Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Sekirei, all characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their specific creators, Masashi Kishomoto and Akurako Gokurakuin. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.
Author's Note: This chapter came out quickly for two reasons. One I finished the chapter I was working on in like 4 days and secondly I felt you all needed a bit more closure after what happened last chapter.
This chapter basically wraps up most things from last chapter. This chapter is going to give some explanations to the things that happened in the last chapter and be used to fill Naruto in on some basics about the Sekirei Plan that I never found a good time or way to write into the story before now. There are also some interesting little bits of foreshadowing scattered throughout this chapter as well.
Review Responses:
Wow, I lost some followers and favorites last chapter, to be expected however. Musubi and Kusano are both beloved characters of many followers of the Sekirei series. Doing what I did to them was most certainly going to have a serious impact on the number of people still reading my story. It sucks being on the receiving end of such vitriol but I can't say it wasn't expected.
Anyways I'm not going to try and justify anything particular aspect of the chapter this time. I've tried that in the past and people still argue with me, that and it'd take me like five pages just to address everything that's been tossed at me. Anyways I didn't just throw last chapter together on the fly. Last chapter was planned out in my head long before I ever wrote the first word of this story: Kusano being taken by Hayato, Musubi losing her crest, Naruto screwing up as badly as he did, all of it.
There are three more points in the story to come that are similar. Everyone starts writing a fan fiction for a reason, they want certain 'what if' scenarios to play out instead of canon. For me there were four major points that I wanted to alter/write. Last chapter was the first of four major points that I had already envisioned in my head before I ever put 'pen to paper' so to speak.
The only thing I had to do when I arrived at this point was make it as logical as possible and written as well as I could. You could say that every chapter from the moment Naruto met Musubi up to last chapter was considered the 'Musubi Arc'. It existed for a single purpose, beyond simply laying the ground work for my story. That purpose was to build Musubi up into a character that people cared about.
I didn't want to just toss her to the side with some retarded Dues Ex Machina. I wanted her death to be as realistic as possible, I wanted it to have meaning and most importantly I wanted you to 'care' about what happened to her.
And on that note I think I succeeded very well judging from the reactions I got last chapter.
As for Kusano, I'm just going to say Naruto hasn't given up on her yet and he's done playing around now.
Finally my story isn't going to be all sun shine, lollipops and rainbows. There are going to be several ups and downs in my story. We hit rock bottom last chapter and the only way to go from here is up. There will be more dips in the future, more climbing up from the bottom to new heights only to fall again. It's going to be a roller-coaster ride but I hope that in the end, when all is said and done, you'll be satisfied. After all, no one wants to read a story that ends on a bad note.
On a side note I despise rape, there won't be any in my story if people are worried that some of the dark points to come are hinting at that. What happened in Chapter 2 is the closest this story will ever get. Of course everything else is fair game.
Chapter 11: Consequences
Musubi's Sekirei crest was gone, that was a major problem. Naruto was woefully ignorant on the whole Sekirei scene but even he knew that the crest was an integral part of being a Sekirei. Musubi had always had the crest; from the day she had first kissed him it had been a constant part of Musubi.
Now it was gone and that was a bad thing.
Kagari looked up as Akitsu landed with Naruto in her arms. Kagari stared darkly at Akitsu for a moment before turning away. Judging by the way he rubbed his temple with one of his hands he must have suffered from the mental shockwave as well, albeit not as badly as those at the epicenter.
"I see you got roughed up pretty badly as well." Kagari said as he took in Naruto's injuries. "Did you save Kuu-chan?" He asked although he had a feeling he already knew the answer.
Naruto looked away and sighed, "I failed." He wasn't going to make excuses even though there were a number of extenuating circumstances that had factored into his failure that were beyond his control. "I swear I'll find a way to rescue her."
Kagari sighed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand, "I suppose it was too much to hope for. Yomi had too much of a head start before you started after her."
Naruto didn't reply to that. It was best that Kagari assumed that was the case than to know that he could have saved her if he hadn't messed up.
Akitsu approached Musubi and gently placed Naruto on the ground beside her. The blonde shinobi sat on his knees as he gently brushed the spot where Musubi's crest had once been. Her crest was gone but something still bothered Naruto, he was missing something here.
"I'm sorry Naruto-san. I tried my best support Musubi as best as I could but-"
It was a very humbling experience for the flame wielding Sekirei. He was going to have to change his strategy if he wanted to continue protecting unwinged Sekirei. He wasn't going to be able to do anything if there were Sekirei that could just walk all over him like he didn't exist. Mutsu had beat both him, Musubi with her Norito AND two of Naruto's clones. If Akitsu hadn't shown up when she did Kagari would have probably been trussed up and delivered to Hayato Mikogami.
"It's alright, I know what Musubi is like." Naruto sighed. It wasn't alright but he wasn't going to blame someone who looked like he was half dead for not trying hard enough. It was his own poor decisions that caused everything to go wrong; he had to take responsibility for his actions.
"Still, I'm sorry, it's my fault. I never imagined a member of the first disciplinary squad could be so far outside of my league." Kagari mourned bitterly.
Naruto waved away his apology, "First Disciplinary Squad? Who are they? I've fought Mutsu twice now. Are the others stronger than him?" Naruto asked curiously. Squad implied that there was more than one. If there were others on the same level he'd have to be more careful. He'd have to ensure he always had a sufficient supply of chakra on hand to handle those threats.
Kagari hesitated for a moment as he warred with himself to determine how much he should say, "I don't know all the specifics but I know a little." That would excuse the gaps in his explanation, "They were the original protectors of the Sekirei. Many world governments wanted to take them and experiment on them. The First Disciplinary Squad was formed to stop incursions." Naruto nodded in understanding. As insane as Minaka was he wasn't stupid. "As you probably know by now each Sekirei is labeled with a number. This is the order in which they were adjusted and released. The single digit Sekirei, 01 to 09, are all considered stronger than all the ones above them. The first disciplinary squad was made up of the 5 most powerful Sekirei, numbers 01 to 05. Mutsu is No. 05. I'm No. 06 and I thought I could at least match him to some degree but I was wrong." It really had been a humbling experience. Mutsu hadn't even been trying seriously when he was fighting alone.
"So the first five Sekirei all stand head and shoulders above the rest?" Naruto asked.
Kagari nodded, "There are some exceptions but that is the general rule." Matsu for example was powerful, but not in the physical sense.
"Where does Mutsu rank amongst those first five?" Naruto asked intently.
"Somewhere in the middle. I know two for sure that are above him. No. 04 Karasuba is for sure stronger than Mutsu but compared to them No. 01 is in a completely different dimension. Comparing No. 01 to Mutsu would be like comparing Mutsu to Musubi without her Norito."
Naruto frowned at that. Mutsu was strong, but he was easily manageable provided Naruto didn't mess up or half-ass things. But if this No. 01 was on a completely different level then that was someone he didn't want to fight unless he had to. However something Kagari said didn't make any sense. "What's a Norito?"
