Naruto Naruto Moeyouden - Preview

[buytbuyt]

Sunagakure had no money.

...

Aah, the reality of life.

 

[l3fty]

Ah, can't wait to see if it's tied to Naruto.

 

[TmDagger]

And then someone pulled off a Grand Theft Country.

 

[Daneel Rush]

“Thirty-one! Thirty! One!”

Each word was a roar that made the walls around them shudder. It was a lot of rage, pouring out of such a small frame like tongues of hungry flame. They threatened to become a blaze that could swallow the entire continent. Perhaps it was only the Kage’s old age that stopped him from leaping to the fray like a berserker rushing towards an honorable end in battle.

Old Oonoki was furious, and his fury was reflected in the eyes of those who acknowledged him as their leader. Even his right hand, the ever-jovial Akatsuchi, stood unusually stoic two steps away from the Earth Shadow’s seat. The Special Jounin scout on the other side of the Kage’s office would have been terrified, were he not also outraged by the tragedy which had struck their village.

“Thirty! One!” repeated the old shinobi, this time banging the sturdy desk with a strong fist with each word. “Thirty-one of my ninja! I lost thirty-one of my ninja! To a single raiding party!”

Oonoki’s body shook and a groan escaped his lips as his aged body complained for his outburst. Akatsuchi moved to assist the old man before he slumped off his seat.

“Tsu-Tsuchikage-sama, please be kinder to your own body…” The large man said in an unusually tired voice. Oonoki instead glared at the scout.

“What does Tetsumaru have to say about this!?”

“S-Sir, the envoy from Kongouzan I spoke to said they are as stumped by this situation as we are. They also lost some of their own in the ambush, sir.”

Oonoki and his assistant frowned in unison.

“An envoy?” said the Tsuchikage. “You didn’t speak with Tetsumaru?”

“Sir, Kongouzan Tetsumaru-sama was not present at the camp. From what I could gather, he is in a diplomatic trip of some sort, sir.”

Oonoki clicked his tongue. “Picked a great time to leave the front, that bastard.” He paused, allowing his furious thoughts to simmer for a moment. “So? The point’s that Ashibashi never showed up, right?”

“Yes, sir.” The scout nodded. “Their absence left an unexpected gap in our lines. We have not been able to reach them, sir.”

The aged Tsuchikage released a long sigh.

“…very well. I take it the lines are redeployed by now.”

“Yessir!” The scout replied with newfound enthusiasm. “Even if we’re lacking in numbers while Kongouzan sends reinforcements, we have combined efforts to fortify a defensive line across the Shiramine Valley. We’ll definitely hold back the Horde’s advance party, sir!”

The Tsuchikage nodded.

“That you’ll do. Go!”

“Aye!”

Oonoki and Akatsuchi were left alone with only stone walls to listen to their exchange.

“…how are they?”

Akatsuchi made a pained expression.

“Kurotsuchi...won’t talk to anyone,” he confessed. “But I’m sure you can guess.” He shook his head as he remembered something he really did not want to think about. “They know oni always spare females…and they know what they do to women they capture.”

To exploit their amazing fertility and incessantly increase the numbers of their rampaging horde; such was the way of oni.

“That’s my daughter you’re talking about, damn you,” Oonoki growled with misery and outrage. After banging the table one more time, the Third turned his attention to the situation at large.

“So, what do you think?” He prodded. “Betrayal? From Ashibashi?”

“What about Kongouzan?”

Oonoki grunted.

“That Tetsumaru…he lives for the battlefield. If he left the frontline, it had to be for a good reason.” Another pause. “Let’s trust the Mountain youko for a while longer. At least until we see what the deal with Ashibashi is.”

“Hmm.” It was hard, but Akatsuchi found it in himself to show a small smile.

“What about Konoha?”

“What about them?” Oonoki said dismissively. “It’s a shame, but we already have enough on our plate to think about taking advantage of Konoha and Suna.” Shaking his head, he glanced at the map hanging off the wall near the room’s only door. “We can’t turn our backs on the Horde when it’s on the offensive.”

The experienced Tsuchikage found himself frowning.

“If anything, it feels like we’re the ones being cornered here.” Clicking his tongue the way he remembered his granddaughter doing from time to time, Oonoki gathered his wits to face the future.

“So, what are we going to do about that, hmm?”

 

[Vaylor]

“Kurotsuchi...won’t talk to anyone,” he confessed. “But I’m sure you can guess.” He shook his head as he remembered something he really did not want to think about. “They know oni always spare females…and they know what they do to women they capture.”

“That’s my daughter you’re talking about, damn you,” Oonoki growled with misery and outrage.

That should be grand daughter.

 

[violinmana]

/fapfapfap

 

[cjl]

Nice to see your writing again.

 

[Daneel Rush]

“Raise that sail already! We want to be at Strike Point C before sundown!”

“Aye, sir!”

