Disclaimer: Don't own it. I work for my money, I would love to live off of royalties and the like, but I don't. Curses

In a snow covered training area Mizore was panting heavily. Her mother's initial training consisted of target practice, dodging, and making snow and ice until she couldn't stand. She even had to make the ice and snow into various shapes. She could already pull of certain colors. That training had long since passed, it was basic for forming an ice clone. Today her mother had pushed her harder than before. She could now make enough ice to encase a small tree multiple times. Some of her other training was also nearing completion. She was happy that earlier today, she had mastered talking and even singing while still having a sucker in her mouth. That meant she could write a letter to Naruto today! All the more reason to finish with the exercises her mother had said that she was to do today.

This was not the only training that she had undertaken. Per Naruto's letter, Mizore had also approached Kushina about stealth training. After all, if a Yuki-Onna was unable to spy on the object of their affection, where was the fun in that? Even though he had promised that they would be together eventually, she always found it interesting and fun to follow Naruto around. Especially in the human village. There were so many places where she could hide! Humans gave her the weirdest looks when she was practicing her observational skills. In the village, she was the only girl who really had a romantic interest that would visit the village, and most mothers would give her tips on where the best spots were. It would be more fun for her if Naruto didn't know she was watching him.

The training with Kushina, although her answer had not been given yet, would be heavily involved in stealth and suppression of her Youkai aura. Apparently that is what Naruto always noticed when she had tailed him to a private spot to watch him train. She was told that it took quite a bit of time to be able to properly accomplish what she had set out to do, but she would work hard anyway. Her efforts would show in a little over a years' time when she had, in fact, surprised her mother while she was following her dad around. Her mother was one of the better of the village at following people unnoticed. Before Naruto returned, she would have even managed to surprise Kushina.

It was the oddest thing though; there were several younger Yuki-Onna who had come to her with tips on how to follow her brother around. When she asked her mother about that, she was informed that other younger Yuki-Onna looked up to her and she was an easy access point to her brother. Mizore, after this had put a camera in her brother's room and at times offered to let some of the girls watch; for a price of course. She needed to start putting money aside. She would need it at a later date. Like for surveillance equipment, or Naruto's birthday. Thoughts of her blond beau caused the ice she was forming to become an ice sculpture of a yoko, with twelve tails flowing behind it. Unconsciously she had managed to change the ice slightly to allow for details to be shown, that night she had burned into her memory and had taken to daydreaming about being wrapped in those tails again. This further distracted her and her sculpture took on a more life-like appearance.

Tsurara noticed that in the middle of creating an ice shield, her daughter gained a rather distant look and her shield had become a sculpture, in excellent detail as well. Maybe she could get her to start working with some of the Yuki-Onna who made ice sculptures for one of the catering companies that they had recently started working with. But that wasn't the point of today's exercise. Throwing a piece of ice shaped like a hockey puck, it glanced off of her daughter's shoulder. "Distracted again Mizore?" At her daughter's blush and lack of response, she sighed. "Let's stop for today. Besides, I need to get a few things done up at the lodge." This was her special code for spying on her husband as he made repairs to various things at the ski resort. After all, she didn't want her skills to get rusty.

Mother and daughter slipped through the woods and made their way back down to the lodges. The Namikaze's hotel shuttle was unloading a bunch of tourists. If Kushina was driving, then Mizore might be able to get a ride back to the village. It now had an ice road, covered by an illusion of course, that some of the workers at the lodge would use to get to and from work. Kushina was on the shuttle but not driving. Seeing Mizore, she came over smiling.

"Good afternoon Mizore." A grin was plastered on her face. "Having a good day?"

Mizore shurgged then replied, "Kind of, just working with mom on some stuff. Have you had a chance to think about what I had asked you?"

"About the training? I asked Minato and he said that he was fine with it. I only have one condition: no sneaking into our house. You need to call first. Besides we like having you over." Kushina replied with a smirk

Mizore blushed but said nothing. The night before Naruto left, Mizore had snuck out of her house, and into the Namikaze's. She spent the night cuddled up next to Naruto. She left before he had woken up but was unsure if her presence at their house and absence from her own was noticed. Kushina was hinting that indeed she had been caught or seen in some form but no one had said anything about it.

