68: Night Terrors 2

"Please sign here," Hinata said as she handed a sheet of paper to the woman that for the past week had been playing the role of Hokage.

"What am I signing?" the henged Shizune said trusting that Hinata had already read it if she wasn't asking her to look over it.

The Hyuuga answered, "It looks like we are going to have to push back the Chunin Exams again due to a request from Kumo. The document is to state that Konoha is in agreement. Gaara has already signed it so there isn't much reason not to agree."

Shizune concurred but imagined their shared lover was going to be displeased. Easily forging Tsunade's signature she said, "Did the Raikage give a reason?"

"He states that he isn't pleased with the three test layout that was agreed upon by the three main proctors. He feels that it relies too much on a preliminary round to make the final cut. Considering the number of participants, he feels it isn't proper to have a one on one fight to determine the winners twice."

Shizune frowned as she stated, "Delaying again is just going to make the number of occupants even more. We'll probably have to open it up to more recent graduates in order to come up with an entirely new testing standard."

Hinata nodded, but countered, "True, but I can see where he is coming from. I believe Gaara can as well. If it did breakdown as it was during my first Chunin Exams then the preliminary really isn't all that much different than the Final Round. Therefore, the setup all but guarantees only the strongest shinobi advance. But being a chunin is more than just about brute strength. It turns out that Karui already laid out an outline for the new test, and Temari liked it as well. I'll leave it to you to decide who was standing in the way of implementing it, at least until the Raikage put his foot down on the matter."

Shizune smiled as she could easily picture Shikamaru not wanting to come up with a new test from scratch due to all the extra work that it would entail, especially as he was so close to being finished with the troublesome task of organizing the exams. Handing the paper to Hinata while sending a mental apology to the Nara for making his life more difficult she said, "Is there anything else?"

"Nope, you're finished," Hinata said and giggled as Shizune sagged in her chair in a fair approximation of her teacher.

The Hyuuga gathered up the other papers she would need to file as she prepared to leave as a knock sounded at the door. Shizune straightened as she called, "Enter."

Ibiki stepped into the room and held the door open for Hinata who inclined her head in thanks at the gesture. Walking to the desk, Shizune waited for him to come to a rest as she said, "How can I help you Ibiki?"

Ibiki gave a stiff smile as he said, "Actually, I'm not here to visit the woman you are pretending to be. I have a request of you, Shizune."

The Hokage's first apprentice dropped the henge asking in surprise, "What can I do for you?"

"Well first here are the files that you requested about the terrorist group, The Eternal Sunrise." Ibiki handed over the large stack as he continued, "Is the Hokage due back from her little getaway with Naruto soon?"

"Today actually," Shizune said with a smile as she thought of how happy Tsunade had been when Naruto after returning from Hot Spring had surprised her by taking her to Moon Country for her birthday. Shizune knew that Tsunade had longed to visit the country due to its many casinos and beautiful beaches. But naturally trouble had followed the two blondes in the form of a terrorist group that had attacked the Royal Family. The two had acted to stop them while wearing the black and more standard shinobi clothes that the Family usually wore when acting in a manner where their involvement was meant to be kept secret. Therefore, no one currently knew that it had been Naruto and Tsunade particularly since Shizune had been pretending to be her teacher, while their lover had used a K-clone.

A quick skimming of the file that she had been handed showed Shizune that the group that had attacked the island had an almost completely different agenda then the One King Movement. Where the One King Movement sought to destroy the Shinobi Villages so that only the Daimyo would be considered the powers of the lands they ruled. The Eternal Sunrise was a group that sought to eliminate the Daimyo. They saw the daimyo as not just the cause of all the wars, but also the very reason that hated continued to spread throughout the Elemental Nations. Members of the Eternal Sunrise believed that if the Daimyo were removed it would allow a war to end all wars to be truly fought. They believed that due to the early termination of the Three Shinobi World Wars before as the Daimyo would force the villages to sue for peace after a few years of bleeding each other, as such they were under the impression that it prevented any side from achieving an absolute victory.

The members of Eternal Sunrise wanted to kick off a war that would only be settled when the true victors remained on the battlefield. They felt it was the only way that a meaningful peace could be achieved, at least for a time.

The reason Shizune had asked for Ibiki to bring her the file was because she was confident that Tsunade would be requesting it as soon as she returned. Partially to find out more about the people that had tarnished her birthday week with Naruto, but also because Tsunade had sent word back that about one of the members she had encountered was a missing-nin from Kirigakure called Mikumo Kushinada. From some of her teacher's war stories, she knew that the woman had been one of strongest kunoichi of the Second Shinobi War. She and Tsunade had been among a trio of women that Jiraiya had often referred to as the Three Diva's. The third had been a bloodthirsty killer from Iwagakure that had still been active up till the Third Shinobi war were she had inexplicably dropped off the face of the earth after facing the Fourth Hokage in battle. But, Shizune figured that it could just be due to the fact that the war ended soon after and the general lack of information that came out of Earth Country. Nevertheless, Shizune felt a small shiver pass through her as she recalled the tales Tsunade had told her of the smile Yachiru Unohana had worn as she cut down the men and women that had the courage to face her.

Strangely enough while she found it easy to understand why Tsunade had always spoken of the Iwa kunoichi with a note of disgust. She had always seemed to have conveyed a sense of respect when talking about Mikumo. The way her teacher had described the woman was that while she had appeared to enjoy the fighting, it was without the same bloodlust as Yachiru. Furthermore, the stronger her opponent the more Mikumo seemed to enjoy it. Tsunade had often talked about how it was hard not to get caught up in the feelings that she felt from the woman, as she also enjoyed having an opponent that could stand equal with her.

Therefore, Shizune could picture that Tsunade was rather disappointed to learn that the woman wanted to walk down a path that only led to eternal bloodshed. Placing the file in front of her so her teacher would see it as soon as she retook her seat, Shizune focused on Ibiki to ask, "How can I be of assistance to you now?"

Ibiki quickly replied, "The team that performed the autopsy on Tanzo hasn't found anything of use to track down his killer. I'm not saying that they missed anything, but I would feel better about the results knowing an apprentice of Tsunade double checked their findings."

Shizune smiled at the compliment as she answered, "I'll head over to there now to see if there is anything to find."

"I appreciate it," Ibiki said inclining his head politely before leaving the office.

Shizune waited a few moments straightening up the desk as the smile she had put in place fell. She sighed, feeling down as she stood to attend to Ibiki's request. The reason for her drop in mood was partially due to exactly why Ibiki had sought her out. Namely being that in most instances people simply knew her in such terms. She wasn't sure when it had begun to bother her, but felt it was likely tied to Sakura's skill as a medic and chakra control abilities. After all, where Shizune was known as being an apprentice, Sakura was quickly becoming known as the woman that could rival Tsunade or possibly even surpass her. Shizune did find some of her cheer returning as she knew now that her teacher was young again she had no intentions of being surpassed. A legacy really didn't have the same meaning when a person could possibly live forever. But that just made Shizune feel more depressed as she wondered what talent set her apart from the two women. Being Tsunade's first apprentice really didn't have as much meaning if everyone was talking about how skilled the second was.

Shizune didn't feel any real jealousy towards her fellow apprentice. But, instead felt more like a minor footnote in regards to the women that had been trained by Tsunade, and that left her feeling rather useless in comparison.

