Honestly, the Cat in the hat live-action movie was a masterpiece when looking at it through a surrealist lens
Hi hi, there was a filler here at around 6k words that was a breakfast club-inspired Chapter with everyone getting closer
but meh I wanna move with the story so I did this and I'll do it for a special maybe this one is sort of a time passes Chapter between training, Tsukune's things, and the start of Antithesis, with the Ghoul stuff coming, I've decided to make Tsukune state a bit more feral with something else for him and as for Naruto's training I mean was that too fast? Not sure, Naruto's little adventures in the human world will be completely secondary though but they'll play into the edge arc for him down the line
Important here: fox confession is the next Chapter, sorry, I had to get this out of the way for Anti-thesis now, technically it's done but it won't make sense here, like I said, next Chapter you'll sorta get why it's important for it to be there and it won't take long to wrap up hopefully lots of dead scenes from this Chapter ended up there, oh and stick towards the end, please.
Anyway, let's go.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
It was very early in the morning by Naruto's hidden training location, dead fish and torn scrolls once again were laid out everywhere as had been the norm for the week
Shizune blinked, looking at the letter with the Konoha symbol as its seal.
Tsunade had sent her new orders apparently, the small slug next to her disappeared in a puff of white smoke and Shizune could only wonder what they were, especially so soon after her last update to Konoha, she could only assume something massive had changed though.
"Are you sure there isn't anything else I'm doing wrong?" Naruto huffed as Shizune shook her head, glaring at her pupil from her spot by the water
"No, I told you just try to hold back as much Chakra as you can and focus on its vital organs" Shizune repeated herself, petting Tonton next to her as the small piglet oinked and The Medic nin then slowly opened the letter.
Naruto sighed but followed her orders and placed his hands on the dead fish, the Shinobi took a deep breath and saw both of his hands get enveloped by a greenish glow, Shizune lazily held the letter as she skimmed through it
"Oh, so they're going to be teaching Naruto-kun about information gathering, more Ninjutsu, and finish his Rasengan training? Huh...demotion?..." Shizune paused for a moment before her eyes widened
"Demotion?!" She yelled, causing Naruto to jump, ignoring him, she shot her eyes back on that word.
"If Genin Uzumaki Naruto doesn't show proficiency in Medical ninjutsu by the time Anbu Uzuki Yūgao returns, Jonin Katō Shizune will face the demotion board."
Shizune paled, reading those words, She'd be a Chunin again! But that wasn't the worst part, being a Chunin again she could be called up for gate guard duty and other details around the village, she shuddered some of those could be as bad as D-rank missions for Genin.
Naruto cautiously looked at his older sister figure who began to shake, the Uzumaki then took a step forward
"Naruto!" Shizune called out looking at him causing the Shinobi to perk up
"Y-Yeah?"
Shizune's look darkened as she grunted, staring at the squirming Shinobi next to her
"Yūgao is going to be back later, you're not going to class today instead you're training till you get this right." Shizune ordered, the Uzumaki gave her a salute after all he wasn't going to argue against a free 'get out of class' card
Shizune crumbled up the letter and threw it behind her while her pet pig oinked and jumped after it.
"Also we're going back to advance Chakra control right now!"
The Entire day and night consisted of Naruto desperately trying to revive the fish, frankly, it was becoming hopeless especially as the late afternoon came around with still no results
Naruto felt his eyes strain and looking at the dead fish under him, there was just no progress while Shizune little by little began to lose hope of holding her rank.
"Please, Naruto-kun! Just do it! You pulled off the Rasengan in a week! Come on! She's going to be back in like two hours!" Shizune whined, laying her face on the grass and the Shinobi took a deep breath once more
"Holding the Chakra, focus…" Naruto closed his eyes
The Kyuubi host suddenly felt something rough and scaly hit the palm of his hand and he recoiled
The Fish was moving.
"Nee-chan!" Naruto cried out and Tsunade's assistant shot right up
"You did it?" Shizune spoke, her face in disbelief as she took out a Kunai and stabbed the fish much to the Uzumaki's dismay
"Oi!"
"Do it again!" the Medic nin barked in a stern voice, Naruto hesitated but went over to the cooler for another dead fish.
"Just do what you did before…okay" Naruto placed his hands on the fish and after a few seconds of his glowing green hands, the fish began moving.
It took a few seconds for it to process in Shizune's head
"Ha…" was the only thing the blond heard from her until she threw her head back
"Ha...Ha...hahaha...hahaha" She began to cackle like a madman as Naruto took a step away from her.
"I actually did it! I taught Naruto Uzumaki, Medical Ninjutsu!" her fist shot right up into the air, this was her magnum opus right here and no one could take that from her, Tsunade may have taught Sakura but she taught Naruto and to her, that was greater.
"Well, you two have been busy"
Both Shizune and Naruto turned to see the Purple-haired Anbu casually sitting down on a tree branch at the edge of the pond, sunglasses covered her eyes and some bags littered the ground under her. Something that stood out to both Naruto and Shizune was Yūgao's new business suit
"Tsunade-sama wanted him to have medical Ninjutsu already?"
Shizune shrugged, giving the Anbu a sheepish chuckle
"Ha, she actually wanted to send Kurenai-san instead to start his Genjutsu training…"
Yūgao blinked
"But she's pregnant now isn't she?" the Anbu questioned, Shizune then giggled
"Do you know who the father is?"
"I.."
Naruto tried to tune out the gossiping between the two Jounin and went back to his still flopping fish, glancing back at the pond and then at the fish, Naruto frowned.
"Alright, you scaly bastard you've been through enough" He muttered before picking up the animal and tossing it in the pond.
*Splash*
"Naruto!"
Hearing his name the Shinobi perked up and turned to see Yūgao walking towards him, she removed her sunglasses and grinned.
But it wasn't a welcoming smile
"So you think you've been slacking off on your training?"
It was a smile that promised a lot of pain.
"Y-Yeah!" Naruto actually answered truthfully, despite whatever was coming his way, he needed the training. His friends fighting his battles in Konoha and or the Newspaper Club potentially getting hurt in Yokai was something Naruto wasn't going to stand for.
"I want to work on my ninjutsu and taijutsu, finish the Rasengan and...get to work on sage mode I guess" the Uzumaki mused as Yūgao frowned
"So you really have been slacking off…" she spoke causing the blonde to perk up
"I was working on Medical ninjutsu you know how har-"
"What about your Kenjutsu?" Yūgao cut in narrowing her eyes as Naruto waved his hands around
"With what sword?"
Yūgao stood there for a few seconds
"You didn't get a replacement yet?" She questioned, Naruto raised an eyebrow
"You said I'd get one from Pervy-sage but it's been like weeks and nothing, he's not even answered my letters…" Naruto folded his arms and shrugged
Both Yūgao and Shizune fell silent looking at each other for a brief second, Naruto narrowed his eyes and felt his suspicion grow. The Uzumaki was about to voice his concerns when another voice spoke up
"So as it turns out, Uzuki, you aren't the only new arrival today"
The Three Konoha Shinobi all turned and laid their eyes on the Bus driver as he slowly walked out of the woods and into the clearing.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Tsukune's eyes blurred as he blinked, trying to get a grasp on his surroundings. A yellowish life flickered in his vision, a lightbulb on the wall was able to illuminate the entire room and he could feel the cold hard ground pressing against his cheek.
