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 Kishimoto and Sakurako Gokurakuin. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.
Author's Notes: This is a bit of a spoiler, it spoils the first three paragraphs so it's not a big deal. The last chapter hit Naruto hard, at lot of sad and shitty things were just dumped on him. However I am NOT writing an emo Naruto. Sorry everyone but he had his breakdown in the previous chapter, I'm not writing pages of him moping around feeling sorry for himself. I could have, it probably would have made more sense if I did (even I think he recovered rather quickly all things considered) but my story is already dark enough without half a chapter of Naruto going all Sasuke on us.
Review Responses: I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy the mind fucks the last couple chapters. Everyone seemed to have a slightly different reaction but overall I think the last two chapters were well received.
A lot of what was revealed last chapter had been hinted at several times before and I'm happy to see that so many people had figured it out.
A bit about letting Ayesha roam about. Miya really is trying to control Ayesha but Ayesha doesn't really seem to let that get her down. She takes advantage of any and every opening in Miya's watch to move around Izumo Inn and talk to its residents. The last chapter everyone was distracted by their own problems and it gave Ayesha the perfect opportunity to converse with Kusano.
There was mention about Naruto giving up on Kurama. In the past he would have just bulldozed towards a solution, any solution, but that only worked in the manga due to the 'Rule of Cool' that dictates most of Naruto. In reality there is literally nothing he can do and he knows that. Not because he can't modify the bond, but because the risk to other precious people is too great, with little to no guarantee of something productive coming about as a result of his efforts in time to save Kurama.
We're talking about the bond that connects him with his loved ones, the bond that literally keeps them alive. If something went wrong there he could do more than just accidentally deactivate his Sekirei, he could end up burning out their ability to EVER be reactivated or form a new bond.
He'd need a spare Sekirei that he could use as a guinea pig or experiment if he wanted to properly find a solution without hurting his precious people, but can you see Naruto doing that? Maybe if it was to save the world, sure, but for a single person? No matter how much he cared about that person he wouldn't do it. He'd go to extreme lengths for others, sure, but he won't sink down to Orochimaru's level.
Chapter 26: Infiltration
"What do you have for me Blanc?" Naruto asked as he hovered over the petite Sekirei's shoulder.
It had been several days since the unsettling revelation about the Jinki. It had taken several days of concerted effort from all of Naruto's Sekirei to soothe the wounds that the revelations had caused.
The knowledge that he had failed to save his world and his helplessness in resolving the situation around Kurama's eventual assimilation still weighed heavily on him. However he couldn't remain depressed forever. He had lost much, and was going to lose more, but he needed to move forward if he wanted to prevent the loss of anyone else.
Which meant addressing the biggest concern and threat at the moment: Higa Izumi.
Some basic plans had already been formed and tossed back and forth between himself and his wife but it would be a few more days before they were finally ready to strike.
Currently he was in the Command and Control room, the central room on level B1 of Epsilon Point with Blanc. She was the primary source of his information. It was early in the morning and everyone else was still asleep. Blanc was going over the results of information gathering with him. She had created several scripts that scoured the net for basic information and had used filters to narrow down the results.
"I have the results of the second round of the third stage of the Sekirei Plan," Blanc said as her fingers literally blurred across the keyboard. Multiple windows popped up on the screen.
Naruto frowned as he quickly skimmed over the information, "Looks like the winner of the second round got ambushed after the battle."
Blanc nodded her agreement, "Yes, Takano Kouji and his Sekirei Namiji got attacked by Sekirei No. 107, Shiina. It was obvious he was targeting the Jinki as he fled as soon as he retrieved it."
While there was no 'official' word on what happened to Takano Kouji and Namiji, there wasn't very much that couldn't be found on the internet. A battle like that had garnered some attention and one of the people living in a nearby apartment had filmed it with their phone. It had been up on sekireiTube within minutes. Blanc had been able to use a facial recognition program she had 'acquired' from a torrent site to match the identity of the attacker with all known Sekirei still active.
That was how she came up with the identity of that attacker.
"What's more is that his Ashikabi wasn't there at his side, which is strange considering his Ashikabi is none other than Sahashi Yukari." Blanc continued as she pulled up another window that displayed all the information she had on Yukari.
"Minato's little sister," Naruto mused.
"Yes, but unlike him she takes after her mother and you know what she's like. There's no way she'd allow her Sekirei to do something like this, nor would she stray far from his side."
"Another Uzume situation?" Hanabi asked as she walked into the room. She had picked up the last bit of the conversation. She stretched her arms above her head and let out a wide yawn.
"Good morning beautiful," Naruto said as he smiled appreciatively at his wife.
Hanabi let her arms drop causing her breasts to bounce with the sudden movement. "Good morning Naruto-kun," She replied. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."
"Too tired to get dressed this morning?" Naruto asked as his eyes soaked up the entirety of his wife's naked form.
"Meh," was all Hanabi said as she came over to stand at Naruto's side. "I'll get dressed when I feel like it, this is a luxury I haven't been able to exercise before, let me enjoy it for a while." She had never really had her own full fledge house where she could just let it all out and truly relax. If worse came to worst she had a change of clothes stored in a seal on her chest that she could change into in an instant.
For now though she was going to enjoy the freedom that came with having your own home all to yourself and those you loved.
"No complaints from me," Naruto said as he wrapped an arm around Hanabi's waist and turned his attention back to the computer screens.
Blanc cleared her throat and picked up the conversation where it had left off, "Yes, this is probably another Uzume situation. The number of people powerful enough to control Yukari to such an extent that they could force her Sekirei to so blatantly break the game is two," Blanc said as she brought up another profile, this one of a powerful Ashikabi. "One of them is Higa Izumi."
"And the other?" Naruto asked.
Blanc gave him a pointed look, "You're the other one."
"Oh."
By now they all knew what Uzume had been force to endure on Chiho's behalf. A couple days after Naruto had winged Chime she had come forth with everything she knew about the man. How he owned the Hospital that Chiho had been staying at, how he blackmailed her and forced her to do his dirty work so that his hands remained clean. The threats and his modus operandi, how Kakizaki was the face that most of those under his control dealt with and how she was only one of many Sekirei that was forced to do what the man wanted under threat of retaliation.
It had really helped figure out the mastermind behind Hanabi's assault by narrowing their search. From there it had been relatively easy to get all the information they needed. Between what was publicly available, what the information Naruto's contact had given him, and what Blanc had been able to fish out of Higa's corporate computer networks with the information given to them by said contacts they were well armed information wise.
"So he now has two Jinki, we need to move on him soon," Naruto muttered to himself as he stared thoughtfully at the profile of his adversary, "Do we know where Higa is keeping Yukari?"
"No, but I can figure that out today. I'll just need to get access to their security system and I can use their cameras to locate her," Blanc explained.
"Do so, the moment you find her let me know. Once we figure out where she is we can finalize our plans for moving on Higa," Naruto said, "What else do you have for me?" He asked as he pushed thoughts of Higa and the plan aside for now.
"That clone of Kakashi you sent in on Monday to start work at MBI HQ has settled in quite nicely," Blanc said as she brought up video feeds of several cameras that focused on the main entrance of MBI. "There doesn't appear to be any problems with his integration into the company. He's currently being trained on the proper protocols and procedures required as a janitor at MBI. Apparently there are quite a few rules that you must adhere to if you wish to work there."
"Good, I was afraid that MBI had the same scanners that the Sekirei ship had, I guess my fears were unfounded otherwise he wouldn't have been let in after the first day," Naruto said as he watched the feed of his clone, Kakashi, walk into MBI unmolested.
x~X~x
"Shit!" Sanada Nishi cursed and he quickly slammed on the breaks of his motorcycle. He twisted his bike to the side as he tried to slow down even faster but it wasn't enough.
