Naruto: Ice Burn

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Freezing

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Finally the last of the old is posted! This chapter is about half new/half updated. Here is chapter 6. Enjoy!

[ ] Signifies hand signals

Last Time:

Later that evening after dinner (The Daimyo was surprisingly had not been present –he claimed he had a sour stomach for some reason) Naruto presented his report to Shikamaru and the Nara chunin was both thoroughly impressed and a bit shocked. Actually all four chunins were shocked. The fact Naruto had defeated two B-ranked missing nins in their own element was impressive enough to show them just how much Naruto's power had grown. He had not only sought out and located an enemy outpost but had eliminated most of it using elemental jutsus that none of the others had even begun to train in. It would have been impressive for any chunin, let alone a so called genin.

All four chunins were further shocked when they saw Chiffon's claw and heard what it was capable of doing. Seeing as they saw Oboru Goru's head had literally been pinched off by Chiffon they had no doubt she was plenty capable of defending herself. They were all very curious about her volt weapon but Naruto said it was classified and for the Hokage's ears only and wouldn't budge on the subject at all. Deciding that pressing the issue with an already fatigued Naruto would probably just piss the blonde off (which would be a drag) Shikamaru wisely decided to drop the subject and the group decided to try to arrange other missions with the Fang Country Daimyo in the morning. Hopefully they would get permission from the Daimyo for Sakura to treat Jiraiya-sama as well.

….

Naruto settled into bed and eagerly awaited Chiffon-chan to join him. She beamed at him a moment before she joined him in bed. The two cuddled up facing each other and after talking for a short while they began caressing each other with sweet, sensual kisses. They didn't get too heated but loved the happiness they were sharing. Naruto wanted to explore her amazing body with his hands but restrained himself and kept his hands above her waist. Chiffon loved what Naruto was doing for her as well but decided there was no hurry and just enjoyed basking in his warm and loving touches which she returned. When they finally let sleep take them the pair were snuggled closely in each other's arms….

Neither had any dreams but of each other that night….

….

Chapter 6

Claw Country, Bounty Station

Kuriarare Kushimaru was once a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He was part of one of the strongest generations of swordsmen to date. Kushimaru wielded the deadly long sword Nuibari with brutal efficiency. The man was known for his extreme cruelty as well as his deadliness. He died in the Third Shinobi War while fighting Maito Dai who bravely sacrificed his life using the Eight Gates to save his son Maito Gai and Gai's Teammates, Ebisu and Shiranui Genma. Maito Dai's sacrifice left a tremendous impact on his son that Gai he would pass on to his own students. That was a long time ago….

….And the rumors of Kuriarare Kushimaru's death was highly exaggerated.

It took literal years before Kushimaru healed from his terribly grievous injuries at the hands of Maito Dai and his Eight Gates technique. Kuriarare Kushimaru had to recover in a small village under an alias for over a decade and it took an additional five years before he trained himself in secret back up to fighting strength. Once his body was up to his previous level of mastery, the now gray haired shinobi decided to celebrate by executing everyone in the small village he'd been hiding in so long. He reasoned he didn't want his identity revealed but in reality he just needed a murdering spree to satisfy his urge to kill. The villagers weren't much of a challenge for the lanky master swordsman but he reveled in the cruel slaughter and enjoyed himself immensely nonetheless….The wielder of the Nuibari was back with a vengeance.

After that Kushimaru wandered for months. He was originally going to return to the Bloody Mist to join his fellow swordsman. To his dismay the Kiri bloodline civil war was going strong and most of his fellow swordsmen were all either dead or missing ninjas. Shaking his head in disgust, the wielder of Nuibari decided to set out on his own as a bounty hunter. The tall, lanky masked man looked in the water and took his mask off. He was no longer blonde, his face had aged and he was in his forties now but that made him no less lethal. He was still an A ranked nin to say the least. As it was the swordsman was currently in Claw Country collecting bounties. It was steady but boring work. Sure; Kushimaru enjoyed sadistically killing his victims and laughing manically all the while they were suffering but these bandits and low ranked nins were no challenge to a swordsman of his caliber. He was looking for something to satiate his bloodlust and this just wasn't cutting it….

