(New Leaf) Merger 1 (Patreon)

AN: We return to our regularly scheduled program, just before the clock strikes 12 for the new day, so promise delivered with an extra dense helping of FLUFF.

Gentlemen... I believe I have cooked.

~,,––,,^^-

Naruto
(Wednesday, August 1st - Early morning)

Warm.

The first thing I was vaguely aware of as I began waking up was the almost-strange warmth that filled me, from both inside and outside of my body.

The familiar part was my chakra, filling my body so naturally that, even if it had been over a year since I last woke up with it, I almost didn’t notice it. If it weren’t for the slight discomfort of it swirling through my sore network, I probably would have missed it until it was brought up, either in conversation, or when I reflexively reached for it to do something or other.

It was the other part that got my attention.

It was summer vacation, and while I didn’t mind the hot, humid days, I’d been running the air conditioning every night to keep it mild and dry anyways. I felt the air brushing oddly against my right arm as it dangled off the side of– ‘The couch?’ I recognized it after a moment, feeling the stiffness in my neck that came from sleeping down here instead of on my bed– but even with that cold air blowing through the house, a foreign but somehow totally familiar warmth surrounded me.

As my mind booted up with my eyes still closed, and a lazy yawn began forcing its way out of my mouth, the next thing I became aware of was the weight on my chest that made my lungs work just a little bit harder for that breath.

I lifted my head from the couch armrest and cracked a blurry eye open.

My breath hitched mid yawn and my heart skipped a beat. I blinked both eyes open several times to chase away the morning fog from my vision, and drank in the sight of snow white hair and furry ears resting on my chest.

Koneko’s delicate features shifted slowly in her sleep. Her cat ears flicked every few seconds, picking up the extremely faint sounds of singing birds; her cute little nose scrunched up periodically, probably smelling things like the morning dew or rush hour car exhaust; her mouth slightly parting as her relaxed form took its own soft breaths from her place curled on top of me. Hanging from the corner of her pink lips, glistening string of-

I blinked, before my eye twitched.

Drool was pooling on my chest.

Koneko was drooling on me, the darkened spot of my orange t-shirt sticking to my sternum.

Koneko’s chakra, soft and light and pulsing all around her with her breathing– the main source of the extra warmth I felt– slowly swirled throughout both our bodies and intertwined with mine so easily that I almost felt jealous; she was such a natural at Ninshu that she could literally do it in her sleep.

Instead of jealousy though, I just basked in the calm contentedness she felt as she slept, her inner feelings open like a book to me.

‘... Eh,’ I let out a breathy chuckle and mentally shrugged, the reflexive annoyance from before nowhere to be found as my own lips curling into a grin. I lifted my left arm up to wrap around her waist, hugging her closer. ‘I don’t mind a little drool.’

I raised my reddish-orange and furry right hand, and used the back of my claws to brush aside a lock of her hair that had fallen across her forehead.

It was my new girlfriend’s drool after all. We’d happily swapped plenty spit last night; on the couch, against the wall, on the other couch in the teacher’s lounge-

Koneko’s brow furrowed cutely, her cheeks flushing, before her eyelids fluttered and head lifted, those golden glowing orbs blinking up at me in a pout.

“... You were thinking pervy thoughts, weren’t you?” she accused quietly, her tail flicking out from underneath one of my oversized white t-shirts she was wearing as pajamas. “Your face looks like Issei-senpai’s right now.”

“Eheheh…” I chuckled guiltily, caught. “Sorry if I woke you.”

Her pure white tail caught my eye again, and I playfully snatched it in my left hand, gently rubbing the mostly-smooth appendage. There was just one noticeable bump, specifically the only spot that wasn’t quite so pure white; a pinkish band of scarred flesh part-way down where the fur hadn’t grown back, even after Akeno’s healing. 

I frowned. “Hey, about your tail– I might be able to-” -heal it back to normal, I was going to suggest, but…

One of her palms cupped my cheek while the other gripped onto my shirt, balling it up and pressing into my chest as she pulled herself against me.

My breath hitched and heart raced as her soft lips silenced mine, and found myself reaching behind her head to gently rake my claws through hair and scalp.

