Another chapter for my lovely readers! I think I'm starting to get a little faster at this. Also, I forgot to do this last chapter, so a big shout out to JavaCuck for helping me with some design aspects on the last chapter. Thanks a million pal!


A Spike in the Tension

Wednesday, April 13, 20XX

Early Morning

"Untouchable"

The annoying sound of his phone's alarm clock awoke Naruto from his slumber. Feeling extremely disoriented, he sleepily grumbled and tried to move away from his futon to stop the beeping, but froze when he realized there was a strange weight on his chest. Naruto opened his eyes and lifted his head to a black cat with white paws and a yellow collar curled up in a ball, sleeping soundly on his chest. The events of last night rushed back to him in a storm of memories.

After he had driven the cat-bus through the ripples, Naruto had found himself lying at the front of a back alley next to the wall they'd crashed into, with an unconscious black cat laying there next to him. He'd assumed it was Morgana based on the similar look. As he could see the real Shujin Academy, he'd figured they had successfully escaped. As the sky had almost turned black, they'd spent around four or five hours in that place.

Naruto had been immediately hit by a wave of overwhelming exhaustion. He'd mustered up his remaining energy and placed the cat in his Shujin bag before stumbling his way onto the subway and back to the model gun shop. By the time he'd arrived it was already past closing time, and Iwai had closed up the shop as he'd promised. Naruto had managed to get back inside using his spare key. He'd set Morgana on a spare pillow before crashing into his futon and succumbing to his exhaustion.

The blond continued to stare at the cat on his stomach. "He must have regained consciousness and crawled up onto my chest for some warmth during the night," he realized. He sighed and shook his head. "After all that talk about not being a cat, he still ended up being one in the real world. I'm sure Kurama and Ryuji will have a few things to say about that when they find out." The incessant ringing of the alarm reminded Naruto he couldn't lay around all day. He reached up and nudged the side of the slumbering cat.

"Hey, Morgana. Wake up. I've got to get ready," he called out. The feline simply rolled over. Naruto narrowed his eyes and flicked the cat in the ear. "Oi, I don't have all day, you lazy cat!" The cat opened his blue eyes and looked irritably at Naruto.

"I'm not a cat," he mumbled stretching a bit.

"Well, you sure could have fooled me," Naruto said smirking. After a few seconds, he did a double take and sat up straight, knocking the cat off his chest. "Wait a sec. You can talk? As a cat?" he asked in surprise. "How the hell are you doing that?!" Morgana landed on the floor and shot him a glare.

"How should I know? I've never actually come to this world before," he replied. Naruto sighed.

"Fair enough, I suppose," he admitted. He honestly really shouldn't be surprised at this point. After all, Gamakichi had been able to talk to despite not having any teeth to form syllables with. Naruto crawled out of his futon and turned off the alarm. "I'm just glad we were able to escape that mad house. How'd you make that hole, anyway?" Morgana looked unsure.

"I don't know, I really wanted to leave, so we did," the cat replied. Naruto shrugged.

"Works for me," the blond said. "Though how'd you turn into a bus?"

"That took a bit of extra training in a place called Mementos," Morgana explained. "I won't get into details, but apparently, the cognition of cats turning into buses is common in people."

"Makes as much sense as the rest of the crap that's been thrown at me for the past two days," Naruto said. "So, how are you feeling now that you're in the real world?" Morgana flicked his tail and frowned.

"I'm still feeling pretty weak after putting all that energy into our escape," he replied. "I still need some time to fully recover."

"I see." Naruto checked the time on his phone. "Ah crap, I'm going to be late for school if I don't get out of here!" He started quickly changing into his uniform while looking at the small feline. "You should probably just lay low here for a while and keep resting," he told Morgana. "Just don't leave this part of the room. I'll be back later this afternoon. We'll talk more then; I still have a few more questions for you anyways." Morgana nodded.

"It's not like I have a lot of options right now anyway," he agreed. Naruto finished changing and grabbed his Shujin bag.

"Alright, later Morgana!" he said leaving the back room. Iwai was sitting in his usual position out front, reading a newspaper.

