So, you're actually here? That's nice. Wish I had more to say, but I don't. Yeah, this is still a bit out of schedule, but I figure an update every two weeks is good enough. Schoolwork has been hot on my ass ever since the end of February, so I figure I should spend more time beating the shit out of that. Hopefully, that issue will soon clear up. Well, let's go on.

/////

Disclaimer: Acolyte opened his eyes, a bit dazed. He didn't quite know where he was or what happened. An unexpected voice next to him startled him. "Finally up, huh?" he turned his head to the side to see, who else, Mike.

Now, it may have been because Acolyte hadn't seen him in a while, but mike seemed more… energetic. Happier in general, maybe, was a better way to describe it. He hadn't seen this since he first met Mike.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Say the disclaimer."

"Um, right," said Acolyte, still a bit out of it. "I don't own anything. Now, scroll the fuck down." Sure, it wasn't the best disclaimer, but right now, acolyte had to figure out what the hell was going on. He may not have remembered much, but he knew this wasn't right.

/////

Chapter 10: More Stress

"Uzumaki?" the voice rang through the quiet classroom, expecting a response. When it didn't get one after a few seconds, it became more annoyed. "Uzumaki?" once again, only silence rang throughout the classroom.

Hushed whispers soon prevailed against lack of response, as students began talking in voices filled with curiosity, wondering where the blonde could be. This caused a pang of worry to go through Mizore. Her friend had just gone back to being himself, and now he was missing. This wasn't good.

The yuki onna turned back in her chair to face her other friend in the room. The look she gave Zetsu was read easily enough. 'Have you seen Naruto?' the girl only received a shake of the head from the tall man in disguise, as well as a look from perplexity from him. That wasn't a good sign.

Zetsu usually betrayed no emotion, as if he knew everything going around on campus. Sure, the quality wasn't exactly endearing, but it was the way he was. However, if he wasn't acting like that, it meant that he, too, was worried. Something that caused Mizore's own anxiety levels to increase.

With a deep sigh, Konjyoyaki placed his attendance sheet down and ran his pale hand across his face. "Has anyone seen Uzumaki-san? If not, I suggest you quiet the fuck down." This was spoken in an uncaring tone that revealed absolutely nothing about what the man was thinking. All noise in the room quickly ceased. It was true, conventional, Konjyoyaki was not, but no student was about to question him. He was just too intimidating despite the fact that he was a cripple. "Well, if he's not here…" the statement was left hanging, as the man picked up a pen and brought it down to the paper.

Just as he was about to mark Naruto absent, the door opened. Who else would it be in the doorway but the blonde shinobi himself? Granted, he looked exhausted and totally out of it, with bloodshot eyes with deep bag under them, but he was there. He trudged his way to his seat, where he almost collapsed then and there. Sheer willpower and the knowledge that Kyuubi would soon awaken him fully had kept him from passing out thus far.

"Glad you decided to join us, Uzumaki. Now that that's taken care of, let's get on with today's lesson." As their sensei turned to his blackboard, Mizore regarded the jinchuuriki. In short, he looked like shit. That alone almost sent her into a depressed funk. The last time he acted like this was just a few days ago, because of Amami-sensei. But, she could tell that wasn't it.

No, it was something else. And that was causing him to act irrationally. However, so far all she had was speculations. For all she knew, he could have stayed up doing homework, as unlikely as it sounded. But the point stood that she couldn't just barge into his business. He would tell her eventually if it was really troubling him.

As for Naruto, he was constantly drifting in and out of sleep, despite the Bijuu helping with his fatigue. Apparently, Konjyoyaki was felling merciful and allowed it, though it was probably because almost no one else noticed it. He hadn't slept at all the previous night, being preoccupied taking his aggression out on the woods. He had felled no less than seven trees with only his knuckles, enraged at being forced into a corner.

