Kapitel 48: Venture to the North Part 2

One day later

Priscilla, Luciela and Riful were making good time in getting to Alphonse, the home territory of the White Silver King. Or, Isley the Abyssal One of the North, as he is more known among the warriors of the Organization. The greenlands have bled into the snow a long time ago, but being what they are the snow or the cold didn't bother them. They were expecting a hybrid or two to come in their way when they went from two different regions, but the two Abyssal Ones and Priscilla had no encounters with said warriors. Their yoki, suppressed as it is, still would have gotten any warrior worth their salts attention. But they had none.

Well, they certainly weren't complaining about that.

Of course, they found Pieta… or what was left of it. Which was a crater? Along with a massive trench that tore through the ground. Priscilla was secretly unnerved, by the amount of destruction here. And he could have easily done that to her when he found herself and Isley overlooking the town. She realised now, that she was really lucky he didn't turn on them right then and there.

Coming to a stop within a mountain pass the three awakened beings decided to take a small break. And to collect their bearings. The brunette spread her yoki sensing out and found the energy belonging to their target about a day away from them.

"So, which one is the furthest? The City of Icecrown or Northrend Castle?" Priscilla asked, looking to Riful for clarification. "I have never been to any of them."

"Icecrown in the farthest," Riful replied. "It got its name from being at the peak of the tallest mountain, which is located at the northmost edge of this continent. The people of the North tend to refer to it as the crown of the world."

"And how much of a journey is it from where we are?" Priscilla continued.

"A good distance… that's all I know," Riful replied with a frown. "Between the two, I've only ever been to Northrend. But, it's hard to be here at all without hearing someone praising Icecrown as being the gem of the North."

Priscilla mulled over the loli's words. And Isley isn't that far away. Meaning he was in… "Well, it looks like we're going to Northrend castle then." the youngest of the three said, "Isley's yoki is about a day's journey away from here." the brunette looked to Riful, "Do you remember how to get to Northrend?"

"It's been a long time since I last entered its halls. But I guess I could?" Riful replied unsurely. "I remember fragments of my time as a warrior of the Organization, so, maybe retracing my steps will jog my memory? I do know that it's on top of a hill with no less than three gatehouses, so walking in through the front will be rather tricky. If we can find the postern, though, we should be able to get undetected quite cheerfully."

"If Isley doesn't detect our yoki approaching his castle, that is." Luciela reminded the oldest of them.

"I will have you know that I am quite adept at hiding mine," Riful replied with an impish grin.

Priscilla quirked an eyebrow. She'll be the judge of that. "Show me."

Riful shrugged and reverted to her younger form, as that made it easier. Then, she reigned in her yoki to the point that it was nigh-undetectable. Priscilla could still sense it, but Luciela could not.

"I can still sense you," Priscilla said. "It's incredibly faint, but I can still sense you."

"I cannot," Luciela added with a frown. That was… legitimately scary. Then she looked at Priscilla. "How can you still sense her?"

"Because I'm me," Priscilla answered haughtily. Then she added, with a serious look on her face. "But in all seriousness, it is because I was a close contender to Teresa when it came to our abilities. We shared much of the same skill only she was... better." she didn't like to admit that Teresa was better than her. But the truth was right there. Teresa simply was better than her. Even in death, the woman had her beat in all of her aspects.

Of course, being completely unaware of what happened in Morris, but feeling the massive yoki burst from her man days before, the brunette is in the dark that Teresa of the Faint Smile is back in the land of the living.

"I see…" Luciela frowned even further. "I suppose we should try and suppress our yoki then." she looked back to Riful. "I propose we let Riful take point. She has been there before."

Priscilla hummed, then nodded acceptingly. "I agree. Riful, take the lead. You're going to guide us there, and hopefully, it will jog your memory."

Seeing as she wasn't going to get out of this, now that she has been delved as the guide, Riful just accepted her role with a sigh and beckoned them to follow her.

----

In Shatter Keep, Naruto woke up with a yawn… and a weight on top of him. He groggily looked down to check who it was and smiled upon seeing a naked and very satisfied Octavia snoozing away on his chest. He hugged her tight, rubbing the woman's back longingly, giving her a peck on the forehead.

"Octavia," he gently called out. "it's time to wake up."

