Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, One Piece or any other media, anime, music, games, manga, books etc that may appear in this fanfiction, this is purely fantasy work. I will however claim the OC character's that appear in this fanfic.

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Chapter 4: How Much Is That Demon In The Window?

Marine Headquarters – Marineford

Five days had come to pass since Naruto's the attack on the Kingdom of Lvneel and the news had finally reached the Marine Headquarters at Marineford. The royal family of Lvneel had gone into an uproar over what had happened and there was chaos amongst the lower ranks of the marines at the defeat of four ranking officers. It was with that Fleet Admiral Sengoku had called an emergency meeting requesting the audience of all his trusted Admirals, Vice Admirals, Strategists and Advisors demanding them return to Marineford as soon as possible.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku marched down the hallways of Marineford heading towards the meeting room he had set up. He had been informed that the last of his advisers had arrived just moments ago. Sengoku gritted his teeth as he stomped down the halls. The Gorosei were not impressed with what had been allowed to happen and they were demanding blood.

Sengoku forced the meeting doors open finding seven of his trusted marines seated around the table. The first was the great tactician 'Great Staff Officer' Tsuru a thin elderly woman with grey hair tied in a bun. Next were the three Admirals of the Golden Age of Piracy Borsalino (Kizaru – Yellow Monkey), Sakazuki (Akainu – Red Dog) and Kuzan (Aokiji – Blue Pheasant). The three were followed suit by four of his high ranking Vice Admirals the first Monkey D. Garp a tall, tanned, broad-chested muscular old man a man known as the Hero of the Marines. Garp was followed by Momousagi a young slender woman with long curl black hair a marine officer who had been considered as a candidate for the position of Admiral numerous times. Last was Vice Admiral Issho or by his alias Fujitora (Wisteria Tiger) a blind man with short dark hair who like Vice Admiral Momousagi was once a candidate for the position of Admiral.

Sengoku moved to the head of the table taking a seat turning to direct his loyal marines, "I thank you for coming at such short notice, my apologies for any inconvenience it may have caused" he bowed his head as a young woman passed around the room pouring tea for the occupants before she retreated.

Tsuru lifted the cup towards her lips taking a small sip from it as she turned to address her long-time friend and comrade, "From your tone it sounded like an urgent matter so we all came as quickly as we could" spoke the elderly woman as she sat her cup down and folded her hands over resting them on the table.

Sengoku sighed as he turned in his chair lifting a remote. Sengoku pressed a button and a screen came rolling down one of the walls as the lights turned themselves off. The Fleet Admiral pressed another button and the screen turned itself on showing the image of the man who had attacked his marines at Lvneel, a Den Den Mushi being used to project the image from the middle of the table, "Five Days ago this individual attacked a company of Marines who arrived at Lvneel to drop off high valued merchandise the newly Crowned King had bought. A number of marines who remained stationed on the Battleship Rosalia managed to acquire footage by Surveillance Den Den Mushi"

With another click of a button the screen switched to show the two girls who were to be sold to the King, "The Merchandise two slave girls Kuroka and her sister Shirone ages eight and three were to be the future concubines of the young King of Lvneel" spoke the Fleet Admiral showing no outward reaction as he spoke about slavery.

The room tensed as Garp and Tsuru took sneak peaks towards the blind Vice Admiral codenamed Fujitora who seemed to be visibly shaking. The two Vice Admirals were well aware of the blind marines disdain for 'Absolute Justice' and was quite appalled when it came to matters of slavery.

Sengoku cleared his threat to regain everyone's attention as he went to another slide revealing photos of the four marines tasked with delivering the girls.

"Vice Admirals Strawberry, John Giant and Momonga along with Captain Shu had been given the task of escorting the merchandise to Lvneel. Upon their arrival they were attacked" with a click the screen brought back the white haired strainer.