And, of course, today was the day he would be given his assignment. Obviously that little bastard hadn't told him any details, like when to expect him, if he was supposed to meet him, who he was working with, if anyone, or any of the like. It only furthered to piss him of.

Then again, it caused him to think about the grand scheme of his situation. He had no experience in dealings like this, so he could be wrong, but wasn't it extremely rare for the leader of an organization like Anti-Thesis to present themselves to potential recruits? That's what talent scouts were for, after all. And Kiria had easily dealt with him, granted, he had precautions about going all out against anyone, so was he really needed?

This led him to come up with his own assumptions. First off, either Anti-Thesis was small and lacked scouts, or Kiria wasn't being entirely honest when he said he was the leader. Of course, there could just be the fact that Naruto himself was a special case.

That brought up the fact that he wasn't going to be the most talented person there. So, why was he needed, if not for his fighting skills? The only other purpose he may have had would be as some type of informant. But for what?

Naruto clenched his teeth and grasped his head in both aggravation and the pain from a migraine settling in, which the Kyuubi promptly fixed. The whole situation pissed him off to no end. He had no idea what was going on around him or what his part in it was. And everyone seemed to be taking sucker punches against him with the use of his friends.

His attention was taken off his problems, and in turn, he was stopped from unconsciously channeling Kyuubi's chakra when Konjyoyaki broke of his tirade to address the class a few minutes before class ended. "Now, branching away from science for a moment, I'm required to inform you that the Halloween Festival is closing in on us." At hearing this, many of the students shot up from their desks and began cheering, excitedly the prospect of this years festival. The excitement was short-lived, however, as Konjyoyaki unleashed some killer intent. He continued once the last student sat back down, a bit of annoyance in his voice. "Right, as I was saying, for the festival, each club, as well as each class is to have an attraction. The former will be discussed with you in your individual clubs, but for the latter, each club needs to select a representative for the committee to organize the event. In other words, I need for you to select who will act on the committee and act as class president for the rest of the year. Now who wants to nominate someone?"

For a moment, the whole class was silent, wondering if their sensei was finished talking. However, when no response came, the one-eyed man's aggravation rose and his cigarette began burning at an increasing pace. Seeing this, the students became more and more frightened. Finally, one brave soul spoke up, saving everyone from damnation.

"Um, I nominate Uzumaki-san. He is, hands down, one of the best performers, academic wise and in school in general."

At hearing this, Naruto yelled at the student, obviously not wanting to deal with responsibility of this as well as all the other shit going on around him at the moment. "Oh, what the fuck man! What did I ever do to you?!?" the blonde's protests went widely ignored, however, as almost all the other students in the room accepted Naruto as their president. Naruto would have killed the douche bag right then and there, if not for the outreaching consequences and the fact that his previous rage was momentarily forgotten, diminishing the potency of his hostility.

Konjyoyaki nodded his assent, calmer now that that was out of the way. "Good, looks like the decision is unanimous. Report to the student government's office first thing tomorrow."

"Wait a fucking second! Don't I get to decline the offer?!?" Naruto all but shouted, looking for anyway out of this situation that he could.

"No." that one, cold word was all it took to deflate Naruto's resistance, spoken with indifference from a man as cold as ice at times of annoyance. From behind the depressed and overtaxed, anxious blonde, Mizore felt pity for her friend, worried how this would affect him in his present state. Zetsu also felt a slight pang of regret, but it passed, being replaced with curiosity about how he managed to build up so much stress in his life. Konjyoyaki felt nothing for him, and watched as he trudged out of the room as the bell rang with the help of his two friends, a slight twitch forming a momentary smirk on his face.

/////

Through much of the day, Naruto remained depressed, attributed both to the fact of the recent increase of responsibility he really didn't need right now, and the fact that he had to sell his soul to Kiria and his cause. Of course, he was the one charged with informing Gin of his upcoming absence. He arrived before anyone else and had left promptly afterwards, citing that he was feeling sick. As expected, the older boy was filled with both contempt for losing his excuse to not do any work and his own depression for now being forced to actually do work.

