Kushina and the masked man were both flabbergasted as this new person literally 'flew' onto the field. High above, lowering herself with the help of a pair of strange metal wings giving off a white and magenta colored aura was a woman of breathtaking beauty. Like a living angel of Kami herself, this being's presence filled them with both awe and wariness.
Skin as white as it can be and flawless yet seemed to have the texture of marble and she had long, straight locks of white hair in uneven twin-tails sprouting outwards, though she still had enough hair to fall down to frame her face and cover the majority of her forehead which left her piercing magenta colored eyes, one lit in a matching color of fire, to bore into their heads. Long legs were exposed to the elements as she didn't even wear any footwear and wore some kind of black spandex shorts barely noticed underneath a short skirt of chain-linked metal ribbons. Over her unseen bosom and upper back was a fitting of intricately woven and inscribed sterling silver armor plates that covered her from the top rib up to the end of the chest, linking around her body to cover her mid and upper back. On her arms were metal-like cloth which reached down to billow on her fingertips yet were disconnected from the chest armor but each attached by a bandoleer to the upper back armor.
The final piece they noticed was the obvious weapon in her hand, a beautifully crafted spear with the shaft being of some strange metal and the spearhead made from some sort of metal designed in the outline of a kite-shaped rhombus.
Now for a pair of obviously S-ranked ninja, a spear doesn't really inspire a great amount of fear but never let it be said that they didn't feel a bit intimidated when the woman finally touched ground and walked towards them with a purposeful and determined gait. The kicker? As she got closer, the shinobi found their heads tilting up and up and up until she finally came to a stop a few yards away, standing at an imposing 7ft 7in. and easily wielding a spear about nine feet tall when she stabbed the hilt into the ground.
Up close, the bad guy could confirm his thoughts about her skin. While it looked as smooth as regular human skin, there were areas where it seemed to thicken and harden with a glass look. It was truly interesting what this woman was. Worst case scenario for him is this woman being some divine warrior from Kami coming to stop his plans.
The man glared at her impassively but with caution as he took a precautionary battle stance, his eye not blinking underneath his mask with a swirl pattern with its center focused on the hole over his right eye. This woman was an unknown and after having planned this attack for months after learning of the impending pregnancy, he really didn't like something possibly important slipping through the cracks of his preparations.
The area was silent for a few moments as Kyuubi started its rampage on the village, the shouts and screams of death and jutsus filling the area around the creature. Naruko took a moment to appreciate the natural beauty of the creature before refocusing on the task at hand. She glanced down to see the rapidly paling form of the mother grimacing in severe pain from whatever happened to bring that beast out of her stomach. Naruko felt her old heart go out to the poor human. Turning a stern look back to the man who obviously wasn't a friendly, she graced him with a question despite her mind already being set.
"This woman I can tell just gave birth. To see a new mother in such pain is a crime in my eyes. Are you planning on impeding me if I attempt to restore her health? Answer carefully, assailant."
Kushina's eyes widened in the form of the unexpected blessing. If she was any bit as tough as she looked, perhaps there was hope for her to live yet. After all, despite her Uzumaki longevity, having a massive nine-tailed fox claw its way out of your navel usually results in imminent death. Would this woman even stand a chance not knowing of this man's weird abilities? She could only pray for her sake and her baby's sake that her savior could live up to her image.
The masked man narrowed his single eye in anger and consternation at this woman's boldness. Perhaps telling her his name would make her think twice? Would an angel or whatever she was even see him as a challenge? No, it doesn't matter. This is the night he's been working towards, to get his revenge against the Leaf village.
He stepped between the dying mother and this unforeseen Samaritan. "I can not allow Uzumaki Kushina to live. Her death is merely a part of my revenge against this village for all that it's done to me over the past seventy years. Being betrayed by your own clan, nearly killed by your best friend, and having the history books paint you as the greatest traitor in the village's history will tend to give you a decent amount of hatred for any and all things Konoha. With my powers enslaving the Kyuubi, I will have my dreams realised. Do NOT get in my way, woman!"
At this, the significance of just WHO this man was claiming to be caused Kushina to let out a surprised gasp. "Uchiha M-Madara!? Even if you survived your fight with Hashirama, that was over eighty years ago! You should be dead either way, you bastard." She let out another gasp as she coughed up blood.
Despite being threatened by only one of two SS-rank shinobi to have ever lived in recorded history, Kushina still wouldn't back down from giving a good tongue lashing to.
Naruko looked over her memories of the Nebladed prisoner and found just a tiny bit of info on Uchiha Madara from supposedly eighty years ago. She was curious as to how this man could still be alive if the average natural lifespan for these humans was only about seventy years, give or take a decade. That would put this man well over a hundred years ago, far exceeding the usual lifespan, save for the Uzumaki whose only memories she had of was that they were a small but very powerful clan known for their crimson hair, short tempers, sealing arts, longevity, and special chakra abilities such as high speed regeneration and chakra sensing.
