Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Vixens and Kitsune ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

“Naruto, wake up.” The fox faced shinobi mumbled as a gentle hand shook him awake.

 

“Kurenai sensei?” The teenager mumbled rubbing his eyes as he sat up. “Where are the girls?”

 

“They had to head home, and it's time you did the same.” Kurenai stood and extended a hand to pull the young shinobi to his feet. “Come on, I'll walk you.”

 

“My first team meeting and I slept through it!” Naruto moaned. “Ino's gonna think I'm an idiot.”

 

“All we did was some small talk, just getting to know each other.” Kurenai assured him. “I'm Yuhi Kurenai, jonin kunoichi.”

 

Naruto smiled, understanding how this was supposed to play out. “I'm Uzumaki Naruto, genin shinobi. My favorite food is ramen out of necessity, but I like to try new foods whenever I can.”

 

Kurenai smiled, pleased that her student had caught onto their round robin style information exchange. “My favorite food is dango, and bean soup. My hobbies are painting and origami.”

 

“Gardening believe it or not. Making life grow is soothing to me. That and cooking. I just don't really have time to eat what I make, living literally on the run either from either prank victims or fox haters.” The blonde frowned darkly as he thought of another direction for the questioning. “I like training, ramen, my friends, Ayame-neechan down at the ramen stand, and I think I like Hina-chan.” The Kyuubi container dropped his voice to a murmur, but Kurenai caught something that sounded suspiciously like “pink haired tart.”

 

“Hmm, I don't have any other interests I think would be appropriate to share with you at this time, but my dislikes are perverts, and fools who think a woman is less capable of her duties because of her gender.”

 

“Ano, Kurenai sensei…” The loveable blonde shinobi scratched at the back of his head as he smiled broadly, squinting his eyes. “What, exactly makes a pervert a pervert? I mean, everyone is a pervert to some extent, or so a friend of mine said. Otherwise, where would little shinobi and kit- er, kunoichi come from?” Naruto carefully covered his slip to the best of his ability. He wasn't sure of Kurenai's personal stance as far as his own demonic status, but he was fairly certain that taking dating tips from the entity that had caused so much destruction a decade prior wouldn't be taken well.

 

“You have a point, Naruto.” Kurenai conceded, momentarily disarmed by the youth's infectious grin. “I suppose, that perverted thoughts, while generally frowned upon are harmless. Perverted habits like reading adult novels, peeping on bath houses, and leering at women are,” The red eyed jonin paused, choosing her words carefully as she answered the impressionable shinobi's question. “undesirable. However, pervert actions, any sexual action taken against a person without their knowledge and consent is utterly inexcusable. Do you understand?”

 

Naruto nodded sagely. While Kyuubi's sexual exploits were wide and varied, even she had made that final point abundantly clear in her own way, and that mindset had transferred to her keeper as well. “No worries there, Kurenai sensei. I may look, touch, and tease, but if my partner becomes uncomfortable I stop. No questions asked.”

 

Kurenai smiled. It was odd having an inverse team of two kunoichi and one shinobi, but she was glad she had gotten this one. Out of all the males, he seems to harbor a good balance of energy, respect, intelligence and etiquette, while they are a little rough according to his files, but he's a real diamond in the rough. “My dream is to make you three into the best ninja's you can be.”

 

“No fair, Kurenai sensei.” The orange clad prankster gave another blinding smile. “I never told you my dislikes. My dream… my dream is to become the strongest shinobi in the elemental countries, so I'll be respected for my power and so I can protect those who are precious to me. My other dream…” The blonde tipped his head back and looked up at a passing cloud. “My other dream is to be surrounded by strong, beautiful women who love me.”

 

“Isn't that every man's dream?” Kurenai chuckled at her young student.

 

Naruto thought back to some orgies a human form Kyuubi had participated in, and quickly beat down a blush and a nosebleed. “Yeah, I guess it is. As for my dislikes… I guess my greatest dislike is people who only see the surface, and don't take the time to really get to know someone”, the blonde ground out “Stupid Ino.”

 

“So why do you care what Ino thinks?”

 

“We got off to a rocky start because she's a Sasuke fangirl and I'm… well, not Sasuke.” Naruto huffed. “I don't get what girls see in that… that emo bastard.”

 

“Sasuke's brother Itatchi killed off the entire clan, sparing only Sasuke. He's had a hard life, growing up alone because of that”, Kurenai said ”Or, at least that's what they say.”

