Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is fanfiction, after all.
Rocky Plains, Gelel Continent – March 27, AK 22
"I hope you appreciate this, Sasuke," Suigetsu growled, "It wasn't easy getting time off to come here with you."
It had taken every trick in the book to convince the damn redhead to let him take a month-long vacation and understandably so. He was the strongest ninja they had in the village and his loyalty was still…uncertain. The Mizukage's advisors had been adamant about keeping him on a tight leash, as they were worried that he might stage a coup d'état.
Suigetsu grinned at the thought. They were right to be worried.
He had never gone back to Kiri to be some sort of lapdog. He was going to be the greatest swordsman of all time. For that, he needed the seven special swords that were once held by the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
Zabuza's old Kubikiribocho that he had at the end of the last war hadn't been enough to satiate him; he had wanted all seven of them.
"Don't complain. I could have made you take the month-long boat ride here. Don't misunderstand our positions here. I do not need you to execute my plans. You're merely a catalyst to make things go faster. But you need my help to become the Mizukage."
Suigetsu shrugged. "I don't really care for the position. You're the one who claims I want to be Mizukage," he lied.
Sasuke just gave him a stare. "If you want to be a pawn of someone else, by all means, go prostrate yourself to that woman."
Suigetsu grinned again. In the past, the sexist barb would have made him fly at the other man in rage. He always had believed that women were naturally weaker and thus should be in the kitchen where they belonged. But Suigetsu was now much better in control of his emotions. He wouldn't let Sasuke's mind tricks get to him anymore.
"Hah, as if. I'm already stronger than she is. Her bloodline abilities don't affect me at all."
"But you won't be able to take on the entire village by yourself. There will be an earth or lightning user in your ranks. You rely almost exclusively on your own bloodline ability for your defense."
"Not anymore," he argued back. "Don't forget that I am a swordsman and move faster than most people in the world. Don't look down on me just because my genetics restrict me to only one element. And I should remind you that I have three of the seven special swords in my possessions, including the Kiba, which allows me to use electricity myself."
Suigetsu summoned the twin swords and held them out threateningly in front of Sasuke's face for good measure. He wasn't going to let the asshole Uchiha look down on him.
"Whatever, I couldn't care less about your skillset. I just want to weaken the great villages. So are you in or are you not?" Sasuke asked curtly.
"I'm in, of course," Suigetsu declared loudly as he sent away his blades. "Chaos, bloodshed, and power. What more could I want?"
Sasuke was quiet at that. Suigetsu didn't have to guess what the Uchiha was thinking. It was clear that Sasuke didn't like his tendencies to be brutal.
Suigetsu mentally scoffed. He's as soft as ever. In some ways, he's just like that Naruto bastard. I really hate that self-righteousness of theirs.
He shook his head. He'll kill Sasuke later for being such an idiot. For now, he needed the Uchiha's help. "So what is it that you have planned out?"
Sasuke frowned lightly. "It's probably better to show it to you. It's what you will use as your trump card against your village."
"Oh?" Suigetsu folded his arms. "Let's see this amazing weapon of yours."
Sasuke held up a hand sign. "Activate."
Suigetsu immediately felt himself weaken and fall to the ground.
He began to panic. As a Hozuki, he regularly had large amounts of chakra running through his body. Not only was it useful in preventing him from being caught off-guard—he could just liquefy at any time—it was a good way to increase chakra stamina.
But now, he could feel his entire chakra network shutting down.
Slash!
He winced and his eyes widened when Sasuke's sword managed to draw blood.
"Wh…what…the hell? Suigetsu gasped out weakly as he grit his teeth. Sasuke released his hand sign and Suigetsu felt energy rush into his body. "What the hell was that?" Suigetsu demanded as he nursed the throbbing arm. It was just a small scratch, but it had been a while since he was injured. He was not new to the sensation of pain but it had been a while since he felt sharp pain. "How did you manage to block my bloodline technique?"
Sasuke's response was to hold up a glowing stone. "This is a Gelel Stone." Suigetsu looked curiously at the green rock. "It naturally repels chakra, but I have developed a way for it to nullify almost all the chakra within a specific radius. It's still a work in progress, but I daresay you can feel the effects for yourself."
Suigetsu growled at the small insult as he cradled his injured arm.
"A rock that negates chakra? Even chakra within the body?" Suigetsu breathed out, "That's ridiculous."
"But it's the truth, nonetheless," Sasuke declared, as he repeatedly tossed the green stone up in the air. "It also acts as an energy source. It's anywhere from five to ten times more potent than chakra."
Suigetsu gave Sasuke another disbelieving look. "Ten times? That's potent enough to put it on par with chakra from the bijuu."
"A force of nature to combat a force of nature," Sasuke replied. "People like Killer Bee and Naruto may have more of their special chakra, but with the power of the Gelel flux, we'll be able to match the potency of their chakra. Any technique we use with the Gelel flux is five to ten times stronger with the same amount we would normally use, giving us much greater stamina. Furthermore, it's nowhere near as poisonous as bijuu chakra sometimes is and can be channeled in greater amounts at one time."
"I see," Suigetsu began wrapping up his wound. Liquefying would do nothing to wounds he already incurred in his body. He would have to heal the normal way. "You must have reach the limits of your chakra capacity if you're trying out something like this."
Sasuke nodded grimly. "I realized that a while ago. No matter how hard I trained, only my reserves grew. I had more chakra in my body, but I still wasn't able to force out more at one time. The only way to bypass that is to strengthen the chakra itself." Sasuke's eyes grew hard. "But in the end, we're only human. There are limits to what we can naturally do. The answer to all my problems was the Gelel Stone, a power created by nature itself."
"Not to mention that you've become even more annoying by figuring out a way to negate other people's abilities," Suigetsu groaned. "In any case, a power like this must have some sort of drawback or weakness. You of all people should know that power is never freely available."
The Uchiha smirked. "There is a drawback, but I have already gotten around that. This is similar to a bloodline technique; only certain people can manipulate the Gelel flux inside these stones."
Suigetsu groaned again. "And you just happened to be one of those people? Damn, Sasuke, I don't mean to be rude, but you never work for anything in your life. You just always pull some sort of power out of your ass. You become more annoying to deal with every time I see you."
Sasuke looked outraged at the statement, but didn't comment on it. "It required years of work, you dunce. Do you know how difficult perfecting DNA splicing was? It took years to fully replicate Orochimaru's technology. We still haven't figured out how Kabuto altered it to combine multiple bloodlines together, but we've managed to modify it for our own means. We're now able to change our body types to one that is compatible with the stone."
Sasuke lifted up his shirt to show the three Gelel Stones embedded in his chest. Suigetsu rolled his eyes when he saw that the three green stones had been carved to look like the tomoe in the Sharingan.
Only Sasuke was that self-absorbed.
"So what are you saying? That you'll change my body?"
