Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario+Vampire or Naruto. Those rights belong to Akihisa Ikeda and Masashi Kishimoto respectively. I also don't own any other anime, its characters, or abilities that might appear in this story. And so, without delay… Sit back, relax and enjoy the story.
People speaking: "I'm a vampire."
People thinking: 'I want to suck your blood.'
Youkai speaking: "Know your place!"
Youkai thinking: 'Blood is better than tomato juice.'
Chapter 8 - Bonds and Deadlines
"… So he's really not coming today, is he?" Kurumu commented as she looked at the empty seat a couple feet away from her, letting out a small sigh. "Didn't even say goodbye before leaving."
"You don't have to make it sound like he's never coming back Kurumu-chan." Tsukune said with sweatdrop going down the back of his head. "Besides, I thought you were kind of afraid of him?"
"That's not the point Tsukune!" Kurumu replied while crossing her arms with a huff, not denying what the brunette had said about her fear. She stared at the desk once again before dropping her head, "… I don't know why but it feels kind of quiet without Naruto here."
Tsukune let out an awkward chuckle before turning to look at the only other male in their group that was there, Haku was sitting at his desk quietly reading a book. "It looks like you called it Haku-san."
"Like I had said before, Naruto-sama always disappears on this day. But now that I know why I guess it would make sense, he's probably off campus to visit that person's grave or something…" A dark cloud formed over Haku's head before it fell forward and collided with the book before both slammed into the desk with anime-like tears falling down Haku's face. "I just don't understand why he didn't take me with him!"
"I don't know what to tell you," Tsukune replied as he looked at the gloomy feminine teen. 'And here I thought he was being cool-headed about this… He really doesn't want to leave Naruto's side.'
Behind Tsukune, Moka was sitting in her chair staring at the empty desk in front of her, closing her eyes with a sigh before speaking. "Naruto-kun is mourning the loss of the sister, anyone would prefer to do it alone…?!" Moka was cut off guard when the three appeared in front of her with their faces inches away from her own, "W-What?"
"So you know who this person was?" Tsukune asked.
But before the pinkette could answer, Haku instantly spoke up with a confused frown on his face. "What do you mean sister? I've known Naruto-sama and his family for years and I've never heard of any sister!"
Moka waved her hands in front of her in a defensive manner, "She wasn't his biological sister. According to what he had said last night she-"
She was once again interrupted, this time by Kurumu as the blue-haired Succubus shoved Haku's face out of the way before speaking. "Wait a minute, you both were together last night?! Give me detail!"
"IT'S WASN'T LIKE THAT!" Moka exclaimed making several heads turn to look at the group of four or to be more specific, a now red-faced Moka. The embarrassed Vampire bowed her head while silently wishing the ground would swallow her whole. "… I was still feeling some side effects of my leg turning into stone, so Naruto-kun helped me get back to my dorm."
"So that's what it was, anyway what were you saying about Naruto's sister?" Tsukune asked again, and this time no one interrupted as the three stared at Moka to await her answer.
"Naruto-kun said to me that there were two girls he knew when he was a child, and that the three of them were like siblings. But according to him, one of them died and the other disappeared after the funeral." Moka decided to leave out the extra information Naruto had told her, feeling that now wasn't the best time to say that Humans were responsible for his sister's death. "I didn't want to pressure him about it anymore so we said our goodbyes before he dropped me off."
"I see, so she and this other girl weren't his actual sisters but ones he was close enough to call them such. Since I didn't know about them, Naruto-sama must have been with them before he and I met… But if they had really been that close then why did Naruto-sama not tell me about them, or Minato-sama and Kushina-sama." Haku tilted his head as he tried to think about the situation, but his thoughts were cut off as the school bell has heard and Nekonome walked into the room.
"Hello everyone. Please return to your seats!" The always cheerful teacher said as she turned to face the class, her school roster in hand. All the students quickly made it to their seats and waited for their feline instructor to begin, "I hope you all prepared for today's lesson, we're going to start off…"
Moka silently gave Naruto's empty seat one last glance before turning to look at Nekonome, a small smile on her face as she started writing down what the teacher was writing on the blackboard. 'I should take notes for him, even if it's only a day or two… I hope you're going to be okay when you get there Naruto-kun.'
(Meanwhile)
"Achoo!" Naruto rubbed under his nose before turning back to looking out the bus window, quietly taking in the majestic view of the mountains and forest. He had met with the Bus Driver a few hours ago and had given the man the directions to their destination. Instead of his school uniform Naruto was wearing a white shirt with a black jacket with an orange hood over it, blue cargo pants with a chain looping into one of his pockets and black and orange sneakers. "… I always feel indifferent when I come to this place, to think such a beautiful and peaceful place could hold such a sad memory."
"But sometimes the sad things that make the good things better." Naruto turned to look at the Bus Driver, who didn't take his eyes off the road, which was good in Naruto's opinion since the guy was going over a hundred miles an hour.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Bus Driver let out a chuckle before turning the corner passed a large collection of trees, "When you've lived as long as I have kid, you learn that life is filled with good things and bad. To some people good things don't soften the bad, and it is the same in vise versa where the bad things don't spoil or ruin the good ones. I may not know who the grave belongs to, but I'm sure you must have more good memories with that person than that single sad one."
"That sounds like something my dad would say," Naruto replied with a low laugh before looking outside again. "… But you're definitely right about that, I can't think of anything in those two years that I didn't love and didn't enjoy."
"Good. We'll be reaching our destination in less than an hour." The Bus Driver said before going silent once again.
Closing his eyes, Naruto leaned his head back into the seat, "Yeah… I know. It's not too far from here…"
Flashback
"It's not too far from here Naruto-chan!"Jasmine said as she and the black-haired girl led Naruto through the forest behind the residence Naruto's family were staying. Apparently they had discovered something a good distance away and with Kushina and Minato's permission the girl excitedly took Naruto with them. Jasmine was currently holding Naruto's hand while the other girl was a few feet in front of them.
"Come on Jasmine-neechan, can't you just give me a little hint?" A six year old Naruto questioned while trying to pull off the Puppy Eyes of Terror, which worked every time he used it on either of the girls.
"Sorry Naru-chan, you'll just have to wait and see." The black-haired girl replied while turning to look at him with a playful wink… Okay, so make that most of the time. The three continued to make their way through the forest, passing dozens of trees before Naruto caught sight of some light shining through the gaps of trees. When they managed to reach the end of the trees, Naruto covered his eyes to block the powerful sunlight that hit him. "Open your eyes, you don't want to miss a sight like this."
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and was shocked at what he saw, there were so many colors, such as red, blue, purple and yellow, covering the fields in front of them. He slowly walked closer with his sister walking behind him, both smiling brightly as they followed him. When Naruto came to a stop he realized this entire field was a giant flower garden, and looking further ahead he saw a large Cherry Blossom tree in the middle of the garden.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Jasmine spoke up as she knelt down next to Naruto and reached a hand out to one of the many flowers in front of them, "The amazing thing is that the way these plants and the tree were set up naturally, no one made it like this."
