Ohai! I know I said I would update either Way of the Blade, Cold as Death or Advent of Destiny…..but I decided on this instead. Truth be told I'm kinda wanting to hold off on CoD until I get a clearer picture of where I want the story to go.

And I have updates for WotB and AoD half written on my computer. As it stands, I have decided to focus on one fic for the time being. This one. Why? Well I feel like it. This story and For the Greater Good are really my only stories in which I actually have a clear cut path and ending for. But yeah I'm gonna concentrate on this fic for the time being. Life is getting in the way too much to really focus on more than one story.



Ninja Magi Naruto

Chapter 7

Naruto stared sullenly out at the night sky as he stood leaning on one of the pillars, holding up the main roof of Evangeline's resort. It was night now and everyone else, save for Negi, was asleep inside. In the morning they would be able to get back out of the resort, and for the entire day all the girls and Negi had been training hard. Well, actually, Negi was STILL training hard. Naruto glanced out the door to the main platform where Negi was running through katas that he had been practicing all day.

Naruto shook his head in slight wonderment. The boy was tenacious.

Footsteps from behind Naruto made him turn his attention from the red-haired mage. "Naruto-sensei?" Ku Fei said sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. She gave a small yawn cocked her head to the side in a way that Naruto couldn't help but find cute. His eyes trailed downward, and a blush crept onto his face. While sleeping, Ku Fei's shirt had been tugged open a good bit, showing off a good bit of skin. "What are you doing up, sensei?" the dark-skinned girl asked. Naruto, recovering, held a finger to his lips and motioned away from the pavilion.

Best not to wake up the others. He and Ku Fei walked quietly away from the group of sleeping girls and headed out into the night.

Naruto leaned against the railing bordering the resort. "So what are up for, Ku Fei-san?" he asked. Ku Fei shrugged.

"I couldn't sleep, aru." She said. "What about you?"

"Same." He replied. They settled into a comfortable silence, staring out into the night. Naruto had to admit, he was astounded that such a place like this resort could be created. It seemed too natural. His eyes drifted back to Ku Fei, and he began to observe the girl. They had become almost friends in the short time that Naruto had been at Mahora. Probably more so, if Naruto wasn't trying to keep emotional contact at a minimum.

'I'm already in deep enough as it is. Making bonds with civilians makes it harder to cut ties when the mission is complete.' He reminded himself. But still, he did enjoy the girl's company. She had a rather quirky and fun personality, a lot like himself when away from missions. They both prided themselves in being strong. "Hey, Ku Fei," he said suddenly. "I was always wondering, why exactly do you want to be so strong? You mentioned that you have trained a long time, but why? Why would a Japanese schoolgirl need or want to be so strong?" He asked. Ku Fei, stared out into the night sky for a long moment, processing the question. For once, her expression was serious, something that caught Naruto a little by surprise.

"Well, I come from a clan of martial artists, you see." She said. "All my life I have been taught to fight, that strength was everything." She turned and looked at Naruto, grinning. "And I love it. Always have. And truth be told, I'm not much good at anything else. You've seen my grades, sensei. Being strong is all I've really got." Her grin turned sheepish. Naruto looked at her in surprise. Her answer..well, brought up memories.

-Flashback-

Naruto stood in the middle of a training ground, panting heavily. The area around him was a wreck, littered with weapons and the after effects of jutsu cast. He stood and began running through more taijutsu moves, intent to keep practicing through the rest of the day, despite having trained for eight hours already. It was beginning to take a toll on his ten-year-old body.

Further off, Kakashi, stood watching his student. He had long ago learned that Naruto was too stubborn to quit training when Kakashi told him too. The jounin was content to let the boy tire himself out.

Which he often did.

"Naruto." Kakashi called, making the boy pause. Kakashi snapped his book shut. "Why do you train so hard? You have exceptional talent and your stamina is impressive. But why do you insist on running yourself into the ground? I've never seen you do anything besides eat ramen and train." He said. Naruto beame, a grin that reminded Kakashi painfully of his late sensei.

"Sensei, I want to be strong. Like you and Jiji-san"

"You can, and probably will be. But you do nothing else. Don't you have any other aspirations to live for?" Kakashi asked. Naruto's grin melted into a frown.