It was a little weird to me how easy it was to think of the new arm as mine; despite it being almost completely different from my old one– more angular joints and knuckles, the fur, the claws– it felt totally natural to use, to the point I almost forgot I even lost an arm in the first place.

The kiss was quick, only a little more than a peck, but as she retreated with bright eyes that captivated me and a radiant smile sitting between prettily blushing cheeks, it was clear she enjoyed the brief contact just as much as I did. Her normal blank expression was nowhere to be found, a rare treat to see. There were other, uh, clues to her feelings about it than just her face and chakra, but well… neither of us were ready to address those sorts of physiological reactions so soon after starting our relationship.

She let her expression fade back down to a more serious, but still expressive… uh, expression, before shaking her head negatively, responding to my proposal.

“Nnn, I don’t want it changed,” she denied. “...I don’t want to lose the reminder.”

There wasn’t any hesitation in her decision. She hadn’t seemed to think about it at all since I got my chakra back, this was something she had to have decided on before Kokabiel attacked, less than a full day after she’d even gained the injury in the first place.

I was reminded of my first time leaving Konoha, Team 7’s first mission outside of the village. When the two ninja brothers working with Zabuza attacked us, I froze. After all my training and bluster, it was Sasuke who acted, while I stood frozen in fear. That moment, when I stabbed my hand and bled the poison, I swore to myself to never get into a situation where I have to be rescued again. I swore to become strong enough that I’d be the one rescuing others from then on.

… That promise was as dumb as I was, and didn’t even last for the entire of the mission, but the drive to make it a reality never left me.

As I brushed my thumb over the rough, perfectly symmetrical ring of scar tissue midway down her tail, I realized that it represented the same sort of promise to herself.

“I understand,” I told her sincerely, wrapping my furry arm around her back.

We laid there on my worn old couch for another couple minutes after that, just talking quietly while I played with her tail, when eventually I felt her mood truly dim, her blank mask beginning to resurface as she stared to the side.

I craned my head, following her gaze towards the kitchen doorway.

Right there on the floor was a full water bowl, still untouched from when I’d refilled it before going to sleep last night out of habit.

‘Kuroka, huh…?’

The black-haired woman from last night who looked and felt so similar in my senses to Koneko, if older. The woman whose lifeforce matched the traces I could still feel flowing through my body, almost definitely one and the same with the ‘mysterious sage’ who kept me alive and healthy for months.

I only knew the bare basics about the woman, mostly from watching Kurama’s side of things from when he took over, while I was sleeping last night. Supposedly a dangerous criminal, Koneko’s older sibling, and betrayed her in the past, but secretly cared for her deeply.

‘If I had a yen for every…’

And she’d been my pet this whole time. Keeping an eye on us both ever since I first encountered… Donny… Dohna…? Fuck it, Donut-Seeker.

I glanced back at Koneko’s lifeless expression and held back a frown.

My main goal since arriving in this world has been to find a way back home. When I regained my power, one of the first things I felt was Sasuke’s chakra in some weirdly, indefinably distant place, and he no doubt sensed mine too.

But…

“Hey, Koneko-chan…” I let go of her tail and got her attention, golden eyes regaining some of their light as her gaze flicked back to me. I brushed my human hand across her cheek, my thumb rubbing soothing circles on her pale skin as she leaned into my palm. “There’s something I need to tell you about me, that might make a mess of things. But even so… I’ll stay by your side for as long as you let me. Anytime, anywhere, for anything, I’m with you one-hundred percent, every step of the way. I promise.”

… I could wait. The Elemental Nations could wait. My friends there already have a Naruto, but I only have one Koneko, and she only has one me.

I pressed my lips to hers again, hugging her tight, and she practically melted against my chest. Her whole body went limp in my arms like a particularly liquid cat, her aura turning all metaphorically pink and rosy with bliss.

We stayed connected for a long, long while, letting the world fall away and taking our problems with it while our tongues lazily swirled around each other.

We would have continued kissing for even longer, but we pulled away from each other to stare as we both sensed the world twist and shift in the blink of an eye, not even ten feet away from us, making itself our problem while a thick strand of saliva still connected our lips.

“...”

“...”

“...”

‘...’

The string of liquid snapped, splattering on my chin and shirt.

