Anastasia went first. "I want to know why you're against the Organization. Apart from the obvious of them sending their troublemakers to their death, that is," she told him.
"The Organization are the ones responsible for a lot of misery that is happening here. And before you protest," Naruto gestured Miria to hand him the book that detailed the Organization creating the yoma. Once it was handed to him, the blond opened it to a specific page before handing it to Anna for her to read. "I took this book, along with several others, from the Organization when I snuck inside their headquarters two years ago. Take a look at it, and see them for what they really are."
Anastasia looked at Naruto with suspicion, but she nevertheless took the book and started reading through the article. Naruto saw a variety of expressions come and go on her face. First, there was suspicion but as the long curly haired blonde read the first several paragraphs, that suspicion slowly became wide-eyed horror as more and more of the organizations is misdeeds was revealed to her. This was followed by righteous anger, as she kept reading through, paragraph after paragraph.
Her knuckles were white, as she held the book tight in her grasp. Anastasia tore her eyes away from the pages of the book and looked Naruto directly in the eyes. "Is this legitimate?" she asked with grit teeth; the poor woman was barely able to keep herself from growing.
Naruto gave her a grim nod. he pointed to the book in her hands and said, "That came from the organisation itself; it's as legitimate as it can be."
The woman was practically shaking with anger as she looked at the pages again. Her teeth were bared in a full scowl.
"Captain?" Nike questioned, looking at her captain with concern, "What does it say?"
"This book," the long curly-haired woman growled out, "is telling us the Organisation are the ones who made the yoma."
"What!?" Nike, Dominique, Tesla, Noma, Minerva and Camilla all shouted at the same time.
"That can't be true!" exclaimed Nike, "The organisation is many things, not many of them polite, but even they wouldn't stoop so low as to create the very things we're fighting!"
Anastasia handed Nike the book and said without any humour, "If you don't believe me then read; this very page tells it exactly, as it is."
Nike slowly took the book out of her captain's hands and read through the page. Anastasia, on the other hand, sat down on the mattress and held her head in her hands, as she tried to sort herself out.
It wasn't long before the Number 14 shook to the core from what the book contained. When she couldn't take anymore, she pawned it off to someone else; Minerva was the one who took it next and like Anastasia and Nike before her when she found out that the Organization were the ones that made Youma, that they were killing humans all along, she took it as well as they did.
One by one each member of Anastasia's hunting party read the book. And one by one they became just as angry, and feeling just as betrayed as Anastasia' did.
"Those… those fucking bastards!" Minerva shouted in absolute rage. So angry was she, that the Number 24 would have released her yoki had Naruto not put a hand on her shoulder plate.
"Calm yourself, okay. Getting angry now won't solve anything. They will get what is coming to them. I promise you that much." the blond told her.
Anastasia took a deep breath to calm herself. This revelation made her see Naruto in a new light. The Organization wasn't trying to stop Ladykiller Naruto because he's stopping them from 'protecting humanity', or some bullshit they're spouting. They're trying to stop him because he's threatening to unravel everything that took them centuries to set up!
"So this is why you're fighting them." the long, curly-haired blonde said. She looked between Naruto and Miria then the Number 6 looked to the latter, "Ladykiller Naruto has said you are the true leader, and the brains behind all of this. Is this true?" Anastasia asked.
Miria nodded confirmedly, "Yes. After what I discovered; what they were doing; I could not just stand by and let them continue. I asked Naruto to help me in my quest - I was prepared to offer him my body, and my servitude, in exchange for his services."
Anastasia, and the others all looked at Naruto in shock. "Did you-"
Naruto put a stop to that before Minerva could even finish that sentence.
"No. Hell no." he interrupted, giving the Number 24 a stern look. "I refused to take her as my slave. I asked her why she wanted my help, she told me what the Organization was doing to you girls, so I helped her out for free. She still offered herself to me though, even if I told her she didn't have to."
"And I never regretted it." The former Number 6 said dreamily. If only her friend Hilda was here, then her life would be complete.
"...Are you still accepting warriors for this rebellion you're having?" Anastasia asked, looking at Miria directly. "Because if you are, then I pledge myself to your cause."
"As do I," Nike said.
"Me too," Minerva said as well.
"I'll gladly throw my lot in with your rebellion!" Noma exclaimed with righteous fury.
Tesla clung onto Naruto's arm, much to Miria's chagrin as she said, "I'm in!"
Dominique gave them a serious and said, "same here."
"You've had my support since you save myself, Clarice, Elise, Nina and Miata in Dabi," Camilla pointed out with a grin. "This only gives me another reason."
"Then, in that case, we're going to have to make plans," Naruto told them. "We can't have all of you defecting right away - that would only piss off the Organization even more, and draw their attention to Morris." Tesla grasped onto his arm as she looked at him, terrified that he was going to send her away.
"So what do you suggest? Tesla and Dominique want to stay," Anastasia pointed out.
"Again, I could easily tell the organization that they fell in battle if they ask," Camilla pointed out. "Or perhaps that the oh, so dreaded 'Ladykiller' snatched them up when they went scouting to look for this 'pack of yoma' their team was sent to deal with." She waggled her fingers for added effect when she said that last part.
"The problem is we need people out on the field," Miria told them. "We know what the Organization is doing, you now know what the Organization is doing. We need people to secretly spread the word that the Organization is the ones making yoma, and to keep an eye on anything out of the ordinary." Miria then looked to her husband, "Naruto, what do you think?"
"You both make good points…" Naruto said with a heavy sigh. God, making these decisions was hard. "We need people out on the field… but at the same time, I don't want these two to feel like we're pushing them away." he brought Tesla into a comforting hug, "This one is close to having a panic attack after the revelation of them being sent here to clear out the 12 single-digit tiered awakened beings, and she doesn't want to go either." he sighed once more, "What to do, what to do…?"
Tesla gave him the most desperate, pleading look Naruto had ever seen. "Please, don't make me go! I don't want to die!"
"I… god damn it..." he didn't know what to do here. That look, he can't just send her away, but...
Camilla chimed in with an amused chuckle. "You do know that you still have me in the field, no?" she gave Naruto an impish smirk. "I'd be happy to spy for you and spread the word. Also, I can feed misinformation to the Organization, itself… that you snatched Tesla here and 'converted' her when she ventured ahead to scout, for example."
"It'll be best if you were to give them a bit of truth as well. To make it more believable."
"Of course," she giggled. "I intended to."
"What should she say to them then?" Miria asked.
Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I don't know… tell them hints of the truth, with some lies mixed into it. The Organization knows we're here, so lying to them about us being somewhere else is a no go, and I'm pretty damn sure they're going to send another force of awakened beings and yoma to wipe Morris out the second they learn we're no longer here. And you're here to 'spy' on me Camilla, so, you do your job. You get information, you tell them the truth with a lot of lies mixed into it."
She gave him a salute and a playful grin. "Yes, sir~!"
Naruto chuckled, "So, do you have a time limit when are you to report to the Organization?"
"It's more of an appointment," she said with a shrug. "I am to report to my handler once a month unless he tells me otherwise. The amount of time I am ultimately meant to stay here, though, is indefinite."
"Which means you're not exactly useful in the field if you are to stay here and gather information on Naruto." Miria pointed out.
"...Not true." Naruto corrected his wife. "Though her ability to spread the word among other warriors is admittedly limited, she is in the best position possible to spread misinformation. She can even request an 'aid' or two, whenever the handler comes. We can spread the word to the other warriors that way, too."
Camilla hummed thoughtfully. "I'll have to be a bit careful about requesting aid, but I'll see what manner of bullshit I can cook up for them."
"You also have us," Anastasia piped up with a devious grin. "Thanks to us having no real place to settle, we're constantly on the move. That means we're more likely to encounter other warriors. But without the proof you have shown us, the chances of them believing us is admittedly small." she concluded with a frown.
"I can still put a seal on you girls," Naruto told them. "If you were to get into trouble, you can just send your yoki into it and I would be there in the blink of an eye. It was how I was able to save Elise from certain death. It was how I managed to save Drillsword Jean from certain death. I can easily come to you whenever you call me. That includes getting that proof you need to convince your comrades, or if you want, you can just talk to me."
"Alright," Anastasia said. "That sounds like a plan. I'll inform my handler that Tesla went 'missing' and that we soon discovered the 'yoma infestation' had been dealt with before we got here, after asking Camilla who was also stationed here."