The gloom settling over her didn't last long as she loved and cherished both women, so knew her feelings had to do with what she viewed as her shortcomings. She also believed the reason she was feeling particularly down was due to her spending the week as Tsunade. It was hard to miss the genuine respect that her teacher's mere presence seemed to command from everyone. As such, Shizune who more often than not felt more like a background character had come to find she had grown rather envious of the looks that had been directed towards her in Tsunade's place. With her teacher taking back her position, Shizune would be returned to the shadows cast by the Hokage's sun.

Shizune reached the autopsy room and the examination of Tanzo's corpse proceeded rather quickly as she found that examiner to have been Sukui. Aware that the brown haired woman was rather competent; she wasn't surprised to find that there didn't appear to be some glaring piece of evidence that was missed. "So much for making a difference as Tsunade's apprentice," she said disappointed in not finding something that would lead to the killer.

Closing the refrigerator that contained Tanzo's body, Shizune decided to head to the female nurses and doctors locker room to freshen up in anticipation of Naruto's arrival. She imagined there would be quite the frenzy in the Hidden Eddy Inn to try and spend time with him. A part of Shizune wondered if she should even bother or if she should just wait for a calmer time to spend time with her lover. Imagining that he would prefer to be with one of his more dynamic lovers she could easily see herself getting lost in the shuffle. Reaching her locker, she found the rest of the room was deserted so quickly disrobed to quickly clean up to return home.

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

Shizune was unaware that she was being watched as she stepped into the communal shower area. She stepped under one of the shower heads and after letting the water run over her for several heartbeats began soaping up her body eliciting a lust in the being watching her. When she stepped under the water to begin wetting her hair and wash away the soap, her watcher saw the moment was right to strike. Moving stealthily towards the unaware woman, he wrapped her in his arms while pressing his naked flesh against hers while saying, "Did you miss me?"

Naruto had imagined several different responses to his question, but strangely none of them were the most obvious one. Which being that a woman, who thought she was alone in a shower upon being surprised, would let out an extremely loud scream.

Shizune despite recognizing the voice was already acting on instinct so when she felt the arms around her loosening their grip, she quickly spun in them and pushed him away. Naruto stumbled back before slipping as he fell hard on his back. Shizune's heart was running a mile a minute before it finally settled on her that the naked man lying in front of her was her lover. She quickly rushed to his side stating, "Are you insane sneaking up on me in the hospital shower? What would possess you to do such a thing?"

Naruto groaned as he replied with a chuckle, "I wanted to surprise you. But in hindsight, I can see why it was a bad idea."

Shizune giggled feeling the doubts and concerns she had been experiencing disappearing from her lover's smile. However, her eyes took on a look of panic as a voice called, "Shizune, are you alright we heard a scream?"

Shizune began to panic wondering where she could stash Naruto, but she watched him flash through several hand signs before disappearing from sight. She stood to see one of the nurses on duty, Otoha running up along with the woman's whose autopsy report she had just looked over. Otoha seemed relieved when she spotted Shizune again asking, "Are you alright? It sounded like you had the life scared out of you."

"Um…yes…" Shizune said nervously noticing Naruto's movements because of the steam from the shower. She lost him for a moment as he cleared the vapor but saw his discarded clothes begin floating in the air.

Sukui gaze began to turn towards him so she said, "It's just a large mouse jumped at me from out of nowhere."

Both women began scanning the ground for the fictional rodent with Sukui stating, "Honestly, how are we supposed to make people well if the maintenance staff can't even keep vile little disease spreaders out of the hospital?"

Shizune laughed nervously stating, "Well I don't think I'm going to wait around for it to startle me again. I'll leave a request for the maintenance department to lay out some traps."

Both women nodded at the suggestion while Shizune wrapped a towel around herself. She used her fox mark to sense Naruto's presence and found that he was just outside the hospital. Quickly getting dressed, she left the locker room and conveniently "forgot" to stop by the maintenance office.

She stepped out to enjoy the nice summer night and smiled as she didn't need to search out her lover as he loudly shouted, "Hey Shizune. Fancy running into you out here."

Shizune rolled her eyes at her lover's act for the people walking near the entrance as she said teasingly, "Yes, what a surprise to find me near the hospital."

"Aw, don't be like that," Naruto said with a good natured chuckle, "I'm just saying it's nice to see you." Shizune nodded and felt like a young girl being courted as her lover said, "I'm heading home and was hoping you were as well. I'd like the company."

"I'd like that as well."

The two walked side by side with Shizune mainly speaking about her day since Naruto's couldn't exactly admit to being in another country for the past week. Finally, reaching a portion of their walk where they were alone she asked, "How exactly did you and Tsunade get to Moon Country? I felt you teleport but when did you have time to plant a kunai there?"

Naruto smiled as he said, "Oh, I just mailed one to the agency that I was renting the beach house from. Tsunade wasn't exactly pleased with having to sneak out of the mail room with our luggage."

Shizune giggled as she replied, "No, I could imagine she wouldn't be."

Naruto smiled a few moments longer before turning serious as he asked, "Hey Shizune, you know you can tell me if something is bothering you."

"Of course," she said quickly, "But what could be bothering me? I'm getting to spend time with my very in demand lover."

Naruto appeared pleased with her words, but still pressed asking, "Then what was bothering you before my disastrous attempt at being spontaneous and romantic? You looked sad about something."

"It's not important," the dark-haired medic stated quickly.

Naruto quickly scooped her up before Hiraishining to a kunai that Shizune kept in her room. He set her down before turning her to face him as he said, "It didn't look like it wasn't important. Please tell me." Shizune was tempted to for a moment, but resisted in favor of leaning in to kiss her lover.

She was happy when he dropped the line of questioning to instead respond to her desire to be loved. Her mouth parted and she felt his tongue slip inside to begin dancing with as their kiss deepened. Eventually their lips separated as Naruto quickly removed his jacket and shirt while Shizune simply undid her kimono. She let it fall to the floor to reveal she hadn't bothered to put any underwear on beneath. The look of desire that Naruto wore being all the confirmation she needed to banish any insecurities she harbored about her body not matching up to some of the other women attached to him.

She walked with a sway in her hips before kissing him again, enjoying the way her breasts felt smashed up against his chest. "Let me properly welcome you home now," she said in a sultry whisper that he was the only man to have been privileged enough to hear it. She sank to her knees happy to see that his pants were already tented. She quickly set his manhood free by pulling both his pants and boxers down. After he stepped free of them, she gave the tip of his cock a kiss before beginning to lick it.

Naruto groaned as Shizune licked just the head of his cock for several moments before running her tongue along the underside of his shaft. She then lowered her mouth to his testicles and began to suck on them as well. He tried to remain motionless, but he wanted to taste her as well so reached down and picked her up so that her pussy was right in front of his face. Easily supporting her, he began to munch on her lower lips as she wrapped her arms around his midsection so as to help ease the burden of holding her while she began eagerly sucking his cock.

Shizune pleasured what she could comfortably fit inside her mouth while moaning around his manhood due to his driving her wild with his tongue probing her insides. She felt him begin moving, and eventually found herself planted on her bed where she moaned in disappointment as he pulled his lips from her pussy and his dick from her mouth. She was then quickly spun around as Naruto turned her towards him and took up a position between her legs. She let out a loud moan as with practiced ease, he slipped inside of her wet and inviting cunnie. They both took a moment to savior the feeling of being connected before Naruto began to move inside her.

