Mistakes in Blood

by Acolyte of Truth

The last thing Naruto remembered was a feeling of blinding rage, and in a flash of red, he left all he knew behind. Or so he thought. It seems that Naruto's mistakes have followed him to this new world, and will stop at nothing to ruin his life again.

3. Can't We Be Friends?

Hey folks. So, whilst I was checking out the last chapter after it was submitted, I noticed a surprising amount of errors in it. When I checked back to the original draft, I found that those mistakes weren't there, such as where I had a bold or italics, it wasn't on what was on the site. I suspect that it may have to do with me uploading the document and the way that I do it more specifically. Anyhow, here's another early chapter. I don't know why, but I've been feeling strangely inspired lately. Don't get used to it.

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Disclaimer: Acolyte was lounging about at home, when suddenly a knock sounded at his door. When he opened it, it revealed a postman. "Excuse me, but are you a Mr. Acolyte?" was what he asked. Acolyte nodded and the postman handed him a clipboard, most likely for the envelope under his arm. After doing so, he opened said package to reveal some documents. "You've been served." Was all he said as he disappeared.

"No, not again." Was all he could say, crestfallen at the revelation of the summons. He closed the door and was about to retreat to his couch when someone else knocked at the door. "What?!?" he asked, rather annoyed, swinging the door open. It was the postman again.

"Sorry, I forgot something." He was then handed another sheaf of papers. "You've been served… again." With that he sprinted across the lawn to his car. Acolyte just stared in distraught. What were the two summons for, exactly? Two counts of lacking a disclaimer, one for Naruto, and the other for Rosario+Vampire.

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Chapter 3: Can't We Be Friends?

Naruto woke up in silence, just staring at the blackened ceiling of his room. He slowly turned his head to the side and allowed himself a view of the clock on the wall. He could barely make out the hands of the old analog, reading eight at night.

He slowly rose from his futon and stretched, getting all of the kinks out of his muscles. He then looked down, wondering about what that sticky sensation around his abdomen was. That was when he remembered about his prayer earlier that day. 'Oh, right. I should probably get this shirt washed before class tomarrow.' Of course, with the memory of the prayer also came the memory of that girl who found him, Mizore.

Naruto shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of the thoughts whilst changing into his street clothes, ones nearly identical to the ones he bought his first day in this new dimension. 'See, it's happening already. You're falling for her.' The voice caused a familiar burning sensation in his head, identifying Kyuubi as the speaker immediately.

'Pfft, okay. I'm just curious about her is all. Besides, if what I heard earlier today is right, she's a monster. It'll never work out.'

'Stranger things have happened.' Kyuubi left it at that as his voice receded. The halls were quiet as Naruto searched for a washing machine of some type. He found a few, but upon seeing that they required money to operate, he decided that he would be better off washing his clothes the old fashioned way in that lake he found earlier.

So, intent on doing just that, he set off to the spot he had claimed as his, shirt tucked under his arm. As he raced through the trees, he idly looked up to the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of the majestic nighttime features, one of the things that hadn't changed from his crossing over; something that gave him peace. Unfortunately, the sky was rather overcast this night, and he suspected that the moon had just finished one of its cycles, meaning it wouldn't be full and bright for a few weeks.

The thought disappointed him slightly, marked by the slight downwards tilt at the end of his lips, the frown matching his almost distant eyes. 'Hey, Kyuubi, when can we start on training to control your chakra?'

'Just give it a bit. Besides, there are other conditions in order to return you to your home.'

'I know, but that's not what I want your power for at the moment. There are… bigger problems. Besides, not much for me there now.'

'I see. Listen; just don't get too caught up in this revenge thing. First off, we don't even know who the guy is, or even where we can find him for that matter. Secondly, he just gives me a bad vibe, like I should know him, what he can do.'

