Don't bother this is a dead fic

by unknown-otaku709

This is a dead fic that I wish to read (listen to from the fanfiction app) while i'm at work. This is not my work and the author is someone who has amazing stories he's created. I just really love this story which is why im reposting it. Not taking or wanting any form of credit for this story

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to Code: Geass or Naruto.

Lelouch quickly fastened the last button on his black uniform, and walked out of the living quarters that had been graciously granted to him and his sister Nunnally by the dean. After the excitement of his first victory over Britannia, sneaking back into a school through an underground maintenance passage was undeniably boring by comparison.

Still, he wouldn't even have achieved that victory without the help from those two powerful Knightmare frames that were actually summoned across the world to his location. That white Knightmare Britannia had in their possession was powerful, and there was likely little he could do, even with ample planning and good strategy, to enable the terrorists to defeat that monster.

'But against those two, that white Knightmare looked like trash. It was completely outclassed, and they hardly revealed any of their Knightmare's capabilities. That blue one however, was able to somehow tunnel underground, maneuver itself beneath the white Knightmare, and pull it down until only the head was visible. Could it possibly be specialized for underground operations? That could yield a large number of other tactical options in battle besides the one I saw.'

After they had dropped him off in an alley close to the maintenance tunnel, they had retreated back into the shadows and vanished. Lelouch ran after them to see where they might be heading, but couldn't find the smallest bit of evidence that they had ever been there. That frustrated him a bit, as he'd have liked to be able to contact them if necessary.

As he walked towards the door to his class, he nearly bumped into Shirley's back. He also noticed Rivalz and Nina were beside her, and all three were looking at something very intently. That's when he heard it.

"The terrorists used poison gas?!"

"That's scary! Shinjuku's only thirty minutes away from here!"

"I saw it! There was smoke rising from the direction of Shinjuku. That must have been the poison gas!"

Lelouch peered around his three fellow student council members and saw images being viewed on a laptop. Soldiers keeping Japanese civilians back from entering the ghetto and people in hazmat suits working behind them.

"Shinjuku?" Shirley muttered.

"I phoned you about it yesterday," Lelouch said from behind her.

"Lelouch!" Shirley spun around so quickly that she ended up smashing her book bag into Rivalz's head and knocking him to the floor. "Why did you ask about Shinjuku?"

"I was hearing about it in real time from a friend of mine," Lelouch explained. "I thought he was exaggerating, so I wanted to hear what the news was reporting about the situation."

He turned away from her and quickly scanned the contents of the laptop over the shoulders of the other students. He saw not one mention of Clovis's assassination.

'Strange… why would they hide the news about it?' Just thinking about his actions the previous day had him feeling sick to his stomach, and he rushed to the bathroom faster than he'd thought he was capable of moving.

After thoroughly emptying the contents of his stomach and cleaning his mouth out, he turned off the water rushing into the sink and stared at his violet eyes reflected in the mirror.

'Are they hiding Clovis's death to guard against chaos? But if they do that, then when they announce it…' He scoffed and shook away the lingering feelings of regret and doubt from killing his half-brother. "I'm a lot more sensitive than I thought."

Suzaku groaned softly, his eyes wearily blinking open only to shut tightly at the bright lights hanging above him.

"So you survived after all" said the familiar voice of Lloyd to his left, peering down upon him as if he was a science experiment. "You're lucky we managed to get the Lancelot dug up in time, Suzaku."

"W-What do you mean?" Suzaku asked. A young nurse held up a glass of water to his mouth, which he drank from gratefully.

"The Lancelot's entire cockpit was underground, which meant it couldn't draw in oxygen for you. You were forced to rely on the Lancelot's own reserve supply, and that only lasts as long as the energy filler. By the time we got you out, you'd already passed out from oxygen deprivation." Cecile explained to him solemnly.

Suzaku frowned in disappointment. His first time in a Knightmare, and he had nearly died from something stupid like suffocation, thanks to those…

"The battle!" he exclaimed.

"A complete and total defeat." Lloyd said, sighing dramatically. "Those two Knightmares came out of nowhere and took the Lancelot down like it was junk to be recycled. Still, I shouldn't expect any less from Rakshata Chawla." He commented respectfully.

"How long until the Lancelot is ready to fight again?" Suzaku asked Cecile, since Lloyd seemed to still be considering the work from this other Knightmare developer.

"Well…" Cecile trailed off hesitantly. "The repairs to the Lancelot should be finished within a week. It would be three days, but we're adding in a cockpit ejection system now. However, whether it will get to fight again is another story."

Suzaku raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you…?"

"What she means is, that the Lancelot had such a poor debut, that the top brass isn't convinced it's worth the money and resources to keep the project running." Lloyd explained, finally rejoining the conversation. "I've managed to stave off their complaints and threats to shut the program down by telling them this was started by Prince Schneizel. They've backed off for now, but they're no longer in full support either."

Suzaku sighed in frustration. His one chance to show that an Eleven and honorary Britannian could help had failed. If he ever got a chance to meet that blue Knightmare in battle again, he'd come out the victor.

"Anyways, it looks like things in Area 11 will be changing drastically from now on," Lloyd muttered, scribbling on a clipboard as he spoke "What with Clovis being assassinated and Cornelia on her way to…"

"Prince Clovis was assassinated?!" Suzaku gaped, eyes wide as he stared at the eccentric scientist in disbelief. "But… how did they?!"

"Kururugi Suzaku." Suzaku glanced up to find three members of the Britannian Military Police, lead by Jeremiah Gottwald, standing in the doorway. "We would like you to come with us please."

The second Lelouch walked up to the classroom door, he knew something big had taken place. For one thing, he heard no noise inside, whether it was the droning voice from the teacher, or the hushed mutterings between students. It was dead silent inside. He quickly opened the door to find two students at the front of the classroom passionately locking lips in front of the class. Everyone else had just been stunned into silence as PDA was highly looked down upon at Ashford Academy, though not strictly forbidden.

The two students, new students apparently, broke apart and gave a mocking bow to the students still watching them. Lelouch almost wanted to applaud the two. Throwing something that shocking into the faces of these students who had lived such cultured and well-mannered lives was like a slap in the face.

The boy on the right was only slightly taller than him, with bright blonde hair and piercing sky-blue eyes. It was quite obvious the boy was athletic and probably more fit than everyone else in the class put together. He was currently grinning at Lelouch with what could only be called a foxy grin.

The girl on the left had long green hair that was tied back in a single long ponytail hanging down to the small of her back. She had intense yellow eyes and was inspecting the faces of the students amusedly, as if she'd like nothing more than to find every way possible to shock them into this state.

Seeing that another student had walked into the classroom, the teacher coughed into her fist to regain some of her lost dignity from staring open mouthed at the vulgar display, as well as the attention of the students. "Ah yes, well, this is Uzumaki Naruto and Senju Tsunade. They have been granted permission to attend the Academy by the dean. Naruto, Tsunade, that boy is Lelouch Lamperouge, the student body vice-president. He'll be the one showing you around the campus."

The two new students turned towards Lelouch, and he instantly knew they were the ones in the two Knightmares. The smiles on their faces seemed friendly enough but the look in their eyes; that was anything but normal. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but noticed the blonde boy's smiles widened just a bit further the second he did. That one was very perceptive.

He led them over to seats in the back where he usually sat alongside Rivalz, the boy in question currently staring at the green-haired girl like a drooling monkey.

'They must be confident in their abilities, their anonymity, or both to show up here like this. I wonder where they hid their Knightmares. I doubt they'd have entrusted them to the terrorists so easily.' He drew his gaze away from them and focused on another person who had just recently arrived to class.

The girl had red hair hanging down around her face and looked rather quiet. Then he remembered that this girl was the same one he had seen exiting the truck to pilot that red Glasgow.

"Whatcha' looking at, my dear Lelouch?" Rivalz asked, apparently deciding he had stared at the new girl long enough. "Might you have a crush on her?"

"Just thinking this is a rare event," Lelouch replied. "She hasn't been here since the term started."

"Kallen Stadtfeld." Rivalz said. "I hear she isn't well. She was barely in school last year, too. Still, her grades are at the top of the class. Since she's the daughter of the Stadtfeld family, she's got wealth and a gentle disposition. Man, you have high standards!"

"It's not like that." Lelouch denied.

He ignored the rest of Rivalz comments and started thinking about how to work this situation to his favor. He had two potential allies on campus with him and a terrorist who likely wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her double life. It wouldn't be a good idea to get all three of them together then. While those two, Naruto and Tsunade he corrected himself, already knew who he was, none of the terrorists knew.

It was highly doubtful they'd take orders from a Britannian student, even if he had helped them achieve their first major victory. When the class broke for lunch, he grabbed both Naruto and Tsunade and led them out of the classroom, telling anyone he passed that he was taking them on a tour of the academy. He walked them all the way around the campus until they reached the south side of the student council building. No students or other club members had any reason to pass by this area so he felt reasonably confident that they wouldn't be disturbed.

He turned to look them in the eye and activated his Geass. "Answer my questions."

The faint red ring appeared around both of their pupils, only to be dispelled a second later.

"Sorry, but it would be pretty stupid of me to grant you an ability I wasn't immune to." The girl's statement answered two questions he'd wanted to ask, but it also worried him slightly that he couldn't use his Geass on these two.

They were not controllable and he could only assume they were actually loyal to him. In the meantime C.C. and Naruto found an answer to one of their own questions. C.C. believed Lelouch's Geass would not affect her through the remnants of her Code while Naruto's Rinnegan could block Geass because it's immense power. Not to mention Lelouch's Geass was still brand new thus his attempts to use it on C.C. and Naruto was like a fresh Academy Student trying to fight a Kage.

No chance at all.

"What is it you two want? Why bother showing up here?" Lelouch demanded.

Naruto and Tsunade shared a glance between each other before turning back to him.

"We already told you what we want. The destruction of Britannia. So long as they're around, millions of people are being oppressed and killed for no reason. As for why we're here? Well… we were bored." Naruto admitted sheepishly.

"You came here for such a stupid reason?" Lelouch asked doubtfully.

"It's not a stupid reason. What do you think we could actually do until you make another move? Sit in our powered down Knightmares and twiddle our thumbs?" Tsunade asked him skeptically.

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose, but he couldn't deny she had a point. He was at least glad they hadn't decided to make a move on Britannia by themselves. If anything was going to happen, it would first be planned. "I thought her name was C.C.? And you're sure Britannia has no idea who you two are?"

"She wasn't going to use her real name for this. Only I'm allowed to know that. And what would people think if she introduced herself as just C.C.? So I picked one from my past that she liked." Naruto explained. "And only a select few Britannians are aware of our existence. Most of those people died in India."

"And you two will be loyal to me? You will fight for me until I have rid this world of Britannia's dominance?" Lelouch asked them seriously.

Naruto stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of Lelouch, and allowed the henge to fall away from his eyes, revealing his Rinnegan with the violet Geass insignia framing the pupil.

"We'll fight with you until you give us a reason not to." Naruto held out his right hand to the boy.

"Fair enough. We'll do things the right way then." Lelouch clasped Naruto's hand with his own and shook firmly.

With the terms set, he now knew what he had to do to keep their loyalty. He couldn't treat these two like regular pawns or disposable assets. They had to be treated as irreplaceable, just as he considered himself to be. He'd hate having to share any plans with them, but better they work alongside him than against him.

"Hey, Elevens!"

The three looked to see several students following one that walked towards them.

"Is he talking to us?" C.C. asked in an innocent voice.

"Maybe." Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you! Get off our school! This is no place for your kind!" The boy pointed at them while several agreed and cheered behind him.

"Evidently your Principal disagrees since we are here." Naruto smirked. "So whether you agree or not it doesn't really matter now does it?"

"You." The boy glared darkly at being disrespected. "I can make one phone call and have you both kicked off the campus!"

"You could and then our families would sue yours and take you for what little money you've got." C.C. spoke up, sounding completely calm with a mischievous smile.

Lelouch stood back, preferring to learn more about them as they interact with the idiots of the school.

"Oh yeah. Well let's see how much you can smile after I'm done with your filthy faces!" The boy charged forward and aimed a fist at Naruto's head.

Naruto snorted and stepped out of the way, making it look so easy as the fist sailed past him. The boy tried again, Naruto casually stepped to the side, dodging the fist again and again.

"You hold still you filthy Elev-" The boy tried again but this time Naruto subtly tapped him in the head, freezing him for a second before he fell forward again.

"You might want to watch your step." Naruto remarked as the boy got up growling. "But seriously, I'm getting tired of this game."

He pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number.

"And who are you calling? Your washed up bastard parents who probably lost all their money having you." The boy sneered.

"Nope. It's for you." Naruto tossed the phone at the boy who caught it.

He looked Naruto with a glare and then down at the phone before answering. "Hello?… Father?! What? What do you-But… Okay."

He handed the phone back to Naruto, looking like he swallowed a melon as he did it and stepped back.

"Thank you." Naruto held up the cell phone. "Thank you. No, it was just a misunderstanding. Okay, bye."

' The wonders of the Human Path and that Geass ability of yours. ' Kurama snickered.

'Yep. Works great, doesn't it?' Naruto thought.

