Blu: Sorry it took so long to post this chapter, guys!! It's just that I have so many games to play, manga to read...school to prepare for...
Naruto: We don't mind. We got a vacation from the insanity for a while.
Rozalin: Did you enjoy your vacation? I see you brought back a lot of items.
Blu: Yes, and even if my Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 game isn't working anymore for reasons that are beyond my knowledge (and sadness)...Soul Nomad is still intense enough to keep me entertained.
Rozalin: You're...not going to write a Soul Nomad story now, are you?
Blu: ARE YOU CRAZY?! I have, like, four stories that are still far from finishing!
Rozalin: But if I remember correctly, SiNful Rose ends at the 13 or 14th chapter, plus--
Blu: Shush!! You'll spoil everything for the readers!! (Smiles at the readers) Heh-heh... Don't mind her! Just go on and read the fic, okay? Okay.
Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Disgaea series or the Naruto series, or anything that she mentions. They each belong to their respective owners.
X-X-X
The night of the Red Moon is known far and wide throughout the Netherworld. It is the night when Prinnies who have redeemed themselves (or managed to pay their debts with actual money, which is highly unlikely) get the chance to be reborn. When they died, they had sinned. But through rebirth, they'll have a fresh start...and hopefully not wind up as a Prinny again. But very few ever wonder about how the souls within the Prinny had lived, and what caused them to become a Prinny. If only we knew...
X-X-X
:Episode 10:
:Revelations beneath the Red Moon:
X-X-X
That night at the Overlord's castle, a large Red Moon floated in the sky. The sound of singing gave it all an almost ephemeral feeling...
"Red moon, red moon, cleanses the sinful and makes them anew. Shining brightly in the night sky, waiting for souls... Who will be born again tonight? Who will be born again tonight? Born again tonight..."
Unfortunately, it didn't have a calming effect on the humans in the castle, namely one Uzumaki Naruto.
"Grrrr...!! Damn it!! Who the heck is SINGING AT THIS TIME OF NIGHT?!" Naruto shouted as he sat up in his bed, a vein throbbing on his forehead with his eyes half-lidded. He looked at the door and started to glare at it. "It's coming from outside..." The blonde got out of his bed and walked towards the door. When he opened it, his eyes became large and blank and his jaw dropped from shock. "Wh-what the heck...?!"
Walking outside in the hall were Prinnies...a long line of Prinnies of different colors marching in single file as they sang. "Red moon, red moon, cleanses the sinful and makes them anew..."
"H-hey! What the heck are you guys doing?! You're too lazy too actually go on a night watch!!" The blonde shouted as he stared at the marching Prinnies. "Not to mention, you guys aren't so organized!"
"Naruto dood! Don't you know what tonight is?" A Prinny asked as it marched by.
"No? What? Is it your party night or something? Off for a night on the town? I don't think Rozalin would like that..."
"No, dood! Tonight's the night when the Red Moon comes out!" Said a pink Prinny as it marched past the blonde.
Naruto blinked. "Red...Moon? What's that?"
"It's when we Prinnies who have paid for our sins in the last life get to be reborn!" Another Prinny spoke, this one a dark gold color.
"We'll get to start off with a clean slate!" Said a purple Prinny. "Completely pure and sin free!!"
"Really?" The blonde began to smile. "That's great! I hope you 'doods' are reborn into a good life!"
"We're hoping for it, dood!!" All the Prinnies chirped.
"Oh, and I'm sorry for all the times I may have abused you. Heh-heh-heh...!"
"Naruto."
"Huh?" Naruto looked down and saw a little black Prinny standing beside him, tugging on the leg of his boxers. "Hey, it's you!"
The Prinny sweatdropped. 'He can actually tell me apart from the other Prinnies? That's amazing.' It shook its head and released the teen's boxers. "I'm going to be reborn soon... I feel like it's been forever since I was made into a Prinny. And after meeting you and your friends...I almost regret leaving."
"Really? ...Don't worry. I'm sure that if you're lucky, I'll see you again in your next life!"
"But you're--" The little black Prinny almost said that they couldn't meet in the next life if Naruto was still bound to Rozalin via contract, but decided against it. It merely shook its head and began to rummage around in its fanny pack. "As I'm now leaving, I would like you to do something for me... Could you..." It pulled out a letter and held it up to Naruto. "Could you give this letter to Sasuke?"
Naruto blinked and stared down at the Prinny in confusion. "Sasuke? What for? Sasuke only thinks of Prinnies as living bombs and complete nuisances..."
"Maybe so, but I would like for you to give him this for me, since I won't be here anymore."
"...Okay." The blonde took the letter and smiled down at the Prinny. "I'll make sure Sasuke gets this letter!"
"Thank you... If I was capable of smiling, I'd do that, but..." It held up its flipper. "A handshake will do, I suppose." The young chunin shook the Prinny's hand before it walked away.
"Now...to go to Sasuke's room and give him this letter. His hearing's way more sensitive than mine's so he's gotta be awake..." Naruto sweatdropped as he stared down the hall at the long line of Prinnies that seemed to be endless. "But how the heck am I gonna get past all those Prinnies?! It'd be rude to just chuck one and make them all explode...not to mention all the damage it will cause..."
X-X-X
Later, in the room of one Uchiha Sasuke, the tenant of said room was lying in his bed, awake. He didn't want to, but the sound of the Prinnies' singing kept him awake.
'Stupid Prinnies...! Why don't they shut up?' A knocking sound on his door made the raven-haired young man blink.
