Ch.14
"Uzumaki-dono! Here for more ramen?" Teuchi asked the redhead who had Minato and Kushina following her into the food stand. "Same order for the kids as well?" Teuchi either didn't believe that they were Minato and Kushina or he did and he was just poking fun at them.
"We're not kids!" Minato grumbled, his voice box adding the vulpine whine a bit.
"I think that one needs more time in the oven." Ayame joked as she ran about helping her father. Kurama just blushed at the idea of somehow putting Minato into her oven, some in ways she was sure the girl didn't mean. Ayame was a precocious girl, only 5 and already she was speaking fluently. Then again, she was practically raised in the ramen stand where much conversation goes on much of the time.
"Miso, miso, me want miso~." Kushina sang while wiggling side to side adorably.
"Are you even able to eat it?" Ayame asked with smirk. "Ouch, son of a-."
"Ayame, what did I say?" Teuchi warned his daughter who had burned her finger.
"No bad words." Ayame pouted, clearly wanting to use the colorful diction some patrons provided as she sucked on the little nick on her finger.
"She's been getting a lot of practice this year? I remember when she could barely speak a few words." Kurama said with some embellishment, since before she grew out of being a toddler, Ayame was often in a floor-basket behind the counter and aside from when she cried, was easily missed by patrons visiting the stand unless they knew she was there. Some people actually came just to see Ayame and got ramen while they were here.
"Yes. Aside from homeschooling, she's been hearing so many words and asking me what they mean on top of that. Trying to explain the naughty ones has been difficult." Teuchi sighed long-sufferingly while wiping some sweat from his brow. A kitchen is a hot place.
"A little genius, she would make a-ouch!" Minato yelped when a spoon whacked his snout.
"Ayame will not be a ninja. Don't even suggest it." Teuchi scolded the fox.
"But Tou-chan! I wanna be a cooking-ninja!" Ayame cutely whined and Teuchi turned red before he gushed and blubbered about how cute his daughter was. Heh, he's still whipped by his daughter, he just doesn't realize it. "I wanna hunt down dangerous beasts and cook them!"
"The cooking-ninja are, while overlooked, a vital part of the Akimichi food provision system." Kushina commented as she rested her chin on the counter to Kurama's left.
"But I want you to inherit the stand I worked so hard to build~. I left the military to follow my dreams~." Teuchi proclaimed as Kurama perked up at this info on her mysterious ramen chef.
"There's no reason Ayame can't become a cooking-ninja and take over the stand. They have far less strict work requirements than either active or reserve ninja due to their specialized task of acquiring hunted game for the village." Minato explained.
"Hmph, you're just like Jiraiya sensei and trying to find holes in my dreams." Teuchi huffed with a mock glare at Minato. "I left the team after we became Chunin because he kept wanting me to learn summoning and follow the path you took."
"Frogs are gross!" Ayame shouted in agreement with her dad, who laughed.
"Toads are not frogs!" Teuchi laughed harder and rubbed his daughter's head.
"Yes~ favorite miso~! You always made the best, Teuchi!" Kushina said before going for Kurama's bowl and getting bonked with a hot ladle. "Ouch!"
"That's Kurama's serving, Kushina. You'll have yours soon." Teuchi declared with another whap of the ladle. "Has Jiraiya sensei come by yet? I haven't seen him in months."
"Aren't you and sensei still on bad terms?" Minato asked, looking confused as Ayame put a bowl in front of Kushina with some trouble due to the girl's tiny size.
"Meh, I have my shop, broth is under the noodle bridge. I would still be on bad terms if Naru was left to the whims of the village, though." Teuchi said with glare at a few people outside the stand, who hurried along. While he is a retired shinobi, he still puts fear into idiot civilians.
"Good, because I wanted to ask about some of your contacts outside the village, broth boy." Jiraiya asked when he sat down with a wide grin and pulled Minato into a hug!
"Jiraiya-kun!" Kurama cheered and hugged him around Minato, smooshing the tod's face into her K-cup breasts. The hormone therapy has returned her to her pre-pregnancy size.
"Ack, smell good, boobs." Minato muffled into her cleavage as his tail swished happily.
