Chapter Three
xxx
Naruto glanced at the sky. It was early... only an hour or so until dawn. The old man had kept him long after his teammates had gone to their homes, grilling him on what he'd done to Mizuki, and making sure he knew what the implications would be if he was ever caught with his fangs in someones throat. Regardless of the fact that he and his master had only fed on the dregs of society, mainly criminals, and now, a traitor... the villagers already saw him as a monster... did he want to give them a valid reason to?
Naruto had just shrugged. Things were different now... truthfully he found it difficult to think of the bull headed villagers as more than headstrong cattle. Cattle belonging to another, but cattle nontheless. Such a difference between being called a monster, and being a monster in truth. He simply couldn't care less what the cattle did, or said... The old man had been less than pleased when he pointed this out.
He dropped his gaze from the fading stars. This would have to be quick if he wanted to be back by the time the old man had specified to meet the team's Jounin-sensei. Quickly then...
He hopped down from the tree, landing easily and casually striding through the door to the dingy, dark building, glancing around for only a moment before seating himself at a table where everyones faces were hid in deep hoods. He gestured to a bored looking barman, holding out his own... special mug. The barman filled it with the house specialty... a rancid brew that stank to his powerful senses of dog piss and other, less mentionable things. Fortunately he wouldn't have to drink it, a trick he'd picked up from a novel he'd read once. The mug had a small hole drilled through the bottom, which he set over one of the many cracks running through the table... the seedy bar's floor was covered in dirt and sawdust that would quickly absorb the fetid liquid. He let it drain for a few moments before lifting it and feigning a sip, setting it back down quickly to get the reek as far as possible from his sensitive nose.
"Huh... Aren't you... a bit young to be drinking in a place like this?"
Perfect. Naruto narrowed his eyes in feigned anger before letting loose an aggrieved sigh.
"Must everyone I meet comment on my height... or lack of it?"
He lifted the mug again, feigning another sip.
"In any case, I don't frequent this place often... I simply recieved word that someone here was offering to sell a... special acquisition. Naturally, I was most interested."
Everyone at the table lifted their mugs at once, mulling it over.
"You're a bit early... It's going to be a few hours before we know whether or not to sell at all... and then we all want to... sample the goods first."
Naruto slowly arched an eyebrow.
"Ah? If you're waiting for a certain someone to come through with the goods... he's not going to show. He was caught with his hands in the cookie jar... they may still be 'questioning' him, or they may have learned everything they need already. I hear Konoha's interrogators are first rate."
The cloaked figures began shifting nervously, obviously uneasy at the prospect of facing off against a team of trained shinobi. Naruto faked another sip, pleased that the disgusting brew had almost fully drained away.
"Why are you all so worried? Konoha is tied up in paperwork... in all likelyhood we have plenty of time... perhaps not to play, but plenty of time to conduct our business and leave... and the sooner we're finished, the longer we have to cover our tracks, yes?"
The group stared into their mugs before one slowly rose from his seat, prompting another and another to rise.
"Follow us please."
Naruto tilted his head down as he rose, the wide brim of his hat concealing his smirk.
Foolish cattle.
xxx
Twenty minutes till dawn, and the group of hooded individuals were standing by, fidgeting at soft noises while their apparent leader fiddled with the locks on the old shed door. He'd made a couple of clones for backup, and they were keeping themselves amused by transforming into small animals and making loud rustling noises in the leaves. It was childish, but he had to admit that it was rather amusing to watch the way the cloaked figures would start and jerk their heads to where the noise came from, only to heave a relieved sigh when a squirrel or puppy would show itself.
Ah... he's done. Seven locks... not exactly inconspicuous. More than two locks to a door is just asking for some overly curious burglar to start wondering just what someone kept in that shed, that they wanted noone else to see.
The door swung open, revealing a cell inside. A small meal was left, half eaten on the floor, and a silver-haired girl lay on a cot facing the wall, wearing a dirty, tattered shift. A heavy looking manacle and length of chain fettered her to the cot.