Kagari blinked in surprise at the question. He was sure that Naruto knew what it was since he had powered up Musubi before leaving. Had that simply been a coincidence? "When an Ashikabi kisses their Sekirei the Sekirei's strength grows by leaps and bounds. They almost always gain some new and unique abilities that they aren't normally capable of using. They usually recite an incantation that is ingrained into their core. It just comes naturally to them even if they were not aware of it before hand."
"Oh, so that's what happened to Musubi when I kissed her."
"Yes."
Well he now knew a little more about Sekirei but it wasn't enough, there was far more he needed to find out. However there was another thing that bugged Naruto.
"What are you still doing here Kagari?" Naruto asked curiously. As far as he was concerned he had no real interaction or investment in Musubi. He and Musubi barely interacted at all back at Miya's place. Hell the two of them interacted even less so it was odd that Homura seemed to be so willing to divulge all this information.
Although it could be guilt that he had failed to save Musubi from getting beaten that opened him up.
"It's Homura." He said, although it lacked his customary fire. He must really be tired. "When a Sekirei is deactivated it's a common courtesy for the person that defeated them to stand watch over the Sekirei so that no one defiles the body." Homura explained. Mutsu hadn't stayed behind but he had been chased away by Akitsu so Homura had opted to watch instead.
Deactivated? Naruto's wits had begun to recollect again. Homura had probably meant that the disappearance of the crest was a deactivation. But deactivation implied that there was some kind of mechanism behind the scenes that controlled whether or not the Sekirei were able to move about, act and think.
"I'm not sure I understand." Naruto replied in confusion, he still knew so little about Sekirei.
"For someone willingly to jump head long into the Sekirei Plan you seem woefully ill-informed." Kagari pointed out.
"I've been so busy I haven't had time to just simply sit down and get explanations from people. Not that I knew who I could talk to. The plan is supposed to be a secret and Musubi is hardly a fount of knowledge." Naruto explained.
Kagari sighed and rubbed his chest, "The Sekirei Plan or Game or whatever you want to call it has systems in place." He explained, "Sekirei are meant to fight in one on one battles until there's only one remaining. There are three ways to defeat a Sekirei. The first and most gentle way is to have your own Sekirei touch another Sekirei's crest and recite an incantation. It'll deactivate them without hurting the Sekirei. Their core will stop and the Sekirei will cease to move."
Well Naruto didn't know about that. Letting a clearly defined enemy live that could come back to bite him wasn't really his style. He'd been bitten too many times during the way to afford himself that luxury anymore. "That doesn't seem logical. Could they not just recover and become a threat in the future?"
Kagari shook his head negatively, "No, once deactivated MBI come and pick them up. What they do afterwards with the Sekirei I don't know but they're never seen again. The deactivation severs the connection between the Ashikabi and the Sekirei."
Naruto frowned as a bad feeling started to form in the pit of his stomach. A very bad feeling. That sounded like another fate worse than death. You weren't dead, but you lost all ability to resist, were ripped from the one you loved and were forcefully taken in by a madman to do who knows what to your prone body.
"The second way is to simply hurt them badly enough. The Sekirei Crest acts as a sensor of sorts in addition to many other things. It monitors the body and when it registers that too much damage has been inflicted on the Sekirei it deactivates itself to prevent the Sekirei from experiencing too much needless pain. That's what happened to Musubi."
The feeling in his stomach was getting worse. Naruto knew this wasn't a bad case of indigestion and it wasn't coming from any illness. Dread began to worm its way into his mind as a startling realization began to dawn on him.
"The third and final way to stop a Sekirei is the most extreme way and is frowned upon by all competitors and that's to flat out kill the Sekirei. I've only heard of one Sekirei that's been killed since the start of the game. No. 84 Yashima."
Naruto swallowed hard as he tried in vain to NOT process the thought that was going through his mind, "Kagari… if a Sekirei takes too much damage just HOW does the crest deactivate itself. By itself it doesn't seem to have the capabilities to shut down the Sekirei core." He had gotten that much from the little time he had analyzed Akitsu's crest.
Kagari didn't respond. He just looked to the side and focused on something else. Naruto could tell he was being evasive and that he knew the answer.
And Naruto had a feeling he knew as well. Tears began to leak from his eyes as he stared down at Musubi lying prone on the ground. That mental assault that Kurama had mentioned hadn't been a mental attack at all. He and Kurama had both been completely wrong.
It had been the deactivation command for Musubi. It just made too much sense, and the timing was too perfect, for it to be anything else. Musubi had barely been hanging in there trying to live when he had given Kurama the order to sever the connection. The cold hard fact slammed into Naruto harder than the shockwave earlier had as the realization completely dawned on him.
Mutsu hadn't killed Musubi.
He did.
"Damn it!" Naruto shouted as he punched the ground. The ground crack as the force from his blow shook the ground slightly. The skin on his knuckles split open. "It's all my fault, nothing has gone right tonight."
Kagari frowned at Naruto, he had expected sorrow but to blame himself? "You couldn't have known how strong Mutsu was. I saw how Musubi fought; she would have won against the majority of Sekirei herself. With your help and my own none save the few in the early iterations of the disciplinary squads stood would have stood any chance. There's no way you could have known this would happen." Kagari said as tried to console Naruto.
"You don't understand!" Naruto snapped at Kagari. The white haired man looked taken aback. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you."
"No, it was my fault." Although he'd never know the same kind of sorrow that Naruto was currently experiencing, he had seen a few Ashikabi lose their Sekirei and they were all pretty much as emotionally fragile as Naruto currently was.
The sound of helicopters became audible as the recovery squad started to arrive. There would be multiple since at least two Sekirei had been downed in the area.
Naruto placed his hand on the nape of Musubi's neck, he didn't want to hand Musubi's warm body over MBI but he wasn't in any condition, nor did he have nearly enough information, to start a war yet. He could always recover her later.
Wait, warm body? Naruto stared at Musubi for a moment before he stretched his senses out. He had stopped sensing chakra after the shockwave had blasted him on his face and realized something. Something here didn't make sense. "Kagari, when a Sekirei is deactivated their connection with their Ashikabi disappears correct?"
"Yes."
"Their core deactivates correct?"
"Yes, what are you getting at here Naruto?"
Naruto stared at Musubi for a moment before he barked an order, "Akitsu, keep those helicopters away from here. Don't shoot them down if they retreat but if they insist on landing close to us: Destroy them."
"Yes Ashikabi-sama."
"Wait what are you doing?" Kagari shouted in shock as he stared at Naruto like he was insane.
Dozens of icicle shards began to form around Akitsu. With a hiss they shot through the air, narrowly missing a couple of the on-coming helicopters; the pilots, whether by order or out of the need to survive, swerved and backed away.
Naruto looked up at Kagari and prepared to roll Musubi over carefully, "Musubi's core isn't deactivated and I can still feel the chakra pumping through her body. More importantly the bond is still there, I can feel it." What concerned Naruto just a little was that the bond had a different feel to it than before, but it was most definitely still there.
"That's impossible. Her crest is." Kagari gasped as Naruto carefully rolled Musubi over onto her back.
There on the Musubi's stomach was a new Sekirei crest, although it was completely different from the one she had before. There was another significant difference between this crest and Musubi's. It had the number 08 emblazoned on it.
