Simplicity is Complexity

by OpposingForce

Three years of absense can create a lot of gaps in friendships. Despite that, however, on his return he realizes someone still loves him deeply, and yet he can't seem to find the heart to love her. NaruHina.

20. Mixture of Delicacies

Simplicity is Complexity

Chapter 20: Mixture of Delicacies

Disclaimer: Wow, when did I own Naruto? This shit? I don't want it even if it's free. The Undead Naruto, on the other hand, I am proud to own. Who wants an Undead Hinata?

AN: Let's do a little bit of calculations. I wonder if 15K words per chapter is a little too ridiculous for my own good. Seriously now, I am really wondering how I even keep this up. Where is my money? Oh my God, I am insane! Despite my crisis, please do read the story. I wouldn't want to start being responsible for your interest to go down, and besides, as long as I am barely alive I am a happy camper.

While it's still fresh in my head, I don't own the song that is somewhere in this story. Thank Arrogant Worms for their ingenious piece of work.

This is the longest piece of work yet for OpForce, and I can't force myself (no pun intended) to take that much pride in it. Is this rambling, or an eventful chapter? I wouldn't know, so I'll let you all decide that on your own. And expect mistakes. It was a real hassle looking for them, and I couldn't dare ask someone else to read a 22K chapter just for grammar when I can't even pay them.

(Naruto's Bedroom)

There was no end to Hinata's loveliness. She was so lovely, and I was feeling better each time I thought about it in my head, or even when I say it out loud without having her actually hearing me. Her looks, her innocent glances, her touch, her will to embrace, her kisses, everything was absolutely wonderful. Sincerely speaking, it was so marvelous that I wouldn't dare to trade off her love for anything else. In spite of that, however, soon I would remember what I was and realize that an undead could never match up with a human in the romantic level. I was dead, and she was alive… and what sort of monstrosity would we create if we did make love? It wasn't like I was an elf and she was a human, and therefore our child would be half elven and half human. In my little predicament, would my child be half-dead? No, that was too horrific to imagine. It was thoroughly sickening…

As if half-alive wasn't odd enough as it was… that was considered to be a freak in my standards.

Just when I noticed my current crisis, all I saw in front of me was Hyuuga Hinata with her eyes closed, lips engaged with mine with no intent to release, and a second later she had her tongue gracefully enter my mouth to have a delicious savour. I had enough of this. This was not the time to do these kinds of things, not when my undead heritage was still in perspective. But still… she was beautiful… so delicate… so lovely… how I didn't want to let her go, and yet the facts were against me. Facts were everything sometimes, just like how I could not pretend to be rich if I was a bum on the streets. If everything could be solved by pretending that the problems did not exist, or pretend that it is done, or pretend that the reality you think of is the reality, then this world would be more damned than it already was. We would be having Y2Ks everyday for all I cared.

Mark my words, just because I wanted to pretend that we were winning the war against the Sound does not mean we actually won. The Sound were just as dangerous as bears –they will kill you.

Back to Hinata, I lightly took her cheeks with my two hands as I guided her head away from mine to break her moment. A pouting look came across her face when she thought that I was just teasing her. However, she knew better when my eyes in all solemnity were staring right into hers without breaking my character. That did not mean she liked it. In all honesty, she was annoyed.

"What now?" Hinata inquired with evident distress and impatience.

"We are going no further," I told her straightly, and yet my hands traveled down her body before resting comfortably on her curvy hips. "We can't."

"You love me, so what is the matter? I allow you to do anything to me… even if I have to lose my virginity to you… I wouldn't mind…"

I knew her dedication was at least at this level, and I didn't like it. Even so, being too direct did not give too many benefits either. "That is something I want you to keep, my dear. Also, I don't want to be that person who takes that precious thing away from you."

"I want no one else but you, my love,"

"I am unfit,"

"Just because you are an undead? Just because you know how to touch other women majestically that you feel guilty? Or is it due to your dark nature? Which is it?"

"All of the above…" I admitted, looking away to avoid unnecessary tension that might be building up. "Just accept the facts, Hinata. Things have changed due to my stupidity… I apologize for that… I never knew that my death was able to crush hopes… and especially yours. I know there is nothing that I can do to regain my human body, not even if you find his bones. Well, have fun differentiating it among all the other corpses if you are that insanely dedicated. Perhaps some wild dogs might have taken a part of it and claimed it as their new delicious chew toy. In spite that you may find the shell that protected my old self, that does not mean I will go back to that filthy carriage. This unholy body has given me wonders. I can do so much more that my old self could not do during those times that he was alive, and that includes the skillfulness of my hands when it comes to art or touching women. Despicable as it may be, it is a newly blessed talent that I should take pride in… or not so…

"Hinata, my dear, I want to ask you something…"

"Whatever could it be, my love?"

"Do you dislike me?"

She smiled warmly as a light laugh came from her kindly. "If I love you, I don't think I would have the heart to dislike you."

"No, what I mean is… well, would you like it more if I was still… human…"

"If you are still so tense up about this undead ordeal, Naruto-kun, I have told you many times that I don't mind at all. I really do love you, and you love me, too."

"Still…" I said, having my worries and doubts. "You still have to like something more than the other, Hinata, and it doesn't matter how insignificant the difference is. You still like one more than the other, right? So, if you have to pick, what would it be?" Once more, Hinata had a trademark smile of hers across her features, sympathizing greatly knowing my discomfort in asking the question altogether. She knew how I felt, and I couldn't ask for anything better. She seemed so ever understanding, as though she was anticipating something to that degree from me.

"Do you really want the truth?" she asked me to confirm.

"Please, that is most preferred,"

"Then I like the undead you more."

I was shocked. In fact, the bewilderment I faced almost caused my whole body to jolt correspondingly. I wished that I acted more gracefully, unfortunately the initial impact did a little too much excessive damage for me to be able to redeem myself. "You're not serious, Hinata, my dear," I told her with genuine awe. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Why would you say something like that?"

Hinata was all too glad to elaborate. "Naruto-kun was a nice, kind, considerate boy," she began her preaching as she kissed me on the cheek. Now I realized that she was still above me, yet something felt a little different. Whether the change was minimal, I still caught it. Her breasts, they were now grinding against my upper chest, in which was close to my neck. From this angle, I could tell that Hinata was getting aroused. Even if it may be slow and gradual, the body heat she radiated certainly increased during our make out, and it was only growing warmer. "But in spite those attributes, unfortunately, he was a little too self-centered to be considered a real gentleman."

That was insulting indeed. I only expected the damage to sink further in.

"Sorry then…" I apologized out of impulse.

"Don't be," she cooed and planted a feathering kiss on my forehead this time. "Everyone has weaknesses. And yours included being inconsiderate towards certain people, in which I was one of them. You always carried a sense of confidence around, like Lee, but unlike Lee, you don't think before you say or do. You can even say I felt a very distinctive feeling of stupidity. Therefore, you will do things that might not suit the interests of some, and yet they are too kind to complain to you about it. You may be blind metaphorically, but you were such a good spirit at heart that people rather keep the comments to themselves than to hurt you."

Guilt started its consumption as planned. "…" I was speechless. Actually, I was disgusted.

"I thought I would have no chance to talk to you again," she continued soothingly although this was a depressing topic that crushed her heart. Yet, to my sheer amazement, she was speaking as if it was not a bother at all. "You were regularly so spontaneous and unpredictable that no one could catch up with whatever you are doing even if they want to do quests or missions with you. You come and go, in a way, and frequently leave your friends behind when all they wanted was to see you off, or just have a friendly chat. I know your life is quite eventful, and I can't help that, but I prayed that there would at least be one moment that you won't be so busy… so I can talk to you one on one… and then perhaps you would know me better…"

"You had no faith in me, did you," I said, out of grief. "Did you really think that I would… no, I wouldn't ignore you… I think that I wouldn't take your words to heart as well as some of the other people, right? Like, your influence would be overshadowed by the more powerful ones like… Sakura, or Kakashi, or Tsunade…"

Hinata nodded briefly as she continued. "I never had much, or any, position in your life, I knew that. I was about to lose hope and move on, if you must know, and that was when I met you again. If you must take note of something, my love, then you should listen to this. When you showed up at your apartment again and started talking with that sense of understanding and consideration over the people you have discarded… I found you irresistible. You were charming, my love. Once I fully realized that this mysterious boy was Uzumaki Naruto, something drew me to you, and it was something major. In one conversation, my love, I saw myself as a foolish girl who did not believe in you well enough. I did not have enough faith in you. Just when I thought I was no more than an acquaintance in your eyes, you told me that I was a dear friend instead. You might not have remembered my name, yet the image of me was definitely there, and you tried so hard, too, to remember to make me happy.

"Do you remember that I was so delighted that I couldn't control myself and hugged you, my love?"

I didn't know if I should be smiling, snickering, or remain neutral. In a graceful act of compromising, in my terms anyway, I just weakly grinned. "Who could… forget…"

"At that instant, you showed me something. You showed me that you knew how to react to affection, and you were very welcoming, very inviting… it made me feel safe and it also made me want more. You ceaselessly make me want to have more. It's your talent regardless of how subtle it is. The Naruto-kun, who I thought was, to be blunt, a dense imbecile, no longer stood before me. Instead, I saw a majestic change for the better. Kami-sama answered my prayers, and that is the reason why I am not an atheist. This drastic maturity drew me in, making me wonder how much you could have possibly grew after all these years of living outside this home. For some, Konoha is certainly a great home under the laws of retribution justice and holy protection, and conveniently the demonic population is always at an all time low due to the extreme prejudices. For you, as a half-demon, it may be a hellhole and in more ways than one, too."

"So you noticed," I said, smirking frailly, "I suppose I could expect double the rejection now for being an undead demonic assassin. How do you think these wretched fools would react to see an undead, my dear?"

Hinata thought about it for a minute, and her hand stroked my cheek lovingly as she began to ponder out the possibilities, in which involved nothing good but she was too kind to break it out so directly. "Despite my vast knowledge over the different adversaries that threaten the Hyuuga clan, or perhaps Konoha as a whole, you are really the first undead person that I have seen or heard of. I suppose you belong to a fairly new race that only stirred up recently for the sheer fun of it."

"Sheer fun of it?" I questioned, completely astounded by her reasoning with outrage as my primary support. "What is your support to this unspeakable theory?"

"As Anthris-sama told me earlier, most demons, depending on their strength and power, do not realize that their magic capabilities, given if they are masters at shadow magic, can enable them to raise the dead. Some do, like I said, and they really just do it for the amusement of having something move because they have the power to do so. You might be an undead, but you have been taking it easy. Anthris-sama treats you so well, and she even takes care of you under her guidance and nurture –unlike many demons. Being brought back to life as a monstrosity is horrible, Naruto-kun… many demons revive them so they would endure more agony and torment on this mortal world, and soon they won't even care for them and let the fact of being reborn sink in. Outcast by the living, hated by anything and everything else that moves when they should be in heaven resting in peace… and for what? Why must they be summoned back? I am so happy that you didn't turn out like them. Naruto-kun, my love, you will always have people that love you no matter what you have become. Please, don't ever forget that."

Her words reached my soul, the remnants of it, anyway. "Is this why the undead have created the legendary Undercity in order to find a place of their own where the other inhabitants did not seem too friendly with them around? The pieces of the puzzle fits."

"Undercity?"

"The name is exactly what you interpret to be," I told her, smiling in a relaxed fashion as though I accomplished something that I could now die in peace. "It's a well forged, protected city underground and beneath the soil the living walk on. The citizens are all undead from different origins, and I am referring to what sort of demonic magic was used to bring them back to life. Some, I heard, are necromancers and acolytes who combine their powers as one to revive one of the strongest heroes that have fallen in the past to serve as Undercity's mightiest lieutenants and generals. The city is continuously populated with corpses, and the supply is endless. The good bodies that hold a significant enough stench of chakra would be preserved as resurrected as undead warriors, and the rejects… they would be used as a feast for all. There is so much meat… the bloody scent that defiles the air… it is wonderful…" I stopped and licked my lips vigorously as a bit of drool escaped my mouth, and Hinata caught on to my sudden excitement.

"My love…"

"I am not done yet…" I gasped, now sounding desperate to satisfy this immense hunger I had for blood and meat. "In Undercity, the wealth is only half of it. Wealth is not important, because population and strength holds more significance than having money. Then again, our food is, in more ways than one, free. As an undead, there are a little secrets that I managed to discover about myself, and some of them are advantages that are just too hard to ignore just so we can have a little bit of edge in combats."

"Is it your speed?"

"That is nothing but a side-effect," I dismissed her question intelligently, "I practically inherited Anthris' powers and I was forced to learn her tactics or I wouldn't be able to use her chakra too well for my benefit. Secondly, it just so happens that I cannot muster up power that efficiently, and the urgency for my need-for-speed doubles. It wasn't a hard thing to do though. Do you remember the twin swords I promised you?"

"You managed to finish them already?" Hinata asked in bewilderment.

"You gave me the ores just two days ago or less, Hyuuga Hinata," I laughed as I poked her in the cheek to return a fraction of the attention she gave me. Hinata, once again, blushed up appreciatively to feel my sudden touch. "And the events that have been happening around me do not appear to give me any free time to do anything else. Nowadays, I prefer rest above all. But I will tell you a little secret to make the metals stronger than any earthly metal discoverers have discovered so far."

She grew interested. It was perfect. Then I whispered everything I knew about the undead blacksmithing to enrich the minerals to demonic elements of death. The word death intrigued me deeply, but I kept it a secret to myself instead of sharing. Before, I saw it as a vile event that was unfair to anyone. To be honest, that was something that would haunt every mortal until this world crumbled. Death was, as a matter of fact, not just. However, being an undead was the same, it was an unfair treatment. If my soul went to hell, perhaps this would be a blessing because unlike humans, we undead lived forever. If I was in heaven though, then this was a curse than a gift. Why should I be brought back to be relinquished and chained to this? Just when I thought heaven was the place for me, I realized that if I died I would be facing hell. There was room in heaven for many, but my sins would definitely not be able to reserve a place for me.

