Eroninja

Tsunade walked towards the hotsprings that was located on Kiyomi's property. It had been three weeks since the successful raid on Kanji's compound. That was the same amount of time since Naruto had been with any of his lovers in an intimate setting. Oh, he still spent time with them, but the second things took a turn in a sexual direction he'd find some reason to take off. It had been going on for almost a month and all of his lovers were getting worried that it might never end. That was why she had called the meeting she was heading to. Tsunade sighed knowing that once she reached the hot-spring she would be receiving an earful from one red-head in particular. This time the Hokage would have to admit that she would somewhat deserve it, since she had argued for allowing Naruto time to snap back to his usual self on his own. Tayuya though had immediately refused and had argued against it saying they needed to act. Tsunade had countered that the harder they pushed the more likely it would be that Naruto would think it was simply the jutsu making them. She had believed the last thing Naruto truly wanted was for them to pull away from them and figured by doing that he would recognize they controlled their own actions.

Tayuya hadn't been swayed, so Tsunade had asked for a vote using her summons to inform those outside of Konoha. Since the vote had been a secret ballot no one knew who voted for what but in the end Tsunade had managed to enforce her decision. She just didn't think several weeks later they'd still be waiting for him to come around. It was just so unlike Naruto. At times he seemed to be his normal carefree self, such as when he was eating lunch with Ayame, or training with Sakura and Fu. He even still came by her office just to visit and chat like he used to when he was bored and the village was quiet. It seemed to her that he was trying to convince himself that they were the same people they had been before his receiving the scroll from Kanji. Tsunade knew they were of course; it was the dynamics of their relationship with him that had changed by becoming more intimate and sexual and when they tried to act on those aspects that was when he pulled back.

That was something that they all wanted to fix immediately and to that end she had decide to call everyone currently involved with Naruto to Konoha except for Konan for obvious reasons. Truthfully after the first week Tsunade had decided to request everyone come to Konoha, but it had taken another two for it to actually happen. Entering the bathhouse before the hotspring itself, she began to strip out of her clothes and had dropped her henge to appear as she now truly looked which if she had to guess was roughly nineteen years old. Staring at a mirror that was set up inside the changing room she smiled at her reflection, but it didn't reach her eyes due to all the setbacks Naruto's ambition had experienced lately. The most pressing being that the blond knucklehead that she loved was afraid that she and the other women he had come to rely on were only interested in him because of the jutsu he had been given. The others she would address with the rest of her fellow Harem members.

Stepping outside, she saw that she was the last to arrive. Much as she expected Tayuya sent a glare her direction before directing her ire back onto Ino. Tsunade looked around the forest themed area and saw that much like her the women present seemed to have lost their luster. Tsunade thought back to how she told Tenten that the reason they all needed to put Naruto first was because he was the lynchpin of the family that was being created by his actions. But it was also because he was the driving force that had inspired all of them to make their world better and with his pulling back that goal stood on the edge of collapse.

"If only you could see just how truly special you are my love," she thought before slipping into the water. She sighed as it warmed her up, before saying, "I'm glad you could all make it here."

Tayuya pulled her glare off of Ino to say, "Why wouldn't we come? It's our chance to have an audience with the high and mighty Tsunade."

Tsunade kept her retort to herself as she knew it wouldn't help the situation any. Besides she could see that it was a sentiment that was shared by some of those from outside of Konoha. Primarily, Yugito, Temari, and Matsuri, she couldn't fault them for it since to them it had probably seemed that Tsunade had decided and the rest of the Konoha-nin had gone along. That and due to Kin's abstaining, since as she said she wasn't technically a member of the harem, when the votes had been counted it had resulted in a tie so she had pulled rank and said the tie went to staying away from Naruto to show the jutsu didn't control them.

Needless to say Tsunade wasn't too surprised when her schedule had shown a meeting with Koyuki's manager to discuss Konoha supplying some shooting locations for the Spring Princess's next movie. Naturally the movie had not been on Tayuya's mind as she laid into Tsunade about her giving Naruto time to come around on his own. The two had butted head and nearly came to blows, but luckily Hinata had been there as her assistant and explained that she had also voted to give Naruto space. She had reasoned that the last thing Naruto truly wanted was to be alone, and by giving him that space it would convince him the jutsu wasn't subconsciously forcing them to stay with him. Tayuya wasn't convinced exactly until Hinata added that confronting him on the matter could be the next. Tsunade believed that Hinata saying doing it the other way around would perhaps lead him to believe they were angry at him for rejecting them which was a real possibility that he would do as the emotions of the time were still raw. Looking at Hinata now she believed the Hyuuga felt that things had calmed enough to force Naruto to recognize their feelings.

"Look Tayuya," Tsunade said keeping her tone civil, "You may not have liked it but the vote was a tie so..."

