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.

22. I Want to be Free Set me Free

Simplicity is Complexity

Chapter 22: I Want to be Free… Set me Free

Disclaimer: Guilty Gear X2 and Naruto do not belong to me in any fashion you may interpret. I am just a poor man with some writing skills that wants to share with the world through sarcasm and satire. Enough said, right? Yes, I am, so drop that shotgun.

AN: There were quite a bit of questions from here and there… and most of them include Naruto doing it with Kyuubi. Many private messages this month as well… and I have someone challenging me to do a NarutoKyuubi pairing, where I only assume they want the demon to be a woman. If it's yaoi, you are looking at the wrong guy. When I have time, I will try to write a NarutoKyuubi fiction… or I can simply add that element in Hime Murasaki. That would save me a lot of effort in trying to create an original plot line. Believe me, good plot lines that have not been taken are hard to imagine.

The other popular question was why was Tenten a psychotic bitch. Even I can't answer that one well… maybe OpForce just likes psychos? Who knows. I still think that Tenten, in the original anime/manga, is very adorable and lovable. Just because I made her into this prejudice, evil, goddamned bitch does not mean that you readers should start hating her. She is just serving as a symbol of… the evil, undeserving people who cause menace and yet they get away with it. What, did you want me to create an OC instead of using Tenten? That would make Naruto look too good, wouldn't it?

Anyway, let the show continue.

(Naruto's apartment, sometime in the middle of the night)

It was always such a thrill to drink at night. To me, it seemed that nothing else would give me that rich snobbish feel even though this small apartment living room and very common furniture really killed the mood. Due to the darkness that surrounded me, I could've cared less before I savoured that mature sweetness that white wine could provide. I never knew I had an unopened bottle of wine in one of the cupboards in my kitchen; this was probably one of those things Jiraiya had bought and had no other place to store it because he knew how much Tsunade would rant if she ever saw him with alcohol in public. Oh well, it was mine now, and if he did want it back so bad, I guess it wouldn't be a problem if I paid him back later on. A thousand yen or two wasn't something I couldn't afford.

Uzumaki Naruto was a wealthy man in disguise.

I twirled my wine cup a little, staring at it with admiring eyes for two seconds before I switched my gaze to the window, marvelling at the sight of night. Ever since I became an Undead, I grew impatient for night to arrive for the sun was starting to be a bit too unbearable for me to handle. To the least, I wasn't a vampire, but I was beginning to feel nocturnal, as though moonlight was a deep source of vitality for the soul. I poured some wine into another cup and handed to the demon lady who was sitting on my lap, dressed in a dark vampiric outfit that showed horror, thrill, and sensuality.

The cut was made very strategically, shamelessly exposing her way more than a generous amount of cleavage with a very "seldom-break" bra where obviously it was easily broken if unnecessary force was applied. She barely had anything to cover her bottom for her dress only reached her upper thighs, and when she sat down the dress itself crept up to show off her matching pair of moist panties, in which were wet from watching me and growing damper and damper before they would literally drip. Anthris took her cup delightfully, then she took a piece of raw chicken meat that was on the plate on top of the coffee table and brought it to her mouth, chewing it so heavenly before taking a sip of the alcohol to wash it down. She told me that it maximized the flavour of the meat, but I truly wondered if that was true.

"You should really do this more often," commented Anthris as she kissed me gratefully on the cheek. "I really like this session."

"It's only fair that I treat you to something after what I just did with Hinata," I reasoned with a dark grin. "I know that you were very anxious and envious when you watched me please Hinata. That girl… what incredible stamina… or vast stubbornness…"

"I thought she was incredible," my demon master told me, taking the initiative to guide my cup to my lips to drink up. "Seven orgasms… and your bed got so incredibly wet, too, and including your shirt and pants and hands and everything. Hey, you should've taken off your shirt, you know."

"That would just start up more of her sexual fires, Anthris," I reminded, my hand aiming for a piece of meat and popped it to the caverns of my mouth. I deliberately stared at her pantied crotch, and even with limited light I was able to see the wet spot spreading out. Of course, I kept it quiet to myself yet observing it was quite a remarkable interest. "I don't want to have sex with her, I just felt that it was only fair that she experienced the same session, so to speak, that Rika and you have already experienced. Besides, judging by how much of her… nectar… leaked out and how delightful she became after her constant releases, I think she had been holding it in for too long."

"A dim bulb brightens," Anthris said mockingly. My eyes turned stoic when she said that, which my way of showing my annoyance and irritation was. "It was about time that you shared your talent with Hinata-chan."

"Whatever," I said, "As long as I don't need to get laid, I am willing to help. You can say it's my way of appreciation. Hinata does deserve it after all. Such a lovely girl… but to fall in love with an Undead… I don't think I could imagine the dire consequences when others find out about it."

"Do you ever wish that you had your human body back so you would be able to live like any other person that roams on this earth?" Anthris inquired, some seriously coming to this conversation.

"And miss being the chance to have an infinite life? I do want to die, Anthris, but if I were given the option to live forever and find a true place called home in exchange, which is Undercity, then I'd rather pick to live. Besides, what makes you so sure my human self wouldn't see hell when he perished? Did I expect heaven? Sure, I wanted to be heaven, but knowing that I sinned by day and sinned even more by night, well, I doubt my chances were going to be that high."

"I guess not," said my demon, looking at me lovingly, "Have you thought of where Undercity might be? That man wasn't quite clear in his directions, if you want my two cents."

"It's quite simple when you think about it," I replied, taking a sip and shivered happily at the taste. God, I didn't drink enough back in my younger days. What sort of mentality was I carrying? An self-centered, persistent idiot's? It sure appeared so. "A graveyard that is not intended to be one… the only thing that fits into this category is either through a massacre or a war started. If it did happen up north, then the history books would definitely have something that we are looking for. Although I don't really know how long Undercity has been here for, we Undead are quite a new race made by senseless demons who just want innocent humans to suffer from the same hatred that the demons themselves dealt with. With that in mind, it shouldn't involve any battles that happened over fifty years ago, and if my geographical sense is still working, I have to think of one of the most desolated areas, somewhere that no one in the right mind would go."

"How come?"

"If it is worth going, then people would've rebuilt it with their human civilizations as soon as time would allow them. It's not too difficult to comprehend, and as an undead, these are just some of the things that must come to a consideration if I want my life to be lived by any peace necessary."

"I never realized that living as an undead comes with such a high price," Anthris said.

"It's never simple for the persecuted," I reminded richly, "But that would soon change."

"What's your plan then? I mean, after that sort of grand speech, I would naturally expect some results."

I was way ahead of her, but she would only anticipate such intelligence from me. If not, I should be doing better. Thank goodness Anthris was a kind soul to her marvellous creation, I was sure she wouldn't be as considerate if it were anyone else. "How about we take a good look at the atlas maps tomorrow at the central library? If my predictions have no errors, then it should be exactly where I believe it to be. How does that sound?"

"It certainly sounds like a plan," she commented, smiling with subtle pride. "I just hope your accusations are correct, or else you would be wasting your efforts."

I grinned, unaffected by her teasing threat. "Yeah… I know." A second later, my cheeks felt something loving and warm was touching them with butterfly kisses. "Anthris?"

"Shhh," she cooed as she took my lips and kissed it passionately. "Let me reward you for working so hard to secure our freedom." I weakly nodded and surrendered to whatever she had in mind. It only took minutes before our emotions reached our peak where Anthris needed to experience that feeling that made her a woman, and I was surprised to see how quick it rushed upon her this time.

I wasn't saying it was a bad thing, mind you.

(Next Day)

My God, Anthris and I really made quite the mess –that was after I woke up with her breasts nearly suffocating me, her lower body that was coated with her essence was grinding with my stomach and pants. Needless to say, I was still clothed pretty well without a proper shirt, and Anthris was as naked as the day she was born. I was thankful that I wasn't sucking on her bare breasts during my sleep, or that would be just utterly embarrassing. Even though I was an experienced drinker, and maybe perhaps being an undead did have some resistance to alcohol, the side-effects still did some damage. In that spirit, checking out my watch just wasn't something I could do so well, but in the end I still found out it was seven o'clock.

"Anthris," I cooed in her ear, and all I got was a purr as though she was the cutest kitten alive. "Anthris…"

"What?" she whined, rubbing her eyes a little but still wanted to sleep.

"You have to get dressed up, and I have to clean up this place."

"For what…"

"First of all, not everything in this world could be attached back together if they are in pieces," I was pointing out her scraped up panties, obviously. "We must act, now. I wouldn't want Hinata to find out about what we do, you know."

"She already knows, so who cares…" my demon master nuzzled closer and our noses rubbed with another's. I had to say, although I should have more faith, so to speak, that Anthris did not have much intellect when her mind was frail. Time was not my friend, so I didn't think that pretending that it always had been was the most advantageous decision. Right now, I had no time. Therefore, seeing how Anthris won't budge and wanted me to suck on her breasts, I slipped out from beneath her and rolled onto the floor, which was still messy from our prior activities. Ah, fuck… I really hated touching fresh liquids when I was not in the mood… and honey seemed to be just so alive and movable when it got stuck to your skin…

"Anthris…" I spoke, desperately trying to get some sense into her provided if possible, "You have to get dressed."

"But Hinata-chan already knows that we do these things…"

"That doesn't mean she would want to see a woman with a better body than her, better looking than her to be sleeping on top of the undead who she wants to make love to and marry in the future. Get a grip, master."

Anthris looked down, finally noticing that I was on the floor with a not too delighted face. "You want me to get dressed? Don't you like me naked?"

"I am not going to answer that…" I grumbled wearily, "Come on, get dressed now. We can't waste any more time."

My demon master grudgingly obliged. "Oh, fine… you win, you ungrateful bastard…" She then sat up, her face still flushed up slightly from slight arousal and alcohol influence, and then she produced a wavy red chakra from her hands as it slowly surrounded her body. The spiritual energy soon began to solidify before they created her undergarments and another gorgeous set of clothing that could seduce almost any part of the male population. This time, it was a black mini-skirt and a tight white blouse that seemed to be threatening to pop apart due to her bust. I believed that asking Anthris to be conservative would be nothing but a dream, and in that spirit, I didn't even bother trying to give my persuasions any more. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Glad you actually decided to agree with me this time,"

"I am not that inconsiderate, am I?" Anthris questioned, licking her lip and giggled.

"I'll let you think about it," I replied, more like a statement than an answer, "I am more concerned over the sleeping princess, who is naked in my room…"

"Why do you never call me princess? You call Hinata-chan princess though."

"Because it's weird to be referring an artefact as someone that is an elegant as a young woman," I said, teasingly. "And you really aren't a princess at heart, if you truly must know."

My demon goddess narrowed her eyes and watched me cynically. I knew my words really affected her in more ways than one, and believe me; I took a lot of pride in that. "Bastard…" she hissed, and then pouted.