'I here you.' They decided to leave it at that. To Naruto, it didn't matter. He would kill the mysterious man one way or another. He couldn't die, he had time, he just wanted it to be him to kill the bastard, and for it to be sooner rather than later. Yes, when the time was right, the man who wounded him so would pay. But he had to wonder; what else would he have for the man to snatch away when the time did come, and could it be as bad as before?

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Naruto's thoughts didn't drift from this topic until he thought he sensed something. He had never been good at sensing and never saw need to (he was immortal, why try to prevent attacks against him?), but he could sense this quite clearly, and it was close. He rushed in the direction were the power was coming from, and was a bit shocked at what he came upon. 'What is that?!?'

'That would be an orc, a relatively weak creature as far as monsters go. That doesn't mean you can afford to get cocky around him.' as Naruto further scanned the area, he noticed Tsukune in a heap on the ground with that pink-haired girl by his side, both looking fearful. As he took another look at the monster, it finally clicked in his head.

'Wait, isn't that the guy from earlier?'

'Yes, it is. He's probably back to continue what he started with the girl.'

Naruto, upon realizing that, as they were, the two were helpless, was about to leap from his spot in the dead tree and blindside the orc, not wanting to have the girl rapped, as he assumed. Tsukune was also likely to die if the monster had his way, and Naruto couldn't let that go on good conscience. Sure, the kid was an annoyance, but he knew he meant well.

However, he was stopped when he heard a faint click. Looking back, he saw the girl with a shocked look on her face while Tsukune held the cross previously attached to her neck, something Naruto overlooked until now. The orc didn't hesitate in advancing further. That is, until power pretty much exploded from the girl.

Naruto was virtually nailed to the tree as the already dark sky seemed to blacken even more and winds whipped up around the field, throwing up dust. Naruto strained his eyes to try and see through the thick cloud, and as soon as it cleared, it revealed not a small and fearful girl with pink hair, but a confident and vicious looking woman with shining silver hair and deadly red eyes. Even the orc stopped in his tracks.

'W-w-what is that K-Kyuubi?' Naruto couldn't believe it; he was stuttering! In his own mind, no less! But, it wasn't from fear; it was the sheer pressure of the power the woman had. Tsukune was just looking on in shock, he noticed, unable to really comprehend what just happened.

'Ahh, a vampire. Naruto, her kind is regarded as an S-ranked monster, notorious for their strength. Very few besides another vampire could go toe-to-toe with them and hope to come out on top. I suggest you sit back on this one.'

The orc eventually shook himself from his stupor and laughed. He actually had the gall to mock one of the creatures that could effortlessly destroy him. With the declaration that he would still have his way with her, he charged. He was met with a kick to the face. Quite frankly, Naruto had trouble watching this it was just that sad. Yeah, the guy had it coming, hell, more than a simple kick, but he couldn't help but feel just a bit sorry for him.

When the guy reverted to a human form once more, Naruto left the scene, not wanting to be found. The situation was over anyway. Naruto spent the rest of the night training after he had cleaned his shirt. He would sure as hell need it if he even got on that girl's bad side, the thought of such sending a slight shiver down his spine.

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Morning seemed to creep up on Naruto, who was still in his spot. He was so focused on his training that it took Kyuubi to alert him of the time. 'Hey, don't you think you should be headed towards class?'

'What do you mean?' it was then that the boy fully took notice of his surroundings. The sun had come fully over the horizon and he could here a faint hustle and bustle not to far away. 'Shit! I'm gonna' be late!' and with that, he took off like a rocket to fetch the rest of his uniform and perhaps take a quick shower.

It was rather surprising that Naruto stepped in the doorway just as the tone went off. He was grasping the frame, panting and out of breath. Hey, don't blame him; he had just sprinted about two miles with a very little break in about three minutes. He was regarded with indifference by his sensei. "Uzumaki, how nice of you to join us. Please take a seat and don't let this become a regular occurrence." With that, the man took roll and then turned to the board and began to write formulas onto it.

Naruto listened to the man and plopped down into his seat, followed by letting his head hit the wood of his desk silently. He was still slightly panting as he tried to slow his erratic heartbeat and relax. He regretted not training while he was in that civilian school, he really did.