"Sasuke!! C'mon, open the door and let me in!!" Naruto's voice shouted from outside in the hall, over the Prinnies.
"Naruto...?" Sasuke got out of his bed, dressed in a sleeveless black shirt and dark blue sweat pants, and started to walk to the door, but it was kicked down by Naruto.
"ORRAAAAAHHHHH!!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
The blonde stepped on the door and frowned. "What took you so long?!" In less than a second, he was punched in the face by Sasuke and landed on the ground.
"Idiot!! I was just getting to the door!"
Naruto sat up and held up the letter for the raven to see. "This is for you. It's from that black Prinny that was hanging around with us. It wanted me to give you this before it left."
Sasuke stared at the letter with expressionless eyes before he arched an eyebrow. "Why? I can't even tell those things apart."
"Hell if I should know. But he wanted you to have it. ...Well, come on! I don't have all night! I gotta get some shut-eye..."
The Uchiha stared at the letter for a moment before snatching it out of his friend's hand. "Now...get out of my room."
The blonde snorted as he stood up, giving Sasuke a glare. "Ain't that courtesy? I take time out of my night to deliver a letter for you, and you're kicking me out."
"You kicked down my door," Sasuke replied slowly. "We're even."
"I'M NOT A DOOR!!"
"Just get out!!" The raven shoved the blonde out into the hall, where he fell onto several Prinnies. Sasuke ignored the explosions and cries of pain as he lifted the door up from the ground and put it back up in the doorway. He walked over to his bedside, sat down, and looked down at the Prinny's letter. The writing on the envelope was in kanji. 'So whoever that Prinny was, he was Japanese.' He opened the envelope and unfolded the piece of paper within. After a few seconds, onyx eyes narrowed, then widened in shock. "This...!"
X-X-X
A little later, a singed Naruto walked back into his room and curled up in his bed. The sound of the Prinnies' singing was starting to fade as he snuggled up to a pillow. 'Thank God...or whatever they praise down here...for that! Now I can finally get some sleep...' He grabbed his sheets from the floor and pulled them over his head. 'I wonder what that Prinny's letter said... Oh, well. I can force it out of Sasuke tomorrow...'
As soon as the blonde had closed his eyes, someone began to knock on his door outside. "Naruto-sensei!!"
"Grrrr!! Now what?!" The teenaged demon vessel shouted loudly as he jumped out of his bed and opened the door, shoving his face into the intruder's. "What?! Can't I get some peace and quiet around here?!"
Yukimaru fell back and landed on her bottom, her eyes, large and blank like a pair of dinner plates, were beginning to brim with tears. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-sensei!! Please, forgive me for my intrusion, zam!!"
After realizing who he had just yelled at, Naruto calmed down. "Oh. Yukimaru. ...Do you always wear your ninja outfit when you go to sleep?"
The dark-haired Snow Kunoichi sweatdropped. "Um...no. Miss Rozalin asked me to come and get you, zam. Would you mind getting dressed?" She began to blush as she stared at his boxers from her spot on the ground. They had little leaf-like and spiral designs on them, but what caught her eye the most was...was... Yukimaru quickly covered her eyes and squealed, her face now as red as a tomato. "P-please?!"
Naruto sweatdropped and stared at her with an arched eyebrow. "Um...ooookay... Just give me a sec..." He turned around and walked into his room, where he began to take off his shirt. 'What the heck is Rozalin thinking of doing this time?'
"Eep!!" Yukimaru cried before she fell over, a trail of blood running down from her nose. Apparently, the blonde had forgotten to shut the door...and what she saw was too much for her to handle so late in the night.
X-X-X
Several minutes later, Rozalin, Yukimaru, Sakura, and a half-asleep Naruto were standing in the throne room.
"What's the problem, Rozalin? And why'd you call just us?" The pink-haired Medic asked as she folded her arms across her chest. Naruto was leaning against her with his head on her shoulder.
"I'm sure you've heard the Prinnies, haven't you? Tonight is the Red Moon."
Sakura rubbed her chin in an intellectual manner. "Red Moon... I read about that in the castle library. That's when Prinnies are done paying for their sins and can be reborn into a new life, right?"
"Correct. I was thinking...since you humans have no such thing in your world, maybe you would like to see the process firsthand."
Naruto began to drool on Sakura's shoulder. Her eye twitched and she soon punched him in the face, sending him flying across the room and into the wall. She turned around to look at Rozalin with an arched eyebrow. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the process of the Prinny's rebirth. All we'd have to do is go to where the Red Moon's light shines down and you'll get to see what happens."
"I'd like to see that!" Naruto chirped with a semi-grin spreading across his face. It was only a semi-grin because Sakura's blow caused the left side of his face to swell.
Rozalin smiled. "Very well! Then it's settled! Adell, Taro, and Hanako are already preparing things! Hm?" She blinked and stared at the two Konoha ninja. "Where is Sasuke?"
"I went to go get him after Sakura-san and before Naruto-sensei...but he wasn't in his room," Yukimaru explained.
"NARUTO!!" Sasuke's voice roared into the throne room before the raven ran into the room. He was dressed in his battle outfit with an unreadable look in his eyes.
"There you are, Sasuke! We're going to see the Prinnies be reborn!" The blonde exclaimed as the raven walked up to him.
"Forget about that! Tell me where that Prinny went!!"
Naruto sweatdropped. "...Uh... What Prinny are we talking about?"
