Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto Franchise that belongs solely to Masashi Kishimoto; I do not own Heaven's lost Property, High School DxD or any other Anime I borrow themes from. The only thing I claim is my OC's and original Story Plot.

Author's Note (A/N): Hey guys I've returned with the next chapter to the story. There has been a tiny change in the title and structure of the chapters. This chapter was originally supposed to be called (The Fox and Cat), but I've since changed it to the following chapter as that chapter and this one was supposed to be one and the same. However, the events of this chapter were to important to condense into paraphrasing so I've stretched out the events of what was supposed to happen in the back half of this chapter into the next and renamed it giving this first half an entirely new name to compensate for the change in plans. I've already gone back and changed the preview name in the previous chapter to reflect these updated changes. I hope this explains things if anyone notices this detail or even cares to take note of it.

This one is quite extensive and covers several topics and scenes that all weave together towards the end. Emotions run rampant throughout the chapter as emotional baggage's are finally dropped and squashed for the betterment of those involved all the while scheming, politics, backdoor agreements, and political intrigue plague the entirety of the chapter from the powers that be who all have their private agendas that they want fulfilled no matter what. The only problem is Naruto is knowingly to some and unknowingly to others caught in the middle of their political machinations.

The chapter expands heavily upon Naruto's growing relationship with Hinata and the huge bomb that was dropped on them in the cliffhanger of the previous chapter. How they recover from it and how it develops them as characters is a primary point within this chapter as a lot happens between them who taker a mature step forward both as friends and romantic partners... of course, a lot of hormones, fluff, and fanservice like scenes are abundant as well.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Chapter 93

Turquoise Cove

"Lord Saitou, with all due respect I think you've gone to far with your request. This stipulation is a violation of a couple's private relationship, not to mention too far reaching with your power." Tsunade petitioned as she alongside the other adults in the room were sitting in a private meeting with the Fire Daimyō less than an hour later after the startling conversation with Hinata and Naruto.

The Fire Daimyō, the Hokage, Jiraiya, Shoko, and Hiashi were in a private meeting with the leader of their country as everyone else was excused from the room. Tsunade wasn't prepared in the slightest for the Daimyō to throw such a curve ball at them in the wake of the tense conversation involving Naruto. The boy was already displeased with them due to having to find out about his parents from outside sources in deeply troubling times instead of from his love ones that he could trust.

It was a deep breach of trust to the sensitive young boy who already had trust issues. While they had no doubt he'd forgive them easily in time, the fact of the matter is he was just lashing out emotionally as any young boy his age would given his situation especially considering the fact that he's been holding in his emotions for the better part of the meeting. To have such an expectation and decree hanging over the children's heads when they've fought so hard for years to be by each other's sides only to be told that unless they meet some outrageous demand by an individual, they're not even close with they'll be forced apart forever. It was cruel and out of character for the man Tsunade grew up alongside Jiraiya as a little girl knowing.

An amused smile graced the man's face alongside a chuckle as he fanned himself with his ornate fan. "My dear princess, whatever do you mean? I think I was quite fair with the decree I bestowed upon them. Not to mention if the boy is as crafty and resourceful as I know him to be then he will easily overcome this trial." Saitou preened as he watched the gears turning in the eyes of everyone present. "My lord. As Naruto's guardian I can't support this. I've watched over him since he's been born and have been an active part of his life since he was six. Naruto does not take kindly to those who try to manipulate him. The bond he and Hinata shares is something to behold. They are good for each other and they bring out the best from one another. Trying to drive a wedge between them is both cruel and wrong." Shoko noted as an angry and constrained look of frustration was boiling over on her facial expression.

She had to be very careful in how she speaks and what words she chooses to use in the Daimyō's presence, but she couldn't sit by quietly while her son was being railroaded into an unfair and binding decree. Shoko had no doubt that if Naruto was ever forced to marry Naho he would be devastated beyond belief at losing the true love of his life, while she knew that her son would never physically or emotionally mistreat or resent the young royal princess he would also be miserable and unhappy in his loveless marriage. Not to mention the fact he would constantly be under the thumb of the Daimyō doing his bidding as a loyal tool and son in law. While not malicious by any means Saitou at the end of the day was still a rich politician in charge of the strongest country on the Elemental Continent. He was the richest man on earth with his royal bloodline going back a thousand years so Shoko wouldn't put it pass the leader to sometimes take that notion for granted when dealing with an orphaned boy who cared nothing for riches and was raised on the streets.

The legendary titan was shimmering in her anger as she watched the lord pan his eyes over to Hiashi who hid his emotions much more than the others ever could. "I concur with Lady Shoko, Lord Daimyō. My daughter has flourished with the relationship she's built alongside young Naruto. In the beginning I wasn't the best father to Hinata at all. I completely dismissed her as a waste of time and if this was a year ago I would have carelessly and ignorantly handed her over to the Taketori Clan without a second thought, but Naruto's inclusion in her life and me finally witnessing just how powerful she's become when fighting for him and others it's opened up my eyes to just how powerful she truly is." The others in the room were shell shocked to see Hiashi speaking his mind so freely and especially about his eldest daughter. It was something no one has ever seen him do before. Shoko in particular was shocked to see the normally stoic man speaking in such an ornate manner about his own daughter. He was not the man she remembered from her childhood as Genin.

"My late wife's final wish was for me to look after our daughters and Naruto. Using her powers, she was convinced that they were meant to be together and that they would need each other for important trials ahead of them. My wife and Naruto's mother Kushina talked endlessly for hours on end about the possibilities of our children's future and in it they were always one. I failed unforgivably in my duty as a father for the vast majority of my daughter's life. Only recently have I begun to act in an appropriate manner that I would like to think my late wife would approve of. Now knowing the things that I do now regarding my wife's passing and the instructions she's left behind for me as her dying wish I now can't in good faith allow Hinata to marry another young man that isn't Naruto. It must be him if Yume's warnings and wishes are to be honored and now, I will do all that is necessary to fulfill her wishes." Hiashi preached in a powerful manner that moved the hearts of those in the room.

A proud smile bloomed on Shoko's face as she sent this look towards Hiashi who bowed his head bashfully at his colleague's reaction. He had lost touch with Shoko in the immediate years following the Nine Tail's attack on the village. With Minato's and Kushina's death and Kazehana leaving the village and retiring in grief it left the last remaining Titan in a deep seeded grief that she couldn't pull herself out of, especially with her own tragedies she's suffered through. Only recently has he gotten in touch with his old friend when he found out she's been mentoring Hinata and acting as a mother figure to the girl.

Internally the Fire Daimyō was moved greatly by both the pleas of the parental figures in the room but even still he had a few cards placed close to his chest that only he was aware of. He was playing the long game, a multi-tiered and complex game that was going on inside his own mind. He knew just what type of potential Naruto and Hinata had and he was going to cultivate it for the use of his own country even if it came back as public backlash towards him. He knew what could be gained as an investment from the two, particularly Naruto and if using his relationship with his girlfriend was a way to motivate the young man then he'd do it. He would push Naruto, push him as far as he wanted just as long as the boy reached the ideal potential Saitou personally saw for him and he'd do it by any means necessary.

"Then I see no reason why either one of them would have to much difficulty overcoming this trial ahead of them. They are powerful young children both in strength and spirit. You and your predecessor Lord Third Hokage have done an excellent job nurturing their strength Princess Tsunade. If you care for them both as much as you all are demonstrating, then I think it best if you just have faith in them. I think you'll be surprised by the potential locked away within them." Saitou advised with a softer tone as he watched the high stung shinobi sitting across from him calm down significantly as they let the Daimyō's words sink in.

"You have something up your sleeves don't you Lord Saitou… I've been a gambler ever since I was a little girl. You're banking on something regarding Naruto as a person, aren't you?" Tsunade probed with a defensive yet open minded expression on her face as she drilled into the Fire Daimyō's eyes with her vibrant golden amber ones. As a shinobi she caught the twinkle of amusement and knowing that flashed in the leader's eyes at her words as he dramatically fanned himself in repose. "Yes, indeed Lady Hokage. The potential future young Naruto can bring about for us all as a country and for your village is astronomical and I will see to it with my own two hands. He will do great things in the future I know it."

The confidence that the Fire Daimyō spoke with did nothing to completely sooth the unease and guilt that the shinobi around the table were feeling. They all cared for their young children exponentially in their own right and to have the lord of their country sticking his nose into their private love life just for the sake of manipulating them into a grand scheme in the future was crossing several ethical and moral lines with the shinobi and the most frustrating staple of this entire scenario was the fact that they couldn't do anything to stop him. "And what if this fails then? What if they don't quite live up to your standards Lord Saitou? Will you take responsibility for this or force them to go through with your demands?" Shoko added in with her hands clenched together in an effort to suppress her growing anger over the situation.

"While l doubt that would happen, I'm sure we could come to an agreement upon such a time with another conversation. I'm not above admitting to any shortcomings on my person, as few as they may be." Saitou preened while whispering the last part of his sentence under his breath, but he knew that everyone in the room heard him if the facial expressions on the high-level shinobi's faces were proof enough.

"It is clear to me that you have your mind set on this matter Lord Saitou but like with what Shoko has stated Naruto doesn't take to kindly to being manipulated and mistreated. If you are just using him only to discard him later or mess up the most important relationship in his life for just a simple whim then I will act as I should and protect my godson, even if I have to protect him from you." Jiraiya spoke in a deep and baritone voice laced with thick and powerful emotions of determination and danger as he sent a glare directly at the Fire Daimyō who didn't even flinch at the Legendary Toad Sage's actions.

A proud smile was hidden behind Saitou's ornate hand held fan as he chuckled good naturedly at his highest-ranking subordinates. "Excellent, your concerns have all been noted and I do look forward to future meetings regarding this topic. I assure you all that I'm looking out for Naruto's best interests and future. I know he will surprise all of us with the heights he can reach and how he'll help shape the future for our country and possibly the world as a whole."

Saitou stated this while rising to his feet abruptly with his smile never diminishing in the slightest. He knew that the four shinobi around the table wanted to ask him what his real objectives were but couldn't due to their station. They knew that he probably wouldn't give them a straight and truthful answer and none of them, including the Hokage herself had the authority to pry that information out of him with demands. Their hands were tied so their unspoken serious questions went unspoken.

"There's one more matter that you should be aware of Lord Saitou since it seems your so keen on interjecting into Naruto's life. This information should be a great warning to you on why it would be against your best wishes to alienate Naruto from the rest of us with your behavior." Tsunade spoke up in a cold, calculating tone of voice that caught the attention of the others present. The blonde haired Hokage was deeply mulling over the pro's and cons of revealing this information to the Daimyō in light of his recent actions but she also knew that she would need his approval as well as his awareness in this matter considering the fact it was a matter of national security that affected not just the leaf village but the entire country as a whole.

Instantly, Shoko and Jiraiya knew what Tsunade was referring to while Hiashi was at a momentary lost as to what the upper brass of the village was referencing. Saitou on the other hand had a keen look in his eyes as his curiosity was perfectly peaked in response to the honey being dabbled in front of him. "Oh… and what would this information be Lady Hokage? What sort of knowledge would strengthen Naruto's camp in light of my machinations?" The Fire Daimyō purred from behind his ornate fan as his eyes burned with barely concealed curiosity.

"The identities, affiliations, and current location of the Seven Tails Jinchūriki and a female pure blooded Uzumaki who just so happens to be a distant cousin of Naruto." The entire room went as silent as a graveyard as Hiashi alongside the Daimyō had god smacked expressions on their faces while Jiraiya and Shoko looked towards their Hokage in surprise and wariness. They understood why she was obligated to bring up these two individuals, the Jinchūriki in particular for clearly overt reasons but they also knew that it was a risk. While Hiashi's expression and demeanor remained shocked the Fire Daimyō's visage quick began to contort into one of barely controlled excitement, scheming, and a lustful greed that did not usually associate itself with the most esteemed of the Five Great Daimyō. Saitou was usually above greed and avarice of such levels but by no means was he a saint and the prosperity and prestige of his country came first before any and everything, including his own family.

The look on the Daimyō's face at this moment concerned the high level shinobi in the room greatly and Tsunade who despite her sworn duty and the position that she was in couldn't help but feel that by adding this card to the table one of her spontaneous gambling moves might come back to bite her. "Oh, please Lady Hokage… do tell. I'm sure this new information could easily sway me to your whims if spun correctly with your silver tongue." Saitou purred as the next 30 minutes were extremely crucial for the leading figures of the government as Saitou's whole outlook on Naruto and the bigger picture playing out in his head grew even grander in scale. New ideas were already forming in the leader's head as he concluded the conversation in finality.

"Thank you for enlightening me to just how connected and influential young Naruto is becoming… oh, and of course the potential security risk to our country of allowing a foreign MIA Jinchūriki political asylum of course. Depending on the stance I take on that young girl's affiliation with a shinobi and member of our country will dictate our stance in how we interact and confront other hostile and opposing powers in the future." Saitou preened as he once more rose from his chair after Tsunade's initial objection got him to sit back down in raw and unabated curiosity.

"Now, I'd like to invite you all to spend the rest of the day on my estate. My staff will tend to your groups every need. I'd like to also advise you Lady Hokage that I'll have further need of your shinobi real soon for what I suspect will be an upcoming matter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an important meeting with the Daimyō of the Land of Hot Water to attend. I wish you all a good day." Lord Saitou Madoka the Fire Daimyō of the Land of Fire knew he was in complete control as he strutted out of the room while continuously fanning himself with his treasured fan in an unnecessary and dramatic fashion as the wheels in his head continued to turn regarding the decree he had just issued to Naruto and his upcoming meeting with a fellow Daimyō that he was adamant about twisting and turning to his benefit and that of his country.

In the world of politics, the Madoka bloodline of the Fire Daimyō lineage ran deep and it ran supreme and uncontested for the royal family has produced hundreds of generations of tactical and political savvy geniuses in the theater of politics and running a country. It was for that reason why the Land of Fire has stood for a thousand plus years without being conquered or irrevocably destroyed in its long history. Saitou was just a recent but no less capable successor in a long line of powerful rulers who have kept the country going, but it could easily be said that he along with his father were a cut above the rest in the most recent generations as it was his brilliant father who signed the treaty with the First Hokage to establish the Hidden Village System and in return Saitou has kept his father's legacy well intact despite the three World Wars his village has suffered through.

Truly his name would be remembered.

Private Quarters (Royal Capital)

Hinata had a thousand thoughts swirling around in her head as she opened the scroll left behind by her mother. Inside the scroll contained many letters and diary entries from her late mother. Many were addressed to her and she even found some meant for her little sister Hanabi. Detailed logs of the history of the Maruno Clan and other such information was filed away within the medium sized heirloom scroll. Naturally, Hinata wanted to learn as much of her mother's history as possible but the shinobi in her was drawn towards the personal Jutsu scrolls of her mother.

Yume Hyūga was a powerful shinobi. Reading some of the earlier entries from her mother's diary Hinata discovered that the enigmatic kunoichi was on the Genin squad of Jiraiya back in the day alongside surprisingly enough her father Hiashi and Naruto's own father Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage. Team Jiraiya or Team 1 was a dynamic yet powerful team who all grew to be successful shinobi in their own rights. The team had an interesting history as Minato and Yume both graduated together with a civilian born shinobi who was assigned to Jiraiya's team. A year later into the team's formation this student died in an ambush against Hidden Cloud shinobi in the tensioned filled years leading up to the Third Shinobi World War. Hiashi who was assigned to a different squad that was tragically all killed off by Hidden Cloud Ninja as well who were after his unsealed Byakugan was then assigned to Jiraiya's team following these tragedies. Hiashi was a few years older than Minato and Yume and it was the joining of their teams that introduced the future couple.

As a powerful shinobi with comparable power on par to the level of the Legendary Titan's who were her childhood teammates it went without saying that Yume was an extremely capable ninja and it was no easy task rising to the level that she had. Hinata knew that her own father Hiashi Hyūga was an extremely powerful shinobi and one of the strongest in the entire village along with being the strongest clan head currently serving in the village as well. His mastery of the Gentle Fist Art and his Taijutsu was more than enough to be on par with the level of a Kage and his physical capabilities were all top notch. While not gaining any notoriety or legendary status the same way his old teammates and comrades did, it did nothing to deter the fact that Hiashi was one the best and strongest assets the village still currently had.

Another really surprising fact that Hinata learned was the fact that her mother Yume joined the ANBU Black Ops shortly after being promoted to the rank of Chūnin. The heiress never knew her mother was in the Black Ops division. From what she remembered of her mother's personality this career decision didn't match her at all... or so she thought. Reading further on Hinata dissected her mother's thought processes and inner emotions on the many pages of her diary and a pregnant pause overcame the young girl as she read a passage not to far from where she started.

Yume made the decision to join the ANBU after ANBU Commander Puma scouted her for her unique powers and massive potential, but what surprised Hinata the most was the fact that Yume herself was eager to join the secretive division as she reasoned that being in the ANBU which is the darkness of the shinobi would allow her to spread her light. She saw it as her fate.

Fate.

