Previous Translations: Yorokobi - Pleasure/Delight/Joy
Yokubo - Desire/Lust
Kajo - Excess
Shifuku no Kurushimi - Blissful Throes/Blissful Suffering
Tatakainouta - Song of Battle
Zeitakuna Kutsu - Luxurious Torment
Hentai-ryu: Erokenho - Pervert Style: Erotic Fist Art
Konton - Chaos
Kanzen - Perfect
Henka - Change
Harakainokeru - Dispel
Aka-en - Red Flame
Aoi-en - Blue Flame
Kiiro-en - Yellow Flame
Orenji-en - Orange Flame
Tankoshoku-en - Pink Flame
Maho - Magic
Chishiki - Knowledge
Unmei - Fate
Nozomu - Hope
Hoho no Chenja - honestly this one is a mess, but roughly means Changer of Ways
Ryuketsu - Bloodshed
Chikara - Strength
Meiyo - Honor
Budo - Martial Arts
Ikari - Rage
Jumon - Incantation
Himitsu no Sewanin - Secret Caretaker(Keeper of Secrets)
Sento - Combat
Same no On'na - Shark-Woman
Maebure - Harbinger
Shibari no Ashikase - Binding Fetters
Kanpeki - Perfection
Reikan - the closest English word would be Inspiration, but it specifically refers to 'a divine creative impulse'
Sekkyo-sha - Preacher
Aijin - Lover
Kaen Hosha-ki - Flame Radiator (Flamer of Tzeentch)
Himeiwoageru - Which Screams (Screamer of Tzeentch)
Shikkan - Disease
Ai - Love
Zetsubo - Despair
Mi Haito - Undivided/Not Divided
Shibo - Aspiring
Koki - Exalted
Chakra no Bato - Coruscating Chakra/Chakra of Coruscation
Gyokai - Industry
In case someone somehow doesn't know, Hi - Fire
Don'yoku - Greed/Avarice
Yokuatsu - Tyranny/Oppression
Yami no Chichi - Father of Darkness/Dark Father
Raimeiton - Thunder Release, what Naruto has decided to name his mix of wind and lightning chakra
Shuryoju - Hunting Beasts (same word for plural or singular), an alternate name for Fiends of Slaanesh, best word I could find for them
Konton no Omo - Lord of Chaos
Kemonojin - a very jank way of translating Beastmen into Japanese, basically would mean Animal-Human
Gyumao - Ox Demon King
Eiyu - Hero
Gyumahime - Ox Demon Princess
Kajomahime - Excessive Demon Princess
Renkinjutsu - Alchemy
Hankami - Demigod/Half-God
Yuki no Yoroi - Armor of Ice/Snow
Hyoton no Fuin: Yuki no Haka - Seal of Ice Release: Tomb of Ice/Snow
Naruto halted briefly at the security checkpoint to salute the two chunin on duty before he continued to rush past them, causing a minor stir until an Anbu recognized it was just the blonde Uzumaki being even faster than before. It didn't take him long to find where Hidan had fallen, the head was face down in the street slightly buried by the impact with the ground.
Around said decapitated head were four very concerned academy students, "Where did it come from?" Udon wondered as Konohamaru picked up a stick to poke the head with.
"Better question," Hanabi began calmly, "how did it not splatter on impact?" she asked curiously and Moegi shrugged before she yanked the stick from Konohamaru before he could carry through on his intent to poke the decapitated head that had slammed into the street between them.
Naruto hopped down to the street from a roof with a grin, "Hey kids, my magnificent self just needs to secure this S rank nukenin." he announced proudly as he strut between them and reached down to pick up the head with his left hand, nodachi still unsheathed in his right due to a distinct lack of a scabbard.
Hanabi raised an eyebrow, "You need to secure a decapitated-?" she began to ask sarcastically.
"I'll gut that bitch with my teeth!" Hidan shouted angrily as he was lifted out of the street, a furious expression on his face.
All four of the academy students leaped back in surprise, Hanabi in particular looking personally offended, and a few watching civilians were visibly horrified, "Yeah, he's immortal y'know." Naruto explained as his tail coiled around to cover the nukenin's mouth and muffle any further shouting, "Which doesn't seem all that useful when you're decapitated." he pointed out with an amused grin.
