You gus rock, you knew that? Getting to 80 reviews with just 2 chapters feels awesome! I wish my other fic generated that much feedback haha

Don't own Sekirei or Naruto, what's new?

Distracting bouncing flesh aside, Naruto glanced at his Sekirei in confusion at the way he could feel her grip tightening on his arm, to the point he was sure it would have leave a mark by tomorrow. "Kaho-chan, what's wrong? That is just Uzume-chan, one of the friends I've talked you about remember?" he winced at how she actually sunk her nails in his arm the moment he said Uzume's name.

However, the way his friend seemed to suddenly lean on a nearby tree and start panting made him forget the pain and actually drag the girl on his arm much to her surprise. After reaching Uzume and seeing she was not even opening her eyes, just gripping the tree and trying to control her breathing, had him worried enough to nearly miss the way her chest heaved and bounced, emphasized by how tight her shirt was (though a small part of him would actually catalogue that memory for later review, much to his inner shame). For the moment though, he just put the back of his hand on her forehead, and freed his other arm from Kaho's grip as if it was nothing to grasp Uzume's shoulder in worry.

"Uzume?" Unfortunately, while those measures might help a girl with a growing fever, they had the opposite effect on a reacting Sekirei, which had her temperature do another spike and her body to start convulsing, 'D-Dammit, stupid kind idiot…' while a big part of her wanted to just lunge at the blond and seal the deal, the rest of her resisted the impulse and just conformed with hugging the blond close to her body to gather strength.

A few meters from them, Kaho had an unreadable expression on her face, not sure what to feel at the scene. She knew this was a reaction from her own experience, though she had never felt it in such a magnitude. 'Did Naru-kun's Ashikabi potential was so high from the start? No, this must be different, I never felt any Ashikabi vibes from him whatsoever…' a part of her felt wronged, the moment she chose on her own an Ashikabi to be at his side forever and ever the world decides he might as well attract more Sekirei? She was definitely jealous, but the way the reacting young woman was not trying to kiss her Naru-kun had her worry for Uzume. The opposite of her perhaps, an unwanted reaction?

Naruto however had less calm thoughts, he was really worried about his friend, and had no idea how to help her. 'What to do, what to do, what to do?! She is burning up and apparently can't control her body reactions and all… it's not as if I have healing chakra at my disposal… unless!' not even bothering to ponder why this could not be a good idea at all, he closed his eyes and started to calm by taking deep breaths, letting his chakra flow freely through all his body and starting to take the little nature energy he could feel from the park.

The moment both energies started mixing though, the results of Naruto using sage chakra could be felt throughout all the city, with every mayor player of the Sekirei Plan noticing the energy spike through their Sekirei reactions', all of the experienced ones being able to sense it and were actually floored at how hard the energy was to measure, though none of them would mistake it as weak. They may lack the training and instincts of shinobi, but the power up gained with sage mode was not a joke.

In particular, the duo of the South, Hayato Mikogami and Sekirei no. 05 Mutsu felt it more than others due being currently exploring the area near the park. There was a rumor of a particularly powerful Sekirei in the area and Mikogami had immediately latched on to the idea of winging said Sekirei. Mutsu had different thoughts after that initial spike, seeing the feeling was not diminishing and acting as a beacon. "Mikogami, I think we should retire for the night."

"Eh? No way! I can feel it, that Sekirei is close!" glaring at his taller silver-haired companion, said man could only sigh at his Ashikabi.

"There is an energy nearby that is not a Sekirei, and it's really strong. I can bet many throughout the city have felt it too, and only strong ones will be coming seeing most know to fear the Hannya's territory. An anomaly like this bodes ill for us, seeing you left the rest at home playing… what would you think will happen if the big players come here and find us alone?" Not even waiting for his Ashikabi's reaction, he lifted him to carry him on one arm, and started heading home much to Mikogami's whining. Letting Mikogami argue would only end with them hunting the anomaly due his childlike curiosity and mania of owning anything unique, and he was not in the mood to risk facing Karasuba, Higa of the East, Sanada of the West or in the worst case, Miya. They were currently in a semi neutral area seeing it joined the North and East of Shinto Teito. 'If it's not a Sekirei, it would naturally draw the Game Master attention's enough to make him use Karasuba, and risking treachery from the East forces' is not worth a potential Sekirei of unknown power.'