Shizune let out the fierce woman inside her that only rarely came out in certain situations as she was an active participant in their love-making. Shizune raised her hips to meet Naruto powerful thrusts while moaning encouraging, "Naruto… more… fuck me harder."

Her cries rose in volume as he eagerly complied with her requests. Shizune reached behind her to grip the sheets above her head as it felt like Naruto was driving her through the bed. She began to lose conscious thought of everything other than the cock slide along the nerve endings of her pussy. She began shaking her head back and forth feeling a powerful orgasm approaching but shouted out, "No!" as Naruto suddenly withdrew from her. "Don't stop, please I'm so close."

She tried to scramble to her feet to tackle her lover and bury him inside her once more. But Naruto held her in place by grabbing her thighs and folding her nearly in half. With her ankles resting by her head, she moaned as Naruto began sliding his cock along her drenched pussy before stating, "You've fallen into my trap, my sweet Shizune. I'm not going to let you cum until you tell me what's bothering you."

"T…that's not fair," Shizune said pleadingly, "I…It's nothing…"

"Then tell me," Naruto said worriedly, "Or else…"

Shizune groaned as his length slipped along her pussy lips. For a moment the head of his cock seemed to catch along the rim of her entrance where she felt with just a quick move of her hips he'd be inside her again. But it didn't causing her to moan in frustration, finding her need for release to be far greater than keeping her concerns a secret she said, "Alright, I'll tell you…but after please."

"Okay," Naruto said not bothering to make his lover promise as he knew he didn't need such an assurance. "But, as punishment for holding out on me, I'm going to make you cum with this hole instead."

Shizune groaned as she felt Naruto press his cock against her asshole. Due to how slippery his cock was and the fluids she had been leaking her backdoor was well greased for his entrance. They both moaned as he slipped inside and he fed his length into her slowly. Naruto wanted to savor the feeling a bit longer but Shizune had other ideas as she began rolling her hips to get him moving. Leaning forward he sealed his lips to hers as he began pumping his manhood inside her rear.

Shizune moaned into his mouth as she began to rub her pussy with one hand while the other traced along her lover's back. Shizune buried two of her fingers inside her and pressed along the back of her love tunnel causing her to groan pleasantly as she could feel Naruto cock moving in the passage just below. She felt him swell so knew that soon he would be filling her with his seed so shouted, "You're going to cum aren't you…go on…cum…fill my ass with your hot spunk." When a moment later she received the semen enema that she had requested she came hard giving voice to the pleasure wracking her body in the cute way Naruto loved, "Aaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!"

Naruto removed his hands from the back of her thighs allowing Shizune's legs to wrap around him so as to discourage him from pulling out. As both their orgasms ended Naruto collapsed on top of her allowing her to wrap her arms around him and bask in the comfortable weight of his presence. She stroked his back tenderly before Naruto slipped free of her anus and then rolled to the side. He rested his head on his hand as he studied her with a warm gaze.

Shizune sighed happily, but knowing it was time to come clean said, "It really is nothing Naruto. I was just feeling a little down because… I found it was nice to be looked at with the admiration that people have for Tsunade."

Naruto frowned as he quickly stated, "Shizune, people look at you in the same way."

"I know," she admitted, "That's true when I'm with you. But outside of that… I'm just plain old Shizune, the somewhat talented first apprentice of Shizune."

Naruto tenderly caressed her face stating, "No one thinks that."

"Maybe not in those words," Shizune said with a good dose of melancholy, "but no one ever says there goes Shizune the woman that's going to surpass her teacher."

Naruto frowned as he could understand where his lover was coming from. Having heard many people state as much about Sakura, he could understand why such praise made her feel inadequate, especially as she had been Tsunade's apprentice for a far longer period of time. But, he also knew it was simply a matter that Shizune had just not been born with the degree of control that would allow her to reach the same heights. Furthermore, it wasn't something that even training couldn't change as he was sure otherwise Shizune would easily have mastered it.

He smiled lovingly as he stroked her cheek and said, "That isn't nothing Shizune, especially if it's enough to make you frown. But you know there's another side to that coin."

"What's that?"

"Well can you imagine how it feels for Sakura to constantly be considered in standing to your teacher? I mean, sometimes mirroring someone so closely can also tend to make a person feel as if they aren't being recognized for their accomplishments. I'm sure sometimes Sakura must get tired of having her contributions at the hospital being compared to Tsunade's too." Shizune was forced to agree that she hadn't considered as much and giggled as Naruto added, "Plus, don't think Tsunade is just going to let those comparisons stand. She's getting pretty competitive in her old age."

"Well she does have to keep up with us much younger women, doesn't she?" Shizune said hugging herself to Naruto.

He wrapped his arms around her adding, "Yes, she does. But you know, if what's really bothering you is not living up to your potential. Then maybe you should find a path that you alone excel at."

Shizune frowned as she replied, "I did that once."

"And?"

"Why do you think I fight using poisons?"

"Still you don't sound very pleased by it."

Shizune shrugged as she buried her face against his chest. "I was never really proud of it. It just seems wrong to train in a method to take lives while also being tasked with saving them."

"I guess, but if you ask me, you should pursue whatever paths you find your talents lay. That way maybe people will be mentioning your name in the same way they say Tsunade's. If Tsunade had pursued a different training path that didn't mesh with her talents then she would never have reached the heights that she has. People notice how Sakura's skills match so closely to your shared teacher's simply because they are so similar. Trying to mirror them might not be possible for you, but that doesn't mean you can't reach the same pinnacle of talent that they have through some other means. If your talent is taking you in a different direction, then you owe it to yourself to see where it leads."

Shizune felt something shift inside her as Naruto's words filled her with confidence. She looked up into his eyes which almost glowed softly due to the internal light that they held. She leaned up and kissed him tenderly and lovingly as she said, "Thank you Naruto. It means so much to know you believe in me."

"Always," Naruto said lovingly before kissing her gently.

Shizune smiled as she rested her head against his chest, and felt the warmth from her lover' body seep into her like the rays of the sun. She closed her eyes and wasn't surprised that she soon fell asleep, although she wouldn't remain in such a state long.

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

Kurenai let her mind wander as she jogged through the village using the route that she took almost every night. Despite how those she shared a roof with at the Hidden Eddy Inn might view it as her trying to prevent interacting with new people, although she did acknowledge there was more than a little truth to it, she also found that she enjoyed being able to travel through portions of the village that would be too congested during the day. The shopping district that she was currently traveling through would often be packed with people making it nearly impossible to traverse. Occasionally on her runs, she'd find herself stopping at some display to window shop. Something which she found that she was doing more often than not lately. Naturally, some of the outfits that she pictured herself in caused her to imagine the scenario that she would possibly be wearing them for, and for the ones that required a handsome man to wine and dine her. The man that her imagination provided for her was Naruto.

There was a brief period when she had resisted the idea, as she felt her age was a barrier. But, knowing that she would never act on her dreams, she didn't let her hang-ups stand in the way of her fantasies. Still, at times she wished she had as the desire to act on her imaginations sometimes felt overwhelming, especially as the satisfaction that she felt from taking care of her sexual urges became less and less gratifying. More so as she had recently purchased a new aid called the Hero which was a large dildo that from the particular shade of orange heavily seemed to suggest that it had been modeled after Naruto. At least that was who Kurenai pictured whenever she used it, which was becoming more and more a nightly occurrence.