The Human couldn't move at all and he wasn't able to focus his vision, it was all just blurry but he could make out a white brick wall and a silhouette in front of him,
The silhouette seemed to be attached to a rope and simply dangled in front of the Human. Tsukune's eyes managed to focus on it, seeing it was a Human body tied up in front of him, he wanted to scream but nothing came out, he simply laid there staring at it.
Despite this, Tsukune couldn't make out any real features or details, everything about this just felt wrong to him. He was looking at something he couldn't make sense of.
"Kahlua! Where the hell is she?"
Tsukune held his breath hearing the feminine voice. He could hear the footsteps echoing throughout the room and could very clearly see the body continuing to lifelessly dangle.
"Hm...I swear if she's in the cattle cells again…" the voice spoke, Tsukune heard a door open and close before a woman's legs stepped in front of his vision
Black knee-high boots, the woman began to circle the dangling body as Tsukune tried his best to at least move a muscle
"You know, Kahlua actually told me that you're going to the same Academy my little Sisters are attending...I wonder if you've run into them" the Woman said as if expecting a response, Tsukune gulped, he didn't know how but he was practically unnoticed here and this girl screamed danger to him.
"I haven't seen them in years…"
Tsukune finally managed to get a good look at the woman, her pale skin, her black hair made into two pigtails and she couldn't have been taller than Mizore.
"There's no way those tests were accurate, you're not a weak human, no human can move like that, even hold their ground against us, and the fact you even managed to survive that..." She muttered before moving closer towards the bounded body.
Tsukune blinked finally, his eyes finally able to focus on the Woman's face, the glowing red slit eyes on her stood out to him along with her traditional Chinese attire
"There's something else in you like it's not sleeping so well…I can feel it, boiling inside you...I just want to know what it is..." the Woman trailed off before she inched her face closer to a whiskered blond's face, Tsukune's eyes widened and instinctively he tried to move his body
"Naruto...Naruto?!"
The Normally bright eyes of Uzumaki Naruto now stood there lifeless as he was swaying from a few chains attached to his wrists
Tsukune desperately wanted to reach his friend but could only watch in horror as She opened her mouth and sunk her fangs into the Shinobi's neck, the Human felt everything stop as his vision began to dim and his world darken
"..."
"..."
"...Ack!"
Tsukune shot right up from his bed with a gasp.
"This is Radio Club Yokai! Coming to you from the auditorium because Hal decided to leave the sinks on in our Studio's bathroom! It's six in the morning at the Academy an-"
Tsukune turned off the Radio and subconsciously grabbed his neck where Moka would usually bite him, Tsukune looked around his floor to see Newspaper clippings scattered on the floor as the Human recalled staying up to work on the Paper
Tsukune glanced out the window to see the sky was getting brighter and realized he didn't have a lot of time before class started he could only sigh, laying back down on his bed.
What was that? He saw Naruto being there and this strange woman but why the hell would he even dream of something like that?
His mind was already letting go of some of the details from the dream, did it really matter if it was just a strange dream?
He quickly got out of bed again as, despite everything he decided to get ready for class, those grades weren't going to maintain themselves after all.
Tsukune sniffed and shivered as he felt the cold early morning breeze, closing the door to his dorm and making his way over to the staircase.
"Why are you up so early?"
The Human nearly screamed, seeing Mizore creep up from behind and blink at him
"What are you doing here?!" Tsukune nearly shouted before recalling how early it was still, pointing at her as Mizore shrugged, pointing upstairs to Naruto's floor.
"I was waiting for Naruto-kun" Mizore commented twirling her hair causing Tsukune to shake his head, yeah he forgot his blond friend had missed class the day before
"Naruto's not gonna be at his dorm right now though" Tsukune yawned, the Yuki-onna narrowed her eyes
"And how do you know that?"
Tsukune gave her a lazy wave
"I pull all-nighters for study nights sometimes, I used to catch him leave for training around this time when I'd go for my stress walks" Tsukune spoke with a grin while Mizore closed her eyes, her left eyebrow twitched.
"Okay, cool, do you know where I can find him now?"
Tsukune merely shrugged
"I wouldn't...uh know?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, Mizore already began walking down the stairs
"Okay then" the Human muttered, his eyelids still felt heavy though he could see the rays of the Sunrise begin to peek over from the horizon and Tsukune took a deep breath.
"Kami, today is gonna suck, I just know it," Tsukune complained, before following and slowly making his way down to campus.
Moka hummed, standing outside the boy's dormitory, she had gotten up extra early to meet up with Tsukune today. she waved seeing Mizore casually walking towards her with Tsukune behind her.
"Couldn't find Naruto-kun" she spoke and stopped just as Moka waved her off with a sympathetic grin.
"He'll be fine, if he doesn't show up again, we'll check with the Shizune lady!" Moka beamed at her friend, Mizore sighed and leaned against the fencing. Tsukune rolled his eyes and his mind wandered back to his dream and what he saw in his dream.
"But you know he still has to be there since he's the Vice-president of our Homeroom..." Mizore trailed off while the Vampiress gave her a sly grin and poked her
"Actually, Tsukune is the only one required to be there, today, you just want an excuse to see Naruto-kun again!" Moka tried to tease only for Mizore to shrug and begin walking away from the two
"Yeah, I do."
Moka nearly face faulted at her friend's bluntness and Tsukune merely looked to be in deep thought, debating on if he should talk about his dream, usually, He could have gone straight to Naruto for this but that wasn't gonna happen right now with his friend being missing again.
The Vampiress glanced at her human friend's neck and was about to get into her usual routine before noticing some markings on Tsukune's skin
"Uh, Tsukune-kun? Did I do that?" She quietly asked, causing the Human to look confused as he turned back
"Hm? Do what?"
Moka paused looking over her friend and getting as close as possible to his neck
"I don't leave those, My bite marks always heal and don't leave traces like that..."
"A-Ah, Moka-chan, what is it? Do you need another drink?" Tsukune asked with a slight blush while Moka's eyes were still fixated on his neck
"Oh..I…" Moka paused before noticing Mizore waving in the distance to get their attention
"W-We should get to class"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"Well, this is all just quite the new experience for me" Kakashi still slightly bandaged, the silver-haired Shinobi mused looking at the office painting of an old European battle in front of him, the headmaster frowned, his glowing eyes following the copycat Shinobi's movements
"Yes…I didn't expect so many new guests so soon…"
"That's completely understandable, so then we'll be laying low in this country called 'Japan'?" Kakashi asked but before the Headmaster could reply.
"This little brat keeps squirming!"
"Unhand me, you serf! I'm the heir to the Hyuga clan! When I-gak"
Kakashi sighed looking over his shoulder to lay his eye on the scene in front of him
A slightly bandaged Anko glared at the tied-up Genin in her hands, she couldn't believe she got talked into being Hanabi Hyuga's damn Mentor but it was better than being stuck on light duty due to minor injuries She and Kakashi were still recovering from.