“... You’ve found a way to get even shorter, somehow. I guess if anyone could do it, it’d be you, usuratonkachi.”

While Koneko’s eyes narrowed at the insult the intruder sent my way, I was just staring in surprise.

A particular familiar teen stood tall in the center of my living room, that same infuriating smirk from the past on his more-mature face. I couldn’t be too annoyed at the jab at my size though, because even with the extra height he got on me during my time away… his black hair still looked like a duck's butt.

And that would always be funny.

‘Khehaha! Gottem!’

(Some time later)

“Kanpaaaiiii~!” Mittelt cheered with red cheeks, waving an entire bottle of wine in the air as she floated drunkenly through the Sitri Peerage home’s living room. The small Fallen chugged straight from the bottle for a good few seconds before pulling it away with a loud ‘Puah!’ sound. “To another wonderful day alive, on this beautiful, blue earth!”

“Your breath reeks like my fathers when he returns home from particularly successful shareholder meetings.” Hanakai Momo stated while scrunching her nose in disgust from across the room. “It’s not even noon yet and you began less than an hour ago. How can you possibly drink that much this early in the day and not feel like a useless layabout?”

“Okay, one-” Mittelt suddenly belched, almost dropping to the floor as her hovering flight went shaky. “-Ahem, one: I am a useless whataboutsit, and B: Fuck you, I deserve a drink after surviving the attack!”

“You- didn’t even do- anything though!” Saji chimed in as he finished chewing a mouthful of rice, looking annoyed. “We did all the fighting, risking our lives while you sat around here doing nothing!”

“Exactly!” Mittelt nodded enthusiastically. “I could have just up and left while you were all gone, but didn’t! It’s not like that piddly little barrier could have stopped me from just flying right on out and disappearing into the human world if I really wanted to. Instead, I chose to stay back like a good little political prisoner for you all, so you should be thanking me for not causing problems!”

Xenovia nodded her head simply after taking a sip of tea. “It’s true. As a Fallen, she could have escaped with ease without anyone to watch her, so it’s commendable that she would honor her parole, even if just because she’s too weak to believe she could get away unscathed.”

“See?” Mittelt got a smug grin on her face, either ignoring or just not hearing that last part. “In fact, apologize to me, boy! Get on your knees and beg my forgiveness for your thoughtlessness, and I may just let you kiss my feet as a reward, kyahahah~!”

A couple of the other girls from Sona’s peerage– who had been gushing over Kurama’s miniature body as they smothered his grumpiness with their affection for small animals– started berating the dirty-minded floating woman. She continued to ignore them, while Saji looked at her in disgust.

Kurama caught my eye in slow motion with a pleading look of his own red eyes.

I just smirked back. ‘I seem to remember a certain someone tricking me into making a fool of myself in front of a faction leader. I wonder, why should I help you escape?’

‘I-’ Kurama thought hard for a second. ‘... I got nothing.’

Man, chakra was so useful. I couldn’t even think of a life without it before I lost it, but even just the bonuses to perception were crazy convenient in so many different ways. Like for example, having a mental conversation in the time between seconds, and judging the foul deeds of a dumb fox that wronged me.

Speaking of-

I broke eye contact.

‘Traitor!’

I laughed at the chaos while the world sped back up to normal, condemning him to his fluffy fate in the hands of school girls as Koneko and I continued walking through the room with food and drinks of our own, headed towards a less crowded part of the home.

While the two peerages normally only held these brunches every other weekend and today was a Wednesday, Rias wasn’t the only one whose home was down for the count from all the fighting, so last night, Sona and Tsubaki had given out an open invitation to all our friends to stay the night and/or show up for breakfast.

Out of everyone, it was only really the Gremory mansion that got directly destroyed in the fighting, but a couple of people like Kiba and Saji lived on streets that had lost things like power and water as part of the collateral damages. Saji for example had two younger siblings who he’d brought to stay the night, but they both apparently ate and went back upstairs before Koneko and I even arrived.

We entered a cozy reading room adjacent to the main entrance hall. On one side a row of tall potted plants sat on the hardwood floor, highlighting a pair of windows that looked out onto the front lawn and let in natural light. In comparison to that simple layout, the adjacent wall was covered floor-to-ceiling in bookshelves, with only a small section cut out in the middle for a small table and wall-mounted lantern.