"EEK!" There was a thump as Sanada hit a bystander that had suddenly walked out into the middle of the road. The bike spun in circles and he was thrown from the seat. He tumbled a few yards before he righted himself and stopped on his hands and knees.
"Damnit girl why did you walk out like that?" Sanada shouted in anger. The person he had hit was a young girl. She had short brown hair, green eyes, and wore a very interesting floral patterned knee-length dress that had sections of purple, pink and white.
He wasn't about to admit that he had been speeding outrageously and that she WAS crossing a pedestrian crosswalk that had the lights flashing to indicate that someone was going to cross.
"Master are you alright?!" Kuzuri cried as she landed beside him. She had been riding on the back of the motorcycle and had jumped off it when her Ashikabi had tried to break suddenly.
"Owie! Why were you speeding like that?" The young girl cried out as she held her injured leg.
"Ah… Why did you suddenly jump out like that! This is a street!" Sanada shouted back as he tried to shift the blame.
"But I had right of way." The brunette pouted as she pointed up at the crosswalk lights that were blinking.
Sanada felt his anger ebbing and a guilty look crossed his face, "Ah well…" He didn't know what to say, he wasn't very good at apologizing.
"Take responsibility for your actions!" The young girl shouted indignantly.
"Tsk, what is it you want? Money?" Sanada asked.
"Food!" Nio cried out happily, "Drive me to somewhere tasty and treat me!"
"Master, she's strange," Kuzuri said as she eyed the girl oddly.
"Enough, Kuzuri go back home with the others," Sanada snapped at his Sekirei irritably. She was beginning to irritate him.
Kuzuri flinched at the unexpectedly harsh town of her Ashikabi, "Yes master," Kuzuri said as she started to walk away. She looked back and saw her Ashikabi helping the strange girl to her feet. An odd pain started to well up inside her and she bolted down the street, tears in her eyes.
"And what's your name?" Sanada asked as he helped the girl over to his bike.
"Nio! I'm Nio Altugle," Nio said as she beamed a beautiful smile at Sanada. "I'm a Sekirei without an Ashikabi, will you be mine?"
"I thought all the Sekirei were winged?" Sanada asked curiously as he righted his bike and set Nio down on the backseat.
"I was forcefully taken away from my master." Nio started to cry. "A bad man ripped me away from him against my will and before I could save my master the bad man killed him." Her body was wracked by powerful sobs.
"There, there," Sanada said as he patted Nio's head comfortingly. "I'll be your Ashikabi! Don't you worry! Then I'll beat the shit out of whoever killed your former Ashikabi!"
"Really? You will? Oh thank you!" Nio cried out as she kissed Sanada Nishi soundly. Sanada never noticed the twelve black, warped and twisted wings that sprouted from Nio's back as corrupted energy flooded his system. He wrapped his arms around her waist as he leaned into the kiss. The more he kissed her the more he wanted to kiss her. Without even realizing it one of his hands began to make its way up her thigh. "P-Please not out here, let's go somewhere private." Nio said.
"Heh, alright this is what I'm talking about!" Sanada said as he quickly hopped on his bike and drove off to the nearest hotel.
x~X~x
"Good afternoon Tsukiumi-san," Ayesha greeted the water Sekirei with a happy smile and a wave of her arms. Her hands were stained red with some kind of liquid.
"Good afternoon Ayesha-san," Tsukiumi returned her greeting as she approached the cheerful resident of Izumo Inn. Tsukiumi liked her, she was cheerful and fun to be around. Nothing seemed to keep the girl down. "Miya-san has you watering the plants again?"
"Yup!" Ayesha replied cheerfully as she wrung her wrists over the plant she was currently water. "Yume-san isn't here right now so I volunteered to take her place." Miya hadn't asked her to, the door to her room had oddly been locked and barred from the outside with her in it, but she had volunteered her own services anyways. She knew how busy Miya could be at times.
"Where's the hose?" Tsukiumi asked as she looked around. While she could use her own powers to water the plants anyone else would require the hose to do this but she couldn't see it anywhere.
"Oh I don't need that. Plants just need water right? I don't want to increase Miya-chan's water bill, her expenses are already so high. I have plenty of water here already, plus the extra nutrients in the water help the plants even more than just plain tap water," Ayesha said as she moved onto the next plant. "It's a win-win situation for everyone, I get to help, Miya-chan has a cheaper bill and the plants get better care."
Tsukiumi eyed the plant Ayesha had just left; it was stained red just like…
Her eyes widened in horror and she quickly raced to Ayesha's side, "Ayesha-san! What are you doing?!" Tsukiumi demanded in a horrified voice as she grabbed the young woman's arm and pulled it away from the plant she was about to water.
Tsukiumi stared at Ayesha's arm in disbelief. There were four deep lacerations in the arm, two width wise across the wrists and two length wise down the arms. The wounds were so deep Tsukiumi could see bone. Her hand, wrist and forearm were completely drenched in blood although the odd thing was that it wasn't bleeding as much as it should be for such a deep wound.
"I don't understand, I already said I'm watering the plants," Ayesha said in confusion as she pulled her arm from Tsukiumi's limp grasp and went back to wringing her blood off into the plant.
The water Sekirei gapped like a fish out of water. This was absolutely ludicrous. Who would cut their own wrists just to save money on a water bill that wasn't even their own? She couldn't let this continue, not while she was able to help.
"Ayesha-san! I will water the plants, you need to bandage those arms before you bleed to death!" Tsukiumi declared as she pulled Ayesha away from the plant she was bleeding out onto. With a flick of her wrist water appeared around her and she began directing it to the remaining plants that had yet to be watered.
"Oh thank you Tsukiumi-san, I was worried about how I would water the last few. I'm almost out of blood," the blonde woman said as she held a hand up to her mouth and laughed lightly.
"What?" Tsukiumi asked as she turned back just in time to see Ayesha fall backwards and hit the ground with a solid thump.
Tsukiumi was about to call out for help when a white light enveloped Ayesha. The water Sekirei held a hand up to her face and squinted at the bright light. It didn't last long however as the light quickly died down to reveal Ayesha sleeping peacefully on the grass, the wounds that once scarred her arm were gone without a trace leaving Ayesha completely unharmed and looking as clean and pristine as ever.
Tsukiumi wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. She was certain that Ayesha had been dead but now here she was, alive and completely unscathed. Even the blood and dirt she had gotten on her dress was gone. "Ayesha-san?" she asked hesitantly.
Ayesha eyes slowly opened at the sound of Tsukiumi's voice. With a yawn she stretched her arms out behind her and slowly sat up. She turned to the water Sekirei and smiled happily, "Good afternoon Tsukiumi-san," Ayesha greeted Minato's Sekirei again.
Tsukiumi eyed Ayesha in concern and confusion, "Ayesha-san… you weren't dead were you?" she asked hesitantly.
"Dead? Of course I was, quite an interesting experience don't you agree?" She chirped happily and rose to her feet, brushing off the grass and dirt that had collected on the bottom of her dress.
"But you're alive now?"
"Yup!" Ayesha said as if it was an everyday occurrence. She glanced at Izumo Inn and tilted her head curiously, "I've been wondering, where's little Kuu-chan?"
"Kuu-chan is out with Minato-san and Kaho-san," she said bitterly. She should be at Minato's side, not Kaho. She was his legal wife not her, but Miya-san had asked her to clean the bathroom.