"I'm in charge of your sorry ass till we get to Shizune, alright Genin? Now sit there like a good little princess or I'll feed you to my Snakes" Anko whispered over to the now gagged Kunoichi's ear
Hanabi shivered ever so slightly at her cold breath as the Snake mistress grinned and stood up.
Kakashi's lone eye expressed his smile underneath his mask
"Now, now Anko-chan you can't scare the poor girl to death" the Copycat Shinobi eased as Anko scoffed
"I can try"
Hanabi muffled some retort no one could understand while Mikogami looked on with concern, there might be too many Konoha Shinobi aware of this world.
Shizune was one thing, after all the medical wing was understaffed so it was useful having her abilities around as was having Yūgao as an extra hand to deal with his errands in the Human world.
Still, Mikogami wasn't going to complain, the Legendary Copycat Shinobi, the former student of Orochimaru and a Hyuga. they might prove useful for future plans.
"Now as for housing...sadly I can't enroll Hanabi-san here until the new year comes around and she is a tad younger than our first-year students…but I have a couple of safe houses around Japan for you and your comrades to stay..." He trailed off as Kakashi gave him a grin under his mask
"Tsunade-sama mentioned after his exam is done that we will be under your command for the remainder of our time here, so what exactly are these missions you have for us?" Kakashi brought up, the Headmaster's glowing eyes flickered
"Same ones that your Village takes, I imagine your Hokage wants you to get familiar with certain things here…" He spoke as the Silver-haired Jounin took out a letter and silently skimmed through it
"She's wanted us to get accustomed to your...world's technology and weaponry." The masked man replied, recalling his conversation with Tsunade just before being sent here
Apparently, this is where his Student had been along with an old Colleague of his...and he wouldn't have ever known of this place if Tsunade didn't tell him of it, though only because the Senju woman now needed extra hands to get a hold of the new Technology and someone like Kakashi was good for that, as was Anko.
Yūgao still had her primary mission of protecting and training Naruto while Shizune would be sent back soon.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"Senpai!"
Both Naruto and Yūgao burst through the door with Shizune and Tonton behind them, breaking the Masked Shinobi out of his thoughts
"Kakashi-sensei, you're actually here! You know how long it's been!?" Naruto cried out with a grin, looking ecstatic to see his old sensei again.
The Copy-cat Shinobi mused looking at his old pupil
"He's gotten taller" he commented casually as Yūgao perked up
"K-Kakashi-senpai, why are you even here?" Yūgao spoke while the man closed his eyes
"Neko-chan~..."
Yūgao felt her blood run cold and her face became white as a ghost hearing that familiar voice
"A-A-A"
"Crazy snake lady!"
Anko playfully pounced on her friend and latched to her shoulders
"Neko-chan! It's been forever since I last saw you, how have you been?"
"W-Wh-How?"
Anko giggled
"Didn't you get Tsunade-sama's message?" She questioned as Yūgao with some hesitation shook her head
"Well, we got sent over on 'Vacation' after a mission back home went a bit sour...oh! and we also brought a new cute little Genin along for the ride!…" Anko elaborated with a small childlike squeal that sent a shiver down Yūgao's spine, it was then Yūgao noticed Hanabi Hyuga's now relaxed form as the Anbu blinked and kneeled closer
"Is she asleep?"
"I used some Sleeping Snake Syringes before we got here! I guess they finally kicked in!" Anko cheerfully replied, Kakashi could only shrug at the scene as he nudged Naruto over
"You and I have some catching up to do" the man lazily waved at the blond who smiled
"Y-Yeah a lot of crazy stuff happened here!"
Kakashi folded his arms
"You sent a letter to the toads asking about further training right?" The Copy-cat Shinobi spoke up as Naruto gave another affirmative nod
"Good, Anko!" he cried out as the Snake mistress moved Yūgao out of the way and on to Shizune
"You mind taking her to Yūgao's place with the creepy smoking guy?" Anko asked the Medic nin while motioning for Hanabi's still sleeping body, Shizune gave a weak grin, and the pig small oink before the woman took Hanabi out of the office, Anko then turned back to Naruto.
"So! Foxy-kun! What's it like still being a Genin at your age?" Anko started with a smug smirk, the Uzumaki only looked slightly confused and backed away
"I'm not sure…I follow…"
Anko's smirk fell as she glared at him.
"Tsunade-sama told us you wanted extra training, so she sent us"
"That is to say, She wants you to go through the 'Inferno'" Yūgao added on to her friend's statement, reading over a letter Kakashi had passed to her.
"We're putting him through that already?...are you sure?" Yūgao looked worried as Kakashi sniffed and shrugged
"Tsunade-sama's orders, I guess...and he's the one who wanted extra training so here it is" Kakashi offered as a curious look flashed on Naruto's face
"The Inferno?"
Yūgao glanced at her old squad leader then back at the letter
"Every village has a different name for it but they all have the same idea more or less, Konoha calls it 'the Inferno', Iwa calls it ' The Quarry', Kumo calls it 'Cloud nine', Kiri calls it 'the Hazing' and Suna simply 'the Furnace'...well anyway, it's sort of a rite of passage before you're officially in the Anbu squad... in Konoha's case, an intense a one-week training course"
Naruto tilted his head
"Can't be that hard if it's just a week-long..." he remarked, he had taken missions that took up more time than that as Kakashi actually chuckled
"It'll really feel like a month once you're done, though...there are also some big rules." Kakashi started, Anko's smirk once again appeared
"Zero sleep for one, for food …you're hunting for it but you can't have more than a meal a day so make it count and to top off you'll have three Jounin on your ass at all times with full intent to kill, no summons from you either, This is actually training they give to Anbu you know..." She spoke as Yūgao put away the note.
"This training is designed to wear you down, to see how you act under intense pressure from battle fatigue and other things..."
Naruto felt sweat drip down and slightly scratched his whiskered cheek
"B-but what about my Sage training and the Rasengan?" he got out as Kakashi stepped forward
"You have clones, we can multitask all day and night. this isn't an Anbu training course for nothing usually this would never be given to a Genin but Tsunade wants to pass you a field promotion already since you missed out on the Chunin exams twice now and completing this training is in her criteria for that" Kakashi explained, Naruto's eyes lit up hearing the world promotion.
Chunin? Him? He'd get to have those cool Chunin flak vests! Get higher pay in missions and more dangerous missions, in general, coming his way!.
If he was in Konoha that was…
"Jiraiya-sama said his important Toad elder summons will meet up with us when we have a training spot..." Anko trailed off, facing the headmaster
"Yes, yes follow me.." The Man said with a grin, pulling a spellbook from his desk
The bookcase to their right shook before collapsing into a normal looking mirror, the Konoha Shinobi felt the hair on the back of their neck stand as long and deep moaning sound could be heard from the magical artifact as the Headmaster chuckled and motioned for it
The Konoha Shinobis could all see an entrance to a dark dim Jungle
"Your training ground…I took some inspiration from a famous training ground in Konoha that Jiraiya told me about, he was even nice enough to bring me samples of some of your native animals and plants, though...I've added some things there myself"
Anko gasped and looked excited
"Oh, it looks just like the forest of death!"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Tsukune sighed rubbing his neck and walking out of the Academy building, the bell had already rung for Lunch, and he was cursing himself for even getting out of bed today
"I should've stayed in bed today, I can afford one day off with my grades, right? Kami this thing hurts…and now that bastard is back too..." Tsukune thought to himself letting out a frustrated sigh, thinking back to the events of his homeroom class today.