Sasuke nodded. "Yes, but there's a catch. We can't implant the stones into you; you'll lose all ability to use chakra." Sasuke gestured towards himself. "I've managed to figure out ways to use many of my chakra techniques using the Gelel flux, but it took a long time of practice. And for you, that wouldn't even work."
"Because of my own bloodline," Suigetsu nodded. "The moment I liquefy, the stones would fall out of my body."
It was for the better anyway. Sasuke might enjoy it, but Suigetsu didn't want some strange and hard things stuck in his body. He shuddered slightly. That just wasn't…right. There was a line even he wouldn't cross.
"So you'll have to carry a couple of the Gelel Stones around. While you won't be nearly as proficient with the Gelel flux as I am, you'll be able to wield both chakra and Gelel flux and switch between them whenever you like. The only training you'll need it to get your body able to run purely on Gelel flux. That way, you won't collapse whenever you activate the nullification seals that I made. But I want to warn you that this is a long-term project. You're not going to master this in a few months."
Suigetsu smirked. It didn't matter. Eventually, the redhead would go down and all the swords would be his.
Then Sasuke or not, Suigetsu would make the world his oyster.
Konoha Village Square, Konoha – March 27, AK 22
Hanabi nervously checked herself over in the mirror. She was beginning to feel that the wedding was more trouble than it was worth. She was a ninja, not a princess. She was wearing a tradition white wedding kimono with the Hyuuga clan crest emblazoned on her back in red, black, and gold.
"Stop looking at yourself obsessively. You look gorgeous."
Hanabi smiled before turning to one of her few remaining friends. It was Mimi Tajiri, a chuunin that Hanabi worked with on missions in the last few years. Mimi was only a year older and so they had quickly become fast friends. Unlike many of the others who stayed away because Hanabi was a princess of the most influential clan in the village, Mimi just acted casually and like her usual bright self. Even though their ranks were different and their statuses were worlds apart, they were able to talk to each other.
Even though Mimi was technically her closest friend, Hanabi wouldn't necessarily call Mimi a close friend—Hanabi didn't have any of those—but Mimi was probably the nearest thing to that.
"Mimi, I can't just look 'gorgeous' at my own wedding. I have to look perfect."
Hanabi looked at herself in the mirror again, pausing in surprise at her desire to look beautiful for the man she was marrying. She wanted to impress him and to impress the entire village. Right now, the entire world believed that she was getting the better deal in this marriage. But she would show them. She would make the men jealous of him.
The green-haired girl laughed as her eyes twinkled. "Don't lie, Hanabi. I can tell that you're trying to look pretty for him. Not that I blame you, of course."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hanabi said a bit heatedly.
Mimi giggled again. "Oh come on, you're marrying the village hero! So don't try to hide the fact that you're excited. You never showed any interest in a guy, but it seems like you've fallen hard."
"I have not 'fallen' for Naruto," Hanabi denied, even though her pink face completely gave her away.
"Right," Mimi smiled. "I believe you. NOT!"
Hanabi rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and decided to fire off her own barbs. "You're the one who was on the same team with him for the Chuunin Exams. Are you sure you don't have a crush on my soon-to-be husband?"
The other girl laughed and put on a guilty face. "You got me! Don't take this in the wrong way, but I wouldn't mind being in your place at all. Naruto is strong and kind, even if he is a little rough at times. There were so many times that he would encourage me whenever I got down over the last few years." Mimi went starry-eyed for a bit before becoming somewhat serious. "But I have another person I'm interested in."
"And I'm going to give you a ridiculously hard time once you start going out with him." Hanabi promised. "Especially if that boyfriend is Konohamaru," she added the last part with a mutter.
Hanabi hadn't implied anything by that. It was just that Konohamaru was incredibly annoying all week. He was normally a bit pushy and crass, but he was irritating on an unprecedented level this time. She could have done without all the sexual innuendos.
"That's not fair!" the other girl complained. "I didn't even get a chance to tease you at all! You've been engaged for like half a month." Hanabi raised an eyebrow when the girl blushed ever so slightly.
Ah. So she has a crush on him! Who knew… Hanabi smirked. If things went well, she could kill two birds with one stone. "Konohamaru likes girls with dark green hair and green eyes."
"Hah!" Mimi stuck out her tongue in a juvenile manner, "I'm not falling for that one."
"I'm not lying," Hanabi said with a knowing smile. "I promise."
"It's not relevant to me!" Mimi insisted. "I have no feelings for Captain Sarutobi."
"Captain?" Hanabi asked curiously, smelling blood around her. Mimi wasn't normally one to attach titles to names like that. It was clear that she greatly respected Hanabi's training partner.
"I only know him from my missions," Mimi hastily replied, "And he's always the captain when I get placed on a team with him."
Hanabi rolled her eyes at the pathetic attempt at an excuse. "Just admit it!" She smirked. "I can see through you and your lies with my Byakugan! Besides, I know that Naruto was the one who introduced you to Konohamaru. So you didn't just meet him on missions," Mimi's stubborn look didn't disappear from her face. Hanabi's smile grew wider. "In any case, I'm not lying. He told me he used to have a crush on this girl with green hair and green eyes in the past. She moved away and it was reported that her family was killed, so he didn't want to talk about it too much, but he did say he liked her because of her hair color."
"And?" Hanabi kept smirking. Mimi was skilled at hiding her feelings. Hanabi decided to use another method.
"You should make a move fast. He's been going on lunch and dinner dates with girls that his family sets him up with."
It was for a brief instant, but Mimi didn't look too pleased with that. "Whatever, that's none of my business."
"I personally don't want drama," Hanabi went on with a casual wave of her hand. "So I'm not going to get involved. But he has been asking me to set him up with girls that aren't quite so…I quote…'annoying and prim' as the ones his family sets him up with."
Hanabi mentally roared with laughter as she saw the torn look on her friend's face. On one hand, the girl didn't want to admit to having a crush. On the other, she didn't want to miss out on a rare opportunity to get closer to her crush.
Hanabi was going to declare victory and go for the kill when she saw her attendants signaling to her.
"Lady Hanabi, it is time."
Hanabi nodded. "I will be out shortly." She turned to Mimi who somehow looked both disappointed and relieved at the same time. "Thanks for keeping me company. I really appreciate it."
"Anytime, Hanabi. What are best friends for, right?"
Hanabi felt a pang in her heart at that as the girl left. It wasn't that she felt guilty, but Hanabi still wanted to keep Mimi a bit further away from her heart. If they became even closer and then Mimi died…
Hanabi shook her head. It wasn't the time to be thinking about things like that.
She turned and looked at the headpiece that she had prepared herself and smiled at the words on it. It would definitely surprise everyone watching.
Half an hour later, Hanabi was walking next to her father somberly towards where Naruto was waiting.
As she walked through the crowd, she noticed that nearly the entire village was watching. Men and women, children and the elderly were all present to watch the union of the princess of the strongest village in Konoha to the future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. She let a small smirk appear on her face when she saw Naruto's students standing with Konohamaru in a corner. Those brats pretended to hate Naruto's guts, but it was clear that they loved him dearly.