In fact, this woman was also in that prisoner's memories. Uzumaki Kushina, one of, if not the last Uzumaki alive as well as the princess to the clan. Known as the 'Red Death of Konoha', she was a very accomplished, high ranking warrior in a world where powerful women warriors are very few. It would appear she planned on starting a family until this night happened. Status of mate and child is unknown. Her status is mortal danger, losing life signs quickly. That left Naruko with just one option.
"Having lived for so very long, the concept of revenge has long been forgotten save for its basic definition. Instead of choosing to live your own life even after those who betrayed you have most likely passed on, you continue to cause so much needless death by not only making this attempt on a mother, but 'supposedly' enslaving such a magnificent creature. You are nothing I haven't encountered before, therefore your life holds no meaning to me. Letting you live would be inexcusable for me. If you are this legendary warrior, then I hope you live up to your hype."
Her wings disappear into a bright white and red light as she glares at the assailant. Opening a connection to the ship 'Outer Heaven', she connects with her first mate (XO/2nd in command).
"Your order, my Queen?"
"Karin, be sure to take notes of my fight. These meta-humans show interesting abilities and I'm about to engage someone who appears to be a legendary warrior from their history. I'm not sure how he's lived so long if he's telling the truth, but to use a name of power would mean he has to have the skills to back it up. This would be a perfect opportunity to see the true potential of these 'Shinobi."'
"Very well, my Queen. I look forward to it." Naruko could practically hear the excitement in Karin's voice. That woman may be a brilliant scientist, but she acted so much like a kid around new discoveries. Her musings were interrupted by the feeling of a kunai stabbing into her neck, only managing to pierce a couple of inches before her naturally hard skin stopped it.
"You should pay more attention to a battle. We shinobi will use any underhanded trick to win. Fame, fortune, aesthetics and pride have no place in this world," this 'Madara's' voice spoke from behind her.
While he was initially surprised by how tough her skin was, he still felt sure of a debilitating blow since that wound was several inches deep in her neck. A white blur of a movement was all he could get as a warning to duck under the horizontal swipe of the woman's spear.
Such speed!
Taking a hop back, he is surprised by the smile on her face.
"Very impressive speed. It may not look like it, but I was alert. You don't get to my age and position by having your guard down. You are faster than any other human species I have met before." She wipes the trickle of blood from her neck as the wound resealed itself in moments. Looking at her life blood, she lets out a small chuckle. "It's been centuries since I've last bled from a battle wound."
Her words greatly confused both Madara and the dying Kushina who was too transfixed on the fight to notice her wounds anymore. What does she mean by other human species? and centuries they both were wondering. This woman didn't look a day past thirty and as far as they knew, there was only one species of humans.
"I see you are confused, perhaps thinking I am crazy. Well, perhaps when I don't restrain myself so much, your efforts will explain my ramblings."
She didn't make any other movements and even seemed to expose her body to his assassin's eyes. The wound was gone. She didn't show any pain from his attack. What could she possibly be talking about? She didn't do anything noticeable but the aura surrounding her seemed to triple. His instincts were telling him that now more than ever, this woman was something beyond his skills.
He'd killed plenty of arrogant warriors in the past. This isn't—couldn't—won't—be any different! He used shunshin to appear within her guard but his eye met her unconcerned ones. This time, they had followed all of his movements without strain. In a flurry of slashes, he made cuts at her exposed joints; the inner elbows to cut the brachial arteries and important tendons to both keep her blood flowing and to even move her arms from the wounds downwards; the neck to cut the carotid arteries and the jugular to flood her windpipe with blood; the final kill move being a stab with all of his chakra enhanced strength to the area under her arm. There were no bones there to deflect or stop his knife from sliding right through a lung and into her heart.
His movements were so quick and precise that his experience and muscle memory allowed him to not even have to look at the result of his work to know what would happen. However, when the unfamiliar feeling of his knife shattering in his hands finally registered in his brain, he jumped back to avoid any type of counter attack. Was the woman wearing some kind of invisible armor around her body?
When he frantically looked over the damage, he was confused on why she was completely unharmed. His Sharingan eye was above any other but Madara's yet even it couldn't find the results of his skill and effort. The woman simply treated him with a mocking smile yet the eyes seemed to obtain a look of resignation or disappointment. He himself was baffled by the event he just suffered. There was no chakra being activated before or even during his attack so she wasn't saved by some skin-hardening chakra technique she might have hid from him.
Naruko caught his confusion with amusement like a spider does a trapped fly and shook her head as if humored by a child's silly antics.
"My skin, when I am not holding back, hasn't been breached by any kind of enemy weapon in such a long time. When one can deflect tank shells with their hands or hold a nuclear bomb as it detonates and survive relatively unharmed, I began holding back my own natural powers in an effort to garner more fun from my battles which had grown few and far between."