Naruto smiled. "Sounds good!" he chirped.
"So... " Nike began, "this... 'seal' of yours... how do you get it on us?"
"He paints it on your wrist and applies this energy he uses called 'chakra'," Miria explained.
"He can actually apply it anywhere on a person's body," Camilla said with a giggle. "I have mine… elsewhere."
Miria growled viciously at the tramp but was immediately pacified by Naruto pulling her into a one-armed hug. Multiple kisses on her cheek, jaw and lips included.
Several women in the room turned beet red at the display.
"...Oh my…" scared as all hell she may be, but Tesla couldn't help but be awed at the immediate pacification of the infamous Phantom Miria.
Anastasia couldn't help but stare, no matter how damn much she wanted to tear her gaze away. "I'd… prefer mine on the wrist, thank you," she insisted embarrassedly.
"No problem," Naruto said and stopped giving Miria her kisses for now. She, on the other hand, kept kissing him on the cheek and jawline. "I have to apply it on the skin though, just a fair warning."
"Perfectly fine," the current Number 6 assured.
"Is… is it true that can you also heal our stigma?" an uncharacteristically shy Dominique asked, "Camilla told us you can heal our stigmas."
"I can, but I'd be worried for your safety if I did," Naruto said.
"Dae would make us his guinea pigs in a heartbeat if he found out that we no longer had them," Camilla grumbled. "I told you as much. And not to mention what would happen if that elder fucker found out about it, too."
"They'd stop at nothing to try and capture my husband," Miria added, clinging onto Naruto for dear life. "And your generation would be the ones sent to do it."
"Pfff, I'd much rather drop to my knees and suck his dick," Camilla said dismissively. "There's no way in hell I'm going to risk my life pissing off 20-plus warriors and over a dozen awakened beings, in addition to two fucking Abyssal Ones, all for one guy, no matter how valuable they think he is."
"Here here," Nike and Noma chanted concurringly. "Except the… dropping to my knees part, though." the former added on. The latter, however, was conspicuously silent about it as she shyly averted her gaze.
"Oh-ho-ho!" Camilla giggled deviously, "It looks like the Ladykiller has an admirer~!"
Poor Noma's only response was to blush harder and fidget as Miria sighed heavily in exasperation.
"To be fair," Naruto began, "she does have a good reason, I'm sure. I also can't help but notice she has a similar hairstyle to you and Priscilla; more Priscilla though - she can pass off as your younger sister, Miria. So, that's kinda hot."
Miria gave him an elbow to the ribs for the trouble. "You're not helping," she hissed.
"I'm just seeing as I call it," he replied. Then Naruto squints his eyes. "Heck now that I really look, Anna kinda looks like Flora. Dominique, too… huh, if I had to guess I would think you're related to her. The resemblance you both have to her is uncanny."
Anastasia and Dominique looked at him oddly, not sure what to think of that. Then, the farmer asked, "so… how long does it take to apply this seal? I'd like to see if we can get started as soon as possible."
"Before we get started on that," Naruto began, "I would like to know your names, and officially introduce ourselves to one another."
Anastasia, Nike, Noma, Dominique, Tesla and Minerva all exchanged looks.
Anastasia spoke up first, "I am 'Winged' Anastasia, Number 6 of the Organization."
Then Noma spoke up, "I am Noma, Number 22 of the Organization."
"Call me Nike, I'm Number 14." the pixie-cut woman added.
"I'm Telsa, Number 15," the one that was still clinging onto his arm said.
Next, the one in the very back, standing by the door introduced herself. "Minerva, Number 24."
"I'm Dominique, Number 18." the near Flora look-alike said.
Naruto smiled at them as they introduced themselves one by one. This was going to go a long way, he just knew it.
----
A few hours later, back in Staff, Hilda groaned, rubbing her temples as she found herself walking in on Neideen once again harassing poor Miranda. Sistina wasn't spouting her… weird predictions or mumbling to herself like the others say she does, thankfully.
She looked to her left and found Sophia and Noel sitting beside one another, on a bed, watching the trainwreck that was Neideen and Miranda. Cassandra was none too happy about it, trying her damnedest to pry the one-eyed woman off her friend.
Only to somehow get victimised as well.
"Gah! Will you stop that and go back to molesting Roxanne you pervert!?!"
"You leave me out of this!" said the woman shouted from her bed, looking at the elf-eared woman with a scowl. The one-eyed harlot is not molesting her, and she wants to keep it that way for as long as possible. "Get her to molest Licht, Chloe, or Luticia, some time! Hell, get her to molest the other ones that got revived!"
"You leave us out of this!" Noel shouted almost immediately.
"They did nothing to merit that," Cassandra said. "Making you my scapegoat's the least you deserve! AH! Not there!" she yelled, her knees buckling when Neideen cupped her groin and started rubbing her cunt through her pants.
"No need to be so mean~!" the one-eyed woman giggled. "Besides, I can tell if you're enjoying it. I have plenty of experience~."
Cassandra averted her gaze, clicking her tongue in annoyance. She'd die before admitting that!
"N-NeidEEN! C-can you please, stop!?" Miranda tried to ask, though, like Cassandra, the woman molesting her was rubbing her folds. Neideen's expert ministrations sent hot shivers up her spine and her knees felt like jelly!
Then, poor Cassandra yelped again, falling in shivering, panting, horribly-flustered heap as a wave of pleasure crashed into her with paralyzing force.
With a grin, Neideen leaned in between the two of them and whispered, "If you think I'm bad, imagine what the Ladykiller is going to do once he gets his hands on you~. He's going to completely ruin us, from the sound of it~!"
"You sound suspiciously like you're looking forward to it," Hilda muttered uncomfortably.
"How can I not~?" the Number 9 purred, "He's going to completely ruin us if Sistina's predictions are any indication."
The said woman turned beet red at that.
"I'm beginning to think your resemblance to St. Nymphetamina is no coincidence…" Hilda muttered.
Neideen looked at her oddly. "St. what, now?"
"A... a folk hero of my hometown," Hilda explained. "In the loosest meaning of the term imaginable..."
Neideen, Cassandra, Miranda and Roxanne all blinked. The former stopped molesting Cassandra and Miranda as she brought her full undivided attention to Hilda.
"This saint whatshername, wasn't around when Roxanne, myself and Cassandra and Miranda were around." the one-eyed beauty said. "What's her story?"
Hilda sighed as she recounted the story. "As the legend goes: St. Nymphetamina, the Hero of Nash was a one-eyed warrior of the Organization who saved the main chapel of the Twin Goddesses when the faith was still young from… ahem, the One-Eyed Beast of One-Thousand Writhing Dicks." cue many people in the room sniggering, Neideen, especially. "This great beast had reputedly… fornicated with the priestesses of the church so viciously that it tore them apart. It even nearly subjugated the Twin Goddesses, themselves, until the day St. Nymphetamina came riding down the hill upon her mighty, black steed. The Beast had struck her down as she came and tried to have its way with her, but then, she mounted the One-Eyed Beast and… as the legend goes, 'f-fucked it to death'." She visibly struggled to say that last part. Then, she glared at the one-eyed woman as she burst into a fit of laughter, falling to the ground with a thud.
"Oh my god!" she laughed uproariously.
"Is there something wrong?" Cassandra asked she was looking at Hilda and Neideen nervously and shyly. She had a bad feeling that she was not going to enjoy the explanation.
"That One-Eyed Beast was a low-tier awakened being, with a shit ton of tentacles!" Neideen giggled. "I was sent to kill it! Oh, I can't believe this! It's just so funny!" She roared in laughter once more, her gut starting to hurt. "I-I-I I have got to see if there are any statues of me around!"
"Regrettably, there are…" Hilda muttered in exasperation.
"You would be at the root of such a vulgar legend," Roxanne sighed.
"T-to be fair, that awakened being was having its way with the nuns. The nasty fucker tore them apart, too, while he was at it." Neideen explained, finally calming down. "Your guess is as good as mine about how the hell they thought I fucked him to death. I chopped the bastard to bits, but then again... there were no witnesses, now that I think about it. Huh." That could explain a lot… Neideen still found it funny as all hell, though. Maybe when this whole fiasco blew over, she could see about joining the church of the Twin Goddesses? It's not like the Organization will be around for long, from the sound of it…
"Maybe they heard you moaning like a bitch in heat while you were chopping him to bits." Roxanne snarked.
