Sometime later in Dabi…
"Wednesday, 24th day of Ahmun, Year 2117AS:
I've got to say that today was an… eventful one."
Erica giggled as she sat upon the bed and scribbled away in her little journal.
"Many of the others and I are learning how to use this 'Chakra' stuff that everyone's raising such commotion about. It feels… weird, but it's so much easier to use than Yoki. I saw those On-boo guys and the Awakened Beings of the Lost Generation using it in some ridiculous ways and I'm so excited! I've GOT to learn how to use a whip of water and shoot lightning bolts! IT WAS SO COOL!!!"
She was positively shaking in place by this point, barely able to keep her excitement bottled up as she added.
"And he said, those who have the Earth Element can make their skin as hard as diamonds! Admittedly, I've never seen what a diamond is, but I did hear they're incredibly tough to break. Let alone scratch! And there's this Lightning Armour thing that makes someone fast. Like really, really fast! If that white haired man in Naruto's Homeland was hailed as the Fastest Man alive before Naruto came along, then the Lightning Armour must be something that the best of the best can do!
It's a shame I don't have Lightning. I think…? I never did get to see what my element affinity was. So maybe I can figure it out tomorrow?"
It was certainly worth asking, if nothing else…
"All that aside, I keep noticing Ava and Eva staring at Naruto oddly and every time I do, I can't help but feel… jealous for some reason? I don't know why. It's weird. Oh! Ava and Eva are the names he gave those twins that pervert from the Crimson Guard called 'Twitchy and Squeaker'... there's a story behind that, I'm sure. I'm not going to ask how they got those nicknames, something tells me it'll scar me for life. They seem to like Naruto, too… like a lot... But, they're not the only ones."
She had to turn the page before continuing. "Tanya and Savra seem to have been flirting with him… and Henriette… and Hanna… and Regina… Now that I think about it, Audrey and Rachel seem to be the only ones not interested in him… yes, that includes me… he doesn't seem to be taking any action though, outside of ruffling our heads with a grin. I have to admit, the head ruffles feel nice. It brings up a feeling I can't describe, but the closest thing to it is… parently? Only, more than that."
There was a little doodle of herself blushing up a storm for added effect.
"Oh, by the twins, I HOPE I don't embarrass myself in front of him! The others would NEVER let me live it down!"
Erica sighed, doing her damnedest to fight down her blush as she closed her journal and tucked it away.
----
Meanwhile, Naruto was in the bailey where he had installed the copy of the simulation that was in Morris. He was having a… rather interesting conversation.
"You're… real?" Naruto was having trouble keeping the disbelief out of his voice as he talked to be person in front of him.
It all started when he had turned on the simulation. And Naruto was surprised immensely when a creation of his showed up, outside of his control.
He was garbed head to toe in all black, with a hood covered his head. His eyes were completely bloodshot, with the irises red, and his white shirt was dirtied with splatters of blood. His face was dirted with the life fluid, and his hands were covered in blood too. The ever present, unsettling grin of insanity on his face, was no longer there.
This was what Naruto dubbed, 'Insane Naruto'. The version that Chloe went up against and was forced to retreat.
"No. No no no. Out there? Not really. Not really." The Insane Naruto was a lot calmer, and seemed less… insane. But there was that insane glimmer in his red eyes, that showed his true nature. "Sentient? Real inside of your simulation? Very much so. Hehehehehehe…" the dark-clothed blond went off into a fit of insane giggles as he rocked back and forth on his feet, like he was swaying unsteadily.
"This is…unprecedented."
"It is, isn't it?" Insane Naruto replied concurringly. "Tell that woman I said 'Hi' the next time you see her. No! Actually! Get her to come back. I like her. I like her, I like her!"
Naruto sighed at the giggles that followed, inwardly glad that Chloe wasn't here. The poor thing would undoubtedly be mortified. So would the others now that he thought about it.
"I think you scared her for life," he pointed out to the insane version of himself, in the blandest tone he could muster.
"Her fault. She attacked first. Wouldn't have otherwise… maybe… possibly… I'm still learning as I go. Don't judge me!" Insane Naruto said to defend himself, only to snap at his creator at the end.
Naruto raised his hands placatingly, "I won't, I won't."
