of chakra that made Naruto, even from a dozen meters away, shudder in digust. Even the Fox's chakra wasn't that foul... though it was far more potent.
"What do you think, Naruto?"

For a moment, the Genin paused, looking back up the tunnel again, then turned his attention to the hulking monstrosity before them, "Delaying tactic... suicide jutsu. I think I can handle him if you want to go after the young one."
"Good call... alright, let's do it your way. If I'm not back when you get done, come outside. I don't like the idea of you staying in here too long. This place..."

"Gotcha," Naruto agreed, "it's already grumbling about the place feeding it somehow... but it doesn't feel like I'm going to lose it anytime soon."
"Alright," Kakashi agreed again, "Good luck."

Naruto waited a few seconds for his sensei to gain some distance before stepping forward onto the platform. The whole while, the thing that had once been an old man waited for him, only to speak when he finally came close. "Your sensei was not wise to split your forces. I am more than enough for any brat... even if Yomi's report of your skill is true."

The Genin frowned, and stuck out a hand in a thumbs-down gesture, "You're going down if you underestimate me. I'm not the little kid I used to be... and I was pretty strong then."
"I see," the creature smiled, revealing a wide-set mouth and wickedly sharp, pointed teeth, "you think a mere boy can handle a Dark Medic, one who carries a portion of the soul of Mōryō... Well. Allow me to enlighten you, boy!"
With a snort, Naruto's foot lashed forward, deflecting the clawed hand down into the ground with a crescent kick, before delivering a quick chakra-enhanced stomp to further embed it into the granite. "Don't you know who I am? I'm not a 'boy'... I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Ninja of the Leaf. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox. I'm Uzumaki Naruto... and I'm your end!"
The colossus seemed to roll its glowing purple-black eyes, "If you truly are a vessel for the Demon Fox, then you should know a bit about carrying darkness in your heart... and you should know that nothing is darker than Mōryō."
Immediately after he'd finished speaking, the creature's other hand came down in a much faster swipe than the previous, intending to smash Naruto into his other stoney hand.
The Genin, though, had not been standing silent and still, and had already performed a Substitution with his own hastily-summoned clones. Clones that now covered the small island.
Before the old man-creature could bring the first arm up out of the shattered ground, half of the clones were carrying blue glowing spheres.
"So," the original grinned, "you're pretty confident in your strength... and I gotta admit, that'd hurt if you hit me. If you were fast enough to hit me. But I have to wonder, too... you carry the soul of Mōryō? What about that shrine behind you? Does it carry the rest? I think it does."
The monster's eyes narrowed, "And if it does? What are you going to do about it? Destroying it would just let the soul free, allowing the entirety of it to flow into my son, who is already strong enough to carry it all, strong enough to bring it to the body... and unleash an invincible army."

Naruto just shook his head while the clones continued to build power into their Rasengans, "Yeah... about that. See, Kakashi-sensei's pretty damned good. He's one of Konoha's best. And... well, I've learned a thing or two about 'invincible'. Wanna hear it? The lesson won't take long."

The monster laughed, "Sure, sure... go ahead, kid, I can delay you a little longer that way."
"Oodama Rasengan," the clones said as one, and the spheres tripled in size. Still, the man-monster showed no care.
"It's simple," Naruto answered with a smirk, "The thing about invincibility... there's no such thing."
But, as the beast brought up the spined, thick arms to defend itself against the many attacks, Naruto leapt as far back as he could, fleeing for the entrance at full speed.
The fifteen-sixteen Great Ball Rasengans were not aimed at the monster, nor even the shrine.
Instead, every one had gone straight down.
The resulting explosions shattered the entire platform, sending the monster- too heavy to leap away- and the shrine into the bubbling magma.
Fifteen seconds later, when Naruto blurred out of the already smoke-filled tunnel, he immediately changed course to hide behind the nearest, largest stone pillar he could find, while shouting for Kakashi to take cover.
Thirty-two seconds after that, Naruto heard a shriek of pain that was otherworldly in its strength and ferocity, before it was cut off by the sound of a cataclysmic explosion.
The shockwave blew past Naruto's shelter, stripping the scant, twisted trees in the area of any branch smaller than six inches, and ripping most of them at least partially from the ground. Even the smaller rock formations were blown away.
The following thermal blast ignited almost every tree in the area a split second later, crisping all but the very oldest, which had already survived one explosion, to ash in moments.
Then Naruto ran, and ran.

