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The Rise of Uzumaki Ch. 49 (Naruto)
🕑 Added 2022-12-13 15:45:23 +0000 UTCA/N: Alright guys, this story will be wrapping up next chapter so be sure to check out the Vibe Check immediately proceeding this post if you want to have a voice in the future of my Naruto slot!
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A low groan leaves Naruto’s lips as he slowly wakes up. Almost immediately, he feels a presence at his side.
“A-Ah! Naruto! You’re awake!”
Eyes fluttering open, the blond Jinchuriki looks up into a pair of bright orange eyes filled with both worry and excitement. Fu looks down at him, as if she wants to leap at him and hug him but is afraid he’ll break. Which… is a fair assumption. He’d once again taken his Sealing Talents to their absolute limits and damn near killed himself from Chakra Exhaustion, hadn’t he?
Honestly, out of all the members of Team Seven, never in a million years did Naruto think HE would be the one suffering from Chakra Exhaustion so damn much. It was Kakashi who had the worst ratio of Chakra-Intensive Moves to actual Chakra Reserves after all. Meanwhile Sasuko had the Sharingan and could easily exhaust herself if she wasn’t careful. Sakura too, had her medical ninjutsu to be worried about. The leading cause of all med-nin deaths from the last Shinobi War had been them trying to do too much.
But Naruto? Not only was he a member of the Uzumaki Clan, a group of ninja once infamous across all the Elemental Nations for their immense Chakra Reserves, but he was also the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts. His Chakra, when he was younger, had been effectively limitless. It had also been the reason behind his piss poor control. Because he had so MUCH Chakra, learning Chakra Control had been about a hundred times harder for him than your average ninja. But Naruto had persevered all the same, hadn’t he?
It was a sign of just how far he’d had to go, first with Danzo and now with Hidan, that he’d still managed to exhaust his seemingly inexhaustible well of Chakra each time. But at least it was done. The Jashinist was dead. And-
Naruto grunts, the breath driven out of his lungs a little bit as Fu ends up throwing caution to the wind and hugs him anyways, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in the crook of his neck as she sniffles a little bit. Feeling a pang of guilt over making his fellow Jinchuriki worry, Naruto hugs her right back, rubbing soothing circles into her back as he does so.
“I-I thought you d-died at f-first…”
“Hey now… it’s alright. I’m fine and so are you. We made it.”
There’s a quiet chuckle at the tender moment that draws Naruto’s attention to the other person in the room. He can’t help but stiffen a little bit as he makes eye contact with Yugito Nii, the Jinchuriki for the Two-Tailed Cat, over Fu’s shoulder. He wasn’t expecting to wake up in the presence of both of his fellow Jinchuriki. It was a little concerning, in fact.
“… My team?”
Something akin to respect flashes in Yugito’s gaze and the blonde kunoichi gives a single nod to him.
“They’re alright. The Copy-Cat will need the most recovery time. The other two have been in and out… but you were unconscious long enough that they were forced to go rest.”
Naruto grimaces at that. Laid out for so long… at least he could feel his Chakra Reserves refilling even as they spoke. Now that he was awake, he could consciously pull on the natural energy in the air around him, speeding up his recovery. At the same time…
“Thank you for watching over me, both of you.”
Fu just nods into his shoulder, still unwilling to let him go. Yugito, however, scoffs at that and crosses her arms over her chest.
“Hmph. Should it not be I who thanks you? They had me dead to rights. Nothing I did could put them down, and they’d had me on the run for days. I realize now… the only reason they even let me get this far was because of her, wasn’t it? The Hidden Jinchuriki of Takigakure.”
Fu stiffens at that, even as Naruto bristles just a little bit, his jaw clenching. Technically, Kumo and Konoha were not enemies at the moment. But Yugito might as well be an enemy nin all the same. The whole point of Konoha letting Taki think they were managing to hide their Jinchuriki from Konoha itself was so that Fu actually WOULD stay hidden from the other major villages. It was the equivalent of turning the other way simply so your gaze did not draw the gaze of others in a direction you did not want it to be drawn.
And yet here they were. A Kumo Kunoichi was now aware of Fu’s existence as a Jinchuriki. And while Naruto could have tried to lie and say no, they were there for him… he knew that Yugito wouldn’t fall for that.
“… Yes. They wanted both of you.”
Fu pulls away from him at long last, turning so she’s properly facing Yugito. She might not fully understand the politics, but she understands that her existence until now was a secret… and that Yugito is NOT wearing a Konoha headband, that’s for sure. For a long moment, the air is rife with tension, thick with it even… and then Yugito nods and stands up. She bows to both of them, once to Naruto and then once to Fu.
