Senran Kagura: Uzumaki Chronicles

by KingSora3

He ran away after the successful mission to save his old teammate. He lived on the run, trying to find to place to call home. Now he does, only this was in a different world filled with beautiful ninja girls with large breasts.

3. Scroll 3

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Senran Kagura belongs to Marvelous/Xseed

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Scroll 3: The Five Snakes and Family Drama

Chapter Cover: The art shows Naruto with five different snakes wrapping themselves around his body and a black cat sitting atop his head. The background showed Homura and her team.

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Katsuragi was in the mountains training by herself as she destroyed several tree logs that she had hanging around. She woke up around 4:00 in the morning after having woken up from the usual dream. The dream of her fighting against a really strong opponent.

To her, it was always the same. Day after day, it's been nothing but training.

Training. Training. And more training.

This wasn't fun for her at all. She was tired of fighting petty thugs and school bullies constantly. She wanted to fight someone strong. Someone strong enough that can push her to the edge.

At least…until he came.

It's been two weeks since he came to their school. As soon as he walked right into their classroom, she knew that they were going to be the best of friends. She didn't know how, she just did. And she was right. The two of them became best friends in such a short time and it made her happy. To be completely honest, not including Kiriya who was a grown man, she never interacted with a boy like him.

A lot of the boys in Hanzo Academy were either boring and unappealing to her or simply leered at her for her looks. While she made no effort to hide her pronounced cleavage and flashing of her panties, nobody cared to get to really know her in the three years since she's been in the school. That was true for both girls and boys. Outside of her shinobi group at least. On the other hand, Naru had this presence to him that always made her feel excited as she learned more about him. He's playful, goofy, competitive, a complete dork at times but he's also hardworking and he's always helpful. He was just so fun to be around. The most fun she ever had in such a very long time. They always compete to see who would eat the most ramen (with her always winning), they would often spar with each other (with him always winning) and most of the time they are always causing mischief.

She still remembered the first time he had that old Chef put wasabi in her ramen. She had no idea that he was such a devious prankster but she does now. And she made very sure to let him know what would happen if he tried that again with her. Nobody messes with her ramen and get's away with it. Ikaruga and Yagyū did the same thing after he made whisker doodles on their faces when they were sleeping. It only resulted in them having prank wars with each other (with her sending him into the girls' rooms whenever they were changing or even going so far as to make him go into the bathhouse whenever they were in there).

Naru was…different. Completely different from the boys at Hanzō Academy. He wasn't lusting after her body or talking trash behind her back, he just treated her as he would his friends. And despite her flirting and sexual harassment towards him and the others, he wasn't annoyed about it or anything. He just accepted it as her regular norm.

Naru…

She really liked calling him that. It was to show how close the two of them were. It just felt right to her.

Looking at the last log she got hanging, she licked her lips as wind-like energy started to gather around her metal boots. "Secret Ninja Art - Gale Slash!" She kicked upwards, sending a blade of green wind at the log, cutting it in half. She wiped the sweat off her head and nodded at her accomplishment.

After learning that Naru can use wind techniques, she wanted to see some of them in action. Needless to say, she became so inspired by them that she started to create her own techniques based on them. She looked up at the sky to see the sun making its appearance. It was the same routine she always did. Wake up at 4, sneak out and do training until the sun rises in the sky, and that only happens when she breaks out in a sweat. With her training done, she started to head back to the dorms but then felt a small presence behind her.

"Choco!?" She said it without thinking as she turned around, only to see nothing.

Choco was her dog's name. He's a pedigree Pomeranian, small enough to hold in her hand. He's round like a little fluffy ball, and she always loved to roll him around.

But one day, Choco disappeared. She had him ever since she was little and he just up and vanished.

"...Yeah, right." It was silly of her to think it was Choco. But she can't just bring herself to give up hope. She's always looking for him. Her eyes soon began to well up with tears. Choco wasn't the only one who vanished. Her parents also disappeared, leaving her by her lonesome. "...Mom…dad…"

She suddenly felt a cold sensation touch her cheek, jolting her out of her mopey state (which she was thankful for). She jumped away from the cold sensation with a yelp and touched the spot while looking next to her to see Naruto, holding a bottle of water along with a towel, a smile on his face.

"Naru!?"

"All done with morning training, Kat? Whoa!" Naruto ducked down to avoid a high kick from her. He then avoided more kicks from her before jumping back to get some distance. "Hey! Just to let you know, those metal boots really hurt, dattebayo!"

"Good!" Katsuragi growled, stopping her kicking. "What the heck are you even doing here?"

"I'm here to check up on you, obviously." Naruto answered, getting her to blink.

"Check up on me? Wait, you know I've been waking up early to train?" She asked, surprised that he figured out her routine.

"Yeah. One day when I was going to the bathroom, I noticed that you weren't in your room. So when I went to check, I saw that you were gone." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "Had me worried for a while as I searched for you until I saw that you were only training in the mountains."

Katsuragi blushed when she heard that he was worried as she grabbed the water bottle and towel from him. "Y-You were worried?" She blinked and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Hold it, how did you notice I was gone?"

"You weren't snoring loudly."

Naruto cried out in pain as Katsuragi kicked his leg, getting him to hop in place and hold the spot where she kicked him. The sexy blonde herself just closed her eyes in irritation and drank her bottle while wiping the sweat off her head. Snoring? What the hell was he talking about? She may do a lot of things, but she does not snore!

Once the pain subsided, Naruto stopped hopping and turned to face her. "Kat, are you okay?"

Katsuragi stopped drinking her bottle, her eyes widened in surprise and panic at the question. Crap! Did she hear him call out her parents?! Play it cool!

"W-What do you mean? Of course, I'm okay!" She reassured him before sounding a bit seductive as she went up to him, putting her breasts to his chest. "Though to be honest, I'm still feeling a little hot and sweaty from training. Think you can help cool me off?"

Normally, he would have blushed at this, but this action made Naruto frown a little. He definitely heard her call out to someone named Choco and then her parents. She even looked like she was about to cry. Now he was certain that something happened to her family. Something so bad that it caused her to wear this mask of perversion.

"Kat…" Naruto said, grabbing her shoulders to gently push her back, surprising her slightly while also making her nervous.

Did she take it too far? Was he angry? Should she apologize?

However, her nervousness disappeared when he smiled softly at her.

"There's nothing wrong with thinking about your family." He told her as he let go of her shoulders. "It means that you miss them very much. I won't ask you what happened to them. But just know that whenever you're ready to talk, I'm all ears, okay?"

Katsuragi was surprised to hear him say that. She thought that he would've wanted to know why she called out to her parents and her dog but he didn't. She thought that by distracting him with her seduction, it would throw him off guard as usual. But it didn't work. He was genuinely worried about her. Just like a friend would do and it touched her heart.

"Kat?" Naruto asked, wondering why she was so silent. She stepped closer to him, leaning her head against his chest so that he won't see her eyes welling up with tears again.

She hates this. Being all mopey and stuff. She swore to herself to be strong so that she won't have to do stuff like this. But being around Naru like this, feeling this bright and warm aura he always seems to emit, makes it feel like all her problems can go away if she just leaned into him like this.

It also doesn't help that he made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

Maybe…maybe it's fine to be soft. Just this once. Okay, not this once. Only when it's just the two of them? Yeah. That sounds right. Just the two of them.

"Sorry." Katsuragi apologized softly. "I promise…I'll tell you what happened to them, one of these days. Can you please wait until then?"

She has to tell him. He told them that his parents died on the day he was born and that his clan was extinct. He's an orphan who's been by himself right from the very beginning, not knowing the love of a mom and dad. That's why she needs to tell him about what happened to her family. Because out of all of them in class…he's probably the most lonely.

"Sure." Naruto said, wrapping an arm around her. "Take as much time as you need."

Katsuragi nodded her head and leaned in closer to his chest, enjoying his warmth. She slowly moved her arms up as though she was going to hug him in return.

However…

She grabbed his butt instead, earning a girlish scream from him.

"K-K-KAT?!" Naruto stuttered, his facing turning cherry red as he looked at her, only to see her looking up at him with a big smile on her face.

"Gotcha!" Katsuragi said as she continued her groping, finding herself even more impressed. Damn this boy has a nice ass! What sort of training did he do to get them sexy buns right?

Naru had just the right build that she loves. Not too skinny, not too muscular either. He was lean but still had nicely toned muscles that showed how much he trained to get them the way they were.

Mama definitely likes~

After giving this fine ass a good pinch (earning a squeak from him), she released her hold on him, getting him to quickly cover his rear and look at her with eyes full weariness.

"Well! I'm done moping! Come on, let's go get breakfast!" She said as she grabbed his hand and took off running. Since he couldn't see her face, her face glowed a bright red.

Naruto's face returned to normal color and he smiled happily as Katsuragi returned to her cheerful self. His eyes narrowed as he saw out of the corner of his vision something round floating away.

---

Two weeks.

Two weeks have passed as Naruto began adjusting more to his new life. He loved it better than when he lived in Konoha nearly all his life. Going to Hanzō Academy was life changing for him as he got to experience new things that he never had the chance to in a village that hated him.

Despite being the only boy in the ninja class, he became fast friends with the girls. They trained together, fought together, hung out everyday after school was over, living together in a shared house. Okay the last one was unexpected, even for him, but hey it's better than staying in an apartment by himself.

Speaking of the girls, during this week he got to know each and everyone of them.

Asuka. Honest, joyful, friendly, eager and ready to advance in her shinobi career. She was very knowledgeable on the history of good shinobi, to an extreme actually. Obviously because of her grandpa training her at a young age. She was also a very upbeat and trusting kind of girl, always following her heart. Even though she said that she's clumsy, he can tell that she has incredible potential deep within her. She just has to learn how to channel that potential and she'll be able to master the Path of the Shinobi.

Yagyū. She was silent, intelligent and also very deadly when she wanted to be, especially should anything happen to Hibari. Kinda explains why she kept glaring at him whenever he got too close to her, even though Hibari is the one doing it. Due to her aloof exterior, she always keeps her distance from the others, but deep down she sees them, him included, as friends. Hibari even told him that she's a shinobi prodigy and that she outranks her and Asuka, meaning she's the third strongest in class. He already knew that from the eyepatch that there was some story behind it but he wouldn't dig into it. It's her story to tell after all.