"I'd like to see you put up a fight as a decapitated head." Hidan grumbled petulantly, voice muffled by the tail.
Naruto considered that as he lifted his tungsten sword to rest the back of it against his right shoulder with a tilt of his head to the left, "Actually, my magnificent self probably could." he mused, if his Hoshi chakra was still accessible then he was confident he'd still be able to fight. The other logistical problems occurred to him a second later, like if his head would be able to handle the lack of oxygen, or if his new Apotheosis would act similarly to Hidan's immortality on that front.
Hanabi frowned, "I don't think Hinata-nee would like to hear that." she pointed out dryly, she was aware that she was technically heiress due to her sister marrying the horned shinobi in front of her, but seeing him up close again was more confusing than she expected. The blonde Uzumaki was a blend of traits that worked as a whole but seemed contradictory when examined up close, a crown of horns, inhuman legs and the tail were all obvious, but Hanabi being a Hyuga was particularly perceptive even without her Byakugan and was a bit thrown off by the subtleties of a hermaphrodite, the blend of masculine and feminine traits, and even subtle body language, was new and confusing to the young girl.
Naruto took a moment to register that Hanabi was technically his sister-in-law through Hinata, despite the lack of a proper wedding yet, and tried to recall if there was anything he was supposed to do about that. He was distracted by teeth in his tail, "Ow!" he exclaimed in surprise as he pulled his tail away from Hidan and lifted the head to glare at it, "Sorry kids, this head needs to meet with Ibiki and Anko-chan over in T&I." he said without breaking eye contact with the nukenin.
"Can we play ninja later?" Moegi asked eagerly, Konohamaru nodding with an equally eager grin.
Naruto shrugged, "Maybe, but we're at war so no promises, my magnificent self could be needed out there right now y'know." he bragged with a smirk before he disappeared from sight with a burst of chakra enhanced speed.
Ibiki was surprised to hear Naruto was delivering a prisoner personally, from the ruckus it sounded like no one had briefed the Uzumaki properly on prisoner transport. At least the head of the department thought as much until he saw the prisoner was a decapitated head, which they didn't exactly have protocol for, "How was he still talking without lungs?" he asked bluntly, taking note that effort had been made to muzzle further attempts at communication from the head.
Naruto shrugged in response, "Maybe his chakra is supplying his brain and voice box with oxygen somehow? His immortality seems kind of weird to be honest." he answered, Hidan's own response muffled by tape over his mouth.
Ibiki raised an eyebrow, surprised this was the same ninja who had passed his written exam by not writing down a single thing, "Well, I'll see what we can do with him." he assured as he took the decapitated head.
Naruto grinned, "Thanks!" he said as if Ibiki was doing it for him and not as part of his job before the Uzumaki disappeared.
Ibiki sighed, "Alright, what's your name then?" he asked as he tore the tape from the decapitated head's mouth.
"That hurt!" Hidan shouted, "Do you have any idea how much pain I am already in and you just add to it? You got no empathy you torture happy freak? I bet you get off on pain you sick sadistic heathen fuck!" the nukenin ranted angrily, much to the annoyance of Ibiki and the bafflement of the other members of T&I that were present for the exchange.
Shino wasn't sure if remaining in Taki was a good idea, especially looking at the rather sad war council that was assembled, there were as many Konoha chunin as there were Taki jonin, which was not many. The Aburame supposed that was why they were needed, though he would like the other half of his team he was aware Kurenai and Hinata were on a different mission. Sakura, Kiba, and Akamaru were present as well, although this seemed to offend a few of the Taki jonin due to their low rank.
The Inuzuka and ninken didn't look too concerned, just there to provide moral support and know the plan more than to contribute, but Sakura felt nervous and it showed. Seeing the bronze skinned girl who seemed purpose built for war looking nervous was bizarre to the Aburame despite having seen it in the past, that had been before she became oddly inorganic after all, but he didn't comment, instead he analyzed the map they were all working with. Unfortunately information was lacking, they had more markers for where scouts had gone missing than places that were clear, and that was not including known locations that scouts confirmed hostiles they evaded being discovered by.