Only seven hours later did he look back at his handiwork, to see a pillar of flame and ash still gouting into the sky, rapidly spreading. "Whoah... did I do that?"

(O)(O)(O)

Seven days later, Naruto and Kakashi had finally met back up and checked the shrine where Mōryō's body lay before returning to the temple. They were giving their final report to Miroku and Shion, both now in their official priestess regalia, accepting the report in a formal nature.
"Therefore, I believe the threat to have passed, Lady Miroku," Kakashi finished, "While Yomi-san escaped, his power base was eradicated and he is now a lone man. And while what his apparent father claimed could be a threat, it is unlikely that he will be able to get past the shrine's defenses to merge what's left of the soul with the body."
Miroku gave a sad smile, then said, "Guards... out, please."
A few moments later, she turned equally said eyes to her daughter, before turning her attention to Kakashi. "I will... die, in three years' time. Yomi will gather more followers and succeed in his attempt. Nothing we can do will prevent this, because in dying I will prevent Shion from dying."
Naruto's eyes flew to the younger priestess, who for some reason was watching him as well, as tears filled her eyes. She nodded solemnly, before looking down at the clasped hands in her lap.
"But..." he began, but Miroku interrupted.
"I am at peace with that, Naruto-kun," she said with another sad smile, "The line will be carried on through my daughter. I believe, though... I believe I have made a mistake regarding her. For now, as long as I survive, I will train her... until she can defend herself. When Yomi and his line rise again with what's left of Mōryō's spirit, she or her descendants will be ready."
Naruto smiled, hoping that the news would at least partially cheer up the younger girl. She still had not looked up from her hands, though, and he could see the tears about to drip from her chin. Surely... there was something he could do?
No one should have to know her mother, her only parent, was about to die... Even if he thought it was better to have some warning than none at all.
"Your payment will be delivered in the morning. Please, take this last night to rest from your efforts, and know that Oni no Kuni... and we in particular, thank both of you for all you have done. You... have made my last month not only safe, but enjoyable. And I believe you have influenced my once-spoiled daughter for the better."
Naruto, at first, latched onto the possible meaning behind Miroku's words, wondering if his earlier suspicions had been correct, but was quickly distracted by Shion's sudden blush.
What did it mean?

(O)(O)(O)

"Well, here's your loot," Kakashi dropped a scroll on Naruto's bed, "I'm heading to bed... don't wait up, and don't bother knocking. I'm, uh... chakra exhausted. Yeah."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, and as his sensei shut the door, he moved over to listen. For several minutes, the door down the hall did not open or close. "Not in your bed, pervy-sensei," Naruto growled to himself. But there was nothing he could do... he doubted Kakashi would have forced Shion's mother into anything, so it must have been mutual.
"Whatever, I hope you enjoy yourself, pervy-sensei."
As he slipped the storage scroll into his jacket pocket and moved to set his pack by the door, there was a quiet knock.
"Yeah?" he asked as he opened it to reveal the same maid who'd walked in on his, uh, problem before. She blushed deeply.
"M- My mistress Shion-sama requests your presence in her room, Ninja-san."
"Alright," Naruto shrugged, his earlier problems with the pretty priestess forgotten in the excitement of the mission's resolution.
A few minutes later, he knocked on the familiar door and was called inside.
"Naruto," Shion said quietly, looking up from a scroll she was writing on while sitting at a western-style desk, "thank you for coming. Please give me a moment..."

Naruto stood uncomfortably for almost ten minutes, looking around the room as much as he could, and wondering why, when he had only seen it for short periods in real life twice, the place seemed so familiar. Surely the dreams weren't...?
But the majority of his time, no matter how much he tried to avoid it, was spent watching Shion as she sat at the desk primly, her hand holdin the pen, again a modern, western-style fountain pen, move smoothly down the scroll before starting another line.
Watching her profile as sensuous, generous lips moved in time with the characters she was putting on the paper.
Watched as each shift of her arm revealed and then hid again a portion of her breasts...