"From the reports, Vice Admiral John Giant instructed the man to leave but when he did not the Vice Admiral attacked in order to remove him. The stranger displayed physical strength capable of catching Vice Admiral John Giant's fist and toss him like a ragdoll. In a display of speed the same man was able to avoid the Vice Admirals blade and appear on his shoulder forming some sort of blue sphere" With another touch of a button the screen changed revealing the man standing atop the Vice Admirals shoulder holding a blue sphere in his right hand, "The strange sphere did extensive damage to the right side of the Vice Admirals face. Dr. Vegapunk through the use of experimental surgery was able to heal the damage."

With a click of a button the screen switched to show Vice Admiral John Giant lying in bed with bandages wrapped around his face.

"With the fall of Vice Admiral John Giant, Vice Admiral Strawberry ordered his men to line up and fire upon the intruder. In doing so a new ability was revealed, the intruder through means unknown was able to deflect the projectiles repelling them back out at the battalion cutting down Strawberry's forces" Sengoku flicked to a small video that had been recorded showing what had happened, the stranger raising a hand and the projectiles being repelled back towards the marines.

"The marines proceeded to charge the intruder head on however the intruder retaliated by burying them alive"

"Buried them alive? Just in what manner did he achieve this?" enquired Tsuru as she turned to face Sengoku many of her comrades doing the same.

Sengoku pressed the button switching to another video this one of the intruder placing his hands on the earth where the terrain turned to mud rising up to bury the marines.

"The intruder was able to manipulate the terrain turning it to mud where he used it to consume a small battalion. Once the battalion had been completely buried the mud hardened over, their bodies have been retrieved" answered the Fleet Admiral as he moved onto the next scene this one revealing Vice Admiral Momonga laying in hospital his entire body was one big cast.

"Vice Admiral Momonga retaliated attacking the intruder but the intruder was able to avoid Momonga's blade and proceeded to deliver a punch with enough force behind it to break eight of Momonga's ribs. Momonga himself has stated that as he attempted to rise he felt as if every movement would be his end. As he worked through the pain to attack the intruder he was struck again. Momonga was struck with enough force to launch him into the Battleship Rosalia the force of the blow broke ninety percent of the Vice Admirals bones as well as causing tremendous internal damage. It is only thanks to the efforts of Dr. Vegapunk, Momonga is still alive" with a press of a button the image shifted to a video of the intruder taking on a group of marines in unarmed combat, single handily taking them done one by one.

"This intruder has exceptional skills in unarmed combat as seen here where he fought a number of marines defeating them effortlessly" the next image showed the man breathing in before expelling a large stream of flames from his lips, the flames colliding with a squad of marines burning them alive. Tsuru looked away at the scene unable to watch, Garp gritted his teeth clenching his fists in anger over the loss of lives while Vice Admiral Momousagi shed a tear for their deaths.

"As seen here the man has a unique and diverse range of abilities, not only is he armed with enhanced physical strength, speed and the talent to manipulate the earth, this man has the ability to breathe fire through what means we do not know as no accelerate were found on the bodies" Sengoku moved to the next screen this time one where the intruder was expelling a large stream of water putting out the flames to create a blanket of steam.

"To add to this laundry list of skills he can also generate a large amount of water. However the men that were collected from inside that steam mist were killed by some sort of sharp blade but as you can see the man carries no weapon with him, we have a hypothesis that will be covered in a moment" with a click of a button it went straight to the next video the man avoiding a cannon ball before charging forth his fist making contact with the cannon it had been fired from followed by an enormous explosion.

"The intruder showed the ability to generate some sort of explosive punch; this was again seen in his battle against Vice Admiral Strawberry. As you can see the explosive force generated was enough to wipe out an entire battalion of Marines. Out of the one hundred marines attached to the battalion the bodies of thirty eight were recovered, fifty-three are unaccounted for and the remaining nine were lucky enough to not be caught in the explosion" Sengoku moved to the next seen, "A group of marines attempted to stop the intruder from getting closer to the cage but they were taken down as well"

The seen showed the marines charging in before a gust of wind erupted from the intruder. Once the wind had died down the marines were torn apart as if they had been sliced by an invisible blade, "Through careful analyse Dr. Vegapunk believes this man can control the wind turning it into sharp blades it is through this method we believe he was able to eliminate the marines caught in his blanket of steam"

The screen switched to Vice Admirals Strawberry's clash with the intruder, "The intruder continues to show his skill as he effortlessly avoided Vice Admirals Strawberry's assault before retaliating causing the Vice Admiral to use his Busoshoku Haki" the screen moved to show the Vice Admiral Strawberry's defence.