"Ugh, more accidents, more yelling at politicians," the shopkeeper grumbled. "When's everyone going to wise up and make people take responsibility for their own shit?" He spotted Naruto walking out. "Hey brat; I see you made it back. How'd everything go for you last night?"

"It was…eventful," Naruto said after a bit. "If you could call exploring an asshole's heart and fighting off evil creatures just eventful," he thought to himself. Iwai raised his eyebrow.

"I see. Not getting into any trouble, right?"

"Nope!" Naruto lied with a straight face. "Just the usual for me."

"Somehow, I highly doubt that brat," Iwai said smirking. "But as long as it doesn't bring trouble back here and interfere with our agreement, I really don't care about the truth one way or another. Speaking of which…" He tossed Naruto a packet containing several unmarked envelopes. "I need you to deliver these to the usual people before you head back here." Naruto sighed. By the "usual" people, he meant the extremely shady people that helped Iwai obtain some of his…rarer models, most likely yakuza. Naruto stuffed the packet in his bag.

"Yeah boss; I've got it," he replied. "Want me to find you a girlfriend while I'm at it? It'll be hard to find someone with low enough standards though." Iwai chuckled.

"Ha! As if an ugly brat like you could ever pick up a girl," he retorted. "Just make sure to deliver those today."

"Alright, alright." Naruto continued his way to the door. However, just as he was about to leave, Iwai called out to him.

"By the way, I thought I heard a cat's meowing just before you came out." Naruto turned around and kept a completely passive face.

"Must have been one of the strays around here; the shop is in the middle of a back alley after all," he replied evenly.

"I guess you're right. I could have sworn it was coming from the back room though." Iwai shrugged. "Must have been my imagination then. Go ahead and get out of here, brat. I don't need that teacher calling me again." Naruto nodded and quickly left the shop, praying that Morgana stayed out of sight.


Morning

Shujin Academy Class 2-D

Naruto managed to make it into class, just before the bell rang. He saw Akira was already in his seat and waved before moving to sit down, ignoring the whispers of the students.

"Hey Naruto," the curly-haired boy said as he sat down. He looked around before leaning in. "I'm sorry about leaving you behind in the castle."

"Eh, it's no worries," Naruto replied. "It's my fault as well; I forgot we really don't know a whole lot about the process that took us here." Akira nodded.

"When Ryuji and I realized you weren't with us, we'd tried to come back, but those police officers from before were around and chased us away," he explained. Kawakami-sensei entered the room at that moment, cutting off further conversation.

"Alright class," she said standing at the front of the classroom. "As you know, today the school is holding the volleyball rally this afternoon. As such we'll only be having classes in the morning." Naruto wanted to groan.

"I forgot that stupid thing was happening today," he thought. He leaned forward. "I'll catch you sometime during the rally," he whispered. Akira gave a subtle nod.

Afternoon

Shujin Academy Gymnasium

Naruto sat along the side of the wall amongst the cheering audience, feeling absolutely bored out of his mind. He scowled as he watched Kamoshida slam the ball down on the court for the twenty-seventh time, humiliating the student team once more. The other teachers traded high-fives with the curly-haired bastard. "You've still got it, coach!" one of them said cheerfully. Kamoshida smiled and acted modestly, but Naruto could see his chest swell slightly with pride.

"Haha, let's go for another!" he replied passing the ball to the server. The Uzumaki shook his head in disgust.

"This whole thing's just another chance to glorify that asshole," he thought. "And nobody even suspects just how much of a complete and utter douchebag he really is." Suddenly Akira and Ryuji plopped down on either side of him.

"Yo!" Ryuji said grinning sheepishly. "Sorry we ditched you yesterday." Naruto waved him off.

"It's no biggie. Like I told Akira, it's partially my fault too for not leaving when you guys did."

"Why did you decide to stay behind anyway?" Akira asked curiously. Naruto sighed.

"Well, I had a couple more questions to ask Morgana before I left."

"Ugh," Ryuji grumbled. "I feel sorry for that cat, but we already have too much on our plate as it is dealing with Kamoshida."

"He was definitely not a happy camper after you ditched him, that's for sure," Naruto said wryly.

"Yeah, but at least we won't have to see him again," Ryuji replied. Naruto thought of Morgana in his room and resisted the urge to chuckle.

