Chapter 11, Human + A Vampire

It was the first day of summer vacation.

It felt like it, too. The sun beat its golden rays onto the back of his neck, the cicadas chirped in nearby trees, and the cool breeze that blew through the field was more refreshing than ever. And yet, he still felt uneasy. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to have come on this trip so soon after awakening. Of course, he'd argued against it from the beginning: this time would obviously be better spent training! He had to get stronger if he was to face Sasuke and Tobi! He couldn't very well do so on a beach vacation, especially one in the human world!

"Are you sure this is alright, Mikogami-sensei?" Naruto asked tentatively, slumped in a chair before the desk of Youkai Academy's headmaster. He probably should've made a better impression and straightened himself up, but he simply hadn't the energy. Ever since waking up his body ached all over, and there wasn't a moment when he didn't feel lethargic. It was getting difficult to keep up with his training, especially with Kotsubo-sensei's ruthless approach.

"It'll be perfectly fine, Uzumaki-kun! I've already notified your lecturers ahead of time, and they've agreed to help you catch up with your studies when you return."

"That isn't what I was talking about, sensei..."

"I know perfectly well what you were talking about." The man's tone was sharp, and Naruto flinched. "You've only just woken up, and that body of yours isn't human anymore, you know. You can't expect to be at full strength right out of the gate, and training without time to stop and catch your breath isn't going to help matters any." Mikogami's long, scholarly fingers laced together a few inches from his nose, hidden within the shadow of his hood, and rested his elbows on the desk's surface. "Kotsubo-san has reported your progress, you know. You experience near-constant pain, fatigue, and find it difficult to control your body and abilities. I don't think I need to tell you that these are not the symptoms of a healthy person."

"But sir...!"

"But nothing, Uzumaki-kun. You can't keep damaging your muscles without giving them time to rebuild even stronger, so I'm making this trip mandatory." Seeing Naruto about to protest again, Mikogami Tensei sighed and continued. "You're a teenage boy. Go, have fun, find a nice girl, do what other teenagers do. Just for a week or two, please, be a normal child. For your own sake, as well as for mine."

It was ridiculous. Every second he wasted out here in the human world, Tobi and Sasuke were getting further and further out of his reach, and it was only a matter of time until they sealed away Ririn forever. Why would Mikogami make him come out here when he knew that just as well as Naruto did? Ugh, he couldn't focus with all this noise!

"How could he just leave us like this!? I mean, what's he thinking!? We're stranded in the mountains, with no way of getting back to the Academy, and no way of contacting Nekonome-sensei!"

That wasn't the noise he meant, honest. Even in his head, he couldn't be so mean to Kurumu. No, it was the cicadas, and the wind, and the sunflowers, and everything else that currently attributed to the migraine building in his skull. He hadn't noticed much in the few days since his recovery, since he hadn't been in many places where there was much to sense at all, but ever since Moka's inner self had transformed him into something between human, ghoul and vampire he'd been able to sense pretty much everything. Those cicadas chirping were like an insect army roaring in his ears, the sun's heat felt like red hot pokers pressed into the sensitive skin at the nape of his neck, and the salt in the air from the nearby shore filled his mouth with its sour, acidic taste.

"Wh-What are we gonna do now, huh!?" Yukari moaned, eyes welling with tears and voice shaky. "I don't like this one bit! I wanna go home right now, ~desu!"

"What are you talking about, brat? We just got here, and I'm not planning on going back to school anytime soon!" Kurumu hissed. "Quit your crying, or I'll really give you something to cry abo-!"

"Kurumu." The girl stopped mid-tirade, and turned to the rock were Naruto had taken a seat to catch his breath. While it may have made her feel weak at the knees in only the best of ways, the hard stare he pinioned on her frightened her. Perhaps it was something to do with how his once warm sapphire eyes turned to grey-blue chips of solid ice with thin slit pupils. "That's enough. Don't torment her like that. Being scared is perfectly natural when you're stranded in an unfamiliar place, especially with the... history humans have with witches."

