Chapter 6-Some Truth's Revealed
Naruto awoke from his slumber of his bed to the empty feeling of Hinata not sleeping beside him and he frowned before seeing a note on her pillow. Reaching for it, the blonde read the note sighed, and wished his wife was here to greet him in the morning. Sadly, according to the note, Hinata had to get up early, and work at one of the clinics due to some of the patients requiring her "magic touch" in order to cure them. This wasn't new to him, as she had done this before on multiple occasions, and made peace with that fact a long time ago. Naruto himself had stayed in the office below the house working many a late nights, doing paperwork, or got stuck in board meetings.
'Oh well. I'll see her later today or tonight. Besides, I need come up with a plan to save Uzume's Ashikabi from being used against her,' thought Naruto while getting up and heading for the built in hot springs he had setup inside the house for this sort of starting o the day when his muscles were getting tense.
Soothing hot water did the muscles good.
Strangely enough, Naruto felt the presence of his two Sekirei through his bond with them coming in his direction, and felt the memories of his clones hit him while in the water. The blonde merely smile from what he gathered of the memories, as he saw how Akitsu had straddled his leg, rubbing up against him in her sleep, one of his hands on the butt of the woman, and her face was now sporting a health red along the cheeks. It was also clear to him that Akitsu was clearly naked, the panties she had worn to sleep had been removed sometime during the night, whether by the woman herself, or by the wishes of the timid Sekirei's subconscious mind the ice user possessed. Unfortunately, for Akitsu anyway, her hold over the Shadow Clone had been too strong, and the went "poof!" in the process.
Tsukiumi herself had a much more violent reaction to the sleeping arrangements once she woke up this morning. The blonde woman had worn a very conservative blue night gown to her bed and like with Akitsu, the Shadow Clone was holding Tsukiumi close while one of his hands had moved sometime during the night to the water user's rear end. By the time Tsukiumi woke up, she had felt his hand there, groping it in his sleep, and when the copy of Naruto opened its eyes to stare at the woman...she had an angry look on her face with a ball of compressed ball of water in hand.
Judging from the last thing the Shadow Clone saw, Naruto knew the bed sheets would need to be dried, and cleaned from the amount of water he was hit with.
"Come to join me?" questioned Naruto with a hint of amusement while seeing Akitsu in a towel nodding silently while blushing and a towel wearing Tsukiumi just blushing while having an embarrassed look on her face from the overreaction she had earlier.
"Of course! Thou are my husband and I am thy wife. We must bathe together for it is the proper thing to do," remarked Tsukiumi while ignoring the slight glare from Akitsu at being left out of being mentioned as part of the family in terms of being his wife.
"Then come in and relax while you can. There is an important mission I need to set into motion and requires the two of you be at your best. That won't happen if your muscles are too tense to use properly," replied Naruto with his two Sekirei obeying and entering once they removed their towels before moving over to their Ashikabi.
"What kind of mission my husband?" asked Tsukiumi with Akitsu listening in too.
"Its a two part plan, but it requires the two of you to be a different places away from the other while fighting Sekirei," answered Naruto with Akitsu and Tsukiumi frowning.
"So we are to engage in battle and one on one combat. That doesn't sound so hard," said Tsukiumi with Akitsu agreeing though the latter suspected there was more.
"It is when I explain the plan and its not as simple as you think. First, you Tsukiumi are going to team up with Sekirei #88 Musubi," explained Naruto calmly, but that was as far as he got due to Tsukiumi looking upset, and it was clear she didn't want to work with someone else's Sekirei.
"What?! I have to work with that bubbly trollop being trained by your former student? For what purpose?!" demanded Tsukiumi with her tsundere enhanced glare aimed in his direction now.
"I'm getting to that. Let me explain before you decide to get violent," said Naruto with Tsukiumi relenting.
"Very well. I shall hear thy explanation regarding this manner. But it better be a good one or I will be most upset!" demanded Tsukiumi in pure tsundere fashion.
"I need you to help in a top secret mission, which I will explain further at Maison Izumo, but for the most part, you will be fighting a Sekirei that has been going around taking down other Sekirei. From what I have been told, your target has been called the 'Veiled Sekirei' due to the white veil over her face hiding her identity, and will be out targeting another Sekirei while leaving soon after," explained Naruto with Tsukiumi frowning with anger.
"This Veiled Sekirei is deactivating other Sekirei and not staying behind to properly identify herself like the rules state?! Such an appalling and dishonorable thing to do!" exclaimed Tsukiumi with passion in her voice.
"Yes. While I have no doubt you can fight her on your own, the mission I have for you, and with your ally Musubi is to fight the Veiled Sekirei...but not deactivate her," said Naruto with Tsukiumi looking shocked by this.
"What? Why? She deserves nothing less!" demanded Tsukiumi with her anger spiking.
"For one thing Tsukiumi, I said so. Second, there are things about this situation that I can't disclose just yet, and you will have to trust me. As for Akitsu, she will be coming with me to an assigned hospital where I need to help someone," replied Naruto with Akitsu leaning her head onto his shoulder while feeling a sense of joy at being able to stay by her Ashikabi's side.
"What? Why does she go with you to this hospital, but I thy real wife between us do not?!" demanded Tsukiumi while Naruto sighed.
"Let's just say that between the two of you, I have determines that Akitsu-chan here has quickly become a Master of stealth, and I require such a skill for this mission," explained Naruto with Tsukiumi letting out a huff.
"I do not need stealth. The strongest do not need it. The strongest stand proud and true in their ability to fight anyone without the need for such tactics," replied Tsukiumi while she sent a small glare to Akitsu, who was sending one back.
"All the same Tsukiumi, I need Akitsu there with me, and I'll explain more later when we go to Maison Izumo later," stated Naruto with Tsukiumi relenting and decided to trust him with this decision.
Akitsu simply smiled knowing that her Ashikabi needed her for something important and vowed to not fail him.
(Maison Izumo-Living Area-Hours Later)
"I'm not sure I can agree to this Naruto," said Minato worriedly while Musubi looked excited at the prospect once Naruto explained things to everyone in the room on why he was here.
"Why not?" asked Naruto with Minato looking a bit sheepish.
"Its just...I don't want to risk Musubi in a battle so soon like this," answered Minato with Naruto letting a frown show on his face.
"You mean you don't trust Tsukiumi to not attack Musubi when she least expect it," said Naruto with Tsukiumi looking insulted and Minato looked startled by the accusation.
"No! No! Its nothing like that! Its just...I'm worried that this Sekirei you're asking for Musubi to fight maybe too strong for her. A lot of Sekirei have fallen to this one and now you're asking me to risk Musubi," explained Minato hastily while Naruto conceding the boy did have a point in the fact that he was being asked to do something of incredible risk with little in terms of reward in the end.
"I suppose I am asking a lot from you Minato-san. But we both know that while Musubi being trained by Miya is helping her, its not enough, and there will come a day when only through an actual fight will she get stronger. I don't like it either, but that's the case, and some of the Ashikabi living in Shinto Teito won't hold back in following the rules. They will find some loophole, excuse, or means to avoid getting caught when breaking them with your Sekirei paying the price from the lack of experience," explained Naruto while seeing the boy nod with reluctance in his eyes.
