Maki felt a spike of fear and confusion as they continued to near Konoha. From her position in the moving group of shinobi she could just make out the Kazekage as he leapt from tree to tree. She just didn't understand what had brought on this march towards Suna's allies. But there were plenty of rumors among the Suna-nin which in part was being fueled by the Kage's silence. Directing her attention to Joseki, she knew what he hoped this march was and that was a sneak attack on the Leaf.
It was a sentiment that appeared to be in a majority among the older more experienced shinobi present. Truthfully she may have been among that number due in part to the councilor's influence if not for the dinner several months ago that she had attended. She still had a hard time getting Temari's date's words out of her head. It wasn't just what he said but the way his blue eyes had looked as he said them. She supposed it was in fact his eyes that had held the greatest amount of weight since her time among the councilors had shown her that even though they spoke prettily that they often didn't mean any of it. The young man's eyes had told her that not only had he meant what he said. But he had experienced many reasons to hate those around him, and yet still strove to find a higher path.
As she looked over the many shinobi that wanted this to be an attack on Konoha, Maki found herself thinking about how it would only insure that another generation of Leaf-nin would come to hate Suna. In turn this would mean that when given a chance to exact some vengeance against her home that they would jump at the chance. Maki wanted to speak out against attacking the Leaf but much as when Joseki ranted against them found she lacked the courage to speak up.
Gaara stopped and held his arm up giving the sign for his forces to do so as well. Joseki motioned to her and with several other councilors approached the Kage to ask, "Alright Gaara, we've waited long enough what is this about?"
Gaara ignored the rude tone of the elder councilor saying, "You're about to find out." Directing his gaze forward, he said, "Greetings Lady Hokage."
"Lord Kazekage," Tsunade said appearing on a branch in front of the Kazekage as did a force as large as Gaara's behind her. Many of the Suna-nin went for their weapons causing the Leaf to do so as well, but both sides stopped as the Hokage continued her greeting, "I'm glad you could make it."
Joseki confused and angry his dream of retaliation towards the Leaf appeared to be just that, rudely said, "What the hell is going on here?"
Gaara in a rare showing of emotion said dangerously, "Elder Councilor Joseki, I may be willing to ignore your lack of decorum when taking to me in the council chamber. However, it would be prudent to remember your place when outside of it less you give our allies or shinobi the wrong idea of who is in charge."
Joseki glared at Gaara but inclined his head as he bit his tongue about what he thought of his Leaf loving Kage. Gaara turned away feeling that in time Joseki may become as big a thorn in his side as Danzou was to Tsunade. Nodding to his fellow Kage, he said, "I'll let you explain why we've gathered here."
"Thank you." Tsunade aware her next few words could either bring Konoha and Suna closer or drive them apart said, "For years now we've been allies in name only. A fact highlighted by Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha." Tsunade paused as some of the Suna-nin shifted uncomfortably before continuing, "Still we were able to overcome that to forge a stronger alliance due in part to the close ties of our newest generation. However, again our alliance will face a challenge one that goes by the name Akatsuki. Therefore, the Kazekage and I believe it prudent we begin to form a force so that when the time to fight such a threat is upon us this alliance will be able to lead the way and fight efficiently with each other. With that in mind both Leaf and Suna will be conducting battle exercises to better foster friendship between our two villages."
"Like hell I will work with you Leaf bastards," a voice called out from the back of the Suna contingent.
Gaara spun looking for the man who had spoken while Joseki looked on smugly seeing it was a sentiment that was on many of the Suna-nin present. Maki knew it was one not shared by the last few graduating classes of the Academy. But she guessed Gaara was hoping that by bringing a large contingent of the age group responsible for the Sound-Sand invasion to work with Konoha it would help ease the hatred they felt.
Unable to find the man, Gaara turned to Tsunade and said, "Please forgive the outburst Lady Tsunade."
"Apologies aren't necessary Lord Gaara, it's a sentiment that I found I shared for quite some time when working with you Suna bastards." Needless to say all the shinobi present where shocked by her words so she added while addressing the gathered Suna forces, "Surprised, let's not forget that I've fought in the Second Shinobi War and was responsible for countering a great deal of Lady Chiyo's attempts at poisoning my fellow Leaf-nin. I've battled against many Suna-nin over my career and it was Suna-nin that were responsible for taking from me my precious younger brother. However, this is a world made by the living and while my brother's death still hurts me it no longer has sway over me. That is why I will work towards an alliance where Suna and Konoha can work together despite our turbulent pasts."
Maki was shocked by the admission and could see it was a sentiment shared by many of the Suna shinobi present as she doubted many ever considered the pain their own actions had caused to their Leaf counterparts. Gaara inclined his head towards the Hokage in a show of respect before saying, "Temari."
"Yes," the kunoichi said appearing next to her brother.