The Human frowned even if he could afford to stay home, there was no way he was letting Moka be alone with that bastard still around...
"You can't do anything, you gutless piece of shit not without Uzumaki backing you up!"
But without Naruto around, this guy wasn't going to leave him alone again, especially since he seemed to have his eyes set on Moka again.
"Tsukune-kun! Don't you want to eat lunch together?!" Kurumu shouted, throwing herself on the Human
"Oi! Whoa! Kurumu-chan!"
"Cow-tits, you're gonna kill him…"
Tsukune looked at the food in front of him, holding his breath as Kurumu eyed him
"Tsukune-kun? It's been a few minutes already, you haven't even touched your food..." She noted while Moka anxiously looked away.
"I…"
"You don't look so good, Tsukune-kun" Kurumu began to fawn over the Human, Yukari took a bite out of her food and narrowed her eyes at the Human
"Yeah, you look a little pale, today."
"Well, you see my neck has been hurting all morning. I think it's a mark, Moka-chan's mark-" as soon as those words his mouth, Kurumu shot a sharp glare at Moka
"I told you not to keep sucking like that! Now it's hurting him like this!"
Tsukune sighed, realizing now he had a headache from the volume of Kurumu's shouting, Moka blinked and managed to ignore Kurumu before she remembered what kept her so late
"Oh! Tsukune-kun! Ms. Nekonome said she had a job for you since you're Class President" Moka cheerfully said as the human gave her a grin and nodded
"Man, what were we even talking about again?" Kurumu turned over to Yukari who shrugged
"Ah who cares...anywa-"
Not far from the group stood a shaggy-haired blond man with piercings looked on to the group from a nearby rooftop
"Just look at them all bunched up together…" he muttered, his eyes looking wild as he laid them on Moka
"The School's number one beauty Moka Akayashi...The second most popular person in School Kurono Kurumu...this dipshit has too many beautiful girls just begging for him, it pisses me off to no fucking end" He continued before slowly smirking and leering at Moka's figure
"It won't last forever, enjoy it while you can, Aono" He sneered
"...So are you going to do it, Saizou?" another voice spoke up
"According to the rumors around, despite looking weak, Tsukune managed to take down the committee all by himself. Those self-righteous asses were thinning out our newer members and that Chopper guy was no match for him either…" it continued
Saizou turned to the tan-skinned short blond-haired student, an immediate notable feature on him was the lasting cut on his cheek
"Midou-san, don't tell me that you believe those rumors too…" Saizou said
"Tsukune's a complete wimp without his friends backing him up, there's no way he did that himself"
Midou paused for a second before ever so slightly grinning
"Just don't forget the important part here, Saizou." He started, pointing at the Delinquent
"You're a part of our team now, got it?... You make a move on him you better make sure you win or else the guys on top aren't gonna let it slide" Midou spoke, standing up
"We're outcast Ayashi... to have one of our own be beaten like that...It'd be like a Mutt dog getting beaten down by a purebred puppy…"
Saizou grits his teeth ever so slightly as Midou got closer to him.
"We can't have that" he whispered
"Chill out" the student next to Saizou spoke up
"Since the Committee's been taken care of, everyone basically has free reign now. I'll go with Saizou...if Tsukune is as strong as everyone says he is then our name will raise through the ranks of the Academy once we take care of him." he finished
"And if we were ever gonna make a move, now's the time."
Another Male Student grinned walking up to the Academy rooftop
"I just passed by him a couple of minutes ago, the guy is as pale as a ghost, looks sick too" He brought up as Midou turned to the shaggy blond man and nodded
Saizou grunted
"Don't worry, Uzumaki isn't around to help him this time" Saizou leered once more at the Newspaper Club, more specifically Moka, leaving the lunch tables.
"So you three are going to look for Naruto-kun?" Moka asked as she and Tsukune gathered their things, Kurumu frowned.
Usually, she didn't like leaving Tsukune alone with Moka but She'd accompany her friend to Naruto's dorm this time.
"Yeah, don't worry, we'll catch up with you guys in the Club too." Kurumu huffed before approaching Tsukune
"And I'll see you soon, Tsukune-kun" She whispered over as the Human began to blush furiously
Both Moka and Tsukune watched their friends leave before stealing a glance at each other
"So, it's just gonna be us for today I guess," Tsukune said with a light blush. Moka had a small grin as the two began to walk towards the Clubroom.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Naruto was speeding through the large tree branches of a dark Jungle, there was very little sunlight peeking through the leaves but thanks to his Shinobi training he more or less knew where he was going.
"Shit!" Naruto shouted, throwing himself on the ground as several explosions ran out behind him.
"Kami-sama, this is insane!"
Naruto managed to pick himself back up and kept moving into the jungle
"Quit running, you whiskered pussy Genin!" Anko cried out, randomly tossing more explosive tagged Kunais in his general direction.
Naruto held his breath, seeing a roaring giant fireball right in front of him, the blond Shinobi barely had time to throw himself to his right side just narrowly avoiding Kakashi's attack
The Copy-cat Shinobi quickly followed up and tried to engage in a Taijutsu match with his Student. The Uzumaki wheezed as he blocked Kakashi's kick to the face and jumped back
So far he'd only been running and trying to successfully hide from the Jounins but the Bus driver was ratting out his hiding spots to Kakashi to keep pressure on Naruto and so with nowhere to hide, Naruto was on the back foot.
"Fuck!" Naruto cursed again, managing to just avoid several Kunais, the Uzumaki paled seeing Anko still tailing him from behind, the Uzumaki picked a random direction and sped off
After a few seconds of this Naruto barely managed to dodge a sword swipe.
"This is Anbu training! Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, Naruto! There's no stopping, you have to keep moving till you're in friendly territory or you're dead!" Yūgao called out, as her glowing blade nearly decapitated the blond's head.
"You're all trying to kill me!" Naruto screamed, seeing a small purple snake attempt to wrap itself around his leg.
The Shinobi grit his teeth, throwing the snake to a tree and sprinting deeper into the woods.
"...Come on, think damn it!…it's three Jounins and one of you" Naruto lightly smacked himself trying to think about any lesson he learned before that could help here
"Clones...Forest...oh! I'm an idiot!"
It all clicked for Naruto finally and he smirked, The Hunted was about to become the Hunter.
Kakashi kneeled on the tree branch instead and looked at the vast darkness ahead of him in the deep Jungle
"He hasn't been fighting back… not doing so well in the resistance part of this training"
Yūgao fell quiet for a few seconds.
That was a criticism of her teaching skills from her old Anbu captain of all people.
"I did what I could with what I had, but just so you're aware, this isn't how he normally fights with me...granted today it's three on one for him..." She then froze as those words left her mouth Kakashi did as well and Anko simply jumped down next to her colleagues with a grin, the pupilless Snake-loving Kunoichi began to get ecstatic.