"What do you think Musubi? You want to help Naruto?" asked Minato, as he saw Musubi looking like her birthday, and Christmas had been merged into a single day just for her.
"Of course! I need to get stronger for you Minato. Plus I can put the training with Miya-sama to the test and see how strong I've become," said Musubi excitedly.
"Then its settled. Besides, neither of our Sekirei are going to deactivate the Veiled Sekirei when they fight her, but rather they will merely prevent her from deactivating another one, and I have a reliable source on her next intended target. Matsu!" stated Naruto with Matsu nodding and applied a photo of a Sekirei and her Ashikabi.
"As Naruto-sensei has explained, the Veiled Sekirei is targeting Sekirei while not staying to be marked down as the victor so all deactivations made by her are unknown. The only reason we know its her is through Naruto-sensei knowing the identity of the one behind it. However, to ensure his plan goes smoothly, the identity of this Sekirei will be kept from us until later, and Naruto-sensei gives everyone the reason why after its over. All you do need to know, is that the Veiled Sekirei has her reasons for acting this way, and will be explained later in time. We know this Veiled Sekirei is now targeting these two in this picture so in order to find our target you must find them first. I will be providing the necessary support from here to help you pinpoint Sekirei #95 Kuno and her Ashikabi Haruka Shigi so we can stop anything from happening," explained Matsu with Tsukiumi nodding while disliking the idea of helping other Sekirei and Musubi looking excited at possibly fighting a strong opponent.
"What about Akitsu-san? She won't be aiding Tsukiumi or Musubi?" asked Minato with Naruto shaking his head.
"No. As for Naruto-sensei, he will be going with Akitsu to this hospital where a rescue mission of sorts is going to be undertaken. There is an ill Ashikabi there that is having her Sekirei manipulated by the one controlling the hospital in order to control that Sekirei for his own use," explained Matsu while producing a picture of the girl that was Uzume's Ashikabi.
Only no one aside from Naruto and Matsu knew this was Uzume's Ashikabi.
"Wait! You can't just walk into a hospital and take someone in need of treatment! If she's that ill, then the treatment this girl is getting is at the hospital, and taking her out of it will only make things worse," protested Minato with Naruto nodding at the boy's concern for the girl.
"You forget Minato, Whirlpool Publishing owns quite a few clinics all throughout Shinto Teito with M.B.I. level medical technology capable of treating this girl's illness. I would not put this girl's life in danger if her being treated wasn't possible, but the fact remains that there is a means to treat her, and get this girl out from under the thumbs of the one oppressing this Ashikabi's Sekirei," explained Naruto with Minato still looking worried about how this will go.
"I can't say I like the idea of taking a sick girl from the hospital, but I also don't like the idea of an Ashikabi secretly being held hostage like this, and having their Sekirei being used like some kind of slave," replied Minato with Naruto nodding.
"Well said Minato-san. I know I have no right to even ask for your help on this, but the fact you even agreed to hear me out is more then I hoped for in this. Thank you," replied Naruto with Minato blushing with embarrassment.
"I'm just doing what I feel is right," stated Minato with Naruto smirking.
"Good man. Now Matsu will be coordinating things from her room. Do not deviate from the plan. Oh one more thing Tsukiumi. Musubi. I want you to watch each others backs out there. The key to success in this mission is teamwork," stated Naruto with the Sekirei around him nodding.
"Naruto-Sensei, may I speak with you in private?" asked Miya with Naruto nodding and followed the woman to her room.
"What's this about Miya?" questioned Naruto with Miya looking impassive when looking at him.
"Tell me sensei...why didn't you tell Musubi, Akitsu, Minato, or Tsukiumi that Uzume is in fact the Veiled Sekirei? Why keep this from them?" asked Miya, as she had already deduced why Naruto was going to the hospital, and who the Ashikabi there belong to Uzume herself.
"Because they would have tried to reason with her. Revealed they knew the truth. They would have held back and hesitated. Izumi Higa will have one if not two Sekirei under his command watching Uzume from a distance, if not through other means before they report whether or not she did her job. Kochou is just like Matsu in regards to her abilities to work electronics and will no doubt be keeping track of Uzume in that same manner too. Uzume knows I am going to free her Ashikabi soon, but doesn't know the when, or how its going to happen. I need her to have almost complete deniability on this so Higa can't suspect or prove she had a hand in this operation. In order for this operation to work, I need to keep certain things from each side until the time is right, and when the time is right I will ensure all parties understand one another when brought together," answered Naruto with Miya nodding in understanding.
"I understand and accept your reasoning Naruto-sensei. Though I disprove of keeping the truth from all sides, I know it is for the best, and hope your mission is a success," replied Miya before they walked out of the room with Tsukiumi staring hotly at them in one of her tsundere poses.
"Husband! I hope you were not doing anything improper with your former student. As thy one true wife among your Sekirei, it would be most insulting if you did," remarked Tsukiumi while Akitsu frowned and glared slightly at the water user.
"Tsukiumi-chan we have been over this. Besides, do you really think so low of me as to be unfaithful to you, Akitsu-chan, and Hinata-chan?" countered Naruto with Tsukiumi looking away from him while Akitsu walked over to her Ashikabi and hugged him.
"I have faith in you Ashikabi-sama," replied Akitsu in a whispered tone while she did not believe Naruto would be unfaithful to them like Tsukiumi had basically accused him of doing.
"Silence ice strumpet! Anyone who walks around wearing no undergarments under their clothes should not speak unless spoken to!" exclaimed Tsukiumi while Akitsu ignored her for the close contact with their Ashikabi.
"Enough! Tsukiumi, we will be heading out soon. Go meet up with Musubi outside. We will part ways from there," commanded Naruto with Tsukiumi looking away again before she walked outside.
"She seems rather insecure despite being winged," remarked Miya, as Naruto sighed at that, and wished that wasn't the case.
"Its just how she is Miya. I'll just have to prove to Tsukiumi that only my wife, her, and Akitsu are the only ones I want to be with," replied Naruto with Miya nodding.
"Until another Sekirei has a reaction to you," added Miya with a smile.
"I don't see that happening anytime soon," countered Naruto with Miya giving him an all knowing smile.
"Perhaps, but until all of my children are winged, there is always a chance Naruto-sensei, and we both know how strong your luck is when it comes to chance," Miya shot back with a giggle before walking away from him.
'Damn it. She's right,' thought Naruto, as he walked down the hallway, and soon met up with the others waiting for him.
"I'm so excited! I hope this Sekirei is really strong!" exclaimed Musubi while Tsukiumi was waiting with her arms crossed underneath her bosom.
"I have no doubt she is Musubi-chan. Now head to the rooftops with Tsukiumi to get a better vantage point. Matsu will call you when she has a fix on the location of Sekirei #95 Kuno and her Ashikabi," said Naruto with the girl nodding and took off to the rooftops with Tsukiumi right beside her.
