Recommended story: 'Shinobi's Creed' by Leaf Ranger
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After the meeting with Anton, Shizune immediately went looking for Kushina. Naruto and the others stayed where they were, and Sakura was trying to see if she could replicated what she had done earlier. Mostly by thrusting her arms forward. But nothing happened.
"Damn, why can't I make it happen again?" She asked in frustration.
"Forehead, at this point aren't you supposed be... I dunno, completely out of chakra and having that mana stuff instead?" Ino asked.
"Your point being?" The pinkette asked back.
"Maybe that's the problem. Maybe you can't use mana the same way you were taught to use chakra." Ino suggested.
"Try it again. Maybe I can see what you're doing." Hinata said, activating her byakugan. Suddenly she gasped. "You... I can't see anything for you. You're blank to my eyes. And not just you, Naruto-kun and Tsunade-sama too." The Hyuuga could see the chakra networks of everyone else, but with the transformed members of the group they were just empty silhouettes to her.
"Blank?" Sakura asked.
Hinata nodded, deactivating her doujutsu as it would serve no purpose now. "I could see your shape but that was it. Mana must not be visible to eyes designed to see chakra."
"Wait, wouldn't you have noticed that in Kushina-san by now?" Sakura asked.
"I... must not have noticed." Hinata bashfully admitted. "The byakugan looks at a lot of stuff all at once. That means a lot of stuff just ends up being peripheral vision to us once we see what we're trying to focus on. So it's entirely likely that all this time I never noticed if Kushina-kaasan had any chakra or not because I was trying to see something else with my byakugan."
"Kushina-kaasan." Sakura repeated, as if testing the title, then smiled. "Well, I guess she is for all intents and purposes your mother-in-law. And mine too."
"But you two aren't married to Naruto." Ino pointed out.
Sakura tapped the mark on her arm. "We've got a ring from him, that's enough for now."
"Is everyone okay?" Kushina called out, coming to the group with Shizune and Tonton beside her.
"Some jerk came here and tried to make Naruto-kun follow him to some meeting without you." Hinata answered, still peeved at that.
Kushina frowned. "And I bet I can guess why."
"That's not all. Somehow I forced the guy away without even touching him." Sakura added.
Kushina didn't look too wondered. "Well then, I'd say that might be a sign of your Gift. We can figure out it's basic nature later. Right now I think we should tell the people here what they can't do to my son."
"Where is he?" A woman with graying hair asked from her seat. "We all know he's here, so why isn't he right here in this room?"
"The incubus's mother is detained, and she's not going to let him speak with us alone." Another woman, this one younger and brunette but wearing a black shoulder-exposing dress, replied.
"My sister has always been irresponsible." A third woman groaned, relaxing in the central seat of the room which happened to be a throne. This woman was Zara Getsude, a biological relative of Kushina and the current queen of Ai no Kuni. She looked like Kushina, only ten years older and purple hair with a yellow regal dress with succubus features fully revealed.
"Yet the only reason we managed to escape total genocide was because of her." The grey-haired woman remarked.
"Just because you're right doesn't mean I'm wrong." Zara stated.
There was a knock at the door to the room, making everyone look to it.
"That must be here and her child. Let them in." Zara insisted, and one of the castle servants opened the door.
As expected, Kushina's group entered the room. It was a decent-sized circular room roughly as big as the classroom Ibiki's test had taken place in. Thin pillars lined the room with two large statues of naked succubi facing each other on opposite sides, connected to the walls like carved maidens on ship hulls. Between the statues on the far end from the door was an elevated portion of the floor with three steps up, and on this platform were three seats, the one in the center being the biggest and most ornate. Carved into the floor before the platform was a green-lined pink heartagram symbol.
"Took you long enough Kushina." Zara claimed, sounding impatient.
"I have my own priorities Zara and I do not apologize for seeing to them first." Kushina said firmly, sounding about as happy to see this woman as she was to be seen.
Naruto quickly looked at the three women seated on the platform. The most notable one was Zara, seated on a gold throne that was sculpted to resemble a male peacock's feathers fanned out, with dozens of gemstones decorating it. To her left was a girl that looked between his age and Ayame's, seated on a silver throne that looked more like a bird in flight seen from below, lacking jewels but decorated in embedded lace instead. To her right was an older woman that looked as old as Naruto assumed Tsunade originally was, seated on a grey stone throne with some padding for comfort but no decoration or design to it at all.
"I am the Queen, when I-" Zara started.
"Yeah yeah spare me the long winded speech Zara, not everyone likes the sound of your own voice as much as you do." Kushina brushed her off.
"What is your problem?" Zara asked, sounding more bothered than concerned.
"Gee, someone who works here approaches my son when I'm not around and tries to make him come to this room without me to speak to you. What the hell do you think is my problem?" Kushina asked back.
"We wanted to see him." The youngest of the royal trio claimed in an innocent way, looking at Naruto then smiled. "Hello, I'm Ursha. I take it you're my cousin?"
Naruto shrugged. "How would I know?"
"I see your skills as a teacher are splendid." Zara said sarcastically to Kushina.