"So why was it what you wanted that won the day," Yugito said having used the teleporter seal inside her apartment after making sure her schedule for the next several days was clear. Advertisements

Tsunade directed her gaze to her fellow blonde before saying, "Because the method you wanted to try had already been used by Tayuya."

"We still shouldn't have just..."

Tsunade held up her hand to silence Tayuya's response saying, "Look the giving him space method hasn't worked exactly either. He hasn't disappeared from our lives just pulled back and I know I'm not alone in saying I'm not happy with the current arrangement. Therefore today's agenda is to find a solution..." Seeing a bunch of suggestions about to be sent her way she stopped them saying, "But business before pleasure ladies. Sakura, how are Guy and the others doing?"

"They're alive only because of Guy's stamina," Sakura reported, "If he hadn't of been able to make it to the Fire temple from where they faced Pain then they'd be dead. But they are out of the worst of it for now."

Tsunade nodded, remembering the frantic message she had received from the Head Monk of the Fire Temple. At first she had thought it to be the bandits that had attacked it several months prior and were suspected to be behind the disappearance of a monk named Sora had returned. However she had quickly learned that was not the case and that the team of Yamato, Guy, and Kakashi that she had sent to secure the forbidden jutsu of the Tsuchigumo clan from missing-nin had run into none other than the leader of Akatsuki. Tsunade and the others, thanks to Konan, knew he wasn't the true leader but a public face for the organization. But since the man known as Tobi had yet to step forward acting on that information would prove hazardous to Konan since only two people in Akatsuki were privy to that fact.

Tsunade was worried about Konan since according to the report she had received from a semi-conscious Kakashi after he had been transferred from the temple to Konoha; Pain had been the only one that they had confronted although they couldn't be sure if he was alone. According to his report after defeating the bandits, Kakashi who had begun to suspect the man acting as a bodyguard out of a sense of honor to the granddaughter of the clan was in fact a jinchuriki ,had wished to talk to him. They had caught up to him after the man, Utakata, had been ambushed by six men that called themselves Pain. It was only due to Kakashi's observation skills, who had identified that the six men they fought seemed to share one will, as well as Guy and Yamato's might that they had lived to tell of the encounter. According to the report, Utakata had slipped away as the three Leaf-nin had fought the Akatsuki leader, but whether he had been caught afterwards or not they didn't know. She hoped that Pain being by himself meant he had simply been confident he could handle the jinchuriki and not that he suspected the recent setbacks that the organization was reeling from due in part to Jiraiya was a result of her turning against it. For the moment though Konan wasn't hinting in her rare messages that she feared such a possibility but that could just be her keeping things to herself. She couldn't fault the woman for hiding such things as when Naruto had learned what had happened he had very nearly left to challenge Pain. But in the end, he had relented when Tsunade had told him doing so could put Konan in danger as well as pointing out that if Pain could hospitalize three of Konoha's strongest. Then at his current level he wouldn't stand a chance.

Tsunade took in the information as did the other women present and she could see the worry on their faces. The Hokage in her felt a momentary burst of anger at Konan for holding back so much information on Pain, but knew the woman was straddling the line of betraying an organization or her friend. Giving up information on the group but not revealing anything about Pain was just how she was handling the conflict at the moment. At some point Tsunade knew the woman would need to make a choice and only hoped it was before matters with Akatsuki progressed too far.

"That's good," Tsunade said relieved and referring to the condition of her men, "What are your results from the tests you've performed on Yakumo?" Tsunade held back a sigh as a result of the face Sakura made that told her the results weren't good.

"I'm afraid she doesn't have much time left at all," Sakura reported sadly. "Her body is wasting away and it won't be much longer before it begins to affect her respiratory system or her heart. Plus she has been unresponsive to all my efforts to treat her."

"Do you have any idea why?" Tsunade asked causing her apprentice to nod.

"It took some pestering on my part, but Unkai finally admitted that she was born with the disease. The birthing had been difficult on Yakumo's mother and since she had already miscarried several times her husband feared what another attempt would bring about. A part of the reason so many of the Kurama..."

"I'm sorry did you say something," Kiyomi said responding to her old name not realizing she was not being talked to having been lost in thought. It was something that Yoruichi had noticed her fellow Bijuu was doing more and more lately which was allowing her mind to wander. Not to mention that although her face was obviously different from when they had both been in their old bodies, Kyuubi still reacted the same when she felt guilty about something. Yoruichi smiled remembering how the Old Man had always been able to tell when Kiyomi had been lying or hiding something so had learned what to look for as well. Seeing Kiyomi displaying those traits now, as she had for the past several weeks, Yoruichi wondered what it was.

However, she let it slide for the moment as Sakura said, "Um...sorry I wasn't talking to you, but about the Kurama clan."