"Yume." They both said at the same time. The two glanced at each other in surprise.
"You know Yume?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, she was the leader of the second iteration of the Disciplinary Squad. How do you know her though?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head unsure of how to say this, "I've spoken to her once, briefly."
Kagari placed a hand on his forehead and sighed, "I swear the more I learn about you Naruto the more I don't understand you."
Naruto quickly began to treat Musubi in the same fashion that he had with Kaho. He hated to use so much of the precious stuff in a single night but if he never used it for his precious people when would he?
"They appear to be avoiding this area Naruto-sama." Akitsu reported as she kept an eye on the sky. Naruto glanced over and noted that she was indeed correct. There had been four helicopters in total. Three had gone over to where Naruto had obliterated Yomi. The fourth was circling them at a distance but was careful not to get too close.
That was fine; it was a little late to hide what was going on here. He was satisfied so long as they didn't interfere. With the basic first aid applied Naruto placed a hand over his heart and summoned his hokage's cloak. He gently put it on Musubi and buttoned it up to protect her modesty.
Kagari to his credit wasn't too surprised by this. He was starting to think that nothing was impossible for the blond.
There was some movement by the edge of the forest and Naruto tensed. He wasn't in the mood for another fight but if he had to he wouldn't hesitate. However the tension disappeared as Minato walked out of the forest, his Sekirei Kaho leaned heavily on his shoulder. The naginata was being carried loosely in Minato's left hand.
Minato's face brightened as he saw Naruto in the distance but quickly went through a wide range of emotions as it switched from happiness and relief to confusion to finally worry and concern.
"Where's Kuu-chan?" Minato asked, "And what happened to you?"
Naruto drew blood as he clenched his fists tightly, "I failed to save her this time. I'll save her next time though, don't worry."
Minato sighed and looked to the side dejectedly. "I guess it was too much to hope for. She's probably already been winged."
"That won't stop me." Naruto said fiercely, "The crest is a seal; the bond is attached to in some way, I know I just know it. It's separate from the Ashikabi. Give me some time and I'll be able to tear Kusano's bond away from Mikogami and give it to her proper Ashikabi."
Everyone stopped and stared at Naruto in surprise. Even Kaho lifted her head to stare at Naruto as if he had grown a second head. The Sekirei bond was sacred, even if it could be forced upon a Sekirei against their will. But what shocked them the most was that Naruto honestly felt that he could do it. It was completely unheard of. It was as unheard of as stealing a Sekirei core.
Kagari's eyes widened even further as he stared at Naruto in horror. It couldn't be possible, there was just no way it was possible. Kagari had been briefed by Takami on what had happened to No. 84 and had been asked to keep an eye out and an ear to the ground for anything he could learn.
No, no he couldn't jump to conclusions yet. Naruto was a strange man with strange alien abilities that seemed to exist outside the normal, even when Sekirei were taken into account. There was no way he would know how to….
Kagari's train of thought shifted as he got away from that train of thought. Naruto was too nice of a guy to do something like that. No one that would torture a Sekirei and their Ashikabi so thoroughly would just sit there and take the beatings Miya doled out, even if he healed almost instantaneously with no scars…
Kagari sighed as he put his face in his hands. He was just going to settle with he had no proof and leave it at that until he knew more. Judging by how Takami had reacted to No. 84's death she'd fly off the handle and drive an entire army to Izumo Inn if she even suspected that Naruto had a hand in what happened to that Sekirei and then Miya would get involved and that would just cause all sorts of problems.
Yes, best to just keep silent for now.
"Musubi!" Kaho cried out and with a sudden burst of energy she practically teleported from Minato's side to Musubi's.
Naruto blinked in surprise, "You know her?"
"Yes, we were adjusted together and I was kidnapped with her. Yume and Karasuba rescued both of us. What happened to her?" Kaho asked in concern. Because of her involvement in that situation she knew that Yume had sacrificed herself to save Musubi.
"She, Kagari and a couple of my clones faced off against Mutsu."
"We lost." Kagari explained, "Mutsu only fled when the scrapped number arrived. Musubi's crest is gone."
"No!"
"Her bond is still there." Naruto said as he placed a hand gently on Kaho's shoulder, "I can still feel an active core inside her."
"I don't understand. Was she unwinged?" Kaho asked, she would have never thought of that had Naruto not mentioned about transferring Kusano's bond from one Ashikabi to another.
"I'm going to figure that out right now. Akitsu, guard me, don't let anyone near me. If someone tries to harm or touch me in any way, kill them." Naruto said as he got into the lotus position. This was hardly the place but he needed some answers before he could do anything.
"Yes Naruto-sama." Akitsu said as she took up position beside Naruto. Kaho quickly backed away and moved to the other side of Musubi. She didn't want to be considered a threat.
x~X~x
Takami frowned as she watched Naruto sit cross legged as if he was meditating. She was currently sitting at the edge of the helicopter looking at Naruto through a pair of binoculars. It was certainly not what she had expected him to do. Although he never seemed to do what she expected. If one were to look up the definition of 'enigma' in the dictionary it would have Naruto's picture beside it.
And that was bad when one considered what she had seen him do tonight. MBI had kept a close eye on the little 'event' that Minaka had set up tonight. Multiple satellites, city cameras and watchers had been on hand to take note of everything.
It had been a fruitful evening; a lot of information had been gathered even if not all of it was good.
As Seo had said, Naruto was dangerous, even if he had labeled Hanabi as the greater threat. Takami had been more inclined to believe that Naruto was the far more dangerous of the two. Tonight Naruto had proven her correct. What she had seen him do defied explanation.
The swirling ball of energy he almost ambushed Mutsu was completely unknown. There was nothing like it among any of the documented Sekirei powers. Its destructive power was incredible for something so compact. What had worried her more than anything was that Naruto would have ambushed Mutsu successfully had he not been warned by Homura's expression. That was an incredibly impressive feat considering Mutsu had been on the first iteration of the Disciplinary Squad and all Sekirei were psychic to some degree or another.
And then there were the clones. While No. 56 Tsubame could make duplicates of herself they were never solid like the ones Naruto seemed to create. They didn't appear to be very durable but that was beside the point.
And then there was what he had done when he had confronted Mikogami. Naruto apparently could summon blades from thin air and hurl them with impeccable accuracy and had absolutely no qualms about killing.
Which he had demonstrated perfectly when he had completely obliterated Yomi. Takami had never seen someone so thoroughly and ruthlessly slaughtered before. Not even Karasuba defeated her opponents with such finality.
Speaking of Karasuba she was going to have to keep this from her. When Karasuba heard of this she would probably try to challenge Naruto to battle and that would draw Miya in considering where Naruto stayed now.
Naruto had displayed not one, not two, but multiple different abilities that seemed to be superior to anything that the Sekirei were capable of. Granted the Sekirei were all restricted and controlled lest they destroy Shinto Teito when they fought but it was impressive never-the-less.
And then there was his speed and apparent strength that seemed to be on par, if not surpassed, that of most power type Sekirei.