Ao watched the shinobi sailors hurry to catch the wind on their backs. The longship, a narrow vessel twenty-five or so meters long, swayed its way across the fair waves of the eastern ocean. The experienced jounin followed the lines of rowers sweating to push even an extra knot of speed, as if aware that they were all on a tight schedule and of the significance of their current voyage.

“Ao.”

A single uncovered eye winced, struck by a wisp of sea foam. Scratching the leather eyepatch that concealed his secret weapon, the older shinobi turned to greet the one in charge; the leader of their insane expedition.

“Terumi-san.”

It was merely a coincidence she was the only woman on board, but even otherwise she would have drawn attention, for she was one of notable beauty, lavished with the highest praise even by human and youkai alike. That day, however, her usual cheer was missing. Even she could feel the burden of their current circumstances.

“How are things?” Straight to business, as it was proper.

“It doesn’t look like we’ve been detected,” Ao replied. “If anything, it was good we could take advantage of the mess.” She should have been pleased by the development, but it only made her click her tongue. “What is that guy thinking? Doesn’t he see what’s happening all around us?”

Ao hummed some sort of assent.

“Well, it’s not like we have much of a navy to patrol the seas with.”

Terumi Mei grunted her agreement. The Village Hidden in the Mist had lost a lot in the past years; the consequence of detached administration inheriting a village in all but shambles after the mistakes of the Third Mizukage. In spite of that, it pained Mei to admit she could not call the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, a hopeless man. No, a hopeless man would have pushed the weakened Kirigakure to its destruction.

“We were delayed by those pirates, but I guess they’re as much of a pain in the neck for our enemies,” Mei pointed out. “Any news from Nagisaja?”

“Same as the past few days; the foxes’ shrine is swarming with activity. It’s like they have their entire fleet out there, all the time, working double-time. They’re stocking on everything. It’s hard to say this, but…it feels like they’re preparing for war.”

“Any sign of—”

“They have not deployed units beyond their usual patrols, no,” the more experienced Jounin answered the question before it could be fully voiced. “Maybe they’re waiting for something, or maybe they’re starting from a defensive position for whatever reason.”

“Or maybe they’re still lacking something. No matter the case, it’s clear they’re preparing for something, right?” Mei concluded. Ao nodded.

“Something huge.”

“Should we be worried?”

“We can’t afford to,” Ao immediately replied, and then shook his head. “Rather, before we can even think of looking at the world beyond our village, we have the most important mission.”

Mei found herself chuckling at the somewhat dramatic-sounding words. They were anything but the truth, though. Her eyes sought the faces of the other shinobi hard at work on the longship, those who had shared her conviction that Kirigakure could no longer sustain its current ways. Feeling strangely confident in spite of what she knew awaited them after they met the other ships and set course towards Kiri, the revolutionary kunoichi allowed herself an unusually vicious smirk.

“Alright, Ao; let’s go get our village back.”

 

[13ry4n]

It's going to be fifteen chapters before naruto shows up isn't it?

 

[shiki]

I'm guessing Naruto is going to be like Sauron. Ever-present and affecting the situation but never shown.

 

[Zombiechainsaw]

This is just what I need to see. Oh hell yes!

 

[Daneel Rush]

There were all sorts of opinions regarding the Fourth Raikage—the man who, since the day he claimed the hat, also claimed the name “A”. But all the shinobi under his command knew their Raikage was a man dedicated to his job, and who often was seated behind his desk before the sun rose between the mountains, the fog scattering its light into a dim mantle that barely did its job of announcing the arrival of a new day.

The unusual thing that morning was that, for a change, the man known only as A felt like dwelling on the past a little. That’s why, when the two lithe figures jumped their way up the mighty tower that housed the village’s military leader and peeked into the tallest room, they found the slightly hunched figure of a huge man, resting his arms on his desk while his eyes lingered on the photo in his hands.

“Uwaa, that’s nostalgic.”

The voice was familiar, thus the Raikage did not vaporize the head peeking over his shoulder with his bare fist. His first response was a grunt of annoyance.

“A couple of decades are nothing to you foxes.”

“Hey, hey, now that’s just rude,” the foxgirl complained in a teasing voice as she walked around the large desk which had been replaced a little too many times. “Just because we live longer it doesn’t mean our time is less meaningful, ya know?”

A second grunt. The youkai, a blonde darling with brilliant white streaks along the length of her long mane, adjusted the thick blue and white shimenawa that held her elaborate clothes together and leaned over the table to look at the picture from the opposite side. A collar of big golden beads released a rustling sound as gravity pulled it off her modest chest.

“You were so cute back then, just look at you,” she said, a dainty finger pointing at the child near the center of the image. “Ah, I think you’re still cute. And there’s…ah, no, this was before B got his youkai, right. Oh, and I’m right there behind you.”

“You look the same,” the Raikage muttered, and no hint in his voice would reveal he was teasing her.

“I’m telling you I’m getting taller! I’ll be a bombshell like the Silver Lily before you know it! Hmph!”

“Right. Now, your father really has not changed at all.”

The foxgirl dismissed her pout of feminine outrage and was all smiles again after uncrossing her arms.