So, it was a shock when the current bane of Naruto's existence didn't contact him that day. It caused the blonde to become relieved. In fact, he was almost looking foreword to the meeting the next day. Maybe he was dead. Then again, maybe he had just forgotten.

At that point, Naruto's mood once again began to sour. This was probably all part of Kiria's plan. Lure him into a false sense of security and then bring the bad news to him. Yeah, that's probably what the fucker was thinking.

He was startled when he heard some shouts. It almost sounded like a fight was going on. Now, Naruto had to weigh his decisions. On one hand, he really didn't want to get involved in some petty argument. On the other hand, kicking someone's ass may relieve some of the stress he was feeling. Plus there was the added benefit that if he was caught, he might not be allowed to serve on the committee. With those thoughts in mind, he went to go check it out.

He was a bit surprised at what he found. Apparently, Tsukune had gotten himself into another fight. Now, seeing that this happened on almost a daily basis nowadays, Naruto took it as a given. What did surprise him was whom he was fighting.

Apparently, that guy who was harassing Moka and him on the first day had come back for round two, and he had brought some help, even though it was just Tsukune to begin with. The kid was doing rather well dodging the blows, and even attempted to counter once or twice, but it was obvious that he was running out of stamina.

Just as one of the goons was about to kick Tsukune in the face, he got a boot to the head of his own, knocking him unconscious. All the other participants of the battle turned to regard the newcomer, and two of them were shocked.

"Naruto?!?" asked Tsukune, almost not believing it. The blonde just looked at him blankly.

"Now isn't this familiar? What did you do to piss this guy off this time, Tsukune?" in reality, Naruto only slightly cared, but it was kind of fun to see the brunette sputter indignantly for a few seconds. Meanwhile, the chitchat was pissing off the second party, especially the leader.

"I didn't do anything! That guy just hates me!" here, Tsukune pointed at the leader, who, at this point, was fed up with all the conversation going on during, what was supposed to be, a very serious fight.

"I have a name you know! And stop staling! I'm gonna' kick your ass sooner or later!"

"Oh, and what's you name?" Naruto asked sarcastically. He wasn't really expecting an answer. Maybe just an outraged yell, at the most. He did get an answer, though.

"Saizou. Remember that name as you beg for mercy. Now attack them you idiots!" the now named Saizou instructed his goons to attack the two man group of Naruto and Tsukune. As the three charged, they began to change.

One's hands started to morph, his fingers fusing together and forming almost swords. Another simply sprouted wings and took off into the air. The last one's body and head began to lengthen along with his arms and legs. Before the transformation finished, he disappeared into the ground. (1)

Naruto pushed Tsukune back as the one with the wings came in for an attack. He blocked the punch that was sent at him and attempted to kick the guy back, but he was to fast. His attention was soon occupied by the guy with blades for hands. He quickly ducked under the strike that was meant to take his head off, only losing a few hairs. He sent a punch into the guy's stomach, knocking the air out of him, followed by a vicious uppercut.

Naruto was about to push the assault as the guy stumbled back, only to be forced to jump back when the guy with wings spit… something at him. He jumped back, the green glob impacting the ground a few feet away from him with a sizzling sound.

He didn't expect a pair of arms to burst out of the ground just behind him and grab him, wrapping around his legs and binding his arms to his sides. Naruto watched as the guy with wings came in for another swoop, glee shining in his eyes. Just as he got there, Naruto barely managed to jump up and kick off the guy's chest, causing Naruto to do a back flip and sending the other into his own acid patch, he landed with a scream as he writhed in pain, the acid burning his flesh. Within seconds, he reverted back to his human form.

The jump had caused the arms around him to slacken a little, but at the most, he would only be able to bring his hands together. Naruto watched as sword-hands finally regained his bearings and went in for a final charge now that Naruto was incapacitated. Naruto frantically looked around, looking for something he could use to his advantage. As he looked, he found that Tsukune was preoccupied fending off the still human Saizou. The more he looked, the bleaker and more hopeless his chances seemed, and the less distance there was between him and a sure decapitation.

