Eroninja

Author’s Note: First as you can tell from the chapter my run down of future chapters is going to be pushed back by one. I really didn’t want to break this chapter up but at thirty-thosand words already I felt it best to do so. Plus it will let me wrap a few dangling plot threads in the next chapter so that the Rin chapter won’t be as long.

Mabui opened her eyes and couldn’t remember that last time that she had woken in such a state of contentment. Sitting up and clutching her covers to her nude frame, she felt disappointed by waking alone. However she was aware that perhaps another of his lovers required his attention. Therefore, she channeled her chakra through the small fox mark on her ankle. She felt her world expand as she began to sense the other women that she was connected to through the young man she had taken as a lover. She felt a measure of joy as she found that he hadn’t gone far, but wasn’t too sure how to take the fact that he wasn’t alone in her living room.

She slipped from her bed and threw a light silk robe on which barely reach down to mid-thigh. She stepped into the living room and found Naruto and Yugito sitting in one of her chairs. Yugito was in her bra and panties as she sat in his naked lap with one of her breasts exposed. They were both facing toward the large panoramic and watching as the sun rose over Kumogakure. Yugito seemed to purr from the light fingering she was enjoying as she rested her head on Naruto’s shoulder.

Mabui watched them and was surprised to find that she wasn’t jealous. She tried to understand why, and figured that it stemmed from the same reason she hadn’t been bothered by Darui’s other lovers. She supposed there was something to be said about knowing what she was getting into beforehand. She also admitted that it was something of a turn on since to him it just seemed so common place.

But she supposed it was which he proved as he turned his head towards her to say, “I can see why you love this apartment. This view is amazing.”

Mabui looked out the window and was surprised at just how impressive the sight was as the sun rose over the mountain casting its light over her home. She wondered how she had never noticed it before. She supposed it was just another thing that she hadn’t taken the time to indulge in as she climbed the ranks as a kunoichi.

Yugito smiled as she looked up to see Mabui staring out the window as if seeing the village for the first time. Yugito extracted herself from Naruto’s lap taking a moment to lick her juices from the finger her lover had just had buried inside her. She walked towards Mabui and grabbed the woman’s hand. Pulling her towards the chair she sat Mabui down on Naruto’s lap as she said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, but well when I felt him in the village I couldn’t stay away.”

She was about to turn and leave but Naruto pulled her down onto his lap as well. Nestled between his two lovers he said, “There’s no need to leave. You can’t tell me you’re satisfied with that little bit of fooling around.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” Yugito replied as she kept her gaze on Mabui.

Mabui to a certain extent felt that she was, having wanted Naruto to herself that morning. However she shook her head no since she figured much like her, Yugito would find her access to the blond extremely limited when compared to those inside Konoha and even Suna to a certain extent. She felt better about her choice when Naruto smiled at her. The three settled in and watched the sun continue its climb into the morning sky.

Again Mabui couldn’t believe that she had lived in her apartment for years without noticing she was privy to such an amazing sight. Her attention was pulled from it as she noticed Yugito’s shoulder moving subtly. She followed it down to see the jinchuriki was gently stroking Naruto’s cock. Mabui wetted her lips at the sight and then placed her hand over Yugito’s. The blonde woman smiled at her as they both began to jerk him off. Naruto sighed in pleasure as he leaned back to enjoy the two women’s efforts.

Yugito gasped causing Mabui to wonder why, but she got a hint as she felt Naruto’s hand travel over her leg before nesting between them. He began to gently rub the outside of her pussy causing the kunoichi’s own actions to become less controlled. Yugito surprised Mabui as she pulled the sash of her robe loose before leaning forward to suck on one of the dark-skinned woman’s nipples. Mabui moaned as she felt the kunoichi’s tongue begin to trace over her areola and shuddered in pleasure when she bit down on the hardened nub.

Yugito pulled her mouth from Mabui’s breast and stood from Naruto’s lap. She pulled Mabui up as well as she backed up against the large window. Once Yugito’s back touched the window she smiled over Mabui’s shoulder at their shared lover. She then reached down to Mabui’s waist to pull the woman’s robe up over her hips and expose her ass for Naruto’s hungry eyes.

Mabui looked over her shoulder to see Naruto closing with her and sighed happily as he pressed his cock up against her pussy. Naruto began to slide inside of her pressing Mabui into Yugito who in turn was pushed up against the glass of the window. Mabui moaned loudly as Naruto began churning about inside her. It grew in volume as Yugito’s hand reached down and began to rub her clit as the kunoichi also kissed and licked around her chest and neck. Finally, she zeroed in on her mouth to which Mabui eagerly responded as she felt the woman’s tongue enter it.

The kiss was broken though as Naruto stepped back with Mabui and then reached down to pull the woman off her feet. He held her by her legs, and held them open giving Yugito a spectacular view of where they were connected. Mabui’s skin darkened from embarrassment as Yugito’s eyes devoured her.

The kunoichi jinchuriki licked her lips before sauntering towards them. Upon pressing her body against Mabui’s, she leaned in to kiss Naruto over the woman’s shoulder as she also fondled one of her breasts.

Mabui watched hungrily out of the corner of her eye and when Yugito pulled back quickly turned her head to capture Naruto’s lips herself. She moaned into his mouth as Yugito slowly traced down her body with her tongue in order to zero in on Mabui’s breasts. It grew in intensity as Yugito knelt down even further in front of the rutting pair to concentrate her actions around where Naruto and Mabui were connected. Naruto’s grunts picked up in intensity as the blonde kunoichi began to fondle his balls while he continued to pound away within Mabui’s velvet snatch.

Mabui reached back and grabbed Naruto’s head, as she suddenly came, which in turn set Naruto off as he creamed the kunoichi’s insides. She sagged in his arms, causing the young man to carry her over to a couch where he set her down. Naruto groaned as he straightened from setting the kunoichi on the couch due to Yugito taking his cock in her mouth once he had slipped free of Mabui’s pussy.

Mabui watched as Naruto’s hardness quickly returned and despite her recent release moaned as she began to rub her pussy. Yugito pulled her mouth from her lovers love stick and seeing the Raikage assistant’s actions smiled as she said, “You can’t get enough can you.”

Mabui blushed and looked away but quickly looked back as Yugito took a spot between her legs. Kneeling on all fours Yugito said, “Don’t worry, I’ll lend a hand… or a tongue.”

Before Mabui could respond, she moaned as the kunoichi’s tongue began probing her depths. Despite being a little uncomfortable at the idea, she nonetheless found herself wrapping her hands up in Yugito’s hair. As a result, when the woman pulled away to say to a gawking Naruto, “Hey, don’t just stand there,” Mabui found herself quickly trying to pull Yugito mouth back towards her pussy.

Naruto climbed onto the couch behind Yugito and gripping her hips asked, “So which hole does my sexy kitten want filled?”

“Mpph mass,” Yugito mumbled as she tried to answer against Mabui’s gyrating hips.

Naruto inferred what she meant and after rubbing his cockhead against her slippery cunt, pressed it up against her anus. He slid in slowly which prompted Yugito to moan into Mabui’s cunt causing the dark-skinned woman toshout, “Yes…keep…keep doing that.”

Although neither jinchuriki knew who she was talking to, both decided to do as she asked and continued in their pursuits of pleasure. Under Yugito’s talented tongue, Mabui didn’t last long and with a shout came coating the other woman’s face in her release. Naruto promptly pulled the blonde kunoichi up against his chest so that he could taste Mabui on her lips. Mabui watched glassy eyed as the two jinchuriki rutted against each other on the opposite end of her couch.

She wanted to join them, but her body refused to move so she settled in to watch as Naruto’s hand snaked down the kunoichi’s body as he began to rub her cunnie while his other hand pinched and pulled one of her nipples. Yugito eyes grew wide after Naruto thrust into her violently, and then paused; leaving Mabui to believe that he was filling her ass with his cum. She screamed a moment later after Naruto pressed on her clit as he triggered her orgasm.

The two stood still as they rode out their releases before Yugito fell forward onto Mabui. She smiled as Yugito hummed contently while the other woman held her in a loose hug. Naruto sat watching his two lovers with a small happy smile. As Mabui watched him in turn, she couldn’t help but want to do her part so that his smile never disappeared.

****

A freshly showered, but still naked Naruto appeared in his apartment as he teleported from Mabui’s. He tossed the clothes he had worn to the Kumo kunoichi’s home to the side and smiled upon seeing Hinata asleep in his bed. He knelt down to kiss her on the cheek but stopped as she said, “I take it everything went well with your newest lover.”

Naruto nodded and sitting down on the bed kissed her gently before answering, “Yes, I can safely say that Mabui is on board. I’m sorry I left you alone last night.”

Hinata sat up revealing that she had been sleeping in the nude as the covers fell away. “That’s okay. I’m just glad that she has come around.”

Naruto shook his head before giving her a kiss. As he pulled away he cupped her cheek to say, “You really are too kind. It’s alright to be a little selfish.”

Hinata’s eyes twinkled with amusement as she replied, “What do you mean? I’m not letting you off the hook. You still owe me a date.” Naruto kissed her again and then chuckled as she pouted cutely, “I’m not joking.”

“I know princess,” Naruto said standing from the bed. “Unfortunately, we’ll have to find the time another day. Today’s engagement is something we shouldn’t miss.”

Hinata nodded as she extracted herself from the bed to head towards his bathroom. Naruto’s gaze followed the naked beauty until she shut the door behind her. For a moment the blond was tempted to join her, but remembering his words about the day’s engagement forced himself towards his closet. Upon opening it, he sighed as he looked upon the black mourning clothes that he had purchased. He truly hoped they would be the last that he needed to buy, but knew that it was a wish that was unlikely to ever come true. As he reached for them, he figured that if there was a silver lining to the funeral he was about to attend it was that it was to honor a man who had long since passed.

*****

Hinata kissed Naruto one last time before he disappeared from her room after he dropped her off. She nodded to the shadow clone that was henged as her and sighed after it disappeared. While she truly hadn’t minded it when Naruto had left to attend to Mabui, she was somewhat sad that she couldn’t attend the funeral for her Uncle with him. Granted it wasn’t exactly a date environment, but she knew herself enough to figure she’d get emotional and would have liked it if her boyfriend could stand next to her.

Stepping from her room she nearly ran into Hanabi. Her sister looked surprised like she had been debating knocking on her door for some time. Looking like she had been on the verge of losing her nerve the younger Hyuuga seemed to shrink inside of herself as she said, “Father sent me to alert you that it is nearly time to leave.”

“Tha…” Hinata stopped in thanking her sister as she began heading down the hall at a brisk pace. Hinata frowned, fearing that her marked improvement was driving a wedge between them. However she pushed such concerns to the back of her mind as she began to slowly follow in her sister’s wake. Upon reaching the main foyer of her family’s home she wasn’t surprised to find that no one had waited for her.

She didn’t mind though as she figured that it would give her some time to think about her place in the clan. She was surprised to learn that upon Tsunade’s return from Kumo that many of the elders were now seriously considering going against her father and backing her right to assume leadership of the Hyuuga. Hinata was weary of her new supporters since she believed many of them were simply opportunists hoping to hitch their wagons to her rising star. In the end, she felt they were gambling on who they thought would grant them the most boons for their favor. She had to admit that she must have made a tempting ally since now that she was seventeen she could likely marry one of the elders’ sons or grandsons thereby granting their family a line of secession. That, plus the fact that for so long she had been thought of as worthless had left her without any allies upon which to call should she press her claim to rule the clan.

Hinata frowned as she was beginning to understand why her ancestors had created the Branch family in the first place. All the political horse-trading going on behind the scenes could lead to open hostility if she wasn’t careful, which was one reason she had kept those trying to align themselves with her at arm’s length. Instead of becoming indebted to people looking at her as a way to promote their own self-interests, she intended to rise on her own merits. That and with the support of her family with Naruto. The only other group of people whose support of her claim she welcomed was that of the Branch family. Many of whom, upon hearing how it was her suggestion to the Hokage that had given Tsunade the idea to press for the Raikage to admit his involvement in the incident fourteen years ago, were now openly supporting her claim as heiress. Hinata though was being cautious not to try and use the incident to her political benefit, since she had not been thinking of such things at the time. All she had thought was that it was a way to extract something from the Raikage, for him to retrieve Yugito, without it being too painful to the people of Kumo. That, as well as it’s being a way to finally close the book on a painful chapter in her family’s story. Strangely to her though, it was her obvious discomfort at the idea of her benefiting from her involvement in the matter that seemed to make the Branch Family so vigorous in their support of her.

Reaching the Hokage mansion, she entered and made her way to the roof so she could lend her voice to the many that would speak kindly of her uncle.

****

Karin began to make her way down from the roof of the Hokage mansion having decided to show her support for her fellow Harem family member. It was upon stepping outside that she frowned upon seeing Ibiki waiting against one of the stone posts that marked the entrance to the grounds with his arms crossed. She was hoping he was there for someone else but that proved not to be the case as he said, “Rather strange, you attending a funeral service for a man you never met.”

Karin paused as she pulled her glasses off and began cleaning them as she replied, “I did it as a sign of respect to the clan he was a member of. I was hardly the only business person attending the service.”

Ibiki nodded at her point before saying, “True, you’re certainly taking to this new role you’ve secured for yourself.”

“Thank you,” Karin said politely, “Now if you can excuse me I have business to attend to.”

“I do too, which is why I’m here.”

“Can we talk and walk?”

Ibiki nodded and then wasted no time in asking, “I have questions about what went down in Wave when you purchased that hotel.”

“You aren’t the only one,” Karin replied. “I was hoping you’d be able to supply some answers.”

“Afraid not,” the Head interrogator said gruffly, “Unfortunately although the S. I. N. conglomerate has been extremely forth coming with information. I’m afraid it hasn’t given us any ideas as to what was motivating those two that attacked you. They claim they weren’t even all that interested in the hotel, but only decided to make the bid since Vega was so insistent. Considering he had achieved some amazing results in the past they thought he knew something they didn’t.”

Karin frowned as she asked, “Do you buy that?”

“Not really,” Ibiki admitted, “Unfortunately due to its very nature as a company, the people I’ve spoken with might be nothing more than unaware dupes feeding me a company line. But I do get the feeling that at the very least; most of the people at S. I. N are unaware of anything sinister going on.”

“Okay so why come to me?”

“I was wondering if you’ve found anything strange as you’ve begun renovating the hotel.”

“No, I’m afraid not. Although, I will tell Tsunami to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary as she leads the rebuild. If she finds anything I’ll let you know.”

“Good,” Ibiki said and then noticing the former Sound kunoichi was likely processing the information and forming a theory of her own asked, “What are you thinking?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Karin said after a minute.

“Or it could be something. You’ve obviously been giving this matter some thought, and I really need a new trail to explore as I’m currently at a dead end.”

Karin was hesitant to speak to the man, but in the end figured his chasing down anything about the Wave incident posed no threat to her new life so said, “It’s just…I’ve often wondered if this attempt to purchase the hotel was just a new way to pick up where Gato left off.”

“What do you mean?”

Karin gathered her thoughts before saying, “I’ve been running the numbers, and to be honest I just don’t see what his goal was for Wave. He had completely decimated that country, and while his monopoly guaranteed him their business. What good does that do him when they can no longer afford to pay?”

“I never been one for business, but I take it you have an idea.”

“Yeah, you take the only thing they have left. You get them to sell you their land on the cheap and then provide them a one way ticket off the island.”

“Where does he go from there then?”

Karin shrugged as she admitted, “I don’t know. That’s where my theory kind of falls flat I admit.”

“Perhaps not,” Ibiki said as he crossed his arms across his chest in a thinking pose. “I assume you think the problem with your theory is if Gato was working in League with whomever Vega and Balrog are. Then why only use a single missing-nin to deal with the Bridge builder and the shinobi team guarding him?”

Karin nodded, and replied, “Exactly, it doesn’t really fly if he had access to such skilled shinobi.”

“Unless a third party decided to let Gato loose on Wave and then move in to pick up the pieces after he was done and had moved on. You’re right in saying Gato’s long term goals for Wave didn’t appear to offer much financial benefit to him. But even he didn’t have the money to buy a country. His ruining it was merely due to the nature of where he set up his monopoly. After Kakashi’s mission to Wave and Gato’s death, we never bothered to look into how he built his empire. It may just be time to start. Thank you; you’ve given me a good deal to think about.”

Karin smiled as she said, “I’m glad I could help.”

Ibiki inclined his head and then surprised her by saying, “You should know that my original reason for searching you out was to inform you that if you are still interested that I’ve recommended you for reservist status within Konoha’s shinobi system.” Karin couldn’t keep the surprise from her face, causing the scarred man to say, “It’s a position where if an emergency situation is called, you would be called upon to help defend the village. It’s something that is usual made up of retired Shinobi or Kunoichi. I’ve recommended you in part due to the bravery that you showed in Wave when you helped the genin assigned to protect you.”