Even so, I sometimes asked this question: why was I summoned back here?

"So I would be wielding a demonic weaponif you were to complete it," said Hinata, imagining the fantasies of the possible creative creations I was planning to forge for her. No matter what it was, I was certain that I would make them into something even more beautiful than my own set of armaments. "What sort of abilities do you think would come out of it?"

"Maybe upon equipping it may give you better healing and movement. It really depends on the percentage of blood I use and the mixture of elements, or perhaps the mixture of different blood. The more variety of demonic influence the more powerful the abilities would be. I think you are anxious, aren't you, my lovely dear?"

The Hyuuga princess flushed endearingly to hear me call her by that name. "You really think I am lovely, Naruto-kun? Oh, you really do love me…."

"I love you, Hinata," I told her as I pulled her in more gently. "But not in a lusty way. I cherish this feeling between us more than you think I do. It's no different with Rika and Anthris… they are two people in my life that I cannot discard… because they did more than helping me keep my sanity…"

"They are really wonderful women… I wish I had friends like that…"

"And you do, my dear. Anthris and Rika are your friends now, too. I know that they absolutely love you."

"Naruto-kun, I still want to know you more… It's not like we are strangers to another, but there are so many things that I want to share with you… and vice versa… I know you no longer want to be Hokage… am I correct?"

I slowly nodded with closed eyes. "I suppose Rika told you that."

"Somewhat. She told me your true motives and what is hidden behind this desirable, charming… alluring mask of yours… you are undyingly irresistible…"

I blinked at the second I found her very emotional and burning with desire. "What?"

"And I only assumed the rest," she resumed, switching her mask back to normal. "It wasn't difficult by then, really…"

"I suppose not," I stated, chuckling for no reason but my body acted anyway. "I guess I am not as cunning as I thought I am…"

"Everything is easy once you break it down," she said kindly. Hinata was only listening intently a moment before, but now she was doing something close to staring –with a great deal of lust as a motivation. She found something exotic while examining my expression, and if I wasn't wrong, in which I was rarely ever in that sort of predicament, and it must have been sparkling her hormones. This was certainly not the first. Lip licking was never a good sign, and being noticeable about it made the situation twice as worse. The aura, no doubt, shifted to a less pure one, and it was not the easiest thing to do to maintain one myself to counter hers when she knew my intentions, in which she was dying to beat me to it no matter what the cost was.

I decided to break the tension. No, actually talking increased the pressure for me while the excitement grew for her. Besides a cold shower, literally, what could lower her inner fires? "Hinata, are you okay?"

She shook her head as she tilted it back to release all the emotional strain that was lingering in her senses. It made her appear so sexy and appealing as she loosened up. I suddenly gave my focus to her large breasts, in which looked tempted to burst out of her buttoned up blouse. Banishing these thoughts immediately, I moved my eyes to her smiling face, in which was now smeared with delight as she figured out where my eyes once were before. Her right hand then imitated a fan, and soon enough she starting to wave to blow away the heat her body was generating. Hinata was incredibly attractive indeed.

"Naruto… I am famished…" she said desirably.

"You getting hungry?" I question, obvious to know that she was getting turned on.

"I am famished for you… my love…" she slurred her words sexily as she guided my whole body to a sleeping position on the bed and with her still half sitting up to be watching me from a higher view. Hinata was more alluring than any other woman I have ever met and not because I never touched her yet, but rather she was just so special in words that I could not express despite my vast vocabulary. The right woman, according to my personal standards, must be more amazing than myself in more ways than one, and shockingly, Hinata had gone beyond that in a month or two. "Let's make out… please? I want you so badly…"

"We can wait," I said deliberately to see her reaction.

"But I want you now, my love,"

I kissed her on the forehead when her body came down. She thought I was obedient, but I proved to be a rebel. I kissed her forehead and no more. She whined and then pouted, and yet all I did was grin knowingly at the fact that I ignored her requests despite the urgency of it. "You may drain my whole soul if we commenced our act of affection, my lovely Hinata. The soul is willing-" And she almost kissed me right there, however my index finger caught her chin skillfully. "You are getting too impatient, Hinata," I spoke darkly with a touch of evident authority.

"Is this what you do to get women in the mood?" Hinata inquired, full of anticipation and excitement hidden behind that cute expression. "I say you are doing a fantastic job."

"You have seen nothing yet," I told her, assuring my statement with subtle confidence.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata interrupted my sentence with another tone of voice. Sure, her arousal was still there to an extent, but it sounded to me that she wished to switch the subject briefly. "Do you have something that you really want to do? What about your new dreams as an undead? No matter who you are, or what you have turned into, you still have a goal and not simply wander around senselessly. Or perhaps… your wish is to go to Undercity?"

"You are not wrong for presuming such an possibility," said I, grunting a little for the sheer sake of it.

"So you do want to go there… Would it be a bother if I come with you to find this legendary location?"

Somehow, this was not a surprising request. I expected something along those lines, and that was because this was Hyuuga Hinata, and her loveliness had no bounds. "I don't know about that… to be honest with you, my dear,"

The Hyuuga hime became saddened, as though what I said was a form of rejection. I may not have meant it that way, however, she did not see it so optimistically. "Do you not want me along? Am I a bother? I love you, my love… I don't want you to go without me… Please, I will be useful…"

I laughed, not loudly though, at her silliness. "Who said anything about you being useless? If anything, I would be worried if you do come along, but not due to the fact you serve as a hindrance. Your safety, I am afraid, cannot be guaranteed, and not because I won't take care of you, don't get me wrong. Undercity hates the living, Hinata, and they will kill you and use your body as a feast for their bloody urges. Not even I have the power to protect you at that point if they wished to do something that vile. They are undead, ad they have no mercy for those who are alive and those who live better lives than they do. Call it childish, but their vengeful spirits and jealousy are undoubtedly strong, and I have my concerns regarding their willingness to change."

Hinata, under extreme emotions, nearly took the ability for me to draw air as she embraced me hard. "Oh, my love, you do love me!" she exclaimed, almost in tears of joy. "I love you so much."

"I know, I know you do,"

"Hey, you are not suppose to say that anymore, you know," she whined as she nuzzled my nose with hers.

"What do you want me to say then?"

"You love me, and I love you, so when I say 'I love you,' you should be responding with 'I love you, too,' or something along those lines to make a girl happy."

So how many I-Love-You's did that previous sentence contain? I lost count. Couldn't blame me though.

"You know how I feel, and so that's good enough, right?" I saw her stern look, and I sighed in forfeit. "Fine, fine… if you stop looking at me like that, I will say it."

"Say it,"

"You're still looking at me,"

"I will stop until you say it,"

"That's not what we agreed on," Hinata frowned sadly, in which was a powerful way to alter the odds to her favour by planting the seeds of guilt, and if the plan did end in success, then I would be giving in to her demands. In all seriousness, I already knew that I lost from the very beginning. "Okay, okay. I love you, too, Hinata," A smile immediately came across her face. "Are you happy now?"

"Very happy," she chirped with pleasure. "I don't know what I would do without you,"

"I am sure you would be okay with or without me," I said, poking the soft cheeks she had a little bit out of curiosity. How was she this endearing and yet had such features that rivaled a beauty? Hinata was a being that had the perfect fusions of humanity's greatest attributes. The Hyuuga girl was good for a human, but almost a saint as an undead. "You have been doing fine for the past three years, and your developments have clearly reached a potential that most people would not expect. How can you clarify me as someone that you need to rely on so much?"

"I was only doing it for you, my love… I was able to persist because I know you would return one day whether you might not be returning to me… but I didn't have to worry when I realized that you cared for me like how I care for you. If you were never planning to come back, Naruto-kun… I would hate you forever…"

Although I should be feeling something, my emotions were kept low. In the end, I was simply nodding. "Hate me forever…" I repeated lifelessly, "That seems a little extreme… and selfish… but I guess you feel that way because you love me, right? But don't you think it is kind of senseless to be hating someone like that when they don't have any feelings for you? If I did not even acknowledge your existence, or perhaps if I did not even know that you loved me like you do, I would find it very pointless for you to harbour such intense feelings. It wouldn't be worth it."

"But you love me, so that philosophy is invalid," she spoke cheerfully with a victorious chirp at the end of her speech.

"However, what would happen if I didn't love you? Will you be insane enough to kill yourself?"

"No, of course not, but I would be really depressed and never find another love again,"

"That is too extreme, my dear,"

"I love you and only you," she insisted and took my lips with a delicate kiss, "I would never do anything like I would to you to anyone else who is undeserving."

I grew curious despite the tension. That was incorrect, no… The problem was, actually, that I failed to catch the sensuality and hidden messages behind her words. Oblivious to the sudden change, I only fell in deeper to her little trap. "What would you do to me that you would not do for anyone… oh… oh… that…" The princess had her tongue running across her lips once to moisten it sexily, in which almost was a subtle call for me to kiss her. Did she know she was very gorgeous? I knew that I didn't compliment her enough, but she must have obtained some confidence about her looks, or she wouldn't be so seductive around me so often. Perhaps she picked this skill up with Rika and Anthris without me knowing. At the same time, however, the conscious decision that I chose not to do anything about her seduction only encouraged her to keep going.

These women clearly had a liking to do things behind my back, and then have their share of amusement when I became a puppet in their hands. Yes, they would just love that to happen. Then again, it already did happen once just hours ago, and yet I was grateful to an extent that I wasn't being gang-raped. The next time, however, I didn't have my guarantees, nor did I expect their cunningness to be any less than it was today.

"I want to make love with you, my love," said Hinata dreamily, swooning all over me with her charm, beauty, sexuality, and affection as she kissed me everywhere on my visage. –especially the lips. "That's how much I love you, Naruto-kun,"

"Quite a dedication you have here, my dear," I stated, completely unaffected by the temptations of lovemaking due to the fact that I was so exposed to it thoroughly in the past. "I am not sure if you can take on such a responsibility when we are not officially a pair." It was no surprise to see her bewildered at my stoic behaviour when she thought that she had me in her ensnaring web. Despite that fact, however, she found another opening sharply.

Her starting move was to nuzzle closely. Soon enough, she would dive in for the kill. "But we love each other. Doesn't that automatically make us a couple? I want to be your girlfriend, and I am sure you want to be my boyfriend just the same."

"Indeed I do, but make love… that is an issue we cannot tread upon with such a carefree state. I do love you, Hinata, but as a human, or undead in my case, lovemaking is just a step too huge…"

"Do you love me enough to make love to me, Naruto-kun?"

"I am sleeping, Hinata," I quickly interjected, "Good night," With that said, I slipped into my covers and shielded my face from her vision as promptly as I would react if I needed to run into a bomb shelter during a nuclear war. Knowing the Hyuuga girl, she wouldn't simply let me end things so abruptly and not to her liking. That was Hinata, and it would be best for me to know her that way. Instead of speaking, she decided to slip in the bed next to me –under the covers, of course. It was not my intention to yell, but I could not help myself when a girl as gorgeous as Hinata gave no warning whatsoever to do something this extreme. "What are you doing!"

"I'm sleeping with you," Hinata persisted adorably, and not having no for an answer. When she meant sleep, I knew she was referring to the resting sleep than having sex sleep. "And we can talk."

I turned to have my back towards her uneasily. "I am tired," I stood by my opinions and tried pitifully to escape her hands, in which were attempting to hold me close. "If I don't sleep, I will drain too much of my battery before my body fades away, Hinata. I need my rest. Please understand."

Hinata, although she realized my dilemma, or situation if I wished to de-exaggerate my condition, did not let me go that easily. "Can't we talk? I love talking to you. Your words always sound so rich." What a nice compliment that was –coming from her, it almost classified as either sarcasm, or she would want something out of me afterwards.

"I've practiced," I replied, in spite that I should not have, since this was the start of her whole plan, "I've been reading quite a bit to build up my vocabulary."

"When you talk to me, I feel like I am reading a book," she giggled. "Well, maybe you talk like someone is writing things down for you. I never dreamed that your mind could possess that level of intelligence, my love." That stung hurt a lot even though there was no physical form of it. I almost convinced myself that I was bleeding to death, or at least dying quickly due to the severity of the blow itself.

"You are fascinatingly mean, my dear," I said, still having my back to her but her hands snaked around my waist with her breasts pressed against my back soothingly. It didn't help the moment Hinata slowly began to grind closer, and having her ample chest rubbing so sensually definitely did not serve as an assistance for me to sleep. "If you hurt my feelings like that, you would discourage me to talk. And bad comes to worse, I might become a mime before committing suicide out of the pain from isolation and other related tortures. You wouldn't want that now, would you, not when things are just starting to heat up." I then did something bold –I shifted my body around. "So in order to prevent such a horrible outcome," I kissed her on the forehead swiftly and sweetly as I spoke. "Let me sleep. Okay? Thank you."

I ended my words with a seal to her lips. The Hyuuga girl was only so willing to accept it, and yet she found it disappointing to find my tongue not leaving my territory. In short, I simply gave her a sweet kiss and nothing more, and needless to say, my affection failed to meet Hinata's standards by a whole notch. Clearly, I figured that out way before hand thanks to my awareness.