Sasuke grabbed the collar of his teammate's jacket and began to shake him furiously. "The one that gave you the letter!!" Once he stopped shaking the blonde, he repeated, "Tell me where that Prinny went!!"
"It's gone. It's gonna be reincarnated with all the other Prinnies." The orange-clad ninja arched an eyebrow. "...What's the problem, anyway? Did you read its letter already?"
"Yes, and I need to find it to confirm something! We have to find out where those Prinnies went!!"
Rozalin tapped her cheek. "Well, since the Prinnies had to use the Dimensional Gate to get to where the Red Moon's light shines down, I'm sure the Dimensional Gatekeeper should know what area of the Netherworld they went to."
"Then let's go already!! Time is of the essence!!" The Uchiha shouted before he walked out of the room.
"What's wrong with Sasuke?" Sakura asked with an arched eyebrow. "He seems...off."
Naruto nodded his head in agreement. 'Whatever it was that Prinny wrote...affected Sasuke...somehow...'
X-X-X
Later, in an area of the Netherworld known as Galga Plains, the group of Rozalin, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Yukimaru Adell, Taro, and Hanako appeared in a flash of light on top of a hill.
"Wow!! The Red Moon looks so big from here!!" Taro gasped in awe as he stared up at the large red moon in the sky.
"Naturally. This is where the light from the Red Moon is supposed to shine down, after all," Said Adell.
Hanako looked down from the hill and gasped in amazement. "Wow...! Look at all the Prinnies down there!!" Naruto and Sakura walked to the edge and looked down as well. The field of Galga Plains had long lines of marching Prinnies, all singing the same song as they headed towards where the light shone down. "I bet just about every Prinny in the Netherworld is here!"
"But how do we find our Prinny?" Sasuke asked as he stared down at the plains below.
"That's easy! We just look for 'em!" Naruto answered.
"You do realize that that particular Prinny is only one in probably a thousand other black Prinnies, right?" Sakura asked the blonde with an arched eyebrow.
"It doesn't matter. I could still tell it's ours from the sound of its voice."
"What are you, the Prinny Whisperer?"
"No, it's just...its voice sounds different from other Prinnies. More human."
Sasuke remained silent as he stared down at the plains below. "...No more talk. Let's go." He speedily dashed down the hill, leaving the others behind.
"What? How dare he just run ahead and leave his master behind?!" Rozalin shouted as flames burned in her eyes.
Adell looked at Naruto and Sakura with an arched eyebrow. "What's up with Sasuke? He seems tense. Well, more tense than usual."
"We don't know... Naruto said something about a Prinny giving him a letter. Sasuke isn't saying what it said, though..." Sakura looked down at the ground sadly. "I'm worried about him... What could have happened?"
"His personal affairs do not matter!! He is my vassal and he will follow my commands!!" Rozalin shouted as she drew her gun and walked up to Naruto. "Naruto, bend over! I need a ride to catch him!"
Naruto's eye twitched. "Excuse me?! Do I look like a burrow?!"
"Oh, just be quiet and let me climb on your back!"
"W-wait!! What about us?!" Hanako huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "We can't run fast enough to keep up with you guys!"
"Yeah, we're still technically kids, y'know! Our legs are way too small for us to catch up to you guys!" Taro exclaimed. In less than a second, he was on Adell's back.
"Don't worry; I'll be your legs."
"What about me?" Hanako pouted.
Sakura bent down and looked over her shoulder at the pink-haired girl. "You can ride on my back, okay?"
"Hmmm... I don't know. It'd be uncomfortable--riding on a girl that lacks a womanly figure. If you had breasts, I could use them as handles to grip onto or something."
The pink-haired kunoichi's eyes began to glow in a scary red color. "What did you say...?!"
Adell's jaw dropped. "H-hanako!! Don't say such things to Sakura! You already know how she gets!"
Naruto snickered under his breath as Rozalin's arms wrapped around her neck. "It is kinda truthful. She's 17, and Sakura-chan's breasts haven't even gone up from an A-cup."
"Did you say something, Naruto?" Sakura asked as she folded her arms chest and glared a hole into her teammate's back.
"Erm... Nothing!"
"Hello? One of my vassals is probably miles away by now!!" Rozalin shouted as she pinched Naruto's cheek and began to pull on it. "Let's. Go. NOW!!"
"Alright, alright! We're going!!"
X-X-X
Down below, Sasuke looked around the area. "Where the hell did all those Prinnies go? They were here just a second ago..." In less than a second, he was on his knees, holding onto his shoulders. "Guh!! What the--?"
"INFIDEL!! FOOL!! How dare you just leave your master and queen behind like that?!" Rozalin shouted as Naruto skidded to a halt. "B-be careful, Naruto! I almost fell off!"
The blonde ninja huffed after Sakura, Adell, and Yukimaru came running down the hill, Hanako on Yukimaru's back and Taro on Adell's. "Hey, it's not like you're as light as a feather!"
Rozalin climbed off of Naruto's back and shot at Sasuke again, this time aiming at his leg. "Well, aren't you going to answer me?! If you don't, I'll aim at a spot that will paralyze for life once its hit!!"
"You're joking, right?!" Naruto and Sakura shouted, their eyes the size of plates.
Sasuke looked at the Overlord from over his shoulder. "I'm trying...to find that Prinny."
The blonde blinked. "Prinny? What Prinny?"
"You mean the one that wrote that letter, don't you?" said Sakura. The raven nodded in reply. "But why is that so important to you? You don't even care about Prinnies!"