The response she garnered was only a quiet 'uggghh' from her audience. She shook her head again and sighed.
"You're confused yet still? That would be understandable, especially to a people still bound to their single planet and yet have not advanced enough to travel throughout the endless ocean of stars you look up to every night."
Their eyes and mouths widened at what she was implying. She could feel their gawking and giggled. "Yes, your conclusions are correct. I am from beyond this planet, and even this galaxy, but I have to wonder if you can even comprehend the meaning of 'galaxy' and how insignificant this planet is in comparison to it. Look out to the stars above you and hold out your thumb. You can't see them all but just behind the end of your thumb, thousands of stars hide."
They felt their mouths gaping just a little bit more. They would have assumed she was crazy if not for the absolutely calm expression on her face. They were shinobi trained in assassinations, subterfuge, and deception. They were masters at their craft, honed by generations and generations of warfare and here this strange 'alien' was, talking to them about the galaxy as if she's explored it and they couldn't detect a single trace of lying.
"Though this is a battle, not an Astronomy lesson. Pardon me for my lapse of concentration. My people are studying this fight enthusiastically so please, let's continue."
With a brief BRRM sound, she disappeared in a pink light and instantly appeared before Madara with her spear already thrusting towards his chest. The movement was untraceable, like Minato's Hiraishin! Madara is too surprised to even dodge the sudden attack and the spear enters his stomach and exits the back with no resistance.
Absolutely no resistance, Naruko thought. That was impossible on a rational level which must mean… she pulls her spear up through the man's head, still meeting no resistance and flesh. Spinning the spear like a windmill with blinding speeds, both spearhead and pike go right through him as if he wasn't even there. But my eyes see him. If it was transparency then I would still have killed him, but with my attacks doing nothing, it would mean he has somehow become intangible.
Oh, she could easily hear Karin squealing in excitement over their hive link. True, they've developed methods for crossing dimensions, but they have not even breached the science behind intangibility. It certainly opened up numerous new markets for both communal and military use. They would no longer be restricted to physical obstructions; enemy weapons would pass right through them and their ships.
Oh yes, she definitely made the right choice to come down to this planet herself. However, she had to hurry if she wanted to save this woman. Her and her people's creed demanded it of her.
She flashed away to a more comfortable distance and her spear disappeared before a brief light show revealed her personal energy cannon. It was about five feet long and more streamlined than the more angular predecessors that most of her people were still equipped with. It was predominately silver with magenta highlighted features.
"I wonder if that is true intangibility. Kinetic force is useless so let's try a more direct energy approach." While Naruko would be defined as both a warrior and a life preserver (of those she cared about), let it never be said that she wasn't also a scientist at heart. Never in her long life has she had an opportunity for testing this specific ability so she would poke and prod this defense as much as she could within the time limit she had.
In a second, five balls of charged positronic energy flew from the muzzle of her cannon, ripping and even burning a path through the air and slamming through the man before he could comprehend what kind of weapon he was facing. Luckily, he still had his ability activated so he remained unharmed.
"So it would seem you are immune to energy weapons as well, yes?"
Slightly shaken by the dawning fact that this woman's abilities and technology certainly seemed far from this planet, he begrudgingly admitted that he was more relieved his Kamui ability worked as well as she was hoping, which also disturbed him a bit. It was obvious she was testing the limits to his defense and to be honest, he was hoping to learn his limits as well. There already wasn't any attack in the Elemental Nations that could harm him save for another attack that just happened to be linked with his Kamui, but there was only one person on this planet who was linked with it and he was completely unaware of the glaring advantage he had if they ever fought each other.
"It seems we both are excited to learn of the limits to my Kamui. You are an unknown variable that has not been factored before so this will be a learning experience for both of us," he admitted.
She smirked for some reason. "So, you are able to hear me? Being intangible, my kinetic and energy attacks have been passing right through you, so how are your ears able to receive and translate the sound waves of my voice? Shouldn't the waves pass right through them as well?"
Madara seemed stumped as well. He actually gave a shrug. "It never occurred to me. Like I said, you bring a new perspective to things here and it seems I was right. Your impressive observations have given me something to ponder over."
Naruko looked towards Kushina and saw that she was off to the side. Good, she wouldn't be in the direction of her next attack. Making her gun vanish, she took a calm, deep breath. Wondering what she was about to do, Madara ready himself for anything that he could think of but what happened next was not one of those things. It almost looked like she was about to—
"LAAALAAALAAALAAALAAALAAALAAAAAAAAA!"
The loud vocals—melodious, beautiful vocals—were proceeded by an impossibly loud tearing, screeching sound that ruptured Madara's ear drums. His screams of pain were drowned out by the eruption of sound coming from this siren of doom. All around him, the earth and forests were being torn asunder by the invisible force. Thousands of tons of rock, earth, and wood were disintegrated in an instant. Entire square miles of land disappeared, enough to even break Kyuubi from his rage-induced hypnosis.