Then she started to beg. Not pitifully, of course, but as an act of appeasement, in which was roughly around the same way how Hitler did a several decades, or perhaps around a century ago. "But I am not tired…" She knew it was her time to step down the instant she found me not giving in. After all, I was very serious; for I did not wish to die now when I had Hinata by my side. Truly, I always had her ever since I had returned to this God forsaken hellhole, but now things would be a little different –or perchance drastically different, but only time would tell I guessed. "Okay… I am sorry… I'll let you sleep, my love. You must be very exhausted from… us… Demo…(But)"

"Doshi-ta (What's wrong), Hinata?"

"May I… sleep next to you tonight?"

"Only if you tell me where Rika and Anthris are," I told her my compromising agreement, in which was nowhere close to being unreasonable.

Hinata immediately obeyed. "They are in your living room on standby if you were planning to do something dirty when you were to wake up. I suppose it wasn't necessary by the end, since you were such a good boy."

"Don't baby me,"

"But you are so cute sometimes,"

"And yet you are gorgeous," I praised her knowingly.

"Good night, Naruto-kun. I love you,"

"I love you, too, my dear," I said and planted one more soft kiss on her cheek, "Have a very good night."

And sleep overwhelmed our senses –my senses, to the very least. I didn't know about her, however, I did know her arms did not leave my waist during the whole night. Really, she wouldn't want that to happen.

"I forgot one more thing," Hinata suddenly spoke, "Do you want to hear it, my love?"

"Is it another 'I love you?'"

"No, something else,"

"Call the shot,"

"You know about my Byakugan…"

"What about it?"

"You know when I said that I could differentiate which was you amongst the Kage Bunshins earlier? Well… Naruto-kun… I lied. I just wanted to tell you that. Good night, my love." She kissed me five times around my cheek before she rested her hands around my waist just like before, and then she slept soundlessly like an angel.

My eyes did not close until many hours later. The horror I just faced was too overwhelming, so powerful that sleeping no longer seemed right if I wanted to keep the remnants of my confidence. Despite we confessed our hearts for another I did not feel any safer. Look at it this way, this was a form of absolute forfeit, where I had no power left whatsoever and only lived to live under Hinata's orders.

Was this freedom, or another set of uncertainties?

(Morning of the following day)

I would admit that I was lying if I wasn't at least a little stunned to see Rika and not Hinata beside me when I woke up. Rika loved to wear little, or nothing aside from her delicate panties and loose top, during her sleep, and this time her choice of clothing at this moment was… it was a very revealing white tank top that outlined her busts a little too thoroughly and failed to cover her naval. As for her lower attire, she had a pair of cut off jean shorts that was slightly larger than a bikini bottom. Not only did Rika find this choice of clothing comfortable in many cases, she clearly knew that it was something that seduction artist would absolutely adore.

Still, I had to ask myself why was she doing this to me? As far as I was concerned, Rika loved being seductive around me, as though she found the ideal person to take her virginity away. Many men tried to pour their hearts for this lady chef, in which did not look too attractive in that white chef attire, but many people waited for the right opportunity to see her in casual wear. Needless to say, there were quite a fair amount of heart attacks that day. Not me though, no, for I was exposed to that beauty so often that I managed to survive quite well. Rika was beautiful, I admitted that much without an ounce of hesitation, but she was definitely attracting the wrong crowd. What made it even sadder was how this was beyond her control, and it wasn't too hard to understand why Rika tried to stay by me whenever I was around. Hell, that was why we even invented "The Session" with another because that was the only thing that seemed exciting to show our feelings for another. To be honest, I felt I owe Rika an apology, as though I never seemed to do enough for her when she poured her soul to do anything for me.

If it weren't for Hinata, Rika was surely to be my wife. She would be such a lovely wife.

And so… I wondered why Rika was so optimistic towards the whole thing. Did it truly not bother her? I doubt it.

I looked at her sleeping face and smiled to myself. She was like Hinata in many ways, so cute and lovable. When Hinata had a subtle beauty, Rika had a downright obvious one, and with my intellect I picked up that she did not cherish this attribute of hers as much as she wanted to. Then again, getting the wrong attention made it real hard for anyone to put a smile on their face, and even someone as delightfully spirited as Rika found that a little too challenging to bear. If it were up to me, that attention must be eliminated –by any force necessary. My blades could use some blood, and although I sounded a lot more barbaric as Tenten it was a difficult task to rid myself from natural instincts as an undead, and a feast would soon come afterwards. Yes, death was never fair for anyone, but like I said being an undead wasn't that just either.

Why bother to irritate Rika when they could become my prey? As long as I was alive, in which I intended to live forever, no one dared to touch my violet haired friend.

"Rika," I called her name as I placed my hand on her shoulder to shake her softly so she wouldn't have a need to experience a rough waking up call. "It's time to get up."

"Need sleep…" she murmured like a baby when she felt my touch. "Rika is sleepy…"

"You can't be that drained," I called out, slowly slipping my hands under my covers to plan out a strategic method to tickle her. "You weren't dealing with orgasms-" God be damned… I accidentally stroked her crotch… and it was dripping… enriched with her essence. What the hell did I do to get this result? Oh, please… I prayed that she wasn't trying to reach her orgasms while I was unconscious… Deep down, seriously, I knew what she did. Although I should be a little bewildered at the level of boldness, I felt a little excited and yet disappointed that I missed this golden opportunity. Contradictions followed by another set of contradictions… how would my life end at this rate?

The situation got worse, actually, when she woke up at last. "Oh, you are awake, Naruto," she said delightfully and then taking a good yawn with stretched out arms. Did the intense wetness between her legs not bother her? Her thighs were thoroughly covered in them…

"Indeed I am," I told her, eyeing her carefully on the face area than to think about her crotch. "And what brings you in my little private sanctuary?"

"I slept here before," she whined, pouting a little. "Am I not welcomed here anymore?"

"Don't be foolish, Rika," I said, "You are always welcomed. I was just wondering how you were able to sleep here when Hinata was with me yesterday. You didn't kick her off, did you?"

"Of course I have my share of courtesy, Naruto. I wouldn't do something like that to Hinata-chan."

"Then where is she?"

"She went back home for some personal reasons, something to do with her sister. She wanted to make you breakfast, but I guess things got in the way. Are you still feeling weak, Naruto?"

"Not anymore," I replied, and then something hit me, "Where is Anthris?"

"She went out for some fresh air. Don't worry about your chakra, Naruto, she charged it back up for you so your body is very stable –unless you senselessly drain so much of it that your body would lose more than you regenerate. I have to say that she was proud of you,"

"Anthris, you mean?"

"It's great to see Hinata and you together, Naruto,"

"About that, Rika…"

"Oh, I have some good news,"

"Like what?"

"I found another job, and I am going to work here in Konoha,"

My heart stopped beating.

Sure, this was delightful news, but at the same time this only meant that more dreadful events were going to come. I kept that fact as hidden as I could, and thus I wouldn't ridiculously create holes of weaknesses, but the question was how long could I possibly keep this charade up without making anything seem too obvious? Having Hinata and Anthris living so close to me was already an evident problem, and now I had this girl to deal with, too, and I was relying on the fact that she lived a distance away so she would not pose the same threat compared to my demonic guardian or the adorable Hyuuga princess. Death, at the moment, was knocking at my door. Sure, I had the choice not to answer it, but I lacked the power to do so.

"That's…" Speech impairment again. "… great…"

"I am glad that you are happy for me!" wailed Rika with genuine enthusiasm as she embraced me hard. Hugging her back would be meaningful and thoughtful, but all I ended up doing was choke from the sudden strength. "Aren't you a little curious as to know what kind of job I took?"

"With your skills, it must involve something in the cooking field, correct? But do surprise me, Rika, what sort of offer was given to you?"

"Guess for me,"

"It's morning, Rika, it's way too early for me to start pondering on choices, or playing charades, or whatever that requires inquiry and intelligence to solve."

"Everything needs that," she stated out straightly, a little grim on the fact that I wasn't going to play with her. "Oh, can't you just guess for me? Please?"

"But I am…" The look on her face, in which was a saddening frown, forbade me to reject her request. She even made that puppy look, too… damn it, now I looked like the bad guy when we were both at a neutral stand point. Could I descend any lower? "Fine, fine," I gave in at last. Instantly, Rika's frown was swapped with a happy grin. "But I still have no idea, you know. Can't you just tell me?"

"You might get a heart attack though…"

"Indeed? Then try me,"

"You're going to regret this," she said in a sing-along voice. "Here goes. Tsunade-sama hired me to be her personal chef after Jiraiya introduced me to your Hokage. Tsunade-sama was hungry when I arrived, and so I agreed to fix her a snack in the kitchen. When she ate it, she was so delighted that she demanded that Jiraiya allowed me to work for her immediately. I agreed, of course, which was also fairly immediate. That was when you were unconscious, of course."

"But why…?"

"Why visit Tsunade-sama, you mean? I need to legally sign in as a guest, Naruto. It's the rules, as Jiraiya says, and I can't help but to agree. At least now I won't get arrested."

"I suppose," I stated as I pondered over the possible punishments for not following the law for a second there. "What about Uritake? What are you going to do about that?"

"I am planning to move here, of course. I'm a student there, you see, and all my relatives are in another country so I can leave whenever I want –provided if I have a good cause. I am sure my parents would not mind my choice."

Easy for her to say, I was more worried over my life than to be congratulating on hers. If she were to move here, where would she stay? My place? That was my first impulse, excuse me. If it was a day ago, perhaps that was not something impossible. With Hinata as my lover, future girlfriend, and if that survived we would be a married couple, it would be tough to allow Rika to stay here on this location for more than a several weeks before Hinata got all fussy about it. As friendly as Hinata and Rika were with another, living together with me did give me an impression that there were higher chances to spark up disagreements. Knowing my lovely chef friend, for she was as lusty as Hinata, certainly they would not find a problem in competing against another to find out which one of them was more seductive, charming, lusty, irresistible among the two. If they ever asked me which one of them was more desirable, my mouth would go blank.

An act of cowardice, perhaps? Why, of course not, my friends. If some rationality were put into that question, women would know by now that their question was not an inquiry, but a death sentence.

Seriously speaking, how could I answer? Each of my choices led me to an inevitable death, and even though most people thought that Rika was substantially less evil than Hinata, I failed to find that to be true. It was illegitimate to the fullest extent. As sad as it may be, most lame ducks were fooled by first appearances alone, indeed; but not me, though. I just knew a little better. Not a whole lot, but enough to get myself out of a considerable number of messes.

Despite her appearance, Rika loved affection –especially from me. To receive less than her expectations was not excusable, and she definitely would not let that stand until she found justice.

Justice… it had really become a cheap word now. I haven't seen my share of justice ever since injustice cursed itself around my daily living style.

Although life was a game of winning some and losing a lot, Rika's stubborn nature certainly gave her a lot more wins than losses. She, for one, was not afraid to lose, or she wouldn't allow that outcome to haunt her. She knew how to take risks, and most importantly she wouldn't permit failures to defeat her. Winners, as she kindly stated once, got inspiration from losing, and the true losers never got back up after one setback. Indeed, I learned a lot from her in spite that her principle was once something that I carried around during the days I had my human body. Perhaps some parts of my old self was not as horrible as I thought it was. Nonetheless, however, I still found his nature to be a liability than an asset. I was not saying that Rika was unreasonable, for she was only this stubborn if the importance of the subject was deadly crucial, and I, in her eyes, was nevertheless the most important in comparison to many other things. I was her world in this loneliness, and when I gave some consideration to understand Rika's feelings I truly wondered that if Hinata's sudden 'intrusion' destroyed any hopes that she was planning for so long.

Just because Hinata's wishes were made first, that did not make Rika's any less genuine.

It wasn't a bad idea to inquire that from her, but this question might upset Rika. In short, I kept quiet -for now, anyway.

"So, you are going to move here…" I half mumbled and half spoke, "Where do you intend to stay?"

"I am sure there will be some apartments in town,"

"What about your things in Uritake?"

"I would need someone to help me move them here," she said as she pushed a strand of her long hair behind her shoulders appealingly. That surely indicated something, and I wasn't that dumb not to notice it.

"Do you want me to come with you to Uritake soon?"

"That would be wonderful,"

"Indeed it will. I would want to visit that place once more for the sake of experiencing a memory lane. Then again, I went through one the day I returned to this God forsaken hellhole… that was almost a dreadful nightmare that I thought I abolished for good… but no worries, this one would be memorable because I have you with me."

"Thank you, Naruto," she hugged me harder and more intimate than before as she exclaimed with delight. "I love you. You are so kind to me."

"I'd only be welcomed to aid you, Rika. Believe me, this is not a troublesome request. Should we make our plans now?"

"How about we do it during a meal?" she suggested with a bright smile, clapping her hands together as though she had a marvelous idea in her mind, and in which she did. I briefly nodded, and then she jumped off the bed to get herself changed to something more appropriate for cooking before telling me to get my morning rituals done. For a moment there, I found her choice of panties and a loose top to be quite a satisfactory fashion sense for preparing food. I could imagine it now, and she looked so desirably sexy, too. The way her hair sways as she moved like she was flying; how she ran her hand through her beautiful hair to increase the arcane sexiness; the unique method of moving her hips as though there was a beat that no one else but her could hear, and in response she moved her perfectly shaped rear that did not make her fat to the slightest so sensuously. What an angel… I was convinced that Rika was sent down from heaven, and pains and tortures that only the mortals faced could not ever affect her because she was too divine to have it happen on her. Nothing within the ordinary, as I would quote, and sometimes I asked how could Kami-sama create such enchanted creatures on this land, and yet why were there abominations, with equivalent intellect and conscience, walking on the same earth?

Demons, undead, for instance, were something that was not to be.

When I didn't move from my spot after I agreed to do so after fifteen seconds, Rika called out to me to see if I was okay. Usually, dozing off was never a good sign on my part, for she knew that I was thinking about something depressing, in which could depress others if I decided to speak about them out loud. And like every time, I smiled lightly as I dismissed the issue casually and advanced on whatever I was supposed to be doing, as though my mind never drifted to anywhere from the start.