"That was a big Chakra Spike…" Yūgao blinked, thanks to her Chakra sensory she was feeling the Tsunami of Chakra signatures charging straight at them
"I knew that little brat wasn't going to disappoint!" Anko remarked, taking out two Kunai and preparing herself
Kakashi smiled underneath his mask before lifting his headband to reveal his Sharingan blazing
"I guess it's about time we start the actual exam then, warm up over..."
A large gust of wind suddenly came at them from Naruto's vague direction
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"A-Ah, Naruto-kun?" Shizune repeated, peeking her head through the door
Behind the Medic nin and in Naruto's dorm was still a resting Hanabi on the couch along with several suitcases on the floor.
Frankly, after she left the Headmaster's office, Shizune packed her things and was going to head straight for Naruto and Yūgao's apartment in The human world. she'd have to wait for Anko to return before she could head back to Konoha and she could deal with Hanabi, that wasn't an issue for her.
Mizore's eyebrows furrowed
"Yeah, he hasn't shown up to class for like three days now"
Shizune thought about what she was going to do and how she was essentially breaking protocol even talking about it but it still wasn't fair to the girl who was in a relationship with her little brother figure.
"W-We pulled him out of class for extra training, he's on a trip right now he'll be back soon though!" Shizune abruptly said, trying to ease the girl's worries while ending the conversation, Mizore had a downcasted look as she took out the lollipop from her mouth
"Training? But we have class, he's our vice class man-."
"Mizore-chan, He's a Konoha Shinobi first not a Student here" She bluntly said, Mizore flinched at the tone, Shizune caught herself and tried to give her a weak grin.
"S-Sorry, Mizore-chan, I didn't mean to come off like that, it's just a stress thing...everything is just really busy and crazy right now with us...um...Shinobi,...but he'll be back in around a week or so, I'm sorry but you have to go now." Shizune replied before closing the door on the girl.
Hearing the wooden door softly close, Mizore could only think about what Shizune just said
"He's a Konoha Shinobi first…"
As Mizore walked away from Naruto's door and those words stayed with her head, her mind started to wander off to more depressing thoughts of Naruto suddenly leaving forever like that in her worst fears, her breathing began a little irregular at the thought of being alone again.
"But why would they want Tsukune t-" Yukari fell quiet as she and Kurumu both noticed Mizore walking towards them
"Did you find Anything?" Kurumu asked, leaning on the wall by the staircase, Mizore simply shrugged and walked past them.
It was then Kurumu began noticing the downcasted look on her friend's face and frowned
"No luck, huh…"
Mizore sighed and turned back
"He's going to his training, all week"
"He can just leave class like that?" Yukari pointed out with a small pout, thinking about Naruto's slacking on his education, while Kurumu shrugged her shoulders then folded her arms with a huff
"Well...that's on him, Come on, We still gotta show up to the Club."
"Oi!"
The three girls froze at the voice as a blond student happily looked down at them from the upper staircase
"Found you guys!"
Hearing that familiar voice made Mizore's heart skip as Naruto jumped down to them with an envelope in hand
"Sorry, Mizore-chan, the Boss barely had time to write this and get it to you! He said sorry about the no notice though!" the Clone said, holding up an envelope and turning over to Kurumu and Yukari.
"Hi!"
As soon as Mizore took the envelope from the Clone it simply disappeared in a puff of smoke, right in front of the confused Witch and Succubus.
Mizore blinked seeing the Red Spiral symbol and as the smoke cleared away, Yukari and Kurumu glanced at each other
"Well, that just happened…" Yukari commented as Kurumu mused
"Yeah, Somehow I don't think Naruto would ever just leave us without at least telling us first."
Mizore ignored her two friends and skimmed through the letter
Her cheeks turned slightly pink as she finished the letter, going through it a second time, Mizore couldn't stop herself from grinning
"...ah Mizore-chan, the Club session?" Yukari pointed out as the Yuki-onna composed herself and pocketed the letter for later.
Mizore, however, continued to smile and walked down the stairs. finally realizing she was really worrying over nothing.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"Ack!" Tsukune cursed, holding his neck in pain, he had dropped the cardboard box of extra Newspaper and grit his teeth
"Tsukune-kun?" Moka looked back with worry
"Kami what is that?! What the hell is this?!" Tsukune's breathing became more ragged, his vision blurred and he tensed up feeling something literally crawl under his skin.
"Tsukune-kun!"
The Human eased his breathing and turned away
"D-Don't worry, I-I just lost my balance, Moka-c-chan, I'm okay" Tsukune managed out as the girl rushed over to him and placed her hand on his face.
"You're not okay! You're burning up Tsukune-kun, how can this be okay?"
"Not right now, please I don't need this!" Tsukune still felt the pain throb and the odd sensation running under his skin, the brown-haired Human put up a brave face and grabbed the box
With a final gasp, he dropped it again and fell on Moka's chest
"Tsukune?!"
Tsukune's eyes were still wide open as the Vampiress managed to get him in a more comfortable position
"That idiot! He resisted too much…and what I've been giving him recently is still there...eating away at his humanity, so now you're looking at the Side effects we talked about." Moka heard her inner self ramble
Moka felt her heart stop for a second when she heard that
"So our blood is actually hurting him!?"
The Rosario fell silent
Tsukune's eyes were still staring into nothing as Moka only held him but somehow Tsukune still was able to form thoughts
"It feels like...I can't...everything's falling apart, this isn't right!"
"Man, what's wrong Tsukune? You're not looking so good…" Saizou leered at him with a smirk, merely standing on the incinerator with the other students by his side
"S-Saizou?"
The tall delinquent frowned
"Wow there Tsukune, instead of looking at me you might wanna watch your back, my friend here is pretty fast"
"My back?!"
Tsukune felt a breeze behind him and peeked over to see the Student's arm turn into a giant blade
"Tsukune-kun!"
"Moroha of the Outcast Ayashi, a pleasure to meet you. Now I must apologize for the Cheap shot, Tsukune-san but there's no hard feelings right?"
*Squech*
Tsukune's shoulder exploded into a flurry of red as he stumbled back and fell into the puddle of his own blood
Saizou merely grinned while Moroha stopped himself and frowned
"Told you he was nothing but a weakling"
"Rather Anti climatic though…"
Moka looked horrified
"No! No! No! Not again!"
Moka ran over to Tsukune and reached for his body only for Saizou to grab her arm
"Now that weakling is out of the way and Uzumaki isn't here to save you" he leered at her body as the Vampiress tried to squirm out of the way
"S-Saizou, Please just let me go…"
"Hahaha, this is great! There's no one to stop me from doing what I want!" Saizou taunted, transforming into his true form while his allies chuckled behind him
"Man, you got a real vendetta against him" Moroha spoke, pointing to Tsukune's unmoving body with his thumb, Saizou ripped Moka's academy uniform and exposed her chest, the Vampiress had tears in her eyes and tried to hide herself.
"I don't want this! Please help me, please! Tsukune-kun! Naruto! Anyone!" Moka pleaded as Saizou's tongue jerked around, none of them had noticed Tsukune's body twitching ever so slightly
"Hey, Saizou take off her-"
The Beanie wearing Monster felt a burst of oppressive energy appear behind him before a hand grabbed his skull
He wheezed as Tsukune's blood-red eyes blazed wildly, both Saizou and Moroha froze and Tsukune suddenly grinned ever so slightly seeing blood leak from the Beanie wearing Yokai's skull and nose from just the sheer pressure of Tsukune's hand.
