Eroninja

“Excuse me. Pardon me. Sorry.” Naruto said and sighed happily as he sat down in his seat after traversing the obstacle course of people’s toes in order to reach it. Looking at the devastation that was being levied down to the mercenaries, bandits, those looking to make a fortune and whoever else the competitors of the Great Tree Shipping Company had scrounged together, he said, “Man, watching those ladies work is enough to make me glad, I’m not down there.”

His comment and the perceived ignorance of the identities of the Bijuu turned women while partially for the people surrounding him in the audience, was truthfully for the brown-haired woman sitting two seats over from him. Toka though didn’t seem to hear him as her focus remained on the box where the other Bijuu and Mito were standing as they watched Yoruichi, Rangiku, Seven, and the three women that served Tier as vassals fighting against the small army opposing them.

His gaze drifted from her to Sakura, who smiled amused at his comment before replying, “Really, not even a small part of you wants to be down there?”

Hearing the disbelief in his pink-haired lover’s tone, he admitted, “Okay sure, maybe a small part.”

He looked back to the arena just as Seven slipped into a man’s guard and delivered several shots to his stomach. The blows likely would have been bad enough on their own, but her fists were encased in thick stone gloves that only added to the damage. Her opponent grabbed his chest likely suffering from several broken ribs and sunk to his knees. Seven then finished him off by leaping over him and used the back of his head as a springboard which sent his skull smashing into the ground as she flew over a man that had been moving to attack her. She brought her fists down on the top of a woman’s skull that had been following behind him sending her smashing face first into the ground as well. Turning, she punched the person she had leapt over in the face sending him bouncing along the ground before coming to a stop several feet away.

Watching the display Naruto added, “That part is also getting smaller and smaller.”

He looked back at Sakura who gave him a smile that indicated how she didn’t buy it for a moment due to her knowing how competitive he could be. She looked back to the arena floor before saying, “It seems Yoruichi is having a little trouble.”

Naruto turned towards where his dark skinned lover was fighting and to his surprise she did seem to be having trouble landing a disabling blow against one of the opponents she was facing.

****

“Stand still you annoying little bitch,” Yoruichi said to the youngish kunoichi that was facing her after her kick missed it mark leaving a large divot in the ground. Her opponent landed several feet away allowing the dark-skinned woman a moment to study the kunoichi, who was wearing a cloth scarf around her head so that only the eyes were visible as well as a black body suit.

The kunoichi crossed her arms across her chest showing that she held several kunai which she then threw. Yoruichi barely moved her body as she dodged each blade before battering the last one away with her bare hand. She then launched herself forward to knock her opponent out. She closed the distance between them in a moment, and delivered what she felt was a devastating blow to the woman’s stomach.

However, her opponent hit the ground and rolled to her feet revealing that she had managed to lessen the power of the attack by leaping backwards at the last moment. The purple-haired Bijuu fought back an annoyed groan as she was falling far behind her sisters primarily due to the kunoichi facing her. The primary reason she was having such a hard time was due to it appearing that her opponent was fighting to win. Instead, as if she knew she couldn’t beat her, the kunoichi was instead simply concentrating on trying to prevent a blow that would knock her out of the fight. Moreover, she was also preventing Yoruichi from disengaging or taking on other opponents. The kunoichi had surprised not only the Bijuu, but her supposed allies when several men seeing her managing to survive more than a handful of moments had moved to attack the Bijuu turned woman. However, they learned to regret it when the kunoichi had disabled them much to Yoruichi’s annoyance since she couldn’t count them to her total. Seeing her night with Naruto getting flushed down the drain she had tried to eliminate the woman, but her opponent stubbornly refused to be squashed.

Yoruichi cursed the fact that she couldn’t just turn the woman to ash, but Kiyomi hadn’t wanted a bloodbath, since she felt it would be bad for business. She narrowed her golden-eyes at her opponent as she said, “You’ve annoyed me long enough little girl.”

The Bijuu watched the woman tense as she braced herself for a frontal attack, but Yoruichi seemed to disappear from her sight as she moved faster than her opponent could follow. She appeared behind the kunoichi and backhanded her in the cheek from behind sending her skittering across the arena floor. She smirked since she knew the kunoichi was out of the fight as her tensing up to leap backwards had made it so she couldn’t lessen the blow as she had been doing. Yoruichi was about to move to make up for lost time, but saw her sisters Seven and Rangiku were in the midst of the last wave of opponents.

She smirked as Tier’s familiars watched in awe as the two Bijuu easily battered aside the remaining opponents as the competed for the right of being Naruto’s date for his eighteenth birthday bash. Accepting that she wouldn’t be able to catch up at this point, she moved towards the woman that had caused her to lose her bet. Upon reaching the prone woman she bent down to remove the scarf as she said, “I hope you’re proud of yourself. Thanks to your interference my…Soifon!”

Yoruichi stared at the bruised face of Soifon in surprise, but her eyes grew to the size of saucers as the scarf that she had pulled away began to smoke revealing that it had exploding tags affixed to it. “You crazy…”

The area that the two women were standing in erupted into a huge fireball. Yoruichi stared at it as she stood on top of the arena wall that separated the audience from the combatants. She stared down at the young woman she was holding in her arms and asked, “Are you insane? How’d you know I’d rescue you?”

Soifon’s cheeks began to color as she answered, “For the same reason that you helped defend the Leaf Village during Pain’s attack.”

Yoruichi wanted to correct the kunoichi’s thinking since it was apparent she had the wrong idea behind her actions that day. Soifon obviously thought she had helped the village out of a sense of kindness or pureness of spirit, but truthfully she had simply done it because it was Naruto’s home. However, unable to explain as much she instead asked, “What are you doing in this contest anyway?”

“I snuck in because I wanted to make you acknowledge me,” Soifon said staring up with hopeful eyes.

“I acknowledge that you’re a pain in the ass,” the Bijuu replied. “Here take her,” she said to a pair of medics approaching to check their condition and to whom she tossed the kunoichi. Yoruichi then leap back into the arena before making her way to the box where her other siblings were watching as Seven and Rangiku finished mopping up the rest of the first round opponents.

*****

The man hid behind a rock wall that the brown-haired woman had made earlier which had devastated a formation of his fellow bandits. There was dust everywhere giving the arena a hellish appearance. He had jumped in with the final wave confident that he and the bandit group he had led would succeed where all the others had failed. Little did he know he had been jumping into a pit of hell. “N-no reward is worth this,” he thought afraid to give voice to his complaint less he become targeted by one of the two demons in control of whatever hellish domain he had been teleported to once he left the arena stands.

What truly was tormenting him, outside of the screams of those hit by the jutsu the women were wielding was the way they were counting them off. He heard a pair of screams and heard each woman say, “Seventy-nine.”

An unnatural silence fell over the arena as no new screams followed in their wake. The dust around him began to settle as he heard the blonde woman say, “That can’t be it. Are you sure you counted right? There’s no way that you’re tied with me.”

The other woman replied heatedly, “I was just about to ask the same thing. I find your count rather suspect since I figured you’d lose count after running out of fingers and toes.”

“There’s one way to settle this,” the blonde said holding the hilt of her sword towards the brown-haired woman as the ash that she wielded wrapped around her form.

“Oh, I’d like that.” The other woman said as a pair of rock snakes rose from the ground behind her.

The bandit wasn’t sure what was prompting the two women to turn on each other, but wasn’t going to question his good fortune. He broke from his cover as he ran for the arena edge, but unfortunately the movement attracted the two women’s attention. As one they motioned towards the man causing their jutsu to fly off in pursuit. The man turned to face the jutsu and was hit by the ash and one of the snakes at the same time. He was launched into the air as he heard each woman claim, “Eighty.”

His world went dark so he didn’t hear the argument that followed even as a horn sounded proclaiming the end of the first round.

****

Tsunade watched as Mito stepped to the microphone as she said, “We’ll have a fifteen minute intermission before the start of the next round.” Her grandmother than stepped back into the shadows and from her fox mark the Hokage knew she was leaving the box from which she had watched the first round.

“That was certainly interesting,” Jirocho said as the medical teams moved to clear the wounded or unconscious from the arena floor. “I think it is safe to say that whether Great Tree Shipping Company wins or loses this competition after that display people are going to take them seriously.”

Tsunade nodded, although her mind was currently still processing the revelation that Soifon had entered into the contest. She motioned for Shizune, who stepped away from the wall behind her seat and leaned over her shoulder. Tsunade whispered something into her ear causing her attendant to nod before leaving the Hokage viewing box.

Jirocho noticing his friend’s preoccupation asked, “Trouble?

“I hope not,” Tsunade answered. “One of the entrants turned out to be a former kunoichi of the village. After Pain’s attack she filed her paperwork to be discharged. I’m just concerned that she might be starting along the path of a rogue-nin.”

Jirocho arched an eyebrow as he replied, “I’m rather surprised you’d let one so young step away from her duties.”

Tsunade shrugged as she said, “I know most people believe that when one becomes a shinobi it is a lifetime obligation. There is some truth to that, but unfortunately a profession such as ours tends to come with a large amount of mental and physical strain. Since a shinobi who cracks or whose heart and body is no longer wholly in it can be a danger to themselves and their comrades, we’re almost forced to let such people resign.”

“So what category did that kunoichi fall into?”

“That is what Shizune is going to ascertain,” the Hokage replied. “Soifon was just one of many that wished to relinquish their duties in the aftermath of Pain’s attack. Such an event can shake even the hardiest of shinobi, and make them reevaluate what’s important to them.”

“Still considering the skills you impart your shinobi with its only natural that you’d be rather hesitant to part with them. Plus, if it’s so easy to leave why do so many becoming missing-nin?”

Tsunade looked over towards her friend as she responded, “Well keep in mind that for a time I wasn’t an active member of Konoha’s forces. After Dan’s death my fear of blood and general disdain for the principles that guide most Leaf shinobi all but forced my retirement. That doesn’t mean I was free to use my skills just any way I choose. While some that leave the village do use their skills for personal gain, so long as they don’t break the law or join another shinobi village they are free to do so.” She looked back to the arena to see that most of the human wreckage had been cleared away as she added with a shrug, “The reason so many choose the path of missing-nin is because it can be the more profitable means of using their skills. I suppose the reason that so many break with Konoha while still active though is because they trade on their position to gain some advantage in their new life. For example, the thief that stole my great-uncle’s sword and who tried to stop your runner during the race would never have had access to it if he hadn’t been a Leaf shinobi at the time.”

Jirocho nodded before commenting, “Well, he wasn’t the only one that gained something of value from his defection.”

Tsunade smiled as she noticed that Idate appeared a little uncomfortable at his master’s mentioning of how he had ended up joining the Wasabi family as a result of Aoi’s betrayal. Tsunade gave the young man a wink to put him at ease that the Leaf didn’t consider him a potential threat. Shizune returned and whispered in her ear causing her to let out a relieved sigh before saying, “But it appears I may have been worried over nothing.” Tsunade could tell that Jirocho was curious about what she meant, but the Hokage let the matter drop as it seemed her grandmother had already insured that while Soifon might not be serving the Leaf directly. Her skills would nonetheless be aiding its desire to build better relations through trade as a member of the Great Tree Shipping Company.

*****

“Where have you been?” Yoruichi asked as Mito returned to the viewing box where the Bijuu were gathered.

Mito looked at the dark-skinned woman as she answered, “Oh, I was offering that young woman that gave you such a hard time a job.”

“What!” Yoruichi said less than pleased, “Why would you do something like that?”

Before Mito could respond a disembodied voice answered, “Relax Yoruichi, it’s not like we’re inviting her into the mansion.”

Yoruichi frowned as she crossed her arms defiantly as she mentally replied, “Even still Kiyomi, it’s not like you’re the one that’s going to suffer from her antics. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve caught her sneaking onto the grounds.”

She could feel her sister’s mental shrug as she replied, “And now she’ll have an official means to get close to you. It’s obvious the woman looks up to you. Would it kill you to be somewhat kind to her?”

Kukaku didn’t give Yoruichi a chance to respond as she asked, “But what is it that you’re playing at here? I don’t like being kept in the dark, Kiyomi. If you have another angle that you’re little contest is supposed to accomplish then you should have told us.”

“You determine your own involvement, Kukaku,” Kiyomi mentally responded from her study in the mansion. “I’ve laid out all my plans that involve you. This little addition was all Mito.”

Mito folded her arms in the sleeve of her kimono as she explained, “Yoruichi, my reason for inviting her to work for the company wasn’t to annoy you or make you play nice. But to make use of the main aspect of this competition which is promote the Great Tree Shipping Company. Keep in mind that if the plan works then we’re going to be busier than we can handle. At present there are only eleven of you and likely many times more shipments than that will be coming our way. Therefore, this is a prime opportunity to recruit potential guards for those shipments. Soifon for example lasted a considerable amount of time in a contest were people more experienced than her were easily eliminated. It isn’t just our rivals out in that audience but also future clients. Clients, who just witnessed that kunoichi fight against a woman that easily outclassed her, but if nothing else eked out a personal victory. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to imagine that those future clients will expect a similar effort from her on their behalf as well.”

Yoruichi relented as she said, “Fine, but you better tell her to stop trying to sneak onto our property.”

Mito smiled, but before she could say anything a horn sounded indicating the start of the second round. She turned around surprised, since she had been addressing all the women officially listed as employees of the Great Tree Shipping Company. However, due to her gesture during her speech, the person in charge of sounding the horn did so upon seeing a group of twenty men leave the competitors’ area followed by a short child wearing a skull helmet from the box where the genin viewed the matches from during the chunin exams and was where the Bijuu were residing.

*****

Nel felt giddy as she heard the sound of the horn indicating that the next round had started. She turned back and pulled the skin of her eye down as she stuck her tongue out as Rangiku ended her argument with Seven over who had taken out the last competitor in their round to say, “Nel, get back here you little brat. You know you aren’t supposed to be in the competition.” Her tune changed though as a result of Nel’s gesture to, “Fine, be that way. I hope they give you the spanking you deserve.”

She turned back to face her opponents as Mirajane said, “Leave her be Rangiku. Those chumps are weak.”