“I’m not sure what to say, but thank you.”

“You’re thanks are not necessary. If you’re interested then meet with a man named Ebisu, who coincidentally is also the sensei of the genin you helped.”

Karin smiled as she said she would. She began to walk away from Ibiki as he headed off to his department, but Koharu called out to her saying, “Ah, Karin please hold on a moment.” The red-head stopped smiling towards the elder who said as other people that attended the funeral passed them, “I wanted to say how pleased it made me to see a representative of our business community pay tribute to one of the heroes of the village.”

“Don’t mention it,” Karin said as she and elder began walking away together. Once they were sure they were alone she said, “Did you already know Ibiki had nominated me as a reservist?”

Koharu smiled as she answered, “Of course. We thought it would be a nice surprise. He did it as soon as he had read the report on what happened in Wave. It shouldn’t interfere with your other duties. People are only called up during times of war.” Karin nodded, but appeared lost in thought prompting the elder to ask, “Is something wrong?”

“Ibiki just stirred up some memories about what went down in Wave. That’s all.”

“What about precisely?”

Karin frowned and bit her lip as she was hesitant to bring it up since Naruto had promised to keep an eye on the situation. However she feared he was looking through the prism of his fondness for the genin she was having doubts about. Finally she said, “Do you know anything about a genin named Udon?”

“Why?” Koharu said sounding a little defensive.

Although surprised at the elder’s reaction Karin carried on saying, “I don’t have any proof or anything…but there is something about him that I don’t trust. As they escorted me to Wave he appeared extremely competent. But it didn’t exactly translate into skill during combat, at least that’s how it seemed during the fight with those missing-nin that worked at S. I. N.”

Koharu looked ahead as she replied, “Sadly such things often can be said for many shinobi. One never knows how one will react when faced against a superior opponent.”

“That might be,” Karin said after a long pause. “But what if he’s somehow connected to Root? I mean keeping an agent close to the grandson of a Hokage would make influencing him easier should Konohamaru follow in the Third’s footsteps.”

“True, but Udon was placed on Konohamaru’s team mainly due to his being the grandson of Homura. I imagine if I have started a family one of my grandchildren would have found their way on that team as well. It’s a way to foster close ties among the teams.”

“I guess maybe I was just imagining things then,” Karin said after a moment. Although her tone said that perhaps she wasn’t exactly convinced she was wrong about Udon. “Well, I should get back to the office.”

Koharu watched as Karin took a separate path and although she couldn’t see her teammate turning his grandson into the human machines that Danzou preferred. The seed that her old teammate would use his grandson to guide and influence a future Hokage had been planted. As she began heading to her official home as Elder of Konoha, she began to wonder if Karin’s fears might not be so farfetched as she first believed. She had read the report including how Udon had been thrown into Konohamaru by Balrog thus taking both of them out of the fight. If she was reading Karin’s concerns correctly then perhaps Udon hadn’t been as incapacitated as the report indicated. Koharu felt a chill pass through her at the thought since that would have meant the genin had been willing to sacrifice both Karin and his teammate Moegi.

But for what reason she couldn’t exactly say until she realized that that if having influence with a future Hokage was the goal, then there was no better way to ensure a tight bond between a future Hokage and a potential advisor then for them to survive a common trauma. And the death of a teammate was just one such hardship that too often united the shinobi of Konoha. Koharu stopped cold in her tracks as she thought, “That’s what happened to us after all.”

The thought was a sobering one as she recalled how after her sensei Tobirama Senju had died, how Hiruzen had turned to his teammates for advice and promoted them to Elders. It was that shared pain that also at times had allowed Homura, Danzou, and herself to sometimes go against the Third’s better instincts when dealing with enemies of the village as they would remind him of the pain that had been inflicted upon the people of Konoha. Something he was all too aware of due to the loss of their shared teacher. In the end despite her attempts to convince Karin that she was jumping at shadows, Koharu was beginning to fear that at the very least Homura was coaching his grandson to try and have history repeat itself.

*****

After the memorial, Hinata found herself heading to the third training ground where the Memorial Stone was. She stopped as she saw her cousin standing there watching as a mason carved his father’s name into the stone. Hinata was about to turn when Neji said, “I’m told I should thank you for this.”

“No,” Hinata said softly, “It is we that owe your Father the thanks. I’m just glad we could finally acknowledge his sacrifice.”

Neji turned to face his cousin and gave her a small cryptic smile. After a moment he said, “You’ve certainly grown Hinata. It seems that your sister has reason to look over her shoulder.” Hinata moved forward past her cousin watching as the mason continued in his task. Neji wasn’t surprised that she didn’t respond so added, “The strange thing is I never pictured you as all that desirous of the Clan Head position.”

Hinata looked at her cousin out of the corner of her eye before saying, “I’ve come to believe that I can do the most good in the position.”

“That is a belief more and more people are beginning to share.” Hinata looked over in surprise to see her cousin wearing a tight grin. She felt her face redden slightly as Neji said, “I imagine Naruto believes this as well.”

“Um…well…um…”

Neji was amused by his cousin’s sudden embarrassment. Pressing a theory he had been developing he said, “I figured you’d be rather heartbroken when you learned he was dating the Ramen waitress.” Hinata began to pale slightly as she began to suspect that Neji was aware that she and Naruto were more than just friends. The Branch family member continued, “He became quite popular for a time after all. Yet there didn’t to be a whole lot of fallout when he settled. I suppose that make sense since they were play dates. But I wouldn’t imagine that you would be playing.”

Hinata didn’t know what to say, but figured that she should have known her cousin whose eyes were unmatched within the clan would be able to see that which most hadn’t. She was about to admit that she was still in love with Naruto, but was saved the trouble as he said, “Naruto once promised me that he would change the Hyuuga when he became Hokage.” Turning her cousin began to walk away as the Mason began to admire his work, “Although I’m not sure exactly what is going on. I believe that I should just take what is going on as his efforts to deliver on that promise early.” He stopped looking over his shoulder asking, “Are you happy?”

“Yes,” Hinata said definitively, “More so than I’ve ever been.”

“Then that is all that matters,” Neji said walking away leaving a smiling Hinata.

*****

After the memorial service Naruto appeared inside Kiyomi’s mansion. Although he had been back in the village for close to a week since his trip to Kumo, Kiyomi had been strangely quiet. She had finally called to him using her mark a few moments earlier. She smiled at him before closing and kissing him. He separated from his Bijuu lover to see Yoruichi watching them from just behind her sister. He noticed that she had an amused smirk on her face which experience told him meant that she was aware of some mischief. However, she quickly closed with him to get her kiss as well.

After they separated she smiled at him her amusement easy to see causing him to ask, “What?”

She shook her head as she said, “I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

Kiyomi cleared her throat and then said, “Don’t you have someplace else you should be?”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Kiyomi scowled at her sister, before sliding between her and Naruto. Gripping his hand she said, “Please come with me Naruto.”

Naruto heard a hitch in her voice that told him that Kiyomi was afraid of how he would respond to whatever she was about to show him. Yoruichi sensed Kiyomi’s discomfort so followed behind quietly as the Bijuu led their lover to her room. Kiyomi stopped in front of her bedroom door. Looking nervous she said, “I’ve thought of a dozen ways to explain this to you…but at the moment all my words fail me. I figure I’ll show you so please keep an open mind.”

“Okay,” Naruto said as he watched Kiyomi throw open the doors. To say that he was surprised to see a woman lying on the bed was an understatement. Stepping further into the room he felt his mouth drop open as he looked upon the female form he had based his sexy jutsu on. He looked back at Kiyomi who seemed prepared to receive his anger or any of the other emotions he may have been feeling.

Yoruichi threw her arms open as she said, “Surprise!”

Kiyomi looked back at her sister unamused, but turned back to her lover as he chuckled. Closing with Kiyomi, he said, “Now how about you use some of those words to tell me what is going on?”

Kiyomi explained how she had used Ayame’s would-be rapist’s body as a vessel for the shadow that she had set loose inside him. Naruto looked back at the young woman and asked, “What are you hoping to achieve by giving her a form?”

“I hope to give her a chance to grow as a being. Much as humans treated us Bijuu as just sources of energy to use in their conflicts. I had done the same thing.”

“Okay, I understand. So she’s been asleep since I was in Kumo?”

“Yes, I was hoping you would be present when I woke her.”

“Alright, let’s do it,” Naruto said as he moved closer to the bed.

Kiyomi nodded and moved to the foot of the bed. She then made a release hand-sign and the kunoichi’s eyes began to flutter. They shot open and Naruto leaned forward to welcome the woman to the world. However when her blue eyes narrowed and she growled, “You!” He was caught by surprise by the palm strike to his chin that rocked his head back and caused him to fall to the floor.

“Hey,” Yoruichi shouted as the blonde kunoichi rolled to her feet. The woman looked around the room wildly as the dark-skinned woman moved to attack her.

Kiyomi helped Naruto get back to his feet who said, “That was rather rude.”

The blonde kunoichi glared at him, but focused on Kiyomi saying, “What the hell is going on here?” She looked confused as she heard her voice and looked down causing a visage of shock to appear on her face. Her hand shot to her crotch and grabbing her groin as she said, “What?!” She focused on Kiyomi asking, “What have you done to me?”

“I gave you a form by which you could…”

“I don’t want this…I’m a man…”

“No, you were a collection of energy made to think of yourself as Naruto and to focus on all of the negatives in his life in order to wear down his resolve to keep me contained.” Kiyomi walked towards the young woman as she said, “But with this form you can…”

“No,” the woman shouted and formed a Rasengan in her hand. She spun and slammed it into the corner of the room causing it to explode out.

Coughing from all the dust, Naruto looked out the hole the woman had made as the smoke settled. Yoruichi moved to leap through the hold in pursuit, but Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him saying, “Let me go. I can catch her before she reaches the edge of the property.”

“Yeah, but then she would probably react with hostility. Let me handle this.” He moved to look out the hole and turned back towards Kiyomi to say with a smile, “Well you certainly know how to make life interesting.” He dropped down to the ground and slowly began walking in pursuit.

****

Ayame was placing some garbage outside the back of her stand for collection. She placed the can next to a larger dumpster used by one of the other restaurants. She heard someone crying, so looked around the large trash receptacle. She was surprised to see a shivering female Naruto there. The scene caused her to flash back to how she first met Naruto and aware of what the woman was said, “Hi,”

The female Naruto looked up and a look of recognition appeared on her face. She appeared on the verge of panic, but Ayame gave her a reassuring smile and holding her hand out said, “Hi, we met briefly. My name’s Ayame, would you like to come in for some ramen.” The woman looked like she was about to refuse and run. But then her stomach rumbled causing her to flush in embarrassment. “Come on,” the waitress said again insistently, but kindly.

The woman stared at the hand and when her stomach rumbled once more she took it. The woman followed behind her and then sat behind the bar as Ayame took her usual place. She smiled at the nervous and scared woman as she began to stir the Ramen broth in her pot. “What can I get you?” Ayame asked sweetly.

“I don’t have any money,” the woman said her voice carrying some suspicion of the Ramen waitress.

“That’s quite okay,” Ayame said with a shrug, “It’s getting pretty close to the end of the night anyway. It would be a shame to waste what I have left.”

The young woman still eyed her suspiciously, but as her stomach rumbled again she simply nodded. Ayame grabbed for a bowl and asked, “What would you like?”

The young woman thought about it as if she was making one the most important decisions she ever had and after several seconds finally said, “I’ll have the shrimp.”

Nodding, Ayame filled the bowl with noodles before spooning the shrimp broth and a generous helping of ingredients on top. She then handed it to the young woman who began devouring it as if it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. The Ramen waitress rested her elbow on the counter and placed her chin in her hand as she watched the woman eat. Seeing that much like her lover the woman before her ate at an inhuman pace, she began to get the next round ready so that when the young woman slammed her bowl down she found a fresh one waiting for her. The blonde looked up at her blue eyes filling with hope causing the waitress to simply nod.

The woman went through the second bowl much like the first and after slamming it down wiped her mouth with her forearm. She stared at the pots as if hoping for a third helping, but appeared too nervous to ask for more. Collecting the bowl, Ayame began to fill it as she asked, “So what should I call you?”

“I-I don’t have a name that’s my own. I suppose you can call me whatever you want.”

Ayame gave the matter some thought, however she found herself drawing a blank on what to call the young woman in front of her so said the first thing that came to mind, “How about Naruko?” The recently minted Naruko made a face that bordered on being upset causing Ayame to say, “I’m sorry that was…”

“It’s fine,” Naruko said although still sounding less than thrilled with her new moniker. “I suppose I can understand why you would think it fits,” she said as she stared into the third bowl sitting before her. The woman began eating although at a much slower pace than she had previously.

Fearing that she had upset the young woman, Ayame began to busy herself cleaning up to close for the day. She was just about finished when Naruko asked in almost a whisper, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

Ayame stared at her for a moment, before giving her a gracious smile as she said, “No, if anything this encounter kind of reminds me when I first met Naruto.”

Ayame did feel a hint of worry as the young woman’s face twisted into a mask of anger at the mention of her lover’s name. “I see,” Naruko said her voice carrying an undercurrent of anger, “I guess it would be too much to hope for someone to see me as me.”

“I’m sorry,” Ayame said quickly, “I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I found Naruto hiding in the alley when we first met.”

Naruko continued to stare directly at her as she replied, “It’s not like I was hoping to re-create your precious first encounter with Naruto. I don’t even possess those memories. I guess that bitch Kiyomi didn’t feel I needed those memories, much like she felt I didn’t need a dick.”

“I know,” Ayame said feeling heartbroken for the young woman whose anger was easy to see, “but I’m sure Kiyomi has her reasons.…”

Naruko’s gaze darkened as she slammed her hand on the counter while standing. “It wasn’t bad enough that she used me and then discarded me,” Naruko replied her voice rising in volume, “but now she decides to let me out only to give me this… this stupid form.”

Ayame wasn’t sure how to respond, so she tried to give it a reassuring smile but it came off weakly. Naruko could see that she was making the Ramen waitress uncomfortable now so turned her back on the woman as she said, “Thanks, I’ll be sure to pay you back someday.”

“That isn’t necessary…”

Ayame tried to say, but she was cut off by Naruko who said, “I won’t be in your debt.” Before Ayame could respond the blonde woman dashed from the small Ramen stand. Ayame considered calling to Naruto through her fox mark, but she could feel that her lover was stationary near the Hokage monument. Believing that if Naruto wasn’t actively looking for the woman that he suspected he knew where she would end up, Ayame decided to let the matter be since she was of the opinion that anything that originated from Naruto, could not be all bad. Therefore, she busied herself with cleaning up the shop in preparation for going home.

****

Naruko sat on the Forth Hokage’s head as she watched the village go about its business, but due to the lateness of the hour there wasn’t much to see. A stiff breeze swept through the area causing her to shiver and pull her knees into her chest which had more cushioning than she was used to. The sudden reminder of the change she had been subjected to caused her anger to spike again. However, it was tempered by a feeling of guilt at how she had behaved with Ayame.

The wind kicked up once more and she felt somebody approaching from behind her. Having a good idea of who it was she asked, “Have you come to collect me for that redheaded bitch?”

Instead of a response, a jacket was placed over her shoulders and despite it belonging to the one person she absolutely wanted nothing to do with she found herself pulling it tighter around her as the wind cut through the area. Naruto stepped back giving Naruko some space before finally saying, “Nah, I figure that if Kiyomi wants to speak with you about the mess you made of her bedroom she can do it herself.”

“Then what do you want?”

Naruto shrugged as he said, “Nothing. I just figured it was a nice night to watch the village.”

Naruko looked over her shoulder expecting him to be studying her, but all she saw was him standing there with his hands in his pockets as he looked out on the village. Facing forward again she asked, “Why are you so laid back? Aren’t you worried that with the collection of your evil thoughts running loose your precious village is in danger?”

Naruto chuckled causing the woman to look back over her shoulder to give him a nasty glare. Naruto met her glare with an amused smile and with a shrug asked in return, “Is that what you are? To me it looks like you’re just a lonely person trying to make sense of the confusing situation in which she finds herself in.” Naruto moved forward pulling even with the sitting young woman before adding, “I mean it’s been several hours since you blew your way out of Kiyomi’s. However, what dastardly and evil things have you accomplished since then?” Naruto could see Naruko didn’t have an answer and so he let the silence linger as he took the time to direct his gaze towards the various points of light in the village where his lovers resided. When it became apparent that Naruko wasn’t going to say anything he continued, “Be honest. Have you thought up one horrible thing while you’ve been up here? Because I’m willing to bet all you have been thinking about is how scared and lonely you feel.”