"Na... Naruto-kun...?" The blonde looked away from the blunette. In addition to his physical training from Kotsubo-sensei, he'd been receiving some more academic tutoring from the other staff of Youkai Academy. For example, lessons on youkai history and traditions from Nekonome-sensei. He remembered how he'd been absolutely livid when she'd told him about the prosecution of witches at the hands of ignorant, panicked humans, until he arrived here. When he set eyes on this 'human world', he'd initially been very confused. After all, this wasn't his world. So, he'd come to the conclusion, with a short explanation from Neko-sensei, that there were actually more than one 'human world', just as there were more than one 'monster world'. Each monster lived apart from each other, and similarly, different 'types' of humans lived separately. Humans in this world, for instance, did not have access to chakra. That explained why he couldn't feel any of it, besides that in himself and Manami, who sat silently a few feet away, looking into the sunflower field.

"Uzumaki-sama..." she muttered quietly, not taking an eye from the patch of darkness between the thick green stems.

"What's up, Manami-chan?" he groaned, standing up and rubbing the back of his neck, only to remove his hand as quickly as he'd put it there as it made contact with the burning skin.

"I can see something... in the flowers."

"You're sure?"

"Mhm. There's something watching us from in there."

"Great. Just what I needed. Well, best not let it know that we know it's there. Just keep moving, and if it shows its face, we kick its ass."

"Um... where?" Moka asked, looking around. "We just got dumped here. Where are we supposed to head to?"

"Well, how about somewhere where we can just settle down and think about what to do next?" He peered over the tops of the sunflower field. "Like that cabin over there. Let's move, people." The distance to the cabin - if it could be called such, the thing was little more than a timber shed for storing gardening tools, which he supposed was fitting - was short, but every step felt like a mile to his tired, weak legs. If the wind were any stronger, he feared it might upend him altogether. But, thankfully, they reached the door without incident, though also without any less the feeling of being watched. He rapped against the thin door with his knuckled, and with no answer, gently pushed it open. As he expected, it was a gardening shed, but even that was enough for him to take a rest for a little while. And so, pushing the door open to let the girls in, he trudged inside the hut and dropped onto a pile of plastic-wrapped fertiliser bags. "So, what do we know?"

"Well, we're in a sunflower field." Kurumu started, taking a seat on the floor with her legs up to her chest. For a second he thought it was strange that she would be hiding her chest, considering that she rarely missed an opportunity to show it off to him. Then he realised that her skirt was riding up, and not by accident. "There are a few youkai that like to live among plants." The succubus grimaced. "Ugh, the way Nekonome-sensei just drops us off here without saying anything, it's like we're some kind of extermination squad."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I'd like to avoid the extermination if at all possible."

"H-Hey, that was a joke!" Kurumu suddenly looked sullen. "You don't think that... that we're supposed to defeat something out here, do you?"

Naruto rubbed his aching temple. "I think it's possible. After all, Mikogami wouldn't have insisted that I come along quite so badly if there hadn't been some reason, would he?" Kurumu, Yukari, and Manami looked at him oddly, but he didn't bother explaining.

"We're near a human settlement," Moka chimed in. "That narrows down the list a fair bit. Not many youkai are willing to live so close to a human city, especially not if they're into plants like Kurumu said. If I were honest, I think that whatever lives on this hill and was watching us is..."

"...a witch." Everyone turned to stare at Manami strangely, as she interrupted Moka's explanation. She held up a wad of paper that appeared to be the city's local newspaper. "I guess whoever tends this field must've left this behind. Here, I'll read it. 'In Fujimi City, Okabanachou, no less than 18 tourists and sightseers have disappeared one after another. The region has a history of superstitions that a witch lives on a hill in that area, and as a result rumours have circulated that the disappearances are the work of this witch. Occult enthusiasts have gathered in Okabanachou hoping to sight the so-called witch...'"

"I guess that's us," Yukari noted, hugging her knees.

"Well, I guess Neko-sensei could've picked a worse place for a 'mission'," Naruto suggested.