"The Hokage and I have selected a campsite seven kilometers east of here for the two forces to set up. Lead them there as I talk with my counterpart in private."
Temari nodded, waving her hand to get the Suna forces moving. Maki saw it was a gesture repeated by a man with a cigarette hanging from his mouth on the Konoha side. She also noticed that Joseki wanted to remain behind but a pointed look from Gaara let the man know that would not be happening. As both leaders dropped to the ground to talk and with Joseki's angry rant filling her ears as they were led away, Maki wondered why she had thought of Temari's date as Tsunade had spoken of leaving her own pain behind.
*****************************
Approaching her Kage counterpart, Tsunade said, "In the long run it may have been a bad idea to not tell our forces what we were up to."
"True," Gaara admitted, "But it was worth the tension to see who among our shinobi still wish that Leaf and Suna remain enemies and in turn may work against our goals."
Tsunade nodded having made sure to commit to memory shinobi she thought may work against the plan to bring the two villages closer. Commenting on the second reason for Suna's entering into the Land of Fire she said, "Plus with a large number of Leaf and Sun-nin camping only a few miles from the prison it'll force Danzou to put whatever plans he has on hold."
"It was rather brilliant of Naruto to suggest our two villages work together in these joint exercises to help achieve both his ambition and placing us in a position capable of stopping an invasion force sent from the prison."
Tsunade smiled saying, "Why so surprised? He is the shinobi that helped you get started on your path to becoming Kazekage. All this plan is doing is putting faith in his bond with you and that it is something that can be shared among all of Suna and Konoha."
*****************************
There were times when Naruto feared that he was already dead, that the past half a year was nothing more than a fevered dream of a badly wounded shinobi on the battlefield. It was sights like the one he was currently watching that made him have to stop and pinch himself just to make sure it was really happening. What currently had him questioning his still being among the living, was Koyuki and her new bodyguard facing each other as they sat on the bed in the nude their pussies pressed against each other and rubbing them together.
Add to that the fact that while the two women gyrated against one another pulling heavenly sounding moans of pleasure in between the heavy kissing they engaged in, he was also receiving a blowjob from Anko as he watched from the throne like chair in Koyuki's room and it was easy to understand why at times he feared waking up.
The door to the room opened, but none of the principal players stopped in their pleasure seeking as they knew only one person would be allowed past the clones Naruto had left in the hall. Hana stepped in pouting slightly as she said, "Hey, you started without me."
"Sorry," Naruto said holding back a groan, "But you have to admit you are a little late."
"Blame the ticket counter," Hana said pulling the zipper of her chunin vest and shucked it off before pulling her shirt over her head. Topless she approached the chair and leaning over to kiss him added, "But we're all set to leave tomorrow."
Naruto nodded and sticking his hand between her legs began rubbing Hana's pussy over her thin shorts. Finding her soaking he said, "It must have been torture waiting in line."
Placing her hand over his as he rubbed her cunt getting her even wetter she moaned, "Mmhmmm, but you'll make it up to me right Naruto."
Anko allowed his dick to slip from her lips saying, "He's all ready for you."
Hana was obviously surprised at the generosity saying, "You don't mind?"
"Nah, I've got something else planned for this," she said giving his cock a few strokes.
Standing she moved to the bed to watch as Hana quickly removed her shorts and facing Naruto climbed into his lap. With her feet resting on his knees she reached down and grabbed his cock to line it up with her drooling lower lips before sliding down it. "Oh fuck," Hana moaned as she bottomed out. Raising just her hips, she slowly allowed him to slip out of her cunt until only the tip remained before just as slowly feeding It back in. As Naruto's dick became coated in Hana's love juices, Anko who was sitting on the edge of the bed raised one of her legs to give Naruto a grand view as she slowly rubbed her pussy.
Hana though soon demanded his full attention as she began to dangle her breasts in front of him. Reaching up he grabbed one and squeezing it directed into his mouth where he sucked her nipple while rolling his tongue around it. "Yes...oh....suck my tit," Hana panted as she began to increase the speed of her hips.
Naruto let her tit pop from his mouth and grabbing ahold of her legs stood from the chair. As he walked he continued to slide the moaning Inuzuka up and down on his cock until his knees came in contact with the bed. Planting her down on it next to Anko, he let go of her legs for her to quickly lock them behind his back. Now able to set the pace Naruto mercilessly began drilling his cock in and out of her cunt causing the Inuzuka to begin howling her pleasure at the top of her lungs. "Yes....oh yes... fuck your bitch's pussy. Oh Goddamn....it's so fucking good. I'm...I'm...I'M Cummmiiinnnnggggg."
Her body stiffening, Hana's howl of pleasure accompanied her pussies milking him of his seed. Although tempted to give it what it wanted, he knew he was in for a long night of pleasure so resisted and continued to pound her snatch in order to prolong it. When she relaxed, he pulled out of her cunt causing her to whimper slightly at the loss.