"Well now... Miyuki-chan. It seems your dear brother has failed to come through on our little deal. Such a pity."
Unseen, the two clones dropped the animal illusions before changing their features slightly, aging themselves and changing the color of their hair to light blue and red. In seconds, they bore nearly no resemblance to the original.
"Turn around girl... the customer wants to see the goods."
Miyuki slowly stood and turned, tearstained eyes obvious against her pale face.
"You see? Lass is quality... untrained, but she comes from a minor ninja clan. The bloodline apparently didn't manifest in her generation, but you might be able to breed a few..."
The spokesman fell silent as waves of malice began rolling off his 'customer'.
"Hmmm... Hmhmmm... Indeed. I have it, the perfect payment for you..."
The hooded thugs stepped back as he pulled off his hat, revealing blonde hair... and glowing red eyes.
"I'll give you a mercifully swift death!"
The spokesman was paralyzed with terror, but the others were quick to scatter... or try to anyway, as the clones withdrew kunai and sliced them to ribbons. Their screams elicited a whimper from the spokesman as Naruto's grin grew slightly wider.
"No... I've got a better idea..."
His fist flashed forwards, knocking the last man out, then glanced at the shocked Miyuki. Shrugging, he heaved the thug over his shoulder and turned pacing towards the door before pausing to turn and look back over his shoulder and toss a key to land next to Miyuki's foot. She wasted no time in unlocking her shackles, but seemed wary of approaching her rescuer.
"Are you coming?"
There was a long silence, ended by Naruto placing his hat back on his head.
"Suit yourself... but I think your brother would be happy to see you again."
Miyuki's eyes widened, and suddenly she was stumbling as fast as she could after the boy in the trenchcoat.
Dawn broke.
xxx
"We're here."
Miyuki paused just behind Naruto, glancing around in confusion. As far as she could tell, this section of the forest was just like the rest they'd passed by. The thug groaned lightly, and Naruto socked him in the head, silencing him.
"Where? There's nothing here..."
Naruto glanced at her, then shrugged and walked to the side, where a slope of ground cut off into a very short cliff. He set his hand against it, judging something, then moved three feet to the right and parted the hanging lichens revealing a small cave mouth.
"What? A cave? I thought..."
"Please just... stop talking. Your voice is beginning to grind on my nerves."
Miyuki's eye began to slowly twitch, and her hand balled into a fist, but Naruto had already stepped into the cave. She sighed and made to follow, only to be stopped by one of Naruto's clones dropping from a tree in front of her.
"Wait here."
Miyuki sighed, but sat down on a rock to wait.
Inside the cave, Naruto had let the thug drop to the ground, and was repeatedly striking a kunai against a piece of flint. Eventually the oil-soaked cloth of the torch caught, lighting up the inside of the cave and revealling Mizuki, bound and gagged, but very much alive... sort of anyway. His eyes, once silver, were now a deep, hatred-filled red. Naruto blinked and reached forward, tugging down the gag... and jerking his finger back as Mizuki's head shot forward, jaws clicking tightly shut on air.
"Feisty..."
Mizuki's response was a growl and an enraged glare.
"Oh don't be like that... if I hadn't tied you up, you might have done something foolish. You don't yet know the dangers of your new existence... though I was surprised to discover... a virgin at your age. Most unexpected, but it seems to have worked out for the best. The ANBU checked you out while you were still in the transitory phase, so everyone in Konoha honestly believes you're dead."
"And that's a good thing how?"
"Patience Mizuki-kun... I'm getting to it. Had I left you alive, you'd currently reside in the bowels of Konoha's prison systems, where Ibiki would use you to devise new torture techniques... killing you normally would have the obvious drawback of your death. I had a hunch, and it was confirmed the minute I tasted your blood, opening your final surface thoughts to me. I was proven correct... you would never turn traitor... of your own volition. However... everyone has something that they value more than anything else... for those thugs, it was just a matter of finding it. Or rather... her."
Mizuki's eyes widened as he processed that.
