Haan: "Well, long time no see. Since you're all walking around holding pitchforks and torches, why don't I let Kakashi take it from here."
Kakashi: "Hm, what?"
Haan: "Take care of explaining the incredibly long wait for an update please. Byebyenowtakecare." Runs off.
Kakashi: "Umm, damn. So, Haan apparently got lost on the road of life, then had to help a little old kitten cross it before helping a cute old lady out of a tree made from nitroglycerine. Then he was chased by a horde of Sasuke fan-girls who wanted to break his legs and make Sauske the main character in all his fics. Then... Nope, can't think of anything else. enjoy this non-profit fan fiction that borrows characters from both the Naruto and the Rosario + vampire mangas/animes, as well as the name of Blood Bowl without claiming ownership of any of them."
The teacher
"What is so damn amusing mortal?" Kyuubi was glaring at Toshi, who was rolling around on the floor and holding his stomach while laughing so hard that he was crying. They, Kyuubi, Naruto and Aoyama Toshi were gathered down in the specially sealed cellar room they used for Naruto's and Kyuubi's training. Although the word 'room' hardly seemed big enough to describe the place, when the word 'huge' kept leaping out and demanding a few minutes of your time. The ceiling disappeared amongst shadows high above, and was kept in place by massive stone pillars. The only light came from a few torches put in holders at various places around the room. And from the massive, eerily glowing seal carved into the floor, which stopped the emanation of Kyuubi's demonic presence to leave their practice space.
Toshi spent a few more moments laughing, before starting to collect himself. Wiping his eyes and sitting up, he looked at the annoyed walking apparition of beauty that had started his outburst. "I'm s-s-sorry, it's just, you." He snickered. "The Kyuubi of the fox demons, a natural disaster taken physical form, is going to be teaching a bunch of teenagers P.E. It's hilarious. The idea that something as noble and powerful as you would be jumping up and down with joy at the opportunity to be a teacher, it's priceless." He managed to contain his laughter, although he kept his grin. "Are you going to make Naruto call you sensei? And make him do laps if he's late for class?"
Kyuubi actually blushed a bit at that, as if she'd been caught thinking something naughty. "Silence, maggot! Do not presume to understand the relationship between me and Master."
Toshi turned to Naruto at that. "You're dating? I haven't heard anything about that, is she a good kisser?" Then he was dodging the swipes and kicks of a howling daemon clad in human form. She was apparently slipping slightly in control, or simply enhancing her current shape, as she grew claws and fangs.
Naruto simply shook his head, not quite believing his sensei's actions. "Toshi-sensei, is that really what you call being a good role-model?"
"Just trying to exemplify the importance of having fun on the job sometimes. Can't have you go completely book-loverish on me. And consider what the girls prefer too."The Aoyama was grinning widely, still dodging the enraged daemon that was trying to eviscerate him. "Besides, although she's a bit slow with the seal active, dodging Kyuubi-chan here is a great form of exercise. After all, how often do you get to be chased around by a fired up beauty?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. He'd had expected something like this from that crazy white-haired Ero-sennin back home, but the swordsman had been all seriousness with him and Kyuubi before. At least with Jiraiya there were no doubts, the man revelled in his notorious "super-pervert" reputation. Aoyama-sensei, or Toshi as he preferred to be called, had exhibited none of the signs he'd seen in other perverts. Then again, comparing a relatively normal human with the likes of Kakashi and Ero-sennin was perhaps a bit unfair. And Toshi hadn't really started giggling while imagining various not-so-allowed sexually charged scenes just because there was a female nearby, or written about as it were. He'd merely wanted to tease his two students.
"Could we stop with this stupidity for just a second? I've had a long day already and there's a pre-test tomorrow. I need an hour or two to get this math-crap under control." Startlingly, Kyuubi reacted immediately, breaking off her attempt to turn the annoying swordsman's insides into outsides and sitting down facing her master. As usual this threw Naruto a bit, since the idea that he not only had a bound daemon as a servant, but a scorching hot one to boot, still hadn't settled well with him. And his normal interaction with females hadn't really prepared him for one that spent so much time near him while, apparently, being submissive and happy about it. He'd actually scolded her after the afternoon P.E lesson, since a teacher calling a student 'master' was an obvious way to start the gossiping.
The response had been almost scarier than when she still tried to take over his body and use it to destroy Konoha. A nine-tailed daemon shouldn't be making noises like a happy kitten when yelled at, or try to rub herself against you.
"Well then, young Naruto. I believe you two have enough understanding of the basics concerning your bond that the special lessons can end. I'll see you on Mondays and Thursdays every week from now on, so that we can continue training your skills, but other than that I'm going to stay away from this school. We semi-humans, or border creatures as we are sometimes known aren't welcome in a full-blooded monster school like this." Toshi had dropped the act almost as fast as Kyuubi. Naruto knew that adults often had several different ways of acting in public, switching masks as the situation demanded, but Toshi seemed to stay himself no matter what. There was a subtle difference in that, but Naruto couldn't find the words for it just yet.
"You sure sensei? We've only started getting this thing worked out you know."
"Yes Naruto. I am sure. You two are working well together already, and there isn't all that much for me to teach you anyway. I'll mostly be here for you to spar with. There are no techniques or such for me to teach you, as most demonically charged skills are unique and difficult to understand. You and Kyuubi will have to discover those things on your own."
"What, you don't know anything about that?"
"No. Beyond helping you find and refine your link there is little I can teach you. I've probably learnt more from what you've told me than the other way around." Toshi grinned again. "You're still the first person I've met that was bonded to a daemon and stayed in control. I've exorcised a couple of minor spirits, but the last time anyone like you was alive was over a hundred and fifty years ago, and that guy used his powers to terrorise his village. As for someone like you, what with the power of your bondsmate and so on, it's quite possible you're unique."
"So what now? Are we done for today?"
"Yeah, you two can head off and do whatever you want. I'm going to talk to the headmaster about your progress and see if there's anything else he wants from me."