"No…well, I mean..everybody hates me for the stupid fox. All the villagers and their children avoid me. I can't play with anybody my own age, and everybody always kicks me out of places and treats me badly. And I have no real family. I want to be a strong ninja and serve this village because it lets me be something of importance." His grin returned, but it was smaller, sadder. "Being strong is all I've got."

Kakashi stared at the boy for a long moment. Finally he sighed. "Naruto, I've decided to recommend you for ANBU. The tests are in one month, so be prepared." He said. Naruto cheered.

-flashback end-

"-uto-sensei? Hey, you alright, aru?" Ku Fei leaned in close, looking at him in confusion. Naruto shook his head to clear away the memory and smiled.

"I'm fine. Just thinking of something is all." He replied. Ku Fei nodded. They were both silent for a minute before Ku Fei spoke,

"Neh, sensei. Since you asked me, I get to ask too. Why do you know martial arts so well? You're as good as me." She asked.

"Because being strong is all I have going for me too." He said, giving a rather fox-lie smile. Ku Fei tried to fight down a blush when she smiled at him, glancing away quickly. Thoughts were racing around the girl's head a mile a minute, most of which having to do with the blond teacher standing with her. Ever since the beach trip, Ku Fei had been having conflicting thoughts about her sensei.

'He is pretty cute.'

'But he's my teacher. That would never work.'

'But that's never stopped the other girls from going after Negi-bozu.'

'But I'm a Fei! My clan would only accept someone who has proven themselves stronger than me!'

'And hasn't he already done that?'

Her internal argument continued, while outwardly the girl was beginning to turn quite red, a pretty amazing feat considering her dark skin. Naruto sweat-dropped as he watched the girl begin and shook his head. This girl really confused him some times.

…but then, so did most of the girls in class 3-A.

Though he did admit, her blushing did look really cute…

Naruto , what seemed like the millionth time that night, shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was not the time to be distracted. With the Mahora festival coming up and his new involvement he had to be more focused than ever! And that meant not getting distracted by how sexy Ku Fei looked in that outfit…damn it.

"Admit that you like her so we can all just move on with our lives please! Jeez, what happened to the "Calm, level-headed ANBU thing?" Kyuubi spoke up, making Naurto mentally groan.

'I don't have time for this.'

"Hey, Ku Fei-san. It's still pretty late. We should probably get to bed." He said, bringing the girl out of her own mental drama. She glanced inside and nodded.

"yeah, your right, aru."

Together they crept back into the pavilion to grab some sleep before tomorrow came. But they paused once inside, finding no one actually sleeping anymore. Rather, the girls were gathered in a huddled group on the other side of the room, peering out onto the landing where Negi was. Naruto and Ku Fei walked up behind the group and glanced at each other in confusion.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, making all the girls jump.

"N-naruto-sensei, don't scare us like that!" Konoka said softly, putting a hand over her chest. He shrugged in apology and looked past the girls. Negi and Asuna were leaning up agaist each other, foreheads pressed together and kneeling in the middle of a magic circle.

"Err, what's going on, aru?" Ku Fei asked. This time Asakura answered.

"Maybe we should be asking you two that. What were you and Ku Fei doing alone, hmm sensei?" She asked, grinning suggestively. Naruto and Ku Fei turned red, the girl stuttering out a denial while Naruto just shook his head.

"N-nothing like that, I assure you." He said. Asakura gave him a disbelieving look, and then turned back to peering over Nodoka's shoulder, at the book in her hands. All the girls were riveted to it, save Evangeline, who was staring at Naruto with an unreadable expression.

"We're looking at one of sensei's memories that he's showing to Asuna." Yue said, finally answering Naruto's question. "Would you like to see?"

Ku Fei nodded and joined the small group, but Naruto shook his head. "No thanks. Not any of my business." He said and turned, heading back to his spot in the pavilion. "Wake me when we're ready to leave."

As he began to settle in to the small futon laid out on the floor, he felt eyes burning into him from behind. He turned to see Evangeline standing in the doorway, hands on her hips in a rather aggressive posture. Naruto sighed.

"Well, I knew you were gonna come after me sooner or later, huh?" he said. Evangeline snorted.

"Damn right, whiskers." She said. Naruto's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Whiskers?

"Tell me what you did that day in my cabin!" the small vampire demanded. "That power was far beyond human capability." Naruto smirked.

"Maybe I'm just that powerful."

"Tell me why you feel like Kyuubi-sensei!"

