A Shinobi Among Yokai Chapter 8

I don't own Naruto or Rosario + Vampire.


"That depends on the answer I'll receive." Minato's statement was accompanied by the cold breeze disappearing.

"The answer to what?" Naruto asked, frown deepening in confusion.

"What... what will you do if you find Sasuke dead?"

Naruto's answer was firm and was formed without any hesitation. "Kill whoever killed him."

Minato sighed, his body shifting into a ready stance with his only hand going into his weapons pouch located at his lower back. "Then my mind is made up. I won't let you go anywhere."

The younger blond wasn't very surprised when he felt Kurama's chakra leave him. Both his father and him had a half of the Biju within them, and neither of the beings wanted to fight the other-lest they destroy a majority of the landscape and draw Obito and Madara's attention. If Naruto and Minato were going to fight, then they were going to stay well away from it, no matter the situation. Naruto shifted into a similar stance. "Then I'll just force my way through."

"You can try." Almost immediately after he'd finished his sentence, Minato flashed out his hand and flung a bunch of his signature tri-pronged kunai until the embedded themselves in different parts of the top floor of the underground base. "I won't be holding back, though."

"Good." Reddish-orange pigmentation's formed around Naruto's eyes as his pupils became horizontal and bar-like while his irides turned yellow-the markings of a sage and proof of the natural energy flowing through his body that he'd been gathering the moment he set his sights on his Father. "I'd be insulted if you held back."

'The aura of a sage really is intimidating.' Minato mused, remembering one time when he'd witnessed Jiraiya use it against his old teammate-Orochimaru. He smirked, pride for his son bubbling up inside his chest. 'And Naruto's more intimidating then Jiraiya-sensei was that day.'

Naruto, always the impatient one, blasted forwards from his position with a kunai held in his hand. The metal of his kunai clashed against his Father's own tri-pronged one in a small shower of sparks. They didn't stay mobile, however, as Naruto had built up a fair amount of momentum and with his far superior physical strength he was able to push Minato back, sending them both sliding along the concrete floor until Minato's back connected with the wall.

Taking advantage of the situation, Naruto's other hand balled up into a fist before it was sent rocketing straight towards his Father's face, only to have the older blond completely disappear from his eyesight.

Unfortunately for the Yondaime, who had reappeared behind his son with a kunai aiming to slash a tendon in Naruto's arm, the Jinchuriki had immediately turned around and smashed the back of his fist against his face, sending him rocketing away until he impacted with another wall. It didn't really matter in the end though, his body had been revived by the Edo Tensei and as such he didn't feel an ounce of pain. Another advantage of him already being dead, was that his body would regenerate any injuries(aside from ones inflicted by Obito), so the rather large chunk that had been taken out of his face from Naruto's hit had already began to piece itself together.

Naruto wasn't prepared to let that happen though, he rocketed off from his position with a kunai ready to slice his Father's limbs off. In the end, the older blond would regenerate any and all body parts in due time, so it didn't matter how much damage Naruto inflicted upon him. The standard shinobi weapon was inches away from embedding itself into the blond's shoulder which still had an arm attached to it when Minato disappeared in the same manner he had before.

"You're not going to beat me like that, Naruto."

He sighed, turning around to face his pseudo-alive parent. "I know that." He said before lunging forwards once again.


Naruto frowned, staring at the black shirt and jeans he'd just put on distastefully. What the hell was up with this world or timeline? He was wearing some casual clothes-as the forceful woman at the clothe's store had called it, before she told him she wouldn't let him wear orange-that he'd gotten when he was still in Tokyo.

The others had gone to their own rooms to shower and change clothes.

The widescreen TV hung up on the wall that the bed was facing was turned on and had the news on. "There has recently been abductions in the city of Las Vegas. Police are saying that these abductions are at complete random, with the only people that have been abducted being foreign. According to recently acquired information, these abductors could very well be in league with slave traders. In other news, a recent plane that has come in from Japan has supposedly had major damage done inside the first class area..."

"Bah!" He glared at the clothes as if it was their fault, only somewhat listening to the news. "Why can't you be orange?!"

"I didn't pick you for the type to care about what you're wearing."

"I don't, usually, but this is different." Naruto said, speaking out loud as there was no one else in his private hotel room. "There's absolutely no damn orange in sight! It's outrageous! Disgraceful!" His eyes burned with a hidden fire as his glare intensified on the clothes. "These clothes are something that damn Sasuke would wear! I hate 'em!"