It was a concept that Hinata was intimately familiar with regarding the Hyūga Clan and from her own mother. From her earliest memories of her mother Hinata remembered Yume being a religious and ceremonial woman at heart who had a magnetizing personality and argent belief in the good of others. She had a deep seeded belief in understanding that everyone had a fate and destiny that they had to fulfil and using her powers she could see the future and fate of any individual she gazed at with her unique Dōjutsu.

The metaphorical and philosophical reasons for Yume wanting to join the ANBU sounded exactly like how Hinata remembered her mother to be. She was a determined woman and to find out that not only did she join the organization of the ANBU, but in a relatively short amount of time she managed to rise to the highest rank of ANBU Lieutenant Commander serving directly under Puma in the last two years before the end of the Third Shinobi World War and the Nine Tails Attack was a massive shock to Hinata. 'My mother was that powerful… the rumors are true. She really is as strong as Shoko and the others. She's easily as strong as father, if not slightly more so.' Hinata trembled within her own mind as she fervently read further on to discover more of her mother's past.

Unlike most other ANBU in service and against normal policy Yume also made public appearances as a regular shinobi apart of the regular forces participating in average missions to keep up her fame and status in the public eye alongside her old teammates in Minato and her at this point fiancé in Hiashi Hyūga.

She would be forced to retire from the Black Ops when the Nine Tails attack happens on the village. What shocked Hinata the most upon reading this entry to the diary and her mother's own personal accounting of the events was the fact that she was four and a half months pregnant at the time with Hinata. She was on maternity leave from both the ANBU and active duty and under normal circumstances she would have been allowed to return to active duty following the first six months following Hinata's birth during which time she could adjust to raising her baby and training her body back into shape post pregnancy.

Sadly, this outcome didn't happen as during the attack the Nine Tails strays close to the hospital which she was currently in having a scheduled routine pregnancy checkup. Feeling the high concentration of chakra signatures in the building as well as a powerful Kage Level signature near it Kurama the Nine Tailed Fox turned its attention to the compound while it was being harassed by the hundreds of ninja quickly trying to respond to his sudden and unexpected appearance within the village that none that night could explain.

Attempting to destroy the entire building with a heavy clubbing blow from its massive tails the fox was rebuffed by a massive protective dome made out of Light Magic and Chakra that was created by Yume that managed to surround the entire hospital complex. Under normal circumstances were she not pregnant this already impressive feat by shinobi standards would have been child's play for the Kage Level kunoichi but unfortunately she was pregnant at the time meaning she quickly tired out after Kurama slammed another two of its tails into the barrier shattering the usually substantially more powerful barrier. The strain of maintaining the barrier and then having it breached was too much for Yume to handle causing a lot of exhaustion to befall her.

Hiashi who was at the hospital with at this point his recent wife for about a year was in the food court gathering food upon her request when the attack began. He raced back to her floor as quickly as he could and through his Byakugan he witnessed her barrier being broken which only enticed him to hurry further. A second strike from one of Kurama's tail's slammed into the side of the hospital wing decimating the entire half of the medical wing and killing hundreds of patients and medical staff alike. Everyone on Yume's floor survived the attack due to her determination as she erected another smaller localized barrier at the last second saving as many civilians as she could but in doing so, she was crushed under a ton of debris along with the others she managed to save.

One final errant swing of one of Kurama's nine massive tails would have ultimately killed Yume and everyone on that half of the hospital if it weren't for Hiashi's last minute intervention who unleashed a devastating Heavenly Palms Rotation technique that managed to deflect the enormous tailed appendage off course preventing further loss of life. The hospital and everyone in it would have been doomed as Kurama seemed determined to crush the entire complex but it was at this point that the entirety of the ANBU home defense force showed up alongside the Third Hokage and many of the village's top Jōnin to corner the Tailed Beast where they began to corral him out of the main downtown city of the village and out into the farmlands and countryside area near the great walls with the charge being spearheaded by the retired Hokage.

A supersonic roar and massive chakra pulse was the last thing Yume saw before being knocked unconscious as the massive surge of toxic chakra slammed into the hospital before Kurama was pushed away by the Third Hokage and that infectious chakra infected Yume's frail body with residual traces of its chakra causing her grievous near life threatening injuries and stress to her body.

At this point in the diary entries Hinata was already crying but with the silence of being alone in her room she didn't feel any shame or pressure to conceal it in the presence of others. She allowed herself to openly cry as she pressed on with the passages as a sense of deep morbid curiosity forced her to continue despite the painful feelings she was experiencing.

A short three months later when Yume was seven months pregnant Hinata has to be forcibly delivered by C – Section because of the severe damage done to her prior during the attack. This came as a shock to Hinata as she never knew that she was involved in such a high-risk birth as neither of her parents ever told her of such a thing. However, reading on a few short paragraphs later caused Hinata's heart to completely stop in her chest.

Hinata was born a stillborn and was not breathing at all. No cries signaling the birth of a baby was heard in the hospital ward only stark silence as the future heiress didn't breathe or even make a single sound. Hinata's skin was pale and clammy while her hair which was originally colored a deep shade of brown inherited from both her parents was also shriveled up and dry as well as dull in coloration. The little hair she was born with on her head was already dying off. From the words written at this point in the passage Hinata could tell that her mother had been crying when writing these heartbreaking words as her perfect and immaculate handwriting and signatures were scrubbed and scribbled in this section along with dried up splotches of what Hinata correctly assumed to be dried up tears.

Hiashi was distraught upon seeing this scene as he checked Hinata over with his Byakugan and discovered that her entire chakra network was damaged and compromised due to the residual tainted chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox. The doctors diagnosed her on the spot after a few short minutes of test and told the already distraught parents that Hinata wouldn't survive the week let alone a full 24 hours and that she would soon die. Apparently, she wasn't the only child reported to be born this way. Quite a few recent children born all reported similar symptoms before passing away within the following weeks after birth. Devastated wouldn't even begin to describe the emotions both parents were feeling as Yume quickly came to a decision to save her daughter's life.

Reading on Hinata already felt numb and a soft familiar thumping in her chest was forcing her to read on as she felt the warm sensation of grace flowing into her chakra network without her active consent. 'What's going on? Why is my grace starting to stir up… it's like its compelling me to read on?' Hinata mused to herself as she could feel the familiar second heartbeat like phenomena inside of her chest that usually signaled her internal use of divine grace. She already knew at this point that it was a separate source of energy in her body that her chakra core wasn't naturally producing entirely all on its own.

Reacting quickly Yume took drastic measures as she started a long and complex ritual involving the teachings of her homeland and secret Maruno Clan techniques and traditional Ninjutsu and Fūinjutsu to reach inside of herself and extract a small silver glowing orb of densely compact holy graced intimately mixed together with chakra.

The orb was about the size of a small orange, but it radiated and reverberated around the room with the immense energy of a Kage level shinobi. This orb was called a Sacred Tama and from Hinata's further reading and research into the term alongside her mother's family scrolls and additional footnotes she discovered that it was a unique genetic and organic growth that grew into the chakra circulatory networks of the members of the Maruno Clan that allows their bodies to safely house, channel, and convert their chakra into holy grace and vice versa. Their bodies and human physiology naturally adapted themselves to being able to hold these two separate power sources inside the human body. However, even with dissection the orbs can't physically be removed from the body. Only through the special ritual could a member extract it out of their bodies as it doesn't physically exist in the natural sense when the host is alive and after death the chakra network usually is the first part of the body to start breaking down and decomposing.

Taking her Sacred Tama Yume then implanted the glowing orb into Hinata's stillborn body which had an immediate effect on her. Life was instantly brought back into Hinata's body as her damaged chakra network was regenerated and repaired by her mother's Tama that immediately began to sync and integrate into her own body. Hinata's pale skin gained a beyond healthy sheen to it while her dying hair was revitalized in the most startling of ways. Her ash brown dying hair was re-shaded in the vibrant deep indigo violet shade it is today which shocked both her parents and the doctors in the room while Hiashi was more drawn towards Hinata's Byakugan eyes when she opened them prematurely and he was able to gaze into the deepest shade of lilac lavender he's ever seen in a female born Hyūga. No other female in the entire clan had eyes as deep a shade as Hinata's, not even Hanabi's who much like her sister's was of a deeper color that the average female in the clan.

This impromptu emergency procedure on Yume's behalf saved her daughter's life but at the long-term cost of her own. With the removal of Yume's Tama it compromised her own chakra network to the point that she had to permanently retire from the shinobi force as she could no longer properly mold her chakra to the proper safe levels as a ninja.

Knowing this and still being able to user her Future Sight abilities Yume spent the next few years focusing her powers on both Hinata and herself primarily. Doing so allowed Yume to learn that she would become pregnant once more with Hanabi and that the experience would kill her. The religious and staunch woman was happily resigned to her fate as was her nature, but she did leave behind regrets in not being able to raise her daughters for much longer. She began to record all of her experiences and collect all of her heirlooms to pass down to her daughters with Hinata set to receive her Jutsu scrolls and techniques as Yume knew that with Hinata in possession of her Tama she would strongly inherit the entirety of her powers.

Knowing her fate and what was to come Yume prepared herself for her children's future without her and sealed away everything she would need to pass down to her daughter's when the time comes. Of course, she hid these facts from her husband as he was still grieving the loss of his identical twin and knowing that she would die soon and being forced to count the days in futility would have destroyed the emotionally weakened man. Yume wrote her husband a separate letter that he would be set to receive shortly after her death with her own condolences and private words meant only for him. Also, in the letter was her final will and instructions regarding the master scroll she had left behind for their children that she had used high level Fūinjutsu and Angelic Sigils on to lock the scroll with. No one but Hinata could open the scroll and she would only be able to open it of her own volition after she's unlocked her Tama and gained the ability to use sacred energy.

To visibly see the lengths her mother went through just to ensure that her two children would be taken care of after her death and that their inheritances and legacy could be preserved warmed Hinata's heart and caused fresh tears to crawl down her face. Never before has she felt the true weight of her mother's love like she did in this moment now. She was loved… she along with her beloved baby sister Hanabi were loved dearly by their dying mother who sacrificed everything to ensure that they could live and not just live in her case, but to survive and be prepared for the future.

This feelings surrounded Hinata in a cocoon of safety and contentment as she finally received closure from her mother's untimely death and the downwards spiral her father took after her death and that of his precious twin brother. While her childhood was the furthest thing from ideal with mental, emotional, and even borderline physical turmoil and abuse Hinata has ultimately come out of it stronger than ever and in the last year she's made significant strides in repairing the very damaged and strained relationship she's had with her father and it was all thanks to her boyfriend Naruto.

Speaking of Naruto…

Hinata was deeply worried. Her brain shut down during the meeting once Lord Saitou had made his declaration. Her heart felt like it was ripped from her chest and stomped on in front of her. To have her love life played around and toyed with in such a callous manner by a total stranger just for his benefit left a cold feeling in the center of her being. She didn't like the feeling brewing in her chest, but she now held a deep resentment towards the Fire Daimyō. The love of her life has always and would always be Naruto Uzumaki. They've known each other half their short lives and have impacted each other in ways for the better that couldn't even be put into words.

He was her future husband both in her teenage fantasy love filled mind and heart and more importantly legally on paper now that he was her primary suitor as per her clan's traditions. His many children, especially Iris and Chaos in particular were her children as she's helped raise the two celestial girls since shortly after they were born when she first met Naruto. She loved all of the children equally and to now know that her future with them was in jeopardy ignited a maternal fire of fury within the very deepest pits of Hinata's soul.

She didn't have children of her own of course, obviously given her age; but she did raise her beloved little sister Hanabi practically on her own after the death of her mother. Hiashi could barely bring himself to hold Hanabi during her infancy, instead he handed her infancy care over to maternity maids and caretakers in the clan. However, Hinata was grieving too and shortly upon hearing of how Hanabi was being taken care of, and more importantly by who sparked the dormant and not supposed to be used yet maternal instincts of the young 5-Year-old child. She took it upon herself to relieve the caretakers of much of their duties as she fed Hanabi her bottles of milk and later baby food while also learning to change her diapers and give her proper baths. She did everything from playing with her to talking to her to eventually getting her to learn how to speak.

In reality Hinata was really falling into a coping mechanism brought on by the acute trauma of her kidnapping, the death of her uncle, and the death of her mother in to short of a time frame. She needed to hold onto something and her very young and underdeveloped mind and psyche was already beginning to fracture under pressure that a child her age shouldn't be exposed to and so she fanatically took to raising her baby sister in the image of her mother, drawing on all of her limited memories and experiences she remembered of her mother and how she treated her. She passed on all of these techniques and experiences to Hanabi as she raised her, and she juggled this with her argent and taxing clan training which began at the tender age of 3. Hiashi at this point was beginning to become a harsh and spiteful taskmaster towards Hinata who he has not hugged or comforted in a long while since, not even to ask her of her feelings regarding her mother's death.

In essence Hinata became Hanabi's mother as the two spent every waking moment together when able and at night Hinata would have her little sister sleep in her bed with her where she could watch over her as the younger sibling had early health issues following her own complicated high risk birth that ultimately led to their mother's death. Hanabi suffered from a weaker constitution in her earlier years and a smaller chakra reserve even for an infant her age due to the nature of her own birth that was similar to her elder sister and because of that Hinata watched Hanabi like a mother hawk, never letting her out of her sight even as she was often separated from her by their father for more harsh torturous training. Over the next few years as Hanabi learned to walk and talk it was Hinata who witnessed these happy milestones instead of their father who could barely bring himself to celebrate Hanabi's birthdays which in return created the situations were it ultimately fell to Hinata to wish her younger sister a happy birthday.

Under her own volition Hanabi would continue to remain extremely close to her older sister as she would sneak into her room or sometimes outright insist to be placed with Hinata as they would cuddle up underneath the covers at night where Hinata would sing her sister lullabies or read her bedtime stories and ultimately just shower the growing toddler with the affection that a baby needs… needs that no one else including Hiashi was providing. In the intimacy and privacy of their own little world and behind closed doors Hanabi referred to Hinata as her mother more so than as her sister since she's the only mother figure she knows. Of course, this moved Hinata to hysterical tears of pure happiness but to save face in front of the rest of the clan Hinata instructed Hanabi to refer to her properly when in the presence of others. Even when the sisters were being forced to drift apart by their father and especially their grandfather's abusive machinations, they still secretly kept their very close intimate mother/daughter slash older sister/younger sister relationship intact behind closed doors as Hinata continued to raise her.

In the non-traditional sense Hinata is a mother, she's been a mother her entire life in the same vein Naruto has been a father practically all of his. This unique circumstantial coincidence and similarity in living is one of the most intimate and substantial bonds that the young couple shares with each other. It's what's fueled their entire relationship as it started out in the beginning as friends and later more than friends as they grew older. So while she didn't have any biological children of her own and outspokenly agreed with Naruto that they were far to young to even be thinking of such things yet, it did nothing to deter the young heiress from including those adopted children that he took in within her own heart and to vehemently claim them as hers as well. To be forced out of their lives if she were forced to marry into another family that wasn't Naruto's was a pain that she could never allow herself to bare.

The young couple didn't speak to each other or anyone else once they were released from the meeting room an hour earlier. Hinata could only imagine how her boyfriend was taking this bomb that was dropped on them. His entire life has been tremendously unstable and while they didn't speak of it often, they both know that they suffer from severe mental stresses from their mutually painful childhoods, him especially. Between the two of them Hinata knew that Naruto needed this relationship more than even she did. This love that they shared that he's been missing for all of his life kept him grounded in reality.

To be forced to share this with another girl… a civilian high-born girl at that who could never truly understand his sacrifices and pains of being both a shinobi and Jinchūriki would only cause Naruto to internally suffer no matter how sweet and kind Naho was as a person. It hurt Hinata immensely as she held no personal grudge against the crowned princess of their country, she had nothing against the very sweet and kind young child who helped them out immensely on their very first date by giving them free tickets to the first screening of Princess Koyuki's new movie. It was a lovely and kind gesture on the princess's part and as such Hinata knew what kind of girl Naho was, unfortunately as things stand now if her father forced her to usurp Hinata's position within Naruto's heart it would only cause all three of them untold and undue amounts of pain.

Hinata was sure that if there were no extenuating circumstances surrounding their relationship that in an ideal setting Naho would make an excellent future romantic partner for Naruto to add to their strange harem like relationship that Hinata would readily admit to herself was getting out of hand really fast. Hinata intimately knew her boyfriend's female tastes and preferences like the back of her hand. Naruto gravitated towards meek, shy, and soft-spoken females who underneath their more demur facades had hidden wells of fire and defiance in them as well as a drive to be kind and considerate to others and when necessary to stand up to others.

Hinata fit that bill perfectly as she already knew and counting down her fingers she added Henrietta, Aria, Shoko, Rico, and Angelica to that list with Claes, Triela, and Eva being more assertive and spitfires in that regard but his natural hormonal female bias was already imprinted within him and Hinata could see quite a few of those same qualities within the princess already. She was selfless and kind hearted with a certain amount of shyness to her that belied a hidden well of superior intelligence and empathy along with a certain fire in her that they've yet to see. Hinata was certain that if not for her father's interference she and Naho could get along very well and become close. Close enough that she might not mind the little princess getting closer to Naruto… but that would be an extra few years from now… the fact that she shared the same age as the majority of the young couple's adoptive children made this notion an immediate turn off.

