And we are back! Sorry for the delay *points at a pile of rubble* I had to blast my way through that nasty writer's block. I hate those things… Anyway, here's the next chapter of the Jinchuriki and the Queen. Also, please check the previous chapter again: There has been a change of plans! Instead of Sasori and Deidara after the Diclonii, it'll be Hidan and Kakuzu. And if anyone mentions that Sasori was assigned by Pein to test the Diclonii, will be sent them to read this. Also, for anyone who did read this author's note: Thank you and enjoy the chapter! Please don't skip it T_T
Konoha, Naruto's Apartment
Naruto laid in his bed, Lucy cuddling against his left side. They'd gone on another date yesterday, and she had stayed in his room for the night. He didn't want her to sleep alone after they were attacked last night during their date by some creepy, pale shinobi. The blond Jinchuriki, however, was more focused on something else. He had his Kage Bunshin patrolling the nearby area (which made him wonder how they missed the pale guy), and three of them found scouts, armed with handguns. It seems like Kurama was not done yet with trying to recapture the Diclonii…
"That guy is really getting on your nerves, eh, kit?" The fox demon that resided in the blond boy's gut said to his jailer. "Then again, considering he's trying to kidnap your loved ones and torture them to death…"
"Yeah, yeah, thanks for reminding me, fox…" Naruto deadpanned at the demon, interrupting him. Said Demon chuckled.
"I don't know who I should pity: The girls, or whatever poor sod tries to take them away from you." Lucy then moaned slightly and hugged Naruto's arm tightly. "Or maybe you, considering you had a meeting with the Hokage five minutes ago." Naruto paled rapidly. He knew Tsunade would tear him a new one for being late. So, he was faced with a choice: Avoid Tsunade's earth-shattering wrath, or stay with Lucy. The choice was rather obvious and anyone with a minuscule bit of common sense would realize it was the right choice…
He hugged Lucy and went back to sleep.
Three hours later, 2 and a half hours after the meeting was supposed to start.
"I swear, I'm going to KILL THAT BRAT!" Tsunade yelled. Most of the Konoha 12 were hiding behind a couch, fearful for their lives as the Slug Sannin threw random objects around. Sakura peeked out from behind the couch.
"T-Tsunade-shishou … maybe you should calm down a bit?" One look at the Hokage's face, and everyone knew she was NOT going to calm down.
"GO GET HIM!" She roared at her student. Even though the order was directed at Sakura, the entire group bolted out of the office, hoping to be out of the range of the woman's wrath.
"Naruto better have a damn good excuse for this!" Neji hissed. Tenten had a hand on her weapon scroll.
"For his sake, I hope he does. If not, I'm turning him into a pin cushion!" Sakura sighed at the weapon expert.
"Relax, you guys. I'm sure he must be busy, what with his 'daughter' and all. He might just be helping her with her homework, or tidying up her room." They arrived at Naruto's apartment, and Kiba peeked through the window. Ino then grinned slyly
"Or he might be with his girlfriend instead of his daughter…" The girls in the group groaned at Ino's words, partly because Lucy had been the only one to get a boyfriend.
"Ooooooor he might be cuddling in his bed with both of them..." The Inuzuka clansman deadpanned as he looked through. The rest of the Konoha twelve crowded the window frame. True enough, Naruto and Lucy were holding each other, with Mariko sleeping between them. They looked like a perfect little family, just resting after a hard day… which just served to piss Sakura off. She ran down the wall as quickly as she could, heading straight for Naruto's door…
The poor wooden construct never knew what hit it.
The door was smashed to bits with a single, well placed punch (which was overkill in every definition of the word). However, just as Sakura was about to charge in, she had Kunai pressed against her throat, stomach and spine.