"I taught him only what he needed to know and when he needed to know it." The redhead justified.
"And he didn't need to know of his relatives?" Zara asked.
"What good would that have done him before actually seeing us?" The oldest member of the royal trio remarked to Zara, trying to silence her.
"If you insist, Naruto this is from left to right Sasa Getsude, my birth mother and former queen of Ai no Kuni, Zara Getsude, one of my blood sisters and current queen, and Ursha Getsude, princess and by blood your cousin."
"Great, so now what?" He asked.
"Relax child, we just want to get to know you. The son Kushina talked about nonstop ever since we brought her back home." Sasa said. "Sorry Kushina, I mean our home, not yours." She added, seeing Kushina's bothered look. She knew her daughter had not and still did not consider this country her home.
"Is it true you're an incubus?" Ursha asked eagerly.
Naruto let his wings and tail be revealed.
"So it's true, there is one incubus left in the world." Zara said. "Honestly, I'm surprised. I knew my sister had a son, but I thought the odds of you being an incubus were incredibly low. I'm glad to see her expedition to retrieve you was not a wasted effort."
"Even if he was human, it would not have been a waste." Kushina remarked.
"Oh no Kushina, I meant wasted on our end rather than yours." Zara corrected. "Please boy, introduce yourself to us."
Naruto stepped forward and tried to look impressive. "Alright, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and yes I'm an incubus but there's more to me than just that you know. I'm a strong fighter and clever prankster and..." He paused. "I'm not sure what to really say about myself. Usually when I try I'm told to just shut up."
"Have you taken any mates yet?" Zara asked.
"Yes, us two." Hinata said, putting an arm around Naruto along with Sakura.
"Wow, you've been busy boy." Sasa said with a smile.
"But are they suitable mates?" Zara asked.
"Suitable?" Both Hinata and Sakura repeated, offended and surprised. "You think you can judge us?"
"I'm not trying to judge you. I just wish to know what is it that made him choose you." Zara clarified.
"It's simple, we gave him the love and respect he always deserved but was never allowed to have because this country took his mother away from him without even bothering to take him too." Sakura said, glaring daggers at the rulers of the country. She couldn't help but feel they had plans for Naruto, an agenda that was made more for their benefit than his and were going to tell him he must comply or to hell with him. Essentially, no different than the attitude that made them leave Konoha.
"That's a good point Mom, why did the forces bring back Aunt Kushina but not her son?" Ursha asked, looking at Zara.
"I told you, remember?"
"Yeah, six years ago when it happened. I don't remember anymore."
"We were in a rush. We needed her back right away because the incubus genocide was starting with your father and our whole family in danger. We had left Kushina alone to her chosen home before, but the war was taking a bad turn and-"
"Wait, you mean you already knew where Mom was before you took her away?" Naruto cut off.
Zara didn't look happy to be interrupted, but she didn't call attention to it. "We had been searching for her for some time after she was taken away. It did take time to find her, but we did and concluded she was happy enough in Midgard to let her stay. But things took a turn for the worse for us, and we had to bring her here so she could use her battle experience to help us."
"And after she told you she had a newborn son?" Naruto asked.
"Well given what she described, a giant fox trying to destroy the town with you being right under it, we weren't convinced you had even survived the night." Sasa said simply.
"And you never checked?" Naruto asked again, getting angry.
"We were in a war boy with our species on the risk of being killed off. Sor-ry if we had bigger priorities than checking up on a boy that for all we knew was simply another human." Sasa said dryly.
"And what made you change your mind?" Hinata asked.
"The war ended, but we had lost all incubi. After some time of not finding any and no new incubi born in other matings, we got desperate and took a gamble on the very low odds of you being alive and an incubus. Even if you weren't, at least Kushina would have resolution over you."
"So all this time you've been actively preventing Mom from getting to me for years and forcing her to do what you think is best?" Naruto asked. "And it's only when it's in your own interests that you let her go?"
"There's more to it than that." Zara insisted.
"No it isn't! It's simple!" The whiskered blonde protested. "What if it had been you separated from your kid and forced to fight in a war you didn't even know existed for family you didn't know you had and they told you that they should be your top priority? Would you have been willing to ignore your kid?"
"It's not that simple boy." Zara claimed.
"Bull crap!" Sakura yelled, stepping forward and giving the queen her own evil eye. "You just don't care about anything but yourself!"
Zara blinked, surprised that someone would say this to her. "Young lady-"
"You shut your mouth!" Sakura said, pointing to the queen, who surprisingly did silence herself. "You abduct a woman out of her home and intentionally leave her baby behind all because you need someone to help save your ass in a fight. You actively prevent her from being able to get back home and try telling her that her baby is as good as dead and she might as well just get over it. The only reason you let her go home is because there's a chance her baby can be used for your own agenda if he's still alive. And now that he's here you start judging him and us? I don't care if you are a queen, you do not have authority over us."
"Hey, don't talk to my mom like that!" Ursha said, clenching the armrests of her throne.
"What am I supposed to say? That everything she did was the right thing? Not from where I'm standing." Sakura challenged.