"It's what I do best," I laughed maturely, accidentally running my dirty hand into my hair. That was disturbing… what the hell was I thinking? Damn it all, now I had to wash my hair –thoroughly too. Maybe even I was suffering from any effects from being drunk, and eating fresh meat just didn't help with things either. In fact, it made me even worse. To the very least, I was better at drinking than a mere human. I knew Anthris wanted to laugh when that disgusted look came across my face, but my stare was good enough to make her shut up, yet not sufficient to keep her from telling the other girls when they meet up. This might be a good sign for me to practice my authority. "I am going to check up on Hinata."

"What should I do then?"

"Cook, clean, whatever,"

"I am your master, not a maid."

"You were responsible for this mess too if I must remind you," I pointed out. "This mess is from your body, correct?" She meekly nodded, somewhat guilty and embarrassed that her arousal could create so many puddles and stains. Knowing that the facts were undeniable, Anthris agreed with a sigh and offered to make breakfast and fix up my living room. I suppose this was a good way for her to earn her keep, since Anthris always loved being a freeloader.

Things had to change from today on, and I hoped Anthris understood. Well, she understood of course, it was her lazy nature that held her back from being productive.

I made my way into my room, expecting to find a sleeping Hyuuga hime in my bed resting like a divine angel. As I opened the door, my predictions were only partially correct. Sure, the fortunate thing was that Hinata was still in the room, but at the same time she was far from asleep. The moment I entered the door, Hinata, who was still on the bed, had the sheets covering up her body below the shoulders, and faced my direction, watching me intently for an explanation. Even so what sort of explanation was requested? After giving some thought, I failed to come up with an appropriate answer, yet her face was practically demanding that I had to know what it was that was making her so upset or I would not have another day of peace.

"Good morning, Naruto," she greeted me sweetly. When she didn't add the kun as a suffix, I knew a problem existed fairly evidently to a degree where I could not pretend that it was not there.

"Why, good morning to you too, Hinata," I returned my share of courtesy along with a kind grin. I thought smiling was a little too affectionate for me to pull off so early in the morning. And it was. "How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful," the naked Hyuuga girl chirped with delight. "I never had such a great sleep."

"Cut the act, Hinata," My impatient side took over. Really now, impatience was such a pathetic human trait. "What is really bothering you?"

Hinata kept her eyes fixed upon me as she spoke, but as someone who always looked for details I noticed that she was threatening to cry. "Where were you just now? Why aren't you sleeping with me? Do you even know how sad I was when I didn't find you next to me when I woke up? As lovers… you shouldn't abandon me. I thought that you were using me and not care about me anymore after you had your fun…"

Instead of being all feeling like (whatever that meant,) I rolled my eyes before I let out a grunt. "That is surely some wild thinking, quite the vivid imagination I must say. After finding your true love, although I still believe that you are giving too much credit to your intuitions, don't you think he would be a lot more considerate than that? You certainly have a very curious and peculiar definition of romance. Not sure if my words were considered to be a compliment or not, perhaps I would let you be the fair judge."

"Must you talk with such a vast vocabulary when you speak with me?" Hinata asked, hugging the blanket more tightly to herself. "I do love you, you know."

"Old habits, can't help it,"

"I thought your old habits included you jumping off the bed and dash to Ichiraku Ramen for breakfast while forgetting all your personal hygiene."

Wow, that was a heavy hit…

She smiled devilishly with a genuine spice of evilness when she saw my face cringe by the slightest.

I had to make a good come back; that was not a request of any kind or I would be beating myself up for being a failure.

"I may be a lover of the noodles, but not yet suicidal, my dear. My reputation was a valuable asset in my younger days. I was young once, Hinata, I was vital, and I had my needs. And maybe sometimes these things take the best of me. But don't we all have emotions like that, too? What about you? Did you enjoy last night's festivities? I think that moaning and pleasurable screams when you reached that womanly climatic point must have been an experience of sheer ecstasy. I should have recorded indeed."

Hinata smiled, knowing that I got my backbone back, metaphorically speaking of course. "You want my sincerest opinion, my love?"

"Well, honesty has always been the best policy in my, I don't know, friendships," I answered, taking a short breath to recover. "I don't see why you should be any less of an exception."

She smiled with a gentle grace, but due to my cautious nature I managed to see an inner fire that was in her eyes. The aura in the air became unclean once more, in total desperation to sin. "Naruto-kun… I loved it so much… I really want to do it with you again."

"You make it sound like we went through the whole thing," I reminded, leaning on the door and cracked the joints in my right arm. "Don't forget, I just touched you until you… I am sure there is no need for me to finish the next sentence."

"But I want you, all of you," the Hyuuga girl insisted, and if my eyes were deceiving me, she was ready to climb out of the bed and embrace me in her naked state. "Next time… it wouldn't be just simple touching… I want you so much… I love you so much…"

I walked next to her, placing my hand on her shoulder so she would remain seated. The last thing I needed was to have her leaping at me for an embrace when she was not even properly dressed. She blushed as my hand made contact, in which made me smile because she was the cutest at flushing up. No one could do it better than her, in my sincerest opinion. "I know, Hinata, I know. I love you, too."

"Do you want me as much as I want you, my love?"

"Dear, I am sure you know the answer to that already," I wisely sidestepped the question. "Come on, Anthris is cooking for us. You should take a quick shower and get dressed up so you can enjoy a good first meal of the day. What do you say to that?"

Hinata had her index finger to her lips, wondering her choices to see if it were any good. To me, free breakfast was definitely good, since free lunches certainly did not come in my world; I had to earn it. She smiled naughtily before she spoke. "Do I get you for breakfast?"

"Absolutely not, Hinata,"

"How about as an appetizer?"

"Breakfast does not come with appetizers,"

Hinata threw the blankets away, stared right into my dull coloured eyes while her lust was doing all the talking. My God… so early in the morning and she was already in the mood. Just when were her fires low anyway? And one more thing, I had to be grateful that I was able to look at her face the whole time, because I knew with her blankets thrown away her busty chest was in public view for anyone fortunate enough to look at. Typical morons would die for blood loss or extreme exhaustion from their erection and then die from the immense orgasm that would come two seconds after. "We can… you know… always change the rules, my love."

"Instead of changing the rules," I continued, still unaffected by her lustful talk, which was so seductive that my human self would have lost all control already and penetrated her with no mercy. "Anthris' food would get cold. You wouldn't want to upset her when she had put her heart and soul into this favour. Believe me, she doesn't do favours often."

"I don't think you are giving her enough credit. She helps, Naruto-kun, and she isn't as mean and inconsiderate as you state she is."

I laughed with much control. Obviously I wasn't going to lose my usual demeanor so soon. "Why are you always against me?"

She giggled and kissed my cheek. "I should be asking you the same question, my love."

"Are you going to eat or not?"

"I think I do want to try out her cooking. It really makes me wonder how good her skills are as a demon who lived for over a hundred years, or perhaps even hundreds of years. I mean, after living for as long as she has, I think Anthris-sama has bound to pick up a thing or two."

I scratched my head, still wisely avoiding Hinata's nudity, and how shameless she seemed when she was in this condition before me. "You are putting too much faith… I guess it's good that you are willing to give her a chance…"

Just when I thought the tension went back to normal, someone just had to destroy it. It wasn't Hinata's doing, no, it was the lady in my kitchen. Did I hear something burning?

"Naruto! Come out quickly! Now, now, now, now, now!"

At first, this was kind of unexpected. Anthris screamed before, yes, but not due to panic and fear. This was, of course, definitely a first. Hinata gave a shocked look, and then, unbelievably, urged me to get out and check up on my master. I nodded instantly, and leapt to my feet before running out of my room to give Hinata the privacy she needed.

Within five seconds, I made it to my kitchen right before my eyes widened with pure horror. "What the hell are you doing?" I heard myself scream and scold. "What have you done? What the fuck did you do?"

The damage wasn't huge, no, of course not… just my stove, which doubled as an oven, ignited into useless pieces of barbed metal and other insignificant fragments. The explosion, in my predictions, must've set fire to other parts of the room, which told me why my table had charred marks on them, and why my shelf was kind of on fire, and why the refrigerator door had a new, stylish dent, in which was not appealing to anyone who was considered sane. Holding in my anger and outrage, I examined if the food was ruined as well. To be honest, even without the explosion involved, the food looked like it was caught on fire before hand. Even as an undead, eating overly charred bacon could easily cause cancer. Try serving that to a human, and that poor soul would be arriving at the E.R faster than Orochimaru saying that his personality was heavily inspired from Michael Jackson.

He had to be the gayest man I had ever met –Orochimaru, I meant.

"Please…" Anthris said, carefully examining the almost unreadable (well, I was either mad or extremely frustrated) expression, knowing that any wrong words might trigger an eruption. "I can explain."

Snap.

That was definitely the wrong answer.

"You can explain what," I sternly reminded her. "That you fucked up my kitchen? And that you fucking blew up my stove? I think I have seen just about enough to be persuaded! I don't need to hear any other excuses."

"But I have to explain…" my master meekly insisted, her confidence diminishing.

"What, this was all an accident?"

"Sort of…"

"Then this is one huge and expensive accident you got here. You better justify yourself well, demon."

"You don't have to be so angry…"

"Not angry? Oh, if you are such a genius, why don't you tell me why I shouldn't be killing you right now! How am I supposed to fix this? This is not cheap, you know, and I don't intend to spend my money like this when I could be using it elsewhere. Let me guess, your handling of the… spatula… was so poor that you accidentally twisted the back or side of your hand onto the stove. It, of course, hurts you, and you reacted with rage, therefore you blasted the piece of hardware into scraps because you think it was its fault for hurting you."

Anthris shifted her eyes from the left, and then to the right, obviously pondering about something that she didn't want me to discover. It wasn't too hard for me to comprehend the situation, I knew my predictions were correct, and yet it brought some disappointment as well. Guilt was smearing all over her expression, and she finally realized that there was no point in hiding it when I could read her like a book.

"That's exactly what happened…" she admitted slowly. "I'm really sorry… and about your breakfast…"

"I am not serving anything that could cause Hinata cancer… I am better off going to get delivery…"

"Everything causes cancer –even toothpaste."

"What's going on?" a third voice joined our conversation, and the only other person under this roof was Hyuuga Hinata. "I heard you yelling, my love. Why are you two talking about cancer? That isn't the best topic in a morning conversation…"

"Yes," I said, stuffing my hands carelessly into my pockets. "But I can't seem to ignore this crisis before me."

Hinata finally noticed the mess, or maybe she caught it already but only mentioned it now. "Oh, poor thing…" the girl hesitantly spoke, zipping up her zipper to the middle length to reveal a conservative amount of cleavage behind her tanktop. "So now what… I guess we don't have breakfast, do we…"

"Obviously not," I silently lamented, giving all the blame to Anthris with the tone of my voice. Hinata giggled a little before stopping herself, whereas my master grunted to see my vengeful side surfacing. "If we want to eat, I'd get take out… or something like that." I stepped into my living room, opening a drawer and took out a measuring tape. Upon returning to the kitchen, where Anthris and Hinata just watched me come and go, I took the measuring type and calculated the diameters of my old oven. "I think I'll ask Tsunade for a new stove later and give her the measurements… Looks like I am wasting another fortune…"

Hinata, being kind-hearted and helpful, chose to step in. "My family can buy you one, Naruto-kun. We can hire specialists and it wouldn't cost you a thing." She smiled wholeheartedly when she was done. I gave my share of kindness as well, but it wasn't to last when I just grinned in the end. Knowing me, grinning was not something I did when I was sincere.

