Eroninja

“Dammit someone, answer the door,” Mirajane shouted as she stepped into the main entrance of the mansion. She grunted in annoyance as no one answered her. She supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised considering currently the residents of the home consisted of just her, Tier, Cyan, and Nel. The majority of her siblings and other women that lived in the mansion were out performing missions or busy with other tasks. Kiyomi and Mito for example were currently in Wave with Urd. While the new Eight-tails was acting as Mito’s bodyguard as she impersonated Kiyomi. The genuine article was going over the Gato Shipping Company’s holdings having purchased them along with the port the company had built in Wave.

The trio was also being accompanied by Karin and Fuka. Karin was going to oversee and train Fuka in running the business side of the Uzumaki Nautical Company since the ancient Uzumaki was taking over as president of the sister company. The primary reason for Fuka assuming responsibility for it was because she had some experience as a pirate. However, as she had accrued it early on in her ghoul life when she had still tried to balance her needs with remaining a decent person, she had targeted other pirate crews to rob them of their riches and their chakra. Eventually though her crew had betrayed her as they had wanted to target richer targets such as towns or noble ships and one night had slit her throat as she slept. Obviously it hadn’t worked. But from the few survivors of the massacre that followed was the tale of the ghostly captain that had lured men into her crew with plans to drain them of their energy and lives. Naturally, they left out the part where they had betrayed her first. Of course, most people in Wave would never learn how she was the origin of the ghost story that some of the sailors still told each other.

While Urd, Mito, Karin, and Fuka handled the tasks of introducing the woman that would be the president of the Uzumaki Nautical Company to the people of Wave, Kiyomi planned to busy herself with studying the records of the company it was being created from. She was doing this as a favor to Ibiki, who was busy with multiple investigations already, but still was hoping to discern if there was a link between Gato and the S.I.N. Corporation which could explain their similar interests in Wave. Kiyomi could have just turned the records over to one of Ibiki’s subordinates. But, she wanted to handle it herself in case she uncovered secrets that she wanted to keep even from close allies of Naruto’s Harem.

Mirajane refused to call the Harem by the cutesy term the women that were a part of it used. Particularly because to her it didn’t feel like a family since if anything it was putting her at odds with hers. The most recent sibling towards whom she was directing her ire naturally being Tier primarily because she had joined said Harem. What truly pissed her off about the whole affair was that to Mira it had seemed as if one moment Tier had displayed very little interest in the idea, and then the next thing she knew her sister was one of Naruto’s lovers. Hearing the details added to her annoyance because it had sounded like Tier had simply thrown herself at him and he had gladly accepted.

Naturally, it pissed her off because she had also thrown herself at Naruto multiple times and he always found a way to reject her. She had stopped after a while to preserve her self-dignity, but she knew her interest hadn’t abated considering how angry she was that Tier seemed to possess something which attracted the man. She had vented to Kiyomi about it, primarily as she believed her sister’s goal was to unite all the Bijuu under Naruto. Considering that was a place Mira wanted to be she figured Kiyomi would provide her with some insight. Instead, her sister had simply informed her that the old her would have been more likely to attract Naruto then her current self. Having been majorly frustrated by the cryptic response she had lashed out at her sister insulting both her and her lover. Kiyomi for her part had simply sighed and shook her head before returning her attention to the book she had been reading.

Mira just didn’t understand what it was her sister meant since the old her had been withdrawn and unsure of herself. This was primarily due to the form she had taken after being created, since while her siblings all had majestic and powerful looking forms. She had simply been a mass of pulsating and slimy white flesh. Even Chomei who also had been insectile in nature at least looked cool due to its armored like form. Hers by contrast had just been monstrous which Kukaku had rarely failed to taunt her over or even her other siblings on occasion when annoyed with her. As such, she had almost been overly polite and friendly. Yet still a part of her had resented having to act in such a manner so had discarded it as soon as she had assumed her new one. Mira felt that now that she had both beauty and power she shouldn’t need to behave in such a manner as it was time she received the respect that she felt she was due.

She sighed as she reached for the door since instead of respect at present she was little more than Kiyomi’s babysitter for Nel and housemaid. Just before gripping the knob she yelped as she was shocked by some static electricity that arched from it. She looked at her hand in surprise for a moment, but then noticed a charge entering the air around her which caused her hair to begin rising up. She realized the implications quickly, but before she could react the door exploded inward sending her flying back from the massive electrical attack.

Mira hit one of the staircases that led to the second level. They shattered where she impacted them leaving her imbedded as three people stepped into the mansion. The woman of the group had red-hair, the bangs of which were covering her eyes. She was wearing a white jacket, along with matching skirt and boots. Beneath the jacket was dark-bluish shirt with a hole that displayed her impressive endowments. She called into the mansion playfully, “I hope you don’t mind but we saw ourselves in.”

“Shermie don’t lose focus here,” the dark skinned and white-haired man entering behind her said, “Kurisu confirmed that there are four heat sources in this mansion. The courier just dropped off the tablet so it must still be near one of them, and thanks to your flashy entrance you probably already killed one of them.”

An androgynous looking youth dressed in a loose fitting blue shirt under which he wore a tight fitting black undershirt tucked into his white pants said, “Relax Yashiro, the courier we questioned said he dropped it off with some young girl. From his description she’s likely the smallest heat source. I’ll go collect it.”

“Like hell you will,” Mira said pulling herself from the stairs. “Now get the hell out of our house.”

Transforming into what she called her Satan Form, she leapt from the stairs towards the group of intruders. Just before she reached them the woman and youth leapt away from their larger teammate. Fine with taking him out first, she pulled back her scaled and gauntlet like clawed hand to smash it into his face. Yet to her surprise despite her immense strength in her current form he easily caught it. He grinned at her coldly before stating, “You’re going to have to do better than this if you are going to make us leave.”

He reached out for her but Mira leapt back, however while still airborne the youth appeared behind her and kicked her in the back. “Nice assist Kurisu,” Yashiro stated as he leapt into the air grabbing Mira by the face and then smashed her head first into the ground. The man then leapt back ordering, “Finish her off now, Shermie.”

“With pleasure,” the woman said blowing a kiss towards Mira. A small orb of electricity left her lips and traveled over her hand, but then it disappeared. Mira then suddenly felt the air around her grow supercharged and leapt into the air as a massive orb appeared where she had been standing. However, Kurisu appeared behind her again and kicked her into the still sparking jutsu. She screamed out as she hit it and the electricity arced over and through her. When the jutsu ended though, she could tell they were surprised at her still being not only conscious, but alive as she slowly got back to her feet.

Kurisu appeared behind her again and was about to kick her in the back once more. Mira however spun and caught him by the ankle stating, “Really, you thought you would catch me a third time.” She then spun towards Yashiro who was moving to help his comrade and threw the brown-haired youth. He smashed into Yashiro knocking the wind out of both of them as they crashed into a wall near the entrance.

Mira turned towards Shermie, but suddenly found her face between the woman’s thighs. Shermie then twisted her hips pulling Mira off her feet before smashing her down into the ground and then leapt away. Mira picked herself up to find all three of her opponents back on their feet. They were about to leap at her, but scattered as a water shark smashed into the ground where they had been standing.

Mira looked behind her to see Tier and Cyan standing on the second floor. Tier lowered the hand she had used to launch her jutsu as she calmly said, “If you know what is good for you then you should surrender. This fight will end poorly for you if you persist. You may have caught Mira unaware, but that small advantage is now at an end.”

“Stay out of this Tier,” Mira said angrily, “I don’t need your help.”

Tier leapt from the second floor landing just behind her sibling. Stepping forward as she pulled her blade she stated, “Regardless you have it. Do not underestimate them. Their lack of subtlety in their attack shows an arrogance that they possess in regards to their abilities. They obviously believe that not only could they best us, but planned to fight their way free of the village.”

“Humph,” Yashiro stated amused, “It seems we aren’t the only arrogant ones. You make it sound like beating you is impossible.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Tier said holding her blade at her side, “But, I would like to think it would be rather difficult, especially as the odds are now even.” Tier’s eyes grew wide as she felt the already incredible amounts of chakra within their opponents grow more powerful and violent. To go along with the change in their chakra, their skin began to darken as well.

Kurisu, who before might have seemed cheerful if somewhat withdrawn had a sadistic look in his eye now as he stated, “The odds are anything but even. We are the chosen.”

He then raised his hand towards them and a massive purple fireball gathered before it. The jutsu shot towards the women causing Cyan and Mira to scatter. Tier countered with a ball of water, but to her shock the purple flames evaporated and powered through her attack barely diminished. She managed to roll out of the way, but had to raise her arm to block a kick from the man as he appeared next to her. She flew back from his blow, but landed on her feet so was prepared as he reappeared.

He nimbly avoided the swipe of her sword before countering by waving his hand at her causing a wave of flame to appear. Tier countered with a wall of water which succeeded in blocking the attack this time, but she was knocked over as Mira was smashed into her from behind having been battling Yashiro.

“This isn’t fucking happening,” Mira shouted angrily as she picked herself up.

Tier was annoyed herself, but replied upon seeing Cyan forced to leap away as Kurisu attacked her from behind allowing Shermie to disengage from the battle, “It is because their teamwork is better than ours, and you are underestimating them.” ȐАΝÔВÈṩ

“They’re fucking humans,” Mira countered angrily, “They aren’t on the same level as us.”

Tier sighed, as she regained her footing before replying, “The current results of this battle would suggest otherwise. Plus, their chakra levels in their current state might even be on par with ours.”

Yashiro smirked as he listened to the women before replying, “What exactly are you supposed to be that you see yourselves as being above normal human beings?”

“Why don’t you tell us,” Tier countered, “It’s obvious an arrogance you share with my sibling to think that the three of you are a match for an entire village.”

“We are touched by the divine,” Kurisu responded dragging a defeated Cyan behind him. He tossed the unconscious woman at Tier’s feet before ordering, “Now surrender or would you like to watch Shermie snap this cute little girl’s neck?

Tier’s eyes narrowed as she tightened her grip on her sword as Nel said sounding frightened while Shermie held her in a manner that would let the woman easily fulfil Kurisu threat, “Nel’s sorry, she tried to stay hidden like you said to.”

“It’s okay,” Tier said soothingly, “It’s not your fault.” Focusing her gaze on Kurisu she said, “You will regret threatening her.”

“I honestly don’t think I’m capable of such a thing as feeling remorse,” the sadistic youth replied.

“I will look forward to testing if that holds true,” Tier said menacingly. “But we will not surrender. I know you have no intention of leaving us alive.”

“Too true,” Kurisu responded, “But first things first. Did you find the tablet of the Hyuuga?”

“Yeah,” Shermie answered, “The little brat was trying to hide it when I caught her.” The woman tossed the tablet to Kurisu who caught it and then using his purple flames melted it into molten rock.

Smiling menacingly he said, “It looks like now all we need to do is clear up a few loose ends. Let’s start with the youngest.”

“No,” Tier shouted moving to stop the woman even as she tensed to follow the order.

However, she knew she wouldn’t reach her in time. But then a red flash appeared between her and the woman. As Naruto appeared he swung one of his chakra blades at the woman about to murder Nel, who leapt back but abandoned her hold on her would be victim to move as quickly as possible. She landed on her feet and was quickly joined by her comrades as they watched the blond man that had appeared holding the shaking Nel.

He looked up and his eyes were red and fox like, but he then quickly disappeared with the young girl. Everyone’s attention was pulled to Shermie though as blood began pouring from her slashed throat as although she had avoided the blade, had not been able to avoid the extended range as it had been charged with Naruto’s wind natured chakra. Her head began to tilt back to reveal that except for a small amount of skin her head had been nearly severed.

Naruto reappeared having dropped Nel off in his apartment and then gathered Soifon, Yugito, and Yoruichi. He watched the woman collapse before saying coldly, “You had better surrender or you can join your friend.”

“I opt for the third option,” Yashiro stated as he placed his hand on the ground drawing energy from the earth.

“There is no third option,” Naruto stated as the man straighten and began to charge him.

“Of course there is,” the man shouted as he ran headlong at them, “To kill as many of you as possible before you take us down.”

Naruto threw his chakra blade and having applied a Hiraishin seal to it disappeared as the man avoided it. He appeared behind him and caught the blade before spinning and slashing it along Yashiro’s back. His wind chakra easily sliced the man in half from shoulder to hip splitting him in two as he said, “That was option B remember.” Focusing on the last threat to those he cared about he said, “Do you want to fail my question as well.”

Appearing unmoved by his teammate’s demise Kurisu replied, “Actually, I like Yashiro’s choice. He just went about it the wrong…” The Youth moved to attack Naruto, but was knocked off his feet as Tier threw her sword and caught him in the chest.

Tier walked up and pulled it free as she asked coldly, “Are you now regretting your choice?”

“H…hardly,” the young man replied, “I actually needed some help with setting it in motion.” He began laughing as the buildup of chakra that Tier had thought was to power a jutsu which he had planned to attack Naruto with actually began to grow stronger. She realized he was channeling his fading life force into it to take them all with him so shouted, “Get away from him,” as she leapt back.