"I think I'll keep Morgana coming out with me to myself for now. It'll be worth it to see the look on Ryuji's face when Morgana meets him on this side," he thought.

"How'd you end up getting out without the phone?" Akira asked.

"I managed to find a hole in that reality and fell through it. I found myself in that alley we came through the first time," Naruto half-lied. Ryuji nodded excitedly.

"Glad you weren't stuck there at least. Akira and I just finished finalizing our strategy for dealing with Kamoshida." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Your…strategy?" Naruto repeated. Ryuji's eyes widened.

"Oh yeah, we never got the chance to tell you about we found in the dungeon!" he exclaimed. "That 'training hall' the guards were talking about was more like a torture chamber. He was forcing guys on the volleyball team to do some pretty insane things, like getting blasted by volleyballs from a cannon, or running on a treadmill with spikes behind them." A fierce scowl formed on his face. "He was treating them like they were slaves!"

"Morgana told us that those people were just Kamoshida's versions of the volleyball team members," Akira continued. "They weren't the real ones. However, since they were getting abused like that in the castle, there was a good chance they were getting abused in the real world as well." Naruto nodded, the news unsurprising. He often saw the volleyball members sporting injuries of some sort, always claiming they were "accidents." Especially the Mishima kid. Naruto glanced at the court spotted him staring down with slumped shoulders. Before, he couldn't be bothered with looking into it, since it didn't relate to him, but now…Ryuji continued on, not catching the pang of self-loathing that crossed Naruto's face.

"While we couldn't rescue those guys, I did memorize all of their faces," the blond delinquent grinned. "We're going to split up and try to get the truth out of them directly!" Naruto just nodded, knowing that while good intentioned, it was most likely a futile effort in the end.

"If they haven't tried to tell anyone up to this point, it's either because they don't think it's wrong, or nobody who'd listen wants to do something about it," Naruto thought. "But I can't exactly tell Ryuji to give up; it's the only thing he's got to go on at this point, and I don't have any alternative to offer either." He resolved to ask Morgana more about that other world when he got home. Ryuji looked expectantly at Naruto.

"So, were you able to find anything useful on your end?" he asked eagerly. "If we have more faces, we might have a better chance of finding someone willing to confess." Naruto thought of the half-naked females he'd found in the chamber and what Shiho, or at least Kamoshida's cognition of her, had told him.

"If Ryuji hears about what was in that room, he'll probably flip and try to go after Kamoshida directly," Naruto realized. Just as he was trying to figure out an excuse to give Ryuji, some movement on the court got his attention. Kamoshida had leaped into the air and spiked the ball, directly over the three front-line students who feebly tried to stop him. Naruto could see the man's smug smile as he hit the ball through their defense. The ball continued and smashed into Mishima's face, who was wholly unprepared for the flying projectile. The unfortunate boy was knocked to the floor and lay there, unmoving.

Amid the outburst of cries and gasps from the audience, Kamoshida stood there for a few seconds, looking unperturbed by the fact he'd knocked one of his students unconscious. He finally reacted and went under the net towards the fallen boy, feigning a look of concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked Mishima, who didn't respond. He looked around. "We'll take a break for a few minutes. Someone needs to get him to the nurse's office!" he called out. As a couple of other students came and pickws up Mishima's unconscious body, Naruto heard a growl from Ryuji.

"Damn, that bastard. He'll get was coming to him soon," the boy said. Naruto nodded his agreement. At that point, Naruto spotted an extremely rotund man in a yellow suite waddle towards Kamoshida.

"Principal Kobayakawa," Naruto thought darkly. The man was a massive sycophant, always willing to do whatever he could to help increase the reputation of the school and therefore his own. He concentrated on the conversation being held between him and Kamoshida.

"There is no need to worry, sir," Kamoshida tried to placate the concerned principal. "It was just an accident."

"Accident or not, it still resulted in a volleyball team member being injured." Kobayakawa replied. "I wouldn't want that to possibly happen again and hurt your chances to win in the next match. Maybe we should go ahead and cancel the rally?" While Kamoshida tried to convince the principal otherwise, Naruto furrowed his brow in thought. Akira turned to face him.