That's when he heard some interesting news floating around at the bounty station….The B ranked missing nin Mizu Aki was dead. He had considered hunting her down himself but was occupied with other jobs. Her death was a very big topic because the secret was out that she was actually a set of twins was out and they had been executed along with a small army of bandits that had been marauding the area for months across the Fang Country border. As the story had it, all the slaughter was done by a young ninja that was rumored to be the apprentice of Jiraiya of the Sannin. Kuriarare Kushimaru was no fool. He wouldn't stand a chance against Jiraiya-sama. But Jiraiya's apprentice….that got the Nuibari's wielder excited. "It's been a long time since I had a decent fight." he cackled. "This could be fun!"

It wasn't difficult to get the information he wanted by 'convincing' the local bounty station to give him the records he wanted. Kuriarare thought to himself as he read, 'Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha genin of Fire Country in good standing. 15 years old. Genin?! Give me a break! There's no way a genin could have pulled that off by himself. He must be a jonin and a damn good one to have pulled that off. Besides, Jiraiya-sama trained the Yellow Flash himself. This kid's probably a monster. And it takes a monster to challenge the likes of me.' Kushimaru smiled behind his mask. "Let's see if you can entertain me Uzumaki Naruto…."

The former Kiri jonin looked and found no data on Naruto in the bingo books. 'Of course, if the kid really is only fifteen he hasn't had time to build up a reputation yet. Too bad he won't live long enough to do so.' Then he thought aloud, "Looks like I'm off to Fang Country. I'll soon get to see what you're really made of apprentice of Jiraiya-sama…."

….

Fang Country, Daimyo's Compound

Naruto's mindscape….

Naruto's body was sleeping peacefully with Chiffon but his mind was training with Kurama as he slept. The Fox was training Naruto more in sensing negative emotions as an introduction to more advanced sensory ninjutsu in general. Naruto already had some knowledge of the concept from his Master Jiraiya and had been learning it in his dreams passed down from Asura but Kurama was giving him hands on training which was the best way Naruto learned (as had Asura in the past). "You are doing better Naruto." said the nine tails. "You can sense not only killing intent and others around you but negative feelings directed towards you as well. This will give you an edge if someone is hostile towards you but isn't necessarily aiming to harm you at that particular moment such as a spy."

"So once I develop this skill it will allow me to keep an eye on people who may even be informants and not combatants instead of just those with strong chakra signatures or strong killing intent." said Naruto in understanding. "That could be really handy anywhere. I probably would have detected the second Mizu Aki twin and been able to avoid injury if I'd known this technique."

Kurama nodded. "Exactly. Alright, I'm going to cast and genjutsu of a crowd and you'll have to pick out who is a threat and who isn't Naruto. After that exercise you need to get some genuine sleep and dream about your mate or whatever you humans do while you're asleep."

Naruto blushed. "I don't know why you keep calling Chiffon-chan my mate." stammered the blonde.

"Trust me Naruto; the two of you practically get high off each other's pheromones." said the fox. "She'll be your mate soon enough."

"Can we please just get to the exercise?" pleaded Naruto.

"Right! Here we go!" responded Kurama.

Naruto worked on it till he had it down and then let his consciousness drift off to sleep….

….

Naruto and Chiffon's bedroom….

When morning rolled around Naruto awoke with his face snuggled into Chiffon's more than generous cleavage. He immediately found himself with a raging hard on and was further aroused by the scent of her body fragrance. She had her arms wrapped comfortably around his head and shoulders. Chiffon sighed softly in her sleep as she unconsciously wrapped her right leg around his legs. 'Oh gods I could die happy right now!' thought Naruto as he stifled a nosebleed. His inner pervert was having a field day….