“Do you know this because we’re the same person and therefore have the same thoughts?”

“Are we really same person?”

“You didn’t go chasing after me when I busted out of Kiyomi’s. You must’ve been pretty certain you could find me.”

Naruto chuckled at that and sat down next to the woman before saying, “I have been here for over an hour. In truth I had no idea where you went. I was just about to give up and get either Tsume or Hana to try and track you down when you showed up here.”

“I don’t believe you,” Naruko said eyeing Naruto suspiciously, “Ayame said that you also hid in that alley behind her shop when you first met.”

Naruto shrugged dismissively as he said, “Well sure, and I’ve hidden there lots of times both before and after I met her. If you think about it, I’ve probably hidden in every nook and cranny of the village over the years. The reason I was up here didn’t have anything to do with some great insight into your psyche, but with a hope that I would be able to spot you.” Naruko looked surprised at his admission and quickly looked away when his gaze turned towards her. “The truth is although we share the same unfortunate memories you aren’t me and I’m not you. Kiyomi gave you a gift. She gave you a chance to grow beyond those memories.”

Naruko hugged her knees tighter against her chest. A little waiver entered her voice as she asked, “How can you be certain that I’m not a danger to you and those you hold dear?”

Naruto frowned at the question, but answered, “I’m not. But I do know that right now you haven’t done anything to warrant such fear.” Giving her a sad smile which Naruko knew the reasons behind, he said, “If I were to fear you for what you have the potential to do, then I’d be no different than the people who feared me for housing Kiyomi. You seem to think that you are housing my darkness, but the truth is it is still inside me. I haven’t forgotten what a crappy childhood I had growing up. But I chose to not let it define me and I believe that you won’t let it define you either.”

Naruko kept her stare looking forward, and gave no outward sign that Naruto’s words had affected her. However, she did feel a slight warming sensation in the pit of her stomach. Another cold gust of wind cut through the area causing Naruto to shiver. Naruko was surprised that she didn’t feel cold until she recalled that Naruto had given her his jacket. She was about to give it back when he stood silently saying, “I need to get inside quickly before I catch a cold and Tsunade reads me the riot act.” Looking down gently at her, he added “You’ll find my keys in the pocket of my jacket. Make yourself at home, I will stay somewhere else tonight and give you some privacy. Just remember, from here on out, it’s up to you to decide on who and what you become.”

Naruto then disappeared in a red flash, leaving Naruko alone but feeling less uncertain than before he had made his presence known, especially since the encounter had gone nothing like she thought it would. Supposing that Naruto was essentially telling her that until she acted like a threat that she wouldn’t be treated as one, she began to wonder just what she should try and become.

*****

Konan was returning to Ami with the Deva path from their hunting a minor ally of Akatsuki who having sensed the groups weakening, due to its recent setbacks, had decided to break out on his own. Naturally, that sort of thing had needed to be dealt with before more people would think it was acceptable to abandon Akatsuki. Although she once would have had no problem with performing such a task on her own, she was of the opinion that the Deva Path’s accompanying of her had been as much of a test for her as it had appeared to be one for Nagato’s new chakra amplifying devices. He had been able to control the Deva Path’s body from the central tower of Ami while hunting for their target in Taki. Something she would have found impressive had its implications not frightened her so. Why Nagato had insisted on such improvements she did not know, but she was certain it was for more than just improving the range at which he could control the Six Paths of Pain. That he had neglected to mention the improvements to her until just before they left on the mission made her believe he was beginning to suspect her loyalty to Akatsuki and to him.

Sadly, their years of internalizing the pain they each felt had made communication for them difficult and as such, almost impossible for her to broach the subject with him. But she could feel his Rinnegan studying her throughout the trip. Therefore, when they had cornered their target underground and Nagato had claimed that his control of the Deva path had become difficult right before his body had collapsed to the ground as if the chakra manipulating it had been cut. She had quickly ended the threat the man posed by sending a paper shuriken into his throat.

A moment later the Deva path regained its footing with Nagato claiming that the technicians monitoring the chakra projectors had made the necessary adjustments. He had praised her for her quick response leaving her with the impression that he had expected her to let the target getaway. Konan had just been glad that the man they were hunting had been no angel as otherwise she may have let him.

Stepping into the audience chamber of Ami’s central tower she spotted Nagato waiting for her with Tobi. The masked man was lounging on the floor in front of Nagato resting his head on his hand. As she followed behind the Deva Path as they approached the two men, the masked one waved jovially and said, “Hey welcome back, we’ve missed you. Did you have a fun time on your trip?”

Konan didn’t react as she was aware that it was likely Tobi simply trying to get under her skin due to the fact that she had never hid that she found his goofy persona intolerable. Instead of responding she stepped in front of the emancipated form of Nagato asking, “Perhaps you will explain to me now that we’ve returned just what this test was for?”

The Nagato in front of her didn’t respond as from behind the machine he was hooked up to the female Animal Path appeared while saying, “I’ve always felt a small amount of vulnerability when entering battle ever since I’ve become like this. This test was to help alleviate that. With the improved chakra transmitters, I will no longer need to get nearly as close to the front.”

“Is that all?” She asked leaving the question open-ended as she suspected a more truthful answer was he no longer trusted her.

However, Nagato chose to ignore her implications in favor of having the Deva Path respond, “It is. You may rest now, but do not get too comfortable as we will soon be on the move again.”

Konan nodded her head and without a word turned on her heel to leave the chamber. Although tempted to ask what their next objective would be. She refrained as she was certain that Nagato would ignore the question or deflect it. Yet the temptation almost became too much to ignore when Tobi purposely let slip before she exited, “You know Kisame was quite peeved with your request coming so soon after his sealing the Six-tails.”

Nagato waited until the door was closed before responding, making his response unintelligible to her. She frowned, but didn’t dally as she couldn’t be sure whether or not Nagato was observing her through one of his smaller summons if she eavesdropped through the door. Heading to her room, she began to wonder just what it was Nagato and Tobi were truly up to. Whatever it was, she was certain that soon it would put her at odds with Akatsuki.

****

As the closing door echoed through the chamber, the Animal Path turned towards Tobi to say, “For being so certain she has turned against us. You tend to enjoy letting our plans slip in front of her.”

Having dropped his cheerful persona Tobi replied, “What better way to gauge her loyalty then to watch her reaction when interesting tidbits are dropped in front of her.”

“Yet she didn’t react, did she?” The Deva Path said moving to stand in front of the masked man. The Animal Path picked up where he left off saying, “Nor did she remain outside the room hoping to eavesdrop.”

Tobi watched as a blurred object began to climb up the small female form of the Animal Path. When it reached her shoulders it became visible to the naked eye revealing a small chameleon with the Rinnegan active in its eyes. Tobi chuckled amused as he said, “Ah, so you had your little summons watching the hall. Yet all you proved is that she’s not stupid enough to wait outside the door like some rank amateur. Someone has been tipping off our enemies, Kakuzu’s death is proof that. The trap that Jiraiya set for him was perfectly tailored for him. Need I remind you the pool of suspects is shrinking?”

Nagato himself responded by saying, “It was his love of money that did him in. Once the Leaf encountered him when they interfered with the capture of Yugito, it would have been a simple matter to look into his background to learn that all one would need to do in order to trap him, is place a high enough bounty on an easy enough target. Then lie in wait until he showed up to collect much as Jiraiya had done.”

“Perhaps,” the masked man conceded, “but I still believe you are allowing the specter of your friendship with her to blind you.”

The Deva Path was what responded as it said, “God’s eyes see all. Should his angel have turned against him, she will be cast out and treated as any other enemy.”

“Good,” was Tobi’s simple reply as space began to warp around him so that he could teleport to Kisame and check on his progress in performing Nagato’s request.

*****

Komachi entered the Den’s war room to find several of her fellow harem members waiting. Looking about the room she asked, “No Naruto?”

“He’s returned to the Training Force,” Tsunade replied. Directing an ire filled gaze towards Kiyomi she added, “He seemed in remarkably high spirits considering someone’s little project decided to empty out half of his bank account and take some of his possessions before sneaking out of the village.”

Kiyomi sighed before replying, “If only the same can be said for some of those present. Naruto has chosen not to make an issue of what Naruko did. Why do you insist?”

“Because…”

Tsunade began to say. However, she was cut off by Koharu who said diplomatically, “Perhaps now is not the best time to argue about your differences of opinion on this matter. Komachi can only meet with us for a limited amount of time now that Danzou has pulled his Anbu from watching Naruto and directed them to other pursuits.”

Komachi nodded, but said, “True, but it has fortunately allowed me access to the punishment level of the prison.” All the women present stood a little straighter upon receiving that bit of news. Komachi not needing any prompting began to say, “Unfortunately it appears that Danzou is preparing to enter the final phases of his plan. I don’t know how much longer the Training Force is going to act as a deterrent.”

“You can’t believe that Danzou would dare try and pull off his rebellion knowing he would have to get through a combined force of Suna and Konoha–nin,” Tsume said incredulously. “I’d wager that with the number of shinobi staying outside our walls that not even one prisoner would make it within spitting distance of Konoha.”

Although still wearing her mask, so no one saw the gesture, Komachi frowned as she replied, “He would if he believed his forces had the edge which they very well may. Since he’s been experimenting with the Animal Curse Mark that Mizuki possesses.”

Tsunade growled in the back of her throat as she said through clenched teeth, “That bastard again. I should have just let him die of old age when the potion he took side-effects turned him into a shriveled up old man. “

Komachi nodded as she informed the Hokage, “It may have been for the best if you had. Amachi was able to reverse engineer how you returned Mizuki’s vitality to him. As a result, he’s been able to give many of the other prisoners the same Curse Mark without fear of experiencing the same side-effects.”

“Dammit, how is that bastard not rotting in a Sea country prison?” Tsunade asked in aggravation.

“I’m afraid I have no answer for you,” Komachi replied. “One can assume that Danzou has used some of his many contacts to secure Amachi’s services.”

“Perhaps we should make a discrete inquiry as to his current status in Sea Country,” Shizune suggested.

However, Tsunade almost immediately shot the suggestion down as she said, “I don’t think there would be anyway to do that without word getting back to Danzou. Even if we sent someone unaligned with either Suna or Konoha to investigate, if a hint that someone was looking into Amachi’s whereabouts reached the wrong ears. Then whoever had a hand in securing Amachi’s release for Danzou’s project could inform those in the Leaf prison since they are likely watching for any sign that his absence has been missed.”

Koharu nodded in agreement, but asked, “Are we sure that Amachi is even supposed to still be in prison back in Sea Country?”

Tsunade nodded in the affirmative as she said, “Unless they’ve begun pardoning inmates with multiple life-sentences all of a sudden. Then I believe it is safe for us to assume that he should still be there.”

Koharu nodded in agreement, but felt a feeling of unease settle over her. Giving voice to her concerns she said, “You would think considering the amount of havoc he wrecked on Sea Country’s shipping that they would be keeping better tabs on him. It worries me that he could be in The Leaf Maximum Security Prison even as we speak, yet no one has noticed he is missing from his cell.”

Kiyomi agreed with the Konoha elder’s opinion, but suggested, “Perhaps this is a mystery better saved for after we deal with the current crisis. Especially since, it seems to suggest that whoever has allowed Danzou to make use of Amachi’s skills is rather highly placed in Sea Country’s hierarchy. What is of more pressing concern is answering the question of how does his giving this Animal Curse Mark to the inmates, better increase his chances of capturing Konoha?”

“I would think the answer to that is self-evident,” Tsunade replied. “It would make those under his command stronger, faster, and more resilient to injury.”

Kiyomi didn’t seem convinced as she said, “It just doesn’t seem like the endgame for a man who has spent years crafting the plan as well as implementing it. These aren’t soldiers in some cases, but petty thugs and bandits. Even if you make them stronger, there is no guarantee you can control them. If anything, giving them that taste of power may make them even more difficult to control.”

“Agreed,” Tsume said as she crossed her arms over her chest while leaning back against the wall, “but we can’t forget that this whole ruckus in the prison may just be a smokescreen, something to direct our attention outside of Konoha so that a smaller more precise method of eliminating Tsunade can be used.” Turning towards Komachi, the Inuzuka clan head asked, “Any thoughts?”

The Root Anbu shook her head in the negative as she replied, “If Danzou has any plans to deviate from what Akame believes is going to happen, then he has kept them to himself. Unfortunately it is not something I believe that I will be able to learn until just before he issues the orders.” Turning her masked visage towards the Bijuu that Naruto used to house she asked, “What of your inside woman within the prison? Has she been able to distinguish herself to become one of his lieutenants? Because if not, then at this point it is unlikely that she ever will be able too.”

“Why do you believe that?” Kiyomi asked with a small frown beginning to appear upon her beautiful face.

“Well because if I am correct and we are nearing the final phase, then it would make no sense to bring any newcomers aboard. Besides, it seems that Akame has made a selection on which prisoners will lead the prison forces.” Komachi then pulled several folded sheets of paper out of her pouch. She then handed them to Koharu, who was closest to her, as they stood around the table of the war room.

The elder flipped through the drawn faces, and she recognized a few of them before passing the pictures along to Tsunade. Commenting on the skill behind the drawings she said, “You are a rather skilled artists. I was under the impression that you didn’t have any hobbies.”

The Root Anbu inclined her head in thanks at the complement as she replied, “You would be correct. My skill is not something developed for me to enjoy, but for me to be able to accurately draw the faces of those I may encounter on a mission for either later elimination or possible blackmail.”

“What a shame,” Koharu said sadly, “Perhaps once we are done with this matter at hand. You should explore the more aesthetic uses of your skill with a pen.”

Komachi nodded, but as she replied it almost sounded like she was accepting an order as she said, “I’ll take that under advisement.”

Koharu smiled and was about to say it wasn’t an order. But, Kiyomi gasped directing all the women’s attention to her as she shifted through the papers of drawn faces. “What is it?” The Konoha elder asked.

Kiyomi ignored the question as she instead asked Komachi, “How do you know these are Akame’s lieutenants?”

“They were all present today for a demonstration of Amachi applying the curse mark to a test subject. They were also led to believe that the Fire Country Noble I was escorting through the prison was Danzou. I do not believe he would just allow any prisoner to be around for something like that. Not unless they have managed to accrue some sort of ranking within Akame’s structuring of the prisoners.”

“Why do you ask,” Tsunade asked her tone just short of demanding.

Kiyomi looked down sadly at the picture she was looking at before replying, “Because if Komachi is correct then it would appear that my sister has decided to betray me again.”

*****

Seven was sitting atop of her bed pressing her back against the wall of her cell. Having already created the stone beetle walkie-talkies that she and Mikoto used to communicate, she was waiting for hers to open its wings signaling its counterpart was being used. She didn’t have to wait long as its wings suddenly opened and the familiar voice of Mikoto said, “Well was he there.”

“No,” the seven-tailed Bijuu replied, “Although, I do think that Akame believed that who he was showing around today was this Danzou you speak of.”

She could hear the frown on Mikoto’s face as she said, “Are you sure? Akame should know exactly who Danzou is. It doesn’t make any sense that he would be confused.”

Seven shrugged before replying, “The man he introduced as Danzou was wearing a mask. However, he possessed both his arms and his build did not match what you described. Have you considered that perhaps you are wrong and Danzou has nothing to do with this? It could be someone else that is backing Akame. It could be someone within the Fire Country nobility who belongs to this One King movement I’ve heard some of the prisoners here referring too. Although…”

She trailed off as she began to recall the strange sensation she had felt before she and a few of the other men and women that Akame had chosen as his lieutenants entered the lift elevator that had taken them down to the punishment level. She was hesitant to even speak about it, but Mikoto pressed her about it by asking, “What is it? Tell me everything even if you don’t think it matters.”

“It’s nothing, but just before we were taken down to view Amachi applying the curse mark to his test subject. I felt a strange feeling of vertigo…” She paused as her Bijuu chakra had quickly flared which had surprised her as Kiyomi’s seal kept her from accessing it, but since she didn’t wish to tell Mikoto with who she was working with yet made no mention of it as she continued, “It passed quickly and I didn’t feel it again so I just wrote it off as being nerves or something.”

She could hear that Mikoto wasn’t convinced, especially as the woman said, “I don’t know. To me it sounds like Akame attempted to place you in genjutsu.”

“Really, I can’t say that I’ve ever been placed in one before. Are you saying then that the man I described could have been Danzou and I didn’t even know it?”

Sounding disbelieving, Mikoto said, “You’ve never been placed in a genjutsu. I find that hard to believe that you made it to your current age without ever having experience one before.”

Seven winced due to her unintentional admission. As a Bijuu, most people she had faced in combat had never been willing to attempt to place one on her. They had likely believed, and rightly so, that they wouldn’t be able to influence her enough into believing that the illusions they projected were real. She was just beginning to come to the conclusion that it didn’t make sense for Danzou to insist that she and the other prisoners be placed in a genjutsu, but then still use his name.