"However it was proven the Vice Admirals Busoshoku Haki was unable to stop the intruder as with a single punch the intruder generated an explosive force with three times the strength of his last" the video turned to an image of Vice Admiral Strawberry on a hospital bed wrapped in bandages from head to toe, "The Vice Admiral received severe third degree burns to ninety-three percent of his body and seventy percent of his bones were broken, he is currently stable but we do not know when he will awake"

The next video showed Captain Shu moving to attack, "We had high hopes for Captain Shu but as you will see even his abilities were useless against this intruder"

The video revealed Captain Shu dissolving the intruder's left arm only for the man to regenerate it.

Vice Admiral Garp rose to his feet slamming a hand on the table, "IMPOSSIBLE!" he was well aware of Captain Shu's devil fruit powers but to be able to regenerate like this, the man was truly a monster.

"Yes as you can see the intruder showed the ability to regenerate his own limb, he then proceeded to knock Captain Shu out with a single blow. This leads us to believe the individual possesses high-speed regeneration, as to what his limits are we do not know" the Fleet Admiral sighed as he leant back in his chair moving to the final set of clips.

"The intruder as he attempted to free the merchandise was attacked by the young king…who sadly is no longer among us" the video revealed the idiocy of the young king as he attacked the intruder. The intruder lifted the king off the ground by his face and proceeded to melt him through what looked like molten rock.

Sakazuki's eyes widened at this, "That looks like my Magu Magu no Mi!" the Admiral's Haki flared to match his growing temper only to be silenced by Sengoku.

"ENOUGH!" roared the Fleet Admiral his Haki coming crashing down upon Sakazuki. The Admiral grumbled as he reined his Haki in, Sengoku doing the same.

The Fleet Admiral turned to face his council, "The Royal Family of Lvneel is most upset, not only have they lost their new crowned king but they have lost Two Billion Beri in merchandise. They are demanding justice in the form of this man's head or the Government to reimburse them for their loss. The Gorosei is demanding blood for this travesty against noble blood but also the disgrace that has been brought to the marines with the defeat of four of our operatives."

Sengoku interlocked his hands his elbows resting on the table as he leaned forward, "As such a bounty has been issued towards this man" with a click of a button the intruder's photo appeared onscreen, "The Gorosei are calling him the Rubunīru no Oni (Demon of Lvneel) and have issued a bounty of 1,000,000,000 Beri! The highest bounty ever to be released!" declared Sengoku as the amount appeared beneath the Oni's wanted poster.

Chatter erupted amongst the High Ranking Marines; this was the third occasion where the World Government had issued such a high bounty. The first was when they released a bounty of 800,000,000 Beri on Gol D. Roger. The second time this had happened was when a 750,000,000 bounty was placed upon Edward Newgate Whitebeard.

"Are you sure it is wise to mark this man with such a bounty? Never in our history has a man ever been marked with a bounty reaching a billion beri. Not even Gol D. Roger warranted such a bounty. Should we even be thinking of releasing this to the public? Think of the uproar it would cause. This man is an unknown appearing from nowhere with powers unheard of it. The power this man has could very well cause a stir between the Shichibukai and the Yonko! I do not wish to think what could happen if this 'Oni' and Whitebeard were to meet" commented Great Staff Officer Tsuru. The elderly woman was looking up at the poster she had many concerns regarding this new individual that has arisen.