"Possibly,' Neideen chirped to her horror. "There were a lot of tentacles… grabby ones, too; you have no idea. So, it took me more effort to put him down than I initially thought… partially because I was a bit distracted. He was also begging for mercy before long, too. So there could have been a few reasons for that myth of my heroics turning into such a hilarious story."
"Does the Ladykiller have any stories? The Organization made him into such a big deal, I'm honestly wondering what he's capable of. Apart from the obvious…" Noel said; Sophia, herself and Hilda were brought up to speed by Miranda and why they were brought back. While the thought of going up against someone capable of subduing two Abyssal Ones, and fucking Priscilla of all people, someone who's yoki was bottomless when she awakened, the Number 4 was still curious to know more about him.
"From what Sistina said," Cassandra began, "the Ladykiller has grown up isolated, ignored and hated. He had to go through many will-breaking trails to become as strong as he is now. What those trails are on the other hand is a mystery." the woman explained; then she looked to the Divine Oracle herself and asked, "Unless, you're able to tell us more about him?"
Sistina shrugged helplessly, "I can't turn my trances on and off at will. It is… annoying. It is the same when I speak to those that have passed on to the afterlife - or the Pure Land as it is known over there. But for the latter, someone on the other side has to make contact with me. And that rarely happens."
"Too bad," Neideen giggled. "Some of the things you say are hilarious!"
Sistina blushed at that, averting her gaze.
"Those 'IN THE FUTURE' predictions are not. Funny. They're just… plain weird. People can watch entertainment through a magic window? People can travel the land in metal wagons that can self-propel? A giant, talking purple lizard called Barney?"
"My favourite one is the men in bright-coloured panties," Neideen giggled.
"That would be," Roxanne muttered.
Sistina cleared her throat. "I guess it's a bad time to say, that the Ladykiller is an author… of lewd books?" she said awkwardly.
"Ooh! What kind?"
"Damn it, Neideen! Stop thinking with your cunt!"
"The series is not all his, actually - it's his late mentor's." Sistina corrected herself, "He's got the whole series translated into our language, and he owns the entire thing, now, seeing as he inherited the property rights."
"Hmm… I should go and… give him ideas in that case~."
"Neideen…!" Cassandra growled warningly.
"What?" she asked with a giggle. "It's not like we're gonna win, anyway. I might as well be prepared for our defeat, no?"
"That sounds defeatist of you." Sophia flatly said.
Neideen shrugged. "From the way Sistina made him out to be, he's going to stomp us once he goes all out. I mean, the guy demolished an entire town in the blink of an eye - what chance does any of us here have against that?"
"A team is more than the sum of its parts," Hilda pointed out. "If we are to win, we must work together."
Sistina coughed. "Yeah… about that. He can make copies of himself. And all of them are capable of what he is doing."
There was a very tense silence at that before Hilda asked, "Uh… how many copies?"
"Thousands at a time." Sistina reluctantly answered. "Though he rarely uses that many nowadays, he is still capable of flooding the battlefield with thousands of himself."
"Yup, I'm dropping to my knees and sucking his dick when I see him," Neideen chirped. "At least then, I might survive… and I'm quite good at it."
"Well… to be fair he's not fighting us, just the Organization." Miranda pointed out.
"We're going to be sent to kill him," Neideen countered, shrugging nonchalantly. "I'm more willing to take my chances with the Organization on my ass than someone capable of taking on all three of the Abyssal Ones at the same time."
"We can just switch sides the second we are sent after him. We don't have to fight him."
"Precisely," the naughty former Number 9 chirped shamelessly. "I'm not stupid enough to provoke him. Anyone else?"
"Fight him, lose, and end up getting fucked by him," Noel chimed in. "Or, swap sides and live… and end up getting fucked by him. That isn't much of a choice."
"It seems no matter what choices we take, we're going to meet the same outcome." Sophia pointed out to them, "What's the point in choosing? I want to fight him and see just how strong he is."
"Suit yourself, I guess," Neideen replied. "I could take you both pretty easily, myself, but I'm not staring down a thousand mountain-sized fox men that can wipe villages off the map in an instant. One's scary enough."
"Who is left to be revived now anyway?"
"Elizabeth and Uranus-" Miranda started and was briefly interrupted by Neideen's sniggering at her mentioning the latter's name. "Former Numbers 5 and 31 of my generation."
"Coffin fodder, in other words," Roxanne said snidely.
"Humpth, you're one to talk," Cassandra muttered. "We were all revived just so we can die again, against the Ladykiller. Our only advantages for the moment is that we're virtually unknown to him and that we have Sistina's foresight."
"That's assuming he hasn't converted anyone within our ranks without us knowing about it," Sistina added. "He's what is essentially a master spy, among other things."
"Has anyone been in contact with the other warriors?" Cassandra asked. "Has any of you been seen by the current generation?"
"Oh, fuck... a few of us have," Licht said. "Chloe and I were trying to drag Sistina back to our room when she was in a trance, a few days ago, and were seen as a result. Neideen, however…" she turned beet red at the thought. "Let's say she hasn't been… 'playing around' with just you, Roxanne and Miranda."
"Whaaat? Those twins are so cute~!" the one-eyed woman shamelessly cooed with a lewd grin, "They have the most adorable little moans, too~! They never had the pleasure of being eaten out, the poor dears..."
"TOO MUCH INFORMATION!" Miranda squealed in embarrassment. "I swear you're insatiable!"
"Guilty as charged~!"
"You have no shame, do you?" a red-faced Cassandra growled.
"Nope. Say, Oracle," Sistina looked at Neideen questionably, "are you able to tell if our fates have changed? Nothing is set in stone, right?"
The woman in question sighed but nodded. "Very true... I can't make any promises, but I shall try and see if any changes have occurred to the predictions…" she closed her eyes and concentrated. Fortunately, her usually-inconvenient foresight pulled through this time as she entered a trance. "The warrior with hair of gold and whiskers of the fox shall find pity upon the many with the power of one," she said. "The one of insatiable lust shall be the first to switch sides upon seeing him, not lifting a finger as the others engage. Thus she shall be the first impaled upon his mighty spear in every position imaginable - first from behind upon her hands and knees and last upon her back with her arms wrapped around him in a loving embrace. Thus she shall be his wife and bear him nine sons and seven daughters and become the saint of the Twins of Love."
Neideen's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "Sixteen, instead of nine? Damn~! OUTCH!"
She shut up courtesy of a whack upside the head by Cassandra.
"The one of insatiable lust will be among his most devoted and insatiable wives," Sistina continued. "Surpassing even the One of the West and she who is known as the One-Horned Monster in the sheer number of children she produces with him. Only one of the Drillsword shall surpass her."
The one-eyed warrior sniggered. So she would be tied for second place, then? Not bad…
"Will any of us come to love him, or put up with him out of necessity? Will he love us?" Cassandra asked; hey if she's going to lose she might as well know if she's at least going to enjoy being with him in the end.
"The one of insatiable lust shall be the first," Sistina answered. "Followed by the one with the Blade of Evil, then the one with a heart of gold, then the Eater of Dust, soon after. The one of Elegance shall follow soon, as well, but be the last one to admit it. Finding solace in him, she will, for his attention is all she will ever need. She who is coated in red shall share this attitude, for her pride will not allow her to admit she enjoys being the warmer of his bed."
Rosemary turned beet red at that, averting her gaze. Her ego wasn't that bad, was it?
"His warmth, his patience, is long. He shall show the one coated in red his love, in various forms. The one with the heart of black may fall in love with him rather quickly, should she have a chance to meet the warrior with hair of gold and whiskers of the fox. But, should she not be careful, is doomed to be cut down by the Eater of Dust… and the one with a Blade of Evil… and the one of insatiable lust. Should she not tread upon them, though, she may find happiness with the warrior with hair of gold. Many paths, she has before her… only one leads to happiness, though all present great dangers for her to face. Beware the Eater of Dust, especially, for she will be the one to most enjoy striking down the one with a heart of black."
"Guilty as charged," Cassandra muttered spitefully.
"...I want to be happy." Roxanne said with a childish pout. Then she looked at the entranced Sistina and asked, "How am I defeated by the Ladykiller, again?"