Naruto was dangerous, incredibly so. Between his abilities and his willingness to kill he would have to be watched, closely, and if possible controlled to some extent.
"Pass out a warning to all Sekirei and Ashikabi." Takami said to her aide sitting in the helicopter. She hadn't taken her eyes off Naruto since they had started to circle them. It had been a little hair rising when the scrapped number that Naruto had procured had started to shoot at them. "The north is to be avoided at all costs. The Ashikabi of the North, the Sekirei Slayer, is too dangerous."
"Yes Takami-sama." Her aid said. However before he could send the message Takami's phone rang. Minaka was on the line.
"Belay that order." Minaka said as he grinned through the phone, his yellow eyes practically danced with mirth behind his glasses, "Kukuku, this just makes the game more exciting don't you think?"
"But Sekirei are dying! They're not being disabled and collected, but out right killed!" Takami protested. The one thing that made the Sekirei Plan different from a flat out death match were the rules and conditions. Death was virtually unheard of, even if some Sekirei liked to brutally disable their opponents. Depending on who won the game all the Sekirei that had been disabled could be brought back, that's what made all this worthwhile. A dead Sekirei however was gone forever.
"And?" Minaka replied as if he didn't understand what Takami was getting at. "That just makes the reward all the sweeter when it's finally obtained! Not only did you win the game but you fought tooth and nail and overcame death itself to win! So exciting!"
"Minaka…" Takami began to growl.
"I won't hear another word Takami! No warning to the other Sekirei and Ashikabi. If they are killed by Naruto-kun then that just means they're not fit to ascend!"
Takami snarled and threw her phone out the helicopter. Minaka's laughter could be heard all the way down.
"He's completely insane!" Takami shouted in anger. She would get word out no matter what Minaka said but she couldn't use official channels or employees. Minaka would know if she tried to use them. She had to get word out to the other Sekirei by some other means.
Otherwise she was afraid they were all in grave danger.
Although she was beginning to wonder who she had to protect the Sekirei from: Naruto or Minaka.
x~X~x
"Well this is certainly not what I expected to see here." Naruto mused as he looked around.
His mindscape was in ruins. The rolling hills were charred and blackened. The once clear blue sky had been transformed into something far different. It was a dark, rusty red with black boiling clouds racing across the sky. The stench of scorched earth filled his nostrils and reminded him distinctly of Konoha after the meteor had landed.
The landscape itself hadn't been deformed or twisted in any way. It simply looked, smelt, and felt like Armageddon had just ruined the once pristine landscape.
"Well I guess it does look like how I'm feeling right now." Naruto mused as he crested one of the ruined hills.
Naruto sucked in his breath at the sight before him. He had found Kurama. The nine-tailed fox was lying on his side almost completely unmoving. Naruto would have thought he was dead if it weren't for the fact that Kurama would have disappeared by now if that was the case. The old fox still breathed as well, although he appeared to be having difficulty from what Naruto could tell.
The silvery orb that normally hovered around Kurama was there as well although it appeared far less energetic than usual. It still floated just above Kurama's head but it was still, the surface sluggishly moved as if it was simply too tired to do anything.
"I don't think I'm going to get any answers from him right now." Naruto said as he gracelessly slumped to the ground. "What about you two?" Naruto asked as he held his hands up to his shoulders.
Hanabi's bond was unchanged. Whatever had happened in here didn't seem to have had any lasting effect, if any at all, on Hanabi. That was a relief to Naruto and made him feel a little better. He didn't know what he would do if he had hurt Hanabi with his mistake.
However that relief was quickly cut short as he stared at Musubi's bond. Tears began to leak from Naruto's eyes as he survived the shattered remains of the bond he once shared with Musubi. Where Musubi's orb had once been now there was a single, large pure white orb, with pink fragments floating around it. Even as Naruto watched a fragment dissolved and was absorbed into the white orb.
"Damnit!" Naruto cursed as he squeezed his eyes shut. The tears wouldn't stop, this was another promise broken. "Musubi…" He sobbed.
Musubi was no more.
There was only Yume now.
"Naruto…" A low rumbling voice called out.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked up. Kurama had one eye opened and looked at him sadly. His breath was still labored and Naruto could tell that it took all Kurama had just to speak.
"Don't talk, you need to rest." Naruto said. He didn't want to lose his oldest friend tonight as well because he wouldn't rest when he needed to.
"I'm sorry Naruto, I tried to contain the explosion as best I could." Kurama glanced over at the shattered remains of Musubi's bond. "But it appears as if I didn't stop enough."
Naruto shook his head slowly; he wouldn't let his old friend take the blame. "It's not your fault. You did everything you could. I was the one that told you to sever the connection."
"If I had thrown everything I had at it from the start I could have thrown it out before the attack had grown too strong."
"It's not your fault." Naruto repeated stubbornly. Kurama had just done what he had asked of him, he shouldn't have to shoulder any of the blame, not yet anyways. He knew Kurama would feel guilty later when he told his friend what the attack had actually been. He wanted Kurama to focus on recovering first.
"At least it shouldn't happen again." Kurama said as he closed his eyes, "That bond there is connected to me."
Naruto glanced over at the white orb that represented Yume's bond with Naruto. The pink fragments were still dissolving one by one and being absorbed into the larger bond. It was strange to think of it as Yume's now instead of Musubi's. "Thanks, rest now." Naruto said gently.
A low rumble escaped the fox's throat as he closed his eyes and feel into a deep slumber.
With the fox asleep Naruto left his mindscape. He could properly mourn later, tonight, when they were at the safety at Izumo Inn and not on the battlefield.
When Naruto's eyes snapped open he found everyone looking at him. Minato had crossed the broken ground to sit beside his own Sekirei across from Naruto. Kagari was still in the same place as he was before with his back against one of the stone pillars. He looked a little better, not physically, but at least his breath wasn't as labored as before.
Akitsu was the only one not looking at him. She was looking at everyone and everything as she followed Naruto's order exactly. At least it looked like she hadn't needed to follow through on her orders.
Naruto moved, unwinding himself from his lotus position, and bent over Yume. "We need to go." Naruto said as he gently picked up his fallen Sekirei.
"What was that? Did you figure anything out? How is sitting still supposed to get you any answers?" Kaho demanded. Naruto could tell she was concerned about Musubi.
"Musubi is dead." Naruto said bluntly. Kaho recoiled as if she had been slapped. "My stupid mistake got her killed."
"It wasn't you. Mutsu didn't hit any vital organs, I'm sure she's just deactivated." Kagari argued back. He still didn't believe Naruto when he said that the bond still existed. Although seeing Yume's crest on Musubi's stomach created a lot of questions for which he had no answers.
Naruto shook his head sadly. "I don't have time to explain fully. The command to deactivate Musubi never actually reached her. The mental shockwave we all felt finished off what Mutsu started and Yume is absorbing the last of fragments that was Musubi." Naruto explained as he began to walk back to Izumo Inn. It was going to be a long trip. He wasn't going to risk jostling Yume any by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
He wasn't sure he even had enough energy left to jump from building to building.