"Do you think they'll cancel the rest of the rally?" he asked.

"If they do that, we won't have any time to check out the volleyball team!" Ryuji exclaimed. A mischievous grin slowly formed on the Uzumaki's face. He began to stand up and took off his red jersey and stretched a little. Ryuji looked at him strangely. "Where are you going Naruto?" Naruto looked at his fellow blond and smirked.

"To get you some time," he replied. "Don't worry about me; you two just worry about interviewing the volleyball team members. We can meet up after school." Before Ryuji or Akira could question him further, Naruto walked forward toward Kamoshida and Kobayakawa, putting on an innocent face.

"Hey Kamoshida-sensei!" he called out cheerily. The obese principal and the gym teacher turned.

"What is it Uzumaki-kun?" Kobayakawa asked curtly. "Can't you see we are speaking here?" Kamoshida waved him off.

"It's alright sir," he replied. "A teacher always should be available for his students. What can I do for you, Uzumaki?" Naruto flashed the teacher his trademark foxy grin and rubbed the back of his head.

"Just wanna say that was a really great spike Kamoshida-sensei," he said sheepishly. "Pity that it hit Mishima though. Seeing you get past all those students really got me excited though; I haven't seen anything like it before." Kamoshida looked a bit surprised before flashing him a grin.

"Well, I'm glad you're finally taking an interest in the sport, Uzumaki," he replied. "I've been trying to get you involved for quite a while." Inwardly Naruto was trying not to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I know," he said nodding. "Since Mishima was knocked out, I was wondering: do you think I could take his place in the rally? Just so I could get a better feel for the game." Kamoshida's eyes brightened considerably.

"That would be great, Uzumaki!" he said. Naruto could almost feel the smug satisfaction the man was feeling at finally having snared Naruto on his team.

"Not on your life, asshole," he thought. Kobayakawa looked between the two.

"Well, if Uzumaki-kun is willing to join, I suppose we can continue the rally," he finally agreed. Naruto grinned.

"Thanks, Kamoshida-sensei!" he replied brightly. Kamoshida and Naruto made their way to the court.

"Listen up," Kamoshida told the students. "Uzumaki here has volunteered to take Mishima's place." The other students eyed Naruto with suspicion and confusion. Naruto gave them a disarming grin.

"Please take care of me," he said giving them a thumb's up. As they moved to take their positions, Naruto grabbed the shoulder of one of the front players. "Hey, mind switching places with me?" Naruto asked innocently. "Kinda wanna try playing the net." The student was all too happy to oblige, not wanting to deal with trying to defend against Kamoshida any longer. Naruto could feel the curious eyes of the watching students on him and the hear bits of the buzz already hovering from him taking the court. He took his position in front of Kamoshida.

"Go easy on me, Kamoshida-sensei!" the blond said. Kamoshida nodded and gave him a small smile. As it was the teacher's serve, the students received the ball first. Naruto watched the ball carefully, waiting for the right moment. After the volleyball was set and was rising towards the net, he summoned up his strength and leaped at least four feet vertically into the air. Kamoshida jumped up as well, raising his arms to block the strike. Naruto narrowed his eyes and took precise aim. As the ball neared him, he raised his arm and slammed the heel of his palm downwards with all of his might. Kamoshida's eyes widened as the ball whizzed though the space between his arms faster than he could react. The force of the meteoric projectile brushed the teacher's hair away as it flew just an inch over his head, bypassing his defenses and smashing into the court right behind him.

Naruto landed on the ground and looked at the stunned teacher.

"P-point for the s-student team," the referee stuttered, still in disbelief. The entire gymnasium had nearly fallen silent as most people were gaping at the spectacle which had just unfolded. Then the whispers poured out as people began reacting to the score.

"Did you see how fast that ball went? I could barely keep track of it before it hit the ground after Uzumaki spiked it!"

"And he hit it right past Kamoshida-sensei too. Even he couldn't do anything to stop that ball."

"Psh, that was a fluke. Kamoshida-sensei must have still been shaken up after hitting that kid in the face."