"Huh? Oh, it's Sakura. Stand down!" A Naruto ordered the others. The Shadow clones retreated to the roof and corners of the room. The clone that spoke approached Sakura. "Sorry about that. Naruto-dono was worried someone would try to attack Lucy-chan or Mariko-chan while they slept." He motioned around. Every window, every door (even the door to the bathroom) was guarded by a clone. "Anyone tries to get in here, and they'll get the same treatment. Now, what can I do for you?" The pinkette overcame her shock of being held knifepoint, and lifted the clone, shaking him wildly.
"Tell your boss to wake the hell up! Tsunade-shishou is destroying her office because YOU… I mean, HE hasn't shown up!" The clone was dispelled by the shaking, effectively waking Naruto up. A loud gulp was heard from his bedroom. A poof of smoke covered a nearby clone, and it was replaced by a very sleepy looking Naruto, still wearing his pajamas and fish hat.
"H-hi Sakura-chan." Naruto said nervously, his legs shaking at the sight of the wrathful kunoichi in front of him. She smiled an overly sweet smile at him.
"Naruto…"
"H-Hai?" The blond took a couple of steps back. The pinkette cracked her knuckles loudly.
"Anything you want to say before I obliterate you?" A fiery aura burst out of the girl, frightening Naruto even more.
"Uh… can you do it outside so that Lucy and Mariko can sleep?" Sakura's rage vanished. Usually he'd say something in his own defense, but this time, he simply asked that the girls were not woken up. Sakura growled, knowing that she'd feel horrible if she beat him up after he said that. Instead, she settled for grabbing him the neck of his shirt and dragging him to the Hokage's tower. "O-oi! Can't I at least put some proper clothes on? Oi, OIII!"
5 minutes later
"Naruto, you're lucky you have to take care of your own brat. Mariko's the only thing keeping me from killing you!" Tsunade said angrily. Naruto was still in his sleepwear, his hat dangling from his left pocket. "Now, let's get this over so I can get some Sake…" She pulled out a file. "We received a message I think you'll find interesting…" She showed him a file. "Sasori revealed a bit of information before your team, specifically Sakura, killed him." Naruto frowned at the memory. When he and his team intercepted the Akatsuki members, only Sasori had been killed. He wished he could've taken down both bastards, but Deidara proved to be far too slippery for him. "Sakura, could you please relay his last words?" The pinkette nodded.
"He said he had a spy within Orochimaru's ranks. He was going to meet up with him in the bridge near the village." The medic nin sighed when she finished. "The spy might be able to help us find Orochimaru and…" She was unable to finish the sentence. Naruto nearly groaned when he realized she was still obsessed with Sasuke.
"He knocked her out, ran away on her, tried to kill you, joined the village's worst enemy, AND SHE STILL WANTS TO MATE WITH HIM!?" The demon fox practically roared from his seal. "I give up. I don't think I'll ever understand how you ningen think."
'You're not the only one, fuzzy.' Naruto felt that the fox was not happy with his new nickname, but apparently it simply decided to go back to sleep… thankfully.
"Naruto, I want you and your team to go meet up with this spy." Tsunade ordered. "However, you won't go alone. I'm sending Team Diclonii in too. I believe it's high time to test their skills on a mission…" The fishcake's face went from serious to shocked in a matter of seconds.
"N-Na-NANI!?" He shrieked. "Oi, baa-chan! How much Sake did you drink!? They're not ready for this kind of mission! What if something goes wrong, or what if Orochimaru takes interest in them and tries to take them! Or what if…" He was cut off by a shockingly void voice.
"You really are dickless, aren't you?" Naruto froze when he heard that. He knew that voice! He whipped around and threw a set of kunai. He barely missed his mark as the disturbingly pale man dodged his attack.
"YOU!" The blond shinobi yelled. "You're the one that attacked me and Ka… Lucy-chan last night!"
FLASHBACK!
Naruto and Lucy walked down the road to the Diclonii apartment, just having finished their date. Naruto had taken the Diclonius Queen to watch a movie and for dinner. Just like every time, the two thoroughly enjoyed their date. Lucy held on to the knucklehead's arm with all six hands. The two were so happy they ignored the angry looks the villagers were shooting Naruto and, by extension, Lucy. Their words landed on deaf ears as they walked, too.