Nel frowned since even though she was getting what she wanted, it was only because her sister was underestimating her. But before she could grow too bothered by it, she heard Kiyomi’s voice say, “Nel, focus on the task at hand.”

“Right,” Nel said aloud holding both her hands in the ear. Glad that while most of her sisters were treating her like a kid, Kiyomi was encouraging her desire to help Naruto’s ambition.

“Good,” Kiyomi said having thus far “watched” the competition through her child-like sister. Upon seeing that after the spectacular defeat her company’s rivals had suffered in the first round, they had adapted a more refined tactic. She figured that the current band was meant to be used as a means to gauge the remaining women’s capabilities without expending too many assets. Therefore, she had encouraged Nel to meet the new enemy. Her reason for doing so was twofold. The first was, despite her diminutive size Nel was still a Bijuu, and while her small form was not as powerful as the other women. She felt it didn’t serve a valid purpose to hold her back. If they wanted Nel to recover then they needed for her to push herself in order to force her dormant powers to the surface. She knew it would seem a rather harsh plan to put into motion considering her sister’s outward appearance, but as Nel had reminded Rangiku in part thanks to Kiyomi, she was the same age as the other Bijuu.

The other reason was to further demoralize her rivals’ men. Despite all the rational of her first reason, she knew it would be a rather disheartening display to watch a child-like kunoichi smack around full grown men. One of those men, the leader of the group and a bandit with the colorful name of The Dragon, didn’t appear amused at his opponent as he said, “What the hell is this. I didn’t sign up to smack around some kid.”

“No,” one of his partners said pulling a blade, “you did it for a shit pile of money. Stand back and watch. This’ll be the easiest 10 mil anyone’s ever made.”

The man charged forward to hit Nel with the back of his blade, but she disappeared from his sight. Before he could stop himself she appeared near his face as she said, “Tag, you’re it.” She then slapped his face causing him to twist around in the air before landing in a heap behind the turquoise haired Bijuu. The other men held back as Nel turned towards the man that she had just hit while she said, “Okay it’s your turn to try and tag Nel.”

Not receiving a response from the unconscious man, she puffed her cheeks before coming up with the idea, “Okay, we’ll play eternal tag. Nel will be it until she tags everyone.” She turned towards the remaining men who swore her eyes glowed sinisterly for a moment as she wore a mischievous smile.

Sensing his comrades losing their spine the Dragon said, “Calm down you cowards she’s…”

He didn’t finish his sentence as he had taken his eyes of the kunoichi so was surprised when she had closed the distance to say, “You’re it.” He received a similar blow across the face causing him to bounce away as Nel landed in front of her remaining opponents.

One of whom said as he began to back away, “Where the fuck did they find these women? T-they’re monsters. I’m not getting paid enough for this shit.” The man broke away from his comrades running for the edge of the arena.

Still the majority of the remaining men charged Nel, who began running away holding her arms out as she laughed while leading the men around the arena. The men began to organize as they tried to come at Nel from different directions, but found the child-like kunoichi easily avoided their efforts to “tag” her only to receive one in return. By the time it was down to the last two opponents the tables had turned so that Nel was the one doing the chasing much to the amusement of those watching in the audience.

“G-get away from us,” one of the men shouted as he looked back to see the little kunoichi gaining on them. Wondering how she could keep up on such small legs, he decided that he had enough and broke off away from his partner to run up the wall and to safety.

The Dragon woke up to hear that he and his men had been turned into laughingstocks. His eyes narrowed on the kunoichi chasing his last man so getting back to his feet decided to teach the woman a lesson. Taking a deep breath, and using the technique he had learned as a member of the Hotspring Village before it turned to tourism and he decided to become a bandit, he expelled a huge fireball that had earned him the moniker of the Dragon. He smirked as the jutsu hit where the woman had been standing.

However, his smirk faded as his jutsu instead of exploding appeared to grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared to reveal that it had been swallowed by the kunoichi. She appeared a little uncomfortable for a moment before she opened her mouth and a fire jutsu twice as large as the one he had launched shot forth. The Dragon pissed himself as the large fire jutsu closed with him, but before it hit a blonde woman in white appeared in front of him and held out one of her hands. A large wall of water appeared in front of them which the jutsu hit causing the arena to erupt into steam.

When the steam cleared it revealed Tier standing in front of the Dragon with Nel standing opposite her. It also revealed that the last of Dragon’s Bandits had taken the opportunity to run out of the arena during the chaos. The Dragon was torn between, running for his life as the blonde woman was giving him a look that screamed of her intent to cut him down, and picking up the fight since his crew’s reputation would be ruined if word reached the other bandit crews that they had been taken out by a pipsqueak. The decision was taken out of his hands though as Nel appeared next to him and said, “That’s no good mister. You can’t get back up and play after Nel tags you.” She then slapped him again knocking him out and sending him rolling along the arena floor causing the horn to sound for the end of the second round blew.

****

Nel ran about happily in front of her sister as she basked in the applause that the audience showered her with as they returned to their viewing box. Mito smiled at the display as she mentally thought, “That was rather risky of you wasn’t it Kiyomi.”

“Hardly,” Kiyomi replied, “As she just showed, despite her childish tactics she possesses more than enough strength to deal with rudimentary opponents. It also helped me confirm my belief that her power is simply lying dormant. When she swallowed and redirected that jutsu, her chakra briefly spiked. If she’s going to recover her full strength and perhaps even her memories she is going to need to be pushed. Not something she’ll likely get if we baby her by keeping her at the mansion.”

“I suppose so,” Mito conceded as she watched Rangiku and Seven put their feud on hold to praise their sister for her victory. “I suppose that it didn’t hurt to remind the rest of your siblings of this fact as well.”

******

Both Kiyomi and Mito’s attention was pulled to Kukaku as she said, “Looks like getting their asses kicked by a kid has caused them to pull out all the stops. I’ll clean up the rest of the garbage.” She then leaped over the railing landing in a squat causing some of those that had already entered the arena to take a step back. She was about to walk towards the center but stopped as she gruffly asked, “Who invited you to tag along.”

Urd seemed to glide to the arena floor as she responded, “I do not require your permission. Besides, there appears to be more than enough for both of us.”

“Fine, but stay out of my way.”

Kukaku grinned as the horn sounded and the first wave ran towards her ignoring Urd. Kukaku’s pride liked to think it was because they recognized her as a true power unlike the woman that had been born from a shard of their still trapped sibling. Leaping into her opponents’ midst, she slammed her knee into a man’s face causing him to fall backwards. She avoided a sword swipe to her back from a woman, and responded with a kick that connect to her opponent’s cheek with her wooden sandals. The woman flew into another man who was knocked over by the human projectile.

Leaping back to create some distance she held out her hands and spit out a round glob of lava in each one. The lava quickly hardened into round rocks which she then tossed at the first two men that charged her. The projectiles connected hitting one man in the stomach, and the other in the shoulder which caused him to spin around. The first man collapsed as he struggled to breath and Kukaku used him as a spring board to catch a third opponent in the face with punch as she descended.

Kukaku noticed that even as her group thinned it didn’t seem like more people were joining in to take her out. Sparing a moment, she looked to see that Urd using a tactic like Nel had, was simply avoiding her opponents and as such was inviting more and more people to target her. However, after several minutes of this, the woman had no place to retreat to.

Kukaku cursed as she knocked out another opponent out and mumbled about having to bail the false Bijuu out. But then to her shock all those surrounding the dark-skinned woman began to collapse. She looked on as Urd smirked at her as she held several vials between her fingers. A green midst was floating out of them and Kukaku suspected that Urd had learned to mix what was in them from Shizune as the new eight-tails seemed to have a passion for potions and poisons.

Still, despite Urd’s effectively cutting the number of opponents they faced in half, Kukaku still refused to be impressed. To her way of thinking, relying on such means just proved to her why she was unworthy of the title of Bijuu. Kukaku did curse that she couldn’t kill her opponents since her lava based jutsu would easily thin the heard in a similar manner and show Urd how a true Bijuu should fight.

Kukaku watched as the last group of opponents leapt into the arena and prepared to charge. The four-tails sighed as she would admit to having grown bored with the contest, but prepared to grind it out. However, she found her eyes drifting to the sky as dark clouds began gathering overhead. Looking back towards Urd, she could feel the power rolling off of her as she held her hands above her head as she gathered the darkened clouds. Kukaku turned towards the last wave who upon recognizing the danger all charged towards the white-haired woman.

It turned out to be exactly what she wanted as a bolt of lightning struck her hands and coalesced into a ball which then exploded out in a wave of energy that hit all those moving to engage her. Kukaku would admit to being impressed as her vision recovered to see their opponents frozen like statues as the wave had short-circuited their synapses. Their bodies unable to receive the signals their brains were sending remained motionless as Urd began walking between them.

Kukaku followed behind as the horn sounded ending the current round. The four-tails would admit to being somewhat curious to know what was motivating Urd’s actions, since it was apparent she had been honing her skills. The curiosity intensified as they reached the viewing box and Urd announced to Seven and Rangiku, “I believe the ninety-three that I bested beat the eighty of you two. Therefore, the right to escort Naruto for his birthday is mine.”

“What,” Rangiku said in open jawed wonderment, “but you’re not even a member. Plus you weren’t a part of the bet or the…”

“No one said that we had to shake on it, and I don’t recall anyone saying that the matter had to be decided in the first round,” Urd said calmly. “If you wanted to settle it you should have joined one of the following rounds.”

Yoruichi began laughing as Seven and Rangiku wilted at the realization that Urd’s logic meant they had been arguing over nothing. Rangiku bounced back though as she said, “Well if that’s the case then I’ll just take part in the next round.”

Seven still with her head slumped pulled at her sister’s sleeve as she said sadly, “It’s not going to matter.”

“W-why not,” the blonde said growing whiny.

Sounding depressed Seven answered, “Because there are only two sponsors left, and they each entered one competitor.”

“No fair,” Rangiku pouted.

*****

Jirocho was sure he wasn’t the only one confused as he noticed the blonde woman Rangiku drop into a crouch and began to draw circles with her finger on the floor. “I wonder what’s eating at her,” he stated aloud, “you’d think she’d be pleased with how her teammates are performing.”

He noted that Tsunade seemed to have some insight into the matter as she replied, “Yes, you would think so.” Yet whatever it was she didn’t seemed inclined to share.

His attention was pulled away by Idate as his family member said, “Sir, there are only two sponsors left. The organizers would like to know which of you would like the honor of going next.”

“Let’s save the best for last shall we,” Jirocho replied which brought a smile to his and Tsunade’s faces. Idate nodded in order to relay the information that they would let the other sponsor go first.

*****

To say that Toka was impressed by the battles she had witnessed thus far would be an understatement. Even during her time, finding a collection of shinobi of such skill in one clan or unit at the same time would be unheard of. To find twelve of them, as she was including Nel, would have sent shockwaves through the shinobi world in her era. She imagined that would also be the case now, although perhaps a little more muted. Looking at the Leaf village shinobi she had met, she doubted that even it would be able to claim having as many high caliber shinobi available.

Toka did realize that unlike a village the woman in charge of the Great Tree Shipping Company wasn’t bound to any one territory as she had looked for her warriors. It was a formula she realized the group that had called itself Akatsuki had also used. But still, she did wonder how her grand-niece could appear to be so calm at having so many S-ranked kunoichi based in her home village when they were not under her control.

Her gaze locked onto the red-head that owned the company the women in question worked for, and not for the first time felt a sense of familiarity. She had upon first laying eyes on her, while waiting for Naruto to show up, asked the two kunoichi of Team Kakashi why it was she looked almost exactly like Mito Uzumaki. Sakura had explained how she had surgery to alter her appearance as a way to start over after waking up from an attempt on her life by her husband and family.

While on the surface the story did sound plausible to Toka, she just couldn’t wholly accept it. She felt one of the reasons was due to the fact that in the short amount of time she had observed the woman called Kiyomi. She had noticed a lot of mannerism that she would have attributed to Mito and one thing Toka prided herself on was her eye for detail. Primarily as it was a key skill for one who was a genjutsu specialist. Those that wielded genjutsu had to be able to notice things in the world that others would miss since a single flaw in an illusion would alert an opponent that they were in one. This skill translated to people and their mannerism as well and while Kiyomi could capture Mito’s image through a photograph. Mimicking her movements was another matter entirely. More to the point, if Toka had to be honest with herself it looked more like Mito was pretending to be someone else instead of the other way around.

The Senju looked at Naruto out of the corner of her eye and knew that the Uzumaki had recently fought a resurrected Mito. Her gaze traveled from him to the box where her grandniece was sitting and wondered if the reason Tsunade was so at ease with having such powerful women in her village was because they were answering to her grandmother.

On the surface she knew it was crazy, but she theorized that perhaps Naruto’s clash with Mito may have been staged to explain her presence. She quickly dismissed it since it didn’t make sense to introduce Mito as a resurrected person when Kiyomi had been around for a while prior. Not to mention that the tales she had heard had claimed Mito had been resurrected using Edo Tensei, and she knew most people would immediately recognize the signs of that jutsu. Frowning at her inability to figure out what was going on, she decided the best way to get answers would be to confront the woman in question.

She stood prompting Naruto to ask, “Where are you going? The next fight is about to start.”

Toka smiled politely as she answered, “There’s something that I need to do. Also, considering what we’ve already seen and how the last two sponsors each only have a single fighter to their name I doubt that these last two fights are going to be all that impressive.”

Fu shook her head as she replied, “Fu believes that might not be the case. If anything she believes that since they are only entering one person those sponsors believe their competitors are strong.”

“Be that as it may,” Toka said as she began sliding down the aisle, “my business is rather pressing. I’ll see you tomorrow at the training field Naruto for our practice in breaking genjutsu.” Toka didn’t really hear Naruto’s reply as she was already plotting how to confront the woman that her instincts were telling her was Mito Uzumaki. A woman she had once been quite friendly with until their friendship had fallen apart after she had married her cousin.