"I can help you get in contact with them, but I'm not too sure how much help they'll be." Teuchi agreed easily and pointed at the menu, hinting he wouldn't say more without him ordering.
"Everyone needs to eat Teuchi. I'm sure I'll find the rogue by following the food." Jiraiya explained before he held up his hands with 2 and 1 fingers up. 21, chicken ginger ramen.
"I'll give you some notes later." Teuchi said as he got to work.
"Hm~." Minato began purring as Kushina noticed her husband in Kurama's boobs. Not wanting to be left out of Kurama Boobie Time, she ducked under and popped up next to Minato to enjoy spreading Kurama's tits apart while nuzzling her husband. Kurama, meanwhile, was blushing hotly at having her top almost split in half by two fluffy fox heads.
"Ack! Why do you two keep doing this?" Kurama asked them before a tongue lick her collarbone. "Go eat your ramen." She huffed and pushed them away from her chest before she turned to her own ramen. Ah~, made with kelp noodles, like she always ordered.
"You three getting along then?" Jiraiya asked as he wrote stuff into his black book.
"Minato and I have a near-uncontrollable desire to fuck Kurama, so yes." Kushina cheerfully chirped and Teuchi growled at the naughty word, but thankfully Ayame was in the back.
"Good!" Jiraiya chuckled as he continued writing. "I'll be back for the info later, Teuchi, I got to report to the Hokage, so I'll take my order to go." Kurama was still baffled that Teuchi figured out a collapsible waterproof paper bowl so people could take ramen to go. The bowls even had a handle so they could be held while being eaten.
"Here Minato, your pork ramen, enjoy." Teuchi said with a smirk and shook his head at his sensei before preparing one of said marvels of papercraft.
"Thanks for the food!" Minato cheerily declared before burying his head into the bowl.
=Fox=
Kurama spent the rest of the afternoon with horny foxes with human minds. When Jiriaya visited he lamented that it would have been easier if they were summoned then they could just be tossed into the lands. Instead they were all dealing with Minato and Kushina further embracing the animal minds in their skulls.
This had a few effects such as an increased use in their better senses and agility. The two began doing pranks together on Kurama and Jiraiya, oftentimes licking at Kurama's bust and collarbone and Kushina kicked Jiraiya in the stomach a lot. Lastly was stopping Minato from giving into his nose. This all tired the group out until Kisa came over to drop off Kurama's babies from her care.
"Long day?" Kisa asked while she set Naru on the fluffy carpeted floor.
"Yes, training and horny foxes." Kurama groaned as she remembered the tongues.
"What do you mean by that?" Kisa asked, looking the recently showered woman over.
"Talk to the passed-out foxes in the corner. I've been dealing with them all afternoon." Kurama huffed before smiling down at Naru playing with Gamachi, a frog toy that was a gift from Jiraiya.
"Those two have been trying to get at each other all afternoon? Did you put contraceptive seals on them yet? They only work before the act starts." Kisa commented.
"Those exist, why hasn't anyone told me?!" Kurama asked in shock.
"Oh, right, my family invented them after Uzushio fell." Kisa said, embarrassed at not mentioning the revolutionary seal her branch of the Uzumaki had invented.
"And you have to put the seal on before?" Kurama asked with some frustration.
"Yes. It puts the womb in a state of stasis until it is deactivated. It won't work if there is anything inside the womb, though." Kisa said, still embarrassed. "I forgot seals were not shared after Uzushio fell."
"Teach it to me." Kurama demanded.
"Fair warning, it can be reversed to make you, ahem, ahem." Kisa chuckled nervously.
"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.
"During our experiments, we had a few triplets." Kisa said with a bashful grin.
"Really~?" Kurama crooned, her nipples pressing firmly into her bra and her lips drooling.
=Fox=
"So who will try it first?" Kurama asked.
"Doesn't Kisa know it?" Kushina asked.
"She never learned it, just kept the scroll. Besides, we don't know if I would work on you." Tsunade commented.
"I want to test it! I can barely resist not fucking Minato!" Kushina complained.
"I want to as well, but without Shikazu home, I can't." Kurama bemoaned.
"How about I do it?" Tsunade suggested with a clinical tone.
