Chapter 10 (1/2)

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Also this story is a lemon fiction therefore is intended for people of a legal age from wherever they come from. So if these type of stories offend then stop reading now. Thanks.

Target: Anko

Koharu shot awake and from the discomfort in her rear and immediately knew she hadn't been dreaming about the events from the night before. Taking in her surroundings she found her robe had been dr.a.p.ed over her and that instead of still being passed out on the floor she had been moved to the ornate couch in her study slash office. A light snoring attracted her attention so turning towards it found Naruto lightly snoozing in the same chair he had been in when she had entered. She sent a glare the sleeping boy's way and considered slitting his throat. Deciding instead to bind him and force him to admit what he had done to her. She got off the couch to go look for something to tie him up with. But instead, as soon as she moved from the couch it was like she became a passenger in her own body. As instead of going where she wanted, she moved in front of Naruto and dropped to her knees in front of him sticking her c.h.e.s.t out in a pose of subservience.

She tried to scream. But found her ability to do so hindered as well. An hour passed with her remaining in the same position, till Naruto began to stir. He yawned sleepily but then awoke with a start probably surprised he had fallen asleep. His gaze met her glare and he said, ”It seems the orders I gave you took hold.”

She wanted to demand he tell her what jutsu he had used on her, but yet her mouth remained closed. Her eyes were expressive enough though that Naruto could guess what she was saying. Responding to her unasked questions he said, ”A result of giving into my jutsu is that it makes you have to obey my orders. Of course, you're the first person I've actually had to take these precautions for though.”

”You can speak if you want,” Naruto added as an afterthought.

”I demand you release me from this jutsu.”

”That's not going to happen or possible as far as I know,” Naruto said standing from the chair, ”You have no one to blame for this mess but yourself.”

”Me, I was trying to…”

Naruto dropped to his haunches in front of her and cut her off saying, ”I. Don't. Care. You tried to meddle with my and Tsunade's relationship. Had you simply minded your own business you'd have never gained my attention. I'll speak with you later about my goals and your part in them. Now though, go shower and then come right here. I need to take you to Tsunade so I can go meet with Kakashi.”

Koharu stood to comply with the order, although she was frowning and trying to fight it every step of the way. She entered the shower stall and turned it on to clean her body. As she ran her hands over herself, she marveled at the changes that had been made. Not only did she appear in her early twenties but the scars that she had picked up in her long life had been erased. After she had cleaned herself she exited the shower to stop in front of the oval mirror hanging over her sink. Running her hand over the fogged up glass she still couldn't believe the face that stared back at her.

Her face appeared rounder as a result of regaining her youth as her skin had regained its tightness and her dark eyes were easy to see since she no longer needed to squint all the time. Her hair had returned to its natural brown color and had regained much of its volume and shine. Feeling nostalgic, she wrapped her hair into twin buns right next to each other on the top of her head and stuck a decorative hair needle through the center of them to hold them in place. Wrapping a towel around her body she proceeded to her bedroom. Dropping to her knees next to her bed she pulled out a box from under it. Opening it, she first pulled out a team picture which featured her, Sarutobi, and Homura as well as their sensei Tobirama Senju. Standing off to the side with his arms crossed and a slight smile on his face was Hashirama Senju as he took the picture with his brother's team. Koharu was only partially visible from behind her sensei as if hiding from the camera.

Placing the picture down she reached into the box to pull out her old shinobi gear. She slipped into the body suit a relic from her time on Team Tobirama. She had another that she had worn on the day of the Kyuubi attack but even that one had needed to be let out to fit her older frame. Gazing down her body this one fit her like a glove and she marveled at just how good it felt to be able to wear it again. She was about to put on the rest of her outfit, but stopped since it was armor and most shinobi no longer wore such things. She had little doubt that Naruto would make her take it off again so decided not to bother.

Returning to her office she found the blond waiting patiently. Standing he met her eyes and said, ”Alright let's go.”

Koharu followed behind him and was slightly miffed that he hadn't been fl.u.s.tered by her choice of clothes. Realizing she was upset she thought, ”Damn him. I should be glad he didn't eye me like a piece of meat.”

As they walked Koharu said, ”She's under your thrall too, isn't she?”

Naruto looked over his shoulder giving a look that screamed, 'No Kidding,' and said, ”What was your first clue?”