Said unknown Sekirei was trembling from her position on one of the benches of the park, her light brown hair being messy and clumsily used to cover the forehead of the Sekirei. While she was only covering herself with a slightly bloodied doctor's coat and no other clothes, it was clear her trembling was not from the cold. '…Warm… so… warm…' being one of the beings closest to the energy that could actually sense the spike, she could actually feel it more clearly than others. Her lack of thoughts or emotion for the most part also eliminated any distraction or confusion in discerning how 'it' felt, the intent of the source of that energy was just soothing. She just knew she wanted to feel more of that warmness. It allowed her to forget her current situation, and such an escape from reality was just too good to be real for her. With slow movements, she started to stand while clutching the coat tightly to cover herself.

At Uzume's home, one woman was gazing at the night sky with a slightly worried expression. She was dressed in shrine maiden clothes similar to Kaho's style, but instead of red her attire had different shades of purple that matched her hair.

"Kagari-san, would you mind?"

"Of course, even I'm worried about Uzume… seeing she's supposed to be there from what Matsu registered before the spike." To be honest, the moment the energy spike messed up the MBI sensors Matsu was borrowing he had been ready to head out and help his outgoing housemate. Currently decked in his Guardian outfit, the man just walked out from the corner he had been resting on towards the garden before leaping out.

After all, if Miya ever decided to go out on her own, it would completely shift the balance of the game. It was the only real reason Minaka allowed her to just 'waste away her potential' by being a demure and innocent landlady. 'Besides, that energy is just too similar to the one earlier today to be a coincidence…' a small shiver ran through his back at the memory, someone that could switch from scary to goofy that easily irked him more than he would like to admit, he needed no more people like Miya around.

Talking about MBI, Sahashi Takami was already reaching her anger limits once again. Not only had she ended without any information on no. 87's Ashikabi due Minaka being his usual insane and arrogant self, now the supposedly routine checkup for no. 108 Kusano was turning to be anything but that.

Currently contained in a cylindrical tank with a light green fluid, the small Sekirei seemed to be convulsing while floating there, her face showing pain and longing despite being unconscious. The liquid was originally colorless, but the crystal clear substance had gained color the moment Kusano had went on her current trance, her body sometimes being surrounded with a green aura that pulsed outwards.

"What do you mean you have no idea what's happening?!" the poor technician was already trembling at the woman's wrath, but he had to save his neck somehow, "W-Well, we o-only know she's resonating with something… or s-someone, b-but that makes no sense at all. No other Sekirei has a link with nature and plant life in general like her, and no. 107 was reported to show no anormal reactions so far…" so that also ruled out a phenomenom affecting Sekirei with opposite nature.

"Why are you telling me what we figured out during the first five minutes?! Gods, all of you are so useless at this… times like this, I miss having Takehito around." Her lackey already leaving the room in a panic, Takami sighed while watching all the vitals displayed in one of the screens in worry. 'If this keeps up, I might have to call Miyajima over this…' and seeing she even preferred dealing with Minaka over that woman, it said much of her desperation.

Luckily for her, it took 15 mins for Kusano to stabilize, but only because whatever caused the resonance seemed to disappear. Takami would decide to stop with the little girl's adjustment process and start dealing with the paperwork to transfer her to another facility more suited to study and analyze any issues that could endanger the small blond girl.

"First Kaho's Ashikabi and now this… I may need to be more proactive if anomalies are starting to appear so easily." She had even forgotten her wayward son being dragged around the city by no.88. And just to spite her, a manic looking Karasuba chose that moment to barge into the lab, demanding authorization to hunt down an energy spike that had her looking giddy with excitement.

Today was a horrible day to be Sahashi Takami, no doubt.

Back with Naruto, Kaho could only gape at her Ashikabi's actions, it was already half an hour since he had started hugging Uzume and exuding that weird energy. 'How…?' the way Naruto kept breaking every convention of what she was taught about humans and Ashikabi was just not funny anymore (not even a day after being winged!), she was sure he was stronger than her just by feeling the energy in the air surrounding Naruto and Uzume. While she understood Naruto was simply worried about his friend, it was just annoying for her to know that another girl had already hugged Naruto longer than she ever had the chance to. 'Remember Kaho, this is one of the traits that made you fall for him, you can't blame him for being himself… right?' That didn't mean she would not be grilling him later about this, or would stop feeling jealous about Uzume receiving so much of her man's attention and care.

Being the intended target of his crazy stunt, Uzume was currently out of sorts. While she was not sure how to describe it, she felt completely disconnected from the world and just engulfed in something cool and soothing, feeling small traces and caresses all over her body slowly decreasing her previous fever. Her raging thoughts and previous confusion and frustration just drifted away, allowing her to enjoy the calm and soothing sensation even more but making her unable to notice that whatever was engulfing her was also being absorbed into her body. Just before losing consciousness, she could feel a gentle breeze caressing all her body, making her feel as if nature itself was watching over her. 'Was that a whiff of ramen…?' a small smile on her face, she never noticed the relief in Naruto's face at how things had just gone all right before falling asleep.