"Should the one with a heart of black not tread cautiously, the warrior with hair of gold shall not even get the chance to meet her. Cut down by the Eater of Dust, she will be, impaled upon her sword, she will be, and the Eater of Dust shall enjoy watching her blood run dry. Should this not come to pass, however, the one with heart of black shall be among the last to fall as the warrior with hair of gold, the Uzumaki, the Killer of the Ladies, becomes wreathed in flames of gold and strikes her down, and impales her upon his mighty spear. Thus she shall become his wife and bear him three sons and no daughters."
"I see… will I love him?" She asked, trying to hide her curiosity over the answer.
"Learn how to love, and not hate, shall the one with a heart of black, thus she will be the most devoted wife of all."
"So why does she only have three kids with him?" Neideen asked, tilting her head curiously.
"The one with heart of black shall bear him three sons in one night, and only them, for she feels that will be enough," Sistina muttered robotically, completely oblivious to the pale-faced, bug-eyed woman now gaping at her in utter shock and horror. Was Sistina saying she'd have triplets?! "Making love to him, warming him, waking him with morning copulations, and laying with him close in the night shall give the one with heart of black the greatest of joys."
"...sounds like she's going to turn into Neideen, and comes to love it. I could be wrong though." Miranda muttered.
"That doesn't sound anything like Roxanne." Cassandra pointed out with a slight scowl.
Getting her emotions under control, Roxanne ignored Cassandra and Miranda as she took a deep breath and pressed her forefinger against the corner of her lips, "Hmmm… interesting future... I'll have to think on it." and maybe keep to herself as well, and not provoke Cassandra or any of her… previous victims so she can see where this path leads.
Sistina opened her eyes and shook her head to get the cobwebs out, as she came out of her trance. She groaned at the persistent buzzing for a bit and then blinked owlishly at the many eyes upon her. "Oh my, I do hope I didn't say anything embarrassing."
----
Nina sighed as she swiped the purple blood off her claymore. She looked around and found the streets of Nero had many dismembered bodies of yoma lying around. By the hands of Miata, Clarice and herself nonetheless.
"This was an uncommonly large amount of yoma." she said aloud; it took her, Miata and the Mud Head several days just to clear them out. There was just so god damn many of them! Then she looked to the two people in question.
The brat was caked in purple gore, and clinging onto her 'mama' like her life depended on it, while a slightly-uncomfortable Clarice tried to urge Miata to let go so they could get her washed up.
Nina sighed, wondering how those two managed to grow on her in such a short amount of time. Clarice was useless; she could barely fight the common yoma. But apparently, her brown hair was what made Naruto - a person so powerful, he could swipe them aside like they were bugs - think she was 'special' or some shit. Then, there was the nutcase, Miata… Where to even begin with her?
The girl was unstable, there was no question about it - a full-on berserker; she shouldn't even be on the field! Her mind was practically that of a toddler, for fuck's sake! But Naruto liked her, and apparently, the brat liked him too since she practically warmed up to him within minutes. She was also… annoyingly cute. Seriously, Nina wanted so badly to be irritated by the kid, but her devotion to her 'mama' ever failed to melt Nina's heart.
"When can we see mister Naruto again, Mama?" Nina heard the brat say. "Can he be my papa?"
Nina sweatdropped at that; apparently, the kid liked him so much she wanted him as her 'daddy'. Try as she might, the Number 9 couldn't help but find Clarice's flustered sputtering a bit amusing.
"I'm p-pretty sure he's too busy to be your papa, Miata." Clarice gently told her. "He has a lot of work to do."
Miata cocked her head cutely, not quite understanding. "He has enough time to have lots and lots of kids, though…" she trailed off.
"Uh…" Clarice slowly looked to Nina, and silently pleaded for her help.
Number 9 rolled her eyes with a small smile and obliged. "The Organization is trying to kill him," she explained. "If they were not, I am sure he would have more than enough time to be your daddy."
"...I don't like the Organization. Mama, when can we have mister Naruto as Papa?"
"Uh…" Clarice blushed heavily. "I… don't know? I… it um…"
"Mister Naruto would have to marry your mama to be your papa," Nina said. "But since he likes your mama, there is a chance of that happening. He does think she's 'special', after all."
Clarice only blushed harder at that, her legs feeling like jelly.
Miata stared at her intently. "What's wrong, mama? Are you sick?"
"I think she is thinking of the possible marriage." Nina chuckled. "She likes him, but is too shy to say it."
"Y-you're not helping…" Clarice whined.
"If mister Naruto likes Mama, and Mama likes mister Naruto, then why do you not ask him?" Miata innocently asked.
"B-because he has so many other wives, and they're so much stronger and prettier than I am," Clarice said dejectedly. "I… don't think he'd like me... in that way."
Just then, a yellow flash appeared beside Clarice, starling the living hell out of her as the person they were just talking about appeared out of nowhere.
Nina tried so hard not to grin impishly, having been the one to call him, but it was so hard. Still, she did her damndest to look innocent. It was quite an impressive attempt.
Naruto blinked as he looked around, and saw the many youma corpses strewn around on the road. "Huh, weird. Then again I'm not complaining," he said, grinning with relief, "I was wondering if you were in trouble or not. You girls were silent for quite a while, I was close to checking up on you myself. So, what's the problem?"
"Clarice is having issues with her self-esteem," Nina pointed out.
"Oh?" Naruto looked at her, "What's the matter? Do you want to talk about it?"
"I… uh…" Clarice struggled for a bit.
Much like a child would, Miata spoke up. "Mama wants you to be my papa, but she thinks you couldn't like her that way because you have stronger and prettier wives."
Naruto stared at them for a moment."Really? Well, I indeed have stronger wives. But, your mama is very pretty. She's nice, too. Strength doesn't matter to me. Your mama has nothing to worry about~!" He then patted Miata on the head as he smiled at Clarice. "I like women like her very much." the blond couldn't help but chuckle as he caught the timid underdog before she could fall.
Clarice simply couldn't stand on her own two feet. Her knees buckled and the world was spinning as she did her best to muster up some kind of reply.
Naruto hugged her close as he whispered into her ear. "I know what it's like to be treated like dirt. And dismissed as a mistake, and a waste of time." he rubbed her stomach and Clarice shuddered at the caress. It felt so good! "Trust me when I say, you are not a mistake or a waste of time. You are a beautiful woman and one hell of a strong one in her way. Most people in your position would have gone insane by now, but here you are, carrying on and even raising a kid while you're at it. That is true strength right there, and I know you'll only get stronger from here."
Poor Clarice went limp, fainting in his arms at all the attention.
"MAMA!"
"Don't worry," Naruto assured as he set the unconscious Clarice down on her back, "she just fainted. I got this!" then he pressed his palm against her forehead, and sent a surge of chakra into her; it woke the brunette right up.
Then, she turned beet red once more and averted her gaze. "Th-thanks," she muttered.
Naruto chuckled and sat down next to her, "No problem, cutie. If you want, I can try and see what is wrong with your conversion. Or… I could heal your stigma and see if that helps. Seeing as you're an 'unusual' case, that might be just what you need to keep your yoki under control."
"Will I have to leave with you?" she asked, sitting up.
"Only if you want to; but, if the Organization finds out your stigma is gone, they're going to do… bad things." he adjusted his words for Miata's sake. "If you decide to stay with them, then you will have to keep it a secret from them."
"I don't like the Organization," Miata muttered with a pout. "I wanna go with you and Mama, so you can be my papa."
Clarice couldn't help but blush harder at that.
"Well, I wouldn't mind being your papa." Naruto looked down at Clarice, "What do you think? Do you want to be my wife, so I can be Miata's papa?"
There was a loud thud as Clarice fainted again. And Nina covered her mouth to muffle her laugh.
"MAMA!"
"I got it!" Naruto pressed his hand against her forehead again and sent another surge of chakra into her, waking the brunette up once more.
Clarice blushed heavily, rendered still unable to speak. So, she did the next best thing and pulled Naruto down by his tunic into a chase, loving kiss. The brunette swore she could feel the steam rising from her cheeks.
Naruto leaned in, closing his eyes as he caressed Clarice's cheek as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. He kept it short and to the point since there was a kid around. But after twenty seconds he pulled away from Clarice and caressed her cheek with his thumb some more.