A brief flash of light and it was all over.
When sight returned, Naruko noticed that she could still see Madara alive but not so well. He was groaning with hands cupped to his ears as blood poured from them. His eardrums were completely destroyed by the sonic attack. Stepping over to him, Naruko formed her spear and sent it down to impale him but his entire body was sucked into some kind of warp in space.
Tsking in annoyance, she noticed the pool of blood on the ground. Bending down, ignoring the chattering Karin was making over the hive link, she wiped her entire hand in the puddles, covering it and then she brought it to her mouth. It wasn't a full Neblade but it would certainly be enough for some augmentation
Kushina had watched in amazement as this woman easily broke down Madara's seemingly perfect defense in three moves then forced him to retreat with the fourth move, one that was both surprising and terrifying. As far as she could see from her position, the land was decimated with a cone-shaped trench expanding for miles past where Madara had stood.
Just what the hell is this woman alien?! Why is she scooping up some of Madara's blood on her hand? Why is she bringing it to her mouth? She isn't gonna do what I think she's gonna do, is she? were some of the questions raging in Kushina's mind. Then she watched with morbid curiosity as the woman LICKED the blood clean from her hand. She did this until it was its original pristine self.
The woman did nothing for a few moments before hunching over a brief moment then was fine again.
A groan escaped Kushina again as her adrenaline from the fight was gone and she was feeling the pain of having given birth and a Kyuubi ripped out of her coming back to bite her. This groan got Naruko's attention as the woman was fighting to stay alive to at least see her baby again.
Both of their attention was briefly turned to the loud stomps of the Kyuubi as it finally lost interest in the village, the massive sonic attack from earlier getting its attention since it was powerful enough to break it out of Madara's mind control. Kushina felt even more dread now. This woman may have been able to defeat Madara, but she didn't have any Mangekyo Sharingan to control an enslaved Bijuu and she herself didn't have much left in the tank.
Surprisingly, the alien woman did not flinch in the face of the massive nine-tailed beast. Instead, she brought out a scythe, a large white scythe with a pink bladed edge though it looked more futuristic and mechanical in nature, as well as equipping her wings from before. Despite this, she made no move to attack as she and the large fox stared each other in the eyes.
"Kyuubi, has my victory over your slaver freed your mind?" she called out, surprising Kushina again that this woman who has never met the Kyuubi before would speak to it as a person would another. Sure, she spoke to the Kyuubi plenty of times but she swears if the thing had a gender, it would be a female because of its snarky remarks and mood swings that seemingly synced with hers.
The Kyuubi flashed some wicked set of teeth before replying. "So you are the one who severed the control over me? My thanks, Alien. Being forced to do anything under those sharingan eyes… grrrr, there has been no greater insult to me… save being sealed in that stubborn ass Uzumaki by your feet."
"HEY!" She goes ignored.
"So the method Obito used to enslave you was from a pair of eyes capable of casting illusions and hypnosis. Interesting, I wonder why he didn't use them in our brief fight. Perhaps I just surprised him after finding a flaw in his Kamui defense," Naruko mused with Kyuubi listening intently. However, the name she spoke got a yell from Kushina.
"Wait! What do you mean 'Obito?' I thought he was Madara."
Naruko nodded in understanding. "That would be the expected response based on all the information he told us and his ability to control the Kyuubi, but my species has an ability called 'Neblade.' By consuming the flesh, or DNA more specifically, we can not only absorb their memories, but pick apart their genome and absorb any genetic traits they may have that we would find useful for our own bodies. The blood from his injury that I consumed showed me of his past, how he survived a cave-in after giving his team mate his left eye, then crawling out and being saved by some strange white humanoid called Zetsu. There he met the real Uchiha Madara, a very old man then but now dead, and it was the real Madara who convinced Obito to take up his name and carry out some 'Eye of the Moon' plan which involves using a group to help him gather the Bijuu and recreating the Juubi."
Her explanation was first met with awe, then as she continued it, Kushina felt tears fall upon her cheeks upon hearing the fate of her husband's formerly deceased student and how far he has now fallen.
Obito-kun was such a sweet young boy and I just happened to mock him about losing his childhood crush to his best friend! Oh my God, no wonder he wanted to kill me!' she mentally wailed.
Kyuubi's reaction to the news was to let out a loud roar of rage. "That foolish ningen! Neither has any idea of the apocalypse that would occur were the Juubi to be revived! It's a nearly unstoppable beast of infinite rage and destruction that lives to see all life on this planet extinguished. It very well nearly succeeded around a couple millennium ago but my father, if we were to be general, used the Rinnegan to defeat the beast and seal it within himself. Upon his death bed, he split the Juubi into nine beasts, with a 1-9 tails that signified their level of power—" he waved his nine tails around for emphasis, "and sealed the husk within a tomb of rock and sent it into the sky which we all know as the moon."