With the Sekirei duo heading in one direction, Naruto went with Akitsu in another with him activating Kamui to take them to a rooftop near the hospital owned by Izumi Higa. It still made his ice using Sekirei a bit woozy at first, but she recovered mere seconds later, and saw Naruto staring at the hospital with his arms crossed. Walking up to him, Akitsu was silent in awaiting her Ashikabi's orders, knowing he had a plan for how she was to strike, and would only go when given the order.
"Akitsu, do you know why I require your skills in being absolutely silent?" asked Naruto, as he heard his Sekirei move slightly when hearing the sound of her chains clinking, and stare at him.
"Because this mission requires stealth when fighting the Sekirei here," answered Akitsu without hesitation with Naruto nodding.
"Correct. There are two Sekirei guarding Uzume's Ashikabi. The very same ones Uzume told me normally do when she is doing an assignment for Higa. Meaning she will be busy later today targeting Kuno," said Naruto since Uzume told Matsu about the target she was told needed to be terminated and Matsu told him in turn.
"She is the Veiled Sekirei," concluded Akitsu with Naruto nodding while not surprised that she put things together so fast.
"Correct. I didn't tell the others for their own safety. Not until Uzume's Ashikabi is safe can they know the truth. You will take out Higa's two Sekirei guarding Chiho's room with Toyotama on the roof above the room and then Ichiya currently a few rooms down from the Chiho's. I will go to the girl personally to ensure she is transported to a clinic close to Maison Izumo. Once I have successfully secured the girl, you are to retreat back to my location regardless if both Sekirei are deactivated, or they are badly injured," commanded Naruto with Akitsu nodding.
"I will not fail you Ashikabi-sama," replied Akitsu with conviction while Naruto smirked.
"I know Akitsu-chan. One more thing, these particular Sekirei are very bloodthirsty, and they don't care who they hurt in the process. The very idea of them living to see another day and hurting innocent people is something I cannot allow to happen. To not hesitate in killing them Akitsu. Do you understand? If you see an opening for a Level 5 deactivation during this mission...you have my blessing to take it!" commanded Naruto with Akitsu nodding once with her eyes showing she understood his reasoning.
"Yes Ashikabi-sama," replied Akitsu before she saw him nod for her to move and quickly headed toward the first target.
"Now it is my turn," remarked Naruto with his kitsune mask on with the henge he used to hide his ANBU uniform was removed, and he used Kamui to teleport himself the rooftop closest to the hospital while keeping himself under Toyotama's sight.
Seeing his opening, Naruto threw a tri pronged kunai into an open window before quickly performing the Hiraishin no Jutsu, and activated Sage Mode to further enhance his senses to detect any other potential Sekirei here. Finding none at the moment, Naruto made his way through the hospital undetected, and kept a close eye of sorts on the bond between his Sekirei.
The last thing he wanted to do was send them to their doom.
Tsukiumi was irritated at the moment, which wasn't surprising since the water user was always irritated about something, and in this case seemed to be with the alliance he had made with Minato. The only reason the tsundere woman went along with it was because this was something Naruto himself wished to happen was not fully trusting of the shrine maiden Sekirei leaping through rooftops beside her.
As for Akitsu, she was calm in terms of how to proceed, but that was no real surprise to Naruto either since that was just how the ice user's personality was, and found himself once more comparing the woman to Haku. Akitsu and his long dead friend were very similar in almost every single way, except for the fact Naruto knew Akitsu was female while Haku was...well...it was hard to say with Haku, and wasn't about to find out what gender his first friend was when they first met. Akitsu at the moment, was on the roof of the hospital, moving silently, yet not too slow, and yet her movements were not too fast that his mostly silent Sekirei's footsteps would be heard by Toyotama.
By the time Toyotama realized an enemy was behind her, it was too late, and a blade of ice had pierce through the woman's back through her chest. The woman tried to scream out in pain, but Akitsu had shot a hand up, and quickly silenced any protest that would have come out in addition to the blood from Toyotama's mouth. Naruto smiled silently knowing Akitsu would have definitely made a good Shinobi back during the era when they were needed.
No doubt Higa would soon sense the sudden death of Toyotama though his bond with her and playing it off like a minor annoyance that she died. However, given the fact that his Sekirei was at the hospital, it would make the businessman frown in concern, and move to contact Ichiya to check where she was to make sure Chiho was still secure. Naruto had quickly moved through the halls, moving quickly, yet silently at a speed only a single digit Sekirei could truly see. When he got to Chiho's room, according to what Matsu had learned through hacking the girl's medical file, Naruto opened the door slowly, and gave the inside of the room a once over.
And let out a breath of relief in seeing the girl was currently sound asleep in her hospital bed.
But that silence was short lived when the sound of fighting was heard not that far away from the room and the girl sleeping in the bed was stirred awake to see him. At first, the girl blinked in confusion, her vision blurry from suddenly waking up, and Chiho had to rub her eyes at first before seeing Naruto in his ANBU attire. The girl's eyes widened in shock and moved to scream had Naruto not moved quicker then she could see before putting a hand on the girl's mouth.
"I'm not here to hurt you Chiho. I'm a friend of Uzume's," replied Naruto with Chiho's eyes widening and he slowly moved his hand from her mouth to show good faith.
"You know Uzume-chan?" asked Chiho with nervous eyes with Naruto smiling.
"Sure do. She lives at Maison Izumo with several other housemates. I think you would really like them. Most of them are Sekirei with the exception of one human, who is the Ashikabi for most of them, but he's also a nice guy, and you would like him too," replied Naruto with a smile behind his mask before raising it so she can see his face.
"Why are you here? Where is Uzume? Is she in trouble?!" asked Chiho before the sound of fighting could be heard not far from the room.
"Let's just say that I saw Uzume was in trouble and decided to help her out. Namely by helping you out," answered Naruto before he undid the machines hooked up to her and picked the surprisingly light girl up with ease.
"W-Wait! What are you doing?" asked Chiho while Naruto put his mask back on.
"Getting you out of here and to a clinic I know where you can have your illness properly treated," answered Naruto, as he made his way to the door, but was stopped by a doctor, and hospital security.
Only the man in the security outfit didn't look like he was the usual standard issue guard you find at the hospital. This was a guy, who had a look in his eyes that Naruto had seen before where this man made people disappear at the behest of his employer responsible for signing his paychecks, and didn't care about the lives ruined so long as he got paid.
"Who are you? What are you doing with my patient?!" demanded the Doctor, who Naruto could tell from the eyes that this man was not an ethical doctor, and had done at least one bad thing in his life that went against his Hippocratic Oath.
"I'm taking her out of here to get proper treatment. Something you've been denying at the behest of your Boss for his own cruel purposes," replied Naruto with the Doctor looking insulted while slightly worried with the security guard reaching for his nightstick.
"I don't know what you're talking about you weirdo!" protested the Doctor with Naruto snarling behind his mask.
"Sure you don't pal. Then the memos in your computer you've forgotten to delete from your e-mail system are all fakes," remarked Naruto sarcastically, as he had Matsu hack the man's e-mail once she learned who Chiho's doctor was, and the various memos Higa had sent with a note to delete them immediately after reading each one.
Apparently, the not so good doctor forgot to read that part of each memo.
"What are you standing there for? Take the girl from him!" commanded the Doctor, as he took a step back, and let the guard move to take a shot at Naruto.