Insane Naruto huffed in satisfactory, "Good…" then they went into an uncomfortable silence, for the Original Naruto anyway. Then the other blond huffed once more and said with a sigh, "I'm booooooooored!"
"Don't look at me! I didn't tell you to do anything!"
"I want to see that woman again. She's pretty… so were the other ones, now that I think about it. Not sure they like me though. Many were giving me those looks."
"Well you did leave one hell of a first impression on them."
"I did, didn't I? That was FUN!!" Insane Naruto let out another series of insane cackling.
As for Naruto himself? He just gave the Insane version of himself quite the flat stare before saying, "I'm turning changing the simulation now,"
"What?! N-" whatever he was going to say was abruptly cut off when Naruto pressed his hand against the barrier, and the ink substance slithered its way up the barrier in a matter of seconds.
When the ink-like substance slithered back down into the ground, Naruto was, suffice to say, immensely surprised when the Insane Naruto was still there. His red, bloodshot eyes were hauntingly wide and he had the most horrifyingly, no-nonsense look on his face.
"Don't. Do That." his tone was cold. Icy. Sounding as if his voice could kill an elderly woman by the sound alone.
To say Naruto was worried about this development was an understatement. He may have inadvertently created a monster.
"Uh…"
"Seriously though. Don't. You have NO idea what it's like, to suddenly have your. Entire. Being snuffed out of existence." then the dark-clothed blond let out a sigh and tilt his head to the side. "But I get it, you're sick of me… hypocrite."
And then before Naruto's eyes, everything behind the barrier went pitch black for just a moment, and when he could see again, the Insane Naruto just… upped and vanished.
"Creepy…" That was all Naruto had to say about that. He didn't think his own creation could become so self aware...did that mean all of his creations for this simulation are self aware?! Did that mean his dad was self-aware?!
So deep in his thoughts was he, that Naruto jumped in startelement when he heard Kurama say, "Huh. You know, you do have the Creation Of All Things, father used to make me and the other Tailed Beasts. If that's the case, does that mean the souls of the dead can invade your simulation? Minato was very amused, now that I think about it…"
Kurama thought back on the training simulation in question and remembered one specific part that he didn't think too hard on.
"Yeah!" easier said than done, though. Naruto drove his fist into his palm and glared at Mukade determinedly. Then he looked back at Deneve from over his shoulder, and grinned at her. "I don't know who you four are, but you did good; we'll take it from here."
Zelda couldn't help herself as she giggled. "Oh, you will know us rather well, honey~! Thanks for the help!"
The blond recoiled comically at her flirting, much to the women's amusement and Minato's.
Kurama realised that Minato did look amused. Very amused. He looked almost proud of his son... while he looked behind Team Undine and Glissa… and Kurama had that strange feeling that the blond responsible for sealing his magnificent self away inside of his son was looking right at them, fondly, like he knew they were on the other side of the barrier, but thought it was the trick of the imagination...
Suddenly, the realization hit him like a sack of bricks. Inside the seal Kurama stood straight up with his eyes comically wide as he shouted. "HOLY SHIT! HE WAS THE REAL DEAL!!"
Naruto jumped yet again and fell down on his ass. "The hell!? Who was the real deal?! Who are you talking about?!"
"YOUR FATHER MORON! BACK WHEN TEAM UNDINE TOOK THAT SIMULATION WITH MUKADE AS THE ENEMY, MINATO WAS LOOKING PAST THEM! RIGHT AT US! HE WAS THE REAL DEAL!"
"Bullshit!"
"BRAT I'D NEVER LIE!" Kurama shouted. "I'M TELLING YOU MINATO WAS REAL! HE WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT US!" The fox clicked his tongue, now much calmer, "The smug bastard. He probably knows he's got so many grandkids and daughter-in-laws by this point..."
"...You're actually serious."
"If you don't believe me, then drag Minato up. That'll clear up any misconceptions you have."
"...Alright…"
With that, Naruto got up off the ground and did just that. Pressing his hand against the barrier Naruto closed his eyes and focused on bringing the simulation version of his father out.
When he was finally brought forth Minato blinked and took in his new surroundings. He hummed and looked at his son, then he smiled. "Well, I have to say, this is a lot better than fighting Mukade. It's peaceful."
That got Naruto's attention. "Hello," he greeted. "I just wanted to ask you a few things."
"Oh?"
