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  Shy Fox Chronicles

  Chapter 7: Meeting with Royalty

  “Bye, guys. See you next time.” Naruto said, waving to Shikamaru, Chōji and Ino as he walked away with his mother.

  “I gotta admit, this wasn’t so bad. You’re not as much of a pain to deal with as Ino, Naruto.” Shikamaru admitted with a zy smile.

  “What was that?” Ino growled, slowly turning to look at him.

  “Easy, Ino. You know Shikamaru didn’t mean it that way.” Chōji told the blonde girl.

  “Oh? And what way did he mean it?” She asked her rger companion in a sickeningly sweet tone.

  “He just meant that Naruto isn’t as loud as you are. Or as…. well… pushy.” Chōji admitted, trying to be as nice as he could before he and Shikamaru were jumped by Ino.

  The trio rapidly devolved into a cloud of fighting as Kushina pulled Naruto along deeper into the cn compound. The sun had begun to set, its orange hues consuming the blue sky to make way for the darkness to come. Once all the guests had left through the front gates, Kushina let out a deep sigh.

  “Okay… that wasn’t a complete disaster… Rea, what do you think?” Kushina said before turning to look at her cousin.

  “I think it went pretty well. Looks like Naruto’s made some new friends and your meeting with their fathers went well enough.” Rea commented, suppressing a chuckle at the still brawling children’s antics.

  “Naruto, how was your pydate?” Kushina said, trying her best to suppress a sigh.

  “It was great, mama. I had a lot of fun. Shikamaru may act like everything is a pain, but he’s nice once you get to know him. Chōji’s one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met. Ino may be a little loud and pushy, but she’s nice and really pretty. She kind of reminds me of you.” Naruto told his mother.

  “In what regard?” Kushina asked, raising her eyebrow sternly.

  “Well… she’s loud, pushy, and kinda scary… but she’s also really nice, really pretty, and she seems like a good friend to have by your side.” Naruto told his mother, trying to choose his words carefully due to feeling as if he had made a mistake of some kind.

  Kushina at first had a very stern wordless face before she gently patted his head. “Thank you, Naruto. Now then. Rea, please tell me dinner is done.” Kushina said, turning to look back at her cousin.

  “It is. On Naruto’s request, it’s char siu pork ramen tonight.” Rea replied.

  “You can’t let him keep getting away with this, you bird brain! How else is he supposed to grow up big and strong if we feed him nothing but ramen!?” Kushina yelled angrily before pounding her cousin directly on the head.

  “He made new friends, so I felt it was cause for celebration! Besides, it’s not my fault that your genes and the Fourth’s genes got along so well to create such a cute kid!” Rea replied to her cousin a bit defensively.

  Kushina turned to look at her son. He looked up at her like a puppy who was begging for mercy and snuggles. Eyes widened, a quivering lip, just a hint of glossiness to the eyes. All completed when he opened his mouth to speak.

  “Pwease, mama…” He said in his best cute, begging tone.

  “... Damn it, why do you have to be so cute? All right, fine, but just tonight. You're not getting ramen for the rest of the week, young man. Got it?” Kushina said, exasperated at the kid’s ability to manipute everyone.

  “Yay! I love you, mama!” Naruto replied happily, hugging his mom.

  Kushina chuckled as she ruffled his hair. Without another word, the three were off to the dining hall, ready to enjoy a well-earned feast.

  A Few Months Later

  “Oda, Rea. Are you sure this is going to be okay by inviting the Inuzuka cn here? The Aburame are well behaved, polite, and their insects do as they are told. But that lot…” Kushina said with clear concern in her voice as the Uzumaki residence was getting the finishing touches for the big day.

  “Don’t worry, cous. I’m sure it’ll be fine. The Inuzuka cn’s ninja hounds are house trained. Mostly.” Rea said semi-jokingly.

  “I wasn’t talking about the hounds.” Kushina said with a deadpan tone.