"Close your eyes Chiho. You don't want to see this," said Naruto with Chiho closing her eyes tightly.
"And how are you going to stop me with your hands holding the girl?" demanded the guard while Naruto tensed his leg muscles.
"Just because my hands are occupied doesn't mean my feet don't work," replied Naruto before he moved too fast for the guard to see and kicked the man through several walls.
"What the Hell are you?" demanded the Doctor with Naruto turning his head toward the sleazy man.
"Someone you shouldn't meet if you have done horrible things to others," replied Naruto before he kick the man in the throat and walked away while the man now struggled to breathe.
Making his way to the room he once entered to get into the building, Naruto used Kamui once he pinpointed where he wanted to go, and appeared there moments later. After he did that, the blonde used his bond with Akitsu to tell her to leave, and meet him at this point. Sensing her complying with his command, Naruto quickly focused on his bond with Tsukiumi, and was surprised to feel the woman had gone from annoyed to happy to annoyed, and then finally to outrage at being denied her fight with the Veiled Sekirei.
Though how that happened was unclear to Naruto since Tsukiumi's emotions were too jumbled to get a proper understanding of them all.
"Ashikabi-sama!" called out Akitsu, as she appeared before him, and bowed slightly.
"I sensed your silent victory over Toyotama. Very impressive Akitsu," complimented Naruto with Akitsu blushing at his praise.
"Thank you Ashikabi-sama, but I failed to deactivate my second assigned target. She was alerted to my presence before I could go for the killing strike," stated Akitsu with Naruto nodding in understanding.
"It happens Akitsu. There was always a possibility that Ichiya would be alerted to your presence after Toyotama was taken out and Higa sensed it through his bond with them. He probably called Ichiya within moments of Toyotama's death. Come on. Let's go before we are pursued," replied Naruto with Akitsu nodding and began to follow her Ashikabi through the rooftops.
"Come back here!" exclaimed Ichiya, as she was on the rooftops now, and pursuing the two currently holding the girl her Ashikabi wanted kept under control to manipulate that cloth manipulating slut Uzume.
"It would seem we are being pursued," commented Naruto before stopping and Akitsu did the same though she was now facing Ichiya with determination in her eyes.
"I will defeat her Ashikabi-sama," stated Akitsu while preparing her powers when Ichiya landed on the rooftop.
"You have a lot of nerve stealing that sick brat from under my Master's nose like that! I'm going to enjoy beating the two of you to a bloody pulp and then make sure Uzume herself sees the mangled body of the girl in your hands," remarked Ichiya while Chiho let out a small whimper while her eyes stayed closed since Naruto ordered it.
"No. You have a lot of nerve. Threatening to hurt this innocent girl, who is ill, and needs proper treatment while your prick of an Ashikabi uses her to command Sekirei that are not his to command. Hell, he doesn't even appreciate you, or your tag team partner Akitsu took out earlier. You are a pawn. A puppet. You think Higa won't hesitate to cut your strings when the moment suits him? He would sell you out in a heartbeat if it meant his company's stock went up two points," replied Naruto with Ichiya looking livid.
"Shut your mouth and die!" exclaimed Ichiya, as she charged forward, and was blocked by Akitsu creating a wall of ice.
"I won't let you near them," whispered Akitsu in a deathly voice while her ice wall was shattered by Ichiya's leg.
"Like you can stop me scrapped number," countered Ichiya, as she rushed at Akitsu, and began to fight her in close hand to hand combat.
Something Akitsu was prepared for thanks to the training she had with Hinata and Naruto on how to fight at close range. Ichiya herself was an expert in the field, using her long legs mostly, but given the bond between Higa, and herself made the woman weak when compared to Akitsu's bond with Naruto. Higa saw the bond like a business contract that held no emotional attachments other then one giving the orders and the other obeying them. Akitsu's bond with Naruto was much more powerful, much more potent, and on a deeper level that far surpassed the one Ichiya had with Higa. As such, Akitsu was already a powerful Sekirei due to her number being that of a single digit, she outranked Higa's Sekirei in terms of power by a landslide, and now with the ice user having been winged by Naruto with such a powerful bond...it was no contest.
Akitsu easily dodged Ichiya's blows, moving at speeds most Shinobi back in Naruto's time would have been impressed at seeing, and it was annoying Higa's Sekirei to no end. The close combat fighter couldn't understand how this former scrapped number could be so strong, even if the ice user was winged, and a single digit Sekirei at that. Ichiya had fought countless battles, ended quite a number of Sekirei, and a few of the Ashikabi that belonged with those Sekirei. Did she believe in following the rules? No! Why should she follow the rules? Rules held you back. They constantly restricted your actions. Your very movements. They made you weak and prevented one from using their true potential on your opponents.
"Your Ashikabi doesn't care about you. That is why you are so weak," stated Akitsu, as if she could read Ichiya's mind when in truth she was seeing the close combat fighter's eyes, and saw the frustration brewing in them.
"Shut up! What do you know about strength? About power? About bonds? You were a scrapped number because of your own stupidity!" exclaimed Ichiya angrily, as she kept trying to land her strikes on Akitsu, but kept missing no matter how hard she tried, and was getting sloppier with each passing moment.
Before Akitsu saw a moment to strike and took it by ducking under Ichiya's guard with a blade formed of ice around her right hand before thrusting it right through the combat Sekirei's torso. The sound of flesh piercing flesh echoed around the two, as they stared at the other dead in the eye, one of them (Ichiya) was clearly in pain with blood dropping down the side of her mouth, and the other (Akitsu) stared back impassively at her target.
"You're right about one thing. I was a scrapped number. As in past tense. Naruto-sama gave me wings. He fixed me. Healed me. He showed me love and affection. All of which I believed would be impossible to feel after I escaped from the labs. His every wish is my command. I will do everything and anything my Ashikabi asks of me without hesitation because his love for me is strong. Your Master does not love you so fighting for him is more of an obligation you must fulfill rather then one you want to fulfill. I want to fight for my Ashikabi with all my being. It is you, who does not understand anything about strength, power, or the bonds a Sekirei has with their Ashikabi. Nor will you after today," replied Akitsu while seeing the shock and realization of what was about to happen on Ichiya's face.
But Akitsu didn't care nor would she care since this Sekirei had threatened her Ashikabi and any Sekirei that threatened Akitsu's Ashikabi had signed their death warrant.
Pulling her hand back, Akitsu flicked the blood from the ice blade she formed around her hand, and then removed her hand from like she was going through the ice mirrors. The ice fell on the ground, shattering into tiny piece, and would no doubt melt within the hour into tiny bits of water. Any and all traces of the weapon of choice Akitsu used would be lost to the warm climate around them.
"Akitsu, I'm going to take Chiho to the clinic near Maison Izumo. M.B.I. should be here to pick this one up shortly. You will wait for them to do that and inform them Toyotama fell by your hands as well. Should anymore of Higa's Sekirei show up before then, you are to withdraw, and meet me at Maison Izumo before they can engage you," commanded Naruto with Akitsu nodding quickly.
