The light faded through the window, striking the edge of the bed. Patterns of light danced along the wall.

Naruto lay in his hospital bed. Sweat dripped down his forehead. He exhaled heavily. "Looks like I'm all right, after all," he stated after a hesitant pause. He rubbed his forehead. Experimentally, he extended his fingers, focusing his energy into a Whirling Bullet.

Several papers on the table flew off rapidly, spinning into the darkness.

Naruto grinned. "Not a hundred percent, but I'm feeling better now, I guess." He exhaled.

The door burst open.

Kōju lunged over the bed, chair dangling behind her. "NARUTO!" she shouted, her smile broad. "Time to have fun!"

Naruto blinked. "Eh?"

"I'm not gonna let you go! Gonna keep snuggling and—" Kōju wrapped her arms tightly around Naruto's neck.

"Wait, what about the need to rest and recuperate in the ward?!" Naruto demanded, his face turning slightly white.

"Exceptions are made for staff members, meaning me!" Kōju grinned broadly.

The door opened.

Sakura stared steadily at Kōju. "You're not helping." She pulled on green gloves. "Okay. Sit down. We still have to get your ankles fixed up."

Kōju remained on top of Naruto, grinning.

Sakura scowled. She picked up the chair and set Kōju down on the floor.

Kōju scowled. Her hands rested against her knees. She finally relaxed into the chair.

Naruto blinked. "You got injured?"

"Yeah, it was against that Hakka lady." Kōju sighed.

"Pretty good jumping, though."

"I got a basic heal. I mean, some of it. If I exerted them more my ankles would have trouble." Kōju nodded to Sakura. "Go ahead."

"Naruto, looks like you're doing a lot better. Chakra poisoning coming down, then?" Sakura asked in a friendlier voice. She turned a lamp onto Naruto's stomach, examining the bones.

Naruto nodded. "Yep." He leaned back. "A little bit."

"Listen." Sakura leaned closer, her voice trembling slightly. "I'm glad you're all right. When you got kidnapped, I." She covered her mouth. "I felt so."

Naruto shook his head. "No. I'm okay." He leaned back in the bed. "Look, I'm all right. You're all right. And you tried."

"That's not good enough." Sakura cleared her throat. "Not for me."

The door burst open.

"All right, time to run your check-up." Tayuya, dressed in a nurse's outfit, briefly pressed her thumb against the syringe. "Hinata."

Hinata nervously pressed her hand against Naruto's throat. Her eyes flashed white. "Looks like… you have a… b— b— build-up between—"

"Hinata, if I recall correctly, you were training with the medic-corps. Please don't do anything stupid." Sakura sighed. She rubbed her temples. "How did I become the voice of reason?" she asked aloud.

Tayuya shrugged. "Fine. Whatever." She sat down on the visitor's chair. "More seriously, I got some of the news from Tsunade, about the traitor."

Hinata leaned against the doorway.

"Seems like it's related to one of the members who returned—" Tayuya started.

The glass of water froze into ice.

Tayuya blinked. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?" Naruto's face paled. "Oh, shit. Haku's not happy, is she?"

"Nope." Tayuya exhaled. "Look, uh, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to skedaddle on out of here. We didn't mention that you'd gone missing, see." She rose to her feet. "And as such, I'll be taking a leap of faith out the window—" She leapt outward.

"Tayuya-san—" Hinata started.

"Oh." Naruto exhaled. "Well, that's well and good for you guys, but I can't exactly move. Well, I can, but not very fast. Um…" He clapped his hands together. Substitution Technique!

A log formed in the bed with a puff of smoke.

Haku burst into the room. "Why was I not informed?" she demanded sharply.

Soyokaze emerged from the closet. "It was unnecessary," she declared in a soft voice.

Naruto, watching from the tree outside, slapped his forehead. "Seriously, how many people am I being stalked by?"

Hinata hid behind Tayuya, shivering.

A knock came at the door. "I got some of your favorite ramen!" Ayame shouted.

Naruto blinked. "Ah, man. I want to go in, but if I do, I'm going to get attacked."

"Hey," Shikamaru remarked from beside Naruto.

Naruto gasped in shock. He turned around. "How long have you been out here?"

"Long enough. Sheesh, women are troublesome. I still have to get my marriage contract with Temari completely sorted out." Shikamaru offered Naruto an apple.

The pair remained on the branch, eating two apples, for a long time. Three hours later, the last of the visitors were finally driven out of the hospital room, Tsunade yelling about the 'peace and quiet' of her patients and its disturbance by loud parties, some of whose visitors should know better. Smiling, Naruto carried one of the bowls home.

Shikamaru slapped Naruto on the shoulder. "Listen. Next time we meet up, promise me you're going to be the one rescuing me."

