Ninja Ashikabi's Ch.3

Like I said in the last chapter, this one will focus a bit more on Sakura and Mutsu. I stretched out the last chapter, but I think that first part ate up a lot of the story. I'll try and fix that in this one.

Note: since everybody seems to be crazy about Karasuba, I've decided to pair her with Naruto. But Haihane will still be his main partner, and she won't appear until after the land of waves arc.

2nd Note: in this timeline -
1) the 1st disciplinary squad hasn't broken up
2) Musubi wasn't captured, so Yume never had to sacrifice herself.

On with the show!

Start - Haruno household, 8:36AM

While Naruto had gotten a slightly better understanding of the concept of Sekirei and Ashikabi, Sakura still didn't realize what she was getting into. In fact, she was still sound asleep, the events of last night nothing but images her subconscious were feeding her.

"Sakura, honey, it's time to wake up!" Her mother's upbeat voice rang from outside her room, stirring from her deep slumber.

"Hmm. Alright, alright; I'm getting up." Against her strong urge to go back to sleep, Sakura dragged her body out of bed, tiredly rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

She gave out a small yawn, walking to her dresser to get dressed. But she soon realized she was still dressed in the clothes from yesterday. Shrugging, she decided to ignore the fact since it was the weekend. she headed downstairs where she could smell the delicious aroma of breakfast, but it seemed slightly different than usual.

She took her time going down recalling the strange dream she had. She kept seeing a young man with silver-blonde hair with an orange scarf around his neck. She blushed at the memory, usually she dreamt of Sasuke; but even her crush didn't compare to the person she saw in her dreams.

She arrived at the bottom of the steps and her concentration broken over the wonderful aroma in the air. She looked to the kitchen where she saw her mother sitting at the table, sipping her morning tea with a content smile on her face. 'Wait, what? If she's there than whose coo-'. Her thoughts cut short when she saw a man at the stove, hovering over several pots and pans.

Normally this wouldn't surprise her, since her mother periodically brought in 'visitors'. They would stay for breakfast, then leave. This, however, was not such a visitor. She new that immediately when she noticed how old he was, only a phew years older than herself. She also noticed his blonde-silver hair and the orange scarf hanging on one of the chairs.

'No way! T-that was a dream. At least, I'm pretty sure it was'. She finally recalled everything that had happened last night. Her meeting with Mutsu, him walking her home, asking to stay at her house, and -! The last memory made her blush horribly; her mother noticed her reaction so she quickly composed herself and went to sit down in the seat across from her.

"Let me get that for you Sakura-chan" Mutsu moved away from his cooking so he could pull out her chair for her. Sakura looked up, a bit startled, but gave him a nervous thanks. He gave her a charming smile and went back to his cooking.

"Sakura, you didn't tell me Mutsu-kun was such a good cook. And so polite too." Praised Sakura's mother, eyeing Mutsu hungrily. Sakura felt a bit angry at her mother's sudden attention on Mutsu and coughed to get her attention.

"A-actually, I didn't know myself." She looked back at him, trying to decipher her memories from her dreams. The last thing she recalled before passing out, was Mutsu asking her to be his master and then kissing her. There was also that part were wings of light appeared from his back, but that was obviously a dream.

She was broken from her thoughts when a plate appeared in front of her. It was a basic breakfast - bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. But Mutsu had managed to made it smell like it was from a 5-star restaurant. He slid a plate in front of Rose and placed one in front of himself, sitting to the right of Sakura. He was about to eat when he saw both women clasping their hands together and closing their eyes in a prayer. "Itasakimasu"

He paused nervously trying to imitate the prayer as best he could. Sakura and Rose laughed at his faulty attempt. They ate in silence for the most part, Sakura's mother asking some general questions about Mutsu. He tried his best to give her reasonable answers with what sakura taught him yesterday at the library. She seemed a bit skeptical of the answers but simply accepted them. After they all finished Sakura announced that she was going out for awhile.

"Hold on, I'll come with you" Mutsu interjected. Before Sakura could retort he put on his scarf, attached his sword to his side, and was leading the both of them out the door. "Be careful you two" she waved goodbye and let out a small laugh.