Turning his attention to Koyuki and Fubuki he noticed that apparently the two had reached their own climaxes while he was focused on Hana. Currently they were lying on their backs across the large bed near the headboard catching their breaths as they stared at each other and the junction where they were still touching. Guessing they would keep for the moment he turned towards the foot of the bed to see Anko smiling at him. Without saying a word she rolled over onto her stomach pulling her knees beneath her. Then looking over her shoulder with the side of her face buried in the bed she reached behind her with both hands and pulled her asscheeks apart.
Receiving the invitation and with his dick slippery and lathered by Hana's juices he kneeled over her angling his dick with her anus and slowly pushed inside. "Fuck...fuck it hurts. How can Koharu like this so much?"
"Shh, bear with it baby. I promise it'll feel better soon." Taking it slow Naruto worked his length into Anko's backdoor. When he finally was completely engulfed in her clenching ass, he just as slowly pulled himself back out. Repeating several times, it was once he was back inside her and stopped that he felt her relax and let out a delicate moan. Licking the back of her ear he whispered, "Are you beginning to relax my hot babe?"
Anko nodded her head so getting to his feet; he stood on the mattress and began to work up to a faster pace. Grabbing her hips, Naruto really began to pound her ass turning the soft moans into loud shouts of pleasure. "Fuck....now I see why...fuck it feels like so fucking good..."
"For me too...shit I love the way you're gripping my cock," Naruto said looking down and enjoying the way Anko's tight ass fought against his pulling out only to relent slightly as he pushed it back in. Still Naruto soon found himself fighting against the urge to cum in part to his earlier efforts with Hana.
Wanting Anko's first experience with anal sex to end on a high note he was about to reach down to begin stimulating her pussy to get her off, when she surprised him by saying, "Fuck...I...I'm going to cum. Just from your big fuck stick in my ass...Fuck I'm CCcummmmiiiinnnnggggg!!!!"
Anko began pounding her fist into the mattress as her ass tightened up around his cock and he could feel the muscles of her cunt through the thin wall responding to her orgasm. Letting go himself he flooded her passage causing Anko to raise her head from the mattress as she shouted, "Shit, it's so fucking good. That's it lover fill my ass with your hot man spunk." Naruto was sure her words encouraged several more spurts from his cock as his hips kept jerking while he deposited his load.
Coming down from her orgasm Anko sagged down into the bed as Naruto stepped down to the floor as his dick returned to its flaccid state. Looking over the satisfied women on the bed he noticed Koyuki was missing. He heard her almost silent and bare footprints over the floorboards approaching from behind. Turning to face her, she pouted saying, "I wanted to sneak up on you."
Naruto smiled saying, "Sorry, it's hard to sneak up on the greatest ninja in the world."
"If I didn't know better I would think you had a swelled head," Koyuki teased and then kissed him lightly on the cheek. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him along to the bathroom where Naruto could see she had drawn a bath in her massive tub. Koyuki stepped into the water pulling Naruto in with her and after he sunk into the warm water she sat in his lap resting against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. As she relaxed with her lover she said, "You know I would think I'd feel jealous watching you with other women. But strangely all I feel is a slight annoyance that it isn't me."
"Well Tsunade feels a side-effect of the jutsu is that it loosens a woman's inhibitions," Naruto said and despite his just coming having Koyuki's ass in his lap soon had his solider standing at attention and ready for duty. However he knew that Koyuki for the moment just wanted to relax in his arms and talk so tried to will his boner away.
"It isn't just that thought," Koyuki said turning slightly to look back at him, "Take Fubuki for example, while its true maybe our inhibitions are lower you found the good inside her and nurtured it, when others would have written her off as a traitor not to be trusted. She responded to that and that's why she was willing to join with you in your ambition. Plus you care for each of us, and are willing to do the little things that matter most in a relationship."
"What do you mean?"
Koyuki smiled grinding her ass into Naruto's erection as she said, "Well take the fact your dick seems to want to play again." Turning to face him, she placed her thighs on the outside of his as she reached into the water to grab his cock and line it up with her pussy as she said, "Yet instead of demanding that I take care of it. You were willing to put up with some discomfort to just snuggle and talk." Lowering herself on it she moaned, "Mmmm, remind me to find this Kanji fellow and to give him a medal."
Despite his pleasure at sinking into a wet heat that wasn't of the water Naruto grimaced due to his doubts about the man in question. Catching it, Koyuki asked, "What's wrong?"
"I guess, I sometimes wonder why he gave that scroll to me. Now as I look back on it he said that I reminded him of himself. But...well truthfully Koyuki while I had put on a smiling front there were times when I wanted to lash out at the world."
Cupping his face, Koyuki said, "Naruto everyone feels that way from time to time."