"That's a kind offer, my dear, but I am afraid I must refuse. I don't want the feeling that I might owe your family favours."

Hinata walked up to me, then wrapped her arms around my left one affectionately before she rested her head on my shoulder. To return her touch, I kissed her cheek voluntarily, and she only gratefully accepted. "Then how about you come to my place for breakfast?"

"That sounds nice," replied Anthris delightfully.

"She didn't ask you," I dryly retorted, which made Anthris silence in a snap. "And yes, Hinata, why offer up your place?"

"Think of it as a token of appreciation for making me a woman last night," the Hyuuga princess purred, her hunger clear and detectable. In response, I pretended that I didn't notice anything although the dilemma was still there, alive as ever, like it could move if I stared at it for long enough. "It really wouldn't be any trouble at all. Our chefs always expect guests. So, what do you say?"

I clutched my head and whispered something, which was a curse, incoherently. I gave up and I gave in, seeing how Hinata just wouldn't let me off the hook. "Fine," I reluctantly decided, and her face radiated gorgeously soon afterwards. "But I am sealing Anthris inside my mind."

My demon master seemed to have a problem with that, and judging by how she practically reacted with panic, I guess she had great objections. "Wait, you can't!" Anthris begged. "I don't want to be sealed! I want to be out here with you and-"

"You've done enough damage already," I interrupted her reasoning with great power despite my apprentice rank. "I am a believer of retribution, but since you are my master, the least you can do is stay out of trouble just for a little while. Remember, you broke my stove-" And I left it hanging, letting the guilt to sink in. Seeing how defeat was written all over her expression, there was no point trying to resist. To escape from any further humiliation, the dark green haired demon goddess turned herself into spirit form and lashed right into my body, sealing herself away and sulked in the corner with the biggest childish pout and frown on her visage.

At long last, Hinata and I were alone, which was great for her.

"We better get going, or it would be really late for breakfast," I suggested, kissing my lovely girl on the forehead. She nodded in delight and guided the two of us to the front door.

(Hyuuga Mansion, many minutes later)

At first I really thought coming back here voluntarily was a mistake. I should have never mentioned it from the start, but then again when I did arrive I found out that it made my life easier despite my prior beliefs. I did need to give Hinata and Hanabi their swords, then spend some more quality time (to me it was a very pathetic human belief,) and finally bid my farewells and leave them forever. Theoretically, it was foolproof where everyone gains and nobody loses. Who was I kidding? From the very start it was all about me gaining, me winning, me laughing at them all, and everyone else were classified as the big losers.

Seriously speaking, people didn't have to be big to be a big loser.

It may not appear that way now, but discovering that Undercity exists was something vital, as though I only had one more step to go before securing that absolute victory.

I would make sure the living saw doom.

Instead of heading to Hinata's room, I was told to head to the beautiful Japanese style dining room, a dimly, but tastefully, lit spacious room with a fifteen feet long short table fitting up to a dozen guests, whereas Hinata decided to head back to her quarters to freshen up a bit. Her justification was to save time –although I failed to see how that worked but I was no mood to disagree or argue. I sat down on one of the cushions, pondering on the doubts from Hinata's choice. However, I understood completely when the master cook, a man looking quite healthy in the age of his forties, dressing in a Western styled chef uniform, approached me as I entered, asking what I wanted to have this morning as though I was a guest in their fabulous restaurant that only a few had the status to enter.

Taking note of his politeness, I had my fake smile active before I spoke elegance.

I didn't really remember what I asked of him, but it was definitely not something as simple as bacon and eggs. If my memory was not playing tricks, I think I asked for raw beef slices, udon with satay sauce, raw lamb, and red wine as beverage along with a small salad. Well, whatever it was, the cook obeyed despite the weirdness and uncommon suggestion – I think it was the extra blood that freaked him out. As if the weird dish was not enough, the lack of hesitance when I stated my words like the most normal things in this crazy world certainly purged some fear in their systems.

I waited for around fifteen minutes or so and still no food on my table. Never mind the food, I was wondering what was taking Hinata so long. What could she be doing? It was not like she didn't dress or make herself look presentable (not like she was not appealing without the additional touches) at my place, then why all the preparations? Did her Father need to talk to her? Or perhaps she was speaking to Neji or Hanabi? If I wanted to be a little evil, maybe she was masturbating in her room.

Yeah, what were the chances of that ever happening?

My God, I had no idea how wrong I was until a little later.

Still… this waiting was starting to become unbearable and irritating. Come to think of it, that was why I carry a novel on me. In spite my momentary entertainment, the irritation building in my heart just became a bit too much to ignore. In short, I couldn't focus at all.

My prayers were answered when the door that led to the kitchen opened, revealing the head chef once more, and another one of his assistants, carrying my order along with a meal that I did not tell them to make. I presumed that it was Hinata's and these fabulous cooks, who have been working under her and Hiashi for as long as they have, clearly knew what their young mistress liked. The assistant looked at me weirdly with some exaggeration when he presented me with the raw meat, and all I did was say my thanks with a happy expression.

"I do not wish to make a fuss," he began with a cough.

"Then don't," I replied.

"But allow me to jog your memory, sir."

"Your reason?"

"Isn't it healthier and safer for you to eat meat that is cooked? I will be more than happy to fix it up for you if you allow me."

What a great opportunity to freshen up my lying skills. And I hated to discard perfect chances. "I know what I wanted. This is fine. Unlike you, unfortunately, a shinobi's life is never as tasty and delicious as the finest dishes. Consider this as an emotional training to enhance my endurance skills."

"I never knew becoming a shinobi comes with such a high price… But still, you don't have to endanger your health like this… You are a boy, not a zombie…"

He had no clue how ironic that sounded… As much as I wanted to burst out laughing and kill them both for hitting my secret so dead on, I had to refrain myself to doing so. Besides, they were just joking… in spite that I was quite serious.

"You can say I was taught to overdo things," I continued with my lies. "Thank you so much for following my peculiar request. It must have been hard on you."

Not cooking actually saved them the effort, technically speaking. "You are quite different," said the master chef maturely, almost holding back a friendly chuckle. "No wonder why the young mistress adores you." I only assumed that they meant Hinata, since she did love to talk about me whenever possible. Unfortunately for her, I rarely talked about her in front of anyone besides Anthris. She should see it as a blessing that I never made her into gossip material, and of course that was unless she desired attention, in which I could not see why she would want any from rumours and small talk when the tendency of exaggeration and twisting facts were abnormally high. "You have no idea how many people are jealous of your position."

"Don't tell me you have interests in having my spot."

"No, of course not. I am just saying that the mistress has very high standards that many can't come to meeting them despite how much they want to."

"I see… Sure…" I was not going to elaborate my crisis to them, seeing how they wouldn't understand the complexities of a relationship between a human woman and an undead male. We were just not meant to be, and yet… here we were in love with each other… well, I was trying to love her properly whereas she returned it with double the lust.

"Well, enjoy your meal now, sir, I am sure the young mistress will join you shortly." I gave a small nod as they left me all alone again. Once more, I was isolated, yet a smile came upon my face. Ever since I turned into this shell of unholiness, it was wise to keep my guard up at all times. Just when I thought I could cherish the silence, the sliding doors that lead to the hallway opened, and Hyuuga Hinata was standing there, looking quite flushed but still happy nonetheless. She was panting, too, as though she did something tiring just moments before…

"Hello, my love," she greeted affectionately, so positively that her words could touch people's souls, but that was only given if I had one remaining. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Why, no," I decided to speak deceits with a very straight face. "Our food just came in. I am sure the cooks already knew what you wanted."

"Really? Did they fix red bean steamed buns for me?"

Since she asked, it wouldn't hurt to check. I didn't notice the wooden… whatever thingy-majig that usually held other Chinese snacks in a tea restaurant. I opened the lid slightly and checked the insides, and I saw four round white buns in there, emitting a pleasant aroma of faint sweetness of red bean. I personally prefer green tea, ice cream anyway, but a switch in flavour always did great.

"Well, you guessed it right," I said.

"And what did you pick?" Hinata asked curiously, but her interest came to dead end when she finally picked up a deep scent of blood. Even if it was not human blood, the smell of it was evident. "Did you pick to eat raw meat, Naruto-kun?"

I took a breath, and then snickered with a bit of guilt, or feign guilt. "Let's just say it's very difficult to hide your natural… carnage. Feasting nowadays is a privilege than a freedom of choice."

"It's definitely a… change…" admitted Hinata, the scent of blood was getting to her in more negative ways than one. To ease herself, if it did anything, she sat down across from me so she could look at me fully to serve as an enjoyable distraction. "Do you like eating things like that?"

I was praying by then, so I didn't answer until I opened my eyes. "Ever since I had this body, then yes," Taking the chopsticks on the table, I picked up a piece of bloody beef to my mouth, drinking in the fresh blood as though I was a predator devouring my prey. I was surely disturbing the kind Hinata, for she had never seen me take that much interest and genuine excitement over anything else. Hell, she never found me hungry for her, and yet for this meat… I was displaying everything she ever wanted me to do to her. Shortly stated, Hinata was jealous. "Goodness… this is absolutely delicious…"

"You might want to wipe your mouth before you talk," the Hyuuga girl suggested, taking a bite into her breakfast. "You look like a vampire who just feasted… blood is dripping from the sides, Naruto-kun."

I savagely wiped the residue with my hand and then inspected it. As if I was going to let this blood go to waste. In that spirit, I licked my hand clean with Hinata watching me the whole time, eyes cringing more and more as I lingered my licking. Did she even know what she was missing? This satisfaction could not be explained! Never had my tongue tasted anything so pleasing, and yet there were people in this world who thought I was disgusting…

"Naruto-kun…" my lover said in a warning tone. "Mind your table manners…"

"Sorry," I apologized, grabbing my napkin to clean my hands. "Natural instincts and I can't help it. It's the same with you humans completely surrendering to sexual pleasure, you can't help yourselves either."

Hinata was in no mood to start up an argument, but my hunger seriously began to destroy her appetite. She tried to say something, but found it useless when I ignored her comments completely and ate like I did just minutes ago. Despite that, I did act a little more civil and reserved just for her sake. My wish to be left alone in silence was shattered when I felt a presence next to me, and the person across from me seemed to have disappeared. I didn't need to guess where she decided to go, and especially not when my cheek was being touched by a pair of lips that I was all too familiar with. It nibbled at first, and then I felt it smile, lastly she opened her mouth slightly to have her tongue lapping out to have a cherishing taste.

"I can't get enough of you," I heard her say, giggling at the end to enchant her listener. "I love you so much."

"I know, my dear, I know."