After walking for a few minutes in awkward silence, sakura thought it best to pose her question. "Um, Mutsu. What exactly happened last night?" She asked nervously.

"What do you mean?" He asked nonchalant. She puffed out her cheeks, annoyed at his laid back attitude.

"You know exactly what I mean! When we -" she paused slightly, a deep blush on her face "kissed" she finished her statement, her face growing even more red by before.

He chuckled amused by her shy nature, but his face turned serious a moment later. "Sorry for surprising you like that. It's just that ever since i got here, the women in this village haven't given me much hope. Just staring at me like i was a piece of meat, or scared of me when they saw i carried a sword." He looked down towards his blade rested at his hip, then continued. "And when you taught me about this world, how it works and what'd in it. And you invited me into your home; i just figured that someone like you would the best choice." He looked down solemnly feeling guilty about his rash decision.

"Best choice? What, as your master? But samurai are supposed to serve nobles, or really important people. I'm barely even passing ninja school." She stopped in her tracks, tears threatening to spill over as she kept piling on reasons in her mind. She gasped when she felt Mutsu pull her into an embrace. She hesitated a bit, but embraced him back letting out quite sobs against his chest.

"You shouldn't say that about yourself Sakura. Without you, id still be living in the park clueless to the wonders of this world." He pulled them apart so he could look at her tear-stained face. He but his hand to her face and wiped some of the tears away with a swipe of his thumb.

"I feel sorry for making such a rash and quick decision" Sakura looked down ashamed. "But im not sorry for who I chose. Im really glad you're my Ashikabi Sakura-chan, now and forever."

"What's an Ashikab-mph!" She didn't get a chance to finish her question before Mutsu kissed her yet again off-guard. Just like the first time, golden wings of light appeared from his back illuminating the whole area. Sakura's eyes widened to the size of dinner-plates, she thought that part was a dream. When he separated from her, she just stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Did you see that?!" "Wings of light, amazing" "isn't that guy a little too old for a girl that young?" Several villagers had surrounded them, after seeing Mutsu's wings appear. 'Damn! Need to get out of the spotlight!' The earth Sekirei thought quickly, gathering the still dazed sakura in his arms and tapping the end of his sword's sheath against the ground. Instantly, a large pillar of earth rose out from under them and raised them nearly 60ft. The villagers didn't seem that surprised at the action, seeing Ninja use similar techniques. This admitantly hurt Mutsu's pride a little.

He jumped off the pillar and onto a nearby roof, carrying a more coherent Sakura bridal-style the whole time. The pillar descended back into the ground, looking as if it was never disturbed. The villagers soon grew disinterested and left to their tasks. Once Mutsu was sure they all left, he set Sakura down, being careful not to harm her.

"Sakura, you alright?" He asked in worry.

She just nodded, still not sure what happened back there. First those wings of light appearing, then he did, what she assumed was an earth jutsu, without any hand signs at all. Who was this guy?

"You said I was your Ashikabi. What does that mean?" She asked curiously.

He gave her a small smile, expecting her question. He sat down next to her, laying his sword down beside him. This could take a while.

He went into the explanation of the concept of Sekirei and Ashikabi. What a Sekirei was, what they could do. He even told her about how he and the others arrived on earth in a spaceship. She thought he was crazy at first, but after reviewing the things she'd seen him do, maybe she was wrong.

"So Sekirei are aliens that look identical to humans, have superpowers and live to seek out your soul mate - which you call Ashikabi. Is that about right?" She asked awkwardly.

"Yep! That's pretty much us in a nutshell." He gave her a cheesy grin, chuckling in amusement at how quickly she took in all that information.

"W-well, thank you for telling me about this Mutsu. It really helps clear things up." She touched her index fingers together, still nervous of the situation.

"So, what do you say?" He asked her seriously

"Say? Say to what?" She asked curious.

Mutsu put her hands in his own and looked her straight in the eye. Sakura's face was completely beet red by the time he answered her question.

"Will you be my Ashikabi Sakura-chan, now and forever?" Sakura contemplated the question for a phew seconds, and those seconds ate away at Mutsu. The thought that she might reject him was horrible; he was already winged by her. She had to be his Ashikabi, she just had to be.