Shino felt a little overwhelmed by the information, "Why are they not here?" he wondered, pointing out a clear zone, "It seems the perfect spot to encamp, source of water, nearby cliffs and terrain well suited to Doton no Jutsu, and defensible towards us and the Hi no Kuni border." he listed the pros of using that location and tried to figure out why the enemy did not do so.
"The source of water is a waterfall and the perfect spot is probably too close to that for their liking." Sakura spoke up before anyone could consider the answer, "Iwa isn't exactly known for Suiton users, although they do have some, while Taki is renowned for them." she explained.
Shibuki nodded, "So that location being clear means that Iwa doesn't have enough Suiton specialists to feel comfortable holding locations like that." he mused, only with that revelation noticing a similar pattern of clear zones being close to waterfalls, large rivers, or close to the nearby lake.
Sakura frowned, opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath, "Why isn't our camp closer to water?" she wondered, if they had been the fires Iwa's forces caused during the last attack would have been more easily dealt with even overwhelmed as they had been.
A jonin with a beard scoffed, "We need to hold this general location unfortunately, to minimize how many of Iwa's forces get close to the border with Hi no Kuni." he informed blithely, clearly not happy about this arrangement.
Shino considered that as an awkward silence began, once it prevailed he decided to voice an idea, "I could hold this area, how you ask? My kikaichu can cover a wide area scouting for me, and I should be able to muster enough to handle anything that comes at me." he explained, "Of course, should the Tsuchikage himself or a sizeable force arrive I will only be able to stall briefly." he added.
The Taki shinobi were visibly doubtful of this plan, and Kiba looked concerned with the idea of leaving his friend and teammate to hold an area alone, but Sakura understood what he meant by mustering and nodded, "This would let Taki hold an area closer to water," she continued as she pointed to a waterfall, "There should be a glade here that would make a good encampment," she guessed mostly from the geography around the waterfall, "from there we can even launch counter attacks against any Iwa forces trying to get around Shino-san, odds are they wouldn't even find it if we don't use fire." she pointed out.
Shibuki frowned along with his jonin, "No fire? Sakura-san, the season will be shifting soon, we can't hold somewhere like that without campfires for long. If the cold comes early we'd be able to last a day or two at most." he pointed out, the Taki shinobi all nodding in agreement.
Sakura hadn't thought of that, her own body was seemingly resistant to extreme temperatures, whether that was due to the brass skin, molten blood, or both, she had no idea, "Staying undetected for any amount of time is better than them knowing your location, and it buys time." Shino pointed out, they had moved the encampment but not by much and shinobi should be able to handle a few days in the cold with only rations for food anyway.
A bald Taki jonin sighed and leaned over the map, "The biggest issue with the idea was stretching our dwindling forces too thin," he pointed out, "leaving a chunin to hold an area I doubt I could hold alone is not a good solution to that problem in my eyes." he stated plainly.
Shino nodded in understanding, with wording like that he understood no offense was intended and he understood the concerns, "I have yet to make much use of them, but I will be able to call reinforcements with Kuchiyose no Jutsu." he assured, shifting the expressions of a few of the jonin to more approving looks.
Kiba sighed, "If that isn't enough, I'm his teammate." he spoke up, "Akamaru and I can cover him if needed." he added with a shrug and the hound barked in agreement.
"I suppose I should stay with your forces, Shibuki-san?" Sakura asked, "Given the situation, I'll try to use my chakra mostly for Kuchiyose as well next time." she added.
Shibuki was surprised but nodded, "Yes, with that and the remaining Konoha chunin," he began and the other four men nodded without speaking up, "then I think our forces could hold this location." he continued with a gesture to where Sakura had been pointing, "It's close enough that we can keep an eye on Shino-san and Kiba-san in case they require reinforcements." he explained and the Taki jonin all nodded in agreement to show it was a sound or acceptable plan to them.
With Naruto gone ahead Kin found her attention drifting to the prisoner Jiraiya had captured, a girl who looked eerily similar to herself. She was a little embarrassed to realize she'd been more focused on the blonde Uzumaki but considering what had happened to him had been slightly traumatic for the humans who had seen it she felt excused.
They weren't identical, the nose was too different, even that aside there were enough differences that they definitely weren't twins or a body double, so Orochimaru probably hadn't cloned her, maybe. Not in this specific instance at least. The similarities were enough to get her looking closely though, but with their similar hair length and style it was a little hard to get a look at the ears in a way that was subtle.
