She felt guilty about her inability to have offered any sort of support to the boy. She guessed it showed as he gave her a wide disarming smile as he said, "It's okay. I understood why you couldn't get involved in my situation despite how close you were to my mom."
Mikoto stared at him in surprise as she said, "I...I was under the impression the truth of your parentage was being kept from you. What made the Third change his mind?"
Naruto began to scratch his cheek and he wasn't quite sure how to explain his current situation. He was saved from having to do so as Mikoto began to scratch at her ankle through the covers. Finding it wasn't doing the trick, she pulled it to the side enough to uncover the irritation, less she give the young man a glimpse at the panties she could feel she was wearing. What she saw confused her as she discovered a small fox mark. Directing her attention back to Naruto, she could see that he was suddenly far more nervous than when she had mentioned his parentage. Giving him her best mother tone she said, "Care to explain what the hell this is?"
She fought back a smile as he gave her a defeated sigh that reminded her of her own children's reaction when she'd use the tone in the past. Coupled with the, "Not really." She had a hard time not wondering what life would have been like had she decided to take him in. Her amusement faded though as Naruto explained, "That mark reacts to another one located on the grounds here. Basically it will keep you from leaving the house."
Mikoto turned her gaze towards a window where she could see the Leaf village. With a disappointed tone she said, "So it seems I've traded cages and although this one is far more gilded. It is still a cage."
She saw Naruto wince from his reflection in the window. She turned to him as he said, "I can understand where you are coming from. However, we did it for your protection as much as ours. Right now it is still dangerous for you out there since quite a few prisoners are still on the loose and being hunted down by Anbu. Also once certain events become known to you we were afraid you'd do something..."
"By events are you referring to how my eldest son has been murdered by his younger brother after he betrayed the village?"
"You knew..." Naruto said sadly his eyes showing a genuine kindness and concern.
"I...I only recently learned about it," Mikoto said on the verge of letting the tears she had felt when Akame told her fall, no longer interested in holding her emotions at bay. However before she broke down she was suddenly overcome by the desire to know, "Did you know Sasuke?"
"W-we were teammates," Naruto said his own voice filled with emotion at what Mikoto guessed was betrayal and the loss of a friendship they had likely shared. "He was also the shinobi that I often measured my own success against. It also made me happy when he admitted that he considered me a rival."
Thinking of her own past, Mikoto favored him with a soft smile as she said, "It was the same for your mother and me." It faded as she said, "It must have hurt when he decided to betray you and the village to pursue his own goals."
Naruto rubbed at his chest for a moment looking lost in thought. It was a gesture that confused the Uchiha kunoichi. When he refocused his attention on her he said, "It did. I considered him to be my best friend when he left."
Mikoto was about to question him further but both of their attentions were pulled to the door as a young woman entered holding a tray with food on it. Mikoto could see a look of confusion on the young man's face which grew more pronounced as the woman said, "Excuse me. Lady Kiyomi thought your guest would be hungry."
Mikoto's stomach rumbled prompting the young woman dressed as a maid to make her way towards the bed. She had just placed it down when Naruto asked, "Excuse me, but who are you?"
The woman turned as she replied robotically, "Yuffie Kisaragi."
She remained silent as she began to make her way out of the room. Naruto noticed a look of recognition appear on Mikoto's face causing him to say. "Hey hold on a second." The young woman stopped as instructed but didn't turn or anything. Focusing on the Uchiha he asked, "Do you know her?"
"It's hard to say. I knew a woman by that name, but unless she suddenly shed forty plus years this girl can't be the same woman."
To her surprise Naruto growled under his breath, "Kiyomi." Standing abruptly, he grabbed Yuffie by the wrist as he said, "Follow me." The woman did so but as she was truly capable of judging the urgency by which Naruto was moving ended being dragged several feet until she got the hint.
Mikoto quickly followed as she felt her curiosity piqued by the young man's strange reaction. Following in his wake she caught up to him to find him at the bottom of a large staircase. A beautiful red-head wearing a splendid kimono stood at the base as if expecting his reaction to the servant she had sent. Her gaze traveled towards Mikoto for a moment causing the woman's green eyes to narrow, but when she looked at the blond the Uchiha only saw love and devotion. That wasn't to say though that the woman's body language was screaming that she was prepared for a verbal confrontation.
She got it as Naruto stopped while still on the stairs and with a tone that barely concealed the anger he was feeling, "Do you want to explain this?"
The red-head shrugged dismissively, "There's not much to explain. She and her teammates were part of the force pursuing my sister and the Uchiha. Instead of killing them outright I decided to test my abilities further."
"You call this testing your abilities?" Naruto questioned throwing a look at the woman standing behind him. Facing the red-head again he said, "It's like you turned her into some mindless zombie."
"Granted, my results were less than stellar, but I believe given time they will become more self-reliant."
"T-that's not the point," Naruto said his voice rising in frustration.
"Then what is the point," Kiyomi said letting her own voice spike due to Naruto raised voice. "They were enemy combatants. Would you have preferred I killed them outright? I saw an opportunity to test a new ability and I took it."
"Why would you even need to learn such a thing? We don't operate this way."
"Really," the woman replied crossing her arms defiantly, "Aren't you forgetting how roughly you handled Koharu when she first entered your circle?"
Mikoto felt a cold fury settle over her at the mention of the female elder. She also wondered what the red-head was suggesting primarily since Naruto seemed genuinely regretful at the mention of his supposed mistreatment of her. The conversation further confused her as the woman added, "Plus, I doubt Mabui was too pleased to learn you used your ability to silence her until she came around. If it truly bothers you so much sleep with them and once they're under your control I'll remove the programming until you win them over with your charm."
Although she couldn't make out the look on Naruto's face, Mikoto could see that although the red-head was winning the argument, deep down she knew she wasn't necessarily in the right, but was too headstrong to admit as much. This became more evident when a small crack of doubt appeared as Naruto said deadpanned, "You know I won't do that."
Mikoto got the sense that the red-head was afraid she had pushed the blond too far as she tried to ease her position by saying, "Naruto... I needed to learn this skill for our benefit. In the future there may be obstacles that you won't be able to convince and we can't just eliminate. With this ability we won't hav..."
She was cut off as a shout of, "Naruto," resounded through the mansion. A young pink-haired kunoichi ran into the room appearing from a doorway that looked like it headed down to the basement. For a moment it looked like she could feel the tension hanging between the two. Her gaze briefly traveled towards Mikoto, but the news she was caring was obviously of more importance then her curiosity as she said, "Naruto, you need to head to the Den right away."
"What is it Sakura?"
"Danzou, he isn't just hoping things blow over like we thought."
Naruto leapt over the banister of the stairs quickly following Sakura down into the basement. Mikoto saw a flash appear making her wonder how the kunoichi had entered the mansion in the first place. She looked at the woman whose worried gaze was still focused on where Naruto had disappeared. "Quite a lively place you have here."
The woman stared up at her before leveling a menacing glare her way as she said, "Watch your mouth Uchiha. I'm only tolerating your presence because of him. If you know what's good for you, you'll do your best to avoid me."
Mikoto shrugged before turning to head back to her room to finish her meal. Kiyomi let the concern that she may have won the argument only to lose standing in her lover's eyes appear now that she was alone. She tried to come up with some way to repair the damage, so lost in thought headed deeper into the mansion.
Yuffie simply remained where she was on the stairs as no one had instructed her to do otherwise.
*****************************
"Welcome to the Rolling Thunder Inn," a pleasant woman approaching old age said to her newest guest, "I hope you enjoy your stay."
The masked and cowled woman nodded as she picked up the key to her room off the counter. She tensed briefly as the door behind her burst open as two equally hooded people entered. However, she relaxed as they stood in place shaking the rain from cloaks that they wore. As one of them pulled down their hoods it confirmed to her that the people were travelers looking to get out of the downpour outside.