Ikaruga. Perhaps the most intelligent and mature member of their group or as Asuka called her and Kat the 'big sisters'. Due to this, she feels she holds the responsibility of being the leader of the group, hence why she's the class president. The girl fits the motif of a strict jōnin instructor, someone who follows the rules and makes sure nothing happens to her team/friends. Her ninja outfit alone proves it.

But despite that, she has a cute side to her as she loves cooking for everybody despite how weird or gross it looked but as promised he tried to help her fix that habit. Even though she held the aura of a noble or upper class ninja, he knew that underneath all that, she's hiding some kind of sadness and pain. He's seen it on her face several times when no one was looking. Whenever he saw it, he would do something funny (or stupid) to keep her mind off of it. He liked it better when she's smiling.

Hibari, whoo boy. That girl is something else. She was constantly happy and cheerful. He knew that it wasn't a mask she was putting up like he did in the past. It was genuine. A first year student who's just started out her shinobi training and is constantly struggling. But Yagyū is helping her out with her shinobi skills and the bunny girl is determined to catch up with them. He can respect that. But he was still curious as to why she wanted to be a ninja.

Katsuragi…man. Where should he even start? Well…maybe he should start with something that wasn't obvious. Well, she's someone who loves to fight strong people and enjoys the thrills of competition, which is why she often spars with him. She's a fellow ramen lover like he is. They would often compete to see who would eat the most, though it would end in a tie.

She was smart. She wasn't book smart like Ika and other people he knew, but she was smart in her own way, like he is. Her habit and tendencies for sexual harassment on the girls and most recently him completely threw him off guard as she's the first girl he knows to ever act that way. But Naruto knew better. Just like with Ika, he knew that she was wearing a mask underneath that perversion to hide whatever pain or sorrow she had inside. And of course, he won't pry into it until she wants to talk about it.

Whenever Naruto was by himself, he did some self training in his Shinobi Tenshin. He began to learn more about his guardian animal and by doing so, he was able to use Ninja Arts that utilize the powers of the kitsune. Since he was using the power of nature, he began to incorporate his jutsu into the Secret Ninja Arts and it worked! He wasn't wasting his chakra while in his Tenshin! He could even use his chakra chains in it too.

When he woke up earlier, it was just to get something to drink and that was when he knew Kat was training as no snores were coming out of her room. He decided to get dressed and meet her at her usual training spot to surprise her. But then he saw how sad she got after she called Choco.

It was probably that small presence she felt. He felt it too as soon as he arrived around the area. But it was when she called her parents that she finally lost the mask she built. He didn't like it. He didn't like seeing Kat or any of the girls he grew to care about being sad. That's why he always cheers them up however he can.

Just like now.

As soon as he and Kat made it to the ninja room, he started to cook the ramen from the sushi counter with Kat giving him some ingredients she picked up during her trek. The smell of the delicious nature ramen filled the ninja room, causing Kat to drool unashamedly. After three minutes, the ramen was finished. "Thank you for the meal!" They both said as they started their loud slurping, enjoying their delicious ramen.

"Say, do you think I should cut my hair short?" Naruto asked out of the blue, grabbing one of his bangs and looking at it.

Katsuragi glanced his way with a raised eyebrow. While slurping her ramen, she looked at his hair for a second or two and shook her head. "Nah. You look good with your hair like that. You with short hair would look weird."

"You think so?" Naruto thought he would look fine with short trimmed hair.

"I know so. Take Ika for example. When we first met, she had a bob cut. She was cute with the hairstyle for a while, but she would've been way cuter if her hair was longer." Katsuragi explained. "And I was right on the money! The long hair fits her perfectly."

"Huh. So Ika had a bob cut." Naruto mused. He was comparing the bob cut Ika to the current one. He found himself nodding in agreement with what Kat said. "You know you're right. Ika is way better with long hair."

Katsuragi laughed. "Right?"

While they were eating their ramen, Naruto glanced to the side before blinking. He sat his bowl down and elbowed Kat's side.

"Hm?" Katsuragi looked his way and saw him pointing at the screen door. She blinked as she saw something round moving on the other side of the screen door. "The hell is that?"

"The small presence we felt in the forest." Naruto said, going over to the screen door and flung it open, only to blink in astonishment.

It was a soft, fluffy ball floating in the air.

Katsuragi was already next to him, looking at the thing with a raised brow. "What's that?"

"Is this one of sensei's ninja tools?" Naruto asked, raising a brow as he tapped the ball thing. Due to how technologically advanced this world is, he learned that ninjas use highly advanced ninja tools that he had never seen before, like that alert signal from the day they took down those puppets.

"No way." Katsuragi shook her head. "I've seen sensei's ninja tools. This is definitely not his, and there's no way he would bring his tools outside of class."

There was silence between them as they looked at the ball with narrowed glares.

"In other words…" Naruto punched the ball, his fist going straight through it before it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Someone's watching us!" Katsuragi finished.

Looking outside the hallway, they scanned their surroundings, seeing nothing out of the ordinary and no enemy in sight.

"I bet that thing is an enemy probe." Katsuragi said. "It was probably collecting data on all of us and was sending it back to the enemy."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. The past week he felt like someone or something was watching him, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't find it. Which means that they were using that probe thing.

"It looks like we're going to be meeting the ones who sent those puppets at us the other day." The Uzumaki heir said, getting Kat to smirk in excitement. He playfully rolled his eyes at her after seeing it. She just loves fighting strong enemies.

"Katsu? Naruto?" The two third years turned around to see Asuka there, looking very worried. "Is something wrong?"

When did she get here?

"Yeah. We'll wait till everyone's together." Katsuragi told her, looking very serious.

It didn't really take that long for the others to arrive as they appeared after Asuka did, Once everybody got together, Katsuragi told them about the ball.

"I think we should discuss this with Kiriya-sensei…" Hibari says in response.

"Yeah." Yagyū nods slightly.

"But…I believe Kiriya-sensei is on a business trip today." Ikaruga reminded everyone.

"Sure picked a good time to start making their move." Naruto scoffed before looking serious. "Either way, we can't rely on Kiriya for this."

"We can't? But why?" Hibari asked, now looking disheartened at that

"Listen, I know you're scared and nervous, but Kiriya is our teacher. He isn't the type of guy who will help us with this." Naruto replied before a dry look formed on his face. "Besides, even if we did depend on him, he'll just kick us out of the class for not having the resolve of being a shinobi."

"What?! No way he would do that!" Asuka exclaimed, sounding pretty confident with the girls nodding in agreement.

Naruto gave them a flat stare, remembering the first exam Kakashi gave him and the others before they were officially a team. After a couple of seconds of him giving them the stare, they started to look uncertain and Asuka began to lose her confidence after thinking it over.

"Would he?" Would Kiriya-sensei really kick them out of the program if they kept relying on him?

Naruto shook his head and held his hands up. "Look, the point is this; we're shinobi. This is our battle, meaning we have to do this ourselves, no teachers helping out. And if these guys want to fight, then they're gonna get it."

Katsuragi grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Now you're talking!" Naru always knows what to say. Her adrenaline was pumped to the max and she was ready to kick some enemy ass!

The others still looked uncertain, mainly because of what he said about Kiriya. But they also knew that he was right. They can't keep depending on Kiriya-sensei forever. Sooner or later, they're gonna have to face battles like this by themselves. And it looks like that time was now.

"Ah! Someone's outside!" Hibari cried out, peering outside the sliding door, seeing a lone girl standing outside the courtyard.

The moment she said that, everyone felt a wave of cold killing intent. They also felt a shinobi barrier was activated and they were all trapped inside of it. Together, the group went out to the courtyard to confront this mysterious girl, only to see that the environment had changed. It was the same area from when they were fighting against the puppets. Also, the mysterious girl wasn't alone as four other girls were with her, their forms hidden in shadow.

"Who the hell are all of you?" Katsuragi asked.

"Who are we?" One of them asked back.

"A very interesting thing to ask." Another one said.

"Seeing as how we're inside this hidden barrier, should be enough proof that we're ninjas."

Stepping out of the shadows the five girls revealed themselves.

"Nice to meet you, ladies and the lone gentleman. My name is Yomi, a second year student." Yomi smiled as she bowed slightly to them, letting her large breasts jiggle. "We are here to make our salutations."

Her outfit is somewhat reminiscent of a maid. She wears a teal green dress with a white slip underneath. The top of her dress only comes up to the bustline, and a single white collar wraps around her neck. On her arms, she has long white gloves and green diamond shaped arm sleeves with white frill underneath. Around her waist is a small white apron with a shuriken pattern on them, and a belt that holds a brown bag and a strip of replacement darts for her crossbow weapon. She wears a teal beret with a large white bow on the back of it, and an even larger bow on the back of her dress. Under her dress are a pair of white stockings covered by long brown boots with black bows at the top, and her giant broadsword rests on her back.

"Hikage. Third year." Hikage introduced herself in such an emotionless voice that it somehow reminded Naruto of Gaara yet her snake-like vibe reminded him of Orochimaru. She licked her knife with her long tongue. "We're the 'Snake Girls'. We'll be in your care."

Hikage wears a dingy torn up yellow and black striped shirt with a snake patterned and black frill trim that is very short, stopping at the bust line, showing a lot of cleavage. Because of this, it can only properly cover one of her shoulders. She has thin necklaces around her neck, and black leather constricts going down her arms and legs, which carry knives. Her blue jeans have gashes and rips. The zipper is down and the belt unbuckled, with leather constricts below the knees and a red snake pattern on the left thigh. She has snake tattoos on her left hip, shoulder and breast.

"Then we'll have you perish! Mirai, first year!" Mirai introduced herself with a confident grin. "Be sure to carve us right into your memory!"

Mirai wears a black, white and dark teal frilled dress and bonnet with cat ears, cat tail, and what looks like black angel wings on her back. She wears white stockings and black dress shoes with black ring anklets with cat heads. She carries a european style umbrella that matches her dress in design, and like Yagyū, she wears a black eye-patch with red tomoe over her left eye, which was the opposite of Yagyū's eyepatch.

"My, you can't kill them yet Mirai. We still have our objective after all." Haruka smiled at the Hanzō group, giving them a wink. "My name is Haruka, a third year student. Very nice to meet you all."

