Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY.

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Colder

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Chapter Three

"Feel better?" Melanie questioned as she finished up making breakfast while Naruto entered the small kitchen and sat at the table, having just got out of the shower; he was kind of glad he kept a spare set of clothes in his car. He had left the clean button-up shirt, vest, and tie in his car for later while the set of clothes he had worn last night were stashed away in the trunk.

"Yeah, a little..." Naruto mumbled quietly, letting his head rest in one hand with his eyes closed and elbow braced on the table; he still had a bit of a headache, but the aspirin the long haired sister had given him were starting to work. "Um...Which one were you again?"

"Hehe...Melanie." She laughed out quietly, not at all surprised that he didn't remember who either of them were. He had been pretty drunk when they introduced themselves last night. Naruto was a little glad Melanie had her back to him, blushing slightly at the sound of her laugh; it was soft and melodious, making his heart flutter for some reason. Yeah, he'd spent a lot of time around girls, especially whenever he went to a club or spent some time at Ebon Snow, but...He couldn't put his finger on it when it came to the two identical sisters. It was that curiousity and internal confusion that made him drag his feet instead of leaving at the first opportunity like he usually would. Plus, he didn't want to deal with Weiss until after his headache was long gone.

"Oh, okay. And your sister's name was...Militia, right?" Naruto asked, both unaware of said twin standing just outside the kitchen, watching how the two interacted now that Naruto wasn't drunk. Militia had to admit, he was a bit of a gentleman when he was sober...and without his vest and dress shirt, she couldn't help admiring how well his underarmor shirt conformed to his well-toned body to the point she could nearly identify each of the muscle groups on his torso and arms since the top was practically a second set of skin on him. She blushed slightly and forced herself to tear her eyes away from the Schnee...

"Mm-hm..." Melanie hummed out before glancing over her shoulder at Naruto. "You don't mind your eggs being scrambled, do you?"

"No, go ahead. Scramble away..." Naruto returned before pulling out his Scroll...and quickly wincing when he noticed he had over a dozen missed calls. From each of his four team mates. Then he realized that it was on silent mode, which would explain why he never knew about them calling. Having a feeling that they were all from Weiss trying to get a hold of him, Naruto simply put his Scroll away and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck slightly. "So...You two live here on your own?"

"Yeah. When we started working here, Junior found out about us having problems keeping up with the rent at our old place and has been letting us stay here since then." Melanie answered honestly as she continued making breakfast for the three of them. "We owe a lot to Junior. He's been helping us out for a few years now after..."

"...It's alright. It's not really any of my business anyways." Naruto spoke up softly when Melanie suddenly trailed off, stopping what she was doing for a few seconds. Hearing his words and smiling slightly, though sadly, Melanie returned to her cooking. From her spot, Militia gained a saddened look of her own as she turned her gaze down to the floor, knowing what Melanie had been about to say before she caught herself.

Unlike the Schnee, who had lived a grand life compared to them, the sisters had never known their father, who had run off on their mother before they were born. It wasn't until they were about four or five when their mother, stressed out from being a single mother in a bad part of town, resorted to drug use. It wasn't that bad at first, but then her recreational use became an addiction when they were about ten. Everything went downhill from there. Their mother started having health problems and nearly died from over-dosing a handful of times throughout the following five years. By the time they were sixteen and still at school, a standard civilian school, their mother over-dosed again, only the Malachite sisters weren't there to call an ambulance or try to help their mother...

After their mother passed away, they dropped out of school and started looking for work, taking turns with working since they were identical twins, making it incredibly difficult for people to tell the difference between them. Then they met Junior a year later. Everything changed, for the better this time, after that. He gave them both a job at his club, starting out as simple waitresses and part-time bartenders. He even started teaching them how to fight and helped them construct their own weapons. From there, he promoted them to his 'bodyguards' whenever he was working outside of the club and as the head of security whenever he was present. Around that same time, he found out about them having trouble keeping up with the rent at their old apartment and immediately had them move into the unused studio apartment above the club.

Now eighteen years old, both sisters had yet to find themselves wanting of anything that they didn't really need. They had a decent sized studio apartment all to themselves, a warm bed to sleep in, working heating and air conditioning, running water and electricity, plenty of food to eat, plenty of clothes to wear, and no real or substantial problems to deal with. They never really said anything about it, even to each other, but Militia knew that Melanie felt the same way about Junior as she did; the thirty-two year old man was the closest thing to a father they had and would do anything and everything within their power to keep him safe.