So Kin decided to toss subtlety, "Who is this anyway?" she asked, unable to hide how uncomfortable she felt even with an oinin mask on.
Jiraiya shrugged, "Otogakure kunoichi, her orders were to 'entertain guests' but I, uh, I managed." he said, coughing into his fist. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, he could guess what problem Jiraiya would have with an attractive young woman.
"She's Kotohime," Tayuya spoke up, "Fuuma clan, they joined up with Otogakure to restore their clan to power, last I heard they were learning more about using Fuinjutsu on Daemons though so I'm kind of surprised she doesn't seem to be marked or anything." the former bodyguard of Orochimaru freely gave up the additional information.
Kin frowned under her mask, "Her name is Kotohime?" she asked, it was an odd name and it was an odder coincidence to her that they looked vaguely similar and the woman was named after an instrument she'd recently taken up.
"Yeah." Tayuya answered with a shrug, "I think she plays one too." she added, crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side as she realized the odd similarities to Kin as well.
Naruto stalled a moment near his home on his way back to the gate, he stood on a power line that he was pretty sure was part of Anbu patrols, or at least used by them, as he sniffed the air. Isaribi and Hanako were still home, and it smelled to the blonde like Isaribi was cooking something with miso.
The blonde Uzumaki grinned as he continued back to the gate, the lack of Hinata worried him but that those two were still home and Isaribi was cooking calmed that concern. The fact Isaribi still had such a fondness for seafood was amusing, he was pretty sure he smelled some kind of fish under the scent of miso anyway, but he would have assumed she might like more expensive meats now that she was able.
As Naruto's mind drifted he recalled that he'd taken a bite out of Orochimaru and he wondered why he'd done that, his gut instinct was that he must have been hungry but that seemed off still. As he landed by the gate an Anbu woman in a cat mask landed slightly behind him and he belatedly realized she'd been trying to catch up.
Naruto gave a sheepish smile at the realization he'd been accidentally evading Anbu, he wondered what they wanted with him and how he'd managed to miss that they wanted him, "Why are you running around the village with an open blade?" she asked dryly.
Naruto blinked, "Oh, right." he realized, looking at the nodachi still held, almost casually, in his right hand, "The scabbard broke." he answered to the groans of a few Anbu, even the ones who were still hidden, and the gate guards.
The female Anbu found it strange that Naruto was only now examining his grip on the sword, it wasn't aggressive or tight in any way, but the firm grip and speed the blonde had been moving still convinced many Anbu, including kenjutsu specialists, that there was a threat somewhere.
Maybe there had been, apparently the blonde had delivered a decapitated head to Ibiki, that gave the kunoichi pause before she left, "Are you okay?" she asked, slightly worried the ninso might be having a mental breakdown of some kind.
Naruto laughed, which only served to make the Anbu who asked and the ones who picked up on her concerns more worried, "My magnificent self has never been better!" he insisted boisterously, "We captured an S rank nukenin, drove another away, and..." he paused with a frown, "Orochimaru got away though," he confessed, not wanting to continue by saying he would have been able to go after the man if he hadn't passed out.
"So why did you deliver a decapitated head to Ibiki-san?" The Anbu woman asked, not wanting to sound frustrated but still concerned by that specific detail.
"Oh he's immortal, so Ibiki-san can interrogate him about Akatsuki and probably get more information." Naruto answered easily enough.
"Oh." The kunoichi did not sound like she was satisfied with that answer, she knew she was missing too many pieces but what she'd heard was already too much to process.
Soon enough Jiraiya and Kakashi were back in the village, the Konton no Oinin recently created by Tsunade were done with their mission. Naruto went home with the lovers he had with him, and the two sensei he had watched him leave.
"We need to tell him who his father is." Jiraiya said.
"Yeah." Kakashi agreed, "We probably already should have but..." he trailed off.
"He got strong faster than anyone could have predicted." Jiraiya agreed.
"Unpredictable." Kakashi muttered, Jiraiya idly wondered if they were in shock.
Neji was pretty sure the two were in shock, "Uh, you asked me to stay behind?" he asked nervously, pretty sure he was not supposed to have heard any of that.