"Thanks for the date, Naru-kun." The shinobi who had bested hundreds of foes without flinching blushed crimson at the nickname she had given him.
"N-not a problem, Kaede-chan. I'm glad you enjoyed it…" Lucy frowned, which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. "Huh? I-is something wrong?" Lucy shuffled uncomfortably.
"Could you… Could you please call me Lucy?" She asked quietly. "It's been so long since anyone has called me by my real name, that it feels weird when you do." Naruto smiled warmly at her.
"Sure thing Kae… Lucy-chan." She smiled back at him, before capturing his lips in chaste kiss. They pulled apart within seconds (which for both of them was waytoo soon), as they both felt something… amiss. Naruto closed his eyes, listening to his surroundings… and in a swift motion pushed Lucy away right before a large, lion-like creature could barrel into her. In mere seconds, Naruto had several clones out, scanning the perimeter. Lucy's vectors were fully extended, ready to tear apart whoever had dared attack Naruto and her. The Lion turned to them again, ready to charge, but was unable to move out of the way before a group of Narutos performed the Uzumaki Naruto Rendan on it, effectively defeating it. It blew up into splotches of… ink? 'Ink release? Does that even exist?' A squelch was heard next to him, and he saw that Lucy was now covered in ink, her vectors visible now because of the black liquid. The two looked around… "Kae… Lucy-chan! Back to back!" She nodded at him, jumping back so that the two of them were standing back to back, her Vectors forming a shield around them while Naruto scouted the area, trying to sense their attacker.
"Can you sense them?" Lucy asked her boyfriend, getting aggravated by their attacker. Naruto shook his head.
"I can't. There's no killing intent or anything…" A void voice rang out, echoing on the buildings, preventing them from zeroing in on their target.
"You two are interesting. See you around, dickless, horny girl..." The voice seemed to fade as he spoke, but even so the two shinobi were fuming at the nicknames given to them.
'THIS GUY'S GOING DOWN!' They both thought. The Kyubi, for himself, was laughing like hell, along with his new roommate. Not long ago, some sort of path had opened between Naruto and Lucy's mindscapes. It was only open when they were in direct contact with each other, like right now. The Lucy-lookalike he had come to call Nyu (because it was the only damn thing she said) was laughing at the foot of his cage, rolling around in laughter.
FLASHBACK END!
"I take it you know each other?" The hokage asked the two shinobi. Naruto turned to her, angry.
"THIS BASTARD ATTACKED ME AND KA… LUCY-CHAN LAST NIGHT!" All the higher-ups in the room (meaning the Hokage and the hidden ANBU) turned to look at the pale kid. Danzo had been the one to personally suggest him as a replacement for Sasuke in team 7.
"Sai, do you have an explanation for this?" The hokage asked the emotionless ROOT operative. He simply nodded.
"I simply wished to analyze my new teammates before we depart on our first mission. However, I believe I was wrong on who I attacked." His expression remained completely blank as he spoke, proving to be quite unnerving. "I was told my teammates were a 'blond gaki with whisker marks' and 'a pink-haired kunoichi with some severe deformity on her head'. I think I confused the kunoichi Naruto-san was with last night with my teammate, since they both have some strange deformity on their heads." The poor ink-user was nearly slaughtered before he could finish that sentence. Sakura, even after all the years that had passed, was still very sensitive about the size of her forehead.
"COME SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU PALE FREAK!" Sakura yelled with all her might, reminding everyone of her teacher. The hidden ANBU had to jump down and restrain her, but were too slow to stop the platoon that charged at the ROOT shinobi. 6 Narutos struck the shinobi (Head, both shoulders, gut, and both knees), toppling him.
