We've got quite the long chapter today. For me at least. We'll be progressing the cannon story in today's chapter.
I hope you all enjoy!
(Marshalanime does not own Naruto or Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou)
"Alright everyone! Let's review the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Accord!" Miia announced after gathering the other girls, plus Kushina, in the living-room turned classroom. For this occasion the lamia also decided to put on a pair of thin-rimmed glass. "First, humans and liminals cannot harm one another! Secondly, we are forbidden from acting independently from our host family!" Miia said with the others following along to varying degrees. Most of them were paying attention like normal save for Papi who seemed to be struggling with the book in front of her and Akko who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else.
Turning to the whiteboard she had set up on the wall behind her Miia began drawing doodles of herself and Naruto together along with some quickly scrawled images of the other girls to help punctuate her next point. "And third-this is the most important of them all! In the host household the senior-ranking exchange student has the MOST authority! So you have to do what I tell you!" Miia proclaimed as she added a few more hearts to the image of her and Naruto.
"Do not think about adding thine own rules!" Cerea told the snake woman while giving her a dumbfounded look.
Meanwhile Akko took this opportunity to pick up her book and head for the door. A thought along the lines of 'I'm not wasting my time with her delusions' went through her head as she left the room. There were a million other ways she could be spending her morning that didn't involve this.
"Is that true?"
"I... had no idea..."
Papi and Kasumi said respectfully, Papi with a confused yet intense look while Kasumi'a eyes drifted down to the desk she was sitting at.
"Do not be deceived!/Don't put fake rules in their heads!" Centoria and Kushina both blurted out as Sunda just folded her arms behind her head and leaned back in her chair.
"No way I'd follow such a stupid rule even if it was real" the leech woman said with a toothy grin.
"You need to be reminded of the rules more than anyone!" Miia all but shouted at Sunda and nearly causing her to fall out of her chair.
Having caught herself on the back of the chair Sunda pulled herself back into a sitting position with a bead of sweat running down the side of her head. "And just what's that suppose to mean?" the woman shot back. Seriously, what rule could she have broken to get that sort of reaction?
"I'm talking about your diet! We're not suppose to harm humans so why do I always see bite marks on my Darling!?" Miia questioned the woman, her clenched hands held tightly to her chest as she got in Sunda's personal space.
"That's what your upset about?" Sunda asked in return, a bit surprised that that was an issue. "He already singed off on that so no law's being broken when I take a little nibble. Besides, it's just a little blood loss, nothing to get concerned over" Sunda said with a wave of her hand and a turned head.
"A little blood loss!?" Cerea shouted, nearly scaring the piss out of Sunda as she slammed an open palm down on the woman's desk. "Hath thine not noticed Milord's condition after this so called 'little' blood loss? Thou drainith enough blood from his veins to leave him incapacitated half the time! And let us not forget that thou are not the only one to partake in Milord's live blood!" Centoria chastised the woman who had since brought her hands up defensively.
"Just wait a minute! The Guy's always back on his feet and ready to go within half an hour so it's not like I'ma kill him with a little indulgence!" Sunda was defending herself when something Cerea said suddenly clicked in her head. "HEY!" the curvaceous woman shouted as she bolted up from her chair and slammed her hands on the desk. "You just said so yourself that I'm not the only one drinking his blood so why are you ganging up on me!?" the leech woman asked as she moved her face in closer to Cerea's, a thoroughly annoyed grimace on her face.
"Because you drink more then the other two combined!" Miia interjected, placing herself back into the argument. "At least they drink that blood substitute crap most of the time but I can't even remember you touching one of those bottles!" Miia said to the woman.
"Wha! You expect me to shovel that bland junk down my throat when Naruto let's me drink my fill anytime?" Sunda questioned.
Over with Kasumi who'd been silently eavesdropping on the trio, she was quietly nodding her head with a confusing expression that was somewhere between joy and depression. 'They really are... bland compared to him...' Kasumi thought to herself as she wished she could build up the courage to ask for blood more often.
