Bab 1462: 53
To the Nadeshiko Village!
Kumogakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Clouds, was located in a tall mountain range that, quite literally, was located above the clouds-hence the name.
The rugged terrain made traversing the mountains difficult, even for experienced shinobi. That was part of the reason Kumo had never fallen victim to enemy attacks. Only ninja with in depth knowledge of these mountains could launch a successful invasion. Of course, there was no army with that kind of knowledge who could storm this stronghold, which meant the chances of that happening were zero.
Or so everyone assumed.
Orochimaru, disguised as a middle-aged man with dark skin and blond hair, walked up the steep path that lead to Kumo's main gate. There were three others behind him. Their long, gray tops wrinkled as they moved. It was gathered at the waist, making it appear more like a sash than a shirt. They wore a white, one-strapped flak jacket over this and their legs were adorned with shin guards that clicked against their shins as they moved.
None of them spoke as they walked up to the stall where a pair of ninja were standing guard. The stall, built into the rockface of a mountain, resembled a formidable outpost. Metal shutters around the open hole indicated that it could be used as a barricade of sorts. Just what Orochimaru would have expected from a hidden village like this.
"Returning from a mission?" one of the guards asked as he held out a clipboard. "Sign here please."
"Of course."
Orochimaru smiled as he grabbed the clipboard and pen offered to him, signed it with a made up name that sounded like it had come from Kumo, and handed it back. Neither guard appeared to realize that his eyes, black with a red star pattern inside, were spinning. The guard looked at the name, nodded, and set the clipboard aside.
"Welcome back to Kumo. Good work."
"Thank you."
The group of four traveled deeper into Kumo, leaving the outpost behind. Orochimaru gazed at the many mountains towering over them. A lot of the mountains had structures built into them. Many of them were rounded. There were also numerous small buildings with yellow walls and blue roofs located along the base of each mountain. He was sure that these were just entrances. The true city probably lay in the mountains themselves.
As they walked along, the trio behind him began to speak.
"That was a lot easier than I expected."
"For a country that prides itself on their military, they have an appalling security."
"Hmph. I can't believe this country has survived for as long as it has."
"Now, now." Orochimaru chided the trio. "Do not speak like that. In this case, it is not their fault for being unable to recognize us as a threat."
Like Konoha, Kumo had a unique barrier that detected hostile chakra signatures. However, it was neither as sophisticated nor as powerful as the one in Konoha. Because Kumo relied almost solely on their military strength, they did not have a very strong fuinjutsu style. Even their method of sealing bijuu was unstable. Orochimaru was actually surprised their jinchuuriki for the eight tails was considered a perfect host.
"What are we going to do now?" asked one of the two males behind him.
"Now?" Orochimaru chuckled. "Why, we're going to see the Raikage, of course."
The Raikage's office was located at the highest point in the village. It was not on a mountain, but neatly situated between three mountains, held above the ground by three large bridges that extended from the mountains to the spherical bottom. The office was oddly shaped. It looked like a sphere with a donut sitting on top of it, followed by an inverted cone on top of that. The cone was actually a wall. Sprouting from behind the wall was a large amount of foliage, from which two stone towers with cables sticking out of them jutted in turn.
To reach the office, they had to go through a series of checkpoints. Each checkpoint was manned by a pair of jonin-level ninja. Unlike in Konoha, where just anyone was able to pop into the Hokage's office, authorization to the Raikage's office was only granted to those who had been given special permission.
Normally, they would have never been able to reach the Raikage's office.
Normally.
"I'll need to see your papers," one of the guards said as Orochimaru and his three ninja walked up to the first checkpoint.
"Very well." Orochimaru smiled as the red star within his black eyes began to spin. He held out a sheet of blank papers to the two guards. "Here you are."
The guards looked them over and, not able to find anything wrong with the papers, gave them back to Orochimaru.
"You're free to proceed."
"You have my thanks."
Witholding a chuckle, Orochimaru proceeded through each checkpoint with his entourage, bypassing every level of security with blank papers that everyone who gazed at them thought were security clearance papers. Of course, they could have used a chakra examination to see if the papers were false. In fact, the blank papers should have been a dead giveaway that these were nothing more than, well, blank papers. However, not a single ninja who saw them even thought about that. The idea that they might be fake didn't even occur to them.
"Those eyes of yours sure are something?" Ishidate said. "It's almost frightening how easy it makes deceiving people."
Orochimaru's smile widened. "Why do you think these eyes are so coveted? The ability to see chakra as it's manipulated, the ability to analyse and copy every attack, the power to cast genjutsu that not even a kage can see through easily. There is a reason I wanted these eyes for myself."
They walked along one of the three large, red bridges that extended from one of the mountains to the Raikage's office. The crisp and chilly air was enough to freeze the lungs of those who weren't hardy enough. Being so high up meant the air here was incredibly thin, which made breathing difficult for those who weren't trained to fight in higher climates. It was a natural defensive measure.
He stopped walking and turned his head, seemingly looking at the sky. However, one of his eyes shifted toward Ishidate, stilled disguised, and he grinned.
"Would you like to try and claim these eyes for yourself, I wonder?"
"No, thanks," Ishidate said. "I'm smart enough to know that I don't stand a chance against you."
The female, Karenbana, leaned into the other male ninja with them as she cupped a hand to her mouth. "Am I the only one frightened by this man?"
"You are not," Kongo said, his burly frame hidden behind a transformation jutsu of his own.
"Glad to know it's not just me."
Chuckling to himself, Orochimaru walked into the raikage's office. Of course, they only entered the lobby first. As they strolled through the open space, across the blue floor, a woman appeared from within a room, her dark skin and white hair marking her as a Kumo native. She paused upon seeing them.
"Do you have business with Raikage-sama?" she asked with a frown.
Orochimaru smiled as his star within his pupils spun again. "I do. I have some urgent business that I must speak with him about. If you'd be so kind as to take me to him, I would appreciate."
"Of course…" The woman's eyes glazed over. "Right this way."
The woman turned around and strode up a set of stairs, leading them to a simple door. She knocked once before entering. Orochimaru and his entourage followed suit.
Beyond the door lay an open room with very little decoration. The blue floor contrasted with the yellow walls. Exercise equipment sat off to one side, a set of free weights and a punching bag. This office didn't have a desk. It had a couch with a small coffee table in front of it. Behind the couch was a curved series of windows fitted around rectangular metal frames, giving those who arrived a clear view of Kumogakure's mountain range.
A man sat on the couch, large and imposing, his dark-skin bulging with muscles. He wore no shirt, allowing rippling abdominals and a thick chest to be on full display. The dark skin contrasted with his dark hair. Upon seeing them, the man lifted his left arm, a thick metal bracer attached to it, and placed on his knee. Dark eyes stared at them from beneath thick eyebrows.
"Mabui," the Raikage said in a gruff voice. "Who are these people?"
The woman, Mabui, tilted her head. "You do not know them? They said they had something urgent to talk to you about…"
From the stiffening of the Raikage's muscles, it was clear to Orochimaru that the man was already on guard. Perhaps he already suspected something was off. Well, no matter. This would be over quickly.
"Greetings, Raikage," Orochimaru said as he stepped forward. Still playing his role, he knelt before Kumo's most powerful ninja. "I have come to speak with you about an important matter."
Before Orochimaru could activate his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the Raikage suddenly vanished from his couch. Orochimaru only received a second's warning before the powerfully built man slammed into the place where he was standing. However, much like a certain shinobi who was now dead, Orochimaru burst into a flock of crows. The crows flew around the room before reassembling themselves into his body several meters in front of the Raikage.