Mutsu was so caught up in his thoughts of rejections; she didn't notice the smirk on Sakura's face. 'Payback'. She quickly leaned in and kissed Mutsu, who was so surprised by the action he fell onto his back. He soon returned the kiss and embraced her. They stayed like that for a phew seconds, kissing soon turned to a full on make-out session. After they separated, there was a small strain of saliva connecting the two.

They stared at each other for awhile, before sakura rested her head against his chest.

"Im guessing that's a yes." He asked dazed

"Hehehe. Yeah, ill be your ashikabi Mutsu." She got comfortable on her spot atop her Sekirei, soon falling asleep to his heartbeat.

Mutsu just laid there, holding onto his new ashikabi. Hearing her quiet snores gave him peace. He looked out over this new world, gracious of a new adventure awaiting him. And his Ashikabi to be there with him, every step of the way. 'I just hope she remembers what happened this time, he he.'

Scene change - Naruto's apartment

Haihane was in the bathroom trying on her new kimono, while Naruto was in the living room thinking on what to do next. He was thinking about what he had said to Haihane when they left Uzume & Ino's stand, about how he promised to help her become a strong sekirei. As strong as a single number. But the truth of the matter was that he was the one in need of training. If Haihane could teach him how to move that fast, he'd be unbeatable. But he couldn't be selfish and only train himself. What was he to do?

"Naruto-kun, what do you think?" Haihane came from the bathroom, dressed in her new kimono. It looked exactly like the old one, but brand new out of the box. She did a small twirl with wearing one of her rare smiles. But it went away when she saw Naruto in his depressed stupor.

"Naruto-kun?" She tapped his shoulder to get his attention. He was so focused that The contact startled him and he jumped in his spot. He calmed down when he saw it was just Haihane.

"Are you alright? You look worried about something" she sat next to him on the couch, grasping his hand in her own. "Yeah, im fine. Just thinking about something. Your new kimono looks great" He gave her a fox-like grin to ease her worries. A light red tint appeared on her face, her heart grew heavy. That grin reminded her of when they 1st met.

"Haihane-chan, are you alright? Your face looks a little red." He put his hand to her forehead to check if she had a temperature. Haihane leaned in to the touch and brought her face closer to his. Naruto grew a bit disturbed when she got this look on her face, it was predatory and hungry. Before he knew it, Haihane pounced on him, bringing them both onto the bed.

The reaper Sekirei brought her lips down on his roughly, desperately seeking release from this feeling. Naruto struggled, still not used to close contact like this; He stopped resisting after a bit and tried to return the kiss as best he could. The poor boy didn't have much to go on, only what he'd seen from couples in the street and movies.

Haihane moaned against his mouth, enjoying the attention. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Naruto returned the action by setting his hands on her hips; bringing them closer to each other and deepening their connection.

"Knock! knock!" A sound at the front door startled them from their embrace. They broke apart and Naruto looked off to the side awkwardly. "I-ill get it" he moved to get off the bed, Haihane moving aside to let him answer the door. She sat up, brooding to herself at being interrupted.

Naruto opened the door to see that Hokage smiling down at him. Instantly, Naruto's disposition brightened at seeing one of his precious people. "Old man Hokage!" He gave him a tackling hug, nearly bowling the older man over. Hiruzen laughed joyously at Naruto's antics. He treated the boy like his own flesh and blood, finding time to looking after him even in his busy schedule.

"Hahaha, Hello Naruto" the old man smiled appreciately and looked inward into the apartment to see the woman who he had seen with Naruto. She was leaning against the wall, both arms behind her, her face neutral studying him. "Naruto, maybe you should introduce me to your new friend"

Naruto let go of the older man and motioned to the grey-haired woman. "Yeah, this is Haihane. She's my ..." he paused not sure how to finish that sentence, the Hokage probably didn't know about the sekirei.

"Im his Sekirei." Haihane said nonchalantly. She pushed herself from the wall and walked next to Naruto, looking to the Hokage expectantly.

'Sekirei? Where have i heard that word before? Oh well, im sure it will come to me'. The Hokage stored the word away for later and looked impassively at this woman who had associated herself with Naruto.

