Hmm, what to fill in the top part of this chapter? Uhh, wow, I'm at a complete loss. In fact, I wouldn't even do this if it weren't for the fact that it wouldn't feel right otherwise. Oh, wait! No, never mind. I thought I had something. Oh well, I've wasted enough of your time. Proceed.
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Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Kon. Yeah, sorry I didn't include the usual type of disclaimer, but I'm just not feeling it. Adventures of Acolyte will pick up again next chapter.
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Chapter 8: The Fan and a Handful of ShitWhen the alarm clock went off that morning for Naruto, he just knew that it was going to be a shitty day. First off, he practically threw a hidden kunai right threw the door when he heard a sudden noise awake him. Though he felt stupid, he took care to survey the whole room with a critical eye at least three times, just for anything that seemed slightly out of place.
When he felt a little more confident that he had been the only one in the place of at least several months, he went to the bathroom, taking care to touch only that which was most necessary to complete his morning tasks. Even then, he had second thought when he touched a knob or faucet. As he took a shower, he didn't dare wash his hair or even blink, just in case he happened to find someone when his eyes reopened.
With that done, he changed into a clean school uniform and picked up a bag full of his things, ready for school. On his way out the door, he pried the kunai from the door and slipped it into his pocket, just in case. As he walked down the path, he fingered it, finding comfort in the cool feel of the metal and the sharpened and honed edge.
With a grimace on his face, he tried to block out everything and just focus just on breathing, trying not to stab the poor fucker who may have startled him by walking past him without warning. He tried to keep calm. However, when someone said his name and clasped a hand onto his shoulder, he nearly lost it then and there.
He flung himself around and jumped back out of the person's grasp, holding his hidden kunai by its blade and readying it in his pocket. He waited for the assailant to make another move before he decided whether or not to react violently, in that time, found out who it was.
Mizore stood in her place, arm still outstretched and hand placed where his shoulder was. She looked at him quizzically, tilting her head to the side, though Naruto could see the concern in the girl's lovely blue eyes. That sight just made him feel like shit more so than he already did. "Naruto-kun, are you feeling well. You seem… tense."
Taking a few deep breaths to calm his heart, which felt like a nuclear reactor in meltdown, he stood back to his full height and took his hand off of the hidden knife. His dilated pupils slowly contracted to normal size as he regarded his best friend there. He was panting slightly from the recent shock to his system as he responded, trying to regain his composure. "Oh, Mizore-chan. Sorry, you just… startled me is all. I've been kind of on edge since Amami-sensei showed up." The blonde used air quotes as he referred to Konjyoyaki's alias.
"Naruto-kun, I can understand that you may not trust him, and that you probably have a lot of history with him, most of it bad, but you can't keep acting like this. Look at you, you're a nervous wreak. This thing is killing you." He could hear the desperation in the girl's voice, and while he did consider what she said, he just couldn't agree with her.
"I'm sorry, Mizore-chan. I know you're trying to, but you just can't understand what he's really like. He's dangerous, sneaky, smart, and loyal to the point that it's scary, since you don't know who he's working for. I can't trust a man who took his own niece hostage just to remain loyal to someone helping him accomplish his goal."
Naruto took a deep sigh. He still couldn't believe how crazy the man seemed at times. And now, he was stuck with him by some means of cosmic misfortune. Mizore, to her credit, was shocked that such a seemingly mild-mannered and polite man was capable of such things, despite what she was told thus far. She really wouldn't believe it until she saw it herself, she supposed.
She shook her head and spoke around her mint lollipop. "Come on, at this rate we will be late for class. We can talk more later."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just wish I didn't have first period and homeroom with that fuckhead psycho." With another deep sigh, Naruto decided to finger his rosary a bit and took point. "Well, let's get it over with." With a quick nod from Mizore, the duo made their way to class.
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First period that day was a quiet affair. It was only his second day, and Konjyoyaki already commanded the hearts and minds of most everyone in that classroom. With his imposing height and evil goatee, everyone thought twice before questioning his authority. Yes, facial hair was defiantly a powerful weapon, just look at what Hitler accomplished.
The man's evil mustache/beard combo aside, the man was actually rather brilliant. Hell, he had somehow managed to get the kids struggling in class to grasp what he was talking about, a feat that probably secured his position in the faculty. Bad news for Naruto.
The rest of the classes went by as usual, though the blonde was still rather jumpy. Whenever someone would call on him to answer a question he would have his hand twitch towards where his kunai was hidden. He would then realize there was no danger and answer the question. By lunch, the secret shinobi felt like shit.
The mentally exhausted Naruto decided to just take a seat and skip out on eating today. He just couldn't deal with the stress of thinking that Konjyoyaki may have somehow poisoned his food. He probably wouldn't have eaten it anyway.
Closing his eyes, he tenderly reached up and began to gently massage his temples, hoping to fend off the headache he had from over thinking. After a few minutes of trying and failing, he wearily opened his eyes to see Mizore sitting across from him, eyeing him with a questioning gaze. "You okay?" she asked.