"I guess, but trust me Koyuki for me it was different. If I had given in who knows what I could have become. To be honest that is what worries me. That Kanji saw that in me and felt I would abuse the jutsu. Already some of what he said has proven to be deceptive."
"What do you mean?"
"Well when he gave the scroll to me. He made it sound like it contained several jutsu and it did but only the Temptation Touch was listed. The real jutsu was hidden among the instructions, which was to change my chakra so that sleeping with a woman would bind her to me. Not to mention he completely underplayed just how much I could influence yours and my other lovers' actions.
Koyuki could see her lover's point, but realizing she still had his large dick inside of her began to slowly rock her hips causing both to moan. Getting an idea she said, "Mmmm... you said he came from Hotspring Village correct."
Naruto leaned his head back against the tubs edge as he groaned, "Yeah...why? We can't go poking around since they have a list of both Konoha and Suna's active shinobi. I couldn't even send Koharu since her disappearing for a period of time would be noticed."
Naruto finished his sentence by clamping his mouth to her collarbone before moving on to kiss along her jaw. Enjoying the light kisses she leaned her own head back to stare at the ceiling as she said, "True, but what if I go."
Naruto pulled away to stare at her and Koyuki stopped her hips to meet his eyes as he said, "Koyuki, they might have a jutsu of their own similar to the Temptation's Touch as that might be how they get their information from their important guests."
"Are you saying you're afraid they'll seduce me into betraying you?" she asked her eyes showing how hurt she was.
"No, but they may be able to get you to reveal things you normally wouldn't want to. That's how they learned about Konoha's active shinobi roster. The Fire Daimyo let it slip."
"True, but he doesn't have the two things I do."
"And that would be?"
"A lover who can use his influence over me to make sure I can't talk about Spring's secrets or his own."
Naruto smiled nodding at her point and although he had an idea asked, "And the second?"
"A bodyguard that can watch over me at ALL times," Koyuki said clenching her pussy as she said all pulling a groan from his throat.
She began her languid riding of his cock again and despite the temptation to give into the pleasure he said, "Still they'll know Fubuki is a kunoichi and will watch her like a hawk. She probably won't be able to learn anything of value."
"True," Koyuki said pulling herself close as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Picking up her pace she whispered throatily in his ear, "But didn't you have a spy scouting out kunoichi for you to seduce who is currently sitting around doing nothing." Sucking on his earlobe she asked, "How do you think she'd like getting a job in show business?" Koyuki could feel Naruto stiffen as he got what she was suggesting, however wanting to change the subject she said, "But enough about business, unless that business is to make me scream your name."
Knowing a challenge when he heard it, Naruto was more than willing to meet it so grabbing ahold of his lover stood up in the tub and began forcibly sliding her up and down his cock and once she began screaming in pleasure didn't stop until she was hoarse.
*****************************
Shizune was walking through the tunnels that lead to where Tsunade had been conducting her autopsy of the Snow-nin Naruto had killed. Freshly returned from the mission that had failed to banish the Sanbi, she had entered the Hokage's mansion to find a coded message left for her on what Tsunade wanted her to do while she meet with Suna's forces. Feeling dejected about her failure in part since the team had recovered the body of the young boy named Yukimaru who had given his all to protect the Sound-nin Guren during the beast's final rampage. She could still hear the screams of the woman as she had cradled his body claiming she hadn't been worth it. During a battle that had broken out between her and another of her Sound-nin who had turned out to be a disguised Kabuto, Captain Yamato had found himself in possession of the boy's body and knowing that Konoha would want to learn more about his ability to control the Sanbi had secured it to bring back with him.
That autopsy would be left to Sakura and Ino, while Shizune attended to Nadare's. She wondered briefly if Guren would return to Sound or if seeing a person she had come to care for so easily discarded for Orochimaru's ambition would awaken to the truth about the man she served. In any case, she supposed it didn't matter at the moment as she stepped up to the room Tsunade's note had directed her to.
Shizune entered the underground lab and was surprised at how different it seemed now as it no longer had the oppressive and dark atmosphere she associated with Orochimaru. Instead it was brightly lit and surgically clean with many of the walls repaired and painted making the room almost look like it had been transplanted from Konoha hospital. She guessed that Tsunade felt that if they were going to use it for their secret activities that it should reflect its new owners and could easily picture Tsunade and the other women fixing it up. She also guessed that with Naruto in Spring Country it also gave the women something to do with the energy they usually used to drain the jinchuriki of his. Curious as to what some of the other rooms now looked like she decided to wait till after her task was done before giving herself a tour.