"Say, do you have any plans today? Because if you don't… well, you know we can always spend time romantically… and, you know, we can also… ano… do things…"

I knew she was still a little bit shy towards this kind of talk, and women usually allowed their subtlety to do their silent secrets. Hinata was no different, but her cute blushes and stuttering talking gave it away. "My presence is needed at the Konoha Central Library today, Hinata."

That easily perked up her interest. "Central library? What are you hoping to search for?"

"You can say my house isn't the best place to look for literature," I kindly explained with a touch of humour. "Picture it as an enrichment for my soul."

"I have a lot of books here, why don't you take some home and read them in your spare time?"

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, taking a poke at her cheek. "Thank you for being so kind to me."

"You're welcome." Hinata smiled heart-warmingly before she resumed her eating. "Want me to share my buns with you?"

I chuckled and raised my left hand to stroke her cheek, in which she mewled pleasantly when the touching continued, and growled adorably when I finally retracted away. "Sure." It was all I said, and it was definitely more than enough to finally have a peaceful meal with my favourite human girl. In all honesty, this was surely something that did not happen very often. Sometimes, listening to Hinata talk was just so much better than having my words leave my mouth.

I grew tired of talking –unless I compensated it with physical affection, which was never an awful alternative.

(Later)

I left the weapon gifts with Hinata before we bid our share of farewells. In all honesty, I would have met with Hanabi personally to deliver it to her, but Hinata told me that she must have left with Neji this morning to do some training of their own, and probably use these several hours to make some bonding time between cousins, in which was more of a sibling bond when I recalled their closeness –potential intimacy to the least. Hinata promised to give the swords to Hanabi when she came back, and right afterwards she tiptoed to kiss me on the lips. It started as a friendly kiss, in which was still a point I didn't mind kissing her cheek to return the favour, but as soon as she became aware of that I was breaking out of the kiss, she made it into a passionate make-out session.

That alone took another thirty minutes… a very long, life threatening thirty minutes.

When Hinata finally had reached the point of satisfactory, she parted her tongue away from my mouth and smiled naughtily. Despite what she might be thinking when she was watching my gentle demeanor, I almost needed to gasp and pant for air. The desperation was very well hidden, yet not for long if she released thirty seconds later. For an undead, according to what I have heard, I had very powerful lungs where I could hold my breath, or even swim for a much longer time than a human. Air became much less sufficient, thus choking an undead to death could be one of the stupidest things to do because hurting their neck like that was nothing before we could commence our own reversal with barely any difficulty.

Still that was what surprised me -her lungpower. For a human woman, she was able to hold on and continue, where as I was willing to declare forfeit at any moment if the tension got worse. Even having a racial benefit, Hinata still beat me to it and not without some incredible success. It truly made me wonder if I was adequate for this woman. Clearly, I was definitely unfit for her while I was still alive, but even though I was an undead, the distance still seemed a bit far. I was once poverty, and Hinata was royalty. Things have changed, yes, but I was only middle class, and Hinata's mighty status never shifted once for a second. In fact, she was even better. Must I be inadequate for as long as I lived?

After kissing Hinata once more, this time on the forehead, I finally left the Hyuuga estates with the intent to head to the library to raid some information out of them. Victory was mine to savour.

It was definitely a surprise that the Konoha Central Library was around a ten-minute walk from my place. I didn't even know my living location was this close to an information goldmine, and only a week ago I was talking to Rika about moving to a better place. Well, I was better off forgetting that conversation altogether because today I found it completely invalid.

Central Library was a twelve-thousand square feet professional looking office building with six stories. To me, this was the most modern looking building in Konoha. Even the Hokage's office resembled one of a savage's due to the wooden structure and fragility of it all. Seriously now, people, when we already know how to make bricks, should use bricks as their fortification and foundation. Another example would be if I had decent clothes to wear to make myself look presentable, why not wear them instead of wearing rags. At any rate, my first assumption was, well, this resource centre looked absolutely splendid, and its appearance alone was already promising enough to give me the confidence that this place did have the information I was searching for. I doubted this was a six-story building of absolutely nothing.

And if I was, then Konoha really knew how to crush people's hopes.

Empowered by optimism, I entered the profound building.

As soon as I entered, I was welcomed with the fantastic sensation of the air-conditioning, in which caused me to think why our buildings did not match the technology we currently have. A several years ago, I recalled the Wave-mission and specifically that moment we came in with a boat. The shipmaster, as I called him, was rowing us across. As soon as we made it to shore, however, I saw him turning on the motor he always had at the boat's rear to leave. It hit me; why didn't he just come to shore with the motor on in the first place to save him precious strength? Technology, as far as I knew, was for us to make good use of. Was there a point for anybody these days to act all prehistoric when superior alternatives existed?

They were created for our convenience, not simply for people to admire; just like how people invent jutsus to increase their chances of winning and not just make them for the sake of showing off to other people how good they were as technique inventors.

Okay… I did it again. I was thinking too much, and there was no one around to spread my intellect to. Really now, Anthris told me once that I truly was a master at wasting time, and yet with this warning in check I was still bullshitting. I was much better off going in indeed.

That, despite my honest intentions, proved to be a challenge; especially when someone called out to me.

"Naruto!"

This was an unfamiliar voice, yet somewhere in my memory it kept telling me that this belonged to a friendly soul. At the same time, I recognized that it belonged to a woman. In that spirit, I turned around to take a glimpse at this mystery woman.

"Sakura?" I asked out of complete awe. Amongst all the people, I wasn't thinking of meeting her at a place like this. "Hi… Good afternoon…"

"You sound so disappointed to see me, Naruto," Sakura teased with a giggle. "You are so cool."

"Flattery would get you nowhere," I retorted wisely with a grin. "If you do want to please someone, please try with a better set of praise that would actually make impact."

"I knew you would say something like that. But let me ask you something. What brings you here? I don't see you very often knowing how you were deathly afraid of literature back in the academy."

I easily sidestepped the insult by changing the subject ever so subtly. "You sound like you are one frequent visitor, Sakura. Right, you are a medical student, how could I be so forgetful."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Ah, I almost forgot about that. I am here to look for some decent reading material," I still ignored the prior insult, mind you. "I mean, sure, Jiraiya's vocabulary and vast knowledge is something to praise and marvel at sometimes, yet spending his intellect on those novels of his sounds like such a shameful waste. It just doesn't suit my purpose. Do you happen to know any good novels, Sakura?"

My pink haired friend pondered for a second, placing a hand under her chin to prove her point. In the end, she apologetically shook her head, as though her lack of knowledge was a disappointment to me. "Sorry… I don't really know…"

"It's fine," I told her, almost reassuring her that I was not mad. Hey, which part of me looked angry? "I'll just find out on my own."

Seeing how neutrality reached my senses, although I was not displeased for a brief second, Sakura managed to continue with a weak smile. If she didn't want to grin, she could've stayed neutral. But now… she had to be that poor actress that couldn't act well even if her line was a simple hello. "What else are you looking for?"

"Nothing much," I lied, which was immediate and not reluctant at all. "I just want to spend my leisure time more wisely."

"I thought spending time with Hinata would be great for you," she kindly suggested. It was more of a hidden command than anything else, actually. But Sakura's authoritative commands were a thing of the past; now I did all the demanding. Not that I would really ask things from her though, not when she had nothing that interested me. As a jackass, I just wanted to prove to her that there were some opinions out there in the world that surpassed even hers in spite her vast booksmarts. That was how she did so well in the chunnin exams I recalled. "Come on, don't tell me you don't want to be with her when she… well, I am not supposed to say any more, if you know what I mean…"

"You are terrible at hiding secrets," I directly snubbed her with a straight face. It really felt great dropping an anvil on her sometimes in order to set her off. Despite the dangerousness, it was well worth it. "If I didn't know better by now, Hinata would have been absolutely furious that you can't seem to play around subtlety or you just don't know how to keep your mouth shut."

My pink haired friend laughed softly in return. She wasn't delightful, but more of impressed. "You are amazingly straight forward, Naruto. The denseness finally seemed to have rid itself from your indoctrination of stupidity after knowing you for all these years. I'll assume that you already know about Hinata's little secret?"

"I'll ignore your exaggeration on the word 'little', Miss Haruno," I professionally returned my words, "It's more of a massive secret that I can't seem to handle very well."

Sakura thought otherwise. "I would be overjoyed to find out that someone that I know truly cares about me. Don't you want to be loved?"

Exhaustedly, I gave her my reasoning. No, that would be inaccurate; it was more of a declarative statement of blandness than anything else. "I just don't know what humans find so attractive that they would want to love me more than a friendship level."

"Naruto… you are a human as well… We are part of the same race here…"

Right, I forgot that she didn't know my heritage. Not that I would want to tell her, since I was so sure that she would laugh until her air system breaks down. Maturity went with Sakura well, but I just knew there were some things in this world that could make her crack up like a baby. And I wouldn't want to be one of those ridiculous candidates that would make her discover herself further. I was not an undead to become a laughing stock.

"It's just that humans fascinate me, that's all," I resumed with my ingenious treachery that not even a brilliant kunoichi like Haruno Sakura could solve with intellect alone. She needed vital experience as well, and fortunately that was exactly what she lacked. Konoha had made her soft. "The human psyche is what makes us so different. It truly is a piece of art to marvel at."

"Why do you have to make people look like... an analytical subject?"

"You don't need to worry about it that much," I stated, this time my voice had some annoyance towards her senseless questioning. "It's not like I am examining you. But you are definitely something, Sakura."

"Don't start freaking me out," she hushed, placing her hands on her developing hips. "It's getting warm here. Let's go deeper inside to have some better air-conditioning. I'll feel better after that for sure."

"Hey!" A third voice interrupted us in a scolding tone. "Don't stand at the entrance like that, you are letting the AC out!"

"Gomen, gomen!" apologized Sakura immediately, looking very sorry for making such an avoidable mistake. She stopped whatever she was doing when she noticed that I did not say a word just yet. She turned her head and found me standing completely still, not moving a muscle. At the same time, I was watching the bitchy librarian with mostly opened eyes intently, as if I was silently plotting deadly vengeance due to her screechy annoyance moments before. "Naruto," Sakura nudged as she called me. "Hey, say something."

"Like what?" I inquired, my voice drained of everything. "You want me to apologize because she was such a bitch?"

Her reaction was instant. "Don't call people that," she warned. "We were the ones inconsiderate."

"I was just kidding, Sakura," I told her, although I wasn't really joking when I said that. "You got to stop being so uptight about everything."

"You should be more serious. You are almost sixteen."

"Fine, I'll try harder." And I moved in ahead without Sakura. I knew she didn't respond, since my old self would have never said something that would actually admit fault –especially not in front of her when I, more than occasionally, had an endless amount of optimism to brag and climb on top whether the results were minimal and insignificant. Taking in that I was no longer standing beside her, Sakura told me to wait before taking a sprint to catch up.