Letting most of his sage mode energy return to his body, Naruto sighed at the exertion of focusing so much on manipulating nature energy for nonviolent purposes. Seeing it was simply part of nature, it was extremely hard to coerce and rein to the user's whims, using it as a supplement to his body's chakra or as a source of energy for jutsu was comparatively easy because it only consisted of infusing the energy into the technique or redirecting its flow once, either towards the technique, or to reinforce and enhance his body. Also, he was slightly worried at how just taking said energy drained him emotionally. While this time he had practically overwritten any intent lingering in the nature energy just to help Uzume by sheer force of will, he had recognized the malice flowing. 'Was this what the toads meant when they explained how the summon contract worked as a means to help their summoners harness sage mode? The sense of unity with the world it's still present, but the malice was definitely not something I ever felt when using it back home.' He knew this needed further thought, but getting Uzume home was more important. He was just glad using an energy source that was linked with becoming one with nature through meditation had worked as intended.

"Naru-kun…?"

"Kaho-chan, could you look after Uzume-chan for a few minutes? I'll explain everything, I just need to do something quickly." Waiting for his Sekirei to take Uzume off his embrace, he went into a lotus position and once again closed his eyes. 'Gotta do this fast before I forget its feel or the trail disappears.' Now that he had a good idea of how Uzume's energy and aura felt from their embrace, he only needed to find it's trail to find out where her home was, it would take a few minutes, but sage mode was a boon in fixing his horrible sensor and tracker skills.

Picturing in his mind Uzume's aura and energy, it was actually easy to follow the trace of energy she had left on her way to the park. While he could not see in his mind the rest of the world, he already had clearly pictured the path he would need to follow to reach Uzume's house, as long as she didn't use unorthodox travel methods. Now that he was not fully focused on Uzume though, he could feel several energy sources approaching them, at various speeds and quantity too.

'Maybe being a sage energy lighthouse was not such a good idea?' doing a small shrug, he opened his eyes and beckoned Kaho to come closer.

"Seeing I already did something out of the norm, might as well go for broke to avoid trouble, don't you agree Kaho-chan?" receiving a slight nod in response, the blond hugged his Sekirei that was still carrying his friend and taking advantage of the hug, did the hand signs for the Shunshin while his arms encircled the girls, vanishing in a whirl of leaves and covering a decent chunk of the way to Uzume's house, hopefully avoiding most of the individuals approaching the park.

Minutes later, a figure slowly approached the now empty space, her expression apparently unchanged to most, though a really observant individual would note some disappointment in her eyes.

"Gone…" not knowing what to do, she just went to a nearby bench and sat there, staring at nothing in particular and unmoving. Moments later, someone landed a few meters from the distraught woman, frowning at how the energy was gone. Noticing the other woman in the scene and actually drooling a bit at her lack of proper clothing, she smirked while waving the death scythe in her right arm.

"Ditching the others and their snack party was the right choice after all, she will be an amazing present for Mikogami-sama… maybe enough to be his favorite!" wiping the drool with her other arm, she barely managed to stop her leering and dodge an incoming fireball.

"Dammit, who dares?!" her beautiful brown hair had nearly been burnt by that fireball! Hearing the sounds of a landing behind her, she did a reckless swing with her scythe with all her strength. Luckily for her, it also generated enough wind to at least divert the next fireball from hitting her directly and just leaving scorch marks in her brown boots.

"Sekirei no. 06, Homura. Wanna tangle?" now less confident after learning her opponent was a single digit, she bit her lips in irritation. "Yomi, no. 43. I just want to take that Sekirei behind you to my Ashikabi, this has nothing to do with you!"

"Disagree. She is unwinged, and as long as she remains that way she's under my protection." Taking a glance at the nearly naked woman, his eyes widened a bit, "Even if she's the scrapped one, I choose to protect her from people like your master." Homura just extended the palm of his gloved hand, and a flame flickered into existence.

Growling at the man in the black coat, Yomi just shook her head before leaping away from the park. At least no one had seen her embarrassment just now. Homura could only smirk at her retreat, "Pest." Glancing at the other Sekirei in the area and feeling others approaching, he sighed at how that blonde left him a mess to clean up again. He had no proof at all that it was Naruto, but his gut told him so. That and the fact all the situation was troublesome to Homura.