Sitting at a desk pushed against a wall she found two folders. Opening one that was marked Patient X she was surprised to see that Tsunade had finished the analyst of the sperm sample she had thought she needed for Naruto's exam. Reading it, she felt her eyes widening in surprise at seeing despite having a high sperm count they all seemed to be in a dormant state. They weren't deformed in anyway, but simply didn't fulfill the task that nature intended for them. Although the reason written down was coded, so that if anyone ever stumbled upon the tunnels again they wouldn't be able to trace anything back to them, Shizune was able to read between the lines to realize that Tsunade suspected Kyuubi was behind it. No doubt the Bijuu realized that an unplanned pregnancy could derail Naruto's plans faster than even the most ardent of enemy ninja and while the Anti-pregnancy jutsu available to kunoichi was effective even they had a slight chance of failure, as a certain kunoichi with red eyes recently found out.
Closing the folder, Shizune smiled remembering how she had collected the sample with her teacher. They hadn't sent it to the lab in part since she had never filed the actual examination needing to falsify all the information about Naruto's recent sexual activity. The reason they tested men after they became sexually active was to know which ones to send on missions that sometimes required them to sleep with their targets. After all, bloodline abilities were closely guarded secrets and if a mission required a Hyuuga to sleep with a Kumo kunoichi to get her to drop her guard while she tried to steal the Byakugan using her reproductive cycle then it would be best if that Hyuuga was firing blanks. Still the last thing anyone wanted was for Naruto to be a candidate for such a mission at least officially. Plus it had been a good thing since after she had filed the fake one that morning, she had noticed Sakura hanging around the medical file office. If she had to guess it was so she could take a look and perhaps learn just how close Naruto had gotten to some of her fellow kunoichi.
Opening the second file, she could see that Tsunade had completed most of the grunt work with only a few specialty tests needing to be performed. The most important was to determine which country or shinobi had been responsible for Nadare's healed spine. Looking over the report of the injuries he had sustained at Kakashi's hand three years earlier she stood making her way to the freezers Orochimaru had installed for his test subjects years earlier. Pulling it open, she pulled out the table revealing the man's corpse. Transferring it to a gurney, she flipped it onto a dissecting table face down. Making an incision at the top of his neck using chakra. She dragged her hand down revealing the man's spine. Separating the section Kakashi had broken when he fought the man from his body; she took a small cross-section of the healed bone and moved it to a microscope.
Before looking at it she moved to a cabinet filled with medical books that Tsunade no doubt knew would be needed for what the room was to be used for. Finding the book she sought, she began rifling through it familiarizing herself with it due to how long it had been since she needed it. Listed inside were the various known techniques of medical ninjutsu that Konoha had encountered. Although medical ninjutsu wasn't an entirely new art each country had arrived to its own mastery of that art through their own means which meant it left a signature behind that could be traced to the villages it had originated from. Not only that, but Tsunade had during the Second Great War developed a technique to read the chakra signatures of the medic-nin that had healed an injury. Naturally it relied on the patient being healed by only a signal shinobi as if multiple doctors had a part in the healing the results would show up as garbage. The technique had resulted in Konoha's ability to effectively track which medic-nin had traveled with which groups allowing for Konoha to target and remove them, thereby eliminating the quality of medical care its enemies could receive.
Looking in the microscope, Shizune could see almost from the very get go that the medic in question had been trained by Konoha due to the quality of the work and techniques used. She guessed that it may have been Kabuto so prepared to use Tsunade's test to determine who it was to make sure. Since all Konoha medic-nin needed to register their chakra signature using the test there was an extensive library of which Kabuto was a part of so she didn't doubt that soon she'd be able to confirm her guess.
Needing a larger sample of bone to work with she moved back to the table she had left the spinal section on and flashing through handsigns, she created a small containment field of chakra. Moving it till it engulfed the bone, she charged the field to extract as large of a sample of the residual chakra that had remained from the healing as she could. Able to sense it as the chakra was forced out of the bone, she waited until if felt like all that could be collected was, before coalescing the field into a ball that she was able to control one handed.
Grabbing a piece of paper with her free hand, she placed it in a bin and poured a special water that was mixed with the sap from the trees used to test elemental affinity on it. Moving the field that contained the chakra over the bin until it rested in the midst of the medic-nin's captured chakra. She watched as green concentric rings began to form on the sheet of paper almost resembling a large finger print. Some of the rings weren't complete instead appearing as dots and lines but those as well as how far apart they were would help in determining just who the medic-nin was.
Guessing the person may also be a hidden Root-nin working for Danzou as there weren't many if any Konoha medical missing-nin outside of Kabuto that she could think of, she decided to run the print against the entire database. Moving to a computer that Tsunade had scrounged from somewhere as they were ungodly expensive, she entered the print in and waited as it would probably take hours for the device to find a match.
When the device finally found a match having taken even longer then she expected. She looked over the results and shocked could only say, "It can't be!"