“Ah, yeah, it’ll be some time before his age starts to show. I guess we kitsune are fortunate in that regard.”

“Hnnn.”

Their eyes moved right along the lines of adults on the back row: the Third Raikage and his advisors, accompanied by the foxgirl’s father, the leader of the Great Lightning Clan of Amagumo. The front row had all the young people, most of them aspiring shinobi already at that age. While some of them, like young A, stared fixedly at the camera, a few had chosen to instead fool around with the cats running rampant in front of the scene. Some of those cats had distinctly more than one tail.

The foxgirl followed A’s eyes to the stern figure standing in front of his father and predecessor, the Third Raikage. The white-haired bear of a man rested one of his hands on the small woman’s right shoulder.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” She said. “She has the worst personality, but everybody still misses her, that Kiyoura-san.” A shrug. “She was that good a teacher.”

The Raikage sighed and finally put the photo away in one of his desk drawers.

“Kiyoura-sensei was one of the foundations of Kumogakure’s strength. She will always be welcome here…”

“…even if she is an insufferable bitch,” the smiling foxgirl finished for him, eliciting a small growl from the huge man.

“…what are you doing here, Kumoi?”

“Here!” Amagumo Kumoi outstretched a hand. “I brought your bento! Now marry me!”

“You’re too young for me, girl.” A actually bothered giving a reasonable answer.

“I changed your diapers, damn it!”

“Shut uuuuuuup!!!” The poor desk trembled under the might of his fist. “Aaargh, you’re wasting my time! Off with you, girl!”

Kumoi’s arms shook childishly and desperately; little torrents jumped out of her eyes as she hurriedly blocked the way out of the room for the Raikage.

“No, wait! Okay, seriously! There’s someone I want to introduce to you! Come on in, Nyanko-chan!”

Old reflexes triggered and the mightiest shinobi in Kumogakure tensed and readied himself for an invader. He only relaxed upon recognizing the intruder as one of the village’s community of youkai cats. The fox and the cat looked about the same age, which of course meant the cat was at least fifty years younger. The newcomer was further distinguishable by the brown spots scattered over her blonde hair and the fur covering her ears and tails, a characteristic genetic trait.

“Shagaji clan, huh.”

“Um, yes sir!” The catgirl confirmed before saluting with a very low bow. “Shagaji Nyanko, sir. It is an honor to meet you, sir.”

“Nyanko-chan’s finished her basic training, and she’ll be my bodyguard from today onwards,” Kumoi explained with an exorbitant amount of pride in her voice, as if having a bodyguard were some sort of badge of honor.

“Hnn. Very well. I wish you luck, Shagaji. If anything, your days will become more interesting.”

Kumoi’s golden eyes gleamed with delight.

“Are you hitting on me, A-kun?”

“Out of my way, Kumoi.”

Pouting for a moment at the lack of response, Kumoi let her enthusiasm rebuild a smile on her face.

“Ah, aah, that’s okay; we’re going to the same place, anyway.”

A only raised an eyebrow, enough of a cue for the youkai to open the door for the three to depart.

“Shinkirou called for a meeting of the big guys, so I’ll be taking pops’ place in today’s meeting~”

The Raikage was not particularly pleased by having a teenager in a grown-up meeting.

“Why not one of the—”

“He took all my brothers with him~” Kumoi dismissed the man’s worries with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry, don’t worry; I have full powers of voice and vote in the name of the Leader of Amagumo.” She then teased him with her smirk. “Besides, you need me there today.”

“Really,” responded the Raikage, clearly irritated by people who don’t get to the point.

“Well, you need my clan’s support if your advisors and Jounin don’t feel like going along with your big idea. And I do have some intel on Konoha you’d probably like to know.”

The trio stopped in the middle of the hallway, Kumoi receiving the tall man’s glare with her sweetest smile.

“Is Amagumo keeping things from me, Kumoi?” said A, his voice as threatening as his expression.

“No, no, you really need to get rid of that attitude, acting like the whole world’s against you,” she replied. “How many times have I said it? This Amagumo Kumoi will always stand by your side.”

A did not relent in his glaring, seeking the slightest hint of deception in the small foxgirl’s pristine eyes. Then he remembered something she had just said, lingered on it for a moment and surrendered with a sigh. This was followed by a somewhat crooked smirk.

“Have I become that predictable, girl?”

Kumoi looked inordinately proud of being asked that question.

“I am the woman who will become your bride; of course I understand you better than anyone.”

“Right; that’s not going to happen,” the huge man grunted before resuming his walk towards the tower’s main meeting room.

“Geeeez! A-kun, that kind of rejection’s too mean!”

Kumoi eventually briefed him on what her clan knew of the events in Konoha ten days earlier. And even if the words were never actually spoken, they both knew a decision on Konoha had been made during that short walk. The meeting to follow was merely a formality to tune the human, kitsune and nekomata sides to the same channel. That was the way things were done in the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

In a way, they had already achieved the kind of society many humans and youkai secretly wished for.