"Those eyes…" The Raikage narrowed his eyes as he stared at Orochimaru's Sharingan. "An Uchiha? No, you just have the eyes of one." Scowling, the man readied himself for a fight as Ishidate, Kongo, and Karenbana surrounded him. "Who are you?"
"You don't need to know that," Orochimaru said with a smile as Mabui walked behind the Raikage and pulled out a sheathed blade. "After all, puppets have no need to know who is pulling their strings."
Thanks to a genjutsu he had cast during the one second where the Raikage had stared into his eyes, the large man was a second too slow to respond properly when Mabui jabbed her lightning coated blade into his back. The man grunted as lightning coursed through him. He probably could have negated it, but thanks to another genjutsu, the thought never occurred to him.
"Now…"
Orochimaru walked up to the Raikage as the three he'd brought with him held the Raikage down. With his muscles spasming from the electric shock, the man, normally strong enough that he could have torn himself free in seconds, was helpless. Mabui, under the influence of his Sharingan, grabbed her Raikage by the hair and forced him to look at Orochimaru.
"… Time for you to say goodnight. Tsukuyomi."
XoX
Despite the beautiful day, Naruto could not help but feel troubled.
Two weeks had passed since the mission to rescue Gaara. His time had been spent mostly training and going on easy missions to earn money. Kyuubi, or rather Akane, still refused to speak with him. That wasn't the problem. He'd been dealing with that for a long time now. The issue he'd run into was similar, but at the same time, different.
"You do know that it's rude to ignore a girl when you take her out on a date, don't you?" asked Yugito, snapping Naruto out of his trance.
He sent her an apologetic smile. "You're right. I'm sorry for spacing out like that."
"It seems like you have something serious on your mind." Yugito tucked a strand of hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear. "Would you like to tell me about it? Maybe having someone else's perspective could help you solve whatever problem you're having."
The two of us were sitting on a blanket spread across a grassy field-training field seven, the same training field where Naruto had passed the first test alongside Sasuke and Sakura. A basket sat on the blanket with them. It was open to reveal an assortment of foods like onigiri, karaage, and pickled vegetables.
Yugito had just returned from a mission two days ago. Naruto had caught her leaving the missions office and asked if she would like to have lunch with him and catch up, leading to their current situation.
Naruto would have normally loved spending time with Yugito like this, but with his thoughts so preoccupied, he'd been unable to properly enjoy basking in the beautiful jinchurikki's presence.
"Another perspective might help," Naruto admitted with a reluctant sigh. "Tenten hasn't been talking to me since our mission to rescue Gaara. She normally spends at least two days manning her father's store, but I've gone there once every day for the past week and discovered that she hasn't been around. At first, I thought she was just going on missions, but then I found Rock Lee training at one of the training grounds and tried to ask him if he'd seen Tenten. The response he'd given me was… a lot colder than I've ever seen him give another person."
Neji had also been the same way. It confused Naruto a great deal since neither of them had been cold to him before-well, Neji had back when he still had that stick up his ass, but Naruto was sure he'd properly pulled the stick out. They had been his friends and trusted comrades for a long time now. The three of them had even gone on a number of missions together. He couldn't fathom why they were acting like this now.
"Hmm…"
Yugito drew her legs up to her chest, hugging them as she rested her chin on her knees. The thoughtful look on her face made Naruto pay attention.
"This is just a hunch, but… do you think it might have something to do with how you slept with Temari?" asked Yugito, staring into his eyes with a penetrating gaze.
"I don't see how me sleeping with… oh." Naruto felt like he'd been slapped in the face. "She saw me and Temari, didn't she?"
"Yes." Yugito nodded with a wry smile. "She did."
Naruto suddenly realized what kind of predicament he was in. Snagging a pickle with his chopsticks, he popped the food into his mouth and thought.
Tenten had seen him and Temari having sex, which was undoubtedly the reason she was avoiding him and the reason for the cold glares Neji and Rock Lee gave him. That made sense.
It wasn't like his relationship with Temari was a secret. Everyone in Suna knew about it, and he certainly never tried hiding it from Tenten. However, it was also true that he'd just returned from his two-year training trip with Jiraiya, and his relationship with Temari had only progressed after he and his perverse sensei had left Konoha. Of course she wouldn't know about it. Of course she would feel angry, betrayed, and hurt when she found out the way she did.
I should have said something.
Naruto hadn't said anything because, well, the idea simply hadn't crossed his mind. He hadn't given this matter any thought. That was his mistake.
"What do you think?" asked Naruto. "About me and Temari, I mean?"
"Well… I can't say I was too pleased when I found out." Admitting this, Yugito unwrapped her arms from around her legs, stretched them out, and placed her hands behind her as she leaned back. "At the same time, I'm a bit more open-minded when it comes to sex. Tenten is a very pure girl in this regard. I doubt she's ever had to go on a mission to seduce an assassination target, and she's not really the type who uses sex as stress relief."
"I'm not like that either, you know," Naruto said, his tone dryer than Suna's desert.
Yugito flashed him a grin. "I know, but because of your unique circumstances, you don't wish to have a proper relationship with someone else."
"If by 'proper relationship,' you mean one that ends in marriage and children, then no, I don't." Naruto sighed as he let his shoulders slump. It felt like a weight had suddenly been placed on it. "Outside of the fact that I am completely sterile, even if I were inclined to take a wife, she would just die and leave me alone." He paused, and then continued, his voice much softer. "At the same time, I do want to have something… even if it's not marriage, even if it doesn't end in having a big family, I want to form strong bonds with people."
"You mean you want to form strong bonds with women," Yugito added with a sly grin.
"I thought that would be a given." He rubbed his face as though to wipe away the exhaustion suddenly seeping into his bones. "But yeah, I guess… I should find Tenten and do my best to explain myself, huh?"
"I recommend waiting a bit." Yugito shook her head. "Tenten's feelings are still very muddled. I'm sure the hurt and confusion will only get worse if you try to push her."
"But wouldn't it be better to explain myself quickly? I've heard that leaving problems like this can cause them to fester over time."
"Yes, but trying to confront her too quickly could result in that 'fastering' as you call it to accelerate and become even worse," Yugito shot back. "I recommend waiting for at least another week or two. Give her some time to calm down and then confront her."
If he was being honest, Naruto would have preferred confronting Tenten right now. He was a man of action. He hated just sitting on his laurels while there was a problem in front of him. At the same time, he trusted Yugito in these matters. She was not only someone he cherished as a person. She was also a woman like Tenten, and so her advice was invaluable.
"I'll follow your advice then," Naruto said, nodding.
"Good." Yugito smiled as she grabbed an onigiri and tossed it up and down. "And now that I've helped you with your problem, no more sad faces, no more staring off into space. Unlike Tenten, I do not care who you have slept with. Right now you are mine and mine alone. I can't have you thinking about other girls when we're on a date."
"You are right." Nodding with her, Naruto could do nothing but agree. "I'm all yours."
"All mine, you say?" Yugito grinned. "In that case…" Swifter than Naruto thought possible, the Nibi's jinchurikki crawled over to him and laid her head on his lap. When he looked down, it was to find a cat-like grin on her face. "In payment of my services, you are going to feed me."
"Such a demanding neko," Naruto mumbled, but, with a grin splitting his lips, he reached out toward the bento box with his chopsticks and began feeding Yugito.
The warm air of Konoha blanketed them like a second skin.
XoX
Since the Land of Fire was such a mild and temperate place, the climate in Konoha never really changed with the seasons. Even during winter, the weather remained pleasantly warm, perfect some would say. That was actually why this country had earned the name Land of Fire. Well, that and the brilliant sunsets that made it seem like the forests were catching fire.
One week had passed since Naruto's talk with Yugito. Just as the beautiful jinchurikki had suggested, Naruto had not tried to see Tenten at all. He stayed away from her father's store, didn't actively look for her, and spent a good deal of the time he would have spent looking for her training.