Rolling his eyes at his partner's dramatics, Kurama planted his chin on his human-like hand. "Oh, stop whining." He smirked. "You wore too much orange in the Elemental Nations, so maybe this is just giving the other colours a chance to shine."

"Black doesn't shine!" He snapped back, flustered. The blond huffed before stalking over to his backpack and wrenching it open before plunging his arm inside. When he brought his arm out again, he held an almost exact replica of the shirt he was wearing, only it was blue. "Better than black." He grunted as he changed shirts, oblivious to Kurama shaking his head and sighing.

Naruto had just slipped his arm through the sleeve of his shirt when he heard what sounded like a quiet argument in Japanese outside of his room. Opening his door, he saw Tsukune and Kurumu a few doors down the corridor-right in front Tsukune's door that led to his own room. The human was frowning at the succubus while said blue-haired girl had her arms crossed under her bust with a frown on her face.

"Why does it matter so much to you, Tsukune?" Kurumu asked, oblivious to Naruto watching them.

"What do you mean what does it matter to me?" Tsukune bit back quietly so as to not draw attention to them. "That woman died up there, do you not care at all?"

"No, not really." Kurumu replied, worsening Tsukune's mood. "Should I care though? It's not like I knew her or anything."

"It doesn't matter whether you knew her or not. She was still alive, wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was, and now she's not."

Tsukune gritted his teeth. "Then what about the Yokai that Naruto-san killed? Do you care?"

"My answer is the same Tsukune, I don't."

"Then what about Naruto-san?" Tsukune asked heatedly. "He killed someone. Doesn't that bother you?"

Kurumu sighed. "Tsukune, Yokai kill other Yokai all the time. It's a common occurrence, so no, Naruto-kun killing someone doesn't bother me in the least."

'But Naruto-san is a human!' He wanted to shout in frustration, but kept his tongue. "Fine." He stalked down the corridor towards the elevator as they were near the top floor. "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back later."

"Wait, Tsukune!" She called, but the elevator doors had already closed. "Why is this bothering him so much?"

She hadn't been expecting an answer, but she got one anyway, delivered by one Jinchuriki with blond hair. "Probably because he hasn't ever witnessed death before." Naruto said in Japanese as he casually made his way over towards the succubus, taking in what she was wearing for the first time. A white blouse with a short, light blue skirt-the same colour as her hair, he noted.

"How would you know something like that?"

He stopped walking in front of her and shrugged. "I took a guess."

She gave him a flat stare for a few moments before shaking her head and sighing. "Let's stop talking about death, it's making me depressed." She said before looking up at him curiously. "By the way, what did you do to that flight attendant earlier this morning? I was sure we were done for when he came in."

He leaned against the wall, tilting his head to the side slightly as he tried to figure out the best way to explain it without giving too much away. It was in his nature, well it wasn't always, if he had been any younger he'd have bragged about it until everyone got bored. "An illusion." He finally said, causing her to look at him more attentively. "I'm not very good at them-never have been, but I can use it against people who aren't mentally prepared to an extent. It's a good tool for getting information out of someone as well."

She tilted her head to the side. "If it's a 'good tool for getting information out of someone' like you say, then why didn't you use it on that Yokai to ask him about that Fairy Tale organisation?"

"It wouldn't have worked." He said. "Like I said before, I'm not very good with illusions and I can only use them on people who aren't mentally prepared for it."

"Actually, you didn't say you could only use it on people who aren't prepared for it."

"Details, details." He waved off. "Anyway, as I was saying, that Yokai was prepared to not let out any information about Fairy Tale, and so it wouldn't have done anything other than waste time."

"That's all you're going to say?"

"Do I need to say anymore?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "Don't tell me you expected me to go into an extremely long explanation that would take too long to read."

"Read?"

"I meant listen to." He got off the wall and Kurumu brushed off the wrong choice of words on his part. "I'll talk to Tsukune later. Right now he probably needs some time alone to think. So, try and enjoy the rest of the day."


Tsukune was walking down the concreted sidewalk just outside of the hotel he and his friends were staying at with a small frown on his face. 'Why does Kurumu-chan not care about lives? Even Moka-san didn't seem bothered that much by the murder and Naruto-san...' He sighed and leaned against a nearby wall. 'I'll make sure to talk to Naruto-san later, but right now I need some time alone, otherwise I might end up snapping at him.'