"Here you go..." Melanie spoke up, snapping Militia out of her thoughts as she set two plates of food down on the table and then a third for herself. "I'll be right back. I'm going to go find Militia."

"Don't bother. I'm right here." The short haired twin spoke up as she casually entered the kitchen, making it seem as if she had already been on her way and not spying on the two. She knew she had been caught, however, when Naruto looked up at her with a raised eye brow and a faint smirk. Still, she was thankful the Schnee didn't say anything. Looking down at her plate of food, Militia couldn't help sighing slightly when she saw the simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and buttered toast; at least she decided to add some diced green and red bell peppers to the eggs this time for a little more flavor. "...I really need to get you a cook book."

"S-Shut up! It's not my fault I don't know how to cook a whole bunch of stuff like you..." Melanie retorted defensively with a pout as she sat down, blushing slightly. "You're the one that worked at that restaurant, not me..."

'Sisters...' Naruto thought with a small amused chuckle, shaking his head slightly before taking a bite of his food. It could use a bit of salt and pepper, maybe a few other spices, but it wasn't that bad. Even though he still agreed with Militia about getting Melanie a cook book...and maybe some cooking lessons to go with it...

xXx

"It was really nice meeting you, Naruto. I hope to see you again one day..." Melanie spoke up after she and Militia walked Naruto out to his car out front, even going so far as to give the Schnee a brief hug. "You drive safe, okay?"

"Haha...I will." Naruto laughed out quietly as he hugged her back for a moment, appeciative of her concern. As they broke apart, Naruto looked at Militia, who was looking off to the side stubbornly with her arms crossed under her chest; she still refused to openly admit, in any way, shape, or form that she had actually enjoyed Naruto's company and would miss him as much as her sister. Shaking his head slightly with another small smile, Naruto made his way around his car, unlocking and opening the driver side door with the remote. "Have a good day, you two...and be nice to your sister, Militiades."

"..." Militia instantly shot the white haired teen a half-hearted glare, both for using her full first name and for insinuating that she wasn't nice to her sister. Naruto simply laughed while climbing into the Raven XS supercar, the door shutting on its own as he started the engine. Both girls flinched back slightly at the sudden explosion of aggressive sound that erupted from the four-wheeled machine. Inside the car, Naruto couldn't help laughing a little more. It was a common reaction whenever it came to those that hadn't been around loud cars, especially so when it came to a car like his. Just as he was about to put the car into gear to leave, Naruto hesitated, but...he wasn't sure why. Shaking his head slightly, Naruto did it anyways and took off, leaving the Malachite twins behind. "...Did you have to tell him my full name?"

"Hehehe..." Melanie couldn't help the giggle that escaped her, knowing how much it irritated her sister when someone called by her full first name; it was only an extra syllable, but Militia simply didn't like it all that much...

As he pulled up to a red light further down the street, Naruto took the moment to pull out his Scroll and slip it into the mount on his dash, selecting one of the contacts in his phone-like device. It was only a few seconds before the call was answered...

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Weiss instantly howled through the phone, making Naruto cringe painfully and turn down the volume to the speakers in his car; they had been on full volume still from last night. "I've been worried sick about you!"

"Sorry, sis...I just needed to get out for a little while." Naruto answered sheepishly while trying to stop the ringing in his ears as he started driving again, following the laws of the road for once. "You know how I get when I'm cooped up for too long. Especially when I'm upset..."

"...Yang told me what you did last night..." Weiss growled out at him, making Naruto wince again. He had completely forgetten about Yang tracking him down last night and the only reason he knew was because of the Malachite sisters telling him about her. "I am not happy about that..."

"Oh, come on, sis! It was just a couple drinks!" Naruto whined, knowing she was probably going to try taking his car keys from him or something; she'd already done it once before and he had no doubt in his mind that she'd try it again. "Besides, it's not like I was drunk driving like last time!"

"I. Don't. Care." She answered coldly and firmly, getting a groan from Naruto. Yeah, she was going to take his keys again. "...The least you could have done was call and let me know you were okay..."

"...I'm sorry, sis." Naruto apologized softly and sincerely with a soft sigh, his sister's voice having dropped to just above a whisper with her worry obvious in her tone. "I'm on my way back now..."