He was almost surprised when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hey, you okay." He sat up straight and spun around, finding the purple-haired girl that plagued his head for most of the day yesterday staring at him, lollipop still in mouth. He had forgotten she sat behind him.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired."

"What was with you barreling through the doors earlier?"

Naruto abashedly rubbed the back of his neck as he let out a dry chuckle. "Well, I sorta lost track of time this morning and sprinted all the way here." Their conversation was cut off as Naruto heard his name called.

"Uzumaki-san!" Naruto quickly whipped back forwards to face the angry face of Yakasu, who was staring at him impatiently. A few of the other students chuckled under their breath as he felt a bunch of eyes on him.

"Yes sensei?" he asked standing up, matching the other man's gaze to a T.

"Ahh, now that your finally paying attention, would you mind telling the class the products of the equation on the board? Seeing as you can afford to drift off, you must know." Yakasu's voice was heavily laced with poorly hidden sarcasm at the last comment. The class went into another round of snickers.

Naruto just stared at the board with perplexity. He didn't have the faintest idea of how chemistry worked and he really had no interest of learning it. Unfortunately, it was a requirement. 'Hey, Kyuubi, a little help?'

'I swear, you must be the stupidest piece of shit I've had the misfortune of knowing. And of course it's you I have to be sealed in. Jashin-sama, what did I do to displease you so?' despite his despair, Kyuubi did give Naruto the answer, with he immediately relayed to everyone else.

"I believe you would be left with three Sodium Chloride, two Potassium Nitrate, and six Sulfur Bromide." (1) The class was prepared to revel in his humiliation once again, but was shocked when Yakasu said the last thing they expected.

"That's correct. Perhaps I underestimated you. You can take a seat." The class just stared at him in shock and awe before, one by one, they once again regarded Yakasu with disinterest as he began to explain why Naruto was correct.

In the end, he still felt two pairs of eyes on him. One was from Mizore, before she too tuned into what her sensei was saying. That left the pair that Naruto couldn't find, and to be honest, that disturbed him.

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As Yakasu left to attend his next class once the tone signaled, the class began to chat about meager things that bored Naruto. It was Mizore who once again struck up a conversation. "Wow, I didn't know you were so smart. When did you learn so much about chemistry?"

Naruto, being the modest individual that he was, tried to get attention away from the subject. "Eh, I just bullshitted my way through it. I know it's still early to judge, by I get the feeling that guy has a superiority complex. I was just trying to shut him up."

"Still, you must know at least something about chemistry to get an answer like that."

"I agree. It is highly unlikely that one could simply guess the answer to a problem of that difficulty without at least a basic prior knowledge of the subject." Both turned to see the newcomer who had interrupted the previously private conversation. Both were at least slightly shocked by what they saw.

It was a rather tall boy who stood a minimum of 6'4, but that wasn't what caught them off guard. For one, the left half of his body was stark white, while the right half was a pure contrast, being pitch black. His green hair matched the shade of his blazer and he stared down at them with pale yellow eyes. His mouth was set in a line as they surveyed him.

It was Mizore who bravely spoke the first words to the boy. "Your transformation is a little off, you know."

The boy gave a slight nod. "I am aware of that, and so is all of the staff at the school. I have a rare condition, you see, that makes me unable to cover my true skin tone, no matter how powerful the illusion." When he spoke, both caught a glimpse of pointy teeth that probably had no trouble rending flesh from bone.

Behind the new boy, Naruto could here a round of laughter break out. He tilted his head a bit to see several other students mocking the newcomer behind his back. The strange boy paid no heed to the hecklers, so neither did Naruto. Instead, he regarded the still unnamed boy in front of them. "So, what should we be calling you?"

The boy's eyes landed on the whiskered boy. "You may call me Zetsu. I take it you are Uzumaki Naruto and your friend is Shirayuki Mizore."