Mikoto jumped to the conclusion she was drawing first as she said, “Actually, I believe you somehow dispelled it without even being aware of your doing so. You’re either very lucky or have a Kekkei Genkai that you are unaware of.”

“Or a guardian angel,” Seven said in barely a whisper as she remembered how her Bijuu chakra had flared for a moment as the sensation of vertigo passed over her. Believing that Kiyomi had placed a safeguard in her seal, which bound her to her current body, to prevent her from being placed under a genjutsu since she did not have access to her full power felt a measure of guilt at her earlier desires to possibly betray her sister.

Despite her lowered voice, Mikoto had still made out what she said causing the woman to say, “Ah, you must be referring to your benefactor. Are you suggesting that she somehow was able to dispel the genjutsu from outside the prison?”

Seven felt a warm smile appear on her face as she thought of her sister while replying, “If anyone could, she would be able to.”

Mikoto proved that she was more than just a pretty face as she said, “You have another seal on you don’t you, besides the one the prison placed on you to shut off chakra? That’s the only way she would have been able to disrupt a genjutsu from another location.”

“Yes, I do,” Seven admitted.

The line was silent for several moments until Mikoto finally said, “What exactly is it for? I cannot see it being a locating seal as they already know where you are. Granted, they could fear you would be moved. But, it seems a rather risky thing to do for such an unlikely eventuality.” The Uchiha remained silent, however when it became apparent that Seven wasn’t going to respond she added, “Look if you expect me to help you get yourself out of the jam you’re in, then you better answer my question.”

Seven’s eyes hardened as she stared down at the stone beetle walkie-talkie. Her voice grew dangerous as she said, “Watch yourself Uchiha. While it’s true I did come to you for help. Thus far you’ve been painfully little, while at the same time continually questioning my motives despite revealing none of your own. If Akame and Danzou are about to set their plans in motion then I’m beginning to question about what good it was coming to you. Take care of yourself.”

“Wait!” Mikoto said quickly as she feared that Seven was about to cut the connection as well as their partnership. When the stone beetle in her hand didn’t crumble into dust she said apologetically, “You’re right. And the truth is at this point if we’re going to stop this plot then I’m going to need you more than you need me. I had no idea things had progressed to such a point so quickly. It’s just… that trusting others isn’t really my strong suit. But to derail their plan I’m going to need your help as much as you need mine.”

The Bijuu’s anger calmed as she heard the earnestness in the Uchiha’s voice. After a moment Seven said, “Fine, but I think it’s time you told me just what it is you hope to achieve. I’ve heard of the Uchiha massacre, and I know you have no love of Konoha. So why go to such great lengths for it?”

Mikoto sighed and then remained silent for several heartbeats until she finally said, “This isn’t for the village. Do you remember the speech that Akame gave during the banquet after you joined?”

“I do,” the Bijuu said not exactly sure why Mikoto was bringing it up.

“Ignoring all the other bullshit that he said, he made mention of a young man named Naruto who houses that spirit of the nine-tailed fox. Whatever Danzou and Akame have planned, I know it will negatively impact him and that is something I cannot allow.”

“Why’s that?” Seven asked her curiosity piqued.

“Because his mother was my best friend and I won’t let anything happen to her son.” Seven began laughing causing Mikoto to say angrily, “I’m glad that amuses you.”

The Bijuu recognized laughing at the woman’s admission probably wasn’t the best way to go about staying on her good side so said, “I’m sorry, it’s just it seems the whole world seems to revolve around this kid.”

“What do you mean?”

Seven felt a smile form at the corner of her lips as she said, “Let’s just say that the woman I’m working for goal is eerily similar to yours. Now how do you plan to put this rebellion down?”

“First we’re going to need to figure out what exactly Akame thinks applying this curse mark does in achieving his goals. I don’t think I need to tell you that these aren’t the most trustworthy people in the world. Therefore, giving them even more power without an adequate means of controlling them seems foolish.”

Seven nodded, but asked, “Don’t you consider the chakra suppression seals that have been applied an adequate means of control? No matter how powerful this curse mark will make those it is applied to. It’ll do them no good if suddenly their chakra is cut off by Akame.”

“Very true,” Mikoto agreed. “But it would be the same result if he sends this curse mark army towards Konoha without removing it. You are probably unaware of this, but the seal that has been applied to us is no different than the one that has been used by Konoha jailers for close to a century. Even the feature to turn chakra on and off is but one used in cases where prisoners are sent into a hostile environment that only a ninja would be expected to survive. Therefore…”

“The hand signs to activate it would be known by many of the shinobi in Konoha,” Seven said when she realized what Mikoto’s point was.

As the Bijuu tried to figure out how the new piece of information fit into her theory, Mikoto suggested, “The means of control may be hidden within the Animal Curse Mark.”

Her tone full of doubt, Seven said, “I don’t think so. I mean when you consider some of those who’ve already undergone the procedure I doubt they would have signed up if they knew they were just having a new means of control installed upon their bodies. Especially Mizuki, he was the first and I doubt he would allow Akame to tamper with his seal without making sure he knew exactly what was being done. The man might be a fool, but unfortunately he’s already been betrayed once and he does tend to learn from his mistakes.”

“Agreed, then I guess I know what your next task is going to be.”

“Great, you mean besides trying to figure out whether or not Danzou is involved in this plot for you. I also have to figure out how Akame plans to control his curse mark army. What exactly will you be doing?” Seven asked as she saw her list of things that needed to be done growing.

Mikoto’s voice held some amusement as she replied, “Are you beginning to feel that I’m not doing my fair share of the work? Trust me, when all is said and done I doubt you’ll be able to say that I didn’t take as many chances as you. But for right now, you’re the one in the best position to handle what needs to be done. Besides, there is no point in trying to figure out if Danzou is involved. The fact that I’m here proves that he is, as my continued existence is only known to a handful of people. Not to mention, I’m beginning to believe that you were the only one to shake the genjutsu that was placed on you all before you went down to the punishment section. I believe that if it had affected you that you would have seen the old man I described. That Danzou is not showing up here himself implies he is prepared for the worst case scenario in which his rebellion fails and that means it’s likely that Akame was under the genjutsu as well. But if you doubt me perhaps your outside benefactor could fill you in on whether or not he is involved.”

“That could lead to her to asking questions I’d rather not face right now.”

“True, but believe me when I tell you the sooner you face those questions. The better it will be for all those involved.”

With that said the stone beetle folded its wing and began to crumble into the earth that had made it up. Alone with her thoughts, Seven admitted that she had heard what the Uchiha was saying, but still couldn’t bring herself to face her fellow Bijuu and admit she had considered once more betraying her. Therefore, she would do everything in her power to make sure such a thing never occurred.

*****

“Oh… so so good,” the young kunoichi standing before Naruto in her bra and panties moaned as he continued to play her like a fine instrument. Naruto was especially proud of the fact that he had brought her to such a state without directly stimulating her pussy as of yet. A fact that the kunoichi was all too aware of as she looked over her shoulder to where she guessed his head was to plead, “P-please… touch me down down there.”

A pleased smile appeared on Naruto’s face although the kunoichi he was groping couldn’t see it as a result of the transparency jutsu he was employing. Naruto began to snake his hand down her body from the breast he had been playing with so that she could feel his progress towards her honeypot. As she shivered within his arms he mentally smirked as he thought to himself, “Man, Sakura really outdid herself in spreading the story I asked her to.”

Looking out past the privacy barrier that appeared whenever someone entered the circle he drew outside the destroyed Chunin Instructor Evaluation Building, he smiled as remembered how he had first tested the seal beneath his feet on Sakura after they had completed their first assignment as part of the Training Force. Afterwards, as per his request, Sakura had started rumors of a perverted ghost that had haunted the old evaluation grounds. When he had first come up with the idea, little did he know that he would have quite so many visitors looking to experience pleasure at his hands.

Directing his attention back to his current recipient of his talents he felt a little like he had come full circle as she had also been the first kunoichi to investigate the rumor that Sakura had started. Although in truth, it had been her interest in the paranormal that had brought her to him. He smiled as he recalled the memory of finding the Suna kunoichi, whose name he would later learn was Yukata, crouched on all fours inspecting what he had dubbed his summoning circle. He had felt a little guilty as he had begun to pat and pet her body through her clothes. However, that had faded as she began to relax as a result of his ministrations, even though he suspected that it was due to her at first believing she was experiencing something paranormal. He had nearly scrapped his idea after he had brought her to climax the first time. But when he had returned to the circle the next night as a result of it being activated and found her waiting for him minus everything but her undergarments, he had decided that the show must go on.

Naruto’s hand reached its destination sliding past the band of her panties to find her wet and willing pussy more than ready to receive his touch. Stroking her outer lips gently, she responded with a needy moan as her head fell back against his shoulder. She turned her brown eyed gaze towards where she believed his face was and upon seeing the desire located in it he was tempted to kiss her. Yet, he refrained from doing so as that would likely lead to the encounter progressing further than he intended it to. The moment ended as she removed her head from his shoulder as he slid his middle finger in pass her lower lips. “Ahhh, fuck,” she whimpered as his finger rubbed her gripping insides. After several minutes of probing her tight hole with his digit, he withdrew causing her to moan at the loss until he brought the finger up to torture her clit by pressing on it gently. Her head shot back up against his shoulder as her climax rocked through her body and coated his hand in her release. She went limp in his arms and he gently lowered her to the ground until she was kneeling before him.

He watched her as she panted while recapturing her breath. He believed that should he reveal himself to her that she would gladly offer to take care of the hard-on currently tenting his pants. However, he stopped himself from doing so, in part because she wasn’t who he was hoping to capture with his ghost story and also because at the moment she would not be able to advance his ambition. He knew that sounded rather cold; however after his night with Mabui, he had been giving more thought to exactly what lay beyond the horizon of his ambition. Therefore, with a perverted laugh that he had model after his Master Jiraiya, he disappeared in a red flash only to appear before another beauty, who was more than willing to help him get settled down after his session with Yukata.

*****

Temari smiled at Naruto seductively as he appeared in front of her. Able to see the outline of his cock through the material of his jeans she licked her lips hungrily as she closed the distance between them. Pressing her body up against his, she reached down for his hand, and in a move that caused his cock to lurch up against her pelvis, took it in order to clean his fingers of the juices that coated them. Letting his fingers slip from her mouth like a mini cock, she moaned at the taste before saying, “Mmmmm, so it was Yukata again. What’s this, the third or fourth time?”

Naruto stared at his lover, his eyes sparkling with the lust he felt from seeing her suck another woman’s cum from his fingers. Her words barely registered at first, but when they did he chuckled as he replied, “Fifth actually. I wonder what she would think if she knew that her commanding officer could now identify her by taste.”

Temari smiled at him as her eyes grew hooded in preparation for leaning forward to kiss her man. “She would probably be thinking how jealous she is as she wished to be in her commanding officers position right now.” Temari then sealed her lips to Naruto’s as they shared in Yukata’s taste.

As they made out hotly, Naruto reached up to grab Temari’s tit and smiled against her mouth as he felt the hardened nub of her nipples through the thin material of her kimono. She moaned into his mouth as he played with her nipple as she raised up her right leg, hooking it around his hip. She then began to gyrate her hips against his groin, causing him to lower his other hand to her ass as he pulled her tighter against him.

Both of them moaned hungrily as their clothed sexes rubbed up against each other. Temari needing to feel her lover inside her, broke the kiss and stepped out of Naruto’s arms. Walking backwards she undid the knot of her kimono and exposed her body to her lover’s hungry gaze. Now clad in only her panties, she turned around as she continued to walk away before bending over and placed her hands on the trunk of a fallen over tree.

Naruto growled in the back of his throat as his desire for his lover grew from the display as well as his ability to see her wetness through the thin material of her panties. He closed the distance between them, shucking off his clothes as he did. Reaching Temari, he placed his hand almost reverently on her backside giving it a firm squeeze which prompted her to moan in delight. He then traced the band of her panties before reaching where it cupped her soaking cunnie. He then slid the material to the side and pressed the head of his dick against her entrance.

He began rubbing his cockhead up and down her cunt eliciting his lover to moan with a slight growl, “Stop teasing me and shove that log inside me.”

Naruto smiled at her bossy tone, as he tensed in preparation of burying himself inside her and said teasingly, “Is that in order?”

“I can make i… Fuck!” She was prevented from finishing her response as Naruto took that moment to slam himself inside her. Both groaned in pleasure as they once more basked in the sensation of being connected to each other again. But aware that they both needed to get back to the Training Force’s main camp soon cut the moment short as Naruto began to move within her.

“God damn Temari,” Naruto groaned from the resistance he was encountering as he attempted to plow his lover’s overheated tunnel. “I’m beginning to think that you are enjoying these midnight trysts as much for the opportunity to find out who’s been visiting my summoning circle as for the sex.” Temari didn’t answer as he began to rub her clit causing her to groan deep in her throat. However her skin began to flush making him think that he was perhaps more right then he knew. Deciding to tease her a little he said, “You know I’ve been rather surprised at the number of Suna kunoichi that have visited my circle. I’m beginning to think that in truth you are all actually rather perverted yourselves.”

“N-no,” Temari moaned in denial even as her cunt tightened around his dick as it continued to churn her insides. ”It-it’s your fault I’ve become like this. Just like it’s you turning Suna’s kunoichi into a bunch of pleasure seeking perverts.”

“Are you saying I should stop?” Naruto asked, as he also stopped in his pleasuring of his lover.

Temari looked back her eyes showing him the answer so without making her give voice to it began to slide within her cunt once more. She moaned her appreciation, which grew in intensity as he lifted up her leg in order to hit her more deeply inside. With his other arm he reached around cupping Temari’s face and pulled it back so that he could taste her lips once more. She eagerly reciprocated, dancing her tongue against his as she tried to work her hips harder and faster against his.

Naruto groaned his enjoyment of the increased sensations coursing around his pleasure stick as a result of her efforts. Pulling one of her hands away from the log they rested against, she reached down to where they were joined and began to fondle his nut sack. Breaking the kiss, she stared back into his eyes to say, “I’m almost there. Cum with me please, let’s cum together.” Naruto nodded his head and began to redouble his efforts causing their grunts and moans to grow in intensity. Several moments later she felt his nuts contract in her hands signaling his impending release so brought her hand to her clit giving it a rub just as he began to spurt inside her which triggered her own release.

Naruto dropped her leg as they rode out their orgasms. They both sagged to their knees while still connected as their strength left them. As she caught her breath against the log she was pressed against, she felt Naruto placing feather-light kisses along her back causing her to coo in pleasure as much from them as from the warmth that he had just been deposited inside her womb.

As their body temperatures return to normal and his cock finally slipped from her having softened sensing that it wouldn’t be needed again, Temari prepared to ask a question that had been on her mind ever since Naruto had begun his plan to seduce Pakura via his ridiculous ghost story. A plan, which although it had yet to capture its specific target, had resulted in Naruto bringing pleasure to several of the Suna kunoichi under her command and thus could have significantly expanded his influence within the Sand village. At least it could have, had he decided to close the deal so to speak. Commenting on his lack of doing so thus far, she said, “Naruto, not that I’m complaining about you coming to me to get rid of the blue balls your playing with those other girls leaves you with. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to our goals if you would just go all the way with them?”

Naruto pulled away from her causing her to look back and see that she had hit upon something he had been thinking about for some time. Fearing that he was internalizing something that could lead to a similar circumstance as when he had feared that their feelings for him were merely the result of his jutsu, she began to demand that he tell her. But she was beaten to the punch as he replied, “I suppose it would be, especially if Yukata or some of the other kunoichi who have been curious about the summoning circle eventually rose to high ranks within Suna’s forces or government. But it’s just… I’m not sure if I can explain this without sounding like a bastard.” Naruto lapsed into silence as he searched for the words to explain himself. Temari was just about to tell him to spit it out when he continued, “I just don’t have the time for them.” He pressed on quickly as he knew how cold that sounded saying, “I mean, I’m only one man and I’m beginning to fear all the sneaking around will eventually catch up to me. For example, you deserve to have a nice date with a lovely dinner and dancing before we went back to enjoy ourselves in a more intimate fashion. Not to have some quickie in the woods after I just got done fondling some other girl.”

Temari smiled gently touched that he was thinking along those lines, however a moment later she flicked him on the forehead. She laughed slightly as he rubbed the spot asking her, “What was that for? I was just trying to…”

Temari stopped him by placing her finger against his lips as she said, “I know, but me and the others signed up for this life. It would be rather foolish for me to complain about it now. Because to be honest, I think some of those kunoichi are growing rather addicted to you even if they don’t know it yet.”