"Okay..." Weiss responded quietly, but Naruto easily recognized the signs. He sighed quietly again.

"Weiss...Please don't cry." Naruto urged gently. Hearing her take a couple deep breaths and, hopefully, calm back down, he smiled faintly, though sadly.

"...I'm still taking your keys when you get back..." Weiss muttered threateningly a moment later before hanging up immediately after...

"OH, COME ON!" Naruto yelled indignantly...

xXx

"Naruto!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully as she tackle hugged the well-dressed Schnee heir, who laughed slightly and hugged her back, the black sack bag holding his clothes from last night falling to the floor next to his feet and his keys dangling from his fingers. Something Weiss took full advantage of...

"I'll be taking those..." Weiss commented while quickly snatching the keys from Naruto's hand, who could only glare at her with a childish pout. A second later, she pried Ruby off of her brother and stepped between them, giving Naruto a stern look...only to hug him as tight as she could, burying her face against his shoulder to hide the few tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Naruto simply wrapped his arms around her and smiled sadly. "Don't you dare scare me like that ever again..."

"I won't, sis..." Naruto mumbled quietly as he closed his eyes and soothingly rubbed her back. "I promise."

"You better..." She mumbled into his vest, her hold on him tightening a little more; she didn't know what she would do if she lost her brother. From her spot on her bed, Blake couldn't help smiling warmly at the touching moment, Yang and Ruby doing the same. After a few moments, Weiss slowly pulled back and gave him another small glare. "Now...Who's Melanie and Militia?"

"Wh-What?" Naruto stammered out a bit nervously before glancing up at Yang, who grinned at him sheepishly with a shrug. Giving the blonde a momentary glare, Naruto focused back on Weiss, getting a little nervous again as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked off to the side, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Th-They're...just some friends I met while I was at the club last night..."

"Oh? Just what kind of...friends?" Weiss inquired while crossing her arms and raising a delicate ivory eye brow at her older brother. She had already gotten the 'full' story from Yang, but she figured her brother deserved to be stuck in the hot seat for once after his little escapade. If anything, she was actually a little grateful to the two for watching out for her brother last night...

"Don't even start, Weiss. Nothing happened..." Naruto countered a little defensively with a sigh as he stepped around his sister and haphazardly tossed his bag next to his cot before sitting on it. "They let me stay the night so that I wasn't driving drunk or anything. That's all."

"Riiight..." Yang teased quietly from her spot right next to Naruto on Blake's bed with a sly smirk, staying quiet enough to keep Weiss from hearing while discreetly holding her Scroll just right, the picture Militia had taken and sent to Yang displayed on the screen. Seeing it, Naruto instantly blushed and looked away; the sisters hadn't told him about that happening...

"Hmph..." Weiss huffed while sitting down on her bed. She then sighed slightly. "Ms. Goodwitch wanted to speak with you about what happened with Cardin yesterday...and some girl came by wanting to talk to you about the same thing."

"Oh, yeah! What was her name again?" Ruby piped in before scratching her head slightly in thought for a moment. "I think she said her name was Coco. She was that bunny-eared girl's team mate or something."

"This is why I didn't want to come here to begin with..." Naruto grumbled while flopping down on his cot, sighing with over-exaggerated exasperation. "I just can't ever relax around here."

"Don't blame us." Blake retorted while pulling out one of her books, glancing at the Schnee with her cool-tempered amber eyes. "You're the hot shot that has all the girls chasing after him..."

"I do not!" Naruto argued childishly as he shot her a mock-glare, his cheeks burning hot again. The four girls in the room couldn't help laughing slightly at his expense, making Naruto blush even more and roll over in his bed so that he was facing the wall. While he could blame it all on the fact he was a Schnee and rich, Naruto still knew it was because he naturally treated women properly and with respect. Temporarily unknown to the sole male heir of the Schnee family, his reputation was steadily climbing amongst the other students as the story of how he, a Schnee, defended a Faunus and beat up the Human that was bullying her. "It's not funny..."

His pitiful whine only made the girls laugh even harder and louder at him, Weiss joining in with them just as enthusiastically as the other three...

xXx

"Three-twenty-one...Three-twenty-two...Ah, three-twenty-three..." Naruto mumbled quietly to himself as he came to a stop at the numbered door to a dorm room on the third floor of the building, his own having been on the fourth floor. Hesitating for a moment, Naruto wasn't so sure it was a good idea, but the others had practically forced him into seeing the girl that came looking for him yesterday. Just as he was about to knock, he was stopped...