"And I don't! But what that thing wrote..." Sasuke fell silent for a while before shaking his head. "All I want is to find that Prinny and clear some things up."
"You do realize that there are practically thousands of Prinnies here at the moment?" Adell asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Then I'll just look hard enough to find it."
"That sounds like something I'd expect Naruto to say, but not you."
Naruto shrugged. "I don't see the problem here. So what if Sasuke wants to look for the Prinny? We're already going to the place where the Prinnies will be reborn, so he should be able to find it if we get there before it's reborn."
"...I suppose you're right. It will be a sort of side quest alongside the main objective," Said Rozalin.
"You're starting to make this sound like some sort of game..."
Ignoring her vassal, the Overlord pointed off in the direction where the Red Moon was. "Look there!! That is our destination! Seeing as how the Prinny left the castle just minutes before we did, we should be able to catch up with."
Adell sweatdropped as he stared at the two blondes with half-lidded eyes. "Uh...I have a question: how are we gonna find one specific Prinny when just about all of them look the same?"
"I have a better question," Taro spoke up. "How come those flowers are moving?"
"Wh...what? How is that a better ques--?" The Demon Buster stopped speaking and began to stare at the ground. Something was attempting to force its way up. After a few seconds, a rotting hand shot out of the earth. Adell jumped back, holding onto Taro tightly as a zombie climbed up from the dirt with flowers sprouting from its body. It lunged for the redhead, but a powerful kick sent its head flying off into the distance. Seconds after the zombie's body dissolved, several more climbed up from the flowery field, surrounding the Overlord and her vassals. "Whoa!!"
"Okay, whose smart idea was it to bury zombies in a pretty field of flowers?" Hanako asked no one in particular as sweatdrop ran down the side of her head.
"Braaaaaiiiiinnnnnnsssss... Braaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnsssss..." The flower-covered zombies moaned as they trudged towards the group.
"No time to wonder about that!!" Naruto shouted as he dashed up to a zombie, gathering energy into his hand. "Eat...THIS!! Rising Dragon...!" He punched the decaying corpse high up into the air, then back flipped up into the air over the zombie before delivering a blow to its head that sent it falling back to the ground, creating a crater upon impact. "Naruto Style!!"
The zombie merely got back up. "Braaaaiiiiinnnsss...!"
The orange-clad chunin landed next to Rozalin, his mouth open and eyes blank. "I-I can't believe this!! That thing should've been down for the count!!"
"It appears these zombies are quite...enduring," Said Rozalin as a large drop of sweat ran down the side of her head.
"Silly Naruto! Haven't you ever watched Denizen Evil?" Hanako exclaimed as a grin spread out on her face. "To kill a zombie, you have to burn them up, so as to prevent them from coming back to life as a super zombie!!"
The two blondes sweatdropped. "Su... Super zombie?"
Adell sighed and his head drooped slightly. "That's it... No more 'Late Night Horror Theater' for you! Besides, you can beat a zombie without burning them up. Weren't you watching me a while ago?!" He kicked another zombie up into the air and shot upwards while still holding Taro. The redhead began to kick the flower-covered corpse multiple times before he grabbed it with his legs and flipped it over his head, sending it flying down to the ground.
"A-adell...! Put me down! I'm getting sick!!" Taro shouted as swirls spun in his eyes.
"Oops. Sorry, Taro." As soon as the redhead landed, he placed his foster brother on the ground, but he just fell back on his but, his pupils spinning.
"ORAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Sakura shouted as she jumped up into the air with her large axe in her hands. As she fell, she swung the axe down, causing a crack to appear in the ground. She then spun around and brought the axe down a second time, making the crack larger and also splitting the zombie in half. She spun around in time to knock the head off a zombie that had been sneaking up on her.
"SASUKE!! Why don't you do something instead of sitting on your ass?!" Naruto shouted at the raven after he managed to slice off a zombie's head.
"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it's because Rozalin shot me in my leg!! I can't move, moron!!" The Uchiha shouted back as a vein throbbed on his forehead.
The blonde sweatdropped and turned around to stare at Sasuke. "Is that all? She shoots me in the head and I can get up afterwards!"
"That's only because Sakura always brings you back to life afterwards."
"Well, it's your own fault for running off without my permission!" Rozalin huffed as she jumped back to avoid being puked on by a zombie. "Consider your inability to move as your punishment!" A zombie from behind wound up puking all over her as well, causing a foul stench to arise from her. She bowed her head and her entire body began to shake as a dark aura emanated from her. "That...is IT!! I'VE HAD IT WITH THESE FOUL ROTTING CORPSES!!" She held out her gun and it transformed into the familiar tank with a large gatling gun in place of a cannon.
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Adell and Yukimaru stared at the tank with blank eyes. The zombies sweatdropped, seemingly knowing what was going to happen.
"Fire ROSE THORNS!!" The blonde Overlord shouted from within her tank as she took advantage of the multi-targeting system and pressed a single button.
"DUCK!!" Her vassals, except for an impressed Hanako and a dazed Taro, shouted as they all hit the dirt. As soon as they did, a hail of bullets began to fly all over the field, making Swiss cheese out of the flowery zombie horde. As soon as the final zombie fell, the tank disappeared and an upset Rozalin in its place.
"Wow, Rozie!! I didn't know you could do that!!" Hanako exclaimed. She then turned around to look at her foster brother and started to grin. "Hey, Adell! Can I buy a tank?"
