Nindō 0144: Justification

Naruto entered his house with some hesitation as Sasuke and the new Delta followed him in.

"Master!" Sarada exclaimed as Hinata looked worriedly at Naruto.

"What's going on?"

"Boruto got entangled with the same thing as Ino," Naruto told Hinata as concisely as he could. "He is still unconscious, but the moment he wakes up, I will contact him through the mark and make sure he prioritizes his safety. He's going to be perfectly fine."

Hinata looked hesitant as she looked into Naruto's eyes for any hints of falsehoods, even when she was sure she didn't stop looking at him.

"He'll be fine," He said, pulling her into his arms. "You have my word."

Hinata gripped his shirt tightly and pressed her face into his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Sarada exclaimed, finally noticing the two others who came with Naruto. Her father's presence didn't surprise her much since she was aware that he was in Konoha. What surprised her was the presence of the woman who was previously their enemy standing behind her master. "You were just trying to kill us."

Instinctively, she stood up and shielded the unconscious Himawari behind her.

"My deepest apologies," she bowed politely. "The woman attempting to attack you was my clone. Master gave me a new lease on my life, and I am eternally grateful to him."

"Let me explain, Sarada," Naruto said with some helplessness as he stepped inside the house with Hinata walking beside him.

A little while ago.

Kashin Koji left to give Amado Naruto's message, and Delta's figure stopped resisting in her restraints. With her mouth and eyes suppressed, she couldn't signal to Naruto that she was fine, which made him wait for a few seconds before he finally decided to free her.

The woman coughed weakly as the construct covering her mouth extracted itself from her throat, finally freeing her.

"Thank you, Master," she spoke, slowly standing up and dusting herself off.

"You can just refer to me as Lord Hokage, Akebi," Naruto said.

"Umm," she raised her finger. "Would Master mind calling me Delta? Akebi was my previous identity, the identity of a simple woman who died from a simple disease. Since I have been reborn as your tool, I wish to be called as such."

"Ahem," Naruto coughed awkwardly. "All that tool talk was just stuff I said in the heat of the moment… Delta. You are more than just a mindless tool, okay? While I will employ you as one of my guards, you are going to get a salary, holidays, and other benefits that come with the position."

"I shall do as my master desires," she said before kneeling down in front of Naruto. "You can use me in whatever way you wish. I am yours to command."

"You don't really seem to be listening," Naruto sighed. "I won't be using you as such, Delta. First off, cover yourself. Your dress isn't even qualified to be considered a rag anymore."

"Whatever master commands," she said without making any moves. If anything, she seemed to be pushing her barely covered chest out while looking up at him with a false innocent gaze.

"Fine, if you want to be treated as such." Naruto shook his head. "I won't dishonor your wishes. Stand up and wear this cloak." He handed her a simple black cloak from his storage seal. "Follow me, we're going home."

…

"And that's how I have a very strong combatant as my subordinate. She may be a bit enthusiastic about serving me, but that's all fine as long as I can put her skills to good use."

"So you resurrected someone from the dead?" Sarada said incredulously. "That's a possibility?"

"Of course not," Sasuke interjected. "Don't forget the red lightning that tore through a huge chunk of Kurama's chakra like it was nothing. Not to mention the deal he made with the Shinigami to allow this to happen. You don't simply bring people back from the dead without dire consequences. Remember that."

"Yes, Papa," Sarada nodded with some nervousness, not used to Sasuke being so serious with her.

"What about her housing?" Hinata asked. "Will she live with us?"

"Of course not," Naruto said. "She will receive housing as a part of her job benefits. Despite her mannerisms, she is a shinobi of Konoha from now on."

"If I may, master," Delta said, raising her arm again. "I don't think you need to go through so much trouble. I should be able to stay in your mindscape instead. I would love to accompany those majestic beasts inside that I only caught a glimpse of before. That way, I can always be ready to serve you, should you summon me."

Naruto groaned and placed his hand on his head as Hinata's flat look pierced into his skull.

"Delta," he said. "Meet my wife, Hinata. You don't just say things like that. Especially not in front of her."

"Oh, my apologies," she said before turning to Hinata. "Greetings, mistress Hinata. Please do not take my words as having a different meaning. I am truly loyal to my master and, by extension, his wife. You may command me to do anything, and I will follow without hesitation."

"All right, we will unpack you later," Naruto said as he shook his head. Hinata was left speechless while Sarada and Sasuke showed such similar looks of amused confusion that they could only be father and daughter. "Come here, Delta." Naruto tapped his foot on the floor in front of her and formed a seal under her. With a clasping of his hands, she disappeared from her spot. Her physical form was incorporated into Kurama's seal while her soul appeared inside Naruto's mindscape.

"You can do that?" Sarada asked dumbly.

"Not just for anyone," Naruto clarified. "Only for Delta because of her unique circumstances. Normal people are different from Tailed Beasts and can't simply be stored inside my body. At best, I can allow someone to project their consciousness inside my mindscape."