*****

Mito watched as a woman approached the microphone and was surprised she was only entered into the event as a sponsor since she carried herself like a solider. She had aqua eyes and rose colored hair which flowed with the soft breeze as did the cape that she wore. Mito also spotted the sword that she wore at her right hip and knew it wasn’t there just for show. She felt some concern since the woman gave off the air of a competent warrior which made her wonder why she wasn’t entering the contest herself.

Speaking into the microphone the woman said, “I commander Lightning of the Land of Iron’s Fairy Battalion will be entering one of my subordinates, Erza Scarlet. Mito’s attention was pulled to a small tunnel as a young woman of around fifteen entered the arena. She was dressed in red Hakama that had flames at the end of the leggings. Her chest was bound only by bandages as she carried her sword on her shoulder.

Mito smirked as she realized what the woman Lightning was doing. “Very clever,” she said to no one in particular.

“What is?” Urd asked stepping next to her to take her measure of the new combatant.

Mito’s gaze drifted to where she felt Naruto was sitting and frowned as she couldn’t spot Toka, since she felt the Senju could relate to the plight of the Samurai-Ko of Iron Country. Addressing Urd, she explained, “It would seem we aren’t the only ones using this event for reasons tied to publicity.”

“I don’t understand,” Urd said as her gaze traveled between the two female representatives of the Land of Iron, “why would samurai of Iron Country need to bother with publicity. Their prowess in battle is quite well known.”

“True,” Mito conceded, “Yet, I think you will find that holds true only for the men. The samurai tend to be more chauvinistic then even the shinobi of my era. The reason they are called the Fairy Brigade is because it is comprised solely of women, and more to the point it was meant as an insult. To the samurai of Iron Country, fairies are delicate creatures with no place on the battlefield. Still, typically the Samurai tend to remain within their own borders, although recently I have heard tales of teams of samurai-ko accepting missions similar to shinobi.”

“Let me guess,” Urd said with a hint of ire, “The men feel taking jobs for money is beneath them.”

“I believe so,” Mito replied, “Although it is possible that these Samurai-ko feel similarly, but see them as the best path to being accepted as equals. I’m guessing they see taking missions as the best venue to displaying their skills and showing their male counterparts that they are just as good as them. I’m guessing that this Lightning woman is using this contest as a chance to showcase those skills, much like us.”

“Then it’s too bad I’m going to crush this girl they nominated,” Mirajane said landing on the railing next to Mito in a couch. Giving her opponent a dismissive look she added, “It’s going to be kind of hard to take them seriously after the beat down I give this bitch.”

The six-tailed Bijuu then leapt into the arena and approached her opponent as she took her stance. The samurai-ko Erza inclined her head as she politely said, “Your comrades have displayed impressive prowess in battle. I look forward to our own match.”

Mirajane gave a dismissive snort as she replied disrespectfully, “That’ll last all of a few seconds. I promise.”

Erza’s gaze darkened as a result of the disrespect that her opponent showed her. Concentrating on her breathing she brought her blade down by her hip as she prepared to end the fight with a quick draw strike upon the start of the match. The horn blew, causing her to swing in an upwards motion. Yet despite her attack being quick and precise, she was shocked to find that not only had it missed, but she had lost sight of her opponent. Her gaze widened in shock as she heard from behind her, “What are you swinging at?” Erza attempted to swing behind her, but her opponent caught the wrist of her sword arm, and she screamed out in pain as she received a kick to her ribs.

Mira then tossed her opponent, who recovered gracefully landing on her feet as the white-haired woman slowly turned to face her. The Bijuu smirked as she asked, “Are you having fun yet?”

Erza didn’t respond to the taunt as she charged forward and swung at her opponent several times. Mirajane avoided them all stylishly, although she admitted to herself that several of the attacks came closer to connecting than she was comfortable with. Still, the Six-tailed Bijuu was able to find an opening in her opponents attacks which she exploited delivering a palm strike to Erza’s chin which rocked the red-headed woman’s head back. Before she could recover, Mira followed up by spinning and delivering a kick to her opponent’s stomach that sent her flying back.

Erza managed to recover rolling into a crouch after she hit the ground. She breathed heavily as she held her stomach with one hand while keeping her guard up with her blade in the other.

Mira’s voice did nothing to hide her amusement as she said, “Well you can certainly absorb punches with the best of them.”

Erza stood, and pulled the hand that had been holding her stomach to place it on the handle of her blade. Steadying her feet, she replied, “Perhaps my resiliency is due to the lack of force behind them.”

Mira’s eyes narrowed at the rejoinder before she threatened, “Fine, no more kiddy gloves for you then.”

The six-tailed Bijuu charged her opponent set on finishing her with a single punch. Erza waited until the last second to avoid it, surprising the white-haired woman as she stepped to the side and brought her sword over her head. Mira managed to avoid Erza’s downward diagonal swing by backpedaling back. The red-head continued to spin presenting her back to her opponent, who tried to capitalize on it by charging forward. Erza though stabbed back with the sword causing it to shoot out from the left side of her hip. Mira managed to grab the blade and kicked the samurai-ko in the back sending her forward as she was forced to let go of her weapon.

Mira smirked as she tossed the blade behind her while Erza got back to her feet. “Not bad, you’ve almost made this entertaining,” the Bijuu said as she walked slowly towards her downed opponent.

The samurai-ko managed to get into a crouch as the kunoichi closed with her. Eyeing her sword, she smirked prompting her opponent to ask, “What’s so funny?”

The Bijuu grew annoyed since Erza didn’t respond to her question. She intended to wipe the smirk off the red-head’s face, but before she could she sensed a threat from behind. Turning, she caught the hilt of Erza’s sword to her face as the woman called it back to her using her extreme gift in Magnet Release. Erza caught the blade as she leapt out of her crouch as Mira shook her head from the jarring blow, only to have her bell rung once more as the samurai-ko slammed her knee into her face.

Using her magnet release, Erza held her hand out towards her opponent and propelled her backwards using the Bijuu’s own magnetic field. Mira slammed into the arena wall hard enough to leave an impression before sliding down to her hands and knees. “You should surrender as the sharpest thing about you is that tongue of yours.”

Mira didn’t hear Erza’s taunt as she focused on the blood that was leaking from her possibly broken nose which she had received from the samurai-ko’s knee strike. “Y-you fucking…you fucking bitch!!!” Mira shouted as she roared up at the sky while her chakra flared dangerously. “I’m going to reduce you to ash!!!”

Mira’s chakra began spilling out of her in black and purple arcs as she combined her yin and yang releases within her. A large pillar of chakra shot into the sky which caused several spectators who had stood to get a better view of what they imagined would be an extreme technique to get blown back into their seats. As the chakra dispersed, many people gasped at the woman’s appearance which although she looked like a scantily clad young woman, also resembled something less than human as a result of the bat like wings, pointy ears, as well as a scaly tail and hands. The audience was further shocked as she leapt into the air to hover over her opponent and they began to feel a vestige of fear that the last place they wanted to be was in the arena as a result of the dark ball of chakra taking shape over the woman’s outstretched hands. “Prepare for oblivion!” Mira shouted as she prepared to release the beast ball taking shape over her head to wipe out her opponent and likely the arena.

However before she could, she suddenly found ash wrapping around her body causing her jutsu to dissipate as she lost her concentration while she attempted to batter it away. She crashed into the ground as the ash wrapped around her wings, and soon was completely cocooned in it as a result of the chakra suppression tag that Rangiku slipped on her which Mito had passed the one-tailed Bijuu.

Rangiku could hear her sister cursing her from within her ash prison prompting the blonde to say, “Sorry Mira, you’re getting a timeout. Honestly, what were you thinking? It’s your own fault for taking your opponent so lightly.”

Focusing on the still stunned Erza, the blonde woman said, “My employer has instructed me to inform you that as a result of Mirajane’s losing her head like that we will declare you the winner of this round.”

Erza was shocked by the pronouncement, but with a quick shake of her head replied, “I’m afraid I cannot accept. If you hadn’t have stepped in there would have been no way for me to counter that jutsu. There is no honor in accepting a victory on a technicality. I was outclassed.”

Rangiku nodded even as she cheerfully said, “Have it your way then. Personally, I’d have taken the victory.”

Erza gave a polite smile as she responded, “A tainted victory, would only sour a future one. I may have been outclassed this time, but it will be a different story the next time we cross paths.”

Rangiku looked back at the cocoon of ash that surrounded her sister before focusing on the samurai-ko, “I’m sure it’ll be a sight to see.” Raising her hand, she caused the ash encased Mira to lift into the air before adding as she sat on her, “Let’s just hope it’s somewhere far from a populated area shall we.” She then directed her entombed sister and herself up into the viewing box as Erza returned to her commander’s side to watch the final match.

******

Naruto blew out a sigh of relief as he watched the red-head samurai leave the arena floor. “I guess Toka was wrong about these last matches not being exciting,” Sakura said torn between amused and concerned, since the Six-tails had demonstrated the potential drawbacks of having Bijuu not necessarily aligned with Naruto’s ideals in the village.

Naruto nodded as he responded, “I think we can all agree that wasn’t the type of excitement that we had in mind.”

Both Fu and Sakura nodded before the former host of the seven-tails said, “It’s time.”

“Huh, time for what?” Naruto asked as both his lovers stood and began making their way down the aisle. The blond noticed that Sakura had picked up a bag which had been under her chair before following after the green-haired woman.

Fu looked back and gave him a smile as she replied, “To find out you’ll have to follow us.”

Although he didn’t want to miss the final match, he also was curious as to what his lovers were up to so gave chase. As he did so, he also noticed that Tsunade had left the Hokage’s viewing box and was making her way down towards the tunnel that Erza had appeared from earlier. A location which it seemed both Sakura and Fu were also heading to. The two kunoichi looked back towards him before turning into the tunnel that led into the arena where he felt Tsunade was already waiting. Making the turn himself, as he heard Idate beginning to announce who Jirocho was sponsoring in the match, he asked, “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on my love,” Tsunade said as Sakura produced his cloak from the bag she had brought, “is that we need to get Jirocho’s champion ready for his match.” She could see that Naruto quickly understood that he was who Idate was announcing a fact aided as pink-haired lover helped him into the red cloak he wore into battle ever since mastering Sage mode. She placed a quick peck on his cheek which was followed by Fu planting another on the opposite one. Both kunoichi giggled as they raced back to retake their seats before Naruto emerged.

Tsunade could see the gears turning in her lover’s head so said, “I apologize for not telling you earlier, but Jirocho made it a part of his request. He was a little concerned your exuberance would tip off some of the other sponsors participating in the contest as to what he had planned.” Tsunade amended her explanation as she added, “Although truthfully, I probably would have kept it quiet on my own anyway.”

“Why,” Naruto asked confused.

“To lessen this moment right now my love,” Tsunade said with a soft smile. “I can see you are worried about harming Kiyomi’s plan, or perhaps even the village’s standing with a loss. I assure you neither can be further from the truth. As the last match just proved there’s a very good reason A and S class shinobi don’t typically showcase their skills to the fullest of their abilities.” The Hokage closed with her lover and placed a chaste kiss on his lips before adding, “So just go out there and have fun. Oh, and know my money’s riding on you.”

“Ah,” Naruto whined playfully, “Why’d you have to tell me that? I don’t know how I can overcome your horrible gambler’s luck.”

Tsunade stepped back with an amused smirk as she countered, “What are you talking about? I’ve been on a winning streak ever since I bet everything on you.” Naruto was touched by his lover’s words and was surprised as the crowd outside exploded into chants of his name after Idate’s announcement. The Hokage could see that Naruto was shocked by just how loud and heartfelt the chants were so moved behind him to give him a soft push as she said, “Go on my Love. The village is excited to see it’s hero in action.”

The crowd’s applause doubled in volume as Naruto stepped out of the tunnel while waving to the audience. As opposed to the last time he was there his reaction was rather muted as he knew back then he had been caught up in the celebration of himself and his victory over Neji. It was another matter entirely to know that this time the applause was a result of the villagers and shinobi’s genuine admiration for him. The crowd drifted into silence as his opponent slowly appeared from the shadows of the tunnel that ran underneath the viewing box where the other Bijuu and Mito were watching the match. He cracked a small smile as he noticed that Rangiku had propped Mirajane in a corner while still encased in her ash cocoon, but had uncovered her face so that she could watch the match.

His gaze drifted back down as Tier emerged in her usual and almost regal stance as she walked slowly with her arms crossed just under her impressive bust. Something that earned her a few cat calls which drifted off as the people behind them noted powerful surges in chakra that came from her followers as they spotted them in the audience. Tier stopped several feet from him and returned his nod of respect. Still she felt it prudent to say, “I have no intention of losing to you.”

Naruto smiled as he dropped into his stance before commenting, “I wouldn’t expect you to.” Offering the Bijuu’s the advice Tsunade had given him he added, “Let’s just have fun with it and let the chips fall where they may.”

Tier arched an eyebrow surprised by his response as she repeated confused, “Fun?”

The horn for the round to start sounded and neither combatant moved for several heartbeats until Naruto exploded forward. He threw a wild punch towards Tier’s face, who easily sidestepped while still holding her torso. A few of the members of the audience booed her for what they perceived as her not taking the Village’s Hero seriously. Neither of the two people in the arena heard them though as they focused solely on their opponent. Naruto landed smoothly before turning back with a backhanded fist that Tier needed to lean back to avoid. The jinchuriki upon facing the Bijuu again lashed out with a kick which forced the blonde woman to raise her leg to block. Tier then used the force of his blow to push her back as she created some room between them.

Tier couldn’t exactly describe the feeling taking root in her heart as she watched the blond man drop into a ready stance. She did make note of the smile that was plastered on his face and wondered if that was at the root of her own emotions. She supposed it could be because she couldn’t sense any fear coming from the young man. A truly bizarre sensation for the Bijuu, since he was more than aware of her origins. That Naruto had entered into the match with her without the inclination that she should fight at anything less than her best abilities, within reason naturally, since most people in the audience likely wanted to go home alive, while knowing what he faced raised her opinion of him considerably. Furthermore, that it highlighted that he didn’t need her to submit the match to him in order to protect his own ego also caused her to partially understand why her siblings were so enamored with him. Tier could see now that Naruto wasn’t chasing after the unbound Bijuu because to him they weren’t pawns to be seduced and then plugged into his ambition. The women who had joined him were aiding him of their own volition and everything else that she had witnessed thus far was a result of the close bonds he had forged with them.