"I remember the battles between Kinjishi no Shiki and Kaizoku-Ō Gol D. Roger they were stories of legend. When they clashed they remodelled landscapes. Gol D. Roger was a menace like no other conquering the Grand Line and numerous countries. The Pirate King escaped the grasp of Vice Admiral Garp numerous times. I'm sure that like me you remember their battles clearly. I was witness to several clashes between Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger and even now I can still feel the slivers of fear that ran through my body just thinking about it" The elderly woman hugged herself her body shivering as she remembered when she first witnessed the great strength of the legendary pirate king. Tsuru calmed her nerves pushing the memory away, no matter how much she wanted to keep them buried the memories always seemed to find their way to the surface. Tsuru was normally a fearless woman, who had jumped head first into danger, but just remember those two individuals could make her tremble with fear. Gol. D Roger and Kinjishi Shiki were not your ordinary humans, the same could be said about Garp. All three were monsters.

"If I might interject Vice Admiral Tsuru" Vice Admiral Fujitora's voice echoed through the meeting hall drawing in the attention of his fellow marines. The Vice Admiral Issho had turned in Tsuru's direction having picked up from where her voice was coming from. He took her silence as confirmation to speak.

"I agree with Tsuru in regards to the matter at hand. This Rubunīru no Oni as we are calling him seems to be an extremely dangerous individual. A man with such power does not just pop out from nowhere. Where has he been up until now? How did he get such power? What enables him to use the abilities he has shown? More importantly who trained him? And are there others like him? His abilities are not natural there is no devil fruits on record capable of such feats, nor from our research has one ever be crafted by the hands of man. Until we have the answers to these questions I strongly advice this be kept between us, releasing this information to the public at large could be disastrous" commented Fijutora his fingers interlocking together, his elbows resting on the table, his chin sitting atop his extremities.

Admiral Sakazuki sneered at the Vice Admiral. The magma user slammed a hand down on the table causing cracks to form from the point of impact. He rose to his feet his marine cape billowing behind him due to the effect of his Haki being released, "This man is a threat! His name should be spread like wild fire! Not hidden away due to our cowardice!"

Sakazuki roared his answer as he glared daggers at Issho, he never agreed with the man's ideas of justice as for him there was only one justice, Absolute Justice. This Oni who would sully the idea of Absolute Justice deserves nothing but a slow and agonising death!

Fujitora's muscles tensed as he turned to the sound of Sakazuki's voice, what an arrogant pig. He always hated the man with his ideal Absolute Justice. To him Absolute Justice was corrupt an excuse for the marines to do as they pleased.

Vice Admiral Tsuru stood up flaring her own Haki towards Sakazuki. This in tune caused the other marines to begin flexing their power.

Sengoku slammed his fists down on the table drawing in everyone's attention, "Enough! The decision has already been made. Alert every marine base along not only the Grand Line but the Red Line, all the Blues, the Calm Belt alert everyone! This man is exceedingly dangerous and powerful perhaps even stronger than Whitebeard! I am issuing an order that only Admirals and above with the exceptions of Vice Admirals Issho and Monkey D. Garp are to confront this menace! You are not to hold back! Use any means necessary to bring this monstrosity down"

Sengoku cleared his throat deciding to move things along, "Next matter of business. The girls who escaped Kuroka and Shirone no last names have been issued with a bounty and a capture on sight order. The oldest Kuroka has been issued with a bounty of 150,000,000 Beri. The younger sister Shirone a bounty of 80,000,000 for a total worth of 230,000,000 Beri"

As he spoke he could feel the disapproving gaze of four of his marines. He was looking at the bigger picture here. The girls could be connected to the Rubunīru no oni and may be aware of his whereabouts. They needed to capture the Rubunīru no Oni as soon as possible to bring him to justice. Once they had him they would perform a public execution, this would show the world the Marines would not stand by at the death of a World Noble. It didn't help he was also being pressured for the man's capture by the Lvneel Royal Family and the Gorosei. With a sigh Sengoku addressed the council.

"Meeting adjourned!" With their business concluded Sengoku quickly rose to his feet and walked out of the meeting room slamming the doors behind him he had much to do.