Hanabi also saw—with ambivalent feelings—that a stoic Hinata was there, standing with the rest of her clan. Hanabi couldn't blame her sister for being angry, but at the same time, she wished that her sister were there to support her rather than standing there out of duty.
Hanabi mentally sighed. She hated all this drama. Hanabi continued to look around. She could see Mimi and some of her other friends in the crowd. Everyone she ever knew in Konoha was there at her wedding. Even the Hokage, the Kazekage, the Fire Daimyo, and all of the clan heads were present.
She peered at Naruto as she reached him. He was wearing a black and gray kimono with his clan crest emblazoned on his back in gold. She resisted the urge to grin as his eyes widened upon seeing her.
No doubt that he found her beautiful, but she noticed his eyes had widened particularly when he saw what she was wearing on her head.
She was wearing a tsunokakushi that had the kanji for "promise" written on it on her head.
Flashback
"Remember, I could have asked for any girl in the entire village. I picked you out of the thousands of girls in the village. Heck, I could have had my pick out of the hundreds of thousands of girls throughout the Elemental Nations. But I chose you."
End Flashback
It was clear that Naruto understood the significance immediately. The tsunokakushi was worn to veil the bride's horns of jealousy, ego, and selfishness and to show her resolve to be a gentle and obedient wife. He would immediately understand that his promise to her was her tsunokakushi. She would trust him and believe in him and in exchange, she would be a wife that would reduce his problems instead of adding to them.
Still, the look in his eyes was incredulous. She could almost see him screaming, "What the hell were you thinking?"
She smiled. Judging by the urgent whispers going around, she doubted that the Hyuuga clan elders would be happy at her choice of attire. And judging by the now outraged look on her sister's face neither was Hinata.
Hanabi didn't care.
This was her day and not theirs. She would proudly walk with Naruto to where the Hokage, Kazekage, and the Daimyo were waiting and then show the entire world that she was his.
When she reached the front, she stood to face her fiancé. The Hokage began the ceremony as they clasped their hands together. As the Hokage gave a small speech, she internally smirked as she saw the jealous looks among the crowd: the women, of her; the men, of the Toad Sage. They exchanged drinks, and exchanged vows, marking them as husband and wife.
Naruto looked at her mischievously, eyes briefly flickering to her tsunokakushi, and turned to the entire crowd, expectedly breaking from tradition.
Fortunately, this was planned and Naruto had already received permission from the Sixth and the Daimyo to address the crowd.
It was a sign of respect for the Toad Sage, the Golden Sun of Konoha.
"My fellow villagers," Naruto announced. Hanabi noticed that many of the villagers cringed, almost as if they expected another prank. Hanabi would have laughed if the situation allowed for it. "Today, you have witnessed the union between the clan head of the Uzumaki clan and the princess of the Hyuuga clan. Our marriage symbolizes unity within Konoha and the strength that such unity brings us. I, however, stand before you not as a clan head, but as a simple man, declaring his eternal commitment to his wife to the entire world. Hanabi Uzumaki is now my wife, my partner, and the one I will come to love above all else. She is mine and I am hers. I shall guard her mind and body with every fiber of my being as she has now become the other half of my very soul. This I swear to the heavens!"
There was a stunned silence.
Eyes were wide and jaws had dropped. Everyone knew that the marriage was political one and hadn't expected such fervent declaration of…well…whatever Naruto just declared.
But that hadn't been the most astonishing part.
Naruto's final sentence was a veiled threat. Hanabi knew that his statement was his acknowledgment of her commitment but was still shocked that Naruto would be so bold as to threaten anyone who would dare come near her with less than pure intentions in public in front of some of the most influential people in the country.
Naruto turned to her with a bright smile and took out a gold ring embedded with many small diamonds, each with the Uzumaki clan crest carved in them. The slightly larger diamond on the top was raised a few millimeters higher than the rest.
Hanabi gave him a curious look. Given the design, it was clear that the ring was meant to stay on her finger even during battle. As he placed it on her finger, she turned on her Byakugan quickly and shut it off before anyone noticed and let out a small gasp.
The entire ring was covered in seals and flowing with both chakra and wind-natured chakra. The only way that was possible was if Naruto had made the entire ring himself, from the shaping of the gold to the embedding of the diamonds.
Hanabi mindlessly went through the motions of placing her own ring on his finger and just stared at him dumbly as she stood their stunned by how much thought he had effort he had given to make this as special as he could for her. She was jolted from her thoughts when she felt him leaning down and giving her a kiss. She froze for a second and then, as she heard the crowd cheer, found it easier than she expected to respond back as passionately as she could.
Hokage's Office, Konoha – March 28, AK 22
Kakashi looked at one of his closest confidants in disbelief.
"You want to what?" Kakashi waited for a response, but after receiving none, he repeated his question. "I don't think I heard that properly the first time you asked. What was it that you wanted to do?"
Shikamaru, no, Dragon, stood their with his arms folded. "I want to take an advanced squad and search for this masked man for a week or two."
"Why?"
Based on the reports from the members of Team Hanabi, this man was a master ninja who could take easily take down multiple elites. Sending men out to specifically search for such a dangerous man was probably not a good idea.
"We need to confirm if this man is Sasuke or not. If he is Sasuke and he is working with Kabuto, then we need to take him out as soon as we can. We can't let those two disturb the little peace we have managed to achieve."
Kakashi shook his head. "I already put Ibiki on the case. He's already in contact with our operatives in the Land of Rice Fields. If they can't come up with anything, then it's not likely that you will."
"Kakashi, they barely were able to discover that Oto has come back. How will they discover an S-rank ninja who can teleport all over the place at will?
"And how will you find him, then?" Kakashi returned. "You'll just be wandering around like blind mice in the dark. Given this ninja's power, he could slaughter all of you before you even knew he was there."
"But he won't," Dragon insisted. "He left Team Hanabi alive for a reason. He could have chosen to hide himself and let them die. Or if he absolutely needed to test these strange seals, then he could have removed the witnesses after he did. The fact that he left Team Hanabi alive makes it more likely that it is Sasuke or at least someone with deep connections to Konoha. He might be trying to send us a message."
"It's too risky," Kakashi argued. "The only two people we could even think about sending out are Gai and Naruto. Gai is out on his own mission right now and Naruto will be on his honeymoon starting tomorrow. You chose an odd time to make your request."
Dragon paused before explaining himself. "It's that strange power of his. I read the reports repeatedly. I don't think the seals were designed just to prevent the user from getting hurt."
Kakashi froze. What did that mean? Did Dragon figure out a secondary purpose to those seals? "Then?"
"Why would this man try to seek the limits of chakra nullification with such a huge technique? It's just a theory, but I think this man is aiming to start a war."
Kakashi's breath hitched. War already? Who would be that eager to cause so many deaths? All the nations were still recovering from the last war.