Koharu blushed out of embarrassment at stating something so obvious, but carried on saying, ”Just how far have you sunken your claws into Konoha?”

”Claws,” Naruto said before shaking his head and saying, ”A Kyuubi reference I take it.”

”Take it anyway you want,” Koharu said, ”But I demand you tell me.”

”Demand,” Naruto said his tone amused, ”I'd be careful if I was you elder, or else I could make a few demands of my own.”

Koharu realized that Naruto could make her life extremely unpleasant at the moment. For a second she considered asking what he'd do and felt annoyed at herself for picturing him taking her again. However, she felt whatever he had in mind would tend to be more embarrassing then pleasurable such as completing the walk to Tsunade's in the nude so decided to remain silent.

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Tsunade awoke as the sun peeked in through her window. She got out of the bed revealing she had taken to sleeping nude. She had never allowed the Anbu Black Ops to assign her bodyguards to watch her home and recent events made her quite happy of that. Walking past the mirror in her bedroom she smiled at her younger self something that had become the norm before henging into the age she had appeared upon her return to Konoha. She felt some of her good mood drain upon remembering what had occurred the night before, but considering that no alarms had been raised hoped at the very least it meant that Naruto had been discreet.

Leaving her room she made her way towards her kitchen for a quick breakfast but stopped spotting her lover sitting on a couch in the living room. Before she went to him though, her eyes traveled to the woman standing behind the couch. It took her a moment to place the woman but with a stunned realization said, ”Koharu!”

She covered her mouth fearing that she had woken Shizune but after a moment and no one stirred relaxed. Directing her attention to Naruto, she said, ”A rather creative solution to our problem.”

”I can't exactly claim responsibility for it though,” Naruto said standing to walk towards her.

”Kyuubi,” she whispered causing Naruto to nod his head in reply. She frowned, not because Kyuubi was being helpful but for something that had been eating away at her. Deciding she needed to confront it regardless of Jiraiya's wishes, who she was having a difficult time locating, she said, ”Naruto, I need to speak to Kyuubi.”

”About what?” her lover asked confused.

Trying to be flippant she replied, ”Girl stuff. I want to talk to her alone.”

Naruto nodded before saying, ”How about tomorrow night?”

”Why tomorrow?”

”I need to get going to meet up with Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato,” Naruto said before jerking a thumb towards Koharu speaking gently enough that the elder couldn't hear, ”Please teach Koharu your henge so that she can continue her duties elder. Also, tonight I'll explain everything to her over dinner as I wasn't exactly gentle with her.”

”Maybe, but… I let my anger get the best of me last night… I know dinner won't make up for it, but I still want to give her a choice to help us willingly.”

”And if she refuses…” Tsunade said leaving a pregnant pause between them.

”I'm not sure, but for now she has no choice but to obey. She has to listen to anything you and the others tell her in case she finds a way to try and alert people.

Tsunade again looked past Naruto, narrowing her own eyes at the woman thinking of some devious things she could make her do for trying to separate the two of them. Before she could really give it much thought she felt a finger under her chin directing her gaze to his blue eyes. As if sensing what she was thinking he said, ”Be nice,” and then kissed her lovingly. Losing herself in the kiss it ended far too soon for her liking and then he was leaving to meet his teachers. She returned her gaze to her fellow kunoichi to see her staring at her with what appeared to be jealousy.

Left alone with the woman that she had looked up to and who had ultimately tried to steal her happiness she said, ”Let's go.” Breakfast forgotten, she planned to take the woman to her office in order to teach her the henge she used to hide her new and true appearance as well as her chakra. As they made their way to her office, she dropped her henge to show off her own younger self to give the appearance of two women walking the town. Although taking in Koharu's choice of clothes, she wondered if the woman had anything appropriate for her new age.

The older woman caught her by surprise saying, ”I'm sorry.” Before Tsunade could ask her why she explained, ”This jutsu he used to bind us was potent. I'm sure you did your best to reject the d.e.s.i.r.es it welled up inside you. I also understand why you couldn't speak…”

Tsunade cut her off by laughing. Leaning in she said, ”It's true he used the jutsu on me and I did try to resist. But it was only because I was afraid to give into my feelings for him. If I knew then, what I know now, I'd have thrown myself at him far sooner.” Thinking back to her own first encounter with Naruto she said, ”Although, truthfully I didn't put up too much of a fight.”