While it looked like Naruto had called the boy's father all he did wait as C.C. subtly created a Shadow Clone, then when Naruto used the Human Path's powers to read the boy's mind he sent the information to C.C. and her clone that had hidden itself from view using his Geass power. As they both learned of the new powers they now possessed Naruto learned his Geass, Absolute Harmony and Unity allowed him to directly transmit his emotions and feelings to anyone who had been touched by his chakra, whether they knew it or not, or directly to C.C. who was able to directly sense him through the connection they had. Once they felt his emotions they would feel the urge to carry out his will, similar to Lelouch's own Geass but without the memory loss. With the information she now possessed C.C. had her Shadow Clone change into the boy's father and then used both of them used their own phones to make it look like Naruto had called the boy's father.

They both even used Genjutsu to fool the boy so when he saw the number that had been dialed he would think it was his father's number. So for all appearances it appeared that the boy had been scolded and warned not to harass Naruto Uzumaki or Tsunade Senju for fear of their family status being ruined with their money and home taken.

"Well, now that that was cleared up I hope no one decides to give us any trouble. As you can see, if this one's father doesn't want him messing with us then it's very likely the rest of yours will say the same thing." Naruto shrugged. "The price of family having a ton of connections."

The students grumbled unhappily as they walked away.

"You have family with connections here?" Lelouch asked, not believing Naruto's story.

"Nah, but they don't know that." Naruto whispered with a grin. "Now they won't dare bother me or C.C. unless they fear for their family's status."

"And thus no one will make the connections between us since they will not talk about us and won't reach the ears of the military." C.C. commented.

"I see." Lelouch nodded, remembering how they appeared in Shinjuku. "Is that the work of your… special abilities?"

"Stick with us and you'll find out." Naruto answered.

"Hm." Lelouch nodded, slightly annoyed by Naruto's word game but decided to be patient. "Very well. I believe I will."

He started walking back to the main area of the campus, followed closely by Naruto and C.C. when he spotted Kallen Stadtfeld swiping a bee out of the air into three separate pieces. Naruto actually whistled in appreciation of the skill necessary to do that. Kallen would have probably made a powerful kunoichi if she had been born in his world.

"There's no doubt about it now. She was the pilot from the red Glasgow in Shinjuku," Lelouch muttered to them.

"I saw that thing in battle. Very impressive. She pushed that thing to its limits and actually managed to take down a few Sutherlands with just that one-armed clunker. Give her a real Knightmare, and she'd be damn near unstoppable." Naruto praised.

Lelouch nodded slightly, agreeing with all of the points made by Naruto. That girl could be an ace pilot that, alongside Naruto and C.C., would bring about his victory that much faster. He walked over to Kallen just as she turned towards him.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the three of them approaching. "C-Can I help you?"

"Answer my questions." This time, when he made eye contact with Kallen and activated his Geass, he saw it instantly take hold in the form of the red ring around her eyes.

"Yes." Kallen replied obediently.

"You were the pilot of the Glasgow in Shinjuku yesterday?"

"Yes." She answered simply.

"Why are you a terrorist?" Lelouch asked.

"Because I'm Japanese. Although I'm technically half-Britannian."

Lelouch's eyes widened in shock at that revelation. "A half-breed?! But why go that far?"

Naruto sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, as he leaned back against the tree behind Lelouch.

"Bored?"

Naruto glanced to his right at C.C. who was leaning against the same tree. "Yeah, just a little. That Geass you gave him is pretty powerful, even though I dislike the idea of a power that can force someone to do something against their will."

C.C. shrugged as if it didn't matter to her.

And a strong argument could be made that it really didn't. It would never bother her or Naruto, and she could simply cancel the effects if it was used on anyone she didn't approve of. "All Geass have a weakness."

"What about ours then?" Naruto questioned her curiously.

C.C. looked pensive as she thought about that.

To her chagrin she couldn't think of a significant weakness for their Geass. "Well… you cannot deactivate your Rinnegan at will."

Even as she said it, C.C. knew that was a moot point. A rampant Geass couldn't be turned off either.

"The chakra drain is minimal. We recover more than we lose." Naruto stated casually. "And since we can cover them up with a henge, we don't need to worry about anyone seeing them. There are still two things I want to try with them though, but I'll wait until it actually becomes necessary."

C.C. nodded. "Those two huh? I want to see you using them for myself sometime. And that includes using them with Seizan."

"Um… Did you want something?"

Naruto's and C.C.'s attention were drawn back to Lelouch and Kallen, where the duo noticed Kallen no longer had a red ring around her pupils.

"Oh this should be interesting," Naruto muttered softly with a smirk. "Shall we stop him from doing something stupid?"

"Hmm… no. Let's watch him make a mess of things. It should be amusing." C.C. decided, smiling deviously at seeing Lelouch's little situation.

"No, I'm through here." Lelouch said, turning to walk off, noticing that Naruto and C.C. were smirking at him, as if they knew a secret they would not let him in on. He bit back a curse, not wanting to think about what kind of trouble those two had in mind. "Right. Just to be sure…" Lelouch turned around to glance at Kallen once more and reactivated his Geass. "Don't say anything about what happened in Shinjuku."

Kallen blinked in confusion at the odd command. "What do you mean in Shinjuku? What makes you mention that?"

Lelouch stared at Kallen in shock. It didn't work that time.

"Return to the classroom," he ordered firmly.

"Only if you answer that question!" Kallen countered.

'It's not working?! What's going on here?!' Lelouch quickly deactivated his Geass and started backing up slowly.

Kallen's unwavering gaze was boring a hole in him and he knew Naruto and C.C. would be laughing at him if they could.

"Lulu! Kallen!"

Lelouch turned around to see Shirley waving at them from the 2nd floor window. He could honestly say he had never been happier to see her than at this moment.

"We have to go to the science prep room next! Get a move on!" Shirley called out.

"Crap! I've got to set up the experiment equipment!" Lelouch exclaimed dramatically, slapping his hand to the side of his head.

He knew that Nina usually preferred to be the one to set up the equipment, but Kallen didn't need to know that, and Shirley would pass it off as Lelouch doing a favor for someone else on the student council.

He started running towards the doors to the science building. 'It didn't work? But…'

Kallen stared at Lelouch Lamperouge for a few more moments, suspicions forming rapidly in her head, before turning back towards where she spotted the two new students. "Do you two know what he meant…?"

Naruto and Tsunade were nowhere to be found, as if they had simply vanished.

Lelouch arrived home to find his younger sister Nunnally and their maid Sayoko sitting at the small table with a lot of paper scattered on it. "Sorry I'm so late."

"Welcome home, big brother." Nunnally said happily.

There was something different about Nunnally but Lelouch didn't notice until she looked at him which made him freeze in shock. "Nunnally? Your eyes…"

Nunnally was looking at him with open blue eyes with a big smile on her face. "I know, Big Brother."

Lelouch slowly walked over to his sister. "That's..that's… that's wonderful." He smiled happily, a tear falling down his cheek.

Nunnally reached and touched the tear on her brother's face. "Oh, Lelouch."

They both reached and hugged each other tightly with Sayoko smiling at the happiness of the two siblings but at the same time remembering why Nunnally got her sight back.

The door opened and Sayoko greeted with the sight of two students. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Lelouch offered us to use the guestroom here." C.C. answered neutrally. "Him and Nunnally have already met us and Nunnally knows that we were coming over."

"Just call us Tsunade and Naruto. No need for formalities." Naruto smiled warmly at the maid who simply bowed her head.

"As you wish."

Naruto sighed as she followed Tsunade into the living room where Nunnally was waiting for her bother to come home.

Naruto glanced at Nunnally and instantly noticed something through his Rinnegan. 'That little girl…'

According to Lelouch she was blind but Naruto could see that her eyes were functioning perfectly from the small amount of chakra in Nunnally's body that every human had to stay alive. He could see the chakra in her eyes which wouldn't be there if she was truly blind. There was also something else, a red colored imprint on her eyes that could only be seen by the Rinnegan.

The imprint of a bird spreading its wings.

' We both know what kind of signature that is. ' Kurama commented, having become familiar enough with that power for the last few months.

C.C. turned and followed Naruto's glance. 'So the Rinnegan can even see someone who has been affected by Geass.'

She looked at Nunnally and easily recognized her and the effects of the Geass that had been used on her. As she studied chakra she compared the art of Genjutsu to Geass since both affected the human nervous system and the brain and realized that the Rinnegan could somehow spot the unique power of Geass on people who had it or been affected by it.

'Charles's Geass is as strong as I remember. No doubt he and Marianne might become aware of Naruto. I can't let them know until the time is right or they along with V.V. will descend with all of the Knights of the Round on Japan long before Lelouch can even set up his rebellion.' C.C. thought with a frown. 'They probably even suspect I would seek him out and they would be right. Meeting Naruto was good fortune and now I'm stronger but we still need time to properly prepare. Not just ourselves but Lelouch as well.'

"Brother? Are you home?" Nunnally turned the chair around to face them.

"Sorry, he's at a club meeting. He said he'd catch lunch there." Naruto answered warmly.

"Oh. Naruto, are you and Tsunade just getting back?" Nunnally asked as C.C. stopped in front of hr.

C.C. dropped the genjutsu covering her eyes, showing her Rinnegan as she placed a hand over Nunnally's closed eyes.

"Tsunade, what are…" Nunnally stopped in mid-sentence.

"Lady Nunnally?" Sayoko moved to pull C.C.'s hand back but Naruto stepped in front of her. "Move aside."

"Give her a second." Naruto said.

Nunnally gasped as she twitched in C.C.'s hand but the green haired girl waited for a moment before she let go. Nunnally wheeled back from C.C.'s grip as she…

Opened her eyes.

Sayoko gasped. "Lady Nunnally?"

Nunnally stared down at her trembling hands, as if she suddenly realized what they looked like for the first time. "I… I..can see." She gripped her face, tears of joy falling from her face.

"You're welcome." The Geass symbol in C.C.'s Rinnegan flared brightly before she quickly used henge to make them look normal again.

'So our Rinnegan can cancel or alter Geass affects, even better than a person with a Code can. Nunnally may not remember what the Emperor did to her, but the Geass that had left her blind has been broken.' C.C. glanced at Naruto.

All it took was the power of the Human Path and what was left of C.C.'s code, connecting with Nunnally's own mind and overpower and rewrite the Geass that left her blind but for the little girl's sake of remembering her mother as a kind woman and not being set up by the Emperor C.C. did not remove those memories. It was too soon, plus in the short time C.C. had known Nunnally the crippled girl was easily the most pure hearted soul the former immortal had ever met.

'Hanging around with Naruto is making me soft.' C.C. sighed and closed her eyes.

"What happened? How?" Lelouch asked the only questions that could come out of his mouth.

"I don't know. I just… I just opened them." Nunnally answered as she stared into her brother's face. "I can't explain how it happened. It's like… a miracle."

Lelouch could only smile at the happy look on his sister's face but he already suspected who was responsible.

"Welcome home, sir." Sayoko greeted him respectfully. "Your friends are in the guest room you said they could have."

Lelouch blinked in surprise, but instantly deduced who Sayoko must have been referring to. "Ah, right. I should go see how they've settled in then."

He walked down the hallway to his left, past his room, past Nunnally's room, and opened the door to the guest room at the end of the hallway. Not surprisingly, he found Naruto and C.C. already unpacking various belongings like clothes, scrolls and… weapons?

"I see you two decided to make yourselves at home."

C.C. closed the drawer that she hid her kodachi in and turned towards the door. "It would be easier and more convenient if you had us close at hand, right? Yet you also don't want anyone accidentally discovering our existence who shouldn't. That means we have to stay here."

Naruto carefully set the massive scroll his master left him atop the dresser and made sure it wouldn't roll over, before he too addressed Lelouch. "We hid our Knightmares in the maintenance tunnel you snuck back in through. They have a garage. I'm assuming they used it for vehicles coming in with people to do repairs. It looked abandoned so we put it to use."

Lelouch nodded in agreement. He had seen that garage and it could easily house several Knightmares. Still he couldn't just convert Ashford Academy into his new base of operations.

He'd need to find a new location soon, and one with room for plenty of Knightmares. "Fine. You two can stay here for now, but I plan on getting us a base of operations as soon as I can. When I do, you two will have to stay there with your Knightmares."

Naruto and C.C. met each other's gaze and turned to Lelouch as one. "Agreed."

"And one more thing, did you have anything to do with my sister regaining her sight?" Lelouch asked, genuinely curious.

"What makes you so sure it wasn't a miracle?" Naruto rhetorically asked but his fox grin wasn't fooling anyone.

Lelouch would have been annoyed and pressed them for details but considering how they helped him in Shinjuku and seemingly restored his sister's sight he decided to be a little patient with them. He'd learn more about them as they continued their agreement to bring down Britannia.

"As you already know, the project was a complete failure. Consequently, I am disbanding this research center." General Bartley informed the researchers and scientists who had been involved in Project R in any way, shape or form.

"What?! But!"

"I've set up a place in Narita for you. Move everything out there." Bartley ordered. "While none of us remember doing so, the fact is that I and the other staff officers left Prince Clovis alone. I'll likely be recalled to the homeland to take responsibility for that. If His Majesty learns that this experiment has proceeded without his knowledge then…"

He trailed off, letting them come to their own conclusions about the consequences.