Making up her mind Hinata rolled up her scroll and sealed up the contents for later. The emotional weight of Saitou's blatant interference in their lives caused the both of them to go into shock and to shut down emotionally. Because of that they didn't immediately try to seek comfort within each other. They instead isolated themselves away from each other and everyone else. That wasn't good for either of them and Hinata knew that Naruto couldn't handle emotional shocks and stresses well. As a Jinchūriki this was his Achilles Heel. People like him who have grown up emotionally abused and stunted couldn't properly process emotional trauma and stresses very well like the average healthy person could.

At the end of the day despite how hurt Hinata was she was still a shinobi and as such she could push through this as a kunoichi should, but more importantly she was Naruto's best friend, his beloved girlfriend, and partner. She would be there for him now more than ever. Turning on her Byakugan Hinata blinked in surprise to discover she couldn't see through any of the walls in the estate around her. Something was blocking her Dōjutsu's ability to see through the wall right in front of her. She suspected it must be some kind of master high level Fūinjutsu and other forces at work to protect the entire compound which she wasn't truly surprised about, but she wouldn't be deterred as she evolved her eyes until they turned their vibrant golden color and immediately she could see the literal glowing sun like ball of divine energy that belonged to Iris and Chaos which also flowed within Naruto's body.

Her mind was made up as she went in search of her boyfriend. They would comfort each other and after that they would make a plan of action. They wouldn't take this threat against their relationship lying down. They would fight just like they promised each other. They would fight for each other as friends, as boyfriend and girlfriend, and as precious partners to remain in each other's life. Their adoptive surrogate family that they've carefully and painstakingly built up over the last six years depended on them being willing enough to put it all on the line to fight for their family… and they would… because that was their nindo. Their ninja way… believe it.

Fire Daimyō's Private Conference Chamber

Lord Saitou had a lot on his mind as he just finished a lengthy but very profitable political conversation with the Daimyō of the Land of Hot Water. The royal leader of the much smaller border nation was a pragmatic, yet considerate man who was always looking out for the best interest of his country. The Feudal Lord Tokudaiji Tokiyoshi made many hardliner and unpopular decisions regarding the economy and military of his country as they faced economic struggles over the decades he was in power.

For starters he made the highly unpopular decision to decrease the budget to his own shinobi village called the Hidden Steam Village. The civilian samurai military force for his country was relatively unchanged but even they saw cut backs on their funding and manpower while the Hidden Steam Village was drastically reduced to a fraction of its already former small size. The Land of Hot Water which had the nicknames of the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Steam had the most geological reoccurring sources of hot springs and underground water passageways on the continent thanks to Kurama's unrestrained release of his power over 300 years ago. Thousands of hot springs dotted the land and as such it brought in a lot of revenue and tourist attraction from all over the world.

He wanted his country to disband its military force and shift its focus more towards tourism and peaceful ventures. Most didn't necessarily mind this change as the country was profiting heavily from the tourism, but the ninja population were far from happy about their village taking a back seat in their country's affairs. The entire ninja population of their military force was just below 1600 making it hard to the point were they only had enough men to man the military bases and villages and nothing else. They weren't a proactive ninja force that took high class missions in foreign countries, they only had just barely enough to defend their country's territory and that was about it.

Saitou was well aware of these facts as he spoke to Tokudaiji about revamping and updating the economic and military treaties and agreements between their two countries. Deep down the Fire Daimyō was showing legitimate concern for the growing tensions and destabilization brewing in the world following the many recent back to back incidents that have occurred over the last year in a half.

The most recent event as of a few days ago discovering that the Hidden Sound was trying to use the Hidden Waterfall Village as a potential ally by having them send in their own spies was not something Saitou was pleased with. There wasn't much that he wanted to do at this time regarding the much smaller country of the Land of Rice. It didn't offer anything in the way of political or economic positives to his home and he had no previous alliances with them to begin with. He still had sanctions placed against the agricultural country for their involvement in invading his but past that he hasn't retaliated much against them.

The very big international incident with the Land of Snow and the grand positives that came out of it, to the false invasion as it was dubbed of the Hidden Stone Village and the very real joint invasion by their old allies of the Hidden Sand Village and the pesky Hidden Sound Village. He could easily declare war on the Hidden Sound and crush them… he knew this to be true. Despite some of Saitou's more questionable choices over the years and as of more recently today, the one thing he was above reproach and criticism on was his aversion to throwing down the gauntlet and recklessly declaring war on any and all that challenges him. He isn't a war monger and avoids using his heaviest hand at all costs. The leaf has entered all three wars as defenders reacting to the aggression of others and he would like to keep that trend the same.

Despite that fact, Saitou was now looking for new allies to help tighten up his power base in the Land of Fire. He could smell the murky stench of conflict and potentially all out war looming over the horizon. He didn't know if it would come to his country's door step by this brand-new year they just entered or in a few years' time, but deep-down Saitou knew another conflict was coming around the corner sooner rather than later and he wanted to be as prepared as possible. He wants to extend that political hand of friendship and personal assurance to the Land of Hot Water and later on to the Land of Tea to gain a foot hold out in the coastal northern regions near the Land of Lightning. In the future he also wanted to resolve the bad blood between his country and their protectorate state in the Land of Woods who have hated them following a false treaty incident during the Third Shinobi World War.

Capitalizing on his own drive and ambitions he spoke to great lengths with Tokudaiji about recent troubles his tourist country has come under. Criminal activity has skyrocketed over the last month following the incident in the Land of Snow. The local defense forces of the Hidden Steam Village were proving to be quite inadequate in dealing with the surge of civilian criminal activities in the deep seeded underworld of their country. What concerns the tourist country leader was the fact that this strange spike has only started recently since news of the failed coup up in the Land of Snow was made public. Upon hearing this snippet of a fact Saitou immediately thought of the Black Sun and how they were driven out of the snowy country by Naruto and his fellow Mafia forces.

To make matters worse was the fact that his Hidden Steam Village's meager forces were currently tied up in border disputes on their northern border between them and the Hidden Frost Village from the Land of Frost who were competing over gold mines and favorable geological and agricultural locations on their shared borders.

Having a prime opportunity drop into his lap almost had Saitou salivating, especially after the meeting he had just come from with the Hokage and her entourage. If the Black Sun really was involved like Saitou was beginning to believe then he had the perfect agent to solve the problem for his fellow Daimyō. Saitou immediately went to work with his golden tongue and from there it didn't take long for Tokudaiji to draft up a formal deal with Saitou that if he can have some of his own superior highly trained shinobi solve the problem that he is currently facing then he will willingly ally with his country. This was the moment Saitou was waiting on as he struck while the iron was still hot. He immediately agreed to the deal without a second of hesitation as he finished up his conversation with the now grateful Daimyō.

'This is just too easy. Oh, my boy I can already foresee you working your magic once again. I know you might not be happy with me right now but in the future all of your hard work will pay off.' Saitou schemed within his mind as he fanned himself in a dramatic manner. Waving his hand in a signal one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve members appeared without a trace of a sound by his side. "Please go prepare the meeting room once more and ask Lady Hokage to attend alongside her entourage. I have yet another meeting to attend to with them." Saitou said as a smirk came over his face.

Land of Lightning / The Village Hidden in the Clouds / Raikage's Office

Unruly Ā, the Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village and Titan of the Cloud had a stern frown on his face. Most would assume this was his default facial expression and they would be right, but now this particular expression was illuminating his current mood as he had just returned to his office from having a private long-distance meeting with his country's own Daimyō, the Lightning Daimyō. The Feudal Lord had a lot to say about recent world events but the one thing he stressed was interesting developments happening in the Land of Hot Water.

The message was clear to the bull headed Raikage. The Land of Fire's Daimyō was making political inroads with the Land of Hot Water. Since their country bordered the Land of Frost which was the protectorate state towards the Land of Lightning it instantly gained the interest of the Lightning Daimyō. They needed to head off the Land of Fire and make contact with the Land of Hot Water. Their secret spy in the Hot Water Daimyō's royal court just informed them that he had made an agreement with Lord Saitou.

Ā knew exactly what he wanted to do in order to counteract the political maneuvers of their long-standing rivals. Calling his daughter Mabui who was his secretary on his intercom system the Raikage requested her to bring in Team 3 to his office. This shinobi squad was special in the fact that the members themselves were highly valuable shinobi to his village.

In under ten minutes Team 3 had entered the office and Ā allowed a brief smirk to come to his face as he gazed into the eyes of his right-hand man and one of the most loyal shinobi to ever be produced in his generation. Darui the Black Panther was the Jōnin sensei to his very own advanced Genin team and one of the strongest shinobi of his generation. Easily on par with the likes of Kakashi, Guy, and Asuma from the Hidden Leaf and their equivalent top shinobi from the other major villages Darui was the personal right hand man of the Raikage and curried a massive amount of political, military, and personal favor with the heavy handed brute of a man.

Darui led his team which comprised Yugito Nii the sixteen-year-old Jinchūriki to the Two Tailed Monster Hellcat which was named Matatabi. On the verge of being promoted fully to the rank of Jōnin in the coming year for her outstanding shinobi skills and power as a proficiently trained Jinchūriki in control of herself and her power Yugito was a prized secret weapon of the Hidden Cloud Village and kept under the watchful eye of her Jōnin leader who has looked after her and her well being genuinely for the last few years. Yugito was specifically assigned to Darui after completing her apprenticeship underneath Killer Bee the Jinchūriki to the Eight Tailed Giant Ox.

The other members of her carefully constructed team were her two Genin teammates Atsui Moyasu a hot – headed young shinobi who is the younger brother to Samui who participated in the Chūnin exams months earlier. Their last teammate was Kiyoi Yotsuki of the Yotsuki Clan who also were apart of the Mafia family of the Hidden Cloud Village.

Team 3 had an accomplished record much like Team 7 from the Hidden Leaf and it was for that reason alone why he called in for this team specifically to handle the upcoming important mission. "You called boss?" Darui drawled out in an exhausted and lethargic manner as his slouched demeanor belayed his sharp mind and great power.

The mission briefing lasted 30 minutes as the Raikage and his trusted friend and right hand went over mission details regarding the recent spike in criminal activity in the neighboring country of Steam which matched up with similar reports they themselves have been receiving in the northern provinces of their own country and even in small outskirt towns of the Land of Frost. This unusual spike in organized crime and high traffic movement all lined up perfectly timeline wise with the battle in the Land of Snow and the failed rise to power of its corrupt government.

Many of his coastal northern cities and towns reported their own recently developing issues which has had Hidden Cloud Shinobi extremely busy for over a month. Now that another piece of the puzzle was revealed to him the Raikage wanted to make his own move to sure up the power-base of the Hidden Cloud Village and the Lightning Country on behalf of their Daimyō. The topic of other shinobi being present in the country on behalf of the Land of Fire and the Hidden Leaf was heavily discussed at this point which was one of the defining reasons why Ā wanted Darui's team to handle this affair personally.

By the end of the day Team 3 were ready to leave the Hidden Cloud Village to begin their mission. They were privy to the agreement being set up between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water. If they could settle the dispute of the criminal activity rising in their country, then the country would ally with the Land of Fire. However, the Lightning Daimyō was currently in talks with the Daimyō of their intended country and was trying to work out a similar backdoor agreement. If they could secure the favor of the Hot Water Daimyō then it would gain them an ally for their country.

The mission was simple, and they would complete it. The team just didn't know who they would encounter once they got to the country.

3 Days Later / Turquoise Cove – Land of Hot Water

It was a longer journey to reach their intended destination in Turquoise Cove than it otherwise would have been and that was because of the extra passengers that their small group had to take along. The group of four shinobi and extra civilians entering the small town off the coast of Turquoise Cove would have been seen as suspicious by the ordinary citizens and any on duty shinobi in the area if not for the fact that the group snuck into the town inconspicuously to blend in with the populous.

This very special group consisted of Shoko, Anko, Naruto, and Hinata as the registered shinobi of the group, but accompanying them was a very special civilian in the context that it was the crown princess Naho joining them in their travel. The group kept a low profile as it slipped onto the main road of the ocean-side resort town. Dozens of hotels, restaurants, and food market shops dotted the main strip of the town attracting the attention of incoming tourists to increase the popularity and revenue for their local economy.

"I'll go secure us a hotel for our stay here. It should be for about a week. Why don't you kids enjoy yourselves and get a feel for the town." Shoko stated in a more subdued voice than usual to the group, but her statement was more so directed to one of the two resident Chūnin of the group who gave a silent uncharacteristic nod to her words. A silent sad sigh escaped Shoko's lips as she shared a look with Anko who chose to remain neutral in this affair.

Leaning into her jacket the sexy Special Jōnin pulled out a Shop Toad that Naruto had sent back to the village in order to retrieve his children and Aria for the long journey back. She carried it on her own as she didn't have the means to carry the entire group of siblings on her own when she left the village. As of now she had only just rendezvoused with the rest of the group an hour earlier outside of town. Passing the summoned toad over to its master Anko watched as Naruto placed it into his hoody with a simple nod of acknowledgement. With little else to say the two adult woman left the group to complete their task leaving the group of kids to themselves in the large ocean side resort town.

"You've been awfully quiet these last few days Naruto… how long are you going to keep giving Shoko the silent treatment?" Hinata murmured while walking besides her silent boyfriend who stiffened at the pertinent questioned levied against him. For three days he's had very little to say to his surrogate mother as they've traveled to the popular resort and vacation tourist heavy country. After parting ways with Tsunade and Jiraiya who traveled back to the village the atmosphere was relatively tense between the mother and son duo who were holding onto deeply repressed feelings for each other that neither were sure how to broach.

Naruto was still fairly upset about the fact that none of his close love ones ever disclosed the identities of his parents to him. They kept it to themselves when its been his greatest wish as an orphan to know of his origin and if he was loved by his parents. Despite the reassurances from the Third Hokage when he was alive a small nagging feeling of emptiness was still buried deep inside of Naruto's heart because he never had their names or identities to bring him comfort.

Instead, he's had to find out their identities from two independent sources in some of the most turbulent battles and traumatically stressful events of his life. He learned of his mother's identity from Miya on Hōrai Island while battling the Four War Gods and as for his father he learned of him when 40 escaped prisoners sent by Balalaika dressed as Hidden Stone Shinobi attempted to assassinate him only months earlier. Naruto understood the position his makeshift family was put under over the years, but he was deeply hurt by the circumstances in which this information was given to him.

It was a little immature of him to hold this animosity over the heads of Shoko, Tsunade, and Jiraiya but considering they were the three closest to his parents and the closest relatives that are currently in his life it made them easier targets. He understood both sides of the argument and how to a certain extent his actions and feelings were a bit petty, but he wanted to finally let his feelings free on a matter. He usually bottles up what he's feeling if it is a situation that he cannot change or doesn't want others involved in if he's trying to be considerate of others and to a certain extent his own pride and ego.

But in this instances he was deeply hurt by these turn of events and as a young child/ teenager with emotional angst on his side he wanted his loved ones to share in the pain he was feeling, even if it was something he'd under normal circumstances never do to them.

"It's unfair of you to ask me that Hinata… this is between Shoko and me. So just please stay out of it." Naruto retorted with the slightest amount of venom in his voice that stirred the emotions within Hinata's heart. It wasn't often that they disagreed or outright fought with each other on any subject. It was very rare to the point the two friends hated the phenomena all together but like with any real couple or friends of any age there are fights and disagreements.

Hinata knew she couldn't let Naruto continue on mopping and repressed within his very own feelings of angst. She knew just how truly important and needed the closure learning of his parents from his living loved ones would have brought him and the fact that this information was kept from him and then revealed in the most unfavorable of situations was eating at him. He felt betrayed and hurt and he was holding onto these feelings because he didn't fully know how to express himself to those who wronged him… not in such a delicate situation. She could tell that he felt if he just released all of his emotions at once it would be explosive and he would probably say or do something that would hurt both himself and the adults in his life as well as their individual relationships.

He trusts them… trusted them… and in his pain filled mind they betrayed his trust. Trust was such a simple commodity that most took for granted yet it was an ideal that was denied to him by the entirety of the village since the moment he was born. No one trusted him since he was a Jinchūriki and they used him as the perfect defenseless scapegoat for all of their pain, grief, and anguish. He worked painstakingly hard to gain the trust of his current loved ones over the years and now quite a few of the most important ones withheld precious information from him that would have brought his not so secretly aching heart closure as an orphan. Even though they had their orders and instructions, even though they did it for his own safety and interests, and even though deep-down Naruto understood… he still felt hurt… he still felt betrayed.

Hinata had her boyfriend pegged down to the root of the problem. He was afraid to let out these powerful emotions because of the fact of just how powerful they are. In the back of her mind she also considered the fact that his anger could trigger the automatic response of the Nine Tailed Fox's chakra which responds acutely to his anger and negative emotions. Hinata was sure that Naruto was also aware of this fact and was adding this to the list of reasons on why he should suppress himself.