Said blonde mumbled incoherently, snuggling up to him and sighing happily.

Naruto chuckled at that and rubbed her back some more. "Octavia~" he gently called out once more, singingly this time. "It's time to wake up,"

The blonde mumbled once more, "Five… five more minutes…" she whined, tiredly, not awake but not asleep.

The Uzumaki Patriarch chuckled once more, grabbing her nice ass with one hand while continuing to rub her back with the other. He grinned in satisfaction when she mewled pathetically and raised her rear towards his hand.

The blond grinned, he had a surefire way to get the woman up. "Octavia, it's time to wake up… or don't you want to see the Elemental Nations?"

Octavia mewled once more, his words seeming to get through as she started to stir. "Alright," she yawned. "Just… give me a moment…."

"Alright." he chuckled, "since Riful wouldn't take it too well if you up and left our kids, should Harja and Elspeth come with us as well?" Well… maybe not Harja. He needs to figure out a good punishment for what she did to him the day before… maybe not taking her with him would be a good punishment?

"...Sure." Octavia yawned. Then she sat up with a groan, the covers dropping around their waists to show off her bountiful breasts. With another yawn, the blonde rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, before looking down at her man. "What about Europa?" she asked, sliding off of him to the side.

"She'll be coming with us as well," Naruto replied. "She may act lazy, but she's just as curious about my homeland." with a grunt of effort, he sat up and stretched his arms. "I'll have to see who else I'm going to bring."

As his secretary and charismatic negotiator, Miria was certainly coming with. Jean would, too, were she not still on border patrol, if only to make sure he was safe. She was rather fussy like that. He'd have to get her a present while he was there to make it up to her. He'd probably get Team Undine to man Shatter Keep while he was gone and leave the kids with Clare or something… Knowing Harja, she'd likely try and jump him the moment they were alone together, now that he thought about it.

Now that she was fully awake, Octavia got out of bed to get her dress on. She made sure to give her hips that extra sway for her man's viewing pleasure. Chuckling Naruto got out of bed himself and got his clothes on as well. Then they went out to collect Europa… and Harja and Elspeth while they were at it. As much as he loved his kids, he didn't trust to leave them alone for a minute. Not to mention he needs to lock those damn adult books in Raby Castle so his kids wouldn't get any ideas. Like Little Teresa did when she got her hands on Icha Icha: Taboo. He did not want to see how influenced Harja would become if she decided to take after the main character.

Naruto shuddered at the thought... and then sighed exasperatedly as his traitorous dick throbbed in approval. Think other things… Nagato destroying Konoha! Obito taking control of Kurama and setting him loose on Konoha. Natalie… Natalie… he let out another sigh, this one in depression as he thought of her. He wondered how things would be different if she were still around?

"If it makes you feel better," Clare said, reaching out to him, "She's doing quite well on the other side. Unfortunately, she... seems to approve of your daughters."

Oh, damn it…

"Does she know I named one of my kids after her?"

"Of course," Teresa replied, "She was so touched it even brought her to tears." she let out a sigh, and Naruto had no idea why but the sudden image of Teresa cupping her face came to mind. "She didn't think she made that much of an impression on you. Also, she likes the gravesite you brought her to. And that you stopped the Organization from digging her up."

"Until she found out they were bringing dead warriors back to life?"

"Actually, as much as she wanted to come back to life again, and see you she wouldn't have wanted to be brought back in such a cruel way." Clare pointed out. "She would have been brought back with the sole purpose of killing you. When she found that out, she was glad you stopped them. She couldn't have bared the thought of killing you."

"I'm curious… is it possible for her spirit to… show up? Hagoromo did it."

"No… Not in that way, at least. Reincarnation is an option, but that would require her to be literally reborn as an infant." Clare replied.

"Not to mention, she would have no memory of me, I take it?"

"Not until she met you," Teresa corrected. "We could easily have her unlock them later, but you'd be in your thirties before she rejoined the family… unless we pulled some strings to have her brought back as one of your children. I doubt you'd be up for that, though…"

"You assumed correct…" Naruto grumbled. "I have two daughters, that want to fuck me. I don't think I'd be able to take another. Let alone one who was my previous lover at that! Not to mention it would be plain awkward."