"Let's not forget about you two!" Sunda shot out as she pointed a finger at the duo. "How many kicks or tail slaps has he received courtesy of you, huh!? You guys are far more hazardous then I am" Sunda accused, turning the argument onto Miia and Centoria.
It was as Miia and Centoria started to stumble their way through excuses that Naruto came into the room, phone in hand. A bit of infighting had become a daily event and so he ignored the arguing trio for the most part and made his way over to Kushina. The woman was gently rubbing her temples as she contemplated weather or not she should even try to intervene in this mess.
"Mom, Smith's on the phone" the blond told his mother as he handed the phone out to her.
"Hmm?" Kushina intoned as her head turned to look at the phone. "Right. Right" Kushina said as she crabbed the phone and stood up. As she started her conversation with Smith Kushina made her way to a quieter part of the house, quickly leaving the room as a result.
With his task complete Naruto finally turned his attention to the girls. "Okay, okay, let's give it a rest alrea-huh? Steam?" Naruto was starting, taking a few steps towards the trio when the gathering steam grabbed his attention. It hardly took the glance around the room for Naruto to find it coming from Papi and adequately freaked out at the sight. "Papi! What's the matter? Are you okay?" Naruto quickly asked the poor harpy.
Pulling her face out of the open law book Papi muttered "These interspecies promiscuity bras are too tough... Papi wants to take a bath...". Despite her brain having been fried by the text book it took the girl less then ten seconds to come up with a brilliant idea and thus she turned to Naruto to say "Papi Knows! You take a shower with her boss! Bathing alone's for the birds".
"W-Wha...?" Naruto slowly responded as he gave the hopeful girl an odd look. "Uum, maybe if the others come with us... aaahh..." the responded as his head tilted in the direction of the others. It really would feel awkward if it was just him and Papi but it didn't look like they were going to calm down soon. He was about to just bite the bullet and go alone with Papi bur fortunately for him he spotted Kasumi quietly sitting off to the side.
A little bit later had Naruto kneeling next a filled bathtub and dipping his hand into the waters to test the temperature.
"A-Are you sure... this is fine...?" Kasumi asked with a massive blush spread across her cheeks. As Papi happily trotted past Naruto Kasumi kept herself mostly concealed behind the fogged class door as she kept it cracked open to peer inside. She had been quite shocked when Naruto asked if she wanted to hope in the bath with him and Papi but hearing that they'd be wearing swimwear put her beating heart at ease, that is until she remembered what swimsuit she had with her. It was a typical two-piece bikini designed for someone of her body-type, being mostly dark green with a white strip on the left side of both pieces, but it felt so embarrassing to be seen in for the poor girl.
'Oh dear... Mr. Bunji why did you have to pick this one...?' Kasumi thought as she closed her eyes and recalled the time she went shopping with the old coordinator.
"This piece would fit the lady quite splendidly. You'll be out of that shell of your in no time and standing proudly in the spotlight!" Bunji had told her while holding the bikini up by its hanger, a confident glint in his eyes.
'You do nothing but look out for me... but a one piece would've been so much better...' Kasumi thought to herself with a waterfall of tears flowing down her cheeks and a clenched first held up in frustration. While she was fighting inner-demons Papi was wasting no time in taking off her clothes, much to Naruto and Kasumi's shock.
"Hold it!/Stop...!" Naruto/Kasumi blurted out as they rushed over and pulled the harpy's shirt back down, much to Papi's confusion.
"Smith gave you a swimsuit!" Naruto told the petite girl as he pulled out a standard school swimsuit with Papi's name written on the chest.
"A... school swimsuit...?" Kasumi questioned as she gave the garment a strange look. Perhaps a one-piece could be more embarrassing then her current attire?
"I try not to ask questions when it comes to Ms. Smith" Naruto told the woman.
Naruto was about to tell Papi that he'd wait outside while she changed but Papi beat him to it by saying "Papi can't put this on with her hands".