"Yeah, this place is so wonderful! A big, beautiful field full of sunflowers in bloom, it's so romantic!" Kurumu squealed happily, hugging herself. "I can imagine it now; walking for hours in search for the errant witch, the two of us fall behind the rest of the group without them noticing. He grabs me roughly, but not aggressively, and spins me around into his arms. The two of us fall out of sight into the wall of beautiful, radiant sunflowers, wrapped in each other's embrace, hands roaming the other's body eagerly, until...!"

"Kyaah!" Manami squealed, slapping her glowing crimson cheeks. Her mint green hair bobbed as she shook her head from side to side, trying to rid her face of her scarlet embarrassment. "K-K-Kurumu-san, p-please, don't s-say such inappropriate things out loud...!"

"Such a prude. You were thinking it too."

The only sound from Manami was a strange moaning mewl as she buried her head into her thighs, hiding her reddened cheeks from the others.

"But really, a witch? That 'spiriting away' comment from the bus driver, that was about a witch?" Kurumu looked to Yukari. "Perhaps those stories about your kind kidnapping humans and doing horrible things to them aren't quite so fictional?"

"You're quite the simpleton if you believe everything you read in the newspaper, Kurumu-san," Yukari replied smugly. Kurumu clicked her tongue.

"Well, I don't particularly like witches in the first place. There's this one that's really spoiled my view of them," she shot snidely.

"Well, I'm not fond of blow-up dolls, but you don't see me complaining."

"So, it really isn't a coincidence that we were stranded here?" Moka asked innocently. Naruto's face faulted for a moment.

"D-Don't tell me you really thought that it just happened to be like that!" Moka nodded, as if there was no other possibility. "Neko-sensei said this was a camp for the newspaper club, so she'd have to have put some thought into where she was sending us. I know she doesn't appear to be particularly forward-thinking, but she wouldn't stick us out here where there might be a dangerous witch on the loose if there wasn't a reason."

"But that just makes it seem like she's testing us, how annoying!" Kurumu put a finger to her lip in thought. "Maybe it'd be best if we lived up to her expectations? Caught the one behind the 'spiriting away' ourselves."

"But... but it's dangerous!" Yukari moaned, pulling a deck of cards from within her dress and shuffling them hastily, pulling a single card from the deck at random. The card she held up before them depicted a crumbling stone spire, its peak illuminated by countless bolts of lightning striking at it and tearing the building to shreds. It was the Tower in the upright position. A symbol of impending disaster and misfortune. "See? This trip was fated to end in disaster from the beginning! This is the human world! What if something really, really bad does happen, and we end up stuck here without any way to get back to the Academy for help!?"

"That's enough, you brat!" Kurumu snapped angrily. "Your tarot cards are worthless! I've had it up to here with your irritating, baseless griping! Stop being such a wuss and come out from under the bedcovers for once, you baby! Either that, or go back home by yourself if you're so scared! I for one sure as hell don't want you here if you're just going to cause trouble!"

Naruto, Moka and Manami stared in shock at Kurumu.

"Kurumu, that's-!" Naruto began, only to stop as Yukari, trembling, stood up. She raised her head, and under the wide brim of her hat, Kurumu could see the damage. Her tears, where they before had merely been gathering in her eyes, spilled down her cheeks and left angry red marks, marring her pale skin. She threw out her arm and tossed the whole deck of tarot cards at the succubus, the thick paper surprising her as it flicked into her face, and stormed out of the hut with a yell. In a show of surprising agility considering his weakened state, Naruto was on his feet and after in a matter of moments. The three girls stared after the pair - the heartbroken witch and the crippled half-vampire - as the door to the cabin swung shut again, and as soon as the wood of the door had struck the doorframe with a sharp crack, Moka turned a sharp, furious look to Kurumu.

"That was too far, Kurumu-san."


"Yukari... Yukari...!"

"Go away! I don't want to talk to any of you!"

"Please, just listen to me!"

"No! You all just think I'm a scared little kid! I don't need any of you!"

"Yukari, please! I'm begging you here, I- agh!"

Yukari was turning and running back towards Naruto's pained cry before she even knew what was happening. He was slumped onto the ground face-down, hand clutching at his chest and face contorted into an expression of agony.