"So what do you think Naru-chan? Aren't you glad we kept it a surprise?" The black-haired girl said as she moved next to Naruto and placed a hand on her hip.
Naruto nodded his head excitedly before hugging the girl's leg, "This is an awesome place Onee-chan! Is it okay if we play around here for a bit before leaving."
"I don't see why not, what do you think Jasmine?" Turning her head to look at the long-haired girl, she blinked a few times when she saw that Jasmine was nowhere to be seen, "Jasmine? Where did you go? Naru-chan, did you see where-" She stopped midsentence when she saw that Naruto was also gone, blinking a few more times the cheongsam wearing girl looked up to see that Jasmine was running through the fields already with Naruto right by her side. "W-What the...?"
"Come on Onee-san, don't just stand there!" Jasmine called out to her before grabbing Naruto's hand, "Let's see if we can make it to the tree before she catches up with us!"
"Yeah!" Naruto replied before he and Jasmine ran forward with their sister right behind them.
"Hold on you two! Wait for me!"
Despite their current situation, all three of them were laughing happily as they ran through the field towards the tree. Jasmine was the first to make it to the tree, coming to a stop and just stared up at the many Cherry Blossoms in awe. Naruto was a few feet behind her and was about to grab onto her when he felt himself get picked up by the back of his shirt.
"No fair Onee-chan, you used your super speed to catch up!" Naruto whined as he pointed at the girl with a pout.
The sounds of her laughing was his only answer, but that only made him pout even more. "You just need to go faster, that's all Naru-chan… You are just so cute!"
"I am not cute! Boys aren't cute!" Naruto shouted as he struggled to get out of her grip. "Tell her Jasmine-neechan!"
"I don't know what to tell you Naruto-chan, it isn't a good thing to lie after all." Jasmine replied with a grin, which earned her a glare from the six year old. "Okay I think we've teased him enough for now, put him down Onee-san."
"Oh alright, but don't think I'm finished." With that said, Naruto's shirt was released and he fell on his butt. The young Dhampir rubbed his bottom while giving the older girl a hard look, before feeling a nice breeze blow against his face. He turned his head towards the flower garden where many of the flowers were gently being pushed by the wind.
"This is place is the best. It's quiet and one of the beautiful things I've ever seen… I could stay here forever if I was able to." Naruto looked up when he heard Jasmine say that, taking in the peaceful expression on her face as the wind blew her hair up a bit.
Suddenly a thought came to Naruto's mind, making him smile brightly before speaking up. "Then let's make this our special base!"
"Our special base?" Both of the girls said at the same time.
"Yeah! Since only the three of us know where this place is, we'll keep it a secret for only us to know! And this land belongs to my mom's family so this place can be for us only!" Naruto extended a hand out and bent all his fingers until his pinky remained. "Let's make a promise!" Both girl looked at each other silently for a few seconds before turning back to Naruto with soft smiles on their faces, holding out their own pinky fingers before wrapping them around Naruto's. "From now on, this garden will be our secret base, and only the three of us will ever know about it! I swear to keep this place only for us!"
"I promise too." Jasmine said with a nod before she and Naruto looked at the final person in their group, who nodded her own head as the smile on her face grew.
"And me as well…"
Flashback End
"We've arrived at our destination. Those are some impressive stairs, I can't even see the top of it from here." The Bus Driver commented as he made the vehicle come to a halt and Naruto snapped out of his thoughts to look out of the window, where a long stairway could be seen heading up into the forest. "I didn't know Minato owned a place like this, something so far out from the towns."
"That's because it doesn't, it belongs to my mother's family." Naruto replied while standing up from his seat before making his way off the bus. "At the top of those stairs is one of the few remaining Uzumaki Clan Temples, the temple and the land surrounding us has belonged to the Uzumaki Clan for centuries."
The Bus Driver let out a chuckle as he pulled out a cigar, lighting it at an impressive speed before taking in a deep breath. "I should have figured. It may not be powerful since we are so far down but I can definitely feel Spiritual Power coming from that temple. So that friend of yours was buried here?"
"No, we buried her in a special location behind the temple and the only way to get there is by coming here first. And the Spiritual Energy you're feeling is just the left over residue of the people who lived here long ago, what you're feeling right now is only three-fourths of what you will feel when you get up there." Naruto answered while never taking his eyes off the stairs leading to the temple. Shaking his head a few times Naruto started walking towards the steps, though he stopped as he took the first step to look back at the Bus Driver. "Will you remain down here or come up with me? I'm probably going be staying the night so it's your choice on what you want to do."
"… I'll head up there later. The air is too clean up there for me so I'm going take care of something and then enjoy this cigar while I can." The Bus Driver stepped back onto the bus and sat down in his seat, "But don't worry about a thing, I have no intention of leaving here without you." Naruto stared at the glowing-eyed man before nodding his head, turning back around to continue his way up the stairs.
(A Few Minutes Later)
Naruto was quiet as he walked up the stairs towards the temple, mentally preparing himself for the barrier surrounding the temple. Only those that someone from the Uzumaki Clan could enter and/or give permission for someone else to enter. It was a safety mechanism that the clan had created decades ago after they had once been attacked by Yokai. Many years ago, the Uzumaki Clan was filled with many powerful warriors and spiritually aware humans. They were mostly known for their tremendous amounts of spiritual power, their longevity, and most importantly their red hair, though there were a few such as Naruto that were exceptions to the later. But after so many years that large number died down until only he and his mother were left, there were probably others but Naruto doubted he would ever meet them.
A rustling sound cut Naruto off from his thoughts as he narrowed his eyes as he looked to the trees next to him, "Whoever's there, come on out. I am only giving this one warning!" After a few minutes the Dhampir seemed to give up on someone appearing and turned away from the trees before continuing his way up.
Once Naruto was out of sight a small creature with a single eye and wings emerged from behind one of the trees, its eye blinking a few times before it glowed. "Someone is heading up to the temple, I need to inform A-" The tiny Yokai was cut off as a hand and arm pierced through its back and emerged through the center of its pupil, killing it instantly.
"So it was an Eye Bat huh? I don't know what it was doing here, but Yokai like those are mostly used for surveillance…" Naruto said to himself before flicking his arm to toss the dead creature away, sending it crashing into a tree before it fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "And for someone to be a lookout outside of the temple… Just who are they being a look out for?" Naruto looked up the stairs to where the temple was before taking in a deep breath.
From what he gathered from the Eye Bats last words someone was at the temple, which means they had to go through the barrier first and that took time to do. With that in mind he took off with a strong leap, running up as fast as he could to reach the gates of the temple and see if the barrier was still intact. It didn't take Naruto long to reach the top but to his surprise he saw that the gates were in perfect condition... or maybe not. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he quickly moved over to the pillars and saw that the barrier seals had been removed, meaning someone had passed through the barrier and had removed them from the inside. That just added two more questions to Naruto's list, just who could have access to the Uzumaki Temple and why did they take the barrier down.
NUNMANUNMANUNMAUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNM
"Okay everyone, with Naruto being gone until late tomorrow we are going to need to start working on the newspaper as fast as we can today." Gin said to his underclassmen as they sat around several desks that were pushed together in a boxed formation. "Including today we had three days to write this story and meet the deadline, there's no point in calling it a newspaper if we don't have immediate news."
Haku and the others turned to look at the Club President, "… You know things would be a lot quicker if you ACTUALLY HELPED US!"
"Stop relaxing and drinking coffee and help us!" Moka exclaimed in agreement.
"He is acting just like a manga editor." Yukari said to Tsukune with a laugh making the brunette let out a low chuckle. "He's letting it get straight to his head."
"Yeah but as long as he does that then we might not make it to the deadline in time." Tsukune commented before feeling his arm get pulled to the side as Kurumu moved to hug his side, "Kurumu-chan!?"
Kurumu only smiled as she rubbed her head against his shoulder, "Don't worry Tsukune, as long as all of us work hard together than we will be fine."
"Kurumu-chan, we don't have time for that! We need to focus on the paper!" Moka turned away from the headband wearing Werewolf to look at her blue-haired friend.
"I don't care what we have to do as long as I'm with Tsukune," Kurumu replied before winking at Moka. "Besides, if you can have romantic moments with Naruto then it is only fair that I can have them with my Destined One."
"W-What? I told you before that nothing happened!" Moka whined as she held her hands up to her chest.
Haku, Yukari, and Tsukune watched as the two began their playful quarrel with Yukari cheering them on while Tsukune watched with a sweatdrop, "… And here I thought those two had stopped their bickering."
"There is a difference between bickering between rivals and having a back and forth between friends." Haku let out a sigh before he started walking back to the desks, grabbing the back of Yukari's cloak as he passed her. "Come on you two, the sooner we finish this thing the better."
Tsukune watched as the bi-elemental and young witch sit in their seats before turning back to the girls, letting out a sigh before looking out the window. "Huh?" The brunette blinked a few times as he looked at one of the trees for a few seconds before shaking his head, 'That's weird. For a second there I thought I saw someone sitting on one of the branches… I hope Naruto is having a better time than we are right now.'
(Uzumaki Temple)
"I AM REALLY NOT IN THE FUCKING MOOD FOR THIS!" Naruto shouted as he back flipped over a wide swing from a man wielding a katana before kicking another man in the back of the head as he was landing. Almost immediately after Naruto had entered the temple he was attacked by several men wearing black suits and sunglasses, each of them holding various kinds of weapons that ranged from bladed brass-knuckles to swords.
"Then just surrender and die!" One of the men shouted as he swung a mace downward at Naruto's head from behind, only for it to go straight through Naruto's body and crash into the ground. To the surprise of many, both halves of Naruto's body disappeared in a burst of black flames. "W-What the hell!"
The man didn't have time to say anything else as Naruto appeared behind him and kicked the man's elbow, the force of the Dhampir's kick shattered the elbow joint making the man cry out in pain before letting go of his weapon. Naruto quickly grabbed the mace and with a twist of his slammed his other leg into the man's face and sent him flying into one of his comrades, that wasn't the end of Naruto's assault as he appeared over the two men and slammed the mace into both of them with a downward swing, causing a large crater to form under the two now unconscious men.
Once he confirmed that the men were not getting back up Naruto rose back up with the mace still in hand. With a flick of the wrist Naruto started tossing the mace into the air, making it spin several times before landing securely in his hand. "Okay… Who wants to be next?"
The question made a few take a step back in fear to which one of the men, who appeared to be the leader of the group, shouted at them. "What are you doing?! It's just one guy!"
"B-But sir…" A fearful voice was heard coming from a younger suited man who was keeping his gaze focused on Naruto's still form, but kept away from meeting his piercing eyes. "This man's strong… and his presence… it's almost as if I'm staring at Akua-sama."
His final words instantly caught Naruto's attention as he snapped his head towards the man who just spoke, his eyes as wide as they could go. 'Did he just say… Akua?!'
"You idiot! This guy is nothing like her!"
"Tell me… Does this Akua have black hair and red eyes? And to be more specific… is she a Vampire?" Naruto's body was trembling a bit as stared at the men with narrow eyes, before slowly closing them.
"That isn't any business of yours! It's not like you'll survive this battle!" Another man shouted as his body began to transform and grow as he charged forward. But he did not get far as a mace slammed into his stomach which knocked the air out of him. He turned his head slowly and saw that Naruto was standing next to him with his eyes still closed and a hand holding the mace that hit him.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked towards the direction behind all the suited men, "I can sense a very powerful energy signature over there…That's definitely her." Naruto released his grip on the mace and the man being held up by the mace fell to the ground and lost consciousness as soon as his head hit the concrete floor. "Now get out of my way while I still feel like sparing you guys."
"You're not going anywhere! Attack him from every direction!" The leader ordered making his subordinates yell before they began transforming into their true forms.
As the Yokai charged at Naruto the Dhampir looked to the distance with sadness in his eyes, 'So we get to meet again… after all these years.' Snapping his eyes down at the monsters charging at him, Naruto's gaze hardened and a large pillar of energy surrounded him before spreading and covering the other monsters.
(Meanwhile)
A cloak figure's head perked up as they felt a strong and very familiar demonic pressure coming from the direction they had just came, turning their head to where the source was coming from and saw an energy pillar coming from the temple. The pillar was only around for a few seconds before disappearing from sight, "Is that really you… Naruto?"
(At the Bottom of the Stairway)
The Bus Driver let out a dark chuckle as he felt Naruto release a large amount of power, curling two fingers around his cigar before moving it away from his lips. "I hope you are as prepared as you think you are, little Dhampir."
(Back With Naruto)
Naruto let out a sigh as he cracked his neck, "Man, using Kyōka Suigetsu while my powers are sealed always makes my body so stiff." Around the Dhampir, all of the men that had charged him were either sprawled out on the ground or crashed half-way through the temple walls. "I wonder where these guys came from, they weren't incredibly strong but they weren't exactly weak either… Hopefully she will answer my questions."
Spinning on his heel, Naruto began walking away from the battlefield and around the temple main building. It took him a minute or so before he came up to a back entrance where a second set of stairs were located, and beyond that was a large forest that could be seen reaching for several miles. Naruto stared at the forest for several seconds before shaking his head to clear his mind, if he wanted to catch up and make it there in time then he was going to need to run the entire way. Crouching his legs a bit Naruto leaped as far as he could from the top of the stairs and landed at the edge of the forest before dashing forward.
"Just beyond this forest, I just have to reach the end of the forest." Naruto said to himself as he dodged and ran around the trees while continuing the same speed, but even he knew that it would take him a good long while before he reached the end. Lucky for him there seemed to be no other distractions inside the forest so all he needed to do was continue down the path and he would reach the exit soon, he just hoped Akua would still be there by the time he arrived.
"Pay attention to your surroundings!" A voice called out from above causing Naruto's eyes to widen before he jumped out of the way, which was just in time to dodge several trees that were about to collapse on top of him. Stepping on one of the tree barks, Naruto leaped towards one of the tree branches before landing in a crouch. "… You good at jumping, but you'll need a lot more than that!"