"That's more of a reason for me to keep you in reserve," Kakashi said stubbornly, "I'll need you as the lead strategist when war finally breaks out. What is this really about Dragon? You're usually not this reckless. What's going on?"
He wasn't willing to lose one of Konoha's greatest assets on a mission that might end up being fruitless. Information was generally valuable, but the ability to process and use that information was even more valuable. Shikamaru, the ANBU Commander Dragon, was too important a piece to lose.
"Ino came to me the other day," Dragon said in a soft tone, "and said that we're putting too much on Naruto's back. I understand that he's our ace, but we can't rely on him for everything. I'm much better at covert operations than he is so I'm more suited for this task."
"Only until you actually run into him." Kakashi shook his head again. Dragon was being oddly stubborn today. "Then you'll be out of your league. This man used more chakra in one attack than the amount an elite jounin had in her entire body. No matter how you look at it, this is a suicide mission."
"When did we all become cowards?" Dragon hissed. "Casualties are part of our business. The last two years were an aberration because we overworked Naruto. You can't keep expecting near zero casualty rates like that."
"That doesn't mean I have to send you! Do you have a death wish or something?"
There was a long silence at that. Kakashi began to wonder if the Nara did in fact want to die.
"No, it has to be me. My techniques give me the best chance of capturing this man and interrogating him."
"Did you forget that this man has found a way to nullify chakra completely? Without chakra, you'll be helpless."
"I'm gambling that this man is Sasuke," Dragon argued. "Evil or not, Sasuke won't just brutally kill me because we grew up together. Furthermore, Sasuke knows that I'm one of Naruto's friends. You know that those two have some sort of accord."
Kakashi placed his hands under his chin and considered that. It was true that Sasuke treated Naruto and by extension, Naruto's friends, differently than he would others. Even during the height of the tensions between the two, Sasuke swore to kill Naruto's friends in front of Naruto to make him suffer even more.
"If you're gambling that this is Sasuke, then you must have some idea why Sasuke would be doing something like this. I want to hear your theory before making any decision."
"I don't think it was a declaration of war or anything, at least not yet, but I think it was a warning to us."
"A threat?"
"More or less. My guess is that Sasuke wants the truth about his clan revealed."
"That's impossible. The Uchiha clan is still revered as one of the greatest clans in the history of the village, if not the world. To reveal that Konoha had such a rocky relationship with them to the point that they wanted to stage a coup d'état would be undermining everything we worked for."
"I doubt Sasuke cares about that," Dragon said in a low tone. "Sasuke always had a bit of tunnel vision, not being able to see what was around him. From his perspective, Konoha is living in harmony that was purchased through the blood of his clansmen and family. He would probably want to come back to show that Konoha is less than perfect. Even after discovering that his clan was full of traitors, he probably saw them as the honorable ones in the dispute."
"But why now?" Kakashi hissed. "It makes no sense to wait over six years!"
"Experimentation. Development of new techniques," Dragon explained. "We thought that he was traveling the world to do some soul-searching. But during that time, he must have fed his thirst for revenge while carefully planning the means to carry it out. It would explain why he partnered up with Kabuto." Dragon paused. "This is, of course, assuming that this unknown man is Sasuke. While all the evidence we have points to Sasuke, we don't have much evidence to begin with. My hunch says that this is Sasuke or someone very closely involved with Sasuke, but that's not enough."
Kakashi debated on what to do. Kakashi knew by Dragon's tone and attitude that Dragon would go seek out this unknown man with or without permission. That would be suicide. But if Kakashi equipped him with other qualified ninjas…
All the S-ranks were currently unavailable. Kakashi was the Hokage and couldn't leave on a mission. Gai was out of the village on a mission. Naruto was going away on his honeymoon.
It would have to be A-ranks then.
A squad of four A-ranks might stand a chance against a S-rank. But at the same time, if they all died, then it would be a huge blow against Konoha.
"Alright," Kakashi relented. "You can take anyone you want. But you have to tell them of the risks involved. Take about a few days to prepare."
Dragon nodded. "I will. And thanks."
"Mind telling me who you're planning on taking?" Kakashi asked as Dragon turned to leave.
"Sai, Aoba, and Anko."
It was a good team. Anko would be for tracking and interrogation. Even if they didn't capture the man, she had methods of extracting information from just a conversation alone. Aoba would provide a cover, especially against the Sharingan, while Shikamaru would be both long-range support and capturer. Sai would be for relaying messages to the rest of the team or back to Konoha with the information they gathered. And best of all, Sai was on the cusp of being an S-rank himself.
It was a team built for reconnaissance and espionage, but was a team strong enough to handle almost anything.
"Good luck," Kakashi said as Dragon left.
"Thanks."
After he felt Dragon's presence disappear, Kakashi opened a drawer to look at a picture of him with his students.
One of his students was in a near permanent coma and might as well be dead.
One probably wished he were dead from all the horrors he saw on his missions over the last few years.
The last wanted to make everyone else dead for whatever reason.
Kakashi wondered why everything in his life was always so messy.
Hyuuga Clan Compound, Konoha – March 27, AK 22
"What is the meaning of this, Son?!"
Hiashi mentally winced but kept a stoic look on his face. "I assure you, Grand Elder, that I had nothing to do with what my daughter chose to wear. I had stern words with her attendants. It seems that Hanabi planned it by herself."
"This is an absolute disgrace! A princess from the Hyuuga clan declaring herself submissive and beneath her husband? That and considering that our remaining princess is a weakling, we'll be the laughingstock of Konoha soon!" shouted one elder, named Sakuma.
Hiashi resisted the urge to pound the elder's face in for calling Hinata weak. He knew Hinata was weak, but that didn't give anyone else to openly label her as such. It was only his right to do so, as a father.
"Silence!" his father commanded. "The Hyuuga clan's strength does not lie only within its head. Our entire clan is strong and as such we will…survive this humiliation. My first granddaughter, despite being unsuited for the position of the clan head in personality, has shown drastic increases in power in recent years."
"Perhaps. A mediocre B-rank status would be have been more than enough for the wife of a male Hyuuga head, but given that our last two heads were A-ranks, it may give the appearance that we are losing strength," said another elder, this one named Kobayashi.
Hiashi narrowed his eyes at that despite feeling pleased with the compliment given towards him and his father. There were four other Main House families, with each allowed one direct heir to the line, with Hiashi's being the royal family line. Hiashi's own family line had been heads for at least five generations. Because Hinata was deemed weak, she would be married to a strong male from another of the Main House families, presumably a family with two sons. One of the sons would remain as the heir of that family, while the other would marry Hinata to become the head of Hiashi's line. It was rarely done in the past to keep the families completely separate so that there would remain some genetic diversity within the Hyuuga family. While Hinata's daughter or son would still be officially declared as the royal line, that is, part of Hiashi's line, what this elder was suggesting was tantamount to usurping royal power.
