Character -/ Age [If its x year y months, I'll write it as x~ year old only.]
Naruto and Kasumi Uzumaki -/ 8~
Natsumi Uzumaki -/ 10~
Nina Uzumaki -/ 19~ [Ageless]
Kushina Uzumaki -/ 24~ [Ageless]
Konan, Nagato and Yahiko -/ 19~
Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru -/ 45~
"Talk"
'Think'
Chapter 6: Eminence
Nami No Kuni
As the group of four finally arrived in the land of waves, Nagato, Konan, Nina and Naruto looked around for any signs of slave sale but unfortunately failed to find any.
Deciding to explore and look for clues, Nina spoke up. "Maybe we should split up and meet here again in an hour with whatever we find out?"
Others nodded and went in separate directions. Nina activated her Byakugan and Naruto made a around thirty shadow clones to help with the search.
One hour later
All four of them arrived back at the place they had left off, Nina being the one to find the most probable location of the girl decided to voice her opinion. "I think I found where she is, though we might need to get her out of there fast, the auctioning is supposed to begin soon."
Since no one else had been able to find anything significant, they decided to follow their new companion. It wasn't too long before they arrived in front of a big building with the sign of "Gatou Inc.".
The gate was guarded by four armed guards, none of them seemed to be shinobi.
"What business do you have?" One of the guards demanded as he noticed the newcomers.
It took him only a fraction of a second to decide whether or not to kill the guard. In the end he decided to check the girl's condition first, as well as confirm her whereabouts before taking any action. "We heard your boss had a girl whose blood can heal, for sale?"
Nina seemed ready to bust through the building at any moment, while Naruto didn't look too phased. He wasn't entirely certain if the girl they were rescuing was an Uzumaki, and even if she was, getting emotional won't help in her rescue.
The guard seemed to realize what the red haired man was referring to as he gave them a grin. "Ah, her! Of course sir, the sale was just about to begin in a few hours, but if you are willing to pay a good enough price you can buy her beforehand. You will need to negotiate with Boss though."
"Of course, please lead the way." Nagato answered in his business voice.
This was a calm collected and serious Nagato, much like himself when in public. Naruto was fairly impressed at how easily Nagato can adopt to situations. Still, there was a girl to be rescued.
After a while of waiting, they found themselves in Gatō's office, facing the tiny man with cane.
"My guards informed me that you were interested in the new girl I have for sale? I will let you know that she is a rather fine piece, and her value is quite high. Of course I will give you her detailed description.
First of all, she is untouched, or pure, whatever you want to call it. Flawless skin, angelic beauty, and her blood is pure enough to heal almost any wound. She is truly blessed, so if you are the religious type, then she is what you have always been looking for.
If you want her for… other, purposes, well we don't know if her blood will heal or not after you are done with her, so we take no guarantee there. I assure you though that the experience should be extremely pleasurable. The girl was trained in ninja arts a bit by a retired Jōnin from Kumo, so her body is lean and toned. All in all, you are in for a hell of a ride!"
The foolish little man was completely oblivious to the constant drop in the room temperature with every word he spoke. Nina was fuming, Konan was angry, Nagato… well you couldn't tell what he was thinking, while Naruto still didn't seem phased on the outside. On the inside though, he wasn't pleased with the pudgy businessman to say the least.
Nagato seemed to think for a while before he gave Gatō a nod. "Can we see her first before we buy? I assure you we are more than capable of paying any price you've decided for her, provided that she's worth it." If they could get close to her, they could get her out of here then. There didn't seem to be any ninja security.
The midget like businessman gave him a grin full of expectation from the upcoming events. "Ah, of course. Examining the merchandise beforehand, I see." He could just feel millions upon millions rolling into his pockets.
Quite frankly he didn't care if they raped her till her body gives up or worship her till she dies. She can go to hell for all he cares; the point was he was going to get even richer than before.
When they reached the 'merchandise's' designated room, they found a rather pretty blond haired blue eyed girl crying on a bed while hugging her knees.
After a few moments of thinking, Nagato politely turned to Gatō. "We would like a few minutes alone with the girl, we will pay your price when we're out."
"Hm… fine. I will be back in five minutes, no more. Don't even think about breaking her before you pay up though. I assure you, you'll regret it."
Nagato just gave him a grin and a nod. After Gatō was gone, Nina immediately ran up to the girl and hugged her tightly. "Hey, it's ok… we'll get you out of here. What's your name?"
"Natsumi… Uzumaki, or at least I think so. I am an orphan… my mother sold me to that man…" She began sobbing again. While Nina tried to comfort her.
Natsumi was feeling awful inside. What were these people here for? They don't look like bad guys. And there is something strange about the blond, he almost seems very familiar. But then again, her adoptive mother didn't seem like a bad person either, and she had sold her to this... businessman. And then there was this strange woman that was hugging her even though they'd never met before.
"Shhh… It will all be okay, I promise." Nina tried to soothe her.
Naruto felt something oddly familiar about the girl, he couldn't put his finger on it. It was like he knew, or should know her, like he had a connection to her of some kind. "What happened, can you tell us about how you came to be here?" Naruto asked.
"It was all fine until my tenth birthday, then all of a sudden my adoptive mother told me that the only reason she raised me was so that she can sell me later, for my ability…" Natsumi answered between sobs.
It was quite obvious that the girl wasn't in the best state of mind at the moment, as she had recently been abandoned. All her beliefs of what the world was, completely turned upside down.