She wears what resembles pink and white lingerie with white cups, and a diamond shaped opening revealing her cleavage. On her legs and arms are white garments, and she wears a thin white bottom with simple pink high heels. On her back is a large white lab coat lined with many different vials filled with hazardous chemicals.

"It's you…" Hibari said. She remembered that girl. She was the one who stopped her from falling over that day when they fought those puppets.

"Hi, cutie. Good to see you again." Haruka waved at her before glancing at Naruto's way. "And you as well, Foxy."

Naruto shivered slightly when Haruka looked his way. He didn't know why but something about that girl screamed dangerous to him. Shaking his head, he turned to the last girl and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"And last but least, Homura, second year." Homura introduced herself, smirking at the two whom she already met.

Her outfit hasn't changed that much. She wore the same sailor uniform as when they first met, though now she wears wrist guards on her forearms with bandages underneath. She wears white loose socks with brown dress shoes and she carried six swords behind her back.

After their introduction, the killing intent emitting from them came back full force and it made everyone take stances as they stared at one another.

"You're an…heiress aren't you?" Yomi asked, looking directly at Ikaruga, who held Hien as she could feel the hatred she had for her.

Hikage was silently staring at Katsuragi in a dark manner as she continued to lick her knife while the girl herself was on edge.

"This girl…what amazing killing intent."

"Y-Yagyū, what should I do…?" Hibari asked, feeling scared as she felt Haruka stare at her with a dark smile.

"Such an adorable girl." She giggled.

Yagyū stood protectively in front of Hibari, her eye on Haruka. "I will protect you, Hibari!"

"HEY! Don't ignore me!" Mirai cries out in anger that Yagyū was ignoring her to focus on Haruka.

"So we meet again, huh. Big Boob Girl, Fishcake." Homura said, a dark smirk on her face.

"Homura…?" Asuka asked, sounding a little scared and wondering why she was here.

"For the last time, my name means maelstrom, dattebayo! Mael-strom!" Naruto exclaimed, momentarily breaking the tense situation as the Hanzō and Snake girls looked at him with comical faces. He blushed slightly in embarrassment at the looks he was getting from them. "What? If it was any of you, you would be tired of people getting your names wrong!"

The Hanzō girls either smiled sheepishly or shook their heads tiredly at him for his response. The Snake Girls were a different story. Yomi was blinking innocently, not ever hearing such a phrase. Haruka was giggling while commenting how cute it was. Hikage blinked and tilted her head to the side. Mirai was looking at him as though he was an idiot. Homura just chuckled. Naruto sighed and shook his head, turning back to Homura, who placed her fist on her hip. "I already knew that you were a ninja the moment we met, Homura. The way you moved, how you knew Asuka's name. How long have you been using that ball thing to watch us?"

"For a while." Homura answered. "Though we were a little surprised when we heard about an unknown newbie suddenly joining the school so late. Still, even with your whiskered face here, our plans remained the same."

"What plans?" Ikaruga asked, her tone and expression serious. "What do you want?"

"We want Hanzō's Super Secret Ninja Arts Scroll." Was Homura's reply.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. The Super Secret Ninja Scroll (stupid name in his honest opinion) is a stronger form of the regular Secret Ninja Arts. He learnt in class that it's something that must be kept a secret and that was it.

"What'll happen if we don't give it to you?" Katsuragi asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Homura asked with a grin, grabbing three of her swords by placing them between her fingers and pointing them at her. "We'll take it by force!" She charged at Katsuragi, who already looked ready to fight, ontending to strike her down but Asuka appeared in front of her with her sword drawn, surprising both girls.

"Sorry, Katsu! Leave Homura to me!" Asuka said, already transformed into her Shinobi Form as the two started their battle elsewhere with Homura laughing in delight.

Katsuragi grit her teeth. Battles between shinobi are meant to be one on one. That's what they've always been taught. But if she lets Asuka handle that one she won't be able to–

"What's this? If you want to fight so badly, I'll be your opponent."

Katsuragi blinked as Hikage appeared with her knife slashing down at her. She dodged out of the way at the last moment and created some distance between them. Despite her avoiding the knife, she felt her uniform get cut. She looked at it before looking at Hikage with an excited look on her face.

"You're strong."

"...That's kind of how I wanted to be." Hikage said, confusing Katsuragi. She raised her knife and licked it. "If I wanted to carry out an order, it'd be bad if I was weak, right?"

Her answer made Katsuragi grin as she transformed into her Shinobi Form. This is it! This was the chance she was waiting for! Fighting enemies that were stronger than her!

"Everyone stand back, we'll handle this!"

Her fellow third years nodded slightly at her while Yagyū and Hibari took a step back away from them. With that, Katsuragi and Hikage began their battle. As the Hanzō group kept their eyes on the battle going on between the two pairs, Naruto looked over to the other three 'evil' ninja. Looking over at Yomi, she still had the pleasant smile on her face though her eyes were narrowed quite dangerously so as she glared at Ika with so much hatred. He doesn't understand why she had so much hatred for her. Just now, she asked if Ika was an heiress.

An heiress to what exactly?

Glancing over at Haruka, she had this vibe about her that almost reminded him of Orochimaru. He remembered her as the girl who stopped Hibari from falling. Judging by her lab coat and those chemical veils she got inside, he figured that she was some sort of scientist. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he now understood. The ball thing he destroyed and those puppets they fought the other day when she showed up afterwards. It was obvious that it belonged to her. Blinking slightly at seeing her hand gestures pointing up, he looked up at Haruka and saw her giving him a teasing seductive grin. She crossed her arms underneath her breasts to emphasize how big they were but he already turned away, a massive blush creeping on his face at being caught staring for too long.

Ignoring her silent giggle at his reaction, he turned to the last girl, Mirai. Because he traveled a lot and met various shinobi, he wasn't really surprised to see someone as short as her being a shinobi. So he already knew that she was more than likely around Yagyū and Hibari's age. He had to admit though, she was probably one of the most adorable girls he's seen. With her cute eyepatch, her black dress with the cat designs and the way she was growling and hissing at him like a cat as she aimed her umbrella at him and held it like one of those gun things he heard about.

Yup. She was absolutely adorable.

…Wait, what was that last one?

"What the hell are you looking at, Whiskers!?" She questioned, clocking the handle of her umbrella as she looked ready to fire whatever it was she had in that umbrella.

Naruto quickly raised his hands up, showing her meant no harm to her. "Nothing! Nothing at all!"

Her only eye narrowed into a glare. Turning away from her to not face her wrath and not paying mind to the confused stares the others sent his way, he turned back to the two battles that were going on, more specifically at Homura and Asuka, who knocked one of her swords out of her hands. He already knew the moment those two started to fight, Asuka was gonna lose. Homura was so ferocious with her fighting style, only made worse as she carried six katanas between her fingers to act like claws. She overpowered Asuka with her fierce strikes and with her dual wielding capabilities, they offered her an extra range in attack.

Looking over to the other pair, Hikage was moving so fast and fluid with her knife that she was able to cut Kat up on certain parts of her body. No matter how fast Kat would kick her, she would always slip past and go for her blind spot, exactly like a snake would do. After one final slash from Hikage, it got too much for Kat as she fell on her knees. She looked down at her with the same emotionless gaze. "...You are weak." She turned and walked away, going back to her group.

Katsuragi growled at Hokage's retreating form. She tried to stand up but fell back on her knees. "Get back here! I'm not done!" She wasn't weak! She'll show that scaly scant! She tried again to stand but this time she was about to fall face-first into the ground.

Only she felt an arm wrap itself around her waist and helped her up before releasing her. Looking over, she saw it was Naru and Ikaruga who caught her and helped her up while Hibari and Yagyū went to the frozen Asuka. "It's okay. You and Asuka tried your best." He reassured her.

Katsuragi's eyes widened. She tried to say something but no words came out. Instead she turned away from him, gripping her arm, too ashamed and embarrassed to look at him. She lost. She lost in front of Naru. Her first real battle with an enemy and she showed him an uncool side to her. He probably must think that she's pathetic. A complete loser.

A total weakling.

Thinking these thoughts made her eyes well up in tears of shame as she grit her teeth. She didn't bother to see the worried look on his face but she saw it on Ikaruga.

"Hey! Whiskers!"

The Hanzō group turned to face the Snake Girls with Homura stepping forward to show that she was the leader.

"Just in case you don't know, we are the shinobi students of Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy." Homura told him. "Today, we just came here to say hi. But more than that, this is a declaration of war!" She glanced over at Asuka, a cold look on her face. "Think of the next time we meet, as that will be the time where you lose your life. Till we meet again."

The Hebijo girls vanished which in turn made the barrier vanish as well. Leaving behind a narrowed eyed Naruto along with the shinobi girls who felt despair.

---

It was heavy.

That was the only thing Naruto could think of.

The atmosphere in the ninja room was so thick and heavy, it almost felt like he could choke. The girls' faces were dark with despair and he couldn't blame them. This was the girls' very first encounter with an enemy shinobi and it ended horribly. Asuka and Kat lost their battle and the others were in shock over the events. He knew that Homura and Hikage could've killed them if they wanted to. The others knew it too. But even if they did, he would've already stopped it the moment he saw the intent to kill.

Naruto had to keep remembering that things are different in this world. His former world was a place where war between villages and countries could happen at any moment. He was 12 years old when he graduated from the Academy and became an official ninja. He was introduced to the cruel reality of the ninja world as soon as he left the village on his first real mission to the Land of Waves. He was terrified when he first met the Demon Brothers and seeing how Sasuke was able to hold his own against them, made him feel jealous and angry at the time. While Sasuke and Sakura did what they were supposed to do, he froze in terror when one of the brothers tried to kill him. If it hadn't been for Kakashi, he would've died.

That was when he swore an oath to never run away or freeze up like that. An oath that then became his ninja way.

But this world was different. As chakra doesn't exist, this world doesn't have shinobi countries and the ninja villages are scattered around the whole country, completely hidden. Then there's that damn good versus evil system. 11 schools all over Japan that train ninjas in secret for different affiliations. Hanzō Academy is for Good Shinobi, Hebijo is for Evil Shinobi.