Naruto froze where he stood, mind doubting what he had just heard. There was no way he had heard that right. He stared at the girl for a long moment, trying to process what she had just said. Kyuubi..sensei?

"Errr well yes actually." Kyuubi spoke up, sounding apologetic in his tone. "I told you I knew of Evangeline. She was a pupil of mine, many years before I attacked Konoha." The demon explained. Naruto's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"But…what? Why?"

"I found Evangeline when she was newly made into a vampire, alone and bitter at the world. I may be a demon, but I'm a kitsune and we care for our young. I wasn't going to let some young defenseless creature be killed by hate-filled humans. So I took her in and taught her magic. A couple of years later we went separate ways. It's as simple as that." The demon said. Naruto sighed heavily and stared at Evangeline.

"You want to know how I know Kyuubi?" he asked. Hearing the name out loud made Evangeline's pulse quicken with excitement.

"Yes! That power I felt was demon youkai, my master's. How did you acquire it?"

Naruto looked out at the huddled girls, peering in on Negi's memories and then back at the waiting girl. He wasn't exactly sure how much he could share with this girl. On the one hand she had shown little interest in Naruto as a threat, yet on the other she WAS Negi's teacher.

"You can tell her, Naruto. Evangeline knows when to withhold information." KYuubi offered. Naruto nodded.

"Alright Evangeline-san. I will tell you."

And so he did. Naruto spent the rest of the night explaining his position as a jinchurriki, his life growing up and the pain and abuse that came with it. At that, Evangeline's eyes became almost nostalgic, lost in memory of some horrible past. Naruto made sure to avoid any parts about Konoha or shinobi specifically. At the end, Evangeline said, "So my master is sealed inside of you then. I must admit I'm impressed. It takes a great deal of power and skill to seal a demon lord. But stil..there is more to you than what you're telling." She said, scanning him leveling. Finally she turned away. "I won't pry, it's not my business. But if you have Kyuubi'sensei's influence, then I'll be watching you very closely." And with that, the vampire disappeared deeper into her villa, leaving Naruto alone.

He spent the next ten minutes trying to make sense of the revelation about Kyuubi and Evangeline, finally deciding that it really didn't matter. "Evangeline doesn't need me anymore. She is a creature of the night through and through. But I am proud to see that she has come so far." The demon in question said, a hint of pride in his voice. Naruto smiled faintly.

"I noticed that she seemed a little less tense when she left."

"Yes. That's probably the closest thing to happy that Evangeline will get."



The next morning, the 3-A group was finally allowed to leave Evangeline's resort. Naruto was the first one out of the cabin, and noted that it was still raining. It was still the same day that they had gone into the resort. Good, he thought with a nod. At least he hadn't lost any time.

The group rushed through the rain to the middle school buildings and went their separate ways. Asuna, Negi and Konoka headed off to their room, while Ku Fei Asakura, Yue and Nodoka all headed for the bath house.

Naruto stopped by his room first, changing into some lighter clothes and grabbed a towel. He could plan later, right now he needed a decent bath.

The bath was empty when he arrived. Naruto quickly stripped and dived in, enjoying the warm water completely. "Ahhh, this is even better than the hotsprings back home." He muttered, leaning against the side and submerging himself up to his chin. He closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the day. Well, days, actually. His clone had given its report on Chao's plan and dispersed a while ago, but only now could Naruto really focus on the task ahead.

He was supposed to wait until the festival to make any moves. More to the point, the tournament. Apparently there would be quite a few stronger people fighting there. It was a good chance to strike. Everyone would be distracted by the festival and tournament to notice him.

But he would most likely have to enter himself in the tournament itself to get close. He could always drop out early. Yes, that would be a good course of action. That way he had an excuse for sneaking around non-public areas of the arena.

Suddenly the sound of a door opening made Naruto freeze. The bath house door was open and figures began to walk into the bath. Distinctly feminine figures.

It was a group of the 3-A class, with Haruna at the head, wearing nothing but a towel. Naruto quickly slid under water, trying to hold in his oncoming nosebleed as he looked around frantically. How the hell was he supposed to escape with all these girls crowded in here?

Finally he swan over behind a large plant and quickly henged himself into a smaller plant. He mentally sighed in relief...until the girls threw off their towels and got into the water.