Naruto snapped his head to look back in time to see a large blur coming straight at him at incredible speeds before raising his arms up in a defensive position. The blur slammed into Naruto's guard and sent the Dhampir flying back a few feet, but with a backflip Naruto quickly regained his balance and landed on one of the lower tree branches with in a crouching position. The red-eyed Hanyou look up to see what collided with him and was surprised to see a humanoid bird standing on top of the branch with its arms crossed. The only clothes it was wearing was black cargo pants body that reached to several inches above where his bird-like feet were, everything else was covered in black and red feathers. His head resembled an eagles and had tribal marks that reached from the top of its head to its chest, and on his back were two large red bird wings.
"A Garuda? Wow, I didn't think your species was still around." Naruto said as he looked down at his shirt where a large cut could be seen. The injury let out a bit of steam as it healed itself, soon vanishing and leaving the sliced clothes as the only proof that he had been hit.
"Not many could block my charge, I have to commend you on that." The Garuda said with a deep voice as he stared down at Naruto, "I am Genpa Aknamu, also known as Genpa of the Crimson Skies. Tell me your name boy."
Standing up straight, Naruto looked at the direction behind the humanoid bird for a few seconds before meeting Genpa's gaze. "My name is Naruto Namikaze… and I suppose you're going to get in my way as well. Mind telling me why one person has this many bodyguards?"
"As powerful as she may be, Akua-sama is too precious to be left alone. Our Organization would weaken if we were to lose her under any circumstances." Genpa stated as he extended his wings, "Normally I would have given you one last chance to retreat from this place with your life, but judging by the damaged you had dealt to those men I doubt you will take it."
"Of course not, this land belongs to my family and if anyone had the right to tell someone to leave it is me! Besides …" An image of Jasmine flashed through Naruto's mind making him grit his teeth before giving Genpa a hard look. "I have business with Akua, so I need you to get out of my way."
"Such big words for a boy… Do you honestly believe you can defeat me?" Letting gravity pull him down, Genpa fell off the tree branch and extended his wings before flying at Naruto. "Let's see if you can!"
Naruto quickly leaped off the branch in time to dodge the Garuda's charge, making the humanoid bird smash through the tree and several others behind it. He watched as all the trees fell to the ground, but didn't think on it as his senses picked up something coming at him from behind. Jumping as high as he could, he dodged multiple projectiles crashing into the ground and causing multiple craters upon impact. The Dhampir made a quick glance towards the craters and realized that the projectiles had been Genpa's feathers.
'So he can not only fight in close combat, but his feathers allow him to use long range as well.' Naruto thought to himself before glancing up at Genpa, who was flapping his wings every few seconds. "You move pretty fast despite being in a forest like this."
"Believe me, you haven't seen anything yet." Genpa's body glowed lightly and suddenly vanished from sight, to which Naruto looked around warily as he tried to detect his opponent's presence. Then in a split second Naruto felt pain coming from his left shoulder and looked down to see that one of Genpa's talons had pierced through him. Reacting quickly Naruto raised his legs and kicked behind him, using the force of his blow to separate them from each other. Blood sprayed into the air as Naruto's wound became exposed, but that didn't stop the Dhampir as he spun around to face Genpa and swung his hand at him. The blood around Naruto's arm and in the air turned into needles before flying at Genpa, who bent his wings over his body to defend himself and was surprised to feel stings coming from the impacts, but that didn't even last a minute before extending his wings once again and dispersed the bloody attack with ease. "… This can't be all you have. Come on, show me what you've got! I know this cannot be your limit, I can see the power in your eyes, power that can only belong to a Vampire! Come on fight me!"
Naruto's grip on his injured shoulder tightened as his head lowered and his hair covered his eyes, shifting his position a bit with his right shoulder tilter towards Genpa. "Fine then. If that is really what you want… To be honest, I've been trying to keep myself calm. You lot entered my families temple, attack me and continue to get in my way on the worst possible day to do this. But if you're so insistent on seeing my full power then I will… just don't regret it in the end."
"Perfect, as long as you fight me I will not regret anything." Genpa stated before he felt the pressure in the area grow and the wind surrounding them pick up.
Naruto reached for his bracelet and wrapped his fingers around the cross, "I will warn you right now... I won't let this battle continue once the cross is removed, this will end… in a few seconds."
Genpa let out an amused chuckle as he felt Naruto's power continue to right, "Interesting. Let's just see if you can back up those words. I have been training every day so I can defeat my goals, who are also Vampires. I seriously doubt that one as young as you will be too much fo-!" The Garuda quickly halted his sentence when he noticed Naruto had lifted his head a little to look at him, it was an unnerving gaze… one that he's seen many times before. 'Just who is this kid? It may be because of them both being Vampires, but when I look at those crimson eyes I can't help but think of Akua-sama, the eyes of someone who has no remorse with killing anyone in their way.'
'I suppose it's a good thing that Moka-chan and the other's aren't here… I don't have to worry about protecting anyone and can fight without holding back.' Naruto thought to himself before snapping off the cross, causing his power to release and his body to transform. As his body was changing, tendrils of energy surrounded Naruto and spun around him like tornadoes. "Now then Genpa of the Crimson Skies, I hope you can keep up… Because I am about to show you what true speed can really do."
"Hmm…hehehahaHAHAHA! Yeah, this is what I've been wanting! A true opponent to test my skills!" Genpa's body glowed even more, his body changing as well. The wings on his back started to split and form another pair of wings, "Now let's see how you handle me in my most powerful form, Mu-" Genpa was cut off as he felt pain go through his entire body, his vision was blocked by large amounts of blood flying into the air.
A voice was heard coming from behind him, making the Garuda turn his head to see that Naruto was standing behind him now. "… I'm sorry, if this were any other time or place I would have given you the battle you wanted… but right now I can't afford to waste time." The Dhampir turned to look at him, "Tell me, could you tell how many times I attacked you? It must've felt like it happened all at once."
Genpa's eyes widened as he felt his body start to fall, cut marks and blood exiting his body by the second. As he fell to the ground, the Garuda was shocked when he noticed that all of his wings had been cut off as well. "How could you… have done all this… in a few seconds?"
"… You wanted to know why I wanted to see Akua. " Naruto closed his eyes before turning away from his fallen opponent, "It's because she's my sister, one that I haven't seen in nine years."
"Your… sister?!" Genpa said in shock as he stared at Naruto in shock, "But that's impossible… Akua-sama only has three sisters."
"Maybe by blood, but even then I don't have any idea who these sisters are… Anyway I am leaving now, I may have severely injured you but there is a very small chance that you can still survive. Just remain there until someone manages to find you, which might not be long if you have more in your group." Naruto said to Genpa, who was quiet for a few moments before Naruto started to hear him laugh.
Naruto turned around to see Genpa was now in a crouched position, struggling to get back to his feet despite the huge amounts of blood exiting his chest. "And what's to stop me… from attacking you from behind? I may be down now… but I refuse to go down alone!" After managing to get back to his feet Genpa ran at Naruto with his claw in the air, though the wounds covering his body were slowing him down.