While it's true that these girls have been trained to become shinobi from a young age like him, they were still basically new to the world they were entering. He could clearly see it. He's technically in the same boat as them as he's still learning about this world, despite him being here for three months. He wasn't even going to count the first month he got here, since he was in a coma. The girls had their first taste of what the shinobi world is like. Fighting against enemies stronger than them and losing badly, and now the realization of what they signed up for had sunk into their system. They were scared to fight these evil ninjas to the death as they knew that they would get killed.

He'd hate to see their reaction once they learn about the yōma.

Still…

Naruto shook his head. No, he has to stop thinking. The girls were down in the dumps and he had to lift their spirits up.

How? By being him.

CLAP!

"YO!" The girls jumped at hearing his loud voice and clapping. They turned to see he had stood up from his spot and crossed his arms, looking at them sternly. "What's the matter with all of you? You act like it's the end of the world or something." They didn't say anything, too surprised by his yelling, which he took that as his cue to continue. "Look, I get it. It's your very first battle with another ninja and you lost. So what? You shouldn't let something like this get you down." He scolded them. "It's okay to lose and fail at something. It's a part of life. You can't live a life without running into failure. It's the stepping stone of every success. Failing and losing doesn't give you a reason to give up, as long as you keep believing in yourself and try again."

"But…Homura was too strong for me." Asuka weakly argued, looking very much like an injured puppy. "None of my attacks didn't even hurt–"

"Then get stronger than her!" Naruto sternly interrupted her, getting her to flinch. "Homura and the others may be stronger than you now but that doesn't mean you should mope around feeling sorry for yourselves! What you should be doing right now is training to get better! Besides, there's a difference between them and you."

"A difference?" Yagyū asked, looking confused.

"What do you mean?" Ikaruga asked, now feeling curious about what he meant.

Naruto's expression turned completely serious, so much so that it made the girls feel a little stunned to see him wear such an expression. "The life of a shinobi is full of nothing but hardships. It doesn't even matter if you're good or evil. In fact, I hate that." The girls were silenced as they listened to him, seeing him clench his fists. "I hate the fact that there's something stupid as good and evil shinobi and the fact that it's automatically decided what you are at birth. No one is born to be good or evil and nobody has the right to decide which is which. It's the actions that you make as you walk down a path between what's right and wrong." He paused for a quick second, taking a deep breath at what he was about to say next. "Several years back when I was 12 years old, I fought my first enemy shinobi."

The girls looked at him in shock. He fought an evil shinobi when he was 12!?

"His name was Zabuza Momochi. He was a rogue ninja or missing nin, who abandoned his village and was also very strong. He did a lot of things that might be considered evil, but he wasn't really evil per say. It was because of the village he lived in that made him become who he was. A murderer with no remorse. But despite his faults, despite the terrible things he did, he still had someone he cared about."

"Who were they?" Ikaruga asked, getting interested in the story.

"His name was Haku." Naruto replied, a small smile on his face as he remembered their first meeting. "When he was young, he was born with a very rare power that he inherited from his mom. But the village they were in feared and hated powers like theirs because of an awful war that happened." They mmediately started to get a dreadful feeling as they listened to the story. "When Haku showed his ability to his mom, his dad, who was an ordinary farmer, saw everything. He gathered up a mob and killed his wife before going to kill Haku next. But Haku killed his dad and the mob."

The girls gasped in horror with Hibari covering her mouth while Katsuragi looked very upset and angry. They couldn't believe such a terrible thing happened to a child. Not only did Haku's father gather up a mob and kill his mom, they all tried to kill him too? And they were just ordinary people at that? How could something terrible happen, especially towards an innocent child?

"Zabuza found Haku one day, and Haku swore to become Zabuza's tool for as long as he lived. The two of them have been together since then."

"What…what happened to Haku and Zabuza?" Hibari asked, feeling so sad to hear about Haku's childhood and the fact that he called himself a tool.

"During our final battle on a bridge that was being built at the time, my old teammate and I fought against Haku while our Jōnin instructor fought against Zabuza. My teammate was down so I had to take care of Haku by myself. When our instructor was about to kill Zabuza, Haku sacrificed himself to save him and he died."

The girls didn't say anything. There was no need to as the wide eyed expression they had was enough.

"When Zabuza dismissed Haku's death, saying he died as the perfect tool, I got so angry and furious at him that I just yelled at how wrong he was about Haku being a tool. About how much he cares for him and wants to protect him. That's when I knew that deep down he was sad and hurt that Haku died for his sake." Memories of that time flashed through his mind as he told the story and it made Naruto smile sadly. "I'll never forget the tears he cried that day. Zabuza wasn't evil or a bad guy. Even though he was a shinobi, he was still human and he lost someone he grew to care about. He killed the client who hired him to kill the bridge builder and he died from the injuries he gained from not only my former instructor but also due to the client's thugs attacking him. Going on that mission, it made me open my eyes to see and understand the many hardships that people face throughout the world. And those hardships shaped them into who they are."

"Naruto…" Asuka spoke softly, seeing such sadness in his smile. She could clearly see that those two really had a positive effect on Naruto.

"Take it from me, girls." Naruto said, looking back at them. "I met and fought against so many powerful shinobi. Some were truly evil scumbags, others…they weren't evil but they still did horrible things."

He thought back to those he fought against as examples. Orochimaru was a disgusting rotten snake who wanted to be immortal, so he performed inhumane experiments on people and took their bodies. Kabuto was Orochimaru's damn lap dog who would follow his master wherever he went. Gaara became the way he was because of how the sand village treated him due to his status as a jinchūriki. Itachi murdered his clan by orders of the Third Hokage and the village elders. Nagato, one of Jiraiya's former students, tried to bring peace to the ninja world through pain and destruction so that everyone could feel the same pain he felt when he lost his friend.

"Homura and the others, they must've faced a lot of hardships in the past, which is why they ended up going to Hebijo. But I don't believe they're evil." Naruto said softly. "That school is training them to use their hatred as their power. The hate they have deep inside them is what fuels them to overcome whatever training Hebijo is putting them through, which is why they won against you. They won using the power of hatred."

"The power of hatred…" Katsuragi mumbled, softly. Despite Hikage's emotionless face, she still had such powerful killing intent. It made her think back to her parents. They raised her with so much love and affection, it made her wonder why they even abandoned her. But what about Hikage? What happened to her to make her have that much killing intent?

Ikaruga thought back to Yomi and remembered feeling her killing intent and could feel the hatred that she had for her for some reason. Why? What did she do to her? She never even met that girl. So why did she hate her so much

Asuka was in the same boat as her friends, thinking about Homura. Homura said that she wanted the Super Secret Ninja Arts Scroll so she could become more powerful to the point where she won't lose to anybody. Now, after hearing Naruto's story, it made her wonder what happened to Homura to make her think that way. To think that cheating was the way to master the path of the ninja

Hibari looked down as she thought about Haruka. She was so nice to her after saving her from falling. She was surprised when she found out she was an evil ninja the whole time. But, after hearing that sad story between Haku and Zabuza…it made her wonder that Haruka couldn't be all that bad.

"But none of you are like that." Naruto smiles, getting the girls to perk up. "I know all of you faced some form of hardships as well but you're different. You didn't let that hardship let you walk down the same path they did. Because you have a special power that can beat the hatred inside the Snake Girls."

"We do?" Hibari asked. "What is it?"

"It's love." Naruto answered.

…

That…that was something they weren't expecting to hear.

"L-Love?" Asuka asked, blinking several times in confusion.

"When I first met Haku, he told me something. Something I took to heart even to this day." Naruto continued. "When a person has something so precious to them that they want to protect, that's when they can become truly strong. For Haku, it was Zabuza. For me, it's all of you, my friends."

The girls' faces turned red after he said that they were precious to him and the fact that he wants to protect them. It almost sounded like a confession.

"But more than that…there's something I want to ask you. What is your nindō?"

"Our nindō?" Yagyū asked, looking quite confused as were the others. "What's that?"

"A nindō is a personal rule that each shinobi lives by." Naruto answered. "It's their ninja way of life. Their motto, belief or even their dream. It can be anything you want. You girls may be students, but you're still shinobi and that means you should have the resolve of one. But a true ninja? They must always have a nindō."

The girls once again looked at each other, surprised. It was clearly obvious to him that this was the first time they ever heard of a nindō as such a thing doesn't exist in this world. Well, it does now.

Katsuragi looked back at Naru with a small smile. The moment he said that there's nothing wrong with them losing their fight, she felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. Like all the earlier thoughts she had just disappeared and it made her want to kick her own ass. Naru would never think she was so pathetic or uncool or any of that negative stuff. He's just not that type of person. He's the type who would always find ways to help them. "Hey, Naru." She called out to him. "What's your nindō?"

Naruto smiled happily as he responded. "No matter what challenges come my way, I won't quit and I won't run away! I'll face them head on and never give up! I never go back on my word!" He pointed his thumb at his heart. "That's my nindō, my ninja way!"

The girls were awestruck as they never heard such passion coming from Naruto as he talked about his nindō, each of them feeling inspiration. To never give up and to never go back on his word, no matter what happens. That was his ninja way of life. Each of them immediately felt new waves of determination rise up within them.

"Naruto…" Asuka stood up, looking determined. "Please train me!"

Naruto's eyes widened at the request, completely caught off guard by it.

"You're strong, Naruto." Asuka told him, after seeing his expression. "Stronger than all of us put together. I know you said that you were self taught and that you had several teachers train you. But after hearing your story, it only proved that you're much more experienced than us! So please!" She bowed her head. "Please help me reach your level!"

"Me too!" Katsuragi stood up as well, smashing her fist into her open palm. "I'm not giving up either! I want to take that snake hussie down and if getting trained by you is gonna help me reach your level then I'll do it!" Before Naruto showed up, she was the strongest in class with Ikaruga beating her in speed. But then Naruto showed up and proved that he was superior to them. Which also meant that he was more than likely stronger than those Hebijo bitches. She wants to go through the same kind of training he put himself through.

"I as well…" Ikaruga stood up, looking firm and quite determined.

"Me too." Yagyū stood up too. She may not like Naruto but she can respect his character. If there was some way for her to get stronger to protect Hibari from that Hebijo girl in the lab coat, she would take it.