The far side of the room opposite the windows was occupied by a wood-trimmed sound system, underneath a wall covered in framed paintings of natural landscapes. Partially surrounding a central table and large square rug were three big, brown, plush leather sofas, arranged in a ‘U’ shape that opened up towards the windows.

We weren’t the first to arrive in the room, there were already a few people relaxing on the couches and talking while the sound system quietly played some traditional-style music in the background– all gentle strings and light flutes.

Akeno, Tsubaki, Tomoe, and the tengu twins were spread across all three couches; the bird-heads close together on the one near the bookshelves, the Sitri girls on the middle one, and Akeno on the last one, sat up beside the armrest closest to the Sitri couch, where Tsubaki was sitting almost mirrored to her as the two spoke in quiet, serious tones, in contrast to Meguri’s upbeat debate with bird-bro about katanas verses Chinese straight swords.

“Yo,” I lifted a hand in greeting as I paused in the doorway, looking towards Akeno and Tsubaki. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything serious?”

“Sup.” Koneko brushed straight past me and moved to plop down beside Akeno, not waiting for any confirmation before she began digging into her omurice.

Then again, she probably heard them from a room away anyway, despite how quiet their voices were. 

Akeno giggled when I shrugged and walked over to join them, sitting to Koneko’s left.

“There was an internal issue a member of the Five Principal Clans brought to our attention,” Tsubaki stated with a slight grimace. “It’s nothing so important now that we know just who the source of the anomaly that brought them to town is.” She gave me a pointed look, before smiling wryly. “We were just discussing how best to tell our ‘extended families’ to kindly leave our town now that their business is concluded, since their internal politics are not our problem.”

“But never mind that,” Akeno waved it off, before looking at Koneko and I with a small amount of concern. “How are you both feeling after yesterday? It must’ve been rough on your bodies to handle that much of Kurama-san’s power, as potent and corrosive as it is.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Meguri jumped in with a smile while holding a cup of chocolate pudding, her and Yoru abandoning their own conversation. “What was it like for you guys? It was pretty crazy for us when the sky went all ‘fwoosh!’ and turned red, we were all on edge when we felt it even at the edge of town! Ruru-chan pretended to be all tough and hot-headed like usual, even though it was obvious her hands were shaking!”

Koneko and I glanced at each other, and I shrugged, gesturing for her to go first while I reached for my own omelette.

“Skin’s still a little extra sensitive, but I feel fine,” Koneko said after swallowing, before setting her plate down.

“Also, I’m way stronger now,” she declared, flexing her arm and patting her bicep.

I snorted, almost choking on my food.

The effect of her pose was ruined, because even with her [Rook] and chakra-enhanced strength, she was still the smallest fifteen-year-old I’d ever met; arms that soft and noodley wouldn’t intimidate anyone… until the moment she puts you in a nice and friendly armbar. Then you’re fucked.

‘Never again.’ I shuddered.

“I don’t remember much of what happened after Naruto-kun…” Koneko paused uncomfortably, and I bumped my knee against hers just to let her focus on my presence, before laying my arm across her shoulders. She continued speaking with a little extra warmth in her heart. “But, I’ve been mixing my chakra with Kurama’s for months now without any problems other than the mental influence. It’s just more of the same.”

“Mental influence?” Meguri asked with a finger to her lips.

“Senjutsu by its very nature-” Akatsuki spoke up from her place next to her brother, elegantly lowering a tea cup from her lips to rest on the little tea-plate thing in her other palm. “-is the act of connecting your internal self to something external, and letting each influence the other harmoniously.”

‘Those twins definitely know their stuff,’ I thought with a nod.

“Mm,” Koneko hummed in agreement. “I-”

“Just like how when you eat a jelly-filled donut, you’re taking that donut and making it a part of yourself while you intestines turn it into po-”

“Ahhhh! I don’t wanna hear something like that while I’m eating pudding!” Meguri whined, while the rest of us just stared at the female Tengu.

“What the heck was with that weird analogy?” I asked in confusion.

“... and what’s with the jelly donut fixation?” Koneko of all people muttered asked in a weird tone, as if she herself wasn’t also obsessed with all things sweet.