"Would you like to come with us? We are technically your family. I am Uzumaki Nina, and these are Uzumaki Naruto, Konan, and Uzumaki Nagato."
"Family? Really?" Natsumi asked, with some hope in her eyes, sobbing temporarily stopped.
She wasn't sure whether to trust them or not. After all, this could be a trick, right? But why would they do that when they can just pay for her and do whatever they want with her? She shivered unconsciously in fright. What would happen to her after she was sold? She shed a few tears, knowing she would be the property of whoever owned her then.
"Since Nina-san seems to have taken quite a liking to you, and we're probably from the same clan, we'll get you out of here and treat you like a little sister until you decide what you want to do next. Well, everyone except me, as you seem to be a year or two older." Naruto answered with a small smile.
For some reason he felt compelled to help the girl. Not just like the normal 'help the poor girl' that he would usually ignore, but a gut feeling that said 'if you don't help her you will regret forever'.
Natsumi almost didn't believe what she heard. Why? Why would he say that? Then she thought, maybe, just maybe she could give her complete trust to someone one more time. The woman with pearly eyes, and the boy with spiky blond hair, she would trust them for now. They were giving her more kindness than most, and she had no reason not to believe them.
And there was something in her that was just screaming at her to trust the blond, it was scary. This never happened before, why now? Either way it wasn't like she had much choice other than this. "I will try my best to fit in with all of you." She answered, looking down a bit shyly.
Nagato smiled at the fact that it had worked out pretty well. The information was accurate, and the girl was unharmed as well, except for the mental trauma she'd had to probably suffer. But that can easily be taken care of with proper treatment later. " That's good, now that we have reached an agreement, we should break her out of here. We can't really pay whatever excessive price Gatō will ask for her, and that bastard doesn't deserve getting anything for her."
He was satisfied when all of them seemed to agree with him.
'Byakugan!'
It was fairly easy to get out of Gatō's building. After all, except for the children, they were all A-class and higher ninja.
Once outside, they decided to head back from where they came, North-west, so that they can join up with Yahiko and others before once again looking for Naruto's sword. After that they would decide what steps must be taken regarding the two new additions to the group.
Ten minutes later
"Kukuku… look what we have here, Kabuto" A voice hissed, making all five of them stop dead in their tracks and get into defensive positions. Natsumi in the center, Naruto at the back.
"Show yourself!" Konan commanded.
A very pale man, with purple eye liner, serpentine eyes and purplish-grey robes stepped into the clearing. Nina was already aware that the Snake-sannin was coming for Natsumi, and had warned others about it. But this was something she had wanted to rather avoid.
"Orochimaru…" Nina hissed. She knew she was a capable ninja, but she had never fought an S-class before, having always preferred to avoid such risks. It had worked out very well since it was extremely easy to notice overly large chakra signatures thanks to her dōjutsu. But this time, the S-class wasn't just passing by, he had been headed specifically for her group. There was no avoiding this time.
"Hmhmhm… So you know me? Well, I seem to be at a disadvantage here, why don't you all introduce yourselves?"
All the members of the group were visibly tense. Even though they were good, an S-class could never be taken lightly. Orochimaru was a Kage-level ninja and despite all his training Naruto knew he would be killed easily if he were to face Orochimaru one on one. But fortunately he wasn't alone.
While none of them were confident of their victory against an S-class alone, together they were more than sure they could defeat one. Nina had experience of an eighty year old, and body of a nineteen year old. She was around easily Kage-level, and her taijutsu was perhaps one of the best in all of the elemental countries. Nagato and Konan were no rookies either, they both could hold their own.
However, that didn't make facing the Snake-sannin easier. No matter how skilled you are, there could always be casualties, especially when you have to protect someone weaker.
"Just give me the girl and I will let you all live." Orochimaru ordered, completely cool and collected, confident in his superiority.
He hadn't heard of any of them. There was a red haired man, a blue haired woman, a redhead woman and a little blond boy with a mask. He had memorized all A-rank and S-rank shinobi and kunoichi in the bingo books, so he knew none of them belonged in that list.
Nope, nothing worth noting, all were no-name ninja at best.
Nina narrowed her eyes at the sannin, clearly not believing he had thought they would just hand the girl over. "You must be seriously retarded to think we will give a little girl to a emo-pedophile scientist like you?"
Natsumi couldn't hold a snicker at the man's new nickname. Though inwardly she felt a chill run up her spine 'I hope she was just joking there…'
Orochimaru hissed in anger. How dare she call him that! He was no ordinary emo-pedophile! He was Super-emo-bipedophile.
A cough from Kabuto broke him out of his trance. "Orochimaru-sama, I think we should just get rid of the disturbances and just complete our objective. They don't seem too cooperative, so we're just wasting time."
Orochimaru chuckled but nodded with a smirk. The only ones who could stand against him right now were the Hokage, Raikage, Mizukage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage, Uzumaki Kushina, Killer Bee, Hoshigaki Kisame, Kakuzu and Sasori. A mere handful of people, and even from these he knew how to escape from each and every one. The only one he did not want to mess with under any condition was Hanzō. That one time he had barely survived even with his ex-teammates, and that was only because they were spared.
He had nothing to fear from the people in front of him. He charged at the group, intent on killing all but the girl that possessed the precious Uzumaki bloodline.
A "Shinra Tensei!" from Nagato stopped him mid-charge, painfully. Orochimaru was caught completely off guard when he was thrown away by an invisible force. 'What jutsu was that…'
Now that he knew that the 'no name' ninja were prone to use strange and unconventional attacks, he decided to not try to block but simply dodge any attacks. Orochimaru nodded at Kabuto and they both charged at the group from two different sides.