"Uh, y-yeah. Do you remember the green-skinned elf eared lady?"
"Who was with those women with silver eyes and pale blonde hair? Yes. I remember." Minato replied with a chuckle. "I'll admit, those women were unique in their own way. I couldn't talk to you in person...but seeing you again, even if he wasn't the real, was worth it."
If he didn't believe Kurama then, Naruto really believed him now.
"Then you're…"
"Real? Somehow back from the dead? Very much so."
Naruto was a war veteran. He faced down Tailed Beasts; invincible undead shinobi; he even fought the boogeyman of the Shinobi World and a Goddess. The blond's reaction, to discovering that after all this time, that his father was real, was pretty straight forward.
He fainted right there on the spot, to Minato's bemusement.
"...That went better than I thought it would."
----
Naruto didn't know how long he was out for, but he didn't mind discovering that he's woken up with his head in Savra's lap as Tanya chatted it up with the simulation of his father.
"I must admit that I'm certainly tempted to join," the young former Number 13 giggled. "That boy of yours is quite the stud, I must say~!"
"Tanya! Don't say such things! Show some respect!" Naruto heard Audrey say from somewhere nearby.
"I am showing respect," said blonde giggled. "Calling a man a stud is a complement."
Minato couldn't help but chuckle at that if his life depended on it. "I think she meant showing respect to me. But, uh, thank you nonetheless?"
"You're awake!" Savra exclaimed in relief, drawing everyone's attention to the her and Naruto who was now being helped to sit up by the blind woman.
"Yeah, I am." The blond said with a chuckle. He looked between Tanya and his dad before saying, "I see you're getting along with my dad."
The former Number 13 grinned widely at that. "He's very polite and easy to talk to," she chirped, before giving Naruto a concerned look. "You okay?"
"I'll be fine," Naruto chuckled. "Just a... bit of shock is all."
"What about?" Audrey asked as she came into view.
"Well...that's my actual dad." Naruto revealed, to the shock and surprise of those who were in the bailey, which was everyone. "I don't know how, but, he's the real deal. I wonder if that means..." could he bring back Pervy Sage in the same way? Could he bring back his mother as well for that matter?
"I'm not so sure how it's possible, myself. I should be in the Pure Land with the others. I don't remember what happened on the other side, but, I'm sure Kushina is worried sick that I'm missing."
"...I wonder if you're sent to the Pure Land when you're, uh, 'dismissed'?" Naruto wondered aloud.
Minato shrugged. "It's entirely possible, but there's no way to confirm it because I don't remember anything from there." then he looked down at the seal matrix and hummed, impressed by its design, "This is the first time I've ever seen Fuinjutsu this complex. Jiraiya-Sensei would be stumped by the sheer complexity of it. He would be so proud of you, I'm sure of it!"
Naruto couldn't help but blush and smile at the praise.
"I wonder how your mother would react to you having so many wives and children," Savra asked impishly.
Both father and son looked a bit nervous at that. Kushina was known to have one hell of a temper.
"She'd kill me." Naruto gulped as he began to shiver. "She'd be happy she has so many grandchildren, and then she'd kill me." he was so certain of that. His mum can manifest chakra chains that can restrain Kurama and suppress his chakra, it's not that far fetched of a guess that she can do the same to him before beating the living shit out of him.
And he saw how scary mum can be when she's angry…
Unknown to Naruto, his father was in agreement with him. He knew her well enough to know she would be ecstatic to have so many grandchildren and that the Uzumaki Clan was on the road to recovery. Then she'd probably take her temper out on Jiraiya, since he was a known pervert and would think he corrupted her son.
"It's a good thing she's not here, then," Minato chuckled sheepishly.
"She sounds scary," Minato snapped his head around and he, along with everyone else, was surprised to see the blood covered, dark-clothed wearing, and bloodshot, red-eyed Naruto standing there. The Insane Naruto started giggling insanely as he held the side of his head through his hood. "Good thing she's not here though, not here not here not here…"
"Naruto, who the hell is that!?" Oh, so Rachel was around too?
"That is me in the worst case scenario…he's an Insane version of me." Naruto answered as he turned to look at the woman in question.
"Yep yep!" Insane Naruto giggled, and he started smacking the side of his head repeatedly as his grin became more and more disturbed. "A version that was driven insane from loneliness, hate and abuse of Konohagakure."