“Come on Temari,” Naruto said feeling a little embarrassed which had nothing to do with the fact that both he and she were still naked. “I haven’t even been using the Temptation’s Touch on any of them. They probably just consider this a little harmless fun that they can have while they are away from home.”

Temari shook her head at how humble her lover could be as she replied, “Don’t sell yourself short. It isn’t that jutsu that makes you special. But is that really the reason?”

“In a sense, I mean what we’re hoping to do is change the shinobi world and I always just assumed that afterwards we’d be free to all be together.” Naruto adjusted himself so that he was sitting against the log. He pulled Temari close to him and leaned his head back against it as she rested her head against his chest. Staring up into the night sky he said, “However, after I was with Mabui. She got me to thinking about what we would do after we accomplished our goal and I realized that we might never be able to come clean about our role in bringing the villages together or our connections to each other.” Temari pulled her head away from his chest to stare causing him to meet her gaze and give her a sad smile before continuing, “Because if we do come clean, people opposed to a more peaceful shinobi world would just use the fact that we were working behind the scenes in the shadows as a means to invalidate our success and plunge the world back into war, except this time using us as the catalyst.”

Temari maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on his lap and cupped his face gently before kissing him lovingly. Pulling her face away, she rested her forehead against his as she responded, “If that is the case, then we will just have to remain in the shadows. We are shinobi after all.” Grabbing his hand she placed it against her chest over her heart and added, “But this to me is too special to lose, so I will continue to cherish whatever time you can afford to spend with me whether it’s in a fancy restaurant or here in the woods. The time and place don’t matter to me, only that it’s time spent with you.”

She smiled as she saw that her words had touched him so punctuated it with a kiss. When it ended she considered having one more go with her lover, however aware that both of their duties would soon intrude stood and held out her hand to him asking, “I know that I can take care of myself, but would you mind escorting me back to the main camp as a representative of the Leaf.”

Naruto smiled as he took the offered hand and replied, “it would be my honor and privilege, but not as a member of the Leaf. But as a man protecting a woman who has captured his heart.”

Despite all that they had done up until that point, Temari was still rather unused to boys talking flowery to her so blushed prettily as she helped Naruto to his feet. They dressed quickly and as he escorted her to the camp she couldn’t help but take his arm into hers and rest her head on his shoulder. And while, she did feel sad that when they needed to separate upon nearing the camp, she couldn’t help but feel that so long as she had Naruto in her life she would only know happiness so was willing to share him with as many women as need be. A small, but amused smirk appeared on her face after they crossed the threshold of the camp’s main gate and each went their own way when she spotted a pair of Suna kunoichi whispering among themselves and blushing. Aware that they had also experienced pleasure at Naruto’s hands, she had to add that it was worth it also because outside of Matsuri and Maki. She probably had the most varied and exciting sex life of any woman in Suna, although it was at her request that the list might soon grow to include Pakura so that Naruto could help to right a wrong made by her father.

*****

Pakura stepped out of her small tent and stretched as she greeted the new day. Sadly as with most days her mood quickly dropped as she noticed the usual stares that she received. They had faded for a time upon arriving at the Training Force main camp, but unfortunately that had not lasted long as the stories of her mummifying the son of a high ranking noble quickly spread even among the Leaf. Feeling saddened by this, as she had been one of the people that had actually welcomed the opportunity to participate on the Training Force as she had hoped to escape the persecuting stares that had been a part of her existence for going on fifteen years.

Trying to ignore them as best she could, she grabbed a towel out of her pack and made her way to the women’s shower. Approaching the cloth covered enclosure; she could hear giggling coming from inside as several of the kunoichi that made up the Training Force prepared for the day. Stepping inside, all traces of merriment stopped as the young Suna kunoichi that had been laughing became aware of her presence. Keeping her face stoic, she moved to an empty stall away from everyone else and then began stripping before stepping under the showerhead.

Able to see the other woman’s faces since the dividers for the stalls only came up to their shoulders, she could feel the younger kunoichi’s eyes trying to watch her discreetly. Paying them no mind, she went about her business trying to clean herself as efficiently as possible so she could get away from the stares. The kunoichi still uncomfortable by her presence remained silent until they were joined by another, a kunoichi that Pakura had known when she was younger. As Maki entered, the other kunoichi felt rather emboldened by her presence so began joking and laughing again.

Maki gave Pakura a smile of greeting, which as usual the older Suna jounin ignored. Although Maki was one of the few who had not ostracized her, their friendship had taken a beating when she had decided to become a lapdog for Joseki. After the Sound-Sand invasion of Konoha during the Chunin Exams and the death of Maki’s team, Pakura had tried to convince the young woman that living for revenge was no way to live. Maki, her emotions still running hot from her anger lashed out at her saying, “That’s real great advice coming from the woman whose actions caused the invasion in the first place. Maybe if you didn’t have so much pride none of this would have happened.” Maki realized what she has said was out of bounds, and quickly tried to apologize. However, Pakura would have none of it, as she believed that Maki’s true feelings had finally come to the surface. Therefore, the older woman had turned her back on her and walked away. That was the last time the two of them had spoken. But recently, Pakura had sensed a change come over Maki. No longer able to sense the anger and grief that had become a part of Maki’s being made Pakura tempted to try and repair their friendship.

With Maki’s presence acting as a buffer to Pakura’s, the other young Suna kunoichi decided it was safe to once more bring up the topic they had been talking about before she had entered. One of the younger women leaned over to her stall towards a long-haired kunoichi with brown hair and eyes asking, “You went again last night didn’t you, Yukata?”

Yukata blushed but responded, “I don’t want to talk about it. I told you I’m only interested in whether or not it’s paranormal in nature.”

The kunoichi didn’t buy Yukata’s excuse quickly replying, “You know it’s just some pervert using a transparency jutsu, don’t you? It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Kashike went a couple of nights ago and she said she’s never cum so hard in her life. What’s more, according to her, he didn’t even stick his dick inside her. If he’s that good then I’m thinking of giving him try.”

“But you’re seeing someone,” another of the kunoichi said her voice dripping with the scandal of what her fellow Suna-nin had said.

Before the kunoichi could defend what she had said Yukata interrupted her by saying, “It wouldn’t matter. Whatever or whoever it is at least seems to have some sense of morals as he will not show up if you’re currently involved with somebody.”

“Oh yeah,” the kunoichi said with a hint of anger entering her voice, “just how do you know that?”

Yukata began lathering her hair as she replied, “Research, and one of the Leaf’s kunoichi went to the circle a few weeks ago but he didn’t show. I only learned later that she’s been cheating on her boyfriend.”

“I don’t know Yukata,” another of the Suna-nin said he her tone disbelieving, “I mean he’s groped quite a few girls already. Why would he draw the line there?” The kunoichi then turned to Maki asking, “What do you think Maki?”

“Well to be honest, I don’t know if this is the necessarily the best place to be having this discussion as there are plenty of perverts in both villages and wouldn’t want any eavesdroppers to get the wrong idea of Suna kunoichi. But to answer your question, I think at the very least our Mr. Ghost has a respect for the bonds between people and wouldn’t want to be the cause of one breaking.”

Pakura watched as the other Suna-nin appeared properly chastised for their crass behavior as she had been getting rather upset by it, especially due to her own lack of physical intimacy. Hearing of the other and much younger women’s exploits had truly been getting under her skin. However, it did plant the seed of desire to learn just what was going on out in the woods at night.

Finishing her shower, she quickly dried herself off and dressed. Leaving without a word, she stepped out into the bright sunny day and felt a bit of excitement at what challenges awaited.

****

“Dammit Seven, get your head in the game,” Mikoto shouted as she tackled her fellow inmate to the ground just as a large metal cable cut through the air where she was standing. The cable missed, but slammed into the nearby building with enough force to cut through it. As the building began to collapse Mikoto shot to her feet, pulling Seven to her feet as well, and then dragged the woman behind her as she darted down an alley in the simulated town the chunin guards of the prison used to mimic different environments in which they might have to apprehend prisoners.

Confident that they had lost the shinobi that had been manipulating the cable, as well as were out of the viewing eye of any electronic devices monitoring them. She ducked into a small recess in the alley pulling Seven in next to her before dropping to her haunches in order to catch her breath. Seven slid down the stone wall next to her, but instead of assuming a position like her where she could dart off if they needed to she simply fell to her backside while wearing the same blank look that had been on her face all day.

Getting tired of it, especially since it could get her killed, Mikoto shoved the woman roughly and then said, “Hey, if you want to die here, then just tell me. I’ll leave your ass here and let Shura and his boys put you out of your misery.”

As she expected, Seven eyes narrowed dangerously at her from the rough treatment, however a moment later that fire died as she looked away replying, “Maybe that would be for the best.”

Mikoto was about to ask what she meant by that, but then a heavy footfall sounded near their position. The Uchiha kunoichi peeked out from her recess, but quickly fell back into the shadows when she spotted another member of the Shinobazu at the foot of the alley. Pulling a kunai from her pouch in case he noticed them, she could only hope that he was as blind as the animal form he now possessed. The mole man, that was Toki of the Shinobazu, looked down the alley, but apparently didn’t notice anything as he began lumbering off in search of his prey.

Looking at her fellow kunoichi, Mikoto saw that the woman had barely reacted throughout the encounter so said heatedly, “We don’t have time for this. In cases it has escaped your notice they are letting those that have received the Animal Curse Mark participate in these training sessions. Also as a result the number of “training accidents” has skyrocketed. You might think you’re above all this because you’re one of Akame’s lieutenants, but I assure you if you fall behind they will let you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Seven replied woefully, “there’s nothing for me out there anymore. I don’t know how, but she learned that I wasn’t telling the truth about how far I’ve infiltrated into Akame’s scheme.”

Despite the situation, Mikoto’s demeanor softened slightly as she asked, “Didn’t you explain that you were trying to make amends?”

Near tears, the brown haired woman replied, “She didn’t want to hear any of it. She only stayed long enough to tell me she was done with me.”

She arched an eyebrow as her fellow kunoichi had made it sound like her contact was actually able to get in and out of the prison without anyone being the wiser. However, she ignored the questions she felt rise to the surface so she could say while sounding as nurturing as possible given the circumstances, “Then we’ll just have to put an end to this without her help.” Seven looked up at her in surprise causing her to allow a small smile to appear as she continued, “What? To be honest I was never comfortable with just letting your contact on the outside handle things. I put my faith in others before, and lost everything as a result. We’ll put Akame’s little insurrection down, and that way no one will be able to doubt you never intended to betray them.”

Seven’s eyes shone with new hope, causing Mikoto’s smile to blossom into one she hadn’t worn in a long time. Seven wiped at the unshed tears as she quickly apologized before saying, “You’re right. Nothing’s going to get done by just sitting here feeling sorry for myself.”

Able to feel several people approaching, Mikoto stood her face turning serious again as she said, “You’re wrong about that partner.” Holding up the kunai she had pulled earlier, the Uchiha kunoichi added, “Something tells me these are the type of guys that prefer killing a target that doesn’t defend itself.”

Seven worked herself back to her feet, dusting herself off and with some of the old fire she possessed said, “Well let’s show these bastards we’re anything but easy.”

“Now you’re talking,” Mikoto said just as Shura landed on the roof on the building opposite of them.

The leader of the Shinobazu now appearing as a large humanoid wolf grinned down at them as he said, “Found you.”

“Thanks,” Seven said as she held her hand out towards the Wolfman causing a large stone dragon to launch itself through the wall of the building she was standing in front of, “You’ve saved us the trouble of having to find you.”

Shura launched himself into the air, however the Earth Dragon easily caught up and although it couldn’t swallow him. It forced him to grab onto its jaws, and thus allowed the Dragon to smash both him and it into another nearby building which collapsed atop of him.

As Seven concentrated on directing her jutsu, Mikoto notice that the wall in front of them was beginning to crack. Pulling her shades, she activated her Sharingan just as Toki broke through the wall. Time seemed to slow as she closed the distance able to slip through the rubble his entrance sent flying about; as a result he was surprised to almost be immediately repelled as she appeared before him kicking him in the chest.

Toki quickly scrambled to his feet, but just-in-time to be on the receiving end of a Great Fireball jutsu, which Mikoto had launched after flipping outside the hole he had made. He threw his arms in front of his face as the fireball connected and the resulting explosion blew out the windows of the first floor. When the smoke cleared, a charred Toki was still standing, but soon collapsed forward as he struggled to breathe.

A moment later the last number of the Shinobazu appeared, and who had been the one whose cable jutsu had sent them scrambling into the alley in the first place. Confident of victory he asked while obviously expecting to see his partners, “Did you two finish off those bitches yet?”

Both kunoichi stared at the man, whose animal form was that of the jackal, and realizing his mistake cursed while trying to prepare a jutsu to defend himself. Unfortunately, he only had enough time to whimper before they were on him.

*****

Pakura felt silly as she stood perched in a tree overlooking the Chunin Instructor Evaluation Grounds. Watching for some sign of just who it was that had been driving the kunoichi of Suna mad as of late, she let her mind wander to the day’s events. The day’s exercise hadn’t been too horribly taxing as the scenario was a simple one, which was to escort a VIP from one location to another. To prevent things from getting too repetitive sometimes those assigned to protect the VIP wouldn’t encounter anything. Yet others, they would face overwhelming opposition that no squad of shinobi could hope to overcome. Pakura had been both hunter and prey in the scenarios and found that she preferred to be the hunter, especially when it was against her fellow Suna-Nin as is allowed her to show off her superiority to those who had pushed her aside.

Despite her earlier excitement for the day challenges after her shower, when she found out that she would be one of the defenders and who she was partnered with she was tempted to sit out the exercise. Finding herself on the same team as Temari, who she despised due to her familial relations, had really dampened any enjoyment she thought she would get from the wargame. However, due to the presence of the Konoha-Nin Naruto, she had found her mood hadn’t dropped nearly as much as she would’ve expected. She had even been forced to admit that she had even found his interactions with Temari amusing.

As she waited to see if anyone would trigger the circle that appeared to be drawn with old dried blood or a close substitute, she recalled the memory of the high point of the exercise.

“What’s the matter with you?” Temari had said watching Naruto pout as he walked at the point of the formation surrounding the VIP to be protected.

/]

[/Pakura had felt a small smile tug at her lips as she watched the blond man from her position on the VIP’s rights side, although she quickly squashed it when he turned back to look over his shoulder while holding his hands behind his head and replied, “This sucks! This is the third time I’ve been in this scenario and haven’t faced any opposition.”

/]

[/Temari blew out a frustrated breath from her position at the person playing the VIP left side. She shook her head although Pakura could detect an amused smile on her lips which she did nothing to hide as she replied, “Naruto, you’re supposed to behave as if this was a real mission. You can’t tell me that if it was that you would be wishing for a bandit attack which could put our client in danger.”

/]

[/A mischievous smirk appeared on Naruto’s face as he countered, “I don’t know about that. I suppose that would depend on the client.”

/]

[/The two male shinobi pulling up the rear of the formation, one Suna and one Konoha, chuckled especially as the man playing the VIP said, “I think I should be offended by that.”

/]

[/Pakura couldn’t really believe just how relaxed the atmosphere between the Leaf and Sand always seemed to be when the jinchuriki was involved. She even found herself wanting to participate, however remembering that half of those present had been behind the pain she suffered for fifteen years kept her mouth shut. Yet Naruto had other ideas as he asked, “What do you think Pakura? You think it sucks that we aren’t going to encounter any opponents. I mean what’s the point of having a training scenario if we don’t get to do any training?”

/]

[/Pakura was tempted to just ignore the question, but something in the young man’s sparkling blue eyes compelled her to answer which she did by saying, “I wouldn’t be so sure that we will get through this scenario unscathed.”

/]

[/Naruto gave her a dashing smile as he said, “You don’t have to say that just to cheer me up. We’re less than a mile from where we’re supposed to drop our VIP off. With the number of shinobi that are acting as town guards at that location, it would be pretty stupid to spring an ambush so close.”

/]

[/“Perhaps,” Pakura said surprising herself by her out of character talkativeness, “unless, they believe they have enough personnel to spring their trap and deal with any opposition they face. That means if they do attack in this last portion of our journey it will likely be with a rather large force.”

/]

[/Her words had a chilling effect on those present as they couldn’t fault her logic, except for Naruto who was staring at her with stars in his eyes as he replied, “Really, do you really think so?” His gaze passed to Temari as he asked, “Is that what is waiting up ahead for us?”

/]

[/“How would I know? I am a part of this exercise too, remember,” Temari answered. “It wouldn’t do me much good as a commander to know what is ahead, now would it?”

/]

[/“I suppose not,” Naruto conceded before turning forward to eagerly scan the forest ahead of them.