Now not only was Kushina gaping at the story, but if Naruko was to believe this beast, then this man had been capable of impossible feats with just these Rinnegan eyes. She looked back into the memories of Obito and saw a certain pair of ringed eyes within a man with crimson hair. Nagato was his name. He was part of a revolutionary group called 'Akatsuki.'
She relayed her information to the group, stunning both but for different reasons.
"NAGATO-KUN HAS THE RINNEGAN!?"
"A NINGEN HAS THE RINNEGAN!?" Kushina and Kyuubi yelled respectively. The Bijuu and Naruko looked at a hyperventilating Kushina. Seeing her already in so much pain, Naruko mentally smacked herself for getting caught up in the moment and ordered over the hive link to have a medical crew brought down immediately.
"You know the ningen?" Kyuubi asked, well more like demanded to know.
Kushina glared at the beast. "His name is Nagato and he's my cousin, you overgrown, rabid plushie!"
Momentarily overtaken by the anger this nickname brought, Kyuubi sent a claw straight at Kushina. Naruko moved to intercept but in an even faster instant, a blonde man appeared, grabbed Kushina, and disappeared to the other side of the Kyuubi. While that technique interested Naruko, what caught her attention was not just the man and woman both having the same kind of ring on their left hands, signifying that he was most likely her mate, but he had a clothed bundle in his other arm. It wasn't until after he put it on some kind of altar that he summoned out of nowhere that she noticed the look of dread on Kushina's face.
Now, normally she would leave them alone to do their personal arguments but decided to intervene because 1) Kushina was in need of medical attention which was only a minute away and 2) Whatever this man was doing, his some hand seals were something that neither Kushina or Kyuubi liked. She teleported over there and drew a white sword, aiming for a debilitating injury rather than killing the woman's mate but he finished the last seal and Naruko's attack paused as a very cold feeling settled over the area. Now, she could survive in the vacuum of space so she knew what cold really was, but this wasn't like a physical cold. A common recurring memory she had from the billions she had Nebladed matched this with a feeling of dread.
While she certainly wasn't exuding it, it was more like something was trying to wash her body with it. Then, before their very eyes, an ethereal being of a ghastly appearance manifested behind Minato. He told Kushina sorry, that it was the only way to save Konoha and stop Kyuubi, Kushina called him an idiot before telling him that Kyuubi was controlled by a Sharingan but was freed from it. Minato only had enough time to widen his eyes at his mistake before the reaper's hand went through his chest and went to grab the Kyuubi. The beast went to stab the baby in retaliation.
Naruko sighed. What the hell just happened? Nothing was going like she had planned all because of some blonde buffoon who seemed to have made some literal 'deal with the devil' as the Prehistoric Humans would say.
She quickly devised a plan and acted, teleporting between the offending hand of this ghost and the Kyuubi which seemed terrified of it. With a slash of her scythe, she knocked the hand back and pulled out her white cannon and fired several dozen shots into the specter. The being, surprised by her attack hitting his hand, merely waved it to deflect the energy bolts.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, HUMAN, FOR GETTING IN THE WAY OF ME FULFILLING MY CONTRACT?" His black eyes narrowed into slits as he certainly sensed something off about this woman. She stood before him defiant and without any fear despite her having to know just who he was.
"I am Naruko, Queen of the Spectras, a species who has existed and traveled the stars among several galaxies for millions of years. I lead them now just as I led them in the beginning when we first traveled beyond our world. We travel the universe, documenting species and their memories alike. Who is this specter I defend the Kyuubi against?"
The three beings—Kushina, Kyuubi, and the specter—were nearly floored by the bold proclamation. How could they not when this woman was claiming to be older than their freaking planet, thus older than the Shinigami itself. It then hit the Shinigami why she felt different. It's because he couldn't feel her. She was there but not there. She had no chakra! And when he searched for her soul, he was shocked and speechless when he did not feel one set of memories, but billions of lives worth! She was like him in a way. While he consumed souls, she consumed memories to sustain herself. She was truly an interesting one.
"I am Shinigami. The inhabitants of the planet have come to call me the 'Death God' since all souls upon death are taken by me to either be devoured until they serve their sentence and rejoin the reincarnation cycle, or they are sent into Kami's realm to a paradise in the afterlife. Each soul has a weight that I judge and where they go after death depends on that weight."
Now Naruko was surprised. Sure, she has heard of reincarnation and afterlife, after all, nearly every species believes in something of the sort. The Spectras use Neblade to preserve memories and in the case of those memories of Nebladed loved ones, way down the line they will eventually unconsciously coalesce into a newborn, creating something like a reincarnation, or perhaps an incarnation.
"I understand, Shinigami. We Spectras have something similar, though each and every one of us are capable of it. The memories we get from Neblading loved ones who are not long for the world are eventually passively reformed into a newborn many generations later, creating what we call 'transmigration.' You are a being I can understand and respect, however, I would like to know what you intend to do with the Kyuubi that I have taken under my protection."