"Hibari will try too…" Hibari said, her head low. "I'll fight without having to rely on Kiriya-sensei or anyone else. That's why, Naruto!" She looked up at him, showing him the fires of determination in her eyes. "Please, push me to the point of vomiting!"

Naruto looked at the girls, seeing the fires of determination each of them had in their eyes. He smirked and nodded as he fist bumps the air.

"Alright! Now that's what I'm talking about! Let's start your Uzumaki Style Special Training Course!"

"Yeah!" The girls let out cheers as they fist bump the air also.

"Now then!" Naruto reached behind him to take out a scroll, opening it up. "Before we begin, let me give you all something. Release!"

A puff of smoke erupted out of the scroll. Everyone gathered around to look and see what he released and they all blinked. It was five pairs of four prayer beads.

"Prayer beads?" Ikaruga asked, looking at Naruto with a raised brow. "What are these for?"

"Your training, obviously!" Naruto replied with a bright smile. "Put the prayer beads on your wrist and ankles."

The girls were quite curious to see what type of training Naruto was going to put them through, so they did as instructed.

"Okay. Now what?" Katsuragi asked.

Naruto created four clones as they each walked up to the girls. They then placed their palms on their chests, getting all of the girls to blush hotly at this, Katsuragi included.

"Eh!?" Asuka and Hibari asked in shock.

"Naruto!" Ikaruga exclaimed, feeling very shocked that Naruto was touching her breasts.

"You no good pervert!" Yagyū exclaimed, her blushing face filled with outrage at the audacity of this man. And she even began to respect him!

"H-Hey!" Katsuragi exclaimed, sounding very embarrassed that Naruto's hand was on her chest. "What the hell are…!?"

"Sealing Jutsu: Four Limbs Weighting Seal!"

The girls suddenly felt the prayer beads get very heavy, causing them all to slouch. They each tried to lift the prayer beads up but found themselves slouching again. The clones dispersed as their purpose was done.

"What in the world!?" Ikaruga asked, feeling shocked that the prayer beads on her wrists and ankles had gotten so heavy.

"So…heavy!" Hibari said, struggling to keep her arms lifted and trying to move her legs.

"What'd…you…do?" Asuka asked, trying to hold her arms up.

"I just added some extra weight to those prayer beads using a jutsu." Naruto answered, a cheeky smile on his face.

"No shit!" Katsuragi exclaimed as she tried to walk, though with the way her limbs were shaking, she was having a hard time walking. "These beads are heavy as hell now!" She wore weights before when she trained in the past, but these weights were something else!

"What sort of training are we doing?" Yagyū asked, struggling to move her limbs.

"Nothing much. Just keep doing what you've been doing. That's your training." Naruto replied, crossing his arms as he found amusement in watching the girls struggling to walk.

"Huh? Keep doing what we've been doing?" Asuka asked, sounding completely confused.

"What does that even mean?" Ikaruga asked.

"It means that as you gain a certain amount of power, the beads will change color." Naruto answered, much to the surprise of the girls as they looked at their beads. "Once they turn red, it means that your training is complete. When that happens, let me know so I can take them off."

"And what happens when you take them off?" Katsuragi asked curiously.

The girls leaned closer to him, all of them wanting to know what will happen once he takes these weights off.

"You'll be even more powerful than you are now!" Naruto answered. During his three month retraining, he used the same prayer beads on himself so he can increase his speed and strength. After that, Granny used various other weights as well. Since he won't be using his ninjutsu often, he decided to focus on conditioning his body. Though Granny did have him meditate, mainly because it allows him to get in touch with his spiritual side.

"Really!?" The girls asked, now feeling very excited.

"Even more powerful than you!?" Katsuragi questioned, getting Naruto to chop her head with a playful smirk.

"Don't push it, Kat." She chuckled at him.

"An excellent training idea indeed Naruto." The students looked at the entrance to see Kiriya-sensei, a proud smile on his face.

"Kiriya-sensei!? When did you get back?" Asuka asked, surprised to see him come back.

"A little while ago." Kiriya answered. "The principal told me what happened. And I'm proud of all of you. Despite what happened, you've all pulled it together and are working even harder to continue." He turned serious at what he was about to say next. "The Snake Girls will resort to any means necessary so as to complete their objective. And like a snake they will always strike back. So we must prepare all of you for when they come again."

Everyone nodded their heads.

"So, with all that said and done, let's get started on training!"

"Yes sir!"

---

Later

School was over. It was a long day of extra hard training for the girls. But in the end, it felt like they managed to pull through. They climbed up the mountains, went through many obstacle courses, fought against the dummies and even spared against Naruto, all the while wearing those incredibly heavy beads. It was really hard when they started the training, but over time, they actually got used to the extra weights.

Just like Naruto said, the beads had changed color due to how much power they were getting. The colors went from white to blue, green, yellow and then red. Ikaruga and Katsuragi were the first two to get their beads off and as Katsuragi put it, her body felt as light as a feather. Yagyū and Asuka were the next two to get their beads taken off once theirs reached red.

Hibari, in her shinobi form, was the last one as hers was still yellow. She was by herself in the training room, looking at the yellow beads with sadness. She sighed and looked away from them, turning to look at the destroyed dummies that laid on the floor. The others all went home while she had to stay behind until she could get her prayer beads to turn red, just as Kiriya-sensei ordered. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned around to see who it was, only to feel a finger poke her cheek.

"Naruto?"

"Hey, Hibari." Naruto, also in his shinobi form, greeted the first year, removing his finger from her cheek. "Are you feeling okay?

Hibari looked at him before looking down sadly as she played with her fingers. "Hibari…might not be cut out for being a ninja."

Naruto was silent for a few seconds, blinking at Hibari. "Why would you think that?"

"Even though you're helping us out with training, I just don't feel like I've gotten stronger." Hibari told him, showing her prayer beads to Naruto. "Just look! While everyone else had theirs taken off, mine are still yellow, and I've been training all day!" She lowered her gaze and walked from him. "Not to mention, everytime I mess up in the middle of training, I cause trouble for everyone. Even if I try my hardest, it's no good if I don't get–"

FLICK!

"Owie!" Hibari rubbed her forehead where Naruto flicked her. She looked up at him and saw the emotionless look on his face, scaring her a little as he lowered his hand.

"Hibari. I want you to fight me. With everything you got." He told the pinkette.

"Heh!? Why do I have to fight Naruto…?" Hibari asked.

"To show you how strong you really are." Naruto replied, taking a stance. "Now! Let's go!"

Battle Music: I Have To Do Something (Hibari's Theme) [Senran Kagura: Portrait of Girls]

Hibari let out a surprised scream when Naruto appeared in front of her. At the last second, she avoided his fist hitting her head but gasped when she felt palm slam into her stomach, the force of it pushing her back and getting her to roll on the floor.

Looking back up, she rolled out of the way as Naruto's feet came crashing down at her. Once she got back, Naruto charged at her again. Despite the extra weight she still has on her limbs, she was able to avoid his quick jabs before he tripped her and grabbed her sweater to stop her from falling.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, glaring at her slightly. "You can't keep dodging me forever."

"B-But–" Hibari didn't finish as he threw her over his shoulder, causing her to fall on her bum as she rubbed it.

"No excuses!"

The first year's eyes widened at hearing a much deeper man's voice. Slowly turning around, she felt terror fill her form as she saw not Naruto standing there but someone else. He was a tall and noticeably muscular man with light grayish skin, short spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He was wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. He was shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt. He wore baggy pants with the striped pattern and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers. He also wore a blue headband sideways. He also carried a really big sword.

"N-Naruto…?" Hibari asked, backing away from the scary looking man. This was the first time she ever saw someone as terrifying as him. She felt goosebumps appear on her body and her instincts were screaming at her, telling her to run away from this person. The mere presence this man gave off was almost like a monster, or even a demon.

"My name…is Zabuza Momochi." Zabuza introduced himself.

Hibari's eyes widened. This was the man from Naruto's story? This was the enemy shinobi he fought back when he was younger? She couldn't believe Naruto actually fought against someone with a scary presence like this! The first year felt a chill run up her spine as Zabuza started to walk towards her, getting her to crawl back. Though that was the wrong thing to do.

"Don't you dare run away from me, girl." She flinched in fear at hearing the anger in his voice. Zabuza instantly appeared in front of her and lifted her up by sweater, so that they were face to face. Due to their obvious height difference, her legs were hanging limply. "I am your enemy! Stand and fight!" He ordered. "You will face many other enemies like me out there in the ninja world. Some stronger, scarier and even more deadlier than me! They will not hesitate to take your life, including those precious to you! Think of your friends, think of Yagyū! Do you want your enemies to kill them while you sit there and watch it happen!?"

Hibari's eyes widened at what he said as she thought of Yagyū and the others fighting against the Snake Girls and all of them getting killed one by one, with Yagyū being the last one. The thought of losing her friends while she didn't do anything to help them hurt her greatly as tears started welling up in her eyes. Seeing this made Zabuza's eyes soften slightly but he had to remain firm just to get his point across. "If you don't want that to happen, then fight back! Attack me with everything you got! DO IT!"

Hibari's tearful eyes turned into an angry glare as she cried out. "Ninto!"

Zabuza turned his head to the side as he saw the ninja rabbit charging at him with an angry look on its face. He merely swiped his hand the moment he got close and he disappeared, which gave Hibari the chance to kick Zabuza's chin, causing him to release her sweater and stumble back. After rubbing his chin, his eyes widened in shock. Hibari stood up as waves of electricity were around her body while the pupils in her eyes started glowing as she glared at him. With tears falling from her eyes, she charged at him in a surprising burst of speed with an angry yell and began to strike him with her fists. Her strikes got harder and wilder as electricity was coming off of her in response to her anger. Zabuza couldn't even move to avoid or block them as her attacks left him stunned which honestly impressed him. After the last strike to his chest, a blast of electricity blew Zabuza back, getting him to roll on the floor on his back.

"ENLARGE!"

Zabuza's eyes widened in comical shock as he saw a giant Hibari's butt slamming down on him, signaling the end of the battle.

Music Ends

Hibari returned to normal size, sitting on top of Zabuza and then proceeded to pound him on his chest, her eyes closed to stop her already falling tears as she sobbed, with no electricity coming off of her. She was too angry! Angry at herself for being weak and the unfairness of it all! She didn't ask to be a shinobi! She didn't want to fight scary people! All she wanted was to open up a sweets shop one day when she was an adult! But because of her stupid eyes appearing, her life had changed and she couldn't follow her dream!