Yugito was gone. She left a few days after their date. The woman had shown up at his apartment one evening and informed him that she had been recalled to Kumo. there was no explanation as to why this was, but orders were orders, and it wasn't all that strange for her to return and make periodic reports, though this was the first time she'd been recalled. He'd treated her to dinner that night. She left early the next morning.
The early morning air remained warm despite the sun only just beginning to rise. Naruto stood inside the Hokage's office to receive a mission. He was early. His team hadn't arrived yet, which meant it was currently just him, Tsunade, and Shizune.
"Where are they?" Naruto complained with his arms crossed. He frowned and tapped his left foot against the tiled floor.
Tsunade and Shizune shared an amused glance.
"You do realize that you are almost an hour early, right?" asked Tsunade, leaning back in her chair. "If you didn't want to wait, you should have arrived later."
"Ugh… yeah, you have a point."
Naruto had been too restless to sleep last night. Anyone else would have assumed it was the idea of going on a mission that kept him awake, but the truth was that he'd been unable to sleep before he received the messenger bird requesting he come to the Hokage's Office. He'd been planning to speak with Tenten today and had been going over what he would say. Too bad that plan had been thrown out the window.
"You seem restless," Shizune said. "Have you been sleeping well?"
"Huh? Well, for the most part." Naruto's absent response, complete with rubbing the back of his neck, caused Tsunade and Shizune to share another glance. He would have wondered what sort of conversation they were having with those looks. However, he was too preoccupied to let himself be bothered by that.
"You wouldn't happen to be having some troubles in paradise, would you?" asked Tsunade as she leaned forward, placing her elbows on the desk and steepling her fingers together.
Naruto grimaced. "Is it that obvious?"
Tsunade smirked behind her hands. "Brat, I have been around the block more times than you can count."
"Given how old you are, that doesn't surprise me," Naruto said-then had to dodge the paperweight Tsunade threw at him.
With a large vein pulsing on her forehead, Tsunade said, "you had better watch yourself. Mention my age again and I'll punch you through that wall."
"Haaaaiii."
"And don't sound so sarcastic!" After snapping at him, Tsunade coughed into her hand several times as if clearing her throat. "Anyway, my point is that while I've only been in love once, I know plenty about relationships between men and women."
"So you say," Shizune mumbled, though she quieted when the Hokage glared at her.
"Given who you are, it's not that hard to figure out what the problem is," Tsunade finished.
Naruto didn't think he was that easy to figure out, but perhaps Jiraiya had told Tsunade about the relationships he had formed outside the village. It was true that, aside from Temari, there were two other women he'd become intimate with. With Jiraiya being the sleeze bag that he was, Naruto didn't doubt the man had bragged about how his apprentice had "banged" multiple babes.
"Gya ha ha! Thanks to my training, Naruto has become a demon in the sack! I swear that kid is a gold mine for ideas!"
It would probably have sounded something like that, Naruto imagined. He could clearly hear the man's words in his head.
The doors opened just as this thought crossed his mind, prompting Naruto to turn around as three people entered the room, a large man with long hair and red armor, a blonde girl with blue eyes, and a familiar brown-eyed girl with buns on her head that made her look like a panda. As Chouji and Ino caught sight of Naruto, the two waved and smiled. Tenten, on the other hand, turned her nose at him.
Still angry, I see.
"Yo, Naruto!" Chouji greeted with a big smile. "I'm guessing you're the jonin in charge of this mission?"
"That's right." Naruto grinned and puffed out his chest. "I'm the one who's gonna be leading you guys."
"This should be interesting." Placing her hands on her hips, Ino smirked at him, blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "I'm curious to see how a mission with you in charge will go."
"I hope that means you have confidence in my abilities."
"That remains to be seen."
"So I gotta prove myself, huh? Well, fine. I'll show you just what I can do."
"Hehe, you had better."
While Naruto spoke with Chouji and Ino, who had wandered right up to him without reservation, Tenten kept her distance, separating herself from the group to stand alone. She did her best not to pay him any attention. He almost sighed, but he held back and shored himself up, mentally slapping his cheeks. This was his chance.
Tsunade gathered the four ninjas' attention with a cough. Everyone straightened, and Tenten reluctantly moved to stand behind Naruto alongside Chouji and Ino.
"We've received a request from Nadeshiko no Sato," Tsunade began. "They're a ninja village whose families are organized through matrilineality. Naruto, I believe you have some experience with them."
Naruto nodded. "Jiraiya and I actually stayed there for a few months during our training."
"I'm sure training isn't all you did." He twitched at the woman's sly smile, but she didn't let him say anything before she continued. "They are having a problem with a missing ninja who arrived in the area and indiscriminately attacked their village. We've received a report that a number of their kunoichi were killed and even more have been captured. The population of their village has dropped by about forty percent, leaving them in dire straights."
"If they're suffering casualties like that, whoever attacked them must be incredibly powerful," Naruto said. "Most of the kunoichi from Nadeshiko no Sato were easily chunin and jonin rank."
Tsunade nodded. "The person who attacked them is an S-ranked missing ninja who goes by the name Akuma. Very little is known about him. We're not even sure what village he is from or if Akuma is his real name. However, we do know that he was responsible for the complete destruction of a hidden village several years ago."
Naruto had his own bingo book, and he'd made sure to memorize most of the names on there. He did actually know of Akuma. However, there wasn't any information on him outside of what Tsunade had just said. Nothing was known about his fighting style or where he came from. All the bingo book had was a profile picture.
"Your mission is to travel to Nadeshiko no Sato and help the village take down this missing ninja," Tsunade said.
In response to her words, the group of four stood at attention.
"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" they said in unison.
XoX
Because of what the mission entailed, it was listed as an A-rank, which meant they needed to prepare the appropriate supplies. Naruto asked Chouji and Ino if they had everything they needed. When they said they didn't, he told them to grab enough supplies to last for two week. Then he traveled with Tenten to her shop so he could grab the appropriate weapons for an A-rank mission.
Tenten barely spoke to him during this time. She only spoke when necessary, and when she did, her voice was colder than the snow capped peaks of the former Yuki no Kuni.
"You realize that staying mad like this and scowling all the time is going to give you premature wrinkles, don't you?" asked Naruto.
"I'm not scowling," Tenten snapped.
"You are."
"I'm done with this conversation."
"Well, I'm not."
They were in the middle of her store, traveling down one of the aisle. Numerous racks filled with various sharp and pointy implements lined it. Because of this, Naruto couldn't push Tenten's back against the wall, so he created a wall of shadow clones and hemmed her in, placing his hands on a Naruto clone's shoulder to keep her from moving.
"What are you doing?" Tenten's glare looked like a sheet of ice, but her cheeks were flushed a mild red. "Let me go this instant."
"Not until you talk to me."
"I don't think there's anything to talk about."
"Yeah? Well, I think there is." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I get it. You're upset at me because I slept with Temari."
Tenten looked away. "I don't care who you sleep with."
"Then why are you ignoring me?"
"I just don't like lying douchebags."
"You're jealous of Temari."
"I am not."
"You are."
"Not one bit."
"Just admit it."
Their back and forth would have drawn a crowd if anyone aside from them had been present. It probably looked strange, several Narutos acting as a wall while one of them trapped the girl with his arms. Even Naruto found the idea strange. He probably would have laughed if he'd seen anyone else do this. That didn't stop him from arguing with the girl, whose face grew darker and more red as time passed.
Finally…
"All right! Fine! You want the truth! Yes, I'm jealous of Temari! Yes, I hate that you slept with her! I thought we had something special, that I meant more to you, but I see now that you never felt the way about me that I did about you! I'm probably just another kunai in your pouch."