"I'll live. It's just a headache." He smirked a bit at the inside joke.
"You sure? This could be a side effect of that transformation you had."
Naruto was about to retort when he suddenly realized something. 'Wait a second. Wasn't Kyuubi supposed to find out what caused that? He should have reported by now.'
Seeing that her best friend was having a revelation, Mizore decided to prod him further. "What is it, Naruto-kun? It looks like you just figured something out."
"It could be nothing. Listen, I need to check something out in my head, so I'll be meditating. Wake me up if the bell rings or something happens." With a nod from the purple haired girl, he closed his eyes and focused on tuning everything out.
Slowly, sounds started to distort, and time felt like it was slowly crawling by. The blonde didn't notice any of this, though. He kept his eyes firmly shut and his mind set on the goal of reaching himself. He only stopped when he heard a distinctive drip that seemed to echo throughout space.
Naruto didn't even have to look as he walked by the stalagmites and ducked under stalactites in his cave-like mindscape. He did stop, though, to admire the stack of bodies in a hollowed out cell of the cave. Everyone he had ever killed, in Jashin's name or otherwise. "Hmm, I could have sworn I killed more fuckers than that." Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on to the reason he was there.
Soon, he was in front of the giant gate of carved bone, pristine and shining like the purest ivory. As he looked into the darkness beyond, he could make out the kitsune. He seemed to be meditating. As if on queue, his enormous red eyes shot open. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to know why you haven't given me a repot yet." Naruto's voice was uncharacteristically cold. Kyuubi's eyes widened as he noticed this.
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, it's just this headache I've been having lately. It's making me irritable," Naruto explained as he shook his head. His voice was back to normal. "So, what did you find?"
Letting out a great sigh, the Bijuu eyed his host, wondering how to put this. "After several complete scans of both your mind and body, I'm sad to say that the results are inconclusive. In other words, there is nothing wrong with you."
"That can't be right. You… you must have missed something. There needs to be something to explain what happened." Kyuubi shook his head.
"I know, but I can't explain it. Right now, the best thing to do is forget about it." he didn't give Naruto a chance to rebuttal, as he forced the blonde out of his own mind. On the outside, Naruto swore and held his head in pain.
"Fuck."
"You okay?" asked Mizore, now at his side.
"I guess you could put it that way."
"Well, what did you find out?"
Naruto regarded the girl with a bit of a sad look on his face. He quickly hid it. "Nothing. Apparently nothing's wrong."
"But that doesn't make any sense."
"I know." Before he had a chance to continue, another presence made itself known.
"Naruto-san, Mizore-san." Both turned around to see Zetsu standing there, looking as emotionless as ever.
"Zetsu, how long have you been there?" asked Naruto.
"Long enough. Look, I wanted to apologize."
"For what?" Naruto was confused. As far as he knew, the plant-like shinobi in disguise had never done anything to him.
"For not telling you who I really was earlier. I hope that we can still be friends."
"Of course. You never did anything wrong." Zetsu gave a small bow.
"Thank you, Naruto-san. That being said, I think you can trust Konjyoyaki-san."
"What are you trying to pull, Zetsu?" bow he was suspicious. Anything that involved the man did.
"I am not trying to pull anything. I'm just stating that, for now, Konjyoyaki is reliable. True, he is patient when it comes to getting what he wants, but I currently sense no ill intent from him."
Naruto eyed the bi-coloured man, wondering if this was real. Finally, he stood up and began to walk away, Mizore looking at Zetsu before following the blonde. "I'll think about it. No promises." With that, they were gone.
"I don't see why you couldn't have just used a henge and done that yourself," said Zetsu, apparently to himself.
"Too risky. Besides, I never was good with conventional jutsu. My chakra just doesn't form that way to get a proper result." From out of the shadows came Konjyoyaki in all of his bearded glory. "Keep an eye on them. I feel like someone is watching their little group, and I'm going to find out who." With that, he was gone with just a slight distortion of air. Zetsu followed his lead, melding into the ground.
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Club that day was rather sedated, and for that, Naruto was grateful. However, there were some problems for him in the setup. For one, both Mizore and Zetsu had been charged with photography duties, meaning he couldn't really converse with them much. Then again, right now he didn't really feel like talking. Yukari had also gone with them.
Kurumu, Tsukune, and Moka were writing articles of varying subjects, as they normally did, apparently, and when they got the pictures, would work with the photographers to make an interesting story. That's where he came in.
For whatever reason, he had been tasked with being vice editor for the whole fucking paper. In other words, he was the scapegoat the real club head would use so he could laze about and then tell Naruto that his work was utter crap and to redo it. Currently, he was working on the sixth revision of Tsukune's article that day.
Morioka Ginei, or Gin for short, was truly a despicable man, and a pervert from what his club mates had told him. Really, how was he supposed to make something about the quality of the restrooms at Youkai Academy interesting while keeping with the facts?!? It was madness! Of course, when he brought that up with Gin, the taller, black-haired man had stood up from his desk and walked Naruto into a window. What happened next would make Naruto realize why nobody else questioned the pervert's rule.