She knew what she had to do in this situation. She hated the rare occasions in which they found themselves at odds and if he ever raised his voice to her or voiced his displeasure in regard to her then it always made Hinata feel like she could curl up into a little ball and cry. Her soft demeanor wasn't gone but she would have to put aside her own needs in this instance. She knew which buttons to press on her boyfriend to get him to respond to her and she was going to quickly push them so that he would actually confront his anger head on and she was going to do it in such a way that he wouldn't be able to respond, much less throw up another emotionally defensive wall between them.

"I think that this also concerns me to Naruto as you partner and girlfriend. You say you're angry at Ms. Shoko but what about me? Aren't you still upset with me from what I told you the other day?" Hinata probed venomously with a cutting question that actually got Naruto to stop in his tracks. Naho who was a few paced behind them and wearing different clothes and hairstyle to remain hidden and incognito felt her breath hitch in her throat as she watched the couple argue with each other. She could feel the tension mounting between the entire group since their departure from the capital days earlier and she's barely had a chance to assert her own innocent and kind opinion into the matter.

She could feel the sheer amount of pain and uncertainty weighing down on the two young Chūnin's shoulders and the guilt that gnawed at the Legendary Titan's heart and it was all becoming to much for the small child to endure. She was quickly coming to hate the sad and angry expression on her first real friends face. She wanted to see Naruto smiling like the day he showed her around the village in what one of her handmaidens later on in the day told her was an impromptu date which had to little princess blushing furiously for the remainder of the evening.

A growl escaped Naruto's throat as he turned to his beloved girlfriend who stood her ground even as she saw for the briefest of seconds his eyes turn scarlet red from a flare of his resident's foul chakra. "Your way out of line Hinata… that was a low blow and you know it! I've already forgiven you for that. I could never be angry at you." Naruto sneered half-heartedly as thick emotions started to clog up his throat as he watched Hinata's carefully constructed mask of confidence that she was wearing slip off and crack ever so slightly at seeing him exposing more of his true feelings.

Hinata had revealed to him that day when she went to comfort him after the meeting with the Daimyō that she and Shoko had a conversation months back in Otaru Town right after their mission to escort Shion around their country. During that conversation Hinata discovered the true identities of Naruto's parents, in particular she deduced the true identity of Naruto's father. Minato Namikaze since Lady Miya had spoken Kushina's name back on Hōrai Island. Shoko had asked her to keep the conversation that they spoke of to herself since she wanted to be the one to speak to Naruto about it.

That private talk that the young couple shared within that room became heated to say the least for a while as Naruto vented his frustrations from the earlier meeting with the Daimyō at Hinata who loyally took the anguish and frustrations her boyfriend was feeling and returned them in kind alongside Eva who was allowed freedom within the privacy of their assigned room. Together the three of them cried for nearly an hour strait on and off as they had to decompress a lot of negative emotions that they could never act on against the Fire Daimyō.

While Naruto did vent quite a bit towards Hinata and even yelled at her it didn't take the emotionally damaged Jinchūriki long to apologize and forgive his girlfriend for his behavior as he wanted to push the incident behind him as quickly as humanly possible. He was willing to accept Hinata's role in this whole mess and move on since there wasn't much she could do if Shoko was asking her a favor but in the back of his mind it only made him more upset with his mother figure since by putting Hinata in that position it violated the bond of their friendship. They never keep secrets or emotions from each other.

"Then what's the difference between forgiving me and not forgiving Shoko? Both our hands were tied when it came time to telling you about your parents. You've entrusted me with your deepest confidence and secrets, so I know just how important learning about your parents means to you, but you have to understand that they never meant to hurt you." Hinata fired back almost immediately after Naruto spoke overwhelming him and giving him no time to process his own emotions in the matter.

"That's not fair… I don't want to fight with you Hinata. You're the last person I want to get into it with." Naruto began to rebuttal but Hinata wasn't finished with her boyfriend yet. It was taking every ounce of courage she had to do this in the middle of the street which was why she was subtly guiding Naruto down a side road away from the main traffic of the Main Street but she was determined to break Naruto out of his funk.

"That's too bad Naruto… because we are fighting right now and it's breaking my heart. I don't like it either, but we have to do this or else you'll never confront the problem on your own. I'm in so much pain because of what the Daimyō has done to us and despite the fact we talked it out later on that day the second we met back up with the others you immediately pulled away again. I'm hurting because you're hurting Naruto." Hinata pushed which caused Naruto's breath to nearly hitch in his throat in return.

Fresh tears began to prickle at the corner of his eyes as he could see the sheer depth of the pain his beloved girlfriend was in, not just do to the actions of the Fire Daimyō and the stresses of the last few days but also because of his own actions. He was hurting her with his callous and withdrawn attitude.

"Or are you just afraid to confront Shoko over how she made you feel? You're afraid of the fear and pain that's inside of you and so you're ignoring it and ignoring her too." This scathing and emotional remark came seconds after her last one leaving Naruto no time to even breathe but this cutting question finally broke the damn over Naruto's heart as tears began to stream down his face.

"I'm scared ok…! I felt so hurt by the secrets that they've all kept from me. But it hurts the most coming from Shoko herself. I don't know how to face her Hinata… what if I lose control over myself and get too angry?" Naruto sobbed as he felt a pair of arms encircle his waist drawing him into his partners warm embrace. At this point Hinata was crying as well and Naho who was out of the couple's minds at the time had silent tears streaming down her face as well. At this point yet again, she knew it wasn't her place to intervene. She would let Hinata handle the rest. Hinata knew that Naruto was referencing his Jinchūriki status which confirmed to her that they were on the same page with regards to the crux of his anger.

"You don't have to worry about losing control. I've bore the burden of that once and I'd do it again for you in a heartbeat. Just like with your spat with Iris you have to confront Shoko over your feelings and just talk to her. Let it all out so that you can be rid of the anger and pain clouding your heart. She's your mother… she can handle it… and so can I." Hinata cooed softly into Naruto's ear as he leaned his head against Hinata's shoulder before crushing her body against his in a fit of both love and great pain.

"I'm so sorry Hinata… it just hurts so much." Naruto cried as the privacy of the smaller alley like road provided the emotional couple with the reprieve needed from the noisy pedestrians walking the main road by the hundreds. "I know Naruto, but I'm here for you. I always will be." Hinata sweetly said as she nuzzled into the side of his head with her own getting a hiccup turned into a choking laugh out of Naruto who squeezed her even tighter not that she minded. "Thank you, Hinata. You're so amazing, what would I do without you?" Naruto whispered in the softest voice Hinata's heard from him in a long time. It nearly broke her heart but at the same time the sweet words themselves repaired what was previously broken as she felt her love for her boyfriend swell to new heights once more.

"I don't know sweetie, honestly I hope we never have to find out. But if the Fire Daimyō has his way we may discover that answer in a few years." Hinata cooed while referring to Naruto with a pet name which was new to the couple. A light appreciative blush stained Naruto's whiskered cheeks at the sheer amount of affection and love he could detect within Hinata's voice. It honestly soothed the piece of his heart that was cracked in ways he couldn't even put into proper words. Her words by themselves, let alone her very presence itself was what he truly needed deep down, and this epiphany only caused Naruto to squeeze Hinata closer to his chest not that it was very feasible at this point considering the space between them was practically zero. He could feel her bountiful budding chest squishing against his own and the feeling itself was amazing to the point that he felt his body and his guard begin to relax…

"I know… but we'll find a way to beat the Fire Daimyō at his own game. I won't give up, and I won't let him separate us and break up our family! I love you Hinata… and I'm going to fight for you!" The sheer passion and intensity in the words Naruto spoke nearly caused Hinata's legs to give out from underneath her as she let out a startled gasp of affection and almost undetected by the usually dense Jinchūriki a feeling of intense lust and love. He felt his girlfriend's body go slack in his arms for half a second before her entire body stiffened within his embrace. The zero amount of space between them at this point went into the negatives as Hinata pushed Naruto against the alley wall roughly with a metaphorical and quite literal shining light of lust in her eyes as they began to change to gold right before Naruto's gaze.

To say that Hinata was aroused and turned on by the sheer passion and love Naruto had showered her with in his last statement would be a vast understatement. She didn't know where this explosion of lust and affection came from but if she had to throw out a theory she'd say it was the culmination of all of the past weeks' worth of stress and their fight being resolved finally boiling over in her and wanting to be released. She knew her boyfriend loved her explicitly but to hear him specifically say that he'd fight for her and that he loved her unlocked something extremely feminine and primal from deep within her heart and being the hormonal teenager that she was it also meant that she wasn't above succumbing to the impulsive and erratic nature that hormones and puberty has on the teenage brain.

"Oh, Naruto…" Hinata huskily moaned out to Naruto who 'eeped' in morbid shock, awe, and an entire Olympic swimming pools worth of testosterone and hormonal lust that was beginning to cloud his judgement and spatial awareness as the last thing the both of them felt before the haze of their little bubble clouded their minds was Hinata's lips crashing down onto Naruto's right as a tiny and very timid voice cut through the lust filled haze overtaking them. It went without saying that the two emotionally charged teenagers were in their own little world which brought about the interjection of their third member who they completely forgot about in the midst of their argument.

"I'll help you fight my father in this too… I want the both of you to be happy…" Naho's voice started out as brave and as strong as she was planning on making it but that quickly went down the drain as she saw the Hyūga heiress slam her boyfriend into to wall before smashing her lips onto his… the expressions on their faces and the wellspring of emotions overflowing from their eyes was to overwhelming for the young and sheltered princess who knew next to nothing of physical affection between teenagers and adults let alone sexual lust and mature love.

Her voice trailed off into obscurity at the emotions her two escorts were showing before a startled embarrassed squeal squeaked out from the princess's mouth as she covered her face in confusion, which only induced even more embarrassment from the girl when she heard the two teens squeal in sheer mortification as she watched through her fingers as Hinata almost teleported to the other side of the alleyway away from her boyfriend as both of their faces were so red they were illuminating the walls with light.

It was official… they had completely forgotten about the royal princess they were supposed to be escorting at this moment.

They were so caught up in the drama and rush of emotions of their argument that they tuned everything else in the world out as they sorted through their feelings. Never before have the two of them zoned out so utterly that they would disregard the person standing right next to them… a very important and impressionable young person at that. The two teens could sense the synchronization of their chakra flows and patterns and how it was beginning to dissipate now that the haze over their minds was lifted and they were no longer in physical contact with each other.

"Lady Naho! Please forgive my improper behavior! I'm terribly sorry princess!" Hinata squeaked out in mortification as she bowed over and over again like a broken machine stuck in a loop while what basically amounted to gibberish escaped Naruto's lips as he tried to come up with any words to explain what they had just done in front of the royal princess of their country. They've never even made out that aggressively before let alone at all for that matter in front of Iris and Chaos either. The most that they've done in front of the children was hug, cuddle, and the periodic kiss that was never held for more than a few seconds. Nothing with the aggression and lust that was present in the moment prior.

"It's ok… I think? I'm just glad you aren't fighting anymore. I want you and Naruto to be happy again." Naho stuttered out cutely while trying to get her cheeks to cool down from the near permanent blush that was stuck on it with Hinata basically doing the same thing. "Naho… I'm sorry you saw us fighting… much less being so affectionate with each other in such an aggressive manner. That was inappropriate for someone your age to see." Naruto apologized as well as he bowed low to the crowned princess who blushed once more at her first friend and not so secret crush bowing to her.

"It's ok Naruto… I won't ask what that was you two were just doing. I'm too embarrassed to ask and I'm sure you are too. But all I want to know is if you're both still angry with each other?" The very intelligent little girl spoke eloquently as she brushed aside the embarrassing situation to save all those present further mortification which the young teenagers were grateful for as they both responded to her question allaying her fears and putting them to rest.

"I'm glad you two aren't fighting anymore. I can tell that you haven't been happy ever since my father spoke to you… I've never seen him like that before. I don't think he's ever been that forward before… I've never seen him do that to anyone I know, but then again I don't really know anyone, so I guess my perspective is rather limited…" The princess wilted as she didn't have as much exposure and experience in dealing with her father's more eccentric and sporadic behaviors that was so bold and obtrusive. She also didn't have any friends that he would openly manipulate for her benefit either.

"It's perfectly ok Naho… we don't blame you for your father's actions. What he's done is mean and wrong, but we won't stop fighting. I promise." Naruto said gently as he placed his hands on Naho's shoulders while squatting down to her height which caused an enormous blush to plaster itself onto the princess's face. Their faces were closer to each other now, not terribly close as Naruto wasn't invading the girl's personal space to any degree but for the young sheltered girl this contact and intimacy was new to her. The only boy who was ever older than her to get this familiar with her was her beloved older brother.

"Ahem…" Hinata coughed roughly which caused a bolt of fear to shoot up Naruto's spine as he looked over his shoulder to see his girlfriend giving him her cute pouting face with her glare in full affect. It was the cutest thing that she could ever do to him Naruto reasoned to himself a while back as she tapped her foot on the ground and gestured to the blushing face of the princess and his own actions. They've mentioned it before back when they had dinner at Hinata's house about Naho's affections for him and how his actions impact her.

With a nervous laugh Naruto straightened himself out while scratching the back of his head. A sharp pinch to his cheek was his punishment as Hinata walked ahead of him and gently grabbed the princess's hand to lead her on as they began walking out of the side alleyway.

"I say we got exploring my lady… we've gotten quite distracted from our original goal." Hinata spoke softly to the little princess who simply basked in the unfamiliar contact of being escorted by a girl not much older than her. The vast majority of the attendants that she had were all late into their teens or young adults while the rest were middle aged or elderly mature women. She didn't have any peer's her age. Hinata was deliberately not looking at her boyfriend and purposefully walking ahead of him which Naruto instantly picked up on.

He knew that she was playfully being jealous right now and punishing him still for their earlier argument and the aftermath. He was in the dog house now and would have to crawl his way back out. In the back of his mind nothing compared to how cute and terrifying his girlfriend could be when she took charge of their relationship like this. To be honest it made him proud to see her breaking out of her shell in terms of her usual meek and shy personality. Even before getting together she was still very submissive in their friendship and usually never challenged him directly on too many occasions. She's been gaining confidence and pride in herself for a while now and it made Naruto proud to see it. In the back of his mind he also found it quite hot and very attractive to have her become more bold and assertive in these relatively simple matters.

He also didn't mind the amazing view he was getting from the back by seeing Hinata walk ahead of him in her tight forming fitting capri pants, even if he somehow knew that she relished in the thought of him ogling her backside while she walked he knew that now was not the time to bring this factor up or make it known. That could easily backfire given how charged their hormones were.

"Hey! Hinata, wait up!"

Local Park / Turquoise Cove

An hour later the wandering group of children found themselves in the local park of the town near the waterfront to the open ocean. The park was filled with greenery and fresh sea air while lots of plants and vegetation grew all throughout the area. The place was as beautiful as it was peaceful as the three kids sat at a local bench in the far corner of the park that was remote and far removed from the heavily trafficked areas where pedestrians and civilians traveled.

They didn't want anyone to recognize them let alone the crowned princess of their country so sticking to areas away from the general public would be best unless she was in a proper disguise. The beautiful princess was currently sitting in between Naruto and Hinata who were watching the little girl in fond contentment as she eagerly devoured an ice-cream cone with the enthusiasm only an innocent child could possess. "Tastes good my lady?" Hinata asked gently as she watched the eyes of the young princess sparkle in excitement as she shook her head yes. "I never knew these treats could taste so good or that they could come in so many different flavors." Naho squealed as she started eating the cone the ice cream was placed in with equal gusto as before.

"I still can't believe my father would allow me to come out here unattended with you two on your vacation. It's not very like him at all. Not that I'm complaining of course." Naho pondered out loud but blushed towards the end in spite as she was more than happy to get away from the dozens of maids and attendants who would suffocate her with the overbearing amounts of care that they would shower her with. It was a lot and completely unnecessary as far as the intelligent young girl was concerned.

Naruto and Hinata on the other hand shared a brief look with each other as they knew that Saitou even now was scheming and planning something with them. Shortly after having his second meeting with the Hokage and her close confidants the Daimyō ordered Naruto and Hinata back to the meeting room. He declared that in light of how stressful their recent missions have been and as a dual 'apology and thank you' for their service to the country as well as the scene in the first meeting earlier that day that he would be placing them on mandatory leave for two weeks and giving them that time to take a vacation.

The young Chūnin were instantly suspicious of the Daimyō and they did little to hide it from their faces as Naruto insisted on Hinata being allowed to join him as he wasn't going to put it pass the Daimyō to try to split them apart somehow which was a sentiment everyone in the room noticed but didn't comment on. They got even more suspicious of the fact that he had already picked out a place for their vacation which was in a placed called Turquoise Cove which was a place they had never heard of before located in the Land of Hot Water.