*********************************************************

The location is irrelevant. It is just one cave of many in the continent.

The woman, Konan, could be called beautiful were she able to take better care of herself. She was blessed with smooth features, sharp eyes and exotically-colored hair. Living in caves and in the great outdoors for most of her life, however, gets greatly in the way of proper cosmetic care. Kitsune manage through their vast networks of contacts and thralls; unfortunately, Konan’s current profession was best described as “criminal”.

They had, somehow, formed an assembly of dangerous S-rank missing-nin, Akatsuki. They had, somehow, accumulated enough money to keep those missing-nin and their followers well-fed and happy and as loyal as S-rank missing-nin can be. Those powerful shinobi were then dispatched to gather information leading towards opportunities to capture what they called “youkai exemplars”: unique, special supernatural beings that would be fed to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Not just any random wandering youko or kappa would do.

Those powerful shinobi followed their leader because they followed power. And the leader of Akatsuki was, if anything, terrifyingly powerful.

He was currently reading a scroll of folk tales for children.

It was a beautifully done thing, admittedly; the kind of thing the child of a noble would enjoy through the voice of a maidservant as it is read to him before bedtime. Konan’s eye for aesthetics made her envy the pristine calligraphy and the smooth transition between the untouched parchment and the ochre tones of the background artwork. The tale itself was one she was plenty familiar with. The worrisome thing was its current reader.

“Nagato, what are you thinking…?”

She called the man “Nagato”, but that was not entirely correct. This was merely his public persona, one of his “Six Paths of Pain”. The one gifted with the blessing of the Deva Realm looked up from the scroll with the faintest hint of a placid smile.

“We could call it…a Plan B, of sorts.”

Konan glanced at the bizarre-yet-beautiful painting and then back at her oldest and only living friend.

“You can’t be serious…!”

“If we had this one, there would be no need for any others.”

A monstrous being with the face of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the limbs of a tiger and a snake as a tail. It was merely an interpretation, for it did not have a fixed form. The chimera on the scroll was merely meant to represent “an embodiment of fear”, but the creature was nothing like that and yet so much more than that.

It did nothing and felt nothing, but its mere existence wrote entire pages of this world’s history. It was the direst enemy and the treasure most lusted after. It was a horror that should by all means be avoided, but also the ambrosial nectar warriors and kings longed for.

Humans called it the “Ultimate Prey”.

Youkai called it the “Ultimate One”.

Kurosaki Sayoko calls it the “Anti-spiral Archetype”.

It did nothing and felt nothing, yet all the powers, horrors and curses of the world were drawn to it.

That is the being all know as “Nue”.

And the mightiest human being on the planet set his unique eyes on it.

*********************************************************

End of Introduction I

To be continued in “Twelve Clans”

 

[13ry4n]

Well, that was... something. I"m not entirely certain I'm for the Youkai being as open as they are.

Actually this leads me to a question if the Oni in Earth are so fucking violent then how did Iwa have enough shinobi to spare for three wars? Also what the fuck were the kitsune doing during those continent spanning wars? Just watching and eating pop corn?

 

[cjl]

Iwa definitely could have sent a ton of troops to fight while having a token defending force.

You don't need to have an equal amount of soldiers to defeat an opposing force. This is the fundamental drive in human history. Several well placed choke points, some specialized tactics, and some well trained and loyal men can and will forever ensure a place will be defended*. Thermopylae, Cannae, The Battle of the Bulge, Vietnam. The ability to defeat a numerically superior force can be said to have been vital to human development, else the strongest army would have always won and history would have been very different. Therefore it would be possible for Iwa to leave a token force to defend against the Oni and still have enough ninjas to send to battle. In addition, whose to say the Oni weren't part of the war? If they were fighting on opposite sides, Iwa wouldn't even need to send soldiers abroad to fight in the war.

As for what the Kitsune were doing, it's possible they hoped the wars would weaken the human nations and give the kitsune a chance to take control of the continent. It's neither honorable or moral, but it seems exactly like something they would do. Keeping in mind that a huge advantage of humans is ablative armor - I mean, a huge contingent of low to mid level combatants. It's true that a kyuubi might be able to wipe out a village: but can a kyuubi be everywhere at once? What happens to all the lower ranked kitsune? Would any human village trust a kitsune again if a kyuubi did something like that? Rival kitsune clans would probably jump at a chance to shave off a few layers of ablative armor - I mean, genin and chunin, but they would never outright do something as outrageous as taking sides in a human conflict.

*against reasonable odds. World wars need not apply.

 

[l3fty]

How will Kumo react to Naruto being Setsunas disciple I wonder.

@13ry4n
Villages have youkai containers in their villages, Kumo has 2 of them, and considering how they are in original, this is pretty much a given for them, not to mention Setsuna added into the mix.

You have to think of it as something that is a given in this story. Youkai exist, people know they exist, people know little else, and then you have those that dismiss this knowledge for wild tales. Ignorance is bliss and all that.