"Madness?" questioned Gin, a mixed look of shock, rage, and outright disgust on his face. Naruto began to sweat a bit and held his hands up for their meager defensive capabilities. All work ceased as everyone in the classroom turned to witness the spectacle. "THIS… IS… THE YOUKAI SHINBUN CLUBROOM!!!" and with a mighty kick, Naruto was sent flying out the window, forced to fall several stories.
"Umm, Gin-senpai, wasn't that a little much?" asked Tsukune from his spot at the computer. Moka and Kurumu had moved to the window to see the fallen Uzumaki.
"You think he's alright?" asked Moka.
"Probably. If not, at least we might get a new club president," answered Kurumu, the thought of getting rid of Gin making her hope that bodily harm had befallen Naruto.
"Well… I… that is to say…" Gin rubbed the back of his head, looking for an answer that could explain his actions. "You know what, get back to work or you're next." With that, everyone got back to work as Gin propped his feet up on his desk and took a nap. However, as soon as he was snoring, they snuck out to retrieve Naruto.
Back on the ground level of Youkai Academy, Naruto was picking glass out of various wounds on his body. "Fucking psychopath, kicking fucking people out of a giant goddamned window on the fucking third floor. Fucking retard." As the blonde grumbled to himself, he failed to notice the other presence near him.
As he stood up, Naruto heard a voice call out to him. "My, my, my, you certainly are the interesting person, aren't you, Uzumaki Naruto?" said blonde looked up to see another, though smaller, blonde sitting on a small stonewall. Naruto couldn't see much of the person, as they appeared quite engrossed in a small, black book, though from the voice, Naruto decided that they were male.
"Who the fuck are you?" was Naruto's charming and ever eloquent response, edginess forgotten after his short freefall. The other boy snapped the book shut and hid it in his blazer. He then jumped down off the small wall, giving Naruto a better view of him. He was about four inches shorter and had a young face. But what really captured his attention were his eyes. Both had elongated slits for pupils, though the one on the right was positioned horizontally, as opposed to its vertical twin.
The boy gave a small boy and introduced himself. "How rude. Allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Yoshii Kiria, and I am the leader of a little organization called Anti-Thesis."
There was a small, awkward pause as Naruto regarded the kid with curiosity. "Who?" asked Naruto, tilting his head to the side a bit.
"You've never heard of Anti-Thesis?" Naruto shook his head. "Oh, well, we are an organization composed entirely of hybrid monsters. Our goals are simple. The eradication of purebred superiority."
"Okay, so why are you talking to me? How the hell do you know me, anyway?"
"Well, I have determined that your skills could be quite beneficial for my organization. Plus, you just naturally seem to liven things up. As to how I know you, I find that information quite inconsequential."
"Inconsequential my ass!" growled Naruto. Kiria just laughed. Calming down, Naruto decided to probe the bigger question. "What do you mean by skills, anyway?" behind his back, Naruto made a hand seal and silently created a kage bunshin in the tree behind him to his right. With a mental command, he had the clone ready a kunai as he readied his own hidden one. While Naruto tried not to use jutsu at the school, as people would question him if they noticed, he decided that he would risk it in this situation.
"Well, for one, that clone you just made is interesting. It appears to be solid, if I'm not mistaken." Naruto tensed. With a command, the clone threw its kunai and charged Kiria. The boy sidestepped the throwing knife and gave a good punch, dispelling the clone. The real Naruto broke through the haze of smoke and leapt for the smaller blond. Before he knew it, his face was in the dirt. "You also seem to know how to fight. Also…" Naruto began to get up, until he felt a blade pierce his heart and he once again fell to the ground. He flipped himself over and gazed at Kiria. "You are extremely hard to kill. I just pierced your heart, yet you're still alive."
"Fuck you," Naruto spit out as Kyuubi worked on healing him. Before Kiria's eyes, Naruto got up from a blow that would have killed anyone else.
"Very impressive indeed." With that, Kiria began to stalk away. "I'll contact you again. Also, you'll keep quiet about this incident. If you don't, I'll be forced to do something unpleasant." The gleam in his eyes told Naruto that he probably didn't want to piss the blonde off. So, Naruto begrudgingly staggered back to the clubroom. He had to finish editing Tsukune's article, after all.
Naruto would later attribute the bloodstain from the fall. For the rest of that day, no one would see Tsukune, Moka, or Kurumu. It wouldn't be until the next day that Naruto would discover that Tsukune got into a fight with someone from the wrestling club. Apparently, the guy thought it was Tsukune that took out Kuyou. Yes, the world just seemed like it was out to piss Naruto off.
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Yeah, it's a bit short, but I just haven't been feeling well for the past week. Don't worry; this isn't a trend I'm looking to repeat. This chapter was mostly filler anyway.
Why has Kiria approached Naruto? What does Anti-Thesis want with him. Will Naruto ever find out what happened to him that caused him to go into a blood lust? Well, these questions will eventually be answered, just probably not next chapter. Okay, well, see ya later. This chapter was only 3,181 words long. Fuck.