"Oh," the Bijuu said her tone carrying a hint of melancholy.

Sakura ignored it to say, "As I was saying, the clan refuses to seek medical attention from the hospital due to the old rumors of the clan possessing such an incredible Kekkei Genkai."

"What do you mean rumors?" Tsunade asked confused. "Granted, Yakumo was the first to show it in my life-time but..."

She trailed off as Sakura shook her head in the negative before saying, "It never truly existed. The Kurama clan leader at the time of Konoha's founding created a fighting style that used genjutsu to lure enemies into a killing area littered with traps he had already prepared. As his opponents supposedly died by the illusions he cast he'd let one or two get away to spread the rumors. When those survivors would return with reinforcements and they saw the bodies of the men that had died as the survivors had claimed while under the genjutsu well it solidified the rumors."

"Wait...you're saying he was a fraud," Yugito said, "He managed to kill the first Raikage's brother if my history lessons are correct. What you're telling me is a man who was as tough as the First was beaten by smoke and mirrors."

Sakura nodded. "It's true...he was also killed by the First Raikage in turn during the First Shinobi War. I can only assume that the First Raikage kept it a secret so no one would learn his brother had been killed by someone who in theory was supposed to be much weaker than him. The First Hokage also knew his secret as he had defeated him during the founding of Konoha and despite his supposed strength being revealed to be a lie the First was still impressed enough to allow him to join as one of the founding clans. Still, with so many clans with legitimate bloodlines joining Konoha the Kurama didn't want their secret revealed so claimed that much like the First was the only one able to use Wood Release only the Leader of the Kurama could use theirs. Still the other members of the clan were amazingly proficient with genjutsu so the lie was believed."

"Wait a second," Shiho said interrupting the pink-haired medic," But what about that incident three years ago. From what I understand she was able to make illusions real."

"True," Sakura said, "and the reason for that were due to what had held the disease she was born with in check for several years. As I stated Kurama members refuse medical help to conceal the fact that there is nothing unique in their D.N.A. to even suggest they have the potential for a Kekkei Genkai."

Shizune spoke up in order to say, "It's seems a rather strange coincidence that Yakumo would mysteriously develop a fake Bloodline then.

"I know, and what gave her that ability is still unclear although the man that did it was known to us. The rule about not seeking medical help from Konoha medics unless they were Kurama was nearly broken for Yakumo's sake, however before that happened a wandering medic heard of the new parents' plight. He offered to cure the child and to even give her the abilities the clan boasted about."

"That was rather generous of him," Koharu said skeptically.

"Not really," Sakura said her tone holding distain for the medic in question. "His name was Shinno and I believe he used Yakumo as a test run for what he had planned for Amaru."

"You mean Shinno sealed some sort of creature inside Yakumo, why? Not to mention how did he even learn about the Kurama Kekkei Genkai being a lie?" Koharu asked shocked.

"Well since the Kurama couldn't take Yakumo to any of the non-Kurama doctors in the village they needed to find one that could help. Therefore, her parents pretended to be nobles and sought well known medics out. Shinno had already amassed a reputation as a first class healer at that point. But according to Unkai, he saw through their ruse, but told them not to worry as his only concern was for his patient. I believe the creature that took over Yakumo wasn't just her Id as we believed but a separate entity. Probably a precursor to that thing claiming to be the Zero-tails that Naruto faced during the Sky Country attack on Konoha. Shinno probably figured that at the very least once it took over that it would cause some havoc for the village. Once it was destroyed though her disease was no longer being held in check and so she's been wasting away."

Tayuya could see that most of the women that new the Kurama heir were sad at the news so asked, "Hey, why doesn't Naruto just heal her like he did me and Kin?"

Kiyomi seemed to get over her funk long enough to explain, "I'm afraid it isn't that simple. Healing the type of damage done to you was easy as it was caused in a single point in time so to speak. With Kin I simply used my chakra to speed along a recovery that would have happened naturally."

"Yeah, but what about doing what you did when you took over that body," Anko asked pulling herself out of the water to dry in the sun.

"There are two problems with that," Tsunade said before Kiyomi could answer. "The first being the nature of such a thing occurring again. Let's not forget that Kiyomi's chakra wave was classified as an unknown but beneficial event. There is still a lot of talk of it being supernatural in origin. But, if it happens again people are going to demand answers no matter how beneficial it was."

Koharu leaned forward from where she sat on the edge of the water and resting her elbows on her knees folded her hands in front of her face as she added, "Not to mention if such events continue to be detrimental to Danzou, he will suspect that whoever is behind them is against him."

"What do you mean?" Koyuki asked in interest, "Rumors of what happened spread all the way to Spring and considering the number of people it helped how could he possibly suspect a power aligned against him?"