"Hey." Tsukune looked around for where the sudden voice had come from and understood that it spoke in English. "Over here." The human's head stopped going from side to side when he saw a middle-aged man with brown hair, some stubble and a cigarette in his mouth leaning against the wall right next to him with a deadpan expression. "You took your time looking when the entire time I was right next to you."

"Sorry?" Tsukune said in English with a thick accent. "I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

"Is that right?" The man smiled, the cigarette in his mouth curving upwards at the action. "Ah, you kids these days. Always got some sort of problem going on. Whether it's family, girls, friends or even just issues with yourselves." Tsukune didn't say anything. "So what's your problem?"

The black-haired human hesitated. Why was he talking with a complete stranger? "What it matter to you?"

It came out harsher than Tsukune would have liked, but the man just smiled and blew some smoke out of his mouth. "What does it matter to you." He corrected. "You can call it curiosity." He shrugged, shifting his position on the wall slightly. "Or you can call it practice, whatever floats your boat."

"Practice?"

"Mhm." He blew some smoke out of his nose. "I'm a psychiatrist, or that's what they like to call me. I mainly deal with teenagers such as yourself." Another puff of smoke escaped his lips. "So, do you wanna talk about it? If you want some privacy then we can go in there-" He pointed to the Monte Carlo with a jerk of his thumb. "-I'm pretty close with the a guy that works there, so I'll be able to get a private room for us to talk."

"I don't think-"

"Ah, come on." The man's smile became gentler and more calm, putting up a very good image of a trustworthy person. "It won't take long, and you really do seem troubled. Have a talk with me and you can get it off your chest."

Tsukune chewed on the inside of his cheek. Why was he still talking to this guy? He didn't even know him, but the idea of getting everything out of his system did sound appealing. Even then though, what the hell was he supposed to say? 'Oh, I witnessed a murder and later found out one of my friends killed someone while my other friends don't care.' Yeah, real smart. The man would either think he was insane or he'd call the police.

"Come on." The man said, dropping the his cigarette on the ground and crushing it underneath his shoe. "Even if you don't want to talk about it, speaking about something else will take your mind off things."

Tsukune sighed as the man started to walk away towards the Monte Carlo. He got off the wall and trudged after him. Maybe speaking with him would take his mind off things for a while. Besides, the psychiatrist seemed like a nice enough person.


"Capu-chu~"

Naruto sighed, wrapping his arms around the pinkette to hold her steady, sending an annoyed look towards the succubus that was looking amused. "You know..." Naruto remarked just after Moka let out a rather content moan and pushed her body more into his. "If I was average, you'd have sucked me of all my blood multiple times over by now."

In response, Moka just bit down deeper and started sucking his blood at an even faster pace, probably being spurred on by the fact that she knew he wasn't any where near what most would consider average. When she'd decided she'd had enough for the moment, she detached her fangs with a blissful sigh and a rising blush, her arms still strung around his neck. "It was torture having to be on that plane for so long without your blood, Naruto-kun!"

"I'm sure it was." He said with a roll of his eyes as they untangled themselves from each other before he gave her a small pat on the back. What he received from the vampire wasn't something he expected. Her mouth opened and a small burp escaped. He blinked a few times before his mouth parted into a grin. "Did you just...?"

Kurumu covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her snickers.

Moka's cheeks darkened and she noticed that the marble floor of the corridor they were in was rather interesting while she fiddled with the hem of the sun dress she was wearing. "M-maybe.. just a... little..." She mumbled.

"There's no need to be embarrassed." He said, grin widening in amusement as if he was silently snickering over her embarrassment. He coughed to regain his composure, even if he still looked amused and spoke in Japanese. "So did the two of you want to go get some food? I haven't eaten since that dinner we had on the plane."

Kurumu nodded. "Mhm, I'm pretty hungry as well." She said. "What about Tsukune though? We can't just leave him on his own."

"Don't worry, he's still in the hotel, Kurumu-chan." Naruto assured as the skin on his neck finished weaving itself back together. "Like I said before, he needs some time alone, we'll meet up with him after lunch."

The succubus hesitated, not wanting to leave her Destined One on his own, but eventually agreed after Naruto assured her that he could sense the human and that he was fine. After a small discussion of where to eat, they ended up on just getting room service at Moka's insistence.