"Fair enough," Teresa replied. "If ever you change your mind, however unlikely that maybe, just know that I'm certainly willing to pull those strings."

"Uh… well, thank you, I guess," Naruto was not quite sure how to feel about that, though he was certainly flattered that she'd go so far as to do such a favour for him. "I wonder if it's possible if you were to bring her into the seal… or to bring her to me when I'm with you." he wasn't sure if either of those were possible, but these were divine beings he was talking to, there was little they couldn't do… outside of their own realm of responsibility. But maybe they could use their… power of love, to bring her soul to him or something?

"Unfortunately, we lack the authority to do any of those two," Clare replied with a sigh. "Remember, we are goddesses of love. Not death. That is outside of our realm."

"I thought so." Naruto sighed.

"We'll see if we can get an audience with a god of Death - the one you call 'Shinigami', but no promises," Clare added.

That brought up red flags. "...Ah. Maybe you can not contact the Shinigami?" he remembered that his dad sacrificed his own soul to the Shinigami, and if this is the very same god of death, then they're going to be pissed that two souls escaped from their stomach.

"That and there's the possibility that she is simply unwilling to help." Teresa pointed out. "Shini's rather uptight about who can and cannot communicate with the dead. Your meetings with Hagoromo, Kushina, and Minato were allowed, only because the fate of the world was at stake."

"I see… well… just ask her and if she says no, then that is that. Don't… antagonise her. I really don't want her to be pissed off in the likelihood she's still butthurt that four souls escaped from her stomach… like, my dad. And Old Man Third. And the first and second Hokages."

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about, sweetie," Teresa cooed. "We'll be perfectly careful."

And like that the connection between him and the divine beings was severed. Naruto took a quick look around his surroundings and saw he and Octavia were now out of the bedroom and walking down a hallway. Huh. He must've started walking with her when they finished getting dressed.

He could sense three yoki signatures close by. Europa, Harja and Elspeth were together it seems. Hopefully, his daughters weren't being too much trouble for the lazy awakened being. He certainly had trouble with Harja when she was all by herself.

Well, if nothing else, it made gathering the four of them much easier…

It didn't take long for Naruto and Octavia to regroup with the others. Europa, as one would expect was happily snoozing away in a corner while her poor shadow clones looked utterly miserable, doing their best to stay awake and watch over Naruto's kids.

"...I feel a bit guilty, now." Naruto said, which announced his presence to the miserable clones of Europa. And his kids. All three of them perked up, as did Elspeth and Harja. Seeing them looking at him, with the clones giving him looks of desperation, Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… it can't be helped I suppose." the Uzumaki Patriarch made a single hand seal and five clones popped into existence. One for each of them.

While Europa's clones maybe just clones… they were still Europa. And if they were miserable when they dispelled then the original would be three times as miserable herself, once she gets their memories. That and they seem they could use a little pick me up. And a reward.

Before the clones could react, they were each picked up in a bridal carry and disappeared in a swirl of leaves along with their respective knights in shining armour, resulting in Harja letting out a knowing giggle.

"Oh, be quiet you," Naruto muttered. Then he looked to the slumbering Europa and couldn't help but sweatdrop at the drool coming from the corner of her mouth. The blond looked to his remaining two clones and pointed at his daughters. He in the meantime would be carrying the real Europa.

"Who- wha-?" the loli in question muttered as her eyes fluttered open. Her being carried woke her up. Her eyes landed on Naruto, who was staring down at her with amusement. "Uuuuhhh…"

"So, you slept while leaving your clones to do the work for you?" he teased.

"It was effective," Europa replied in her defence, "even if your kids dispelled most of them by the time you got here... I think. I lost count after the seventh."

"I see…" Naruto gave said twins, who were suddenly looking so innocent a flat look. "Well… I'm moving the plan for the Organization forward, and I'm going to need to plan it out." he looked back down at Europa. "We're heading to Morris. All of us."

That surprised the three of them. "Really? Why are you pushing the plan ahead?"

"I'll let you know when we get to Morris," Naruto replied evasively. Then he looked at Octavia and motioned as best he can for her to grab on to him. Which she did.

Then they were gone in a yellow flash.