"Yes Ashikabi-sama," replied Akitsu while looking at him intently while his masked face looked back at hers for a moment as if she was waiting for something.
His acknowledgement.
"You did very well Akitsu. I'm proud of you," said Naruto with Akitsu blushing and now looking away with a slight bit of embarrassment.
Interesting since she wanted to be acknowledged by him in the first place.
"Thank you Ashikabi-sama," whispered Akitsu while Naruto grinned under his mask.
"I'll see you at Maison Izumo with the others," said Naruto before he took off through the rooftops toward the clinic.
(Izumi Pharmaceuticals)
"What?!" demanded Higa while on the phone with one of his security personnel he had at the hospital where Chiho was being watched by his two most bloodthirsty Sekirei.
"Its as I said sir. The girl you wanted monitored was taken from the hospital. The doctor in charge of her treatment is down with a damaged throat and the security guard in the area was apparently kicked through a wall. He's got multiple broken bones, a severe concussion, and damage to the internal organs," replied the Head of Security at the hospital.
"I don't care about the guard or the doctor you idiot! I care about the fact you allowed the girl to get away without calling the police or informing me earlier about the kidnapping!" exclaimed Higa, as he had lost a great deal of patience already with this man, and made a mental note to send one of his Sekirei to "remove" the fool from his employment.
"There was nothing I could do sir. She wasn't reported missing until after M.B.I. came to retrieve the two uh...women guarding her from their found positions. We couldn't check on the girl until after M.B.I. left to ensure they didn't learn the truth," countered the Head of Security with Higa frowning on his side of the phone.
Maybe the fool was worth keeping employed after all.
"I see. We need to cover our tracks to prevent any discrediting this might do. Shred all files, documents, and anything else pertaining to one Hidaka Chiho being at the hospital. Do you understand?" replied Higa knowing that if there were accusations made against him and his hospital that the proof of the girl being there would soon be destroyed.
"Yes sir," answered the Head of Security.
"Good. Do it now and don't call me again until every single piece of information about the girl is removed from my hospital," replied Higa before hanging up the phone.
"It was him? It was Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Kakizaki with Higa glaring at him.
"Of course it was him you fool. Who else?" remarked Higa before looking at Kochou and seeing she was looking as stock as ever despite the eyes currently concentrating.
"Sekirei #10 has stopped fighting both Sekirei #9 Tsukiumi and Sekirei #88 Musubi from going after Sekirei #95 Kuno. There was interference from another Sekirei from what I have seen of the video feed from an M.B.I. satellite monitoring the event. Images show that the one who took Sekirei #10 was in fact Sekirei #3 Kazehana formerly of the First Generation Discipline Squad. Current status: Unwinged," replied Kochou with Higa frowning further in anger since he couldn't punish Uzume even if she were still under his "employment" in this game.
"I thought Sekirei #88 belonged to another Ashikabi?" asked Kakizaki with a frown on his face with Kochou nodding.
"Correct. Which is puzzling since such a team up between two Sekirei with each having a different Ashikabi is unexpected just as it was to have an unwinged Sekirei save one that was winged," answered Kochou with Higa frowning further.
"Clearly Uzumaki Naruto employed the services of Sekirei #88's Ashikabi in his plans to usurp my own," concluded Higa with Kakizaki frowning.
"Do you want me to send some Ashikabi and their Sekirei after #88? Perhaps we can get to Uzumaki Naruto that way and send a clear message to anyone that siding with him is not...wise?!" offered Kakizaki with Higa frowning further.
"That would be unwise given who resides in the North and at Maison Izumo," replied Kochou with Kakizaki frowning at her for speaking out of place.
"When I want your opinion, I will ask for it, and not be concerned with trivial warnings regarding who is where Kochou," Kakizaki shot at her with Kochou looking down with sadness in her eyes for a moment.
"We need to send a message to Naruto and his ally. I want you to send one of the lower level Ashikabi on our payroll that I've been meaning to cut lose after them. Especially the one fool that came to us early on when the game first started out. A Junichi Tanigawa I believe it was and his Sekirei #84 Yashima. The fool is under the impression that his value is much greater then what I deem it to be and has been trying to convince me that he should get more money for his services. Send him to Maison Izumo and tell him that for each enemy Sekirei deactivated...I'll pay him triple his usual fee," commanded Higa with Kakizaki looking surprised.
"T-Triple his usual fee sir?" asked Kakizaki with Higa frowning.
"What? Why so surprised? The man is greedy and I'm merely providing the necessary financial incentive for him to agree. Besides...I don't expect the fool to make it here to be paid or defeat the Sekirei residing in the North. Even if his Sekirei does defeat one, the others will take her down, and the fool will be out of the way permanently," remarked Higa with a smirk now forming on his face.
"Yes sir," replied Kakizaki before he left the room to make the call.
(Maison Izumo-Sometime Later)
Uzume slipped into the building quietly, as she didn't want to disturb the other tenants, and for good reason since it was late at night beyond usual sleeping hours. Beside her was Kazehana, who like Uzume at this moment was not only tip toeing into the building, but was also very drunk, and wobbling about with their vision being impaired by the sake they had earlier. After Kazehana saved Uzume from an angry Tsukiumi and surprised Musubi, the two got to know the other with the former of the two assuring the latter that the Veiled Sekirei's actions would be kept their little secret.
On the condition they drink sake together.
Which they did and resulted in them both getting exceedingly drunk well into the night with their brains running mostly on autopilot to make it to Maison Izumo. Of course, that was the easy part for their temporarily alcohol coated brains, but the hard part was for Uzume making it to her room with Kazehana right beside her, and without making any sound that would awaken Miya.
"My head is spinning," mumbled Kazehana, as she tried to keep her balance, and was using Uzume for support while her fellow drunk was doing the same.
"I am so wasted right now," whispered Uzume while giggling and finally made it to what she believed was her room.
"I'm sleepy," added Kazehana while Uzume agreed while stumbling into the room.
"Me too! Wow! Your breasts are huge!" whispered Uzume before they stumbled into the futon sleeping bag at their feet after removing their clothes and fell asleep.
The next morning, the people of Maison Izumo were awoken by the semi-girlish scream coming from Sahashi Minato's room. Upon Miya inspecting the situation, being the kind, yet scary landlady that she was, she saw that Minato was in the room with Kazehana, and Uzume with both women sleeping in just their panties. The boy himself was still in his pajamas, but was truly terrified when Miya came in, and in the fact the woman giving him the evil eyes with a kitchen knife in hand moving in a chopping motion didn't help either.
After reminding the boy that illicit relations are strictly forbidden, which scared the poor boy out of the room to take a morning bath, Miya got conformation from Uzume that she did in fact invite Kazehana over to the house, and let out a small sigh knowing that the policy of her husband counted in this instance too. As for Kazehana, she was rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes, and waiting for the headache received from her hangover to pass. All the while, her mind was deep in thought despite the sluggish startup it, and was wondering why the wind had led her back here. It wasn't just coincidence that she came upon Uzume fighting Tsukiumi and Musubi while the two defended that fragile Sekirei #95 Kuno. The wind had blow fiercely yesterday, speaking to here in a manner that was almost demanding, if not yelling at Kazehana to follow it through Shinto Teito, and did so until coming across the unfair fight.