Well she did end up making a mess of it this morning so she had grudgingly done it.
"Oh so little Kuu-chan is out with Minato-san and his wife," Ayesha said nodding sagely. "Do you know when they'll be back?" She wanted to play with Kuu-chan some more.
"She's NOT his wife!" Tsukiumi spat out, "I'm Minato-san's legal wife! She's just his concubine!"
"That's not what she told me. She said she was the legal wife since she was his first Sekirei and that you were just an extra." Ayesha said as she started to pull some weeds out from between the plants. The problem with watering the plants is it also encouraged the growth of weeds and other undesirables.
Although her special herbs were coming along quite nicely, it was so hard to find them these days and her stock always seemed to be disappearing whenever she set her herb bags down.
Tsukiumi's hair started to sway in the air as her anger erupted. "That harlot! How dare she say that! I'm Minato's legal wife!"
"Hmmm I wonder…" Ayesha trailed off for a moment then picked up again on a slightly different train of thought. "Well little Kuu-chan is too young to be a wife and Matsu-san doesn't care, so if you really want to be his true legal wife just get rid of Kaho-san." Ayesha said casually. There was no malice in her voice; she was stating it like it was the simplest and most logical course of action.
"Get rid of her? I've tried, I keep telling her to back off but she doesn't listen!" Tsukiumi grumbled as she moved onto the last plant. With her ability it hadn't taken long to finish water the plants.
"Oh of course she won't listen to your words. She's actually right in her definition. She was first so she is the legal wife. Plus being his first she does possess a slightly larger piece of his heart than the rest of you." Tsukiumi anger spiked at those words, "So that just means you need to remove her."
"What do you mean remove?" Tsukiumi asked suspiciously.
"Well the easiest way is to drown her while she's asleep. She likes to sleep with her mouth open, just fill her lungs with water and she'll drown to death," Ayesha said cheerfully as she viciously ripped some offending lilies away from her sage herbs.
"I couldn't do that!" Tsukiumi gasped, as much as she hated Kaho for taking her spot she wasn't going to out-right kill her.
"Well then just use your incantation. You're Minato's Sekirei right? She'll never suspect it until it's too late. It's completely painless, she'll just go to sleep and be taken to MBI."
"The incantation doesn-"
"It does work, it's indiscriminate," Ayesha replied as she smiled down in satisfaction at the plants. Miya's plants were there, watered and healthy, her own plants were there as well leeching nutrients away from Miya's plants and everything else was ripped away.
It was perfect.
"I…" Tsukiumi trailed off, she didn't know what to do. Minato-san was her husband, not Kaho-sans, why wouldn't she accede. It hadn't even occurred to Kaho-san to want to be his husband until after she had said she was.
It just wasn't fair.
But she didn't want to hurt her. She was a comrade, an ally, another one of Minato's Sekirei. The more he had the safer he was.
Ayesha lightly placed one of her hands on Tsukiumi's arm and smiled up at her gently. The smile was so soft and warm it washed away her worries. Tsukiumi suddenly felt as if everything would be all right.
Ayesha's eyes became ancient and wise as gently rubbed Tsukiumi's arm. "If you don't want to get rid of her, then don't. If you do, do it. There's nothing to really think about. Just go with your feelings, they'll never betray you," she said, her voice soft and melodious.
Tsukiumi nodded slowly and smiled back at Ayesha. She felt calm and content now. The solution was so simple; there really wasn't anything to think of at all. All she had to do was go with her feelings. "Thank you Ayesha-san."
"You're welcome; I'll always be here for you Tsukiumi-chan."
x~X~x
Naruto leaned forward in his chair and looked around the Command and Control at Epsilon Point. Hanabi and all of his Sekirei were in here along with him. There was a large octagonal table in the center of the room. At each of the sides was a single cushy office chair made out of real leather and on the table in front of each chair was a computer screen. One of the seats had two screens and a keyboard and mouse in front of it, that seat was designated as Blanc as she was the resident tech expert. The screens were all connected to the computer located at the back of the room near the vault and displayed whatever it was that Blanc had up on the secondary screen.
To the right of Blanc's seat, and directly across from the door leading into C&C room was Naruto's seat. To his right was Hanabi. Those three seats were the only ones reserved, the rest were up to whoever came first. Of the remaining five chairs, three of them were filled by Chime, Yume and Akitsu.
In the middle of the table was a large screen that had a map of Shinto Teito displayed on it. They were using satellite view of gaagle maps to get the image. The screen was touch sensitive so you could zoom in and out of an area by simply using your hands.
It had taken Blanc longer to get access to the video feeds than she had anticipated. She hadn't been able to get access to the live feeds but the backup videos had been accessible with a little work and through those she had ascertained Sahashi Yukari's location.
Naruto slowly stood up and the murmurs around the room quieted. "Alright as you all have probably already guessed today is the day we plan our move on Higa Izumi," Naruto said as he started the meeting. "Most of us have had some rough dealings with him in the past. Some worse than others." Naruto glanced at Hanabi and Uzume, "He's tried to blackmail me, experiment on my wife, he did blackmail Uzume and threatened to kill both her and her Ashikabi and he's tried to have the three of you, Blanc, Akitsu and Yume, killed." Naruto paused for a moment as he let that sink in, "His continued existence can no longer be tolerated."
"Are you planning another full scale assault like what you did to Mikogami Hayato?" Yume asked softly, there was concern in her voice. She agreed that Higa Izumi needed to be removed but she was concerned about the methods Naruto might employ.
"That's not for me to decide," Naruto said much to the surprise of his Sekirei, "I'm going to turn the floor over to Hanabi. She'll be in charge of this operation."
Hanabi stood as Naruto took a seat. "To address Yume's concern right away, no this will not be like the assault on Mikogami Hayato. With that individual we needed to keep him alive while Naruto-kun freed a number of Sekirei. That's not the case this time." Yume let out an audible sigh of relief. While Higa Izumi didn't have nearly the number of Sekirei that Mikogami did, he did still have a sizeable number, and that wasn't including those that he had blackmailed and coerced into helping him.
"We will dub this mission: Operation East Wind." Hanabi began and beckoned for Blanc to put up the requested information. The screens in front of each of the Sekirei changed as a number of windows appeared. "There are four objectives to Operation East Wind. All four objectives must be achievement simultaneously otherwise we run the risk of the failing one or more of said objectives."
"That's going to be tough," Yume commented as she read the overview of the plan. "We'll need to split the six of us up four ways."
Hanabi agreed, "Yes, unfortunately you are correct, however with Uzume, Ishiya and Toyotama out of the way Higa doesn't have very many truly 'dangerous' Sekirei left. This mission focuses on pinpoint strikes at key locations. It's much different to the all-out brawl and assault that was the Mikogami Hayato plan. A perfectly executed plan will result in exactly two deaths: Higa Izumi and his secretary Kakizaki." She nodded her head to Blanc and the information on the screens changed.
"The girl on the screen in front of you is Yukari Sahashi. She has been imprisoned by Higa Izumi at his primary headquarters in eastern Shinto Teito. Rescuing her is one of our main objectives."
"Sahashi… is she related to Minato-san?" Chime asked as she noted the similarities in last names.
"Yes, she's his little sister. From what we know of her she is strong willed, violent and stubborn. She's almost the complete opposite of her brother. From what the videos show she appears to be imprisoned against her will, kept locked up most of the time." The information changed again, "Yume this will be your objective. The surveillance footage is a week old but from what it shows she's being held here on the twelfth floor. When you go in to get her, make as much noise as possible. In addition to her rescue we want everyone focused on you to make the fourth objective easier," Hanabi said as an image of the floor plan of the twelfth floor appeared on everyone's screen. The room where Yukari was being held most of the time was highlighted in red. She wanted Higa's attention focused on Yume because as callous as it was her rescue had the lowest priority of the four objectives. Removing Shiina, gathering the Jinki and killing Higa all took priority.