/]

[/Watching the young man, Pakura found herself hoping that she was right as she didn’t want to have raised the man’s hopes only to see them dashed. Besides, after all the times they had faced each other during the many training scenarios they had participated in already. She was rather eager to see what it would be like to fight at his side.

/]

[/Pakura’s let the memory fade but recalled that shortly they did indeed end up facing a rather large force just before reaching their destination. She hated to admit, but Temari had proved herself to be an excellent squad leader as she had used Naruto and her abilities to the fullest, while supporting them with her fan. When the shinobi playing the town guards arrived, they has been shocked to see that between Pakura’s Kekkei Genkai, and Naruto’s Shadow Clones they had completely turned the tide against their attackers.

/]

[/After seeing the blond in such a good mood after their victory, Pakura was ready to end her night on a good note. Sadly, Temari had to ruin it by trying to speak with her as she showered off the day’s grime. Pakura had blown off her attempt to complement her at first by just saying it had not been necessary. Still, Temari had persisted prompting the older Suna kunoichi to just reply with a, “Whatever.”

/]

[/Even Pakura had to admit that to the others present she must have come off as rather bitchy. However, she was long past caring what others thought of her so wrapping a towel around herself stepped out of the shower stall to escape the situation. She pushed past Temari, who caused her to stop cold as she said, “I don’t know what I did to offend you. But I’m not my father.”

/]

[/Pakura looked over her shoulder coolly as she replied, “Perhaps not, but you’re the next best thing because sadly your father went and got himself killed before I could do it myself.”

/]

[/Pakura could see Temari’s anger finally flare as her teal eyes smoldered at her. Yet she bit her tongue and managed to say through ground teeth, “Regardless, you performed quite well today and I’m glad you’re one of us.”

/]

[/Pakura had stormed out of the communal shower and after crossing the camp clad in only a towel stepped into her tent. But found that she was now too worked up to sleep. Therefore, instead of changing into her sleep wear, she dressed in her normal clothes and decided to work off her anger at one of the training grounds. Stepping outside her tent, she came face to face with Maki whom she nearly collided with.

/]

[/“What do you want?” Pakura asked her tone still filled with a barely suppressed anger. “If you’re here to tell me I should apologize to the Princess. Then let me tell you now to save your breath.”

/]

[/Maki sighed sadly at the woman she at one time had admired greatly before saying, “No, I think we both know that isn’t going to happen.”

/]

[/“Then what do you want?”

/]

[/Maki seemed not to know herself, but after a prolonged silence finally said, “I thought it prudent to remind you of what a wise woman said to me about living with anger in my heart, especially when it is tainting how she treats those who had nothing to do with the wrongs committed against her.” With her piece said, Maki turned and left in order to give Pakura time to digest her words.

Pakura frowned as even she couldn’t deny the truth of the younger woman’s words. However, she refused to admit that she was wrong, as she told herself that Maki could never understand because she hadn’t lived through what Pakura had. Her anger still not cooling down, she had intended to head to the training field. Yet, for some reason she found herself at her current location overlooking the circle were some kunoichi had come experience pleasure at a stranger’s hands.

She was just about to head back to camp, but instead ducked deeper into the shadows of her perch as to her surprise Maki approached the drawn symbol. To her astonishment, before stepping inside the Suna jounin stripped completely naked. Pakura lost sight of the kunoichi upon her entering the circle as a cone of blue light appeared obscuring her view. Recognizing it as a privacy barrier, Pakura settled in to wait figuring it would be a handful of minutes at best. To her surprise and titillation, it would be nearly an hour before the privacy barrier would disappear after Maki stepped out of the circle. From her vantage point, the green haired Suna-Nin could see Maki’s skin glistening from the moonlight due to the sweat that coated it.

Shocked to say the least, due to how Maki had reacted as the other kunoichi had talked about their own visits to the circle. Pakura was just about to leave as the brown haired woman began to get dressed. However, she stopped upon noticing something leaking from Maki’s vagina and realized that unlike the other kunoichi; whoever was behind the circle had decided to give his latest volunteer something he had yet to give any of the others that had gone before. She felt a yearning to enter the circle herself, yet pulled herself away as she felt her pride wouldn’t allow it. But, that didn’t stop her from noticing the satisfied smile that graced Maki’s lips as she continued to get dressed. As she headed back to camp, Pakura couldn’t deny that she would like to know what could cause such a smile to appear on her face as well.

****

Mabui entered the Raikage’s office while holding several reports as she wore a concerned frown. Stepping before her village leader’s desk she was about to speak, but A beat her to the punch by asking, “Has there been any word from Darui’s team yet on our missing shinobi?”

The Raikage’s assistant gave a curt nod as she replied, “I’m afraid so, sir. At least, Darui found most of those who were missing.” The Raikage arched an eyebrow at her so she clarified by saying, “The only member of the team they have yet to find is Toroi.”

A stood from his chair, and then move to his window to stare out on the village with his arms folded behind his back as he asked, “Do we suspect he has sought employment elsewhere?”

Mabui frowned at the question, as well as how the Raikage phrased it. But she knew it was always a painful matter for the village leader whenever one of his shinobi decided to pursue the path of the Missing-Nin. Although she knew that the Raikage already suspected the answer was no, she put his mind at ease by saying, “There is no reason to believe that at this time.” Mabui had another reason to believe that in thanks to information she was privy to as a member of Naruto’s harem of lovers. However, she was hesitant to bring it up due in part to the fact that Kumogakure’s own intelligence network had yet to hear even a whisper of a recent abduction that Iwa had experienced with one of their shinobi. However, the intelligence department had reported that a team of shinobi from the Hidden Mist had gone missing and while unlike Kumo’s own Toroi or Gari of Iwa none of the members on the missing team from Kirigakure seemed to possess a Kekkei Genkai. One of the members, a shinobi by the name of Chukichi was a renowned sensor whose abilities were so specialized it could be considered one. Believing that all three occurrences were linked she said, “Sir, by chance do you remember a report of a shinobi squad from the Hidden Mist Village that went missing earlier this month?”

Aware that his assistant wouldn’t have brought up the matter without reason, turned from the window to ask, “Are you suggesting that these two cases are linked? That’s quite a leap of logic.”

Mabui could see why her leader would think that, but with her knowledge of the third case in Iwa knew a case could be made that it was. However, instead of trying to convince him that they were, she decided to try a different tact by suggesting, “I know, however perhaps it would be prudent to inform the other villages there may be a group out there like Akatsuki, who are targeting our shinobi with specialized abilities.”

The Raikage looked at her as if she had grown a second head and with a snort said, “For what possible reason would I do that?”

Mabui fought back a sigh at her village leader’s question since it highlighted how unless a threat was of grave enough to demand it, working together with another shinobi village was the last thing a Kage often considered. But, she had already expected such a response to her suggestion so replied, “I feel it may be a wise idea as it would allow you to repair your reputation to a certain extent. I don’t think I need to remind you about how wary some of the other countries and villages have been of Kumo lately now that your involvement in the Hyuuga incident has become public knowledge. Also, if a group is targeting the personnel of the major shinobi villages, by providing the other villages with some warning we may be able to put a stop to their scheme before it reaches fruition and may also let us learn of Toroi’s fate.”

The Raikage crossed his arms over his broad chest and began to rub his chin in thought. Mabui waited patiently as he thought over the matter while looking at all the angles. Since she was confident that she had presented the idea in the best possible light she was in no way surprised when A finally said, “Your idea has merit. I trust I can leave it to you to see that the other Kage are informed of the situation.”

Mabui bowed slightly, before turning and leaving the office. Pulling several envelopes from within one of the reports she had brought into the office, she smiled as she was happy that she could send them out through official channels. Especially since, the one that had been destined for the Hokage would have been sent with or without the Raikage’s consent.

******

In another clearing closer to Konoha, another late night hookup was about to happen. At least that’s what the young man from Suna hoped would be the result so that he could report back to his peers at the main camp with the details of his exploits. As was natural for shinobi stationed in new and exciting places, quite a few of the Suna men would hit Konoha and the surrounding villages like a hurricane on their time off. As was often the case, these men would go in pursuit of the three ninja vices which were women, gambling, and alcohol. To the Suna-nin’s amazement, on one such trip he had managed to muster up enough game to score a perfect ten hottie and although he had already experienced all she had to offer. He had not been able to say no when she had told him that she would be visiting Konoha later in the week and was interested in having a little more fun with him.

Standing alone with only his memories of the night in Tanzaku Town keeping him warm, Abiru held his hand up to his mouth blowing in it and confident it passed the smell test gave the clearing another look. Hoping he wasn’t about to be stood up, but was already crafting a story in his head that he would tell the others if he was blown off so he felt a sigh of relief as he heard a twig snap signaling the arrival of the hot civilian waitress he had met at one of the gambling halls in Tanzaku Town on his last weekend leave.

She appeared from behind one of the trees wearing a red violet bodysuit that exposed much of her body to his roving eyes. She gave him a smoldering look, which caused Abiru’s mouth to go dry as it was paired with a seductive smile. Raising her hands above her head she posed for him as she asked throatily, “You like what you see baby?” She punctuated her sentence by turning slowly giving him a chance to drink in her luscious figure.

“Fuck yeah,” the shinobi of Suna said as he adjusted his hardening member as he began to relive some of their previous encounter.

The brown-haired woman completed her turn and using her finger waved him forward saying, “Then what are you waiting for? Show me how much you want it.”

Abiru was on her in a moment, cupping her face and stroked the two square tattoos under her left eye with his thumb before sealing his lips to hers in a forceful and demanding kiss. Meeting her tongue with his as he closed his eyes to delight in the sensations from her talented mouth, he reached into the gaps of her suit at her hips in order to squeeze her ass. Abiru couldn’t wait to bury his cock in the woman before him, however couldn’t pull himself away from her lips as it felt like she was almost completely engulfing him in warmth. Yet, upon opening his eyes was horrified to see that the reason for the warm feeling was because the woman had turned to a silvery-blue liquid that was swallowing him up.

He tried to pull back in revulsion but couldn’t, which prompted the woman to say, “Naughty boy, you peeked.”

He tried to scream, but the woman no longer taking it slow began to push her liquid form into his mouth and nose. Abiru gagged until she completely disappeared within, and then sunk to his knees as he coughed roughly. He was about to try and run back to camp, but found his body no longer followed his command before a piercing pain jammed itself into his brain and then thought no more.

A moment later a darkly amused smile appeared on his face as he wiped at his mouth before saying, “Was that as good for you baby as it was for me?”

“Are you quite done, Ni? I was beginning to think that you had begun to enjoy your time with that man.”

Ni turned towards the man that had appeared from the same direction she had and replied while wearing an amused smirk on her new features, “He had his moments. But as I told you, considering his lack of stamina, I would have burnt out this body before I could complete the mission.”

The man with three purple tattoos on his forehead and thus whose creator had simply named him San said, “Remember, we must secure the target quickly as the night of the eclipse soon approaches.”

Ni was already walking away as she replied, “Relax, we’ve been preparing for this for a long time. With the right push, she’ll do most of the work for us. Besides, she’s the last one as Master says that Kakashi will deliver himself to us.” With that said, Ni took off running for the Training Force’s camp in order to fulfill her creator’s desire of a perfect body and immortality.

*****

Yoruichi sighed as she stared out the window of the third floor library within Kiyomi’s mansion. She made sure to put the right pitch of disapproval in it and fought back a smile as her sister shut the book she was reading in annoyance and said, “Stop that this instant.”

“Hmmm, did you say something?”

Kiyomi narrowed her eyes at the dark skinned woman as she said, “I know perfectly well why you are trying to annoy me. But, it isn’t going to work. As I told you, the matter is closed.”

As Kiyomi spoke her mind, Yoruichi had turned to look back out the window. When her sister had finished she looked back in order to say in a board tone, “I’m sorry, were you saying something.” She got the results she was hoping for, as Kiyomi’s face turned red in anger. Before the redhead could tear into her with a verbal barrage, she said calmly, “It must really suck to realize somebody doesn’t want to hear what you have to say, doesn’t it?”

Kiyomi composed herself, but Yoruichi could still hear the anger in her voice as she countered, “Oh how very cute sister. But what pray tell should I have been so keen to hear from Chomei, hmmm, her chorus of lies and deceit about how she never intended to betray me again?”

Yoruichi let a little heat enter her own voice as she stood to face her fellow Bijuu while she replied, “We don’t know that she has. From everything Komachi has learned it doesn’t appear that Danzou is any the wiser about us being on to him.”

“Which only tells me that she had yet to make up her mind on whether or not to go through with it,” Kiyomi replied turning her back on her sister as she prepared to storm out of the room.

“So what,” Yoruichi said her voice lowering as some of the sadness she also felt at the situation entered it, “do you intend to drive her right into the enemy’s arms so you can say see I told you so?”

Kiyomi paused with her hand resting on the doorknob. In a small voice she replied, “She is the one at fault here, not me.”

“I know,” Yoruichi conceded, “but it looks like to me that Chomei was just hedging her bets. Considering that you didn’t hide how little you trusted her and our history as prisoners always looking for a means of escape. Can you blame her for trying to take control the situation? Isn’t that what you were doing when you first created that chakra being filled with Naruto’s dark memories?”

Kiyomi let her hand fall away from the door handle and turning back towards Yoruichi said, “That’s fighting dirty, but you’ve made your point. I’ll speak with her, but I’m going to let her stew for a few days.”

Yoruichi nodded as she was aware that Kiyomi needed the time to cool down as much as she wanted to let Chomei think about her actions. Confident that once her two sisters talked they would work out their differences. She decided to leave the room as she felt that Kiyomi probably wanted some distance from her as well at the moment. Reaching the door, she looked back to see Kiyomi had returned to her book and could see that on one of the pages was a drawing that she believed depicted how their father had defeated the Ten-Tailed beast in order to become the first jinchuriki. Not quite sure what it was her sister was looking for, as they had all heard the tale from the man himself, she decided not to ask as she was sure that Kiyomi would let her know what she was looking for when the time came.

*****

Pakura felt nervous in a way she found it difficult to describe as she stood a few inches from entering the intricately drawn circle that was said to summon the spirit of a perverted shinobi. Pakura believed it was poppycock, since she could recognize some of the various advanced formulas that made up the seal and could see nothing which would help a man escape from the cold sting of death. However, whether it was true or just an elaborate con to allow some pervert a chance explore the bodies of a few kunoichi that would allow it. She couldn’t deny one thing and that was to those who had experienced the pleasure inside the circle many claimed it was life altering.

Wanting to experience it for herself, she took a deep breath and stepped inside. Almost immediately, the circle flared to life as it threw up a privacy barrier, which as she looked through it cast the outside world in a spooky light almost making her believe that she had stepped into one of the realms of the afterlife. A few seconds later her acute senses told her that she was no longer alone, but as she slowly looked over her shoulder could see no sign of who had joined her.

The Suna kunoichi was beginning to understand why so many of her fellow ladies of shadow would make use of the circle, as just from the theatrics she had to admit she felt a tingle of excitement course through her. That tingle only grew more pronounced as she felt the first featherlike touches of the back of the hand from the person who had joined her begin against her butt. Understanding that the light touches were asking for her permission to continue, she nodded and was immediately rewarded with a firm squeeze of her ass.

Pakura attempted to keep her composure, but she found it difficult as the persons other hand began to snake around her waist. It paused for a moment over her stomach where it rubbed in a small circular motion. She sighed from the sensations, even though it was through her clothes, and leaned back into a strong chest confirming to her that whatever it was touching her, it was definitely male. She felt her body begin to respond to the mystery man’s efforts especially as the hand on her stomach began to move up to her aching breasts. She moaned loudly when the hand passed over her nipple causing the fabric to rub against it deliciously.

The hand fondling her ass ended its actions, and she could feel as it traveled over her body to join the other in exploring her chest. She began to get into it more and more as she moaned while the man’s hands squeezed and fondled her breasts and teased her nipples. She felt something begin to poke her from behind and upon realizing what it was, pressed her rear against it firmly. She felt her pussy quiver when the mystery man groaned as she began to grind her hips against his manhood. She was just letting herself go when the mystery man stopped his fondling of her breasts in order to grab the portion of her dress covering her chest, and pushed the material into the valley of her breasts exposing them to the world.

Like a switch being flipped, all the pleasure she had been feeling disappeared as she recalled a similar instance some fifteen years prior. The forest disappeared from her view only to be replaced by an opulent bedroom. “No…stop,” she said both in her memory and in the present. Causing both the mystery man, and the noble who had been laying on top her in her memory to stop what they were doing and step away.

/]

[/Now fully immersed in the memory, Pakura sat up in the bed as her hands moved to cover her exposed breasts. The noble, who she had been assigned to guard, smiled gently at her as she said, “My dear you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I-I know,” she said hating the way her voice hitched in nervousness, “but my assignment is to protect you. I shouldn’t be letting my emotions get the better of me; there is a reason that men are listed as one of the three vices of kunoichi.”