"Did you at least manage to reach that guy before he left?" it was slow, but the woman wearing only a doctor's coat finally set her gaze on him, unblinking.

It took him a few minutes, but Homura finally understood what she was trying to do, "You think I know him…?" staring a few more moments at her and seeing a slight spark of hope there, he groaned, 'No doubt it was him! Not even a day since I met him and already causing me all kinds of trouble…' part of him was aware he was being irrational, but just remembering the meeting earlier that day rubbed him in all the wrong ways. It didn't help that later he had ended being grilled nonstop by Takami about any irregularity in the city (he was not sure why he had not mentioned the blond to her now that he thought about it), and then informed of the scrapped number he had just found and how dangerous she was. Hopefully Miya would not butcher him for what he was about to do… it was the right thing to do after all.

"While I don't know him per se… one of my housemates is a good friend of him, would you like to go there and ask for her help?" receiving a nod after some internal deliberation, the woman stood and not caring for her modesty, started leaping away with Homura before someone more competent than Yomi appeared. He was thankful the woman was inwardly desperate enough to trust a stranger's word.

Later that night, a rampaging Karasuba would destroy most of that area of the park in her rage at missing her potential prey. She was enraged to the point she ended missing the two Sekirei of the East that had been on the lookout for a few hours hoping that energy source returned. Ichiya and Toyotama at least had that to report to Higa the next day, so their punishment would be lighter when the left before midnight.

Outside Izumo Inn, Naruto was currently scratching his head at the look of the place. Compared to most of the city, the house had that homey look he had expected from most of the clan compounds at Konoha. Definitely not what he expected when one thought of Uzume's home. The walk had been silent and tense, Uzume in a bridal carry all the way while Kaho seemed to mix glares and longing looks at him all the way from the alley they had luckily appeared from his Shunshin.

Glancing at his Sekirei, he made a gesture towards the main gate, Kaho getting his gesture and knocking strongly enough on the wood to be sure it was heard. They didn't have to wait, as steps were heard and the gate opened to reveal Miya Asama.

"Ara ara, would you mind explaining why you're carrying one of my tenants at this hour of the night young man?" and while the question seemed completely innocent, the aura of death behind the woman was impressive. Naruto was nearly sure he could discern a slowly forming hannya mask. He was about comment on it when he felt his Sekirei tightly gripping his back and shivering.

"Neat trick lady, but would you tone it down? You're scaring Kaho-chan. Even Uzume-chan is shivering a bit, and she's asleep!" Doing so more out of surprise at the blond newcomer's lack of reaction than concern for the two Sekirei, Miya just blinked in confusion, "Ara, what trick?"

Smirking at what he perceived as a challenge, Naruto just made a gesture with his head pointing at his friend, "What trick indeed. Mind letting us in though? I don't want Uzume-chan to catch a cold seeing she's still shivering a bit." Miya could only smile demurely while stepping aside to let them inside her home. 'So this is the man Uzume has been hiding from us? How intriguing.' At least she knew she was not losing her touch seeing how terrified the blond's companion was from the way she was gripping the blond's back. Closing the gate, she nodded approvingly at how he was actually just waiting for her instead of just entering her home. He would never admit he had been studying her appearance after all.

"Miya Asama, landlady of this humble abode."

"Naruto Uzumaki, just someone awesome." Shaking her head at his introduction, she walked towards her home followed by the cheeky blond, noticing the way he walked despite the two girls affecting his balance was flawless. Intriguing indeed.

Minutes later, Naruto and Kaho were waiting on the main hall, the young woman clutching her concealed weapon to draw strength from it while seated in seiza on a soft cushion, while Naruto was propping his arm on it and just staring at the garden, the opened shōji door allowing him a great view. While nothing complex or particularly eye-catching, it was still a sight to see at night. Uzume had already been carried to her room, though he let Miya undress the girl and prepare her for bed to avoid any unneeded comments from the owner of the house.

"Ahem." While not ashamed of his habits, the blond at least made the effort to look slightly embarrassed and took a seat on one of the cushions, not even bothering with seiza knowing he was unable to do such a thing. Their host nodded in acknowledgement and put a plate with tea in the table.

"Thank you./Thanks!" while Kaho was demure and completely ladylike in the way she took the cup of tea and took a sip, Naruto was his usual brash self, first taking a small sip to be sure he wouldn't end with a burnt tongue and then taking a big gulp and sighing in satisfaction.

"Strong flavor, but refreshing." Smiling at the landlady, he waited for her to start the conversation. After all, he was actively trying to be as nice and polite as possible seeing he would be asking a favor of the landlady if things went well.