"Where do you want me to take her after she's been recovered?" Yume asked, her brows furrowed in concentration as she memorized the entire floor plan.
"Take her to secondary staging point," Hanabi responded and reached across the table to the map of Shinto Teito. She used her hands to zoom into a particular location. "Right here," she said as she pointed to a small Shinto shrine, "It's about five miles north west of operational area."
Yume gave Hanabi an inquiring look, "I'll be doing this alone?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll get it done."
Hanabi gave Yume a smile, "The only deaths required in this operation are Higa and Kakizaki. Feel free to use whatever means you deem necessary to achieve your goal. That goes for the rest of you as well."
Yume gave Hanabi a grateful smile. That eased her mind somewhat. She could understand why Hanabi and Naruto favored death over any other method. Their history hadn't afforded them the luxury of mercy however that didn't mean she agreed with it. This was a different world, a different era with different people. She didn't believe their methods were required here in Shinto Teito and she was happy to see the two of them making concessions on her behalf.
"Moving on to the second objective." Blanc took that as her queue and all the information about the first objective was replaced with new information. "The Sekirei you are seeing in front of you is the second objective. This is No. 107, Shiina, the Sekirei of Yukari Sahashi. Unlike most of the pawns that Higa Izumi has coerced and employed this one is powerful, he's also a target we need to neutralize, but kept alive and active at the same time." Hanabi waved her hand again and the information on the screen adjusted once more. Hanabi gave the other's some time to read it over before she continued.
"Kuu-chan has power over life, Shiina-san has power over death. No. 108 and No. 107," Chime said as she read the profile.
"Not quite." Blanc was quick to clarify, "It's more accurate to say its growth and decay. Kusano can't give life to that which doesn't exist; she can only hasten the growth of that which already does. Likewise Shiina doesn't so much 'kill' as he does hasten the rate at which it ages."
"And that is why I have decided to send both Chime and Akitsu to deal with Shiina. Ice does not age, it's simply frozen water. Water is eternal, it can change form, but that's simply the manipulation of heat which Shiina is incapable of doing. In addition Chime's veil is polyester. It's a man-made material and is not bio-degradable. While Shiina's power will still affect it to some degree, her cloth should hold up long enough to be of use," Hanabi said as several images of Shiina demonstrating his power appeared on the screen. "In a one-on-one situation he's deadly powerful. However his powers are directional and are emitted from the palm of his hand unless boosted by his Norito, which we won't have to worry about since Yukari is locked up."
"You want us to Capture, restrain and take him to the secondary staging point?" Akitsu asked.
"Yes. If you can convince him to go without a fight, great, however I doubt he'll listen to reason while his Ashikabi is confined. He won't do anything to risk her and he'll have no reason to believe anything you have to say."
"We'll do it Hanabi-san," Chime said and Akitsu voiced her agreement.
"Good, once Yukari and Shiina are reunited you are to return to Epsilon Point via Izumo Inn."
Hanabi didn't want to mention the real reason she had sent Chime after Shiina. Shiina was rarely at Higa's office, Higa didn't want Shiina anywhere near his Ashikabi for any length of time. This meant that Chime, and in particular Chiho, would be spared the violence and bloodshed that was going to happen there.
Hanabi had no doubt that Akitsu alone could defeat Shiina, however having Chime there was a good precaution just in case Shiina wasn't alone.
Hanabi beckoned Blanc to continue on to the next objective. With a few quick taps on the keyboard and clicks of the mouse the information changed yet again, "This is the third objective. The death of Higa Izumi and his secretary Kakizaki," Hanabi said as she looked over the two profiles of the two men. "I will be handling this alone. My ANBU training will allow me to get close to the two of them without tripping any alarms or giving them any advanced warning." Hanabi gave her husband a wry smile, "I'm also doing this because if we left this task to Naruto-kun he'd blow up half the building, if we're lucky."
"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Naruto protested indignantly as everyone laughed.
Hanabi raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"
"Once! It was just once!"
"I recall a certain mansion in the south, a Yakuza apartment complex, Delta Point, unleashing Kurama on Shinto Teito… do I need to go on?" Hanabi asked.
Naruto grumbled under his breath, crossed his arms and pouted. Okay so maybe things tended to get blown up, crushed, destroyed and otherwise obliterated when he was involved but that didn't mean it would happen this time.
Hanabi laughed and turned back to the screen in front of her, "Anyways I'll be taking care of this objective. I won't reveal any details but they are my only targets. I plan to sneak in, terminate them, and then sneak out. I'm hoping to do this as quickly as possible since with their death the majority of our opposition will disappear. We'll just be left with the standard security guards and any Ashikabi that had been coerced into helping Higa." The latter could probably be convinced to run away once Higa was dealt with.
Yume didn't even bother trying to protest Hanabi's method of dealing with Higa and Kakizaki. She knew it would be futile, and it was the method that ended with the least number of deaths. She had come to terms with one central fact about Hanabi and Naruto. When they made plans like these, people were going to die. There was nothing she could do to prevent that. The most she could hope for was to limit it to only those that Naruto and Hanabi absolutely would not compromise on.
"The next part is where Blanc and I come in!" Naruto said happily as he took over for Hanabi. He tapped his Sekirei on the arm and she changed the information. The information for the fourth objective came up on the screens. "While I may not see a lot of action in this mission this objective is actually more important than Higa. Higa has two Jinki's now. They must be taken from him during this mission otherwise we run the risk of some unknown running off with them. We'd never find them if that happened. As important as Higa is, the Jinki outweigh him in importance."
No one around the table disagreed with him. They had all been there for Miya's explanation. As terrible as Higa's actions were, letting the Jinki fall into the wrong hands or disappear completely was completely unacceptable. The potential harm that could be unleashed was enormous.
"So to that end while Hanabi is assassinating Higa and Kakizaki and Yume is freeing Yukari, Blanc and I will be infiltrating the main server room. Higa is smart; he has both a public and a private network. The private network has all of his sensitive information and is completely cut off from the outside world. I'm going to escort Blanc to the main server room so that she can hack into the private network and steal all of Higa's dirty secrets."
"I don't need an escort. I more than capable of getting in myself," Blanc commented idly.
"Perhaps, but I need to be there to see what else Higa has hidden away," Naruto said. For some reason what his informant Kaiga had said to him kept coming back. Higa had something important hidden away and his gut was screaming at him to figure out what it was. "Anyways we'll figure out where the Jinki are being held, the private server will have that information in one form or another. If they're together we'll go and pick them up, if they're held in different locations we'll split up and grab one each. This is the second reason why the two of us are going together," he explained.
"Is everyone comfortable with their tasks?" Hanabi asked, she paused as Yume shook her head back and forth. "What's wrong Yume?"
"What are the plans concerning everything aside from the objectives? What about the regular humans and laws." Regardless of Higa's crimes behind the scenes on the surface he was an upstanding citizen and the major stake holder in a massive and powerful pharmaceutical company. There were numerous employees and security personnel on standby.
"You won't need to worry about their computer systems," Blanc spoke up as she quickly brought up a folder with an executable on it. "This is a virus that I created; I'll embed it on their server and activate it. It'll quickly spread throughout their network and essentially shut the system down. Everything even remotely connected to the publicly accessible servers will be neutralized."