“There’s no escape for you,” Kurisu said, “I’ll take all of you and a good portion of this village with me.”

Naruto moved to the dying man trying to think of a place he could teleport him to that was devoid of people. Settling on a few of the oases he had left kunai in Wind Country to have a way to protect Sara and her daughter before they became his lovers. He was about to snatch him up when a blur flew past him as Mira grabbed him and flew out the ruined entrance. “Mira wait,” he shouted but she was already skyward bound before he could explain his plan.

Mira pushed herself to fly Kurisu as high and far from the village as possible. She felt him grip her forearms as he said, “How futile. All you’ve succeeded in doing is dooming yourself.”

“Go to hell,” Mira replied, “I’m not letting you have your way.”

“In the end it isn’t my way that you need to worry about, but our mother’s,” Kurisu said as his grip loosened on her, “Now let’s go to hell together.”

Mira managed to pull free of him and used her tail to toss Kurisu into the air before flying away. He exploded in a massive purple eruption of chakra and flame, the concussion wave of which washed over her. She began to then tumble from the sky as she lost consciousness from the blast.

Naruto cursed as he saw her emerge from the smoke of the explosion spinning in an uncontrolled manner. Having reached the edge of the village by running, using Hiraishin, or clones to toss him along her path, he didn’t think he could reach her in time as she was well outside his throwing range several times over. His eyes then locked onto a catapult mounted just inside the wall and was used in case of siege or attack by giant summons. Running to it, members of the village’s defense squads began to appear in response to the explosion. One of whom noticing Naruto asked, “What the hell was that? Are we under attack?”

Naruto jumped into the basked of the unloaded weapon shouting, “No time to explain.” He tossed a kunai at the firing mechanism hitting the lever and launched himself over the wall. Although not aimed directly at the descending Mira it did bring him close enough that he could toss a kunai at her. Doing so he, he cursed as his aim wasn’t as true as it needed to be so appeared over her. Dropping into a head first decent, he quickly caught up and was able to grab her, but so was the ground so he teleported them into his apartment. They crashed down on his bed shattering it. Naruto quickly checked to make sure Mira was okay and after ascertaining that she was rolled over onto his back. A moment later Nel and Kushina entered the room to check on what had happened. The diminutive Bijuu upon noticing the state of his bed asked, “Is this why Kiyomi is always yelling at Nel about jumping on her bed?”

Naruto chuckled before patting her helmeted head and responding, “Maybe taken to the extreme reasons for it. But you go ahead and keep on jumping. I did and look how I turned out.”

Nel smiled at him before hugging his chest to say innocently, “Next time Nel wants to jump in her bed with you.”

“You aren’t the only one,” Kushina said with a smile as she gave her son a knowing wink. But then turning serious asked, “So, what exactly happened?”

Naruto sat up with the small Bijuu to look at the unconscious Mira before responding, “I have no idea.” But then remembering them threatening Nel, he threw a protective arm around her to say in a dangerous tone, “But we’re going to find out.”

******

Yoshino took in the ruined entrance to Kiyomi’s home. She had heard that it had been attacked, although by who was still a mystery. She had felt a little silly for bothering the woman about what had caused Kurenai to change when it was apparent she had more pressing concerns. As such, she had decided not to trouble her. Yet, she had been surprised when a messenger had arrived at her home with an invitation for her to meet with the owner of the Great Tree Shipping Company.

Yoshino had did some research on the red-headed woman, and what she had learned left her somewhat confused. Particularly since at times it seemed like she was two different people as some whom encountered her described her as a kind and outgoing woman. Yet others would say she was self-absorbed and unapproachable. Lately, though it seemed the more approachable side of her personality was being encountered more often. The Nara supposed that she could understand why the woman would switch between moods so often, since she had nearly been murdered by her husband, awoken to find her company being run into the ground by her siblings, and then within days of waking up her husband had tried to finish the job that he had started. Considering all that, Yoshino was surprised that the woman would ever leave the safety of her home. Plus, it wasn’t like she was an outright rude when the less social side of her personality appeared. But more like she was always in deep thought and found people bothering her an annoyance. Yoshino supposed that was forgivable as in only a few years since awakening, Kiyomi had rebuilt her company and made it a powerhouse in the shipping and transportation industries. In fact, the Great Tree Shipping Company was about to celebrate the opening of a sister company called the Uzumaki Nautical Company.

Yoshino figured that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Kiyomi would be at the heart of whatever had caused Kurenai to embrace living again. The woman seemed to be a savant at turning things around. Yoshino figured if nothing else came of the meeting, she’d at least get an idea of how the woman had overcome the adversity in her life.

She wasn’t quite sure how to announce herself, since there were work crews bustling about to repair the damage. She caught sight of the red-head talking with a middle-aged woman with dark blue hair who was holding some plans that they were looking over. Kiyomi looked up and upon noticing her, smiled before whispering something to the woman before moving to greet her. She noticed that the woman Kiyomi had been talking to gave her an appraising look before rolling up the plans she held and began directing the work crew.

“Lady Yoshino,” the red-head said warmly, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise Lady Kiyomi,” the Nara replied politely, “I’ll admit though I was a little surprised to receive your summons. I’d figure that you’d have more pressing concerns.”

“Oh, I think you will find I’m much better at multitasking then most,” Kiyomi replied with an obvious tone of amusement. Acting like she was telling Yoshino an inside joke she added, “In fact, you could say that at times it feels like I’m in two places at once.”

A little confused but being polite the Nara responded, “Well your competitors must feel like that is the case considering how quickly you resurrected your company’s image and returned it to prominence.”

“I can’t take all the credit,” the red-head replied, “I’m surrounded by talented individuals. They do most of the heavy lifting.”

Yoshino nodded, but replied, “Yet being able to pick out those key people is the talent of a good leader.”

“Indeed,” the woman replied with a smile, “But, I think you’ll find that I’m working from a talent pool that someone else has put together for me. However, we aren’t here to talk about me.”

“I do admit to being somewhat confused as to why you asked to speak with me,” Yoshino stated.

Kiyomi gestured out the ruined entrance of her home before stating, “Would you mind taking a walk with me?” Yoshino shook her head so they proceeded to head away from the mansion taking a path that led to a wood area. Figuring they were heading to the famous springs where the Women’s Bathing Association met, Yoshino admitted her curiosity was piqued. When they were alone on the path the red-head said, “The reason that I wished to speak with you was because Kurenai informed me that there was a breach of protocol in regards to our group’s secrecy.”

“They aren’t in trouble are they,” Yoshino asked concerned.

“No, not at all,” Kiyomi said quickly, “They aren’t necessarily the first to talk about what goes on behind the walls of my property. After all, I was made aware that recently several members had to explain the meaning of the fox marks they wore at a gathering of the Allied Mom Force.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t been attending any of the reservist meetings,” Yoshino said not using the other term people called the reserve force that defended Konoha during times of war or when needed. She had never particularly enjoyed the moniker of the Allied Mom Force, as she did feel it belittled the women that were a part of it. This was because she could almost imagine that people thought they would be fighting with pots or pans rather than engaging in the serious business of being trained killers.

Kiyomi nodded before explaining, “Well, recently the meaning of the mark came up as several of our members had gathered together. Although I feel our members handled it quite well, it has caused rumors to begin circulating about what goes on here. Particularly as one of our requirements is that the women must be currently unattached.”

“Why is that?” Yoshino asked feeling rather intrigued. As such she was rather disappointed when she arrived towards a hot spring that resembled the kind found in more mountainous regions but found it currently unoccupied.

Kiyomi must have sensed her disappointment as she smiled while Yoshino looked for some hint of the rumors she had heard. The red-head answered her question stating, “Well to insure secrecy of course. A married or attached woman would likely need to tell her lover what goes on here, something we have gone to great lengths to avoid.”

“Is that why the hot-springs are empty, because of the work crews?”

“Partially, we’ve had to corral more than one of the workers who have wandered off,” Kiyomi said amused as they approached a grotto. Using the path behind the waterfall, they approached a wall with a torch which the woman turned to reveal a secret passage. Turning towards the surprised Nara, the red-head added, “Now if they wandered down here we might have to resort to more drastic measures.”

Yoshino paused at the entrance as Kiyomi headed down. The woman stopped to look back prompting the Nara to ask, “Um… should I really be shown this then. I’m not a member.”

“True,” Kiyomi replied, “But, Ino spoke highly of you so we’ve decided to offer an invitation. Furthermore, Kurenai mentioned that hearing the small tidbits that they revealed caused you to demonstrate some curiosity. The breach that I spoke about earlier was to give some hint as to what goes on here. After all, they described it as a show, and those are the type of rumors I want to get in front of before they spread. Rumors spread from other sources can be written off as just the wild imaginations of horny teenagers or adults. But if you say you heard something in passing between members, well it lends a hint of credibility to anything that spins from other peoples’ musings using you as a source.”

“Still that doesn’t exactly explain why you would then show me everything,” Yoshino said. “What if I chose not to become a member?”

“Oh we aren’t offering membership just yet,” Kiyomi answered. “That may come later. But for now, I’m in the business of protecting our secrets by making you a part of them.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Yoshino said as Kiyomi turned away. She frowned as the woman didn’t answer her, instead heading down the steps of the passage. Not sure what she was getting into, Yoshino decided to follow anyway as she felt a sense of excitement.

When she reached the bottom she found Kiyomi waiting for her. The woman smiled as she asked, “Do you mind if I get more comfortable?”

“Um… sure, go ahead.”

“Thank you,” Kiyomi said before bursting into smoke. When it cleared, Yoshino was surprised that outside of her hair which had gone from a shortened bob cut to a reveal her hair was much longer, but was kept in two buns. “Ah, much better.” Yoshino found the woman’s already close resemblance to Mito Uzumaki had grown. She arched an eyebrow and the woman quickly answered the unasked question, “As you likely are aware, I’ve had some work done. But, I thought people might be rather concerned about me if I went out in public like this.”

“If most people recognized the First Hokage’s wife then they might have,” Yoshino said, recognizing her mainly from a picture that she had seen as a child due to her ability to recall everything she saw with crystal clarity. “But, while she was an impressive figure before she married, she settled into obscurity afterwards.” Yoshino wasn’t sure why, but she had the impression that she had offended the woman. She supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised considering how closely Kiyomi had modeled herself to look like the woman since it was like looking at the picture of Mito Uzumaki. The red-head’s good cheer quickly returned though as she said, “Please follow me.”

Yoshino felt her curiosity growing more and more as they walked. She quickly realized they were in one of the old civilian shelters that ran underneath the city. However, it was apparent someone had put a lot of time and effort into repairing them. She wondered where some of the rooms led, but asked a question that had been bothering her, “According to my understanding you weren’t a shinobi. Yet, how did you learn to henge yourself.”

“It’s a small trick I learned as a child,” the red-head answered. “Considering the number of attempts on my life. It’s a useful trick to know.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Yoshino replied aware that in answering her question, the woman had left out quite a few details. Figuring she’d be even more evasive with a follow-up question she instead asked, “By the way, do you own these tunnels? I can’t help noticing we should no longer be under your property.”

The woman looked back and smiled as she said, “My, you are an observant one. But to answer your question, no I do not. But, the Hokage allows us to use this particular tunnel. In fact, she uses one of these rooms as a secret medical facility for research.”

“I’m guessing then you likely keep that lab stocked with equipment and supplies in exchange,” the Nara stated.

“My company does,” the red-head replied, “But, if that is why you believe she is letting us use it then you would be mistaken.”

“Oh, that is surprising,” Yoshino said wondering what went on in some of the other rooms, “I would figure the two of you would have entered into such a give and take relationship. She gets a well-funded lab, and you get to use these tunnels for… storage perhaps.”

The woman looked over her shoulder giving a coy smile but didn’t elaborate. Yoshino figured she’d find out soon enough as they stopped in front of an unmarked door with no handle on it. Kiyomi knocked on it, and a slide opened up to reveal a pair of blue eyes that asked, “What’s the password?”

“Naruko open the door,” Kiyomi said annoyed, “You know who I am.”

“Where’s your sense of fun,” Naruko asked as she opened the door. “You’re cutting it kind of close aren’t you? It’s your turn after Lady Freeze.”

“I’m aware,” Kiyomi replied stepping through the door. Yoshino followed through as she did a double take at what the woman Naruko was wearing. Although, she hadn’t seen her before, she had heard of her so doubted that her normal attire consisted of high priced lingerie. The blonde woman was wearing a black see-through bra accept for a darkened strip that hid her nipples, and matching low cut underwear, the strings of which that held them to her ended in bows that could be pulled on to release the knots. Her legs were encased in sheer black panty-house while her feet were adorned with high heel shoes.

“Um… Kiyomi, why is she wearing lingerie?”