"Y-you mean...?"
"I suggest you feed now, after all the trouble I took to bring their ringleader along. After all, while your sister is waiting just outside you are somewhat starved for blood. It would be terrible should any... accidents occur. Best to deal with your new instincts now, than do something you could regret."
Naruto reached down, lifting the thug by the hair and holding him up, near Mizuki's head. Mizuki's eyes widened further, then narrowed as he grit his teeth, fighting back the impulses... but he could still see it, hear the gentle thrum of blood pumping through the man's jugular, almost smell the rich blood flowing through his filthy body...
"You're resisting? Good. It took me several days before I could fully control myself in hunger... it looks like you'll master yourself much faster. But now is not the time for restraint."
He removed a kunai from his coat and gently scratched the man's neck. With the sudden, real scent of blood, Mizuki could no longer resist and hurled himself bodily to the thug, sinking his new fangs deep into his throat.
"You see? You thought you could control yourself, but the second you smelled blood you completely lost it. You have to drink blood to continue existing, but you can't go nuts every time someone scrapes a knee or cuts a finger either. Without my help..."
Naruto blinked wide eyed as he suddenly registered the similarity between this situation and one in his past.
"Idiot!" Seras screamed, lifting the badly beaten rapist attemptee up towards him. "Feed now, before you go out!"
"No!" Naruto yelled back, "I refuse... even someone like him... It's wrong to do this! I won't!"
"Idiot!" Seras drew breath to continue her diatribe, then paused as her expression turned crafty, and suddenly she slashed her sharp fingernails across the man's face, hard enough to leave red lines and draw a few drops of blood. Immediately Naruto had crossed the distance between them and sunk his fangs deep into the scum's throat.
"You see, idiot? Your control isn't good enough yet to spend long amounts of time without feeding. One sniff of blood, and you lose all self-restraint. What happens if you go out at night without feeding, and run into an elite ninja... he's playing with his throwing knives, and he accidentally nicks his finger. If you haven't fed, you won't be able to control yourself and you'll end up attacking him. You're not that strong... only freshly turned. Without my help you're going to die of something stupid, like accidently walking into the sunlight, or going blood-crazy on someone out of your league..."
Her expression softened slightly.
"When I turned you, you became family. You're like a son... or more like a stupid little brother really. I have to look out for you, until you can look out for yourself."
Naruto shook his head, shaking off the memory. He, unlike his master, lacked the maternal instict to ensure he stuck around to make sure Mizuki actually listened to his advice. If Mizuki did something stupid... it was no concern of his.
"Without my help, you'll do something stupid and die of it. Not that I care, but I do take some responsibility for this situation... otherwise I could have just left you in the woods where ANBU left you and you'd be a goner. Now listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once... Our kind feed off of human blood to 'live'. The thing is, we don't necissarily have to kill the human we feed off of... like you just did... drink a little and leave, and the puncture marks will seal up in under a day. The thing is, if we do kill our victims... Our kind do not typically procreate through breeding... in fact the turning brings a ninety nine percent chance of sterility. Instead, we procreate through the turning. When you drain a human to the point of death, one of two things will happen. If the human was a virgin, pure, then they will become one of us... a vampire. If not... their sanity and morals leave them, creating a Ghoul... a ravening, hungry beast in the shape of a human. Of course we can't have ghouls running about all over the place, now can we? Usually, when you know your victim will become a ghoul, it's wise to finish them off properly before they rise. A ghoul has only two weak points, the heart and the brain. A ghoul can survive as a limbless torso as long as the head is mostly attached and the heart and brain are undamaged... so..."
Naruto's hand plunged into the dead mans chest, gripping the heart firmly before jerking it out savagely.
"Just to be on the safe side."
Mizuki's jaws slipped, and the corpse slumped to the ground. His eyes widened as he looked down at his hands, and then raised them to feel the warm blood trickling down his chin.
"Oh don't give me that 'mental breakdown' bullshit. You were a shinobi, right? So you're no stranger to the idea of killing people for money. Now, you're killing people to keep yourself alive. It's not much different when you think about it."