They all sat in a circle-like formation on Naruto's bed with an open box of pizza in the middle. Naruto had his legs crossed under him while Moka and Kurumu sat on their knees.

Naruto took a bite of the pepperoni pizza he held in his hands and shot Moka a look. "Why aren't you eating, Moka-chan? You're the one who wanted to get room service."

Kurumu glanced at the pinkette out of the corner of her eyes as she took a chunk out of her own slice, having a gut feeling as to why.

"Well..." She fiddled with the hem of her dress before placing her hands in her lap and staring straight into the shinobi's blue eyes. "When you were fighting those Yokai on the plane, you mentioned something about Fairy Tale." Naruto put the last part of the slice of his pizza in his mouth. "What is Fairy Tale?"

He swallowed the food. "...An organisation." He said, glancing between the two Yokai, only to see both looking at him expectantly. "One that would probably prefer to see my head on a wall as decoration then have a nice conversation."

Kurama rolled his eyes.

Moka fidgeted slightly, not really knowing how to feel about the cold glint that appeared in his eyes at the mention of Fairy Tale. "Okay." She said. "How long have they wanted to...?"

"No idea." He said casually, a contrast to what his eyes were displaying. "I only just heard of them after I'd fought that Yokai."

"Do you at least know why?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not in the least." He half lied as he grabbed another slice and took a bite. "Why does it matter though? It's my problem and I'll deal with it accordingly."

She frowned at his response. "You're saying that as if you'll take on the entire organisation yourself."

"I will, if they keep coming after me." He swallowed the bite he'd taken. "Like I said, it's my problem and I will deal with it. I'm not going to let anyone else, my friends especially, get hurt because there's people coming after me."

'Then that's why?'Ura mused. 'At least he's not dragging my other self into his mess.'

"So that's it?" Moka asked. "You're just going to brush us aside like that so easily?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Brush you aside?" He asked, taking the last of his slice and swallowing it. "I'm not brushing anyone aside. All I'm doing is taking care of my own problems."

"I'll... uhh.." Kurumu got off the bed, feeling fairly awkward. "I'll... see the two of you later."

"If you want to catch Tsukune, you better be quick. He's going towards the front door." Naruto offered despite not wanting her to go as her presence could hold off a potential argument. The succubus nodded gratefully at his words and left the room without a word while he turned back to Moka. "Why does it matter, Moka-chan? To you, I mean."

"Do you really need to ask that question?" She didn't break the eye contact they'd held up. "We're friends, aren't we? Isn't that reason enough for it to matter to me?"

He hid a grimace. Why did his problem have to be similar the the one he had in the Elemental Nations? It just made it worse that Moka was trying to get involved, like how his now deceased friends had. "Maybe it is." His eyes narrowed slightly. "But that doesn't mean that I'll let you get involved in my problems."

"Why not? I want to help." Her frown deepened. "You have an entire organisation after your life and you want to 'deal with it accordingly'. I can't really say anything as I don't know what you're fully capable of doing, but you won't be able to deal with it, as you said, on your own." She grasped her rosary lightly and looked down at it. "So please, at least let Ura-chan and I help."

"Ura-chan?"

"My other half."

"Ah.." He sighed, a frown coming onto his face. If she was going to be persistent, then he'd have to be a bit harsh and twist what he actually believed around. He just hoped she wouldn't be too upset afterwards. "Moka-chan..." She looked back up at him and he steeled his resolve. "It's nice that you are willing to help me out, but in this situation you would only end up getting in my way, even if your other half was unsealed."

She gasped audibly, her eyes went wide open and her lip trembled slightly at his harsh words. The other side of the pink-haired vampire though, had a different reaction. The rosary flung itself out of the girl's grip and a red, slitted pupil glared furiously at the once again carefree looking blond. Not only did he say something cruel towards her other half-which was most of the reason for her fury-, but he actually dared to question her strength? Even going as far as to say that she'd only end up getting in his way?!

Naruto blinked as the rosary trashed around for a while before settling back down in it's original position, the red and slitted pupil still glaring at him.

"Is that..." She bit her lip in an attempt to stop it from trembling. "Is that really what you think?"

He wanted to say no, he really did. He hated that hurt look she was giving him, but he pushed on. He couldn't let her get involved, only to get killed, just like all his friends from the Elemental Nations. "It is."

She slid off the bed and stood up before walking out of the door in an almost robotic-like fashion.