They knew the Daimyō was working an angle on them but for the life of them they couldn't figure out what and directly speaking out against him to question his motives was an absolute no go and even Naruto who was ready to shoot his mouth off knew that it would do them far more harm than good if he were to speak up then. With Shoko adding herself to the party and mentioning that Anko would be joining them it eased Naruto's mind some to know that his beloved mother figure and sister would be joining him to have his back despite the current negative feelings he was feeling for the kind hearted woman. The last minute interjection and inclusion of Naho secretly to their private family only vacation certainly threw the group for a loop as it was completely unheard of for one of the members of the royal family to travel anywhere without the rest of the family and the Guardian Shinobi with them. Let alone the entire army of maids and servants that accompany each member.

They were leaving the protection of the crowned princess of the Fire Country up to an extremely world renowned Kage level kunoichi which was comforting, a well renowned Special Jōnin and premiere kunoichi of the village, and two recent Chūnin who were also politically important in their own right. Add to the fact that this was last minute and that no one was to know that Naho was even traveling with them and you get two very paranoid Chūnin who knew they were metaphorically being bent over a table and screwed with.

This was a test by the Daimyō to see if his little girl could get closer to Naruto during the trip to further enhance his plans and undermine Naruto's relationship with Hinata while simultaneously testing their virtue out in the field by how well they could protect her and take care of her needs. She was an extremely high value target which was why she never left the royal palace without any of her guards at any point in her entire lifetime. This knowledge pissed the young couple off immensely as this was supposed to be a family only vacation but even know they were being used and they couldn't do anything about it.

"Naho… I think its time you met some friends your own age… and it's about time I told you a secret about me that you didn't know yet." Naruto murmured as he finished his own ice cream cone and grabbed the summoned toad that was still laying down resting within the hoody of his sweater. The plump amphibian was weighing down the back of his neck for quite some time now since his pockets weren't big enough to comfortably store the little aquatic animal.

Knowing now was the time and what her boyfriend was about to do Hinata took Naho's unused hand and gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. This overly familiar physical contact with the crowned princess would ordinarily not be allowed if the full staff of her servants and guards were around with them but Hinata didn't have to worry about those rules and she could tell that Naho relished in the unfamiliar yet comfortable feelings these simple gestures caused. Naruto was only able to get away with being so familiar with Naho the time he showed her around the village was because the guards were under strict orders to observe Naruto in his outing and to not directly interfere unless he tried to hurt her. He wasn't aware of how uncomfortable and tense he had made her staff and guards back then as he took her to that local restaurant and zoo while being physically affectionate to a degree with the girl such as holding her in his arms and on his shoulders so that she could reach closer to the animals in the amusement zoo.

It was a stressful nightmare for the staff of attendants and guards while Naruto went blissfully unaware of the discomfort he was causing the others and luckily that oppressive atmosphere wasn't present here as the protection and attendants of the princess was left entirely up to the four shinobi present with her and more importantly for the young couple who were in the Daimyō's cross-hairs.

Waving his hand over two accessories on his body that the princess didn't pay much attention to at first caused her eyes to nearly pop out of her skull when physical distortions across his body rippled out into the atmosphere around them as two girls materialized right before her eyes.

The first was Iris who opened her crystal-clear blue eyes to the world with a beautiful smile accompanying her. The empathetic and kind hearted daughter of Naruto was wearing one of her signature dresses that emphasized her style and personal taste to the letter. She had on a pink overcoat dress with white ruffle fabric on its edges that had red laced string going through the center of it sewing it into the rest of the material. Underneath this easy on the eyes pink dress was a longer more fuller light pink almost white multi-tiered and layered ruffled dress that went down to her knees and had ruffles sewed on at the edges with each edge of the layer of the dress alternating between white and yellow.

Tiny red ribbons cuffed her sleeves around her wrists opening up the outer pink coat dress to the inner dress on the inside while a larger bow was present at the collar of her dress around her chest. Wrapped tightly around her small waist was a large red bow that was fixed to the small of her back with the ends trailing down her back in ribbons. With her signature bow in her hair and her favorite teddy bear in her arms Iris's look was complete while Chaos on the other hand went with a slightly different look in comparison to her twin.

Chaos went with an off the shoulder baby blue two layered shirt with elbow length ruffled sleeves with the inner layer being white as well as a matching knee length skirt. Her long knee length full volume hair was groomed to perfection as it blew in the nearby sea breeze.

Naho was instantly rendered speechless by the spectacle before her and even more so when she accidentally laid eyes on Iris for the first time. The young girl's divinity had the princess rooted to the spot like all previous individuals who gaze intently with purpose on Iris's visage for the first time. Whenever someone looks upon Iris and brings their full concentration down on her for the first time, they are usually rooted to the spot by the fact they are compelled to gaze at her because of her very nature.

'She's stunning…' Naho murmured to herself seemingly in her mind but the other's heard the whisper escape the girl's mouth. A permanent blush was on Naho's cheeks as she distractedly heard Chaos start to giggle uncontrollably while Iris blushed in embarrassment and flattery. "Hey sweetie… can you turn down the brightness a bit? You're doing it again." Naruto grinned in amusement while patting his daughter on her head getting a content sigh to escape the girl's mouth. Naruto understood better than anyone the various side effects being in contact with both of his daughters could cause to those that just meet them. They were very powerful and hard to ignore. He himself being the very first victim the day that he found them in the forest all those years ago.

"Sorry… about that." Iris spoke with her rich accent as she blinked her eyes while staring at Naho's which caused the girl to grab her head in confusion as the weird feeling of awe that was flowing into her suddenly stopped. "What was that? What's going on?" Naho mumbled as she took in the girl's appearances once more now that she wasn't being affected by either of their aura's and she still reached the same conclusion that both girls were stunningly beautiful for their ages. 'Who are they and how do they know Naruto?' Naho mused as she could quickly deduce that they were at least a year younger than her if not by an extra year. 'More importantly, why do they look so much like him?' The very intelligent young princess asked herself as she could see a very strong resemblance between Naruto and his daughters. Their features were unnervingly similar in many aspects even if they still retained a lot of 'otherworldly' charm and beauty.

"Naho I'd like you to meet my two twin daughter's Iris and Chaos." To say that Naho's very intelligent brain had a hard crash and reboot would be an understatement. She inherited a very powerful brain from her father and forefathers who are all extremely intelligent individuals with cunning smarts, strategic thinkers, and very multi-faceted individuals. They were the closest bloodline of intelligent individuals who could even be mentioned in the same sentence as the Nara Clan of shinobi.

It took nearly twenty minutes for Naruto and Hinata to fully explain to the princess the exact circumstances surrounding Naruto's life and his very important relationship with his daughters. The royal girl was left speechless by some of the details while Naruto left out certain facts of their origins and powers that did not need to be shared. Naho's brain only continued to spiral out of control when Naruto unsealed the rest of his children from the shop toad that dismissed itself back to the summoning realm allowing the princess to get a view of the rest of Naruto's kids.

It took her nearly another twenty minutes before she could come to terms with what she was told as she tried to mingle with the group of kids her age as well as the older witch that accompanied them but Naruto and Hinata got a surprise of their own when an additional guest made themselves known to them. Henrietta was with the group as she managed to convince Anko and Aria to take her along once she heard what the Special Jōnin's mission was.

Being surrounded by a large diverse group of individuals which also included a tiny little fairy in Eva who couldn't help but introduce herself caused the young princess to become faint who collapsed to her knees in exasperation as her brain comically fried itself to death. This was too much for the girl to handle as most of the children crowded her and began showering her with genuine attention she's never received before.

While the children were busy befriending Naho and causing her to comically spin out Naruto was greeting Aria and Henrietta who were giddy at the thought of being together again with Hinata and Eva as a group. The group of older children sat down in the grass of the park and talked for nearly an hour using that time to catch up with each other and their lives.

Aria had been busy teaching the children how to balance out their inherent Yōki and Chakra as half demons. By this point she had properly trained all six children on how to use the Transformation Jutsu to hide their demonic appendages and appearances with even Ai despite only being four years old managing to complete this task as well. As for her older siblings Asagi, Roku, and Dai all managed to perform the Clone Jutsu technique and the Substitution Jutsu with relative ease. Asagi was quite proficient with the Clone technique being a girl with a naturally more smaller and controlled chakra reserve while the twins mastered the Substitution technique to such an extent that they could instantaneously switch between each other without hand seals due to their connections as identical twins. Moegi and Shion on the other hand have become fairly proficient in the two techniques but not quite to the same extent as their older siblings yet.

To say that Naruto was a proud father upon hearing that statement would be the equivalent of saying the sky was blue. The six hanyou children to various degrees bragged to their father of their accomplishments but their words were swallowed up in a sea of orange as Naruto summoned a gang of shadow clones to smother them in hugs and praises. Of course, the very next course of action to be taken would be by Chaos who proceeded to scare and chase the children around particularly singling out Shion along the way as he was her favorite sibling to torment as she used the roughhousing as an excuse to absorb their fear and negative energy.

Meanwhile, Henrietta and Hinata exchanged stories with each other filling the group in on what they've been up too as Henrietta threw in the more heated moments between her and Naruto during their long mission in the Land of Snow. The progress that the marionette girl made was quite a shocker to the other girls who squealed and congratulated the chestnut-haired girl on her progress with the boy of their collective lives. The girl was initially worried Hinata would be quite upset at Henrietta for making her moves in to forward of a manner but was shocked by the fact that Hinata thanked her for snapping Naruto out of his hyperventilated shock during the battle of Shirakawa Town. If she didn't act on her instincts and did what she did then there was a real possibility that something worse could have happened to Naruto and for that Hinata was thankful to her best friend.

Deep down Hinata knew she couldn't keep Henrietta from exploring her feelings for Naruto. It would be wrong and cruel of her to do so, not to mention if her father or someone else tried to prevent her from pursuing her friendship or feelings for Naruto she would be devastated and prone to probably acting impulsively. The girl's feelings were growing stronger and their three-month mission in the Land of Snow has only exasperating these emotions. It was only a matter of time before the two of them decided to take things to the next level and start dating. When that time came Hinata was more than willing to give her best friend her blessings and encouragement in that department.

Henrietta couldn't be happier at these turn of events and was extremely happy her best friend supported her feelings for Naruto. Of course, they were all aware of their feelings for Naruto and had agreed to support each other in their endeavors instead of fighting over him and with each other like Sasuke's fangirls did back in the academy. But as they had all predicted a long time ago Hinata would be the first to get together with Naruto since Eva was technically Naruto's other half and their relationship was already secure even if they didn't express their romantic feelings publicly a lot. Aria's feelings for Naruto weren't as strong romantically yet she still retained some for her master who she had a strong loyalty and hero worship for. Henrietta on the other hand had similar feelings for Naruto that Hinata had. Her respect and hero worship for Naruto drove her feelings to evolve over time.

As the conversation progressed further with Naruto embarrassingly caught in the middle as the girls gossiped about their feelings for him Henrietta chose that moment to bring up the secondary reason on why she decided to tag along with the children.

Lord Dino had assigned her and Naruto an assignment to weed out a criminal cell of what their intelligence had confirmed was Black Sun criminals who were setting up base in Turquoise Cove, using its city port as their staging area to smuggle their usual contraband into the local country. With both local and the more nearby international trade routes using the city as a stop off point in their journeys it made perfect sense to set up shop in such a strategic location. Their intel traced back the recent surge of criminal activity sprouting up across the tourist country as originating from Turquoise Cove.

It didn't take Naruto even half a second to put the pieces together right away of the bigger picture. The Fire Daimyō was using him for his own personal use to clear out the bandits and criminal activity in the town. It was without a doubt not a coincidence that Saitou out of the blue sends him on an abrupt vacation with his daughter of all people to a remote resort city in the Land of Hot Water that his boss Lord Dino just so happened to want him to conduct a mission in because it was apparently infested with criminal activity.

A ninja couldn't believe in coincidences. Everything happens for a reason based on a cause and effect, a ninja who doesn't trust in his own gut and ignores warning signs and evidence around him will end up dead before long. Naruto himself based upon his hatred filled upbringing never believed in coincidences to begin with. His instincts and years on the job as both a shinobi and a mafia agent as well as his street survival skills screamed at him that this entire situation was fixed for the benefits of others.

Rage filled him quickly but just as quick as it came it also was squashed down under a lid of Naruto's mental choosing as he couldn't afford to lose his temper here and now. Chaos was too close by and he couldn't risk infecting her with his negative energy. Not to mention Naho and his children were present. He didn't want to show that kind of persona around these impressionable children. Naho was just witness to his more aggressive and confrontational side with his fight with Hinata earlier. He didn't want to put out the precedent that this was a staple of his personality. He wasn't prone to this kind of behavior… although… Naruto did feel hollow on the inside as he wasn't sure if he was trying to rightfully justify his stance or to just comfort himself within his own denial.

The Next Day: Sapphire Seaside Resort & Spa / Turquoise Cove

The next morning was hectic to say the least. The hotel they were staying in was an expensive well-furnished building and one of the premier hotel brands in the entire town with its plot of land sitting right on the beach front to the town's main beach giving it prime real estate ahead of its competing competition. Unfortunately, their large group was already drawing some attention and not wanting to paint a bigger target on their back by spending a lot of money they decided to only rent out two rooms for their group's use.

This inherently came with a lot of problems as Shoko, Anko, Aria, and Henrietta took the first room while Naruto, Hinata, and Naho were going to take the second. However, with the addition of the kids it quickly became and issue of space. The king size bed in Naruto's suite was stretched to its limits as everyone tried to pile onto the bed in what became a tight fit.

Waking up early in the morning Naruto was greeted to the warm sight of Hinata just less than two feet away next to him with Iris and Ai snuggled up into her embrace while Chaos and Moegi were clamped down on his chest and arm respectably. Naho was purposefully placed in between the couple so that they could better keep an eye on her in case of attack. Asagi, Roku, Dai, and Shion all managed to fit onto the bed at odd angles with them towards the foot of the bed leaving no space uncovered.

If not for the space between them Naruto would have leaned over to kiss Hinata. Instead he settled for the equally rewarding task of planting kisses on both Chaos's and Moegi's foreheads who both stirred in their sleep briefly before automatically snuggling further into his embrace. Of course, he had no idea how Chaos was even moving or responding to outside stimulus since she was supposed to be turned off during nighttime. Her somewhat loud snores and creepy giggles that escaped her lips during the night perturbed everyone who knew about them except Naruto who has been used to her unexplainable weird behavior ever since she was first born. He still maintains the stance that she's screwing with him since she shouldn't even be able to move during the night.

Switching places with a spawned in clone Naruto quickly took care of his morning hygiene before returning to the main room dressed for the day. He was sure everyone was still asleep, but he was greeted by the sight of Hinata awake and very much aware of his presence. With Naruto's aid and using his same tactic Hinata found herself outside the bed and away from the death grip and clutches of the children around them.

A peck on the lips was his good morning surprise from Hinata who blushed at her own boldness since she was just in her nightwear. The whole scene reminded her of months prior when they were searching for Tsunade and they used the master suite in the Tanzaku Castle to rest that one night. Naruto and Hinata had shared the bed that night with Chaos in his arms and Iris in hers, the exact same way as it was today.

"Good morning beautiful…" Naruto was in a much better mood than the day prior and it showed in his own boldness as he returned Hinata's affections with one of his own that was much longer than the one she gave him causing his girlfriend to squeak in delight into both his kiss and embrace as he brought her in close for a hug. Both teens were blushing bright red at their forward advances on each other, but Naruto had a much more composed aura about him in comparison to his partner who was still swooning and nearly ready to pass out at the romantic gesture.

"Good-morn-ing Naruto…!" Hinata's stutter was back with a vengeance as it took her a few minutes to regain her initial composure which wasn't helped at all by Naruto's teasing pecks to her cheeks which was making it nearly impossible for her to concentrate on anything that crossed her mind.

"Are you satisfied with your talk with Shoko from last night? Are you excited about this morning?" Hinata probed as she finally managed to regain her composure. Later on in the day prior the group had made their way to the hotel to properly check in and to make a plan on how to deal with the protection of Naho, handling this abrupt mission that was dropped into Naruto's lap, and to enjoy their 'vacation' with the large group that they had. Plan's were drawn up and agreed upon throughout the rest of the day before Naruto abruptly pulled Shoko off to the side away from everyone else.

A lot was said between the mother and son duo as Hinata had convinced Naruto to reconcile with Shoko both because of their fight and a more calm discussion that they had later in the day away from the others before returning to the hotel. Deep down Naruto wanted this rift to close too so he wasted little time in speaking to his surrogate mother in private.

He had finally come clean and expressed his insecurities and real feelings on the matters that were weighing down on his heart and mind. He explained to her just how hurt and betrayed he had felt by her actions and how vulnerable and overwhelmed it all was making him feel. It wasn't often that he expressed himself in such a manner and it showed in the copious amounts of tears that he shed in their private conversation and it didn't take much at all for Shoko to be in the same boat as she expressed her side of the issue and cleared the air between them.

Naruto was glad for his mother's words and actions in closing the gap between them but he still had a lot of pent up physical anger and aggression to shave off so he asked her to spar with him so that he can finally shed the excess emotional weight holding him down. He still wanted to metaphorically hit her and let her have it for putting him through this turmoil and internally Shoko understood what was being asked of her.