"N-Naruto-kun, please don't die!" she cried, tears running down her face again. She tried to help him up, but at that moment he stopped trembling with pain, and his arms shot out to wrap around her waist and pull her closer. She gave a surprised yelp, but that was quickly silenced as Naruto flipped over and pulled the smaller girl into a tight embrace. She blushed brightly at the feel of his chest through his shirt, and though initially she'd tried to push away, she quickly gave in and pressed her tear-stained cheeks into his collar. "Y-You tricked me..."

"A little, yeah," he agreed smiling sadly. "I really wanted to get your attention, and you were ignoring me, so..."

"I don't want to talk to anyone, Naruto-kun."

"Then I'll talk, and you listen." She didn't reply, so he took it as a sign to continue. "What Kurumu said... none of us think that, y'know? In fact, you're probably one of the most mature of us all. It's just... Kurumu's never been one to think before she says stuff. We know that you don't like being thought of as just 'the smart girl', but when Kurumu tries to look past that she finds it hard to see you as anything other than 'the girl who's younger than everyone else'. You two are better friends than you think."

"But all she does is insult me, and whenever we're together a fight breaks out." Naruto laughed, and Yukari looked at him strangely. "Naruto-kun?"

"Boy, does that take me back."

"Hah?"

"Oh... well, my best friend... the guy who was like a brother to me... we spent most of our time fighting, trading insults and nicknames, rivalling against each other. Everything we did was a contest. I remember once we had a contest over who could eat their rice bowl the fastest, just so that we could go and train against each other afterwards. We both ended up hurling that rice a few moments later." Yukari's nose scrunched up in disgust, and Naruto chuckled again. "But we were the best friends the other could ask for. For the longest time... we were each other's only friend."

"What happened to him?"

"Hm?"

"Your friend, what happened to him? Did you leave him behind when you came to Youkai Academy? I've never heard you speak about him before."

"Oh..." Naruto's smile turned solemn, but still the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned in a sad, wistful smile. "He shoved a lightning bolt through my left lung."

"Wh-What!?" Yukari looked at her love like he'd grown a second head. "Through your lung!? I thought you said he was your friend!"

"The very best," he joked, laughing. "But he was on his way into the darkness long before I met him. And by the time I realised that... it was far too late to save him. So when I put my hand in the dark to pull him out, he tried to bite it off. Damn near killed me, too. And every time since then, whenever we've met, it's been battle after battle. I think that in some way, we're still friends. We're still rivalling against each other, at least. He once told me that when two great warriors exchange fists, they can hear the other's thoughts. All I've heard from his mind since then is that he still wants me to save him. He's challenging me to tell me to become stronger, so that I can burn away that darkness and pull him into the light where he belongs."

Yukari stared at Naruto with red cheeks. "That's so... beautiful..." she whispered. "When did you last see this friend of yours, then?"

"I saw him two weeks ago, when he showed up on the Academy's doorstep to kill me."

"What... what are you saying!?" Yukari's voice slowly rose to a scream. "I thought you said that you were still friends! That he wanted you to save him!"

"Heh, Sasuke-chan's always been a bit of a prick!" Naruto remarked, laughing raucously. "But enough about me, we're here about you." Yukari tried to stare him down, but only succeeded in bringing another blush to her face as she gazed into his eyes. She turned her head away sharply, and Naruto felt her tremble against him.

"The place I grew up in is a small village, cut off from the rest of the world and stuck at the bottom of a deep gorge," she began to explain as Naruto held her softly against him. "I'd never seen a human in my life, but I'd heard stories of what they did to my ancestors, and I began to see them as my enemies. But then... you're a human, aren't you."

"You're half right, I guess. Well, more like four-eighths right, all separate and mixed in with the wrong. I..." Naruto trailed off into silence as the quiet of the path between the sunflower fields suddenly shattered under the piercing force of a scream. Naruto shifted Yukari off his lap and stood shakily, offering her a hand. "That sounded like it was coming from up the hill. Someone might need our help, so let's go!"