Naruto shrugged. "Can't do that, but hopefully we'll meet under better circumstances than last time." He turned away. He remembered the darkness in Shikamaru's eyes later, a darkness that he had never seen in his easygoing friend's heart. The wind blew up along the ground, pulsing with an intense feeling of loss and loneliness. For the first time since his kidnap, Naruto thought about Asuma and what had become of him, the strange and dark element of the promises made and promises kept, the cruelty of the empty abyss beneath the sky and storm, the dark promise of the abyss beneath the sky. And at length, he resolved that he would not merely become Hokage, but change the fate of the cruel world and its dark promise. What matter had become of the sky, what promises had been made—it all faded to nothing, when he thought of the suffering of the poor people who crawled under the unflinching gaze of the heavens, and wept at their plight. Someone, somehow, had to make it better. That person was undoubtedly Naruto himself, self-selected, self-picked for the purpose of changing the world. Someone had to do it.

The one dark point rested on the absence of Sasuke, who, it seemed, had not come to welcome Naruto back from what might well have been his own death even at the very end. He opened the shabby door and paused. A sense of being watched overcame him. Nervously, he looked over his shoulder.

Nothing. Merely the sighing winds.

Naruto sat down at the table. Taking out a spoon, he slurped down the remainder of the bowl of ramen. Grinning in satisfaction, he set aside the bowl.

And stopped dead in his movements.

An unopened envelope sat on the table, sealed by a single earthen red kiss in lipstick.

Naruto warily opened the envelope, reading the words within.

The dead have no use for money; save if there is an afterlife. In any case, the dead can't pay bills and since I am dead, I felt you could use this.

A friend.

Also within lay a hundred thousand ryō.

Naruto paused, considering.

The figure dissolved into goo, a clone.

A slow smile crossed Naruto's face. He placed the ryō inside Gama and sealed up the pouch. His eyes glanced toward the door.

There lay nothing but the sighing winds.

The others returned to the house on the edge of the stream in the evening.

"You went missing, did you not?"

Naruto nodded. "Sorry, Haku." He rubbed his temples. "Regarding my absence—"

"You got kidnapped, did you not?"

Naruto remained silent.

Haku scowled as she studied the table. "I do not like it," she stated finally. "Not at all. I am one of you all, am I not? Am I not now your concern?"

"I wasn't in charge of who told you."

Kōju sighed. "We didn't want you to worry," she stated in a soft voice. She patted Haku's shoulder.

Sasuke nodded.

Haku's expression remained frosty. She took a sip from the tall glass, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Anyway—" Kōju cleared her throat. "Well, I wanted to ask you something anyway. While Nōtō's still recuperating." She glanced around the table. "I got Naruto's verbal consent, so now I just have to ask you all. Would you find polyamory acceptable?"

Sai's brow twitched. "I have no interest in joining your iniquitous behavior." She rose to her feet. "Count me out."

Kōju shrugged her shoulders. "A jerk like you isn't needed anyway." She stuck out her tongue.

Sasuke shrugged. "I was under the impression we were already doing that."

Kōju blinked. "Sasuke, you—"

Sasuke shrugged.
Tayuya rubbed her temples. "Fine, if you're sure." She paused. "It's the first time I've tried it, so I have no clue what the fuck's going on."

"Really?!" Kōju leaned closer, a broad grin crossing her face. "You mean you don't have experience?"

"What the fuck do you think?" Tayuya replied frankly.

Haku inclined her head briefly. "This is the first I have heard of your arrangement." She paused. "I do not fully like it."

Sasuke's brow furrowed.

"But provided that I am kept informed of these decisions, I am not inclined to disagree with this arrangement."

Soyokaze paused. "Um, may I be included here?" She bowed her head.

Sasuke frowned.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah."

"Thank you." Soyokaze smiled. "Thank you for your kindness."

Naruto nodded. He tilted his head to one side. "This isn't completely what I wanted—"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Seems you still don't understand, after all." She cleared her throat. "I'm going out to practice. Don't let my tea go cold."

Naruto turned toward the window. He stared out at the moon, high in the sky, and wondered again what was going on.

Tayuya looked out the window. Her hand briefly brushed her eyepatch.

Daybreak

The assembled figures glimmered in the reflected light from the lantern.

Kūkyo exhaled.

"As you've no doubt heard, the Zombie Combo died yesterday." The crimson-eyed man paused. "This is certainly a grave blow to our organization, and demonstrates the risk in going alone. We contacted Pein and his people to see about organizing another team, possibly headed by him, but he refused. It seems his work as Kage prevents him from taking that action, along with his associates."

Kūkyo frowned.

"Consequently, we'll be going underground. I'll contact you with information if we manage to find a quick solution, but under the circumstances, that's unlikely to occur."

Kūkyo waved her hand over the lantern.

A figure emerged from the darkness.

Kūkyo's eyes widened. "Kakushiro, where's Naruto-kun? I care a lot more about collecting him than you," she began in a harsh voice.