An hour after sun down the hotel and entire beachfront was buffeted by violent winds coming from the ocean as Naruto and Shoko who were about two miles off the coast sparing on the surface of the ocean were going at it with everything they had, or least in Naruto's case. Shoko had plenty in reserve compared to her son despite how powerful he was becoming but that admittedly became slightly more difficult when he tapped into the Nine Tails Chakra.

3 hours later the rest of the group was there to greet the two missing members in the lobby of the hotel where the powerful mother son duo were battered and bruised by their mutually inflicted injuries. The group barely had any words to describe the state they were in and other than just calling it sparring Naruto and Shoko refused to elaborate further as they decided to call it a night not to long after finally returning.

Of course, the two decided that in the morning they would have a mother and son breakfast date so that they could bond and finally spend some quality time together after three long months apart from each other and better yet, it would just be the two of them. Come morning they were both excited and it showed on Naruto's face who smiled at Hinata who hugged him back even tighter.

"I am… I can't wait to finally spend some quality time together. I hope it reminds us of old times when either me and Shoko or Anko would just eat out together and talk. It was peaceful and looking back at it now it definitely took some unknown weight off my shoulders back then." Naruto admitted which earned him a nod of understanding from his girlfriend. "I'm happy for you Naruto… I know you'll have fun together this morning. Just try not to blow away the building during breakfast." Hinata teased as the hotel staff had no idea how to justify or explain the massive gusts of wind slamming into the side of their building during the evening hours. The local authorities tried to justify it as local tropical storm winds even though there weren't any storms reported into the area and definitely none anticipated for the next few weeks either.

Chuckling in joy Naruto pinched Hinata's cheeks lightly in retribution earning him a muted squeal and squirming wiggle from the slightly shorter and smaller girl as she tried to escape his grasp. Giggles escaped her lips before they were covered once more by Naruto's causing the heiress's legs to melt beneath her. Moaning into the kiss Hinata once more pressed Naruto up against the wall in the bedroom causing both teens to blush violet red in embarrassment but a magnetizing attraction was keeping them from pulling away like they normally use too.

With no space between them and still receiving and giving light pecks between them the young couple continued their conversation. "How was Naho last night… I'm sorry I practically passed out last night as soon as I hit the bed. Going absolutely all out against Shoko completely wiped me out." Naruto murmured into the kisses he couldn't stop giving Hinata as she replied equally without hesitation. "She was embarrassed and quite mystified at how rowdy we can all be around bedtime. She was even more embarrassed at having to share a bed with someone else, let alone an entire group of individuals. Though we both know she was probably thinking of you the entire night. She kept speaking to me for at least an hour after everyone else had finally gone to sleep." Hinata answered as the princess had a tough time getting to sleep what so many other kids snuggled up into her frame and knowing that Naruto was one body length away from her was enough for steam to come out of the princess's ears.

A choked laugh escaped Naruto's lips before Hinata muted it with her own as the young teens knew they were playing a dangerous game both with Naho and with themselves right now. They had to keep her close at all conceivable times and the princess herself insisted on staying with them in their room when Shoko had initially offered to watch over the girl.

"If she was overwhelmed by that, then she has no idea what she's in for when everyone wakes up. Our morning rituals are insane." Naruto snickered with Hinata joining him in agreement as morning time in the Uzumaki household was like spending the day at a circus or zoo. It was wild and chaotic… and that was before Naruto had adopted his six new children… with them in the picture it would be a living nightmare to anyone who didn't already live with them.

"Do you need me to stay and help you take care of everyone when they wake up?" Naruto politely asked as he had the broken cheat code of using Shadow Clones to help him managed the army of rowdy children who outnumbered him on a daily basis. Hinata's only ever offered her assistance on the odd occasion that she arrived at his apartment in the morning. She was never the one leading the morning charge and he was always there to help… this time it would be different.

"I'm ok… I've got this. I don't want you to be late for your breakfast date." Hinata smiled gently up at Naruto whose entire body posture relaxed in her embrace. They were roughly the same height but Hinata had to raise her head and eyes every so slightly up to look into Naruto's own since he undoubtedly got taller during the mission to the Land of Snow. He was beginning his first growth spurt. "You sure…? You've got this?" He questioned just to make sure since Hinata could easily become overwhelmed in the long run but a more stubborn and forceful kiss to his lips silenced any protest he may have had.

"I've got this Naruto… I don't want you to have to worry. You know how Ms. Shoko can fret with these things. She's probably freaking out on what to wear and how to act even though the two of you spend so much time together. Go spend time with your mother. It's something I want to become normal for you. You've earned it." Hinata cooed as she nuzzled her cheek into Naruto's causing tiny unnoticed tears to well up in his eyes. The way she had worded her statement tugged at his heartstrings as it was nice to be on better terms with Shoko now that the air was cleared between them and the fact that they acknowledge each other as adopted mother and son was the icing on the cake.

"Thanks, Hinata… you're the best you know that?" Naruto grinned softly at his girlfriend as he felt her open the door behind them with her unused hand before stepping away from the entrance to allow it to swing open into the room. "I know… but I like it when you tell me that." Hinata cheekily teased while reciting a quote that they had both said to each other on their very first date. Picking up on the significance of this Naruto planted a firm heat inducing kiss onto Hinata's lips causing her to be rooted to the spot out of sheer reflex and how she normally reacts so strongly to his actions.

"Hinata… I know that there's a lot going on recently with everything but when we find the time later on this fake vacation would you like to go on another real date with me?" Naruto asked in a very soft, embarrassed, and insecure tone of voice. He tired to be more smooth and suave with his pick up and delivery but just like his beloved girlfriend whenever it came time to emotional cues between them, they always found a way to tear down each other's emotional walls without even trying, often reducing each other to shy kids.

His delivery was heartfelt in the end though which was all that could ever be said between the two partners who trusted each other with everything they had. A beautiful and radiant smile bloomed on Hinata's face taking Naruto's breath away and leaving him speechless. There was more pure love than lust in Hinata's eyes at this point who smashed an unsuspecting kiss down onto his lips without warning. "Yes! Yes! Yes! A million times yes! I'd love to Naruto!" Hinata punctuated each succession of the word yes with another passionate kiss that pushed Naruto further out of their hotel room and into the hallway.

"We'll definitely go out the first chance we get sweetie. Now go enjoy the cute date you have ahead of you ok. I'll take care of the kids." Hinata beamed in happiness that brought a warmth of such magnitude to Naruto's heart and soul that he couldn't even vocalize it. "I will." It was the only thing that needed to be said between the couple as Naruto leaned in and left Hinata with the softest peck yet that contained none of their earlier hormone induced lust filled kisses and was just a culmination of their feelings for each other and the love that they felt. It was pure and got the message across just fine.

Turquoise Cove / Shopping District Center

The casual breakfast date between surrogate mother and son went off without a hitch quickly becoming better than either individual thought possible. Shoko wasted no time in filling Naruto's head with heartwarming stories of his parents from their childhood back in the academy and Shoko's beginning friendship with them.

It filled his heart with a warmth and completeness that he knew he was missing all his life to finally hear about his parents and to experience what they were like from the first-hand accounts of a person who actually knew them and was close to them. To hear that his mother was an absolute tomboy and tyrant to any who dared to bully her or others in her presence filled Naruto's soul with pride as she would put any would be bully in their place with her superior skills and rowdy nature. To know she was also a master of pranks and loved ramen had a profound effect on how Naruto viewed himself.

To also hear that he shared many similarities with his father other than his looks filled Naruto with the utmost pride in himself that he could be compared to the Fourth Hokage. They both shared an unmatched intelligence and shrewd behavior in how they approached the shinobi lifestyle. Developing and polishing their fighting style that were both speed based also made Naruto feel more connected to his own father in return.

As far as Hinata was concerned she had a blast taking care of the small army of children. Deep in her heart it made her feel like a real mother which was one of her deepest wishes for when she grows up. Having this many children, who were her adoptive children to take care of was like a dream come true to Hinata who admitted to herself that she was a bit overwhelmed with meeting all of their demands but she didn't count herself out as she delegated some of the tasks to Asagi, Roku, and Dai to accomplish while she personally handled the younger children including little Ai who needed to drink a special formula filled with minerals and proteins found in underwater plants and fish mixed in with milk to keep her healthy as well as the need for her to be placed in water to keep her skin hydrated.

It was a lot but with the addition of Aria, Henrietta, and Eva lending a helping hand Hinata was able to keep things under control for the group. The first person she handled was Chaos for obvious reasons and then Iris allowing the two sisters to be placated for the time being. As Naruto and Hinata had predicted earlier Naho was completely at a lost when she woke up to the chaotic morning rituals of the Uzumaki family. The royal princess had over a dozen handmaidens to tend to her every need from morning till night and the process was usually performed in an orderly fashion with all of her needs tended to down to the last-minute detail throughout the day.

In this case it was a free for all that somehow had a sense of coordination and organization to it. She vied for her own independence everyday as the stifling nature of her servants was generally annoying to the young girl who chafed at some of her own privilege but now exposed for the first time in her life without servants on call was a new and frightening experience for the princess. Picking up on the discomfort the nervous little girl was exhibiting from her own personal experience Hinata quickly scooped her up into her orbit as she helped the young girl take a bath alongside the other children and tend to her other hygiene needs including brushing her teeth and brushing her surprisingly long and thick brown hair that was usually styled up into her twin large sized buns.

Out of all the children present Hinata had to spend the most time on Naho, Moegi, Ai, and her favorite twins Iris and Chaos. Moegi was someone you had to take your time with as she rejected physical contact with those she was unfamiliar with which was a barrier Hinata had to slowly break down with the coaxing of her siblings while Ai was still a toddler and needed special attention in the water due to her aquatic nature. Iris and Chaos and their needs were nothing new to Hinata who has taken many baths with the twins over the years and understood their nuances and habits like the back of her hand to the same degree she knew Hanabi's.

Naho herself was initially embarrassed to being taken care of by a girl as gentle and as kind as Hinata, but she soon warmed up to the more friendly and kind treatment of her new friend who she was quickly growing very attached too. Looking around her and seeing the other older children enjoying themselves in the large bath that the expensive master suite provided them with allowed Naho to loosen up herself as Henrietta and Aria chatted up Hinata while sitting next to each other in the bath tending to any of the children who needed help while just generally allowing them the rest of the space to splash water and play with each other. Eva's perverted comments about being able to comfortably see Hinata's naked body at the beginning of the bath time luckily went over the little princess's head much to Hinata's relief as she scolded her tiny best friend and girlfriend who only grinned in return.

It wasn't long before everyone was ready to face the rest of the day as the large group met up with Naruto and Shoko in the downstairs restaurant that the resort had in its facility. As one the entire group left the building to explore the town in the early morning air. Shoko had informed the rest of the group that Anko was out scouting the town for any suspicious criminal activity on behalf of Naruto and Henrietta. Naruto himself had added about three dozen disguised Shadow Clones to the mix who were scattered throughout the town with even a few small groups leaving to spread out to other nearby towns and settlements to cover more ground.

In the meantime, the group acted normally as they took in all the sights of the tourist heavy city that its home country was known for. There was a lot to do including kid friendly attractions and sights that would appeal to children of all ages. Naruto naturally gravitated more to this demographic as he wanted to spend as much time with all of his children as possible. It was an enjoyable time that melted away all of the stress and negative feelings harboring themselves at the bottom of his heart as he hasn't had a chance to just relax with his children in a while, let alone actually act his age as a child/teenager himself. Of course, he had some time with them when traveling back from the Land of Snow while riding on Hōrai Island, but even then, he was still decompressing from the challenging mission and tending to his citizens. By comparison now he was less chained down, despite having to weed out more criminals.

Of course, being in a group that was completely dominated numbers wise by females meant that Naruto and his only three sons soon found themselves in more feminine stores and the clothing isles of one to many fashion parlors. It was mostly annoying and boring for the boys to see their sisters dressing up in different clothing since they were all so close that clothing really wasn't a priority for them. Shion out of the three was of course shy and embarrassed at Hinata and the older girls switching into different trendy and beautiful clothing.

Naruto on the other hand was fighting down a massive blush of embarrassment and frustration as it was too much for him to see his beloved girlfriend and other friends that he was attracted to changing into so many appealing designs and clothing that all enhanced their beauty to the next level. It also didn't help matters that Shoko was getting in on the fun and she was turning heads of every male and female in the vicinity no matter where she went. Her body proportions and her overall stunning appearance was snapping the necks of any hot-blooded male to even lay a glance at her, especially as she changed into more mature and adult choices that could kill a man on sight.

Naruto was no exception as the tight form fitting pants his mother was wearing was causing his legs to go numb as she teasingly posed for him while showing just what the jeans were doing to her butt causing at least one fellow male patron in the store to pass out. Never mind her enormous chest that was being molded to the very fashionable shirts and dresses she was wearing. No one was safe with the Titan out shopping with her children.

As much as Shoko was a walking natural disaster to every single and taken man and the occasional spry women in the area Naruto was still being caught off guard by Hinata and her choices in clothing. Despite her more shy and generally reserved nature she was quite a fashionable girl with excellent tastes which was an interest that he thought only Sakura and Ino took any mastery in. Her very tight and shapely butt was drawing him in like a moth to a flame and the tiny teasing amounts of cleavage that some of the shirts she was changing into exposed was leaving his mouth feeling dry. He wasn't sure if she was trying to send him to an early grave on purpose or not but everything she was innocently or not so innocently doing based upon the giggling, squealing, blushing, and conspiring he could hear coming from the group of girls was effectively working… a little too well he might add. He was dying a slow and pleasurable death.

It also didn't help that Henrietta and Aria were clearly joining in on the fun instead of just egging Hinata on as Naruto could from experience say that Henrietta had an amazing butt that was an equal match for Hinata's in every department. She was just as slender as her best friend but she lacked the growing and blossoming assets that Hinata had since most of Henrietta's body was made up of prosthetics using Puppetry Ninjutsu as its base so her body lacked a lot of nutrients leading her to stagnate in her development and remain petite in certain areas such as her breast. It was only because of the fact she worked out vigorously every day to ensure her body was functioning properly that allowed her to sculpt her posterior into what it is today. Lastly, as far as Aria was concerned the teenage witch was overall very busty for her age with curves other teenage girls would kill for.

The moment that the large group of girls was finished was the moment of Naruto's damnation and salvation as he wasn't sure how much more of that feminine torture he could take. His soul was saddened at the fact they were leaving those glorious sights behind which only caused Naruto to curse his hormones and funny enough Jiraiya's influence on him while he was also relieved to a certain extent. Seeing Naho trying on a few cute kid friendly clothes alongside Iris and Chaos to innocently gain his attention was simultaneously heartwarming and soul crushing at the same time.

Turquoise Cove / Sapphire Private Beach

It didn't take the large group long to eventually migrate their way to a private beach that they rented out through the resort for their personal use. Anko had met up with them along the way which Naruto was eternally grateful for as he was sure he would have died back at the store if Anko was allowed to play dress up.

The beach was beautiful with golden sand and crystal-clear ocean water washing ashore with calm tides. It was the perfect place to cut loose as Naruto and the boys were the first onto the beach as they waited for the female members of their family to join them. He was hoping to get in some swimming lessons with his children as a fun way for them to have fun and bond as a family.

A few minutes later the rest of the girls arrived to join the woefully outnumbered boys and the second Naruto's eyes met the approaching group his mind completely crashed never to be recovered again. His eyes immediately zeroed in on his beloved girlfriend and Naruto was rendered mute by how stunning and beautiful Hinata was in her swimsuit.

She was wearing a bright sky-blue two-piece bikini set that was showing off everything that Naruto was interested in seeing. Covering her chest was the blue top that covered her breast in a more push up bra style with thicker straps around her shoulders that tied around her back in playful ribbons for a girl her age. The top emphasized Hinata's budding assets leaving Naruto sweating while the bottoms were hidden by a skirt of the same coloration with two dark blue layered bands at the top of the waist. On the cloth of the skirt itself was three white lilies printed onto the fabric. To finish off her look Hinata somehow found and was now wearing an orange Uzumaki spiral pendant around her neck that fell into the growing valley of her cleavage. The style of bikini swimwear she was wearing was referred to as the Skirtini in the fashion world due to the inclusion of a skirt instead of the typical bikini bottom that is now hidden.

Hinata's entire visage left Naruto dead to the world as he has never seen Hinata looking more attractive to him than in this moment. It's been a very long time since he's seen her in such a state of undress under these conditions and back then she wasn't as developed as she was now. His mind could only shudder in pleasure at the thought of what she'd look like in just a few short years since she was developing far faster than the rest of their classmates.

Henrietta was next standing right near Hinata drawing his attention over to her in an instant. The chestnut-haired girl was wearing a multicolored blended two-piece bikini that brought out the entirety of her more innocent yet no less appealing beauty. She had on a yellow edged triangle top while the fabric was striped in various shades of reds, pinks, orange, and lavender. The top hid her very small A-cup breasts which the young girl was most of the time insecure about but in Naruto's eyes such things didn't matter as he still found his close friend to be very attractive. Her bottoms were in the same design with a yellow outer edge and striped colored bands on the fabric that hugged her very petite waist snugly and emphasized her very small and prominent posterior that was extremely firm and pleasing to the eye.