*****************************
Naruto stepped out of the Kurama clan home after visiting with Yakumo. He made it about half a block away before he let his mood drop having stayed in high spirits around the sickly looking young woman. He had asked Kyuubi if she could help heal her and although the Bijuu was confident she could the problem were the ever present members of her clan. This was evident as he had talked with her about all that had happened in the several months since his return but with a focus on the past month more so due to two major events that had happened while drinking tea as her uncle and several retainers had watched on. When she had a small coughing fit and spilled her tea he had moved to help but had been blocked by the retainers while her uncle attended to her. As her uncle helped her the other shinobi had asked him to leave and although he had agreed reluctantly, he had promised his next visit wouldn't take so long.
Sticking his hands in his pocket, he walked aimlessly as he thought about the events that had transpired since his return from Spring Country. The first had been the attempted resurrection of a demon named Moryou. He smiled as he thought of the priestess of Demon country, who although started out as a royal pain soon warmed up to him. It still made him laugh when after killing the demon and in front of many of his colleagues, she had asked him to help her pass on her powers to her offspring. Although knowing perfectly well what she meant he had used his old clueless persona to quickly agree. The looks on most of their faces had been priceless. He frowned though as he remembered Sakura's which had looked almost pained as she quickly spun away and left. Later that night as they escorted her back, he had approached Shion and told her that he couldn't fulfill her request. Although she claimed she had merely been flirting with him. He felt that she was a little disappointed. Still she asked if he would visit her sometime and he quickly agreed before again apologizing for going along with her so called flirting.
After that, things had settled down for all of a week when Sky Country had attempted to attack the village. Unfortunately for them, they had flown right over the camping Suna and Leaf-nin in the midst of a mock battle. Although the two forces were unable to completely stop the attack force. They did damage it and also managed to get a message to Konoha so the village was prepared. Konoha had then met them away from the village, and forced them to turn before even a single flyer could make it to the village. Still, Naruto had found himself part of a relief mission alongside Sakura and Hinata to a doctor named Shinno and his apprentice's village as it had apparently been one of Sky Country's first victims. When Shinno had revealed himself to be a scumbag and to be manipulating his apprentice's feelings to empower a creature called the Zero-tails, which Kyuubi said was in no way a true Bijuu, to levitate their floating fortress. Naruto had juts managed to begin kicking the man's ass, as he was powered up with something called Dark Chakra, when Sasuke showed up. Seeing his friend after so long caused hundreds of emotions to swell inside him. But when he saw Sasuke's cold eyes, he feared the boy he once thought of as a friend and brother no longer existed. Still after defeating a combined Shinno and Zero-tail, Naruto felt a small pang of hope when as Amaru refused to leave him behind. Sasuke threw the young woman into the last escape ship which looked like a flying boat.
Naruto chuckled remembering Sasuke's surprised face when he blew up the ramp the Uchiha had been standing on to get him away from the fortress as well. Naruto had also told Sasuke as he fell that he still intended to return him to Konoha. But even as he said it, a part of him truly doubted he could coming to understand that Sasuke's reliance on his hatred would make that impossible if he learned the truth about the Uchiha Massacre.
Thinking of Amaru brought a smile to his lips due to after he destroyed the fortress the girl had thrown herself out of the lifeboat in order so that the falling jinchuriki wouldn't be alone. He was about to Hiraishin him and the reckless girl somewhere safe, which would have raised all sorts of questions, but luckily Jiraiya had showed up and summoned Gamabunta to act as a cushion to their fall.
Jiraiya had teased him about all manner of things including the fact that he was charming girls to the point that they were willing to follow him into death. Naruto was tempted to tell Jiraiya all that he had been up to, but stopped since he didn't want his exploits ending up in one of his books. Not to mention the Toad Sage had left quickly after saying he was following some leads about Akatsuki's leaders.
Although tempted to seduce Amaru, in the end he had refrained since she had decided to return to her village with the freed villagers, many of whom had suffered roughly at Sky Country's hands. He didn't want to distract her from her self appointed goal of helping them recover so chose to simply wish her the best. When they had gone their separate ways though she had kissed him on the lips chastely, and said she would see him again. Hinata had smiled at him having a good idea of what would happen then, however again he noticed that Sakura looked depressed at the expressed affection for him.
During the past month, he tried to recapture some of the closeness he and Sakura had shared. However it was proving difficult as it almost felt like a wall had sprung up between them. Truthfully one had and it saddened him to know he was the one who built it. But he just didn't know how to talk to her since such a large part of his life he was keeping secret from her. Of course she helped contribute to it since she never brought up any of his dates with Ino, Hinata, or the others, but he guessed she was just too embarrassed to talk about them.