Mizuki's eyes closed and a shudder passed through his body, but it quickly slowed... then stopped.
"Heh... I guess you're right."
When he opened his eyes, they had returned to his normal shade. Naruto turned and paced toward the opening.
"Come... Your sister is waiting for you."
Mizuki eagerly followed. Mere seconds later, he and his beloved sister were staring one another in the eyes.
"Miyuki... Is it really?"
"Mizuki... I was afraid I'd never see you again..."
"MIYUKI!"
"MIZUKI!"
They leapt at one another, arms outstretched, only to come to a screeching halt as each blood clone casually placed one hand in front of their faces.
"Mizuki... you remember when I said 'without my help, you'll do something stupid and die of it'? You were about to do something extremely stupid."
"What? I can't hug my sister now? Is affection like a slow poison or something?"
Naruto sighed at Mizuki's enraged tone.
"Not at all Mizuki-kun... It's just where you were about to hug her that concerns me. But then you still don't know, do you... Shit. But then again, the best explanation for this comes through demonstration... Watch closely, I'm only going to put myself through this once."
Naruto held out his left hand, then in one smooth motion, tore off his glove. For almost a full second it was a normal, sunbathed hand... then it began to turn pink, then red, badly sunburned. Then the skin began to flake, and smoke began rising from it, and the flesh began to droop off the maimed appendage. Naruto hissed in pain and tucked the wounded appendage beneath the dark folds of his cloak.
"You see?" he hissed in pain, oblivious to the shocked stares from the siblings. "The more time that passes since you're turned, the longer you can last in the sunlight. After a few decades, it shouldn't bother you much anymore... but you're freshly turned. Imagine what just happened to me, only about a hundred times faster, on every exposed inch of your skin."
Mizuki winced, turning slightly green at the image.
"Alright... as far as I know, that should be... oh yeah, be careful not to touch silver. It'll burn you like fire. Remember that and what I told you in the cave, and you should have no problem getting by... just be careful around people you knew... But then, humans see what they expect to see, and they won't expect you. You should be fine."
Naruto glanced up at the sun level and swore softly.
"Shit... I'm going to be late. Just remember, Mizuki-kun... If you run out of places to hide, my master and I currently inhabit the basement of #13 in the Warehouse district. You're the next best thing to family now... don't be afraid to ask us to put you up for a few days now and again!"
xxx
Yuuhi Kurenai had been looking forward to this. She was a new Jounin, having only passed the test for Jounin-sensei a few months before academy graduation. She wasn't exactly the most powerful Jounin around, but she was the best in the village at Genjutsu, she was a decent teacher, and she actually liked kids, which was more than could be said for some Jounin-sensei.
And her eye was currently twitching in irritation as she waited for her third Genin to show up, over ten minutes late.
Shino arched his head as his swarm began buzzing slightly differently.
"He's here sensei."
The eyes of the two females shot up, first to Shino, then to Naruto who'd just casually stepped around a corner. Kurenai took a breath, ready to chide him for his tardiness, but was interrupted.
"NA-RU-TO! I can't believe you were late! Today's our first day as a team, we get our first missions today! If we fall behind Forehead-girl because of you, I'm going to make you REGRET IT!"
Naruto blinked.
"Ah? I'm sorry Ino-chan, but with all the excitement last night I'm afraid I overslept. And besides... you really shouldn't be worried."
Ino desperately tried to beat back a light flush. So he had tacked on a -chan to the end of her name... so what. She liked Sasuke. Admittedly, Naruto was strong... handsome, under that hat... intriguingly dark and mysterious... Okay, so maybe he was a close second on the miniscule chance that someone else stole the heart of her Sasuke-kun. She blinked as she finally registered the rest of his statement.
"Wait, what? Why shouldn't I worry?"
Shino shifted lightly, posture showing that he, also, wanted to know this.
"Well... Didn't Iruka-kun mention that the Jounin-sensei for Team Seven was Hatake Kakashi?"