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked his insane self with exasperation.
"Just wanted to see the Yondaime Hokage in person…" the dark-clothed Naruto stared up at the blond man, who had a dangerously stoic look on his face. If the Insane Naruto was put off by the cold look on the man's face, he didn't show it.
"He's so cool…" He gushed looking less insane now that he was in the presence of a living legend, and Naruto - the real one - blinked in bewilderment. It's like...being in dad's presence was making him more sane. Interesting.
Naruto blinked once more and the Insane Naruto was gone. "I think I made him a little too unpredictable. I didn't think he would become sentient…" though what he did after Chloe got out of her 'simulation' should have been a dead give away that this version of him was more than he seemed.
"That was… a thing." Minato stated, before turning to look at his son on the other side of the barrier. "So you made him?" Though his tone sounded accusative, he wasn't. Not really. The man was just curious.
Naruto flinched at his tone. "Yeah. A…girlfriend of mine wanted to fight me…and she tends to act first and ask questions later. So I gave her a fight against a version of me that forced her to think. Insane Naruto, as I'm calling him, was the end result."
"I see," Minato sighed, "Naruto you should be more careful. You have not just the power of all nine Bijuu, but the power of the Rikudō Sennin as well. Fuinjutsu is still an vastly unknown branch of jutsu."
"I know, dad, I know." Naruto sighed. Then he brightened up considerably. "Still… there is a silver lining to all of this!"
Smiling Minato cocked his head to the side. "Oh? What would that be?" he asked, now curious as to what was going through his son's head.
"You can meet your grandsons and granddaughters now!"
Minato smiled a little wider at that. His son was right, he could see his grandsons and granddaughters now.
"NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Both father and son went stiff as they went ashened skinned at the enraged voice. They both recognised who the voice belonged to. Though the latter was wondering how she could be in the simulator when he didn't even implement her yet. Was this the work of the Twin Goddesses? Did they finally get through to Shinigami?!
"WHAT'S THIS ABOUT YOU BEDDING MULTIPLE WOMEN!?"
Looking around for a place to hide, Naruto did what any sane man would do when faced against a woman with a fierce temper. Savra squawked when Naruto hid behind her as if she was a protective shield.
It wasn't long that a long-red-haired woman whose hair was defying gravity, whipping around around her like several tails, appeared before the small group of hybrids and ANBU, stomping up towards the barrier with a comical look of outrage on her face. Her clothes are made of a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress, some standard shinobi sandals, and lastly, a wristband on her left wrist.
"A-Ah haha… Hi mom…?" Naruto nervously greeted the redhead from behind the still bewildered Savra.
Kushina, still outraged, pressed her hand against the barrier the second she got to it and shook her fist at him with the other. "DON'T 'HI MOM' ME, YOUNG MAN! YOU'RE LUCKY YOU'RE NOT IN HERE WITH ME! I'D GIVE YOU SUCH A SPANKING FOR BEING A MASSIVE PERVERT!"
Minato wasn't surprised to see that the young girls, Tanya included, all hid behind the older women. Even the ANBU from Kumogakure no Sato were cowering before Kushina's temper. The only one who didn't was Savra, and that was because she was blind!
"I'm 21, mom! I'm old enough to make my own decisions!" Naruto weakly protested.
And just like that, all the anger that was welling up within Kushina deflated, and as she slumped forwards, her hair fell down against her back as gravity took hold.
"I know… but I wanted you to find a nice girl, settle down, and have a family…" Then Kushina looked at him with wide, tearful eyes as her bottom lip trembled, "And Jiraiya corrupted you into being a womanizer! Waaaaaah!" then she started wailing as she pulled a very bewildered Minato to her and buried her face into his the crook of his neck.
"U-uh… Actually… I have multiple wives. These ladies here are just some people I rescued from some very bad people."
Kushina suddenly stopped crying and looked at him with a scarily focused face. "Wives…? As in plural? Does that mean I have… grandchildren?"
Naruto nervously dampened his lips before answering. "Y-Yeah? You have lots of grandchildren; just under 50 last I checked. There's a couple of more on the way." He was talking about the ones that were born on Testing Ground One of course. He's got plenty of more in the Elemental Nations, which takes it up to 56.
"Under… 50?" Kushina didn't know how to take that news.