"Well, you have one hell of a kiss," he whispered. "We should find someplace to heal your stigma. I don't want to do it out in the open." The look she gave him was all the reply he needed, so Naruto scooped Clarice up into a bridal carry with a chuckle. He then looked to Nina and asked, "Do you want your stigma healed too?"
Number 9 smiled at him and nodded. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that we would love to join you, after all."
"Can I call you 'Papa', now?" Miata asked innocently, cocking her head to the side.
"Sure you can! I'm going to make your mama my wife, so you can call me 'Papa', now."
----
A few minutes later, Naruto, Nina, Miata and Clarice appeared in the citadel with a flash of gold. He was careful not to appear in his bedroom for several reasons, though - not the least of which is naked and happily slumbering Glissa - and decided the war room was the best option.
Unfortunately, Miria was there and instantly found herself looking unamused as she spotted a highly flustered Clarice in his arms.
"We didn't do that, yet," Naruto chuckled. "There's a kid present."
Miria sighed heavily. "You always were a sucker for the underdogs, so it was just a matter of time," she admitted, then gave her husband a dirty look. "You will be giving me extra snuggles, tonight, though… and another kid of my own."
"Yes, ma'am," Naruto said with a grin.
"So, where do babies come from?" Miata asked innocently, staring oddly at everyone as they gave her an awkward chuckle.
"Y-you'll understand when you're older," Clarice answered evasively.
Miria blushed, looking a bit sheepish. Yeah, that one was her fault... "I'd better make a mental note to be more careful about what I say around that one," she muttered to herself.
"That would be a good idea," Naruto concurred. "You mind sticking around? I want to show them why we stand opposed to the Organization once I'm done healing their stigmas."
"I don't see why not," Miria replied with a nod. "We could add them to Irene's unit if they agree to help."
"We'll see," Naruto said. "We still have a lot of other new additions to sort out, as well."
"A fair point," Miria admitted. "We might have to shuffle a few of our units around to balance them out."
Naruto nodded, finally placing a heavily blushing Clarice on her feet while Miria went off to fetch what they needed to inform these new arrivals. With that out of the way, turned to said arrivals and asked, "so, who's first?"
Miata innocently raised her hand before Clarice or Nina could so much as blink. The poor girl was still caked in purple gore of the yomas she had ripped apart.
"Hmm… you're covered in blood. We're going to have to clean you up first," Naruto muttered. Then, he put his hands in a cross seal and created a clone, to the surprise of Clarice and Nina, and the awe of Miata. "How about you and Mama go with him to get cleaned up? I'll heal Nina's stigma in the meantime and we can all meet back here when you're done?"
"I don't like baths…" Miata pouted childishly.
Chuckling, Naruto got down on one knee beside his newest 'daughter', "To tell you the truth? Neither do I. But baths keep you nice and clean, and healthy. If you don't take one when you're covered in blood, you might get sick and Mama and Papa don't want you to get sick. We would be really sad if you did. But, how about we make it fun for you and play a little game?"
A curious Miata tilts her head to the side. "A game?" she asked; her eyes shined with interest. That word sounded so foreign to her; but, at the same time, it was exciting, too! She never got to play before!
Naruto nodded, "Yeah… We'll play a game of Hide-and-Seek? Mama and Papa will count to 20, and you find a place to hide. If we don't find you by sundown, you don't have to take a bath."
Miata's eyes shined brightly, "Can I hide anywhere?"
"There are a few off-limits places. We don't want you getting hurt now do we?" Naruto answered, ruffling Miata's hair with a grin. "Those places will be locked now, but anywhere else is fair game... except the kitchen. Too many pointy things you could hurt yourself on." then he held Clarice by the shoulder and slowly turned themselves around, "One, two, three…"
The rapid sound of feet could be heard vacating the area, followed by childish giggling and Nina's warm chuckle.
"H-how are we going to find her? This place is huge!" Clarice said with wide eyes.
"Did you forget? I can track her." Naruto quietly pointed out to her with a warm chuckle. "She doesn't know that though; Miata needs to act like a kid once in a while, so taking a little time in letting her find a place to hide is good enough. Did you hear how happy she sounded?"
Clarice smiled at the thought. "Yeah… The poor thing does need this, now that you mention it." She couldn't help but blush upon realizing that Naruto would make a good father.
Naruto pulled the brunette into a one-armed hug, by the waist. "I'm going to have to use a different method to heal you. So, you're going to be pretty lucky," he told her.
Clarice blushed at the close contact, but she couldn't help but look at him curiously. "Ah, different healing method? Why would I be lucky to see that?"
The blond grinned, "Well, this method is different, because I'm going to go into my strongest transformation when I do it. You're going to be the first person in almost a decade to see it."
Clarice blinked owlishly, not sure how to take that tidbit of information. So she settled for slowly nodding.
----
"I'm… nervous." Tesla whispered to Anastasia, as she cautiously, nervously kept her eyes on the awakened beings in front of them, on the opposite end of the room. One of them, in particular, was immensely strong, and she was heavily pregnant too. She was also giving them the stink eye, "How is the Ladykiller keeping them from wreaking all sorts of havoc?"
The Awakened Beings in question are Priscilla, Octavia, Agatha, Gwyn, Tammy, Ophelia, Nox, Jessica. They were by themselves but were keeping an eye on them too.
"It's because none of them is stupid enough to cause trouble." said blond answered, surprising the Number 15 as he walked past her. "I'm a clone, by the way, the Boss was called away to help Nina with something. We don't know what, yet."
"He's in the upper levels, near the war room," Priscilla said. "Three others are with him, all unfamiliar. I don't like them." she pouted.
"One of them is a little girl, Priss. She's thirteen, and acts like a five-year-old." Naruto told her. "She's… not stable. A cute kid, though… she thinks one of the other two is her mother."
"...I'll reserve my judgement on her, then," the pregnant brunette compromised. "I still don't like the other two, though."
"Just try to get along," the clone said with a chuckle, pulling Priscilla into a one-armed hug. The brunette blushed, before giving him a reluctant nod. "Besides - you don't know them. And you can't exactly judge someone before you meet them."
"To see the one that surpasses the Abyssals acting like this," Gwyn muttered, looking surprised. It was… odd, to say the least.
Priscilla slowly looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Do you have a problem with that?" she asked, her tone flat and dangerous.
"Hey," her mate said soothingly, "Be nice, now. He's just surprised you're acting like a normal, teenage girl is all."
The irritable brunette took a deep, calming breath, crossing her arms and pouting childishly.
The clone chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. "You're so damn adorable when you're like this, Priss," he told her.
"Jerk," she muttered irritably.
"Maybe," he said with a nonchalant shrug, "but I'm your jerk." Then, he gave her another kiss on the cheek.
"Damn straight," Priscilla muttered.
Octavia hummed and rubbed her chin as she looked at Naruto thoughtfully. "So how do you plan on taking down the Organization? They won't go down without a fight." she pointed out to him.
Naruto chuckled as he addressed the nicknamed Wild Horse. "Oh, I know. What I intend to do is sow the seeds of dissent. Spread the word that the Organization is not at all they portray themselves to be." he then gestured to Anastasia and her team, "We have them for that part. They're going to get the word out to their compatriots, and if needed, they can call me to get them the proof they need to convince them. So when the time is right to strike, we will hopefully have every warrior under their grasp on our side."
"Hopefully?" Nox asked, narrowing her eyes.
The Uzumaki patriarch shrugged. "No plan, no matter how good and well thought out they are, will survive the first contact with the enemy. To think otherwise is stupid. Anything can go wrong."
"Wise thinking for one so young," Gwyn said approvingly.
"I fought in a war, so I learned that particular thing first hand," Naruto admitted. "I want to take down the Organization with the least casualties as possible. Getting the word out that the Organization are the ones making the youma, and are sending them to destroy towns and cities that don't pay them will help with that."
"If you don't mind me asking, what happens if the Organization sends their warriors here?" Ophelia questioned.
"I'll confront them personally - with many of you acting as back up. I can make thousands of clones, and with many of you there with me, they're going to be intimidated." the Uzumaki patriarch answered. "Well, more intimidated than they would be."
Ophelia nodded, she liked this part of the plan, him confronting any warriors sent to Morris. "That is a good idea. They would attack anyone of us if we were to go and confront them."
"Yep. And if I were to go, there would be less bloodshed that way." Naruto concluded.