"What?! NO!! The bazooka was bad enough!!"
Naruto began to tremble as he walked up to Rozalin, who stood in her spot, speechless. "Um...Rozalin? Are you okay?"
"...Bath."
"Huh?"
"I need...a bath...right now!!" Fire began to burn in the Overlord's eyes and the flames of hell seemed to be rising behind her. "I DID NOT COME HERE TO HAVE ZOMBIES BRING UP THEIR VILE EXCREMENTS TO SPIT ON ME!!"
The ninja took a step back and raised a hand in defense. "T-take it easy, Rozalin!! You don't smell...badly. You smell like a field of flowers!"
"Do not lie to me!! I can smell your fear over the stench of zombie vomit!!"
"W-well, what do you expect me to do?! It's not like I can just summon a bathtub!!"
"But I can." Rozalin pulled out a cell phone and pressed a button on it. In less than a second, a plane was flying overhead and dropped something down in between Rozalin and Naruto.
"What the? It's a shower?!" Naruto shouted as Rozalin got into the booth, complete with curtains surrounding the glass casing.
"And don't you dare get any ideas about peeping on me, pervert."
"Hey, why the heck would I wanna see you naked?! I've had Nekomata and Succubae and all sorts of freaky female demons cuddle up with me, so I've had my fair share of demon women's bodies!"
"Um... Are we forgetting something?" Sasuke asked with an arched eyebrow. "I'm still not able to get up!!"
X-X-X
Later, as the group made their way down the dirt path through the field of seemingly harmless flowers, Sasuke stopped walking and sucked his teeth. "Tch!! We can't even see the Prinnies anymore! And it's all because Rozalin had to stop and take a bath..."
A vein began to throb on Rozalin's forehead and she narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me? You would want a bath, too, if you had some corpse spit up on you!"
"And now we've probably lost that Prinny... Damn!"
The vein on the Overlord's head became bigger. "Are you paying attention to me?"
"Um, Sasuke? You better say something to her face..." Naruto mumbled as a sweatdrop ran down the side of his head. "Before she attempts some friendly fire again."
"Now listen here, Sasuke. You ought to be grateful that I haven't killed you yet for this insolence. I don't care if that Prinny did something to you to make you so neurotic, but if you try to run off on your own again, I may have to change my mind about paralyzing you for life."
The Uchiha glanced over his shoulder at the fuming Overlord before he folded his arms across his chest and remained looking forward. "Hmph! Can we just get going now?"
"...Well, at least we can still hear the Prinnies singing, zam. So if we rush, we may be able to catch up," Yukimaru spoke up, trying to show the bright side of things.
"So long as nothing else pops out of those flowers, I think we'll be fine," said Naruto as he glanced suspiciously at the flowers. Less than a minute after he said that, a wall of green vines shot up in front of the path, blocking their way. Several large flowers suddenly popped up in the road, dividing the group. The flowers slowly opened to reveal some oddly-colored Alraune. Their skin was pure white with blood red flowers and bodies, bouncing on spring-shaped red stems. "Wh-what the heck?!"
"Way to go, Naruto. I think you just jinxed us," said Taro, a large drop of sweat running down the side of his head.
The blonde sweatdropped and held his head high. "Technically, they came out of the ground, not from the field itself. They don't count."
"But they're flowers. That makes them count."
A vein began to throb on Hanako's forehead. "Uh, hello?! We're standing in the middle of a pack of Alraune!!"
Sakura arched an eyebrow. "These...don't look like ordinary Alraune to me."
"Maybe they're one of those rare occurrences that occur on nights like this," Said Adell. "You've heard the saying 'once a blue moon'. Well, in the netherworld, it's 'once a red moon'. Rare stuff tends to pop up as a result of the red moon's supernatural aura."
Rozalin smirked. "I'm impressed!! Here I thought you were a mere battle freak who spoke with his fists, but you actually know something!"
A vein began to throb on the redhead's forehead. "Watch it!! I've lived here long enough to know what to be careful of!"
"Hee-hee! Yeah, like sexy demon women, right?" Hanako giggled. The Alraune screeched, the flower buds on their heads opening up as they began to bounce even more. "Oh, shut up!! I haven't teased Adell in so long, and you're not gonna interrupt that!" The pink-haired demon pulled out what appeared to be a large cooking pot and positioned it above her head.
"Uh, isn't that what she usually makes our food in?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Eat THIS!! Pretty Bazooka!!" As soon as those words left Hanako's lips, three shots of glittery energy were shot out of the cooking pot, and each one hit the Alraune that was standing in front of her dead on, immediately causing it to fall over.
Everyone except for Adell and his siblings sweatdropped and stated, "That's the last time we eat something from that pot...!"
"Hm?" Naruto sidestepped an Alraune's attempt to skewer him with its vine-like arm and with a swift stroke of his sword, cut off its arm by what he assumed was its elbow, and quickly sliced it in the stomach, killing it off. Another of the flora beasts jumped on him from behind and sent him sprawling to the floor, then proceeded to bounce up and down on his body before Adell kicked the Alraune off of him.
"You okay?" The Demon Buster asked the ninja, who was still lying facedown on the ground.
"Sure...! My back's just killing me, but that's nothing, right?" The blonde pushed himself up and stared at the ground. More large flowers popped out of the ground and bloomed into Alraunes. "Holy crap, they just keep comin'!!"
"What'd I tell you? The red moon's jinxing us!"