Paying them no further mind, she traveled to her room and only after entering pulled her cloak off. Draping it over a chair she stopped in front of a mirror for a moment. Empty brown eyes stared back at the woman, who then pulled down the mask that covered her lower face to reveal two purple marks on her cheeks. The rest of her clothes soon followed and once completely naked she raised an arm over her head to inspect a large bruise on her side that was responding well to the treatments she was using for it. Channeling chakra to her hand, she pressed it against the injury. She sighed as some of the pressure from the injured ribs underneath the bruise subsided from the treatment and from the mere fact that she was no longer running.
A small tear leaked from her eye but it was a reaction to the relief she was feeling. Not a result of the memories of how she had sustained the injury. After all, she was a puppet plain and simple. Therefore she didn't need to know why Joseki would order her to a small town that she was sure even the residents would have a hard time finding on a map. Nor did she question why he had wanted a beloved leader of said town murdered. All she had needed to know was the most efficient way to do it. Which she had quickly ascertained but in the end had underestimated the woman's fourteen year old son who had dreams of growing up to become a great samurai.
Dreams that would remain unfulfilled, as he made the mistake of getting between her and her target. He had managed to actual sneak up on her as he scored the hit to her ribs thus breaking one. However, as his mother shot up in bed, she was greeted to the sight of her assassin chopping him in the side of the neck. The woman was quite sure that the mother had no idea why her son was choking so violently at least until he vomited up the blood the unseen but severed jugular vein was pouring inside his body. She began to scream then, but was quickly silenced in a similar manner. By the time the people that had been paid to guard the pair arrived they would find the two lying in pools of their own blood, although the wounds that had killed them would only be discovered during the autopsies.
There was a part of the puppet that recoiled at those memories, but to her it was more like a phantom that was forced to watch life as a passenger in her own body. Growing weary, the woman ended her self-treatment and quickly showered. After efficiently cleaning herself, she turned in for the night and that was when Rin Nohara recalled the events that delivered her into her current existence.
*****************************
The Past:
"Let go of me you freak," Rin shouted pushing the white plant-like man away from her as they appeared from the earth in an underground cavern. The man bent backwards bonelessly allowing her to break free of his grip. She saw several more of the White men turn towards her which only spurned her to run faster. Heading towards the only apparent opening, as the other was blocked by a boulder, she nearly stopped as a stooped over old man wearing hooded robes appeared at the entrance. However, she doubted that he had just stumbled upon the area so she prepared to attack him if need be to get by.
He raised his head so that she could see his dark eyes which turned red as the tomoe that appeared begun to spin. She wasn't clear on what happened next, but when she next became aware of her surroundings she was no longer in the cavern. Instead she found herself following behind the old man as they walked through a subterranean tunnel. They approached an intersection that split into many different directions. The old man didn't even slow down as he chose a tunnel indicating he had been using them for an extremely long time. Unable to do anything but follow Rin put her mind to trying to figure out what the roots sticking out of his back were for. After hours of endless walking the only conclusion she could come to was that they somehow sustained the weathered man's existence.
She noticed a lessening of the darkness as she could see the end of the tunnel and the night sky that lay beyond. For a moment she felt a small hope that the man was leading her from the subterranean world of strange plant men that she had stumbled upon. But she felt it disappear as she noticed the silhouette of a man blocking the entrance. As they got closer and she could make out more of his features she wanted to gasp as she recognized the Suna elder Joseki. She had accompanied her sensei quite a few times to Suna as the Fourth Hokage had negotiated with his counterpart as they tried to hammer out an alliance. On one such occasion they had been taking a tour of the Suna hospital when a squad of shinobi were being rushed in.
The Fourth Kazekage aware that the squad had been patrolling close to the village feared it was a sign of a forthcoming invasion. He tried to get some information from them, but had learned they had been poisoned using a strand recently developed by Iwa. The medics attending to the men and women of the squad had informed the Kazekage there was little they could do, but ease their suffering. Even Chiyo had been forced to admit that she had yet to find a cure.
Unable to watch people suffer Rin had asked for a chance to help. Many of the Elders that had shown up at the hospital to discuss how best to react to the situation had scoffed at the idea a mere sixteen year old chunin would be able succeed where their own experts had failed. She also had held the belief that it was because the Suna Elders knew the poisoned weapons that Iwa was using to such devastating effect had yet to make their way to the battlefields where the Rock shinobi were fighting Konoha. In no small part due to the destruction of Kannabi Bridge since Iwa was having a difficult time getting supplies to its forces. She believed the Elders didn't want her getting access to it so that when it did show up it would hurt the Leaf as much as it had the Sand.
Her sensei had supported her and even pointed out that even should Suna learn anything from the squad, it would be suspect due to extremely high fevers the squad were exhibiting. The Kazekage with the idea that anything he may learn may be nothing more than the feverish delusions of his shinobi gave her permission.
Rin had immediately set to work, but sadly several of the shinobi expired before she finally managed to succeed twenty-four hours later. Naturally by then it had become apparent that no large invasion was imminent, but had actually been just another skirmish between scouting parties. Still, she had just been glad she had managed to help and imagined that she at least had also shown that Konoha was serious in its desire for an alliance. The fact that she also believed she had earned the respect of several Suna elders didn't hurt either.
Although to be honest she had believed Joseki to be among that number as well. However as they approached she was beginning to believe the appraising look she had received had just been him coveting her skills.
Her attention was pulled to the old man as he said while keeping his hooded head lowered, "Ah, Joseki...you're early."
Joseki studied Rin closely almost as if he didn't believe his eyes. Focusing on the old man, he said, "I was surprised when you contacted me. From what the Prajna had reported to me, I was under the impression Kakashi and she managed to escape. Not to mention I've begun to hear rumors that she was killed in action."
"How best to insure no one comes looking for her?" The old man replied with a shrug. "It is why you came to me with the request to secure you a medic of the Leaf, is it not?"
"Your point is well taken. Although I must say when you accepted my request I never imagined that you would go as far as to capture the one from the Fourth Hokage's team."
"Why not," The man questioned calmly although Rin had noticed a slight tensing in his shoulders at the word Hokage. "She was the one you mentioned when you explained to me how you wanted to use a Konoha medic in order to bring Suna's medical program up to par. What better medic to provide then the one that impressed you so?" Joseki inclined his head in recognition of the man's point. He was about to respond, but the old man wanting to get down to business cut him off as he said, "Now there is the matter of what you promised me in return."
Joseki reached into one of his pouches as he said, "Of course." Pulling out an envelope he tossed it to the Broker who easily caught it. As the old man pulled out the photo that was inside Joseki explained, "The Jinchuriki of the Five-tails name is Han. They've kept him secluded as he's been trained, but he'll be making an appearance in this conflict soon enough. That armor that he's wearing in the picture has been specially designed for him. With it they expect he'll be far more capable of handling the steam based abilities of his Bijuu."
"I see," The Broker said sliding the photo back into the envelope as he began to back-up down the tunnel. "Very good, that stubborn fool Ohnoki managed to keep this new host's existence from my normal sources. I had nearly come to the opinion that they had sealed the Five-Tails away as your own village does with the One-tails while in-between hosts. It would have been far more difficult to locate an item then a shinobi." Having backed up past Rin so that he stood behind her he said, "She's all yours...however remember that once you have learned all that you need to in order to improve Suna's medical program she is to be eliminated. These were the terms of our deal."
"I'm well aware...it would be problematic for both of us should her existence ever be learned of."
The old man nodded as he said, "Good...good."
She could no longer feel the old man's presence as if he had faded into the darkness leaving just her and Joseki. Giving her a dark smile the Suna elder said, "Now my dear, let's make you a little more agreeable to passing those impressive skills onto the shinobi of the Sand."