---

In the kitchen was Rika fixing up a morning feast, and I only laid my eyes upon her briefly as she was oblivious to the fact that I was there. She was not a shinobi, so I couldn't blame her for the lack of ability to feel the air shifting from neutrality to absolute hostile. Maybe I didn't give her enough credit, but people knew what I meant. In spite of that, however, that wonderful smile coming from her lips offered an immense feeling of delectation, and even someone from a mile away would be intelligent enough to realize her happiness. I didn't want to take that away from her, and no one in the right mind would either, but I believed that my presence might effect her concentration just like how she would bother me when I was making weapons. Besides, it wasn't like I wouldn't talk to her if we were going to eat later on. In that spirit, I excused myself to the living room to examine some of the vanadium ores Hinata gave me so I could get started on my little personal project.

I was still missing quite a bit of ingredients. First of all, I would need my blood (which was not difficult to gather,) then a several gems like jade or sapphires that I didn't mention to Hinata, a melting forge, and an anvil with other necessities to make that weapon. Anthris' presence was needed by then, for I could use a little guidance as to realize what sort of armament was fitting for a princess like Hinata.

Just because I planned to have an examining period did not mean I was going to get one, and not since my front door suddenly flung itself open to reveal an exhausted Anthris panting heavily. It got me curious, really. What could she have possibly done out there? Did Konoha suddenly become more eventful without me noticing?

"Good morning… Naruto… chan…" greeted my demon master, taking deep breaths. I was convinced that she had a nice jog, but she was never the exercising type. She didn't need it, and she was strikingly beautiful. My acknowledgement was a simple nod while I had a chunk of vanadium in my right hand. "I see you are up,"

"It's nine thirty," I told her a little dryly, "I should be awake, correct?"

"Did you have a good sleep?"

I chose to lie. "It was fantastic,"

"That's good to hear,"

"Care to share what you have done this morning, my master? You seem… drenched…" And indeed she was. But not from her love juices though, it was sweat this time around –thank God. Whatever happened out there, it seemed very extreme, and to a degree it was actually surprising that this insignificant event managed to capture this much of my interest. Talk about a strange turn of events, just days ago I wouldn't have given a damn if Anthris wanted to touch herself behind my back, and now I was giving more of my attention to her well being? This was outrageous… weird even.

"Do you really have to ask?" Anthris inquired airily, yet it was enrich with sexual indications. That smug grin on her face explained all. I was the apprentice of the lovely demon, and thus, how could I not know my master this well? In fact, if I failed to understand her enough, I have ruined the bond we shared. To me, this was a deep friendship bond, but for her… it could be something else… more of a relation for emotional healing when needed, perhaps. Maybe I shouldn't be so harsh on my demon master; she was a great soul –overall. She was marvelous at the right times, and on others… I couldn't force myself to admit that she was the most helpful being –just to be on the honest side. It was a good first step to be a sincere man. Her teasing, although I never complained about it with her, was sometimes hindering in more ways than one depending on the situation. Sure, there were things I didn't like about her, but at the same time, there must have been a plentiful of things that she disliked about me. I guessed we were on an equal peril.

"I am afraid I have to, Anthris," I stated, eyeing the perfection of Hinata's selected elements more closely than to have my demon master within my sight range. "Who knows what you could have been doing alone."

The dark green haired beauty laughed delightfully. "You really think of me lowly, don't you, my charming little one?"

"Don't accuse me as such, please," I feigned my sarcastic courtesy, "I was just worried about your safety. You are, as powerful as you may be, a woman after all. If I can help it, I wouldn't want you to feel too lonely out at that goddamned hell some people could miraculously call it a home."

Anthris, surprisingly, laughed gently as she wiped some sweat off her brows. It was starting to get a little too irritating. "Hinata was right, your words are quite rich."

"Oh, come on, those words were too simple. I should have said something a great deal more of… spirit, you know, enticing, something that touches the soul… and I have reached that measly goal if my intellect was working a little harder for me instead of declaring quits."

"I mean enriched with sadistic remarks," Anthris corrected sweetly.

"Is that so… And what events did befallen on you?"

"Ah, yes, I have to say that I have made quite a discovery on my own,"

"And what could that be?"

"The men here are all perverts. They are terrible, but how they act is hilarious."

"Tell me something I don't know, well, scratch the hilarious part out," I sighed as I took another piece of vanadium for examination. "And to make things worse, so many women are so attractive. Call it a curse than a blessing, really. Beauty in this town is almost like serving as bait to the starving predators, and you can swap the word predators with perverts. It attracts the wrong crowd. I am surprised that I haven't seen any suitors for Hinata yet. Knowing her extraordinary cute looks, many men must have been bewitched by it before they fall on their knees begging for her to offer up her body. That's how enticing she is. How did the men react when they saw you? Don't tell me you made a grand performance with your sexuality… I don't want to see any suitors coming here trying to propose to you just for the sole reason of penetrating you day and night due to the fact that you are so sexy.

"Good God, you did try to avoid them, right? Please, don't tell me you were seducing them… I really do not wish to find ANBU squadrons running around town to find a young woman relentlessly due to her physical attributes that matches no one they have seen."

She found great amusement to see me in panic. Why was I not surprised? This must have been a common practice up to this day, and somehow I wasn't relenting in it as much as I wanted to or should be. Come to think of it, did I really want to seek delight? "I fled fairly quickly," she said, "Konoha's local roads are like a maze, and people can sneak through them easily to get to another district without being spotted."

"I guess the alleyways were used as a minor transportation during invasions, because they served as effective shortcuts."

"And yes, if I was the invader, I would really know which way would be the fastest way to kill Tsunade,"

"It proves to be an advantage and a disadvantage it seems. Well, did you have fun?"

"Very. But I couldn't stop thinking about you, though… even if there were so many guys marveling at me."

"Has the feeling of superiority deteriorated for you? Have you been misusing it so often that the excitement has died by any chance?"

"I just miss my apprentice. Guys, although they are easily seduced, cannot match your charm. Pleasing you is so much more rewarding, because your reactions are so enhanced with realism and intelligence. Besides, I created you, and I don't see how a mother would not love her son."

"I wouldn't be touching you if I saw you as my mother," I said, passively. "And you shouldn't be urging for a son to feel you up that way if you were taking on the motherly role. You are right; you are really a woman with very womanly feelings. Is it that desirable to reach orgasms? You don't seem to be able to resist them at all."

"Believe me, you won't be able to resist the temptations when you experience it. Why don't you, you know, touch yourself?"

"I was made to have a very high amount of willpower to resist against it, remember?" I questioned her in a vain attempt to freshen her memory. Somehow, as clever as Anthris was, I believed that she had forgotten already. "Allow me to remind you then, my master. I was made to be very 'unfeeling', so to speak, just in case I was going to make love without my consent. I am an undead, and in response to that, you made sure that I was very infertile and also made it that I don't reach orgasms easily so I won't donate my seeds to create more undead beasts. It was all for the safety."

"Really?" she still asked with confusion written all over her. I grunted silently, yet the irritation could not go ignored. Did she really forget, or was she simply acting to seek some sort of amusement to see me suffer from not getting the information I sought for. "If it were up to me, I would have made you very fertile."

"I am not infertile, Anthris,"

"If you can't, well, offer your seeds efficiently, that is a sign of infertility."

"Possibly," I agreed, not even worried about the issue, "but then again, the children I create would be living monstrosities than creatures of enchantment. Like I said, it is all for safety."

"I must've been thinking too much when I made you… if I knew that I was going to love you this much, I would have never did what I did. Trust me, I wouldn't mind having your child."

"And what would that create?"

"An undead demon?"

"Ah," I said, sparking up feign interest. At least it was enough for me to raise my eyes to meet with her gorgeous dark teal ones. "You have one right here, me. And you may want to know that it is not a joy to be in this situation."

"You are an undead half demon and half human," stated Anthris in a correcting manner, "Our child would be an full fledged undead demon. It would be very grand, my Naruto-chan. Come on, let's try it," Anthris then swiftly and softly glided to the arm of the armchair that I was sitting on before she swooned all over me. I was sure that Rika was able to hear us, but I presumed that she was too focused on the meal she was cooking than to be paying any attention to our little affectionate conversation. Besides, Rika usually joined in later no matter the timing. Even if we ended it earlier, we would easily pick it back up again –out of my expense, of course. "Let's make a baby this time. I don't want to have just your fingers… I want you."

"Not going to happen," I waved it off breezily, completely ignoring her requests with a grin and mainly I had all the control, "I don't want another life to see what sort of death trap this life really is. Keeping things the way they are is more than enough. For the best results, let's not pointlessly have someone pure to become… well, impure."

"But we can teach our child and set a future than to have the world set it, Naruto-chan,"

"We are still on this subject?" I suddenly asked, now actually putting down the vanadium ore and looked at my master fully puzzled. She was oddly persistent.

"Of course, we are,"

"I thought you were joking…" Fear started to soak in my words.

"Did I sound like I was?"

"You really want a baby? My baby?"

"Yes,"

"For what? What good will come out of it? No… why do you want this?"

"Because I love you,"

"You're being silly,"

"I am not, Naruto. I do love you,"

"I know you do, and I love you, too, but you don't see me ridiculous enough to want a child,"

"It's my fault that I made you infertile…"

"I am not infertile. I just have no urges. I am sure that I am very fertile… I think… Indirectly, that does kinda make me not so… productive…"

"We don't have much time left, you know,"

"Time? What are you saying?" Finally, it hit me. "You are referring to Hinata, aren't you? Oh, my lovely master, this ordeal between Hinata and I caused you to be very jealous, right?" Anthris nodded, and this time with a sob which was not there before, nor did I noticed it. "Anthris, you don't have to be jealous. There is nothing to be envious of."

"What do you mean 'nothing', Naruto-chan? I have every reason to be jealous of!"

"I don't see why though…" I mumbled, knowing defeat was coming my way a little too quick for me to handle. Anthris was not impressed, and not without her own set of opinions following behind her like a loyal army.

"I am losing my favorite boy to another woman…" my master wept as quietly as she could so she would not get Rika's attention. "You know you are the only boy I would ever love."

"It makes me wonder why every woman I know loves me so much…" I wondered out loud as I cradled my demon guardian to limit her cries. I stroked her back gently and a little sensually, too, just to be a loving soul than a uncaring apprentice, and fortunately my actions were gradually paying off when she shifted from weeping to mewling a bit unpleasantly. Probably due to the empowerment of sadness, I assumed. Then again, it wasn't too difficult to understand Anthris sometimes. She was only demon, in comparison to she was only human.

"Because you are really loving."

"Please," I said, rolling my eyes as my sarcasm drenched my emotions. "I still do not see what part of me is so attractive. I am an undead. Sure, this humanoid shell does have its… sexy charm, just because I am so sexy, but I don't think you are that shallow to fall in love in that way, and yet I appear to be so irresistible. In my opinion, aside from this face, there is nothing else you should fall for."

"That's not true at all," persisted Anthris, shocked, appalled, and supportive to get me back on my feet from this self-pity. Sure, she could call it self-pity, but to me I was just being sincere.

"Perhaps I just don't see what women see, and the result was a whole bunch of wonderful girls in love with me. Call it a curse or an offering from God… I don't know anymore… not when I have to choose only one… I don't know what to do, Anthris. Just because I love Hinata… does it mean she has to be my girlfriend?"

"You don't have to put the relationship to that scale if it makes you uncomfortable," cooed my master, her breasts unintentionally rubbing against my right arm as she made an embrace out of love. It amazed me every time –her breasts were divinely soft and supple… and how I never realized that I was the one and only person in this world that was allowed to touch them, and she would be only this seductive to no one else but myself. Was this a privilege? Given my nature, I found this to be a neutral gift where I could use it but it was definitely not mandatory. Although it may be hard to imagine what other source of goodness there was for a fifteen-year-old male in this era aside from sex, I certainly defied that stereotype by being an artist and a blacksmith during my spare time. Sadly enough, that didn't mean I was that talented enough to run away from the realms of sexuality completely. Sure, I tried to control –only if my master wasn't so obsessed with it.

"You just want me for your own benefit, right?"

"Don't say it like that, Naruto-chan. You make it sound like that I am very egotistical,"

"And in which you are,"

"Be quiet, you,"

"I can feel the love," I chuckled maturely as I spoke, like how I always did when I wanted to enrich the conversation. Did it make me look a snob? Perhaps it did to a degree, but I was definitely not rich, and thus, I felt very enriched. Enriched… yes, that was a good word. "My beautiful Anthris," I resumed thoughtfully, "You know your little dark one loves you dearly no matter what happens. I wouldn't forget you for a second. How could I? You were with me back to the days that I was just a human baby,"

"Why stress on the word human?"

"I am undead, Anthris,"

"You are human at heart,"

"It is now full of undead DNA,"

"That does not matter,"

"I am afraid it does. I hate being human,"

"And yet you love one. I am so jealous… why wouldn't you love me like you love Rika-chan or Hinata-chan?"

"I do love you, but in my own way,"

"You always say that," she said and pouted. "In your own way… but you know when to say the most affectionate things to say to a girl. It really gives off an appearance and impression. I know you love me very much… but Naruto-chan… can you still touch me even though you have romantic feelings for someone else?"

"It would be an honour," I replied, smiling caringly before I took her cheek and kissed it. Anthris blushed beautifully, and yet there was a twisted smile. "Doshi-ta?"

"You always speak on the lines of neutrality. Can't you just be more… normal?"