If there were someone strong, then Hiashi might not have had a choice. But fortunately for him at that moment, aside from the middle-aged Sakuma, there were no A-ranks in the other families in the Main House. By rank, Hinata was tied for the strongest amongst those who could potentially become the clan head, even if most people thought that she barely was B-rank in level.
"That may be an option we may have to pursue, Kobayashi," Hiashi murmured contemplatively. "For now, we will declare Hinata as the Crown Princess. Her progress has been intriguing to say the least. We will give her another year or two to prove her strength before thinking of other avenues to pursue."
It was probably the best he could do under the circumstances. He would just have to personally train Hinata day and night to raise her strength to what was considered acceptable. Hinata would never become a full A-rank, but perhaps she could graze it often enough for even those in the Main House to respect her power.
"Agreed. The Crown Princess is still young and has not even seen her twenty-third birthday," murmured Hoheto, a man who Hiashi considered most reasonable among all of the elders.
"More importantly," Hiashi interrupted, "we need to consider how we may turn this marriage into our advantage once again. We married the strongest princess in our clan to appear in over five generations to a candidate for the position of Hokage in an attempt to solidify our power in the village."
"And your daughter publicly shamed us as a result!" Sakuma glared at him.
"It would be advisable to remain silent," he threatened, letting loose his aura. Hiashi sent a glare of his own to put the man in his place. Hiashi was the clan head and his decisions would stand. "While this public display of submissiveness," Hiashi slightly felt sick at saying that, "was not favorable to the Hyuuga, I must remind you that all of the Hokages after the First had some tie to a previous Hokage. The Second was the younger brother of the First. The Third was the student of the First and the Second. The Fourth was the apprentice of the Third's student. The Fifth was the granddaughter of the First. The Sixth was the student of the Fourth. There are only two powerful ninjas in the village with any direct blood relations to the previous Hokages: Naruto Uzumaki and Konohamaru Sarutobi. The other members of the Sarutobi clan are weak and the Sixth's other students are either dead or disgraced."
"Uzumaki remains the most likely choice, hm? The son of the Fourth, also an apprentice of the Third's student, the student of the Sixth, surrogate grandson of the Third, and distantly cousin to the Fifth, making him related to both the First and the Second," Hiashi's father listed off. "An incredible pedigree. But what of this Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third?"
"My daughter is a year his junior and his equal in battle. Given what we felt from Uzumaki's aura the other day," there was a shiver that went through all of them, "we know that he can easily demolish half the village before even feeling tired. It would be no contest in a battle of strengths. Uzumaki would be chosen before Sarutobi."
"But our original plan was to increase the standing of the Hyuuga. It would have been Uzumaki achieving the position of the Hokage through his marriage with a strong Hyuuga princess. We had wished to leverage that to gain political favors. As it stands now, however, we merely appear to be desperate fools!"
"Instead of considering my daughter as our link to the village, I believe that we must look further ahead to the future. Any child produced by the marriage between Uzumaki and my daughter will also have the blood of four of our previous leaders on top of being the child of the Hokage. That is not even considering the strength the child will inherit from my daughter. Any child from that union will easily become a future village leader. This public shame is a small cost to pay considering what we have to gain from this."
There was silence at that. The elders had not thought that far.
Hiashi mentally let out a sigh of relief as he saw the elders' anger slowly dissipating. I take part in it everyday, but I still hate politics.
"Very well, we will need to impress upon my granddaughter the importance of conceiving as many children as possible."
"But," Hoheto interjected, "Royals and nobles are allowed to take more than one partners. What guarantee is there that the future Hokage in the distant future will be of Hyuuga blood?"
Hiashi frowned at this. He hadn't considered that. Uzumaki generally seemed idealistic and the thought that he would take multiple partners never crossed his radar.
Hiashi's father answered with a small derisive snort. "That boy is idealistic. He would not even consider marrying multiple partners even to save his own clan. There is no threat of other children bearing Uzumaki's blood."
Hiashi nodded. "What we must do is to persuade my daughter to have her children spend time in our clan compound. It would make it much more likely for her children to have a favorable view towards the Hyuuga."
"Agreed. But what shall we do in the meantime?"
"We do nothing. We have already filled many of the departments in the village with members of our clan. There is nothing more we can do. We will merely have to be patient."
"Yes, and one day, the Hyuuga name will come to be spoken in reverence as is done with the extinct Senju clan. We will be the ruling clan in all of Konoha."
Uzumaki Clan Compound, Master Bedroom, Konoha – March 27, AK 22
"I'm surprised that you're not more shaken up by what happened at the reception."
Her husband rolled his eyes. "That's because I expected it to happen. Did you think that my clones just automatically appeared out of thin air immediately after he took that sip of wine?"
"You could have just banned him from coming," Hanabi rolled her eyes. "There was no need for all the theatrics of binding him with chakra-draining seals and encasing him in ice."
Naruto laughed at that. "He's a friend so I wanted him there. That and it was for fun, too. Everyone got a good laugh at seeing Lee locked in a cage of nearly unbreakable ice. It was so funny how he tried to use his head to bash his way out."
"How did you even make ice? Isn't that a bloodline limit?" Hanabi asked curiously. "All I saw you do was wave your hand and he was locked in that ice cage."
He smirked. "Trade secret. But think about it this way. If I had thirty clones ready to tackle him down, don't you think I had also prepared a way to make it so that he could see everything going on but not be able to do any damage?"
She shook her head. "If that's the case, I'm not even going to ask how you did it." She paused and then smirked. "It would be so troublesome to find out." She giggled. She was beginning to feel a bit strange. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the wedding itself today. That was rather," she paused to find the right word, "daring of you today to threaten everyone at the wedding."
Her husband rolled his eyes at her. "Tell me you didn't like it." She didn't respond. "I thought so. If anything, your decision to wear what you did was worse. Did you really think it was smart to announce to the world that you would be a gentle, obedient wife?"
Hanabi pouted. She finally understood why she was starting to feel strange. She wasn't fully drunk yet but she was slightly dizzy from all the alcohol she had imbibed that evening and the dizziness was getting more pronounced. She hadn't wanted to make a fool out of herself at the reception itself and hadn't had too much to drink at the reception itself. It was only when she returned to their home that she started drinking wine in excess.
She was now just beginning to feel the full effects of it and she felt much less inhibited. And she had butterflies in her stomach from everything Naruto had done for her that day from his bold announcement to his ring. On top of that, it had been her birthday and Naruto had given her the most meaningful birthday present she ever received in a two small tessens (battle fans) that would complement her dance-like version of the Gentle Fist style. Some other girls might have been somewhat disappointed in the gift, but she could see the tremendous number of seals and chakra flowing through the fans. It would allow her to keep up the appearance of being a noblewoman who didn't carry weapons.
"But I thought you wanted me to be a submissive wife, 'Master.' Don't you like it when I let you dominate me?" she murmured with her eyes closed. "Mmm…'Master,' you feel nice."
I think I like being drunk a lot. This is really pleasant.