"Understood, sir! We'll make preparations as fast as we can!"

Bartley nodded in satisfaction as he turned and walked out the door after setting down a photograph on the table in the room.

A photograph displaying a green-haired woman escaping the battlefield of WWII.

Lelouch set down the dinner plates on the table in front of him and Nunnally, though he took her plate first to cut her steak into pieces. He had given Sayoko the night off after making their dinner, while Naruto and C.C. had been given his credit card to go out for pizza or ramen. They had still been arguing about that even as they left the building.

"Miss Sayoko was just teaching me about origami. When you fold a piece of paper over and over, you can make birds and boats and all sorts of things!" Nunnally described excitedly.

She had been talking so fast, that she had some soup trailing down from her mouth. She was just so happy today that she could barely keep herself calm at all.

"You really don't have to be talking so fast." Lelouch said softly, taking his napkin and gently wiping the soup away from her mouth. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you, big brother," said Nunnally.

"You're very welcome." Lelouch replied with a smile.

"I'm so glad. You sort of scared me last night."

"Did I? Sorry. I had something to think about." Lelouch said, hating that it was necessary to lie to his sister, the one person for whom he cared the most.

"So…" Nunnally started, drawing Lelouch's attention back to her. "They say if you fold a thousand cranes, your wish comes true. So, if you have anything to wish for…"

She trailed off, holding up the delicate pink crane Sayoko had made for her yesterday.

"Oh, no. Not me. And, you, Nunnally? Do you wish for anything?" Lelouch asked kindly.

"I wish the world was a gentle place." Nunnally stated simply.

Lelouch smiled at the innocence of his sister. "Now you can see again, I'm sure it will be."

"Really?" Nunnally asked happily.

"I promise."

Those two words brought the happiest smile he had ever seen on his sister's face and he wanted to make sure it stayed there. 'That's right. There are few futures which are open to us. While they may be sheltering us here, will the Ashford family always be there to back us up? If our identity was ever revealed, even Shirley, Rivalz, and the others would abandon us. Our fate is to be either political tools or the prey of other peoples' conspiracies. I have to make it. Make a world where Nunnally can live happily.'

Lelouch set his hand down over Nunnally's, only for her to lift it up and wrap her pinky finger around his.

"She taught me about this before. It's how the Japanese make a promise. Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie. I swear." She finished, having sung the promise in her soft lyrical voice, and gently pulled their hands apart.

Lelouch blinked and decided to humor her. "Now I'm scared! I may have to eat a thousand needles someday!"

Nunnally smiled innocently and wagged her pinky in the air at him. "Uh-huh! So you better not be lying."

"It's ok. I'm not lying." Lelouch said.

'Not to you, at least.'

Lelouch activated his Geass and stared down at his rippling reflection in the river below him. 'This is the only weapon I have. And I don't even know how to use it.'

"Lelouch!"

Lelouch deactivated his Geass quickly, and looked up to see who had called his name. He saw it was just his history teacher approaching.

"Class will be starting soon!"

"Oh. Yes, sir!" He decided to test his Geass on his teacher to see if it still functioned properly.

The fact that Kallen had seemingly broken his hold over her disturbed him greatly.

"Sir, could you please tell me what questions will be on our essay exam?"

"They'll cover The Humiliation of Edinburgh, The Transfer of the Capitol to the New World, and The North-South War." His teacher answered calmly, with the signature red ring surrounding his pupils.

'So, I haven't lost this power after all?' Lelouch deactivated his Geass, removing the connection on his teacher. He locked eyes with his teacher once more and reactivated the Geass. "Sir! Could you please tell me what questions will be on our essay exam?"

"Quit joking around and study seriously! You can handle them if you make the effort." Lelouch's teacher chastised as he walked away, heading for the main building.

"Right!" Lelouch called back. 'As I suspected. It can only work once on the same person. If I break the connection, I can no longer issue orders or commands to that person. Then again, perhaps C.C. could wipe the effects of my Geass so I could issue a new set of commands or orders.'

"So, how's life at your dear old school?"

"Stifling." Kallen responded. "Well, almost. There are these two new students that made out in front of the class, and I know they did it just for the shock value. It was pretty funny watching these stuck up Britannians' reactions. Anyways, maybe I should head back to you." She said hopefully.

"The army's on high alert right now. Stay there and let things cool down." Ohgi informed her.

"But what about the voice on the radio? Or those two Knightmare pilots?" Kallen asked.

"You can't go looking for a voice. And those two Knightmares disappeared after taking care of that white monster Britannia unleashed on us. You can assume they're working for that guy you heard. Besides…" Ohgi turned around and glanced at the picture frame on the table behind him. "Naoto would be happy you're a student again."

Kallen scowled, unable to believe Ohgi would use her brother against her like that.

"Forget what happened in Shinjuku for now. I'll contact you again later." With that, Ohgi abruptly ended the call.

'Shinjuku… I understand, but…'

Then it hit her. That student, Lelouch, had told her not to say anything about what happened in Shinjuku. She had thought it was just about all the rumors the students were spreading, but could he really have meant the battle that took place?

'Is it possible that was his voice?'

Kallen ignored the useless lecture on Britannian history, and opened her pencil box with a built-in mirror. She quickly spotted Lelouch behind her and to the left. He certainly didn't look like someone that could lead their group to victory against Britannia. He hardly looked like he run a mile.

The second he was called on to stand up and answer a question, she perked up instantly.

As she listened to him speak, she was mentally trying to compare his voice to the one that had spoken to her through the radio. 'It's similar… or is it? No. I don't remember the voice well enough to be sure!'

Lelouch sighed as he sat back down and glanced at Kallen, noticing the mirror in her pencil box which she hastily shut. 'All I gave her was knowledge that I know about Shinjuku. However…'

'If he knows who I really am…' Kallen thought, as she turned around to scrutinize the boy sitting in the corner of the room.

'Then as soon as possible…'

'I need to take care of him.'

As soon as class ended, Lelouch started packing away his things as quickly as possible without seeming like he was in a rush.

"Say Lulu, we're about to head over to…"

"Sorry. Maybe next time." Lelouch said, cutting Shirley off as he walked over to Kallen who was surrounded by several of her friends.

Though he highly doubted she would label any of them as such while fighting Britannia.

"Could you come with me, please? I'd like to talk to you." Naturally this statement caused all the girls around her to gasp in surprise.

He could possess only half the intellect he had now and still know what they thought was happening.

Kallen stood up and nodded. "Yes. I was expecting you'd ask."

He led her out the door and across the campus towards the massive student council club house, the second largest right after the administrative building that held the quarters and offices of the faculty members.

"I never knew there was any place like this in school." Kallen commented as she stared at the massive ballroom they were now standing in.

"It's the clubhouse for use by the student council. It was built large enough to host a formal dance." Lelouch explained.

"And we won't be disturbed in here?" Kallen asked.

"Exactly." He responded.

Kallen slowly started reaching her hand towards her pocket, where she kept the pink coin purse that held a concealed knife, until an exclamation from above stopped her short.

"Found it! Found it! Look, it's this, right?" Shirley asked, holding up a small computer chip between her fingers.

"Ah! That's it! The experiment data." Nina confirmed, walking over to take the chip back.

Rivalz stood up beside Shirley and started stretching his back, resulting in several loud cracks. "Man, my back hurts after being forced to crawl around looking for such a tiny thing."

As if that wasn't enough for Kallen, the door to the clubhouse opened, revealing Milly in a green apron pushing a silver cart laden with food. She glanced at Lelouch from the corner of her eye and noticed he was also shocked about the presence of the other student council members.

"Um… What is all this?" He asked Milly.

Milly set the plates of food onto one of the tables and turned to look at Lelouch. "Didn't you bring her here because you knew? It's because we're letting Kallen, Naruto and Tsunade onto the student council."

Lelouch's and Kallen's eyes went wide at Milly's statement, though for two different reasons.

"Naruto and Tsunade too?" Lelouch gasped.

"Naturally." Milly confirmed.

"We're required to join a club, but all the ones here are boring. There are no fighting, or swordsmanship clubs here. So we figured we might as well get to the top of the ranks."

Lelouch looked up and saw Naruto and C.C. looking down at him from the second level with smiles on the faces. He should have realized they wouldn't have left him alone so easily. Even though he hadn't seen them since the other night.

"Yup. My grandfather said the three of them could join. Naruto and Tsunade, because they're friends of yours and the fact that we're not allowed to have 'violent' clubs here. And Kallen because he said it would be hard for her to participate in regular club activities because of her health problems. Oh! I'm Milly, the council president. How do you do?" She said, finally remembering that she hadn't formally introduced herself to Kallen.

"Oh. Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kallen said awkwardly.

The other three members ran down the stairs towards her, but Naruto and C.C. simply flipped off the edge and landed crouched behind her.

"I'm Rivalz, the secretary. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."

"I'm Shirley, and I'm also in the swim club. How do you do?"

"And, I'm Nina," the bespectacled girl finished shyly.

Kallen nodded in greeting to all three, but turned around as soon as she felt it was polite to do so and faced the duo that had dropped down. If Lelouch was the voice she had had heard, might not these two be the Knightmare pilots who had decimated Britannia's ace in the hole?

"Um… I don't think we've been introduced to each other. I'm Kallen Stadtfeld."

Naruto stood up and smiled at her. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's an… honor to meet you."

C.C. stood up beside him, and gave her an amused smirk. "I'm Senju Tsunade. I'm sure getting to know you will be fun."

Kallen blinked at their odd introductions but nodded slightly anyways. Their names indicated they were Japanese, which made her wonder how they were allowed to attend the academy, but could they really be the Knightmare pilots?

They hardly seemed like people skilled in combat. "Nice to meet you two."

"Um… Milly? Can I talk to you alone, please?" Nina asked quietly.

Milly raised an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded as she and Nina stepped away from the group and stood by the bottom of the staircase. "What is it Nina?"

"Why… why are two Elevens at this school? Why did you let them join the student council?" Nina asked, staring at Naruto and Tsunade in fear, as if they might suddenly run over and attack her.

Milly nodded in understanding, and glanced over at the duo quickly before turning back to Nina. "My grandfather wouldn't tell me much, but apparently they're long-time friends of Lelouch, and are very influential."

"Influential?" Nina gasped. "But the only way that could be was if they were Britannian!"

"Or at least half," Milly agreed, having had the same thoughts when she was informed of it by her grandfather. "Probably a deceased Eleven parent, whose name they took. I wasn't told who their parents were, but they have to be significant if even my grandfather acknowledges their importance."

Nina had calmed down significantly at this news and was now looking at the two new students in a radically different manner. The more she stared at them, the more her mind associated their features with Britannians instead of Elevens.

After all, she had never seen a blonde Eleven, or one with green hair. "I see. Thank you for telling me, Milly."

"Sure, no problem." Milly said, knowing full well of Nina's general distrust of non-Britannians.

Personally, she had no problem with them, and would've even called them Japanese if she didn't already know it would have brought her unnecessary problems with Nina. The two of them rejoined their friends, and smiled as Nina walked over to Naruto and Tsunade and properly introduced herself, who then greeted her warmly.

"Um, excuse me Shirley, but could you put these on the table for me?"

Kallen looked over Shirley's shoulder and saw a young girl rolling in on a wheelchair with happy violet eyes taking in everything around her as if she was seeing it all for the very first time. On her lap were a pair of pizza boxes, and a tray of cake slices.

"Oh, thanks, Nunna!" Shirley said as she ran over and took the food off of Nunnally's lap. "It's so great to see you able to see!"

"Thank you, Shirley." Nunnally smiled as she took a good look at Shirley's face, as if wishing to memorize every part of the girl's face.

"Nunnally. You, too?" Lelouch asked in shock.

Milly saw the confused look on Kallen's face, and decided to be the one to explain. "This is Lelouch's little sister."

"I'm in the middle school group, so I'm not in the student council." Nunnally stated softly.

"That's okay. You're an associate member, right?" Rivalz said encouragingly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kallen." Nunnally stated with a friendly smile.

Despite being Britannian, Kallen couldn't find it in herself to see Nunnally Lamperouge the way she saw all the others. There was an innocence about the girl that led her to believe she would greatly disapprove of all the things Britannians had done to the Japanese if she knew the details.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Nunnally." Kallen replied sincerely, returning the girl's smile with her own.

"Okay then! First, shall we drink a toast?" Rivalz called out exuberantly as he brought out a bottle of MOËT & CHANBON, one of the most expensive brands of champagne that could be obtained outside of the homeland.

Lelouch wasn't sure how Rivalz of all people obtained a bottle, but he wouldn't say no to a drink.

"Champagne!" Shirley called out in surprise.

"Student council members can't drink!" Nina protested.

"Oh, loosen up, you guys." Rivalz said as he tried to uncork the bottle with his thumb.

That was until Shirley moved over and tried to take the bottle away from him.

"Lelouch, catch!" Rivalz yelled, tossing the bottle through the air towards the council vice-president.

Lelouch caught the bottle easily and started moving towards the table where the glasses had been set down.

"You're not getting away with it either, Lulu!" Shirley reached up to try and take the bottle away from the taller boy, who simply held it out of her reach.