"Wh-What's with this... What's going on!?" the voice shrieked again as they neared the top of the hill. They stopped beside the parked car, and Naruto motioned for Yukari to stop.

"Stay here, it could be dangerous."

"Bu-But, Naruto-kun, you're sick!"

"I'll be fine, trust me! If I need your help, I'll call for you, but if something happened to you I couldn't forgive myself! Now stay here!" And with that he raced off toward the bank at the side of the road leading down into the sea of golden sunflower petals. There was a girl, crouched at the side of the road, and struggling to pull something up from the field below. The few strands of hair that weren't pulled into a ponytail were matted to her face with sweat as she tugged at the long, thin, pale object protruding from the darkness between the sunflowers.

Looking closer, he realised that the long pale object was, in fact, a human arm.

The girl was screaming as she tried to pull another girl from within the depths of the sunflower field.

"Someone, please, help! Anyone!" the girl wailed again. Naruto dove into the fray and grabbed at the fallen girl's other arm without a word to her struggling friend. "Oh, God! Thank you!" Naruto merely grunted his response as he pulled on the limb, only to rear back as a thin, vine-like tendril tried to latch onto his forearm. That was when he saw that the same whip-like ropes of plant matter had latched onto this girl's skin, spreading their bulbous heads across her flesh and pulsating slowly, as if sucking the life from her. Her eyes were dull and blank, and she wasn't moving at all. He doubly redoubled his efforts, forcing all of his strength into wrenching the poor girl free. Ignoring the growing burning sensation in his chest that quickly began to spread through the muscles of his body was becoming a far more difficult task, and his breath became heavy and laboured far more quickly than he'd hoped.

"The plants... are feeding on her...!?" he hissed, trying in vain to pull the vines from her skin to better their chances, only for more to latch on for each one he removed.

"Naruto-kun, look out!" Yukari's shout forced his head up, just in time to see the darkness between the sunflowers take form and leap at him, bearing row upon row of jagged, triangular teeth. He relinquished his grip on the girl for a moment to duck under its pounce, and to kick it away with a foot, but no sooner had he done so than he began to regret it. Where he'd barely been able to ignore the mounting pain in his limbs before, he now felt the full force impact his arms and legs. He quivered, and his arms fell slack at his sides. It was most he could do to continue standing. And when the monster from between the flowers turned back to face him again, he was defenceless. "Naruto-kun!"

See, it's like I told ya. Because you were too much of a scared little chicken-shit before and didn't go all out, you can't go all out now either. You're going to die, that little brat is going to die, and those two innocents are going to die...

...and it's all... your... fault.

"NO!"


"Yukari-chan...! Yukari-chan!" Moka called into the forest. Since the young witch had stormed out the cabin, none of the girls had seen hide nor hair of her or Naruto, and no matter how they searched the fields and the neighbouring forest, they just couldn't find them anywhere. Moka stopped and pressed the back of her hand against her forehead soothingly. There wasn't much point getting worried over Yukari, was there? Whether there was a more powerful witch on the prowl or not, Naruto was with her, or at least they suspected. He might not be in complete health at present, but even the slightest fraction of the power they'd seen him display two weeks ago should be enough to protect the child genius from anything that might befall her on thishill.

"Akashiya-san! Kurono-san!" She turned at the voice. Manami was running towards her, gracefully vaulting over fallen trees, bushes and underbrush that tried to slow her down. No wonder Naruto took her on as a student, she thought. But her face, her expression-she looked panicked. Had she seen Naruto and Yukari? Were they in some kind of danger? Manami's feet touched the ground in front of Moka, and she doubled over to fill her burning lungs with cool air. "A-Akashiya-san... Something's wrong!"

"Wrong...? What are you talking about?" Nothing felt wrong. Vampires might be creatures of raw power, but that didn't make their skills of perception any duller. Their eyes, ears and noses were as sharp as any other youkai's, and they were quite adept at detecting youki. After all, no one wanted to be taken by surprise. She scanned the forest with her eyes, gaze sharp. Nothing seemed wrong. There wasn't the slightest bit of youki she could detect for quite a ways, so that ruled out a youkai attack, and why would a human want to hurt Naruto or Yukari, and...