The noble smiled at her in the way she had found both charming and insufferable as he moved to sit next to her on the side of the bed. Reaching for a decanter which was filled with an expensive liquor that rested on his end table. He filled a crystal glass and passed it to her as he said, “What a silly thing to consider a vice.”

Having adjusted her dress to once more cover her breasts, Pakura tempted to wave off the drink as she said, “Well we can’t all be aristocrats who spend their days chasing beautiful women, and not having to worry about money.”

The noble gave her the same smile he usually did when she teased him about his station in life, that always seem to convey to her that he was in on some inside joke as he replied, “My dear you wound me. Besides, it is only because of those endless days of womanizing that has allowed me to see and appreciate it when someone truly magnificent has come before me.” Seeing that Pakura was making no move to take the glass from him, he said, “Let me guess alcohol is another one of those silly vices of yours.”

She nodded, but seeing he wasn’t putting the glass down took it from him as she figured that a small sip wouldn’t hurt her. However instead of sipping it, she downed the contents due to the nervousness that she was still feeling. She felt a warming sensation that caused her to lean back into the plush pillows behind her as she felt an overpowering desire to go to sleep sweep through her. Her eyes snapped open as she fought against it upon realizing that she had been drugged. “What have you d…”

However she trailed off upon noticing that although the smile was the same, it was decidedly less charming, as she realized that the reason he always seemed so amused was because he was, at her for thinking she was anything to him but another potential tally in his book. He stood from the bed and snapped his fingers causing the double doors of his bedroom to be thrown open as several of his guards entered.

Pakura tried to fight the effects of the drug she had ingested, but found she could neither move nor harness her chakra. The noble noticing her struggles said, “Relax my dear, you won’t be harmed. If anything I’ve just decided to collect on the services I paid your village for.”

Shocked at the implications of what he was suggesting, Pakura asked, “What the hell do you mean services paid for? I was hired to protect you.”

Shaking his head and with an amused smile the Wind noble replied, “Do you really believe that?” Indicating the men that had entered the room he said, “As you can see I’m already quite well protected. No, this was just another one of those silly little games I like to play. It’s just so much sweeter when they give themselves to me willingly.” Eyeing her with a naked lust that made her shiver for all the wrong reasons he added, “Although it’s also fun when they resist. However, that requires a different venue.” Walking away as his guards dragged her behind him he said to himself, “Perhaps I should’ve gone with this method from the very beginning. I must admit I am really looking forward to breaking in my new wooden horse.”

Pakura went slack allowing the men to carry her through the mansion without resistance. She took the time to focus her chakra as best she could. Directing the small amount she could harness internally, she raised her core temperature hoping to burn through the drug faster than the noble or his men expected. They passed several servants along the way, and Pakura figured that the progression of the noble and his men along with an unwilling party must have been a common occurrence, as the servants would get out of their path, and as they did so adverted their gazes.

After what felt like forever, to which Pakura was actually grateful for, they arrived at a hall that dead ended with the only piece of furniture being an old grandfather clock. The noble stepped before the clock and adjusted the hands of it to read twelve o’clock. The clock began to chime and he pressed a button on the back of it which caused a panel to open up on the wall to their left. Pakura raised her head to look inside and felt her blood run cold as she saw all the medieval looking devices that although she didn’t know how most of them were used. She did know that they were sexual in nature.

The noble stepped in first followed by his guards and her. He walked towards the center of the room and patted a wooden triangle that was suspended in the air and attached is the ceiling by ropes at the ends of it. The noble gave it a pat and said as he looked back at, “You’re going to have the honor of being the first to give this beauty a ride. What do you think of that?”

Pakura raised her head weakly as she said with a face dripping of sweat, “I think… I think you should have been spent the money on better security.”

Pakura pulled her arms free of the men that gripped them due to the lax hold of the guards, who had figured she would still be hopeless as a result the drugs she had been slipped. Having raised her body temperature through her Kekkei Genkai, she had felt her ability to move return although she still felt sluggish. However, even a sluggish shinobi was still much faster than men paid to protect someone due to the size of their muscles. She showed this by slamming the bottom of her hand up against the man to her rights windpipe, crushing it even as he was just registering she had slipped from his grip. She then grabbed the sword at his waist and pulling it free of it scabbard, and plunged it into the chest of the man to her left as he was reaching for his blade. She let go of the blade just as the man she had killed with it took hold of the handle as he sunk to his knees.

Her feverish gaze next fell onto the noble, whose face had become a mask of fear, and as he opened his mouth to tell her why harming him would be a bad idea. She launched forward kicking him in the side of the head sending him skittering across the floor. Picking himself up off the floor, he crawled towards the entrance of his playroom, but Pakura grabbed him by the back of the head pulling him up to his knees where he said, “You stupid bitch. Do you have any idea who the fuck I am? My father has the ear of the daimyo, and I paid good money to your masters for the right to have my fun with you.”

Pakura didn’t believe him naturally, as although she knew that sometimes kunoichi were sometimes asked to sleep with powerful men. She couldn’t see them doing such to her, especially without asking for her consent as she had just recently been named, “Hero of the Hidden Sand” for her role in thwarting an Iwa plot to take advantage of the recent disappearance of the Third Kazekage. Still, despite her rage Pakura simply threw his head forward and stood to leave the room aware that even if justified killing a noble could have dire consequences.

She leaned up against the frame of the hidden doorway as she felt lightheaded for a moment due to the fever she was sporting still. Sadly, the noble had less concern for the consequences of his killing a shinobi so seeing her moment of weakness, scrambled to his feet pulling the sword from the still kneeling corpse of his guard and charged forward intent on plunging the blade into her back. Pakura sensed the attack and reacting on instinct stepped to the side to avoid the blade and spun slamming a small orb of fire into his chest. The affect was immediate as the noble dropped the blade causing it to clatter on the floor as steam appeared from inside him as he shriveled up as all the water was evaporated from his body.

He collapsed forward partially into the hall that led to his “playroom”. Pakura stared down at the corpse, her mind reeling with the potential fallout from her actions. She tried to think rationally, but a scream cut through her attempt as she spun to see that a maid who had been passing by the hall had spotted the dead body. Aware that even more guards would be on their way, she took off running down the hall passing by the woman and leapt through a nearby window to escape towards Suna.

Unfortunately for her, Suna offered no sanctuary. As soon as she stepped through its main gate she found herself arrested and thrown in jail. She languished there for months while only hearing the occasional gossip about not only her fate, but what was going on in the outside world. She had heard that the noble’s father had demanded her head, and the truth that the Suna Shinobi Council had sent her to be the man’s plaything fully expected for them to turn her over.

However, that was not to be as the recently appointed Fourth Kazekage appeared before her cell. “Open it,” he said entering the cell after the guards had complied and stepped before her. She hadn’t stood for him, nor offered any greeting as he simply watched her with only his eyes being visible from behind the cloth mask that covered his face as he wore the hat and robes of his new station. Finally he said, “Follow me.”

Guessing that her time had come, she stood and followed determined to face her end as the prideful kunoichi that she was. To her great surprise instead of being led a squad of the daimyo’s guard or magistrates, she was taken to a simple one bedroom apartment. Without a word the Kazekage was about to leave but she asked, “What’s going on? Have I been cleared of the false charges against me? Has my story finally been verified that he drugged and tried to rape me?”

The Kazekage looked back at her and replied, “Your story was never in doubt. However, even if there had been a serious attempt to investigate it, by the time anybody could have searched his mansion for this room you spoke of all the evidence would have been cleared away.”

“Why would you send me to serve such a monster?”

The Kazekage turned to face her to say, “I was against accepting this contract as I have a daughter myself, but that in no way excuses your actions. You are a kunoichi of status in the Hidden Sand Village, and your actions have embarrassed us greatly.”

“My actions?! What about…”

The rest of her sentence was silenced by a backhand from the Kazekage. “Be silent,” he warned dangerously. “Do not think that you are free as a token of mercy. The only reason you have not been turned over to the daimyo’s courts and to death, is because due to the disappearance of my predecessor and our rash actions in trying to find him it appears a new Shinobi World War is upon us. I fully expect you to die as atonement for failing in your last mission and killing your client. The sad fact of the matter is that despite it being so much easier to hand you over to appease the daimyo’s advisor, I need every available soldier for the coming war.”

His piece said he stepped out of the room and much as he told her. He had sent her to her death many times. Yet Pakura refused to die and always returned after leaving a trail of desiccated corpses in her wake. Still, that didn’t stop her fellow Suna shinobi from treating her as a person to be shunned. When the war ended, she fully expected to be turned over and executed. However, in the Third Shinobi War’s final days Kirigakure staged a brazen attack on the Wind Country capital. In the attack the daimyo and much of his court, including the father of the noble she had killed, have been murdered. As a result the matter had been dropped as the Fourth Kazekage refused to surrender a weapon as lethal as Pakura. But that didn’t stop many of the shinobi of the Sand village from believing that the reason the new daimyo kept cutting the funds he supplied to Suna was somehow tied to her killing of the noble. As a result, she was further ostracized from her peers, this in turn only caused her resentment of the fourth Kazekage and those tied to them to grow and fester.

All this passed through Pakura’s mind as she clutched her naked chest while standing in the summoning circle. She didn’t know how long she had just been standing there but looking over her shoulder she was sure she looked like a pathetic wretch. Feeling exposed like a nerve due to the memories that she would rather forget, she darted through the privacy barrier adjusting her clothes as she made her way back to camp.

She had just managed to get her emotions back under control as she entered it. Looking for an isolated place she could sit by herself around one of the many bonfires, she felt each laugh and bit of merriment she heard as the other shinobi talked among themselves was a painful reminder of how lonely she truly was. Finding a fire with no one around it, she sat down and tried to recapture the warmth she had been feeling while in the mystery man’s arms. To her dismay she wasn’t alone long as two of her fellow Sand shinobi joined her, not that they paid her any attention.

“Come on, Abiru. Quit holding out on me,” one of them said in a hushed whisper. “Was that woman you hooked up with as wild last night as she was in Tanzaku Town?”

“Nah, I’m afraid not. Turns out she was a little cock tease.” Abiru’s friend was about to comment on how the young man had claimed last time they had hooked up she was a panther in bed, but then Abiru as if noticing Pakura was there for the first time said, “Speaking of cock teases…”

He stood to leave as did his friend, who was obviously quite uncomfortable that Abiru had just insulted such a dangerous person, but Pakura due to her recent reliving of the past just snapped shouting as she shot to her feet, “What did you just call me?”

Abiru appeared unafraid and with a cruel smirk replied, “A cock tease, you know the kind of woman that gets a man all riled up before shutting him down. At least that’s how I heard the story of the man you murdered went.” As much as Abiru’s taunt bothered her, it was his friend’s reaction as he tried to pull his friend away as he looked at her with fear like she would murder them both at any moment that irked her the most.

Tired of it, she said, “That’s how you heard it, huh? It’s always convenient how they leave out the fact that without my knowledge they sent me there to be that bastard’s whore in hopes his father would increase the funds being directed to the village.”

Abiru seemed to give the matter some thought, but then said, “Well when you put it that way, it seems rather selfish that you turned him down then.”

“You son of a bit…” Pakura shouted as she charged the smirking man about to punch him into the middle of next week. But before she could connect, she was grabbed from behind. She looked over her shoulder to see Temari holding her so asked, “Afraid I’d hurt one of your precious shinobi?”

Temari shook her head as she replied, “No, I’m afraid I’d lose one. If you hit him, no matter how much he deserves it. I’d be forced to reprimand you and due to the current ban against fighting, I’d be forced to strip you of your shinobi status.”

Pakura recognized that Temari had saved her from committing a serious mistake and losing the only thing she had left that she attributed any value to. But that didn’t stop her from pulling herself violently from the blonde woman’s grip and storming off. Behind her, she could hear Temari tearing into Abiru but couldn’t help the feeling that she would have been better off just giving in and dying in the last great war.

******

Naruto followed behind the squad of Suna-nin that he was attached to for the day’s exercise as they leapt through the forest, although his mind was only partially focused on staying in formation with his fellow shinobi. Something that the squad commander picked up, causing him to turn as the jinchuriki began to fall out of place and say, “Get your head out of the clouds, kid. I know our intelligence says that this area is clear of the enemy, but I don’t want to get caught with my pants down. So tighten it up.”

“Roger,” Naruto replied as he did as he was told, but not without grumbling a little under his breath about how he needed to really think about raising his rank from genin as he was getting tired of taking orders from people he could probably handle with both arms tied behind his back. Naturally though with all that was going on inside his life, he didn’t know if he could find the time to hit the two windows of opportunity presented each year to participate in the Chunin Exams.

However, such concerns fell to the wayside as he felt a pang of guilt hit him for worrying about his own career as his actions may have helped contribute to Pakura’s almost destroying hers. He had known her story as it had been Temari, who had first recommended he attempt to seduce the green-haired kunoichi in the first place. Once Maki had joined his harem, and learned of his plan to do so, she had quickly agreed with the idea. That was why he had first had Sakura begin spreading the rumor of the perverted ghost that haunted the destroyed Chunin Instructor Examination Building. He felt the best way to get Pakura to open up to the idea of joining him was to get her to come to him. He figured it would be a slow process, which was why he hadn’t even been using The Temptation’s Touch on her when she had appeared within the summoning circle the night before. He believed something that he did had caused her to reexperience the painful memory from her past and as a result had been unable to keep her anger in check when one of her fellow Suna shinobi had taunted her.

Despite his focus not being at a hundred percent, he did notice that the area that he and the squad just entered had signs of a recent battle, and not the fake ones that had been happening all over the area as a late. “What happened here… my god,” the squad commander said in shocked horror upon spotting the mummified remains of a squad made up of Leaf and Sand shinobi.

They all dropped to the ground and despite it being obvious the man closest to him was dead. The Suna commander dropped to his knee and pressed his hand against the throat of the corpse before he said, “The body’s cool to the touch. It means that she did this a few hours ago.”

“She?!” Naruto asked his tone confused.

“Pakura obviously,” the commander said with a hint of surprise that he needed to explain considering the state of the corpses.

Naruto balked before countering, “There’s no proof she had anything to do with this.”

“Come on man,” a Suna genin even younger than Naruto said, “That’s Abiru’s corpse over there. I knew it was a bad idea for Temari to put them on the same team. That bitch was crazy. She should’ve been locked up years ago.”

“Fine,” Naruto growled forced to admit that despite his earlier statement the evidence didn’t look good. “Then let’s get after her and see what really went down. Maybe she needed to defend herself from them.”

“Forget it,” the Suna commander said, his tone telling Naruto all he needed to know about what the man thought the chances of Pakura being innocent were. “We’re heading back to base and if they want to chase after her then so be. I’m not tangling with her, unless it’s with a full battalion of shinobi at my back.”

Hearing the other men disregard their comrade, Naruto felt his anger begin to boil as he remembered seeing her look so vulnerable the night before. Watching the other men prepare to take to the trees, he said, “Sorry, I’m going to have to overrule you on this.” He then leapt off in the direction that he believed Pakura had taken, or been taken.

******

Mikoto entered the cellblock of a group of kunoichi that had banded together in order to create a power structure within the prison’s hierarchy. As she moved to the back of it, she could see the surprise on quite a few of the women’s faces at her presence since she had refused several invitations to join the group. Coming to the end of the block, she happened upon the leader of the Kunoichi Alliance as well as her two teammates.

“Well what do we have here?” The silver haired woman said sitting back in her chair and putting her foot on the table they were using to play cards. “If it isn’t the great and haughty, Triple Zero. Don’t tell me that you and that bitch partner of yours are finding the current examinations too much to handle on your lonesome.”

Mikoto gave the woman a cool smile as her eyes met each of the women’s eyes before her. Looking last at a brown haired kunoichi who bore a scar across her throat and had the number KK – one-one-seven-six and was standing behind the Taki trio she refocused on the leader saying, “Not at all, TK – nine-zero-zero…”

The silver haired leader’s eyes narrowed at her as she leaned forward as she said, “We might have to refer to ourselves by those numbers around that pig Akame. But, here you call me by my name.”

Sounding disinterested Mikoto said, “Sorry, I never bothered to learn it.”

One of the silver-haired woman’s Taki teammates cracked her knuckles menacingly, but relaxed as her team leader held her hand up in front of her while saying, “Relax Tifa, let’s not rearrange her face just yet. She obviously came down here for a reason. Let’s hear what she has to say.” The Taki-Nin gestured to a nearby chair before leaning back in hers while introducing herself and her team. “My name is Yuffie Kisaragi and my associates here are Tifa Lockhart and Aeris Gainsborough. Now what brings you down to my little corner of the world?”