Tier also began to understand what Naruto had meant about having fun with the match as up to that point she had honed her skills solely to be of use to Kiyomi’s plan. With her beginning to understand the jinchuriki across from her, the Bijuu began to see that Naruto was regarding her as an equal. And while Kukaku and perhaps Mirajane might be insulted by the idea that a human was elevating himself to their level. To Tier, it had the opposite effect since to her humans had always viewed the Bijuu as inferiors by labeling them as beasts and only seeing them as sources of power.

Tier was forced to put her thoughts on hold as Naruto charged her again. He threw several wild punches which Tier avoided, but was forced to break her relaxed stance to catch Naruto’s elbow as he missed purposely with a left cross which he caught with his right hand and then pushed back as he tried to jam it into her cheek. His smile grew wider as he said, “I managed to get you to break your stance.”

Tier was surprised at the note of accomplishment that his voice held, and was also shocked at the slight upturn of her lips hidden by her collar as she responded, “I wasn’t aware that was a condition of victory for you.”

Naruto’s blue eyes sparkled as he replied, “Hey, it’s a start. I mean it looked kind of bad for me when you were avoiding my attacks with such a relaxed attitude.”

Tier pushed him away as she reached behind her for her blade strapped horizontally on her back while she asked, “Were you under the impression that I wasn’t taking you seriously as an opponent?”

Naruto shook his head in the negative, but joked, “I hope you pulling your sword doesn’t mean that I was wrong.”

“I suppose only time will tell,” Tier commented as she charged with the blade she had taken to calling Tiburon. Again Naruto surprised her as despite his words indicating a small lack of faith in his own abilities she found him quite adept at evasion. She quickly realized that his words hadn’t been meant to convey that at all, but were intended to keep the match lighthearted. A feat highlighted by his almost comically dodging some of her swipes with exaggerated flourishes.

Tier wondered what the point of his embellished movements was. But, she didn’t need to for long as after being backed up against the arena wall, he ducked beneath a sword swipe that would have decapitated him. His eyes went wide as sparks shot off of the concrete of the wall as the blade passed along it. He then rolled away along the wall and without thinking Tier followed as she stabbed out with her blade as he stood again. In an instant the comical opponent she had been chasing around the arena disappeared only to be replaced by a competent warrior as Naruto produced a kunai from the holder strapped to his leg and stabbed it into the wall through the hollow portion of her sword. Tier’s eyes grew wide as she couldn’t pull her sword back, and had the wind knocked out of her as he followed it up with a kick to her stomach.

Tier stumbled back, but Naruto kept the pressure on forcing the Bijuu to block several of his punches. She managed to flip away from him when she avoided one of his punches by bending back into a handstand which allowed her to retaliate with a kick to the chin. Naruto’s head was rocked back as Tier flipped several more times before leaping back into the air. Yet to the crowds and her opponent’s amazement she never came down as she used her water natured chakra to pull the water molecules in the air around her feet to keep her airborne. As a result it appeared as if she was standing in the air while in actuality it was a denser concentration of water molecules.

Tier could see her opponent was trying to come up with a means of reaching her, but having grown to respect his cunning and tactical ability, she wasn’t going to give him the chance. Holding her hand in front of her, she created several sharks of water from the moisture in the air which shot away towards the jinchuriki.

Naruto cursed as he managed to avoid all three, and gulped as one of the sharks slammed into the ground creating an impressive impression. He looked back to see the other two sharks had relocated him and were flying towards him. Taking off running, he created a single clone and it began to enact the plan that he had thought up beforehand by running away from him. As he expected one of the sharks broke off to chase after the clone, which once it was suitably far enough away began to angle back towards Naruto, who did the same.

Tier watched from her lofty position as again her opponent seemed almost comical while being chased by her jutsu. Still, she believed that meant he had come up with a strategy to deal with it. She smirked at what he was planning as it became clear to her. A moment later the two Naruto converged and leapt into the air. She heard Naruto shout, “You weren’t supposed to jump to,” as they both slammed into each other in a similar manner as her jutsu did beneath him. However, her jutsu simply melded together to become bigger as it turned to smash into the two descending blond men. Again, Tier was surprised to find that Naruto’s apparent blunder was an act as what she assumed was the clone landed and tossed Naruto at her just as her jutsu prepared to hit it.

Still she recovered quickly and fired another shark which hit the incoming Naruto and sent him smashing into the crowd. She felt a sense of triumph as the dust cleared to show an unconscious Naruto in the crater, yet to her surprise that sense evaporated as the clone she had hit turned to smoke. She directed her attention to her jutsu that had swallowed the clone just in time to witness its destruction as it was torn apart by a jutsu Naruto had developed from his many spars with Hinata. Unlike the Hyuuga version of Rotation, Naruto didn’t need to spin as he expelled a great deal of wind natured chakra which moved about him shredding the water jutsu in seconds as it splashed against his barrier. He ended the jutsu and tossed a tri-prong kunai at the still surprised Tier.

He teleported to it just as it reached her and slammed his fist into her face as he caught the kunai with the other hand. Tier was knocked from the air as Naruto descended with her. He then tossed the kunai into the air, and next created several clones along the ground which kicked her back up as he teleported away. Tier’s vision was looked skyward as she floated up again and saw Naruto appear above her with a Rasengan in hand. Still disorienting, she accepted her defeat and closed her eyes, but rather than feeling the jutsu was wrapped in a protective embrace.

Naruto rotated in midair and grunted as he landed cradling the Bijuu in his arms. Tier opened her eyes surprised he hadn’t finished the attack, which he could see so explained somewhat embarrassed, “I wasn’t exactly sure how to finish that combo, but hitting you with a Rasengan seemed rather extreme. I guess technically you can still fight so we can…”

“No,” Tier said understanding how the samurai-ko had felt earlier, “it was my loss. You fought well.”

“Thanks, you too,” Naruto replied honestly.

Tier felt her cheeks coloring as she realized the position they were in so said, “Y-you can put me down.”

“Oh right,” Naruto said quickly. Setting the Bijuu down, she promptly made the sign that she was forfeiting causing the crowd to erupt into cheers.

Tier began to walk away as Naruto politely waved to the crowd. The Bijuu looked back at the jinchuriki over her shoulder and found a slight smile had appeared as he gave into the temptation of basking in the crowds’ adulation as he moved about excitedly while striking different poses. Although disappointed at her loss, she did have to admit that she had enjoyed herself.

*****

Mito smiled as Apacci said, “Look at him strutting around like a peacock. If Lady Tier had gone out fully she…”

“Would have faced an opponent who wasn’t holding back as well,” Tier said as she appeared in the viewing box. “We were both equally handicapped in that match and it was decided by the person with the better tactics.” Focusing on Mito, she said, “I apologize if my loss has put us at a disadvantage going forward.”

Kiyomi was the one who telepathically responded, “Do not concern yourself, Tier. A loss by any of you would hardly have been insurmountable.” Kiyomi let a little amusement enter her mental tone as she amended herself, “Well perhaps a first round loss might have been. In any case, you have all showcased your skills quite admirably, and if we were to suffer a loss it is good that it came as it did.”

“By Naruto’s hands,” Tier asked.

“No, by the man who sponsored him.” Kiyomi said as she corrected her sister. “Jirocho is not a competitor of our company, but a potential client. I have a feeling he was here to personally test us. But, considering his cleverness, he may have his eyes set on something else.”

Kukaku backtracked the conversation as she said, “I couldn’t help but notice that you said our company.”

“Of course,” Kiyomi replied, “Each of you now have a stake in whether it is a success or failure as a whole. A lot is going to be riding on how well you perform, and I hope that you come to see that success as not just mine, but ours. As Tier’s match highlighted despite our inherit strength we can and have been bested by humans before. Just because they can no longer seal us, does not mean that they cannot fight us on an equal footing.”

Kukaku dismissed Kiyomi’s words with a snort as she said, “Please, the only time they truly got the better of me was when they swarmed me like insects.”

Mito corrected the Bijuu as she reminded her, “Hashirama was able to fight you on an even level.”

“He was a fluke,” Kukaku said with a dismissive wave, “I managed to break free several times after being given to Iwa. They only ever managed to reseal me by overwhelming me with numbers.”

“A feat which may be repeated if you continue to be so dismissive of their skills while relying only on your own strength,” Kiyomi warned. “But history does not need to repeat itself if we take after them in pooling our skills and strength in the pursuit of making this world one that father would be proud of.”

Urd smirked as she said, “A pretty speech, but we’ve already agreed to go along with your plan, Kiyomi.”

“I know,” the nine-tailed Bijuu responded, “I merely hope to correct you of the notion that it is merely my plan. You all have taken involvement in it now.”

Mito nodded as she said, “True enough. I suppose I should go congratulate the winner.” The Uzumaki stepped up to the microphone to say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, let me take this moment to offer my heartfelt and sincere compliments on a spectacular victory to Naruto Uzumaki and his sponsor in this contest, Jirocho Wasabi. I happily, if somewhat reluctantly, will present to you Lord Jirocho the sum of…”

“Excuse me milady, but that will not be necessary.” Jirocho interrupted having joined Idate by the microphone set aside for the sponsors. “If you would see fit to refund the Wasabi family its entrance fee, then I would consider us more than even.”

“O-of course,” Mito said unable to conceal her surprise, “but may I ask, why?”

Jirocho smiled widely as he explained, “Unlike most here, I did not enter to see the Great Tree Shipping Company brought down. I merely wished to gauge for myself just how well protected shipments leaving from Degarashi would be under your care. As this contest demonstrated your company considers security paramount for it to gather such strong warriors to escort them. Therefore, if I may be so bold, I would like to enter into negotiations to secure your company’s services and would be pleased if we could host them at my home in Tea Country.”

Mito inclined her head as she responded, “I look forward to it. Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope going forward you too will come to call on us for your shipping needs. Thank you for attending.”

Mito stepped away from the microphone allowing Urd to approach her to say, “Now he’s certainly the sly one.”

Mito agreed with a nod of her head as she said amused, “He’s not the only one. So just what do you intend to do with Naruto on your night out with him.” Urd’s cheeks began to color giving the Uzumaki an idea which caused her to smile even as she felt some concern about a nearby presence she could feel via the locating mark Naruto had placed on her.

*****

Toka remained in the shadows as she heard the soft footfalls of her target walking towards her. The Senju wasn’t exactly hiding as she knew many a shinobi would be able to easily pick her out, which was actually the point. Several citizens had passed by her without noticing or only doing so when they were practically on top of her, with one such person actually leaping back and offering his wallet suspecting she was there to rob him. But it highlighted something that separated shinobi from those they protected, which was their highly developed skill of observation. Something that was almost impossible to shut off.

A fact, which Toka was counting on in order to out the woman known as Kiyomi as actually being Mito Uzumaki. She still didn’t understand how such a thing was possible, but felt that it might be attributed to the Uzumaki Clan’s well know vitality. She spotted her quarry as she walked through the tunnel with her hands folded in the sleeves of the kimono that she wore. Toka noted that much like the civilians that had passed through the area before her, she gave off the aura of someone that didn’t realize she was sharing the space with someone else. Yet despite that, Toka could pick up subtle hints that the woman was aware of her presence. Hints that she was trying to suppress, but couldn’t due to her years of training. Still, she knew reading subtle shifts in the way a person carried herself wasn’t exactly proof, which was why the shadow clone she had created and had been doing everything in its power to remain hidden should have caught her by surprise as it sprang out of the shadows opposite of where Toka was, and would have a civilian.

Mito may have been able to suppress her instincts to an opponent barely trying to hide her presence, but from a threat that suddenly appeared had little chance to succeed. The clone separated from the shadow of a pillar running along the wall and did a high spinning kick which the red-head easily avoided. She then lashed out with a palm that caught the clone in the chest as it straightened causing it to disperse before it hit the wall. Toka, then leapt forward with a kunai knife but found her wrists caught by the short-haired version of the Uzumaki that had been married to her cousin.

“I knew it was you Mito,” the Senju said pleased at seemingly proving her theory.

Mito saw no point in denying it so simply asked, “How?”

“I’d recognize your smugness anywhere,” Toka said bitterly. “Outside of still being alive, I’m surprised you could find a way to function without a man in your life to tell you how to live.”

Toka was about to continue, but received a head-butt from the Uzumaki who responded, “I see you tend to still get all preachy about how superior you are to women who found happiness in starting families instead of living on the battlefield as you choose to do. You still tend to drop your guard when you do also.”

The Senju was about to leap forward to attack the Uzumaki, but was stopped as Naruto sensing the conflict appeared in the tunnel saying, “There you are Toka, I thought you were…” He trailed off as Mito grabbed him and sealed her lips to his, shocking the brown-haired woman at the display.

Mito pulled back trapping Naruto’s lower-lip between hers before letting it snap back. Then with an overly pleased smile on her face she said, “Allow me to introduce you to the man in my life that has given me a new way to live.”

Naruto’s stunned gaze traveled between the Mito’s pleased visage to Toka’s quickly darkening one as he simply said, “Um… I can explain.”

*****

Explain Naruto did, although to say Toka was pleased to learn that she was unknowingly living in a home populated by almost entirely by his lovers and had been marked by him with a seal was an understatement. Furthermore, she had quickly reneged on her promise to train him in how to counter genjutsu and had remained sealed in her room, only emerging for team practice or the occasional mission. All in all, Naruto felt she did take it rather well since he wasn’t currently trapped in an unending nightmare of her creation and had agreed not to tell anyone of what she had learned.

A week had passed since the competition and Naruto was currently eating breakfast in the common dining area. To his surprise Toka had appeared for the first time in a week. Ino was currently nuzzled into his side as she saw no reason to hide her relationship since the only resident unaware of it now was Kurenai. Naruto was a little jealous of how she appeared oblivious to the darkened gaze of Toka, who watched as Ino used her chopsticks to feed her lover.