"You are such a fool," Naruto muttered before he summoned some of his blood to cover his hand and form it into a blade. Once Genpa was a foot away from Naruto, the two swung their arms forward and passed by each other.
The two were quiet for a moment before Genpa spoke up, "… Now this battle is truly finished… To die in battle is… the perfect way for a warrior like myself to die." The humanoid bird seemed to be smiling as a diagonal slash appeared on his chest before a much larger amount of blood sprayed into the air. As Genpa fell to the ground, he uttered one last thing with his last breath. "Thank you… Naruto."
For a few minutes Naruto said nothing, but then he started running towards his destination once again, going at a much faster pace with his powers being unsealed. "Goodbye, warrior of the sky."
(Meanwhile at Yokai Academy)
"I'm so exhausted." Kurumu said as she walked along a hallway, using the wall to hold herself up. "I can't believe he made me change twelve times before finally letting me go."
The Succubus thought back to how this all started with a letter Nekonome-sensei had given her saying that it was outside the room. Originally she had thought it had been a love letter from one of the male students she had used her Charm spell on in the beginning of the year, but was shocked to find out that it was actually a blackmail letter with several suggestive photos of her inside. She had left the others to work on the newspaper, though she left without telling them why, and confronted the blackmailer who turned out to be a male student that went by the name of Nagare Kanou. He was an extremely sweaty teen with shoulder-length hair, freckles and a really fancy camera around his neck. Long story short he wanted Kurumu to go out on a date with him in exchange for not showing the photos or revealing her secrets to anyone, especially Tsukune, and by date it was more of him taking pictures of her in cosplay outfits.
"… I wonder if everyone is still working hard." As she made it to the clubroom door, Kurumu could feel something oozing out of the door. She slowly opened the door and had to take a step back when she felt a gust of wind blow passed her. Looking inside the room, she could see that everyone had stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her, each having aggravated expressions. 'THEY'RE ALL REALLY PISSED! I'M GOING TO GET YELLED AT!'
"Welcome back Kurumu." To her surprise, the group of five simply stood up from their seats and began getting ready to leave. Haku turned his head to the side and a crack was heard before he spoke, "You're late though."
"We'll were mostly finished up all the work for today, which means it should be done by Sunday." Yukari said as she double checked her data, making sure it was saved before shutting her laptop down for the night.
"We decided to word hard tomorrow and finish the rest up." Moka pushed her seat and started walking towards the door, making her way passed Kurumu before exiting the room. "Hopefully Naruto-kun will be back tomorrow to give us some extra hands."
"Eh? But…" Kurumu started to say, but everyone was already walking out the door.
"Don't worry about what you missed Kurumu-chan. I'll see you tomorrow." That was all Kurumu heard Tsukune say before the door shut behind them, leaving the blue haired girl alone in the room.
Kurumu had barely felt herself move, there was only one thing going through her mind at that moment. 'I was… too late?' The next thing she knew, she was sitting in her seat where all the newspaper work was. 'I guess this is payback for how I used to act back then. Before I met Tsukune and the others I used to be so stuck up, using my abilities as a Succubus to turn any man into my slave. But even when I was treated so special, I never had a true friend like them… I hate this feeling of being alone inside me.' Kurumu's eyes wandered across the table before they landed on a small pile of papers on Tsukune's desk with a sticky note on top of it.
*Going to need Kurumu-chan's help on this one.*
Tears built up in Kurumu's eyes as soon as she read that sentence, "I-I need to apologize to them."
"Huhuhu… What's wrong Kurumu-chan?" A voice spoke up from the second entrance behind her, making her snap her head around to see Nagare standing there with his camera in both hands. "Today was really fun, wasn't it? Let's have some more fun tomorrow Kurumu-chan.''
"What are you doing here?! And there is no tomorrow, that 'date' was supposed to be just for today.'' Kurumu shouted as she shot up from her seat with an angry look, this guy was the last person she wanted to see right now.
"That's a really cold tone you're taking with me… Should I show the pictures I took today to Tsukune?" Nagare said in a threatening tone, waving his digital camera a few times in front of him.
"WHAT, NO!? You told me you wouldn't show them to anyone." The Succubus took a step back as she stared at the camera in the slimy boy's hands.
"Then we'll have some more fun tomorrow right?" The boy's grin widened dramatically as he looked Kurumu with a glint in his revealed eye. "I'm not going to let you go now.''
"N-No! I've had enough, stop following me!" Kurumu exclaimed as she ran to the other door and quickly made her exit, not noticing Nagare's attention going to the desk covered in the Newspaper Club's work. The buxom girl kept running down the hallway, wanting to get as far away from the crazy stalker as she could. As she turned the corner and was passing the stairs, another person was walking in front of her. Unfortunately Kurumu was too distraught to stop in time and collided with the person, the lucky thing was that the person managed to keep them from falling to the ground.
"What the…? Kurumu-chan?" Kurumu's eyes widened when she recognized the voice and looked up to see that she had bumped into Tsukune, who was giving her a concerned look. "Why are your eyes red… have you been crying? If you are sad about not being there today it isn't a problem, we'll just work on it toge-ugh!?" He was cut off from speaking as Kurumu suddenly hugged him as tightly as she could, her whole body shaking as she once again started to cry. "Kurumu-chan?"
"T-Tsukune… Please… I-I don't know what to do…!"
NUNMANUNMANUNMAUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNM
"… The full moon is so beautiful tonight," The cloaked figure said to themselves before pulling their hood to reveal a beautiful pale skinned woman with blackish-blue hair and crimson red eyes. "And there are so many stars out. This view hasn't changed at all even after so many years." The woman was sitting on the grass in the middle of the giant flower garden, right in front of the cherry blossom tree and a tombstone that rested next to the tree. "Minato-sama and Kushina-sama were right to allow you to be buried here, after all you did say you loved this place… and so did we."
Flashback
"AAAHH!" A blond and silver haired boy cried out as he flew over the flowers for a second before landing roughly in a bunch of lilies, his body disappearing in the field of flowers. Not even a second later he stuck his head out of the flowerbed, "Ah man, I almost had you that time!"
"Now now Naru-chan, you weren't even close to landing a scratch on me." A younger version of the woman said with an amused grin on her face. This made the younger boy pout as he crossed his arms in a huff.
"One of these days I'll beat you Akua-oneesama. That's a promise!" Naruto exclaimed at the girl, who shook her head with a playful sigh.
Akua walked up to the boy and placed an arm on his head, using him as a table counter as she leaned a little on him. "You're welcome to try Naru-chan, but just now that every time you get stronger I do as well."
"Oh yeah? Well I just turned six years old so I will have plenty of time to get bigger, but you're reaching your limit! After all, you haven't physically changed at all in two years even though Jasmine-neesan and I have, you late blooming washboard!" Naruto growled out, before getting smack in the back of the head and was sent crashing into the ground.
"You little brat, who are you calling a washboard?!" Akua's face was red as she held up her arms in front of her chest, it was always a sensitive topic for her since she was almost twelve and she only had small bumps, even Jasmine's had just recently grown bigger than hers and the girl was a year younger.