Koharu stared at her before finally saying, ”I see. You seem awfully proud to be a whore.”

Tsunade was far from offended saying, ”You're one to talk.”

”I don't believe that,” Tsunade said, ”If I know him and I do. He gave you a choice…”

”After pumping me full of his Kyuubi chakra. How was I supposed to resist?”

”By being a true kunoichi,” Tsunade shot back her voice filled with scorn. Koharu had the decency to look away at least. Tsunade further poked a hole in how Koharu was viewing events by saying, ”I also think you want it to happen again.”

”Don't be ridiculous,” the woman said quickly.

Tsunade stopped prompting Koharu to follow suit and then eyeing the black bodysuit she wore said, ”A rather provocative way to dress for a woman not interested in a repeat performance. I'm sure if you wanted to avoid a repeat of last night you have plenty of old lady clothes you could have worn.” Leaning in to whisper in her ear the blonde Sannin asked, ”Are you even wearing u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r?”

Koharu blushed realizing she wasn't causing a smile to appear on Tsunade's face. She didn't comment but both women knew that despite how she may claim the contrary that Naruto had awakened something in the woman that wouldn't mind a repeat of the previous night. Her henge back in place and arriving at the office, Tsunade began laying out the steps to learning her Perfect Henge.

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Naruto laid beneath a tree at the training field where Kakashi was teaching him the beginning stage of adding his wind element to the Rasengan. Kakashi had given him a short break. The two jounin had left him alone and Naruto had the feeling that they were discussing why Kyuubi wasn't becoming a factor in the training. Although he hadn't liked lying to his sensei about why Kyuubi wasn't making attempts to take over, he understood that he couldn't just blurt the truth to him. Due to his realizing his actions affected more than just him now.

Thinking of Kyuubi made him decide to put the downtime towards a more constructive use than just sitting in the shade so he let his consciousness enter the seal. Walking through the sewer tunnel to where she was, he entered the recreation of his apartment that the front of her cage represented. Looking at the bars that made up where his front door would be he could just make out the outline of her Bijuu body behind them. He was about to call out to her when he heard shifting coming from in front of him. Moving towards the couch that was facing the bars he looked over the back of it to see the woman napping. Gazing down at her, he was forced to admit she was stunning. Staring at her face, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen it somewhere before. For some reason he imagined it was during his time at the academy.

Facing back towards the couch he saw the woman sitting up to look at him while rubbing sleep from her eyes. ”Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you,” he said, ”I'll let you get some more sleep.”

”I'm fine,” Kyuubi said quickly, ”Why have you come?”

Moving around to sit on the couch he answered, ”I thought we could talk some.”

”About what?”

Shrugging he said, ”I don't know really. I guess I thought it was about time that we get to know each other.” Kyuubi nodded but then the two of them simply sat there awkwardly. Finally he asked, ”Would you mind telling me what you meant when you said you were created?”

Kyuubi stared at him but looking away said, ”All nine of us Bijuu were once part of one being. It had ten tails so I suppose it could be called Juubi. For centuries it rampaged all across the land until one day it was challenged by a man you may know as the Sage of the Six Paths.”

”Never heard of him,” Naruto said having never really paid attention in history class or any of them for that matter.

Shaking her head at the lack of knowledge her host possessed she said, ”In any case, he was probably the man that was most responsible for the current understanding of chakra and how to harness it. But back to my story, the Sage sealed the ten-tails into his own body to stop it. It gave him incredible power but even he couldn't completely master it all. He lived a long life and fathered two sons but then one day he realized his time was nearing its end he split his gifts among his heirs. His eldest received his 'eyes' and his younger received his 'body.' These two men's descendants would be known as Uchiha and Senju and would war bitterly after the Sage chose the Senju's ancestor as his successor.”

”But the Uchiha and Senju founded Konoha together, didn't they?”

”Wow,” Naruto said in awe, ”You've must have seen a lot then, huh?”

Looking back on her long existence Kyuubi came to a shocking realization as she said, ”No, not really.”

”How's that?”

”Because when I was created it was without any sense of purpose. I was simply a less pleasant alternative then the Juubi being resurrected upon the Sage's death.” She thought back to those first few years as she explored a new world and realized, ”I suppose I was filled with a sense of wonder,” her mood darkened though as she added, ”it didn't last though.”

