Hey everyone. Busy busy busy lately, but I managed to pull out this chapter for you. I was hit with a sudden burst of inspiration for this particular chapter. I graduate high school next week, then I'll have more time to work. Many chapters of other stories are almost done. I'm hoping to have them published within the next week as a sort of graduation present to myself. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own Sekirei.

Walking up the stairs and down the hallway, Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the form of Kagari, wearing a simple button-down shirt and black pants, coming from the other direction. The both of them made eye contact for a moment before passing. Naruto stopped at his door before turning to see Kagari about to hit the stairs he had just come from.

"Thanks for the outfit," he announced, and visibly saw the white-haired young man stiffen, before relaxing.

"I don't know what you mean," he replied with a smile, which Naruto returned.

"Whatever you say," he said. "I'm new around here, but don't think I'm stupid. I guess though if you want to keep your identity a secret, it's your right, so I won't go blabbing who you are, Homura." The white-haired Sekirei just chuckled, before heading down the stairs. Naruto watched him disappear before remembering the business he was attending to. Namely, waking up his own Sekirei.

Entering the room, he smiled at the sight of the girls all sleeping peacefully...well, except for Matsu, who seemed to have a bad case of wandering hands. Shaking his head, he dispelled his clone, causing Matsu to fall to from her position on his chest and the two girls clinging to his arms to roll inward and hit their heads with Matsu, making all three wake up.

"Rise and shine ladies," he announced, trying to suppress a bit of laughter as he leaned over them, lightly kissing Akitsu and Amaya on the cheek, and Matsu on the forehead. "Miya has breakfast ready, so we should head down now." Matsu's stomach growled at the mention of food, having no dinner the night before. "That includes you Matsu. Miya wants you to introduce yourself too." The red-head quirked an eyebrow behind her glasses, but nodded. Helping the three up, they all made the trip down the stairs, heading into the dining area to find the table already prepared. Looking around, Naruto saw Homura, still masquerading as Kagari, Miya, Chiho and Uzume, the later of who was leaning on the shoulder of the former, a content look in her eyes. Also at the table was Musubi and her Ashikabi, Minato, Sora, and the littlest Sekirei, the young girl from the forest, he remembered Musubi calling Kusano.

"Hello everyone," said Naruto, smiling. Minato seemed surprised to see him, but the others greeted him and his Sekirei cordially. "Everything looks great Miya." The purple-haired woman just giggled behind her hands.

"Well, I suppose anything would look good after missing your dinner," she said, and Naruto chuckled at her poor attempt to hide her vanity with false modesty.

"You're that guy..." Naruto's attention was once more turned to Minato, who was just staring at him. "You're the one who helped us find Kusano the other day."

"As a matter of fact, I am," replied Naruto. "Since Musubi apparently hasn't told you, myself and these beautiful ladies will be staying here for a while." Akitsu, Amaya, Sora and even Matsu blushed at his compliment, earning another quiet giggle from Miya, who found the situation rather cute. Kusano finally seemed to recognize him from before and gave the blonde a big smile, which he returned. "Ok, introduction time. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm not exactly from around these parts, so don't ask. And these three are my Sekirei.

"I am Sekirei #7, Akitsu," said the woman, somewhat dreamily. "I'm an Ice-type Sekirei." Amaya stepped forward next.

"Hi there," she said, quite cheerfully, giving a bright smile. "I'm Sekirei #31, Amaya, and I have power over the weather."

"Sekirei #59, Sora," said the young woman from her seat. "I'm a Weapon-type Sekirei, and use a pair of Tonfa, but I currently haven't reacted to an Ashikabi." Finally, Matsu took a step forward to give her announcement.

"And I'm Sekirei #2, Matsu," said the red-head, and Kusano instantly shivered and went to hide behind Minato.

"Huh, what is it Ku?" he asked, concerned for his tiny Sekirei.