"I didn't know Uzumaki was that strong; maybe I dismissed him too soon. I wonder if that strength would apply in the bedroom…"

Naruto looked over and glanced at Ryuji and Akira, who were both staring at him in awe. He subtly motioned for them to get a move on. Akira caught on and nodded, managing to get Ryuji moving. The blond's eyes moved over to Ann, who was looking at him with intense scrutiny, trying to figure out his game. He finally returned to face Kamoshida. The former Olympic medalist narrowed his eyes as he too stared at Naruto, who could see the jealousy and anger threatening to break through his façade.

"Nice shot Uzumaki," the gym teacher said barely maintaining his cordiality. "But you'll want to let your teammates know you're about to spike the ball or discuss it beforehand."

"My bad, Kamoshida-sensei," Naruto replied. "I must have just gotten a bit too excited. Sorry everyone." His teammates nodded dumbly. Naruto flashed Kamoshida a different kind of smile, one that promised he knew exactly what he was doing. "Shall we go for another?"


After School

Naruto pulled on his black vest in the locker room, feeling extremely satisfied. After that first spike, Kamoshida had significantly stepped up his game, showing just how he had managed to win an Olympic gold medal at the sport. While Naruto was more agile and stronger than the volleyball coach, Kamoshida had years of experience and a longer reach, plus a team of coordinated adult teachers in comparison to Naruto's awkward student team.

Still, Naruto kept Kamoshida on his toes throughout the remainder of the match, using his keen awareness and reflexes from his ninja career to make some incredible saves and pinpoint spikes. It remained a close game to the very end, with the game's final score at 25-21 with the student team's defeat. After the match, Naruto had caught Kamoshida flashing him a venomous glare, though that didn't surprise the Uzumaki in the least. After all, he had just intentionally stolen the spotlight from the arrogant teacher, and Kamoshida knew it. Naruto smirked as he buttoned up again. "Someone has to show that bastard they're not just going to play along with his bullshit," he thought.

The whiskered blond casually strolled down the hallways after changing back into his regular outfit. He could feel the watching eyes of everyone surrounding him and hear their whispers. The looks of awe and amazement were a vast change from the regular glances of derision and wariness. A couple of the girls who before hadn't given him the time of day, now looked at him with new interest. Naruto couldn't help but feel just a little smug.

On his way to the entrance, he crossed paths with Kamoshida heading towards the gymnasium. Mishima was trailing behind him, looking downcast as usual. Naruto smiled and casually walked up to the bruised boy, clapping him on the shoulder. "Hey Mishima!" he called out. "You ok after getting hit like that?" Mishima looked away.

"I'm…fine Uzumaki-san," Mishima managed to get out. "I just wasn't paying attention, that's all?" Naruto nodded.

"That's good to hear. I've gotta thank you though, since I was able to take your place and get some one-on-one with Kamoshida-sensei." He glanced at the gym teacher, who was struggling not to scowl. "It was really an invigorating experience, right sensei?"

"Yes, Uzumaki," Kamoshida ground out. "But next time, try to just stay in your own section of the court. You were intruding into your teammates' zones too much. Not to mention you ignored the captain's plays." Nartuo smirked at the teacher, catching Kamoshida's hidden undertones.

"What can I say?" he replied. "I'm not the type to roll over and stay in one place or stick to a plan if I can do more. I guess I might not be cut out for the volleyball team after all." The blond could see the anger flashing behind Kamoshida's eyes as he glared at Naruto for a few seconds.

"You may be right, Uzumaki," he finally admitted. "Volleyball's a team sport, with no room for loose cannons who don't know how to rein it in and stay in their lane. Such a shame, too." He brusquely brushed past Naruto and continued towards the gym. "Come on, Mishima!" he called out. The bluenette looked at Naruto for a couple more moments before nodding.

"Yes sir," he mumbled following after Kamoshida. Naruto watched the two disappear from around the corner. He knew he'd probably just been moved from "potential pawn" to "potential threat" in the gym teacher's eyes. He shrugged and kept walking; being on someone's shit list wasn't anything new to him. He arrived at the school entrance and found Ryuji standing there still in his gym outfit, looking a bit defeated. Naruto stopped next to him.

"Hey Ryuji," he greeted. The blond delinquent looked up.