Uzushiogakure

Naruto sneezed as he walked through the village of Uzushiogakure. He looked around lifting an eyebrow, "Is someone talking about me?" wondered the sage, he shook his head and continued on through the village. Five days had passed since he had rescued the neko sisters, a cute little nickname he had made for them. When he had called the girls that in front of them Shirone seemed to squirm in a cute little manner as if she was embarrassed but happy at the same time, as for Kuroka she merely gave a hearty laugh. It was nice to know that she could laugh after what she had gone through.

Naruto clenched a fist remembering what he had learned from the eldest sister. He had come to learn that her back was horribly scarred from all the 'punishments' she had been given. This only fuelled his anger towards the World Government and its nobles. Learning what had been done had only fuelled his desire to end the World Government. He felt no remorse for what he had done to the Lvneel King nor the marines, the marines of this world would have gladly allowed Kuroka's abuse to continue and it sickened him.

Naruto took a calming breath drawing in nature chakra from his surroundings allowing it to flood through is veins soothing his anger. Once he was calmed he dispersed the nature chakra at his feet across the dirt filled street causing grass to grow and flowers of all shapes and colours to bloom.

The Uzukage shut his eyes expanding his senses. He wanted to check up on the Neko Sisters to see how they were adjusting since their last conversation two days ago. He had checked up on the sisters before leaving them in the capable hands of Nibi no Bakeneko Matatabi (Two Tailed Monster Cat Matatabi). When he had introduced them to the giant feline she had proceeded to wrap them up in her tails and proceeded to hug them to death. It had been quite amusing, to say the least.

Naruto's chakra pulsed from his body expanding over the village. He could feel the signatures of everyone in the village flare to life chakra and non-chakra users. He could feel their life force flood the streets of Uzushiogakure. The emotions each one of them felt washed over him like a tidal wave, a large smile that threatened to split his face in two began to form. He could feel the influx of positive emotions they were brimming with and it filled him with joy as he felt their love.

His sensory abilities picked up the matching signatures belonging to Kuroka and Shirone. Oddly enough the two girls seemed to have already unlocked their chakra network. Shirone while her reserves were small they were still larger than expected for someone her age. Then there was Kuroka who was already showing signs of low Chunin level reserves, she almost reminded him of a Jinchuriki. When he asked the girl about this she had simply gave him a confused look unaware that she was even using chakra. He had yet to find out why the two girls had access to chakra but he would continue to investigate.

Naruto's eyes shot open locking onto a nearby Hiraishin marker and vanished in a blur of white.

The scene Naruto came to caused him to awe at how adorable it was. There in front of him at the Nibi Shrine was Matatabi currently the size of a horse with her tails wrapped around a sleeping Shirone who was snuggled up to the two tailed feline. The white haired girl had the most adorable expression as she held tightly to the feline's fur. He had expected Matatabi to take the girls in but not to this extent, he thought she would be something of a sister figure but it seemed she had taken on the role as the little girl's mother.

As he admired the scene a cute giggle brought him back into the real world. He turned to the source finding young Kuroka sitting on a rock. She was wearing a brand new black kimono with matching sash, white tabi and waraji. The eight-year-old jumped down from the rock her hair having been tied in a bun. She approached her saviour a small smile in place. As she got closer the sage noticed the bags that had stated to form under her eyes, he decided not to comment on it, for now.

"Hi hi Kami-sama nyan" spoke the girl adding a strange verbal tic to the end of her sentence.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, ever since he had rescued the girl she had taken to end her sentences with nyan perhaps it was some sort of verbal tic to deal with what had happened to her. Then there was her calling him 'Kami-sama'.

"Naruto will be fine Kuroka-chan" replied the sage, the last thing he wanted was for people to start calling him a God. He didn't need a God complex like Madara or Nagato. Technically he supposed he was kind of a God having absorbed the Shinju and Kaguya, then there was his immortality plus he was a walking talking mass of chakra. But if he started to think like that he would start believing it and he wanted to retain his humanity.