"Sensei watch-" Kyuubi, never letting her gaze stray from Naruto weaving through the opponents defense, swayed to the side. The two partially transformed monsters wrestling each other tumbled past with a few inches to spare. To the short lived dismay of the young students, that brought them over the sideline and into the rather unforgiving concrete stands. "Out! Um, never mind."
Kyuubi merely shook her hair out, still not losing sight of her master. She'd realized that there was preciously little time for training, Naruto's days being full of school, homework and his lessons with the hateful Aoyama. The fact that he'd be choosing a club the next day wouldn't help either.
Her remedy had been simple. Turn the lessons she could control into training. It hadn't really been all that difficult, as most monsters were much too powerful to bother playing something like soccer by the rules. Who cares about breaking a bone when it'd heal in a couple of days anyway? So she'd borrowed a few of Naruto's clones and sat down with a teacher to scour the "internet" for ideas. She'd been expressly forbidden from teaching them to fight, so all the rather interesting schools of close combat that this world had to offer would have to wait.
Instead, she'd stumbled onto a seriously weird, "fantasy board game" kind of sport. She was rather impressed with the amount of work that had gone into the creation of this "Blood Bowl" and just for fun had also cross referenced it to its various real parent sports. It was, she had decided, perfect. It was something like American Football, without the goals, and until a goal was scored, continuous free-for-all mayhem.
The students of Yokai academy had taken to it like fish to water.
As the rather lightly armored figure of her purpose of being broke through the last defenses, kicking an opponent in the face on the way, she couldn't help but feel immensely satisfied. Sure, he couldn't use any techniques, but the game was as close to real life combat as made no difference. The sheer power of the tackles made certain that when someone got careless they could well be forced to head off the pitch to get their arm stitched up or their newly broken leg fixed, an excellent way to teach the importance of dodging. She was hoping to get some spikes and blades attached to the armor later, but she knew that getting that by the headmaster would require some serious effort.
When Naruto crossed into the end zone, she blew her whistle. Unfortunately that didn't stop Mizore from almost opening her master from scrotum to Adam's apple with a spike of ice. That was neither a legal nor a smart thing to do.
"MIZORE!" The yell might have shaken the walls, or even wrecked the building once upon a time. Now it just turned one of her new students pale with fright. A far cry from the power she'd once wielded with impunity, but the look in the poor girl's eyes as she jogged over made up for it. A bit.
"Mizore." She repeated as the shy student stood before her. "Did I not give you and your classmates some instructions before the game started? Some rules to keep this school activity from turning into a massacre?"
" 'S ma'am." Mizore's voice was just on the edge of hearing.
"And what did I say about the use of special powers?"
Mizore blushed faintly. "Mumble mumble not use mumble."
"And we don't use our powers on?"
The blush deepened. "Our classmates."
"Indeed. I'm glad you can remember that. So why, Mizore my dear, did I just see Naruto almost get brutally torn open because of a non-natural ice formation?"
"…sorry."
Kyuubi gave the girl a steady look. It was all fine and dandy that she was sort of impressed with his willingness to step into danger on a stranger's account. Naruto could do with a few friendly people in his life, and if they would only appear after he'd left his beloved home village, then so be it.
Her willingness to almost rip him apart just to test his reaction was something else. She'd have to talk to her after class. Kyuubi knew that her master would almost certainly forgive the silly girl, he was almost scarily easy to manipulate and couldn't hold a grudge using a large cargo lift. And since she knew that there was a certain interest for him among the female monster populace, she was going to set the standards of behavior straight from the beginning. No one would be impaling Naruto in the foreseeable future as long as she was around.
"Well, don't waste your apologies on me, he's right over there, say it to him. And I expect you to come see me after class."
Mizore visibly shook. Their new teacher had appeared from out of nowhere, and very little information about her had been released. It seemed that except for the headmaster, and possibly Naruto for some reason, no one knew anything about her. Her name, Kyuubi, and her appearance did however give rise to endless speculation. There were theories that nailed her down as all kinds of powerful monsters, but the one that really made the student body nervous was the one that said that she was one of the original demon spawn. Where that particular rumor had started no one seemed to know, but very few beings gave off a presence like hers. There had been a few suggestions that she was in fact a vampire, but she somehow lacked the arrogant nobler-than-thou attitude often associated with the lords of the night.
The fact that she called herself "Nine tails" and wore her hair like she did was compelling evidence that she was something completely different. If it was true, the implications could possibly change the world of the yokai. No true demon spawn had walked the earth in corporal form for so many years that the stories were legends about myths.
The way she'd almost torn a student apart for whistling when she entered the gym hall for her first lesson was not going to hurt the rumor mongering in the least.
Having dealt with the most immediate trouble concerning one of the school's beauties, Kyuubi ordered the teams to get ready to kick-off again. They still had a few minutes of game time left, and Naruto's team was only one goal ahead. As they would be defending their lead, she was hoping for the students to give their all before it was time to hit the showers.
"The team that wins will be excused from cleaning up afterwards, and the losers will get an extra assignment for next week!" Having upped the ante, she blew the whistle and the game was on once more.
"Hey Naruto-san!"
Pulling the shirt down over his head, Naruto's reply came out slightly muffled. "Yeah?"
"Awesome move at the end there dude, it was like you were transformed or something. I've never seen anyone in human form move that fast!"
"Yeah man, that rocked. And we got to finish early too!"
Naruto didn't reply, as his shirt was struggling to stay off, but he was grinning. Sure, he'd pushed some chakra into his legs to speed up, but Kyuubi had been busy sending off two of his classmates for excessive violence and had therefore missed his slight cheating. Of course, he wasn't so sure that she'd expose him in front of the others, she was after all supposed to put him and his safety first, but her obvious tendency towards irrational behavior made him cautious to assume too much. Well, at least he'd get to skip the extra assignment. He'd have enough homework without a four-page comparative essay on the strange ball sport they'd just learnt about. And at least half of his class was happy with him putting in a score just at the end of the game.
