Naruto : Saga of Tanya the Kunoichi

Naruto let the water wash the blood away. His entire body, and even mind, was broken.

He looked emptily facing the wall of the shower as the hot water poured over him from the facet.

Naruto gathered himself together, washing all of the dirt and blood away with soap.

He came out of the shower, feeling numb all over but also slightly lighter. It felt a little better, really. It's as if he had let out all his rage for the time being.

"Hinata…" Naruto said with a weary sigh.

"Naruto…" 

"It's a bit better now… don't worry too much… yeah?" Naruto gave Hinata a slight smile.

Hinata looked up at Naruto, trying to see through him, trying to figure out if he was lying or he's genuine. His expression was calm now, no more the angry Naruto she never saw before.

"Okay… I am always here for you, no matter what."

"I know… thank you. I know you always will be." Naruto pulled her closer, rubbing her back gently. But because he knew Hinata would care, that he would rather hide them.

I won't let you or my children worry for me… Naruto looked down at Hinata, the tears in her eyes cannot be hidden.

Despite everything, Tsuyu never managed to crack his mask permanently. Naruto cared for others more than himself. Whether it's for the better or not, no one can say.

The days passed silently. Everything returned to the right track, like it used to be.

Kouga was told to not interact much with his uncle and stay away from him. As for Mika, she personally had seen Naruto as her grandson she never got to know, the chakra of Ashura inside of him. It would be a lie to say she didn't care. But no one noticed given her silence.

The two families grew a little bit apart from the outside view. But Boruto was willing to talk to Kouga now. Understanding their family's complication made him understand Kouga wasn't to blame. In class they interacted little by little, and it became normal eventually.

Though there were times when Tsuyu and Naruto inevitably met and had to interact, like while shopping for groceries, when they met on the street or on parent's day. There were awkward pretences and the hurried steps to not interact for any more than necessary whenever Naruto was around.

Everyone was really fine except him. Tsuyu noticed perhaps, Naruto already hated her, or part of him did. 

One thing was for sure, they wouldn't be able to talk like normal anymore. She didn't think what she did would actually cut them off like this, though she accepted it casually as a part of the consequences of her meddling. But she did wonder, what inhumane acts hasn't she done that was against Naruto's own ideals? Naruto never stopped trying to reach out to her.

But perhaps this time it was a personal attack to him, in Naruto's perception. Tsuyu shamed him, and brought him to his knees and exposed all his weakness and vulnerabilities to people he never wanted them to see.

Tsuyu thought it was for the best that they no longer talk to each other. That way Naruto could really move on and she did not mind. It's for the best.

As for their children, interactions were inevitable. But neither stopped them. Days, weeks, months; Naruto's household was back on track. 

At times they meet unintentionally, like today.

Naruto looked over at Himawari in the training field, holding a stick swinging it around as she rode Nue with Kouga and Boruto who got dragged with Himawari's insistence.

"Kouga-nii! Faster!" Himawari laughed as she swung her sword.

"Hold on Hima!" Kouga slapped Nue, making him groan and galloping faster around the training field.

"Ah! I am about to fall-ttebasa!" Boruto held Kouga's waist closer, afraid he would roll off.

Naruto just watched, not sure what he was thinking. Hinata didn't say a word, after all, Himawari seemed happy playing with him.

Himawari had more fondness over her cousin Kouga given he's a fun guy that could act like a child in front of a child and brought them to his fantasy world. Mika on the other hand sat on the bench with Tsuyu who's drinking warm coffee she took from her portal. Their eyes looking over at those kids, with Mika having her own set of tea and deserts she politely munch on. 

Tsuyu's expression showed she did appreciate the atmosphere and she made it clear her problem with Naruto wasn't her children's problem.

"Mika seemed quite close to Tsuyu in her own way, don't you think?" Hinata noticed her and commented.

"Mm." Naruto just mm-ed.

In a way the two really look like parent and daughter, with the way they just sat there to observe and appreciate the atmosphere together. It's more accurate to say they were just two people on the wavelength.

"She's always like that. But hey I learnt how to understand what she thought through her eyes." Kiba added.