"OW THAT HURT!" Naruto cried out while emerging from the man-shaped indent in the ground before feeling the large lump on his head. "That's it, this time for sure!"
Akua shook her head as she raised one of her hands and made it into a fist, "Time for some tough love."
"Come on you two, settle down." Another girl spoke up from her seat on a large blanket under the cherry blossom tree. Next to her was a simple basket of food she had helped Kushina make for their picnic. "Onee-san, you shouldn't hit Naru-chan so hard, he's only a child."
"Wha-But Jasmine!" Akua turned to the girl in shock but the longer haired girl already turned her head to look at Naruto, who was sticking his tongue out childishly at Akua.
"And Naruto," The boy immediately stopped what he was doing to look at his second older sister since she only called him buy his name when he was in trouble. "You need to apologize to Onee-san, it is not nicer at all to make fun of a girl's body."
"But she was the one who..." Naruto stopped speaking when he saw the look Jasmine was giving him, "Alright... I'm sorry I made fun of you Akua-oneesama."
"Yeah yeah I'm sorry too." Akua let out a sigh before patting Naruto on the head.
Jasmine smiled at the two before patting the spots next to her. "That's better, now come on you two. Let's start eating."
The two stared at her for a few seconds before letting their shoulders drop with a sigh at the same time, they could never say no to Jasmine about anything. The two slowly made their way to the blanket and sat down on either side of Jasmine, who had already begun to take the food out of the basket. The three were quiet for the next few minutes as they happily ate their lunch, enjoying Kushina's, and to a lesser extent Jasmine's, delicious cooking to the last crumb.
As she finished her sandwich, Jasmine turned to look at Naruto who was happily slurping up his ramen noodles. "Naru-chan, why do you want to fight Onee-san so much? You are still a child and there is a lot more for you to enjoy than just fighting."
Naruto perked up at her words and gave her a quick glance before quickly finishing the noodles in his mouth, "… It's not that I want to keep fighting her, sparing is okay from time to time but that is not why I do it."
"So then why do you…?" Even Akua had paused in eating her meal as she was curious on what Naruto's answer would be.
"I want to be strong, and Akua-neesama is one of the strongest people I know. And if I can defeat her than that means I am strong enough to protect both of you." Naruto noticed the surprised looks they had gained after he said that and looked away with a red face, "You and Akua-neesama are the first people I've met outside my family that I became friends with… the very first bonds I made by myself without my parents. You became my older sisters and I don't want these bonds to every go away… Which is why I have to get stronger!" Akua and Jasmine looked at each other after that, staring at each other for a few minutes before they both started to giggle. This made Naruto snap his head to look at them, "What? Why are you guys laughing at me!?"
Neither answered his question however, instead Akua moved to the other side of Naruto and rubbed the top of his head with a large smile. Naruto looked up at her in confusion before feeling Akua's arms move and bring him closer into a hug, "… Then you'll just have to get stronger than me, so you can protect us. No matter what happens the three of us will always be together as family."
"That's right!" Jasmine joined in on the hug as she wrapped her arms around both Naruto and Akua, "Always together and watching out for each other, but remember to have fun and enjoy life Naruto. There is a lot more beauty and bonds in this world waiting for you, you just have to find it."
"… Right, I'll show you how strong I can be when I get bigger. I'll be the best protector around!"
The three siblings continued their group hug, enjoying each other's company and the peace of the flower garden. None of them knowing that in less than two months from now, their lives would change forever and everything would go to hell.
Flashback End
"AKUA-NEESAN!"
Akua's head perked up when she heard a male voice call out to her, slowly twisting her body to face the person who called out to her. And for a split second her eyes had widened before going back to normal, there in front of her was the younger brother she had not seen in nine years. A transformed Naruto was standing at the end of the flower garden, one of his hands held up to his shoulder where she could see a large puncture wound. "… I see Genpa had gave you some trouble… Naruto."
"Yeah… But that was only because I didn't release my seal in the beginning, a stupid thing on my part." Naruto replied as he studied Akua's appearance. Besides the obvious changes in being older, nothing else had changed. "After all these years… the only thing about you that's changed is your height."
"Oh shut it! Nine years and you are still as immature as ever, making fun of how I look!" Akua exclaimed with an embarrassed blush on her face. She snapped around to face Jasmine's grave with her arms crossed as if to ignore him, silently listening as she heard his footsteps get closer and closer. Once he finally made it to her side she took a quick glance and noticed he was actually a little taller than her now, she shook her head before finally speaking. "Does it hurt? Your body should have started healing the wound by now."
"Yeah, but even the healing process can be painful if the wound was dealt to a specific area. You were the one who told me that… that Garuda knew what places to strike when it came to fighting regenerative Yokai." Naruto winced when he rubbed against the wound, feeling it slowly heal up. "You certainly had a big party with you… Any reason why you took down the barrier?"
"The organization I am a part of was very insistent that I have a group of skilled members with me. Though we both know that I don't need anybody guards, which is irrelevant now since you were able to defeat them without any major issues." Akua closed her eyes as she shook her head in amusement. "I do apologize about removing the barrier, but it was either I take it down the easy way so it can be reactivated quickly or they would have forced their way in using one of there more brutal methods."
"Okaa-san did tell us that the barrier needs to be replaced every decade or so, so the fact that it was weaken could have made it easier for them." Naruto lowered his arms as he turned his attention to the tombstone in front of them. "… It's been nine years since all three of us were here together."
"Yes it has, and this place is still as beautiful as ever… So I heard that you're attending Yokai Academy, I hope you are doing well in your studies." Akua commented causing Naruto to look at her with a surprised look. "Don't be so shocked, I have my personal sources for keeping tabs on you."
That made Naruto narrow his eyes as he sent her a hard look, "So you can keep an eye on me but I hear shit from or about you until now? That's not exactly fair is it?"
"… One thing you should have learned by now Naruto, especially after Jasmine was murdered. Life is never fair." Akua spun on her heels and started walking away from the tombstone and Naruto, "I've wasted enough time here."
"You're just going to leave like nothing happened, abandoning me once again… DO YOU HATE ME THAT MUCH?!" Naruto shouted as he spun around to look at Akua, who was already two yards away before she stopped at his words. "I know you hate Humans now and I can't stop you from that. And you probably hate me as well for being half human, a miserable half-breed that is only good for stirring up terrible old memories… but still, why didn't you at least say goodbye? Did you blame me for Jasmine-Oneesan's death?" Tears were building up in Naruto's eyes as he stared at her back, "… Even if you hate me now, I still see you as my big sister… So please, just tell me… Why did you leave me all alone, Akua-neesa-?!" He was cut off from speaking as a hand pierced his wound.
Looking down a little he saw that the hand belonged to Akua, whose hair was blocking him from seeing her eyes. "… You need to calm down in order for your body to properly heal."
"W-Why did you…!" All of a sudden Naruto's body started to wobble as he quickly lost strength and his vision was getting blurry, and not even a second later the Dhampir lost consciousness and fell into Akua's arms. She slowly pulled her arm out of his shoulder wound and let their bodies slowly descend to the grassy floor.