As the others headed off quickly, Naruto finished dressing. He still hadn't figured out exactly how he was supposed to put his tie on, and the damn thing kept ending up crooked. Standing in front of a mirror, he wrestled with the thing, wondering what kind of society put nooses around people's necks as a fashion item. Normally he ignored it, relying on the headmaster's order, but his math teacher wouldn't take no for an answer, and since her vibe reminded him of the crazed Anko back home, he'd been forced to promise to wear it to her classes.
"Stupid, annoying piece of crap!" Frustrated, he untied it for the umpteenth time and started over.
"Naruto?" The blonde spun around, surprise and alarm quickly settling when he realized who it was.
"Tsukune, man you surprised me there." Which was worrying. Somehow he'd missed his classmate's presence in the changing room. Focusing, he realized that Tsukune barely emitted a presence, at least compared to his other classmates. That would most likely be a problem further down the line.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. What's wrong?"
"This damn thing, I can't get it right!"
"Well, show me how you do it once."
Naruto obliged, focusing so hard his whole face scrunched up.
"No no, you forgot the second loop. Here, let me show you." While Tsukune tied a decent knot on himself, his experienced hands moving deftly and quickly, Naruto once again tried to figure out just what it was that seemed slightly off with the serious and most often nervous boy. A guy who spent so much time with one of the monster school's hottest girls should, from Naruto's experience, be a lot more self-confident, and possibly broody, anti-social and speak by grunting a lot. This guy seemed to be so, so average. Not to mention polite.
"There, that should do it. Just do it the same way I did and you'll have it down in no time." Tsukune loosened the tie slightly, pulled it over his head and handed it to Naruto, who grinned and scratched the back of his head self consciously.
"Thanks Tsukune, I swear you people have the weirdest things here. No one back home would put a snare around their neck just to look good. Well, not many at least."
Tsukune looked taken aback for a second, before smiling in a friendly yet nervous way. "Y-you're welcome Naruto. Glad I could be of some use today. Want to head to class together?"
"Sure thing, but don't beat yourself up over the game today. Anyone can have some bad luck when falling, and we won the game anyway." Naruto was going through the door at that point and missed how Tsukune flinched at his comment. "How's your shoulder by the way? I sent the guy who tackled you into the stands right after their kickoff, so we got even with them."
"Oh, it's alright, just a little sore you know." Tsukune looked down as they walked, and Naruto could recognize the signs of someone who was beating himself up.
"Hey cheer up man, I know you'll do better next time. I heard some of the others talking about starting a club to play and practice, wouldn't that be awesome?" This time, Tsukune not only flinched, but paled as well. "Hey, you okay?"
"Um, well. To be honest, that kind of sport isn't really my thing. I'm just not any good in a fight." He looked away from Naruto. "I'm not really good at anything actually. I usually just get in the way of things."
Naruto couldn't help but stare at his class mate, who now looked ready to sink through the floor in embarrassment. "Well, what about the school stuff? I'm pretty sure I suck at that big time."
"No, I'm just average at that. As in sports or pretty much anything else. I've never stood out in anything what so ever." He smiled a small, bitter smile. "I just can't shake the idea sometimes that I'm totally useless when the important things happen."
Naruto's eyes thinned at that, and, mindful that Tsukune wasn't very sturdy, slapped him lightly in the back of his head. "Shut up! What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull? What about before when the girls were fighting, huh? You tried to stop them even though either of them could have kicked your ass so badly that they would be sending you home in a match box!"
Tsukune looked at him, eyes wide and slightly moist, although Naruto decided to be generous and chalk that up to the slap. "But I couldn't stop them."
"How do you know that, huh? Moka asked for your opinion before agreeing to stop. She'd most likely have tried to rip me to shreds rather than listen despite my threatening her, but all you had to do was ask." He paused, and decided to be precise." Well, once we got them to listen at least. They were almost as bad as Sakura-chan back home first."
"Sakura-chan?"
"Never mind, it's not important right now. What is important is that you straighten your back a bit. You spend several hours every day walking and talking with one of the cutest girls in school, and I highly doubt that would happen to someone useless. And Kurumu has also taken a shine to you right?"
"Well, I think she mostly does that to annoy Moka-san. She always does the most provocative things when Moka-san is around." He made a face saying that, but at least he'd straightened his back and shoulders.
"Hey, don't overthink a good thing. You're envied by most of the boys in this school, why that is doesn't matter." he grinned. "Although I reckon Kurumu burrowing your face in her chest as a morning greeting might have something to do with it."
Tsukune grinned at that, blushing slightly. "If it wasn't so hard to breathe when she does that I'd enjoy it a lot more."
Naruto glanced at a wall clock. "Um, I think we'd better hurry, or we'll be late to class."
The two boys shivered, recollecting the sexy yet eerie teacher that was responsible for their math lessons, and took off at speed. The possibility of being punished by their teacher was just too worrying to take any chances.
"Join the alchemy club!" Naruto slipped away from a slightly dumpy girl. "The Ghost photography club is accepting new members!" He ducked a creepy guy with lanky hair. "The science club takes love potions to new heights! Barely illegal!" He dodged another recruiter, this one wearing a white coat.
"Damn, these club people are absolutely rabid!"
"Yes master, but do not let that stop you from finding one that suits your interests. A club that would train some of the skills necessary for your ninja career would be advisable." Kyuubi's voice whispered in reply. The headmaster hadn't forbidden the new sport, but demanded that she kept the lessons diversified. The students were after all good at violence already, it was not visciously assaulting others that they needed to learn. Thus she had concluded that he'd need to maximize the benefits of his club.
"I know, I know. It's just not as easy as I thought." He was going to continue when an unexpected interruption occurred.
"Well, hello there handsome." The voice came from behind him, as two slender arms wrapped themselves around him and something soft yet firm pressed into his back. "Now, don't say anything, let me guess. You're a first-year looking for a club, right?" The arms tightened slightly, constricting around his throat, and Naruto realized that he'd better be polite to the person that owned the arms, as they felt strong enough to choke the life out of him, regardless of how slim they appeared.
"Y-yeah, how did you know?"
"Well, actually we of the swim club always keep an eye out for potential members, so we know if there's anyone doing well in the gym. We almost missed you, since you're a new arrival, but luckily I caught wind of your abilities yesterday. Lucky you, right?"
Naruto didn't feel very lucky at all, but decided that he'd go along for now. He could always run later. "Um, yeah. Lucky. Ahaha."
The arms relented their hold a bit, although they didn't disappear altogether, and allowed him to turn around. In front of his was a very pretty girl, dressed as if at the beach and giving him such a warm smile that he wondered who it was that set the air conditioning to "scorching hot".
"Well now, blonde, cute and well behaved. Didn't I strike gold this time. I'm Ichinose Tamao, president of the swim club."
"Master, I doubt you will gain much joining a swim club, since you are quite capable of walking on water."
"Cute."
"Oh well, I suppose you can see what they're all about at least. Just keep your wits about, remember that they aren't human."
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Wonderful to meet you Uzumaki-kun. Please follow one of the girls to the pool and I'll see you there." With that she passed him over to another lovely girl, this one a red head with even less clothing that the swim club president. As he was led away he could hear her start to entice more people into joining the club.
The ruckus the swim club girls made caused him to miss the sensation of eyes trying to drill a hole into his back, but that might well have been for the better.
Following the sexy girl, Naruto wasted no time in striking up a conversation with her. The walk was short, but he was able to find out that there currently weren't any boys in the club. That did make him raise a mental eyebrow. What possible reason could there be for a club with so many beautiful girls to completely lack males? While he kept up the talk, Kyuubi set to pondering that little riddle for him.
He was given a pair of swimming trunks and a towel, and then shown to a changing room. The girl was still waiting for him when he got out, and accompanied him to a large pool area. They were apparently the first to get there as nobody else could be seen.
"So, Uzumaki-kun, you do know how to swim, right?"
"Well, yeah, although I'm more used to swimming with my clothes on. I've never been to a place like this before."
"Wow, really? How strange, where did you learn to swim then?"
"There was a river near the village that we used, and a couple of ponds."
"Oh, that sounds nice, where is your village?"
Naruto looked away. "Somewhere very far away." Realizing that his normal happy face had dropped, he quickly changed the subject. "So, what things do you do in the swim club? I mean, what kind of training do you have? Do you compete against other schools?"
"Well, we usually alternate between playing some kind of water sport and regular swimming training, as well as practicing life-guarding and things like that. As for competing, there aren't many chances for us to do that, seeing as there's only one monster school within a reasonable travelling distance. There is a cliff diving club though, and we usually organize a little inter-club meet during the third semester of every year." The red head paused. "Other than that, we enjoy spending time together. The club is pretty much an extended family to me, as we-." Then her mouth snapped shut and her hand moved up to cover it as well, as if she'd just realized she'd said too much.
"Man that sounds nice, having a lot of good friends like that." Naruto said wistfully, as if he hadn't noticed her lapse. "Back home, I managed to get into a fight with the only real friend I had, and it kinda went out of control." Talking about it reminded him of the last time he'd seen Sasuke, and without realizing it he rubbed the special spot just underneath his heart.
He could never recall what it was that woke him up. Probably the sound of a thousand birds all chirping at once, but it could have been something else, like his newly bonded daemon. He could with crystal clarity remember the sight he woke to however.
Often around three in the morning.
Somehow, Sasuke had gotten out of the bed and managed to find his room. They'd both been there for almost two days, and Naruto would be released in the morning, one of the perks of the jinchuuriki allowing for an abnormally quick recovery time. Naruto was later told that Sakura had told Sasuke how Naruto was and where he was staying. Without thinking about it, without meaning any harm. Her apology and explanations had somehow hurt even more than the wound.
He remembered rising to a sitting position, and seeing a blur with a chidori attached to it moving towards him. Then his world collapsed, as the assassination jutsu carved into his chest, causing massive trauma and paralyzing most of his upper body.
"Why? Why you? Why did they give such an incredible power to a useless nobody? Why?" He remembered hearing Sasuke's voice, distorted by his own pain and Sasuke's temporary madness. Then he'd blacked out again, and when he awoke the next time, it had been four days.
By then, Sasuke had been condemned to a maximum security cell, an uprising led by some rather irrational civilian council members, claiming that the Kyuubi must have taken over since the last of the Uchiha had tried to kill him had been put down as brutally as Tsunade could make herself, and the secret of what had been kept locked away inside of him had gotten out.
Tsunade had decided to do whatever she needed to at that point, and after discussing it with Jiraiya and Kakashi released the information pertaining to just how completely he controlled the formerly sealed daemon. Carefully reconstructed of course, the sheer randomness of the act was never disclosed. Most of Konoha's population was almost pathologically scared when it concerned the daemon, and any reason to doubt was covered up. The general mood in the populace had shifted a fair bit in his favor. A few days after, while the village was still celebrating the "taming" of their tormentor, he'd been shipped off, almost no contact with others was allowed after Sasuke's attack, although he'd been assured that the people of Konoha would be a lot friendlier from now on.
He'd have preferred to keep his first real friend, but nobody asked him.
"Tsukune! Watch out!"
The unfortunate teen reacted in a manner typical of any unlucky man in that situation. Turning his head towards the shout, he caught the speeding ball with his face. Naruto had been thrilled to get his hands on a rubber ball, and a round of passing had come to an abrupt end when one of the boys missed his throw, instead giving Tsukune an impressive nosebleed.
"Oww, damn it." Tsukune actually looked upset, something that Naruto hadn't really had a chance to see before. That Moka was still heading out of the pool area, without so much as a backward glance, was probably the bigger reason for the stricken face he now wore. The two had come together to see the swim club's activity, but for some reason Moka had been adamant about getting into the water. When Tsukune had tried to convince her, she'd suddenly reached some kind of limit, and left.
Naruto scratched his head, wondering why she'd been so upset. He'd talked to Moka about her true form, being both curious about how the Rosario worked, how Tsukune fitted into it and hoping to learn enough to survive another encounter with the sweet girl's "other" self. He and Kyuubi had discussed it, and decided that he'd gotten away so easily the first time only because Tsukune so badly wanted the violence to end. Vampires were apparently very good at holding grudges, although they usually didn't have to hold them very long. Tsukune had told him after Moka left to get more tomato juice that the other Moka had kicked the crap out of a monster three times the size of her.
His description had left Naruto feeling a bit nervous. He'd made a not-so-subtle threat about just how messy things could get if he released his own Rosario, but now he was starting to wonder if he'd only enticed the blood-drinker to test herself against him. He knew that he had an awful lot of power at his disposal, and he also knew that he was still a novice at wielding it. She however was born a vampire, and had probably shed more blood before going to the human world than he had before coming to Yokai High.
As Moka disappeared down some stairs, Naruto's resident decided to share her thoughts. "Go after her Master. Please."
"Huh? Why? She seems angry you know."
"Yes, but there is something more to this. The other girl was being really nasty to her on purpose, but I don't know exactly how. Let us find out. It might help if we have to face the other Moka again."
The possibility of increasing his odds against the fearsome vampires was enough to get Naruto moving. Seeing Tsukune being held back quite firmly, and noticing other girls angling to stop him, he decided to cheat a bit again. Diving down to the bottom, he used chakra to bounce of the tiles before shooting as fast as he could toward the surface. The force was enough to send him out of the water and up on the side of the pool. Grabbing a towel, he yelled that he'd be right back before heading off in pursuit.
As soon as he was out of sight from the pool area he stopped, led some chakra around his system and then continued running. He hoped that he could find Moka before anyone saw the cute little fox that was now running ahead of him, nine tails whipping around like a rudder to keep balance. He'd only given a mental order as he opened the chakra pathways, and was blissfully unaware just how much the daemon enjoyed his curt commands. The idea that she'd enjoy him ordering her around would probably never strike him unless she told him outright.
The fox kept her nose to the ground, the special scent of Moka easy to follow. Naruto was running as fast as he could without using chakra, content to keep his bondsmate at a distance where he could see her. She turned a corner, and then started yipping excitedly.
As he turned the same corner, he found an excited Kyuubi bouncing around an obviously grief stricken Moka. Naruto didn't need more than a glance to recognize the look in her eyes. She was apparently carrying the same grief that he did, the same sense of loneliness and fear of rejection. How a girl like her could be suffering from feelings as such was beyond him, but how to ease that pain was not.
"Hey Moka-chan. You okay?" He kept his voice low, his concern neither disguised nor faked. The little fox had apparently gotten a bit too involved in her role, as she'd proceeded to pounce into the pink-haired girl's lap and start licking her face.
"Oy! Ease up a little there!" The fox backed off a little at that, and contented herself with simply sitting there. Moka had thankfully not gotten incensed by the invasion of her space, instead starting to giggle softly.
"Well, aren't you a cute little thing. And look at all those tails, where did you get nine tails from? Are you related to Kyuubi-sensei." She refused to look at him, opting to stroke the fur of the harmless creature in her lap. When the fox yipped at her question, she simply smiled a bit wider. "It's beautiful Naruto, is it yours? Is it a boy or a girl?"
"Yeah, it's mine alright, and it's a girl."
"So she's kind of like a familiar to you then?"
"I guess, don't know much about familiars." Naruto settled down a bit, kneeling on the floor a little bit away from the still tear-stained girl. "Um, I don't want to pry or anything really, but are you alright?"
"Yes, sorry, I'm-"The girl bowed her head at that, her hair covering most of her face from his honest blue eyes. He didn't need to see her tears to know they were there however.
"Look, I know I might not seem like it, but I know when someone is feeling alone." Naruto paused. "I don't know much about you or why you feel alone, but I can tell you about myself if you'd care to listen."
"Oh, I'm j-just a silly girl, I couldn't possibly-"
"Hey, if I want to tell you, that's my decision. I'm just asking you to lend an ear." Moka almost looked up at that, then after a few moments gave a tiny nod. "Good, so, once there was a little boy that didn't have any parents-"
Naruto told her about himself, omitting anything that had to do with shinobi, daemons or other things that he wasn't supposed to talk about. He told her about growing up in an orphanage, of spending long days alone. He told her about the Sandaime, who had shown up on his seventh birthday to show him to his apartment, telling him that from now on he would have to take care of himself a lot more, and that he always could talk to "jiji" if anything troubled him. He told her about the cold eyes that the adults stared at him with, and how he'd been forced to see his playmates walk off with their parents, while he had to go home alone.
"Well, once I finally graduated from the academy things got better though. Now there are a lot of people back home that are important to me, and apparently I'm important to them as well. That's really cool." As he finished, he noticed that she was staring at him now, still stroking the natural disaster taken cute fox-form absently. When she just kept on staring, he scratched the back of his head self consciously. "Sorry if it wasn't very interesting. I'm not really good at telling stories I guess."
"No, thank you Naruto. It was just so surprising to hear that someone else has had a life like I did." She paused, shrugged, then continued. "Sort of at least, I was never really that alone and certainly not actively shunned. I just felt different. I told you how I grew up amongst humans, right? Well, it was really hard for me to make friends there, so I was never really accepted. I always knew that deep down I was really the one thing they should fear the most, yet they kept denying that I even really existed."
Naruto didn't miss the fresh tears running down her face."So when you finally find a friend, you don't want to lose him, right? "When she nodded, he softly wiped some tears off her cheeks and pressed on to the one thing he couldn't figure out."But, why did you get so mad at him for wanting to swim? Were you jealous or something?"
"No, it's-"She stopped, visibly gathered herself and then continued. "I'm a vampire, and vampires can't stand water like that. It hurts us and steals our power."
Naruto's eyes widened at her confession. "Wow, I can see why you don't want that kind of information spread around. Still, couldn't you just have told Tsukune before? I doubt he'd ever do anything to cause trouble for you, so it should be safe to tell him, right? I'm mean, you told me just now."
"Well, we don't like talking about it, but it's not really a secret as such. I just didn't want to disappoint him, all the other clubs kept freaking him out, and also- "She stopped again, looking exactly like someone who realized that they'd almost said too much.
"What? The clubs kinda got me worried too."
"It's nothing."
"Hey, if you don't want to talk to him about how it is to be a vampire, then how would he know what you can and can't do? I mean, I'm sure he has some things that his kind of mon-" Naruto's eyes suddenly shot open, as a whole bunch of puzzle pieces fell into place with only a little help from Kyuuni. "No way. Is that it?"
"What?"
"Of course, I should have guessed it! He's much too nervous being here, he's weaker than everyone else, barely emits any presence. And you keep drinking his blood too!" Naruto stood up and pointed an overly dramatic finger at Moka. "Tsukune is a human, isn't he?"
"Err, no?"
Before Naruto could continue, he was interrupted. "Master, something is happening!" Looking down, his eyes met Kyuubi's, but before he could reply Moka spoke up.
"Naruto please, Tsukune is in danger! Something is happening at the pool." Moka was suddenly on her feet, beautiful green eyes filled with panic.
Naruto didn't hesitate, training and his personal 'friends first' philosophy helping him to adapt quickly. "Fine, but you owe me an explanation later." Then he was running again, following the flurry of tails and wondering what it was that could possibly have gone wrong.
"Well, damn." It wasn't the most eloquent of descriptions, but the full blown chaos taking place in and around the pool was not easy to take in. The girls were chasing the boys, which seemed strangely backwards in itself, and the boys were doing their level best at getting away, which was even stranger. Then he saw what happened when one of the boys were caught.
He wasn't certain whether the unfortunate teen was dead or not, but he knew damn well that he didn't want it done to him. The beautiful girls had transformed into a decidedly disturbing form of half-human, half-fish, and when they managed to catch one of the hopefuls they would be on him like a school of piranhas. The remains looked like they had aged somewhere around sixty years, although his now de-manifested resident diagnosed a 'draining of life-force'. Whatever that meant.
Swearing up a storm, he ran towards the pool. A shouted "Tsukune!" told him that Moka had arrived as well, and suddenly his motivation to help Tsukune doubled. The possibility of another apperance by 'scary' Moka gave him the kind of bladder trembling motivation that only true terror could produce, and so he found himself set on an all-out attack kind of plan. Not that he'd had time to think up an alternative, or wanted to either.
Meanwhile Tsukune was doing his best to keep his distance to the swimming club's president. He'd kind of enjoyed her attention at first, but after Moka had stormed off, he'd kind of regretted going there. He'd regretted it even more when the girls had started making a snack out of the wannabe club members. And his regret had peaked when the president had declared him her personal favorite because of his yummy smell.
Now he and all those capable of watching were treated to a sight never before witnessed in Yokai High. If Tsukune had been interested in the religions of his world, he might have wondered if Naruto would be turning the water to wine next. Instead he settled for being amazed, as the blonde whirlwind dashed into the pool area and out on top of the water. It was intimidating, not in the least due to his foul language. Stepping on a fish-jaw equipped head, he pulled a boy out of the water and hurled him to the side of the pool. The landing wasn't soft, but at least it was out of immediate danger.
As Naruto caused an impressive distraction, the non-snacked upon boys renewed their efforts to escape. Tsukune was right with them, relief warring with shame at leaving his class-mate and possibly new friend behind to face the monsters alone. He knew that he had better reason to get away than anyone else. He was onlya human, and quite defenseless. Apparently his humanly smell also made him a prime target. The combination of those two factors should have been enough to convince him that it was okay to get as far away as possible, preferably at just under the speed of light.
Instead he felt like a coward, and a traitor. Naruto shouldn't have to dive in against roughly a dozen mermaids in their own element alone to save him and the other guys. He might be strong, but unless he removed that Rosario, if he even could do that by himself, sheer numbers alone would sooner or later get the best of him. Probably sooner at that.
"Get back here Tsukune! I'm not letting our main course run off on us!" Then again, he had his own problems to take care of. Like the suddenly not-so-hot swim-club president.
"Tsukune!" The shout was a welcome one coming from the beautiful girl kneeling on the pool's edge. Realizing he had almost made it, he struck out once more. He didn't need to look behind him to know that several shapes were closing in on him even now. As he finally reached the edge, he stretched out his arm, just as something grabbed on to his legs and pulled. He barely had time for a quick breath of air before the water closed over his head.
While Tsukune fought both himself and the monsters chasing him, Naruto had gotten himself in over his head. The element of surprise had given him a headstart, forcing two fishgirls to back out of the fight. Now however he had been forced on the defensive. They surrounded him, making hit-and-run attacks and weakening him slowly from numerous small wounds. He had decided beforehand not to resort to any of his more powerful techniques, as a small army of clones or a building-sized toad would be difficult to explain even for him.
Right now he would settle for just one person holding his back. As fast as he was, he couldn't cover all of his blind spots at once, and Kyuubi's healing was slowed considerably from the influence of his Rosario. Hoping to get himself out of the sticky situation he jumped, only to find that two of his assailants had followed him up into the air. As one of them gave him a fresh set of claw marks on his back and shoulder, he smashed his fist into the solar plexus of the girl in front of him, knocking her away and hopefully out of the fight. He didn't want to hurt them, but they weren't leaving him any choices that he could accept.
He hadn't counted on landing in the arms of another transformed girl, effectively losing his advantage of staying out of the water. He was quick to react however, smashing his fist into his face before using her as a springboard to jump away again. This time he was joined by four girls, and although he managed to kick one away from him, the other three latched on and followed him down towards the water. Naruto felt himself start to panic. He'd have no chance at all if he got caught underwater, these monsters were perfectly suited to fight in that element and he only had the basics of moving while submerged. Desperately he tried to form a seal, but was interrupted when a shockwave of suddenly released yokai energy washed over him and the now thoroughly distracted girls.
"Damn it!" Was all he had time to shout before hitting the water, thankfully without attached monsters, but unfortunately also without a decent amount of air in his lungs. That didn't distract him from his biggest worry though, as he could easily recognize the new, oppressive power that pressed down on everyone in the pool area. Somehow, despite his efforts, that other Moka had gotten loose, and although there were plenty of enemies to fight with he was strangely certain that he was going to be a prime target not just of those preferring water anymore. Not wishing to die from drowning, he headed for the surface, wondering where the ravenous fishgirls had gone. He'd expected them to be all over him once he went under but apparently their attention had now been focused on someone else.
Breaking the surface, he just managed to catch a glimpse of Moka, silver hair gleaming in the weak sunlight, as she dove into the pool. Considering what the other Moka told him earlier, he wondered if she was suicidal or just desperate. Pushing himself out of the water, he once again stood on the violently rocking waters. Seeing the large number of shapes heading for the beautiful terror just under the surface, he realized that no one currently cared that he was there, and so had a small window of opportunity. Forming a seal, he quickly created a kage bunshin just above where Moka had turned the water into a frothing nightmare of conflicting elements, before leaping up onto a nearby roof.
The clone immediately dived in, fighting to reach his, well, friend and potential ally. He barely got under before seeing Moka trying to hold off the president, while Tsukune feebly tried to head for the surface. Not far away the rest were closing in. It wasn't difficult to see the best way forward, and so the clone dove downwards, grabbing on to the weakening Tsukune before dragging him towards the wonderfully breathable air. As soon as they reached the surface, the real Naruto jumped down and grabbed the now barely conscious boy, hauling him out of the water and tossing him out of the pool in one smooth motion. The clone dispersed as soon as the human reached safety, and Naruto dove back in to get Moka.
Under water, things were not going well. Moka was being continually drained by the water around her, while the mermaids kept utilizing their mastery of the element to the fullest, never really getting close enough to get hit, but not letting her strike for the surface either. The sudden entrance of a seriously worked up blonde changed the tables ever so slightly, and as Moka took the chance to get out of the water, Naruto covered her using a wind technique. It was sloppy and consumed at least twice as much chakra as it should, but it caused his attackers to become disoriented for a short while. He hoped it would be enough.
Heading upwards he immediately realized an immense problem. Just above him a pair of shapely legs kicked to drive Moka upwards, and like it or not, her skirt wasn't even close to covering anything of her, well, personal areas. Hoping that she wouldn't use it as an excuse to attack him, he looked down, only to see a virtual storm of shimmering scales and female skin heading towards him. Apparently his jutsu had dislodged quite a few bikinis, and although his inner daemon whispered comforting words about hormones and natural order, all he could think was "damned if I don't, damned if I do." A vampire's panties or several fang and claw equipped fishgirls' breasts. Yeah, this situation would qualify as being between a rock and a hard place.
Deciding that he'd simply have to wing it after getting out of the pool, he amplified his legs again, using a swimming technique that resembled the fishgirls'. It was great for moving underwater, but because you kept your arms along your sides to lower resistance and your legs tightly together, it wasn't much good in a fight.
Shooting up out of the pool, he realized that he might have overdone it, as he was practically catapulted past Moka. Looking down, he saw the mass of monster girls collide, the president screaming something to the effect "Now we've got you!" Before being viciously beaten back down into the water by Moka's lightning fast kicks.
Landing with almost insulting grace, Moka gave the defeated mermaids a disdainful glare before uttering something that Naruto would come to hear many times. "Weaklings, know your place."
"Well, duh, air isn't their element, is it?" Said a familiar voice next to his ear, as a pair of arms wrapped around him and keeping him airborne, along with a soft yet firm sensation on his back. Looking around he found himself inches away from Kurumu's sugary sweet face, and had to fight down his shock.
"Kuru-chan, what are you doing here?"
Kurumu gave him a steady look. "Oh, I just heard that there was a huge commotion in the pool from some fleeing boys, and that you had managed to land yourself in a heap of trouble along with Tsukune. So, I figured that since there's barely a handful of worthwhile boys around here, I might as well try to keep a few of them alive." Then her eyes caught a wicked gleam. "You know, I was planning on saving Tsukune and make him take me on a date as a thank you, but since you ruined that plan for me, I'm gonna make you do something for me instead."
"Oh, I'd do anything for one of my friends, you just have to ask." Naruto thought for a second. "As long as it's not something that hurts any other of my friends anyway. So what can I help you with? Has someone been getting a bit too interested in you and needs a thrashing?"
Kurumu snorted. "No, I can handle those problems myself. It's what us succubus do." She glanced past him. "We'll talk about this later, I think Moka wants to have a little chat with us." Ignoring his startled "Ehhh?" She dived downwards, landing neatly next to the still released Moka and the recovering Tsukune and letting go of Naruto.
Moka turned toward him, red eyes almost shining with restrained power, and Naruto noticed in an offhanded way that even though she'd been soaked in the one thing that could really spell trouble for a vampire, there was nothing weak about her. "You." She said, pointing at Naruto. "Stay. You." She pointed at Tsukune. "Stand." As soon as the confused teen was on his feet, she slapped him. "You're trying my patience Aono Tsukune. The other Moka was feeling terrible because of you, and I will not tolerate you mistreating her. You are her most important friend here, and I will not let you make her doubt herself over some egotistical boy. Do not let her feel neglected like this again."
Tsukune averted his eyes, nodding mutely. Naruto knew he wasn't brightest card in the deck, but the anguish and guilt was plain to see for anyone who cared to look at his face. Before he did something suicidal, like talking, he found his gaze trapped by Moka's intense gaze. "You, I would know more about, but alas." With that, she took a few steps, putting herself mere centimeters away from Naruto. "I am exhausted, so I will entrust myself to you and Tsukune. However, your weakness forced me to get involved, and as compensation…" She leaned forward, and suddenly Naruto felt an intense pain in his neck, as Moka's fangs pierced his skin. For some reason, he couldn't move however.
Moka had barely started replenishing her blood stores, before she suddenly jerked her head away and started coughing violently. "Rah! What are you!" She spat, red eyes suddenly blazing with something Naruto couldn't place. "That blood, it is so…" She quieted, before leaning in and began to sniff his wound, before starting to take tentative licks of the blood running down towards his chest.
"Umm, sorry, school rules you know." Naruto wasn't just bewildered, shocked and stunned, he was also starting to feel a heat from inside his stomach. If she had been doing the same thing without the blood, he knew that the carefully constructed walls around his true self would be in serious danger of crumbling.
"Silence! I decide whether to drink from you or not." With that said, she resumed lapping up his life fluid, taking slightly more with each nerve wracking tongue movement. Then her mouth once more closed on his wound, and she sighed contentedly. For a short while only a faint sucking noise could be heard, and perhaps it was for the best that only Kurumu saw the blush that kept getting more and more intense on the vampire's cheeks. When Moka started to moan quietly, Kurumu had had enough.
"Okay! That is enough inner Moka! I didn't catch him in mid-air just so you could drink him dry! Now put that Rosario on and go back to sleep." Moka gave her a lust filled glance, before releasing the blonde.
"Oh fine. I suppose that will be enough to speed our recovery. Don't go and do something stupid like dying Naruto, I might need some of your blood again at a later date." Moka smiled lazily, licking her lips." I still prefer Tsukune's though, so don't forget your place, or I will remind you of it. As for you-" She turned and stared and the hot and bothered dark haired boy. "Remember my warning, or you will suffer the consequences." Then she walked over to Tsukune and grabbed the Rosario from his unresisting hand.
Just before affixing the Rosario in its place, she paused and turned her face just enough to see Naruto. "One more thing Naruto, did you enjoy the view?" He wasn't certain, but it seemed that there might just be a mischievous spark in those scary red eyes.
Oh great, another damned if I don't, damned if I do situation. I need to learn how to get away from this girl when she is unsealed or I really am going to get killed. Oh well, let's do this the Uzumaki way. "Well, let's just say that when you're that close to a violent death, there are plenty less pleasant views to go to hell with."
"Like a school of topless mermaids?"
"That isn't a bad thing either, just not as good. It's not like I did it on purpose anyway."
"True, and you are the first person I've met in a long while that's worth a sliver of respect. Just be careful with that Rosario of yours, there would be a lot of trouble if it came off." With that, she restored the seal, turning her into the pink-haired, sweet and slightly ditzy girl that stood between the world and inner Moka. As soon as her hair had returned to its unreal pink tone, Moka collapsed on top of Tsukune.
"Lucky bastard." Naruto muttered to himself.
"Oh, Naruto." The way Kurumu was talking in a sing-song voice sent a chill up Naruto's spine. "What did Moka mean with you getting a good view and topless mermaids?" Turning around as if being made out of cogs, Naruto saw smiling, yet obviously pissed off Kurumu brandish what he dearly hoped were some overgrown fingernails. He wasn't sure what he'd done, but if there was one thing socializing with Sakura had taught him it was that if a girl had decided that you'd done something wrong, then the only thing that could stop pain from happening was a miracle.
He turned to the irate girl and started to try to calm her down. "It's nothing Kuru-chan, I promise." Then he noticed that the succubus had suddenly started to blush crimson, pretty much everywhere he could see her skin, and her eyes were riveted at his chest. "Kuru-chan, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with me?"
She didn't answer for a few moments, her eyes roving hungrily over his exposed skin. Then, almost like she forced herself to stop gorging herself on the eye-candy, she blinked and looked away. "Naruto, why aren't you healing? Eww, my clothes are all bloody. That's it." Her gaze snapped up to his face, although she still had a tendency to drift downwards. "You are taking me for a date this weekend, understood? And you'll be paying for everything I want!" Any questions?"
"Umm, well." She lifted a hand with claws the length of her underarm. "None at all!"
"Good, I'll tell you later when to pick me up and all that. For now, I think you and the others need to go to the infirmary."
While the small group made their way out of the pool area, several interested gazes followed them.
One pair of eyes seemed to be on the verge of tears, and their owner quickly and unnoticed disappeared.
Another onlooker turned to its companion and whispered something, before these too withdrew.
The last observer was staring off into space, anger and regret mingling in eyes that currently were focused somewhere else. Before leaving the scene, this one spoke to itself in a confident baritone. "Well, looks like there's more than one piece available to make this game interesting. How amusing. Stay healthy Tsukune and Naruto, I'd hate to miss killing you myself."
A/N: And cut, that's a wrap! Let's get some lunch then go over to the next scene.
Yes, I know. This has taken forever and I'm all out of real excuses except my unwillingness to start on my next chapter for UD before I'd gotten this one finished. There's just way too few good crossovers of Naruto and R+V. Well, I won't claim this is good, but it's better than nothing right? There will hopefully be enough question marks left in this chapter to make you demand answers off of me. Please use the shiny review button for those, as I'd love a bit of feedback. I promise, that first paragraph makes me sick now, what with how many times I've seen it when I've opened up the document to try and continue.
On the subject of feedback, I feel like I really need some help on the fight scenes. Please comment.
Until next time (Whenever that is, although hopefully relatively soon), ja ne.