My friend headed down to the basement to select some medical books for her training, but that was after she advised me to speak with one of the librarians about where the novel paperbacks were located. Once I watched her descend down the stairs, I went searching for the closest librarian. Not to look for novels, no, but for atlases. In a matter of minutes, I was already searching for a worker but I deliberately avoided the same one that bitched at us earlier. That one would have a wonderful, slow death for sure. And instead of finding one, they came for me.

"Are you searching for something, sir?" I heard someone ask from my right. I turned around slightly to spy on my intruder. Surprisingly, she was a young girl not much older than myself. I first expected a geek of some sort with big glasses, but my thoughts were totally different from reality. Before me was an averagely tall young woman with short black hair along with a cute face, wearing a plain white T-shirt and a nametag above her left breast, topping off with a short skirt fitting for the weather. She had glasses too, but small oval shaped that made her appear studious and intelligent than fashionably challenged.

"Yes," I said, gathering some proper courtesy. "I am looking for international atlases. Do you know where those might be?"

"I believe those are on the third floor," she helpfully said, "You still have two floors to go. And they are at section 836."

"Thank you." Without saying any more, I "Flash Warped" away to re-appear again a moment later. Luckily, I landed right on the correct section of the third floor. In front of my sight range were the proper books I was searching for. Wasting time now was not an option, nor was it forgivable when everything needed to be done in a rush. I took a several of the thick ones and brought over to a private table so I could take down some notes. Once I had the information I required, Konoha would be a lost memory forever.

(Meanwhile)

Without Hanabi, Neji, or I around, Hinata felt bored all alone. She could look for other maids and servants to have a friendly chat with, but she knew it wouldn't be wise when all of them were busy at this hour. Usually, she wouldn't even be at home on a weekday, but there had not been as many missions for a skilled chunnin at her level. Most of them could be dealt with by genins and typical chunnins, and someone with her talents should be reserved for larger scale emergencies. At least she was still getting a forty thousand yen cheque per week due to Konoha Federal Funding, but it surely wouldn't be enough if she was living on her own. At any rate, she needed something to do and simply sitting on her attractive rear all day just wouldn't make a difference.

In that spirit, she decided to take a walk to see what could entertain her. She didn't want to look for me so soon, since she thought that I needed some space of my own from time to time. Yet giving me that sort of freedom was driving her crazy. She wanted to be with me despite how desperate it may look upon her. I had to thank Kami-sama for this, for I could finally think of some ways to avoid her if I must.

As soon as she walked out of the gates, she wasn't expecting that the first person she would find would be Sawada Rika. This was indeed a very pleasant surprise. Being her friend, Hinata would not ignore Rika at all.

"Ohayo, Rika-chan," greeted Hinata with a bright smile.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan," Rika returned the friendly greeting with her own unique one. "I didn't notice that I passed by your place…"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to work,"

"But Tsunade-sama's office isn't this way though…"

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to take a walk to relax myself. Just to tell you, Hinata-chan, Tsunade-sama is a pretty picky eater and drinker. She likes her wines very specifically."

Hinata wasn't expecting that from their honourable Hokage. Okay, in another way, Tsunade always displayed herself (as duty of the most powerful kunoichi of Konoha) as someone better than others in terms of politics, manners, courtesy, knowledge, intelligence, wit, consideration, and most importantly strength. Such human traits such as pickiness, gluttony, impatience just didn't fit Tsunade well in Hinata's imagination, since she always known the Hokage as someone nearly as perfect as a saint. Then again, everyone was still human –including herself.

"Really… maybe I should give her white wine for Thanksgiving this year…"

"Sweeter the better," Rika recalled kindly, and her voice was something that Hinata was, even if she never hinted it obviously, envious of. "And by the way… where is Naruto? I thought he would be with you on a gorgeous morning very much like this one."

"He went to the central library," Hinata replied, sensing nothing wrong but longing for my presence. Rika, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes sceptically.

"Library, you say? For what though? To read books?" inquired the violet haired beauty.

"Sure, he said he is out of reading material."

Rika wanted to laugh out loud, literally, but her control was so marvellous that she refrained herself from bursting. "You do realize that Naruto has more books than he could finish, right, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata reacted, and soon became a little alarmed. "What… what are you saying?" The Hyuuga girl was afraid to accept the truth, but by now she already had an idea of what it was. Whether she liked it or not, Rika, finding no other option available to her, decided to burst the dreaded bubble of reality for Hinata.

"I am saying that he is not there at the library for whatever reason he stated…"

"It can't be…"

"You should be expecting his lies by now, Hinata-chan. Right… not even I would've thought that he would be lying if this is the first… well, deceit, I should say, he used on you…"

"No, I am sure this is not the first… I had been fooled for quite a long while now…"

"You didn't know of it back then," Rika stated just to save Hinata some self-image. "Then again… after knowing it, you should be more alert, you know… Not trying to rub it in…" Rika prayed that the damage wasn't too severe, and quite surprisingly Hinata managed to take it fairly well. At least she wasn't berating herself while doing it, which was a good relief.

"What should I do now, Rika-chan?" questioned the Hyuuga princess, now in more of a panic. "But what would Naruto look for in the library if it is not for novels… what else could he be searching…"

Rika thought of something and found no reason not to ask at a time such as this. "Did he tell you anything… strange? Or unique? How about significant?"

Hinata thought about it for a moment, but she failed to produce what suited Rika's terms of significance. She cursed herself for focussing so much on me and my good looks than actually catching the content of the conversation. The little princess was not paying attention, oh this was definitely a good start. In the end though, Hinata managed to summon up a bit yet she didn't know if it was enough. "Um… Naruto-kun did say that he like meat…"

"That's his racial attribute, Hinata-chan, try harder."

"Well, ano… he really wanted to go to Undercity and live with his undead brethren…"

"He told me about that too," said Rika, now pondering the chances. "But he never really acted upon it when he said that he couldn't manage to find out the exact location of the place…"

"And what if he did?"

A question was returned with another inquiry. "Where could he have gotten information? He was in Konoha the whole time, and not even Anthris-sama knows where it is despite her amazing wisdom. He hasn't done anything weird has he?"

"Not that I know of, no…" Hinata finished, still absolutely confused as to what my motives could be. "It won't do any good if we are still here, we need to get moving."

"I got work and Tsunade-sama wants me to try out some experimental recipe today. You better get going then. Not saying that I don't want to help, of course, but Tsunade-sama…" And she left it hanging. Hinata knew she was going to commence this alone, and thus she nodded, which was a way of saying goodbye, and jumped to the skies. A second later, she disappeared in a warping fashion, leaving Rika all alone on the road. "I should really know that move… Damn it… why didn't I become a ninja?"

(Moments Later)

Flash Warping like there was no tomorrow was one of the most stupidest things Hinata had committed in her shinobi career. Even without me having to tell her that Flash Warp was not meant for long distance travelling. Actually, it was only meant to evade moves and after four consecutive jumps without stopping would start draining more chakra than needed. And Flash Warping was only a twenty to thirty meter jump at most, so it was almost no wonder why Hinata ended up completely exhausted when she arrived to the central library. Unluckily for her, I was already gone but not that she knew. Not wasting any more of her precious time, Hinata hastily entered.

And she nearly bumped directly into Sakura as she rushed in, who, as a matter of fact, was carrying three textbooks. Knocking her over now would create a volcanic eruption of pure red, bloody rage. Fortunately, no casualties were involved.

"Gomennassai, gomenassai!" apologized Hinata in a sheepish voice carrying with a deep sense of hurry. "I didn't mean to hit you…"

"It's okay… Hinata-san…" Sakura said, taking in a breath. "But you should really watch where you are going."

"I know, I am sorry…"

"Are you looking for somebody? You seem a bit rushed…"

"Yes," Hinata suddenly remembered after absorbing all the guilt. "Sakura-san, have you seen Naruto-kun?"

"Naruto?"

"Yes, this is urgent!"

This was not the first time she saw Hinata panic, but Sakura was still bewildered that this time Hinata was directing her wrath, so to speak, onto her this time. Of course, this unfamiliarity did get her nervous, and when people got nervous they usually babbled incoherently. "Ano… ano… he… well… he… e-eh… h-he said that he wanted to read some books…"

Hinata's hyperactive state did not die yet. Despite her gentle nature, she grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and leered in very strictly. "What books? Did he say novels?"

"Well, yes… wait, didn't he tell you what he was doing here? Oh, I get it, you want to surprise him, don't you?"

"I am not," Hinata stated firmly. "It's really an emergency, Sakura-san. Believe me."

My former comrade flinched hard, but Hinata did not pay enough attention to notice." He should be on the second floor… Hinata-san… you are hurting me!" The head librarian turned her head towards the two girls with an angry glare on her face, clearly without using words she was trying to tell them to be quiet. Sakura did calm down and Hinata loosened her grip, yet the tension remained –if not increased. "I would go upstairs now to see if he is here… and please let go of me…"

At long last, which was a blessing to Sakura, Hinata realized that Sakura's upper arms were now red from too much holding. If Hinata had longer nails, perhaps her friend would now be bleeding. Sakura was silently thankful when her arms no longer felt that panicking pressure. For crying out loud, Hinata was strong when she was in a desperate mess! "Gomen-ne… Sakura…" the meek Hinata gave her apologies in a very empathetic manner. To Sakura's relief, at least the Hyuuga princess was back to being herself. Shit, that really did hurt.

"It's okay…" said Sakura, now feeling totally awkward for teasing her friend earlier when she seemed to be very dead serious the whole time. "Um… like I said… you can find him upstairs…"

"Thank you so much, Sakura-san," Hinata bowed politely, like always, and she smiled genuinely. She tried to ignore the wince on her friend's face before she continued. "I'll treat you to tea one day, okay?" And she ran off as quickly as library grounds allowed her. Sakura grinned at the willingness that Hinata radiated, and she wondered if she would ever find anyone like how Hinata had found me –not that I wanted to be loved that way. But still, even if Hinata was fortunate enough to find love, did Sakura's healthy arms had to pay for that price? Damn it, she still had textbooks to carry.

Seeing how exploding under the influence of hormonial rage seemed utterly pointless, Sakura exited the building wishing Hinata the best in spirit. The Hyuuga girl's urgency still appeared so blurry to her, so inquisitive like a puzzle that wanted to be solved. Sakura knew she wasn't holding onto a vital piece of the information, yet somehow her mind told her that it was best for her not to get involved. After all, a creepy undead male was not for a human woman to trifle with. As horrible as the morality of her choice, Sakura was almost delighted that she didn't have to be with me for too long. It was a very guilty thing for her to admit, yes, but she truly did not feel safe, as though something was terribly wrong and she had insufficient intellect to figure out what it was although she tried to understand. Maybe some things in the world just weren't meant to be understood, and it had Sakura grudgingly accept that fact no matter how awful it was.

And Hinata was quite in shock, and frightened, to find out what I left for her on the desk that was located on the highest floor.

She made it look like that having eyes wide open was the latest fashion statement. Soaking in a little fear along with that smooth feathering dust of worry and voila… there was definitely a great new look. I just wished I was there to see it. The pain at that precise timing was fresh, emotional, and vitally distressing.