"Knock all you want, but no one's in there to answer the door." A young woman spoke up from a short distance away, walking towards him. He didn't let it show, but he was mildly stunned by the girl's beauty and how her sense in fashion only seemed to accent said beauty, flaunting it proudly while remaining rather conservative; unlike Yang's fashion sense.

He could also tell she was no stranger to combat; form fitting copper-brown turtleneck that left a sliver of her slim midriff uncovered with a black corset-like item worn over it, the shoulder strap to her black handbag holding dozens of large calibur bullets, tight black cargo pants covering her legs with the leggings tucked into the black knee-high leather boots on her feet and lower legs with thick raised heels that gave her an extra three inches in height, more large calibur bullets lining her copper-brown leather belt, and black leather gloves covering her hands. Adjusting her sunglasses with a slightly smirk, Coco decided to have a bit of fun with the Schnee. "Who are you looking for anyways?"

"Uh...Some girl named Coco. My team mates said she stopped by last night while I was...in town." Naruto responded while scratching the back of his neck and glancing down at his Scroll; according to the others, the girl had said to come by her team's dorm room around five o'clock and it was only a quarter past, so he wasn't late. He also avoided mentioning how he had gotten drunk last night. "She said to stop by around this time...and now I'm the one getting stood up. No one wants me to relax, do they?"

"Hm." Coco hummed quietly as her smirk grew a little bigger. "Who knows, some of those people just might be rather fun to hang around..."

"Yeah...You got a point there." Naruto agreed with a shrug, putting his Scroll away. He then held a hand out to her in greeting, smiling a little sheepishly. "I'm Naruto, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Naruto." Coco returned while shaking his hand before dropping the 'bomb' on his head for her own amusement. "I'm Coco..."

"Y-You...You're Coco?" Naruto stammered a little nervously, his grinning turning a bit awkward as he slowly retracted his hand. "Uh...Ehehe...Too late to apologize, isn't it?"

"Apologize? For what?" Coco returned with another smirk before opening the door to her dorm room, which wasn't much different than his own team's room. "You technically weren't talking behind my back or anything, so there's nothing to apologize for."

"You...have a point there." Naruto mumbled a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he cautiously followed her into the room. Gently shutting the door behind him, Naruto slipped his hands in his pockets, having always been a little uncomfortable with being in other people's rooms. "So...What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You can sit down, you know?" Coco responded while pulling out one of the wooden desk chairs set off to the side. Sitting down in it and crossing one booted leg over the other, she clasped her hands together and rested them on her knee, waiting for Naruto to follow her example and sit down in the other desk chair. Her smirk faded away after that into an unreadable expression, one that was neither good nor bad. "I've been hearing a lot of people talking about you and what you did to Cardin yesterday..."

"Not this again..." Naruto sighed out with a touch of annoyance, looking off to the side with a small shake of his head. When he looked back towards her to say something else, Coco held up a hand placatingly to silence him before he could start.

"Your sister already told me about your anger problems." The brown haired young woman continued calmly. "I originally sought you out to thank you for standing up for my friend, Velvet, but after your sister told me you had anger issues, I decided to do something different."

"Like what? Group therapy?" Naruto remarked sarcastically with a roll of his eyes; he'd gone through a few anger management programs in the past, but they never did anything for him. It was one of the reasons why he got into drawing and usually did his best to avoid letting things ruin his good mood. His temper was tricky, though. Sometimes, it was slow to build up and burned like cold fire, but sometimes it went off like a bomb, hitting hard and fast with no way to stop it, only endure it.

"...Something like that." Coco answered after a couple seconds of silence, making Naruto turn his now-narrowed eyes back towards her. "I've been there, Naruto. I know what it's like to have an 'inner demon', one that can just as easily turn on friends as it can dispatch your enemies..."

"Hmph..." Naruto snorted stubbornly as he looked away again, but Coco could see the look in his eyes. He was listening, but he obviously wasn't happy about the surprise intervention from someone he didn't even know.

"Everything we talk about here is strictly between you and me, Naruto." Coco reassured. "I've already explained to my team mates that I would at least be offering you an ear to talk to whenever you need it. All I have to do is give the word and they'll leave us alone to talk for as long as we need..."

