“As for the sleeping arrangements, I can’t think of a better treatment for my nightmares than waking up in your arms. Besides, you’re pretty sexy when you’re not being a goofball. Play your cards right and I could end up doing more for you than cooking and shopping.”
It was cute how easy it was to embarrass him, but I knew perfectly well I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off him for more than a few days. Fortunately telling him about the loops made it a lot easier to find a pattern where he’d actually let me seduce him.
How was he? Let’s just say there are advantages to being a stamina freak.
Shacking up with Naruto was a lot more fun than I’d expected. Not only was it a completely new experience, but there was something viscerally appealing about the whole thing. Every time I cooked a meal for my man something inside me gave a happy little sigh of contentment. Was this why so many kunoichi retire when they marry?
Of course, Naruto could be pretty damned annoying too. He was a total slob, with no idea how to do even basic household chores, and he adamantly refused to wear anything but that stupid orange jumpsuit of his. I was tempted to burn it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do something I knew would upset him that much. Still, it made me curious what life would be like with his older self. The ‘real’ Naruto had been so strong, so confident, so…well, not mature exactly, but a lot less annoying and a lot more fun. Maybe when the loops were over…
Oh, get real. We’d be bored stiff in a couple of months.
“Hey, I’m not talking about retiring here. Just thinking it might be nice to have a family some day. Besides, you’re just miffed that he isn’t interested in kinky bedroom games.”
Hey, insane stamina is nice but I want my Gang Bang no Jutsu action! Besides, I’m getting tired of having to teach him how to do everything over and over.
“Does that mean you’re ready to stop seducing him?”
Hell, no.
It took another dozen resets to pin down the reflex system that held the conditioning Sasuke had inflicted on me, and figure out how to erase things from it. After that dealing with the memories wasn’t so hard, and as an added bonus I found that I could catalog and erase other ingrained habits with the same technique. Things like the feelings of insecurity that drove my younger self to be such an obnoxious bitch, and the lingering shame and guilt I still felt over the fact that I find women attractive. I tried not to go too far overboard with hacking my own brain, but I couldn’t resist the urge to tinker just a little.
Not long after that there finally came a day when I found myself finished with the last of my troubled memories, able to remember my worst moments of degradation in Sasuke’s little chamber of horrors without flinching. But I was still afraid. I’d meet him again sooner or later, and he could do it to me again with a look. In the loops I could probably run away again by killing myself, but I still had hopes of escaping them someday. To protect myself against him in the real world I’d need a jutsu like nothing I’d ever heard of. Something that could resist the strongest powers of the world’s most powerful bloodline. I had a long way to go.
“But first, I have a present to make.”
I made the next loop a long one, and made my confession to Naruto just as I had through those long, painful research loops. When he offered himself as my experimental subject I smiled, and kissed him.
“You’ve already done that.” I breathed as I settled myself in his lap. “Over and over, until I could hardly stand to ask you anymore. But it worked. I’m free now, Naruto, and I’m dedicating this loop to thanking you. From now until the end of the tournament I’m going to do everything in my power to give you a better life. I’ll do anything you want. You don’t even have to ask. Just give me a hint, and I’ll figure it out.”
I moved in with him the next day.
We spent the month training and playing and pranking the world, and it was even more fun than I expected. I taught him to use shadow clones for training, and showed him all those fire jutsu he’d always been so jealous of. Then I showed him Rasengan, and he knew he’d beat Neji in the tournament easily.
I showed him just how much fun I can be in bed, springing a new trick each day until a normal person would have been hopelessly addicted. Then I taught him my simpler bedroom techniques, and discovered to my amazed delight that with his massive chakra he could brush my defenses aside and reduce me to a puddle of dazed rapture with barely an effort.
But all good things come to an end. On the last day of the loop I woke with the dawn, and took one last look at his sleeping face. Then I laid my hand on his forehead, and copied off his memories of the last five weeks.
Someday, I’d give them to his older self.
5. Bargains
I made my way through the sewers in Naruto’s mind the way I’d infiltrate an enemy stronghold — with stealth and caution, all my senses straining for any hint of the unexpected. I’d long since discovered how to use jutsu in these mindscapes, so my feet slid noiselessly over the surface of the water as I found my way to the center of the maze. The massive gates I found there were just as Naruto had described them. So were the huge glowing eyes that watched me from the darkness beyond.
I stopped a good distance from the sealed gates, and bowed politely. “Kyuubi, my name is Sakura. I’ve come here seeking answers that no living human seems to have. I’m willing to bargain, if there is anything meaningful I can offer you. Will you speak with me?”
There was a sound like an avalanche rumbling down an uneven slope, and after a moment I realized the great beast was chuckling. “Why not? This prison grows boring after so many decades of monotony. Ask your questions, little monkey girl.”
“Decades?” I asked. But no, the explanation was obvious. “Oh. You’re aware of the loops. All of them, not just the ones I’m in.” I contemplated what it would be like to spend centuries in this cave, with only the dimmest awareness of what was happening in the world outside, and shuddered. “Ouch. Good thing your mind isn’t as fragile as a human’s. Do you know how to end it?”
“Not with any power you could wield. Eventually it will run down enough that the brat can break it, but that will take thousands of cycles.”
I briefly contemplated the amount of power it would take to affect time on the scale of the loop, and decided the Kyuubi was right. If we ever came up with a technique to break free Naruto would probably be the only one with the raw power to actually perform it.
“I was afraid of that. Well, on to my real question then. I’m looking for a way to counter the Sharingan’s power to control mindscapes like this one. The next time one of those Uchina bastards tries to mind-rape me I want to be able to turn the tables on him, or at least escape so I can kill him in the real world. Do you know of a way to do that?”
The Kyuubi growled and lashed his fiery tails in frustration, sending a huge wave of boiling water rushing across the cave. I managed to grab the edge of the wave with my chakra and vault over the top instead of being washed away, but it still scalded my hands.
“Hey! What the hell was that for?” I shouted.
“Impertinent child! Do you think I would be here if I had a counter for those cursed eyes?” The great beast roared back at me.
“What are talking about? What does Sharingan mind control have to do with your attack on Konoha?” But again, once I’d asked the question the answer was obvious. “Oh my god. You too?”