"It wasn't all her fault. You think she's the one who made those choices? No, those were made by the army. She approved them only because we were getting desperate. You think she wanted to hurt you guys?"
Some mumbles from Zara got Ursha's attention, and to her surprise she saw the succubus queen trying to pull her lips apart. "What's wrong Mom?"
Zara seemed to try to shout, but her lips were literally sealed. She was practically clawing at them.
"Whoa, what made this happen?" Sasa asked, equally confused.
"Sakura-chan did you do that?" Naruto asked.
"How could I?" She asked.
"You did tell her to shut up." Hinata pointed out. "And you did tell that other guy to leave Naruto-kun alone and he was pushed back somehow."
"Hmm... Sakura, I think we need to test you." Kushina suggested.
"For what?"
"You'll see. But just to be safe, tell her she can talk again."
"O...kay." The pinkette said, uncertain, then looked to Zara. "You can speak now."
Zara finally opened her mouth and took a few deep breaths with it. "What did you do to me?" She asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea."
"Interesting Gift." Sasa said. "That could come in handy."
"I think this meeting has taken a turn for worse and emotions are flared to the point nothing constructive can be done here." Zara explained. "How about we stop here and call it a day? Maybe talk again at another time?"
"Yeah good luck with that." Naruto said, rolling his eyes.
"Kushina can show you to some rooms to use." Zara said. "Enjoy yourselves, but please don't get too comfortable here. This is a castle, not a clubhouse after all."
"So what are we doing?" Sakura asked as she followed Kushina outside. One of the doctors who helped Sakura become a succubus was there too, observing to make sure that Sakura was adapting to the changes well.
"We're going to test for your Gift. You remember what that is right?"
Sakura nodded. "Yes, it's like a kekkei genkai for just one person, can't be gotten from your parents or given to your children but I presume family lines tend to have a common theme among them."
"Yes, that's true. Now, back in Konoha one can test for their elemental affinity in an easy way. With Gifts, that way isn't an option. there is no one way to test for sure what a person's Gift is. What is done is instead testing unique traits a person has once they show signs of something magical in nature."
"You mean trial and error?" Sakura asked.
Kushina nodded. "Yes, I wish there was a better way but there isn't. At least none I know."
"Actually there is a way to help narrow the field down." Iyoi the doctor said. "Gifts tend to fall into three categories. Body-based for those that have unique physical traits, element-based for those that can affect some parts of the surroundings, and mana-based for those that can do things with their mana others can't."
"My chains are considered a body-based Gift." Kushina claimed.
"I can use a simple test to see what your Gift leans towards. Though this will only work if it's already active. And I should see if you're handling the change so far. Make sure everything internal is still working as intended and all that." Iyoi said.
Sakura nodded. "Alright."
Iyoi cracked her knuckles then put her hand on Sakura's head. "Foehmadu."
From her palm a white glow started and spread over Sakura's body like water, covering her entirely. So far nothing happened, but then the glow around her midsection started turning pink at the front and back.
"What's that mean?" Kushina asked.
Iyoi pulled her hand away and the glow disappeared. "Everything's alright, no problems with her body at all."
"What about that pink glow?" Kushina asked.
"Nothing to worry about. Something that occasionally happens in women. Now let's test for the girl's Gift instead." Iyoi said with a smile then put her hand back on Sakura's head. "Hope it's one you like, because it's the only one you'll have. Tubues yjod Hogy."
There was no glow this time, and after ten seconds Iyoi pulled her hand away. On Sakura's forehead was a dark square the size of her pupil colored like a bruise, and it faded away.
"Square means mana-based. Your Gift has something to do with your mana." Iyoi claimed. "So you at least have a starting point, though I wouldn't get carried away trying to find out what it is."
"Why?" Sakura asked.
"That pink glow that I didn't say anything about, that's why. That means you're pregnant."
Sakura and Kushina were wide-eyed and silent.
Iyoi just chuckled. "I didn't tell you right away because I figured once you knew suddenly your Gift wouldn't be worth thinking about. Guess your boy works fast girl."
The pinkette looked at her stomach. "I'm pregnant? Already?"
"You were told this could happen. Succubi do have a common decency to have kids at this age if they don't use prevention means. And there was a good chance you'd experience a Frenzy quickly with the change." Iyoi told her. "Are you worried?"
"Yes, I am, but... I'm also happy." Sakura admitted with a soft smile. "I can't wait to tell Naruto-kun and Hinata."
"I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother this soon." Kushina said, sounding as worried and happy as the younger girl did.
"I wonder how my parents will take it." Sakura suddenly thought, then looked to Kushina. "We are going to go back someday right?"
Kushina nodded. "You think I plan to make us all stay here? Nope, Zara may be a good queen, but we're not her goons. I've been working on this for a while my deal, and trust me, we will be back home soon enough and Zara won't stop us."
Sakura nodded. "But what if Konoha won't accept us or Naruto-kun when we get back?"
"What will you do if that's the case?" Kushina asked back.
Sakura looked down, then frowned and seemed to guard her stomach. "If Konoha tries anything to my baby, I'll do more than simply make them shut up."