“While inside the Club please call me Lady Mito,” the red-head said as she looked through a rack of similar clothes as to what Naruko was wearing. Not finding something to her liking she said, “I’ll probably just perform in what I’m wearing.”

Naruko smiled as she ran an eye over the fine Kimono that the woman asking to be called Mito was wearing. “Hmm, you must be wearing something rather exciting under those bulky robes.”

“Perhaps,” Mito replied with a smile as she moved to a rack where various masks were hanging, “But sometimes it is what isn’t revealed that makes things exciting.”

She selected two of them. She then handed one to Yoshino, who looked at it and then the red-head in confusion. “What exactly do I need this for?”

“To hide your identity,” Mito replied as she affixed hers to her face. The masks that Mito had selected for them were black with silver trim which when worn covered the upper portion of the face. Yoshino frowned as while it might have hidden her identity from a person that she didn’t know, she doubted it would be the case for people she did. Still she found her curiosity was getting the best of her so affixed it to her face.

They walked through the hallway, which was filled with doors from which Yoshino could hear women’s voices and laughing. As they approached the end which connected with another hallway the Nara could hear music playing. Reaching the intersection she could see on path led to an open area where a large curtain was hanging. They headed in the opposite direction which ended in a doorway built into the wall facing the same direction as the curtain.

Mito stepped through, and held the door open for Yoshino which proved to be beneficial for the Nara as otherwise it might have caught her in the face since she was shocked at the scene she found herself looking upon. The red-head smiled back at her saying, “Welcome to Club N.”

Yoshino got ahold of herself and stepped into the room which was filled with what appeared to be well-to-do men. Scattered around the room were scantily clad women all wearing similar masks as her, and Mito, although most of theirs matched their outfits. Some of the women were topless even as they wore expensive lingerie while talking to the various guests of the club. One of whom was a large busty blonde woman who was dancing on the stage. She swayed sensually with the music, often using one of the poles built into the stage to hang from as she spun around it.

The Nara followed Mito to a booth built into the side of the wall. She noted a draped off area where she could see shadows of women giving what she assumed were lap dances. There was also a doorway built into one of the walls that was being blocked by several chairs. But another pair of ornate doors opened to reveal what was apparently an entrance for the male clientele. Yoshino sat next to the red-head, still somewhat dumbfounded to explain what she had found which was supposed to be the source for Kurenai improved outlook and even the changes she had noted in Ino.

“What’s going on here? You’re telling me that the Women’s Bathing Association is just a means for you to stock your club with strippers?”

“I told you no such thing,” Mito replied amused, “That was a conclusion that you drew yourself. The activities of the Women’s Bathing Association are linked to this club, but the purpose that you assign to it is not what you think. The Club might feature women that are members, but it was an offshoot born of that group.”

Yoshino looked at Mito with a face that even with the mask did little to hide her skepticism. “Really? Are you telling me that one day some of the members came to you and said, ‘Gee, I really think it would be fun to strip for a room full of strangers?’”

“It wasn’t phrased exactly like that,” Mito said remembering the preparations that went into Naruto’s birthday when they had created Club N the year before, “but the sentiment was similar.” Mito giggled as she could see her words did little to persuade the Nara so said, “Club N caters to a rather exclusive clientele. In fact you can say they are generally of one mind when it comes to this Club’s secrecy.”

“Why is that?”

“Many reasons, but in regards to the secrecy it is because all it would take is our secret getting out for all of this to come to an end,” Mito responded. “That was why it was necessary for me to make sure Ino and Kurenai’s slight breach of our secrecy was taken care off.”

“I don’t know,” Yoshino replied feeling that something wasn’t exactly adding up. “I think you did more to let that secret out then they did. Why show me all this, when you could have shown me a less perverse secret?”

“Perverse,” Mito exclaimed sounding rather insulted, “Tell me what is so perverse about men drinking in the natural beauty of the female form.”

Yoshino indicated the circular area with the sheets hanging from it as she responded, “Are you telling me that is all that is going on over there?”

Mito smiled before replying, “There I think you will find that they do get to come in contact with that beauty. But, it is purely the woman’s choice. We run a rather classy establishment here. The women dance as they choose and when they choose. The customers reward them by showing their appreciation. You might notice how some of them are writing on pieces of paper. They have an account with the house which is drawn against based on how well the women perform. I think you’ll find that it leads to some rather stiff competitions between the dancers.”

“Hold on a moment,” Yoshino said in shock, “What do you mean I’ll find out. Are you honestly expecting me to become one of your dancers?”

“First, I think you still have some confusion about what it going on here,” Mito said her amusement growing. “Take the woman dancing at the moment. You might be surprised to learn that there was a time when she was rather self-conscious about her breasts. In fact, she was on the verge of having them reduced before joining our little group. Does she look self-conscious about them now?”

“No, and are you claiming dancing here helped her to get over it?”

“Not exactly, but she is dancing here because she came to appreciate her beauty thanks in part to her association with us, so has agreed to dance to display that satisfaction which she feels now,” Mito stated as the music came to an end.

“So what else am I mistaken about?”

Mito smiled as the DJ said, “Thank you Lady Freeze. Next up for your entertainment is the Lady Mito.”

Mito stood as a light shined on her which Yoshino shrank away from as the red-head said, “That this is my club. I’m as much a part of the entertainment as any of the women that chose to dance here. Please wait here until I finish my set.”

Mito move towards the stage where she was helped up by one of the all-female staff. Yoshino was struck by the lack of catcalls or whistles as instead the members clapped politely if enthusiastically. It left her feeling almost like she was going to watch the woman perform a poetry reading rather than strip naked on stage. The first song was rather slow in tempo and Yoshino was impressed by the poise and grace that the red-head was displaying. The movements were also slow reminding Yoshino of her old training in performing tea ceremonies, which she felt was a part of an archaic curriculum left over from the days when many shinobi considered a kunoichi’s primary asset to be her body and was to be used to either seduce a target or provide a clan or village with future soldiers. Kunoichi still had to learn it, along with skills such as flower arranging, but it was becoming less and less a function of most kunoichi’s missions so there were talks to phase it out. Something she knew rubbed the instructor Suzume the wrong way.

There wasn’t much skin showed during the first song as Mito’s Kimono had several layers to it. Yoshino did notice that rather than slowing down as the first song came to an end she began to speed up. It became apparent why, when the second song started and the lighting suddenly changed as Mito leapt towards the end of the stage leaving behind several of the kimono layers. She was still fully dressed, but in a much smaller and thinner version of her previous kimono. It also had slits running around it so that at certain points during her energetic dance it exposed her lovely legs.

The second song was far quicker in tempo and Mito’s moves matched this as she began to incorporate the pole in her routine. She’d spin around it, and Yoshino was struck by how graceful the woman was as her spins caused her kimono to raise up enough to hint at more without revealing it. She realized that was what Mito had been hinting at with Naruko as even she found herself wondering if she’d catch the woman flashing them.

The second song ended and Mito collected her clothes as she stepped down to polite applause. Yoshino noticed several of the patrons beginning to mark the cards before them. She figured the woman would be scored rather highly on technique but couldn’t imagine she’d get much due to her lack of nudity. She threw her discarded kimono next to her as she retook a seat next to Yoshino.

The DJ announced the next dancer as Lady Rose and Yoshino tried to figure out who she was as she appeared from behind the curtain wearing a purple bustier and panties. But, it proved difficult due to her mask being more flamboyant having feathers which ran over the back of her head to obscure the color of her hair. The woman danced more like Yoshino would imagine a stripper would and she could tell the crowd was enjoying the show. The first song came to an end, and she removed her top which she tossed into the crowd. It was caught by a dark haired man who when Yoshino looked at him had to take a double take as he looked almost like a dead ringer for Naruto. There were a few differences, namely that he had black hair and red eyes. But he even had the whisker like marks on his cheek.

Mito noticed the woman’s gaze lingering on him, so asked, “He’s rather handsome no? Much like me with that obscure Uzumaki, he’s trying to emulate a certain blond that is also a patron here although only in looks. He tries to act completely opposite of him, but you can tell it is an act.”

Yoshino looked over in surprise as she asked, “He’s a patron? You mean Naruto?”

“Why naturally,” Mito answered, “You could say this club wouldn’t even exist without him.”

“What do you mean?”

Mito gave her another mysterious smile as she replied, “Oh for multiple reasons, but I suppose if he hadn’t stopped Pain’s jutsu during the invasion the club would have been crushed.”

Yoshino nodded as the reminder of the invasion caused her to recall what she had lost during it. It sapped her curiosity as well as prompted her to stand. “This has been interesting, and I’ll protect your secret, but I’m afraid I have no interest in jumping up on that stage.”

“It’s a shame,” Mito said sounding disappointed, “I was sure you would leap at the chance.” Yoshino looked back with a look of disbelief and was about to ask the woman about why she thought that she’d want to become a stripper. The red-head answered her question before it was asked as she said, “I know exactly why it is that life seems so dull to you. When you were young and making the decisions of how you would live your life, you never imagined that you’d find yourself devoid of the man that gave it meaning. Oh, you knew there was a chance, but a part of you always thought it would happen to someone else. Yet, it didn’t. Now here you are a woman over forty with a stalled career because she put her husband’s first in order to provide him with a son and a perfect home to return to. Furthermore, you feel too old to start over in both love, and work.”

“And you seem to think that dancing here will cure me of all that,” Yoshino replied her tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Just dancing,” Mito said before pausing for a moment. “No probably not. But here you don’t need to be the woman that you are out there. Here you can mingle with people as a woman of mystery. A woman whose whole life is still in front of her. Here you might be able to live out fantasies that you believe yourself too old to indulge in. Or, perhaps find you are free of the chains that you believe prevent you from starting over.”

Yoshino surprisingly found herself actually tempted by the offer. Her gaze looked around the room to see the other women chatting happily with the customers. Her gaze stopped on the same dark haired man as before. But her view of him was blocked by Lady Rose, who had finished her set. Yoshino eyes grew wide as she noticed a fox mark on the woman’s butt, and immediately recalled seeing one in the exact same place on Ino when they had gone to the hot-springs. Mito must have noticed her look of recognition because she said, “Ah, I believe you’ve puzzled out who our Lady Rose is?”

“W-why is she here?”

“Because she enjoys dancing for our patron,” Mito said calmly. When the Nara didn’t notice the lack of pluralization she added, “So, how about it? Would you like to give it a try? I was in a similar place as you once. I think you find that the only chains that bind you are the ones that you allow to hold you down.”

Yoshino turned around to face her and her face had a look of suspicion as she said, “They didn’t breach your rules. It was a ploy to get me to dance here.”

The Nara was confused though as instead of panicking Mito replied, “Very good. You are correct; I see Lady Rose was right to suspect you would see through our little trick.”

“Then why go through with it?”

“It succeeded in its purpose,” Mito replied, “After all, if we had come right out and asked you here you probably would have refused.”

“Do you really want an old woman such as myself to dance that badly?”

Mito smiled as she said, “Oh, why don’t you take a gander at the stage.”

Yoshino turned to see who had replaced Ino, and saw a dazzling beauty wearing an outfit that left little to the imagination. It consisted of blue straps of cloth that only covered enough to hide away her nipples and cover her groin. Connected to the small patches of cloth were strings that connected them together. The way she danced with the music made Yoshino envious particularly as she had the impression that although the woman might be slightly younger they probably were similar in age. Her mask like her clothes were also barely there, but it was her movements that helped obscure her identity as her long black hair swirled around her. As the second song the woman began retreating down the stage away from the audience, where she grabbed the pole closure to the curtain. She then began spinning around it as she transition into several erotic poses. Then while still holding the pole, she lowered her feet to the stage where she pushed off to give her spinning an almost insane amount of speed. She then let go, causing Yoshino to think she had lost her grip, but the woman proved it was part of the act as she passed the pole at the end of the stage with her leg. Then spinning around it with only her legs holding her up she hung upside down with her arms outstretched towards the crowd. As her spin began to slow she loosened her legs grip to descend towards the stage while the song began to come to an end. Coming to a stop while pointed towards the front of the stage, the woman left on leg resting on the pole as she used the other to arch her back. The song came to an end causing the crowd to erupt into applause. The woman then pushed up into a handstand before returning to her feet and then walked towards the curtain which she disappeared behind.

Yoshino found she was curious as to who the woman was since she had been told a prerequisite for joining the Women’s Bathing Association had required the member not be in a committed relationship. She could understand why as she looked around the room, although she did wonder why women such as Ino would feel they needed such a place. Mito slipped up behind her to say, “That was Lady Fan. As you can see she’s most often the woman we try to out compete. Much like you she’s lost quite a bit, but has begun to piece her life back together. So how about trying it out for yourself. We can adjust the lights so that you can’t really see the audience.”

“I… I couldn’t possibly…” Yoshino replied, “I… I’m not dressed for it… and I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Oh, I think you’d find our patron enjoys the housewife look,” Mito said letting slip the truth as the woman was flustered, “Think of it as the first stage of a process. A shedding of your current self to indulge in our world of fantasy. But you’ll need a name. Hmm, how about the Lady Shadow?”