She felt an urge to find some good looking man and just rock his world, but she had never really cared for how she felt afterwards. She supposed the hang-up could have been due to how they had always occurred during the off portions of her on and off again relationship with Asuma. She guessed that she just preferred not having to sneak out of the person's apartment or hoping the man would sneak out of hers on the rare occasion when she would bring them home. Mainly because she almost always knew that she would be getting back with Asuma at some point so didn't want to complicate matters. It was a feeling that remained now which was why she hadn't picked up some stranger to satisfy her desires for physical comfort.

Kurenai was passing an alley on her way to the next section of her jog when something wrapped around her ankle. She fell forward due to whatever had entangled here completely stopping her. She hissed as she pushed on her skinned palms and looked to see what had grabbed her. At first she wasn't sure what she was looking at imagining it was some sort of cable that she hadn't noticed. But then she noticed that the portion that wasn't wrapped around her ankle seemed to be moving under its own power. She followed the tendril and saw that whatever it was connected to was hidden in the darkness of the alley.

But then she saw the tips of two more appearing from the darkness. Her eyes grew wide in shock as they seemed to slither through the air like a snake would move as they approached. "What…" Her question was cut off as one of the tentacles shot forward as soon as she opened her mouth, but Kurenai managed to catch it stopping it. "N…no…stop…" she said struggling as the tendril tried to push itself into her mouth.

She screamed in revulsion as the third tendril wrapped itself around her wrists before pulling her arms over her head. The freed tendril she had been holding tried to push itself past her lips but she kept them tightly sealed. She began to whimper as the slimy end of the one trying to push into her mouth left trails of the fluids it was leaking on her skin. But more concerning was the one that had first wrapped around her ankle was climbing up her leg. She tried to pull it free especially as the end slipped underneath her tight shorts. She felt hopeless and helpless as she watched it slide further and further up her thigh as it angled to violate her.

However before the tentacle could reach its goal a red flash appeared before her and she heard a woman's scream from the alley. The tentacles wrapped around her began to flay about as their grip loosened. Kurenai's vision adjusted from the flash and she saw a shirtless Naruto standing with his back towards her. His arm was outstretched showing the chakra blade that he was pumping full of his wind natured chakra and had used to cut the tentacles binding her.

Naruto quickly turned towards her and easily scooped her up into his arms, and after creating a pair of clones, he teleported to the entry way of the Hidden Eddy Inn. Kurenai wondered for a moment how Naruto had appeared to save her, but then she noticed a hastily dressed Shizune hurrying down the steps to meet them. Despite what had just happened, she found it strange that that it appeared that both of them looked like they were glistening as if they had been sweating.

"Shit!" Naruto said as Shizune began to check Kurenai for injuries.

"What is it?" the medic-nin asked while pulling the tentacle from her fellow Jounin's leg, although she heard the sound of an explosion going off in the distance.

"Whatever it was that attacked her ducked into the sewers," Naruto reported moving to head up the stairs, "but it placed some sort of trap with exploding tags that went off when they chased after. I'm going to get Yuugao."

Kurenai watched as Naruto bound up the stairs and also heard doors being opened likely in response to the explosion that had gone off. She watched Shizune for a moment also noticing how after having been pressed against Naruto's skin, she could still pickup his earth scent. A scent that she was confident was also coming from the medic, who despite the worry that she was wearing on her face seemed to give off a sense of sexual contentment.

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

"So how did Kurenai-sensei take finding out that you had marked her with one of your seals?" Kiba asked as he sat across from Naruto in the bar Seventh Heaven.

"About as well as you would expect a fully capable jounin to react when you tell her that you marked her with a tracking seal because you were worried about her," Naruto replied remembering how after leaving with Yuugao to return to the scene of the incident. He had come home to find Kurenai waiting with questions about how he had known she was in trouble. He had suspected she had others, but his response about how it was so he could protect her if needed because he viewed her as part of his extended family had not gone over all that well. She had grown rather angry especially as he hadn't lied about how the other women in the Hidden Eddy Inn had similar seals, but had known about them. Naturally, she had felt as if he was patronizing her, but luckily Yuugao had been present to point out what might have happened if he hadn't. The ANBU Captain had also added that Naruto hadn't told her as he had likely feared that she would reject the offer precisely because she would have though he was belittling her abilities. Or, that the jounin would have felt he was worried about her due to the depression she had fallen into after the death of her husband and child, which might have prompted her to turn down being marked with the seal out of pride.

Kiba chuckled as he sat between Aeris and Yuffie, although there was a noticeable gap between him and the dark-haired woman, before saying, "Why didn't you come clean and just admit that you put the seal on her because you didn't want her stumbling on you messing around with your girls?"

Naruto felt a little uncomfortable about discussing his love life in such a public place. But, despite having his back to the crowd of revelers was confident their conversation couldn't be overheard due to a seal Mito had taught him which he had drawn on the table and activated. He shrugged as he replied, "I don't know. I guess I didn't want to make her uncomfortable."

"How'd that work out for you?"

"She didn't ask me to remove it," Naruto answered, "I guess considering what almost happened she saw the benefit of it."

Kiba's face darkened as he said, "When I catch the fucker that attacked her, they are going to wish they have never been born."

Naruto raised his glass to Kiba stating, "Only if you get to them first."

Kiba clinked his mug against Naruto's, before taking a healthy gulp of it and sitting back placed an arm over Aeris's shoulder stating, "Are there any clues about what or who it was?"

"A few," Naruto said looking over his shoulder to see Tifa chatting with a customer. She took the order and quickly went to fulfill it as she moved efficiently through the crowd seeing it there were any other customers she could help as she was in charge of the bar for the evening. She noticed him watching her so gave him a wink as she passed by causing him to smile. Naruto then turned back to Kiba to inform him of some of the facts. "Unfortunately the explosion covered up the attacker's tracks so we don't know if or were they would have exited the sewer. But from the vine-tentacle thingy, we learned that the attacker seems to be some sort of plant-human hybrid. Furthermore, from some of the samples collected from it and which had coated Kurenai's skin whatever it is seems capable of creating a powerful natural narcotic-grade aphrodisiac."

"Was Kurenai… you know…"

"Why are you asking Perv?" Yuffie said with a slight glare, "Hoping to know if your buddy scored with your teach?"

"Yuffie," Aeris said gently, "He's obviously only concerned his teacher might have been affected by the chemicals. Are you perhaps jealous that Kiba might want to add another woman to our relationship?"

"What… no… you really should stop drinking if you're already spouting such nonsense," Yuffie quickly said before raising her glass to sip her drink and hide her reddening cheeks.

Naruto chuckled, before addressing Kiba's concern. "Luckily, the compound seems to need to be ingested, or absorbed internally. It appears that a person's skin is too much of a barrier. But that still leaves us a ton of questions that we don't have answers too."

"Yeah, but do you think it is possible that Tobi has created some new kind of plant-creature like the white Zetsu?"

"That's one theory," Naruto answered, "The tentacle was a mixture of human and plant DNA. But while it seems likely this creature might be connected to the White Zetsu, we are baffled as to its motives."

"What do you mean?" Aeris asked concerned.