Naruto sighed once the door closed and slumped back against the bed in his hotel room. "Sorry, Moka-chan, but the best way to keep you and everyone else safe is for you to not get involved."

"Are you sure you want to do that, Naruto?"

He hesitated a bit before answering. "Yeah, I am. If I have to repeat those lines to Kurumu-chan and Tsukune, then I will."

"They may end up not liking you anymore. What will you do then?"

"Do you really need to ask that, Kurama? You already know the answer." He placed his hands under his head as a make-shift pillow. "If they end up disliking me-hating me even, then I'll endure it. I'm a shinobi, y'know."


It turned out that the psychiatrist's friend wasn't there, so the both of them had settled for simply getting some food at the Food Court and speaking there. Currently, the duo were seated at one of the many tables, quite a fair distance away from the other people in the area.

Tsukune took a bite out of the cheeseburger he'd bought from the nearby McDonald's which had been paid for by simply adding the cost to the bill he'd receive on his credit card. He did feel a little guilty that he was basically eating food that Naruto unknowingly paid for(as Naruto was giving him the money that would be charged to his credit card, only in cash), but he pushed those thoughts aside.

"So..." The brown-haired man started, taking a few chips out and chowing them down. "Do you wanna talk about what's wrong with you, or something else?"

"It's not that there's something wrong with me." The black-haired human said, accent still thick as he spoke in English. "It's my friends."

"And?"

"And... well..." He began, attempting to come up with the right words. "My friends and I saw someone... beaten the other day, and while I was angry and confused at the fact, my friends didn't seem to mind at all and just watched." He devoured another bite of his burger before frowning at his next sentence. "Then... one of my friends beat someone else up, albeit in self defense." He knew it was lame, but what else could he say? He certainly wasn't going to say that instead of beatings, they were real deaths.

"Okay." The middle-aged man ate a few more chips. "I think I see what's going on here." He pointed a chip he'd grabbed at Tsukune. "You're not used to much violence, are you?" When the younger male shook his head, he continued. "And from what you said before, you're friends seem to be used to, or at least relatively familiar with violence." He ate the chip that had been pointed at Tsukune as said human finished the rest of his burger and moved onto his own chips. "As for your friend who beat someone up, well, can you really blame him? If it's as you said, then it was in self defense and he had every right to do what he did."

'If only you knew that Naruto-san actually killed someone, then maybe you'd say something else.' Tsukune thought, swallowing the chips he'd been chewing on and for some reason starting to feel somewhat sleepy and light-headed, but he tried to ignore it. "Y-yeah, I guess you're right about the last one, but what do I do?" He rubbed his eyes and forced back a yawn.

"Did you have an argument with any of your friends?" Tsukune nodded slowly in response, his eyes beginning to droop. "Then I suggest you apologize to anyone you argued with and, you know, try to speak to them about the situation." He said, seemingly oblivious to Tsukune's sudden drop in awareness. "To start off I guess you could sa-"

Tsukune's eyes rolled back and his head collided with the table's surface with a rather loud thud while the chips he'd been holding fell out of his hands and were sent sprawling over the floor.

"H-hey..." The psychiatrist said, shaking Tsukune's shoulder lightly and looking worried. "Hey, kid, what's wrong?" When he got no response, he sighed and picked the boy up before carrying him piggyback style. He looked around the Food Court and saw most of the people there staring at him strangely. He put on a polite smile. "Nothing to worry about, he's just tired. I'll get him home and to bed."

The other people in the court either shrugged or just returned to what they were doing before, leaving the middle-aged, brown-haired man to smirk to himself as he made his way out the front of the Monte Carlo hotel.


Kurumu sprinted back to the elevator she had come from, her footwear colliding with the marble floor rather loudly in her mad rush. 'Who was that guy with Tsukune?' She thought, remembering how the mysterious man had picked Tsukune up and claimed that he'd be taking him home to bed, even though her Destined One didn't live in Vegas. 'If this wasn't the human world I'd have been able to protect Tsukune myself, but I can't reveal my true form here.'

She reached the doors of the elevator and pushed a nearby man out of the way to get in quicker. She repeatedly hit the button to close the doors. "Sorry!" She apologized in English with a thick accent.

The man she had pushed scowled at her and shouted. "What the hell was that for?!"

The doors closed, muffling the shouts that had come not long afterwards. "I need to tell Naruto-kun and Moka." She murmured in Japanese, tapping her foot anxiously. "Naruto-kun can sense Tsukune, so he should be able to tell where he's going."