Toka finally set her bowl down loudly as a bit of the sauce Ino had dipped the meat into dripped onto Naruto’s bare chest and so she had leaned forward to lick it off. The Senju leveled a disproving glare on the kunoichi as she said, “If you insist on displaying such a vulgar side of yourself, perhaps you should get a room.”

Ino responded with a bored look of her own having grown used to the disproving glares of the Senju in a rather short time. She calmly responded, “Maybe you should take your own advice. Kiyomi offered to let you move into another of the apartment buildings that she owned, but you decided to stay here. So, why should we change to accommodate you?”

“You don’t act like this when Kurenai is around,” Toka pointed out heatedly.

Ino nuzzled her face into Naruto neck as she caused him to shiver while she began to rub his package beneath the table. Giving a look to the Senju that conveyed how she wished for the woman to make herself scarce she said, “That’s because she doesn’t know, and recently lost people important to her. I’m not going to rub her face in my own happiness.”

“But it’s okay for you to do so to me?” Toka asked angrily.

Ino shrugged as she began to nibble on his earlobe while replying, “Your situation is different. You are miserable and insist everyone be equally as miserable as you. That is why you refuse to move out. You want to force us all to comply with your ideas of how we should conduct ourselves. I’m simply not going to play along.”

“So instead you decide to act like a whore, and prostrate yourself before this man who barely values you since he’s taken so many lovers and all because you lack the self-esteem to stand on your own,” Toka said bitterly as another of the new generation of kunoichi seemed to think so little of her. She sat back in surprise as for the first time Ino’s gaze grew fiery as she locked eyes with the Senju.

That heat bled into her voice as Ino leaned forward and pointed her finger at Toka as she said, “Look here lady! This is our house, not yours. And you better get used to the idea because sooner or later we’re not going to need to hide our feelings for Naruto.” Before Toka and Naruto could inquire as to what she meant she said, “Eventually Kurenai will move out, or…” She let a lustful smirk appear on her face as she let the Senju’s imagination supply what the other outcome could be, “When that happens you can be as unhappy as you want and pout in the corner, but we’re going to act like the family that we are.” Ino looked back as she felt Naruto’s hand on her shoulder as it reeled her back a little since she had begun to lean further and further over the table to get in Toka’s face. She sat back against her lover and smiled up at him contently as she added softly, “Oh, and just so you know. He values me plenty. Thanks to his love and encouragement, I went from an underfed and weak kunoichi to the head of my clan. It is because we are so secure in who we are, that I and his other lovers are willing to share him. If it’s a lifestyle that’s not for you then fine. But in my opinion, people like you, who protest so loudly how others live their lives do so simply out of jealousy or out of a strange belief that people finding happiness in a way other than how they believe it should be found somehow robs them of their own. If that’s the case, can you truly claim to be happy with your choices in the first place?”

Ino stood and offered her hand to her lover as Toka couldn’t think of a rejoinder to the Yamanaka’s point. “Lover, let’s give her what she wants and let her stew here alone. Now that you’ve eaten it’s my turn for breakfast, and I don’t think she’s going to appreciate how I go about getting it.”

Naruto accepted the hand and sent the Senju a slightly apologetic look before Hirashining them both away. Despite getting what she had initially asked for, Toka couldn’t help feeling as if the silence that had descended over the room was mocking her as she recalled the many times she had entered it before to find it filled with laughter and joy.

*****

Toka knelt behind Mito inside the meeting room of the Wasabi family’s head. A week had passed since Ino had put her in her place verbally. But despite that, Toka had not exactly given up on her point of view and more to the point had grown furious at being made to question her long held beliefs. Ultimately arming herself with the mantra that the kunoichi of the current era had no idea of what she had needed to endure, she had decided to take that anger out on what she viewed as the source of her current frustrations, Naruto.

She sent an uncomfortable glance at the jinchuriki in question, who upon sensing it looked her way to give her a reassuring smile. Toka felt a fresh wave of revulsion at herself for how she had gone about trying to punish him for her own shortcomings. After he had emerged from his room leaving behind what she suspected was a rather satisfied Ino. Toka had approached him with the offer of training him in how to break a genjutsu. She had felt guilty at how he had happily and perhaps gullibly, in light of what had happened that morning, leapt at the offer of new training. Still, Toka had wanted to put the blonde kunoichi in her place for what she had said and due to her anger felt the best way to do so was to get Naruto to doubt the Yamanaka’s feelings for him.

She had reasoned that due to how she intended to train him, if things were as happy between them as Ino was leading her to believe then Naruto would have no problem dispelling the genjutsu that she had in store for him. She didn’t let the small detail that the method she was going to prescribe had been rejected by her peers in the field as unnecessary and overly risky due to the current countermeasures that had existed at the time. Naturally, Toka believed it was also due to it being a method that was being suggested by a woman. Toka would shortly learn that while that could have been the case, she was little prepared for what had happened when Naruto had reacted.

Recalling the memory, the current room faded away to be replaced by the dojo located in the Hidden Eddy Inn. Naruto had been kneeling in front of her and interrupted her explanation of genjutsu to ask, “Shouldn’t we be conducting this training in one of the fields?”

Toka sighed as she responded, “Haven’t you been listening? Genjutsu is a battle that takes place in the mind. It’s a technique where you might think you’re running and jumping about, but in actuality you’re physical form is motionless. What makes genjutsu effective is twofold. The first is that while a person is motionless somebody can come along to finish him off. The second is when a powerful genjutsu inflicts a mortal wound and the mind accepts it as reality. This causes it to shut down, and in some cases the person can even die.”

“Right,” Naruto said and then his face grew confused for a moment prompting her to ask what was bothering him. Naruto explained, “Um…well talking about this subject caused me to remember when Itachi placed me in one back when Team Kakashi rescued Gaara from Akatsuki. Before we faced him Granny Chiyo explained that one tactic to counter genjutsu was for someone to remain in the rear to cancel it and to attack the castor from behind should the opportunity appear.”

“Yes,” Toka nodded as she said, “That was a technique originally developed by the Senju as a result of our many battles with the Uchiha. It is a reason while their ocular jutsu are impressive, the most feared practitioners were those capable of using genjutsu via sound. Those shinobi are able to ensnare multiple people at once without exposing themselves to similar counterattacks. Luckily, those capable of doing so are rather rare.” Toka wasn’t sure why the smile that appeared on Naruto’s face annoyed her, but imagined it was tied to a woman bound to him. Pushing on she stated, “But that wasn’t a question?”

“No,” Naruto admitted as he reached for his stomach as he said, “I just recalled that the genjutsu Itachi used felt so real. There were these shuriken that he stabbed me with and I felt like I had really been stabbed. But, when Kiyomi was sealed inside me and we… well when I interacted with Kiyomi everything seemed muted. I guess I just wondered why.”

“That is likely due to the fact that whoever designed your seal wanted pain and other sensations to be lessened. Likely it was as a defense against your being killed while in the seal,” Toka explained. “Your mind wouldn’t register an attack in the seal with the same response as it would a pure genjutsu.”

Naruto nodded as he mumbled something more to himself but she thought it sounded like, “Guess that explains why I couldn’t cum.” He quickly realized he said that allowed, so hoped to change the subject as she said, “Still, the First Hokage was able to go toe to toe against Madara right. So you probably showed him how to counter all kinds of genjutsu.”

Toka again felt a flash of guilt as Naruto praised her, but squashed it down as she said, “No, Hashirama was horribly weak against genjutsu. As much like you, he had had far too much chakra to suppress it as much as was needed to end a genjutsu. Luckily, Madara was an arrogant bastard and didn’t wish to triumph over his rival through ocular trickery. He reserved such things against those he considered to be lesser opponents and a waste of his time. It may also be because Madara was a chakra powerhouse as well, and was only able to break a genjutsu as a result of his Sharingan.”

“Oh,” Naruto said a little crestfallen since his chakra training exercises likely wouldn’t give him the results he had been hoping for in regards to genjutsu.

“Still, there was an avenue that may be open to you that most people have never explored,” Toka said baiting her trap, while offering to help. As she expected Naruto appeared quite eager to learn it. Explaining a theory that she developed, but had been rejected by her peers she said, “Shinobi tend to be those that rely on tried and true methods rather than experimenting. As such the methods for dealing with genjutsu users have remained the same as you earlier described for centuries. I however began to prescribe to a different belief on how to deal with a genjutsu, but most people quickly came to reject it.”

“Why,” Naruto asked.

Toka wanted to suggest that it was because she was a woman, but felt that was only a partial truth as her theory had never been proven. Plus, for what she had in store for the jinchuriki, she wanted to explain it in a way that she could claim he knew what he was getting into. “Well, what most people likely don’t realize is that when a person casts a genjutsu it is in essence a contest of wills between the people locked in it. Naturally, the castor as the person supplying the chakra for the jutsu has the advantage. They also do so because rather than engaging in the contest of wills, the person under its influence is doing everything in their power to escape it. Just as they have been trained to do for centuries. Now, let’s suppose that rather than trying to escape the person trapped in the genjutsu decides to engage.”

“How? Not to sound rude, but when Itachi ensnared me it didn’t feel like there was anything I could do to affect what I was seeing.”

“That my point,” Toka said quickly. “You had already conceded victory to him. He likely further kept you off balance by using your own fears and doubts against you.” Naruto nodded as he recalled Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi appearing from his body as they leveled charges against him made up of his doubts. “Now what if I told you that Genjutsu might not be the one-way street that it appears?”

“Huh,” Naruto said confused as he tilted his head and squinted trying to figure out what the Senju meant.

“What I mean, is that in order for a genjutsu to remain active a shinobi needs to keep a link between himself and the person he ensnared. For example, a person that uses sound would need to continue to play in order to affect the genjutsu they cast. This is why they tend to focus on genjutsu that immobilize their opponents. It allows them to strike quickly while lessoning the chance of their positions being discovered. But if they continue to make the sound the effect will become more fluid and involved. The one you described was such as this. This means that while this Itachi was controlling what you saw, there was an opportunity for you to turn it around on him. In order to do this though, you would need to introduce doubts into his belief of the control he is exerting over the illusion.”

“But to what end,” Naruto asked finding the theory a little hard to swallow.

“Well to the same ends as what a person hopes to achieve when they completely stop their chakra when they caught in a genjutsu, severing the link which is affecting them. Except this time it would be the person casting the genjutsu who does it.”

“Has anyone managed it before?”

“No, but like I said, shinobi are unwilling to deviate from things they know work while in the heat of battle.” Toka didn’t exactly sound convinced but hoping to persuade him fired a shot at his pride, “Plus, it would require the person trapped in the genjutsu to have a strong will in order to overpower the castor’s. Not a lot of people are willing to be confronted with what another perceives as their weaknesses for purposes of training. Are you man enough?”

Toka almost wanted to smirk as Naruto’s chest puffed out predictably. But the moment faded as he said more contemplatively, “I guess we’ll find out. But if it’ll help me be less of a burden to my team and family then I’m game.”

The Senju almost backed down, but her anger from that morning and the temptation to finally test her theory proved too much. Preparing to cast her genjutsu she said, “Then prepare yourself. I’m not going to take it easy on you.”

*****

Naruto knelt on the floor as Mito and Jirocho made small talk. Growing bored, he looked over to see that Toka wore the same sullen look on her face that she had worn in his presence ever since she had cast her genjutsu on him. He had been angry at her at first after emerging from it, but after it had faded and she had offered him an honest apology later the feelings had faded. He only wished he could do the same for her as his telling her that he had already forgiven her only seemed to make her mood worse.

He recalled the moments after she had cast her illusion to find himself standing in the dojo shirtless and surrounded by the nude forms of Ino, Karin, and Sakura. The three kunoichi were placing kisses along his torso and he struggled to remember how he had gotten to such a point. He had then recalled that Toka had placed a genjutsu on him, but had to admit if he was supposed to find the will to break it, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to. That was until he heard a familiar voice say, “Ladies, I think you’ve entertained the loser long enough.”

Naruto spun towards the voice as he growled, “Sasuke!”

“Hn,” the Uchiha replied dismissively.

Despite his desire to move in order to put himself between his lovers and his former teammate, he found himself pushed back as all three exclaimed happily, “Sasuke!!!”

Naruto watched as his lovers quickly stripped the Uchiha of his shirt so they could place kisses along his torso in a similar manner as they had been doing to him moments before. He tried to tell them to stop and looked away as Karin began running her tongue down Sasuke’s chest as she sunk to her knees before him. Mercifully his view was obstructed by her head, but from the sounds she made and her movements it left little doubt as to what she was doing for the Uchiha, who smirked at his former teammate as he looked back.

Naruto looked away again but could block out Ino’s voice as she said, “Thank goodness you’re back Sasuke. I’m just glad I don’t need to pretend to care for that loser anymore. Please, if you leave the village again, take me with you.”

Sasuke chuckled amused as he said, “Well maybe if you can please me as much as Karin is at the moment. After all, you’re just a cock hungry bitch that needs a man to find a purpose for living.”

Ino cooed happily as she moved to join the red head on her knees while Sakura pressed her nude form into Sasuke’s back. Sasuke’s words had caused Naruto’s anger to spike as they had insulted Ino’s dignity, but what she said in response caused it to boil over as she replied, “I know right. I just settled for him because he paid me some attention while you were gone. Can you believe he actually thought I loved…”

“That’s enough,” Naruto shouted angrily. He turned away from Sasuke to see that Toka was standing behind him. Growling angrily, he continued, “Put an end to this right now Toka! I’m not going to let you try to cause me to doubt my lover’s feelings again. I’ve made that mistake once, and won’t let it happen again.”

Toka was about to reply with a taunt, but her eyes grew wide as Ino’s voice cut in, “That’s right lover! You tell that miserable shrew.” Naruto looked back to find Ino’s head on his shoulder, who then pulled him into a kiss in front of the stunned Senju. He basked in the taste of her lips which he had thoroughly enjoyed only a few hours before after they had left the breakfast table. He felt the hands that he believe represented Karin and Sakura, but felt a few more than would have been possible. He was going to look at who else had joined them, but groaned into Ino’s mouth as his dick was pulled free and quickly swallowed. He separated from his dance with his blond lover’s tongue to see that kneeling before him was a nude Mito.