"Yeah... so?"
"Well... Perhaps Kurenai-sensei would be a better person to ask... but from what I understand Kakashi makes a point out of being at least two hours late to everything that isn't immediately life threatening... that would include dealing with his Genin squad. It's likely that they'll still be waiting for him for another hour at least."
Ino's eyes widened... and then she started chuckling.
"Yeah! Take that, Forehead! You may have Sasuke-kun on your team, but your teacher is a lazy bum! HA!"
Sweatdrops formed... a tiny one on Shino's head and a somewhat larger one on Kurenai's. Naruto just shrugged inwardly... Maybe it was a human thing that he'd never picked up?
"I doubt that kit... maybe its just her?"
Meh.
"Alright you two... now that Naruto is finally here, lets introduce ourselves. I'll begin. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai, and this is my first time training a Genin squad. I like sushi and the color red, and I dislike tardiness, perverts, and unfounded arrogance. I don't really have any hobbies, and my dreams are a little personal. Now... How about you next Ino?"
Ino blinked.
"Er, me? Well... My name is Yamanaka Ino... I like flowers and my favorite Jutsu is the Shintenshin... though I just learned another interesting one recently... I dislike BILLBOARD-BROWED BRATS who want to steal my Sasuke-kun. Hobbies... does working in my families flower shop count? As for my dream..."
She broke off into a giggle, increasing the size of the sweatdrops and making Naruto arch a single eyebrow.
"I... see. You next, in the grey coat."
Shino shifted his posture slightly before answering.
"Aburame Shino. Likes, Insects. Dislikes, loud noises, people who behave completely illogically. Hobbies, caring for and training with Kikai. Dreams..."
He trailed off and declined to continue.
"Oh... Okay then, and you?"
Naruto was silent for a moment, before shrugging and saying his piece.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Likes and dislikes...? There are things I like, and things I don't. Let's leave it at that. Hobbies... I'm not sure whether or not I actually have one... And as for my dream... I suppose you'll find out sooner or later on your own... telling you outright would just take all the fun out of it."
The reactions were mixed. Shino was eying him speculatively, and for a moment, Ino went starry eyed... ah. His Glamour was beginning to act up. He forced it down, and the stars left Ino's eyes, leaving her with only a slightly interested glance in his direction. Kurenai's thoughts though... they were different.
She'd taken the liberty of flipping through her Genin's profiles... so far, Ino and Shino had matched perfectly... but Naruto was nothing like he was supposed to be. The profile had him listed as a sunny, outgoing, loud boy who wore a ridiculously bright orange jumpsuit out of habit. The sort of kid one would call a class clown... The profile had also listed that his lifelong dream was to become the Hokage... and that he would waste no time making sure everyone knew it. Granted, the profile for him was several years out of date... but to change so much, so fast? That was nigh unheard of, even the Uchiha boy hadn't changed so much, and he'd gone through a severely traumatizing experience. Psychological trauma... could he have? She tucked the thought into the back of her mind, something to ask the Hokage about later.
"Hmm... anyway, now is when I'm supposed to test you to see if you can actually make it as a ninja... but I was briefed on the incident last night, and I was quite impressed. Even though you were easily tricked, you performed exceptionally well under the circumstances. Mizuki was ranked Chunnin, but that's only because he never felt it necessary to continue on to Jounin rank. I'm frankly surprised you did as well as you did against him... it's almost like he didn't really want to win... but traitors do tend to have second thoughts. In any case, that performance should more than qualify you, so... We'll begin with a few easy missions, and once you're done, meet me in training ground number 31."
She tossed three small sheets of paper at them and used the Shunshin to teleport away in a swirl of leaves... but not too far. She wanted to see their reactions to their first mission.
"WHA- What the hell! What kind of missions are these!"
A sweatdrop finally made its way onto Naruto's head.
"Walking the dogs for the Inuzuka clan?"
Shino tilted his head as he read the one he'd picked up.
"Trash disposal?"