After all, he knew she and Ino used to be rivals and it may have bothered her that technically her friend had been on a date before her. Naruto had considered asking Sakura out on an actual pretend date, however since all his other dates had in fact been real ones; he doubted he'd be able to keep up the charade. Not to mention he still cared deeply for her, and still believed she saw herself as Sasuke's to claim when he returned. Although he had begun to question it recently due to her reactions to Shion and Amaru's closeness at the end of their adventures, he believed in the end it was simply related to the fact he seemed to be finding a love-life, while she clung to a hope that seemed to be getting further and further away.
Rubbing his head, he winced remembering the beating his head had taken from Tsunade's fists first, but whose was by no means last after his lovers had learned from Hinata that he had almost splattered during his fall from Sky's fortress after he caused it to blow up, even Ayame had joined in. Remembering that caused him to forget his previous line of thought as he remembered he needed to meet the Ramen waitress to help her restock the restaurant as she had truly come to appreciate what having a lover who could create a small army when it came to fill the pantry. Taking off down the road, he spared a moment to wonder how Koyuki's entering Hotsprings village was going since if she was sticking to the schedule she gave him upon his last visit she should just be arriving with the next day or so.
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"Greetings Lady Koyuki," The Daimyo of Hotspring Country and former Head-Shinobi of his village said bowing to her, but only enough to be considered polite, as he greeted her and her party at the entrance to his village. "You do us great honor by choosing our humble village to relax at after such turbulent events back home."
"Thank You," she replied bowing just as much, "I've heard such wonderful things about your village and had to see it for myself."
The Daimyo inclined his head at the compliment before stepping to the side and waving to the village, "Well you've chosen the perfect place to relax. Please follow me as I escort you to your villa." The Daimyo began walking down a stone path pointing out the various attractions of his village. Passing near a large pool surrounded by a several single story apartment buildings whose decks looked out on it and were filled with people lounging around he said, "Are you sure I can't convince you to allow your bodyguard to stay here. Although we are no longer active shinobi, I assure you we are quite sufficient to protect our guests. We feel that in order to truly relax our VIP's should leave behind many of the trappings of their stressful lives."
Before Koyuki could politely refuses her new manager said, "Look. I've already fucking been over this with the cocksucker who I booked her vacation with. Who I might mention fucking brought this topic up several times. The studio has invested considerable money into the Princess Gale franchise. Add to that the matter her last movie set several records and I don't think I need to go into all the reasons the studio wants someone they trust watching over her. Fubuki is that person, so fucking drop it."
Koyuki gave a small nod of apology for her manager's blunt way of speaking, but had to fight down the smile she was feeling. Mainly due to the fact that ever since Tayuya had taken over as her manager, Koyuki had found that people tended to cave to the red-head rather quickly, whether they be the annoying producers on her next film or the Daimyo in front of her, who was obviously surprised that the woman wasn't giving him the respect he felt he deserved.
Still Koyuki was a guest the man obviously wanted happy so bit his tongue in order to refrain from snapping at Tayuya, whose long hair was up in a bun and was wearing dark red business suit that gave her the image of a woman not to be trifled with. "Right, forgive me," the Daimyo said calmly despite the anger his eyes held. "Please follow me."
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Konan looked over her sunglasses at the new VIP to arrive in the village from the lounge chair she was sitting on. Her arms were folded behind her head as she watched the Daimyo pause for a moment no doubt to convince the Spring Country Princess to let her bodyguard stay at the small apartment building that Konan was currently checked into. Standing, she pulled her glasses off and she allowed her towel to slip from her body to pool on the floor near her chair to reveal her dark blue bikini. Moving to the edge of the pool she dived into the water, sinking beneath the surface as she swam to about the middle of it before floating to the surface on her back.
Staring up at the sky, she watched the group out of the corner of her eye as the red-head laid into the daimyo. As they began moving towards the VIP villas again, Konan wondered if the red-head suspected why the leader of Hotsprings wanted to separate the princess from her protection. Namely, so that they could either get the princess to reveal some secrets of her home or engineer a situation where they could blackmail her. Konan suspected the Daimyo was hoping for the latter since if he could force Koyuki to listen to him. He could in effect pick which of the many countries that were vying for the resources her country held would end up the winner.
Konan let them get out of her sight not truly interested in whether the princess was trapped or not. Rolling over, she began swimming to the edge of the pool to get out since despite her appearance she was there to spy on the village. Pulling herself out of the water she began to walk to her lounge to collect her things when a voice said, "Hey beautiful, you look cold. Want to use me as a blanket?"
Konan didn't let the sigh she felt escape merely picking up her things and ignored the man, who was staying in the apartment next to hers, as she had since her arrival a week earlier. Despite Nagato having given her the task of learning if Hotspring was betraying them more than a month ago, Deidara and Madara's, she refused to call him Tobi, success in capturing the Three-Tails had delayed her since she needed to help seal it away. Once that task was done a rumor that the Six-tailed jinchuriki had surfaced had also stalled her journey. But after the trail grew cold Nagato had decided to send her.