"Zanryu ketsueki, his battle mode…" The Pink-haired Moka heard her other self's softer tone, hell if she didn't know any better there was a hint of worry there.
"He's alive?! How the fuck is he still alive?!" Saizou yelled as the Outcast Ayashi next to him grit his teeth, seeing Tsukune toss the Beanie wearing Yokai effortlessly away into a tree, shrapnel and dust flew on impact as the Yokai was now completely out cold.
"This time I'll make sure you're six feet under and it's a closed casket funeral!" Moroha charged at Tsukune with his blade-like hands
The Human merely stumbled slightly, seemingly like he was going to faint again, and just as Moroha neared him
Tsukune ducked the blade before landing a lucky uppercut on the Hybrid monster's jaw
A sickening crack was heard but the noise only made Tsukune grin, he didn't know how he was still in a somewhat conscious state and quickly grabbed Moroha's shirt before he could fly back from the punch
He had seen Naruto do this move a few times when he'd playfully spar with his clones during lunch, the Shinobi would tell him how simple it was but effective it could be though now…
"Gack!"
Tsukune would actually get to try it himself and used all of his force to slam Moroha into the floor, causing the dust and dirt to kick up into the air and shake the ground on impact as Moroha's body went limp
Saizou and Moka only watched in shock as the now-so called Human had just disposed of two Monsters with ease, but the Orc now noticed Tsukune's change in his eyes
"T-Those eyes! But You're no Vampire or a Kitsune or anything strong!"
"You're still just a weakling!" Saizou's voice cracked as he charged at the Human, Tsukune's feral eyes widened hearing, he recalled the feeling of insignificance and uselessness fighting any of the people here who gave his friends trouble at one point, Ruby, Kuyo, Saizou…
The Giant Orc neared him and It was almost deja vu with Chopper being in the Orc's place.
Tsukune held his breath before meeting him. The human moved his head to avoid a fist and managed to land the best punch in his life.
"Gha!"
Tsukune's fist slammed into Saizou's stomach, the orc felt the wind leave him as he flew back and hit several trees, deeper into the woods. The Human's eyes stared into the direction Saizou's body would be.
"T-Tsukune-kun?"
Like a light switch, Tsukune felt all of Moka's blood and adrenaline retreat back into his body, his red eyes faded back into his normal human ones
"I'm glad...you're okay" He managed to get out, limping over to her before collapsing in her arms, Moka's tears were already streaming down her face and she set him down again.
"Somethings...Changing in Tsukune-kun…and..." Moka sniffed holding his limp body
"I don't think...I like it...I'm scared, I feel like I'll lose the Tsukune-kun I know…" Moka thought to herself
Just nearby on a rooftop, Midou watched his underlings get disposed of with ease and looked on with mild interest
"So that's Aono Tsukune...Red pupils...now he might be a vampire but it doesn't matter anymore. You've made enemies out of Outcast Ayashi and you'll pay soon enough, Aono" he said to himself watching Moka assist the weakened Tsukune.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
The Sun was finally settling and the jungle's visibility was all but gone, the only thing around was a small Campfire lighting up a Jungle clearing with firearms of all kinds piled a few feet away with large crates containing Ammo.
Naruto, the Bus driver, and Yūgao all sat around the flame, the week had come and gone and the training session was already coming to an end with one more lesson.
"We're just trying to get your form right before we get started, you can pull the trigger with that hand, right?" Yūgao spoke, getting a stiff nod in return and moving his bandaged hand away from the trigger just as the Anbu woman had taught him.
Just like Kakashi said, the training was quite literally day and night with no breaks in between despite that everything he wanted to work he managed to get to, Fukasaku even stopped by to assist his Rasengan training and his Sage training, the latter not working out so well, he'd need to make the trip to Mt. Myoboku when he had the time.
it was very notable on the Uzumaki's face that he hadn't slept in days, he had been truly training till his bones broke. When they did, the Fox or Naruto himself would just heal them back up in a matter of a few seconds.
Naruto's so-called famous 'Uzumaki stamina' was really put to the test here throughout the week though, several times Naruto had straight-up collapsed from sleep deprivation and needed a breather.
Still, his Rasengan training was complete with the final creation of the Rasenshuriken, which was actually the reason his training moved from Shinobi arts to this new world's firearms, towards the end of the course.
By some miracle, thanks to a combination of the Kyuubi's chakra and his own basic knowledge of medical ninjutsu Naruto was able to lessen the blow to the cells on his arm but he still needed time to recover after using such an unstable Jutsu, at least his arm wasn't in a cast.
"This is really stupid! Why are we gonna start using these?" Naruto muttered, examining the barrel of the rifle and carelessly moving it around.
"Oh, you damn idiot! Watch where you're pointing that damn thing! I know I trained you better!" She scolded as Naruto straightened himself out with an exhausted sigh.
"But to answer your question, Tsunade-sama wants us to start getting used to their weaponry and see if we can develop our own countermeasures." the Anbu woman spoke before taking a glance at her student's face.
"Kami!" Yūgao cursed, removing her sunglasses and taking a closer look at her student, even Nurari stopped to glance at him just as he was gonna lit a cigar.
"You're running on fumes at this point, aren't you, kid?" The Bus driver commented on Naruto's lack of sleep
The Uzumaki tilted his head in confusion at his new terminology before shaking his head and getting what the Bus driver meant
"N-No I got like three hours of sleep after we finished the Rasenshuriken training!"
"That's not gonna make up for a full week of sleepless nights…" she thought before going through her supply bag and passing him a coffee powder packet
"Keep rubbing this on your lip, it tastes awful but it'll keep you up" Yūgao replied.
Naruto scowled at the bitter taste before feeling the jolt of energy.
"And...after this, I'm done with training?" he asked as Yūgao smiled warmly
"After this, I'll put in the actual recommendation for you to join Anbu once we're back in Konoha by then you should have the Experience needed." She answered, Naruto felt his eyes widened
"Me? Anbu? But I thought I was just gonna be a Chunin?"
"Brat, you shouldn't even be a Chunin, skill-wise, we'd put you in Jounin level but there's more to the rank than just skill…" Anko explained, walking towards them from the dark jungle treelines with Kakask behind her. Yūgao waved at them while Naruto stood up to put the rifle next to him.
"Some Anbu-Hopeful Chunins that have the skills but just don't have the experience are sent to an even longer Anbu training program but that's if they meet some really high requirements…" Anko trailed off before shrugging and picking up a random pistol
"Anyway don't get ahead of yourself, brat. right now...we have other things to worry about" She grinned while her pupil-less eyes examined the small weapon.
The whole group paused, hearing a heart-stopping screech in the distance, a few seconds went by before a second one was heard
"Huh...Well, that's not like any animal I've heard" Kakashi spoke, not even looking up from his adult book while the Bus driver said nothing, simply moved towards the weapon pile and casually loaded the pump shotgun with buckshot.
"That's no animal, those are the unlucky feral bums that live in this danky shithole, and… it looks like they're not happy to see us..."