It was then he thought of something. Of course, with this plan, there would be some explaining to do. Some unwanted explaining. Then again, if he did not5hing, he would have to explain why he was still alive even though his head wasn't on his body. Yeah, the plan would work better. So, with much reluctance and a bit of effort, Naruto brought his hands together and formed the needed hand seals.

There was a puff of smoke just as the attacker got into slashing distance. He grinned as his hands went into something in the smoke cloud. That grin soon turned into a confused, followed quickly by a terrified expression. Instead of hitting the blonde like he intended, his hands were now trapped in a log. He turned his head, only to meet a punch to the throat.

He tried his hardest to take a breath, but, unfortunately for him, the punch had collapsed his throat he was soon dead. Naruto quickly created a few clones to deal with the last guy as he himself approached Saizou and Tsukune.

He had never liked jutsu in the first place. Yeah, he could see their use and they were good for surprises, so he learned a few, but he really never used them much. He was immortal. It would throw anyone off guard when a guy with a kunai in his head stabbed you in the face. Then there was the fact that he could kill anyone with just a drop of their blood.

He casually glanced back to see his clones had all turned black with white markings and were standing in Jashin's symbol. One by one, the stabbed themselves in a vital organ and disappeared. When they were done, a pair of lifeless arms were left sticking out of the ground.

As Naruto approached closer to the unsuspecting Saizou, he began to charge chakra in his hand, forming a swirling blue ball. Tsukune was caught by a backhand from the much bigger person. He was sent flailing to the ground as the other continued to approach him. He looked up to see Saizou's fist back, ready to deliver a devastating punch to him. "Any last words?" was all that he was asked.

He didn't get to say anything as something impacted with Saizou's back, causing him to lean back and let out an agonizing scream. He was then thrust forward, straight into a wall, causing it to crack. In his place was Naruto, blue wisps still circling him before they disappeared completely.

Naruto offered Tsukune a hand, which the brunette accepted without question. As he got up, they both heard a sound emanate from Saizou's general direction. Both turned to see the large boy trying to get back up, blood pouring from an ugly wound on his back. "Fuck, he still conscious?" Tsukune just looked at Naruto.

"What exactly did you do to him?"

Naruto fixed him with a speculative glance. "Does it matter? He was about to kill you." The brunette just scratched his cheek in embarrassment. With a sigh, Naruto began to approach the fallen enemy.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure he stays unconscious for just a bit longer." With that, he quickly stomped the boy's head back into the ground with a 'squelch'. He had probably broken his nose.

"That was uncalled for! What are you thinking?" asked a shocked Tsukune, horrified by Naruto's violent action.

"What I'm thinking is I don't want him getting back up and attacking us. You don't leave loose ends, dumbass. Quite frankly, he's lucky I don't kill him right now." With a sigh and his annoyance subsiding, Naruto once again regarded the human with a clam gaze. "Come on, we should get going."

After a little reluctance and internal debate, he did follow, leaving the area swiftly to avoid detection. It was later that someone would discover three dead bodies and two unconscious individuals. They would leave the scene with Saizou and his lackey after setting fire to the dead bodies.

/////

Yeah, sorry for the shortness, but here seemed as good a place to stop as any. Also sorry for the delay. Apparently my bullshit powers are weakening and I actually need to do work. Yeah, life sucks.

(1). I really can't remember who attacked Tsukune with Saizou, or if he even had any help. I'm too busy to look it up, mostly because I can't remember what chapter it was.

Next time, Midou finally makes an appearance. Three chapters after I intended him to. I guess that just means I got better at adding detail. In other news, I updated Natural Biotic. Still haven't gotten around to do Rosario Kitsune, but I will do it within the week. Before April is over, at least. This chapter was only 3,411 words long!