Shirley frowned and jumped up to grab it, but ended up knocking Lelouch down to the ground. The impact caused the cork to come shooting out of the bottle straight towards Kallen. She was about to smack it out of the air until a hand appeared in front of her face, catching the cork before she could even start to react. She glanced at the owner and saw that Naruto had been the one to inadvertently save her cover, and was giving her a confident smile, which she found herself wanting to return.

Then the champagne came flowing out, drenching her from head to toe.

"That's why I hate Britannians. For crying out loud…" Kallen sighed as she allowed the hot water to cascade down upon her.

A knock on the bathroom door startled her and she pulled the curtain away just enough to glance at the door. "It's Naruto. I brought you a change of clothes."

"You can come in. The shower curtain's closed."

She closed the curtain and heard the door open, allowing Naruto to enter, and close once more. So they were alone. That suited her just fine. There were a few things she wanted to ask him.

"Sorry about before. I never had champagne before so I didn't know it would do that." Naruto said as he placed a set of clothes in the wicker basket by the sink. "Lelouch sends his apologies as well. He said they can all go over the top sometimes so he should have expected that."

"It's fine. There's nothing wrong with cutting loose." Kallen said, trying to sound nonchalant. "That was really fast, the way you caught the cork."

"I've had some training." Naruto replied with a shrug. "Lelouch gave me some of his clothes since Milly and Shirley's were too large."

"It's fine." Kallen answered. "I've worn some of my brother's clothes before. That was fast though. You went all the back to the boy's dorm? You must have run all the way there."

Naruto had to hold back a chuckle. He knew Kallen was fishing for information and he needed to stall for three minutes. "Lelouch told me he lives here actually. His little sister would have had it pretty hard living in the dorms. The principal let them stay at the clubhouse as a favor and Lelouch invited us to stay with him."

"Oh. So where are Lelouch and Tsunade?" Kallen questioned.

"Lelouch's scrubbing the club house floor with Rivalz while Tsunade's trying to get Milly to order some pizza. Who wants sticky floors in a ballroom, right?" Naruto asked rhetorically, as he counted down in his head. "Well, I should probably leave you alone now. I'll see you later."

"Wait!" Kallen reached her hand out from behind the curtain. "Could you hand me that pouch by the sink?"

"Sure." Naruto picked up the small pink pouch, wondering what she had inside that weighed more than the pouch looked like it could carry, and set it in her outstretched hand. He turned to walk out the door but was stopped by her hand gripping his wrist. "Seems someone got better much faster than expected."

"Yesterday Lelouch brought up Shinjuku. I want to know why. Were you the voice or one of the Knightmare pilots that took out that white Knightmare Britannia sent?" Kallen asked seriously, her grip tightening slightly.

"Voice?" Naruto responded.

"Don't play dumb!" Kallen demanded. "You both hang around Lelouch a lot. Are you the pilots? Why did he mention Shinjuku?"

"Is there something wrong with Shinjuku?"

"Don't answer my question with a question!" Kallen said angrily. "Is the answer yes, or no? I don't want to hear anything else!" She picked up the pink pouch that had fallen to the tub floor and ejected a hidden blade from the end of it, holding it just above Lelouch's wrist.

Naruto stared at the gleaming blade she was threatening him with little reaction. A little pocket knife was not going to scare him since he had been threatened with worse.

Suddenly the phone beside him started ringing and he had to stifle his grin. "If I don't answer that, someone might come."

Naruto picked up the phone slowly, acting as if he was trying not to make any sudden movements. "Hello? Ashford Academy, student council bathroom. No, I'm… no I'm not in there with her. "He handed the phone to Kallen. "It's for you. He says you'll know him if you talk to him."

Kallen narrowed her eyes, not wanting to lower her weapon, but saw no other option, as she wanted to find out who knew to call her here.

She set the knife down on the edge of the tub and took the phone from Naruto. "Hello?"

" I'm glad you're alive and well, Q-1 ."

Kallen's eyes widened in shock. This was the voice from Shinjuku. Naruto told her Lelouch was cleaning the ballroom. He could have easily slipped away to make this call, well she'd hold that thought back for now.

She could confirm that by just asking Rivalz or Milly if Lelouch or Tsunade had left at any point while she was away.

" The day after tomorrow, at 4:00. The observation deck of the old Tokyo Tower. Come alone ."

"Who are you?! How did you arrange that cease-fire order?!" Kallen questioned him, only to hear a click from the other end. "Hey! Don't hang up on me!"

In her frustration, she had jerked the phone cord out, pulling the shower curtain wide open.

"What do you mean, cease-fire order?" Naruto asked her. "Sounds like you have some pretty dangerous friends."

"Oh… that was just…" Kallen paused, trying to find a suitable explanation. "A game! It's a war game I play when I'm so sick, that I have to stay home."

She released his wrist and mentally congratulated her quick thinking.

"I can understand doing something like that when you have nothing to do. Oh, and I can see you." Naruto finished with a smirk, taking a quick moment to appreciate her form before he left the bathroom.

Kallen blinked at his odd words, but looked down and noticed that her nude form was clearly visible to him. She screamed and crouched down, pulling the shower curtain back to hide herself.

She heard the door shut after him, and turned off the water. "Guess I was wrong."

After having dressed in the clothes provided by Naruto, Kallen made her way back through the clubhouse towards the ballroom where she saw everyone gathered around the television, watching the Britannian News. "Hey, Rivalz?"

The blue-haired boy turned around to face their newest member. "Hmm? What is it Kallen?"

Kallen glanced momentarily at Lelouch, but he seemed too preoccupied with the discussion he was having with Naruto and C.C. "Lelouch was cleaning the ballroom the entire time right? Did he leave, even for a few moments?"

Rivalz raised an eyebrow at the question but shook his head. "No, Lelouch was here the entire time. Tsunade had to excuse herself because she had er… womanly problems, and Lelouch offered to escort her to the nurse's office, but she told him not to bother."

Kallen nodded contemplatively. Lelouch would not have had a chance to make the call then. She dismissed the possibility of Tsunade being the caller immediately. She'd heard the girl's voice and there was no way she could have sounded like that man.

"I guess they're not involved…" she muttered under her breath.

She slowly walked over to the group and glanced at the television, if only to see what was so interesting.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Prince Clovis has died." Rivalz said, walking over to her. "They say he was killed."

Kallen blinked in surprise. That meant it had to have happened after he called that cease-fire order.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, waiting to see who would receive the blame for this. He felt C.C. slip something into his pocket and move back over to Naruto's side. Just for confirmation, he slipped his right hand into his pocket and felt the recorder he'd given her. Good. That meant she'd completed the task to throw Kallen off their trail.

On screen, the entire Purist Faction, led by Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald had gathered in the viceroy's palace to hold the press conference.

" Prince Clovis has passed away! While fighting for peace and justice against the Elevens, he died a martyr! We must all push down our sorrow and carry on his will !"

" We've just received new information," the female newscaster announced. " The man suspected of the murder has been captured. According to the report, the man arrested is an honorary Britannian ."

Lelouch blanched as soon as he saw the person being escorted in cuffs by the Britannian Military Police. 'Could it be?'

Naruto noted Lelouch's expression with an interested look while C.C. merely rolled her eyes in exasperation.

" The suspect is a former Eleven. Honorary Britannian Suzaku Kururugi !"

Rakshata smiled softly to herself as she finally managed to stand atop the water in the main hall's marble fountain. Naruto and C.C. had been summoned away so unexpectedly, that Naruto had left several scrolls behind. One of them contained the instructions for several different chakra control exercises, all of which she had now mastered with the completion of water walking. The others all focused on anatomy, physiology, medicine, poisons and antidotes, and Iryo ninjutsu, or medical ninjutsu, with an added section on increasing strength with chakra.

Rakshata was surprised that she found the subject so interesting. She attributed it to her vast intelligence and desire to constantly increase her own knowledge and skills, whether it was with Knightmares, or more recently, with the chakra she now possessed. The woman who had personally written down the information contained in these scrolls, one Senju Tsunade she noted, proclaimed herself as the greatest Iryo-nin alive, and one day hoped to be surpassed.

Initially, Rakshata found such a wish to be illogical until she understood that, if Tsunade were surpassed, it would mean her successor would be able to help and save more people than Tsunade ever could. Almost from the moment she discovered the scrolls in Naruto's room, she had been going through them with the intent to claim Tsunade's title as the greatest Iryo-nin. Most of the information on herbs and plants that had medicinal properties was useless to her, as she knew for a fact that most of them didn't exist in this world. However, with her eidetic memory and fascination of the subject, it wasn't long before Rakshata had an in-depth knowledge of the human body and could manifest the glowing green medical chakra in her hands at will.

Still, she knew being able to produce it, and being able to use it were two very different things. So, she needed a test subject. Since there hadn't been anyone injured enough to warrant treatment at the time, she purposefully created a situation where one of the Knightmare pilots in her employ would walk in on her coming out of the shower with just a towel wrapped around herself as cover. She had given him a swift and painful beating for being a 'pervert', but took him to the medical wing herself after getting dressed.

On her first try at utilizing the medical chakra, Rakshata had been able to take care of the many bruises quite easily, but it had taken her two hours longer than Tsunade had written was normal, for her to heal the man's broken ribs. That was when she realized that she couldn't just put off the last chakra control exercise, water walking, because she was impatient to start utilizing Iryo ninjutsu, which led her to where she was now. She was going to resume her medical training now that she had mastered water walking, but it was at that point that the shared vision with C.C. and Naruto let her know that her newest and greatest creations were finally engaged in combat with another Knightmare instead of just gunships and tanks. And not just a regular Sutherland, but a new, advanced model unlike anything she'd seen from Britannia before.

"Earl of Pudding…" Rakshata murmured, aware that the only one other than her who could create an advanced Knightmare like that was her rival, Lloyd Asplund.

She walked back through the facility to her research lab and plopped down on the red couch she'd had brought in for her personal use while working. She smirked in amusement as the white and gold Knightmare was simply outclassed by Naruto's Seizan. Embarrassingly so, she noticed with pride. However, that bright green shield that had managed to stop Seizan's MVS kunai intrigued her. Ignoring that it was soon rendered useless by the combination of chakra and fukushahado waves coursing through the kunai, the fact of the matter was that it did stop the kunai from piercing straight through.

"Bring me the scanning data from Seizan. I need to see what Lloyd has come up with." Rakshata ordered with a snap of her fingers.

Immediately, a nervous scientist started typing commands into the scanning console still getting readings from Seizan and Shinryoku, despite the extreme distance. The scanners themselves she had integrated into their Factsphere sensors, so she would always know whether there was an enemy Knightmare that could come close to or, heaven forbid, surpass Seizan and Shinryoku. If the worst should happen, she would take the accumulated data and make any necessary improvements to her children. The scientist printed out a small stack of papers and brought them to her quickly.

Stretching out on the couch, Rakshata took the results and started perusing through them. The white and gold Knightmare's power output was enormous, and had Naruto not created Core Radiance already, she might actually be impressed. As it was, Lloyd's toy wasn't even a fraction of what Seizan and Shinryoku were. When she got to the numbers correlated with that arm-mounted beam shield, she shook her head in disappointment.

The amount of energy required to maintain the shields was proportional to the amount of energy being blocked by the shields. Naruto's charged kunai alone would have probably drained the energy filler of that Knightmare by more than half. With only a standard Core Luminous powering that Knightmare, it couldn't afford to have such drains on its energy filler. She shifted her focus from the results back to the fight just in time to see Shinryoku enter the battlefield.

Rakshata gave herself a mental pat on the back for implementing the Harken Fans as well as she did, and even more so for the forethought to give Shinryoku rotating wrists to complement them. Rakshata watched the engagement all the way until Seizan had the white Knightmare buried up to its head in solid concrete, after which she lost interest. Lloyd was going to have to do much better than that to even put a scratch on her perfect children.

"Do you know anything about this weapon, Kururugi Suzaku?"

The bruised and beaten Suzaku glanced down at the military pistol on the table, contained within a plastic evidence bag. How did it come to this? Admittedly the skirmish against those two Knightmares had been a dismal failure, but to be accused of murdering His Highness, Prince Clovis? If he actually thought it would have helped his situation in the slightest, Suzaku would have informed them that he'd been piloting the Lancelot and hadn't been anywhere in the vicinity of the crown prince at the time of his murder.

But the word of an honorary Britannian was worth nothing to these particular people.

"It was the one used to assassinate Prince Clovis. The barrel striations confirm this." Jeremiah Gottwald continued. "I also took the liberty of investigating your background. You're the son of Japan's last prime minister, aren't you? You had plenty of motive!"

"You've made some sort of mistake! I've never seen that gun in my life!" Suzaku denied vehemently.

His chair was suddenly kicked over by another of the purist faction members in the room, sending Suzaku to the floor.

"Your fingerprints are on the gun," Jeremiah stated, holding up the pistol so Kururugi could see from his position on the ground. "You're also suspected of murdering members of the royal guard. Admit it. Do it now and you'll be judged as an honorary Britannian, instead of as an Eleven."

"I didn't do it!" Suzaku denied once more, only to receive a swift and painful kick in the face.

Lelouch carefully lifted Nunnally out of her wheelchair and helped her sit down on the edge of the bed, before then picking her up and laying her down so he could pull the blankets up over his sister.