Kyuubi was gaping, as funny as it was, at this woman talking with the Death God as if she was his equal. Then she goes and spouts about it being under her protection? It would've been insulted if it was anyone else and it wasn't aware of her plan. With her revealing about this Akatsuki, the Rinnegan, and this 'Eye of the Moon' plan, even it hated to admit that while its power was massive, the Rinnegan's numerous abilities were very much capable of subduing it. Don't even get it started on the damn Mangekyou.
"I have been contracted to split the Kyuubi energy in half, sealing one half and the soul into the babe while the other gets sealed with Minato in my stomach. A contract is a contract."
Naruko thought for a moment, even as the beings's attentions were taken away by the arrival of an advanced shuttle made of glowing blue metals. The door opened and a squad of Spectras garbed with similar armor to Naruko but in black colors and armed with black, less aesthetically pleasing energy cannons. They arrived and set up a perimeter around the clearing with an A.I. medic platform rushing to Kushina. It was startlingly human-like as a woman with pale, flawless skin with a light tone, blue eyes like gems, and long light-blue hair.
"Do not worry, Uzumaki Kushina. I am an Artificial Intelligence platform designated KOS-MOS with the role as a combat medic. I'm capable of any sort of on-field surgeries. I will do my best to aid you but your chances of survival are less than 3%."
That news didn't make Kushina happy at all, nor did it please Naruko who was beating her mind up about getting caught up in her talks with Kyuubi.
"D-damn it all!" she cried, tears trickling down her face. "Let me atleast hold my baby."
Naruko didn't let any argue with the distraught mother as she walked over to the altar, making sure to step extra hard on Minato's crotch. Coming to the altar, she gently picked up the child, inwardly fawning as it made a few agitated noises from being moved. He was a tiny thing with thin red hair and amethyst eyes and three whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek staring up at her with such innocence that she had never seen before. She felt her heart go out to the mother and this child, both victims of one man's petty vengeance.
Walking back to Kushina, she failed to notice the soft, sad smile on Kushina's face as she watched the emotions play across Naruko's face. She knew that was definitely the look of a woman's who has never held a baby of her own; she would know, she had been one of those just an hour ago. She flinched as the anesthetics from KOS-MOS kicked in via a needle to her heart. Slowing the heart down would slow the blood loss. Unfortunately, KOS-MOS seemed doomed to fail as the damage to Kushina was more related to chakra then it was any physical injury she currently had, and the Spectras didn't know how to treat complete chakra exhaustion.
With one more smile to the baby, Naruko laid him gently into Kushina's waiting arms. The baby noticed his mother and cried out in hunger. Figuring what she wanted, Kushina shed a bit more tears as this would be the first and last time she would nurse her son. With a tired effort, and seeing that she was among women (she didn't even know what to call the Death God or Kyuubi), she lowered the top of her hospital gown to reveal a pert tit on a well developed breast. Pressing Menma's face to it, she guided him until he finally latched on and began sucking.
Softly cooing the baby, she held her with all the warmth and gentleness she could. She looked back up to Naruko even as her vitals slowly faded, signaled by KOS-MOS who began working harder if that were already possible. She had already stitched the wound shut and was recreating Kushina's blood type to restore what was lost but even she knew it was a lost cause.
"Naruko-sama," she addressed tiredly. Naruko was a bit surprised by the honorific but honored none-the-less. "I want to thank you… for everything you did for me and Menma even though you didn't need to. I won't be able to hold and love my baby soon. I won't be able to nurse him, sing to him, burp him or change his diapers. I won't be there to see his first step, to hear his first words, to see him go to school and make lots of friends either. I won't see him grow up into the wonderful man I know he will be, to have his first girlfriend, or be at his wedding or see my first grandbaby. There are so many memories that I will never be able to have with him."
Those words struck like an arrow into Naruko's heart. They were the exact words that a specific mother had spoken to her, which she repeated to her people after the incident with the child dying. Like long before, she felt some moisture in her eyes but held back any tears.
"I… huff… know I don't… huff… have any room to ask for this but… but could… could you please look after my baby boy?... huff..."
Naruko was stunned and the look of sheer desperation for her child moved even the Kyuubi who had calmed down after the Shinigami's attempt to take its chakra was stopped.
"If… if there is anyone… who I know can.. can protect her… it's you.. If the Shinigami seals Kyuubi into him… and if people found out… they would take their grief and anger on the closest thing there is to the Bijuu… the life of a Jinchuuriki… 'the power of human sacrifice'... is one of loneliness and hardship… to always fight for every bit of happiness… in one's life. The Kyuubi being… a being of hatred… specially towards us stupid humans… didn't make it easy for me. That man…. he truly… hates Konoha… and this world… he will… no doubt come back sometime… to kill Menma. If you… will do this… one favor… then please… take my baby. You can… Neblade me… so you can… someday… teach him about his clan… and his mother.."