"What the HELL kind of mission is finding a lost cat? It's ridiculous!"
"And they're all time consuming."
Naruto's teammates blinked at his odd comment.
"Huh?"
"These... pointless chores... take up far too much time. If we do them one at a time, it'll be well into the afternoon by the time we finish, and we won't have as much time for practice. It would make more sense for each of us to take one chore, and do them all at once... then we would have more free time to hone our skills. Unless Sakura-san is far more foolish than I had given her credit for, she will spend the time otherwise wasted waiting for her sensei in training."
One of Kurenai's eyebrows arched. There had been nothing in his profile about him being so manipulative either... he had immediately taken control of the team once she left, and used just the right combination of logical thought for Shino and subtle taunting of the possibility of Ino's 'rival' slipping ahead of her to leave both of them not only agreeing, but pleased with his decisions. That sneaky little bastard.
Maybe he still wanted to be Hokage after all.
xxx
Shino was starting to sweat heavily, not only from the effort, but from the heat of the nearby flames. Having the natural proportional strength of the insects living within him was good, but this was beginning to wear on him. He leaned slightly forward, shaking the large crate he was carrying to spill its contents into the fire pit. There we go... only five or six more cratefuls and his task would be completed.
Shino suppressed the desire to groan.
xxx
"Here kitty, kitty..."
Ino's tone was pleasant enough, but her eye was repeatedly twitching and her face had been covered with a fine web of red scratches. That cat... it was a furry little demon, that lived only to torment her. She'd come close to catching it twice, but it would leap out of her hands and scratch and bite and claw before darting off again in a random direction. Ino was dangerously close to just launching a kunai at the thing and saying she'd found it in the woods behind a targeting ground. There it is... the cat had stopped to drink from a tiny brook. Ino wasted no time in leaping for the little monster while it was off guard.
"Come to Ino, Tora-chan!"
xxx
Uzumaki Naruto stared at the dogs.
The dogs stared back. There were more than a dozen of them, and they were all large breeds. The girl that seemed to be in charge here... what was her name... Hina? Hara? Something like that... she was standing behind him, and he could swear that he felt her smirk bore into him.
"You sure you want to walk them all at once? These are big dogs... Strong. I'm not sure a midget like you can handle them."
Concealed beneath his hat brim, his eyes flashed crimson. The dogs saw, and began growling at him.
"You see? They already hate you... still no? Whatever... I'll be waiting with the first aid kit."
He glared at her... Hana, that was her name... as she sauntered off smugly. Then once she'd left, he turned back to the dogs and his glare turned into a malevolent leer.
"I was waiting for her to leave. Now then... We're not going to have any... problems... are we?"
While he was talking, he released a focused burst of his hunger aura... he'd fed recently, so it wasn't as effective as it could be, but it was more than enough to start the dogs whimpering and cringing as he reached for the leashes.
xxx
"I HATE cats!"
"I must admit... that my chore was less than pleasant."
The two paused, then turned to Naruto, as if they were expecting something. He blinked and then shrugged.
"Hmm... I don't care much for dogs... but they're easy enough to deal with once they know who's boss."
Shino grimaced and Ino hung her head, running her fingers along the scratches. Thankfully they weren't deep enough to scar... she didn't know what she would do if she scarred her face. Shino had nearly worn himself out working alone, Ino had to deal with a demon-cat, and Naruto... it wasn't fair. Naruto was only mildly inconvenienced by his chore... was she... really that weak?
Kurenai appeared in a swirl of leaves, interrupting Ino's gloomy introspection.
"Well... you're all here earlier than I'd expected. No matter. Lets begin with something easy... tree walking."
Ino blinked.
"Ah... Kurenai-sensei? I'm pretty sure I know how to climb trees."
"That's tree-climbing Ino-chan... this is tree-walking. There's a big difference... but let me show you."