Truth be told, it wasn't intentional for me to leave her clues, but my carelessness caused me to leave the library early before realizing that I left all the material at one spot. Besides, I was sure that helper girl with flashy glasses must have told Hinata about my anxiousness (in a positive way) towards the maps. I didn't know it, but Hinata was friends to many people. It didn't have to be on an intimate level, no, and I was sure her gentle kindness was the source of attracting people to like her. Oh well, she better use whatever resources she had or she would never have the chance to see me again.

Well, not necessary saying that was a bad thing, of course.

(Meanwhile)

"Hey, mister!" I yelled out as I entered the blacksmithing shop magnificently, this time very energetically, to the blacksmith who worked near the outskirts of town. Coming in here felt like the best shower I had in a lifetime, and nothing was going to ruin it in any possible way. "I got something to show you!"

The undead blacksmith came back to the merchandise selling room from the smelting room when he heard me shouting. "Geez… there is no sound proof system in this building, you know, young man."

"Well, how would I know…" I grumbled, "I was just assuming you were so hard back there that you wouldn't be able to hear me. Don't tell me that you were masturbating like a human, mister."

"It's not a sin," he laughed.

"I was just joking."

For the shortest while, I had an urge to laugh with him. After two seconds of further pondering, I found his humour quite obsolete. "Well then, young man, what is it that you have to show me?"

My efforts gained knowledge, and if this man was exactly who he said he was, then he would be my ticket to salvation. "Undercity is located on the northern continent, isn't it? It's no use lying."

"Well, we all know is not anywhere close to Konoha and the other Hidden Villages, young man," he said, almost scoffing at how shallow my thinking was. I had plenty more up my sleeve no doubt. "It's just as bad as saying that the English culture first started from a country that is not Japan but elsewhere." This man sure loved to sting people's prides, just like many professors and intellectuals who were too proud of themselves in certain aspects of their passion. I was sure this undead blacksmith was a masterpiece of sarcasm, but dared I not say that, for I didn't want to look too spunky and wise.

Even said that, I still had a presentation to deal with. But this bastard clearly liked to make things more difficult. Was this the Undercity Queen's test of persistence through interrogation and emotional pressure? Could it be? Such uncertainties was not needed, all I had to be was firm and confident. "Oh well, if my suspicions are right, Undercity is located in the ruins of Aratashi-Yuga, one of the only Japanese strongholds on a Chinese dominant continent, but its location is almost off the tangent, so even when the war was over, no one bothered cleaning up the remains, not if weather became a great burden. Unfortunately for the city of Aratashi-Yuga, it was located near the Islingtonia Mountains where the weather, in the winter especially, was usually very cold. So, when you include the fact that after losing the war to numerous Chinese territories before they accepted the fact that diversity existed, Atarashi-Yuga became a desolated hellhole where no one had the willpower to start fixing it back up because of weariness and climate difficulties. And after one full winter of… damage doing, I'll put it, Atrashi-Yuga was much better off left as what it was after Mother Nature swept her cold winds; as part of the natural habitat of the continent although it was once a proud, powerful city that defended against all prejudice.

"From what limited explorers could gather, the ruins of Atarashi-Yuga, that place looks completely like an isle of dread. Remains of too many dead bodies, the aroma of death and decay, broken weapons and their shards, broken structures, trees were burnt as if explosions took place, the skies were always dark no matter what time of day it was, the ground had no hint of life, it was exactly what you would expect from a ruin… a spectacular graveyard. The only life he found there were beasts like vultures and bears and wolves… but even they seemed very peculiar and strange, as the report said. Remember why I said limited? Because most of them never made it back to their home alive after visiting the ruins near the Islingtonic Mountains. Some journals I've found said that there are some brave souls that established encampments and small towns in that region, saying that there is some hope left in Atarashi-Yuga, with their nearby towns, and that it could become a prosper city that could benefit society once again. But if Atarashi-Yuga is the location of Undercity… then wouldn't my previous statement be leaking out too much information?"

"Of course," said the Undead man before me, listening quite carefully the whole time without once interrupting me. He attentiveness was what kept me going. This was a sign that I was heading onto the right track.

"In Explorer Manaka Shingo's journal, a several members from the town of Izuna came back with him to Konoha, their intention was to gather more volunteers to head up to the Islingtonic Mountains to restore Atarashi-Yuga and other Japanese towns that were obliterated in the process of the war. Think about it, sending genins and other men and women to go up there was a perfect chance to gain ninja experience and some good cash funded by the government. Manaka Shingo's heart was in the right place indeed, but soon after he came back to Konoha he was assassinated in his own home. And in one of his wills, Manaka Shingo, being single and unmarried, he would donate all his books to Konoha's Central Library as a source of enlightenment for all promising youths and adults in his hometown. He prayed that this village would give birth to travellers and explorers like himself… but the Second Hokage's influence really make exploring as a unpromising career when people should behaving and following a shinobi's footsteps. Even so, many saw Manaka Shingo's death as a tragic accident, but to me… it's a little suspicious when I am trying to present my thesis, don't you think?"

"To actually have you find Manaka Shingo's documents… you are quite an amazing individual, young man. Your dedication to Undercity is absolutely astounding."

"Please, call me Naruto. But do tell me one thing, are my assumptions correct to a degree? You do know that talking like I am doing a monologue, despite that I don't really mind doing, is kind of annoying –especially when my audience clearly knows if the work was worth it or a waste of time. Then again, for you to know about Manaka Shingo… who wrote this journal when the 1st and 2nd Hokage were still around… It arouses something."

"A careful undead is the one that will live through under anything. Just to tell you, I felt guilty to be one of the people responsible for Shingo-san's death… But for the sake of Undercity's secrets to remain a secret from these pitiful humans, we took the utilitarian way."

My heart took a great emotional leap when I was victorious at my correct assumptions. I had a great urge to slice something to limit this excitement, but I let go a disappointed sigh at the end when all I could attack was either myself, which was not smart when I had my left arm broken twice, and the defenceless man who was supposed to give me further information about my new home that rightfully belonged to the cursed race that we were. The best option now was to calm down, regardless of how uncomfortable that felt for my soul. I may just kill a several helpless beasts for the fun of it later on. Still, what fun was it if they couldn't help themselves from being slaughtered? Konoha was sure a boring place to be… I truly did not reinforce this enough.

"So Undercity is at Atarashi-Yuga…" I chuckled, my adrenaline rising again at that victorious sensation. "And I only assume the towns at Islingtonic Mountains and near Undercity are all occupied by the undead in their human disguises."

"They know the unholy smell very well," he told me, smiling like a real comrade than an acquaintance this time. "Every comrade is a blessing and a gift to us, Naruto-san. If you wish to get to the northern continent of Ka Shing, separated by the Kuroshiki Sea, it would be best to go to the closest ferry port at the northeast of Uritake."

"Uritake… I thought the closest one was further in the east…"

"Our brethren made a convenient port, clearly it was masked when they were claiming that it was for the benefit for people of Uritake and other towns to have easy access across the sea." In spite that my knowledge for my brethren was, admittedly, nonexistent, I would only presume they had a normal set of intellect very much like these humans I managed to live with for fifteen years without having a need to meet Satan or Almighty God. Either one would've been an honourable guest to me. "You should head there soon. The first encampment of our brethren is up north called Hizanagi, the key structure would be the guard tower constructed with its town hall. Expect a warm greeting when you arrive." The man walked up to me and took my hand (not in any affectionate way) and slipped something in it. "Take this to ticket to ride the ferry, Naruto-san."

The generosity, being one who always loved to take more if my opposition was willing to give me, was very welcoming. Even so, it did arouse a question. Call me cynical if you must; I saw it as being vigilant. "Why are there two tickets?"

"Just in case you want to bring another person on your harsh journey."

"There is no one like that," I reminded him as I slipped the tickets he donated into my shirt pocket. "What could have made you believe such a thing?"

"I have my intuitions,"

"Then, if I may comment, your thinking will need more work." He simply smiled with his unique sense of confidence, which was another way of saying that I could say whatever I wanted and yet he could see through my mask. I would let him believe anything on his mind; that was something that I could not stop in spite how foolish he actually was trying to read me. I was not unreadable, sadly to reveal this frailty, but that did not mean that people with an average intelligence was adequate enough to penetrate my perfect exterior. Even so, whether this man was a comrade now, he seemed to know a lot more than he lets out. If it weren't for my Superego controlling my Id from unleashing my wrath, I could've easily made a large scene, in which I did not want when I needed to exile.

"Good luck in finding Undercity, Naruto-san," he said one more time for being friendly. "I am sure our queen would be most pleased to know of your arrival."

"What will you do now, mister?"

"Me? I'll do what I would always do and see if any more of our brethren show up in this town. We undead could be anywhere, Naruto-san, and the sooner we gather them together the better. It had been a pleasure to have me realize that you are with us than against us, and I am glad that I have found you in time."

His words placed more questions in my head. Never had I felt so attached to a location for living almost sixteen years now. When I was still naïve, I worried for Konoha often, but not because it was going to get run over or anything, instead I was searching for good missions to complete. Without the town, my schedule would be filled with absolutely nothing, and being the zealous, self-centered idiot I could not stand being bored, yet I did not once ponder about the severity and horror if the town did indeed fall under enemy hands.

I dared to call myself a shinobi… that was a good laugh.

At this very second, I was truly concerned over the safety of Undercity. My worries were genuine. If that were the case, how long could the secrecy of our brethren's home hide from other unworthy inhabitants that occupy this planet? Humans were a pathetic race that had fear and ignorance as their primary attributes, which conveniently were also the identical traits that described discrimination. Therefore, humans were powerful creatures with an indoctrinated nature to despise others different than them, and the now still inferior undead race would be crushed for sure should our unity fail. More horrors purged my head when I suddenly saw Undercity in flames.

"Naruto-san, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine…" I clearly lied, and did it terribly so. Seeing how I insisted that I needed no assistance, the man chose not to push the subject. "I think I should get to Undercity as soon as possible…" He nodded to comply. I never had the chance to develop my farewell skills (provided that if there was actually a name for this talent.) This weakness could not be blamed, since I rarely see anyone more than once –whether I didn't wish to meet them again, or I killed them after our first encounter. My abilities gave me a great introduction but an awful end… I knew that fragility within myself, yet I did not bother to fix it when I did not expect that I would be meeting my friends more than just once when I came back to Konoha. To the very least, I still have adaptation as a critical endowment, but compared to my methods to fake a good first impression… that was light years away from perfection.

And how much I hated to admit my faults, too… I guess this applied to a dead man as well.

I shook the blacksmith's hand respectfully before I made my break for the West Gate. My objective was of course reach Uritake and the ferry port before Hinata, or anyone else in that matter, realized my master plan.

(Ten minutes later)

Sneaking out of town was a lot easier than I remembered… especially if I didn't exit through the main gate. Security out here was awfully light… I was sure that I could fill Konoha with drugs and not a single soul would know about it until I spilled the beans out of some impulsive reason I haven't thought of yet. I snickered, unable to control my emotions, and soon I even laughed. It was not loud, but it was enriched with the delight of success. If Kotetsu or Izumo were the ones still guarding the gate, then they have failed big time for letting one genin escape them without them even noticing he was there to begin with.