----

A moment later, in Morris. Naruto, Europa, Octavia and Harja and Elspeth found themselves in the room Naruto set up for anybody in the Elemental Nations to appear. He made a few adjustments to it so that he can appear there at any time by himself, or with other people. He had no idea if Kakashi got his seal yet, so he'll summon a messenger toad to try and get confirmation from the man himself if he received the seal or not.

He's pretty sure Cynthia would want to come with once she realises where he's going. The dear is still pissed at his home after all. If nothing else, it was sweet that she cared so much. Just so long as she doesn't start picking any fights out of her admittedly justified anger, she was welcome to tag along. Alicia and Beth would doubtlessly wish to come with him, as well… as always. The childish wonder those two always showed when they accompanied him to the Elemental Nations in his occasional trips back to check on Koyuki and little Mito, among others.

Naruto set Europa down on her feet and turned to address the others. "Alright. I'm going to get Miria and the others in the War Room." he gave Harja and Elspeth a pointed look, "You two are going to be left here. Don't cause any trouble. Europa and Octavia meet me there."

The two awakened beings nodded and went to their destination. Naruto meanwhile gave Harja a no-nonsense look when he saw the impish grin on her face. He decided to put this not so little girl in her place. "I was planning on taking you with me since you were one of the more eager ones to see it. But after that little stunt, you pulled yesterday, you're going to be left here."

That wiped the grin off her face and Harja looked at him in confusion. Elspeth was equally confused. "See what, daddy?" the younger of the sisters asked.

"The Elemental Nations, of course."

Harja frowned deeply. "I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

"No. It's too late for that." Naruto told her with a deep frown of his own. He was gentle but firm in his deliverance; Naruto was not about to let her off the hook, but he didn't want to be cruel, either. "You made your choice, and now you have to live with the consequences. Be a good girl and I'll consider it, the next time."

The brunette looked disappointed but nodded in acceptance. She wanted so badly to see her daddy's homeland, but in her relative maturity, she understood. Daddy had every reason to be mad at her in hindsight.

"Anyway… I'm planning on summoning a toad, here." he added with a sigh, "If you're a good girl, I'll set you to see Ma and Pa…" then he trailed off and had the lifeblood drain from his face. "Oh boy…" he hadn't contacted anyone he is friends within the Toad Summoning Contract. For seven years. Ma and Pa were going to beat him over the head!

"Is something wrong, Daddy?" Elspeth asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

Naruto took a deep breath and looked at his daughters. "Listen you two, this may sound strange but... if an old geezer toad with grey hair and a goatee starts bashing me over the head, don't try to hurt him, okay?"

Harja blinked owlishly. "Wait, what?"

Naruto took a deep breath before making the necessary hand seals. Then he slammed his palm at the ground with a cry of, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Naruto was enveloped by a cloud of smoke. Then there was the sound of someone getting smacked and the flooring cracking. And Harja and Elspeth blinked owlishly when the cloud of smoke dispersed, saw their daddy's face planted into the floor. There were two, small, but strangely expressional toads sitting on his back.

Both were green-skinned and were clearly male and female.

One had purple marking around her mouth and the back of her body. She looks as if she is wearing a hairnet with hair-rollers underneath and is wearing a high-collared cape.

The other had white, mohawk like hair, very thick eyebrows and a small goatee and is also wearing a high-collared cape.

Both of them were old looking.

Out of sheer reflex, both Harja and Elspeth ran up to at least make sure their daddy was okay. The former was especially worried for him for several reasons.

"Naruto-boy!" the female toad barked, "Do you have any idea how long we were waiting for you to call us?!"

"Come now, Shima." the male toad said her, "I'm pretty sure Naruto-boy has a good reason for not calling any of us for a near-decade." he hopped on down at Naruto, completely ignoring Harja and Elspeth who were kneeling in front of his head. "Isn't that right, Naruto-boy?"

"I've been busy dealing with some shady organization too similar to Akatsuki for my liking and being a father," he mumbled, still unmoving. "I honestly meant to contact you sooner, but time just slipped away."

"What?!" the female toad, Shima, shouted in surprise. "You're a father? At this young age?!"

Naruto slowly pushed his face off of the floor, surprising his daughters when they saw he was grinning. "Yep! These two are some of my children, actually." then he looked at Shima, adding, "Also, I'm not that young, Ma... My Uzumaki genes are just… making me look the same as I did when I was 17."