Naruto remained silent listening intently but guessing what he wanted to know she said, ”Eventually the elder son in a bid to destroy his younger brother tried to harness my power. He tried to make me his slave by sealing me into his body.”

”Did he?”

”No, he failed and paid the ultimate price for his hubris,” Kyuubi said remembering devouring the man. ”But he had gained many followers by then and they attacked me constantly. In time I considered all humans a nuisance and simply destroyed them whenever I came into contact with them. I should have wiped the elder's entire line from the face of the earth perhaps then…”

”Then what?”

Realizing she was rambling Kyuubi stopped her story. Naruto realized she had revealed more than she intended so didn't push but said, ”Well I for one am glad you didn't. Otherwise Sasuke might never have existed.”

”Naruto, in time… you may wish I had.”

”No way, I know he's being difficult and he's probably going to spend some time in jail but…”

”Naruto, I sensed his chakra when you fought each other at the valley of the end. It's almost as dark and twisted as the elder son and Madara Uchiha, perhaps the greatest traitor your village has ever known. If you truly intend to unite the shinobi world you may one day find him standing in your way.”

Naruto got the feeling that Kyuubi was being cryptic about whom she was talking about. While on the surface she may have been talking about Sasuke. He got the feeling that it could be one of the other two people she mentioned as well.

Wishing to turn the subject Kyuubi said, ”Now tell me something of yourself.”

Naruto kept the frown he felt from his face wishing to know what Kyuubi had meant, but accepted that she didn't trust him enough to open up further. ”Okay,” he said knowing he had to share some of himself as well, ”well I guess I can tell you the day I decided I wanted to be Hokage…” As he shared the story he thought about what he had learned and also why it was Kyuubi seemed so sure that in the end it would be an Uchiha standing in his way.

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

Ino wondered why she had been summoned to the Hokage's office. Although, it could be a mission she had the feeling it was related to their more Naruto related pursuits. Stepping in she saw a young woman she didn't recognize sitting in a chair as well as Hinata and Tsunade in their usual places.

”Ino reporting for duty,” she said standing at attention while eyeing the woman before focusing on Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded before saying, ”Ino do you know Koharu Utatane?”

Ino nodded unaware she was talking about the woman sitting in the chair next to where she was standing. ”Yeah, I know the old hag,” she said having had a run in with the elder once.

”I beg your pardon,” the woman said staring up at her.

”Um, who are you,” Ino said wondering why the woman was so upset since Koharu was rather disliked by many of the younger kunoichi due to her strict sense of what a kunoichi was.

Ino frowned when Hinata giggled and with a large smile Tsunade said, ”Ino meet Koharu Utatane.”

The Yamanaka heir stared at the gorgeous woman before face palming and saying, ”Naruto, huh?”

Tsunade's smile stayed in place as she nodded before saying, ”Got it in one. Koharu here figured out that the other hot blonde Naruto was taking on dates was me. She decided to meddle and break us up. I don't think I need to explain any further.”

Ino agreed saying, ”I would imagine he was quite upset with her.”

”Enough to take it out on her a.s.s,” Tsunade said enjoying the way Koharu's cheeks turned red.

Ino looked at Koharu with an appraising eye before saying, ”I'm surprised she can even sit then.”

Tsunade laughed as did Hinata prompting Koharu to say, ”If you're done having your fun at my expense. Can you explain why you've summoned Miss Yamanaka here?”

Ino admitted she was curious as well so nodded towards the Hokage. Getting to business, Tsunade said, ”Ino, due in part to just how she entered our little club. Naruto will be taking her out tonight to explain his ambition. I doubt Koharu has anything appropriate to wear for such an occasion. So if you don't mind I'd like for you to take her shopping. Also, you're to keep an eye on her. Since while Naruto and I have placed some controls on her. She may try to find ways to circ.u.mvent them.”

”Understood,” Ino said before turning to leave. Stopping at the door she asked, ”Out of curiosity, what color is her chakra?”

”Purple,” Hinata answered directing a gaze towards Tsunade who had refused to lower her genjutsu around the girl making the Hyuuga suspicious that a change had occurred.

It wasn't a gesture lost on either of the women present although only Ino knew why. Koharu voiced her curiosity asking, ”What does that have to do with anything?”

Ino though ignored the question saying, ”Come along granny Koharu let's go.” While thinking, ”Purple must be she feels negatively about Naruto.”