God, that was bright! It was like a second sun, shining brightly just beyond the forest's edge, blinding her with its brilliance and filling her body and soul with warmth.

And at the same time, chilling her to the bone.

Because that was vampire youki.

Before Manami could get another word, she was off. She tore through the trees, showing for a moment that fraction of her vampiric powers that were allowed to seep through the rosary around her neck as she bounded through the forest with strength, speed and agility beyond any human and most youkai. But the bright light of the exploding youki only got bigger and brighter as she got closer, until she broke through the woods and stood before it, like a helpless child before the blaze that consumed her childhood home. And what's more, even when she tried to 'deactivate' those senses that allowed her to visualise the youki, it didn't lessen the blinding light any. Youki was like water: in order for water's true blue colour to be seen, there needs to be a lot of it, otherwise it appears clear. Likewise, to the naked eye youki was invisible in normal quantities. For it to be seen like this... how could they be generating this much power!?

And then, for a moment, it was gone, shot to the side.

So was the ground where it had stood.

The simple act of moving had ripped up the very stone it had set its feet on in an explosive torrent of earthen shards that forced her to raise her arms protectively. A shattered crater marked its original location, and a larger, more devastating one stood a few yards away where it had stopped moving. And in the base of this second hole in the earth was the obliterated corpse of the hanabake, its body crushed and pulverised by the sheer force of the thing that had impacted it. Its limbs squirmed awkwardly as the last shreds of life left it, and it laid still, oozing a brown-green ichor like a squeezed fruit.

The thing on top of it stood up and dusted off its thin but muscled arms.

Its body was mostly exposed, the thin white garment that had once covered its upper torso ripped to shreds both by the rushing youki and by the sheer power of its movement moments before. The dark trousers that hid its legs had fared better, with little damage except to the very ends, with a few rips and tears here and there along the leg.

It ran a hand of slender, dextrous fingers through the mess of pale blonde, almost white hair atop its head, and perfected it with a touch, allowing it to fall down the back of his neck a little past shoulder level in an untidy mane, with his fringe falling to cover his eyes, until he raised his head further and showed off at least one of them, the other still hidden by his hair.

It was the deepest, bloodiest crimson. No, crimson probably wasn't the word for it. That implied a darker, cleverer, more sophisticated red. This, however, was a red of rage and bloodlust, but just as dark. She supposed what set them apart was that this creature's eyes... glowed more. They gleamed with untold power, knowledge, and desire to rend, slaughter and devour its enemies. The blood-curdling scarlet glimmer in its iris was jarringly different from the indomitable black of its slit pupils, like that of a reptile or a cat, and each as thin as a blade and just as sharp. And then, it raised a hand to wipe away a thin trail of blood from its lower lip, claw-like nails curled inwards towards its palm, and bared the trademark fangs of a vampire in a dashing, wolfish grin.

"Oh, fuck the hell yes."


So, hey again. I do hope you've enjoyed this first chapter of Blood Breathers of 2013. I've been a little sidetracked, I'll admit, with college and video games equally calling me. I can't very well pass up Final Fantasy VII, can I? But I am trying my hardest to write, which I realise might not be such a good idea if I'm having to try really hard to come up with stuff to write. But, this is all for you guys after all. So, as a short break of Naruto's training with his new body, he's on summer vacation at Witch's Knoll. No Ruby just yet, unfortunately.

I seem to have completely written Mizore out of this chapter.

I honestly have no idea what happened.

I could've sworn she was right here a second ago.

Somehow, I wrote every word of this chapter without ever thinking to myself, 'hm, have I done something rilly rilly stupid like ignore my favourite character?'

And the problem is, I don't think I can go back and change it in any way that wouldn't make it seem awkward and forced. Or at least, more awkward and forced than it probably already is. So... I'll keep you posted. Hold off on the search parties for now, I'm sure I'll find her eventually. Probably.

...

...Hopefully.