Kiba just wanted to ease the tension and act normal really. Seeing Hinata went away to go to Himawari, Kiba went to Naruto's side, hanging his arm over shoulder.

"All good bro?"

"Haha. Of course. All good Kiba." Naruto just smiled as usual. His eyes looked at Akamaru moving around him.

"That's good! Hey, we should hang out later. How about that? We can get the boys together. Sasuke has been too busy lately too, he needs to stop being stoic and serious all the time." 

Kiba grinned and patted his shoulder. Secretly Naruto just felt uncomfortable and tired. How many times has someone randomly asked if he's all good? It was frankly annoying, as if he's some helpless creature.

"That sounds great. Let's hang out-ttebayo! I will ask Sasuke later." Naruto just went with it, going with the flow, as if to tell himself and everyone everything was going well.

Tsuyu thought maybe he was getting better internally. She rather believed that and didn't pay much attention to him.

***

ROOT Research Center

"Hnhnhn. Umbra-kun, you have an interesting idea… Your mother's Eye Creature was made using the Creation of All Things, using a Sharingan core as a spiritual container containing consciousness, her own flesh as a vessel. Though, your mother shouldn't need the Sharingan core as a crutch anymore with her strength now."

Orochimaru explained as he looked over at the catalogue of Jutsu he had on the excel sheets. Hey it's the modern era now…

"It wasn't that difficult to create the technique you described. The principle of shadow clone jutsu was applied to all living creations. But if you need a real subordinate, you need real flesh; and the chakra and skill needed to create a permanent consciousness would be tremendous. But the consciousness you create permanently would have their own thoughts and personality and had potential to go out of your control. We couldn't fully control a real 'person' can we. For the flesh I had few options. But for true control and to prevent disobedience; your own flesh, your own chakra, your own fragment of consciousness is ideal. But splitting your consciousness to create a true intelligent lifeform would weaken your soul, creating hidden dangers. Your mother made the creatures with bare minimum intelligence and would have no worry for such things."

"Hm~" Kouga was thinking. He couldn't split his soul. Creating a new soul means it would be uncontrollable.

"… Then Dr, can I use Beast of the Void and split him into pieces to create my Shadow Priests?"

Reibi inside of Kouga screamed after hearing his words.

"Beast of the Void? What kind of creature was it?"

Orochimaru wondered what he didn't know.

Kouga made an expression like he was constipated, reaching out to Beast of the Void. Reibi wiggled a little as black chakra formed into an opaque flexible black chakra construct covering his arm and formed into a black sword.

"Hnhnhn.... So it's Reibi… So that's how it is. You are his jinchuriki… Yes, indeed… having the Beast consciousness to be fragmented would spare your own soul from weakening… with the beast's loyalty, and your compatibility with him through the mixing of the chakra between you two means you could control and supply your chakra to him as well… impressive Umbra-kun, to think you have such an idea."

"Hehe… it's nothing it's nothing." Kouga was just saying, not really privy to the details.

"First you need to split the Beast of the Void into different parts. He is fundamentally a chakra lifeform, that made this easier. Did you know, Kurama was once split between your mother and your uncle."

"Ooo. Really? How did that happen? Why do they have Kurama inside of them?"

"That's a tale for your mother and Naruto to tell." Orochimaru just licked his lips, keeping things mysterious.

"A Fuinjutsu would be needed…" Orochimaru turned to the cabinets filled with stacks of scrolls and documents, referring to the excel sheets to get the right ones. Even an entire Scroll of Sealing was available for Orochimaru as per Tsuyu's generosity.

Orochimaru takes out different scrolls, explaining briefly what each scroll needed for.

"As for the Nara clan's secret technique, here it is…"

"You can refer to Earth golem jutsu to understand the concept of life force and will…"

Orochimaru gave Kouga stacks of Jutsu scrolls. His hands are almost unable to hold tens of them.

"Learn all of these, and you should be able to create them."

"Thank you Dr. Nethis! I will learn them now!" Kouga scurried away with a bunch of scrolls in his hands.

"Your son is truly interesting…" Orochimaru licked his lips, having appreciation for someone like Kouga who had a desire for knowledge like himself. He just played along to see what he was up to, such a curious mind. Although their goals were different.