  “Nonsense, child. The Inuzuka have simir personalities to us Uzumaki. I’m sure our two cns will get along like a house on fire, just like you and Tsume did in your younger years.” Oda told his great-granddaughter.

  “Tsume and I got into a fight on our first day meeting each other. But we did become good friends afterwards and fought off some bullies together…” Kushina replied, seeing her great-grandfather’s point.

  Rea then looked around the room. “Has anyone seen the kid? I haven’t seen him all day.” The Uzumaki asked in confusion.

  “I’m ready!” Naruto’s voice replied from the doorway of the hall.

  The three turned towards the doorway. To their surprise, and Kushina’s horror, Naruto was wearing an oversized attack dog suit, the sleeves dragging across the floor due to its size. When he tried to waddle inside the room, he fell over and Kushina had to help him back up.

  “... Naruto… Why are you in that?” Kushina asked, face palming in exasperation as she got him on his feet.

  “The Inuzuka have doggies. Not all doggies are nice. I don’t wanna get bit.” Naruto expined, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Honey, if any of them even think of biting you, Rea will take the bite for you and kill it on the spot.” Kushina told him.

  “Wait, I am?” Rea asked in surprise.

  “Yes, you are.” Kushina sternly told him.

  “Dog bites were not part of the deal.” Rea said, slowly backing away.

  “I have altered the deal. Pray I do not alter it further.” Kushina replied seriously.

  “That's low.” Rea said, squinting his eyes at his cousin.

  “Get Naruto out of that thing and into his semi-formal robe!” Kushina sternly told her younger cousin.

  “Come on, kid. Let's get you changed before we both get put in the doghouse.” Rea said, walking out of the room as quickly as he could and grabbing Naruto on the way.

  “What does ‘get put in the doghouse’ mean, Uncle Rea?” Naruto asked, confused.

  “I’ll expin when you're older.” Rea sternly said, disappearing with the boy into the depths of the estate.

  Kushina let out a deep sigh. “How long is it until the two cns arrive?” Kushina asked Oda with thinly veiled disappointment.

  “We should have enough time to get Naruto changed and finish getting ready.” Oda told her.

  To their shock, however, they heard a loud knock on the door. Kushina walked up to the door, and to her horror, the Inuzuka cn delegation was early. Aside from the throng of massive ninja hounds and their intensely wolfish appearance, and the old yet still near tribal elders, was a woman and a child struggling with each other. The woman, Tsume, Kushina knew all too well. Her wild hair, intense facial markings, and abrasive angry tone gave that way. But the boy was someone new to her. Brown spiky hair wilder than even Narutos, two fang-like red markings on his cheeks indicative of the Inuzuka cn heritage the boy had, near fang-like canines, and an extremely wild and unkempt personality. One who was already in a csh with his mother’s intense, domineering one.

  “Kiba, you're going to come in here, py with Naruto, and you're gonna like it, you stubborn little brat!” Tsume yelled at the boy in her clutches.

  “C’mon, mom! It’s my turn to help with the pups today!” The boy now known as Kiba Inuzuka replied in frustration.

  Tsume hoisted the boy up to look her in the eyes. “Once, just once can you not make us look like a ughingstock Kiba?” She growled at him.

  Kiba flinched. ‘Sorry, mom…” He replied, becoming surprisingly compliant.

  Tsume sighed and put him down onto his own two feet. “Good.” Tsume said through the sigh.

  “Tsume? You're here early.” Kushina said with some surprise in her voice. This immediately got Tsume in a hint of a panic but quickly controlled it.

  Tsume smiled at her old friend. “Hey, Kushina. Yeah, I figured it’d be nice to have Kiba make a good first impression, so I insisted that we show up early.” She told the redheaded Hokage as her rge ninja hound Kuromaru, a rge, dark furred wolf-like hound with a missing ear and eye, walked up behind them.