"Hey Naruto," he replied. "Thanks for keeping the rally going." The delinquent flashed a small grin. "The look on Kamoshida's face after that first spike was perfect!" Naruto smirked as well.

"I just really wanted to get one up on Kamoshida, that's all. How'd the questioning go?" Ryuji's smile fell as fast as it had appeared.

"None of them wanna spill the beans. They just deny anything's going down," he said scowling. "And the worst part about it is Mishima just told us a few seconds ago the school and their parents already know about the abuse. Nobody's willing to do anything because of that effin' Kamoshida!" He kicked the wall in frustration. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"I thought as much," Naruto muttered to himself. Ryuji looked at Naruto in confusion.

"What'd you say?" he asked.

"Nothing," Naruto replied quickly. "So what's the plan now?" Ryuji looked down.

"I don't know!" he admitted. "All I can do is try and ask them again. That bastard's got to pay for all he's done somehow." Naruto remembered the cognition of Shiho's dejected face and scowled.

"I hear ya, Ryuji. Don't worry; I've got your back. Just be careful; as shitty as it is, Kamoshida's the one holding most of the cards right now." Ryuji nodded, managing a lopsided-smile.

"Thanks Naruto," he said. "I'm going to go try again with those guys. See ya!" Naruto watched Ryuji run off and sighed.

"If even the school and the parents aren't going to do anything, then even if Ryuji manages to get someone to squeal, everyone else is just going to deny it cover their own skins," he thought. Naruto shook his head before continuing out the front doors. He still had to deliver those envelopes after all.


Evening

"Untouchable"

The sun had long since set by the time Naruto opened the door of the shop with his spare key, holding a bag of some food he'd bought at a convenience store. Iwai had already left for the night. "Hey Morgana!" he called out as he walked into the back room. Naruto looked around the shelves, but couldn't find any place of the black cat. "Oi, you still around?" Suddenly a black blur pounced from the top of one of the shelves onto Naruto's head.

"Where. Were. You!" Morgana hissed. "I've been stuck in here all day without anything to eat, waiting for you to get back! You said you'd be back after school!" Naruto could feel his sharp claws latching onto his scalp.

"Owowowowow!" He scrambled about the room, trying to remove the furious feline. "Hey, hey! Get off me!" Naruto finally managed to pry the cat off his head. The cat landed on the floor, looking extremely disgruntled. "I had to run some errands for Iwai. Sorry for not getting here sooner!" Naruto explained. "I at least got you some food!" He pulled out a bottle of milk and a few cans of tuna from the bag and grabbed a couple disposable bowls from one of the shelves. Morgana glare softened as Naruto emptied the containers into the bowls.

"Well, at least you were thoughtful enough to get me something," he said. Naruto laid out the milk and tuna in front of Morgana, who sniffed it curiously for a few moments before meowing happily and digging in. Naruto sat down on a beanbag chair he had laying around and relaxed for a bit while he watched Morgana devour the food with the appetite of an Akamichi. Within minutes the bowls had been completely licked clean of their contents.

"Damn, you must have been hungry," he commented. "Did you even eat anything in that other world?" Morgana licked his paws to clean himself.

"Didn't need to," he replied. "When I'm in that form, I never seemed to get hungry." Naruto nodded filing that bit of interesting information for later.

"You feeling any better now Morgana?" he asked. Morgana nodded.

"It's taken a bit, but I think I'm getting used to this form. It feels strangely…comfortable." Naruto grinned mischievously.

"Are you sure that's not because you really are a-" Morgana narrowed his eyes and unsheathed its claws. Naruto held up his hands. "Alright, alright; you're not a cat," he said backing off. "Sheesh, those claws of yours are brutal." Morgana preened at the compliment and stretched out.

"So, how did Ryuji's plan help Kamoshida's slaves go?" he asked. Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"None of them have the guts to go up against Kamoshida," he replied. Morgana nodded.

"I thought as much," he said. "Their cognitions in the Palace, had said they'd rather stay as slaves than face Kamoshida's wrath." Naruto crossed his arms and pondered the situation.