Grabbing the chair that had been offered, Mikoto dragged it in front of the three women before taking a seat. Watching them carefully, she collected her thoughts for a moment and thinking of a way to approach the subject said, “I’m here to talk about our futures or lack thereof.”

Yuffie smirked at her before asking, “What are you talking about? The only chance we have for a future is to follow through with this plan of Akame’s.”

“Come now,” Mikoto said leaning forward conspiratorially, “I thought you were smarter than that. You have to able to see the writings on the wall, whatever he has planned involves his new freaks.”

Yuffie didn’t look convinced as she said, “How do you know that, a little inside information from your new buddy?”

“Hardly,” Mikoto said, her tone making it sound like she should be insulted by the suggestion, “I’m fully aware that she’s reporting on me to her master.” Sitting back in her chair, the Uchiha with a scoff added, “You know what, forget it. Perhaps it was foolish of me to think you wanted to get out of here. If you really think Akame has your best interests at heart then keep on following him, right up to the point where he has one of his little pets rip your throats out.”

Mikoto could see that at least her words seemed to have some effect on Yuffie’s two teammates and the Mist shinobi behind them. However, she didn’t see any concern in Yuffie something which told her she may have made a mistake in approaching the woman for an alliance. She didn’t let the concern reach her face, and felt some of her worries fade with a small crack of uncertainty appeared on the older woman’s face as she looked at her two subordinates. Aware that she cared a great deal for them, Mikoto figured she was just presenting a strong front.

Yuffie appeared to weigh her options before with a nod that conveyed she was of the opinion that the Uchiha wouldn’t be wasting her time she said, “Alright, say I’m interested in an early parole. What’s to make me believe that you can deliver on it better than the man that is running the place?”

“Theoretically speaking of course, let’s say that in another life a woman knew a thing or two about the seals used to control our chakra. Let’s also say, that over the course of her stay at the prison she’s seen the hand signs that the guards used to turn on and off the seal…”

“Which does us no good,” Yuffie interrupted, “because her chakra is off with the rest of ours, and even if it wasn’t there would be nothing to stop the guards from simply reactivating the seals after she turned them off.”

Mikoto gave a tight smile that suggested she had knowledge that Yuffie didn’t, but instead of making the other woman ask shared it by saying, “There is something to prevent that. You see the hand signs can be changed. It wouldn’t do as much of a deterrent if some outside shinobi could simply learn the hand signs to switch the seals off. Back before we were asked to join the rebellion they would change the signs during the monthly checkups we would receive at the infirmary. But since coming up here those checkups have stopped, and therefore they have remained the same as it was changed to the current hand-signs during the first check-up every new initiate to Akame’s plot receives. This is so that all of our chakra restraint seals react to the same set of hand signs..”

She could see that Yuffie and the others were interested, but the silver haired woman pointed out, “You still haven’t told us how you would gain access to your chakra long enough to change the hand signs. Even if you did it during one of our training exercises, the guards would know something was up as soon as the exercise ended.”

Mikoto paused as she considered whether or not to tell the Taki kunoichi about Seven’s ability to still harness a little of her chakra even with the seal turned on. Yet something held her back causing her to say, “I don’t think it’s wise to give away all my secrets when you haven’t even told me if you’d sign on.”

Yuffie shrugged, and looking at if she was about to turn her focus back to the card game that Mikoto’s arrival had interrupted said, “Then it appears we are at an impasse, because all’s I’ve heard is a lovely theory. But, how can you ask me to sign on, when you can’t even prove you can do the most crucial part?”

Aware that the risk she had taken couldn’t be undone at this junction, Mikoto gave a chilly smile as she said, “If its proof you need, then meet me in the kitchen area after lights out.” Standing and without waiting for Yuffie’s acknowledgment that she would come, Mikoto headed back to her cell to see how the dice she had just cast would turn out.

******

Seven frowned as she stared at the rock beetle that she had created in order to communicate with Mikoto. Unaware of what the errand was that the Uchiha had said that she needed to run which would delay their usual nightly planning session. She began to worry as it was now several hours pass when they usually talked and she couldn’t think of anything that would delay her that long. Her worry stemmed from the fact that although it had been frowned upon to attack any of the other inmates outside of training, ever since the Animal Curse Mark had been given to most of the prisoners that rule had seem to fall to the wayside. What was worse was that since Akame had done nothing to the few that had been caught attempting to impose themselves on the men or women that had yet to receive it the attacks had increased.

She cut her chakra to the stone beetle in her hand causing it to crumble and decided to go in search of Mikoto. Making her way through her cellblock, she could hear people snoring contently or making the groans and grunts of those losing themselves to pleasure. Stepping into the hall that connected to several of the other cellblocks she was trying to decide which way to go when she saw a shadow detach itself from the wall. She immediately recognized the Kirigakure kunoichi that had first freed her from her isolation cell after she had joined Akame’s plot.

She paid her no mind as outside of the few times where they had been pitted against each other during training there had been no altercations between them. That, plus the woman never struck her as the bloodthirsty type; she just figured the woman was out running errands for the leader of the Kunoichi Alliance. She had just settled on the direction she was going to head when to her surprise the kunoichi bumped into her and muttered, “Sorry my mind was elsewhere.”

What stopped Seven from firing a nasty retort was that she felt something being pressed into her hand. The Bijuu watched her go a moment longer and aware that cameras were everywhere in the hall headed back to her cell. Unfolding the piece of paper she had been given she read silently, “Mikoto came to us with a plan to escape. However, Yuffie had already made a deal with Akame and they’ve taken her down to the punishment level. If you are her friend as I believe then please save her and when you make your escape take me with you. I only wish for my freedom and have no desire to take part in this plot.”

Seven sank into her bed as she felt her legs go weak. She was surprised to find that her first concern was for Mikoto; however soon the implications of what she had been given hit her. She had no doubt that the note contained the truth about where her friend had been taken. But what she wasn’t sure of was whether or not it was hoping to smoke her out as a traitor. “Shit, what should I do,” she thought to herself. She considered calling out to Kiyomi, but doubted she would get a response.

She got up and began pacing her cell trying to come up with something she could do to save Mikoto and herself. However, without access to her chakra she realized there was pathetically little she could. She began to feel queasy and placed her hand over her stomach to settle it. At that moment she was hit with a sense of clarity that although she probably can’t save both of them, she could at least save one of them. She pulled open her shirt and channeled the little chakra she possessed into the hidden seal on her stomach. The beetle designed seal appeared and having studied it at great length during her period of isolation, knew that although she would be able to undo the safeguards that Kiyomi placed in the formula to prevent her from accessing her Bijuu chakra. By tampering with it, she would alert her sister that she was trying to. The downside was that her consciousness would be expelled from the body, and without her old one to return to she would quite literally die.

Seven felt a small sad smile tug at the corner of her lips and felt that if that was how her existence ended then she was glad it was for a selfless reason. She also felt that if her father was watching he would be proud.

Pressing her hand to her stomach, she attempted to modify the seal and almost immediately her body collapsed as if she was a puppet whose strings had been cut. Kiyomi’s response was immediate as she appeared in the cell and to Seven’s surprise what she could see on the redhead’s face was concern. “You fool,” she said panicked although her lowered voice made Seven aware that she knew shouting would attract attention that neither of them wanted. Helping her fellow Bijuu sit up, Kiyomi continued to berate her as she said, “I told you exactly what would happen if you tried to tamper with the seal.”

Seven nodded weakly as she felt her consciousness fading, but smiled softly feeling touched by the concern Kiyomi was showing for her. “It was the only way to get your attention. I know that you somehow learned I wasn’t being completely honest about how far I’ve infiltrated Akame’s group.” Tears began to gather in her eyes as she continued, “I’m so sorry that I hurt you again. I know I don’t deserve it, but please forgive me.”

“Don’t talk, let me fix this.” But Seven tried to speak regardless prompting the Nine-tailed Bijuu to say, “Shhh, quiet,” and then proceeded to place her hand on her sister’s stomach. She channeled chakra to her fingertips and began drawing over the seal. The seal morphed from a normal beetle into a miniature copy of Seven’s original Bijuu body.

For Seven the effects were immediate as one moment everything was going dark and in the next raw power was coursing through her veins. Seven looked down at her stomach and saw that the seal had faded completely now that its task had been completed. She looked up to see her sisters green eyes were watery and surprised couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

Kiyomi cupped her cheek as she answered, “Because you’re my sister and I shouldn’t have put you in a position where you thought I was as much against you as the people I asked you to keep tabs on.”

The seven-tailed Bijuu’s eyes began to get watery themselves, but remembering what had prompted her desperate action shot out of Kiyomi’s arms as she said, “We… we have to hurry. Those bastards could be turning her into one of their beasts or worse even as we speak.”

“Calm down Chomei,” Kiyomi said trying to remind her sister of their need for quiet.

“Please call me Seven,” the brown haired Bijuu said absentmindedly while taking a few calming breaths. Once she was centered, Seven laid out all that had happened recently before reiterating, “We have to help her…she’s my friend and if this note is a trap then it means she hasn’t given me up.”

“We will I promise,” Kiyomi said stepping before her sister and began to button her shirt backup. “However, what this situation calls for his discretion.”

“Discretion, even as we speak…”

“Seven, I can understand your concern but if you act rashly than all you may do is doom yourself along with her,” Kiyomi warned. “Danzou has kept her alive this long and I foresee no reason for that to change as from everything you told me she was never truly interested in following their plan. I doubt either of them thought that would change so…”

Seeing where Kiyomi was going with her logic, Seven finished, “So, it’s likely that for the immediate future no harm will come to her. But, how long will it take for you to be ready to move? Because even if he needs Danzou’s permission to do anything to Mikoto, it might not take that long for Akame to get it.”

Kiyomi took Seven’s hand and began to draw another seal in the palm of it. Her sister looked at her in confusion prompting the redhead to say, “Oh, I think you’ll find that we are rather prepared now and I wouldn’t be too worried about Akame having any time to oversee Mikoto. I think you’ll find that tomorrow, he’ll have much more pressing things to deal with.” Kiyomi then filled her sister in on what she had planned as well as the Seven-Tailed Bijuu’s role in it.

******

It was dark outside as Pakura began to regain consciousness. She was unsure of her surroundings, not that they were stationary as she was tied to something moving at a great pace. Through the haze, she heard a voice say, “We’d already be back home San if you’d just fly us there.”

“We’d also be easier to spot by any pursuit, Ni,” was the reply. Not that Pakura was listening as hearing the woman’s voice caused her to recall how she ended up tied to the armored looking canine.

After a night of thinking about the person she was becoming, Pakura had been considering thanking Temari for intervening in preventing her from hitting Abiru. However, that nearly went out the window when she learned the following morning that she would be put on the same squad as the bastard. The only saving grace she felt upon learning that, was that her team would then be linking up with another to complete a shared objective and that Naruto was a part of the other team.

/]

[/Yet as her team traveled to where it would meet Naruto’s, she was entertaining serious thoughts of ensuring that Abiru didn’t see another night fall. This was because as they traveled the man would continuously make snide comments that tested her resolve not to use her bloodline limit to silence the remarks forever.

/]

[/Much to her surprise the squad commander called for a halt after a particularly scathing remark and standing on a tree branch spun to point at Abiru while saying, “Shut the fuck up. Don’t think for a moment that I will not be reporting your behavior to Captain Temari. Honestly, if I was her I would have killed you a mile or two back.”

/]

[/Abiru smirked at the squad commander before replying, “What makes you think you’ll be reporting anything at all.”

/]

[/The commander, as did everyone else in the squad instantly went on guard as they knew Abiru’s words were not just a threat. Still, before anyone could do anything a snakelike creature appeared from the canopy of leaves above the commander and bit deeply into his neck. It lifted him off the branch that he had been standing on and to everyone’s shocked revulsion he began to mummify as the fluids were removed from his body. The snake tossed away the commander’s body before retracting back into the canopy of leaves only for a man to drop down next occupying the spot the commander just had been.

/]

[/Pakura as the ranking jounin quickly took charge shouting to the only remaining member outside of Abiru who was obviously working with the enemy, “Get out of here. Report this to Captain Temari or Asuma!”

/]

[/“What about you?” The Leaf genin asked although she could tell all he really wanted to do was follow her order.

/]

[/“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

/]

[/The genin nodded, and took off leaping towards the main camp, but only made it a few meters before another man, who looked like an exact copy of the first to appear except he had three purple rectangle tattoos on his forehead, snatched the genin out of the air by grabbing him around the face. He held the struggling boy easily as he said, “Sorry, but for our plan to work it’s imperative that your squad dies here and it looks like you’re the killer.” With that said, he tossed the Leaf genin to the man with the single purple rectangle tattoo on his forehead whose arm morphed into the snake from before launching forward and snatched the genin out of the air.

/]

[/“No!” Pakura shouted as she attempted to save the youth, however Abiru chose that moment to attack forcing her to leap away. The Suna kunoichi backpedaled on the branch she landed upon as Abiru continued to press his attack swinging his kunai wildly at her. Bending nearly in half when the man tried to bury it in her chest, she kicked up catching him in the chin and after back flipping in order to get to her feet again. She charged forward forming a small ball of fire in her hand, which she buried into his chest. She kicked him from the branch as he began to smoke and shrivel, but to her shock after his face smashed into the trunk of a nearby tree a silvery blue liquid was left behind as the body continued its tumble to the ground.

/]

[/The liquid grew and shifted until a pale but gorgeous woman stood glaring at her as she stood on the tree trunk. “I wasn’t done wearing that form,” the brown-haired woman said while wearing the same smirk Abiru had been sporting recently. Understanding that this was the true person who had been pushing her buttons lately; Pakura leapt from the tree branch to land on the same trunk as the woman and began to attack her while several of the miniature suns that represented her Kekkei Genkai swirled about around her. Pakura was forced to abandon her attack though, when the twins decided to intervene.

/]

[/Ichi having finished draining the genin, discarded the boy, and then pointed his snake arm at Pakura. The snake head opened its mouth and two more snakeheads shot out which in turn open their mouths. The process repeated several times until there appeared to be hundreds of them. Pakura avoided them as they tried to capture her with many of them missing her to instead bury themselves into the tree trunk. Flipping away, she landed on the ground and threw an exploding kunai which impacted the branch beneath Ichi’s feet. The man leapt away, but was still caught up in the explosion which tossed him off into the woods.

/]

[/A snarling attracted her attention, causing Pakura to spin to the sound to reveal that Ni had used the time that Ichi bought her to summon her armored canines. The two creatures tensed as they brought the spear like protrusions from their backs in line with her, which then launched forward. Pakura managed to slip through the projectiles and sent two of her suns at them. The beasts jumped away before her jutsu could connect causing one to hit a tree which withered and died and the other to hit the ground which resulted in the grass to brown as it shriveled up.

/]

[/Pakura was about to send another of her suns after the closest armored summons. But she was forced to jump back to the trees as a whip cracked where she was standing. Landing in a crouch, she directed her ire to the kunoichi wielding the whip who said, “We’ll have none of that now. I can’t have you hurting mommy’s precious puppies.”

/]

[/Pakura was about to retort, but something passed by her face just as the sun was blotted out. Looking up she saw a large armored birdlike creature that as it flapped its wing sent more of its feathers towards the earth. These, along with the ones that had already completed the journey suddenly exploded engulfing the area Pakura currently occupied

That was a last thing Pakura remembered before finding herself in her current situation. “Where are you taking me?” She asked raising her head as best she could as her hands were tied to her feet around the torso of the armored canine she was riding.

The group came to a stop before a large gate which from the surrounding terrain she guessed was at the base of some mountain range. The two men ignored her, but Ni turned to face her as the gate opened to say, “Let’s not ruin the surprise. But after we pass through the next two gates you’ll be granted the great honor of becoming a part of something special.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Pakura replied.

“What a shame, but I’m afraid we’re really going to have to insist. Besides what do you have to go back to? There’s no one and nothing back there for you. Well except for the life of a missing-nin since I don’t think anyone is going to doubt that you were responsible for killing those shinobi that made up your squad. Not after the display you made of yourself last night.” Ni lowered her face to just in front of Pakura’s as she snidely added, “I doubt anyone is coming after you either. Suna probably figures it is just better to wipe its hands of you.”

“Pakura!” A voice shouted and the Suna kunoichi although just as surprised took a measure of satisfaction in seeing the look of shock on Ni’s face.

San looked back and only seeing a single shinobi dressed in orange ordered, “Deal with him.”

“With pleasure,” Ichi responded as his two teammates along with the bound Pakura entered the gate which began to shut behind them.

Pakura kept her eyes glued to the young man as he got closer and closer. Although not sure why, she felt a sensation of happiness that her would be rescuer would be him. The gates closed casting the cave they had entered into darkness, but as the sounds of battle reached them she felt a small light of hope begin to illuminate her path.

Next Chapter: Pakura: Part II

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