Ink's Notes:

I managed to clear up most of my writer's block, hopefully. Now it's just a matter of not being sick. Well, easier said than done, but things do seem to be looking up, especially since I managed to get another chapter written! Time for Perona vs Jugo, but first...

Krazyfanfiction1: Thank you~! Hope this chapter is up to par~

K.C.96: Being sick is a pain in the neck, seriously, some people don't understand the effect it can have on people...

Allykrau: I think I deal with enough shit nowadays to make up for a lack of shit when I was born *smack'd*

peppymint: Sometimes I just wanna punch that guy in the face.

The Keeper of Worlds: Thank you for the well wishes~

Guest: Sakura vs Tashigi is the next chapter, so please look forward to it~

Guest: (the other one) Thank you! I'm flattered~

Fairy of the Friz: Thank you, and thank you~!

Guest: (the other other one) Thank you! They always seem to end up as being just over a thousand words, somehow. Maybe I should try making them longer in the future? Well, sometimes more or less events are covered... we'll see!

nakamura1miu: Thanks~!

Now, onwards, to the chapter!

Chapter Thirty-One

Jugo watched as the strange ghosts moved around him in circles, chanting "Negative, negative, negative," over and over again to no one in particular. He began easing more of his body into his cursed seal state, before proceeding to swipe a claw at one of the ghosts that was circling him. His hand simply went through the ghost (honestly, he wasn't sure what he'd been trying to accomplish), and the ghost reacted by using his momentum to fly through his chest.

Jugo felt his anger slip away, being replaced by a depression he hadn't felt for at least three years. He fell to his knees, hands on the ground, to the point that he looked as if he were trying to imitate a table. "F… forgive me," he spoke softly as memories of that day so long ago resurfaced, prompting the pink-haired woman that was floating in the air above him to lean in and try and hear what he was saying. "I was… unable to save you, Kimimaro."

"Negative, negative, negative," the ghosts continued to chant, even as the woman moved them back around her body and floated downwards, a smile on her face. She hummed with something akin to amusement as she leaned in towards him, though he was hardly aware of it due to the state of pure depression he was in.

"Kimimaro, huh?" she slyly asked, and he forced his gaze upwards to meet her own. "And you… failed to save him, you say." The woman began circling around Jugo as he felt the depression make way for anger. "I wonder… who's the replacement goldfish? Horohorohorohoro~"

As she laughed, Jugo saw red and lunged at her, swiping at the levitating woman with his claws. The woman seemed mildly surprised as she floated backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack of desperation. As she moved backwards away from him, she batted her hand towards him. As she did, a white orb flew out of it, forming into some sort of miniature version of her ghosts that gently fluttered forwards and hugged his chest, smiling up at him with a silly, cartoony face. Jugo paused, feeling himself slowly calm down at the sight of something so small and cute.

And then the ghost exploded.

His transformed skin protected him from being damaged, but he was still knocked backwards onto his butt and caught in a daze from the sudden burst. Vaguely, he heard the woman laughing again, but his ears were still ringing from the volume of the explosion. He felt something land on his shoulder, and quickly noticed that it was another of the miniature ghosts, which was followed by another on his head, a third on his arm, a fourth on his knee and a fifth on his chest. It was only a quick and precise shift to transform those parts of his body that saved him from being more permanently damaged by the explosions, and he forced himself to his feet before the woman could launch more of those things towards him.

An ear-splitting scream split through the battlefield, and both he and the woman turned to where Suigestu was fighting that bear. Suigetsu was holding his hands out in front of himself with what looked like broken fingers, but he didn't have a chance to take in more details as he heard the woman speaking again.

"Just give up," the woman taunted, smiling sweetly at him as he snapped his head towards her with a glare. "You couldn't save your precious Kimimaro, and you have no hope of defeating me."

Jugo lost all of his common sense from the words and charged with a yell, changing his arm to something akin to a cannon to boost its speed as it flew at her with a punch. He slowly felt his rage being replaced by a sweeping depression, and glanced behind him just in time to see two of the larger ghosts flying out of his back. He fell to the ground on his hands and his knees, muttering in depression. "I'm so useless for not being able to control my anger…" His state of self-pity was so great that he nearly didn't hear the cries of Jugo!, or the cry of Perona! which followed shortly afterwards. Before long, he found himself being helped to his feet by the combined efforts of Suigetsu and Karin, as well as that blue haired woman and her duck who Karin had been fighting earlier. Once he was back on his feet and shaking off the depression, he saw that the polar bear was frantically trying to talk the woman who he guessed was called Perona down. He appeared to be bargaining with her, and the woman seemed to be thinking about it for a moment before outstretching her arms with a cheer and wrapping them around the bear. He began flailing about, only sparing a moment to give a curt nod to the four helping Jugo stand up before trying to get the woman to let go of him.

"Are you all right?" the blue haired woman asked, and Jugo felt himself calming down slightly as he looked at her.

"I… yes, I'm fine, miss…" he paused when he realized he didn't know her name.

"Vivi," she provided. "We're trying to get everyone to stop fighting. This whole conflict is pointless."

Jugo slowly nodded in agreement. "I would rather not fight, but I have to protect-"

"Oh, please," Karin cut in, and he looked over at her in confusion. "Do you really think that guy needs our help at all?" The fact that Suigetsu was also looking at her like she was crazy was only a little bit comforting. "Maybe he needs help dealing with that… bird guy…"

"Marco," Vivi put in, and Karin nodded.

"Right, Marco. But I…" she fell silent and clutched her arms as tears began forming in her eyes. "I'm… not sure that he even needs us for anything else," she barely whispered.

Jugo and Suigetsu both promptly swallowed their words and exchanged glances, before cautiously moving over and embracing Karin in a hug. She nodded with a slight hiccup, returning the favor. Vivi let them remain like this for about half a minute, before clearing her throat and motioning to Tashigi and the other pink haired woman. They were still fiercely locked in combat, and Karin laughed nervously while Suigetsu sighed.

"Right, we still have those guys to stop," he groaned, and Jugo looked over in confusion. "Apparently, we don't really need to be fighting, so we're getting all the help we can get to stop Sasuke and Marco from killing each other."

"More like Marco from killing Sasuke," the bear muttered as he and Perona rejoined the group. At Suigetsu's questioning gaze, Vivi and Perona simply nodded to convey just how terrifying an angry Marco could be.

Karin motioned for the group to move, and Suigetsu, Vivi, the bear, and the duck all began heading towards where the other fight was happening. Jugo was about to follow when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He paused and looked over at Perona, who was hovering so she was at about his height.

"Your rage isn't something to be depressed about," she encouraged, and he stared blankly at her. "Rage isn't far off from passion, which is useful when you're helping protect the people you care about." Jugo stared blankly at her as she laughed again. "Horohorohorohoro~ I learned that from a certain bull-headed swordsman." With those words, she floated off to go and join the group trying to split up Tashigi's battle.

He stared after her for what felt like an eternity but was likely only about half of a minute. "Passion to protect, huh…" he muttered, glancing down at his hands, before clenching them into fists and picking up his pace to a light run to help stop the battle.

All right, that takes care of this chapter! Next up will be Sakura VS Tashigi, followed by Sasuke VS Marco and the thrilling conclusion, probably, I think! See you guys then!

-Ink