Entering her apartment through the sliding glass door, she closed it behind her just as the man said, "Hey, come on and live a little."
Closing the blinds, she stripped to shower in order to wash away the chlorine from her skin. Turning on the warm water, she stepped under its spray trying to not let the man get to her. Since most of her life had been defined by loss and bloodshed the idea of "living a little" as the man put it was very tempting. However, she felt guilty already for enjoying her morning swims so found the idea impossible. Dressing in a pair of dark blue pants and a halter top that tied around the back of her neck, she then exited the room through the front door heading to a café along the main street. She had eaten there for lunch every day as a low ranking member of Akatsuki was due to enter the village and confront the Daimyo over the recent ser backs they had experienced. Now that Konan had explored much of the village in order to scout out its defenses. She'd be able to spy on the meeting and if the Daimyo was double dealing the information that Akatsuki had purchased he'd no doubt attempt to cover his tracks and reveal a trail for her to follow. A trail that would hopefully lead to the person or persons responsible for attempting to derail Nagato's plans for world peace.
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Naruto waved as he approached the waiting brunette. Dressed as she was in a pair of jeans with a white camisole as a top and her hair down, Naruto had a hard time not grabbing her up in his arms and teleporting her to his apartment for a afternoon quickie. However, since he was there to help her he guessed that could wait till after they completed their tasks and enjoyed a date at the movies. Walking in front of her with his hands in his pockets, he stopped and held the arm closest to her out a little. Wordlessly she hooked her own around it moving in close to him as she said, "Thanks again Naruto."
"You don't need to thank me Ayame," Naruto said with a shake of his head, "I should be thanking you. The way you organized all the merchants to show their appreciation to Suna for helping ward off Sky Country has really made things between the two camps rather relaxed lately."
Ayame smiled at the praise to her small contribution to Naruto's goal. After the threat of Sky Country had been dealt with she came up with the idea of feeding all the gathered shinobi, but it quickly grew into a much larger affair. She had gotten a fellow young merchant and tailor Emi to agree to offer free patchwork to the Suna shinobi's clothes that had been damaged. Not to mention, another small Sushi stand run by the family of an old friend of hers named, Kohada, had also contributed. In the end it had been a rather large success as more and more people of Konoha arrived to show their appreciation of the shinobi who helped defend their homes.
Changing the subject, Ayame said, "Are you sure you don't mind taking me to see the new Princess Gale movie tonight? I believe it would be the seventh time you've seen it."
Naruto nodded saying, "If it's what you want to do I'm fine with it."
"Good," Ayame replied, "Ino told me that the new masked shinobi was based off of you. I really want to see if it's true."
Naruto scratched his cheek in embarrassment saying, "Well that's what Koyuki claims at least. She said the producers after they decided to kill her two remaining original vassals wanted Princess Gale to fall into a deep depression. Having experienced it in real life she came up with the masked shinobi character to pull her out of it."
"Really," Ayame said her eyes twinkling, "So who's behind the mask?"
Naruto shrugged saying, "No one really. Right now the part is played by several stuntmen. They'll probably cast someone when it comes time to unmask him."
Ayame giggled at Naruto's naiveté since she had a pretty good idea of who the princess wanted to cast for the role. She shook her head as Naruto arched an eyebrow at her before saying, "It's nothing. There's the first store can you create some clones to come in with me."
Naruto nodded creating the familiar handsign and then waited as Ayame took them inside to gather the stuff her shop needed. After she had paid for everything the clones took the items back to the stand while Ayame and Naruto moved on to the next store. It was a pattern they repeated several times until reaching the last one. As Naruto waited a voice called for him saying, "Hey Naruto!"
Turning he put on a smile that said although he was pleased to see the pink-haired girl. He wished it had been any time but now. "What's up Sakura?"
"Well the new Princess Gale movie came out and I have the day off from hospital duties so I was wondering if you would like to go. I know you saw it with Koyuki but I heard it was really good and..."
"All finished Naruto, now we can go see..." Ayame paused after seeing Sakura her vision of the girl having been blocked by the jinchuriki's back. "Hello Sakura," she said smiling as she stepped closer to the blond.
"Ayame, um hello...I thought you'd be running your shop," Sakura said her stare shifting between the two.
"I closed it after lunch today to restock all the supplies I went through feeding the camping Suna and Leaf shinobi. We were about to go see the new Princess Gale movie. You're more than welcome to join us."
Ayame could see Sakura was tempted to accept. But with a shake of her head the pink-haired medic said, "I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Suit yourself," Ayame said linking her arm with Naruto's again and began leading him towards the theater.
"I'll see you tomorrow at training, Sakura," Naruto said over his shoulder as he walked alongside Ayame.
"Sure," Sakura said sadly knowing that with Fu there that she'd again feel like a third wheel.
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