The young neko shook her head, "Nope Kami-sama is Kami-sama" replied the girl getting a groan from the sage who missed the mischievous little smile that appeared on her lips for a split second.

"what can I do for you Kami-sama" asked the raven haired girl as she placed her hands behind her back looking up at her saviour.

"I wanted to check in and see how were and your sister were adjusting since our last meeting"

"We are doing fine. Matatabi-sama has been wonderful to us nyan. Shiro-chan has taken to her. She accepted Matatabi-sama as her mother." answered the girl.

Naruto smiled at her little verbal tic, strangely it reminded him of his old one 'Dattebyo' but he had lost it when he had absorbed the collective memories of the shinobi nations.

"It soothes my heart knowing you are adjusting to your new surroundings. I had never expected Matatabi to form such a bond but I suppose it may be because she misses her old Junchuriki Nii, Yugito" commented the sage as he turned to look at the two tailed cat.

"Jinchuriki? Nii, Yugito?" asked Kuroka with a confused expression.

Naruto face palmed that was right she didn't know about his nor Matatabi's past.

"A Jinchuriki is a term used for someone who had a Biju sealed inside of them like Matatabi-chan here. She used to be sealed inside of a young woman by the name of Nii, Yugito a strong willed and powerful Kunoichi. Sadly she passed away many years ago. Matatabi had formed a strong bond with Yugito so she was felt deep sorrow at the loss of her friend" answered the sage getting a sorrow full look from the young girl who turned her attention to the demon cat.

"I hope Shiro-chan will heal Matatabi-sama like she is helping to heal my Shiro-chan nyan" Kuroka approached the sleeping felines kneeling down to stroke her sister's hair. The white haired girl snuggled deeper into Matatabi her smile growing in size.

Naruto watched the exchange his eyes catching the sight of a pair of white cat ears popping out from Shirone's hair before two white cat tails grew from her tailbone. Kuroka merely chuckled.

"When Shiro-chan is happy she loses control over her powers" explained the black neko as she grew her own pair of ears and tails with the exception that hers were black.

With their powers activated Naruto's eyes widened in shock. The two were subconsciously drawing in nature chakra. As the nature chakra flowed through their veins he noticed a clear difference in the way he used it and the way they used it. When he drew in nature chakra he blended it with his own massive chakra reserves. From what he was seeing they were taking in nature chakra and instead of infusing it with their chakra, it flowed throughout their body as if it had its own network. As the nature chakra bled into their system small strands of it would flow into their chakra reserves slowly expanding their coils making them grow. That explained everything. The girls were using nature chakra and as a result caused their coils to expand allowing their chakra network to grow.

Kuroka turned to her saviour notice his expression, "What's wrong Kami-sama?"

A smirk formed on the sage's lips as he shut his eyes drawing in the surrounding nature chakra. He reached out grabbing hold and drew it into his body allowing it to mix with his reserves. His chakra erupted from within washing over the entire village allowing every last one of the citizens of Uzu to feel their leader's warmth.

Kuroka's eyes widened as she sensed a familiar energy course through her saviour, the same energy she drew into her own body when she used her devil fruit abilities, "you…you can use it too!" exclaimed the cat girl her tails flicking about in excitement.

As her saviour opened his eyes Kuroka felt mesmerised. His strange eyes were glowing with an untold power. Around his eyes, a burnt orange pigmentation had formed. His iris had bled out from black turning a burnt orange; the nine red tomoes were spinning wildly. The black rings had shifted turning bright red. Burnt orange lines had formed descending from the lower part of his eyes down to his cheek bones to complete the look.

"Sennin Mōdo (Sage Mode)" whispered the sage. When he had reformed the first time he used Sage Mode he had discovered he no longer gained the toad like eyes instead his sage mode had taken on an entirely new appearance.

Kuroka approached her saviour a hand reaching out to touch his strange markings. Her eyes focused intently she could feel the power he was releasing; it was unlike anything she ever experienced. When she first met him she knew he was powerful she could sense it but now, now his power had increased tenfold and was still growing to a point she could no longer sense it. Her saviour truly was a God.