"Which part of me is not normal? I am perfectly fine. Oh well, what is normal to me isn't always so normal to someone else. Too bad, so sad, isn't it? I am sure you have heard my speech about the insanity, correct? Please, don't make me repeat it that often. I am an undead, not a philosophical preacher like Pharisees or professors from colleges that love to fuck people over than to pass them despite their hard work."

Anthris sighed pleasantly; however, a faint illusion or reality of cynicism was definitely there. "What sort of person uses metaphors as often as you do in sentences? I mean, for someone your age. Well, I suppose that is what makes you so special."

I didn't notice it before due to my attention was given to Anthris only, but all of a sudden, as though it was a divine intervention or some sort of supernatural providence, we picked up an aroma from heaven. It stopped us right in our tracks (metaphorically, not literally) and the conversation we were having, the tension of it all, vanished in less than an instant as our noses could not stop themselves from inhaling that intoxicating scent of freshly prepared food from the holiest craftswoman. I looked over to Anthris' face by turning my eyes a little towards her, and I narrowed my vision carefully as I observed the tiniest of actions coming from my master. Indeed, she was delighted, and that smile of hers had no want in mind to dissolve whatsoever. I was glad deep down, but of course, being my dark self I remained cool about it than to show it out so openly, as though I was the magical man from happy land that made everyone happy. Made people happy voluntarily in a charity fashion… what a bunch of insolent words from the most unintelligent people. This nonsense had got to stop.

"Breakfast is ready!" announced an enthusiastic Rika with a cheerful boast to catch our attention. "Come and get it while it's still hot!"

That sure got Anthris moving; for she leapt off my lap in an instant hearing upon that inviting invitation. Smiling a little inwardly, I didn't take too long to stand up from my spot and postpone my inspection later. Rika's meals were always a little too welcoming to simply discard it before coming back for later. As far as I was concerned, there were not too many chances for delays for something as great as this.

(Even Later)

I went back to my examining right after my breakfast, and out of courtesy and gratefulness I volunteered to wash the dishes, thus delaying my work until a further time. It was not a real bother, really, since it was a fair exchange of work in the end. Rika had to deal with the preparations, and I simply had, well, clean things up, literally. Anthris could have helped out, but she gave some strangely legitimate reason to escape her share of chores, in which somewhat bugged me since she ever so frequently had some methods to evade troubles whenever necessary. Where was my opportunity? I wanted to be left alone, and what did I get in return? Oh, I don't know, three beautiful, genuine, holy, wonderful, spectacular, sexy, attractive, charming, delightful, cunning, excessively dangerous, warm, strikingly addictive, young women (or artifact in Anthris' case) completely in love with me. That was not a reward, nor would I ever dared to consider that as long as this corruptive body was still able to breathe.

As exaggerated as it may be, I was just trying to be safe.

After examining the whole collection of vanadium for another forty minutes, I heard a phone ring. And it was not my touchdown set. It was another one… and from my memory, none of us in this apartment owned another phone. If that is our current situation, then whose phone was ringing?

Someone was then kind enough to answer my prayers –somewhat. "Do you mind answering that?" I called out to no one in particular. "Rika, is that your phone?"

"No," she replied, coming in the living room to talk with me, "It's your phone,"

"My phone?" I questioned, eyeing her queerly.

"This one," Rika chimed as she handed me a brand new silverish cellular phone.

"Nanda… (What)?" I muttered with silent disbelief. "I didn't buy this…"

"Hinata and I bought it for you,"

"And the verdict is…?"

"We would just like to know where you are when we don't find you, or maybe talk to you whenever we can because we love you so much," Rika said in a cute voice that could lure in a vast population of males if she did that in public. "It's a gift for you."

"You got it for your own interest, didn't you?"

"Of course not. And guess who's calling you?"

"How many people know this phone's number?"

"Enough. Are you going to answer it? It's still ringing."

"Who is calling?"

"The Hokage,"

I reacted immediately -surprisingly. "Give it to me," Rika handed it carefully, where as I practically grabbed it. "Hello?" I answered roughly. "Is that you Tsunade?"

"Yes, it's me," came the response, in which was equally emotional, "That took at least ten rings. Where were you?"

"I didn't know the existence of my phone, okay?" I countered with Rika laughing loudly, yet gently at the same time. "What pleasure do I owe you?"

"It's an emergency,"

"Fascinating," I agreed, mockingly.

"Are you mocking me?" roared the Godaime furiously.

"No, I am honouring you. Let's get real. State your purpose or I'll hang up. Lady, I know it isn't much of an emergency if you need to call me. There are legions of others who can be called to serve you, and yet you reached the unreliable me. I don't know if this is generosity, or is it an amusement for you to watch me fail."

"Believe me, Naruto, you would be the very last person I would ever call for a mission,"

"Honto? (Really?) Then I presume you would never call me again. Good, one less person to worry about."

"But this mission really needs your attention and I can pick no one but you,"

That barely sparked up any interest on my part, but at least I got curious –somewhat. "Saa… what do you need?"

"You are to be summoned to the Hyuuga estate immediately,"

Did I hear wrong? What was my task again? Go to Hinata's place? And to do what! "For what, may I ask? This is the emergency? Are you abusing your rights as Hokage? There is no way in hell am I getting my sorry butt to Hinata's place just because you said so."

"That is an order," commanded Tsunade firmly, "This is my first mission for you for a long while, so don't you mess it up. I expect great results, got it?" And with that said, Tsunade hung up.

For the next thirty seconds or so, I was simply sitting there and absorbing all that happened within these past moments. And I couldn't say that I was liking it.

What the hell was going on here? I prayed to Kami-sama that this was not another scheme. No, that was just part of it. What I truly prayed for was for the women to limit their allies. If the Godaime was on their side, in which I seriously thought she was, then it made my quest twice as difficult or perhaps more than what I normally anticipated. Usually, my predictions were very true, but whenever it came to these unreal creations from Satan himself… nothing was safe. If there was anything that I was lacking in my life, that would be minimal security. If they were around, meaning the girls, I had nothing left to defend myself, and knowing the women I was sure they wouldn't want me to have anything at all.

"So," began Rika as I pressed the END button agitatedly, "What did she say?"

"Do you have something to do with this call, Rika?" I inquired her suspiciously, and with reasonable doubt.

"No," she replied innocently. "I didn't think Hokage-sama would call,"

"But she did,"

"And so… what did she say?"

"I am commanded to bring my sorry ass, whether dead or alive, to the Hyuuga compound immediately, and this is put as a direct order, not a favour. I am going to be risking my hides if I don't obey."

"And why would Tsunade-sama give you such a command?"

"Your guess is as good as mine… Fuck, everything is against me… Are you sure you have nothing to do with this?"

"Why the suspicion, Naruto?" she resumed with a grin.

"Why, you ask? This is awful news."

"I think it's wonderful," Rika told me, coming behind me to embrace me by the neck before pulling my body towards hers. The first thing I felt was her generous breasts, since those stuck out noticeably. "You can visit Hinata-chan again."

'I see her almost everyday, Rika… I have to say that I am not annoyed by her presence… I love her around… but still… this order sounds like a planned conspiracy… a very perfect one, too…"

"Don't be so cynical,"

"Cynical?" I questioned her logic with outrage. "This is not cynical! How can you say that? I haven't sleep in peace for ages now, and it's because of what! Hinata, Anthris… you! What am I saying… I'll talk to you later, Rika… I don't want to suffer from any more unwanted wrath for being non-punctual… or whatever word you want to use in comparison to mine. And one more thing…"

"What?"

"Don't try to exhaust yourself without me,"

"What do you mean by that?"

I simply pointed to her crotch for a lingering moment and grinned. She blushed instantly and brought her hands to cover up that private spot, as though I invaded her personal space like a Blitzkrieg before she could made up any temporary defense. When I noticed her timidity, I knew she wasn't that embarrassed. Or perhaps she was, because sharing how easily aroused she could be wasn't always the best fact to share about herself. Oh well, it wasn't like I didn't know about her weakness already. I was her helper, correct? Indeed, it was a boundless generosity to watch honey leek, seriously.

"If you want me to… make you feel womanly again, we can do it a little later," I whispered to her while heading for the door, and that was before I turned around to pull her in so our bodies were front-to-front with another's. "We have a lot of time, really. You know you want that."

"Demo…"

"I really wonder how drenched you are by now," I cunningly spoke, carrying a powerful sense of control and authority and of course an all-knowing smile that melted the hearts of women. Rika, no doubt, was deathly charmed. I was about to slowly motion my hand under her skirt, but I wisely retreated after a gentle brush that teased her to no end. To my surprise, though, that spot suddenly got slightly wet after my touch. "Fascinating…" I wisely commented.

I rubbed on a little further, and the moist increased drastically, as though it was spreading like a plague around her sopping silk panties.

Rika's breathing was heavy was irregular, and it was all due to pleasure. She seemed to be paralyzed, and yet she was craving for more silently, but the desperation was clearly visible. I liked this –a lot. "You're mean…" Rika panted, her lusty fire burning wilder than before. "If you want… take me now… I can't stand this much longer…" She moaned heavenly with uncontrollable emotions of goodness, obviously giving me permission to advance further on her turf. She was soaked, I knew that much.

"No can do, my dear," I teased and kissed her forehead. "I have to get going."

And having that stated out loud, I swiftly left my sanctuary just to arrive at a hellhole. Rika, I was certain of this, wanted to kill me afterwards, but that could only be done after releasing all that tension that generated from her arousal. I regretted my actions, since it was more than definite that somewhere in my apartment would have a stain the size of a lake upon my return.

(Hyuuga Compound, fifty minutes later)

The guards gave me a good respectful salute when I arrived, in which I took my precious time doing a lot of senseless window-shopping to maximize my freedom, and I nodded back to give them my acknowledgement in exchange. Weird, it was almost like they recognized me after one visit; and their friendliness that they carried was utmost odd and suspicious. Too mutual, as I would say, and thus making everything seem superficial and unnatural, and it was hard not to acknowledge that something else was up behind that exterior. Regardless of what it was, the only prudent choice I had was to keep an eye for the people around this influence of nobility. After all, calling me here specifically for a mission was a little too weird not to keep myself careful. What could the Hyuugas possibly want with me? If they wished to end the injustice of my demonic heritage, I should have been killed ever since Hiashi realized my existence.

Everything was awfully wrong; I felt it in my undead bones.

Right when I made it to the front doors, Hinata slid it open hurriedly to greet me. The panic on her face was unreal, for I did not know what ailed her to be this way. Whatever it was, this was serious. In fact, she was angry with me, and I meant very angry. Death was at my door, and instead of telling it to go away by stating, 'Jesus is in my heart so go away and don't come back,' I took the initiative to invite Death in. Was I in for in now or what…

"Good… morning… Hinata?" I awkwardly gave my greeting. She, in response, well, no, she did not respond at all but kept that straight face leering at mine. I didn't know what to do. Should I have been looking away or kept up my share of glaring?

"Where were you?" Hinata, without any warning of course, demanded with fury. "What took you so long?"

"Something… came up…" I dumbly answered.

"Didn't Tsunade-sama tell you to come here immediately? I don't think sixty minutes later is very immediate."

"Your house is not that close by,"

"You know Flash Warp!"

Playing it cool was clearly ineffective, and so changing gears, or masks, rather, suited my purpose. I banished my ignorance and swapped with a much more stern face.

"I think you know why I took my time," I said with more confidence now. Strangely, I usually found strength whenever my opponent's rage increased. Perhaps this was a good talent of mine, in which I must keep it a secret between Hinata –just in case I needed some splendid victories to savour on. "What sort of emergency is there, anyway? What, you? Oh, Kami-sama… Hinata, I think I know why Tsunade ordered me to be here. It's all a conspiracy, isn't it? As long as Tsunade is in the picture, everything she says is an order, a command, an divine demand that must not be challenged or suffer the consequences of disobeying. You have put be in a totally defenseless place, my dear… am I supposed to live without any choice of my own… is this how it has to be in order to have me by your side? You need the authority of the Hokage to shackle me… this method's morality has steeped too low –even for you."

Hinata almost moved her fist to punch me, but she kept herself in order. Despite her sense of self-control, however, she was quite outraged, and she made sure I realized what I was saying was wrong –deadly wrong. "What are you talking about? I didn't call you here for my own benefit, Uzumaki Naruto! What kind of person do you think I am? I love you, I am obsessed with you, but I don't want you to be unhappy, you know!"

"Fine, whatever," I halted her abruptly, and most importantly prematurely. I was in no mood to listen to her justifications. "If you are not the one who needs to see me, then who is?"

"My sister,"

"Hanabi?"

"Yes, Hanabi…" she repeated, a little sadly.

"What's wrong?" questioned I, concern overwhelming my senses over the younger Hyuuga girl. "This must be an emergency…"

"And if it was me, would you see it the same way?" challenged Hinata, placing her hands on her attractive hips, in which she was quite oblivious that some parts of her body was just as enticing as the other obvious spots.

"Who knows…" I chuckled to myself with my hand blocking my lips, but Hinata knew I was laughing. "There are too few cases that you would have an emergency."

She pouted, and clearly her previous anger degenerated to something more loving. "Oh, you're mean…"

"Where's Hanabi? Take me to her."

"Do you even notice how concerned you are over her?" Hinata asked, a little mischievously with an evil grin. "I haven't even told you the problem yet. Long story short, Hanabi wanted to see you when you were unconscious and everything else that hindered you from leaving your house. She got jealous, or really envious over the fact that I had no restrictions and was able to leave home to take care of you while she had to stay home and train with Father or Neji-ni-san. She didn't have time to even leave the house for things that she wanted to do, and today she really wanted to see you, too. When Father told her that she would be training a bit more, she threw herself to a tantrum and want nobody else but… you…

"Naruto-kun, Hanabi really loved your company and songs."