 

[cjl]

Am I the only one to find it a little creepy that Kumoi is trying to marry A? Especially if she changed his diapers. That's pretty creepy.

 

[violinmana]

I guess she knows exactly how well hung he is.

 

[tensho]

It looks like we're warming up for some very interesting times. Can't wait to see what happens next. Seriously wondering what Kougon plans to do. And how the rest of the kitsune race react from Sayoko's words.

 

[Daneel Rush]

Naruto Moeyouden
- ナルト- 萌妖伝
Introduction II: Twelve Clans

“We have arrived, milady,” said Katsura Hinagiku rather unnecessarily upon the palanquin coming to a halt. When the silk curtain of many motifs was parted, it was the pink-haired attendant who stepped out the first, to then offer a firm yet feminine hand to her liege.

The matriarch of the Great Forest Clan, Kinoshita Byakuren, promptly scrunched up her nose as her body was soaked in the moist air. The southward wind did not lose much of its water content in its passing through the swampland and thus brought strong rainfall to River Country. Byakuren did not find it a comfortable place to be that time of the year.

Humans ruled the continent, but kitsune still allowed themselves a few hallowed grounds, untouched and unreachable by the children of the sun. The pagoda was boring from the outside, and Byakuren knew it was just as plain inside. It was awkwardly conspicuous; a tower of black-and-white in the midst of the lively colors of nature. The Matriarch of Kinoshita glanced over the tents arrayed around the pagoda, identifying the colors of four Great Clans. Her eyes and mind skipped over other litters resting near her own.

“Let us go, Hina, Soun.”

Leaving behind the palanquin with its porters and a squad of three to watch over them, Byakuren and her male and female attendants took towards the main venue. The ancient rules of the council stated that only Great Clan Leaders could step into the pagoda, and only in the company of at most two other people. Most clan leaders took the chance to show their heirs the ropes of inter-clan politics.

Taking a deep breath and placing a hand on her chest, Byakuren steadied her heart and bravely stepped into the vipers’ den.

*********************************************************

“Umm…this will sound extremely rude from my part, but…should not Yamanaka-san perchance be performing her duties as a ninja?”

“Ahaha~” Yamanaka Ino cheerfully laughed while her hands deftly worked on an arrangement of pansies. “Aika-san’s making me look like a loafer~”

“No, no! I would never—!”

Ino further laughed at the Time kitsune’s desperate outcry and perhaps a little at herself; she did not know she was the kind of person to tease hopelessly nice people.

“Ah, don’t worry, don’t worry,” the young blonde quickly dismissed that gag. “Asuma-sensei gave us the day. Something about planning our future training.” She sighed. “He’s gonna give us hell from tomorrow, Asuma-sensei.”

Aika could not really offer any compassion. Some steps behind her, Higashiyama Mayuri fiddled with a finished flower arrangement.

“Umm, Yamanaka-san truly has a wonderful home.” An obvious attempt to redirect the conversation, but one that struck a chord on the young Genin. She chuckled.

“Really…I’m just glad it survived the mess in…mostly one piece.”

One half of Konoha was ravaged by flames. Of the remaining half, about one third was obliterated by the blast that also destroyed the Emissary of Oblivion. The neighborhood closest to the Hokage Monument was affected by the same disaster which destroyed the faces on the cliff wall, followed by the violent fight between Tamamo no Yuria and Jiroubou.

The people of Konohagakure and two kitsune clans worked together to restore the village in shambles.

Even if Higashiyama turned back on accepting the Shionzaki’s “support”, Konoha was still perfectly capable of making a separate deal with the Great Sound Clan. Utahime and her Grand Chorus repaired Konoha’s outer wall, allowing the humans to move their tents to an enclosed position and redouble efforts on rebuilding the village’s infrastructure. Higashiyama Yurimi agreed to pay 40% of all rebuilding costs—a first step towards providing reparations for the disasters her youngest sister had brought upon the village.

Thanks to everyone’s efforts—a special mention goes to ANBU’s Yamato and Higashiyama Chiyuri for their work on restoring the surrounding forest—Konoha was on the path of renewal. However, the enthusiasm to rebuild was still but a disguise to conceal their current vulnerability. Nervous eyes were fixed on the nation’s borders, waiting from the other shinobi villages’ inevitable move.

“Nobody’s really buying flowers these days, but I should still try to pretty up our village a bit, don’t you think?” Ino said as she took a step away from the shop counter to take a wider look at her work.

“Yes, Konohagakure also needs people like Yamanaka-san these days.”

Ino frowned.

“Somehow the way you say it doesn’t make it sound like a compliment.”

“Eh? Is that so?” Aika replied, clearly worried about being misunderstood.

“Oh, anyway,” dismissed Ino yet again. “More like, what about you two? What have you been up to? I know the little princess over there’s been doing something about paperwork with her powers, but…”

“Ah, yes!” Aika agreed with an inordinate amount of pride. “The Princess has been working hard on restoring the village’s legal records.”

Mayuri grated her teeth a little.