Koharu chuckled behind her hands before replying, "When a man plots treason he sees enemies everywhere. Plus let's not forget that Kiyomi's taking over the Great Tree Shipping Company founder's body was a blow dealt to Danzou since he lost that company's services for secret Root projects." Koharu paused as she saw several women had forgotten that point so let it sink in before carrying on, "Now he's on the verge of ousting Yakumo and then suddenly another chakra event that mysteriously heals her puts an end to another of his schemes. He won't see that as a coincidence. Perhaps if it happened in the hospital again he could accept it as a quirk of fate, but as Sakura reported the Kurama refuse to visit Konoha Hospital to protect their secret. That would mean either increasing the area covered or changing the focal point so the Kurama compound would be hit. Considering they live on the outskirts of the village it would imply to Danzou someone or something was targeting her to heal her sickness. It wouldn't take a stretch of the imagination to figure Tsume, Tsunade, or I might be behind it since we are so opposed to Yakumo's removal."

"There is another issue as well..." Sakura began to add.

But she was cut off by Kiyomi who said, "There is also the relapse factor."

"Huh, what are you talking about," Fubuki asked sitting next to her princess.

"My powers could heal her, but it would only be for a short time if I used the method I did in the hospital. What I did there was use my chakra to heal damage done to the human body...however certain diseases can linger even after a body is healed. For example Sakura had received a blow to the arm from Fu that had left a bruise. When the chakra wave hit it healed and since it was simple damage once gone did not return. But the same couldn't be said for things such as cancer or other sicknesses."

Tsunade nodded saying, "True, many of the people with such cases had relapses. But due to our continuing to observe them we were able to save many of them. It may have temporarily cured them but by giving us a chance to prepare it gave us the edge. So although I'm hesitant to go that route I'm not willing to rule it out."

Kiyomi nodded agreeing with the Hokage, but said, "Nor am I. In fact I could heal her completely, but it would require a similar method as I used with Tayuya to heal her weakened body after I awakened her. I would need to press up against her to maximize the contact as well as to lower the chance of my chakra being sensed."

"I'm afraid that would be practically impossible," Sakura said turning in the water she was sitting in to look at the Bijuu. "Yakumo is watched at practically all hours of the day. Even as I examine her it is only with Unkai's handpicked personal guards or him present in the room. I haven't even been able to plant the locator seal on her. Plus Danzou would be aware that even if we used the more flashy method to heal her it would be likely she would relapse. He'd simply use that as a pretense to have the council strip her of her title."

"We still have a week before the next council meeting where we'll have to vote on the issue. If push comes to shove we'll have Kiyomi send out another chakra wave. At the very least it'll buy us some time," Tsunade said closing the subject for the moment.

"We still have to deal with the strife arising in the Training Force," Temari said changing the topic. "I've transferred several of the newcomers behind it back to Suna citing their inability to get along. However those that remained and several of the replacements are simply changing tactics. Instead of directly goading Leaf-nin to attack, they are acting as rabble-rousers to indirectly bring people to blows. I can't simply transfer them out since they aren't doing anything but stating opinions or bringing up past grievances. But if this keeps up the Shinobi Council back home is going to demand we return to the village. Gaara won't be able to ignore these events much longer."

Sighing, Tsunade said, "Asuma has basically given me the same report. It seems Danzou has managed to slip in a few agitators of his own on our side. Not to mention even breaking up the few fights isn't doing enough to heal the old wounds these bastards are reopening." Looking around the Hot Spring, Tsunade could see that morale was at a low that they've never before experienced since joining with Naruto. She personally believed it was due to how she had explained every family had a foundation stone upon which everything was built. Naruto was theirs and due to his pulling back from everything Harem related including his ambition it appeared as if his dream was on the verge of collapse. Taking in all the faces it somewhat galled her to admit that, since they were all competent shinobi so she felt they should be able to hold things together until he came around. But, Naruto was the spark that just made them all that much better and his way of thinking tended to just naturally bring people together. To Tsunade, that was never more evident than recently when Koharu had discovered what was happening at the prison. She would have to admit that never in a million years would she have considered asking Suna to help lock-down the prison by creating a Training Force composed of the two villages' shinobi. That was something Naruto did almost on instinct and it had taken months for more experienced shinobi like Danzou and Joseki, whom Temari suspected on the Suna side of the recent unrest, to even begin to counter it. Still Tsunade wasn't sure on how to fix it since as Temari pointed out even transferring out the troublemakers would just cause those that replaced them to change tactics. Not to mention it did nothing to solve the hurt feelings their actions left behind.

Ino surprised her by changing the subject again saying, "Plus there is Naruto's dating situation."

"What do you care you..." Tayuya began to say but began to shiver before directing a glare at Haku, who was sitting next to her, as the water around them grew cold quickly. The red-head sat back glowering but sighed as the water began to warm up.