I closed my eyes, then turned slightly away and grinned. "I clearly see that,"

"Why do you attract so many girls?"

"Hanabi sees me as a brother, and nothing more,"

"You don't know that," insisted the older Hyuuga princess determinedly, yet kept her kind nature as the dominant tone of her voice. "You're unbelievable."

"Are we going in or not?"

"Very well," Hinata made a splendidly graceful turn as she took my hand and held on to it like two locks sealing another. "Let's go inside. Hanabi could get a little violent if her requests take too long." However, despite Hinata's willingness to go inside, I did not move from my spot even when she was pulling. In fact, because I didn't move, she almost fell. "What's wrong, Naruto-kun?"

I didn't answer with words; for my actions did all my talking. I simply removed my hand out of hers. "Why, Naruto-kun?" Hinata immediately asked, nearly heartbroken.

"I don't think we should hold hands once we are inside, just for the sake of protection."

"But we love each other," That was her reasoning.

"I'd prefer to keep it a low profile," I told her and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. "Hinata, let's get moving. Don't worry, I love you, too."

My words did little, but better than nothing I suppose, according to her justification, no doubt. After grudgingly accepting the fact that I wanted to play things safe, where as she wanted to be a little daring, we entered the household silently and carefully, as though we just trapped ourselves in a deadly labyrinth with no way out -nor did it have any intention of letting us out alive.

Like I mentioned the first time I came in here, this horrific interior design of half Japanese wooden structure and yet the other was Western styled concrete cement. This fusion was absolutely disgusting, and yet it was looking so appealing from the outside, and at last I finally knew the meaning 'not to judge a book by its cover' because this looked bloody appalling, in which was a deadly tempt to make me vomit just for the sake of being conscious. Didn't Hinata find this a little improper for a noble house? Or worse, she was so used to it that it granted her an indirect source of immunity just as monkeys were immune to AIDS, in which was first transferred by homosexuals and the name was GRIDS. At first, it stood for Gay Related Immunal Deficiency Syndrome, but due to unnecessary mutual respect for discriminating the gays, the politically correct term was now AIDS. It's plainly retarded. This mutual respect, in which we knew both sides did not give a damn if you burned straight to hell, was nothing but an act, an act to see which side could outwit another to fuck another up.

I lost faith in this hopeless charm of mutual respect, and with a strikingly, fashionably good cause.

The trip, although it lasted a minute, was nearly as unbearable as that time I lost my arm. I did not complain once, but Hinata, by now, should have detected some clear signs of discomfort. In response, although she also did not say anything, she picked up the pace. At long last, we arrived at Hanabi's door, and to my distinct surprise, I was quite ready to handle the girl.

"Hanabi-chan," Hinata called out to her younger sister as she knocked lightly on the door. "It's onee-chan,"

"I am not opening the door!" whined Hanabi from behind it, like a baby girl, of course. "I don't like otou-san! He's a big meanie! All I want to do is see oni-chan, and he still wants me to train and train and train! Meanie… he knows that I am worried about him…"

"Are you angry at onee-chan?"

"No… but I want to see oni-chan…"

There was a moment of silence where either sister continued to talk. I, of course, did not make a sound yet. When I noticed that there was at least a thirty seconds worth of quietness, I began whispering to the girl next to me. "What do you want me to do?"

Hinata nearly forgot that I was beside her despite how crazy she was for me. I could tell by that sudden recoil, in which did not fit her well. "Can you think of something?"

"I'll warp in," I spoke with intelligence and confidence behind me every step of the way.

"To surprise her? Do you want me to come in?"

"When the aura inside subsides, my dear, then you enter." Hinata agreed to my terms easily –for once. I activated my rabbit seal after a coordination of a several others, and instantly I removed my body away from reality and in less than a second I appeared in another part of humanity's reality, in which was now Hanabi's room. I saw a tiny, cute girl sitting on her bed with her back facing me and her eyes were looking out the window, as though the outside world called Konoha was something marvelous and worth it to admire. Her aura was significant to pick up, for my eyes saw a gloomy red, in which was a good fusion of anger and despair. I guessed I was the salvation once more.

"Stupid… otou-san…"

"Hey, why the saddened face? That's not like you."

My voice made her sprung around like a whirlwind. She gasped when she saw me standing there coolly, watching her with that charming smile on my face, the maturity that she fell in love with was stronger than she ever imagined it, and how I was actually placing my left arm on my left hip was simply shocking, because it gave her more than a stylish feel. I was, in many eyes of woman, effectively seductive with immense subtlety that made them melt, and I was going to keep that invective talent all to myself. "Oni-chan… it's you…"

"I heard you grew a little rowdy from Hinata," I resumed, smirking amusedly. "So, what's wrong?"

"Ni-chan!" Hanabi exclaimed with raw delight as she leaped off the bed and jumped at my chest. My eyes widened at the zeal, and more so when she collided into me at full force. If this were my human body, I would have cared a lot less. This undead shell, unlike my living body, had only a fraction of the strength available. Hanabi wouldn't have known that, and I wasn't going to share that little secret with her anytime soon. I preferred to endure this momentary pain than to share a life-long pain shearing fact that could be avoided.

Perhaps I should have gave a little thought on my defense, for I did absolutely nothing when I crashed to the wall –hard. "Ha… Hanabi…"

She dug her head to my chest, like it belonged to her only. "You're here! You're really here!" she exclaimed with my shirt masking around half the initial volume.

"What got you so energetic, Hanabi?" I inquired, faking my ignorance with a touch of mature innocence covering up my true emotions. "My, my, aren't you happy to see me."

"I missed you, ni-chan,"

"How come?"

"I heard from onee-chan that you were very ill," she told me as her voice descended from her previous zeal and gradually transformed to something affectionate. "I'm sorry that I didn't come to see you."

"It's okay, Hanabi," I told her, secretly keeping the fact that I wouldn't want her to visit anyway since in the past several days my undead secret just broke out to Hinata in a very inconvenient manner. Telling this little one would prove to be even more of a challenge altogether. In fact, I did not know how I could break my news to her. Perhaps time would tell –for better or for worse. "I didn't think I was well enough to talk to you anyway."

"Are you okay now?"

"Do I not look okay?"

"You look pale…"

"I've always been pale, Hanabi. And what were you talking about earlier about your otou-san?"

"If you want to ask me questions, then tell me this: how did you come in without opening the door?"

"I can teleport," I told her and kissed her on the forehead, since I knew she loved it. My predictions were not wrong. In fact, they couldn't be more correct. She blushed up in the cutest way, and as I watched Hanabi more and more, I really wished that I had a younger sister like her. Sure, she was considered to be someone like that already, but I truly wanted a biological one just as adorable as the one I had in my arms. How wonderful would that be if it became a realty… and it made me wonder how I would treat her. If she had a better fate than I did, would I love her unconditionally? If she shared a life as horrible as mine, would I love her even more? Who knew, really… but I could guarantee that I would shower her with brotherly love, with as much as my emotions permitted me.

"You know onee-chan knows Flash Warp, right? I never knew you knew it, too,"

"I always wanted to ask you or Hinata this…"

"Whatever could it be?" Hanabi inquired, as cute as ever, of course.

"Why did Hinata learn Flash Warp?"

"Onee-chan said that speed, in a lot of situations, is the key to success. Of course, she just named one of the many instances, but the primary reason of her learning this skill is so that she would be fast enough to chase whoever she desires. She said that she was too sluggish back then… but I really wonder why she felt that way."

I would be lying if I truly did not know the partial truth to Hinata's reasoning. In one way or another, I was afraid, Hinata always had me somewhere planned in her life. "Me, too…" I lied, horribly, no doubt. "Hanabi, are you happy right now?"

She nuzzled closer and became more shy but affectionate. "I am really happy… to see you… I didn't think you would be coming."

"You know, your sister is just outside. Do you want her to come in? It's rude to have Hinata just standing idly, you know."

"But I want to spend time with you," Hanabi half whined and half demanded. To the least, I caught on her urgency to have me around to herself. "Onee-chan always spends time with you… she always gets to…"

"That doesn't mean that I don't like to be with you, Hanabi," I stroked her cheek as I spoke. Her cheeks instantly flushed up like a disease spread around like an undead blight consecrated the land –or skin, in this case.

"But…"

"I'll sing you a song if you let Hinata in," I tempted her using one of my strikingly cool charms. Hanabi nearly fainted as she laid eyes on my smile. It was definitely too much for an adolescent girl, and that was how I liked it. "I got a better song this time."

"You're mean!" struggled the little Hyuuga girl with endearing frustration, in which only a child could perform in their young ages. "Fine… let onee-chan come in… I'd rather have a song than not have one…"

"Your call, really," I said before standing up so Hanabi had no one to sit on. I was still at the wall, so reaching for the door was very easy. I opened it to allow Hinata in, and she did with a good touch of grace.

"How are you, Hanabi-chan?" asked Hinata as I closed the door to have the privacy we needed, "You look a lot better. Did you thank Naruto-kun for coming here on such short notice? Who knew what he had to do today, and yet he chose to see you."

"I did thank him, onee-chan," Hanabi retorted, a little bitterly before she jumped into my arms and embraced me to show Hinata a thing or two of her own. Hinata might be oblivious, but I saw the younger Hyuuga girl having a very victorious smile on her face behind her sister's back. "I am very grateful that ni-chan even decided to sing a song for me."

"Really?" Hinata asked, excitement building up in her senses. "You have been really troubling him, haven't you, Hanabi-chan?"

"He volunteered to sing for me,"

"I am very sorry, Naruto-kun, for troubling you like this." It was not necessary for her to apologize. After all, she already dragged me here using a Hokage's command, and so… what could have been worse? Nothing else could compare to the dread, the horror, the unjust experiences I faced now, and simply singing, although I did not like it as most fools interpreted, was almost like child's play when it came to measurements of negativity.

I had a lot more to be pissed off about than this.

"Have no worries, my dear," I assured kindly, clearly hiding my true emotions behind a hidden veil, "I'll be glad to do it."

I guided both girls to the center of the room where a delicately beautiful red carpet was and asked them to sit down first. Hinata was the first to sit down, but Hanabi refused to until I did so. Not fully knowing why, I easily obliged to it, but I soon figured her intentions when Hanabi immediately claimed my lap as her own as soon as I sat down, in which Hinata was aiming for the whole time. Once more, I noticed a very toothy grin from Hanabi, and yet it vanished instantly the moment it was about to be detected by the older sister. Hinata, perhaps, might not have caught a thing, but then again, I could be underestimating her wisdom in her own form of acting.

"Ne, ne, ni-chan," Hanabi chanted delightfully to catch my attention, or wanted me to give her my focus, "What kind of song do you want to sing?"

"I haven't thought of one yet," I honestly replied. In all seriousness, I haven't even started to think of a possible candidate. "Ah, perhaps you can help me think of one. You ladies must have a good range of ideas, right?"

"I can't think of one at the bottom of my head though, ni-chan…"

And Hinata was not in a much different predicament. "I can't think of one either…"

"How about… try something that you would want to ask me," I offered, smiling the whole way.

"Well," Hinata murmured, putting a finger to her chin to show her eagerness to ponder the possibilities. "I was always wondering how you handle money… sorry, I know it's a dumb instance-"

"Oh, no," I broke her off suddenly. "That is just perfect."

"It is?" the two Hyuuga sisters said in unison.

"Of course,"

"I fail to see how you can make a song out of the subject of money," said Hinata, somewhat amused at my suggestion. "If it's about Tsunade-sama, then there are too many to list. But money? You are surely a first, Naruto-kun."

"I am a man of mysteries," I said, flashing a weak grin, "Allow my song to teach you all about the use of money. Maybe then you will understand the dangers of credit cards."

"Dangers?" asked Hanabi, leaning on my body than to sit up straight. It must have been very comfortable judging from her smile.

"Do you really want to know? Ignorance, to a degree, of course, is bliss. So, do you wish for my piece of knowledge, in which brings fear and confusion?" I loved how tempting I was, and in no time the little girl on my lap immediately agreed. "If my dearest audience members are ready, I apologize for my lack of haste."

"Come on, ni-chan, sing!" chanted Hanabi, getting a little rowdy that I haven't started yet despite her anxiousness.

"Very well then," I said, smiling, "Let us begin. Keep your ears opened, ladies."

Once more, I readied my voice to sing. In all honesty, I didn't think I would be doing this again –especially not for them. Somehow, it didn't matter that much anymore.

Every time I thought of the lyrics, it tempted me to laugh.

And so I began:

Best things in life are not free
But you don't need to have money
To get the things that you want to own
You just have to get a loan

Hanabi, at this point, was watching with interest. Hinata, on the other hand, started to giggle with great spirits.

When you buy, small or large
Just put it on your credit card
You can live like a king
Not paying for a single thing

Chorus:

Put it on credit and then forget it
And let it bother you no more, no more
Put it on credit and then forget it
And go back to the store

Judging from their delightful faces, I knew they were liking this very much –more than I first imagined.

Every night I pray and thank
God above for creating the banks
They have been so kind to me
With their boundless generosity

If you cannot make your payment
Well, do it like the national government
You can pay off what you owe
By taking out a bigger loan

Hanabi laughed out loud exuberantly after hearing the second verse, where as Hinata had a very mature chuckle leaving her lips. Without knowing, I joined their laughter, but I subdued it when I knew I was supposed to continue.

Chorus

You gotta put it on credit and then forget it
And let it bother you know more, no more
Put it on credit and then forget it
And go back to the store

Now I seem to have men after me
From the collection agency
And the bank came by the other day
Took everything I owe away

Now I think that it is plain to see
That I must declare bankruptcy
But things aren't really all that bad
I can borrow from my dad

The little one could not control it any longer, for she bursted out laughing and yet it was controllable. Hinata gave out a laugh of her own, and it very much sounded like music to anyone's ears. Then again, Hinata could always alter her charm into something more… horrific, so to speak.