"Id like to talk to you about something, 'Haihane' was it?" He motioned for them to sit in the living room, Naruto complied and Haihane followed soon after.

After they were all seated, the Hokage fixed Haihane with a look that would send most men running, but she stood her ground and returned the glare. "There was a report last night that said several villagers were killed by a woman with grey hair wearing large, clawed-gauntlets. The ones over there seem to be able do the job." He glanced at Haihane's gauntlets lying on the table.

"They were trying to hurt Naruto-kun! I was protecting him!"

"And I thank you for that, truly i do."

"Oh, yeah! Well -!" She was about to rebuttal, until she caught up with what he said. "Wait, what?" She asked confused, Naruto was clueless as well.

"Naruto has been attacked every on that day, and received several beatings meeting with near death." Haihane was shocked. She looked to Naruto to confirm what the old man said, but he had turned away from their conversation. The memories of the pain eating away at him.

"I am grateful that you saved young Naruto, and i am in your debt for that. But the reason im hear is to ask your intentions." He looked seriously at the gray haired woman, waiting for her answer.

Haihane had wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulder to ease his pain. She smiled calmly at him, getting a small grin in return. She turned towards the old Hokage, looking the most serious Naruto had ever seen her.

"I simply wish to be with Naruto, my Ashikabi, for as long as possible. And rise to greatness together as Sekirei and Ashikabi." She turned back to Naruto and held his face within her hands. And right in front of the Hokage, they kissed. Haihane's silver wings appeared illuminating the room in a holy light. The wings soon faded, but Haihane and Naruto were still in the heat of it. The 3rd Hokage decided to give them there privacy and left them.

Before he walked away, he pulled out a 'do-not-disturb' sign and placed it on the door knob, letting out a perverted giggle as he left.

He was still a bit mystified at what he saw; those silver wings appearing were the farthest from what he expected from the young woman. But still, no matter the mystery of her wings, Haihane seemed like she just wanted to be with Naruto. 'What were those names she used? Ah, yes! She called herself a Sekirei and Naruto her Ashikabi'. Such strange names, and yet they rung a bell in his mind. He could have sworn he'd heard that name, 'Sekirei'.

An image flashed in his mind, a symbol of a bird with a yin yang symbol underneath and four beads surrounding it. He remembered that the symbol appeared over Haihane when her wings manifested. He also had a memory of when he met two people embroidering that symbol on what appeared to be uniforms. A young girl with orange-red hair, wearing glasses, and hair in pig-tails. And a young man with silver-blond hair, wearing an orange scarf, and carrying a sword with him. They had come to him a few days ago talking about 'sekirei'. He just thought it was a prank. But after seeing those wings, maybe he should make another appointment with them.

-Scene Change-

Akatsuki Base
Unknown location

The nine members of the secret organization known as Akatsuki had gathered for to report their advancement in catching or observing their designated targets. The Akatsuki group was created for the purpose of collecting and extracting tailed beasts, known as Bijuu, from Jinchuuriki. Only the main two leaders of the group had any knowledge of what would be done with the Bijuu.

They all took their places on the large statue used to house the Bijuu when they were captured. Each member stood on top of one of the statue's ten fingers. The members came from all kinds of different villages and origins, the only thing they had in common were that they were all ranked as S-rank missing ninja from their home village.

The reports went rather smoothly, everyone stated any development in their targets powers and/or increase in skill. Most of them were genin and didn't have any particular problems with. It was noted that several of the Jinchuuriki were accompanied by attractive females. This didn't really matter as they had no interest in their target's personal lives.

One of the members looked nervous, ready to bolt as soon as the meeting was finished. She was an attractive woman with blue hair with a paper flower in it, grey eyes and a piercing under her lower lip. Konan, second in command to the Akatsuki, fearing the next minutes may end her place here. She waited anxiously, eyed the door that lead to her room.

"Where is Zetsu?" Itachi spoke up, noticing the mysterious ninja had disappearing during the meeting.
His red eyes scanned around the statue looking for any sign of him. It disturbed the young prodigy that Zetsu could come and go like that without someone as skilled as him noticing.