"But," Kushina drawled, "that isn't the reason why I came up here today." She then paused again, but at Mizore's hopeful look she continue, "Naruto sent us a box, and had something in there for you as well. Jiraiya hadn't let him write a letter to mail to you so he included it in our package. I don't think Jiraiya noticed."

Kushina dug in her pockets missing the impatient and eager look of the girl in front of her. "Hopefully this will make a kind of good day into a good one. Need a lift? The driver was hired by these tourists and is staying up here for a day on the slopes. Apparently they don't trust a woman to drive mountain roads." She then leaned in conspiratorially, "That's okay though, I charged them double for the use of the shuttle." Finally checking the inner pockets of her coat and finding the right one, and ending the young girl's misery she produced a small box and an envelope. Both items were snatched quickly out of her hands by an impatient girl.

Mizore practically flew from the lodge to the small bus, settled in a seat, then taking a moment to decide, ripped open the box first. Inside was a simple necklace. The chain was a flexible sectioned silver chain with a round gold pendant that looked to be a pendant or an extremely thin locket. It was a piece of jewelry that would look good on both a blossoming young lady or an adult woman. Kushina whistled, "That looks nice. Do you need help putting it on?"

Mizore couldn't speak as she shook her head. Naruto had never bought her jewelry before. To a Yuki-Onna, jewelry of any kind meant that the relationship was indeed very serious. She speculated that Naruto was likely to know this already. Her hands shook slightly as she put it on. Looking at her reflection in the bus window, she noted that the necklace, though simple, seemed to fit her somehow.

Kushina noted the far-away look on the younger girl's face as she caressed the necklace. Kushina figured that she would try to make Mizore blush a little bit more. "You know, in the letter to us, he said that he picked up these souvenirs in Succubus Valley. That meant he still thought of you even when he was surrounded by them. Not only that, since they care a lot about looks then that means that is likely a very good quality work. It might be able to even withstand your transformations."

This comment indeed caused her blush to deepen and also her eyes became even more glazed over. There were a few Yuki-Onna that were also headed home for the day. A few of them noted the necklace, since younger Yuki-Onna didn't wear any jewelry, often waiting to be given it. Mixing that fact with the extremely faraway look in her eyes as she subconsciously ran her fingers along the necklace, many of those on the bus knew what had occurred. This caused gentle smiles and whispers among the older snow women. After all, it was an important day for the girl. Many of them already knew about Naruto and Mizore being close, but no one outside their families and Jiraiya knew about Naruto's promise. The short ride was spent with Mizore daydreaming about Naruto, and the older Yuki-Onna talking among themselves at the younger girl's luck in finding a potential spouse so early.

Mizore was snapped out of her daydreaming, some of it causing her to blush even deeper, by Kushina shaking her shoulder. "We're here. Go home. Read the letter. Have a good day." The same smile was still on her face.

Mizore felt like she was floating as she walked home. Again she drew slight giggles and whispers from those around her as she made her way to her house. Once inside the house, she quickly ran to her room and shut the door. Freezing the lock so her siblings wouldn't burst into her room in the middle of her reading the letter, she opened the envelope and began reading. The letter was short this time. But because it arrived only a short time after a long letter and with such a nice present, this fact was fine with her.

Mizore,

This letter won't be very long; I wanted to get it in the package before Jiraiya noticed. He thinks this is the last page of a letter to my parents. While we were in the Succubus Valley, I visited an open-air market with a friend that I had made and saw this. I hope that you like it. I don't think that the merchant knew what he had. The metal is very strong but flexible, meaning it should be fine for you to wear. I etched a seal into the back of the locket so that it won't become brittle in the cold, just in case. We are headed towards an air yoko city. Jiraiya has made a deal of sorts with a few Youkai there so that they will be training me. He wouldn't tell me where it is, and I have to go in under a few illusions. Hopefully, I'll be able to write you soon. I will be going under a fake name, so on the outside of any envelope you need to write the name Arashi. Just in case someone were to see it. If you have any questions why I am going in disguise, ask my mom or yours, either one of them can explain why. I would but don't have the time to go into it. Besides you always love those spy novels, just imagine you and I are living in one of your books.