Koharu bristled, but due to the controls Naruto had put in place she soon found herself falling into step with the young woman. As they made their way to a clothes store in silence Koharu tried to think of a way to break the controls that had been placed on her. She was aware of the ones Tsunade had which basically were that when in public as elder Koharu Utatane she had to look the part and couldn't suddenly drop the henge. No the ones that gave her the biggest concern were the ones that Naruto may have put on her as she slept.

She had already learned of one such command when shortly after mastering Tsunade's true henge they had taken a walk through the village appearing as their older selves. After reaching a secluded area they had dropped them and Koharu was surprised at just how pleased she was to do so. However along the way back, she had seen her old teammate Homura. Quickly thinking of a way to alert her friend that something was going on she had broken away from a surprised Tsunade. Approaching him she was going to inform him of a mission only the two of them would be aware of. She had wanted to say, ”Homura, remember when we fended off those twenty Prajna from the Land of Woods.” It was to remind him of the time they had been trapped behind enemy lines. In order to escape they had needed to defeat the twenty men of the specialized Anbu group. She hoped since it wasn't common knowledge he'd question just how she knew of it. But instead when she got in front of him it came out as, ”Grandpa, remember when we ate those twenty muffins from the Land of Woods.”

Homura had stared at her in confusion before saying, ”I'm afraid you must have me confused with someone else.”

She was about to try again when Tsunade clamped a hand on her shoulder saying, ”Come along now that's not your grandpa. Sorry for disturbing you.”

”That's alright, but is she?” Homura asked.

”Sort of,” Tsunade said smoothly, ”She's just been drinking. She's trying to cope with some major changes in her life.”

”I see,” the male elder said, before directing his gaze at the woman to add, ”Please remember my dear climbing into a bottle is no way to deal with life's problems.”

She felt Tsunade's hand squeeze a little tighter no doubt reacting to the comment. But Koharu nodded weakly feeling defeated and allowed Tsunade to lead her away. As they walked the smirk on Tsunade's face angered her but she needed to wait until they were alone till she could snap, ”You harlot trickster, when did you place that command on me?”

Tsunade directed her gaze at the deaged elder and with an all too pleased voice asked, ”What makes you so sure it was me?”

Realizing that she was referring to Naruto she said, ”Don't be absurd. Nothing in the boys file shows him capable of such foresight.”

Tsunade shrugged saying, ”I'm sure there are a lot of things your file doesn't show about him. If your file was up to date, I don't think you'd be in the pickle you find yourself in.” Koharu was about to respond but sadly the street they turned onto had pedestrians on it forcing her to lapse into silence on the matter. She was partially surprised her teammate didn't recognize her but was forced to admit that as far as he was concerned the Koharu he knew was a woman as old as him.

But still, Koharu couldn't get the judgmental way that her teammate looked at her out of her mind though. Granted he thought she was drunk but it had been due to something else. Something that she was having trouble understanding. Directing her gaze towards the young Yamanaka walking in front of her she could feel the slight resentment the woman was emitting towards her. Asking about it she said, ”Have I wronged you in some way?”

Ino turned to look at her before saying, ”It doesn't matter.”

”Obviously it does to you.”

”You don't remember, do you?”

Koharu shook her head so Ino said, ”The only time you've ever spoken to me directly was to put me down.”

”What do you mean?”

”When I graduated from the academy you were walking through it and after taking one look at me, made some comment about how I was dressed. You asked if I was on a mission to pose as some underage p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e.”

Koharu recalled the memory but said, ”Well you must admit you dress rather s.l.u.ttishly.” Eyeing Ino's current attire, she continued, ”Not that your choice in clothes has improved any. Why in my day…”

”That's just it,” Ino snapped, ”This isn't your day anymore and just because I'm confident enough in my appearance to show some skin doesn't mean you need to look down on me. You didn't know the first thing about me but that didn't stop you from snapping to a judgment based solely how I was dressed.”

Koharu was at a lost at how to respond but then realized that was what had been in Homura's eyes. He was appraising her and no doubt due to her younger age and skintight suit had rushed to the conclusion that what Tsunade said was true even though she didn't smell of alcohol.

Ino kept her gaze on the women for a few moments more and noted she seemed to be thinking about something. More than willing to let the topic drop the rest of the trip was made in silence. Entering her favorite clothing shop she waved to the beautiful woman behind the counter whose family owned the place.