The two toads looked at the children in question, and the two of them felt like they were in the cage with a very old and experienced lion.

"Your children, eh?" Fukusaku, the male toad, asked. "I take it the brunette is adopted… unless there's something I didn't know about when you were twelve."

Naruto slowly stood up to give the two toads time to hop on up to his shoulders. "Remember the old saying 'children grow up so fast'? Well, that's exactly what happened to these little terrors." he chuckled when he saw their looks of disbelief. "Harja's actually just turned seven and the blonde, Elspeth, is three."

"Remarkable!" Fukusaku said, hopping closer and looking at the half-human half-demon girls with critical eyes, "How did that happen? They look twice as old as they should!"

"That would be because of their mother, Riful," Naruto explained. "Riful is… complicated to explain. But to make a long story short: there are basically half-human half-demon warriors, who become fully-fledged demons with a craving for human innards if they push themselves past their limit. Riful became that about… a thousand years ago? Give or take a few centuries. But she looks like a 13-year-old. And Harja and Elspeth are essentially half-humans, half-demons with the ability to transform into their demon forms but without the need to eat human guts."

"I… see…" Fukasaku muttered; he was really concerned with what he has been hearing. "And you've been living with her?" he asked turning to his one time student with a concerned frown.

"Yeah." the blond nodded. "Honestly, if you get past that fact they're like ordinary people. I'm living with several demons and hybrids actually. I'm married to almost all of them too, in fact. Oh yeah," he snapped his fingers, "I'm going to gather almost all of them in the War Room. Tsunade is going to be there too."

Shima and Fukusaku frowned deeply at that. "I take it she's not responsible for the Suna Incident, then?" the latter asked, stroking his goatee.

Naruto shook his head. "No. Long story short, her advisors were the ones responsible for that. When Granny-Tsunade found out, she personally beat them to death. Then she left and took Shizune with her, who is also here. Now they're acting as our doctors. They helped grow some artificial innards using my DNA for the demons here to eat."

"They're surprisingly good," Elspeth chirped childishly, completely oblivious to Shima and Fukasaku's discomfort.

Naruto stared at his daughter, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "...Elspeth, what did I say?"

Really that girl knew she didn't have to eat innards.

The blonde in question looked sheepish at that. "Sorry, I just… can't help myself, sometimes. Also, Mommy's a terrible cook and Auntie Octie and Auntie Europa don't know how to cook, at all."

"Right. I guess you being part awakened helps you out with that. Even if you can eat once every fortnight."

"They're surprisingly ravenous, actually," Europa chimed in, surprising Naruto, Shima and Fukasaku. Naruto didn't even sense her coming back into the room! "The little one, especially. I suspect that it's because they're still growing but Elspeth and Harja both individually eat more than myself, their mother, and Octavia, combined."

Fukasaku and Shima both looked at the loli in question, before looking at their summoner. "Naruto-Boy, who is she?" the former asked, hopping on up to the blond's shoulder.

"That's Europa, one of my… lovers," Naruto replied. "Don't let her appearance fool you, though. Like Riful, she's much older than she looks."

"I take it she is one of these… demons, you mentioned?" Shima asked.

"The ones who were once half-demon warriors, yes," Naruto replied. "She became a warrior around the age of twelve or so and went over her limit sometime later in her career. She stopped ageing as a result, which is why she looks so young."

"I did look older than this when I was a warrior, you know." Europa pointed out. "Not by much, mind you. I just reverted to a younger age because hunting more than necessary proved too troublesome."

"...You and Shikamaru would get along splendidly." Naruto deadpanned at her. He looked at his daughters, and clones, "Alright, enough time has been wasted. I'm going to get the others to the War Room. You two, be good and remember what I said earlier." Then he looked at Shima and Fukasaku and asked, "Do you want to stay and meet the others?"

"I don't see why not," Shima said with a smile. Then she turned to her husband Fukasaku and asked, "What do you think dear? I think staying will give us some much needed time catching up with our last Toad Summoner."

Fukasaku exhaled, "I suppose so… if it won't bother you Naruto-Boy, we will gladly stay around for a little while longer."