 

“Kurenai sensei, I've spent my whole life being ignored at best and assaulted at worst. I've had more attempts on my life than some ANBU Agents and I only just found out why when a traitorous bastard tried to end my ninja career, and my life. Now Sasuke's had it bad, I can not and will not deny that. But he's going about dealing with it in totally the wrong way. At least I think so.”

 

“What makes you say that, Naruto-kun?”

 

“Well I'll admit that I don't know all the details of what happened, but if this guy wiped out a clan of several hundred at least, that means he's strong, smart, and skilled. And he's had years of further training dodging hunter nins, bounty hunters, and idiots trying to make a name for themselves. Add to that the fact that this guy cut Sasuke off from everyone that could teach him what it means to be an Uchiha! When he had already learned that himself, it also means that Sasuke is facing an opponent who knows him better than he knows himself with a badly skewed learning curve.”

 

“Interesting,” Kurenai commented, impressed by Naruto's analysis. ”Go on.”

 

“Well if this guy is that good then there's no way Sasuke will ever be able to beat him, no matter how strong he gets or how many jutsu's he learns.” Naruto explained. “So Sasuke needs to do what I do when confronted with a superior enemy. He's got to outwit him. He's got to think like a fox.” The demon container grinned madly at this, then sobered. “He also can't go it alone, but I don't think he'll ever understand team work. And speaking of teamwork, how long are we gonna keep doing laps in this genjutsu of yours?”

 

Kurenai was clearly shocked. “The girls didn't even realize it until I had escorted them `home' so how did you know?”

 

“I'm actually a little pissed I didn't see it sooner, but I figured it out about the time you were listing your favorite foods, when we passed old man Kishimoto for the third time. From what I can tell, this illusion takes a set amount of physical space, about two blocks of Central Street this time around, and loops it into a self-repeating cycle. Most people, shinobi or civilians, don't really pay attention to people in an urban setting. I, however, don't have the luxury of such blissful ignorance.”

 

Kurenai stood in shock. Naruto, the supposed dobe of the academy, had unwittingly completed her test, and he'd done so faster than his female teammates. “Well, you are right Naruto. This is both a genjutsu and a test to see if you're ready to become true genin.”

“Hmm…” Naruto murmured, looking at his red eyed sensei. “And the academy test?”

 

“That was a skill assessment.” Kurenai explained as she flashed through hand seals and the illusion world wavered. “All right you three. As you know, Konoha's strength lies in our unity. To that end, you must use unity to escape this illusion. Your teammates are here, even if you can't see them or hear them. Rely on them as they rely on you and break my spell.”

 

Crap. Naruto thought darkly. Genjutsus are my absolute worst thing ever! Think Naruto! In the academy you learned that an illusion can be dispelled by pain, but all those damn beatings have given me an abnormally high pain tolerance.

 

“Okay. I can't see or hear the girls. Tasting them really isn't practical, so that leaves me with smell.” The blonde shinobi thought a moment and channeled his chakra to his nose in an attempt to heighten his senses. A deep inhalation brought him Hinata's familiar scent, which he used as a beacon to search for the dark haired girl. His efforts were rewarded a moment later as his olfactory search ended in a collision with his unseen teammate. “Found one!” He cried gleefully, moving his hands up to where he suspected Hinata's shoulders should be.

 

Kurenai chuckled as her shinobi gently captured his dark haired teammate's hands in his own, before kissing the back of each unseen hand. “Hinata, focus. Naruto… play later, okay?” she admonished the pair as Hinata blushed furiously at the attention. “Find Ino or you're all going to be spending the day running in circles.”

 

Naruto started stroking his chin thoughtfully. His nose was so full of Hinata's scent that finding the less familiar scent of Ino would be almost impossible for him. Good thing it's not just me in this test! He thought, hastily tracing an eye on the back of Hinata's hand.

 

The young heiress quickly activated her Byakugan, much to Kurenai's amusement. “What good is that going to do you, Hinata?”

 

The girl looked first at her free hand, then at the other hand held by her crush, and finally the blonde himself. “Despite all the people in the illusion, there are still only four chakra signatures.” Hinata grinned as she gently tugged Naruto towards their missing genin.

 

“Well played, but you must all release the genjutsu at the same time, otherwise it'll just latch onto you again.”