At this Mizore's mind drifted to a few scenes from those books that caused her to turn a rather bright shade of red. She shook off those thoughts, saving them for later, then returned to the letter.

I hope you like the necklace. I picked it up to make sure you knew that I knew what I promised and so that you would have something to remember me by. I wanted to tell you something that I found out, but I don't want to get your hopes up for nothing, but do me a favor. Learn as many ice techniques as you can. If I can pull it off, then you will need them. I won't say anything else.

Your boyfriend,

Naruto

After reading the letter, Mizore promised herself that, in return for the necklace, she would be able to sneak up on Naruto when he came home. It would show a similar level of devotion from her as a Snow Woman. It then hit her, he had referred to himself as her boyfriend without any prompting on her part. This caused her brain to shut down again. In the Yuki-Onna culture, the two things combined were one step short of an engagement. She then lay on her bed for a few hours just looking at the simple note and touching the necklace. If it could get even better, the seal he had etched looked like a snowflake. She didn't think this present could be improved upon at all. She was unaware of the time passing until her youngest sister came to get her for dinner. This astounded and almost euphoric state lasted the rest of the week. Mizore walked most places in a daze with a grin on her face, garnering giggles, questions, and in the case of one younger brother, who had dared to make a negative comment about the whole scenario, frozen only in his underwear in a block of ice fifteen feet in the air. This feat took five adult Yuki-Onna to break apart. Before that happened, however, Mizore made sure to direct a few of his followers to the site where they could snap a photo or two for their diaries. Tsurara didn't even punish her daughter once she found out what had caused her son to be publicly displayed. He however, was warned that if he repeated those comments around his mother that she would ensure he stayed that way for an entire day, only in less clothing. He wisely never broached the subject again.

Time passed as it always does...

With Naruto using the Shadow Clones to study scrolls, he picked up the Air Yoko Fighting style in a little over six months. He had to be careful to not show too much proficiency otherwise it would draw the attention of the air yoko council. His use of the Henge jutsu combined with some illusionary techniques allowed him to remain unrecognizable during this time. Jiraiya's plan was using his books that acted as bribes in order to find a teacher. When Naruto learned this he cried to the heavens about perverted teachers. Interestingly enough, as he progressed, he sprouted another two yellow tails. This shocked his instructor as well as Jiraiya. When he has integrated all of the techniques and was proficient in the style, on the last night in the city, he sprouted another two tails. He hid them from Jiraiya and his instructor. Seven tails and higher was considered very strong among yoko. Lesson number one of a Shinobi is misdirection. That and he didn't want to draw attention to himself. Naruto had been warned by his parents that any Yoko with seven tails or more was immediately brought to the attention of the yoko councils. His instructor had given him copies of scrolls containing high-level techniques because of his progress, with the promise that should he sprout more tails to learn them and tell him. They had a seven tail requirement to work anyway. He would study them without Jiraiya's knowledge. It would be nice to have a trump card that even his teacher didn't know of.

A similar experience happened when he was learning earth yoko techniques. Before leaving, he had grown another four tails, all brown. This pattern also repeated itself with fire and water. He also noticed that he grew a little taller with each tail. Apparently his body forced a change every time one grew. He was closing in on his father in height with all of the growing he did. When he let all of his tails out, he thought he looked like a vulpine version of a peacock. But since everyone knew about the strength of a yoko by their tails, it did look rather intimidating at times. In fact Jiraiya had made a rather perverted comment about them once, the resulting damage took over a week for Jiraiya to heal even with the help of a water yoko clan healer.

They saved the most dangerous two cities for last. The water and fire yoko cities were extremely closely watched for any possible leaders and strength. This was due to increased tension among the two sides. It would not be good if he was discovered in the city and found out to be Minato and Kushina's son. Naruto had to hide his abilities as he learned the fighting styles. His parents had supplied Jiraiya with technique scrolls. These, Naruto didn't learn until they were away from the cities. He also picked up healing techniques. Nothing like his father was able to do, but those would come with time. When they were done with the main yoko training two years had passed. And Naruto had doubled the amount of tails he had. It was bothersome to have them all out at the same time, so often he only revealed two or three of a particular type when necessary. The last bit that surprised Jiraiya was the fact he had snuck into the libraries of all of the cities and copied their libraries with the jutsu his father developed. When asked why he did it, Naruto simply responded, "Training. Why else?" Now they had complete access to all of the yoko techniques and styles. His parents had said that once he set off to high school they were thinking of having another child. Should he or she turn out similar to Naruto, then the information would indeed help.