"Well, if it was some creature created by Tobi then why is it in Konoha?"

"Obviously to cause chaos," Yuffie replied quickly.

Naruto's face showed he didn't find that being the motive satisfying. His tone also conveyed as much as he replied, "But why on such a small scale? Not to mention, it likely attacked Kurenai because she was alone. Yet, it also cut and ran as soon as I appeared meaning it didn't want to be discovered."

"Then you're saying it would have killed her," Kiba said angrily.

"That we can't know either," Naruto replied concerned. "Unfortunately, we are dealing with too many unknowns here. Yuugao seems to think that what attacked Kurenai might be related to the case she is working."

"You mean that serial killer case," Aeris said surprising Naruto. Sounding amused she explained, "You'd be surprised at what a hot bed of gossip the Yamanaka flowershop is and what you hear as an employee. Ino's mother seems to be in on all kinds of secrets. I know they've been keeping it off the front pages, but Kiku is convinced that it is a much bigger story than they are claiming."

Naruto smiled at the flowergirl as he admitted, "Ino's mom would be right. Yuugao seems to think that the attack on Kurenai might have been the killer escalating."

"Escalating," Kiba said confused, "What does that mean?" He quickly looked to Yuffie to say, "And I know what the word means."

Yuffie frowned having just been about to question that fact, but changed course quickly to state, "He means that the serial killer has reached a point where they need to act more often as they can't control their impulses. It also tends to be the point where most serial killers get caught."

Naruto nodded in agreement as he added, "Yuugao stated as much. Then again, we can't be sure there is an impulse driving this thing. Yuugao seems to believe Fuka's idea that it might be a person with an axe to grind and is implementing some plan. The attack on Kurenai might just be the person entering the next stage."

"Okay, then what can I do to help?"

"Just keep your eyes open," Naruto stated with a tone of gratitude for his friend's willingness to help.

Before Kiba could ask what he should be looking out for Tifa stepped up to the table asking, "Can I refresh your drinks?"

"Sure," Naruto said handing his glass to his lover while Kiba shook his nearly empty mug indicating he'd like another.

Tifa smiled brightly before leaning down to whisper, "You know when I asked you to visit me at work, I wanted Ibara to be here as well."

"She's upstairs," Naruto replied, "So technically she is here. But I don't think it would be a good idea for me to be here while she's still under the influence of my chakra. It might lead to an encounter that she regrets."

Tifa sighed, but said, "Well I can't say I'm pleased that you're still testing Karin's theories on her."

Naruto nodded in agreement, but said, "I know, but she just wants to see if the activation range I put out is greater. For all we know, Ibara isn't even feeling any effects from my being here. Hinata is monitoring her and reporting to Karin. But, I promise that we'll straighten everything out soon."

Tifa didn't exactly seemed pleased which Naruto knew was because they were close to passing the time limit that Karin believed his chakra would remain active in the bar owner. Of course there was the possibility that due to Ibara sleeping with a clone and as a result the chakra that was making her aroused in an effort to drive her to sleep with Naruto and thus bind her to him would enter a dormant state, they really had no idea if it operated on the same principles as the Temptation's Touch. From past experience and experimenting on Anko, the Family knew the effects of the Temptation's Touch lasted for about a week. The time framed remained the same regardless of how long it was used per a session. However, after a number of doses it did reach a point where the target became desperate to become bound to the jutsu user. Anko had reached such a point although when Naruto stated his desire that she not give into it because he didn't want to bind her to him for such a reason, the effects had subsided. Another thing that had been discovered was that the person being affected by the tainted chakra instinctually knew when the person they were to be bound to was near. This had been discovered when Anko had been crying out for Naruto to take her when she was fully being pushed to bind herself to him. Tsunade had henged herself as Naruto, but Anko had known it wasn't him, but hadn't even questioned it when he had actually appeared before her. Naruto guessed that was why Ibara had always seemed drawn to him when he had been disguised as the alias he used to date his lovers publicly and had come to the bar.

If Naruto had to guess why Tifa wasn't happy about their decision to let the time limit pass, it was because she suspected that if it did, and Ibara was no longer troubled by being around his lovers then they might decide to let the matter drop. As such, he imagined the waitress didn't like the idea that her boss and friend had suffered through some rather intense bouts of arousal and wouldn't know why. Naruto would admit to be tempted to take such a course of action, but said, "Tifa, don't worry. I will talk with Ibara. I have to keep my promise to you, but also let her know that her feelings about her change of heart did reach me."

Tifa smiled brightly knowing how seriously Naruto kept his promises. She turned to go get their drinks, but paused upon noticing Komachi entering the bar. The ANBU scanned the crowd for a moment before moving to the various tables to ask the patrons questions. Tifa moved to fulfil the orders she had been given, figuring that Komachi was still looking for the woman that she had asked about several days earlier. Tifa had recalled the woman that had picked up Tanzo mainly because she had so closely resembled the Hokage. Guessing that Komachi still hadn't found her potential witness or suspect, the waitress left her alone in order to concentrate on her own tasks.

Naruto also watched the former Root kunoichi aware that she was checking out the various bars for the mystery woman connected to Tanzo's murder. He admitted that there was something that made him uneasy about hearing how the woman resembled Tsunade, especially since it was possible that she was behind the recent murders. However, while Yuugao seemed to believe that the resemblance tied into how it had been a way for the woman to overcome insecurities in her appearance, and to lure in victims. He wasn't so sure. He believed there might have been a more personal angle involved, like the woman behind the murders wanted to spit in Tsunade's face with each life she took. The fact that the same perpetrator might also be connected to the attack on Kurenai further made that seem like a possibility to him.

Naruto let Komachi work as he directed his attention back to Kiba to ask, "So what else is new?"

"Not much man," Kiba said finishing off the rest of the beer he had been drinking. "I think Shino got lucky a few nights ago. Not that the bastard will go into any details."

Naruto felt a wide smile appear as both of the Inuzuka's mates turned their gazes to him. Even the normally kind Aeris's tone carried a hint of retribution if he wasn't careful with his next words as she asked, "Oh really, and are you going around giving your buddies the details on your times with us?"

The color drained from Kiba's face as he looked down to his groin and from the way Yuffie was sitting Naruto could easily picture her holding something sharp and pointy against his manhood as she asked, "You better not be strutting around and bragging about nailing a couple of bitches or so help me…"

"What, no… that's not what I meant," Kiba said quickly, "I just meant he wouldn't even confirm that he went home with her or anything. I swear…"

Naruto broke out into a laugh, but confirmed the Inuzuka's story by stating, "He's telling the truth. Kiba's only ever talked about the two of you in the most respectful of ways. Hinata can also attest to his being annoyed with Shino for not being willing to at least discuss what happened that night."

Naruto guessed it was enough for the two women as Yuffie sat back while saying, "Why do you even care?"

"Because Shino's always going on about how no one pays attention to him and shit," Kiba said feeling annoyed with the way his teammate had refused to directly answer if he had gotten lucky with the blonde woman that had approached him as they had visited a bar together. "Heck he was complaining about it that night as well."

"Well maybe Shino would like it if you were more interested in him outside of when you suspect he is sleeping with someone," Aeris said with a soft smile.

"Hey," Kiba said defensively, "I'm interested in some of the stuff he does like…uh."