Sasuke clenched his teeth as he speedily dashed through several Alraune with his sword drawn. As soon as he sheathed his sword, the flora creatures dropped dead, but several more sprouted up around him, the flowers on their heads opening and a screech escaping their mouths. "This is taking too damn long!!" He jumped up high into the air and began to form several hand signs. He took a deep breath and began to spit out several large fireballs, each one aimed at an Alraune. A few almost hit his allies, but he wasn't even paying attention to them. After all the Alraune had gone up in flames, the raven-haired jonin landed safely on his feet.
"UCHIHA SASUKE, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Sakura shouted as she pointed an accusing finger at the Uchiha.
"We can't waste anymore time here! It's getting away!!"
"That doesn't mean you have to attempt to set us on fire, bastard!!" Naruto screamed, a vein throbbing on his forehead.
"Does it matter so long as the job gets done? Now let's get going!!" The Uchiha spun on his heel and began to walk down the path, but stopped all of a sudden when several more large flowers popped up, lining the path.
"Oh, crap. There's so many of them...!" The blonde ninja whined, slumping over.
"There's no way we can handle all of them!" Taro exclaimed as he hid behind Rozalin' clutching the skirt of her dress.
"Then there is only one thing to do: we must run, zam!!" Yukimaru exclaimed.
"I will not run away from flower demons!! That is unbecoming of an Overlord!" Rozalin shouted as she held her nose up in the air.
"I agree!! It would look pathetic if we just ran away from these guys!!" Naruto added.
"Would you prefer to be killed by flower demons?!" Sakura screamed at the two blondes, causing them both to sweatdrop. "Besides, if we stick around here any longer, that Prinny will reincarnate!!" 'And Sasuke may go crazy...'
"On the other hand, Sakura-chan raises a good point. LET'S RUN FOR IT!!" The blonde shouted as the Overlord and her group began to run down the path, dodging between the monsters and the vines that shot up from the ground until they were out of the Alraune's sight.
"...Oh, darn. They're gone," one Alraune chirped to another in their unique, uncivilized language.
"But...I'm still hungry!"
"Too bad we couldn't eat any Prinnies..."
"Now, you know what would happen if we ate even one of those things. Besides...they're not even real meat. Just some empty dolls housing human souls..."
"...Maybe if we're lucky, they'll come back?"
"...Let's get into position, then!"
X-X-X
The Red Moon looked so much closer now to Rozalin and her servants. Blue balls of light were floating up to the moon as the Prinnies' somber singing became louder with each step they took.
"Wooooow!! It's so pretty! What are those things?" Hanako asked as she stared up at the blue balls in awe.
"Those are human souls on their way to being reborn," said Rozalin.
"Huh? Human souls? I thought the Prinnies were being reincarnated," Taro asked the Overlord with an arched eyebrow.
"You didn't know? What did you think Prinnies originally were?"
"Demons who were stupid and got killed, and for their felonies, were punished to become undead exploding penguins in their afterlife," the pink-haired girl stated plainly with half-lidded eyes.
"Well, you are wrong. Though there are demons who become Prinnies, the majority of Prinnies were once humans who had committed major sins in their previous lives. Their souls inhabit a Prinny body until they have redeemed themselves or paid enough to be reborn pure. ...I cannot believe you didn't know that, Hanako. And you're usually so smart."
"Yeah, well...why would I want to know how Prinnies are made?"
"So you'll know what'll happen if you continue behaving bad!" Her red-haired foster brother shouted as he wagged a finger in front of his sister's face. "Keep wanting to become a Demon Lord and you'll wind up as a Prinny!"
"Tch! I'm not gonna be stupid enough to get killed and become a Prinny!" Adell's sister huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "If anybody is in danger of becoming a Prinny, it's Naruto and his friends!! I mean, they've been in the netherworld for so long and they've committed so many felonies just by helping the Overlord, they're bound to become Prinnies when they die!" She suddenly got a sneaky look in her eyes. "Now that I think about it...you've done some bad things yourself, Adell. You'll probably become a Prinny, too! Way sooner than me, considering the difference in our life expectancies."
A blue tint appeared on Adell's face. "O-oh, crap!! I almost forgot about that!!"
Rozalin sweatdropped and stared at the human and his foster sister. "You...forgot? Really? I thought you were smarter, too." She looked ahead and arched an eyebrow. After a few seconds, flames appeared in her eyes. "HE DID IT AGAIN!!"
"Hm? Who did what again?" Yukimaru asked.
"Sasuke!! He's run off again!!"
Everyone else looked in the front of the group, where Sasuke had been leading. He wasn't there.
"Where the hell is he?!" Naruto shouted loudly as flames burned in his eyes. Sasuke suddenly jumped down from the tree tops above and landed on top of the blonde. "...Found him..."
"All those Prinnies are starting to fall...what the hell's going on?!" The Uchiha growled as he bit his lower lip.
"We've been over this multiple times: they're being reborn."
"But...he can't be reborn!! Not yet! Not after so long...!"
The Overlord arched an eyebrow in interest. "Hm? Sasuke? Did you know that Prinny when he was human?"
"...No...! If it's really him...I can't lose him again!" Sasuke exclaimed as he jumped off of Naruto and raced down the hill towards the thinning crowd of Prinnies. The voices of his friends seemed a thousand miles away as he ran through the field of flowers and finally stopped in front of what appeared to be one of the few remaining Prinnies. "You...!"
The little black Prinny froze and turned around to face the raven-haired teen. "Sasuke...? What are you doing here? Did you and the others come to wish me off, dood?"