Ino looked hurt, but ignored the question to say, "People are beginning to question why if Naruto and Sakura are an item that they haven't been out on a date again. I've held off their questions for as long as I could but they are getting persistent."

"Well maybe we could get him to take her out on one," Koharu suggested, "At the very least he needs to recognize that he can't just completely ignore the situations that we were already dealing with."

"If we do that though..." Ino began but trailed off sitting back in the water not wanting to admit that she didn't want to confirm Naruto and Sakura as an exclusive item even if at the moment his distance from the group was working in her favor.

Tsunade didn't exactly want to either, but said, "At the very least this is one fire we can get in front of so..."

"Hold on," Tsume said cutting the Hokage off, "Before we do that lets make sure that it is what we want to do. Naruto had asked me to keep this a secret before he began acting like a dumbass, but he had me working on a means to date everyone. It would still sort of be in secret, but it would allow us all equal access to him."

That surprised Tsunade but she smiled at his thoughtfulness asking, "How?"

"Simple we'd create a pair of new personas. As everyone here knows I've been supplying us with the formula that erases Naruto's scent from us as well as ours from him. If you've ever looked in the bottles I've provided you'll notice a piece of hair is located inside. This is what activates the formula telling it whose scent to erase."

Anko spoke up asking, "Your clan sells that stuff mixed with perfume. It's a huge seller in the village since people don't want to alert your clan when they're getting busy. I mean I'm glad for the freebies. But what does that have to do with Naruto dating us?"

Tsume smirked saying, "What you are unaware of is that the stuff you can get in the store is nothing compared to what I've been giving out. This formula is a secret known only to the Clan Leader. I mean think about it...if a rival village bought a bottle and separated the perfume from the formula then it would give our enemies a leg up on us."

"I take it they've tried before?" Yuugao asked crossing her arms as she leaned against a rock wearing a towel around her body.

"Yeah, but what they are unaware of is that formula gives off a scent that only Inuzuka can smell. We might not know who or what it is covering up but we know something is there. The formula I've been supplying gives no hint of the missing scent." Tsume smiled as she thought of her mate before saying, "Naruto asked me about this after I first began passing it out. He wanted to know if it was possible to create a scent rather than to just mask one. He wanted to be able to take all of us out, so since then I've been working on it."

"That was why you took all those chemicals from the hospital," Sakura said remembering how Tsume had taken some supplies a while back.

"Yep, I let Shizune in to what I was up to recently to create a pair of identities for us. I guess now would be a good time to come up with those details. That is if Naruto ever comes around to actually use the male identity to date again."

"That might allow us to date him in secret," Ino said speaking up, "But we still need to solve the problem of his not being seen with Sa..."

"Actually, I don't mind using the fake identity to date him," Sakura said surprising Ino as well as a few others.

"W-why," Ayame said trying to hide her desire for the spot, "I mean... why wouldn't you want to be seen as dating him?"

Sakura shook her head replying, "That's not it at all. I would love to be seen as his girlfriend by the village, but this is more so all of us can go out with him in public. That means both Naruto and whoever is with him will need to be henged. If I'm the face seen as dating him that means you'll not be able to be seen with as anything but a friend."

"Y-you're turning it down for me," Ayame said shocked, "But what about Hinata surely..."

"Unfortunately dating Naruto publicly in a true romantic way would cause him too much scrutiny. The elders of my clan frown on relationships outside the clan. Besides what I think Sakura means is that of all his lovers you are the only one inside the village that doesn't have the necessary skills to henge your outside appearance."

Ayame poked her fingers together and although everyone could tell she wanted the honor she still said, "I-I learned how to henge my chakra though couldn't..."

"Hey, it's alright," Tsunade said amused, "Besides it'll shake up the rumors about his love life and remind people that they shouldn't believe everything they hear."

"But I'm not the only civilian," Ayame said quickly.

Tsunami, having joined Karin, who had claimed to her genin protectors that something back home had required her personal attention, in coming to the village by claiming to have wanted to visit for a long time giggled before saying, "It's okay everyone can see how much you want it. Not to mention my son isn't looking for a new father and I'm fine with my relationship remaining secret."

"And if mine came to light it would call into questions all the actions I've taken recently." Koyuki then added under her breath, "Not to mention those annoying pricks the paparazzi would start hounding us."

Ayame beamed as she began saying, "Thank you," over and over again. Most of the women smiled except for a certain blonde that had recently wanted space.

"Still all this is a moot point unless we can get our man's head out of his ass," Tsume said retaking control of the conversation. Naturally the reminder caused most of the good cheer to disappear.

Ayame sagged back into the water saying, "I just don't understand it though. When it's just him and me at Ichiraku, he seems to be his old self. He even doesn't seem all that bothered if I flirt with him a little."