Chiffon lazily woke up and sighed, "Mmmmm….Naruto-kun." as she stretched. Realizing she was entangled with the object of her affections, she smiled and angled his head to give him a good morning kiss to wake him up. She didn't expect Naruto to reciprocate with so much passion that she felt like her whole body was on fire. After several minutes of heated, erotic kissing they broke for air and looked into each other's lust filled eyes. "Wow…." they both said at once. Both of them were panting heavily as they continued to look at one another heatedly. Finally, Chiffon smiled happily and kissed Naruto's nose playfully. He returned her smile and then she shot out of the bed and said, "I get the shower first Naruto-kun!"

Naruto smiled to himself, "You're such a little minx Chiffon-chan." Naruto laid back to soak up the euphoria he felt while Chiffon did the same in the shower. Both of them felt giddy and couldn't wipe the smiles from their faces….

Breakfast…..

Naruto and Chiffon were sitting with the Konoha ninjas wishing they could have some privacy to just gaze into each other's eyes as they ate….

'Damn, they've got it bad….' thought Ino. 'They're completely head over heels for each other….It's really cute actually. I still wonder how such a beautiful girl ended up falling for Naruto. Of course; he's changed a lot. He's definitely dating material now….'

Sakura was concerned for Naruto's safety. 'Who is this Chiffon girl? We know nothing about her background other than she's somehow Naruto's concubine and she's a strong fighter. I hope Naruto knows what he's doing….but she looks just as love struck as he does. Who are you Chiffon Fairchild?'

The heir of the Akimichi clan had a different set of priorities. Choji was too engrossed in his fourth helping of breakfast to pay much attention to the two lovebirds.

'How troublesome.' thought Shikamaru. 'Now I have to interrupt them and find out where Chiffon-san is from to make sure she's not some kind of threat. I already know she's very powerful.' The Nara coughed to get their attention. "So ummm, Naruto; how did you and Chiffon-san meet to begin with?"

Naruto and Chiffon were both jolted out of their mutual reverie and Naruto said, "Well I kind of rescued Chiffon-chan from a situation in Iron Country and we've been travelling together ever since."

Shikamaru's normally sleepy eyes bugged out. "Iron Country?!" he whispered loudly. "What were you doing in Iron Country?! Ninjas are forbidden there!"

Naruto explained, "I was undercover for Jiraiya-sensei, I can't say much more other than it's classified."

"What if you'd been caught?" whispered Sakura worriedly.

"Well, obviously I would have had to escape or I'd have been executed." said Naruto matter of factly. "But I wasn't so no worries right?"

The other ninjas sweat dropped, 'Only you Naruto….'

"So what was this situation you rescued Chiffon from Naruto?" asked Ino.

Naruto thought for a moment and said, "It's kind of hard to explain. These two children were being stalked by a wolf in the mining village I was laying low in and I tackled it so they could run. The wolf and I were fighting and we accidently fell down an abandoned mineshaft below the town and the wolf died from the impact. Since I heal up fast I survived the fall and started looking for a way out. That's when I stumbled across the place Chiffon-chan was being held in and I got her out of there."

Even Choji stopped eating hearing this. "So there was a prison at the bottom of an abandoned mine?"

Chiffon said, "No, it was a scientific lab. I was the only one left alive in hibernation and Naruto-kun got me out and rescued me."

"What kind of a lab was it?" asked Sakura suspiciously.

Naruto said with a shiver, "It was the kind of lab that Orochimaru would have thought was a playhouse. There were decaying bodies everywhere….I don't want to think about it."

Sakura had a look of sympathy in her eyes. "Sorry Naruto. Do you think it was Orochimaru's lab?"

"No, the equipment was too different and advanced." said Naruto. "Orochimaru wasn't behind it. I've seen a couple of his labs."

Shikamaru was really curious now. "So Chiffon-san; why were you locked up in that place to begin with?"

Chiffon sighed. "I was in battle and thought I died. When I woke up Naruto-kun was there and had brought me out of hibernation. I think I was down there for centuries but I really don't know. I was being preserved for future use and all the others were dead when Naruto-kun got me out. I probably would have eventually died too if Naruto-kun hadn't awakened me."