"Right, yes." Jiraiya was pretty sure he should be more concerned but he doubted Naruto would even need to hide it at this point, "Explain what you saw in Naruto Uzumaki." he ordered, "Also write it up or something, debriefing, yeah." he nodded, clearly not confident.
Kakashi was pretty sure he understood why the man didn't want to be Hokage after that, "Inside Naruto?" he asked, worried.
"Two of his Hachimon are missing, his keirakukei and tenketsu can move, he has extra organs I don't even understand," Neji was pretty sure he was rambling, "he has a womb, functioning I think, not barren at least," that was probably private but Neji wasn't a doctor, "his chakra vents something through those new pink markings he has-"
"Vents something?" Jiraiya asked.
Neji nodded, "I have no idea what that was." he confessed, "Whenever he used Hoshi chakra, which was a lot, it vented something, almost like a vapor but a byproduct of the chakra somehow? Maybe it's the harmful properties that his body needed to adapt to?" he asked, "The markings are similar to those suffering the negative effects of using the Hoshi, they're more like bruises than a tattoo."
"Bruises that radiate something?" Kakashi asked.
"It's more like an invisible vapor coming off it, that's the main difference between them and the markings the Hoshi ninja suffered." Neji explained, he wondered if he was in shock too.
Jiraiya frowned, "They're almost like his old whiskers." he muttered, "Two on each cheek instead of three." he wondered if that meant something.
Kakashi rubbed his chin, "So, why did you dismiss the Taki genin with the rest of them?" he asked, he was pretty sure she didn't have anywhere to stay and letting her roam the village without escort might be ill advised.
"Eh," Jiraiya gave a non answer first with a shrug, "Naruto will handle it." he decided.
Naruto wanted to go straight home to Isaribi's dinner, "Do you want me to get a new scabbard?" Tenten offered once they were out of the Hokage tower, she wasn't sure why Neji had been asked to stay behind.
The blonde Uzumaki looked down at his sword and nodded, recalling Tenten didn't have the measurements yet he lifted it towards her as if to give it to her. When Tenten reached out to accept however, Naruto hesitated on uncurling his fingers and when he tried to force it he instinctively flinched and pulled it back towards himself.
"Oh," Maemi spoke up, "yeah that is your sword, Naruto-sama, you'll probably have some difficulty willingly handing it over." she explained. Kin and Karin frowned at the Imp, if she could even be called that anymore, being almost as tall as Haku in his sandals that very blatantly added a full inch to his height.
Naruto shrugged and lifted the blade to let it fall back to rest the blunt side on his right shoulder as if it wasn't made of tungsten, then he got an idea and focused his chakra as he let the blade fall the rest of the way.
Tenten watched in alarm as the blade affixed to his back with chakra, the length of the blade coming dangerously close to touching the ground, "Since when did you get such good chakra control?" Tenten asked curiously.
Naruto frowned at the insult but he had no idea, "Apotheosis?" he guessed and Maemi shrugged, the Muse had ascended a fair bit herself, practically a genuine Alluress now, but Naruto was an anomaly. If anything like this had happened before she was completely unaware of it, which meant she unfortunately could not provide much guidance or explanation.
"How does your chakra feel?" Karin asked, eyeing the pink markings that were visible, she still wasn't fully used to the glowing pink pupils. That were slit.
Naruto crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and cocked his head to the side as he tried to focus on the feel of his chakra, "Huh, kind of more, liquid?" he asked.
"That thick?" Kin asked with a concerned tone.
"What?" Naruto questioned, he was clearly confused, "No, like thinner." he clarified, "Before it felt kind of like honey, sort of, while the Hoshi added gravel to it or something y'know." he explained and there were some concerned looks exchanged at that description.
"Sounds like Naruto-sama's body has actually adapted to his chakra, somehow." Maemi still sounded off balanced, confused and out of her depth. Tayuya was pretty sure she was usually a better liar and guessed that being out of the loop was throwing her off as much as it was the Muse in her Juin.
The dark pink haired girl pulled out her flute and spun it between the fingers of her right hand as she narrowed her eyes, "Okay, you know I have a Muse in my head too right? We're all marked by the same Kami here, so why don't we chat back home about what's actually going on with Naruto-kun's chakra." she insisted quietly but firmly, keeping her voice low to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
Lee frowned, concerned by how on edge everyone was getting. He didn't fully understand chakra related problems, it had taken him years of training just to get to the point he could use chakra to enhance his body internally or use it for sticking to sheer surfaces or balancing on liquids so he felt a little out of his depth.