"I find it strange that someone is looking out for us. Even feeding us." Jessica said, tapping her fingers against her forearm rhythmically. "It's strange. But in a good way."
"You may no longer be considered human, or a hybrid, but you're still a person. And, human eaters or not, I'm going to treat you all as one." Naruto told her. He would be a damned hypocrite if he didn't; he treated Kurama as a person with feelings. He treated Gaara as someone more than just a psychopath. This was no different.
Octavia giggled, smiling in approval. "Keep it up and you'll have a few more additions to your family," she teased.
Priscilla glared at the other former Number 2, hugging her man possessively. "So long as we're clear that I saw him first!"
"Understood," she replied politely without missing a beat.
Naruto chuckled and rubbed his consort's back. Yeah, he really adored her and all his other girls. "How are you feeling, by the way, Priss? Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Humph, if I have the strength to talk, I have the strength to move," she replied in a snobbish, superior tone.
"Just let me know if you need anything, then," he told her with a caring smile.
"I want more snuggles." she immediately said. "...and chocolate. I want chocolate, too," she added the last second.
Naruto didn't waste any time creating a clone, several in the room jumping at the plume of smoke as another Naruto poofed into existence. "Get the lovely lady some chocolate from town, eh?"
"On it, Boss," the clone of the clone replied, scampering off to do just that.
"Is there anything you can't do?" Agatha asked.
"Uh… shoot lasers out of my eyes, for one," he replied.
"The hell is a laser?" Jessica asked.
"...exactly." Naruto said; then he snapped his fingers in remembrance, "Oh! I can't bring someone back to life. I don't know how to use that technique… I also can't heal anyone that's hit by a 'Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu' or in your language an 'All-killing Ash Bone'... that technique is a certain kill if it hits. Even my healing ability has limits."
"Noted," Gwyn muttered. "We don't have to worry about anyone coming here with malicious intent from your homeland, do we? That technique sounds… painful."
"You're turned to ash from the inside out if you are hit by it. So yeah, it is. The Boss, unfortunately, saw its effect first hand, on his clones. He never got back the experience from those who were hit by it." Naruto replied with a shudder; clearing his throat the blond continued on a more cheerful note, "Fortunately, the person that could use it has been taken care of. You won't have to worry about seeing her any time in the future."
"Oh. Well… thank god for that." Nox said in relief.
"Indeed," Octavia agreed. "I'd hate to face something like that."
"Truth be told, a lot of enemies I faced in the past would utterly wreck every single one of you. There was one who had me dead to rights. He went by the name of Pein, at the time."
"Ah, the one who flattened your home," Ophelia said with recognition.
"Yeah. He was one of the toughest opponents I ever fought. He's dead, though. So you don't have to worry about him." the blond said. "All of my enemies are either dead or became my friends. The chances of anyone from my homeland coming here is small… save for the occasional meat shipment or Kumo nin." he paused, and frowned thoughtfully. "Then again, if Tsunade and Shizune were here a month less than I was… chances are others could have followed too. I haven't met anyone though, and Tsunade herself said no one had followed her."
"Well, just let us know if anyone hostile does come and I'll see what I can do to help," Gwyn said. "I owe you a lot for taking us in like this."
The other awakened beings seemed to agree, though to varying degrees of enthusiasm.
"Oh, I will. Don't you worry about that." then he looked to Anastasia's team, "Anna, you lot are being quiet over there. Come here and talk a little, they won't bite."
The Number 6 chuckled nervously as she and her team were put on the spot like that.
----
Poor Miata pouted heavily in the little tub as Clarice scrubbed all the entrails out of her hair. It took them nearly two hours to find her, which was the most fun she'd ever had - the girl had moved from hiding place to hiding place, keeping herself ahead of her mama and papa. She never did realise they were able to track her down, mostly thanks to the smell of blood she was giving off - and the Naruto clone tracking her by her yoki. Though Naruto and Clarice both walked past her 'hiding' place to keep her from getting suspicious and ending the game too early.
In the end, though, she was inevitably caught. She didn't like losing, but it was still so fun!
"Hey, Miata, want some chocolate once you're finished taking a bath?" Naruto asked her.
The girl perked up at that. "Chocolate?" she asked. It sounded familiar but quite didn't know what it was. Still, something told her she'd love some. "Okay!"
"Good girl," Naruto made a hand seal and created a clone to get the chocolate. Then he looked to Clarice, the woman washing their 'daughter', who had a soft smile on her face. "And how are you feeling now that you're no longer part of the Organization?"
'Not as scared," she admitted. "All the awakened beings living here are a bit… overwhelming, but I'm slowly getting used to it."
The Uzumaki Patriarch chuckled, "That is good to hear. Just let me know if anyone is giving you trouble." he told her, then the blond asked the brunette, "Once your stigma is healed, do you want to learn the ways of my people?"
Clarice looked at him, a spark of intrigue in her eye. "I wasn't aware you could teach me. I certainly wouldn't mind giving it a shot though."
"I think you'll like it. Tsunade can destroy entire buildings with a single punch, thanks to her chakra control. And the best thing is, you don't need a lot of chakras to achieve that kind of strength. Just the control."
Clarice stopped dead in her tracks at the thought. That sounded very enticing! "A-alright," she said, somewhat nervously. She wasn't sure she'd turn out that powerful, but the more ways she had to be useful, the better.
"Alright then. Once I heal you, I'll send a flow of my chakra through your pathways. That will jumpstart your chakra system and make you able to use it. When we have that out of the way, I'll teach you how to use it."
"Can you teach me too, Papa?" Miata asked, craning her head to look at him.
"Of course! You're a little older than I was when I first learned how to use chakra. But I can teach you. Not to mention I have the help from a few people from my homeland."
"Sounds like a plan!" Clarice giggled excitedly.
"To make you even more excited, you can use chakra to stick to almost any surface, you can even walk on water." the blond told her. "Of course, water-walking is a more complex version of tree-walking. But, we'll get to that after you complete the tree-walking exercise."
Clarice's silver eyes shined at the thought of that. Water walking?! She could barely contain her excitement at the thought of doing that!
"Looks like you're about done, Miata," Naruto said, "Let's get you dried up and dressed, eh?"
"Yes, please," she grumbled. The girl didn't like being wet. It made her feel uncomfortable.
"Alright, up you get. I'll go get the towel." the blond chuckled. Then he proceeded to go and get said towel; Miata on the other hand immediately stood up in the tub and stepped out of the dirty, purple water.
Naruto came back wrapped the towel around Miata's petite body. "There you go, all squeaky clean~!" he chuckled. He dried her off quickly, before wrapping the towel around her hair like a little turban. Once that was over with, he looked down at the scar upon Miata's young body and frowned. "Let's get rid of that, now, okay?" That thing just didn't belong on her!
"Okay…" Miata was ready for whatever was going to happen next. That bad man with the horrible half-face had opened her up and put the purple skin and blood of yoma into her. It hurt her a lot afterwards. She wasn't sure what was going to happen once Papa started closing it, but, if it was to close it then she will cope.
With a nod, Naruto coated his hand in bubbling, red chakra and placed his middle and forefingers right at the point where the stigma began at her neck and started tracing down. Miata groaned. It felt weird, but she endured it. She wanted this thing gone.
Meanwhile, Clarice stared in awe as Miata's stigma, stitches and all, disappeared before her very eyes. She could barely believe what she was seeing, but that's precisely what was happening!
It was nothing short of amazing!
When he reached her stomach, Miata groaned again; she could feel a… a strange sensation going through her body. It wasn't bad, it felt… nice. Naruto kept moving his hand down her abdomen; the little trooper was faring a lot better than most people. And when he got to her mons pubis, Naruto finally stopped channelling Kurama's chakra and pulled his fingers away.
"There you go, all healed."
Miata looked down and instinctively touched where the scare once was, just to make sure her eyes weren't fooling her.
"Once we're done here, I'm sure Riful has a dress or two we can borrow for you until we get you a new outfit," Naruto added. "Seeing as how your old one is ruined, we might want to just get rid of it."
"Okay Papa," then Naruto covered her body up with the towel, and she smiled up at him. Naruto smiled back down at her and ruffled the child's scalp, and Miata groaned happily as she leaned against his palm. She was happy; happier than she ever felt, more than anything!
He looked to Clarice who was smiling at them both. "We can heal your stigma next after Miata gets some fresh clothes, and her chocolate as well, okay?"