"That was Suzaku they mentioned before on the news, wasn't it?" Nunnally asked her brother softly.

"Yeah. It looks like Suzaku's still alive." Lelouch confirmed, tucking her in comfortably.

Nunnally turned to face her brother frowned sadly. "We've been apart since the war ended. Big brother?"

"What?" Lelouch asked kindly.

"That news wasn't true, was it?" Nunnally asked worriedly.

"It wasn't." Lelouch reassured her.

He knew how close Nunnally was to Suzaku. She considered him a second brother, and Lelouch had to admit, he felt the same thing about the boy he'd grown up with. Suzaku was his brother in all but blood.

"Suzaku would never do anything like that. It's some kind of mistake."

Nunnally smiled as she closed her eyes(Lelouch being thankful they will open again in the morning) started drifting off to sleep, her right hand reaching out for and grasping Lelouch's left hand. "Yes… it must be."

"Good night Nunnally." Lelouch turned off the slight and walked out of her room, making sure to shut the door with as little noise as possible. That was when he noticed Naruto and C.C. leaning on either side of the door. "How much did you two hear?"

"We're going to save him, aren't we?" Naruto asked knowingly.

C.C. merely tilted her head to glance at Lelouch from the corner of her purple eye. Lelouch sighed quietly, moving away from Nunnally's room and into the living room so his sister would not wake up and overhear them.

"Yes, we're going to retrieve Suzaku." Lelouch confirmed. "However, we won't do anything until they decide to move him."

"What makes you so sure they won't just execute him?" Naruto asked curiously, as he and C.C. followed Lelouch into the living room.

Had someone actually managed to assassinate Tsunade, despite how impossible that might seem, the one responsible would've been killed on the spot. After they found out who sent the assassin first, of course.

"They believe Suzaku killed a member of the Britannian royal family. They'll want to make an example out of him to gain political sway. Jeremiah Gottwald is part of the purist faction, a group of Britannians who believe that only pureblood Britannians should be allowed to serve in the military." Lelouch explained as he dropped down into the black leather armchair exhaustedly.

"There was never a high chance that they'd succeed in having the honorary Britannian program shut down, but if they can pin the murder of a viceroy on an Eleven turned honorary Britannian…" Lelouch trailed off.

"… There will be no other option but to have the program disbanded." C.C. concluded, receiving a nod from Lelouch.

"When will they move him?" Naruto inquired.

"Most likely, after the memorial service to honor Clovis." Lelouch responded, after thinking through several different scenarios that could arise from moving Suzaku earlier or later than he suspected. "That would be the day I'm to meet Kallen and the other terrorists. So, if we can successfully rescue Suzaku, I think they'll be more likely to join me."

Lloyd sighed in frustration and shook his head, as the engineers were only just starting to attach the Lancelot's replacement hands. Neither the Blaze Luminous shields nor the Factsphere sensors had been repaired yet, and Cecile had advised him to integrate a cockpit ejection system before he even thought about drawing up designs and plans to improve the Lancelot's combat abilities.

"We've lost our most essential part," Lloyd said disappointedly.

"Can't we do without him?" Cecile asked.

"I wish," Lloyd replied. "We can't get a replacement pilot for honor or money, and even if we could, they wouldn't get readings like he did."

"Eh? Readings like Suzaku?" Cecile asked in confusion.

Lloyd was extremely possessive with his Lancelot data, and practically hoarded it all to himself, revealing only what he felt was necessary for others to know. Naturally this included the Lancelot's performance rate with Suzaku piloting the prototype KMF.

"Didn't I tell you?" Lloyd asked. "He had an operation efficiency of 94%! How do we replace that?"

Lloyd suddenly had a strong desire to know the performance rates of the pilots whom Rakshata had entrusted those two unique Knightmares with. Though a part of him already suspected, to his disappointment and frustration, that their numbers would surpass those of Kururugi Suzaku. Perhaps even a perfect synchronization.

"Then you should tell them so they'll release Suzaku!" Cecile said.

"He's an honorary Britannian, right?" Lloyd asked rhetorically. "Since General Bartley's disgrace, the Purebloods have been in control of the military. According to them, the guilty party can't be from the Britannian military. But if the criminal is an Eleven, they'll accept Margrave Jeremiah's demands and shut down the entire system of granting Elevens the status of honorary Britannian."

"And what about Suzaku?" Cecile asked, worry clearly evident in her voice.

"I doubt there's any way he'll be found innocent," Lloyd stated bluntly.

Personally, he didn't particularly care either way, but Kururugi Suzaku was the first pilot that had the potential to make his Lancelot perform to its full capabilities. It would be a shame to lose such talent.

"This looks like a good spot, Naruto."

"Yeah, I think you're right. Close enough, but still hidden from view." Naruto pulled off his right glove, and slapped his palm against the brick wall in the alleyway just two blocks from Tokyo Tower.

When he removed his hand, there was a jutsu-shiki, the technique formula for the Hiraishin, emblazoned on the bricks. It would only last for 24 hours, but since the meeting with Kallen was tomorrow at 4, it would last long enough to suit their needs and he wouldn't have to leave one of his Hiraishin kunai behind. He checked his watch and saw it was almost 6:00 PM.

"Well, with that done, we still have the rest of the evening to enjoy ourselves. Courtesy of Lelouch," Naruto said, holding up a credit card between his fingers that he'd swiped from Lelouch's wallet.

C.C. smirked utilizing the Henge jutsu to transform herself into a young Britannian woman with long flowing auburn hair and light green eyes, wearing a simple pair of navy blue jeans and a forest green jacket. "Are you offering to take me out for a night on the town, dear?"

Naruto flicked his fingers, sending the credit card straight up into the air, thus freeing his hands to mimic her actions, and use the Henge jutsu. When the resulting cloud of smoke dispersed, Naruto now appeared to be a regal-looking Britannian man with smooth black hair, but kept the same ocean-blue eyes. He was wearing an unbuttoned black and red jacket, beneath which he wore a plain black shirt, with long black jeans to match.

He held out his right hand, palm up, and caught the descending credit card between his pointer and middle fingers. "How could I not spoil you, my love?"

C.C. chuckled and looped her arms around Naruto's left, as the two of them headed away from the alley and boarded the monorail to Clovis Land, probably the only amusement park left in all of Japan. By the time they arrived, the sun had set, and the bright lights of the amusement park offered a brilliant contrast to the surrounding darkness. Right at the entrance was a machine to convert credit into cash, which allowed Naruto to receive $500 worth of currency specific to Area 11. Each bill in the stack had the face of the, now former, viceroy, Prince Clovis. Upon walking in, the first thing C.C. dragged him to was a dart toss game where the top prize was a Cheese-kun plush doll, as this booth was sponsored by Pizza Hut.

Shaking his head in amusement, Naruto paid the man behind the counter and was handed five darts. Without hesitation, he tossed all five darts towards the target at once, landing four in a circle on the bull's eye with the fifth landing in the exact center. It was almost unfair how much of an advantage he had at a game like this, he thought, as he received the Cheese-kun doll and gave it to C.C.

Oh, who was he kidding? It was totally unfair.

"I love it. Thank you, N… Nicholas." C.C. said with honest gratitude, only just managing to avoid revealing Naruto's Japanese name and replacing it for one that a Britannian might have.

She leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the lips, before wrapping her free arm around his left and dragging him off to try some of the rides, now that she had gotten the only prize she wanted. The two of them spent the rest of their time at Clovis Land enjoying themselves on the numerous rides, sampling the food, and finally ended up on the Ferris wheel to end their wonderful night. By this point, it was already nearing midnight, the time when the park would close, so almost everyone had already gone home except for them. As their car stopped at the very top of the Ferris wheel, they were treated to a gorgeous sight of the full moon shining down over the dwindling lights of the amusement park. By mutual consent, they'd decided to drop the henge and enjoy the sight as themselves.

"Naruto… what do want to do?" C.C. asked the blonde to her right.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, looking down at her as she pressed up against his side, and set her head down on his shoulder.

"We're planning on starting a war with Britannia, to destroy them and remove their influence from other countries. But, what about after that? What will there be left for you to do once we've accomplished that goal?" C.C. clarified.

When she didn't receive an immediate response, she glanced up at him, only to see him smiling warmly at her.

"Well, I suppose that depends on you, Cera." Naruto said, speaking her real name with such tenderness and love, that C.C. couldn't help but blush. "I believe, that I have a promise to uphold, a promise to stay by your side forever, never to leave you alone by choice or by death."

Cera hummed in thought, taking his words into consideration. The decision was hers to make apparently, and he would abide by whatever she chose.

As she thought about different options, each one discarded as easily as its predecessor, there was only one that she could not forget; one that caused a feeling of warmth to spread inside her chest and just felt right. "What if… what if we started a family?"

Naruto blinked in surprise, looking down at Cera, who met his gaze anxiously. "You mean… children?"

Cera nodded without answering, still staring into Naruto's eyes.

"That… sounds nice," Naruto admitted, with a slowly forming smile on his face.

It seemed so hard to imagine at this point, actually settling down and starting a family and having kids of his own. Sure, he once assumed it would happen at some point after becoming Hokage, but that changed after he and the others went off to stop Obito and Madara. After the 4th Shinobi War had started, he had just abandoned the idea altogether, deciding he couldn't be in a relationship during a war. He never considered the possibility of living and having the chance to find someone, even though a few girls he could think of were interested in him after all that time.

Cera however, would never die before him through natural means. And his modified Rinnegan's unity aspect had integrated the eyes as a full Uzumaki dojutsu. Without wanting to get his hopes up, he had to believe that any of his children who could manifest the Rinnegan, would also not die through natural means either.

"How many were you thinking?"

"Two." Cera answered immediately. "One daughter and one son."

Naruto was now imagining a little green-haired girl with ocean-blue eyes, and a taller blonde-haired boy with deep yellow eyes, both proudly showing off their new Rinnegan to their parents. "Have you thought about their names?"

"Kushina and Minato," She again replied, without hesitation.

Naruto smiled. That meant she had only started thinking about this sometime after he had told her and Rakshata his story. He actually felt comforted by the thought of him being the first man Cera considered having children with.

"Is that a wish you must have fulfilled, or a promise you intend for me to keep?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." C.C. responded, sliding a hand behind Naruto's neck and pulling him down into a loving, yet passionate, kiss.

When her other hand gripped the front of his jacket urgently, Naruto got the message and used Hiraishin once more to bring them back to Lelouch's dorm, where the other nine kunai were still stored in their room.

"Lelouch, what are you up to later?" Rivalz asked, clasping his friend's shoulder as they stopped on the way back from the assembly honoring the death of Prince Clovis. "We shouldn't waste a day off from classes, and people have been asking for a rematch…"

"Don't you dare go gambling!" Shirley chided the two teens fiercely.

"Gimme a break!" Rivalz said, understandably scared of an upset Shirley Fenette.

"She's right. I'm through with that," Lelouch said, surprising both Shirley and Rivalz, though for different reasons. "I've found a better opponent."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Shirley asked in confusion, though she was at least happy that Lulu would finally stop gambling.

She kept worrying that one day those nobles he played against wouldn't just accept their defeat.

"Then let me in on it too!" Rivalz requested eagerly.

Anything Lelouch found more interesting than winning money from rich nobles in chess had to be really fun!

"It's probably better you didn't. It's not your sort of game," Lelouch said, holding back a laugh at the thought of Rivalz actually participating in the fight against Britannia.

He spotted Kallen walking past them towards the academy's exit and glanced at his phone. It was already 3:00.

By now, his package would have been delivered to his dorm, where Naruto and C.C. were waiting for him to return before they made their way to Tokyo Tower. "Sorry, I've got to go. I have an appointment to keep."

Rivalz and Shirley blinked as Lelouch walked past them toward the dorm he shared with Nunnally, but shook off his behavior. This wasn't the first time Lelouch had acted strange or secretive, and they were betting it wouldn't be the last.

"His Highness's memorial program was handled very well," Jeremiah praised the man standing before him. "A bit too weepy for my tastes, but…"

"Your Excellency, the masses enjoy a tearjerker." Diethard Ried, the producer and member of the press staff at Hi-TV, defended.

"Spoken like a true TV man." Jeremiah remarked in a way that could be taken as a compliment or an insult. "Still, I acknowledge your skills. You did well in the short time you had. One would almost think you were expecting His Highness to die."

Diethard bowed slightly in deference to the Margrave. "I'm afraid it's quite common to have memorial programs prepared for important people,"

"For me as well?" Jeremiah asked in amusement.

"After this, we may make one for you, Your Excellency." Diethard said.

Jeremiah nodded, having expected that answer. "Meaning I wasn't important enough to warrant one until now. How honest of you."

Diethard wasn't sure whether the Margrave was insulted, angry, or appreciative of the honesty, as the man kept his emotions and feelings hidden quite well.

He could respect that. "I'm afraid so.

"Feel like joining the military? We have a need for information officers." Jeremiah offered.

Men of Diethard's caliber didn't come along too often. His penchant for respectfully speaking the truth, yet ignoring how it might affect the other person, was something sorely lacking in many of the soldiers. They were all yes-men, and it was nigh impossible to receive an answer without having one's ass kissed first.

Diethard respectfully shook his head. "I'm afraid that I'm not up to the job. It's not for me."