”Hello Ino,” Emi said cheerfully as the two women entered her shop, ”Here for more? Where do you store it all?” The young tailor smiled as she pushed a bang of her raven black hair from her eyes.

Ino laughed good naturedly saying, ”Sadly, I'm not here for me today. This is Koharu and she needs to be brought into the current decade fashion wise.”

Emi ran her practiced brown eyes over the young woman Ino indicated saying, ”Is she a shinobi?”

”How can you tell?” Koharu asked surprised since she wasn't wearing a headband.

”The body suit you're wearing,” Emi said coming around the counter. ”I can see what you mean Ino, that bodysuit is definitely classical. But they had a great sense of style back then even if it was a little lacking in boldness.”

”She also has a date tonight so will probably need a dress,” Ino said already looking through some clothes on a rack.

”Really,” Emi said interested in gossiping with her fellow shopkeeper even if Ino was only worked in her family's shop part time. ”It wouldn't happen to be Naruto would it?”

Ino turned holding a vest to her c.h.e.s.t saying, ”It might be.”

”Aw, don't be like that,” Emi said with a pout, ”It's the latest gossip about how he's been taking all you girls out. Just what is the big attraction by the way? Aren't you jealous?”

”No,” Ino said putting it back to pull out another, ”When you're on a date with him. He has this way of making you feel like nobody but you matters. Besides as I've told you, they're just harmless dates between friends.”

”I don't know,” Emi said skeptically, ”You don't sound like you think of him as a friend.”

Ino smiled but remained closed lip on the matter. Koharu had listened to the exchange with half an ear but admitted she was rather taken with some of the clothes hanging from the racks. Searching through the kunoichi wear she came across a black body suit like hers but instead of being one piece. It was split in two with the top covering her c.h.e.s.t while exposing her midriff and back. While she was admiring the suit Ino came up behind her saying, ”Rather revealing isn't it?”

”Miss Yamanaka I was simply looking,” Koharu replied putting it back.

But both Kunoichi's attention was shifted to Emi who had begun giggling. ”What?” Ino asked.

”Sorry, it's just she sort of sounded like my grandmother,” Emi said prompting Ino to crack a smile at the irony of the statement.

Koharu wasn't sure why but the statement upset her even though chronologically it was probably true. Pulling the suit from the rack she said, ”I trust you have a changing room.” Emi pointed towards the back of the shop and turning in a huff Koharu headed towards it.

Ino watched with a smile but Emi said, ”I hope I didn't offend her.”

Waving off the tailor's concerns the blonde kunoichi said, ”Don't worry about it. She simply needs to recognize that she's only young once.”

Emi nodded but remembering something said, ”I think I have just the thing for her date tonight,” and entered the back of her shop.

Koharu exited the changing room wearing the modern suit and Ino was forced to admit that she cut quite the figure. ”Not bad,” Ino said walking around the elder.

”I still don't see what point showing my skin achieves,” Koharu said.

Ino traced her fingers across Koharu's stomach tracing them around the woman as she completed another circuit around her. In a husky whisper she said, ”A flower is only as beautiful as its petals true but it doesn't hurt to show a little of what those petals hide.”

”Miss Yamanaka, please,” Koharu flushed at the contact and way Ino spoke.

Pulling away Ino said, ”I hope I'm not like you when I'm in my seventies.”

”Do you truly think it will matter,” Koharu said looking at herself in the mirror. With some regret she added, ”I think you'll find that as time slips away the line of suitors gets smaller and smaller.”

Ino came up behind the woman and placing a hand on her stomach began rubbing gently again whispering, ”I think you are looking at things from a skewed point of view.”

Again flushing from the close contact Koharu whispered, ”What do you mean?”

”Naruto didn't just make you look younger. If we were to run a test on you, we would find that you are simply a twenty year old woman. He literally turned back the hands of time for you. And if he could do that for you, what's stopping him from doing it for me or even himself? Naruto may literally never need to grow up, but that's beside the point. You've been given a second chance to try all the things you missed your first time around and that have been eating away at you. Try to enjoy life this time.”

The sound of Emi returning caused Ino to pull away and Koharu was surprised she missed the closeness. Emi appeared holding a black dress that tied behind the neck and would leave the whole of her back exposed. It also appeared to be rather form fitting.