Kurenai turned and walked directly at a tall tree, but rather than stopping, she placed one foot on the trunk, then another, and calmly walked straight up the side of the tree, and onto the underside of a branch, completely defying the law of gravity. Ino was extremely impressed, as was Shino, but less obviously... Naruto not so much. This didn't interest him at all... he could do something extremely similar with his vampiric abilities. Then again... while the effect was the same, it was achieved through completely different means. The vampiric ability was a variation on phasing. Instead of phasing all the way, the user would only phase partially, sinking into something just far enough to latch on, while forcefully changing the weight of your own body to change the effects of gravity. As he listened to Kurenai explain just how to tree-walk, he took note of the differences. This technique would use carefully regulated chakra to stick to the surface of the tree, with only speed and inertia to fight off the effects of gravity. In some way's more useful... and in some ways less.
But to control the chakra to such an extent... even a small amount of demonic chakra or vampiric energy would distrupt the flow. His energy would be no problem... in the full sun, he'd have to struggle to bring out even a little vampiric power... and as for the demonic chakra...
'Kyuubi... is it ready?'
"Hmph... you're a pain, little kit. Asking me to do something like this... do you have any idea how complicated that thing is?"
'I don't care... is it ready, or not?'
"Oh it's ready... I wouldn't call it finished, but it's ready enough for something like this. You got guts though kid... I remember when you were screaming in pain when I started making them. A second set of chakra coils and tenketsu, specially suited for my chakra, with a group of central nodes where the chakra blends evenly and smoothly on its own, rather than spiking out randomly from the seal. Something like this... burning even one new chakra coil... it would be enough to drive a human your age mad with agony..."
'Save it... why does it matter how the cattle would deal with the pain? I am human no more. Do it.'
"If you say so... you may feel a slight twinge... actually I forget, now that you're a leech, can you even feel pain?"
'Ah... the pain receptors in the nervous system are dulled somewhat from what I understand... but I do still feel pain, it's just not as intense.'
"Oh... in that case I take it back... you're going to feel a slight twinge now... In a few hours, once my chakra has begun to fully circulate around and work its way through your system, it's going to feel like a thousand hungry scorpions are eating their way through your body."
Naruto's eye twitched slightly, but he accepted the description. The Kyuubi had had years to familiarize itself with his internal workings. He knew what would work and what wouldn't, what could be budged slightly to make work better, and exactly how much something would hurt. He didn't even flinch as a sharp, stabbing pain in his navel signified the redirection of Kyuubi's chakra to the new coils.
Instead he lifted the kunai that had thumped into the ground next to his feet and began the slow trek up the tree trunk.
xxx
A.N.
Alright... first, I checked on chakra. A reviewer said that chakra was 'the energy of life', and as such Naruto, an undead vampire, shouldn't have any. There's several ways for me to mess with that... I could, for instance, say that he absorbs chakra along with blood. My real excuse, however, is that from what I understand after reading the manga, chakra is not the energy of life, and as far as I know is never referred to as such. In the manga, chakra is referred to as a composite of physical and spiritual energy... life and unlife don't really enter into the eqation. If so, take a look at Sasori, who made himself into a puppet... technically he's not really alive anymore. So if chakra was life energy, then how could he create chakra strings to control his other puppets? Simple... he wouldn't be able to. So letting Naruto keep his chakra shouldn't be too difficult to swallow, should it?
Someone asked if, since Kekkei Genkai are passed through bloodlines, would drinking the blood of someone with a Kekkei Genkai allow Naruto to use the bloodlines abilities, even temporarily? ... I'm going to say 'maybe'. Haven't decided yet. I'm leaning yes though, which is why I've given Mizuki and his sister a dormant and as-yet unspecified bloodline... and if I do, then I'm going to do something that would seem awesome at first for Naruto, but will actually turn out to be really useless and annoying, just to mess with him. Like maybe having him be able to talk to animals... only to find out that most animals have absolutely nothing to say.
Ah... I'm giving up on writing omake for this. I tried a couple, but they really, really sucked. If someone wants to send an omake via PM, I'll see about putting it in, but I'm not going to write any more on my own. Of course I don't really care.
Review! You know you want to...