"I'll also have a 'few' clones running interference." Naruto leaned over the table and focused the center map on Higa's primary HQ. "There are several phone and power lines feeding into this building. The clones will cut those lines and sever most power to the building. There is a backup generator on site but it won't be able to do anything but power emergency systems and their servers."
"Ah, you have followers," Akitsu pointed out.
Naruto blanched a little, "I'm not sure we need to get the Church of Kyubi involved in this," he said with a little trepidation. He wanted to get into Higa Pharmaceuticals with little fanfare and if any other those fanatics saw him they'd alert everyone else and any subtly he had going would be instantly gone.
Plus he didn't want to get innocent people involved in this mess, even if they were fanatical zealots he'd be much happier without.
Hanabi chuckled and added to Naruto's explanation, "As for the employees, ignore them unless they try to stop you from accomplishing your objective. If they interfere the method of their disposal is up to you," she said. "The law won't be an issue, thanks to 'Emperor Minaka' Sekirei are basically allowed to do whatever they want. We're essentially above the law."
"How convenient," Chime murmured.
"Does that answer all the concerns?" Naruto's Sekirei all nodded their heads and voiced their agreements. "Then we'll go ahead and begin the operation tomorrow. Yume, Myself, Naruto and Blanc will move in the moment Akitsu and Chime make contact with Shiina." They needed to hit all for objectives at the same time and the biggest variable was Shiina's location. Once that variable was accounted for they would move in and do the rest. "And with that the meeting is adjourned, I suggest everyone get a good night's sleep tonight."
As everyone began to leave the room Yume approached Hanabi.
"Can we talk?" Yume asked, there was a concerned, yet serious, look on her face.
"Sure, what is it Yume-san?" Hanabi asked, "Is it about the plan for tomorrow?"
Yume shook her head, "No," She replied, "Can we speak privately?"
Hanabi paused in her step and gave Yume a curious look, "Alright, let's head to the living room," Hanabi said.
Yume gave her a grateful smile and the two left the room side by side. The two were silent as they made the quick walk to the living room on B1. It would be empty at this time of day. Blanc would probably head to the library once she was finished closing the meeting while Akitsu was training on B3, which was a new basement level that Naruto had created soon after obtaining Epsilon Point. It was essentially just a large open room with reinforced pillars and walls to withstand intense training.
Hanabi had no idea what Chime was up to, with two completely different personalities inside that body it really was a tossup as to guess at what she would be doing.
Naruto being Naruto would probably be double checking everything prior to the operation. Even if Hanabi was in charge of this one Naruto had seen too many missions go awry because someone had missed something a double check would have caught.
As the two entered the living room Yume closed the door and locked it behind her. Hanabi's curiosity was really getting to her now. Whatever it was that Yume wanted to talk about was serious enough that she needed to ensure privacy, at least serious enough that she didn't want anyone to eavesdrop, but not serious enough that she felt the need to inform everyone else. The walls and door were all soundproofed so even if you had your ear up to it you wouldn't hear anything. With the door locked no one could get in from the outside, not without liberal use of force.
This living room was made to house a great many people if one so wanted to. It had a unique design where the west and north walls of the room were raised a foot higher than the rest. A long couch stretched across the length of the west and north walls on this raised platform. In the center of the room was an entertainment system. Three large screens made a triangular formation: one facing the west wall, one facing the north and one facing the southeast wall. The sound system was set up so that no matter where you viewed the television from it sounded as if you were 'there' as opposed to simply watching it.
There were also several love seats and cushioned arm chairs scattered around the eastern, southeastern and south parts of the room. It was one of these chairs that Hanabi made her way to.
"So what is it that you wish to talk about?" Hanabi asked curiously as Yume took a seat in a chair just across from her. "It's obviously not something dangerous otherwise I can't see why you would exclude Naruto-kun."
"No, it's not something dangerous. It's about Miya-san."
"What's wrong with Miya-san?" Hanabi asked in concern.
Yume grimaced a little and shook her head. "Sorry I may have started off wrong," Yume said as she collected her thoughts, "I wanted to ask what you thought of Miya-san."
Hanabi blinked in surprise, that was an odd question and one she had not expected. "Well she's a strong willed woman with a good head on her shoulders. Her priorities seem to be straight, although she's a little strict with the illicit activity aspect at Izumo Inn however it is her property so she is allowed to create her own rules and enforce them." They were also hardly restricting now that they had their own place to go to for any illicit activities that they wanted to do. "She's also the only person aside from myself that seems to be able to keep Naruto-kun in line, no offense Yume-san but you cave into his wishes way too easily."
"I don't think I'm that bad," Yume protested as she thought back to all the situations where she had tried to convince Naruto not to kill Sekirei.
"What about a couple days ago where he asked you make him breakfast in just an apron?" Hanabi pointed out.
Yume's cheeks colored a little; she leaned forward and glared at Hanabi in mock anger, "That's hardly fair and if I recall correctly you did the same for him the night after Musubi was winged."
"Ah but the difference here was that I did it of my own volition, you did it because he asked," Hanabi pointed out.
"And you wouldn't do it if he asked?"
Hanabi coughed and moved along, "Anyways what is this all about?" She asked as she brought the conversation back on track.
Yume settled back in her chair with a victorious smile on her face, "I just wanted to know how you felt about Miya-san."
"How I feel and what I think are two different things," Hanabi pointed out.
"How do you feel about her then?" Yume already knew, she could see the emotions inside Hanabi, but she wanted Hanabi to voice them so that she herself became more consciously aware of them.
"I like her, obviously I don't know her like you and the others, you and Naruto have spent far more time around her than I, but she's a good person." Hanabi looked down at her lap and clasped her hands, "I feel a little sorry for her. I heard about her husband, how he died so soon after they married. It feels like she's carrying guilt around with her, like she feels it's her fault somehow that he died."
"You're right, Miya-san does feel that way," Yume confirmed Hanabi's feelings, "Takehito-san left MBI because Miya did. If he hadn't left then the accident that had claimed Takehito's life may never had happened."
"Does Miya-san know how the accident happened or what the accident even was?" Hanabi asked.
Yume shook her head, "No, from what I was able to find out the only people alive that know are Karasuba-san and Minaka Hiroto."
Hanabi frowned, "Then it's stupid," She said bluntly. Yume seemed momentarily taken aback by Hanabi's unusual straightforwardness. "You can't blame yourself for future mistakes because of past actions, not in a situation like that. Her leaving MBI and the accident that killed Takehito-san could be completely unrelated. For all she knows Takehito-san's death may have come even sooner if he had still worked there or perhaps merely delayed it. I don't know the specifics but I do know that she can't assume that the accident would have never happened if Takehito-san had still been a part of MBI." Miya was blaming herself for the death of her husband in an accident that she was completely clueless about. She had no idea how it occurred or whether it was even related to her leaving MBI.
"You know it's been almost three years since Takehito's death," Yume said softly.
"She should move on." At least that's what she would do, and what she had already asked Naruto-kun to do in the case of her own death. Not right away of course, but several years is more than ample time to mourn a loved one's passing.
You should never forget, but neither should their death be a chain that keeps you from being happy.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Yume shifted her gaze to meet Hanabi's, "I know Miya-san wants to move on, I can see it inside her, but she sees two insurmountable obstacles."
Hanabi's eyes widened in realization as it clicked, "Me. She sees me as an obstacle." It made sense when she put all the pieces together and came to one startling conclusion, "She's in love with Naruto-kun," Hanabi whispered.