“Don’t you think that is a bit too on the nose,” Yoshino said as Mito began to push her towards the entrance to the backrooms.

“Not at all,” Mito replied amused at the woman’s weak resistance, “It also helps adds to our clientele’s enjoyment as they might suspect the beautiful woman dancing before them is non-other than the Lady Nara.”

They disappeared into the back, and Yoshino froze as she saw standing at the top of the steps which led up to the stage was Lady Fan, but without her mask. Instantly recognizing Mikoto Uchiha, who spotting her said, “So is this the new dancer?”

Yoshino was trying to process what was happening as she was pushed up the stairs, but still heard Mito’s reply of, “Yep, although she’s a little shy. But she’ll come out of it.” Then like a new born deer, she was pushed through the curtain and in many ways the start of a new life.

****

Naori left the temple’s training ground having watched Hanami working with Jade to improve her fighting abilities. She had received word from Goenitz that three of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Moon Goddess had fallen. In truth, the news had actually been well received by her as she had never much cared for Goenitz or his group. A part of the reason was primarily due to how blood thirsty they were, especially when under the influence of the Divine Blood. She had wondered why those that accepted it often become so murderous since it was derived from the Favored Son himself and thus the ultimate source was the Goddess they hoped to return to the world. The Favored Son claimed it was likely a result of their inability to truly assimilate the divineness of it so along with increasing their power caused them to become baser versions of themselves.

She accepted the explanation having seen the baser instincts of man firsthand which was why she believed it was necessary to return Kaguya to the world. In the world she would create people would be able to live out their lives in the ways there hearts truly desired, and even if the heart was filled with darkness their indulging would not hurt others as they all slept blissfully in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Entering her chamber she knelt before the statue of Kaguya, and after a moment a hazy figure appeared before her to hear her report, “Go ahead my child.”

“Favored Son, the Heavenly Kings destroyed the Tablet of Hyuuga, although only Goenitz was spared as he remained behind,” Naori stated keeping her head down.

The Favored Son could read her heart though as he said amused, “I’m sure the news was well received although I bet you were hoping it was a complete loss.”

Naori lowered her head further as she said, “It is as you say. I never much cared for their methods. I know that makes me a failure as your priestess since in their own way they are indulging in their heart’s desires.”

“True, but your recognizing your fault with our doctrine is what makes you such a fine shepherd to our followers,” The Favored Son replied kindly. “Besides which, you have experienced the cruelty of those with similar desires as them. A difficult thing it is to be sure to see sinners and saints both being elevated by our beliefs. But, that is a world where our pursuing the truth in our hearts leads us. It can be a hell for some and a heaven for others. Returning our Holy Mother is what shall make it a heaven that all can enjoy fully.”

“It is as you say Favored One,” Naori said keeping her eyes down.

“Still, this could cause us complications if the Leaf learns of their connection to our teachings.”

Naori nodded, but replied, “One of the reasons I did choose them to destroy the tablet was because they were not seen as practitioners. Furthermore, they would be wise enough not to give us away.”

The Favored Son saw through her again as he added, “Plus, like a moth is drawn to the flame that eventually destroys it. You used what was in their hearts to destroy them. The Divine Blood made them formidable, but their chances of escape were slim from the beginning. I’m sure Goenitz saw through your ploy as well. He is not one I would trifle with if I were you.”

“I do not take him lightly,” Naori replied letting a small smile appear on her face as she looked up for the first time. “I’m more than aware that he desires my position which is why he seeks to raise such a large flock. He hopes to gain your favor as I gained it from the previous Priestess. But in doing so if there is a connection that the Leaf finds between us and the Heavenly Kings, we can offer up Goenitz.”

“Provided he doesn’t gain my favor before then,” the Favored Son replied amused.

“If I fail to live up to your expectations then my life has always been yours to take,” Naori said reverently as she lowered her head again.

“There is little chance of that happening my child, as your heart’s desire is the same as mine,” the being born of the divine mother said pleased. “In the meantime, where do we stand with recovering the vessel?”

“My instincts about Jade were correct,” Naori said pleased. “She has used our intelligence network brilliantly and believes she knows where it is being hidden. I shall dispense our followers to retrieve it.”

“Hold off on that,” the Favored Son said. When she looked up questioningly he said, “You disapprove.”

“The idea that our Mother’s Vessel is in the hands of some unknown group is unbearable to me,” Naori said passionately. “It was bad enough turning it over to that pretender who claimed to be a god. I only wish he was still alive so that I could see the look on his face when he realized what a true God is.”

“Indeed,” her master said, “However, as he possessed the keys it could not be helped. The reason I want you to wait is the vessel will do us little good without the keys. Place eyes on where it is located to verify it truly is there, but wait for my signal. The petulant child I’m currently serving will soon present us with the opportunity to get our hands on them. Once I have secured them you will be free to secure the vessel.”

“As you command,” Naori stated eagerly, “But what if the collected Bijuu have been removed. Whoever has them has succeeded in keeping them out of play. Without them is there any hope of awakening our Holy Mother?”

“There is always a reason for hope,” the Favored Son answered, “But when you have been planting the seeds for our Mother’s return for as long as me. There is little reason to need it. In fact, I’m on my way now to check on one such seed that is about to bear fruit. I will be in touch when it is time to reclaim that which is ours.”

Naori stood and felt her spirits buoyed by what the Favored Son had stated for she had feared the unseen players that had secured the vessel were aware of what its true purpose was. If that was the case, then by exiling just one of the Bijuu as the Leaf had attempted with the Three tails could have put returning the Holy Mother in jeopardy. Yet, she should have known the Favored Son would have planned for even that eventuality. After all, he had barely been fazed when the plan he had enacted with Akatsuki had fallen apart. She would have figured he would have grown despondent to have come so close only to have his goal slip from his grasp. Yet, he had proven his divinity when he had simply gathered what pieces remained to put new events into motion, while collecting what he needed from plots enacted years if not decades before to solider on in achieving his goal. She was aware that in many ways she was just another plot for him, and if she failed he would react with similar dispassion at her passing. The key though was simply not to fail, and of that she had no intention. Feeling energized she decided to rejoin Hanami and Jade in training before convincing both to join her in a more pleasurable way of getting hot and sweaty.

*****

“What the hell do you mean we aren’t going to hit these bastards back,” Kukaku asked annoyed as her red-headed sister looked at a sheet of paper. Kukaku studied the paper that was so fascinating her sister at the moment to see that the side facing the Five Tailed Bijuu had rather immaculate writing over it. Another reason for her anger though, besides being ignored, was that after the attack all the Bijuu had been recalled home from their missions after completing them, and despite all being present she was the only one arguing for them to return the favor.

Kiyomi looked up as she asked calmly, “And just where would you direct your anger dear sister? Officially, the attack has been written off as a strike by our rivals. While we have been able to identify the attackers as missing-nin from Kumogakure, that does us little good in actually tracking down those responsible. It seems this Shermie, Yashiro, and Kurisu all went missing about the same time. There were rumors about them joining a cult of some sort based on writings that were found in their homes according to Mabui. But…”

“Which considering you have been investigating these Descendants of the Moon should be all the hint you need as to where we should strike,” Kukaku replied angrily. Her gaze shifted to Nel, who was sitting contently in Naruto’s lap eating a bowl of ice cream which Kiyomi had given to her having initially lost her temper as well when she learned the diminutive Bijuu had been playing with the tablet rather than giving it to Tier who would have properly secured it. Not to mention been better informed of what the attackers had been after.

That anger had melted though when her sister had reached under her helmet to produce a rubbing she had made of the tablet. Kiyomi turned the sheet over to reveal the rubbing to the others which was done in various shades of crayons. When the red-head had seen it, her anger had instantly switched to joy which was why Kukaku suspected she was not letting her emotions get the better of her now.

Kiyomi maintained her composer as she explained, “There are several reasons why that is a bad idea. The first of which is in Jade’s note even she was unsure of who it was destroying the relics. She may have learned that fact after she sent the tablet to me, but currently there is no proof the Cult is behind this. Unfortunately, I fear we will never learn the truth from her.”

“Why do you believe that?” Naruto asked sadly.

“The ninja courier that delivered the tablet was found murdered outside the village,” Kiyomi said feeling guilty for getting the young woman involved. “If those people that attacked us are a part of the same group then it is reasonable to expect they dealt with her in a similar manner.”

“I’ll let Tenten know,” Naruto said feeling despondent as he knew the archeologist and his weapon using lover were friends. After a moment he asked, “Do you really believe the Descendants of the Moon had nothing to do with this though?”

“I think it is highly likely that they did,” Kiyomi answered, “But that doesn’t mean there is anything that we can currently do. For starters, there is nothing connecting them directly to the Cult. Therefore, what caused us to suspect them would in turn cause the Cult to raise certain questions about us. I told Jade my interest in such tablets were due to my hoping to use what happened in the past to unravel what may be happening now. We have to assume that at the very least if she is alive or not, she definitely told them where she sent the tablet. Ninja Couriers after all have a reputation of being tough to catch. For him to be killed after dropping it off means they must have known of his final destination. He likely would have been more on guard if they had been pursuing him here. They also likely wouldn’t have waited for him to deliver it.”

“Unless she didn’t divulge anything and they were interested in who the recipient was,” Tier pointed out.

Urd shook her head as she stated, “Then why wouldn’t they attack during the handoff? You kill two birds with one stone. No, I’m with Kiyomi on this. But the cruelty of killing the courier doesn’t exactly smack of the Cult either. For the most part they’re preaching about living life to the fullest and how there is no such thing as overindulgence.”

“Sure there is,” Nel said cutely, “Like eating too much ice-cream and getting a stomach ache.”

“True,” Urd said amused, “But I’m talking about more adult forms of indulging in what people enjoy.”

“Oh,” Nel said licking her spoon, “You mean like when you and Rangiku drink too much and complain about Nel making too much noise.”

Urd groaned as she said, “Honestly that was one time.”

“But she does have a point,” Naruto said patting her helmeted head, “Some people if told to indulge to their hearts content might find their hearts lead them to some pretty dark places. I would say this doctrine really doesn’t exclude such people being among them. But, if there are, they aren’t exactly going to use them to advertise to people tempted to join them.”

“All valid points,” Kiyomi said, “Plus, from what Ibiki has been able to learn. These cults operate more like cells then one centralized religion. They claim there is a high priestess, but to date no one outside the cult has seen her. There are even rumors that she is at least a century old. But that’s beside the point. It is how they are set up that would make our attacking the cult pointless. We could take several of them down and would possibly not even be attacking the group responsible. It might also cause us to look like the bad guys if we really bungle how we handle this.”

“So we do nothing then,” Kukaku said displeased, “We could just have lover boy seduce one of these members to have them give us their secrets.”

Nel looked up at Naruto to asked, “What does seduce mean?”

“Um… well… it means…”

Seeing that Naruto was floundering Rangiku said, “It means Naruto is really, really nice to a lady and makes her feel good so she’ll tell him whatever he wants to know.”

Nel’s eyes grew wide as she then turned in his lap to say, “You make Nel feel good. Are you seducing her? I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“Um… well that’s not exactly what Rangiku meant,” Naruto replied. “She was thinking of more adult ways of feeling good.”

“Nel wants to feel good in those kinds of ways too.”

“Um, maybe when you’re older,” Naruto replied quickly.

Nel’s gaze grew annoyed as she pouted and crossed her arms before spinning and dropping down in Naruto’s lap. He groaned slightly as she wasn’t too gentle as to what she jostled when she did so while she said, “Nel’s the same age as everyone else. It’s not fair that she is treated like a child.”

Yoruichi picked her up, less the diminutive Bijuu damage the pole she and several of the other women enjoyed as she said, “That’s enough of that now. If you want to be treated like an adult you can’t pout every time you don’t get your way. Let’s put you off to bed now.”

“Nel’s not tired,” she said although she yawned moments later as Yoruichi rocked her and carried her from the room.

Kiyomi smiled but then grew serious as she answered Kukaku, “It isn’t that simple. The Cult might operate in cells, but even within those cells there are levels. It seems to operate pretty similar to must cults in that the more you buy into the doctrine, the further up a ladder of believers you move. Some people are even giving up all their earthly possessions in favor of joining the cult full time. There are rumors that those that move up to the highest positions within a cell are then invited to a compound of cultists from different cells. Since there are several of these compounds it’s likely that there is a centralized temple that members can eventually reach. But, how many steps it takes to get there is impossible to know without getting someone inside.”

“So it might take a while,” Kukaku retorted. “We have time.”

“It isn’t that simple,” Naruto said politely although somewhat distantly due to who he was addressing. “First, I’m not going to seduce a woman and send her into a situation where I have no idea what it is she will face. It was hard enough doing something similar with Konan, and with her it was simply having to play a role she had been in for years.”