“What?” Akatsuki just tilted her head in confusion. “Why is everyone looking at me?”

“Never mind, forget it.” Koneko shook her head and moved on, looking towards the pink haired [Knight]. “When I mix my chakra with Kurama’s, it makes controlling my emotions harder, and I start reacting more impulsively and instinctively. Drawing in natural energy gets easier too, but if I take in too much of it unfiltered, I start to hear voices in my head telling me to kill people.”

“Oh, Me and sis hear those funny voices aaaaall the time too!” Bird bro perked up. “Nature is so silly sometimes; what kind of true cultivator kills his enemies when he can insult their bloodline to the ninth generation, and proceed to style on them while spouting weird old Chinese proverbs that have nothing to do with the situation, leaving them to suffer the memory of the indignity for years to come? Truly a shameful fate worse than death,” he crowed proudly.

Akatsuki held up a two-fingered peace sign next to her ever-blank, sullen-looking face. “Stunt on the haters.”

I… had forgotten how weird these two were, since they’ve been out of town for a while.

“Koneko-chan explained her experience-” Akeno redirected the conversation with a twitching, closed-eye smile, looking my way over the top of Koneko’s head. “-but you never gave me your answer, Uzumaki-kun.” Her eyes opened with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay? You were in a bad way when it happened.”

“Oh yeah,” I nodded easily. “I’m totally fine. Better than I’ve been in over a year, by far. I’m still a little sore internally, but that should clear up in a week or so if I don’t strain myself too far.”

She glanced at my limb draping on Koneko’s shoulder with furrowed brows. “And you’re fine with your arm being…?”

“What can I say? It’s really grown on me already, heheh!” I laughed at my pun, holding my furred appendage out in front of me and flexing the index finger to unsheathe a claw, before swiping it down faster than the devils could see, much to Tsubaki’s shock and Meguri’s interest. “But for real, it’s not that bad.” I brought the newly-sliced half-piece of buttered toast to my mouth and crunched down. “Ih hash itsh ushesh.”

Akeno just covered her mouth and giggled, satisfied. On the other hand, the Tengu twins didn’t even blink, but I could tell they had no trouble following the movement.

Slamming into my awareness like a particularly feral hammer, I felt Kurama’s little avatar approach the room we were in, flaring his chakra from within me to fill my senses, letting me feel his disdain.

Koneko shifted, most likely noticing something, but no one else was reacting.

I struggled to suppress a grin and refused to acknowledge him as itty-bitty Kurama trotted in, before he jumped up on the table next to my drink, looking like a particularly cranky cat as he stared at me with glowing red eyes.

“Brat.”

“Furball.” I met his stare with a smirk. “Though the coat back there’s looking pretty smooth, actually. I’m guessing one of the girls introduced you to the concept of a brush, you mutt?”

He growled.

“You left me.”

I snorted. “You could have escaped at any point on your own, you just didn’t want to hurt the girls. And don’t act like you didn’t enjoy the attention, you big softy.”

“I have my pride to consider,” He deflected, before grinning sharply, which frankly was even more unnerving on the small, anatomically correct spirt-fox body he was currently using than it was on the giant rabbit-fox thing that is his real body. “But you’re right. I could have escaped at any time. And I chose to be right here, right now.”

My eyes narrowed. “... What did you do?”

“Ufufu~!” Akeno giggled to the side, but I stayed locked onto Kurama’s glowing crimson eyes.

Koneko reached up a finger to poke my cheek, and when I turned to look at her, she pointed behind us. I turned fully.

Round.

I looked up from the oversized chest at my eye level, to see Rias standing directly behind my seat on the couch, looking at the Tengu twins.

“Red? How did you-?” I started in confusion. “I never sensed-”

My head snapped back to the grinning Kurama, my senses still flooded with his chakra.

“Yoru-san, Akatsuki-san,” Rias began with a serious expression, “Yasaka-dono will be making her way here on short notice tomorrow to take part in the talks between the government and the faction leaders. You might want to go and prepare for her arrival, get your briefings prepared before she arrives. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to see you taking your duties as seriously as you usually do.”

The twins stiffened in a sudden panic, and their transformations slipped a moment later to reveal their actual squawking bird heads.