From that point on the woman known as Rin ceased to exist as anything but a shade that saw all, but was unable to stop herself. After being given a new personality Rin began to train Josek's daughter in the techniques used by the Leaf. Therefore after she could no longer train the kunoichi it had almost come as a relief when Joseki had approached her in order to eliminate her. However, at the last moment he seemed to relent, but not out of mercy as he had decided to keep her as a hedge against the Broker due to his sensing some perceived value in keeping her alive. But Joseki wasn't the type to let his puppet sit in storage collecting dust and as such she became an agent for many of his wetwork missions. The latest of which appeared to be the elimination of the eight tails.
*****************************
Naruto waved to the gathered shinobi and kunoichi while giving them a smile as he stepped out of the restaurant. Cheers and joyful revelry followed him out the door, as well as a few worried glances from several of his gathered lovers. Who knew that despite his joining in the celebration, beneath his happy exterior several less pleasant emotions were churning. But those darker emotions took a backseat as Naruto caught sight of Pakura just before the door of the restaurant closed. She sat as the guest of honor at the party celebrating her rescue and the defeat of the missing-nin Hiruko's plot. He was quite pleased that the gathering hadn't only been composed of Leaf shinobi, but many Sand-nin as well.
Pakura had been quite surprised, especially when some of the Sand-nin had come up to her to apologize for their past treatment of her. Apparently quite a few people had come to the conclusion that if they had been wrong about how Pakura had killed her fellow Training Force members. Then they may have also been mistaken about what had happened between the noble and her so many years before. Upon coming to that conclusion, and realizing that Pakura had still remained a loyal kunoichi of Suna despite her harsh treatment, many of the same shinobi who had once turned their backs on her were now asking for her forgiveness. Naruto could tell it made her a little uncomfortable, but seeing her getting her due really raised his spirits.
But then the door closed and he was outside with just his own thoughts which quickly caused the smile to disappear from his face. Throwing his hands in his pocket, he closed his eyes for a moment and could sense Mabui was still surrounded by several of her peers. He could also feel a strong unease rolling off of her. It made Naruto fear that he was too late and that the Eight-Tailed jinchuriki had already been attacked. That Mabui was still at the Raikage's office all but confirmed that something major had happened.
Naruto felt a spike in his anger, but quickly clamped down on it less he do what it was telling him which was to charge into Danzou's home. But to do what he wasn't sure, other than that he would likely hit him, a lot. However, since he didn't want to have to go on the lam for attacking a village elder he forced himself to begin walking in the opposite direction of Danzou's home.
Once more Naruto wondered if how he was currently feeling was what the Hokage of the past had to put up with. He knew he could go ask Tsunade, and likely would at some point, but considering he was the one that had talked her into the job didn't want to come off as whiny. Especially since the troubles he was currently facing were due to his decision to take Jiraiya's dream as his own. Still he was becoming tired, which he hated admitting. He just hated how there never seemed to be a moment to catch his breath.
He sighed as he thought how at the party his lovers had constantly sent worried looks towards him, "No wonder everyone was so concerned over me. They're probably afraid I'm going to go all emo on them again."
He tried to chuckle, but couldn't generate any real mirth behind it so sighed again. Thinking back to the party he recalled pulling Maki to a corner to try and figure out how Joseki was communicating with his agents. At first she hadn't wanted to believe that Joseki had been complicit in kidnapping and brainwashing a Leaf kunoichi. However, faced with her new knowledge of her mentor since becoming one of Naruto's lovers, she quickly accepted it as fact. But, she had claimed to have no idea of how he could secretly communicate with Rin until suddenly exclaiming, "Pigeons!"
"Huh?!"
Maki had shook her head in both disbelief and anger as she would recall gathering on the roof of Joseki's home with her fellow Hardliners as they would discuss how best to prevent Suna from growing too cozy with Konoha. There Joseki would speak to those who shared his desire in pressuring Gaara to cut ties with the Leaf, all the while attending to his collection of pigeons. She had then quickly explained her reasoning to Naruto.
Her face had gone pale for a moment prompting Naruto to ask, "What is it?"
Maki didn't look like she wanted to answer, but had finally said, "Naruto, a pigeon used to communicate can generally only be trained to go two places. To their homes and to the place they were trained to carry the message." Naruto nodded but didn't understand why that would appear to bother Maki so much until she added, "Joseki, had at least thirty birds. That means... it means he has to have at least that many people under his thumb."
Naruto had been shocked as he quickly replied, "T-that's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"
Maki adamantly shook her head in the negative as she explained, "It's the only thing that makes sense. Think about it...if this Rin was activated by Danzou then that means she had to accept her mission from a reliable source. It likely wasn't a person since his meeting with people who would promptly leave the village constantly may cause him some scrutiny. But what if Joseki would always send the same bird to carry a message to a particular agent he wanted activated? The bird's appearance could also be what triggered the Human Puppet jutsu so that this Rin would believe her orders came from Joseki. At some point Danzou must have realized this was how he was communicating with his agents, and with his knowledge that Rin was one of them, he must have figured out what bird was hers."
Naruto didn't need the rest explained to him, nor was Maki given the chance as a well-meaning Chouji approached them asking why they looked so serious since it was a party before shoving drinks in their hands. Despite his desire to have a good time being at an all-time high, the mere thought that tomorrow his village could be at war made it impossible, making him long for the days when he thought he would always be happy so long as he was surrounded by friends.
Naruto came back to the present to find that while walking on auto-pilot his feet had carried him to the training field where Team Seven was born. Despite how late it was a part of him wasn't surprised to find someone else was there as well. Proving himself to be a true jounin who never let his guard down Kakashi said. "You're out quite late tonight Naruto. Or would it be early? Since from the way people were talking earlier the party for you and Pakura was going to last until dawn."
Kakashi hadn't turned to face him even as Naruto came up beside the jounin while he said, "I guess tonight I'm just in the mood for some quiet reflection."
Hearing that from Naruto caused Kakashi to turn his head towards his student as he said with a slightly disbelieving tone, "You?! Perhaps I should go investigate the sight where you fought Hiruko to make sure you weren't replaced by some sort of chimera creation."
"Hey!" Naruto replied in annoyance, "I'm capable of being thoughtful."
Naruto could hear the smile he pictured on Kakashi's bucktoothed face, that being what he believed was under the mask his teacher always wore, especially as the jounin said, "Of course you can be."
For a moment the teacher and student both felt their spirits rise from the camaraderie they shared. However a moment later Naruto felt the melancholy settle on his teacher again and figured it was because of one of the names on the Memorial Stone, Rin Nohara. The reminder brought his own mood down as well especially since in a sense he had known she was alive from his time in the Land of Spring. When Tsunade had told him that the person that had healed Nadare Roga was once a Leaf-nin and furthermore Kakashi's old teammate, Naruto had immediately wanted to go to his teacher. However, he had relented only after learning that Rin was supposed to be dead and furthermore was buried in Konoha. To make the matter even more confusing Tsunade had not been able to find any record that a proper autopsy had been done. According to his lover and current Hokage, it had appeared that his father had tried to put the matter behind her death to rest as quickly as possible. To his shame, Naruto had soon forgotten about it due to all the other crises that popped up since his adventure in Spring. Therefore, he had never picked his mother's brain on the matter, at least until learning of Rin's involvement in Danzou's newest plot.
Unfortunately, whatever it had been that prompted the apparent cover-up, his father hadn't wanted to burden his mother with it. Although, she had picked up that both Kakashi and his dad had appeared to be haunted by it. Hearing his mother's words on the matter, it suddenly made a great deal of sense to Naruto as to why Kakashi could almost always be found near the Memorial Stone.
"Do you want to talk about her?" Naruto asked once he noticed Kakashi's gaze move to Rin's name again.