"Don't play dumb with me! I read your letter!"
The Prinny's eyes widened, but it soon regained its normal calm. "Oh. So, Naruto gave you the letter and you read it earlier than I thought. I was hoping that you'd read it tomorrow..."
"Who do you think you are, writing things like that?!" The Uchiha shouted loudly, his eyes livid. "Saying that you're sorry for everything you did...all the pressure you put on me...? WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"
"I'm...I'm just a Prinny, dood. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go an' be reborn now--GURK!!" In the blink of an eye, the Prinny was in Sasuke's clutches. "S-sasuke?! What are you doing?!"
"You're not going anywhere until I get some answers, so talk!! Are you really...?" Before he could finish his sentence, the sky darkened, covering all but the red moon.
"Why...do you...halt...the process...?" A dark voice slowly spoke.
"Uh-oh...!" The Prinny began to sweat. "You're in for it if you don't put me down! Put me down!"
"No!! Tell me who you were before you died!"
"I'm warning you! You're messing with something you can't control, Sasuke!!"
"Sasuke!!" Naruto shouted as he skidded to a halt, the others following behind him. "What are you doing?!"
In a flash of dark light, a figure appeared in front of the Uchiha. It had a long black hooded cloak and floated over the ground. Its face was hidden by the hood and its hands were not visible. "You...are halting...the process..."
"Wh-what's that?!" Taro and Hanako whimpered as they hid behind Adell, shaking in fear as they peered at the cloaked figure.
"I dunno..."
"It's Death," the Prinny answered. "The guy in charge of the Prinnies' rebirth."
Naruto turned blue in the face. "D-death?! What's Death doing in charge of something involving rebirth?!"
"Dying is just another means of being reborn, dood. If only Sasuke knew what he was doing right now, halting the process of reincarnation by holding me captive like this!"
"Sasuke, put that Prinny down immediately!" Rozalin exclaimed as she pointed a finger at the raven-haired teen. "I don't know what has gotten into you, but it needs to stop now!!"
"Listen to her, Sasuke! Didn't you hear? That's Death itself--something no one can beat!" Sakura added. She took a step forward and put her hands together in a pleading pose. "Please, Sasuke?"
Sasuke bowed his head slightly, causing his bangs to cover his eyes. "...No. I won't lose him again."
"Aha! So you did know that Prinny before it died!"
"I don't know!! And I won't know until this Prinny tells me who it was before!!"
The little black Prinny began to sweat. "Dood, cut it out! I can't tell you something like that!"
"If you don't, I'm going to kill you." The Uchiha spoke with an emotionless tone and he had an evil glint in his hidden eyes.
"...Has it really come to this, Sasuke? You always were persistent, but I guess your persistence increased over time," the Prinny spoke sadly with half-lidded eyes. "I am who you think I am."
Sasuke stared at the Prinny in shock. "Big brother...? Big brother!!" He then began to do something very unlike his character...he hugged the Prinny. His friends all stared at him with their mouths hanging open and their eyes as wide and blank as plates. "After so long... Why didn't you ever say anything before?!"
"...Can anyone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Naruto shouted angrily, though his eyes were still large and blank.
"Isn't it obvious, Naruto? That's Sasuke's brother," said Sakura as she stared at the Uchiha in awe.
"His...brother?"
"He said something about this before when we were genin. The reason why he wanted to become a ninja in the first place...was so that he could find his brother, who went MIA during a failed mission."
"I remember that. But what I don't get is...why the heck is he in the netherworld?! And as a Prinny?!"
The pink-haired Medic looked out of the corner of her eye. "We shinobi aren't exactly pure from our line of work, remember?"
Death held out its sleeved arm and pointed at the Prinny in Sasuke's arms. "Goodbyes...done... Time...to...go..."
"You heard him, Sasuke. It's my time to go--"
"No."
The Prinny began to sweat. "What?"
The raven-haired teen drew his sword with one hand while his free arm clutched his Prinny brother to his chest. "No one is going to take you away from me again! Not even Death itself!"
"Sasuke, you are not this foolish!!" Rozalin exclaimed, stomping her foot from anger. "This is not some ordinary demon or ghoul. It is Death--it's immortal and cannot be escaped! If you try to fight it, your end will come early!"
"I don't CARE!!" He shouted as he swung his Kusanagi and sliced Death in half at the waist of its cloak. However, he merely evaporated into smoke and reformed again. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke attempted to slash at him so many times that it was a blur, and could only be counted by the number of times his blade reflected in the red moon light. But each time he struck, Death kept reforming.
"This...is...ridiculous..." With a wave of its hand, the Grim Reaper caused Sasuke to be blown back by some unseen force. "Give...me...the Prinny..."
"Never!!" He was then smacked in the face with a fish, courtesy of his Prinny brother. "What...? I...Itachi?"
"SASUKE, ENOUGH!!" The Prinny shouted as it tossed the fish aside, sounding very much unlike normal Prinnies. It caught Rozalin and her vassals off guard. "I didn't know...how much you had missed me. I thought you'd be happy with me dead. I mean...Mother and Father and everyone in the clan must surely give you attention now that I'm gone. And you no longer have me as a hurdle in your life. Aren't you happy?"