A yawn caught the attention of the two Senjutsu users forcing them to turn towards the sleeping Shirone who was beginning to stir. Shirone yawned stretching her arms and tails, using her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes in a cat like manner getting twin awes from Kuroka and Naruto.

The little girl hadn't noticed the two as she gently shook matatabi, "Tabi-Okaasama" spoke the little girl earning a smile from the sage.

Matatabi awoke when she heard Shirone call her name. She awoke with a mighty yawn and turned to the little girl who she had taken in as she was her own kitten. She used her tails to stroke Shirone's right cheek affectionately.

"I see you've certainly taken to the role as mother Matatabi-chan" the two tailed feline turned her head finding Naruto standing across from her, a foxy smile on his lips.

"Ah Naruto-kun what brings you by?" asked the feline as if pretending he had never said anything getting a chuckle from the sage.

"I decided to check up on Shirone-chan and Kuroka-chan but I can see you have things under control" Naruto let the nature chakra in his body flow into the ground causing the area around the shrine to bloom getting a squeal of delight from the white haired neko.

"Kuroka-chan and Shirone-chan have been absolute dears. I thank you for bringing them to me" Matatabi stood up stretching her back as Shirone ran over to her sister giving the raven haired girl a hug, which was happily reciprocated.

"Yes well, I thought you would be suited to aid in their adjustments. Kurama can be rather grumpy, Son is not suited for two girls, Saiken is far too shy and reserved, Isobu and Gyuki are too busy and don't get me started on Shukaku, he might be great with kids, BUT I don't trust him not to raise a couple of sadists. Kokuō already has her hands full and Chomei well he feels he is not ready to look after anyone, yet" explained the sage as he used the Banbutsu Sōzō (Creation of All Things) to create himself a chair to sit on.

Matatabi turned to the two sisters, "Kuroka-chan why don't you take Shirone-chan down into the village. Kokuō wanted her to meet some of the orphans"

"Hai Okaa-sama" replied the raven haired girl as she took her sister's hand and led her away from the shrine.

Naruto raised an eyebrow; she hadn't referred to the feline as mother earlier. He pushed that away as long as she felt safe with Matatabi he was happy that was all he wanted for them to be safe.

Naruto watched the two girls leave; once they were out of ear shot he turned to face the Nibi no Bakeneko.

"How are they really?" asked the sage earning a sigh from the cat.

"Kuroka-chan hasn't been sleeping; she gets maybe one or two hours a night"

"I expected as much I saw the bags"

"She tells me everything is fine, but I lived with Yugito for close to twenty-seven years. I know when something is wrong. I often find the girl waking up in a cold sweat shivering. She holds in her screams so not to frighten her sister"

Naruto gritted his teeth his fists clenching. No doubt she was having nightmares about her past. Such a traumatic life would leave mental scars on anyone, let along the physical scars she had.

"What about Shirone?"

"The kitten while she didn't go through the same experiences as her sister, she will not fall asleep unless her sister and I are there. She attached herself to her sister; Kuroka was like a lifeline to the poor thing. The kitten was abandoned by her mother while she doesn't show it, she clearly knows what happened. As such, she formed a kinship with me no doubt due to the devil fruit she consumed. Her own mother abandoned her so she clung to affection and like you heard she addressed me as her mother, her mother!" The felines ire seemed to grow at the thought of the little girl's real mother, who would dare to abandon such a sweet little kitten.

Naruto reached up stroking Matatabi's fur to calm her down, "All that matters is she has a home now, both of them. I will do what I can to help them, but they have bonded with you. Both of them see you as their mother figure now, no doubt instincts driven from their devil fruits. I know you will do your best to help them overcome what they have been through, but remember you don't have to do it alone."

"Thank you Naruto-kun" Matatabi purred softly as her tails brushed against her friend.

"Now then we best see how the girls are doing" Naruto climbed to his feet Matatabi joining him both heading down towards the village, no words passed between them as both only had thoughts about the well-being of the two sisters.