Naruto tensed a bit, but he didn't know why. 'Damnit! What's with me? I feel like this guy is familiar, but I know I've never met him. And how does he know our names?' Naruto decided to ask just that. "So, Zetsu, just how do you know our names?" he didn't know for sure, but Naruto suspected that inter-dimensional travel had messed with his head and made him just a bit paranoid. He had never remembered being this on edge before he came to this world. Then again, he was currently surrounded by monsters with most having little trouble tearing him limb from limb as he currently was.

"Well, I doubt there is anyone in this room who doesn't know who you are. As for Mizore-san, I remember her name from when Yakasu took roll this morning. Now, back to the topic at hand, how did you know the answer assuming what you said was true?"

"Yes, I am also curious." Naruto, seeing as he was backed into a proverbial corner, tried to think of some excuse. He was spared, however, for it was then that their next sensei walked into the class.

"Okay everyone, please take a seat so we can begin!" Zetsu walked back over to his seat at the back of the room as he ignored muffled laughter from those he passed by on his way there. As Naruto turned to the front of the room, he could feel that pair of eyes on him from earlier, but now he knew it was Zetsu.

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A few periods later found Naruto at the end of his morning classes. When the tone rang, Naruto made his way over to the cafeteria, holding his stomach from hunger pains. He had, after all, had his last meal yesterday morning, so this was a reasonable response.

When he did reach his destination, he grabbed a tray and stood in line, waiting to get a meal. Now, when Naruto first found out that this was a monster school, he had his doubts about the food. But as he was now, he couldn't care less what it was, as long as it would feed him. Naruto was actually surprised by what was put on his tray, for it actually looked edible to him. He then made his way to the tables outside, not wanting to waste a beautiful day in a place so confined.

As he walked to find a suitable place, he was stopped as he heard his name called out. "Naruto-san! Over here!" as he looked around to see who called to him, his eyes eventually landed on Tsukune and his pink-haired friend, who was waving him over. With much reluctance, he began to make his way over.

"Yes?" he stood by their table, waiting to see what they wanted. He was secretly eyeing the girl, though. He wasn't about to forget what he had witnessed last night.

Ironically, it was her who spoke. "Hello, we weren't properly introduced yesterday. I'm Akashiya Moka, and you already know Tsukune-kun. I just wanted to thank you for helping us out."

"Yeah, no problem. It was nice meeting you." He turned away and was about to leave, but her voice stopped him.

"Wait! We wanted to know if you wanted to eat lunch with us!" as he once again regarded them, he saw Tsukune was growing just a bit nervous, not wanting to annoy him, while Moka had a semi-hopeful look on her face.

"Sorry, not today. I have something to do shortly afterwards." He made his leave before the girl had a chance to protest. Sure, he knew it was uncalled for and impolite, but he really didn't think he would have anything in common with them. Besides, he wanted to think about some things.

He finally found an empty table and began to eat. He had to admit, it actually tasted good. He was surprised when he heard a voice. "Hello Naruto-kun." He jumped slightly at the quiet voice. He turned to see Mizore hiding in a bush behind him.

"Mizore, what are you doing in that bush? Come and take a seat." She seemed to think about it before she eventually took a seat across from him. She seemed a little nervous and Naruto acted on this. "Hey, you okay? You don't seem to be yourself."

"Sorry, it's just that I'm unused to social environments like this. But that's unimportant. I wanted to-." She was cut off as a small group approached the table.

"Hey, you two are friends of that two coloured freak, aren't ya?" called the apparent leader of the group, a rather unassuming boy. Hell, nothing about him or his lackeys was memorable, but Naruto vaguely recalled them being the ones laughing at Zetsu when he approached them. He also assumed that's who they were talking about now.

"Well, I wouldn't consider us friends, since we did just meet." Naruto's response was greeted by an eye twitch as the leaders fist slammed down on the table.

"Are you mocking me? Listen, we don't take kindly to hybrids or their friends around here, so you better watch yourselves. Consider this your only warning." And with the group left, leaving a confused Naruto watching their retreat.