Mito slid to the side so she could make way for Sakura who kneeled opposite her as they both worked their tongues over his length. Mito ended her tongue’s washing of his cock as she looked back at the Senju kunoichi to say, “Admit it Toka. You’re tired of being alone, and the reason you’re so angry at us is because you want what we have.”

“T-that’s not true,” Toka said, but even as she responded she noticed that her armor was rusting away and the clothes beneath began to crumble. Soon she found herself nude before Naruto, who basked in his lovers’ attention as Toka watched enthralled. The Senju had also taken notice that the thick bush she normally sported was gone as her mound was smoothly shaven. But her attention was pulled away from her own grooming as her view of his cock was blocked as Karin knelt before him to swallow his dick as she happily said, “I definitely trade up.”

Toka tried to look away, but it wasn’t so much the sight of Naruto’s large member that had kept her vision locked on the scene, but the look of contentment that each of the women sported. Ino seemed to know exactly what she wanted as she reached towards her to say, “You don’t need to fight it Toka. There’s room for you too if it’s what you want.”

To Naruto it looked like Toka had wanted to deny that she did, but she took a step forward just before the scene faded away. In its place, Naruto had found himself kneeling in the dojo again only to find a worried Tenten had applied chakra to him to end the genjutsu. “Are you okay, you were moaning quite a bit?” She sent a rather harsh glance towards Toka aware that the woman was harboring some resentment towards her and her lover as she added, “She didn’t do anything…”

Naruto locked eyes with the Senju as Tenten trailed off, and to their mutual surprise she suddenly darted from the room. Tenten looked back at Naruto as she stated, “Maybe I should be wondering what you did.”

Much of the anger he had felt had faded as a result of Toka’s obvious shame and thanks to Tenten’s statement the rest left his system. He chuckled as he said, “Let’s just say, when it comes to the power of ones dirty imagination I have her beat hands down.”

Tenten’s eyes lit up as she said, “Oh, so it was those kinds of moans. Was I there?”

“No,” Naruto admitted causing her to look disappointed, but he cupped her face as he added, “But, you’re here now.”

A hungry smile appeared on Tenten’s face as she eyed the hardened package that Naruto’s pants struggled to contain. She rubbed it as she said, “So, I am. But maybe it would be best if we both went somewhere else.” Naruto nodded once more teleporting with one of his lovers appearing in his bed and atop a still snoozing Ino who quickly joined in on the action.

*****

Naruto’s attention was pulled to the present as Mito said, “Lord Jirocho, perhaps it is time we disperse with the pleasantries in order to discuss why you wished to wait until I could travel to Tea Country for us to discuss business together.”

“Yes,” Jirocho responded, “But first can I ask why you were escorted by representatives of the Leaf, Lady Kiyomi. Considering the strength of the women under your command, I had figured you would use them as escorts.”

Naruto had wondered the same himself, but felt a part of it was so she could enjoy Toka’s obvious discomfort at his presence. Mito revealed that this wasn’t entirely the case as she explained, “Well simply put, my company’s contest was a resounding success and we currently have more business than we can handle. With that said, we’ve naturally turned to the Leaf, Sand, and Kumo to help us protect the excess shipments. The reason I choose these two to escort me is for the same reason you hired Naruto to participate as your champion. As a genin you can secure his services for a fraction of the price that it would cost to hire a chunin or jounin. The same holds true for Toka as well.”

“Ah, well it’s good to see you continue to practice smart business decisions despite your company influx of cash,” Jirocho said although a part of him did sound disappointed.

Mito picked up on it as well as she said, “Your reasons for wishing me to journey here are beginning to become apparent, sir. Were you hoping that one or two of my guards could be of use in helping you deal with your rivals in the Nagatomi Family? It’s reached my ears that recently they’ve been gaining favor with the Daimyo and with that tends to follow who ultimately controls this village.”

Jirocho nodded but said, “The situation is a little more complex than that. After our previous troubles with Wagarashi Family were cleared away in part thanks to Naruto, his team, and Idate’s victory in the race, we managed to resurrect Degarashi Port in short order. However, in time the Daimyo began to wonder if perhaps he wouldn’t be better served if there was more competition to be had.”

“Why,” Naruto asked speaking up, “Didn’t he learn his lesson with the Wagarashi?”

“If he did it was only in his short-term memory,” Idate said bitterly from behind his master.

Both Mito and Jirocho smiled as their subordinates realized they had spoken out of place and quickly apologized. The leader of the Wasabi spoke up as he said, “Idate is more right then wrong. Truthfully though, the Daimyo is likely recalling the few golden years where our family competed with the Wagarashi on equal terms. Back then, both families struggled for every shipment that came in along with every sailor’s coin that was spent in one of our gaming or pleasure houses. For the Daimyo it didn’t matter who won as he got a cut from each, and since we competed so fiercely with our rivals money flowed into the port.”

Mito could see why the Daimyo would be tempted to introduce a new element to the mix, since to his way of thinking without a rival for his largest producers, he was likely wondering if they were working as hard as they could be. Commenting on her own observation of Jirocho’s character she said, “You do not seem to be the type to shirk away from a little competition.”

“No, nor is anyone in my family,” the Wasabi leader replied. “But we do prefer a fair field. You see, the Daimyo did decide to make one adjustment when he decided to allow the Nagatomi to operate in Tea Country. Rather than have two families operating for control of one city, he set them up to the south in a city called, Sotoba Port. It was relatively small, but in recent years it has grown to rival Degarashi in size and influence.”

“I’m not sure I see the problem,” Mito said although she did have an idea of what was behind the sudden growth. “It would seem that the Daimyo would be happy since he’s getting the benefit of two strong port villages.”

“True,” Jirocho agreed, “But what troubles me is how the Nagatomi achieved such quick results. It took my family many months to uncover, but we learned that they are opening their port to all manner of undesirable cargo. They type of things that no self-respecting port would allow within their shores.”

“I assume you are referring to drugs and other types of illegal cargos,” Mito said to which the Wasabi family head nodded. Mito frowned, as she pointed out, “Still, if your concerns are valid why not bring them to the Daimyo?”

Mito could tell she struck a sore point as Jirocho’s grip tightened around the fan he held. She suspected that he already had, but unlike his young associate Idate, he was loath to speak out against his country’s ruler. Instead he said, “Unfortunately, my Lord would rather not get involved in such matters. I fear that much like the situation with the Wagarashi, he would only get involved should his cut of the profits be impacted.”

Mito could read between the lines, so commented, “Should I be concerned that your own family’s position is becoming rather difficult. Perhaps as a result of the highly profitable nature of what kinds of cargos it seems the Nagatomi are dealing with. I imagine it must be hard to compete, and if the Daimyo tends to favor whoever generates the most wealth for him it’s likely the Nagatomi are whispering in his ear that they can double his cut if only they controlled both ports.”

Jirocho looked ashamed as he admitted, “It is as you say. That is why; I had hoped to make use of your guards. The Daimyo has hinted he is open to allowing the Nagatomi control of Degarashi, to further push him into siding with them several of our shipments have come under attack. I believe they are trying to hurry along the process by cutting into our profits and as such our tribute.”

“Then I guess you were hoping to use my guards to protect your shipments through Tea Country, and should the Nagatomi attack them. To have us crush your rivals in a decisive blow.” Again Jirocho nodded prompting Mito to say, “I’m afraid I cannot go along with such a request.”

Her response obviously surprised both of the Wasabi present causing Idate to say, “What, but…”

He was silenced by a stern look from his master who bowed politely to the woman he believed was Kiyomi to say, “If that is your decision then I will have to abide by it.”

Mito inclined her head as she said, “Good, I can appreciate working with a man who knows when not to push an issue. Now as I said, I cannot get involved as if it appears that I’m taking sides in local political issues and further more influencing them, then my future goals to open trade routes between all the major and minor shinobi villages will suffer. Yet, with that said, I happen to have secured the services of two Leaf Shinobi, who I’m sure cannot ignore the correlation between the increased amount of criminal activity involving drugs along the Land of Fire’s southern border and your information that the source of those drugs may if nothing else be originating from Sotoba.”

Jirocho frowned as he said, “I appreciate what you are suggesting. But the reason I didn’t bring my concerns to the Hokage is because of what recently happened in Suna. Despite what is being claimed, those who control the countries are growing concerned by the increased cooperation being exhibited by the Shinobi Villages. Having the Leaf Village act in Tea Country without the Daimyo’s support would only make matters worse.”

Mito smiled as she said, “Jirocho you’re a smart man. Are you willing to bet your rival is just as wise?”

“What do you mean?”

Mito’s smile widened as she explained, “I have it on good authority that you aren’t the only person interested in what is being passed through Sotoba Port. Now let’s imagine for a moment that word gets to your opposite number in the Nagatomi that a pair of Leaf shinobi are in town. What sort of response do you expect such news would elicit from him?”

Jirocho began to share Mito’s smile as he replied, “I imagine it would be rather heavy handed requiring an equally strong response from the shinobi who are feeling endangered.”

Naruto began to see what his lover was suggesting, but wondered what she meant by knowing others were interested in Sobota. He closed his eyes in order to reach out to his lovers and wasn’t overtly shocked to learn that several of them were currently in the city in question. With a trip south in his future, Naruto asked, “When do we leave?”

Mito was the one that answered, “The sooner the better I imagine. We don’t want to give the Nagatomi too much time to plan for your arrival. In the meantime I believe Lord Jirocho and I have other business to discuss.”

*****

Toka sighed as she lay awake and alone in the hotel room that she had booked with Naruto. Despite Mito’s plan needing for the Nagatomi to know of their presence, they hadn’t wanted to make it to apparent so had slipped in under assumed names and as husband and wife. She looked at her “husband” but couldn’t truly consider him present as the sleeping man was actually a clone. The real Naruto was likely half a city away and currently with the several kunoichi that had previously infiltrated the village.

She felt a little bitterness that he was likely currently “entertaining” them while she faced a potential dangerous situation on her own. But realized that was a rather weak thought for a supposedly strong woman. She knew that the Nagatomi wouldn’t realize their village had a pair of Leaf shinobi in it right away since Mito and Jirocho were likely aware of the possibility that the Wasabi had been infiltrated by their rivals. Therefore, they would be leaking the information slowly to see which rumors reached the Nagatomi and as such who had been privy to them. Naruto had just sent the message of what their covers were to Mito via his summons so Toka suspected it would still be several days before the gang had enough information to zero in on them specifically.

Toka suspected she would be enjoying several lonely nights as a result, and couldn’t deny her glimpse into Naruto’s love life was the cause. Rolling over to face her “husband’s” back she wondered which of the women that she had briefly met were with him at present or whether it was a question of who wasn’t.

*****

Naruto held Fubuki in his arms as they stared up at the moon from one of the dozen of hotel rooms that she had rented along with Haku, Naruko, and Sage. He had been surprised to learn that Fubuki had asked for those women’s assistance in a matter Koyuki had asked her to look into after the device Kabuto had used to drain his chakra had turned up in the Land of Wind. Fubuki had traced that several of the rarer components had recently passed through Sobota and had it on good authority that a ship was due which contained more.

The pink-haired Snow-nin nuzzled back against his shirtless chest as she wore a loose fitting robe and said, “It’s so nice to not have to share you for a change.”

Naruto smiled at her reference that Koyuki tended to be present most of the time they were together. “I don’t think Naruko shared that sentiment. But I admit it’s nice to know that you feel that way since sometimes I wondered if you were only with me because of Koyuki.”

Fubuki spun in his arm as she knelt between his legs where they sat on the floor, “You took the words right out of my mouth.” She smirked playful as she added, “Although if I did run off with the princess you have no one but yourself to blame since you’re the one who got me hooked on her tongue.”

Naruto chuckled as he asked, “Then should I try to get you hooked on mine?”

“No need,” Fubuki said playfully, “You have something I’m already addicted too.”

“My glowing personality,” Naruto suggested as Fubuki began to lower her face down towards his groin.

“I’m sure that’s a close second,” the Snow-nin said as she freed his one-eyed monster which she began to tease awake by kissing and swirling her tongue around its head. Naruto leaned his head back and groaned as his dick began to stand tall from his lover’s tongue play. He caused her to let out a soft moan in turn as he reached into her robe to fondle a hanging tit as she swallowed a third of his length.

Naruto sat back and enjoyed Fubuki’s actions, but after several minutes pulled her mouth away as he said, “If I’m competing with Koyuki, I don’t think it would be wise for me to enjoy all the pleasure.” Naruto then pushed the snow-nin back until she was lying on her back and laid atop of her. He kissed her deeply as he began to fondle one of her breasts, and enjoyed the way she moved beneath him. As they kissed, he groaned as she rubbed her slick folds against his dick as she tried to angle it inside her. Finally she said, “Please Naruto, I want you.”

Naruto lifted his hips enough so that her soft hand could grip him and guide his cock to its destination. Fubuki moaned softly as he was pressed against her passage and it grew in intensity as he slipped inside and fed more of himself into her. Naruto didn’t wait on ceremony as he began to relentlessly slam himself into his Snow-nin lover who encouraged him on with her moans. Naruto leaned back on his knees pulling Fubuki up into his lap as he thrust up inside her much to his lover’s delight. Her hand gripped the windowsill as Naruto pumped his length within her. Eventually though, she used it to pull herself free, before standing and using the window’s edge to steady herself as she bent over at the waist while gripping it.

Naruto got to his feet as he came up behind her and slid his cockhead against her wet folds causing Fubuki to hiss as if burnt by the heat coming from it. A heat he thrust inside her as he gripped her hips and once more began sliding inside her gripping tunnel. Naruto bent over his lovers back and grabbed both of her hanging breasts forcibly causing her to moan as he rolled her nipples between his fingers. Fubuki began to thrust her ass back against him to meet his thrusts giving the jinchuriki the impression that she was close. Nearing his own release, he increased the pressure by standing up right and pulling her arms free of the window. Holding her by the forearms as she gripped his, he began thrusting with wild abandoned and erupted in pleasure as after a violent thrust that kissed her deepest spot he began to deliver his seed directly into her womb. The explosion of liquid heat caused Fubuki to shout out as she came and her quivering tunnel milked him of more of his gooey seed.