Kiyomi placed Jade’s letter which had the rubbing on the back of it down as she added, “Plus, as with most cults they have ways to brainwash people into becoming true believers. Either through a long term process indoctrination or likely through quicker means. In fact these levels I spoke about can in simplest terms be considered stages of indoctrination. The more indoctrinated a person becomes the higher they move up the ladder. By the time any woman we send in reaches those top levels who knows how twisted around she would become. We would have to send her in with very little idea of who we are to insure it isn’t our secrets that are revealed.”

Kukaku sat down in a chair stating annoyed, “So what is your brilliant plan then?”

“At the moment I don’t have one,” Kiyomi said letting some of her frustrations bleed into her voice. “For now, I’ll let the Leaf and the J.A.I.N. intelligence networks do most of the leg work. If there is a connection to the cult I’m sure they’ll find it. During their investigations it might also serve to illuminate how exactly Shermie became involved with Kanji. She was one of the women he had defending his compound.”

“Why do you care?” Kukaku asked unconcerned.

“I care because depending if she is a part of the cult and when she officially joined them there is perhaps a chance that they are aware of the Binding. I don’t think I need to point out just how dangerous this jutsu could be in the wrong hands,” Kiyomi stated, and was pleased that even Kukaku could see the danger if the jutsu fell into the hands of someone without Naruto’s morals. Kiyomi knew that considering Kukaku’s promiscuousness getting hit by the binding would be a type of STD even a Bijuu couldn’t shake. It was a fear that was rather unique for the Four-Tailed Bijuu considering the other women were gladly bound to Naruto. Although the death of the person casting it would free Kukaku depending on the circumstances she wasn’t sure the others would kill the man that used it on her. After all, it would be a cage of her own making in a sense. But still, she could see a cult using such a jutsu as a means to increase their numbers at an incredible rate. After all, they wouldn’t need to spend years bringing people deeper into their faith. Instead they’d be able to simply reprogram women in moments by teaching it to their male members. Also, she doubted that many other practitioners would display the love and affection Naruto had for the women bound to him. She felt most would quickly fall into the Kanji camp when it came to how they treated those that they gained control over. For every Naruto, or even the Prince of Zu that created the jutsu whose harems loved and adored them, she was sure there had been dozens who had begun to abuse the jutsu.

Still, she did at times wonder why more of the scrolls hadn’t made their appearances over the thousands of years since the jutsu’s creation. As she at times doubted most people would be able to keep such a secret, since while she doubted the men that used the jutsu would let people in on their secret, since a woman’s knowledge of the Binding seemed to correlate to how much control over her was needed to keep her in line if it was against her will. She was sure some women would have found a way to slice the throat of a man that hadn’t properly controlled them, at which point she figured the knowledge of the Binding would be out there. That it wasn’t common knowledge seemed to suggest there might be people out there endeavoring to keep it a secret. Naturally, she could picture two reasons for such a thing. The first was a group of Harem masters that didn’t want their secrets out in the open so silenced any of the voices trying to raise awareness of it. The second was a group doing everything in their power to insure the jutsu and knowledge of it were removed from the world. In either scenario, Kiyomi admitted that she suspected Naruto at some point might become a target, and even though the Harem masters could be possible allies, considering she suspected they would be closer in morals to Kanji rather than Naruto she doubted such an encounter would be friendly.

She pushed such thoughts to the future to return to the present discussion as she added, “Plus, if Kanji picked her up after she became a member of the Cult. Then it’s possible he knew some of their secrets.”

“Which we have no way of knowing since most of his records were lost when his compound was destroyed,” Naruto stated.

“True, but if we can determine where they crossed paths and if she was a member then it might just lead us to someone that we can get some answers from. Someone ordered those bastards to attack us, and it might take some time, but I look forward to showing them how much of a folly it truly was.”

Kukaku was pleased by the predatory smile her sister wore as she said, “Good, then since for the time being we aren’t doing any shipments. I’m going to have a certain itch scratched.”

Kiyomi gave her a dismissive wave not interested in the woman’s sex life. Plus, she suspected that it annoyed her Four Tailed Sibling when she didn’t receive a reaction to her announcements. Something she took more than a little satisfaction in, since she was convinced she made them to annoy those that had chosen to be with Naruto so felt turning it around on her was fair play.

Naruto stood as well and although Kiyomi was sure that much like her siblings they all wanted him to stay to spend their evening with him in a similar way as Kukaku planned, but she could tell from his face he wasn’t in the right mood. She suspected it was because he would have to tell Tenten of the potential fate of her friend. But after kissing each of his lovers goodnight, he did stop to ask, “Where’s Mira? Why didn’t she attend? She’s not still injured is she?”

“No,” Kiyomi answered for her siblings, “I’m not sure why she didn’t join us. She has remained in her room for the most part since the attack.”

Naruto nodded, before saying, “I’ll see what’s going on before I leave. I need to thank her for what she did.” Kiyomi nodded confident that whatever was bothering her six-tailed sibling, her lover would be the cure for it.

*****

Mira sat in her bed where she had been for the most part since the attack as she was experiencing a rather extensive bout of depression. The reason for it was because of how poorly she had done against the group that had attacked her home. Having felt the return of her other siblings she could almost imagine the teasing she would receive, particularly from Kukaku. She knew she hadn’t been the only one to do poorly, but of the mansions defenders she felt she was the only one that wasn’t diminished in some way. Unlike Tier she hadn’t sacrificed any of her tails, and Cyan was a being that had been born of that sacrifice. As such, she felt she should have been more than enough to deal with the group that had attacked them, and her failure to do so had sapped her of the confidence that she had gained since taking her current form.

A knock against her door pulled her from her gloomy thoughts long enough to say, “Go away.”

“Mira, it’s me Naruto.”

She nearly told him to leave her alone, but due to it being one of the few times where he was seeking her out, she asked, “What do you want?”

She heard the smile in his voice as he replied, “For starters, how about letting me come it.”

Mira had cleaned herself up after awakening, but seeing as in the couple of days since then she had only lain about her room, she imagined she didn’t exactly present an image of beauty. However, she didn’t care at the moment particularly since she doubted it would make any difference so said, “Fine.”

Naruto stepped into the room, and saw Mira sitting on her bed wearing a pair of black cotton sleeping shorts with a red sleeveless shirt. He smiled at her asking, “How are you feeling?”

“Why do you care?” she replied bitterly.

Naruto sighed before grabbing a chair from her makeup table and pulled it up to the bed. Sitting on it backwards so he could rest his folded arms on it he replied, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know,” Mira said venting her frustrations with the blond man, “Maybe because when I threw myself at you, you would reject me.”

“That might be,” Naruto responded, “But that doesn’t necessarily preclude me from carrying about your wellbeing. Despite what you might think I don’t dislike you.”

“Then why do you insist on rejecting me,” Mira said angrily as she felt tears threating to fall.

“Because while I might not dislike you,” Naruto said after a moment of thought, “That doesn’t mean I can say I like you either.”

“Then why don’t you just leave and stop pretending to care,” Mira said laying down and rolling away from him.

Naruto frowned as he replied, “I’m not pretending to care. The truth is Mira; I like to believe you are a decent person. It is easy to believe that when without a thought to your own safety you flew that bastard out of here saving a lot of lives. That is someone I can definitely say I like. But then there is the part of you that openly mocks Urd, Apacci, Mila, or Cyan as being lesser beings due to their origins. Obviously, that is someone I can’t say I care to be around.”

Mira did look back at him over her shoulder to ask stiffly, “So you want me to go back to being everyone’s doormat? The slug that was overly polite so as not to get made fun of by the others.”

“No,” Naruto replied, “But I would think that someone that used to act like that so as to not draw the ire of others to avoid being teased would also understand how much words can hurt.” A small look of guilt appeared in her eyes prompting her to look away so he continued, “I can understand why upon changing forms you might act the way you do. You probably feel like you went from an ugly duckling to morph into a beautiful swan. I suppose that from that confidence it would feel it was your time to be the one that looked down on others.” Naruto trailed off, but the six-tailed Bijuu remained silent so he stood and returned the chair as he prepared to leave. Reaching the door, he stopped as he added, “We really aren’t so different in that regard, Mira. I was ignored as a child so for a time acted overly nice hoping it would prompt people to accept me. When that didn’t work I began to resent it so began to act out.”

“And now you’re loved by all,” Mira stated derisively sitting back up.

Naruto looked at her and gave her a soft smile before replying, “Which is why I know how it must feel good to not be the target of insults because things turned around. In the end though you’re free to be whatever type of person you want, but I think it wouldn’t hurt for you to remember how it felt to be the one that used to be the target for others to bully before engaging in it yourself. I’m glad to see you are well though, and thank you again for putting yourself in harm’s way for my village.”

Mira watched the door close after he left and felt a measure of both happiness, and thoughtfulness. She recalled how she used to be so skittish around some of her siblings since her self-consciousness about her form had made her an easy target when they were annoyed. She had noticed that for a time Urd had acted in a similar manner when she was around, at least until the new eight-tails had become one of Naruto’s lovers. Afterwards though the power dynamic between them had shifted as her barbs about the new Bijuu’s origins had lost their venom, while Urd gained the advantage from Mira’s inability to attract Naruto. However, Urd had not used that advantage to mock her rival although she would respond mockingly to her taunts if pushed. Those encounters had often left Mira with the feeling that more of Urd’s taunts had hit their mark.

Mira understood that it was likely because she hadn’t truly gained any confidence from her new appearance, but had simply hoped that by acting as she had it wouldn’t be noticed because she was on the offensive. Feeling drained as she began to feel guilty from how she behaved, she closed her eyes to rest. Resolving to find a new balance, she wasn’t sure how she would behave going forward, but did hope it might be someone that Naruto would look upon fondly.

****

Yoshino took a sip of her drink as she watched the blue-haired woman dancing on stage. For the Nara there was something rather surreal about the moment. It wasn’t that she was sitting next to a handsome young man, while wearing a red seamless long-sleeve chemise which although it could almost pass for a dress, with the small fishnet pattern of the top and sleeves which gave way to bigger geometric cutouts as it reached her stomach and wrapped down her side, it definitely fit the bill of lingerie. The skirt portion though did reach down to just about mid-thigh and was were the cutouts turned solid to cover her front and back, but the sides showed the flesh of her thighs through the missing material which to anyone with eyes could see she wasn’t wearing panties although she had only removed them after coming down from the stage. The reason why that wasn’t strange for her was because it had been her life a few times a night for the past several weeks.

She recalled her first time from when she had learned about Club N and had unceremoniously been pushed out on the stage. She had found that the lights that shown on the stage had been angled so that she couldn’t see the audience. She had stood motionless for several moments as she wanted to flee, but like a deer that paused when you shined a light on it found that she couldn’t. She probably would have if the crowd had catcalled her, but it had remained silent as if to give her the time to gather her wits. A soft soothing flute melody began to play, which Yoshino found she was swaying to almost hypnotically. She began to assert control though as the melody gave way to a slow number from the speakers which caused her sashay her hips. For a moment she forgot where she was as she recalled dancing for her husband in a similar manner and was wearing a similar plain dress. He had just come home for lunch but she had been feeling rather playful so had done a striptease for him. Needless to say it had ended with her being the meal.

Yoshino reenact the scene dipping low as she spread her legs wide, but her dress hid her panty clad mound from the audience. Then as she moved to stand again she arched her back as she spun about to so that her back faced the crowd. She then reach behind her to pull the zipper of her dress down, before again spinning to now face the audience while holding it up as she slipped her arms from the sleeves. She then held it to her body before turning away again and let it drop.

The garment pooled on the ground and she used her foot to kick it towards the curtain as she stepped backward. She then spun and grabbed the pole, like she had the counter of her kitchen of the memory she was reliving and began to rock her hips as she had to entice her husband. She felt herself grow moist as her memory showed her that the actions had the desired effect as Shikaku had stepped forward to claim her. That was also when the music came to an end so snapped Yoshino out of her fantasy. Realizing what she did she instantly straightened, and stared at the crowd which although she couldn’t see them, she did hear them as they began clapping. She began to panic so raced down the stage and snatched up her dress before disappearing behind the curtain.

She began to pull it on as Mito said, “That was amazing. The crowd loved it.”

“They’re just being kind,” Yoshino said as she pulled on her dress. “I can’t believe I did that.”

Mito smiled as she said, “Well our D.J. did help somewhat.”

“You placed me under a genjutsu,” Yoshino said her temper beginning to flare.

“Only to get you moving,” Mito responded amused, “After the flute ended that was all you. I really hope you decide to dance here.”

“I…I really don’t think…”

“Think it over,” Mito said when Yoshino trailed off. “I’ll send someone to check on your decision when an opening in the rotation appears.”