"What was that about?" the blonde asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk about. I think Zetsu is a hybrid youkai and that we should be careful about associating with him, even if he is our friend." Mizore was looking at him with a bit of concern. This was obviously serious. Naruto may not have known what a hybrid was exactly, but he could always ask later.

"That may be true, but friendship is something you earn through more than a few simple actions. Besides, I don't think we have much to worry about."

Mizore gave a sigh. "I suppose you're right." Just then the tone signaled the end of lunch. The two got up and headed towards their next class.

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It was the end of the day and Naruto was making his way back to his dorm. As he walked, he thought back to what Mizore had said earlier, about how he should be careful around Zetsu. He then thought back to the small group that had tried to intimidate him. He had to laugh at that. He stopped that when he relized people were staring at him.

As he rounded a corner he ran into Mizore, who had a look in her eye that told him that something was happening. "Mizore, what is it?"

"It's Zetsu. Those guys are fighting him." Naruto looked at her, wondering why that was important. But, as he thought back, he relized that Zetsu had never done anything to him, he was just a bit creepy.

"Lead the way." He followed Mizore to see that the five from before were attacking the strange boy, while all he did was dodge, apparently not wanting to fight. There were no other people around, so no one would know if anything happened.

It was then that one of the kids got behind Zetsu. He was about to punch him in the back of the head, but was suddenly distracted. Then again, a flying kick to the face would do that to you. He fell to the ground and struggled to get up, spitting a glob of blood out as he did so.

His buddies looked over to the attacker to see a rather annoyed looking Naruto. The leader growled. "Hey! Didn't I warn you about associating with this freak?!?" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the bored looking Zetsu. Naruto turned to him and gave a shrug.

"Like I care what you think. Besides, what's he done to you?"

"Why you little shit! Let's teach this guy a lesson!" just as the other four were about to charge, a kunai made of ice landed right at their feet. Everyone, Naruto included, turned to find the source of the projectile.

Mizore stood there, ice claws on her hands and he hair now also looking as if it were glass as she looked at the four with a bored look on her face. Naruto was quite stunned when he saw the ice. It reminded him so much of Haku. He quickly shook his head to banish the thoughts.

"Heh, a yuki onna. Looks like we should take this seriously. Take your true forms, boys!" and with the leaders shout, everyone began to transform. When they finished they all looked like anthropomorphic lizards. They were pretty quick, Naruto would give them that.

He was surprised when the one he had previously floored gave a low kick and swept his feet out from under him. He then pounced on top of him and tried to claw him across the face, but Naruto kicked his chest while he was still in the air, sending him flying. He got up and looked around to see one fighting Zetsu, who was still only dodging, one fighting Mizore, another encased in a block of ice, and the one he had just dispatched.

He was about to look for the last one when he saw Mizore trip. As she fell the lizard man stalked over to her, chuckling as he tried to get up. He raised one of his claws up and hissed out a quick, "Die!" before he brought it down.

To Mizore, time seemed to slow as she watched the claw descend. She couldn't believe she was about to die. And to such a weak opponent, too. It was an embarrassment to all yuki onna. She closed her eyes and waited. When no pain came she peaked a blue orb open to see Naruto holding the claw away from her, a deadly cold expression on his face. The lizard man attempted to pry his hand from Naruto's death grip, but the pressure was just increased. The lizard started to hiss in pain.

"Let me tell you one thing. You had better listen, because this will be your only warning." As he talked in his cold tone, his rip grew stronger. The lizard was now wincing heavily. "Stay away from my friends or I will make you pay dearly." His sentence was emphasized by a sharp crack and a shrill yell from the lizard, signifying that Naruto had broken his wrist. If that wasn't enough, Naruto brought up his foot and kicked him in the jaw. There was another sharp crack, but there was no yell this time around.

Naruto turned to Mizore and offered a hand. Her ice claws dissolved and her hair returned too normal as Naruto helped her up. "Thanks." That was all she could say as he nodded his head.