'Why?' Moka thought, lying down in her hotel room on the bed she'd been provided. Her arm was rested over her eyes which had tears building up in them, but she refused to let the liquid travel down her face. 'Why did he say things like that? Would I really just get in the way if Fairy Tale ever attacked again?' The frown that marred her face deepened slightly. 'Well, I never did anything on the plane when those Yokai were there, so maybe I am just a burden.' She gripped the rosary hanging around her neck firmly and gave it a light, almost desperate tug. 'Maybe he wouldn't think of me as such a liability if I could take the rosary off myself.'

Ura sighed, having calmed down somewhat from the words Naruto had said before. She could see what he was doing. He was deliberately trying to make her other self think she was weak and would only trouble him if Fairy Tale ever came around again so that she would be out of harms way. However, just because she understood and wasn't planning on telling her other half, didn't mean she wasn't going to give the blond a beat down for putting Omote-it was still weird calling her other self that, but she was managing-in such a state.

"Hey, Omote." She said, gaining the pinkette version of herself's attention. "What are you doing just lying around and moping? Forget about what Uzumaki said for now. Go find the succubus and do something, that's the reason you came to Las Vegas with the others isn't it?"

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, sniffling slightly. "Yeah, it is, but..."

"But what?" She demanded. "You came to the human world with your friends to have fun, so go and have fun."

"It'll be... awkward around Naruto-kun, though..."

"Then don't go anywhere with him." She said flatly. "That succubus and other human are still there, it's not like Uzumaki is your only friend." She grunted. "So get up, go find those two and do something other than feeling sorry for yourself."

"Okay..." She wiped at her eyes again and put on a weak smile. "Thanks for that, Ura-chan. If you hadn't of said anything, I probably would have just stayed still."

She didn't get a reply.

When Moka had closed her hotel door behind her, she saw Naruto coming out of his own room with what was a convincing visage of nonchalance, but she managed to see the worry that had entered his eyes. Hesitantly, she took a few steps in his direction and called out to him. "N-Naruto-kun, what's wrong?"

"Just follow me." He beckoned her to the elevator and she complied, taking note of the urgency that had entered his tone. 'What was up with that sudden surge of panic coming from the bottom floor? And why is Kurumu-chan coming back up here? What happened?' The duo reached the elevator just as it dinged and the doors opened, revealing a panicked and worried looking succubus.

"Kurumu-chan, what's wrong?" He asked quickly, not knowing whether the panic he'd felt coming from below had been from her or someone else, but upon seeing her face he got a gut feeling that it was the former.

"Tsukune! It's Tsukune!" She exclaimed, grabbing both of their arms and hauling them into the elevator before pressing the button for the bottom floor.

"What's wrong with Tsukune?" Naruto asked, feeling the anxiousness basically rolling off the succubus.

"Well..." Kurumu started, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. "After I'd left your room, Naruto-kun, I went to the bottom floor looking for Tsukune. I found him eating at the Food Court, only he had someone else there with him."

"What did he or she look like?"

"It was a male, middle-aged, maybe around thirty five, with brown hair and some stubble on his chin." She answered before continuing. "Anyway, I sat down at a nearby table because it looked like they were having a private conversation, when all of a sudden Tsukune's head collided with the table he was sitting at." She shifted slightly, sending a small glare at the elevator doors. "At first I just thought it was because he didn't get much sleep on the plane, but then I saw the man Tsukune was speaking to pick him up before declaring, and I quote, 'Nothing to worry about, he's just tired. I'll get him home and to bed'."

"Okay..." Naruto started before the elevator dinged again and stopped while the doors opened. On the other side was an old, pompous looking woman dressed up like someone who was going to a wedding for royalty with an employee beside her looking annoyed as he carried her luggage. Naruto simply pushed the button to close the doors, ignoring the infuriated shouts of the woman and the sigh of the worker. "I can still sense him, so he's not that far away. Don't get your hopes up though, his signature is getting further and further away rather quickly."

The elevator dinged one last time as the doors opened to reveal the bottom floor of the Monte Carlo. The trio jumped at the opportunity and ran out of the elevator, through the crowds of people, shouting "Sorry!" and "Excuse me!" every so often. Once they'd barged through the doors and with the two women following him, Naruto immediately headed to the right, onto the sidewalk, past the City Center and across the road until they reached the interstate that was blocking their way.