The remaining time was spent mixing the training for some of the effects that Jiraiya had mentioned. After about a month Naruto had learned to make ice by combining the water and air. It was difficult since the two yoko natures hadn't wanted to work together. But he did notice that the ice melted really slowly. He then worked on combining air and fire. He had accidentally discovered that mixing the two caused explosions. After he finished healing from the initial discovery, like any male teenager given the chance to work with explosives, he immediately he worked to get the mixture under control. Granted, it wasn't just to make things go boom, but he did think it was a big perk. His third to work on was wood and plant techniques. The scroll for these was very complicated and Naruto had managed to pull it off as they were making their way back home.

He had written Mizore frequently, sharing stories about his training, the people who he met and the places he visited. He would occasionally send her pictures and other souvenirs. He didn't tell her about the specialty techniques he was working on. Her letters were keeping him up to date on what was happening at home. She would always tell him that she was proud of him, and keep him updated on how she had improved as well.

Naruto had also kept up a lighter correspondence with Kurumu. The Succubus was very glad for that and told Naruto that she wanted to visit some of the places that he talked about visiting during his training. She always mentioned that he should come back for a visit; it was boring not having anyone her age to talk to. He would occasionally get her something from his travels as well. Between the letters Kurumu and Naruto had maintained and deepened their friendship to more than the recent acquaintance new friends stage that they still had when Naruto had left the Succubus Valley.

Just three months before he was scheduled to return home three things happened. First, he received a letter from his mother stating that they had enrolled him at Youkai Academy. He had informed Mizore about this and was told that her mother had enrolled her about the same time. Mizore explained that Tsurara had told her that she was enrolled to make sure that Naruto wasn't swayed to break his promise. WHile he wouldn't it would still be an opportunity for another Youkai to attempt to take her promised spouse. They would be attending the school together. This made both parties rather excited about the prospect. Naruto for the chance to be with her again and Mizore for the spying opportunities that this presented. Kurumu informed him that she was going as well. While she didn't say it in the letter, she was looking forward to seeing how Naruto how shaped up during his trip.

The second was that Naruto stumbled across some of Jiraiya's notes and Nartuo discovered the purposes of Jiraiya's books. He was sworn to secrecy about the real reason why they were written and also the fact that he was a Destined One of a Succubus. This information caused him to re-evaluate a lot of what he thought about the perverted toad. Not that he was perverted, that would never change, but the reasons behind Jiraiya's actions.

The third thing that happened was as he and Jiraiya were passing through a human city. Jiraiya was sick so Naruto was just wandering around. Passing an alleyway, he saw a pink-haired girl being chased by a smaller orange-haired girl wielding a giant mace. Naruto quickly ran up alongside the orange-haired girl and tripped her. The speed she was going at along with the weight of her weapon indicated that she was some form of Youkai. These two also caused her to land hard and bounce a few times. The mace had grazed his forehead and shoulder because he had to get so close to the girl. Naruto slapped a knockout seal on her for good measure. The pink haired girl kept running but fell over before the end of the alley. Naruto jogged over to help her up.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm sorry. I am anemic, and can't run for too long."

"Why was she chasing you?"

"That is my sister. She does that quite a lot." At this, the girl stumbled again. "I'm sorry, but I'm still rather dizzy."

"Are you a Youkai, like your sister?"

"How did you know?" her voice shook and shock was evident on her face.

"Simple. A girl her size should not be able to run as fast as she was, nor swing around a mace that big, also I am one myself. Your aura is there, but feels heavily suppressed. What kind are you?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Why not?"

"I'm scary."

Naruto just laughed, "Not much scares me."

She looked at him for a long moment, "I'm a vampire." she replied, barely in a whisper.