Review Corner:

McCabeRz: I'm sorry to hear you say that. If possible - that is, if you're still reading, could you find it in your heart to tell me what I've done wrong? Don't wanna do it again, you understand.

TerumiTheFlameMaster: Right now, a few. Without Kyuubi/Ririn's chakra floating through his system and augmenting his abilities, he's pretty much reduced to his traditional arsenal from the anime/manga, albeit with the added handicap/benefit of his vampire/ghoul powers. For now.

Tommy298: I'm not sure what you mean by 'distasteful'. Would you kindly elaborate for me? The way my writing's heading, this'll probably end up with a rewrite in the future anyways, so I'd appreciate the help. Secondly, the Headmaster, Mikogami Tenmei, hasn't fought yet. He is one of the Dark Lords for cryin' out loud. Same with Touhou. They haven't fought yet. They left Sasuke, Tobi and Taka to the students, because it wasn't their fight, and it wasn't a fight worth getting involved in. Sasuke and co. are small fries in comparison. It'd take a rilly dire situation for those two to fight seriously. You'll get your wish, my friend, just be patient. I like how Mikogami's mysterious and 'out of shot' the whole time, even though the fact that he is one of the most powerful beings in existence is LITERALLY SHOVED IN YOUR FACE AT THE VERY START. It's like only being able to see the Devil out of the corner of your eye, and he's always doing mundane things like grocery shopping or washing the car. I think that explanation may have gotten away from me there. But still, Mikogami's time will come.

Kyo no Kitsune: I've said this in another fic: characters like Kurumu don't irritate me nearly as much as characters like Moka. She's more of a bitch to write than anyone else. I honestly don't know how every single freaking mangaka does it, but every single one writes this one same character type. You know the one; she's cute, but not sexy or anything alluring. She's sweet and demure, never speaks out of turn, is always shy and bashful, especially around the guy she likes. Her voice, in anime, is soft and weak, stuttery, gets on my nerves like nothing else, I swear. And she ALWAYS has breasts the size of Jupiter and Mars combined. And somehow the main character falls for this girl in particular EVERY SINGLE TIME. THERE IS NO VARIATION. This girl is called the vanilla girl, because she's just so ordinary that she becomes bland and tasteless. Examples include Moka, Orihime Inoue, Shiemi Moriyama, Rei from H.O.T.D. and that chick from Yumeria. Okay, so I have a crappy memory, but the trend exists. And THEY are infinitely more bitchy than Kurumu. I don't write Kurumu into his harem for her curvy body like some people. I write her in because I like giving my characters all the girls, and because I like the shenanigans that follow as a result. I enjoy seeing that jealousy between the love interests, but often in anime they have one specific route where he gets together with the vanilla girl. That's why I turned to fanfiction and visual novels. Again, this explanation got away from me.

Guest #1 - Just bear in mind people hate all OC's because they always suck and fuck things up with their god mode sue-ism.

She's... Manami's not like that, is she? I mean, to this day I'd heard of Mary Sues but never really known what they entitled to the full - of course, I knew the basics, which I tend to avoid like the plague. It's a horrid excuse to make a self-insert story that 'isn't a self insert story'. I understand if people wanna hate on Sues, and I'll gladly be there with torches and pitchforks to cheer 'em on. It pisses me off how some people take everything that is good about a canon story and place EVERYTHING on a single character like they're the freaking chosen one. Admittedly, I once wrote a story similar to that. It was a Naruto story, where he absorbed the Kyuubi, stole Itachi's Mangekyou, stole the Rinnegan, stole all of the bijuu and sealed them all inside himself and absorbed them, then attacked Konoha, stole the Byakugan, killed hundreds upon hundreds of people, blew up Konoha entirely, killed Hinata who had survived because of awakening a second level of her eyes, stole those eyes, killed Sasuke and Taka, killed Madara, stole his eyes, fused the eyes together into the Juubi's eyes, fought Shinigami who turned into a hot girl (like BRS with a scythe), went into his mindscape which was Konoha, fought Zangetsu and took control of him, fought Shinigami in bankai, won, absorbed her in this black gooey stuff I called Fulminating Darkness, which was basically his way of getting every power in existence, and was about to fight Kami and Yami before I got stuck. That was called God Mode Redefined. I got the idea from an early review on Blood Breathers, in fact - you can go find it, if you want. And I admitted to myself before writing that it sounded a little cool as an IDEA. I thought the concept of someone being that powerful to literally break the universe was kinda awesome. But it would've never worked out, because he was god. There was nothing left to challenge him. It's fun as an idea, but as an actual story it flops. I still have the drafts if you wanna see 'em. And for the record, only a portion of me thought that writing it was a good idea. The rest of me did it as a joke. God, what is it with me and these long replies today?