It made so much sense, the two of them got along incredibly well. Aside from herself, Miya was the only one Naruto had any real heart to heart conversations with. Naruto was almost as close to Miya as he was to his own Sekirei, closer in some cases, and you had to be completely blind to not see how much Miya favored Naruto over the rest of the residents at Izumo Inn.
"Yes," Yume said with sadness in her voice. She shook her head slowly from side to side, "She seems to feel that so long as you're at his side she can never be. She's been keeping her feelings bottled up tightly so as to not disturb what the two of you have. She knows how wonderful it feels to be married, and how much it hurts to be separated. She'd never wish anything to come between you and Naruto-kun so she's kept her distance."
Hanabi frowned as she tried to envision the inclusion of Miya into Naruto's group, "I'm having difficulty seeing Miya-san as someone who is willing to share, with anyone."
"She doesn't see it that way. Miya-san both is, and isn't, a Sekirei. She shares some of our traits, including our acceptance of others. For us in a case like this the number of other Sekirei our Ashikabi has is irrelevant, all that matters is the strength bond between the Ashikabi and Sekirei."
"And she's afraid of how I will react to her presence since I'm not a 'true' Sekirei and don't share the same traits and values as the rest of you."
"Yes."
Hanabi leaned her head back against the top of the chair and rubbed her hands over her eyes. She could feel annoyance and disappointment welling up inside her, "Why hasn't she talked to me about this?" Hanabi demanded, her voice tinged with anger.
Yume was taken aback a little by the heat in Hanabi's voice, "Well she doesn't want to come between you and-."
"So instead she sends you to tell me all this instead of coming to me herself."
"No, I'm doing this myself because I feel that-."
"Your feelings don't matter in this situation," Hanabi snapped as her anger got the better of her. She tried to rein her anger in, she knew that Yume had meant no ill will, but she couldn't help but feel irritated by the whole situation. Hanabi stood up and walked towards the door, there she paused and turned to Yume. "If what you said is true then this is about me, Miya-san and Naruto-kun. If Miya-san doesn't feel she can talk to me about this then she really doesn't deserve to stand at Naruto-kun's side, I won't let her." With that said Hanabi swept out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
Yume stared after Hanabi in consternation. This conversation had gone far worse than she had hoped. Her face scrunched up in sorrow as she buried it in her hands. She may have just done more harm than good by confronting Hanabi with the knowledge of Miya's feelings.
She only hoped that Miya could forgive her.
x~X~x
Somewhere in the south Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Uruguay, a small pillar of light ripped up through the water and pierced the heavens. It remained there, motionless for a few precious moments as the pillar of light extended the length of the galaxy in an instant before it finally disappeared.
Back in Japan two Naruto clones looked at each other in total surprise and glanced back down at the hole in the floor they had just created.
"There appears to be a red glow down there…" the first clone said.
"… Is that lava rushing up towards us?" the second clone asked.
"Do you think boss is going to be mad?"
"He'll be even madder if we let Charlie Point get flooded with lava, we gotta plug this hole!"
"Right."
The two quickly went to work trying to fix the damage they had caused.
Creating new seals sure was dangerous work.
x~X~x
"So are you feeling any better about tomorrow's mission?" Naruto asked Chime as the two of them walked down the sidewalk side-by-side.
Naruto had decided to go for a walk after he had finished checking over the finer details of Operation East Wind. Chime had been just outside the command room waiting for him. He could sense her nervousness and had invited her along for his walk.
"A little, standing beside you always makes me feel better," Chime said with a smile.
"That's good, you'll have Akitsu with you so you'll be fine. You don't need to really hurt Shiina, just restrain him. I 'know' you're good at that," Naruto said remembering back to the night he had winged her.
Chime blushed fiercely for a moment and averted her eyes. Her eyes changed and a mischievous look came over her face, "Well bro I have learned some new tricks, perhaps ton-."
"-Uzume-chan!" Chime gasped out in embarrassment as she violently took control of her body from Uzume. Her face was a flaming red color.
Naruto gave her a sideways glance as a small grin creased his face, "I'm not so sure I want you to be practicing those new tricks on someone as innocent as Shiina."
"Chiho is pretty innocent too," Chime pointed out.
"Was innocent, I think the two of us have done a pretty good job at ruining that."
The blush on Chime's face grew to epic proportions. "Uzume-chan, Naruto-kun…" Chime pouted with embarrassment.
"See bro? She's still innocent. I think my new tricks might finish her off though."
Naruto began to stroke the non-existent stubble on his chin and adopted a sage look, "You do have a point my friend. We still have plenty of time…" Naruto trailed off and looked over his shoulder. His gaze rested on the opening of an alleyway, "Can I help you or are you just going to stare at my ass all day? I know it's a great ass but Chime's is far better."
"Naruto-kun!"
Two people exited from the alley, a male and female. Naruto could tell that this was a Sekirei and Ashikabi pair due to the large chakra presence within the female and the spear strapped across her back.
"You are Naruto, the Sekirei Slayer?" the Ashikabi demanded.
"Nope, I'm Shino, it was nice talking with you but I have places to be," Naruto said as he turned to leave. The Ashikabi and Sekirei exchanged confused looks.
"Naruto-kun, don't be rude," Chime said disapprovingly.
"Then why did she call you Naruto if you're not Naruto?" The Ashikabi demanded angrily.
Naruto sighed, he'd have to talk with Chiho about discretion at some point in the future. He turned back to the pair, "If you go through with this you will lose." He knew why they were confronting him, he could feel their intent, as weak as it was.
"He said he would get us out of the country if we defeated you. This game is dangerous, if we stay here we are sure to lose, even if we have only a slight chance at beating you we'll take it!" Naruto just palmed his face and sighed at the tirade. The pair before him had been tricked into attacking him and he'd bet a million yen he knew who it was that tricked him.
"Higa can't fulfil your wish," Naruto said, he had a strong feeling he knew who 'he' was.
"Bullshit!"
Bull's-eye.
"There are three reasons why he can't," Naruto said sadly, he raised a single finger, "First, he can't smuggle you out because every ship coming and going is being monitored by MBI. There have already been a couple attempts to leave that way by Sekirei and they've all been foiled." Naruto raised a second finger, "The second reason is that I have no interest in this game, you have a better chance of surviving by playing this game legitimately than you do fighting me." The man glared angrily at Naruto as he raised his third finger. "And the third reason is…" Naruto trailed off sadly.
Chime's mouth widened in horror as she saw the third reason approach the pair from behind.
"And what's the third reason you bastard?"
Naruto sighed dramatically, "The third reason..." Naruto paused to get the timing just right, he had always wanted to do this. It wasn't like the two of them would have a chance even if they were forewarned, "Is because you're already dead."
At the word dead a sword pierced straight through the Sekirei's chest, cutting the core in half. The Sekirei gasped and coughed up gouts of blood as she looked over at her Ashikabi in horror, only to see him slump to the ground with a massive gash in his back.
As the Sekirei fell the sword was violently ripped from her body. Her body twisted in mid-fall so that she was staring up at the sky. Her final sight before everything went dark was the grinning visage of the Black Sekirei.
"I never did get their names," Naruto said mournfully. All he could do was look on as the two bled out. Karasuba wasn't really someone you took lightly and she was definitely someone that you did not want to turn your back to.
"Worthless trash don't need names," Karasuba said as she swiped her sword through the air, splattering the blood across the pavement as she used the movement to clean her blade.
"What do you want?" Chime demanded. Uzume was in full control in this situation, just in case Karasuba decided to get violent.