  “‘Course I get dragged around by an angry old hag…” Kiba growled under his breath.

  “What was that, Kiba!?” Tsume snapped, gring at her son.

  “N-Nothing, momma…” Kiba sheepishly said in response.

  “Well, at least my son isn’t making an impression this time. Nearly gave me a heart attack at the st meeting.” Kushina said with a small chuckle.

  “What did Naruto do this time?” Tsume asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Went out to meet the indomitable trio and put his foot in his mouth. Love the kid to bits, but he can’t help but say stupid things…” Kushina said with a deep sigh.

  Tsume chuckled at that. “Reminds me of a certain redhead I know.” She replied pyfully.

  “Funny. Your son not following the authority of an equal authority denier. Like mother, like son.” Kushina said with a smirk, crossing her arms in the doorway.

  Tsume ughed a bit at that. “Hah! Fair point, Kushina!” She replied as she dragged Kiba inside, making sure they both took off their footwear at the door.

  “Come on in, everyone. We just have to wait for the Aburame to arrive and we can begin.” Kushina said, inviting the cn in.

  It was at that moment that Naruto walked in at Rea’s side, wearing semi-formal robes. As soon as he saw Kuromaru, he flinched and hid behind Rea’s leg. “Nice hellhound… good hellhound…” He nervously said.

  “Is that to Kuromaru or my mom? Not that I’d bme you if it was to my mom…” Kiba said before getting bonked on the head by said mother. “Ow! What was that for!?”

  “Be respectful of your elders, Kiba!” Tsume sternly told her son.

  ‘Lord, this is going to be a disaster. I have to dey them. I have to distract them…’ Kushina frantically thought, trying to stop this ongoing trainwreck.

  “You’re Naruto, right? What’s wrong? Don’t you like dogs?” Kiba asked the boy who looked like the one his mom described to him.

  “It's not that I don’t like dogs… I’m just nervous. He doesn’t bite, does he?” Naruto said nervously, pointing to Kuromaru.

  “No, but Kiba might.” Tsume said with a teasing smirk.

  “MA!!” Kiba shrieked.

  “To answer your question Naruto, no, he doesn’t bite. Observe.” Kushina said as she petted the top of Kuromaru’s head.

  Kuromaru nuzzled into Kushina’s hand before looking at Naruto. Nervously, Naruto walked up and slowly held his hand out. Kuromaru sniffed Naruto’s hand before lowering his head to let Naruto pet him. Reaching up, Naruto gently stroked the wolf hound’s head before scratching behind his one ear as Kuromaru’s leg kicked in joy at the gesture.

  “He’s… fluffy…” Naruto said sheepishly.

  Kiba smiled. “He sure is. I used to love snuggling into Kuromaru at night when I got scared and mom wasn’t home.” The wild looking boy admitted.

  “You still do, Kiba.” Tsume teasingly said.

  “Cousin! Our other guests are coming through the gates!” Rea yelled from the top floor.

  “Oh! Shibi and his boy are here!” Kushina said as she got ready to go greet them.

  “Great. We get to deal with bug boy.” Kiba sighed.

  “Kiba…!” Tsume growled, looking at her son out of the corner of her eye.

  “I didn’t call him spider punk this time!” Kiba excimed.

  Tsume raised her fist threateningly as Kiba flinched, only for Kuromaru to nuzzle her side to calm her down. Sighing, Tsume took a deep breath to calm herself and lowered her fist. Much to Kiba’s relief, as he was not looking forward to another bonk on the head. Kushina smiled before opening the door. To her shock, only Shibi and his son Shino were there. To say the two looked simir was an understatement. Both wore high colred robes in the traditionally drab colors of their cn, both had spiky bck hair, and both wore sungsses. The only difference was skin tone, Shibi tanned while Shino pale, and Shibi’s facial hair was the true difference. The two then politely bowed to the Hokage.