Tenten felt like she and Lee had missed something important, she registered that the four lovers of Naruto were Konton no Oinin now, and they'd been with the blonde when he fought off Orochimaru and whatever minions he'd had with him. The kunoichi was pretty sure she didn't have the whole story, so she and her teammate followed them.
"Well I'm not marked." Fu pointed out, slightly sarcastic but seeming pleased with herself.
Tayuya blinked, "Wait were we ordered to house her?" she asked quickly, trying to avoid the subject that the Taki genin had trailed them silently without her notice.
"No, I kind of thought she was back in the office up there." Kin confessed, guessing why Fu was smug. A ninja would be proud of good stealth.
Naruto grinned, "We have room anyway." he offered.
Fu nodded, "Yeah, I wanted to chat with you guys some more anyway." she agreed, matching his grin.
Isaribi was a little nervous about Fu, namely because of the symbol on the green haired girl's hitai-ate was not of Konoha. The fact Naruto seemed at ease with her and the presence of other shinobi helped ease the fish-girl as she served tea.
"So," Fu began hesitantly, "is it rude to ask?" she asked with a pointed gesture to Naruto. There was no answer at first as everyone struggled to figure out what she was asking.
"Is what rude to ask?" Naruto asked, clueless himself as to what the Taki kunoichi was talking about.
"You know!" Fu said in a conspiring tone, "Uh, lucky seven said grumpy nine is okay now?" she asked with a shrug.
Naruto's eyes lit up with recognition, "Oh yeah, he made a contract with my magnificent self so Slaanesh-kaasama let him live." he explained with a nod and a cheerful grin.
A few worried looks of realization sunk in, "I'm sorry did we kidnap Taki's fucking super weapon?" Tayuya asked, she only had a rudimentary understanding of what a jinchuriki actually was but she understood some of what Orochimaru had told his bodyguards.
"Language." Kin scolded but her tone was faint and light, her face paler than ever.
"I don't feel kidnapped." Fu joked carelessly before she took a sip of tea that only emphasized her point.
Isaribi felt a little more relaxed with the new kunoichi and sipped her own tea as Karin groaned, "Alright, we're getting off topic right off the bat." the redhead grumbled, "Did Naruto-nii die!?" she suddenly snapped and Isaribi spat out her tea in surprise.
"What?" Naruto was surprised, he hadn't been fully aware of how bad it had looked to the four who had been present.
"What." Fu, Lee, and Tenten were more confused, unable to even indicate the word as a question as they vocalized their confusion in unison.
"He did look pretty dead." Kin confirmed, giving a side eyed look to Maemi as she recalled Tayuya's words.
"Look!? His heart stopped!" Karin snapped, "You weren't even breathing, I couldn't even feel your chakra for a second!" she ranted, her bottled up concern finally exploding.
Tenten decided to set aside the revelation that Karin was a sensor in favor of the more concerning news that the iryonin of the group didn't understand why or how Naruto was alive.
Naruto cocked his head to the side, his expression conveying a mix of puzzlement, bemusement, and worry, "Uh, well my magnificent self is breathing now." he tried to assure.
"Let me check your pulse." Karin insisted, "Actually, I'm giving you a full check up, we should have gotten you to a hospital but I just-" she hesitated.
"You're our meal ticket," Tayuya interrupted sarcastically, ignoring the scandalized looks, "so let her just be sure you're actually okay?" she asked, doing a very good job of hiding her own concern.
"Ticket?" Naruto shot back with a sardonic smirk, "My magnificent self is the full course!" he bragged and received some eye rolls for his flirting, but he let Karin check his vitals.
Karin was immediately concerned, "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, "Your pulse is way too fast to be healthy." she added in a more subdued tone, confused since such a high heart rate should cause other noticeable issues but those didn't show up which only turned some of her worry into confusion.
Haku had his eyes closed since he'd received his cup of tea, although he hadn't taken a sip, "Naruto-kun is clearly fine." he said with faux calm, "I am more concerned about what Maemi said." he added, his tone becoming clipped as he opened his eyes to fix the Daemon with a cold stare.