Briefly exchanging glances, the group made a decision among themselves. Naruto would protect Natsumi, Nagato and Nina handle the Snake while Konan takes care of the side-kick.
Orochimaru ran full speed towards the duo that had turned to face him. To most genin he just disappeared, to most jōnin he was a blur. But to Nina's eyes, he was crawling, walking in slow motion. With complete determination in her eyes, she charged at the Sannin, while Nagato waited on the sidelines to jump in if the Snake slips past her.
Blurring out of existence and re-appearing in front of the snake, Nina quickly started striking his tenketsu. The Sannin seemed shocked at first, but finally noticed the activated Byakugan, and made a short retreat.
"It seems you are quite skilled with your taijutsu, to make me retreat like that." Orochimaru commented.
Nina sneered at the Snake with hate in her eyes. "Shut up you pedophile! Face me if you dare!"
Seeing no harm in doing so, Nagato decided to help Nina out a bit. "Banshō Ten'in!"
The Sannin was shocked again, one second he was standing a safe distance away from the red headed hyūga, and the next he was flying towards her!
'No, not her, that man!'
Pushing chakra to his feet, he tried to stop the technique. Since Nagato hadn't put much power behind the move, the sannin managed to stop. But he was close enough for Nina.
"Hakke Kūshō!" (Eight Trigrams Air Palm)
Hit with the technique in the gut, Orochimaru coughed up blood and glared at the offenders. Now that he was pissed, they were going to pay!
"Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Kū no Tachi!" (Sword of Kusanagi: Long Sword of Sky)
Taking out the sword from his mouth in a slimy display, he created a few mud-clones without hand seals and charged again. This time he was prepared for anything. Charging at Nagato with the sword, he extended a hand towards Nina and muttered. "Senei Jashu!" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)
Orochimaru gritted his teeth in annoyance as all his snakes were swatted away by her nimble hands, and killed in the process by precise chakra strikes. Throwing the sword at Nagato so that he couldn't interfere, the sannin faced Nina again.
"Mandara no Jin!" (Myriad Snake Net Formation)
A very large number of snakes erupted from the Sannin's mouth, all with Kusanagi blades sticking from their mouths.
Nina seemed a bit surprised at this, but recovered quickly.
'I can't dodge such a wide area attack, the swords are probably poisonous so touching them won't be a good idea… then…'
"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" (Eight Trigrams Heavenly Spin/Rotation)
A perfect circle of spinning chakra protected Nina from the incoming attacks. When the snakes stopped coming, she stopped her technique and stared at a fuming Orochimaru.
"Hiru-Issai-Sōshi!" (Leach All Creation)
Orochimaru's body started sinking into the ground and then, disappeared… Nina seemed confused at first then her eyes widened. 'Oh crap!'
Orochimaru emerged right behind Naruto, and was going to take Natsumi when Naruto's leg introduced itself to Orochimaru's head. Temporarily shocked at the power behind the blow, Orochimaru took a moment to recover. While he had considered the kids to be defenseless or at genin level at best, it seemed the boy at least was high chūnin level. Still, he was outmatched and outclassed.
Konan saw everything, but was busy dealing with the side-kick. He was much more skilled than she had anticipated. But if she could draw the battle out, she had no doubt she would win. It just won't be too easy, as she was hoping for.
'It's a good thing I deactivated my gravity seals before the fight began, or I might not have been able to react in time. This snake sure must be slippery to get past Nina-san's Byakugan like that...' thought Naruto.
"Hm.. you are good for a boy your age, perhaps I should take you too, you might just make a capable vessel or subordinate."
Naruto glared from behind his mask. "Hell no, you gay-emo-pedophile!"
Despite the situation, Natsumi completely failed at suppressing her giggle at the new addition to the nickname of the sannin.
"You! I'll show you!" Orochimaru fumed.
Orochimaru charged with his sword kusanagi towards Naruto, intent on finishing off the boy.
Naruto flashed through hand seals, but just before he could complete them, Orochimaru disappeared in a burst of speed, surprising the blond. But still, he had been training hard, so he prepared himself to retaliate the sword strike.
"Chakra Rod!" Naruto muttered, as a smooth black rod formed from his chakra formed in his hand. But to his surprise, the snake sannin deviated from his path, then he realized just where he was heading.
'Natsumi!'
Quickly speeding towards the girl, Naruto put himself between her and the Sannin. While she was ninja trained, it was just the very basics, no advanced training, so she had practically no chance against the sannin as she was now.
The Kusanagi clashed with the Chakra Rod, but then the unexpected happened. At least for Naruto. Orochimaru took out another kusanagi from his mouth and slashed it across his chest.
"Shinra Tensei!" Putting as much force as he could safely into the attack, he hoped for the best as he stumbled backwards. 'Fuck, this hurts like a bitch!'
Having been caught off guard, and unprepared for that attack, the sword had cut half an inch deep wound diagonally across his chest. Even if he had been prepared, he wasn't sure he could have defended himself against an opponent of Orochimaru's level. The difference was too much.
Orochimaru gritted his teeth in pain as he was thrown backwards. 'I swear I fucking hate this technique!' He cursed mentally as he went through a few trees, breaking them in the process. Any regular chūnin would have been dead by now, and most jōnin severely injured. But he was not a sannin for nothing.
Performing his personal Kinjutsu, he vomited himself from his mouth. His new body was as good as new. Devoid of any wounds that he should have sustained from the fight with the three Uzumaki.