"..." Naruto stayed quiet, but Coco could see it in his eyes as he contemplated the offer, weighing the pros and cons of it for a minute. When he stood up and headed for the door without saying a word, Coco couldn't help sighing heavily. It would not be an easy time with him...

"The offer will always be there, Naruto." Coco called out from her spot just as Naruto opened the door, making him pause for a few moments. "Your sister already gave me your Scroll number, so I'll send you mine, just in case you decide to give me a call. It doesn't matter what time it is; if you need someone to talk to, just give me a call...Okay?"

Naruto didn't say anything as he left the room, gently shutting the door behind him. No, Coco mused solemnly, it would not be easy at all...

xXx

"Maaaan...I'm so bored!" Yang groaned while laying across her bed on her back, her head hanging over the edge.

"Then read a book." Blake commented, trying to do the same amongst Yang's constant complaining. Rolling over, she peered down at Blake with a flat look.

"I said I was bored, not desperate..." The blonde muttered before grinning cheekily when Blake glanced up from her book and shot her a narrow eyed look in return. Across the room, Ruby was lounging in her bed in her pajamas with her headphones on, oblivious to what was happening around her as she flipped through one of her many weapon-oriented magazines; parts, mass produced weapon models, unique weapon models, different kinds of ammunition. If her magazines didn't have it, it didn't exist. Foot bouncing and twitching in time with her music, Ruby continued to enjoy spending her afternoon in her own little 'world'.

Below her, Weiss wasn't so blissfully ignorant. She hadn't told the others about what Coco wanted with Naruto outside of thanking him for helping her team mate, so they were ignorant of the true reason. She knew, however, and she worried about how it would turn out. It had already been half an hour since he left to meet with her and there had been no sign of either of them. In the next moment, the door opened and in walked Naruto, but he didn't shut the door and he didn't seem all that happy at the moment, not looking at anyone in the room with his gaze locked on the ground a few feet in front of him.

Before she could even say something, Naruto simply held a gloved hand out towards her as he headed towards his cot, silencing her. Pulling out the black duffel bag stashed under it that bore the Schnee emblem on either end, Naruto retrieved his sketch pad, the container he normally stored his drawing utensils in, his music player, and something else that she didn't get a good look at. A moment later, he left, shutting the door behind him. All without saying a word. From their spots, Yang and Blake could only look from the door to Weiss, who looked strangely depressed all of a sudden; Ruby hadn't even realized anything had happened. The two shared a brief glance before Yang dropped from her bunk and went over to sit next to Weiss.

"What was that all about?" Yang asked quietly with sincere concern. "Why'd he just...shun you like that?"

"...He's mad at me." Weiss muttered quietly while drawing her knees up to her chest, struggling with everything she had not to cry in front of the others at the moment. Before Yang or Blake could even ask why, she started talking again. "That girl, Coco...She heard about how Naruto reacted with Cardin yesterday and...she said something about going through similar problems in the past and wanted to help him with his anger issues. I agreed with her and...and I don't think it went over well with Naruto..."

"I understand that he might have gone a little far yesterday, but...anger management?" Blake spoke up and then stated uncertaintly as she made her way over.

"It wasn't the first time he's done that..." Weiss answered softly, refusing to look at the two girls trying to console her as she continued to fight back her tears. "If anything, what happened yesterday was probably the calmest he's ever been whenever he loses control of his temper like that..."

"Wha...What?!" Yang asked in utter bewilderment, Blake just as shocked.

"That story I t-told you all last night? Af...After he found out, he went to the hospital and he got her to identify her attackers..." Weiss practically whispered, feeling like she was making the biggest mistake in her life while divulging that was among the highest of taboo to mention around Naruto. "He was ten and I was nine at the time...and they were between fourteen and sixteen years old...All six of them were found out in front of the hospital the next day with a dozen broken bones each...One of them died from his injuries three days later...Two were paralyzed from the waist down...The other three would never fully recover, two of them having such badly broken legs that they would have a bad limp for the rest of their lives, if not be confined to a wheel chair for most of it, while the third would never regain use in either of his hands..."

"Oh, god...Na...Naruto? Our Naruto?" Yang hissed out in absolute horror, covering her mouth with her hands. She then shook her head in denial. "N-No...He couldn't possibly have...There's just no way!"