"Don't you dare talk about her like that…" Naruto said venomously. No one spoke for a few seconds… "I mean, Sakura's forehead is freaky ginormous, I understand that, but Lucy-chan's horns are cute, you know?"
Konoha gates
"Oh, man, I'm so bored…" Kotetsu's woeful voice pierced the silence of the guard gate. Izumo just groaned, sharing the sentiment…
*SMACK*
Both jolted awake at the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Confusion set in quickly when they noticed that there wasn't a single person around the gate at the moment aside from themselves.
"Hey, did you just hear…?"
"A smack? Yeah, I did… weird, though, there's no one else…" A yellow and orange meteorite fell in front of them, digging up a deep trench in the ground as it came to a stop. "… here… Is that Naruto?" They could only see a pair of twitching feet sticking out of the ground, but the blinding orange of the jumpsuit was a dead giveaway. The two chunin turned up to look at the Hokage tower, and saw a mop of pink hair. Everything then became clear and the two simply went back to work.
"He'll wake up eventually." The two concluded.
Later, north gate.
The teams for the interception mission were assembled. Leading the Diclonii team was Yamato, the wood user of Konoha, with Lucy, Hikari and Mizore behind him. Leading team 7 was Kakashi, with Sai, Naruto and Sakura. The two teams were ready to move out, all supplies packed. Naruto approached Lucy before heading out.
"Yo, Kae… Lucy-chan!" He said happily, an idiot grin plastered on his face. "You ready for this mission?"
"…"
"I know it's your first big mission, but you and the girls have already done a few c ranks so I'm sure that you will do great and…"
"… Drop it." Lucy interrupted him. Naruto looked surprised at the sudden interruption.
"Uh, drop what? I don't know what…"
"You're hiding something. Drop it." Naruto sighed, turning dead serious.
"You always see straight throughme." Naruto commented. "Truth is, I'm worried. I feel like you girls aren't ready for this kind of mission. Something bad's going to happen… I just know it…"
"Bah, you worry too much kid." The fox commented. "Quit acting like that. Vixens don't like it."
'Urusai, baka-kitsune!' Lucy looked at Naruto straight to the eye, red meeting blue.
"It's ok Naruto." She reassured him. "I have some new techniques I've been wanting to try out. Anything coms our way, I'll try them out." Naruto smiled. The two shared a quick kiss before returning to their respective teams. Their mission had begun.
Orochimaru's base
The Snake sannin looked at the group before him. The weapons they wielded were most interesting for him. But what he loved seeing the most was the hatred in the eyes of one of them. He'd get along very well with Sasuke.
"Kukuku… And who might you all be?" The two of the members of the group shivered at his voice. One was a girl, around Sasuke's and the other guy's age, and the other was a little girl. Both seemed frightened about both the sannin and the boy next to the man in a suit. Said boy stepped forward.
"My name is Kouta. And I'm looking for revenge." Sasuke, who was leaning on the back wall, perked up at that. A fellow avenger?
"Oh? Revenge? Against whom?" The entire cave they were in seemed to hiss, like one massive snake. The girls huddled together, their fear so strong Orochimaru could taste it. The man in a suit produced a photo of the same horned girl that had been brought to Konoha not long ago. "Oho? I see you too have an interest in these… Diclonii." Kouta growled.
"That thing killed my father and my sister. I want it dead."
'So he is an avenger, too.' Sasuke thought.
"And you want my help?" The snake asked, and Kouta nodded. "And what do I get in return?" The suited man motioned for someone to come up.
"You get our latest experiment." A figure walked up to them. "We made it using DNA recovered from the body of one of our soldiers, in the shape of a strand of hair, and Diclonius DNA. It is cold, relentless and will kill anyone you tell it to." Orochimaru's eyes bulged out of excitement when he saw the creation that they were willing to give him. A young man with horns…
A blond, whiskered young man with horns.
And cut! Sorry for the long delay. Also, keep an eye out for the prequel: Jinchuriki and the Queen: Zero!
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