Unfortunately, right after he had finished the kinjutsu, he was met by a very pissed off Nina and an irritated Nagato. It was a fact only he knew that it took him half a second to recover his senses after finishing this kinjutsu. He hoped they couldn't finish him off in that small period of time.
While they didn't know about the time limit, they wasted no time in attacking the opponent. "Zessho Hachimon Hougeki!" (Eight Gates Assault)
Orochimaru closed his eyes as he was hit by an extremely high powered chakra palm in five different places of his body. He knew the positions she was hitting, the eight gates.
'I have to get out of here if I want to live! Almost there...'
Another strike.
'Shitshitshitshit, six of my inner gates are closed, if she gets another two, I will be dead because of the chaotic overflow of chakra in my body. I will have to use THAT jutsu now… I almost have full control of the body...'
Another strike.
'Yes!'
"Yamata no Jutsu!" (Eight Branches Technique)
At the last moment, he was able to transform into a giant eight headed snake, albeit appearing very tired and beaten up. Seven of the inner gates being forcefully opened is never a good thing for one's body.
"Kabuto! We are leaving!"
Nina's taijutsu technique completed, the eighth strike had hit, but the Snake's chakra system was different now, so it didn't have much effect.
"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."
"Make no mistake, I will be back. And I will take all that I desire."
And with that, they both sank into the ground, gone for good.
"Naruto! Are you ok?" A worried Natsumi asked.
"Yeah.. h-hah… I'm fine, just a little scratch." He gasped out. 'Damn, I didn't know this would hurt this much… It feels like some kind of venom is spreading throughout my body... fast...' "I take that back... I feel like I'm melting from the inside actually..."
Kyūbi's voice confirmed his suspicions. 'It shouldn't for normal sword cuts, but that sword was poisoned. Don't worry though, I know of a way to get you out of this, but it will cost us both a lot, so lets see if any of your companions can do something first.'
His eyes widened. If they didn't get to somewhere with an antidote quickly…he knew Kyū-chan never joked when it came to 'it will cost a lot'.
"Naruto... just hold on for a minute. Here, bite me."
Remembering her ability with the Uzumaki bloodline, Naruto nodded gratefully and bit into her neck.
A low moan escaped her lips as he drank her blood and chakra. In front of their eyes Naruto's bleeding stopped and his wound closed completely, no scar left, his skin unblemished.
Realizing he was fully healed in a minute, he removed his mouth from her neck, giving a lick to clean any residual blood.
She shivered when he licked, then blushed and looked away. "Thanks for saving me, Naruto-kun."
"You're welcome Natsumi-chan, I did say I will be like your brother, and brothers protect their sisters." He smiled. "And thank you too for healing me."
Just then Yahiko arrived with the rest of Akatsuki, and whistled at the destruction.
"You guys just don't know what low profile means… Lets get out of here before Konoha or Kiri squads come to check what the fuck happened."
Meanwhile in Konoha
Kasumi sighed as she continued to walk towards the academy. Recently, a lot of good and bad stuff had happened in Konoha.
In the list of good stuff, Uchiha Itachi massacred all of the Uchiha's, thus decreasing the number of assholes drastically.
In the list of bad stuff, he spared Uchiha Sasuke and his mother, who was at the Uzumaki compound when the massacre took place. Sasuke is now more emo and eegotistical than ever. And he was the emo king even before the massacre. Though she was happy Mikoto lived, she wished Itachi had killed Sasuke…
Mikoto-san was not that bad though. She was a good friend of her mother, even though Kasumi didn't trust any outsider, including Mikoto. She behaved politely around her because of Kushina's friendship. But ever since the massacre happened Sasuke had turned cold and hateful even to his mother. Something about not being strong enough to beat Itachi and emo stuff.
Mikoto had been worried about Sasuke, so much that last Friday…
Flashback
Kushina had just arrived back from yet another S-rank mission and Mikoto was almost always at the Uzumaki compound since the massacre, except for when Sasuke is supposed to be at the Uchiha complex. Right now they were relaxing on the couch.
"Kushina-chan, I am worried about my son, how do you manage when you can't understand what your kids are thinking?"
"Oh, well… it never happened to me before. If it does happen, I can always ask them what's up? They don't usually hide anything from me." Kushina responded, slightly confused.
"Oh… but what if they do?"
Kushina just raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha. "Fuck if I know. They won't ever do it, and if they do then they should probably have a good enough reason to do so. After all, it is I who has been bringing them up, so whatever they do is actually directly or indirectly because of me."
She never realized how much those words depressed Mikoto even more. But she did see Mikoto was depressed. "Hey! Hey! Mikoto-chan, don't go all emo on me! Well um.. how about I cheer you up! Lets see… Kasumi!"
"Yes, Kaa-chan?"
"Cheer her up!"
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"I don't know, it's your job."
"But…"
"Please? Won't you do your Kaa-chan this little favor?"
Kasumi breathed out a sigh of defeat, thinking of a way to do it. Figures, her Onii-chan and Kaa-chan, both had absolutely no people skills. "Mikoto-san, what's got you so upset? I thought you would be happy to be with your long term friend here." She pointed at her mother.
Mikoto looked at the little redhead, she never truly understood her. That girl was far more mature and skilled than any girl her age should ever be. Even two Itachi's fused together wouldn't compete with her. Itachi was high-genin level at her age, but still his mentality was that of a seven-eight year old. But Kasumi... she thought like a teenager already, and her skills were bordering high chūnin level from what she had seen.