"Who?"
"Rin Nohara," Naruto replied, "Every time I find you here, you're looking at the same two spots on the stone. I did a little research and discovered that you lost your teammates during the Third Great Shinobi War, Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha."
Kakashi turned his surprised gaze on his student, but then gave him an eye-smile as he said, "You've grown Naruto and have become a far better shinobi then me." He could see the surprise written on his student's face at the stark admission. Turning to look back at the stone he continued, "I must say that ever since the mission to save Gaara it's almost like you've found your center. Your improvement has been astonishing."
Naruto felt his cheeks coloring at the praise as he grew embarrassed from it. Plus he found himself growing warm as he thought about how his vast improvement was a result of his loving and supportive harem. Naturally not prepared to tell his teacher this he said, "Ah come on Kakashi-sensei, you're making me feel self-conscious."
Kakashi chuckled having a hard time picturing the young man before him as the knuckleheaded student he used to be since the younger Naruto was always looking and basking in the approval of others. The Jounin figured that having found it from Jiraiya in the one-on-one guidance of his sensei had probably made Naruto a little more humble than he remembered. Thinking back on the past with regret as always Kakashi said, "I'm sorry I wasn't a better sensei to you Naruto."
"What are you talking about? You were a great teacher Kakashi-sensei. You taught me so much about what it means to be a shinobi. You're also the one that taught me how it's important to never abandon your friends. I mean sure at the time I might have felt you favored Sasuke a little especially when you pawned me off on Ebisu..."
"About that..." Kakashi tried to interject
"But," Naruto said speaking over his teach, "Looking back on it that just proved how great a teacher you truly were." Naruto felt a point of pride as he could read Kakashi's stunned open mouth expression through his teacher's mask. Looking away from it towards the stone he explained, "When I graduated from the academy I have to admit I was a wreck as a shinobi. You're the one that had to build up and reset the foundation that I should have had after leaving the academy. That's why during the Chunin Exams you wanted Ebisu to train me. Granted at the time I wanted to learn a big and flashy jutsu, but now I understand what you were trying to do. Plus, you likely figured Neji would clean my clock, but at least leave me alive. You couldn't say the same for Sasuke since he was facing Gaara."
Now it was Kakashi's turn to look a little uncomfortable from the praise he received. He tried to deflect it by saying, "Truthfully, I just figured I'd be tearing my hair out trying to explain something as complicated as water-walking to you."
Naruto chuckled as he looked at the other name on the Memorial stone. Thinking of the Uchiha he knew he said, "The other reason I figured you were so invested in Sasuke's development was because he reminded you of yourself at that age."
"Really," Kakashi said following Naruto's gaze and was surprised at his student's insight, "I would figure that you would think it was due to my other teammate."
"Nah, that would be too obvious." Naruto smirked as he faced his teacher and continued to surprise him, "Besides, it doesn't take a genius to guess that is where you got your Sharingan. Sasuke wasn't even born when the war was going on and it's kind of a stretch to think you would believe training him would somehow pay off whatever debt you think you owe him."
"You're right," Kakashi said looking at the names of the teammates he lost. "Obito would probably have disliked Sasuke because he was just like me at that age. You and he I think would have gotten on pretty well. But if he was alive today...Obito would never forgive me..." Kakashi turned to walk away as he said, "Look at the time...you should get back to the party Naruto."
He stopped though as Naruto asked, "Why wouldn't he forgive you? Did you abandon her someplace?"
Kakashi stopped walking and turning to face his student asked, "What makes you think Rin would be the reason Obito wouldn't forgive me?"
Repeating a statement he had lived his life by Naruto said, "In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are trash. But those who don't care for their comrades are worse than trash." Naruto stared at his teacher and could almost sense the pain hearing those words caused in him. Commenting on it he said, "When you told us that...it almost sounded as if it was something you had been told and come to hold true. I'm guessing it was another thing that Obito left you."
Kakashi looked past Naruto to Obito's name on the Memorial stone. Focusing on his student he admitted, "It was...he told me it just before he died. Rin had been captured and I wanted to go on with our mission. Obito refused to leave her behind..." From the way Kakashi trailed off Naruto imagined his teacher was reliving the events. The jounin focusing back on him told Naruto that he had returned from the trip down memorial lane. "We succeeded...but at the cost of my eye and Obito's life. Obito gave me his Sharingan and made me promise to keep Rin safe. I...I failed..."
"It couldn't be as simple as that."
"Excuse me," Kakashi said his tone gaining a hard edge.
"What I mean is that...if you had just failed...while you would live with the pain... I just can't see why you would feel the need to come here almost every day asking for forgiveness. Did you love her or was it..."
"Naruto, I cared for Rin as a teammate and a friend...but just drop it okay. Nothing good will come from digging into this matter. Obito was the one that loved her...I come here to...reflect about how even with the gift he gave me...I couldn't see enough to prevent things from turning out the way they did."
Naruto watched his teacher leave more tempted than ever to tell him that his teammate was alive. However, he was beginning to believe that Kakashi was keeping silent since he felt the truth would in some way tarnish Rin's reputation. If that was the case, then he began to fear that perhaps the Personality Jutsu that Joseki had used was what created the girl Kakashi had known as Rin and if so, then should he encounter her all Naruto would find is a cold-blooded killer.
He was pulled from his thoughts upon sensing that Mabui was alone and was practical screaming at him to appear via her fox mark so Naruto disappeared in a red flash. But not before promising the two people that had known Rin Nohara that if she could be saved then he'd find a way to do it and that he'd take it upon himself to protect her from there on out.
*****************************
Mabui was pacing back and forth in the records room waiting for Naruto to appear. When he finally did she quickly said, "It's about time. Did you stop for some of that Ichiraku Ramen you're so fond of?"
"Sorry," Naruto said sheepishly causing her to frown.
Mabui sensed that Naruto's reaction wasn't just due to the situation she had called him to Kumo for. She reached up gently to cup his cheek while asking, "What's wrong? Don't say nothing."
Naruto stopped as that had been what he was going to reply with. However, instead he said, "We can talk about it later. Right now we have bigger concerns to deal with."
Mabui nodded, but made a mental note as she would get the truth out of her lover as soon as the current crisis was dealt with. "You're correct...I could feel your need to speak with me, but Kumo had several defections today. As you can imagine it has created quite the uproar. Is it related to what you needed to talk about?"
"It might be," Naruto said assuming a thinker's pose, "Who were the people that defected and why go together? Was it a team?"
"That's the strange thing," Mabui replied, "There were six in total. But we cannot find a link between them as to why they would all leave the village today. We only began to suspect something was off when two of them didn't show up to their posts on time. When someone was sent to investigate they learned that early in the morning all six had left the village together. The night guardsmen said he tried to question them, but since one of the men was our Anbu commander when he was told it was a special mission he didn't question it."
"Shit," Naruto cussed believing that Joseki had activated several more of his sleeper agents to eliminate Rin before she could reach the Eight-tails.
"What?! Do you know what's going on?"
Grabbing his lover by the shoulders he stared into her eyes as he said, "Mabui, I know you're hesitant to give me information on your home that is deemed classified. But, I need to know where the Eight-Tailed Jinchuriki is at. I believe you call him Bee, right?" Naruto could tell that his request made Mabui uncomfortable so said, "If Yugito knew I'd ask her, but she said that the only place she trained with Bee was some island where she came to her understanding with Yoruichi. I know that only you and the people assigned to guard him are aware of where he is kept. I'm guessing that this Anbu commander would have the information as well."
"He does," Mabui said before biting her lip as she tore her gaze away from Naruto's pleading one, "Are you saying that these six are going after Bee? If so I can send word to the teams guarding him and..."