 

“Clever.” Naruto murmured taking Ino's hand as the two kunoichis completed the circle. Naruto gave each girl's hand three quick squeezes before opening his hand wide meaning count to three, then release. Hinata, however, got a second command in the form of an opened hand and a downward pointing arrow traced against the back of her hand, delivered with a gentle tug on her arm. When we release, pull my arm down was the silent message. “Game time then.”

 

Tense muscles contracted once… twice… three times. The air was rent with twin feminine cries of “Kai!” and the sickening pop of forced skeletal alteration.

 

As the illusion shattered revealing training ground 14, the three women stared in awe as Naruto stood there nursing his freshly dislocated shoulder. “That… hurt.” He seemed surprised.

 

Ino chose that moment to break out of her stupor. “YOU JUST DISLOOCATED YOUR SHOULDER AND THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU JUST RELEASE IT LIKE ANY NORMAL NINJA!? THEY TAUGHT THAT IN THE ACADEMY!”

 

Naruto nodded. “You're right, they did. Now think back to that day if you can and remember what happened.”

 

Ino thought hard, casting her mind back to their academy days.

 

XX Flashback XX

 

“All right, class. Today we'll be covering genjutsu, the ninja art of illusion. If you ever find yourself caught in an illusion, it can be broken in three ways. The first is by forcibly reintegrating yourself with reality. The easiest way to do this is with self-inflicted pain, but you must be careful not to incapacitate yourself. Escaping a genjutsu does you little good if you can't defend or escape from subsequent attacks. Any questions?” Several hands raised, including a patiently silent blonde in the back rows. The instructor didn't see it that way. “Uzumaki! Why are you constantly disrupting the class?”

 

“But sensei-“

 

“I don't want to hear your excuses, Uzumaki! Get out!” The red faced senior nin pointed furiously to the door and Naruto trudged dejectedly from the lesson.

 

XX End Flashback XX

 

“You don't know how, do you?” Ino whispered in realization. “You raised your hand to ask a question and they threw you out.”

 

Naruto grimaced and before using a nearby training post to force his shoulder back into its socket. “It was so long ago, I don't even remember what I was gonna ask.”

 

“I… I'll see if I can help you with that.” Ino said quietly as the other blonde arched an eyebrow. “Don't get any ideas! I just… don't want you to die if I could have done something to save you.”

 

Kurenai decided now was the best time to drop the big bomb. “Well, you'll have plenty of time to get to know each other,” she jingled a small bundle of keys in her fingers, “in your new apartment.”

 

“Just think Hinata. You get to see me every… single… day!”

 

Naruto barely managed to keep Hinata from hitting the floor.

 

AN: There should be laws against having this much fun with characters, but I'm glad there aren't!

 

People have been complaining that my chapters are so short. I like short chapters. Each chapter is three to four pages in Word, so their easy to read, easy for my editors to correct, and easy for you all to read.

 

Someone asked me if there will be boys in the harem. NO. Absolutely not. This is not open for debate or discussion. As for the girls, I'm getting a lot of interesting feedback, and some that is frankly a little disturbing. I mean, Hanabi and Moegi? Words fail me on just how weird that makes me feel.

 

Also all of you who feel that Naruto should “tame” Sakura or some such nonsense, that will never happen while I'm writing. Naruto will not do anything to make his partners uncomfortable, and has said as much.

 

Some women are in Naruto's life, like Kyuubi and Yugao, but are not in the harem. Please deal with it. This is not “Naruto does the Elemental Countries.” He will not be running around sleeping with everything with legs and a bust, so if that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere.

 

As far as the lemons go… they'll come later. I still have to finish establishing some team dynamics and introduce Naruto's bloodline. Naruto has not even officially asked Hinata out and she's been raised as a proper young lady. I don't care how much of a crush she has on Naruto, there is no believable way to write “Wanna date? Cool. Let's screw like bunnies!” And have Hinata agree to it.

 

You must also remember that Naruto becoming the world's greatest lover isn't his primary goal. He wants to become the strongest Ninja in the elemental countries so he's respected for that power, and has said that frequently. Becoming a great lover is his personal goal. In a way, Naruto is finally building the family he's always been denied. As for why our benevolent Kyuubi is giving him all her erotic knowledge, read carefully. She had two goals in mind, both of which were accomplished by chapter two. Kyuubi needs something from Naruto and she's willing to do whatever bartering necessary to get what she needs.

 

Now for the bad news… Chapter five is coming along much slower than I like so there might be an extended wait for that. Sorry!