"You were stored for 'future use' and in a battle?' What do you mean?" asked Ino.

"I was a warrior called a Pandora and we were in a war against creatures we called Novas." said Chiffon. "I'm guessing it was so long ago that the war ended and it was forgotten about. I really don't know. I think I may be the last of my kind. Anyway, the lab I was stored in was gradually losing power so the others stored there were all dead. If Naruto-kun hadn't showed up when he did I'm guessing I would have died too within a few years but luckily Naruto-kun rescued me. We've been travelling together ever since."

"The bodies were all dead Pandoras." explained Naruto. "It was a horror show. Chiffon-chan doesn't know our society so she and I have been together since so I could help her learn."

"How did Chiffon-san become your concubine then?" asked Sakura.

"That's a story for another time." said Naruto. Then he hand signaled, [Not here. There are too many ears around].

Shikamaru nodded. "Well, that explains things well enough. I have a lot of other questions but I think they can wait." The Nara heir hand signaled to Ino where Naruto and Chiffon couldn't see. [Well, what do you think?]

Ino signaled back, [They are telling the whole truth but they've glossed over a lot of facts. I say we believe them. Chiffon-san seems trustworthy from my surface mind scans.]

[Fair enough.] signaled Shikamaru with a sigh of relief. "Well, I hope we can all get along Chiffon-san. My team has been assigned to help Naruto pay off Jiraiya-sama's medical bills so we will be working together. I would like to spar with you and Naruto to judge your abilities though. As a team leader I don't want to put either of you in situations you can't handle."

Chiffon smiled. "That's fine Shikamaru-san. We can spar anytime you like."

Shikamaru looked relived. "Good, I'm glad to hear it."

….

Fire Country, Konoha, Hokage's Office

Tsunade had a deadpan look on her face as she looked at the report from Shikamaru that was sent out late last night in front of her. Jiraiya was basically being held hostage in the hospital in Fang Country until his bills were paid. If that wasn't bad enough Sakura hadn't even been allowed to see or examine Jiraiya because the hospital staff thought the Konoha group had come to break him out without paying his bills. 'If I sent a squad to break Jiraiya out then they would have done so without bothering to stop at the front desk and introduce themselves….Damn, civilians have no concept of how ninjas work.' The Fifth Hokage sighed and took a drink of sake. Her eyes widened at the next section of the report that Shikamaru wrote.

….Genin Uzumaki Naruto successfully completed an A ranked mission before we arrived and executed the B ranked missing nin Mizu Aki which turned out to be a set of identical twins posing as one ninja. (I've included her bingo book dossier). He also took the heads of two D ranked missing nins (Shinobu Suzu of Taki and Oboru Goro of Iwa -dossiers also included) as well as exterminating her bandit group which was comprised of thirty four individuals of various levels of skill. All he received as an injury in return was a crossbow bolt shot through his shoulder but it was completely healed by the time he returned to the Fang Daimyo's Compound that evening as reported by chunin Haruno Sakura (Her medical report is included).

Though our investigations are proceeding genin Uzumaki Naruto is now in the company of his concubine Chiffon Fairchild-san who appears to be a formidable combatant herself and apparently many of the bandit's exterminations where actually performed by her. She is not a ninja and has a 'Volt Weapon' in the form of a massive metal claw on her right arm that she can materialize at will. It was revealed to us that the missing ninja Oboro Goro actually was beheaded by her using this claw to pinch his head off. To say the least the claw's grip and her physical strength must be formidable. When asked about the 'Volt Weapon' genin Uzumaki Naruto said it was classified and for your ears only Hokage-sama.

It is my intention to try to learn more about Chiffon Fairchild-san and my investigations will proceed in the morning. Genin Uzumaki and Fairchild-san were both suffering from mild battle fatigue once they gave their reports so I dismissed them to sleep rather than questioning them further. As an aside from my observations Fairchild-san must come from a military background because her descriptions of the battles that took place were very concise and precise. Though it is obvious to me she is following Naruto's lead her mannerisms lead me to suspect she was either a field commander or officer in whatever military organization she comes from.