"I'm not surprised," Tsunade said after a moment, "He's the same with me. I suspect his desire to treat us all equally is responsible for his pulling away from all of us."

"What are you saying?" Tayuya said standing up angrily, "If it wasn't for some of us he'd still be fine with using the jutsu?"

"In a manner of speaking that's exactly what I mean."

"Hey! Just because your chakra was red before mine doesn't mean..."

"But it does," Tsunade said cutting the red-head former Sound-nin off, "It means we had a history before you even appeared in the picture. Just like Ayame and him. As such that means he has a greater understanding of how we normally act and therefore may be more comfortable being around us. For example when he eats at Ichiraku, he knows how Ayame normally behaved and perhaps due to her confessing her feelings is more inclined to believe the jutsu hasn't affected her to the same degree. The problem is Kanji knew exactly what to say to him to begin doubting our affections. In truth Naruto may have already been having doubts and Kanji's words just made them seem more real."

"That might not be the only reason behind his funk," Yoruichi said speaking up as she had watched Kiyomi and knew from the Bijuu's reaction to the current topic she was hiding something. "Why don't you tell us what you think it is, Kiyomi?"

The Bijuu in question looked up and feeling all the women's gazes turning towards her sighed before saying, "I believe I'm partly to blame due to something I did in order to bypass his seal." Seeing the women's gazes hardening she said quickly, "I didn't know it was still active..."

"Just get to the explaining what the fuck you did," Tayuya said angrily.

Kiyomi's glared at the woman but broke the stare down first saying, "Back during the training trip Jiraiya tried to train Naruto in how to wield my chakra. To that end he used a key that the Fourth had left him to open the seal partly. I took the opportunity to take over his body and very nearly escaped. Jiraiya managed to suppress me before it progressed that far. However it still left the seal in a weakened state."

"Jiraiya never reported that," Tsunade said shocked.

"I-I'm not surprised...I left him grievously injured. To this day I still don't think he ever told Naruto so he probably kept it to himself." Looking ashamed Kiyomi continued, "But in that moment I saw a way to escape. The reason I was able to take over was because despite how he may seem at times. He's always carrying a greater burden then he's let on."

"You didn't?" Yoruichi said leaning forward suddenly having an idea of what Kiyomi had done.

"Don't judge me," Kiyomi snapped, "That you've seem to have an inclination of what I did probably means you've done it yourself."

Yoruichi looked away saying, "I've never done that Kiyomi. When the jinchuriki of Kumogakure would attempt to take control of us they would sit before the Falls of Truth. What you've done is give that dark aspect of his soul power using your own chakra."

Kiyomi looked away but nodded before saying, "It was my hope that as his anger grew he'd eventually lose the will to keep me contained. I...I thought it would fade without me giving it chakra."

"When you first began to suspect this thing was affecting Naruto why didn't you put an end to it," Sakura shouted angrily.

Kiyomi could see the other women felt similarly so stood saying, "I...I didn't want to admit that another thing I've done had hurt Naruto. I...I'll handle it."

The women watched the Bijuu leave with various emotions and even after she left remained silent until, "What should we do," Hinata asked sadly.

"Simple, after Kiyomi handles what she needs to we remind that idiot that he's as much ours as we are his," Tsunade replied giving a smile that slowly began to appear on the other women's faces. "Here's what I have in mind..."

*****

Kushina felt silly as she peeked around a corner nervously while dressed in her kunoichi gear and searching for what she believed was behind her son's depression of the last several weeks. However, she couldn't help it as over that time she had begun to fear some sort of haunting was taking place inside the seal. Not seeing anything she began to proceed down the hall which looked like some dark tunnel filled with pipes. She knew she could change the décor, but feared due to her current state of mind the seal would take on an even spookier appearance. As she traveled the corridors quietly, if not stealthily, she reflected on the past several weeks. They had been both a blessing for her as well as a source of worry. The good stemmed from the fact that for the first time since awakening she wasn't sharing her son with a harem of women. As such it had given the two of them a chance to truly get to know one another without it always seeming rushed. Not to mention she hadn't needed to constantly be on guard for the two lamps in the apartment representing the seal switching on.

Although one downside was even when the two of them were together she could tell that even if he was in the middle of laughing at something she had said as they joked around with each other a part of him wasn't joining in. Naruto did an excellent job of hiding it but Kushina could still tell. To tell the truth she was surprised by his lovers pulling back, but quickly came to the conclusion that they were showing Naruto that they could act independent of him if they wanted. The bastard Kanji had done an excellent job of convincing Naruto that his control was extending even into their subconscious and therefore had figured out that since the last thing Naruto wanted was to be left alone their pulling back was supposed to show him that he wasn't controlling them. It was a strategy that seemed to have gained a foothold in illustrating to Naruto what the woman considered to be the truth of the matter.