"Wow, that's really convincing," Yuffie said rolling her eyes.

Kiba sighed before admitting, "Alright fine, I don't like a lot of the same things he does. But we're still comrades and friends so I at least listen as he goes on and on about insects. I just don't retain a lot of it. I'm sure it's the he feels the same way about me and dogs. I just thought if something happened with this woman that maybe we'd be able to have something we could both talk about in interest. But he wouldn't even confirm he went…"

Naruto frowned when Kiba trailed off especially as a look of concern appeared on his face. Following the Inuzuka's gaze he saw that he was focused on Komachi, but more specifically the drawing that she was holding as she asked the people at the table if they had seen the woman depicted. Before Naruto could ask what was wrong, the chunin shouted, "Hey Lady, what are you asking about that woman for. Is she in some kind of trouble?"

Naruto didn't know if Kiba realized that he was addressing one of his lovers, so stated for her as she approached, "She's asking about that woman because she might be tied to those serial killings. She was last seen with the latest victim after approaching him in a bar."

"That is correct," Komachi stated having heard the tail end of Naruto's explanation, "Have you seen this woman?"

"Yeah, I saw her," Kiba said concerned, "She's the woman that Shino left with a few nights ago."

Komachi's mask hid her reaction but those at the table could hear the urgency in her voice as she asked, "Then your friend might be in considerable danger. Can you take me to him?"

"Yeah let's go," Kiba said standing as Aeris let him out, "Aeris, Yuffie, I'll see you two at home." He then quickly headed for the exit with both Komachi and Naruto in tow as they headed to the section of the village the Aburame called home.

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

Yuugao landed near the outpost she had her ANBU build near the remains of Furofuki's lab. She frowned as she shouldn't have been able to approach the building without one of the four ANBU she had stationed there stopping and asking for her to identify herself. Yuugao feared her hunch about what might be behind the murders was correct especially as she found signs that the ANBU she had stationed to guard the cave had abandoned their post. She frowned behind her mask since it didn't make sense to her as she knew the three men and one woman squad were true professionals. Yet, she couldn't find any signs of an obvious struggle. Moreover, she had been receiving regular reports from the outpost, but from what she could see there were few signs the place was still occupied.

Yuugao looked towards the forest in the direction she had arrived from. She didn't see any signs of Fuka, who she had requested join her. She wasn't overly surprised as she had asked the woman to remain back and hidden. Yuugao wanted to laugh at the fact that she was trusting a known criminal and murderer over her own squad to back her up. When Fuka had asked why she was requesting her help, Yuugao had responded that she figured since Fuka's insights had been so valuable before, that if the cave was the home of what had attacked Kurenai and was behind the murders, then by having her examine it, she might be able to gain some insights in how to capture it.

Yuugao could tell her trusting the woman had meant a great deal to the disgraced Uzumaki. But the other reason for her reaching out to Fuka was because she wasn't sure she could trust her squad at the moment. Obviously, she still trusted Komachi, but after the ANBU exams Yuugao had assigned Taji to it as well. The primary reason being that she hadn't felt comfortable with the woman's sudden improvement. Yet, in the several weeks since the ANBU head captain had added the medic to her team she was beginning to think she had just been paranoid. Still, her hunch told her that something wasn't right about the woman so she had decided to trust that feeling.

She reached the entrance of the outpost and kicked the door in before quickly entering with her sword drawn. She frowned as there were a few signs that a person might still be occupying the place, such as half eaten rations that were then carelessly discarded. She heard something move on the second level of the outpost where a lookout tower resided as well as where the birds used to communicate with the village were kept.

She moved silently up the ladder until she reached the hatch in the floor. She pushed it open just a crack and saw one of her ANBU sitting rocking back and forth. The woman's bat like masked was cracked around her mouth and her clothes were ripped to tatters. Forgetting her suspicions for a moment she pushed open the hatch calling out as she climbed through, "Bat, my gods what happened."

"Captain," the woman said sounding unaware of her current condition, "You shouldn't have come here. Now I have to kill you."

"What!" Yuugao said as the woman was quickly on her feet in a moment and had crossed the distance in a blink of an eye. The purple-haired woman brought her sword up to block the one her subordinate had grabbed from where it laid against the wall. Yuugao grunted as blocking the blow caused her arms to feel as if they would be ripped from her body. Yuugao didn't even try to block the next attack as she instead leapt back while pulling some smoke pellets from her pouch and tossed them at the semi-nude woman.

The pellets exploded so Yuugao leapt through one of the wide lookout windows to the ground below. Bat followed her through but crashed through the wall as well like it was paper, and landed heavily in front of her. The woman straightened as Yuugao asked, "Dammit Bat, what happened. Where are Goat, Turtle, and Hawk?"

"They're dead Captain," Bat answered, "The flowers called to them while we slept and they let her loose."

"What?"

"Then she came for me…" Yuugao noticed tears begin to appear from where her masked was cracked. Yuugao imagined that the indignities that had nearly happened to Kurenai had been forced upon the poor woman. Yuugao tensed as Bat suddenly charged again as she screamed, "She commanded me to keep communicating with the village and to kill anyone that comes to investigate."

Yuugao couldn't avoid the blow so was forced to block it, but simply used her sword to prevent her opponents from cutting her. She allowed her opponent's strength to toss her away. She landed roughly but managed to roll back to her feet. Still, Bat didn't give her a moments respite as she quickly closed the distance between them. Yuugao slid under the swing at her neck and lashed out with her sword cutting into Bat's thigh. She didn't do it deeply as she didn't want to permanently harm her, but wanted to slow her down.

Bat didn't even cry out in pain as she quickly spun and managed to catch Yuugao's ankle. She spun and tossed her into the side of the outpost causing the ANBU captain to hit it hard enough to crack the plaster coating. Yuugao tried to get to her feet, but Bat didn't stand around to allow that as she charged with sword outstretched intent on jamming it into her. The ANBU's aim was thrown off though as someone landed on her back causing her to smash into the wall which Bat easily crashed through.

Yuugao scrambled to her feet as she heard Fuka say, "Now then, what kind of kiss do you prefer?"

"No, don't," the purpled-haired Anbu said moving towards the hole to stop Fuka from killing her subordinate.

She stumbled a little due to her still feeling woozy from the blow she had just taken and so as she reached the hole was Fuka stepping out. Fearing her subordinate was dead; she grabbed her by the shirt and slammed her against the wall shouting, "You bitch! You didn't need to kill her! She was being controlled somehow!"

Fuka remained calm as she coolly stated, "A little gratitude wouldn't hurt you know. Besides, I didn't kill her. I just drained away enough chakra to put her down for a few hours."

Yuugao looked into the outpost to see Bat lying unconscious in the rubble of her crash through the wall. But she could see the woman's chest was steadily moving. She let Fuka go as she quickly said, "I'm sorry. I just assumed that…"

"It's fine," Fuka said stepping away from the wall. "A few months ago you wouldn't have been wrong. Let's go, you're going to want to see this."

Yuugao first affixed several seals to Bat and made sure to secure her before following after Fuka. When she arrived she found all the Jofuku that had been outside the cave were brown and dead. Lying among them were the three male Anbu squad members. Fuka was kneeling among them while looking at the opening of the cave which looked like it had been smashed open from inside once the seals had been removed. The Anbu captain frowned as Fuka upon noticing the three men were naked said, "Looks like they decided to let something out of that cave and it let them have some fun before killing them. It looks like you were right and this is where the killer came from."