Kagari frowned as he stared at Naruto. He rubbed his chest again as he pushed himself off the pillar.
"Wait what do you mean?" Kaho demanded.
Naruto looked at Kaho sadly, "I mean this isn't Musubi anymore, this is Yume." Naruto turned to Akitsu, "Come on let's go back to Izumo Inn."
Naruto didn't stick around to hear Kaho's response. He took off at a light jog as he headed back to Izumo Inn. He had delayed long enough. He needed to get away from the battlefield, away from prying eyes. Akitsu quickly hurried after him.
Kagari turned to leave but before heading to the rooftops he gave Kaho a quick glance. "Musubi fought with me against No. 05, Mutsu. She fought hard and she fought well. She gave him a harder time than I did. She went out like she always wanted, fighting."
With that Kagari jumped to the nearest rooftop and headed off into the night.
Kaho looked over at Minato with pleading eyes. Minato gave Kaho a small smile and helped her to her feet, "Well we do need a new place to live. Maybe this Izumo Inn has a free room?"
Kaho gave him a grateful smile and the two headed off in the same direction as Naruto.
x~X~x
"We're home." Naruto said wearily as he walked through the front door of Izumo Inn.
It was very late in the evening now. The trip back had felt especially long for Naruto who was used to getting everywhere quickly. Between the burden in his arms and the exhaustion he felt due to the day's events he hadn't moved very quickly.
As Akitsu followed him inside he could hear some thumping coming from down the hall. A few moments later Uzume burst into the living room. "Thank god you're alri-." Uzume stopped when she saw the unconscious form of Musubi/Yume in his arms.
"I'm alive, Uzume." Naruto said quietly as he closed his eyes. "I'm not exactly alright though."
Akitsu said nothing as she stood quietly behind Naruto's shoulder. Her eyes were strangely gentle and full of emotion as she stared at the back of Naruto's head. She was well aware of the grief Naruto was going through and was giving him what comfort he could with her presence.
"My god bro! What happened to Musubi?" Uzume asked in concern.
"She's dead."
Uzume flinched as if she had been struck by a massive blow. "Wha-What do you mean? How is she dead? Why do you have her instead of MBI?" Uzume fired off the questions in rapid succession.
Naruto just shook his head sadly, "I'm not really in the mood to explain things again tonight Uzume. Maybe in the morning. Let's just say Musubi's situation was… unique and that's why I have her body with me and not MBI." Even if the core had deactivated and neither Yume nor Musubi were connected with him he still wouldn't have handed the body over to MBI. He'd seen too many sick and twisted things done to the fallen to trust someone as obviously insane as Minaka.
Uzume just nodded dumbly. She didn't know what else to say. She had liked Musubi; she was fun to be around.
"Miya should be fine, she's just sleeping at the moment." Kagari said as he walked into the living room. He had come from the same direction as Uzume. He stopped for a moment when he noticed Naruto and gave him a slight nod, "Glad you made it back."
Naruto returned the greeting, "Yes, I'm back. What's this about Miya?" Naruto asked with concern.
Kagari looked at Uzume and prompted her to explain, "Ah, well ya see bro. A couple hours ago this, I don't know how to explain it, wall of ripples rolled over me. It hurt, like someone had just hit me with a sledge hammer. I blacked out for a moment but I vaguely remember hearing Miya cry out in pain." Uzume wrung her hands together as she concentrated on the earlier events. The thought of Miya being in pain worried Uzume a lot. She was aware of what Miya really was and the thought of anything being able to make 'the' 01 cry out in pain was scary. "Everything after that is a bit hazy like my mind wasn't working right but I managed to get to the kitchen where Miya had been cooking dinner. She had collapsed on the ground and there was some blood coming from her nose. I think I panicked a bit, Miya never gets hurt. I picked her up and carried her to her room. I've been watching over her since, she hasn't woken up yet."
That concerned Naruto more than just a little. He knew what it was that had hit Miya and Uzume. From the sounds of it, the shockwave probably affected all of Shinto Teito. There were going to be a lot of Sekirei and Ashikabi with headaches in the morning. However what concerned Naruto the most was that Miya was strong, very strong. Her will and sheer force of presence were easily a match for his own. She should have been able to shrug off the effects of the blast just as quickly, if not faster considering the distance, than he had.
"Will she be alright?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, she'll be fine." Kagari said as he walked past Uzume, "She just seems to be sleeping off whatever it was that hit her.
Naruto sighed with relief, that was good to know. Naruto had enough grief to deal with without adding more onto the pile. "Are you heading out again?" Naruto asked as he eyed Kagari's attire.
The flame wielding Sekirei was dressed in a full formal black suit complete with a white button shirt and a black tie. It seemed despite having only recently returned himself he had been able to clean himself up enough to look presentable.
"Yes, I still have my job as a Host. I have a rather important client I need to meet tonight." Kagari said as he walked past Naruto. He gave the blonde haired Shinobi a wave. Tonight's meeting was extremely important. The only excuse Kagari could give that would be acceptable would be death. Death was probably what would await him if he turned the meeting request down. His client really didn't take no as an answer very well.
The living room became quiet after Kagari left. Akitsu stood dutifully silent at her master's shoulder while Uzume simply looked back and forth between Musubi and Naruto, unsure as to what she should say.
"Akitsu, wait for me here. I'll be back after I lay Yume down upstairs." Naruto said softly as he padded across the room and up the stairs.
"Yume?" Uzume asked in confusion as she looked at Akitsu. The ice Sekirei just shrugged her shoulders. Despite both being low numbered Sekirei neither knew who Yume was. Akitsu had been confined to the labs on account of her 'self-winging' and Yume had come and gone before Uzume had been set free from the labs.
Uzume sighed and headed back down the hall she had come from. Someone should be at Miya's side at all times in case she took a turn for the worse. Miya being taken down by something was completely unheard of so Uzume was on edge.
Akitsu just stood silently in the center of the dining room.
After Naruto had put Yume down he slowly wandered back onto the main floor of Izumo Inn. His mind was a million miles away as he went back over a particularly painful memory. It was a memory of when he had lost someone else he had considered just as precious as Musubi due to his decisions.
**** Flashback ****
Konoha was gone, pulverized and burned to ashes.
The surrounding landscape flattened and destroyed.
Ninety percent of Konoha's military force, destroyed.
Civilian casualties, one hundred percent.
Shino and his Genin team, dead.
Naruto mentally took stock of the damage done by Madara's not-so-surprise attack on Konoha. They knew it was coming, they just weren't exactly sure when. Naruto hadn't told the civilians about the possibility of total annihilation. They were required to run the village. Only those civilians that were required to run the hidden complexs and shelters survived. They had been evacuated a little over a month earlier when the fourth great village fell. Naruto knew then that it would only be a matter of time before Madara came knocking.
The emotions drained from Naruto and his mind attained a hyper awareness. His duties as Hokage sometimes conflicted with his ideals. This was one such situation. Civilians were required for the village to function properly and if Naruto wanted to have any chance at beating Madara the village needed to run at a hundred percent capability for as long as possible.
And this was the result.
Naruto was thankful that was all they had lost this day. All the equipment, supplies and personnel required to go ahead with the plan survived.