"Zetsu sensed an intruder in the base, he's left a few minutes ago to retrieve whoever dares invade the Akatsuki secret base." Their mysterious leader, Pein spoke up. A man with spiky-orange hair and large black piercings on his face.

Itachi flinched for half a second, before recollecting himself and nodding accordingly. No one noticed his reaction but Pein, who eyed him curiously. This took his attention off Konan, who was fearing that the intruder might be -'no! If Zetsu sensed someone, they must be giving off chakra. He doesn't have any, so he should be safe. Right?'.

With this news, all members prepared for a fight. Anyone who entered their meeting pace was either extremely powerful, or foolishly brave.

Zetsu appeared after another few minutes, morphing himself out of the ground. Zetsu was truly the strangest looking of them all. His upper body and head were encompassed by a Venus fly trap as well as having half his face colored white, and the other black. His hair was mint green and his eyes a bright yellow.

The say that he had indeed brought someone with him, but not who they expected. It was a young boy, probably 14-15 yrs old. He had messy, silver hair and grey eyes. He had a long-sleeve shirt with a ribbon attached to the neckline. He had on cargo shorts with what looked like a small black apron that stretched down to his knees. The boy had his arms tied with rope and kneeling before them ashamed that he had been caught.

"I found this boy in Konan's room, it didn't seem like there was any forced entry either." He was talking directly to Pein, but cast a judgmental glance towards Konan when he spoke the last part.

Pein looked down towards the boy, who was looking to Konan, fear in his eyes. "Any explanation for this Konan." He never took his eyes off the young intruder, rage building as his thoughts explored the possibilities.

Konan looked to her leader, trying to think up an explanation. An idea came to her, it was a bit odd but it might be good enough to fool someone as emotionless as Pein.

"H-he's a boy i picked up from a nearby village. From a b-brothel." She blushed madly at the words that came from her mouth. "Im deeply sorry for bringing him to the base, i should have just gone to a hotel. I apologize for that mistake." She bowed to her leader, partly to win him over, and partly to hide her growing blush.

"...Very well, since this is your first offence ill let it go with a warning. Take the boy back to where he came from and wipe his memory of what he's seen." He turned his back to the two.

"Thank you, Pein-sama" she went to go untie the young boy who was relieved that he wouldn't be killed. Once his bindings were gone, Konan took the boy by the wrist and rushed to the door.

"Hey Konan! When you get back, come on in to my room. Ill show you a good time that this little boy could never give you, Hahaha!" Hidan, the immortal priest of Jashin, mocked the two of them. The young boy turned in place, a look of pure rage on his face.

"Shiina, just ignore him." Konan pleaded with the boy, but he wouldn't have it.

Shiina approached the grey-haired man with an air of danger around him. He stopped in front of the still grinning man, looking him defiantly in the eyes. It looked like a rabbit staring down a wolf.

"You got something to say punk?" Hidan gripped his scythe ready to put this brat in his place.

"Apologize to my mistress at once!"

Hidan just looked at him dumbfounded. Then he burst into a new fit of laughter.

"'Mistress?' Is that the kind of shit your into." His laughing died down, and he roughly grabbed Konan by the wrist. "Well sorry, angel, but i prefer to be the one in charge" he leaned in, that cocky smirk on his face. Konan struggled to get her hand out of his grasp, but failed. She looked to her leader for support, but he still had his back to her. 'Bastard!' She thought with rage.

"Let her go!" Shiina rushed Hidan, making him let go of Konan and turned his sights on the boy.

"You think you can take me brat. Well then, bring it!" He swung his scythe to show he was serious.

Shiina stood defiantly, arms outstretched protecting Konan. Hidan ran towards them in a charge, as he brought his scythe down to cut the boy in two. Just a few feet before he reached them, Shiina put one hand to his heart and outstretched his other hand so his palm was facing the foul-mouthed priest.

"BY THE CORPSE OF MY PACT, LET MY ASHIKABI'S PERILS WITHER!" A gold light encompassed his body and flashed forward to strike Hidan directly. The force of the attack launched him several feet backward, hitting the wall with a large 'thud'. He slid down and laid there for a bit, before soon getting enough energy to rise to one knee.