Yoshino had been escorted from the Club and back towards the Grotto with Mito reapplying her henge as they exited. Yoshino was rather surprised that as they stepped outside the colors of the hot spring seemed sharper. It had caused her to look back towards the grotto as she wondered if it really was because for the few minutes on stage she had felt alive again. The change she had noticed didn’t fade in the few days that passed, but her thoughts did begin to revolve around the Club in the days after. They turned to what she would do if she accepted an invitation to dance again. As the days passed without “Kiyomi” asking about her decision she found she was growing rather antsy. She began to wonder if perhaps the patrons hadn’t enjoyed her dance. She began to use that nervous energy in more productive means as she began to train as she would admit she had let herself go somewhat. Therefore, when Ino had come over to ask if she wanted another opportunity to star at the club, Yoshino had eagerly accepted.

Ino had laughed which did cause her nervousness to return since she realized she would be dancing with the likes of the stunning blonde kunoichi. But Ino had quickly put her at ease and they had even gone shopping together for what she would wear. Yoshino had insisted the lights be turned the same way so that she couldn’t see the audience. But, this time she hadn’t retreated to past experiences to provide inspiration for her dance, but some of the routines she had come up with as she trained. She suspected that was why as her set ended rather than stepping behind the curtain, she had stepped down from the stage to pass through the audience. She had wanted to see if the applause she received was simply the crowd being polite, or if there were elements of genuine desire. She had been pleased to see that more than one member of the audience had been giving her a standing ovation even as they didn’t leave their seat.

She had been invited to return the following night and she had quickly accepted. Furthermore by the end of that night she had begun to mingle with the audience. She found that so long as she wore the Lady Shadow mask she could be as flirty as any of the other women of the club. Ino often teased her as she also tended to spend her time among the younger patrons. She had a few favorites one of whom went by the name Menma and had been the dark-haired youth she had seen the first visit. She found him to be extremely attractive which she attributed to his resemblance to Naruto since she felt deeply indebted to the blond. But what she found amusing was that Menma tried to come off as a kind of villain, but she could see the kindness lurking just beneath the surface. To her it was like he was playing, and he had pouted rather cutely when she had told him as much.

But by far her favorite patron was Naruto. At times, she suspected that all the other members of Club N seemed incomplete. Like she was only seeing a portion of their personalities, or like Menma an entirely false persona. With Menma especially it felt like he was practicing how he should behave and had seen one too many gangster films. She supposed she shouldn’t be too surprised since she didn’t really let them see the true Yoshino as instead she was Lady Shadow while in the Club.

Yet, with Naruto, she found she tended to put the mask to the side figuratively speaking at least. She had felt a little self-conscious about her behavior with him especially as she knew he had a girlfriend. But that had faded as Ayame had joined him on a few occasions although she kept her distance then and seemed flirtier with the women then him. She had even witnessed the two of them and some of the dancers disappear behind the curtained off area. Something which Yoshino had yet to do herself.

She remembered approaching Ino after she had taken Menma back there once. Yoshino hadn’t necessarily been jealous, but a part of her had been concerned that Ino might be using Club N to escape from developing a more permanent form of relationship. The blond kunoichi had shocked her though as she had plainly stated, “I am in a committed relationship. Someday I’ll introduce him to you. But in the meantime there isn’t any harm in having a little fun.”

Her thoughts returned to the present and she looked over at Naruto as he watched the woman Lady Butterfly. Yoshino did fell a small tinge of rivalry with the woman as she noted his pants were rather bulged in front. She frowned as part of her wanted to take him to the curtained off area, to get him to focus on her. That was coming closer to what made the whole thing strange for Yoshino, but knew it could be chalked off to her attraction to the blond man. No what made it so surreal was that she knew Lady Butterfly was Konan, and just a few hours before she had grilled the woman rather hard about her desire to reform Akatsuki.

It wasn’t that Yoshino was against the idea in its entirety. But, she did feel that it might be a step that could make the situation with Iwagakure worse. She knew her resistance had likely caught quite a few of her fellow councilors by surprise, yet strangely enough she had the feeling that it had pleased the women that had been present at the time, even Konan. She suspected to the men that didn’t know how she was spending her nights it must have seemed like she had come out of a deep sleep. She had argued that while reforming Akatsuki wasn’t something she was against, particularly as it seemed that Konan had already asked several women from Konoha, such as Kushina, Mikoto, and Fu so she doubted the groups purpose would be to cause trouble for her home. She doubted Iwa would see it that way, particularly since Akatsuki would likely serve as a means to blunt Earth Country’s expansion into the minor countries along its western border. That was if the Daimyo Toki could get the many minor countries to come together in an alliance that was.

It did seem that it might be close to happening as she had finally managed to convince most of the minor countries that bordered Earth Country to agree to a met. It was scheduled to happen several months from now, but considering that a few of the principle players had initially stated it would be when hell froze over, she figured the Daimyo had to be pleased with her progress.

Yoshino knew all this because she had begun to delve into the many reports that she had been sent. She was beginning to see several patterns emerging, one of which seemed to center around the young man sitting next to her. He apparently noticed her attention wasn’t exclusively focused on him as he said, “Should I be jealous of Lady Butterfly?”

“Perhaps a little,” Yoshino said amused, “But no more so then I should be. I at least was thinking of work.”

“Really,” Naruto said after chuckling, “You were thinking about work just now. It’s worse than I thought. I must be boring you half to death.” Yoshino laughed as Naruto made a gesture to one of the waitresses. She had a sense of familiarity from it, but before she could search her memory he asked, “So what were you thinking about?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said with a wave, “Plus, I’m sure you don’t want to hear an old lady’s problems when there are more interesting things on stage to focus on.”

Naruto shook his head as he replied, “You really need to stop with that old woman nonsense. You’re a stunningly beautiful woman.”

“I bet you say that to all the women here though,” Yoshino countered with a warm smile as although she was sure her response was true. She knew that Naruto meant what he said.

He proved why as he replied, “True, but only because it is something which applies to every woman here. Current company included.” Yoshino’s mask hid her crimson cheeks, but she took a sip of her drink to perhaps give her body cover for the flush appearing. Naruto further made her warm inside as he added, “But I’m sure beauty isn’t your only defining feature, so what happened at your day job that is keeping you from enjoying the moment.”

Yoshino placed her hand on Naruto’s knee as she said, “I’m definitely enjoying the moment.” She realized what she was doing and remembering he was dating someone quickly retracted it. Naruto didn’t seem to notice, but she suddenly felt self-conscious at how easy it would be for her to act on the desire the unconscious action showed was building inside her. Figuring that talking about her day might kill the mood Naruto’s very presence seemed to put her in she said, “I guess I’m just troubled by some actions certain parties are planning to take. In the short term it might do a lot of good, but in the long term could make other situations more dangerous. I know that’s rather vague, but…”

“I understand,” Naruto replied with a warm smile, “you have an identity outside this place to protect.” He looked up at the stage for a moment, and when he looked back at her there was a note of mischief in his eye as he said, “It kind of sounds similar to a situation that I heard brought Konan to the village.” Even beneath her mask, Yoshino kept her features calm, but a part of her wanted to look towards the stage. Her mind began to race as it began to wonder if Naruto actually knew that it was the Daimyo and Village leader of Rain dancing on stage. She then began to wonder if that meant he also knew who she was. To her surprise a very large part of her suddenly wished that he did as then it wouldn’t be Lady Shadow that he was complimenting but Yoshino Nara. He didn’t give away much as he talked as if the situation he had brought up was completely different than the one she had. “She wants to bring back Akatsuki to honor the memory of her friends. But it also is to protect the minor countries from aggression from the major ones. Considering the amount of trouble it caused when I disrupted one of Iwa’s plots, it would seem pursing this action would do more to create tension then dispel it.”

Yoshino nodded feeling Naruto had perfectly framed her concerns about what Akatsuki’s return could lead too. Wanting to hear his insights she asked, “Well let’s say my job was to argue against pursuing this course of action, how would you convince me to go along with it?”

“I don’t know that I could,” Naruto admitted, “Why would you argue against it?”

“Well, considering Ame is a part of the current alliance, even though Konan says Akatsuki will be acting independently of her village. The fact that she is seen as the face of both will lead most people to suspect Akatsuki is just a black ops group operating at the alliance’s beck and call. I’m sure Iwa will make that claim if Akatsuki does stumble into another of its plots, which haven’t slowed down in the least. In fact, I’m convinced the terrorist activity in Bear Country is another such plot. The groups causing trouble claim to be members of the One King movement, but other more established groups with that cause have discredited them.”

Naruto looked troubled by her statement before responding, “Ibiki believes it is because the new groups are more willing to target civilian population centers so long as there is just one shinobi in vicinity. It does more to discredit the other One King Movement cells to target civilians then it does moving their cause forward.”

“That’s exactly my point,” Yoshino said having had the discussion with Ibiki already. He had taken her concerns under advisement, but she was sure he was still more confident in his belief the more extreme groups were ramping up the violence to bring matters to a head rather than the tried and true methods used by the older groups that required more patience. “Iwa could destabilize Bear Country by targeting the Star Village, discredit the One King movement, and if rumors that they have sent medical teams to deal with the aftermath of these terrorist attacks are true could cause the Bear Civilians to see them as kind protectors. That way when Iwa steps in to quell the violence much like in Noodle Country they’ll be welcomed with open arms.”

Naruto would have smiled if what Yoshino was telling him didn’t weigh heavily on his conscious since she was so passionate about it. In truth, although the terrorist attacks in Bear Country had been an ongoing thing, he had suspected that Iwagakure was the true culprit. Only Ibiki’s suggestion that it was the One King Movement becoming more extreme had convinced him otherwise. Plus, after Iwa had been exposed for manipulating events in Paradise City it hadn’t caused a pullback by the terror groups in Bear Country. He used that evidence as he countered, “Then why wasn’t there a decrease in terrorist actions when I exposed their manipulating events in Claw and Fang?”

“Because if there had been it would have all but proven they had a hand in them,” Yoshino replied energetically since she could see Naruto was more open to her theories the Ibiki had been. “Plus, I’m sure a lot of the terrorist don’t even realize they are working for Iwa. When events reach a head there, Iwa’s going to round them up and execute them after all. Most of them are probably people that believe in the One King Movement and were frustrated by their lack of progress so wanted to use more extreme methods. The man that created the Black Kyuubi could be viewed as one such person.”

As soon as the words left her mouth Yoshino wanted to curse herself for being a fool since the origins of the Black Kyuubi were considered top secret. Granted, even something given that level of clearance could have hundreds of people that new the truth, especially as the details had been shared between all the villages in the alliance. But, considering the topic that brought on their discussion she felt as if she might as well just remove her mask now. The concern disappeared as Naruto gave her a smile that stated her secret was safe with him, before stating, “That makes sense. I’ll pass it on to Tsunade, and try to convince Ibiki as well.”

Yoshino felt shocked as she had almost like a little kid that had been crying the sky was falling but everyone had dismissed her warnings causing her to say with a hint of surprise, “Y…You believe me.”

When Naruto nodded she felt a powerful sense of gratitude that nearly overwhelmed her. She nearly gave into the desire to kiss him, but stopped as he said, “I better get going. Thank you for spending the evening with me Lady Shadow.”

Regaining her composure, and trying not to let her disappointment show in her voice, Yoshino replied, “No, thank you for listening to this old lady’s concerns.”

Naruto gave her a warm and amused smile as he shook his head. He turned to leave, but stopped as he said, “Oh, to answer your question about how I would convince you to vote. I would simply say that if both scenarios might lead to people suffering, I would choose the one that would let me hold my head up high.”

“Which one would that be?”

Naruto looked back and she saw in his eyes the conviction he held in his beliefs as he answered, “It would be the one that must people saw as the more difficult option but was ultimately right. Should we avoid a fight just to have it later or have it knowing we are trying to help others? I’ll always select the second option. I guess I view reforming Akatsuki as a way not to let others use politics as a way to hid what they are doing. It might lead to the fight sooner, but better to have it while trying to mitigate others suffering then to put it off and let people be hurt as a result of our desire to enjoy peace for a little longer.”

Yoshino found in Naruto’s blue eyes that she no longer doubted that the current alliance was deeply tied to him as her observations of past events had indicated. She at first had dismissed it because she believed his presence at some of the pinnacle events was simply due to his being the rising star of the village and Tsunade’s favorite shinobi. However, seeing the sureness in them now, she was confident he was perhaps the driving factor. So taken with them she missed what he said next prompting her to ask, “I’m sorry what was that?”

Naruto replied, “I hope to see you next time I’m here.”

“When do you think that will be,” Yoshino asked already planning to make sure she was scheduled.

“Well, I was planning to visit on my birthday,” Naruto stated. “It might become a tradition as the club opened shortly before my eighteenth.”

“I’ll make plans to be here,” Yoshino said eagerly figuring she might take him behind the curtain to make it a night to remember.

******

Esdese watched as one of Shadaloo’s flying machines began to land in the disguised hanger of the organizations main headquarters which was located in the Land of Lightning. The heavily armored machine still used chakra to power the powerful engines that were required to let it take off vertically and was supplied by members of the auxiliary crew. The vehicles were more heavily armored then the Sky Country designs they had been derived from, but due to improvements in the engines their operating range had been improved. Also, unlike the original Sky Country contraptions they were unarmed. This wasn’t due to any peaceful intentions on Shadaloo’s part, but was due to its founder’s belief in purity of face to face combat. Therefore the airships served primarily as large troop transports with each one being capable of carrying upward of fifty people considering how they were configured.