"I have a lot of wives." Naruto, now feeling a bit more confident, stepped out from behind poor, confused Savra. "None of these girls are them, though."
Tanya was very tempted to say 'Yet!', but she didn't want to bring this woman's temper down on her. She was scary! So the 13 year old did the wisest thing and kept her mouth shut.
And just like that, Kushina's mood brightened up considerably as she clasped her hands together to the side of her face, "I have so many grandchildren! Eeeeeeee!" she squealed gushingly. "Where are they? Are they here? Can I see them?"
"They're in Morris, the town I'm the leader of. No, they're not here and you can't see them. This is a fortress called Raby…" Naruto told with her a shake of his head; he then trailed off at the end with a thoughtful look on his face. "Though this simulation is the copy of the one in Morris."
Kushina blinked, not connecting the dots. "Meaning?"
Minato on the other hand, did. "I think it means you can go see them when that one is turned on," he looked at Naruto and asked, "right son?"
Naruto nodded with enthusiasm, "Yeah. Exactly!"
"Okay!" Kushina exclaimed, driving her fist into her hand with a look of fierce determination. "I'll go there now!" And then she vanished, fading away like a mirage, before Naruto could say another word.
The bailey was overcome with awkward silence.
"...She's your mother?" Tanya eventually asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah."
"...She's scary when angry…" Ava said from behind Audrey with Eva, who was also hiding behind the former Number 3, nodding in agreement with her twin sister.
"That's mom for you." Naruto said with a sheepish chuckle. Then he blinked and drove his palm into his face as he came to a sudden revelation. "I just realised the simulation at Morris might not even be on."
"I wouldn't worry about it to much," Minato reassured, "I'll be by her side and get her to wait if that's the case." He smiled while adding, "Besides, when I was 'gone' between then and now, I didn't notice any differences in time. It felt as if seconds had passed since I saw Mukade and you in person. I'll see you later, Naruto. And possibly Jiraiya-sensei too."
"Yeah," Naruto chuckled sheepishly. Knowing him, that old pervert would either curse him for getting so many beautiful women, or cry with joy for getting so many beautiful women. "I'll see you later, dad."
With a smile Minato gave him a single nod, before fading away like a mirage himself, leaving Naruto alone in the company of 14 hybrids and four Kumogakure ANBU. Turning off the simulation, Naruto then looked back at the silver-eyed, pale blonde/platinum blonde girls and women.
"So, are you girls ready to start training in using chakra some more?" After seeing what the Awakened Beings and ANBU did to those youma, the blond got a round of enthusiastic smiles and nods from them.
----
Back in Morris, a good thirty minutes later.
Team Undine was performing a teamwork exercise with their new squadmate, Glissa, under the supervision of a Naruto clone, when they noticed the Simulation seal acting weird. The seals were glowing and the barrier was flickering on and off, before the whole thing went silent for a bit and started acting up again.
"That's odd," Zelda commented. "Never seen it do that before…"
Then, just as the Naruto clone went to check on it, the array came to life entirely, the simulation having been turned on from within.
"I did it!" A female voice cheered in elation. Naruto recognized it immediately. The barrier then turned black and a woman with long, red hair and purple eyes faded into view. She let out a sigh of relief. She had to give her son some mad props! The security he gave this seal were nothing short of unbelievable, especially for his age! But, Kushina was entrusted with the Kyuubi all those years ago for a damn good reason. Her mastery of Fuuinjutsu was nigh god tier - rivaled only by her husband, his mentor, and Mito, at the time. That said, hacking this seal from the inside was difficult, but manageable.
She looked around and noted that this 'courtyard' was much bigger than the previous one. It was also more sparsely populated, though that was because of everyone else being in the keep or the town. She immediately spotted four women with her son - whom she'd assumed to be a shadow clone and smiled at them. "Hello~!"
The clone, who had no knowledge of her being back, had a understandable reaction. And it was nothing short of spectacular. Quickly backing away from the simulation, the clone pointed a shaking hand at Kushina and shouted.
"What?! Who!? How?! Ah-guh-HUH?!"
"Well… this is exactly how I expected his reaction to go." Minato said with a chuckle, appearing beside Kushina like a mirage. Kushina looked a bit sheepish at that.
"Oops?" The redhead then turned to the young man and four women and asked, "So, what's going on here?"