*****

From a nearby vantage point a pair of spectators watched as the two coupling shinobi sunk beneath the window as they basked in the feelings of pleasure still coursing through their connected bodies. In truth though, only one of the spectators actually occupied the area as the other was residing in a hotel room while holding a copy of the slug watching Fubuki and Naruto. But both, much like Toka, had been curious as to what the two lovers had been up to yet had decided to satisfy their curiosity.

Katsuyu felt the Rinnegan fade in her copy as she diverted her attention back to the one that was being held by Sage. The slug was aware that the orange-haired woman was shaking having likely experienced an orgasm herself as she teased her pussy in time with Naruto’s thrusts. The slug summons had noticed that lately, it was an activity that Sage was beginning to engage in more and more on her own without the need for Naruto to be spending time with a nearby lover. Yet, she did notice that the kunoichi’s orgasms always seemed stronger as they “looked in” as they tended to call it when Naruto was occupied with one.

Katsuyu noticed that Sage’s breathing became deeper and more relaxed as she slipped into slumber. A part of the summons realized that it was only a matter of time until the Rinnegan wielder’s desire to experience more pushed her into becoming Naruto’s lover, or her sister picked up on the desire and became the catalyst. The summons began to wonder what it would do on such a day since Sage would no longer need her help to look in and Katsuyu would be denied the incredible sensations it was able to gleam from its summoner when their chakras were connected in order for the Rinnegan to appear in her copies.

*****

Toka felt nervous for the first time in over a week about a matter not related to Naruto. The reason for her concern came as a result of the news that the ship Fubuki and the others had been waiting on had been diverted to Sea Country. Her worry over the news came from the fact that it appeared the change in course had come as a result of the news that Naruto and her were in Sobota Port. However, since the ship had reached Sea Country and offloaded its cargo before any of those in the Nagatomi Family had begun to react to the news, it had left her with the impression that some other force was at work within the village. A force that might not be too pleased with a pair of shinobi poking around in the port city. However, she forced herself to relax as she reasoned that whatever person or group had diverted the ship had done so to prevent a struggle in the city. Something the Nagatomi seemed to be gearing up for even if they didn’t know where to direct their forces.

This made Toka believe that whoever was interested in the ship was simply making use of Nagatomi’s family’s policy of letting any questionable cargo into their city. Therefore, she was sure that now that the ship was out of reach their interest in the city had waned outside of a curiosity at what might happen. One thing Toka was sure of was that if they had been looking for Naruto and her they likely would have found them.

She tensed as a knock at the door sounded, and pulled a kunai before asking, “Who is it?”

“I have the items that you requested madam,” a woman that served as an assistant to some of the more influential hotel guests replied. Toka smiled as Naruto had had their room upgraded when he had decided to make a bigger splash in the city by visiting the casino located in their hotel and then had proceeded to clean the place out. Rather than watch several million ryo walk out the door, the hotel had opted to have the pair moved into one of their penthouses.

As expected they had been the talk of the town, but apparently the Nagatomi expected shinobi to be stealthy and quiet rather than hang a sign out that said, ‘Hey, look into us.’ It was something which further highlighted to Toka that the people who had diverted the ship and the Nagatomi were not connected. The Senju hid her kunai in the sleeve of her robe and answered the door with a pleasant smile as she said, “Ah, thank you. Please come in.”

Truthfully, Toka felt the façade was a little forced coming from her since all of her experience as a shinobi revolved around large conflicts. The more nuanced tasks of putting people around her at ease was not something that she was used to performing. Even when she had needed to hide her appearance with a genjutsu or henge in the past, it had been for the sake of walking through an enemy camp, which was little different from walking through her own sides. This had meant looking like she belonged in an area while at the same time doing her best to remain inconspicuous. A task easily performed as she had done so in among her own forces until having achieved a rank where she was one of the big shots.

The woman moved into the room and laid out several items of clothing on the couch as she asked, “Do any of these strike your fancy?” Truthfully Toka didn’t fancy any of the dresses until her eyes landed on a tuxedo causing her to ask, “Is my husband coming back up? I thought he was going to busy himself in the casino until we went out tonight.”

“No, as far as I know that is still the plan. But you didn’t give me much to go on so I asked him what you might like. He suggested that you might prefer to wear a tuxedo yourself.” Toka was genuinely surprised and touched by Naruto’s suggestion as truthfully she found that she would actually prefer too. However, to her surprise she asked, “Um…would it be possible for me to make my choice later? I still need to shower and I’d like to see what my mood is afterwards.”

“Yes, of course,” the woman said pleasantly which Toka imagine was easy to do as she handed the woman a wad of bills. The woman quickly made her way for the door, but stopped as Toka asked, “Um about the other items that I asked for?”

“They are in the bag of toiletries,” the woman said before giving a rather amused smile as she added, “Planning a little grooming for the night after your date. From the way you sounded it has been a while.” Toka wanted to deny it was for what the woman thought, but simply nodded before turning back to the clothes. She was glad she was facing away as her cheeks grew red as the woman suggested, “If you want my advice go completely shaved. He’ll definitely enjoy it.”

Toka didn’t look back as she said, “I’ll take it under advisement.” She thought back to the genjutsu and blushed as she recalled how Naruto having never seen her nude before had likely supplied the mental picture of her shaved mound that he likely preferred, if his other lovers were anything to go by. She decided to go with that explanation as the idea that she may have been the ones whose doubts had been modifying the genjutsu in order to better fit in with what he preferred was still too embarrassing for her to accept. Taking the kit into the bathroom, she still wasn’t sure which version of her would emerge.

*****

Naruto was sitting at a high stakes game of blackjack as he waited for Toka to join him. Fubuki and his other lovers had already left the city upon learning that the ship they had been waiting on had been diverted. But before she and the others had left, they had infiltrated the headquarters of the port to find out who had diverted the ship.

Unfortunately, whoever had given the order had not been so careless as to give them any means to track them from Sobota Port as the order for the change had been entered at a different facility. Having hit a dead end, Fubuki was going to speak with the informant that had originally put her on the ship’s trail while Haku, Naruko, and Sage would travel to Sea Country to find out what they could about where the cargo had gone after being offloaded.

While he was concerned about what the future could hold, since whoever was peddling the Snow Country gadgets was obviously well-funded and organized. He was glad that his current mission wouldn’t be complicated with a showdown with such a group, as while the Nagatomi were flush with cash, they were anything but efficiently organized. Naruto had spent an entire week since Fubuki and the others had left placing subtle hints with various people all around town about his interest in the Nagatomi family. That coupled with the confirmed spy within the Wasabi should have had the Nagatomi knocking on his door or at the very least they should have placed them under observation. However, neither had been the case. It left Naruto with the impression that the leader of the group was someone that saw an opportunity, seized it, and his success was more than he was qualified to handle. Yet despite his limitations as a leader, his greed was driving him to expand his influence into the Wasabi’s territory.

Naruto didn’t doubt that if they were on an even playing field then Jirocho would have easily dealt with his rival. Yet, with the Daimyo’s current favoring of the Nagatomi if had tied Jirocho’s hands. Naruto’s respect for the leader of the Wasabi had been further increased when he had explained why he hadn’t brought his concerns to Konoha, especially considering his close ties with Tsunade. That he was trying to prevent the Leaf from ending up embroiled in another situation that could potentially have them on another Daimyo’s bad side showed the type of man he was.

Naruto believed it had also raised Toka’s estimate of him, since while she had been rather demure during the mission as a result of what guilt she felt about the genjutsu she had cast on him. She had not been pleased at the idea of helping a semi-legitimate gangster. To her way of thinking helping him out was a mistake. Naruto in all honesty had used to believe exactly the same thing. It had only been the fact that he hadn’t realized the extent of Jirocho’s business operations when he was younger that had prevented him from raising a stink about helping Idate win his race.

He had realized it a few years later though during his training trip with Jiraiya when they had visited a brothel in Tea Country. Naruto had been rather shocked to learn that it had been owned by Jirocho. That was until he had learned that while the Head of the Wasabi family had indeed purchased some of the women that worked there from their fathers, husbands, or even themselves, because of debts they had accrued in his gambling houses. He had never forced any of them into prostitution. Instead, he had the women that didn’t wish to work in the sex trade instead perform tasks to help in his other businesses such as the gambling halls where they would work as hostesses and such, and after a set number of years the debt would be wiped out.

Naruto had been shocked to learn that all of the women in the Wasabi Brothels had chosen to work there since their debts would be forgiven faster, and some choose to remain because of how much money they made and kept since Jirocho took such a small percentage. Naruto still had wanted to argue since he felt it was unfair that a young woman could be sold for mistakes made by someone else, and Jiraiya had agreed. However, he had pointed out that it was a practice that was widely accepted in the Elemental Countries, and if Jirocho didn’t purchase those debts then someone else would, and who likely wouldn’t treat the women as well.

Naruto could tell the Nagatomi would definitely fall into the latter category. He hadn’t been surprised to learn that Naruko had visited most of the hostesses clubs and brothels located in Sobota Port, since she was still in the process of rebuilding Jiraiya’s information network. According to his fellow blonde Uzumaki those places while not exactly trashy, did give off an aura of sleaze. The women also seemed hopeless and she had noticed that most seemed to be addicted to the narcotics that were so prevalent in the port city.

Naruto felt a sense of concern that even if their plan to provoke the Nagatomi into attacking them worked, it wouldn’t exactly fix the situation most of the town’s residents faced. For one, if the Daimyo would rather feign ignorance as to what was going on in the city so long as his coffers were being filled, then there was no guarantee that he would do anything but install someone new to continue the operations. Plus as Jirocho feared, it could still cause problems for Konoha with other Countries’ Daimyo if it came to be believed that they were needlessly interfering.

Yet, on the other hand he had faith in both Mito and Jirocho that if the deficiencies in their plan were apparent to him, then they must be to them, and that they were taking steps to improve the situation. But, none of that would matter if they couldn’t provoke a reaction out of the Nagatomi, which was why that night Toka and he would be paying them a visit in the casino that they ran. Naruto and Toka had fully mapped the extent of the Nagatomi’s operations within the town. They had even left a few clues hidden about to suggest that those hidden caches of drugs, weapons, and slaves, had been snooped through. Therefore, they would easily be able to rescue the people and confiscate all the goods once the Nagatomi family was dealt with. Of course that would also be dependent on the Daimyo’s cooperation.

Still it had not been enough to provoke a response and Naruto feared that they may have been too subtle. That night they planned to enter into the viper’s den to get the reaction that they were looking for. Naruto was confident that although the Nagatomi might not have been smart enough to locate them despite the trail of bread crumbs they had left. They would at least be smart enough to realize when people were snooping around in their own home, and if not, Naruto was sure he could push the necessary buttons to force a reaction. If everything went as they hoped then the Casino’s own security cameras would provide them with all the alibi they would need to explain their actions.

Naruto indicated for the dealer to give him another card with an eighteen visible as his focus returned to the game. The dealer shrugged before flipping over another card and just shook his head as a three appeared. Flipping his own cards which showed that he had a twenty the man said, “You have the devil’s luck sir.”

“Nah,” Naruto said amused at just how lucky he had been, “I like to think it’s a byproduct of clean living.”

The man smiled politely before asking, “Another hand?”

“No thanks,” Naruto said tipping him generously, “I should actually go see what’s keeping my wife.”

The dealer looked behind him to say, “Speaking of…” he paused as his mouth dropped slightly, “You’re a lucky man sir.”

“I kno…” Naruto said turning but trailed off as he spotted Toka approaching. His mouth drifted open slightly as well since rather than the typical jeans and blouses that she had favored during their role as civilians on vacation, she was dressed in a tight form fitting black dress and matching heels. The dress only reached to her mid-thigh a fact that Naruto could tell embarrassed her slight from the way she tried to pull it down a few times as she approached fearing it was riding up. It was also apparent that she likely had never worn high-heels before as her ankles threated to give out on her a few times.

She reached him and placed her hand on his shoulder partly as a false show of intimacy, but also he suspected as a means of stability. “I’m sorry I took so long…I had trouble deciding what to wear.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Naruto said getting over his surprise at what she had chosen. “I was just going to check on you. You look stunning.”

Toka looked surprised at the compliment and turned her face away as she pushed the bang that normal blocked her left eye away. Naruto noticed that cheek was equally red with embarrassment either from his compliment or the many men openly ogling her. Turning to the side he presented his arm to her as he asked, “Shall we go?”

Toka gladly took it as the two of them left their hotel for the short walk to the Gamer’s Paradise which was the casino the Nagatomi operated out of. As they walked Toka said, “I shouldn’t have worn these damn heels.”

Naruto chuckled before stating, “I’m actually surprised you didn’t wear the tuxedo. Any particular reason?”

Toka was too embarrassed to say it was because she had hoped to make an impression with him, but instead said, “Isn’t it rather usual in these situations for a person to go with a piece of arm candy?”

“I object,” Naruto said rather forcibly. Toka was about to explain that she had meant it as a joke at least until he added, “I know I’m attractive, but I refuse to be viewed only as a pretty face. I have feelings you know. It isn’t easy being the heartthrob of so many women.”

Toka laughed upon realizing what he was implying, a rather rare occurrence during her era, but had become more prevalent since meeting Naruto. It trailed off as a new wave of guilt over what she had tried to do to him with her genjutsu settled over her. It caused her to say, “Naruto, I know you already said you’ve forgiven me, but I’m so…so sorry for…”

“Toka,” Naruto said gently, “Its fine. I’ve forgiven you, besides you were right. It did take something extreme to motivate me into taking control of that genjutsu. I might not have reacted as strongly to a different illusion.” Naruto’s words once more made her feel worse rather than better since it showed that she had just wanted to be cruel to him. “Truthfully, I think I need to apologize to you too. If I did take control of the illusion then my subconscious said some rather hurtful things to you through Ino.”

“Actually I think it was me,” Toka explained surprising the jinchuriki. “I’ve thought a lot about what happened and while your will might have stripped my ability to control the illusion. It was my own doubts that were being thrown back at me. I think once you would no longer be manipulated by the visions it caused my own doubts…and maybe desires to manifest. But what Ino said at breakfast that morning was true in one respect, for someone supposedly happy with her decisions I seem to be a pretty miserable person.”