Naruto shook his head as he replied, "It isn't that simple. If anything it is likely those six are trying to stop the threat to Bee. Danzou is making a play to start a war in order to derail the investigation into what happened at the prison. He managed to activate a sleeper agent Joseki possessed with ties to the Leaf. Danzou believes that should the attack go through it would incite the Raikage to declare war against Konoha."
"He may especially if the attack succeeded," Mabui said after a moment. Looking down she said, "But...Lord Bee's location is known only to a handful of people...I can't just betray the Raikage's trust even for you."
"I understand," Naruto said without letting the disappointment he felt show as he truly knew where Mabui was coming from. "Can you at least tell me in what direction those shinobi took off in this morning?"
Understanding that her lover wasn't just giving up she said, "Naruto you can't. The area is teaming with shinobi looking for the defectors? If you're caught or worse should you stumble onto Lord Bee's location the Raikage would have you executed. He might not even wait to extract the nine-tails."
"That's a risk I'll have to take," Naruto said stepping away from his lover.
"Why? If you're right then the defectors are likely already moving to stop this other agent."
"Likely, but I don't think they are planning to take her alive. She might be a cold blooded assassin or she may be a victim of some puppet jutsu. Until I know which, I have to operate under the belief that she is doing this against her will."
"Even so..."
"Sorry, Mabui you can't talk me out of this. I might never have met her, but she's a fellow Leaf shinobi and if I abandon her. I'll be taking a step towards becoming trash."
Mabui stared at her lover and could see there was no dissuading him from his current course of action. Feeling her respect and admiration for the young man grow even more, she made the decision to put herself fully in his camp by saying, "Lord Bee is at the Valley of Clouds and Lighting. It is just north of Kumogakure."
Aware of what had just happened Naruto stepped forward to cup his lover's cheek as he said, "Thank you. I promise you will not regret giving me your trust."
Mabui turned her face and kissed his palm as she replied, "I know, but please come back alive. If the Defectors are waiting for Danzou's assassin, then they'll be waiting for anyone willing to get in their way."
Naruto took the warning to heart and gave her a quick but passionate kiss. A moment later he was gone in a red flash. She stared at the spot that he had been occupying sensing his reappearance outside the village likely on a buried kunai he or Yugito had planted. Able to feel him heading north, she left the Records Room. Much to her surprise though, she found that a great deal of the concern that had been with her all day was gone and although still worried, couldn't help but feel the right person was on the job now.
*****************************
The Agent formerly known as Rin felt as if something had shifted. Although she had been given the location of her target as well as the patrol routes of those guarding him, she had been forced to abandon the path to the jinchuriki that she had chosen. The reason being was the shinobi activity in an ever expanding area around Kumo had been rife with activity. It had made her wonder if Kumo had been tipped off about her mission. However, after several patrols had passed her heading away from Kumo she began to suspect they were looking for someone else, most likely a missing-nin.
Believing that the coast would be clear until arriving at the valley where the host of the Eight-Tail stayed when not in the village, she had allowed herself to move a bit quicker than she normally would to make up for lost time. However, several miles back she had paused, believing she had been detected, but when no patrol appeared she had brushed it off as her mind playing tricks on her. As a result she had slowed down again, but in hindsight she now realized that she had been detected. Guessing it was likely a shadow clone that had seen her, she reasoned the reason it hadn't revealed itself was so it could disperse in order to alert the castor of her position. In the end all her slowing down had done was afford the shinobi the chance to get in front of her.
Coming to a stop, she tossed a kunai into a canopy of leaves, but wasn't too surprised when she heard the metallic clang that told her it had been deflected. A moment later a shinobi in orange dropped down in front of her. He studied her masked face for a moment before saying, "I would comment how rude it is to throw a kunai at someone without announcing your intentions first, but considering your reason for being here, I guess I can understand. It isn't like..."
The Agent reacted immediately upon hearing the stranger knew of her mission leaping from her branch as she pulled another kunai to attack him. Naruto parried the kunai as she landed on the branch with him, but leapt back as he realized it was a feint when her free hand appeared from the cloak glowing in green chakra. Considering that he had several lovers well versed in medical ninjutsu. He was well aware that those healing hands could just as easily kill.
Rin didn't let up though forcing Naruto to abandon the branch in favor of the surer footing of the forest floor. He continued to backpedal as the kunoichi continued to swing the kunai at him in wide sweeps. However, he easily either evaded the kunai or would quickly parry it, all the while making sure to keep track of her chakra encased hand. Naruto managed to grab the Kunoichi's wrist of the hand holding the kunai. Squeezing painfully he heard the woman gasp in pain as she let go of her weapon. However, she then tried to strike him in the side with her free hand. Her blow struck empty air as he teleported away.
She spent a moment trying to find him, but was sent flying as he reappeared hitting her in the side with a leaping kick. Rin rolled along the ground, but halfway through her tumble turned it into a controlled roll. Coming to a stop in a crouched ball, she quickly scanned where Naruto had grabbed her to see the Hiraishin mark he had placed on her. Ending her chakra scalpel, she placed her hand against it and dispelled the mark.
Standing straight she held out both her hands and they both began to glow with green chakra. Readying his own stance, Naruto prepared to meet her charge. But, instead they were both forced to the leap at each other in order to avoid being struck by the thrown ninja tools that appeared from the canopy of leaves as their fight was interrupted by a third party. A party of six to be exact.
*****************************
Mikoto entered a large dining room having decided to explore her new cage despite the warning she had received. Her entering the room was punctuated by a dark skinned woman saying, "You're really unbelievable you know that. Did you honestly believe you could force Naruto to accept what you did to those three by throwing it in his face?"
Kiyomi didn't respond and although she was sitting in a chair facing away from her new house guest instead said to Mikoto, "I thought I told you to remain in your room."
The dark-skinned woman looked up from where she was standing above the sitting red-head and Mikoto received the same dark stare she had from the red-head earlier. Not one to back down from a confrontation the Uchiha said, "Actually you said something along the lines that it would be best if I didn't cross your path."
"And yet here you are," Kiyomi replied calmly.
Mikoto moved so that she could sit at the end of the table while watching both women. "Here I am," she replied calmly. "And while it may be hazardous to my health I'm getting the feeling that you are not too keen to get on Naruto's bad side any further. With that in mind, I don't think I need to worry about running afoul of you anytime soon."
Both women narrowed their eyes at her in response. Rolling her eyes in return she said, "Look, you're the ones holding me here. But we can get into that later. Right now I'd like to know where Seven is. I consider her a friend and want to know that she is safe."
The glares that she was receiving softened although it was far more noticeable on the dark-skinned woman's face. The two women shared a look after which the purple-haired woman said, "Thank you for your concern. I'm Yoruichi and this is Kiyomi."
Mikoto inclined her head in greeting as she replied, "I'm sure you both know who I am. Now as to where Seven is?"
"She's still in the prison," Yoruichi answered taking a seat at the table.
"What!? How is it that I'm here if she was captured?"
"Our sister chose to keep the face that you would recognize. As such she needed to turn herself in after the prison break."
"Prison break!" Mikoto said shocked, "Just how long was I out?"
"For quite some time, Triple Zero" a new voice said inserting itself into the conversation.
Mikoto turned towards the new speaker and didn't recognize the woman who had entered the room from the kitchen entrance. She was dressed as a miko decked out with purple hakama pants and a sash that matched her waist length hair. Her brown eyes seemed amused as she knew the Uchiha was trying to place her face and voice. However she knew the woman wouldn't recognize not just her face but voice since the only times she had heard it. It had been scratchy due to the scars from where Kisame had plunged his blade into her throat.
After a moment Mikoto gave up stating, "I'm sorry; I'm usually pretty good with faces. But I have no idea who you are. But for you to know me as that you must have been in the prison as well."