Naruto kept his gaze even despite feeling something inside of him crack. A sharp pain pierced his chest, but he didn't reject it. What he felt now was nothing compared to what Tenten must be feeling.
"Do you really believe that?"
He gazed into Tenten's eyes as she stared right back. Her eyes were fierce, but the longer she stared at him, the less certain they became. She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right. Her hands began fiddling with her shirt.
"… Yes, I do."
She averted her gaze after several seconds had passed. Naruto continued to focus on her, making a slight sweat and a healthy blush break out on her face. He didn't say anything for the longest time, but then, he sighed and took a step back.
The clones disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"I see." He took a moment to center himself as the cracks inside of him became wider. "If that's how you feel, then there really is nothing I can do." He paused, withholding a shudder, and then continued. "However, you should know something, Tenten. I… cannot give you or anyone else a normal relationship. You already know I'm not human anymore, right? I don't have the ability to start a family and grow old together with you."
Tenten's uncertain stare bolstered him for a moment, allowing him to harden his resolve.
"But you should know that just because I can't give you a normal relationship, that doesn't mean I don't love you. I'll understand if you don't want to be with me. If you say 'I can't be with you,' then I'll gladly accept that. However, do not ever think that my feelings for you are weak, or that what we have isn't special to me. You are… you aren't someone who can ever be replaced. You're precious to me."
Tenten didn't say anything at first. A cloying silence stretched out. While there was no tension, the thickness in the air, the uncertainty from both parties, made it hard to breathe.
"I'm not sure I can believe that," Tenten finally admitted.
"I guess not." Naruto smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Tenten pretended she didn't see it.
After their argument ended, Naruto bought a scroll filled with enough supplies to last for two weeks and enough weapons for an A-rank mission. Fortunately, he didn't need to buy items like explosive notes or seals, since his seals were better than anything on the current market. That said, he did have a large number of kunai, smoke bombs, shuriken, and ninja wire. He wasn't sure how much of it he would use, but it was important to always be prepared.
They met up with Ino and Chouji at the south gate. The two chunin had arrived before them. When Ino saw the distance between him and Tenten, the fractured demeanors they both possessed, she placed her hands on her hips and frowned.
"What funeral procession did you two just come back from?"
"No funeral, I'm afraid," Naruto said with a smile. "Anyway, do you two have everything you need?"
"Yup!" Ino patted the pouch around her waist. "It's all in here."
Naruto nodded at her, then turned to the big guy in red armor. "Chouji?"
"I'm good."
"Right. Then let's go."
Because he was in charge, Naruto was the one who signed them out of the gate. With the afternoon sun at their backs, the squadron of ninja left the village.
Nadeshiko no Sato was located near Mizu no Kuni. It was located on the crescent-shaped peninsula that was composed of three separate nations: Fire, Tea, and Noodles. To reach it, they had to travel southeast from Konoha, then curve around an inlet and head northeast, which would take them out of Hi no Kuni and into Udon no Kuni. On a side note, Nami no Kuni was not far from Nadeshiko no Sato. It was less than a day in fact.
Because Naruto didn't know what the situation in Nadeshiko no Sato was, he urged his team to quicken their pace. They leapt through the trees whenever possible, stopped to sleep when it became dark, and ran across open planes when there was no forest to do their ninja tree jumping.
Tenten did not speak much during this time, save for when Ino talked to her. Since there was no more that Naruto could say to her, having already said his piece, he left the girl to her own devices and spoke with Chouji. Before long, they reached the point where they could finally see Nadeshiko no Sato.
"So that's it, huh?" Ino said with a hand over her head, acting as a visor to keep the sun out of her eyes.
"Yup. That's Nadeshiko no Sato," Naruto answered.
The village was positioned upon the lightly forested top of three massive, steep hills that all stood in a line. Two bridges spanned the gorges between them. The central hill was the largest, meaning it also had the biggest structure. From where they stood, Naruto could see the stone walls surrounding the village. Several towers and roofs jutted from inside the walls. The village looked more like a stronghold or a palace, with numerous walls, towers, and brickwork being the predominant features. The hills upon which the female hidden village sat were situated within a lush, forested valley in a mountainous region. It made the village stand out.
As they continued to admire the village, a bright light flared into existence on the side of the third hill, and then a sound hit their ears. It was the rumbling of an explosion. Naruto narrowed his eyes when several chunks of land were blasted away from the hill.
"That looked like it was from an explosive," Naruto muttered. "An explosive note or a jutsu?"
"Look!" Ino pointed at something. "The village is burning!"
Naruto didn't need to follow her finger to see what she meant. Smoke rose from within the village. Even as he watched, one of the towers located within the third hill crumbled as it was struck by an explosion. More gouts of flame soon rose into the air in other locations too.
They couldn't waste anymore time.
"Let's move!" he ordered.
"Right!"
Leaping off the branch they had been standing on, the group rushed toward the village.
XoX
It was absolute chaos everywhere she looked. The village quaked and rumbled as explosion after explosion rocked the buildings. People ran everywhere, creating pandemonium no matter where she looked. Screams rent the air. Wails pierced the night. The clash of steel on steel echoed all around as smoke and ash rose high into the air.
Shizuka cursed as several ugly brutes wielding swords rushed her from the left, right, and front. She slid around the first one to reach her when he thrust out his sword. It was a clumsy move. A rookie could have dodged it. Having ducked low, she came up, twisting her body to increase the power of her thrust as she slammed her wind-covered fist into his torso.
"Nadeshiko-Ryū Kōha Reppūken!"
The force of her strike produced a powerful shockwave that liquidized the man's insides, killing him instantly. As the dead thug soared through the air, Shizuka spun around and blocked a series of swift slashing attacks from another sword. She knocked the man's blade wide. Then, stepping into his guard, she delivered a swift series of jabs that left him stunned before, finally, she leapt into the air, flipping around, and delivered a powerful falling kick.
"Nadeshiko-Ryū Kōha Senkaigiri!"
She had coated her leg in wind chakra to increase her cutting power. Her foot sliced straight through the man, who fell backward as blood gushed from his open wound, splattering against the ground and creating a pool underneath his corpse.
Now on the ground, Shizuka spun around and delivered a powerful spinning heel kick to the jaw of another. He attack was so powerful that the man's neck snapped with a sickening crack. As he fell like a marionette with cut strings, Shizuka diverted a sword aimed at her torso, then stepped forward and delivered a bone shattering punch to a bandit's torso.
More than half a dozen thugs were still coming at her. They were further away, but it wouldn't be long before they closed the distance… if she was willing to let them.
"Nadeshiko-Ryū Shinku Enbu!"
Producing several kunai, Shizuka held them between each of her fingers, four per hand, and swiftly threw each one with pinpoint accuracy. Her kunai never missed their mark. One struck the neck of a thug. Another pierced one's left eye-that one went down screaming. Still another slid between segmented samurai armor and pierced an enemy's heart. The bandits went down, some wailing in pain, while others died straight away.
"Lady Shizuka!" a voice called out as the last enemy near her died.
A person dropped from the sky, landing in a crouch before her. She stood quickly, her imposing figure easily towering over the much smaller Shizuka. Her angular face was framed by short brown hair, and her lips were painted with a dark shade of red lipstick. Her backless red bodysuit was torn in several places. She wasn't wearing her usual mesh armor. The burns on her body led Shizuka to believe the armor had been destroyed.
"Tokiwa, is it them?" asked Shizuka.
"It is, Lady Shizuka." Tokiwa nodded in confirmation. "We've currently evacuated all of the civilians to the largest structures. We're doing our best to push back the invaders. Fortunately, it looks like Akuma is not with them this time."