Naruto gulped and turned his eyes away again, fighting to control the swelling. She'd already seen way to much of him that way as it was, and he didn't know how the Priestess could stand to even look at him, much less be in the same room, alone.
"There," Shion said with a smile, rising with grace and moving behind Naruto to lock the door quietly before coming to stand in front of him. "Now... thank you, again, for coming. For... for saving us. I just... I called you to here, tonight, to let you know that I am... am grateful. More than I can ever say. My mother is my ownly family, and with the threat to her... that's not even considering the threat to the world if we had both died, or... or even just my mother. I... I admit I am not much of a Priestess. Not yet, anyway," she finished with a bashful smile, then bowed low, "Domo Arigatō Gozaimasu, Naruto-kun."
"Ah, uh... you're, um... welcome, I guess," he stammered, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "but we're just doing our jobs. You don't have to..."

He was interrupted with a delicate finger on his lips, as Shion, blushing for some reason, stepped closer and looked up into his eyes.
He had seen, had observed, even noted, but Naruto had really never noticed how pretty her eyes were...
"I... I have a proposal for you," she said, before removing her finger, "and I'd like you to listen to all of it before you say anything. Okay?"
Slowly, Naruto nodded. He didn't think he could say no to a simple request like that from anyone, much less this dream-temptress.
Or whatever she was.
"You heard my mother... I am supposed to carry down the line. Each Priestess must bear a female heir. Fortunately, most of our children are female, so it rarely takes more than one, but..."
"Oh, yeah," Naruto nodded, wondering why she was telling him this, "that makes sense. I mean, kids are fine, but I wouldn't want to have to keep having them until I got a girl if I was unlucky, heh."
Shion smiled and nodded lightly, "Exactly. Anyway... I would like to ask your help with that."
"Oh, sure, Shion. Whatever you need."
Naruto gulped. What... what had he just said? How... how had he... "Stupid mouth," he muttered, "agreeing to things... Uh, sorry, Shion-chan," he looked up while forcing a cheerful smile on again, "I mean... I... I guess I can, but... but why? I mean, why me?"

Shion stepped forward again, forcing herself to look up even more since they were now just inches apart. He could feel the soft fabric of her robes sliding against his jacket, though he felt no pressure. "Because... you have opened my eyes. To so many things. And I... I admire you. Your strength, your conviction and determination... did you know, that until you and your sensei showed up, none of my predictions have ever been wrong? Yet you broke no less than six while you were away, not counting the five before that in which those I am close to- including you- died."
Naruto did not know what to say. What... could he?
It was hardly the first time he'd defied 'fate', but... these, apparently, were real prophecies given by Seer-Priestesses, and he'd made eleven become false?
And what did that mean, anyway?
"And... and you are, um, c- cute," Shion suddenly blushed and looked down, away from him.
"O- oh..."
Naruto had never been called that before.
Ever.
In fact, he had been of the opinion that he would die alone, a virgin, never having had a girl love him, or evne like him, enough to do that for him.
It was, he had learned, the fate of many Jinchūriki. They lead short, dreary existences for the most part... and seemed to always be alone. From previous conversations with Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei, Naruto had gathered that only the previous two containers of the Fox had ever married, and that no other Bijū's host had ever done so.
That just proved, in his mind, how awesome Konoha was, but that was beside the point.
"I... I don't know what to say," he admitted after several extremely awkward moments, "I mean... I like you quite a lot, when you aren't being a spoiled brat. And- and you're c-c-cu-drop-dead-gorgeous, but... I mean..."
Shion's blush deepend, but she looked up at him as he tried to force words out, and, seeming to take pity on him, stood on her toes and brought her lips to his.
"Say you will, then," she whispered after parting.
Naruto blinked once, twice, three times.
"Okay," he nodded in a daze, before shaking his head to clear it.
"My f- first..."
"Mine too," Shion admitted, "but hopefully not my last. Will you stay... with me, tonight?"

Numbly, Naruto tried to figure out what sequence of events lead to this outcome, but as she lead him over to the bed, failed miserably, and then became thoroughly distracted as Shion's outer and then inner robes fell to the floor.
His dreams had been real... yet they had not done the girl justice, nor had the first real, tantalizing glimpse.
Naruto stared for several minutes, unable to process that Shion was waiting for him.

A/N2:Sorry, no lemon this time... it will be in the next chapter, though mostly via flashback and in bits and pieces while they return home. On the upside, Naruto finally gets to start paying Tenten back for all the stress... in more than one way. ;)