She was snuggling up against him in their bed. They had already washed and cleaned and were just unwinding before starting with their "wedding night."
Her husband rolled his eyes again at her antics. "The Hyuuga clan elders must be seething. They thought to control the future Hokage with their daughter, but only find their daughter abandoning the Hyuuga clan altogether. I had to make that threat; otherwise, you might have some assassins after you sent by your own family."
Hanabi shrugged as she tried to find a more comfortable position against him, ignoring the sweat drop that had formed next to his head as her husband watched her. She was too inebriated to care that she was making a fool out of herself. She knew she would regret it in the morning, but couldn't bring herself to care.
"I'm not afraid of them any longer. They have no more hold over me. The one thing they could have done was to place the Caged Bird Seal on me, but with me being your wife, they can't touch me. Not after that stunt you pulled after what my big sister did."
They were silent for a few minutes, just taking comfort in each other's presence. Hanabi continued to shift against him. She wasn't experienced in the least in these kinds of…activities so she had to do a lot of exploring and experimenting on her own. It was another one of the pleasures of being free.
"Stop moving around so much, damn it!" Naruto scolded her lightly, "I'm ticklish."
"Mmmm," Hanabi mumbled, completely ignoring him as she snuggled into him, "you know, you're much more comfortable than I expected. I never thought you'd be this nice of a body pillow."
Her husband twitched she rubbed against him. Her eyes widened for a second when she felt something stiffen, before an evil grin showed itself on her face as she closed her eyes.
"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" he growled.
Hanabi leaned back and cracked open an eye before smiling innocently at him. "Doing what?" She rubbed the same area for good measure, this time using her hands, completely ignoring the annoyed look on her husband's face.
"That!"
She gave him a pointed look as she fumbled to get her hands into his robes for more access. "For the student of someone who was supposed to be the pervert of all perverts, you're surprisingly prudish. Weren't you dating Lady Haruno for two years? You can't be inexperienced. I thought you'd be completely ravaging me by now."
There was a tic above her husband's eye and he pulled her hand out from his robes immediately. "I can't believe my wife, my innocent and inexperienced wife who just turned eighteen, I might add, is asking about my past sex life! I am so not going to answer that question."
"I see how it is!" she exclaimed in mock anger. "You think I'm not pretty enough to sleep with you!"
Despite her light words, she mentally growled. This was getting ridiculous. She was uninhibited and wanted to sleep with her husband on the night of her wedding. What was wrong with that? She was subtly encouraging him to take the lead, but Naruto was refusing even to follow. She would have to change tactics.
She leaned back and started pouting, making extra effort to look as cute as possible.
"Aren't you a little too old for the puppy eyes tactic?" her husband asked in amusement. "Besides, acting like a ten-year-old probably isn't the best way to get me turned on."
She let out a light "hmph" humorously but was getting more annoyed by the second when he wouldn't respond to her hints.
"Stop being difficult and just relax! You damn jerk!"
"I may be a jerk, but yelling at me on our wedding night probably isn't the best way to start your life as an obedient wife, little firecracker." Her husband was now sporting an evil smirk.
"Ugh!" she groaned in frustration as she pushed away from him.
Whatever, I'll just get some sleep instead, she thought, irritated. She was still drunk and dizzy but her mood had completely gone down the drain. He'll regret it in a few minutes once he realizes that he's not going to get any tonight. She turned away from him and threw the blanket over her body.
After ten to fifteen minutes of tossing and turning in bed while attempting to fall asleep, she jumped up and tackled her husband on the bed.
"Just sleep with me, damn it!"
Naruto reached to the side to put away the scroll he had been reading while she had been trying to fall asleep. "If you had wanted to begin, then you should have asked nicely instead of trying to go about it in a roundabout fashion."
"Oh shut up," she rolled her eyes at his flippant tone, "you're killing the mood, if you haven't already."
Naruto shook his head. "Don't want to."
"Don't want to what?" Hanabi demanded angrily. "You don't want to shut up or you don't want to sleep with me?"
"Both," he replied succinctly from below her.
She let out a cry of frustration and slammed her mouth onto his. Even though he was so damn frustrating, Naruto was still a guy in the end, so after a few minutes of forceful foreplay, he would be the one demanding to go further.
"Satisfied?" Naruto asked after a few minutes when she paused to take a breath. "I hardly felt anything from that."
"Then why don't you show me how it's done," she muttered, not at all pleased with his assessment of her kissing skills.
His statement had hurt. She rolled off of him to try and go to sleep again. It seemed like her wedding night was going to be a bust.
It made sense if she thought about it. He didn't love her. It was only a few months since he was in a relationship with a girl he loved more than his life itself. It wasn't too strange for him to be aloof with her. Hanabi had just been projecting her own growing feelings and assumed that he felt the same way. Naruto cared for her and was definitely affectionate, but he wasn't attracted or attached to her just yet.
He didn't have to love her to sleep with her. The love could come later. But Naruto wasn't even interested in being intimate with her.
Was she just not good enough for him?
It was probably the alcohol, the thought of that made her angry with him.
"I don't want you to get the wrong idea," Hanabi heard from her side. "Don't you think you're falling a little too hard and too fast? It's only been a month since we really started to get to know each other."
That took Hanabi by surprise. It already seemed like forever, but it was true that they only started to get to know each other.
"I…" she stammered. "I don't know…"
Only a month and she already was falling in love with him. Even just a year ago, she would have been horrified with her current lack of control over her own emotions.
Naruto sighed. "It's your first. I understand how…intense these feelings can be. Once you manage to convince yourself you like someone, the more you convince yourself that you actually do. It's a vicious cycle and you just end up loving an ideal that you create in your head. You're not quite there, but you're beginning to fall into that trap."
It wasn't mentioned, nor did it need to be, that Naruto was talking about Hinata's love for him and his own love for Haruno.
"I'm not telling you this because I don't want to fall in love with you or vice verse," he continued on. "I have every intention to try to love you. But it won't happen overnight. These things take time. Weeks, months, years even. You mentioned Sakura earlier. I was dating her just four months ago. I don't love her anymore and it wouldn't even matter if I did, since she's dead, but my heart is just not ready to accept someone else yet."
"Okay, I can understand that," she was surprised to find a single tear rolling down her cheek, "and I'm willing to give you time. But then what's wrong with me falling in love with you? Do you not want me? Were you just planning to keep me as an ornament that you keep around to say to others that you have a wife and don't have to marry anyone else?"
Hanabi felt herself be drawn into his arms around her. "Not at all. I chose you because of the strength of your convictions and your burning passion for life. I just want you to love the real Naruto Uzumaki. Right now, your mind is in a haze from our marriage. You may want to deny that you're just infatuated, but are you completely sure you're not just creating a person named Naruto in your head and falling in love that person? Do you think you know enough about me to actually love me?"