"Well, if you would Naruto-san?"

"Straight to the point Miya-san? I can't say I dislike that. Just to be sure, you're aware me and Uzume-chan pass a lot of time together during the morning right?" Seeing her blinking surprised him.

"I was… not aware of that detail, Uzume barely mentions you on our conversations. We are only aware you met recently and are good friends. That girl is surprisingly tight lipped about what she does outside home. We also know you meet daily before the day ends near the closest park, but nothing more." Seeing his confusion grow, Miya was starting to piece the situation that apparently the young man was completely unaware of. 'He's not lying, but I also know Uzume has never lied about spending the first part of the day with Chiho-san at the hospital… to think someone who was so apathetic towards men would allow one in her most precious time of the day… and to think she lets him call her Uzume-chan when she only allowed Chiho-san to call her that way in the past shows change.' Miya was curious if Uzume suspected Naruto was the most likely reason her previous reaction had nearly disappeared.

"We? Are you referring to Homura or are there more tenants besides you two Miya-san?" Without sage mode, he only had Uzume's description of those two, and unlike Homura who had been a perfect match to the description, Miya seemed demure and calm, the image of a domestic housewife. Not really matching the whole monster and scary image he had of her from his friend.

"Oh, you know Homura as well? How surprising."

"I just met him today. But Uzume-chan has told me some stories regarding both of you. Nothing bad I assure you." A lie, but he had noticed Uzume's shiver at the main entrance and decided to be the better man, 'Or just holding one over her for bragging rights, no one needs to know which one hehe…' good thing his poker face was good enough to hide his mischief.

"Did she? It's a shame she never did the same gesture for us then, you seem like a pleasant young man. Would you mind introducing your companion? She seems… shy." her demure smile was as good a poker face as his, she knew why the young Sekirei was so silent after all.

"Ah… my name is Kaho, it's a pleasure to meet you Asama-san." Way more mindful of her manners, Kaho did a slight bow both to show respect and avoid the eyes of the landlady.

"Back on topic, Uzume-chan was waiting for me at the park just like always, and I was going to finally let her meet Kaho-chan… but she seemed to sway before we were close enough, and apparently was showing signs of fever. I did my best to cool her down and she ended falling asleep on me. I guess we were lucky she told us the general direction of her house or we would be still looking for this place." Scratching his chin in contemplation, he had realized he still had no idea why that happened in the first place.

On the other hand, his words just confirmed her previous suspicions to Miya, though the confusion in his eyes let her know he was new to the whole Sekirei deal and not being shrewd, another plus so far. "How curious, she seemed fine this morning… you must have done a good job too, seeing she felt fresh when you brought her here."

"I did, right? It's a cool night too, so that helped!" proud of his accomplishment, he allowed himself to bask in praise before engaging in small talk for a while with Miya and Kaho, the latter becoming a bit more open after seeing the mysterious landlady was not pulling that scary aura again.

Before getting too distracted, Naruto coughed a bit to catch the attention of the two women, who were currently discussing what they knew of Uzume and Naruto's friendship in hopes the other knew more to small success. Pointing at the clock on the wall to his right, they realized it was already near midnight and both blushed at letting themselves get lost in gossip.

"As you can see, I don't think it's a good idea to prolong my stay any longer… would you mind doing me a favor Miya-san?" scratching the back of his head and chuckling, he hoped he had been polite enough to make her agree, being so polite was hard!

"I hope you aren't trying to freeload here after just meeting me Naruto-san, that would ruin the image I was starting to get of you…" giggling demurely at the blond's balking expression, Miya admitted to herself she would never deny him or anyone help if needed, but making people sputter and embarrass themselves was just a hidden pleasure of hers.

Naruto was actually surprised at how good this woman was in reading the mood, though she was not totally correct, "Is this a landlady's secret talent? Or just experience with dealing with all types of people?" he sweatdropped at the purplette going all 'fufufu' on him, not knowing she was picturing a certain piece of trash she knew that fitted freeloader to a T.

Elsewhere, Seo Kaoru sneezed, awaking her two Sekirei and getting electrocuted for it.

'Maybe Uzume-chan was not totally wrong about her?' shrugging to himself, he waited for Miya to stop fantasizing for a few seconds, "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting Kaho-chan stay the night here? As you may guess, Uzume-chan's little fainting spell took most of the time I was planning to use to look for a place to pass the night, and I don't want Kaho-chan going to her hotel at this hour."

"Oh, is Naruto-san not planning to ask for permission to stay here too?"

"Not at all! I have some stuff to deal with, so unfortunately I would have to pass on your kind offer."