"Well that explain why you are anemic. Out of blood packs and tomato juice?"

At this the girl just stared at her rescuer as she nodded. "You don't mind the fact that I am a vampire?"

"Nah. I was raised not to judge someone until I got to know them. I have met good and bad humans and Youkai. Just because you were born a vampire isn't a reason to hate you."

The pink haired girl forced back tears. "Thank you."

Any response on Naruto's part was ground out by a grumble from her stomach.

"Hungry?"

She blushed, "A little bit."

Naruto tilted his head to one side after making sure that no one would see them. There was still a thin line of blood trailing down the side of his head as his chakra helped his body to heal. "Go ahead, I heal very fast."

"But I just met you, I…" The scent was appealing.

"Don't worry about it. You are hungry, I heal fast, and you need to get out of here before the carrot-topped terror wakes back up you can't do that without feeding. Don't worry about it." The girl, not moving, found her head gently guided to his neck, the veins pulsed, teasing her. "Go ahead, it's ok."

Her fangs came out unbidden, before she could stop herself. He smelled almost as good as some of the people in her class. She lightly bit him after licking some of the blood that was on his neck. She was not prepared for what happened next. Normally she only would get one or two sensations from blood she drank. Since it came from a pack, those were dulled and barely there. This was something else entirely. Simultaneously it was an explosion of tastes and feelings as she drank from his neck. It was exquisite! She had never tasted anything like this.

A few days travel away, a pink tinted snowman that her younger sister made using her powers was impaled with ice spikes that exploded from a suddenly irate Mizore. Her mother was rather angry at her. When asked why, Mizore apologized and simply replied, "I don't know. An uncontrollable urge to destroy something pink came over me. I just couldn't stop." She then helped her sister re-make the snowman.

Instinctively, Moka began drinking deeper. She sucked hard against his neck, and marveled that there was someone who, even though she was drinking his blood, was not afraid of her nor was he yelling at her to stop. Who knew that another Youkai could taste so GOOD! She had heard that most were rather bland or tasted horrible. Even relatively fresh human blood was not this tasty. Her whole world seemed brighter, more alive than before. Her Rosario rattled as she drank her fill. As her hunger was sated, she pulled off. "Thank you. You didn't have to. I don't even know your name."

Naruto rubbed his neck as it healed. She must have been rather hungry. "Naruto Namikaze. I am just visiting. I am heading home in a few days from training in the use of my Youkai abilities. I am going to Youkai Academy soon. What about you?"

"My name is Moka Akashiya. I start this year. I'm so glad to get out of my current school."

"Great, I will have to introduce you to a few friends of mine that are starting at the same time."

Moka blushed, "You would do that for me?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Sure, why not."

"No one likes vampires."

At this Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Let me ask you a question Moka. How is school right now for you?"

"Everyone ignores me. I don't have any friends. And I really don't like humans."

"Remember what I said before you ate? I have met good and bad of both Youkai and humans. Don't be so quick to judge someone just because of who they were born to be. Do that and you are no better than those who are afraid of you because you are a vampire. None of my friends are the same type of Youkai that I am anyway."

Moka looked shocked. She had never really thought about it that way. Before her train of thought could continue, Naruto interrupted.

"I'll be your friend if you want one. I have met a few people who haven't had many friends in life due to circumstances beyond their control. Look, classes start in just a few weeks." He paused then pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket. "If you want to talk, write me a letter at this address. I will be there in a few days time. I will stay there until the bus comes and picks my friend and me up. I'm sure we can find a way to meet back up once school starts back up."

"Thank you Naruto. That is too nice of you." Her blush now covered most of her face. Her stomach grumbled again. She lunged for his neck, Naruto stopped her and twisted her away.

"You may be a vampire, and I may have allowed you to feed, but you can't just take a drink whenever you like. Ask first. A little politeness goes a long way."

A sheepish look appeared on her face. This then changed into a puppy-dog pout. "Um, Naruto? Could I have another little sip?"

The newly reconstructed pink snowman's head exploded again. "I'm sorry, but it happened again!"

AN: Figured that a little comedy was a good place to end this chapter. For the Moka fans out there, I brought her into the story before Youkai Academy.