"As far as I can see, Kamoshida can't be touched. At least, not in this world." He looked at the black feline. "Hey Morgana; that castle or whatever is the manifestation of Kamoshida's distorted desires right? It's basically something inside his heart." The feline nodded. Naruto scrunched his face in thought. "If that place is in his heart, then we should be able to mess with the real Kamoshida somehow by messing with the castle or the stuff inside of it somehow," Morgana perked up.

"Once again, you're extremely perceptive Naruto," he said in admiration. "You're right. Since the castle is Kamoshida's distorted desires, then by removing it, you remove those desires as well. You'll basically make him have a change of heart." Naruto grinned.

"Problem solved then! So, what's the best way to out the castle?" Naruto began drafting plans aloud, packing back in forth. "Should we destroy the support beams in the foyer? No, we probably don't have enough firepower to take them out. We could remove some of the cornerstones…hmm, but those might be a bit difficult though with the size of the castle, we'd probably have to remove quite a few for any real effect. And they'd have to be done in unison too, since they're so spread out and the guards will catch on it's done one at a time. Maybe we can plant some explosives in the dungeon instead…" Morgana's eyes widened further with each suggestion the Uzumaki made.

"Whoa, whoa; hold up Naruto!" the feline finally exclaimed as Naruto was plotting the logistics of redirecting the water flow in the dungeons to cause structural collapse. "We don't need to do any of that!" Naruto looked up.

"Huh? We don't?" he said in confusion. Morgana shook his head.

"Somewhere deep in the castle is the source of Kamoshida's desires: his Treasure. If we can locate the Treasure and steal it, then we'll remove Kamoshida's desires as well and he'll become an honest man. However, since his crimes remain, his guilt will force him to confess his sins himself. And the best part about it is, since the real Kamoshida doesn't know what goes on inside his palace, there's no way to trace it to us." Naruto lit up.

"So by stealing this 'Treasure' or whatever, Kamoshida stops being an asshole, fesses up for what he's done, and nobody knows we did it! Sounds perfect!" His smile waned as a thought struck him. "Almost too perfect in fact," he continued. "There's a big catch in there." Morgana nodded, once again impressed by the blond's perceptiveness.

"By stealing his Treasure, we'll be taking the very core of his desires," the cat explained. "And everyone needs desires to survive. They're what drive us to eat, sleep, and function in general. If those were gone as well, the person could essentially shut down-"

"And possibly die," Naruto finished. "That's one hefty cost." Morgana gave the cat equivalent of a shrug.

"It just means you'll have to have a strong enough resolve to follow through with it," he replied. Naruto stayed silent for a moment. It more or less was similar to the assassination missions of corrupt lords and nobles in the Elemental Nations. By secretly ending one evil person's life, many more would be spared any further cruelty. Still, Naruto had never gone on one of those missions before he left. He found the idea of killing someone in cold blood distasteful, especially when he usually found a better situation anyways. Now faced with the idea of causing Kamoshida's death to protect the volleyball team, with no other options available, the concept had not grown any less onerous. Morgana could sense Naruto's hesitation.

"You don't have to decide right now anyway," the cat advised. "It's not like we're on a time limit right now. Plus, we're not going to be able to pull it off with just the two of us. We'll need to have Ryuji and Akira on board as well." Naruto nodded.

"Alright; we'll go and tell them tomorrow," he agreed. The blond pulled off his shirt and pants and flicked the lights off before climbing into his futon. "Let's just get some sleep for now." Morgana nodded and hopped onto Naruto's stomach. Naruto gave the feline a deadpan look.

"Are you really going to sleep there again?" he asked flatly. Morgana purred a bit and curled up.

"It's not my fault; you're actually really warm. You make an excellent place for a cat nap." Naruto sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this one.

"Fine. Good night Morgana."

"Night Naruto."


Hmm, not my favorite ending to a chapter, but an ending none the less. A lot more original content. Not a whole lot of action, but if you know the game, then you know it's gonna hit the fan real soon, and I can't wait for it! For those of you who are familiar with volleyball, I tried to be a little realistic, but I apologize if I failed in that attempt. We're now at 245 follows, 188 favorites, and over 100 reviews. Thanks to each and every one of you for reading. Schools picking up a bit, but you should look forward to another chapter in about a week. See you all then!

As always, please read and review!