Everything that had been lost when Konoha had been destroyed was expendable.
Shino and his team had survived long enough to allow those that had fled to get away to safety. Their deaths served a greater purpose.
He however had stayed behind with a few of his most trusted and elite shinobi. There was a job they needed to accomplish. They needed to catch Madara, alone, without an army of minions behind him. This would probably be the last chance they had before the final confrontation.
Naruto had an idea, a plan to defeat Madara, but it all hinged on a single special ability: The abilities of the Hyuga. In theory it should work but theory was not something one tested with trial by fire. They would only get one shot at killing Madara and he wasn't going to chance it.
With Naruto were three other people. The first one was his ANBU Commander, Yugao Uzuki. She had been promoted when her predecessor died trying to save Hiashi from Sasuke. He had failed but it had bought Yugao enough time to flee with Hanabi.
The second one was Genma Shiranui. He had discarded his Jounin position to enter the ANBU as a commander. He and his ANBU squad normally served as Naruto's hidden bodyguards. The rest of the squad had gone on ahead to the nearest underground bunker. He had stayed behind because of his knowledge of the Hiraishin no Jutsu.
Naruto's final companion was Hinata Hyuga. She was a Jounin now, the current head of the Hyuga clan and Naruto's closest friend. He was aware of her feelings for him but the days didn't leave him much time to pursue emotional relationships with her. Perhaps if times were happier he would have asked for her hand in marriage.
He knew she would have accepted. It was not only what her heart wanted, but it was a good political move for the Hyuga as well.
But that was not to be. Today Hinata was going to die, and he was going to be the one to kill her.
Oh he wasn't going to stab her himself, or burn, or suffocate or otherwise hurt her. But the order he had given her was no different than the one he had given Shino. He was sending her to her death.
And she was walking towards it knowingly, willingly even.
Their whole plan hinged on how effective the Hyuga's Gentle Fist was against Madara's immortal body. Naruto needed her to die so that they could judge just how much power, and the effect the strikes had, on him.
He would love to keep her alive but everyone there knew that once she engaged Madara, there was no way Madara would let her leave in one piece.
"Hokage." Naruto's eyes flickered over to Yugao, "The Queen has arrived."
Good, she was the key to this entire plan. She had a fire in her; he had banked on her ignoring the evacuation orders to come back this way. She wasn't the type to sit on the sidelines when either his or her sister's safety was concerned.
Naruto turned to Genma. "And Madara?"
Almost here, Genma signed as he chewed on his senbon needle.
Yugao took that as her queue and silently slipped into the ground.
The group became silent as they quietly prepared for the confrontation. One of the things about Madara that went in their favor, at least for the moment, was his ego. He honestly thought he was unstoppable. And at the moment he truly was. This meant he enjoyed boasting and insulting his opponents before he tore them into tiny pieces.
It was that opening that Naruto was hoping to exploit. It would also probably be the last time Madara exposed such an exploitable hole to Naruto. That was fine however since the next time they had a direct confrontation he wouldn't need such an opening.
Hinata wouldn't get more than a few strikes in on Madara before he destroyed her. But they only needed a few strikes; Four at least, but obviously the more the better.
The four of them tensed as they felt a familiar, and overwhelming, presence before them. Madara was here looking no different or worse for wear than the moment he had been brought back to life by the Edo Tensei.
"So the cowardly Hokage himself has decided to finally face me." Madara said as he looked down on Naruto with contempt. It was as if he was looking at a bug and was deciding the best way to squash it. "Trying to buy a little extra time for your pathetic friends to escape? How noble of you although all you have done is buy your friends a few extra days. After all once I have you the Moon Eye Plan can be completed."
Naruto said nothing as Madara slowly walked towards him. There was nothing he wanted to say to the madman, and he wasn't going to give Madara the satisfaction of getting a rise out of him. The man had a god complex.
"What's wrong Hokage? Too scared to speak? Those little Genin I crushed a few minutes ago begged for mercy as I slowly cooked them-." Madara was cut off as the four Konoha Shinobi exploded into action.
Two hands burst from the soil beneath and latched onto Madara's feet surprising the egomaniacal manic. He had sensed absolutely nothing, although Naruto would have been surprised if he had. Yugao could not only completely erase her presence, but she could replace her presence with her surroundings so that it seemed as if there was nothing there.
At the same time as Yugao latched onto Madara's feet Naruto charged up some chakra in his hands and slapped them onto the ground. Tendrils of chakra shot across the forest floor and activated two seals on either side of Madara. Shadowy tendrils shot up from the ground and latched onto Madara's arms and yanked them roughly to either side. Shikamaru had been a great help when Naruto had sought to create a seal that could bind Madara's movements for a few seconds. While only a Nara could use the shadow jutsu techniques directly, it was possible for other people to utilize their techniques in a limited fashion through the use of seals.
Genma went through a series of hand signs and placed his hands on the ground beneath him. He was standing just behind Naruto ready to activate another seal that would use the Hiraishin no Jutsu to teleport everyone within the sealing array to the primary bunker complex. This was how Naruto planned to get away from the clearing with Madara being able to follow. It was one of the few ninjutsu that Madara did not know and could not copy.
When Yugao latched onto Madara's ankles it signaled Hinata that it was her time to act. "Hakke Sanjūni Shō!" Hinata shouted as she slide up to Madara and launched into her families patented technique.
Her arms blurred as she struck as fast as she could, "Two Palms!" Hinata shouted as she slammed her palms into Madara's torso.
"Four Palms!" Two more strikes slammed into Madara. Each strike had varying degree of chakra laced with them so that they could determine just how much was required to do anything.
So far none of the strikes had been enough. Madara's armor was made out of some kind of chakra resistant material and weak chakra strikes were being dispersed before they could cause any real harm.
"Eight Palms!" Hinata shouted as she pumped as much chakra as she could into each strike. These strikes seemed to have more success as she could actually see a couple tenketsu close after she used enough chakra to force her strikes past the armor.
However by this time Madara had been able to recover. Hinata had just finished landing the seventh strike when Madara backhanded her across the clearing. He tore himself from the shadow bindings and literally ripped Yugao from the ground with raw brute strength. The ANBU commander wasn't able to let go as Madara had used his chakra to keep one of her hands glued to his ankle.
Yugao wasn't the ANBU commander for nothing. She quickly realized that Madara wasn't going to let her go that easily so the moment she broke free from the ground her free hand pulled her sword from her back and slashed at Madara's leg.
Before the blade could land however Madara grabbed the blade with his gauntleted left hand and yanked it forward pulling the airborne Yugao towards him. His right hand reached out and grabbed the wrist holding the sword before she was able to let go.
With a sickening crunch Madara clenched his chakra enhanced grip and pulverized Yugao's wrist into a bloody mangled mess. Yugao bit back a cry of pain as she pulled her ruined hand back and tried to lash out with a kick.
Hinata used the time that Yugao bought fighting Madara to shoot over to Naruto's side. The seal array that Genma and Naruto had set up wasn't very large. At most it could take four people and barely had room to fit that many.