She contemplated on her answer, should she tell her the complete truth? How will she handle it? "Its just that, first Itachi goes crazy and kills every last one of my family, and then the one that he did spare won't even talk to me! I don't know what to do with him..."
Kasumi and Kushina both frowned at this. Sasuke never did realize what he was losing with his arrogance and hatred.
Suddenly Mikoto's eyes sparkled, and she turned to look at Kasumi. That girl was so mature, and yet so innocent. So beautiful and yet so deadly. So cheerful and yet so serious when needed. She was perfect for her son!
"You!"
The girl shuffled nervously, something wasn't right with how the raven haired woman was looking at her. "Uhm.. me?"
Mikoto's grin widened. "Yes you! Kasumi-chan, you are the solution for this!"
A frown formed on her face as she turned her face completely blank. "What are you talking about?"
Suddenly she realized where this might be going, and nearly panicked. She turned to her mother, hoping she would take her daughter's side. Or she was going to pay!
"Please be friends with Sasuke-kun? In fact, Kushina-chan, what do you think about an arranged marriage between the lasts of Uchiha and Uzumaki clans? It will be an extremely good union. And even though Kasumi will become an Uchiha, you will have Naruto to continue your clan!"
"Whoa, hold your horses Mikoto-chan! Just a few problems there with your solution. First of all, I won't force Kasumi-chan into marrying anyone. And secondly, I don't think gay-emo-brooder are her type. And let me make this very, very clear. We are friends, but if you want it to remain that way, don't mess with my children."
'Yep,' Kasumi thought dryly 'this is definitely where Naruto got his people skills. Damn, even Naruto won't call Sasuke that in front of his mom. I hope...'
Mikoto was now on verge of tears. Kushina should know that her best friend wouldn't think of anything that would harm what is precious to both of them.
Finally Kushina seemed to sigh. "Alright! Alright! Look, I will ask Kasumi, if she wants to then I'm okay with it."
"WHAT! You are asking me to marry someone else, and Sasuke, are you serious?" Kasumi's shocked and hurt voice was a stab to Kushina's heart.
Kasumi almost didn't believe it. How could her mother even consider that, or even think about it...
If Kushina wanted, Kasumi will get married to Sasuke. She was her legal guardian and clan head. Kasumi felt extremely uneasy. One thing she knew for sure though, was that she would kill Sasuke if they proceeded with the plan. Her mother will be angry, and he was Mikoto's son, but she knew she will kill him, and she knew she was capable of it too.
"No-no-no-no-no Kasumi-chan, I would never do that. I was just telling you that the next time you see Sasuke , try cheering him up and becoming friends. Just one try, if it fails I won't ask you again." Kushina had been hurt that her daughter thought she would do something like that, but perhaps she should have phrased her words a little better.
The sigh of relief from Kasumi didn't go unnoticed by either Kushina or Mikoto. 'Compared to what I thought you were asking me to do, this should be a piece of cake Kaa-chan...'
"Fine Kaa-chan..." She will try, she was confident Sasuke won't take the chance she was going to give, so she had nothing to lose.
Her mother smiled slyly then. "By the way Kasumi-chan, what did you mean by someone else? Already found someone huh?"
Of course Kushina knew who Kasumi was talking about, it was her setup after all. But that didn't mean she couldn't embarrass her poor little daughter.
"I never said that!"
With that Kasumi ran for her life, away from the perverted teaser that she had as a mother. Thankfully Kushina was a bit too tired from her mission, so she just pouted a bit and then sat back down.
Meanwhile, neither noticed the sadness on Mikoto's face and her obvious disappointment.
Kasumi sighed again, this was a very bad idea, she just knew it.
Sasuke hated her, not that he liked anyone, he just hated her more than anyone else, except Itachi maybe.
She was at the top of the class. As if that was not enough, her looks had gained her a lot of admirers. Despite the adult population trying to get their kids away from her, most boys (and some girls) don't think with their heads when it comes to someone attractive enough. She already knew all this, but to her there was only one person that could attract her in that way.
And he was away, training who knows where, and will come back who knows when. But he will come back, that's all that mattered. Even if later he only wanted her as a sister, as long as she was able to be with him, she didn't care.
That said, despite the teachers trying to sabotage her growth, she was always miles ahead of Sasuke and others, and he hated her for it. Not that she cared.
She didn't try too hard to score, it was just too easy for her. But Sasuke won't even consider the fact that he could be outdone. By a girl no less. She had no doubts he had mixed feelings for her.
On one hand he wanted to outdo her, be the rookie of the year and all. On the other hand he saw her as a potential partner, it didn't matter to him that she would never willingly be his partner, to him she was just a good breeding stock. Good clan, check, good looks, check, intelligence, check. Yep, good breeding stock. 'Asshole.'
Entering her class, she took a look around. There, Uchiha Sasuke sat, brooding as usual. Well she had promised her mother she will give him one day full of chances to make friends with her, and that she will. 'Thank god there is no seat empty next to him, I can at least sit somewhere else.'
She started walking towards the empty seat at the back of the class, next to Hinata. She smirked remembering how she and Hinata had first met.
Flashback
Kasumi was once again painfully aware of being stalked. Ever since Naruto was gone from Konoha, she has had this mysterious figure follow her around almost everywhere she went!
She had found out soon enough who her stalker was, and she was quite shocked. None other than Hinata Hyūga. Feeling a bit self-conscious and peeved at the same time, she decided to approach Hinata to confront her as to what she really wanted to do with her.