The one coming to a rest was not one of those as it was configured so the person inside would be traveling in luxury. Esdese was rather surprised at this since it was typically Bison’s personal transport and to her knowledge he had never sent it out unless he was aboard. Therefore she felt a little curiosity about the passenger while the latch on the side opened and lowered to the ground so that he could exit.

She would admit to feeling rather underwhelmed as the man emerged from the ship. He was dressed in black in garb that fit the generic mental image that most people had when thinking of shinobi. He was wearing a mask that fit that image as well, although she did feel some interest at his skin matching the same black of the clothes he wore. His pupil-less olive green eyes focused on her and he said gruffly, “Bison is too busy to meet me himself.”

Esdese arched an eyebrow at the man believing he was important enough to warrant the leader of Shadaloo waiting on his arrival. Taking a quick stock of him, she wasn’t too impressed with him as a warrior but ultimately figured it didn’t matter. Straining not to sound bored she answered, “Lord Bison is a busy man, Mr. …?

The man seemed amused as he replied, “Kage, you may call me Mr. Kage.”

“Very well,” Esdese said turning on her heel, “Please follow me Mr. Kage.”

Esdese led him to the elevator which upon entering began to descend from the hanger area that was built into the mountain that housed the headquarters of the criminal group. The elevator was mostly glass, the reason of which became apparent as it passed through the first floor to reveal another hanger area where dozens of airships were stored. Kage looked over at her to state, “I see Bison still enjoys his little toys. Does he truly believe a world of shinobi has need for such contraptions?”

“Once the world sees what these machines can do, I’m sure there will be plenty of buyers interested in them,” Esdese replied despite finding some of the weapons being created by the organization personally distasteful. It was mainly items such as the chakra armor since to her it helped elevate weaklings that had no place standing on the same level as their betters. In fact, they had stopped asking her to help them test such devices as when she was pitted against the users of them, she would always kill them. As such, the programs for them had experienced difficulty in finding candidates willing to test them especially if it would have been against her. That disdain though didn’t extend to the airborne troop transports because she saw them as natural advancements in warfare. Granted, all it would take to change her opinion of them would be for someone to mount them with the Gatling kunai launchers that Shadaloo had procured from Snow Country. But as they were she saw them as an elegant means of getting around the defenses that all of the Shinobi Villages used to protect themselves. She looked forward to the day where she would be able to use them to nullify the defensive edge Kumo had by being based in the mountains. Or, the day when she would bypass Konoha’s defensive wall to lay siege to it and meet the man that she desired to battle in order to claim him.

She felt a shiver pass through her at the thought while her cheeks began to glow from the images her imagination showed her, both of the battle she would expect, and the aftermath when she claimed him. Kage studied the various other scenes that unfolded before him as elevator passed through the various floors on the way to the subbasement levels. Upon passing through the first floor heavy shutters lowered over the glass windows of the elevator prompting the man to say, “It appears Bison is done showing off his little projects. These floors must be where the truly impressive items he’s gathering are kept.”

“Yes,” Esdese replied sounding annoyed at being pulled from her fantasy, “Including the project he’s apparently been working on for you.”

Kage grunted sounding annoyed in turn as he replied, “If only he had insisted on such security measures to insure the secrecy of it. That fool Shinno nearly could have spoiled everything.”

“The project needed to enter a human testing phase,” Esdese said annoyed feeling Bison or his annoying scientists should be the ones explaining the details to the man. “It was felt that the small scale test with the Kurama clan of Konoha wouldn’t endanger the overall secrecy of the project. Unfortunately, we did not consider that he would implement a larger scale test on his own. However, it did net some interesting results.”

“What sort of results?” Kage asked looking at her with a degree of interest.

As such, she enjoyed denying him the knowledge as she stated, “I’m afraid that is privileged information and is apparently not a part of whatever pact you made with Lord Bison.”

The man’s olive eyes narrowed and she felt a thrill as she wondered if he would be foolish enough to attack her. But after a moment the tension faded as he turned away again as he said, “No matter. Whatever became of the scroll that Shinno stole?”

“It was recovered from the wreckage of the Sky Country Flying fortress,” Esdese answered, “It wasn’t necessary to continue the project but we wanted to make sure there were no loose ends.”

“No doubt Bison also used the chance to scrounge for more of Sky Country’s technology,” Kage replied.

“Hardly, the items we have begun to produce far outperform the antiquated chakra engines they had,” Esdese stated. “The operation to recover the scroll was simply to honor the bargain that Lord Bison made with you.”

“That remains to be seen,” the man replied as the elevator reached the lowest subbasement. The doors opened to reveal a darkened room that only glowed from the light filtering through the bluish liquid behind the large glass walls that made up the room. Standing before one of them was the man that ran the Shadaloo organization Bison. Behind him floating in the liquid motionless were several mostly identical creatures. They looked like giant leeches with more serpentine like bodies, furthermore seemingly growing from their heads were Noh like masks where on the forehead for all except one, the kanji zero was written. Also from the masks extended varying numbers of red hair like growths.

Bison turned to face them stating, “I trust everything meets with your expectations.”

Kage despite how dismissive he had seemed before of Shadaloo’s works now sounded genuinely impressed as he said, “They are magnificent. They will function in the task that I need them to brilliantly.”

“Good,” Bison replied, “Esdese will oversee the details of where you want them delivered. With this our bargain is completed.”

The man that ran the criminal group moved to enter the elevator, but stopped as Kage said, “You’ve come a long way from the small time petty Iwa thug that I recruited to steal the scroll that detailed how to make these creatures. You are handing over an incredible power, yet do not seem all that curious as to what it will be used for.”

Bison stepped onto the elevator before turning around to say amused, “These creatures do not interest me. I can already guess to what use you will put them to. The hint to that resides on the one which mask has the kanji for one written on it.” Kage didn’t turn away from Bison having noticed it upon spotting the creatures. Esdese however was curious so looked over. Outside of the number the creature also sported several scars making it look as if it had survived a vicious battle. Bison explained what he meant as he said, “That creature is a survivor of the initial batch that was destroyed when Iwagakure nearly hunted me down when I set up shop in the Land of Iron. They sent the four tails in as the town I was in was simply a front for me and the beast went berserk razing the place to the ground. That creature along with several others managed to drive it back. The others were lost, but that one there survived and seems to have siphoned off a tails worth of power. I doubt the dumb monkey is still feeling the effects, but I’m guessing going forward you will not be needing to target the jinchuriki that remain.”

“You do seem to have a grasp of my plans,” Kage said. His voice turned menacing as he added, “If you know what is good for you, then you will not interfere.”

Bison gave an amused smile before replying, “If I intended to interfere I would simply have Esdese kill you and toss you into the tanks so those creatures could drain your corpse of chakra. However, I have my own plans and when the time comes to enact them, if you pose a threat to them you will be dealt with. But for the time being and out of the gratitude I do have for your giving me my start you are free to leave. When the time comes that we inevitably meet as enemies may the best man win.”

The doors to the elevator closed as Kage replied amused, “Indeed, but sadly you will not be facing a man when the time comes.”

“That is what will make killing you all the more rewarding,” Esdese said knowing that Bison would answer similarly. Turning away to stare into the liquid that surrounded the room she saw that nearly three dozen of the creatures slept inside it. A part of her looked forward to facing them in battle, and sincerely hoped that on the day that it happened it would be with a certain blond man at her side.

******

“Now give it up for the Lady Shadow,” the D.J. said as Yoshino appeared from behind the curtain. She was wearing a black body hugging dress. The hem of it stopped at her upper thigh giving just enough material to cover her front and rear. But the sides of the dress looked to be nothing but strings holding it together. Furthermore, her stomach was exposed due to a large cut out section in the front, while a smaller one above it displayed her cleavage. It was much the same story on the back except with only one large hole. She wasn’t wearing any underwear as the dress was practically painted onto her. Yet, Yoshino didn’t feel any embarrassment despite the show she was planning to put on might have her flashing the guests.

She did feel some of her drive to perform evaporate as she spotted Naruto who was sitting next to Ayame. But, she had to admit that it didn’t cause her to falter primarily as the club seemed filled with a rather vibrant energy. It was as if each of the women were putting on their best show while trying to one up each other. Yoshino having seen Mikoto as the most likely to be the one to beat had stepped out to watch her perform. As she suspected the Uchiha had put on amazing show followed by Ino.

Yoshino had felt nervous at least until she had heard her named called, because when she stepped out all she felt was energized. She reached the first pole and grabbing it spun around it while pulling herself up. Reaching the top she wrapped her body around it as she began to spin around while striking several poses keeping herself up with just the arm she was using to trap the pole to her body. Loosening that grip she began to descend to the stage. Reaching the bottom she let her feet touch the ground and then facing the pole pressed her body against it as she straightened. She imagined the pole was a man’s cock as she trapped it between the valley of her breasts. She then pushed away and kicked out against it launching herself into a high backwards flip. She reached out to grab the pole at the front of the stage and spun around it upside down. She then grabbed it with her other hand to suspend her body away from it and spread her legs widely.

Although essential flashing the ceiling as she felt the breeze over her pussy, from the chill she felt she knew she was incredibly wet. She began to descend the pole while continuing her spin, but reaching the bottom she came to a stop while still upside down. She then arched her back so that as she lowered her feet to the ground she flashed the people in front of her. As she planned the person with a ringside seat was none other than Naruto. She straightened up and dropped into the splits before him pressing her torso down against the stage. She looked up at him, and her eyes dropped down to his groin for a moment. Finding him hard, she felt her body grow even hotter so as the second song began used the energy to fly up the pole again.

She spun around it, striking various poses moving incredibly fast to prevent other members from catching a clean glimpse up her skirt. But whenever she came down she did so in the same spot so that her favorite patron and birthday boy saw the gift she would love to give him. The music came to an end as Yoshino began to lazily spin around using just one hand to hold the pole. Her foot made contact with the ground and she slide down so that by the time she came to a rest she was lying flat on the stage. Her one leg was pointed right at Naruto as her other was bent away just enough so that she was sure he could see how she glistened.

The crowd began to clap as she stood, and having made it a point to mingle after a dance she stepped down from the stage. She looked for one of her other go to patrons, but found them all strangely missing. She sighed since the one she wanted to sit with likely didn’t want her since his beautiful girlfriend was present. Yet, just as she was about to head backstage she was surprised as Ayame said, “That was mesmerizing. Why don’t you come join us?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Yoshino said quickly.

Ayame smiled as she replied, “Really, because Naruto makes it sound like you two really hit it off when I’m not around.”

Yoshino couldn’t deny that was the case, and not wanting to make the woman think she had ulterior motives, although a part of her was considering the possibilities, accepted the invitation. Joining them Naruto said, “You were amazing. I’m glad you were willing to come out tonight.”

Yoshino flushed from the compliment stating, “Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the show.”

Ayame caused her skin to turn a deeper shade of red as she stated, “I couldn’t help but notice how tonight you put yourself completely on display. Especially for a certain Birthday Boy.” Yoshino tried to deny that was the case, but the waitress continued before she could begin, “I’m hoping that might make you open to a small request I have.”

“W… what kind of request,” Yoshino asked as a part of her began to fantasize it involving her putting the bulge she noticed in Naruto’s lap to some use.

“Well, I believe you haven’t taken anyone back to the private area yet. I was hoping you might be ready for Birthday Boy,” Ayame suggested.

Hearing her fantasy beginning to come to life she nodded prompting Ayame to stand. She then grabbed both her lover and Yoshino’s hands as she guided them to the curtained off area. Entering it, Yoshino was surprised to find it empty since on multiple occasions she had seen more than one of the women make use of it. Ayame sat Naruto down on the large round cushioned bed around which the couches were arranged. She then dragged Yoshino behind her as she said, “But before he gets his present I have to make sure it will satisfy him.”

Yoshino felt a sense of nerves come over her since she had never really fantasized about a woman before. But figuring it was just a precursor to living one she had developed in the month since dancing at the club straddled the woman’s lap. As the song began to play she ground her muff down into Ayame’s. A part of her feared that she might begin to stain the waitress’s white dress as she couldn’t believe how wet she was. Something that she attributed to Naruto’s gaze as he watched them, but Ayame didn’t seem to care as she grabbed Yoshino’s hips to pull her tighter against her.

When Yoshino made it clear she wouldn’t pull away, Ayame relaxed her grip on her. She used the opportunity to face away and grind her butt against the waitress. Her legs rested outside the waitresses so that as she looked at Naruto, she knew he had a clear view up her dress. She spread herself wider and couldn’t resist giving her snatch a rub. She turned back to Ayame less she begin fingering herself and found that the hem of the woman’s dress had risen up. She found Ayame much like her was not wearing any underwear, so straddling her hips again pulled the hem of her dress up to display her pussy as well. She ground it into Ayame’s and as their pussies rubbed together they heard Naruto groan.