Madara kicked out and released the chakra binding his ankle to Yugao's hand but not before scorching her hand with Katon chakra. Yugao flew through the air and headed towards one of the many large trees at break neck speed.
A flash of color zipped across the clearing and instead of slamming into a tree Yugao was caught in the arms of someone. As the individual lowered Yugao to the ground said individual looked up with a pair of activated Byakugan.
"What are you doing here?" Yugao hissed at Hanabi doing her best to act the disappointed superior.
"I'm not going to just stand by while you face Madara. Not after what he did to my home!" Hanabi growled as she glared at the ancient Uchiha.
"You annoying insects are only delaying the inevitable." Madara snarled as his hands flashed through a series of hand signs.
Hinata's eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the technique Madara was about to use. He had used it before to incinerate entire squads of Konoha Shinobi. "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!" Madara roared as he spat out a massive wall of intense flame.
Hanabi's eyes widened in fear as she quickly got into position in front of Yugoa. She could easily teleport away but that would leave Yugao at the mercy of the attack. Both of Yugao's hands had been ruined. If she was going to die, and she knew she would, the least she could do was weaken the attack enough for Yugao to live. Maybe if Madara hadn't put too much chakra into the attack she could deflect the entire thing. "Kai-."
She never got a chance to finish, "Kawrimi no Jutsu!" Hinata whispered as she replaced herself with her sister.
There was no scream from the two as the wall of fire washed over them. They were incinerated almost instantly. Even if their deaths hadn't been instant neither of them would have given Madara the satisfaction of hearing their screams.
"NOOO!" Hanabi's cry shattered the heavens as she watched in horror and disbelief as her sister took the attack meant for her.
"Get us out of here!" Naruto roared over the cry of Hanabi's anguish.
Obeying his Hokage Genma activated the seal and with a flash of light the three of them were gone.
**** End Flashback ****
There was a light pressure on his arm as Naruto opened his eyes. He hadn't remembered closing them but he had at some point during the reflection. He turned his head a little and smiled at Akitsu who stared at him with concern etched across her face. It was her hands that were on his arm as she tried to give him what comfort she could.
Naruto appreciated the kind gesture. He knew that something as small as that with Akitsu was akin to someone like Musubi smothering him in hugs.
It was then that he noticed for the first time that his cheeks felt damp. He wasn't surprised by the tears; that was one of the worst moments of his command. Everything had gone exactly as he had predicted, as he had desired. The entire thing had gone off flawlessly. The four of them had worked out every last detail; they had even tried to predict every aspect of Hanabi's movements and had adjustments to their plan ready to use to account for differences in her actions. Hinata had gone to Naruto's side not to escape, but to be in the right spot to replace herself with her sister. Had her sister not caught Yugao she still would have replaced herself with wherever Hanabi had been.
There was a slim chance that Hanabi would have appeared at Naruto's side but that would have gone against everything they knew about her personality. It also would have ruined their plan. They needed Hinata's and Yugao's deaths to act as fuel to push Hanabi's determination and drive to extreme heights. It was the only way she'd become powerful enough fast enough.
As good as Yugao was Hanabi had been progressing too slowly under her tutelage.
Hanabi had a role to play and Hinata and Neji unfortunately couldn't fulfil that role. They each had their own speciality within their bloodline and both knew that neither could bring enough power and control to sufficiently penetrate Madara's protection. Neji however had the duty of training and perfecting Hanabi's techniques after Hinata's death. That's why he lived while Hinata died.
And there had been no other known Hyuga still alive.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on one's point of view, everything had gone off perfectly. Hanabi had blamed herself and Madara equally for her sister's death. It drove her to extreme lengths to improve so that she could kill Madara and to atone for her mistake. Her eyes had seen everything Hinata's had seen. She knew how much chakra was required to make it past Madara's defenses. She was aware of how quickly he could react and how the closing of his Tenketsu had affected him. She was now the perfect tool to bring the madman down. All she needed was to perfect her own family's technique and improve the power behind her strikes, and both of those would come with time. As far as mission results were concerned it had been a complete and total success.
And no other combination success or failure before or after had ever hurt him as badly inside as that one successful mission.
At least not until now.
"Ah, hello?" Naruto was broken from his reverie as a familiar voice called out.
Naruto and Akitsu turned and sure enough just outside still open front door were Minato and his Sekirei Kaho.
"Hey Minato, what brings you here?" Naruto asked, it was curious that Minato would follow him to Izumo Inn. He would have assumed that he and Kaho had a place of their own to return to.
"Well ah, you s-see." Minato rubbed the back of his head nervously, "My place was a bachelor pad. It was meant for singles and the landlord found out this morning that Kaho was living with me… ahah."
"And so he kicked you out?"
"Well he didn't just toss me out but I need to find a new place to stay and when we heard you were at an Inn, and Musubi is here. Well Kaho…" Minato trailed off. He looked like a nervous wreck right now. Naruto supposed that with everything that had gone on tonight a normal person would have rather frayed nerves.
At least that explained why Minato was here.
"Ara? Who do we have here?" A melodious voice asked from behind Naruto.
A soft smile momentarily crossed Naruto's lips at the sound of that voice. Miya was up and awake now. That was good. He would have been devastated if he had been responsible for putting Miya into a coma. He had lost enough tonight.
"It seems that Minato here wishes to become a new tenant of yours." Naruto explained as he turned to look a Miya.
To most people she would look as she always did: Calm, demure and utterly perfect. But Naruto could see the tell-tale signs that she was anything but. Her hair wasn't combed to its usual perfection. Her posture was slightly slouched and she had a hand on the door frame to help keep her perfect balance. The muscles in her neck and arms looked a little too tense to be natural. It was her eyes however that told Naruto the most. She was practically dead on her feet but there was a fiery determination in there that refused to allow exhaustion to get the better of her.
He humored her and pretended he didn't notice anything. He gave her a soft, genuine smile, "I'm glad to see you're up. Uzume had me worried earlier."
Speaking of Uzume Naruto didn't see the Sekirei anywhere. He stretched his senses and found her upstairs in her own bedroom. He must have really been out of it if he hadn't noticed her as she walked past him to head upstairs. Or maybe it was just a sign of how much he trusted her.
Miya closed her eyes and gave Minato a welcoming smile, "I see you wish to stay here?"
Minato bowed low, "Yes! Please! We were evicted from our apartment so we have nowhere to go!" Minato begged Miya.
"Please raise your head. My husband was someone who didn't prevent people from coming. Welcome to our Izumo Inn." Miya said as she opened her eyes.
Kaho turned and hugged Minato tightly, "Isn't this wonderful! Now we have a place to stay."
Minato blushed and smiled at Kaho.
"I have a feeling that this place is going to get rowdy from now on." Naruto said as he eyed Minato and Kaho.
"You say that as if this place isn't already with you and Musubi-chan." Miya said lightly. She raised her free hand to her mouth and gave a tired chuckled.
Naruto flinched. The look he gave Miya was a haunted one, filled with pain and loss. Naruto sighed softly and without another word he headed upstairs. Akitsu was quick to follow.