“As for me, I have assisted Naruto-kun and Katsura-san with the arrangements of their new household…and, well, paperwork regarding my clan’s business with Konoha.”

Naturally, Konoha could not pay Shionzaki for its services right away. A credit line had thus been implemented between the village and the kitsune clan, which was of course both a good and a bad thing.

“Huh…oh well,” Ino replied, clearly not that interested in bureaucracy and Konoha’s macroeconomics. “Rather, I wanted to ask you for a while…”

“Yes? How can I be of service?” Aika tilted her head, and the bits of electrum dangling off her artful hair comb chimed sweetly. The morning sunlight brought out the full luster of her thistle hair, and Ino grimaced at herself and her inability to not stare in admiration. Off the corner of her eye she caught Mayuri rolling her eyes, and that just plain pissed her off.

“Goddamit, you have to teach me how to make my hair shine like that.”

“It would be my pleasure,” said the foxgirl, and Ino accepted that it was pointless to carry negative feelings towards that person.

“Yeah, more importantly: who’s the prettiest?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Yeah, the prettiest!” Ino repeated more forcefully. “I mean, you kitsune are all about being annoyingly beautiful and stuff…”

“…I’m…terribly sorry but I do not think I can apologize for that…” Aika had a difficult look on her face.

“Already did,” Ino flatly retorted. “But I mean, since you all care about beauty so much, then there’s gotta be a ‘most beautiful one’, right? Like, the Ultra-Beauty! Come on, you have to know!”

“I’d be very interested in Aika-san’s answer as well,” a new, male voice added from just beyond the entrance. The shopgirl’s eyes shone happily upon catching sight of the newcomers.

“Shino-kun! Hinata! Come on in, come on in!”

“Um, don’t mind if I do…” The small wallflower muttered upon crossing the threshold. Shino acknowledged Mayuri with a respectful bow which was returned with a small nod. Pleasantries took a while, and even then they could not smoothly switch back to the original topic.

“So, where’s Kiba?” Ino had to ask, and the two’s reaction to the question said enough.

“Umm…”

“Kiba goes home as soon as we are dismissed,” Shino explained. “It’s been like that since then.”

“Kiba-kun…no longer spends time with us.”

“Hmm,” uttered Ino. “Well, it’s gotta be tough for him. Kitsune killed his mother; kitsune help us rebuild; what is he supposed to think?”

Aika shook her head.

“If there were something I could—huh?”

The sleeve of Aika’s lavender dress was tugged. Upon looking in that direction, she was met by a shake of the head.

“Mayuri-sama…?”

“Yup, the little princess’s right,” Ino intervened. Mayuri clicked her tongue. “It’s not really a good idea to push him to meet you. And it’s not good to let him meet Naruto either.”

“Um, I guess you’re right…wait, Yamanaka-san understands the Princess too!?”

“Nah, nah, that one was just obvious. I’m not Naruto.”

“It is not really that difficult.”

The women in the shop all turned to Shino, who was calmly looking down at the mightiest of Time kitsune.

“For example, right now the little princess is upset after being called ‘little princess’.”

Mayuri let her gaze narrow. It was supposed to be threatening, but the result was closer to cute than anything.

“Why do I know this? Because I am always watching women.”

A pause. Mayuri shuffled a step away.

“Shino-kun, somehow the way you say it…” A disgusted-looking Ino pointed out.

“Shino-kun…” Hinata whispered as if struck by physical pain. Her hand subconsciously went to her sheathed magical sword, Last Word.

“I kind of want Sayuri to burn you,” Ino concluded.

“I will keep pushing forward with my feelings…”

“What’s with that awfully corny show of determination!?”

“…but please spare me the fire; the hive can’t stand it.”

After a minute or so of fibbing at each other, Ino finally pushed forward the original topic.

“Well…” Aika mused, pursing her lips while tapping them with an index finger. “I do not have to tell you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are as many opinions as there are people, but…there are some the vast majority of us would agree are beautiful. Many have praised Higashiyama Yuri-sama’s beauty, for example. My mother once told me that, some seven hundred years ago, Kuromiya Fubuki was a youthful beauty second to none.”

“Uh-ugh…well, she is beautiful, but…” Ino found it hard to put her thoughts into words, but it was plenty clear what she meant.

“Indeed,” Aika said. “But to answer your question, Yamanaka-san, there is indeed one. One we envy and admire as ‘the fairest of us all’. A kitsune beauty like no other.”

Aika and Mayuri exchanged glances, and the uninterested Sorrowful Lily afterwards turned her attention to the many flowers filling the reopened store.

“Naturally, the most beautiful kitsune has to transcend mere physical attractiveness. Precisely the peerless beauty of our Youko Komachi is all the more enriched by the beauty of her soul.” Aika shook her head in unbridled disbelief. “It’s all the more amazing considering she is Fubuki-sama’s daughter.”

“Youko Komachi…” Shino murmured, tasting the words that carried the meaning of “the peerless vulpine beauty”.

“Wait, Fubuki’s daughter?” Ino exclaimed with alarm, and Aika nodded.