Almost immediately Ino said, ”It's perfect, you wouldn't happen to have one in purple and could maybe put a slit along the side.”

Emi smiled saying, ”No, but I can make one like that for you.”

Ino nodded letting Emi hand the dress to Koharu before taking the tailor to the back to measure her for her new dress. Koharu stared at the gown and although felt it a little too bold for her, decided to listen to Ino's advice and took the dress to the changing room to try it on.

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Koharu sat across from Naruto who was dressed to match as they sat in the restaurant where she had identified Tsunade. She took a sip of the wine she had ordered as Naruto finished explaining his grand ambition. She placed her glass down and was amazed to see that it appeared Naruto actually was interested in hearing her opinion. It almost disappointed her to see his face drop as she said, ”It doesn't stand a chance of working.”

”Why?”

”Do you not think it's been tried before? The first Hokage handed out the tailed beasts to help make peace a possibility instead it only increased the d.e.s.i.r.e for war.”

”That's what happens when you hand out things people will turn into weapons. My plan will insure that war is the last thing the leaders of the other villages want.”

”And how do you hope to do that?”

”By making all our welfares depend on the others survival. It has three stages the first is simply putting people in place.”

”You mean the women you seduce,” Koharu said.

”Would you prefer to be called an asset,” Naruto said jokingly.

Koharu blushed at the reminder of how Naruto had taken her but said dryly, ”Continue.”

”Well once in place we'll begin influencing the villages' policies and hopefully get them to interact with each other.”

”I assume that is the second stage,” Koharu said. Naruto nodded causing her to ask, ”And can I assume the third stage units them all into one big village which follows you.”

”No,” Naruto said, ”but in a united front against anything that disturbs the peace. So instead of reacting individually we act as one group.”

”So you don't intend to get rid of the other villages and unit them under Konoha's banner. But hope to simply make them forget about years of hatred and war. You're more delusional then I thought.”

Naruto sighed but said, ”I guess I can understand why you'd think that way since you are part of the problem.”

”I beg your pardon.”

”Well think about it, most of the shinobi leaving the academy now have never known war. It's only the older generation that is speaking of the old hatreds towards the other villages…”

”You forget Suna's invasion.”

”No I haven't. But despite it, we aided them when they need our help. We forgave them for their betrayal which had been brought about by unfair trade regulations that allowed us to undersell our services to their Daimyo till they felt hemmed in and needed to attack. Once we're in place we'll get rid of such trade practices so that both villages and any others that join will benefit. Reaching the point where attacking one another will hurt us all economically.”

”A very pretty speech, but how do you intend to get the other villages to forget their hatreds enough to willing join any trade alliances with us.”

”We'll have people in those villages as well,” Naruto said but frowned when Koharu smiled like he had fallen right into her point.

”That is where your ambition is due to failure,” Koharu said.

”Why's that?”

”I'll admit your plan may work in Konoha since we have both the clan and civilian council in which to influence policy. However in the other villages I'm afraid you will find things to be far different.”

”You mean the shinobi council in Suna,” Naruto said taking satisfaction in the way her eyes widened in surprise.

”How…”

”Gaara is already aware of my ambition and told me of them. He told me The Shinobi Council is made up shinobi of prestige that are invited to join.”

”Yes, and once they do so, they do so for life or till they retire. Many of them voted for aiding Sound in invading us and despite their words of friendship would like to see the Leaf burn.”

”I know, Gaara admitted as much,” Naruto said, ”But I already have a voice on that council.”

”Who…” Koharu said before realizing, ”Temari. Does Gaara know you…”

”Yes and although not pleased at first is at peace with it,” Naruto said taking a sip of his glass of water. ”But as more time passes I'll gain more seats I'm sure and more influence as a result.”

”Perhaps,” Koharu admitted thoughtfully surprised Naruto had already extended his reach outside the village. ”But that won't work in Iwa since that village is ruled by a military dictatorship overseen by the Tsuchikage.”

Naruto crossed his hands in front of his face saying, ”He doesn't have any advisors whose ear I could maybe bend.”

”Not that I am aware of, but there is also Kumo to consider. They do have a Head Ninja council but the Raikage tends to ignore them since despite the peace he continues to build up his military.”

”I hope you agree to help,” Naruto said suddenly giving her a bright smile that made her blush and look away.