The group, even Shinigami, was stunned by her words. She would do all this just so Menma can live free from the life of hatred and pain all Jinchuuriki have lived. Naruko felt she was looking at a true angel if one ever existed. Her words were not so different from those spoken to their children before by those who'd offered their bodies to be Nebladed to transfer memories, powers, and emotions.
With a graceful nod, she knelt down and wrapped her arms around Kushina's head, bringing the dying woman into a soft, comforting embrace after she removed her armor, showing a proportional, but understandably large bosom. Kushina's head rested in the valley and felt a nice warmth despite the rest of her body going cold.
"Uzumaki Kushina, I will honor your request and raise your son as if he was my own. From now on he will be known as Menma, son of Naruko, Queen of all Spectras. He will know the love of the Spectra people as friends and family. His life will be in my hands."
Kushina sobbed and hiccuped briefly before glancing down at her baby boy who was done eating and staring up at her and Naruko with curious eyes. The amethyst and magenta pairs of eyes looked down on him with an untold amount of love. Naruko helped Kushina bring Menma up to her lips where the mother kissed her baby on the cheek before slowly lowering her arms back to her chest, her eyes never moving or blinking, never more.
Her death was confirmed by KOS-MOS who looked despondently at her failure. Naruko gave her a comforting rub on the shoulder before taking Menma from Kushina's arms and giving him for the A.I. to hold. She briefly explained to Kyuubi and Shinigami how Neblading works. They were a little green when she meant that one literally eats the other.
Ten minutes later, Naruko wiped her mouth clean of the blood from her Neblading of Kushina while she instead buried Minato in an unmarked grave, both as a sign of being a true ninja and because she was quite annoyed at him from several of the memories Kushina gave her. Taking the offered Menma back into her arms, she held him against her chest as he slept, a tiny thing that could actually fit twice over into just one of her breasts. That's not even including how much they will increase when she finishes adjusting her body to nurse Menma. Because of their long life spans, Spectras tend to spend 15-20 years simply nursing their babies so they need larger breasts than usual.
With that matter done, she turned to both the Kyuubi and Shinigami. "You said you deal in contracts, Shinigami? Well, I have one I want to make and it will need Kyuubi's cooperation. Will you both hear me out? This will be a win-win-win for all of us."
Both beings nodded, Kyuubi taking a moment to send a wary glance at the thing that wants to eat it.
"Shinigami, instead of splitting Kyuubi's power, I would like for you to seal all of it together inside of Menma in exchange for ten thousand souls. On my ship, 'Outer Heaven', we have a prison ship docked that we transport prisoners to, prisoners from both enemies of war and those who foolishly sought our destruction for their own goals. For each prisoner, we Neblade a part of them to determine what kind of person they are, like a screening process. Those who are criminals of the highest kind, enemies of life and freedom whose memories are so disgusting we dare not Neblade them entirely, we keep in Cocytus to later be fed to our war beasts. We have over 300,000 in hold right now."
If one could, they would see 7-7-7 JACKPOT images going off in Shinigami's head. He readily agreed while before Kyuubi could argue its defense, Naruko spoke to it.
"And Kyuubi! I understand you play an important role in this world, and you are indeed a magnificent creature, thus I would not ask this of you if you didn't get anything out of this. While I understand you hate being sealed in a human, I assume you would hate being sealed inside some husk to resurrect the Juubi even more." That shut it up.
"Not only that, but seeing as you are the strongest living being on this planet, I will assume that you have a lot of pride. This I can completely understand as I have been uncontested in combat for hundreds of millennia unless I spar with my entire honor guard at once. No doubt, you would hate a weak host to hold you, yes? What if I promise you that I will make Menma, your host if you choose to accept, the most powerful being on this planet except for me, answerable only to me.
You would not be a power source, but a teacher whenever he visits you and I would have him see you as a friend and equal on all levels. You would be protected from the Akatsuki and should they or any being attempt to inflict harm, I will let you eat their souls with the help of Shinigami by paying 100 souls each time I summon him to allow you to feed. I know you hate humans, but to raise and nurse him, he can not stay as he is. I will prepare to clone my DNA inside of him to make him of my blood as well as Kushina's, to make him half meta-human and half-Spectra Royalty. He will stand against time and enemies like an immovable object, offering both an open hand for friendship and a pointed spear for enemies.
What's say you, Kyuubi?"
Both Kyuubi and Shinigami were flabbergasted at this golden opportunity. Kyuubi really didn't want to be sealed again, but considering the alternative *looks at Shinigami and receives a 'I fucking dare you to reject' look, there was really only one choice to make. Plus, it would still have its full power and be away from those damn sharingan eyes.
"You've got yourself a deal, Naruko-dono," both Kyuubi and Shinigami said.