Fu was impressed with how quickly the protective harem could go from being concerned about a political incident to being fully focused on Naruto's health, it was inspiring in a way. She noticed Naruto packing a pipe as they argued and accepted it when he passed it to her, not seeing any reason not to.
Maemi had a very smug grin, "Well, he exceeded all my expectations." she confessed, "Even without a body he would have been fine though." she assured, "Naruto-sama is fully immortal now, at worst he could be locked up with Fuinjutsu or banished temporarily from this world." she stopped grinning for a moment, "We should watch out for any weird jutsu from Orochimaru." she added, after seeing him make multiple people immortal and summon Daemon Princes she wasn't keen on underestimating the snake-like man.
"So if he gets decapitated-?" Tayuya began to ask but flinched at the glares she received.
Maemi shrugged, "To be honest, this is sort of unprecedented. He might get stuck back in my home realm if his body dies at this point but that was going to be a danger of receiving multiple mortal wounds anyway." she explained, "I think the benefit of being able to recover from mortal wounds is worth being immaterial a lot of the time." she added with a smirk.
"You are way too cocky for someone who has no idea what is going on." Tenten grumbled, catching on faster than the recently ascended Muse would like to admit.
"Well, I am an Alluress now." Maemi said, sounding surprisingly official, "Which means Naruto-sama has achieved Apotheosis and became a Kajomao." she said, keeping that title in their local language for the sake of who she was communicating with.
"Everything besides that is the mystery then?" Kin asked dryly, "Great, one weird mystery after another." she grumbled.
"We fought a ghost once." Naruto said happily, Isaribi was concerned that no one seemed surprised by that.
"I still think Neji was messing with us." Tenten retorted calmly as she accepted Naruto's kiseru pipe from Fu, then she realized what she was being given and by who, "Oh, you good?" she asked.
Fu nodded, her eyes hooded and her expression calm, "Yeah, totally." she said airily, clearly not entirely paying attention.
"Great," Tayuya said in a tone that indicated she did not think things were great at all, "we drugged the humanoid super weapon." she grumbled.
"They drugged themselves." Karin pointed out as she crossed her arms and slumped into her seat, referring to both of the jinchuriki and getting the distinct impression things were only going to get more complicated.
Tenten handed the kiseru off to Isaribi without taking a hit, her eyes on Naruto's blade, the tungsten nodachi resting on the ground behind Naruto, who reclined casually with his inhuman legs beneath the kotatsu. The weapons specialist figured she might as well double check her measurements and stood up to take a length of measuring tape from her equipment pouch as she stepped around Naruto.
"Well, I'm sure things will clear up when Tsunade-sama gets back." Karin said as Isaribi took a small hit and handed the pipe to her, "I don't think Jiraiya can handle the administrative stuff, he seemed a bit spooked." she added before she took a hit for herself.
"Ero-Sennin is like a teenager in an old man's body." Naruto mused as his tail swayed lazily, Tenten froze mid measurement. The kunoichi never appreciated until that moment just how much of an air of hyper-awareness that Naruto gave off, she was careful not to actually touch the blade she was measuring, probably a slight hit to accuracy of the measurements but she couldn't help it.
"Yeah, what kind of old dude has a nose piercing?" Fu giggled as if she'd just told a very funny joke, Tenten let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as she finished and moved away from the swaying barbed tail.
Tayuya accepted the kiseru from Karin and took a hit, "Wait a minute," she coughed, "Orochimaru is doing his immortality thing, Tsunade makes herself look younger than she is, and Jiraiya acts like a horny teenager while having a nose piercing." she listed off as she handed the pipe back to Naruto, "Are the Densetsu no Sannin all just trying desperately to pretend they're still young in different ways?" she asked.
Karin nodded, "Definitely, if I didn't think Tsunade-sama would kill me for it I'd try to make a psychological case study on them." she said.
"Psycho-what now?" Tayuya asked blankly, she knew some Fuinjutsu and had overheard a little of chakra theory from Orochimaru, but she was no iryonin or scholar.
"Is that a kind of jutsu?" Naruto asked eagerly, his own medical knowledge so far was limited to first aid and some basic wound treatment.