Hence her interference and earning Tsukiumi's anger.
Kazehana thought that after saving Uzume, she was done what the element wanted from her, but the wind compelled the #3 Sekirei to stay with the other woman, and learn she was fighting for the love her Ashikabi. Something Kazehana could easily get behind since she was all about a Sekirei loving her Ashikabi and that bond growing with each passing second.
So they called truce for now, got some sake, and got drunk to take their respected loads off their troubled minds before ending up here the next morning.
When Kazehana walked out of the room with Uzume, they were both surprised to see one Uzumaki Naruto there with his Sekirei in the living area, and the wind using Sekirei felt her heartbeat pulse faster from the sight of him. It had been so long since Kazehana had seen him, but Naruto had not aged a day since that time they last spoke, her confession that she was possibly in love with him, and wanted to know if they could be together despite his marriage to Hinata. Sadly, Naruto had to answered no to her question, and told her he was devoted to Hinata with all his being. He didn't say it meanly, which had made things easier on Kazehana in a sense, as Naruto wasn't going to string her along, and then dump her like most would have in his place. Despite it being a gentle turn down, it still hurt Kazehana, and had left the First Generation Discipline Squad soon after to go on a nation wide sake tasting tour.
It was a good tour too.
"Finally awake I see. Sit down. We have much to talk about," commented Naruto while his Sekirei watched the two cautiously with Tsukiumi outwardly glaring and Akitsu's eyes fixed on their every movement.
"Its been a long time Naruto-sensei. It seems the rumors I heard about you winging two single digit Sekirei are true. Though how you winged the former scrapped number is still the talk of Shinto Teito," replied Kazehana while looking at Akitsu for a second and then went back to staring at him.
"Please don't call her that Kazehana. She is no more a scrapped number now then you are so I would appreciate it if you not call her that again," said Naruto firmly with Kazehana looking a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry. You know how I get sometimes," apologized Kazehana with Naruto nodding.
"That I do. Though I was surprised to hear of your interference yesterday," replied Naruto with Tsukiumi's glare increasing since she felt cheated when battling Uzume.
"Yeah well I've always felt Sekirei battles should only be one on one. From the looks of things, it was two on one," remarked Kazehana with Uzume shifting uneasily in her seat.
"True, but yesterday's battle wasn't a real one. It was a mission I sent Tsukiumi on with Musubi's help in protecting a Sekirei and their Ashikabi from being terminated by the veiled assassin sitting next to you," replied Naruto with Uzume looking ready to bail, but the blonde male in the room shook his head at her with the cloth using Sekirei's eyes going wide.
"You went to see Chiho! You got her out of the hospital!" exclaimed Uzume excitedly while Kazehana frowned a bit and saw Tsukiumi doing the same.
"I did. The information you provided Matsu allowed her to make a few moves from here to get quite a bit of Intel needed for future use should I need it. Your Ashikabi's currently at the clinic closest to Maison Izumo and my wife is personally treating her as we speak. You don't have to worry about Higa trying anything either, as I've made sure that certain steps were taken to protect Chiho from Higa in general, and the information Matsu got for me about what his orders to doctors were regarding your Ashikabi's treatment during her stay there," replied Naruto with Uzume going from excited to confused.
"What do you mean about her treatments? She was getting treatments...right?" asked Uzume worriedly.
"Yes and no. She was getting necessary treatment, but not the kind that would eventually cure her. Chiho was only getting a treatment that would stall her illness for a time before it eventually killed her. Higa was keeping her alive long enough to make use of you until it was time to cut his losses and would have lessened the treatment slowly overtime. She would have died at the hospital regardless if she was being treated or not by the doctor in charge. The man had standing orders from Higa to make that happen, which I had Matsu get copies of, and made sure the evidence tied directly to them both," answered Naruto with Uzume going from shocked to livid with rage.
"I'll kill him! I'LL KILL THE SON OF BITCH!" yelled Uzume, as she shot up from her seat, and moved to the door.
"No you won't! Not yet!" commanded Naruto with Uzume stopping and looking at him in shock.
"I don't have to listen to you. You're not my Ashikabi!" countered Uzume in anger before any and all rage at Higa was squashed by the sudden power that washed over the room made by Naruto.
"You're right. I'm not your Ashikabi. BUT I am the one responsible for saving her life and getting your Ashikabi the place where the illness she suffers from can be cured. Now sit back down!" commanded Naruto with his authority in the room being final and Uzume sat down without a word of protest.
Even Miya had kept quiet during the whole affair.
"I'm sorry. I just...he promised to treat my Ashikabi's illness in exchange for working for him. At first...it was small stuff. You know? Get information. Make a threat or two. But lately, as the level of the Sekirei Plan increased...so did Higa's orders. I had to deactivate certain Sekirei from names given to me by his Secretary Kakizaki at his behest while I was threatened with the risk of Chiho having her treatment cut off," replied Uzume sadly with Naruto nodding in understanding.
"I figured Higa would do something like that. Though he technically did keep his promise in terms of treating her for the illness. You should have made sure the promise was that his treatment cured Chiho of the illness. Not that I would have expected him to actually keep the promise since a man like Higa doesn't willfully honor such a thing unless it is mutually beneficial to him or his company's profits," remarked Naruto with Tsukiumi looking over at him with a frown still on her face.
"Husband, I have a question. Why did thou not inform me or Musubi that Uzume was the Veiled Sekirei? You have yet to explain that," demanded Tsukiumi though her tone did not meet the harshness it normally did when asking a question.
"I didn't reveal this to you or Musubi because the information would have made things very complicated. If I told you Uzume was the Veiled Sekirei, I would have had to tell you to hold back, and Musubi would try to reason with her while you tried to follow my command. Plus, if Uzume here knew I was sending you after her while knowing the truth, Higa's means of spying on her would have noticed the shift in how she fought against the two of you. Higa would have caught onto my actions and thus would have ordered two of his Sekirei to terminate Chiho while the hospital staff covered it up by falsifying records to say that the illness she was suffering from had claimed her life," answered Naruto with Tsukiumi nodding though she gave Kazehana a tsundere enforced glare.
"Such a vile monkey. His evil knows no bounds. And not only that, but the wind trollop nearly ruined everything! You had no right interfering with my husband's secret plans!" exclaimed Tsukiumi while pointing dramatically at Kazehana while the wind using Sekirei smirked at her.
"Oh please! You're getting ahead of yourself little Miss Panty Flash," remarked Kazehana while Tsukiumi's face turned bright red.
"Miss Panty Flash? How dare you call me that horrible name and in front of my husband no less! I shall smite thee for this insult!" exclaimed Tsukiumi, as she got up, and formed a ball of water in her hand to shoot at the woman.
Only for Miya to throw a ladle at Tsukiumi's head, causing it to bounce off, and back into her hands.
"Violence at Maison Izumo is strictly forbidden," Miya reminded them with a smile on her face.
"She's right Tsukiumi. Sit down," said Naruto calmly though he inwardly smirked at the nickname Kazehana had given Tsukiumi.
It reminded him of all the times he called Tsunade "Granny" and Jiraiya "Pervy Sage" instead of their actual names.