"It's the ghost," was her meek reply, causing everyone to stair at Matsu, who rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry about that..." she said. "I didn't mean to scare you." Kusano seemed to calm down a bit, but still was weary of the red-head. "Anyway," continued Matsu, "I'm a Brain-type Sekirei."

"Wait a minute...You just showed up, what, yesterday? How is it that Matsu managed to scare Kusano two nights ago?" asked Minato, looking at them confused.

"Matsu has actually been living here longer than you and Musubi," replied Uzume, getting a nod from Mia, who continued the explanation.

"Yes, Matsu is a much more...quiet tenant than most, never leaving her room unless she needs to," said the Land-lady.

"Well, that would explain why we haven't really seen her at all..." said Minato.

"Well, now that the introductions are done with," said Naruto, clapping his hands together and smiling broadly. Naruto was naturally a big eater, but having missed dinner, he was hungrier than usual. As he and the girls sat down and prepared to dig in, the ringing of a cell phone caused everyone to look to Minato, who answered, before his eyes widened and he turned toward Naruto.

"It's...for you?" he said shakily, not sure himself what was even going on. Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked between his Sekirei before accepting the phone and leaving the room to converse in peace. Leaning up against the railing of the stairs, he placed the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, not quite sure of what was happening.

"You're a very hard person to reach, you know," said the voice on the other end of the line, and Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"That's because I have no cell phone, use fake ID's, and have no records whatsoever. So the question I need to ask is who is this and how do you even know I exist?" questioned the blonde shinobi. Unfortunately, he got a chuckle in return.

"If it wasn't for the fact that you've winged several Sekirei, and that we are speaking right now, I would assume you didn't," replied the voice of the mystery man. "In fact, it's been very aggravating having no idea who you are, especially for a man like me. Honestly, are you trying to ruin my 'I know everything' mystique?"

"I'll ask again, who is this," said Naruto, a bit more forcefully, as his eyes began to turn red and his whisker-marks deepened and became more defined.

"You honestly haven't figured it out yet? I would have figured a man who could slip around the radar, and avoid detection by the entirety of my forces, would have been smarter." Naruto growled dangerously. It shouldn't have even been possible for such a guttural sound to come from a human throat...then again, Naruto wasn't human anymore. "Alright, alright," replied the man. "My name is Minaka Hiroto, president of MBI, and game-master of the Sekirei plan." That caught Naruto's attention, and Minaka knew it.

"Anyway, as you can probably guess, I'm a very busy man, so I wish you good luck in my game...with what's coming, you'll need it." Naruto gripped the phone even tighter at that.

"Wait what do you-" He never got to finish the sentence as Minaka hung up on him. Snapping the phone closed, Naruto managed to compose himself enough to re-enter the dining area. He braced himself for the questions that he knew would come, and entered.

"So did he sound familiar?" Karasuba looked to her Ashikabi, feeling pathetic confined to a hospital bed, covered in bandages. Her Ashikabi, Natsuo, was a normal sized young gentleman with brown hair, wearing an elaborate suit with a white shirt underneath and a black tie.

"No," she said, the irritation evident in her voice. "I don't know who the mystery Ashikabi is, but he's not the one who attacked me."

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Positive," replied Karasuba, signaling it was the end of the conversation. Taking the hint, Natsuo just nodded, before exiting the room, leaving Karasuba to glare out the window, wondering if her assailant was even now taking a few practice swings with her sword. The very thought was infuriating. She was the Black Sekirei. Three time member of the disciplinary squad. And she was beaten by a human. Granted, a human with some sort of unknown power, but a human none the less.