"Now… I need to check on our progress…" 

As he said that, an Eye Creature with wings and tail appeared from his sleeves. It acts as Orochimaru's observer and a key. With a hand sign, he was teleported away through Flying Raijin into another dimension. 

A real 'being' similar in appearance to Tsuyu but with only one eye of a Sharingan greeted Orochimaru - the one who let him in. The being looked like a child, and had a blank expression. A clone made of Tsuyu's own flesh and fragments of her soul. Orochimaru himself helped her perfect them with his expertise in separating consciousness and his knowledge of souls.

Orochimaru just nodded, still amazed at the beings she made that was essentially her consciousness. She really was playing God behind the scenes.

The secret research facility that even Sasuke didn't know of, that even he would never allow to proceed due to how dangerous and how many rich and influential people Tsuyu had controlled and smartest scientists and engineers she kidnapped using Kotoamatsukami over the years to complete.

Project Mokushin.

***

Sasuke was aware something was off with the disappearance of the smartest brains all over the world, as Shikamaru noticed it. He really was suspicious of Tsuyu, because only she could possibly find and take them one by one, ignoring all securities, and even control them with Kotoamatsukami. Every suspicion led to her.

Tsuyu… I hope you know what you are doing…

Even as the 8th Hokage, he couldn't control her. The only thing that kept him from questioning her was the fact that she had always been a smart person and reliable. And her loyalty to Konoha, or at least to her own family was guaranteed.

***

Kouga went to another department. With Tsuyu owning ROOT, Kouga was treated like a young master. She really let him reign free and told him about her work and what her organisation stood for. Kouga seemed to love the concept of working under the shadow to keep peace, very similar to his Rinshinsho.

"Sumire!" Kouga smiled seeing her in the lab with his dad.

"Kouga. You are here." The purple haired girl smiled at him. She was watching his dad work on improving the Seal Gozu Tenno and helping him.

"Kouga-kun. Just in time. I want to see its progress after his initial improvement."

"Okay ojisan! Nue come out!"

Nue came out looking lazy. But with Kouga's insistence he had to go with Tanuki and let him take some blood samples from him.

"I am going to the Tools Research Department now. Later Sumire! Ojisan!"

Kouga scurried away. Sumire chuckled slightly seeing him go off. Kouga had always been a little on the cloud, like he was always living in his own world at times. But she thought he's kinda cute, especially when he played with his cards and looked very passionate. She could see his eyes going bright and shining even.

Sumire shook her head, covering her face. Oh what was she thinking…

He went into the department after walking for minutes. Filled with different gadgets and techs.

"Kouga-sama, here's the chakra blade you requested… your mother had approved it." A staff member saw him and quickly bowed before taking the a steel box containing a sleek chakra blade handle.

"Suge!" Kouga took the sleek black handle. With his chakra, it turned into a sharp sleek purple chakra blade. He swung them left and right, feeling cool and powerful.

I want to learn swordsmanship next! Kaa-san didn't use a sword… hm… Oh, Uncle Sasuke!

Sasuke sneezed in his office, feeling like a troublesome kid was thinking about him. 

He finished his work quickly, stretching out before heading out of the Hokage building.

And there he was, Inuzuka Kouga looking like he had been waiting for him for a long time.

"Uncle Sasuke!" 

"Yes… Kouga. What's the matter?" Sasuke looked at this slightly hyper genius kid - though most of it was hidden inside his head.

"Can I learn swordsmanship from you?" Kouga looked at Sasuke with his big blue eyes almost like a puppy.

"...Huh. You want to learn kenjutsu? Why?"

"Because it's cool." His expression was dead serious.

"Ahaha… is that so…" Sasuke had a troubled expression.

"I am busy with my work. But, I guess I can teach you a bit on weekends along with Sarada, how about that?"

"Yes! Thank you uncle!"

Kouga really had many teachers at this point. 

He dabbled in all kinds of Jutsu just because he could, as if he found joy in being 'cool', wanting to become as strong as his mother. 