"And what kind of 'stuff' would need your attention at this time of the night Naruto-san? Something devious perhaps?"

"I would like to know as well, Naru-kun." Feeling the glare from both women had him blink. What was going through their heads?

"For starters, going back to the park for my things? I've been sleeping there ever since I arrived to the city after all. It's not as if I carry all my stuff everywhere right?" Not exactly right seeing all his things were actually sealed in a scroll he had currently, but it sounded plausible to him.

Both women could only blink at that. "Are you serious Naruto-san?"

"But that can't be! You always pay for all our meals, and look clean and well-dressed Naru-kun! There's no reason for someone that obviously has money to live on the park like that!" He had to admit, Kaho's glare was rather cute with the way she puffed her cheeks and pointed at him with his concealed naginata.

"Uh… maybe because I like it? Being surrounded by nature is relaxing, and that big tree on the park is comfy." The way the two women were deadpanning at him just confused him all the more, 'People from this dimension are weird.' After all, why waste money when letting nature provide was so much better? Shinobi were not picky like most people regarding lodgings with their lifestyle and he saw no reason to change.

'No wonder he is friends with Uzume… his quirks are as bad as hers it seems, just in a different way.' The bright side for Miya was that at least he seemed to be kind and not a pervert or a useless freeloader scum.

"Then I'll go with you! I want to see the place my Naru-kun lived until now!" trying to rise from her seat, she was pushed down by both Naruto and Miya, who could only blink before smiling at each other.

"Kaho-chan, you've had such a big day, and need your rest you know? Besides, it's not as if you possess night vision to appreciate the beauty of the place. Don't you agree with me, Miya-san?" if anything, the way both were smirking slyly lowered Kaho's ward due confusion.

"Certainly Naruto-san, should I expect you in the morning then? I doubt I could stop Kaho-san from hunting you down after breakfast after all." Grabbing the back of Kaho's yukata, the landlady lifted her with no effort at all and started dragging her towards the stairs to one of the vacant rooms, giggling demurely as if this was normal.

"Um! Night Kaho-chan, Miya-chan!" and with that, Naruto left Izumo Inn while his Sekirei was assigned a room and sleeping clothes by the not so innocent landlady of the place, who was twitching at the honorific used by the blond. He wanted to sleep at least a last time in that tree before getting forced by his Sekirei to a boring and constraining room. Besides, he really had stuff to do, like inspecting the park for any visitors still waiting for him to return in his paranoia, and borrow more money from some of the local banks as usual. As long as he was not forced to publish Icha Icha to sustain himself, he would keep doing friendly visits to any bank he found on the way. 'It's not my fault I always welcome stealth practice, or that security nowadays sucks.' After learning about cameras and video, countermeasures were easy as pie for a shinobi.

An hour later, Miya was just waiting on the only tenant missing from her home. She was starting to get worried seeing Homura was supposedly going to the same place Naruto and Kaho had been and had yet to return. For the time being, she could only distract herself by analyzing what she knew of the blond young man.

He had been perfectly pleasant, polite and kind of charming in a way. But all the tells she had seen from his posture, balance and reflexes ticked her in the wrong way. The perfect synchronicity between her and Naruto when making Kaho stay at the Inn was what worried her the most. He had matched her speed and reflexes in that moment, and both had acted as if they were old friends teasing a mutual acquaintance. She just couldn't put her finger on what was exactly the reason part of her remained wary of Naruto while the rest was already warming up to him.

The sound of the main gate creaking alerted her of someone entering, though she was surprised Homura would use the main gate when he loved to showboat and just leap to the garden. She was not worried about unwanted visitors, seeing this was her territory. Moment later, Homura slid the door of the main hall and was not surprised to see Miya waiting. The presence behind him however had Miya widening her eyes in confusion.

"Gone… again." Homura could only sigh at the way the silent woman pointed out what he had suspected from the start.

"Stupid blond can't even stay still long enough for us to catch him at this hour? I swear he must be laughing at me somewhere out there." Being one of the best Sekirei sensors, he had hoped Kaho's presence at the Inn meant her Ashikabi was also around, but he was never that lucky. It didn't help that the moment he had deemed safe to walk, Akitsu had decided on a slow pace towards Izumo Inn.

"Homura, why did you bring Akitsu-san here…?" while she sympathized with the scrapped number the most among her feathers due their mutual inability to find an Ashikabi, she was not aware the woman had been released by MBI so this could bring conflict in the future.

"She was about to be forced into service of one of the big powers against her will. Apparently the energy spike we felt earlier was enough to make her hope for an Ashikabi of her own or something similar."