  “Greetings, Kushina-sama. Thank you for having us today.” Shibi stoically told his vilge leader, a small hint of a smile able to be felt beneath his high colr.

  “Thank you for having us, Hokage-sama.” Shino added, equally as stoically as his father.

  “Hello, Shibi. Greetings, Shino-chan. Where’s the rest of your cn’s upper hierarchy?” Kushina replied, raising an eyebrow near the end.

  “We killed them and ate their livers.” Shibi said in his normal stoic voice.

  The others all looked perturbed at that statement, unable to tell if he was serious or joking. “R… really…?” Naruto asked fearfully.

  “Worry not, young lord. That was what the kids would call a joke.” Shibi said to Naruto.

  Shino gave an ever so slight but stoic chuckle at his father’s joke. “Well done, dad.” He replied.

  “Lord Aburame…” Kushina tried to say, before Oda cut her off.

  “Delivery could’ve used some work.” Oda piped up, critiquing Shibi’s joke.

  Kushina gred at her great-grandfather before taking a deep breath and looking back at Shibi. “Shibi-san, if you don’t mind my asking, where are your cn elders right now?” She asked again.

  “This week is the mating season of the Giant Rock-Boring Beetle. Only my son and I could be spared in such an intensive and active time.” Shibi expined, his voice tone did not really change from earlier.

  “Are they that important?” Kushina asked, a bit surprised.

  “We have been attempting to build a self-sustaining popution since my grandfather’s time, and we believe we finally may be on the verge of our goal this season.” Shibi expined further.

  The others nodded in understanding as Naruto piped up. “What do they do?” Naruto asked.

  “They produce a natural acid that allows them to work through even chakra-enhanced stone. Perfect for sabotage work in the most covert of circumstances.” Shino expined, not missing a beat.

  “So, you use them to weaken a bad guy’s walls and stuff in a fight?” Naruto asked, wondering if he transted that right.

  “Correct. They also really like to eat flowers as well.” Shino replied.

  The others could not tell if the young Aburame heir was joking or not with that comment. And, before any of them could ask, Shibi turned to look at his son. “Shino, why don’t you go py with Kiba and the young lord?” He asked his son and heir.

  “Would you like to see the beetles I’ve been working with this year?” Shino asked the two boys after taking in his father’s order.

  Naruto and Kiba looked at each other before Naruto shrugged and looked at the stoic boy with a smile. “Sure. They’re super important for your cn’s jutsu, right?” He replied, asking to try to learn more.

  “That is correct. I, however, am too young to receive a colony of Kikaichu yet…” Shino said with some disappointment leaking into his voice.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be ready before you know it. Then you and your beetles can kick some serious butt.” Naruto told Shino, trying to cheer him up.

  Shino nodded, with a small smile poking above his high colr. With that the three boys rushed off, with Rea reluctantly following. Hoping those beetles did not hurt humans as much as they could hurt stone. With that, Kushina and Oda led the delegations deeper into the estate. Once outside in the courtyard, Shino pulled out a bug jar from his robes with a whole menagerie of insects inside it.

  Naruto looked at the beetles in the jar in awe, having never seen bugs like them before. “Cool. What do they do?” He asked, a bit amazed due to his child-like wonder at the sight of new bugs.

  “Each species is used for different tasks based on its greatest feature. Though the most basic ones are used for tracking and eating chakra.” Shino expined simply, knowing he would need to use smaller words for the two.

  Naruto got excited about that. “You can find people with them or use them to beat someone by making them eat their chakra? That’s awesome!” he told Shino, taking this information in with the enthusiasm only a little kid could.

  “At least he doesn’t have fleas. I hate fleas.” Kiba said with a sigh of relief.

  “Fleas are a necessary part of an ecosystem, Kiba. Even if their biting does cause itching for their victims.” Shino expined.

  “You are the first person ever to stand up for parasites.” Kiba said with a raised eyebrow.