However whatever it was Kushina was looking for seemed to be preventing it from truly taking hold. She felt a pang of guilt since she could probably have done more to convince her son about her perceived truth of his harem's actions. But, what held her back from doing so was losing her unfettered access to him. Not something easily given up especially since as a result she had gotten to spend his seventeenth birthday with him. Granted, she knew for him it had been a bit melancholy since although he had seen many of his lovers throughout the day it had been in a less then intimate way. But he had pushed aside those feelings to enjoy the night with her as they finally got to spend another birthday together outside of the first. Thinking about it brought tears to the corners of her eyes as she remembered him even eating the cake she had imagined for the occasion just to make it seem all the more real for her. It was also the first time that Kushina had wished to be free of the seal as although the night had been special it had also been muted due to the lack of sensation. For example as she had lit the candles she had been unable to truly feel the heat of them. Instead it had felt like a memory of what it should have felt like. Almost like it was due to her having experienced such events in the past and without those memories she would have felt nothing.

She supposed that was why Kyuubi had so desperately seized upon the sensations Naruto's use of The Temptation Touch and Binding had created within the seal. But coming to the conclusion of how what little sensation she did feel in the seal worked had done little to solve her own growing need for physical pleasure. It was a problem being partly amplified by her son's lack of s.εﾒ. This was due to the fact that since she had unrestrained access to him that meant he had the same with her and the one good thing she could say about the lights turning green meant she knew she would be left alone for a while to handle her own needs. Although Kushina knew those needs were all mental in nature that did little to calm her when she was feeling particularly randy. During the past three weeks she had been too nervous to even try fearing Naruto would suddenly appear and catch her in a compromising situation.

Kushina felt a desire to bring her hand between her legs to give herself a quick rub, but doubted it would end there. Shaking her head she thought, "Stop acting like a horny teenager and remember why you came down here."

Focusing on her task, she knew down was a relative term but considering the dark and dank condition of the tunnels it was easy to imagine she was in some underground passageways that led to a dank basement. With her focus once more attuned she recalled why she felt some outside force was preventing Naruto from seeing his lovers' pulling back for what it was. The first event had happened when Naruto had confronted Kanji. After he had overloaded the device sealing his chakra Kushina had begun to give Naruto as much chakra as she could in order to ensure he was in top form. However she had quickly needed to stop as something had felt...wrong about it. Almost like it was being pulled out and tainted making her son angrier and angrier. Granted, at the moment she doubted he would have needed any help in that regards, but Kushina now suspected that it was so a takeover could take place. Like her consciousness would hitch a ride with the chakra that was being pulled from the seal which would allow her to take over. Remembering the condition that had left her son in she had immediately begun to pull her chakra back. The unseen entity had immediately pulled for more and a sort of tug of war had begun between them. As she fought against the thing calling for chakra she could sense its anger and frustration both at her as well as life in general. It had left Kushina with the feeling that whatever it was it would never see anything to be happy about.

However that feeling was in turn what was helping her track down whatever it was. The maliciousness that was at the center of it scared Kushina since it could very well be something natural inside her son. After all, the life of a jinchuriki was rather difficult, although Kushina had mercifully been spared that life due to nobody except a handful of the most senior of the Konoha hierarchy knowing she had contained the Kyuubi. It had been rather nerve racking when she had finally confessed the truth to Minato. She had felt rather silly afterwards due to his simply smiling as he told her he didn't care about her being a vessel for what many considered the most powerful of Bijuu.

Learning that her son had not been so fortunate and as such had spent a considerable amount of his youth alone broke her heart. Still Kushina had a hard time picturing Naruto as the source of the hatred and pain she felt. Not that it was impossible for the anger to be Naruto's however it was difficult to believe the depths of it were.

Peaking around the corner she didn't see anything so headed down the corridor. As she walked she thought about the other reason she felt her son was being manipulated by the thing she was searching for. It would generally start in the morning or at night before he went to bed with Naruto vowing to at the very least to talk with his lovers. However something would then begin whispering and as time went by that whispering had grown steadily stronger. Mainly it would continue until his self-doubt would take over causing him to push talking to his lovers off for another day and then disappear. Only recently had she been able to sense it still, although weakly. While the whispering had stopped as Naruto had fallen asleep, Kushina could still sense the malice behind it. As Naruto slept, she had resolved to get to the bottom of things so that in the morning he wouldn't be greeted by the nasty murmurs which would attempt to install the doubts that had been keeping him distant from his lovers.

Reaching another corner she approached carefully and then poked her head around to make sure what she was searching for wasn't waiting for her. However suddenly something clamped down around her shoulder from behind causing the woman to scream in fright as her imagination ran wild about the ghostly spirit that was haunting her son getting the drop on her. She pulled free leaping away from the potential threat. Landing in a crouch she reached for a kunai more out of reflex then any plan to actual harm what had touched her. Focusing on the person she said, "Kyuubi!"