IT JUST WASN'T FAIR!

"Hibari…"

Hearing the familiar soft and gentle voice made her open her teary eyes to see Naruto and not that scary person anymore. She didn't even notice that he gently held her hands to stop her from pounding his chest. "*Hic*...*hic*...Naruto?" She asked, stopping her sobbing.

"Hibari, can you be completely honest with me?" Naruto asked, releasing her hands and reaching over to wipe the tears from her eyes. "You didn't want to be a ninja did you?" Hibari's lips trembled as she stared at his non-judgemental eyes and the understanding in them. Not trusting her voice, she shook her head in response. "Was it your family who made you walk this path?" She nodded again. "I see. Hibari, what's your dream?"

"My dream?" Hibari asked as she sniffed. She looked away from him, sadness written on her face. "It doesn't matter. I'm…a shinobi now. Shinobi can't have dreams." She felt his hand grab her chin, gently turning her head to face him to see his stern expression.

"Says who?" Naruto asked as he sat up, not even caring that she was practically straddling him. "Hibari, even though you're a shinobi, you're still human. And that means you have every right to have a dream, no matter how big, small or silly it is."

Hibari sniffed and looked at him with confusion. "You mean…I can still have my dream?"

"Of course!" Naruto answered with a reassuring smile. "It's only when you give up will your dreams and everything else be gone."

"So…I can't give up and if I do I'll give up my dream?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "This is your life to live. Not anyone else's. If you have a dream, then you stick to it. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise that reaching it is impossible. And stop putting yourself down like that and comparing yourself to the others. You are strong. Just as strong as the rest of us. Did you not see what you did? You went all out on Zabuza, the infamous Demon of the Mist! You were incredible!"

Hibari gasped at the compliment, which made her blush hotly.

"It's just like I told you. To get even stronger, you have to protect something that's really precious to you." Naruto reminded her. "You were fighting because you wanted to protect your friends and that gave you the power to beat Zabuza." He rubbed her head softly. "Never forget that feeling. Because if you can handle Zabuza, then you can handle anything. You just gotta believe in yourself. Just like how we believe in you. Okay?"

Hibari's eyes watered slightly upon hearing those words. Ever since Naruto arrived, he always helped her and the others out whenever they had a problem, but it was mainly her. Like that time she lost her scroll but he found it and brought it back, or that other time when she forgot her kunai at home before he gave her one of his. And just like now. She knew that he used his jutsu to transform into that Zabuza person to help her. Which, while she found it to be very mean, actually worked. She went up against such a scary person.

By herself!

"Yeah!" She hugged the surprised Naruto, giggling a little as his spiky hair tickled her face. "Thank you Naruto! I feel much better now!" She's really happy to have a nice friend like him. Ever since he's arrived, she's been having lots of fun with him. She taught him how to play video games, getting him to call her Hibari-sensei and he always helped her eat her sweets when she got too much. She even enjoyed some of the pranks he pulled in the main school building.

Naruto, while surprised she was hugging him, just smiled and hugged her back. He loved having these bonding moments. When he was on the run, he couldn't stay in one place at the risk of getting captured or killed, so he couldn't make friends. So being in this world and meeting new people who care about him made him feel thankful and happy that he was here. He just hopes that wherever Kurama ended up, he was happy too.

…Why did he feel like he forgot something?

"Ah! Hi, Yagyū!"

...Crap. He forgot she was hiding in the shadows watching them.

Naruto slowly turned around on his other side as Hibari was still hugging him. He started to sweat nervously as Yagyū's upper face darkened while her lone eye was glaring daggers at him. He could also see that in one hand she was carrying a brown bag and in the other was her umbrella, which she was gripping very tightly to the point that he was surprised it didn't snap yet. It was then he noticed the position he and Hibari were in. Her large breasts on his chest, his hands on her nice curvy hips and her rear sitting on his pelvis. As the realization of their position hit him, it didn't take long for his little friend to start to react as Hibari kept moving. And if she felt it, that would cause a whole lot of problems.

In a hurry, he stood up, taking Hibari with him as she cried out in surprise while she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him to keep herself from falling off, which only made the situation worse for him. Feeling Yagyū's killing intent increased, he picked the giggling Hibari up by her waist and set her down on her feet. Looking at the prayer beads, he saw that they were now red. He clapped his hands.

"Release!"

Hibari felt the weights fall off her limbs and she in turn blinked as she looked down at them, seeing their red glow. She then moved her arms up and down before hopping like a bunny, looking quite happy as she felt how lighter she was. "YAY! My training is complete!" She cheered as she jumped up and did another jump in the air. "Katsu was right! I'm light as a feather!" Seeing she was falling, Naruto raised his arms and caught her. She hugged him again while kicking her feet in excitement. "Naruto! I promise I'll train even harder and find my nindō! And then I'll show both you and Yagyū how strong I can be!" She promised to him as she rubbed her cheek against his, this time getting a small blush from him.

The otherworldly ninja nodded his head at her before looking at Yagyū, seeing the smile on her as she nodded at him. He sat Hibari down, who quickly ran to her best friend. Yagyū showed what she had in the brown bag and much to Hibari's delight it was bunny doughnuts. As she ate her treats, she ran over to him and offered him one which he gladly accepted.

Today may have started off scary but in the end it was still a good day.

---

Next Day

"Hyah!"

The sword's tip paints a faint line of silver.

Hien, the sword that she wields, is a blade of a superlative quality, passed down in her family.

She alone bears the weight of its history.

As she trained alone in the forest, practicing her swings, she was amazed. After the grueling training from yesterday with the extra weights, she felt she could move much faster than she ever did before. Looking over at a large rock she just sliced, she watched as the top part slid off and fell on the ground. She returned Hien to its sheath and let out a breath before noticing a crack inside the bottom half of the rock's surface.

Her swings were starting to feel lackluster. Her endless training was beginning to tire her. She can't afford to cut corners in dealing with Hebijo in the future.

However, pushing herself when she's not at her best will avail her nothing. Indeed, it will only cause her harm.

So with that, she returned to the ninja room, sitting quietly by herself. She focused on settling her breathing and thoughts, then saw to maintaining Hien.

She lay Hien down and bowed before it, then undid the rivet on the hilt to remove the hilt itself. She used paper to wipe the blade clean of oil and dirt a dozen times. Then she powdered it, from the metal collar at the hilt to the very tip.

The proper care for a Japanese sword is an act of respect for one's ancestors as well as a means of sharpening the mind. It must be done with exquisite care, no matter how tired one may be.

As she finished, Asuka and her other friends came in and offered morning greetings before she started a lively conversation. She noticed that a certain someone wasn't here yet.

Naruto Uzumaki, the only boy in their class.

When he first arrived, the first thing that came to her mind was that he would be a troublemaker and she was proven…somewhat right.

Simple-minded, bright, carefree, easy-going, optimistic and an overall cheerful person. Those were what she could describe Naruto as a whole. He's also a prankster as he would often prank some of the students and teachers over at the main building with Katsuragi even joining them. Those students he pranked in question were bullies and the teachers/staff members he pranked were the ones who allowed the bullying to continue or were hidden perverts that had pictures of their female students.

Those students and teachers/staff were kicked out of school grounds and/or were arrested.

Thankfully, Naruto knew better than to expose himself, yet she knew that the principal and vice principal were aware that he was the one doing all those pranks and they were more than thankful to him for exposing the incidents that occurred throughout the school. He even pranked her and the others just so that they all could get a good laugh. Though she didn't find it funny at first when she woke up with whiskers on her cheeks which involved her and Yagyū chasing after him with Katsuragi laughing all the while.

Still, at the end of the day, they had a good laugh…though it happened after giving Naruto his punishment.

Even Kiriya-sensei wasn't safe from Naruto's pranks which only resulted in him getting punished.

He also lacks respect for his elders, such as calling Master Hanzō 'Pervy Gramps'. Such disrespect earned him a harsh scolding from her as even though Asuka's grandfather ws perverted, he was still a legendary shinobi master. So she made it her job to make sure he learned how to be polite and respectful to people and to make sure he was paying attention in class.

He also had this sense of maturity to him, which surprised her greatly. When the moment calls for it, he would offer words of wisdom to them and even give them tips to help them.

Just like the other day, when he taught them about nindō. In the years since she was founded by her family and trained by her father, she had never been taught about nindō. A shinobi's personal rule that they follow or believe in.

The fact that her father never taught her this is because such a thing doesn't exist.

Which just begs the question, who taught Naruto about nindō?

And what should her nindō be…?

"Kya!?" Ikaruga jumped in alarm and covered her left ear as she felt someone blowing it from behind her. Looking to the side, she saw a chuckling Naruto there.

"Morning, Ika!" Naruto greeted her.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Ikaruga asked, her face flushed in embarrassment at her earlier scream. She flushed more when she saw the others looking their way.

"Well, seeing how you looked deep in thought, I figured I should brighten your morning to snap you out of it." Naruto answered with a big smile on his face. "Relax, Ika. I know we got a big fight coming, but we shouldn't have to be so tense about it. Everything will work out in the end!"

Once he finished saying his piece he went to join the others.

Ikaruga looked at him in slight annoyance before sighing. He says that with so much confidence that it would make anyone believe him. Whenever she and the others were deep in thought or depressed about something, he would always do something funny or dumb to snap them out of their funk as a way for them to forget it.

She didn't know it, but she wore a small smile on her face. As class president it was her job to keep her classmates organized but when it came to Naruto, she had to make extra sure that he was properly taught on how to be focused and not goof off when given the chance.

But she knew better than that.

Deep down, Naruto is a caring person with an incredibly strong will. He follows his nindō to heart and is always helping his friends.

"Shinobi faces hardships…" Ikaruga said softly as she looked at Naruto.

With Naruto having no parents to raise him along with his clansmen extinct, it made her wonder what sort of hardships he faced in the past yet still be so bright?

"Good morning, everyone." Kiriya-sensei walked in the room to stand in front of the chalkboard. "Today's class will be on genealogy."

"Genealogy?" Katsuragi asked with a frown. "Is it really the time for something like that? We gotta train, don't we?"