“Thank you for the hospitality seeyoulater!”

“Kaythanksbye!”

Akatsuki shoved her brother’s head into her shadow in a rush before slipping in after him, the two vanishing without a trace within a second.

“Good,” Rias nodded. “Now that they’re gone-”

In what felt like an instant with how fast she moved, Rias was suddenly on the couch with us, pushing into my personal space from my left.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were an isekai’d ninja~!?”

I sweat-dropped at the one-eighty from the formal persona she’d put her, her eyes practically sparkling now as she leaned further into my space.

“That’s so cool~! You should have told me- I mean us earlier, I have soooo many questions! How did you end up here? What’s your home planet like? Are there other races there too? Can we go there and see it!?”

I mechanically turned to look at the fox sitting on the table while Rias talked at my face at a mile a minute, but the traitor just gave a gravelly chuckle in my head.

‘Should’ve told your friend here earlier on your own terms, maybe then she wouldn’t have had time to think up a million questions, khahahahaha!’

‘I tried to tell them last night, but you stopped me!’

‘Not my problem. Maybe next time give it a try when there isn’t a foreign faction’s suspicious leader in the room.’

‘You furry little-!’

“Our job here is done.” Kurama jumped down and trotted away. “Have fun!” 

‘Wait a moment… “our”?’

I turned further, just to see Koneko had disappeared from between Akeno and I, and was nowhere to be found.

Which left me at the mercy of an excitedly babbling redhead, while the three other girls watched along with amused interest.

‘... I’m gonna be stuck here forever…’ I mentally whined as I began attempting to answer the rapid fire questions.

(Hours later, mid afternoon)

I was not stuck there forever.

Akeno, the absolute angel, eventually managed to distract and redirect Rias towards more important issues affecting the town, finally freeing me to get ready for my plans for the day.

But then again, maybe calling that dangerous woman an angel wasn’t quite right. She’d probably just had enough of the entertainment my suffering gave her, and decided to pull back on the redheaded otaku’s leash a bit.

I tugged at my own collar with a hand wrapped tight from fingertips-to-bicep in opaque white cloth, glaring down at the nicest clothes I own in annoyance. My school slacks and uniform button-up shirt were feeling weirdly uncomfortable and restricting at the moment, despite having worn identical clothes almost every day for the past few months.

For all that I enjoyed getting to talk about my home and my distant friends there without having to hide anything, Rias’s energy was… kinda scary, obsessive in a way even my childhood hyperactivity never was.

… As long as I don’t count my first year in this world.

I shuddered at the memories while walking through the town center.

I… kinda lost myself in a haze of textbooks for a while there, months blurring together in my rush to learn how to cure myself, all while trying to fulfill my promise to mom to study hard.

I was past those days of obsession now, though.

And it was all because of-

“Naruto-kun!”

I glanced up at the sound.

-her.

Standing beside an outdoor table with an umbrella at a cafe just a handful of meters away, Koneko waved at me with a bright smile, one that was becoming more and more familiar as we grew closer.

She wore a light pink top with a red, pink, and white spotted collar that looked patterned after strawberries, and a matching strawberry-patterned skirt that went down to her mid thighs, exposing the smooth, pale skin of her legs. The sleeves of her shirt were loose behind the cuffs with large cutouts at the top exposing parts of her upper arms, and a cute white cat-themed purse was slung over one shoulder and resting on her hip, identical in design to her matching black cat hair pins.

I stumbled as my shoulder bounced off of a street sign.

“Pfft-” She stifled a laugh, glancing away, and the sound brought me back to my senses.

“Eheheh…” I grinned, feeling blood rushing to my cheeks as I approached her, rubbing the back of my head. “Heya Koneko-chan.” I stopped in front of her beside our destination. “You just looked so pretty, that I guess I stopped paying attention to what was around me, ya know?”

For some reason, I was more nervous than I think I’ve ever been, so seeing the way her cheeks turned bright red while she held my gaze with such a happy expression might have been one of my top 5 favorite moments in my life. No matter how painfully my own heart was trying to bust out of my chest, I couldn’t stop smiling, and it was all because I knew she was feeling the same way.

“Mm. I know what you mean,” she basically confirmed as much.