"Is she… reacting?" tilting her head in curiosity, she only saw Homura shake his head, "You know better than most that is impossible. For some reason, Akitsu wants to get closer to the source of the energy, which was Naruto if you still haven't connected the dots yourself."

"Ara?" now that was a surprise, Miya was sure the blond felt perfectly normal at first, but now this tidbit and her previous thoughts about the blond were making less and less sense.

"So… would you mind Miya? She needs some help and a place to stay." Still absorbed in her own thoughts, Miya just nodded while her tenant yawned and stretched his arms upwards, before retiring for the night grumbling about blonds only bringing him misfortune, not even bothering with trying to be charming as usual. Moment later, she decided to put the latest enigma in her life out of her thoughts and concentrate on Akitsu.

The young woman was still wearing the bloodied lab coat, and even her posture and expression showed exhaustion. 'Maybe this is a chance, helping one of my most unfortunate feathers was an opportunity I never expected to receive, and if she managed to arrive here I doubt Minaka cares for her whereabouts.' Approaching the stoic young woman, Miya started to push her softly towards the bath, wondering about these sequence of events brought about by one man.

Slowly opening her eyes, Uzume yawned while trying to at least sit and stretch her sore body. Rubbing her eyes to dispel her drowsiness, she took a few moments to realize she was not in her room or in Naruto's embrace as she expected. Taking a look around, she was entranced by her surroundings.

Currently, she was near a small river created from a series of curved mountains, their form being curious in its apparent flat surface and the way it seemed a road to the top spiral around each one. Water fell from the pointed top of each of those mountains akin to a waterfall to the river. She could see bigger mountains surrounding her in all directions, but unlike the previous ones, these were more normal in its shape, but their green color indicated the local flora was abundant in those.

Taking a look at her more immediate surroundings, she could see all the flora was big, to the point she felt like an insect compared to it. At least there seem to be no fauna around, or she would fear being eaten by giant toads or something.

Play Affectionate Moment – Radiant Historia OST

"Howdy Uzume-chan!"

"Naruto-kun!" glancing to one of the big leaves to her right, she saw her blond friend waving at her before leaping down to face her. Both of their clothes were the same ones they had been wearing today. Which just reminded her how good he looked on those and had her ogling him shamelessly.

"So, what'cha doing in my dreams Uzume-chan? I doubt you just wanted to perv on me right?" noticing the way she seemed to avoid his gaze at that statement brough the prankster in him delight.

"Wait a second, you know we're in a dream too?!" Ignoring the weird setting, she knew why she was contacting him in their now shared dream, she was just surprised he seemed so nonchalant about it seeing he was ignorant on most Sekirei things.

"Obviously, it's not as if I dream of Mount Myōboku all the time you know? Though this is the first time I dream about you Uzume-chan, weird combination!" Uzume just wanted to facepalm at this, he had actually been to this place in the real world? 'What the hell Naruto-kun, this is not normal you know?!'

"So what's this about? You're definitely not a dream version of Uzume-chan, normally all the girls I dream about come with a big bowl of ramen." He had actually been punched in the face for that one by the angry and confused Sekirei.

"Seriously?! That's how you know I'm not a dream?! And what do you mean you've dreamed of other girls and not me!"

Utterly lost and rubbing his face from the punch (and surprised that was not enough to wake him up) he could only groan, "Uzume-chan, you know you're basically asking me to perv on you right?"

"Damn right I am!" it wouldn't be after she shouted such a thing that she noticed what she had been doing and gaped, Naruto doing the same. Moments later, both started laughing while leaning on each other at the ridiculousness of all.

After a few more laughs, both were now resting on one of the giant leaves, still leaning on each other, "So, mind explaining?"

"Well, contact via dreams is one of the ways that reacting Sekirei reach out to their Ashikabis, this works by-"

"Wait, so you're a Sekirei?!"

"Really? That's what surprises you Naruto?! Have you not noticed that most if not all the beautiful women you have met since arriving are Sekirei?" Uzume wanted to facepalm so hard right now, but she was still pretty comfy leaning on the blond to do so.

"I've met prettier women so nah." He missed Uzume's eye twitch at his statement. "Also, if we go by that, Miya-chan would be a Sekirei too! Maybe Chiho-chan too, she's rather cute after all." Nodding at his own logic, he missed Uzume's pale face before the busty Sekirei faked laughing and agreeing with the blond 'If Miya's cover was blown up by me messing up, she would have my head!' how come he always controlled the flow of their conversations so easily?