Kiriya let out a sigh. "Don't be hasty. Cooling down is also part of training."

"Um…what do we do in a genealogy class?" Hibari asked.

"I'll have you all make your own ninja family trees." Kiriya answered. "What kind of ninjas are in your ancestry? Who succeeded to the next generation? I want you to have a better grasp on that."

"Kiriya-sensei." Asuka raised her hand as Kiriya wrote on the board. "How far back do we go?"

"Write from the oldest ninjas until you reach your generation on a single line." Kiriya answered.

It didn't take long for Asuka to get done with her work as she happily showed it off to the class. It was a family tree of three generations. Her grandpa and grandma, her mother and her.

"In my family, my grandpa, grandma and mom are ninjas!" Asuka said proudly. "My dad is a normal person. He was against me being a ninja, but I want to be a strong ninja like my grandpa!"

"Um…that's fine." Kiriya said with a raised brow.

Katsuragi and Yagyū wrote in silence.

"I've got too many to count. This sucks!" Hibari moans in her typical childish manner.

Ikaruga didn't hear Naruto writing. Looking over at him, she saw that he was already done and looked away from it. Looking at his paper, she did a double take as she saw that he definitely came from a long line of ninjas.

Someone named Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki was at the top. Going down, the line was split between Indra Ōtsutsuki and Asura Ōtsutsuki. The line of Indra went down to a symbol that looks like a fan with the letters Uchiha Clan written above it. Turning to Asura's name, she saw there were two lines, one going down and the other going to the right. The line that went down stopped at a symbol that bore a resemblance to the Vajra with the name Senju Clan written above it.

The line that went across from Asura's name stopped at a spiral symbol with the Uzumaki Clan written above it. The line kept going until it stopped at the name Arashi Uzumaki, his grandfather. The line continued on until it stopped at Kushina Uzumaki, his mother. Across from her name was Minato Namikaze, his father. The line between them went down to show his name.

"I know." Ikaruga looked at Naruto as he spoke to her, though he wasn't looking at her and was more focused on the paper, more specifically his parents' names. "I was shocked too when I discovered this. Crazy long, huh?"

She nodded in response before turning back to her own paper. She started on her family line and wrote her name but…when she thinks about her family, her thoughts drift to her older brother. He is studying business management, following in the footsteps of their father. In truth however, he wished to be a shinobi.

She finished the family line by writing her name and the head of her family. Her brother's name is not included. Her name is where he should've been. Time has not made it any less than a burden to bear and her eyes begin to well.

"Hm? What's wrong, Ikaruga?" Asuka asked, noticing her predicament.

"Oh, it's nothing." The class president answered with a forced smile. In such situations, she can smile with little effort.

She missed the narrowed eye expression on Naruto's face as he looked at the paper, then to her with his eyes growing soft.

It was now lunchtime.

Since it's a nice gentle breeze outside, the group decided to eat outside. They spread a mat underneath the tree and set up a picnic.

Yagyū immediately dug into her dried squid.

"Dried squid, again…?" Hibari asked with a frown.

"Don't belittle dried squid." Her best friend told her.

As Ikaruga listened to them, she spread out a multi-course meal. It was then she realized something. "Oh! Look what I've gone and done. I forgot my tea."

She always makes sure to have Japanese tea alongside the meal. She stood up and walked back to the ninja room, telling her friends that she'll be back.

When she got there, she felt a presence.

"Who's there!?" She took a shuriken in hand, and moments later, a man stumbles before her.

"Whoa, whoa. Settle down."

"Brother…" Ikaruga was surprised.

Of course she would instantly recognize him. His hair unkempt, his skin sickly pale and his eyes black. He wore a white open shirt that was unbuttoned and matching pants.

In the short time she last saw him, he's come to look very unhealthy.

"Long time no see, little sis." Her brother said, showing that he was holding Hien in his hand.

"Murasame…what are you doing with Hien?"

Murasame laughed, sounding almost insane. "What am I doing? What, indeed!" A cynical smile dances on his face. "This sword belongs to me. I'll do what I want with it."

"You're mistaken! Father and mother gave that to…" That was as far as she could go as she closed her mouth.

"Father and mother? How DARE you be so impudent?" Murasame's eyes darkened with deep hatred towards her that it made Ikaruga turn her gaze away. "Yes. That's right. I wasn't given Hien. But this sword is a family heirloom! It has no business in the hands of an outsider to this bloodline!"

His sharp words were practically cutting right through her, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything, knowing full well he was right.

"Hien was supposed to... It really was supposed to..." Murasame teeth clenched tightly as he glared hard at Ikaruga. "You... If only you weren't around then I...!"

"Then what, bastard?"

The two raised their heads in surprise as a new voice spoke up, causing them to turn just as a third individual appeared from the shadows with a narrowed gaze.

"Naruto!?" Ikaruga asked in shock. What was he doing here?

"Hey Ika. I saw a rat snooping around earlier and wanted to see who it was." Naruto said, his eyes not leaving Murasame. "Now back to you. Who the hell do you think you are to say that to your own little sister?"

The black-haired young man responded with another glare. "And what does it matter to you? You're nothing more than an outsider yourself! This is none of your business!"

"Ika is my friend. When my friends are sad, I make it my business to find out why." Naruto said with a glare. He then walked over and positioned himself between the two siblings as he faced Murasame. "I'm only going to say this one time. Give Hien back to Ika and take your sorry crybaby ass back home."

"You think you can order me around, you lowly commoner?!" Murasame yelled, angry at the insult. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto responded as he narrowed his eyes. "Last chance. Are you gonna give Hien back or do you wanna wake up in the hospital?"

"Naruto…" Ikaruga spoke, reaching over to touch his shoulder to try and get him to back off.

"NO!"

Ikaruga flinched at hearing the anger in her elder brother's voice, causing her to put her hand down and look his way. The opposing male's fury began to rise again at the threat as he gripped Hien and then pointed at her. "That filthy mongrel doesn't deserve it! It should've been mine! She doesn't belong in my family and she never will! This blade is mine and it always will be!"

Murasame's words were like a dagger stabbing Ikaruga in the heart repeatedly. The girl gripped the hem of her skirt and stared at the ground as she listened to her brother assault her ears with such awful insults.

However, the moment he finished saying that, he didn't see a fist punching him across the face. The punch was so strong it knocked a tooth out and made blood come out his nose as he got sent to the ground, all the while not letting go of Hien. Holding his swollen cheek with one hand, Murasame glared up at Naruto, about to sprout some more insults but he flinched when he saw the emotionless expression on his face while his eyes showed a cold fury within them.

"Wrong answer." Naruto said, his voice matching the coldness in his eyes. He took a step forward, intending to do what he was going to do. However, Ikaruga grabbed one of his arms, stopping him in place.

"No! Don't…don't hurt him! Please…" Her soft voice made him glanced at her and saw she was still looking down, but was also shaking. Despite her brother's insults towards her, she still cares about him. It made him smile softly. He doesn't know the history between them, but this is a family matter. He decided then and there that Ika should be the one to resolve this.

"Go take Hien back."

Ikaruga darted her head up towards Naruto, who was glancing back towards her. "W-What?"

"Don't just take all his crap laying down like that. Show him you're not afraid." The son of the Fourth Hokage spoke, making her eyes widen. "You're a shinobi and he isn't. Show him he doesn't have the right to call you unworthy when you worked yourself hard to make it this far."

"But..."

"But nothing, Ika." Naruto interrupted, eyes narrowing softly at her. "Hien is a gift your parents gave you, right? Then that means it's something precious to you. That sword is proof that you trained your entire life to reach this point while he decides to be a cheater by taking something your parents gave you. You earned Hien because you worked for it, not him. So go over there, and show him who's boss."

While Naruto's words were slowly sinking within her, Ikaruga still couldn't bring herself to move, as if her feet were rooted to the spot where she stood.

"It's...not that simple."

"It is that simple. You have to take that step forward otherwise you're gonna stay frozen in guilt like this for the rest of your life." This time, Naruto turned around fully to look directly at her, getting her to let go of his arm. He gently grabbed her chin and made her look up at him, which made her flustered as he smiled at her. "Show him the cool and confident class representative that we look up to. Don't let an asshole like this put you down and make you feel unworthy of something you earned. This is your life, not his. He's not your responsibility. Never was, never will."

Ikaruga's bottom lip began to quiver before her eyes rapidly blinked to ward off the growing mist clouding her world. He was right. What was she thinking? Murasame wasn't her responsibility. He didn't have any right to tell her off when she worked so much harder than him to get to where she is now. He didn't have any right to dictate her life. She chose to walk the Path of the Shinobi and she wasn't going to let her brother's childish jealousy force her to leave that path!

Suddenly, Ikaruga vanished, displacing the air with a soft 'fwtt' and a gust of wind. Not even a second later, Murasame yelped when he realized he was suddenly empty-handed.

The long-sword had disappeared.

He looked up just as the raven-haired girl phased in front of Naruto with Hien held securely in her hands and a sturdy gaze befitting a shinobi.

"Brother…Hien is something mother and father entrusted to me and told me 'to not entrust it to someone else'." Ikaruga told him calmly. "You are petty, jealous, and only embarrass yourself with these childish temper tantrums of yours. You do not deserve to wield Hien. Return home and never come back."

Murasame's eyes flared with anger once again as he wiped the blood off his nose and stood. "Why you-! Hien is mine! I will take it back without fail! No matter what I have to do, no matter how long it takes, I will take it back!" He was about to reach inside his shirt before Naruto threw something on his head. It was a small paper with a kanji for 'Stop'. He tried to remove it but he found his whole body frozen.

"W-What the hell is!?" Murasame asked as he tried to move but couldn't.

Naruto smirked. It was a sealing jutsu that would stop someone's movements until the paper was removed.

"That will never happen. It will never be yours and nothing you do will ever change that." Ikaruga's look of determination brightened her demeanor as she finished her statement. "I won't feel guilty. Not anymore. Please take care."

A thick red ribbon wrapped around her hand as she reached inside a nearby wall ornament and grabbed the hidden item. At that moment, the floorboards beneath Murasame's feet dropped open to reveal a trap door that led to a seemingly bottomless pit. Gravity took its course as weightlessness overtook him and he began to fall into the shadows of the blackened hole.