I will be sending supplementary reports on Fairchild-san as more is revealed. Currently my goal is to find out if she is friendly as she appears to be or is actually a threat to all of us.

-Chunin Nara Shikamaru

"The brat is running around with a concubine of completely unknown origins." growled Tsunade. "I believe it's quite safe to say my son in all but name has been warped by that pervert of a teammate of mine. There will be hell to pay when Jiraiya gets back…."

….

Far away in the Fang Country Hospital Jiraiya got a terrible chill up his spine….

….

Location Unknown….

Su-na watched as one of the tubes of the two Pandoras that would be revived rotated to the front of the room. She recognized the girl from The 14th Nova Clash when everything fell apart. The Pandora Commander recalled her as Ticy Phenyl and she was among the strongest at West Genetics. 'I think she was nicknamed The Hitman.' thought Su-na. She saw the voluptuous Finnish girl's gray eyes open slowly and they locked onto Su-na in recognition. The Korean Pandora said, "You are safe Ticy Phenyl; that is your name isn't it?"

Ticy wondered where she was and looked around slowly before she nodded at Su-na. 'Where am I? I thought I died. Is this some sort of revival facility? What is the Commander doing here?' thought Ticy. She felt the computer feeding her brain a new language as well as updating her on the situation regarding her orders to follow Su-na's command. 'Abel…?*① He's gone…?' she thought tearfully. 'Why isn't my Limiter Abel here computer?' she asked mentally.

'Limiters were considered replaceable unlike Pandoras. None were preserved as a Pandora can create a new Limiter with her own stigmata." replied the AI.

'How inhumanely cold….' thought Ticy sadly as she thought of her lost friend. The kind Pandora wondered who else had survived in the facility only to find there were only three. She wondered who the other one was aside of Commander Su-na and herself. 'The stupid computer says the data is lost so I don't know anything.' She looked about as the computer went through the process of reactivating her body any she saw her hair was long again like again it was at the beginning of her third year.*② Ticy reminisced about how hard the times had been after her best friend Chiffon's death. The black haired beauty steeled herself. 'Come what may; I'll carry on for those who can't….'

….

Fang Country, Daimyo's Compound

Shikamaru and the others were all gathered at the sparring area that the Daimyo's soldiers used for training. "How troublesome." said Shikamaru. "Since we're going to be here for a while I need to see everyone's skill sets to organize missions. Chiffon-san; you'll have to forgive me but since I'm not sure what your fighting style is at all we'll need to test you a bit more than the others. Naruto, I'm sure you've improved a lot given you took out two B ranked nins by yourself but I'll need to heavily test you too. Everyone else will go through the motions too though so we will all have a good feel for each other's skill levels."

Naruto hopped up. "Okay, come at me!"

"Settle down knucklehead!" said Ino.

Sakura sweat dropped at her teammate's eagerness. "I think Shikamaru wants to organize this and not have a mass melee battle Naruto."

"I know Sakura-chan, I'm just excited!" said the whiskered blonde. "I haven't sparred with you guys in years. I'm sure you've all grown stronger too."

Chiffon frowned a tiny bit. 'Ever since I've met them Sakura-san and Ino-san both act like Naruto-kun is dumb or something. He told me he wasn't a very good student growing up but still they should show him some respect….And I'm getting mixed signals from Ino-san. One minute she's acting negative towards Naruto-kun and the next she's eyeing him with lust. I'm not too happy about that.' thought the Pandora.

"First let's have Naruto and Choji spar. I'll proctor." said Shikamaru. "Let's stick with hand to hand, kunai and shuriken. No major jutsus that will tear the place up though; I don't want to pay for damages. Minor jutsus are fine though."

Naruto and Choji bowed to each other and Naruto said, "Let's have fun Choji just like back at the Academy." Naruto quickly got in his fighting position.

Choji smiled and also got in his stance. "Okay Naruto; let's do this!"