  “You know what’d be funny? If we released some fleas into some old bag of bones Inuzuka cn member’s drawers.” Naruto said with an impish grin.

  Kiba smiled. “That is evil! I’m in!” He told the blonde Uzumaki.

  “If none of the fleas get hurt, I will participate.” Shino told the other two boys with a nod.

  “Then let’s go to the forest outside and find some fleas!” Naruto excitedly told the other two boys as they headed for the forest near the Uzumaki compound.

  Meanwhile: With the Delegations

  “Now then, with you all updated on the situation with the seals, I can give you an idea of what we are up against. As our vilge’s two foremost reconnaissance cns, it is likely that your shinobi will be among the first to meet the new foes we are about to face.” Kushina said to the representatives of the two cns in the meeting hall of the estate.

  Shibi, Tsume, and the Inuzuka elders nodded in response as the Aburame leader spoke up. “What sort of threats will be lurking beyond those gates that we will need to collect information on, Hokage-sama?” Shibi asked her.

  “The Kamishini cssify threats into groups. These groups are based upon common broad traits they share, though they can vary on the more minute details. I was informed the most common group at this time would likely be the giant kin group.” Kushina expined as Oda produced a scroll with the Kamishini symbol.

  “Giant kin? Like oni, ogres, and trolls?” Tsume asked, surprised.

  “Correct. If you think of a legend or myth, it is based on some part of reality. And the monsters, yōkai, demons, and gods of those tales, are real. Only by the miracle of the Kamishini’s vigince have we had that luxury up to now. But the war took a heavy toll on their capabilities, and with the weakening seals, we will soon have to face these monsters ourselves.” Kushina expined, which visibly worried those in the room.

  “The Aburame cn will provide whatever aid we can. Whether it is gathering data and information or on the battlefield, we will py our part. We simply need to know what kind of information we have to start with.” Shibi stoically told his vilge leader, being the first to speak up.

  “The same goes for the Inuzuka cn. No monster, no matter how insidious, is going to get past us. And we will hunt them down to the ends of the earth if it means keeping our vilge safe.” Tsume said defiantly, which got a verbal cheer from the elders behind her.

  Kushina let out a smile at that. “Thank you, everyone. Your support is appreciated. Great-grandfather Oda will provide you with copies of the scrolls of both the main monster groups and the various kinds of supernatural chakra’s that we will have to deal with. At the concve of the cns, council, and jōnin ter this year, we will go more in depth and discuss a greater grand response to this new threat.” Kushina said with a big smile.

  Tsume and Shibi, along with the Inuzuka elders, all nodded in response. “We Aburame will study this scroll’s information inside and out to see if we can uncover any information not mentioned in the subtext, Lady Hokage. After all, to defeat one’s enemy, one must first know them well enough to read them.” Shibi replied as Uzumaki Oda began passing out the scrolls.

  “You are a credit to your cn, Shibi-san.” Oda said with a smile, as he gave him a rge bundle of scrolls.

  Shibi nodded and accepted the scrolls, pulling out his copy to slip into his pocket to study ter. Tsume and the Inuzuka elders accepted their own copies of the scrolls and held onto them for ter. However, as soon as the Inuzuka members began to look at the scrolls, they soon yelped in sudden pain and began scratching at the lower parts of their body. Kushina and Tsume immediately noticed a substantial number of fleas coming off the scrolls. And a distinct sound of giggling coming from the doorway.

  “Hmm…” Shibi grunted, knowing exactly who did it already.

  “KIBAAAA!!!” Tsume roared in fury.

  “NARUTOOOO!!!” Kushina wrathfully cried out, her hair splitting into nine points.

  “Retreat! Fall back, men!” Naruto called out as the three boys took off running.

  With that, the two women heard the distinct sound of feet running on the floor. Smashing open the door; the two women gave chase. Determined to punish them for disturbing the meeting.

  To Be Continued…