Yuugao nodded but asked, "But why did they let it out?"

Fuka ran her fingers along one of the dead men's skin and pulling them away found the coated with a thin layer of pollen. Rubbing her fingers together Fuka replied, "On the way here you said these flowers were linked with the bigger ones inside the cave in some kind of root network."

Yuugao moved to the cave's entrance and found the flowers inside were dead as well. Her eyes focused on the once blue bulb in back that was spread apart now, with a long limp stem at the center like an umbilical cord. "That's correct. We had hoped that by cutting the bigger flowers in the cave off from sunlight it would kill off what was in there."

"If I'm not mistaken the Jofuku flower is known for spreading a pollen that takes the form of strong adversaries the person that breathes it in imagines. I think whoever created this creature might have modified some of the flowers to spread a pollen that attracted the men to the cave, and compelled them to free it. It then drained them of their fluids before attacking that woman. It's possible that whatever the creature is that escaped from this cave uses the fluids it takes in and changes them in order to control women that it attacks."

"Why do you say that?" Yuugao asked feeling sick as she suspected she knew why Taji had improved so much.

"Because it makes sense," Fuka said standing, "In the time it was in the village this creature had time to kill seven people, but we hadn't heard about a single attack on a woman until the one Naruto stopped. Yet here we stand with three dead men and one woman following the creature's commands. I think it stands to reason that we didn't hear about the other attacks was because the creature was better able to command its victims."

"No," Yuugao said about to call to Naruto so he could teleport them back, "She just took the time to cover her tracks in the village."

"She," Fuka said confused, "You sound like it isn't some experiment gone wrong but a person."

"That's because it is," Yuugao said cursing as she felt a sense of confusion, panic, and tension rising in the foxmark network from the women in Konoha. "Shit, it looks like whatever she had planned is beginning."

"Who?"

Fuka frowned as the ANBU captain appeared not to have heard the question as she began running back to Konoha. However, she figured she'd get that answer soon enough as she took off after her, and wondered just what was happening in the village that was causing Yuugao to run so quickly.

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

Tsunade hummed as she finished the last of her paperwork still feeling content from the weeklong vacation she had taken with Naruto for her birthday. While coming back home to find out that a killer might be using her face to lure in her victims, as well as the fact that the Chunin Exams would be delayed again were headaches she could live without, they still couldn't drain away the overall happiness she currently was experiencing in her life. Although, she did imagine it would be hard to remain in such a state as she had a meeting in the morning with the recently elected Speaker of the Civilian Council. From the way the woman had scheduled the meeting almost as soon as the announcement had been made about the Chunin Exams, Tsunade had little trouble imagining the woman was going to make her displeasure known about the decision.

She couldn't exactly fault Tsubaki since she knew a lot of businesses had looked forward to the Chunin Exams like beach resorts looked forward to the summer. But, Tsunade imagined that a majority of the woman's ire was related to how her daughters were still only genin, and her belief that she was putting the exams off for Naruto's benefit. She smiled remembering her lover's pouting face when he had learned about the delay. But he had come around especially upon understanding that Raikage wouldn't budge on the issue of adding a fourth test. Something told her that it wouldn't be nearly as easy to convince Tsubaki, although Shizune had softened the blow for Naruto by sucking a load of cum from him. Tsunade considered having Naruto attend the meeting to perhaps pacify the woman in a similar manner, but knew the fact that she was married would prevent him from acting in such a way. Still, she wondered if the rumors about her husband having an affair might change her lover's mind as Tsunade did know the woman now wielded some considerable political sway.

However, for the moment Tsunade had decided to refrain from even truly considering such an action. For one, Tsubaki hadn't yet made her intentions towards their ambition known. Another reason was exposing her husband's possible infidelity would also affect their three children. That was ultimately what stayed Tsunade from trying to convince Naruto about Tsubaki being a viable target. Her final reason was she expected that soon Ibara would be made to see the light as it were and if so she could serve as a sort of advance warning if Tsubaki decided to position herself as a blockade to legislation that would move the villages closer. After all, while on the shinobi side of their ambition it appeared things between Kumo, Konoha, and Suna were going well. There were cracks forming in certain civilian sectors. Several businesses for example had thrived when the three villages had been at best friendly enemies. The embargo on Kumo made certain items from the Land of Lightning extremely rare, and so businesses that were able to secure steady supplies of the products were able to charge a premium for them. Those same businesses also guarded their supply lines diligently and did anything in their power to destroy the competition in order to keep prices high.

However, once the Alliance had come into being and trade between the three villages and by extension countries that housed them exploded, those supply lines became all but worthless. Many of those companies that had invested so heavily in their monopolies folded up like had been the case when Gato's over Wave Country had been broken. Still, a few companies managed to hold on due to their having a few revenue streams in Lands not yet tied to the Alliance or Naruto's ambition. Some of those companies though rather than try to compete fairly did what most groups too lazy to try and change did. They bought politicians and tried to have the laws changed in their favor through regulation. As such recently certain labor unions and businesses tied to them were backing councilors that might begin gumming up the works.

The new Uzumaki Shipping Company, for example, was finding it difficult to secure captains and sailors for their shipping vessels as the home base in Wave was what some considered a free enterprise zone. The difficulty came from several labor unions that for the most part controlled every port along the Land of Fire and the Land of Tea's coast. There were also rumors that many of the higher ups in those unions were being backed by the more powerful criminal families and gangs. Tsunade also wouldn't be surprised if it turned out quite a few of the politicians in those villages were getting their backing from the Fire Country Capital.

Karin was confident that she would find a way to succeed, but it would require her locating individuals that didn't mind being blacklisted by the Unions, which wouldn't be a problem in the short term. But if business did begin to take off, and shipments had to be diverted to Ports controlled by the unions then they might find it impossible to get their cargos unloaded due to work slowdowns and the like. For items with short shelf lives it could end up costing Karin's new enterprise millions of ryo.

She was also noticing how local races in Konoha were beginning to see an influx of cash as these unions and other businesses trying to protect their strangle holds on commerce bought politicians sympathetic to them. Tsubaki had been elected to her original position before such hotly contested elections had begun, but that didn't mean her Speakership hadn't come about because of outside influences. Tsunade figured she would have a better read of the woman in the morning.

She stretched feeling content especially as she had noticed a change in Shizune. Of course it was hard not to as recently her first apprentice seemed much more confident, which showed up in how she dressed. She wore a similar kimono to the one she normally had, but she wore it so that it exposed some cleavage. It also had slits in the sides that reached up to her hips so that it exposed her legs as she walked. It also made Tsunade wonder if her apprentice was even wearing underwear any longer.

Tsunade smiled thinking about all the second looks Shizune was now receiving from men as she passed by and had a good idea that the change in appearance also signified a change in the color of her chakra. The Hokage also suspect it was why her first apprentice so often seemed to be burning the midnight oil as she worked in the medical lab of the Den. Being curious she had peaked at a few of her notes and found it full of poison formulas. Some of the formulas had shocked Tsunade at their lethality, but she knew that now that Shizune was embracing her talent with poisons she would have to follow it down whatever roads it took her.