For a moment Naruto started to sweat but then he immediately remembered that Kasumi could help Papi change. However the blond immediately started to sweat bullets when he saw the apologetic look on the woman's face. "...Sorry to ask of you but... could you help...?" Kasumi asked. The swimsuit seemed like it'd be a hassle to put on and with the mucus membrane coating her body she'd probably just make it harder to get on.
And so in the end the task of getting Papi into her school swimsuit fell to Naruto. Despite her talons getting Papi's feet into the swimsuit wasn't a challenge. What got Naruto nervous was when he got to her hips. Try as he might the blond wasn't able to get the swimsuit past her hips without running the tips of his fingers over the girl's rumb. Papi didn't seem to mind and even commented that it tickled but the sensation still got Naruto's blood flowing. Meanwhile Kasumi was giving moral support from the sideline.
"Alright, now we just need to pull it up past your chest" Naruto remarked as he tried to look as anything but the half-naked girl in his arms. For some reason feeling Kasumi's eyes staring into his back made this way more awkward.
"Ack! Papi's feathers are getting in the way!" Papi complained as a few of her feathers got caught on the straps while trying to put her wings through the openings.
"Don't worry, the suit will stretch..." Naruto was telling her when her wings finally made it through the suit and said suit all but snapped into place and forcing Naruto's hands into Papi's small breasts. Time seemed to come to a stop as Naruto's fingers pressed into the supple flesh.
"... Boss...?" Papi questioned with a faint dusting of pink on her cheeks as she tilted her head up to look at the blond.
Before the scene could make any progress down a dangerous path Naruto took that moment to leap back into the bathtub with a big splash, surprising Papi and a beat-red Kasumi in the process.
"What are ya waiting for? We came in here to swim didn't we?" Naruto said as he floated on his back. Hopefully they can just forget about that little slip up if they just don't mention it?
"Yay! Papi will join in too!" Papi cheerfully cried as she jumped into the bath, coming to land on Naruto's stomach with her back.
Slipping into the bath Kasumi started to slowly move over to the pair. "...You're... like a father playing with his daughter..." Kasumi commented with a gentle smile playing across her lips.
"Really?" Papi asked. "Papi thinks we're more like brother and sister" Papi commented with a gleeful grin.
"Brother... and sister?" Kasumi asked, both her and Naruto looking at the girl in curiosity.
"Yep! If Papi had a big brother, she'd want him to be like Boss" Papi said as she leaned her head back into Naruto's chest.
"Me?" Naruto asked her.
"Well, you play with Papi. You buy her ice cream. When she does something bad, you don't yell. And you say nice things to her..." Papi happily listed off things she liked about the blond. "Plus, all harpies are girls. So Papi doesn't really know what it's like to have a big brother..." Papi said as she shifted around on Naruto's chest so that she was now laying with her front pressed against his. "But she's always wanted one... So she's real happy now!" Papi cheerfully admitted as she gave Naruto the biggest, happiest smile she had in her.
"Sure, I don't mind being your big brother" Naruto told the girl, returning her happy smile.
'Awww... how sweet...' Kasumi thought as she looked on at the scene with a warm sensation building up in her chest. All the way up to the moment Papi grabbed Naruto's hand and pressed it into her chest.
"What!?/That's not sweet at all...!" Naruto/Kasumi freaked out as the blond started to pull away from the harpy.
"Papi felt real excited when you touched her tits, boss! So let's make it more exciting!" Papi said as she chased after her blond host.
"...What happened to all of that sibling talk...? Siblings... don't act like this...!" Kasumi blurted out with a returning blush as she rushed over to try and stop the harpy. However, a volley of arrows but both her advance and Papi's to an end, pining Papi to the wall and freezing Kasumi in fear.
"'Zounds! I had not anticipated this behavior from the two of you but it would seem that I have lowered my guard to much" Cerea boldly said as she stood in the door way with a lowered bow though she kept an arrow notched just encase.
"Cerea...?" Naruto questioned as he paddled to the edge of the bath. All the while he was giving the woman's bow an odd look. Sure, he was use to seeing weapons but bow and arrows seemed a bit extreme in this situation.
"Let us away Master! Come, mount me!" Centoria told the blond as he got out of the bath.