"Oh," Sarada sounded disappointed, making Sasuke frown as he narrowed his eyes and glanced at Naruto before turning back to his daughter.

"Now that she's been taken care of… Boruto." Naruto said with a heavy expression on his face. "I have some good news for everybody. He's awake, and he's perfectly healthy. Nothing is going to happen to him."

"Can I talk to him?" Hinata asked immediately. She was aware of Boruto's Dominion Mark and knew of its ability to talk telepathically across any distance.

"Not yet." Naruto held her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "But it will be possible soon. I will work on a way to expand the mark's telepathic ability to allow multiple people to join a connection."

"I see…" Hinata bit her lower lip, looking stressed and worried.

"He's going to be fine," Naruto reassured her. "I'll make sure of it."

"Shall we move on to the explanation?" Sasuke got impatient as Naruto seemed to be constantly delaying giving him the crux of the situation.

Naruto shared a look with Hinata and let go of her hand before approaching the couch. She went to the kitchen while he came up to Himawari's unconscious form and picked his daughter in his arms before sitting back down.

"Sit, Sarada, Sasuke," he said while patting Himawari's back as he held her gently.

The two of them shared a look and nodded as Sasuke sat on the single-person armchair adjacent to the couch and Sarada sat beside Naruto on Sasuke's opposite side because the rest of the couch was taken up by Kawaki, who was still unconscious.

"Some time back …" Naruto told them the situation at the same time as Boruto, narrating almost the same information to both of them. The only thing he skipped out on was how he knew who was responsible for Ino's return. To them, Ino's disappearance and return was a mystery. In the middle of his explanation, Hinata brought tea for everyone, at which point Sarada politely got off of her place on the couch and sat down on the carpet instead.

Everyone was left silent as they took in Naruto's explanation about an alternate reality and the impending doom of a collision with said alternate reality.

[Did you deliberately make my tea bitter?] Naruto asked as he sipped the tea Hinata had brought for everyone.

[Naturally. You brought another woman into the fray without telling me after giving your perverted mark to Ino and Sakura. You are also planning to do the same with the Fifth Hokage. Do you think I'm not annoyed?]

[I thought you wouldn't have any of that on your mind with Boruto's situation.]

Hinata gave him a side-eyed look and moved her foot before pressing down.

[Oww …] Naruto's face got slightly stiff as Hinata's heel dug into the top of his foot.

[I am obviously worried to death about him. But you said that he's going to be fine. That means he's going to be fine. I know that.]

Despite the pain he was feeling from Hinata's heel, Naruto looked at her with a suppressed sense of surprise in his eyes.

[What?]

[I love you…]

[I'm still conflicted about it. What are you going to do what that suggestive slut that you've taken in?]

[She'll be fine. She is absolutely submissive to me. She will never have the thought of resisting any actual commands I give her. If you want, she can help you with the household work.]

[I don't need any help with that. Keep her out of the house. I am not interested in catering to any maid fetishes you might have.]

[When are you going to get tired of accusing me of trying to fetishize everything? She is a very strong combatant and will be a useful part of my Anbu. Not to mention, she is a very useful bargaining chip related to an important guy in Kara.]

[I told you before, Naruto. I won't penalize you for having these subordinates. But if you sleep with any of them, then you have another thing coming.]

[I know, honey. I have been completely open with you about everything since then. You know that. I brought Delta here first thing after concluding everything.]

Hinata didn't respond and silently sipped her tea.

[I know, and I appreciate your efforts to rekindle my trust in you. Please finish that tea; I made it with a lot of heart.]

Naruto glanced at Hinata, speechless at her pettiness. Still, he continued sipping the bitter tea.

"This is messed up," Sasuke finally responded after more than a minute of thoughtful silence.

"That it is," Naruto nodded. "If not for Ino returning, we wouldn't even know that we had a mole in our midst."

"With Boruto there, and him able to establish a connection with you…" Sasuke meaningfully looked at Naruto.

"Way ahead of you, buddy," he said. "You know my son's rebellious streak. I'll make sure that he does significant damage to their stability before returning."

Hinata looked at Naruto flatly.

"After appropriately training him. His safety is paramount."

Hinata seemed satisfied enough and nodded silently.

"This tea is very good, Mrs. Uzumaki," Sarada complimented.

"Please, honey. You can just call me Aunt Hinata. No need for such formalities."

—

A/N: Some clarification regarding Sarada's master and Delta's master. Sarada addresses Naruto as master in a teacher-disciple sense, while Delta calls him her master in a servant-master sense. We have Shishō, which means a teacher or mentor, and we have Goshujin-sama, which means master in the more traditional servant sense. Both words translate to master in English, hence my usage of master for Sarada's address as well as master for Delta's address. Let me know if you want me to use the Japanese terms instead.

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