'Oh God.' Naruto thought. 'This is bad, I can't get caught in here with- hey, Yuuna's got a pretty good figure- no! bad Naruto! No bad thoughts right now!' he could hear Kyuubi snickering in his mind, but shut it hard part was trying to concentrate on escaping, but the perverted side of him kept dragging his eyes back to the bathing girls. 'And I thought there were some beautiful girls back in Konoha. These girls put all of those to shame.' He thought. Then his eyes landed on the naked form of Ku Fei. His mind went blank. When had she gotten here? More importantly, why couldn't he look away.

Naruto drank in the sight of the girl as she playfully bathed with the others, talking about some new skin product that Yuuna had just bought. Damn she was beautiful The way her dark skin seemed to glow in water…

"Earth to Naruto!" Kyuubi shattered the moment, making Naruto almost lose control of his disguise. He glanced at Ku Fei again and then managed to drag himself away. It was strange. Jirayah had taken him peeping before at bath houses, but Naruto had never really felt much for it. Sure he enjoyed looking at a girl as much as the next guy, but there was something different about it when he saw Ku Fei.

"My God, gaki! Just admit that you have feelings for the girl already."

"So what if I do? Okay fine, your right, I like Ku Fei a lot! She's a great person, funny, strong, cute, and happy. But I can't afford to be attached to anyone here, encase you've forgotten, you stupid fox.' It came out harsher that Naruto meant it to, but he was irritated. He really did like Ku Fei, in a way that he was still trying to figure out. None of it matteed though. In a month's time he probably not neven still be in Japan.

"Your just running away from it." Kyuubi said quietly.

'What?'

"You're hiding behind this mission excuse. You're afraid to become attached to anyone, because you think they will hate you once they learn about me."

Naruto found himself unable to find a comeback. That hit close to home. He had never considered it consciously, but the fox was right. The only people he ever got close to were his sensei's and the Hokage. He hated his childhood, hated being looked down upon. And, he would admit it, afraid of attaching himself to anyone who might betray him. 'Well, fine. Fuck it, you're right. Happy?' he asked, but Kyuubi was silent, making the blond ANBU launch into a tirade of swears.

He was so distracted, he almost missed the cries of alarm from the girls in the bath. A small whirlpool had appeared in the center of the bath, and was pulling some of the girls down into it.

"What the hell?" he muttered. The room had gone foggy, so it was hard to see. But Asakura, Ku Fei, Nodoka and Yue were definitely gone. Swearing, Naruto undid the henge and dove into the whirlpool, and was quickly pulled under.


Naruto blinked, trying to clear the water from his eyes, as he sat up. "Naruto-sensei?' He heard Asakura ask in confusion. He blinked again and everything came into focus. He was sitting in a large bubble, surrounded by Yue, Nodoka, Asakura , Ku Fei, Setsuna and Konoka. "What are you doing here?" Konoka asked. Naruto then noticed that most of the girls were…well, less than modestly clothed, having been ambushed in the bath.

He coughed, turning red and averted his eyes. Realizing their position, the girls did the same. Luckily for Naruto, he was still wearing his towel wrapped around his waist. "Err, well I was kinda taking a bath and fell asleep." He said, laughing sheepishly. Yue sighed in exasperation while Asakura and Ku Fei chuckled.

"Does that mean you were in the bath with us, sensei?" Asakura sked. Naruto stuttered out an affirmative, making the girl's grin widen. She would have seaid something if Asuna, hadn't interrupted.

"Will you all shut up. Where the heck are we?" Naruto looked outside their apparent prison and saw the aubern-haired girl tied and hanging up in front of the Mahora outdoor auditorium. Naruto frowned. What the hell was going on?

"Well, it looks like all of my bait has woken up."


An) Hey all, I'm back for the time being. I meant to update a lot during the summer, but there is this pesky little thing called life. Yeah….well anyway here's the next chapter hope you enjoy. I'll try to have the next chapter out soon. Also, I'd again like to mention that I'm pretty much putting all other stories on hold for a moment. Honestly I'm not sure how many I can continue seeing as I'm heading off to college next year. If any of you would be interested in adopting one of my minor stories, pm and I'll give you the plot rundown and stuff.

Another quick thing, I have a friend who recently started writing here, and I'd like you all to check him out. His name is Vuurdmeister and honestly I think he is a really good writer. Show him the love, people!

Till the next update, THA out.