Miya's eyes lingered on Naruto as he made his way upstairs. She bit her lip as she took in Naruto's posture for the first time and noticed that he looked as exhausted as she felt. And it wasn't just physical exhaustion that he was dealing with.
She placed a hand on her breast. For a moment she had the urge to head upstairs and comfort the blonde haired enigma. She was washed with guilt for not noticing Naruto's demeanor earlier and the pain her ill-chosen words had caused him.
Had she been paying attention she would have realized sooner that Musubi was gone.
x~X~x
The streets were virtually empty as Homura walked down the street. That was fine with the flame wielding Sekirei though as he didn't want too many people to know about this meeting. The fewer people that knew the better. Lights appeared behind him and a nice black BMW pulled up beside him. A hand reached out an open window and beckoned him inside.
Homura stepped up to the car and opened the door, "A meeting by tinted car, rather prestigious." He said.
Takami gave him a level look as she placed the lit cigarette in her mouth. She was dressed in a black one piece dress that criss-crossed above her breasts and exposed ample cleavage in the middle and left the shoulders and arms bare.
"Because it was a promise. If I'm going, I might as well be fancy." She leaned back and folded her arms beneath her breasts. She closed her eyes and inhaled lightly, "I inflicted harm on you because of this incident."
"Ah, more or less." Homura brushed off her concern, "You seem unusually attentive."
Takami opened her one good eye and glanced over at Homura, "I'd berate you for being whiny but I hadn't expected you to face off against Mutsu tonight. I'll let you off this once."
"Ahaha." Kagari laughed good naturedly.
Takami's eyes narrowed as she got down to business, "What do you know about Uzumaki Naruto?" Takami asked intensely.
Homura had a feeling this conversation would eventually find its way to the enigmatic blond. "Not as much as I'd like." Homura admitted as he looked up at the roof of the car, "He seems to possess speed and strength to match a Sekirei and exhibits abilities for which I have no explanation for. For the few that I recognized they all seemed to be more advanced versions of what the Sekirei use."
"Did you know that he killed No. 43 Yomi?" Takami asked.
Homura looked at her sharply, "A level 5?" Takami nodded. Homura placed a hand on his forehead and sighed, "I can believe it." He said as he thought back to how Naruto, or at least his clone, had acted on the battlefield with Mutsu. He had always targeted locations that would cripple or kill Mutsu. It was only due to No. 05's extraordinary battle skill that he didn't suffer any serious injury.
"I would call it a level 6 if we had one. He didn't just kill her; he flat out destroyed her. There wasn't enough left to fill a bucket." Homura blanched at the image that conjured up. "I believe he is a true danger to this Sekirei Plan."
Homura wasn't so sure about that and he voiced as much, "I'm not so sure. He is a little extreme, yes, but it's not an entirely chaotic extreme. It always seems to be in regards to helping someone." Homura thought back to the time when Naruto had knocked out and kidnapped Hibiki and Hikari when they had tried to threaten Musubi. He had seen the two later looking no worse for wear.
Takami frowned as she leaned forward to tap the end of her cigarette into the ash tray. She didn't believe Homura but she wasn't here to start a fight, "Is there any way you can convince him to hand Musubi's body over to MBI?"
Homura shook his head, "I doubt it. He seems to be extremely mistrustful of MBI, besides there is something odd about Musubi."
"And that is?"
"Her crest is gone, I saw it disappear myself but… her core is still active and No. 08 Yume's crest is visible on her stomach.
"What!?" Takami exclaimed. "That shouldn't be possible!"
Homura nodded in agreement, "Yes, you're right, it shouldn't be. But it's there anyways. Naruto seems to think that Musubi is dead and that Yume is now in control of that body. I'll know more later."
Takami took a long drag from her cigarette to calm herself. This night was getting worse and worse. If Karasuba found out Yume was alive… well it wouldn't be good. Half of Shinto-Teito may end up getting destroyed in the resulting conflict. It was worse than having her and Miya fight it out since Miya could over-power Karasuba quickly enough that only a few blocks would suffer as collateral damage.
She would very much like to get her hands on Musubi's body to figure out what's going on but between Miya and Naruto getting to it would be too costly.
Homura kept quiet as Takami thought through his revelation. Takami seemed even more on edge than usual. If Yume riled Takami up this much then what would his other suspicions do? Better to keep quiet until he had more proof.
Author's Note: Whew, this chapter was actually kind of hard to write. Sorta. The first half was easy, right up until I got back to Izumo Inn. I actually created a new document to write out a sort of 'Sequence of Events' to help me get past the mini-block I had here.
Now that this chapter is over I can say this. From the start I had 4 Sekirei picked out for Naruto. More may be added to the Swarm, erm I mean Harem but I had 4 definite Sekirei. 1) Hanabi, 2) Yume, 3) Akitsu and 4) Yet to be Revealed (Although you've already met her). The fourth Sekirei is going to be very interesting.
Sekirei never actually explains just 'why' a Sekirei becomes deactivated. They describe certain actions that can cause it, but not 'why' those actions do what they do. Why does reciting a simple incantation cause a Sekirei to deactivate? There are a lot of unknowns in this area and I've taken liberty with it and have created my own explanation about Sekirei's, the bond, the core and how everything connects together. It's definitely going to be different than any explanation the Sekirei manga comes up with, but so far they haven't come up with anything so I'm still safe in that regard. In canon Sekirei the Sekirei are very much a black box, my story will take apart that black box and we will get to see what goes on inside there.
This is my take on what happened at that bridge with Yume and Musubi in the manga. I believe that when Musubi took all that damage, the deactivation command came and she was deactivated. But because she went dormant Yume was able to take over. Yume was able to basically move in and fix things. She restarted Musubi's core and reconnected the bond with Minato. When she went back into Musubi's subconsciousness Musubi was back to normal because Yume had been able to fix everything. However in my story because the command never came, Yume never had the chance to take over and protect Musubi. Think of it like this: Instead of turning a computer off by pressing the power button, you instead take a battleaxe to the CPU. Both will turn off the computer, one isn't recoverable though. With Musubi's fragile core destroyed beyond the ability to repair Yume's core, the one she gave to Musubi that was filled with her consciousness, basically slide into the void left behind by the destroyed one. And yes, I firmly believe that in the Sekirei managa Musubi has 2 cores, Yume's and her own wrecked one that Yume is holding together.
Now for a side note on the flashback. Yugao could have easily swapped herself with a log or used Sunshin to get out of the way of the wall of fire, even with her mangled hands. However that wasn't the point, she was there to die to help give Hanabi to motivation to exceed her limits. Yugao and Hinata could have both lived, but they both willingly gave their lives so that Hanabi would have the drive she needed to reach the level she needed to reach. Whether it's believable or not to you that Hanabi would need the deaths of two people she cared about to drive her to extreme heights is irrelevant. This is how I've built her character. She had drive before but she never had the drive to push herself so far beyond her limit it was actually dangerous and that's what they needed to get her ready in time.
Anyways stay tuned for the next chapter whenever it comes out! People want to see Naruto acting more like the Hokage you all expect him to be? Well that all starts happening next chapter.