Slowly, the many pills began to take their toll, and she found herself falling into an uneasy sleep, dreams of meeting her rival, Yume, in battle, now filled with images of the pale, black-haired man who had so easily taken her down. In her dream, she was fighting with Musubi, who had been possessed by Yume, when their battle was interrupted by a blonde-haired young man who went flying past the two battling Sekirei, catching Karasuba's attention, before he landed and back-flipped, just in time to dodge the blade of her nodachi as it was stabbed into the ground by the pale man. Looking toward the blonde, his face shadowed by his bangs, her eyes widened as from behind his back, nine long, furry tails appeared and he gained a much more feral appearance. He began whipping through some very odd hand motions, before a large, demonic-looking figure appeared behind him, a dagger in its teeth. Reaching out his hand through the blonde, it shot forward into the pale man, ripping out a glowing, blue humanoid figure, before pulling a similar one from the blonde.

As the two fell over dead, the demonic being opened its mouth wide and swallowed the glowing-figures it ripped from the two people. Both Karasuba and Yume actually backed away as it turned its attention to them. It grew larger and larger, opening its mouth wide before with lightning speed, it's massive jaws closed around them.

Karasuba's eyes shot open, snapping awake from her nightmare. She wasn't sure what she had dreamed about, but she had actually felt a twinge of fear. She covered her eyes with her hand, grimacing at the pain a bit, before a voice caught her attention.

"Someone have a bad dream?" came the voice of fellow disciplinary squad member, Sekirei #105, Benitsubasa, the 'Red Sekirei.' The tone was highly irritating to the older Sekirei, as it was said quite mockingly. She knew that if given the chance, the girl would gladly do whatever was in her power to terminate her. She was her own personal...what was it? That cartoon character that pathetically tried and failed constantly to overthrow his boss, while being a suck-up to her face. What was it called? Her eyes lit up and she smiled a bit as she remembered.

"Thank you for that brilliant observation, Starscream," she said sarcastically, causing the pink-haired girl to face-plant, which in turn caused her bandage-wrapped partner...her other bandage-wrapped partner, Haihane, to laugh, finding the entire exchange quite humorous, easily getting the joke. Kakasuba looked over her two teammates.

She wore a kimono-like shirt with one sleeve missing, and pink hair in a side ponytail with two daisy clips. She had small breasts that haven't grown by a single millimeter and was an A cup, a source of great embarrassment, and something Karasuba loved to tease her about. She had the appearance of a cheerful, younger teenager though her appearance didn't reflect her personality as she was incredibly short-tempered, unlike Haihane who was almost always calm and had a lot of fun teasing Benitsubasa.

Haihane herself was Sekirei #104, and was known as the Blue Sekirei. She wore a tattered kimono over her bandaged body, had disheveled grey hair and narrow eyes; giving her a wicked, almost Grim Reaper-like appearance. Even though she seemed dark and mildly gothic, her personality, surprisingly, was pretty upbeat by contrast. Unlike her partner Benitsubasa, Haihane was a cheerful and calmer character who enjoyed teasing the fierce red-head for sheer amusement.

"So how about it? Is the Mystery Ashikabi your attacker?" asked Benitsubasa, already over the verbal gibe thrown at her from Karasuba.

"No...but just the same, I think I should investigate him. There's something up with him, and I want to know exactly what is going on around here," replied the Black Sekirei.

Naruto sat in his room, meditating, trying to reign in his worry and anger. What had Minaka meant by his parting words? What was the bastard planning? He was interrupted from his musings as the door opened. Most of the people in the house were outside, helping with chores, including one of Naruto's clones. So that left one person in the house. Opening his eyes, he saw Matsu tentatively enter the room.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked. "You seemed a bit out of it during breakfast..."

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Naruto, trying to ease the worries of the red-head.

"Don't try to tell me that," said Matsu, coming closer and sitting in front of her Ashikabi. I know something is wrong...I can feel it, and so can Akitsu and Amaya. What was that phone-call about?" Naruto sighed. He knew he wasn't about to get anything passed Matsu.