"With Jiraiya-kun?" Kurama asked and the Sannin's bland expression turned rosy.
"W-why that pervert?" Tsunade stammered, clearly not expecting this.
"Because he refuses to have sex with anyone who isn't named Tsunade Senju Uzumaki?" Kurama replied with a rhetorical tone, bemused that Tsunade wasn't aware of Jiraiya's affection.
"What?" Tsunade said, her mind going blank. "B-but all that porn, the peeping, the brothels, the women he chases!"
"Oh, he plays, he plays well, but I have it on good accord, both personally from me trying to get him to bed me early on in our association and from Hiata-chan's grapevine, that he will tease and play with ladies to a point, but he will always refuse to take the final step in any form beside foreplay to please the woman. This was even with me modeling my human body after his picture of you in your Jonin uniform." Kurama informed Tsunade with condemnation.
"Bwah? I…." Tsunade sat there blinking owlishly before moving to the ever-present sake bottle she had with her and started drinking, so Kurama slapped it out of her hands and grabbed the Sannin by the shirt and pulled her into point blank range, almost kissing.
"You, are going to find him, acknowledge his feelings even if in rejection so he can move on." Kurama snarled, her hair billowing in her tails, her eyes slit and darkened and her teeth sharp.
"But I've been horrible to him! I've rejected him so many times! I pined for our teammate! I've broken all his limbs, most of his ribs and ruptured most of his internal organs for peeping!" Tsunade said, stunned, tears brimming in her eyes. "How could he love me? I was going to marry Dan and Dan asked him to be his best man! I flat out screamed at him that Dan was the only man for me when he tried comforting me about Dan's death."
"Then you are a heartless bitch if you hold to that and keep both of you suffering instead of womaning up and either giving it a try or finally helping him move on." Kurama spun her around and slapped her across the ass. "Go! Find him, we will run our tests ourselves."
"Is it still in the village?" Tsunade sniffled.
"Hey, Kurama-chan, sensei wants to send you out on a mission with me to see how you fair in the field. I got some photos for you to make new Dolls of." Jiraiya said when he hopped onto the nearby windowsill. "...Why are you staring at-h-hey! Not the face!" Jiraiya wailed when Tsunade grabbed him by the collar and dragged him through the house.
"Wait, the seal!" Kushina barked.
"Take this!" Kurama tossed the scroll at her and Tsunade caught it with her free hand without looking back. "Knock him dead!"
"I don't wanna die~!" Jiraiya squeaked before the door down the hall slammed shut.
=Fox=
"What did you two do to Tsunade-hime?!" Jiraiya demanded the next morning. The talk Kurama had with the female Sannin had been at lunch, Jiraiya only emerged now after hours of muffled conversation, sobbing, rapturous screams and silence interrupted by the odd giggle or moan.
"Slapped her with testing for a new biology-altering seal and then slapped her with the fact you still love her." Kushina declared with her tail wagging happily.
"You what?! How is she not drunk or you two not in graves? Orochimaru was hospitalized for months when he tried. That was on the night she left Konoha." Jiraiya said, holding his chest.
"I destroyed her sake and I'm physically strong enough to snap her in half thanks to my own physical prowess enhanced by intense training and Tsunade-chan's own training. Not to mention I'm the Kyubi." Kurama deadpanned while filing her now permanent claw-like nails with a frown. Hurama was adapting more and more to Kurama's chakra.
"Right, um, thank you?" Jiraiya scratched the back of his head.
"Raiya-kun~, where are you~?" Tsunade moaned from her room and Jiraiya rushed to heed her call. Kurama and Kushina giggled when the woman's pleasured moans echoed again.
=Fox=
"Tsunade-sama, you look radiant! Almost like you're in your twenties!" Homura commented as he and his fellow Elder, Koharu.
"I know, I feel as young too!" Tsunade gushed with a palm on her cheek and smiling happily. "It must be my Uzumaki blood waking up or something~." Tsunade giggled coyly.
"She finally got laid." Tsume commented with casual dismissal.
"Oh, you're still in your prime! I wonder if the baby may have a wood release!" Koharu commented. "Another way to leash the demon."
"Yes…of course. The Mokuton would be a wonderful sudden gift from grandfather." Tsunade sweetly said with here eyebrow twitching and an anger mark on the back of her head.