“Then I have reason to be grateful to the two of you, don’t I? You for saving my life, and you for being the reason that those Missing Nin were so willing to spare me for so long in the first place.”
Some of the tension bleeds out of the room at that. Yugito doesn’t seem to be making an issue of Fu’s nature, at least. But at the same time, she’s still a Kumo Ninja who now knows Takigakure’s greatest secret. Still, Naruto can’t bring himself to call her out on it. So he goes with something he feels more comfortable speaking on.
“… They’re called the Akatsuki. They’re hunting us Jinchuriki for our Tailed Beasts in order to use them for their own ends.”
Yugito’s eyes widen at that, before narrowing as she slowly nods, taking in this information.
“… Thank you. I had wondered, but of course it wasn’t as though I could ask them such things while they were hunting me. Your assistance is even more appreciated in light of that knowledge. Matatabi is also grateful for your intervention.”
Matatabi, the Two-Tailed Beast. Naruto smiles as he feels Kurama in the back of his mind. The Nine-Tailed Fox does not speak to Naruto in so many words, but rather pushes forward feelings and emotions and desires. The current emotion is something akin to fond exasperation… apparently, the Nine-Tailed Fox had interesting memories of his younger sibling.
And yet… they needed to eventually talk about it, didn’t they? And Naruto could tell it would need to come from him. So, letting out a low breath, he sits up in the bed, looking Yugito Nii in the eye.
“What do you intend to do now? You’re fully recovered… one of your attackers has been slain and the other sent running. What will you do next?”
Yugito raises an eyebrow at that, her lips thinning out as she considers his words. There’s a long, awkward silence as Fu glances between the two of them. Once again, she might not fully understand what’s going on, but she can feel the tension that Naruto’s question has prompted in the air.
“… You ask that as though the decision will not be made for me. I have seen too much, have I not? Not just of Taki’s Hidden Jinchuriki… but also of your squad’s abilities. We’d heard of you three back in Kumo, you know. But the information was… sparse. And it was said that the Last Uchiha had betrayed her village. Now I find all three of you together back under the Copy Cat Nin’s leadership, wielding the abilities of the Sannin you all trained with.”
Yugito smiles a crooked smile and tilts her head to the side.
“You can’t possibly let me return to Kumo with what I know.”
Naruto bristles at the insinuation. She’s not wrong, but at the same time he doesn’t want to be that kind of person. He hates that this is the kind of world where she’s completely correct. And frankly…
“Even if it’s not optimal, I will do everything in my power to make sure you have the choice of what happens next. If you want to return to Kumo… then that’s fine.”
Its Yugito’s turn to go stiff, the blonde kunoichi looking at him in disbelief for a long moment as her eyes search his for any sign of deceit or deception. Her mouth opens… and then closes. Finally, it opens again and she speaks.
“You truly mean that. You… are more special than I gave you credit for, Lord Uzumaki.”
Naruto flushes at that, before squaring his shoulders.
“So then… that much has already reached Kumogakure, has it?”
Yugito grins.
“Oh yes. The Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki has restarted the Uzumaki Clan… and taken a whole harem’s worth of beautiful and diverse kunoichi into his bed to jumpstart the renewal. It’s not just the talk of Kumo, I imagine, but of the entire continent.”
Huh. He supposed he should have expected as much. He was just so busy with his own things. From rebuilding his Clan, to saving Sasuko, and now hunting the Akatsuki… tch, he hadn’t really considered how everyone else would respond to the revival of the Uzumaki.
“If it is to be my choice… then I choose to join your Clan.”
Wait, what?
Naruto’s mind stalls for a moment, as he stares blankly at Yugito. The Jinchuriki’s declaration has come completely out of left field, at least from his perspective. How the fuck had they jumped from operational security… to her joining his Clan?!
Chuckling at the flummoxed look he’s sending her, Yugito inspects her nails for a moment before sighing.
“You know, I’ve always been the backup. I’m Kumo’s second and less powerful Jinchuriki. The first is the Raikage’s brother, the Jinchuriki for the Eight-Tailed Beast. In comparison, I am… well, I am liked well enough back in my home village. Now that I’m useful. Now that I’m a Jonin in my own right and capable of wielding Matatabi’s power.”
Her eyes flash then as she looks at Naruto knowingly.
“… But it wasn’t always that way. I was forged into the weapon you see for you now. And that forging was not particularly enjoyable. Certainly not enjoyable enough to be happy playing second fiddle to the Raikage’s brother for the rest of my life.”