Karin groaned, "It's a mental health thing." she explained, waving the two off.
"So it's an iryoninjutsu?" Naruto asked.
"It's not ninjutsu!" Karin snapped.
"You can't actually explain it can you?" Tayuya asked with a smirk and Karin flushed red, "Must be complicated science shit then." she shrugged, "Nothing to do with being a shinobi." she added and Naruto clearly lost interest.
Karin couldn't help but frown, the idea that mental health had nothing to do with being a ninja was more than a little concerning.
Hinata had been having a rather boring but nice time with Choji, Asuma, and Kurenai on their mission. It was just delivering scrolls of supplies to scout outposts Kusa was setting up to keep an eye out for movement from Iwa, which would probably be more difficult if they didn't have storage scrolls. The former heiress was mostly bored because nothing was happening, but she was glad her sensei seemed to be enjoying the time with Asuma.
This time had been ruined by the second to last outpost they needed to deliver to being hit by an Iwa attack right as they arrived, they managed to be far enough away that they could remain hidden but the Kusa vanguard was clearly fighting a losing battle, having no ninjutsu specialists to match the enemy Doton no Jutsu and being outnumbered spelled death for two of them before the Konoha cell could make a decision.
Hinata mentally cursed this indecisiveness, a stray thought that if she'd just charged the enemy ninjutsu specialist as soon as she saw him her team would have been capable of backing her up made her tense up but Kurenai put a hand on her shoulder, "Make sure the enemy doesn't have extra reserves, then we help." she ordered quickly and Asuma nodded in agreement as he took out his custom weapons.
The kunoichi activated her Byakugan to confirm it, "What you see is what is there." she informed as she made the tiger seal and rushed the enemy with shunshin. Asuma was surprised but rushed to keep up as the four armed girl delivered a double palm strike out of shunshin with her other arms stretching out above the two making the hand seal. The ninjutsu specialist fell backwards with his eyes rolling back and the breath knocked out of him, Hinata narrowed her eyes as she ducked the thrown kunai of an Iwa shinobi who noticed it before he got cut down by Asuma's blades.
The Juken strike had not been as precise as most Hyuga would like, but it was hard to be precise while moving at shunshin speeds. Speed however did add a lot of power, so it didn't seem to matter that she hadn't damaged his keirakukei that much. Kurenai trapped another Iwa shinobi in genjutsu as the Kusa survivors managed a counter attack that pushed the Iwa aggressors back, then Choji and Asuma cut off their retreat.
The three Iwa shinobi still standing considered the situation as they cursed how quickly the fight had turned from a decisive victory to a sudden defeat, one of them made to raise his sword arm but found his vision swirling as he was suddenly encased within a tree, his tanto snatched from his hand by Kurenai coming out of the tree as if she were one with it. The realization he was in a genjutsu was not enough to save him as he could not muster his chakra before the real Kurenai smacked the base of his skull with the pommel of his own weapon to knock him unconscious as the other two were restrained in grapple holds by a Kusa nin and Choji.
"Thanks for the assist." One of the younger Kusa shinobi spoke up gratefully as the new prisoners were being tied up, although he didn't seem all that happy.
"Sorry we weren't here sooner." Asuma responded, knowing they'd want to get their dead back home, "We'll take one of these prisoners back with us," he added before he reached into his flak vest and pulled out a scroll, "and here are the supplies we were sent to deliver." he finished.
Hinata felt the boredom settling in again, she was surprised by how quickly the adrenaline wore off. She moved to tie up the opponent she'd dealt with and realized he wasn't breathing, she hadn't damaged the keirakukei around his lungs so she was confused until she realized she'd accidentally destroyed his diaphragm. For a moment longer the kunoichi was confused as she realized there was no way to stop him from dying, even his pulse had faded by the time she registered what was happening.
"Oh, I killed this one." Hinata said quietly, mostly out of surprise and to herself. She deactivated her dojutsu as she processed her kill, it hadn't been intentional but that oddly bothered her more than when she'd killed in self defense, she wasn't entirely sure why.
Kurenai noticed but didn't fully understand her student's thought processes, but she realized something was off as the four armed young kunoichi pulled out a scroll and impassively, with body language that could only be seen as bored, stored the corpse of the fallen Iwa shinobi away.