I mean come on, she knew Hinata had a crush on Naruto for some unknown reason, and that she stalked him all the time, but why follow her now?
"You can come out now, I know you are there."
There was an 'eep' sound, and then Hinata hesitantly stepped away from the tree she was hiding behind.
"So... what are you doing here?" Kasumi asked, not quite sure how to approach the subject.
Stuttering and blushing all the while, Hinata finally managed to reply, "Well... you see... um... I was... watching you..."
"And...?"
"And..." Hinata's eyes were wide and breathing heavy. She didn't expect getting caught, and didn't know what would happen now. A tomato red Hinata rapidly began firing explanations in hope of getting away without too much trouble, somehow.
"I-I didn't mean it that way! I meant t-that whenever I saw you or your brother you were always being g-glared or whispered at, for I don't know why, but either of you n-never let it get to you. You just b-brush it off and keep going like it n-never happened. I r-really... admire t-that. I wish I-I could do that... W-when people belittle me, I-I wish I could just ignore them and walk a-away, instead of standing t-there..."
Kasumi only raised an eyebrow at the girl's explanation, seriously she never thought that Hinata had a reason to follow her or Naruto around like that. Still, everything has a reason behind it, so it wasn't too much of a surprise.
Now that she thought about it, Hinata was perhaps the only person aside from Mikoto to be able to accept Naruto or her without seeing them with hatred, fear or ignorance.
Maybe she wasn't so bad to be around, in fact, since Naruto is not going to be here for a while, and her kaa-chan is regularly out on missions, Kasumi didn't mind some company. She will make sure not to get too attached, just in case this was all a trick.
"Hinata-san, you know you don't have to hide from me like that. We can be friends." She smiled at the Hyūga girl.
Hinata had been expecting being ridiculed, or worse, being told to get lost and never follow her again. How could she live without staring at either Naruto or Kasumi's sexy little ass... ahem, off topic. How could she maintain her sanity without her little ropes to hope like Naruto and Kasumi around to guide her? Yeah that sounds better, less perverted.
Kasumi watched Hinata's expressions change every three-four seconds. 'Was she just staring at me with a perverted look? Nah, can't be, Hinata is too innocent. But I'm keeping her away from Onii-chan when he comes back. I'm not sure if he will be safe around her.'
A little voice in her head was telling Kasumi that 'its always the quiet ones', but she ignored it. Given that Hinata had a crush on Naruto, Kasumi didn't assume her to be one of the girls after her too. She can't change teams so quickly, right? Or was she playing for both?
"Hinata-san, what are you thinking about?"
Hinata blushed bright red and looked away before sputtering an apology and saying she was 'planning for the future'.
And so began a very unconventional and one-sided 'friendship'.
Kasumi vaguely remembered seeking advice from Kushina on Hinata's behaviour, and regretting it. The sometimes perverted woman had proceeded to tell her many things she did not need to know. From that point on Kasumi made a mental note to never ask Kushina for advice with anything unless absolutely necessary.
Kasumi had decided shortly after her first kiss, that either she will be with Naruto, or no one else. Some may think she is a bit too young for that, but they surely don't know about how much shadow clone training she had gone through. She was mature enough to make her own decisions, and that she did.
It hadn't taken her too long to realize Hinata's true intentions behind following her. She had made it clear to Hinata that if they wanted to be friends, Hinata had to accept Kasumi and Naruto's relationship. She still remembered that one...
Flashback
"Hinata-chan, do you still have that crush on my brother?" Kasumi asked, while still pushing Hinata on her swing.
Hinata was surprised just for a moment, before answering again. "N-no, I got over it."
Kasumi's eyes narrowed. "Really?"
Hinata just blushed and looked away.
"You know Hinata, I'm probably going to be in a relationship with my brother. You know, ours is like an arranged marriage, only that it is with our consent. It might change later, but most probably not. Since you're a Hyūga I'm sure you already know it's allowed.
Just letting you know, as you seemed to like him a lot. Since we are friends, it's only fair I warn you beforehand. And stay off him when he gets here, please."
Hinata was shocked! 'That is.. so hot! And screw staying off him, I'll get you both someday.' she thought, inwardly drooling...
Seeing Hinata's face getting redder and redder every second, Kasumi slowly backed away.
'Just what kind of thoughts go on in her head... actually I don't even want to know.'
Before Kasumi realized, three hours had passed in her small flashbacks on what her life had been like. She sighed, time to get to her job of cheering Sasuke up.
'Hell would freeze over nine times before I ever succeed in doing THAT.'
Regardless, she had a promise to keep to her Kaa-chan. "Hey Sasuke! Wait up, I have something to talk to you." She said with as much cheerfulness in her voice as possible.
Most boys (and a few girls) in the class felt their hearts flutter at seeing her heartwarming smile. But they were almost shocked that her, the girl who ignored everyone, was actually approaching a boy, Sasuke no less, for a conversation!
"Hn." Was his only response.
Kasumi felt slightly irritated at his lack of response, but brushed it off. She had to give him a whole day. 'Damn, this is going to be a looong day.'
'Thats it! FUCK YOU SASUKE, YOU BASTARD!'
"Just how big a stick had he shoved up his ass! Seriously! I practically did everything to try to make him smile and he responded with one line at the end of the day!"
Hinata was silently listening, but inwardly she was cheering. Damn her if she let Sasuke get Kasumi, ever. She had already planned on a regular three-some relationship with Naruto and Kasumi. Blood seeped out of her nose, while Kasumi slowly inched away on instinct.