Naruto took a moment to look between Centoria and his arrow riddled wall before eventually deciding to just go with the flow. As he approached Centoria he looked over his shoulder at the still stunned Kasumi. "You mind getting Papi down for me?" Naruto asked the woman, fearing that if he freed Papi that things would just return to how they were before Cerea arrived or worse yet she'd start a fight with the centaur. Upon receiving a shaky, yet definite nod Naruto hoped onto Centoria's back.
Just as Centoria was about to take off Miia, with a hoof print on her head, came into the room. "Now just hold you horses!" Miia shouted at the blond woman. "I told you it was my job to help Darling, but you went and galloped ahead of me!" Miia proclaimed, though she was unable to do much else upon Centoria trampling over her on her way out of the room.
Just outside the Uzumaki household stood a tall man with long spiky white hair tied in a pony tail with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. Under his dark eyes were red lines that extended down to his jawline. His attire consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that is visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. Covering his forehead was a horned forehead protector with the kanji for oil writen on it.
This man was Jiraiya, the fabled toad sage of the leaf. He studied under the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and trained the Forth Hokage, Minato Namakaze. He was currently Naruto's part-time instructor as well as the boy's godfather. Today he decided that he'd stop by and check up on the Uzumaki pair, see how they were fairing in this new world.
Just as his hand was about to grasp the doorknob the man's instincts, honed over countless live-or-death battles, urged him to move to the side. No sooner did the man head his gut did the door burst open with Centoria charging right on past with Naruto in toe.
Stepping back in front of the doorway the man could think of little more to do then scratch his head in complete loss as he stared at their retreating forms. Obviously he'd missed out on quite a lot since his last visit.
In her escape Centoria had taken them to the park where they now gently strolled along oe of the park's many paths. "Art thou well, Milord?" Centoria asked the blond casually riding on her back.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My clothes are already dry thanks to the wind blowing past us as you ran" Naruto told the woman.
"I see, that's good to hear" Cerea responded just before she felt Naruto slid off her back. Turning her head to look at the young man walking beside her the centaur told him "Milord, thou can ride me longer if that is your desire".
"Nah" Naruto said waving off her offer. "No need to carry me around when my feet work just fine. I wouldn't want to be a burden on you after all" the whiskered blond told her.
"Nonsense Milord, as a servant to my master I consider it is an honor to have thy ride me" Centoria told her fellow blond, the look on her face saying that she means every word.
"Even so, I think you're taking this too seriously" Naruto offhandedly commented. Though he was taken aback by her immediate response.
"Indeed I am not!" the woman told him. "We centaurs are proud warriors who value our allegiance to our masters above all else! This is why we seek them out! My father, and his father before him all lived their lives thus! I, too, am a knight before I am a woman! This is the spirit of our race! Saying that I am 'taking this too seriously' is-" Centoria was saying with all the passion of her race when Naruto interrupted, hoping to cut her off before it became to much of a tirade.
"Okay. Okay. I understand. Your ancestry is important to you. I can relate" Naruto told her.
"Then you understand why-" Centoria was saying when Naruto again cut her off.
"But you came here to learn about Japanese culture, didn't you? You'll always be Centoria Shianus and no one can take that away from you. So while you're here you should take it easy and enjoy the culture" Naruto said and for a moment Centoria remained silent, unable to say anything in turn. "Is there something you want to try while you're here?" Naruto asked.
It took Centoria a moment to gather her thought on the question but her answer came in the form of a passing couple. "Errr... I should like to try... holding hands... I... suppose" Centoria told him as she glanced down to the path beside them, a faint blush adorning her cheeks.
"Hands?" Naruto asked with a blink or two. It was a response that he hadn't really anticipated.
"Err... All that I have ever held in my hands were my sword and bow. So... since I thought it a thing done by human girls... it did not hold any particularly perfound meaning to me..." the normally prideful and straightforward Centoria struggled to say as her blush ever so slightly grew. "N-No matter! It was a request unbefitting of a servant to her master! Pray, forget I spoke..." Centoria attempted to back-peddle out of embarrassment, but even still Naruto went and fulfilled her request and took hold of her outstretched hand.