"You prefer a civilian network?" Jeremiah asked. A shame, but he didn't hold it against the man. Diethard was serving Britannia in his own way. "No matter. I have another favor to ask of you. Tonight, Kururugi Suzaku will be transferred to his court martial."

Diethard narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind already jumping ahead to where the Margrave was leading him. "We'll get a lot of patriotic Britannians to line the roadside."

"It's helpful that you catch on so quickly." Jeremiah turned to his left where Villetta Nu, the one person he trusted the most in the purist faction, was standing. "Be sure his face can be seen clearly in the envoy."

Villetta frowned slightly. "Lord Jeremiah, there are some among the Elevens who have made Private Kururugi out to be a hero. Some groups may even be thinking of freeing him."

"I'll be providing security personally in my Sutherland." Jeremiah reassured her. He had already suspected something along those lines for himself, but he appreciated the warning nonetheless. "If any troublemakers show up, I'll execute them on the spot!"

Lelouch closed and locked the door behind him as he quickly made his way to his room. There, sitting on his bed, were two ordinary brown boxes. The first was a thick square box, while the second was a long rectangular box. Opening the second box first, he found the new suit and cloak he'd had custom tailored for his activities as Zero.

An appearance that would both inspire his allies and terrify Britannia. It consisted of a tight dark purple suit with golden stripes and long, wrapped sleeves. The sleek bodysuit was elegant but practical. Worn over the bodysuit, was a black and gold cloak with crimson spandex inside and an enormous black cape encircling the head.

He took the opportunity to try it on and smiled as it fit him perfectly, though he honestly expected nothing less. Then he took the last box and opened it up. Almost reverently, he lifted up the spiky black and indigo mask and inspected it thoroughly. The special material that the visor was made from, was dark indigo and appeared opaque from the outside, but was actually transparent from the inside.

As per his specifications and measurements, a small slit perfectly level with his left eye, could be opened up from inside the mask by pressing a button with his chin. Lelouch slid the helmet on over his head, feeling the sections extend over the top to keep it in place, and conceal his hair when combined with the high collar of his suit. He took a moment to inspect himself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction at what he saw. This would suit him perfectly.

He checked his phone again and saw it was 3:30. He had to hurry, or he'd never get the preparations done before Kallen arrived. He removed the suit and donned some casual, yet comfortable, clothes he could wear beneath the suit without problems. He stored the suit and helmet in a silver briefcase he had bought in preparation, and walked out to the living room.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto and C.C. were already there, eating a steaming hot bowl of ramen and a large cheese pizza respectively. Bought with his credit card, he assumed. Naruto always managed to get it out of his wallet without him noticing.

"We need to get moving so I can set things up for our meeting with the terrorists."

Naruto picked up the bowl and noisily slurped down the remaining broth, before standing up. He was wearing the black and gray armor and a gray cloak with a hood to hide his blonde hair and had just slid on his face a white mask with red lines decorating it.

It resembled an animal's face, and if Lelouch had to guess, it looked like a fox. "While you were busy working with the student council yesterday, C.C. and I went downtown and checked out the tower for ourselves. I can get you down there immediately, so you'll have plenty of time to prepare."

C.C. finished the last slice of her pizza and also donned a white mask. Hers was distinctly avian in appearance, and Lelouch believed it was either a crow or a raven.

Like Naruto, she was wearing a set of black and gray armor beneath the gray cloak, which perfectly concealed her bright green hair. "One thing before we go. Naruto and I have been discussing the matter, and we both believe you should inform these terrorists about your Geass."

"What?" Lelouch asked in shock. "Are you two insane? What possible benefit could come from revealing such a powerful weapon to people who haven't even become my allies yet?"

"Your Geass has the power to issue absolute orders which cannot be disobeyed. That's not a power you want your allies finding out about on their own. They'll start jumping to conclusions, and if they believe you've been manipulating or controlling them, they'll turn on you faster than you can count to zero." C.C. warned.

"You have to let them realize that they're following you of their own free will, and that they don't have to wonder whether your Geass will be used on them. If they ask to see your face, you can claim you're keeping your mask on to show you're sincere in earning their trust." Naruto added on.

Lelouch frowned, as he started weighing the pros and cons of doing as Naruto and C.C. advised in his mind, and was slightly annoyed that there were more pros to revealing the existence of his Geass than there were cons. "How will they believe me when I tell them I haven't already used my Geass on them?"

"Simple," C.C. said. "Tell them it requires eye contact, and that it induces memory gaps. You're already taking steps to prevent the former, and they'll already know for themselves if they have the latter."

"But Kallen will know I've used my Geass on her then!" Lelouch countered.

"Maybe, maybe not." C.C. said with a shrug. "You didn't keep her under for very long, and as soon as she was released, she heard you talk about Shinjuku. Considering how obsessed she was with you after hearing that, I have to wonder if she even knows there's a gap in her memory. What she remembers before having your Geass used on her, and what happened after she was released, are connected."

"What do you mean, connected?" Lelouch asked in clarification.

"She remembers you walking up to her, then seemingly changing your mind and walking away while telling her not to say anything about Shinjuku. That could have really happened within the span of a few seconds." C.C. explained patiently. "So long as you don't issue any commands to them from here on out, I think you'll be fine."

"Just keep it in mind. For now, we should get going." Naruto said impatiently.

He grabbed both Lelouch and C.C. by the arms and used the Hiraishin no Jutsu, causing the three of them to disappear in a flash of bright yellow light.

As soon as he landed on solid ground, Lelouch stumbled forward and would have fallen if he hadn't been steadied by Naruto. They were in an alleyway just outside the massive tower. Written on the wall to his left was a line of Japanese text he couldn't read, which was starting to fade away. Checking his phone, he saw it was almost 3:40 now.

He wanted to know how Naruto had just transported them halfway across the city, but knew it would have to wait.

"Here. Bring this to the lost and found." Lelouch said, handing Naruto a disposable cell phone. "I'll board one of the tram lines and ensure we'll have some privacy for our discussion."

"Are you going to do as we suggested?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, taking the cell phone and putting it into his pocket as both he and C.C. used henge to change appearances, now resembling the Britannians they had been last night.

"I don't like it, but I'm smart enough to understand it will only help in the long run, whatever my feelings on the matter." Lelouch grudgingly admitted. "You'll need to regroup with me after I make the call. Can you do that?"

Naruto pulled out a tri-pronged kunai and handed it to Lelouch, handle first. "Here. When you need us, just toss this to the ground. It'll draw us to you like a beacon."

Lelouch's keen mind instantly deduced what would happen, and pocketed the weapon safely. "Got it. I'll see you in twenty minutes."

The three of them parted ways to accomplish their respective tasks, knowing that this would officially mark the beginning of their path towards Britannia's destruction.

"The overwhelming victory of Britannia made the unenlightened former government of Japan well aware of their true rank in the world. Since then, the empire and Area Eleven have joined hands and begun to walk the road towards revival."

Kallen had to force herself not to appear furious. In public like this, she was Kallen Stadtfeld, a patriotic Britannian citizen who wholly approved of Britannia's actions. She hated the fact that she had to allow this part of herself to exist, but Kozuki Kallen was far more limited in the things she could do and the places she could go. Tokyo Tower, once a symbol of pride and joy for the Japanese people, was converted into the Britannian Victory Memorial Center, a museum commemorating the Britannian victory during the occupation of Japan.

Everywhere she looked, there were pictures of Britannian soldiers and Glasgows in battle, locations throughout the country that had been damaged or destroyed by the war, and Britannia's victories, because they would not dare commemorate the battles where the Japanese had been fighting back successfully.

It all sickened her.

She saw movement in her peripheral vision, and knew it was Ohgi, Kento, and Toru following in after her. They all suspected this was a trap, even if this man's interference had saved their lives in Shinjuku. It was for that alone, that they would at least hear him out. Never would it be said that the Japanese would leave a debt unpaid, whether to this man for saving them or to Britannia for stripping them of their heritage.

The only other people on the ground floor of the tower besides them, was a Britannian couple, casually observing one of the antique AA guns Japan had tried to use against the original Glasgows. Kallen could have sworn she saw the couple glance in her direction for a moment, but when she blinked, they were once again looking at the weapon, as if their eyes had never moved

'Tokyo Tower, 4:00. Why here, of all places?'

"It was Kururugi Suzaku who contacted us, right?" Kento asked the other two in a hushed tone.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Ohgi said, as the three of them moved over to a glass display case, and feigned interest in the pictures contained inside.

"But, he might have been arrested after he called Kallen," Toru said.

"Then this place is too dangerous for us to stay," Kento remarked.

Before anything more could be said on the subject, a loud ring sounded through the speakers, catching the attention of everyone on the floor. "Miss Kallen Stadtfeld of Ashford Academy, a lost item has been turned in for you. Please come to the service counter on the observation deck."

Ohgi, Kento, and Toru all widened their eyes in surprise and glanced to their left where they knew Kallen had been standing, only to find her missing. They headed over to the elevators as quickly as they could without seeming suspicious, completely oblivious to the Britannian couple who had been smiling and waving at them jovially, and hit the button for the third floor, hoping to catch up with Kallen before anything happened.

"You're sure this is yours?"

Kallen picked up the cell phone from the woman's outstretched hands, and glanced at it. It was brand new, and a top of the line model too. Written on the back was her name and Ashford Academy. Whoever this man was, he certainly knew how to plan ahead. She kept staring at the phone in her hand intensely, as if it would eventually reveal the identity of their savior on its own.

"It's yours, isn't it?" The woman asked again in confirmation.

Kallen shook her head lightly, snapping out of her thoughts and looked up at the woman with a weak smile. "Y-Yes! Thank you so much."

She walked away from the counter slowly, and found herself standing in front of the window where several sets of mounted binoculars were located. When she heard the voices of Ohgi and the others, she left out a soft sigh of relief. She hoped they weren't mad at her for rushing on ahead alone, but she really wanted to know who this man was. Suddenly, the phone in her hand let her know there was an incoming call.

It had been set on vibrate as well, to avoid attracting attention through a loud ring. The caller ID labeled the other caller as ZERO. Not wanting to wait any longer, she gave a sidelong glance at Ohgi and saw him nod.

She returned the gesture anxiously, and answered the call. "Yes? Hello?"

"Ride the outer tracks of loop line #5. Bring your friends."

"Eh? Wait-" Kallen exclaimed, only for the call to hang up immediately.

He knew. He knew that Ohgi and the others were affiliated with her, and that meant he had been watching them somehow. She scanned around the observation deck discretely, then mentally berated herself for being foolish. This man, Zero she reminded herself, would not have called her from the same floor, where he might be caught.

If anything, this man was at one of the stops along loop line #5, waiting for them to arrive. She informed Ohgi, Kento, and Toru of the situation, and the three of them briskly made their way out of the tower, heading towards the station. It was time to meet Zero.

Lelouch chuckled as he hung up the phone and stepped into the conductor's monorail car. He waited until the doors had closed in all of the other passenger cars before clearing his throat.

"Obey my commands!" Lelouch commanded with his Geass active just as the conductor turned around. Lelouch smiled in satisfaction as the familiar sight of a red ring around the man's pupil appeared. "You will shut down all cameras on this line, forget having ever seen me, and ignore everything you might see or hear coming from the passenger cars."

"I understand." The red ring faded, and the conductor turned around, prepping the monorail to leave the station, completely oblivious to Lelouch as he then made his way through the other passenger cars and ordered everyone inside to ignore everything going on around them and to sit perfectly still and silent, unless he ordered them to do something differently.

He opened up the silver briefcase he'd brought along, and donned his Zero suit over his regular clothes, before stashing the empty case beneath one of the bench seats.

"Now, all that's left to do is…" Lelouch pulled out the dagger Naruto had given him and tossed it to the ground, though with his meager strength, it looked as if he had just dropped it accidentally.

Luckily, it seemed that was enough, as the two forms of his advisers and ace pilots appeared before him in a flash of golden light. Seeing it firsthand like this was much more impressive than experiencing it, he concluded.

Naruto and C.C. dropped their Britannian disguises and now stood behind Lelouch on either side in their masked and cloaked ensembles. "Everything is ready for their arrival."

Naruto glanced around, but Lelouch simply tapped the left side of his helmet, knowing that Naruto was wondering if it was safe to talk this openly."How are you planning to free Suzaku? Should C.C. and I just go in with Seizan and Shinryoku and take him by force?"

Lelouch shook his head negative. "Such an act won't inspire much confidence in me. I need to show, not only these terrorists, but all the Japanese people that Zero can make the impossible, possible. I need to prove I can be a leader worthy of their hope and trust."

" Attention all passengers. If you see a suspicious item aboard this train, please report it at once via the nearest intercom ."

Kallen looked around, as she and the others boarded the very last car. Were it not for the automated messages playing through the speakers, the monorail would be devoid of all sound and noise. All of the passengers were sitting perfectly still and silent, staring at their laps like living statues. Not a single one so much as lifted their head when she and the others entered.

It was starting to worry her. Because every available seat was taken, She, Ohgi, Kento and Toru were the only ones left standing. Even though it appeared their presence wasn't garnering interest, the four of them still spread out across the car, acting as if it was just coincidence they'd entered together.