"DAMN YOUUUUUUU~!" Murasame's angry curse echoed out as he disappeared into the darkness before Ikaruga pulled on the rope again, causing the trap doors to close back up again.

Background Song: Thank you, Forever (By: Mariya Nishiuchi)

Silence overtook the room as Ikaruga clenched Hien tightly in her grasp, a weighty wetness building along her eyes. She closed her eyes but then opened them in shock as she felt a warm embrace engulf her. "N-Naruto?"

"It's okay." Naruto said gently as he held her close to him. "You've been holding it in for a long time, right? You don't have to do it anymore. You're still human, Ika. So it's okay to let it out."

Ikaruga's eyes widened at what he said before the tears started to well up again. "Ah…ah…" She wanted to tell him that she was fine. That she was okay so that he could let her go. But nothing could come out. Instead, the tears started streaming down as she dug her face deep into his chest, enjoying his warmness as she let it all out.

Naruto rubbed her back softly as she continued to cry her heart out. They remained still like that for a couple minutes. When Naruto notices Ika stopped crying, he lets her go and steps back. "Feeling better?" He asked.

"Hm." Ikaruga nodded her head and smiled at him. Before she could express her gratitude, she heard a faint sound of her name being called. She looked at the entrance. She turned back to Naruto, only to see that he disappeared. But she did see faint traces of smoke. Now understanding that he sent a clone, she smiled in appreciation. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Ikaruga!" The ravenette blinked as Asuka's voice suddenly called out to her from behind. "What's wrong? You've been gone for a while."

"Oh, it's nothing." Ikaruga replied as she shook her head. "Now, back outside, shall we?"

However, Asuka then raised her hand. "Oh, hold on. Before we go back, I wanna show you this. Check it out!"

Ikaruga watched as the brunette brought out a family tree, but when she noticed what was written down on it, her eyes widened.

"Ah..."

It wasn't just an ordinary family tree. It included everyone in the shinobi class all lined up along with drawings of their heads. Her, Naruto and Katsuragi as the parents, and Asuka, Yagyū and Hibari as the children.

"The six of us are basically a family, so I decided to write that up." The brunette said with an innocent smile.

Ikaruga could only stare at the family tree as her vision started to blur again. To her, it felt okay to have her name listed there. After all, in her shinobi class, she had another family. It was here she understood what Naruto meant when he said "to protect something precious". She found something precious that she wants to protect. It wasn't just Hien but also her friends. Her precious second family.

Asuka gasped when she noticed tears beginning to streak down the raven-haired girl's cheeks. "Wha... Ikaruga, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did something make you sad?"

This time, Ikaruga no longer felt the need to hide her tears any longer and shook her head. "I'm not sad at all." She said with a broad smile. "I'm crying because I'm happy. Thank you, Asuka."

Upon seeing her expression of gratitude, the brunette could only stare with bewilderment. Hiding in the shadows, Naruto had a satisfied smile on his face before he vanished.

---

Later

With the somewhat peaceful day finally over, Naruto, dressed in his white shirt and orange shorts, laid down on bed, thinking of the events that happened today. A part of him still wished he could ask Ika about her brother. But he decided not to. The matter was over and done with now. And now whatever burden Ika carried with her has been lifted. She was happy and that made him happy too. A knock on his door made him sit up and go to it. Opening the door, he was surprised to see Ika there, in her pink lingerie with her hair done in a bun.

"Hi, Naruto."

"Hey, Ika. What's up?" Naruto asked. While true he blushed uncontrollably when he saw her wearing the lingerie, but over time he got used to it. But he still blushed whenever he saw her wearing it because she looked incredibly sexy and Kat's teasing only made it worse.

Ikaruga looked off to the side to avoid his gaze, as if too shy or embarrassed to answer him for a moment. "May I...speak to you for a moment? There's something I'd like to tell you."

Naruto accepted it with a small nod and opened his door to allow the raven-haired girl inside. He sat on the bed while Ikaruga sat on a chair so that they were facing each other. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, first, I would like to thank you for helping me earlier today with my brother."

Naruto shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, whenever my friends are sad, I make it my business to know why. Still though, was that jerk really your brother?"

"Actually, that's also why I came to see you." Ikaruga replied before looking away. "You see, I haven't told the others this, so please keep it a secret."

The whiskered teen was somewhat curious by what she said but he gave a firm nod. Ikaruga remained silent for a minute as she pondered on how she should explain, but she knew that the best thing to do was to just be honest and tell him.

"Does it have something to do with what Yomi said the other day? About you being an heiress?" Naruto asked, already having the idea of what she wanted to talk about.

Ikaruga's eyes widened as he recalled that little info. She lightly bit her bottom lip as she struggled to come clean, before she eventually steeled her resolve and lifted her head to look Naruto in the eyes. "Yes. But the truth is...I'm adopted."

The room became dead silent the moment she let those words leave her lips. Naruto stared at the black-haired shinobi with a wide-eyed expression as he thought back to what Murasame had said about her being an 'outsider'. "Adopted?" he repeated.

Ikaruga nodded. "Yes. Originally, I came from a lesser, distant branch of a rich and noble shinobi clan whose outward appearance is that of a large organization known as the Phoenix Conglomerate. Murasame, who at the time was the only son of the clan heads, was meant to inherit the family treasure, Hien, but lacked the sufficient talent to become a shinobi. When his parents heard that I showed great promise as a shinobi, I was adopted into the family and granted Hien. Since then, Brother has shown nothing but resentment and hatred towards me, since to him, I stole something that he believes rightfully belongs to him."

Naruto remained silent as he listened to the raven-haired girl's explanation. Now it made sense to him why Murasame had said all of those terrible things about Ika back at the ninja room. His resentment for her must have been great if he was willing to go out of his way to steal her sword right out from under her. "That's the stupidest, most childish thing I've ever heard." He said strongly, getting Ikaruga to blink. "It's not your fault that he sucks at being a shinobi, and he has no reason to hate and resent you over something that you don't have control over. He's grown enough to know and accept that fact but he's nothing but whiny little brat. And Ika, you shouldn't blame yourself nor feel guilty over your brother's lack of skills, especially since you trained yourself to rightfully earn Hien."

Ikaruga was surprised to hear him say all that and she responded with a smile. "Yes. Brother was just being petty and wanted to cast the blame for his misfortune onto someone else. I still feel bad for the pain that he had to go through because of our parents' decision, but hopefully he'll eventually come around and realize that there are other professions he can seek out aside from just becoming a shinobi."

"Well, don't feel too bad about it. It was probably for the best anyway." Naruto told her, giving her a pointed look. "If he tried to continue the path of a shinobi, he would no doubt get his stupid ass killed. Your parents knew it too. Besides, I'm sure he'll come around, so you shouldn't worry about that either."

Ikaruga's smile then became more radiant. "Thank you for your kind words, Naruto. I don't know what I would've done without them."

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw her smile. That had to be the most beautiful and radiant smile he ever saw on her face. Her sadness, the burden she has been carrying the whole time since she met her brother all those years ago, was finally lifted off her shoulders. It made his chest feel warm the longer he stared at her smile before he blushed and gave her his signature big smile.

"Yeah! Thank you for telling me your story, Ika. I appreciate it."

Ikaruga nodded her head as she stood up. "It's getting late. I better go and get some sleep. I'll see you-!?" She was about to walk out of the room but her foot got caught by something. She screamed as she fell on Naruto, their forehead colliding against each other, getting them to cry out in pain. Ikaruga used her arms to lift herself and rub her forehead.

"I…Ika?"

Ikaruga's eyes widened as she saw how close she was to Naruto's face to the point their noses almost touched and her chest pressed up against his. She then realized that she was on top of him in a position that would cause misunderstandings to whoever saw them.

For a while, the two didn't move as they continued to stare at each other. Dark blue eyes meeting bright ocean blue eyes. Due to how close they were, they could practically hear their hearts beating rapidly at the same time. A massive blush spread across Ikaruga's cheeks while her eyes turned into comical swirls with smoke coming out of her head as though her brain exploded. She jumped off of Naruto and hurriedly bowed in apology before running out of his room, closing the door behind her. She covered her face and ran across the hallway to enter her room. She covered herself with the blanket and screamed into the pillow over what just happened.

Naruto just remained where he laid, his eyes wide like paper plates with his whole face red. He stared at the ceiling without moving as he continued to hear his heart beating. "These girls are gonna be the death of me…"

---

Author's Note: Not a lot of action in this chapter as it was mostly drama but I'm happy with how it turned out. I wanted to show how some of the girls feel towards Naruto and how much he influenced them by being in their lives.

It's clearly obvious that Katsuragi is starting to form feelings for Naruto, she just doesn't realize it. Hibari is still innocent about stuff like that but over time she'll understand. After the incident between her and her brother, Ikaruga started to feel something towards him. Yagyū is still indifferent to him, but she'll open up to him. Asuka see's him as a reliable friend but her feelings won't show yet. I'll show more of their interactions in the next chapter.

The Homura Crimson Squad meets the Hanzō Squad. The girls were seriously depressed after their counter with them. In the original game, I didn't like how Kiriya handled that situation but I can understand it after he believed Rin died during a mission. With Naruto being who he is, this was the perfect way for him to cheer them up and help them understand that Homura's Squad faced hardships which is why they went to Hebijo and got strong through their hatred.

Naruto was teaching the Hanzō girls that love was the key to acquiring true strength. The love to protect what's precious to them and for them to discover their own nindō and this is the moment where the main canon begins to diverge.

For the Hibari moment, I wanted Naruto to help her understand that she truly was strong, she just needs to have self-confidence and believe in herself. The Zabuza transformation was the perfect set up for Hibari to face off against a scary strong looking ninja. To be honest, I wanted to use Orochimaru but decided not to. Zabuza was the first enemy Naruto faced with confidence and determination unlike with the Demon Brothers. Zabuza and Haku were a great inspiration to Naruto for helping find his Way of the Ninja. And he used them to help the girls.

Since nindō obviously doesn't exist in the Senran Kagura Universe, I want the girls in this world to have their own nindō. Obviously the Hanzō girls were inspired by Naruto's nindō so it gave them an idea of what they want their nindō to be.

That's all I gotta say. Read and review y'all!