"Thank the gods for small miracles," Shizuka muttered before steeling herself. "Come! Let us push these invaders back!"
"Yes, Lady Shizuka!"
Together with her attendant, Shizuka joined the fight with the other kunoichi of her village. The world around her became one of blood and dying screams as she fought to destroy the people invading her home. The clang of clashing steel, the scent of iron in the air, a series of blurry images as she and her attendant fought their way through numerous enemies.
However, it seemed there were even more enemies this time than last time. They filled the streets, bandits and low lifes wielding swords and daggers. Her people were quickly overrun. To her left, a woman went down underneath a horde of disgusting vermin. They didn't kill her, though. One of the men jabbed something into the woman's thigh, which caused the young kunoichi's eyes to roll into the back of her head as her body went limp. Then the group lifted her up and none to gently began carrying her away.
"Stop, scum!"
Shizuka, Tokiwa, and the others tried their best to keep the girl from being taken, but there was a literal wall between the girl and them. It wasn't long before the group disappeared with her kunoichi.
Shizuka wanted to go after them and reclaim her kidnapped kunoichi. She would have at least tried. However, she couldn't. More men were pouring in from all sides. They would overrun her ninja like a swarm of bugs, shoving the women of her village to the ground and injecting some kind of drug into their bodies before dragging them away.
Shizuka fought desperately. She snapped one bandits neck, crushed the skull of another, cut through multiple more, and even used one of her most powerful jutsu to wipe out over a dozen of them. Yet no matter how many she killed, more would always take their place. Before she knew it, the only ninja remaining by her side was Tokiwa and a handful of others.
Despite the desperate panic she felt to rescue her comrades, Shizuka refused to give up. She stood back to back with her fellow kunoichi. The stench of numerous unwashed bodies made her nose wrinkle as the men closed in around her. If this was to be the end, she would make sure to take all of these people down with her.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Yet before she could steel herself for the next bout, several dozen figures suddenly invaded the area, rushing in from between buildings and jumping down from roofs. Some carried kunai. Some fought barehanded. Some even threw shuriken. They crashed against the bandits like an orange tidal wave, decimating the army that had been overwhelming Shizuka's forces with an even more overwhelming force.
Beyond the shock of seeing so many people suddenly fighting against the bandits, Shizuka felt hope swell in her breast as she recognized who those people were.
That's Naruto!
Yes, it was dozens of Naruto clones that had rushed to her aid, and they weren't alone. With them were two other kunoichi. One of them, a pretty blonde girl who made several hand seals and somehow immobilized her enemies, who were then defeated when a massive man in red armor slammed into them with an enlarged arm. The last one was another kunoichi. She jumped from roof to roof, tossing kunai at a pace that even Shizuka was awed by. Every projectile thrown by the brown-haired girl was a kill shot.
"The shinobi of the leaf are here to aid us!" Shizuka roared. "Let us push these monsters back!"
Her fellow kunoishi shouted in approval and rushed forward, fighting against the bandits with renewed zeal. Shizuka found herself in the center of this brawl. She slammed into her enemies with wind enhanced fists and feet, throwing all of her opponents away like they were ragdolls. As she continued to fight, she searched around the area, watching as some clones popped from getting injured. If the clones were here, then the real one was also somewhere within this throng.
"Shizu!"
Shizuka whipped her head around as one of the Narutos slammed a rasengan into a bandit's armored chest, tearing through both armor and flesh. As the bandit corpse was thrown into the air, the blond man rushed up to her.
This must be the real one.
"Naruto!" Shizuka smiled even as she crushed someone's face in with a powerful punch. "I'm so glad to see you!"
Naruto's sunny grin lit a flame inside of her. "We'll talk later! For now, let's drive these assholes back!"
"Right!"
The fighting did not last much longer as, with the arrival of Naruto and his Konoha Shinobi, the bandits seemed to lose their will to fight. Their numbers might have made them formidable, but Naruto could match those numbers with Shadow Clones. Also, unlike the bandits who couldn't replace the people they lost, Naruto could create new clones everytime one of his were dispelled. Before long, the enemy that had once attacked them like a pack of ravenous hyenas tried to flee.
"Do not let them escape!" Shizuka shouted.
"Ossu!" came a shout from the Naruto clones as they charged after the bandits alongside the few kunoichi remaining.
"Tokiwa! Lead our forces and route the enemy!"
"Yes, Lady Shizuka!"
With the battle now concluded, Shizuka was able to relax. She lowered her arms, allowed her tense body to loosen up, and turned to survey her village.
The battle had not moved past the two smaller hills that her village sat on, so they had not been able to breach what could more or less be described as their inner sanctuary. However, the attack had been so sudden that many of her people lay dead in the streets. She did not cry. Even so, the sting from unshed tears welled in her eyes as she saw the corpses of several non-combatants mixed in among the numerous bandits.
"Shizuka." Naruto came up and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him and almost allowed herself to fall prey to weakness, but now as not the time to be weak. Right now she needed to be strong.
"I'm glad you are here," she said.
"Sorry I didn't arrive sooner."
Shaking her head, she couldn't find it in herself to smile, but she did her best to reassure him.
"No. You could not have known this would happen. You arrived here even faster than I thought you would. Thank you."
"Yeah, well… when I heard you were in trouble, I wanted to get here as soon as I could."
Naruto scratched the back of his neck, which finally caused her to crack a small smile. Even during situations like this, the mannerisms of the man before her remained unchanged, and that somehow reassured her that everything would be all right. Yes, perhaps with Naruto by her side, she could help her people.
"Ahem."
A cough interrupted the mood they had. Shizuka turned to see the blonde and the brunette looking at them. One was wearing an amused smile like a Cheshire cat, while the other looked moody for some reason.
"Who is this, Naruto?" asked the blonde girl. "A friend of yours? Or is she… something more?" At this question, the girl raised her right hand, stuck out her pinky, and wiggled it for emphasis.
Shizuka would have blushed at the blatant question regarding their relationship, but the situation was grave enough that she didn't have the time to feel embarrassed. Stepping away from Naruto, she bowed to the group of ninja.
"Thank you for coming all this way. My name is Shizuka. I am the leader of this village and the one who requested help from Konoha."
"Wait. Really?" The blonde's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets as she stared at Shizuka. "B-but you're so young!"
"I fail to see how my age makes me unfit to be leader."
"Well… I guess it doesn't," the blonde admitted reluctantly. "I'm just surprised."
Shizuka could understand where the girl was coming from, but now was not the time to indulge her. She bade Naruto and his squadron to follow her. Leaving the small hill, she wandered over the bridge that connected to the largest and most well-fortified of her villages stronghold.
They passed a lot of injured women. Some were kunoichis who'd been injured during the battle but managed to retreat before they were taken hostage, but most of them were, in fact, civilians who had simply been caught up in the fight. A little girl sat on the ground, crying as a medic wrapped bandages around her injured head. A young woman with blood leaking from her shoulder was being patched up with stitches. Everywhere she looked, her people were suffering.
It broke her heart.
"Ino," Naruto said, "Please help administer first aid to these people. The ones with the gravest injuries get top priority."
"I'm on it," the blonde girl-Ino-said before rushing off to help the nearest person.
"Ino has training as a medical ninja," Naruto explained when Shizuka sent him a questioning look. "She's not as talented as Sakura Haruno, my original teammate, but she's very skilled. I'm sure she'll be able to help heal everyone here."
"Thank you," Shizuka said, bowing her head.
Shizuka led the three Konoha ninja into a large room with a limestone floor and a vaulted ceiling. A table sat in the center, a series of tall columns arrayed around it. None of it was ostentatious. Both the table and columns were rather plane. However, the table sat atop a rug, and there were numerous fluffy pillows arranged around it for people to sit on. She sat down at the head of this table, calves tucked underneath her thighs, while Naruto and the other sat on either side of the table.