Kallen nearly jumped when the phone in her hand rang once more, but quickly answered it, after a quick confirmation that it was Zero again. "Hello?"

Ohgi narrowed his eyes as he strained his ears to listen in on the conversation. He was the closest one to Kallen without being directly next to her, but because she would be talking relatively softly, he had to really focus to discern her words.

" Face forward and look to your right. What do you see ?"

Kallen did as she was told, and frowned, seeing the 'new and improved' portion of Tokyo. "The Britannians' city. A stolen city, built on our sacrifices."

" Now look left ."

"I see our city. The city made by Britannia squeezing us dry." Kallen answered, taking in the ruined remains of other half of the city.

The half that had been left in shambles and ruins as a testament to the defeat of Japan.

" Good answer. All right, come to the first car ."

Kallen's eyes widened as Zero suddenly hung up on her again. He was here! On the same train as her and the others! She started moving through the car towards the connecting door to the next. Ohgi, Kento, and Toru abandoned all pretense of anonymity and followed after her immediately, spotting more passengers in the same state as the previous.

In fact, every car they passed through had passengers who would neither move nor make a sound. The difference being that as they got closer to the front, the cars became more crowded, which made it worse as the standing passengers who were bumped or nudged reacted the same way as the passengers who were sitting. Not at all. When they finally got through to the first car, Kallen gasped.

It was completely empty, save for three people at the other end, all of which had their backs towards her. There were subtle movements that let her know these three were aware of their entrance unlike the passengers, but did not turn around.

She focused her attention on the figure in the middle, the most likely one to be Zero. "Was it you? Tell us! Are you three the ones who helped us fight in Shinjuku? Was the cease-fire order your doing, too?"

As the monorail entered a tunnel, shrouding the car in darkness, the three figures suddenly spun around, with the two at the sides taking a step back so the one in the middle was in front. Kallen and the others gasped. All three were wearing masks. The two at the sides were wearing white and red animal masks, with dark eye holes that couldn't be seen into from this distance.

The movement of spinning around caused the cloaks surrounding them to flutter up slightly, allowing her to see that they each carried a sword on their person. And not just any sword, but Japanese blades. That reassured her a bit. The man in the middle was wearing a dark mask that intimidated her at first glance.

His entire body was covered by a high-collared black cloak that framed him like a set of folded wings. She couldn't help but compare him to a hawk preparing to strike, or a bat waiting in the shadows.

"Yes, I am Zero. With me are my personal knights, Seizan and Shinryoku." Lelouch answered, gesturing towards Naruto and C.C. respectively.

Ohgi, Kento, and Toru lost some of the stiffness in their shoulders at those code names. They were distinctly Japanese names, and meaningful ones at that. Names they didn't believe a Britannian would know or care to go looking for.

"What do you think of my little tour of this settlement?" Lelouch asked them, smiling behind his mask.

Naruto and C.C. had once again proven their worth as his… war advisers, by suggesting that they actually be introduced by their Knightmare names to the terrorists. That familiarity those names produced had helped to ease and lower the terrorists' guard.

"Tour?" Ohgi asked in confusion.

"I wanted you to have a true appreciation of them. Of the settlement and the ghetto!" Lelouch declared, gesturing with his arms at the two differing cities.

Kallen glanced at Ohgi, who nodded and took a step forward. "Yes, there's a difference between us and the Britannians! A desperate difference! That's why we fight as the resistance!"

"You're wrong." Lelouch denied. "Terrorism will not defeat Britannia!"

"Defeat?" Ohgi muttered, unable to believe such a thing was possible.

A battle in the ghettos was one thing, but the nation as a whole?

"Terrorism is merely a childish nuisance." Lelouch continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"What was that?!" Kento exclaimed angrily.

"Are you saying we're nothing more than kids?" Toru asked.

"Don't mistake your enemy. It isn't the Britannian people, but Britannia itself!" Lelouch declared. "What you need is to fight a war! Without involving the civilians! Attacking the civilians of the nation amounts to nothing more than simple terrorism, and only helps Britannia rally the people against you, against your cause! Do you not see? It is the empire itself that is corrupt, and must be toppled before Japan and all the other territories can be free. Make up your minds now! Follow me, and take the path of righteousness!"

Kallen scowled at the nerve of this man, to talk down to them like that. "Don't be absurd! It's easy to say whatever you want, but it means nothing unless you have the ability to back it up! How could we trust someone who won't even show us his face!"

"She's right!" Kento agreed fiercely.

"Take off the mask!" Toru ordered.

"I hide my face for your protection," Lelouch calmly informed them. He glanced at Naruto and C.C. from inside his mask, and saw them nod subtly. "I am in possession of a power that allows me to issue commands to people, commands that cannot be disobeyed."

Kallen felt a chill run down her spine. "Stop lying. There's no way such a power could exist!"

"Oh no?" Lelouch asked. "Tell me, did any of the other passengers make any noise or even acknowledge your presence as you made your way to this car? Did any of them even move?"

The four self-proclaimed resistance members glanced at each other in shock and alarm, understanding dawning on their faces.

"Y-You… you commanded them not to move?" Ohgi finally managed to ask.

"I commanded them to ignore everything they see and hear, and to remain perfectly still and silent for the duration of the trip." Lelouch explained. "I also used this power on former viceroy Clovis so he would declare a ceasefire in the Shinjuku ghettos."

That was a lie, but not only would it show them that this power could help, it would also start pulling them away from thoughts of how this power might be used to manipulate and hurt.

"How do we know you're not using it on us now?" Kento asked suspiciously.

"This power requires eye contact. I can see your eyes through this mask, but so long as the same cannot be said about you, I cannot use my Geass on you." Lelouch said, placating the man significantly. "Furthermore, there is a side effect of slight memory loss. If you have been affected, you will have a gap in your memory that you cannot fill."

Kallen frowned, as there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that those words should mean something to her, but she couldn't come up with a reason. Maybe the thought of that power, Geass, scared her so much, that she wanted there to be a reason to mistrust Zero and decline his offer.

"So, you're wearing the mask to try and earn our trust." Ohgi stated in realization. He both appreciated the effort and disliked that it was necessary. He wouldn't want to see Zero's identity for the risk of being commanded to do something against his will. "None of us have any memory gaps, and you saved countless lives with that ceasefire order. But… you murdered Clovis afterwards, didn't you? And you framed Kururugi Suzaku for it."

Lelouch shook his head and held up a hand, forestalling the inevitable comments that would come from their incorrect conclusion. "I did kill Clovis, but he more than deserved his death. The responsibility for the assault on the Shinjuku ghettos can be laid solely at his feet. Having fought there, I'm sure you can give me a better estimate of how many innocent lives were lost because of his actions."

Kallen narrowed her eyes and clenched her right fist. 'Too many…'

"But… I did not frame Kururugi Suzaku for my actions. That was the doing of one Jeremiah Gottwald, a member of the purist faction and one of the most vocal denouncers of the honorary Britannian system." Lelouch informed Ohgi. "To him, Kururugi Suzaku is a tool to further his ambitions to have the system abolished."

"And if that happens…" Kallen trailed off, her eyes hardening in understanding, her teeth clenching in disgust. "Then those citizens fortunate enough to have earned the right to live in the settlement…"

"… will have the lives they worked so hard to earn, torn from them by force." Lelouch finished. "They may even be arrested or executed for believing themselves to be the equals of Britannians."

Ohgi remained silent, as he took in the vast influx of knowledge Zero had just revealed to them. Every doubt they had thrown at Zero, he had rebuffed with logic or actual proof.

It really did seem like Zero wanted to help them, but he couldn't just trust the man so easily. "Tell me, are those two beside you under the influence of your Geass? Were they angry Japanese patriots or soldiers you commanded to serve you loyally?" He pointed at the two cloaked figures behind Zero who so far had remained silent.

Lelouch chuckled in amusement. He saw that this was drawing a negative reaction from the four, and so managed to cut himself off. "Forgive me, but the idea that I could command either of these two against their will is amusing. No, Seizan and Shinryoku are the only ones immune to the power of Geass, and even have the ability to remove its effects from others. Consider it added insurance if you ever doubt my word, that my allies will be protected from this power."

"We seek Britannia's defeat as much as you do but we three alone will not be enough to defeat Britannia and the army it has amassed no matter what skill or power we posses." The fox masked man, Seizan stated.

"As Zero stated, in order to become a force that will free Japan you must become more than resistance fighters. You must become an army of your own." The avian masked woman, Shinryoku continued.

That did a lot to reassure Ohgi. "After what I've seen and heard, I'm finding it hard to doubt you. But that doesn't mean I can just trust you at face value."

"I would have a very low opinion of your leadership if you did," Lelouch assured him. "If you desire proof of my commitment, I shall give it to you. Instead of showing you my face I shall show you my power and that the impossible is possible and free Kururugi Suzaku from the clutches of the Britannian military tonight."

"He killed the Britannian Prince! Kururugi Suzaku should be treated as a hero!"

"But he's an honorary Britannian!"

"Isn't he the son of the late Prime Minister Kururugi?"

"You mean the man who gave up Japan! The people don't know that about him!"

The argument between General Katase Tatewaki and Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe Josui, over whether to aid Kururugi Suzaku, had been going back and forth for more than an hour now, with many of the JLF members in the room moving to stand behind the man they believed to be right. The only one who had not taken a side was Lieutenant Colonel Tohdoh Kyoshirou, also known as Kiseki no Tohdoh.

"The Shinjuku incident was the work of Kozuki's group, wasn't it?" Katase asked.

"Yes, General." Kusakabe confirmed. "They're currently led by a man named Ohgi."

"Your thoughts, Tohdoh?" Katase asked, turning to face the highly decorated war hero who was kneeling at the front of the room, his personal katana lying in front of him.

Tohdoh remained silent, contemplating the situation carefully. He had to think of the situation as a member of the JLF and not as Kururugi Suzaku's former instructor. For a crime as severe as Kururugi was being charged with, the Britannian security around the prisoner transport would be quite high.

His choice was clear. "We have no duty to join him in a public execution."

"Such cowardice!" Kusakabe exclaimed. "Are you really the one they call Kiseki no Tohdoh?"

"You shouldn't confuse a miracle with foolishness!" Tohdoh countered. "Our duty is towards the liberation of Japan as a whole. Kururugi Suzaku made his choice to join the Britannian military. Let him accept the consequences of his actions."

"Any moment. Any moment now! Just look at the crowds lining the route. All of them, waiting! Waiting for the man accused of killing Prince Clovis! Waiting for honorary Britannian Kururugi Suzaku to pass by! Waiting for the former Eleven!"

"Camera 5's slow. Charles, have you got the crowd set up?" Standing by inside the Channel 5 HI-TV van, was Diethard Reid, the man personally assigned to capture this entire spectacle on camera for the public. He had personally put the word out for the people to gather along the route and had cameramen interspersed in the crowds to get the best shots. "Huh? The studio? Let them wait. There's no delay. Everything's going as planned. Here he comes…"

"I… I can see it! It's Kururugi, the suspect!"

Coming down the main road from the viceroy's palace now, was the prisoner transport surrounded by four Sutherlands.

"There, you see?" Diethard clicked off his microphone and let out a sigh as the smile was wiped off his face instantly. "This sham… I'm as corrupt as any of them."

"Murderer!"

"Scum!"

"Damned Eleven!"

"We want our prince back!"

"Voices of resentment! Voices of anger, growing louder! Voices giving proof of the love the prince's people had for him! Righteous voices which judge the terrorist!"

Jeremiah allowed himself a smirk, enjoying the resounding cries of the people that filled the air as they passed by. Things were going just as he expected. With this much public support, the goals of the purist faction would be assured.

"Acting consul Jeremiah!"

"What is it?" Jeremiah snapped at the man contacting him through the emergency only channel.

"Vehicle approaching the main highway from Third Street. We let it pass as instructed, but…"

Now Jeremiah understood why the man had contacted him. "Do you believe your target is a terrorist vehicle?"

"Well, sir… it's Prince Clovis's car."

"The prince's?" Jeremiah frowned.

Whoever was heading this way in the prince's personal car was making a statement, a challenge. Well, he would meet that challenge head on.

"Let him through to us! All forces, halt!" Jeremiah signaled, holding up his right hand.

The prisoner transport and the four Knightmare on protective detail all came to a halt in the middle of the road.

"They stopped! They really did!" Ohgi exclaimed in surprise.

The other resistance members gathered around the TV in the warehouse they based themselves out of, also expressed varying degrees of shock and amazement. Except for one.

"Heh! It was just a coincidence!" Tamaki dismissed easily.

"But, Zero predicted Jeremiah would do that because he likes being the center of attention…" Ohgi reminded him.

"Coincidence!" Tamaki retorted irritadely. "It's bad enough we have this guy waiting around with us, we don't need you taking their side too, Ohgi!"

Waiting in the shadows, was the fox-masked Seizan, who Zero had insisted accompany them back to their base of operations. He claimed it would help facilitate their escape, so Ohgi had relented and agreed. Naruto's Shadow Clone had its hands hidden beneath the cloak, waiting patiently for the signal as it focused on the screen.

'This isn't going to work. We're going to be killed.' Kallen thought frantically, as she slowly drove the car up the street towards the waiting Knightmares.

