Nindō 0112: Touch of Uzumaki (2/2)

It took a while for Ino to recover as Naruto gave her some more details about the way that the pleasure ability worked. Since he knew he was going to be here for a while longer, he sent a clone to pick Himawari up from the academy.

"So what do you plan to call it?" Ino asked, sitting on the adjacent couch, away from Naruto. After everything that had happened, she was more than a little freaked out and needed time to sort things out.

"What? The ability? Who knows. I don't have the talent my father did when it came to naming things."

"So we're going to keep on referring to it as the technique?"

"For simplicity's sake, I'll call it the Touch of Uzumaki. At least until I come up with a better name. The power stems from my blood without actually being a bloodline ability. It's an aptly descriptive name."

"That's not bad," Ino said with an encouraging smile. "Anyway. Since we're done with this side tangent of a technique. How about we get to the real deal? The Research Center. What exactly is it, Naruto? What do you want my role in it to be? What is that seal you keep mentioning that will help you ensure that I am not compromised?"

"Let's start with your first question," Naruto said. "The Research Center is a place where I will place people I trust, researchers, analysts, scientists, and more. Their first project will be the healing elixir that Karin is working on. A way to reproduce her healing ability. At the same time, you will be working alongside the sealing specialists to develop that communication device that we—Alternate Ino and I discussed. The next project will be to analyze what the fuck made Hashirama Senju so special."

"What do you mean? Isn't it because of that whole Ashura reincarnation thing? You're just as strong, if not stronger."

Naruto shook his head. "The First Hokage was beyond any of the incarnations of Ashura. If I had to battle that man without Kurama, even today, he would give me a hard time. The secret to his power lies in his cells. The stuff that my prosthetic arm is made of." He raised his bandaged arm and flexed it. "It's a miraculous invention. This hand feels almost identical to my real hand. There is no sense of resistance or rejection either. I want to see what's so special about these cells. I want to go beyond just the Senju Bloodline—with the healing factor and Wood Release. There is more to these. And I will find it out. Once those things are done, I have a few more projects in mind."

"Okay, I understand why you wouldn't want those guys at Kara to find out about your research." Ino nodded. "What about me? Am I just a glorified gatekeeper, or does my role go deeper?"

"Both," Naruto said. "You will be responsible for the entire security framework of that operation. The only person with greater authority than you is me. You will be the person who makes sure that no one remembers a damn thing about its construction once everything is built. Unfortunately, because of your counterpart's actions, we will have to move the location of the base. This time, I will work from the ground up to make sure that this security is maintained."

"So that's why you had Shikamaru cancel all the contracts and essentially revert all our progress back to zero. He was pretty peeved about it."

"Yes. I will finalize things soon and set up a meeting with the core of the team during the weekend to tell you all about your roles in detail. Finally, that seal."

Ino straightened up as Naruto mentioned the seal.

"It will allow me to monitor your position and establish a mental connection that will allow us to communicate telepathically at all times. It is more nuanced than that, but that's the gist of the seal. Of course, if you have any thoughts of backing out, then you are free to. I won't suddenly call you a traitor if you refuse."

"I am the Yamanaka Clan Matriarch, Naruto …" Ino said with a frown. "I trust that you don't have any malice when giving me what sounds like the equivalent of a Cursed Mark, but I'm not so sure about the implications that come with it. I represent not only myself but also the Yamanaka clan."

"And you can continue favoring your clan as you currently do. That mark doesn't change anything. If anything, if you have the mark, I will be able to fully support whatever you want to do."

"I don't know …" Ino frowned. "You should've told me about this when we talked last week."

"I can give you time if you want," Naruto said. "You don't need to feel pressured."

"So it's a location tracker and a telepathic interface? Is it different from my communication jutsu?"

"Very," Naruto said. "This seal's telepathy cannot be blocked by any means. Even if you are sent to that alternate reality once again, you will still be able to contact me. Not only that, I may even be able to provide you with some limited support."