As for Aria she was in a sea green colored two piece that could freeze any teenager in place that hugged all of her developed curves in all the right places. Her silver colored hair was let out of their twin tails allowing it to billow in the morning wind enhancing her beauty to levels Naruto never saw before in his beloved servant. Never has he seen her in this state of being and now he was thanking the gods themselves that he has.

Eva on the other hand couldn't afford to find a bikini for obvious reasons so Hinata took it upon herself to nit her girlfriend one by hand allowing Eva to have her own swimsuit. Ecstatic at this revelation the little Winter Fairy was now wearing her beach wear with pride in an effort to show off to everyone including her other half. The proud fairy had on a dark blue two piece bikini with a black edged top with the fabric being ruffled covering her entire chest and tying at the back of her neck while the bottoms were on the smaller size showing a lot more of her waist with blue fabric at the edges that are also ruffled. Due to her small size it would be hard to see her stylish swimsuit without her floating directly in front of your face so from far distances it would almost appear if she were naked.

Turning to the two adults in the party was the last mistake Naruto ever made in life as he laid eyes on Anko and found himself unable to move. His older crazy sister figure was doing things with her figure that Naruto figured was damn near illegal. Go figure… Anko being the on the nose kind of person she was decided to wear a snakeskin print bikini that was just below the line of being a micro-bikini and ergo to inappropriate for the surrounding children. She was close, damn close to it being unacceptable and Naruto had a feeling she knew this stigma very well and was pushing the boundaries just to get under his skin. It clung to her like a second skin and she made it work for her in ways that only a confident woman like her could pull off. Her double D sized breast filled in her top to the point it was pushing outwards, and her bottoms teased more skin than it actually covered leaving Naruto straining to turn his eyes away.

Eventually Naruto did manage to tear his eyes away from Anko who was walking and swaying her hips in such a hypnotic way that it would stop any man in his tracks and turned to the figure walking next to her and promptly proceeded to pass away into blissful and eternal death. Naruto's heart stopped beating the moment he caught a glimpse of Shoko standing a head taller than those around her gliding onto the beach in a stunning and confident feminine stride that caused space to distort and time itself to stop.

The titan was wearing a dark purple two piece that showed off her goddess like body in ways that could easily kill any man if they were to be on this private beach with them. The top was tied around her neck and back by black strings while a bow tie was placed in between her cleavage tightening up the top and altering its shape accentuating her larger than life breast even more causing a lot to spill out of the top. Her bottoms were respectful but only to a certain degree seeing as how just like with the top it was asking more than it could give of the swimwear to help cover up the assets Shoko was stretching and straining the clothing with. Her large bubbly round and shaping rear was just barely past the point of being fully concealed.

Naruto knew that Shoko's options in swimwear were somewhat altered and limited due to her incredible female proportions and so some styles like one-piece bathing suits were almost entirely out of her reach. She was far to tall and too big in certain places for bathing suits to fit properly on her while still looking decent and attractive. She would spill out of every opening if she was even able to put the clothing on so two pieces and their various styles were her only option. Still it did nothing from keeping his eyes rooted to his mother figure who smirked a small happy smirk at seeing the stunned zombie look on his face.

As for the children Iris and Chaos being twins decided to wear identical children's swimsuits with frilly ruffles on them. Iris's was a gradient colored pattern of reds, yellows, and oranges to create a sunset like design that made her look even cuter than normal while Chaos went with the opposite using a lot of various blues and blacks to create a midnight like effect to contrast her sisters. Naho had on a satin red colored swimsuit with playful bows on them that added to her charm while her hair was organized and styled into a braided bun to keep her thick and voluminous hair out of her face while on the beach and in the water.

Asagi and the rest of the children all had on various swimsuits to match with the oldest girl going with a bright blue bikini similar to Hinata's that had the girl blushing slightly in embarrassment since this was the first time they've ever been to the beach as a family. Moegi was wearing an olive-green bathing suit while Ai was wearing an aqua marine colored bathing suit with polka dots and ruffles on them that brought out the childish toddler charm that she possessed.

Taking a few minutes to remember how to breathe and live Naruto was then swamped by the female members of his expansive surrogate family who crowed around the heavily outnumbered boys. Like a machine gun Naruto had to spend the next few minutes shooting out compliments to everyone present less he incur any of their feminine wrath.

It didn't take long before the large group began to disperse onto the beach to enjoy the bright early noon day with a lot of activities to do. It quickly started out with Naruto building sandcastles with all of his children as they were interested in the childish game and he himself has never been to a beach before to just have fun so he was going to milk this experience for all that it was worth.

Looking over to his left a few yards away Naruto could see Shoko and Anko reclining in beach chairs with their obvious intentions on soaking up the sun for a nice beach tan. Something professional kunoichi don't often have the luxury of doing. Upon the adult's instructions Hinata, Henrietta, and Aria were all doing the same leaving Naruto and the children in the sand to play.

A few minutes in and Shoko's voice beckoned Naruto over to the relaxing group of attractive females with a questioning air around him. "Before you kids get to engross in what you're doing don't forget to put suntan lotion on the children Naruto. Especially the younger ones, despite being half demons their skin can still burn up just as much as a regular human." His mother advised with a kind smile on her face which automatically drew one to the surface of his face as well in mutual understanding until it quickly fell off once he caught a glimpse of a very playful and mischievous glint in Shoko's eyes that set off warning bells within his mind. The somewhat sympathetic and caring undertone to this look was completely missed by Naruto who quickly glanced at Anko and immediately wished he didn't as he saw a downright predatory and mischievous glare from her eyes boring a hole straight through his skull.

"Of course, we need lotion on our bodies too. You wouldn't want us to get bad sun burns would you sweetie?" Shoko teased coyly with a gleam in her eyes that caused a massive blush to work its way onto Naruto's face. He was catching on to what she was insinuating and the very thought alone of carrying out her will was enough to make Naruto curl up into a ball of embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sure you can handle that Shoko. I'll just tend to the kids." Naruto stuttered out in a hurry as he began backing away from his mother figure and best friend until he felt a rough texture rub against his calves.

Looking down Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin to see a large python wrapping itself around his leg which upon looking up he could tell Anko summoned based on the ever-widening grin on her face that spoke a thousand words by itself. "Now don't be like that kiddo. You're going to have all day to spend with the kids… don't we girls get some of your loving attention?" The snake mistress purred in delight as she watched the color drain from Naruto's entire body. To add insult to injury Anko then flipped over and presented her back to the others with her bikini top already unfastened exposing the entirety of her bare back to Naruto who bit down on his lower lip to prevent any noise or words from escaping at the view of pure seduction he was baring witness to.

"Don't forget sweetie, I raised a gentlemen which means you'll have to tend to your lovely girls as well, especially Hinata since she's your girlfriend." Shoko poured on the gasoline with this statement as Naruto turned to look over his shoulder and nearly lost his eyesight at the sight of Hinata, Henrietta, and Aria laying down on their beach towels looking at him with massive permanent blushes of embarrassment on their faces at the tempting scene playing out in front of them. The game Shoko and Anko was playing with Naruto was a little to advance for them they thought as none of them besides probably Eva would ever have the guts to flirt and flaunt themselves in such a manner to Naruto, they weren't there yet with their confidence.

The thought alone of him rubbing the suntan lotion on their bodies was enough to nearly make each girl pass out on the spot, the fact Hinata was still even conscious despite her penchant for being known to pass out in the past was nothing short of surprising.

It didn't take even five seconds before the other girls were wildly trying to talk Shoko out of her crazy and embarrassing proposal despite the fact their traitorous hormones were screaming a completely different story inside their minds. Their juvenile protests were immediately shut down by a predatory gleam that briefly flashed in Shoko's eyes that matched the one Anko was wearing that instantly shut the girls up alone with Shoko's next declaration. "If you girls don't get the proper protection then you can't go out on the beach or water. You'll have to stay right here with us underneath the umbrella." Instant silence followed Shoko's statement as Naruto's friends had horrified looks on their faces as Shoko alongside Anko were the only two adults in the group and had sole authority over them. Not to mention that each one of them looked up to the titan of a woman with respect and adoration.

"You should make some Shadow Clones sweetheart. It will make this go faster. You don't want us to burn up in the sun, do you?" Naruto knew Shoko was now completely taking this joke into her own hands and he was quickly losing a battle he didn't even sign up for. "Mom… are you getting back at me for out fight the other day? I thought we had moved past this?" Naruto squeaked out while referring to his long-term partner in the affectionate term that he usually only reserved for when they were in private or together with no one else they know around. He was sure that the titan was pranking him for her own fun, and he was boxed into a corner.

"Whatever do you mean sweetheart… of course we've moved past that little spat honey?" The words coming out of Shoko's mouth definitely didn't match the facial expression and general vibe he was sensing from her in that moment Naruto concluded yet there was nothing he could do as he reluctantly made enough copies of himself to tend to all five females laying down before him.

Purposefully he allowed himself to be the one to tend to Hinata and she knew this as well as she could distinguish him from his identical clones. Blushing like she's never blushed before Hinata shyly looked at her beloved partner and boyfriend and dipped her head back down while untying her top so that the straps wouldn't get in the way. "This is embarrassing Naruto…" Hinata squeaked out while Naruto remained frozen in place with the bottle of protective moisturizer gripped tightly in his tension filled body.

The young couple has refrained from becoming too physically intimate with each other by as much as they could barring a few emotionally explosive incidents between them over the months. The most they've done is hug, kiss, and cuddle with each other and even then, they've refrained from becoming more intimate with their touches and the places they would touch on each other's bodies. Even before becoming an official couple, when they were younger the most that they would still only due would be cuddling and frequent hugs. They had maintained a certain set of physical boundaries between them even if on the opposite side of the coin they had no emotional boundaries between them.

"I know Hinata… I'm sorry about this. Shoko's in one of her moods and she'll make it difficult on us if we try to get around her." Naruto murmured in discomfort. "I'm sorry if this will make you uncomfortable Hinata… I know we haven't gotten their yet but…" Naruto added on before his entire body froze upon hearing Hinata's next statement. "It's not that sweetie… I just wish the others weren't here to see this." The implications of his girlfriend's statement went straight to Naruto's heart and brain causing both organs to go into overdrive at the shy boldness the heiress was showing. Hinata herself was practically burying her head in the sand in mortification of telling the truth but she would otherwise be lying if she said her hormones wouldn't want for her boyfriend to put his hands on her back.

Looking over to where Anko was Naruto saw the dangerous woman grab his clone and whisper something into his ear before it could use the lotion bottle causing the clone to turn a neon cherry red before it spontaneously combusted and dispelled without warning. The cackling mischievous filled laughter of Anko's voice reached Naruto's ears right at the same time the short and brief memories of his clone did causing his heart to drop into his stomach at the vivid teasing description of events Anko whispered into its ears.

Naruto lost all conscious thoughts on how to breathe as his eyes unintentionally panned down to Hinata's shapely, firm, and quite plump bottom upon the influence of these new memories and he knew right then and there that the vivid and quite lewd teasing suggestion Anko had purposeful described to his clone would never leave his brain ever again, the temptation would forever be present now and looking from his empty hand to the hand with the lotion and then to Hinata's butt Naruto resigned himself to the fact he could never look at his girlfriend the same way again. The overwhelming temptation plus his traitorous hormones were now his greatest enemy. He didn't dare repeat the words Anko whispered back to himself less they grab a firmer hold of his morals and Anko's laughter in the background wasn't helping much.

"Naruto…? What did Anko just say?" Hinata cautiously and curiously questioned in concern as she traced his line of sight and felt a hormonal tingle of pleasure and embarrassment shooting up her spine as she watched his eyes scan over her butt in appreciation, lust, and a heavy dosage of embarrassment; but before she could get a reply, even if Naruto was willing to divulge such information Anko's voice spoke up with glee and mirth intertwine with her words. "Oh, you little rascal. I didn't even get a chance to get started with him. I'm starting to think that I'll need two clones to handle me." If there was ever a face to the word seduction it would have Anko's picture plastered directly over it as Hinata, Naruto, and the others watched Anko arch her back ever so slightly pushing her butt further into the air in a pronounced way with a downright dangerous glint in her eyes that sucked the soul straight out of Naruto's body.

Hinata squealed in embarrassment as she could see every sexy curve on Anko's body with the inappropriate and seductive position she propped herself in and quickly turning her head the other directing along with the others she soon came to regret or outright thank god for that decision, though the jury is still out on this thought. Turning back to Naruto it granted Hinata a special visage she's seen once before… it goes without saying that the sandcastle the children were steadily growing a couple yards further down on the beach wasn't the only thing now growing.

Henrietta, Aria, Anko, Shoko, and Eva all caught the perfect angle for this visage as well and while Shoko just rose an eyebrow in adult mirth and amusement, Anko on the other hand completely lost her composure in glee while the girls themselves felt their eyes magnetized to the rapidly growing 'kunai' sticking out of Naruto's swimming trunks. Hinata sucked in a breath she didn't even realize she was holding while Eva fell out of the air from where she was floating as Naruto looked down and met Hinata's eyes and traced it back to were she was staring. Seeing her boring a hole straight into his crotch which was unsheathing what was quickly starting to look more like a small wakizashi instead of a tiny kunai caused the one reaction no one present thought Naruto would resort to.

A not so entirely boyish scream left Naruto's lips before everything faded to black for the resident Uzumaki as he passed out in sheer mortification for the amount of embarrassment he was subjected to. The last sight he saw before everything went black was Hinata frantically grabbing onto him as he fell to the ground and unintentionally on her part in her panic she jumped to her feet without putting back on her top so Naruto was flashed the heavenly view of his girlfriends budding chest as his lights went out.

… Not a bad way to go out he thought to himself…

An hour later saw the entire extended Uzumaki family rambunctiously playing on the beach and enjoying the mid-afternoon sun with the children playing tag and other such games alongside their recently revived and recovered father who was blissfully trying to suppress the stimulating memories he experienced earlier.

None of them have been in the water yet as Naruto wanted to conduct swimming lessons first with his children so instead, he decided to burn off a little bit of their excess energy with some other activities first. All was going well as Naruto had little Ai hoisted up on his back as he chased down Roku, Dai, and surprisingly enough Naho who were avoiding his attempts to tag them while Chaos busy terrorizing Shion, Asagi, Moegi, and her own beloved twin Iris with her metallic Angeloid wings out trying to capture her siblings.

Hinata and the others were enjoying the fun as well as they tried to interfere on behalf of the children and tag either Naruto or Chaos who were the chasers but the father/daughter duo were truly related as they both managed to avoid the very fast strikes of their family members with a combination of their unique powers.

All was going well until Naruto's entire body froze over in shock as he heard and felt the Nine Tailed Fox deep growl vibrate off the walls of his inner soul. So shocked by this unexpected event Naruto had no way to brace himself as his stiff body tripped and fell into the sand. Immediately the others knew something was wrong as a shinobi would never trip and fall… much less a shinobi who was Chūnin level or higher.

"What?" Naruto mumbled as he looked up from his place on the ground only to see he was in front of Kurama's cage with the massive fox growling into the abyss with his tails frazzled and waving in the air behind him. "Nine Tails…? What's going on? What's got you so agitated?" Naruto questioned as he cautiously walked up to the cage of the strongest Tailed Beast in concern.

Even though he was on speaking terms with his resident it didn't mean that the two were partners or on completely peaceful terms. They had a polite report established between them now that they've become so rapidly accustomed to each other during the Land of Snow mission. However, they still had a long way to got in their relationship before they could completely trust each other and at any moment the two could have a relapse and fracture their slowly building relationship.

Naruto as a matter of fact last spoke to Kurama right after the disastrous bomb Saitou had dropped onto him during their meeting. The young Jinchūriki was so filled with silent rage and anger before Hinata came to speak to him that Kurama couldn't help himself and tried to tempt his host to use his chakra to destroy the Daimyō. The internal struggle went on for some time and for a brief moment Naruto entertained the fleeting thought of actually striking out against his leader which was coincidentally the exact moment Hinata had stepped into the room to speak. It was for that very reason why their ensuing conversation was quite explosive, and anger filled mostly one sided on Naruto's part.

Staring up at his resident Naruto could easily detect anger and resentment within the eyes of the great fox before they panned down to look directly at him. "Another of my siblings is close by to us young one. It is one that I currently hold a grudge against for something it did in the past…" Kurama vaguely elaborated as it snorted in anger while waving its large tails behind it in a haphazardly way. To say that Naruto was alarmed by this news would be a great understatement as he let this information sink in for a moment.

"Another Jinchūriki is near… are they a threat? Are we in danger?" Naruto shot off as his more shinobi like mind became active in the face of this abrupt and startling news but more importantly the father in him was now on high alert as he had his entire family with him at the moment which means they are vulnerable in the face of this unknown entity. Snorting in ironic self-induced amusement and anger intertwined in one Kurama brushed himself against the bars of his cage while mumbling more to himself than to Naruto.