"Let's be serious for a second. Do you get what this means Naruto?" He was curious on why she had stopped using honorifics, but didn't mind.

"That you're reacting to me? What's the big deal?" Now that got Uzume to facepalm, and after that she just stood up from her previous position, nearly growling at the blond's reaction.

"I didn't want to react to you dimwit, that's what's wrong! Chiho was supposed to be my Ashikabi but ever since you arrived I've stopped reacting to her! I never met her in dreams like I'm doing with you, so it's obvious my reaction to you is stronger!" With each statement, the girl poked the blond's chest harshly in her annoyance, before looking to the side and blushing, "But I also think I really like you now…"

While that actually got a blush from him, Naruto tried to stay calm, "I… I like you a lot too Uzume-chan, but I still fail to see your point. Why not just choose between us two the one you like the most as your Ashikabi? Sounds easy to me, Kaho did it pretty fast too."

"What do you mean she chose her Ashikabi?" seconds later, she finally caught on the first part of what he had said, shock at the latter part had being her immediate reaction, "…you like me?" she was sure she was blushing the brightest red possible which annoyed her a bit, how come he was just blushing a bit at her confession and she was a total mess?

"Just like it sounds. She was reacting to someone else, then Kaho-chan decided she wanted me to be her Ashikabi and forced a reaction to me. Why are you so conflicted on this though? Both of you act as if you were conditioned to think a reaction was absolute or something…" staring at the bright sky of their shared dreamscape to relax, he missed the expression on Uzume's face.

'It's not… absolute?' She had been killing herself in doubt all day, and now he was just telling her it was unneeded? 'But everything we were taught showed it was something absolute!' Then again, Naruto had never lied to her. At this point in time, his word was leagues above any MBI scientist in her mind.

"Explain."

"I honestly have no idea how it works, I just know it does." Feeling Uzume start cracking her knuckles, he sweatdropped at how she was so bipolar at times. "Look, as far as I know, if you Sekirei don't know how the bond works, why are you putting all your faith on humans that don't even experience it? Now that's silly, just do what makes you the happiest." Seriously, it confused him to no end how both Sekirei he had met so far thought their own bond worked. Hopefully he wouldn't have to repeat this to every Sekirei he met.

'That… actually makes sense.' It always surprised her whenever Naruto had one of his brilliant moments, where he just didn't match his goofy personality with the wisdom of his words. Shaking her head, she could only smile softly at her best male friend slash love interest. "If I don't choose you… will that change things between us?" To be honest, she was nearly sure of her decision by now, but she just wanted to hear confirmation of what she knew of the blond.

"Well, besides being able to kiss you and all the boyfriend privileges I would be missing, I don't see why things would change. Though losing to a girl is something that I guess will hurt my pride… now that I think about it, why are we even discussing this? I'm Kaho-chan's Ashikabi you know? I can't be yours too."

Leave it to Naruto to switch from serious to dumb to serious again in an instant.

Uzume could only laugh at that, so unpredictable! "So no one told one of the main pulls of the Sekirei plan?" taking advantage of his position on the leaf, she draped herself over the blond, straddling him in such a way he could feel her curves in full detail, "Silly Naruto-kun, worrying about useless things like that, we Sekirei are creatures of love… it knows no bounds. We don't mind sharing at all…" nibbling his ear, she separated a bit from the now unconscious blond, smirking at the trace of blood from his nose.

'That'll teach him, I've got the lead on pranks again!' snuggling in his surprisingly lean and toned body, she fell asleep after a few minutes. Now that most of the doubt and worries in her heart were gone, tomorrow promised to be a good day.

A while after Uzume fell asleep, Naruto recovered and stared at their position with a blush, noticing the small smile on his friend's face. Letting a nostalgic smile out, he lowered his face to give Uzume a small kiss on her forehead. "Thank you. I thought I would never be able to visit this place again… you don't how much this means to me, you silly girl." He knew it was a dream, but if he wished it enough, the place would feel just as the original right? 'Thank the holy ramen for not messing up, this romantic stuff is hard… I just hope the sharing part was not a lie just in case, Kaho-chan looked really jealous of Uzume.'

Elsewhere, two women were observing from different places the two friends, one gushing about how romantic that was while floating on the air in full joy. The other wondered from her place in the shadows whether this was just a really good hallucination or a dream to reach out to her Ashikabi. After all, said dreams were supposed to involve only the Ashikabi and one Sekirei, not more right?

Was tempted to cut this chapter in two but felt lazy. Also, how come Orihiko (Kaho's canon Ashikabi) is one of the option when choosing characters to tag but we don't get Kaho as an option? That's dumb.