Ino was silent for a few minutes as she thought of the pros and cons of accepting that seal. Naruto didn't push her or distract her from her thoughts. He was confident that she would accept the seal solely based on the ability to communicate with him across universes.

"How are you sure that this seal can work across different realities?"

"The same reason that I am sure that multiple realities exist. You will have to trust me on that. This seal will work. It comes from the same source as the Touch of Uzumaki."

After another minute or so of hesitancy, Ino's face steeled, expressing her resolve. "I'll take it. I'm terrified of what our future holds, and you are my only viable bet aside from siding with the Ōtsutsuki. And they want to eat us like snacks. If there is even a slim chance that you aren't bullshitting me, I'm going to take this bet."

"I'm not bullshitting you, Ino," Naruto smiled. "Now give me your hand."

"Of fuck no," Ino refused, pulling her legs up to her couch as she curled up into a ball, wrapping Naruto's spare jacked around her compressed frame to hide herself. She violently shook her head in denial. "You are not touching me anymore."

"Oh, don't be a baby. You'll only feel good when my chakra enters your system."

"That's what I'm scared of."

"It's already happened once. What's the problem with doing it again? You can imagine that I'm the other Naruto, and you are currently lost in the bliss of his embrace."

"If you weren't the fucking Hokage, I would've stabbed you with a knife," she said through her teeth.

"Give me your hand. It's going to be a pleasant experience. You just need to close your eyes and leave the rest to your imagination."

"I swear, after all this heated sexual tension here, if I open my eyes and you're naked … So help me, I won't give a fuck if you are the Hokage or not, I will bite your monster of a cock."

With that threat, Ino closed her eyes, hesitantly extending her slender hand forward. She immediately flinched when Naruto grabbed her hand, and her face wrinkled up in a grimace as if he was about to inflict some kind of horrific torture on her. She only got more terrified as Naruto interlaced their fingers for the third time since she had brought him home.

That expression immediately softened when Ino felt Naruto's warm chakra flowing through her body. It was as if a warm presence was slowly spreading through her body from their point of contact. An involuntary hum escaped her lips as she tightened her grip on Naruto's hand. A few seconds passed as the warmth spread across her entire body. Just as she thought that the experience would be a straightforward one without any complications, the complication occurred.

The previously pleasant warmth soon made her feel like she was burning on the inside. A cry of pain escaped her lips. Not only did the heat seem like it wouldn't recede, but it was slowly gathering in her abdomen, giving rise to a different kind of heat in her body.

As the seconds passed, Ino continued shivering, unable to control her reactions as she felt her entire existence being overwhelmed by Naruto's chakra. She wasn't even aware of her surroundings by the time a minute had passed. She was tightly held in Naruto's arms as he rubbed his back while still clasping her hand with a firm grip.

Minutes passed before the process was finally concluded. By the end, Ino was left unconscious in Naruto's arms after having released enough sweat and other liquids that she was positively dehydrated.

Naruto had a thought as he gently laid Ino on the couch and used the jacket that was around her shoulders to cover her wet and now see-through tank top.

[Do you think it's humans that are too susceptible to the effects of the mark, or would a tailed beast also have the same reaction?]

[Try it with the Jūbi husk that you took from Momoshiki. I am not going to be a test subject, nor am I going to let you use any of my siblings as test subjects.]

Naruto chuckled as he pried Ino's mouth open and slowly poured water into his throat while using medical ninjutsu to make sure that it went down the right path.

[Was it her abdomen that got the mark? I had assumed it would be somewhere on her head.] Kurama asked Naruto.

[It is, you just can't see it. Ino's abilities are focused on the spirit. That is what the mark targeted. The seal is present on the back of her head, on her nape. It did target her head, but its focus was on her nervous system and the brain stem.]

As Naruto emptied an entire bottle of water into Ino's throat, he turned her head and shifted her into a slightly more comfortable position.

"There it is," He whispered, shifting her hair as his fingers traced over the back of her neck, tracing the Dominion Mark.

***

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