"I'll be more of a threat to that damn cat once I get my hands on her than the other way around." The great fox growled lowly under his breath but obviously due to his immense size his voice still carried across the room they were in as if he were shouting. "Cat…? The Tailed Beast in question is a cat and you referenced her with the pronoun 'she' with your words? I wasn't aware that you guys had genders?" Naruto probed curiously as this was the first that he was hearing of this tidbit of information. A growl from his resident as well as a glare was the immediate response that he received back which wasn't really surprising to Naruto considering the context of the situation.

"Of course, boy! While we are creatures created out of pure chakra given sentience and consciousness, we have nonetheless assigned ourselves genders based upon our own free will. While we biologically don't have a gender due to the nature of how we were created and the fact we are just pure chakra constructs, we nonetheless wanted a way to identify ourselves based upon our individuality and base characteristics. As such I am a male and so is that stupid runt of the litter Shukaku… though I think of him as less so…" Kurama explained in a gruff manner but once more drifted off into his own negative tangent while thinking of the One Tailed Tanuki Sand Spirit.

Naruto himself was fascinated by this discovery and had a dozen more questions ready to fire off his tongue as it wasn't everyday that the fox gave away interesting tidbits of information for him to mull over. Knowing this and seeing the incoming barrage of questions Kurama decided to nip that line of inquiry in the bud before it even began. "You should return to your body and prepare for their arrival… you'll be shocked to see who dares approach us." Kurama sneered as he banished Naruto from their mindscape before laying down with his hackles still raised in irritation and anger.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here to me Matatabi after what you've done… foolish little sister…"

Waking up with a startled expression on his face Naruto had seconds to process everything mentioned to him in his brief interaction with his resident before he had to make a snap decision. He found himself in Hinata's lap while everyone else was crowded around him with various mixtures of concerned expressions on their faces but that was soon gone as everyone flinched back once Naruto shot out of Hinata's lap with his face quickly changing from panicked to dead serious in seconds.

"Naruto what…?" That was as far as Hinata got to say before Naruto cut her off with his chakra now beginning to circulate within his body. "Grab and change Naho and the kids! Unknown shinobi are coming straight at us and it's a Jinchūriki." The second those words left Naruto's mouth everyone immediately dropped what they were doing as Aria immediately started rounding up the children with Henrietta coming to join her. Shoko was in front of Naho before the young girl's advanced intellect could even finish processing Naruto's own words and the Titan was already finished running through a complex set of hand seals as she activated her Jutsu.

"Genjutsu: Mirage Transformation Cloak!"

A powerful Genjutsu was immediately blanketed on the child's body changing her physical appearance from her brown hair and eyes to a vibrant blond that matched Iris's and Chaos's while her eyes were changed over to a much darker shade of blue than Naruto's and his girls but still quite similar. What made this particular illusion so power was the fact that the caster can transform a person's appearance permanently for as long as the technique is active and it affects the body of the target in question by using their own chakra reserves to fuel the technique after the caster has finished the technique. It's a powerful and useful utility technique that only the strongest of Genjutsu users could use as it drained very little of their reserves after the initial activation of the technique and it was resistant to the basic disruption techniques of Genjutsu.

Hinata's Byakugan was on in a heartbeat and almost immediately she gasped while turning her head in the direction of the hotel as she detected four signatures exiting the building and heading directly for them. Of the four obvious ninja coming towards them two of them were high Genin Level to very low Chūnin level in terms of chakra capacity and control while the third was massive being easily Elite Jōnin level in every category being refined to such a state that it instantly reminded Hinata of Kakashi and Guy in terms of capacity and quality. The fourth member had double the amount of chakra as the adult of the group despite not appearing to be an adult themselves and Hinata instantly recognized the size, shape, coloration, and qualities of this truly massive chakra that was approaching them.

How could she not recognize what this chakra looked like… she's seen it everyday for the last six in a half years of her life and has stood right next to it for just as long. It was the same type of volatile and incredibly potent chakra as the one circulating through Naruto's body right now. This person was clearly a Jinchūriki and she had practically a quarter of the amount of chakra that Shoko had in her body which was saying a lot due to how truly massive Shoko's reserves are.

In mere moments the team of ninja were upon them and Shoko's eyes along with every other shinobi present widened in recognition of their interlopers. It was Team 3 from the Hidden Cloud Village. Darui, Yugito, Atsui, and Kiyoi walked out onto the private beach with a certain air of vigilance and weariness to them which was well founded since in that exact moment Darui looked up into the eyes of the Legendary Titan and realized that his team just stepped into a metaphorical landmine field.

"This is going to be such a pain." Darui sighed as he realized the full implications of what he could possibly be walking into. It was a large group that stood before him and quite a few of these members besides the younger children had large reserves of power and if that wasn't enough, he recognized quite a few of them form the bingo books as well other than Shoko who needed no introduction.

Meanwhile Naruto was in a semi trance like state tuning everything else in the world out as his eyes locked with the slightly older girl before him who shared in his blond hair and massive reserves of chakra. Yugito Nii was caught in his crosshairs as he could instinctively tell who this teenage girl was and in that moment a connection was formed… a connection between a Fox and a Cat.

To be continued...

Jutsu Library

1.) Heavenly Palms Rotation - A secret taijutsu that is orally handed down only within the main house of the Hyūga clan. This technique utilizes the chakra control gained through Gentle Fist training to release a huge amount of chakra from all the chakra points on the user's body. It is also a defensive manoeuvre to compensate for the Byakugan's blind spot as the released chakra blocks any possible attack on the user. After releasing chakra from every tenketsu in their body, the user then spins rapidly to parry the attack, both creating a rotating shield of chakra around themselves and tossing away any nearby attackers. The user can also actively control the size and power of the sphere to suit the situation. The technique is also capable of reflecting an opponent's chakra against them. This technique is only effective when rotating, since the chakra itself is not enough to stop a physical attack thus if they cannot spin, the user becomes vulnerable. The chakra rotation can be disrupted by chakra threads, which slows down the user, binding and tangling them in the webbing for example, and ultimately forcing them to stop.

2.) Sacred Tama - This ancient biological object that acts as a spiritual organ in the human body is a silver glowing orb of densely compacted holy graced intimately mixed together with chakra. The orb was about the size of a small orange but it will radiate and reverberate around its surrounding area with the full weight of the energy its host possesses. The tama is genetic and is passed down to anyone of the Maruno Bloodline, it attaches itself in a metaphysical way to the person's chakra circulatory system allowing them and their body to safely house, channel, and convert their chakra into holy grace and vice versa. Their bodies and human physiology naturally adapted themselves to being able to hold these two separate power sources inside the human body. However, even with post mortem autopsies and experimental dissection the Sacred Tama's can't physically be removed from the body since from a technical standpoint they don't physically exist in the natural sense when the host is alive and after death the chakra network usually is the first part of the body to start breaking down and decomposing. Only through a special and highly guarded sacred ritual passed down through the main branch of the clan can a member extract their own Sacred Tama out of their body. They can live without the tama in them but removing it instantly removes the users ability to mold chakra to any extent, effectively turning them into a civilian at that point, if the Tama is removed from the user later on in life during adulthood or in their elder age the person will slowly start to degrade as their lifespan rapidly shortens to the point of an early premature death. This happens because of the host body become dependant and used to the presence of the Sacred Tama that the removal of it can slowly kill them, if a young child or infant has theirs removed or implanted within them then they will not suffer any adverse effects as their body hasn't grown to develop a dependency on their Sacred Tama.

3.) Future Sight - This is the Dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai of the Maruno Clan more formally referred to as Holy Divination. With it main branch clan members can receive full complete visions of an event destined to happen in the future by gazing at an individual or inanimate object. Using this rare ability these select few family members can actually see entire visions of the future in such strikingly vivid detail that they can sometimes mistake them for reality. The power is so great that certain members of the clan can develop paranoia and other similar mental illnesses in their lifetimes. Additionally, the ocular ability allows the user to predict a person's fate as well as their death. The ability allows the users spirit to astral project itself back into the past upon the point of the user's death and warn themselves of the upcoming crisis as well as manipulating the event by trading places with another individual allowing the user to effectively cheat death as well as predict the death of another individual by way of technically tampering with the fabric of reality and the strings of fate.

4.) Shop Toad - This toad has the ability to transform into a building and with their chakra, the user gives the building a design they imagined themselves. The target is then lured inside, for example, with the promise of cheap drinks. Once the target has entered the store, the toad changes back into its original small form, trapping the target inside the toad's stomach. From the moment the cancellation hand seal is performed, it takes only a few seconds for it to return to its original shape, meaning there is little chance of escape.

5.) Transformation Jutsu - One of the three basic Jutsu's required by the academy for everyone (with exceptions of course) to master in order to pass or at the very least to adequately on. The user coats themselves in a thin layer of chakra that projects the image of someone or something else onto the user. While simple the technique can be used in multiple ways and advanced users of this technique can mask themselves in the guise of other objects that don't typically match their body size, shape, weight, or height. Also, advanced users can also change of their voice and mannerisms to match that of the thing they have transformed into.

6.) Clone Jutsu - One of the three basic Jutsu's required by the academy for everyone (with exceptions of course) to master in order to pass or at the very least to adequately on. The Jutsu creates a fake image of yourself next to your body that is identical to you in every way except that they are not real and are purely just images or illusions. There are many limitations and setbacks with the Technique. For one the clone is not real and as such can be noticed right away. They cannot speak or make sounds. Finally, and worse yet they can't interact with the environment around them. When they walk, they don't make a sound, they don't leave a shadow of themselves whenever they find themselves in light, and they can't physically touch something, and no one can touch them.

7.) Substitution Jutsu - One of the three basic Jutsu's required by the academy for everyone (with exceptions of course) to master in order to pass or at the very least to adequately on. This Jutsu is simple in how it works. The user searches or senses out a target and with his chakra he will identify that target and latch onto that object or target with his chakra. Then using his chakra like a beacon and transmitter the user will jump to the location of the object causing the object to switch places with the user so that the user can reconnect with his chakra in a space not already being taken up by said object.

8.) Shadow Clones - A Jutsu invented by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. The technique was created to be used to spy on an enemy without fear of going in person. The Jutsu works by splitting the chakra of the user evenly in two which makes the clone have half of the user's chakra. By creating multiple clones, the fraction in which you have to split your chakra becomes larger. The clones can think independently of one another and can use any technique that the original can use as long as they have enough chakra to use it. A clone can feel pain and can even bleed, but it will be dispelled if it is hit hard enough. The unique ability of the Jutsu is that during the clones' entire life span it is recording everything that its five senses experiences and upon dispelling all of that information is transferred back to the caster of the Jutsu. Because of this training or learning something new that would take an extended amount of time can be cut down to a fraction of the time depending on the number of clones you use. Because you have multiple people learning the same thing at the same time and having all of that knowledge compiled into one person it can speed up the time it takes to learn something.

9.) Genjutsu: Mirage Transformation Cloak - A highly advanced A - Rank Genjutsu that only masters of the craft can perform. This technique allows the user to place a Genjutsu mirage over their intended target by using the target's own chakra network as the perpetual battery and fuel for the technique. By injecting their chakra into the victim as usual for any Genjutsu the technique then begins to change and work differently than a normal jutsu. A normal Genjutsu's purpose is to disrupt the network of the victim disorienting them and making them susceptible to illusions and deceptions; but instead this technique melds itself with the intended targets network and tricks the host body into supplying the needed chakra to sustain the technique indefinitely through the subtle usage of manipulation to the host's brain as a normal Genjutsu would cause. This mechanic allows the user to stop supplying chakra to the technique after the initial activation making this technique very low cost effective in terms of chakra but it requires immense chakra control and discipline to pull off.

Author's Note (A/N): This was one hell of a chapter that took me quite some time to complete, especially towards the back half where I stumbled upon some roadblocks for a few days but its now complete and a lot ended up happening which ends with the culmination of Naruto and Yugito Nii meeting each other for the first time moments after Kurama's cryptic warnings and unknown anger towards Matatabi.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shoko, and Hiashi all try vehemently to defend Naruto and Hinata after what Saitou has now done to them but despite their advocations it ends up being all for nought as Saitou is dead set on the decree he has placed upon the young couple, but Tsunade's last minute inclusion of Naruto's association regarding Karin and Fū sparks more fuel to the fire of the situation.

Saitou strikes up a cunning deal with Tokudaiji Tokiyoshi the Feudal Lord of the Land of Hot Water for a future alliance between their two countries if Saitou can help him solve the recent and bizarre spike in crime his home country is facing. Saitou sees this as a golden opportunity he can't possible pass up on as he forms the contract between the two while having Naruto in mind for the assignment. The Land of Lightning's leader is also aware of this secret deal going on and orders the Raikage to beat the Leaf Village to the punch in securing the alliance of the tourist country. To that end the Raikage has his Team 3 assigned to this mission which includes Darui and Yugito Nii.

Hinata also learns a lot regarding her mother's past and the unique and dire situation regarding her birth and heritage. She learns the Yume was a member of the ANBU Black Ops and even managed to rise to the rank of ANBU Lieutenant Commander which is the second highest position directly under the ANBU Commander who is currently Puma, otherwise known as Enji Sarutobi the Third Hokage's first born son. Yume was an ardent believer in fate and her clan's teachings and religion, she did everything in life according to these teachings which ultimately led her to the foresight of preparing her children for life after her death after she sacrifices herself to ensure Hinata survives her birth and to actually bring Hanabi into the world in her second pregnancy which ultimately kills her. She predicted all of this with her powerful Kekkei Genkai and so worked towards her goals with the remainder of her life.

Hinata learns these insights into her birth and how she actually survives it which brings her to tears as she finally receives closure for her mother's death. We also get insight into Hinata's own psyche and her tough childhood and how she coped with the traumatic events of her early years as well as how she took it upon herself to raise Hanabi all on her own developing a mother daughter relationship with her younger sister.

We learn that Naruto and Hinata then have a fight shortly after the meeting with Saitou that while on the surface seemed resolved later on boils over three days later by the time they reach Turquoise Cove. The couple have a fight in the middle of the street as Hinata confronts Naruto over the silent treatment and resentment he's been treating Shoko with since the meeting. Everything comes to a head when Hinata forcibly pries the truth out of Naruto and forces him to confront his own feelings on the matter where it's revealed that he feels insecure and betrayed by his loved ones, not to mention the fact that he feels such anger and betrayal that he's scared if he confronts Shoko over it then he'll lose control over himself to the Nine Tails and say or do something he'll regret as he represses his emotions whenever he doesn't know how to properly deal with them which leads to situations like this.

Hinata quickly resolves the situation after Naruto starts being honest with himself which devolves into them letting their feelings and lust for each other run rampant. It quickly turns into an embarrassing and compromising scene for the couple as they completely forgot Naho was present with them which they have to quickly run damage control on.

Taking Hinata's advice Naruto finally confronts Shoko that very night where the mother and son duo fight it out over the ocean away from the town going all out, their fight becomes so destructive that gale force winds and waves slam into the coast and the resort they were staying at. The fight led to them burying the hatchet between them and reaffirming their relationship and making it stronger.

The following morning Naruto and Hinata have their first make out session in the room as they once again let their hormones run rampant between them. Throughout it all they also strengthen their own bond and relationship and Naruto works up the courage and asks Hinata out on a second official date which she excitedly agrees to.

The group shops around town enjoying the sights as one large family while torturing Naruto and the other boys with the girls going into clothing stores trying on very trendy and attractive clothing leaving Naruto in a state of mental and sexual frustration which only gets exacerbated once they reach the beach and he gets to see the swimwear his female extended family members are wearing.

Naruto gets roped into a teasing trap by Shoko and Anko who forces him to rub suntan lotion on all of their bodies which nearly kills him on the spot from embarrassment. Anko's provocative and sensual teasing remarks as well as Shoko's not so innocent remarks batter away at Naruto's defenses while they force him to also do this for Hinata, Henrietta, and Aria. This ultimately proves to much for Naruto to handle as Anko implants quite lewd and explicit teases into his brain via the source of one of his shadow clones which leaves him defenseless to Anko's final remarks which causes Naruto to have an interesting hormonal response that quickly turns to mortification when everyone else sees his erection. He ultimately passes out much to the amusement of the two teasing purplettes.

Later on after recovering Naruto is playing with the entire family when Kurama gains his attention bringing him into their mindscape where the fox reveals the fact another of the Tailed Beasts and their host are in the town with them and they are closing in on them fast. While he doesn't give out a name he does drop the hints to Matatabi who he also reveals he has a grudge against for an incident in their past. He also teaches Naruto a snippet of knowledge regarding the Tailed Beasts and their genders and personality characteristics.

The chapter ends with Naruto regaining consciousness just in time to warn the rest of his family of the incoming potential threat that arrives shortly after Shoko takes the precaution of altering Naho's physical appearance with an advance Genjutsu to prevent her real identity from being revealed. With everyone coming to a standoff Naruto is left locking gazes with Yugito Nii for the first time.

Next Chapter: Chapter 94 (The Fox and Cat)

That's the end of Chapter 93 I sincerely hoped you enjoyed it.

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Published: 5/3/2020