Introductions followed. Naruto introduced his other two teammates. Chouji, the large man in wearing the red suit with plated armor, greeted her with a smile. However, the one called Tenten had a suspicious look in her eyes. Shizuka frowned. It was as if the girl didn't trust her for some reason. However, she ignored that and greeted them both in turn.
"I was told that you were having trouble with a missing ninja named Akuma." Naruto scratched his cheek. "We weren't expecting to find an army of bandits attacking you."
"Yes. I'm sorry. Please allow me to inform you about the most recent developments that have taken place." Shizuka bit her lip as she centered her thoughts. "It is true that the one who first attacked us was Akuma. He attacked our village without warning and decimated our forces. We fought back and even managed to injure him before he retreated, but his attack was so sudden that many of our kunoichi were injured and are unable to fight. That was when we sent our request to Konoha."
"It sounds like something changed after you sent the request," Chouji said.
Nodding, Shizuka continued. "A few days after our request was sent, Akuma came back and attacked again, but this time it was with a group of bandits. We fought them off. Tokiwa and I even managed to force Akuma into a standstill, but while we were distracted, the bandits who attacked our village made off with several of our kunoichi." Gritting her teeth, Shizuka hid her clenched fists underneath the table. "That's when we realized they were not after our lives but out bodies. I can only assume they plan on selling us as slaves."
Slave trading was a huge business. While many countries had made it illegal to sell and own slaves, barring a few very unique circumstances like criminal slaves who were forced to work hard labor as punishment for crimes committed, that didn't stop people from buying or selling them. There were a number of black market operations spread across the Elemental Nations that dealt with slavery.
"Do you know who's responsible for this?" asked Tenten. "Surely these bandits aren't working on their own. Most bandits use rusty and dull weapons. The ones those guys were wielding were brand new and high quality. They must have a powerful backer."
"Sadly, we do not know anything other than what I've just told you." Shizuka took a deep breath to contain her frustration at her own powerlessness. "I thought about sending some of my kunoichi out to see if we could gather intelligence, but…"
"I understand," Naruto said when she trailed off. "Your kunoichi are what these people are after. If you had sent them out, and they were captured, you would be in even worse shape than you are now."
"That is correct." Closing her eyes, Shizuka pushed the worry twisting her stomach into knots away. She stood up and gazed at Naruto, Tenten, and Chouji. "We can discuss what to do later. I'm sure everyone is exhausted from traveling all this way and being forced into battle so soon. Please allow me to show you to your rooms."
XoX
Tenten tossed and turned, unable to find a good position to sleep in. It wasn't the room. She and Ino had been given a comfortable room with two beds and plenty of amenities. The beds themselves were also quite soft and warm. It also wasn't their circumstances. Sure, what happened when they arrived was horrible, but she was a ninja and had seen far worse.
Sighing as she realized that sleep truly was going to elude her for now, Tenten silently crept out of her bed and made her way out of the room. Ino was sleeping on the other bed, most of her body covered with a blanket, and she didn't wake up when Tenten slipped outside.
The night air was mild. Tenten didn't feel cold or uncomfortable as she padded across the hallway in nothing but a shirt and panties. Of course, she kept a set of kunai with her in case she was attacked, but she didn't think that would happen. They drove off the attackers already. Those guys would need to regroup before they could attack again. Still, it never hurt to be prepared.
She didn't know where she was going. Wandering the halls with no real destination in mind, she looked at the arched ceiling overhead. It had ribs supporting its structure and shape. They crossed each other multiple times to form geometric patterns. This place definitely had the feel of a palace.
Naruto stayed in this place during his training…
For whatever reason, that thought chilled her to the bone. She didn't like the idea of Naruto staying in this all-female hidden village. Given what she saw with Temari, she was sure that Naruto would-
No. She shook her head. Naruto might have slept with Temari, but he isn't the kind of guy who would cheat on someone like that.
She could accept that Naruto didn't think of her in terms of romance. It would hurt, but she could do it. However, if nothing else, Tenten wanted to believe that Naruto wasn't the kind of guy who would cheat on a girl when they were dating.
Yet even as these thoughts ran through her mind, Tenten caught someone walking along the hallway further down. They were nothing more than a shadow. She couldn't determine who it was. It caused the hair on her arms to prickle.
She decided to follow them.
Tenten wasn't the stealthiest kunoichi around, but she had been taught at least a little bit about sneaking. A ninja's greatest asset was intelligence gathering, after all. That required one to be sneaky. She kept to the walls and hid behind objects, following after the shadowy figure. It didn't take her long to figure out who the figure was.
She wore a semi-translucent white gown that was tied together with a sash. No, it wasn't a gown. That was underwear. Negligee. While Tenten didn't use seduction techniques, she had been taught them, and she recognized the sexy sleepwear for what they were. With only the gown and white panties, Shizuka walked through the hall, her long black hair flowing freely instead of being tied into the ponytail she'd worn when they first met.
Where is she-it couldn't be!
With her heartbeat quickening, Tenten followed Shizuka, being careful not to make a single noise, as the young woman wandered up to a door and knocked. Tenten felt her heart chill as she realized where the door led.
This was the door to Naruto's room.
XoX
The group had been shown to their rooms. Ino and Tenten had been given a room to share, but Naruto and Chouji had been given their own rooms. When Ino had questioned that decision, Shizuka had stated that, as the leader, Naruto should have a room to himself, but then said that it wasn't appropriate for girls to be sleeping in the same room as a boy, which was why Chouji had his own room as well.
Ino had accepted that with a pout and some complaining.
Naruto lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the current circumstances he'd found himself in. Of course, he wasn't just thinking about this mission. Also on his mind was his estrangement to Tenten and Akane. He wondered if there was any way to fix this situation with them.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Hmm?"
Sitting up, Naruto placed his hands on the bed and looked at the door. Knock. Knock. Knock. He slid out of the bed and padded up to the door, wondering who could have been knocking at his hour. When he opened the door and found Shizuka standing before him, he blinked.
"Shizu? What's up? Couldn't sleep?"
Her long hair, blacker than the night sky but twice as scintillating, wavered as she shook her head. She crossed her arms over her chest. The act pushed her breasts together. Naruto looked down and noticed that, thanks to her semi-translucent gown, her nipples were visible as they strained against the fabric.
"Do you mind if I come in?" she asked.
"Not at all."
Naruto moved out of the way and allowed Shizuka to enter the room. She walked past the wooden dresser and small table, the only decorations in the room, and made her way over to the bed. Watching her, Naruto slowly shut the door with a soft click as she sat down.
"I'm guessing you're here for something other than talking," Naruto said.
Shizuka smiled and blushed at the same time. "Am I… that obvious?"
"You never wear nightwear like that," Naruto pointed out.
"People can change."
"They can, but there's not much point in wearing that if you're not trying to show off to someone, right?"
"I guess."
Naruto wandered back over to the bed and sat down beside Shizuka. She shifted, scooting closer as he propped one leg onto the bed, letting his foot hang over the edge.
Unlike Shizuka, whose negligee was obviously meant for seducing people, Naruto only wore orange boxer shorts. The kunoichi glanced down at his chest and abs, trailed her eyes along his broad shoulders, and then looked even lower, at something currently hidden behind a thin layer of fabric.
"It's been… a long time, hasn't it?" Shizuka's cheeks turned pink as she looked away. "I mean, since the last time you and I saw each other."
"About six months," Naruto said. "You've become a lot stronger since the last time I saw you."
Shizuka's smile was self-deprecating. "If I was stronger, my kunoichi would have never been kidnapped like this. I would have been able to protect them."