The minute Shikamaru said, "Begin!" Naruto was a blur in motion. Choji and the others were shocked by his speed. It wasn't that Choji couldn't take the punishment but between Naruto's unpredictability and previously unseen speed and power the big Akimichi couldn't land a hit. It was obvious to the Konoha ninjas that the spar was quickly becoming one sided and Naruto jumped back to give Choji a break.

"Are you okay Choji?" asked Naruto with genuine concern. "You're moving awfully slow. Normally you'd have flattened me a couple of times by now."

Choji wiped the sweat from his brow. 'Man, I took a beating!' "I don't think I'm slow Naruto; I think you just gotten really fast. I concede."

'Naruto was moving at least at jonin speeds and was fighting bare handed.' thought Shikamaru. 'If he'd gone all out with kunai Choji could have been seriously hurt.' "Okay, this match is over. Take a rest Choji. Let Sakura check you over."

Ino had stars in her eyes. "Wow Naruto; that was pretty amazing! You were moving as fast as Asuma sensei!"

"I really kind of doubt that." said Naruto bashfully.

"No really!" praised Ino as she felt Naruto's arm muscle. "You've gotten really strong!"

Naruto looked at Choji and kind of tuned out Ino. 'I wasn't even going full force. Maybe Choji is just having an off day.' "Sorry Choji. Maybe I got carried away."

Sakura shook her head. "Choji will be fine in a couple of minutes; I've got this." 'How strong are you Naruto? I got a lot stronger but not on that level….Of course Jiraiya-sama did train the Fourth Hokage….'

'Naruto may well be jonin level.' thought the Nara chunin. 'I had myself convinced yesterday that him taking out Mizu Aki was possibly one of his unpredictable tactics or a fluke coming into play but now I'm beginning to think he's just grown that much stronger than the rest of us.' Shikamaru said, "Well, it seems that you training under Jiraiya-sama has really paid off Naruto." Noticing Ino was fan girling a bit Shikamaru sighed and said, "Ino, why don't you let Naruto sit down and spar with Chiffon-san?"

Chiffon stood up and thought with a tiny twitch in her eyebrow, 'I'll teach this hussy to keep her hands off my Naruto-kun.'

Ino and Chiffon bowed to each other and Ino said as she spun a kunai, "Don't worry; I know you aren't ninja trained so I won't be too rough with you Chiffon-san."

Chiffon formed her volt weapon and flexed her claw while smiling menacingly. "Don't hold back on my account Ino-san."

Ino got a chill down her spine and Shikamaru said, "Begin!"

Chiffon vanished in an illusion turn and appeared behind the Yamanaka heiress and hit her with a mid kick to the back that sent Ino tumbling. When Ino tried to get up the smiling monster was upon her and gripped Ino's torso with her claw. The kunoichi's arms were pinned to her sides and Chiffon lifted Ino off the ground light as a feather so both young women were looking each other face to face. Chiffon opened her eyes sinisterly and whispered to Ino, "Stay away from my Naruto-kun girl." Ino shivered and nodded rapidly. The killing intent was murderous. Then Chiffon adopted her usual smile and slit eyed look. She said, "I believe I have you at a disadvantage Ino-san; do you concede?"

Ino shook her head in affirmation and said frightfully, "Y-yes, I forfeit this match."

Shikamaru's brain was moving at a million miles an hour as Chiffon set Ino down gently. He made a mental note to have Sakura check Ino's back later (Ino was obviously smarting from that kick). 'Chiffon-san's strength and speed are unbelievable. She moved without making a sound. I may be mistaken but I think Chiffon-san actually teleported because there were no effects of a body flicker. Naruto's girlfriend is extremely dangerous. She's at least a jonin level threat.'

….

After a bit more sparring between various team members one thing was painfully evident; the four Konoha chunins were completely outclassed in speed, strength and power. There was no way to test jutsu skills because Naruto's tended to be massively destructive and Chiffon used what she referred to as 'high end skills' and didn't use justus. Shikamaru concluded that Naruto was easily jonin level and Chiffon was probably even stronger. Chiffon caught one of Sakura's chakra enhanced punches with her claw and didn't even flinch….that was scary….