"Good to know," Naruto replied with a chuckle. "Alright, let's get going, then." With that Naruto and Europa left the room, leaving Harja and Elspeth with his clones. Harja was still disappointed that she wasn't allowed to go. Still, she'll make sure she will be a good girl from now on. Until she goes to the Elemental Nations that is. "Europa, do you think you can get the others?" Naruto asked as he and the awakened being left the room.

"Do I have to?"

"What do you think?"

"...Go get shadow clones to do it, you lazy sod."

Neither kids could see Naruto baulking at Europa, due to them no longer being in their line of sight. "Me? Lazy? You're known as 'Europa the Lazy'! if anything, you're the lazy one!"

"Who was busy watching those two while you and Octavia were getting frisky?"

"...Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

----

Several minutes later, in the war room of the citadel, Naruto, Europa, Octavia, Shima, and Fukusaku found themselves standing before the team captains of the rebellion as well as Teresa, Tsunade, Shizune and Team Samui.

Teresa along with many others who were not of the Elemental Nations was looking at the toads, standing stationary on the wide table as if they were aliens. And to them they are. Never before had they seen a toad with hair… or any toad with hair. They knew he could summon toads, due to his autobiography but they never seen those toads in the time they had been with him.

And they were feeling… uncharacteristically nervous when their eyes landed on them. It was as if they were being analysed, for what, they didn't know.

Tsunade and Shizune, on the other hand, were looking at them with wide eyes. Though they kept their mouths shut.

"Naruto… just who are they?" Miria asked as she awkwardly stared at the toad sages. Honestly, she felt uncomfortable at the scrutinising looks they were giving her.

"They are the Two Great Sage Toads of Mount Myōboku," Naruto replied. "Their names are Shima and Fukusaku," he gestured to each one respectively, "They're also the ones who taught me Sage Mode."

Shima looked up at him with a smile. "Oh, you're giving us too much credit dear."

"Fascinating…" Fukusaku muttered; then he looked back to Naruto and asked, "And all these 'hybrids' have silver eyes?

"As far as I know, yes," Naruto answered. "They lose the natural colour of their hair once the conversion is complete as well... some to a greater extent than others, as you can see in Miria's case."

"Yes, I see." Fukusaku then hopped onto his shoulder with Shima doing the same. "Something tells me this is going to be an important meeting. So we'll let you get on with it."

Naruto nodded in thanks and brought his attention to Miria. "I'll cut to the chase Miria: I'm going to accelerate the plan to take down the Organization."

"Oh?" the sandy brunette perked up. "What brought this on?"

"A few things actually." Naruto sighed, "One the Organization knows some of their 'tools' have taken a liking to me. Anastasia, Camilla, Dominique, and Tesla being such examples." he paused to collect himself, as he again, hated for what he was about to add. "And if I was in the Organization's shoes… I would get rid of anyone that has taken a liking to the enemy. That being said, we need to deal with them before they catch on and start purging their warriors. Two, the word is that the Organization is catching on to our plans. So we need to strike soon before they get wise and again, start executing warriors that have taken a liking to me."

"Very well, then," Miria replied with a nod. "Is there anything else you want to discuss?"

"The battle plan. While I can just blow the fuckers up in an instant, I don't want to do that."

Undine blinked at him. "Why not? Would that make this whole problem go away?"

"Yes. It would. But you have to remember that they have trainees and other warriors within their headquarters. And if I did that, I would be killing them too." then he gestured to Miria, "And she wants to save all of them. And because of that, I want to get all of them out of there as well."

"Ah," Undine muttered, looking a bit sheepish.

"So, how do we extract them?" Teresa asked. "I'm sure several among the brats would not be trusting of the dreaded 'Ladykiller Naruto'."

"I am thinking of a siege to distract their forces and an infiltration team to extract the trainees." the blond replied. "The siege, because I'm pretty sure they're going to send their own forces to fight ours. Which means while they're distracted, we need a team to sneak inside and extract the girls they have in their clutches. Which brings up my next point: Team Samui, as the Raikage's personal underlings have taken missions of such calibre. But they're only one team. And they're a member short."

"Only because you knocked Karui up, again…" Tsunade grumbled.

Said redhead blushed heavily at that.