"You're only one person." Naruto shrugged. He didn't want to sound nonchalant, but she also needed to know the facts. "One person can't protect an entire village from an army. You've done everything you can. You even fought Akuma to a standstill, right? He's an S-ranked shinobi. The fact that you could force him to retreat is impressive."
"I had help."
"It doesn't change how impressive it is."
Perhaps she sensed the sincerity in his words, she turned her head back in his direction and looked up at him. Her eyes were a lot more open than they used to be. He remembered when they first met, her eyes had been cold and emotionless, though that had slowly changed after a while.
"Do you really think so?" she asked.
"I do."
Shizuka was silent for a long while. He didn't mind, letting the silence play out as he glanced at her hair. It was so long that it trailed across the bed. Naruto was surprised she hadn't decided to cut it, but he was also glad since he liked her hair long.
"Even if it's an impressive feat on its own, I wish there had been something I could have done to prevent my people from being kidnapped."
That was the crux of her problem. As someone who had once strived to become Hokage, Naruto could understand how she felt. Her duty was to protect her people. However, Akuma and those bandits had kidnapped several of her kunoichi, who would probably be sold on the slave market in the next couple of days.
Naruto scooted closer. The warmth of her thigh came into contact with his shin.
"We still have time to rescue them." He placed a hand on her thigh. "Kunoichi are difficult to sell on the slave market because they are defiant. They require a lot more effort to break and train. I imagine it will be at least a month or two before any of them will be considered 'sellable,' which means we have time to rescue them."
Naruto didn't like thinking in terms like this, but he'd become fairly knowledgeable about the slave market, having busted up numerous slave trading rings during his time training with Jiraiya. He knew how they worked now. That was why he could confidently state they had time before her people would be sold.
Shizuka seemed to take solace in this. She looked up, eyes wide, and then a smile appeared on her lips.
"Thank you, Naruto."
"Anytime." Naruto smiled a bit, though the reassuring smile soon became a bit lascivious as he moved his hand from the top of her thigh to her inner thigh. "I'm glad I could help reassure you… but we both know that isn't why you came here."
Shizuka's eyes went wide, cheeks flushing as Naruto stroked the area where her thigh and crotch met.
"N-no… I…"
"If you really just wanted me to reassure you," Naruto continued, "you wouldn't have come to me dressed like this, right?"
"T-that's just… I…"
Naruto didn't give Shizuka time to respond as he leaned down and nibbled on her ear. A gasp escaped her mouth. Her breathing became slightly ragged.
"What do you want, Shizuka?" asked Naruto, whispering into her ear.
Shizuka shivered. "I want… I want you… please… it's been so long."
"Mmm… it has been a long time." Naruto leaned down further and began placing kisses on her neck. At the same time, he had reached her crotch and was rubbing his hand over her panties. Warm and already slightly wet, her lips yielded at his touch, folds creasing as her panties clung to her damp skin. "I have missed you, Shizu."
"Mmm… ah… ha… Na-Naruto…"
Shizuka turned her head and pressed their lips together. Her soft lips were warm and gentle. They were slightly plump, which made nibbling on them fun. He took great pleasure in taking her lips between his and sucking on them.
"Ha… ha… ahn… slurp…"
The sounds coming from Shizuka's mouth were hampered by Naruto's tongue. He ran his tongue over hers, stirring up the saliva in her mouth, mixing it with his own. Shizuka gulped it down as lewd slurping noises issued from her mouth. She couldn't drink all of it, however, and several trails of drool leaked from between their lips, though neither of them cared.
"Mm… nn… ah… Naruho…"
Her muffled mumbling was accompanied by her hands rubbing his crotch over his boxers, quickly arousing his dick from slumber. Once she had made him hard, she worked him out from the hole in his boxers and wrapped her fingers around his shaft.
"Nnngg… Shizu… that feels so great…" Naruto mumbled between kisses and dueling tongues. "Your fingers are… so soft… but so strong too…"
"I-I'm… ha… I'm glad… ahn!"
Naruto felt an electric current race through him as Shizuka stroked him from the base all the way to the head, which she would rub and tease before going back down. Her hands were soft and delicate, but they were also strong. The callouses from years of training with weapons had created a contrasting feel that sent pulses through his cock.
"You've gotten… mm… slurp… you've gotten so wet… Shizu…"
"It's your… ah ah… it's your fault… mmm… that I'm like this… ha… ha… take responsibility."
"I plan to."
Her panties had become soaked as he stroked her lips over them. They creased and folded against her nether regions. He could even feel her clitorus poking against the now sodden fabric.
He'd noticed it already, but her panties were held up via strings tied together on either side, so he reached out and found the bow tying it to her, then undid them. Because of how wet her panties had become, they clung to her skin. He peeled them off. Now exposed, Shizuka instinctively tried to close her thighs, but Naruto reached down and placed his hand over her sex.
"Ah! Ahn!"
Shizuka jerked away from his lips and threw her head back to release a passionate cry. Her body shook, tits jiggling and bouncing as she spasmed like she'd been shocked with a lightning jutsu.
"Don't tell me you just came," Naruto said with an amused smile. Her hand had stopped stroking him, but he didn't mind.
"S-shut up…" Shizuka huffed. "I haven't… done anything… for a long time…"
"That so?" Naruto hummed. "Then you might want to brace yourself."
Naruto didn't give Shizuka time to say anything as he pushed his index finger passed her folds. It didn't take much effort on his part. The moment he'd moved past her lips, his finger was sucked inside of her. The tightness of her walls closed around his finger, fleshy and soft, with natural lubrication allowing him to just barely move around.
"Nnn! Nn! Ah!"
Listening to Shizuka's cries, Naruto worked his finger along her fleshy interior, retracting and pushing as he searched for the places where her reactions were strongest. Shizuka bit her lip to keep her screams muffled. She'd also decided to pay him back and was stroking him with more pressure than before. His breathing had grown heavy as precum leaked from his tip, which she used to lubricate her hand so it slid along his shaft more easily.
"Ha… ha… ahn! N-not there! If you stroke me there, I'll-"
Naruto used his memories of their time together to find the spot inside of her that felt spongier than the rest. There was a strange springiness to it that the other places inside of her didn't have. Once he found it, Naruto didn't waste time pressing and rubbing against it with the tip of his index finger.
"NaaahH! W-wait! That's… it's too much… I can't… can't-AHN!"
An increased flow of juices moved around his hand, leaking from her love canal and dripping from her crotch onto the bed. Despite her body shaking from aftershocks, she continued pleasuring him.
Naruto leaned down and licked up the drool trailing from her lips. Shizuka turned her head toward him and opened her mouth, allowing him to push his tongue inside of her. As their tongues dueled and danced, they continued pleasing each other. Naruto could tell she was close again from the way her thigh muscles tightened and quivered. What's more…
"Shizu… I'm close…"
"M-me too… Naruto I… OH! NARUTO!"
Once she admitted to being close, Naruto placed his thumb against her clit and rubbed it, causing Shizuka's entire body to spasm as every muscle tightened. He didn't know if it was in response to his actions, but her hand suddenly picked up the pace. As her juices exploded against his hand, fluids gushing from inside of her, he felt his own impending release build up before, without warning, he splashed his seed against her hand.
Shizuka fell back on the bed, letting go of him. Her eyes were glazed over as her breasts jiggled.
"Ha… ha… ha…"
Retracting his fingers from her crotch, Naruto licked his hand clean. He sensed eyes on him and looked at Shizuka. Her eyes were glazed over, but she noticed his actions, and her already blushing cheeks took on a healthy flush as he licked her juices off.
"You taste delicious, Shizu," Naruto said. "I think you might be my favorite treat."