"Indeed," the woman said moving to take a seat at the table as well, "You would have known me as KK-one-one-seven-six." She giggled at the shocked look that she received in response to her statement causing her to say, "I know, there have been some changes since then. It's all thanks to our host."
Kiyomi gave a curt nod as she said, "Indeed, but I thought I told you that you should rest. I didn't just change your appearance but genetically you have been altered as well." Kiyomi seemed to remember something as she began digging in the sleeve of her kimono. Pulling out a small packet held together by a rubber band, she looked at what was on top of it before tossing it to the new arrival as she said, "Miya Asama that is the name you choose for yourself correct. Those are the documents certifying your new existence. For all intents and purposes the woman you were is dead."
Miya nodded as she looked at the identification documents she had been tossed. Due to her time as a member of the Kirigakure Cypher Division she easily could tell the items she had been given were either incredible forgeries or the real deal. Looking up she said, "I must admit you are full of surprises. I only told you that name this morning, for you to be able to get your hands on fake documents of this level..."
"Those documents aren't fakes," Kiyomi said cutting her off, "True, all the information on them is not true, but the paperwork is indeed the real deal. Once your treatments are finished, you'll be able to set up shop anywhere in the Land of Fire."
Miya stared at Kiyomi for several moments before saying, "Again your generosity is rather overwhelming."
"I'll say," Mikoto said interjecting herself in the conversation, "Why does she get a new face and life, while I'm stuck here as a prisoner?"
Kiyomi leveled another glare at the woman before replying, "Believe me. I would like nothing better to be rid of you. Yet for the time being Naruto believes you may be of some use in curbing your son's true nature."
Mikoto narrowed her eyes at Kiyomi as she said, "Whatever Sasuke has become he did so because of what Konoha put him through. I'm sure that he must have learned the truth of the massacre which is why..."
Kiyomi silenced her by slamming her hand down on the table as she said angrily, "Sasuke made no mention of any knowledge about your clan's fate when he defected from the village. The only thing he was chasing was power. Deny it all you wish, but the only thing he has come to care about is himself."
Mikoto shot to her feet as she said heatedly, "Don't you dare speak like that about my son! You speak as if you were there..."
"I was," Kiyomi said icily in a way that chilled Mikoto to the bone. "I was there as he did his level best to kill the shinobi tasked with bringing him back to the village. He would have succeeded to if not for my intervention. Yet despite that the only thing keeping him from being hunted down and destroyed like the rabid dog he is, would be the benevolence of that same shinobi. A shinobi I might add that upon learning the traitor's mother was still alive made her rescue one of the objectives for putting down Danzou's plot."
Mikoto suddenly felt her strength leave her as she collapsed back into her chair upon realizing that Kiyomi was describing Naruto. She also suddenly believed she understood why it was that when she had mentioned how Sasuke's defection must have hurt he had rubbed at a spot on his chest. However, her sorrow was replaced by curiosity about the woman she was sitting across from so asked, "Just who are you? If you were there why would you let Sasuke escape?"
"At the time my mobility was rather limited, since I was sealed inside of Naruto at the time" Kiyomi replied. Kiyomi smirked at the reaction that appeared on Mikoto's face. "That is correct. I used to go by the name Kurama, but you would have called me Kyuubi. This is my sister Nibi and I'll leave it for you to guess just what title Seven used to go by."
Miya's jaw dropped upon coming to the realization of just what it was Kiyomi was claiming to be. Shocked at why it appeared three women that at the very least believed themselves to be ancient and terrible chakra beasts capable of leveling villages were apparently following the directions of a young man asked, "I don't get it. If what you say is true then why are you sitting here talking about some shinobi instead doing whatever it is you Bijuu do whenever you broke free of your jinchuriki?"
Both Kiyomi and Yoruichi shared a look as a similar smirk appeared on their lips. Turning to the other two women present Yoruichi answered, "Well that's both a rather complicated and easy question to answer."
Yoruichi then began explaining how Naruto's dream was to unify all the shinobi villages. Naturally, she left out how he tended to convince the kunoichi who had thus far signed on for his ambition. Needless to say that as a result it lost a little something in translation leaving both women believing it to be little more than a pipe dream. However, they couldn't deny that it appeared the two women claiming to be Bijuu appeared to believe in it rather fervently.
*****************************
Naruto's back was facing Rin's as he stared up at the trees where three of the six Defectors were standing. One of the men wore a mask that looked like a depiction of a Tengu. Guessing him to be the Anbu commander that Mabui had mentioned he was about to try and reason with the man when he had to move when Rin attempted to take advantage of his focus being off her. Rolling away from the swipe at his back, he said, "Hey that was a cheap shot. I know my dad didn't teach you to fight like that."
Naturally Rin didn't respond treating everyone as an enemy. However to his surprise Tengu did as he said, "I don't know why a shinobi of the Leaf is so deep in our territory. Especially one that has recently been to Kumogakure as a guest, and appears to have earned a small measure of respect from the Raikage. I would hate to think of how the Raikage would react should he learn that same shinobi was spying on us. Your presence is interfering with our capture of a dangerous fugitive. Leave now and we'll forget we saw you."
Naruto felt a desire to chuckle since, as a result of what Mabui told him about the Defectors, he knew the man was lying. The realization that his knowledge came as a result of the trust that Mabui had placed in him made him feel stupid for his earlier complaints about being tired of the constant struggles. Now more positive than ever he was moving in the right direction he ignored the man to say, "Rin, we never met. But my father was the one who trained you to be a shinobi."
Rin didn't say anything in response nor did she turn towards him as she was busy watching the three at his back. But he was positive she was listening so continued, "I'm not sure about all the details that led you here. But, I'm sure that my Dad and Kakashi-sensei never doubted you were a Leaf shinobi through and through. So if you're being controlled I need for you to fight it, because I promise that I'm taking you back to the Leaf."
Rin tensed in response and as if sensing the sudden turmoil in her all the Defectors attacked throwing kunai and shuriken at her. Naruto reacted quickly creating a mass of clones that threw themselves over her as a makeshift shield. Naruto charged up the tree towards Tengu who directed the two apparent chunin with him to move against the blond.
Sadly for the chunin, they barely even slowed him down as he created another pair of clones to deal with them. Using one clone as a springboard he slammed into Tengu as he tried to leap from the branch to another perch. Tengu managed to break free of the jinchuriki by slamming a knee into his stomach before slamming his hands down into Naruto's back to propel him towards the ground. Tengu planned to finish him off by throwing several kunai at the falling shinobi, but was forced to react as a pair of kunai shot from the cloud of burst clones. Throwing the senbon meant for Naruto at the kunai to deflect them. The Kumo Anbu grumbled as Naruto created a clone that tossed him towards a tree to prevent him from hitting the ground.
Naruto grabbed onto a branch which he then pulled himself on top of to stare at the battlefield. He wanted to believe that his words had reached Rin, but as the memories of the clones that had protected her began to filter into his head. He learned that she had dispersed two of the first two to reach her using chakra scalpels. Guessing that meant she still saw him as an enemy he knew that made dealing with the Kumo-nin far trickier as he was operating under the belief that they were also being controlled.
Not wanting a blood bath on his hands, Naruto tried to come up with a way to end the battle quickly. He cursed though as Rin apparently came to the conclusion that with both sides in the conflict targeting her it would be best to make a break for it and hope that they took each other out. The three other Kumo-nin moved to block her path, but she took a deep breath and expelled a large cloud of a vapor like gas. The three men scattered, allowing her to pass by, but apparently not before having inhaled some of it as they landed rather woozily. Naruto saw several nearby animals get caught up in it as well, but as they landed on the ground he could detect that they still were breathing. Guessing the vapor to be some sort of anesthetic he looked back to see the three Kumo-nin had also succumbed.