Naruto frowned since he couldn’t exactly deny that had been the case, but he did say, “That’s a trap I think anyone with a cause can fall into though. People sometimes come to think that their way of thinking is the only right way, and while sometimes right and wrong is rather clear cut. A lot of the time it’s a matter of opinion. Yet, regardless of whether or not the way those who think differently than us choices affect us, we are so convinced of the rightness and pureness of what we believe that we can’t accept that there is another way of thinking. Problems arise when we try to force that view point onto others, and we begin to resent them when they don’t come around to what we believe.”

Toka nodded as she said, “It’s why Mito and I have such a poor relationship now.”

“Really,” the jinchuriki said surprised.

“Yes, we were always close to the Uzumaki clan, and my father often acted as an envoy to their village. I grew up mostly in the Hidden Eddy Village. It was such a liberating place since the Uzumaki didn’t discriminate against Kunoichi.” Toka chuckled as she added, “Most of the men would joke that it was because the women there could be so much worse than any enemy they could fight.” Naruto nodded as he had seen that side of his mom, as well as his Uzumaki lovers from time to time. “I guess I felt betrayed when she married Hashirama and decided to start a family. I thought we had a sort of unspoken arrangement to take on the status quo in the Senju. But I guess it’s just like with the kunoichi of this era, since she already had what I wanted, she didn’t place the same value on it as I did.”

Naruto nodded as he said, “It wasn’t exactly a life that she didn’t have regrets about either you know.” That surprised Toka prompting him to explain, “Granted you saw her while she was at her happiest, but after the First Hokage’s death, she was forced to live a life that made her feel trapped and where she needed to act the part of a prime and proper lady. Plus, as time went on she was forced to watch as more and more of her family became victims of the hatred that consumed the shinobi world. It just shows that even when we get what we want it doesn’t mean we’ll always be happy with the results.”

“I guess I never considered that. I should have, after all I was propelled forward to a time where everything I wanted had become a reality but I still find reasons to be upset.”

Naruto nodded as he stated, “That’s why when something comes along that does make you happy you should seize it. That feeling may disappear in the future, so it’s important to enjoy it while it lasts.”

Toka nodded in agreement even as Ino’s voice began to play in her head as it stated, “There’s room for one more if it’s what you want.”

*****

“Seven, another winner,” the casino dealer said as the table shouted excitedly since a majority of them were betting on Naruto’s current winning streak.

The dealer slid the dice to the jinchuriki who stated, “Let’s let it ride.” He began to shake the dice as the others around the table placed similar bets but stopped to hold them out to Toka. “These dice are getting offly hot. Can you cool them off a little?” His blue eyes twinkled with amusement and Toka smile as well as she blew on them in a seductive fashion. Looking around at several of the men he said, “I don’t know about you fellas, but that had the opposite effect on me as now I’m feeling a little hot under the collar.”

Naruto tossed the dice which once more came up as a seven causing the crowd to erupt as he again came up the winner. Toka, despite the seriousness of their goal was enjoying herself. A good portion of that enjoyment was it allowed Naruto to act rather affectionate with her. It caused her to wonder if this was his playing at being affectionate, what those who actually got to experience him being sincere must enjoy. Naruto’s hand slipped around her back and he held her hip as he asked, “Dear, what do you think? Should we call it a night?”

Quite a few of the other people at the table quickly voiced their disappointment that such a topic was being discussed due to the money they had made off of him. A few of the women, she suspected were more interested in keeping him around as she noticed a few jealous looks being directed her way. Playing her role although she was surprised at how deeply she was getting into it, she placed her hand on his thigh and rubbed it as she answered, “Mmmm tempting since I can’t wait to get you alone, but let’s make a few more people’s dreams a reality tonight.”

“You heard her. Give me those dice,” Naruto said accepting them back from pit boss.

Toka directed her attention to a dark skinned man watching the action from the top of some stairs leading from the gaming floor. He adjusted his gold frame glasses as one of his men handed him a sheet of paper. She watched him pale slightly and she guessed that it was likely the figures for how much money Naruto and the others at the table were currently up. He stroked his goatee in thought before whispering something to the man who took off running to fulfill his order. Orders, which Toka suspected involved finding out who it was currently attempting to brank the bank, and if they had done their job correctly would cause him to suspect that the shinobi snooping around his city were currently right in front of him.

It didn’t take long for the man to return and what he reported caused the man to lose even more of his color than the fact that Naruto had doubled the number of chips in front of him. Giving his man some more instructions, Toka watched him run up to the security office and presumably to rouse some men. Another fifteen minutes later, Toka could easily spot as more and more of the Nagatomi’s muscle began to surround them.

Finally when he was confident his people were in place he approached the table. “My, you’ve certainly have been on quite the hot streak. Allow me to introduce myself, Rikiei Nagatomi of the Nagatomi Family.”

Naruto smiled as he said, “That’s kind of implied by your last name being Nagatomi, isn’t it?”

Toka could tell the man was less than amused, and it showed as he said, “You might not be aware of this. But this is my city.”

“Really,” Naruto said as the other gamblers sensing the menace rolling off the man decided the blond man’s luck had likely run out so left, “I’m not so sure I’d be proud of that. You might not be aware of this but this city seems to have something of a nasty drug problem. You might consider cleaning it up a bit.”

“Funny,” the Nagatomi family head replied, “I was under the impression that the only problem was that it was infested with shinobi from the Leaf.”

Naruto looked to Toka before giving the man an amused smile as he countered, “Can you really count two shinobi as an infestations?” Toka quickly cast a genjutsu over the Nagatomi Family Head although the cameras and other people weren’t affected. She waited as Naruto continued, “No, an infestation would be you and the thirty-six pieces of vermin that you’ve surrounded us with. Luckily, we know how to deal with vermin.”

“Deal with this,” Rikiei roared, “Kill these fools.”

Nothing happened as far as Reikei was concerned as Naruto came around the table towards him while Toka remained in place. Growing upset with his men’s cowardice he shouted, “What are you waiting for,” while pulling a dagger from his belt.

He was confused as Naruto looked at a spot away from where the woman was standing to ask, “Why don’t you show him, what they are waiting for.”

Reikei was shocked as the genjutsu faded for him to find his men lying collapsed around the woman that had accompanied the blond. Reikei panicked and seeing the young man was looking at him tried to stab him with his blade.

Naruto dodged most of the attack although it did cut slightly into his arm. Still he managed to grab the gangsters arm and spun him so that he threw him onto the craps table. The Nagatomi Head’s face smashed into the back rim of it breaking his glasses as the man flipped over the edge. “Shoot, over shot the table,” Naruto said. “Does that mean I lose?”

Naruto then quickly moved up the stairs to secure the security video as Toka bound the members of the Nagatomi family she had dealt with. A short time later the local magistrate and his men had showed up and took the Nagatomi into custody while accepting the tape as evidence with Naruto vaguely hinting he had made a copy to take back to Konoha in case it should go missing before leaving the casino with Toka in tow.

*****

Naruto laid in the bath as he basked in the success of his plan. He looked at his arm to see it was fully healed although it had only been superficial to begin with. In truth he would have been able to completely avoid the blow, but had felt it would add weight to the narrative they had crafted. Still, he had been touched by Toka’s concern when she had spotted it and allowed her to fuss over it for the benefit of the samurai the magistrate had brought.

Upon reaching their hotel room Toka had decided to take a bath first while Naruto had offered to rent a separate room now that the mission was over since the suite they were currently in only had one bed. However, Toka had declined telling him that they had spent a couple weeks sharing either a bed or a room so saw no need for him to inconvenience himself. Naruto had relented, although truthfully another reason for his offer was so he could teleport away to be with a few of his lovers as after a week without any sort of loving in light of how much sex he typically enjoyed had him rather backed up.

But he figured, Toka hadn’t wanted to be alone especially due to how much she had opened up to him earlier. Not wishing to abandon her, to take care of his own desires he figured he could hold out until they returned to Konoha. Naruto stood in the tub and frowned as he pulled a towel from the shelf as he didn’t spot the sleeping pants and shirt that he could have sworn he brought with him. Stepping out, and quickly drying off, he wrapped the towel around his waist as he exited the bathroom asking, “Toka, did I leave my…”

Naruto trailed off as for the second time that night his mouth dropped open although this time it nearly hit the floor since kneeling on the bed with her hands resting on her knees was a completely naked Toka. The Senju blushed as he drank in her beautiful body, before he got ahold of himself enough to ask, “Not that I’m complaining, but w-what are you doing?”

Toka appeared a little of sure of herself as she thought that he might not be interested in what she was about to propose, but having removed his clothes from the bathroom to set up the situation decided to go through with it as she explained, “In my time period it was customary for a kunoichi to wait naked in the room of the man that she was interested in taking as a lover. It was to show that she wasn’t armed in order to put him at ease.”

Naruto’s dick began to respond to the sight as his towel began to lift as he joked, “It’s hard to imagine anyone being at ease around the sight of a beautiful naked woman waiting in his bed.” Recalling how Komachi had done the same thing he approached Toka while asking, “Are you sure this is something that you want? You were pretty against the idea of a man taking multiple lovers.”

“I…I know….and I can understand why you would reject me,” Toka said looking away. “I’m sure your lovers won’t be pleased at the idea of…”

Naruto sat next to her and cupped her face causing her to trail off. He smiled gently as he said, “I’m not worried about that. Our goal is to help build bonds between people so that they can grow to understand and cherish one another. So I have no doubt you will be welcomed into our family. I ask only because I want to be sure that this is a decision that you can be happy with.”

Toka met his beautiful blue eyes and nodded as she said, “Yes, I’m sure I will be.”

Naruto smiled as his hand against her cheek traveled to the back of her head to pull her into a kiss. Toka’s eyes grew wide at the unfamiliar contact, before slowly drifting closed as the kiss grew deeper. Her mouth opened instinctually though allowing Naruto’s tongue to slip inside where it met hers to begin teasing it into action. They separated slightly as their tongues continued to dance around each.

Naruto then leaned back letting a thin strand of saliva connect them for a moment before it broke. Toka watched him with half-hooded eyes before he guided her back so that her head rested at the foot of the bed and so he could lean over her to kiss her greedily once more. As they kissed Naruto ran his right hand over her skin staying away from her breasts or cunt enjoying the way she would angle her body in order to almost force him to touch them. Still he resisted until breaking the kiss so he could latch his lips to her neck, and then moved further south to kiss her collar bone. He continued to travel down her body kissing down the valley of her breasts and taunt stomach. Positioning himself between her legs, his lips graved over her recently shaved mound before staring at her silken pussy lips.

“W-what are you doing,” Toka said embarrassed, “Stop staring.”

She moaned though as Naruto softly rubbed her smooth pussy as he replied, “But you must have shaved for me. It’s only right for me to admire it.”

“I-idiot,” Toka said her embarrassed tone sounding extremely cute to the blond, “I didn’t shave for you.”

“Oh,” Naruto said, “Then I’m really lucky that I get to enjoy this beautiful sight instead of the person you did do it for. I better hurry up and make you mine before that person shows up.”

Toka was about to retort, but couldn’t as her breath escaped her as a moan as a result of Naruto’s tongue beginning its sweet dance over her glistening pussy. When she could speak again she couldn’t recall what she had been about to say so settled for contently moaning, “S-so good.”

Naruto eagerly continued to dine on the slightly tart juices her pleased cunt provided him. Toka’s hips soon began to grind against his mouth as her moans began to increase telling him that she was reaching her first orgasm. The first of many that he intended for her to enjoy. Her hands suddenly gripped his hair as she pressed her pussy firmly against his mouth and screamed as her essence flowed down his throat. She sagged as she panted and watched as he crawled up her body with his chin glistening from the evidence of the pleasure that she had just experienced.

She leaned up to kiss him and she whispered, “Thank you.”

Naruto smiled before sitting back as he placed his cock on top of her shaved mound. “This is the moment of truth, Toka. From this point on you’ll be bound to me.”

Toka reached down causing him to groan as she wrapped her hand around his shaft before sliding it down to her love tunnel’s entrance. Naruto gripped the back of her knees as he pushed them back into her shoulders and then shouted in pain and pleasure as he tore through her hymen to take her virginity in a single thrust. Naruto immediately began pumping his hips causing the pain to fade as the pleasure quickly overpowered it.

Naruto dick continued to reach deeply inside her as he bent her nearly in half while he continued to slam his hips into her. Toka’s hands traveled up and down his arms until she placed them over his hands in order to aid him in holding her legs open and back for him. “Y-you’re incredible…,” Toka moaned having never experienced the heights of pleasure she found herself currently enjoying. “D-don’t stop…”

Naruto smiled as he grunted out, “You don’t need to worry about that…I told you there’s no going back for you.”

Toka moaned happily as she imagined an eternity of pleasure. She felt another build-up of tension growing inside of her aided by the feeling of Naruto’s cock growing larger still. “Oh gooooddddddsssss!!!!” she shouted as she exploded and found much like when she had been trapped in-between dimensions found herself floating, except this time instead of darkness it was a place of white bliss. A feeling of warmth accompanied it as Naruto shot rope after rope of his cum into her welcoming womb.

Naruto collapsed atop of his newest lover as Toka wrapped her legs softly around his hips as they both panted from exhaustion. Naruto kissed her shoulder as something caught his eye. He looked up at the television and was shocked to see a just as surprised Urd watching them from inside it. However as the image faded, he wondered if it was a strange aftereffect of the powerful orgasm he had just experienced.

His attention was pulled back to the woman beneath him as she had sensed him tense up so asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Naruto said already dismissing what he had seen as a hallucination. “Are you ready for round two?”

Toka’s eyes grew wide as she asked, “Already?”

“Oh yeah,” Naruto said causing her to moan as he fondled her breast, “I can’t wait to enjoy you in every position imaginable.”

“T-there are more?” Toka said titillated as her imagination began to show her the possibilities. As Naruto began to move within her again, she soon learned her imagination hadn’t even come close.

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