"Don't worry, it is only an elixir that forces the recipient to sleep and relaxes their bodies." Akua explained to the knocked out Naruto, knowing full well he couldn't hear what she was saying. She silently wrapped her arms around Naruto and brought him closer, rubbed her cheek against his neck. "You're so reckless, pushing yourself so far in order to just see me… You've gotten really handsome since we've been apart… If only I could have been there to see you grow… I could never hate you Naruto. I can't explain it to you just yet, but someday you will learn why I had to leave. But even if we are apart now, I promise we will be together in the future… So I am going to say something I haven't said in a long time." Akua lifted her head up until her mouth was to his ear, whispering something into it before pulling back with a smile. "… This is goodbye for now, my precious Naru-chan."
(The Next Morning)
Light started to peak in through a window, rising slowly until it rested on Naruto's sleeping face. The light made his face scrunch up a little in irritation before his eyes slowly opened to the view around him. Not even two seconds later Naruto's sleepy eyes widened in full alert and he threw the covers off him, lifting his body into a sitting position as he scanned the room. It was his parent's master bedroom, he remembered all the times he had come into this room to sleep with his parents when he had been scared of the dark… hey, even Yokai children could be afraid of things like that, the only difference was that Yokai's had more knowledge on what can be in the darkness.
Looking down at himself Naruto noticed he was wearing brand new clothes, a large white t-shirt with the Uzumaki spiral on the back and dark blue pajama pants. Lowering the collar of his shirt a little he could see that the hole that had been in his shoulder was fully healed. After staring at the now healed shoulder for several seconds Naruto shook his head before getting out of bed. He studied the room one last time before making his way out the door, and heading down the hall to where the kitchen was in order to get something to drink… hopefully there was some tomato juice or something.
"Well well, looks who finally woke up. You certainly had an exciting day yesterday, hehehe." The Bus Driver was sitting in one of the seats at the dining table, drinking a cup of hot coffee.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Naruto replied as he walked passed the glowing-eyed man and towards the refrigerator, opening the door before reaching in and pulling out a can of tomato juice. "So how's your coffee?"
The Bus Driver let out another chuckled as he lifted the cup up to his lips, "Blended to perfection, I must say that this is one of the best coffees I've have had in a long time. I'm surprised that a lot of the supplies in here are still in perfect condition."
"It's thanks to time prevention seals my mother had made years ago, it keeps everything in a still point in time so that everything in here doesn't spoil." Naruto explained before plopping down in the seat across from this temporary companion.
"That mother of yours is truly amazing, sometimes it's hard to believe she's Human."
Naruto lifted the tomato juice to his lips and began gulping it down until the can was empty, "… So is she…"
"Gone? Yes, she left as soon as she brought you back here and redressed you." The Bus Driver answered with a nod of his head, though he noticed that Naruto froze a little, "Is something wrong?"
"So you're saying she was the one who changed my clothes…" Naruto leaned back a little bit and pulled his pajama pants out a bit, and then his eye started to twitch. "… She even replaced my boxers… Akua-neesan…" After a minute or so Naruto let out a sigh, "It doesn't matter now, I need to get ready soon to clean up the mess made by the fighting."
"Actually I don't think that will be a problem. Beside a few cracks in the flooring outside, all the damages to the buildings and such have already been repaired, even all the blood was cleaned up as well. It looks like those intruders had cleaned up for you under the orders of that female Vampire friend of yours." The Bus Driver placed his now empty cup on the table before standing up from his seat, "Now if you have any more business here I suggest you take care of it, because after that we are leaving. You did promise the Headmaster that you would be back today at the latest."
"Yeah I know, and to be honest there is only thing left for me to do here… Let me just get changed first before heading out to do it." Naruto turned away from the man, thinking about something he wasn't able to do yesterday.
(Jasmine's Flower Garden)
"… Hey there Jasmine-neesan… Sorry I wasn't able to say hello yesterday but as you could see, things were a little hectic." Naruto was kneeling in front his surrogate sister's tombstone, placing a few flower in front of it. "But at least I was able to make it here to see you. A lot of things have happened since I was here last year, I'm now attending Yokai Academy. I've been studying hard and doing my best in class, you always said that education was going to be important in my life."
Naruto had a small smile on his face when he remembered one time when Jasmine had grabbed him before lifting him up and took him to the Uzumaki library so he could learn how to read some of the books. They had worked on reading a few of the children's books that were kept in there, while Akua was sitting off to the side reading a separate book that was one of the Uzumaki Clan's more difficult books on Yokai. He also remembered that Jasmine had once stopped Akua from going to a separate part of the room so the three of them could read a story together, well they were doing most of the reading while he read a few sentences.
"… Oh yeah, and I've made a lot of friends since I started there! I won't lie though, it's a very random bunch of Yokai… and actually one of them is Human." Naruto rubbed the back of his head while he continued to speak, "His name is Tsukune, he is having a bit of trouble getting used to our world but he definitely has his heart in the right place. There's also a Succubus named Kurumu, she wasn't a friend at first but it's different now. There is also Yukari the, who is a Witch and an eleven year old genius that skipped several grades and the smartest one in our grade. I've told you about Haku right? Well he is there too, still won't stop calling me Naruto-sama though." One of his eyebrows twitched as he said that, before it twitched a little harder as he continued. "There are two other guys as well, our sempais. Their good guys and reliable, and strong fighters too… but one of them is named Gin and a major pervert while the other's name is Haji, and he has a thing for little girls … I'm doing okay now, it still hurts like always and sometimes I wish you were here, but I'm dealing with it okay…"
"… Are you almost ready kid?" The Bus Driver asked several yards behind Naruto with his arms behind his back.
"Almost there, you can start heading back I'll catch up." Naruto answered without looking back at the man, who nodded his head before making his leave. "That's right I forgot to tell you, there is one last friend I made at Yokai Academy. Her name is Moka Akashiya, and she's actually a Vampire like you. She's really beautiful and very smart, she has a very warm personality and is kind to everyone… just like you were… Moka also found out I am a Dhampir and is completely fine with it, it doesn't stop her from enjoying my blood at all. She also has a second personality inside of her, I call her Ura, but it only really comes out when her seal is removed. To be honest I hope I get to know that Moka as much as I know this one…" Naruto reached out and placed a hand on the tombstone as he stood up on his feet. "I'd better get going, I have to head back to school, and back to all my friends… maybe one day I can bring them all here, I know they would love this place… See ya later Jasmine-neesan."
As Naruto turned and started to walk away, a gentle breeze blew by him. 'Take care of yourself, Naruto-chan.'
The bicolor-haired teen froze mid-step, snapping his head around to look back at the grave with wide eyes. "Jasmine-neesan!?" The wind continued to blow passed Naruto as he stood alone in the giant field of flowers, before long a content smile formed on his face and he started walking again, leaving the tombstone alone under the cherry blossom tree.
(Time Skip)
"Welcome back to Yokai Academy, I hope you had a fun trip." The Bus Driver leaned back into his seat as he lighted his cigar, watching through the mirror as Naruto rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the bus.