Nevertheless, Sasuke's one liner at the end of the day was completely unexpected. While most parents warned their children to keep away from Kasumi, as she is dangerous, and Kasumi's own cold attitude in public kept people to usually leave her at peace - resisting a smile from Kasumi was damn near impossible.
Until today she would have never believed anyone could be completely unaffected by her charms if Kasumi really tried. But Sasuke - He had that emo look plastered over his face the whole day. Kasumi's beauty, smile, cheerfulness, jokes, nothing worked on him.
To top it off, his one line response at the end of the day had finally pushed her over the edge. "So you finally decided to become my bitch like you are supposed to be, hn?"
"I can't believe he said that to you either." Hinata answered without stuttering for once. Being so close to someone as confident and smooth as Kasumi helped her confidence issues a lot, at least when there wasn't anyone else around. Plus no one would dare belittle her while she was with Kasumi. If only she could get closer... she could feel the threesome.
As Hinata flew back from the nosebleed, Kasumi made a run for the compound.
Uzumaki Compound | Twenty minutes later
"KAA-CHAN!"
Kushina could feel dread creeping up on her, and somehow she knew it was her talk with Mikoto that lead her into this situation. She just hoped Kasumi wasn't too pissed.
'Damn you emo-king!'
Back with Naruto.
After getting away from the Snake-sannin the group had decided to hold-off on more detailed discussions on their pasts and decided to focus on acquiring Ryūjin first.
It was because they knew both the girls that had recently come had painful pasts, and they would have to discuss it in front of Kushina anyway, so the procedure was - First, get Ryūjin, second, send Dragon summon to Konoha and third, set up a meeting for all the Uzumaki's. Namely those in the group plus Kushina and Kasumi.
"The target seems to be getting closer, the dragon tattoo is acting weird." Naruto informed the group.
Natsumi kept glancing at Naruto shyly and then blushing. She had developed a minor crush on him since he saved her from Orochimaru. Naruto didn't seem to notice or care, being completely focused on the task at hand.
"Naruto-kun, what do you plan on doing once we get to the sword? How do you suppose we will deal with anyone who is protecting it?" Nina asked.
"Well, the dragons didn't specify much except that I must get the sword and the sword much accept me, so all is fair game I guess.
I could play hero and go by myself, but our aim is to get things done as fast as we can so that Akatsuki can return after meeting my mom and sister."
Nina nodded at him, it seemed like a good plan. Take care of threats swiftly and quickly.
Suddenly Nina stiffened, causing the group to look at her. She was acting as their scout, as she could see for ten miles in every direction.
"What is it Nina-san?" Konan asked her new comrade.
One word made the entire group tense. "A medic-nin with a large amount of chakra, around Kage-level...", Nina continued, "The sword seems to be in her possession. I can see a blood seal under her left shoulder."
Nagato seemed to be in thought for a while. "Hm... in the worst case, the most powerful medic-nin is Senju Tsunade, so lets assume we'll encounter her."
"Who is Tsunade?" Natsumi inquired.
"She is considered one of the strongest kunoichi currently alive. One of the three Sannins, another you have seen was Orochimaru. Her expertise in Medicine arts is supposedly unmatched." Naruto responded.
The group looked at the boy curiously, to which his response was... "I know a lot about her from my mother. She is the godmother that never came to visit me. To get the sword all we have to do is make a bet to her. Probably one she thinks she can win while actually we win."
"Naruto-san, if I may, please let me handle her alone in a one on one fight. Seeing as how she is praised as one of the strongest Kunoichi, she won't hesitate to accept my challenge. Additionally she's been out of duty for years now and is probably rusty. Add to that she will most definitely underestimate me, you can be sure that we'll get the sword." Nina suggested.
The group of five who had seen her fight understood perfectly what the real reason behind the fight was.
Senju remote compound | Five minutes later
Senju Tsunade found herself and her apprentice surrounded by about twenty-five Jōnin level and above ninja. While she was confident in her skills, she knew perfectly well when the odds were against her.
"What do you people want from me?" She demanded.
"You have something that belongs to my clan, Tsunade-san. A sword called Ryūjin." Naruto calmly stated.
Tsunade responded with a snarl. "I won't give it to anyone! It is one of the last few things that my grandfather had left as heirlooms, it was given to him by my great-grandfather's brother himself!"
Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance. He was aware of the history between the Uzumaki and Senju clans.
The Senju clan was actually the Uzumaki who had abandoned whirlpool to 'explore'. In whirlpool country they were not considered in high regards, as they had abandoned family, in a sense. But when Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju formed Konoha, the Uzumaki tried to re-establish a good relationship, and he knew some deals were made.
Where Ryūjin comes in between this, Naruto didn't know. But what he did know...
"Don't be ridiculous, that sword won't ever accept anyone other than a dragon summoner with Uzumaki blood to be its master. It is a legendary sword of the dragon clan, while I don't know how it came to be with the Senju, it had been 'missing' ever since my great-grandfather's death." Naruto sneered.
Tsunade snarled at the boy, she knew he was right. She had tried multiple times to use that sword, but nothing worked. Same for her father, mother and anyone else who tried. Maybe the boy was telling the truth, but the sword belong to her grandfather, not him.
Seeing the discussion getting heated, and almost everyone getting into battle stances, Nina decided to butt in.
"Tsunade-san, how about a little bet?" Nina suggested.
Now that got her attention. If there is one thing she never backs out from, its a bet.
"Yes, you can choose anyone from this group to be your opponent, and if you beat that person we will just go away. If we win then you surrender the sword to the boy.