Another screech was heard this time a lot closer to their clearing, immediately Naruto went for the rifle he had on a strap while Yūgao sighed, taking out a small basic revolver from her hostler and making sure it was loaded.
Everyone else went for the pile. Anko almost looked like a child on Christmas morning, trying and seeing which one she liked.
Kakashi rubbed his chin and put away his book, The Masked Shinobi actually didn't know what to try before shrugging and picking another random shotgun just like Nurari.
The Screams now were on the edge of the clearing as the group could see from the treelines, these human-like skinny white long-limbed creatures with glowing eyes and serrated teeth, its hanging jaw looking as if it was broken and their joints completely inverse than any normal Humans.
They were all collectively letting out an ear-piercing screech as the Konoha Shinobi all paled seeing such horrifying monsters surrounding them and immediately lifted their weapons at them.
The Bus driver grinned like a madman and pumped his shotgun, his glowing eyes lit up as he put away his cigar.
"Here we go!"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Yūgao huffed, helping Kakashi load his things onto the Bus as Naruto was leaning on the Bus trying not to fall asleep, it was already dusk again after they had managed to clear out whatever those things were, frankly, they were so disgusting and she'd rather forget they existed.
Anko was too busy messing with her new unloaded pistol to even be paying attention to her surroundings
"This thing is so cool, man, you sure I could keep this thing, you creep?" She asked with a grin, everything from the grip and the clicks it made just hit all the right spots for her, the Bus driver sighed and nodded
"I already said yes, now, put that away, those things are illegal to have out in most places," Nurari stated as Anko quickly putting the weapon away in a storage scroll, Kakashi wasn't even facing his student but leaned on the bus next to him, again back on his adult book
"So, There are Machines that can fly very high into the air as well…" Kakashi said casually flipping a page, Naruto grinned
"Yep! There's also the internet too and a bunch of other crazy stuff. Shizune-nee-chan called us and said she'd tell you guys what you need to know before she leaves." Naruto informed as Kakashi gave a hesitant nod before taking out a small storage scroll and handing it to him
"Here, Congratulations on your field promotion…" he stated, Naruto caught it without a problem, his eyes sparkled doing so.
"That would be your new Chunin uniform and some...other things…" Yūgao added, the Uzumaki frowned slightly, catching a brief look of sadness on Yūgao's face
"Are you sure you guys all have to go so soon?" Yūgao tried to put up a smile, her old Anbu captain waved her off and Anko hugged the Anbu from Behind
"Hey, They said we can send messages to each other with some new tech cell thing" Anko brought up as Yūgao closed her eyes, thinking about how annoying Anko would be with such a device.
"A Cell Phone, great…"
The Bus driver then waved as Anko grinned and turned to the Copy-cat Shinobi
"Hey, scarecrow, we're leaving!" The Snake mistress called out before hopping on the Metal vehicle, Kakashi sighed and looked back at Naruto one more time
"Well, like I said after we finished the Promotion ceremony earlier, The Fourth would be proud you completed his life's work, Jiraiya-sama as well…" Kakashi trailed off as Naruto was too tired to really reply or even to see the look on Kakashi's face as the Copy-cat Shinobi wanted to say more.
"I'm proud of how far you've come too you know, who would've thought the little Genin who couldn't even do a basic clone managed to complete the Fourth Hokage's lifework"
Naruto frowned hearing this and looked at his bandaged arm
"Still got some things I gotta work out though…"
Naruto heard his old Sensei chuckle
"All Jutsus have their drawbacks, you should work on your sage training on your time off as well as your Kenjutsu, you haven't been practicing I heard" Kakashi spoke
The Uzumaki then narrowed his eyes, and the subject finally came up again.
"Yeah, wasn't I supposed to get a replacement?" Naruto asked as he stood up.
Yūgao blinked and nodded, hearing that the Copy-cat Ninja scratched the back of his head slightly sheepishly.
"Huh...guess that almost slipped my mind..." Kakashi began reaching for his Shinobi tool pouch as both Yūgao and Naruto gave him looks of disbelief, seeing another storage scroll with 'Naruto' written on it.
"Wait, you had his replacement sword the whole time?!" Yūgao shouted as Naruto looked excited and grabbed the scroll, Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging, Yūgao had to repress the urge to sigh as Kakashi nonchalantly turned away and entered the Bus
"We're gonna be meeting up with Shizune before she goes back to the Village and taking odd jobs around to get used to this...World...and sending whatever we think is interesting back over to Konoha, we're also watching over Hanabi for a while to keep an eye on her...we'll keep in touch." Kakashi informed the pair of their objectives.
The doors closed with Naruto and Yūgao stealing a glance at each other before they could say anything else the bus sped off with the muffled shouting of Anko inside.
Naruto stood there watching the Bus leave, it was strange to see his old Sensei again, something had to be going on back home, Naruto just didn't know what…first, his letters were going unanswered but now Kakashi and the Crazy Snake Lady were here?
Apparently even Hinata's sister came with them too under the guise of 'protection', seriously what the hell was going on in the Village? What would Hanabi need to be protected from?
The Shinobi decided he'd figure it out later but first…
"Hey, sensei?"
"Yeah?"
Yūgao looked at her student's exhausted grin
"Mizore-chan's room is 106 on the second dorm block, take me there please, I promised her we'd spend the weekend..." Naruto managed to get out before finally collapsing from exhaustion, Yūgao's eyes widened as she caught him.
"Right...106…Second block...got it" Yūgao took a deep breath being flinging the exhausted Shinobi over her shoulder and jumping towards the girl's dormitory
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Mizore sighed as she sat on her desk in her dorm
She tried to get her homework done for the day but the week and everything, in general, were just as slow for her as it was for everyone in the Newspaper Club.
Apparently, Tsukune and Moka were attacked and now Kurumu was pestering Moka about some side-effects getting worse though from what she had seen Tsukune still looked to be just fine.
Now she was wondering how things would've gone if Naruto was here for that, man it had only been a week and she already missed him.
Tapping on her glass caused her to perk up as she turned her head to see Yūgao holding on to the ledge and holding her blond student on her shoulder still.
Mizore nearly jumped as her widened eyes twitched, she quickly went over to open the Window as the Anbu woman got herself inside
"Sorry about that...He asked me to take him here." Yūgao placed the Shinobi on her couch, Mizore took note of his arm and other injuries
"What...kind of training was he doing?" Mizore asked as Yūgao shrugged and tried to ignore the Yuki-onna's concerned look.
"Normal training, just what we usually do..., he'll be fine, he just needs a good night's rest...are you finally together now?" Yūgao questioned, Mizore gave her a slow nod as the Anbu woman exhaled and took out another storage scroll with the Kanji 'Crescent moon'
"Great...give this to him when he wakes up, he's yours for the weekend like he promised," Yūgao said before leaving through the same window.
Mizore blinked, watching her leave, then looked back at the resting Shinobi. The Yuki-onna smiled before going back to her homework and letting her boyfriend rest, she was already making plans for tomorrow.
The First thing Naruto could gather from his senses was a smell, a smell of something burning, he slowly opened his eyes to see steam coming from the Kitchen.