Finding no reason to linger, I jumped to a nearby branch and leaped away from town using the best retreating skills my shinobi training offered many years ago. Despite my enhanced speed… Uritake was still undoubtedly quite far when it came to travelling on foot. Even though I was unbelievably quick, my body could not consistently run at that agility for hours on end. I figured that it would take me at least a day to arrive. Once I was overseas it would only get easier from there. My excitement grew, yet my face remained fairly passive.

That was to say if I didn't pick up a chakra essence coming from behind me.

Hell, I even heard that person calling me… And it was a girl's.

"Naruto-kun!"

It was Hyuuga Hinata. My, oh my… she caught on quite quickly.

"Talk about annoying…" I whispered that one out loud when I wanted to be in my mind only.

"Matte! (Wait!)" Hinata yelled out, seeing how I increased my pace without showing that I gave more effort. If this was a game of tag, then she might as well consider herself the loser if she had no tricks up her sleeve. "Kuso… Byakugan!"

Wise move indeed… so even if I did Tsuyoshi-Shiki Teni now, I would still appear right in her sight range, thus making my escape plan totally useless. But that in itself was not quite a bad idea. So what if she could still find me? If I was still out of her reach, then it didn't matter now if she could see me when her whole plan was to take me back in one piece. Well, that was what I thought she was doing. Was I daring enough to find out why she was here? Because, truth be told, I knew she didn't come here by coincidence; anyone could figure that much out. Luckily for me, my curiosity wasn't that strong, and so I kept on running.

Hinata, needless to say, had to take things up a notch.

"Ride the Kaiten!" she announced one of her deathblows from meters behind me. That was when my eyes widened for real.

What the hell did she say? That thought was cut short when a shattering crash of energy struck my back, like a truck just ran me over moving at eighty miles an hour. That hurt –a lot. Aside from the pain that was kicking in at light's speed, I lost my balance on the branch I was about to land on right before I saw myself descending down to meet ground in a very, very torturous fashion that I wished Hinata would have used a softer method earlier. I anticipated the impact, yet doing the splits (despite how poorly I managed to perform it) as I crashed was actually much more worse than taking the damage all to the face. For someone who did not excel at gymnastic as well as most people interpreted, slamming my crotch onto the ground while my legs were at an angle of nearly a full one-eighty degrees really… really… I couldn't even bring myself to say it properly! At a minimum, I knew my human body would be paralysed for life if that were to happen, but my undead body had quite the tolerance for incredible flexibility. That alone did not prevent any pain though.

"Fuck…" I cursed, as conservatively as I could, "Why did you have to do that…" Then a shadow cast over me, which confirmed to be a very feminine figure.

"Naruto-kun… gomen…" I heard her gentle voice, soaking with guilt for hitting me in midair. Judging by how I was still in my splits position, she, in one way or another, grasped that I must have been too in pain to budge.

"Mind telling me why you did that earlier?" Although my body burned with agony, I still managed to give out a well-toned question. "No… why are you here? I know you rammed me down for a good reason, my dear."

"I…" she began nervously, almost in a total wreck if I must add. "I… I…"

"You what?" I pressured, now feeling less pain in my legs and pelvis that I could now readjust them.

"I… I…' she still trembled and fought back her tears. "Are you… y-you… trying to leave me, my love?" At least she got it out of her system at long last. "Naruto-kun… why…"

"Why what?" Now I was standing properly, cracking a bone here and there as a source of relief.

"Naruto-kun…" she closed her eyes shut, tears seeped through her eyelids and ran down her face. Even in her sadness, Hyuuga Hinata was beautiful. Was I going to compliment her now? I thought not, it would be quite strange if I did under such ridiculous tension anyway. Avoiding certainly seemed to be better. "Naruto-kun… my love…if you have already f-found Undercity… w-why didn't you tell me?"

I actually found myself opening my eyes a bit more at that remark. Perhaps I was expecting something much more harsh… or was it because of the desperation I picked up from her inquiry which was practically saying, "Take me with you". I could be wrong though, especially seeing how Hinata was in such a fanatic mess. "I just found out about it today, Hinata," I told her, too honestly. "And what seems to be the matter? You know you can tell me the truth."

Whether rage was a trait she was familiar with or not, having it now made her feel very good. "How could you even ask that question?" she shouted at maximum outrage. "Can't you realize that whatever you are doing is going to hurt many people? How can you be so inconsiderate?"

"And it's going to hurt who? You and who else? Rika? Rika already knows that I have set my eye on this goal ever since the first day we met. She has accepted that I am going to leave her one day, and that is why she kept her distance no matter how close we can become. Weren't you at least wondering why Rika and I are not actually a couple when you can see our friendship is very deep? She knows that taking the next step was a price too high for her to handle, and so she cherished all the time she had with me knowing that any one of them would be her last."

"Did you ever think about me, my love? Did you ever think about how I would feel?" Hinata continued her insisting questioning.

"You can't say that I never thought about it," I cracked my neck as I spoke, and obviously that was not an answer that Hinata wanted to hear. Why did I care; this was sincerity if I recalled. "But your persistence…" Explaining things was so hard to do these days, because my opposition frequently took my words the wrong way, or my honesty was simply too brutally genuine. Whatever the case might be, Hinata wasn't impressed. "It was difficult for me to tell you about… my… internal desires without breaking your hopes in the process. I thought time would allow me to have the proper wisdom to tell you… but it's plain to see that your feelings grew drastically and it made it that much more reluctant to share while I was trying to keep things under control."

Her rage might have weakened, but she still had much more to ask. In that spirit, she continued. "Then why didn't you just tell me that Undercity was much more important than me in the first place?"

"Would you accept it though?" I silenced her sharply. As expected, she did halt… at least momentarily. "If I were to tell you that I was not interested in any girls, but a place that I always wanted to go to. Believe me, my dear, that would not stop you from trying. Just because I wanted to go to a place does not mean I shouldn't have someone special at the same time –that is what you will think, correct? That is such a humanly belief." I said that part in total bitterness and disgust.

"Naruto-kun…"

"We are on a total different peril, Hinata," I told her, now taking steps to approach her, and she did not do a thing but remain somewhat stationary yet never taking a step back to retreat. "I am dead and you are living… we can never be together and not because of what the villagers think, or what moral issue we may conflict, no… It's not it."

Hinata had been crying for some time, and I guessed that was why she had been fairly quiet. Given the attitude change, I only assumed that Hinata was not good at dealing with stress. "But, Naruto-kun… if we love each other… it doesn't matter what people think…"

"Oh, but it does," I reminded her, strength coming back into my voice as my sense of hate aroused my excitement. "We would really like that, wouldn't we? Can you really not care about what other people think? You know what, Hinata, I would love to not care about what they think, but I should fucking worry about what they'll do. People are not going to let this go, ever. Humans and humans stick together and nothing more. It's not a written law for all humans to follow, but a customary law where people should be acting this way without having a need to have it written out in stone. Nevertheless, I may not love to live very much, Hinata, it's an undeniable fact. Still, watching myself get killed by a bunch of undeserving jackasses isn't something I had in mind. Not saying that I would want to die gloriously though. I don't think dying meaningfully was an unreasonable request."

Not able to contain the deep feelings brawling in her heart, Hinata wept and fell on her knees. Out of impulse, I rushed to her front and caught her before she fell. I held her in an embrace, and once she felt my caring touch, or my genuine intent rather, she cried in my chest while her hands held onto my shoulders for support. I didn't have the heart to tell her to stop crying. "My love… do you love Undercity more than you love me?"

"You mean the importance?"

She mildly nodded and took a sniff. I kissed her forehead tenderly to release her sadness. Nonetheless, I got her to smile a little with a blush creeping on her adorable cheeks.

"Dear… can't you think of my choice as a protection for you as well as for myself?"

"No."

I kissed her again. She pouted. So this time I planted my affection on her nose. "And why not? Hinata, dear, listen to me for a second. I have come back for two months now, and I have been into intensive care more than I would when I was travelling with that egotistical, hormone-influenced, freeloading motherfucker I call sensei. I had my arm cut off twice, my skull suffering from a major concussion that could have killed me, and my left side of my face is still plastered with a mask. Within two months I am already considered the number one candidate to see death, and yet I am still alive. If you want my two cents, Hinata, then I'll tell you that I don't think my chances of surviving until summer is high. Just one lethal shot on my balls or on my head and I am riding straight to the pits of hell. You know that I am not suited to live in Konoha. I have to go."

My waist felt like it was going to break in thirds or something once Hinata tightened our loving embrace. I gasped airily but the princess before me did not notice my new predicament. Some help was gladly appreciated. "Demo… demo… I can't live without you, my love!" she exclaimed in total sorrow into my chest. Despite her words were diluted and muffled; I managed, under my current state, to catch on. "I've waited for so long… held in everything for so many years and finally found my courage to tell you how I feel… and… a-and… I don't want to be alone again! I love you, Naruto-kun, with all my heart and soul… Why can't you seem to realize that? Why don't you love me like how I love you?"

I sighed as I levelled my hand to stroke her cheek as a method to calm her down. "Love comes with a high price. And I can't put you in danger, Hinata. I know you love me, and I love you, too… but-"

"Everything would be for nothing if you are not with me," she persisted, willing to battle it out until she claimed me –or died trying. She was definitely not going to lose me without a decent fight, I knew that much.

"And what good is it if we die in the process of loving each other? Doesn't that sound stupid altogether?"

She suddenly felt small with such a direct attack. Her volume reflected my assumption as legitimate. "But… we would be together still… going through thick and thin…"

I used every means to persuade her that my thinking was more rational, more realistic, and one that would allow us to be safe. For starters, I began to stroke her soft, tiny back pleasantly. That got to moan at first once my front felt moist from her breathing. Realizing this was still a debate of some sort, she closed her mouth as she tried to deny the comfort she was receiving. "Can't you just be grateful that Uzumaki Naruto is alive and cares for you very much?"

"I am very grateful," she returned her response with her face still in my chest.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Come back with me, Naruto-kun," the Hyuuga girl pleaded.

"And get myself brutally wasted by Tenten? That's a dumb suggestion. I am done with Konoha, dear."

Hinata did not let up easily, yet she didn't want to sound forceful because she knew my reasoning was just as, if not more, critical than hers. Whether she believed it or not, she was deathly afraid of the next time I might end up in the hospital's intensive care again due to a more severe cause than just losing a several limbs. Even she was dreadfully stunned that I was under more danger at home compared to the outside world, in which was, by all means, more ferocious and merciless to anyone who was not adequate to accept the harshness and injustice. "I will protect you." Hinata quickly silenced herself right before she knew I would just give her a bland look and roll my eyes right after. That sounded horribly weak and she admitted that painfully. She was losing ground –too much ground.

"I admire your incredible sense of courage, dear, but there is only so much you can do." I ended my words with another kiss to her forehead. "I appreciate it, I really do. But I'll die if I go back to Konoha."