That… sort of makes sense. But at the same time…
“So you’d be happy being a member of my harem? You should know, I treat all of my women equally. All are my wives. None are above or below any of the others.”
That was a decision Naruto would standby, no matter what. Not even for his fellow Jinchuriki would he change his mind on that. Yugito hums at that, before slowly nodding.
“Right now, Kumo will assume I’m dead. If I want it to stay that way, I will have to leave the life of a ninja behind. Ah, but I must admit… I don’t think I could be happy as a simple peasant. Settling down with a merchant or farmer… no, I would grow to loathe such a lifestyle much too quickly. I am a creature of certain comforts, and so is Matatabi.”
Stepping forward, Yugito climbs up onto the bed. She does so with a sudden surprising seductiveness to her. Before, she had been all claws… now, she moves with the silken smoothness of a cat, but with the body of a woman. She crawls towards him, smirking as she stops just shy of getting… inappropriately close.
“Equal treatment, so long as you can maintain such a promise, will be just fine for me. If I am treated poorly, well… we shall have to have a talk. But so long as I am just another of your wives, and loved as such… I can see a happy life in it for me. Especially if its with the man who saved my life so effectively.”
Naruto flushes a little bit. It WOULD neatly tie everything up, though with the possibility of a headache later on if Kumo ever figured out that one of Naruto’s many wives was their missing Jinchuriki. But then, subterfuge was the name of the game in the Elemental Nations. It shouldn’t be that difficult to cover it up and make it look like the Akatsuki took Yugito Nii. They would need to make sure her trail was wiped clean and ended properly, but that wouldn’t be all that difficult.
And it settled the issue of the knowledge that Yugito had already learned, didn’t it? All things considered; it was probably for the best. So long as Yugito was sincere, everything could probably work out in the end.
“… Very well. I accept your proposal.”
Yugito grins at his play on words, though before she can reply they’re both distracted by abrupt squawking from Fu.
“W-What?! Wait! I want to be your wife as well, Naruto! Let me join your clan!”
Naruto blinks at that, looking over at the younger Jinchuriki. Fu flushes a little bit as he and Yugito both look to her, but she also stands her ground, having already been on the bed to hug him in the first place.
“I won’t… I refuse to fall behind!”
“Fu… I thought you weren’t sure whether you wanted to leave Taki or not…”
But Fu just shakes her head vehemently.
“I must leave. Both for my sake… a-and for Taki’s sake. Those people won’t stop coming for me, will they?”
Naruto’s shoulders slump.
“No, they won’t.”
Fu just nods her head, looking resolved.
“They’re going to come for all of us… so we might as well stick together! And b-besides… I saw you first.”
Before he can properly parse that last bit, Fu has leaned in and kissed him right on the lips. She’s not very experienced, but she nevertheless goes for broke, all but sticking her tongue down Naruto’s throat. He ends up taking the reins, gently holding her face as he kisses her back and ultimately slips his tongue into her mouth as well.
In the end, they only pull apart because of Yugito’s chuckling, belatedly remembering that they’re not alone. The blonde kunoichi’s eyes flash as she looks between Fu and Naruto.
“I’ve already made it quite clear that I don’t mind sharing. What’s the harm in sharing my first time with my new husband as well… hm?”
Fu looks startled for a moment… before she nods in Yugito’s direction. Looking between his two fellow Jinchuriki, what’s about to happen is more than obvious. Naruto sighs and shakes his head in mirth. How DID he always end up in these situations?
Comments
DualEquinox
I'm pretty sure Naruto hasn't actually thought through all of the implications of bringing both of these two into his clan when it inevitably gets out. By doing so, Naruto has put control of three Jinchurikki - an arsenal larger than any other nation, including the strongest of all Bijuu, in the hands of a single Clan. If that wasn't bad enough all three clans with the ability to suppress the Bijuu (Uzumaki, Uchiha, Senju) have also been absorbed by/become beholden to the Uzumaki who retain enough prowess in Fuinjutsu to theoretically unseal a Bijuu and then reseal it into a new vessel. From an outside perspective, it honestly could look like Naruto is making a power play to monopolise the Bijuu on behalf of the Uzumaki, possibly in anticipation of another nation seeking to prevent the Uzumaki from returning. Add that he probably has reason to have an enmity with most of the great Nations due to them, y'know, banding together to commit genocide upon Uzushiogakure and that could get real dicey very quickly.
Muesli
No "prioritize both" choice, since they're supposed to be equal? Ok :P