"Damn it!" Mizore cursed as she put out another boiling pot of burned Ramen with her ice and quickly dried off her moist hands with a rag
"Alright, lemme try that again" Mizore muttered putting another batch of ingredients
"If it's not burnt, it's too cold…" Mizore thought glaring at the pot in frustration as she tried to stir it, she cringed feeling the sweat drip down her forehead, she hated not being able to stand the heat coming off the pot and decided to turn off the stove.
"Mizore-chan? What are you doing?" Naruto suddenly asked still laying on the couch, Mizore nearly jumped again
"Oh, Uh...N-Nothing…" Mizore called back as she threw away her seventh attempt at making homemade ramen before the Shinobi could notice, Naruto yawned and got up from the couch, he was still dead tired but his fatigue wasn't so bad anymore.
"Sorry about leaving like that…" He apologized with a frown as Mizore turned away with a light blush
"You're gonna keep your promise about having the weekend to ourselves and that we'll do what I want?" She questioned before anything else and Naruto nodded
"I never break a promise." He reminded her, Mizore couldn't stop herself from smiling
"Cool...so I borrowed Blue Valentine from Moka yesterday after Yūgao dropped you off, I wanna watch that later but...let's get some food, some snacks for the movie, and…" Mizore trailed off looking at her messy morning nightgown from her failed cooking experiments.
"First I'll...go get changed"
Naruto stiffened slightly, he heard that Movie name from Tsukune once and heard how boring it was.
Apparently, both Moka and Kurumu had somehow come to an agreement to force the poor Human to watch it along with Yukari after their trip in the Human world.
Still, the smile on Mizore's face was probably worth it, right? Especially since she had been looking forward to it all week.
The Yuki-onna came out with usual attire and a new lollipop in her mouth
Naruto's somewhat strained eyes looked at his own clothes, parts were ripped, his undershirt was exposed and smudges of soot stained his jacket
"Can we stop at my place so I can change though?" Naruto asked as Mizore nodded before remembering the conversation she and Naruto had the day before he left
"Yeah sure...uh, Naruto-kun?" Mizore spoke up suddenly causing the Whiskered Shinobi to glance at her
"You're still gonna tell everyone about the Fox right? I mean it's been a week and a half" Mizore brought up, opening her door as Naruto shrugged and walked out
"Next time, we're all together for the Club session but…I don't really know how to do it" Naruto spoke and Mizore paused
"What's stopping you?" Mizore questioned as Naruto fell quiet and couldn't meet her gaze, the Yuki-onna motioned for him to walk
"People didn't like me because of it back then" Naruto muttered as his mind began to recall certain childhood events despite doing his best to focus on something else.
Mizore glanced at him with some concern
"I remember you mentioned that…" Mizore's voice died in her throat as Naruto still didn't look at her, instead, the Shinobi was staring off into the distance, lost in his own thoughts.
The Yuki-onna didn't like the silence coming from Naruto and quickly grabbed his hand
"Let's go through, we can worry about all of that on Monday."
The Uzumaki felt her cold hand wrap around his own as the two walked out of the girl's dormitory.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Yūgao sighed, opening the door to her now empty dorm room, coming home from a quick check-up in the Human world.
Since Naruto was staying with Mizore, Yūgao would be home alone for the next three days and that didn't bother her in the slightest.
the Anbu woman threw several Storage scrolls on the couch, they were things she had purchased on her Vacation and she had really made herself comfortable in the Human world.
Making her way over to the Kitchen for a drink, Yūgao blinked and made sure that she wasn't wrong with where she had left all of her expensive Alcohol before leaving.
"...Fireballs...Sapphire...Where the hell is writer's tears?" her eyebrow twitched, there were only two people that had access to this dorm while she was gone and Naruto knew very well not to go through her things.
"It has to be that weirdo...fine...Sapphire, it is" Yūgao poured herself a drink before a poof of smoke appeared on the Kitchen table and she glared at the Summons as slug slime got all over her table.
"Great..another thing to clean"
a small blue and white slug spat out a small scroll before disappearing again much to the Anbu's annoyance
"From Shizune?"
Yūgao finished her drink, poured a second shot, and began to go through its contents
"The Newspaper Club that Naruto-kun is in are aware of his true identity now...Mizore-chan knows about the Fox as well. I know you might be a bit lenient with Naruto-kun's personal life but the Kyuubi is still an S-rank secret of Konoha. I'm not gonna report this to Tsunade-sama but you need to take care of it and tell Naruto to be more careful with what he's doing…things can go wrong really fast if something that big gets out...now about Konoha, Tsunade-sama needs you to keep Naruto-kun unaware of certain things going on in the Village..."
Yūgao blinked, Tsunade wants her to lie to Naruto? The Anbu woman shook her head before continuing
"...Naruto-kun is labeled MIA, most of the Village thinks he either was taken or he's lost it and went rouge, Tsunade-sama told me this was to throw Akatsuki off his trail and so far it's been working...Naruto-kun can't know of this, you and I both know he'd find any way to get back to Konoha if he did and while I don't like it either...these are the Hokage's orders…- Shizune"
"Son of a bitch…" Yūgao cursed under her breath and threw away the scroll to the living room.
Yūgao knew Naruto had released three tails during his fight with the Committee and to some extent, She figured his friends would have questions but now Shizune wanted her to talk to him revealing Konoha's secrets while also keeping him unaware of news from Konoha? She'd have to go around lying to this kid too…
The Purple-haired Anbu took another shot of her alcohol and closed her eyes
Fine, Yūgao could do both of those things, despite her personal feelings it was still her mission to protect Naruto from anything that included his own rash decision making and she was on Tsunade's payroll after all.
Just how could She go about it?
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End, so before you guys take out the Pitchforks, this is a Chapter to fix the Story's cohesion since we're moving to Anti-thesis and I noticed how many corners I wrote myself into with past Chapters, hence why some of them are being slightly altered with more extra scenes to give you guys something fresh and again my bad this Chapter really feels cramped together
Always was my weakest point organizing stuff, and things are still crazy here in my personal life so yeah sorry, the Fox confession is at the top of the next Chapter which is like at 6k words, so really not too long of a wait I hope, check if this Chapter has any mistakes and let me know.
Kakashi and Anko being here as Hanabi's guardians will come around later and as for Kakashi, I'll get into him later, details about Konoha are deliberately left out sometimes for down the line.
Now for Firearms, I don't know if you guys want me to go into detail or do what I did here, just point out the type like a Battle-rifle, Pistol, Shotgun because typing FN FAL or G3 or M1911 etc, will get old and confuse people but I do want the Konoha side to get somewhat familiar and use them when they need to but Shinobi arts will always take priority, it's a weapon like any other.
As for Hanabi herself, she'll come in with Moka's sister which technically should've started already but just gimme a little bit of time, right now Naruto is gonna go full Operator/Shinobi counter Anti-thesis and Fairy tale, kicking down doors type guy during this arc along with the other Shinobis.
Btw does anyone know if Chakra exhaustion is tied to straight-up sleep Exhaustion? I'm making them separate things here though Naruto fought his fight with Obito within two days so...
Konoha will be on the back burner again until Jiraiya.
Sorry again later.
/Note: 12pm, fixing shit on this Chapter and new Chapter is having issues but will still come out