And now to finish the song:

And you put it on credit and then forget it
And let it bother you no more, no more
Put it on credit and then forget it
And go back to the store
You gotta put it on credit and then forget it
And let it bother you no more, no more
Put it on credit and then forget it
And go back to the store.

I received a very welcoming applause when my performance reached an regrettable end, in which to me was a very fortunate thing, and in the back of my head I expected an encore request sometime soon as well. Instead of that demand, however, I just felt Hanabi's arms circling around my neck before she voluntarily gave me a good kiss on the cheek. To be more affectionate, she gave me three to be precise. I didn't dare to look at Hinata at that moment, knowing what sort of aura was beginning to envelop deep within that divine beauty of hers, and I did not dare to speak up as a result. Despite that however, Hinata did not appear to be as vicious as the other times. I guessed it was only reasonable, since she already obtained the ultimate victory behind her younger sister without her knowing. A very mind crushing defeat for Hanabi, and a vital win on Hinata's part… I didn't know if I was in the position to say anything. Correction: I did not know if I should be saying anything altogether.

"So…" I began a little awkwardly as Hanabi nuzzled in closer. "How was it?"

"It was splendid," praised Hinata generously, "You were very marvelous."

I accepted her compliments with masculine maturity, in which was humble elegance, before I turned to the other little Hyuuga girl for her response. She watched me adorably along with that unique aura of innocence that only Hanabi could produce with her own abilities, and I could not help but smile happily before stroking her cheek. Once more, she flushed up beautifully to my touch. Why was she so cute?

"How about you, Hanabi?"

"I loved it," she cooed in my chest with her arms around my torso or so. My memory was fading at that point to some unknown reason that I did not wish to solve due to extreme laziness that possessed my soul without any consent of any kind. "Why do you sing so well?"

"I think I am okay,"

"No, you are great,"

"If you insist,"

"I think… it's your humour," intervened Hinata, "I think that is the main attribute that made it sound so good. It really reflects how people spend cash these days, doesn't it? Remember what we saw at the bookstore a month ago, Naruto-kun?" I liked her choice of words, for it concealed the secret in front of Hanabi. And, indeed, I did remember what sort of incident Hinata was kindly referring to. I didn't what to say, but I did know that I should curse Jiraiya for selling his books, and in which the next volume was coming up next month or so. Of course, I wasn't going to tell Hinata that fact, but it wasn't like she wouldn't discover the new sales when she did her shopping. "I can't believe how some people spend their money."

"Neither do I," I answered, cradling the little girl on my lap at the same time. "Thanks for saying so, Hinata."

"I must say, though," the Hyuuga girl continued, "This really wasn't the song that I thought you would sing for a girl like my sister."

"You chose the topic, you know,"

"I was going on at random. And then you suddenly said that you had a song about money. How was I supposed to expect that?"

"I still think you are good, ni-chan," commented Hanabi sweetly. "Can you sing some more to me in the future?"

"Consider it done," I replied with a good smile. "And Hanabi… there is something that I need to talk to your sister –alone." The little girl, as though she was a telepath, understood my seriousness in an instant. It was probably due to the immense respect that she had that she obliged that quickly, where as Hinata… I wouldn't say she was disobedient or anything, but the truth was that she was quite a tough cookie despite her demigoddess appearance. Hanabi stood up without a word and then she took the liberty to kiss my cheek once tenderly before taking a bow to leave the room politely. She even closed the door, thus, leaving all the privacy I needed. Was I shocked at the genuine behaviour? I would be lying if I was not at least slightly bewildered.

Hinata, knowing that she had me all to herself, crawled towards me before taking the spot that was right next to mine. "So," the Hyuuga princess moaned out pleasantly. "What do you have to tell me?" She halted her charming behaviour once she saw the stoic, serious face I put up. She, too, became serious as a result. "Are you angry with me?"

"No, of course not,"

"Why have that face, then?"

I sighed to release some emotional pressure. I guessed it was always the best to talk with another human being in my most comfortable state, and tension never did me much good. "I just don't know how to tell you this, that's all."

"Is it something big?"

"To you, perhaps. In my case, it is to be expected."

"What are you talking about?"

"I need to leave town for a several days –starting today."

I was right; this was big news to Hinata that almost made her heart jump out. "What!"

"Calm down, calm down, Hinata," I told her in my best attempt to sooth her, in which was completely ineffective when she was going to go through a frenzy. This really proved her craziness for me. "It's really okay."

Hinata grew overly excited, in a bad way than good needless to say. "How can you say that? You are leaving! Why are you leaving so soon? Who are you going with? How long will it take for you to come back? May I go with you? Are you not coming back at all? Oh, tell me, Naruto-kun!"

I immediately hugged her closely, and it worked like a partial charm. She quieted down, yes, but there was evident retaliation that came with it as a seasonal spice. "Shh, you making a big ruckus, Hinata," I comforted her as I rubbed her back repeatedly. "I am not going anywhere, nor would be gone for long."

"Where are you going though?" murmured the Hyuuga princess, in which her lips are attached to my right shoulder.

"Uritake,"

"Rika-chan's town? Why are you going there?"

"Didn't Rika tell you the big news?"

"Why, no, she didn't tell me anything."

"Funny," I commented, half talking to myself, actually, "I would've thought you would have known by now knowing that I was still unconscious when this happened."

"What is the big news?"

"Rika's cooking skills convinced Tsunade, that old hag, to hire her as her personal chef. The pay is a lot higher than that of a chef-in-training, or top class waitress, or whatever her position is in the restaurant. Needless to say, Rika couldn't refuse such an offer, and so she is planning to move here. She can't do this alone, and so I volunteered myself to help her with the political stuff, selling her house, purchase some of the new things that might need to be replaced, more political activities… you know… it's going to be a hassle, but it has to be done. Seriously now, Hinata, where did you think I was going?"

"Well, how would I know?" she pouted as she shyly turned away with humiliation as her primary source of influence. "You are always so unpredictable… There is no telling what you would do."

"I must consider that as a compliment. My talents have finally bare fruit after all these years." I elaborated sophisticatedly, "Well, I really do have to get going. The sooner I leave, the sooner I would return."

Hinata held me tighter, as if she was sending signals for me to not leave her side despite how minor this task was. "Naruto-kun, may I go with you to Uritake? I really want to know why that place makes it that special for you."

She was very kind, yes, and her kindness forbade me from speaking lies –at least for now. "It's just an ordinary small town where everyone knows one another from the lack of massive population. Take my word, my dear, it is really nothing that special. Rika made it special for I longed to visit her again after each visit. If it weren't for her, why would I bother returning there so often? Sure, the people are immensely more polite and sincere than those bastards of this wretched land of death, but it's not something worth cherishing to my unbelievably high standards."

"That doesn't mean I don't want to visit that place, you know,"

"You will, eventually," I said, "But it would be wise for you not to come."

Hinata displayed a great deal of confusion, but fortunately, she held no fury. "How come?"

"You have your… ties here, so to speak. You are an official chunnin, or jounin-"

"Chunnin, my love," she generously corrected.

"Right, and missions always come by when you least expect it. I am nothing but a free loader who has a citizenship here with rank of a genin, and therefore, despite my valuable abilities, I am nothing but a low level shinobi that cannot be prioritized for anything. They will be looking for you before she even hits the list to look for my name."

"Why don't you just become a chunnin? You can obviously do it. Look at you, you were able to beat me. You clearly passed all the necessary requirements, and in my opinion, you are ten times more qualified."

I gratefully accepted her praise, in which I reacted with a simple smile. "Despite that fact, my dear, I don't think I would want to do that. Becoming a chunnin is my choice, is it not? And in that spirit, I choose to remain as I am. And yes, of course you would ask why, correct? You know I am not a man of dedication, and if I become a chunnin, that means I would have make emotional pacts, in which could be totally unnecessary, and it would be better off not making them from the start when I don't have the heart of will to fulfil my end of the bargain. The bottom line is, Hinata, that I don't give a damn about my rank. To benefit both sides, I would not need to associate with them, and Konoha wouldn't have someone unreliable to rely on. Better not jack up their hopes, you know, just in case I do prove myself to be unreliable."

Hinata narrowed her eyes dryly at my response. "You are just lazy, aren't you?"

"That, too," I pointed out, somewhat profoundly, actually, "Besides, I have my own master to serve."

The girl before me refused to give in that easily, but she was oblivious that her efforts were in utter vain right from the start. I could have told her, yes, but her reasoning did bring forth some mirth. "What about financial abilities? Being a chunnin does mean you get a drastic boost in your weekly wage. Missions always have been bonuses, but no one can take on that many missions because of the physical and emotional stress. How can you survive on such a dinky genin salary when you are an adult? You are not going to simply do missions twenty-four-seven, are you, my love?"

"I am richer than you think, my dear," I countered wisely. "Why do you think I was able to make up that credit song? I don't need the money. I've killed enough people in my life to earn a fortune."

The Hyuuga princess sighed tiredly as a result, knowing that it was hopeless to convince me to change otherwise. "And why do I have to stay here while you help Rika-chan in Uritake again?"

It had become a fact that my philosophies and elaboration usually trailed off from the initial topic if I was too passionate over my preaching. Perhaps it would be a good change to narrow things down –given that my future profession did not have anything to do with being a politician. Because if I loved law, then my rambling was pure gold, and that was a factor that could not be discarded that easily, for there were millions of people that would not forfeit such a talent for anything else; even if it meant losing their spouse in the process.

"Because," I said, "You are a chunnin who has stupid bonds with Konoha's government."

"I can take a sick leave,"

"When you are not sick?"

"If anyone asks, I'll lie,"

"For what though? For your precious Naruto?"

"Who else would I lie for?" she inquired directly and softly at the same time. "No one is worth that much except for you."

"You really want to come with me, don't you?"

"And you seem to have an obvious desire to push me away,"

"It's only for a few days; five days at most if things get a bit messy. I'll be back before you know it. We just won't be seeing another for a couple of days, so what's the big deal?"

Hinata found my inquiry to be the advantage she was searching for. And she was sticking with it for as long as time would give her. "We just confessed our love for another just last night, and then the following day you tell me that you need to leave town for a several days. Does that make sense to you? Does it spark some illogic to your head?"

I thought about it, yes, but not for too long. In all honesty, I would have given more of a deep analysis to her desperate statement, yes, but her face refused to give me much time to ponder when she appeared so dominating, so demanding for quickness and ability to be decisive. "I still love you," I dumbly replied before I had a good desire to slap myself on the forehead for saying something so retarded. Retarded was not the word I was searching for, no; what was a really bad word? I got it, how about "Hinata"? That was, in more ways than one, frequently a horrible word to hear no matter where I was or when I hear it.

"I know you love me, but I would miss you though… Can I really not come with you? Am I such a bother, my love?"

I kissed her cheek sweetly in return. "Believe me, my dear, I think you are wonderful." Soon, I kissed her lips instead to show my share of care and affection. "But Tsunade wouldn't like it if you took such sudden absentee leaves. Also, there are some things that I wish to speak to Rika alone. I haven't really spoke to her one-on-one for the time she had been here… thanks to a special someone, right?"

Hinata looked sour as a result to my words. "I was worried about you. There isn't anything wrong with that."

"Of course, my dear," I told her with immense obviously subtlety of sarcasm as I left my words hanging. Indeed, it did its damage, and I couldn't ask for anything better. That cute frustrated face she had right now was almost like a reward after a hard day's worth of work, and I had all the intention in the world to remember it vividly, like some vengeful bastard who had nothing better to do in his spare time but to plot out plans to satisfy his budding sense of vengeance. Hinata certainly had a lot more to think about for loving some undead like me; I had been showing nothing but my beauty, but the monster was just surfacing and she had no idea how to prepare herself for it. Well, now it was my job to surprise her, but not today.

"Are you going to leave now?"

"Most preferably, yes," I replied as I took my freedom to kiss her forehead before I stood back up. "Like I said, the sooner I leave, the sooner I can return in one piece." By now, I was already at the door ready to leave, but Hinata was still holding my hand warmly, as though she wanted this moment to last for as long as her influence allowed her. "Is there anything else you would want to tell me, my dear?"

"Nothing much," she said, shrugging timidly to increase her endearing attributes involuntarily. It would have been pretty scary if I picked up any source of deliberation in her actions. In the end, I was just watching her passively and patiently, not giving an ounce of impatience for her to hurry. I wanted to give her a feeling that she had all the time she craved for, but in reality I was in quite a desperate need to leave this joint. "Please come back to me soon."

"You make it sound like I am planning to die," I commented, ruffling her hair a little, yet it went back to shape in less than an instant. "We are not fighting a war here."

"I guess you are right,"

"Farewell, my dear,"

And our lips met when we moved in together in unison, trying our best to achieve absolute dominance in our blissful kiss, in which I surrendered the moment we touched. It was always better for her to have the best out of our romance, for nothing was certain, whether future or present, for any undead.

(Moments Later)

Headaches… even after I met my maker (it was a job half-done) I still had these mortal illnesses, as if it was nothing wrong. I was dead, and so I should not have been functioning like this. It was unreasonable, unfair, unjust, curse the mortals for their fragility! Why couldn't they be like us, the undying undead? The promises of the dead could not be something that can be discarded, ignored, banished, forgotten, for we could do everything that the living could do, but with unique advantages behind it. We were more, we were superior, and Hinata and I had endured too much to be satisfied with simple human morale and satisfactions; we deserved more. And yet, this human sickness relished itself in my skull to create one of the worst pains yet… curse headaches… curse whoever invented them, fuck the person who spread it around just like how I wanted to go back in time to kill the homosexual who had sex with the monkeys that had AIDS.