"Fine, but I will not forget this insult you vile strumpet, and I will make thee pay for it," said Tsukiumi while pointing dramatically at Kazehana.
Kazehana waved her off in a dismissive manner.
"In any case, I came here to set the record straight for everyone in this room. While I, nor the rest of you condone Uzume's past actions, I'm sure everyone here will understand why she did what she did. As of right now, its all water under the bridge, there will be now form of accusations, there will no glares, no frowns of disapproval, and no one will look at Uzume like she should be put to death. Am I understood?" said Naruto in a firm and very commanding tone that brokered no argument from anyone in the room.
"Yes husband/Ashikabi-sama," answered Tsukiumi and Akitsu at the same time.
"Understood Naruto-sensei," replied Matsu, as she saw Miya, and Kazehana nodding in agreement.
"Thanks Naruto. You're a good friend," replied Uzume with a smile and tears running down her face.
"Excellent! Miya, I'll leave it to you to explain things to Minato, Homura, and Musubi what has happened with Uzume being freed from Higa's control. Make sure they know to keep things quiet and that they will not judge Uzume. Also, I don't want Kusano to know about this since she is too young to understand such things regarding the less honorable ways of people," commanded Naruto with Miya nodding.
Kusano was in the backyard at the moment doing some early morning gardening, and Musubi had gone off somewhere with no one knowing though they trusted her to come back in one piece. The clothing not so much given her past history with events damaging them, but Musubi was reliable nonetheless, and everyone trusted her to come back to the house in no time. Minato was still taking his bath and Homura was currently in his room doing whatever it was Homura did in there.
"Leave that to me Naruto-sensei," replied Miya with Naruto getting up and his Sekirei doing the same before they left the Inn for the limo waiting outside.
"Husband, the strumpet in there who could use the wind...is she a former student of yours as well?" asked Tsukiumi once they were all in the limo.
"Yes. Kazehana was one of the first five like Miya. Her affinity is connected to wind just like yours is for water and Akitsu's is ice. She's one of the more powerful of the five. I imagine if winged by her chosen Ashikabi and treated right...she would be second only to Miya," answered Naruto with Tsukiumi frowning.
"Perhaps she will react to that Minato person she was sleeping with yesterday. If that is the case, I need not fear her trying to join us, and becoming your Sekirei," said Tsukiumi hopefully though it was clear she was nervous.
"Its possible, but something tells me that is unlikely Tsukiumi," replied Naruto with the busty blonde looking at him with confusion.
"Why is that?" asked Tsukiumi while Naruto sighed and opened up the roof window of the limo.
"Ah...she is flying above us," answered Akitsu having sensed something was amiss while they were riding in the limo and how her Ashikabi was so calm about Kazehana possibly being his next Sekirei.
"She's a perceptive that one," commented Kazehana, as she entered the limo via the roof, and saw Tsukiumi's shocked look before it turned to anger.
"How dare thee come into my husband's limo! I will not allow thee to seduce my husband with thy vulgar clothing attire vile wind strumpet!" exclaimed Tsukiumi before a very firm hand on her leg from Naruto and a look giving a silent command told the woman to halt in her attack stopped things from getting violent.
"No fighting in here Tsukiumi. Besides, Kazehana is my old student. Even though she is currently unwinged, I have no doubt Kazehana could hold her own against you in a one on one fight," stated Naruto with Tsukiumi looking surprised while Akitsu kept her eyes on Kazehana to further get a read on the woman.
"Husband!" exclaimed Tsukiumi in protest, but seeing the look in his eyes told her that he was right, and to accept this for now.
And so she would...for now.
"It has been a long time Naruto. I still can't believe you are in the game now. I can only imagine how Minaka reacted to this. The man must have crapped his pants when he found out," remarked Kazehana with Naruto smirking.
"I wouldn't bet against it given how crazy he is. How have you been Kazehana?" asked Naruto with Kazehana shrugging a bit.
"I've been well. Went on a nation wide sake tasting tour. I know which sake is the best around and which is the cheapest crap to drink," answered Kazehana with Naruto now smirking at her.
"You remind me of my Godmother. She use to drink a lot. Just tell me you don't gamble like her," said Naruto with Kazehana's smile growing.
"No not really. I just drink, but I don't gamble recklessly," replied Kazehana with Naruto letting out a small sigh of relief.
For a moment, Naruto thought Kazehana had become some kind of Tsunade version 2.0 in terms of gambling, and the heavy drinking that followed.
"That's good to know. Though I'm actually surprised you haven't been winged yet," said Naruto with Kazehana frowning slightly.
"No one has interested me yet and I haven't had any reaction to any potential Ashikabi since the game started," answered Kazehana with Naruto frowning.
"That's strange. You are the only Sekirei aside from Miya that hasn't had a reaction to an Ashikabi. Granted Miya's reasons are her own, but you...you should have had a reaction by now to someone," replied Naruto with Kazehana looking away with a sad look on her face.
"Ah...she wants to be winged by you," remarked Akitsu with Kazehana's eyes widening in shock and everyone looking at the ice user.
"What? Thou can't be serious?" demanded Tsukiumi, as she looked ready to explode in anger, and fill the limo with water.
"Well...," replied Kazehana sheepishly while seeing Tsukiumi looking livid.
"You have been reacting, haven't you?" accused Naruto with Kazehana looking red in the face and looked away again.
"Yes. Ever since I was your student, my possible emergence grew into love, and became apparent after we defended the island. Its why I declared my love for you. When you rejected me that day, I was thrown for a loop, and left the Discipline Squad shortly after. My powers were slightly of kilter for awhile, it probably would have been worse if the rejection had been harsh, and I had to relearn to control my powers to prevent them from hurting others. Its one of the reasons I took the nation wide sake tasting tour, but despite the rejection all those years ago, I still...I still want to be winged by you Naruto-sensei," answered Kazehana with her eyes tearing up and saw Naruto's eyes going sad.
"No! As Naruto's one true wife I forbid it! Husband, you cannot allow this trollop join us!" exclaimed Tsukiumi with Naruto rubbing his eyes and looking unsure of what to do.
"Ah...Ashikabi-sama?" questioned Akitsu seeing him conflicted by this.
"I'm unsure if I should wing you Kazehana. Make no mistake, I wanted to wing you that day, a part of me deeply regrets not embracing you all those years ago, but you have to understand that at the time I said no, I was in love, and still in love with Hinata-chan. She means everything to me and always will after all we've been through together in the past. I know things are different now with my winging of Akitsu and later with Tsukiumi when she was reacting to me, but...I don't want to hurt Hinata-chan by winging another Sekirei even if there is a reaction between us. I can't betray her like that," replied Naruto with Kazehana nodding in understanding since she knew that Hinata was a lovely woman both inside and out.
"So the answer is no at the moment," concluded Kazehana with Naruto nodding.
"For now. I want Hinata-chan's input on this matter before I possibly wing you Kazehana. This is not a rejection, but merely a...temporary hold on emerging," replied Naruto with Kazehana nodding and accepting this decision.