Staring at their joined hands Centoria nearly missed when Naruto asked her if this was what she wanted. Still, Centoria made no attempt to reply and merely turned to the side while still holding Naruto's hand. "...Cerea...?" Naruto spoke up as he moved around to look at her face and for the first time in his life he was gifted with the sight of Centoria's face struggling from complete embarrassment and joy.
"You!" Centoria blurted out as she yanked her hand away and turned away once more in embarrassment. Attempting to cover her cheeks with her hands the centaur continued to blurt out "Do not look! Even I do not know expression is on my face!".
"Cerea, it's not that bad, honestly. It's actually cu-GPHM!" Naruto was telling the girl as he moved around to look at her again, only to be silenced when she pulled his head into her chest to keep him from looking while blurting out "I told you not to look!". At the same time this was happening a loud crash came from behind the centaur.
Forgetting about her embarrassment Centoria looked over her shoulder to see what could have possibly made the ruckus and through the clearing smoke she saw Miia laying on the ground rubbing her rumb with Papi fluttering down to the ground behind her.
"What are you doing Papi?!" Miia questioned the blue haired harpy.
"You told Papi to let you down" Papi told Miia, a bit perplexed as too why she was upset.
"Yeah, you'll notice I never said 'drop me'!" Mia told the birdbrain before adding under her breath "This is just not my day".
"Hey! What are you two doing here?! Was it not you who told us that acting independently was prohibited?! You could have at least brought lady Kushina with you!" Centoria told the duo.
"We were short on time and Papi can't carry both me and Kushina!" Miia quickly responded. However both her and Papi's eyes widened considerably when they noticed the position Naruto was in, mainly his head squished between Centoria's massive jugs.
"CentoreAAAAAA!" Miia hissed as she stared daggers at the blond centaur, her body trembling and her hands clenching and unclenching in anger.
Quickly realizing what it was that set the woman off Centoria shoved Naruto away from her bosom while trying to explain what was happening with a completely red face.
"You big-uddered nag! You kidnapped Darling to make out with him! So much for all that horse-hocky about centaur pride!" Miia shouted at Centoria before the woman could properly explain while also pulling Naruto away from the centaur and smashing his face into her own chest.
"What did you say?!" a now angered Centoria questioned. "Silence! I will not endure this from an oversexed snake in the grass! And why do you call him 'Darling'? You act as though you are Milord's wife!" Centoria shouted as she took Naruto back and once more shoved him into her chest, unintentionally.
While the two of them spat venom at the other Papi took the moment to slip in and grab Naruto, lovingly holding him against her small chest and saving his oxygen deprived lungs. "Now Papi will nab the Boss while you're fighting!" Papi cheerfully said.
"KEEP YOUR CHICKEN WINGS OFF HIM!" Centoria and Miia yelled in unison.
As this squabble was going on a black car came to an abrupt stop nearby. Ms. Smith had been on her way to Naruto's home when she spotted them fighting and even she couldn't just ignore it. With the three girls staring off Smith hopped out of her car and charged towards them, her handgun in hand. Unfortunately for her she wasn't the only one who aimed to stop the certain bloodshed. Jumping in with the intention of stopping the girls Naruto in turn jumped in the way of Smith's tranquilizers.
Feeling the three needles lodged into his back Naruto glanced over his shoulder in time to see Ms. Smith standing there with an expression that clearly showed that she knew this was a HUGE mess. After that the blond collapsed to the sound of Centoria, Miia, and Papi's worried cries.
Several hour later and Naruto was resting on his couch after waking up, his head resting on Kushina's lap as Ms. Smith leaned over the back of the couch. Sitting on the other end of the couch was Jiraiya with Akko resting her elbows on the cusion behind the sage and on the chair across from the couch sat Sunda.
"You see... I never expected to hit you, Darling-kun" Ms. Smith told the blond.
"That doesn't change what happened" Kushina remarked with a cold air as she ran her fingers threw Naruto's hair.