Having satisfied his need for information on their various skill sets Shikamaru told everyone to shower off and they would all go out to dinner to blow off some steam. Everyone seemed pleased with the idea although Ino seemed a bit spooked by Chiffon for some reason. 'How troublesome.' thought Shikamaru. "Men simply weren't meant to comprehend women. It's as simple as that.'

….

Fang Country, Plaza

Naruto, Chiffon and the Konoha group went out for barbeque because it was all you could eat that evening and Choji was seriously hungry. Naruto was more than happy to hear about things going on back in Konoha and made sure Chiffon-chan was included in the conversation. Seeing Chiffon's beautiful kimono she was wearing both Sakura and Ino wondered where she'd bought it and the three decided to go over to Riverbends Ladies Wear to do some shopping. Madam Mai was delighted to see Chiffon again and pointed the girls towards the swimwear section that had just been opened for the season. Sakura and Ino had stars in their eyes at the wide assortment of clothing and were trying to decide what to buy….Chiffon still had plenty to spend on her account balance and both Sakura and Ino were absolutely shocked that Naruto not only had purchased an entire wardrobe for Chiffon but that the Pandora had plenty of store credit to blow as well….

Ino was looking at the racier clothing while Sakura was looking at more conservative items. Madam Mai was talking to Chiffon about the swimwear they would be getting in next week and promised that there would be some designer bikinis that would be far more flattering to Chiffons voluptuous figure than what was out there now. As it turned out Chiffon decided to wait until then but both Ino and Sakura got a kimono each for themselves. Both kunoichi were very impressed with Riverbends and decided to come back to look at swimsuits next week with Chiffon. Ino also felt a bit better about Chiffon because it was obvious she had excellent taste in clothing….

Shikamaru and Choji went back to the Daimyo's palace so Shikamaru could find a good place to do some cloud watching. Choji naturally went with his best friend just to hang out. Naruto was going to join them for old time's sake but decided that since Chiffon-chan wasn't with him he would go look at some jewelry and curio shops and get a little surprise for her. Truthfully Naruto didn't know where to start so he was just going to window shop for now….

….

Kuriarare Kushimaru was a bit irked as he travelled through Fang Country looking for information on Uzumaki Naruto. Nobody knew the former Seven Swordsman even by reputation. Since he was long dead according to the bingo books Kushimaru's name didn't strike fear into others as it did when he was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Frankly, the once elite and feared Seven Swordsmen had scattered to the four winds and their reputation fell into the mud as a result. Most people thought he was using his own damn name as an alias to impress others. Oh, well….Kushimaru was staying in a rundown hotel called Clearwater in the Fang Country Capitol waiting for his prey to show up.

Rumors had it that Uzumaki was (temporarily) some kind of a personal retainer to the Fang Country Diamyo for unknown reasons. The locals called him Naruto-sama and he was running around with his concubine who was apparently a complete hottie. 'Sounds like Jiraiya-sama's apprentice alright….' He thought ruefully. That's when Kushimaru laid eyes on Naruto for the first time. The slim but muscular blonde was walking along and had an unassuming image about him. He wasn't out to look scary or intimidating. At the same time the indigo clad blonde seemed to radiate a power and confidence that made the crowds part ways in deference to him. 'That's got to be him. An aura of power like that isn't something you learn. You are born with it.'

Naruto separated from the crowd and went over to a curio shop. He seemed totally enthralled looking at the various baubles and was making small talk with the owner when Kushimaru decided to move in silently. As a master of the silent killing technique it was child's play to sneak up on an unsuspecting ninja. That's when Naruto turned around and looked directly at him. Kushimaru stopped cold as Naruto's blue eyes seemed to penetrate his very soul. Kushimaru felt completely exposed though he was well concealed in the shadows. 'W-what is this?' thought the swordsman. Naruto's eyes bled red and an incredibly refined killing intent seemed to pierce Kushimaru's being. 'If I attack him now I will lose….' thought the wielder of the Nuibari. 'I need to withdraw." With that, the shaken Kushimaru vanished in a body flicker….