"It was Minaka." Matsu tensed at that, as she wasn't too fond of the game-master either. "He left me a message, and a warning. I don't know what's coming, but I didn't like how he said 'good luck in my game...with what's coming, you'll need it." The Brain-type Sekirei looked at her Ashikabi with worry. She had already gotten a bit of a grasp of his abilities, and while he had boasted his confidence, and had the element of surprise before, it had been lost now. Now Minaka knew Naruto's location, he already had the information on the Sekirei, and while those themselves weren't big deals, he also knew how to push her Ashikabi's buttons.

Reaching forward, she pulled Naruto close, pressing his chest against her...ample bust. "Hey, don't worry about us, ok? Just have faith in yourself and don't let Minaka get to you. He's a master at getting into the heads of others. You just need to keep a level head when dealing with him."

"I'm gonna kill that man one day," said Naruto, and she could both hear his resolve, and see it within his eyes. "I promise you and the others that. It's the promise of a lifetime, and I refuse to break a promise. Not again." Matsu quirked an eyebrow at that.

"Again? What do you mean?" Naruto sighed, before pulling off his shirt, making Matsu actually cringe at seeing what was there.

Across Naruto's chest was a large scar, traveling across his heart. What was horrible was the color. The scar had formed an inky, black color, and it looked like it was burned through. "What happened?" she asked, concerned for her Ashikabi.

"I grew up in a different type of society, Matsu," he replied. "I was part of our village's military force. But one of our own defected, and I was part of the team sent to bring him back. He was one of my teammates...my friend. When he left, it devastated our third teammate, Sakura...Before I left on the mission to bring him back, she made me promise to do so."

"And did you?" asked the red-head, though she already knew the answer.

"No, I didn't. We battled it out in a way that would make a lot of Sekirei jealous, but it turns out we were evenly matched for the most part. So in the end, we both put everything we had into one attack each. When they clashed, there was some kind of...backlash of energy. In the end, he gave me this scar before the energy ripped him apart, atom by atom, before I woke up in the park, in this new world...You probably think I'm crazy now, don't you?" Naruto was stunned when Matsu's hand came up and stroked his whisker marks, causing him to let out a strange purr.

"You're not crazy," she said, looking at him with concern. "And you don't have to worry about us. If you really want to promise me something, promise me this. Don't let the scars in your mind become worse than the scars of your body. You need to let go of the past." Getting in close, she pulled Naruto in for a kiss, her wings manifesting behind her as their lips met. Unlike their last kiss, this one had no sexual desire behind it. The two pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other, looking into each others' eyes. Naruto couldn't help but smile and let loose a small laugh.

"Alright," he said. "I promise."

"Good," replied Matsu, smiling a bit as well, but it faltered upon once again gazing at the black scar marking his chest. His own personal curse, reminding him each day of what had been. "Because otherwise I'll have to get Akitsu and Amaya and we'll kick your ass." Naruto laughed at that.

"Alright," he chuckled. "Something tells me you could do it too." Naruto thought for a moment, before his face turned serious. "Matsu, I need you to do something for me."

"Sure, like what?" replied the red-head, happy to be thought of as useful. Unfortunately, Brain-type Sekirei weren't exactly the most sought after, as they had little, if any, fighting ability.

"You're good with computers, right?" he asked. Getting a nod from Matsu, he continued. "I need you to hack into the MBI database and find out as much information as you can on the other Sekirei and their Ashikabis."

"It may take a little while, but it's doable," replied Matsu.

"Good," said Naruto. "A wise old man once taught me that information is everything. I want to be the most knowledgeable about the Sekirei, second to only Minaka himself. Find everything you can, than print the files for me."

"Can do," replied Matsu, cracking her knuckles and getting up, leaving the room to go get to work.

Chapter end.

Hey everyone. Been having a hard time lately, with school and work, but I had a surge of inspiration for this one. Currently, I'm half-way through with the next Uzumaki X, and am working out the back-bone of the next Shadow of Vader chapter. I also have started work on Rise of the Phantom, and am close to done on Multorum Prime. I graduate High School next week, and then I'll have much more time to work. Hope you enjoyed.

Peace to all my Fans

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