It did highlight for Tsunade what a shoddy mentor she had been for her first apprentice. After all, while she had encouraged Shizune when her skills as a medic developed, she couldn't say the same when it became apparent her talents didn't lie along the path as hers medic wise. Tsunade hadn't exactly discouraged her, but she had likely done so with her silence on the matter. Especially as Shizune began to use poisons to offset her inability to master the chakra control needed to copy her teacher's strength. Yet, seeing how diligently her student was now pursuing her own path after some encouragement from their shared lover truly highlighted what a disservice she had done in training her.

Tsunade stood figuring she would give her lover some pleasure as her way of thanking him for what he had done, but stopped as her door began to open. She frowned as both Shibi and Shino Aburame stepped into her office. Not used to the Clan head just showing up without an appointment she asked, "Shibi, is everything alright? I'm…"

Both men silent raised their arms causing the insects housed inside their bodies to fly from their sleeves. Tsunade reacted immediately as she flipped her desk towards them. It spun in the air as it flew towards them, but their insects swarmed in front of it and caught the heavy projectile. Tsunade charged them just as the windows behind her exploded inwards as hundreds of thousands more Kikaichu beetles swarmed into the room.

Tsunade didn't bother engaging the two shinobi as she instead slid beneath her still airborne desk and through her open door. Hitting the opposite wall, she leapt to her feet as she raced down the hall to avoid the insects flying after her. She wondered what was going on, and even if the Aburame were betraying the village for some reason. But as she slammed a door behind her, delaying the insects as she entered the main hall of the Hokage Mansion, she knew that the explanation for what was going on wasn't going to be so simple.

The reason being was standing at the center of a room filled with corpses was the recently reinstated Taji. The ANBU turned to face her with her sword still dripping with the blood of the ANBU and Jounin that she had slain. Tsunade knew that Yuugao had her doubts about Taji, but doubted the ANBU captain even anticipated such a betrayal. Directing her attention out the windows Tsunade could see her village was descending into chaos so asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Taji didn't bother responding as she instead raised her hands to point at a pair of clay pots which housed several plants for decoration. She then motioned to towards Tsunade, whose eyes reflected her surprise as large plant vines shot forth from the soil. Tsunade avoid them as best she could but Taji motion to two more pots behind her which also shot vines towards her. They caught Tsunade around the chest and stomach succeeding in also binding one of her arms to her. But Tsunade spun lifting the pots from the ground and used them as a weapon as they smashed into Taji.

Despite being hit by the heavy pots Taji quickly regained her footing and charged the Hokage. Tsunade kicked up a sword of one of dead ANBU and caught it with her freed hand and cut herself free. She then threw the blade at the charging woman who dodged it without breaking stride. The Senju easily avoided several of Taji's sword swipes and channeling chakra into her hand hit the bicep of the arm holding the weapon. The sword flew out of her slackened grip due to the chakra scalpel that Tsunade had used. But before the Hokage could capitalize on having disarming her opponent, she found an iron grip from Taji's other hand wrapped around her throat.

The ANBU hefted Tsunade off her feet holding her suspended effortlessly while her other arm hung limp. But Tsunade noticed movement returning to it so, blocked the punch that her opponent delivered a moment later. Tsunade felt like her ribcage would have shattered if she hadn't reacted as she flew back from the power of the blow. She smashed into the wall behind her, and slid down it as she gasped for the air that had been knocked free of her lungs.

She got back to her feet, preparing to show the closing woman why she was the Hokage. But then her eyes drifted to the windows behind the approaching ANBU. Although it was already night outside the windows behind her darkened even further and seemed alive, which proved to be the case as the windows shattered as the Aburame beetles flew at her. At the same time the door that Tsunade had entered the room from gave way as did every other conceivable entrance or exit. The beetles ignored the ANBU as they flew directly to Tsunade, and covered her from head to toe. The unknowable number of insects almost immediately drained her of chakra causing even the Yin seal on her forehead to fade.

They flew off her body taking the shape of a dome around her which parted as another woman entered it. Tsunade looked up weakly and despite feeling too tired to even move couldn't keep the shock of seeing an almost exact duplicate of her smiling down at her mockingly. "Hello Tsunade," the woman said amused, "I'm sorry I missed our last appointment. But, I wasn't ready to see you then." The naked woman reached down and grabbing Tsunade's blonde locks pulled her to her knees before her. She then drew a seal on her forehead as she said, "There now, that should prevent your little hero from spoiling our good time. I suppose it was a stroke of luck that he interrupted me when I attacked that jounin that lives in his building. I hadn't considered that he might have marked people that he cared for with the Flying Thudergod Seal."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Tsunade asked weakly.

The woman let go of Tsunade's hair but before she could slump to the ground she sent her flying backwards with a slap from the back of her hand. Tsunade landed roughly on the desk where the receptionist normally sat. The woman then clamped her hand around Tsunade's throat spinning her so that her head faced toward her as she bent it back over the edge of the desk. She saw the copy of her face was twisted in a dark sneer as she said, "Of course you don't recognize me. You never did consider me at your level did you Tsunade. While the rest of us toiled for what we earned, everything was heaped upon you, the precious Senju Princess."

"Furofuki," Tsunade said gasping for air as the bitterness and hatred being directed at her caused her to recall the woman that had felt if not for her existence, then she would have been the one people talked about being the greatest medical mind of the village.

"Yes, you remember. I'm deeply touched," Furofuki said mockingly. She smiled wickedly as she stepped back and saw Tsunade's eyes reflect her revulsion as three tentacles appeared from out of her vagina to begin dangling above the Hokage. "You wonder what it is that I want." She paused to pet the head of one of the tendrils and shivered as a look of pleasure appeared on her face. Letting a slight moan escape her, Furofuki said, "I want to return to you despair Tsunade. I want to break you in every way possible so that you never put yourself back together again." She reached out grabbing Tsunade by the hair again and dragged her off the desk. Then while dragging her behind, Furofuki began moving to the roof as she said, "First, I'm going to destroy your village, and then claim the man that helped you to stand on your own again. Mmmm, I look forward to having you watch me claim him over and over again, and then after you are shattered into a million pieces… I'm going to let you live with the knowledge you were powerless to stop me."

They reached the roof, so Furofuki held Tsunade before her by her hair saying, "You know this venue doesn't really have the view I was hoping for." She looked behind her and held her hand up. For a moment nothing happened, but then a giant tree pushed its way through the roof as it grew from a seed Furofuki had planted upon arriving in the village. The tree grew taller and wider as a thick canopy spread out over the area. She leapt onto one of the branches as the tree continued to ascend so that it towered over the village. Furofuki pressed Tsunade against the trunk of the tree causing the wood to form around her arms and feet.

Furofuki smiled at her as she said, "Get comfortable Tsunade. It's going to be a long night." Tsunade glared at the woman but her gaze shifted as she noticed flower buds appearing from the branches. Furofuki noticing where she was looking said, "Soon my babies are going to rain down hell upon your village. What is it those movie villains always say in moments like this? Oh yes, today Konoha. Tomorrow the world."

Tsunade glared at her, but said defiantly, "Don't get ahead of yourself you bitch. We'll stop you."

Furofuki's face twisted into a hateful mask as she punched Tsunade hard enough to render her unconscious before forming a wooden thrown beneath her captive so they could share the view of Konoha in flames. Hating how confident the woman that she despised had sounded, she said to herself, "You'll certainly try."