"I know you will… I know…"

I felt delighted to see her so understanding. This was it, I had to give one more push "Then will you let me go to Undercity and live a happy life that I wanted for so long? Where people will judge me? No one will hate me… no one would try to kill me all the time just because they wanted to entertain themselves… Everything is going to be perfect and wonderful. Don't you want me to be accepted? Even you said that I am going to be killed if I go back, so why do you keep insisting that? It sounds so silly coming from you."

"I want you to be happy… demo… Naruto-kun… I-I… don't you want me to be happy? You are my happiness… I don't know what I'll do if you are no longer beside me…"

"And you definitely won't know what to do if I die," I found great humour in that declarative statement. "Hinata, what are you trying to say? Come on," I cooed her like I would to an infant. Besides, she loved to see that kind side of mine –especially now since she was depressed. "You know I am willing to listen to anything." I kissed her forehead again to encourage her to speak up.

"Naruto-kun…"

"What is it, my dear?"

"Do me a favour… please…?"

"Just tell me, Hinata,"

"I want to come with you to Undercity. I don't care about anyone or anything else, my love, I want to be with you."

That was to be expected. Hinata just found me to be on top of her importance list where not even her chunnin status, where I thought she was as good as a jounin when it came to both wit and power, could make her remain in Konoha if I was not a part of it. "Are you sure? This decision better not be rash, Hinata, or you will live to regret it."

Hinata took a breath and returned her words confidently. "I won't."

"You won't live to see Undercity, Hinata," I told her, taking her chin with my hand and lifted it so I could look into her beautiful orbs, and likewise she could look into mine. Not to observe and admire, no, but to make her understand just how serious I was. "You will regret it for sure. I don't want you to be pointlessly wasting your life."

"How can being with you be a waste?"

"Not if Undercity and its undead inhabitants are going to kill you and eat you like a snack."

"You're not eating me though…"

"That's because I care about you enough not to do something so unorthodox. And don't start believing that Undercity is going to start knowing how to care about you though, dear. That sense of obnoxious optimism is going to get you brutally murdered."

Her next suggestion caused me to break our embrace very fearfully. I even took a few dreadful steps back to make sure if I was truly awake and not hallucinating any of this. "Kill me, Naruto-kun."

The last time I checked with a doctor, he told me that my hearing was fine. When I thought about it now, I wondered if he was lying the whole time just so he could kick me out prematurely because there was no damn way that Hinata would be saying anything suicidal. Either I wasn't hearing properly or I heard what I heard, in which I kept repeating to myself that Hinata couldn't be suggesting such a… dangerously provocative idea. In my confused state of mind, my response was fairly retarded.

"What?"

Hinata's body language reflected the solemnity in her building aura. "You heard me."

"Well, I wouldn't be asking you to repeat it if I heard you, wouldn't I?"

"I am telling you to kill me."

I grunted, slapped my hand onto my forehead and let it stay there, and looked at her with the only eye that was functional at the moment. "If you are trying to be humourous at a time like this, despite that I love your suicidal invitations, you seriously need more work in your acting."

"My love, I am not joking."

And this was where I should be getting some answers. Please, it wasn't everyday that Hyuuga Hinata, the sweetest and most beautiful human girl that I knew, would come up to me and ask me to take her life in a voice that told me she was completely fine with it. This was a great definition for 'rare'. There were professional suicidal specialists somewhere in every town that would tell her to jump off a cliff and still receive a decent payment afterwards! Then again, perhaps I should be taking some delight in this situation if Hinata saw me as a professional despite my lack of a degree. It felt good to be good at something.

"Oh, and what is that supposed to accomplish? To make me feel guilty for killing you so I would drown in sorrow and lose my spirit to leave Konoha? Hell, you and this relationship (I would prefer to call it friendship) are the only obstacle that stands in my way of achieving my goal. Are you losing your mind, Hinata?"

"Don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

She grew impatient. I could tell by her eyes cringing repeatedly out of agitation. "Don't be dense now, Naruto-kun."

"Dense about what though? All I see here is that you are assuming me for a miracle worker! What, are you asking me to murder you and then raise you back from the dead and-" That was it. I knew exactly what she was referring to… and it scared the crap out of me. "No… you can't mean… no, Hinata… You can't…"

Her lavender eyes shined with happiness once she saw me realizing her intentions. Seeing me falling back in disbelief, she immediately advanced forward to reclaim the foundations that she lost earlier before trapping me at the edge. "Yes, Naruto-kun, kill me. I know you can do it. Do it for me."

I didn't know how to react. It was a combination of fear, anger, confusion, powerless to persuade her earlier, being proud of her for suggesting such a bold move although I should not be encouraging her to do this… Everything just seemed so wrong! I was sure why she mentioned it, but I really did not want to hear it from her mouth. Somehow, I expected that she was going to say it anyway. "I won't do it… I can't do it, Hinata…"

"And why not?" she immediately challenged with a direct pierce into my philosophy. "You think that I can live in Konoha without you here while knowing that you are somewhere out there with a bunch of zombies like yourself? You are everything to me! My existence would have no meaning if you are not by my side. And if you are not here… what's the difference being living and dying? I might as well die for all I care! I know that you don't want me around because you think I am a total hindrance to your desires! That's why you only love me like a sister… that's why you won't make love to me… that's why you refuse to be dedicated to anything… that is why you charm ladies so well because you act all mysterious… that is why you trained yourself to be the best professional liar! You never cared about me the way I cared about you… I know I was just trying to fool myself for thinking that if I loved you more you would be touched enough to love me back… if not more… How could I've been so stupid?"

Absorbing this was hard business. "Hinata… you're not stupid."

Her death glare was more than suffice to shut me up. I didn't think I would be talking soon either. "Don't you dare tell me that my thinking is wrong, you fucking son of a bitch…" she hissed dangerously. This had to be her dark side talking. "You can lie all you want, bastard, but I happen to be a very sincere woman because I don't think I have anything to hide! Do you know what, Naruto-kun, make it an order."

When I didn't respond, since I didn't know if that was an indication for me to speak out, her stare only got fiercer. I coughed once, then twice… and finally my vocal cords projected a mild whisper. "Make what an order?"

Under the influence of dominance through fear, Hinata rushed her entire body (with her elbow first, actually) at me and slammed my back onto a tree right before locking my still with her arm across my neck. "Don't try to play dumb with me. If your brain is failing now, then I will tell you to make it function! I am ordering you to kill me, Naruto-kun.

"If you love me, which you should be, then you will end my life and make me rest in peace, or you can kill me and revive me to be an undead girl so I can leave Konoha forever with you and be a part of Undercity. I don't care which one you prefer, but at least I am happy in the end. And if you don't kill me, my dearest, then I will hate you forever. I will hate you so much that I will personally take you out for good so you will never ever fulfill your dreams. I will abolish all personal feelings for you and act under the code of conduct to eliminate all supernatural threats that jeopardizes the village. Not only that… I am sure to get a very good title for killing an undead… Do you even realize that you are standing in my way for getting a Nobel Prize? Do you have any fucking idea how famous I would be if I were the one responsible for killing you? You are the key for anyone to be rich if they knew your secret, and yet I know it and still letting you draw air. Just how stupid am I?"

Hearing her say that made my blood boil. If it were any other human, I wouldn't have cared. But… Hinata… she would never do this to me… and here she was telling me that I was stopping her from getting fame and fortune! So I was the trouble? I was a problem for all this time despite that she said it so many times that she loved me? If that were the case… maybe she was lying for all this time, too! I knew Hinata was an excellent manipulator if she wanted to be, I've saw her do it. Then maybe all her confessions up to this point were a living lie as well. Perchance this was her way of getting close to me so when I least expect it, since I loved her so much and trusted her with absolutely everything, she would backstab me and then claim a bound of infinite riches! My ego debated that it was wrong and that Hinata would never think of such of thing, but my Id along with my dulled sense of outrage did not seem to agree.

My raw emotions made sure that nothing else stood in my path.

"So… you only cared about me because you know I can grant you with fame?" I mumbled, using an extremely dark and low voice that I thought I have forgotten. At a reasonable minimum, I didn't think I would be using it on her –ever. Hell, killing Hyuuga Hinata never made it into my agenda; until now, of course. In fact, it had reached top priority. Even so, my faith in her prevented me from doing anything rash while my mood was threatening to blow up under the weakest stimulation of anger. I still wanted to know if she meant what she said about using me. "Hinata… dearest… don't tell me this is true…"

A dark grin formed on her lips when she heard that question. It took almost all her self control, from my biased perspective, not to laugh. "You can't say I haven't been thinking about it."

That did it.

Crying out with ardent hate, my assassin's knife powered up at full charge and shot out of my wrist in the most concentrated form it had ever been. Sensing raw hostility, Hinata attempted to retreat fearfully by first releasing her arm that was locking my neck. But that was already too slow for me. I had no regret; her rejection and will to destroy me hurt me a hundred times more than those villagers put together. I could not forgive her. Rushing in with a very rare, but ferocious, adrenaline rush, I first knocked her defending left arm out of the way with my own and dived in for the kill. Unable to do anything in a hurry, I mercilessly drilled the beam knife into a very critical spot that was almost a one-shot kill. Blood exploded from her mouth and a second later another gush of that crimson liquid came from the wound that I made in her right lung. I then realized that my knife cut right through her.

She screamed… in pain… and most importantly… in absolute joy.

Was I regretting it by then? Why, no, I was still too angry to calm down. Her next words, however, caused me to shake uncontrollably, nearly wanting to stab myself from the amount of guilt that shot into my system.

"Naruto-kun…" the dying girl, who I loved dearly, gasped her final breath as more blood flowed from her lips to her neck. "Thank you… I can finally die in peace… should you choose to revive me…" She giggled for a millisecond, and then at last her vocal cords gave out. Her eyes were still open but they were lifeless pools that were once the most beautiful treasures that anyone that find themselves to enjoy gems would see it as the rarest, most valuable object to cherish. The grin just looked sadistic. Something struck me… Hinata wasn't moving anymore… her whole body collapsed towards mine with no resistance whatsoever… Hinata didn't move…

No… this couldn't be… there was no way that my emotions, that I had trained for so long to keep it calm and collected, would allow me to do this! This couldn't be happening… this was not true! Tell me this was all a bad nightmare! Reality wouldn't be this cruel! No… what have I done… I murdered Hyuuga Hinata…

I killed her… with my own hands…

For once, everything seemed lost… And how I now know just how important this girl was to me until she was gone… What have I done?

AN: Yay, another cliff. I am getting "good" at these. After two months of no update, and then suddenly a cliff… I am a guy who deserves to be shot! At any rate, SiC is not over yet. Just a few more chapters, yes, just a few more. Hime Murasaki should be up in a week or so… given that I could finish up some of the assignments that I have already started. Well, sayonara, minna-san. Should our school gives us horrors, you know there are always those who understands. I certainly understand, and yet I am doing nothing about it.

Okay… put away that shotgun… I said drop it… Drop it I say!