"He's alive, but we lost him." Kakushiro paused. "We've been betrayed, by someone who knew he got kidnapped. They've got someone in Hidden Leaf."

Kūkyo's brow furrowed. "Interesting. Should we storm the gates and take care of business the old-fashioned way?"

Kakushiro shook her head from side to side. "Hidden Leaf security isn't the best. I say we investigate on our own. We'll need the right conditions, though. I contacted two people who have a vested interest in damaging Hidden Leaf or preserving our organization. Well—"

"To be more accurate, she contacted me, and I contacted him." Sasori adjusted his puppet arm. "I still owe that shark one, and that old man owes a great deal to Hidden Leaf."

Kūkyo's eyes narrowed.

"It is quite wonderful, immortality. I imagine Orochimaru-sama will be quite pleased with the state of affairs set before him." Kabuto smiled. He pushed his glasses up on his nose with one finger. "I have high hopes for this makeshift alliance. We already have people inside Hidden Leaf—"

"Bullshit. At most it's one or two. You sacrificed most of your forces to land a single hit on Sarutobi and Unmei." Kūkyo turned her gaze to Kakushiro. "Ideally, I'd have liked to avoid involving this damn gene freak with what we're doing here. But I suppose we don't have much choice. Putting that aside, do you have a plan?" She leaned forward again.

Kakushiro nodded. "The ones most likely to have information on Hakubo are Root or ANBU. We'll take care of both ourselves when the time is ripe. Hidden Leaf's on high alert right now; we'll have to wait a month or two for their defenses to die down. For now targeting the jinchūriki is useless."

"If I'm not mistaken, you're beginning to like the kid." A lewd smile crept across Kūkyo's lips.

"With due respect, we have more important issues to worry about," Kakushiro replied. "Do you think it'd be possible to engage Hidden Rain?"

"As usual, Hidden Rain's caught up in succession issues." Kūkyo glanced toward Sasori.

Sasori shrugged. "I might be able to convince a few mercenaries to join up with us, but don't expect too much. The fact of the matter is that, low security or no, we are still talking about infiltrating Hidden Leaf. There are certain things that, no matter how you attempt to resolve the problem, will result in restriction."

"Sasori is correct. Even in our own case, the amount of force we can divert here is fairly low." Kabuto scowled. "If Orochimaru-sama had managed to secure Sasuke-chan, the circumstances would be different. A body with the Sanzengan would have rapidly increased his fighting potential."

"Isn't he immortal now?"

"He tested the serum on a few slaves, and discovered there was a way to kill your kind." Kabuto pointed briefly to the neck. "Remove the head and kill the target. That's easy enough, right?"

Kūkyo's eyes narrowed. She smirked. "You have been digging. Immortality's still immortality, though—and judging by experience, they probably wouldn't figure out that trick."

Kakushiro sighed. "Let us focus on the task at hand."

"Right. There are some records in my brother's library about how Akatsuki and Hakubo got formed. It's not exactly easier to invade, but it might tell us where Hakubo's currently located. As far as the traitor goes, it's going to be trickier, but we'll figure something out." Kūkyo glanced toward Sasori. "Hidden Sand got anything to your knowledge?"

"We should begin with Mui."

"Mui?! I thought he was dead?"

Kabuto shook his head. "Orochimaru-sama's information network is never wrong. He suggests that Mui was spotted near the ruins of the old Land of Sky."

"Huh. Okay. Guess we'll deal with that problem as it comes." Kūkyo sighed. "Sasori, seriously, though. Hidden Sand have anything at all?"

Sasori shook his head briefly. "Hidden Rain might, though."

"Tch. That's going to be tricky." Kūkyo scowled.

"I can use the Henge technique to get us in." Kakushiro raised her hand.

"We're talking about Pein here. It's not going to be that straightforward." Kūkyo shook her head briefly from side to side. "Not that easy at all." She turned her gaze to the horizon. "Particularly if he doesn't agree to our little project. Okay. Let's try this regardless."

The group dispersed across the red-stained mountains.

A/N: Though I'm going on hiatus following next week's chapter, there were a few things I wanted to address.

First, this chapter is almost entirely, or at least 50%, based on reader reviews. I sat down and thought to myself, 'You know, why shouldn't the harem be made official?' So I wrote up this. I hope it answers readers' hopes somewhat, and if not I apologize for misleading advertising. This is a trait that I'll develop during later chapters.

Second, next week, this story will be marked as a crossover. This wasn't the chapter I'd originally thought of for the reveal, but after thinking over plot events in the next planned arc, it makes sense to do so. I'll mark it as such when a named character from a franchise appears, which, per the current schedule, will be next week.

Third, after next week's chapter, I'm going on hiatus. There are some complications with the next arc (which may or may not become apparent in next week's chapter) that will take some time to work out, and I still need to work on Roshi's appearance in the story. My goal would be 3-5 months to work out the details, but it might be longer than that. Expect this story's return when it reappears.