“Fubuki-sama’s eldest, Chachamaru, is acknowledged as the Youko Komachi, the beauty above all beauties. I pray you are one day blessed with the privilege of basking in her presence.” Truly, there was an undercurrent of longing in her voice, as in reminiscing of a life-changing event.

“I wonder where she is right now. Wherever she is, I’m sure she is making somebody’s life all the much brighter.”

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Next Time: Where is Kuromiya Chachamaru right now, really?

 

[dwaite860@yahoo.com]

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

[tensho]

We have more Ino! And Aika! And Mayuri! And Shino! And Chachamaru!

 

[buytbuyt]

C.H.A.C.H.A.M.A.R.U~<3

now, the mere mention of her name will bear the connotation of 'beauty above all beauties'.

and that 'Youko Komachi' thing.

Nice advertising! mr. Daneel Rush.

--------------------------------------------------

Thx Ino! for providing the cue.

and Mayuri was still cute!

i kind of wanting a peek on that 'Mayuri's Great Love Story' timeline back then Genkyouien's epilogue.

 

[Daneel Rush]

Kuromiya Chachamaru was in fact surrounded, and both she and her pursuers were surrounded by the plentiful trees of Fire Country. A frilly umbrella matching her dress rested on her right shoulder; both a fashion statement and an everyday necessity. The most pristine hair, white as the Flame of Destruction, swayed elegantly by her inertia, two bold locks descending with natural waviness down the sides of her face to the height of her generous breasts. She winced under the strong heat; to this woman, her pursuers were a secondary problem compared to the mercilessness of the morning sun.

Kuromiya Chachamaru suffers from albinism, you see. When she faced the Void for the first time, back when she was a humble two-tails, she gave Oblivion her body’s ability to produce melanin. Of course, what she really gave away was “the color of her skin, eyes and hair”; the scientific minutiae of her condition remained unknown to her until a decade or so ago.

Yet she remained the unsurpassed pinnacle of kitsune beauty; the fairest of Inari’s children. The four squads of four youko each were struck by a deep feeling of regret upon setting her gazes on the magnificent exemplar before them. A simple glance was enough to make them question themselves and their purpose, for what kind of kitsune would even think of harming such a beautiful creature? One of them tried a jutsu to dispel enchantments, but it was no supernatural power that stopped them from completing their mission.

“I…am truly sorry,” she said. Her voice was humble, even and clear like the springs of Tokoharu. A voice that made the present feel it was they who should apologize. “I must ask you to turn the way you came. I have an appointment I cannot miss.”

Perhaps the ridiculousness of her words in that situation helped dispel the enthrallment that was her beauty. The man seemingly in charge of the group revealed his six tails as if flaunting them. The male kitsune all wore dark clothes like stagehands’, but Chachamaru noticed expressions of individuality in the form of colored headbands, sashes and painted nails among their number. On their backs they carried small aluminum cylinders—oxygen tanks, she guessed.

“It seems you don’t understand your situation, Chachamaru-sama. There will be no meeting for you.”

Her smile was so sweet and sincere it was hard to tell whether her next words carried any sarcasm. Her eyes sought those of each of her pursuers, forcing them to look away to not be mesmerized by the unreal luster, for her blue irises were like jewels cut by a god. If the eyes are supposedly the mirrors of the soul, Kuromiya Chachamaru owned the most pristine, finely polished mirrors, capable of reflecting the superlative beauty of their world. If an exchange between two intelligent beings is mostly driven by body language, then the most radiant and eloquent blue eyes overwhelmed those who gazed upon them with her emotions immaculately expressed.

“You come to kill me yet you find it in yourself to address me with ‘-sama’. I am rather flattered,” she finally said. “Further, you choose to show yourself before me instead of attempting to strike from ambush. I am not such a great person as to really deserve such consideration from my would-be assassins.”

The men were startled into doubting themselves. Was showing themselves before her part of their plan, or were they simply drawn to her beauty like sailors to the siren’s song? Or even worse: were that not the case, did they not in fact subconsciously plan to reveal themselves before her solely for the bliss of letting her eyes gaze upon them?

Mind-twisting beauty that makes one doubt one’s own decisions, and mesmerizing eyes as effective as a pair of Sharingan; two of Kuromiya Chachamaru’s many weapons.

However, the man in charge possessed the strength of will to shake the cobwebs off his addled brain.

“We are kind enough to tell you why your life ends today,” the man replied snidely. “You must die so that we can reclaim our power and pride.”

Chachamaru pursed her crimson lips, and the twelve or so youko assassins struggled to keep thoughts of kissing them out of their minds.

“That…doesn’t sound like something Kamui-san would say. Who convinced you of such a thing, I wonder?”

“That is everything I wished to say. Prepare yourself.” The leader of the assassins dismissed the possibility of further conversation. Chakra began to swirl, and Void Fire danced around their onyx tails, ready to descend upon the lone female from every direction.

“I have no intention to harm you,” Chachamaru declared. Some of them men smirked somewhat mockingly.