“Well, uh, are we ready to go inside and-”

She practically latched onto me, hugging my arm to her chest as she dragged me along, pulling us into the cafe; the same one we went to when we hung out for the first time.

And just like the first time, by the time we sat down at a table after making our orders, it was with a mountain of pastries and cakes and cookies between us, with more on the way to be taken out of the ovens shortly.

Unlike last time, instead of sitting across from each other, we were given a small, round, booth table in the corner where we could sit next to each other.

With the way a few of the customers at other tables ‘discretely’ shot me thumbs ups and winks– both male and female alike– I got the feeling they were regulars who recognized Koneko as a fellow regular here.

I didn’t know it the first time, not really paying attention to things like back then, but this place apparently had an unofficial “couples” discount for students, which was probably what got me the attention of those women. The way Koneko explained it, for legal reasons it wasn’t technically a discount aimed at encouraging young people to hook up… but it basically was exactly that.

And while both of us had enough money that small discounts like this wouldn’t make a real dent, Koneko was quick to jump on it; Rias was the one who managed her snack allowance after all.

“I’m still gonna have to punish you at some point for being naughty. You know that, right?” I said casually as I fed one of the last few chocolate chip cookies to my girlfriend, who had decided that “next to” wasn’t close enough and was now sitting on my lap, much to the delight the women who needed to learn how to mind their own business.

“Mmmnph?” Koneko chewed questioningly.

“You two dropped Red on me and left me to sink,” I tightened my hold around her waist and grinned as she stilled. I pressed my lips to her head, right below where her cat ears were hidden under an illusion, and murmured. “You didn’t think I’d forget about it just because we’re on a date, did you, my cute little student?”

She shuddered, and I felt the phantom sensation of something formless brushing against my nose.

“D-do your worst, pussy-sensei,” she taunted with red cheeks and a daring smirk.

I paused.

I didn’t actually have any revenge planned yet; I’d been too focused making sure I was ready for our date.

My phone vibrated in my pocket from a text, and it reminded me of something I have saved on it from months back.

‘I still have that picture, hmhmhmhmhmmm…’

“W-what’s with that scary laugh? Don’t laugh like that,” Koneko demanded, suddenly nervous. Oops, I guess I laughed out loud. “Please forget I said anything, Naruto-sensei- no, Naruto-sama; I promise I won’t do it again.”

“Heheh! We’ll see, Koneko-chan. We’ll see…” As much as hearing her pull out the ‘-sama’ honorific for my name did strange things to my imagination… ‘It’s too late, your fate is decided; soon all of our friends will know of Koneko-chan’s Leaf Monster form!’

When we finally finished and left the cafe, the sun was already beginning to set below the roof line, leaving the sky a blend of oranges and reds and purples.

Our fingers were laced together tightly, holding hands for the first time even while Koneko resumed hugging my arm close, pressing herself into my side. We were walking towards the town’s main theater, chatting about what movies we wanted to see.

“How about… ‘Avengahs Infinite Waru’?” I asked, saying the name in accented English.

“Meh. I already saw it a couple months ago with Gya-kun, and it’s the last part of a series; you’d be lost without the context of the previous movies,” she denied.

I say ‘chatting’, but it was mostly me looking up what was airing on my phone, and Koneko giving brief summaries about the movies from what she’d heard about them.

Even with her and the rest of our friends doing their best to catch me up on pop culture, I never really found the time or interest to look into more series or upcoming entertainment on my own; unless it was mindlessly scrolling through cat videos when I was bored, I only really watched stuff when I was with friends.

I never really got the appeal to watching whatever random show that was on the TV if you were alone, when that was time that could be spent training or planning pranks– or in more recent times, studying. The only time that really made sense to me was when you were already tired after a workout or long day at school.

We slowed down a little as we walked by the building the local arcade was housed in, both of us turning to look as we passed.

We both slowed to a stop, Koneko snuggling into my arm.

“It doesn’t look like we’ll find anything good playing at the theater,” I admitted, putting my phone in my pocket.

“... Mm.”

“... Hey, Koneko-chan?”

“Mm…?”

“... Wanna hit up the arcade instead?”

“... Definitely.”

And so our first date turned into a perfect mirror of the day we officially became friends.