"Yes," she insisted. She could tell that Naruto was taken aback by the fierce look of conviction in her eyes. "You think you can hide yourself from the world, with your masks of laughter, brashness, idiocy, stubbornness, and even loyalty. But I'm not fooled by such illusions. I will love you, Naruto Uzumaki, and you will not stop me."
Uzumaki Clan Compound, Master Bedroom, Konoha – March 27, AK 22
"I will love you, Naruto Uzumaki, and you will not stop me."
Naruto sighed, slightly at a loss of what to do. He was flattered that Hanabi had fallen in love with him so quickly, but he needed to slow this down. Blind love was dangerous.
In the past, Sakura was willing to betray the village for Sasuke. Not once, but twice. Naruto himself was willing to forgive Sasuke just to keep Sakura happy and was willing to take all her abuse because he loved her. And Hinata recklessly tried to throw away her own life because she didn't want to see him die.
None of them loved properly. They were all in love with some ideal in their head that they each constructed. Naruto mentally groaned. All of them were seriously screwed up in the head. If anything, Sasuke, the only one who didn't love, was probably the only sane one in the group.
He mentally chuckled at that. Sasuke, sane? What a joke.
Naruto turned to Hanabi. He was open to loving her…eventually, but that wasn't for a long time. There were things he needed to do first before he could focus on healing his own heart and then seeking to fill it up with love.
"Even if I betray our friends, our village, and our world?" Naruto inquired, trying to shock the girl into submission. Still, he was curious to hear her answer. When he had asked her, Sakura had laughed and said that Naruto was too simple, too open, and too damn loving, and could never pull it off before getting caught. Hinata would have said that Naruto was too compassionate and kind and would never betray his home.
Neither of the two was right. In the Falls of Truth, Naruto had accepted his own darkness. People thought he had "purified" himself, but that wasn't true at all. Naruto had simply accepted that he too, like everyone else, had pain, anger, and hurt in his heart. He became one with all of that. That meant he was no longer pretending not to have those feelings of hatred.
The people of Konoha were selfish and narrow-minded and Naruto had considered crushing his own village thousands of times in the past just to rid the world of a nest of hypocrisy. The villagers may have believed that he forgave them for their mistreatment of him and he did, but Naruto Uzumaki never forgot and would never forget. He wouldn't start considering them family just for no reason. He wasn't a child clamoring for attention and acknowledgment anymore. Their respect meant nothing to him.
"Yes," Hanabi returned fiercely. "If you decide to burn this world down, I'll burn it down with you and then dance on the ashes."
"And what if I betray you?" Naruto asked ponderingly, quite surprised by her answer. It wasn't everyday you heard someone offering to become a traitor with you and for you.
The question gave his wife pause and Naruto could see her actually thinking about it. She began slowly and then grew firm, "To love means to trust. Unconditionally. If you betray me, I will hand my life to you with a smile. I will understand that there was a great need to do so and that you didn't want to betray me even if you did. I know the intense feelings I have for you right now might just be infatuation, but in spite of that, underneath all of that, I love you. That love is what makes me perfectly willing to betray my family and my village for you. That love is what makes me perfectly willing to hand my life to you the moment you demand it."
Naruto felt something stirring in his heart at that. It had been a while since he felt something like that. He had thought that he could never love again after what happened with Sakura but his heart was opening up already.
Naruto slowly rolled Hanabi under him and smiled gently at her as he lowered his head for a light kiss.
"Well, if you feel that strongly about it, then who am I to stop you?" Naruto suddenly smirked as he looked deeply into her white eyes. "But your honey-coated words still aren't enough to make me want to sleep with you. Nice try though."
"Then get off of me!" she growled, clearly angry that Naruto had ruined the mood again.
Naruto laughed as his wife struggled furiously to get free. She tried twisting and turning as he kissed her. After a minute, he could feel her give up and gasp with pleasure from the deep kiss.
Naruto smiled and pulled back again to look at her.
"What now?" she demanded with a glare. "You tease me by denying me, get me worked up, then turn me on again, only to stop? What's the big idea? Do you get off on teasing me or something?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. If her words were anything to go by, the girl was clearly uninhibited by the large quantity of alcohol she drank.
He decided to teach her a "lesson" for being so irresponsible.
"Beg," Naruto ordered.
Her eyes widened at his command.
When they turned hard in refusal, Naruto pressed down into the bed again and used a subtle genjutsu to make her feel more relaxed than usual. Some people might have considered that morally questionable, but Hanabi had been the one raving for them to sleep together at the beginning. Naruto heard her gasp as their bodies rubbed against each other over their robes. Hanabi shuddered with pleasure.
Then, once again, he stopped and gave her a meaningful look to tease her. He was going to make her as frustrated as possible.
Sure enough, she squirmed in refusal.
Naruto lowered his mouth next to her ear.
"Beg for me, my little firecracker," Naruto blew lightly in her ear before kissing along her neck and gently running his hand over her robes.
"P…pl…please," she moaned after a few minutes.
Naruto's jaw dropped in shock. He hadn't expected her to cave—she was just that prideful—so Naruto was floored that she had just pleaded with him.
Hanabi must have taken his shock as a sign of refusal because she swallowed lightly and looked up at him with large eyes.
"Please, my lord. Make me yours," she begged.
Naruto's wide eyes softened as he looked at the girl who had fallen in love with him so much for her to throw away even her pride just to be with him.
"You didn't have to do that, you know," he whispered as he stroked her hair lightly. Naruto began to remove her clothes, kissing her gently as he did so.
"I don't mind," she panted out. Naruto could feel her removing his clothes. "I'm done trying to be strong and tough in front of you. I don't even care that you don't love me yet. We can develop our relationship slowly later. But right now, I just want to be yours."
With that, the night had begun.
Forests, Land of Rice Fields – March 28, AK 22
Ranmaru was sitting on a rock at his usual meeting place. Lately, his master was showing up late to the scheduled times. He hoped that nothing was going on with his teacher.
Ranmaru jumped as he felt a presence behind him.
He moved on instinct and took out his staff. "Lightning Release: Raikiri Current!"
Electricity covered him, ready to paralyze anything got near him.
All of a sudden, Ranmaru found his electricity shroud being drawn into the ground, traveling along what appeared to be solid chakra threads. Ranmaru's eyes widened when he activated them and saw that a masked girl had covered the entire area with earth-natured chakra.
"Game over," she deadpanned. "In less than ten seconds."
Instead of his sensei, it was a ginger-haired girl wearing a white and red kimono and a golden hat that looked somewhat like a fan.
Ranmaru disagreed her statement. He was still in contact with his staff and as long as he had that, he could still fight. The staff produced its own chakra and all he needed to do was to manipulate the chakra. The first things that needed to go were these annoying threads that were draining him of chakra. The best for slicing everything up was wind.
"Wind Release—" he began to release wind chakra from his staff.
"Fire Release: Flame Wheel!"
A ring of fire flew from her raised hands and rose up a few meters above them. Ranmaru felt all the wind-natured chakra he was releasing get drained into the fire technique the girl had just unleashed.