“We’re counting on that!” mocked one of them.

“As for preparations,” Chachamaru continued, ignoring the man. “Those were well finished a while ago.”

She had not finished that sentence when the leader released a sharp cry of “Shibari!” and the entire group scattered. It was short for Kage Shibari no Jutsu, the basic shadow-manipulation technique. Tendrils of shadow-stuff slithered along the ground, chasing the team of kitsune like famished serpents.

“The trees, the trees!”

“Stay away from the trees!”

“She’s standing on the shadow of that tree!”

“Their shadows! They’re all connected!”

“Already! When did she—!?”

“Attack! Attack!” cried the leader, but the group was caught in a web of shadows, and they were the hapless butterflies. Their instinctual reaction to move away from the threat immediately broke both their formation and their attack plan.

“If so think so lowly of my skill as to think you can evade me, even I will get a little angry,” Chachamaru posited in a mild warning voice.

The six-tailed leader grunted, irritated.

“Aaaagh, interception!”

It was another command word. Those who had not been captured by the shadows dropped into a line a step behind the leader, who expanded his own shadow outwardly as it also grew thicker and darker. The group’s shadows merged and surged upwards creating a dome of Void chakra than encased them, for there could not be such a thing as “shadows” within complete darkness.

Chachamaru watched the black dome with the tiniest frown she would allow herself—she just did not like frowning.

“That’s…not very wise,” she murmured as she directed her chakra for another technique. Those captured grunted and yelled as the seizing tendrils crawled up their legs and reached to smother their air pathways. Those tendrils not attached to an opponent simply undulated off the ground like rapidly growing vines, at the same time those not hidden behind the deepest darkness witnessed the strangest of spectacles.

The world began to unravel around them. The trees, and even the very air around them seemed to dissolve into a myriad of fine black threads, which joined the ascending tendrils to create a vast mosaic well above their heads.

Meanwhile, those inside the dome had readied their rebreathers. They knew their target well—Kuromiya Chachamaru always aimed to incapacitate, never to kill.

After a hand sign, the leader broke the dome and urged his team to move on the offensive…and were promptly struck into stillness by the unreal scenery surrounding them. They saw their trapped allies encased in cocoons of black and white and silver. They saw the trees unravel as if they had been sewn from lustrous thread. They watched that same thread craft a marvelous artwork on the sky: a complicated fractal of webs within webs within webs, enclosing the whole of creation and worshipping a colossal effigy of Chachamaru herself, gently watching over the world like a Bodhisattva. She loomed over them like the goddess of an artificial cosmos, and it was the most suitable descriptor for the fairness that overcame all confidence and hope. She was, after all, a princess of the Void; her immaculate, untamable beauty like winter in an alpine forest was a calm exterior concealing terrible, unstoppable power like an avalanche.

They were rendered breathless. Both metaphorically and literally. They hands went to their necks, but even as their tanks filled their lungs with breathable air, their lungs seemed incapable to perform their only job. And while they hopelessly struggled to breathe and their minds drifted towards unconsciousness, they asked themselves many questions and reached at least a few answers. One by one they fell, and it was only the leader who had the presence of mind to realize that, even if breathing was not possible, their lungs still had air and thus they were capable of speech.

“What was…what kind of…illusion…”

“Everything,” Chachamaru replied just as his face hit the grass. Even if the entire group was unconscious, the eight-tails continued speaking. “Tenkuukai Mandara. This is why you should always study the terrain instead of just chasing a target and striking at the first suitable-looking spot for an attack.”

She gazed at her surroundings. A herd of cattle chewed on grass while watching her, disinterested.

“Then you would have realized we were traveling through farmland. Besides, if we were in such a thick forest I would have no need for this parasol.”

The trees, the sun, the very air, even the shadow binding jutsu and asphyxiation effect; everything was part of the script carefully crafted by Chachamaru’s Heavenly Emptiness Realm Mandala. They believed the shadows were out to get them, so they “froze” when the shadows touched them. They believed she had used a Void jutsu that negated their breathing ability, so they choked to unconsciousness. For what is reality but what you yourself acknowledge as such?

The Youko Komachi glanced down at the worthless breathing devices with something resembling pity.

“I would not be able to show my face before my mother if I could be countered with something like that,” she affirmed with some pride. “With your permission, I shall now take my leave. Have a fine rest, gentlemen. I shall pray you gained something from this meeting, brief as it may have been.”

The black parasol fell to the ground pulled by gravity, as Chachamaru was swallowed by the very shadow it cast. A moment later, the parasol seemingly imploded out of existence, a herd of cows the only witnesses.

*********************************************************

Next Time: Leaders of the Great Clans, assemble!

 

[Knyght]

*fist pumps*

Yes. Finally. Did not disappoint.

I only just realised that I might have been expecting someone a bit ditzy; perhaps because of her being calling the Empress' fan girl and Sayoko's surprise at the idea of her being her successor so long ago. I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[buytbuyt]

Yes!

-------------------------------------

yeah, the empress's fangirl.