"Naruto here, is helping us with a teamwork exercise so we can get used to our new teammate," Deneve said, gesturing to her husband and Glissa respectively as she approached. She didn't see any harm in revealing that. She then gave at the duo in the sim an odd look. "May I ask what's going on here?"
The clone opened his mouth to say something, only for whatever it was to die on the tip of his tongue, when he suddenly received the memories of his creator. Now he knew everything from the massive youma army that was threatening Daby, to him discovering that Minato was real.
"...I just got the memories from the Boss." the clone had a look on his face that conveyed all his happiness and joy in the next three words, "Oh my god." taking a deep, shaking breath he looked at Team Undine and said, "I'd like the four of you to officially meet Minato and Kushina… my parents. They're the real deal."
To say the four of them were surprised was the understatement of the century.
"Your parents…?" Undine muttered in bewilderment.
"I thought they were dead," Glissa added awkwardly.
"We are," Kushina replied with a sheepish chuckle. "I can't say I blame you for being shocked, but I was just too eager to meet my grandbabies."
Clearly, Naruto wasn't the only one in his bloodline with a tendency to think before he acts...
"I was around longer, actually." Minato told them. "I was there when you fought the giant puppet, Mukade. I never got the chance to talk to my son, though… and don't ask me how my wife got here… or how I'm apparently back from the dead and not just a simulation. I'm still trying to piece that together, myself."
He has a theory on that actually; with his son having the power of all nine Bijuu and the Rikudō Sennin, plus fuinjutsu still being a vastly unknown branch of jutsu, his son may have inadvertently found a way to bring the souls in the Pure Land back to the realm of the living. This creation of his isn't really part of the physical world, since it in a sense, generates its own pocket dimension. It is entirely possible that Naruto has found a way to bring the deceased out of the Pure Lands.
He's wrong of course, since this was Shinigami's work, but that's why it's a theory, not fact.
"Duly noted," Deneve replied with a nod.
Zelda eagerly scampered on up to her hubby's parents. "So… my name is Zelda… Zelda Uzumaki," she said with a blush and respectful bow. "I am one of your son's wives." She showed them her wedding band. "I must say, he turned out well. The young man is nothing short of a miracle worker."
"Pleased to meet you," Kushina said with a respectful bow of her own. When the two women straightened up, the redhead looked to the others, "And who are the rest of you?"
"I'm Glissa, your son's mate." The dark-haired pointed-eared Awakened One introduced herself with a polite smile. Her terminology raised a couple eyebrows, but Minato and Kushina kept that to themselves for now.
"I'm Deneve Uzumaki, another of your son's wives." The pixie-haired blonde said with a respectful nod.
Seeing as it was her time to introduce herself, Undine gave her hubby's parents a polite, respectful smile - since the blond is the former leader of Konoha - and introduced herself. "I'm Undine Uzumaki, another of your son's wives."
"Pleased to meet you all." then Kushina gave the clone a teasing look, "I hope he's been treating you all well."
"Immaculately," Glissa said almost seductively. "I never thought I'd say this before meeting him, but I have truly fallen in love~!"
"I think we all have, Glissa." Zelda said with a girlish giggle.
The Naruto clone covered his mouth as he cleared his throat, now thoroughly beet red. "We were actually, uh, having a training exercise to get Glissa settled in with her new team. They're doing pretty well too! I certainly wouldn't mind fetching their kids so you can meet a few of your grandchildren, though."
Kushina brightened considerably at that. "Oh! Please do!" The redhead was clapping her hands together with excitement and eagerness to finally meet some of her grandkids.
Amused at her antics, a grinning Naruto shook his head and looked at his girls. "Keep my mum and dad company, will you?"
"Gladly," Undine replied with a nod. Satisfied with her answer the blond vanished in a yellow flash, thoroughly surprising Minato and Kushina as it was something they were not expecting in the slightest.
"Sooooo…" Zelda started, looking at her mother and father-in-law. "...does this mean we can ask for advice?"
"Well... it depends on the type of advice you're looking for." Kushina told her.
"Hmm…" Zelda closed her eye in thought. "I would ask for advice on what Naruto's likes and dislikes are, but, seeing as the two of you were dead through no fault of your own, I suppose that's moot. Maybe…some advice on chakra?" she asked, opening her eye again to look at them.