Of course I don't expect you to pick up a real challenge like me, you are an old drunken hag after all."
Hearing those words Tsunade fumed. "Drunken old hag! I will show you! You know what - I challenge YOU to fight. To sweeten the deal, if you win I will even give you my grandfather's necklace on top of that sword to the brat. But if I win, and I will, you and the brat will lick my feet."
She raised an eyebrow at her demand, but nodded nevertheless, confident in her plan. Others got away from the two women as they got ready to fight.
Tsunade was confident in her victory, she was the strongest kunoichi in the elemental countries after all. No other female could beat her, and only a few people were just strong enough to be able to accomplish it, all of whom she could recognize.
Nina recognized that look. That arrogant, cocky, overconfident look. As soon as she saw it she knew what she was expecting to be a challenge was actually going to be a piece of cake if she does this correctly and surprises the blond hag.
"You know Tsunade-san, my eyes can see right through your genjutsu, so I know how ugly you really look. You try to cover it up and hide your age. But a genjutsu is no real match for natural youth is it? It's useless.
I myself look only a little younger than you, while if you cancel that genjutsu I could call you grandma."
Tsunade was slowly but surely falling for Nina's taunts, finally she charge at her, fist cocked back with a LOT of compressed chakra on it.
'Damn, if that fist connects properly it can probably break a mountain..' Naruto thought. He was analyzing the technique with his eyes, covered by his sunglasses.
Natsumi was watching the one she considered her new idol about to battle with her saviour. She was quite curious of the results.
The reason she had accepted Tsunade as an idol so quickly was because healing fascinated her to no end. She wanted to out-do Tsunade, leave her so far behind that she couldn't even spot her...
She was broken out of her thoughts by Tsunade's battlecry.
"Eat THIS!" She yelled, charging at Nina, who just smirked and got into a stance that seemed to indicate she was going to spin...
Taking a deep breath, Nina jumped in the air and spun, releasing massive amounts of chakra with all her concentration.
"Uzukaiten!"(Whirlpool Divination Spin, S-rank)
The result was a huge whirlpool of chakra that seemed to be divided in two parts. The inward layer was chakra being expelled extremely quickly from Nina, at the end of which Tsunade was suspended.
The second layer was the giant cloud of chakra that was the result of the extremely fast release from Nina being sucked back towards her, the cloud moved like a whirlpool
If someone were to touch it, he would get sucked in till he got to second layer, and then pushed back, only to be sucked in again. All the while the violent chakra would do damage to the opponent's body.
Tsunade was caught right in the middle of the technique, there was no escape. Instead of pushing her out, the technique was pulling her in, towards Nina, while the constant flow of chakra Nina was releasing kept pushing her away.
So in short, she was going to be battered by the technique till it was cancelled.
Nina showed no mercy, took no chance at all. She continued the technique for two minutes straight. When she finally stopped, Tsunade collapsed, breathing and heartbeat erratic. Nina too was breathing heavily. Even with the Uzumaki reserves she inherited from her mother, that technique was extremely taxing, and to maintain it for this long was something she would never have thought to try. But still, she didn't want to risk it.
Having seen a little of what Orochimaru was capable of, she was a bit wary of Tsunade. Even with Nagato with her and a massive amount of surprise factors, they had failed to take Orochimaru down.
For now though, Nina was happy with the fact that she had done it.
She lay there, the greatest medic-nin alive, beaten in one move, within two minutes. Complete humiliation, may god bless the soul that would face her when she woke up.
Shizune gasped and ran to her mentor, and immediately began healing.
No one from the group paid the mid-jōnin level girl much thought. There was no one in the group that couldn't handle her except Natsumi, and with how many of them were around, it was impossible for Shizune to do a sneak attack on her.
Nina walked towards the duo, and so did Naruto. Finally Naruto told Nina to open the blood seal with Tsunade's blood, while he removed her necklace.
"What do you think you are doing? You should wait till Tsunade-sama wakes up!" Shizune all but yelled at the two of them. Tears were clearly visible in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, lest she humiliate her mentor even more.
Naruto just responded with a bored tone, "You really think we know nothing about her? She has made thousands of bets and she rarely ever pays up. Thats how she owes so many people fortunes. Hell she owes my mother twenty thousand ryō. But we will get that later someday, for now since we obviously won the bet we are taking our winnings and leaving."
Shizune wanted to protest but the conditions were not in her favor. She alone stood no chance against all of them, and the redhead hyūga had defeated Tsunade with a single move.
When the bloodseal finally released the sword, all that were present marvelled its beauty.
The sheath was pure black, with intricate silver dragon designs on it. When Naruto pulled the blade out of the sheath, he was amazed at how incredibly deadly it looked.
The blade was red-black in colour, it had not a single scratch on it, but you could tell it was thousands of years old. The grip was black in colour, the handguard was made of two silver dragons on each side.
Naruto grabbed the handle and pulled the sword out, as soon as he did though, he heard a voice that was not his or Kyūbi's in his head.
'What do you value most in your life?'
Without any hesitation whatsoever, Naruto answered. "My family, those that I love, and those that love me back."
The sword hummed in approval, before the silver dragons sprouted red wings, that looked exactly like the blade, black at the edges. All in all, the sword was exotic.
To check if the sword had accepted him, Naruto tried to channel his wind natured chakra into it, and grinned when he saw the sword glow bluish with saw like movement.
A huge grin plastered on his face as he raised the sword over his head. Nagato cheered him on as he whooped in victory.
Chapter End