His eyes widened when he realized just whose technique that was.
"I hate you so much." Ranmaru whined once he recognized the person attacking him.
She ignored him. "I figured that since it was such a long time since we had seen each other, we should have a spar before we get down to business, but I never thought it'd be over this quickly."
It was his unofficial superior, his teacher's close friend. He met with her at least once a month, but more contact was impossible because of their respective situations. She was constantly on the run from the authorities while he was a spy in Oto.
"Oh shut up," he muttered, not in a good mood at being taken out in a matter of seconds. He'd get back at her someday. Her AND his sensei.
"A combination of an earth release technique and my chakra strings for the initial trap. Lightning can pierce the earth but can also be grounded by earth. Then you tried a wind technique that ended up useless against my fire wheel. I think you should be a bit more worried if you can be taken off guard like that. I had the ground saturated with my chakra ten seconds after I got here. I had those wires set up five seconds after that. That was pathetic, Ranmaru."
Ranmaru groaned. He wasn't in the mood for another lecture and the inevitable punishment.
He struggled against his bonds. But Ranmaru couldn't move because of the chakra strings binding him to the area. He took a careful look at the strange strings again. They were still absorbing his chakra even after the battle had been finished.
No wonder he felt so weak. His sempai was just cruel like that.
"Mercy!" Ranmaru gasped out hopefully , even as he knew that there would be none. The next moment, Ranmaru found himself soaring through the air, stomach screaming from the blow he had taken. "You witch," he gritted his teeth as he landed painfully on the ground.
Ranmaru saw the next attack coming but could do nothing more than wince as he got knocked to the ground. He found himself locked in a pyramidal cage made of pure chakra. "A witch, am I?" the girl said sweetly as she tightened her fist. Ranmaru grunted as he fought against the chakra walls closing in on him, "Furthermore, it also didn't help you that I had already predicted the first move you'd try to use after you realized I was here and then the next move you'd try once you realized you fell into a trap. I didn't even have to rely on my ability as a sensor. You never miss an opportunity to use that stupid Raikiri technique."
It was true. Ranmaru loved the Raikiri Current because it was so damn awesome to be covered in a shroud of shrieking lightning. It might have been immature of him to want to look as badass as possible but the technique was normally effective.
The key word was "normally." Neither his sensei nor his sempai was a normal enemy.
Suddenly, the chakra walls disappeared and Ranmaru grumbled as he got up. He slowly felt the energy that the girl had drained return to his body when the strings latched onto him again. "Why the hell do you and Sensei only hit me?! Go hit Yuna for a change. God knows she needs to be spanked; she's a little demon! So stop favoring her just because she's a little girl!"
"Tch," the girl replied, before transforming into the blond Yuna and imitating her pouting face.
"Tell me, Ranmaru," he heard the girl say in Yuna's bright and cheery voice, "can you hit a face such as this? Hm? Can you? You can't, can you? Ha! Yuna wins! Another point for Princess Yuna! Yuna one hundred, Ranmaru zero!"
Ranmaru twitched in annoyance as the oranged-haired girl reappeared. She did have a point. Yuna was just too cute for her own good.
"Alright," he admitted, "but don't come crying to me when all your coddling ends up hurting Yuna on the battlefield. She still hasn't been in a true fight yet and not being able to deal with the pain from injuries might end up handicapping her."
"We'll worry about that when we get there. She's only ten years old. Master doesn't plan on making her fight any time soon."
"Master?" he raised an eyebrow. Even though his sensei had taught all of them, he had never required any of them to call him Master.
"Yes, Master," she nodded as she took her mask off. "He's finally taking his heritage and position seriously."
Ranmaru wasn't listening. He was too taken aback by how dazzling the older girl looked. He shook his head to get the small blush off his face. He'd die before he gave the girl the satisfaction of knowing that he thought she was absolutely beautiful. "And what's with the headpiece?" Ranmaru teased to disguise his shock, "Pretending to be a princess?"
The pretty girl shook her head. "If only," she laughed bitterly before brightening. "I suppose you can say that I'm an angel, however, since I'm playing messenger to a god."
Ranmaru rolled his eyes. "Sensei's not a god; he's just a stuck up asshole," he said with a sullen tone. "A very cruel bastard of a teacher."
"Show a bit more respect, Ranmaru," she scolded lightly. "And please," she said in an exasperated tone, "his training is not that bad."
"Right," Ranmaru deadpanned, "because throwing blades of wind at me to get me to dodge faster isn't dangerous by any means. And the amount of chakra he gets me to summon is painful."
The girl shrugged uncaringly. "It's only because he felt you were ready for it."
Ranmaru rolled his eyes. He knew that she had a crush on his sensei, but her devotion was bordering on obsession. She would defend him with her dying breath.
"So, what's up?" Ranmaru asked, changing the topic. He wasn't going to get into an argument with her about their opinions on his sensei. She would inevitably get angry and beat the crap out of him. And Ranmaru didn't want to go home completely bruised today. "Messenger, huh? Why is it you and not Sensei meeting me here today?"
The orange-haired girl's face suddenly hardened as she turned around and summoned a cage of solid chakra to surround them to protect them from the projectiles that flew their way.
Ranmaru immediately moved into a defensive position and stood back-to-back with the older girl. "Oto ninjas?! How did they find us here?" he hissed as twelve men appeared around them.
This was not good. He had been extremely cautious in dealing with Kabuto. How did Kabuto figure out that he was a spy?
Ranmaru activated his eyes. He didn't recognize any of them; Ranmaru was more familiar with the research division of Kabuto's forces. Given their chakra levels, they were all jounin. None of them were quite as strong as his sempai and Ranmaru felt that even he might be able to handle any of them individually, but twelve on two were not good odds. It would be close.
"Surrender, you are surrounded. We have searched for you for quite some time," the leader intoned in a dull voice. Ranmaru looked at him with confusion when the man focused on the girl behind him. Weren't they after him? "We finally found you, Sasame Fuuma."
AN: The last line of this chapter should have answered A LOT of questions if you've been following this story carefully. I'm not going to list it out for you. If you still don't get it, then just wait until the next chapter. Haha.
Sorry. No lemons. Despite the poll results, I went with no lemons. What I wrote was already far more than I had intended to when I started the chapter. Several people pointed out that I'll be banned if even one person reports me. Unfortunately, there's been one person flaming me for no reason. Blocked him from reviewing and PMing me, but I wouldn't be surprised if he reported me if I posted up a lemon.
I might start a separate "story" that is comprised of purely lemons from this story, however, if time permits it.
Also, unfortunately, the early summer's going to be a busier time for me. I'm going to be doing a neurology rotation (ugh medical school) which involves working from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 6 days a week. I do have rough drafts up to Chapter 25 written out so I'll try to update once in a while. And no, I won't just post up the rough drafts. I make plenty of mistakes as is. There would be huge plot holes and stuff if I just posted up random scenes I thought of when I'm bored out of my ass in the ED.