"To be fair, she was using contraceptives," Naruto pointed out in her defence. "It's not our fault they failed." then he cleared his throat and went back to the point before they get even more off-track, "Anyway, Team Samui is a member short, and even if she was available - they're still one team. We need help. From my homeland." he told her and allowed them to take in his words for as long as they need. And for him to brace for the outrage they will most likely display when he tells them who he wants to go for help.

"I see… so who are you going to go to ask? Kumo? Suna?" Miria asked, giving him a questioning look.

"...No." he inhaled and exhaled, "I'm going to go to Konoha, first, to see how successful Kakashi-Sensei was in cleaning house," Naruto replied. "If he was, we'll see how willing Konoha is to redeem themselves. If not, we'll head to Suna… though I might go there either way."

"Konoha…" Miria's eye twitched as she visibly restrained from shouting at him. She took a deep breath and levelled him a glare. "are you serious?"

"Kakashi-Sensei is Hokage," Naruto pointed out. "He can be trusted. I also know a few others who can. Squad 10 is one of the best units from my generation, for example. Plus when I was still in Team 7, we had the best teamwork with them. Again, I just want to see if they are an option. If not, we go straight to Suna."

"I see… so who's going to be going with you this time?" Miria asked.

"Well, as my secretary and leader of this rebellion you are obviously." Naruto replied, "Alicia and Beth are two, since they are literally glued to my hip if they find out I was going outside of Morris. Octavia and Europa are another two. And since there are plenty of more of you around, that means more than eight can come this time."

"I'd like to go," Teresa said. "I am rather curious as to what your homeland is like. I am sure Clare would want to go too."

"I'll see about finding someone to keep her and Jean's kids out of trouble, then," Naruto chuckled. Harja and Elspeth could use someone to keep an eye on them, as well."

"I'll volunteer for that," Evianna chimed in. "It'll be good practice."

Naruto nodded. "Don't be afraid to ask for help. Harja, Elspeth, and little Teresa can each be a handful on their own."

"I'll bear that in mind," she replied with a warm smile.

"I'll go as well," Undine said with crossed arms. "I've always wanted to see your homeland and I haven't had the opportunity."

"I'll like to go as well," Veronica said.

"I'll go too," said Galatea who was smiling at her man.

"Hmm… Jean can't go, because she's doing border patrol." Naruto mused. "Chronos and his team are in Westvale Keep, doing their own thing, as well…"

"Perhaps we can bring Agatha along?" Miria asked. "She seems to me feeling a bit claustrophobic after being cooped up in Morris for so long."

"...Good point, she could do with a change of scenery."

"Perhaps you can bring Nina with you as well?" Irene asked. "She's been curious as well… and if you have the time, I'm sure she'd like to grab a souvenir for Miata."

Naruto let out a hearty chuckle at that. "We'll see about that last part, but I don't mind having her tag along." he drummed his fingers on the table, humming in thought, "Rafaela. She can come with as well. Betty can vouch for your team Evianna and I'm sure Glinda would love to join. I'll have to fetch her from Raby Castle. I'm sure the rest of her team will be fine without her for a bit." he sighed and shook his head in exasperation. "Also, we'll need to send someone to Shatter Keep, seeing as how Riful has gone off with Priscilla and Luciela to secure the North… initially, without permission."

Miria sighed as well. "I figured they'd eventually try a stunt like that," she muttered. "What are they planning to do, exactly?"

"Originally, they were planning on killing Isley and taking the North. The North is also a good staging point to approach the Organization since there's a weak point in that area. However, when I talked to them I got them to at least give Isley a chance to join us. If he refuses, then they're allowed to kill him." he blinked as a thought occurred to him. "Now that I think about it, I'll have to collect Rafaela. The poor woman must be looking after her nieces now that Luciela's upped and left. Little Chandra must be giving her such a headache..."

Fukusaku blinked and slowly looked up at Naruto. "Naruto-boy… how many children do you have?"

Blinking Naruto looked at Fukusaku back. "Uh... around forty-ish? Not including the ones I've had in the Elemental Nations. I also have at least four more on the way. Though the so-called Crimson Guard may be saying otherwise in a week or two..."