"I understand one of the ANBU assigned here has it, maybe they could help you?" Horume suggested and Tsunade's unnoticed anger abated with concern about how they knew this along with the fact such a thing wasn't implausible. If she got permission from the Hokage and Risu's agreement, she might be able to study what allows Mokuton to work from medical study.
"Tsume, how have you been? I heard rumors you've been pining for a young Hatake." Homura said as Tsunade's bullshit radar started going off.
"The hell? No. The brat can go bark up another tree. My eyes are my own, don't be taking every rumor for fact." Tsume refuted harshly while leaning back in her chair, mostly out of necessity due to her still insisting on wearing her massive detachable boobs barely covered by her robe. Seriously, those things were easily M-cups, 4 full cup sizes bigger than Tsunade's K-cups.
"Ah, I'm sorry for the assumption." Homura backpedaled, clearly not expecting the pushback.
"I'm sure Tsunade would be able to curb such rumors if she took a more active role in the village?" Koharu said with gleam in her eye.
"Huh?" The two women said in confusion.
"I mean, she is a Senju and a Sannin on top of that. Besides Hiruzen, she is the most-."
"I'm not the one who fucked her!" Tsume blurted in flustered disbelief.
"Besides, you all know that Minato-kun is recovering under Kurama-chan and I's care. He should be back by next year, there's no need to be hunting for sensei's successor." Tsunade firmly chastized with narrowed eyes.
"Will Minato be up to the task though? From what I hear, he's been acting very childish I would say in just the few weeks he's been back." Homura commented as he adjusted his glasses.
"You try having your brain in a peppy fox body and not have the energy of several human kids." Tsume scoffed at the ludicrous idea of expecting maturity from an animal.
"Council is now in session." Hiruzen interrupted any further talk with his entrance into the room.
"What is this session about?" Fugaku asked irritably.
"Budget cuts, unfortunately." The Hokage sighed.
"Let me guess; my Uchiha Police are getting hit first." Fugaku growled expectantly.
"And the hardest." Hiruzen grunted irritably. "You can expect a larger donation from the Sarutobi Estate to compensate." The Hokage huffed on his soothing pipe.
"Appreciated, but we can't operate nearly on donations alone. The police are not a charity." Fugaku groused with several of the other clan heads looking around at each other worriedly.
"What is with all the budget cuts?" Tsume groaned in frustration.
"With the Kyubi attack, none of our normal clients including the Daimyo feel we can't fulfill our duties. We have less revenue coming in." Hiruzen said with a sad sigh.
"Then maybe we should discuss Kurama-chan's ideas about extending our seal service portfolio. Kami knows not just ninja would pay out the nose for more disposable seal tools besides explosive or fire tags." Hiashi suggested, the Hyuga was not only as a friend of Kurama by virtue of his wife, but by a shared interest in revolutionizing society via fuinjutsu.
"It would work for the long term. Short term? Almost all of our budget goes into repairs." Homura excused and Tsunade got a dark smirk.
"No, short term, would be to cut into the construction supply and demand. Kurama-chan raised a serious matter none of us have really considered." Tsunade stated smugly.
"That would be?" Koharu asked skeptically.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu." Tsunade was suddenly standing next to her chair with a log the size of her torso sitting in her place. "Where does the log come from? Nowhere, it was just created."
"I think I see where you are going, but how do we get logs big enough for construction? My team used it only for firewood." Inoichi questioned dismissively.
"Clearly you don't know enough carpenters. Logs that size may not be long, but there are composite wood products that serve just as well as cut timber. Using a mixture of pitch, wood chips, sawdust and on-site clay molds, the timber needed for construction can take just a couple days of curing to be ready, only slightly longer than fresh-cut timber." Fugaku stated with a weak smile at Tsunade, who nodded back.
"Points noted, but until we are out of the red, the budget still stands." The Hokage spoke sullenly.
"Actually, Hokage-sama. I have found several, disturbing, discrepancies in the budget." Shikaku Nara lazily tossed his ruler a scroll, which he caught and read over swiftly, before turning red.
"Shimura~!" Hiruzen roared to the heavens.