His chakra was already at Bijuu level at such a young age, he spammed shadow clones to train like she and Naruto did in the past, his half Otsutsuki body and the Cursed Seal that made his body adapt to natural energy made his genius surpass Tsuyu at her age. His Shiyōgan was able to see chakra signatures more vividly as shades of colours and shapes, even more accurately than Sharingan and Byakugan could, even reading fluctuations of chakra to understand emotions and see through lies if he trained to see and interpret the changes.

Tsuyu had always been a fake genius considering her past life, Kouga was a real one.

"Will you surpass me, Kouga…?" Tsuyu had a little smile seeing what her Eye Creature saw.

But she chuckled a little.

I don't want you to surpass me. You shouldn't need to. Leave world peace to me, and others, Kouga.

***

In class Sarada mentioned last Saturday Kouga joined her to train with her dad. Sarada seemed to be in awe of Kouga more. What she saw shocked her with how good Kouga was in such a short time. Kouga insisted Sasuke used Shadow clones to teach his shadow clones to use a sword to accelerate his training. Sasuke was drained out of his chakra in the end…

Kouga was quite evil for that.

Boruto felt slightly jealous. 

"Hey, I want to train with your dad too! He really looks cooler-ttebasa!" Boruto had seen the elusive 8th Hokage at times in the village and when Sakura and Sarada hung around him.

Sarada smiled with pride. "My dad is really awesome isn't he. I will become a Hokage like him, one day! But I wish he could spend more time with mama and me though…" Sarada had a little complaint.

"Eh. He asked for the work. I really don't know what's good about that… but good luck I guess." Boruto thought about his dad who had a dream to become a Hokage too. But ultimately failed. While he didn't care about Hokage stuff, his dad cared a lot. A part of him felt sad for his dad.

"Hokage isn't just a position. It's to protect everyone." Sarada explained.

"Hm. But I feel like everyone can protect in their own way-ttebasa. Like my aunt."

"Oh. Talking about your aunt, she is really mysterious. I noticed the shinobi around seemed to respect her very much…"

"Yeah she's cool. Really… She can do what others can't do…" Boruto recalled the memories of Tsukuyomi. While he wasn't exactly comfortable on the morally ambitious parts, he respected her. 

"Hehe. Yeah my mom is cool!" Kouga popped up out of nowhere from under the table. His sensitive ears couldn't help but listen.

"Really now… my dad is cooler. He's the Hokage you and he's super strong." Sarada crossed her arms, not backing down.

"Sure Hokage is all the stuff but my mom was like this Shadow Hokage. Eliminating the enemies in the dark, unseen and unheard… like a shadow claiming no name, not remembered by anyone but ever present." Kouga made it sound so mythical, he pulled up his hoodie over his head, turning his body away to represent the mysteriousness.

Sarada almost snorted a laugh with Boruto. His theatrics were amusing, even Boruto came to appreciate them.

"Shadow Hokage? Kouga you are really too much… what kind of position is that?" Sarada wiped her tears of amusement.

Boruto just huffed a laugh. But inwardly, he felt a little left out. His dad was strong… but he couldn't be said to be super amazing or anything like those two. He hasn't seen Naruto in action after all. Still, he's a dad that Boruto still loved and cared for.

"Hey, I swear she's like this super cool secret power. She had a huge secret base, you know. And there are so many cool things there. And so many cool people working for her." Kouga puffed his chest, feeling proud.

Boruto rolled his eyes. "If it's a secret you shouldn't tell us dummy."

"Hey! But I guess you are right…?" Kouga nodded. Mom's secret identity needed to be kept.

"Hm~ But how about this? I can let you two in my secret organisation…" Kouga whispered.

"I saw the unaligned stars capable of overturning fate in you two. The Order could train you and bring you to your full potential." Kouga continued, his tone calm and serious. He crossed his legs, his hands clasped together as if he was recruiting new members.

"Heh. Fine! Let me see what your secret organisation was all about." Boruto was just playing along with his antics.

Sarada chuckled slightly. "Hey then let me in too!"

"As the leader of the Wheel of Heart Order, Rinshinsho welcomes you." Kouga said cooly.

Boruto and Sarada look at each other, almost bursting out laughing. That evening Kouga really dragged them to his secret base… what awaited them would shock them.

***