"Okay. I can wait for a little bit more." the brunette replied with a smile; Clarice, she didn't mind having her stigma healed getting delayed. Miata is a higher priority, after all. So, she can hold it off a little while longer.
After that Naruto, Miata and Clarice all went out of the bathroom to get the child some new clothes to wear.
A few minutes later, Riful felt… conflicted. On one hand, her hormones and primal instincts screamed at her to chew him out for giving this weak-ass bitch and her 'child' the time of day. On the other, she wanted to squeal at how adorable it was to see him being so good with Miata.
She also remembered that Naruto was once regarded as the weakest of his generation, so the now teenage appearing Abyssal could understand why he liked her. She didn't like it, not one bit, but she could understand.
Meanwhile, Clarice couldn't help but be thoroughly intimidated by Riful's gaze drilling a hole in the back of her head.
"Be nice, babe," Naruto scolded the Abyssal; he had sensed her irritation a mile away. "It's not fair on her; Clarice and Miata didn't do anything wrong."
"I am being nice," Riful deadpanned. "If I wasn't she'd be dead."
Naruto sighed and held Miata's shoulder when she growled at the Abyssal One threateningly. "You do know I wouldn't stand for that, right? I'm not being mean, but, if you did try to kill her, I will stop you. Just like I'd stop anyone who tried to attack you. I don't like it when people I care about are at each other's throats."
Riful frowned. "I know…" she sighed. "And I don't like it when my man is snatched away by a weakling," she grumbled with a pout.
"Everyone starts weak; heck, I know someone who isn't able to use any techniques like me, and had to resort to using Taijutsu - or hand to hand, as you call it, here. And let me tell you, he is one of the strongest guys I know. He outclasses me by far when it comes to that." he shuddered, And he can increase his physical prowess, and surpass their limits by using the Eight Gates, a technique that is solely used for Taijutsu. Though, the only drawback when using the Eight Gates is that it hurts the user the more gates they unlock, and eventually leading to their death after the Eighth Gate is unleashed."
"The Eight Gates… is must be hard to use if that's the case." Clarice muttered thoughtfully.
Naruto nodded. "Learning the Eight Gates is very difficult. There are only three people I know that can use it. The current Hokage and my former sensei, Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy and his disciple Rock Lee." he revealed to the Abyssal and now former Number 47 of the current generation. "Though Kakashi can only use one Gate. Might Guy can use all Eight. But he is… now disabled; he shattered his leg when using the Eighth Gate when he fought against someone strong back home. And he would have died thanks to unlocking all Eight Gates had I not got there at the last second."
Riful let out another sigh and crossed her arms as she continued to pout.
Naruto let out a sigh of his own and went over to the grumpy brunette, before scooping her up into a loving embrace. "You know I love you, Riful," he whispered into her ear, rubbing the Abyssal One's back. "Nothing and no one will ever change that."
Riful whimpered pathetically and immediately started to cry. "Y-you idiot," she whined and then started to bawl into his shoulder.
'On, damn it,' Naruto thought, hugging her close and rubbing her back. These next two months were going to be utter hell, weren't they? Well, as he did for the past 5 years he will endure it. At least only four women were pregnant, this time around, and not eleven! Seriously, what in the actual hell was he thinking, back then?!
"Mama? Why is she crying?"
"Uh… that's because she's… moody, honey," Clarice explained awkwardly.
"Why?"
"When people are moody, their emotions tend to be unpredictable." Naruto decided to explain, "Riful was irritated, and now she's sad because she cannot control how she feels. It will happen to Mama at times."
"But, why is she moody?" Miata asked, terribly confused. That didn't answer her first question.
"She's… sick," Naruto said. "Moodiness is caused by this thing called morning sickness.
"Morning sickness?"
Naruto wracked his thoughts on a simple way to explain without going into the birds and bees… he did not want to put her through something like that at such a young - mental - age.
Deciding to take pity on her man, Riful chimed in. "It's… something that sometimes happens to women when they're in love. It's not dangerous, though - just… annoying. You won't get it until you're older and meet a man you like very much… so much you want to marry him. Your mama doesn't have it yet, but I suspect she will, eventually." Saying that left a bad taste in her mouth, but the Abyssal One ignored it. "It comes and goes."
"Thanks, babe," Naruto whispered into the Abyssals ear, and he gave her a playful spank as he kissed her cheek.
Riful giggled, kissing Naruto lovingly. That made her feel so much better! The teenage looking Abyssal giggled some more as she felt him fondle her ass through her dress, for several moments, before stopping.
"So, Miata, have you picked out your dress yet?" the blond asked, turning to look at the 13-year-old girl expectantly.
Said blonde blinked, then she remembered why she was here in the first place and went back to picking out a dress for herself. Then again… it seems the Abyssal One of the West had the same outfit. So Miata picked one at random, took off her towel and pulled the clothing on.
"That's a lot better," Naruto chuckled. "How does it feel?"
Miata frowned as she rubbed herself down, "...I like my old clothes better, Papa. This feels… weird." It was too soft. Nothing was covering her privates underneath, either, which was uncomfortable, even without the dress tickling her.
The Uzumaki Patriarch chuckled once more, "You'll get used to it, Miata. Give it time."
The girl frowned unhappily, but she nodded in acceptance, nonetheless.
"You're still getting chocolate," Naruto pointed out to her, with an amused grin, "so put that frown upside down~."
She immediately perked up at that.
Smiling Naruto unwrapped his arms from around Riful and walked over to the two hybrids. "I'm going to take care of Clarice's stigma now, Riful." the blond told her, "The Boss is around somewhere, so, you're likely to find him wandering around. Since I'm him, I can tell you he's probably training by himself in the bailey."
"Okay," sighed the Abyssal One. "I'll probably stay in here though… it's getting tiring walking around so much."
"Fair enough," Naruto said. "I'll let him know you want extra snuggles when we're done, here."
"That would be appreciated," Riful replied. She liked her snuggles with her man, original or not.
Naruto nodded and as he waved her goodbye, the blond guided Clarice and the newly dressed Miata out of Riful's bedroom. Once the door was closed Naruto brought Clarice in for a one-armed hug, causing her to flush at the show of affection. Then the blond gave the brunette a mischievous smile and reached to grab at her rear-end.
Jumping in complete and utter shock, Clarice looked at Naruto with her eyes as wide as saucers. Her cheeks grew redder as she felt him caress and knead her butt through her pants. As for the blond doing it, he winked, leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"Now that you're going to be my wife, you'd better get used to this kind of affection. No one else is allowed to do it, only me~." he purred, before giving her multiple pecks on her neck and jawline.
Clarice's knees shook and she could feel the heat coming off her cheeks, but she… liked it. For someone who's been starved of attention, ridiculed and mocked for her hair, the brunette found she liked this sort of affection, very, very much.
"And you're going to be naked in front of me too~. Something I can't wait to see, either." the blond added, whispering to her huskily. His tone was suggestive and full of promise; Clarice's knees shook even more as the heat on her cheeks emitted heat even more. But she kept herself walking. She would not show weakness in front of this fine speci- wait, what is she thinking!?
She shook her head to help push those naughty thoughts aside. She won't think of anything lewd, not while Miata is in the vicinity!
Naruto took his hand off her backside and settled for wrapping his arm around her waist. Clarice was relieved, but, at the same time disappointed. She did enjoy being touched like that... if only by him. It was nice to receive such attention after being so starved.
Unfortunately, Miata had to cock her head to the side - as she took notice - and ask, "is Mama getting morning sickness, too?"
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle for the life of him.
"I'm... just feeling happy is all, Miata," Clarice explained, now red as a beetroot as she gave him a dirty look. "It's… too early in our relationship for me to be getting morning sickness."
"Too early?"
"You'll understand when you're older," Naruto said, patting Miata on the head. "Everything will… become clear, when you're older…" he trailed off, deep in thought.
Miata cocked her head, horribly confused, but seemed to accept his answer and Clarice sighed in relief as she gave Naruto a peck on the cheek.
Naruto made a hand seal with a single hand, and a clone popped up before dispelling itself. Not a moment later, the blond got the memories from the clone he sent to get chocolate for Miata.
The best thing about Kage Bunshin: any clones that are still out, get the memories of a clone that are dispelled. That way, the clone that was with Miata and Clarice got the memories of another clone, made by the one he sent to get chocolate - he knew his clone had returned to the citadel with a small box of chocolates in hand.