"I'm actually well suited for that," Minato said with a grin. "I had a few students of my own, back in the Third Great War, so it fell upon me to train them as quickly and effectively as possible."
"I got knocked up with Naruto almost immediately after becoming a Jounin, so I never got the chance to teach professionally," Kushina added sheepishly. "After doing my homework on the matter, I quickly realized that I simply couldn't juggle both responsibilities, so I retired to focus on raising a family… then, that masked dickbag happened when I came to term and the rest is history, I guess." Her tome became significantly more grim at the end.
"Well, on the bright side, you now have a chance to make up for lost time," Glissa chirped. "Words cannot describe how glad I am to have met that young man!"
Kushina blushed and smiled at that.
Minato smiled as well, before addressing Zelda. "So, what kind of advice would you like?"
"I've heard from Naruto that you managed to defeat an entire army of ninja by yourself, in a matter of seconds. If I were to go against an enemy of that caliber, what is the best way to survive?"
Undine perked up, eager to learn what Minato had to say.
"Isn't Naruto capable of doing the exact same thing?" Deneve pointed out remindingly to Zelda.
The woman in question glowered, as she crossed her arms against her bosom with a childish huff. "Yeah. He's the person I want to beat! We never managed to beat him in our spars! Ever! Even in training he manages to kick our asses!"
"It depends on a number of factors," Minato said, crossing his arms inquisitively. "When I did that, I had the element of surprise on my side, even when I became rather infamous for it. Also, while the Hiraishin was invented literal decades before I was even born, it wasn't very well known a technique and no one who did know about it had expected some no-name schmuck from a family of merchants to master it."
"Wooooah… Naruto's dad is a badass…" Glissa said with wide, doe-like eyes.
"Mine," Kushina growled teasingly.
"We know," Team Undine all said at the exact same time, though they shared a good laugh.
"Naruto can use the Hiraishin himself. He put the sealing formula on us so we can call him when we need him." Undine revealed, before pouting, "He can use it to bring himself to the person it's on without them knowing until it's too late."
"Oh yeah, I forgot he could do that." Zelda said with a thoughtful frown. "Thankfully he never uses that in our sparring sessions, otherwise we'd get our asses handed to us the second it starts. The kunais on the other hand..."
"That's bullshit...not only can he appear directly beside the person he's tagged, he can even appear a mile away from them!" Glissa raged, though it was all in good nature. "It's certainly useful to get out of a tight pinch though."
Deneve cleared her throat, "Can we not diverge from the subject?" she asked with a look of exasperation. "We pretty much established Naruto can teleport beside us or a mile away from us. And from the looks of it, the seals themselves are unremovable… unless we were to cut it off."
"The seals are unremovable yes. Even when the ink fades away, it's still there. It's permanent." Minato confirmed. "As for cutting it off, I don't think anyone's ever tried." Then he rubbed his chin as he thought back on Zelda's original question. "Though the best way to survive, would be to get as far away from the thrown kunai as possible. If you're far enough away from the kunai, then it's hard for the person that threw it, to try and kill you."
"But if there's more than one kunai, then you're shit outta luck." Zelda sighed.
"I wouldn't say it like that, but yes." Minato gave her an apologetic look.
"Soooo… out of curiosity, are the three of you family?" Kushina asked Undine, Zelda and Deneve.
Kushina and Minato were very surprised when the latter of the three shook her head. "No, we're not… well, at least not by blood," Deneve stated. "I'll bet you thought that because the three of us share similar features: silver eyes, unnatural pale blonde hair?"
"Admittedly," Kushina replied with a nod. "The Yamanaka Clan's known to have pretty strong genes in those departments."
"That would explain why Inonon has such similar features to Ino, despite insisting that they're distantly related, at best," Glissa muttered.
"Oh?" Kushina looked at her curiously. "I take it you know some members?" She didn't want to assume, but secretly hoped this was an indication that her son had snagged a woman of nobility.
"Only in passing," the brunette replied. "Ino's an old classmate an childhood 'friend' of his, though I feel he's using that term a bit too loosely." She shrugged. "Cultural differences, I'm guessing. Inonon, however, is a girl he'd commissioned to help him with some women in dire need of psychiatric help." Her expression became a bit more impish as she added, "rumor has it that Tsunade's been working her like a dog to keep the poor thing from acting on the crush she has for your son."