Jeremiah easily spotted the personal car of Prince Clovis making its way towards them from the opposite end of the street, and stopped just in front of their position. He hadn't been told what had actually happened to the car after the viceroy's murder, but he assumed it had simply been scrapped, as the prince's personal transport was just that. Meant for Prince Clovis's transportation only.

"Get out, you who would dare to spoil His Highness' transport!" Jeremiah called out.

The large Britannian flag adorning the front of the transport suddenly ignited in flames and burned away almost instantly, to reveal a masked, cloaked figure standing atop the car like a giant bat. "I… am Zero!"

"Wh-Who is this person? This man calling himself Zero who stands in front of the convoy! Could he be a terrorist? But if he is, what a foolish mistake!"

Diethard stared hard at the figure now taking up every screen in the news van.

"Zero… as in nothing?" he asked himself.

Jeremiah looked at the crowds on either side of the route, and saw they were all focusing on this new stranger who had captured their attention with just three simple words. "That's enough, Zero! Your little show is at an end!"

He raised a pistol into the air and fired off a shot, giving the signal for the four VTOLs to release the Sutherlands they'd been carrying. The four Knightmare dropped down around the prince's car, rifles raised to fire upon him. However, two new Knightmares, one primarily green and the other blue, rose straight up out of the ground without so much as breaking or disturbing the solid concrete.

They were positioned on either side of the car in a way that put them between two Knightmares each.

"You have your toys, Jeremiah, and I have mine!" Lelouch said mockingly.

"Those are-" Suzaku tried to warn only for the collar around his neck to deliver a painful electrical shock for his efforts.

The Margrave scowled as he took in the two new Knightmares. They looked a lot more advanced than the Britannian Sutherlands, and they were a good deal larger as well. Though he'd been forced to eject early, Jeremiah had heard the rumors of the prototype Lancelot being defeated by a pair of advanced Knightmares that left it buried in the ground. Were these the Knightmares?

No matter. Even if they had defeated the Lancelot, which he still doubted, that was one Knightmare. He was confident these two would not fare so well against eight Knightmares.

"So you have two Knightmares. Am I supposed to be impressed? Remove that mask Zero, or my men will fire!" Jeremiah ordered.

Lelouch raised his right hand up to the mask, appearing as if he was going to follow through with the order, until he sent it up into the air and snapped his fingers. The two halves of the transport fell apart to reveal a large circular canister contained in the back.

"What the…?" Jeremiah gasped.

"Lord Jeremiah, that's… !" Villetta called out from her Knightmare at the rear of the convoy.

'Yes, Jeremiah. As you never saw what was contained inside this canister, you assume it is a poison gas capsule.' Lelouch thought with an arrogant smile behind his mask.

"No! That's just-" Suzaku received another painful electric jolt through his throat for trying to speak once more.

"You… you bastard…" Jeremiah muttered furiously. 'He's taken every Britannian here hostage! Without them even knowing they're hostages!'

He leveled the handgun straight at Zero's mask.

"You intend to shoot me? I think you know the consequences should you miss." Lelouch taunted.

Jeremiah bit back a curse, as he knew Zero was right. If he missed, and accidently hit the canister, he would be the one responsible for who knew how many Britannian deaths. He reluctantly lowered the gun and motioned for the Knightmares to do so as well.

"Unit six, bring up the sound and get the camera on his face." Diethard ordered, excited to see something worthwhile.

"Sir, it's too hairy out there." One the workers protested.

"Tch, amateurs." Diethard muttered as he grabbed a camera and rushed out to the scene.

"Very well. Your demands?"

"An exchange." Lelouch said simply. "This for Kururugi Suzaku."

"Absurd!" Jeremiah roared. "This man is charged with high treason for the murder of Prince Clovis! I can't hand him over!"

"No, you're mistaken, Jeremiah. He isn't the murderer. The one who killed Clovis… was me!" Lelouch declared dramatically, staring right into the camera that Diethard was focusing on his mask just as he arrived.

'He's gone too far. We can't escape! It's hopeless now…' Kallen thought, shaking in fear, her hands gripping onto the steering wheel like a lifeline.

"Think about it Jeremiah. For the life of one Eleven, you'll save the lives of countless precious Britannians. I don't think it's such a bad deal for you."

Diethard smiled excitingly as he continued watching everything through his camera. 'This is all a show for him, one big performance.'

"He's mad!" Jeremiah snapped. "Disguising this truck as His Highness's, he mocks us! We'll make him pay!"

He leveled the gun at Zero's mask once more, as the other Sutherlands around Zero readied their rifles, only for the blue and green Knightmares to pull out a pair of MVS blades and fans respectively.

"Are you sure about this? You want the public to know about Orange?" Lelouch asked threateningly.

'Orange? Is he serious? That's my favourite color!' Naruto complained in his head as he watched from his cockpit.

Lelouch tapped his foot against the top of the car twice, which gave Kallen the signal to start driving forward slowly.

"If I die, it will all go public," Lelouch continued. "If you don't want that to happen…"

"What are you talking about? What are you saying?" Jeremiah asked in confusion as Zero steadily approached his Knightmare.

Lelouch lowered his chin as soon as he was within range of Jeremiah, sliding open the hatch in front of his left eye and activated his Geass. "Release Kururugi Suzaku to me, and do everything in your power to aid our escape!"

Jeremiah, now with a glowing red ring surrounding his pupil nodded obediently. "Hmph! Understood. Give them the prisoner!"

"Lord Jeremiah, what did you just say?!" Villetta asked in shock.

"Give them the prisoner! No one is to interfere!" Jeremiah repeated.

One of the Sutherlands standing in front of the green Knightmare slid back until it was right beside Jeremiah's, the hatch opening up to reveal a uniformed Britannian man. "What are you thinking, making a deal at a time like this?!"

Jeremiah turned on the man sharply, his eyes blazing in fury. "Lord Kewell! This is an order!"

Left with no other choice, the armed guards on the prisoner transport unbound Kururugi Suzaku's arms and allowed him to walk over to Zero who was approaching on foot as well.

"Who the hell-" Suzaku started to ask, but had to stop as another painful jolt surged through his already injured throat.

"I didn't expect they'd allow you to speak," Lelouch said knowingly, examining the shock collar around Suzaku's neck.

Kallen stepped out of the car and stepped up beside him, wearing the white chauffeur's outfit Clovis had required his driver to wear.

"If they get away we'll be disgraced!" Villetta cursed as she got back into her Sutherland.

"Zero, it's time." Kallen said.

"Then, we'll talk later," Lelouch said as he raised a detonator and slammed his thumb down on the trigger.

"Oi, where's he going?!" Tamaki angrily asked as the masked figure started running out of the warehouse towards the open construction area near the back.

Ohgi narrowed his eyes, knowing that their escape was about to begin, but didn't move to follow the masked man. For one thing, he was running extremely fast. And Ohgi figured he'd see what would happen to Zero for himself on TV anyways.

The gas canister instantly started releasing clouds of dark red smoke into the streets, sending the people alongside the street running and screaming in fear.

"Tch, cowardly Elevens!" Villetta slid back into her Sutherland and raised her rifle to fire on Zero, only for both of her Knightmare's hands to be cleanly sliced off by the fan wielding green Knightmare.

Before she could react, the green Knightmare then sent the fans flying to cut her Sutherland's legs off, dropping the now immobile and defenceless Knightmare to the ground. Seizan quickly followed Shinryoku's actions, disarming and crippling the remaining three enemy Sutherlands around him with his twin kodachi, but leaving them still mostly intact on the ground. They didn't want to cause any explosions that might catch escaping civilians. Kewell, seeing the quick defeat of Villetta, brought his own rifle to bear, and managed to fire off a few rounds towards the blue Knightmare, only for them to be deflected or cut in half by the twin MVS blades it wielded.

"I-Impossible!" He was then dropped to one leg, as the left landspinner, and subsequently the leg it was attached to, were shot apart by Jeremiah.

"Lord Kewell! Will you follow my orders or not?!" Jeremiah asked his fellow purist faction member in outrage. "Any further actions will result in punishment! Is this clear?! I'll say this to all units! Let them go at all costs!"

Seizan and Shinryoku quickly regrouped around Zero, Suzaku and Kallen. The three of them had their hands gripping onto the legs of one of the Knightmares, though Lelouch had to force Suzaku to place his hand there. Right before the eyes of all who were watching, the entire group was surrounded by a large cloud of smoke. Kewell chose to disobey Jeremiah's orders, and fired blindly into the smoke. When it cleared, it revealed not a trace of the Knightmares, Kururugi Suzaku or Zero.

They had all just vanished into thin air.

Naruto's Shadow Clone looked up at the two towering Knightmares that he'd just summoned into the much more spacious warehouse just past the construction area. While the smoke was still obscuring him from view, he dispersed himself. The real Naruto would be accompanying Lelouch to his private talk with Suzaku anyways. Seizan and Shinryoku both shut down, as their pilots climbed down and stood beside Lelouch, still in his Zero persona.

"Evacuation was successful, Zero. Just as you predicted."

"Naturally," Lelouch remarked confidently. "Kallen, would you mind heading back to your friends? Suzaku and I need to discuss things privately."

Kallen looked as if she were about to protest, but nodded and left the four alone to their private discussion. She had wanted to ask how Zero managed to teleport them clear across the city from the middle of a hot zone, but somehow she knew she wouldn't get the answer.

"I really didn't think they'd manage to save him," Kento remarked, in amazement.

"I call bullshit!" Tamaki exclaimed. "How often would a bluff like that work anyways? And he would have died if those fancy Knightmares weren't there to help him!"

"He could have done it without the Knightmares, you know?" Kallen said, as she walked up to the group. "I think he only brought them to show them off. To prove that he has resources that, not only help him fight on even ground with Britannia, but surpass them in combat."

"It is the kind of demonstration that would promote a lot of confidence in him." Toru admitted with a small smile. "A figure the people can bet their hopes on."

"He did exactly what he said he would," Ohgi said. "Who else but him could have pulled that off? Even the Japan Liberation Front couldn't do that. Or at least, we couldn't have done it. We all thought war with the Britannians was impossible. But maybe, with them, it's possible."

"Looks like they treated you roughly," Lelouch remarked, looking over the injuries he could see just on Suzaku's face alone. "Now you really know what they're like, Private Kururugi. Britannia is rotten. If you want to change the world, then join me!"

Suzaku glared at Zero, who was standing across from him, flanked by the two Knightmare pilots who had bested him. "Did you… Is it true that you killed Prince Clovis?"

"This is war," Lelouch stated bluntly. "It's natural to kill an enemy commander."

Suzaku frowned, but reluctantly conceded that point to Zero. "What about the poison gas? And taking all those civilians hostage?!"

"Just a bluff I used for the exchange." Lelouch said dismissively. "As a result, nobody was killed."

The ends justify the means. That's what Zero was telling him. He could not accept that kind of thinking. "The results? I see… that's all that matters to you."

Lelouch extended out his right hand to Suzaku. "Join me. The Britannia you serve is a worthless nation."

"Maybe that's true. However… I can change it into a worthwhile nation! From within Britannia!" Suzaku declared.

'Change it?' Lelouch thought, as he contemplated Suzaku's goal.

"Because I think the ends are just as worthless if the means to them are wrong!" Suzaku stated as he turned around and started walking towards the warehouse exit.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Lelouch demanded.

"My court martial begins in an hour." Suzaku answered.

"A-Are you stupid?!" Lelouch shouted, clenching his fist in rage. "That trial is set up just to find you guilty! The prosecution, the judge, the defense… !"

"Even so, those are the rules. If I don't go, they'll begin oppressing Elevens and honorary Britannians." Suzaku said, as he stopped walking.

"More than normal, you mean?" Naruto asked rhetorically, finally speaking up.

He couldn't stay silent any longer at this boy's idiocy and naivety. It was as if he wanted to pretend everything that was wrong and unfair in the world didn't exist. Such thinking would get not only himself, but others around him killed. Naruto knew better.

You had to acknowledge that the world was filled with cruelty, unfairness, and even death.

"Yes. Things will only get worse for them." Suzaku confirmed. "If I go back, it might help sway things for the better."

Naruto shook his head in exasperation, but refused to say anything more on the matter. He sensed feelings of shame and regret in Suzaku, emotions that come from trying to atone for some great crime. There was more to him than just his believes.

Lelouch on the other hand, had no such compunctions."But you'll die!"

"I don't care." Suzaku turned around to glance at them. "I want to bring you in, but if I tried now, you'd just have me killed. If I'm going to die, I want it to be for the sake of everyone. Still… thank you. For saving my life."

With that said, Suzaku walked straight out of the warehouse, back towards the courthouse to be judged.

Lelouch sighed and glanced over at Naruto. "Is it possible? To change Britannia from something despicable to something decent?"

Naruto remained silent for a few moments before answering. "Let me put it this way. Some of my greatest friends were once dangerous enemies who tried to kill me. I learned about them, understood them, and accepted them. Many of them had felt a pain that I too felt before. I changed them. But… I also acknowledge there are enemies beyond redemption. Enemies that are so horrible, they must be eliminated with extreme prejudice."

"And which is Britannia?" Lelouch asked curiously, genuinely interested in the answer.

"It doesn't matter. Either way, they'll need to be defeated."