But basically, I don't want Manami to be that. I just want her to be that girl, that one girl who's outspoken and brash almost to the point of arrogance, but has a kind of hero-worship to Naruto that renders her a stuttering mess around him. I'm not giving her every power under the sun. I'm just giving her one. One that can let her at least relate to Naruto. So that he can teach her how to control that power. And maybe, just maybe, as teacher and student both of them can learn to grow as a person. Naruto can learn to be more mature and nurturing to younger generations, 'cause he's not going to be a warrior forever, and Manami can learn to rely more on others, 'cause she's been alone pretty much all her life save for Fuu.

Reborn ninja: Umm... this is a harem story, cutter. Like it says in the descro up top. He'll most likely be with both Mizore and Ririn, along with a fair few others. Besides, being with 'Ririn' would not be original at all. 'Ririn' is just what my stupidity-addled mind came up with for a name in the early chapters of this story, and I really don't want to go back and change it. She's Kyuubi, cutter. NarutoxRirin is just a pseudonym for NarutoxFemKyuu. Which is probably more prevalent than NarutoxMizore. Just super-sayin' ;).

Guest #2 - this is a shitty story it takes place in RV , reads like bleach, and has a stupid weak naruto, this story sucks

Umm... what?

No, seriously. What?

First of all. This review was posted on the 10th Chapter of Blood Breathers, Rebirth + A Vampire. That meant that whoever sent this had already read OVER SIXTY ONE THOUSAND WORDS. And then decided to flame. I really don't understand you humans.

Secondly, it takes place in R+V? No shit Sherlock, this is at least partially a Rosario + Vampire story. What's wrong with that? Rosario + Vampire is a popular anime/manga. It's not like I shoved Naruto into some piece of shit anime that no one cares about. I put him into an anime I like and will continue to like as I keep reading the manga.

Thirdly, it reads like Bleach. Really? Does it now? I don't understand this comment. I'd like to point out that Bleach, being a manga, has little in the way of the written word. Although, I have noticed that they like to run their mouths. Perhaps that's what he means? Well, as for talking in fights, I'll admit I do that. It's difficult to write an entire fight scene from start to finish without anyone opening their mouths. It just doesn't happen. There needs to be some kind of waiting, otherwise it's just one big game of space tennis. Back and forth, back and forth, can you imagine how boring that'd be?

And lastly, stupid weak Naruto. Naruto is stupid, this we all know. Okay, he has his bright sparks, but just because a lightbulb creates a very bright light for half a second does not mean that it works. More than likely, that lightbulb is about to explode so you should turn that thing off right now. Health and safety, kids. Those moments of insight are more 'battle instincts' than anything else. He, unlike a lot of people, is able to see through the panic most people feel in battle and for that one moment can formulate an attack plan that seems smart at the time because no one else is calm enough to do anything except run around screaming. He really is an idiot. But weak? I mean, I know I tried not to make him too powerful, otherwise, like I said, it would be pointless because there'd be no challenge. But I let him tear the Academy to shreds in Chapter 5, and he did it again in Chapter 8/9. Just because Tobi stabbed him in 9 and Kotsubo kicked his ass in 10 does not make him weak. It just means that he's exhausted, and for the latter, on the verge of death. You get stabbed through the stomach and see how spry you are in a fight against a Kraken, cockbite.

He'll get his mojo back soon. In fact, to some degree, he just has.

Now, if'n ya don't mind, I've got some coursework to complete. Fuuuuuun...