"...Events like that...I-It's happened s-six times since then..." Weiss struggled to get out, her breathing becoming irregular as tears started falling from her eyes. She scared for him. It was the main reason why she was always pestering him and trying to keep an eye on him because he would never go that far if she was around. Burying her face in her folded arms, she started hiccuping through her tears, stuttering and stammering through her explanation. "He...He got expelled from G-Guardian a few years ago because of the f-fighting...M-Me and Winter have ke-kept it a secret from our father as best as we c-can, b-but I don't know h-how much longer we can do that...Our f-father would have him c-committed to an asylum because of it if he f-found out..."

"Oh, god..." Blake whispered with wide eyes, both her and Yang sharing another glance. They had to figure something out and soon if they were to keep their friend and team mate...

xXx

'Neo...' Naruto thought longingly, lightly dragging two of his fingers down along the highly detailed drawing that took up the entire first page of his sketch book, his ears buds blocking out the sounds of everything around him as he sat on the roof of the dorm building, dusk drawing ever closer.

The picture was drawn purely from memory of the last time he had seen her when they were only twelve, yet it looked as if it had been a colorless photograph. Her unusual pink and brown hair had been kept short back then, being only about chin-length and a bit messy, constantly getting in her eyes back then. She usually dressed in baggy cargo shorts that stopped half-way down her calves with tennis shoes on her feet, her upper half covered with a short-sleeve turtleneck top and fingerless gloves on her hands. Like she always did, a broad grin threatened to split her face in half. The particular memory he had drawn out on the page he was on was of her sitting on a branch in a tree, looking down at him with that perpetually cheerful grin on her face while swinging her feet.

Closing his eyes and bowing his head, Naruto was unable to hold back the pain that fueled his anger, a tear gliding down his cheek as his hand slowly curled and tightened into a fist. Eight years. It had been eight years since he last heard her voice, but he could never forget it. It had been six since he last saw her face, her gigawatt smile, but he remembered them so vividly that it was as if she were right in front of him. It was because of such crystal clear memory of her that he went berserk, picturing her beaten, bruised, bloodied, and broken body as she slumbered in a week long coma in the hospital every time someone was harrassed and bullied around him.

It drove him absolutely insane, blinding him with rage...

Sometimes it took him a little while to snap, sometimes he snapped in the blink of an eye, sometimes he snapped after the situation was under control, but he never blacked out; he was always in control. Enraged beyond imagining, but still fully aware of his actions. He was irreversibly changed after she was attacked and so badly beaten. He could still remember taking the lead pipe to the back of the first kid's knee, dislocating it instantly and dropping him to the floor in agony. Then his thigh, snapping the femur. Three times. The pipe then went to the second kid, then the third, then the fourth, the fifth, the sixth...He was relentless, merciless...

And he hated himself for it...

No matter what he did, no matter what he tried, he just couldn't contain his 'inner demon', couldn't keep it caged up. It had to be let out sometimes and when it did come out, someone got hurt. Someone always got hurt. Honestly, if it hadn't been for Weiss, he probably would have kept beating Cardin until someone actually managed to successfully pin him down or restrain him. After Neo had recovered from her injuries and was released from the hospital, she heard about what he did to her attackers and while she simply refused to speak a single syllable, no matter what, she made it very clear to him that she was not happy with what he had done, but she wasn't angry...

She was disappointed in him and it hurt him worse than anything he had ever felt. Even though he knew she would be even more disappointed in him if she found out how many times he had lost control, it simply wasn't enough to stop it from happening...

Pulling out the scarcely used pack of cigarettes he carried with him, Naruto pulled one out and slipped it between his lips, lighting it a moment later and leaning his head back to stare up at the pink, orange, and purple sky as the Sun sank lower and lower behind the horizon. Something needed to be done. Something needed to change. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if his 'inner demon' lashed out and hurt one of his friends or someone in his family or an innocent...

Taking his Scroll out of his pocket and opening it, Naruto stared down at it for nearly a full minute in thought. Taking a long and deep drag off his cigarette one last time, he put it out on the 'floor' of the flat roof he was sitting on. Slowly exhaling after holding it in for a few seconds, Naruto tilted his head back again and closed his eyes, thumb tapping the screen before holding it up to his ear. After ringing a couple times, the call was answered...