….

Naruto's eyes faded back to blue. 'Thanks Kurama. Your ability to sense negative emotions let me stare him down before he could attack."

'No problem Naruto; using a bit of my killing intent combined with Asura's aura was enough to make him run. Your training is paying off. Just remember not everyone will retreat so easily.' answered Kurama.

'I think that guy was relying on his stealth skills and left when he was spotted.' thought Naruto. 'Come to think of it, the way he maneuvered around reminds me of how Momichi Zabuza did. I wonder why….He had a Kiri embem on that mask. I'm going to look him up in the Kiri section of my old bingo book and see if I can spot that particular mask….'

'It never hurts to be prepared.' agreed the fox. 'Just because you spooked him doesn't mean he won't try again.'

….

Location Unknown….

Ticy was standing in the tube she had been revived in as the fans at the base of it dried her nude form. The Finnish Pandora was breathing air again (even if it was a bit stale) and the preservation liquid had finally drained away. She felt that even her hair was completely dry after a few minutes though she still smelled like chemicals. "Commander, do we have clothing stored here?" asked the gray eyed Pandora.

Su-na half smiled and said, "There is clothing here but it's so ancient that it crumbles when you touch it. There are no functioning showers either so get used to the chemical smell for now. Just use your volt texture to put on a combat uniform."

The computer said, "Pandora one revival complete; now opening preservation cylinder."

Ticy saw the upper and lower walls of the cylinder slide open and felt fresh air for the first time on her skin. The two hour revival process seemed like a lifetime to her. She flexed her fingers and stretched to make sure everything worked. Then Ticy activated her volt texture and her purple West Genetics school uniform came into existence. "There we go." said the gray eyed Pandora. Then she looked around and saw the horror show of all the other tubes with dead Pandoras in them. It made he feel sick and sad all at once. 'What are just three of us going to do against the Novas?' thought the black haired beauty.

Catching Ticy's attention, Su-na asked, "AI, Is the second Pandora ready to revive?"

"Affirmative Commander." answered the computer. "Shall I begin revival procedures?"

"Proceed AI." ordered Su-na. She turned to Ticy. "Let's see if you recognize our other sleeping beauty Ticy. She looks familiar to me but I can't place her with her bangs covering her face."

….

With Kushimaru, The Clearwater Hotel

The swordsman was sweating when he got back to his hotel room. 'What the hell was that? I've felt massive, Kage level killing intent before but this was totally different. He didn't just spot me; it was like he could see my god damned soul! What the hell is he? Was that a mind jutsu to throw me off? I only felt it after we made eye contact. I could try the hiding in mist justu.*③ Maybe it's just a doujutstu like the sharingan….that must be it….'

The rogue swordsman didn't get much sleep that night. Something about Naruto's stare had chilled him to the marrow….It wasn't a feeling he enjoyed at all and Kuriarare Kushimaru was beginning to wonder if this trip was a bad idea….

….

POSTSCRIPT:

*① Abel Rotomaster was Ticy's Limiter.

*② This is Ticy's appearance at the beginning of the Freezing manga.

*③ Kuriarare Kushimaru's jutsu repertoire and skill set aren't expanded on except for his abilities used in conjunction with Nuibari and silent killing. I've added in the hiding in mist technique among others.

Mainly character building this time. I was originally planning to have Kushimaru and Naruto's group meet up for real but I think slower progression works better in this case. There will be a head on collision soon. Su-na's little group of Pandoras is coming together. I hope everyone likes Ticy's inclusion. The Kushimaru sub arc might last three chapters depending on how things go. Hopefully the Fang Country Arc won't last much longer than that. See you next time. The next chapter will be a few days as the all new chapters take quite a bit longer to write. Blue out. 4/1/16. Updated 1/24/19