Pulling a tri-prong kunai, he tossed it after Rin, and once sure it had passed through the barrier of vapor he teleported to it. Naruto followed after Rin as she continued north. He saw her approach a large ravine and could hear the violent river running through it. Rin increased her speed as she prepared to leap it causing Naruto to do likewise. But, out of the corner of his eye saw that Tengu had also found a path through the gas and was tailing the kunoichi through the trees.
Once Rin leapt, he threw a senbon which Naruto mirrored using his kunai. Having been slightly closer Naruto's weapon reached her first, so he teleported to it and tossed Rin out of the way to the opposite bank. Before he could do anything else though he screamed in pain as the senbon tore through his stomach and apparently had been charged with lightning chakra for good measure as Naruto felt as if he had stuck a fork in an electrical socket. He felt his consciousness fading as he thought, "I really need a vacation."
*****************************
Due to the added momentum that Naruto had given her, Rin landed roughly. She hit the ground hard and came to a skidding halt. She looked back in time to see Naruto take the senbon meant for her. Watching him scream from the senbon releasing its electrical charge she was suddenly thrown back to the past where another brave young man had sacrificed himself by tossing a teammate out of the path of danger only to die as a result. The moment ended and although she doubted Naruto truly saw her, as he appeared to be blacking out, he gave her a small smile as if just glad he had remained true to the promise he made her only moments before.
The next thing Rin knew she was staring at empty air as he fell out of her sight to the river below. She felt the persona that Joseki had placed within her want to turn around so she could continue her mission. However, Rin refused to budge and instead began to scramble towards the ravine cliff. The Agent Persona tried to retake control but Rin no longer willing to be a passenger in her own body fought back until she felt something snap inside her mind. Believing that the needle Joseki had placed in her when he used a variation of the Memory-Concealing Manipulative Sand Technique to control her had broken due to her resistance. She took a moment to bask in not feeling as if she was being controlled by unseen strings. However the moment was short lived as she ran to the bank to find any sign of Naruto.
Due to the orange that he wore she quickly caught sight of him as the river carried him away. But before she could move to rescue him, she was forced away from the bank as several needles buried themselves where she had been standing. Staring across the river at the Tengu masked Anbu she raised her hands to say, "Please, I swear I'm no threat to you. I've managed to free myself from what was forcing me to violate your borders."
"Well isn't that too bad for you. I had considered trying to take you alive back to Joseki. He doesn't often activate so many of his puppets at once. I was of the opinion you held some sort of value to him. But I don't think he's going to want a broken puppet and something tells me you're going to give me quite the hassle. Rin was visibly taken aback by the man's statement causing him to explain, "You see while we both had the same jutsu done to us. Joseki suppressed my personality so I could better become the perfect solider and work my way into a position of importance. That's a difficult thing to achieve when your natural inclination is to harm the place you are infiltrating. Now be a dear and die."
Not really having much to live for Rin said, "Please let me save that man first."
"Sorry, no can do. But if you want I'll let the river carry your corpse to where it's taking his. Now die."
Rin didn't try to avoid the senbon that the Tengu threw. All three hit her in the chest causing her lifeless body to hit the ground. The Tengu turned away trying to think of a way to save his cover in Kumo. But he spun around as he heard a poofing sound. Seeing a log lying where his target had been, he sensed her proximity behind him and spun to attack her. However, Rin was already passing him as she ran a gentle hand across his throat and although there was no physical sign of the damage. As a result of the chakra scalpel she used his throat had been sliced from ear to ear.
However, Rin pushed her latest act of violence out of her mind as she dived into the river allowing its current to carry her to the young man who had saved her. In order that she could once more apply her talents to the reason she had learned them.
*****************************
Naruto felt a warm naked body pressed against him and quite used to such a state pulled the person closer to him. This caused the person next to him to gasp and pull away. He mentally frowned from the reaction, but was suddenly hit by the memories of what he assumed had led to his current state of undress. Opening his eyes he found that he was in a cave, with a nearby fire going. Sitting up he was surprised to find that the naked woman had been Rin, who was using the emergency blanket he kept sealed in his pouch to cover her nudeness.
He favored her with a warm smile as he quipped, "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this was some sort of medical technique and you don't make it a habit to lie naked with people."
Rin gave him a small smile as he tried to ease her embarrassment at being undressed in front of him. Or from the fact that he seemed so at ease with his own. As if sensing her discomfort he attempted to pull the other emergency blanket he was laying on to cover his pride. But Rin closed the distance as he grew a bit frustrated as she said, "Relax, you've taken a nasty hit."
"It wouldn't be the first," Naruto replied with a mixture of humor and sadness from the memories that came to him. "Besides I heal quickly."
Rin nodded in agreement as she looked down to his stomach where his wound had been. But she quickly looked up with coloring cheeks as she also took in what laid just a bit lower. Naruto chuckled, but then shivered slightly due to the cold. Rin noticed his discomfort and said, "What am I doing? You're the injured one." She then draped the blanket over him while trying to hide her breasts and pussy.
The two lapsed into silence as Rin began to try to stand without exposing herself to Naruto. Succeeding somewhat, she moved to the clothes that she had arranged around the fire. However, finding them to still be quite wet sighed at the fact that it would be still sometime before they dried. She began to shiver slightly as the heat from her embarrassment began to succumb to the cold weather of northern Lightning Country.
Trying to take her mind off of it she said, "You're a jinchuriki aren't you. I wasn't aware of the Leaf Village possessing one. But I guess Sensei must have sealed the Kyuubi inside of you when it attacked. I can't believe he would do that to his own son."
Naruto was surprised the Rin was aware of his parentage. But recalling he had told her when he promised to help her, he stated, "You heard what I told you."
Rin continued to stare at the fire but nodded her head as she replied, "I...I was aware of everything that I did over the years. It was liking watching some movie through my eyes..." Recalling the many memories and actions she had performed while under Joseki's control she began to breakdown. Huge sobs began to shake her frame as she said, "I've done so many horrible things. It should have been me that died instead of Obito."
Before she could continue she was pulled into a hug by Naruto and forgetting her embarrassment she pressed her face into his warm chest as she let out years of pain and anguish. Naruto stroked her hair soothingly as he whispered, "No one wishes that at all. And it wasn't you that did those things. That I'm sitting here is a testament to that fact." Rin allowed Naruto to pull her back to the blanket he had been sitting on. He continued to hold her close and after almost an hour the tears ended.
However the memories refused to be completely banished and wanting to replace them with something else, she turned into the warm chest she was pressed against where she kissed it softly. She felt Naruto stiffen from the contact of her lips. She looked up to see him staring down at her with a fair amount of concern. Afraid that he would reject her she said pleadingly, "Please, I've been out in the cold for so long. Just for tonight...keep me warm."
Naruto looked conflicted but after a moment said, "Rin, for me there is no just tonight. If you give yourself to me then from tonight on you're going to be my woman. I've also involved with quite a few..."
Hearing someone refer to her as their woman filled Rin with the desire to be held in the strong arms surrounding her in the embrace of a lover. A desire she succumbed to by leaning up and pressing her lips against his. Naruto's embrace shifted from comforting to needful as his arms pulled her tighter against his chest. She mewed into his mouth as his hands traveled down her back to cup her ass and then pulled her pelvis against his where she learned that the beast between his legs was beginning to stir. Pressing her pussy against his awakening cock, she began to rub herself against it as it became trapped between their bodies.
*****************************
Kushina sat on the couch as the green light surrounded her. Despite herself, she found that she was curious as to what was transpiring outside the seal. She tried to chalk her curiosity to being that she knew Rin, and had a hard time matching the love-struck young woman she had been to the older woman seeking comfort in the arms of her son. However, she couldn't ignore the fact that it was likely Rin had long ago been exposed to sex and she doubted it had been for anything other than the fulfillment of whatever mission she had been assigned.