Naruto made his way through the shrubbery that was in between the interstate and the road behind them and urged the other two to follow him. "Come on, Tsukune's signature is coming from this way. We need to get across."

"You're making a joke, right?" Moka asked hesitantly, gazing at the numerous cars that were whizzing by them.

"Nope, I'm being completely serious." He said before glancing at Kurumu. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Absolutely."

He couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic or not, so he just shrugged before grabbing Moka's hand. "We need to get across..." He trailed off, waiting for the right moment when they could make a dash, not noticing Moka's frown that had appeared when he grabbed her hand.

'He even has to hold my hand for something like this, I really would just be a burden to him...'

"Ready?" The shinobi glanced at his two female friends, getting a nod from Kurumu and a squeeze of his hand from Moka. "Now!"

Moka tightened her grip on his hand as all three of them ran across the busy road, jumping the barrier that was in the middle before resuming their task. '...Then I guess I need to prove to the both of us that I won't be a liability, Naruto-kun.'


Two brown eyes that belonged to a certain human attending Yokai Academy groggily opened and took in the surrounding area slowly. His ankles were chained to the brick wall beside him, but there was enough length on it that he'd be able to move around a good meter or two. In front of him were a row of vertical, iron bars with only two going horizontal above and below what would be the center.

He was still wearing the blue jeans and white shirt he'd been wearing, but they were ripped in some places. He shifted around, turning his gaze to the other side of the cell he was in to see a bed much like the one he found himself on. Well, it couldn't really be considered a bed, really. It was just a thin and dirty mattress that had probably been used by multiple other people before.

What grabbed his attention though, was the person lying down on it, snoring lightly and without a care in the world. It was a girl-maybe around six or seven years old. She had shoulder-length, brown hair, a small frame even for a child and she was wearing light brown, messy rags as clothing.

'Am I in a jail cell?' He wondered, sitting up from the mattress he had been laid out on, grunting slightly at the stiff back he'd apparently received. He hadn't actually seen a real jail cell before, but he'd seen them in some movies where the main character was a criminal and gets sent to one that he later breaks out of. 'How did I even get here? The last thing I remember was talking to that psychiatrist and then I felt really... tired for some reason.'

"H-Hello?" Tsukune's head snapped from the iron bars over to the direction of the soft, gentle and slight scared voice of the little girl. She was sitting up with her legs underneath her and rubbing her eyes. "Who are you, mister?"

"I'm... uh..." He shifted his body until he was sitting cross-legged. "My names Tsukune Aono." His shoulders slumped, a frown coming onto his face as he noticed how underfed she looked. "What's your name?"

She stopped rubbing her eyes, letting Tsukune see that they were a deep and innocent blue. She still seemed a little frightened by him, but was more relaxed at his gentle tone than before. "Um, I am..." She furrowed her eyebrows together, as if she was trying to remember. "I don't know." She frowned for a second before perking up. "The mean people here call me slave though, does that mean it's my name?"

"No, no it doesn't mean it's your name." Tsukune replied quietly, not really knowing how to feel. Actually, no, disgust was probably the best word to use in order to describe how he felt. Disgust at whoever these 'mean people' were. "How long have you been here for?"

She tilted her head, her brows furrowing in concentration once again. "Why do you say it like that?" She asked. "There is no other place then here, is there?"

He clenched his eyes shut, fists trembling as they rested against his thighs. Did she really think that this was the only location that existed? By the way she was talking, she did. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. There was no reason to get angry right now and end up startling the girl. "Yes, there is other places other than here."

Within the blink of an eye, the brown-haired girl was sitting in front of him on her knees, her hands clasped together as if she was praying while her blue eyes sparkled. "Will you tell me about these other places?" She asked excitedly.

He blinked a few times, baffled by the sudden movement and rise in excitement. "Uh, sure I guess so." He put on his best smile while trying to hide the disgust he felt for whoever put the girl in the cage he found himself in. It seemed convincing enough for her though, she her face practically lit up like a mobile sun.

However, before Tsukune could continue speaking to the small girl, a cold and cruel sounding chuckle reached his ears followed by the sound of footsteps reverberating off of concrete. At the sound, the brown-haired girl visibly flinched and backed away from him and went back to her mattress. "Well, well, it seems as if our new guest has decided to awaken."


Chapter 8 done!