Naruko nodded, finally glad this crazy night was over with. Honestly, humans were some of the most unpredictable creatures in this damn universe, but because of two specific ones, she got pulled into this scenario making allies with a death god and an immortal creature of near limitless energy. And honestly, Karin still hasn't stopped yapping about all of the data the scanners have picked up during the battle and this negotiation. That woman needs to get mated until she can't read her data. That would be good for her.
She and the guards watched with great interest as the Shinigami reached for the Kyuubi and pulled out an ethereal version of Kyuubi, shrunk it to about the size of a large horse and stuffed it into Menma's belly where a complex seal appeared on his navel. Going through her memories from Kushina, she could tell this seal was more powerful and beneficial for Menma in every way than the Shiki Fuuin (splitting the Kyuubi) and Eight Trigams-Sealing (sealing the Kyuubi) were. When the energy left the Kyuubi, the body turned to bones with most turning to dust. She made sure to order KOS-MOS to collect plenty of samples from the pile left over. Let it never be said that she didn't let any resource go to waste.
The Shinigami turned to her and she nodded. She brought out a screen that had an updated map of the region taken by her ship scanners. She picked a secluded region off the coast of an island country. It was a smaller island country that was once home to the Uzumaki clan and has been practically deserted ever since. She made a hologram of the screen, showing the Shinigami a glowing marker on the Uzumaki island.
"The transfer of prisoners will take an hour at the most to organize. The Uzumaki homeland is a reasonably isolated area. My people will set up a small colony there and will serve as the site of all future priso—I mean 'soul' transactions we deal. The order has been sent and the captain of the prison ships will be there to meet you. She has blue eyes and hair, wears a white military uniform with black highlights, carries a large sword, and goes by the name Esdeath. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Shinigami."
She put her hand out and Shinigami let out a dark chuckle as he shook it. "The pleasure's all mine, Naruko. I look forward to future business with my new favorite partner."
With that, Naruko turned around and entered the shuttle, followed by her guard and KOS-MOS. As the shuttle took off, Shinigami couldn't help but let out a loud bellowing laugh. "Things are going to be a lot more interesting around here. Leave it to the Uzumaki clan for causing this. They're still giving me stomach aches from time to time."
As he too disappeared, ninja from Konoha arrived on the scene hoping to see either signs of their hero who made the Kyuubi disappear but to their worry and confusion, no sign of them existed except for an unmarked grave that would later be identified as Namikaze Minato. Of course, the ten who arrived first would later be sworn into silence and the grave returned and left undisturbed. However, in the meantime, search parties would be sent out for both Uzumaki Kushina and the baby she was known to be carrying, having not found either's body in the burnt out remains of the secret house they built for the birth to take place.
***
Omake: Shinigami is in love
In a realm separating the shinobi world from them, Kami and Yami were both seated in their thrones having watched the night's events. It had been two hours since Shinigami left to retrieve his ten thousand souls from this woman named Esdeath, and they wondered if this Naruko had kept her promise. As if hearing their thoughts, Shinigami warped into their realm. He ignored their questioning looks and walked to his own throne of bones. Standing in front of it, he slumped down, holding a hand to his chest, as if he were trying to grasp his heart.
"Shinigami, what is the matter? You look like you've exhausted yourself, " Kami asked worriedly.
Yami couldn't help but pitch in a quip. " Itlooks like you nearly ate yourself into a coma, you piggy. Ten thousand souls fill you up?"
Shinigami failed to respond for a few moments, worrying the two Goddesses until he finally spoke.
"I went there to collect ten thousand souls, and in return Esdeath took my heart. Her soul is the coldest thing I have ever felt."
Both women looked bewildered. This 'Esdeath' was so cruel she actually captured Shinigami's heart. Yami giggled.
"I guess it's universal. The best way to a guy's heart is through his stomach."
Kami couldn't help but wonder just what this woman was like.
(meanwhile)
Walking onto the bridge of the Hell-class prison ship 'Cocytus' that was making birth inside 'Outer Heaven', a stunningly beautiful woman with pale skin, ankle-length blue hair that was originally white, matching blue eyes she changed from red, wearing a military uniform shirt that accentuated her large breasts and showed her legs through her short skirt and thigh high heeled boots was chuckling from underneath her military cap. At her feet was a prisoner with a chain around his neck that was held by her left hand, who was reduced to cleaning the bottom of her boots with his tongue just to avoid her torture chamber.
"Fufufufu, meeting that being who has as big an appetite for damned souls as I did was exciting. Watching him devour ten thousand souls like he was at a buffet has awakened an old flame inside me. It's given me so many ideas for future torture sessions. fufufuffu. Hmm, I even hear the Queen is adopting a son into her blood. I wonder if she will let me rear him from time to time."
With a giggle, she glanced down at the man licking the dirt from her boots and grew bored of him quickly in light of her new interests. With a flick of her leg, she impaled his forehead with her heel. Seeing as he was done with his spasms, she went to go give birth to a few of her new inspirations since some 'space marines' were getting unruly.