"It's Kiyomi now," the human Bijuu said annoyed both at Kushina's using her old moniker and as well as the startled scream the woman had let out.

Figuring they had lost the element of surprise the Bijuu simply began to walk further down the corridor leaving the confused mother behind.

"Hey," Kushina said quickly catching up with the Bijuu, "What the hell are you doing here? You and Naruto aren't..."

Kiyomi looked over her shoulder smirking at her former host's mother saying, "Oh you definitely know if we were and my consciousness definitely would be too occupied to be talking with you."

Kushina blushed at what the Bijuu was alluding to, but getting control of her embarrassment said, "Then what are you doing here?"

Kiyomi's amusement disappeared to be replaced with a look of wretchedness. "Putting an end to a plot I had believed would burn itself out."

"You mean you're behind what has been bothering Naruto," Kushina said growing angry. However, seeing how full of shame the Bijuu was Kushina began to calm as she remembered her son's words about trying to see things from another's point of view. With that in mind she realized that whatever Kyuubi had done she had done so as a prisoner doing everything she could to escape. Her emotions relaxing she asked, "So then... what exactly did you do?"

Kiyomi was obviously surprised at Kushina's calming down. Giving the woman a quick double glance she focused ahead again before saying, "You Konoha-nin never tried to master my powers so I doubt you are aware of some of the steps that are necessary."

"That's because as far as Konoha was concerned having you contained was enough," Kushina replied following behind the Bijuu trying to keep alert for any other surprises. Wondering how she had been snuck up on and much like her son had problems focusing she asked, "Where did you come from?"

Kiyomi sighed at her former host's inability to focus before saying, "I Hiraishined into your son's room and I am currently standing above him channeling my chakra into him. Now, if we can focus on why I am here?"

"Sorry... I was just wondering how you just appeared behind me," Kushina said properly chided.

"No I'm sorry," Kiyomi replied, "I-it's just that once again it appears that I'm hurting Naruto."

Sensing Kiyomi's true regret, Kushina placed a calming hand on the Bijuu's shoulder saying, "Hey, let's just focus on putting an end to it." A moment later she asked, "What exactly are we trying to end?"

Kyuubi smiled at the reassuring gesture before nodding and saying, "Yes, in any case as I was saying, there were steps in order to completely master a Bijuu's chakra. One of the most difficult was confronting ones inner self."

"How do you know all this? I mean Mito Uzumaki was your first host and all she did was keep you locked away from the world."

Kiyomi nodded before continuing, "True, but what I learned about it I did from the first jinchuriki, Old Man Rikudou."

"The Sage of the Six Paths," Kushina said in disbelief, "He was real."

"Of course he was, and probably what you could consider my father," Kiyomi said reverently. "Although he defeated and sealed the beast inside him. He only truly mastered its power years later after much trial and error. The first step to that was mastering his self and for that part he used a mystic falls located at his temple. That is where I got the idea." Kiyomi remained silent for several moments before sighing as she continued, "A jinchuriki seal's true strength is not the formula used, although this can help greatly. It's the will of the host. No matter how perfect the seal if the jinchuriki loses heart or will, then the seal can be overcome or even bypassed. I'm sure Naruto has told you how his friend Gaara used to be... rather unstable."

Kushina nodded before saying, "Yes, but after his defeat Naruto said he no longer suffered from those outbreaks."

"That is because Naruto's friendship gave him hope that he could one day be valued by the people of Suna. It also as a result strengthened his seal due to his desire to protect and shield his fellow shinobi from both the Bijuu he carried and the normal dangers they faced." Advertisements

"Then what you did was to try and undercut Naruto's own will," Kushina said some anger bleeding into her voice. She saw Kiyomi's shoulders winced at the tone so she tried to hold her anger in check as she asked, "How exactly did you go about doing it?"

"Going back to the waterfall that I mentioned, I said the Six Path Sage mastered his own darkness by mediating in front of the falls. There he confronted a version of himself he kept hidden away from the world."

"That rather hard to believe as all the legends I've heard about him described him as a saint."

A small smile formed on Kiyomi's lips but it melted as she said, "No man of flesh and blood is without darkness. They simply rise above it. It was a necessary step since the Bijuu chakra of the Ten's tails was pure malice. Without knowing one's own darkness then it would one day completely corrupt the person using it as all the dark ways it could be used tempted them."

Kiyomi remained quiet as they approached a fork in the path. Kushina was about to ask which way to go since due to the conversation she was no longer able to concentrate enough to find the source of malice. Kiyomi without breaking stride chose the path on the left causing the former jinchuriki and now Bijuu in her own right to ask, "How did you know to go this way? Can you still sense it?"