I hated life here. How I wished I went to Undercity… or found where that place was. If I discovered it before my return, I would've killed whoever wanted to drag me back to this God forsaken death trap. Fortunately for those fools, I haven't managed to find the location of Undercity, but that didn't mean that I gave up my hopes in searching for it. Whether I loved Hinata or not, although I never told her, the priority of Undercity was, and always had been, higher than my importance for romance. I may have established my roots to a degree, but in my eyes, they could always be broken if it no longer showed any importance, but that, of course, did not mean the opposition felt the same way necessarily.

Oh, well, too bad, so sad.

My trip home took unusually long. It felt like hours in my standards, but my watch said it was only twenty minutes. If that was the case, perhaps I was starting to go nuts. I haven't been thinking straight ever since I came back. The authority, the power, the charm, the ability to seduce women, the power, the righteousness of my authority… I lost it all. I lost my touch, and now I was practically a zombie whose freedom had been relinquished by shackling myself to a human girl, in which would not forfeit the love of her interest even if her life was put on the test.

I was stuck in an evident predicament, and whether I have been thinking of a solution every night I was conscious enough, since there were plenty of times that I was either in the hospital or dead in bed, my intellect granted me with insufficiency. Great. Just fantastic. In fact, I was so delighted that jumping off a building was not just a suggestion, but a demand.

Rika greeted me immediately when I turned my key to open the front door, and her affectionate welcome was a sweet, long hug with a full lip kiss, and tongues were very important this time. She gently pulled me in and closed the door at the same time before she, unbelievably, guided me to the floor as we made out passionately. Needless to say, I was at the bottom.

"What brought this on, Rika?" I teased, holding her by the waist and playing with whatever clothing she had in that general spot.

"I just wanted to kiss you," she reasoned with high spirits.

"Are you ready to go?"

"I've been ready for quite some time now. What took you? Did something happen at Hinata's?"

"Nothing too major," I honestly replied, "Just did my job in curing a little girl's depressed heart. It felt good, really; to help out, I meant."

"Are you sure that's what you did? Is that really all?" questioned Rika playfully as she kissed my cheek lovingly.

"And I told Hinata that I would be leaving with you to Uritake, and she took it quite well, I guess."

"Is she coming?"

"I advised her not to, no. Did you want her to come? I was hoping that I would use this activity of ours to catch up. Besides, there are some things I want to talk to you about –alone."

"Same here, actually,"

"Honto-desuka? (Really?) Then let us make haste and blow this joint."

I pulled her back up and hurried ourselves for our personal, but grand, exodus. In the end, the two of us left my apartment with cash and our other essentials. I was bloody rich, so why bother with the excessive load?

---

Exodus' were, theoretically speaking, supposed to be peaceful and safe –aside from Moses' exodus; that would be an exception. At any case, a grand exit to go on a comfort trip with a good friend should not lead to any hostility –given if this was a normal town with no prejudices, or freaks in general. How could I say something like this… was it due to the fact that I was an ass? No, that was far from the truth. I was speaking nothing but the truth. A short while after Rika and I left town, I felt an unbelievable tension lurking close by, and I couldn't even shake it off with any sort of distraction. After another two hundred meter walk, the feeling reached the high point. Without warning of any sort, I immediately pulled Rika by the waist in a rush and leap back as far as my body could bless me within such sudden moments as a kunai whizzed right by where Rika was standing.

What in the hell was going on here? Who would be trying to kill Rika? How could anyone do such a thing? Wait, was the person trying to kill me? I glared at the dagger twenty meters before us, and I cringed my eyes when I noticed how nicely forged the weapon really was; it was almost as though it was custom made. Who in this town would be that dedicated to weapons that even multiples of their daggers needed to be specially created? I knew one person like that, but I prayed that it wasn't true.

"What happened, Naruto?" asked Rika, trembling with genuine fear in my arms. I wished that I could answer her, but I was clueless myself.

"I don't know, Rika… I really don't know…"

Now, it was the stranger's turn to speak. "I missed… well, no… you were just fast enough to pull her away… Impressive, Naruto." Although I did not know who this person was, this was definitely a female.

"Show yourself," I commanded in a seething tone. I was in no mood for games.

"Sincerely speaking," the voice continued as it gradually became more audible from behind the bushes and trees, or foliage. "I really wasn't expecting you to come here. I thought you would be at home and I was going to deal with you then. But then I argued that you are very unpredictable and never stayed in one place, and so I took my chances and waited for you here in this empty road just in case you were about to leave town. God loves me, doesn't he? I found you out of all places."

"What the hell are you planning, witch…"

"Me? Nothing much."

"Who the hell are you anyway? What do you want with me?"

"Fine, I'll show you who I am." And she did once she stepped out of the forest and onto the road. My rage shot out of its limit.

"Tenten!" I roared with subtlety. Control was still needed at this point. "How dare you…"

"The one and only, my friend. You surely shocked me with your cowardice. After hearing so many things from Hinata, you are running away. Coward, what a coward. I cannot forgive you for this."

"Who is she, Naruto?" whispered Rika with pure fright.

"The person who got me in the hospital," I regretfully told her.

"But she's so pretty…"

"And strong… From that tone, I think she is going to kick me…"

"For what though? What did you do?"

"I don't know… seriously…"

"And she is going to beat you up? For what?"

"Your guess is as good as mine…"

"It's so nice to see you talking to your cute friend, Naruto," resumed Tenten, like a bitch. "Don't tell me you don't know what you did. Your face tells me all. Or are you just that ignorant? Do you think I would just take your word for it and call it even? What you did was unforgivable!"

That was my breaking point. It was time for me to retaliate –given that I had some ground to lean on. "What the hell are you even talking about? Shouldn't you be apologizing to me for sending me to the hospital? How about that time you cut off my arm? Where are my apologies? Do you really think you were right, that hurting me justifies the means?"

"You are an undead," declared Tenten bitterly and profoundly, "you won't die from simple injuries,"

"So you think it's okay for you to chop me up?"

"I am not that bloodthirsty. But you deserve it."

"Your prejudice is off the charts…"

"I don't care if you are an undead. I still respect you."

"Is that right…"

"Don't get that delighted, Naruto, I am not done,"

"You bitch… what are you doing here looking for me anyway? You bored and have nothing else to do but to find me to cure your boredom? I thought you had a more meaningful life than that, Tenten."

She laughed, but not a good-hearted one, of course. It was close to sinister, and she was a perfect villain, too. "My life is very meaningful, thank you. Why would I waste my time searching for you if I don't have a reason. Hinata-chan and your friend here may find you to be vital in their lives, but I don't share that sort of feeling. Don't think that you are that important to everyone, dead man."

I ignored her for now so I could at least have some sort of psychological advantage. At minimum rate, I knew I shouldn't leak out any weaknesses, as a shinobi I should know better, and especially when I indoctrinated the codes in my head like a poison when I lost my life due to foolishness and stupidity. "And if you say you have your reasons, then what are they?"

At long last, the moment of truth had befallen on me. Tenten, as she should have been direct right from the start, finally got to the point. "What did you do to Lee?"

"Lee? I didn't do anything…" Trust me, I was sincere. When did I find the time to offend him?

"Don't lie, love-procrastinator!" pointed out Tenten with a finger aiming at me. "Your words changed him! He'll never look at taijutsu the same way because you told him the guy he met at the coffee shop was a homosexual! Now, he sits on the stump in our training area while mumbling, 'Taijutsu obsession might make me gay' over and over again, and it's all your fault! He won't eat, drink, or anything! He just sits there like a statue with fear plastering all over his emotions! And you tell me I don't have a good reason to kick your ass? He was never like this until you opened your big mouth!"

"I spoke nothing but the truth," I retorted, standing up for my human rights… or undead rights, "The guy was gay, and so I warned him. What, do you really want Lee to be with a guy who thinks screwing is next to godliness? I was doing him a favour, Tenten. How were my words serving as a negativity?"

"Lee looks like a sick puppy because of you! What is so positive about that? Nothing!"

"It's his problem, he has to grow up," I insisted as I held onto Rika more closely. Despite that this talk was full of 'silliness', Rika was still quite afraid.

"You stubborn fool! I was the teacher!" Right after that determined scold, Tenten, who was in a fair distance, when it came to combat terms, took out her knives that came from nowhere right before she dashed for me with distinct killing intent.

"Watch out!" I yelled out in alert, instinctively leaping back to evade one close swipe to my knee-caps with Rika in my protection. Tenten did not ease up her assaults, no, she was more encouraged, but her motives now were empowered by rage than anything else. In a rush of event, I shoved Rika out of the way to prevent her from harm, where as I immediately activated my assassin knife on my right wrist to counter the blow. Rika grunted from the force, yet she was not harmed. Her fear, however, nearly choked her to death.

Our weapons clashed –hard. We were in a very familiar position all of a sudden, where Tenten was on the upper hand with her knife coming down, and I was defending with everything I can to prevent myself from being sliced. Once more, I felt that my strength was not enough to compete with hers, and I was losing as each passing second went by. Tenten did not waste her time at all, for she saw this as the perfect advantage to pull her foot back and send a high kick to my chin. The clash broke, obviously, and at the cost of my advantage as I crashed on my back with openings for every predator to have a piece of, like the savages they were. Tenten leaped a mid height jump and dived down for a brutal swing; I was not going to throw in the towel just like that. Instantly, I rolled to my right, in which was just a second before Tenten's attack shaved a fraction of the ground away.

Her initial reaction was a shock, but needless to say, she had her own set of conduct to follow until she could no longer force herself to abide them. At the earliest stages of the game, keeping her emotions in tact just ever so seemed to be the wiser choice, and it was quite clear, and always had been, to me that I was going to be one of the last people in this town that was going see any sparks of weakness out of her. But as long as I caught a glimpse of surprise, I guessed I was in safe hands… sort of, anyway.

"You were not half this fast the last time we fought," commented the weapon mistress, sounding half-impressed and a little envy as the seasoning as she stood in a more at ease stance with her knives still in her hands, "What happened? Don't tell me you were going easy on me back then."

"I had a space restriction," I said, easily, "I wanted to preserve the inn than to destroy it. Besides, I got a little distracted with your… heavenly features. I think they got more sex appeal than last time. Mind lifting your top or lowering the helm of your pants for me to have a closer look?"

Such provocative statements did have its outcomes –for these words usually came with a heavy price. In maximum rage, Tenten's fighting capabilities appeared to have increased –by ten folds. Her slashes were more lethal, and I meant that –especially once they were aiming specifically for just my crotch and nowhere else. And by all means, she was not aiming for sex, oh, I knew, and the very instant I believed that as a reality I knew not even the powers of Anthris or my undead heritage could resurrect me. In order to preserve my unholy life, my speed became the best friend, and soon enough I was shifting up and down and left and right while having a several back flips to gain that invulnerability from damage while evading.

Up until now, I still did not sustain an ounce of damage –aside from that kick, of course. And knowing Tenten, she was not exactly too pleased with her minimal accomplishments. She desired more. As long as I was not down on my knees begging for mercy because she was, in theory, much more superior than I was, she had not reached her goals properly.

I couldn't kid myself even if I tried. I was lying about not being hurt. Her slices caused cuts, a lot of them, but just not in the vital areas because of my agility to dodge in time. Her attacks packed a great deal of inhuman power, that in spite my evasion, I still got wounded for not being far away enough. At least my acting capabilities did not totally fail on me just yet.

The only way, and always had been, sadly to say, that she knew how to let go of this stress was curse out loud. "Damn it, stop moving!"

And so I did, kind of, but not without moving my weapon to block hers from stabbing me before I shifted aside. I locked my blade with hers intentionally, and twisted my arm skillfully to prevent her from pulling out. Despite my weak strength, I managed to pull off a fairly effective lock.

"You are really trying to kill me, aren't you?" I inquired darkly as I observed her struggling to get out of this hold. "You are as bloodthirsty as you are gorgeous. It's such a shame, really."

"Shut up!" the weapon master screamed and yanked her left arm back and took a dangerous stab to my kidney area. Immediately, I broke our lock and leaped high to the skies to have her attack classified as a dead miss. Of course, I landed soundlessly at a medium distance away, but that did not please my opponent. My successes equaled to her failures, and I was obviously just waiting for the right time she fucked up so I could fully take advantage of that situation. From the appearance, I was calm and collected where as she was powered with fury. Technically speaking, the person with the more evident emotions should be at the disadvantage, but that was only valid if they didn't have the combat skills to back them up. In Tenten's situation, however, she had more than enough abilities to pull off most hindrances to victory.

"We can stop," I said, "This is pointless."

"It's not pointless!" she disagreed furiously, "This is for all the pain you have caused Lee!"

And she came at me again with more fervor than a second ago. It really made me question whether she truly was not as violent as she said she was. Judging from this meaningless clash of two potential warriors who should be serving their village than wasting their lives on some idiotic disagreement, where one party was so stubborn that she wouldn't drop the issue, there wasn't any factor that could lead me to believe that Tenten had much reasons to her actions, or perhaps she just needed something to do but there wasn't anyone else she could take out her anger on. Whatever the case was, I always ended up as the involuntary sacrifice to satisfy that empty hole. What made it more depressing was how I was starting to get used to this stupid life.

Something told me I would be losing more than just an arm today… and my predictions usually weren't wrong. Damn, how I hated being right…

AN: And this is the end of Chapter 20. A lot of BS, or constant drama? You be the judge to that. What's done is done and I can't reverse it. That's not true, actually, I could always go back to my account and re-modify everything… but that is way too time consuming given the length of this… thing… Why, why didn't I know how to stop?

At any rate, take care everyone. And a several days until I turn… 85? 19? 30? 24? 23? How old was I again? I lost count ever since yesterday. Adios.