Ayame grabbed the finger Yoshino had used to touch herself and began to suck it clean. Hearing Naruto groan again she said, “Do you hear that? He’s chomping at the bit to be inside you. I think it’s time you both get what you want.”

Yoshino nodded as she stood and walked over to the man her body had come to desire. She straddled him and ground her pussy against his hard cock. She reached up to her face as she said, “I can’t deny this might be wrong. But I want you to take me not as Lady Shadow but as who I truly am.”

Naruto stopped her though as he said, “It is indeed time for us all to lose our masks, Yoshino.”

Yoshino wasn’t surprised Naruto knew it was here due to her slip up, but she was shocked as he explained, “I’ve known it was you even before we first met here.”

Yoshino didn’t need any more of an explanation then that as her mind used the missing information to assemble the complete picture for her. She stood in a daze as she moved to the entrance of the curtained area and despite none of the men dropping their henge, suddenly saw all the patrons for what they were, shadow clones. She now understood why certain gestures had always seemed familiar as she watched one that was unaware of the revelation she had just received order a drink and did so by raising his hand in the same fashion she had seen Naruto use when they had talked together.

She felt his presence come up behind her as she took in the women talking to those clones. She was quite confident that they knew exactly who they were talking to despite the clones’ henged appearances. That realization made her wonder what the point of the club was, other than to make her out to be a fool. Naruto seemed to be inside her mind as he said, “The club existed before you came along. It was to give my lovers a place where we could relax and have fun.”

“At my expense it would seem,” Yoshino said bitterly.

Naruto didn’t reach out for her, but said, “Not at all. We invited you here to help you reclaim the vibrant and talented woman that you are.”

“Except it was a fantasy,” Yoshino said pulling her mask off.

“It doesn’t need to be,” Naruto said turning her to face him. Staring into her eyes he added, “Everything that passed between us here was real. Just as you took the energy and confidence this place gave you and applied it to outside pursuits. Fantasies can become truth if you seize the right moments.”

Yoshino sensed one such moment was before her so did as her body was screaming at her to, so leaned forward and sealed her lips to Naruto’s. He pulled her tightly against him and as the kiss grew heated his hands traveled down to her butt and squeezed her still exposed cheeks. She moaned into him, as he picked her up to carry her to couch. He set her down and knelt before her. Yoshino watched him with hooded eyes as the only man outside of her husband gazed upon her shaved pussy. She moaned loudly when he gave her snatch a lick and grabbed her legs to keep herself spread for him. She marveled at how skilled his tongue was due to his quickly locating and attacking all her sweet spots. In many ways it did remind her of her husband, but one big difference quickly presented itself. Mainly whereas Shikaku would use them to quickly bring her to climax in order to satisfy her as quickly as possible. Naruto tried to string her along by constantly bringing her close to the edge and then backing off. She got the sense that if it would make her happy, he’d gladly spend all day just munching on her pussy. She did slip over the edge a few times as her body had become used to quickly achieving orgasm. But Naruto would simply drink down her essence and bring her right back as he learned to make her body dance to the tune he was playing.

Eventually though Yoshino didn’t think she could take it much longer as her body never had spent so much time right at the periphery of ecstasy. Before she could beg him to stop though, she found the buildup had been worth it as she screamed out his name when he brought her to climax by sucking on her clit. She became like jelly as she felt the urge to take a nap having rarely cummed as hard and never from being eaten. Such thoughts faded though to be replaced with hunger as Naruto stood and removed the white jacket he had worn, and then unbutton the orange dress shirt underneath.

She sat up feeling revitalized as he reached for his belt, and stopped him. She kissed his stomach before looking up sultrily to say, “Please let me. I’ve dreamed about what you’ve been hiding in your pants for a month now.”

“Good dreams, I hope,” Naruto said as she began to fondle his hardness through the white dress pants he had worn.

“We’ll find out,” Yoshino replied as she undid his belt. She sat back in surprise when she undid the button keeping him contained and nearly was slapped in the face. She felt a new sense of nervousness that had nothing to do with whether he desired her, as his hardness banished such thoughts, but whether he could even fit inside her as he was much larger than her husband had been. But it was a challenge she certainly was looking forward to taking, but first she wanted to taste him.

She guided Naruto to sit beside her, but then scrambled to kneel before him. She wrapped both her hands around the base of his cock and then with little ceremony began rapidly bobbing her head. Naruto groaned as although she was only taking about a half of his length what truly made the scene incredible was the look of wanton lust in her eyes which shown as they never left his. She stopped sucking for a moment and began to use her hands to jerk him and began to spit on his cock when her saliva began to dry.

Naruto moaned when Yoshino began to suckle on his manhood again. Yoshino couldn’t believe it as she found her jaw beginning to cramp from trying to get him to release his seed. She had quickly gone through all her tricks and in the past would have received several mouthfuls of cum, if her husband had been capable of providing her multiple releases. She began to stroke him again resorting to using her hands as her jaw threatened to lock up.

Naruto though had other ideas, as he leaned forward and kissed her. He then pulled her up to her feet as he stood. They separated long enough for Naruto to pull her dress over her head and then he bent her over the couch. Her hand rested on the cushion as she kept her legs straight while the blond pressed his dick against her pussy. She moaned as he easily slipped inside due to her wetness, but drew out the process as he slowly filled her inch by delicious inch. She let out a guttural groan as his dick pressed against her womb.

It grew into a loud moan when a moment later he was withdrawing, but then slammed into her. Naruto gripped her hips tightly as he filled her completely over and over again. Yoshino cried out every time his powerful thrust caused her womb to quiver which was every time. She only grew louder when Naruto’s hands slipped from her hips up her body to begin fondling her hanging breasts. Yet, without his grip to pull her back she found herself being pushed up onto the couch until her face was pressed against the weighted curtain hanging behind it. She imagined it was quite the sight as an outline of her face showed through the other side displaying her wide open mouth as she gave voice to her pleasure.

She was pulled away though as Naruto picked her up and sat down on the couch. She quickly began bouncing on his pole while she grabbed his hands and helped them to tease her tits. She threw herself into him wantonly as she felt something big building inside her. Used to sex with her husband she grew to anticipate it so sped up to hasten its arrival.

Naruto though caused her to whimper as he grabbed her hips and arrested her movement with his cock buried inside her. She felt the bubble of her climax begin to shriek causing her to pout as she tried to move her hips. Naruto then easily lifted her so that she couldn’t do even that much as he stood and carried her to the round bed. He set her down face first on it, and then began pounding her pussy again. She felt the bubble growing once more as she remained face down on the bed, while Naruto stood behind her driving her wild. Much like before he would bring her to the edge before beginning to grind his hips into her. Which although present was a poor substitute for the feeling of his cock crashing into her core. Still when he would switch back she couldn’t deny the promise of release seemed to have magnified. It grew so big that she almost feared the inevitable push over so pleaded, “Please…Please let me cum.”

Naruto reached around her hips and set her off like an exploding tag as he gave her clit a hard rub. Then like throwing gasoline on a fire her climax doubled in intensity when he buried has cock against her spasming womb and began filling it with his jizz. Yoshino screamed until her voice became raw, and she blacked out.

She guessed it was only for a few moments as when she looked back she saw Naruto was still standing. However, she saw someone was behind him as soft hands traced over his sweat covered chest. Ino then peeked from behind him as she said, “Yoshino, let me introduced you to the man I’m committed too.”

The Nara sat up and seeing his cock was still hard leaned forward to taste their combined flavor. She met Ino’s eyes as she did so and saw the blonde’s gaze light up. When she had properly cleaned his manhood the Yamanaka added, “I can see you’re going to fit in just fine. So are you glad you listened to me about getting out more.”

Yoshino realized from the moment she had agreed to go to the hot-springs with the Yamanaka her fate had probably been leading her to this moment. However, she was confident that when she stepped out of Club N the world would be even more vibrant then it had been in a long time. Smiling as she didn’t plan to leave until morning she sat back showing off her pussy which was leaking the cum that had been pumped inside and said, “I’m happy that you refused to mind your own business. Now I don’t know about you, but I think it’s about time for Naruto to put that cock back to some use.”

Naruto chuckled as he climbed onto the bed as she laid back. Pushing her disheveled hair from her face he said, “I don’t think anyone would describe that as a task being too difficult to perform.”

He slipped inside her causing Yoshino to moan softly before responding, “Well just try to bear with it. Because it’s going to be a task I ask you to perform again and again.”

Naruto kissed her softly as he replied, “Good.” Yoshino grabbed onto his back as he began moving again. She was aware that she was being watched by a daughter of a friend, and although not sure how this strange world she now found herself a part of worked. She looked forward to exploring it and all the varied ecstasies to be experienced. Furthermore, she began to anticipate doing her part to help it grow and to protect it. But such thoughts were swept away as Naruto sat back to truly drill her, and the lips that pressed against hers were Ino’s. Letting future concerns come later, she kissed the blonde kunoichi back eagerly as was swept up in the moment.

*****

“Shikamaru, get your lazy ass out of bed,” a voice that had long been missed shouted.

Shikamaru sat up like a trained seal as he wondered what was going on since he had set his alarm. While he was still collecting his thoughts it went off prompting him to shut it off. He stepped out of bed still dressed in his chunin gear as he was heading out on a mission, but had wanted to take a short nap. Although, he had gotten up rather early to accept the job, the client had wanted to spend a few more hours in the village before leaving presenting him with the perfect opportunity to engage in a second favored activity after cloud gazing.

He had figured his mother had simply not even gotten out of bed although he had noticed her coming home from her Councilor activities later and later. Not realizing what she was doing, he had been caught completely off guard by the sudden bellow. Stepping out of his room he passed by the kitchen to see his mother scrubbing the bowl he had left in the sink from his breakfast. She looked back at him upon noticing him to say, “Honestly, is it really that troublesome to clean out the bowl when you’re done with it.”

“What… huh?”

Yoshino sighed but he noticed a slight smile grace her lips as she replied, “The bowl, you know the one caked with the oatmeal you had for breakfast, would it really had been so hard to clean it out afterwards. You know not every woman is going to wait on you. Besides which, who honestly takes a nap after only being up a few hours. I know things have been lackadaisical around her for a while, but you better start shaping up. One other thing, that filthy habit you’ve picked up from Asuma better just be a phase. If I catch you stinking up my house with them I’m going to sit you down and make you smoke the whole pack until the idea of them makes you nauseous.”

Despite the litany of complaints his mother was leveling at him, Shikamaru couldn’t help smiling as he said, “Jeez, you troublesome woman stop treating me like a kid.”

“Start acting like a man, and I might consider it,” Yoshino replied turning back to the sink.

Shikamaru chuckled despite the insult, and turned away to head out to meet his client. He stopped though as his mother said, “Shikamaru… thank you.”

Figuring Naruto may have told her how he had asked the blond for help, but still wanting to remain ignorant of the results as much as possible said, “For what?”

Yoshino smiled as she continued to clean around the sink before replying, “Don’t worry about it. Be safe out there.”

****

Shikamaru nodded before heading out leaving his mother alone. Yoshino sighed as although she had spent a good amount of time redoing the sloppy job she had done cleaning the kitchen in the past hadn’t yet returned her home to the spotless wonder it had been. However, she put that task to the side for the moment. Heading to one of the rooms she had avoided since her husband had passed on. Finding it to be a dusty hell upon entering, she rolled up her sleeves as she began to reclaim it from the dirt of neglect. While she worked she began to box up many of her husband’s belongings.

After several hours it appeared nearly empty but knew that wouldn’t last long as Ibiki would be dropping off many months’ worth of reports as she began to compile the information she would need. She moved to a far wall that had used to house pictures of Shikaku with his friends, but was now where she hung a map of the entire shinobi continent. The large map took up the entire wall, as she began to fill out post it notes and place pins in it from the information she had gathered already, and had learned from Naruto.

She stepped back to study her progress when a voice asked, “What do you want me to do with these?”

She looked over at her lover who had agreed to help her claim the room, and felt a pang of loss as she looked at him holding a box filled with memories of her old life. “Please store it in the attic,” she answered causing Naruto to nod as he carried one of the boxes away. She picked up a picture she had left on the desk and looked at her family. The picture conjured the same feeling of loss she had just felt, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as it once had. Finding she now had the strength to move forward, she placed the picture back down and began to plan for the future once more.

Next Chapter: Revenge Arc: Past Sins Returning to Haunt the Present

Author’s Note: Well I’m officially going on my hiatus with the close of this chapter. I hope it was well worth the wait. I also want to thank everyone that takes the time to review the chapters. The reviews plus the comments on my deviantart account really keep me pumped.

Before I go, the Kurisu was indeed Chris of the King of Fighter series. I just used the Japanese spelling of it to help the name fit in better. I hope this chapter lived up to people’s expectations. I should be back writing in six weeks or so, depending on how quickly my affairs are settled. Thank you again, until next time, take care. Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.

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