Kushina felt her heart break at the thought, especially as she remembered how hard Minato and Kakashi had taken her supposed death. She had little doubt that if they had even entertained the idea that she may still have been alive there would have been no stone they wouldn't have turned over in search of her. Thinking along those lines Kushina thought about how tragic that so much of Rin's youth had been stolen from her.
No sooner had the thought occurred to her then did several ways she could use the Bijuu chakra that she now possessed to perhaps give her it back. Kushina was torn as she could also use a theory that Kiyomi had come up with while still sealed in Naruto to alter people's personalities. Well aware that Kiyomi had recently put it in practice with the Taki kunoichi and how her son felt about it, she didn't know if she should. However, she doubted Naruto would be upset if she instead erased Rin's memories of her time as Joseki's agent. She realized that she could use Kiyomi's theory, but instead of creating new pathways within a person's brain so that the new persona could be created, she would instead remove them. She was quite sure in her idea, but there was one problem that she could see. Namely that she would need to step out of the green field in order to implement it.
The reason being that since Naruto's chakra was already busy modifying Rin's the seal holding back her power was at an extremely weak point. Therefore, she would be able to use the Bijuu chakra without experiencing a lot of resistance from the seal much as Kiyomi had done when she had made Tsunade young again. She reached towards the lamp but stopped just short as conscious warred with her claiming that she was just making excuse to experience the pleasure she felt from Naruto's lovers. She told herself that it was for Rin, but couldn't deny how her body tingled in anticipation just before she switched off the lamp.
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Rin moaned in a long and pleasured filled voice which grew in volume as Naruto fed more and more of his length into her. Having lost her virginity to a target Joseki wanted dispatched she tried to block the memory out of her mind, but couldn't help compare her deflowerer to Naruto. But she soon found her mind only became occupied by the present when instead of roughly taking her. He gave her time to adjust to his large presence inside her all the while showering her chest, neck, and lips. Soon Rin found the legs she had wrapped around the back of his thighs were applying pressure so that her understanding of what it felt like to actually make love would grow.
Naruto understood what she wanted and she gasped as he slowly began to pull out. The soft pleasure she experienced as the gripping flesh of her pussy tried to keep him inside was hard for her to describe. Yet it was perfectly accented by the sharp spike of bliss that pierced her when just before fully withdrawing he slammed himself back inside. Rin cried in pleasure each time, but aware that they were still behind enemy lines, so to speak, tried to muffle herself by nibbling on his earlobe.
Rin continued to sink deeper and deeper into the pleasure Naruto's efforts were generating inside her. Some small part tried to remember if any of the other times she had experienced sex had felt as good. But strangely found her ability to recall any of them rather difficult. Trying to think of at least the first time she briefly pictured being thrown on a bed as the man she was to dispatch roughly pulled her panties from her body before slamming inside her. However, the details began to fade one by one until only she remained on the bed.
Naruto hit something deep inside her that caused even that to disappear as her entire focus pulled to the man that said she had become his. Not remembering exactly why she felt so indebted to him, she decided tried to commit everything to memory as a young woman's first time should be remembered.
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Kushina continued to use her Bijuu chakra to erase Rin's time as Joseki's pawn. It was proving far harder to do then she had anticipated. The reason being was punctuated as she moaned loudly due to being split apart. Although having experienced the sensations of Naruto's lovers before, she couldn't deny that due to the chakra she was using and the weakness of the seal it had never felt so incredible. She was also no longer able to truly block out her son as for all intents and purposes he appeared to be lying atop her. But she knew she was simply experiencing all that Rin was as she also found that her body wasn't moving to her commands but was simply following Rin's movements.
She suddenly felt empty and heard a voice cry out, "No," but whether it was hears or Rin's, she couldn't say. However neither woman needed to worry about the blond stopping what he started as Kushina found herself flipped over and pulled up to her knees into the doggy position. She felt him slide along her slit teasingly before pressing harder until her pussy granted him entrance. Her head whipped back as Rin's voice cried out, "Yesssss!"
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Rin looked over her shoulder as he began to push and pull her hips along his cock as he worked his hips. Naruto kept the brisk pace going for several minutes until deciding to give his newest lover a chance to take charge. He pulled her back so that he could lay down with her on top facing away from him. He then folded his hands behind his head. Rin stared down at him with pleading eyes from over her shoulder for him to continue. However a moment later she got to her feet and began to slowly pick herself off of the cock impaled inside her. Before he slipped out she dropped back down crying out in pleasure, before quickly picking her hips up once more.
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Kushina felt so exposed in the new position, and had to remind herself that her son wasn't seeing her as her hips moved at the fast past Rin was setting. Having been able to see the memories that Rin had possessed as she erased them Kushina could understand why she had given herself to Naruto. However, Kushina stopped her efforts to reset Rin's past at where she had encountered the Broker. She wanted Rin to understand what it was that the memories she was losing had entailed so she wouldn't be haunted by them. Therefore, with the kunoichi's memory wiped she decided to take things one step further by returning her to the age she had been when she was taken.
Kushina could tell her efforts were working as she suddenly felt as if Naruto was getting even larger insider her. Understanding that as Rin grew younger the already snug fit of her son's cock and the kunoichi pussy was growing more so. She felt the urge to cum grow more pronounced as his cock began knocking more insistently against the opening of her womb. Rin did as well and when he suddenly pumped his hips deciding to take an active role in their love making Kushina found herself suddenly laying with her back on his chest. Naruto's eyes grew wide causing Kushina to fear he was seeing her, but she quickly realized he was reacting to her deaging the kunoichi.
He must have had some idea of what Kushina was doing as instead of reacting he carried on as if nothing had changed. Kushina considered trying to end the session seeing as her work was done. But Naruto prevented her from doing so as he reached down and used his middle finger to press on her clit. Kushina and Rin both came hard as he released wave after wave of cum into his newest lover. As Kushina caught her breath she hated just how content she truly felt.
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Rin stared up at the ceiling with glassy eyes as she came down from her orgasmic high. She couldn't quite place why she was making love in a cave. But remembering her last experience in one sat up quickly. She looked about for any sign of the white plant men or the robed old man they seemed to serve. However, she found no sign of them. Yet, faced with the fact that the last thing she recalled was being about to be turned over to a Suna elder. She pulled away from the man who had just introduced her to pleasure she had never imagined existed.
He sat up worriedly staring at her as she appeared to take in her surroundings. She moved to the clothes and guessing the orange ones weren't hers tried to pull them on but found they hung quite loose on her frame. Finally at a loss she turned towards Naruto asking, "What's going on? Why are we having sex in a cave? You didn't give me some strange drug to have your way with me did you?"
Naruto tried to call out mentally his mother but received no response. Believing that his mother was tuckered out from deaging Rin and from apparently removing her painful memories he decided not to dive into the seal. Plus he was afraid that the kunoichi would bolt. Taking a breath he asked, "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I had just been abducted by some strange plant men. They took me to a cave where this old man was going to turn me over to a Suna Elder named Joseki." Naruto was about to respond but she took in the larger clothes she was wearing and coming to a rather fantastical conclusion said, "He did...didn't he?"
Naruto nodded so Rin approached him and dropping to her knees stared into the blue eyes that reminded her of her sensei's. After a moment she said, "You're Naruto...you saved me."
Again he nodded, and somewhat hesitantly reached up to cup her face. Rin felt comforted by the strength and warmth she felt at the contact. Finally after several moments of just staring into her brown eyes he said, "You've been missing for a long time Rin. I think it's time for me to take you home."
Rin felt tears gather in her eyes as she suddenly lurched forward wrapping the blond man in a hug. She wasn't sure why she was crying but felt it was a result of the memories she had lost. She instinctively knew they were better off forgotten and looked forward to making happier ones.