"Yeah. For a coordinator to shoot a host? Your ass is seriously cooked when they hear about this" Akko commented as she moved her left hand up so she could rest her cheek in it.
"Ehehe... About that... I was hoping that you could do me a favor and nit mention this to anyone" Ms. Smith requested with her best innocent/apologetic expression while holding her open palms together in front of her.
"EEEEEHHHHH!?" Akko and Sunda blurted out, amazed that she'd even ask that.
"You can't be serious!?" Sunda asked.
"Shouldn't you be setting an example and take responsibility for your actions!?" Akko questioned.
Pulling himself up from Kushina's lap Naruto waved off their questions as he said "Yeah, yeah, it never happened". Kushina didn't seem so pleased with how easily Naruto let her off the hook, Smith on the other hand was very pleased with the blond's decision, while Akko and Sunda were beginning to feel relieved that Ms. Smith wasn't their official coordinator.
"So, where are the others?" Naruto asked, having since noticed that a few of the household members were absent. Smith pointed him towards the door where he spotted the girls peering in through the slightly opened door. "What are you doing?" Naruto asked the group with a raised eyebrow.
"Well..." Miia began as they entered the room. "This all happened because we were so thoughtless" Miia said.
"Sorry Boss" Papi apologized.
"I am a failure as a servant" Centoria said.
"I... I should have done more..." Kasumi who, while she had no direct impact on what happened at the park, felt partially guilty.
"So starting right now we'll stop causing trouble for you Darling! We have all decided to hold ourselves back!" Miia declared.
Out of the whole room Naruto was the first to vocalize their collective thoughts. "Hold back?" Naruto softly questioned as he and the others just stared at the spectacle before them.
"Papi won't ask you to play with her" Papi announced.
"I... I'll do more to not hinder everyone...!" Kasumi managed to get out.
"And never again shall I intrude-" Centoria was saying when Naruto ever so bluntly asked if they were stupid.
While the girls were taken aback by his response Naruto pushed himself off the couch. "You guys can get over excited, and sure you might make mistakes but you can't kick yourself over this. I mean, Ms' Smith's the one who messed up this time" Naruto said, getting a nervous cough from the coordinator. "Little fights like this are bound to happen when you spend enough time around someone, but we're all living under the same roof, right? And since we're all living here it means were like a big family. So I don't want you guys to ever hold back on my part, okay" Naruto told the girls, lifting up their spirits with his words.
"This is perfect!" Ms. Smith suddenly blurted out, drawing everyone's attention to her. Turning away for a bit the office woman started muttering to herself, "A family... A family he says! Hehehehe...! I knew entrusting you with these girls was the right choice, Darling-kun!". Feeling the stares on her back Smith turned around to properly elaborate. "You see, there's been some talk about making amendments to the Interspecies Cultur-" Smith was saying when Kushina cut her off.
"Hold on just a minute!" the red haired mother all but shouted as she stood up from her place on the couch and faced Smith. "I thought we agreed that I'd tell them when the time was right!" Kushina told the woman, referring to the call she got earlier that day. Even if Naruto was of legal age Smith wanted to discus it with Kushina first given how this information might effect the household negatively if it was just dropped on them.
"Is there a better time than now?" Smith asked as Kushina's eyes narrowed at her. Meanwhile, those out of the loop were becoming rather curious.
"Uum. What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked.
Having come to this point there really was no backing out. Turning halfway to face the blond Uzumaki Kushina told him "The amendment to the bill Smith wants to talk about will allow interspecies marriage. They want a few case studies before they officially sign it in and so they want to ask you to participate".
Everyone present seemed to understand what was being said but the very notion seemed to put Naruto's gut in knots. Surely they couldn't just drop something that big without warning. Especially after all that talk of keeping his hands to himself! He needed to hear it bluntly. "You mean... they want me to..." Naruto was asking, though the words seemed to fail him before he could finish.
Seeing this Kushina decided to answer the question she knew he wanted to ask "They want you to marry one of the girls staying with us".