"Yeah. Lots of fun." Naruto replied with a roll of his eyes as he stepped off the bus, "Tell the Headmaster I said thanks again for letting me go."
"Hehehe, will do." The Bus Driver said before closing the door and driving off.
Naruto watched as the bus drove back into the tunnel and disappeared from sight, shaking his head a few times before turning around to look at the school in the distance. "I wonder how everyone is doing… probably working on the newspaper." Putting his hands into his pockets, Naruto started walking down the path towards the school. It didn't take him long to reach the main path leading to the school, and soon he made it to the school entrance. 'Then again, with six of them working on it, it shouldn't take them lo-'
"MOKA!" A familiar voice called out, making Naruto turn his head to the side where the large old tree was.
'That was Kurumu's voice…?' Narrowing his eye Naruto hurried towards the area and when he got there he was surprised at what he saw. Kurumu was in her transformed state hovering over Tsukune, Moka and what appeared to be a Yokai known as a Madslug, but what really surprised him was what Kurumu was doing at the moment. "I can't believe Kurumu had such a powerful ability under her belt, only powerful Succubus's have had the capabilities of using Illusions.
"I won't forgive you… FOR TRYING TO ATTACK MY FRIENDS!" Kurumu shouted as she made a dive towards the seemingly trapped Slug with one of her claws drawn back, "TAKE THIS YOU SLIMY FREAK!" Swing a strong swipe of her claws, Kurumu slashed across the Madslugs body and cut deep into its body, making its blood fly into the air as she sailed passed him in a spiraling manner.
Moka and Tsukune watched worriedly as Kurumu continued to spiral towards the ground, until someone appeared in front of her and caught her in time. The person wrapped an arm around her waist and held her up in a secure manner, "Nice job there Kurumu, I'm really impressed. You're a lot stronger than I thought you were."
"Huh?" Kurumu slowly opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voice, before realizing someone was holding her up. She looked up and was shocked to see a certain Dhampir was looking down at her with a smirk. "Naruto!?"
"Yup, I'm back… though it looks like I missed something interesting huh?" Naruto glanced back towards the unconscious Madslug and noticed there was something on the ground next to it. "What're those?"
"Ah, the data!" Kurumu exclaimed as she escaped from Naruto's hold and scooped up a folder full of papers and a computer disk. "I got them back… the most important thing…"
"Naruto-kun/Naruto!" Tsukune and Moka shouted at the same time as they ran up to the two, Moka continuing until she was giving Naruto a hug while Tsukune patted him on the shoulder before going to Kurumu's side.
"Welcome back Naruto-kun." Moka said with a smile before it turned into a more concerned one, "Are you okay now?"
"Glad to be back, and yeah I feel a lot better." Naruto replied before looking down at the slug on the ground, "So does anyone want to tell me what I missed?"
"Kurumu was being blackmailed but as you can see we took care of it." Tsukune answered while rubbing the back of his head.
Moka smiled before she suddenly started pulling Naruto and Kurumu towards the building with Tsukune right on their tail. "Come on you two, we need to hurry and finished the newspaper before the deadline. Now that everyone is back together we can work hard and finish it on time."
Kurumu had a surprised look on her face before she turned to face Naruto, who had an amused grin on his face as he let himself get pulled by the pinkette. She turned her head even more to see that Tsukune was looking at her with a smile and nodding his head. Looking back ahead of them, Gin, Yukari and Haku were standing at the entrance waiting for them to come back. The blue-haired Succubus looked down at the floor as she felt tears build up in her eyes, but unlike before these tears weren't ones of sadness or regret, these tears were ones of happiness. "Moka… Everyone… thank you.'
(Later That Day)
"So Naruto came in contact with that organization… and he came face to face with Akua Shuzen?" Mikogami was sitting at his desk with his fingers crossed in front of his face.
"That's right, though he has no idea about Fairy Tale or even how Akua is involved with them exactly." The Bus Driver took his cigar out of his mouth and silently stared at the smoke coming out of it. "But I was impressed, he is very talented with his powers. I would have never imagined he could use Kyōka Suigetsu even in his sealed state, not many know how to use it properly."
"I suppose you would know that more than anyone Nurari. It is your late cousin's blood that flows through his veins after all." Mikogami let out a chuckled as Nurari raised his head to look at him, "Maybe you could help him master the power of a Nurarihyon to the fullest, since you are one best choices in teaching him how to properly use it."
"Perhaps… we'll just have to wait and see how he deals with those small problem of yours." Nurari had a smirk on his face while bringing his cigar to his mouth, inhaling deeply before letting a large puff of smoke escape his lips.
Mikogami had a similar smirk on his face as he leaned back into his seat, "Well then, let's just see how Naruto and his group of friends handle themselves with what's to come."
(The Next Morning - Newspaper Clubroom)
"Everyone!" The cheerful voice of Yokai Academy's feline teacher was heard, "The Deadline is coming fast, how is everyone do…ing?" Nekomone's voice slowly came to a halt when she saw that everyone, including Naruto much to her surprise, was sleeping around the bunched up tables. She silently walked up to the table and saw a large folder was in the center, quietly picking it up before looking at its contents. 'T-This is… a completely finished paper! They must've been up all night to finish it just in time!'
She took a quick glance around the room and saw that most of the club members were sleeping at the table with a much happier Kurumu was sleeping between Tsukune and Moka, Yukari was using her hat as a pillow while Haku had his arms crossed under his head, and Naruto was sleeping with his head over his left arm, blocking his bracelet from her sight. Gin was off to the side, sleeping at the teacher's desk with the chair awkwardly balanced on its two hind legs. She stared at them for a little bit before putting the content back into the folder and walking towards the door as silently as she could.
'It looks like this group is really close after all, especially since they are all together again.' Nekonome thought to herself as she silently opened the door. She had been a little worried that the pressure would get to them, but it looks like they made it through okay. "You guys just rest now, you've earned it! Just leave the rest to Sensei!"
As she slowly closed the door behind her, it made a clicking noise to confirm that it was shut. Back with the group everyone was having pleasant dreams, whether it was about the past, the possible future, or even about becoming the greatest playboy Werewolf in the school. As they were all enjoying the peaceful slumbers some of them shifted their bodies unconsciously, and as Naruto moved his head away from his bracelet a very small cut could be seen at the edge of it. The bracelet began to glow red for a few seconds and a small crimson spark escaped the cut before the glow quickly dimmed down. Leaving a peacefully slumbering Naruto unaware of what just happened as he continued to sleep in the seat between Moka and Haku.
ANUNMANUNMANUNMAUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMANUNMA NUNMANUNMANUNM
I hope you all have enjoyed reading Chapter Eight. Let me know what you guys think and review. ALL FLAMES and INSULTS will be IGNORED, so don't bother writing them. Anyway thank you all for reading and I hope to see you soon.
A/N: For an idea on what the temple looked like, think Genkai's House from Yu Yu Hakusho
A/N 2: The next story I will be updating is Swordsmen of Twilight.
See you guys in Chapter Nine – Enemies of the Newspaper Club