"I still don't like this. Its bad enough the ice strumpet is here, but to have this one become thy Sekirei as well does not sit well with me. Not one bit! I highly doubt that Hinata-sama would as well!" protested Tsukiumi with Naruto letting out a sigh and could tell Akitsu didn't like being insulted in front of him.
"Why don't we see Hinata-sensei and find out?" questioned Kazehana calmly with Naruto nodding since he wasn't going to let this happen without his wife knowing.
The limo made its way to Whirlpool Publishing soon enough and the four of them went straight to the top where the Uzumaki Estates was located. Kazehana looked around the front garden, finding it relaxing to be up here, and the wind was gentle here. As if the very element was assuring her things were going to be all right and to just be calm. There were times when Kazehana wanted to come here, to see him during the sake tasting tour when it was in the Northern area, but she was always afraid, and never came anywhere near Naruto's home/company even when living at Maison Izumo for a time with Miya.
"Your home...and with familiar company we haven't seen in years," commented Hinata, as she came out of the house, and saw her husband with his Sekirei plus an familiar one that had yet to be winged.
"She was in the neighborhood. How is Chiho doing?" replied Naruto with Hinata's smile lessening.
"Good. But the treatment I'm giving her will take longer then expected. The illness in her body has a strong foothold and should have been cured right away when at the hospital. Its a good thing you grabbed her when you did Naruto-kun. A few more Months and even M.B.I. technology would be powerless to cure Chiho of her condition," answered Hinata with Naruto frowning when he heard that.
"Damn that Higa. I should have killed him too if it weren't for the fact he was still a child at the time," remarked Naruto with Hinata nodding in agreement.
"Not to mention Minaka for his actions with the Sekirei and his creation of the Sekirei Plan," added Hinata with Naruto's eyes flashing briefly with the Rinnegan before they changed back to normal.
"Back to the matter at hand, there is a situation regarding Kazehana that you should be made aware of," said Naruto while getting things back on track.
"She's emerging and you are her Ashikabi," replied Hinata with Naruto and the others looking slightly surprised she came to that conclusion so quickly.
"You knew he was my Ashikabi from the start," said Kazehana in realization with Hinata nodding.
"Since you first confessed to him. At the time, I held my breath, and waited to see what his answer was to your confession. Part of me feared that he would agree to wing you and break my heart in the process," answered Hinata with Naruto's eyes widening further.
"Why would you think that I would abandon you like that? After everything we've been through together?" asked Naruto since he had no idea Hinata had been watching them the entire time when Kazehana confessed to him.
"I'm a woman Naruto-kun. Fear and jealousy are not uncommon when another beautiful woman comes up to her husband with a confession of love. You also got along so well with Kazehana and developed a strong bond with her like you did me when we trained in secret together. I feared the bond she had with you would be stronger then mine," replied Hinata with Naruto now in front of her and holding the Hyuuga woman tightly.
"I promised you long ago that I would never stop loving you Hinata-chan. That your love was not replaceable. That I wouldn't replace it for anyone or anything. I still stand by that promise even now. I may have Akitsu and Tsukiumi as my Sekirei now, but that doesn't mean I'll abandon you for them. The same goes with Kazehana," whispered Naruto with Hinata crying into his shoulder, her old insecurities from the past were once again being washed away, and held him tightly.
"I know Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered back and he smiled back at her.
"Look! Its the power of love! Love! Love!" exclaimed Kazehana happily, as she danced around, gushing at how the two were embracing the other, and showing how much they loved each other.
"We can see that thou crazy wind strumpet," said Tsukiumi while wishing she was in Hinata's place right now.
"Ah...I'm jealous again," mumbled Akitsu seeing the two holding each other.
"I know what you have to do Naruto-kun. Do it," whispered Hinata to Naruto before she kissed him on the lips.
"Okay. Thanks Hinata-chan. You're the best," whispered Naruto before he walked over to Kazehana, who was now blushing heavily at being so close to him again, and knowing she was about to get her wings.
'This feeling. My heart is beating faster. This is it!' thought Kazehana, as she now found herself in Naruto's arms, and felt her legs getting weak.
Tsukiumi was livid with anger, her hand outstretched, calling forth the water around her to smite this wind using trollop, but Akitsu not wanting to deny a Sekirei their chance to emerge with their destined Ashikabi, used her own powers to freeze the water around the woman, and cause it to trap the busty blonde. Strangely enough, there had been water near Tsukiumi's mouth when it was frozen so she couldn't speak, and was letting out loud yet muffled protests while trying to break free. Naruto and Kazehana were ignoring this of course, as they got close enough before they finally kissed, and the winging of Sekirei #3 occurred.
Much to Tsukiumi's muffled screams of protest.
"By the forth winds of my contract, my Ashikabi's perils will be blown away!" exclaimed Kazehana, as she felt her emergence happen, and the winging caused a tornado of wind to form around the busty woman.
'NOOOOOOOOO!' thought Tsukiumi while seeing yet another trollop join her husband's flock and becoming a concubine to compete against just like she did with Akitsu.
(M.B.I. HQ-At the Night)
"Kazehana was just winged," reported Takami to Minaka now standing on the roof of the clock tower that was currently M.B.I. HQ.
"Naruto-san has winged yet another single number. I knew his power and connections to others was incredible, but even I didn't see the possibility of him winging three single digits. Truly that man is even more unpredictable then I thought was humanly possible!" exclaimed Minaka with Takami not really surprised that he knew Kazehana was winged by Naruto due to the bond the two already had from the start.
If anything, they would have been surprised if anyone but Naruto had winged her.
"That leaves now less then ten percent of the Sekirei in Shinto Teito unwinged," replied Takami while ignoring the man's stupid posing in front of a city and people that would throw a parade if he fell to his death just now.
"Excellent! Phase Two is already in effect. A bit sooner then I had anticipated, but it is still splendid nonetheless. Let the next stage of this drama begin!" exclaimed Minaka with his words echoing throughout the night sky.
The next stage of the Sekirei Plan was now officially underway.
(A/N: YAY! Another update. Hope you liked it. Yes Kazehana is apart of his flock now. This was designed as a long time coming for the two of them as you may have read in the last chapter so it wasn't like "Oh you're my Ashikabi. I'm having a reaction to you. Kiss me!" before they actually kissed. As was stated in previous chapters, Kazehana is one of Naruto's, and Hinata's five students during the time when they were training in being the First Generation Discipline Squad so they had a bond from the start that changed later on into this. It won't be long before I do some lemons for this fic so if you have problems with that, don't read, don't complain, and don't be a flame spewing jerk. All of those that you do that are ignored by me, I laugh at you, and pity those that make the attempt. Its actually kind of sad that anonymous reviews from people, who do not write on this site, or if they are members of the site that do not write anything would say how pathetic my work is to them. Seriously?! You don't write anything on the site, yet you criticize me, and say my work is horrible? What right do you have to judge me when you haven't written anything worth reading or tolerating in the slightest. When you have written a fic whether for animes, comics, cartoons, movies, or anything else on the site that gets lots of reviews from people giving praise...then you can go criticize me to your heart's content. Until that day happens, don't bother with the attempts, and leave me along with my fellow authors alone. Until next time...PEACE!)