"Heh, not bad kid. But your gonna need more than that to..beat...me?" Now fully standing he saw that something was wrong with him. His veins had turned black through his skin, like he was poisoned. But that was impossible. Jashin kept him alive through anything, but this? He fell to his knees, distraught. The other Akatsuki watched on as the black marks encompassed more and more of his skin. Soon enough, Hidan had started screaming in pain, then in agony. After a few seconds, he stopped mid-scream and simply dropped to the ground.

They all waited a few seconds for him to get back up... then a few minutes. Kukuzu went up to the body to see that his eyes had gone blank looking towards the ceiling at nothing. He bent down to check his pulse ...nothing. 'Dammit! I wanted to kill him'.

"He's dead" he said solemnly

'What!'
'Dead, that can't be right'
'that boy killed him with just a wave of his hand' 'he killed Hidan!' These thoughts rang through the remaining members of the Akatsuki. That fact that a mere boy had killed someone they had seen go through hell and back with just a few words. Some of the younger stepped back, fear clouding their better judgment. Itachi smirked beneath his raised collar, he knew that power.

"Let's go Shiina" she took the boy's hand and led him out of the room. When they got to the hallway, Shiina turned let towards the exit, but Konan went the other way towards her room. Shiina was confused, he was supposed to leave.

"Mistress?" He asked curiously

"You shouldn't have done that! Now that they've seen what you can do, they're not going to lat you leave. She shouted at him angrily. But in truth, she was thankful he stepped in when he did. Pein obviously didn't care what happened to her one way or the other. And the other just didn't want to get involved. Who knows how far Hidan would have gone.

She paused when they arrived at her door. She glanced at the boy, still blaming himself in misery. She sighed in defeat.

"Mistress, im sorry I-mmph!" Before he could apologize, Konan had lent down and gave him a kiss. Wings of white light shown from his back, fading when she slowly separated them. He looked to her confused.

Konan gave him a gentle smile, slightly blushing after the kiss. "Thank you for protecting me Shiina. I really appreciate it. Now come on, it's time to go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." She opened the door to let him in. He nodded gratefully walked inside. Konan looked left and right to see if anyone saw their interaction, then closed the door ready to fall asleep next to her sekirei.

Itachi walked away from the corner where he had been watching the exchange between the two. He just needed to confirm his suspicions.

When he came to his own room, he did a small round of rhythmical knocks. A code he set up for his new guest. He heard the returned set of knocks and opened the door. Standing there waiting for was his own Sekirei. She had short blonde hair and a slightly annoyed expression on her face. She wore a black and grey leather tank top that stopped at her stomach. She had black bloomer with a leather belt around it and wore black and grey striped stockings and sleeves.

"Hello Sai. Sorry for the wait" he greeted her with a small smile and turned to put his cloak away. As soon as he put the item in the closet, he was forcibly thrown onto his bed and then tackled by the sekirei. She gave him a forceful kiss, which he soon returned after activating the privacy seal in the room.

Itachi separated from her, drawing an annoyed pout from the girl, but he just smirked.

"Im really glad your alright, if Konan hadn't brought that Sekirei, i don't know what would have happened. I don't want to lose you Sai." He placed a hand on her cheek looking into her eyes.

Sai broke the gaze, her pout still evident but a small blush on her cheeks. "Idiot. Of course you won't. Now go to sleep already." She pushed into the crook of his neck and breathed deeply. Itachi held onto her until he was sure she was asleep. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, making her smile in her sleep, and soon he too drifted off into dreams of the bright or dark future for him and his double life.

-Scene Change-

Madara's lair
Unknown location

" Interesting. Interesting indeed." The thought dead creator of the Uchiha clan, Madara Uchiha, looked on at the cameras which had recorded the interaction between Konan and her Sekirei and Itachi and his own. He knew Itachi was a spy, but he still needed him. Besides, the boy was his own flesh and blood; he wouldn't kill him... yet.

The two beings interested him greatly, that boy was able to kill an immoral with just that simple incantation. And there were more like him too. With power like that, he could be unstoppable.

"I wonder where I could get one."

End

well, that's the end of that chapter. A little more development for the storyline and a bit more character development too. Ill try and add a training montage chapter next.

Please review!