"D-don't say that," she mumbled.
Naruto grinned. "Why not?"
"B-because it's weird." Shizuke looked away.
Still wearing his signature fox-like grin, Naruto rolled over until he was on top of Shizuka. He pushed her legs apart and situated himself between them. He was still harder than a diamond jutsu. Moving his hips, he rested himself against her warm and sopping wet entrance. Her lips gave way as he rubbed himself along them, not inserting his dick into her yet.
"Mmm… that… why… so good…"
Shizuka panted as he slowly sawed back and forth. Her breasts were jiggling from the resulting actions. Naruto wanted to lean over and play with them, but there was something he had to do first.
"Shizu," he caught her attention, "I want to be inside of you. May I?"
Her face was mottled red, but she still responded to his request with a nod. "Y-yes… please… I want you to fill me up."
With her permission, Naruto stopped rubbing herself against him, lined himself up, and slowly pushed inside of her.
"Oooohhh… I forgot how full your cock made me," Shizuka groaned. "This is… nothing like my fingers… it's… it's… hhhhhrrrnnnn!"
Naruto took a deep breath as Shizuka's insides wrapped around him in a tight, wet embrace. She was tight enough that he almost released his load right then and there. Damn. He needed to exercise some restraint.
Leaning over, Naruto used one hand to support his body while he grabbed her chest with the other. Shizuka released a soft sigh when he rolled her nipple between her fingers. The soft bud quickly hardened as he continued to play with it.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Mmm…" Shizuka nodded. "I'm okay. You can move now."
"I'll go gently at first," Naruto said.
He retracted his dick until just the head was inside of her, then slowly pushed into her. Shizuka released a long "ooooohhhhh!" as he moved, and he had to keep a tight lock on his own desires as something akin to electricity jolted his body. Naruto did this for a few more minutes before she told him he could go faster, then picked up the pace, slowly at first, but with increasing intensity.
"Oh! Oh! Naru-Ahn! T-that feel so good! Ah!... ha! Your dick is filling me up!"
"Nnn! I hope you don't mind… but I plan on filling you with more than just my dick."
"Yes! Yes… I want you to fill me up! Shoot your batter into me! Oh, gods! Hrk! You're hitting my womb! Ahn! Ha! Hyk! M-my mind is going blank! Can't… can't… ahn!"
The lewd sound of their flesh slapping together was accompanied by the pants, grunts, and moans the two released as Naruto thrust into her. Shizuka's body shook. Her stomach, tight and well-muscled from years of training, trembled at their love making. The large breasts that sat proudly on her chest bounced every time he thrust inside of her, which he took great pleasure in doing. Over and over again.
"Oh, Gods! Oh, Gods!" Shizuka's spine arced as she placed her feet on the edge of the bed, spread her legs wide, and lifted her hips. "You're going even deeper than-hrk! Hyuk! I can't… Naru… too much! Too deep! Aht!"
Despite her words, Shizuka wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles against the small of Naruto's back and using her heels to drive him further into her, as if helping him penetrate even deeper into her womb.
Naruto felt the inevitable release soon. It coiled around him, building up like a volcano.
"S-Shizu… I'm…"
"Me too! T-together! Ahn… ha… please!"
"Mm. Together."
Naruto waited until he felt Shizuka's insides become unbearably tight, until her body shook with the intensity of her own orgasm, to release himself inside of her.
"A-Ah-AHNN!"
Shizuka released a loud cry as her body tensed, every muscle growing unbearably stronger. Her legs tightened around him. It would have snapped the bones of anyone else. Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes as a wave of overwhelming sensations rocked his body. Then, all at once, it was over, and Naruto took several deep breaths as Shizuka's legs went slack.
"Ha… ha…"
As he recovered, Naruto looked at Shizuka, who was staring off into space with a pleased smile on her lips. He zeroed in on her lips. Moist, pink, slightly bruised from their kissing. Drool leaked from them, but that made her look even more erotic. He couldn't resist the urge to kiss her.
"Mmm… hnn… mmm… Naru… ha…"
The sloppy exchange complete with tongue and drool stirred up Naruto's passions again. He hardened while still inside of her. Her eyes went wide in disbelief.
"I can't believe… you're already hard…"
"Do you want to stop?"
Shizuka shook her head. "Let's keep going… I haven't seen you in so long. I don't want this to end just yet."
"In that case."
Naruto stood back up and pulled out. Shizuka groaned in complaint, but it soon turned into a squeal when he flipped her onto her stomach. Grabbing her hips, Naruto lifted her butt into the air. Perhaps realizing his intentions, Shizuka tucked her legs beneath her and raised her hips as he lined himself up with her entrance.
Their cries of passion filled the room once more.
Little did they know that someone else was watching them.
XoX
Tenten could not believe her eyes, and though she tried to look away, her eyes refused to remove themselves from the crack in the door.
She had followed Shizuka here. When Naruto entered and let Shizuka inside, she had pressed her ear against the door and listened to their conversation. It had been intimate. Very intimate. Tenten had actually felt bad for eavesdropping on them, but then something had changed.
The sounds coming from the room were less conversation and more animalistic cries of pleasure.
Against her better judgement, Tenten had opened the door and peeked inside. What she saw rooted her to the spot. Naruto and Shizuka were having sex. Hot. Passionate. Love making. Their sweaty bodies converged together, their tongues danced, their moans created a symphony that complemented their every action. It was just like when Naruto and Temari had gone at it.
Tenten had wanted to run away like she did back in Suna. She didn't. Her body had remained rooted to the spot. What's more, as she watched Naruto and Shizuka go at it, her own body became hot, overwhelmingly so.
"Ah…"
Clamping a hand over her mouth, Tenten felt heat spread across her face and neck. She looked down. Somehow, without her realizing it, her other hand and pressed against her crotch.
I… I shouldn't be doing this.
Even though she knew she needed to stop, her body refused to listen, and she peeked back into the door while slipping her hand into her panties and finding her entrance. She watched Naruto and Shizuka have sex, listened to their cries and moans of passion, and pleasured herself. She felt shame while doing so. Sure, she'd masturbated before. She'd even done so while thinking about Naruto, but that was different than what she was doing just then. How would she ever be able to look him in the eye after this?
Despite of her shame, she kept going, pushing her finger inside of her, playing with her clit. When Naruto and Shizuka hit their first mutual orgasm, Tenten had to bite down on her shirt to muffle her screams as she also came.
She didn't stick around as Naruto and Shizuka began going at it again. Standing on shaky legs, she closed their door and slowly made her way back to the room she shared with Ino. She crawled underneath the covers and closed her eyes, but sleep didn't come for a long time.
The image of Shizuka and Naruto, of Naruto and Temari, kept replaying in her mind over and over again.
I'm sure some people are wondering about Naruto's relationships by this point in time. I never bothered giving the arc where Naruto and Shizuka met-mostly because the arc where that took place is almost identical to the original filler episode in Naruto Shippuden. It's episode 235, by the way, in case anyone who hasn't watched it would like to. In either event, the only difference is that after the events of episode 235 (which happens earlier in my story), Naruto and Shizuka become intimate, which obviously did not happen in canon.
You've probably noticed by this point, but I do a lot of foreshadowing in my stories. The first part of this chapter is actually foreshadowing what will be the last arc of my series. I'm not sure how many more arcs I have left, but I plan on doing at least two more before hitting the final arc.
On a side note, I believe everyone knows by this point that my stories are very campy. They aren't super original or amazing works of literature. I write mostly to entertain myself because I love writing, and I write campy stories with harems and sex because those are my favorite kinds of stories to read. If you like those kinds of stories as well, then I hope you have a great time reading all of my stories, fan fiction and original.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone