Haan: Hello all and merry christmas... err, a few days late.
Mizore:...
Haan: What?
Mizore: Why am I not in this chapter?
Haan: Because you're sulking and think that Naruto has gotten together with scary Moka.
Mizore: Oh.
Haan: Don't worry, I'm positive you're gonna be in the next one.
Mizore: Positive?
Haan: Well, pretty sure at least.
Mizore: I thought you were the author.
Haan: Well, we'll see what the voices say, okay? And everybody, no mentioning poultry, I don't want any crazy people running amok here except me. Mizore, the disclaimer.
Mizore: Haan refutes that he could possibly be the owner of Naruto or Rosario+Vampire or Full Metal Panic or Negima blah blah blah. Because he's an idiot.
Haan: There may be cookies and notes at the bottom. And what was that?
The art of getting spectacularly pissed off
The days had started to develop a routine before Naruto was finally issued an order of preparation. He knew of the procedure, but had never really had to follow it, as all the missions he'd ever done had either been a request from a third party, specifying the time of departure, or an emergency response one, like the one where Sasuke went bat-shit crazy and decided to unseal him.
Now, he was sitting in a small hangar, waiting with two other temporary Wardens for the go-ahead. One of them, a dark-haired tall woman with a constantly scary glint in her eye, had given him one look when arriving, and said "Call me Mana, don't fuck up and don't die." before turning away. The other one, a dark-haired male teen of average height and a blank expression, gave him the nod of a pro to another before adding his two cents "Sagara. Pleased to meet you and what she said."
After that, he'd spent over four hours just waiting for a command that might never come. His associates spent their time studying, which kind of freaked him out. "Will I never break free from the curse of homework?" Any attempts at striking up a conversation had crashed and burned pitifully, as Sagara seemed hell-bent on learning some kind of history by heart and Mana spent all her time on math, although it appeared to be mostly focused on various wind-drift tables, whatever the hell that meant, and baking small cookies.
Going for broke, he decided to throw down the trump card. Any more time staring at a wall and he would cause mayhem just to relieve his boredom. "So, what kind of powers do you have?"
That question, innocent though it may seem, made both of his colleagues snap their gazes on him, homing in like sharks smelling blood. He squirmed under their scrutinizing gazes. "Oh, come on, I have no idea of what you guys can do, and my old sensei always said that teamwork is crucial to succeeding at a mission. Not to mention saving your ass."
Exchanging looks, Mana and Sagara had an understanding before replying. Sagara decided to be the bad guy. "Blondie, trying to snoop into our private data is a strict no-no on these missions. Your boss gives you the info you need, and it's up to you to deal. If that's annoying you, too bad. If you start annoying me, I'll make you feel bad." Mana simply nodded, affirming the glaring soldier's response.
"That's just bullshit, and both of you know it."
"Sorry, Naruto. That's how our contracts are designed. Both me and Sagara are merely hired help, since the usual staff is currently unavailable. While I agree with the importance of trust and cooperation, we should all be good enough to adapt to each other during the mission. That's all there is to it." Mana, picking up on Sagara's choice of role, spoke as a diplomat, trying to ease out the wrinkles from the response, while still enforcing it.
"Fine, then I'll make you a bet. If I have to come pull your asses out of the fire, you're both going to be my friends. Then you can tell me all you want about yourselves."
The two mercenaries were obviously stunned by his outburst, although most would misunderstand their concern. Sagara, while touched, went for safety first. "Friend? Is he nuts? I have too many people wanting to hurt me to let him mark himself as a target! But maybe it could be worth it anyway?"
Mana however, mostly due to the recent lack of decent companions of the opposite gender and the rather high-strung atmosphere in her class, found herself thinking slightly different. Although the result was pretty much the same. "Friends? He wants to be my friend? He has the chance to take advantage of me, and he wants to be pals with me? Ohh, I bet he thinks I'm gonna get annoyed when he doesn't make a pass at me and get me to start liking him, then I'd come on to him and he'd use that as an excuse to have his way with me. I'm soooo gonna get him for that later, him and his cute scars. Ha! I'll be his friend and nothing more before I decide so myself. Haha, no one fools Tatsumiya Mana!"
Naruto felt the rather intent gazes focused on him and simply glared back, not knowing the rather impressive chaos that had erupted in the minds of his temporary teammates.
"You're on newbie!" "Fine, if you can do it." The replies were almost simultaneous, although neither would confess to just how close the bet had cut. The blonde kid seemed pretty harmless, but that kind of challenge seemed like something the reckless kind of elite might toss out, or a total windbag. Sagara got to thinking of his usual blonde teammate, while Mana thought back to certain of her classmates. Either were oblivious and clumsy on the surface, or simply horrendously socially inept, but once you scratched ever so lightly on that surface, a lot of potential reared its head.
"Hey, Naruto. I know we said we can't be too specific, but let's keep it real simple like, and we can probably get a basic understanding of each others' fighting styles. Me, I'm best as a sniper, although I can fight pretty well at all ranges."
Once Mana opened up, even if just a sliver of a smidgen, Sagara had to support her back. "I'm a weapon specialist, preferring a shooting distance of two to twenty-five meters. I'm also competent in the use of explosives."
The kid seemed unimpressed however. Or possibly just confused.
"Um, what kind of weapons? Swords? Wire?" Both die-hard veterans felt their worlds tilt dangerously at the question. "I like to go with kunai and hand to hand, even when using my techniques I'm usually close enough to punch someone."
Wondering just what the hell a kid, younger than both him and the only female on the small team, was supposed to accomplish using fists and "techniques", Sagara answered first. "Well, I prefer a shotgun, like this one. Although I can use any kind of gun satisfactorily, I'm at my best up close and personal."
"What's a gun?"
Once again the two mercenaries felt a disturbance in the… you get the picture. Most people tend to experience something similar after talking to Naruto after a while.
"It's a… weapon that fires a lot of shrapnel, through chemicals, but usually is inaccurate at anything over a few meters. It can fire solid slugs of course and-" He was tempted to rattle of a lot of technical information, but the complete lack of understanding on the kid's face made him simplify his explanation. "It goes boom, and the enemy gets shredded. Don't stand in the way." He groaned inwardly, realizing that the light of Understanding was finally showing on his new partner's face. Sort of, at least.
"And I use a gun too, only it's for really long ranges, and I fire one bullet at a time. If we get closer I like to use revolvers or pistols." Mana tried to keep her reply short, the kid had a way of getting answers almost as terrifying as her teacher at school. Which led her to start wondering….
Naruto, meanwhile, focused on the obviously important piece of information.
"They go boom?"
"This is Central to Team Yoko. You are hereby go for launch in five minutes. Open your briefing folder once ordered aboard the helicopter." The message from the loud-speaker snapped the trio out of their chatting, making them quickly gather up weapons and gear before heading off for the ramp at the back of a large, matt black machine standing in the middle of the hangar's landing pad.
"Hey Kyuubi! We're finally going!" The gleeful mind-shout of the excited blonde made Kyuubi wish she could take a headache pill.
"Yes Naruto-sama. I heard it too. Please don't yell at me." As annoying as her master could be, Kyuubi couldn't help feeling a little bit happy for him. He'd been cooped up in school for too long, and she'd seen some early warning signs of him returning to pranking as a means to vent. As her master sat himself down inside the large contraption, she fervently hoped that the folder containing his orders would give Naruto something to test himself with.
Having experienced his first ever lift-off, and endured Kyuubi's pleading not to yell 'WEEEE' so loudly, Naruto was quickly becoming bored once again. Although the sound from the craft's 'engines' weren't all that loud, it was still annoying, and there weren't any windows either. To keep his nerves from getting to him, he took out a scroll he'd received via toad the evening before. He'd been loath to read it, nervous about what had been happening since he left.
Just as he was about to open the scroll, the intercom buzzed before relaying orders to begin reading through the briefing materials. Sighing, although whether with relief or irritation he couldn't tell, Naruto mimicked his new comrades and started opening his mission briefing packet. The first thing he found was a dossier on a small gang operating in a large city, apparently in this 'Japan' that he'd been told about.
The gang consisted of mostly humans, with two spider monsters as lieutenants and a werewolf leader. Their activities were mostly in the smuggling industry, although there was a possibility of slaving and various sub-activities related to that, such as organ harvesting and the making of illicit movies.
Next followed various schematics on the base of the gang, showing that the front of a movie rent out covered a large underground complex. The photos provided of the exterior gave him a chance to familiarize himself with the architecture. On the base schematics there were two floors in the interesting part, each containing two main corridors and filled with a lot of rooms. Points of entrance were a cargo lift, stairs leading down from the front store and an emergency exit as well as a reasonably large air duct.
The orders were to subdue all members of the gang, especially the werewolf leader, and rescue any present innocents. Gathering information would be handled by a clean-up crew, as well as handling any confiscated merchandise. Intel suggested that the whole gang would be present, but that could change easily enough to be considered dubious information at best. Then he read something rather troubling.
"The handling of the leader trio must be done by Uzumaki Naruto, as he is the only one with experience of the strength of a werewolf as well as their preferred tactics. He is also the only one with the powers to fight as an equal. Operatives Mana and Sagara are to provide support, but are ordered not to engage said leaders as they are too weak to even be a nuisance and their deaths would be embarrassing."
Nervously looking over at the other two parts of their little team, he could see both curiosity and anger reflected in the eyes of his comrades. Mostly anger. Almost only anger actually. Apparently their dossier contained the same line, and he couldn't help wonder if the headmaster really was out to get him killed. He ducked his head down, hoping to look like he was reading over the mission specifics. Then someone cracked a few knuckles.
"Naruto, we need to talk." The fact that it was a silky smooth, alluring and very feminine voice that addressed him didn't stop the shivers of apprehension from going up his back. Apparently, he reflected as two menacing shadows closed in on him, the whole 'no-asking-about-personal-details' didn't come with a complementary clause on 'no-scaring-the-crap-out-of-your-team-mate'.
While Naruto experienced how scary two professional mercenaries that had just had their pride wounded could be, Tsukune was trying hard not to sigh. His most dependable, if constantly sugar-rushed/ADHD-challenged, friend had been called away on something that nobody seemed to know about, and the one person he figured might have told him more about the blonde's whereabouts was also away, meaning that they had had a substitute teacher during P.E and that there was no-one to talk to about his current problem. All others that he might consider confiding to were girls, and he just didn't want to discuss matters that related to his feelings with them. At least not when the feelings concerned Moka. Kurumu just might start up her whole 'Destined One' obsession, even though she'd sworn off it to Naruto, and Yukari couldn't be trusted to keep anything he said to herself, as she might decide that she could speed up her happy love-triangle by telling Moka.
The thing that was bothering him? His birthday, or rather, whether to tell Moka about it or not. She might already know, of course, but she also might not. If she did, she had probably gotten him a gift. That was reasonable wasn't it? Yeah, she almost certainly had, he was sure of it. Mostly. Pretty sure at least. He didn't want to think that it would bother him whether she gave him a present or not, but at the same time he couldn't shake a foreboding that it would. Although they hadn't spent all that much time together at the school yet, their repeated struggles to survive had made the bond between them grow incredibly fast. That they also matched very well socially in between the recurring death matches didn't exactly harm their developing feelings for each other.
They'd be sending off their first real newspaper for printing in the afternoon, but Moka had excused herself, claiming that extra assignments was keeping her busy. Tsukune had been too busy for the last few days to think too much on it, as he both had club time, school work and training to hold his attention. It had taken a few days to realize that she was keeping a distance to him.
And now he was stuck in the kind of funk that could defeat any plan before it was even tested. Over thinking has indeed killed more romances than bad breath.
If Naruto was there it wouldn't have been so much of a problem, the loud mouth would either have encouraged Tsukune to have faith in himself (Probably through mild violence) and the beautiful girl, asked her directly if she knew about it or both. Although Moka and Naruto clearly had a budding friendship between them, there was nothing in the way of romantic feelings. Naruto had been adamant that he drew enough attention and trouble as it was, without trying to steal away his friend's crush. Not to mention that there was the other Moka to consider.
Letting his thought wander from his own problems for a bit, Tsukune reflected that Naruto sure was a strange guy. He was hands down the most popular boy among the first years, his positive and friendly character, lack of shame and impressive physical prowess combining to impress most of his peers. He was also a bit mysterious and dangerous, his fights and strange appearance causing rumors to fly about the 'blond guy with facial markings'. The few that knew what it was had also been giving the Rosario around his neck meaningful looks.
Tsukune had seen him without it, and was grateful that Naruto wore it in public. The first time he took it off Tsukune had nearly had a heart attack. Anything that Moka could produce was topped by a factor of three easily just by releasing the Daemon inside Naruto. And it grew worse when he actively focused himself on an enemy. Although something told him that once the initial shock wore off, the blonde would most likely be even more popular if he ever did release outside of his special chamber.
According to Moka the only reason that he hadn't been flooded with confessions yet was that he hung out with Kurumu, herself and Kyuubi-sensei. Kurumu guarded her property vigorously, if only by constantly groping the younger teen, hugging him publicly or confessing loudly in the school cafeteria several times a day. As for Moka, many hoped for a love triangle involving Moka, Naruto and Tsukune as the school lacked any TVs and thus the day time dramas that many craved. Lastly, Kyuubi-sensei had a way of staring at Naruto's admirers that made them hesitant to approach him. The description was of being measured, weighed and graded by a task-mistress from hell.
Moka had remarked that it almost sounded as if Kyuubi-sensei were deciding which of the girls could try to get close to the unknowing blonde. Tsukune had nearly swallowed his tongue at her comment. That Naruto's servant was so protective of him was a bit startling. Why would she be bothered by what kind of girls he got involved with? And how had Kurumu passed the testing?
Realizing that he had entered some really scary waters, Tsukune tried to think about something else. "Like Kyuubi-sensei getting out of the pool after one of the training sessions. Gah! Bad thought, think of Moka. Mmm, that's much better." Letting his mind rest on the enticing body of Moka soon had Tsukune back at the original problem. Berating himself for being a coward, he decided that he would ask her at the first opportune moment. If she didn't know she'd probably be disappointed that he hadn't told her, and if Naruto heard that he'd chickened out there would be hell to pay. As soon as they were alone he'd talk to her about it.
That such a moment wasn't going to come around for a while was nothing he could have known.
Standing in a high-class hotel room, Naruto looked out the window and stared at their objective. They been dropped off just outside the, in his mind, freakishly huge city and then driven to their temporary headquarters, an unusually large hotel apartment in the center of the city. They were to go in somewhere around four in the morning, leaving plenty of time to get used to the strange technology that was being employed. The bus that he had gotten to Yokai High in the first place was only an example of how differently people employed technology in this world. He'd spent over an hour getting used to the idea of cars, as well as their many different shapes and forms.
Well, first off he'd lain shivering on the floor for half an hour, trying to forget how his 'comrades' had tied him to a line by his feet from the helicopter and let him hang there while the pilot low sniffed the woods they were flying over. When they finally pulled them in he'd been torn between the elation of the ride and the panic he'd felt whenever they came across a hill or a particularly tall tree.
Then, after he'd spent some time learning about just how different a world not run by chakra and shinobi was, he'd gone over the materials again, memorizing layouts and believed number of hostiles, as well as known personal information on various gang members. Once the numbers and words started to look hostile to his overworked brain, he decided that that would be enough and took to meditating. The fact that he and Kyuubi sat down for a round of poker in his mindscape never showed on his apparently calm face.
Of course, they didn't just play cards, and even though Kyuubi somehow got Naruto into a game of strip poker, before losing spectacularly (They had never played with anything except token chips before. Poor Kyuubi.), they still managed to go over a lot of different scenarios and plans concerning the mission. They didn't agree on everything, but after forty minutes of meditation, which translated into a lot more time inside Naruto's head, Naruto got up and went to the door leading outside.
"I'm just gonna go grab some supplies, want anything?"
"The latest issue of Guns and Ammo if they have it." Mana replied without looking up from the large rifle she was currently cleaning. Sagara however did glance up from his homework before speaking. "I'll have some pocky, and a couple of sodas if you please."
"Right right, just a second." With that Naruto stepped outside, created a few clones whom immediately transformed into various disguises before heading back in. Some of the clones were to pick up the snacks and stuff, the others were to infiltrate the base.
As he entered the room again, his teammates looked up, confusion barely hidden on their stoic faces.
"What, did you forget something?" That Naruto had gotten under Mana's skin was obvious from the derogatory tone of voice. Naruto didn't let her get to him, being used to far worse and recognizing the potential of converting another friend. That princess from the Land of Snow, or should it be Spring now? Anyway, she'd been a lot less friendly than Mana was, and he had a photo as proof of how good he was at melting cold hearts.
Giving her his best I'm-holding-back-information-on-you-and-laughing-in-my-mind-about-it-smile, Naruto replied "No, the stuff should be over in just a little while." before walking over to the window again. A couple entered the store just a short while later. Although he didn't show it, Naruto waited nervously until the couple reemerged again, the woman stopping to adjust her shoe before they walked off. After that he slowly released a breath. Knowing that a small army of transformed shadow clones would be moving into the target area, learning all he'd need and keeping the enemies under surveillance. They were to disperse one or two at every few minutes, avoiding a sudden rush of memories to handle.
Smirking slightly Naruto left the window and tossed himself onto a bed. The first memories would be the most disorienting as he'd have to take in how the base looked. Once he knew that his mind could ignore such information from subsequent clones and focus on the important stuff. Settling in to wait, he put his hands behind his head and let his legs stretch.
It only took a few minutes before his other clones returned with the supplies. Mana and Sagara both reacted with surprising speed when there was a knock on the door, but Naruto still beat them to answer it. Then he got to enjoy their faces as half-a-dozen clones marched in and dumped enough snacks, drinks, magazines and ramen take-out to keep a modest all-girl slumber party happy. As long as they read Soldiers of Fortune that is. That the clones were still disguised gave an extra level of confusion to his comrades' expression, intensifying when they changed back to their original-copy form (Yeah, love those oxymorons), waved at the two mercenaries then dispersed.
After a few moments of trying to figure out just what the hell was going on, Mana and Sagara turned their stunned gazes to Naruto, wondering just what the hell was going on. The fact that Naruto was digging into his second bowl of ramen at that point did not in any way help.
Sending off a grin to make any Cheshire cat proud, Naruto couldn't help needling his would-be friends."What, is there something you want to ask me? Remember that we're not supposed to ask about personal information. I'd love to tell you, but I know how much you value those rules." He held out a bowl. "Ramen anyone?"
While Mana and Sagara went back to whiling away the time, Naruto stuffed himself before settling in, waiting for the first clones to disperse. He didn't have to wait long, as images of the stores interior and the underground base started to filter into his mind. The store was unimportant, one slightly seedy looking guy at the counter and two surveillance cameras. Easy to handle.
The cargo lift exited in a garage at the back of the store, and he reasoned that it could be easily disabled by a few clones. The emergency exit would probably need to be watched by a few clones until after the operation was done, but could also be blocked if needed. He was tempted to get Sagara to take that route as it would be less well defended.
The air duct was a no-go, several fans and grills making the going all but impossible. His clones could transform into almost anything with ease, but he himself had to try and keep his mass and volume roughly the same.
The first floor of the hidden base checked out pretty well with the schematics they had been given, and seemed to be where the perps spent most of their time. There was a small kitchenette, a common area with a bar, a few dirty toilets and some bed rooms. The smell from inside those, along with the stains told him a lot more than he wanted to know about both the activities performed and the general hygiene off the performers. The blood he found traces off did help him fight down his urge to be gentle.
When the images seeped in from the second level, those urges disappeared completely, and he had to fight with himself not to rush over and tear the place apart with his own hands.
The images were bad. One corridor had been converted into a storage area, filled with contraband. The second corridor was lined on each side with cells, and ended in a door that led to a studio. The cells were open, covered in old fashioned bar doors, and contained a bed, a bucket and chains. He'd seen eight occupants, six girls spanning the ages from ten up to seventeen or so. There were also two small boys, possibly brothers. The studio contained a few cameras, a rather disgusting bed and an assortment of devices with shackles and other things that he tried not to wonder too much about. The whips and other things were easier to understand, but not accept.
The thing that drove him into a state of near berserker rage was not, however, the things his clones had seen for him. It was the smell. A stomach turning combination of filth, human fluids and desperation assaulted his nostrils, touching off on instincts that he didn't even know he had.
He recognized their feelings all too well. Hopelessness, loneliness and fear was resonating with those of his memory. Not so long ago he'd felt the same daily, trapped in a different cage but trapped all the same. The idea that someone had done something similar to those kids, for reasons too disgusting to even contemplate, made him want to kill, destroy and possibly set something on fire on the way out. Just as a signal of just how upset he was.
It took him a few minutes to get himself under control, snippets of information filing into his mental map almost reflexively. Then he once again started to concentrate, letting the details flesh out the plans he'd already thought out. All the while his servant murmured soothingly, giving advice and instructions.
When the digital alarm clock showed half past two in the morning, all the important targets had entered the building. Knowing that the vermin would be using their living merchandise as a part of some kind of celebration, he got off the bed. It was time to exercise some of his pent up emotions.
Sagara and Mana had started to object when he told them it was time to move out. When he explained that he'd already infiltrated the complex and used a blueprint to explain the new layout and his plan, as well as what was about to occur, the two mercenaries shut up with their objections and concentrated on getting the plan down. Naruto's abilities were briefly touched on, but there was little questioning from the two veterans. Both had, in their own way, seen or even done things at least as outlandish as an ability to create shape shifting copies of oneself.
They'd had another round of debate when Kyuubi manifested as a small fox before climbing onto his shoulder and wrapping her tails across his throat, mouth and nose. He'd had to explain that unless the smell was blocked out, he just might lose control of his actions, and they were supposed to take prisoners.
Crossing the street, the team made their way to their respective starting points. Mana and Naruto entered the store hand in hand, giving the casual observer an impression of an older teenage girl with her young brother. Mana might be fifteen, but she didn't seem like it anywhere Naruto looked. Sagara was heading for the back door to meet up with a few clones and prepare to open a second front on their little war.
A little extra piece of luck was the lowlife behind the counter, who for some reason decided to add to their number of slaves and tried to lure them into captivity with a promise of an awesome special film. As soon as two of his friends appeared he prepared to drop his rehearsed line referring to how they were going to star in the movie themselves, when darkness enveloped him courtesy of Naruto's vengeful hands.
"Go! Go! Go!" The command was shouted by Mana, as the tall girl dropped the two visible enemies with rubber bullets to the heads. Even as the two crashed through the main entrance Naruto's clones had started to work. Three perps were down in the main common room, two leaking blood from where kunai had lodged themselves in arms and legs. Another three were struggling to defend themselves against a squad of clones. The joy on the clones faces would be terrible to behold, if one did not know what they had been forced to experience while waiting.
One of the girls was on the ground, a tray on the ground with spilled drinks betraying one of her temporary duties. Her lack of clothes from the waist down gave away the other one, and Naruto realized that the memories from this last batch of clones would be particularly vile.
Adding his own war cry to the confusion he heedlessly threw himself towards the swirling mêlée, closing the distance in what must have seemed absurdly fast. Even as his kick connected with a head, another one went down to Mana's guns. The last one tried to pull a weapon of his and was swiftly rewarded with a violent beat down at the hands of Naruto's clones.
"What the hell-!" The yelled question was silenced quickly, and Naruto looked along a corridor to see a large thug go down, just outside a newly opened door, courtesy of Mana's lightning fast reflexes. Another door opened, and a clone almost lost its short life when it dragged out a knocked out perp from one of the small bedrooms.
"There's a girl in here too boss, she needs help."
"Right, you come with me, you three check the other rooms here and you guys follow Mana-chan and check the other corridor." Having ordered his clones he rushed to the door, thankful of Kyuubi's tails. He really didn't want to smell anymore than he already had.
Inside there was a rather tall, dark haired girl, pale skin smooth under the harsh glare of the light tubes. She was obviously beautiful, a few years older than Naruto and stark naked. The girl had been abused, even he could tell that, but apart from a split lip and some bruises there was little he could see in terms of physical damage.
"Kyuubi, please check on her."
"Yes master." The small fox leapt down before transforming into her human form. Kneeling beside the girl she started examining her, checking her pulse and such. When she carefully spread the girls legs Naruto turned around so fast his head almost unscrewed itself.
"Guard her and the other girl." He ordered curtly to the waiting clones. Then he proceeded to the common room again, waiting for Mana to join him. A few seconds later the duo began their descent down the stairs to the second level.
Here the clones had gotten most of the job done, a few more humans and several pieces of the spider monsters showing that the fight had been brutal. Then they heard a howl coming from the slave pens, and with his heart suddenly heading towards his mouth Naruto rushed towards what could only be his main target.
Rounding a corner he could see Sagara doing his best to support the remaining clones, firing round after round at the now transforming werewolf. He'd entered through the studio a few seconds after the raid started, and Naruto could see a small shape curled up inside on the floor just inside the studio door.
He could also smell the pens in all of its unfiltered twisted glory, and realized that he was going to enjoy this.
"YOU BASTARDS! I'M GUNNA-OW!" As the werewolf started telling his newfound enemies exactly what he was going to do to them, Sagara got in a crack shot. Literally.
"MY ASS! YOU SHOT MY ASS YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Not today you ain't!" Naruto yelled in reply, before once more diving into the fray, a Rasengan swirling in his hands. As he closed in Mana started laying down a barrage of bullets to complement Sagara's boom stick. Although most of the clones had been dispersed by now, Naruto and Mana's inclusion in the fight quickly started to tell, as Naruto drove the monster into a corner. His Rasengan had managed to carve a chunk out of the werewolf's shoulder, but the damage had barely slowed the drooling monster down.
Growing tired of the healing abilities of his adversary he drew two kunai from inside his school uniform jacket and, once the werewolf's attention was taken by another incoming salvo, ducked down and cut but hamstrings.
As the leader of the trafficking cell went down, crying in intense agony, Naruto laid in for real. The smell and the adrenaline coursing through his body had been eroding his self control, and now he started hammering home punches and slashes, orange chakra enhancing the claws that started to grow from his fingers. It was all instinct now, a mindless hammering on a foe that soon was unable to defend himself, and shortly after drifted into oblivion. Before Naruto did something he'd have cause to regret Kyuubi was there. Tackling him to the ground and covering his nose, she managed to snap him out of his rage.
"Master, control yourself, please!"
"Kyuubi? What happened?"
"You went berserk. It's alright master, the smells here could drive anyone crazy. Easy now, I'll come back inside and help you stay calm."
Feeling his bondsmate return to her abode, Naruto started to pick himself up. The first attempt landed him on his face, and Mana quickly moved over to help him up. By then he was grateful for the assistance.
"Hey Naruto, are you okay?" Mana asked, concern slight but noticeable in her voice as she helped steady her suddenly fatigued teammate.
"Um, yeah, I guess. Well, except for the memories." Naruto's reply was hard to hear. He was mumbling and slurring slightly. Considering how filled with energy he'd been for almost a full day, the change was disconcerting. Leading him up the stairs again, Mana let him sink down on a couch to rest.
A few minutes later, footsteps approached.
"Um, boss?" One of the clones addressed.
"Yeah? Oh, the light is all sparkly. Report You two."
The clone, ignoring the fact that he was alone, started to do just that."All of the bastards are alive and unwell, and we're getting the, you know, kids and so on bundled up and out of here. Sagara's gone to call in clean up and a transport and Mana's keeping an eye on the perps. There's a problem though."
"What?"
"One of the men downstairs? That was going to, err, 'help' make a movie? He's apparently a local big wig with the police."
"Well, fuck me."
"No boss, we already decided not to do that, the memory clash might make us even crazier."
"Just an expression, What do the others think."
"Mana and Sagara are all for slitting the throats of as many as we can get away with and bring the rest back for interrogation. The real problem is that if one power player is bent, others can be too. Mana thinks that the unwilling actors might end up in an accident if we drop them off here."
"And the alternatives are?"
"They couldn't think of any, and us clones reckon that's a shitty idea. We saved them, we have to take care of them."
"Of course we do. Are any of them locals?"
"No, Mana says they're mostly from another country, and the two boys are actually from another world."
"Well, that makes it both easier and harder."
"So we bring them with us-"
"Which means a lot of hard questions to answer-"
"And dump the kids in the creepy guy's lap-"
"Making them his problem instead of ours, which is both easier and better for them."
"I like how we think boss."
"Yeah, me too. Go inform Mana and Sagara and get an E.T.A. on that transport. I'm seeing spots again."
"Sure thing boss."
As the clone walked off, Naruto let his head fall back again. Kyuubi had told him that he'd get back to normal soon, but the overload from all those memories that she'd held back during the fighting was not easy to handle. There were literally days of really nervous memories to accommodate, and they were a lot more difficult to process than what he got from training. It was especially hard to see what those creeps did to their prisoners.
Closing his eyes, Naruto focused on healing his mind while waiting for the next phase of their mission.
"Tsukune, where's Naruto-kun?"
Tsukune turned his head and looked at his former admirer. "I don't know Kurumu-san, he's been gone for at least two days now."
"Gone? What do you mean, gone? Isn't he in his room or something?" Kurumu seemed alarmed, and her steadily rising voice was obviously not well received inside the school's library. Deciding to get out before they drew unwanted attention, Tsukune motioned for her to follow him and headed for the doors.
Once outside, he replied to her question. "No, he said that there was something he had to take care of and that he'd try to make it back to celebrate my birthday, but that's all."
"So he's not sick?" The busty succubus asked, apparently not quite able to believe that her newest interest had suddenly disappeared.
"No, he's left the school, with the Headmaster's permission. I'm sure he'll be back soon though."
"Damn, there went my changing-the-clothes-of-the-hot-guy-while-his-sick fantasy. And I even ordered a 'Naughty Nurse' uniform just in case."
"Anyway, I'm gonna go check on Moka-san. She said she'd go to the Arts department again."
Kurumu didn't wince, to her own surprise, and instead nodded slowly. "Good, see if you can get her back to the club room, I don't want my rival to get away with slacking." With a halfhearted wink and showing of leg, she headed off towards the meeting room of the Newspaper club. She was distracted, worrying about what Naruto was doing, and with whom. It therefore took her almost the entire walk to her destination before she realized that she hadn't let Tsukune see her panties. When she did realize that, she was even more surprised when she found that it didn't really bother her. Wasn't he her Destined One? Hadn't she been throwing her body at him to show how important he was to her?
Stopping outside the door to the club room, Kurumu for once spent some time reflecting on the last few weeks. When she thought about it, she remembered that she hadn't really tried to do anything to Tsukune since her date with Naruto. That was odd, seeing as how she couldn't really understand why she'd asked him out in the first place. Sure, she'd rationalized it with her wanting to test dating for a bit, and also get back at that adorable little boy for not telling her about how old he really was. She could have become a child molester without even knowing it unless it had slipped out on that roof.
Yes, that would have been bad, taking him to her bed, ravishing his still clothed form with her eyes, letting her hands roam all over those pleasantly toned arms, stripping him while he begged-
Kurumu suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, realizing just what she was doing. Looking around, she relaxed slightly upon seeing that the hallway was empty. No one had seen her start to blush, heard her panting breaths or smelled how excited she'd made herself just by thinking about that early developed boy, how his eyes would write a tale that could fill a book about the shameful pleasure he'd feel as she-
"Oh Kami, I'm doing it again! Oh, what is wrong with me, I'm fantasizing about a child. I'm a pervert!"
As her newfound revelation settled within her, she tried desperately to come to grips with what she had been thinking. It was absolutely against her nature to do something like that. She was a succubus, she was supposed to make others degrade themselves for her sake, not the other way around. Her mother had told her that the only person a succubus would ever bow to in any way was their Destined One. And suddenly she wanted to rape a young boy. Why? When Tsukune was her destined one, all she did was flaunt herself at him, believing that as soon as he saw how much better she was than all others he'd come to her by himself.
"When he was? Since when did I start to think of Tsukune as something that isn't anymore?" The thought brought the young monster up short. If, and it was a huge if, Naruto was her Destined One, that meant that her destiny had somehow changed. But how was that possible? And why him?
Kurumu felt her head starting to hurt with all the questions, and settled for considering what the change would mean. It explained her sudden exploration of a taboo sexual preference at least. A succubus would always seek to mate the object of her true desire if they were able to. That Naruto was able to was made blatantly apparent by her sudden fantasies. Her thoughts on Tsukune had been a lot like them, although there had been a lot less force involved. That was probably related to the age difference, although it could also be a bit of a warning. He was not at all shy like Tsukune was after all. Maybe that's why she was suddenly feeling so rushed. Maybe whatever part of her it was that controlled her reactions to her Destined One had understood that Naruto could well be taken unless she moved quickly.
Or it might just be a reaction to what she remembered of his naked chest. A thirteen year old should not have those kind of muscles on him. It wasn't that he was particularly buff. Rather his body was lean, strung with tight muscles more geared towards acrobatic maneuvers and endurance rather than raw power. That he could produce an impressive amount of strength anyway must have something to do with his race.
Which was another puzzle for her to worry about. Neither Tsukune nor Naruto had revealed their lineage, and although there was an old saying about power and beauty going hand in hand, she could never believe that Tsukune's shape was any less handsome than his human one. As for Naruto, if his human shape and the power he'd displayed in it were any clues, there would be a monster version of Adonis hiding behind that seal, and once she started thinking about it Kurumu could barely stop herself from taking some private time in the girls' room.
Pushing her desires away was hard, but she managed to get herself under control for long enough to enter the club room. Soon she was distracted with work, as the new edition had been printed and was ready for distribution.
Naruto was dead tired. The aftermath of their operation had been a lot of waiting and tense guarding. All humans had been taken care of by special army units called in by the Headmaster's contacts in Japan's military. The three monsters had been taken by Wardens heading back from their own mission.
That left looking after the civilians. Most were apparently foreigners, as the exotic often netted a higher price. He had to hold himself back from spitting learning that. Treating people as commodities were one of the things that could get him in the mood to hurt someone real quick.
The girls had been abused to varying degrees, although the girl they'd found naked inside one of the bedrooms had mercifully not been violated like that. They had gotten there in time to save at least one of them from that. Kyuubi had done examinations of all the ex-slaves and had except for the girl with the long dark hair only commented that if she'd known exactly what had already happened there would have been a lot more blood. Naruto, having processed the memories by then, agreed.
They had retreated to their hotel room for now, the trio refusing to return to base without their charges coming with them. The small time they'd already spent caring for the freed captives had already lodged them as the only safe and trustworthy people to be around, and Naruto had been very firm with his preparedness to personally rip off limbs if anyone tried to separate him from his charges.
Both Mana and Sagara had cautioned him that it was highly unprofessional to get too attached to the civilians, but when his reply had been a simple "So?" They had simply smiled and nodded. Although some of the girls had been scared of Naruto and Sagara, their fellow victims had soon convinced them to let at least these two males in close. Naruto's heart had been breaking almost continuously during that discussion, as the raw emotions that filled the room told him more than he ever wanted to know about how badly wounded they had been.
He'd known about slavery of course, and his early life, growing up alone in an apartment building located near the red light district had taught him much about the cruelty people could inflict on each other. That was still nowhere near what he'd had to face the last few hours.
Thinking about it, he could feel the rage starting to build again.
Deciding to get some air he headed for the roof. Sagara was on guard, while Mana was holding one of the girls. They'd all been forced to comfort some of the civilians, but most were currently asleep, or at least faking it well.
Climbing the last set of stairs, he felt Kyuubi reach out to him.
"I am sorry that you had to see this master, I had no idea that the mission would be of this nature."
"I know Kyuu-chan. I just need some time to think, then I'll be okay. I've always known that I would end up learning about this if I wanted to be a ninja. Still…"
"I know master." For a short while, they shared his eyes to look at the skyline. A rain storm had moved in during the early hours, and the wetness falling from the sky fitted Naruto's mood perfectly.
"Kyuu-chan?"
"Yes master?"
"When we get back to Konoha, and I'm made Hokage, I swear that we'll fight this evil forever."
"Yes master. Forever."
"We'll have to get rid of Akatsuki and all that too."
"Yes master, it will also be done."
"You know, for a demon you're acting like this affected you a lot."
"Daemon, master, and daemons must not be evil to cause damage. I may be a trickster, and an implacable foe when roused, unforgiving and vindictive. However I have my pride, and doing anything that might relate to what those vile men were doing would never cross my mind. Also, us bonding is affecting me a bit. Your concern, compassion and love for those poor children is something I cannot ignore, even though I must admit to wanting to look the other way. Your way of staring the pain and hurt straight in the face is very impressive and commendable, but it also tears at my soul. What we're forced to face is the truly perverted acts of evil men, and it's difficult for me not to add my rage to yours."
"Then let us pledge to make the world a better place, if necessary one person at a time."
"And if that can only be accomplished by death?"
"I have yet to give up on anyone, but if it becomes necessary, it will be done."
"Yes master. It will."
After that, they spent some time just staring at the scenery, before Naruto decided that he'd been depressed for long enough. No-smiles would probably want to be relieved anyway.
Heading back down, he reflected on how his relationship had changed with his team mates. There had been a lot to do, but once there was a semblance of order in the now crowded hotel room, the three had gathered for an impromptu meeting while Kyuubi stayed with the civilians.
"Well, we did it."
"Yeah. Against all odds I must say, that strike would have been a nightmare without your clones Naruto."
"Heh, thanks Mana-chan."
"Oh? Is someone getting ahead of themselves here?"
"What?"
"Since when did you get to be close to me?"
"Oh sorry, guess I lost that bet huh."
"No, to be fair I believe you did pull our asses out of the fire even before we went into the building. Our information was flawed enough to make success uncertain. I will certainly be proud to call you friend from now on, Naru-gaki."
"Heh, yeah, if we get to call him that, I think I can agree No-smiles."
"Hey, since when did we start making up names for each other?"
"Since right now."
"Well, damn, so what do we call you? Oh wait, I think I know. You're gonna have to be Hot-stuff."
"What?"
"Well, I saw the heat rising from your guns after the fight. Those babies obviously get real hot during battle."
"I would never have thought you were such a pervert Naruto."
"What? Those revovels or whatever where smoking, I saw it myself."
"Oh, you meant my revolvers. Well that's fine I guess, Naru-gaki."
"What else would I mean?"
"Never mind Naru-gaki, I don't think you want to make Hot-stuff explain herself. I know Chidori always gets mad when I do."
"Okay. Who's chidori?"
"A girl in my class back home. I have a long term mission as her bodyguard."
"Huh, back home it's the name of an assassination technique. It's not very quiet, but if it hits it's a one-hit killer."
"Well, that could work as a description of her as well."
"Wonder what she'd say if she heard that you thought about her like that No-smiles."
"Please Hot-stuff, do not even joke about it. She is seriously scary and gets angry quite easily."
"Hmmm, sounds like a girl in my class. Maybe you could come and visit some day and see if they're alike."
"I'm sure it would be enjoyable."
"Well, it is an all-girl class, so I bet. Especially for our little pervert here."
"Hey! I'm not a pervert!"
The bantering had helped. It was obvious that all three had been affected by what had been going on in that basement of horror, and they needed something to help them focus. Bickering about inconsequential things was an excellent way to distract themselves.
"Hey No-smiles, want a break?"
"No, I'm fine. They don't really connect to me like they do to you anyway. That Ruby girl wanted to talk to you by the way."
"Again huh. Fine, we'll talk in a bit."
Heading into the large living room, he quickly located the girl with the long, black hair and the almost painfully pretty face. Every time he saw those marks on that face he had to fight down an urge to hurt someone. His anger wouldn't help her in any way whatsoever, so he swallowed it and focused on her.
"Hey Ruby-san." He said quietly, addressing the back of the girl who obviously wasn't very good at faking her sleep.
"Naruto-sama." Her reply was quiet, yet he couldn't help being slightly taken by it. She had a beautiful voice.
"Hey, I've told you Naruto is fine, I'm nothing special."
"Please, Naruto-sama, don't joke with me. May I ask for a minute of your time where we can be alone?"
"Well, if you're sure…"
"Yes, I trust Naruto-sama with my life."
"Very well, follow me." Standing up, he caught Mana's eye and tapped his throat mic. Someone should monitor what happened after all, the possibility of something going wrong when it was just him and one of the girls was not worth taking. Having Mana as a witness would help clear up any misunderstandings.
Walking out of the room, he led her to one of the bed rooms that was currently unused, since the kitchen didn't have a door. He let her in and closed the door softly. Whatever happened next, he was certain that it would be painful for them both, both Kyuubi had said that it would help to talk now in the long run.
"Well, then, Ruby. What is it?" He asked, activating his mic.
"I would like to pledge my heart, body and soul to you Naruto-sama."
"….What?"
"Moka!" Tsukune suddenly sat up straight, a shout bursting from his lips. Looking around he saw an empty chair next to him, looked out the window seeing that the sun was up. Then he heard a familiar voice calling his name and felt an equally familiar pair of slender arms hugging him.
"Tsukune, thank Kami you're okay!"
"Moka-san, what happened? I was turning to stone-"
"Yes, but when Ishigami-sensei was defeated, the petrification effect was reversed as well." Moka replied, seating herself on the bed.
"So, all those girls-"
"Are just fine. Thanks for saving me Tsukune." Moka smiled at him, making the young human feel extremely happy and awkward at the same time.
"Ah, well, you know, it was nothing really." He replied, scratching the back of his head self consciously.
"Oh really?" A new voice asked. "It's nothing that my student gets into a life and death situation? I thought we had had this conversation once Tsukune. It would seem that further discipline must be forced into that too caring head of yours."
Tsukune looked over to the door. Standing there with a slightly ripped and very bloodstained school uniform was Naruto, a wide grin painted on his face.
"Naruto-san!" He'd barely called out his name in greeting before the blonde had seemingly teleported to his bedside.
"Cretin! I can't be away for a few days without you getting yourself into trouble? I come back from having just survived a mission to crush evil with my awesome powers, wanting nothing more than to shower, change my clothes and eat some ramen, only to be told that the beautiful Moka has once again had to suffer through my useless minion's suicidal attempts at being a hero."
"But Naruto- ouch!"
"Silence! I will not- just a moment Moka-san, if you please- I will not be thwarted in my mission to… Moka-san?"
"Hi Naruto-kun, are you okay?"
"Oh, just fine Moka-san, ahaha. Never better."
"Oh good. Tsukune, remove my Rosario please."
"Huh? Why?"
"The other Moka wants to ask Naruto-kun here something." Moka's reply was as sweet as ever, blatantly ignoring the sudden lack of blood in Naruto's now white face.
"Err, can't we-"
"Of course Moka-san!" With a slightly evil grin, Tsukune grabbed Moka's accessory and pulled it from its holder. A few seconds later, the young girl that had seated herself next to him had markedly filled out and looked to have aged maybe two or three years.
"Thank you Tsukune-kun. And thank you for saving us; it took a lot of guts to stick your hand into that mass of snakes." The apparition of deathly beauty smiled gratefully at him and stood up, before turning towards the suddenly very apprehensive blonde next to her, the smile evaporating and being replaced by an impressive frown. "As for you, there are several questions I want to ask you, starting with the exact nature of this 'mission', or rather why you seem to think that you can risk my supply of blood, come back looking like you do and smelling of at least a half dozen different girls."
"Now, now Moka-san, there's a perfectly good explanation for all this." Naruto stopped talking and waving his hands about when the silvery haired vampire held up a hand.
"Of course there is, and you will give it to me after I punish you for striking my savior. Tsukune did the best in an impossible situation and I will not have you upsetting my other self because of it. Are we clear?"
"Crystal!" Naruto responded, nodding furiously. Then Moka grabbed his shoulders and he froze.
"Good." With that, she sank her fangs into his throat, breaking the skin and letting a little blood start to ooze out before giving it a tentative lick. After a happy sigh she planted her lips over the wound and started sucking gently, emitting small moans every so often and ignoring Naruto's corresponding whimpers.
"Naruto-sama/Naruto-kun/Naru-gaki! What are you doing with that girl/Moka?"
As Moka released him with a content sigh and turned away without giving any notice to the new arrivals, Tsukune looked over at his friend. "Naruto-san, you are the only one I know who can land himself in this much trouble."
Naruto grimaced and carefully rubbed his newest wound. "Me too, and I don't even have to try."
"Moka is out! Three-some time!"
"Then again, you're not so bad yourself."
And cut! Okay, good scene, I'll be in my trailer if you need me.
Well, finally got another update out. I won't bother apologizing, as I never did promise to hold a deadline. I am doing this for fun after all.
I bet some of you recognized a few of the new characters. I was considering making up a few wardens, but figured that since I've already introduced dimension travel and so on I might as well take a short cut. And I do love those two gun totting maniacs. I'm not going to let them affect the story very much however. They have their own lives back home after all. Possibly Mana will be a bit involved as some kind of love interest in the future, but I'm not carving anything into stone here.
So, what do you think? At least one reviewer has already guessed a planned plot development, which irked me no end, but I'm resisting the temptation to change it again. I am especially curious about your thoughts on the fighting and Kurumu's private torment. The wonders of having non-human minds and desires are so much fun to play with.
Well, I'm going to enjoy the rest of the year, savour my presents and try not to swell up from all the food I've been eating. See you on the other side.
Ja ne.