Miata was going to absolutely love that!
"Ah!" Naruto chirped. "Looks like your chocolate's here, Miata." Said girl perked up at that. "You wanna go with a clone to get it so Mama and Papa can go somewhere private and get her stigma healed?"
"Alright," Miata said, nodding enthusiastically.
With that, Naruto put his hands in a cross seal and another clone poofed into existence to escort Miata down to get her chocolate. Once she was out of the way and earshot, the blond gave Clarice an impish grin and said, "now, let's see what we can do about that stigma, eh?"
Clarice went bright red and timidly nodded as she was led away to get her crudely stitched shut wound healed once and for all. She then yelped and blushed harder when Naruto pulled her close and started leading her to his room.
It didn't take long for them to arrive and once they did, Naruto locked the door behind them. Then he turned to Clarice and smiled at her. The brunette flushed once more as the blond ran his fingers through her brown locks.
Then Naruto let out a sigh and walked to the middle of the room before kneeling. Clarice didn't see what the blond was doing, but it became apparent when a seal matrix spread out across the floor in all directions before it converged in one single point.
"Since your conversion was… less than intended then it was meant to turn out, I'm going to see what went wrong first before I get to fixing your stigma. And to do that, I need to go into my most powerful transformation. So… don't be afraid of what happens next, okay?"
Putting her question on what he had done moments before aside, Clarice nodded timidly. She was not sure how to feel about this, but the brunette trusted the man whom she was slated to marry.
Standing back up Naruto turned around and smiled to her. He then went over to give the brunette a peck on the forehead, before going straight into his most powerful form. His whiskers thickened, becoming three rectangle bars, his blond hair stood up, becoming gold and flowing like flames, with two locks appearing to take the shape of horns.
His clothes changed, his brown tunic turned to gold, and his undershirt changed its pigment from white to black. Even his trousers had changed to the colour of his undershirt, making it appear like he was wearing a bodysuit with a golden glowing tunic worn over it. Nine magatamas were on the tunic where his collarbones are, a circular design was on his stomach, where his seal was and on his shoulders his eyes once a vibrant blue, turned had changed to gold, with a cross-shaped pupil. And on his back was the pattern of the Rinnegan above nine magatamas in rows of three.
Clarice was in utter awe at his transformation. She thought it would be something… monstrous, something… inhuman. Like… like the giant fox he was said to be able to transform into, or something similar to that; but nothing like… well, like this!
"This… is your strongest form?" Clarice asked as she gave him a look over.
The yoki he was emitting in this form too, was huge. She could feel it wash over her, and her yoki sensing sucked. Just how goddamn strong was he?! And why wasn't anyone panicking!? They should have been slamming their fists at the door the second he went into this transformation.
"Surprised, are you?" He asked, chuckling at the awed look on her face.
"V-very," she looked him in the eyes, "when you said you're going into your most powerful transformation, I was expecting something a little more… inhuman." she certainly wasn't complaining though.
"Sorry I have not lived up to your expectations." the blond teased her with a grin. Then he put a hand on her shoulder and as he looked into her silver eyes, the transformed Naruto warned her, "I'm going to send a small amount of my Six Path Sage Mode's chakra into you, so if you feel one hell of a rush, or anything else, then don't worry about it. I'm just going to see why your conversion into made you this weak, then, I'm going to fix you right up."
Clarice took in a deep breath and shakily exhaled, "O-okay," she would trust him on this one.
The brunette's eyes became as wide as saucers as she felt a powerful, and foreign, yet soothing energy course through her entire body. She inhaled sharply and started to breathe heavily as her physique tried to cope with the foreign power.
It was simply… amazing… for her to feel. It was like an incredible warmth wrapped around her, almost like a blanket. She shuddered pleasurably at the sensations.
As for Naruto, he had his eyes closed in deep concentration; his chakra was giving him an in-depth analysation of her entire physique. The operation that was conducted on her was, in fact, like the others; but unlike her compatriots who were a success, there was a… complication. From what he can tell it's not because of the yoma flesh and blood - it's that her body is simply not compatible with it.
In other words, Clarice's body had rejected the majority of her conversion to a hybrid and was trying to heal from it. Clarice was indeed special. The fact she managed to last this long was nothing short of a miracle. The brunette would be comparable to Rock Lee in the case of the hybrids, only she is worse off.
As she is now, Clarice is not able to go past the 50-percent mark, lest she literally is torn apart from the inside out from the strain. He can hopefully take care of this problem Clarice is facing. His sage mode is capable of healing almost anything, short of certain kill techniques, so he is banking on his ability to regenerate.
He did his best to concentrate, and focused on one specific spot; the root of the problem. Right in her stomach, specifically…
Clarice mewled in overwhelming pleasure as Naruto's chakra sent pleasant shivers up her spine. Then she gasped, and her eyes grew as wide as saucers when the brunette felt her yoki react. It surged violently in response to Naruto trying to do something about her condition.
"N-Naruto!" she yelp, panicking as her yoki spiked.
"I know! Try to endure it, Clarice," the blond replied, without opening his eyes. He pulled the panicking woman into a comforting hug, "I won't let anything happen to you - I promise."
Clarice whimpered but complied. "O-okay…" She was frightened, but the brunette trusted him.
"Your yoki is acting like this because, from what I can tell, it's 'not' actually a part of you," Naruto relayed to her, "That is why your conversion was mostly a failure. Your body rejected it and is trying to heal. I'm gonna try and get your body to accept the yoma flesh and blood."
Clarice opened her mouth to reply to that, only for a yelp to interrupt her as her yoki surged once more. Her eyes went from silver to gold, with feline-like pupils. She groaned and closed her eyes in an attempt to hold her discomfort in.
"What… what are you trying to do, to get my body to accept it?" she asked through grit.
"I'm trying to spread it around. Thanks to your body rejecting it, your yoki is mostly contained in one place, I'm trying to coax it around. After that, we can get to healing your stigma." he didn't know what kind of side effects this would have on her, however; and, while it would have been wise to tell her that something may or may not happen once he did this, Naruto could not find it in himself to tell her.
Clarice was looking forward to this, to having her problem taken care of. He could tell. So, he kept quiet and kept going. Then, it happened; Clarice arched her back as she let out a choking gasp, her yoki spiked once more as it flowed aggressively through her body.
She was awash with pleasure, her yoki surging as she instinctively tried to reign it in. Clarice then started to panic as she realized that it wasn't obeying her command.
"It's okay, Clarice," Naruto told her, "I won't let anything happen to you. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it."
Still a bit scared, the brunette whimpered pathetically but nodded. Her yoki spiked once more and unlike the last time where she tried to reign it in, she allowed it to flow unhindered. Naruto smiled and used the chakra of his Six Paths Sage Mode to keep her from awakening. He could feel the changes in her body now, too, as he healed any damages her yoki was causing; up until he no longer needed to do it.
It took what felt like an eternity for the yoki to finally relax, and when it did, Clarice looked down to realize that her outfit had… disappeared. Before she could process what happened, the poor brunette covered herself and screamed her head off.
Naruto, who was no longer in his Six Paths Sage Mode, blinked owlishly at the now naked Clarice. He gave her a look over and grinned leeringly, "Well, I certainly can't complain about the view." 'and her stigma is gone too, that must have been a side effect of healing her with my Six Paths Chakra Mode.' he added in his thoughts.
Naruto moved to his bed and draped a blanket over Clarice's shoulders, much to her appreciation.
He grinned at her and pulled the brunette into a hug, "Good news: your stigma is gone and your yoki is stabilized. You should be able to use it without any drawbacks; well, other than the common drawbacks anyway."
"Thank you," Clarice said with a blush and a giggle. "Also, now that you've seen me naked you have to marry me." She tried and spectacularly failed to say in a teasing manner. It was a rather cute attempt… mainly because she was just too damn shy to say that with a straight face.
Naruto chuckled and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'd be happy to~!" he told her, "I certainly wouldn't mind seeing you naked again, either."
Clarice giggled and playfully slapped him on the arm, "Oh, you tease,"
"Only for you, dear." Naruto chuckled, cupping her cheeks and giving her a loving kiss on the lips.
It would appear that they'd need to get her some new clothes a bit sooner than expected. Oh, well. It was as good a reason to kill two birds with one stone, eh?