"Don't mention it. You're my friend, and I would do anything to protect you." Mizore blushed a bit and turned her head away. As Naruto looked to see if Zetsu was in need of assistance, he saw him just standing there, a lizard man at his feet. As Naruto looked around, he could only count four lizard men. 'Wait, where's the last one?' he was answered when he soon found himself in a sleeper hold. Now, just because he was immortal didn't mean he didn't need oxygen. Sure, he would live, but he would also be unconscious for as long as it was deprived and then some.

Mizore once again formed her ice claws and was about to attack when the lizard man spoke. "Heh, not so fast. You take one step towards me and I snap this kid's neck." She stopped, unsure of what to do. If he could talk, Naruto would have told her to go for it, since he could live with something as trivial as a broken neck, but alas, he could not speak.

Darkness started to creep on the edge of his vision as he started to black out, just another few seconds. Just as it seemed he was about to be out of the fight, oxygen was mercifully restored to his lungs as he took big gulps of the gases needed to sustain consciousness and life for most creatures.

He turned to see why he could breath and saw Zetsu holding the lizard up above his head by the neck, a good foot off the ground. As the lizard man scratched at his neck, trying in some way to get air his arms suddenly went limp. Zetsu left him up there a few extra seconds for good measure before he threw the body into a tree.

As Naruto rubbed his neck he felt Mizore come over to his side, looking concerned. Zetsu began to speak. "Thank you for helping me, you two. Your assistance was greatly appreciated."

"Yeah, well I guess I couldn't just sit back and see a friend get hurt." Zetsu's eyes widened suddenly as he heard Naruto's statement. He turned his back to them as he spoke once more.

"Yes, well, never the less, thank you again. I am happy to call you a… friend as well. I will see you two tomarrow." And with that, he walked off, leaving Naruto and Mizore alone.

"Heh, nice guy, if not a little strange."

"Yeah. That's why I like you Naruto-kun. You seem to make friends so easily. Come on, I'll help get you home."

"Nah, I think I got it. Thanks for the offer though."

"Well, if you're sure." After a quick goodbye, Naruto and Mizore went their separate ways. Later that night, Naruto didn't notice a plant-like creature staring through his window, watching and protecting him from a distance.

'He surely is an interesting kid, is he not?' 'Quite. I think I'm actually starting to like him.' 'I wouldn't mind calling him a friend either. 'For once, I think I'll agree with you on that one.'

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And there you have it, chapter three. So I got two reviews that stood out to me last chapter. One stated that it would like for me to better explain Naruto, and the other wanted longer chapters. I'm not sure how I did on either of those, but from now on my chapters will be a ten pages and 4,000 word minimum and this one was dedicated to some character development. I'm not sure if that's enough, but at least I tried. I know the whole thing with the lizards was cliché, but I couldn't think of anything else. Sorry.

(1). I do not have a fucking clue how the Japanese school system works and I am to lazy to check my source, but I seem to recall that in Japan, students stay in class while teachers move around for core classes. Sorry if it's wrong, but it's not going to change. Also, chemistry was never my favorite subject, and I barely remember what I learned there, so I have no idea if a reaction like that is possible, or if Sulfur Bromide is even a solution. Once again I am too lazy to check, sorry.

Next time I will have people join clubs, unless I get another request and an excuses to delay it. And sorry if this chapter doesn't come out next week, but I'm feeling my inspiration running out. It will come out before February is over though. I've also been meaning to include this for a while.

I want you to know that if I ever go a month and a half, that's forty-five days, without an update of any kind to any stories I may have, if I do decide to juggle some, unless I state otherwise, that I want you all to consider me dead and all of my stories up for adoption, but only if it meets the criteria previously stated. In the event that I do get a beta at some point, I will leave the decision of who gets what up to them. I will eventually post this to my profile and at the beginning of future stories for reference. But don't expect me to die anytime soon, people! Until next time, Acolyte out, currently alive and kicking! This chapter was 5,227 words long!