…

…

…

“Gahh! How are you still beating me when I’m literally cheating!”

“Git gud. Cheat better next time, loser-sensei.”

“Why you little-!”

(Hours later, nighttime)

We stood outside the door to Koneko’s apartment, facing each other after one of the most fun nights of our lives. And all we did was just eat snacks at a cafe, and play games at an arcade; things we do on a regular basis already.

There was a pretty big difference though.

“I had a lot of fun on our d-date tonight, Naruto-kun,” Koneko said shyly, struggling not to break eye contact out of embarrassment. “N-next time, it’ll be my turn to plan our night!”

It was funny; before Kokabiel, we had gotten close enough that we had started saying the cheesiest, most obvious-about-our-feelings things to each other without flinching. Back then, we were just stating our intentions and living in the moment. But now that it was real, we were really going through with a relationship, it was harder than ever to voice those things.

I had plenty of practice wearing my heart on my sleeve, so I could push through the embarrassment easily enough. But Koneko? It was a complete struggle for her to gather her courage, not to look away. To let herself feel vulnerable.

The fact that she fought through it still, her golden eyes shaking above her flushed cheeks, but never leaving my own despite the urge to hide herself?

“Koneko-chan…”

It just made her the cutest in the world.

“... I would love that.”

I cupped her blazing cheeks and leaned down, capturing her lips for the first time since our date began.

“HMmmm~!” Her eyes widened, before fluttering closed as she leaned in.

A sudden wolf whistle from down the hall– one of the tenants peeking out of their doorway– had us jumping apart, startled.

“Gah! Mind your damn business, gramps!” I growled towards the balding middle-aged man, making sure to keep my voice low for the other tenants.

“Ha! If ya two don’t wanna be watched, then why don’t you get a room– and what’s this? Miss Toujou’s seems to be right there and willing. So waddya waitin’ for, lil’ missy? Go an’ get ‘im tiger, haha!!”

The greasy bastard slammed his door shut with a cackle and I turned back to my girlfriend awkwardly.

Her head was down with her face buried in one of her palms.

“... That was my neighbor Nakamura-san. He acts like a creep, but he’s always making sure the women living here aren’t getting taken advantage of by actual creeps when they come home late at night.”

I snorted, the annoyance leaving me. “Sounds like he’s a decent dude, then. And I guess he kinda had a point,” I grumbled, “this being a communal hallway and all…” I shrugged. “Anyways, I really enjoyed tonight too, but I should probably get going now. See you tomorrow?”

Koneko nodded, still holding her face. “Mm.”

I began to turn to leave. “Goodnight, Kone-”

I stopped, looking back.

“Um… A-actually…” Koneko’s hair still shadowed her eyes, but the rest of her face was visible again with her hand gripping my wrist. Visible, and completely red. “Do you… want to c-come in…? We didn’t get to watch a movie, but, um, we can still watch some anime?”

Yeah, my girlfriend was the fucking cutest.

(Moments later)

While Boss-me was getting busy cuddling with our girlfriend on her couch, I, Shadow Clone-me, stood on top of her apartment building, taking a deep breath and warming up my network.

‘You catching that, Naruto?’

‘Yeah. The bastard wants our attention, but doesn’t want attention. Must’ve found out something important with his snooping.’

Off in the distance, Sasuke’s chakra flickered in a ridiculously subtle signal, one that I wouldn’t have noticed without Kurama pointing it out. I’ve been trying to use as little of my chakra as necessary, and want to keep it that way for a couple days to make sure I stay healing properly. What Koneko and Kurama did to fix me was like stitching a wound up and sealing it with medical glue; My chakra network is patched and in one piece, but there’s still healing to be done beneath the surface for it to become strong again.

It was a lot sturdier than that analogy actually, but the point remained.

But I’m a clone, not the Boss. I can push things, even while keeping all our energy contained in my body.

In, I breathed.

Chakra blazed through my temporary body in amounts that put last night to shame, enough to crush Kokabiel five times over before he could have even thought about traumatizing my friends. The pain was there as my body strained to contain it without leaking, but I held my grip.

I shifted my feet-

Out.

-and I moved.

‘Oh yeah, we’re so back.’

~,,––,,^^-