"Just doing my duties as a dog of MBI," Karasuba said as she rested the back of her sword on her shoulder. "Getting rid of the useless waste that's cluttering up this game." Karasuba's smile grew, her head tilted and her gaze intensified on Naruto. "And looking for you."
"Sorry, I've already got five Sekirei, not looking for a sixth at the moment," Naruto commented in an off-handed manner, "I know I'm dead-sexy and all but the whole bloodlust and killing intent is a real downer in the bed."
"Don't knock it until you've tried it," Karasuba casually fired back. Chime's jaw almost dropped; did Karasuba just make a joke? She hoped so because the thought that she wasn't was even more disturbing, "But no I'm not looking for you for my own benefit. Takami wants-."
"Sorry not into old hags." Naruto clamped his mouth shut as a sudden chill ran down his spine.
A window on the fortieth floor of MBI HQ blew out as a desk was thrown through it.
Karasuba laughed uproariously, "I'll be sure to pass on your sentiments to Takami."
"Ah, you don't have to, you know, really," Naruto said, he had a sinking feeling that Miya be damned if Takami learned of what he had just called her she'd rain hell down on Izumo Inn to get him.
"Convince me not to," Karasuba said casually as she brought her sword down and held it at the ready.
Naruto grumbled and weighed his options. Fight Karasuba now, here, in the middle of the street or face Takami's wrath in the future? It didn't take Naruto very long to decide on a course of action as he reached for the seal on his shoulder and brought out the sword he had looted from Mutsu.
Karasuba was dangerous but righteous feminine fury was flat out terrifying and he did not want to see what it would look like when paired with Takami.
Fighting the Black Sekirei was probably the safer of the two options.
Naruto drew the sword and handed the sheath to Chime, "Here, hold this, and don't interfere," he said. Karasuba was too far outside of Chime's league, even with Uzume's experience, for him to allow them to participate.
"You're going to fight her?" Chime asked in disbelief and with more than a little concern.
Naruto shrugged, "I'll be fine. Better her than Takami," he muttered the last part under his breath, being careful no one could hear it.
"Oh, I see you have Mutsu's sword. So the rumors of you killing him were not exaggerated," Karasuba said as she eyed Mutsu's sword appraisingly. "I hope you know how to use it."
"Oh, don't worry, I don't, but I'm sure I can at least keep up with you," Naruto said as he held the sword lightly in his right hand. He hadn't been formally trained with it but he had been on the business end of a sword many times in his life. When one combined that with his instincts, natural reflex, and speed he should be able to match Karasuba with just the sword.
Provided she didn't go all out. He'd have to get serious then.
"Oh? How arrogant of you," Karasuba said and she quickly dashed towards Naruto.
Karasuba's blade screamed through the air as she neared Naruto. The blonde shinobi slid to the side and bent back as he let the blade skim past him, missing by a couple inches. Karasuba quickly changed the direction of her blade and slashed horizontally back towards Naruto. The blonde shinobi quickly brought his sword up and blocked the follow-up slash.
"Oh, perhaps you have a little skill after all," Karasuba purred, a smile began to crease her face as excitement welled up inside her. "Let's see how you handle this."
Naruto had to move fast as Karasuba's blade flashed so quickly it seemed to melt into thin air. His body instinctively moved, his feet sliding across the ground as he avoided the first two slashes. He parried the third attack, deflecting it to the side.
Karasuba moved with the blade in an attempt to get around Naruto. The shinobi was having none of that and stomped on the ground, hard. It splintered under Karasuba caused the powerful Sekirei to stumble for a moment. This gave Naruto all the time he needed to reposition himself.
And just in time as Karasuba was on the offensive the moment she recovered. Her thrust came at him, aiming straight for his eye, with blistering speed. Naruto tilted his head and quickly raised his sword to block the attack. The screech of metal was agonizing to the blonde as the blade was deflected past his ear.
Naruto began to sweat a little, not from exertion, but from worry. Perhaps challenging a sword fighter on par with one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist with their own speciality wasn't the greatest idea after all.
He needed to do something other than defend. Before Karasuba was able to pull the blade back Naruto stepped into her guard and slammed his knee into her gut. The Black Sekirei sucked in her stomach and leapt back as she went with the blow, lessening the impact.
The look on Karasuba's face was almost surreal as she landed with in a crouch. Naruto almost couldn't believe what it was he was seeing. She looked so serene and carefree. The smile on her face wasn't even twisted; it was one of simple joy and pleasure.
"Oh this is so good Naruto, I hope you're feeling just as good. No one I have ever been with lasts long enough for me to enjoy them, they're always finished so quickly." Karasuba was in absolute bliss right now. Everyone she had fought before were either so strong they'd wipe the floor with her in an instant or so weak she did the same to them.
A sweat drop rolled down the back of Naruto's head but he didn't say anything in return. He simply raised his sword and prepared himself for the next attack. He increased the amount of chakra flowing through his body, he was going to need to up the ante a little, Karasuba was simply too much for him to not take a little seriously.
Karasuba's smile widened, "I knew the real thing would be better than those imitations," she said huskily.
Then she disappeared in a burst of speed.
Naruto disappeared as well as he exploded into action. The clash of steel on steel reverberated through the air countless times a second as the two danced around each other with such fluid, speed and grace that it would have colored professional dancers green with envy. To the untrained eye the two fighters appeared to be little more than blurs and flashes of light as the sun reflected off their blades for an instant. To the trained eye it was like watching death dance with itself.
Naruto's superior speed, reflex and instinct allowed him to keep up with the greater skill and experience that Karasuba had with her blade. He blocked and parried where he could, moved with his feet when he failed to anticipate a riposte or counter, bent and weaved on instinct against attacks he couldn't see and always he kept increasing his speed to stay just one step faster than his opponent.
He even used the environment to his advantage whenever he could. He created obstacles and fissures in the pavement to weaken Karasuba's foothold, he threw used coffee cups and cigarette butts as distractions, he even threw his voice at times to try and confuse her.
Even with all that he was going to lose. So long as he stayed within the confines of the unspoken rules of this duel he was going to lose. She was getting used to his movements and was beginning to anticipate when a distraction would come and in what form it would take.
Naruto had to acknowledge that while Karasuba was indeed a very good swordswomen, she was an even better fighter. Better than he'd ever be. He had amazing instincts; he knew what to do next and how to improvise to gain an advantage over his opponents. That had been the primary trump card that had allowed him to gain an advantage over his opponents. Karasuba's trump card wasn't her strength, or skill, but her ability to learn and grow on the fly. He could literally see her getting stronger, better and faster just by fighting him.
The fight ended suddenly and without warning, and in a way neither of them had expected. Naruto, getting pushed harder than he thought he would have, had enhanced his blade with a little too much chakra. While Karasuba and Mutsu had encased their blades in pure chakra, he had encased his with wind chakra.
It was too much for the blade.
With a clang the blade was sheered in half and it took all of Naruto's strength to stop his own from taking Karasuba's head clean off. He winced as the broken end of Karasuba's sword pierced his left shoulder. Karasuba stopped the rest of her broken blade just shy of his heart.
"Why don't we call this a draw," Naruto said as he glanced down and eyed her broken sword. She couldn't continue on with that. His longer reach and the inability of her broken sword to continue channeling chakra through it would give him an unfair advantage.
Karasuba straightened and sighed as she brought her broken sword up to face. "I should have known better than to trust MBI to make a half-decent sword," she said mournfully.
Naruto reached up and pulled the broken end of the blade from his shoulder and tossed it towards Karasuba. "They should be able to repair it," Naruto said as Karasuba caught the broken blade.