"Hey, what's the matter, hun?" Coco questioned from her end of the line.

"I...I can't control it anymore..." Naruto answered quietly, his voice cracking slightly as another tear fell. "I...I-I need help..."

"Where are you?" Coco instantly asked, her tone shifting from gentle concern to serious worry. He could hear the heels of her boots click across the floor as she started walking.

"Dorm building...the roof..." He practically whispered before his jaw tensed, his teeth clenching tight as he felt his anger try to over-ride his pain.

"Don't move. I'll be right there." Coco ordered firmly as her pace picked up until it was nearly a jog.

"Okay..." He mumbled quietly before hanging up. Shoving his Scroll back in his pocket along with his ear buds with shaking hands, Naruto forced his body to carefully close his sketch book and set it aside with his small box of different penciles, pens, thin-tip markers, and erasers. He then lit up another cigarette, hands still shaking slightly as an internal battle was waged against his 'inner demon', as Coco had called it earlier. Sucking down nearly a quarter of the cigarette in a single pull, Naruto slowly let it out with a shaky and ragged exhale, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them tightly.

He wasn't...No, he couldn't let his 'inner demon' come and go as it pleased any more. Something had to be done about it...

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A/N: Okay...This one turned out rather dark. Much, much darker than I was originally planning (kind of depressing and sad, too), but when I went back to change things, I found that I couldn't. It all just seemed to...flow right to me. The rest of you might not think so and I honestly don't care if you guys (or girls) hate it, but I'm actually quite proud of my work with this chapter. No quick-fixes for their problems, some heavier developement for a number of the characters, emotional developement as well; I like it. Again, a little heavier than I originally intended in the 'Emotion' aspect, but I like it. Anyways...

Holy shit, the polls were neck-and-neck for the longest time (while they were still up)! Here's the scores, starting from the bottom: Neo- 6; Yang- 6; Velvet- 7; Ruby- 8; Blake- 18; Coco- 18; Militia and Melanie- 19. Seems like the twins won! I was personally hoping for Neo, but with how I kind of did the little meeting between Naruto and the twins at the end of Ch.2, it kind of fits better with Militia and Melanie...Eh, that just gives me more things to play around with, especially with the others (laughs maniacally). And it keeps my friend from chewing out the rest of what remains of my ass. I would have kept the poll going longer, but I needed a proper 'direction' to start going when it came to this chapter...Unfortunately, I didn't exactly get around to some of the things I wanted to. Oh, well. I guess that's what Chapter Four is for...

Now, I've done gone and stepped out on the ledge here of my own will, so please don't push me (lol Do it! I wanna know what happens!); Junior and the twins. Instead of portraying them as 'Villains', I've decided to go the path of 'Misunderstood Delinquents'. I've always seen Junior as being more of an unwilling ally of Roman's, like he's being black mailed into helping the cane-using criminal or something. And, by osmosis, Melanie and Militia get pulled into everything because of Junior. I also noticed that during Yang's Yellow Trailer, Junior doesn't instantly come off as having ill intentions for things, even looking rather unhappy when Roman walked off with a smirk on his face, and I've viewed him as having a heart; a bit shriveled and tainted from growing up on the streets and being raised in crime (or something along those lines), but a heart nonetheless. Thus, when he came across the twins, he felt compelled to help them where he could; that's how I see it happening in my head, at least. Because of that, Melanie and Militia bonded with Junior and started seeing him as the father they never had in their life, willing to do anything in their power to both protect and help their 'father-figure' in any way they can.

And then there's Coco's little 'intervention' for Naruto; Coco always seemed a little too...calm all the time, despite the short screen time she had, to be 'normal'. So I took another liberty with another character. I haven't quite thought of what her backstory would be, but I've definitely decided on her having anger problems or something, sort of like Naruto's. It'll be a constant thing throughout a good portion of the story, opening up little windows into either character's past over time. When it comes to Naruto's 'therapy sessions', I think of it as Sherlock's 'visits' to the 'drug addicts anonymous'/narcotics anonymous meetings he would attend on occassion ('Elementary' TV series). He knows he has a problem and wants to fix it, but he's stubborn and, of course, his 'inner demon' isn't so willing to go...

I promise to try keeping Chapter Four happier and not so 'angsty' like I did with this one...

Now, whether you liked this chapter or not, I hope you continue to follow my stories as they're updated! Thanks for reading!