Fukusaku and Shima both stared at him with flat looks. Then the former pulled out a stick from… somewhere. Naruto went pale-faced, remembering that dreaded stick was used to beat the Nature Chakra out of him during sage training. Literally. Then Naruto let out a pained yelp when the toad whacked him over the head with it. "I knew Jiraiya-Boy was a bad influence on you, boy!"

----

After a quick recovery from the whack across the head, Naruto quickly called up another toad. This one is remarkably different from the two on his shoulders. After giving the toad instructions, he looked thoughtful for a moment.

"So, lemme see if I got this right: you want me to see if the Hokage got the seal you gave to the Kazekage? And if he has it, then he needs to use it?" the small-sized, red and orange-spotted toad asked Naruto with, what the blond could assume was a raised eyebrow. He was wearing a scarf and was a small satchel.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, can you do that?" he asked.

The messenger toad shrugged. "Sure. I don't see why not. It'll be a hassle getting to the kage tower, but it's nothing I can't handle. Do you want me to pass on any other message if he doesn't?"

"If he doesn't then tell him, the neglected son of the fourth mountain face will be on his way. He'll, hopefully, know what it means." Naruto told him. He wanted to make sure that he was subtle, then again, Naruto was never one for subtly. That message alone would tell anyone worth a damn that he was coming back.

"Alright," the toad nodded. "I'll get started right away," the toad formed several hand seals and performed a reverse summoning.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto looked to Fukasaku and Shima, then to the rest of the women in the War Room. "I'll go and collect the others. We'll move out when the toad comes back."

"Alright," Miria replied with a nod. "I'll be waiting for you here, then."

"Okay," Naruto gave his wife a parting kiss, before leaving the war room to collect the others. Suffice to say they were going to be very surprised to see the Great Toad Sages.

----

Ever since Rubel tried to get Konoha's aid in getting rid of Naruto, things hadn't been looking good for the Hidden Leaf. But, they haven't been looking excessively bad, either. Despite them no longer being a part of the Shinobi Union, and being virtually alone with little to no allies, they were still hanging in there. But, things were going to go downhill for them if they didn't find a way to improve their standing. Or to try and regain old alliances that were broken when the elders fucked up with that mission leading to the Suna Incident.

How those late elders got authorisation without going through the proper channels was beyond the Hokage. But they were gone now. As were other people that had a hand in having Naruto's shinobi licence revoked.

He made sure of that.

Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage was reading reports, and requests. Stamping approved and denied the latter ones after read them. This was the boring part of the job. Apart from making rounds around the hidden village, he was cooped up in this office. Signing papers. Authorising things.

At times he wished something, anything, would happen!

"Excuse me,"

Hearing a voice he wasn't expecting to hear, Kakashi blinked and looked up from the sheet of paper he was reading. He blinked again, this time in surprise in seeing a summon he had not seen since the Fourth Shinobi World War: a toad.

The toad - a messenger toad, Kakashi realised - smiled, "Are you the Hokage? 'Cos I got a message for him."

The partially masked man gave the messenger toad a flat stare. "Yes, I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting behind this desk." he duly pointed out.

"Ah good. The message is as follows: do you have the seal that was given to the Kazekage?"

Kakashi stared at the toad and nodded. "I do. Though, I don't know what it does. He never told me, and the sealing matrix was complex. Too much so for any of our sealing teams to decipher. They believe it is a summoning of some kind."

"Splendid!" the toad chirped. "The next message is to use the seal. You are correct in your assumption, according to the man who sent me. He'd anticipated that the Kazekage would still be rather bitter."

"I see…" Kakashi looked at the sheets of paper then sighed and got up out of his chair. "In that case, I'll go fetch the scroll." it should be in the Scroll of Seals. And it was no longer in the same place, since he replaced it with a dummy, just so he can prevent it from being taken, like when Naruto was tricked into taking it… and succeeded… when he was still a genin. He still didn't know whether to be impressed or appalled by that, but, if nothing else, Kakashi would get a good laugh if some idiot tried that shit again. He looked down at the toad expectantly. "Are you going to stay or go straight back?"

"I'll be going straight back." the toad answered. Then he gave Kakashi a hard look and added, "He's giving you a chance, here. Don't mess it up."

Kakashi frowned behind his mask but nodded. "Understood."

Then the toad made a sequence of hand seals, before puffing away.