"...Are you saying that I should be happy because you died?" Tears began to brim in Sasuke's eyes--yet another uncharacteristic trait that had arised. "I may have wished that Father was as proud of me as he was of you, and maybe there were a few times that I wished that you didn't exist...but I didn't want to believe that you had died!! It was hard enough to lose you to death before...but I won't lose you again to it!" He began to hug Itachi tighter, but that only made the Prinny hit him again, this time with a paper fan from its fanny pack.
"Trust me. I didn't want to tell you it was me, because...I'm embarrassed of my form. Uncommon for a Prinny to actually care what someone thinks, huh?"
Hanako sweatdropped. "You can say that again!"
"Shhh!! You're ruining the brotherly love moment!" Taro whispered to his sister.
"But...don't you think that after all the abuse I've had to put up with in the Netherworld, that I deserve a second chance?"
The tears disappeared from Sasuke's eyes and he looked down at the black Prinny with no emotion in his eyes. "But I want--"
"The world can't revolve around your wants and needs alone. I want to be reincarnated and I wanted for you to know the truth after I was gone, but we can't always have what we want. Besides, it's not like you need me. You're a powerful dood, and you've got friends who'd back you up in no time flat. So, if you don't mind, please let me go--literally."
"...I do mind."
Itachi's eyes became large and blank and he started to sweat. "Huh?!"
"But if it's what you want...I'll let you go." The Uchiha set his brother down on the ground.
'Phew! That's a relief!' "Okay, Shinigami-sama. I'm rea--"
"WAIT!! Just tell me one thing: what was the sin that made you die?" Naruto asked Itachi as he ran over to Sasuke's side.
"...My sin...? I failed a mission and someone dear to me was killed, so I committed suicide to get away from the pain..." Itachi turned around to face Naruto. "But we shouldn't really be talking about sad things right now, Naruto dood! That's so unlike you!"
The blonde sweatdropped and nearly fell over. "Wh-what?! Decide who you're gonna act like: Sasuke's brother or a weird Prinny!!"
"Heh-heh! I can't help it, dood! That's how much I like you! You could become even better than the Hokage...if you had a chance. Anyways, keep an on eye on Sasuke for me Naruto, Sakura. You've seen how out of hand he gets when he's passionate about something. Take care..." The Prinny's body began to blow in a pure white light, and in a second, he fell to the ground, deflated and empty as a blue ball of energy hovered above it. The blue ball became a transparent young man with long dark hair tied into a ponytail and dark eyes who wore an ANBU uniform. He waved to the group and smiled. "I'm sorry, Sasuke... Maybe I'll see you in the next life..." He then became a blue ball again and floated up to the red moon, as did the souls of the remaining Prinnies and Death, who became less and less visible as it reached the moon.
"...Are you okay, Sasuke?" Naruto asked the raven-haired teen.
"...Hmph! What are you talking about? Of course I'm okay. Did you think I would cry?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow and stared at his rival. "You did, didn't you?"
"Uh..." The blonde sweatdropped and began to smirk. "You kinda looked like you were gonna cry."
"So did I, zam. Especially after that heartwarming scene with your brother, zam," said Yukimaru as she held a hand to her chest.
"Well, I'm not gonna cry." He turned his head to look at Rozalin. "Can we go now? The Prinnies are all gone now."
"Awww, can't we stay and watch the moon until the night's done?" Hanako asked the Overlord with a pout. When no reply came, she blinked. "Rozalin?"
The blonde demoness was staring up at the red moon, its ephemeral beauty reflected in her sad ruby eyes. 'I know what it is like to lose a loved one...but I didn't have the strength that Sasuke has when he left me...' She jumped slightly as she felt someone touch her shoulder. It turned out to be Naruto.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Y-yes!! Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be?!"
Not bothering to reply, the orange-clad ninja looked up at the moon and smiled. "Wherever they end up, I hope those Prinnies have a happier life than they did before."
"Mm-hm. Let us go back to the castle, I need my beauty sleep."
Sasuke glanced up at the red moon one last time before the party disappeared in a flash of light. 'Goodbye, Itachi...'
"Red moon, red moon, cleanses the sinful and makes them anew. Shining brightly in the night sky, waiting for souls... Who will be born again tonight? Who will be born again tonight? Born again tonight..."
:Episode 10:
:End:
X-X-X
:Next Episode!:
Pink-haired girl in sailor fuku: Alright! Class is in session!!
Naruto: What the--? Hanako?!
Rozalin: No, she's not Hanako. She's a bit older and seems more...innocent.
Pink-haired girl: Lately, things have been disappearing all over Evil Academy! From minor things like photos of crushes and manga collections to people's souls and emotions!
Naruto: Well, who the heck is she?!
Rozalin: I don't know...but with that outfit, she looks like one of those Japanese schoolgirls.
Pink-haired girl: Who's doing all of this? Could it be some Honor Student having fun? Or someone much more dangerous?!
Naruto: Why would an Honor Student steal things?
Rozalin: You've never seen a Netherworld school, have you?
Naruto: Netherworld...school?
Pink-haired girl: It must be something big if the Overlord is brought in!
Rozalin: Hm? Do you mean me?
Naruto: No, she meant the other Overlord. Of course she means you!!
Rozalin: No need to get snippy.
Pink-haired girl: Will this thief be brought to justice or will something super-important wind up being stolen?! Find out next time on SiNful Rose, Episode 11: An Absence of Justice!! Mao's not gonna like this...
Rozalin: What are you doing, little girl?
Naruto: Yeah, and who's Mao? Who're you, for that matter?!
Pink-haired girl: I'm not allowed to tell you. You'll have to wait for the next episode to come out. Hee-hee!