"I can't say I blame her if that's true," Deneve pointed out with a sigh. "I'm guessing Tsunade's just trying to look out for her godson."
"Too true." Zelda sighed. "Anyway, the reason why we have the same coloured eyes and similar coloured hair is because we were made like this. We are Half-Human Half-Demon hybrids, we were cut open and had the flesh and blood of youma, the demons of this continent, grafted into our body. The transformation into becoming a half-demon is painful, and we lose the original colours of our eyes and hair, with one exception as far as I know. My hair was originally dark brown and my eyes were green before the transformation."
Minato looked at Glissa as he thought back to when he last saw them. "The last time I saw your team, you had a… green-skinned humanoid with you. Where is she?"
"You're looking at her." Glissa replied with a nervous look. "I'm what is called an 'Awakened Being'. I'm what hybrids become when they go over their limit and in the process, lose their humanity entirely. Youmas eat humans, and because I became a demon myself, I have to eat humans too. Naruto has found a way around that, though… with Tsunade's help, of course. Before she came along, we were eating bandits and the like."
"Interesting…" Minato muttered. "How many are there of these 'Awakened Beings' in the family?"
"Myself, Evianna, Pyrrha, Megan, Priscilla, Riful, Luciela…" Glissa began to count the rest in her head, she ticked off the amount of people with her hands, going well into the double digits. "...21 of us, I believe. Not counting the four males who are really just helping out with security and the like; if they were then that would make 25 of us in the family."
Minato didn't know if he should be concerned there's over twenty demons around his son… then again, the one in front of him said his son had found a way around it. So he'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
His wife on the other hand...
"I'll give you a friendly warning, honey," Kushina began, looking all friendly like, despite the downright frightening tone she had in her voice. "If you hurt my son in. Any. Way. I'll find a way to hurt you. Understand?"
"Several of his wives would undoubtedly get to me first, Some of them are even among those demons I'd mentioned earlier… and more powerful than some of the Nine Bijuu." Glissa pointed out awkwardly. "You have nothing to worry about, I assure you."
"Good to know," Kushina chirped. "So… who's this girl with a crush on Naruto? You know anything about her?"
"Not much," Undine grunted with a shrug. "Pretty much all we collectively know about her to my understanding has already been said. I'm sure a meeting can be arranged if you asked, though."
"I would like that," the redhead replied.
"I'll get to it, then," a familiar, masculine voice assured. They all turned their attention to Naruto who had five kids in tow… two of which looked way too old to be his. "My kid's age twice as fast than normal. Tsunade thinks it's because of the genes between the parents, that's making them mature faster. The hybrids all stop ageing once they reach full maturity, and Tsunade thinks its the same thing with the kids though none of them have gotten old enough to confirm that suspicion, just yet. We'll see in a few years."
"Very interesting," Minato muttered inquisitively.
"Give me a sec," Naruto said, placing his hand on the barrier. Soon after, the room black faded away and his parents found themselves standing inside the room of a local-style inn. "There, now the kids can walk in and interact with the two of you," he said, before turning to the kids and gesturing for them to enter. "Go on, now, meet your grandparents."
Lyesse giggled and scurried forth, not needing to be asked a second time. Kushina and Minato couldn't help but notice her and Damia's odd attire but opted to ask about it later. Damia followed, soon after, her little sister, Altea on her heels. Then, Gideon and Isabella trailed behind - Deneve's little girl being the last to enter.
Naruto chuckled and turned to his four present wives. "You wanna go in and play with your kids or continue the exercises?"
I'd prefer to go in," Glissa chirped.
Zelda nodded in agreement, as did Deneve.
"I guess that settles it then," Undine chuckled, before stepping forth.
----
A few hours later, the sun rose in Sunagakure as a one-armed man with black hair covering one eye stepped out of the apartment he'd stayed in and took in the crisp morning air. By his side, a pink-haired woman with green eyes and a blue, diamond-shaped in the middle of her forehead gave him an expectant look. In her arms was their baby girl who'd just recently had her first birthday.
"Ready?" Sasuke asked.
"As I'll ever be…" Sakura sighed. When last she saw Naruto, they were not on the best of terms, to say the least. As rumour had it, these women Naruto was reputedly staying with had very low opinions of her. This was going to be one hell of an awkward reunion, wasn't it?