Karasuba grinned at Naruto, "No," she said as she tossed the broken sword away. "I'll keep this however as a souvenir of our battle but I have no use for broken tools." Karasuba said as she slipped the broken end of the blade down the front of her MBI uniform, she hadn't bothered to wipe the blood off.
Naruto retrieved his sheath from Chime and returned his sword to it. "Here," Naruto said as he approached Karasuba, "You can have this blade." He offered Mutsu's sword to Karasuba.
Karasuba's eyebrows rose questioningly, "I don't accept pity or charity," she said, there was a small frown on her face.
"It's neither. I broke your sword; you can't really do your duty without it. I don't need a sword to fight at my best, you do. Perhaps we could do this again in the future," Naruto said as he offered the sheathed blade to her sideways.
He had to admit, after he had gotten into the fight he had begun to enjoy it. It had been a fast paced, potentially lethal and deadly battle where skill, wits and ingenuity had as much a role in the outcome of the battle as speed and strength. It was said you could come to understand someone by exchanging blows. He had come to understand Karasuba far better in those five minutes than he had with all the other encounters combined.
He hadn't felt any bloodlust or killing intent from Karasuba in that match, only a desire to fight, to battle, to prove herself against the strong.
She never had any intention of killing him, or even seriously hurting him. She honestly just wanted a good fight. She lived for the thrill of battle. She only killed those she felt were incapable of making her feel that thrill.
Or if it was under orders from MBI.
"Oh I most certainly hope we will meet again in the future," Karasuba said as she accepted the sword from Naruto. "And as thanks for letting me enjoy this wonderful experience I'll tell you something useful. Search out the sword Totsuga No Tsurugi. It belonged to Miya-chan and she will need it again in the future."
With that said the Black Sekirei gave Naruto a wave goodbye and walked away.
"Damn bro! I didn't know you were that good with a sword," Chime said as she quickly hurried to Naruto's side. Her eyes were filled with surprise and admiration.
"I'm not, I got lucky that her sword broke. My skill pales compared to hers. I only lasted as long as I did because I was faster and unpredictable," Naruto said as he watched Karasuba disappear around a corner in the distance.
"Still, that was damn impressive, I don't know why you didn't finish her off though, she's dangerous." Despite her words Chime wasn't feeling nearly as anxious or nervous as before. It was obvious Naruto could match Karasuba, she doubted anyone other Miya could do that.
"I guess," Naruto said noncommittally. She was dangerous, there was no doubt about that, but Naruto didn't think her ability was what Chime had been referring to.
After fighting her he wasn't convinced she was as unstable as everyone made her out to be. The only difference between her and any other battle maniac was her willingness to eliminate anyone that wasn't 'capable' of becoming strong enough to give her a good fight. Anyone that could, or had the potential, had nothing to worry about.
Or perhaps he only thought that way because he was just as unstable as she was but that wasn't a thought he wanted to entertain seriously.
"Totsuga no Tsurugi, I'll have to see if Blanc can dig anything up on that," Naruto murmured as he wrapped an arm around Chime's waist. "I doubt Miya will need it like Karasuba suggests but it never hurts to be safe." And it was her sword after all; perhaps he could give it to her as a birthday present or something.
He'd need to figure out when her birthday was though.
"I don't think Miya needs to get any scarier," Chime said with a shudder as she thought about Miya pointing that huge sword at her.
Naruto chuckled and kissed Chime on the cheek. "Don't worry, she won't use it against you." There was a flash of yellow light and the two of them reappeared in the master bedroom at Epsilon Point. "Now if I recall correctly you mentioned something about new tricks?"
Chime squeaked as a massive blush returned to her face. A grin creased the beautiful face as the bed sheets rose up around the two of them. "Oh ya I believe we were in the middle of discussing that weren't we?"
"Yes, something about finishing off Chiho's innocence?" Naruto returned.
A burning heat and an irresistible itch that needed to be scratched built up between her legs, "How long is it until dinner?" Chime asked huskily.
Naruto glanced over at the clock and grinned, "Six hours."
"That should be enough time don't ya think?"
"Plenty."
The blush on Chime's face grew even more.
x~X~x
Later that night found Hanabi resting in the secret room Naruto had built for her on B1. The room was attached to the wall in the hallway just outside the living room. Only she and Naruto knew about it. It was her own private little get away when she just needed some time alone to think.
The room was sparsely furnished with a single long pull-out couch and a desk with a chair. What little light there was in the room was provided by a smattering of seals scattered throughout the room that emitted chakra in the form of light to bathe the room in a soft blue light.
Her mind was a mess right now and she needed to sort it out. Tomorrow was a big day for them and she needed to have her head on straight.
The conversation with Yume was what bugged her the most. She was still upset at Yume and Miya. Yume for butting into something that didn't involve her and Miya for not feeling as if she could talk to her.
She knew she was harsh with Yume though. Yume had nothing but the best of intentions in her heart. She would have to sit down and talk with her sister later, probably after the mission since there won't be time before then.
Tonight would definitely be too soon, she wasn't going to be ready to swallow her pride and apologize for her rudeness that soon.
Hanabi sighed softly and rubbed her eyes. Gods was she tired, and today hadn't even been a physically demanding day.
She still had to figure out what to do about Miya. She stood by what she said to Yume, she wasn't going to bend her neck for Miya. She felt sorry for her, she could only imagine how painful it would be to lose the man you loved, but she couldn't let that affect her too much.
If she bowed her head and approached Miya first it would seem as if she was giving up. As if she was acceding lead to Miya. That wasn't an acceptable choice. Standing together as equals would be the absolute limit to what she would tolerate; she wouldn't play second fiddle to another, not when it came to Naruto.
Naruto was too dense to know when someone loved him. He was incapable of seeing all the signs that women threw at men to show that they were interested. He was the sort of individual you needed to bash over the head with a sign saying "I love you" for him to understand.
That meant Miya had to make the first move. Miya needed to approach her.
Which created a problem. While Hanabi had not spent as much time with Miya as the others, she had spent enough time to get a good feel for the kind of person she was. Miya was very much like her, she wasn't used to bending her neck for anyone, for any reason.
The most likely outcome would be a stalemate with no progress happening on either end. Something earth shaking and life changing would have to happen to bring the two of them together.
Hanabi nodded to herself, that would have to do. Her mind was made up. She would apologize to Yume tomorrow for her rudeness, after the mission as there wouldn't be any time to do so before hand, and explain to her what she reasoned out tonight.
As for Miya, something needed to happen to break the stalemate. She didn't know what it could be but it would have to be a shock large enough to get the two of them moving.
It wasn't the happy ending that Yume wanted, but happy endings rarely happened in real life.
Author's Notes:
Nio's still alive. And yes Sanada 'should' have realized something was wrong with Nio but… well… let's just say Sanada wasn't thinking straight or at all really.
I don't know 'when' Takehito died, I'm going to assume it's been a few years. The sorrow Miya feels doesn't seem fresh and it was definitely before Benitsubasa and Haihane were released from their tubes. Pretty much the time period is between finishing the adjustments on No. 10, 11 and 12 but before the adjustments had been done on No. 104 and No. 105 as Karasuba said they'd still been 'sleeping' when Takehito had been killed.
Some may be upset by the conversation between Yume and Hanabi but that's probably the most realistic conversation I've created to date. Most people don't know this but Hanabi is actually very much like my little cousin. The two of them share a great many traits. I actually had her come in and help me forge that conversation so what Hanabi said, her reactions, they're exactly what a female with those personality traits in that position would say, think, and do. Love it or hate it, but that's probably the most realistic conversation to date. And yes, it was a required conversation; I'm not just creating needless drama.